Chapter 19: Braindead Decisions
IN THE THIRD FLOOR CORRIDOR BY THE STAIRWELL…
"Kiri-nii, what happened to Komuro-nii-san?"
"Uhmmm, about that…"
Not long after everyone tried to forget about yesterday's troubles with some adequate sleep, there still lingered ominous feelings to follow from that point onward. Just when the worst of events and rumors of the events died down with the dead walking outside of the school, Alice breaks the ice regarding the heated discussion meeting a few hours earlier as they eat.
"Uhh, you see, Alice, things…are not going the way we wanted…" Kiri gulps down a piece of corned tuna from his ration before putting down the can and plastic spoon. "And its not because we did anything wrong, but… some people just got a um, baggage to unpack?"
"Baggage? Like luggage?" Alice tilts her head in confusion with Zero and Panzer following, all the while having tuna oil slathered on her around her mouth.
"Yeah, but its not something they hold, erm…Sen—Shizuka–san?" Kiri nervously incites for some help with his eyes.
"Alice-chan," Shizuka intervenes, wiping her mouth with a clean paper napkin. "What Kiri-kun means is that some of our friends have some things to open up to each other. Right, Kiri-Kun?"
"Yeah, that's what I meant to say."
"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME, TAKASHI!? I HATE YOU!"
*SOOOT—DOK!*
Suddenly, followed by a loud banging on the poor old faculty room's sliding door, the three of them find Rei bolting out of the room with a disappearing trail of tears leaking from her eyes, somehow answering Alice's curious question.
"Rei!" Takashi called out, but couldn't reach nor find her. "Agh…great, just great…"
"I take it that your talk didn't go as planned like you hoped?" Kiri raises an eyebrow before taking a chomp on his corned tuna.
"Yeah. Sorry you guys had to see the mess we got," Takashi apologizes.
"Komuro-kun, no need to apologize. It's not your fault—"
"Actually, it kinda is, and you guys also needed to know."
"Then what did you tell the others about?"
"Long story short: I told Rei—I mean, Miyamoto-san…that it's really over between us, and that—well, I love Saeko…"
A short yet long awkward pause loomed around them for a few seconds, expecting a violent or deterring reaction from Sensei and the yankee, but they didn't say otherwise.
"Wait, why are you guys so quiet?"
"Well, about time you were open about yourself. I saw the way you look at her, and the way she looked at you. It was only gonna happen, for real," Kiri smugly adds, shrugging his shoulders. "Miyamoto brought that downfall upon herself. If she won't straight up, I reckon her folks will, or else I dunno what will."
"And so, when you told Rei-chan about that…was she…?" Shizuka nervously trailed off on her words.
"Yeeah, she didn't take it well. I thought she wanted me to be honest and more sensitive, or maybe I just did it in reverse. I dunno…" Takashi confessed, scratching the back of his head.
"That's her problem. Don't worry about her. If your feelings for Saeko are real, and her feelings are mutual, then how Miyamoto acts about it is her own problem."
"Ugh—Kiri! Rude!" Shizuka scolds and slaps Kiri's shoulder.
"Well um, I don't wanna bother you guys and any more of your time, so I'm just gonna go now," Takashi assures. "Ugh, I feel like I'm gonna get the scolding of a lifetime. See you three later."
Takashi then runs away to give chase, off to find Rei wherever she went, hopefully not to Captain Tadashi Miyamoto.
"Well, been nice knowing him," Kiri callously chuckled, feeling low hopes for Takashi's case.
"Kiri-nii, will you…will you do that…?" Alice asks, with small tears leaking in her eyes.
"Huh?"
*Sniff*
"Will you…leave Shizuka-nee-chan soon too?"
"Alice-chan—"
Before Shizuka could say anything to comfort the innocent child, Kiri pulls her in close into a noogie.
"Silly girl! If I leave her, it means I'm dead. Or, undead. Not while I'm alive I ain't!" Kiri assured playfully before proceeding to tickle Alice.
However, the words Kiri spoke, though frank and blunt and callous, struck Shizuka's heart that it jumped, making her head burst in embarrassment and infatuation.
"Eh? Sen—I mean, Shizuka-san? What's wrong?"
"Eh? Eh!? N-Nothing!" Shizuka bursted with a fit of bashful embarrassment.
INSIDE THE TEMPORARY BRIEFING ROOM IN THE FACULTY ROOM…
"Guys, it's not easy for me to say this, but I… suggest that Miyamoto cannot stay with us anymore…" Saya reluctantly suggests with her arms crossed.
"Why? Sure she got some issues but—"
"But what, you ask? Then I wonder what else she has to do with us, now that she has her whole family back together safe and sound," Saya cuts Kohta off.
"B-But, isn't that a good thing? They can also join us when we're ready to leave, r-right?" Asami adds.
"Tell that to the whole police station and the shelter people here, or whatever is left of it. They need Captain Miyamoto to keep the peace and lead them since they can neither think nor help themselves. I doubt there is anyone aside from the Captain capable of holding a huge organization together."
"But she's been an asset to our team the whole damn time! We wouldn't last long without an extra fighter like her around, right?" Kohta nervously gives his reason.
Amidst the conversation, Saeko and Misaki remain solemnly silent as they listen in on their dire discussion until Saeko interjects.
"We should wait for Takashi's decision on the matter. It would be unfair to decide unanimously in his absence," Saeko replies.
"Tch, yeah, sure. Wait till she comes to hear what we thought of her before getting impaled."
"Miyamoto-san is much more mature than you think. The circumstances have changed now that we are here with her family present. I believe she won't act so carelessly while they're here."
"That…is oddly optimistic, coming from someone who's always so jaded," Saya points out in defeat.
"Maybe, I was just simply convinced by a certain someone," Saeko blushes with a smile, making Saya cringe from the look on her face.
"Suddenly there's something I forgot to do, be right back!" Misaki slyly leaves the tense atmosphere and out of the faculty room. Oblivious to the situation, Zero, or Zeke, continues to play with the stoic trusty German shepherd companion Panzer, who pays no mind to his playful antics but merely watches the drama unfold between his new owners that saved him from isolation amidst the apocalypse.
IN A STOCK ROOM ISOLATED ON THE CAMPUS GROUNDS NEAR THE WALL…
"Oi! Keep it steady or it'll fall!" Kiri barked, carrying a three feet wide, two-inch thick, six feet tall board of plywood horizontally from one end.
"Sorry man!" says one other stranger in the shelter, helping Kiri handle the huge board.
"Go Kiri-nii, go!" Alice cheers, playfully waving white flags in her hands near them.
"C-Careful, Kiri-kun!" Shizuka whimpered while holding Alice by her small shoulders.
The two men steadily carry a large board of plywood out of the stock room and let it lean on the wall near the gate to use for reinforcement and protection by the gate. Upon being inspected by some of the skeptical policemen, a reasonable reply about benefitting the helter seemed enough to disperse their suspicions and left the yankee free from meddlesome trouble.
"That wasn't so hard, thanks. This will be a huge help against those bloody freaks," The man thanked. "Give or take, we can fix it up in a day or so."
"Sounds great, as long as they ain't gettin' in here, I'm all for it."
Kiri then leaves for Shizuka and Alice, who were patiently waiting for him. Shizuka eagerly takes him by the hand, catching him off guard that his cheeks heated up from embarrassment, although he is trying to get used to her intimate advances.
"It's nice of you to actually help out everyone in this place, even though they might quiver and shiver from your gaze locking," Shizuka bluntly put in her usual cute tone.
"Don't care. You two are staying here, and the safer we make this place be the better," Kiri shrugged, taking Alice's hand.
"Kiri-nii?"
"Yeah?"
"You know, you remind me of Papa."
Kiri and Shizuka froze in their tracks from Alice's response, remembering what happened to her father. Alice turns her head at Kiri and Shizuka, confused as to why they both stopped before feeling her hand wrapped tightly in Kiri's grasp.
"Ummm, ahem, why do you think so, Alice?" Kiri cleared his throat.
"You are brave and strong! Kind and gentle, but scary when you're angry, like Papa was," Alice replied with a smile before it drops into a slight frown. "You act so much like him that I…I just miss him…"
"Awwww, Alice-chan…" Shizuka gently embraces Alice into a hug. "I'm sorry."
"Shizuka-nee-chan too! You are so much like Mama!"
"Alice, you're not alone anymore. You're here with us," Kiri follows with a tight embrace wrapping over Shizuka and Alice. "We uh…we can be your family…?"
"You will be my Papa?"
Suddenly, the young delinquent's mind clicked after being swayed by his emotions and protective instincts. But after everything they've been through, it would seem that this is inevitable to happen in their group.
"Kiri-kun?" Shizuka whimpered, curious and nervous as to why he turned silent.
"If…if Shizuka-san's fine with that, anything for you, Alice," Kiri quickly replied.
As much as his reply soothed and excited Alice, someone's more overwhelmed and left speechless…
"K-K-Kiri-kun! A-Are you proposing… TO ME!?" Shizuka stuttered with her hands over her mouth and flushed cheeks from a mixed combination of embarrassment, excitement, and anticipation.
Like taking an arrow to the foot after shooting up too high, Kiri places himself in a tough tough spot right off the bat by running his mouth with a highly risky answer to be made. After a few seconds, Kiri finally replies.
'Well crap, made my bed, and now I gotta do it…' Kiri curses internally before huffing and exhaling with ounces of adrenaline and courage mustered. "Guess the question's up to go now…Whew…Shizuka…?"
"Yes, Kiri-kun?"
"Will you—"
"Kato! There you are!"
In the middle of popping the question, the unruly and unstable spearwoman Rei appears, seeming to have a sense of urgency that she forcefully grabs Kiri by the shoulder. Angered by her rude gesture, he quickly shrugs her arm off and causes her to back away.
"…What is it this time, Miyamoto, and this better BE IMPORTANT…!" Kiri growled, angry and annoyed from her callous mistake.
"I just wanna talk and ask a favor, if you're interested and free to—"
"Nevermind, forget what I said. Whatever you got planned, sounds like bad timing with things being as they are," Kiri raises a hand while pinching his nose bridge. "I bet Komuro's not told of this plan of yours."
His quick answer deeply displeases Rei and she easily loses her patience.
"But that's exactly it, isn't it!? Things ARE going bad unless we do something about it!" Rei screamed like a madwoman. "My dad may have things under control from the perimeter, but what about inside here!? There are lots of people who don't care about the law, especially at these times when food and supplies are hard to find, not to mention the built-up stress everyone's getting after being stuck behind these safe concrete walls!"
"That's their problem. And they made their choice to attack us, can't do crap about that, can we?"
"Then what if we—"
"People don't care what we do either way. To them, we're just kids, a bunch of stupid brats that can't think, regardless of the hell we've been through, just like the Takagi people back in the mansion."
Coming from a supposedly dimwitted delinquent no less, the rational reasoning stuns her at a loss for words, accompanied by the sharp glare in his eyes that frightens Shizuka. Feeling defeated, Rei runs away from Kiri, Shizuka, and Alice.
"Kiri…kun…?"
Hearing Shizuka's voice in fear, but not enough to repel her deep caring concern for the heartthrob of a yankee in her eyes.
"Are you…okay?" Shizuka shyly asks, tugging on his sleeve like a schoolgirl.
"…Yeah…I'm alright," Kiri smiles as his arm wrangles Shizuka close from across her back and waist. "Especially right now."
"Kyah!" Shizuka's face exploded bright red with her jumping heart looking into Kiri's dumb grin and his muscular arm wrapped on her body.
"Uh oh," Alice playfully closes her eyes with her hands covering her face before opening for her eye to peek at their adultlike moment before the two of them noticed Alice and kept a little distance between them.
"Ahem! Well then, let's uh go find other stuff to do around here, make ourselves a little useful before Takashi finds us for another meeting," Kiri clears his throat, hiding his embarrassed face and reluctantly taking her hand. "Wanna come with?"
"Mm! Let's!" both Shizuka and Alice nod excitedly.
AROUND THE NARROW CORNER OF THE SCHOOL…
"How could they be so cold, cruel, and dense!?"
Rei throws a tantrum fit around the shaded corner of the school flailing her arms and stomping on the soily ground just a meter away from the tall walls. She recalls how Takashi seems to pay little attention to her, if not zero. Of course it couldn't be helped since the group's weight is upon his shoulders as its leader. But the way Takashi treats Saeko with great favor compared to how she was treated, it completely ticks her off, and they never let their sights out of each other ever since that day they were separated.
"I can be cool and broody! I can be as strong and beautiful as her! But why would he do that, after everything we've been through before this madness!?"
"Wow um, you look like you need some help."
She jolts out of fear and embarrassment, only to be calmed down by the sight of the brown-haired Kawamoto Misaki. She quickly wiped away her tears and fixed her composure.
"Oh, it's just you, Misaki-chan. What do you want?" Rei bluntly replied.
"Nothing much, but you look like you have something on your shoulders. Mind telling me what is going on?" Misaki asks with a concerned look.
"It's nothing to be worried about," Rei turns away with arms held close.
"Well, you might blow a casket at any moment if you keep your feelings bottled up and then open it like a Mentis-infused cola bottle, like you usually do with Komuro recently."
"What!? What do you mean!? I—!?"
It suddenly hits her, her behavior towards her former on-and-off flame was unacceptable, even by most of their group.
"I…I was…"
"Rei-chan, I'm not really sure what went down between you and Komuro, but I can tell that you have feelings for him and other important stuff. The only huge problem you have is that you never told anyone about them. And from what I can tell, that wasn't the first time you were stonewalling him about whatever's going on in your life to him."
"But I…he just wouldn't understand!"
"No! YOU ran away from HIM! If you wanted him to understand, make him! You should've known how boys work since you hung around lot of them!" Misaki spitefully said, striking a nerve in Rei. "They cannot read your mind unless you really spoke them out, or if they found out whatever's going on with you on their own, which is a huge gamble in my opinion of ever happening."
Suddenly, her words reminded her of how she got together with Hisashi in the first place. It was an accidental chance of fate between her and Hisashi the moment he found out about her problems, problems revolving around the snake bastard teacher Shido. Maybe…if she really voiced out her problems back then…if only she told Takashi how frustrated, annoyed, and devastated she was the moment her world crashed for being held back a year…would she and Takashi have a much stronger and tougher relationship like Pete and Jane from Mavel Comics?
But instead of that blissful comforting fantasy, she threw it all away by the swing of her conflicting emotions that crushed his world instead. And now with the end of the world seeming to enter this deadly phase of their lives, the two of them could've had each other's backs tighter and stronger, but instead she only tested his patience by remembering Hisashi's successes and comparing him to Takashi's failures. Not to mention, it is evident that Takashi's moving on from their past shattered relationship with Saeko Busujima in the picture as they navigated through an urban maze of blood and gore. But despite all the facts in place, deep in her heart, she still holds on to the belief that Takashi would never abandon her, not ever in the least.
"You're right. I made the mistakes, and I can't ever forget all that I've done to him…which is why I wanna really prove that I can be better! I just have to get his trust and approval back, somehow in some way!"
"Huh? Whoa hey, what you two doin over there?"
Standing from afar carrying a toolbox was old man Shimada, chancing upon the two highschool girls.
"Shimada-san, it's been a while. What are you up to?" Misaki replied.
"About to head out and board up the walls here. This place needs protectin', and I'm here to make sure it happens good!" Shimada rubs below his nose with a grin,
"Shimada-san, can I ask you a favor?" Rei asks, piquing Misaki and Shimada's ears.
MEANWHILE, WITH KIRI AGAIN…
Inside one of the classrooms, full of students of the elementary school, Kiri along with Shizuka and Alice paid a visit to the kids from Kiri's orphanage.
"Kiwi-nii-chan, will evewything be good again?" Sena, a little girl with short hair, cried while resting head on his lap and feeling his rugged hand stroke her head.
"Maybe someday. Not today though. We have to still wait for help, and find the others back home and bring 'em here," Kiri gently replied, looking at the sky behind the window before turning to watch Shizuka playing with sock puppets for the kids and Alice telling them about their adventures, cracking a smile at the innocent sight. "For now, I just wanna enjoy this peace."
Sena's gaze traces where Kiri's eyes are pointing, spotting the busty nurse Shizuka, turning back to the soft gaze in his eyes and quickly connects the dots and then gets up from his lap to walk to her.
"Hmmm? Ara~ Sena-chwan! How do you do?" Shizuka playfully greets with a hand sock puppet opening and closing its mouth.
"I'm fine, but tell me," Sena points her tiny finger at Shizuka. "Are you Kiwi-ni-chan's girlfriend?"
Shizuka opened her eyes wide opened while Kiri spit and held in his cough as he sipped from his bottled water; and Alice pauses her story time with the other kids. There Shizuka exchanged a blank glance at Kiri before her head blew some red hot steam and her face overheated with a satisfied infatuation grin leaking with gleeful laughter, quickly confirming the child's suspicions.
"If yes, please take care of Nii-chan," Sena bows her little head slightly with hands clasped together. "We owed Nii-chan so very much because he always helped us and took care of us while working and schooling. We want him to be happy…"
"Ara~? Why do I feel like you're my little mother-in-law~?" Shizuka blushes with a light chuckle. "And of course! I love him to bits and I love him to be happy, as long as he is with me to look out for him~."
There, her words struck the delinquent with her undefeated natural and mature "moe moe" power. He takes in one huge gulp before trying to clear his throat.
"Oi, Alice-nee-chan, tell us the stories again!" Takuro, the hot headed little boy, aggressively begged.
"Which one? There are so many things we 've been through!" Alice exclaimed.
"The one where you were running around the neighborhood miles back!" Another kid, wearing an ID named Kazuki, points out.
"Ahhh that! It was very scary!" Alice, I remember that it was on a very rainy day too!"
ABOUT TWO DAYS AGO, IN TAKASHI'S OLD NEIGHBORHOOD…
"I'm sorry, Kiri-nii! It's my fault we are separated!" Alice moped after having regretted her brash decision, only to feel an embrace and a soft noogie to her little head covered by her poncho.
"Agh, forget it. Lesson learned, and I can relate. Let's just stick together this time and watch each others' backs. Same goes for you two furry boys," Kiri orders, getting a nod from Alice and barks from Panzer and Zero.
He then carefully looks over the garden in the other house and sees none of "them" staggering around, proceeding to assist Alice over the wall and then both Panzer and Zero before climbing over the wall with his crowbar ready for any unsuspecting ambush. Despite the raindrops, it was eerily quiet as they traverse over the wet grass and concrete before being startled by some banging sounds coming from the tall window upstairs, revealing several of "them" trapped in the room like caged creatures.
"Hmph, guess they didn't know how to deal with this sort of crrrr—ud! Yeah, but we got what it takes, nee Alice-chan?" Kiri snickered.
"Mm! Mm!" Alice nods excitedly.
"Heheh, I thought so," Kiri thought amusingly until his face completely changed in the split of a second as he looked up to face another one of the hellish "crawlers", quietly crouching and growling atop the concrete wall. "Ah crap…!"
The "crawler" immediately lunges off the ledge and attacks Kiri, pinning him down to the grass and attempting to bite and grab hold onto his neck with its claws, that was until he manages to loosen its hold on his left hand and punched "it" in the cheek with a swift left hook, dazing it quick enough to gain the upper hand by kicking it off him to the bloodstained viny wall and then splattering its brains out with his crowbar and an ounce of adrenaline in his body.
"Hoooh, awgh hell! Hagh, I hate this, and I hate that!" Kiri exhaled painfully with a spent back before getting up to catch his breath and check his body for scratches or bites. "Whew, all good, safe. Alice-chan, you ok—?"
He turns to see Alice hiding behind Zero and Panzer, most likely frightened from seeing the hideous and nightmarish look of her first "crawler" that she panicked. "The monster's dead now, Alice! I got it covered," Kiri assures as he walks over to her to comfort her. "Alice?"
Unable to respond, he gently approaches her, all curled up in a squatting position and hiding her face under her poncho before being frightened by Kiri's gentle yet bloodstained hand. "Alice?"
"...Kiri-nii!" Alice cried and wrapped her arms around his waist tight like a sloth while trembling with fear. "I'm sorry! I was scared! I… I wanted to help, b-b-but—!"
"Hey hey, it's fine. We mess up sometimes. Heck, that thing was hella scary, but I killed it," Kiri assured and embraced her close, giving her his shoulder to sob on. "Look, it's safe for now, but I gotta go check the other side. We need to hurry and regroup with the others. Will you help me?"
STORY RETELLING OVER…
"Whoaaa, he killed monsters THAT SCARY!?" Takuro exclaimed with stars gleaming in his eyes.
"Yeah he did! And yet, even after my big mistake back there, what really amazed me was how calm and firm he is, and he never reprimanded me! Although, I wished he did, after that failure."
"You think Kiri-nii's strict? You haven't met Sachi-nee-chan yet!"
"Sachi-nee-chan? Who's that?"
"Oi Takuro! Don't blab stuff! I'll tell 'em that!"
Suddenly, Kiri appears with an annoyed look in his eyes, making the little Takuro shudder speechless.
"S-S-Sorry, Kiri-nii!" Takuro stuttered out an apology.
"Kiri! Don't scare the children!" Shizuka angrily scolds her yankee boyfriend.
"Geh—fine, fine," Kiri laxly gives in with hands up.
"Kato! Bwagh! You in here?!"
Just when the tension dies, the chubby gunman of the team Kohta appears by the door sweating buckets, with Panzer and Asami behind him.
"Kohta? What's up?"
"Have you seen Miyamoto and Kawamoto? They've been gone for quite a while now," Asami asks in place of her panting savior.
"Uh, no? Not after about half an hour with Miyamoto though, why?" Kiri shrugs his shoulders, looking confused.
"Well, we got a huge discussion, and we need everyone with us in it, but we need to find Takashi too," Kohta adds.
Without speaking any further, he gets up, about to leave with Asami and Kohta until…
"Kiri-kun? Here, don't forget your bow. And your crossbow," Shizuka gently hands him his weapons and his arrow quivers to him before seeing him off.
"Just come with us, might be over with quick anyway," Kiri smiles, wearing the straps of his crossbow and wielding the bow with one hand. "You're comin' too, Alice."
"Haiii! Bye everyone!" Alice bids the kids goodbye.
"Bye, Alice-nee-chan!" Takuro and the other kids bade.
AT THE HALLWAY NEAR THE 3RD FLOOR STAIRWELL…
"What happened this time? Is Miyamoto back yet?" Kiri grumbled, stretching his arms up high.
"Is everything alright when we're gone?" Shizuka whimpered, holding Alice's hand.
"No, not everything is alright, and where's Takashi? He's not with you three?" Saya demanded.
"Nope," Kiri shook his head, followed by Shizuka and Alice.
"Great, just great! Just when things could get any better!?" Saya screamed out of frustration.
"Sheeesh, what's up with her?" Kiri turns and asks Kohta.
"Well, Takashi's gone, which is worrisome, but Kawamoto's also gone, and that is a problem," Kohta nervously replied.
"Misaki's gone now too? Man, this just keeps gettin' better."
"Kato, I apologize if we have truly disturbed you, but would you be willing to lend a hand to help us find our missing team members?" Saeko gently and politely asks.
"You don't have to ask, we'll find them with you," Kiri assures.
"I do hope they're okay right now…" Shizuka said out of concern.
"I feel my gut twistin' like a pretzel. Somethin's not adding up," Kiri holds his chin while pondering.
"Wow, can't believe I'd hear that from you, but I agree. We need to find Takashi first and sort this out with him," Saya nods in agreement.
"You guys rang?"
"Hwaagh!?"
Popping by the stairs almost out of thin air is their team leader Takashi, back after a long while for some reason.
"Sheeesh! Don't jump on us like that?!" Kohta gasped and exhaled before fixing his glasses.
"Sorry for that. I just got back from talking with Oji-san," Takashi replied.
"Well, have you found Miyamoto along the way?" Shizuka kindly asks.
"No, not yet, I was going to—"
"Not even Kawamoto too?" Kohta continues.
"Neither. Okay, this is getting out of hand, where were they while I was gone?" Takashi demands.
"REI! WHERE ARE YOU!?"
"Looks like we're about to find out…" Saya groaned, feeling a migraine as he rubbed the sides of her temple.
HEADING DOWN TO THE CAMPUS OUTER COURTS…
"Anata, calm down! Just think for a minute!"
"'Baa-san! 'Jii-san!"
Takashi and the rest of the team run towards the squad of policemen under Captain Tadashi Miyamoto and his wife Kiriko, whose leader is currently distressed with the situation about to unfold for them.
"What happened? Have you seen Rei?" Takashi demands.
"That's what we'd like to know too! Geez, that girl, what is she really up to when we've got our hands completely full," Kiriko replied, confused and discontent with her daughter's behavior.
"Komuro, do me a favor and find my daughter. I'd want to find her with you, but these sorry sacks can't do crap without me around," Tadashi grumbled, helpless against the protest of the colleagues around him and his wife.
"I'm goin' with you guys though!" Kiriko huffed, tapping the ground with her spear's pummel.
"No! We…don't want to send out everyone in our group…" Takashi replied. "It's too risky to bring in more people for a search-and-rescue. Kiri, Saeko. You two will be coming with me.
Watching our backs, Saya, Kohta, Asami, assist to guard the walls for any of "them" that will converge at the entrance, but do not engage unless it is an emergency. The noise will bring "them" all here all the way from around the corner."
"Well said, Komuro. On that note, I think you guys will need these…"
Tadashi takes out a pair of pistols and tosses them to Takashi and Kohta. And at the tip of the barrels are oversized lightweight muzzles that look like impractical pipes and equipped with extended magazines.
"Whoa, thanks, Jii-san! But, what are these?" Takashi kindly asks in confusion.
"H-ha-ha-Hahaha! I can't believe it!?" Kohta squealed like a schoolgirl, carefully handling the pistol like a holy grail. "A SIG Sauer P220! And accessorized with a suppressor and extended magazines!? How—!?"
"A gift from a friend of mine in the SDF. You guys earned it for bringing my family back, and I trust you all to do it again right now. I wish I could go with you, but this place needs me to keep the peace," Tadashi replied heavily. "Question: do you have any leads to where they might be? I'm not sending just anyone to die out there on my watch."
"I think I do!"
Shizuka suddenly replies, with an elementary student holding her hand, seemingly a little younger than Alice. A little out of place in a serious situation but nothing when it comes to her carefree yet caring demeanor.
"Nee, Yoshii-kun, would you like to Onee-san what you saw earlier?" Shizuka kindly asks.
"Um! I was walking around, and I saw two tall onee-chans jumping over the walls like Supaida-Boy! Walking over the walls, it was so cool!" The little boy replied.
"Oh yeah? Where did you watch them walk to?" Kiri adds.
"I was there when it happened!" Yoshii excitedly points to the right.
"Hmmmmm, that still does not make sense. Something's missing, unless…"
"Unless what, Jii-san?" Takashi asks the captain.
"I did mention that we were lacking supplies and she wanted to look around. I told her not to, and she didn't take it too well. Dammit, I never should've mentioned it to her."
"Mentioned about what?"
"The hotel. You see that?" Tadashi points to a rectangular black building that's seemingly about eight or nine floors tall across the school, covered sparingly with a couple of windows with an emergency exit at its side. "That place was once designated a safehouse shelter about a week ago until an outbreak occurred within the hotel from among younger folks. No survivors were retrieved from that ordeal…lost lots of good men, women and children that day…"
"Don't worry! You can count on us, Jii-san. We'll be right back shortly!" Takashi assures, with Kiri and Saeko brandishing their sword and crossbow.
Tadashi then nods silently before signaling the officers guarding the gate to slowly open it away and make as little noise as possible. But as some of "them" noticed the noise, they met their ends at the tip of Saeko's katana and Kiri's crowbar, saving their bullets and arrows for emergency situations. Meanwhile, the other team members keep watch over the walls atop an old scaffolding to survey the area and monitor the dead horde scattered ahead of the road to their left.
"Kiri, Komuro, Busujima, please come back with Miyamoto and Kawamoto safe and sound," Shizuka prayed to herself while hugging Alice tightly.
WITH TAKASHI'S TEAM, OUTSIDE OF THE SHELTER…
"Okay guys, we have to stay sharp," Takashi orders, wielding his shotgun with a makeshift bayonet from a kitchen knife, courtesy from Kohta when they were scrounging and scavenging around the school.
When they stop at the entrance of the hotel, Kiri enters first and looks around before Saeko and Takashi follows, only to find an empty bloody lobby floor littered with some rotting flesh, bloodstained furniture, dead tech, and a dark space that's barely lit with dying lanterns on certain areas like a sci-fi horror game.
"Looks like we don't have the advantage here. Try not to make so much noise around here," Takashi orders as he clicks his flashlight and signals Kiri to borrow his crowbar.
"No need to tell us twice. I'm years early to die before marrying Sensei," Kiri smugly replied with a smirk, wielding his ice ax sheathed on his side and flashlight while keeping his crossbow with a quiver of twenty bolts as his sidearm.
"She has truly found a good man," Saeko softly replied with a blush over her face and making Takashi blush.
"G-Guys, now's not the time to goof around, we got a job at hand."
"But technically, that was the issue while you were kinda busy."
"What's that supposed to mean, Kiri?"
Saeko and Kiri looked at each other awkwardly before thinking on how to give him a recap of their meeting in his absence.
"You see, we were thinking if…Miyamoto's good enough to stick around…" Kiri blabbed.
"Wait, what is that supposed to mean?" Takashi replied, nearly blowing a casket in his silently angry tone.
"We mean to say that we're deciding if Miyamoto's suitable to continue journeying with us…" Saeko adds.
"Ughhh… yeah…that is what I've been thinking about. And what happened?" Takashi wondered as the three of them carefully tread down the dark hallways and up the stairwell that is lit by sunlight piercing through tall narrow windows.
"We…sorta agreed that she can't stay with us anymore. I mean, we got her whole family back together safe and sound. There's nothing left for her to care about in our group…unless…"
"Unless…?" Takashi pressed on.
"Unless…maybe you should deal with her feelings. I may be an idiot, but I know when someone is infatuated with another someone, and YOU have to cross that bridge," Kiri replied, raising his ice ax for safe measure while flashing his flashlight around the corridors. "You gotta be honest with her, man…"
"I shall help you, Milord," Saeko replied with a genuine smile that worries and yet assures Takashi.
"Milord? What?" Kiri asks in confusion.
"It-it's nothing important, Kiri!" Takashi yelped in embarrassment before quickly cupping his mouth. "Let's just keep going and cross that when we get there, just not now…"
Suddenly, groans and cracking of teeth and bones are heard along the corridors, making the group conscious of their current predicament.
'Maybe let's tone our voices down, for now,' Kiri gulped in fear from the mere sounds of horror.
The three of them proceed up the black granite stairs at the straight end of the lobby next to the dead pair of elevators to check the first floor's corridor of rooms that have became a den of the dead, taking each of "them" down with a crowbar to the head, decapitation by katana, or slaughtered and stomped down dead.
"Hrgh! You know, I just realized, how are we going to find them in this place? It'd take days to search every corner here," Kiri points out right after kicking one of "them" by its knee to cripple it and leave its head open to smash with his ice ax. "Not that it's bad, though. We can check the place for essentials while at it too."
"Well, this place seemed pretty clean from bloodshed before us, so they might have passed by this part of the place," Takashi guessed.
"Agreed. It will be a waste of time and effort to simply sweep the hotel clean of "them", Saeko nods with a smile.
"Welp, next floor then," Kiri shrugs and gets ahead of the two lovebird leads. 'Dammit, why do I have to be the third-wheeler!?'
Up to the second floor appears to be the cuisine section—well, at least what it used to be. The beautiful marble tiles are cracked and tainted by bloodstains and morsels of rotting flesh and the air was too heavy to breathe without covering one's mouth or nose. They look behind bloodstained glass that is barred with pieces of furniture made of wood or stainless steel and hear faint monstrous groans, moans, and staggering bones from the other side.
'Those unfortunate souls…' Saeko softly muttered, clutching tightly onto her katana's hilt.
'Nope, not going this way for sure,' Kiri shook his head nervously as he slowly stepped back away to the stairwell.
'Yeah, let's keep going up.'
This agonizing concoction of anxiety, fear, grief, and despair looms within the hotel's interiors right from the start at the entrance, but they were not enough to deter the stoic swordswoman and the two delinquent young men, all armed and ready. As Kiri steps into the third floor's corridor…
"...I think they went this way," Kiri points out.
"How'd you figure?" Takashi wondered.
Kiri points to the left corridor, noticing a group of "them" huddling around as some of "them" were banging on one of the tightly shut room doors. "That."
'No time to waste then. Stay alert, and try to take one down at a time!' Takashi quietly orders.
Before the three fighters engage, Kiri tries to lure some of them away by knocking on the wooden stair rail with his knuckle, getting the attention of six of "them", leaving the three others that were focused on banging the door. WIthout hesitation, Kiri smashes one of their heads with his ice ax, Saeko and her katana neatly decapitates one of them with ease before throwing a small kitchen knife at another in the forehead that was sheathed in her stocking while Takashi whacks another with his crowbar. How she snuck a knife beneath her person was a question the two boys kept to themselves before smashing the other two with their blunt bashers and then converging on the other three…
'Last three to go!' Kiri quietly rallies, charging at one that noticed his presence, only to be taken down by the serrated end of his ice ax.
'Erngh!' Takashi grunted digging into another one's skull with the curved heavy yet sharp end of his crowbar.
However, just right after Saeko thrusts right through the temple of the last one, as its large dead frame flops to the ground, the bloodied bitten face of the slain undead reveals itself to their newest member—now deceased—Shimada.
"Can't be…Shimada…ojii-san…!?" Kiri was left in a mix of daze and confusion from the sight.
Upon realizing what just happened, and what she did, the swordswoman remained tight-lipped and turned away in mournful shame. Takashi, feeling the loss as well, however can't relent to his feelings as time is not on their side as it is becoming slightly dimmer from outside the window at the end of the corridor. He lightly knocks on the door followed by a heavy exhale of pressure…
'You can come out now, Rei…' Takashi replied with his downcast face.
There the knob turns, and the door gives way to a distressed spearwoman in bloodstained uniform, the missing member Rei, along with a distraught Misaki.
"Takashi!" Rei gasps with relief and tackles him into an embrace before her face turns sour from the sight of Saeko. "Oh…YOU'RE here too…"
"Not just her," Kiri grunted, gritting his teeth at her after putting Shimada's corpse to the side and putting a bloodied white towel over his face and upper body.
"No…no, he…"
"Rei, there's no time to waste. Now that you two are safe, it's time we get you guys back home, right now," Takashi calmly replied, holding both of her shoulders.
Takashi replying in a low and calm tone spooked the yankee, when he should've had an outburst until he notices Saeko quietly putting a finger to hush him. And with Rei calmly complying with a nod…
"Good. We can all go by using the fire exit stairs. I just hope "they" won't be lingering over there too on the way down," Takashi hoped.
However, as Takashi and Rei head for the stairs, Saeko and Kiri focus on Misaki, sitting with her legs tucked close to her chest and her head on her knees. She remained silent even in their presence, which seemed off with a bubbly girl like her.
"Uhhh, Saki-chan? Are you…alright?" Kiri tries to assure her with his hand only to have her taken aback out of fear that she cried and whimpered aloud.
After her voice, the sound of groans and stomps echo down the halls, meaning that now things just got even worse that they heard her from afar.
"Uh oh, we are about to have company," Saeko quips, putting her hand on her katana's hilt.
"Misaki, it's me! We're here to get y'all out, you're safe now," Kiri assures.
"No! Nononono! It's all our fault!" Misaki thrashes and shakes her head while grasping her temple like a frightened whimpering child.
"So, you won't budge huh, fine."
Kiri raises his hand, and like a knife cutting wind, he tries to slap Misaki out of her daze, only to realize that when she falls to the floor, she's not getting up.
"Crap, welp okay then, I got her!" Kiri wears his crossbow's sling over his back before carrying the downed Misaki like a princess.
With that, the team leaves the scene right before the entourage of the dead would arrive to swarm and devour them all. Saeko quickly shuts the door with her hands ready to draw while Takashi, Rei, and Kiri carefully climb down the flight of rickety squeaky metal stairs. But as they finally reached the ground, a horde of the dead were waiting for them from their rear.
"Run! Keep going! Don't stop!" Takashi orders, making a break for the road to the school with Rei in tow.
"Boy are we in for a treat later!" Kiri groaned, running down the road with Misaki in his arms while Saeko followed behind him as his temporary protector.
"Keep moving forward!" Saeko orders, throwing two knives at two of "them" blocking Kiri's path before kicking another one in the face with her boots.
They carefully avoided the stragglers lingering around the streets, but soon they were separated as more kept pouring in, leaving Kiri with Misaki and Saeko surrounded by them while Takashi and Rei were the first to reach the shelter.
"Hmmm, well shit," Kiri curses, carrying his ice axe in one hand to crush one of their skulls while barely being able to carry Misaki with his other one.
Slowly but surely, just when the going got rough, a couple of them suddenly shook and flopped to the ground at the sound of a gunshot. They turn to see that Kohta from afar was able to snipe with his sniper rifle from over the wall.
"Nice shooting, big guy!" Kiri proceeds to sheathe his ice ax and carry Misaki again.
Kohta clears the way with every bullet counting either as a single headshot or a skewering double shot, paving safety for Kiri and Saeko to follow. But just when they were close by a few meters.
*Click!*
"Gotta reload!" Kohta cried, trying to reload a magazine.
"Kiri! Watch out!" Saeko yells.
Getting the jump on Kiri was a fast "crawler", lunging and grabbing hold onto him and making him let go of Misaki from his grasp to focus on it.
"Get off!" Kiri roared, trying to shove and break free from the creature while Saeko helps Misaki up on her feet.
"KIRI! YOU GOTTA COME CLOSER! I CAN'T RISK GETTING YOU TOO!" Kohta shouts from a closer distance before gunning down a few of "them" getting to Saeko and Misaki.
Unable to hear Kohta's voice, Kiri successfully shoves the "crawler" off his arm, but it tears and exposes his jacket's sleeve beneath the ripped leather. He follows up with a crowbar to drill and dig into the "crawler's" head to crack it like an egg with his ice axe before making a dashing beeline for the gate.
"Run, Kiri! Move your ass fast!" Takashi orders, halting the officers from closing the gate.
"Onnit, Boss!"
Kiri tackles and throws himself into the campus grounds just before the officer quickly shuts the gate fitted and boarded up with wooden boards. Kiri did nothing but lay on his back on the ground, gasping for breath after bad doses of adrenaline pumped throughout his body that it slowly shuts down and the last thing his eyes could barely make out were blurred silhouettes coming to his direction before it turned completely black.
—To be continued
A/N: Like one with the undead, this fic rises from its grave once more! Many apologies and sorries for the long long update. College and work burned me out for so long, but I will continue to finish this story till its finale, hopefully juggling between work and this. For the readers that stuck around, thank you and bless you for still reading.
That's all for now, see you all on the next one!