Chapter 4: The Unexpected
"Komachi-chan, here. Put this on."
Taishi handed a thick jacket to Komachi. She thanked him and slipped on the dark green coat. Seeing her smile in relief, Taishi sat beside her and hugged his knees. He looked behind him and watched the streets outside from the window.
After escaping the raging undead from the grocery store, they ran and avoided every undead they encountered by changing directions and streets. But the more they ran, the more undead they encountered. The roads were quickly filling up with them from all sides, and it wouldn't be long before they eventually got cornered and caught.
Growing tired, Komachi had pointed at the Mihama Cultural Hall building. So, with the streets becoming overcrowded with the undead, they ran inside the building and locked the doors behind them.
"I'm hungry." Taishi whispered. Komachi nodded and looked around the well-sized storage room.
The Mihama Cultural Hall building was large. The building was mainly composed of large concert rooms and performance halls. All of them were inadequate for the two to hide in, so they scoured the building quietly and found one of its storage rooms.
"I know... me too. But we can't go to the cafeteria. Those things are all over the place." Komachi said as she stood up and headed towards the stack of chairs they had used to barricade the storage room doors. "We just have to wait a little bit longer. Our siblings are on their way… we just have to hold on a little while longer."
Komachi blushed when her stomach rumbled hungrily. Taishi chuckled lightly and pulled out a half-eaten multigrain bar.
"Here, eat this." Taishi said while holding out the bar. Komachi's eyes widened, and she shook her head.
"I can't… that's yours, Taishi-kun." Komachi said, looking around at the storage room's boxes. Taishi smiled and walked over to her.
"Please. Onii-san said he and Onee-chan should be here sometime tomorrow, right? We just have to hold on a little more. So please, Komachi-chan. Eat. I'll be fine." Taishi said with a smile and held the bar closer to Komachi.
Komachi looked at the bar and felt her stomach rumbling. Slowly, she grabbed it and undid the wrapping. She carefully snapped the bar in half and held one of the small pieces to Taishi. He smiled and accepted the food.
"Thank you, Taishi-kun." Komachi said as she popped the small piece into her mouth and ate.
The two sat down on the pile of sheets and leaned into each other. Komachi blushed as she felt Taishis arm wrap around her. She smiled and wrapped her right arm around Taishi's stomach.
X X X
"Okay, it's clear."
I gave Saki a thumbs up from the doorway. She nodded and checked both ways before running towards me with her sister. Once she entered the building, I slowly closed the door and locked it. I grabbed the chair I brought over and wedged it under the door knob.
"Sa-chan, my feet hurt." Keika whimpered. Her nose and cheeks were red after being out in the cold for most of the day.
"Let's take these shoes off you then." Saki said with a warm smile. She lifted Keika and placed her on one of the chairs.
I smiled at them both and looked around the back room of the pharmacy we were in. It wasn't very big; it was one of the small, privately owned pharmacies. But that didn't matter; it would shelter us for the night and help us stock up on several medicines.
"Kawasaki. Avoid the room on the right on the second floor." I said slowly and placed my shinai against one of the counters. It was covered with fresh blood. Saki looked at me and then at my weapon; she nodded in understanding.
When I found the pharmacy, I had told Saki to stay back while I investigated and secured the building. After entering through the back door, I found signs of a struggle. I followed the trail of blood up to the second floor and found an infected eating the mangled body of an elderly man in a white doctor's coat. The undead was a woman who appeared to be in her early to mid-thirties. She was missing her entire left arm and right eye. As she turned to me, I quickly slammed my weapon into her head repeatedly until she was no longer moving.
As I was about to leave, I saw the elderly pharmacist moan and turn his undead eyes at me. I looked at him sadly and tightened the shinais grip. I put him down quickly. After that, I searched the entire building and found no other occupants or undead. I locked all the main entrances and turned off the lights while I was sure the infected couldn't see. I didn't want to test my luck in case some weren't.
"Here you go, Keika. I bet you're hungry." I said with a warm, brotherly smile and held a small piece of bread. I had grabbed it from the small selection of snacks the pharmacy had.
"Ah! Thank you, Ha-chan!" Keika smiled and began to eat the offered food. I smiled and took out a bottle of water. I placed it next to Keika, who thanked me with a bright but tired smile.
I looked over at Saki and watched her take off her thick jacket. She turned to me and gave me a tired smile. I smiled back and offered her another water bottle. Saki accepted the bottle with a thanks. She took a seat on one of the rolling chairs and relaxed.
"Any idea on how much longer it'll take?" Saki asked after she had several gulps of water. I swallowed my own and hummed.
"At this rate, we should be there at around six tomorrow evening." I said as I took off my jacket and sat down. "At least from what I remember. With the internet out and my phone battery dead, I'm going off what I remembered from back at the community center. So as long as we keep the pace from today, we should make it there sometime tomorrow."
"I see. That's good." Saki said, relieved. I stood up and handed her another piece of bread. She smiled and began eating it as I ate the cookies Yui gave me.
After we had our fill of the food and water, Saki and I looked through the pharmacy and stocked up on some common medicines and pills. As I was packing several different painkillers and cold medication away, I turned to the right and found a stack of familiar fliers. I picked one up and read its contents.
"Ah, isn't that one of those fliers for that mandatory flu shot we all took a while back?" Saki said as she peered over my shoulder. I turned to her and nodded.
The flier was about a sudden required flu shot every Japanese citizen had to take a few months back. It was mostly a preventive vaccine to prevent a new recently spreading flu strand. It was supposed to be a harmless shot, but I happened to have a negative reaction to it that the rest of my family didn't. I had been bedridden for a few days with a high fever, and on occasion, I also had light heart pains as well. But after a week, I had fully recovered and could move around like usual. I was confused about why I was the only one with an adverse reaction, but I quickly dismissed it and chalked it up to bad luck.
"Yeah. Did you… have any reaction to it?" I asked as I threw the flier back onto the stack. Saki shook her head no and went back to looking through the medicine.
"No, but I still remember how packed the clinic was when I showed up. It was so annoying." Saki said with a sigh. I frowned but nodded as well. We continued looking through the pharmacy after that.
By the time we were done, the large duffle bag we found in one of the upstairs rooms was stuffed with medicine and first aid supplies.
The three of us walked upstairs and entered the pharmacist's abandoned bedroom. I had come up here first and turned over all the family photos so it would be easier for us to sleep in a stranger's bedroom. I closed the door and propped a chair under the doorknob. Once I was sure the door was secured, I looked at Saki and watched as she prepared her sister for bed. The room had a small bathroom so we could brush our teeth before sleeping.
"She never goes to sleep this easily." Saki whispered from beside me. "Usually, I have to tell her a story or convince her to count sheep."
"She must exhausted. We've been walking nonstop today. Not to mention having to deal with them as well." I said and looked at my eerily calm hands. "Frankly, I feel like I'm about to pass out any second."
Saki nodded and rubbed her tired eyes. "We should get some sleep then. Goodnight, Hikigaya."
"Goodnight, Kawasaki." I said and watched as she lay down next to her sister.
Usually, two individuals from the opposite sex sharing the same room for a night would have brought feelings of embarrassment and excitement. But we were too exhausted to care about the old social norms.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
I closed my eyes as the sounds of my shinai hitting the bodies of the undead reverberated in my ears. I held my head in my hands and clenched my eyes tight. Now that I wasn't in a life-and-death situation, the full weight of my actions had finally caught up with me. But instead of feeling deep shame and regret for what I did, I couldn't help but feel a sense of apathy.
"I just need some sleep."
I muttered and laid down on the small futon I had brought from the bedroom closet. I closed my eyes and slowly fell asleep.
X X X
"You have your objectives, men. Allow absolutely no one past the Hanami River. No exceptions." A man dressed in a green JSDF uniform and full-face gas mask said. He held his standard-issue rifle, a Howa Type eighty-nine, as he walked in front of dozens of soldiers.
"Once we finish setting up the C-4 explosives along all the connection bridges to Chiba, we'll be cutting off any more of the infected from being able to cross over to Funabashi." The man said.
"YES, SIR!"
All the gathered soldiers confirmed their understanding of their mission. The commanding officer nodded and dismissed his soldiers to their posts. He turned back and saw the fires and pillars of smoke throughout Chiba. He wasn't in complete agreement with destroying all the connecting bridges so the infected couldn't cross over freely. That would also mean any survivors would be stuck on the other side of the bridge. It was a harsh but needed decision. In the end, he was just following orders given to him by his superiors.
"God has truly forsaken us."
X X X
I stopped behind an abandoned truck and looked over at the swarm of infected standing around the front entrance of the Mahima Cultural Hall. I watched the blaring fire truck continuously blaring its siren. It had crashed into the side of the building and somehow flipped onto its side. It essentially became a loud beacon for all the infected in the area.
"Shit. What do we do? Find another entrance?" Saki said from next to me. Keika watched the scrambling undead with fear and worry. Thankfully, she continued to stay quiet.
"We have to." I said and scanned the area. Unlike most other buildings, the Cultural Hall had plenty of space around it.
Which would make it extremely hard for us to sneak around and enter the building. We'd have to sneak along the apartment complex walls next to us while using the tall hedges as cover. This would be risky because as soon as we cross the road. We'd be out in the open and exposed. I turned to Saki and nodded.
"Follow me." I said and began walking behind the hedges.
As we approached the Hall, I saw several infected hobbling on the road between us and the building. I cursed silently and racked my brain on what to do. I'd have to create a loud enough distraction for those still on the street. But would that work? If these guys weren't attracted to the fire truck's siren, then that meant that they all weren't attracted to sound. That realization only brought more problems on how I'd deal with the undead in the future.
"Can I fight them all?" I said to myself. Saki, however, heard me. She grabbed my wrist tightly and shook her head.
"Are you crazy?! There's no way you can! There's gotta be at least a dozen of them." Saki said angrily and slightly scared.
I frowned and looked back at the walking hoard of undead. Think. Think! There has to be something I can do! I turned to the truck beside me and grinned. I walked around to the passenger's side and gave a cautionary pull on the door handle. A soft click could be heard as the unlocked door opened. I looked inside the driver's side and saw the keys still in the ignition. I stepped out of the car and looked back at Saki and Keika.
"I got an idea."
X X X
"Hey, Sakamoto. You see that?"
A JSDF soldier said to his partner while pointing down at a flaming truck racing down the road. Sakamoto looked away from the Hanamigawa Bridge and watched the odd sight of the roaring truck barreling through several of the undead.
"What the hell?" Sakamoto said as the truck crashed into an abandoned Prius, causing a loud and bright explosion. He then lifted his radio in front of his gas mask. "Sir, there seems to be some commotion across the bridge near the Mihama Cultural Hall. Please advise."
"Yeah, I saw that shit too. Take Tachibana and H-squad with you and scope the area; it could be survivors." A voice from the radio said. "If there's any signs they could be infected, put them down and return to your posts."
"...roger that."
X X X
Saki, Keika, who was being carried on Saki's back, and I ran across the street and stopped in front of one of the side entrances of the main building. I tugged on the door and found it to be locked. Slipping off my backpack, I rummaged through my supplies and took out some duct tape and a hammer.
Moving quickly, I tapped a large section of the door's glass near the lock. Once enough surface area was covered, I used my hammer to shatter the glass. Thanks to the tape, no extra sound was made from the glass other than the initial crack. I peeled off the tape and slid my hand through the hole to unlock the door. Once inside, I re-locked the door and headed down the hall.
"That was impressive." Saki said with a small smile as we walked towards the stairs at the end of the hall. As we walked, I kept an eye open for any possible undead in the building. "I can't believe your plan worked."
"Yeah, me either." I said with a grin.
My plan was to slip a flaming piece of cloth into the fuel filter while I aimed the truck to drive through the undead-ridden road. I had strapped several bricks over the gas pedal and let the truck drive independently. From there, we watched the truck take down the infected like a bowling ball would with bowling pins.
"Before my phone died, Komachi said that she and the bu-Taishi were hiding in a storage room on the west side of the second floor." I said as we ran up the stairs.
We stopped once we were on the top and looked left and right. Seeing that the coast was clear, we continued west through the building. Thankfully, we haven't run into any infected so far. It must have been because no events were scheduled in the hall today. After what felt like forever, we stopped in front of the door with a 'Storage Room' sign stuck on its surface. Saki smiled in relief and put down Keika; she all but ran to the door and knocked on it quickly.
"Taishi! Taishi!" Saki said, almost desperately. We heard a muffled voice from behind the door and listened to the sounds of running feet. The door swung open, and a young boy with pale blue hair looked joyfully at Saki and Keika.
"Nee-san!" Taishi cried and ran into his sister's chest and hugged her tightly. Keika began to cry and ran to hug her brother and sister. The three Kawasaki sibling enjoyed their emotional group hug.
"O-Onii-chan... I was so scared."
I turned to Komachi and watched as thick tear drops slipped off her cheeks. She was wiping her tears using the sleeves of a jacket I'd never seen before, and she began to sob. I smiled and walked over to her. I enveloped her in a tight hug; I closed my eyes and felt my throat contract into itself as my sister cried into my chest.
"It's okay, Komachi... I'm here now."
X X X
Saki and I sat back on a few boxes in the storage room and watched Komachi, Taishi, and Keika eat away hungrily at our food. It seemed they had gone without anything to eat for the past two days while waiting for us to arrive. Knowing that Komachi had been starving for so long filled me with regret for not getting here fast enough.
"Thank you, Hikigaya." Saki said as she looked over to me.
"For what?" I said as I leaned back on the stack of boxes behind me.
"For helping me save my brother... I don't think I could have gotten here alone, so... thank you. I owe you one." Saki said as she placed her hand over my own. Her cheeks were flushed, and she had trouble maintaining eye contact with me.
"Ah... don't mention it." I said. I felt my cheeks grow warm as her hand squeezed my own. After a few moments, Saki took back her hand and stood up.
"W-well, once they get their fill of food. We should get out of here. The longer we stick around, the bigger that group of bastards will get outside." Saki said as she looked at anything but me. I nodded and stood up as well.
While I would have liked to take the rest of the evening to rest, Saki had a point. The noise from outside would only keep attracting more of the undead to the building. The last thing we needed was to be surrounded and trapped. I walked over to the window and saw the Masago Central Park. The area around the park was devoid of the infected, albeit with two or three stragglers walking around.
But I could deal with numbers like that easily enough. So, we ran through the park and headed towards the residential area, using the park as a cover. I would have preferred to head home from here, being that it was only around three kilometers away. It was getting dark and cold quickly, so it would be best to find shelter away from here for tonight.
With my plan figured out, I turned around and told everyone. No one had any objections, and we all started to gather our things to leave now that our younger siblings had eaten their fill. Before we left the room, I paused and looked at Komachi and Taishi.
"When we leave the building, you do everything we say. Got it? Stay close and stay aware." I said with a severe tone. Komachi and Taishi looked at one another and nodded.
"Okay, Onii-chan."
"You got, Onii-san."
I frowned at what Taishi called me but ignored it. I held my shinai tightly, and we left the storage room. Now that Taishi was here, he had taken responsibility for carrying Keika while Saki protected the rear with her spear. We quickly and silently traveled downstairs and headed towards the south exit of the building. We stopped at the double doors and peered out their glass material.
"Damn... there's four of them out there." Saki said with a grimace. I nodded and turned to Komachi and Taishi.
"We're going to clear a path. No matter what happens, stay close and keep moving. Okay?" I said. Komachi looked scared but nodded nonetheless. Taishi was also frightened but forced a brave expression on his face. I turned to Saki. "Ready?"
"Let's do this."
We unlocked the doors and began running towards the park. Due to the loud latching noises of the double doors, the four infected out back turned to us and started to growl loudly. I cursed to myself and watched them run towards us. From the corner of my eyes, I saw a small pack of the undead run around the corner of the far-end side of the building. Damn it, more of them!
"Kawasaki!" I hissed just loud enough for her to hear me. She turned to where I pointed, and all the color on her face drained away at the sight of the incoming undead. We have to hurry!
Two of the closest infected made to grab at me, but I quickly dashed to the right, causing the furthest one on the left, a man in a firefighter uniform, to crash into his partner, a young woman dressed in casual wear. I reared my weapon back and slammed it down onto the infected woman's head. She quickly dropped to the floor, allowing the man to jump over her with his hands outstretched.
I lifted my left leg and kicked his chest, causing the man to pause slightly. I jumped back to gain distance and swung the shinai towards the right in a horizontal swipe. The man's neck snapped, and a burst of blood splattered across my arms. I didn't wait to deliver another hit downward onto his head again to finish him off.
Saki swung her spear to the left and slammed it across the infected businessman man's eyes. Blood and gore flew through the air as Saki pulled the spear back and rammed its pointed end through the man's skull. She then turned her head and saw the other infected man open his bloodied jaw wide; he made a b line towards her as he released a guttural growl.
Saki pulled out the spear and held it in front of her. This caused the portly man to ram the weapon into his stomach and out his back, but instead of stopping due to the invasive weapon in its stomach. The infected man continued onward to grab Saki. Saki was stunned at the undead's sheer determination and hesitated to react.
"Onee-san!" Taishi yelled in fright.
I dashed towards Saki and the infected with as much speed as possible. I slid to a stop behind the man and slammed my shinai into the side of his head. The undead's head cracked loudly, and a deep gash had spread out from where I struck. Saki then pulled out her spear from his stomach and jammed it into the man's left eye. Her weapon exited out of the undead skull with a bloody explosion; The infected dropped onto the ground. Finally dead.
"Onii-chan! Saki-san!" Komachi yelled and ran towards us with Taishi and Keika in tow. "Look!"
We turned our heads and saw the small group of infected from before running towards us. Unlike the other undead we encountered before, these infected had glowing red eyes and roared angrily toward us. They were running with everything they had.
"Shit! RUN!" I yelled, and we began to head deeper into the park.
I purposely fell to the back of the group and swung my weapon behind me in the face of one of the fast-growing mobs. A satisfying crack echoed behind me as the infected fell, causing several of its brethren to trip on his body. I looked forward and saw that Saki, Komachi, Taishi, and Keika were panicking as they continued to run. Komachi turned to me with wide, terrified eyes. Pleading at me to hurry and to run faster.
"RAAAGH!" "RAWGH!" "AGHH!"
I grimaced at the close-by sounds of the infected as they chased after us. I risked a look back and saw only seven feet of space between them and myself. These guys are too fast! I heard Komachi yell at me in a desperate voice to hurry. I grit my teeth and threw my shinai at one of the infected's heads.
"GET DOWN!"
In my panicked hurry, I ended up tripping on a large dead tree branch and rolled across the ground in a heap. A sharp, hot pain exploded from my nose and face as it scraped along the ground. The pain I felt was quickly forgotten as several loud bangs filled the air in front of me, and dozens of fast-moving objects cut through the air above me. I covered my head with my hands and waited for the loud gunfire to stop.
Once it did, I looked back and saw several piled-up corpses of the once-sprinting undead a few feet away from me. My head snapped to the front, where I saw two flashlights pointing toward me.
No way, The JSDF!
I stood up with a relieved smile. The flashlights moved over to focus on the blood on my forearms. I looked behind both soldiers and saw Komachi, and the rest looked relieved. I took a step forward towards them and heard two soft clicks.
"Don't move!" One of the soldiers said.
I froze and looked back and forth between them in confusion. I took another step forward to figure out what they were discussing.
"What are y-"
"Stop right there!" The other soldier said.
"Wait, what are you doing?!" Saki yelled angrily and tried to move towards me, but the soldier on the left looked back at her and held a hand up.
"That's my Onii-chan!" Komachi screamed.
"Do not move!" The soldier yelled.
My head jumped up at the sounds of faraway moans and groans. I turned to the soldiers with a panic. "W-we have to get out of here! The noises from your guns must have-" I stopped speaking when I saw the soldiers lift their guns at me. I held my arms up to show I was no harm and saw the blood on my arms.
Do they think I was bitten?!
"I-I'm not one of them!" I said quickly. "This isn't my blood! I'm not si-!"
"ONII-CHAN!" "HIKIGAYA!"
The sounds of gunfire filled the edge of the park. Burning hot pain stabbed deeply into my chest and stomach. I felt my body fall back in a dull thud. In my shock and pain-filled mind, I could barely hear the panicked screams of my sister and the others. I turned my head blearily and saw several other soldiers picking up Komachi and the rest and shoving them into their green humvees. My sister's panicked and terrified eyes zeroed in on mine as she screamed. Komachi's hands grabbed the air in front of her in a weak attempt to grab or touch me.
"Sir, we found four civilians with no injuries or signs of infection. We're bringing them in." One of the soldiers said into his radio as he walked over to me.
"Damnit, Tachibana. You all are cutting it close. Bring them in quickly. We're setting off the explosives in twenty minutes."
"Roger that." Tachibana said.
My lungs felt as if they were drowning, and I coughed and choked on my own blood. I looked up and saw Tachibana's eyes through his gas mask. They looked pained and regretful; he raised his assault rifle and leveled it at my head.
Why? I wasn't one of them.
"Sorry, kid. We couldn't risk it." Tachibana said and fired another shot.
My head jerked as the hysterical and distressed screams of my sister, and Saki echoed in my ears. They said that when you're about to die, your whole life flashes before your eyes. Whoever said that was full of crap. All I could see was the slowly growing wave of darkness spreading from the edges of my vision, enveloping the world before me in pitch-black darkness.
A few seconds later, I felt my blood-filled lungs draw their last breath.