Disclaimer: First Chapter
Story Start!
"He's right! The letter is true!"
Saya was looking through a microscope at the cells of a zombie, dead zombies were around the Hyuga compound when one was bitten and put down out of honor. Once Naruto allowed her to read the letter, she had to confirm it for herself. She had to get a microscope from the Hyuga that was used in their creation of medicine, and check out the cells on some slain zombies.
The cells were infected with small, wriggling parasites that were ingrained into the cell's very core. When she looked at the saliva, she had seen dozens upon dozens of little parasite eggs that were in a dormant state, and the second she took a drop of her own blood and dropped it onto the saliva, the eggs became active, and it took close to 15 minutes before the eggs hatched. When the white blood cells in her blood attached the cells, the parasites infected the white blood cells, which was how the infection would seem to spread to the rest of the body.
She did the same experiment with everyone's blood.
Kohta's blood caused the eggs to hatch after 11 minutes.
Saeko's blood caused the eggs to hatch after 1 hour 2 minutes.
Rei's blood caused the eggs to hatch after 33 minutes.
Alice's blood caused the eggs to hatch after 19 minutes.
Shizuka's blood caused the eggs to hatch after 12 minutes.
Asami's blood caused the eggs to hatch in 15 minutes.
Naruto's blood caused the eggs to hatch after 1 hour and 34 minutes.
"This... this feels... this feels so obvious, I can't believe that I didn't think of this before. Of course, the blindness, the spreading through bite, and the fact only destroying the brain or cutting off the head kills them." Saya couldn't believe that a genius like her hadn't put all of the signs together. It was so much like how some insects were turned into zombie-like creatures when they were infected with specific parasites. 'These windows are so narrow though, you would really need to inject anyone bitten really quickly. Only 3 of us breach the 30 minute mark, and only 2 of us breach the hour point.' Saya thought to herself.
She took the tiniest amount of the medicine, and when she applied it to the infected blood and cells, it killed the parasites that had hatched extremely quickly. It only needed minutes to kill all of the parasites that came in contact with the medication, but that was with direct application.
"Oooooh, these ones are a little different. The parasites in these cells are different... this is from the boar that you guys killed!" Shizuka was looking at infected cells from the boar that Naruto, Saeko, and Rei killed, and she saw slightly different parasites in the creature's cells. The tiny wriggling parasites were barbed in the boar cells, and instead of being gray colored, they were darker gray colored. "... So the zombie parasites had to mutate to infect animals!" Shizuka could now understand why the zombie lion had so many bite marks on it, and why the zombie boar had that as well.
It was because they weren't affected by the regular parasites, and had to get infected by a set of parasites that were slightly mutated to being able to infect them. Still, the medicine quickly killed the cells of the zombie boar as well, showing that even mutated parasites were killed off by the medicine.
"Still... I should have figured this out way sooner. Of course this wasn't just a virus like the black plague or the even rabies... damnit Saya, you should have figured this out sooner." Saya cursed herself for not realizing it. They had traveled through so many places in the RV, they could have stocked up on so much anti-parasite medicine from all of the different locations if she had taken the time to figure out what they were dealing with.
She had been treating this like a disease.
"Great... can you guys get out now. I'm naked, and while I'm comfortable with you guys, I really don't want to have these talks with my stuff out." Rei didn't mind that Kohta was in the room too much. They were having a strategy meeting, so as long as she kept her chest to the floor and the blanket over her butt, everything was covered, but that didn't mean she liked having super serious conversations while her ass was a mere sheet away from being exposed.
Naruto was sitting up, having recovered enough to allow him to not have to be laying down on the ground.
"How are you feeling?" Saeko rubbed a medicine into Naruto's side for him.
"The pain is much better, I'll be recovered fully in about a week. The Hyuga secret ointment is a hell of a good drug, couldn't tell you how it works though. Well, with my body it works better on me than others." Naruto admitted with a lofty smile. His own natural speedy recovery just made medicines more effective on him. Rei was going to take longer than him to heal, even with the fact that her injuries weren't as severe and she was getting the same medicine as him.
"... but since the zombies are immortal... it means we can't just keep letting them live whenever we see them. The longer we let zombies live, the more likely they will mutate... we have to be more aggressive." Saya frowned.
Naruto nodded, and so did Saeko.
"Yes, while we can ignore zombies and hide from them, they will never go away on their own. One day, either all of the zombies will have to be wiped out, or the humans will be." Saeko was actually looking forward to it. A soft, hidden smile on her face as she thought about all of the zombies she would be given free reign to test her metal against.
Before, it was just assumed zombies would rot away once summer came around, and since it was Spring that meant the zombies would all be gone in mere months. Now though, zombies were revealed to be immortal, and thus would not rot or age, and thus would need to be taken care of. The longer they were allowed to exist, the more likely future bite victims would be infected by mutated parasites and turned into mutated zombies.
"So, most zombies can't infect animals, and if a zombie bites and turns an animal... it means that zombie has mutated worms right?" Kohta asked as he tried to follow along with what was going on. He was frowning, and he looked at the rifle in his lap. Zombies that could turn animals were more rare, but if it did it, it 100% meant that the zombie had mutated parasites. Mutated parasites that could spread to future humans, and then become even more mutated as each generation of parasites is born.
It was a scary thought.
"Still, we know what medicines can be used to treat the wounded, and we have a chart that can tell us how fast we need to administer the medicine." Shizuka now felt way more useful as a doctor. Before, all she could do was treat non-zombie related injuries, but now she had the ability to treat zombie related injuries too. She could carry medicine with her, and she had the knowledge and experience needed to give the proper dosage to people who needed medicine.
She felt useful again.
Naruto had been so skilled, that she had kind of felt like the only thing she could do was drive the RV when Naruto asleep. Now, her medical knowledge was actually something she could consistently use to help the group.
"Still, eventually, the medicine will expire. We need to gather as much as possible before it becomes useless, right?" Asami asked.
"Not exactly, when medicines expire, it doesn't mean they stop working. Some medicines just lose some of their potency when they expire, and some medicines become even more potent, and thus become dangerous to use. You can realistically use some medicines more than 10 years after they expire." Shizuka answered Asami's question. It was dangerous to use certain medicines outside of their expiration date without knowing if they got stronger or weaker, and sometimes the active ingredient would become too weak to become effective, but that was a much rarer case, and it wasn't the case in the medicine they were dealing with.
"Oh..." Asami went quiet.
She hadn't expected that.
"Still, I gave the Hiashi most of the medicine that Orochimaru gave to us, since they are stuck in this forest for now, they need it more than us. We can get more as we travel." Naruto explained.
Getting their hands on more medicine was now a top priority, and then finding an easy to defend, but abundant in resources, location was now the second highest priority.
"Since this is parasite based, this also means that there is a chance that when Winter comes, many of the Zombies will start to hibernate, and go inactive until the spring." Saya mentioned, since many parasites would go into an inactive state during winter. If the zombies were the same, then it was extremely important for them to stock up on supplies and find the best place to live before winter, that way they could go and find as many hibernating zombies as they could, and kill them while they were inactive.
"Again, my ass is out, can we talk about this stuff later?" Rei asked.
"So, the first order of business is to get as much medicine as we can get. Then, we need to find a place that we can move the Hyuga to, and then we need to gather as many survivors as we can and guide them to the safe spot." Naruto made a list of the stuff they were suppose to do.
"Why?" Alice asked Naruto, sitting in his lap.
It was a good question for a girl her age.
"The Hyuga are excellent when it comes to medicine, so if we can find a safe spot for them, they use that location to build a place for us to survive during the winter. The more survivors we can find and bring back to them, the safer that place becomes. We've got a time limit, we've got to find a great place to live before Fall."
"Winter." Saya corrected him.
"No, Fall. Once Winter hits, it will be too late to fortify the new location. If we find a new place by Fall, we can gather the Hyuga there, and they can fortify it by Winter, making it a good base." Naruto knew that they would be playing it way too close if they put off finding a permanent base of operations until winter, and even fall was cutting it really close. "Winter gets cold in Japan, really cold. If we wait until winter, that makes it harder to survive. Food will become scarce very quickly. We need to set up the base in fall, and store up enough food to last through the winter."
Saya fell silent when she was corrected, but sighed and nodded her head.
"... So, now we have to take out as many zombies as possible." Kohta whispered.
"That is for the best."
"... Then... I want to stay here, with the Hyuga family." Kohta was unsure of how to say what he wanted to say.
"You wish to leave the group?" Saeko asked him with a raised eyebrow.
"No! Not leave the group... but... I think... it would be better for everyone if I stayed here with the Hyuga. I'm really good at hunting... and... I'm fat... and I eat a lot." Kohta felt some shame to admit what he was saying. Nobody corrected him, but only because he looked like he still had a lot more to say. "... and it isn't like you guys aren't coming back. Also, I'm good at catching animals and hunting!"
"... But... you're one of us, don't you want to come and help?" Asami asked Kohta.
"I do... but I'm not athletic, I'll slow you guys down. Also, I can only fight when I have a gun. If we're going to be fighting zombies, I'll run out of bullets really quickly... if I go with you guys, I'll run out of bullets and just become a liability... also... I've got the a weak immune system compared to the rest of you guys. If I get bitten... I'll become a zombie way faster. So, I'm more likely to get bit." Kohta didn't like saying it.
He hated admitting it.
"I'll talk to Hiashi about it, but you're wrong about one thing Kohta. You're not a liability, you're am amazing asset to the group, and you staying here will be an amazing thing for everyone." Naruto smiled at Kohta and put a comforting hand on his head.
Kohta looked at him with stars in his eyes.
"Really?"
"Yeah, the more food you can catch and store away for the Winter now, the easier it will be for everyone later. So, yeah, we'll leave a good amount of the guns here with you, and the ammo that goes with those guns. You can help protect this place and the people who live here." Naruto stated with a soft, brotherly smile to Kohta.
"I agree... but only because he brought up a good point. Now we need to start killing zombies, and he can only fight with a gun, so it's better if he puts those guns to good use here killing zombies and animals in the forest." Saya agreed with Naruto and Kohta.
Kohta would benefit them if he joined them, but eventually he would stop benefitting them and become a liability that would become easier for zombies to bite, and thus would require medicine that could have been used for the athletic fighters if they got bitten. At the Hyuga compound though, he could fill their food storage, and use his knowledge of hunting and guns to protect them until the day that they found a safe place for everyone to live.
"You aren't leaving the group... you're just staying here to protect our allies, you're doing what a real man would do. I support you staying here as well. We'll be reunited when we come back for the Hyuga to move them to the knew location." Saeko gave her swift approval of both Kohta's plans and his motives behind them.
"I think he should come with us." Alice didn't agree.
Naruto put a hand on her head.
"As much as we would like him to come with us, please respect his choice." Naruto comforted her. She just nodded and listened to him, but her words made Kohta happy all the same.
"Should I stay behind too?" Asami asked.
Now it got complicated.
"Why?" Naruto asked her.
"I mean, I'm not super duper athletic like some of you... and while... I do want to stay with the group." Asami looked at Naruto specifically when she said that. She looked down into her own lap. She wanted to stay with Naruto, but she was clumsy and only kind of good with a gun. She didn't have any other skills that could help the group survive other than that.
She wasn't athletic with sword or spear training like Saeko and Rei.
She wasn't a medicine expert like Shizuka, or have general genius knowledge like Saya.
Heck, she was kind of a gloomy person, so she couldn't lift the mood like Alice could.
"It's up to you... but yeah, I'll talk to Hiashi about you too. Does anyone else want to stay?" Naruto asked as he looked around. He didn't see anyone else look like they were going to stay, so he nodded his head and started to stand up. He winced in pain, and Saeko helped him get and stay on his feet, but he waved her off. "Okay, Asami and Kohta... both of you go take all the guns and ammo you think you will need."
"Really?" Kohta asked.
"Yeah, guns are great weapons, but they are loud and limited by ammo. So, I think right now only me, Saeko, and Saya, and Rei should have one gun each, and only a small amount of ammo to use in emergencies. The rest can go to you two. A small firearm for emergencies is fine for us." Naruto explained.
He, Saeko, and Rei would serve as the frontal fighting force since all of them could fight without a gun.
Saya would be the back guard, since she wasn't athletic but could kind of use a gun now, so she would serve to only shoot any zombies that got too close to Alice or Shizuka.
Shizuka was too clumsy to be trusted with a firearm, and Alice was a child with no gun experience, so it was best for her to remain protected by the rest of them.
"I would rather not use a gun." Saeko pointed out.
"Even if you don't want to use it, you're going to at least carry one. I'm going to go and talk with Hiashi about all of this." Naruto started to walk out of the room.
-Later with Hiashi-
"I approve, Hanabi has told me that Kohta has been an excellent hunter, and he has already helped to provide much to our food storage. I approve of both Kohta and Asami remaining here with us, so long as they continue to pull their weight." Hiashi's answer came swiftly, and without much need to consider what Naruto was asking.
"Okay-"
"Though, I will not make things easy for him. He will be put on a strict diet, and expected to go through training to improve his athletic ability." Hiashi was not going to just allow a fat boy to remain a fat boy while under his care. Naruto nodded his approval. "Also, the woman, Asami, I've notices that she seems very fond of you." Hiashi pointed out.
"She is." Naruto admitted and looked away.
"I expect her to pull her weight, even if she gets depressed about not being by your side. If she stops pulling her weight, then she will not be treated well by the clan." Hiashi pointed out. Naruto nodded, since that was acceptable terms to him.
Naruto smiled.
"Sorry to dumb members of our group on you." Naruto said.
Hiashi raised a hand.
"Think nothing of it. I'm asking you to find the Hyuga a new home. We lost a lot of manpower since this all started. We might not be traveling together, but we are one group, connected by a common goal... survival. You are also my son, and your friends are friends of the clan." Hiashi stated with a more gentle smile.
Naruto nodded.
"Also... I'm sorry." Hiashi frowned and apologized.
Naruto just smiled and didn't ask what he was sorry for.
"Don't be... we're both leaders. It must have been really hard for you to make the choice you made, and hard choices are what leaders have to do." Naruto knew exactly what Hiashi was talking about. No more words needed to be exchanged on the topic. In the end, Hiashi didn't betray his trust, even if he had thought and considered it an option.
It wasn't the temptations that defined a man, but the choices he made in the face of those temptations, and Hiashi had proved that he was a man with a strong will by not stealing all of the medicine for his clan.
"So how long until the RV is repaired?" Naruto changed the subject.
"At most a week from now." Hiashi promised.
"Very well, once the RV is repaired. We'll leave the trailer with most of the supplies with you guys, and take only what we need." Naruto decided to split the supplies on the RV, because it was for the best. They were going to be traveling through cities again, so it was just better to collect food and stuff in the stores they stopped by.
Also, they would need less supplies now that the number traveling in the RV was about to decrease by 2 members.
With Saeko, Rei, Shizuka, Saya, Alice, and himself the total number of people on the RV had fallen to a mere 6 of them. That was a number that was much easier to gather resources for, and considering that Alice was a young girl and needed less food, and most of their members were girls with smaller appetites in general, finding resources would just be a lot easier.
"Are you sure you don't need everything?" Hiashi questioned.
This time Naruto raised a hand.
"The trailer will weigh down the RV and make it consume more gas, and it is filled with supplies we might not need. We plan to find a place to bunker down before the winter, so the supplies for the winter won't be useful right now. If we can't find a place to stay by winter, we'll come back and bunker down here until spring and try again." Naruto stated.
Supplies for winter were better left with the Hyuga, since right now it was Spring and winter supplies were just a luxury instead of a requirement.
"Very well, then, I'll share 20% of the ointment we have in store with you guys in case you get injured and need it." Hiashi offered.
Naruto nodded, and gratefully accepted the offer.
"One final thing... You know Kohta better than I do. He won't... make a forward move on my daughter, will he... I can trust he won't sneak into her room at night?" Hiashi asked.
Not as a leader, but father.
"I trust Kohta with my life. Also, he's not very confident with women, so the chance of him making a move on Hanabi is pretty much 0." Naruto allowed Hiashi to breath easily with his backing of Kohta.
It was a relief to know his daughter didn't have a chance of being raped by a teenage boy.
Chapter End!
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