Day 402, 10:00 PM
Outside Emergency Medical Center
As soon as the first branched snapped under his weight, Kuroiro instantly awoke from his slumber but it was too late as he took a tumble to the bottom. He lands hard on his back with a walker limping towards him. He looks up and leaps back and lands on his ass. He kicks the walker's feet out before snapping a foot into its face. He leaps to his feet and unholsters a knife. He drives the knife into the walker's skull. A second walker appears out of nowhere and grabs Kuroiro from behind. Kuroiro merges with the shadow in the trees beside him to escape. He thrusts a hand out, grabs the walker by the front of its shirt, and uses his quirk to travel up the shadows on the trees before reaching the top. He stabs the walker in the skull before letting its limp body fall to the bottom. He snaps his hand back and sighs heavily.
He propels himself out of the shadows and lands on the branch of his original sitting position. He sits down and brings his knees up to his chest and rocks back and forth like a rocking chair.
He turns his focus to the window with Komori. She and the other two continue to sit down nervously as they wait for whatever the LC Paramedics have in store for them but he could tell from his gaze that they were just as tired as he was. If his instincts were correct, then chances are, they were tired but doing everything in their power to not fall asleep. After all, with Kaminari and Jirou transporting some poor sap's organs, they couldn't be too careful nor too sure that someone got the bright idea to harvest their organs.
He wanted to stay awake for the sake of Komori so he did everything in his power to stay awake but like before, trying to fight sleep was always a losing battle.
With Komori
As Shemage looks around, she feels sleep creeping up on her. King Dragon and Grape Juice have their faces covered by their masks but she could tell that sleep was starting to attack them as well and they were losing the battle. Shemage kicks herself off her chair and looks around. She checked to see where the LC Paramedics were before turning back.
"Guys, don't fall asleep. No matter what, don't fall asleep. Okay. Don't fall asleep."
Grape Juice puts his head on King Dragon's lap. King Dragon blinks rapidly before nodding clumsily.
Shemage lightly slaps King Dragon across his masked face. "Don't fall asleep."
The sound of footsteps sends shivers down Shemage's back. Turning around, she spots Xanax walking down the hall holding a mug of coffee in hand. He removes his mask and takes a sip.
"Hey, how are you doing? Tired? We have some coffee if you want." He takes another sip of coffee before holding it out.
Shemage eyes the mug suspiciously.
"CC said we don't have too many beds to spare so you can't sleep here. So, here's some coffee."
"We're fine," Shemage answers.
"It's not poisoned. See." He takes another sip. "Drink. Drinky drink."
Shemage shakes her head. "No thank you, I'm good."
"But, coffee will keep you awake? I mean, it never worked for me. I mean, I've been drinking coffee since I was a teenager and it never kept me awake. But maybe it will for you. You know, because it has caffeine."
"We're fine," Shemage insists.
CC steps out with IV and Cardiac behind him.
CC looks at the three sleepy teenagers and laughs. "Looks like somebody is getting sleep. You know, if you want, you can sleep outside in one of the ambulances."
"We're fine," Shemage insists with fury this time. "We' don't want anything you're offering."
CC notices her eying him with anger and suspicion. He sighs in defeat. "I'm going to go out on a limb here. If I'm wrong, my limb will break and if I'm right, it won't."
"Huh?"
"You found out about Reiko Yanagi, didn't you?"
Shemage's eyes widen.
He takes her silence as an answer. "I'll take that as a yes then. Before you ask, let me just say something: we didn't kill her. We tried to save her but the damage done to her was beyond repair. We couldn't save her... so we harvested her organs."
Shemage clenches her fists. "What?"
"True story. We were driving back from a gated community. I'm assuming you're familiar with it. And we found Ms. Reiko Yanagi buried under some rubble, badly wounded. We loaded her in the ambulance, brought her back here, did what we could to save her, and when we determined she couldn't be saved, we harvested her organs. The organs your electric and earphone jack friend are transporting belong to Reiko Yanagi."
"So you're planning on selling our blood too? How can we fucking trust you?"
"You'll just have to take my word for it."
"So, that's why you wanted us as collateral; you didn't just want our blood, you wanted our organs as well. Am I wrong?"
"No, you're correct. If your friends fail to deliver the organs to our client, then we're going to strap you down and steal your organs."
"We could kill you right now. We could kill all of you right now and then take what we want."
"I don't know about the muscular boy right there but yours and Mineta's quirk is shit. If we wanted to, we could've easily restrained you and taken your organs for ourselves but we didn't. You know why?"
"So we have a chance to recover at full health before you harvest us?"
"We're thinking out all the angles, actually. To benefit us and our group."
"So you're a group of assholes?"
CC laughs. "Please, we may be assholes but we're assholes taking care of ourselves. If we have to rob and kill other survivors to make it in this world, we'll do it. Have you ever stolen or killed other survivors?"
Shemage thinks back to the Isamu Remnants, the Bystanders, and the League of Villains. "We have."
"It's been over a year; nobody's hands are clean in this world. Am I correct?"
"Yeah, you're right. But because of this, I still don't trust you. I heard two of your guys talking about incinerating Reiko Yanagi. We couldn't even say goodbye to her!"
"She was of no use to us so there was no need to keep her around."
"That's a cold way of thinking. So, you're only keeping us around because we're useful to you?"
"We are."
"You took Reiko away from us. Even if we believed what you said about her being too far to save, you still took her away from us before we could say goodbye. We don't even get to see her remains."
"And we apologize but we couldn't be sure of you. We assumed that if we disclosed the death of Yanagi, you would attack us."
"And so you lied to us."
"We did what we thought was best for the sake of our group. Please, understand."
"You're still going to use us as collateral?"
"We are?"
"And will you harvest our organs if our friends don't meet the deadline?"
"Yes. But only because our lives are on the line. If we don't do anything, then we're fucked. Our clients will use our bodies for experiments and we don't want that. Please, understand. I want you friends to come back because I want my body to remain intact and not an experiment of that disgusting digit guy."
"Our friends will make it back in time."
"We pray that they do because if we don't, we hope that at least your organs will serve as suitable interest if we fail to deliver on time."
Shemage looks around at the other paramedics, gulping.
CC gestures to the mug of coffee in Xanax's hands. "Perhaps some coffee? If you're not going to be sleeping under the same roof as us, might I suggest some coffee so you can keep your wits and everything?"
Shemage eyes the mug suspiciously before she felt her eyelids grow heavy. "Okay then. Sure. Coffee."
"And if you decide to sleep, where would you like to sleep?"
"We'll sleep outside in one of the ambulances if that's okay."
"By all means. But, understand that we will not allow you to take any of our belongings, is that understood?'
Shemage salutes him. "Crystal clear, buddy."
"Good."
Shemage takes the coffee from Xanax and takes a sip, wincing after the aftertaste. "Damn. Shit."
"I know, it takes like shit," Xanax nods. "But, coffee is supposed to taste bad because it wakes us up."
Outside
10:30 PM
After gathering their stuff, which wasn't much, Shemage leads Grape Juice and King Dragon outside the medical center and into one of the ambulances. Cardiac and IV quickly emptied the ambulance of anything useful just in case they tried to steal something and left three stretches inside for the two to sleep in just in case. King Dragon and Grape Juice climb in two of the stretchers while Shemage sits off to the side, still sipping the coffee.
After a few minutes of sitting, she removes her belt before using it to lock the door from the inside.
Shemage gets down to her knees and hugs her feet tightly. Remembering that the was a driver and passenger's side, she quickly taps King Dragon on the stomach. "Hey, King Dragon, any chance I can use your belt?"
"I don't have a belt." He gestures to his stretchable pants. "I don't wear belts since whenever I turn to a dragon, they snap."
"Oh, right."
Grape Juice lifts his head. "Use the seatbelts. Pull the seatbelts out and wrap them around the door handles before buckling in."
Shemage's brows arch. "Good idea."
She climbs to the front and quickly heads to the passenger door. She pulls the seatbelt out and laces it around the door handle, before buckling in the belt. She turns to the driver's door and just as she grabs the seatbelt-
The door opens.
She yelps and falls back in the passenger seat.
Vantablack stands before her. "Wait, Shemage, it's me, Vantablack."
Shemage releases a sigh of relief. "Vantablack? What are you doing here? Are Chargebolt and Earphone Jack back?"
"No, they're not. They told me to stay behind to keep an eye on you."
"You've been watching us the whole time?"
"Yeah, yeah, I've been your regular guardian angel. Like a demon watching over you."
"My new favorite guardian devil."
"Demon."
"Demon."
"Revelry in the dark, Shemage." He smirks.
She climbs into the driver's seat. "Where have you been?"
"Watching from the trees. I'm going to keep watching from the trees, okay? If these guys-"
"Reiko Yanagi's dead."
He forgets how to breathe. "What?"
"The organs Chargebolt and Earphone Jack are transporting are Reiko's."
"Shit. Fuck, so that's why they wanted you as collateral."
"Look, just stay out of our way. Let Chargebolt and Earphone Jack finish their job and then we can go home with all these medical supplies."
"Shemage." He reaches a hand out.
She grabs it. "Trust me, you have to trust me. They were upfront about it once we discovered it."
"Do you trust these guys?"
"No, I don't trust them. But if they're willing to give us an ambulance with medical supplies, we gotta at least see through to the end of the deal. Please, just, keep watching out for us. If you're having trouble, here's some coffee."
She reaches over to grab a thermos of hot water and a pouch of instant coffee. She hands it to him. "Here, instant coffee. If you're having trouble, sip this coffee."
Vantablack feels the thermos. "Still warm."
"And instant coffee. Just pour it in there and stir. Or shake, either way."
"And what about you?"
"I'll try and do my best to stay awake."
"No. If I'm the only one with coffee, then I should use it to stay awake. You're sleeping on nice, cozy, death-like stretchers while I'm watching from the trees. I do better in the dark than anything else. Get some rest and I'll keep an eye out. Remember... I'm your guardian devil."
She laughs. "I thought you were a guardian demon."
"Oh, right. Yeah." He smacks his forehead. "That's what I get for being tired." I'm a demon and you're my angel.
She grabs his hand. "Be careful."
His eyes widen at her touch, suddenly feeling warm. He wanted to touch her hand but with the coffee pouch in one hand and the warm thermos in the other, he couldn't afford that luxury. Instead, he revels in her warmth before gazing deep into her eyes.
"I will." He pauses. "And, Reiko... did they kill her?"
"They said she was beyond saving and incinerated her after harvesting her organs."
"Are we going to avenge her?"
"They'll get their karma soon." She squeezes his hand again. "Please, our classmates at Mister Donuts need our medical supplies so please, don't compromise us."
He leans forward, almost touching her face with his. "We will get revenge on them. We will make them pay for whatever they did to Reiko."
"Fingers crossed for Chargebolt and Earphone Jack."
9:20 PM
Monastery
After taking a few steps into the monastery, Kaminari sneezes. He uses the collar of his shirt to wipe off his snot before sneezing again. "Damn it, it's dusty as hell."
Jirou steps in after him. "Or maybe somebody is talking about you." She sneezes.
Kaminari looks at her, smiling. "You were saying, punk rock girl?"
"Just get a move on. And try not to sneeze so much; don't want that gun-trotting survivor to hear us."
"Right, right. Okay then, let's hurry along."
Jirou manages to see the footprints Kaminari left as he carefully steps through the so-called lobby of the monastery.
Kaminari slides open a door and allows Jirou to step through. The two of them tap the other's shoulders as they travel down the hallway together. Jirou looks around, using the torch to guide them. While Kaminari walks forward almost aimlessly, Jirou is looking for anything that might lead to their supplies. She checks to see if there's anything related to Y4K.
Jirou spots a door with Y4K sprayed in red across the door.
"Hey." She grabs his shoulder. "It's here, right here."
Kaminari slides open the door and steps in, knife gripped tight.
The room is the praying room of a monastery with a Buddha statue in the center. Several candles of various sizes surround the statue and Kaminari quickly lights each one. There were several torches adorned to the pillars in the room so the two took the time to light the torches to give them more light. But before they could light the first torch, Kaminari speaks up.
"Hey, Jirou, what if that survivor sees us? What if he sees the light is on?"
"Shit, good point." She takes the torch back. "Okay, we'll just hope the candles are enough."
They turn towards the west wall to see several couches set up with two backpacks. Jirou steps forward and touches one backpack. A note lays flat on the couch between them. She picks up the note.
'The boss requires that you light the candles before you take the supplies as a show of good faith. Thank you for your service.'
Huh, looks like we already got the first part down.
She opens it to look inside. Inside were several useful supplies like food, medicine, and medical equipment like microscopes, stethoscopes, and stitches. She opens the second backpack to find identical items inside.
"Hell yeah, these are the supplies." Jirou zips up both backpacks. "Carry a bag."
"Wait, wait," Kaminari stops, "we're already carrying backpacks and that dirtbike can't carry too many people, especially if it's crowded with backpacks."
"Then we'll put all the supplies in my bag." She ponders for a moment. "I'm the only one with a backpack. I can load everything in one backpack in my backpack and then I can carry the second backpack by hand, just like I did the ice chest on the way here."
"Or..." Kaminari pauses. "I can wear the second backpack on the front. You know, like an apron or something."
"Will that work for you?"
"Yeah, it will. Come on, let's take the backpacks."
Jirou loads the contents of the first bag into her pack while Kaminari hoists the second backpack on his chest.
"How do I look?" Kaminari poses with the front of the backpack making the front of his body look saggy.
"Like you need to lose some weight."
"I present to you... my very special... weight loss routine." He removes the backpack. He smiles widely. "Eh, eh?"
"Looks like you finally found your routine."
Kaminari laughs and pats her on the shoulder. Jirou looks at his hand and feels herself blush a bit as she revels in the feel of Kaminari's touch. She looks at her classmate in the eyes before gesturing to the front door. "Come on, let's get out of here."
As the two step towards the door, they freeze in place suddenly when an out-of-place noise fills the air.
Grr...
"Oh no," Kaminari panics as he backpeddles. "You have got to be kidding me."
Grr...
He turns in the opposite direction.
Gr...
Another direction. "Oh no, no."
"Kaminari, bloodhounds."
"This must be the pack the bloodhound from earlier belonged to."
"Kill the light."
Kaminari blows at the torch but immediately goes out of breath.
"No, forget what I said, Kaminari, don't kill the light."
Ahhh...
The two flinch with confusion at the sound coming from outside the praying room.
Arrh-ahh!
There that noise goes again, the sound of dogs whining in pain.
"What? What was that?" Jirou hides behind Kaminari like a frightened little girl.
"I don't know." Kaminari puts the backpack over his back instead of the front. "Stay back, Kyouka."
Skitter, skitter, skitter.
Squeak, squeak, squeak.
"What's that sound? It sounds like Spongebob walking?" Kaminari leans forward, trying to find the source. Those were bloodhounds but... they started whining like a normal dog does in pain. Does that mean, something...
There was only one door for them to leave through but they weren't going to step foot through it until they knew what was going on. Much to their horror, the squeaking noise grew louder. Stepping back, Kaminari's eyes widen as he feels his heart pound like a drum in his chest. The sound of the dogs vanishes completely and the squeaking sound gets louder with every passing second. Kaminari's eyes focus intently on the door and his grip tightens on the torch.
The squeaking reaches its peak as a swarm of rats burst through the doorway and skitter in the direction of the two young survivors.
And not just any rats...
... ZOMBIE RATS!