Fate/Stay Night/High School of the Dead --- Chapter 2

Chapter 2

(I don't own F/SN or HSOTD)

Rei and Takashi drove into the night, driving into the city under the light of the moon.  While they hoped to see some kind of rescue efforts going on, something anywhere to tell them that they weren’t on their own, that the world wasn’t ending. Sadly, as they parked at the side of the road on a hillside overlooking part of the city all they saw was the streets filled with them wandering aimlessly as they searched for more flesh of the living to feast on.

“I can’t believe we left them with Shido,” frowned Rei, her voice breaking the monotone

“They’ll be fine,” said Takashi. “I don’t think the Lance-san will let anything happen to the others.”

“Such optimism in someone you just met,” Rei raised an eyebrow. “You’re usually such a downer.”

“Maybe,” Takashi shrugged. “Call me crazy, but there’s something about the guy that makes me feel like I can trust him.  If he’s there, then I think that the the people on the bus are going to be okay.”

“Man, hero worship much?” Rei teased, but she actually knew what Takashi was talking about. When Lance showed up at the school, despite his weird abilities she couldn’t help but instinctively know that the knight was on their side and would look out for them. Normally she would be at least a little more suspicious of new people, being a police officer’s daughter as well as being trapped in a new hell but she couldn’t help herself.

A groan cut off the good-natured bantering and made the pair turn to the road behind them to spy more of them approaching, being drawn towards the noise of the motorcycle.

“We’d better move,” Rei frowned.

“Right,” Takashi agreed, getting the machine into gear and hitting the accelerator and racing down the road.

The pair drove further down the road, passing into the city itself which was eerily quiet. There were several cars which had crashed into various spots, but the bloodstains inside the car and lack of bodies told the two teens enough as to what had happened to the occupants. No living people were around and the dead were nowhere to be seen. In fact, the only signs of life that Takashi and Rei could see were some stray animals that were sniffing around the bloodstains or wandering in the alleyways looking for either their owners or food.

The pair came to a stop at a crossroads, spying a convenience store that seemed family-run since a residence was on top. The store itself was closed and barred shut with security screens. It didn’t seem to help since the upstairs windows were broken with bloodstains on the curtains.

“Where is everyone?” asked Rei, stunned at the still-life around them. “Not even the dead are around.”

“They followed the living I guess,” Takashi shrugged, keeping an eye out for movement. “Anyone who died just got up and moved to where all the action is.”

Rei grimaced, already picturing the carnage. With how they were attracted to sound, it did seem to make sense that they would ignore an area that lacked a food source. They’d go where the noises of life would be an indication that humans to eat would be there.

‘Isn’t there anybody left?’ Rei wondered to herself, looking around for something, anything which could mean help or signs of life. Of course, since the outbreak began, people would want to leave and not risk getting eaten or turning into one of them. Peering down the road, Rei’s eyes were drawin to a pair of lights. They were just around a corner and could have been mistaken as lights from spotlights like the billboards had or from a house. Takashi assumed it as much since he was looking out for the dead, but Rei took a second look and found that they were actually headlights from a car, a police car!

“Takashi! Look!” Rei gasped, pointing at the car ahead.

“Huh?” Takashi looked where Rei was pointing to see the police car in question, the positioning of it making look like the cops were on patrol. The sight of the cops made the boy smile in delight whereas someone his age might be nervous about them. “Oh man. No license, no helmet, and on a stolen bike. I’m just asking to get arrested.”

“Don’t tell me you’re losing your nerve now,” Rei teased.

“Of course not,” Takashi retorted. Hitting the accelerator again, they went for what they hoped would be some help.

Coming to the car itself, the pair’s hope died before they could even try to get the attention of the  officers. The front of the car looked fine, but  in truth the rest of it was trashed. A delivery truck had crashed into it’s side, smashing it against the side of the building and killing the two officers inside. Their bodies still remained, which told the pair that at least  the only way a person could become one of them was by being killed by one of them. It didn’t make the pair feel that good though, seeing their hope crushed, quite literally with blood stains spattered all over the road and the hood of the car.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Takashi grimaced.

Rei had a similar grimace, but she dismounted the motorcycle and began to head towards the machine. Takashi blinked and called out, “Hey wait a minute Rei!”

“They might have something useful on them,” Rei replied, turning to frown at Takashi. “So grow some balls already. This is freaking Armageddon!”

Sighing, Takashi shook his head and dismounted the machine. Both teens headed up to the car and began to try and peer through the bodies and the car itself to see if there was anything  that they could use to help them. A few minutes of unnerving scrounging later, the two managed to find a few items. It mostly resulted in a single pair of handcuffs and a baton. Probably the most valuable find though was the Smith & Wesson M37 Air Weight , not that Takashi or Rei would know that it was called that. All they knew was that it was a gun and that they could use it to protect themselves.

“Know how to use it?” asked Rei, seeing Takashi’s gaze on the gun.

“I’ve seen a few cop shows,” Takashi offered weakly. Picking up the weapon, he held it up before staring at the weapon for a moment. “It’s...heavier than I thought it would be.”

“Well duh! It’s not a toy after all,” Rei frowned. Of course as a cop’s daughter she’d have a better idea about guns than most her age.

Takashi rolled his eyes and fiddled with the weapon for a moment, managing to get the barrel of the weapon to open. “Well, it’s fully loaded. The problem is that it’s only got five shots.”

“Here,” Rei offered, holding out her hand. Takashi opened his hand and Rei dropped five bullets inside of it, all of them ready to use if not a little bloody.

“The other officer’s gun was broken, but the bullets were still good,” Rei explained, cleaning her hands from the blood on them.

“I’m impressed,” Takashi commented.

“What?” Rei frowned. “My dad is the police chief so I know my way around his gun. Plus do you think I’m going to be afraid of a little blood after everything that we’ve been through today.”

“Good point,” Takashi sighed.

The pair tucked their chosen weapons into their pockets before preparing too mount up on the motorcycle once again. Takashi was about to hit the ignition so they could get on their way when Reii suddenly snapped her hand forward and took Takashi’s. Blinked, Takashi turned to look at his ex staring off into the distance. “What is it?”

“I thought I heard something,” Rei frowned. “Listen.”

Takashi strained his ears, not willing to simply discount Rei’s words simply because he wanted to leave quickly. He could hear sirens in the far distance, a scream or two, and even the sounds of fires if the air stayed calm.

“Rei..” Takashi frowned.

“Just listen!” the girl insisted. “I know I heard something!”

Takashi was about to get annoyed, but that was when he heard a rattle. At first he just dismissed it as the wind, but the rattling noise came back louder than before. It was faint at first, but was slowly getting louder. Whatever the noise was coming from, it was mobile and it was coming closer.

“What is that?” asked Takashi, reaching for the gun in his pocket.

“I don’t know,” Rei frowned, gripping her staff.

The rattling of chains grew louder as the one who held them grew closer.  Both of them knew that just leaving behind whatever was making it may have been a good idea. Still, their curiosity was getting the better of them. Takashi thought back to certain video game series which had zombies and eventually had those zombies mutate into different monsters. If some new freaks besides them were starting to pop up then it would be prudent for any survivors to know that such things were out there.

The rattling grew louder, but the source was still nowhere to be seen with the noises beginning to echo around the pair like ghosts.  Rei looked around before she took notice of movement happening in the darkness near the alley next to a convenience store.

“There!” she whispered, pointing at the source.

Takashi turned, pointing his gun at the alley. He tried to remember not to keep his finger on the trigger like cops would so he didn’t accidentally shoot somebody that was alive. The rustling noises grew even louder as the movement became more visible. After a few more moments of almost tortuously slow movement making the pair think it was one of them at first. Finally, the one responsible for the movements came out of the alley where the headlights  were able to illuminate him.

It was a man who emerged from the alley, and a live one at that judging by the tone of his skin. He was dressed in a black robe which had gold decorations on the front near his waist and knees. He wore a mantle on his shoulders that was sporting a thick red and black striped collar with  petal-like  decorations sticking out from it. His hands were muscled with sharp nails while the left hand seemed to have some kind of markings on them. His face looked European, but his eyes...his eyes were oddly shaped as if they were larger than normal, bulging and continuously staring. His hair looked wild and slicked back, but almost unwashed.

“What the hell?” Takashi blinked, staring at the odd man.

His voice seemed to carry, allowing the odd man to take notice of the pair. He blinked, quite obviously so with the size of his eyes. However, he didn’t seem at all aggressive when he spotted them. Instead, a smile actually came to his lips.

“Ah!” he grinned. He bowed deeply to the pair. “Greetings and salutations, fellow pioneers into this God-forsaken world! How good to see that it was not only I who mustered the might to etch my place out in this new land!” his voice held a French accent, but he spoke flawless Japanese.

Coming closer into the light, the man walked closer to the pair who still were staring at him. Like Lance, he held an aura of awe around him, like the man was capable of incredible feats if given half the chance to try. Unlike Lance though, there was a dark feeling which surrounded the man  that warned that if provoked he would indeed do something horrible to you. As he came closer, Rei and Takashi took notice of the black chain which was held in his right hand that was dragging something behind him. Rei and Takashi’s eyes widened when they managed to see what it was.

Trailing behind the man were a trio of them, all of them wrapped up in chains to pin their arms together and more chains wrapped around their heads like gags, preventing their mouths from operating behind a few muffled grunts and groans. More shocking out of the fact the strange foreigner had managed to capture three of them and have them follow him, it was the fact that the three of them were all children! Rei felt disgusted at the display and covered her mouth to prevent herself from vomiting.

Seeing Rei’s discomfort, the man offered a disturbingly disarming smile, “Oh, I’m sorry. I forget that my specimens can sometimes be a little disturbing to the common man.  Not everyone can understand my pursuits after all.”

Takashi gulped and Rei had to take a few moments to control her gag reflex. Both tried to ignore the chained zombie children as they wandered about, trying to grab the man’s cloak or wander towards the two teens only for short tugs of the chains to knock them off their feet. Both could immediately tell that the man was simply not wired right or anything remotely connected to sanity. Both went on the tried and true method of dealing with crazy people by simply pretending to be pleasant along with smiles and nods.

“So...uh...so, you’re a...scientist?” asked Takashi, latching onto how the man called the three zombies specimens.

“Oh...I’m a researcher, among other things,” the man nodded. “Oh, but where are my manners? I have been called Bluebeard in the past. However, you both call me Gilles. Gilles de Rais. Who might you two be?”

“T-Takashi Komuro,” the boy replied.

“Rei M-Miyamoto,” the girl introduced, keeping her eyes off of the zombies.

“A pleasure!” the strange-eyed man smiled widely. “I must confess my surprise at finding a pair of young ones out so late in the middle of all this intriguing hell. What brings you two out here?”

“We’re going to find out friends,” Takashi replied eyeing the three zombies so they didn’t get too close. “We’re meeting them tomorrow evening.”

“Ah. Comrades,” Gilles nodded almost wistfully. “True comrades are so hard to find, but I dare say in this terror you’d swiftly find out who your true allies and enemies are. If you have already done so, I’d call you both fortunate.”

“Y-Yeah,” Rei agreed, but she then gave off a shriek when one of the three of them go too close and latched onto her ankle.

“Bad!” Gilles shouted, sharply tugging his chain. The force broke the grip of the zombie toddler and pulled all three of them back behind him with three thuds. Gilles shook his head with a sigh. “I swear, if I am going to keep any kind of polite company I’m going to have to break their fingers or chop off their hands!”

Rei held her hand to her mouth to avoid her queasy sensation again while Takashi paled slightly at the image. He had been around small children a lot since his mother worked at an elementary school. Seeing three small children, even if they were already dead, being treated as they were left a bad feeling in his stomach.

“What...what are you going to do with them?” asked Takashi.

“These?” Gilles asked, lifting the chain. “Oh, I’ll throw them with the other specimens I’ve collected since this wonderful hell began and go about my experiments and research. The disease they carry is just so interesting and I so wish to learn everything I can about it.”

“D-d-do you think y-you can find a...cure?” asked Rei, some fear in her voice.

“A cure?” Gilles blinked. “Oh, there’s no cure for death my dear. If you mean find a way to ensure that they stay dead after they die the first time then perhaps I might find a way. It would be rather inconvenient if people who simply must die just came back to make bigger pests of themselves.” The man’s owlish eyes blinked again as an idea came to him. “You know, I’m sure you two must have some knowledge on how these creatures function. If you would perhaps share what you know I can guide you to a refuelling station for your machine.” He pointed at the fuel gauge which was pointing close to the E. “It seems you are running low.”

“Huh?” Takashi looked to where Gilles was pointing before his face fell. “Oh damn.”

“Well...I guess if all you want is to know about them....” Rei shrugged. Looking to Gilles’ owlish eyes she began to explain. “We know that they’re blind and can’t feel pain. The only way they know to find people to eat is with their sense of hearing.”

“I’ve noticed the same,” Gilles nodded, rubbing his chin.

“Their bodies aren’t as strong as a living person’s, they break easy,” Takashi offered. He had heard that breaking bones or skulls was actually really hard to do even with something like a baseball bat but he and Rei were able to do it easily and she only had a mop handle. “But the only way to really kill them is with a good solid whack to the head. Nothing else works.”

“I concur,” Gilles nodded, seemingly taking mental notes while tugging his chain to keep the three child zombies from trying to grab the teens again.

“We can walk right up to them and touch them,” Rei added. “But so long as we don’t make a sound then they don’t try to attack us.”

“Making for an excellent observation into their natural habits,” the French man agreed. “Good, good. Please continue.”

“They’re stupid,” Takashi spoke bluntly. “They can’t open doors, they can’t adjust their balance on slopes, they can’t drive, or even figure out when something is in their way. They’re lucky to even be able to climb stairs.”

“So not much security is needed to keep them contained,” Gilles grinned slightly. “It seems I may be overworking on my containment methods though.”

“But even if their bodies are fragile, they’re very strong. They can rip locked doors open and  break through impact-resistant glass if they think that there’s food on the other side,” Rei added. “I think it’s because since they can’t feel pain then whatever it is that makes muscles hurt when used too much doesn’t apply to them and makes them that much stronger than a normal person.”

“And so the natural limits of the human body are exceeded,” Gilles nodded. “Excellent! Excellent! When God forsakes us he doesn’t do it in half-measures!” Clapping his hands, he laughed heartily like a scientist who had major gains in his research. “Oh this is all helpful information! In repayment for your help I shall guide you to one of those ‘gas stations’ that seem to be everywhere.” He gestured to the road and began walking. “Please, follow me.” He tugged the chain along, dragging the zombie children with him.

Rei gripped Takashi’s hand, “Takashi, are you sure we should follow this guy?” Gilles creeped her out and no doubt Takashi felt the same way.

“No, but if he helps us get some gas then I’m going to go out on a limb at least a little,” Takashi replied, his eyes on Gilles’ back. “Besides, once we get the gas we can part ways and leave this guy to experiment or whatever it is he does.”

“We’d better,” Rei whispered.

The pair wheeled the motorcycle after Gilles, keeping a fair distance from him, but using the excuse of keeping away from the zombies. The man didn’t seem to mind and instead seemed actually to enjoying his walk down the bloody and ruined streets. Hell, he was even whistling a short tune to himself as he went as if enjoying a short stroll while walking his dogs.  The walk seemed to go on forever in the teens’ minds, but it was only a few minutes before they found themselves in front of a local gas station which seemed to still have power.

“Here we are!” Gilles announced. Taking his chain, he wrapped it around one of the  gas machines before making sure it stayed stuck. “Take as much as you like. You’ll have to excuse me though while I search inside. I’ve become addicted to these little cakes called Twinkies and I must see if this place has any here.”

“Twinkies?” Rei mouthed silently to Takashi, whom merely shrugged. Were it any other situation, they honestly would have laughed at someone so twisted having a weakness for the famous yellow snack cakes.

Gilles entered the store, giving the teens some measure of relief from his aura despite having three of them nearby at one of the pumps even if their hands and mouths were chained shut. Shrugging, Takashi walked up to the pump to see if he could figure out how it worked. After a moment, he slammed his fist on the side of the machine with a hiss, “Dammit!”

“What? What is it?” asked Rei.

“It needs money,” he answered.

“So put some in already!” Rei frowned, crossing her arms.

“I don’t have any money! I spent it all on lunch today!” Takashi retorted hotly.

Rei frowned, her eyes narrowing in distaste, “Never fails, you find some way to goof up.”

“Well sorry I’m not perfect like Hisashi!” Takashi snapped angrily, turning to face Rei directly.  The comment seemed to strike Rei as if it were a pysical blow, but she then started getting angry about it.

“Just what is that supposed to mean?” she demanded hotly.

“You keep saying I’m a downer or unreliable so obviously there must  be somebody that you’re comparing me to!” Takashi shouted back, agitating the trio of zombies. “Obviously that would be Hisashi!”

Rei frowned and crossed her arms in a closed off gesture, “Jeez you really are  the worst.”

Takashi grit his teeth and lashed out his arm. Rei flinched at first, fearing that Takashi was about to hit her for their argument. When no blow came, she looked to see that he had his palm open towards her. Looking at his hand, she looked up at him in confusion.

“Just lend me some cash so I can buy us some gas,” Takashi asked bluntly.

“Um...” Rei winced. “You see...I kind of left my purse...back in my bag at school.”

“Jeez, and you’re riding on my ass?” Takashi sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Okay, fine. Wait here then and scream if something happens.”

“Huh?” Rei blinked. “Where are you going?”

“I’m gonna go inside and grab some cash,” said Takashi as he shouldered the baseball bat and headed towards the entrance to the store.

“And leave me with them?” Rei pointed to the zombies that were chained up.

“Relax. They’re harmless right now,” Takashi assured her as he entered the convenience store. Inside, he saw Gilles with a plastic bag and he was filling it with Twinkies.

“Have you come for some Twinkies as well?” Gilles asked politely.

“Uh...no,” Takashi answered. “Just came to get some cash.”

“Ah. Taking what you need to survive eh?” Gilles nodded in approval. “Good on you boy. No time for the ‘proper’ ways of doing things when your life is on the line.”

“Yeah, something like that,” Takashi nodded. He walked over to the cash register which was in plain sight and hopped the counter to get to it. He tapped the buttons a few times to see if it worked, but nothing happened. Looking about, he noticed that the cable to the electric socket was broken, likely by the cashier as he tried to get away from them if the bloodstain on the floor was any indication.

“So much for that,” he sighed, but then lifted the bat over his head. “Oh well. I always wanted to do it this way.” Gilles watched in fascination as Takashi bashed the register open, the pieces flying away from each impact. Soon enough, the cash drawer was open and the money ready to be grabbed. “There we go.”

“A boy with a mission. Good. A young man with his head on straight instead of in the clouds,” Gilles nodded, dropping more Twinkies into the bag. Suddenly, a loud shriek was heard outside. “And it sounds like your companion is in a bit of trouble.”

“REI!” Takashi ran straight out of the store to come out into the gas station proper. Rei was still there, but she was in the arms of some gangbanger-like guy with tanned skin, punk-like clothes, and braces on his teeth. One hand had a knife aimed at Rei’s neck while the other was wrapped around her torso, incidentally grabbing her breast.

“Hey!” the guy grinned maniacally. “Nice woman you’ve got here! Bet you’ve been having a whole lot of fun fucking her!”

“Let her go!” Takashi shouted, itching to use the bat and smash the guy’s head.

“No fucking way!” the thug laughed, squeezing Rei’s boob and making her grunt in pain. “No way am I letting a chick this fine go! Ah ha ha ha ha ha!”

Takashi blinked at the thug and his odd behaviour,. If he kept up this bullshit then he was going to attract a horde of them! “Are you insane?”

“Ha! Fuck yeah I am!” the thug laughed. “My family all turned into those things right before my eyes! I...I had to bash their heads in all by myself! My mom! My dad! My grandma! Hell, I even had to kill my little sister by the end of it all! How the hell do you think I was supposed to stay sane?-!”

Takashi hissed while the thug laughed.

“Now, you’re gonna toss the bat and then you’re gonna let me and the girl go on that bike you’ve got!”

“It’s outta gas,” Takashi retorted.

“Then fill it up!” the thug shouted. “I heard you smashing that register! I know you’ve got the cash! Do it!”

Takashi grimaced, but did as he was told. He tossed the baseball bat to the side, the sound echoing through the air. The three chained zombies made more grunting sounds, wanting to go after the source but were unable to do it. Under the thug’s leering gaze, he walked to the gas pump and inserted the case into it. Opening the bike’s gas tank, he  placed the pump inside and began to pour the fuel into the machine.

“Hey man,” Takashi spoke. “why don’t you just let us go? You can just take the bike and get out of here. All we want to do is find our families and see if they’re okay.”

“SHUT UP!” the thug shouted. “If your family lives here then they’re just like mine! They’re all dead and wandering around just begging to get their heads bashed in! There, I saved you the trip! Now keep filling the thing!”

Takashi frowned and returned his attention to the gas pump, but his mind was racing on how to figure out what to do. He had the gun on him still, the thug didn’t know he had it so he probably had been spying on them since they got to the gas station. He probably knew that Gille was inside too, but didn’t really consider him a threat. If there was ever a time for the guy to be provoked and do something horrible to somebody like the feeling around him suggested he would, it would be now and preferably on the thug holding Rei hostage!

Ask for a hero...

“Ph’nguli mgwl’nafh cthullu fhtagen!”

The strange words came into the night air, bringing the sensation of wet chills and fear down Takashi and Rei’s spines. Emerging from the darkness of the store’s shadows came Gilles with what looked to be a book in his hands. Rei could see it clearly from her position and it didn’t escape her notice that the book was giving off a dark miasma. From what the book looked like, there seemed to be a face on the front screaming in pain or as if sick while the back had a crucified figure on it. Gilles was reading from it without looking down at it. The wet and fearful feeling in the spines of the two children seemed to grow as Gilles continued to read, making the miasma grow larger.

“Hey! Fuck off weirdo!” The thug yelled, obviously not feeling the same fear that Rei and Takashi were or was simply too deep in his own insanity to care. Gilles ignored the demand and continued to read from his strange book.

One of the three zombie children then suddenly grunted and began to spasm where it stood, the other two didn’t seem to bother as their third member seemed to be going into spasms. Rei, Takashi, and the thug could only watch as the zombie thrashed as if something was inside of it. Gilles continued to read as he went, repeating the same phrase over and over again. The small zombie then suddenly started to swell like a balloon, grunting and groaning the entire way. After only a moment of swelling, the zombie exploded in a shower of gore and blood. Rei squealed in fear and Takashi took cover behind the pump to avoid getting splattered. The thug got blood in his eyes and cursed, incidentally letting go of Rei and allowing her to run to Takashi’s side. When the blood and flesh stopped flying, they turned to see what happened....

...and Rei couldn’t help but scream in fear.

Standing where the zombie child had stood before was what looked like a mass of dark tentacles with green growths on it with a round circular mouth in the centre wit what looked like shark teeth layering the sides. It snarled and screeched, drooling on the ground with breaths of some kind of gas coming out of its mouth.

“What the FUCK?-!” the thug gaped, staring at the squirming mass of flesh.

“I’ve become fond acquaintances of these two,” Gilles frowned. “Fellow pioneers into the world God has abandoned us to as it were. So please do me a favour and just die for raising a knife to the young lady.”

“HUH?” the thug gaped.

The beast made a screech before any further questions could be made and lunged at the thug, slamming him into the ground and wrapping its tentacles around him. The thug screamed and stabbed at the beast, making bright red blood pour from the wound but otherwise didn’t stop the nightmarish creature. The beast then started biting down on the thug, making the man scream out in pain. For a few moments, the screams were reminiscent of the victims of them that were heard back in Fujimi Academy. They trailed off after a few moments, leaving the starfish-like monster to chew away at the dead thug.

“It seems our time together has come to an end,” Gilles sighed regretfully as he snapped his book shut and hid it inside of his mantle. Looking over to Takeshi and Rei, he smiled. “I wish you both luck in this new world God has abandoned us to.”

Takashi and Rei gaped at the sight of the nightmarish monster and Gilles merely walked from the store and eyed the monster devouring the dead body, muttering about ‘disappointment’ before taking the chains holding the remaining two zombies and leaving the light of the station. The monster took a moment to actually bite off the thug’s head and swallow it with a wet gulp before squirming off after the man.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here!” Rei hissed, pulling Takashi to his feet.

“No shit!” the pale teen agreed. The pair ran to the now filled motorcycle and Takashi set it up before hitting the ignition. Collecting their weapons, Rei got on the back before Takashi hit the accelerator and both took off into the night, heading far away from the gas station and directly away from Gille de Rais. Seeing what they did, they weren’t sure if they were actually seeing the truth of things or if they were just hallucinating from the stress of the day and it was all just one bad dream. The dead coming back to life was certainly real with how many of them they had to attack, but seeing that nightmare come from one pushed their own sanity to limits.

They didn’t speak, allowing Takashi to continue his drive into the city. Both were too wired from the nightmare they just saw to feel sleepy or sluggish over having absolutely no sleep. He just continued to drive and as they began passing over a suspension bridge into another section of the city, they witnessed the sun beginning to rise into the air. The sounds of a jet flying overhead reached the pair’s ears, but they didn’t react to it.

“Takashi?” asked Rei.

“Yeah?”

“Are we going insane?” asked Rei. “Or are we just dead and in hell?”

“I know we’re not dead,” Takashi answered, watching the road. “We still feel pain and I don’t remember dying at any point. If we’re crazy, then we both have the same dream and I know that isn’t possible.” He was silent for a moment, offering Rei what little comfort his words could bring. “I think...there’s something more going on than just the dead coming back. I think Lance and...Gilles have something in common.”

“Lance-san isn’t anything like that...that...monster!” Rei cried, sitting straight.

“I’m not saying he is!” Takashi defended. “I’m just saying that they have something that common. Remember that feeling we had when we met both of them. That feeling like we were looking at someone who could do damn well anything? The feeling that we were looking at someone who they had no hope of touching? A feeling that if we stuck with them we’d be okay?”

“...Yeah, but Gilles...” Rei muttered.

“Yeah, he was...different, but at the same time the same,” Takashi nodded. “But the feeling was there. Normal people don’t have that feeling around them.”

Rei frowned, but she silently agreed. Something weird was going on and Lance, Gille, and who knew how many people were involved in it but likely didn’t have a whole lot to do with the dead. Whatever was going on, she didn’t now what to make of it. She just hoped that Lance was as good as the feeling he gave off suggested. A Gilles in the middle of their friends was just too gruesome to think of.

A bus full of those squirming monsters just made the thought worse and make her stomach churn.

(LINE BREAK)

Tokonosou Airport

The island-based airport in Tokonosou City was covered in a fine layer of mist which was normal for

the area so early in the morning. The runway was playing host to a large airplane which was currently in use. Normally a little bit of most would hardly be of a concern. Tokonosou Airport was one of the most modern out there since it was man-made island which housed the airport itself. It made the most advanced equipment and highly trained staff ready to use it. What the main problem was that the runway was being crowded by them who used to be members of that staff, passengers, technicians, and other staff who helped keep the place running so well.

“Okay, got one. The douchebag that looks like that British TV icon. Dr. Who.”

“Coordinates?”

“Distance: 4500. Angle: -6. Wind: Favourable. Correction: None. You are clear to fire.

“Your shot then Archer.”

“All too easy.”

In the middle of the runway was a zombie that was wearing a trench coat with a wool scarf that was striped. The curly hair and glasses did indeed make the zombiefied man look like one of the incarnations of one of Britain’s most beloved aliens. The zombie was even clumsily adjusting the glasses not unlike he would have in life, offering perhaps an insight into the nature of some of the zombies. If anyone noticed though, it was too late when a whistling noise cut through the air before a slim, black, perfectly aerodynamic arrow that looked  like it was made to kill  cut through the air and pierced the zombie directly in the forehead. The former human groaned for a second before collapsing, dead once again. Not even the glasses were disturbed as the undead became dead once more.

“Kill confirmed. Damn, how do you do it without a scope?”

“Just a special trick I picked up.”

“You should teach me sometime, I’d make Number One in no time.”

“Okay, my turn. Man in a jumpsuit. Potbelly.  Codename: Retired Wrestler. 5000  feet. Your angle would be...-3 and the conditions are the same.”

“Do you even need me here?”

“I need an unbiased witness. Now, watch and be amazed.”

BANG!

The sounds of a high caliber sniper rifle going off cut through the misty air before a zombie that used to be an airplane engine technician suddenly found a pair of holes in its head with blood and brain splattering out before collapsing onto the ground.

“Kill confirmed. Nice shooting.”

“Still even Archer.”

“Heh. I welcome the competition.”

The arrows and bullets were coming from an airport bus parked at the edge of the runway which was modified to have covering over the windows to prevent people from smashing through. On top were a trio of people who were keeping an eye on the movement on the runway. The first was a man who was lying on his stomach. He was dressed in a black uniform, a bulletproof vest, and knee and elbow pads which was standard issue to the S.A.T of Tokonosou’s elite police force. His features were  more or less normal, save for the scar running over his right eyebrow and a white hat on his head. At the moment, he was equipped with a powerful military scope that allowed him to view the distance much more clearly than a rifle scope. His name was Tajima Hirakawa.

Next to him with the high caliber sniper rifle was a female officer dressed similarly to him. She had tanned skin and a nicely proportioned figure. Her hair was purple, but tied back in a short and messy bunch at the back. A stylish choker was around her neck and she wore shooting glasses which would protect her eyes from any powder burns from her gun. Her name was Rika Minami, and like her partner she was a member of the S.A.T. police force.

The last member of the trio was actually standing on top of the bus next to the pair. He was dressed in black clothes with a red jacket and shroud around his legs. He wore metal boots and in his hand was a black archery bow that looked like no one could use it properly. His skin was tanned like Rikas but he had white hair which was slicked back. Taking into account their skin tones and exotic hair colours, the pair could have been mistaken for either siblings or lovers. He was named Shirou Emiya, but he preferred to be called Archer by the people around him. He wasn’t with the S.A.T. but he was in fact a Heroic Spirit brought to Tokonosou through reasons and for purposes unknown. Still, he hadn’t been idle once the world ended and lent what support he could in evacuating people to the airport.

“Damn,” Tajima shook his head, amazed at the skill between the sniper and the archer. He stiffened slightly as he touched a small radio at his ear. “Okay guys, the captain’s getting snippy. Best wrap this up and play Celebrity Sniping later.”

“Right,” Emiya chuckled. “One who kills the most wins?”

“Sure,” Rika purred. “You win you get to cook in the airport kitchen tonight. I win you meet me in my room for a Prana Exchange.”

“Lucky bastard,” Tajima muttered under his breath.

“It was a mistake telling you about that,” Emiya sighed. “Fine, you’re on.”

“Good.”

The sounds of gunshot and high tension being released echoed through the air as one after the other zombies feel with either arrows or bullets in their brains. Normally Rika would have easily won in a competition between a bow and a gun but Emiya was no ordinary archer. His reload and firing speed was downright inhuman, easily matching Rika’s reload and repositioning speed. After only a few minutes, the zombies blocking the runway were cut down like mad dogs, bleeding out on the tarmac.

“All targets on the runway have been eliminated,” Tajima radioed his superiors.  Ending the transmission, he turned to the pair. “So, who won? Everywhere I looked the dead were falling over so I couldn’t keep track.”

“27” Emiya replied.

“Hmm, 28,” Rika grinned. “I guess I managed to beat you to the draw at the very end.”

“A stroke of luck,” Emiya sighed. “You spotted that one before I did. It was hiding under the plane.”

“Oh just accept your loss,” Rika smirked, standing up. “You know you love it.”

Emiya rolled his eyes and looked out at the airport littered with bodies of the re-killed. He didn’t know what the hell was going but it didn’t seem that a Dead Apostle was behind it. There’d be a point to the savagery or at least some twist that a Dead Apostle would make his minions do so he could make the infection worth bragging abut to other Dead Apostles. A global assault would be chided by the other Dead Apostles and one or both of the Sorcerers would begin to get involved in stopping it. If magi weren’t involved, then the disease may possibly not be magical in the first place.

The sound of Velcro ripping snapped Emiya from his thoughts and saw Rika removing her vest.

“What are you doing?” asked Tajima.

“I’ve been laying down all morning,” Rika replied, unzipping her jumpsuit before massaging her chest, hidden beneath a white sports bra. “My boobs are numb.”

“Ah. I could massage them for you if you like,” Tajima offered cheekily.

“Only if you’re a better sniper than me,” Rika teased back.

“Oh come on. You’re in the top five. I’m only fifteenth,” Tajima mock-whined, standing up himself. “Archer’s the only one who’s got a shot at that and he has to be all but chased down by you.”

“And so I’ll have to chase him again and again,” Rika laughed, blatantly massaging her boobs, uncaring of either of the men who could see her. One was a partner she worked with for years while the other was a gentleman and kept his eyes trained on the runway in case any more of the dead showed up. “I like the hunt anyway. Makes it more thrilling when I get what I want.”

“A maneater through and through,” Emiya sniped with a smirk. “Let’s see how happy you are when everyone else begins complaining about missing out on my dinner.”

“Ooh, low blow,” Rika mock-whined herself. Emiya’s cooking was not to be missed. It was likely the only reason why morale was as high as it was.

The trio watched as a modified protective bus guided by a police car headed out from the airport to reach the runway. Emerging from the bus were several firefighters in full uniform and oxygen gear as they held several body bags. The worked quickly, each of them heading to one of the recently dead bodies and place them in the bags before sealing them shut. The police and firefighters then began loading the bodies up in the bus to be transported back to the airport to be thrown in the incinerator.

“Just how did they get in here anyway?” asked Tajima. “The only ways here is by plane or boat. They’re screening arrivals aren’t they?”

“Yeah,” Rika nodded. “Just the high-ranking officials, their families, and essential crews have been allowed in. Either we missed one of the dead who were already here or someone convinced themselves that they were an exception to the rules and snuck someone who was injured inside.”

“Things are holding up for now, but if people keep breaking the rules then it’s going to fall apart pretty damn quick,” Emiya frowned as the last of the bodies were loaded up. “They’re getting desperate and trying to sneak to safety thinking that medical help can be given to them before they turn.”

“Not likely if how fast this thing runs it’s course is true,” Rika shook her head.

“We’re doing okay so far, but if this keeps up we’re going to run out of bullets and Archer’s only one guy. He can’t protect us all forever,” Tajima frowned.

“Planning to run away?” asked Rika, neither admonishing or encouraging.

“No. Not yet anyway,” Tajima shook his head. “What about you two?”

“I have nowhere to be. Advantage of being an orphan I suppose,” Archer shrugged.

“You can run with me,” Rika smiled, stretching her arms. “I’m going to go back to the city eventually win or lose in this place.”

“A guy on the side? Hoping for a threesome?” Tajima grinned teasingly.

“No, a friend,” Rika answered plainly.

(LINE BREAK)

Tokonosou City

The bus trip had slowed down to a crawl for the escapees of Fujimi Academy and the one knight. After they were separated from Takashi and Rei, Shizuka moved the bus to head in the direction of the city and hopefully get close to the place where Takashi told Saeko and Lance to meet. When they got to the city proper, they were met by a few men in military uniforms who directed them to an escape route that they were evacuating all the civilians on. Unfortunately, all of the civilians were taking that route and making any kind of progress slow. It didn’t help anybody’s nerves when the odd member of the dead would wander onto the route where the military would get involved in a short gunfight with them. It terrified a pair of girls on the bus whom Shido quickly comforted with hugs, but Lancelot didn’t miss the lingering traces of a sadistic leer when the man stood back up. He was taking every opportunity to cement himself as near-messiah figure of some new order.

The dawn eventually came and the bus made a little bit of progress but not as much as everyone would have liked. Some of it was so slow Shizuka fell asleep at the wheel and was able to get an hour or two of sleep at a time. It was likely the only reason why she didn’t look as drained as she should have.

Lancelot (Lance) spent his time speaking with the children who weren’t becoming indoctrinated to Shido’s arrogant preaching. Saya was an interesting girl who was obviously very intelligent, but she didn’t trust the knight very far. Considering how the world had turned, that would be a good trait to have. Kota was burning with questions about Lancelot’s suit and his combat capabilities with mundane items. Saeko and he connected on a level, speaking fondly of swordsmanship even if he preferred the medieval European style while she preferred the eastern one. Takazo and Naomi were polite, the boy being a sports nut while Naomi was a hopeless romantic  but it seemed the crisis had worked to make their relationship stronger since they hadn’t left physical contact since boarding. The last student he spoke to was the boy he saved from becoming Shido’s self-serving sacrifice. His name was Tooru Inamura, one of the dedicated academics of Fujimi. As a result, his physique wasn’t the best which worked against him twice over when he struggled to keep up with Shido’s group while escaping and then when he sprained his ankle which prompted the twisted man to promptly try to sacrifice him when one of the ghouls got too close.

Tooru spitefully revealed that he saw the look in Shido’s eyes when he coldly commented that the weak had no place near him. The man was ready to panic when one of the zombies got too close and so kicked Tooru in the face to try and distract it while he fled for safety. It more or less cemented what everyone knew about Shido being a coward and willing to sacrifice anyone so long as it saved his own skin. Unfortunately, the rest of the students on the bus were enraptured by his charismatic promises and gestures and likely wouldn’t hear about anybody speaking wrongly about him.

And then once the sun was up and everyone was awake he was back to preaching again about the values of working as a cohesive group rather than splintering apart in self-interest with the kids at the back gobbling it up like candy.

“God, doesn’t this guy shut up?” asked Takuzo, his arm wrapped around Naomi’s shoulder as she napped against him in their seats.

“Doubtful. He likes his own voice too much,” Saeko replied, meditating or trying to sleep It was hard to be sure which. “He has an entirely too high opinion of himself.”

“Don’t let the sheep hear you,” Tooru grunted, his mood dark since he still had to remain in Shido’s presence. “They’ll try to tear us a new one. He’s playing off their fears and egos easy, making himself sound like he’s their new best friend and only protector.”

“You seem familiar with such tactics,” Lancelot commented, looking back at the bespectacled boy’s bruised face.

“I wanted to go to university to be a psychologist,” Tooru sighed, rubbing his face to try and massage some of the sting from the bruise out. “I studied up. Everything that rat’s doing is textbook for trauma cases and psychological conditioning. Play the friendly role, grant their wishes, and then ask for so little in return and suddenly they’re eating out of your hand when it’s time to get them to make a big move.”

It made sense to Lancelot. People in despair, who’d lost everything, would try and seek salvation and when they found it would be entirely devoted to it without question. A shame that there were people who existed to take advantage of such desperation for their own agendas. It was even a greater shame when a man would take advantage of children for the same purpose and essentially brainwash them.

Kota sighed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Looking out the window, he eyed all of the mass evacuation. people in cars were bumper to bumper, trying to get away while people who didn’t even have time for that much were taking the sidewalks with whatever they could carry from their homes. Both means of getting away were being monitored by police officers and soldiers fro the JSDF. On one hand it was a protected route which they would be able to use to get away, but the downside in Kota’s mind was the noise that everyone was making from car horns to crying children. They would be able to hear it a mile away and would be coming to devour the source.

“Maybe we should have taken the residential streets instead,” Kota pondered. “Less congestion that way.”

“You idiot,” Saya frowned, having heard him since she was sitting next to him. “There’s more than one way to get away.” She pointed out the window at an airplane was taking off into the sky.

“You mean the seaside airport?” asked Kota, remembering that there was another way out of the city.

“It’s too dangerous to be in the city so they’re going to be getting them out any way they can,” Saya explained, eyeing the plane. “As things are, it’s probably a group of people that are trying to flee the land altogether or go to an isolated island somewhere with some armed forces.”

“You mean like in Okinawa?” asked Kota.  “But the American base that’s there isn’t there to do battle or anything like that,” he perked. “But there’s still the SDF...”

“Hokkaido and Kyushu should be doing okay if they got their acts together quick enough,” Saya pondered, trying to think of cities that might still be safe. Tokonosou was quickly going to hell since for all intents and purposes they had been caught with their pants down figuratively speaking.

“Places with small populations would be safe. Only the mainlands would be the most infected,” said Lancelot as he’d overheard their conversation. “At least in theory. Have you considered that this is not a natural phenomenon?”

“Of course!” Saya huffed. “The dead don’t just come back to life to feast on the living! It’s about as unnatural as it gets. What’s your point?”

“My point is that since this is an unnatural phenomenon, then that means someone or a group of people created this disease and purposefully sent it out,” Lancelot said.

“You mean, like testing some kind of biological weapon?” Kota questioned.

“Yes,” Lancelot nodded, turning in his seat so to see the pair better for conversation.

“If this was a test it wouldn’t involve the whole world. No, this wasn’t a test. It’s an all out biological attack,” Saya said. “But what kind of virus can reanimate corpses!? This isn’t the movies or a video game!”

“If I may,” Saeko offered her opinion. “I’m under the impression that even after a body dies, it still functions for a while. New cells are made, organs besides the heart still functions, and the brain still produces some activity, if not enough to be called alive. Perhaps this virus simply jumpstarts those processes for the body to move, but not truly function. They’re not alive, more like the body’s hardwired instinct to survive is pushed into overdrive.”

“Or like a computer virus it reprograms a body’s function,” said Kota. “These things need to eat too, even when they’re dead. So, basic instincts are still there.”

“The need to feed,” Saya frowned. “The most basic, primal level of human mentality. The brain’s the only thing that’s needed for these things to keep moving so the brain would be working at the bare minimum so that would be all these things can think about. But why human flesh?”

“Likely the personal twist whoever made this nightmare put into it,” Takuzo offered, already liking the theory of a biological attack.

More and more Saya thought about the points that her fellow survivors brought up, more and more it made sense that the hell that was going on outside was deliberate and not some kind of freak accident. The outbreaks were happening all over the world, given how strong they were and how tough it was to kill them it would ensure that the virus was guaranteed to spread even if someone did know how to kill them. Most of the major cities of the world were affected too if what the news said was right. Then there was how the things targeted humans and if what she saw during the night was true, eyeing a stray dog who weaved in and out of groups of them then the virus and the infected only targeted humans. It all pointed to a deliberate attack and one that was unbelievably effective.

“If this is really an attack then, do you think we should head to one of those places like Okinawa or Hokkaido?” asked Kota.

“It’s too late for that,” Saya shook her head.

“Huh? Why not? They can’t have blown it and all died, have they?” asked Tooru, slightly agitated.

“No, they probably have everything under control if they reacted quickly enough,” Saya explained.

“But in getting control, they’re going to be really strict about who they let in. Think about it, you’ve managed to piece together a safe place. Would you just let in everyone  and risk bringing it all down with the chances that one of them are infected or worse some kind of agitator? It’s likely going to be like that everywhere soon enough.”

“So then what should we do?” asked Takuzo.

“Well, I’d hole up somewhere,” Kota offered. It was really the only idea he had going on in his head at the moment.

“Idiot!” Saya snapped, smacking the nerd upside the head. “Can you imagine if everyone started thinking like that? Trying to keep their numbers small for maximum safety?”

Kota blinked and suddenly realized what Saya was saying. It would be like the warring states period all over again. People banding together to make their own personal kingdoms and fighting other groups who wouldn’t conform to what they thought was best.

“Take a look at the creep back there,” Saya pointed back at Shido who seemed to be paying rather close attention to an orangette named Yuuki Miku a girl from Fujimi who had a rather...promiscuous reputation. “He’s a perfect example of what I’m talking about. Keeping numbers small in order to stay safe, isolated, and fanaticism steps in.”

“Perv,” Tooru muttered, seeing much like Saya how Shido was looking at the school mattress girl.

“He himself probably doesn’t know he’s doing it, or worse he does and decides it’s a good idea,” Saya frowned.

“Should we do something about it?” asked Kota, fingering his makeshift rifle.

“No, we should be more concerned about how we’re going to survive, not who we’re going to fight,” Saya shook her head. “We need someone we can trust.” the pinkette  then sighed. “Man I wish Komuro was here.”

“Oh,” Kota’s face turned slightly downtrodden. “So you like Komuro do you Takagi?”

“WHAT?-!” Saya cried, her face lighting up. “D-D-Don’t say such stupid things!” Turning away from Kota in a huff, she saw that he others of their group were looking at her knowingly. Even Shizuka was watching, having gotten up from the driver’s seat with no actual movement of traffic. “WHAT ARE YOU ALL LOOKING AT?-!”

Lancelot couldn’t help but watch with a hint of amusement. They were still children with innocent emotional issues at some level. However, looking towards Shido who was giving a speech to his followers, he grew concerned. It wouldn’t be long until they tried to absorb the rest of the group of survivors and force them to conform. The confrontation wouldn’t be pleasant or peaceful and it  was going to happen soon unless some event happened to distract everyone.

(LINE BREAK)

As Takashi and Rei rode through the city, riding all night even, they came upon a sight of looting and chaos. In light of the event known as Z-Day, people had mentally broken down and snapped. The thug at the gas station had been an example. People were now getting into fights and attacking each other. Store windows were smashed and everything inside was taken, striping the stores bare. People were scared and angry, which was a dangerous combination. They just weren’t prepared and as a result mentally devolved into animals to get their way.

Coming across one of the main streets, they saw survivors running and screaming to get away, but not from the dead. They were running to get away from a group of men who had weapons and were shooting at anything that moved be it human or dead. The men didn’t look like any kind of group, actually looking like a ragtag bunch of people who randomly got together. One looked like a blue collar worker, another a butcher, and another a bald-headed Yakuza. All of them were armed though and weren’t shy in showing it off. Several cars were riddled with shotgun blasts and a few were even on fire from ignited gas tanks.

“It’s like a war zone,” Rei grimaced at the sight.

“It’s worse than war,” Takashi frowned. “Hang on, we’re going to have to move fast thought this.”

Takashi gunned the accelerator, actually going into a wheelie from the sudden burst of speed. He concentrated more on the road and the immediate threats, namely the dead that were wandering the area. They pair blew past them with ease, but they quickly came up to the scene of burning cars and dead humans. The Yakuza thug took notice of them first, yelling at some of his comrades and pointing  at them. Takashi narrowed his eyes and concentrated on going as fast as he could without crashing into anything or letting Rei get hurt.

The butcher got to them first, actually taking a swing at them with a meat cleaver. Thankfully the man was out of shape and his reflexes weren’t so good. He missed the pair completely, allowing the teens to continue on their path. The office guy was next and he was armed with a shotgun. Taking aim, he let loose on the teens as they struggled to get past. The boom was deafening even over the wind and the motorcycle rumbled, making Takashi believe the guy had gotten a glancing hit. They didn’t stop and kept going, hearing another shot ring out from the officer worker, but the grunt of one of  them made Takashi believe he hit the zombie instead of them. The pair were clear of the gun`s range after that, but they still heard the man cursing and swearing as they drove.

“Why are they trying to kill us? We’re still human!” Rei cried, looking back at the carnage.

“The world’s gone nuts Rei. They’re trying to survive just like we are!” Takashi replied.

“...Just like us...” Rei’s eyes softened. Had things truly become so bad that no one could tell who to trust or who to protect anymore?

Takashi continued to drive, coming out to a crossroad where Tokonosou’s main crossing bridge was located. Coming out onto the turn, Takashi looked ahead to what he hoped would be the way across but suddenly stiffened at the sight he saw. He swiftly turned the handlebars, heading away from the bridge causing Rei to take notice.

“Hey. Takashi! The bridge is the other way!” she cried.

Pulling over, Takashi glanced at his ex, “Take a good look at it Rei.”

Rei did so, and her eyes widened at the image she saw Cars were lined up bumper to bumper, trying to get across. Partway across the bridge the police had set up anti-riot equipment and seemed to be preventing people from crossing until some kind of lengthy check could be made.

“There’s no way we’d be able to cross before the time we’re supposed to meet the others,” Takashi explained. “We’re better off trying Onbetsu Bridge and seeing how our luck turns out there.”

Rei winced when she saw a riot tank spray high pressure water, knocking some people off the side of the bridge, “R-right.”

(LINE BREAK)

“It is times like this that we of Fujimi must remember to keep our pride! To that extent, it’s obvious that dissenters like Komuro and Miyamato have no place with us! Our survival depends on our unity and dedication to one another!”

Shido’s preaching had become more and more passionate along with more and more unhinged as the day approached. Tooru’s observation was proven true as Shido had played on his followers’ fears and desires to have them become dependant on him and slowly became more extreme. Now it seemed like things were going to come to a head soon in Lancelot’s opinion.

“Listen to him, it’s like he’s recruiting for a cult,” Saeko scoffed.

“That’s exactly what he’s doing. Look at them,” Saya spoke, gesturing to the students. All of them were staring at Shido with wide eyes and adoration and obviously they weren’t there in the head anymore. “What we’re witnessing is the birth of the new Shido Religion.”

“The man’s crazy,” Naomi frowned, glaring at Shido’s back. Everyone knew in Fujimi that the man was a bastard who probably only got where he did because he had a parent in parliament but he had obviously gone over the deep end in all this!

“No kidding,” Takuzo agreed.

Saeko glanced out the window not wanting to see the disgusting scene if she could help it. They hadn’t moved very far in hours. Most people were starting to abandon their cars as the sun dipped onto the horizon, wanting to avoid being where the dead were during the night.

“I think we’re going to have to leave the bus if we’re going to progress anywhere,” the swordswoman suggested to her fellow sane students. “The quickest way for us to meet up with Komuro and Miyamoto would be through Onbetsu bridge unless its as congested as these roads are.”

“My, you sure seem dedicated to keeping your promise to Komuro,” Saya grinned, seeing an avenue to tease the elder girl. “You sure you’re not the one with Komuro on the brain? What about your family?”

“My father taught me that a promise should always be kept, even at the cost of one’s life,” Saeko replied coolly, showing not an ounce of embarrassment which only served to tick Saya off. “Besides my only family is my father and he is overseas at his dojo so all I have to worry about is my own life and my promise to Komuro.”

“Tsk!” Saya huffed.

“Speaking of families, where do you live anyway everyone?” asked Shizuka.

“I live in the same area as Komuro on the other side of Onbetsu bridge,” Saya replied.

“My parents don’t live in that kind of neighbourhood,” Kota spoke up, but then a dreamy look overcame his face. “But I’d fallow Takagi-san anywhere...”

“Ew...” Saya grimaced, recoiling from the declaration. Saeko seemed to simply find it amusing as she turned to her fellow schoolmate. “So where are your parents Hirano-san?”

“Well, my father’s a jeweler and he’s in Amsterdam getting supplies,” Kota rubbed the back of his head in humble acceptance. “My mother’s a fashion designer and she’s in Paris for a show. Eh heh heh heh.”

“HUH?” Saya gaped. “Just what kind of cast of characters does your family come from?-!”

Shizuka giggled merrily at the outcry, “You know, if this were a manga I would have thought that your father would have been a captain of a cruise ship somewhere.”

“Ah ha ha ha, no that was Grandpa,” Kota laughed. “Grandma was a violinist. That’s how they met since she was playing on his ship.”

“Holy cow Hirano,” Takuzo laughed. “Who knew you had such a diverse family history. All my family does is run a sushi shop.”

“All my dad does is work at a law firm,” Tooru laughed. “Some guys have all the luck.”

“Ah, it’s nothing special,” Kota tried to argue.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Saya grumbled, scratching her head. How could so many diverse blue blood professions end up culminating in such a complete nerd like Hirano, even if he was a surprisingly capable one? Glancing up, she eyed the chuckling ‘Lance’. “What about you? Any surprising family history we should know about?”

“Oh, I’m an orphan so my family history is a bit of a mystery to me,” Lancelot smiled in good-nature. “Sorry, but no exciting stories from me.”

“Oh, that’s too bad,” Shizuka pouted, pleased that some friendliness remained even in such a hellish time. Reaching down, she pulled the parking brake to prevent the bus from rolling off before she turned in her seat to give the group her full attention. “So what are we going to do now? Because if you don’t mind, I’d like to come along too.”

“You would?” Saya blinked. “Why?”

“Well, both my parents are dead and my relatives live far away,” Shizuka answered plainly. “Besides, I know it’s not really nice of me to say but Shido-san is a bit of the douchebag.” The reply made the students chuckle, hearing their usually so pleasant school nurse actually refer to someone with such an insult.

“If Shizuka-san is going with you, then would you permit me to come?” asked Lancelot. “She’s pretty much the only friend I have in the city and I’d never forgive myself if something happened to her.”

“Aww! Thank you Lance-kun!” the blonde doctor giggled.

“Heck yeah!” Kota agreed. “We’ll kick so much ass out there!”

“We want to come too,” Naomi spoke, Takazou nodding with her. “You guys saved our butts and no way we’re staying with the psycho and his converts.”

“After what he tried to do to me, I’d have to be nuts to stay,” Tooru agreed.

“We take all kinds,” Saeko nodded with a smile. “Still, I don’t exactly know this area too well. Which way should we go Takagi-san?”

“We should check Onbetsu Bridge first,” Saya replied, growing serious.

“What are you all plotting over there?” Shido’s voice broke up the meeting, turning their attention back to the other adult on the bus who was looking over at them. “We should be working together if we want to continue surviving this mess.”

Saya smirked, turning to the twisted teacher, “Thanks for the advice Shido-sensei, but we have our own business to deal with. I’m afraid this is where we’re going to have to part company. This isn’t a field trip after all you know.” The rest of her friends seemed to have the same idea as they showed themselves to be just as defiant as Saya herself was.

Shido’s supporters on the other hand seemed to grow agitated and downright angry as Saya spoke so plainly and disrespectfully to the man as if he weren’t worth her time. Shido himself seemed downright calm about the dismissal of his leadership though. In fact, he had a grin on his face that none of the group liked at all.

“Oh? is that so?” he asked. “Well, if that’s your wish then I certainly can’t stop you. This is the land of free people after all. However...” his grin grew more suggestive as he licked his lips. Lancelot scowled at the sight, already guessing what the man was about to say next. “I don’t think we can have the doctor leave.”

Shizuka gasped, feeling the man’s leer aimed right at her. She was used to getting looks, but at this point it was downright terrifying since there was really no need to pretend that he wasn’t staring at her like he was mentally taking her clothes off. Lancelot immediately stood up, his prana circling his feet in preparation of calling his armour should Shido’s sick his worshippers on them.

“You simply must understand, we’re going to need a medical presence here with us,” Shido explained, although none Saya’s group believed him.  “Furthermore, we’re going to need someone to help keep us safe so I must implore Lance-san to stay as well.” He stepped forward, looking insufferably smug and confident, “These children are relying on the two of you.”

Lancelot was about to don his armor and let the vile man have a piece of his mind when Kota abruptly took the lead, stepping into the hall with his makeshift rifle and squeezed off a round. The airborne nail scraped by Shido’s cheek and stuck itself in a seat ahead of the mousy-looking student, making the  boy gasp and recoil from the sudden violence. Shido himself clapped the wound on his face, stunned that the usually unassuming boy had just taken a shot at him.

“H-Hirano?-!” he squeaked.

“Don’t think I missed,” Hirano frowned, his face in it’s dark combat form. “I did that on purpose.”

Shido took a step back, looking at the blood that had collected on his palm. His followers were looking on in shock. It was no secret that Hirano was the school geek, but nobody had really thought that he was violent in any shape or form. That was why guys like Tsunoda went out of their way to mess with him!

“W-When did you get so violent?-!” Shido grit his teeth, his cool immediately vanishing in the face of violence being threatened against him.

“Just how many of them do you think I killed back at school huh? I bet I have a higher kill count than Lance-san and he drove an exploding motorcycle at a mob of them!” It was arguable since Kota had been spending his rounds wisely much like a military man while Lancelot had been more wild with his hand-to-hand tactics, but no one would deny it. “Day after day, I was treated like crap!  Punks making fun of me because I liked military things or I was short or overweight!” Kota grit his teeth. “I put up with it though. I put up with it because I just wanted to be normal, to be treated like everyone else!”

Kota’s grin grew wild, wild enough it made even Lancelot fear that the boy was about to do something he was going to regret, “But I don’t have to do that anymore now, do I? Normal’s gone right out the window! I can pay back everyone who made fun of me and no one will give a shit!”

Shido gulped in fear at the look of anger in Kota’s eyes and felt himself tremble. It was something of an unspoken knowledge that delinquents in Shido’s class were known for acting out and bullying their fellow students. When it would happen in front of Shido he would actually  encourage it, seeing the bullied as deserving of the abuse since they were obviously weak by letting it happen. His secret sadist streak also got a kick in it, watching someone suffer for his own amusement. Now it seemed that it had come back to bite him since Kota no longer had to worry about social norms, politeness, or hoping for approval.

“N-N-Now...don’t do anything hasty Hirano-kun!” Shido tried to reason with him. “I-I-I only did what I did to try and get you to come out of your shell, yes!”

Hirano scowled but didn’t fire. Instead, he glanced back at the others, “Busujima-sempai, you and the others get off first. I’ll guard the rear!”

Saeko smiled, but headed to the door. Grabbing the handle, she opened it before glancing to the bespectacled boy, “You’re a fine man Hirano-san!”

Lancelot smirked, seeing the Kota may have been angry and Shido and just itching to pay the man back for past offences but he held himself up to a commendable code of behaviour. Stepping into the  isle, he allowed his prana to flood out and form into his suit of armor again. This time, he allowed For Someone’s Glory to seep out of his suit, letting the edges be highlighted by the violet power.

“Mark my words, all of you,” Lancelot pointed to the collected children on Shido’s side “You may trust this man to protect you, but are you willing to die for him? You’ll have to find out when he will attempt to sacrifice you for his own personal safety!”

Words said, Lancelot gently guided Shizuka out of the bus behind Saeko with Saya following close behind. When his friends were clear, Kohta backed out of the bus with his weapon still trained on Shido before shutting the door in front of him. The small group dashed away from the bus, heading towards the Onbetsu Bridge which would hopefully  give them a way across to some safety.

Shido was left behind, seething at the humiliation he was forced to endure. He had expected resistance from Busujima but he had not expected it from a student he saw as weak and powerless. He didn’t even consider Kota a threat as he’d witnessed the boy being bullied without retaliation.

The group didn’t stop running until they had put a neighbourhood block between themselves and the bus. Kota was the last one to arrive, panting slightly to see the the girls and one knight waiting for him there. All of them were looking at him as he recovered.

“What?” he asked.

“Just what the heck was all that?-!” Saya demanded hotly. “You looked like you were about to go on a killing spree with all of us there!”

“Did I act too much?” Kota asked back. “I was aiming to scare him so no one would try and stop us.”

“Too much?” Saeko laughed softly. “If that was you acting then you may have missed your calling on the stage.”

“I had shivers!” Shizuka giggled, making her boobs bounce.

“Heh, well...it kind of helped that I really didn’t like him,” Kota chuckled, rubbing the back of his head.

“A fine performance and a wisely chosen bluff,” Lancelot praised, his voice sounding perhaps odd for the image his armor produced. However, he knew that Kota might’ve gone through with his threat if Shido had pressed on.  The crooked teacher didn’t have to hold back by society’s moral boundaries anymore.

“T-thanks!” The gun nerd grinned.

The congratulatory conversation was unfortunately cut off by a groan, announcing the presence of a zombie. This was was a man dressed in a take-out restaurant uniform with his throat torn out and bloody fingers stretched to grab whatever came close. Lancelot uncurled the the transformed cord from his arm and lashed out, crashing it against the ghoul’s forehead, caving it in. The body fell to the ground with a thud, thankfully a silent kill.

“We’d better get moving,” Saeko frowned. “It’s close to 5:00 now. If we don’t cross Onbetsu now we’ll miss meeting Komuro at the police station.

“Right,” Saya nodded. “Then let’s go!”

The group dashed down the streets, running towards the Onbetsu Bridge. Thankfully there were few of them in the way, only one or two that needed to be killed to remove them from their path. Saeko and Lancelot took over that particular task since they both had weapons which didn’t make loud noises when they were used or struck. Kota’s while not as loud as a gun was still loud enough to draw in more of the undead with its noise.

After several minutes of navigating the streets, the survivors managed to reach Onbetsu Bridge but it wasn’t the beacon of hope that they had been hoping for. The bridge was locked down both with abandoned cars as well as police equipment meant to keep the people out. Unfortunately, it hadn’t seemed to work since the dead were crawling all over the bridge. Either the police watching over the area abandoned their posts due to the numbers or they had been overrun and devoured. It hinted that the latter had happened since numerous zombies had police uniforms on. The only reason the dead weren’t swarming over the bridge to the other side was simply because of car pileups that were blocking them.

“It’s never easy, is it?” Saya grumbled under her breath.

“Not really,” Shizuka shrugged.

“Takuzo...” Naomi trembled at the sight.

“It’ll be okay,” Takuzo reassured his girlfriend, holding her hand.

“No use complaining about it,” Saeko frowned, moving into another battle stance as they approached the beginning of the bridge. “Move fast and strike hard.”

“Wise words,” Lancelot agreed, holding his make-shift whip in his hands. “Kota-san, help Saeko and I keep a defensive formation around Saya, Naomi, Tooru, and Shizuka.  Takuzo-san, you’re the last line of defense. They are the only ones with us who can’t fight right now.”

“Gotcha!” Kota nodded, moving his nail-rifle to aim at the nearest targets.

“Right!” Takuzo nodded, lifting his bat.

“Let’s move!” Saeko called out.

Kota, Saeko, and Lancelot moved into a roughly triangular position that kept Saya and Shizuka in the middle. They entered the bridge and began squeezing their way through the rows of cars with the dead making through own way through them over the cars if they were lucky enough to position themselves the right way. Sakeo and Lancelot took care of any that came close, but Kota made sure to take out any that were getting in the way up ahead. It was an adrenaline ride from the start, but the group of five managed to force their way past the cars and into the open road.

But they were forced to stop.

“OH COME ON!” Saya shrieked in outrage.

Ahead of the group, the bridge was completely blocked. Numerous anti-riot police vehicles were

parked to completely block any oncoming traffic, wheel or foot.  There was the option of trying to climb over them, but the machines were made to prevent people from climbing over them and hindering the people who were operating the machines. It didn’t help that numerous zombies were piled up in front of the machines, mainly feasting groups. It painted the image that the officers were dumping people who were infected in a pile out front before they actually turned. Enough zombies were there to make up their own contingent of soldiers. There was no way the group could muscle past that many of the dead and try to climb up the machines.

“Can’t go forward, too much opposition,” Lancelot frowned behind his helmet.

“Can’t go back,” Saeko reported. “Too many of them followed us!”

“Then there’s only one thing left to do,” Kota grinned. “WE FIGHT!”

The three armed survivors took the fight to the approaching undead. Lancelot lashed out with his improvised Noble Phantasm, crashing heads in powerful cracks. Saeko practically moved like lightning, cracking heads, dodging lunges, and stepping almost as if she were dancing. Kota himself was moving like a trained soldier, squeezing off only enough rounds to kill his target before moving on to the next target. Takuzo stood straight and ready to move almost like a trained attack dog, ready to last out at any of the zombies that got near the injured or the women.

“Oh dear. Oh dear,” Shizuka trembled as she backed up against Saya as the three fought to kill the undead around them. “Do you think we should have stayed on the bus with Shido-san?”

“What?” Saya frowned. “Weren’t you the one who called him a douchebag?”

“Mn, true,” Shizuka nodded, apparently going into thought. “But it wouldn’t be the first time that I had to share a bus with a douchebag.”

“There’s douchebaggery, and then there’s just being a downright dick!” Naomi offered, trying to use a bit of humour to keep herself from freaking out under the nerves.

Kota fired several more shots from his homemade nail rifle, but aiming at one zombue that reminded him of a cranky neighbour that liked to give him crap, the machine came up empty, . The zombie he had been aiming at made a groan and almost seemed smug as it approached, “Oh no, I’m out!”

Lancelot looked to the boy as he backed away before lashing another ghoul away, “Kota! Pass me the weapon!”

“But it’s out!” Kota shouted back.

“Just do it!” the knight shouted back.

Kota grimaced, but he obeyed, throwing his homemade gun to the knight. Lancelot took hold of the weapon and gripped it by its handles. Knight of Honor took hold of the weapon and transformed it into a true Noble Phantasm. Lancelot immediately knew the history of the item as if he had guided Kota on how to build it and how to use the weapon like he had.  It really made him ponder if Kota was a Heroic Spirit, his Noble Phantasm would be the ability to craft weapons out of mundane items.

Lancelot took the new weapon and aimed it with one hand towards the closest zombie before squeezing off a round. The barrel worked and a prana-made nail ejected from the barrel, digging straight into the forehead of the zombie, burrowing straight through it, and came back out on the opposite side of the ghoul’s head. The monster dropped in a heap, but Lancelot quickly adjusted his position to keep an eye on both his own and Kota’s angles of attack. He squeezed off several more rounds, making more tunnels in heads.

“Wha-wha-what?-!” Kota gaped. At first glance it looked like he was about to go into a panic attack or something worse. To the group that had been coming to know him though, the sight was a signal that his otaku side was beginning to show again. “That is AWESOME! I didn’t know you had gun training too!” He then blinked as a thought came to him through his gun obsession. “But it has no nails! How do you do that?-!”

“Noble Phantasm!” Lancelot replied, putting another nail into another zombie. At this point, Lancelot figured his friends had earned the name of one of his skills. “Knight of Honor:  A Knight Does Not Die With Empty Hands!”

“How poetic!” Shizuka beamed as she heard the name.

“Not the time!” Saya shouted angrily.

“Pay attention!” Takuzo shouted, moving forward to close the gap that Kota’s empty weapon had created. “We aren’t out of this yet!”

Lancelot and Saeko were now the only ones who were capable of fighting and the numbers were definitely not on their side. Lancelot could indeed beat all of the dead on his own, but he had to protect Saya, Kota, Tooru, and Naomi and Shizuka from harm which meant he just couldn’t go on the assault. He had to play a defensive battle against them.

“Oh man,” Kota grimaced as he saw the fighting. “This isn’t right. There’s got to be something I can do!”

“Would you like to borrow this?” offered Saeko, holding up her weapon.

“Uh...” Kota grimaced, previous panicked enthusiasm dying. “I’m not...really into that kind of fighting.”

“Too bad,” Saeko smirked, taking another stance “I’m really rather fond of it!”

Lancelot trained his new weapon on another target as Saeko prepared to move again when the noise sounded off. It wasn’t the moan of a dead that had gone unnoticed until now, it was the roar of an engine. Lancelot looked to the source, killing a zombie as he did so. His position closer to the edge of the bridge he saw a car-carrier truck which was left abandoned on a road passing under the bridge. The noise became almost deafening on its own before a brown blur used it as a ramp and leaped through the air. The moment of hangtime allowed the group to see who was on the bike.

Takashi and Rei.

“Holy shit!” Saeko, Takuzo, and a Kota gasped out.

Takashi landed the machine, skidding across the pavement before crashing through several of the zombies. When the speed was reduced, Rei leaped from the back of the machine and came down on the closest of the remaining dead and pierced its head with her staff. When the zombie died, she pulled her staff out and swung wide, knocking the last two zombies back and cracking their heads off the pavement.

“Impressive,” Lancelot couldn’t help but compliment. Was he perhaps looking at a group of heroes being born in a new age of the world?  A whimsical thought, but...

Takashi righted his machine and hit the accelerator, gunning down the length of the bridge. Coming closer to his other friends, he spotted Kota backing away from a pair of zombies that managed to wander closer through the chaos of his arrival. Takashi acted quickly, reaching into his pocket for what looked like a pistol.

“Hirano!” Takashi yelled, throwing the pistol towards his friend. However Kota had received his reflexes in dealing with firearms, it served him well as he snatched the gun out of the air. Quickly adjusting his grip so to hold it properly. Grinning savagely once again, Kota took aim with the weapon at the pair of zombies before pulling the trigger only twice. Takashi drove past a heartbeat before, actually feeling the bullets pass as he moved. Both zombies were struck between the eyes, sending them both to the ground with meaty thuds.

“Double tap!” Kota laughed.

Takashi continued his obviously unplanned charge and raced down the street towards Saeko’s end where she had whittled the opposition down to the three. Hearing the engine, she turned to see Takashi approach with his arm held out.

“Busujima-sempai!” he called out.

Saeko obliged, grabbing Takashi’s hand. The force of the grab took her off her feet before Takashi hit one brake and twisted around on the spot while letting go of his upperclassmen. The added momentum allowed Saeko immense force in her next blow which she allowed to crack across all three skulls. The bone caved in from the strikes, but Saeko was pretty sure that she broke the necks of the targets at the same time. She skidded to a halt on one knee, allowing the adrenaline to begin leaving her system.

“It seems we got them all” Lancelot nodded, lowing his weapon while beginning to approach the group.

“Wow, that was tough,” Shizuka sighed with relief.

“Not like you did anything,” Saya huffed.

Rei allowed the tension to leave her shoulders before she saw the familiar faces which made a smile break out on her face, “Shizuka-sensei!” Rei dropped her staff and ran straight over to Shizuka, grasp her in a powerful hug, incidentally burying her face in the woman’s advanced chest.

“Oh! Miyamoto-san!” Shizuka laughed joyously. “What a goincidence!”

Rei hummed, but then noted what her school nurse said, “Don’t you mean ‘coincidence’?” Shizuka didn’t seem to notice before she looked up from her embrace and saw Takashi approaching. “Oh! Komuro-san too!”

“Yo,” the new arrival waved.

“I take it Tokonosou Bridge is closed off too if you and Miyamoto came here,” Saeko commented as she approached.

“Yeah,” Takashi nodded. “There’s no way to cross.”

“I feared as much,” Saeko nodded. “Still, it’s good to see that you made it back to us safe.”

“You too Sempai,” Takashi smiled, relief quite clear in his features.

Rei felt jealousy begin to burn as she saw how casual Takashi and Saeko were being with one another. She would have intervened, but Saya saw fit to do that on her own when she dashed up to Takashi and took hold of his arm.

“You forget about me Komuro?” the pinkette asked impatiently.

“Of course it’s good to see you too Takagi,” Takashi chuckled weakly. Quickly looking about for an exit, he spotted the rest of the group. “I’m glad to see that you all managed to pull through okay.” Looking to see the class nerd hunched over, Takashi raised an eyebrow. “You okay there Hirano?”

The call seemed to have gotten Kota’s attention as he leaped up with an excited grin, “KOMURO!” he held the pistol up almost reverently as his eyes ran over it again and again, “Where did you get this? It’s a Smith & Weston M37 Air Weight!  Only the police have these! You even have bullets for it!”

“I’ll...tell you later,” Takashi sweatdropped.  It amazed him to see how Kota could overcome the stress of fighting the dead  just by holding a firearm he could gush over for fun.

“You guys are all crazy,” Tooru chuckled weakly. “But goddamn  if it isn’t good to see you guys.”

“We almost had a heart attack when you jumped onto the bridge like that!” Naomi heaved a sigh.

“Jeez Komuro, you always take the dramatic way don’t you?”

“Hey, if it works,” Takashi shrugged.

“As heartening is it is to see you two back with us, we still need to keep moving,” Lancelot spoke, approaching the teens and teacher. “The sun is going to be gone soon and we don’t want to be in the dark against enemies who don’t rely on sight.”

“Right,” Saya nodded, jealousy at seeing Takashi speak so calmly to Saeko vanishing. “Let’s try and see if we can’t find a different way to cross.”

Fortunately, leaving the bridge wasn’t nearly as difficult as entering was on account of the main majority of the zombies had been killed off. Only one or two had been  left behind which were quickly taken down without as much panic. The group of survivors took temporary refuge under the bridge itself as the sky turned dark purple with the last of the sun vanishing. Tooru was helped to a seating position by Naomi and Takuzo on some stairs, his ankle not getting any better from before.  The others were in conference as Saya returned from examining the river. They looked at the pinkette who was approaching, but wilted when they saw her shake her head.

“The water’s risen too much,” Saya reported. “There’s no way we could wade across. With the construction going on up the river too then there’s not much of a chance of it going down.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if the authorities are taking steps to make sure the water stays high,” Lancelot frowned, his arms crossed.

“So we’re stranded,” Rei sighed.

“Well, since we all need some rest why don’t we call it quits for now?” suggested Shizuka.

“You mean call it a day?” asked Kota, slightly confused by Shizuka’s slandering of a well-known saying.

“Yes,” Shizuka nodded, smiling pleasantly. “My friend has an apartment that isn’t too far from here. It’s just a short walk.”

“You mean your boyfriend’s place?” Takagi teased, earning looks from everyone in the group trained on the sometimes ditzy nurse. Some of them glanced over at Lancelot, wondering what his reaction was but didn’t see him move an inch beyond looking at Shizuka like the rest.

The blatant assumption caused the nurse to break out in an embarrassed blush, “No, no, no! I’m single, honest! It’s my girl friend’s place. She’s always busy and travelling because of her job so she gave me a key to the place so I could look after it while she was away!”

Kota wasn’t the only one who was struck with the image of Shizuka in a maid outfit wish her ‘master’ a nice day, but he was the one who recovered from it the quickest since his tactical mind began looking over the prospect. Takashi took the longest while Tooru and Takuzo were snapped out of the daydream by Naomi and her fists planted on the backs of their heads. Lancelot merely had the mental discipline not to think of such things.

“So, is it something like a highrise or along those lines?” asked Kota. “Is it a place where we can defend ourselves and have a good view?”

“Uh-huh! It’s a duplex with a great view of the river!” Shizuka nodded. “There’s also a convenience store nearby so we can stock up on supplies if we need to. Best of all, there’s a car! You know, one of those big ones that look like a tank and guzzle down on gas.” She spread her arms wide, “It’s bi~g!” Incidentally, she showed off something else about herself that was likewise big in all their jiggling glory.

Saya frowned, thinking the idea over but really couldn’t think of anything bad to say about the idea, “I don’t care so much for a car as I do a shower,” she sighed to herself, rubbing the back of her neck and groaning softly, “I don’t think I’ve felt dirtier in my life.”

The sensual tone of her voice and her semi-seductive pose were indeed powerful, but mixed with her post-war dirty looks and it was simply too much for Kota to take. His glasses fogged over as he admired Takagi from his position...which was rather too close after what he said, “I couldn’t agree more...”

Saya of course heard the hormone driven rambling and her face immediately etched into a scowl. She lashed out with a Kick, punting Kota’s face and knocking him back a good few feet, “AND JUST WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?-!”

Takashi chuckled at the sight for a moment before he stepped forward, “I’ll go with Shizuka-sensei to check this place out.” he looked to the teacher. “Let’s go.”

“Oh! Ok!”

“I will remain,” Lancelot volunteered.

“Okay! We’ll be back soon!” Shizuka waved as she and Takashi mounted the bike. However, when Shizuka got on she wrapped her arms around Takashi’s torso, and placed one of her hands in a rather inappropriate position. She didn’t seem to notice though as Takashi drove with a stiff back leaving three envious males in his wake.

The group was quiet for a moment, simply content to wait for the return of their school nurse and friend. None of them spoke too much to one another beyond Takuzo and Naomi. As a whole, the group hadn’t known each other that well in school. Saeko was a third year student and everyone else were part of different social circles. Takagi hadn’t really been that social with Rei since the brunette had been in a relationship with Takashi, something Saya had wanted but would never admit to. Takuzo and Naomi were with the sports cliques while Tooru was an academic. Kota was one of those on the low rung of the social ladder, meaning he didn’t really run with any of the fellow teens he was with. With the hell they went into, it showed they that their previous social titles meant little and that survival was the name of the game.  They could trust each other, but it didn’t mean they knew what to talk about. What counted as small talk during the end of the world?

“Ano, Lance-san, doesn’t it get hot in that suit?” Naomi suddenly spoke up. Ever since they left the bus Lancelot had remained in his armor, even fought in it against so many of the undead and hadn’t taken it off since. Sure, it made sense to wear such a thing when facing the undead but it couldn’t have been comfortable.

“No. My armor is rather unique. It’s never uncomfortable,” Lancelot replied, keeping his eyes out for any approaching dead, his hands still gripping Kota’s homemade gun.

“I’ll say unique,” Saya huffed. “Being able to appear and disappear all the time. How the hell do you even do such a thing?”

Lancelot turned to glance at Saya, “In response to your question let me ask you one in return. You believe in logic, science, and such things correct?”

“Yeah, so?”

“Then if you wish to know the truth about my abilities and my armor, then you had best suspend those beliefs and accept that the world is not as you thought it was,” the black knight replied, but then let out a sigh. “Of course, you very may well be doing that already with the dead rising and devouring the living.”

“Huh?” Takuzo blinked. “Suspend our beliefs in reality?”

“Answer this question: do you believe in magic?”

“Before today, I’d say no but with the things I’ve seen I’d say I can’t think of anything outside of a Biohazard game,” Rei shivered, earning looks from the group. “

“So, you’re saying that your suit and all the stuff you do is because of magic?” Saya questioned skeptically.

“I call it that,” Lancelot shrugged. “If you make a scientific theory to explain it better then feel free. I do not care either way. It works and that is all I care for.”

The comment only served to make Saya’s ire grow, “Look pal, if you think I’m going to believe some fairytale bullshit you-!”

“I believe him.”

Rei’s comment got all eyes turning to her. She was looking at the ground, her eyes looking back to something that happened. Most who knew her would say that Rei was a very well-grounded girl who wasn’t prone to flights of fancy. She stopped believing in magic when she left her childhood behind and hadn’t looked back. She was one of the last people to express belief in something so supposedly juvenile.

“What makes you say that?” asked Tooru.

“Last night...when me and Takashi were coming to find you guys,” Rei explained. “We met...somebody.”

“Who?” asked Lancelot. Did they see another Heroic Spirit?

“A guy in weird robes and had the weirdest eyes I’ve ever seen. He was foreign and sounded like he was French or something,” Rei explained, shaking her head. “He said people called him Bluebeard, but he told us to call him Gilles de Rais.”

“Gilles de Rais?” Kota frowned as if the name had struck a chord in his mind. “Why does it sound like I should know that name?”

“Because it belongs to one of the most notorious serial killers in history,” Saya frowned.

“W-What?” Naomi trembled.

“Gilles de Rais was a member of the French nobility during the 15th century,” Saya explained. “He fought in the war between England and France. Hell, he actually served under Jeanne d’Arc in reclaiming Orelans from the English invaders. Because of his connection to her and the victories Jean pulled, Gilles de Rais managed to make a pretty damn good living for himself with properties all over the country. If there was one thing he didn’t lack, it was money.”

“So what made him a killer then?” asked Takazo.

“Well, after Jeanne was burnt at the stake, he slowly pulled himself out of the public eye,” Saya answered. “He financed the creation of a massive play which told the story about Orleans and everything that went on there during the siege. He pretty much bankrupted himself and had to sell almost all of his properties in order to finance it. His spending got so bad his own family asked the king to ban him from spending so much money and selling his properties.”

“Wait...what?” Tooru frowned. “Why would the king be concerned about the guy selling his own property?”

“Having land was a sign of nobility and wealth,” Lancelot replied, almost knowingly. “I suspect that symbolically, giving up one’s property to spend money on personal ventures instead of something important would have been an insult to the crown.”

“Yeah, but with how much the guy wanted to glorify Jeanne d’Arc and how far he was willing to go to do it I think he had a few screws loose,” Saya shrugged. “After he was pretty much banned from financing his play anymore, he got involved with a man named Francoise Prelati who was infamous for dealing with arcane rituals and demonic arts. Gilles became his student and worked in a number of depraved rituals that cost people their lives.  Somewhere between 80 to 200 people lost their lives to his rituals...all of them children.”

Naomi and Saeko gasped at the revelation while the boys grimaced at the thought of such a man existing. Lancelot scowled behind his helmet, having a sinking feeling in his gut that he had seen something akin to this description before. For the life of him though, he could not properly recall.

“So...what was so creepy about this Gilles de Rais guy you met Miyamoto?” asked Kota.

“You mean besides the fact that he was dragging three chained up zombified children behind him when he talked to us?” Rei asked sarcastically, earning gaping looks from the other teenagers. “He asked us for everything we knew about them and talked about how he wanted to experiment on his ‘specimens’ to see how the disease worked. He called us his fellow pioneers into a world that God had forsaken. I swear it seemed like he was happy that everything was happening this way.”

“So he’s nuts,” Takazo grimaced. “What makes you so sure magic exists?”

“After we told that man what we knew about them he guided us to a gas station so we could refill the bike,” Rei explained. “Takashi went inside to get some cash to work the pumps. I waited outside, but a thug jumped me. He was someone who went nuts from having to kill his whole family when they turned. He wanted Takashi to fill the bike so he could take it and me away.”

“Are you okay?” asked Saeko, growing concerned. “Did he-?”

“He just groped me and held a knife to my neck,” Rei shook her head. “That man killed him before he could do anything else.”

“Killed him? How?” asked Kota.

“He...took out this weird book,” Rei answered, her body shivering. “He read it in a language that made me feel slimy and scared just by hearing it. He kept saying the same phrase over and over again. When he did, one of those three kids suddenly swelled up like a balloon before exploding.” Rei’s shiver grew more pronounced. “I got clear in the confusion, but when Takashi and I looked we saw the kid was replaced by this...this...this...thing!”

“A thing? What did it look like?” asked Tooru, now morbidly curious.

“Like a squirming mass of tentacles with teeth, a living nightmare,” Rei grimaced. “It tore that guy to shreds and then just bit his head off like an afterthought. That man just treated it like dealing with a pest and then said goodbye to us before going on his way like nothing happened!”

“Sounds almost Lovecraftian,” Saya commented idly, earning looks from the rest. “Don’t you people know anything? H.P. Lovecraft created a whole mythos of psychological horror stories based around old religions with nightmarish gods. Lovecraftian creatures are Eldtrich Abominations...things that come from your worst nightmares but multiplied by 10.”

“That sounds like dark magic,” said Lancelot, his voice grave “And of the worst kind. Summoning demons using the blood of children, the purest kind along with the blood of virgins.”

“And such a man is in the city right now with more than enough sacrifices to supply him,” Saeko frowned deeply. “Likely no one will notice if zombie children go missing or simply attribute these monsters as a mutation because of the disease that created them or are perhaps the source.”

“Man, sounds like something I wouldn’t want to meet in an alley without a semi-automatic or better,” Kota grimaced, just imagining the sight of such a monster. He’d played military games where they had to fight twisted monsters so he knew what it may take to bring one down.

“Seems to me this guy is more interested in learning about the zombies than anything else,” Tooru tried to argue. “Maybe if we just  leave him alone and don’t bother him he won’t need to call more of those freakish things and cause trouble for everyone else. Besides, he did help Komuro and Miyamoto didn’t he?”

“Don’t tell me you’re all buying this crap!” Saya growled. “Listen to me! This is all-!”

The sounds of a motorcycle brought everyone’s attention as Takashi and Shizuka turned the corner on the bike and returned to their friends. They looked none the worse for wear, which meant that they hadn’t run into any unexpected trouble which was fortunate.

“Did you find it?” asked Naomi in high hopes.

“Sure did! It’s right where I remember it!” Shizuka beamed.

“It’s all clear too,” Takashi nodded with a grin. “We can just go right in! We can easily rest there and keep it safe!”

“Boy is that the best news I’ve heard all day!” Takuzo grinned. “What are we waiting for then?”

A unified cheer met the call.

(TIME BREAK)

The group arrived at the apartment complex which was quite obviously a  secure place. High fences were incorporated into a concrete base and the only way  in was through a high gate which looked like it was made of solid solid steel, something that no one could tear through with their bare hands. Even the strength of them would fail on its own against such a solid substance. What really got their attention though was in the parking lot.

“A HUMVEE!” Kota cried in rapture. “ONE OF THE MILITARY MODELS TOO!”

“Didn’t I tell you?” Shizuka smiled. “It looks like a tank!”

Rei looked about the building, feeling confident that the barriers which were used to ensure the privacy of the people inside would be able to keep them safe from the dead outside. Smiling, she looked to Takashi, “It looks like the fences will be able to keep us safe.”

“Yeah,” Takashi nodded, relief seeping into his features. “Let’s go inside and  out of  the streets already!”

“Wait!”

Everyone’s eyes turned to where Lancelot was standing, the purple glow in his armour illuminating the immediate air around him in a dark, but comfortable glow. The knight didn’t say more about his sudden command, but instead pointed over to a nearby alleyway which existed between the apartment complex and the neighbouring building. Takashi and the others  turned to see what the knight was pointing to before they all paled.

Crammed in the alley like a funerary pile was what looked like enough zombies to have one inhabit at least one or two in each apartment that was in the complex they wanted to enter. Takashi and Shizuka were gaping the most, having not even noticed the pile of twice dead bodies when they first checked the place out to see if it was safe.

“M-Maybe the police or something came through?” asked Naomi, hoping that this didn’t mean they wouldn’t be able to enter the complex.

“No, not at this point,” Kota frowned. “As things are, the army and police would still be focusing on evacuation and trying to limit casualties if they can. Cleaning out the cities wouldn’t start unless they were sure they couldn’t save anybody else. Whoever did this obviously wasn’t military or law-enforcement.”

“But then why throw the bodies away like that?” asked Takuzo.

“Well,” Shizuka spoke up, unnerved by the sight of such a large pile of dead. “Decomposing bodies are a major health hazard. All of the germs and diseases which can fester in a corpse are amazing. I don’t even want to think what can fester in a decomposing corpse of one of them.”

“And the only reason why anyone would care about where the  dead lay right now is someone who’s staying in the nearby area,”  Saya frowned, drawing a conclusion. “Which means only one thing.”

“Someone is using one of the buildings as shelter, someone with weapons and skill,” Lancelot finished.

Walking to the corpses, he examined them momentarily to see that each of the corpses were killed via a stab to their heads or the spinal cord being severed. Each cut was precise and showed no hesitation, meaning that someone who was extensively trained in battle was the one responsible.

“Someone who is used to battles.”

“Astute observation.”

The teens gasped and/or shrieked in surprise when the new voice came to them. Lancelot raised his weapon, likewise the others who were armed did the same, bringing their attention back to the gates. The sounds of a lock and chains being undone sounded off before the oak gate opened up. Emerging from the other side was a man. He was dressed in a  leather bodysuit which was green and had black leggings with steel-toe boots. Held in one of his hands were a pair of spears, one long and red while the other was yellow and short. His face was impeccably handsome, making all the girls blush slightly for a moment, never actually having met one who called be called bishonen before. He hair was dark and slicked back with golden eyes, obviously a foreigner. An odd thing that stood out about him was the bandage which was underneath his left eye. His voice was smooth and calm, just waiting to be used right to melt a lucky girl, but it held a slight Irish accent.

“I didn’t think I’d be finding such an organized group of survivors so soon,” the man replied, eying their uniforms. “And from Fujimi Academy too. Kyoko will be pleased to hear that.”

“Um...sir?” Rei asked, stepping forward. “Can we please come inside? It’s one of the only safe places we know right now.”

“My friend lives here too!” Shizuka spoke up.

“Does she?” The man raised an eyebrow. He glanced over to see Lancelot, the two staring at each other for an eternity which fit into a moment. In that moment, the two seemed to relax in front of one another before the Irishman glanced at the rest. “Well, if Lancelot of the Lake has found you all trustworthy then who am I to turn you away? Please, come in.”

“Thank you! Thank you so much!” Naomi sighed in relief, almost collapsing as Takuzo held her.

“Think nothing of it,” the man smiled. “Just please try to keep quiet. We don’t want to attract any more of the dead. I spent hours clearing this place out already.”

“Wait!” Saya called as the group began to follow the man into the building. “Just who are you?”

“Diarmuid Ua Duibhne,” the man glanced back at Saya with a disarming smile. “A pleasure.”

Saya couldn’t help but blush.

The small group entered the complex, Diarmuid locking up the gate behind them. They travelled up the stairs several floors to one of the apartments. Diarmuid took the lead again, leading the group up to one of the apartments in question. He grabbed the door handle and opened the door, allowing the group of survivors to pass through.

The apartment itself was quite classy, filled with furniture and spacious, which was quite the selling point to any living space in Japan. And even bigger surprise was the spiral staircase in the middle of the room which went up to a second floor. Everything looked like modern decoration which meant that the place could not be cheap.

“Kyoko, I’m back,” Diarmuid called.

“Did you find anything outside?” a female voice came out from up the stairs. A female form then came downstairs, revealing a shapely figure and pale skin with red hair that was trailing down her back. It was easy to call her very attractive since she was clad in only yellow lacy underwear and a towel over her shoulders. When she got to the bottom, she immediately froze when she saw that her roommate was not alone.

Takashi was bright red with Rei gaping in shock. Takagi just wore a scowl on her face, but Kota looked like he was about to pass out with blood trailing from his nose. Tooru was dumbstruck while Takazo was having his eyes covered by Naomi. Saeko merely chuckled while Lancelot averted his eyes. Diarmuid seemed used to the sight but Shizuka on the other hand gasped out in sheer shock.

“Hayashi-san!” she gasped in delight. She dashed forward and wrapped the woman in a smothering hug. “Oh my goodness! You’re alive! I can’t believe it!”

“Guh!” Kyoko Hayashi, teacher at Fujimi Academy gasped as her school’s nurse hugged her. “M-M-Marikawa-san?-!”

“I take it they know each other?” asked Lancelot, looking to Saeko, likely the only one who wasn’t heading towards an extreme reaction.

“Hayashi-sensei was one of our teachers back at Fujimi Academy,” Saeko explained. “With all of the chaos that happened there, I hadn’t thought she had survived.”

“Praise be for small mercies,” Lancelot nodded as he watched Shizuka continue to hug and babble to her mortified and nearly-naked co-worker.

At least there was some light in this dark day.

“How did you manage to get away?” Shizuka asked, finally releasing the mortified redhead from her smothering embrace.

“If you’ll let me get some clothes on or let me take a bath,  I’ll tell you,” Kyoko replied, holding her hands to her body in an effort to conceal her choice in underwear.

“Oh! Okay!” Shizuka smiled. “Us girls can all take a bath together then!”

“You ditz,” Saya sighed, her eye twitching. The heat just wasn’t in her for this. They could all feel it when they got in. The building was free of the dead and the fences and gates would keep them outside without fail. Relief was seeping into their bodies as they finally felt something they hadn’t since the morning that hell descended on the Earth.

They felt safe.