Land of the Dead (High School of the Dead SI)

AN: Again with thanks to Psyckosama and Grey Rook, here's the next Chapter.



It turned out that fighting Zombies one on one wasn’t so difficult, the bastards were slow and as long as you kept moving you could dart in, split their skull and dart back out of the way.

Ryusei, the fucking moron, had blown the gates wide open, leaving an opening fifteen feet across for the undead to just waltz through. However, the jackass had done us one favour: his mad dash for freedom had taken out the zombies that had already begun to congregate around the gate and the racket he made had drawn any others towards him. It’d only last for a short time as he was going far too fast to make a good decoy. They’d turn their attention back to the school soon.

But until then, I’d make a fighting retreat until the boys showed up. And as thin as the horde was at the moment I was making progress. I kept my head on a swivel, making dead sure not to let the fuckers get too close to me or in my blind spots.

Occasionally, I’d give one of them a swift kick with my heavy-duty boots, they weren’t steel toed, though, despite the possible protection those had they were more likely to break your damn toes, then smashing in their skulls with a swift stomp with my heel.

Thankfully, though, they were still coming in a trickle, which meant I could take them individually. I was determined not to allow the bastards to enter the school grounds because if they did we’d lose our choke point and would never be able to push them out.

This location would serve as our Thermopylae. And while I had no intention of dining in hell, we’d hold these Hot Gates for as long as we could...

If they made it in time. The trickle I’d been able to handle was now becoming a stream I was having to move back and forth to prevent the undead from getting behind me or around me. I was now dual wielding with my axe in one hand and a knife in the other, hacking and slashing in all directions. Shit, I was getting surrounded. Dammit! If I died now everything would be for nothing!

The thought of leaving behind Shizuka and my boys lit a new fire under me and I began swinging faster, becoming a whirling dervish of destruction, the corpses were dropping faster and faster, yet for everyone I took down, two more took their place. I’d always heard that term before and I’d never really understood the true horror of such a situation until now.

With a final burst of effort I cleared as large an area around as I could to buy myself a few moments….and more and more kept coming right towards me…

Then, as if by magic, everything changed.

I heard an impact next to me and standing there, axe in hand, was Takashi Komuro.

“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” I muttered as I stood up. Nothing like a bit of backup to trigger your second wind.

To the side I saw Rei Miyamoto holding one of our spears at the ready as well as his friend Hisashi Igou who was standing in a Kempo pose.

“I was cutting when I got the call,” he admitted. “Saw everything from the roof. Made it as fast as I could.”

“Attention all students!” the speaker system suddenly announced. “This is an emergency situation and all students are to seek shelter in the school! I repeat! All students are to seek shelter inside the school! If anyone is bitten, please report it to a teacher immediately!”

I smiled. It seemed that Kyoko had made it to the PA system. Thank God, that could keep things from going to complete shit… just partially shit…

“Miyamoto! Igou!” I barked. “Do not engage the enemy!” I ordered.

“But we can fight!” Igou cut in.

“If they bite you, you die,” I stated as I caved the head of another zombie. “You aren’t properly armed. Right now I’d have to waste time to protect you. Both.”

Rei flushed, “Just because we’re not in your stupid club doesn’t mean we’re useless! I know how to fight”

“No,” I snapped. “You’re not!”

Pulling back from the fight for a moment I fished a key out of my pocket and threw it to her. “And you’ll get your chance. But right now I need more than just another spear on the line. I need you to get all the martial arts clubs together and have them go to service room 0-14. Unlock it and take what’s inside!”

“W-what?”

“We don’t have time for questions! Just do it! Use the PA!”

She nodded and ran off.

Then I glanced to Igou. “Get everyone else who can fight. I don’t care who, and head to gym and get every piece of sports equipment you can find that can double as a weapon! Get the fire axes from the hallways too!”

He nodded. “Right. I’ll protect the school!”

Maybe it was because of an adrenaline shock but I had to fight down a giggle at the deadly seriousness of his words. Japan, such a funny place.

“You do that, kid. And don’t die. That’s an order.”

“Yes, Sensei!”

I smiled as he ran off. And then smiled even more as a horde of latter-day Saxons came pouring from the side door of the school.

Every single one of my boys had answered the call. Including poor Kenji, the poor sod had failed a class from his own actions and was forced to take a remedial semester before he started studying for University exams. I’d pitied the poor guy at the time, but now I was thanking all the saints and every kami in Japan the guy stunk at math.

“Holy shit,” Kouta exclaimed upon seeing the horde. “You really were serious!”

“Yes, because I’m one for tall tales, Kouta.” I muttered flatly as most of the boys rushed forward and shield met zombie with a mighty crash.

Taking a moment to catch my breath, I took a look at my knife. Half the blade has snapped off in some zombie's skull at some point.

With a sigh I tossed it to the side and looked over to Kouta. “You have my gear?”

“Right here, Sensei!” Several of the other boys called out. Grinning, I broke from the fight, having faith that my boys could handle themselves.

I called over my shoulders as I ran to get my gear on. “Aim for the head and don’t let them bite you! If they do, you’re dead!”

“Like the movies?” Hayato asked from the front line.

“Just like the movies!”

Kouta helped me get my chainmail on and slid my helmet onto my head as I cinched my belt over the mail. One thing the movies never mention is that if you don’t do that then the weight of the chainmail is utter murder on your shoulders. Checking myself over one last time I took a deep breath. Back to the battle.

Then my Cellphone rang.

Gritting my teeth, I answered. “What is it Oga?”

“Am I the only one who’s seeing fucking zombies?”

“No you’re not! We’re fighting for our fucking lives here.” I snarled back. “It’s the fucking Zombie Apocalypse!”

“Huh. Well, shit. Listen, we’re holding out for now but I’m guessing you want me to save as many of these morons as I can before we get overrun, right?””

“Yes, Oga...”

“Well shit. Guess I gotta go smash some heads and see how many of them I can kick some sense into. Meet up with you later.”

“Don’t do anything stupid. We’re gonna need you.”

“... Heh. Thanks, Sensei. Remember not to die.”

He closed the line and I glanced up to watch my Huscarls throw themselves into the fray. To my relief, it seemed they were holding the line just fine. Even pushing back the horde back out of the gates and forming a two man thick line, with the ones in the back stabbing over their compatriots with the lugged spears I’d also trained them to use.

Taking a step forward, I readied myself to reenter the fray.

And then my phone rang again.

“Oh for fuck's sake!”

----------

From the door to the school, Saya Takagi looked on in mute shock.

When she’d seen that musclebound midget dork Kouta bolt from the classroom she’d been infuriated and, against her better judgement, had followed with the intention of giving him a piece of her mind. She was, after all, Class President and while she had only taken the rank to shut up her father, it still came with responsibilities and just letting him cutand run in the middle of a lecture would make her look bad.

She’d been shocked when he ignored her and dashed into the changing room with a couple dozen others of his cosplaying dork friends. She’d been ever more shocked when they came out couple minutes later looking like they were were preparing to raid the English coastline.

She wasn’t about to scream at a bunch of suddenly scary-looking boys with suspiciously authentic-looking battleaxes, but she did want to know what was going on. So she followed. And then she saw something that would stick with her forever.

Fucking zombies.

She was smart. Very smart. Genius level smart. She knew because she’d been tested and was easily in the 99th percentile of intelligence in most fields. She prided herself on having an answer for everything, and when she didn’t, she’d do her all to figure it out using the elements she could observe. Most of the time it worked.

Most of the time. Right now as she ran through the possibilities every she found flaws in every possibility. Rabies? No. These bodies were dead, not rabid. Fungus? No. No signs of fungal infestation. Nanotechnology? It could have been a possibility if it actually existed.

Again and again she tried to figure out something rational. And again and again, it was shot down.

About the only thing she could even make stick was “Alien Space Bats”, but even then, it was a complete cop out to just shrug and say “A Wizard Did It”.

But that wasn’t the only thing that had caught her eye. In fact, it actually caused the lesser reaction of the two.

It was Takashi, her Takashi, with shield and axe ripping through a horde of zombies, looking like he’d tripped and fallen out of an issue of Vinland Saga.

For as long as she could remember, he’d been there for her. He was her rock, and once, maybe she’d even loved him. She knew him as well as she knew herself, or at least she’d thought she did.

As he formed a line with the other boys she was left to wonder: where had he hidden this? How had she missed this?

She frowned. It was because she’d stopped paying attention. Ever since it’d become obvious that him and Miyamoto were an item she’d forced herself to distance herself from Takashi, acting surly and insulting him at every opportunity. She’d been ashamed for herself later, but it was for the best. Better to set boundaries now and prevent heartbreak later. Then he started to act like an irritating slacker who couldn’t even show up for class half the time and she felt she’d been proven right in her actions.

It had vexed the hell out of her and twisted her perceptions. But now her mind was processing new data and the end result was right in front of her.

“Hold the line!” he cried out. “If we fall, the school falls! Give them nothing! Take from them, everything!”

“That’s 300, you jackass!” A male voice called from the shield wall.

“Shut up and fight, Kenta! I’d like to see you come up with something better!”

That actually started off laughing among those idiots! How could they be laughing in a situation like this?

Then it struck her. No. They weren’t idiots. They knew what they were doing. They were keeping their spirits up. They were risking their lives so that their classmates could survive.

Her eyes locked on Takashi, and she thought back to how she’d been treating him. He, her oldest and most beloved friend. She’d thought that he’d turned into a wastrel, but she’d been wrong, he was a hero.

And the only feeling she could summon was a cold and biting sense of shame.

---------

Most students knew service room 0-14 as the unassuming door in the basement nobody ever went into. It was the most remote and least convenient of the various maintenance rooms in the school. As such, it was also the most uncommonly used. Kept inside were rarely-used seasonal items and equipment of no great importance to basically anyone. The kind of stuff everybody needed but nobody used.

When he’d changed jobs, Tom had made sure to make copies of all the keys. He knew in the days to come being able to access any room in the school would be useful. Such as right now.

This, however, was not known to Rei Miyamoto as she ran down to said room as quickly as she could.

She’d given the announcement, and after some screaming from Ms Hayashi, Principle Yamada had acquiesced and sounded the call.

Moments later, she found herself running towards the storage room as fast as she could.

And it was something of a bother when she saw Saeko Busujima waiting for her, bokken in hand.

Seriously? She’d run as quickly as she could! She’d been the one to tell them to make the announcement! How the hell did she beat her?

“Miyamoto-san,” Saeko said with a nod.

“Senpai,” she replied in greeting.

“Do you know what this is about?” her senior asked with absolute seriousness. “Through the windows I saw Brody-Sensei’s club fighting with a mass of individuals at the gate.There are bodies. I was already on my way out when I heard the announcement. Explain. Now.”

“I...this is going to sound crazy but…” she sighed. “Zombies.”

If there was one absolute with Saeko Busujima it was her iron clad control. The girl always wore a mask of ironclad serenity. As such, Rei had to resist the urge to laugh when the girl took on one of the most gobsmacked expressions she’d ever seen.

Then her eyes narrowed. “Do not joke with me, Miyamoto-san...”

“I’m not joking!” she exclaimed. “Takashi’s out the fighting a giant horde of zombies and Brody-sensei told me to get everyone from the martial arts club and unlock this room!”

At the mention of Brody-sensei’s name, the older girl blinked and then gave a stiff nod. “I see.”

Rei blinked. Wow. That was all it took for her to believe her?

“Please open the door.”

Rei blushed and nodded, fishing the key out of her pocket. Then she placed it into the lock of the heavy wooden door and turned the knob. The door opened smoothly with a slight squeak, then she reached over and flicked the light switch.

What she beheld was one hell of a sight.

On one side of the room was a vast pile of various holiday decorations, capped off by a large plastic santa someone had decided to glue a pair of aviator sunglasses to.

On the other was an honest-to-god armory. Leaning against the wall was row upon row of weapons. Spears, compound bows, quivers full of arrows, a mountain of martial arts weapons, even swords, honest to god swords!

Like the ones from the club room, the spears Brody-sensei had hidden down here were different from the traditional yari. They were larger and heavier, with a viciously long triangular blade with two crossbars underneath it. Her guess was that they were some kind of European spear. Not exactly what she was used to, but well balanced and wickedly sharp. A dependable, no frills weapon.

Her head turned at the sound of a gasp.

Saeko had followed her into the room and was standing in front of the row of swords. A flush had spread across her face and the expression she was showing was indescribable. Tentatively she reached out and picked up one of the swords.

Most of the swords had been dojo-grade weapons. The kind used by senior students of a style to showcase their skills without endangering a more valuable weapon. They were almost entirely utilitarian in design, not even bothering to have many of the common decorations given to a traditionally made Japanese blade. This one, however, the one Saeko had chosen, was a very different weapon indeed.

The blade had a black Saya and Tsuka, wrapped in purple silk with finely polished brass detailing. The Tsuba was not entirely traditional, being made of black steel with an inlay of brass in the shape and form of a lotus.

Almost reverently she drew the sword and gasped. The blade was traditionally forged.

Saeko gave the weapon a quick study and a test swing, and he smile turned to a pout for just a second, but returned quickly when she noticed the small tag hanging off of thesaeko of the weapon.

Looking over, she read it.

Saeko. Protect the school.

The older girl took a deep breath and quickly sheathed the weapon. Her look was one of absolute determination. “Of course, sensei.”

Clenching her fist, Saeko rushed over to the final part of the armory: a rack full of leather jackets. There were various styles and in various conditions from good to beat to hell. Many still carried their thrift store sales tags, but they were heavy leather. The kind that would protect against a good, strong bite, she realized. Also along the wall was a large box of work gloves that proudly stated that they had a puncture-resistant kevlar lining. Just how prepared for this was sensei? How had he paid for all of this?

Her fellow student dressed herself like a woman possessed then turned to the door. Since they’d entered the hallway had filled with the members of the clubs.

Rei could hear them commenting on all the weapons and gear and wondering just where had all this come from, and what the hell was going on.

Rei panicked for a moment, Brody-Sensei hadn’t told her what to say to the other students and she had no idea how to explain this without looking like a lunatic. But as she dithered, Saeko stepped forward and took control of the situation.

Taking her sword in hand, Saeko turned to them. “I know that you’re confused, so was I until a moment ago, but this is what is happening: outside right now, our school is being besieged by the living dead.”

Several of the other students started to laugh and comment but she silenced them with a quick draw of her blade.

“Silence! If you do not believe me, look outside, see it with your own eyes and know that for every second you delay one of our classmates risks his life to preserve yours!”

She pointed at the weapons. “Brody-sensei has, in his wisdom, prepared for this eventuality and has given us the tools to protect our school! I for one will not reject his generosity. I intend to fight, for my school, for my classmates, and for my life. And if any of you have even a gram of courage or pride in your hearts, then you’ll grab a weapon and follow me.”

“For years we’ve trained in the martial arts of our people, now is the moment where that training proves it worth! Take your weapon and follow me. I will not force you, but if you do not, know now that your cowardice may very well have doomed every one of us!”

She raised her sword. “Who Will Follow?”

The responding cry was deafening, each and every one of the students gathered answered her cry in the affirmative. It was actually a moment before Rei realized that she was screaming too.
​

 

AN: With thanks to Psyckosama and Grey Rook Here's Part 20
“Yes, Hiroshi, head for the depot, me and the Huscarls will meet up with you as soon as we can. How do you get there? Oh good God man…”


Frustration and disbelief continued to build up in me as I was prevented from joining the huscarls at the gate because Thegn after Thegn kept calling me one after the other. It had to be one of the weirdest sights in the world, this well-armored man out of dark ages Europe screaming at the top of his lungs into a cellphone while a bunch of his companions were off fighting hordes of the undead…


Fuck. I really was living in a manga…


“It’s to the north of you on the west side of the river. In fact, it’ll be visible from the shore... You know what? Just call Yoshi and meet up somewhere half way. He knows where it is and you’ll have better chances together anyways.”


“Alright, head for the river, then keep going upstream until you’re out into the burbs, then get to-"


“Got it, Old Man!”


“Hey! I’m only…”


Click


“Twenty-six” I finished lamely, shoving my phone into a pocket.


Now that I was finally able to give my boys my undivided attention, I took in their situation, and was damned impressed at how well they’d handled themselves.


Not a single one was slacking or out of position, they’d completely blocked off the broken gate and were efficiently slaying every single zombie coming at them, but I knew that they couldn’t keep this up forever.


I could already see that they were beginning to tire. They still had energy to spare, but it was the little things. They were talking less, they were getting more and more red in the face, and they were fighting less with passion and more mechanically.


Sooner or later they’d start making mistakes and while they were well armored, their defenses were not absolutely perfect. If we were overrun we were dead, then everyone else would be too.


“They’re not going to last.” A female voice spoke up.


I snapped my head in the voice’s direction, and there beside me was Saya Takagi, the one member of the canon crew I’d yet to interact outside of teaching. She was a brilliant student, acing every test, quiz or other assignment we put in front of her. What the hell was she doing here?


“Ms. Takagi, what the hell are you doing out here?” I barked. “It’s not safe.”


“And the rest of the school is?” she snapped. “There’s a bunch of... of... I can’t believe I’m actually saying this... Zombies trying to get into the school and eat our brains!”


“Well, moving towards them isn’t exactly conductive to your health now, is it?” I remarked sarcastically.


She crossed her arms. “So, sensei, what’s the big plan to stop them? Besides having Takashi-kun stand there and fight them while you make phone calls?”


“...Dammit… Alright, do you have any better ideas than mine? Because all I’ve got is jump in there with them until my reinforcements hopefully show up.” Where the hell were they?


She blinked. “Reinforcements?”


I gestured at my equipment. “You think this is all I had squirreled away? No, I had spares and, hopefully, Ms Miyamoto managed to gather the armed martial arts clubs to my... well I guess I can say it now... secret armory I had in the school basement.”


Saya stood silent for a moment and then facepalmed. “That has got to be the most idiotic, half-baked plan I’ve ever heard!”


“Hey!” I countered. “I didn’t exactly expect for that idiot Ryushi to flip his shit and crash through the gate.”


Before she could reply with yet more scathing commentary about my general competence I cut her off. “This is pointless... I’m arguing with a teenage girl... look, the boys aren’t going to be able to keep this up forever, nor will the martial arts club members if or when they show up. We need something to get the pressure off of them so that we can set up a barricade to fix that damned gate. So unless you have any bright ideas I’d appreciate it if you’d zip it.” I said that much more harshly than I’d intended.


Saya looked at me as if I were some kind of insect. “Thank you for the pep-talk, sensei. Your mastery of the obvious is humbling,” Her eyes narrowed. “Now tell me everything you know about those things.”


Glaring at the continued lip but letting it go in the face of Hordes of Goddamn Zombies, I gathered my thoughts. “Well, it takes a blow to the head to take them down though I guess dismemberment or-”


“Bullet points!” she exclaimed, going a little red in the face. “We don’t have time for a lecture!”


“Alright! Alright!”


“Aim for the head. You get bit, you become one. They seem attracted to sound and heat. Seem to be blind. There, that short enough for ya!?”


“How fast are they? How individually intelligent are they?”


“Mindless shamblers,” I replied drolly.


“Anything else?”


I raised an eyebrow. “Want a lecture?”


She glared for a moment and began to pace. “Alright. They're mindless individually but seem to gain a degree of hive intelligence as their numbers grow...”


She looked up. “Do they make sounds?”


“Nothing but groans and moans.”


She frowned as she began to pace again. “Some form of subvocalization is possible, then. Explains the insect-like social behavior...”


“Is there anything else? Because I noticed that they seem rot real fast right after they die. I guess I could get a sample if you want?” I snarled at her.


“I fail to see how that’s applicable,” she muttered as she continued to pace, lost in thought.


“Is there a point to the twenty questions? Because if there is then I’d-”


Her head snapped up and she cut me off in a shrill tone. “Yes, I’m trying to think of a way to get them to stop swarming us!”


She threw back her head and then took a deep breath. And started staring into space. Or rather, staring at the parking lot.


“Sensei...”


“What? Do you have an idea?”


“Follow me.”


I glanced back at the gate. “But-”


“Just come on!” She snapped.


“Alright already… yeesh, I'm just your damn teacher… not like I deserve a little respect…” I muttered under my breath.


“Are those gloves of your shock resistant?” she asked as she started off towards the parking lot in a full jog.


“Yes!” I bit back, before turning back to the boys. “Hold the line, boys! We’ve got a plan!”


“Got it, Sensei!”


Grumbling I ran after her, quickly meeting her at the parking lot.


“Okay, what’s your plan?”


“We need to open one of these cars,” she replied. “I need the horn and tool kit.”


“And it’d take too long to run and get the keys… dammit...”


I glanced over and sighed. Well, considering that he was dead I doubted that he’d complain.


Striding over to Teshima’s car, a nice Mitsubishi Lancer, I smashed the window and unlocked the door.


I'm sure he'd understand.


Almost frantically, Saya pushed past me and pulled the hood release.


Running around the front, she threw the car open and glanced over the engine. “Help me find the horn!”


“Got any ideas where to start?” I said as I tried to find something that might vaguely resemble a horn.


“Wait,” she muttered to herself. “Hold on. Think. Alright. A horn would have to be located in an area with minimal blockage to get maximum sound...” she looked over at me. ”Rip out the grille!”


I nodded and dug my axe into the grille and gave it a strong yank.


Thank God most were made out of plastic these days. It took a little bit of elbow grease but it came free. And there it they were, mounted right over the radiator. A small pair of speakers with wires coming out of their sides, each attached with a single bolt...


She was up and a flash and running back to the cab. She pulled the trunk release and glanced over. “Get the automotive toolkit!”


I sighed and walked around the back and opened the trunk.


It was mostly empty, though there were the standards. For example, the normal spare bottle of oil, jug of coolant, and some-such. There were also a couple shopping bags loaded with what looked like Shojo Manga of all things.


I blinked. Well. That’s a thing. Can’t account for taste but I’m not about to criticize the dead.


Pushing it all to the side, I pulled up the rug to get into the spare tire compartment, and there, sitting atop the tire was a small black box.


Opening it, I found that it was a simple hex set.


“Bingo!” I quickly shut it and brought it round to the front of the car. Quickly finding the right bit, I attached it to the wrenches and quickly began quickly unscrewing the bolts.


“Alright, now what?” I asked her. I heard a bunch of shouting from the front gate, some of them female… it seemed that Rei had brought reinforcements.


She looked up as she took the kit. “Did you see anything like duct tape or electrical tape back there? And give me a knife if you have one.”


“I have one right here. Let me go check.” I quickly pulled it from the loop on my belt I’d kept it, flipped it in my hand so that the blade was pointing at me then handed it to Saya, forcing down the expectation of a ‘thank-you’ from her I’d had hammered into my skull when I’d been in the Boy Scouts.


True to form, she took it without so much as a nod and got to work loosening the horns. “Find tape and some rope if you can manage it.”


“I have some paracord.”


“Give it.”


I sighed and this time just dropped it next to her. If she couldn’t be bothered to be polite, why bother?


“Anything else?”


“Get tape.”


“On it.” I moved back to the open trunk, apprehension building as I heard a few screams that may not have been battle-cries coming up from the gate.


Scrounging around, to my relief I found a roll of the black tape. Didn’t recognize the brand but it was electrical tape alright.


“Here we go.” I said as I began to walk around to find her on the ground in front of the car with the horns already out, carefully trying to strip the wires with the knife.


Without glancing up she held up the tool kit. “Get the battery out!”


She paused before adding. “And just use your axe to chop the leads off at the wire! I need them!”


“Ah, I see what you have planned,” I said with a faint smile.


I quickly looked at the engine and frowned when I didn’t see the battery. I didn’t see it in the trunk so it probably had to be underneath all this plastic intake crap.


Normally, I’d have carefully removed it, but this was a dead man’s car and it was being sacrificed upon the altar of the good of the school, so I simply chopped it out with my axe.


A good call because moments later I saw it, located under the intake held in by two bolts on a retention bracket.


As she said just to chop the wires off, I did so with two swift swings of my axe. A moment later I began to undo the two bolts holding the brackets.


I’ll tell you now undoing bolts had never taken so long in my life.


Once it was free, I gritted my teeth and hefted it out.


Shit it was heavy. I hoped she had a plan for how to get the damned thing away from the school.


With a grunt, I placed it down next to her.


“I hope you have a plan on how to get this thing out of here...”


“Use the rope to sling it over the fence, and hopefully over the cliff on the other side of the road,” she replied as she started taping the horns to the battery. “You can do that, right?”


“Yes I can. I’m more than strong enough for that.” Now I realized why she’d insisted I come along.


“Good...” she paused. “How good are you with knots?”


“Passable.”


“Better than me,” she admitted as she began loosening the neutral lead. “Tie the rope.”


“Got it.” I quickly tied around the contraption with the paracord, having to concentrate for a moment to remember the appropriate knot for this sort of work. Thank God I’d spent the past year reinforcing everything I’d learned about survival in the scouts.


“Good,” she cut in as she loosened the positive lead. Once it was free she wrapped the stripped wires from the horn around it then tapped it to the lead, making sure to hold onto the shielded section of wire.


It made a short but mighty honk.


“Good.” she looked up and handed me the wrench. “Once we’re to the wall, tighten it on and then throw it over.


“Alright, so, all that’s left is to trigger and throw the damn thing. Let’s head back, but Saya, you keep your distance, and keep that knife just in case.”


“I don’t think so!” she snapped. “I’m going to see this through to the end!”


“Fine, but don’t get too close.” I said, hefting the battery and running back towards the gates.


“No!” she exclaimed. “The point is to get them away from the gates, dumbass!”


As I changed course I looked back. “You really need to think about how you talk to your elders!”


“I’ll apologize when we’re not about to get eaten alive by... by... them!”


“No! Do n0t euphemize them, call them what they are: zombies.” I said as I made for where the fence surrounding the periphery the school sat on was a bit lower. After I arrived, I made my way I gave the battery a few practice twirls then got to work.


The resulting sound was deafening, and it was through gritted teeth and strength of will that I was able to tighten it.


Fuck, I hope I didn’t get hearing loss from this shit.


Scrambling back, I grabbed the rope and gave it as powerful a spin as I could physically manage.. Moments later it was sailing over the fence as hard as I could as I fell to the ground dizzy and near deaf.


It seems spinning around in a circle like a lunatic while having a car horn screaming in your ear does wonders for your equilibrium.


I smiled as I saw it go flying over the embankment on the other side of the road only to keep sounding loud as can be once it had come to a rest.


Fighting the urge to sit back and rest for a moment, and I’ll admit, the vertigo originated urge to empty my stomach, I forced myself to my feet and towards the battle lines.


There I saw a battleline of students. My own boys holding the gate while the others opportunistically attacked the zombies though the bars of the wall’s fence.


But more importantly, most of the zombies, those farther from the battle were starting to move on and slowly the tide became a trickle.


Forcing down the nausea to the best of my ability, I bellowed at the top of my lungs. “Keep it up! Only a little while longer!”


“Oh shit,” I muttered as I began to stumble, only to find Saya Takagi grabbing hold of my arm to keep me stable.


“I apologize for being disrespectful, sensei,” she said as she looked up to me. “But there was no time to be polite.”


I nodded. “I get it. Just... be a bit more level headed next time.”


She blinked and stammered. “Next time?”


“It’s the end of the world, Takagi.”


She went as pale as a sheet as her mind began to process the reality of the fact. “B-but the military has plans for things like this...”


“And if those plans were holding, do you think we’d have had zombies trying to eat the school?”


She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “Shit! Shit! Shit!”


Taking a couple more breaths she stood up. “Of course. This is no time to be excitable.“ She snorted and continued: “I’m assuming you have one of those ‘Zombie Plans’ that you Americans love so much?”


“No, I happened to have had enough weapons to supply an army in the basement just because.”


It was a shame that I didn’t have a camera phone, because the look she gave me was priceless and worthy of being recorded for future generations.


“Crazy foreigner.” she muttered as she lead me to the others.


Once we were closer I took a step without her help and thankfully found that at least the bulk of the vertigo had passed. And my hearing was starting to clear up. Thank God.


During that time, the students had also managed to polish off the bulk of the remaining zombies. There were stragglers, of course, but the numbers were low enough that they could be dealt with individually rather than as part of a battleline.


“Great job, everyone,” I said as I got close. “The decoy should buy us some time to come up with a plan.”


“A plan to what?”


I turned about to find the deeply flushed face of Principal Yamada.


Gleep.


“I sincerely hope that you have an explanation for all of this, Brody-san,” he said as his eyes looked over the dozens of armed students and the veritable mountain of corpses that sat at the entrance.


I open my mouth to respond, but almost as if taunting me, my phone rang.


My eye twitched for a moment and I simply gritted my teeth. “I need to answer this. It could very well be life or death.”


“... Considering the situation, I will allow it.”


I pulled out my phone and answered. “What is it, Daigo?”


“Holy shit is this some fucked up shit, boss...”


“I’m well aware of that.”


“I've already lost three guys! Shit man, it’s the end of the world!”


“I’m aware of that as well.”


“Yeah, you’re kind of on the ball about this crap. Anything I should need to know?”


“Don’t let them bite you. They’re blind. They’re attracted to sound.”


“Wish I’d know that first one earlier... shit, man.”


“Listen, I don’t want to sound like an asshole but I’ve got my own problems here.”


“Oh. Yeah. Right. On my way to the rally point, boss.”


“Good to know. Stay alive. Call me if you need to report anything else in. Brody out.”


I clicked off the phone before he could go on. Daigo never knew when to shut up.


“I apologize, Principal Yamada...”


He took a deep breath. “From where I stand you have been smuggling weapons into my school.”


He took a step forward.


Oh shit. I don’t need this right now!


“You have been training the students to serve as your own private army...”


He took another step forward.


Shit, how do I explain to him that I had to do this? But how can I explain me knowing there was a zompocalypse coming?


“And you have somehow made more of a mockery of my authority and the integrity of this school than even Shido-san has ever managed.”


He took another step forward bringing us face to face.


Well might as well take my lumps. I did lie to the man for a whole fucking year.


“And by doing so... you saved us all.”


He bowed deeply at the waist. And it wasn’t a little bow either. The man’s torso went completely horizontal for a moment.


Shit, I’d never understand how the Japanese could fucking do that...


“You have my deepest and most sincere thanks.”


In the wake of such unexpected gratitude it was only proper to respond with all the eloquence and diction I could muster. “Uuuuuuuhhh… Don’t mention it?”


He began to laugh and shook his head. “You have a unique way with words, Brody-san.”


Off to the side, I saw Saeko and Takashi approaching with Kouta, Rei, and Hisashi trailing them.


“You created a decoy to draw them off,” Saeko observed. “The brilliance I’d expect of Brody-sensei.”


“Great job, sensei!” Kouta chimed in.


“Ahem!” Saya coughed as she crossed her arms. “I’m the one who came up with it! He just provided the dumb muscle!”


Saeko blinked. “I see... It was... quick thinking.”


“Where was that enthusiasm just a moment ago?” Takashi commented dryly. “But yeah, that was the kind of great idea that the smartest girl in school would come up with. She probably just saved us all.”


Saya’s cheeks were suddenly hit with a splash of red. “W-wait! I couldn’t have done it if you weren’t holding them back! I-I just did my part!”


Rei frowned. “We all did our part. Lets just leave it at that. Okay?”


“Such youthful enthusiasm!” Principal Yamada exclaimed, causing the the students to blush.


“Any losses?” I asked, looking at Saeko.


“No reported injuries, sensei.”


I nodded. “Good.”


“So, Brody-san,” Yamada asked. “I am assuming you have a plan?”


“Yes. And it goes something like this...”
​

 

AN: With thanks to Grey Rook and Psyckosama, here's Chapter 21






“My plan is simple,” I said after a moment of thought. “You know where the Shimori Self-Storage Park is?”

Principle Yamada nodded. “I’m aware.”

“Well, it’s reasonably secure, outside the city proper, and I have a container unit there loaded with food and other supplies. While not long-term viable, it’s secure, it’s outside the city proper, has lots of scavenge...”

“Scavenge?” he asked.

“Sir, it’s the end of the world out there. Conventional property rights are pretty much a null factor at this point. You take what you can for the sake of survival.”

He nodded. “I see. So your plan so far is we go to this storage park, empty your storage container. Loot the others and...”

“Then we head into the mountains,” I replied. “You ever heard of the Crystal Peaks Ski Lodge?”

He nodded. “Something about a construction scandal about 3 years ago. Lead to the owners being indicted. It has been for sale ever since...”

He paused for a moment. “I assume your plan is to relocate there, usings its limited accessibility and geographical isolation to provide a degree of protection against the restless dead?”

I nodded.

He smiled. “Brilliant planning, what I’d expect of my teachers.” he paused. “Were it not absolutely insane. But in an insane world, the madman is king, is he not?”

He paused. “Though I can see one flaw in your plan. It would make relief from the authorities extremely difficult.”

I took a deep breath. “There will be no relief. The city will be completely overrun by tomorrow and you can probably expect total worldwide social and government breakdown within five to seven days.”

There was dead silence from both staff and students at those words. More than a few of either group looked ready to break down weeping. Which made me hate myself for this next part.

“In fact I wouldn’t trust anything without EMP hardening after day three...”

Saya immediately went pale as her fast mind realized the implications of that statement. “Oh my god...”

I nodded. “My guess is a limited nuclear exchange by day three. Day five at the latest... once the nuclear powers start suffering large scale social breakdown, one of theirgreatest concerns will be ensuring that their enemies can’t sweep in and pick up the pieces.”

Horror descended across the entire assembled group like a fog. It was the kind of stifling oppressiveness that made it difficult to breathe. Understandable too, because these people were all Japanese. They alone in the world knew what it was like to be on the business end of a nuclear attack. It was something literally burned into their national identity.

Kyoko, who had followed Yamada when he gone to speak with me, collapsed in on herself and said: “W-why? Why do something like that, what’s anything worth if the dead are walking around?”

“Pride. Short-sightedness. Sheer bloody-minded spite. An attempt to contain the outbreak. Take your pick, Hayashi-san.”

“How do you know that going to happen? Who says you’re right? For all we know the SDF and the American army will come marching in to clean things up in the next hour!” One male kendoist cut in. He blanched almost immediately when Saeko shot him with an absolutely terrifying glare.

“If they could, it wouldn’t have gotten to this point,” I cut in. “This has all the hallmarks of the beginnings of a worldwide epidemic! If you went to the computer labs right now, looked on the internet, I’m sure you’d find news from thirty different countries telling you the same thing, right now: the dead are walking.”

“That is a good idea, Brody-san,” Principle Yamada cut in. “Hikagi-kun,” he looked at the Kendoist, “Shiratama-san’s Computer Science course is currently in progress. I want them to find and print every piece of information they can find on the subject of this... situation.”

“News sites aren’t going to have this yet. It’s happening too fast and right now the governments will be in damage control mode,” I added. “As much as it hurts to say this... tell them to start with the Chans and other web-forums. First person accounts will be aplenty.”

He looked over the two of us, then over to Saeko who was still giving him a hateful glare, and ran off as fast as his legs could carry them, his sheathed Katana still stuffed into his belt.

“Sensei?”

I looked over and nodded to Takashi. He was bloody, tired, but his eyes were sharp and focused. There was a good reason that he was the series protagonist. He had the guile to survive, the guts to go on, and as I’d learned over the past month, the makings of a real leader.

“Yes, Takashi?”

“How bad do you think it’s going to get?” he demanded to know. “I mean, you’re talking about the end of the world. So, how bad?”

I frowned. “Do you really want to know, Takashi-kun?”

He nodded. “Yeah. I mean, if we’re going to have to live it, we have to know what to expect.”

“At a generous estimate,” I took a deep breath. “We’re looking at a 90% loss.”

He blinked. “Wait. What do you mean, ‘we’?”

“Humanity.”

Saya looked over almost incredulously. “And t-that’s your generous estimate?”

“Do you really want to hear my worst case scenario?”

Nobody answered and a few actually looked away.

“Sensei,” Saya asked, a look of mounting horror growing on her face. “Are you implying... extinction?”

I shook my head. “Thankfully not. But we very well could be very well looking at a death rate of 99.9% or more.”

“Or more...” she repeated.

“Or more.”

Several of the girls and at least one of the boys began to weep.

“I could be wrong. I hope I’m wrong,” I said after a moment. “But let’s not fool ourselves, it’s better to prepare for the worst case scenario than to bet the house on a happy ending that may never come.”

I took in the view that our raised elevation granted us, taking in the billowing smoke that rose all across the city. “Me, I’m heading for the tall timber and hunkering down, if I’m wrong then I can go back once the fires are out. If I’m right then I’ve given myself the best chance for survival possible.”

I turned back to them, looking as many of them as I can in the eye. “I’d like it if you’d come with me. As many as will go.”

------------

As we moved towards the school I made a beeline for the nurse’s office, there was something that needed to be done as quickly as possible.

I was alone, principal Yamada and Ms. Hayashi having decided that, at this point, the only real option was to call an assembly and let the students know that something was up.

Once that was done, we also needed to make as many calls as possible to friends and family. The more people we could get linked up for recovery the more we could save. Plus, there were people who really needed to be contacted before everything went to total shit.

I did not look forward to telling Miss Takagi to call her parents. I was expecting a full-blown argument, but in the original timeline the man had the most organized and least psychotic group in the entire city. It had taken an act of Shido to fuck him over, and that asshole was pretty much the personification of Murphy's law.

If it can go wrong, it will go wrong, because of Shido.

I had to get on the man’s good side and his daughter was my best opportunity to reach him. So little miss pigtails-and-bad attitude tsundere could take her teen angst and teenage pride and shove them right up her perfectly drawn little bottom. Sideways. Right next to the tent pole that was already there.

My mind was a jumbled mess, how was I going to explain this shit to Shizuka? She may have been a goof but she wasn’t an idiot, and had always been able to suss out anything I’d tried to keep secret from her. It’d made Valentines hard as hell to buy a gift for her and make it a surprise.

When I reached her office door I’d still not been able to figure out what to say to her. Sighing, I opened the door. “Shizuka, honey are you al- OOF!”

All the air was driven from my lungs as Shizuka tackled me with enough force to give an NFL linebacker envy. She seemed to completely ignore the chainmail I was still wearing as her grip only tightened. “Tom-kun! Oh thank God you’re alright! I heard what had happened at the gates and Teshima Sensei and that there were real Zombies and... and... ahhhhhh!”

And with that, I had a weeping Shizuka in my arms. What the hell did I do here?

Unsure of how to respond I removed my gloves and stroked her head while wrapping my other arm around her back while whispering: “It’s alright, Shizuka, we’re alright. I’m alright. Nothing bad happened." I pulled her up a bit and, lifting my helmet,kissed her. “See, honey? I’m alright.”

She looked at me with her tear-filled eyes and sobbed again for a moment before clenching her arms around me even tighter. I swore I felt my ribs creak for a moment.

I sat there for a few minutes letting her calm down on her own terms, before I started to get back up while Shizuka more or less clung to me like a sexy limpet. “Alright,Shizuka, we can’t just be sitting out here in the hallway. We’ve got things to do.”

She looks up and blinked. “Things to do?”

I nodded. “We need to get ready to evacuate the school. It’s not safe. And I need you to call Rika.”

She blinked. “Why?”

“We’re going to be stopping by her house,” I replied. Her EMP-shielded hummer was alone too valuable an asset not to jump on. Her closet full of guns was just candy. Plus, call it hero syndrome, but I did kind of want to save Alice if I could.

I would also have to have Kouta call up Asami. A couple of cops would be useful, and once we’d cleared the school, a quick convoy to pick up the mall survivors wouldn’t be at all an unreasonable act.

Rei’s place would also be a top priority for looting. Plus she’d called him all of once in the Manga. Here, I’d encourage her to keep calling until she got through. His skills would be useful.

Shizuka blushed. “Um. Tom... One problem with that?”

I frowned. “Yes?”

“I forgot my phone this morning...”

I shrugged and tossed her mine. “I got it covered.”

She frowned. “Tom. Why do you have my best friend's cell number in your phone?”

“Because you forget yours all the damned time,” I replied as if it were as obvious as day.

And it was true too. I would have kept it for that reason even if there wasn’t the whole ‘My Zombie Plan Involves Robbing Your House” element.

“So why exactly are we going to be looting her place?” she asked. “I mean, what does she have?”

“Guns,” I replied. “And a truck that could survive an EMP attack.”

She blinked. “Oh. That,” He eyes narrowed somewhat. “How did you know about all of that?”

“She’s talkative when she’s drunk,” I replied.

Her eyes narrowed even more. “And how do you know what she’s like when she’s drunk?”

“Because the three of us go drinking and she normally gets chatty around the same point where you get silly,” I replied with a bit more snarky than I’d intended. “So, and I don’t mean to offend you when I say this, can we please drop the misplaced ‘paranoid girlfriend’ shit and focus on the issue at hand? That being the innumerable hordes of the undead hungering for our delicious brains?”

She pouted but I continued: “Because, if I really wanted to screw your roommate I’d have just said yes that time when the two of you got really plowed and suggested a threesome.”

Her face took on a crimson glow as she pulled away waving her hands. “Okay! Okay! I’m sorry! You’re not sleeping with Rika! I’m sorry I got paranoid! Next subject!”

I chuckled a bit. “Alright, honey, I’ll stop with the teasing. But now we need to focus on getting out of here. If an outright horde of undead, and they were undead, I killed enough of them to know the diffrence, managed to get this far up the hill, then God knows how bad it’ll be down in the city, and I’d rather we not be here for longer than we have to.”

She nodded. “What do you need me to do?”

“I want you to get all your medical supplies and box them up. We don’t have time to be neat. You can organize and count off what you have later. Right now, though, just get them in a bag and get ready to get with the fuck out of here.”

She nodded and started ripping stuff off her shelves and throwing it onto the bed in her office.

As she did so, she looked over, a spike of fear in her eyes. “Tom...?”

“Yes Shizuka?” I asked her.

“I-in your dream, how bad does it get?”

I sighed, I didn’t want to distress her any more than I already had, but better she hear it now then when the principal made the general announcement. If anything, at least I could help her deal with it. “Come next year, I’d be surprised if one in a thousand are still alive. It was that horrible.” I said in as calm a voice as I could.

I placed my hand on her shoulder and smiled weakly. “But I never saw you hurt, or bitten or anything. As far as I could tell, you were alright. So take heart from that, I guess.”

She bit her lip and nodded, fighting back tears as she continued to strip her room. “They’re going to depend on us, aren’t they?”

I nodded. “As if we were their parents.”

“I’ll be strong for them,” she said, “Will you be strong for me?”

A much stronger smile spread across my face and I said in an upbeat tone, “For you, stronger than Goku.”

------------

I found my quarry loitering about outside, watching the gate like a set of hawks. For someone who wasn’t a fighter, Saya was awfully willing to get close to the action. Mostly so she could give orders.

From what I saw, she actually had things in good order. While they were badly damaged by the impact, the gates were still on their hinges. At a glance I’d thought them to a be a total loss, as they were not designed to open that way. The students under Saya’s direction, however, had already managed to reset one of them and were slowly forcing the other back into position with sheer muscle power.

Huh, maybe they still maybe had a little life left in them after all. They’d need to be chained, but we had that. And locks. We were a high school after all.

“Careful you idiots! If you make too much noise ‘they’ will come back.”

“They aren’t ‘they’ Takagi, they’re Zombies, I thought you were smarter than that.” One male student commented dryly.

“You can only say ‘the zombies’ so many times before it gets old, Mishahara,” she snapped. “Now get back to work!”

“Alright, alright, no need to get all bitchy... of all the days for her to be on the rag…”

Saya’s face turned a bright shade of red as her eyebrow started to twitch. Now, as amusing as it would be to see a the captain of the wrestling club get his balls handed to him on a plate by a pink-haired pixie, I kinda needed him intact.

“Alright Ms. Takagi, calm down.”

I looked up. “And Mr. Mishahara, shut up and get back to work.”

“You need something, sensei?” Saya asked after glaring at Mishahara for a moment.

“As a matter of fact, I do.” I paused. “I need to speak with you and Miss Miyamoto for a moment.”

She nodded and followed me, as did Rei who’d been watching the gates with Takashi and Saeko.

“What’s this about?” Takashi asked.

“I’m sure it’s nothing.” Kouta replied. “If we needed to know sensei would tell us.”

I paused. “Actually, all of you can come with, I guess.”

I lead them away from the group by about 10-20 yards and then turned back to them.

“Do you have your cellphones with you?” I asked.

Rei nodded. Saya only scowled.

“Miyamoto, your father’s a police investigator correct?”

“Yes Sensei, but I tried calling him through the official lines and-”

I sighed. “Rei, do me a favor and look outside the school. Tell me what you see?”

She obediently glanced out towards the rising smoke, screams, and sirens that were now a constant background noise for the entire city. She then looked back. “He told me never to call his personal number while he was at work, unless it was an emergency…”

“Rei, I don’t know about you, but I’d personally count the end of the world as we know it as an emergency.”

Rei flushed like a neon sign. “Alright sensei…” She then reached into a pocket, pulled out a small flip-phone and began to punch in a number.

I then turned to Saya, who had waited until I’d turned my attention to her, then said: “I don’t have a phone, I’m a model student.”

I sighed and shook my head. “And somehow, having no means of contacting your family in an emergency makes you an ideal student. Sometimes I really wonder about this country.” I pulled out mine. “I’m sure a genius like yourself has your parents’ private numbers memorized, correct?”

She gave me a look that could melt steel before daintily taking my phone from my hand.

“You do realize who my father is, correct?”

“A prominent politician who has the mentality and resources to get shit done in an emergency?” I asked rhetorically.

“He’s Souichiro Takagi, Don of the prefecture’s Ultra-Nationalist organization.”

“Again with the things I’m aware of.” I commented dryly. “And I’m sure a strong Japanese patriot would be interested in cooperating with a well-meaning American ally who wants nothing more than to dedicate his efforts to preserving the lives of as many of his precious countrymen as possible.”

That set her sputtering. “F-fine! Just don’t say I didn’t warn you, Sensei!”

She started to dial, I raised my hand. “Wait, let Rei contact her father first. Then we’ll deal with yours, that way nothing gets missed in the kerfuffle.”

She scowled but nodded, closing my phone shut.

The two of us then turned to Rei, whose concerned face lit up as she apparently managed to contact her father. “Daddy! Is that you? It’s me, Rei!”

Her elation died as I heard a faint voice on the other end of the line, not enough to make out what they were saying but the tone seemed to indicate that they were extremely agitated.

“Daddy? Can you hear me? Daddy?”

Then I heard what sounded like gunfire erupting from the phone and Rei snatched it away from her ear. Then, sudden silence: “Daddy! Are you there? Daddy!?”

She closed her phone, then turned to me, her eyes shining with tears. “He... he couldn’t hear me... and... I... I heard guns…”

“Call him back in a little while,” I said calmly.

She looked at me for a moment, tears ready to stream down her face, when Takashi moved in to put an arm around her. “Sensei’s right, Rei-chan, your dad’s a tough guy. I’m sure he’s going to be alright.”

Rei turned her head and smiled at Takashi, she rubbed her eyes with her hands and calmed down enough to talk. “You’re right, Takashi, I’ll try again later, he wouldn’t want me worrying about him like this.”

I turned to Saya, who’d been waiting patiently for her turn. “Alright, Ms. Takagi, you’re up.”

She gritted her teeth and dialed the number. A moment later it was answered. “It’s your daughter...”

She blinked. “Yes. I’m alright... It’s my teacher’s phone and-”

She scowled. “He wants to talk to you.”

I blinked and nodded. “Alright, hand it here.” She placed the phone into my hand and I quickly raised it to my ear. “Hello?

“To whom am I speaking?”

“This is Tom Brody. A teacher at your daughter’s school.”

“The American English teacher. The one who transformed the delinquent gangs of the district into a Viking army. I’m of a mixed opinion of you, Mr. Brody. On one hand, you have awakened the martial spirit in our youth. On another you did it by entrenching them in a deeply foreign culture. And now I find that my precious daughter is in your custody.”

I blanched a bit at that gruff voice. “That’d be correct, Takagi-dono.” I finally said, ‘-san’ a bit too... plebeian for the man. Wow did that feel weird.

“Hm. Respectful for a foreigner. Very well, Brody-dono. I am currently fortifying my family estate. You and any survivors with you may take shelter here, along of course, with my daughter.”

“I actually have my own fallback plans. I’ve managed to preserve almost the entire population of the school. The grounds are not secure so we are relocating. I’ve got a supply depot on this side of the river that I plan to fortify before heading over the river further upstream and away from the city. So-”

“I see,” he replied.“As much as it pains me to say this, I cannot expect you to abandon your charges for the sake of my daughter. So instead, I entrust her to your care. I would like to know the details of your plans, but I would prefer to do so in my wife’s presence.”

I nodded. “I understand. Your daughter is safe with me and my b- er, my men.”

Then a thought occurred to me. “Takagi-dono, some of the... erm... gangs that have sworn themselves to obey my command are on your side of the river. They aren’t trained soldiers but they’re strong, brave, and tough-”

“Would they be willing to obey my orders?”

“They will if I tell them to, and as long as you don’t force them to break any oaths.”

“And what are these oaths?”

I sighed. Hope he didn't think this sounds stupid.“Don’t take up arms against the innocent.”

I actually heard some slight amusement in his voice. “A most acceptable condition. Your soldiers will be a welcomed addition. My men and I welcome all survivors with the courage to carry on in these times. Now if you will excuse me, duty calls. And Brody-dono, tell Saya to remain safe.”

“Of course, Takagi-dono.”

The line went dead and I turned to Saya. “Your father wants to know the full details of my plans, but more importantly, he’s asked me to watch after you. He asked me to tell you to stay safe.”

She blinked. “My father said that?”

“He’s your father,” I stated calmly. “He loves you. Is that so hard to believe?”

She frowned. “If you knew him…” she said.

“Saya, he loves you. I could tell that much.” I said.

Takashi put his hand on her shoulder and said: “Hey, at least you know your parents are alright.”

“Speaking of which,” I glanced to him, Saeko, and Kouta. “Maybe you three should contact your families as well...”

Takashi frowned. “My dad’s out of town, but I probably should call my mom... Should probably tell Hisashi to call his parents too.”

Kouta shrugged. “Well, my parents are out of the country.”

“As is my father,” Saeko added.

I raised an eyebrow. “You’re not even going to call Asami?”

Kouta flushed and then turned white. “Oh shit. She was on shift today wasn’t she? Crap!”

“Attention all students! Please report to the auditorium!”

I turned towards the boys working on the gates. “Saeko. You keep an eye on this lot and make sure they don’t get eaten. The rest of you, follow me and let’s see what Yamada-san has lined up for us.”

-----------------

“Asami! Asami-chan are you there?”

“Kouta-kun! You’re okay! I’m so happy to know you’re alright! There dead are getting up and eating people! It’s so scary out here!”

“Asami,” he said with total relief, “I was so worried about you. Listen. Where are you? Brody-sensei has a plan! Where are you right now?”

“Asami is with Senpai at Taiei Shopping Town. We were helping with traffic when ‘they’ showed up!”

He frowned thinking back to what Sensei had said to Saya. “Asami, don’t call the Zombies ‘they’, ‘them’, or any other stupid euphemism. They’re zombies. The dead are walking and we all have to accept it.”

“Okay… Y-you’re so strong, Kouta-kun! I don’t know if can-”

“Yes you can,” he replied. “I believe in you.”

“Thank you, Kouta-kun. You said your sensei has a plan?”

“Yeah. He has a fallback point stocked and supplied. But you’re never going to be able to get across the river with the things are right now. Listen, you need to tell Matsushima-san to get everyone together and be ready to evacuate! Brody-sensei talked with some people and there’s a safe spot on your side of the river at the Takagi estate. Brody-Sensei told some of the Thegns to guide you there if needed.”

“But she says we should wait for our superiors!”

“They’re not coming, Asami.” he stated. “Listen. This isn’t just just in Tokonosu. It’s international. Across the country. Across the world. I know you want to be a good cop. You’re a good person and you want to protect people. The best way to do that is to take everyone you can with you and head for a safe-zone.”

“Kouta… I... I...”

“Asami-chan, please, Brody-Sensei thinks this is going to get bad, really bad. He told us that he be surprised if one in a thousand were still alive by next year!” Kouta whispered harshly, he barely stopped himself from shouting that last part. Looking around he saw to his relief that none of the civvies, as he’d privately labeled them, seemed to have noticed his outburst.

Asami was completely silent for a long while, then she said:“A-alright, I’ll talk with Senpai and see what she thinks.”

Kouta sighed. “Do what you can, Asami, that’s all I ask, and remember, whatever happens, stay alive, whatever it takes. If you need me, just call me and I will find you, no matter what.”

“T-thank you Kouta-kun... I... I love you!” She blurted that last bit in a rush as if embarrassed to say so.

“I love you too.” Kouta sighed and ended the call, turning to walk back into the auditorium. It seemed that Brody-Sensei was going to explain to everyone what was going on and what his plan. He hoped that his fellow students would take it well.

The entire auditorium, that had been rumbling with panicky students, went silent when they saw who was stomping across the podium in full war-gear. His helmet under his arm.

Brody-sensei looked over the student body, teachers along the walls to help keep order. His green eyes as hard as flint, or at least they looked so to the young man. Behind him was Principal Yamada, pale as a sheet, covered in a sheen of sweat, and clenching a thick stack of computer print-out papers.

That more than anything made Kouta’s blood run cold. He was willing to accept Sensei’s judgement until proven wrong, but he knew what those print-outs were: final proof.

It was all he could do to not get up and run from the room, to call Asami again and tell her to make for safety as quickly as possible.

Brody-sensei then tapped the microphone to test it, once he saw it was on he turned and nodded to Principal Yamada.


The older man nodded back and stepped forward to the microphone while Brody-Sensei stepped back a few steps to give him room. Yamada looked over the sheets in his hands one last time, then took a deep breath and started.

“Students. This is an emergency as you have heard, but the nature of this emergency is hard to believe. So before I tell you, I will show you.”

He brought up the projector. “This video was posted to the website ‘Youtube’ less than an hour ago. None of it is from a movie.”

Then he pushed play.

The video was grainy and shaky but it was clear as a bell what it was. A horde of zombies overrunning several pedestrians, shot from a window overlooking the scene. It was horrible, though thankfully, it was also too low resolution to make out the worst details.

Then he moved onto another. This one being security footage of zombies storming into a convenience store.

And then another a live news report where the anchor and cameraman were ambushed and eaten alive, then seen to rise on camera.

Several of the students grimaced, others looked on in confusion, a couple idiots even laughed.

“You may think this is a laughing matter,” he said coolly. “But I assure you it is not.”

Then he brought up a picture of the gate. He could see several of his fellow Huscarls as well as a number of members of the sports clubs standing vigil, and behind them was a giant mass of corpses.

“This was taken at the main gate five minutes ago. After Brody-san lead the brave students of his Reenactment Club and the proud martial arts clubs of this school to victory against...” he paled as he said it. “The walking dead.”

There was dead silence for a few heartbeats, then the auditorium, exploded in sound, as the students all voiced their disbelief or fears at the same time.

“Silence!” he exclaimed, bringing his fist down on the podium. “There is no time for frantic behavior. By showing your fear and acting irrationally you put yourselves and the whole of the student body in danger. I have in hand reports and first-hand accounts from across the world of what can only be described as the beginnings of a Zombie Apocalypse.”

He paused. “So far, we have been lucky. One of our number was prepared for such an occasion and lead the school to a victory. A short-term one, however for we are not yet safe. We do, however, have a plan to ensure the safety of the students and staff.”

He looked over. “Brody-san, if you will?”

Brody stepped forward to the podium, looking over the student body he seemed to finger something around his neck for a moment before taking a breath. “Students and Faculty, I’m not going to lie to you. It’s bad out there and it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets any better. Right here, right now, your greatest asset for survival isn’t the police, isn’t the military, it’s the person sitting right next to you. Right now, all we have to depend on is each other.”

He looked up. “Right now the school isn’t safe. We need to evacuate. Using both busses and all of the faculty's cars, we should be able to evacuate the whole student body in three trips. Two, if we aggressively requisition vehicles found on the way down. Along those lines, any of you with driving experience need to report it here and now. I don’t care if you’re licensed. If don’t care how you learned. Right now, all I need is the knowledge and the will.”

“W-what about our families!” one of the students called out.

“Good question. How many of your families are in the city?”

About two thirds to three quarters of the student body raised their hands.

He nodded. “Alright. Once you’re safe we’re going to make arrangements. But you come first. Those who can will be encouraged to join us at the meeting place. Those who cannot will be encouraged to join together and find somewhere safe. When we can, we will try to get them out. I can make no promises but I swear to you all in God’s name, that we will save as many people as we can.”

He looked over to the principal who nodded. “The busses are being prepared as we speak. Once they are ready, we will call out names. I will now turn the podium back over to Principal Yamada.”

 

AFTER A FIVE MONTH BREAK, MY MUSE HAS RETURNED TO LAND OF THE DEAD! WITH THANKS FROM PSYCKOSAMA AND GREY ROOK HERE'S A NEW CHAPTER!!!!!!!





It turned out that ripping out forty-odd chairs without heavy duty power tools was much harder than anyone had expected. Oh, we had some wrenches originally meant to change tires that miraculously fit; but we found to our dismay that the bastards who’d screwed these seats to the floor has used a rattle gun to install them. Which meant they were in tight. Really, really damned tight. It had taken a massive amount of blood, sweat and tears just to remove the first seat.

Thank God for Oyama-sensei who, after seeing the problem, was able to rig us up a breaker bar by welding a piece of rebar to a socket wrench.

Seriously. Thank God for that man. Some of the boys were joking about building him a shrine.

Or at least I think it was a joke.

Anyways, thanks to Oyama-sensei’s quick thinking, we were able to extricate the chairs from the busses in a decent amount of time, which would allow for many more students to be squeezed into the individual busses.

Unfortunately, even with the modifications there wasn’t nearly enough space to take all the students in a single trip, meaning that we had to decide who would go first and who would need to wait for a return trip.

“Alright, let’s go over this list one more time.” I muttered to myself, a small notepad in my hand, as I paced around an empty classroom before heading back to the the auditorium where the students who hadn’t been assigned to chair ripping duties were told to wait. We sure as hell didn’t want anyone wandering off and getting lost, bit, or bringing down a zed swarm on top of us.

“Huscarls... then half the kendo club… should I bring Saeko? Absolutely. She might not stay even if I gave her a direct order.” I said in a low tone, flipping through the list of names and groups I’d made with the school. “‘Never give an order you know no one’s going to follow’ and all that.”

The simple fact was, I had to prioritize. There was a strong possibility that a return trip would be impossible and if such an event were to occur then I had to make sure the half I saved would be the most vital for our future survival. This was my triage and I was taking the ones I knew were absolutely needed for the survival of the school, whatever the cost might be to my soul and I knew it would be heavy.

I paced that classroom for over an hour, writing down and striking off names, possibly consigning hundreds of young people to horrible deaths. Some were easy to give a spot on the first trek, others less so. I agonized for what felt like an eternity before deciding we could squeeze the rest of the engineering club into the first trek despite knowing several of them were severely asthmatic.

Then the enormity of what I had done struck home. I remembered the spray of blood when Teshima was bitten, the thunk as my ax bit home into his chest, the blood and corpses that were splattered everywhere as my boys and a bunch of teenagers fought for their lives against the undead! It was too much!

For several minutes I just stopped and clutched the crucifix around my neck, praying for some guidance. I was a just a janitor/assistant gaijin English teacher, and before that I was just working as a kind-of sort-of clerk at my dad’s five-man engineering firm. Who the hell was I to try and lead hundreds of teenagers and people years older that, men? Sure I had been in the Boy Scouts and had reached Eagle Scout, but did that qualify me? I didn’t know.

After what felt like an eternity I remembered why I was the one who had to do this. Who else could? Who else had been given time to prepare? Who else had been given the natural talent to fight? Who else had prepared for doomsday non-stop for almost a year?

Whether it was Yehovah, Odin, Amaterasu, or a bemused R.O.B. I was literally the only one able to save these kids and as God was my witness I would do all that I could.

Finding the resolve to go on, I finished the list after another hour of working, all the while I muttered a prayer to God for strength and forgiveness if I was wrong in my choices.

Finally I finished the list. I looked it over one last time, then I left the room. Under my breath I muttered the “Our Father”, the “Hail Mary”, and begging every Saint I could remember to pray for Shizuka, my Huscarls, my students, my fellow teachers, their families and the people of the entire world. I was glancing over the list one last time, taking in all who would go.

All of the Huscarls would go, they were the best trained and best equipped fighters I had and I knew I would need them to punch through any blockage we’d come across. As for the martial arts club members I’d armed, I figured the more athletic/skilled half of each club would be ideal for extra muscle. The other half I decided to have stay behind to guard the school until we returned.

As for the rest...well it took some time but I tried to select the more competent ones. The ones who could survive or help others to survive. I wanted to save them all, but I had to make sure to triage. Just in case everything went tits up.

To my eternal shame I’d also tried to lean towards female students among the non-fighters, if things really were going to go tits up then having a glut of unattached males was not conductive to cooperation in the group.

And ironically this also meant that I was bringing every female member of the Track Team. As well the less bothersome male members. Like it or not, terrible in track meets or not they were fast, a trait needed in this world.

Well, most of the less bothersome. That douchebag Tsunoda had managed to save his own life by uttering three valuable words.

I know Parkour.

Seriously, why the fuck hadn’t I even tried to learn learn it? Stupid!

As for the others, my Thegns would have simple orders for keeping the peace if we made a return trip. If anyone starts shit, threaten to throw them over the fence. If they don’t stop, hit them until they do.

Leaving the last room of the first year hall I headed back towards the auditorium, the students had been told to relocate to the second floor and barricaded all but one of the stairwells with as many desks as they could dump down. The idea was that if the zombies came back then they could block the last stairwell and enter the busses through their emergency exits via the second floor windows.

Walking through the various classrooms I quickly stuck my head in and called the students to return to the auditorium, deciding to prevent any undead from being drawn to the PA as the bait horn was starting to audibly weaken. As the Huscarls walked by I handed Hayato sheet of paper and told him to show it to the others. I mentioned that these people were their responsibility to get onto the busses. Once they were loaded on they’d join me at the front of the caravan. He nodded and called out Kohta who quickly read through the list once he was told what it was for.

When he noticed the names of the Track Club members he glanced up at me with a questioning look in his eyes. I grimaced for a moment as I remembered that before he had become a Huscarl he’d been the favourite punching-bag for the track goons who were only egged on by Shido. He wouldn’t have shed a tear if each and everyone of them were dead and tossed down a sewer… oh wait…

Seeing him about to protest I said: “They’re fast on their feet. It’s a useful skill these days. Besides, would you rather them causing shit here? Or on the bus where we can smack them for being idiots?”

Kohta thought on that for a second before sighing. “I get that, but Tsunoda? Really?”

“He knows Parkour.”

Kohta paused for a moment and blinked. “Really?”

“He claims he does,” I replied with a shrug.

“And you believe him?” he asked, incredulously.

I smiled and patted him on the back. “Look at it this way. If he’s lying, well, you can help me show him how dangerous it can be to lie.”

Kohta’s smile made me wonder if simply throwing him out of the bus wouldn’t have been the kinder fate.

When I opened to door to the last classroom, my eyes bugged and I quickly slammed the door, hearing the feminine shriek and the rustling of clothes as two certain someones began throwing their clothes on as quickly as possible.

I simply stared at the hallway wall opposite from said room until the door creaked open slowly and out walked big Kenji and a third year named Yuuki. All four foot eight inches of her. Seriously, she was a pixie.

With the adage about opposites attracting resounded in my mind I gave them both a look.

“Sorry about that, Sensei,” Kenji said with some reluctance. “but I just couldn’t not spend some time with my girl. I mean, what if...”

“Shut it both of you and get your asses on the bus. We don’t have time for this shit.”

His face lit up. “Sensei, you really mean it?”

“Sure,” I said with a well meaning smile. “She’s tiny. I mean, all else fails she can lounge in the overhead compartment or something.”

The girl flushed a brilliant red. The kind that comes from fury, not embarrassment. And it made her look something like a christmas decoration considering her shockingly green shade of anime hair.

It honestly made me worry for my balls. She was at perfect punching height.

“Babe, you really wanna piss off our ride?” Kenji said weakly.

She glared for a moment then huffed and started towards the bus.

“Thanks, Sensei. I mean it...” Kenji muttered under his breath as he followed his pint-sized sweet-heart.

I shook my head in mild amusement and followed them into the auditorium.

As I entered the doors, I steeled my features and made my way to the podium, a list in my hand of the various club members and non-combatant students I wanted for the first trip.

When I reached the microphone, I cleared my throat and said: “Alright, we should be finishing up with the busses, I must warn you, there is not going to be much space so please no one fly off the handle for inappropriate touching, there’s no helping it. However, if I find out that someone is taking advantage of the situation...

I leaned in. “Let me put it this way. Eventually we will have latrines to muck. Let that stew in your hormone-addled adolescent minds for a while because anyone who gets handsy will be getting every shit job I can think of for... well... pretty much for fucking ever.”

There was some laughter from the back.

I glared at the peanut gallery who didn’t seem to get the picture, time to pull out the big guns. “Okay. Plan B. Girls, anyone who gets touchy feely you have my permission to dispense justice. Saeko-san will be master of ceremonies.”

The smile that came to her face was positively chilling. “I shall do my best, Brody-sensei.”

I paused and made sure to add a caveat. “No permanent injury or broken bones.”

“As you wish...”

Holy shit. Did she just pout?

And did she just quote Star Wars at me?

Either way, the idiots seemed to have the lightbulbs go off because the laughter died right then and there.

-----------------

I took a deep breath as I looked over the ad hoc convoy lined up in front of the school gates.

Two busses carrying almost a hundred and fifty students combined, with almost two score divided amongst the personal vehicles of the teaching staff, along with every pieceof valuable equipment and supplies we could find.

Everything that wasn’t bolted down had been loaded up. And everything that was was in the process of having the bolts cut. If we were lucky, we’d even be able to find a cargo truck on the way back for the really heavy shit. Maybe raid the Japanese equivalent of U-haul or something.

When the various students had been told who would and wouldn’t be going there had been a small uproar at the choices. Sweet-hearts and friends wouldn’t want to be separated, rivals didn’t want to be mashed next to each other. It took me bellowing at the top of my lungs and quite a bit of juggling to get things ready to go. We didn’t have all fucking day for this shit.

Still, it had taken much longer than I’d hoped but we were standing in front of the busses ready to leave.

“Alright,” I stated stiffly. “Here’s the plan. One bus up front, another in back. Teacher vehicles in between. We all have radios, so if you see something that looks advantageous you either radio for a stop or contact one of the busses so we can mark it on GPS. Understood?”

There was a deafening “Hai!” from the teachers.

“Very good...”

“Excuse me, Brody-san...”

I paused and looked to the speaker. “Yes, Takayama-san?”

The man took a deep breath. “Once we have delivered the first group of students, I wish to fetch my family. My wife and child are at home and...”

I raised a hand. “It’s alright. Do what you have to, just don’t abandon the students and get back to the location as quickly as you can. And most importantly, don’t die. You can take whatever equipment you need from the sports locker to protect yourself. That goes for the rest of you as well, just do not do this recklessly. You save no one if you die foolishly.”

“I understand, Brody-san.”

I nodded. “Good. Anything else?”

"No, I believe not,” Principal Yamada cut in. “We must get going. I will see to the school. You ensure that our precious students will be seen to safety.”

He smiled and nodded to the assembled teachers before turning back to me. “You carry with you the pride and honor of Fujimi High School! I trust that you will carry through.”

“I’ll do it or die trying!” I replied….with a little more force than I’d intended….maybe the animu effect is getting to me….

He grinned. “That’s the spirit! Now off with you all!”

The teachers and students started moving to their assigned vehicles, but before I left I had one piece of unfinished business.

Taking a deep breath, I moved to Shizuka. She was standing by her little car with three girls. On the roof of her vehicle were several crates loaded with all the medical supplies that we could find. With the help of the three members of the nursing club who’d be cramming themselves into the single passenger seat, they were doing one last check to make sure nothing fell off.

And yes, there was actually a nursing club.

Straightening my shoulders, I walked over to her, my helmet under one arm, my shield on my back and my axe in my belt. I must have looked like a warrior going off on campaign, which wasn’t all that far from the truth.

The clinking of my mail caught her attention and she turned away from the girls to look at me. Her eyes brightened in that way that made my heart flip every time and I smiled. “Shizuka.”

“Tom.” She replied, that same smile she always had on her face though I could see the strain creeping in at the edge.

That hurt, I hadn’t expected to fall in love, hell I never expected the woman to even notice me...but she had, and I had thanked God everyday for that.

“You knew this would happen, didn’t you?” she stated calmly.

Every warm feeling I had vanished like the morning dew and black dread form in the pit of my stomach.

“I-...I..bu..” I couldn’t speak, my throat tightened up and my stomach dropped to my feet.

“Why didn’t you try to stop it?” she asked calmly.

“I...I didn’t know... how it would begin. Or where… just that it would happen.”

“So instead you just saved the people you could...”

“It’s all that I could do.”

“No,” she replied moving in close. “You could have simply fled and saved yourself. But instead you’re here....”

“You think I would have left you behind? Or them?”

She smiled. “Of course not... because you’re a hero, Tom.”

She gently pressed her lips against mine.

“My hero.”

I grinned and pulled her close, “You’re mine too, Shizuka. I’ve known about this for too long, I’d have gone mad a long time ago. But I didn’t because every time I looked at you, every time you smiled at me, spoke to me, every thing you did... relit my fire and kept me going. And...”

“Don’t give me that, Tom. I’m just along for the ride... now...” She gave me a quick swat on the ass and a bedroom smile. “Now get out there and save the world.”

“Y-yes ma’am!” I said with a giant grin on my face.

-----------------

It was maybe a good 5 minutes later that I began to realize the one kink in my plan. I wasn’t the one driving. With the bulk of the teaching staff alive, they were able to actually have the regular drivers do the driving. This meant that I was simply a passenger.

A passenger, in the back, pressing the flesh with a large group of exactly 73 terrified teenagers inside a space rated to fit 25. Needless to say, there was a rather interesting set of sensations going around.

The first and foremost was the heat. It seemed that even with the AC blasting and the fact that this was early spring, fitting three times the rated capacity of the bus would lead to some thermal regulation issues.

Good fucking God, why hadn’t I taken off my armor?

To make matters worse was the smell.

Deodorant, motherfuckers, ever heard of it?

Still, I was amazed that things had gone as well as they had. People were scared shitless and worried about their families, but they were all still alive and unbitten. The only casualty we had so far was Teshima.

I grimaced at that. Teshima had been a P.E. teacher and while we weren’t friends we respected each other and he’d been quite impressed with what I had done for the nerds I had made into Huscarls.

I knew I’d be having nightmares about his dying and what I had to do to put him down. But the simple reality was I couldn’t afford to hesitate. If I did, people would die. Simple that.

I also took comfort in the fact that aside from Teshima and Tetsuo no one had died so far. My boys and the martial arts club members had fought like heroes. I needed to make sure to commend them somehow. I’d make sure to do so once we got to the storage lot, it’d help earn the respect of the Thegns with the martial arts folks.

Speaking of the Thegns, I needed to contact the guys on the other side of the river and get them to head to the Takagi manor. I’d lose a few fighters but I was sure that old man Takagi could make use of them and it’d be easier logistically on us when we tried to cross the river later.

Checking my phone for the charge I quickly began typing up the message for the pertinent gangs, let’s see, Iron Cobras, Shield-Breakers, Ragnar’s Raiders, who else…?

It was then that I felt something rub up against my arm. Something very very... soft. And squishy.

Slowly, as my hackles began to rise, I turned my head and looked to the side to find myself locking with a pair of amber eyes.

Yuuki Miku. Say what you will about the star of the female half of the Fujimi High School track team as a person, she really was a knockout. And she was currently pressing her tits up against my arm.

“Brody-sensei?” she asked, looking at me with shimmering eyes.

Is this really happening…

“Ye-yes Miku-san?” My voice cracked a bit, this can’t be happening!

She moved her hand to grasp my arm. “You’re going to keep us safe, right?”

“Yes.”

“You’re going to keep me safe, right?”

“Yes, I am.”

She smiled and learned in, all but pressing her body against mine.

“Keep me safe and I’ll do anything you ask.”

“All that I ask is that you give it your all.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll give it my all no matter what you ask of me...” she then leaned in and in a husky voice, she whispered: “And I do mean anything.”

I froze in place.

I need an adult.

Oh crap.

I am the adult.

“Hey!” Saya cut in. “Cut that bitch in heat shit out, Miku. This isn’t the time. This isn’t the place. And nobody wants to smell your damned hormones.”

Yuuki’s lovely face twisted into a mask of hate as she glared at Saya through hooded eyes before pulling away and vanishing into the press of students.

Saya huffed. “The nerve of that...”

“STOP THE BUS!”

We were all lurched forward with several people nearly being crushed as the bus came shrieking to a halt. I had to brace myself from slamming into Saya .

“What the hell, Takashi!” I growled, looking at the newest of my huscarls. “I assume you have a good reason for stopping the bus.”

He nodded. “Yeah, sensei. There’s a bike on the side of the road. Looks intact.”

I pressed through the mass of students and moved to the other window. Glancing in the direction he indicated, I saw the aforementioned bike laying on its side next to the side rail of the highway.

“And I assume there’s a point to all this?” I growled, feeling not a little bit annoyed by all this.

“Yeah, having someone with a bike might be useful for... you know... scouting missions and stuff.”

I was about to snarl at him when I remembered that he had actually been a pretty skilled rider in the original manga… and after thinking about it he did have a point. On the other hand, there were some downsides.

“You do realize that on that thing you’re going to have absolutely no protection if we should run into a horde, right?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I know, but I think it’ll be worth it. Besides, if it gets bad you can throw a rope down from the roof of the bus and pull me up, right?”

I paused. That wasn’t a terrible plan, actually. A questionable one, maybe, but not terrible.

“Alright,” I replied after a moment’s thought. “But you either ride in full armor or not at all, and watch out for the rider. He’s probably still shambling around somewhere.”

He nodded and grabbed his axe and helmet from the overhead compartment. “This isn’t my first time killing Zombies, sensei.”

“No, that was an hour ago,” Rei cut in. “Stop acting like a macho idiot and be careful.”

“Yes, mom!”

Her squeal of rage was almost but not quite covered over by the laughter of the students.

Moments later he was walking out the door axe in hand, moving towards the bike.

Suddenly there was a blur of movement, and more than one girl screamed as the former rider attempted to devour the sweet flesh of the living. Thankfully, it was stopped by two factors. First, it was in a full coverage helmet. Second, it never made it into range as Takashi’s axe buried itself to the haft in its skull, splitting both head and helmet like an overripe melon.

Takashi pulled his weapon free with a grotesque sucking sound before wiping it clean on the pants of the corpse. Then he righted the bike, mounted it, and turned the key.

The engine started without issue and he shot me a quick thumbs up.

“Okay,” I called up to the driver. “Lets get moving.”



OOC: For those curious, here's Yuuki Miku:


And the Inspiration for the OTHER Yuuki in the Story:



Minus the black dress of course ...AND REPLACED WITH A SCHOOL DRESS!
Get your minds out of the gutter people!

 

With thanks from Psyckosama and Grey Rook here's the next chapter.





“You can’t be fuckin’ serious, boss...”

“Yes, Hrothgar, I am ‘fucking serious’. Listen, I’m no fan of the Ultra-Nationalists either, but strange times make for strange bedfellows and right now it’ll be too dangerous for you to try and get across the river. Go to the Takagi estate and tell him you’re one of mine. I’ve already talked with him. He’ll take you in for now and we can link up tomorrow.”

“How do I know he won’t try to stab us in the back?”

“First, I have his word. Second, I have his daughter.”

There was a momentary pause.

“Oh. Okay. See you there, boss.”

My relief was almost palpable as I ended the call. And that was the last of them. Thank God I’d managed to deal with that quickly enough.

“So, you have his daughter?” Saya asked, with a peaked eyebrow. “How dastardly.”

“The sarcasm is not nearly as charming as you think, Ms. Takagi. Especially in this heat.” I replied with a sigh as I put away my phone. I instinctively glanced at the power meter, still around 85% but who knew how much longer it would work.

It was... odd, trying to comprehend a world without cellphones, or computers, tv, movies... I knew in my head that it was going to happen. But in my gut? That was taking longer to accept... and it sent a chill through me. I prayed that my preparations would be enough and I ran a thumb across the small gold crucifix I constantly wore around my neck. It was becoming a nervous tic and I wondered what other twitches I would develop in the weeks and months to come.

As I stared out the window I watched the houses roll by; thankfully Fujimi academy was outside the city proper, meaning that there were few others out here, alive or dead. The main reason it was taking so long to reach the storage lot was, frankly, cautious driving. Which made this ride seem endless and I could hear the sounds of misery from the students packed in here like sardines. In retrospect, this whole plan was dumb as hell and it was a miracle we didn’t have someone keel over from heatstroke. But what choice did we really have?

I was taken out of my thoughts when I felt the bus come to a stop. “Everyone brace yourselves!” called out the driver. “We’re here!”

“Halleluja…” I muttered under my breath as more than a few of the students started cheering.

“Alright everyone, I know your knees and legs are killing you but let’s act like civilized human beings and get off in an orderly fashion.” I called out.

“If you need water we have a few crates of water bottles in the over carry, they’re not cold but better than nothing.” A fair number of voices called out they’d like some, some more vociferous than others.

I continued: “If nature’s calling there’s a bathroom in the lot’s office shed you can use after we clear out the lot. If you can’t wait just go round the other side of the bus, we’ll make sure no one bothers you.”

When a few feminine voices shouted indignantly I replied: “Welcome to the Apocalypse, ladies. Make do, or get eaten. Just don’t get the rest of us killed in the process.”

“Brody-sensei...” Saeko said with a slight tsk. “There is no reason to be impolite.”

She then paused before adding: “But he is correct,” Her voice dropped to a tone that promised suffering. “Foolish risk taking is forbidden.”

“And I’ll let her dole out the punishment too,” I replied as I pulled my gear from the overhead, “So just imagine what the nice girl with the razor sharp sword will do to you if you do something stupid and get people killed. Now. Huskarls to the front! We need to clear this place. Lane by lane sweep! All other armed students, your job is to defend the vehicles. Everyone else, once you’re off the bus stay close and do NOT wander off.”

“Right!” Several voices called over the heavy clink of armor as the huscarls made their way through the bus. I stood at the door, leading from the front. I was still feeling guilty over not fighting with my boys during their first battle and I intended to be there in the thick of it this time.

Of course, for better or worse, things don’t always go as you’ve planned as the thick of it in this case was more the thin of it.

Inputting my access code took all of 15 seconds and we were in. There were six rows of containers with three lanes. So I had the combat martial arts clubs guard our rear while we broke into groups and marched down towards the manager’s office. Thankfully, the place was emptier than a politician’s words.

Well, except for the manager's office itself but that encounter went a little something like...

“Ugggh...”

Whack!

I love Kenji, I really do. He’s a sweet kid... but sometimes he just makes me look bad. I don’t want to sound like some kind of console kiddy screaming over Xbox Live, but when the boss says he’s going to take the lead and there’s only one thing worth hitting, you let him take the first swing!

Stepping over the lot manager, or rather, both halves of him, I walked over to the tool chest by the wall and picked up the rather impressive set of bolt cutters he kept in plain sight as a reminder to his customers to pay their rent and passed it on.

“Hayato,” I said turning my head to them.

“Yes, sensei?” he asked.

I placed the bolt cutters on the desk, then snatched his keys as almost an afterthought. “Start cutting the locks and see what those keys belong to. I want every container in this place opened and inventoried to the best of your ability by nightfall. Get the others to help you, but I want the boys to open the containers. God only knows what’s hiding in those boxes.”

He nodded, reaching for the cutters. “I’m on it.”

“Good. As expected of my lieutenant.” I replied. Wasn’t really me, but it was what they expected and what they needed to hear.

Hayato’s chest puffed slightly at the half-handed compliment before I scribbled down a couple numbers. “This is my unit and my combination. Send someone to open it ASAP.”

“Yes, sensei!”

“Good. Kohta, Takashi, you’re with me. The rest of you, you know what to do.” With an affirmation we broke up to our various tasks. Me, Takashi and Kohta headed back towards the vehicles where the teachers were helping the students disembark. When they spotted the three of us leaving the lot everyone came to a complete stop. I could see the apprehension in the faces of more than one person.

I smiled. “All clear, there was only the manager lurching around and we took care of him. Get on in ASAP, Kenji and Hayato are setting things up and taking inventory. Move the vehicles in and unload any cargo. The sooner we get done, the faster we can get the others.”

The relief was evident on everyone’s faces as they turned towards the lot. “Just a few rules.” I said before they could get much further. “First off, no one leaves the lot. The place is secure but we haven’t examined the area around it yet and who knows what might be lurking around. Second, everyone get a buddy, we’re facing the zombie apocalypse here people and everyone knows what happens when you go off alone, right?”

That got a few dry laughs from people, but most just grimaced.

Huh. Too soon.

I looked at the martial arts club members and added; “And you, help patrol the perimeter. If you can, get some people on the roofs to look out but don’t take any stupid risks.”

The club members nodded. “As for the rest of you listen get settled in and make sure to listen to Hayato, they know what needs to be done.”

I was about to look for Saeko when I looked past the busses for a moment, and blinked in amazement at what I saw.

Rolling up on the gates was a large black van with the words: “Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church”.

“So, he did read my note,” I muttered to myself as I walked towards the gate.

When the students and teachers paused in confusion I waved them to keep going. Once they were moving again I turned back to the van that had just turned off.

The door opened and out stepped, well, let me put it this way. If I’d known this was the man I was confessing to I would probably have been too nervous to enter the door. At times I’d wondered what Sig Curtis would look like in real life. Now, I knew.

I’m not exactly a short guy anymore thanks to whatever bullshit space magic dumped me in this shithole, but the father had a good head on me. And it was attached to a body, that while stocky with a rather jolly looking gut, just screamed ‘Sumo’, he also had arms that were probably as big around as most other men’s thighs.

He locked eyes with me, and it made me feel like a small boy who had been caught playing in the baptismal font. They narrowed for a moment and I felt my bowels twist and fear far stronger than I had fighting the walking dead crawled up my spine. His bearded mouth twisted into a grimace for a second, and I suppressed the urge to swallow and instead matched the gaze to the best of my ability.

Then after a moment that felt like an eternity, his entire demeanor changed and he smiled warmly, suddenly looking like nothing more than an overgrown teddy bear of a man.

“Fifteen Our Fathers, one hundred and fifty Hail Mary’s.”

I sighed, releasing a breath I hadn’t even known I’d been holding and hit the open button for the gate. “Welcome, father, to our little hideaway. One of the boys can explain the plan.”

He nodded and stepped to the side. “I assume you’re a very busy man, what with saving the innocent from the forces of judgement and all,” he said in a tired, almost irreverent tone.

“Well, let’s get you folks in.” I told him. He nodded and got back into the van, while the students still entering the lot made room for the vehicle.

Moments later the van pulled in and once the gate was shut, disgorged a shockingly young and voluptuous young woman wearing what some young women wear when they’re considering the Holy Orders, and about a dozen small children. Wait a minute, I’ve seen that girl’s face before…

“Seems you’ve been busy yourself, father.” I commented.

“We had a small daycare for the mothers in the community,” he replied calmly. “It is the duty of a priest to shepherd the troubled and the innocent. In these times, we are all troubled, and there are none more innocent...”

He paused and crained backwards, looking out the gate. “And speaking of the troubled...”

There was a screech of tires as a battered bus that looks like it would be right at home running prison transfers screeched to a rough stop next to the gate. On its sides were blazoned the words Ishiyama High School.

Which meant it probably did perform prison transfers once upon a time.

The driver side window rolled down and I found myself looking into the lazy glare of Tatsumi Oga.

“Sup.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Why am I not surprised that you made it here first? Welcome aboard, Surtur.”

The humor bounced off him like buckshot off an ironclad and he narrowed his eyes and half snarled; “You gonna let me in or do me and mine get to entertain the biters? Because as fun as it was smashin’ their skulls in, we’re kinda sick of it. Lost five guys in the escape.”

I nodded and pushed the button and moments later, the bus was inside.

“Are you sure this is wise?” Kyoko asked me obviously nervous about inviting in a bus full of students from the most infamous school in the entire region.

“They might be a pack of ill-tempered punks, but they know when to follow orders and they can fight,” I replied. “Right now, that’s enough.”

Kyoko didn’t seem all that convinced but didn’t protest, turning back to the students and other teachers.

“We’re going to be staying here for some time...”

“Couple days,” I cut in. “At the most. The sooner we move on, the better our chances of survival. Anyone who wants to try and contact your family, this is your chance...”

My eyes turned to Takayama. “If any teachers want to try and rescue their loved ones, then I can’t stop you but understand we can’t afford to wait up for you. Stay in contact because if we don’t hear anything from you, we will assume you died in the attempt.”

“Hey!” One of the students cut in. “What if we want to try and save our families!”

“Then I’ll personally pound the stupid out of you. You have no weapons, no vehicle, and sadly I’m still responsible for your survival, but if you insist on sneaking out and earning yourself a Darwin Award then be my fucking guest, because that’ll be one less mouth to feed and idiot to protect from their own terminal stupidity!”

The father who had silent during this conversation, sighed and turned to the young woman. “Mari-chan, look after the children.”

She nodded. “Of course, father.” That voice, I know it from somewhere… no… ROB, stop fucking with me here.

Oga, who had exited the bus grinned and turned his head his followers, a motley crew of tough-guys and sukeban, “Hey, Hilda. You’re good with brats. Go help out.”

The father’s eyes widened somewhat, as a rather striking blond girl holding a rather vicious-looking green-haired baby stepped into view from the crowd. She was wearing a lovely black gothic lolita dress and a very deep scowl.

“Excuse me?” she snapped.

“You’ve already gotta watch out for one brat. Might as well put him with the others.”

She sighed and walked off the bus before pausing before the nun and giving her an appraising look. Once her eyes had locked with the older girl's chest, which, to be honest,was rather... um... heavenly... she raised an eyebrow and asked. “Which fetish video did you trip and fall out of?”

Mari flushed red for a moment. “Excuse you?” Oh c’mon!

“The whole sexy nun thing,” she replied. “Thought that only happened in pornos.”

“First, I’m only a volunteer. I dress like this because I want to honor the church...”

The priest shot me a long-suffering look but said nothing. There was a story there because I knew the girl was way too young to have taken her vows.

“Second, like you’re one to talk! And whose child is that anyways?”

“My sister’s,” Hilda replied, blandly. “She went out to get milk and asked me to look after the brat for half an hour. That was five months ago. Last I heard she was turning tricks in Nagasaki.”

Mari flushed in indignant anger but impressed me after reciting something under her breath which calmed her down. Then she said: “As interesting as this slow motion trainwreck of a conversation is, there’s stuff we’ve got to do.”

Hilda laughed, ‘Yeah, yeah,” she said and rounded on the not-nun. “I like you, you’ve got spunk. Let’s go.”

She turned to the kids. “Alright brats, come on! If you’re good I’ll teach you how to set stuff on fire with sun lasers.”

The children cheered and began to follow leaving the older girl to growl in indignation and rush after her.

There was a momentary pause and the priest released a deep sigh. “I see no good coming of this.”

“Maybe,” Oga observed. “But at least it’ll be funny.”

“So long as they stay alive and safe that’s all I care about for the moment.” I replied.

The priest grunted and nodded. “True.”

“Sensei!”

I turned to see the petite form of Saya Takagi looking at me. One thing I did notice was that she was carrying a cellphone. Little Miss Model Student with a phone. Good to see.

“Where did you get the phone?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Off the manager,” she replied. “I called my parents. Two of the other gangs have arrived at my family’s compound. Also, the vehicles are unloaded.”

I blinked in surprise. “That was fast.” I glanced back over to the priest and Oga. “How long were we sitting around talking for?” I was a bit upset with myself for wasting time.

“We finished just now,” she stated.

I nodded. “Good. Okay. We need to get moving again. I want you to put the spears from my stash the in all the busses.”

She nodded in comprehension. “Understood.”

I turned back to Oga and his thugs and noticed that half the male members were either staring at Saya, at Mari’s retreating form, or the silent but irritated Kyoko. Hell, I swear one of them was even drooling.

Couldn’t really blame them, to be honest. Mari could cosplay as Hinata Hyuga without any effort, and Kyoko and Saya... seriously, was there something in the water at this damned school?

Clearing my head, I simply shot the undeclared banchou a look with a raised eyebrow, and he gave me a slight nod in response as this was not the time, nor was it the place for this shit.

“Focus, you idiots!” Oga snarled and they snapped out of their daze.

I turned to Oga. “I need your bus and I’ve got a job for you and your boys. How many of you know how to drive a truck?”

He raised an eyebrow and looked at me as if I’d just asked him if he secretly moonlighted as a magical girl themed superhero called Okama Kamen. “Seriously?”

“Father, are you willing to help ensure the survival of this group in a more physical manner?” I asked turning to the priest.

“Of course!” he replied. “A shepherd's duty is never done!”

“Right. There’s a truck rental about three kilometers down the road. I need you to get it it and retrieve as many vehicles as possible. Father, fill your van to the max. Oga, I need you to pick out the best fighters out of your group, and hit up my storage unit for arms and armor. If anyone isn’t good enough, talk to Hayato about getting some Huskarls to back you up instead. Father’s got command of this mission.”

The Father nodded with all seriousness, but Oga crossed his arm and scowled. “Listen, I follow you because you’re tough and trained the strongest gang in the entire city. This guy...” he thumbed to the priest. “I don’t know.”

“Would you like me to prove my strength?” The priest asked beatifically.

What.

“Sure, if you can lay even a single hit on me, I’ll follow your lead.”

What?

To my amazement the priest nodded in agreement to his demand and then, far faster than a man his size should be capable of, struck out at Oga with a palm strike.

What!

The delinquent saw it, and moved to dodge, but wasn’t quite fast enough to dodge, and instead it clipped his shoulder and sent him into a spin. This was quickly capitalized on with a second strike which sent him flying through the air and into the door of one of the containers... a good five meters away.

Oga bounced with a wince-inducing thud and ended his short trip looking at the sky and grasping his ribs with a grimace.

Holy shit!

“Are you satisfied as to my credentials, young man?” the priest asked with a playful seriousness.

“Yeah, yeah... ughhh.... Let’s go steal some trucks. Once I can breathe again.”

I shook my head and turned to the other delinquents who’d been watching. “Who here can drive? Raise your hands.”

Nearly every hand shot up.

I smiled. “Great. I need a volunteer to drive a truck back to Fujimi with me.”

Most of the hands dropped and I looked over the remainder before settling on a silver haired kid who honestly didn’t have the cast of a fighter. “You’re in,” I replied as I tossed him the keys.

Oga raised an eyebrow.

“You sure, Furuichi?”

“He’s got the look of a man who wants to live instead of going out in a blaze of glory on a one way trip to Valhalla. Important for a rescue mission I think.”

Oga grunted in acknowledgement.

“Besides,” Furuichi added, “Chances are that truck is going to end up with a number of girls, several of whom might feel very thankful towards their courageous rescuer!”

I sighed. Or he could just be a pervert...

“Alright people!” I exclaimed. “Everyone load up and let's get...!”

My little impromptu motivational was cut off by the ringing of my phone.

Looking down at the number I felt a chill of dread run through my veins as I realized the number was Principal Yamada’s.

With almost reluctance, I answered the phone, and took a deep breath.

“Yes?”

“Brody-san, we have a problem...”

---------

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered to myself as Fujimi came into view.

The gate was down, and sitting inside the courtyard was a wreck of a car. According to Yamada the vehicle crashed through the gates only a couple minutes before he called, and with most of the fighting forces gone, there was no time for a repeat performance of our little wall of men.

It was with twisted satisfaction that I noted the door was open and about 15 feet from the vehicle there was a rather indicative bloody smear on the ground that told the fate of the driver.

“What in all the fucks?” I growled in anger as I drove up on the school, the yard of which was well layered with the undead. “That son of bitch better be glad that the zeds got him, because if I’d gotten my hands on that asshole...”

I growled and banishing daydreams of bloody murder, looked over to Shizuka who’d joined me on the bus out of concern that there might be need for a medic. And by the bus, I meant the one Ota brought. The kid might be a lazy, sadistic, asshole delinquent, but bringing a third bus? Well shit, and it wasn’t even Christmas.

Of course, someone had to drive it and I didn’t exactly trust him or any of his psychotic little buddies with this job. And as I was stuck with the thankless of job running mission control, it also meant that Shizuka was driving.

And yes, those words were every bit as terrifying as you could imagine.

Taking a deep breath I lifted one of the school walkie talkies we’d brought with us and opened a line to the other drivers. “Alright, you all know the plan. Back up and we’ll start the evacuation.”

And better yet, that plan had been written with two in mind. With this bus, we had three and even better yet, this bus was actually a full-sized school bus and not one of those fancy mini-tour busses that they used at Fujimi. This, among other things, meant that it had a rear hatch and the seats were more easily removed. I’m not going to lie and say we didn’t spend most of the trip throwing chairs out the rear. After all, Mama Brody didn’t raise no liar and it doesn’t count as littering if it's the Apocalypse!

“Yamada,” I muttered over the phone, “We’re moving in.”

And we were. In about three minutes all the buses were lined up closely against the wall. Due to the particularities of the school’s design, the first floor was actually slightly recessed in comparison to the higher stories. This meant if we pulled up close there was pretty much no gap between the wall and the roof. A bit of a drop, yes, but that’s what rope was made for.

I smiled as I moved away from the cab and worked my way back. The next best thing about this bus was that it was large enough to have two evac hatches. That meant it we could move twice as fast.

Once we had the busses in place I pulled out the phone and called Yamada. When he picked up I said in a low tone: “Alright, we’re lined up, we need you to exit through the second story windows. We have the busses lined up against the side of the buildings and it should only be just over a one meter drop to the roof of the busses. Once there we have the evac hatches open and you’ll just climb and drop down in.”

“Very well, Brody-san. I’ll be sure to warn everyone to go slowly so as not to cause a traffic jam.” Yamada replied. The relief was obvious in his voice. “I’m also glad you came back.”

I put a mock affronted tone in my reply. “Why Yamada-san, doubting I’d return? I’m hurt that you’d think so little of me. Why if this were a more honorable time I’d request pistols at ten paces at dawn!”

That got a slight chuckle out of the man. “We’ll send the students out first and should the worst happen… don’t hesitate to leave us old coots behind. And as a personal favor… please watch out for my nephew. I’ve no idea what’s happened to my brother and his wife and their son is the only family I know is still alive.”

I was a bit surprised there as Yamada wasn’t one to get teary-eyed. Then again, considering the situation...

“You have my word, Yamada-san.”

“Thank you. We’ll start sending the students out now.” With that he hung up.

A few moments I heard a series of thuds on top of the bus, and a moment after that a scared looking young man dropped through the top hatch. He looked around furtively for a moment but when he saw he was safe he relaxed a little. “I’m glad you-”

I interrupted him with a raise of one of my hands and said. “Save it for when we get back, right now you need to move and let the next person down.” I indicated the dangling legs swinging over the kid’s head.

“Huh?”

He looked up only to receive a foot to the face.

“D-don’t look up, pervert!”

“Hey! I didn’t do it on purpose!”

Moments later a girl dropped down, still glaring, with her hands on her hips. “Well if that’s so, why do you have a nose bleed?”

“Because you kicked me in the face!”

I sighed and pinched my nose. It was moments like this that I remembered that I was literally living in an fanservice manga with all the tits and tropes thereof. Oh, fuck my life.

“You two can have your little lover’s squabble at the back of the bus. Now quiet down and get out of the goddamned way!”

Both young people flushed in embarrassment and meekly made way for the next person to drop down. Slowly but surely the students slid out of the window, scampered across the top of the bus, and slid down through the hatch.

I sighed deeply and leaned against the console next to Shizuka. “Not great, but could have been worse.”

She smiled and gave me a chuckle. “I’d make some kind of observation about it, but I really don’t want to jinx it.”

My face split with a grin. Good God do I love this woman.

------------

Fucking Tanaka.

If there’s one rule you always need to remember it’s that no plan survives contact with the enemy, or in in this case, Ichiro Tanaka.

One thing I’d prided myself on when I’d created my Huscarls was that I’d taken many of the saddest, weakest, and physically useless members of the school and turned them into the toughest, hardest, Viking motherfuckers this side of Asgard. Sadly, it was only most, and one of the ones who’d failed muster was Ichiro Tanaka.

He’d been suggested about three weeks into training and then managed to last three minutes of training before he’d declared it too hard and slinked back off to his dorm to play creepy loli visual novels or whatever else it was the fuck he did in his spare time.

Before I’d found him Kohta had been short, weak, and fat. Now, while I couldn’t say I helped him any with the short problem, he... well... now, lets just say ‘nobody tosses a dwarf’ and leave it at that.

Tanaka was a couple inches taller, and easily twice as wide as Kohta has been when we met, and after said three minutes of training, he’d been left sweating like a pig in sauna. Needless to say, he wasn’t a very physical boy. The more cynical part of me would guess that the closest he’d gotten to cardio in the last couple years probably involved a dark room and a box of kleenex.

It was a shame too. I’ll admit, I couldn’t stand the kid. His attitude was crap, his personal hygiene was worse, and he the way he looked at the girls in the school made me wonder if we were dealing with a creepy stalker hentai protagonist in training, but nobody deserved what he’d gotten.

Well, except for Shido.

Getting into the busses wasn’t exactly treacherous. Took some care, but lowering yourself three feet over a wall by a rope isn’t exactly an obstacle course unless you’re really unlucky, or the most pathetic fatass I’d ever met.

Ichiro Tanaka somehow managed surpass even my low opinion of him and be both at the same fucking time.

I was unable to see it happen because it happened on the bus to the right of mine, but I heard the entire thing. Tanaka had been trying to lower himself onto the bus roof when somehow he managed to slip and twist his ankle. He then somehow managed to stumble the entire length of the bus, thrashing as he tried to regain his balance before going flying off the front with a panicked scream which continued on in agony once he hit the pavement.

And of course, Zombies are attracted to loud noises. Which considering that the school grounds was swarming with them by this point, well, what happened next should be obvious. I only had a second to make eye contact with the boy before he was literally torn limb from limb.

To make matters worse, this was seen by literally half the remaining students who also started screaming, drawing in probably every zombie within damned near a kilometer...

I hate to speak ill of the dead but...

“Fucking Tanaka!” I cursed as I lept to my feet only moments after the chaos started. “All of you! Shut the fuck up and calm the fuck down!” I roared at the top of my lungs.

Jabbing a finger towards the approaching horde I snarled, “In case you didn’t notice his screaming is why all the fucking zeds swarmed on him, now unless you want to share his fate I suggest you pipe the fuck down, NOW!”

I wish I was able to say that that was enough to get them all in perfect order but that would be deluding myself. There was still a general panic, especially among the students still in the school, many of whom were now too terrified to even risk the climb down.

Gritting my teeth and closing my eyes I picked up the hand set radio I was using to keep in contact with the other teachers.

I was probably going to hell for this but sometimes when things get bad you just have to swallow your kindness and institute a triage.

“This is Brody. Anyone who is too panicky to climb down, since we don’t have time to coach every one of them, move them to the back of the line and explain this very clearly. If they climb down, there’s a low chance they’ll slip, they’ll fall, and then they’ll die horrible deaths. If they don’t climb down, we’ll have to leave them behind to save the others. In which case they will die horrible deaths. The choice is theirs. This might seem cruel, but right now we’re on a time limit.”

Taking a moment to center myself, I then spoke into the Radio again, this time with the intent on contacting the other drivers.

“Everyone crack the windows and get the spears. We can’t keep them away from the school, but we can keep them off the busses. And for fucks sake, you spear out of the window you do not reach out of it. Anyone who gets bitten will turn into one of them.”

I lowered my Radio and frowned. Fuck this waiting shit.

Pushing past the Throng of students I pulled myself onto the roof. “Alright! “ I called out. "Anyone small and light, just jump and I’ll catch you!"

It was a risk, but I could already see the horde bunching up, both around the busses, and slowly approaching the school from outside the grounds. We had maybe ten minutes and were going to be driving over a whole lot of speed bumps on the way out.

Fuck.

As I was guiding another small girl towards the hatch, I felt the bus shake. I immediately clasped the girl to my chest and knelt down to keep my balance, ignoring the squeak of embarrassment and the flush on her face that immediately appeared. I looked down over the edge and saw that the swarm had grown large enough that their combined mass could shift the bus.

I noted with some satisfaction that the spears were doing their job in driving them off or putting them down but I knew it couldn’t last. Either enough zombies showed up to tip the bus or enough were killed that they could reach into the bus on top of their redead companions. Or worse, we could get in the rest of the students and find that there were too many zombies surrounding the bus to allow them to move from their standstill position.

Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!

Glancing down at the small girl still in my arms I saw the fear in her eyes, I looked back up to the students at the window, none of them looking at me, instead at the ever growing horde. I could hear the curses and battle-cries of the students in the busses, spearing everything that got close and the constant moans, rasps and death rattles of the horde. I realized that there was no way we’d all get out of this alive, and if anyone had to make the ultimate sacrifice….

I gently helped the girl into the hatch, I then stuck my head into the bus and and called for one of the huscarls who came along, Sasuke of all names. “Could you come up and bring my weapons with you?”

“Alright sensei.” He pulled himself up and handed me my gear.

“Thanks, Sasuke,” I said in a calm tone. I then started sliding my armor on. “I need you to help the rest of the students down and into the bus. I’ve got something else to do.”

“Sensei?” The young man asked, his confusion obvious in his face.

“There’s going to be too many zeds for the busses to get through and escape, someone’s going to have to get their attention elsewhere. Who else is going to stay alive long enough?” I said strapping my shield to my arm and doing a few test swings with my axe.

“No. Sensei NO! Let me do it! I’m your huscarl, isn’t that what a huscarl does? Fight and die for his chief?” Tears started forming in the young man’s eyes.

I smiled and placed my hand on his shoulder. “I’m not your chief, I’m your teacher, you’re too young to throw your life away, let a man who’s lived his life do it. Besides, a leader has to sometimes make the ultimate sacrifice sometimes to keep his people safe.”

I then pulled out the crucifix around my neck on last time, kissed it and handed it to him. “One last favor Sasuke? Could you give this Shizuka? Tell her I love her and always will. Tell her I asked her to keep safe and be happy. Tell- tell her that if the world wasn’t ending I would have bought her a ring a long time ago.”

Sasuke blinked back more tears and, taking the little golden cross said: “Yeah, I will.”

“Good. Now, go help the others down.” I smiled and turned towards the front of the bus where I could leap down to the ground more easily.

As I walked I started to pray. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me.” For all of its inaccuracies the King James Bible had some lovely lines. Then I started up another prayer, “Our Father, who art in Heaven…” I needed to finish those prayers the good father had asked me to say for my penance and better now than never. Who knew maybe I’d get through all of them before I went down.

I was starting to build up speed for the jump when I was shaken out of my state of mind.

Someone was blowing an airhorn from one of the nearby doors, what idiot would...I turned my head and saw to my surprise that it was Principle Yamada, he’d found an airhorn and was blowing it from an open door on that bridge thing that spanned between the two buildings of the school. The zombies immediately turned towards the loudest noise and moved away from the busses.

Yamada waited and kept blowing his airhorn along with shouting at the top of his lungs in between blasts. “Hey! Hey! Over here!”

At the last moment he moved towards the building farthest away from our evacuation point. As the horde continued to pour up and into the building I realized that the zombies were no longer pressuring the bus and even the way out of thinning.

Deciding not to think about it I turned back to Sasuke and said. “Change of plans, we’re going to work together and help the rest of the students down as quickly as possible.”

Sasuke stared at me for a moment, then smiled and said, “Alright Sensei.”

We then turned and started catching students again, then practically tossing them down the hatch. Quicker than I thought possible the last person, little Yamazaki of all people, much less angry than normal, downright scared actually, was lowered down into the bus. I glanced at the others and smiled when they were finished loading as well.

I turned to Sasuke and was about to tell him to hop back in when his eyes widened and he pointed at one of the buildings, “Sensei! Look!”

I turned and saw that Sasuke was pointing at the building Yamada had lured the zombies into, specifically it was the one with the dome on the roof for the astronomy club, standing up there was Principle Yamada, he’d barricaded the stairs and was still blowing his airhorn. He blasted one last time and looked back towards us. Right then the barricade broke and the swarm lurched up the stairs towards him.

Yamada backed up towards the railing, the side which opened up to the parking deck below. I never even blinked at the old man saluted and right when the zeds were reaching out to grab him, he leaned back and dropped out of sight, I swear he was smiling. A few zeds followed the sound after him. The rest milled about for a few moments, then began lurching in other directions.

I turned back to Sasuke and said: “Let’s go.”

He never said a word, he just nodded and slid through the hatch. I followed suit. When my feet hit the ground I turned to Sasuke who already knew what I wanted and handed back my crucifix. I slipped it back around my neck and under my shirt I turned to Shizuka and said: “Let’s get moving, it’s a long ride back."

“Alright, Tom.” And with a roar of the engine she moved, the other vehicles followed suit. There was still an smattering of zeds in the way but not nearly enough to impede our path. All the while Shizuka repeated: “They’re not people anymore.” Over and over.

I just clutched my crucifix and started working on the rest of my penance. While at the same time offering my prayers for the soul of Mamoru Yamada, the bravest man I’d ever had the honor of meeting.

 

With thanks to PsyckoSama, Lilbobchicago, and Grey Rook for their help and in the case of the former kick in the pants here is the next part in the tale, Land of the Dead,

In memory of Daisuke Sato the Author of the original story. For inspring me to write the longest story I've ever made.

A few hours later I found the line of busses rolling to a stop in front of the storage lot, and to my mild surprise I didn’t see any of the undead wandering around. Working my way up to the front I glanced through the windshield and noticed that groups of people were all busy at some task or another on the other side of the chainlink fence instead of just milling around, or worse, panicking. Good. Nodding in satisfaction I opened the door and shouted out to the sentries by the gates. “Oi! Get the gates open, we got some panicky folks here with some very full bladders!”

Not normally my style of humor but frankly I didn’t give a shit, I was drained, physically as well as emotionally. Today had been one of the longest and most horrifying days of my life and I had a strong feeling that things would get worse LONG before they ever got any better. Once I saw the gate being pushed open I leaned back into the bus and shut the door, allowing it to enter the parking lot part of the storage lot.

To my satisfaction, I saw that the boys who stayed behind had started forming a barricade around the entrance, using furniture, office cabinets and other things too big to be brought along. I hadn’t told them to do that, so either one of them had a spark of inspiration or someone else among the school body. Either way I would make sure to commend them.

But first I wanted off this damn bus and out of this damn armor. I wanted a hot shower and make sweet, sweet love to Shizuka, if for nothing else than to remind myself that I was still alive.

Unlike Yamada, I forced my eyes shut as the image of his last moments falling from the school roof forced themselves into my mind’s eye again. I knew I’d have nightmares about that one. I’d never seen someone die violently like that.

Well, except for Shido, but honestly, he didn’t really count as people. Given a good night's sleep, a zombie apocalypse, and three rounds of Rosary Beads later and all was right in the eyes of God. I was sure I’d get the occasional nightmare, but considering the fact that I was in the middle of a zombie fucking apocalypse, that much was a given.

Anyways, I’d lost relatives in my life and even while they’d hurt it had never been a lingering pain, most likely because most of them had been old and very ill when their time came so it was more of a relief that their pain had ended and they were on the other side waiting for the rest of us. This... this was more visceral, more abrupt, and much more preventable.

I clenched my fist as I remembered that tub of lard somehow managing to stumble his way along the entire bus and down to the ground making a godawful racket the entire way. If only that kid hadn’t fallen, everyone including the poor bastard would have gotten out alive. Yamada wouldn’t have had to sacrifice himself. And I wouldn’t have had to watch a good man throw himself off a building to escape being eaten by shambling corpses.

The busses rolled in and the gate quickly shut behind us. I turned back to the students and said: “Alright kiddos, we’ve arrived at the safe point. Please step off the bus in a calm and collected manner, we should have food and water set up by now and there’s some showers and bathrooms in the main office. Finally, please don’t leave the perimeter, everything looks alright here so far but looks can be deceiving and if you wander off, you’re likely to end up dead. Understand?”

A few nods and muttered yesses floated back up to me. “Alright then, now head on out.” The door slid open again and the students filed out of the busses, the first group had already gathered around the bus and when they spotted their classmates, friends, and a few sweet-hearts, they all shouted and ran towards each other in a moshpit of crying and hugging adolescents. Watching them, a warm feeling filled me and despite my exhaustion a grin spread across my face. Today had been an utter nightmare, but all things considered it could have been much, much worse. The number of students I had managed to save was frankly a miracle and I made a quiet prayer of gratitude for getting through that mess alive.

Speaking of which… Looking around I spotted the younger (and possibly last) member of the Yamada family. Outside the possible claims of nepotism, his successful membership in the Japanese Boy Scouts and the substantial number of survival skills he possessed as a result had netted him a place on the first bus. On the bright side, it meant he’d been spared the horror of watching his uncle’s heroic last stand. His sacrifice. Something I’d never dishonor by ever calling it a suicide.

On the other hand, it meant that someone would have to break the news, and as much as it pained me, that duty now fell on my shoulders. Or at least it should. I needed to find him before some dumbass walked up to him and said something stupid like ‘Wow! Dude! I just saw your uncle jump off a building! Hurk! Hurk!”

What? Just because they were my students didn’t mean there wasn’t a fair share of tactless morons...

Squaring my shoulders I looked over my shoulder to where Shizuka was sitting and waiting for the others to finish filling out. “I’ll go talk with Yusuke over there, he needs to know about his uncle.”

Shizkuka nodded in understanding, a small sympathetic smile on her face. I returned her smile then turned back and made my way through the crowd, pausing to respond to the students who thanked me for saving them at the school... this might have been a mistake trying to go directly through the crowd…

Eventually, though, I finally made my way to Yusuke Yamada, the kid was speaking with several of his troop members as they cleared out, when I cleared my throat to get his attention.

“Brody-sensei!” he called out with a smile. “We found a unit filled with camping gear!”

I paused for a moment, looking at said unit with a slack jaw. He wasn’t kidding. He was also understanding. It wasn’t a unit with camping gear. It was a unit that was only camping gear. And I don’t mean it had some camping gear and an empty unit, no. What I mean is that it was stuffed to the proverbial gills with camping gear. I was seriously considering active divine intervention at this point with the luck we were having.

Turning my attention back to the task at hand I turned back to the young man. “Yusuke, could we speak over there for a moment? I need to tell you something and you might want to be away from the others when you hear it.” I gestured to one of the small alleys formed by the storage buildings that had no one else in it.

He nodded. “Okay, sensei. What do you need?”

I lead him away from the others. “It’s about your uncle Yusuke, I’m sorry to say it but, he’s not coming.” I placed my hand on his shoulder. “For what it’s worth, he died a hero and saved everyone’s life, mine included.”

He froze, going completely pale for a moment then took a deep breath. “W-what happened?”

I took a deep breath and continued; “We were getting everyone out pretty smoothly when someone tripped and fell off the roof of a bus, brought in swarms of the undead with his screams. Needless to say we were going to get overrun unless we left immediately. I was... fully prepared to sell my life to clear a path for the others. Then your uncle drew the attention of the zeds away from us with an airhorn, managed to lead the entire horde to the opposite end of the school. He ended up trapped on the roof, swarms of zed were coming and we were wide open, so he… jumped, taking several undead with him.”

I rubbed my eyes, fighting back the tears, then I looked Yusuke dead in the eye. “Your uncle was a hero and he sacrificed himself to save all of us. The last thing he said to me was to look out for you. And I intend to keep that promise, no matter what our final situation is you’ve got a home with me for as long as you need, whether it’s a cabin in the mountains or a cardboard box in the city.”

By the time I was done, he was crying, but eerily enough, he had a smile on his face. A wide smile. “I see.”

I looked at him funny. “Yusuke, you lost your uncle, if you need to cry, then cry, no one’s going to think less of you for it.”

“It’s not that,” he stated with a slight tremor to his voice. “I’m sad that my uncle is dead. He might have been the only one I have left, and he’s gone now... but if he had to die. I’m glad it was like this. And... and I know that in the end, it’s how he would have wanted to die.”

I was now a bit surprised. “Really?”

He nodded. “M-my uncle always loved Samurai dramas,” he stated with a sniff. “He... he always thought that the ones where the hero sacrificed himself in the end were the most heroic because they were the most selfless. The ones who put their honor before all else. He used... he used to say that there really weren’t men like that anymore. I’m happy that if he had to die, then my uncle died like a hero in one of his samurai dramas... That... That he was able to die with honor.”

“Yes, he did,” I said in an introspective voice. I hadn’t known the man very well. I’d respected him for sure, but now I wished I had known him better. Taking a moment to breath I nodded at the boy. “I’m glad you're holding up, just remember if you need it, I’m here for you, whether an ear to listen or a shoulder to cry on.”

I then surprised the kid by pulling him into a quick but firm hug. I patted him on the back twice then let him go. “Alright, it’s been a long day and it isn’t over yet, so let’s get back to the others before they wonder where we are.”

He nodded and took a deep breath and then turned to his friends who’d paused in their labors to watch. “A-alright guys! Who said to stop! Everyone’s depending on us! Let’s go!”

Nodding in satisfaction, I turned back to the others and looked for anyone who wasn’t pulling their weight. I also needed to organize a party to strip the trucks Father Oshiro and his party had brought him of their electronics so we could lug all this crap once the EMP went off… that meant finding a suitable Faraday cage.... My tired brain unfortunately couldn’t recall what exactly I had decided to use for such a purpose.

What I would give for a fleet of Trabants right now. Sure, they were commie shit cars made from cotton and powered by lawnmower engines that made Yugos look like Lamborghinis, but they also had all of five moving parts in the engine and given five minutes of modification, they could probably be started with a hand-crank.

I sighed.

So much to fucking do and so little time…

----------

It wasn’t too long before the gang members began to trickle in. I was helping set up some shelters in the unused containers when I heard a commotion at the gate. Grabbing my ax and spear I made my way to the gate.

Pushing my way through the students, teachers and huscarls who had gathered at the gate, armed with whatever weapons they could get their hands on in the case of the former, I finally reached the gate, and grinned when I saw Onigumo and Daigo standing there with most their gang members behind them... as well as their girlfriends, siblings, and a few of their parents… I hadn’t seen that many peroxide blondes with spray-on tans since highschool… even the few women who had to be their mothers were in on the panda act. Blinking in surprise for a moment, I shook off my initial shock then grinned as I called out to the two Thegns.

“What are you punks doing standing out there? Come on in where it’s safe!” I greeted with a laugh.

And getting to the point, Tomoko, the mousey looking girl who’d drawn gate duty, pushed the open button with a bored sigh. Almost as soon as there was space available the combined gangs all but ran through the still opening entrance, more than one person collapsing as soon as they were inside the walls of the facility.

“Alright everyone,” Tomoko called out. “Everybody line up for bite inspection!” I turned to look where she was sitting in the guard box, but before I could speak, she simply stated: “I’ve watched too many of this kind of movie.”

I gave her a mild glare, but her sleepy green eyes never faltered. Shrugging I let it go and turned back to the newcomers.

As much as I hated to admit it, the girl had a point. Though I’d have to have Shizuka give her a once over at some point. Between the dark rings, and the fact that she was one of the few girls I’d seen in this fan service rendition of Japan who didn’t look like she’d tripped and fallen out of a girly mag, something had to be wrong with her.

Turning back to the group, I sighed and said: “She’s got a point. From here on, everybody entering gets a quick search, just to make sure.”

Daigo blinked. “Hey, what’s the big idea? You didn’t say we’d be gettin’ a pat down!”

Onigumo simply glanced back to him and growled: “You got somethin’ to hide?”

“No!” he exclaimed. “Listen, I lost five fucking guys! I had to mercy kill two of ‘em myself! You know, so I’m not exactly appreciating this shit!”

Onigumo simply nodded. “I know how it is, but this ain’t for us...” he glanced out at the nervous-looking mass of students. “It’s for them.”

“Ugh. Fuck it. Fine,” he growled. “But if any of you try and feel up my kid sister, I’m cuttin’ your balls off.”

I rolled my eyes. “Like genders, Daigo.”

He blinked and then grinned. “Can we have just girls do it instead? Cuz I ain’t lettin’ no dudes get anywhere near my stuff.”

“I’ll pat him down if I can give him a rectal cavity search!” one of the girls called out from the crowd. I will admit I put on a face as if I were considering it.

He went pale and smiled back. “Um. Yeah. So. Like genders will be just fine.”

With that settled several of the teachers, including Shizuka were called in to pat down the newcomers to check them for bite wounds. To my mild surprise we found none, but one of the last women checked, an older woman whom I later learned was Daigo’s mother, winked at me as she walked past. I bit back the groan of frustration that threatened to form in the back of my throat and that headache was coming back. I was too tired to deal with this shit… and the day was far from over because there was a swarm of teachers and students who wanted a meeting to discuss how we were going to track down and bring back their own family members... fuck.

As Ms. Leathery and Leering was getting patted down the sound of engines could be heard coming over the horizon. Looking up the flash of dread faded when I saw it was Father Oshiro and Oga coming back with the trucks I had sent them to get. “One... two… three… four... five, not bad.” I muttered as they brought the literal handful of vehicles to the gate. As they were still open letting in the gangers and their families I had the guards wave them on through.

The vehicles came to a stop in the parking lot of the lot. The nearest one rolled down one of its windows and Oga stuck out his head. “Mission accomplished, boss. Could have grabbed some more but we didn’t have enough guys who could drive a stick.”

“That’s alright, looks like that’s more than enough for the moment.” I replied. Making some rough visual estimations and unless we had a massive influx of new people, we should have enough to carry the stuff and the people at least to the Takagi estate… after that might be a problem when that EMP hit… I’d need to make something to protect the more fragile stuff, but what to use…

When the others members of the party were piling out of the car one of Daigo’s crew suddenly shouted. “Hey, why ain’t they being checked?”

I turned in the direction of the voice, “Because they weren’t fighting a pack of zombies the whole way back, right?” I turned back to the trucks. There was some gore on the undercarriage, and the lead vehicle had a couple interesting dents, but considering the situation that much was a given.

One of Oga’s crew had heard my comment and, with a cocky grin, replied: “Not a one, can’t get bit if the closest they get is kissing your bumper.”

“Please remember to take the vehicles outside the wall and clean off the mess with bleach,” Shizuka called over. “We don’t want to risk infection.”

Oda nodded. “Right. You heard the lady...”

I turned back to the peanut gallery and, with a satisfied smile, said: “Well, there’s your answer.”

I didn’t get a reply other than a few mutters and considered the matter closed. Though back to how to protect the sensitive bits of the vehicles….

I was interrupted when Ms. Saya Takagi walked toward our small motor pool, looked the vehicles over and turned to me with her hands on her hips... as well as a pair of glasses she hadn’t had before. “I assume you’re going to have the sensitive parts kept in a Faraday cage if this EMP blast you think might happen goes off.”

I grinned a bit, girl was smart, not many people would even know what a Faraday cage was, let alone know what they were used for. “Yes I was, only problem is I’m drawing a blank on what to use for the cage.”

She nodded. “Any entirely closed metal container will do as long as the entire surface is conductive and you properly insulate the contents,” she stated matter of factly. “And for the smallest items probably the easiest way to protect them would be to find as many microwave ovens as possible. Microwave ovens use electromagnetic radiation to cook food, as such they’re designed to protect against high energy electromagnetic fields.”

Looking around at the storage buildings I nodded. “Good idea, should be a few somewhere in this mess, there should be at least one in the office for the staff if nowhere else. And if worst comes to worst I guess we could loot a department store if we have to.”

I turned back to her. “Unless you have something vital you were already doing why don’t you gather a group to search for some microwaves or anything we could use to build a couple of Faraday cages. Pick as many as you need and if anyone gives you any lip tell them I said so. If that doesn’t convince them tell Ms. Busujima that I asked her to help you convince them otherwise.”

“Mr. Brody, a word with you?” A deep voice called out. Recognizing the voice I turned and saw Father Oshiro standing there, surprising me with the sheepish look on his face.

Oh God, now what?

“Yes, Father?” I tried to keep the strain from my voice but from the look on his face I wasn’t entirely successful.

“Could we speak in private?” The father said, the big man looking like a kid who’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly and under control I agreed to his request and we headed towards the former office for the storage lot. Closing the door behind us and pulling up the chair the manager used to use, I sat down with a thunk and gestured to the other seat across from me. “Take a seat, Father.”

He slowly lowered himself into the chair, his bulk making the plastic and metal groan audibly under pressure.

“I have something I must confess.” he admitted after a moment. The both of us paused for a moment, taking in the pun he’d just unintentionally made. Both of us snorted at the poor joke and I gestured for him to continue.

Recovering himself he continued: “While you were away taking care of the rest of the students from your school, I made a few calls to people I know. The Church is not particularly large in Japan, but everyone knows everyone here and we always keep in touch. I saw what you were doing here and I contacted a colleague of mine who ministers to the local Boy and Girl Catholic Academies here in the city. The faculty and the students trust him and when I told him I had been shown a safe place had begged him to get as many of the students as he could here he agreed almost instantly. I pray he and his flock will be alright.”

I was silent as the grave for several minutes, just taking in the new bomb he’d dropped on me. “So, let me get this straight, you went behind my back, contacted someone I didn’t know and never could have vetted. Gave away what could be the difference between life and death for all of us. And now we could have several hundred more terrified and hormonal teenagers barreling their way here… or eaten alive during the trip over if the worst happened… is that right?”

The man was thirty years my senior, an ordained priest, and whom I was convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt had been a former Sumo champion, and here he was he was trying his best not to look like a small boy who’d been caught stealing the cookies. “Well, when you put it like that…” he muttered.

Sighing, I simply rubbed the bridge of my nose and gave him a level glance. “You know I wouldn’t have turned them away. But it would have been nice to have some forewarning so I could... you know... make arrangements?”

“Sometimes, my son, it is better to ask for forgiveness than it is permission,” he smiled. “You should know this fact better than most.”

I gave him a flat stare. He just had to bring up Shido. “No. No. You’re so not going there.”

“Yes,” he replied with a smile. “I am so going there.”

There was a long silence between us before we began to laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. And it was while laughing that I outright told him: “You do realize this means you’re going to have to go out and find us more trucks. Right?”

He stopped laughing.

I didn’t.

 

AN/: With thanks from PsyckoSama and Grey Rook, here is the newest chapter in this mad adventure. Enjoy.

The sun blazed bright overhead while people continued to trickle in from the surrounding area. Mostly the Thegns and their crew and kin, but a few were either escapees from the city that happened across the storage lot in their attempt to get out of the city. As well as one group that would have a lasting impact in this ever growing community.

Smoke billowed over the horizon as a grim reminder that the world was ending. Many stood watching the smoke, pausing from whatever task they were doing. No one spoke, no one felt the need to. As for myself, I was getting something to eat.

The last time I’d eaten had been that morning at Shizuka’s, the scrambled eggs only a distant memory. I paused in my walk over to the hastily set-up grub tent, really a tarp with a large pot over a fire with rice, meat and vegetables bubbling away. Had it really only been a few hours since the world had fallen apart? This morning I had a stable job, my own place, a girlfriend who adored me and me her, and even a good chunk of my students liked me. Now it was barely the afternoon and I was the unofficial leader of a refugee band hiding in an abandoned storage lot and planning to flee a dying city to the mountains….

I fingered the cross around my neck and muttered a prayer to Saint George and Saint Martin of Tours, the patron saints of soldiers, to give me the strength to fight on, before squaring my shoulders and marching onward to what seemed to be an ad-hoc kitchen area: a nearly empty unit that had conveniently contained little more than some lawn furniture and a large gas grill. To my surprise, serving out the food were Miss Kyoko Hayashi along with a female student I didn’t recognize and one of the Gyaru girls that had come with the Thegns. About nine others were busy cooking under the direction of the school’s head chef and Ishiyama’s rather terrifying lunch lady.

I will admit, the bottle blonde was a bit offputting. She had the most radiant and chipper smile I’d ever seen in my life. Normally I’d be lamenting the fact that her “fashion sense” was detracting from her beauty, but right now, considering the events of the day, it almost seemed a bit ‘Stepfordy’.

Taking a breath to relax myself, I greeted them with a nod. “Afternoon, ladies. Smells divine.” To my mild surprise the younger girls blushed at that. Miss Kyoko noticed their red faces and, after clearing her throat to get their attention, turned to me with a professional face and said: “It isn’t fancy, but it’s filling and I’ve not heard anyone complaining.” Not that many would, Miss Hayashi was more than just another pretty face. She had a spine like steel, took shit from nobody, and had been one of the few people brave enough to tell Shido to shove it. In about those words, as well. Though the fact that she also was a world championship table tennis player didn’t hurt. It was easy to bury your average Joe. An Olympic bronze medalist in ping pong? Not so much.

“I’m sure it’s fine.” I said, and gladly took the bowl she handed over. Looking down I was mildly amused. Red beans and rice. A simple, reasonably tasty meal that just happened to have some cultural connotations in Japanese culture. One of the many little cultural oddities I’d learned over the past year. At least when I wasn’t playing ‘Gaijin Smash’ to neatly avoid the obnoxious shit.

“Sekihan?” I asked with a peaked eyebrow and a small smile. “Well then? What’s the occasion?”

“We’re alive.” Mr. Kaga, aforementioned chef, replied. “Considering everything, that is worth celebrating. It also is nutritious, easy to make in quantity, and you just happened to have several tons of both in your container.”

“All perfectly valid reasons.” I replied with a thin smile.

Turning around, I searched for somewhere to sit. I spotted Shizuka eating with several of the other teachers near the former office. I quickly made my way through the groups of other people already eating. Most were focused on the food, making little conversation, not wanting to strike up conversations that would inevitably turn to the events of the day and the future. A few did look up when I walked by and smiled or said a few words of greeting. I returned the greetings with a few words or a smile myself, these people were scared out of their wits, some comforting gestures were easily given and enormously beneficial to their mental wellbeing.

When I reached Shizuka’s group seated around a turned-over bucket, I cleared my throat to get their attention. Once I had their attention I asked if I could sit with them, one man, an older guy who taught Japanese History, nodded and shifted over so that a space was opened up next to Shizuka. Thanking the man I quickly sat down. Giving Shizuka a quick smile which she returned I turned back to my bowl. Before I dug in I made a quick sign of the cross and softly worded grace, using a prayer that my father had gotten from when he’d been growing up Methodist.

“Good Lord, Accept our thanks. For these and all our blessings, we ask in Christ’s name Amen. Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

I made the Sign of the Cross again, clasped my hands for a moment, then dug into the rice and beans. I’d never been the biggest fan of rice growing up, and my Cajun ancestors were likely shaking their heads in disgust at that. Though after a year of living in a nation where where the amount of rice needed to feed a man for a year was a traditional unit of measurement, and the goddess of prosperity was also the goddess of rice, I’d learned to love it.

Or at least passively tolerate it.

In this case, the stuff was actually pretty good, though that may have been hunger talking. After eating several bites, I finally looked up to my co-workers. Several faces were drawn and slightly haggard looking, and one person had a bruise on their face. But overall they seemed to be holding up for the moment.

A little unsure what to say I decided to just break the ice and and cleared my throat. “How’s everyone holding up?”

Everyone was silent, most just staring into their bowls or laps, not wanting to say anything. I realized a bit too late that they were obviously still traumatized by the world crashing down around them. And genius I was, I’d just reminded them what was going on outside of our refuge.

I was about to start kicking myself for saying something so stupid when Shinzo Takayama, one of the surviving P.E. teachers and coach for the judo club, spoke up. “Physically, we’re alright…” He listed off, his eyes not focusing on anything.

There was another awkward pause before one of the other teachers spoke up. “We’re alright, for the moment. Considering the alternative…” He too trailed off and shuddered, the terror seeping out of every one of his pores.

He recovered himself and stood up. He set down his bowl, turned to me, and bowed so low I thought he was going to fold himself in half. “Brody-san, you saved our lives, and those of our students. I can never thank you enough or ever repay you, but I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to.” His voice was tight, emotion tinting his tone. The man looked ready to start sobbing, whether from relief, terror, or gratitude I couldn’t tell.

Feeling a bit embarrassed at his dramatic display, I muttered; “Christ’s sake, man. I’m your kohai, not your daimyo!”

There was a tired chuckle through the group, and Mr. Kurokawa was the first to speak. “As a teacher, this is true. But I do not believe we will be returning to those duties any time soon. As you made so clear to us, this is a new world. And in this world, we are but anxious disciples looking to you for guidance... Brody-Sensei.”

I was too stunned to speak, completely taken aback at Kurokawa, my immediate superior, the man who I was an assistant to for the past year, was acting like a supplicant…

But it made a twisted sort of sense, I was the only man in the world who had known what was coming. Meaning I was the only one who could prepare beforehand. To those who were blindsided by the zombie plague, someone with just a level head would seem to be a godsend. A man with my level of preparation… a lesser... more self-interested man could leverage that if he were so inclined.

But I had no desire to use this to turn myself into some kind of... Immortan Tom.

I schooled my features. No. What I wanted... was to save as many people as possible. Because I wanted to be able to look at myself in the mirror. Because it was the right thing to do. Any man who wasn’t a complete bastard would feel the same way.

Though I have to admit the thought of Shizuka in a harem girl outfit was all kinds of fun.

Clearing my mind, as not to look like a perverted idiot, I spoke up. “I was planning on having an open air meeting, to air out what needs to be done next. Please be there.”

I dug into my bowl, finishing as quickly as I could, and wiped my mouth with my sleeve as I stood up, walked over to Shizuka and gave her a kiss on the cheek. The world was ending, social propriety was out the window at this point. Then I turned and nodded my head to the others and went looking for the other teachers, Huscarls, Thegns, and anyone else I thought might have something useful to add to the meeting.

Before I was out of earshot, Takayama called out to me. “My wife and child are still out there.”

“Have you called them yet?” I asked calmly.

“Of course,” he replied. “It was the first thing I did. My wife is holed up in our apartment. I told her to lock the door and answer for no one but me...”

I frowned. “What floor do you live on?”

“The Seventh,” he replied, earning a wince from me.

“She’s going to be hard to extract,” I admitted. “And while I’m not going to stop you, you will need to figure out a strategy for getting her out if the building is infested. That’s part of the reason why I want to call a meeting. Blindly rushing off to the rescue is just rushing off to your death.”

That seemed to satisfy him for the moment, though my mention of her living that high up making things difficult only seemed to make him even more uncomfortable.

“Don’t worry about it, teach.” one of Eric’s boys, cut in with a sideways smile. “If you’re willin’ ta swing around and help me pick up my mom, I’ll watch your back.”

He paused. “Where do you live and what do you mean watch my back?”

The delinquent grinned. “I live near Shizume Station. And I like to go climbing so I’m pretty good with ropes. If we stop by my place I could pick up my climbing rig... all else fails she can just rappel down.”

Kurokawa’s eyes lit up. “That’s on the way to my house! You have a deal, young man.”

The... Minion(?) held out his fist. “You got a deal, bro!”

There was an awkward silence for a moment. “Don’t just leave me hangin’.”

The teacher sighed and gave a chuckle, then returned his brofist. “These times make for strange bedfellows.”

I nodded at them. “You see, this is exactly what I want to see. By working together and making plans we can save the people we love.” I paused and then added: “And make sure to bring proper protective gear.”

I then headed on my way, the others needed to know...oh wait, looking over my shoulder I called to the two, “Mind spreading the word? I want a meeting with all the adults, gang leaders, and anyone else you think might have something useful to say. Understand?”

“Gotcha boss.” The kid called out. Satisfied I moved on, now if I remember right Saeko was somewhere around…

----------

A stretch of the parking lot had been cleared of most of the junk, and chairs from both the office and the emptied storage lot had been pulled out so that people would not be forced to stand.

Speaking of standing, I’d found a large painter’s stepladder that was big enough and comfortable enough that I could use it as an impromptu podium.

Surveying the crowd, which consisted of almost everyone except for the guys on guard duty, I cleared my throat and in a loud voice called out. “Can everyone hear me? If you can’t, please let me know. Anyone?”

I waited for a moment, everyone seemed to nod or make some sort of affirmation to being able to hear me.

Nodding, I continued. “Alright, first off, let’s just get this out in the open now so there’s no bullshit later. We’re in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, just like in the movies. To be clear, the undead are wandering around in hordes and they hunger for the flesh of the living. If you’re bit, you WILL die and then you will come back as a zombie yourself. And before you think the authorities will roll in with the JSDF, the US Marine Corps, or the Salvation fucking Army, think again. We don’t have the set up here, but before we left the school, we saw video from Tokyo to San Francisco, from New York to Madrid. This is an international pandemic. God willing, things will be back to normal soon enough. But God helps those who help themselves, and we can’t pretend it’s just all going to be okay and wait for Big Brother or the Heavenly Choir to swoop in from on high and make it all better.”

“You realize most of us aren’t Christian, right?” a voice spoke up from the crowd.

I sighed and facepalmed. “Yeah, but I am. And it’s pretty much the closest thing to Armageddon you’re going to find outside of a Baptist sermon out there, so pardon me for defaulting to what I was raised with.”

There was a little laughter. Well. More dull chuckling. But let’s be honest, it would take a better man than I to be jovial in a time like this.

“As I was saying... there is no government, no Self Defense Force, no U.S. Army coming to the rescue, they’ve got more on their plates than they can handle to spare anything for us. For the foreseeable future... we’re on our own. All we have is our wits, what we can salvage, and most importantly, we have each other. Did anyone not understand that? If you didn’t then ask someone else because I don’t have time to explain it again.”

I was about to continue when my phone rang.

Of all the timing...

I reached down to turn it off but froze. It was a call from Souichiro Takagi.

“Shit,” I muttered before looking back up. “I apologize, but I absolutely have to take this call. It’s from someone with whom cooperation will be paramount to our continued survival.”

I glanced over to Saya and said: “Miss Takagi. I know that you’ve probably spent the past several hours analyzing my predictions and at this point probably understand them better than I. Do you think you can take over this briefing while I speak to your father?”

At the mention of her father, Saya went ramrod straight before giving me a stiff nod. “Yes Sensei.”

Sighing in exasperation, and wondering when I’d finally be free from the goddamn cell-chain, I walked away from my spot. Saya quickly stepped in and gave a clear and concise rundown of everything that had happened, my predictions for the immediate future, and my escape plan to anyone who hadn’t heard it before. For myself I stepped behind a building and, covering one ear so that I wouldn’t be interrupted, spoke into the speaker.

“My apologies, Takagi-dono.You caught me in the middle of a briefing and I had to excuse myself.”

“Ah. My apologies then, Brody-dono, for the inconvenient timing.”

“It’s alright. Saya’s handling the details for me. She’s a very capable young woman.”

There was silence on the line but I had a feeling there was some parental pride going on behind Mr. Takagi’s stony exterior. “I see. Very good. Several groups of your soldiers have arrived at my compound. They are capable, but willful. Though considering what you had to work with, I must congratulate your efforts. Saya explained the generalities of your plan as well as your long term predictions. They paint a grim picture.”

I heard a deep sigh, a rare show of emotion from the otherwise schooled man.

“Even worse, neither my daughter nor wife could find fault in them.”

“I wish they did,” I replied grimly.

“Greetings. Brody-dono,” spoke a feminine voice that I assumed to be his wife.

“Hello, Lady Takagi. I assume that you know about my eventual goal of using the Crystal Peaks Ski Lodge as a base of operations?”

I swore I could hear her wince. “Yes. I have.”

I blinked. “There something wrong with the plan?”

“The plan is good,” she replied, “I have questions, and will admit that while I do have some personal reservations as to your choice of location, but they’re immaterial to the issue at hand.”

My eyebrow peaked. “What’s the problem, ma’am?”

"It is nothing of substance. Please go on."

I lightened my voice. "Lady Takagi, in times like this it is helpful to vent one's frustrations. Please, let it out."

“Very well.” she admitted, "I've seen the plans for Crystal Peaks. They were a crime against good taste. It looks like..." she trailed off for a moment.

“The deformed prom night dumpster baby of Edo period and traditional Swiss architecture that was subsequently drowned in glitter?” I offered.

There was a pause, followed by a dull chuckle. “Well put, Brody-dono. Needless to say it probably would not have been my first choice. But as I said, it is immaterial.”

Clearing her throat, she continued: “Back to the business at hand. How do you intend to feed your survivors once you get the ski lodge?”

“I have multiple tons of organically grown potatoes in multiple breeds that I intend to use as a seed crop, as well as a number of other crops that would do well on a mountain. In addition I’ve plotted the location of a number of farms. We should be able to rescue or release a large quantity of livestock along with crops and additional seed stock. I’ve also made sure to mark the location of a number of food distribution centers. Between them, and the other rations I have packed, we should be able to survive until we are growing our own food.”

“I see, you have put an impressive amount of planning into this. But what of defending this little haven?” She asked.

“The location is naturally defensible,” I replied. “We also have a large quantity of various traditional arms. And my girlfriend's roommate is a police sniper with a personal gun collection that’s extremely impressive, by American standards. She’s currently holed up at the airport, and I have permission to raid her armory.”

That I asked over drinks during a theoretical conversation of ‘Hey, if there was a zombie apocalypse, could I raid your weapons stash?’ went without saying.

“Beyond that, I have assembled a sizable library on demolitions, gunsmithing, and a number of other topics that probably got me on an FBI watch list. Or at least the local equivalent.”

“The Koanchosa-cho isn’t quite as intrusive as your Federal Bureau of Investigation. And besides, they probably had ‘important’ things to worry about… such as ruining my daughter’s birthday party…” The last part was a mutter, and I had a feeling I wasn’t supposed to hear it, so I wisely kept my mouth shut.

I unconsciously nodded. “Right, your husband told me that several groups of ‘Thegns’ from around the city have been showing up at your estate, correct? We’ve got the other half of them coming here to the outskirts of the city, along with most of Fujimi Academy, a large contingent of Ishiyama survivors, an entire Catholic preschool complete with priest, and the promise of possibly another Catholic priest leading the survivors of a small Catholic High School. Then I’ve made a promise to locate as many of their families as I could before we moved on, but as is we have a glut of teenagers and are short on adults.”

“I see….” Lady Takagi was silent, likely a bit surprised at the sheer numbers and eccentricities of the people I’d gathered around me. If it wasn’t me involved I’d be asking where the Rabbi and the bar were.

“Anyways,” I continued, “I have a bead on a largish group of survivors who also have access to a sizable stockpile of supplies that would be very useful to us in the days to come.”

“And we have a fortified refuge with more and older people able to supplement your fighting men who, while brave and skilled for their age, are still boys.” she added.

There was a grunt of assessment from Souichiro. “And what information do you have on this group?”

“They’re under the leadership of a pair of female police officers and are holed up in the Taiei Shopping Town.”

“A mall would be a significant resource,” Yuriko observed. “Though if what he says about the EMP attack is true, we will have to commit a large amount of effort into food preservation.”

“The... less prepared survivors among my group are becoming restless,” Souichiro observed. “Some practical labor would give them something useful to occupy their time with.”

“And considering where we are going, any warm clothes we find would be a blessing,” Yuriko thought aloud.

Souichiro gave a sound of agreement. “Yes. It would be a significant resource,” he repeated, echoing his wife. “Brady-dono. How do you know of this group?”

“The junior officer is the girlfriend of one my students,” I replied. “If you feel it would be useful, I’ll text you her number so you can coordinate the rescue.”

“That would be ideal.” he replied. “And if you find any other groups of survivors who you believe would be more easily rescued by my group, inform me. Together we shall save as many of my countrymen as possible.”

“Agreed. I’m going to be holding a group meeting momentarily. If you wish I can leave the phone on speaker phone so you or your wife can listen in and provide input.”

“That sounds ideal,” Yuriko remarked.

“Great.” I said with a smile. “Any other pressing issues?”

“We will need to link up,” she stated. “Ideally before the EMP attack.”

I nodded. “Agreed. We can discuss that later. I need to get back to the meeting.”

“I understand,” Mr. Takagi stated, “Attend to your duties, Brody-dono.”

“Thank you, Takagi-dono.” I paused. “Just one last thing.”

“Yes?”

“Do not be hesitant to deploy the more... particular skills of my Theigns. A good number of them know how to, among other things, hotwire cars. I’d strongly suggest making full use of them at the mall.”

There was a chuckle from the other end. “Do not worry, Brody-dono. I will keep your subordinates very busy.”

“Excellent. Please pardon me, but I’ve got a meeting to head.” I turned around and headed back to Saya, who seemed to winding down with her catch-up for the group. No one’s eyes were glazed over, so I assumed she hadn’t gotten too technical for them.

“Lord gimme strength and eloquence.” I muttered as I stepped back onto my step ladder, making sure to hit the speakerphone button as I did so.

 

A/N:WHEN HELL HAS RUN OUT OF ROOM, THE DEAD SHALL RISE TO WALK THE EARTH AGAIN!

...have fun...




“...and that’s why I feel my plan to hide in the mountains until things begin to settle down is our best chance for survival. Unless you have any other questions that don’t involve why we can’t stay here and wait for the JSDF to come and save us, or if we could change our route to swing by your homes personally…” With that last question answered I stepped off my impromptu podium and made for the storage lot office, hoping I might be able to at least sit down for 10 minutes.

As I walked I waved to a few people who greeted me or thanked me for either saving them or setting up this haven, however temporary. One or two people from the meeting tried to follow me and ask me some follow up questions, unfortunately, they were repeats of ‘why can’t the JSDF help us?’ or ‘why can’t we go by my neighborhood, it isn’t that far out of the way’. I waved them off, making vague promises to talk to them later about it and just kept walking. The sun was starting to get lower into the sky as the afternoon wore on. I nearly stopped walking when I realized what all had happened today and it wasn’t even six yet. Dear God in His Heaven, if this was what I had to look forward to I’d be gray and bald before I was thirty… Lord gimme strength.

As I made my way up the staircase, I saw from the front window that the light was on and someone was inside. When I stepped inside, I blinked in surprise at the change in decoration. Replacing the smashed-up office furniture was a proper queen-sized bed set into the corner with mismatched sheets and blankets, along one wall was a full sized couch that I knew hadn’t been there before and along the other wall was a wooden dining set with two upholstered chairs and a candelabra complete with candles.

“Is that you, Tom?” I heard Shizuka call from one of the back rooms.

“Yeah, it’s me, honey,” I replied distractedly, still taking in the now cozy apartment I was standing in. “So when did this all happen?” I gestured to the renovations, even though she wasn’t able to see my motion.

“Oh, it seems that some of the others wanted to thank you for all you’ve done for everyone and did all this as a thank you.” She called again.

I was more than a little surprised, when did they have time to do all this? “They didn’t-”

Shizuka interrupted my protestations. “Ah ah ah, Tom. They wanted to do this, and it’d be rude to not accept it. Now could you come back here, I need your help with something.”

I sighed and rubbed my shoulders. At this point, I wanted nothing more than to shrug off my armor, towel off, and take a nap. But no. I couldn’t afford to. I was on a very strict schedule. I needed to get as much done as possible before the EMP hit and then I needed to get these people to safety before the shock of the event let off and the sheer enormity of the situation of the situation really set in and they started freaking out.

God help me.

My thoughts trailed off as Shizuka entered the room. She’d gotten out of the pencil skirt and white blouse she’d been wearing earlier and was now wearing a scarlet red dress that seemed to be painted on her and only reached down to her mid-thigh, while up top her breasts pushed out of her dress far enough that it looked like if she sneezed or even breathed too deeply they would jump right out. Her hair was done in a loose bun and she had a touch of makeup that enhanced her already flawless features.

My brain broke.

I must have been staring because she looked me over once before striking a pose, jutting one hip out while resting a hand on her opposite hip and raising her other hand behind her head. Lord did that dress accentuate dem’ curves. “Like what you see, Tom-kun? We found this box of dresses in one of the storage lots and since no one else could wear them, the others decided to give them to me.”

She made her way over to me, her hips swaying in the most hypnotic fashion. She placed one hand on my armored chest, a thrill went through me and my mouth went dry. She looked up at me and started toying with the straps. “I bet you're sweaty under all that armor. They couldn’t get us a proper bath but there’s some hot wash clothes you can use to wipe yourself down.”

She then placed her hand on my cheek and traced her fingers along my jawline, before walking into the main room, as she passed by she said. “The others have everything covered for tonight, let this lady reward her mighty conquering hero...”

I stood there, stunned silent, for about two heartbeats, then I said the two most painful words of my life.

“Shizuka, no.”

She stood there seemingly as dumbfounded as I’d been when she walked in. “W-what?”

I grimaced, “Believe me, I’d like nothing more... but...” I sighed deeply and leaned against the wall, letting go of the false bravado I’d been keeping up the entire day and letting my exhaustion show in full. “We’re not done yet,” I replied, “Honey, the clock is ticking. We need to get to your place tonight, raid Rika‘s gun safe, get her Hummer, and then get to the Takagi estate so we can relocate their population to this side of the river before the EMP hits. And then, and only then, will we have time to sleep as much as fool around.”

She stood there for several moments, her face a storm of several emotions, confusion, hurt, anger, before finally settling on resigned acceptance. “Shit.”

That made me blink. Shizuka, did not curse. Ever. The few times heated words escaped her lips I could literally count on one hand with digits to spare. To be that blunt and crass in her language meant she was just as close to her wits' end as I was.

“Well put,” I replied dryly, earning a tired chuckle from her.

“I...” She sighed. “I was just hoping we could get a little bit of privacy to... to maybe forget the day happened if just for a moment?”

“Privacy?” I asked in feigned ignorance. “What’s that? It sounds like a food. Is it any good?”

She punched me in the arm in response. Hard. “Tom!”

“Sorry Zuka,” I said with a laugh. “Had to lighten the mood somehow and if I’m not laughing I’d be crying.” I paused. “Or screaming. Or generally ready to break something. But I was serious. Privacy probably isn’t in the cards until we’re in the mountains. Neither is sleep, to be completely honest.”

She took a deep breath, then sighed. “Alright, I’ll… go get changed…” She then turned and headed back towards the back room she’d come out of.

As I watched her go, it took everything I had not to throw my head back and howl my rage and frustration to the heavens.

What I did do, however, was storm out of the office wishing I could rip something's head off. “Oga!” I yelled out.

“Yeah?” the aforementioned delinquent called over from where he was emptying a cargo container. “Whatssup?”

“I need one of your boys to hotwire a beater for me,” I replied with a scowl. “There’s some shit I need to pick up off location,” I snapped out, “And there’s going to be a vehicle waiting so I need some disposable hoopty to get there.”

One of the many newcomers who I didn’t recognize looked over and exclaimed: “Wait, you’re leaving?”

“No!” I snapped out, letting my frustration come fully to a head. “Unlike you, some of us don’t have the luxury of waiting for the people with a plan to tell us what do do. I have to get in a vehicle, drive halfway across the city to my girlfriend's house, then empty her roommate's gun safe, dig up the keys to her hummer, which, mind you, is EMP proof, and then make it to the Takagi estates before dawn. And maybe, if I’m very fast... and very lucky... then just maybe I’ll be able to fit in some sleep before I get back here.”

That shut him up nicely, something I hadn’t managed to get the fat fuck to do during the debriefing earlier. I shook my head as that thought went through my mind, that was uncalled for. It was the stress getting to me, something that would get me killed if I didn’t focus.

A few minutes later, the car came rumbling by and fuck me that’s one ugly hunk of junk. The thing seemed to be 90% rust and was only keeping in one piece through spit, gum, duct tape and the Intervention of God himself. Well, I asked for a beater and I got one.

Looking over my shoulder, I called out for the people who would be accompanying me on this mad little adventure. “Shizuka, Miss Miyamoto, Takashi, Miss Busujima, Miss Takagi, and Kohta, gear up, we’re going on a gun run.” My voice had always carried well, and in my clipped tones, it sounded across the lot like a gunshot. Saeko was the first to arrive, the sword I’d set aside in for her in the school armory in her hands and… was she cuddling it?

Shaking my head I looked her over, aside from some elbow and knee pads she wasn’t all that heavily armored… save that she was wearing a set of leathers form-fitting enough that I could tell she was diligent in her “landscaping”, and from the smirk on her face she was dressing for effect.

Alright. Somebody tell me. Who did I murder in a past life to deserve this shit?

And no Shido doesn't count.

Trying to hammer away certain dark thoughts by working through my plan of action again, I found salvation when the others showed up soon afterward. Both Takashi and Kohta were suited up in their huscarl gear and Rei was dressed in denim and leather, wielding a spear with a wicked-looking blade on top. Saya wasn’t armed, save for a small knife on her thigh while Shizuka, back in her normal dress, was holding a first aid kit. Smart girl.

Nodding, I gestured to the vehicle. “Alright folks, pile on in, the sooner we leave the sooner we get the guns and can get to your house, Saya and bring the cavalry back here for evacuation.”

The others took one look at the car then back to me. “How are we supposed to fit in there? It can barely hold four.” Saya voiced the thoughts of the others, her voice dripping with disdain.

I gave her a flat look. “Sit in someone’s lap.”

That set her off, as I knew it would. “Oh hell no, I’m not sitting in any of those perverts' laps.”

Glaring at her, Rei responded; “You could alway sit in either Shizuka-sensei’s or Saeko-senpai’s laps.”

“Like I said, those perverts.” Which got a glare from the sword girl in question.

“Right then. Pinky’s riding in the trunk.” I said in a tone that was completely done with this shit.

That shut her up right good.