High School of the Dead: The Decent into Darkness Chronicles (Wingshadow and Mech)

Hitomi drove straight through, refusing to speak so much as a word to Tomoki who sat beside her in the passenger seat. The rain had cleared off the concrete, giving the road a deceptively clean look as they sped toward a suspension bridge across a canal. Instead of the busy waterway that it had been a mere two days ago, it was completely and utterly silent. The billowing clouds of smoke were in no ways reassuring.

Hitomi pressed a bit harder on the gas petal, prompting Tomoki to grasp her shoulder gently, "Oi, don't push too hard or you will burn through the gasoline pretty quickly."

"Look how fast we are going!" Miho laughed, pointing out the window at the quickly approaching buildings on the other side of the bridge.

The other three students could feel the heaviness in the air and did not feel like talking.

As they approached the toll booth on the other side of the bridge they encountered the first sign of trouble: abandoned cars. Hitomi eased off the gas and slowed the speed of the jeep to a reasonable level for her to made evasive action if needed while the passengers curiously peered out of the windows. Whatever had happened here, it had certainly not been quick or painless. There were no bodies inside the cars, but the sheer amount of blood stains both inside and around them were enough to make anyone's stomach turn. Even the rain had failed to wash it all away.

The car suddenly skidded to a halt and Hitomi opened the driver's side door and climbed out, pulling out her sniper rifle and scanning the area in front of them briefly before running around the car to its right side and motioning to Tomoki to get out. He silently followed her lead and closed the door behind him. Hitomi pointed toward the clearing in front of them and Tomoki was barely able to contain his gasp.

Before them lay the central city plaza... filled with hundreds if not thousands of them standing about the middle of the intersection. They swayed and wandered about aimlessly searching for their next victim.

"We can't get through there in the jeep, it will flip over," Tomoki whispered to Hitomi.

"I know, but all the other roads are blocked off by the remains of vehicles or have military-grade barricades drawn across them." Hitomi replied.

"And you wonder why they haven't blocked this area off yet?"

"This isn't a path to rescue, its suicide," Hitomi somehow managed to keep her voice down.

"Do you have any other great ideas?" Tomoki shrugged.

"Your supposed to be the leader, you think of something!"

"Very well then," Tomoki grinned, "how good of a shot are you?"

"Depends on what you mean by that..."

----

Tomoki sat in the driver's seat of the jeep while Hitomi stood about thirty feet away in front of it. She raised her rifle to her shoulder and aimed at something in the distance: a fire extinguisher. She carefully aimed at the tip of its neck and fired a single shot which nicked it and sent it flying off to the right, sputtering and spraying foam everywhere. It attracted their attention like children to an overturned candy stall. Hitomi's gunshot, however, still drew some attention so as soon as she fired Tomoki started up the engine and drove towards her. She held the rifle in one hand and climbed into the open door, planting her feet firmly inside as her top half hung out the door and scanned their path, firing at a few of them who were wandering toward their intended path.

"Get back in here, you can't possibly hit anything while we are moving with that thing, your just wasting ammunition," Tomoki barked, and Hitomi soon complied.

They were nowhere near out of the woods, however, as gunshots sounded far to their left, nailing several of them cleanly in the head. Two armored vehicles peeled in behind the jeep, weapons at the ready. Tomoki reached out the window to wave at them, but as he did so a shot bounced off the top of the car and sent him back in as quickly as he could manage, but soon the two other vehicles started narrowing in behind them. Hitomi slammed on the gas and tried to put some distance between them but the other two cars were pretty darn tenacious, refusing to let her get any headway on them... yet at the same time they did not seem interested in closing in on her either. She soon found out why: Two more armored cars were posted at the end of the road on which Hitomi's jeep was driving, the space between them was much too narrow for her to pass between.

"So they want to play it that way, hm?" Hitomi smirked and grasped the steering wheel firmly, "Hold on guys, time for some initial-D maneuvers."

She released the clutch and spun the jeep around, heading back toward her pursuers who quickly reacted and started narrowing the distance between themselves as well. Hitomi handed the rifle to Tomoki who nodded and reached out the window with it and fired at their tires, although he didn't actually hit them it caused them to swerve out of the way in time for her jeep to pass through. She then once again spun the jeep around and pulled it into a stop. Stepping out of the car once again she called out to the four armored vehicles in front of her.

"Oi, what you guys up to? We are just survivors trying to find shelter at Town Hall," Hitomi motioned to the jeep, "Don't you all have something better to do than keeping us from getting there?"

One of the hatches on the armored car closest to them opened to reveal a tough yet scruffy-looking man with military gear of various sorts strapped to his body from head to toe. He said something to the men still inside the armored car and stepped out to talk with Hitomi.

"I'm sorry about the mix-up," he apologized, but even his apology sounded rough and unrefined, "Could you all exit the vehicle so we can make sure none of you have been bitten? We are under strict orders to not let anyone contaminated into the premesis."

"What do you take us for?" Hitomi eyed him but nodded to the children inside the jeep to come out.

The three highschool students, Tomoki, and the little girl all stepped out in line in front of the man who called himself "Nash" although it was clearly just a nick-name of some sort. He looked them over briefly then motioned to the other men inside the armored cars who then stepped out and formed a paremeter around them to escourt them.

"Thanks," Hitomi shouldered her rifle when Nash reached over to take it from her.

"I'm sorry miss, but I insist," Nash repeated the gesture, which Hitomi reluctantly complied to but had secretly removed the bayonet and hidden it in her clothes.

After some time of walking they came to a wide clearing where the Town Hall had once stood. Now it looked more like a refugee camp turned military, with barbed wire and sandbags piled up all around forming makeshift walls standing nearly eight feet high.

They stepped in through the heavily armed guard and walked toward a rather large portable building that they had probably set up as some sort of impromptu medical center.... Yet something about the entire set up felt off. The survivors that were already here were divided into dozens of small tents with military-looking guards posted about. If this was a refugee camp, why were there guards inside as well as outside?

----

"Please miss, come with me," Nash approached Hitomi but Tomoki stepped up to him as well.

"Excuse me, I am her fiance, and I think I have a right to know where you are taking her," he said boldly.

"Very well, you can come too," Nash shrugged.

"Where is my mom, she said she would be here," Miho tugged on Nash's pant leg

"We are currently unable to find her name listed anywhere, however, that does not mean she hasn't come in on the latest bus," Nash replied to her gruffly before turning back to Hitomi and Tomoki, leaving the three high school students standing idly with baffled looks on their faces beside the tent that had been assigned to them

----

A short while later Hitomi stormed back to the tent clearly ticked off, with Tomoki in tow

"Like heck I will let them perform a full body check on me!" she sat down and started to viciously stab at a can of beans with a fork.

The students and Tomoki exchanged glances but said nothing to each other.

"Oi-" Tomoki raised his hand.

"My name isn't "Oi" or "Miss" or "Obaa-chan" its Hitomi-chan, is it really that hard to remember?" Hitomi fumed, puffing her cheeks out slightly.

"What's been eating you recently?"

"Is that supposed to be some off-color joke?"

"N-no, I'm just wondering what could have happened between Souji and you that's got you in such a bad mood," Tomoki said gently.

Hitomi simply ignored him, however, and continued her war against the can of beans.

----

"The world can squirm as its leaders scramble about like chickens with their head's chopped off for all I care," Nash was making a speech to his men, "What is most important for us to do is maintain the inflow of supplies for as long as we can and increase our numbers. As humans, society is a necessity and just as much as it cannot exist with humans we cannot exist without it. That is a simple fact of life. To that end, I ask that all of you continue as you have always done under me. And then, who knows, perhaps you might find a cute girl among all those poor weary survivors."

Someone approached Nash and tugged on his shoulder.

"Yeah, what is it?" Nash didn't like it when people interrupted him, least of all when it was getting to the good part.

"Sir, there appears to be some movement in cell block twelve."

"Isn't that the train station?"

"Yes sir."

"That can't be possible, go back and check it again."

"We have visual confirmation, sir. The express train had just passed by one of our outlying scout groups. They were confused as well."

"I thought they cut power to that hours ago."

"Apparently not, sir."

"What the hell is going on down there..." Nash shook his head in disbelief.
 
Souji was driving back home from the convenience store, in a rather unsafe way. He drove the bike with some skill, but his thoughts were elsewhere entirely. The only thing that brought him back to Earth was the cry for help of a young woman. Souji stopped the bike, and jumped out, taking a H&K USP Stainless from his leg holster. Of course he got out of the house prepared for trouble, as he knew trouble was out there, and was glad to have the gun with him.

The scream came from an alley between as sports shop and a small antiques pawn shop. Souji took cover on one of the walls and took a peek at the alley but couldn't see anything. He could hear the voice of two women tought, pleading to be left alone. In their current situation, that was hardly surprising. What shocked him, was that their attackers answered back.

"Please! Leave us alone! Let my daughter go!" - he heard on of them scream, her voice shaky and clearly terrified.

"Shut the hell up, bitch!" - came a male voice, and Souji heard a slap echo through the alley. He could imagine what was happening, and it disgusted him.

"Ha! Serves your right! Bitches should take their clothes off and be quiet!" - came a second male voice, full of scorn.

The boy slipped into the alley quickly and quietly gun at the ready. Punks taking advantage of that situation to hurt women didn't deserve to live. In the way the world was going, Souji thought he wouldn't mind put a bullet in their brains and dispatch them early to their deaths. After he got to the intersection in the alley, he once again took cover and peeked at the scene.

The older woman, was being held on her knees, what had been a serious and classy female suit now torn and ragged. The other was a teenager not much younger than Souji himself. What took him by surprise though, were the four males in uniform. Army uniform, full Special Forces gear. Two of them had their pants only half dressed, ready to have their way with a girl not older than fifteen. Souji was revolted. He would really kill them if he had to, no hesitation, his finger already on the trigger. Luckly for him, their Assault Rifles stood forgotten against a wall. He quickly turned away from cover, pointing his gun at them.

"Freeze!" - he shouted, aiming at the man closer to him. All of them flinched, trying to tidy up their uniforms. - "If you move, I'll blow your heads off!"

"What are you doing, kid?! We're army officers, we're here to help! Put the gun down and hand it over to me before you hurt someone..." - one of them tried, putting his hands up.

"Shut up, you rapist!" - he answered, turning his aim at him. - "The two of you, get behind me, now!" - he shouted and the older woman quickly got up, helping the girl on her feet. The girl was only half dressed in child like underwear.

One of the soldiers took it as an oportunity to go for his rifle, and Souji pulled the trigger, shooting the man in the knee. The shot and the soldier's scream echoed throughout the peaceful neighbourhood. - "I told you to hold still!" - he said, keeping his aiming at the enemies, while the girls came his way. Something was of thought. What did he knew about Special Forces Team? 'Shit, they're always five man teams!' - he figured out, but a little too late. Someone grabbed his gun from the side, and turned it around, using his the gun as a lever to twist his index finger. Souji let go of the gun before the man could break it.

The women screamed again, retreating to the wall as their saviour got overpowered, the mother embracing her daughter in a rather protective way. - "What now kid? Not so though without your gun, huh?" - the guy who tried to make him surrender shouted, going for his rifle.

"Wait!" - interrupt the other. - "Let's give him a beating. No reason to waste ammo on a kid." - the other two laughed, while the man who took Souji's gun just watched the boy in silence. - "Let's make him pay for playing hero and shooting Kuma." - even though, they cared little for the soldier who cried in pain, holding his own leg.

'No way but fist fighting, huh? I'm paying for being arrogant... Should have killed them without giving them a chance to react. Shit, they're special forces... Let's hope I'm as good as I consider myself to be...' - he thought wryly.

But in fact he was. He lunged forward when the first one approached him, his fist connecting with the man's nose, and breaking it instantly. He backed away, sidestepping out of the way of one, who tried to punch him in the face took his arm, spun, throwing him to the ground in a perfect Aikido takedown. Still holding the arm, he spun, using the man's arm as a lever to break its elbow and clavicle.

"Shit! What the fuck is wrong with this kid?!" - the third asked, clearly impressed.

"Don't care! Beat him bloody!" - retorted the first, his nose bleeding profusely, a huge bruise beneath his eyes.

Both lunged at him again, this time prepared to him. Souji blocked two kicks one after another, being cornered against the wall, and answered it with two kicks of his own, that were also blocked by the enemy. A counter kick from broken nose took Souji cleanly in the chest, and pressed against the wall, he felt a rib snap. He winced in pain, adrenaline being the only thing holding him from passing out from the blow. As he winced, a second punch hit his face, and sent him flying to the side.

The woman shouted in despair, asking for them to show mercy on the boy and on them. Souji got up as quickly as possible, shaking his head to get rid of the dizzyness. He was glad for not being cornered anymore. Everytime he inhaled, it seemed someone was stabbing him and he was afraid that would hinder his . Broken Nose came at him again with a punch, but Souji dodged it, grabbing his wrist, and twisting it behind his back. A quick kick to the back of his leg and the man kneeled at his mercy. Souji had none at that point, as he punched the man on the back of the neck putting him out of comission.

The third looked at him in panic and tried to go back for his Rifle, but as soon as he turned, Souji kicked him in the head, knocking him out cold. 'Almost there!' he thought to himself as he looked at the last of them, the man who had taken his gun away, who watched him without any expression while his team took a beat. The insignia of Lieutenant on his uniform identified him as the Team Leader. Souji took his stance ready to fight him too, but the man simply looked at him with a rather bored expression.

Souji took one breath, two, and then lunged at him, as fast as any martial artist could be. But it hardly made any difference. The man simply pointed Souji's gun at him, and shot, the first shot grazing his leg, and making him kneel down. The man took as step forward and pressed the gun at the boy's chest.

Souji frozed in fear. He was going to die there. In the middle of a zombie epidemic, and he was about to get killed by a soldier who was supposed to be helping him. He winced back, having know way to avoid it.

The woman cried for help one more time, before the shot silenced everything for Sarayashiki High School's most feared delinquent.

---

He had some glimpses of conscience while they travelled. They were in a car, that much he knew. Woman and Girl were there, crying. A hand on his hair, almost caring. Some lauhgs. A lot of cursing. Pain. Pain in the leg. Pain in the shoulder. Pain everytime he had to take in a breath. Dry throat but a wet chest.

"Jesus. Fucking Kid broke my nose! My fucking nose man!" - Broke Nose complained. The man with his knee shot cried about it as well.

"Stop saying that word." - came a stern voice, devoid of any emotion. It was the man who shot him. Stoic. - "Besides it was your own fault. Our job was only to get a hold of the Doctor and take her to the Town Hall. Nothing else."

"Nash said we could have some fun on the way, man!" - that was Third, the one he knocked out with a kick in the head. - "We were only doing that!"

'Water' he pleaded on his mind, their words making no sense to him at that time. He had managed to say it, because he heard an answer in a shaky, crying voice, but could not understand what they said anymore.

He fell asleep again. He dreamt about getting shot and that it hurt when he tried to breath.

---

When he finally woke up again, Broke Nose and Stoic were carrying him through what seemed to be a refugee camp. He could barely understand anything, but little by little things were coming back at him. Pain everywhere, but at least made that made him know he was still alive.

"You! Send four teams to verify the situation at the train Station." - came a rather rude voice, not far away from them. Souji saw a man, ranked Colonel, but rather scruffy looking for one. He walked over to them and demanded. - "What took you so long?! And why is the doctor in this shape!?" - he asked, severily. Nash was rather impressed to see his beast team all broken down like that. - "Did any of you have been beaten?" - his hand made its way to his side arm.

Stoic was the one who answered it. - "No sir! We ran into some trouble along the way and while I solved it the boys tried to have some fun with the doc's daugther. This boy heard it and assaulted us."

"This skinny looking twerp?" - Nash mused, looking at the boy who was so bloodied he looked more like a corpse.

"He's a skilled fighter sir..." - Stoic answered. - "Overpower the four of them efficiently."

"Ha!" - Nash almost rudely laughed at them - "Beaten up by a little boy? You're all a disgrace to your damn uniforms!"

---

Meanwhile, Miho who was checking out every car that entered the perimeter of security, saw someone rather familiar to her. She tugged at Hitomi's pants a little, while she was busy stabbing the can with her fork, Tomoki trying to comfort her.

"Hitomi-nee-chan! Isn't that Souji-nii-chan over there?!" - she pointed, to where, now, Nash approached the young man.

The three students looked among themselves and then approached their teachers, to take a good look, realizing she was right.

---

Souji was busy wondering if all that blood that turned his white t-shirt in a red one was indeed his own. Could he really be alive after bleeding that much? All that pain could only mean he was alive, but even so, that was almost unbelievable. 'Tch... is that really something to be amused about...?' he thought, feeling sleepy all over again.

"Hey, kid! I'm talking to you!" - Nash said, lifting his head by the chin. Why the hell were they bothering him again? He only wanted to sleep, now. But he was an army man. Like the ones who shot him. Army men equals bad men. Bad men should be put down. - "Are you listening?" - Nash got even closer.

Souji looked at him, and pulled his head back, until he could stare to the sky. It was a moody, grey sky that promised that the rain and the storm were still around. Then he brought it down, burying his forehead on Nash's nose. The squad who captured him was still impressed he had the strentgh for it.

Nash was astonished. - "What... What the hell?"

Souji smirked. He was feeling all sorts of pain, with no hope to escape, surrounded by possible enemies and completely fucked up. But he smirked He didn't cared if he died anymore. He never did care that much. But he would at least cause all the mayhem he could before biting the dust. - "Go to hell, you rapist prick..." - he muttered.

Nash gritted his teeth and his hand flew, hitting Souji on the face. The lights were out for him once again, no time for him to wonder what would happen from now on. He just hoped Hitomi was safe and sound. He wished he could take a peek at the her photograph, now stuffed on his wallet with him.
 
At first, Hitomi only thought Miho had seen someone who resembled Souji, after all, why would he ever show his face anywhere near there? She seemed quite insistent, however, so as she was looking up for a moment to see what Miho was going on about Hitomi's eyes suddenly grew wide. The first thing she saw was the blood all over his battered form, the distinct color of his hair remaining one of the few distinguishing features which remained relatively in-tact. She dropped her can and ran toward him, stumbling a bit as she rushed to his side and caught him as Nash punched him out. She held him gently, cradling him in her arms. A sour, burning pain centered about her stomach as she looked up at Nash.

"What the hell do you think your doing?!" she screamed at him, "He's going to die if he doesn't get medical attention right away!"

"He assaulted my men without provocation," Nash replied, insulted that the woman saw him as the offending party but managing to keep himself from striking her as well, "The kid doesn't know his place."

"He wouldn't hurt anyone without good reason!" Hitomi countered.

"How would you know?"

"He's my student, so as his actions are my responsibility you can take out your frustrations on me if you must," she said firmly, "I won't have you beating down and killing my students, not while I am still-"

Nash brought a firm fist to the side of her face, causing her to stumble backward but managing to retain her footing. Tomoki rushed up in an attempt to deck Nash for punching her, but two of his men grabbed his arms and held him away.

"I won't have you or anyone else question my decisions, is that clear?" Nash grabbed her hair in his right hand and brought her fact close to his, "In this camp, my word is law, and if you have any problems with that then you can pack up your little kiddies and get out of here, got that?"

He let her go and turned to leave, "If you want to stay here then talk to me in two hours. Otherwise, I want you and the rest of your group out of here by nightfall. I won't have disagreements among the ranks."

The two men holding Tomoki released him, kicking him in the stomach to incapacitate him before following their leader. Hitomi turned away and brought Souji with her to find a doctor to get him treated right away, not concerned with her own predicament at the moment...

----

Hitomi sat outside as Souji lay in the recovery room following his emergency care, a look of concern clearly painted across her face. Tomoki sat beside her, laying a reassuring arm across her shoulders.

"Don't worry, the kid is too stubborn to die," Tomoki hugged his fiance, "He'll be back to his old self before you know it."

"That's what I am affraid of most," Hitomi sighed, "But he might not even have the opportunity to recover at all."

"What do you mean?"

"If we get kicked out, they will take Souji off of his care as well."

"Why the heck would they do that?"

"Its Nash's orders."

"That little..."

"Tomoki, stay here and keep an eye on things," Hitomi stood, aware that her two-hour deadline was rapidly approaching, "there is something I need to attend to."

"Hitomi, don't you even think about-"

"I'm not thinking about it, I am going to do it."

"Do you have any idea what he's going to make you do?"

"It doesn't matter," Hitomi replied firmly, "Its my fault he's in the state he is in right now, so I have to take responsibility for my actions. Its the mature thing to do."

"There is nothing mature about this situation. He's just-"

"Last time I checked, I am still in charge of my own life," Hitomi walked past him heading to Nash's office, leaving Tomoki speechless.

"Hey kid," Tomoki looked toward Souji who still lay in an unconscious state, "I sure hope you appreciate what she's about to do for you... Because if you don't do something about it, I'm as sure as hell going to have to."

-----

Hitomi stepped inside when she was called, Nash leaning back in his chair with his boots propped up against the desk. He had various trinkets and awards hung on the walls with a few of them stacked up on either side of the desk as well. He smirked as she stepped inside and waved for her to take a seat.

"I was thinking you weren't going to show up," Nash said with a chuckle, "People usually just head out when I give them that speech... We usually find them a few days later as a bunch of walking corpses too, but no not you. You decided it would be best to play along rather than make a fuss, and I can respect that."

He stood up and walked around behind her, placing his large rough hands on her firm butt before he leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "But what I can't accept is what your little brat did to my men. What kind of trainig did he go through anyway?"

Hitomi remained silent for a few moments before replying, "I'm his PE teacher, not his martial arts instructor. He isn't a very good student and doesn't show up for class very often, but that doesn't change the fact that I am responsible for him."

"That's a real shame now isn't it?" Nash let go of her behind to wrap his arms around her reaching toward her chest.

"Don't touch me," she shot back at him, "I'm already engaged and I have no desire to let you use me however you see fit."

"I'm not asking you to marry me, honey," Nash smirked, firmly grasping her breasts despite her protests, "I just want some... Repayment for how your boy treated me back there. My boys probably needed to be taken down a notch if they can't even take down a high school student."

"You disgust me," Hitomi's hands curled into tight fists, fighting back the slowly growing desire to kill this man with her own two hands. She had to endure it, however, for Souji's sake.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Nash reluctantly let Hitomi go and opened the door to see what the matter was.

"Can't you see I'm busy in here?" Nash barked.

"Sir, train has stopped at the nearby station, but... you see."

"Spit it out already!"

"The train was filled with the... Them... We have lost contact with detachment two and three already."

"Shit!" Nash swore

----
 
Souji thought he could feel her arms around him. It was the the scent. That fragrance he could feel whenever she was around. He knew it was her. Then it was gone, and only darkness remained.

He heard an argument. Ishikawa's voice. And hers. She was going to do something reckless. Ishikawa failed in stopping her. Ishikawa's asked him to do something. Silence. A sense of urgent. 'Wake up' something screamed inside his head. 'Wake up, moron! Hurry.' But his body was numb. 'Wake up! Wake up!' why couldn't he? 'She's in danger!' and something rushed in his body, giving him strentgh.

When he woke up again, it was Kirino and Emiko who stared at him from beside his bed. He could feel pain as soon as he took his first breath awake. Pain radiated from his left shoulder, the worst he had ever felt. His chest ached every time he tried to breath, and he was sure his ribs were fractured. His leg was the last of them, but it did not seem he wouldn't be able to walk. He also felt light headed, groggy. Probably drugged. Anesthetics, probably. He imagine how horrible the pain would be when the effect of the drugs came off.

"You guys..." - Souji muttered, pain clear in his voice. He thought he was dreaming. How could he be together with them?

"Serizawa-kun! You're awake!" - exclamed Kirino, surprised. Yukihito and Emiko looked at him, astonished.

"Already? The nurse said he would sleep all night!" - said the boy.

"How are you feeling, Serizawa-kun?" - Kirino asked, a little concerned.

"Like I've been shot..." - he swallow painfully, looking at them, the room spinning around him. - "Where... am I?"

"Town Hall turned refugee center... You were brought back by the military, and they told you attacked them for no reason! Why did you do that?!" - Emiko asked, nervously. She had a firm belief that he had done it.

"That's a lie! They're rapists. I tried to stop them... raping a teenage girl." - the spinning got stronger, and Souji felt it was hard to think straight.

"What?" - Emiko asked, startled. - "That can't be true, Serizawa. They're helping us here." - she said, nervously.

"Gotta get her out.... Get her safe..." - he thought, paying no attention to his classmates. She was the only thing in his mind. his conciousness waved back and fourth. - "Where's... Where's Marasaki-sensei?!" - he asked, trying to get up, but it was harder then he thought. It was Kirino who hold him in place, a hand carefully placed in his chest.

"Jesus, you're burning up." - she answered, feeling the fever that was eating at him.

"That doesn't matter!" - he tried to shout, but his voice all but failed him. - "Where is she?!" - he was hardly intimidating for them at that state. The three of them fell silent, not knowing how to explain it. It was Miho who spoke up.

"Miho listened to Hitomi-nee-chan and Tomoki-ojii-san talking! They're gonna do something bad to her becaus of what Souji-kun did to them! If she didn't, they would throw us out and that would be bad for Souji-nii-chan!" - she said, running to him, and grabbing his hand. Souji could see the grim on the face of his three classmates. - "You have to help her, nii-chan!" - she pleaded.

She was in danger? Because of him? He couldn't have that. He had to help her. Had to. He did not cared what would happen to him, he couldn't allow for her to suffer, especially for him. Something clicked inside his head, like a switch. Outside noise was blocked out. The pain vanished, and a surge of strentgh ran through him, powering his numb body up once again.

"He can't help her right now, Miho-chan..." - Yukihito answered, pulling her back, slightly. - "He's hurt, has to rest..."

"That's right, Miho-chan. He's in no condition to..." - she looked at him and word died in her mouth.

Souji lift from the bed, his arms doing its best to suport its weight. - "Wait, you can't do that, Serizawa-kun! Hold still!" - she said, trying to hold him down, but his strentgh, even at that stated ovepowered her. A nurse saw it and came running to them, startled.

"He's awake?! That's not possible! Hold him! Hold him there!" - she urged the three students, while preparing another dose of anesthetics.

Souji was up before she could finish though, ripping off the cables and needles that connected him to the life support system and the rest of the machines. He pushed Kirino out of the way and stumbled to the door. Kirino was scarde by his look, a fierceness in them she had never seen in anyone else. At that moment, he was driven by something way beyond his own reasoning. Instinct, or maybe simple and pure willpower.

"Serizawa-san! Wait!" - Yukihito ran and tried to stop him, but Souji shoved him aside with surpringly little effort.

"He can't go out there like that! He can't die without treatment! HELP!" - she screamed - "SOMEBODY HELP!"

Souji was barely paying attention to them anymore. He just wanted to see her. Take her out of there. Nothing cared anymore. She wouldn't pay for what he did. He didn't do anything wrong to start with. Just tried to help someone. And now someone would hurt her because of it? No. Not a chance in hell. He would exterminate everyone in that camp if needed be, but no one would lay a hand on Hitomi as long as he still had a sparkle of life in him.

One of the soldiers guarding the front of the Infirmary came in, and hold him by his shoulders. - "Stop right there, kid. You need to go back to bed!" - he said, trying to push Souji back. The nurse came rushing behind him, Needle at the ready. Souji let himself be spun and took the Nurses wrist on the last minute, driving it to soldiers neck, and inject the drug on him. The nurse screamed as the man went down, and Souji got out of the room, looking for a way to go. He was lost. He did not know where she was.

He stumbled and fell to a knee, his body moving in a funny way. He tried to get up, but his body complained, drugs affecting him. He fought against the dizziness, and got up once again, heading on the direction the scruffy looking colonel had come when he was first brought there.

"SOMEBODY STOP THAT BOY!" - the nurse shouted, running towards him.

"Serizawa-kun! Wait! You can't go like that!" - Kirino protested following him as well, together with Yukihito, Emiko and Miho.

He couldn't hear them. He stumbled through the camp as fast as his feet could get him. Another soldier put itself in his way, but made the same mistake of underestimating a sick kid. Souji took his thumb and pulled back with his left hand, driving his right hand on the man's neck. Souji felt something rip open on his shoulder, and his bandages starting to damp. The soldier fell to the ground, choking, and the nurse stopped to help him as Souji moved on.

Luckly for the delinquent, just a few soldiers even looked at the scene, seemingly having something more important than a crazy kid to worry about, as they ran by.

After running some distance far acrosse the camp, Souji saw Tomoki standing outside a door, quietly. He made his way there his classmates trying to stop him, the nurse once again shouting for someone to help. That made Tomoki look at him.

"Jesus, Kid? What's happening?" - He looked at the boy holding him, as Souji stumbled again, falling to the ground. Tomoki was taken aback when Souji finally looked at him. His eyes were so piercing and strong it made a shiver run through the older man's spine.

The students finally caught up with them, as well as the nurse, and the soldier he punched. Before anybody could explain it to him though, the door was open and Nash came out of it looking disturbed.

"What's if all this ruckus?! I have too much trouble already for you people to give me some more!" - he stated, looking at them all. When Souji saw him, his rage went up a notch. He got up and jumped at him, shoving Tomoki out of his way as if the older man was made of paper. The boy grabbed Nash by the uniform, his hand going back, ready to shot at the man with all he got. It was so fast Nash did not have the time to react. Then he saw her through the open door. She was fine. Properly dressed and not harmed.

His rage died. Pain came back, and his limbs lost all the power the had a second ago. Nash took the oportunity and shoved him away, Souji falling on his back, his fall partially broke by Tomoki, who hold him. His head was spinning too fast and he felt like throwing up. But he was happy. She was ok and that was all that mattered.

"What the hell is going on?!" - Asked Nash, surprised with the sudden attack. Tomoki looked inquisitively at his students as well.

"He woke up, sir. I just don't know how! We gave him enough medicine to keep him sleeping for days." - answered the nurse, clearly confused about what was happening. - "Not just that, but walking should be impossible for him as he is..."

"He got like that when Miho-chan warned him about what was happening to Marasaki-sensei. He could barely talk moments before that..." - Yukihito said, looking at Tomoki. The boy did not felt he had any reason to explain it to the colonel. - "The soldier's tried to stop him but, they couldn't..."

"It was like the kid was posessed! How could I expect that?!" - the soldier justified himself, afraid of any punishment that could come his way.

Miho ran to Souji and kneeled beside him, taking his hand on hers. - "Miho knew Souji-nii-chan wouldn't let Hitomi-nee-chan get hurt! Ever!"- she explained to their group, and then durned to Nash - "Now stop bullying onii-chan!" - she said, rather protective of the boy.

"What the hell is this boy made of, anyway?" - Nash sighed amazed. If they hadn't meet that way, he could certainly use that boy as his subordinate. He had too much on his hands to deal with that, thought. - "Bah, I don't care anymore! Just take him back to the infirmary! I have more importat things to worry about!" - and he bolted, making his way to the train station.

While all that unfold, Souji closed his eyes. He felt too tired, but squeezed Miho's hand slightly. He was glad she was ok. Now he wanted to rest for a while. He was still awake, aware, but just to tired to open his eyes, talk, or answer anyone...
 
"Souji?!" Hitomi gasped, completely shocked at the boy's appearance. If anything, he was even more tenacious and indestructible than the very zombies that were currently making their lives a constant struggle to survive. She rushed to his side and leaned over him, taking his over hand.

"Souji, why are you doing this? Why do you insist upon heaping guilt upon me?" she sobbed, unable to contain her tears, "I'm sorry for the things I said, I'm sorry I'm such a terrible role model for you. I'm... I'm sorry for being a worthless teacher, interested in only what I can get out of my station. being a teacher is about helping my students. I have failed you, I know I have... just please stop doing this to me. Stop making me feel so helpless and lost. Stop doing this to yourself while I feel completely unable to help you."

Unable to restrain herself she pulled him back up into a warm embrace, "I don't know if you can hear me, but... I wish we could start over again, from the very beginning. There is so much I wish I could have done, could have said... could have heard from your own lips. I don't want you to vanish again, anything but that."

By then a group of people from the medical ward had gathered around Souji to take him back to his room. Hitomi backed off slightly but kept by him, unwilling to leave his side for a moment.

Tomoki merely pulled out an empty pack of cigarettes and looked over them calmly, "I wished I smoked... Perhaps it would help."

"What's wrong, Sensei?" Yukiharu turned to the much older male.

"Yuki-kun," Tomoki looked up toward the sky, "Have you ever loved a woman before?"

"Excuse me?"

"There are times in a man's life that he feels helpless and compelled to do utterly stupid things... one of those times is when he is madly in love with a woman. It doesn't matter who she is or why he loves her, or even if its not possible for their love to be actualized. All that matters is that he loves her," Tomoki continued, "You will know what I mean when it happens, trust me."

Yukiharu merely nodded.

"But another one of those times is when a man sees another man take his love away from in front of his very eyes," Tomoki looked down at Yukiharu with a slightly sad smile.

"What?"

"Good job," Tomoki chuckled a bit bitterly, "You have accomplished what I could never do... Make Hitomi fall in love deeper than she has ever before."

"Boku-wa?!" Yukiharu jumped back, clearly not understanding who Tomoki was actually speaking to

"Anyway, kid," Tomoki placed a hand onto the boy's shoulder, and gestured over his shoulder, "Watch over the girls... I've got something I have to attend to."

With that, he walked off toward the west side of camp where the soldiers seemed to be scrambling in disarray. He held his wooden bat behind his head in a casual manner.

----

Hitomi sat beside Souji's bed while holding his hand, her head resting on the bed while she sat on the cold tile floor. Her eyes traced the edges of the room idly. Her mind replayed the words she had spoken over and over to the eyes of her soul. Why had she said all that?

----

A soldier screamed in anguish as one of them bit down on his hand, the blood from the wound trickling down his arm. Another one of the soldiers calmly shot both him and the thing which bit him in the head and continued to slowly back away while shooting them down as they walked towards the camp. There numbers alone where astounding, numbering well into the thousands.

"How the heck did they all get packed into the train?"

"Think about it! One person who was bitten gets onto a crowded train-"

"Alright, no need to explain it!" Nash roared, pulling out his own rifle and unloading into the hordes before him.

A man from behind their lines ran up and started to beat down the ones that started to skirt around and approach from the sides from behind the rubble, but for the most part the soldiers concentrated their fire on the ones directly in front of them. They kept at it for what felt like hours, but they were already rapidly depleting their ammunition stores. Without having a significant impact on their numbers. They were slowly being pushed back, and the more space they lost the more infuriated Nash became.

"Signal for an evacuation," Nash barked, "We can't keep them back forever at this rate. Get the ferry ready to depart as soon as possible."

"But sir, not everyone can fit on the ferry."

"That's an order, soldier!" Nash roared, "I can't afford to let these things surround us and prevent off our escape. We need to cut our losses as much as we can."

----

Hitomi's eyes blinked open. She let out a soft moan as she realized she had let herself doze off for a bit, then stood up to check on Souji.
 
Souji could hear everything she said, but for some reason he did not felt like answering. It wasn't her faul. It was his own. Always. She did not have to feel this way about him. She just have to be ok. To be happy with Tomoki. Then everything would be good. He wanted to say it. He needed to let her know. But he simply couldn't do anything else. His body could maybe, if he tried, but it didn't mattered how hard he wanted it or how hard he tried, he just couldn't muster enough will to voice it.

And it made him sad. Because the last thing he wanted was her crying for him. He was not worth crying for. Especially not worth of her tears. 'Don't cry...' he thought, but it died on his head as he lost consciousness.

---

He woke up with someone moving beside him. He could feel a warm hand on his own and didn't even need to look at it to know who it belonged to. Her scent alone could warn him of her presence, even doped and crapy as he was. His body was numb. Almost completely, and because of that, pain was hardly felt.

He opened his eyes and looked around, finding her beside him. He tried to talk, but couldn't his body still a little numb. He took a deep breath, which made his ribs ache, and then tried again.

"Marasaki-sensei... Are you all right?" - he asked, his voice lower because of the oxygen mask on his face. He was talking slowly, his tongue feeling heavy and clumsy in his mouth. - "Did they hurt you?"

That was the only thing that he needed to know. The only thing he cared about.
 
"Why are you concerned about me when you look like someone took a sledge hammer to your body, baka," Hitomi smiled softly, "I'm alright. You don't have to worry."

She laid her hand on his head and placed a kiss on his forehead before running her fingers through his hair in a soothing manner, "Just rest, we... I need you back to your usual stupid self."
 
He closed his eyes when she kissed him. He dreamt of her lips touching him, so many times. Of course, the setting was very different in his imagination, not in a infirmary bed, definitely with him in that state, but it was still somewhat of a special moment for him. He enjoyed that feeling for as long as he could.

"Don't worry... I'm fine..." - he said, squeezing her hand slightly. He closed his eyes when she told him to rest, dozing off for a almost two entire minutes, then opened his eyes again. - "I think you're great..." - he said then, out of the blue, about what she had said before about her. - "Its not your fault... What happened to me... And what happened at my house... Any of it is your fault..." - he took some time to breath. Talking never seemed to be so hard. - "My twisted personality also isn't your fault... So don't blame it on yourself, blame it on me..." - what was he saying? he had to stop talking, before letting out too much. He couldn't let her get suspicious of him once again.

"Blame it all on me, so don't you have to cry anymore..." - he swallowed hard, feeling her fingers run through his hair, so soothing it took al the pain alway. 'I hate to see you cry...' he added in his mind but couldn't say it.

"I'm the one who's sorry. Always causing trouble. I couldn't say it so I wrote it. I wrote it and put in the bag..." - he didn't know if she had read it. It didn't mattered anymore. - "I did no planned on seeing you again..."
 
"Why is Souji saying that? Has he always been this way, even without my realizing it?"

Hitomi blinked, unsure what to say to him as he took all the blame away from herself and laid it on his own account. It was something that she would never have believed if she had not witnessed it with her own two eyes and heard it with her own ears. Since there was nothing for her to say, or rather nothing that she could say, she simply smiled down at him and continued to indulge in his soft locks.

"I didn't think I would either," Hitomi admitted, "It seems that fate had other plans for us."

She merely savored the pleasant moments of peace that they had found amid the raging chaos all around them. If they closed their eyes, nothing outside the room probably would have mattered to them nor interrupted the tranquility of the scene. However, this was not to be the case.

"Ahem," Tomoki cleared his throat as she stood at the doorway to Souji's room.

Hitomi instantly turned a deep shade of red and stood up from the bed, looking up at her fiance sheepishly.

"Come on you two teenagers, we need to pack up before this place starts looking more like a morgue than a camp," Tomoki pointed his bat at Hitomi, which was clearly stained with drying blood.

"What are you talking about?" Hitomi blinked.

"They have broken through the second parameter already," Tomoki sighed, "In other words, we need to make our way back to the jeep and hightail it out of here."

"What about Souji?" Hitomi protested, "We can't just-"

"We will have to take the risk," Tomoki cut her off, "We can bring some painkillers with us to make it easier on him, but its better than being eaten alive if we stay here."

"Nee-chan," Miho tugged on Hitomi's shirt, "I found my mom!"

"That's wonderful," Hitomi smiled down at the little girl.

"I came to say goodbye to you all, mommy wants me to come with her on the ferry," Hitomi planted a kiss on each of their cheeks before running off with Yukiharu as her escort.

"A ferry?" Hitomi repeated.

"Yes, but there isn't enough room for everyone so we need to hurry before someone hijacks our ride," Tomoki kicked out the table blockers for Souji's bed and deployed the rollers so he could simply push him across the cement. Hitomi took Tomoki's bat and stood guard as her husband pushed Souji over to where they left the jeep, the three students following soon afterward.

"Now who is being a burden, hm?" Tomoki gently teased the boy as he loaded him into the back of the jeep and secured he bed so it wouldn't rock about too much while they drove.

Hitomi jumped into the driver's seat and after making sure that she had remembered to recover her sniper rifle she turned the key in the ignition, "Where are we headed?"

"Follow the river, there should be another refugee camp about fifty miles south," Tomoki replied, "If we are lucky, we might even meet up with Miho again."

Fifty miles was a long journey, especially for those surrounded by the dead...
 
"I am... You should just let me here..." - Souji replied. It was only logical, he couldn't understand why they didn't. At a second thought, he could understand it, even knowing it was illogical. - "I would if I had any way to stop you from loading me in the jeep..." - he answered honestly. Then he blushed, slightly. - "But thank you, anyway. For taking the risk..." - he didn't want to just start a fight with him.

"Are you ok, Serizawa-kun?" - asked Kirino, kneeling on the her seat, and turning back so she could look at him. - "You can't do that again. Make us worry like that..."

He looked up at her. - "Never knew any of you worried about me until now..." - he sighed, that being only partially truth.

"That's cold! We're not the kind of people who wouldn't worry about a classmate!" - Emiko answered.

"Did not know you considered me one..." - he replied, rather matter-of-factly. That was true.

"Well..." - Emiko blushed - "Not until all this started, but that's not the point here!" - and then she turned back to the front of the car. - "Now you're important here, because you can fight and stuff!"

"Thanks. And, I'm fine." - he answered, a little smile in his lips - "You don't have to worry about me..." - he did not added he did not planned being around for longer than necessary. - "By the way... I think we should go East..."

He sall them all turn their hads to look at him, wondering of how he seemed so sure of their next destination. - "Saw a map, on the colonel's room, through the door..." - he continued, before Tomoki could have the impression he was just doubting his decision. - "It was a tactical map, so Marasaki-sensei wouldn't understand it, but I was taught how to read it..." - he explained, taking long breaks after each sentence. Talking was clearly tiring him, quickly.

He also felt his fever burn stronger, and a little pain while the Jeep moved, but held it in, not to worry the rest of them. - "Camp East had a sign that indicated it is exclusive to Government VIP's protection. More specific, its were they're keeping the Prime Minister, so it should be more secured then normal ones..."

"Makes sense, but why would they let us in?" - Tomoki asked, looking behind through the mirror.

"The troop marker... It said it was protected by Team Alpha..." - Souji answered calmly. - "That's SAT's most respected team. They're the best when it comes to Urban Warfare and Riot Control... And my father's happens to be Alpha Team's field officer..."
 
"Why didn't you say that earlier?" Tomoki laughed, "Alright, put in a new heading... We are going to meet the prime minister of Japan."

"...You mean Souji's father, right?" Emiko chimed in.

"Right," Tomoki poked Emiko's cheek in a friendly manner.

With that, Hitomi spun the wheel and pulled out of the refugee camp toward the East where they hoped to find refuge once again and perhaps something more.

Emiko's gaze was pulled toward the shrinking Town Hall in the distance, her eyes showing worry and concern, "I wonder if there are more refugee camps like that one which have become overturned by corruption and abuse... We just want something we can trust in and depend on in this new world that we have been thrust into."

Those were words she spoke, but her mind was far from the present...

----

A young Emiko stood on the side of the market with an apron tied about her middle and a sign in her hand, "Fresh fish, only three hundred yen for a basket, one hundred yen each fish! We have perch, and sardines, and grouper, and salmon, all sweet and delicious and good for you!"

Both of her parents stood behind her at the register and smiled, pleased that their daughter was so enthusiastic. The customers enjoyed her presence as well, often stopping to chat with her even if they didn't buy any fish on that particular day, but always returning to the fishmonger stall on a regular basis. To Emiko, the fish that hung up or lay in trays about her father's store were not just slimy salt-smelling slabs of meat, they were wonderful treasures, the bounty of the sea that they sought to bestow upon others. However much she enjoyed the experience, there was something lacking... Something missing from Emiko's life

"We really had a great sale today, didn't we Usami-chan?" Emiko turned to her right and spoke to the thin air beside her, "They must have enjoyed having two cute girls showing off delicious fish."

She found relating to others difficult, especially among those children who lived close to the market where her parents and herself worked.

"She's the fish girl," one boy whispered to another, "I heard she even talks to the fish even though they are dead!"

"That's so weird... I knew she would talk to just about anyone, but fish?"

"Usami-chan isn't a fish! She isn't dead either, she's alive!" Emiko walked up to the two boys and protested their gossip.

"Tich," the two boys walked away from her to talk somewhere else, leaving Emiko to puff out her cheeks in irritation alone.

While packing her things to walk home, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning around she discovered a small girl with long black flowing hair and an aristocratic air about her. She smiled and proceeded to place a hairpin in Emiko's hand.

"Here, you dropped this earlier," she spoke in the common dialect as opposed to the upper class one, "Um, don't pay any attention to what those two boys said earlier. Everyone knows they are full of beans."

"Don't worry," Emiko shook her head, "I'm used to it already... I don't have any friends, so I suppose its to be expected that people will misunderstand me."

"Your the fishmonger's daughter, correct? I'm Kirino, pleased to meet you!" she held her hand out toward Emiko who looked at if for a moment.

"But aren't you that rich girl? Why would you want to-"

"I want lots of friends, from every place in life," Kirino beamed, "It doesn't matter if you are too short or too tall or don't wear the nicest clothes or wear too many nice clothes, the more different people are from me the better in fact! I want to make lots of friends!"

"But why?"

"Because, that way," Kirino smiled, "I will always have someone there I know I can trust in, no matter what."

----

Back in the present, Emiko looked over at Kirino beside her whose gaze was fixed out the window. Did she still feel the same way, even when she had no idea where her friends were at the moment, or even if they were still alive? Kirino looked over at her, as if reading her mind and gave her hand a squeeze.

"Don't worry, I have you here with me at least," Kirino flashed Emiko her signature smile and the worry seemed to melt away from around Emiko's heart, "and that's more than I will ever need."
 
"Oh, sorry I was busy healing myself from getting shot..." - Souji replied to Tomoki acidly, but even from his pain filled voice, they could see he was joking. Or attempting to.

He was feeling cold. Too much cold, even though he could feel a layer of sweat covering his body. Not to mention he also felt dizzy and nauseated. Still, he answered Emiko's doubt, after she spoke.

"I don't know, but we have to be careful with those guys... They were going to rape a girl younger than us. And if I got it right, their mission was to secure the girl's mother. They shot me when I tried to stop them." - he made all the math about it in his head, but felt it would be too much of a hassle to explain it all. - "Probably Nash is telling them its alright to do that. Keeps morale and loyalty up. Sick bastard..."

"How cruel..." - Yukihito looked at Souji, indignation burning in his innocent child-like eyes.

'It can get worse than that...' the boy thought, but did not said, knowing he need not to add yet more fear into their hearts. But it could, and the only one there that probably knew that besides him, was Tomoki.

"Getting to East Refugee Camp, we'll probably find JSDF High Command as well. We can report Colonel 'Nash' there." - Souji added, his breath a little ragged. - "Lucky us, the military will always love court martial, no matter the situation they are in... But I digress. You want something to trust in and depend on? Trust in yourself and your friends and depend on them. You already have those around you, don't you?"

His classmates looked at him, surprised.

"Never imagined you'd say something like that, Serizawa-kun..." - Kirino said, smilling at him, the mood now changed.

"Yeah. Marasaki-sensei, we better turn back and fetch Serizawa! We brought someone else by mistake!" - Emiko said playfully. Yukihito, smiled a little.

"Very funny..." - Souji replied, closing his eyes. Breathing was getting harder and harder since they left the infirmary, and pain was worsening too. And the cold... The cold was almost unbearable.

"Is that what you do? Trust in your friends?" - Kirino looked at him curiously.

"What? No way... I trust in myself..." - he answered, a little embarassed, his jerk personality coming back. - "If I trust in you people, you'll end up getting me killed..."

Tomoki smiled at this point. - "She never mentioned us, she meant your friends, kid." - he said, and then added. - "Is that what you consider us?" - he teased gently.

Souji still had enough blood in him to blush. Kirino laughed a little and Emiko followed. Yukihito was glad to see the mood in the car lightning a little. He was worried Souji's come back would make things worst than it was, and he sure did not want their ride to be the same it was when the left to the first refugee camp. Although Marasaki-sensei seemed to be in a better mood.

"No I don't. Shut up..." - Souji answered, completely embarassed. His voice sttutered a little because of the cold. He couldn't take it anymore. - "Anyway, can you turn the AC off, please? Its freezing in here... So cold."
 
Hitomi smiled as she listened to the others in the car, finally feeling as if they had come to an understanding among each other. They were finally forming a class, as it were. It seemed highly ironic that it took an invasion of the dead to accomplish what she in all her years of experience could not. She felt slightly guilty for doing so, but she was thankful for fate for having brought this one positive change to their lives. She hoped it was worth the terrible sacrifices they had already made and were likely to make in the future.

"Sorry about that," Hitomi looked down at the dashboard searching for the AC button, "I didn't notice it was on..."

Her eyes grew slightly wider: the AC wasn't on at all. She calmly turned back to the road as she turned down the air circulation and tried to focus her attention on the road before her. The sooner they arrived at their next stop the sooner Souji could get some actual medical attention.

She felt as if the buildings on either side of the road had been the ones speeding past them, the world revolving as the car and its passengers hung stationary. That is, until that one moment... The moment at which they had finally started to move forward, toward a brighter life and distant future. She had no idea what that future might hold for them, but it had to be better than what they had experienced before. It was all they had to look forward to, so she held onto it with hope and anticipation.

She wasn't the only one with hopes for the future, however... In the back row of the jeep, sitting beside Kirino, was a boy who also held grand dreams for himself. His name was Yukihito, and his heart felt warmed with the pleasant air that surrounded the few survivors in the jeep.

----

"Alright!" Yukihito stood up in his seat and raised his left fist in the air, the table he had been sitting at was surrounded by a small group of young boys around his age. They all cheered along with him, much to the dismay of their classmates who exchanged awkward looks.

They called themselves SPOON, Society Providing Otaku-Oriented Needs, and they had been friends since middle school. They would often go to the local arcade and gaming stores together and share copies if their favorite visual novels. They were a collection of socially outcast nerds, but he for one did not believe that this was the whole summation of what he wished to accomplish in life.

"Please take the top test and pass the one below it to the person behind you," Hitomi rapped her ruler against the blackboard to get her class's attention, "There were some of you who did very well on this exam, and some of you didn't do quite as well. If you have any questions about your grade, or wish to speak to me about taking the make-up exam, please see me after class."

"Sensei!" one boy in the back raised his hand, "I think I got the wrong exam... Mine has a 98 written on the top right corner!"

The class let out a hearty laugh at the joke while he looked over his own paper with a 76 written on it. Hitomi had drawn a little chibi picture of herself in the corner with the message: "Keep it up! You will be getting 90's before you know it." He let out a sigh and looked towards his friends who snickered and teased each other about their poor grades but didn't really put much thought into it. He liked his friends and he had a lot in common with them... but there were some ways in which they couldn't be more different.

"Oi,"

Yukihiro felt a tap on his shoulder, turning to see Kirino the class president herself.

"Um, sorry, I guess I slept through last period," Yukihiro laughed, blushing slightly in embarrassment.

"Hey, do you want to meet up and study sometime?" she got right to the point.

"Boku-wa?" Yukihiro pointed a finger toward his face.

"Yes you, silly," Kirino smiled, "I've been wanting to increase the number of study buddies I have anyway, and Marasaki-sensei said that you were looking for someone to help you out on your writing skills."

"Marasaki-sensei said that?"

"Mhm," Kirino nodded and held out her hand toward him, "Lets work hard together, ok?"

"Sure," Yukihito accepted her hand gratefully. He picked his bag which contained basic programming book stuffed inside along with his normal class books. With a gentle huff of relief, Yukihito realized that he wasn't alone in his pursuit of something more in life. With others supporting him, even someone who wasn't a generous could reach for his dreams and achieve them... Even in that new world covered in death and the looming prospect of the annihilation of mankind itself.

What none of them probably could have realized is how soon one's dreams could come to an abrupt end... A reality which would catch up with one of them in the not so distant future.

-- End of chapter 3 --


Chapter 4: Me, Myself, and the Dead
 
Souji dozed off time after time while Hitomi sped the Jeep through the streets that belonged now only to the dead. He couldn't think straight anymore, the pain in his shoulder and chest being too much. And the cold. The god damn cold never left. He tried his best to make it better, wrapping itself in the blanket but it didn't help even one bit.

Nightmares assaulted him all through the night. Zombies trying to get him. Stoic, all zombie like with gun in hand trying to shoot him. Nash raping Hitomi. All night long, he would woke up from one bad dream, look around the car where all the group was riding in silence, and then fall into yet another restless sleep.

---

Chapter 4: Me, Myself, and the Dead

It was still the middle of the night when he woke up feeling so bad he could not stand it. He was shivering. His clothes, wet from all his sweat, were clinging to his body. His shoulder was pulsing with pain, so much that it was as if evil itself radiate from the place. His ribs ached so much everytime he breathed that he almost felt that asfixiation could be something very pleasant. But it was the nausea that made him so desperate.

"Stop... Stop the car!" - he pleaded, waiting for Hitomi to do it. As soon as the car stoped, he tried to leave.

"What are you doing, kid?" - Tomoki asked, jumping out, and going to the back to help him.

"Help me out." - he tried to support his weight in Tomoki's shoulder, but missed an would have fallen if the teacher had not catch him.

"You're burning up, Souji." - He said surprised, in a more serious tone. He should easily be around 42 degrees celcius.

"Help me that way." - he pointed to an alley, the hand quickly recoiling to his mouth, as if he could keep everything inside doing that. When the others tried to follow him, he made a sign with the hand for them to stop. He did not wanted for anyone to see him in that state, especially Hitomi.

As soon as they reached the alley between the two buildings, Souji let everything out, hidden from the others by the wall. Blood came mixed in. He felt terrible. As soon as he finished, he nodded to Tomoki, that he was ready to go back to the car. - "Thanks..." - he muttered, and the man just nodded.

Souji looked at the rest of the group, and gave them a tired smile. - "Sorry... I ate too much yesterday." - he said, knowing no one would buy it.

"Just try to rest, kid..." - Tomoki said, knowing he was getting worst.

He was about to nod when the music started in his pocket. Iggy Pop and the Stooges rocked in Search in Destroy. Souji picked it up as fast as he could and looked at the number. Only one word on the screen. 'Oyaji'. He smiled. The old man was alive after all. Well he was a tough one so it was to be expected. He answered it with a smile, forcing his voice so it wouldn't look so much as someone in his condition.

"Dad!"

"Souji? I'm glad to hear from you son..." - he said, relief clear in his voice.

Souji smiled, and let go from Tomoki, leaning against a light pole, and slipping through it until he reached the floor, the teacher helping him.

"Yeah... Me too..." - he answered. It was clear to everyone around him he was relieved his father was alright - "Where are you? Camp East right? We're on our way there..."

"No! Don't come!" - his father replied, rather poignant. - "It's been overrun, Souji... It's a slaughterhouse. Everything here is dead, or soon to be dead. Prime Minister got bitten, his security scheme failed. Government officials scattered. Complete chaos son. Couldn't do a thing about it..."

Souji did his best not to show let the shock to clearly show on his face, wanting the peaceful atmosphere the group had around them to last at least some more.

"I understand." - he answered, talking to him as calmly as he could. - "Anything else I need to know?"

"Yeah. Last order too all troops was to "Do their best". That's it..." - his father told him, seriously. - "All public services will probably go down in the next twenty four hours. Also, South and West Refugee camps were under heavy attack. Don't know how much they will hold, but probably not for long. It seems they're being attracted to large groups of people..."

"Got it" - answer the boy. The situation was even worst he could imagine. He could know something else was wrong from his father's voice alone. He took a moment to gather up the courage to ask it. - "Did they got you?"

"Yeah. I was protecting the first lady. She tried to run in high heels, fell right in the middle of them. They bit my arm... You know what it happens, right?"

"Yeah. I do..." - the boy replied. His throat seemed to be so dry, he was swallowing sand.

"How about you? Are you ok? " - his father asked, concerned.

Souji thought about telling everything but decided against it. It was pointless anyway.

"Yeah. I'm with a couple of people from school. We're fine." - he lied. At least, partially.

"Good, good." - his father paused, and so did Souji. What could they say to each other in that situation? Souji kept a blank expressions seeing curiosity and concern in the eyes of the rest of his group. His father broke the silence. - "So. How many did you beat?" - he asked, out of the blue.

"Some." - the boy replied, quietly.

"Bullshit. I know you kept count. How much?" - he asked again.

"Twenty seven. Give or take." - Souji answered, looking at ground.

"Ha. I won. I got to 79 of them. You still have a long way to go before reaching my level." - the officer laughed, together with his son. Soujis chuckle made everyone a little bit calmer.

"No fair... You had an Assault Rifle from the start." - the boy complained.

"Shut it, you were always a bad loser..."

"True."

And they fell silent again, for what it seemed for Souji to be a whole eternity.

"Do you remember what I taught you about war?"

"Sure. Always..." - Souji reached for his pocket and took a pistol round from within it. - "Always keep the last bullet to yourself..."

"Good boy." - his father said, and that filled Souji with pride. - "I'll use mine now. You do your best, alright?"

"Wait... I'm not gonna leave you by yourself... I'll stay here..."

"Souji..."

"Shut it. No way..." - Souji cut him off.

He could almost see his father smile at the other of the line. - "You grew up. Always had a tough body, but glass like feelings..."

"Shut up." - he couldn't think of anything else to say. They stood in silence, and Souji was able to hear his father cocking his sidearm. He felt tears building up in his eyes.

"Do you think I'll be able to meet your mother on the other side? - asked the man Souji had admired all his life.

"No way dad... She's an angel in heaven and you're a jerk. You're going straight down to hell..." - he said. His voice came out shaky. He did his best not to let it go.

His father laughed wholeheartedly. Souji could see everyone looking at him puzzled now, no one understanding just what the hell it was going on on their conversation.

"Guess you're right. Smart kid." - replied the cop.

"Save a place for me there. I'll be right behind you..." - the teenager said, his voice even more shaky.

"You better don't. And don't cry. Take it like a man." - he said, but his own voice was shaky as well. - "Good bye Souji. Be safe."

"Yeah... Good bye, dad..." - he gritted his teeth, a desperate effort not to cry, in complete silence.

The shot came right after that, so loud that everyone could hear it through the phone. The line went silent, and Souji hung up, looking at the group and breathing hard. He couldn't cry, not in front of anyone. He wasn't a kid anymore. Crying was for kids and girls. He couldn't. He was strong. Invincible. Strong man couldn't cry.

He wiped the tears from his eyes and tried to sound as professional as he could. - "East Camp was overrun, they couldn't keep it." - the boy said, and he could hear his own voice, but it didn't sound as his own. It was if he was in auto-pilot. - "Japanese government is officialy over. Last order to all troops was to do the best they could, so public services are not a priority anymore, and will probably be terminated in the next twenty fouth hours... Also the South Camp is under attack for some time. No one knows how much it will hold..." - the boy announced to the group.

He still couldn't believe his father was dead. Not that man. The man who taught him how to be invincible. Shouldn't he be invincible himself? The boy just couldn't believe he was gone. His eyes filled with tears once again, and he wiped insistently, but they kept coming, no matter how hard he tried to hold them in.
 
A cold chill ran down each of their spines as the hope and vigor that had welled up in them just a few hours prior simply vanished into the darkness of the very night that surrounded them. Tomoki ran his fingers through his hair silently, looking down toward the ground and clearly speechless. Yukihiro hugged Kirino, who returned the hug and patted his frail head. Hitomi, who was still seated in the jeep a short distance away but still close enough to hear Souji's speech, glanced over at the dashboard and noted that they were already getting low on gas. She turned to Tomoki who merely returned her silent and mournful gaze.

"Where is there left to go then?" Emiko was the first to speak up.

"I'm... Not sure," Tomoki finally admitted, "There doesn't seem to be any plans for the authorities to make an effort to collect the survivors, not with the government in chaos from the loss of the prime minister. Ideally, we need to find somewhere we can secure our necessities: food, water, and shelter. That should be our primary objective."

"But where can we find those? With the utilities failing, it will be hard enough to find suitable water," Emiko replied softly.

"I know this sounds terribly improper for me to say," Hitomi spoke up, "But I think we should find any nearby convenience store that we can, and stock up on supplies and gas..."

"You mean vandalize it?" Tomoki blinked.

"I don't like it either!" Hitomi shouted, "But I can't think of anything else at the moment. Chances are most of them have already been broken into, so we should just get what we can and move on. We simply don't have enough resources at our disposal at the moment. It seems like every time we think we have a lead, it just smacks us in the face!"

Everyone knew that she had some amount of truth in what she said, but no one wanted to admit it. Things were rapidly getting grim for the small group of survivors... They had lost a lot of morale already, but this was nearly a fatal blow. Souji was in need of medical attention, or at least a place for him to rest and recover safely over a few weeks, if not months. With their fiting ability at least effectively halved, it seemed unlikely that they would survive an attack from Them.

"We... Could follow the other refugees," Hitomi offered, although the hint of bitterness in her tone was clear. She hated the prospect of rejoining Nash's group of thugs, but it was the only thing she could think of at the moment.
 
Souji heard their argument, while they decided what to do, but in truth he didn't care. What had he to live for, now? Sure, he didn't know if his father was alive before, but not knowing gave him strentgh to keep going. Now he knew he was dead, and what was left for him? The girl he loved belonged to another man. He didn't had any close friends to begin with. Nothing made sense anymore. Why didn't he just die from that shot? Couldn't Stoic do a better job at killing a teenager?

Well, nobody said life was supposed to make sense, anyway. That thought made him calmer. He was sad. Extremelly sad. But didn't want to mourn. His mind was suddenly clear, as he cut his attachment to the world. He just had to keep her safe. That was enough. It was an objective as good as any right now.

He tried to get up, but his body complained, and he gave up. Yukihito helped him.

"Marasaki-sensei is right. Morality went down the drain when the world got fucked up." - he stated, matter-of-factly. - "We'll start by stealing a car. Ishikawa-sensei can do it. A SUV or Van will be the best. Next, we'll hit all the convenience stores in our way we think it's safe to go into, and will stock up. Water, Soda, even beer. Food, mainly snacks and canned stuff. Things that take longer to go bad. Fuel as well, as much as we can." - he started, devising a plan by himself.

They did not need doubts and fear. They need action. Strong ruthless action. He tried to go to back to the Jeep, and Yukihito helped, Souji went for one of the black bags, stuffed with guns. - "I stored guns, ammo and what I of food in my place, before Marasaki-sensei got out." - he showed the bags, and took a pistol from one of them, checking its ammo. It was ready to shoot. He holstered it in his leg holster. - "We'll put everything on the Jeep, with one driver and one passenger. The rest will go on the SUV."

He took a rifle, and threw it to Tomoki, his shoulder complaining as he did it. - "We'll head out of the city. I don't care to where, we just need to go somewhere with as less people as possible. Less people equals less dead people and less struggle between survivors to get supplies. We'll need a house with big walls and sturdy gates. We'll take one for us when we find one suitable and uninhabited, I don't care who it belongs to. And there I'll teach you all how to shoot. And then we'll stock ammo and guns, and devise a suitable plan to get more supplies, in a safe way."

He finished, using Yukihito's help to lay back on the bed, on the back of the Jeep. He was too tired, too sad and wanted to be alon with his thoughts. He would need time to mourn his father sooner or later, and he hoped he could postpone it as long as possible. For now, they had little time for tears. - "Does everyone agrees with it?"
 
"No objections here!" Yukihiro raised his hand, with Kirino and Emiko following suit shortly afterward.

"Why do people just assume I can hijack a car?" Tomoki sweatdropped, "is it my face or something?"

Hitomi patted him on the shoulder and sighed.

"In any case, you seem to have a concrete plot for the most part, securing temporary sustenance as well as potentially long-term shelter," Tomoki continued, "But how will we find water way out there, even assuming we can find a suitable house? Chances are they won't have a well."

"At least lets get started on the first part of the plan," Hitomi motioned for everyone to get back into the jeep, "I used to live around this area so I know a few places we can hit."

"Hit?" Tomoki blinked, "Your transition from teacher to common criminal was surprisingly easy."

"Call it a hazard of the circumstances," Hitomi closed the driver's side door and turned the key in the ignition once again which was slightly protesting before starting up, "Come on, don't die on me yet, Jeep-san."

----

There was a loud crash as a street sign smashed through the front window of the convenience store, the scattered shards of glass flew spread across the street. Four figures dashed inside the opening and started looking about the shelves, looting the canned goods, prepared bentos, water bottles, painkillers... and manga.

"What? We need something to keep our minds off things, right?" Yukihiro protested.

"We don't have time for this," Hitomi rapped her knuckles on his head, "They are probably headed here right now from that crash I made when I broke the window. We need to peel out of here as soon as Tomoki is done manually pumping the gas into the jeep."

The two girls nodded and brought all they could carry to the trunk of the jeep, making several trips to make sure they had enough. This was the third place they had broken into, but it was the only one so far that they didn't have to kill the undead owners... Well, kill them again anyway.

Upon returning to the car Hitomi glanced back at Souji, who lay in a fitful sleep in the back on his improvised bed. She wanted to help him, but she knew that the best thing they could do is keep driving out of the city and head for the country... She only hoped that his condition would not continue to worsen.

----

Two hours later the sun had already begun to rise in the sky and the tall buildings that had once surrounded them gave way to trees and rice fields. Hitomi's eyes scanned the horizon, but there didn't seem to be any large enough dwellings for them. There might even be a possibility that these country roads had not yet been walked on by undead feet, but this seemed unlikely given how they seemed to have appeared everywhere almost simultaneously just two days prior.

Yukihiro, Emiko and Kirino were playing a card came in the back seat while Tomoki was chewing on an energy bar from their stash as a quick snack.
 
"You don't need to Hijack one..." - Souji clarified before he could sleep. - "We hit a car store. They keep the keys inside the shop. It will work out..." - he said, calmly, trying to get himslef as comfortable as he could. Of course, no position could help the fact he was wounded, and that he would feel pain regardless of his acommodations. Being in a improvised bed behind a Jeep did not help at all.

He laughed painfully about Hitomi's and Tomoki's words. - "I kinda like Grand Theft Marasaki-sensei..." - stated Souji, and Yukihito laughed a little.

"Didn't know you were a fan of video games, Serizawa-san..." - he turned to the back, willing to start a conversation about games, but Souji had already passed out again. - "Oh, he's asleep again..."

---

"Dad! Dad!" - Souji entered home crying again. His classmates always bullied him because he was small and kind, never willing to talk back at anyone. But must of all because he was the only one among them that had no mother. - "Daaad!" - he cried when he father took him in his arms.

"What happened Souji?" - his father asked, showing great concern to what he knew was nothing but a child's problem. Small as it was, he knew these problems were things that mattered to him, even thought they were nothing compared to what life had stored for him in the future. - "Are you hurt?"

"No... but... but..." - little Souji sobbed, unable to make an understandable sentence.

"Calm down, Souji. Dad can't help you if you don't tell me what happened." - he said, running his hand through the boy's hair, the one he took from his mother.

"They told... They told Souji can't eat home made food because he has no mom! Souji wants mom back! Souji wants to eat mom's food!" - he cried. His father smiled painfully.

"Well... Mom can't make anything for Souji to eat. But dad can! What do you think?" - he said, cheerfully, wiping away the boy's tears with his thumb.

"No! Souji wants mom's food! Has to be mom's food!" - he cried louder. Everybody else had food their mother's made, so why couldn't he? - "Souji promisses he'll be a good boy too! He will!"

"Then. How about I make mom's favorite dish?"

That caught the boy's attention, and he looked at his father, suspiciously. At least, the crying slowly came to an end. - "Mom's favorite?"

"Yes! I can do that!" - his father smiled, bumping on his chest. - "Dad's awesome!"

"Dad is?" - he asked, still suspiciously.

"Sure! Dad won't lose to anyone! Dad's invincible! Just like Masked Ninja Powerken!"

"Eeeh!? Sugoi, sugoi!" - the boy grinned, forgetting about the day's event. His father picked him up from the ground, and they both made way to the kitchen, where his father took a look in what he had to cook. Some meat, onions, pepper, cheese, and some bread. He could barely cook as it was, and the ingredients couldn't really be put together to any traditional Japanese dish he knew about.

Souji waited impatientlly while his father cooked, playing with his Masked Ninja Powerken action figure. The dish was served not long after, Meat fried with onion and pepper, stuffed into the bread together with cheese.

"Here it is! Mom's favorite! It's a.. erm... Brazillian Cheeseburger!"

"Brajiran Tisburg!" - Souji tried to immitate his father's enthusiasm, mispronouncing the words in the process. The man laughed, wholeheartedly. The boy take a good look on the dish soon after. - "It looks funny!" - he mused.

"Don't worry. Just eat it! Its your mother's favorite, after all!" - he said, obviously lying, but Souji couldn't catch on that, at his age. He simply digged in, and enjoyed every little piece of it he could. It quickly became his favourite dish ever. Even when he was told, that wasn't his mother's favourite dish. It didn't mattered anymore. That was a memory of his father's devotion and love for him, and that was what was really important.

Then father took the gun from beneath the table. It was loaded, and ready to shoot.

"Dad?" - little Souji asked, frightned.

---

"Don't shoot..." - Souji muttered back at the car.

"Did you said something, Serizawa-kun?" - Kirino turned back to look at him. He seemed to be still asleep, though clearly restless and in pain. - "He's talking in his sleep..."

"Don't shoot, dad..." - he muttered again, painfully.

Yukihito took Kirino's hand, and shook his head. What could they do to help him, anyway?

"Sharks..." - he mumbled then, out of the blue... - "Ishikawa-sensei's sharks..."

Tomoki looked behind, puzzled, as did the three students. Souji wasn't sleeping anymore, he looked at them, his feeble eyes gazing at them as if the weren't there.

"What are you talking about, Serizawa-kun?" - Kirino asked, whispering, as if talking normally could hurt him.

"Ishikawa-sensei's sharks... Planted a whole field..." - he muttered, looking around the car. - "Moving..."

"Calm down, Serizawa-san!" - Yukihito looked at Tomoki, as if asking them what to do.

Souji lift his hand, and Kirino took it him hers.

"Don't let the dead get me... Eat me... I'm not a shark..." - he told her, intently.

"I know, Serizawa-kun. I know it!" - she answered, nervously.

"No! The scent is wrong..." - he muttered, first strongly, and then, quietly once again - "Marasaki-sensei... Marasaki-sensei!" - he tried to let go of Kirino's hand calling for her. Where was she? She wasn't among the sharks.

"Marasaki-sensei..." - he repeated, this time restless, his hand trying to catch her in the air as he tried to get up from the bed.
 
Hitomi couldn't concentrate on driving with Souji calling out for her over and over again, the sound of his voice clearly and vibrantly resounding in her ears. He seemed to be growing delirious, with herself featuring in more and more of his strange dreams and visions. If the situation was different, she might have even been amused by it, but as things were it was only making her more and more worried about the young man's physical state.

"Take over driving, dear," Hitomi pecked Tomoki on the cheek after pulling the Jeep over onto the side of the road. Tomoki of course didn't offer any protests as it was the first time in what seemed like quite a while that she had called him "dear."

She hopped into the back seat beside Souji and grasped his hand, holding it firmly in her own and calling out to him in a calm tone, "Souji, don't worry, I am right here."

Tomoki raised his eyebrows slightly, clearly wanting to chime in with one of his witty quips but managing to restrain himself. He switched the jeep back into gear and pressed down on the gas petal, "How about we try this road? I like roads like this... They remind me of my ol' grandpa's farm."

"Your grandpa has a farm?" Yukihito blinked.

"Why of course he did," Tomoki grinned, "What sort of old farts are your grandparents? Are they the type that sit out on the porch and cut banzai trees while sipping tea all day? No, my old oji-chan wasn't that sort of fellow at all. In fact, he came from a long line of farmers who worked fields just about twenty or thirty miles north of here. If we keep going we might even make it out there... Its just too bad they passed away about five years ago, otherwise I'm sure they would let us stay there with them."

"Would their farm happen to have a well?"

"Of course, not where else do you think you could get water from to fill the fields? They irrigated a natural spring on the property to do that for them."

"Why don't we head there then?"

Tomoki paused, "...My grandmother."

"What?!"

"She... doesn't exactly like my father since he left the family farm to go to the city and become a businessman. Because of that, I was able to enroll in the same classes as my fiance, Hitomi-chan. I'm thankful for what my father did for all of us, but... It doesn't change the fact that my grandmother is an old coot."

"That's not a very good reason-"

"You don't know my granny!"

----

Meanwhile, Hitomi was trying to soothe Souji lest he injure himself further with his nearly continual thrashing. She hummed a few fragments of songs that her mother used to sing to her when she was a little girl. She couldn't remember the words, but the tune remained in her head almost like a permanent implantation.
 
Souji calmed down a little after Hitomi sat beside him, when finally the scent was hers and he could feel her hand on his. His allucinations continued though, on and on and on into the night. "Dad" was always the main word in it. He died countless times in Souji's dellusions and the boy cried and laughed while more and more absurd scenarios played on like a movie in front of his eyes. He had some measure of awareness of the outside world, but not nearly enough to hold a conversation.

He complained about his pain. About the cold. About his wet clothes, and about all those flesh eating shark-things, but no one seemed to care, and he couldn't understand why. But Hitomi's hand remained intertwined if his and that was good. When she finally started to hum for him, the boy seemed to calm down and closed his eyes, his restlessness giving way for a simply fitful sleep. His fever was still at its top, probably the reason for the allucinations.

Kirino looked at both her teacher and classmate, wiping his forehead with a handkerchief.

"He seems better now that Marasaki-sensei is here... More at peace..." - she whispered quietly to Hitomi, amazed by it. She was glad that he was a little better though, even if when she tried to calm him, it had no effect. She was a little bothered by it. The girl smiled a little anyway, and looked at the teacher. - "He's quite different than what I expected..."

Kirino had always looked for friends, in the most strange and different places she could. That was to be her strentgh. To have someone to trust always by her side, people with different skills and different personalities all together, so they could do some difference. That was a time she had considered trying the seemingly dangerous Serizawa into her list of friends but was quickly discouraged by his atittude. Although, now that she thought about it, aside from all the rumors, she never saw him bullying anyone or being mean to anyone. Sure, he was rather disrespectful with the teachers, and fought a lot with other delinquents, but she couldn't remember of him picking on anyone or doing anything of those things everyone said he did.

"I tried to talk to him once... I went to the roof to do it, but as I was closing in on the door, it opened, and Serizawa-kun threw someone down the stairs. It was a third year. He looked so mad, that I got scared and turned back. Never tried again until all this started." - The girl admired him quietly, blushing slightly. He was a handsome boy, even in his current state. Looking at him made her heart flutter a little, since he saved her in the classroom, risking his life in order to do it. She never expected for him to do something like that. She wiped his forehead again. - "Its surprisingly easy to do..."

"He used to cause a lot of trouble for you didn't he, sensei?" - she asked then, looking at the teacher. - "Or rather, it seems he still do." - the girl added, looking at his current condition.

Souji turned again on the bed, convulsing. His hand squeezing Hitomi's with strentgh his body did not seem to possess anymore as he mumbled something beneath his breath, to soft to be audible. His fever was slowly letting down, little by little.
 
Hitomi listened to Kirino silently, as if her mind was filing it away for later use while the forefront of her conscious thought was spent worrying about her little patient. She looked up at her, suddenly aware that Kirino had asked her a question a few moments after she had asked it.

"Y-yes he did..." Hitomi said softly, trying not to disturb Souji's rest but still holding firmly onto his hand with her own, "He would never listen to me and would wander off to do his own thing despite my protests. I couldn't find it in me to try to force him to bend to my will, as somewhere inside me I knew that he had a reason for what he did, even if I didn't know what it could possibly be. Now I can see that he's just like a child in some ways, and in others he's already a man."

"I know its a silly thing for me to say, but I'm actually proud of him," her eyes were fixed on Souji's sweating face, "He has pulled through for all of us, on more than one occasion. Even so, he seems to prompt my motherly instincts in wanting to protect him, shield him from the dangers that stand all around us so that he will not have to face them himself."

"I suppose that's a silly thing to want to do as well, given that he would probably hurt his pride for me to do something like that for him," Hitomi laughed, deciding to turn the question back onto her rather then let herself fully expose her own conflicted feelings, "How about you, Kirino? How do you feel about Souji-kun?"
 
Kirino looked at the teacher, with a rather perplexed expression on her face. Truth be told, she did not expect such a complex answer when she asked that question. It was more destined to be just a casual chat. She smiled short after, imagining that would be the kind of thing always in a teachers mind, probably. Always worrying about theirs students, and trying to help them even when they made a point of not wanting their help.

"Must be hard being a teacher..." - the younger girl stated. - "To have this kinds of feelings for some many students... I don't know if I wouldn't go crazy!" - she laughed, in a low voice, so she wouldn't disturb the boy's sleep.

The girl was taken slightly by surprise with the teacher's question, and blushed a little. - "M-me? Well, I used to think he was rude and just a delinquent, as all the rest did, but..." - she thought about it a little, and now she had a different image of him. Of course, he was still rude and sometimes a self-righteous asshole, but still everytime they needed it, he had helped them. Not to mention he was rather cute. - "Now, I think I a little better of him. He's always trying to help everyone, even if sometimes he makes it seemes as if helping is a bother to him..." - she thought about it, looking at the boy's restless sleep - "I guess he's a friend... Can be a bad friend sometimes, but still a friend, right?"

She looked at her teacher, smilling. The teacher seemed just as tired and beaten up by all that was going through, as any of them, but seemed to be holding herself a lot better. She was a strong woman. The kind of woman Kirino always wanted to be, herself. Kirino closed her eyes, resting her head on the seat, turned to the teacher and the boy between the two of them. - "I hope I can be like Marasaki-sensei, one day, though. And make people feel better just by standing next to them..." - she smiled, a little sleepy.
 
"Of course," Hitomi nodded and rubbed her student's head affectionately but didn't clarify exactly what she meant by it. She couldn't hear the low rumble of the engine, nor the back and forth banter between her fiance and Yukihito. The world itself seemed to fade into a dull grey backdrop as she looked down at Souji. Her slumbering conscience would have warned her if she had been in the state of mind to listen to it, but at present she was merely contented to shower her delinquent student turned fallen hero in the back seat. He was the hero, and she was the heroine who soothed the heroes heart and helped support him when he fell on hard times. It was assumed, of course, that things would return to normal as soon as he recovered, and the two of them would once again go back to a game of hide and go seek as they took turns hiding their feelings and seeking to uncover them. Of course, of late it had been Hitomi who had been doing the seeking and Souji had been playing the part of the one who hid himself. Yet, soon enough, in a strange twist of fate, their roles might soon be reversed. Yet, as she sat with him her single selfish wish was for nothing more than that they could stay like this for just a little bit longer. She realized that she had been staring at his calm and still figure for quite some time now, suddenly aware of the inappropriateness of the situation as soon as Tomoki brought the jeep to an abrupt stop.

He hopped out of the driver's side of the car and stepped out onto the pavement, approaching a large metal gate. It wasn't electrically powered, and the chain that had at one time bound it shut lay rusted and forgotten, hanging weakly on the fence nearby. He merely pushed the gate open, the deep grinding groan of the metal as it swung on its rusty hinge sent painful shivers up and down the survivors backs as they automatically announced their presence to whatever or whoever lived in the house.

Up the winding dirt road leading up the the house were rows of fruit trees on either side. They were old and well-maintained, unlike the gate out front. Beyond them stood the house itself, with tall wooden pillers ringing around the edge of it forming a patio that skirted the entire house. Upon the patio stood an anchient rocking chair, and upon that chair sat a frighteningly old woman with a shotgun on her lap. Her mouth lay slightly ajar and the thick wrinkles on her face and chin seemed to hang so long that they might swing in the breeze if there had been any. Tomoki drove the jeep up into a clearing in front of the house, and dispite all the racket they had caused the old woman remained utterly senseless. He approached her cautiously and gave her a polite bow, although to all appearances she seemed to be asleep (and it was probably a safe assuption considering how loudly she was snoring).

"Hello oba-chan," he said in a slightly loud voice, "these are my students and my fiance... We want to know if we can stay here with you for a while."

"A who did a what to my file?" the woman all at once jumped up and pointed the gun at Tomoki's forehead, "Oh, its jush you... Come in and shit down... And let me have a look at that boy in the back seat, he's not even lookin nearly as good as I am... And tha saying somethin."
 
Souji woke up when the Jeep came to a sudden halt. He wasn't completely himself at the time. He was still only half conscious when it happened, only his instincts assuming something was wrong and that he might need to react to it once again. He opened his eyes, darting his gaze from one side to the other, looking for danger. He saw Hitomi beside him, but his mind was too feverish for him to comprehend that fact. Pain, anguish, sadness, all of it mixed together inside of him making it hard to think and process what was happening. He thought about getting his gun, but couldn't remember where he put it. Everything was quiet, everyone was calm. Were they in danger?

He tried to get up, but a surge of pain made him fall back to the improvised bed. His soaked clothes clinged to his body uncomfortable. His throat was still dry. He looked up to Hitomi, and asked. - "What's going on? What happened?" - he was still confused. - "Is it the sharks?" - why sharks? where? He could remember something about sharks, but couldn't really know why.

He looked around the car, trying to look outside the windows for clues about where they are, but all he could see was some lonely looking trees and a grey night sky above them. He clenched Hitomi's hand firmly. - "Did we find some somewhere safe?" - No one could guess if it was worried about being safe from the dead, or from the sharks. That was a mistery lingering on his mind.
 
"Yes, its going to be alright now," Hitomi reassured him as Tomoki helped her bring Souji inside. She figured that if an old lady such as Tomoki's grandmother could stay here in relative safety then Souji wouldn't have anything to worry about... Well, from the dead at least.

They laid him down in one of the spare beds in one of the many guest rooms that were in the large old house. Yukihiro, Emiko, and Kirino sat themselves down in the livingroom and looked around at the old decorations and designs that almost literally filled the house from one end to the other. It was a big house, and at the same time it gave one the feelign of being packed into too a cargo hold that was already filled beyond the proper measure, for there were antiques, and "do-dads", and "whatcha-ma-call-ets" (as Tomoki put it) all about the house without the least bit of organization. That being said, all the doors locked tightly and as long as Tomoki's grandma got around to getting a new chain for the gate it looked like a very stable place to hold down.

"Well, let me see what I can dosee here," the old woman cracked her fingers and started to strip off Souji's clothes and the old worn bandages around his wounds. She redressed them, cleaned them out, and bandaged the boy back together in well under an hour, then set a few bottles of homemade "cures" by his bedstand.

"I never trusted those darn things in bottles," the old woman spat as she steppe dout of the door where Hitomi stood waiting.

"Will he be alright?" she asked with a concerned tone, her face lookign a bit pale.

"No, of course not," the woman blinked and cocked her head to the side slightly, "Those damn medicines are never alright."

"Oba-chan, she meant to ask if Souji is going to be fine," Tomoki facepalmed.

"Oh... Well, he was beaten up pretty bad, but no one has ever died on my watch and I don't intend to let him to," the little old lady said in a slightly cheerful manner, "Don't you worry miss, your fiance will pull through and the two of you can play folly cooly until the break of day again like you used to before you know it!"

"Souji isn't my fiance," Hitomi sighed, but it really didn't matter at that point as the old woman had already waddled off to the kitchen to prepare something for them to eat.

"Remind me again why you don't like your oba-chan?" Yukihiro nudged Tomoki.

"Don't worry, you will figure out pretty soon," Tomoki replied darkly.
 
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