"So, you know what you need to get?" I ask as I lean my back against the concrete wall fence, eyeing the clinic's front entrance that was over the road to my right.

"Yea, if it's in there, I'll find it." Kohta responds excitedly as he brandishes the Ar-10 in his arms.

(I can't see any corpses around. Yet, I'll bet my mask that the moment anyone so much as sneezes, shit will pop out from every single direction possible.)

"So, you all ready?" I ask as I turn to look at the group that went along with me to the clinic.

After a short silence, they all responded with a nod. I then move away from the wall, giving the shotgun in my hands a quick glance.

"Still, are you sure it was a good idea, leaving Saya to do that by herself?" Takashi asks as we start moving.

"Saya's smart, she'll figure out how to handle it. Add she would probably try to chew your fingers off, if she could hear you right now." I respond as I chuckle, and turn my sight towards the clinic once again.

-ABOUT AN HOUR AGO.-

I was standing alone by the door that led outside, the same door that we used when we first arrived at the mall. Two corpses on the other side of said door, 'staring' right back at me.

(Hmm. Other than these two chumps, the road behind them is relatively clear. So, the question now is, who do I take with me to the Humvee?

Kohta is too slow, and Asami is ostensibly still part of the other group. Plus, she's stuck on Kohta like glue. Meaning, either Takashi or Saeko.)

"Well you look like a goddamn hooligan now." A female voice cuts me off from my thoughts. Turning around, I see Saya walking next to Takashi, who had an aluminum bat resting on his shoulder.

"At least it's easier to swing." Takashi responds.

"Saya? You going to barricade the door after we leave?" I ask as I tilt my head. Saya then turns to me as she folds her arms.

"You said you wanted to ask something of me, what was it?" She asks plainly.

I nod and lean my body to the side, making sure that nobody was behind them. Seeing me do this, both of them turn around to look at the empty hallway as well.

"I saw an electronics store on the second floor, the other group seemed to have completely ignored it. So, could you check it out? See if there's anything inside that's still functional. Batteries should still work even after the E.M.P blast, so you can use them to check any battery-operated equipment.

Just remember, you're just checking, don't take anything. If you get spotted, say exactly that. And be careful, if things don't look safe, then don't do anything." I fold my arms as I finish speaking. Saya responds by rolling her eyes.

"I'm not a five years old kid, I can handle myself." She says as she tilts her head with an annoyed look.

"I'm not saying that you are Saya, but one of theirs nearly raped Shizuka, I'm just worried about you." I respond as I stare right back at her.

"I, I said I'll be fine! Stop being an idiot..." She retorts as she looks away, her face taking a slight tint of red.

"Then you better not need any rescuing by the time I'm back, I'm an evil overlord. Not a knight." I say in a half-joking manner as I lift both hands in a surrendering motion.

Saya then turns to me with a smirk, her face still slightly red.

"I thought you were a penguin." She responds with a smug look.

"As long as you understand, sure." I replied as I folded my arms. Saya looked slightly, displeased, with my lack of reaction. As she ended up pouting.

"You, uhhh, want me to leave you two alone?" Takashi asks as he looks at the two of us. Saya darts her head to him, and delivers a swift kick to his shin before stomping off.

I turn to look at Takashi as he was hopping about, the leg that Saya just kicked folded in his arms.

"You said that to Saya of all people? You crazy?" I ask as I tilt my head, yet before he could respond…

"Huh what happened here?" A new male voice, turning to it, I see Kohta walking towards us, along with Saeko and Asami.

"He brought forth the wrath of Saya… " I answer as solemnly as I can, glancing at Takashi before turning back to Kohta again.

"Ohh, so that's why she was running like that. But, wait, Asami does not understand. If she was mad, why was she smiling like that?" She asks as she puts her finger next to her mouth.

(Hmm, our resident tsundere made a slip-up ehh?)

"No idea. But in any case, are we all set?" I ask as I shrug and look at the now assembled group, they all nod after looking at each other.

"Alright. So, who knows where the clinic is at?" I ask as I fold my arms.

"Asami used to go there for checkups when she was a kid, she knows how to go there. Oh, and some people from my group are on their way, they will barricade the door again after we leave." Asami replies as she raises her arm like a school child.

"Good, good. Uhh Takashi, Saeko, which one of you will come with me to go get the, failsafes?" I ask as I point my thumb behind me, towards the exit. Saeko tilts her head questionably, while Takashi just nods.

"I'll come." He replies after a short silence.

"Alright, as long as you can run that is." I nod and point at the leg Saya had just kicked.

"I'm fine." Takashi responds as he kicks the air with that leg.

"Alright. So, we have two corpses outside and the doors open towards the inside, so we can't knock them down by kicking the doors in, not that such a loud plan is any good. Hmm, if we have two people open the doors we could have the other two people deal with the corpses. If the corpses somehow get inside during all this, we'll just have to drag them outside afterward. Though, if anybody has a better idea, I'm all ears" I say as I turn to stare at the two corpses on the other side of the door.

And after a short silence...

"I want to try out the bat, so I'm taking out one of them." Takashi speaks up, signaling that we are going with my plan after all.

"I will take the other one then." Saeko adds up.

I nod and move to the door, Kohta following behind me shortly after.

"Alright, on three we'll open the door, use it as a shield and hide behind it." I say as I stare at Kohta, he just nodded with a serious expression.

"One." I tighten my grip on the handle.

"Two." Lightly kick the door to get the corpses' attention.

"Three!" And with a shout, Kohta and I swing the door open.

The moment the doors opened, the two corpses charged inside, only to get knocked down to the ground seconds later.

Saeko stabbed one of the corpses in the face as she lunged forward, killing it instantly.

Takashi also 'stabbed' the other corpse in the face with the tip of the bat, sending it stumbling backward as it fell on its ass. Before it could react in any way, Saeko took a step to the left and with a fluid motion, severed its head.

(Well, that was easy, probably thanks to a certain purple haired samurai.)

As I moved away from the door, I spotted several members from the other group in the far end of the hallway running towards us.

"Go! We'll deal with these two!" Hiro, who was part of the group that just arrived shouted at us. I nod and give the group one last glance before exiting the mall.

The moment we crossed the door, we broke to a sprint as we ran past the field, past the corpses, until we reached the open street.

"Alright Takashi, with me. Asami general direction towards the clinic?" I turn to the cop as I check my surroundings.

"Ohh, umm. Ahh, it's, it's straight to the left from here and then, ummm, two intersections later you go left and then, and then the next turn you go right and then, and then straight ahead!" She says as her face starts taking an anxious expression, darting her head around frantically as she keeps talking.

"Ok, from here on we'll split up, no point for you to wait here while we go to get the needed supplies. Takashi and I will go straight down from here, we'll meet up midway. Somewhere on, the first intersection you need to turn left, wait for us there.

If it's full of corpses, keep going to the clinic at a slower pace, so we can catch up to you. Same deal if it's us that got there first." I say to the group as I turn around and start walking away, motioning Takashi to follow me with my hand.

Several steps later, I turn around and see Takashi next to me. I then glance at the grouped up corpses in the distance to my left.

(Can't see the cop girl anywhere, not that I can do anything about it with Asami here. And I can't return here after getting the guns as I might get spotted by the ones inside. Lastly, I don't have the time to waste on this now.)

I turn around again and start running down the street, Takashi right in toe.

With the road being wide enough, and the fact that this was the same road that Saeko went full genocide mode, we moved with ease around the few corpses that still occupied the street. After going over the first intersection, we kept moving straight.

"What are we going to take with us?" Takashi asks as he keeps running next to me.

"A shotgun, a rifle, one more handgun and, three bags." I answer as I keep looking down the road.

"Huh, wait, the numbers don't add up." He responds.

"Shotgun for me, I already have a bag, Rifle for Kohta and the first bag, Handgun for you and the second bag. Saeko seems to be allergic to guns and since she'll be using the sword, better if she is not weighed down by a bag. The cop has the gun we gave her, so bag only." I answered as we reached the next intersection.

I slow down and raise my arm to make Takashi stop as well, then look to my right.

(Clear.)

I motion to Takashi with my hand and start running again.

"Allergic to guns?" He asks.

"I tried to give her one, but she avoided it like it was cursed." I answered. Takashi just stayed quiet as we ran up to the tree cluster we stashed the Humvee in.

(Looks clear, but better I don't take any chances)

I pull the bokken from my bag's side straps and start walking towards the trees.

Thankfully no corpses were present there, and more importantly. The Humvee was still there, seemingly untouched.

"Alright, I got the keys. We open the trunk, take what we need and disappear. " I say as I run to the back of the Humvee and lift the net before reaching into my pocket for the keys…

(Uhh what?)

I start frantically looking in all my pockets.

"What's wrong?" Takashi asks as he notices my strange behavior.

"Nothing, just a minor set back… " I answer without turning to him.

(FUCK! Where are they?! Did I leave them in the building? No, I'm sure I did not take them out of my pockets Think, THINK YOU DAMN MORON. Come on, come on. Uhhh, let's see, I took the keys from Shizuka, then I exited the car, then I locked the car. And then I… uhh…)

I dash to the driver's door and lift the net. The keys still there, inside the door..

(Ok Saya, maybe I'm an idiot after all...)

I think as I take the keys out of the door's keyhole and turn to Takashi, then lift them to head high and jiggle them.

"See, just a minor set back." I say as I walk towards the trunk, Takashi just stares at me with a blank look.

"You, forgot them on the door?" He asks as he sighs.

"Yes, yes I did." I answer casually as I open the trunk.

Takashi, while still giving me a weird look, moves closer and looks inside the car. I leaned into the trunk, lifted the second net and picked the two guns before strapping them on me. Takashi grabbed a bag and passed it over his shoulder.

(Right, bag full of clothes.)

I then remove my bag and take all the semi-folded clothes off, leaving them on one of the ammo boxes. Bag clear, I take the second P220 along with the empty magazine out of my bag and turn to Takashi.

I poke him with the magazine to get his attention, he turns to me before taking the gun and magazine with a nod. After that, I pick two more bags, fold them, and shove 'em in my bag.

"Next, ammo for the guns." I say to Takashi as I get inside the trunk and open the red box with the shotgun shells, I grab a couple of handfuls and toss them in the bag.

(If these go off while I'm running, oh boy. Fun times, not.)

I then open the rifle ammo crate and shove a handful of bullets in the bag as well, along with three filled AR-10 magazines that were left next to the green crate.

(Ok, this should be good enough, let's get going.)

I turn to Takashi to see him staring at me.

"Are you done?" I ask. He just nods and exits the trunk. I do the same, then close and lock it before pulling the net over, after getting the keys this time...

"Alright three guns, three bags and some ammo, let's get out of here." I say as I turn around to leave.

"Naier, do you like Saya?" Takashi asks as I walk past him.

"Uhh, where did that come from?" I ask I turn to look at him.

"Well, the way you two spoke. I have known Saya since I was in kindergarten, and I don't think I have ever seen her listen to anyone like that before." He responds.

(And what does that have to do with whether I like her or not?)

"She probably just understands the situation." I answer back.

"And Saeko as well… " He speaks up again.

(Ohh for fuck's sake dude.)

"The way you rushed to her was..."

"Do 'you' like them?" I cut off Takashi, causing him to freeze.

"I..." He stops mid-sentence as she turns to look to his right.

(Oh for god's sake man. I know that Takashi is somewhat of a sad sack when talking about women, but really now? At least don't start something you can't finish…)

"My answer would probably be similar to yours. Just, exclude Miyamoto from it." I cut him off once more...

"We should keep moving, the last thing the team needs is both of us getting killed here." I say as I turn around and start walking away. Only to turn around again shortly after, and find that our glorious leader was still, still as a statue.

"Come on, the longer we take, the worse it'll get." I point towards the general direction of the mall, Takashi finally nods, and starts walking.

(Should I be worried about getting stabbed in the back now? I mean in the manga and anime he's not that kind of person. But women always make men act in weird ways. Especially when they casually walk around with only a thong and apron on...)

After we got out of the tree cluster, we turned left after taking a quick look around.

"Ok we need to go two intersections straight, then turn left. After that, we keep going straight again, the others should be near that street." I say as I look at the road ahead, bokken in hand.

"We should pay more attention to our surroundings now, all the stuff we took will make us ring like dinner bells." Takashi responds. I turn to him and nod before pushing the two guns towards my back. And like that, we started moving down the road.

And by moving. I mean sprinting like your life depended on it, two intersections were not VERY far in terms of distance, but each step we took caused every single corpse to turn towards our direction.

"Should we use the guns? We could deal with the ones straight ahead, so we don't have to zigzag around the street." Takashi asked as we swerved around the corpses.

"No, remember we just left the mall, shooting the guns right now might arouse suspicion from the survivors that are inside." I say as I keep running.

(Though I must admit, the idea seems very enticing right now.)

Upon reaching the first intersection we climb on the hood of a silver sedan that was in the middle of the street and move to its roof.

"Take a couple of breaths, wait for the nearby corpses to get near the car, then we jump over them or go on from the side of the street that has no corpses." I say as I kneel down and balance myself by placing one hand on the roof.

After a couple of seconds, corpses had indeed gathered on both sides of the car, the hood and trunk were still clear though with only two corpses closing towards the trunk.

"Ok, let's go. Down the hood and then straight to the target road ahead." I turn to Takashi as I speak, to see him nod.

We slide down the windshield and jump off the hood before taking a sharp turn to the left. Then we kept running straight until we reached the next street, where we moved to the center and kept going straight...

Only to be stopped halfway through.

"Uhh, you still don't want to use the guns?" Takashi asks as he looks at a group of kneeled down corpses that were behind two crashed cars, munching on, you know what.

"The corpses are gathered to the left part of the street so, uhh yeah, don't take any chances. Ready your gun, we will go from the right side and fuck it, shoot any corpses that are in our way. If that group gets a sniff on us, and we are not clear to run. Yeah, get your gun ready." I say as I grab the shotgun by the barrel and bring it to the front, before holding it normally, finger next to the trigger.

I pass the bokken between my back and the bag, then kneel down, put the butt of the gun against my hip and pump it as I keep my hand close to the ejection port.

(One, two, three, four, Four shells.)

I then start loading the shells back into the shotgun before getting up and looking down the sight.

"Right, sight's dead. Still, as long as it knocks them back, I won't complain." I say as I lower the gun and walk to the right part of the street. Takashi following right behind me.

Right now, other than the kneeling corpses, which must have been around, ten? Twelve of them? We also had three corpses on the right side of the road.

I lift the shotgun once again and walk straight towards the first two corpses that were shambling side by side.

"You got the third one after I deal with these two?" I ask as I keep moving towards the three corpses that had now noticed our presence.

"Got you covered." I hear Takashi say from right behind me.

I take several steps forward, to the point that if I extended my arm, the shotgun would touch the corpse's hands. I then pull the trigger.

Both corpses get sent flying back, one having half of its head blown clean off, the other having its shoulder and a small part of its face blasted off. The third corpse that was a little further back did get a couple of pellets in the torso, causing it to jerk its upper body backward, but remained otherwise unaffected as it kept shambling forward.

Takashi then runs past me, jumps over the two corpses that laid on the floor and took a sideways swing at the third corpse's face with his bat, causing it to stumble to the left before hitting the ground. He then walks over it and starts whacking it on the back of its head, repeatedly.

I take a glance at the grouped up corpses that were now on their feet, slowly turning towards us.

(Ha-ha, no.)

I ran past the two fallen corpses, one of which was actually still moving about, and stopped next to Takashi.

"We got to move! The group is coming after us!" I shout as I turn to glance at the corpses, then walk past Takashi.

He stops beating the ever-living crap of, uh, what used to be a head and turns to me with a nod. It's funny how even after he went ballistic on that corpse, he had no blood on him, not even a single drop. Strange anime physics to the save I guess?

Thankfully, as all the corpses had apparently gathered here, the road ahead was clear. So we just had a straight clean run towards the next intersection.

"And they called 'me' ruthless, I think we need to switch titles here. You turned that corpse's head into a paste." I say as we reach the next intersection and look to the left.

Takashi just shrugged as he chuckled, cleaning the blood off of his bat with his sleeve.

"The intersection where our group is at should be after this road to our left. Let's go." Takashi says as he starts walking. I follow behind him as I check around the intersection one last time.

Compared to the last two streets, this one could be counted as empty, relatively speaking at least. Whatever corpse that did roam about, had flocked to the left part of the road, leaving the right side safe to traverse.

(Whoever got all these corpses to gather back there must have caused quite the commotion, judging from how everything here tried to get there by flocking at the left part of the road.)

As we kept running down the road I started making out several figures on the intersection that was up ahead.

(Purple hair, orange hair, chubby ball and several bodies laying on the street. Yep that colorful bunch is our group alright.)

Kohta was the first one to notice us. As he started waving his arm high in the air, causing the other two to turn their heads towards our direction.

And once we finally got close, I presented the resident gun nut with his cherished possession.

"Did somebody order guns?" I say as I take off the AR-10 and hand it to Kohta.

"And this should have two bags folded up inside, along with some extra mags and a couple of spare bullets for the rifle." I say as I pull the bokken from its temporary sheath, take the shotgun off and hand my bag to Kohta.

He quickly gets to work as he opens the bag and takes one bag from inside, he then shoves the AR-10 mags and rifle bullets inside it. After that, he takes the second bag and walks up to Asami.

While Kohta was talking with Asami, I turned to look at Takashi to see him. Trying to give the handgun to Saeko? Only for her to respond by shaking her head and motioning to her sword.

(Did he just try to. Huh, well, looks like you're in the nope squad as well buddy. Still, trying to see if she'll accept yours while she refused mine? Sneaky little shiet you are...)

I hold myself back from chuckling, or thinking too deep into what I just saw, and turn to Kohta.

"Are we ready?" I ask as I kneel down, leaving the shotgun on the ground and start wearing the bag properly.

"As ready as we'll ever be." Kohta replies as he gives the rifle a quick check, with Asami staring intensely at him.

"Uhh, buddy, I think you just mesmerized somebody." I say as I point at the female cop.

Kohta tilts his head and turns towards the staring Asami.

"Are you a secret agent? This cop, Asami is supposed to be a cop, but she can't even understand what you're doing to that gun." She said as she kept staring, her eyes wide open.

Kohta, seeing the opportunity to talk about guns, took it upon himself to, educate Asami. Too bad for the rest of us that is...

PRESENT TIME

"Oh and Kohta, no more gun talk please." I say as I give him a quick glance, he responded by laughing awkwardly.

"Alright, let's go find that plasma." I say to the group as I nod to myself. And with quick steps, I move towards the clinic.

After we reached the front door, I pushed it with the shotgun's muzzle, yet the glass door did not budge. So I grabbed the handle and pulled it towards me next, and the door then opened with no real resistance.

And so, we slowly walked inside, while scanning the insides of the structure for any dangers.

While the building had no lights, I could still see clearly thanks to the sun's rays, as it was still in the middle of the day.

To my left, next to a giant glass wall, I could see an open space that should have been a waiting room. The room, looked horrible. With toppled chairs and ripped manga littering the floor along with spilled drinks, ripped clothes and well, copious amounts of blood.

To my right, about four to five meters from me, I could see a semi-closed wooden door, the words 'staff only' on a metal label that hung on the door. Next to it, after a couple of meters, was a white door and after some more meters away was another white door. Examination rooms if I had to take a guess. In total there were about four of these white doors on the right wall before the wall itself ended.

Opposite of that wall, in other words, next to the waiting room, was what I suspected to be the reception room. The wall that was facing the waiting room had nothing on it, but there was a medium-sized hole in the wall that was facing the white doors, probably the place where the reception greeted people, or gave information, or sold drugs, hell if I know. Next to that hole, I could see two brown doors, and next to these doors I could see wide, single-pane windows, so I doubt these were examination rooms, storage maybe?

Now between the reception and the examination rooms was a corridor, wide enough to fit, two and a half Kohtas?

And on the far end of that corridor, I could see a wall, the corridor splitting to the left and right. The wall on the far end was also made of windows from half side up, so visibility was pretty good over there too.

(I can't see a single corpse, but I know for sure that this place is like a goddamn clown car.)

I raised my hand and motioned for the group to move forward, we walked all the way to the corridor where the reception 'hole' was at.

I looked inside the hole to see that the room behind it was empty, behind the small reception room, I could see another half-open door with the label 'storage' on it.

Kohta was the first one to come up to me, and after he looked at the storage room door he gave me a thumbs up. He then pointed at the right wall inside the reception room, where I could see a single door.

I nodded and looked at the first brown door that was next to the reception then pointed at it before looking at Kohta, to see him nodding as well. With my weapon ready I then moved to the right and looked through the glass window that was next to the brown door.

(This is weird, wasn't this the room that had the first signs of corpses in the manga? It's completely empty though...)

And at that same moment.

'CRASH'

A loud sound echoed to my right, where the rest of the group was at.

I turn my head only to see the door with the 'staff only' label wide open as corpses pour out of it, a lot of them.

(OF-FUCKING-COURSE THIS WOULD HAPPEN! We were not even that much noise! Arghh, fuck it!)

"Back! Fall back! The first door after the reception room leads to the storage room behind the reception!" I shout as I run up to the group and point behind me.

The group quickly runs past me before I take several hops back and turn around, I take off my shotgun and remove my bag before tossing it to Kohta.

"You know what we need, fill my bag as well, I got the shotgun, and it's about time I used it." I say as I turn to the corpses that were slowly getting up, looking towards our direction.

I took several steps forward, before Saeko walked past me. Before she could go on though, I grabbed her arm, causing her to turn to me.

"I will be using the gun, too many, too close, you will get caught in the fire if you charge in, help Kohta. Takashi and I will use our guns to hold off the corpses." I say as I look at her.

She stared at me for a couple of seconds before nodding. She then ran past me and entered the room with Kohta and Asami.

"We just need to hold them away from the door, we can leave from the back windows once we are done." I say as I lift my gun and aim at the corpses.

Takashi nods and aims his handgun, but, does not shoot for some reason.

"I've, never actually fired a gun before… " He says as he looks at the gun in his hand, as if he's not sure how to use it.

"Matters not. Look at them, just aim at their general direction and pull the trigger, you'll hit something. And lastly watch our back." I respond as I close one eye, look down at the dead sight, and pull the trigger. The pellets sending the nearest corpses back as they crashed into the ones behind them.

(I really need to get rid of this sight, it is more cumbersome than helpful right now.)

I grumbled as I pumped a new round into the chamber.

(Five.)

I take a big step forward and point at the nearest corpses before pulling the trigger again, causing even more of them to get sent flying back. How many? I could not tell. Could be five, could be ten for all I know, as with the way they were clustered together shooting one corpse caused three of them to fall down.

I take a step back and pump a new round into the chamber.

(Four)

By now I also noticed that corpses were starting to gather in front of the clinic's entrance.

(They will join the party too huh. We need to hurry.)

I take a step forward again and pull the trigger, causing the wall of corpses to get retracted once more. Takashi was probably getting used to the gun as I heard a couple of shots coming from his direction.

"How much longer!" I shout.

"We are done with the Plasma! We are filling the bags with other stuff now!" I hear Kohta shout back.

"Well hurry it up! They brought friends!" I shout as I pump the shotgun again.

(Three)

And then, the sound of glass breaking.

"Ohh, this is bad… " I say as I lower the shotgun slightly and stare at the corpses coming through the big glass window and into the waiting room.

I quickly lift the shotgun and pull the trigger as I take a step back.

"Alright! Hope you're ready, we are leaving. NOW!" I shout as I turn around and motion to Takashi with my free arm, he nods and turns around as well.

"We are almost done!" Kohta shouts.

"You ARE done!" I shout again as I pump another round.

(Two)

Seconds later I see Kohta exit the storage room, the two girls following behind him shortly after. And once they joined up with us, they turned to stare at the oncoming horde.

"Holy sh..."

"Move, move! The back has only a handful of corpses." I cut Kohta off as I pointed at the four corpses that were by the corridor's split.

I raise my shotgun, aim at the four said corpses pulling the trigger as I keep moving towards them with a steady pace, sending three of them to the ground.

With a pump of the final round I start running towards the last standing corpse. Or at least, that was my initial aim. As the moment the three corpses hit the ground, another corpse walked out from one side of the corridor, then another from the other side, and another, and another, until the corridor looked as bad as the entrance...

"REALLY NOW!?" I shout as I grind to a stop, turn around and run towards the second wooden door to my right. I gave the doorknob a twist, but the door didn't budge.

"Ohh, for fuck's sake..." I groan under my breath as I kick the door, take a step back, then point the shotgun at the window next to it.

(Wait, I got only one shell left, and there's no time to reload...)

I lowered the shotgun and looked at the corpses as they closed in from both sides, I could see the other members of the group shout something as they looked around, but I could not really make out what they were saying.

(Looks like I will have to copy you on this Takashi. This better work, or we're so screwed.)

I raise the shotgun over my head, point at the ceiling and pull the trigger. Seconds later I looked up to see a hole, big enough to fit three of us in at the same time. I let go of the shotgun letting it hang on my side as I put my hands together and bent my knees slightly.

"Kohta! You got up there yesterday!" I shouted as the group turned to stare at me, thankfully, Kohta got the idea pretty fast as he ran up to me and using my hands as a ladder he climbed up, successfully going up to the second floor.

(Ughh, please stop being so fat!)

"Clear!" He shouts seconds later.

"Takashi you are up!" I shout, he nods and proceeds to do the same, also getting up with no real trouble.

"Naier behind you!" Saeko shouts as she steps back from the corpses that were shambling towards us from the entrance. I instantly grab the shotgun and take a blind swing with its butt behind me, hitting a corpse flat on the side of its face.

"Help the girls up! And throw me a damn gun! I'm out!" I shout as I extend my hand towards the hole, taking a few steps back.

Takashi throws his handgun and extra clip to me as he leans his upper body over the hole extending both arms, Kohta following suit shortly after.

"Nakaoka! Grab on quick!" Kohta shouts as he looks at Asami. The cop herself darted her head around.

"No time to think officer, move it!" I say as I grab the gun and let the magazine fall to the ground. I then point the gun at the corpse I just swung at some seconds ago and pull the trigger. After that, I kneel down and pick the second magazine before aiming at the marching corpses once again. In the meantime, Asami used the opening to move ahead of me and grab Kohta's hand.

As they pulled her up, one of the corpses from my side tripped on a fallen body, and 'lunged' forward, grabbing Asami by her shoe with one hand as it face-planted itself to the floor.

"AAAHH! It, it got me! It got me! Get it off! Get it off!" Asami starts screaming as she starts flailing her legs.

I ran to her and shoved the gun's muzzle at the corpse's mouth as it lifted its upper body and reached for the leg it just grabbed, its mouth wide open. I pull the trigger, and grab Asami's leg, pushing her up.

"Saeko you are up next!" I shout as I aim at the corpses once again, and blast off another head.

"You should go first." I heard Saeko say in a calm tone as she stood next to me.

"I have a gun, it's safer for me to hold them off. That was not a request Saeko, You. Go. First." I said as I glanced at her before shooting again, Saeko just stayed quiet.

"Saeko! Take my arm!" Takashi shouts as he appears in the hole again.

"Go! I'll be right behind you." I say as I keep aiming the handgun. Saeko finally sheaths her blade and grabs Takashi's hand, while I shot the gun's last round.

While they pulled her up, I ejected the magazine and shove the second one in the gun, yet before I could even put a new bullet in the chamber. I felt two hands grabbing my shoulders.

(The fuck?!)

I bend my body sideways and 'spin' myself to face the corpse that had its hands on me.

I was instantly met with an open mouth as the corpse pulled me towards it. With barely any leeway, I grabbed it by the neck as I pressed on the gun's slide lock, causing the slide to move forward and load a new bullet in the chamber. I then put the gun between me and the corpse as it slowly brought its face closer to mine.

"Ghh, piss off already!" The corpse jerks its head back and releases me from its grip the moment I pulled the trigger. I then shove it back by slamming my shoulder on it, making it fall on the corpses behind it.

I turn around to see Saeko looking at me with her hand extending from the hole.

"Naier! Take my hand!" Saeko shouts as she leans even more over the hole.

The problem was, that the time it took me to get the corpse off me, let the corpses I was holding off till now, the ones from the back corridor, move past the hole. And the corpses on the opposite side were less than a meter away.

I glance at my gun before darting my head around, my sight stopping at the windows to my right. (Too high, and I need to smash it first. No time to do this normally)

I bend my body forward and run towards the window before turning all the way around and running straight to the opposite wall.

Using my momentum, I run a few steps up the wall, then turn my upper body around and aim the gun at a corpse that was making out with the other side of the window. I pull the trigger two times as I put strength in my legs and spring from the wall, straight towards the now cracked window.

(This better fucking work!)

And, with the sound of shattering glass, I smash through the window and crash into the corpse as it fell backward.

The moment I hit the ground I roll to my right and look at the corpse.

(Bullet to the head. Holy Shit, I can't believe I actually just pulled this off.)

I then look at the rest of the room. One corpse was to my left, a couple of meters away, two straight ahead of me, behind some metal tables that had several bottles on them. And one last corpse was by itself at the far left end of the room.

"NAIER!? NAIER!" I hear a female voice scream seconds later.

"I'm fine! Get going! I'll find another way out!" I shout as I get up and aim at the corpse to my left before putting a hole right between its eyes.

Then I turned to the other two corpses to see them walking towards me as they dragged along the tables that were in front of them, and proceeded to give both of them a third eye before turning to look at the window that I just smashed through. The only thing I could see, was hands sticking out of it, thankfully though they didn't seem to be able to get inside.

I nod and turn around before aiming at the last corpse as it shambled towards me. And one gunshot later, the room was clear. I then take the magazine off and look at it.

(Two bullets left...)

I put the gun into a pocket as I turned to look at the windows again.

"Yeah not getting out that way. Hmm..." I turned my head and looked at the other end of the room. I could see several windows that led outside, and I could not see any corpses on the other side either.

"Yeah that could work." I say as I start walking towards the windows. Yet, I did not go too far before I heard, more shouting..

"Saeko? Saeko! What are you doing!?" I hear a male voice shout.

I dart my head around only to see a pair of legs in black boots and stocking going over in an ark towards the smashed window.

Saeko, went over the corpses and landed in the room I was in, but. Not far enough. A couple of hands managing to grab her school shirt from behind.

"The Hell?!" I shout as I dash towards her. And as they were about to jerk her backward, she stabbed her sheathed sword against the wall behind her in order to stop herself from getting pulled back.

The moment I got close to her, I hugged her by passing my right hand behind her neck. I then lift my right leg and stomp against the wall, hard. The moment I managed to stabilize myself I looked at the hands that had taken hold of the shirt.

I followed the pair of hands with my eyes until I could see who the owner was. Then I pass the handgun over Saeko's shoulder with my left hand and shoot the corpse straight in the face. At that distance, I couldn't miss, even without aiming. I then did the same thing again for the other pair of hands. And the moment the second corpse let go, we stumbled a few steps backward as Saeko was freed.

"Saeko! Are you alright?!" The same male voice could still be heard from inside the hole.

"We're both fine! Now get going before I plug that damn hole!" I shout again.

After a short silence I hear a reply.

"A, alright, be careful. You remember the way back to the mall?" The same voice responds.

"Yeah! Now get the fuck out of here already!" I shout back again, and then, silence.

"Ummm, Naier." I hear a female right voice next to me. I looked down to see that I was still hugging Saeko. I let her go, and stare at her.

"You alright? No bites?" I ask as I look at her, with no small amount of dread.

She gives herself a quick pat-down before nodding, all the time without looking at me. I take several steps back before sitting on a table with a silent sigh.

"Alright, Saeko. What the fuck was that?" I ask, and Saeko finally looks at me. She stayed quiet for some time, seemingly thinking of what to say.

"What do you mean?" She responds with a question.

"You know very well what I mean. You nearly killed yourself with that stunt you just pulled." I say as I point my hand at the window.

She stayed quiet as she averted her gaze.

"It was nothing..." She responds in a low tone.

"Nothing? Saeko you nearly killed yourself… " I say as I narrow my eyes.

"And what does it matter..." She responds in a low tone again.

"The what?" I ask as I tilt my head.

(She didn't just say what I thought she said, right?)

"I NEARLY CHOPPED YOUR HEAD OFF!" She screams at me as she turns her head to me, her eyes going wide as she leans forward.

(Does she mean at the mall?...)

"No, you accidentally, nearly chopped my head off." I responded.

"And what is the difference! Were you not fast enough. I, I would not have even realized what I did until it was already too late!" She shouts back at me.

"You wanted to kill me?" I ask bluntly.

"What! No! I..."

"Then, that's all I care about." I cut her off.

She stops shouting and just stares at me for several seconds before looking away. And a couple of minutes passed with me staring at Saeko and Saeko looking away.

"I, don't deserve… " She responds in a low tone.

"You don't deserve? Deserve what?" I repeat her words.

"I don't deserve this kindness..." She replies.

"Why?" I ask as I lean forward. She grabs the collar of her shirt as she keeps looking away from me.

"I, I'm not who you think I am..." She replies. And after another short silence, she takes a deep breath.

"If, you are willing to listen, then. Let me tell you, about me." She adds with a much calmer tone.

"Four years ago. I was walking alone at night, returning from my kendo practice. I, got attacked by a man. But I had my bokken with me, so I was able to defend myself." She stops talking as she turns to look at me.

"I ended up breaking his shoulder blade and femur… " She adds.

"And I enjoyed it… " She continues with a meek voice.

"I enjoyed inflicting pain on him! Making him suffer!" Only to end up shouting right after.

"I kept attacking him not because he tried to force himself on me, but because I liked it. I felt exhilarated as I watched him writhe in agony!" She keeps leaning towards me as she shouts.

"I am, nothing but a monster!" She turns her head away again and tightens the grip on her collar.

I take a deep breath as I close my eyes and get off the table.

"Ok. Then, let me rephrase my last statement." I say as I walk closer to her.

"As long as you stay on my side, and don't turn your blade against me. I won't care." I say as I look at her.

Saeko turns to face me with a perplexed expression.

"Why, why do you insist on being this kind to me?" She asks.

"Because, I'm the one who gets to decide who I want to be kind to, not you. And sadly for you, you've picked one of the short straws on the matter." I say as I place my hand on the top of her head.

Saeko just lowered her head slightly. And in a quick motion, she leaned forward until she ended up with her head on my chest, one of her hands grabbed on my jacket.

"I am sorry, my knees, buckled..." She says as she keeps her head lowered. I just patted her head before I passed one arm around her back.

With her still holding on to me, I take a few steps back, dragging her along before leaning on the table behind me. I lowered my head until my chin touched her head and gave the corpses behind the windowed wall one last glance before closing my eyes.

I do not know how long we stayed like that, but it must have been for quite some time, as my legs were starting to get numb.

"I can't promise you that I will make your life any better. But, I can promise you that as long as you stay with me, I will stay with you. Also, on a second note. Uhh, it's not that I don't like this but, uhh, if you keep grinding on me like that. We are going to have an 'accident' on our hands." I say as I open my eyes and dart them around without moving my head.

"And, you don't want to?" She responds as she passes her arms around my sides and to my back.

The realization of what Saeko just told me came with a short delay, but. Instead of freaking out, or you know, having another sort of 'reaction'. I could not shake off that feeling of guilt…

(I would expect myself to be panicking right now. But, why do I just feel like shit instead?)

"You, you are mentally overloaded right now. I, must not take advantage of the situation… " I say as I look away.

"Hmm? But I thought that you were an evil overlord? Shouldn't you be trying to take advantage of situations like these." She responds as she turns to face me, a rather sly expression on her face.

"You're really trying to put me in a corner here ain't you? And I thought I was supposed to be a penguin… " I say as I keep looking away. Saeko stares at me for a moment...

"Is it because of Saya?" She asks right after, causing me to dart my head to her.

"The who what now?" I ask as I feel cold sweat run on the back of my neck.

"You said that I picked 'one of the short straws'. So that means there should be somebody who picked another, and she is the only other girl you really interact with. Plus, the way you acted at the manor. You seem to at least care for her." She says as she stares at me. I take a deep breath and close my eyes.

(I could easily deny it. It's as easy as saying no, but. That would be a flat-out lie. And maybe this is why I feel like crap right now. Because I also like Saya…)

"Nobody said that I was a shining beacon of morality… " I say sheepishly as I open my eyes and look at the corpses over the window, who seemed to have given up on trying to get in and were just standing there now.

Saeko responded by tightening her grip on me and lowering her head. And several minutes passed in silence once again.

"Your promise to me. Are you going to keep it?" Saeko asks as she lifts her head to look at me again. Glancing back at Saeko, I could see her staring intently at me.

I look away for a couple of seconds before bringing my hand to my mask. I then take it off along with the balaclava and turn to her.

(No hiding behind a mask for this, it's sink or swim.)

"I want you with me Saeko, that won't change." I said as I stared right into her eyes.

She responded by putting one of her hands to my shoulder and lifting herself up, bringing her face closer to mine. To the point that all I could see was her face.

"But what if Saya..."

"No matter what happens with Saya, I will still want you with me." I cut her off.

Saeko responded by tightening her grip on my shoulder as she moved her face closer… And then neither of us spoke. We couldn't speak, even if we wanted to.