Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is purely a fanfic for enjoyment.
Cross-over from various games, books, anime, manga, and movies.
The familiar characters you see here belong to their respected authors and owners.
"Speech"
Time*
Arc 1: Mental Illness - Chapter 9
30 minutes later*
"Hold." I ordered.
The Humvee slowly came to a stop as I raised the sniper rifle and began picking off the zombies up ahead, each shot dropping another corpse before it could get too close.
"Clear."
The Humvee slowly resumed moving, its engine rumbling low as it rolled past the fallen zombies.
"I think we should save up on bullets. You've been shooting nearly nonstop for a while now." Saya whispered, keeping her eyes fixed on the distance through the binoculars she had found inside the Humvee.
"Don't worry. I can just go into one of the nearby houses and find more ammo." I reloaded the sniper rifle, slung it over my shoulder, and pocketed the empty magazine instead of tossing it away. "That's why I'm so calm about using up this much ammo."
Saya looked at me, speechless, her grip tightening slightly around the binoculars as if she wasn't sure whether to argue or just accept my answer.
"How far are we from your place, Takagi?" Saeko asked Saya, calmly checking the surroundings for any zombies that might be wandering too close to the Humvee.
"Shouldn't be too far now. It's a good thing this vehicle can drive through the shallow river." Saya answered, lifting the binoculars back to her eyes. "Otherwise, it would've been nearly impossible for us to cross anywhere except the bridges, and those are blocked by the police."
"We should loot a few houses before we get there, then. After all, even if Saya's parents are alive, who's to say they'll have enough supplies to support all of us? Especially with how crazy things have gotten at this point." I said it to everyone as I drew my handgun, keeping it ready.
"Why would we waste time on that when we could just rush to Takagi's place as soon as possible? I'm sure her parents won't let us starve after we bring their daughter back safe and sound." Takashi muttered it under his breath, but in the cramped silence of the Humvee, everyone heard him clearly.
"Do you really think we're going to stay with my parents?" Saya lowered the binoculars from her eyes and looked back inside the Humvee, staring at Takashi in disbelief. "I don't know about you, but I don't plan on sticking around with my parents, even with the whole zombie apocalypse going on. I don't hate them, but I'll never become my own person if I spend the rest of my life standing in their shadow."
"Hey, Takashi is just trying to point out that we shouldn't waste any more time." Rei said, quickly coming to Takashi's defense. "And why wouldn't you want to stick around with your parents when they have the means to protect you?"
"Who's to say they'll protect me forever?" Saya scowled at Rei.
"Oh? And you think this guy will?" Rei mocked Saya, pointing at me.
"Mostly, yes. But also no, because things will only become more unpredictable as time goes on in a zombie apocalypse." I spoke up before Saya could answer. "The same goes for Shizuka, since her medical knowledge is a huge factor right now. Saeko being trained with a sword is valuable, too." I paused for a second before adding. "Also, her being a great cook is a big bonus in my eyes."
At the corner of my eye, I could see Saeko's smile widen ever so slightly, though she tried to keep her expression composed.
Saya looked surprised by my words at first, but she quickly recovered, coughing into her hand to hide the shift in her expression before giving Rei a smug look.
"In any case, I say we stop for a bit and restock on supplies before checking if Saya's parents are all right. If they are, great. If not, then at least Saya won't have to keep worrying about them afterward." I noticed the frown forming on Saya's face. "I know it sounds hurtful, but we're not in a position to get too emotional. Not when we don't know what'll happen after a week, a month, or even a year. So either way, once we find out about Saya's parents' condition, we should keep moving somewhere else. And if we've already restocked on supplies beforehand, it'll save us the trouble of having to scavenge for them later in the day."
Takashi clicked his tongue and turned away from everyone, scowling as he stared out the Humvee window in frustration.
Rei looked ready to argue again, but once she realized Takashi wasn't going to say anything further, she held her tongue and stayed silent as well.
"All right, Shizuka, you can stop here. Saeko, you stay here as well and handle any wandering zombies that get too close." I looked at Saeko, holding her gaze for a long moment. "And if you spot any potentially hostile people who aren't zombies, treat them the same way. We can't afford to keep thinking by the old laws, worrying about whether the police will come after us for murder."
Saeko's expression turned serious as she nodded at me. "Don't worry, Touhou. Even if it goes against good morals, I will strike down anyone who dares to approach us with hostile intentions. This is an oath I shall take."
I nodded at Saeko, then looked over at Kohta.
He gulped when he noticed me staring at him. After a few seconds of heavy silence between us, I unslung the sniper rifle from my shoulder and handed it over to him.
Kohta stared at me in disbelief, and he wasn't the only one. Everyone else in the Humvee looked just as shocked.
"If you see more than three zombies wandering together, shoot a window near them. The noise should draw them toward the house with the shattered window." I said coldly, causing Kohta to gulp loudly as he took the sniper rifle from my hand.
Afterward, I didn't wait for the others to respond. I climbed out through the top of the Humvee with my briefcase in hand, jumped down onto the street, and headed toward a nearby house that looked abandoned.
I check if there is anyone inside by looking through the front windows, then check which ones are unlocked. However, none of them are, which makes it a bit more difficult to get in quietly. I look behind me to see that Saya had at some point joined me.
"You never said I couldn't come with you." Saya responded, noticing the way I silently stared at her. The look in her eyes made it clear she wasn't planning to turn back.
"I don't mind. I'm just surprised you wanted to tag along. Not to mention, I assumed one or two people would've argued for you to stay in the Humvee instead." I handed her my briefcase to hold, causing Saya to look at me in shock as the weight settled into her hands.
Saya blinked, then gave me a smirk. "Well, there was someone who tried to stop me, but one look from me and the others made him shut his mouth before he could say anything else. After that, I quickly and quietly made my way over to you before you entered the house."
"All right, just follow me and don't make too much noise. Tap me on the shoulder if you think you can't whisper without raising your voice after seeing something." I looked at the house again, keeping my voice low. "Also, if you spot something you think we'll need, tap my shoulder to get my attention and point to whatever you want us to grab before we move on."
Saya slowly nodded while staring at me in confusion.
"What?"
"I thought you would argue with me and say this is too dangerous, then tell me to go back to the Humvee where it's safe." Saya replied, keeping her voice low as she glanced toward the hopefully abandoned house.
"What's safe about avoiding experience in dealing with the chaos of the world we're living in now?" I explained quietly to Saya. "Having you stay in the Humvee might sound like the safer option, but in the long term, it stops you from gaining the experience you need to improve your own survival skills."
"I see… Why do I feel like you're explaining this as if we're playing a video game about fighting zombies?" Saya asked, squinting her eyes at me with a suspicious look.
"Because it is, somewhat, in a way. Anyway, we shouldn't be talking out in the open for this long." I turned away from the front windows and motioned for Saya to follow. "Come on. We need to find a way inside, and if we can't get into this house, then we move on to another one. We don't have much time to figure out a way to enter without causing a loud noise and search for anything useful while having to be concern drawing unwanted attention here."
I stop talking afterward, then lead Saya toward the back of the house to see if the rear entrance is accessible.
Luckily for us, the back door was unlocked. Someone must have forgotten to lock it after closing it, giving us a quiet way inside.
I placed a finger to my lips, signaling Saya to stay quiet. She gave me a nod as I slowly opened the door.
Thankfully, it didn't make any creaking sound, allowing us to slip inside without drawing attention.
Upon entering, we found ourselves in the kitchen. From the look of it, the people who owned this house either hadn't returned yet, judging by the pile of dirty dishes in the sink, or they were still here but had been too lazy to clean their plates.
I signaled for Saya to follow me as we slowly explored the house, checking for any sign of the residents—whether they were still human or had already turned into zombies.
We checked the living room, dining room, garage, and bathroom before heading upstairs to the second floor, where we found three bedrooms and another bathroom.
There was no one inside, and thankfully, no zombies waiting to ambush us either.
I glanced out the window, checking the position of the sun. We still had plenty of time, so we headed back down to the ground floor and checked the fridge first.
Unfortunately, it was empty of food. The only things inside were a bunch of filled plastic water bottles, along with a jug of water.
I grabbed the jug of water, then looked over at Saya when she tapped me on the shoulder.
She pointed to my left, where a box of Greek sesame bar candy sat on the counter, traditionally known as Pasteli. It was a nutrient-dense confection made from two simple ingredients: toasted sesame seeds and pure honey.
I nodded at Saya as she went to grab it. Then we left through the front door instead of the back to save time, quickly making our way back toward the Humvee.
Before stepping out, I grabbed a small box of ammo sitting on the light stand near the front door and slipped it into my left pocket.
Saya looked at me in disbelief after seeing that, but she didn't say anything as we hurried back and regrouped with the others at the Humvee.
I handed the jug of water to Saeko through the Humvee's open window, then took my briefcase back from Saya after she passed over the box of Pasteli.
After that, I let Saya climb into the Humvee first, then got in after her.
"Seriously? You only got a box of candy bars and some water?" Takashi asked, looking at us with disdain as his eyes flicked toward the supplies we brought back.