Sup, first half of week, so that means new chap.
And my personal gratitude to the following people:
DreXy, Big ToFu, Rashawn Lopez, Losthero, ELLOYMYGELLO, Bobby Johnson, EvilTurtle321, fiddlerlee, Fijiwater, Killjoy2003!, A11StarReader, Gawain, ieatstars, random_debuff, ZaweRD, RedReaper, Tod Summers, Annee1233 and Jack M.
Thanks guys, you help me so damn much, love ya!
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POV Isao Tsumugi
I was looking at the map of Japan, and my gaze was fixed only on one city, Tokonosu. I was born and raised here, and now my thoughts were solely about leaving this city.
"Isao-chan, what about this place?" Shizuka pointed at the shopping mall. "This mall is huge, and we can get everything we need there. If we barricade it a bit, we could even make a base." I looked at her as she gazed at me with her big eyes, in which I saw concern and a slight infatuation.
I could get tickets... get more power... but I don't want to see others as just a way to get tickets by having sex with them.
It's disgusting. That way, I wouldn't be any different from Shidou, who saw others only as tools to satisfy his vile desires.
"No, that place won't work." Saya began to speak instead of me. "Most places in the city will become unsafe after an unknown amount of time. Evolving zombies could become more common." Her voice was serious, and I could see how hard she was thinking. "Most complexes near the mountains won't work either. In fact, anything on land won't work for us, nor will very large islands—clearing them if there are zombies will be difficult. Similarly, small ones will be easy to clear, but then other issues like provisions, energy, and space for people will arise."
"But this mall has an underground parking lot. The upper floors can be used for security and provisions, and the parking lot for living quarters." Hayashi-sensei chimed in, pointing out genuinely good benefits. "The underground area will be incredibly safe, especially if Isao can seal all the entrances with metal."
"But what about energy?" Saya looked down on both of them. "We're currently getting water and electricity from the Dam north of the city. I don't think the people there are good fighters, as they were primarily specialists, and with all these zombies wandering around, the stable operation of the power plant is questionable." She grimaced, looking at the map, and her fingers trembled slightly. "And we can't even go and help them, because if more enhanced zombies appear there, no one but Isao can kill them."
"But shouldn't the government send defense forces to protect such places? They are considered strategically important, aren't they?" Shizuka looked at me with worry.
"Yes..." I looked at the map, specifically at the dam that Saya had marked with a red marker. "But it's questionable whether they reached that place. You saw what happened to the police officers on the bridge. Yesterday, there were loads of them there, and today, not even a single corpse, as if the fucking demons took them to their hell. The only thing left of them were scattered pieces of flesh, limbs, and organs."
"..." They silently looked at me, and I felt Takashi enter the room. Looking towards the door, I also saw Hisashi and Rei following him.
"Sit down, I have questions for you." I pointed to the chairs around the table, and they obediently sat down. "First, we need to decide where to go right now. I don't trust this place. Sorry, Saya, but your father... I don't like him."
"Yes... I can understand that." She grimaced, and in her eyes, I saw her feelings, as if for just a moment, a small, vulnerable girl was looking at the world through her eyes, but it vanished, and the determination in her eyes grew to incredible heights.
"So, do you have plans for where we're heading? When we came in, you were talking to Saya about some island." Takashi spoke up, standing and looking at the map.
"Southeast of Tokonosu, the island circled in red." It was thirty-seven kilometers from the city. The trip wouldn't be long, but the problem wasn't that, it was...
"How will we get there if there's no bridge?" Hisashi also looked at the map and pointed out the most obvious problem.
"Don't ask stupid questions, look around, you fool!" Saya stretched out her finger and pointed at something a few kilometers from the beach—something reachable directly by road from the city. "Tokonosu Port. There are always several cargo ferries there."
"Then we know where to go and how to go. The only question is, where do we get a good captain who can operate the ferries?"
"Why a ferry? Shouldn't there be small or medium-sized ships that are easier to handle?" Rei raised her hand to ask a question.
"And here's the second problem: provisions and everything important for decent living during the apocalypse." Everyone looked at me.
"But didn't Saya say that the supplies on the island should be enough for the first few months?" Hisashi looked at me, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, key words: for the first few months. And after that, we'll either have to go to the city or do something else." They all became nervous. "And it's not just provisions. We need gas cylinders, we need candles for a situation when there are power outages, we need medicine, we need EVERYTHING we can carry. That's why the best solution for us is..."
"Tokonosu Plaza Mall." Saya pointed to a spot in the city and quickly circled it with a marker. Everyone listened to her, and I stayed silent, letting her speak, as she had been slowly opening up and showing her intelligence, and I wasn't going to interfere with that. "This mall literally has everything: seeds, various equipment, provisions, clothes—everything we need and don't need can be found in this shopping center. And in the back part, where the mall receives all the goods and loads them into the warehouse, we can find a truck, if not several, which will help us."
"Good..."
Everyone was silent for a while, and then Hayashi-sensei spoke.
"Why can't we stay here?" She looked at me. No, she wasn't questioning, nor was she trying to challenge my words; she was curious.
"Yes, that worries me too." Rei also looked at me, as did the others.
"We can't stay in this place because I'm not sure I can protect you here. This place doesn't operate by my rules. This place might demand that I submit to Saya's father, and I would gladly do that if he were a normal person," Saya grimaced at my words but didn't say anything against them. "But I'm not going to work under the leadership of an Ultra-Nationalist, let alone one who doesn't care about his own daughter. If he doesn't care about Saya, he certainly won't care about the others." I winced, feeling a slight disgust in my gut. "Also, the defense of this place is flimsy—just walls and thin wire closing off some streets. I don't think some stupid walls will protect people from the fucking Brute we met at the Hospital."
"But Isao, what if that was just a single case... wouldn't that be blind fear?" Hayashi stared at Rei, while the others bit their lips.
And she was right about something. The Brute could be one of a kind, but what if it wasn't? What if it wasn't the only one of its kind, but the first of its kind we met? It was possibly stupid, yes, but in my past life, I didn't believe in reincarnation, hell, or heaven either, but reincarnation exists, which means heaven and hell are real too.
After reincarnation, I thought there was nothing else supernatural besides these, and then a fucking Gacha fell on me, turning me into a Meta-human, and right after that, fucking zombies. That meant it was better to be a triple paranoid than to have the possibility of not being ready for it.
"I'd rather be a paranoid who managed to save fifty people than a careless fool who doomed those fifty to death. Guys, you have to understand one thing: when you're alone, you have to be attentive to details, but when the lives of others depend on you?" They looked at me, holding their breath. "You have to be attentive to everything. Literally."
We all fell silent, and everyone was thinking about their own thing. My raven was flying in the sky, watching our vehicles, and at the same time, my head was occupied with thoughts.
Shopping mall, port, and then the island. That way, we'll be more or less safe for a while, and we'll establish our own community there.
I felt someone start massaging my shoulders, and slightly turning my head, I saw Saya, who smiled at me lovingly, continuing to knead my shoulders, and I returned her smile.
Takashi and Hisashi smiled slightly awkwardly, while Rei looked away with a complicated expression in her eyes, and Shizuka and Hayashi-san smiled knowingly at Saya.
"Then, first we'll go to the Shopping Mall..."
"I would like to ask for one thing..."
"Can we go for our parents and find them?" Hisashi looked at me, and I made a decision.
Rei and Takashi also looked at me with pleading eyes, but there was no need for that. I was already going to talk about it anyway.
"We'll do it, but first, are there questions about where they might be?" I looked at the three of them, studying them.
"My mom was supposed to be on patrol today near the Shintoko Elementary School..."
"My dad is Rei's father's partner, so they'll probably be together," Hisashi spoke, looking at me with slightly furrowed brows. "The last time I checked, he was heading to the police station right here..." Hisashi pointed somewhere on the map, and I looked closely, noticing that the spot wasn't very far from the Tokonosu Plaza Shopping Mall.
"And your mother, Rei?" She looked at me with slightly trembling eyes, as if she had just realized a huge mistake.
"S-she's in home... and... I didn't do anything..." Her voice was slightly shaky, and she fell silent, looking at the floor. Then, she walked towards the exit with light steps, but as she passed me, I stood up, and she froze.
She was silent for a few moments, but then she raised her head, and I saw her tear-stained face, how tears silently streamed down her cheeks, how she was trembling slightly.
Looking at her, I remembered someone—someone I lost a long time ago, a whole life ago...
I raised my hand and gently stroked her head. She was so much like my younger sister, like my sister when I was still Alexander, when I was a stupid, overconfident, and arrogant bastard. Even though I wasn't worth dog shit, I was a proudful bastard who hated everyone and everything, simply because had dozens of different medals and trophies that I never even wanted in the first place—stupid awards, stupid me... stupid dad...
But everything is different now. I've changed. I had to, if I didn't want my new family to be destroyed by me, so I changed.
And I remember the first time Takashi appeared with Rei. I remember freezing like a statue, looking at the one I took for my little sister—the one who, after my mistake, didn't even want to look at me, and it was deserved.
But over time, I realized one thing: Rei isn't my sister, nor is she her reincarnation. Rei Miyamoto was a completely different, yet just as wonderful, girl as my little sister. But unlike my sister, Rei could sometimes be tough when needed. Still, sometimes I noticed my sister's character traits in her, which is why I was protective of her, but at the same time, I kept my distance.
I didn't want to repeat my mistake. I didn't want to break Rei. I didn't want to see her tears again.
Rei lunged at me, hugging me and crying loudly into my chest. Her arms tightly wrapped around me, and I... hugged her back, slowly stroking her head.
K-imoto is going to strangle me for seeing someone else as a sister without her approval—she was my Sister Number 1!
I felt someone's gaze on me and turned around, seeing Takashi and Hisashi looking at Rei with slight shock, but it seemed like they understood something for themselves and quickly recovered, although Hisashi slightly bit his lip and looked away.
"Hayashi-sensei, Shizuka, please take Rei. Let her wash the tears off her face and calm down." She was still clinging to me, but when Hayashi-sensei and Shizuka approached, she easily let go of me.
A few seconds later, they left the room, and I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose, tiredly sitting down in my seat, under Saya's slightly jealous gaze. She stared at my lap for a long time, while also glancing at Hisashi and Takashi. This continued for a while, while we were all in awkward silence, until Saya plopped down onto my lap.
"Hmph!" She snorted and looked away, blushing.
"Then we already have a plan. First, we'll stop by Rei's mother's place. You know where she lives, right?" Hisashi and Takashi nodded. "Then, we'll go to her first, then to the police station for your parents, and from there, we'll contact Takashi's mother. After we pick her up, we'll go to the Shopping Mall, load everything we need, and get the hell out of this city. But before that, we have to talk to Saya's parents, and... Saya, if there's anything you want to talk about with your mom or dad, you'd better use this moment." Saya was silent for a while, doubt appearing on her face, but I leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Don't worry, honey, I believe in you." And I lightly kissed her cute cheek.
"Ah...! Ah...!" She blushed down to her neck and slowly stood up, then rushed out of the room. Turning around, I saw the judging faces of the two guys.
"Isao..." Takashi looked at me like a disappointed brother.
"I always knew you couldn't be trusted." And Hisashi was judgmental.
"Nothing will happen, Saya knows about Saeko, Saeko knows about Saya, although the relationship between..." Their combined scream interrupted me.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!" "WHAT?!"
"STOP YELLING!"
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