Volume 1 - Chapter 12

Police Station, Part 2

After turning on the radio in the car at the bank, Aiko and Chiemi got back in the red car. I followed them. Ryotaro was behind in the silver van.

We successfully created a new distraction for the zombies. It drew their attention from the police station. Now we needed to waste a few minutes to let it happen.

Zombies were the slowest walkers I had ever seen.

I watched Aiko drive more carefully now, since I almost plowed into the back of her a few minutes earlier.

Letting my mind wander from the task at hand could become a death sentence, so I refocused. I couldn't slip up. Not there, and not then. We had to survive.

Aiko took a left and then a right. Thankfully the streets were not congested with wrecked vehicles.

The red car turned into a school parking lot and stopped. I pulled the florist van in beside her and then Ryotaro was beside me within seconds. We turned our engines off but no one got out.

There were zombies peppered all about, wandering slowly towards the sound of the radio. Aiko and Chiemi did a good job, and we just had to be very quiet for a few minutes.

I looked around through the van's windows. Some of the undead wore school uniforms. I figured they were students caught in the outbreak.

Others were in business suits, looking like they just stepped out of meetings from the nearby buildings before everything went south.

It was funny they were attracted to the Japanese pop music. I realized it wasn't the type of music that counted, but I couldn't help wondering if certain types of music had different effects.

Maybe some traditional Japanese music, like taiko drums or shamisen, would make them run in the other direction. Or maybe they would start dancing.

I chuckled silently to myself at the thought, but then quickly stopped. It wasn't the time for jokes or daydreams. I needed to be prepared for Aiko when she was ready.

Why was I having trouble keeping my mind on track?

I shook it off as pure exhaustion. Everything that had happened since I died had been a whirlwind of anxiety and emotions, and I hadn't slept that well in the bunk bed.

I was tired.

At least ten minutes went by in silence, and I nearly fell asleep. The initial stream of zombies headed towards the bank had thinned out, and I could only see a few wandering slowly away.

Aiko opened her door and quietly stepped out. She came over to the van and opened the passenger side to look at me.

"Okay, we are going back to the station. Maybe it's clear enough now."

I nodded and whispered back. "Sounds good. Be safe."

"I will make sure Ryotaro knows to be ready with the drill. When he gives you a thumbs up, then you give me a thumbs up, okay?"

Aiko closed my passenger door and jogged around the front of my van over to Ryotaro's.

I assumed that Aiko told the old man our plan. I saw him disappear into the back, and I saw Aiko jog back to the red car.

There were no zombies nearby, and we just had to wait for Ryotaro to give me a thumbs up.

He reappeared after a minute and showed me the drill worked. The old man excitedly squeezed the handle like it was a pistol. The drill spun with a big metal bit, and he gave me a thumbs up.

In turn I gave Aiko a thumbs up through my window, and we all started our engines.

The plan was simple. We would follow her to the police station. Ryotaro would back up to the door. We would eliminate any remaining zombie threats while the old man drilled through the doorknob, and then hopefully we loaded up with weapons.

I hoped against all odds this was worth our time and effort. We would not survive long without guns or some type of way to quickly kill entire hordes of zombies.

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Aiko and Chiemi took off. I followed, watching her car closely and making sure Ryotaro followed behind. We were back at the Onohara Police Station in no time.

Nearly all the zombies we saw before had left, but we had a different problem.

I pulled in and parked beside Aiko's car, killing the engine. A few random zombies looked at us with mild interest. We kept still and quiet, and eventually the radio drew them away.

Good. I got out of the van as quietly as I could, just as Ryotaro started his up again and backed to the shattered glass door of the police station.

Aiko and Chiemi joined me. We looked at the car that had crashed into the side of the station. There was a big hole in the corner of the building and two dead bodies next to it.

The car in front of us was a complete wreck. It was a small, white sedan, its front end crumpled like an accordion against the side of the police station. The windshield was shattered, and the driver's side door hung open, revealing the interior's chaos.

Two bodies were near the car, both of them mostly eaten with their organs gone. The other was missing half his face. The second man's hand clutched a small pistol, his finger still near the trigger.

It was a gruesome sight, and I felt a pang of sadness for these poor souls.

Aiko, Chiemi, and I approached cautiously, making sure there were no immediate threats. We exchanged glances, silently acknowledging the tragedy that unfolded here.

Aiko whispered, "this had to have just happened while we were loading up at the supermarket."

I nodded in agreement, heart heavy with the realization we were so close to being caught up in this horror with other survivors.

Chiemi carefully pried the pistol from the dead man's hand, now armed with two weapons. She looked at the bodies with a mixture of sympathy and determination.

Ryotaro joined us, the drill in his hand. He gazed down at the scene and said, "Oh, this makes sense. Now we know why the zombies were here."

We all nodded, piecing together the story. It seemed these survivors tried to break into the locked room by driving into the building.

The car barely took down any wall and then got stuck, and they were surrounded. The man with the gun must have taken his own life to avoid being eaten alive.

The destroyed car and the lifeless bodies served as a grim reminder of the dangers we faced in this new world. We couldn't afford to let our guard down, even for a moment.

I wondered if they would turn into zombies or if they had too much of their bodies chewed apart. Most of their internal organs were external, not that they needed them to be a zombie.

Oh well, I thought, we had to hurry before we found out.

Aiko turned to us, her eyes filled with resolve. "We need to be careful and move quickly. Let's get whatever is in there and get out of here."

We all nodded. With Ryotaro's drill, we would finally be able to access the locked room and find something worthwhile.

I noticed Ryotaro's excitement as he stormed towards the entrance of the police station. I quickly moved in front of him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Ryotaro, we need to be careful," I whispered, trying to calm his eagerness.

Chiemi handed me one of the two pistols she found earlier. I stared at it, feeling the weight of responsibility in my hands. I had no idea how to use it, and I didn't want to.

It wasn't like the movies where inexperienced people picked up a gun and they were suddenly marksmen. I had never fired a gun before.

I whispered to Chiemi, "this will make too much noise. We should only use it as a last resort."

She reluctantly agreed, and I handed the pistol back to her.

Aiko jogged back to the car for two of the baseball bats.

I knew I needed to focus on the task at hand, but I couldn't help stealing a glance at her rear end. Deep down I felt like I was just a perverted young man.

I took a deep breath and reminded myself we were in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Now was not the time for distractions.

I needed to be strong and protect those around me, especially Aiko. If we didn't survive this and get back to the house in the mountains, I would never experience anything with her, so I had to focus.

Aiko returned, handed me one of the baseball bats, and I gripped it tightly. I would rather have the butcher knife, but this was better than the pistol.

We entered the station again slowly. The lobby was empty, but the smell of death hung heavy in the air. The crunch of glass under our shoes was interrupted by the groan of at least two zombies that heard us approaching.

Our presence excited them from the other side of a half-closed door, where they had found themselves dumbly trapped in another room. I smirked, knowing they were too stupid to step two feet to their side and get around it.

Zombies had apparently followed the others into the station.

"Let's take them out," Aiko said.

I offered another thought, "Or we can just shut the door."

She considered it, but stepped forward into the room anyway. "No. I need to vent some frustration."

I followed her into the room and we turned back to face the ugly undead. They moved towards us as. I swung at the nearest one, a nasty old hag zombie.

My bat connected to her head with a solid thump and she fell to the ground. I could feel the cracking of her skull through the wooden bat.

It was a strange sensation, and I had no idea I was strong enough to do such a thing. I was either getting better or losing my sanity.

I heard a thumping sound behind me and I knew Aiko was taking care of the other one. I stood over the one I hit and swung down a dozen times to smash her head open.

Blood and gore splattered all over my shoes, and I slung the liquid all over the wall and ceiling with each continued swing.

Finally, it died for a second time, legs and arms barely twitching. I looked over at Aiko and she seemed proud of me. Her zombie was already dead as well.

Her approval made me feel better.

We didn't hear anymore noises, but Aiko and I quickly scanned the other rooms to be safe. The place was all clear and we didn't use any gunfire. Good.

Ryotaro approached the locked door and started drilling.

The sound was louder than I expected, and I felt antsy we would attract too much attention. I glanced at Aiko, and she gave me a reassuring nod.

Thankfully, it didn't take long. The drill bit Ryotaro had selected was perfect for the job.

He stepped back when the doorknob basically fell apart. Pieces of the drilled knob hit the floor and bounced away.

The locking mechanism was still turned in, so the old man reached through the open doorknob circle and plucked out the bolt with his fingers.

He had done it. Ryotaro kicked the door open wide and said, "my heart is dancing!"