Volume 1 - Chapter 18

Calories, Thoughts, Jokes

A few hours later, Aiko emerged from her room down the hallway. She was looking more radiant than ever.

She wore some of the same clothes as earlier but I still had to resist looking at her for longer than was acceptable.

It wasn't any secret we had a thing for each other. After being teased by the women earlier I wasn’t sure it ever was a secret, and I had just thought it was.

I knew she had cleaned up and taken a nap, and the freshness it brought to her face was undeniable. I couldn’t help but stare at her beauty, and this time, I found the courage to tell her.

"Aiko," I said, my voice steady. "You look incredible."

She smiled at me, eyes sparkling with delight.

"Thank you, Hachiro," she said, her voice filled with appreciation. "I would expect no less from you, and I want to hear it often.”

“Yes, of course,” I said, blushing.

Chiemi, Ryotaro, Mio, and Yuki watched us, their eyes filled with amusement. I felt my cheeks flush with embarrassment, but I didn’t care. I was just happy I was able to express my feelings to Aiko.

"Well, well, well," Chiemi said, a mischievous grin spreading across her face. "He’s got more courage than I expected."

I couldn't help but laugh along with everyone else. Two days earlier I didn't think I ever could have told anyone that, let alone someone of Aiko’s beauty.

"Come on, Chiemi," Aiko said, rolling her eyes. "Leave him alone."

But Chiemi was relentless. "I'm just saying, Hachiro. If you're going to worship Aiko, you're going to have to get used to a little teasing from us.”

I nodded, feeling a sense of acceptance wash over me. I was glad to be a part of the group, and I was willing to put up with a little teasing if it meant I was doing something right.

Then Aiko said with a devilish grin, “I plan to tease him enough for all of us."

Chiemi and Mio both giggled. I had a suspicion that Aiko was not exaggerating. I gulped at the prospect of what she meant.

Ryotaro chimed in next. "I remember when I was young and in love," he said, voice filled with nostalgia. "I used to write poems for my sweetheart."

Yuki and Mio both acted like this was the sweetest thing they had heard the old man say. It did sound romantic, but I had a feeling he spoke those words to setup a joke.

“Turns out,” Ryotaro finished, “she was blind and couldn’t read them.”

The women sighed and rolled their eyes.

We all had a good laugh. I felt grateful for the lighthearted moment. It was a welcome distraction from the horrors outside. People like Ryotaro were good to have around sometimes.

Mio spoke up next. "I'm just glad that Hachiro has found someone he cares about," she said, her voice filled with sincerity. "It's important to have someone to lean on in times like these."

I nodded, feeling a sense of gratitude towards Mio. She was right. It was important to have someone to lean on, and I was glad Aiko seemed to share a similar desire in me.

Yuki remained quiet, but I could see the hint of a smile on her face. Maybe there was a chance that she would be able to find happiness again, despite everything that had happened.

Then Aiko apologized, her voice filled with genuine remorse. "Well, I’m sorry, everyone. I didn't mean to sleep for so long. It was such an exhausting morning."

Ryotaro and Chiemi both chuckled, their faces filled with understanding.

"It's okay, Aiko," Ryotaro said. "We all needed a good nap. Nothing bad happened while you were sleeping."

I nodded in agreement. The afternoon had been relaxing.

Chiemi spoke up next. "Besides, it's not like we were just sitting around doing nothing. We've been keeping an eye on things and taking our own naps."

Aiko nodded, looking relieved. "Oh, good. Thank you. That makes sense. Does anyone need to use my bath? We have plenty of water and soap.”

Mio, Chiemi, and Yuki all perked up at the offer.

I felt a little dirty from sweat but not too bad. Hopefully I didn't stink. Maybe our next trip needed to focus on all the essentials we would need to live comfortable and clean.

While the women discussed things, I turned to Ryotaro and we talked about his previous ideas for the barricades. The plan sounded amazing when he had first said it, but we now knew it was too much.

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We had barely survived one trip into the city. We needed an easier plan.

“Now that we know it won't be so easy to gather supplies,” I asked Ryotaro, “do you still think we should try to plan for all three types of barricade?”

He quickly shook his head. “No. I was very ambitious with that idea.”

“I agree."

“I have been thinking about it," Ryotaro said. "We can easily begin by collecting vehicles. It will be the fastest way to surround the property with some type of wall. After that we can make plans for a second barrier, that way we're not getting ahead of ourselves."

Nodding, I considered the number of vehicles it would take. We still needed to collect at least one-hundred vans and trucks. Maybe more.

"Finding enough vehicles won't be a problem," I said.

The old man finished my thought. "It's the going back and forth that makes the friction!"

I smirked, knowing exactly what he meant. Ignoring the innuendo, I also figured it would cause zombies to clog up the streets. He was absolutely correct.

If we constantly drove back and forth on the same route, it was only a matter of time before the zombies would get piled up in our way and then follow us here.

"Yeah," I said, "but what if we split up into two groups of three? One can hit the Halows Supermarket again while the other one goes in the Zag Zag Drug Store. Plus, there's alternate routes we can drive."

Ryotaro thought about it for a minute, stroking his chin. I had no idea what he was thinking about for so long, but a smile formed on his face.

"That might work out," he said finally. "And there's a whole parking lot full of cars to pick from.”

“Exactly.”

We talked about the idea for a while and then figured we would discuss it with Aiko and Chiemi when we ate supper.

As the sun began to set, the house was filled with the aroma of fruits and vegetables.

Aiko, Chiemi, Mio, and Yuki had been hard at work preparing a meal for us, despite the lack of power. Mio was warming her tea over the fire in the irori pit, careful not to burn the bottom of her little pot.

I glanced from time to time as they expertly chopped and sliced, their movements precise and efficient. Ever since moving to Kagawa prefecture after my university years, I had mostly eaten convenience meals and takeout, so having fresh food prepared in the kitchen was nice.

Aiko presented me with a plate piled high.

"Here you go, Hachiro," she said with a smile. "I hope you like it."

I took the plate from her, mouth watering. There were slices of tomatoes, cucumbers, and carrots, arranged artfully on the plate. There was also a generous helping of fresh fruit, including strawberries, blueberries, peaches, and grapes.

Chiemi came over with a bowl of mushy rice, scooping some onto my plate.

"We didn't have much to work with,” she said, “but I think it turned out okay.”

I nodded, stomach growling in anticipation. I took a bite of the rice. It wasn't great, and I wondered how they cooked it since we had no power and I only ever saw them boiling water over the fire.

Then I remembered that we had grabbed some precooked stuff. The rice was already cooked. It sat in a bag and got soft and developed a plastic flavor.

This type of rice was cooked by pouring warm water from the tea kettle into a bowl and then placing the bag of rice in that.

Normally I would have never eaten this kind of rice, but we were in a new world and things were different. I ate it with thankfulness in mind.

Mio brought over a small dish of pickled eggs, setting them down in front of me.

"These are good," she said with a smile. "I hope you like them."

I took a bite of the pickled egg and it was tangy and filling. They were not amazing but I knew I needed protein.

Yuki came over with a pitcher of water and poured me a glass.

"Thank you," I said, taking a sip.

The water was room temperature but still refreshing, being exactly what I needed. I didn't realize how thirsty I was until half of the glass was gone.

We were sitting at the low table and enjoying each other’s company. The food was simple, but it was the best meal I had eaten in days.

It wouldn't be long before fresh fruit platters and salads were only a memory.

I felt grateful for Aiko, Chiemi, Mio, and Yuki. They might have been giving me a hard time but I liked them.

Of course I loved Aiko. It had still been less than one full day since she saved me from a second death.

Ryotaro was a different story. He was like a goofy older brother or a crazy uncle. The old man always had something odd to say and I enjoyed his random phrases.

As we ate we also talked about our plans for the future. Aiko suggested we try to find a generator so we could have power to cook more elaborate meals.

Chiemi agreed, but added that we should also focus on finding more weapons and ammunition.

Ryotaro and I reminded them that both things would make a ton of noise. We would need the safety of a good barricade to prevent zombies before we operated a generator or shot the guns anywhere near the house.

Mio and Chiemi suggested we collect seeds from the hardware store before winter. That way we could start growing our own food in the spring.

We told her it was a good idea, but there were more immediate concerns. Firstly we needed to survive another day, then a week, and then a month.

Planning beyond that would need to be loose because it might not ever happen. We might all be dead soon, for a second time. The zombies were slow and stupid, but pretty much everybody seemed to be one.

Ryotaro and I shared our vehicle collecting idea with the women. We wanted to focus solely on collecting vehicles for the first barricade.

By splitting into two groups of three, we could gather more supplies from Halows, Zag Zag, and Komeri, and bring back two vehicles at a time.

“Plus,” I said, “if we do it this way nobody gets left behind again.”

We discussed topics in depth, with all the pros and cons about everything. I couldn't believe how great our little group of survivors had instantly meshed.

When we split up on the next trip, one half would consist of Aiko, Mio, and myself. The other group would be Chiemi, Yuki, and Ryotaro.

Aiko voiced her summary. "I think this is a good idea. We can definitely be more efficient and safe this way.”

Chiemi nodded. "I like the idea. I want to hit up the Zag Zag with Yuki.”

Aiko agreed. “Sounds good, and we’ll go back to the Halows.”

It sounded like we had agreed on a new plan.

Mio looked thoughtful. "What about the zombies? Won't they be attracted to the sound of the engines?"

Ryotaro considered this for a moment. We remembered she hadn't been with us on the first trip.

"Yes," he said. "What we did was we used some other cars to distract them away from whatever we wanted to do.”

Yuki, who had been fairly quiet up until then, spoke up. "That’s smart. I’m definitely not staying here again until it's protected.”

I understood her fear. She was still dealing with the trauma of having lost her entire family. I knew we shouldn't have left them alone to begin with, and we had all decided not to do that again.

We spent the rest of the evening making preparations for the next day. We gathered weapons and supplies and went over our routes in detail using the map Ryotaro had found.

Aiko and Chiemi would be the drivers into the city. We would pick out some new one-boxes and fill all four of them up with supplies.

Ryotaro and myself would drive the two new vehicles back while the women stayed in the two we drove into the city with.

Knowing what happened today, we only planned for one trip. We also made sure that everyone knew how to use the radios we found in the Onohara Police Station.

Everything seemed to be set for our second supply run.