Volume 1 - Chapter 2

Aiko, Love at First Sight

The woman in the baseball jersey drove us away from town and into the forest.

It was quiet in the car for a while, and I sat awkwardly in the passenger seat. I felt out of place, like a fish out of water.

I wasn't used to this kind of situation, being alone with a beautiful woman.

For starters I had never been good with the ladies. Maybe it was a confidence thing, I didn't know.

She either sensed my discomfort or she knew we had left most of the dangers behind in Kanonji, because she finally broke the silence.

"I'm Aiko," she said, her voice soft and gentle.

I turned to look at her, and I was struck once again by her beauty. She had long black hair that curved in around her face, and her eyes were a deep brown that could see right into my soul.

Aiko only looked at me briefly because she was driving. She had a smile that lit up the inside of the vehicle. I was practically in love already, and I hadn't felt that way about anyone ever, including the women I'd met at school.

"I'm Hachiro," I managed to say.

She smiled again, and I felt my heart skip a beat. "It's nice to meet you, Hachiro."

The woman kept up her driving speed for a while, her foot barely letting off the gas as we took sharp turns. We started talking about random things. She told me about her passion for baseball and how she was a professional player before she died.

No wonder she looked so good with a baseball bat in her hands. I thought to myself, it would be incredibly difficult to make her look bad at all.

I told her about my job at the bank and how I had always been more of a numbers guy than an athlete. It was obvious since I was scrawny. I had always considered myself average looking, and nothing special.

She listened intently, nodding her head and asking questions. I couldn't help but feel drawn to her. She was so confident and sure of herself, and sincerely interested in me.

Aiko was everything I wasn't.

As we talked, I started to feel more comfortable around her. I started to feel like maybe I could do this. Maybe I could survive in a new world with somebody strong and able like her.

My first death, if that was truly what happened, was instant and painless. I wondered how many lives I had or if it was infinite. Did I arrive in a new world each time I died?

Then I remembered the zombies in this one. I remembered the chaos and darkness of a place that was once normal and boring. I remembered the fear and the panic I felt when I realized I was about to be eaten by them.

I looked out the window into the dark night, and I could see the forest passing by in a dark blur. I could hear the sound of the engine and the grip of the road beneath the tires.

Where the hell was I? It was Kanonji, but also it wasn't. Everything had that uncanny valley feeling to it.

She drove like a professional. The roads going up the mountains were narrow and twisting. In the darkness I could barely see the forest around us but she knew what she was doing.

After a while I asked, "how did all this happen?"

She gave me a strange look as if I should have already known.

I shrugged and said, "I've been at work all day. In a cubicle. I was just about to leave when I saw a blue meteor streak, and then an electrical surge exploded through my computer monitor… I thought I died. But then I woke up and I was just fine. I left work and was on my way home when you saved me. I had no idea people had turned into zombies."

She nodded and started talking about a zombie outbreak. "It started a few hours before sundown. There was no possible way to stop it, even if it didn't happen so quickly."

I listened intently, trying to process what she was saying. I couldn't believe the world had changed so drastically in such a short amount of time.

"A zombie virus spread all over the globe in less than a few hours. The airborne virus came from some asteroids deep in space. It's like nothing anyone has ever seen before. Even the experts barely had time to get on the news networks and start talking about it. How did you not get the notifications?"

I pulled out my old flip phone and Aiko laughed. I felt my cheeks redden in embarrassment.

"What?" I asked, trying to play it off.

"That's a really old phone."

"Yeah, I know," I said, looking down at the phone in my hand. "I just never saw the point in upgrading to a smartphone. I didn't want to get sucked into the mindless world of social media and waste my life away playing mobile games."

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Aiko nodded her understanding. "That's actually really wise. It might have even saved you somehow. You didn't get the same emergency notifications that sent everyone into a panic."

I hadn't thought of that before. I just always assumed my old phone was a sign of my frugality, or maybe even my lack of social status. But now I saw that it might have been a blessing in disguise.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," I said, feeling a little better about myself.

Then Aiko looked at me with a serious expression. "Listen, Hachiro. This is important. Some experts on the news claimed that a giant cluster of asteroids brought the zombie virus to our planet. Almost everyone became zombies so quickly we could do nothing about it. Some people like you and me, we got struck by blue meteorites that came down shortly after the regular ones."

I nodded, remembering the blue streak of fire I saw falling towards my work office.

"So all the meteors weren't blue?"

She shook her head. "Most of them looked normal. The world was already falling to pieces before anyone saw the blue ones. All I know is that I died after a blue meteorite struck the baseball field near me, but I'm also still alive and so are you. We have to stick together now. I have no idea what happens to us if we are bit or scratched by the zombies, and I don't want to find out."

I felt a chill run down my spine. Oddly enough it kind of made sense to me that whatever caused this came from space and wiped out humanity in a matter of hours.

Still processing everything, I shook my head in disbelief. "I was at work all day."

She nodded sympathetically. "It was a shock to me too. It happened so fast. One minute everything was normal, and the next... it was a meteorite shower. Pure chaos. Within half an hour, people started getting sick and turning. It was airborne, but it didn't infect everyone. Some people like you and I were immune to the initial outbreak."

I felt guilty for not being more aware of what was happening around me. I was so focused on my job that I didn't even notice the world falling apart.

"How did you know what was happening?" I asked her.

She took a deep breath before answering. "I was at the game I just mentioned. We were playing in Kanonji at the athletic park when we paused to watch the orange streaks in the sky. The meteors landed all over the place. People started getting sick, and then... they turned. It all happened within half an hour. First people just coughed and vomited, then they went cold and distant, then they suddenly wanted to eat us."

I could see the pain in her eyes as she recounted the story. I couldn't even begin to imagine what she went through.

"In the middle of all that happening, there were some of us that didn't seem to be infected," she continued. "A retired teacher from the school, a mother who saw her children turn into monsters. We were surrounded by zombies that suddenly wanted to eat us, and we didn't turn. Then some blue meteorites hit the baseball field right near us. It killed all of us including the zombies. We died. It was obvious. There was no way we could have lived. But then all three of us stood up and looked around. We were alive again when everyone else was dead."

Nodding, I felt a lump form in my throat. I couldn't believe this was the world we were living in now. It all seemed so fantastical.

"This is crazy."

I remembered my own death. When I thought I had just been dreaming after falling asleep, everything in the office seemed normal except the power was out. The computer monitor wasn't even damaged.

"Was there an impact crater in the baseball field after you came back alive?"

Aiko shook her head. "No, it's been a roller-coaster ride of questions for sure. The first few hours were the most intense. I've been working on a plan, but I needed to coming back to the city for a few things. I was looking for other survivors. I was about to give up, but then I saw you and decided to help."

I smiled, remembering the sound of her car as she came to the rescue. "Thank you."

"No problem. I'm taking us to a safe place now," she said, her voice determined. "It's my mom's… well, my house. There's some other survivors already there."

I nodded again, feeling a sense of relief wash over me. At least someone had a plan. I was incredibly fortunate that another survivor came along and saved me.

As we drove deeper into the mountains, I felt grateful for Aiko. She seemed strong and capable, and she was taking charge in a situation that I would have no idea how to handle.

I knew I wouldn't be much help in a fight, but maybe I could use my analytical skills in some way.

As Aiko kept driving, I did what most men did and I tried not to think of her ample bosom each time we took a tight turn on the windy roads. She was so attractive it was borderline ridiculous.

I was honestly trying not to be a creep, but since it was dark outside there wasn't much else to look at. Everyone knew it was difficult not to look when someone was just too good looking, and guys weren't the only offenders.

After the fourth or fifth time I did this during the course of the ride, I saw her smile. She didn't turn her head, but I knew she knew.

I blushed. She laughed. That just made it worse.

"What?" I asked, trying to play it off.

"Nothing," she said, still smiling. "I just think it's cute how you keep looking at my breasts."

I felt my cheeks redden. "I'm sorry," I said, looking down at my hands. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

She reached over and put her free hand on my leg again, just above my knee. It sent my brain into overdrive with possible meanings.

"You're not making me uncomfortable," she said. "I actually think it's cute. You're not like most guys, are you? I can tell you're shy and inexperienced. Just don't get any ideas."

I instantly felt flattered and offended at the same time, but she was right. I had never been the type of guy who got a lot of attention from women, so it was nice to know Aiko wasn't angry.

She was also correct about me being inexperienced. I hadn't been with anyone since university, and that was like six years earlier. My only action since those few times had been with my hand.

My stupid cubicle job crunching numbers for my boss was always more important than dating. I couldn't even remember having any hobbies of significance other than watching anime before going to sleep.

"Thanks," I said.

I felt a bit awkward about her hand on my thigh. I had been caught looking, and I didn't want her to think I had the wrong idea.

I relaxed my posture and tried to look more casual. It took everything in my power to try and ignore the stranger's hand on my leg.

After a minute she put her hand back on the steering wheel and focused on not crashing.

I looked out the window, and I could see the forest passing by in a dark blur. I could still hear the sound of the engine and the grip of the road beneath the tires.

"How much further?"

"Not much," she said. "We should be there in a few minutes."

I nodded, thinking about our next steps. "Do you think we'll be able to survive for a long time? I mean, how many people do you think it will take to survive? We'll need food, and fuel, and medicine, and all kinds of other things that we used to take for granted."

She thought for a moment, eyes filled with a mixture of sadness and determination.

"I don't know. But we have to try. We can't give up hope. There's already some other people at the house. Talking about things with the others might be a good start."

She was right.

I had a feeling our survival wasn't going to be quick or easy.