Volume 1 - Chapter 23

So Much For Planning

I stood in front of the Halows Supermarket. Aiko and Mio both stood with me.

We watched Chiemi, Ryotaro, and Yuki enter the Zag Zag drug store.

Chiemi lead them in with her rifle held forward like an expert. Ryotaro followed, his rifle aimed down to the side. Yuki carried a baseball bat by the wrong end.

They disappeared into the store and we didn't hear any loud noises right away.

Aiko turned to me and Mio. We looked at the Halows. The lights inside were no longer on.

“The solar panels must be out,” she said.

It looked ominous inside but we needed supplies. If something as simple as a shopping spree stopped us, we wouldn’t survive much longer.

I took the lead with a rifle even though Aiko was much better with it. I only planned to shoot if it was absolutely necessary anyway.

We didn't want to make a ton of noise and we were already getting stressed about ammunition.

Aiko and Mio followed behind me with baseball bats.

As we entered the store, the nasty smell of rotting corpses, chicken, and seafood hit us like a tsunami.

I gagged, trying to hold back the urge to vomit. Aiko and Mio covered their noses with their shirts.

“What's that smell?” Mio struggled to breathe.

“Rotten meat,” I said, “from the meat counter probably.”

“And these dead bodies,” Aiko added.

“That too. It wasn’t like this yesterday.”

“Nasty,” Mio gagged again.

Without the power from the solar panels we only had a little bit of sun from overhead skylight panels.

We carefully made our way around the dead bodies, scanning in the dim light for any signs of movement beyond the registers.

I didn't see any moving people or zombies right away.

The store was a mess. Two shelves were knocked completely over and food was scattered everywhere.

Aiko said, “somebody else has been here.“

I nodded, looking at the mess. “Who does this?”

She shrugged. We both knew there was no need to push over two whole aisles worth of shelves.

The smell was overwhelming, making it difficult to focus. We moved cautiously, trying not to make too much noise.

The three of us made a full perimeter sweep around the inside of the store before we let our guard down. There were no zombies.

That awful smell was definitely coming from the meat display case. The power must have gone out after we left the day before.

I was sure there would soon be maggots having the feast of their lifetime in this place.

“Where do we start?” Mio asked.

I shrugged and looked at Aiko. She started formulating a plan in her head.

“Okay,” she said, “we should split up. One for vegetables, fruit, and baked goods. One for more stuff like canned goods, jars, and ramen. One for drinks and snacks.”

I figured it was a good plan and I chose what I felt like was the heaviest one.

“Water and snacks,” I said.

Mio asked, “can I do the fresh vegetables and bread?”

Aiko nodded. “Okay, sounds good. Let’s go shopping.”

I spent the next thirty or forty minutes loading up multiple shopping carts with jugs of drinking water, packs of soda, juice, and shelf-stable milk.

I ran carts back and forth to the vans, filling them up around all the other items that Mio and Aiko were grabbing.

Mostly what I loaded up on was water. We would need it for cooking, bathing, cleaning, and so on. Without a well or power at the house, we wouldn't have any other access to water.

As I picked out drinks, I grabbed a variety of beverages I knew everyone would enjoy. Cases of Pocari Sweat for rehydrating and Calpis for refreshing and filling.

I saw a display of glass bottles. It was Ramune. I grabbed different flavors. Sapporo beer, multiple types of sake, and some other malted alcoholic drinks.

A variety of sodas and flavored water mixes filled out my last cart of drinks, then I went for salty snacks and crackers. Aiko joined me at the vehicle as I was packing it all in.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

I was covered in sweat from all the lifting and moving. We were trying to be as quick as possible, and on top of that the air conditioning inside the store was out.

It was getting warm and stuffy in there without any ventilation. The bullet proof vests held heat tightly against my chest, and sweat was building.

“This is my last one,” she said, rolling up with a cart full of canned vegetables.

I nodded, looking down at them. She had some good choices.

“Second van’s almost full,” I said.

Aiko looked inside. It was packed wide and tall with our selections. The rear ends of both vehicles were testing the limits of their suspensions.

I said, “we still need space for the other survivors.”

She considered this. “Might not be a good idea for us.”

I knew Aiko was right. Our stuff from the grocery store was already going to be difficult to get home. We would be pushing the pedal hard to get the vans up the mountain.

“The drug store stuff shouldn’t be heavy, right?” Aiko asked.

I shrugged, trying to think of heavy items I had seen in a Zag Zag. “Surely not?”

Aiko nodded, looking over at the store. I tried to figure out what she was thinking.

“Before I load the last of this up, maybe you should check on them?”

She shook her head, clearly not happy with that idea. “And leave you here alone?”

I smiled. “I’m not that far away. I have a gun. You have a vest and a bat. Just make sure they have space for two more people.”

Aiko nodded and gave me a kiss. It was another wonderful kiss that reminded me I was so incredibly fortunate to have her.

“Okay,” she said.

I watched her walk away from me, her beautiful round butt bouncing away with each step.

“Damn, I’m lucky,” I whispered to myself. "I'm so glad I died in that office."

After a moment of waiting, I decided to go check on Mio. She was still loading up a wide variety of baked goods in the half-darkness of the bakery area.

I knew she was trying to pick out items with long dates on them. They might have been full of preservatives but we needed things that would last a while. Good call.

Mio's cart was already half-full of bread, pastries, and other packaged goods. I saw bags of croissants, loaves of bread, and even some packaged melonpan. She had also grabbed a few boxes of mochi.

I walked over to her and offered to help. "Need a hand finishing?” I asked.

She looked up. "Sure! I just want to make sure we have enough to last a while."

I nodded. Together we finished loading up the cart. I grabbed more bags of croissants. Mio added more bread and rolls.

I noticed more Pocky on the way out and scooped up an armful of the boxes. I was pretty sure the van was going to be packed with this last trip.

Inside, the grocery store was still packed to the brim full of food items. Whoever had knocked the shelves over hadn't taken very much.

There was still plenty for any other survivors that happened along.

Outside, I was moving the stuff into the back of the van. Mio was looking around.

“Where’s Aiko?” she asked.

“Went over to Zag Zag.”

Mio nodded. I was only half way through stacking the last cart so I looked through the parking lot between us and the other two vans.

It was clear. I didn't see any zombies. The mountain of wriggling bodies still hadn’t noticed us.

I figured I was okay with being a lookout if Mio wanted to jog over by herself. It didn't seem like anything bad had happened inside the drug store.

I saw Chiemi and Yuki push through the door with another cart and they started loading it into the van. They looked fine to me, and they went back inside.

“You can go and join them if you want.”

She shook her head. “Not alone. I’ll wait for you.”

Mio's choice made sense to me. She wasn't a fighter. She liked having someone's company and I had the rifle.

“Okay,” I said, “let me get the last of this.”

The sudden wail of a security alarm from Zag Zag sent a jolt of panic through my body.

I dropped the bread I was holding, and the loaf bounced on the pavement.

Kicking the shopping cart away, I ignored the rest of the groceries in it. My heart raced as I focused on the new situation at hand.

Mio's eyes widened with fear, and she asked, "What's that noise?"

I shook my head. "I don't know, but we need to focus. Ignore your fears!”

I tried to sound confident, but inside, I was just as terrified as she was. We couldn't afford to freeze or panic in a moment like this.

If there was any chance at all Aiko might need me, I wouldn't let her down.

Slamming the back of the van shut, I grabbed Mio's arm.

"Come with me!"

I started sprinting towards Zag Zag, Mio struggling to keep up beside me.

As we approached, Chiemi, Aiko, Yuki, and Ryotaro burst out from the store's entrance. Their faces were etched with concern, and they were moving quickly in our direction.

At least they were all alive.

I had no idea what the alarm was for. I wondered how it was popping off so loud when there was no electricity.

I saw Chiemi and Ryotaro look across at a distance. They froze. Then Yuki and Aiko froze, their jaws dropped in horror.

I followed their line of sight. Mio did the same. We all saw it.

The massive crowd of zombies across the parking lot. They were shifting.

They were no longer drawn to the car radio. Their attention was fixed on our location and the wailing of the security alarm.

A chill ran down my spine as I realized the gravity of our situation. Within seconds that mountain of animated bodies would be on us.

Aiko's eyes met mine, and I could see the determination in her expression. She knew what we had to do. We needed to act fast and work together if we wanted to survive this.

Ryotaro, panting heavily, said, "I didn't know that would happen, honest!"

Clearly the old man did something to trip an alarm, but right then wasn't the time to worry about that.

"We have to go!" I yelled, "now!"

The zombies moved towards us like a massive wave. There were thousands of hungry mouths groaning and stomping in our direction. From one-hundred yards away it wouldn’t take long.

No one was taking charge of the situation. Even Aiko seemed to be stunned by the sheer size of the zombie horde.

If we didn't do something soon, we wouldn't be able to escape the parking lot.

I slammed the back doors shut on the two vans in front of Zag Zag. Both of them still had plenty of space inside.

"Ladies!" I said, looking at the women. "Go! Get to the house!"

I pointed to the two vans in front of Halows. Aiko and Chiemi looked at the vehicles and then back to me.

Chiemi nodded, then gathered Yuki and Mio. They started running for the two vans.

My beautiful angel hesitated, shaking her head.

"I'm coming with you!" Aiko said.

I shook my head. "We'll be fine! They need a driver and we don't have time!"

The zombies were already across the intersection. They were tripping over themselves in a stampede to reach us, having no care for the ones they flattened under their feet.

A thunderous noise grew more intense by the second.

I could feel them through the pavement and hear their cries of hunger.

Aiko still wasn't moving. In my periphery I knew Ryotaro was already in the other van.

He cranked the engine and he was looking at me, ready to go.

"I love you!" I yelled to Aiko, "now go!"

It might be the last time I ever saw her, but I had to be strong for the both of us.

She finally yelled it back to me. "I love you, Hachiro!"

Aiko ran for the vehicles. I wanted to watch her leave. I wanted to make sure she got away safely.

I didn't have time. We had to get out of that parking lot.

Ryotaro slammed on his gas pedal and pulled out onto the main road. I slammed my door shut, cranked the engine, and gassed it without throwing a seatbelt on.

Zombies thunked into the side of my van as I turned out. I ran a few of them over and bounced my way to the safety of the main road, speeding to catch up with Ryotaro.

I just barely avoided being swarmed by the massive horde that slammed into the Zag Zag, trying to eat the alarm system.

I had no idea if Aiko and Chiemi got away in the other two vans.

"Fuck!" I yelled to no one but myself.