Volume 1 - Chapter 34

Shed Talk

I stepped outside, the warm afternoon air hitting my face as I tried to gather my thoughts.

The sun was low in the sky, casting a warm orange glow over the trees and the shed. That oversized 363 in the sky still remained, sticking out like an unnatural element of some video game.

I had no idea where Mio had run off to, but I knew I had to speak with Aiko about what had happened. Times like this were annoying, since I had done nothing wrong but felt like I had to do all the explaining.

I took a deep breath and started walking towards the shed, heart pounding in my chest. I couldn't believe what had happened.

I had never expected Mio to kiss me like that, and I didn't know how to process it. She was a pretty woman, but I didn't have any interest in her even if I wasn't with Aiko.

We just didn't have a spark like that. I didn't have an interest in her the way she seemed to think.

As I approached the shed, I saw Aiko sitting outside, rifle resting on her lap. She looked up as I approached, eyes narrowing slightly as she took in my expression.

After seeing the gun, I wasn't sure if I wanted to say anything about the incident.

I gulped, manning up anyway, and she noticed my seriousness.

"What's wrong?" she asked, her voice low and concerned.

I hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to begin. "I... I need to talk to you about something."

Aiko stood up. "Okay, that's obvious. What is it?"

I took a deep breath and told her everything, from the moment Mio had made me the sandwich to the moment she had kissed me. I left nothing out, even though it was embarrassing and awkward to talk about.

Aiko listened in silence, her expression unreadable. When I finished, she let out a long sigh and ran a hand through her hair.

"I'm sorry," I said, feeling guilty and ashamed. "I didn't mean for that to happen. I don't know what she was thinking."

Aiko looked at me, her eyes softening slightly. "It's not your fault. Mio is... she's been through a lot. She's scared and lonely, and she's probably just looking for some kind of connection."

I nodded, wondering why Aiko was so calm. I had expected her to be furious with me.

"You're okay with this?"

Aiko laughed and shook her head. "No. Of course not. But it's not unlike her. This is exactly the kind of thing that she would do."

That was when I remembered the two of them had been childhood friends. I thought back on that conversation they'd had in the van when Mio apologized for something that happened back in the day.

"Mio always wants the guys that already belongs to other women. It's not the first time, or even the fifth or sixth time."

"Oh," I said, "wow, okay."

"Yeah," Aiko sighed. She sat back down and looked off into the woods. "I already figured it might happen, but with everything else going on we hadn't had much time to talk about it."

I sat down next to her. It was a valid point. We'd all been running ragged and we were only two full days into this mess.

I started thinking about the other members in our group, and I realized I really didn't know any of them. We had just kind of decided to stick it out together because there was nowhere else to go.

It pretty much seemed like we were the last living humans in this area.

My mind just couldn't let go of what had happened. I had learned in foster homes that people in groups often suffered through needless drama because of actions like this.

It was one of the many reasons I kept myself off social media sites and didn’t have many friends. I really just wanted to work and watch anime before bed each night.

That would never happen again. I had to navigate this new life with zombie dangers around each turn, and women randomly kissing me.

"You know I had no idea I was leading her on or anything, right? I would never do that to you."

Aiko smiled. "I know. Just remember, Mio was an old friend of mine. There was at least five or six reasons why we hadn't talked in all those years."

I sighed, accepting her answer. Without questioning her, I assumed those five or six reasons were all guys Mio tried taking from her.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

I never would have guessed that Mio was such a person. She seemed so sweet and shy. It just proved to me again that very few people could be trusted, and that I didn’t know them like I thought.

Looking into Aiko's eyes, I felt gratitude wash through me.

"Thank you," I said, "for believing me. I didn't know what was going on. I did yell at her, just so you know. I may have called her stupid, or said she was acting stupid, or something. I can't exactly remember what I said, but she took off running out somewhere."

Aiko pointed down the road. "Went for a walk that way.”

I furrowed my brows, thinking about her being all alone. "And you let her?"

"I'm not about to leave Yuki," she frowned, "and besides, I'm smart enough I already guessed what happened as soon as she ran down the road crying and then you came walking towards me."

"What?" I asked, "how?"

"It was obvious," Aiko said.

"It was?"

She laughed. "It was the first time the two of you were alone together in a quiet, secluded place. That's exactly what she does. She waits until she thinks you're alone and then springs on you."

I thought back on it, and she was right. Mio and I had been alone together at the supermarket, but that was a little different since danger lurked about.

In the house out here in the woods we were so much safer. Aiko and Chiemi were both out in the shed taking care of Yuki, and Ryotaro was most likely getting some beauty sleep.

"But…"

Aiko cut me off. "I told you to watch out for unwanted kisses, remember?"

"When I was leaving the shed a bit ago?" I smirked. "I thought you were just making a joke."

She shook her head. "Yes and no. I had a feeling."

I laughed. It made way too much sense after the fact.

"And anyway, I'm lucky," Aiko said. "Right now I trust you more than anyone in the world."

Hearing those words made my heart warm and my face blush. I'd never had someone as beautiful, intelligent, and loving as Aiko.

"Why is that?"

"Because you're the first guy that hasn't cheated on me."

"What?" I asked, shocked by the admission. "Who could possibly cheat on you?"

She smiled, but then looked away. "Lots of guys, Hachiro… are not like you."

I shook my head. "Well they were stupid, and anyway, they didn't make it to this world, now did they?"

Aiko laughed. "Oh, they did, but I'm sure they're zombies now."

"Yeah. Everybody is a zombie," I said. "That's what it feels like anyway."

I was still thinking about how anyone could possibly cheat on Aiko. She was a goddess in my opinion. I would never risk losing her for something as silly as a few minutes with some other woman.

Noticing her eyesight shift to the road, I looked in the direction she said Mio had gone. I wondered why she went for a walk on her own.

I guessed being alone with zombies around was better than being anywhere near me after being rejected. Had she not considered the consequences of trying to kiss me?

"If Mio doesn't come back in a minute," Aiko said, "one of us needs to go and check on her."

It made sense. The petite woman probably hadn't grabbed any weapon. Even if she had, I knew she wouldn't be able to handle more than one or two zombies on her own.

"I don't want to talk to her.”

Mio smirked, then kissed me. "I'll go talk to her."

“Don’t get yourself into any trouble.”

She laughed. “Nice try. We’re already in plenty of it, don’t you think?”

She was right. Nothing was going the way we wanted it to go. One of our biggest issues was that we simply didn’t know what we were doing.

I was a cubicle worker with no hobbies or practical experience that translated into this new life.

Aiko was a baseball player before this. At least she had an athletic prowess that helped her beat the crap out of zombies with bats.

Then we had a retired school teacher, a barista who liked to steal men, a heartbroken housewife turning into a zombie, a widowed convenience store cashier, and a child.

Chiemi knew how use rifles. That probably made her the most qualified, and yet we had already run through at least half of the ammunition we’d found.

Things weren’t looking good.

“I’ll be right back,” Aiko said.

I kissed her again and then watched her walk in the direction she had said Mio went. Aiko disappeared over the little hill and I knew she was on the road leading down the mountain.

Chiemi and Haru both remained in the shed with Yuki. I looked in to check up on them.

The older woman glanced up at me. Yuki was in her arms, drenched in sweat and shaking. I could see the infection had spread to cover her entire arm.

“Where’s Aiko?” Chiemi asked.

“Went to find Mio.”

The older woman started to panic. “Well then where’s Mio?”

I shook my head. “Down the road somewhere.”

“What!? Why!?”

“Long story,” I said, stepping into the shed. “I’ll help you. What do we need to do?”

Chiemi looked down at Yuki like it should have been obvious to me. She glanced to the boy and then back up at me.

“I need Aiko here!”

“Too bad!” I said, “she’s not here now.”

“Agh!” Chiemi grunted. “Fine! We need another towel and more…”

Yuki groaned some words we couldn’t make out. “Haveamanutamilanin…”

Chiemi scrunched her face, trying to make sense of it. I suspected Yuki was in some state of delirium.

Yuki moved her arms in slow motion, trying to free herself from the older woman. She looked far too weak to get away and she kept mumbling.

I knelt down to them.

“She’s trembling,” Chiemi said, trying to shift Yuki from sitting to where she was lying on her back. “Help me, gently.”

Together we were able to stretch Yuki out so that she was no longer propped against the shed wall.

I kept her head from hitting the ground. Her skin was hot to the touch like she had just been pulled from an oven. I thought my hands might burn.

Her color was pale and sickly everywhere except for the infected area. An otherworldly energy vibrated through her. It was not quite a convulsion but more than shivers.

“She’s burning up!” I said.

Chiemi nodded. “Yeah…”

“How is she still alive?”

“No idea.”

Haru came over to us. Whatever toy he’d been playing with was left behind and now he was interested in Yuki again.

“It’s almost over,” the boy said. “Don’t worry. She’ll fall asleep and be breathless for a few minutes.”

“What? No!” Chiemi looked at me, confusion stretched across her face, tears forming. “She’s dying?”

“Maybe,” I said, looking at Haru. “But I don’t think so. This is what happened to Genta?”

Haru nodded. “Yes. We went breathless after being hot. I thought we died. Then we woke up and was different. Still alive but different.”

I nodded. “With the sickening aura?”

The boy nodded again. “The good host had trouble fighting off the bad one, but in the end the blue one usually wins because it is superior."

“Yeah. That’s how infections work.”

Chiemi shot me a glare I didn’t understand, as if to tell me I needed to be kinder.

Did she think I was being too hard on the boy? Everyone knew how immune systems fought off infections.

Yuki’s body went into a full convulsion.

Chiemi tried holding her down at the legs. “Help me!”

I put a hand on each of Yuki’s burning shoulders, leaning over her face. I had never tried to help a person on the verge of death like this. Yuki’s body fought with every ounce of strength, arms and legs flailing wildly.

“You got this, girl,” Chiemi cried, “you can pull through.”

Meanwhile I had lost faith in Haru’s child-like confidence. He was talking about hosts like something more than a meteorite virus was the cause of all this.

Yuki was going to die.