Volume 1 - Chapter 37

Zombie Bus Drama

Mio stayed behind with Haru. I had told her to protect the boy with her life. She nodded, eyes filled with determination. I no longer trusted her, but someone had to stay with the kid.

Ryotaro, Aiko, and I each had a loaded rifle in our hands. We strapped on bulletproof vests, the weight of them heavy on our shoulders.

We limped from the home, our bodies aching after the previous fight, but we couldn't let that stop us. Chiemi had been killed by speedy boy, and we couldn't leave Yuki to get killed again.

Ryotaro, despite his age, moved with agility, surprising us as always. He followed behind, eyes scanning the surroundings for any signs of danger.

The air was thick with tension, and I could feel my heart pounding in my chest.

At the end of the driveway we reached the open field where we had last seen Yuki. She was still locked in battle off in the distance. They fought near the same place Chiemi lay dead on the ground.

Yuki held her own, but it was clear she was tiring. Speedy boy was relentless, his movements fast and precise.

They would clash, fists pounding against one another, claws tearing at each other's thick skin. After each round they would jump away and circle one another, waiting and watching for their next opportunity to strike.

Next to me, Ryotaro lifted the rifle to take aim. I pushed it down, stopping him before he could pull the trigger.

"Too far away," I said.

Aiko nodded, exhaling loudly.

"But I want to kill that thing-oh, stan-oh!"

I smirked, shaking my head at the old man. I knew he was a poor aim. Even if we were just a tenth of the distance, there was no chance he'd hit the fast zombie.

Chiemi, Aiko, and I had all tried and failed. Only Aiko had managed to get one glancing shot against speedy boy, and that had saved my life. But it hadn't stopped him from getting back up and fighting Yuki.

"I know, but you'll accidentally hit Yuki."

He sighed. "You're probably right."

"So what do we do?" Aiko asked.

"No idea. I guess we…"

All three of us turned to look down the road at the same time. We heard the sound of a large vehicle and a radio playing loudly.

"Is that music?" The old man asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"It's…" Aiko's face turned curious, "it's the Return of Death Metal, from the Zombie Land Saga show…"

I had never watched the show about zombie girls in a band. I was still trying to catch up on some of the older ones, realizing I would never finish those last two episodes of Infinite Ryvius.

"The what?" Ryotaro asked.

"Nothing," Aiko said, describing the zombie show, "it's a fun little anime."

I smirked, learning something new about her in that moment. I didn't know she had watched shows like that, being more athletic and into the outdoors and stuff.

The radio grew louder, and finally we saw the vehicle blaring noise: a city bus.

The large Japanese city bus approached, slowly driving up the mountain road. The radio played loudly, and we listened to the song from Zombie Land Saga as it came to an end and the driver turned the music down.

Ryotaro, Aiko, and I stood nervously, our guns pointed as it slowly came nearer. We couldn't see the driver, as an evening sun shined off the front glass and blocked our view.

Aiko told us to be prepared. I already was. I gripped my rifle tighter, none of us knowing what to expect.

The bus came to a stop not very far from us, engine idling. I could hear my own heart pounding in my chest.

Aiko took a step forward, eyes fixed on the bus. She raised her hand, signaling for us to hold our positions. I could see tension in her shoulders, her muscles coiled and ready to spring into action if anything happened.

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Ryotaro stood to my left, his breathing shallow and quick. He was a good man, but I knew he wasn't a good shot. I glanced at him, trying to offer a reassuring nod, but his eyes were fixed on the bus, expression grim.

We were all getting tired of dealing with additional problems.

The bus door opened with a hiss, and a tall familiar figure stepped out, dressed in combat gear and carrying a rifle of his own.

"Genta!?" I yelled.

He gave us a creepy smile and said, "you thought I was going to die, didn't you?"

I swallowed hard. Aiko glanced, then stepped back to join me.

"That's Genta?" she whispered.

I nodded, then I glanced to Ryotaro and back at the hybrid zombie-man that had somehow found his way to us.

"How?" I asked. "You're healed? You can heal that quickly?"

Genta's eyes narrowed as he glared at us, voice rising with each word. "You left me to die! You just abandoned me there with a half-eaten health food bar!"

I felt guilty, but given the circumstances I would do it all over again.

Ryotaro laughed, "You deserved it!"

"Maybe!"

I smirked but tried to remain serious. "How did you find us, Genta?"

His expression softened slightly, and he gestured towards the house. "The boy is nearby. I can sense him. He's in that house isn't he?"

Ryotaro didn't like that answer, skepticism etched on his face. Despite the whole thing having been his idea, he didn't believe the man.

I was having trouble with that as well, but the proof stood before us. I couldn't think of any other way Genta could have found us.

The old man said, "What do you mean, you can sense him? Like zombie Wi-Fi?"

Genta's eyes flashed with anger. "It's not like that. I don't know how it works, but I can feel the presence of other infected beings. It's like a... a connection. I can hear their thoughts, and they can hear mine."

Aiko's brow furrowed. "But Haru isn't infected, is he?"

Genta laughed. "So… You didn't even bother to check him for bites? You just assumed a little boy was healthy and normal? Interesting."

I thought back on the last few hours and realized he was right. I never once considered the boy had been bit, and I guess the women hadn't either.

There was no wonder he'd said a bunch of ominous things that suddenly made sense to me. He'd talked about him and Genta coming back to life, but I'd just assumed he misspoke because he was a kid.

Ryotaro said, "That is interesting. So you're like a zombie bloodhound?"

Genta scowled. "I'm not a dog, old man!"

"So Haru had a bite!?" Aiko yelled.

Ryotaro said, "Should have put you down like a dog!"

The conversation quickly devolved into a heated argument, with everyone talking over each other. I tried to make sense of it all, but my head was spinning.

Aiko's voice cut through the chaos. "Enough!"

We all shut up for a long second. Genta stared at us, and we waited for him to continue.

When he didn't, Aiko started asking the questions. "Why are you here?"

Genta looked up at the big number in the sky. "Just trying to survive, darling, and there's a long way to go!"

I said, "That doesn't answer the question!"

He laughed. "Yes it does! We still have three hundred and sixty three days to go! We've barely started! And I don't know if you've noticed…" He pointed off to the woods where Yuki and speedy boy still battled. "But you get more powerful when you're infected, and you get more powerful each time you kill."

"What?" I asked, not understanding.

I couldn't think straight. I had felt myself getting smarter and more confident with each zombie kill, but not like it was some damn video game.

My survival skills, planning, and ability to use weapons had felt more like a natural progression.

"This doesn't make any sense!" Ryotaro said. "Let's kill him and be done with all this!"

I agreed with Ryotaro.

Aiko said, "you're making stuff up. I don't believe you."

"Okay," Genta smirked. "So you don't mind if I suggest to Haru that he kills some woman named Mio?"

Aiko's brows furrowed. "NO!"

"How do you know that!?" I yelled.

Ryotaro answered. "That damn zombie Wi-Fi!"

Genta had all but confirmed it. There was otherwise no way for him to know who Mio was.

"So here's what's going to happen!" Genta said. "My friends are going to exit the bus, and you're not going to shoot them."

"Why?" I asked.

Aiko asked, "Who's on the bus?"

Genta smirked. "My friends."

"Zombies?"

The man laughed. "Yeah. Zombies. Who else have you seen stumbling around this god-forsaken place?"

I asked. "So you figured out how to control them?"

"Knew how the whole time you idiot!" Genta said, "but I sacrificed a few of them hoping you would lead me to wherever your other friends were."

I blew out a loud burst of air instead of cursing, angry for having not thought of such treachery.

"But the boy?" I asked. "Why did he struggle and run away from you?"

"He didn't like the plan. Didn't want to kill you. Thought there might be other ways to get stronger and stuff. Kept talking a bunch of nonsense about some show called Zombie Johnny. Whatever! Doesn't matter. I've already had some long conversations with him, and he knows you're all as good as dead. He's better off with me and Dempei, so he told me where to find you."

Ryotaro was shaking his head. "Why don't we just shoot you?"

"Mio," he said. "If you shoot at me, Haru kills Mio."

I was tired of playing games.

"I don't care about Mio!" I said quickly. "Kill her if you want. We're about to fill you with so many bullets you'll never come back from the dead again!"

Genta laughed, but I could tell he believed me. "You won't…"

All heads turned towards the woods. Yuki screamed loudly.

"AAAAHHH!!!"

Speedy boy stood above her. We watched, helpless, as the zombie man gave a final blow that killed her again. From such a distance, all we could see was Yuki's body go limp as the man ripped her organs from her body.

Ryotaro lowered his rifle. "I think I'm going to throw up."

Aiko looked heartbroken, but I didn't say anything. I was more focused on all this being Mio's fault. I knew they were childhood friends, but it was Mio that had kicked off this entire situation.

If she hadn't split us up, we could have had a nice defensive position inside the house, where we could have planned more appropriately.

It was Mio's fault that Yuki and Chiemi had been killed. I refocused my gun on Genta.

"I think I'm just gonna shoot you and see what happens."

Aiko gasped as Genta laughed at the idea. I glanced at her, and she nodded in the direction of speedy boy.

I looked, and the zombie man ran towards us, only stopping when he was a few yards away from the bus. Aiko and Ryotaro turned their guns toward the fast man, but I kept mine on Genta.

"Dempei," Genta said, talking to the man. "Good kill."

"Shut up, you fool! Get your friends off that bus and go find the boy!"

Genta's face turned sour, but he didn't argue with Dempei, the zombie hybrid man we'd been calling speedy boy.

The bus started rocking as the zombies within moved towards the front to get off.

I started backing up, and Aiko and Ryotaro did the same. I saw dozens of zombies stumble out from the bus as Genta smirked and Dempei studied us.

We were backing ourselves into a corner and I had no idea how to get out of the situation.