Volume 1 - Chapter 38

Aiko, Baseball Star

Aiko, Ryotaro, and I slowly backed away from Genta and Dempei.

The two hybrid zombie men stood before us, a chilling sight that sent shivers down my spine. Genta's smug grin and Dempei's cold, emotionless stare made it clear they had the upper hand.

I clenched my rifle tight, knuckles turning white as I tried to steady my shaking hands.

Genta's rifle was pointed directly at us, and the bullet-proof vest he'd found made him an intimidating figure.

Dempei, on the other hand, could at any moment be a blur of movement, darting back and forth with inhuman speed. I had witnessed him kill two people, one of which he had turned into a zombie just so that he could kill her.

I knew if we tried to take them out, we would be dead before we could do anything worth noting.

But we couldn't just back away like cowards and do nothing either. They were going to kill us.

Dozens of zombies were stepping off that huge city bus Genta had driven up the mountain, and we would be swarmed by a horde of Wi-Fi controlled brainless in a matter of seconds.

I glanced at Aiko and Ryotaro, trying to come up with a plan. Aiko's eyes were filled with determination, and I could see her calculating our odds of survival.

Ryotaro, on the other hand, looked terrified. He was muttering to himself, hands trembling as he held his rifle.

I knew we had to act fast. Genta and Dempei weren’t going to just let us get away.

My heart raced as I tried to come up with a plan. But it was too late. The zombies were closing in, and we were out of options.

I looked at Aiko and Ryotaro one last time, trying to convey my apologies with my eyes. I knew we were going to die.

I should have never let Mio split us up. I should have never let Genta live, and we shouldn't have trusted a kid just because he was a kid.

But it was too late for regrets. The zombies were still stepping out of the bus, now too many to keep counting, and Genta's smile kept growing larger.

All we could do was fight for our lives. I raised my rifle towards Dempei and took aim, praying Aiko and Ryotaro did the same.

I wanted revenge for Yuki and Chiemi, and if we all shot at the same target, we might manage to get one of them put down.

If I shouted my actions, the enemies would know and react. So I simply prayed Aiko and Ryotaro would do the same as me. We were going to die anyway, so in my mind it didn't really matter which one died, as long as one of them did.

I pulled the trigger as I walked backwards, firing at Dempei. The shots rang out loud.

To my left, Aiko did the same.

Dempei darted to his left, then right, zigzagging faster than any person had the right to move. It was supernatural.

Aiko and I both struggled to keep our aim just ahead of him. Our shots blurred together like thunder and drowned my hearing in gunfire.

Ryotaro shot towards Genta, forcing the man to take cover as he shot back from around the corner of the bus.

Slow-ass zombies shuffled forward, Genta sending them to attack us. A wall of meat moved into Ryotaro's line of sight and he killed zombies instead.

Dempei was almost upon us. I swept the gun back and forth as the man zipped forward, and Aiko and I continued bursting rounds at him.

He was a blur. He seemingly moved as fast as the bullets, dodging them. I couldn’t believe it.

Aiko landed a shot in the thing’s leg when he crouched to spring forward at us. Instead of leaping to attack, he went down hard to the ground.

He’d made a poor choice, and Aiko had made a good shot. She was good with the guns, but I knew it was pure luck. Dempei had miscalculated a step, and in the end he couldn't outrun our cloud of gunshots.

The man writhed on the ground, and we took full advantage of the situation, dumping the rest of our ammunition into him.

Dempei’s body jolted with each of our hits, blood and guts flying from his corpse as we filled him with metal. There was no remorse. I didn't feel anything but adrenaline and excitement as we finally killed speedy boy.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

My rifle click-clicked and I knew I was out of rounds. We'd taken down one of two serious threats.

Gunfire between Ryotaro and Genta still erupted in short bursts.

I felt the sting of something in my left thigh and I fell to my knees. Only after hitting the ground and rolling to my back did I scream in pain, realizing I'd been shot.

Ryotaro was above me, still shooting towards Genta and the zombies at the bus.

Aiko ran out of ammo after picking off two of the zombies. The click-click of her empty rifle reminded me of our grim situation.

Blood poured from my gunshot wound, and I let go of my empty rifle. It fell to the ground beside me.

Wrapping my hands around my leg, I focused on the pain of it.

Aiko jumped for cover as Genta turned his rifle towards her. He grunted, shifting his focus back towards the old man.

Ryotaro's gunfire stopped as returning shots popped off, and I saw my friend crumple to the ground like a ragdoll. My heart sank as I knew he'd lost the battle against Genta.

Ryotaro took multiple shots to the body. The vest absorbed most of them but a few in the shoulders sent him falling to a motionless heap, several more shots hitting him in the head.

"Fuck!" I yelled, tired of all this death. Ryotaro didn’t deserve to die like that!

His gun lay beside him, close yet unreachable. I wanted to grab it, to use it against Genta and protect Aiko, but my injured leg prevented me from standing or crawling.

I couldn't do it. The pain was too much and the weapon too far away.

Aiko found cover in the ditch beside the road. I knew it wouldn't last long, though. As soon as Genta stepped around the bus and surveyed the new scene, he would find her.

I was a sitting duck, injured and bleeding on the ground. My rifle lay useless beside me, its magazine emptied when we’d managed to kill Dempei.

I clenched my thigh, willing myself to find the strength to stand, to fight, to do something. But the pain in my leg was too intense, and my body felt heavy and weak.

This new life was getting old, and I was tired of trying to survive. There was little to live for aside from the love of Aiko, in those rare moments when we'd been able to sit and talk.

The sound of Genta's footsteps snapped me back to reality. He was coming, and I knew I had to do something, anything, to buy Aiko some time. She could live if I sacrificed myself.

I glanced around for a weapon or anything that could help me. All I had was the emptied rifle.

It would have to do.

I picked it up by the wrong end and felt stupid for holding the barrel like it was a club.

As the zombies closed in on me, I could feel the weight of my own helplessness bearing down on me to make things that much worse.

"Well, well," Genta said.

The crowd of zombies that circled me stopped, and the tall man pushed his way through them to stand above me. I didn't say anything, mind racing with anger and pain.

"The tables have turned, wouldn't you say so, Hachiro?"

I didn't want to admit it but he was right. He had the upper hand, and it was a mirrored situation. This time I was the one helpless on the ground after having tried to kill him.

Behind me somewhere I knew Aiko was still free, yet Genta stood over me. I was surrounded by his zombie friends. Instead of a rifle in his hands, the man peered down at me with a smirk, holding a long knife.

Despite the pain, I could think well enough to figure out he'd run out of ammunition. I was developing a headache, along with nausea, but it wasn't as strong as before.

I needed to stall him, before it got bad, and so that Aiko could form a plan. In order to accomplish this I decided to be the asshole he knew me as.

"Where's my protein bar and diarrhea pills?"

"Hah!" Genta chuckled. "At least you face death with humor! It's a shame I will kill you now!"

I gulped, knowing he meant business. I was nearing the end of my second life, and I could feel his aura bearing down on me.

I'd been through hell in the last half hour, and it had been a very long day full of shit. The last thing I wanted was to nearly pass out again. Luckily, his crippling aura seemed to work better when inside confined spaces.

"You are a sick human being!" I said, "and I hope you get what's coming for you."

Genta smirked. "Oh, I will get more powerful after killing you. That's for sure!"

The knife glinted in his hand, reflecting the evening sun.

A car door or trunk closed loudly, and when Genta turned to look, so did I. The crowd of zombies parted, and I looked back to see my beautiful angel Aiko, ready to play ball.

Aiko stood tall, eyes locked on Genta. She stepped towards us with a grace and confidence that I had never seen before. In her hands, she gripped a baseball bat, its surface gleaming in the light.

She took a deep breath, chest rising and falling with determination. And then, she sprang into action.

The first zombie fell with a sickening crunch, its skull caving in beneath the force of Aiko's swing. She moved with a fluidity that belied her athletic background, each strike landing with precision and power.

I watched in awe as she dispatched zombie after zombie, her movements becoming more and more frenzied as she fought to reach me. Genta froze for a second, seemingly having no idea what to do.

The sound of her bat connecting with their rotting flesh was a symphony of destruction; a testament to her strength and resilience.

As she fought, I could see the fire in her eyes, the unyielding determination that had carried her through her baseball career. She was a force to be reckoned with, and I was still madly in love with her because of it.

Despite the pain in my leg, I felt a swell of pride and admiration for her. She was a badass, through and through.

But even as she fought, I knew we were still in grave danger. Genta was still near me, knife in his hand.

The zombies, slow and clumsy, were nevertheless relentless in their pursuit. They turned back to me, Genta's focus returned. He would try to kill me before Aiko could get near.

I gritted my teeth, willing myself to find the strength to stand, to fight alongside Aiko.

But as I tried to push myself up, I felt another searing pain shoot through my leg, and I collapsed back onto the ground.

Tears flowed down my cheeks. My friends were dead and I was useless.

Aiko continued to fight, her movements becoming more and more frantic as the zombies closed in around me.

As I looked, I knew I was out of options. My rifle was empty, and my leg was an obstacle. All I could do was watch as Aiko fought for both of our lives.

Heads cracked and bodies snapped. Zombies toppled feet over head.

Aiko swung ferociously, taking out one after the other. She stood above me just seconds later, protecting the both of us from Genta’s friends.

She was already superhuman to me, but it was obvious she was getting faster and stronger. Aiko truly was my angel.

Was it because she’d been given credit for killing Dempei? Was it true what Genta had told us?

"But you get more powerful when you're infected, and you get more powerful each time you kill."