Volume 1 - Chapter 5

Lopping Heads for Love

I followed Aiko from the house, heart pounding in my chest.

She had the baseball bat in her hand, and I could see the determination to kill this thing.

I was holding a big pointy butcher knife, feeling its weight. I knew there was a specific name for the blade but in the moment I was more worried about the zombie. All I knew was it had plenty of heft and it could get the job done.

The situation was tense. In the dark we slowly crept up on the zombie, trying to make as little noise as possible. The thing was slamming his head against Aiko's red sports car, making a loud thudding sound.

It was a grotesque sight, with its decaying flesh and vacant eyes. His movements were jerky and uncoordinated, but we acted as though he was still dangerous.

I accidentally gave away our presence when I stepped on some gravel and made too much noise. The zombie turned towards us, mouth opened in a snarl.

It started to lurch towards Aiko, but she was faster. She swung the bat with all her might, hitting the zombie square in the head.

The sound of the bat smashing against the zombie's head was sickening. It was a wet crunching sound that made my stomach turn.

Aiko didn't hesitate. She hit the zombie several more times until he was really dazed and barely moving on the ground.

She looked at me, eyes wide. I looked back at her, waiting. Then I remembered I had the knife. She was waiting on me.

I was so amazed by Aiko and that I almost messed us up. I took a deep breath, trying to steady my nerves. I approached the zombie, knife in my hand, and ready to do my part.

The dude’s face was mangled after being hit with the baseball bat. His bottom jaw was twisted crooked and one of his eyeballs dangled out from the socket.

I could see no fear in the zombie's one good eye. Whoever this person once was, they were long gone. All he wanted was my flesh, but he had no idea how to speak.

I brought the knife down with all my strength and lopped off his head. The knife made a clean slice. It was a gruesome sight, but necessary.

The head of the zombie rolled away, its mouth still moving in a grotesque display. There wasn't much blood, just a sickening brown and red wetness that coated the ground.

I was amazed I had the strength to cut the head clean off through the neck, but even more amazed the face still twitched. His mouth moved like he was still alive.

I shared a look with Aiko. It was really gross and weird, but at least it wasn't making any more noise beyond a gurgle.

She nodded at me, a silent acknowledgment of what we had just done. Thinking about the future, I knew we would need to become more efficient. There was no way to quickly kill dozens of zombies with knives and bats.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart. I could feel adrenaline coursing through my veins, making my hands shake. I looked down at the knife in my hand, covered in gore.

I had just killed someone. It took me a moment to convince myself I didn't kill a person. He was already dead when he became one of those things. I felt a wave of nausea wash over me, but I forced it back down.

Aiko put a hand on my shoulder, pulling me out of my thoughts. "You did good, Hachiro."

Her steady voice gave me confidence, but I had no time to absorb her kind words.

Aiko and I both heard a distant groan at the same time.

I turned to look down the driveway, down the mountain road. Another zombie slowly shuffled towards us.

We shared a look of disappointment. I asked how many of them there might be and how they found us. Aiko didn't know.

She only saw one more. That was all I could see as well, but there might have been more.

"We need to kill that one too."

I nodded, feeling a sense of dread wash over me. I wasn't a fighter, but I knew we couldn't let the zombies get any closer.

Aiko easily convinced me we needed to work together to take down another zombie. It was either them or us.

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I would do anything she told me to do because she saved my life and I knew by that point I was in love with her.

We approached the zombie cautiously, trying to make as little noise as possible.

It lurched at us, trying to get a tasty meal.

Aiko swung the bat first, hitting the zombie in the head with a sickening crunch. It stumbled backwards, but didn't go down.

I stepped forward, ready to do what needed doing. I could feel my heart racing, but I knew I had to kill another one. I swung the knife wide with all my strength and the blade went clean through his neck.

The zombie fell to the ground, its body twitching and convulsing. Just like the other one, the head acted like it was still alive. It couldn't move without the body.

Aiko and I shared a look of satisfaction, but we both knew we needed to stay vigilant. We couldn't let our guard down, not even for a moment.

"That's two," she whispered.

I nodded. It was clear she never expected any zombies to walk all the way up the mountain roads to get here.

"Yeah, there could be more."

We stood completely still in the road for a long while, but nothing in the darkness made itself known to us.

I looked back at the small house. It sat quiet and peaceful in the woods. I was glad we were able to escape the big city and find somewhere far away from all the humans turned zombies, but it might not last long.

"Maybe," I said, unsure of myself, "we need to start planning for some defenses."

Aiko nodded but then gave a slow sigh. "Yeah, I guess so. Maybe a fence or a perimeter?"

I shrugged, not knowing anything about the best strategy to defend a little house against zombies.

I suggested an idea. “Maybe we can talk out a plan with the others?”

“Maybe,” Aiko agreed. “Ryotaro was a teacher. He might know something about historical defensive structures. I don’t think anyone here is a builder, though.”

I understood. I had never had to build anything more complicated than a cheap wood shelf.

It came with a one page instruction diagram, and somehow I still managed to mess that up. I had to redo half of it. The whole thing took me all day and it was still wobbly.

“I'm not good with tools,” I said, trying to forget that day I assembled a wobbly shelf. “I don’t have a creative builder mindset. I'm good with numbers.”

She nodded.

Aiko and I made our way back to the house, the weight of our recent encounter with the zombies still heavy on our shoulders.

The night air was cool and crisp, and the sound of crickets filled the silence between us.

I figured that was a good sign no other zombies were nearby.

In the dark sky above us I could still see the giant number.

364

I stopped to look at it, and Aiko did the same.

"What do you think it's for?" I asked.

She shrugged. "No idea."

I exhaled loudly, tired from a long evening full of chaos and killing. In reality it had only been a few hours, but I'd never had to do anything like this before.

"Thanks for helping me with those zombies," she said, breaking the silence. "I couldn't have done it without you."

I smiled, feeling a warmth spread through my chest. I knew she could have done it alone and she was just being nice, but it felt good to hear her say nice things.

“No problem," I said. "I'm just glad we were able to take care of them."

We continued walking in silence. As we approached the house, I could see the warm glow of the fireplace through the windows.

When we entered, the others were gathered around the fire, talking in hushed tones. They looked up as we come in, their faces filled with concern.

"Is everything okay?" Chiemi asked, her voice filled with worry.

Aiko nodded. "Yeah, we took care of the zombies. But we think there might be more that can make their way here. We are obviously not far enough away from them."

The room fell silent as they absorbed this information. I could see the fear in their eyes.

"We need to come up with a plan," Ryotaro said, his voice steady and calm. "Maybe we can build some kind of barrier around the house to keep the zombies out."

Aiko and I both smiled. We were going to mention it but Ryotaro was already thinking about it.

"That's a good idea," Mio said, nodding in agreement. "But of course we'll need to find some materials."

"I think there's a few different hardware stores in town," Yuki said, voice barely loud enough to hear. "Maybe someone can go to one and see if they can find anything useful."

"That's risky," Aiko said, "But we will have to make supply runs anyway. I don’t know how many more zombies I can run over in my car before it quits working.”

I laughed, thinking about the flying zombies that bounced off the red sports car with each loud thud. She was right.

There were dents all over the car. Eventually the radiator or the windshield would take too much damage.

Yuki shook her head and then buried it in sadness. “Okay, I guess we will sit here and get eaten then like everyone else.”

I felt bad for her but didn't know how to comfort the woman. Aiko, Mio, and Chiemi looked at each other with understanding.

Mio and Chiemi went over to the sad woman and comforted her with hushed words and support.

I looked at Aiko, and she looked back at me with a determined expression.

She turned to Ryotaro, who was sitting in a comfortable position on the floor by the fireplace. The old man's eyes twinkled with mischief, and he had a sly smile on his face.

"Ryotaro," Aiko said, "do you have any ideas for defending our home against the zombies?"

The old man nodded, and I leaned forward, eager to hear his plan.

"Of course, my dear," Ryotaro said, his voice steady and confident. "I've been thinking about this for a while now. I believe we can create three layers of defense to protect ourselves."

Aiko and I exchanged a glance, and I could see the hope in her eyes. We both listened intently as Ryotaro described his plan.

"The first layer of defense," he said, "will be a barricade made of cars. We can park them in a circle around the house, leaving only one opening."

I nodded, impressed by the simplicity of it. This would be difficult for the zombies to figure out, and we could easily find plenty of abandoned cars with the keys in them.

"The second layer of defense," Ryotaro continued, "will be a fence made of wooden stakes. We can sharpen the ends and drive them in the ground, creating a spiked barrier the zombies can't easily cross."

I could see the logic in this idea as well. The wooden stakes would be difficult to break, and they would make an additional layer of protection.

"And the third layer of defense," Ryotaro finished, "will be a moat filled with water. We can dig a trench around the house and fill it with water from a nearby stream. The zombies won't be able to cross… maybe. I don't know."

I was amazed by the ingenuity of Ryotaro's plan. It was clear he had put a lot of thought into it, and I could see the others nodding in agreement.

“It sounds great!” I said.

Chiemi answered, “it sounds like a lot of work to me. Who will dig a moat by hand? Not me!”

She instantly crushed my excitement for the plan with one good point.

Digging a trench or cutting trees by hand sounded like far too much work.