Volume 1 - Chapter 9

Seatbelts Save Lives

The car weaved around abandoned vehicles, narrowly avoiding collisions with shambling corpses. Aiko was one of the best drivers I had ever seen.

I can't help but feel a sense of unease as I watch the zombies stumble towards us, their vacant eyes fixed on our moving vehicle.

"Do you think they can hear our thoughts?" I asked, turning to Aiko.

I was still scared of the idea that zombies could read my mind.

She shook her head, brows furrowed in concentration. "I don't know. I don't think so. I think they just have really good hearing."

It was the most logical answer, but I was still shaking after hacking that zombie's brain matter with my knife.

Chiemi leaned forward, her eyes scanning the horizon. "Where are we going?" she asked, her voice laced with concern.

This was a good distraction.

Aiko's eyes never left the road and she said, "I was thinking we could try another police station. Maybe the one in Toyohama."

I nodded in agreement. The Toyohama station was over by the water. It wasn't far, maybe only a few kilometers, but the streets could be more dangerous there.

Before I could say anything, Ryotaro spoke up.

"Wait," he said, his voice urgent. "I have an idea."

Chiemi and I turned to look at him, waiting for him to continue.

"Instead of going to another police station, let's go to a hardware store," he suggested.

Aiko raised an eyebrow. "I thought we agreed the first trip would be for weapons!"

Chiemi agreed with her and spoke loudly, upset by the idea. "Yeah! Wood and building supplies won't do us any good if we're dead!"

I didn't say anything as the women shot down his idea without hearing the whole thing.

Ryotaro leaned back in the seat. Some of his enthusiasm died down, but it didn't stop him from explaining the idea.

"No," the old man shook his head. "Not for that! If I can get a battery-powered drill, then I can easily drill into the doorknob handle on that locked door."

We all went quiet. No one answered for a long time. I considered it to be a better strategy than going to the unknown dangers of another area.

It was clear Ryotaro had been seriously thinking about how to get in that locked door. We were all considering which idea had a better chance for success.

I glanced out the window, watching as a zombie stumbled towards us. Aiko swerved to avoid it, but the car clipped its leg, sending the creature flying through the air in a comical display.

We all laughed nervously, the tension in the car momentarily broken. Aiko regained full control of the car after hitting the zombie, and we continued down the road.

"Okay," Chiemi said, turning back to Ryotaro. "That actually sounds like a good idea."

"What about all the zombies?" Aiko asked.

"We can do the radio thing in some of these cars," I said, "like we already plan to do for the house. It will be a good test to see if it distracts them away from where we don’t want them.”

"I love it!" Ryotaro declared.

Chiemi agreed with a nod.

"Okay," Aiko said, "let me find a good place up here to turn."

We all agreed to the plan.

Ryotaro asked, "Chiemi, do you know where is the nearest hardware store?"

"Yes, it's back that way," the older woman pointed to the right. "I think it's Komeri Onohara."

Aiko made a sharp turn onto a side street. "Oh, yeah, I remember now."

"Yes!" Ryotaro exclaimed, "that's the one! There’s a supermarket in the same parking lot."

It only took two more turns and a few blocks before we got to the hardware store.

There were two big buildings in a tiny parking lot with two restaurants and a drug store. The hardware store sat on the end, with a supermarket in the middle and the drug store on the other side.

A few zombies wandered around, but several more followed the red car as we pulled in. I saw several parked cars with their doors open. Some were half-out of their spaces, and a few of them were wrecked into one another like the driver lost control when they became sick with the zombie infection.

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I said, "they are going to swarm this car as soon as we jump out."

"That's true," Chiemi said.

"So what’s the plan?" Aiko asked.

She drove the car slowly around the parking lot as we surveyed the situation. Halows Onohara still had power somehow. All the other buildings were dark inside.

Aiko asked what I was already thinking, "how are the lights on inside the grocery store?"

Chiemi and I shrugged. The old woman said, "maybe they have a generator?"

Ryotaro said, "I don't hear one. Maybe they have solar panels on the roof."

We all considered that the best idea. If there was a generator running we would be hearing it, and there would be far more zombies.

"See anyone inside?" I asked as we drove by the front.

"Just zombies," Chiemi said.

I nodded. Aiko made another slow circle around the parking lot as we decided what the game plan would be.

"Okay," I said, "I think we should go across the street and do the radio thing. Then we drive back over here. The zombies will be distracted by the music and noise of the other car while we are inside the stores."

Aiko gave me a quick nod and then looked at Chiemi. "Sound good?"

Chiemi agreed.

I was glad they liked the idea, so I elaborated a little bit more. "I think we should split up. Ryotaro and I will pick a one-box van that has plenty of fuel and empty space, and then go in the hardware store."

Aiko said, "the supermarket! Chiemi and I will go in the store!"

The older woman looked at Aiko with surprise. "Are you sure?"

"Yes!" Aiko answered quickly, "it's a good plan! Hachiro is right. It's efficient, and if the fresh and frozen food is not spoiled, it might be our last chance ever eating them!"

Chiemi slowly realized this was true. I thought about my favorite frozen meals. If the supermarket still had power, they might be good. It had been less than one full day, so the produce and meat section might also be okay.

But not for long. I started thinking about different foods. "Strawberries, peach, mikan, if they have some!"

Aiko laughed. "Exactly!"

"Steak!" Ryotaro said loudly.

We smiled and agreed with each other, listing out several more items we wanted.

"Any other requests?" Aiko asked.

After saying so many things she couldn't possibly remember, we finally ran out of ideas. It was basically the entire grocery store.

All of us had the same idea that this might be the last opportunity to load up on the things we liked.

"Okay," I said, "let's go across the street and do this."

Aiko agreed. "Okay."

"Let's make it happen!" Ryotaro declared.

Aiko drove across the intersection and pulled the car into the parking lot of a florist. I breathed a sigh of relief when I didn't see any zombies in the immediate vicinity.

The delivery van parked at the front caught my eye, and I couldn't help but notice the open door.

"Looks like someone left in a hurry," I said, pointing towards the van.

Aiko nodded, and we both got out of the car, scanning the area for any signs of danger. Chiemi and Ryotaro followed, and we all gathered around the van.

I peeked inside, and my eyes widened at the sight of so much empty space. "This is perfect," I said, turning to the others. "There's plenty of room for supplies, and it looks like it's in good condition."

Aiko and Chiemi leaned in to smell the flowers, and their faces lit up. "These are beautiful," Chiemi said, her voice filled with wonder.

Ryotaro looked thoughtful. "Do you think it has fuel?" he asked, glancing at me.

I shrugged. "I don't know, but it's worth checking."

We decided to investigate further, and I looked inside at the dash. Without the engine running I couldn't tell.

"I can drive it back over," I said, "and look at the fuel level on the way."

Aiko looked impressed. "This is great news. We can use this van for our supply run instead of the car."

Chiemi nodded in agreement. "It's much more practical, and it will be easier to transport everything."

Ryotaro rubbed his chin. "I think it's a good one, but we still need a car to make noise with."

I nodded, looking at the three other cars at the end of the parking lot. The third one was rocking a little bit.

"You see that one?" I asked, walking away from the florist van to get a better view.

"Yeah," Aiko said.

The others cautiously followed me as I went around the other vehicles to see what was going on with the shaking car.

I took a step or two closer. The zombie inside was trapped, her seatbelt keeping her firmly in place. She was banging on the window, her mouth open in a silent scream.

Aiko, Chiemi, and Ryotaro followed me, their eyes wide with curiosity. We watched the zombie for a moment, and I felt a little sorry for her. She was just a person who got infected, and now she was stuck like this, not even smart enough to unclick her seatbelt.

"Poor thing," Chiemi said, her voice soft. "She doesn't even know how to get herself out."

"Yeah," I agreed. "It's kind of sad."

Aiko nodded, her eyes never leaving the zombie. "But we can't just leave her like this. She's making a lot of noise, and it's going to attract more of them."

As if on cue, the zombie hit the horn a few times by accident. The sound echoed through the parking lot, and I could see a few other zombies stumbling towards us from the other lots.

I had a thought that maybe this was a good thing. The noise was exactly what we wanted actually.

"We need to do something," Ryotaro said, his voice urgent. "We can't just stand here and watch."

Aiko nodded, her eyes lighting up with an idea. "What if we check the passenger door? If it's not locked, maybe we can reach in and turn the radio on. That way, she'll be making even more noise, and it might distract the other zombies in this direction."

I nodded, impressed by her quick thinking. "That's a great idea. Let's do it."

We cautiously approached the car, keeping a safe distance from the zombie. I reached out and tried the passenger door. To my surprise it was unlocked.

"It's open," I said, my voice low. "I'm going to reach in and turn the radio on."

Aiko nodded, her hand on my shoulder. "Be careful."

I hesitated because I thought it was funny she was telling me to be careful. I was about to reach into a vehicle with a zombie and turn the radio on.

Before I did, I remembered that the radio wouldn't work without the engine being on. I looked again, and I was relieved to see that this car had a push button start.

The zombie reached out towards me in slow motions. I would have to be careful not to get scratched. We still didn't know what happened if they got to one of us.

I let out a sigh of relief as Ryotaro moved around the car to get the zombie's attention. He waved his arms and made a few loud noises, causing the creature to turn her head towards him.

I took advantage of the distraction and quickly reached in to push the start button. The engine roared to life and the zombie's head snapped back towards me. I pulled my arm back just in time, narrowly avoiding her grasp.

Ryotaro continued to tap on the driver's side glass, keeping the zombie's focus on him. I took a deep breath and reached in again, this time turning the radio knob as far as it would go.

The sound of loud music filled the air. I could see the zombie's frustration growing as she tried to figure out where the noise was coming from.

I backed away from the car, feeling a sense of accomplishment. We had managed to create a distraction that would hopefully draw more zombies towards us and away from the stores across the road.

Aiko, Chiemi, and Ryotaro gathered around me, and we all shared a moment of satisfaction.

"Good job, Hachiro," Aiko said, giving me a reassuring smile. "I didn't know you were so brave."

"Thanks," I replied. "Maybe you bring out the best in me?"

The beautiful woman nodded at my cheesy response.

Chiemi looked back nervously at the red car, "we should go."

The plan was working. Looking around, there were now plenty more zombies interested in what was happening at the florist. We would be overrun within seconds if we stayed.

Ryotaro walked quickly to the florist van and climbed in. "Let's go!"