Gu Cheng stood outside of the clinic room, clenching his fists at his side. He couldn't understand why Joseph Zaria was working so hard to push him away. Since their hug by the creek, he had worked hard to give her more space. He could not begin to imagine what she went through in the last world, and he wanted to be there for her but she had made it clear that she wanted distance.
When he pressed the pendant to begin charging it as she told him to do, he felt complete certainty that she was going to leave. He panicked and grabbed onto her arm, pulling her through the boundary between universes and into the next one. Immediately she admitted that she had not intended to go with him, but as angry as that made him he kept hearing her words repeating in his head and began to calm down. She wasn't doing it because she hated him. Even if she wanted to pretend he was nothing to her, she cared about him so much that she was willing to sacrifice herself. The anger didn't go away completely, but it was overshadowed.
Zaria refused to talk about what she went through in that last world. He knew that it was her right to do so, but he wanted her to rely on him more. He couldn't understand why she continued to pull away even after being drug into this world full of death, when it made more sense to huddle close to those you cared about, or why she jerked away like she was scared when he reached for her.
Without giving any details he tried to talk to the nurse about how to support someone through trauma. It was not his place to share any of Joseph Zaria's past, he could not tell the nurse that was who he spoke of, but it was obvious anyway. Without much in the way of details she could only advise him to let Joseph Zaria approach when she was ready. Those talks after everyone else was gone had just made things worse, he figured out. Joseph Zaria now thought that he harbored feelings for the older woman.
It seemed like everything he was doing to give her space was backfiring. When he saw the pregnancy test that she tried to hide he wanted to hold her, and to break something, or to kill someone. The bullet through the Duke's brain kept him from killing him again, even if he could go back to the other universe. His lack of control had scared the woman he loved, again. He didn't know what to do, how to act, and he took the coward's road and left.
Ito-kun and the others were waiting down the hall at the front entrance. The boys were good kids and they talked big about killing the walking corpses, but they were young, and they were scared. Hands holding bats gripped wood with white knuckles. Eventually the weight of what they had to do every day would either crush them, or it would make them stronger. It was almost like when he first enlisted in the army, the pressure, but he had made that choice. These kids had their situation thrust at them.
Straightening the sword belt around his waist, shifting it so that it did not catch on the knife sheaths along his left leg, Gu Cheng led the way out of the house and out into the stinking, silent world that lay just past the walls. Yamada-kun and Ando-kun walked at the sides of their diamond formation, Ito-kun bringing up the rear. All had their weapons at the ready, baseball bats shaking less than before, tips pointed up as though waiting for a pitch.
Gu Cheng stayed sheathed until a clump of corpses shambled out from between two buildings. Steel cut through the air, no more than a whisper as it arced in front of him, the sound of a knife through melon when it met resistance. The others kept their positions and they kept moving down the road, not attacking unless they were approached. Going after every corpse that wasn't paying attention to them would just wear them out quicker. If the bodies were not in the way they kept moving.
The first shop where Gu Cheng and Joseph Zaria joined the group was now empty, but there were other shops along that stretch that they intended to check to see if there was anything useful. Gu Cheng felt his stomach clench at the thought of the beautiful girl with the short curly hair. She was still angry that he made the group leave her behind. It had nothing to do with thinking she would enjoy cleaning over killing. He just didn't want her to be in danger again.
Never again did he want to feel the helplessness that he did in that cell. Knowing she was being taken away by someone who wanted to harm her in a way that few men would ever experience, and who would use his fists if she fought back. Weeks later the anger lingered, anger at himself for letting her leave his world, anger at her for leaving, anger at the person who dared to lay a finger on her. On his Zaria. He just wanted her to be safe, to get her back home and take care of her while they grew old together. Why was she trying to throw the nurse at him? Why couldn't she understand that he didn't want anyone else, and never would?
The group paused at the edge of a stretch of cleared street. The massive dinosaur that claimed the area as it's territory did not keep a regular schedule or route, but they could usually tell if it was nearby by the impact tremors that preceded it's arrival. There was nothing, but they waited a moment before moving on, to make sure. No longer concerned with absolute stealth they broke into a jog as though of one mind, keeping to the middle of the road so that they could see anything coming out from the narrow alleys between some of the buildings. The roads were not so wide that they could not duck inside one if something bigger, and hungrier than the corpses came down the road.
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As they approached the stretch of shops that they wanted to examine, the first tremor shook the ground beneath their feet. They were just passing the grocer, but rather than stopping and ducking inside to wait, Ito ran from the back of the group to the next store over and ripped open the door, bells jangling loudly in the still air. There was nobody alive inside the store to be alerted that a new customer was arriving, but two dead workers rushed toward the boy as soon as the door was open all the way.
Gu Cheng and the others sprinted the last several meters and ducked inside the building right as the 6000kg behemoth they feared most turned the corner ahead, coming from the opposite direction than they had anticipated. The undead were dealt with, but the impacts were approaching quickly. Gu Cheng put his fingers over his lips and ducked down behind the window display. The others copied him, all holding their breath when the steps stopped right outside of the shop they were in.
A snort and a huff, sounding very much like a horse if a horse could grow to 20 feet in height, pushed through the open door. Papers in a rack near the entrance fluttered in the breeze. The smell of decay was strong in the air, a nauseous smell that only true carnivores with no access to dental hygiene could obtain. The brochures and manuals stilled, and the smell retreated. A moment later the tremors began again, growing less intense as the beast moved down the road.
Gu Cheng held up his hand, telling them to stay still until everything was still and quiet. If it came back he wanted plenty of time for them hide again. Never before had the dinosaur paid attention to them, but never before had they run where it could see them. The zombies almost never ran. Their muscles were too degraded after so long. Something moving quickly must have sparked it's interest.
The boys, and one glacial man, wandered the aisles of the store. A handful of things that they knew they needed went into bags on their backs, but the purpose of this particular journey out was to identify what was in each of the unexplored shops so they could come back later if needed. When it was time to leave, Gu Cheng gestured for them to wait while he checked outside the door, and then they moved to the next site.
By the end of the block they were tired and nerves were beginning to fray. On a normal expedition, the boys were rattled by the end just from the occasional undead encounter. Faces were pale and feet stumbled after being so close to so many sharp teeth. Gu Cheng forced them to take a short break to drink water and eat a snack bar to steady their nerves before heading back.
Stepping out of the shop they all looked nervously back the way that the dinosaur had come this time. The air was stagnant, not even a gentle zephyr to stir the air. Gu Cheng set off, ignoring the alleys and stores that they had already cleared. The others should be looking out as they walked, but he was more worried about what might be ahead. A feeling of dread sat heavy in his stomach. Despite the danger they were in constantly when outside the walls of their safe house, his thoughts were still on the crying woman he left behind. If she had not been able to absorb his magic, which was becoming stronger every day since he entered the last world, he would have hurt her.
The group slowed when they approached the first major intersection. This was part of the tyrannosaur's normal route. It had never gone the other way before, at least not that the teenagers could recall. That didn't mean it would stick to that new direction.
Peering around the corner, Gu Cheng watched for any movement along the deserted road. Seeing none, he waved them on. Each of them moved their feet slowly, carefully, every sound amplified in the still air. In the distance, they could see the invisible line that separated the dinosaur's territory from the areas still infested with the moving corpses. Just as they were breaking cover at the last intersection, a putrid scent wafted from the open road to their right.
Twenty meters away, just short of where it's shadow would stick out into the next road, the muscular, reddish brown body of the adult tyrannosaurs rex was waiting. It's head was lowered, legs tensed, and as soon as it realized it had been spotted it lunged forward.
"Run." Gu Cheng said loudly as he sprinted toward the opposite corner. He did not wait to give them more directions, they had all lived in this world far longer than he had. Staying behind to cheer them on or yell at them wouldn't help anyone, and it would make it more likely that the dinosaur had a bigger meal. Behind him he could hear feet pounding on the ground. He ducked into an alley that he knew went all the way through to the next street over. A scream ripped through the air, and the footsteps behind him faltered.
"It got Daiki!"
Gu Cheng slowed and looked back. Ando-kun was missing, and the screams no longer came from just past the alley opening. "There's nothing you can do for him. Move!"
Weaving in and out of the alleys and small streets, they lost the creature amongst the distracting smells of the dead. Gu Cheng forced them to go the long way back, through streets more heavily infested than the ones they routinely went down.
None of them knew if the dinosaur had waited for them after observing their movements in days past, or if it had their scent. The smell of the decomposing humans would mask their scent, he hoped. It took longer than he would have liked to get back to roads they recognized, well outside of the dinosaur's usual territory. Approaching the house from the opposite direction that they usually came, they cleared out the few stragglers that had wandered onto their block.
Their spirits rose, ever so slightly, when the long brick wall surrounding their home became visible. Gu Cheng frowned when he saw a body wriggling against the gate. The gate guard should be taking care of it, but it stood there, arms stuck through the bars, flannel shirt tattered around it. He walked up to it quietly, the other two giving him enough space that they would not be caught by the swing of the sword.
Striking from the side he drove his sword straight through the head, and the body lost whatever was holding it up, falling to the ground. Gu Cheng shoved it out of the way and looked inside to get the attention of the guard. His breath caught in his throat as he saw Saito-san and Yamashita carrying a small body out of the house, blood dripping on the ground as they went.