-Random J-pop song playing-

Music was coming off from the small speaker placed in the middle of the car. Said car passing through a shallow point of a river. Meanwhile I was sitting, or more like laying against the hatch's lid on the roof of the car. watching at a tree line that was now behind us.

"Guess this is why we needed to pass the river huh..." I whisper to myself.

As Saya guessed, the side of the river we came from had way too many thick trees for a bike, much less a car to pass. While the other side past the river had a relatively flat plain that ran along the river. The plain itself was not too big, as the woods took over again the moment you strayed too far from the river, but it was big enough to fit two to three cars next to each other.

Also.

"And not a single corpse in sight." I add as I fold my arms and glance around.

And it was not just now, after we went off-road the number of corpses got drastically reduced. We did spot one or two occasionally. But they looked more like survivors that made a last-ditch effort to run away after getting infected, rather than corpses that wandered into the forest.

"Naier?" And a female voice speaks up from behind me.

Turning around I find Saeko peeking from behind the hatch's lid, holding a closed M.R.E bar towards me.

"Hmm? Ah, thanks." I nod as I take the bar.

"Mind if I join you?" She asks right after as she keeps standing in the hatch.

I respond by sliding a little bit to the side, leaving some space on the hatch's lid, then tap the lid, essentially copying what she did when she offered me to sit next to her inside the Humvee.

Saeko didn't respond, she just silently climbed up and scooted next to me. Folding her legs under her and leaning on me instead of using the hatch lid.

"How many should we expect inside?" I ask.

Saeko did not respond.

"Can we, not talk about what we will have to do to survive for a bit?..." She asks she absentmindedly narrows her eyes towards the distance, placing her head on my shoulder.

"Feeling drained?" I ask as I wrap my arm around her.

"I, was terrified." She answers flatly as she keeps looking in the distance.

"When Saya told me that your whole team got killed I..." She mutters as she lowers her head.

"And this is why we left. So we don't have to deal with situations like these anymore." I answer as I pat her shoulder.

"I thought we left because Saya got assaulted?" Saeko responds with a questioning tone.

"She got assaulted because I got sent to the other side of town and because in that place pre-outbreak status overrides post-outbreak actions. As a matter of fact, I think that the 'We let your friends get preferential treatment because you work for it' lolipop that they kept sucking was a bunch of hot air. If I had to guess, it was because you and Saya had important parents that they let us use these rooms. Thus why you got kicked out the moment somebody more 'important' arrived." I answer as I sigh.

"At least now, we will be the ones making the rules in that house." I add as the humvee finally reached the other side of the river and turned left, now driving with the trees to its right, and the river to its left.

We then drove on for a few minutes...

"I don't know how many we should expect. The house was not supposed to have people in it. But since my father knew it was overrun. Maybe he let some of his acquaintances use it for some reason. Or, he actually let the infected in to deter survivors from trying to claim it." Until Saeko spoke up.

"...I'm not going to ask if he was willing to do that since you just mentioned it..." I glance at the purple-haired girl before looking ahead again.

"My father is a man that puts results means used to acquire said results. This is why he trusted you. Because you got the results he expected of you." Saeko responds.

"Ends justify the means huh." I take a deep breath as I tilt my head.

"You don't agree with that theory?" Saeko asks back.

"Nothing is ever black and white. I'm old enough to know that there is always a trade-off to getting the desired results. The question is, how big is that trade-off." I answer.

And like that, silence returned. Saeko closed her eyes as the car kept moving towards its destination...

...About thirty minutes later, we reached the point that the river turned towards the right, in other words, the point that the car had to go swimming again.

Yet instead of going straight into the river, Shizuka turned to the right to follow the river again.

The reason was that the shallow point turned out to be further down, a rocky, seemingly man-made path made up of pebbles. The height of the water there turned to be about half a wheel on height after Shizuka turned to drive on it.

(Hmm, this place could be good for fishing, since you have more exit points, plus the noise of the water could disorient the corpses if you are silent enough. Though on the flip side that same noise could attract them. Not that I have seen any corpses for some time now...)

Looking straight ahead, I saw that the rocky path led to a path that went straight into the forest again, thankfully big enough for the humvee to enter.

"Saeko." I shake the girl next to me slightly as I turn towards her, Saeko silently lifts her head and turns to look at me.

"We should go back down. You know, tree branches and all." I motion with my head towards the forest ahead of us. Saeko just nods and turns to climb down the hatch. With me following shortly after. The sound of music getting louder now that I was back inside the vehicle...

"Oh, back from your date?" Rika asks as I climb down. Much to Saya's displeasure. I, just ignored the smirking Rika.

"How much further after we enter the forest again?" Khota then asks.

"Halfway." Saya answers flatly.

"Still, won't a helicopter be able to see this place?" Khota then asks.

"I suppose. But just because one thief can break open your door because he has a diamond pickaxe, are you going to leave it open for evrybody to enter?" I answer.

"Uhh, yeah, I guess not. " Khota nods as he responds.

"Besides, we have two snipers here. Just snipe the pilot." I add with a shrug.

"Ehh I could probably do it, as long as I'm not this fucking tired." Rika chuckles.

"Maaan, I can't wait until we clear the house and I get to sleep on a soft bed. I'll sleep for a damn century." She then continues as she closes her eyes slightly.

"Hey! You're still driving don't close your eyes!" Saya shouts.

"Relax, I can see where I'm going." Rika answers as she opens her eyes again.

"Muuu, I told you I could drive. You need rest." Shizuka pouts as she folds her arms under her oversized chest.

"It's fine. Though my butt is a bit itchy." Rika shrugs.

"Thought the wound was at your hip." I respond as I tilt my head.

"Huh? Never said it was the wound that bothered me, just that my butt is itchy." Rika glances at me with a stupid smirk before looking back ahead. I just sigh in response.

"Can we stop talking about stupid butts and focus? You all can be idiots after we have a safe place to rest." Saya groans.

"Oi, my butt is not stupid. It went to college with me, and graduated." Rika turns to narrow her eyes at Saya. Who rolled her eyes.

"Just, keep driving..." Saya responds as she focuses back on the map.

And just then, the song changed to a new one.

"Oh-oh-oh! I like this song!" Shizuka turns to glance at Khota, who had the mp3 in his hand.

Shizuka then, much to the surprise of nobody started 'dancing', or more like swaying her upper body to the rhythm of the music.

What was a surprise, was that when the lyrics started, she started singing as well.

And what was even more surprising, was that she was actually good at singing...

"Wait, Shizuka can sing?" I ask as I tilt my head in confusion.

"Well, she did say she liked karaoke." Rika answers.

"I know people that like Karaoke too, but they sound like deaf pigs." I respond.

"H, huh?! I, I sound like a deaf pig?!" Shizuka then abruptly stops singing and turns to stare at me. A mixture of shock, surprise, and disheartenment on her face. Hell, there were even tears forming in the corner of her eyes.

"Uhh, no. I said that I'm surprised that you can actually sing, since other people I know who liked karaoke sounded like deaf pigs." I respond.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"Oooh. I, see." Shizuka responds, then starts glancing around.

A few seconds of silence then passed...

"You won't sing again?" Khota asks.

"I, can't. It's embarrassing now..." Shizuka mumbles. Causing the rest of the group to start chuckling.

"Ah, Rika, I see a gap in the trees to the right, take the turn." Saya then points ahead as she keeps looking through the windshield.

"I really want to see how we will make this trip again without getting lost..." Rika mumbled as she took the turn.

"Good question. Maybe we should leave marks behind? Not obvious ones, because I'm paranoid. The river part is easy enough to remember since it has natural points we can lean on, but inside the forest? I honestly already forgot how we got through the first part of it already." I ask.

"Hmm, we could tie some cloth on it and make the binding point towards the direction we need to turn." Khota responds.

"...Wish we could just use a Gps..." Saya groans.

"Gps works now? After the emp?" Asami asks back.

"Think so. When the big wings arrived at the airport. They came with their private, shiny latest edition jets. These things used Gps. Since one of our engineers was grumbling that they 'requested' to take the GPS hardware from these jets and install them into the bigger airliners, since theirs was fried. You can guess how well that ended." Rika chuckles back.

"So, in other words, if we find a store that sells car accessories and find a working GPS screen. We'd be set." I respond.

"Yep." Rika answers back.

"Uhh, we should have asked for one before we left..." Khota mumbled.

"Nobody thought of it, what can you do." I shrug.

"We should make a list of what we will need. I'd like to avoid making this trip multiple times. Gps or not." Rika adds right after.

"I agree on that." I continue as I nod.

"So, about the markings..." Rika then asks as she slows down the car.

"Let's do what Khota said, we can remove them after we find a working GPS." I respond.

"Ok, what should we use?" Khota asks.

"Just pick a shirt and rip it. I'd say use one of mine. But I don't think black is a good color for a sign in the middle of a forest..." I answer as I shrug.

"Ok!" Khota then nods enthusiastically and turns to shuffle through one of the bags...

"Ah! Found something!" He exclaims and pulls...

"..."

A purple lace panty...

"That is mine. And is not a shirt Hirano." Saeko then speaks up.

"Aaaaaa, s, sorry!" Khota quickly shoves the underwear back inside the bag, before pulling a red shirt.

"Can, we use this?" He asks, this time with a rather timid tone.

"If nobody got any red shirts in there, then this is mine. Use it." Saya responds.

"Though can I ask why my clothes have Saeko's in as well?" She continues.

"I put all our clothes in one bag to save space." Rika answers.

"What?! Why didn't you tell me that you were fiddling through my stuff!" Saya blurts out as she turns to glare at Rika.

"Relax, I didn't throw any of that sexy underwear you hid in the side pocket." Rika answers casually again. Which got followed by...

Let's just call it a siren blare.

"...Let's go mark the tree." I point at the door next to Saeko as I keep staring at Saya, who was trying to get ahold of Rika's neck.

"Uhh, yea, here. I can't come with since I'll slow you down." Khota hands me a long, red ripped sheet he made with a knife from the shirt.

"I, I don't have any weird underwear in my bag!" Saya shouts as me and Saeko exit the car.

"Let's get done with this fast. We don't know if there are corpses around there." I speak up as I close the door, Saeko next to me.

"Agreed." Saeko nods back.

And so, we ran to where Rika took the turn, picked the first tree that would probably be visible when coming down the road with a car, and tied the red sheet on it.

"I see rustling further in." Saeko then spoke up as he slowly drew her blade.

"Almost. Ok, done." I respond as I back off the tree, then turn to look to where Saeko was looking.

...Only to see a pair of rabbits pop up from under a bush.

"Oh..." Saeko blinks a couple of times before sheathing her blade.

"Hmm, the forest has rabbits? Nice." I say as I nod, then turn to head towards the car, tapping Saeko on the shoulder.

"You like rabbits?" Saeko asks back.

"You'll like them too once we run out of meat." I answer with a chuckle.

"Ahh, good point. Rabbits should be easier to hunt compared to a boar or a deer." Saeko answers.

"Plus you know, they breed like, rabbits." I add as I open the Humvee's door.

"Who breeds like rabbits you pervert?!" And Saya, who was still going at it, turn to shout at me.

"Rabbits." I answer flatly as I take a seat, with Saeko following in.

"Ah?..." Saya just tilts her head with a confused expression.

"We saw a pair of rabbits. With hunting season now being just, us. It means we won't have a shortage of meat." I answer.

"You, you want to kill Rabbits?! But they're so cute!..." Shizuka exclaims as she turns to me with a worried expression.

"Well, you can munch on carrots while I'm making meat patties for burgers then..." I answer with a shrug.

"Ohhh, I'd kill for a double burger right now..." Rika sighs as she leans on the wheel.

"...Me too." Khota answers right after as he brings his hand to his stomach.

"...Ok now I'm getting hungry too, so let's drop it and keep going." I chuckle as I point forward.

"Hey, let's make burgers for the victory party after we lock down the building!" Khota then speaks up.

"Huh, we should add a meat grinder to the list of stuff we need." I add as I fold my arms.

"I'm pretty sure the kitchen there has one pre-installed." Saeko responds.

"We also still have the crossbow in the trunk, since they didn't take it. I guess it was not 'gun' enough." Khota adds as he turns to look deeper into the trunk.

"Nice, that could come in handy." I add as I nod.

"Can we stop thinking what we will do 'after' we clear the place, and instead think how we will actually clear it?" Saya groans.

"Hahh, come on now, don't be a spoilsport. Though I guess you are technically correct..." Rika tilts her head as she speaks.

"I am not technically correct! I am just correct! And don't call me a spoilsport!" Saya then leans towards Rika as she taps at the map on her legs.

"Do we even know what we will face though?" Khota asks right after.

"My father mentioned only that the infected got inside." Saeko responds.

"Can't we just bait them out? Asami thinks that we could avoid needless danger if we did that instead of fighting them." Asami adds.

"Not a good idea. Unless you want to have corpses roaming around the woods near the house. Plus, I'm still not fully sure these things won't actually attack animals. They did get drawn to Zeke's barking after all..." I answer as I shake my head.

"But we have not seen a single animal that is one of them..." Khota adds right after.

"Maybe they are too fast to catch or are too small to have anything left over after they catch them. Or well, maybe the thing just doesn't work on em. We also did see a video with Saya when we were still at her house, before the E.M.P. A scientist in it mentioned that the whole thing might be lab bred because its transfer rate is too inefficient for it to have spread worldwide so fast. If that's true, then it could be an engineered bioweapon that got sold off to the wrong pair of hands." I continue.

"Really? I, never knew that..." Khota lowers his head slightly.

"Asami does not understand, even if it was a bioweapon, why ignore animals?" Asami asks right after.

"Because it would be detrimental. Let's say, that this was cooked up for the army, because only a government would have the funds and closed doors to make research this dodgy. Or a multi-billionaire. But either case, if it was made for war, it would be for attacking, as I can't think of a single good reason when bombarding your own nation with a Zombie virus will be efficient. So if it's to take out a hostile nation, you would want to take your opposition, aka, people. Killing pigs and cows would have had an actual detriment, since if the war was won then farming assets would belong to the winner." I answer.

"That theory is full of holes." Saya groans.

"Well, that's why it's a theory. For all we know it could be the Zetans counter-attacking after the lone wanderer blew up their death ray." I shrug.

"The who did what because of who?" Saya turns to me with a confused frown as she tilts her head.

"But hey, we could just check if it affects animals." I respond as I fold my arms.

"Huh, how?" Saya asks again.

"By giving PETA a reason to come knocking on our door." I add.

"You want to feed an animal to the corpses?..." Khota asks right after.

"Whhaaaaa! Naier you can't do that!" Shizuka then suddenly speaks up.

"Asami agrees with Shizuka. That is too cruel..." Asami adds right after.

"Would be good to definitively know if animals can get infected though, last thing I want is a zombified Doberman named Cerberus running after me." Rika chuckles.

"Smashing through windows..." Khota whispers right after...

"That was oddly specific. But, I do agree." Saeko then responds.

"We won't be any better than the bad guys if do something like this..." Alice mumbles as she hugs Zeke.

"Say what you want, but don't come crying to me if you flip your life on a coin and get the shit side of the bet." I shrug.

"We, we just need to be careful." Shizuka mumbles right after.

"What if they can bust through windows though..." Khota 'asks'...

"Ugghhhh! What's with you and dogs jumping through windows? What? Were you holding an umbrella when..."

"Pffft!..." Only to get caught off my me as I bring my hand to my face as I try to stop laughing.

"Why the hell are you laughing?!" Saya loudly 'asks' as she glares at me.

"Nothing, nothing. Just surprised at how divided we are on the matter." I shake my head.

"Hey I know, let's vote~" Rika then chimes in as she keeps driving.

"All those in favor of checking if animals can get infected raise your hand~" She adds as she raises her hand.

"Rikaaaaa!" Shizuka pouts as she tries to lean forward to grab Rika's hand, to no avail.

"Well, I was the one that mentioned it..." I add as I raise my own hand.

"The more we know of our enemies, the better we can counter them." Saeko then raises her own hand.

"Uhh, well. I..." Khota glances at Asami, who was staring, rather intently at the guy...

"Asami and Khota think that this is a horrible idea." Asami then speaks up. Khota just kept his mouth shut.

(Ohh, assertive.)

"Me too." Shizuka adds with a pout.

"Me four! Zeke too!" Alice then continues with what I think was an angry pout as she takes Zeke's paw and raises it, the dog just started to lick the girl's hand, ever oblivious.

Saya glanced at me, then at Saeko.

"I'm with Naier, leaving things to luck is a good way to get killed." She then adds.

"Hmm, looks like we have a tie." I respond.

And a few seconds later...

"It's not a tie! We won by one!" Alice speaks up.

(...)

"Well, I'm going to hold each one of you responsible if we bring back a zombie rabbit and it starts hopping around in the kettle." I shrug as I let out a huge sigh.

"Khhff!" And Rika starts chuckling.

"Actually. I'm going to give you the 'I don't give fuck-all what you all think' card. Because if I'm going out there to hunt. I'm sure as fucking hell gonna check if a deer can go corpse mode on me and turn me into an antler accessory." I respond.

"Muuu, but we voted!" Shizuka protest.

"And I might even check each and every animal at least once to make absolutely sure." I add as I turn to Shizuka, who narrows her eyes and starts, well, I would not call it slapping, more like flailing her arms towards my direction.

"Ahhh, guys!" Rika then shouts as she stops the car.

"W, what! He was bei..." Shizuka then turns to look towards Rika, but her eyes stop at the windshield.

The reason? An uphill zig sag road was ahead of us, and on the top, we could see part of what seemed to be a concrete fence, and behind it, a...

"Saeko, why you didn't tell me your dad owned a castle." I say as I tilt my head.

"It is, not a castle..." Saeko responds.

"Sure as hell looks like one, sloped roof and all. Hell, the top looks like a keep too..." Rika mumbles.

"The top is just used as an observatory, and the radio room my father mentioned." Saeko answers.

"Still a castle." Rika shrugs. Saeko just lets some air through her nose and glances away.

"That is the main building right?" I ask.

"Yes." Saeko answers flatly.

"And around it are all the other things you mentioned. Dojo, storage, garage and all. Which is then surrounded by that concrete fence?" I ask again.

"Yes." Saeko answers fatly, again.

"And it took us? An hour to get here?" I ask again.

"Give or take, yea." Saya nods.

"Hmm, not too bad, we just have to make fewer, bigger trips to town if need be. Because this place looks good, too good." I nod.

"Alright then. Shizuka. Take the wheel." Rika then turns around and leans between the two front seats. And essentially almost shoving her chest to my face.

Shuzika just nods and starts to move...

Did I mention I was still sitting there?...

"I'll take the PSG and take aim through the hatch." Rika continues as a Pinkette was, glaring at me for sitting at apparently the wrong place...

"I'll keep the magazines full!" Khota then slides to a better position next to me as he looks at Rika, who just nods.

"Asami will help." Asami adds as she crawls next to Khota.

"Alright. Saeko, get ready. Once we get there, if the place is not swarmed with corpses, we are getting off." I respond as I turn toward the purple-haired samurai. Who nods back at me.

"What do you want me to do?" Saya asks.

"You got the Mp5?" I ask.

"Uhh, I. I don't. They took it when they kicked us out..." Saya mumbles as she looks down.

"We still have the M1A1 back here." Khota points behind him.

"We do?" I ask as I tilt my head.

"Well duh sweetheart, the weapon is mine, why would I leave it behind? Though I never found where my shotgun was at..." Rika asks with a chuckle.

"S,sweetheart?!" And Saya flies off the handle.

I just glance at Rika, who gives me a playful wink before climbing out through the hatch...

"Uhh, Saya, take the M1 and go up with Rika. She can show you how to shoot it. Or ask Khota, he knows too." I respond.

"Humf, of course 'you' can't show it to me..." Saya mumbles as she folds her arms.

"Well yea, I never used it." I answer as I shrug.

And just then, the car starts to move again...

"Ok people. Put all your thoughts on hold now. We have a house to clean." I add as I check my Scar.

(This is it huh. We do this and we will have a safe house that is 'ours' and is actually safe to kick our feet up?)