"There." Saya points at the laptop's screen, towards a body on the floor of the dojo.

"Hmm, yea. That makes nine." I nod...

It has been some time since me and the girls sat in front of the computer's screen. Thankfully, I was able to link the cameras to the laptop, since I found the initial software for the cameras inside a usb stick inside the desk we used as a barricade.

Now, what we found.

First of all, all of the outer rooms had cameras, which were the two garages, warehouse and dojo. The house itself had cameras around it, and there were also cameras around the outer wall. Even better, all of em were functional.

Now the other thing, on the wall behind the estate, from the opposite side we arrived from, was a tank. One that was very similar to the water tank in the garage, with a long, thick pipe going downwards, towards, somewhere. Big chance that was the storage tank for the secondary river pump. Sadly we found it to be nonfunctional, plus it did not seem to connect to the house in any way. Meaning that we either had to pass a very long hose over the wall, or exit the wall to get water from it, if we ever managed to activate it. Though on the trip to check it I managed to restock on ammo from the humvee, so that was something I guess.

And finally, what we have been doing now was checking the dojo for surviving corpses.

"Hmm, well we know we got some left in there, better get going." I nod as I start to get off the bed I and the girls were sitting on.

"Agreed." Saeko nods.

"Let's get this over with then. So we can finally call this place safe." Saya adds right after as she also starts to get up.

"Ah, Saya, I'd like you to stay on the cameras. We got the radios. Keep an eye on us in case something crawls behind our back." I raise my hand towards the Pikette as I turn to her.

"Huh? Why do I have to stay behind again?" Saya just frowns at me as she voices her displeasure.

"Because you've been chosen as the designated coms operative." I reply flatly as I fold my arms. Saya just lets out a loud groan as she sits on the bed again.

(For all the whining, she does listen to what I say.)

"You two better not do anything weird." She mumbles as she turns to the laptop.

"Weird? Like?" Saeko asks as she finally gets up and starts to walk towards the door.

"Like weird." Saya replies flatly as she narrows her eyes at Saeko.

"I wonder what that weird would be..." Saeko smirks slightly as she opens the door to the hallway.

"Come on Naier, we should go. And, make sure you do nothing weird to me~." She then adds as she turns to glance at me, the tone of her voice making it obvious that she was meaning, the opposite of what she's saying.

"Hey!" Saya just shouts back at her as she frowns. Causing Saeko to leave the room with a small giggle.

"I'm going to be watching you buster, you better not try anything funny." And then the moody pinkette turns to frown at me.

"Saya, for crying out loud. In a dojo surrounded by blood, gore and corpses? Even I have some standards." I lower my head as I shake it.

"Humf, so what you're saying is that if that place was in better condition you 'would' do something." Saya just keeps frowning at me as she folds her arms under her chest.

"If that place was in better condition you wouldn't be here looking at a camera Saya. Meaning, that there's a big chance that if something weird 'did' happen, I'd probably happen to you too." I smirk slightly as I lean towards the pinkette, who just blushes and turns to look at the screen.

"A, as if I'd let you." Saya mumbles as she starts tapping the arrows on the keyboard to switch around the cameras.

"Hmm? So you'd rather watch? Damn Saya you kinky. Also, you already sort of did let me, and Saeko..." I chuckle as I turn to exit the room. Saya shouting a flustered 'Idiot' as I exited the room.

"And you told me not to tease her too much." Saeko, who was waiting outside in the hallway with her arms folded, speaks up the moment I close the door.

"You know the whole thing ended like that because you 'did' tease her right?" I respond as I also fold my arms, then start to walk.

"Hmm? I did?" Saeko just smirks slightly as she turns to walk down the hallway with me.

After going down to the first floor with Saeko. I find Shizuka, with a mop. Scrubbing the floor as she hummed some tune under her breath.

Looking past her I could see that most, if not all the corpses in the front courtyard had disappeared.

"Done with the driving?" I ask as I walk up to Shizuka, who turns to look at me while she was still slightly bent over.

"M'hm. Rika told me to start cleaning because I'm better at it compared to digging." Shizuka continues as she keeps scrubbing.

"Huh, how can somebody be better at cleaning than digging? Did you toss a dirt pile at somebody's face or something?" I ask with a small chuckle as I fold my arms.

"I, it wasn't my fault! How could I know Asami was standing behind me!" Shizuka puffs her cheeks as she tries to glare at me.

(Wait. So you did toss dirt at somebody's face...)

I blink a couple of times as I keep staring at Shizuka.

"Good luck with the cleaning. Remember, moral hangs on you. Nobody wants to live in a house full of gunk and bloodstains." I reply as I make her a thumbs up.

"Yes!" Shizuka nods energetically as she starts to scrub even harder.

"Just, don't grind a hole in the floor, nobody wants to live in a house full of holes." I chuckle as I wave her goodbye and turn to walk towards the garden behind us.

"I won't!" Shizuka shouts back as energetically.

"Bringing them along was a good idea. I do not think we could have managed all this so fast just by our selfs" Saeko then turns to glance behind her as she starts to speak.

"Yea, I just hope that nobody gets too comfy to the point that they forget that a few kilometers from us, all hell is breaking loose." I answer as I also glance behind me.

"We will just have to remind them if they do." Saeko just nods at me.

"Are you there yet? I don't see you." And my radio speaks up.

"We'll be there in five." I answer as I turn to look at the dojo.

"Any changes inside?" I ask right after.

"Uhh, no. Just remember that there are three corpses squatting down behind the front door." Saya responds.

"No worries. I'll just kick in the door again." I answer with a slight shrug.

"Boys and their door-kicking habits..." Saya just sighs. I could honestly almost see her shaking her head in a disapproving manner.

"You're just not in my boots." I respond.

"You mean shoes." Saya corrects me.

"No, I did mean boots. These things have metal plates in, they're just asking to be used to kick stuff in." I answer. Saya stayed quiet for a few seconds, probably processing what I just told her, before just calling me an idiot. Again.

And with that, me and my boots reached the front of the dojo. Saeko once again readying her blade behind me.

"Alright, I open the door and we back off. Let them come out." I whisper as I grab the hose, Saeko calmly nods at me.

And with a quick fling, I undo the hose, and, kick the doors in. The right door this time stopped mid-way as it found something to slam against. The left one opened completely, and at the same time one of the corpses charged out.

Not fast enough to get me though, as I quickly jumped out of the way, falling to my side as the corpse charged past me, and towards Saeko, who was more than ready for it. Proven by the fact that the corpse then lost both arms, before getting a stomp on its chest, falling flat on its back.

By the time I got up and drew my blade, the second of the three corpses was creeping outside, 'looking' towards Saeko. At a range that let me just take a step in and stab it at the side of its head.

The third one, I found was still flailing sluggishly on the ground behind the door. So after I entered the Dojo, I pressed my boot against its chest, the corpse grabbing my leg with both arms as it tried to reach it with its mouth. Though the only thing it got, was a bullet to the head from my handgun.

"Got the other two as well?" Saya then asks.

"Nah, we gave them a light scolding and send them on their merry way." I answer as I laugh through my nose, kicking the now limb arms off my leg.

"Ha-ha." Saya lets out an obviously fake, monotone laugh.

"There should be three more by the changing room on the far right, and two more inside the showers after the changing room. Along with the ones we saw in the main room through the camera." Saya then continiues.

I nod, and turn to walk to the right, staying a good ten meters away from the 'battlefield'.

The remaining corpses we had to shoot were now pretty easy to spot, since we knew their location from the cameras.

"Want to try?" I ask as I turn to Saeko, and extend my handgun to her as I held it from the barrel.

Saeko glanced at the gun, then towards the deeper part of the dojo. I also think she glanced towards where the camera should be at?

She then nodded with a smile as she took the gun and aimed at the nearest corpse that was trying to be a fish on the floor.

"Would you mind showing me what I need to do again?" Saeko asks as she turns to me, gun still pointing towards the corpse. I nod and walk up to her.

"Where should I aim?" She then asks as she tries to aim the gun.

"Straight and to the left, there's one in plain view." I respond as I point at the nearest corpse that was crawling toward us on the floor.

Saeko nods and closes one eye, taking a few seconds to look at the gun, then the corpse, then at her legs as she fixed her posture.

"Hmmf, you better not start acting like you do not know how to use a gun. I saw you shoot when we were with Rika." Saya then speaks up through the radio.

"Ohh? And why would I do that?" Saeko asks back as she pulls the trigger. Yet the shot, missed the target for a meter or so.

Saeko shakes her head and aims again. While I aimed my own rifle at a different corpse.

"By the way. How come we have cameras in 'this' bathroom." I ask myself as I take a shot at the furthest corpse I could see.

"There are actual weapons in this building. And the showers have windows. Would you rather be caught naked, or dead? Besides, the only female that ever used the dojo was me. And the only one that used the cameras was my father. " Saeko calmly responds as she keeps aiming before firing a shot, this time getting the corpse at the shoulder.

"I see." I nod slightly as I change target.

(You know, I never heard her say anything about her mother. And considering her attitude, something tells me her father was responsible for her since she was a kid. But this ain't the time for this.)

I shake my head slightly as focus back on shooting.

And so after a few minutes, and a couple of shots later...

"I think that would be all of them." Saya says through the radio.

"So changing rooms next?" I ask. Saya answered with a 'mhm'...

I nod slightly and turn to walk, only for Saeko to stop me by softly taking my hand. The moment I turn around, she extends the handgun back to me.

"Keep it, until we're done." I respond as I glance at the gun.

"Did you forget that I actually have a gun too?" She asks with a giggle as she 'shows' me her hip. Her handgun was still strapped to it.

"Right." I glance at the gun for a few seconds before taking the gun off her hands and holstering it.

"These should be the last corpses left in the estate." She then adds as we start to walk towards the door that led to changing rooms.

"Fucking hope so. Don't need midnight jumpscares in my life." I respond with a slight sigh.

"Do not worry, I will make sure nothing, jumpscares you while you sleep~" Saeko leans slightly towards me with a meaningful smile as she whispered.

"Not if you end up more exhausted than me." I reply flatly. Saeko just lets out an 'Ohhh?'

And so, by staying by the wall to our right, we reach the door that led to the changing rooms.

Said door wide open, and upon closing in, I could see two rows of lockers and small bench-like seats that run along the distance of the room. Two of the four corpses visible from here, dressed as you'd expect somebody to dress inside a changing room, one on each side of the bench kneeling down next to the remains of a poor sod that was split in half on the bench between the two corpses.

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To my left, behind the lockers, I could partly see another set of benches and lockers, following the same layout as the one in front of me. The third corpse was partly visible as it was chilling there by itself, or more like, it was trying to phase through the locker towards my direction with how it kept trying to walk into it.

Needless to say, there was a lot of smeared blood on the floor. What made it worse, was that the insides of the changing room were made of waterproof tiles.

(Hmm? The one over there is trying to move towards us, but these two just ignored the gunshots. Is that guy 'that' tasty?)

"The place is probably too slippery to jump about. I'll take them out with a gun from here. Lest we end up slipping on a puddle of blood and meeting the wrong end of a mouth." I whisper as I raise my hand, then lift my scar-H, Saeko just stood behind me in silence.

So, after taking aim, I fire at the first corpse, sending it tumbling down after a clean headshot, its friend, which still did not react, followed soon after.

"The third one stopped banging against the locker and is moving towards you." Saya then speaks up.

I nod and turn to aim at the gap between the lockers to my left and the lockers on the far end.

And sure enough, the lone corpse soon walked out, equally undressed as the other two.

"Check the ones in the showers" I respond to the radio, then take the shot.

"Umm, I see. four inside now..." Saya mumbles.

"Wasn't it two?" I ask back.

"The camera can't see inside the showers, just the hallway between them. Maybe they were hiding inside. Two are near the end of the hallway, the other two are at about the center." Saya answers.

"Roger." I nod and walk deeper into the changing rooms. Carefully stepping on the puddles so I don't end up upside down.

The entrance to the showers was on the wall ahead of me, behind the locker set to my left.

(If I remember right, after the door frame towards the showers there was a small corridor that went left, then turned right, where the hallway with the showers started. So if two corpses were by the end of the long hallway, they will probably get the jump on me if I enter through the doorless frame now.)

With another small nod, I walk to the end of the bench, where the door frame became visible, then sat on the bench, aiming at the doorframe.

"Naier?" Saeko, who was still behind me speaks up. I just raise my finger before grabbing my gun again.

And sure enough, a corpse crawled out the dark corridor seconds after, only to get greeted by a bullet. Followed then by a second corpse, that got the same treatment.

"Where are the other two?" I then ask at my radio.

"...Five..." Saya mumbles.

"Really?" I ask with a chuckle.

"N,not my fault these perverts hid inside the damn showers!" Saya quickly protests with a whiny tone.

"So, where are they?" I ask.

"Nearest just disappeared from the camera..." Saya answers.

"Got it." I nod, and lower my gun slightly.

"I'd go inside and go to them. But, ehh. Let them come, I'm too lazy to get up." I sigh as I aim again.

"Hmm, are you getting too comfy Naier?" Saeko chuckles from behind me.

"Guilty as charged." I chuckle back as I felt Saeko sitting behind me and putting her hands on my shoulders.

It actually took a few minutes before the first corpse appeared through the doorframe, then the second, third, fourth, and fifth. All, getting a one-way ticket to get-the-fuck-out-my-shower land.

...And after a few minutes of seated shooting...

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

"I think so. I don't see anything inside." Saya responds.

"Well, let's check it." I nod slightly as I get up. Keeping the gun aimed at the corpses I just sent to showerless land.

After walking up to them and throwing a quick kick, I step past them, into the corridor, and then the main hallway. The sound of showers running now being audible.

"Fuck this is slippery..." I groan under my breath as I check the floor with my foot.

"Carefull here. With the water back on the showers seem to have restarted. The floor is probably going to be as slippery if not more." I glance at Saeko before starting to walk again. Checking each shower individually.

And a few seconds later...

"Clear. Now we need to close the showers. Water be wasting like it's nobody's business." I add as I leave my scar-H, handgun, and clips next to the wall on the wall next to me, since I was at the end of the hallway. Saeko nods, and hands me her sword, handgun, and clips.

I then turn to look at the shower, shrug slightly, and plainly walk into it and shut it off.

"Good thing it's hot outside." I chuckle as I walk back out and check how wet my clothes got.

"Indeed..." Saeko responds with a giggle. Turning to look at her, I found her shirt was starting to become partly see-through and her hair looked a bit, wet.

(Black has better visibility compared to purple. Uhh, focus Naier. Close tha wata hose Naier.)

I shake my head and head to the next open shower, I think, I heard Saeko giggling from my side?...

It must have taken us less than a minute to close all the showers. And, call me suspicious...

But why in the end Saeko's clothes looked completely drenched when I was bearly wet?...

"Is something wrong?" Saeko, seeing me staring, asks with an almost innocent tone as she tilts her head.

"We were supposed to close the showers, not, take a shower..." I blink at her as I keep staring.

"This? Oh, I did as fast as I could..." Saeko responds flatly as she pinches her shirt with both hands a little over her chest, then tugs it a couple of times as she turns to look at her shirt...

I, could actually hear a low-toned, angry grown coming from my radio as Saeko, uhh, bounced...

(Press X to doubt...)

"But I guess you are right. It would be rather unbecoming of me to walk outside with my clothes like this..." She adds as she lifts her head to look at me...

"Hmm, I think I actually had one of my training outfits here, in the changing rooms." She adds as she folds her arms.

"Very well. Give me a sec." I nod and walk back to the end of the hallway, picking up our stuff. Then walk back to Saeko and hand her her sword.

"I'll go keep guard on the door, since this place is safe." I add as I start to walk, putting my stuff back in their respective place.

Yet the moment we walked out of the shower, I turn to look at the corpses.

"Actually..." I grab one of the corpses and start to drag it out. Saeko looked at me before doing the same.

"You want to clear the changing rooms now?" Saeko asks right after.

"I'd rather not risk having you change next to probably dead corpses." I answer as I leave the first corpse in the main dojo room, then turn to look at Saeko.

Saeko did not respond, she just stared at me for a few seconds.

"Saeko?" I ask as I tilt my head.

"It, feels really nice to have somebody care about you. And, that you are still acting like a gentleman towards me. Some would think that staying inside to ogle at me as I change would be fine." She lets out a small giggle before smiling at me...

I just chuckle as I ruffle her hair, then walk back into the changing rooms to grab the rest of the corpses...

- A few minutes later-

I was with my back next to the door, looking at the dead mini horde inside the dojo.

"No point, the car can't come in here anyway. So no point making a hole in the wall." I respond as I lower my radio.

"True, so we have to clear this place the slow way..." Saya mumbles.

"Yea, but we'll all work on it, so it will be over quicker than you think." I nod as I kick away from the wall, and head towards one of the swords that was sticking out of the ground. Part of the blade jammed inside the body of a headless body.

I then grab the blade, and pull it.

"Hmm, quality seems better compared to the one I use, but being left like this might have degraded it..." I mumble as I take a weak swing with one arm.

"Heh, I could take six of them and go all Masamune Date. Though I don't think that's an 'accurate' representation of him. Unless he went around using katanas like wolverine claws." I chuckle as I back off and drop the sword, then walk up towards one that was plainly tossed to the floor, seemingly being spared getting jammed inside a moist sack of flesh...

I kneel down and pick up the blade...

"Naier?" And a female voice speaks up from behind me, turning around I find Saeko in a kendo outfit, white top and dark blue bottom. She was not wearing any sort of armor though, at least on over the baggy-looking clothes. She also had her hair in a ponytail.

She was also looking around, was I really that hard to spot? My sneak was high, but I don't think it was at a hundred points yet. Granted though the place was not very bright and the ground looked almost black from all the smeared blood, and I was wearing black.

"Yea?" I ask as I get up, keeping the sword in my hand. Saeko turns to me and shows me her wet clothes.

"We should leave this somewhere to dry." She adds as she starts to walk towards the exit. I just nod and start to follow her...

Once outside, I take a deep breath.

"And we are. Done." I let my shoulders drop as I turn to look at the small ponds in the distance to my right.

"Did we check if there are any corpses inside the ponds? The water seems a bit, 'too' murky, even after not being taken care of for a week or two. Would explain why everything is dead too if the water quality got degraded and was left unchanged." I ask as I tilt my head.

"I do not know. But these ponds are connected at the bottom. So if a couple of corpses fell into one, all the other ponds would get dirty too." Saeko shakes her head before turning to look at the ponds.

"Anyway to drain the ponds?" I ask again.

"The old-fashioned way." Saeko answers.

"We need to pass a cable to hang our wet clothes..." She adds as she turns to me.

"Or use the dryer. Think I saw one on the second floor." I shrug.

"Oh, right. We, have electricity..." Saeko blinks at me in surprise.

"And speaking about it. We forgot to check the dojo, if the lights work..." I scratch the back of my head as I turn to look behind me.

"There should be a switch for the lights right next to the entrance." Saeko responds as she points behind me, at the open dojo doors.

I nod, and enter the dojo again, finding said switch next to the door to my right.

And, upon flipping the switch, the whole place lit up.

(Well, that was retarded. Would have been easier clearing this place if the lights were on...

"Well, it just works." I nod as I give the place a final glance before walking out, after closing the lights again.

"Also, if you do not mind me asking, why are you carrying this around?" Saeko then asks as she points at my hand. The Katana I picked off the ground still in my hand.

"Ah, I want you to check the swords in there. Most of them are probably ruined. But some might be usable." I respond as I look at the blade.

"Hmm, not a bad idea. We could always do with more weapons to stock up with." Saeko nods at me as she looks at the blade again.

"Let us gather them when we start to clean the Dojo. I will check which are salvageable." She adds as she lifts her head to look at me.

"So, what is our next step?" She asks she tilts her head.

"Lock the dojo again, just to be sure that nothing will come back to life when we are not looking. And, hmm..." I fold my arms as I look around the courtyard, then lower my head.

"We could check the ponds, see if any of them got any corpse bits in, and dry them out if need be. We'll also bury the Koi. Don't think eating them is a smart idea, we don't know how long they have been dead. And leaving them to rot is unhealthy." I lift my head to find Saeko was gone. Turning to glance behind me, I find her tying the hose.

"You got any idea how we will drain it?" She asks as she finishes tying the door.

"We'll need a long hose, think I saw one in the warehouse next to the shovel, and find a spot to connect it with the drain line of the house. I don't know how this house handles drain and sewer lines. But there's no way for a truck to come here if it has a designated septic tank. I did read something about drain fields on the internet, but uhh. I dono, you rich people and your villas must use some sort of black magic for that stuff..." I shrug slightly as I keep looking at Saeko.

"I would not know. Though I 'do' know that I have never seen trucks around here." Saeko nods at me.

"Well, one step at a time. We're not swimming in backflow, so it must be taken care of in some way. This place was built to be self-sustainable off-grid after all." I shake my head before I start to walk.

"I do hope so..." Saeko flatly responds.

"Saya, we're finished. Probably." I then bring my radio up.

"Probably?" Saya asks back.

"Well, I did not poke every single corpse to see if they'll start flopping." I add as I glance behind me, at the now locked door.

"When we'll clear this place we'll have to take some extra precautions. Just in any case. Anyway, we will head to the front, and see if they need any help." I continue.

"Ok, I'll stay on the cameras for now make sure nothing appears when we are not looking." Saya answers.

"Aight, just make sure you have sims in window mode so you can look at both windows ah?" I chuckle as I lower the radio.

"D, don't be stupid!" Saya shouts back with a flustered tone.

"Should we not inform my father? Now that electricity is on?" Saeko then asks.

"Ahh, right. Almost forgot, let's go fetch Khota and head to the third floor." I nod as I pick up the pace.

-15 minutes later-

We were all at the third floor, all of us as the rest of the group, by their words, this was too important to be digging holes.

"So info for locations for a library, a pharmacy, a flower store, a nearby gas station, an electronics store, and a store that has building supplies." I look through the paper the rest of the group noted on while Khota was fiddling with the big radio on the desk, the map on the table next to him with the coordinates he needed.

"Yea, if we could mark the stores on the map and know if any roads are blocked off beforehand. We could draw a path to drive through." Saya nods as she keeps looking at the map while leaning next to Khota.

"Well, I can tell you that around this perimeter..." Rika runs her finger around the edge of the map, circling a rather big location around the airport.

"Have been searched and picked clean. Books, foodstuff, weapons, gas. You won't find jack squat." She continues.

"Also I expect a person like Souichiro to know locations about the stuff we need, and about road conditions for making patrol routes, or buildings that have materials but have yet to be searched." She adds as she backs off.

"Ah! Got it!" And Khota speaks up as he leans back, almost hitting his head on Saya's shoulder.

"Hey watch it!" Saya hisses back as she leans away.

"Eh? Wa! When did you get this close to me?!" Khota turns towards Saya, only to lean away with a slight blush.

(Khota my boy, don't tread there...)

"Ok, wait a sec, based on what Saeko's father told me. This should be a private line." I nod as I lean next to Khota, between him and Saya. Then look at the time on my watch.

"Saeko, any chance we know when he will be alone? So we don't speak up when he is in a meeting with, I dono, captain grabby fingers or somthing?" I ask as I turn to her.

"He usually had his tea time at five." Saeko responds.

(Heh, tea time. More like volcano time...)

"And it's. Twelve..." I turn to the standing mic, then to Khota.

"Ok, everybody stay silent for a few. Khota, press the talk button." I bring my hand next to the mic as I speak.

"Uhhh. Ok." Khota nods, and presses a button on the radio, then makes me thumbs up.

I nod, and grab the mic, then drag my fingers on it, essentially trying to claw at it. I then turn to Khota, and make a slit throat motion. With a nod, he presses the button on the radio again.

"Uhhh, what exactly did you do?" Shizuka asks as she keeps staring at the radio.

"The connection is private to a different radio I suspect. He must have it on him, since he expects us so..."

"Careful as ever I see. I am by myself, you can speak." And a gruff voice speaks up through the ham radio.

"Can never be too careful. So, we have taken the premise. The house has sustained some damage but seems to be superficial. The wiring is intact, same as plumming. Outer walls are also intact, the front gate's fuse is busted, and we have yet to find a new one. Cameras function. First floor walls are mostly busted." I answer.

"Did you check if you can go online? Also, there should be spare fuse's in the warehouse" Saeko's father asks.

"Uhh, no. Aren't landline bus.. wait, there were no landlines here in the first place..." I stop mid-sentence as I realize that...

"Yes, we used a satellite connection there." Saeko's father responds.

"So as long as there are still parts of the web still running, like servers and mainframes for sites. We can log into them..." I whisper.

"But what about the operations center of the provider? The satellites do not connect straight to the web, they need to first connect to the provider's operation center. If that is in Japan and it has been hit by the E.M.P..." Khota mumbles.

"Khota, go check the laptop, we got nothing to lose. Also, this button closes the radio?" I quickly turn to look at our chubby guy as I show a red button that was lit up from the inside on the radio's main body, Khota nods as quickly as he gets up and turns to exit the room.

"Ahh! Wait!" And Saya quickly followed behind.

(Did she forget Naier Takagi on the front screen?...) I chuckle under my breath as I turn to the mic.

"I guess there's no point asking you about certain locations we need to know of, if we will be able to get on the net." I then turn to look at the map.

"Hmm? Locations? Care to be more specific?" Saeko's father asks back.

"A library, a pharmacy, a flower store, a nearby gas station, an electronics store for house consumables like light bulbs and the such, and a store that has building supplies for houses, boards, nails, plaster. Also, the state of the roads, places that are known to be untraversable." I nod at myself as I speak.

"I should think that Souichiro could help you with that. I shall ask him to relay that information to you. In the meantime, check if you can actually get online and get that information yourself." The radio responds.

"And for now, keep a person on the radio constantly, for I do not know when I might respond. I am going offline. Good job so far Naier. I am glad to see that my daughter's faith was not missplaced in you." And, the radio goes silent.

"Great..." I back off, and turn to exit the room.

"We'll leave Khota on the radio since he knows how to use it. Let's go on with what we were doing. I'll go check what's going on with the computer." I motion with my head as I turn to look inside the radio room, the rest of the group still inside, staring at me...

And so, we all head down to the second foor, and to the room where Saya and Khota were at. The latter sitting on a chair at the right side of the room with the laptop on his lap, taping away at the keyboard...

(...You think we're going to be that lucky?...)

"Tell me we can look up mashed potato recipes." I speak up as I stop next to him, then lean to see at the screen. Yet all I saw was what I expected, a desert, and a dinosaur.

"It does not flat out kick us, it shows that we got a connection, but with no internet." Khota sighs with a dejected tone.

"So we connect to the satellite..." I fold my arms as I keep looking at the laptop.

"But as I said, if the network center of our provider is propably down. There's not much we can do on that. Unless somebody restarts and maintains it. In other words, forget it." Khota closed the laptop's lid and turns to look at me.

"We have to do things the old-fashioned way after all" I nod slightly and take a deep breath.

"Go to the radio. Saeko's father said he will come back to us with the info we asked." I then take my radio and give it to him, Saya's eyes following the exchange in silence.

"Inform us once we got any news." I continue before I turn to leave.

"So, let's go back to digging holes. We still got a house to clean people." I clap a couple of times as I exit the room. Since the rest, had once again all followed me here.

"Aww, so no kitty cat videos?" Rika 'pouts' as she starts to follow me.

"Let's not get greedy now. We still have it much better than, well, ninety-nine percent of Japan. Not logging into your account to post selfies ain't gonna kill ya" I chuckle as I start going down the stairs.

"But my poor fans! They need me!" Rika responds as she dramatically puts her outer palm on her forehead. Shizuka looked, actually worried as she stared at her friend...

(Though, I'm not going to lie. For a minute there, I really believed it my self.)