Juia_Darkcrest

  John made a valiant effort in trying to study the barrier tome. He really did. As, due to an unforeseen complication, he was forced to sit the book down and pay attention to his unexpected companion at the dinner table.

  "Joohhnn... they wus both reaallly good guys... I wen oud with Hisashi... but Takashi wus my friend siiince we wur ittle kids" Rei said, slurring her words even further than earlier.

  She was wrapped up in her towel again, somehow waking up and dragging herself downstairs so she could talk with someone. Saeko immediately chased her out of the kitchen, and Saya was passed out on the couch, so her only target in this part of the apartment was him. He was forcing her to drink some water, hopefully saving her from the worst of the inevitable hangover she would have in the morning.

  "Sounds like you were good friends with them. Tell me something about them." He said to her, giving her his complete attention. She may not remember any of this in the morning, but in his experience, a little compassion went a long way with people experiencing trauma. Particurly if they were under the influence of alcohol at the time.

  Unless they were a mean drunk anyways, but Rei obviously was a talker. And a flirter.

  "Sure!" She said, then started telling him a few stories about Takashi, things they did when they were kids, a joint family vacation, a bunch of things. Then the snag hit, a story John had heard many times in the past. "He asked me oud, but I waz scared so I said no... then I ended up dating Hisashi *hic* a few weeks ter... I shuda said yes... I was such a bad friend."

  *Sobs*

  Ahh, so he was friend zoned and she regrets it now.

  Not that it mattered much anymore, they were both gone. Still, he let her vent out her feelings, giving her an outlet for her grief. He embraced the young woman, rubbing her back gently as he consoled her.

  He remembered when Victoria, his youngest daughter, had done the exact same thing to one of her childhood friends. The neighbours boy... what was his name? No matter, he ended married to one of John's cousins kids and was running his own underwater welding company st he heard. If Vicky had stayed with him, would she have ended up working on the space station of all things?

  "There, there. It will all be okay Rei." He said, giving her a tight hug that she was returning with all the strength an athletic 18 year old girl could muster, which he had to admit was quite a bit. He could feel it in his lower back already. Still, he did not try and push her way, she already had enough losses for the day.

  After a bit she calmed down, but didn't let go of him. "You smell good John." She said, snuggling in to his chest.

  "Rei. Are you feeling a bit better now?" He asked, ignoring her comment.

  "Yes... yes I think I am. Thank you for listening to me John." She said, still not moving.

  He sighed. He really wasn't going to get anything done tonight was he.

  "John... you have a stiffy." She said, rubbing her hand over his pants.

  "Okay, that is enough for now Rei." He said, pulling her hands off his body. "You are a very attractive young woman, but you are hurting right now. Let's not forget, I am an old man, I don't want you to do something tonight that you will regret when you are sober."

  *BARK, BARK*

  "What was that?" John said, using the noise as a reason to disengage from the drunk, flirty girl.

  "It sounded like a dog." She replied, pulling the towel tighter to her body again.

  "John, come outside, something is happening down the road." Kohta said, coming in off the balcony. The curtains were closed so John didn't even know he was outside until a moment ago.

  "Rei, go check on the undry and see if it is dry. You guys may need your clothing back sooner than expected if this is something bad." He told the brunette.

  Not waiting for a reply, he moved towards the balcony. As he moved pass the couch, he noticed Saya was stirring from her slumber from all the commotion. She at least had some clothing on, skimpy as it was.

  Outside, Kohta was with two of the other girls they had rescued earlier. John didn't know their names yet, but one had the crossbow in her hands, and the other had the M1A1. Kohta was staring down the sights of his AR-10, watching a commotion out on the street.

  "What happened?" He asked, surveying the mass of zombies.

  "A bus crashed down the road, and the survivors are all getting attacked by the zombies. Look. It is loaded with one in the chamber already." He said, handing him the rifle. The scope on it had some limited IR capabilities, letting him 'see' in the dark.

  There were seven people at the end of the road, standing around a broken down bus. Several dozen zombies could be seen between John and them, all shambling towards that group of people. One of them had an old crack barrel shotgun, but their rate of fire was too slow to hold back the approaching hoard.

  John clicked the safety off and started sending rounds downrange until he emptied the mag, buying the survivors more time.

  "Kohta, start ying down covering fire. Concentrate on the sides. I'll be going up the middle." He said, handing the rifle back to him. He looked around but didn't see Tsunoda. Saeko was there however, still dressed in just an apron.

  "Grab your sword Saeko, we are going hunting." He said, handing her his jacket. He didn't want her going out naked but her modesty was the least of his concerns at the moment. He looked over at the girl with the other rifle. "Start shooting too. Remember, they are not humans anymore, just targets. Kohta will help you if needed."

  "What is going on?" Saya said, coming out on the balcony.

  "Rescuing survivors. Go find Tsunoda and whoever else didn't get drunk. Get them armed and ready. You." He said to the girl with the crossbow. "Come with us, you are going to guard the door once we leave. Now move!" He said and rushed to the exit.

  He tore through the barricade fairly quickly, and they got out onto the street. Saeko looked focused, but he could tell she had a slight blush on her cheeks.

  "You are going to help save peoples lives Saeko, no one will care if you need to do it half naked. Besides, that jacket is long enough to cover the important bits." He told her, drawing his sword.

  "Yes... Sensei." She said, holding her sword at the ready.

  Rifle shots kept cracking out above them, the sounds drawing the zombies closer, but John wasn't terribly concerned. He had a few ace cards to py if he needed to. Not to mention having the cure spell meant that anyone with him no longer had a death sentence if they accidently got bit.

  They started cutting their way through the mass of zombies silently, the monsters that relied on their hearing did not even seem to know they were there. His new sword was cutting through the monsters like butter. So much so that he had to check his swings a bit when he connected, else the sword would go further than he intended, fouling Saeko's own attacks.

  No backsh from the weapon yet... I wonder what is supposed to happen?

  He really wished he could remember what was in that book.

  For her part, Saeko looked like a dancer compared to him, her bde lopping the heads off zombies as she glided past them. No wasted energy, just an elegant dance from one movement to the next. A dance of death.

  As they got closer, he heard a man shouting, the bark of his shotgun echoing through the streets even more than the rifles going off behind them. Kohta and the girl seemed to have kept the wave of undead down to a manageable level for the man to hold them off, but it wasn't going to st much longer.

  "I am going to make some noise Saeko. Watch my back!" He said, drawing his pistol. It didn't make much of a dent in that Zergling, but against undead humans, he was pretty sure that this thing would pack more than enough power.

  *BANG*

  He fired into the crowd. Six undead toppled over, their heads or necks blown clean off. The kick of the gun was incredible, and he was thankful he was using his left arm for it.

  *BANG* *BANG*

  He fired a couple more times into the clusters that were thick, dropping even more of the undead. He holstered the weapon, drawing his sword again. Many of the undead had turned towards them now, but there were less than a dozen between them and the survivors.

  They began their dance again, John keeping up a steady rhythm while Saeko moved around their sides, killing the zombies along the edges of their path.

  Finally, they arrived at the bus. A middle aged blonde haired man was reloading his gun. Another middle aged man with salt and pepper hair was standing beside him, brandishing a fire axe towards the zombies. Behind them were three women and a child. The kid was holding on to a medium sized dog which was barking it's head off at the approaching zombies.

  "Thank you-" The man with the axe said to John but he cut him off.

  "No time for introductions. Follow us if you want to survive." He said, pulling his pistol out again. He bsted the hoards on either side of the bus, giving them a few moments of breathing room. "If anyone was bitten, let me know now. I have a cure."

  "No, no we are all safe." The man said.

  John nodded. "Good, lets go."

  They started to make their way back to the apartment, the number of zombies thinner now. Gunfire from above stopped, making John wonder if they burned through all the ammo already or if they were just worried about winging one of them by accident. Not that it mattered, they were almost back.

  He made sure they all got behind the gate before smming it closed again. Several zombies continued pawing at them through the gaps in the gate. Saeko and him started stabbing them through the gaps, silencing them for the st time. No further zombies made an appearance, so John finally sheathed his sword.

  He was panting hard, the exertion tapping out his remaining reserves. Still, he hadn't felt this alive in a long time. It was like the proverbial 'runners high'. The problem with being on a 'high' though was coming down off it.

  He stumbled a bit, but was caught by Saeko, their foreheads pressed together. She was breathing just as hard, a small smile on her lips, her cool bluish-purple gaze lock on to his. They held that position for a few moments, and she looked like she wanted something more, but stopped herself from taking that next step.

  "Good work Miss Busujima." He said between gasps of air.

  "Please Sensei, call me Saeko." She replied, her gaze still locked to his.

  "Saeko... Good work."

  "Thank you, John-Sama." She said, her smile widening a little more.

  He put his hands on her shoulders and pushed himself back a little, leaning on the nearby Humvee. She joined him, her breathing already steadied out. She still had that small smile on her lips though.

  "Is everyone okay?" He asked the group of survivors. "I'll ask again, was anyone bit, or even grazed by one of those zombies."

  "Yeah, one snagged me a bit when I was reloading." The man with the shotgun said, presenting John his hand. It was little more than a scratch, but John had no clue exactly how much of a scratch was needed to turn someone.

  "Okay then." He said, taking the man's hand. "This is going to sound weird, but let me work some magic here. Cure! Heal!"

  The bright green light of his magic enveloped the man's hand, spreading throughout his body. The same puss-like substance John had on his skin when he healed himself, formed on top of the mans hand as his wounds closed.

  "Wha- What did you just do?" He asked John, a terrified expression on his face.

  "I just saved your life. Now go inside and wash that crap off immediately. I think that whatever it is, is the cause of people becoming zombies." John said, his patience beginning to wear thin.

  He turned to the rest of the group. "My name is John Wayne, the leader of our group. There are eleven other people inside. All three apartments are open, so go ahead and get a shower. Food will be ready soon, so eat your fill. You might need to sleep on a floor somewhere, but at least you will be safe for the night. We will be leaving here tomorrow."

  With that, John trudged back inside. He had too many things he needed to do, and all he wanted was to go back to sleep.

  Behind him, the man with the axe was hugging one of the women and the child, quietly celebrating their families new lease on life.