Chapter 352: It's a TRAP!
Shizuka drives the car through a thin residential street, their speed only around thirty miles an hour so that they could manoeuvre around the abandoned cars, corpses, and rubble ahead of them. That, and the fact that the car is pretty full with the three other survivors they'd ended up bringing with them.
"C-can you two just hold onto your seats or something!? Rolling around like god damned balloons is annoying as hell!" Rei exclaims due to the man and woman shifting around next to her. Saya had sat on Saeko's lap just to make space for them, and Kohta was standing halfway out of the sunroof as well!
"S-sorry! But there aren't enough seat belts for all of us!" the man says.
"Just leave them be, we'll be at the evac sight soon enough." Takashi says, quieting the car momentarily... Until...
*SCREEEEEEEeeeCH!*
The car slides to a stop as Shizuka slams on the breaks, everyone in the car almost rolling through the front window due to the sudden stop... The only thing that'd saved them was the low speed they were driving at.
"W-what was that!?" Kohta asks, already feeling the bruise around his ribs forming.
"T-there's one of those police things ahead!" Shizuka exclaims, pointing at the spike strip not far in front of the vehicle.
"Shit! Everyone get ready!" Takashi shouts, grabbing his gun and climbing out of the car. There was only one reason that this was suddenly showing up, and it didn't mean good things for the group.
Kohta readies his own gun, propping it against the roof of the car while scanning the buildings around them for enemies. "You see anyone!?"
"No one yet!" Takashi says, his muscles incredibly tense as he waits for an enemy to appear. Rei hops out of the car after him, the hunting rifle with a fixed bayonet she'd been using at hte ready.
Saeko steps out as well, the straight sword Michael had gifted her held tightly in her hands, along with a handgun she'd been 'coerced' into learning to use.
Unfortunately, despite their preparation, things never went right for Takashi and his friends...
"H-hey!? What are you doing!?" Saya suddenly shouts as one of the men they'd been helping to the evacuation site grabs her and her gun.
The two other people jump into action as well, one pulling Kohta down from the roof which knocks the gun from his hands, while the other puts a knife to Shizuka's throat. "MOVE AND I'LL CUT THIS WHORES FUCKING NECK!"
"Hahahahaha! Nice job Kurokami!" Tsunoda shouts from the door of a nearby building, shovel in hand.
"Y-you! Takashi growls, pointing his assault rifle at him, finger itching to fire.
Tsunoda grins, "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Komuro! Or do you want to see how red the nurse's blood is!? Surrender now or else!"
Takashi shakes his head, "Fuck you! Let my friends go or you'll be the one regretting it!"
Tsunoda chuckles, "We only want your car and supplies, give em up and we'll let you go!"
...
Takashi looks between his friends, each having different reactions to this all... Rei, wanted to surrender, not wanting to risk everyone's lives for a car, but Saeko looked ready to fight to the death regardless.
Those being held hostage were the same, not wishing to bring everyone down with them... "Just do it!" Kohta shouts, as the man wrestling with him finally pulls his rifle away.
"You only want the car?" Takashi asks, conflicted.
Tsunoda nods, "That's it."
...
"Fine. You can have the car, just let my friends go."
Tsunoda nods, walking over with a smug grin, Saya, Shizuka, and Kohta are pulled out of the car, but-*BANG!*
Takashi hits the ground as a bullet shoots through his chest via Kohta's stolen gun.
"TAKASHI!" Rei lets out a horrified scream and runs over to him, only for Tsunoda to step forwards and slam his shovel onto her arm, breaking it and forcing her rifle out of her hands.
Saeko's about to start fighting back but is forced to stop due to the gun aimed at her... Master Swordswoman she may be, but that didn't mean she was able to deflect bullets...
"Surrender or die!"
...
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Michael crooks a brow as he observes all of this from a nearby rooftop, he'd made his way over after hearing gunfire, but certainly hadn't expected to run into Takashi and his group again. Still, it was easy to tell who was in the wrong, as the guys holding them at gunpoint seemed to belong to the same group who's been attacking innocent survivors all around the area. He'd already killed many of them, but he suspected that it wasn't all of them. Especially with the scene before him now.
"Right, well, let's play hero for now I guess." he mutters to himself, casting "Cold Embrace" on Takashi to stop him from dying and heal his wounds. "Ann-nnd, let's do Monolith Wards."
Tsunoda, his group, and everyone else is shocked as Takashi is suddenly encased in a large block of ice, leaving them totally unprepared as ten giant hands made of shadow sprout from the ground and grab them.
One grabs Tsunoda's leg and pulls him over, causing him to drop his shovel as it snakes across the floor and up a nearby wall, leaving him hanging from one leg. "W-WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING!? WHAT IS THIS!?" he exclaims, glancing around in horror as he observes the strange shadow creatures deal with his group.
One man has all four limbs grabbed and pulled apart.
One man is stabbed in the stomach by a clawed hand and is forced to watch as it tears out his entrails.
One man has his head squeezed so hard that his eyes explode from their sockets, his skull imploding not long after.
Michael looks on at all of this with both shock and morbid curiosity, "Ah, well... Huh..." Darth is a bit more brutal than he'd expected... He wanted them restrained, crippled, or maybe dead for some of them... But this?... Perhaps letting the shadow monster decide their fate was a bad idea... "Oh well, there's more than one way to skin a cat I guess?"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Niggross
Niggross Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
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Chapter 353: 'Kind' Saviour
Even after all the action was finished, Rei was punching and banging on the block of ice that'd encased Takashi in, terrified that he'd suffocate or freeze to death in there.
To the surprise of everyone though, it suddenly shatters into a million pieces that instantly liquefy, leaving Takashi's body completely unharmed... Not to mention...
"Ugh, did I just get shot?" he mumbles, having Rei help him get to his feet as a flattened bullet drops from under his jacket.
"TAKASHI!" Rei lets out a cry as she hugs him, afterwards pulling his jacket open to inspect his wound, finding not even the slightest scar. "I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!"
Takashi shakes his head, "I thought so too, but..." he trails off as he looks around the scene before him.
Takashi and the others can only stare dumbly at the massacre that'd just occurred in front of them, the only one of their attackers surviving behind Tsunoda who was 'hanging' around by his leg.
*BLLLAARGH!*
Saya vomits onto the floor, unable to hold back her nausea from seeing humans get torn apart so brutally. Sure, they'd lived in the apocalypse for days not, but this was something else!
"P-P-PLEASE! I'M SORRY! S-SAVE ME!" Tsunoda begs, looking down, or up in his case, towards the group.
His words bring Takashi back to reality as he squints at his former classmate in anger, "You just tried to rob and kill us! As far as I'm concerned, you can die with your friends." he growls, contemplating the benefits of shooting the guy as he hangs.
"N-NO! WE'RE ALL HUMAN! SAVE ME FROM THESE THINGS! I'LL DO ANYTHING!"
Takashi glances over his shoulders at his steadily recovering friends, "Thoughts on this scum?"
"L-Let him hang, metaphorically and literally." Saya remarks before she and Saeko begin glancing around, "Plus, I doubt the person responsible is going to let him live anyway. Michael didn't seem like the forgiving sort."
"Michael?" Takashi parrots, causing Saya to give him a dull stare.
"Who else would use blatant magic like this? You dunce! Who do you think healed your sorry ass after you got shot!?"
Saeko nods, "I remember seeing similar creatures hunting zombies... Plus, that shadow thing he summoned to scare Saya-san looks almost identical."
"She's right you know." a familiar voice asks from above them, the group looking towards it and finding Michael sitting atop a light post.
"Michael! You really saved our asses here!" Kohta says thankfully.
Saya shakes her head, instantly feeling safer with Michael's presence but not willing to say so, "Why're you sitting up there like some sort of anime protagonist, cosplayer! Get down here and talk like a normal person!"
Michael snorts, stands, and holds his arms out, "No! I have the high ground, Anakin!... You guys don't know Starwars then? Fine..." he trails off, Blinking to the ground underneath where Tsunoda was hanging. "I'm actually more interested in talking to this chap, groups similar to these fucks have been going around kidnapping people all over." he states, causing a few of Takashi's group to pale.
Tsunoda would have gone pale too, if all of his blood weren't rushing to his head due to being upside down, "N-no! You've got the wrong guy! We only wanted the car!"
"That's still damning us to die you bastard! Leaving us stranded here surrounded by zombies!" Takashi angrily retorts.
Saya crooks a brow, "Come to think of it, weren't there zombies around here? The gunfire should have attracted them."
Micael shrugs, "I lent a 'hand' in dealing with them." he chuckles before refocussing on his target, "Now, you gonna tell me why you and your friends have been kidnapping people? Or women specifically, don't think I don't know about you cannibalizing the men." he remarks, causing everyone present to tense and glare harder at the hanging teen.
"Y-you did what!?" Saeko asks, tone low as she looks absolutely murderous.
"P-lease! WE DIDN'T HAVE A CHOICE! THERE WAS NO FOOD LEFT IN THE CITY! SOMEONE STOLE ALL OF IT!"
...
Michael feels a couple eyes lock onto him but he just coughs into his fist awkwardly, "Right, but that doesn't make it okay to eat people you stupid cunt! And what about the women? What do you do with them?" he asks, knowing exactly what fate awaited them, but wanting to hear it from the teen's mouth.
Tsunoda grits his teeth and looks away, not in shame at his actions, but in fear at having been caught. "Y-you know that, already..."
"YOU SICK BASTARD!" Rei shouts, "IS THAT PIECE OF SHIT SHIDO LEADING ALL OF THIS!?"
"I-if I tell you, will you let me go?" he asks, begging for his life.
"No, shoot him already!" Rei growls, everyone else thinking along similar lines.
"No, we need him to tell us where they took everyone..." he looks to Michael, "You said they were taking people from the area, does that include the area ten miles West of here?"
Michael shrugs, "Probably? I haven't been there yet but it's pretty extensive." he replies.
Takashi's expression morphs from an angry calm to one of utter rage, "That's where my home is... Where my parents might be."
Rei pales, "M-my mother, they might have taken her too..."
Michael looks toward Tsunoda, "So, you gonna tell us where your buddies are? Or am I going to have to 'persuade' you harder?" he asks, as the shadow hand gripping the teen's leg lowers him to be face to face.
...
Tsunoda grits his teeth and trembles, but doesn't say anything. "Silent eh? Good, I think my 'persuasion' skills have been getting rusty... Oh, speaking of rusty." he mutters, summoning the Book of Legends which evolved to look, far, far more magical than before, with an eery black mist hovering around it and the gold accents glowing faintly. He pulls a rusty hook knife from his inventory. "This should do... If not, I'll pull out the big gu-"
"N-NO! I'LL TALK! J-JUST... DON'T!"
...
"Huh, that was easy..." he mutters, having forgotten that this was just a mentally deranged teenager, not a veteran warrior like he's used to dealing with.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Niggross
Niggross
Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
Also, thanks to my patrons for their support :
ShinAmazake
Kingsprovince
Faruk Ereng
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