章 27: Return to the mall pt2
My life… well, it currently feels like a cheap rip-off from a cheesy romance anime right now.
I mean… Saeko made me lunch, that alone is fine-ish. But uhh, let's see…
After she finished cooking, she then placed the plates next to each other. And then, ever since taking her seat right next to me, she didn't even try to hide the fact that she was staring at me. So, I only managed to take a couple of bites before turning to stare back at her...
"You don't like it?" She asks as she tilts her head, her eyebrows making a slightly worried frown.
"That should be my question, you haven't even touched your own food yet." I answer back as I look at her.
"I'm… just a bit anxious. The only other person that has really tasted my cooking was my father. And I haven't really cooked for anyone else if you exclude the time I did it in Miss Shizuka's house. Though I guess, in the end, we didn't manage to actually eat back then… " She says as she turns to look at my plate.
"Hmm, I don't really have much to weigh it against. It's much better than my cooking to say the least. So yeah, I definitely won't say no to another chance at eating what you can make." Saeko, listening to my answer, finally smiles and nods before speaking up again.
"You can cook?" She asks as she picks her fork and knife. The reason for that tableware being that she made western food, was it because I'm not Japanese? I mean I'm looking at a full-sized steak here. As in western size and style, thus the lack of chopsticks.
"Uhh, well I was living by myself, wasn't I?" I answer as I cut a small part of the steak and bring it close to my mouth.
(Truth is, I've never cooked even once ever since coming here, but I do 'know' how to cook. Still my cooking skills are… wet paper level.)
"Hmm, I would like to..."
"Nope, not going to happen, for your sake." I cut off Saeko as she tried to speak. She just turned to stare at me, while I kept looking down at my plate. Seconds later, Saeko started giggling before turning back to her own plate.
The rest of our 'lunch break' went on without us speaking. Though I did catch Saeko giving me an occasional 'sneak' peek as we kept eating.
Once we were done, Saeko then took the empty plates to the sink to wash them. Which is a good thing too, as I intended to return here after the mall falls. The last thing I need is having the place stink of rotten food.
Now why I wanted to return here? Two reasons mainly...
The first one was that with a garage this big, we could easily hide the Humvee inside if we somehow managed to move the jeep out of the way. The second was the wooden boat. If it's somehow connected to the anime, then I know full well where that boat is heading...
"You sure you don't want any help?" I ask as I look at the busy girl.
"Naier, it's just two plates." She responds with a chuckle as she turns to look at me.
"Alright, I'll be on the couch then. Don't think I want to toss around duffle bags with a full stomach." I reply as I turn around and walk towards the living room, only to realize something that I had missed...
(Huh? There is no couch here, the hell? Weird set up for a living room.)
I glance around the living room, only to spot two recliners in the corner.
(Hmm, that could work.)
I walk over to the recliners and then drag them to the center of the room, next to the giant table. Don't know why, but sitting on them all the way in the corner nudged me the wrong way for some reason. I then put them in a position so they faced each other and sat on one, while putting my legs on the other. And yeah, I had taken off my shoes in the bathroom before eating. End of the world or not, no reason to live like a pig if you can do otherwise.
I let out a small sigh of relief as I began to relax then looked at the giant screen ahead of me.
(If only you worked, and had a gaming console. While I'm more of a PC type of guy, I would be fine with just about anything right about now. Except for sports games, never liked sports games. Too repetitive with no real feeling of progression.)
I chuckle to myself as I close my eyes and stretch out my back, after fixing the mask and balaclava that I had wrapped around my right shoulder…
-Sometime later-
To be honest. I must have nearly fallen asleep, until I heard footsteps near me
(Is Saeko going to sit down as well?)
As I was about to take my legs off of the second recliner, something stopped me. Before I could figure out why, I felt some pressure on the left part of my hip. Which then slowly traveled up to my left shoulder, along with something slithering on the lower part of my back.
I slightly opened one eye only to see Saeko's face resting on my shoulder, her eyes closed and her free hand placed near my neck. She was also in her 'normal' clothing, that being her school shirt and that very short skirt.
(Well, maybe I can't play video games right now. But, this is a goddamn good alternative.)
I closed my eyes again. And, I'm pretty sure I fell asleep soon after.
-An Indeterminable Amount of Time Later-
You know, I feel like there's something I'm forgetting. No, I'm sure of it. There's something that I've forgotten, but what…?
The car with the zombies? Nah, I closed that. And closed the door to the garage as well for good measures. The doors that lead outside? Nope, closed them too.
Uhhh, the gas stove? No, Saeko was the one that cooked, and I'm sure she's attentive enough not to forget to kill the fire. So uhhh… what am I forgetting?
As I kept thinking, I slowly started to feel my left shoulder being a bit, wet…
I open my eyes, and look at Saeko.
(Uhh, Saeko… drools. I forgot that Saeko drools. Oh, come on.)
Saeko had her mouth slightly open, part of it touching my shoulder. And uhh, yeah, that part felt wet.
(Well, it's not like I'm disgusted. I mean we already kissed, and it was not just our lips that touched. But, I can't sleep now, I feel wet, and I don't like feeling wet. I could try to close her mouth, but I don't want to wake her up. Actually, how long have I been asleep? I don't feel tired anymore, if that counts for anything.)
I look around the room while trying not to move too much. The sun was still out, and it didn't seem to be any darker outside than before I slept.
(Hmm, the rich dude might have a wristwatch that still works.
Now. Being that I'm still stuck on the chair with Saeko being off to dreamland. Might as well make the best of it. Let's see… if we count on the anime timeline. After the group returns from the clinic, Takashi, Kohta and Asami have a chat on how the clinic was a total failure, while the rest of the group talks about several other things. Things such as Kohta and Asami's relationship or how there's somebody or something for each one of them that keeps them going.
This is also where Saeko and Rei were shown thinking of Takashi in the anime. And then it is also when Saeko mentions that if the guys in the group end up going out of control they, as in the girls, must do everything they can for them. In other words, it was a mild way of saying 'fuck them till they calm their tits down'.
Yeah, I'm having mixed feelings about that memory now. Anyway, after that, Asami sees the dead cop and snaps, lashing out at Kohta. This is when the group prepares to leave. Now, so far I didn't manage to get rid of that dead cop, and depending on how 'late' I will be when I return to the mall, I might end up being 'too' late. Hmm, well I could…)
Before I could think any more, Saeko started moving about. She then lifted her free hand in the air, arching herself backward as she stretched with a moan, taking a deep breath shortly after...
(I'm not staring… I'm not.)
Yeah, no. I was staring, hard. I mean give me a break here. Arching backward like that, made her chest seem even bigger…
Saeko then rubs her eyes with one hand before opening them to look at me. At least, she was not drooling on me anymore.
"Hmm, how long did we fall sleep for?" She asks with drowsy eyes.
As she moved about, her hand ended up on the spot where her head was at. She blinks several times before turning to look at the wet stain on my shirt, or well where the stain would normally be at. You know, black clothes. Nonetheless, Saeko's eyes instantly snapped open as she tried to get up.
"Aaahh! I'm so soooowh!" It was all she managed to say before she slipped backward because of her awkward position. Ending up with her upper body on the floor, while her legs were still on me.
"You know, if you'll end up killing yourself because you drooled on me, then I'd rather have you drool on me instead. I hope that that did not come off as weird as I think it just did..." I say as I fix my posture, then extend my arm to Saeko. Which she took as she got up.
"I'm really, really sorry" Was the first thing she said after she got on her feet.
"It's fine, now quit saying that you're sorry, or I'll get mad." I say in a joking manner.
"I really didn't mean to… "
"Aaaand, no more of it. I said it's fine or is it that you don't believe me?" I ask as I raise my eyebrows and stare at Saeko. She just stayed quiet, her face slightly red.
"So, this is the fabled trap question. Hmm... I think that your skills are starting to rub off on me." I add as I get up and pat her head. Saeko just lets out a slight sigh as she smiles.
"As for your question, I have no idea how long we slept for, there are no clocks in the living room. So, I'll check the male corpse in the garage. Usually guys with suits like these wear expensive wristwatches for the show of it. If we are lucky and he has a mechanical one, then we can check the time." I keep speaking as I stretch, then start walking towards the garage.
"Alright, I will get my sword and join up with you. You also said that we needed to carry some stuff, did you not?" Saeko spoke out with a mild tone as she moved towards the kitchen, her face still as red as it was a few seconds ago.
"Yeah, that too." I respond to Saeko as I open the garage door.
Before I started moving towards the car I noticed the bloody floor around the corpse and paused.
(I better get my shoes.)
And so, after going to the bathroom and slipping my boots and arm guards back on, I then went back to the garage, towards the corpse that was lying head down on the floor next to the jeep. I started by checking its arms, and sure enough, I saw a silver watch on his left arm.
"You people are like an SSR drop in a mobile game." I chuckle as I take the watch and look at the time. The arrows in it slowly ticking away.
(Nice, it works. So it's, forty past five.)
I then check the man's pockets for good measure, and find the keys that I think belonged to the house. Just then, Saeko also walked into the room.
"It's forty past five." I speak up as I turn to her and show her the watch in my hand, before shoving it in my pocket.
"Not going to wear it?" She asks as she tilts her head.
"Too shiny for my liking." I respond as I move to the two duffle bags filled with loot.
"These two, hmm. We need as much as we can from one of them, the one with the gas canisters and water filter, not really something you can just find anywhere. The other, we can take what seems important and leave the rest. So, let's see if we can fit all that in the two hiking bags." I add as I point at the duffle bags, then at the hiking bags. Saeko nods and walks up next to me.
(While I'm aiming to return here, I don't want to leave all that good stuff behind. What if the house gets raided while we are gone? Or we just can't come here in the end?)
We then emptied the two duffle bags and took everything out of the hiking bags, then started putting things we wanted to take into the hiking bags, by order of importance. It went something like. Water filter/purifier, gas stove, canisters, books and lastly the disinfectants.
The tools did not take too much space, so we just shoved them in as well. Don't know if Shizuka knows how to use that type of stuff though. We mostly ignored disinfectants as we just looted the clinic and Saeko told me that we took a good amount of stuff like that in 'our' bags back with the others.
In the end, we had one hiking bag filled with the medical stuff. Out of the fifteen books, we took eight, we also did put some medical bottles filled with whatever in the small pockets of the hiking bags that could not fit anything else. In the end, we kept the water treatment pills that were already in the hiking bags, along with the medical tools and the stove.
For the gas canisters, we had to take the duffle bag itself. The hiking bag couldn't fit even half of them inside.
"What's in the duffle bag over there?" Saeko asks as she moves towards the one that I had tossed aside, the one that had all the, 'Female' stuff.
Saeko peered inside the bag, then her eyes then went slightly wide as she just quickly turned around and came back to me. I guess, the 'marital aid' inside was flashy enough to catch her attention.
"Curiosity killed the cat?" I ask with a slight smirk, Saeko just laughed awkwardly as she scratched her cheek.
I then took the balaclava and mask off my shoulder and wore them before turning back towards her. Saeko just looked at me for a couple of seconds, a strange expression on her face.
"And just when I was starting to get used to your face." She says as she slightly tilts her head.
"'Getting used' huh, never realized my face was so bad that it needed getting used too." I respond jokingly as I raise an eyebrow, which was now hidden once again behind my mask. Saeko just giggles and shakes her head.
"You know that is not what I meant Naier." She answers as she smiles at me, I nod as I laugh through my nose, then turn to the bags.
"Ok, so, we need to find a road that goes, uhh… " I lift the duffle bag and pass it over my shoulder, then move and pick up the crowbar.
"If we leave the house from the front, we need to keep moving straight." Saeko adds right after.
"Right. Hmm, I wonder." I walk back to the car trunk and take the keys from the lock. I then walk to the driver's seat and open the door, put the keys in the ignition switch, and flip them on. Nothing.
"Pfft, expensive car my ass, doesn't even have basic E.M.P protection." I groan in a half-joking manner I close the door.
"Do you remember how many intersections we passed to get from the mall to the clinic?" I ask as I turn to Saeko.
"Hmm it was six… I think" Saeko answers.
"Ok, that plus two, three if we count the seaside road. So either nine, or ten in total" Saeko nods at me as I speak.
"The Humvee is towards the right with the way we are facing now, and we walked a relatively long distance when we walked on the beach. So as we leave the house, we need to go right. If the corpses are still there and have not moved, we need to move two more intersections down from them as the ext intersection after then was the one we used, and the one after it was blocked off. If all else fails, we just take a random right intersection and keep going till we see the mall, it's a rather tall building after all." I listed out our plan as I tried to get a better grip on the bag. But uhh, it didn't make me look any less stupid with that duffle bag looking like a sign over my head.
"Lastly, shotgun. And we're good to go." I add as I move to the living room and take the shotgun from the big table.
"Sling… " I groan as I take off the duffle bag to pass the shotgun over my shoulder before wearing the duffle bag again.
"Ok, now. Are you ready?" I ask as I turn to Saeko while fixing my jacket, she just nods with a serious expression.
With our preparations done, we both moved to the front door. As I open it and walk outside, Saeko follows right behind me. Only stopping to look behind her, towards the insides of the house, for a few seconds.
"Forgot something?" I ask, Saeko turns to me as she shakes her head with a smile.
"No, let's go." She responds as she closes the door...
"Ohh! Wait! Wait, wait wait!" I flailed my arms as Saeko was about to close the door, causing her to freeze.
"Huh, wha… " Before Saeko could lock us out for good, I put the keys I took from the corpse and checked if they fitted the door. Which they did.
"This place would be a good spot if we ever need to leave the mall." I continued as I turned to Saeko, she stayed quiet for a few seconds, before nodding. I then move to the front gate of the house and look outside.
"Uhh, better go from the back." I added as I pointed at the roaming corpses on the road.
After I made sure that the front gate and front yard door were locked, Saeko and I turned around and went towards the gate we used to enter the building, the one in the back of the house. The beach was thankfully, still clear.
(I would expect corpses to gather at the sea with its constant ambient noise. Yet, they seem to avoid it. I wonder if they don't like water? I mean, hypothetically speaking, if all they can do is hear and feel, being fully submerged in liquid would gimp their senses. But, can zombies even 'not' like something in the first place? They don't seem to have the mental capacity for that.)
"Is something wrong? " Saeko asks as I kept staring silently the rolling waves beyond the gate.
"No, I was just wondering why the corpses ain't gathering at the sea. The waves do make quite the noise after all. Not loud enough?" I ask as I open the gate.
"Uhh, I do not know… " Saeko just lifts her shoulders slightly for a shrug as she answers. After that, we closed the gate, lock it and turned left, going towards the same way we came...
-Some time later-
We walked along the beach for quite some time, until I spotted the grouped-up corpses in the distance. The same one we passed by before. In other words, they didn't move at all. Then again, I didn't really check where they were the first time around, so I was just going by a hunch.
"Ok, here's the plan, we'll go up back to the road by that upcoming staircase, and then w'll go left on the second intersection." I point at the set of stairs in the distance, and Saeko nods in agreement without speaking.
And so, after reaching the stairs, we went up. Then continued straight until we reached the targeted intersection, which thankfully was still clear. We then went up that intersection, and I mean 'up', because it was once again an uphill road.
(I don't mean to whine, but should this duffle bag be this fucking heavy?)
I groan under my breath as I kept walking up the uphill road, Saeko in front of me with her hand on the sword's hilt. The corpses that roamed about were mostly by themselves, so we just avoided any parts of the road that had more than one corpse in close vicinity. And if we happen to find a lone corpse blocking the way? Well, Saeko didn't seem to miss the chance to rip its arms off and beat it with them. Well, actually she just decapitated them. Though, I can clearly imagine her doing the arm ripping thing too.
"Can you keep going, Naier? Do you want to rest for a bit?" Saeko asks as she glances back at me while we keep moving.
"I'm fine, you're the one jumping around while swinging that sword, not me." I respond, Saeko just smiles before nodding, then turns to look at the street ahead.
Shortly after, we reached the first intersection after the hill. Which was also on the top of the hill. I took a look around the intersection and then notice that there was a big rig at the end of the street to our right. Along with a crap-load of corpses next to it.
"Hmm the big rig? If it's on the next intersection to our right, that means we're one intersection next to the road we used after we left the clinic. So, we actually need to move one intersection left." I say to Saeko as I turn to look at the road to our left, then at the street ahead. Truth is though, the road ahead seemed to be in a much better condition compared to the one we used.
"Are you sure we should go left Naier?" Saeko asks as she looks at the corpses that roamed the street on the left.
"No, the street ahead looks safer, we can turn left later. Worst case scenario, we'll go all the way to the mall on this street, then turn on an intersection before we get too close. Besides, most roads near the mall are in a much better state when compared to here. No point risking it." I answer as I motion to Saeko to keep moving forward with my hand, she nods and starts walking next to me.
(If we find a blocked-off road ahead of us after, we walked past the clinic, we could then try to take the same road we used to come here. That is if our group didn't march like they're in a damn parade on their return trip.)
As we walked along the road, it started to slowly go downhill, literally speaking thankfully. And much to my surprise, I could see that it was 'clear' for a relatively long distance ahead.
(Then again, if they did march back like a parade, like shooting a gun for example, corpses from this road might have moved away, or gathered to the right side of the road. Still, it makes me wonder, what are they doing right now?
I mean in the manga, when they returned to the mall, they were talking about the clinic incident. But, they don't show us if that's the first thing they did after returning. And, while this time we had no deaths, an incident did happen, that being me and Saeko getting stranded. So, even if let's say that they don't give a single fig about me, Takashi would still want to at least try and save Saeko. Uhh, on one hand, it does make me extra salty that I know that Takashi also likes Saeko. On the other hand, I know that he will try to look after her, so I don't expect the group to just write us off for dead.)
After a long while spent inside my own head, I took a look around me. Seeing no dangers around, I nod to myself and turn towards Saeko, who was in front of me.
(So, most likely, rather than talking about the clinic's failure, the group would likely be talking about rescuing us? That would probably end with some of them wanting to wait, while others will want to go out right away and search. Now if that discussion did happen, I have no idea who would vote what. From a logical point of view, going out to look for us while having no idea where we are is like looking for a needle in a haystack. A cannibalistic and batshit crazy haystack.
Then again, I also can't see them just sitting on their thumbs either. So? Maybe they'll have somebody looking out for us on the roof? Kohta maybe? He did do the same thing once before when we were mapping out the surrounding area, so that seems possible. But, if he has Asami with him, and she is looking outside as well she might spot the lady cop. The dead lady cop. Uhh, well I'm just speculating here, so I can't really tell, they could be…)
"Naier we are nearing the clinic." Saeko speaks up as she turns to glance at me.
Throwing a quick glance at the purple-haired samurai, I then looked around me, but I could not make out anything that looked like the clinic.
"Ah, you counted the intersections we pas… "As I start speaking, Saeko casually whacks a corpse on the head with her blade's sheath, causing it to take several steps back before it fell on its ass.
I followed the corpse's location with my eyes until I was looking behind me, to see that the road we took had a 'line' of corpses that were all moving about as they laid on the ground…
"... Passed them." I turn to Saeko as I finish my sentence to see her nod with a casual 'mhm'.
(I kind of forgot that she's a frigging badass with the way she acted back at the house...)
Soon we reached the next intersection and sure enough, I could see a small park in the distance to my right, the one behind the clinic. I then turned to look straight ahead, to see that the road was indeed clear.
"We can keep going straight, so let's keep going straight. Once we're near the mall, we'll turn left at one of the intersections. Doing that will lead us to the Humvee." I move next to Saeko and point at the road ahead of us, and with that, we start moving again.
(Hmm, wait, one intersection? As the road that leads to the clinic from the mall is a straight line to our right, this road should lead us to the parking field. The Humvee was on the second intersection after that, so it's two intersections from where we are now, not one.)
"Uhh, nothing to be alarmed of, but it might be two intersections to the right, not one. Without a map or some sort of drawing I can't remember the exact distance." I add as I scratch my mask.
"Not a problem Naier, no need to worry." Saeko glances at me and smiles.
As we kept moving forward, I noticed that the corpses that roamed about had actually gathered to the right part of the street.
"Hmm, looks like I was right. Our group did go with the 'loud and stupid' approach, as the road to our right should be the road they took to return, and all the corpses ahead of us are gathered towards the right." I say as I look at the corpse. Then motion Saeko to move more to the left. And soon, we ended up walking next to each other, with Saeko to my right.
We kept going in silence for some time, what corpses were on the left part of the road, were the ones that could not move to begin with. Some stuck inside a crashed car, or behind a dumpster or walking up against a pole, you know, normal stuff.
"There is something I have been wondering for some time now." Saeko begins talking as we walk.
"Why did you let Takashi become the group's leader Naier? So far, most of our decisions were made based on your actions and ideas." She turns her head to me as she speaks.
"What do you mean?" I ask back.
"When Takashi wanted to go to the police station after he and Miyamoto got split from the group, you were the one who said that we should meet up at the park instead. When we got stuck at the barricade near the estate, you were the one that thought of using the flash-bang. At the estate, we also went with your plan of using the Humvee to drive the horde away. And here again, it was you who gave the 'payment' idea for the team that went to the clinic." She keeps staring at me after she finishes.
"For one, the reason I could make these decisions was because I was not the leader. I find it much easier to think of something when I don't have everybody's eyes over my head. And, well, I can barely take care of a pet dog, there's no way I'm going to try and take care of a group of people." I answer as I shrug.
"I see. So you find it easier to move the threads behind the spotlight? Alice must have known something to name you an evil overlord." Saeko responds as she makes a slight grin, with me chuckling as I shake my head.
"With the way I change nicknames, I wonder which one I will get next. And I still need to find who called me a Penguin." I tilt my head as I speak.
"Shizuka." Saeko answers flatly.
"Huh, should have figured." I respond as I turn back to the street ahead.
(And there is one more reason I don't want to lead, one that I can't really tell anyone. You see most of my decisions were based under one important fact, that I know what is going to happen in the future. Which is also the main reason as to why I can't be the leader. My 'confidence', and my 'ability' to make plans. That isn't going to last. How long will it be until we reach Rei's mother? After that, I'll lose the only 'real' power I had in this shitshow. I might be able to make decisions for myself. I at least managed to survive the power plant. But, my decisions for the group were not on even ground compared to Takashi's. And after we reach Rei's mother, Takashi might prove to be a better leader than me. This is why I try to keep him on the steering wheel.)
And after some time had passed in silence, I saw a building that stood taller than the rest.
"I see the mall, not too far now." I look at the structure in the distance as I speak, Saeko nods as she also looks in the same direction.
"Should we turn right now?" She asks right after.
"Yeah, first clear road, we go right two times." I respond.
And that turn ended up being two intersections later. From there we went straight and then turned right as the road ahead was not what you can call safe. So we ended up having to go right again on another intersection. The moment we reached the end of that road I looked around and…
(Huh, wait a minute.)
I look to my right to see a silver sedan with a couple of corpses surrounding it from the opposite direction that I was looking from. And to my left, a big group of corpses in the distance to the right part of the street.
"I used this road with Takashi when we went to the Humvee, it should be on the right past the silver sedan. The next intersection should have the tree cluster." I say as I point at the car that I took a break on with Takashi.
"Almost there then." Saeko nodded as we picked up the pace past the silver car and into the last stretch of the road. Which we passed with no real trouble, again, thanks to Saeko.
The moment we reached the tree cluster I motioned to Saeko, and we entered the tree-line before taking a last look around us.
After we reached the Humvee, I kneel down and check under the car for any unpleasant surprises before going to the trunk. I lift the net and put my hand in my pocket… To find nothing.
(Are you shitting me?)
I hurriedly put my hand in the other pocket, and find the keys.
(Ohh, never mind.)
I let out a silent sigh for the impromptu heart attack before opening the trunk. I then carefully place the duffle back in a corner under the second net, and Saeko gives me her bag which I also place in a corner under the net. After that I close the trunk, lock it and hide the Humvee under the net once again.
"And that's that." I nod as I turn around and stretched out.
"Ohhh, sec." I turn around and open the trunk again, then proceed to reload the shotgun and handgun.
"Shame we lost the second handgun's magazine. Oh well." I look at the handgun as I reload it.
"Got to remember and take the holster belt from my bag too." I whisper to myself as I put the gun in my pocket.
I then exit the car and turn to Saeko after locking it, tossing the net over it once again.
"Ok, ready?" I ask, Saeko nods at me, and we both turn to leave the car.
(I didn't forget the keys, did I ?)
I checked my pocket to make sure the keys were in there as I walked. Thankfully, they were.
And so, crowbar in hand, we move back to the street, then turn towards the road that led to the mall.
"How are we going to get inside?" Saeko asks as we start running.
"That. Is a very good question. I could just shoot a gun to get their attention, but it won't be just 'their' attention I will be getting if I do that." I answer.
We ran past the first intersection and continued running down the road, which was still empty. Yeah, the same road that Saeko went nuts on when we first arrived.
The moment we reached the end of that road and walked into the parking field.
"Ok, well, time to summon the big bad boss." I take my handgun out of my pocket and point it at the corpses that were gathered all together to my left.
(Now, where is that cop lady…?)
Several seconds later...
"Naier?" Saeko, who was next to me with her sword drawn, leaned her head towards me.
"I'm trying to find the ugliest one." I replied as I kept looking down the gun's sights, Saeko just giggled next to me.
(Ughh, come on you little shit, where are you...)
"Umm, we have unwanted guests coming towards us, you might want to hurry a bit Naier… " Saeko speaks up seconds later.
(God, work with me you stupid dead cop.)
In the end, with the cop nowhere in sight, I just point at the closest corpse and pull the trigger.
"Alright let's go. I do hope that the group inside got the message." I add as I motion Saeko with my head, and start running towards the door.
Seconds later I see a pair of pink twin tails pop up from the edge of the mall's roof, which then disappears as fast as they appeared.
The moment we reached the door we looked inside, only to see nobody on the other side.
"At least leave a person to guard the door if you didn't write us off for dead..." I groan as I look at the empty hallway.
"See, group leader decisions." Saeko whispers in a joking manner as she stands next to me.
"Well, I did wake half the block before thinking of this plan. So, fifty-fifty?" I answer as I turn to her with a slight shrug.
"If you made only perfect decisions, then how would I make myself useful to you?" Saeko replies with a smile as she turns around as she brandishes her sword, standing between me and the oncoming corpses.
"By not dying for starters." I respond as I walk up next to her.
Saeko closes her eyes as she continues smiling.
"Do not worry, I got no intention of dying. At the very least, not now that I just found my reason to keep living." She answers as she turns to me, the smile still on her face.
(Well, that was straightforward.)
All I could do was stare back at Saeko's radiant smile. I mean, sure I knew she probably felt like that by now. But hearing her say it was, you know…
And just then, the door behind us swung wide open.
"Well, I want you to keep on living too, so come on, let's go." I whisper next to Saeko's ear as I turn around to run towards the now open door.
The moment we passed through the mall's doors, Takashi and Rei shut them close, and started to re-barricade.
"Impeccable timing." I chuckle as I put the handgun in my pocket, Takashi nodded after giving me a glance.
After that, the four of us moved towards a room on the first floor, where the rest of the group was at. The room looked like the same one the group used when they talked about the clinic in the manga. It's also where Asami saw the cop corpse and…
"Saeko, Penguin!" That was Shizuka.
"Saeko, Mister Overlord!" That was Alice.
"Saeko, Idiot!" That was Saya.
"Bark, bark!" I don't even wanna know what Zeke called me.
"Saeko, Naier!" At least Kohta got my name right. Asami who was next to him just smiled, with her mouth wide open.
"Uhh how many names do I have again?" I ask myself in a murmur as the group gathered around Saeko and I.
"See, I told you they would be fine!" Kohta said excitedly the moment he got near.
"Y… yeah." Takashi responds half-heartedly as he glanced at Saeko.
"Still, you two need to stop being so reckless." Shizuka speaks up next as she tries to make a serious face. Which only looked comical in my opinion.
Saeko nodded, and, I wanted to shrug. But uhh, I'd probably be dead then and there if I tried to brush this off with Saya staring daggers at me right now. So, I just nodded as well.
"Yeah… Naier might have ended up in a tight spot because of circumstances. But Saeko, you ended up putting yourself in danger by your own decision. What if you didn't manage to jump over that corridor for example?" Takashi adds up right after.
Before either of us could speak up Saya walked up to me and pointed her finger to my face.
"The point is that avoiding being put in a tight spot to begin with is first priority. Something you don't seem to get. First in the estate, now this. Do I need to tie you to a chair to keep you under control?" Saya hisses at me.
"Yeah! You need to stop being bad! You made Saya really sad! She didn't even want to eat! And she stayed up on the roof looking for you all this time the moment she heard that you didn't return! She was really worried!" Alice starts shouting as she points her finger at me. And, oh boy did she just lay it out flat in the open. Saya's face must have changed to every single shade of red in existence.
"M-munchkin! What are you saying?! I, I was not worried about him! I... I was just worried that we might end up losing two people from our group because Naier is an idiot!" She shouts back at Alice as she grabs her by her cheeks.
"Buut Shayaaa. Ooowwiieee!" Was the only thing Alice managed to say.
"It's big sister for you! And you! Stop being an idiot and stop staring at me like an idiot!" She shouts as darts her head to me right after.
"Saya, you will never get what you truly desire if you keep acting like this." Saeko speaks up right after.
(Huh, wait. What. Did she just?)
"Wh… Wha… What are you talking about! I..."
"I want to clean myself up. I got blood on me, so if you excuse me." Saeko, still with a smile, cuts Saya off as she turns around to walk away..
Now everybody was looking as weirded out as I was. Except for Alice, who was smiling, I think. Maybe she was sending signals for help? I can't really tell.
"I'm, uhh, going to the roof." I add in a hurry as I turn around and walk away as fast as I can. I had that feeling that if I stayed there any longer, I would end up getting a chair to the face...
Plus, you know, I had the whole mall getting overrun thing to deal with.
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