บท 349: Apocalyptic Tendencies

In the city of Tokonosu, a small group of survivors sneaks from building to building while wielding a multitude of weapons and refashioned tools.

"We got another one." one man whispers as he slinks over and smashes a heavy electric guitar into its head, cracking the zombie's skull and killing it.

"Nice one Honda." a middle-aged woman remarks.

The man named Honda nods, looking sufficiently happy with himself, "We're lucky we stayed here, there's barely any of those things left after that guy passed through..."

"Yeah, it was crazy to watch... Like a human blender..."

Honda shakes his head, "Nothing human about that guy, I can barely handle two of those things at a time, while he just wades through a whole horde of this and coming out fine."

*Cri-k-k-k-k*

The group halt in their steps as they hear an odd noise, each glancing around to find where its origin was.

"What was that?"

"Dunno, must've been the win-ACK!" one man with dyed white hair that'd lost its colour at the roots starts but is interrupted by something hitting him.

A teenager with blonde hair had run out and slammed a shovel into the back of his head, knocking the man unconscious and almost caving his skull in.

"ICHIRO!" the woman screams as she sees her friend go down with a pool of blood under him, but she isn't able to react in time as two other people attack her with ropes, tying up and binding her while the rest of her companions are slaughtered right before her eyes.

"Get your fucking hands off of Maya you scum!" The last one of her friends remaining growls, but is steadily back into a corner with no chance of victory in sight.

The blond-haired teen grins at the man as he hefts his bloodied shovel, "Don't worry old man, the lady'll be fine with us. I'll make sure of it."

"Y-you!" he growls back, trembling in rage at the teenager's words. Without waiting another moment, he charges forwards with his hockey stick and-

*BANG!*

Drops like a sack of sand as a bullet whizzes through his skull.

"HATAKE! NOOOO!" Maya screams, her throat becoming horse with the intensity of her wail.

"Hahahaha! Think you're so tough now? Maybe if you weren't chewing lead you'd have a chance." the blond teen taunts the corpse while prodding it with the tip of his shovel.

"That's enough Tsunoda, we have what we came here for... No need to spoil the reserves." a suited man says as he walks out, a smoking pistol in hand.

Tsunoda reluctantly steps away, "Fine, Shido-sensei... Should we cut them up now or drag them as is?" he asks, gesturing to the human corpses.

"Cut them up here, we still don't know if those creatures can smell blood. Best not to risk compromising our home... As for you, you are coming with me." he says, kneeling down and tilting Maya's face up with a finger, causing disgust to feel he very being.

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Shido has his minions drag the girl back to their base in the business/office district, the base they'd been using ever since the stranger had left them behind while they rested. Things had been pretty dire since then, while most of the zombies in the area had been killed, all of the supplies had seemingly disappeared as well, leaving the large group of survivors desperately wanting food and water.

'Thankfully', under Shido's command, he'd quickly determined who would be useful to the group and who wouldn't. Thus, after a bit of work convincing everyone, he'd had the elderly, crippled, and children too young to look after themselves 'sent' away... That solved their food troubles temporarily.

But Shido knew it was only a matter of time before they ran out, which is why he had created groups of hunting parties. Their official role was to go out and clear any zombies that entered the area. But, their real goal was to capture survivors that enter the city for supplies...

The men would be butchered and have their meat preserved, while the women would serve as 'morale boosters'. It was a difficult balance to keep in all honesty, as half of his group wasn't even aware that they were eating human flesh, or that their building had a prison in the basement.

Those that did though, didn't dare say a word, as the risk of becoming the group's enemy was just too high. It wasn't strange to hear of whole families suddenly disappearing, but Shido had used his charm and wit to convince everything that they'd simply left on their own initiative.

Shido exits the prison he'd had built under the building while straightening the lines in his suit. He himself wasn't interested in the pleasures of the flesh, but it was a requirement for those needs in his minions to be sated. He looks to his former student that was following him, his assistant who'd become fiercely loyal in the face of everything they'd seen and done. "Taniuchi, how is the situation looking at the bridge?"

"T-the bridge has been overrun... Everyone stationed there had fled toward Shintoko Elementary School, on the radio, they say that it's the place where the evacuation will be." she quickly lists off.

"I see... And word of our benefactor?"

"We think he has moved onto the residential districts... People say they see lightning and fire in the distance but, I think that the state of things is affecting their mind."

...

Shido thinks for a moment, eventually grinning to himself a plan manifests in his mind, "Gather our away teams and have them head for Shintoko."

"A-are we going to the evacuation?" Taniuchi asks, unsure if she should feel hopeful or not. Instead, just following Shido's lead on how to feel.

Shido nods, "We are going, but not leaving. I'll have two groups investigate the evacuation sight, and have the others ambush any survivors making their way there. This is an ample opportunity for us to finally take our place in this wretched world."

Taniuchi's about to nod but is interrupted as a distant explosion occurs, knocking out all of the lights in the building. Not only that, Shido's digital watch flickers out too, along with every other electronic they could find. "Hmph, we need to move faster."