11.The Mall Of The DEAD!

[[11.The Mall Of The DEAD!]]

[[3rd Person's POV]]

In the dead of the night, Derierei lay on the roof of Rika's house, marveling at the starry sky. She could never get enough of this, looking at something so simple, yet still be do beautiful at the same time.

Derierei, as the superhuman that she was, had volunteered to be the designated night lookout, since her body didn't need sleep due to the "improvements" the scientists had given to her. Of course, Shizuka didn't believe it one bit and even snorted, but the rest of the group gave her worried glances.

And that's why she was here now, looking up at the clear black sky. She liked how peaceful the night was, even with the moaning of the zombies just below her. And she was currently sharing the moment with Mellion, who still hasn't given in and confessed her undying love for Asterix.

"You think the MC's still alive?" Asterix/Derierei asked Mellion through the video call while she pointed at random stars.

"Meh. I don't really care about what happened to him. Heck! I didn't even know there was an MC other than Shizuka! She's just that better than that pretentious little twat!" Mellion was getting a bit heated as she answered Asterix, since the MC, whose name they can't even remember, was, as Mellion said, "Pretentious little twat".

"Truuu~~." Asterix agreed with Mellion whole heartedly. The previous MC of Highschool Of The Dead was annoying. The current MC though was a hundred times better. Shizuka wasn't only best girl, but also a fucking great protagonist! The blonde nurse can kill you with kindness, that damned male mc can kill you out of boredom.

The two Higher Beings would have continued their conversation, but Asterix noticed Shizuka coming up to the roof. The nurse may not be as strong as her, but she was definitely stronger than your average human, so climbing from the balcony to the roof wasn't relatively hard for her.

"Shizuka's here. Bye Mel." Asterix waved goodbye at Mellion, who returned the wave with a wave of her own, and with a goodbye kiss too!

Then, acting as if nothing had just happened, Asterix/Derierei gave Shizuka a lazy wave where she continued to lay on.

"Good evening, Derierei-chan." The blonde was the first to greet the other, a cheerful smile adorned her beautiful, soft face.

"Good evening to you too, Shizuka." Derierei/Asterix smiled as she noticed how meek the nurse was being. Usually, Shizuka would speak with a sing-song-y voice, but she was now acting all timid and cuter than usual.

Rolling to her side and supporting her head with her hand, Derierei gave Shizuka a long, slightly predatory look, causing said woman to blush and slightly shuffle a bit as she continues to walk carefully towards her friend.

Once being a meter apart from Derierei, Shizuka carefully sat down, making sure that she wouldn't roll off the roof, and just stayed silent as she observed Derierei with her blush slowly increasing in intensity.

"Why...why didn't you say anything? I kept calling for you, Derierei... I was getting worried..." Her question was barely above a whisper, but Derierei wouldn't even need Shizuka to have to say anything, because she was still able to completely read the nurse's mind, though it seems that said nurse had forgotten that once again.

And, for her part, Derierei was feeling slightly guilty for focusing purely on fixing the System's bugs and making something that would help Shizuka grow stronger.

"Yeah... Sorry about that Shizuka. Should have really told you what I was doing. That was pretty stupid of me, honestly. I was just excited about finally being able to achieve a physical form on this mortal plane, to finally be able to properly thank you, so I just focused on making sure you reach level 3 faster. And I won't be mad at you for using Status points at the ones that were nearly about to go up naturally." The pinkette confessed her reason, feeling a bit embarrassed. But after reading Shizuka's uncontrollable thoughts, she blushed harder because of the things Shizuka was thinking about her right now.

"You wanted to properly...thank me?" The blonde leaned forward, with both her arms acting to support her weight and to emphasize her breasts as they get squeeze in between her forearms. It was an enticing sight, and Derierei unconsciously moved a stray strand of hair behind Shizuka's ear.

"Yeah... Being able to talk to a mortal who's so cute, so annoying, just...so great in general. You don't know how us Higher Beings dream to be like this...to feel normal. Most mortals would say 'Normal is overrated', but we Higher Beings would just call them stupid, because they haven't experienced how chaotic and disgusting abnormality can be for so many eons. Heh. Most, if not all, Higher Beings had even resorted to allowing mortal souls to ask for wishes, in exchange for them to be able to watch their progress, to watch them grow and they'll love it. Because no matter what the mortals do, even if they reach this so called 'Godhood' or Immortality, it would be something better than what they'll have to deal with every single fucking day. And, I'mma be honest with you, I'm the luckiest of them all because I am here with you, to be able to touch you. To be able to properly interact with you..." Derierei, for all that she was, teared up at some point in her explanation. It was just hard to be a Higher Being, no matter what the mortals say about them. To exist in between time, to continue to exist, just to face the chaos their status entails, to have so many restrictions placed on them. Even as powerful as they are, they were suppressed, not by the Laws of the Universe, or by any kind of Law for that matter, but by their existence and the need for that god damned "Balance"!

And Shizuka, seeing how passionate and angry Derierei had become during her confession/rant/explanation, couldn't help but pity her. Here she was, a Higher Being -which even Shizuka could guess to be someone amazing-, saying how much she was happy to be able to just be here, to talk to °her°, to feel a semblance of normalcy.

Without even thinking of it, Shizuka, now on top of Derierei, pressed her body against the woman below her, and hugged her. Silence passed once again, with Shizuka and Derierei just hugging.

__/__/__/

As Shizuka and Derierei/Asterix had their moment, Mellion watched them with a teary smile. She was jealous, envious of both Shizuka and Asterix. She was envious of the latter because sge was able to experience what she was experiencing now, just a peaceful moment. Mellion was envious of Shizuka, because there she was, hugging the woman she loved with all her heart.

But, still, she was happy for the both of them, and for herself, too. Asterix was able to experience normalcy -even if mortals/lower beings were to say that a Zombie Apocalypse wasn't normal, then they really have to experience how a Higher Being lives for a second-, and Shizuka was growing as a person.

What Asterix had said were all true. Being a Higher Being °is° rewarding and fun, but it comes with a disgusting price. While she's here, inside her room watching Shizuka and Asterix, she was also wasn't there. The concept of Time didn't really work with the Higher Beings, so even while Mellion was here, in her room, there are billions of Mellion out there doing something else, and whatever a single Mellion would feel, every Mellion would feel. The only thing the Mellion in her room could do was suppress the pain and multiple experiences coming and going and not dull this current, happy moment for the other Mellions to feel.

And, while Asterix was now a part-time System Guide, that was just one Asterix out of the other Asterixes out there doing other things, and just like Mellion, this "System Asterix" was one of the Asterixes that brings joy to the other Asterixes!

[A/N: Get confused bitches!]

But, enough of all that explanation shit. Now, Mellion was now determined on openly and verbally confessing her feelings to Asterix. She didn't care if she was forever the bottom anymore! Seeing how Shizuka was stealing °her°, it just made her a tiny bit mad and just spurred her on!

Honestly, Mellion didn't mind Asterix being with other women. Because, 1) She's the Goddess of Yuri, so why stop something that should benefit her? 2) Higher Beings have different ways of thinking, as proven by dreaming of normalcy. 3) She's a huge perv with a multitude of questionable kinks. And 4) Like Asterix would just leave her for someone else. She wasn't that kind of person, and she'll never, ever leave anyone behind, make them feel left out, and especially, forget about them.

All in all, Mellion was still happy and was getting excited!

__/__/__/__/__/__/__/__/__/__/

[[3rd Person's POV]]

Before the sun could even rise on the horizon, everyone but Lillian and Rei, who were preparing breakfast that they could eat on the road, were packing up their stuff and putting them in either the HUMVEE, RV, or MTVR, with Derierei guarding them. Though they had a lot of things, with the amount of people doing their jobs properly, all of their weapons, food, clothing, and essentials were fixed up inside the three vehicles, with most being in the MTVR as no one was going to ride in the back at the moment.

It was decided that when they travel, the HUMVEE will take the lead, with the RV following from behind, and the MTVR guarding the back. And, inside the HUMVEE would be Rika, the driver, Rei, and Saya. The RV would have Lillian, the driver, Alice, Saeko, Yuriko and Yuki. Lastly, the MTVR would have Shizuka, the driver, and Derierei, who will, once again, stay on the armored vehicle's roof, saying that she would be able to get into action.

Then, as the sun rose from the horizon, Lillian, Alice, Saya, and Saeko got out the house with their breakfast in tupperwares. Their breakfast was the only thing they were waiting for, and since they had it prepared, they had put their breakfast in the RV's fridge.

And with their breakfast safely secured, the group hurried into positions and began their journey!

__/__/__/

About halfway towards the Taiei Shopping City, they had stopped for breakfast for Alice's sake. The girl was proving herself to be trooper, not complaining at all since the beginning. But Saeko easily noticed that the child was hungry and suggested that they eat. So, after stopping by at the middle of the road, with Derierei, Rika, Rei, and Saya making quick work of any nearby zombies, the group began to eat inside the RV.

Of course, 10 people would cause the RV to be cramped, so Derierei and Rei opted to eat on the roof of the RV, since Rei wanted to get to know the scythe-weilder more, Shizuka ate at the driver's seat, Saeko ate by the door, and Yuki and Saya ate in front of Saeko while the rest ate inside the RV.

It was relatively peaceful, with Derierei and Rei stopping once in a while to kill zombies that appear with the crossbows. Of course, Derierei was still teaching Rei at that point, so Rei had to try multiple times before being able to headshot a zombie. Other than that, everything was going well.

Then, after breakfast, they took a 10 minute break to let their breakfast settle in their stomachs, while Derierei went to syphon some gas from the nearby cars after she "found" it in one of the RV's cupboards. In truth, Derierei just summoned it with her Higher Being powers, not with her System Guide privileges, and since it wasn't anything big or something a complete game changer, the World didn't eject her out of its mortal plane. And if it did and Derierei tried to force herself back into her physical form, the World will die.

But, back to the subject at hand, Derierei had taken the RV's gas can and filled up the its gas tank, and when the gas can still had some gasoline left, she used the remaining gasoline on the MTVT. Derierei knew that using gasoline on a diesel engine would damage the car, but all she would need to do is give Shizuka a mechanic-kind skill through the rewards, or a book that would quickly give the reader's knowledge for others to use.

Then, after emptying the gas can, Derierei went to check the HUMVEE and MTVR's gas cans and was happy that they were both full, so she only needed to fill up the RV's now empty gas can. And, after that, the group continued their drive to the Shopping City.

__/__/__/

Upon reaching Taiei Shopping City, everyone cringed at the amount of zombies roaming around. There were a lot of dangers there, especially with the multitude of cars, there could possibly be a zombie inside it that could suddenly pop out, or even one underneath them. But, that didn't stop them as Rika, Rei, Saya, Shizuka, and Derierei left their respective vehicles and began to mow down zombie after zombies!

Rika used karambit knives to claw at the zombies heads, Rei used her wooden, kitchen knife tipped spear to poke, Saya was cracking open some skulls with the hammer and a knife, Shizuka was skillfully using her knives to kill the zombies, while Derierei had become the Death God incarnate and was cutting off heads left and right. Yes, everyone was definitely glad that they had welcomed the "living killing machine" into their merry band. For nearly half an hour, the five had spent all that time killing and finding zombies in the parking lot, with Saya and Rei occasionally switching with Yuriko and Yuki.

Then, having checked that where weren't any zombies "alive" in the parking lot, everyone took their time to relax. And so, after 20 minutes, the fighters had gotten their breaths back, and were ready to go inside the shopping mall. Of course, they couldn't bring Alice along with them, so Lilliane, Yuriko, and Yuki stayed behind to protect the vehicles and keep Alice safe. Shizuka had given Yuki a walkie, and after a minute of testing, they were good to go.

The group raiding the shopping mall were confident that the group left in the RV could protect themselves, especially when they had the SCAR for Yuriko, a couple of grenades, and a pistol each for Yuki and Lillian.

Entering the shopping mall wasn't a challenge, but having to keep in their surprise was. The group of females had already guessed that the place would be °infested° with zombies, but the amount they see inside was just disgusting. The first floor was °filled° with zombies that it was no joke. Walking past any of them was basically impossible, so Shizuka and crew had to regroup. Going back from where they entered, they had began to make a different plan.

"Should we use a grenade?" Rika asked, feeling a bit intimidated by the amount of zombies she just saw. Actually, she was thinking that if Rei's mother was in her, then it would be a miracle if she was still human.

"Wouldn't it attract more zombies?" Saya asked, holding back her snark. She felt that it was a dumb suggestion, but Rika probably had more experience in this than she did.

"It would, but it should be toned down inside the building, and if the zombies pile up on it, probably. But I'm sure that dealing with zombies coming from the outside area would be better than dealing with them." Gesturing at the zombies inside the building, the group had to agree with what Rika had said.

"Well, you remembered to take one of the timers/alarm clocks?" Derierei asked Shizuka, who immediately got what her friend had been meaning and pulled out an alarm clock, the one with bells, from the bag filled with the remaining 4 pistols -safeties on of course-, which actually came out of Shizuka's inventory.

"Here." The blonde gave the timer to Derierei, who grabbed it and cheekily waved it at the other women.

"I'll try to throw this into the middle, and when it rings, it'll definitely lead them lure them there." The group nodded at what Derierei said, and they were really, really glad that she was here with them.

Then, taking a hand grenade out from its pouch, Rika pulled its pin after safely gripping its safety lever while Derierei set the time for the alarm after. And, with 10 seconds on the alarm clock before it starts ringing, Derierei didn't hesitate to chuck the clock towards the middle of the mall. Time went by, with Shizuka going a bit farther away from the mall's entrance to tell Yuki what was about to happen through the walkie, and the silence was broken by the alarm clock's ringing!

The zombies were quick to react, all were intent to go the source of the loud ringing. The group of women watched as zombies piled up against one another to get closer to the ringing, which was slowly weakening from the amount of zombies piling around it.

"Now!" Shizuka quickly signaled Rika to do her role, and with all her might, she threw the hand grenade towards the hill of zombies. It bounced off of them, but it exploded moments later, and the group flinched from how unexpectedly loud the explosion was. They had already expected the explosion to be loud, but not loud-loud.

However, Shizuka, having seen the amount of zombies that piled on top of each other, didn't stop at one hand grenade, because she was sure that the earlier one probably hadn't even gotten half of the zombies in the explosion, so she threw one more hand grenade into the smoke pillar, where a lot of zombies were earlier in, and after 4 seconds, another explosion went off!

There were some groans and moans inside the veil of smoke, but Shizuka and the rest were sure that they got most of them! Shizuka the most was confident, because she had a mini-map that showed a small amount of orange dots(enemies) scattered around the middle, and some more around the mall, heading towards the explosion!

And not only that, but Shizuka could see a blue dot(mission target) inside the mall too!

__/__/__/

Shizuka led the group towards Rei's mother's location, but of course, she couldn't just go there straight up, so she had made them use a quick way to check if there were anybody inside the stores, by breaking through the cracked glass -from the shockwave- and giving it a quick check. So, they soon reached a heavily blockaded utility store, which they had easily gone through because it was just something humans can easily go through.

And that's where Rei got reunited with her mother, Miyamoto Kiriko! Though the group understood that this was a tearful moment, thet needed to quickly bring in Kiriko to the RV because she looked to be dead tired and definitely hungry. So, with Shizuka, being one of the physically strongest in the group, carrying Kiriko, they quickly made their way to the RV, where they had to feed her directly from the can. After feeding her, Rei and Kiriko talked for a moment, before the older Miyamoto woman finally went to sleep.

The group immediately noticed slightly depressed, but still happier mood, so they made sure to give the teen a hug as she cried about how happy she was that her mother was alive and now safe, while she grieved for her father.

For some time, they dealt with Rei's emotional issue, before she herself suggested that they now begin to properly raid the mall. And, with that, Shizuka had Yuriko back the MTVR up towards the grocery area of the mall, which was right next to the entrance and its walls, which were glass, were already broken by the shockwave. And while half of the MTVR's body was inside the mall, Shizuka and Rika drove the HUMVEE and the RV closer to the grocery area.

Then, with Lillian, Saya, and Yuki were protecting Kiriko and Alice in the RV, the rest had started grocery shopping!

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[A/N: Hope this was well liked by you all! My fingers and hands are very tired from holding and typing on my phone.

Also, this got longer than expected, so the next chap will have the shopping mall raid, police station raid, and the road trip. Promise.

Anyways, here's the current poll?

Second World:

Naruto: 11

Akame Ga Kill: 10

Kim Possible: 10

High School DxD: 6

Arifureta: 2

Demon Slayer: 1

Twilight: 1

Love is War: 1

Monster Musume: 4

Shokougeki No Souma: 1

Okay, Naruto's still at 11, with AGK and KP tied at second place.

For your information, if Naruto wins, it's gonna be pretty shit honestly. Gonna have to relearn what I know about Naruto, and read some fanfics about it.

Akame Ga Kill is good, still fresh-ish in my mind and easier to understand than Naruto. I could do the same thing I'm doing now at HOTD, with AGK, using the canon to start my foundations of creating a new one.

And Kim Possible will definitely be a cross-over with an anime world. I don't know what yet, but I know that Shego and Kim would definitely be there. Heck, I now have a system for them. Though it sounds shit, it's kinda them. [Teamwork System] hahahaha. It's shit, I know, but I think that's a good irony on the villain and hero.]