The way home filled with death

{The next morning Maccillian's POV}

I felt someone stir, and I groggily opened my eyes. And I realized something. I was fucking exhausted! I've healed a bunch, and I knew it took stamina, but even after sleeping for hours, I was still tired. Even then, I started moving, and waking up.

I groaned, and started to get up. And when I saw my head was on someones lap, I looked at whose lap, and saw it was Shizuka's. (Wait. Who drove u...- Ah. Rei's mom...I'll just start calling her Kiriko, I can't keep thinking 'Rei's mom' all the time.) That aside, I looked around the car, and saw where everyone was.

Zeke was on Alice's lap up front.

Kohta was on the far end, leaning on the window.

Saya sat next to him, and next to Takashi.

Next to Takashi was Shizuka, and me by extension, and then Saeko was next to her, leaning on Shizuka instead of the window... And she was drooling.

Rei, Kiriko and Alice were all in the front. I looked towards whoever stirred, and saw it was Shizuka. I watched her open her eyes, look around for a few moments after rubbing them, and then look at me.

She smiled, leaned down, and nuzzled me. It was nice, there was nothing else behind it, and it was just warm. I ate it up, and after a few minutes, we broke it off. Shizuka still looked sleepy, and I was too, but we had to get up, so we did.

Shizuka reached out towards the handle, and slowly opened the door. I walked out, shifted, and stretched. The sun was coming out, so I knew it was early. I checked my watch, and saw it just turned to 7AM. I looked around, and saw we were on the other side of the river that the group passes the episode after the escape. I nodded, and yawned.

The sound must've been louder then I thought, since the rest of the group started to wake up. I saw Rei, Kiriko, and Alice stir in the front seats, Kohta and Saya were waking up, Takashi and Saeko were the only ones still sleeping. Though Shizuka started to shake them, and they started to wake up. Though as Saeko woke up, I leaned down and grinned.

"Oh how the mighty have fallen. What was it you said about me drooling again samurai?" I saw her blink, raise her hand to her mouth, and wipe away her drool. The way she blushed and refused to meet my gaze was adorable.

"Different circumstances Mr. Silver." I snorted at that, and went back to stretching. I was still tired, and realized I had maybe half of my tank left from all the fighting and getting my Regeneration doubled from last night. I was getting it back, yeah, but there was only so much sleep could do. I needed to eat, but I don't think the others packed my boar meat in the trunk.

I popped the rest of my bones, and decided to go take a dip in the water. I was still covered in blood after last night. 5 minutes of cleaning later, I was back out and walking towards the rest of the group. The girls were changing, so I looked the other way, and went over to the guys. They saw me coming, and nodded to me. I nodded back, and grinned.

"You did good boys. G.I Koh, you really are one hell of a shot. Remind me to set up a shooting match between you and Rika later." Kohta looked absolutely ecstatic at that, and I clapped him on the back as I laughed. He may have stumbled a little bit, but he still smiled. Then I turned towards Takashi.

"And you. Kid you did real good. No hesitation in letting G.I Koh fire, no hesitation in saving a kid. Balls of steel and the results to back it up. You did VERY good." I saw the way his eyes shined, and he smiled at me. He shook his head a bit, then looked at me.

"I didn't even think about doing good. I just thought 'we have to save her.' I reacted the whole way through after I thought that. Getting her passed the horde, and seeing them try to reach for me still scares the shit out of me, but I had to do it. I couldn't let that kid die." Kohta and I looked at him, and we both smiled.

"That was really badass Komuro! And you Mr. Zaka, you were awesome! The way you fought was like something straight from a movie, and then there's apparently more to that?! I can't wait to be that badass and just go crazy with that aura you mentioned." I saw the thought bubble of Kohta making aura missiles and guns, and just blinked at that. He was insane about a few things.

"You're getting there, so who knows, you might be able to get a start on that sooner then you think." His eyes widened, and I saw his thought bubble change to him in his current outfit, in the Humvee's gunner seat with an aura LMG laying waste to zombies. I blinked at that, and turned to Takashi. Though he did seem to look up at the sky in a thoughtful way.

"I wonder when I'll earn that right." I picked up on that, and raised a brow.

"Kid. You literally made your way passed a horde of zombies to save a little girl and her dog. That takes balls of steel, and courage that'd make lions fuck off. How you think you didn't earn the bite after that is beyond me." I saw both boys freeze, and they both snapped towards me.

""REALLY?!""

"FUCK! It's too early to yell you fuckers!" They both blinked, and I saw Takashi cough and Kohta look away. And then he turned away again, since the girls came out from the other side of the Humvee, and they all looked at us.

"What're you idiots shouting about?!" There's the little cub. She was back in her uniform, as were the other girls, Alice changed into the episode outfit, Kiriko had on one of Rika's jackets and pants, and Shizuka was in the outfit she wore for the episode.

"I just told the boys the kid earned his bite." That made them all stare, except for Alice and Shizuka, and they just blinked at me, then at Takashi, then back at me.

"... I don't remember if we broached the subject... But how exactly does that work Mr. Silver?" Huh... I never did specify how that works did I? The rest of the group, Shizuka included, just looked at me, waiting for me to answer.

"Well, it's kind of simple really. I bite someone that earned it, it could be anywhere like on the hand or something, and then they knock out. The process depends on the person. They could either be out for an hour or a day, so no I won't do it now. We need somewhere safe in case the kid knocks out for a full day or something. So after we get to the cub's place, and we're sure it's safe, I'll give the kid the bite, and we'll go from there."

They all looked at me and I saw Alice was confused, and Zeke was at my foot at some point, but the rest of the group nodded. Even Kiriko did. Speaking of Kiriko, after I was done talking, she walked over to me, and bowed, just like Takashi did.

"I'm just going to ignore the Werewolf talk for now to keep my sanity, but I need to say this now. Thank you for saving me and bringing me to my daughter. I don't think I'll ever be able to repay you for doing that for us." I just waved my hand at that.

"Don't worry about it. Cavalry asked me for something, and as a future member of my pack, I had to do it. No member of the pack, family by extension, is left behind." She straightened up, and looked at me. I could tell she was grateful, and we nodded to each other. After that was done, we all grouped by the Humvee, and talked about what we would do from here.

"Obviously, we know WHERE we're going, the only thing we need to work on is HOW. We have enough fuel to make the trip, we've packed enough food for 2-3 days, and we know a few routes that will get us to either the front gate, the back gate, or one of our side entrances. What we DON'T know, is which routes are safe and which routes are safe, somewhat contested, or flooded.

We can't keep running THEM over. The Humvee's a little damaged, and we can't risk losing our main method of transportation. Zaka, do you think you can scout out a few key routes, find out which are the best?"

I looked at Saya, and I smiled at her. She was thinking, Anime and manga Saya REACTED. But mine? My Saya was thinking, using that brain of hers, and planning. I couldn't help but reach over and ruffle her hair. "HEY!" I ignored that, and kept smiling.

"You got it cub. Though I should say it now, I'm tired. I'm running around half my tank after fighting and healing that much last night. Keep that in mind, ok cub?" I saw her look up to me and nod. With that done, I turned away and before I shifted, I turned back to the group. Someone let Rika know we're headed to the Takagi estate, and that I'll call her when we get there. After I saw them nod, I turned back, shifted and ran.

{Saeko's POV}

After Mr. Silver left, we all stayed by the Humvee, and broke off into groups. Hirano, Takashi and Ms. Miyamoto went to do weapon maintenance, Marikawa-sensei, Alice and Zeke broke off to sort the clothes and food we had. Then there was Saya, Rei and I, staying at the front of the Humvee. Saya was fixing her hair, Rei was polishing her makeshift spear, and I was making sure my bokken was fine. As we did that, we made conversation.

"So Saeko, you're getting close to Mr. Maccillian aren't you?" I looked over to Rei, and raised a brow. It was clear I was, but I wondered where she wanted to go with this.

"Yes, I am. What'd you like to know about that Rei?" She looked around, probably to make sure her mother wasn't in earshot, and held her hand up to whisper.

"Um... Was it as big as it looked?" My brain stopped for a moment, and I heard Saya splutter. Everyone, minus Alice and Ms. Miyamoto, knew I went to get him when he hadn't come back from his bath. Rei had a blush on her face as she asked, and I saw Saya have a small streak of blood coming from her nose. When I was ready to answer, I just cleared my throat.

"Yes..." That was enough for Rei, and Saya just held her head in her hands at my confirmation. It amazed me a small bit that even after last night, we still had the ability to talk about things like this. And even more so that I was being talked too about something like this.

Back in school, I wasn't exactly focused on finding a cute boy, or in this case, a man, to be with. I didn't even have female friends to talk about this subject with before all of this happened. Now here I was, in the apocalypse, talking about the size of a mans penis with another girl. (I'm not sure what the weirdest part of the apocalypse is. THEM, the Werewolf, or that my life has gotten BETTER since the world started ending.)

That thought didn't leave my mind, and I still had it there when Marikawa-sensei came over to get me for something. Alice and Zeke stayed with Rei and Saya, and we both went closer to the water.

"Um, what do you want to talk about Marikawa-sensei?" We were far away enough for the others to not hear what we would say, and I was curious. (Is this about my affections for Mr. Silver?) That was a possibility. Then when I saw the way she smiled, and held her phone up, confirmed it for me. It was on speaker, and I saw there was currently a call on going.

~Hey kid, so Shizuka's been telling me about a bunch of shit I've missed, and you came up.~ Ah, Rika Minami, the woman Mr. Silver had his eye on. This could either be a very awkward talk, a crushing one, or a pleasant one.

"This is about me wanting Mr. Silver, right?"

~Mr. Huh? And yeah. Shizuka's told me about putting her lips on him, which I need to admit, is kinda hot. And then we got into talking about you. We're gonna have to work this whole thing out. I don't really care, it's the end of the world and shit doesn't make sense anymore so morals be damned. Shizuka's on the same page, but we gotta know about you.~

Huh... They kind of did have a point. Morality didn't matter anymore, which was something that I enjoyed about this situation. But I did have to think on it. (Do I want to share? CAN I share?) I wasn't too sure about it, but I didn't mind the idea of trying it out.

"I wouldn't mind trying. Mr. Silver did say I'd have to talk with the both of you about this. So now will work."

"Really? When did Silver say that? Why didn't he tell meee?" I saw Marikawa-sensei pout, and I couldn't help the small smile that graced my lips.

"It was yesterday. While you were trying to open the wine cabinet, Mr. Silver was in the bath for a while, and hadn't come out yet. So I went to get him, and I found him sleeping in the bath, drooling as he did so as well." The way Marikawa-sensei's eyes glimmered at the image of a drooling Mr. Silver surprised me, but I'd let him deal with it.

~HAH! He fell asleep and drooled? What is he, a baby? Actually, since he was in the bath, you saw him naked, right kid?~ I blushed at the sight I had caught, and coughed into my hand. Despite the face I put on for him, I was more caught off guard and embarrassed at his figure then I'd like to admit.

"Yes. Yes I did" Marikawa-sensei and Minami both hummed at that, and I saw Marikawa-sensei smirk at me.

~Hmm? So... What're we working with?~ I wasn't expecting that question, but when I remembered the sight of Mr. Silver kissing Marikawa-sensei, I went red.

"Oh Rika, he's a big big boy, isn't that right Saeko?" I just stared at the woman, and I could only nod.

~Oh is he now? And how would you know that Shizuka? I thought all you did was kiss him?~

(Hmm? Did she not tell her about the full situation?) I looked at the woman, and she seemed to blush at the question.

"Um... I maaay have left some of what happened out..." She was avoiding my look and avoiding looking at her phone, and despite the prompt from Minami, she didn't say what else happened. Not right away atleast, but even when she tried, she wasn't giving Minami the full picture. So I decided to do it.

"Marikawa-sensei had latched onto him, and she was indirectly rubbing against his penis as they kissed." I watched as Marikawa-sensei went bright red at that, and I heard the laughter from Minami as I had said that. From there, we talked about what happened, and it was nowhere near as bad as I expected. I didn't expect it to turn out this well, but I smiled on the inside.

(Maybe this can work after all.)

{Maccillian's POV}

I scouted the routes for a good 20 minutes, and when I was ready, I ran back to the group. I knew which places we'd have to avoid, and where to go. So with that in mind, I regrouped, and found everyone right where I left them.

Though Shizuka and Saeko looked a little closer then they were before I left. (Eh, I'll think about why later.) With that thought aside, I shifted, and walked back to them. And then I was blind sighted by a small missile. "Uncle!" Huh? I looked down to my side, and saw it was Alice. Zeke was there too, bouncing around my feet, and I realized he really was small. Like damn...

Focusing back on Alice, I rubbed her head, and she hugged me a little tighter. "Thank you for helping save us uncle... Thank you..." She went quiet after that, and I just smiled. I was never good with kids, even if I a part of me disagreed for some reason, so the fact she was ok made me happy.

Everyone else started to form up, and I put Alice on my shoulder as I walked over to them. Zeke happily barked and walked with me as I did, and I went over to them to say what I saw. Alice waved at Kohta and Takashi, and the group smiled at it.

"Alright. Here's what I know." And I told them. From what I saw, it looked like we'd HAVE to take the same route they did in the anime... Even if it meant ending up in a dead end. But if things got bad, I'd toss the kids and women over the fence. I wasn't about to let some stupid electric fence get my pack killed. But there was another thing I thought about when it came to the dead end.

(If they play it right, then Saeko, Saya, and maybe even Kohta may earn the bite. Saeko was ready to fight to the end with Takashi. Saya, even though she was TERRIFIED, acted to defend the others. And Kohta, he helped control the amount they'd fight, and he was ready to sacrifice his life if it meant Alice would survive. If that doesn't prove to whatever senses think someone is worthy or not, then nothing will. And since Shidou shouldn't be able to make it, the estate shouldn't fall. It'll be a good stronghold that will give the kids the time to change.

I'm not sure how Kiriko will fare in the fight, I know she's competent, but I want to let Rei bite her. That's her family, it's her right to change her mom. Thinking of Rei, how would she do now? She was out of commission since she had flipped off of the damn Humvee when they stopped, and Takashi was sniping with her fucking tits as a brace... Now that I'm thinking about it, that whole scene was fucking ridiculous. Whatever, I'm not exactly sure if Rei can prove herself yet. She's good, not a bitchy bitch, competent with her spear and has hope.

With her mom here, she'll be faster to fall in line, and if we all actually fight together, we might not even need the back up. Though it depends on the amount of zombies that come through. In the anime, there were what... 7 on screen in one shot, and then fucking hundreds of them the next minute. I don't know how that'll play out. I'm pretty sure Shizuka won't do anything here, but I'll need to make absolutely sure she stays ok.) When I got to that last thought, I hummed, and looked around. Everyone was preparing to go, and I could see they were all determined. Saya had that fire in her eyes, Takashi looked prepared to fight as much as he could so we could get there, Kohta and Kiriko were readying the guns, Saeko gripped her bokken in anticipation, and Shizuka and Alice were already in the Humvee. Zeke was there too, but the bite didn't work on other animals.

I looked at them all, and I nodded to myself. (Come 100, come 1,000, I'll see them through it.) And with that thought, and a small breakfast they left for me, I prepared myself. "Cavalry and mama Cavalry, ride with me. The Humvee's getting too cramped." They both looked at me, then at each other, and then back to me again. "Yes you two. Now come over and get on." Rei looked excited about this, since aside from her, Alice and Kohta, everyone else have ridden on me. Though her mom didn't look as excited.

"I think I'll just take the car."

"Oh come on mom, this'll be great!" Kiriko just looked at Rei, and when Rei broke out the eyes, she folded.

"... Fine... But I swear to god Mr. Maccillian, you better not go as fast as you did last time!" I rolled my eyes at that.

"Ah shut it, I could've gone faster if I was stronger." Her eyes widened at that, and I thought I saw her shake a little. Whoops. Oh well.

After Rei soothed her mother, we got ready to move. The mother daughter duo were on my back, Kiriko was on the back since she had her rifle on her back and it'd make Rei uncomfortable if she had to ride with that pressed against her, and they both had their spears ready. The rest of the group was in the Humvee, and they were ready to go.

I looked at Takashi and Saya, and we all nodded. Shizuka started driving... (We literally have another driver, why did I let Shizuka keep driving?! Fuck it, she'll be fine.) I ran alongside the Humvee, on the roofs of course, and we started making our way to the Takagi estate. So far, things were going good. There weren't as many zombies out, just like in the anime, and then a few minutes in, it happened.

"Corpses coming in! Watch out kids!" Since we were on the roof, Kiriko could spot the zombies before they came up in the Humvee's sights. And just like the anime, we had to take detours. I followed after the Humvee, and Kiriko was calling out where they were. Shizuka drove accordingly, and I heard a fucking explosion somewhere in the background, but I didn't have time to think about it. I ran after the Humvee, and we made it.

The dead end. The scene played out almost like the anime, but with no one flying off the Humvee, and with me landing in front of it with Rei and Kiriko getting off. I shifted back, Takashi and Saeko came out, and Kohta came up the gunners seat with his rifle at the ready putting down the closest zombies. There were hundreds of them, and I thought I saw more coming in from the further streets. I clicked my tongue, and looked to Takashi.

"Alright kid, I'll start us off, and give you the reigns after. I'll be a little drained after what I do, but I'll still be good to fight. You ready for this?" He nodded, and I looked at the rest of the group. "Alright everyone, cover your ears!" I saw them do that, and I shifted. They weren't right on top of us, so I had the space and time to do this. So I walked up, dug my claws into the pavement, and breathed in. I focused on what I was going to do, and when I was ready, I looked towards the coming wave, and howled.

-AAAAWWWWWOOOOOOOOOO- 'Sonic howl' Was an ability I got when my Werewolf Strength ranked up. I never got the chance to use it, but I knew how. It drained me of stamina since my current level of Regeneration didn't work on stamina yet. Coupled with it being meant for Werewolf Form, and I could only use it at a fraction of its power in wolf form. But it was enough. There were more then 200, maybe even 300 zombies coming towards us, but this made it easier on us.

It was like a cone effect from a MOBA. The closest... 50? 80? Zombies were blown back, and some of the ground fractured under my howl. The bodies that weren't destroyed, flew into the zombies behind them. It got 80 zombies at the very least, off of our back. But I was tired. I had what... 30%? In the tank, and I wobbled a bit. It was the weakest I've felt since I got here, and I was feeling it. But I couldn't let that slow me down, I shook my head, and shifted back.

The rest of the group took their hands off their ears, and prepared. Kohta loaded his rifle, Takashi and Rei stood side by side, Saeko was with Kiriko, and Saya even came out with the shotgun Takashi would've used if she didn't ask for it. I was in front, but fell back to look at the others. "You ready kids!" A chorus of 'Yes sirs' and Yes!' Were my answers. And I grinned.

"Alright. Give the word kid!" Takashi looked at me, and I saw the determination in his eyes. He nodded, and raised his bat towards the nearest zombie, and bashed it's brain in.

"Watch each others back, no one over extend! We're making it through this! Kohta, like before, back us up if we're about to be grabbed! Unless it looks like we will, help Sir. Zaka. Saya, send any stragglers that get too close to hell! Miyamoto and Saeko make sure the right side doesn't push too close! Rei and I will take the left. Sir. Zaka, I'll leave the center to you. We're all with you Sir!" The kid was doing good. Nice. Everyone responded and it was started.

The battle had begun. And I grinned.

I extended my claws, and grinned. "THE HUNT IS ON!"

I cut into the closest zombie, and began the defense. I needed to keep my eyes on the others, they would prove themselves today, and I would make sure I saw it.

I cut into another zombie, and when I was grabbed, I growled and bit into its arm. I tore it off, naturally, and used my free arm to tear its head off. I heard Kohta fire, and saw a zombie creeping up on Saeko and Kiriko fly back from the impact. Saeko was bashing heads in or sending zombies flying, Kiriko was either tripping them and quickly impaling them, using the butt end or side of her spear to knock zombies back for Saeko to deal with, or kicking them away.

I checked towards Takashi and Rei, and I saw them fight. Rei covered Takashi's back, and he covered hers. It was almost like they were dancing. It was early, and very poor, but it was a dance. I realized it, and I grinned. (They're going to be great in the future.) I had to shake myself out of my thoughts when I felt my leg get grabbed. I growled at the crawler, and made my toenails grow to impale it. The zombie died, but I got grabbed again when I got out of its grip.

I was starting to get annoyed. If I had more stamina, I could just yank myself out of their grasp, but I was running low. I COULD force myself out, but then I'd run out of stamina faster. I needed to conserve my energy in case I needed to howl again.

So with this new grip on my arm, I just opened my mouth towards the zombie holding me, and sunk my fangs into it. I raised my head, and shook the thing off of me, and threw it towards another group of zombies coming towards me. Then I heard Saya fire her shotgun, and I quickly looked towards her. When I saw her, she was covered in some zombie blood, but she was otherwise fine. I saw her grit her teeth, pump the shotgun, and point it towards any other zombie that might get close. "I won't run! I'm not a coward! I'LL FIGHT WITH THEM!" And she shot another one.

(Oh yeah. She's going to earn it. If not now, then soon.) She was making me proud.

I turned back to the zombies, and clicked my tongue. There were more coming in, and I was worried we'd be drowned in them. I decided to exert a bit of power, and I knelt to the ground. I dug my claws into the ground, and I pulled. I wasn't running at full, so I couldn't do it in a single motion, but I managed it anyway. I tore a chunk of the pavement out, and THREW it towards the incoming zombies. I paved a clear path ahead of me, but it was being filled with even MORE zombies.

I looked at the others, and saw they were doing great. Takashi and Rei were still dancing, Saeko and Kiriko were controlling their side, and I was piling up a small hill of corpses and body parts around me before I did that. But it was all tiring me out. But even though I was getting tired, I fought on. I wasn't about to be outdone by kids and a mother if I could help it.

And so we fought. And after 10 minutes, they were starting to lose steam.

In the anime, the scene shifts to the sky going orange, and they don't specify how long the group was fighting for. But for us? It was 10 minutes. Zombies were still pouring in, and the sky was JUST starting to get that orange glow. We held our ground, and as I was starting to run out of steam, I heard it. The sound of running coming from behind us.

I knew what that meant, but they wouldn't get here fast enough. Even with Saya and Kiriko helping, they were getting tired. Takashi and Rei were getting sloppy, Kohta was essentially on his last mag, Saya had ran out of ammo but she used her shotgun like a bat and swung it to anything that got close. Even Zeke was trying to help. But still, zombies were coming in, so I came to a decision. "Fall back! I'm hitting them with all I've got so cover your ears!"

Everyone snapped towards me, and I saw them all move back. When they weren't in range, I shifted, and dug my heels into the ground as hard as I could. I had maybe 20% left in my tank, and I was being generous. But even then, it would have to do. I inhaled, long and hard. And I tensed my body. And when I was ready, I opened my mouth, and HOWLED.

-AAAAWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

My howl went from a cone to a wave, and I blasted the horde in front of me. They either flew back, staggered, or outright died. It depended on where they were in relation to my howl. I was close to passing out, but I did it. With that howl, the zombies weren't on top of us and we had enough room to breath for maybe a few minutes. And that was all that was needed. I heard the reinforcements arrive, and I smiled.

The others heard it too, and they all started to regroup towards the Humvee and fence, they all saw them, and I heard them either sigh in relief or cheer. And as I staggered towards the rest of my group, I saw the Takagi estate group in their firemen suites set up and lift the fence. They set up their hoses, and as I saw my group get ferried across, I was happy.

(They all made it... And they all earned it... Fuck I'm tired...)

And then I was blasted in the face by water.

As I felt myself crash into something, probably a wall, I thought I heard Shizuka shout for me before I knocked out. And as I was closing my eyes, I only had a single thought going through my head. (I'm drinking all their wine and beer for that.)

[Status]

Name - Maccillian Silver Zaka

Age - 19(?)

Strength - C-

Dexterity - D

Vitality - D+

Intelligence - E

Wisdom - E+

Charisma - D+

Luck - E

Werewolf Strength stage 2/4 -377/750 - 581/750

Regeneration stage 1/4 - 73/200 - 85/200

Werewolf Senses stage 2/4 - 37/75

Wolf King's Wisdom stage 0/1 - 6/50 - 7/50