Parking space

When was the last time I did nothing? You know, just sitting back and relaxing? Leaving the rest of the group to deal with whatever crap got in our way, rather than charging headfirst into danger myself…

If we exclude some minor moments, never. I always 'did' something. So, this must be a first. I mean, I did fall asleep shortly after we left the estate. And the horde was still following us, meaning that we were not out of the woods when I decided to pass out...

But hey, I ain't no one-man-army. I can let somebody else deal with this crap once in a while. And well. We were inside the Humvee, so it's not like I bailed on them at an important moment or something. Then again, maybe I have this mentality right now because I'm half asleep and don't give a single fuck about anything...

But, you know what they say. All good things must come to an end…

As the moment my brain realized I was conscious again, it started bugging me, non-stop. Telling me that I needed to think of a plan for the events that will take place in the mall. And annoying as it may be, I knew that it was right.

I move my head slightly and take a deep breath while still keeping my eyes closed.

(Ughhh… I don't even want to open my eyes. Good thing I can think with my eyes closed...

So. Uhhhh, right, the Mall. Asami and Kohta. Shizuka and the rapist. Granny and the clinic. And lastly the extraction helicopters along with the mall getting overrun. If I'm not forgetting something, that should sum up the major events that take place there.

So, let's take things one step at a time now. First of all is getting there...

Uhh, why I get the feeling that I'm forgetting, something?)

And a few seconds later, it hit me….

(Oh, Shit! Saeko. Takashi. Split. Shrine. Fuck! FUCK!)

I opened my eyes abruptly and moved my head slightly to the right as I darted my eyes around the car's interior...

Other than the fact that the sun was up, I could see Saeko sitting next to me with Rei on her right. Takashi was sitting next to Rei, and Kohta was sitting next to Takashi by the car's door, the Scar-H still in his hands.

Yeah, five people in the back seats. Explains why Saeko was pretty much stuck to my side. Not that I'm complaining mind you…

I breathe a silent sigh of relief as I close my eyes again.

(Ok, either the split didn't happen or it didn't happen 'yet'. But the sun is already out, so it might not happen at all. 'Normally' Saeko and Takashi spend the night in that shrine and uhh. Yeah 'things' happen.

Ok so, now that I'm fully awake and 'that' is out of my mind, back to the task at hand. The mall. Let's start with the cop girl that Asami idolizes. She probably left the mall yesterday evening to find help based on what the manga showed, and if she was a wandering corpse right outside the mall, that means she didn't get too far before she got bit.

The way Asami kept on saying how that woman was supposed to be an awesome cop, I find it hard to believe that she would try to return to the mall after she got infected. I'd think she would understand the moral impact it would have if she was seen as a walking corpse. Especially if she was the only hope they had for a rescue.

So my chances of saving her are sadly, probably non-existent. She's most likely already dead by now. Best I can do, is find her before the others see her and finish her off. If she really is a corpse.

Next, Asami and Kohta. And what I can consider as the main deal with this whole situation. She will have a huge impact on Kohta. I need to make sure she survives, by any means necessary. Even if that ends with me tying her up to a chair and locking her in a god damn storage room in order to prevent her from effectively killing herself...

Though now that I think about it, Kohta no longer has the cop gun to make his first move on her, as I traded it for the p220. Not a very smart move now that I think about it...

But, hmm. I can hide one of the p220s in my bag, say that I forgot it there. Then give it to Kohta so he can give it to her himself. Things should go on 'normally' after that.

And then, we have Shizuka. As much as I want to stop the whole thing from happening, even if Shizuka seemed to be unperturbed after the whole ordeal, it needs to happen. Kohta pretty much makes Asami fall for him then and there.

And lastly, we have the trip for the blood and the rescue helicopters. Not a lot I can do for these two really. The granny will need the blood. So we either go to the clinic, or let her die. Simple as that. One of the survivors from the mall also dies in the clinic if I remember correctly…

As for the rescue helicopters. I could hypothetically get us all extracted right there and then, if I stall the group for long enough. But, we won't get to meet Rei's mother if we stay, and quite possibly, her father in the elementary school. Not to mention that when the group found Rei's mom in the manga, she was in a kind of a tight situation. But, that is still far off, got to focus on the things that will happen before that...)

Keeping my eyes closed, I stopped thinking about what would happen after the mall and started to listen to the engine hum as the humvee drove down the highway...

I stayed like that for some time, until someone next to me started speaking.

"We are almost out of the highway, the mall shouldn't be too far from here." Opening my eyes, I see Rei talking.

"I just hope we drove the horde far enough." Takashi responds.

"They will be fine. My Papa is more than capable of handling one measly horde. We should be more focused on our problems… " Saya who was on the front passenger's seat turns to look at Takashi, the textbook in her left hand.

"Saya..." Was the only thing Takashi said in response.

(I never really understood that 'gesture'. Why say a person's name and then just stare at them like some sort of retarded monkey?...)

"Saya is right Takashi, we should focus on our problems" Saeko adds. I shift my eyes towards the window, only to see the shopping mall slowly coming into view.

"Like the fact that Miss Shizuka is driving straight to the mall with a working car?" I say as I keep staring outside.

"Hmm? Ohh. Naier, good morning." Saeko was the first one to respond. I nod in reply as I lift my head away from the window that I was resting my head on up until now. Hearing my neck bones crack as I moved it about.

"Humm. About time you woke up. Leaving us to do all the work while you were off dreaming like an idiot." Saya was the second one...

"Yeah, I love you too dear." I responded groggily as I closed my eyes and put my left hand behind my neck rubbing some of the soreness out.

(I should really find some pillows in the mall, my neck is killing me.)

And the moment I opened my eyes again. A rather thick textbook was flying straight towards my face...

(Again!?)

I slap the book, causing it to hit my legs instead of my face, or well, mask.

"Important information is stored here, don't just toss it around Saya." I say as I pick up the textbook and extend my arm, holding it towards her.

She just responds with her usual huff as she yanks the textbook from my hand, then looks back towards the front of the car.

(Jee, you don't have to like me THAT much.)

"Uhh. Still, slow down the car, we are closing in to the mall. Lots of food and materials that can be used inside. And relatively easy to fortify if compared to what it has inside. There's a good chance that it might have survivors inside." I say as I look back out the window.

"So what do we do? Walk all the way there?" Takashi asks.

"The surrounding area has a good amount of tree clusters that can be used to conceal the Humvee. So, take a wider approach towards the Mall, don't drive straight to it. We'll park the car in a patch of trees after we get relatively close. Just remember to kill the engine before we actually stop, less chance for the car to get surrounded by corpses like that." Shizuka nods after I was done speaking and turns the Humvee to the right at the next intersection, going over a bridge, as there was a river to our right.

"Keep going straight, then turn left a couple of intersections later, we can use the buildings as cover while we close in to the mall" Shizuka does as I asked and turns left two intersections later.

"Don't you think you are, you know, kind of overthinking this?" Rei spoke up as I stared at the mall.

"I'd rather overthink this than end up stranded and having to watch from a distance while a bunch of good for nothings drive off with our car and supplies." I say as I turn to her.

Rei does not respond, and neither does anybody else. Guess imagining what I just said struck home.

"After we park, then what?" Kohta asks after a short silence.

"I think we should leave our guns here for starters. If the mall has survivors inside… " Takashi added. I turned to Kohta who just nodded without much of a fuss. He's the last person who would want to lose the guns after all.

"By the way. How long do you intend to keep hogging my Scar-H Kohta?" I ask as I keep looking at him.

"But you have the shotgun, don't be greedy. " He quipped smugly. As he turned to me.

"And you have the Ar-10, don't be needy."I answer back, just as smugly.

Yet before either of us could continue joking around...

"UGHH! Do NOT start acting like a bunch of idiotic kids that are fighting over toys." Saya says with a groan as she keeps looking at the street ahead. I take a look at her before turning to look back at Kohta, who gives me a rather smug smile.

(Ohhh I will get my gun back, you can count on that buddy.)

So, several minutes and crushed corpse skulls later, we were by the right side of the mall. And the side had no visible windows. I nod to myself and speak up.

"Alright the mall is straight to our left now, I don't see any windows on this side, so turn left and keep going until we see a good cluster of trees we can drive the car into." Shizuka nods once again as she lowers her head slightly. Probably trying to focus. She then turned left, the mall now a straight line from here.

The road ahead, other than being littered with corpses and the occasional car, was relatively clear and surrounded by houses and greenery, dotted with trees. My target? Anything with enough trees that we could use to hide the car in.

(I would rather go into a small park rather than a cluster of trees next to a sidewalk. But the problem with that is that the only place matching the description of a park is next to the mall's open field. Or what 'used' to be a parking lot. In other words, a place so open that we might as well drive the Humvee right into the mall while waving a flag with the words 'free stuff for yall' printed on it. So no, too close and too open for comfort.)

So instead, I chose a rather big cluster of trees I noticed that stood a couple of intersections down the road, relatively close to the mall. I kept staring at that spot as Shizuka drove over the river once more.

And after we closed in to the patch of trees. I got up and leaned between the two front seats of the car in order to get a better look.

"That place looks good. Drive towards that patch of trees and shut down the engine once we get close." I say as I point at the cluster that was to our left with my finger. Shizuka nods, while Saya just stared at me, before slightly leaning away from me...

I turn towards Saya to see Alice sitting on her lap, with Zeke in one hand. The kid then starts waving at me.

"Hey there shorty, young cadet." I called out. The dog upon hearing the word cadet barks at me. Alice then hugs the dog with both hands.

"Zeke is not a cadet, because you are no longer evil." She says with a wide grin.

"Ohh. Damn. I need to get my evil overlord vibes back on. Before I start shooting rainbows like some other dude I know… " I say as I look back towards our soon to be parking space. I could feel Saya staring even more intensely at me now, along with several other gazes on my back.

"Rain, bows?" I hear Saeko ask.

"It's nothing Saeko, really." Takashi responds.

(Says the valiant knight of rainbows and sunshine.)

While I really wanted to say that with some snark, now was not really the time. As we were closing in to the trees that I pointed out.

"Alright. You see the open space between the trunks over there to our left?" I asked. And with a look towards my pointed direction, Shizuka nodded.

"Ok, climb over the sidewalk, and when the car has climbed up, turn off the engine and let the car roll through there." Shizuka just nodded again as I spoke.

And so the moment the Humvee 'bumped' over the sidewalk, she shut down the engine, and let the car slide into the cluster of trees.

"Good, first opening you see on the sides, turn the car either left or right so nobody can see the Humvee from the opening we just used." Shizuka does as I said again and turns the car to the right as she lets the Humvee roll for a while, before she finally presses on the brake.

"Can't go any further, or we will bump into the trees." She says as she turns to me. I nod and turn to the group behind me.

"Alright, I will get the net. Somebody needs to check if the surroundings are clear of corpses. But most importantly, that we did not get spotted by any other survivors." Saeko nods and exits the car through the door on her left. Followed by Rei and Takashi.

They then looked around for a bit...Until…

"Looks clear. I can see some of them coming towards us, but I don't see any people." Rei speaks up. Kohta then moves to exit the car.

"Kohta, guns." I say as I stare at him.

He turned to me, a bit confused, before he realized that he was carrying two rifles while we were supposed to be hiding them.

"Ohh, right." He then leaves the Scar-H on the seat's foot section, along with the Ar-10. Then exits the vehicle. Saya puts the textbook in her bag before leaving the car with Alice. And lastly, Shizuka takes the keys out of the ignition and opens the driver's door.

"Miss Shizuka." I call out to her, she turns to me and tilts her head.

"Can I have the car keys? You uhh, don't have any pockets, and I would rather not leave them in a bag and lose them somehow." I say as I point at her dress.

(I also don't want Mister rapist to find them by accident while he tries to cop a feel.)

She then looks down at her skirt. Or well tried to. You know, her breasts are kinda massive. So, after a couple of awkward seconds, she just nodded and gave me the keys, and then exited the vehicle. The only one left inside now, was me.

(Alright let's get to work.)

I take the two rifles that Kohta left, along with my shotgun and the M1-A1 and hide them in the trunk, under some bags and sheets that were stashed in there. I then take the urban camo net, open it and hide the contents of the trunk itself.

(While the trunk has no glass window on it, you can still see the contents from the front windshield and door windows. If we're unlucky enough and somebody finds the car, hiding what it has inside might deter them from trying to break-in. Even if it's obvious that the car has something inside, leaving the guns in plain sight is just stupid.)

I then take my bag off and open it.

(Uhh, why didn't I take this thing off before falling asleep?)

And after I quickly glanced at the rest of the group and made sure they were not looking towards me, I took one of the P220 along with its holster and shoved it in the bag. Then take the second P220 that was still in my pocket and put it in the bag as well. And finally, I push both the guns and belt to the bottom of the bag, beneath all the clothes, map and whatever other crap that was stuffed inside.

(Alright, let's get going… )

I strap the bag back on me and exit the car, camo net in hand. After I got out, I walked up to the front door.

(Good thing this Humvee can lock its doors… )

I think as I lock the car and unwrap the net. Then started covering one side of the car, until Kohta came over and helped me cover the other side. After we were done, I joined the group and turned to look at the car.

"Hmm, Not bad. There's a constant shade from the surrounding trees, and the camo net blends in nicely with the surrounding greenery." I say as I nod and fold my arms.

The next thing I heard, was a loud thud, followed by a 'cracking' sound. I turn around to see Saeko standing over a corpse.

"We need to move." She says as she looks at the other corpses that were slowly shambling towards us attracted by the noise we were making.

We all nod and run past the fallen corpse before turning to the left after we reached the sidewalk, and then, went left again after reaching the next intersection.

The Mall was now just one intersection away. And luckily, we also had a building that obstructed the trees that we hid the car into, so it was pretty well covered from any prying eyes that might be looking from the mall.

I grabbed the bokken and pulled it out from the side of my bag, then ran towards a nearby stop sign that was to my right, and took a strong swing at it. My whole arm vibrating from the impact. And while the metal pole echoed, I turned around to look at the corpses that were heading towards the parked Humvee, now slowly turning around towards me.

"Alright, that got their attention." I say as I start running back towards the group.

"We should not waste any more time here, let's go!" Takashi motions with his hand as he starts running. And like that, the group starts running towards the mall.

(Uhh, the fuck did you just shout for you Hombusken?...)

I run up to them and join Takashi, Rei and Saeko in the 'front line', taking the rightmost spot.

"We got a plan or we just beat the crap out of everything till we get there?" I ask as we keep on running.

"Beating the crap out of everything IS the plan!" Takashi responds. I reflexively shifted my sight to Saeko, to see her smiling eerily as she slowly drew her blade from its sheath.

(Oh crap, sword.)

Was the only thing I managed to think before she dashed ahead of us and slashed the head off from the first corpse she got close to. She then sidestepped towards a corpse to her right, slid behind it and kicked it on the back of its knees, decapitating it while it was still on its knees.

"Saeko behind you!" Takashi shouts. She, just grinned as she spun in place and sent another head flying.

(Holy crabs, I actually fought against, that? Why am I not dead again?)

I shake my head and run up to Saeko, or well, I tried to. As in the end, all the group did was run after her as she dashed from corpse to corpse, beheading them with a wide smile on her face.

And like that, we crossed the last intersection and moved down the final straight that led to the Mall's parking field. Upon reaching the end of the road, we moved into the field that led to the Mall, Saeko still several meters ahead of us.

I could now see a door that led into the building about sixty to seventy meters straight from here. With no corpses blocking the way, we all started running towards that door. All of us… But one.

Saeko, instead of going straight towards the door. Charged towards the left, aiming at a mass of corpses that had gathered at the left part of the field. And when I say 'gathered' corpses, I mean as in a mini horde. about twenty or thirty of them, gathered all together.

"Saeko!" Takashi shouts once more. But his shout fell on deaf ears, as she just kept running straight towards the mass of corpses.

(God damn it! Stupid crazy suicidal psychopath!)

I yank my bag off and toss it at whoever was next to me, and then dash straight towards Saeko.

(Stupid! Fucking! Crazy! Arghh! I'm going to kill myself if you die here!)

Even if I was not really that much faster than her, Saeko kept stopping to take out whatever corpse was near her, so. I thankfully managed to catch up before she could get too close to the mass of corpses.

Upon closing in on her, and while she still had her back turned to me. I grab her sword arm by the forearm. Saeko instantly turns around as she tries to yank her arm away, aiming to take a swing at my neck with her blade. Keeping my grip on her arm, I forcefully pull it up and towards me. Causing her forehead to almost hit my collarbone and her sword to pass over my head. I quickly put my free hand under her chin and lifted her head until I could see her face.

"Wrong, direction! Saeko!" I shout at her face.

She, just stared at me as she kept panting. I bring my hand to the back of her neck and bring her face closer to mine, to the point that her forehead was almost touching my mask.

"Snap out of it. Or we both die here." She kept looking at my mask for a couple of seconds, until her eyes finally went wide. Or well, wider than they already were. Her mouth slightly open...

"I..." She begins to speak.

"Not now. We have to move before we get swarmed." I say as I turn around and drag her behind me. Saeko coming back to her senses a couple of seconds later, picking up the pace as I started to feel less resistance coming from her as we run...

And the moment we reached the group.

"What was that?! What just happened?!" Rei 'asks' locking her sight on Saeko, who just slightly turned her head away from the group.

"She didn't see the door. She thought we were going through the front gate." I say as I let go of Saeko's arm and turn to Rei.

"What, but..."

"No time, she took the wrong way, we are fine now, so let's go." Takashi cuts Rei off, much to her dismay as she turns to stare at him with a frown.

"Come on we have to move!" He says as he quickly starts running towards the door. The rest of us running after him shortly after. And as we run, I give Saeko a quick glance.

(This, can't be good.)

And once we reached the door...

"Barricaded, somebody was already here before us." I say as I look at the clutter that was blocking the door from the inside.

"What do we do now? Back to the car?" Shizuka asks while she keeps holding Alice with one hand. Who was, in turn, holding Zeke under her free arm.

Before I could speak up though…

"Huh wait, I think I can see somebody inside." Takashi responds as he starts shouting and waving his arms towards the door. The figure, after apparently seeing us, froze in place and started fidgeting about. Before finally deciding to run up to the door.

And lo and behold, Asami in all her third-person cop glory.

(Well, this was easy.)

"W, wait! Asami will let you in, don't panic, don't panic!" The short cop girl shouts.

(You're the one who is panicking here shorty… )

She hastily and quite clumsily lifted the clutter away from the door as we looked at the corpses that were shambling towards us. Thankfully too far for any real cause of alarm.

And the moment the door opened, we all got inside. We then slammed the door shut and started re-barricading it.

"Thank you." Takashi nods at Asami as he takes a few deep breaths and puts his hands on his knees, after we were done blocking the door.

"It's alright, it's Asami's job to protect civilians." She says with a smile.

The group just stared at the strange cop for a while. Until Rei spoke up.

"You're, a Police officer? Do you know Tadashi Miyamoto? He's a police detective, is he alive? Do you know where he is?" Rei almost walks into Asami as she barrages her with questions. The cop girl puts her hands forward as droplets of sweat start running down her forehead.

"I… I'm sorry, Asami, she doesn't know." She closes her eyes and smiles awkwardly as she shakes her head. I, just shook my head as I looked at Rei's sour expression.

"What she meant to say is, her name is Rei Miyamoto. I'm Naier Sepfier. The guy next to her is Takashi Komuro, behind him is our school nurse Shizuka Marikawa. Next to Shizuka is Alice Maresato and next to Alice is, uhh, the Cadet." I say as I point at the dog.

"His name is Zeke!" Alice shouts as she puffs her cheeks. The rest of the group then goes on to introduce themselves, by themselves.

"This police officer is Asami Nakaoka." She says as she, salutes? At us with a smile. Kohta being the only one returning that salute because 'Kohta'.

"We should head inside, staying by the door will only attract more of them." Takashi speaks up shortly after as he points at the door, the corpses banging on it.

With that, we started going down the relatively dark corridor. And as we walked, I remembered something important.

"Uhhh, where's my bag?" I ask as I realized that I just tossed it before chasing after Saeko. Only to have it land on the left side of my head shortly after.

I grab the bag and dart my head to the left only to see Saya glaring at me as she puffed up her cheeks.

"Watch where you throw your stuff, you idiot. And what do you even have in there, rocks?" She says as she massages the right part of her forehead...

"Uhh, You know. Stuff." I say as I casually throw the bag over my shoulder, ignoring the obviously annoyed tsundere as she glared at me.

And so, like that. We moved to the center part of the mall. Once there, Asami pipes up.

"Asami has to make sure nothing happened with all this commotion, so she will have to leave now." She bows at us and turns around, before turning to us again.

"If you need anything, tell Asami!" She says with a smile before running off.

And now, we were left in the middle of the mall's central room…After a few moments of silence passed...

"We should spread out, check the place out, make sure it's safe, and see what we can find in here." Takashi speaks up, and the group nods before slowly splitting up.

Saya and Kohta left towards the market area.

Takashi went up the stairs along with Alice.

Rei followed Takashi while Zeke followed Alice.

Shizuka trotted off by herself.

(Alright, I need to figure out what to do with Kohta. Got to give him the gun so he can give it to Asami, but without making him think that I'm interested in her. Because I am doing this for him, not to get Asami infatuated with me.)

I look around to see that I was the only one left now.

(Huh where did Saeko go? I didn't see her leave.)

I dart my head around to see her going up an escalator, several meters straight and slightly to the right from where I was standing.

(I need to get to Kohta. But, uhh, the little stunt she just pulled. She better not try to do something stupid now. I will check on her, then go to Kohta.)

And so, from a relatively safe distance, I followed Saeko as she slowly walked up the stairs. After that, she kept walking around the second floor aimlessly before stopping to enter a clothing store to her right.

(Alright, no more creepy stalking.)

I think as I walked towards the store that Saeko just entered.

"Ey! Naier!" I hear someone shout from behind.

(Ohh for fuck's sake, have better timing next time, please.)

I turn around to see Takashi waving at me. I glance back at the store that Saeko just walked into before turning to walk towards Takashi.

(I want to make sure Saeko is fine. But I don't think bringing everybody to her is a good idea right now.)

I sigh under my breath and start walking towards Takashi.

(Hope she won't do anything stupid while I am not looking… )