34: Taiei (2)

"I hope you're right, Asami-san" - said the lonely man as he closed his eyes.

"Come, I just saw something!" - exclaimed a female voice.

Asami quickly got excited because her boss shouting like that meant only one thing, someone was approaching Taiei.

* * * * *

"We can see the shopping city Taiei!" - exclaimed a soldier as the convoy continued to move slowly along the empty roads that led towards the large shopping store.

"It's good to hear that everything is going as planned" - Cloud said as he looked back - "And just so we can restore our supplies."

"And you're not counting on the fact that we now have more trained soldiers" - said Yuriko as she looked at the huge trade store - "Are we ready?"

"For looting? Of course, although..." - Cloud paused his words and looked up to the upper floors of the trade store, only to see how one of the windows seemed to be glowing slightly - "I think we have company."

Yuriko looked in the same direction and frowned slightly - "The problem is, we don't know if they're hostile or not."

"We'll find out when we get there, for now we have to concentrate on the lower floors" - Cloud replied as he shook his head.

"You're right" - nodded Yuriko as she took out the communicator and contacted the other vehicles - "We have civilians on top of Taiei, that's why I want you to be vigilant."

[Are we going to change plans, Yuriko-sama?"] - asked one of the Takagi clan soldiers.

"No, everything will go on according to plan" - answered Yuriko seriously.

[Anything we need to know?] - said Rika from her vehicle.

"No, it's a simple raid" - replied Yuriko calmly.

[Understood] - said Rika before cutting the call.

"Honestly, this is perfect, with Rika-san's help we can solve a lot of problems" - muttered Yuriko as she looked back in the direction where her daughter was - "At least with this we can make sure that our survivors are safer"

"It was a huge coincidence, but a welcome one" - nodded Cloud as he felt like he was forgetting something, although this was normal, after all, it had been 18 years since he had arrived in this world, that was more than enough time to forget a few bits of information from the story of [Highschool of the Dead], not to mention that the manga had been left unfinished, which meant that he had no information about the future.

"What are you thinking?" - Yuriko asked as she raised an eyebrow.

"About all the survivors we found in the area" - Cloud answered as he changed the subject, after all, he couldn't say that he simply didn't know what the future held for them after explaining the plot to Yuriko and having her suffer the punishment of the system.

Yuriko remained silent for the rest of the way until they reached the entrance of the huge commercial store.

The soldiers quickly got out their vehicles as they secured the ground - "Clear!"

"Perfect, you know what you have to do, we will split into two groups, the first one will go to secure the inside of Taiei, while the rest will make sure our civilians are safe" - Yuriko said seriously - "The 1st floor of the Taiei shopping city, are construction stores, which will help us to create barricades, that will be the civilians' job."

"Hai!" - exclaimed the soldiers firmly.

Yuriko nodded when she heard the firm answers of her subordinates before looking at Rika - "The plan is that, it's simple, but there are times when simplicity is the best answer."

"I don't have a problem with it, though I do have a doubt..." - Rika replied as she pondered - "Will we go clean the second floor the moment we're done with the first one?"

"We'll concentrate on clearing out the first floor and creating barricades to prevent the zombies' access" - replied Yuriko while shaking her head - "I'd like a map of the supermarket, so I can explain phase two of the plan."

"No need, give me a basic description, so I can work" - replied Rika as she folded her arms.

Yuriko was silent before nodding - "I understand, the second phase is to take control of the area around the escalators, and quickly create a blockade to prevent those things from coming down"

"A blockade, or a safe zone?" - Rika asked for more details. The blockade was simple, though that would force them to constantly use to use the side stairs, while creating a safe zone, possibly a quick setup, would make accessing the other floors much easier.

"It depends on how many carpenters we have" - Yuriko answered honestly - "Whatever the case may be, we'll think about it when we finish clearing the 1st floor"

"Understood" - nodded Rika firmly.

After making sure the plan was mapped out, Rika took a long look at the blond boy who stood with his eyes closed - "You're Cloud Strife-kun?"

"Yes, that's my name" - Cloud answered honestly - "I guess you know who I am?"

"Yeah, I've heard a lot of things about your group" - Rika said as she narrowed her eyes - "Anyway, I'd like to thank you for saving my idiot best friend."

"Oh, you don't have to thank me, I've known Shizuka for months, there's no way I left her at the academy" - Cloud replied while shaking his head - "Though I feel like that's not why you started this conversation"

Rika took a long look at the blond boy before she started to think - "Well, I have my business, though that will be for another time, right now we have to take care of the problem at hand"

"You're right" - Cloud replied as he nodded, though he quickly remembered something - "By the way, I'd like to thank you for your weapons, if it wasn't for them, it's possible that it would have taken us much longer to get to Takagi Manor."

Rika gave him a look full of surprise, though she quickly shook her head - "Consider them a payment for saving my friend."

Such it seemed that the two had come to a consensus, so they decided to leave this conversation for another time.

* * * * *

"Things changed for the worse..." - Takashi muttered as he let out a sigh seeing how his former group was discussing the future plan, while he, his mother and girlfriend, were with the worried civilians - "I guess my actions came to bite me in the ass."

"You don't have to feel that bad, Takashi, you did it for our safety and thinking what was best for us" - Kaede said as she looked at her son - "That's what a family man does."

"Thank you, mom" - muttered Takashi as he gave her a smile, although inside he was still cursing his fear for the boy who had constantly saved their lives.

Airi was also grieving, she had known Cloud for a long time, so she knew what the boy was like. The fear was unfounded, but no matter when she tried to convince herself, she was still terrified of the blond boy after discovering the truth.

* * * * *

"They... they're not part of the military..." - Matsushima, the police chief of the police station Asami worked at, muttered, as well as a beautiful black-haired woman - "Wait... That's Rika Minami, the ace of the sniper corps?"

"And the leader of the group is Yuriko Takagi, former government agent and wife of Soichiro Takagi" - Asami added with a frown - "Did the militia decide to work with the Yakuza ringleaders of the city?"

Matsushima frowned slightly because if this was true, then the situation was much worse than he thought - "Well, that doesn't matter, at least now we know that they won't hurt us."

"That doesn't matter to me, all I wish is that I could die on those delicious thighs" - Shimada said as he licked his lips. Even from this long distance, he could see how big were the curves of the leader of the group, that seductive purple-haired woman - "Oh shit, look at those tits!"

The group members, minus Tamaru who was also staring at the blonde woman who had appeared, who had the biggest tits he had ever seen in their whole life.

"I understand that you guys are needy for all the time you've been doing "justice by your own hand", but I think you need to control yourselves a bit" - said a girl of about 18 years old, the only young civilian woman in the group.

Shimada gave her an annoyed look before snorting disdainfully, though his expression changed when he saw the boy who was accompanying the two women - "Shit, he's here too!"

"Who are you talking about?" - Tamaru asked with a frown, though his face paled when he saw the blond boy - "Strife!"

Asami and Matsushima's faces changed slightly, after all, the Strife surname also carried weight in the city, and while it wasn't comparable to the Takagi surname, it still caused terror in the underworld.

"Cloud Strife, current Oyabun of the Strife clan, is said to have taken control of the Yakuza group after killing his grandfather, although I don't know if this information is correct" - said Shimada while touching his neck - "They also say that he takes care of his group's problems with his own hands..."

"He's handsome" - said the girl in the group while everyone gave her a blank look.