36: Taiei (4)

A full night's rest had passed, during which time the civilians had set up a base on the second floor of the Taiei shopping city.

A group dressed in biological containment suits, were moving the corpses to an area outside the building and set them on fire to prevent the virus from spreading among the still healthy people.

"The 1st floor is done, so this is a good time for us to start with the modification of the 2nd floor, so we can find the perishable supplies that were more susceptible to the lack of refrigeration" - Cloud said while shaking his head.

"Perfect. I'll leave that under your charge" - replied Yuriko as she walked towards her desk with a serious expression - "After we secure the perimeter of Taiei, we'll move around the area to search for more survivors."

"My subordinates are about to arrive along with their survivors, that's where we'll get more manpower" - Cloud continued as he shook his head - "That aside, this is a good time to rest, and honestly you should do it, I can feel how tense you are."

"Why don't you rest?" - asked Yuriko as she gave him a quick glance before turning her attention back to the map of the area and frowning at all the buildings that "protected" the Taiei shopping city - "This will be a bit worrisome, so many buildings means hundreds of infected"

"Because I still have some things to do, and answering to your last comment, I think the same, that's why I propose that we create a safe road, specifically speaking, this avenue" - Cloud answered while pointing at a long street.

Yuriko frowned slightly before nodding - "Sounds like an excellent idea to me, although I feel you want to clear this avenue because it's in the direction of your base of operations."

"Oh, you got me" - Cloud replied while feigning surprise.

Yuriko gave him an amused look before shaking her head - "Ok, organize everything, take care of this safe route, I'll assign one of my mechanics to cover the second floor."

"Understood" - Cloud nodded as he gave the seductive purple-haired woman one last look before leaving the room.

Yuriko walked over to the chair and sat down with a strange expression on her face.

Everything that had happened over the past few days had been a bit hard to swallow, not to mention that her relationship with Cloud was now much more complicated. She wasn't sorry for what she had done with the blond boy, no, that wasn't like her, what mortified her, was that she couldn't come to a closure with Soichiro before losing him forever.

Yes, it was conflicting for her, but that was because despite everything, he was still the most important person in her life besides her daughter. Her affair had been simply for carnal pleasure because her husband no longer gave her the love she desired.

"You can call me a hypocrite, or a shitty person, but that's how I feel..." - Yuriko muttered with a sad smile - "I'd better take Cloud's advice and take a break, because so much pressure is making me think unnecessary things..."

* * * * *

"I didn't expect you to follow me, Rika-san" - Cloud said as he looked at the tan-skinned, purple-haired woman next to him.

"Let's just say that this is a good time to talk" - Rika replied calmly as she looked out the car window - "Not to mention that the battlefield is the place where I'm the calmest."

"I see..." - Cloud muttered as he pondered - "You can speak freely, I don't plan on lying unless it's extremely necessary."

Rika gave him a serene look before nodding - "Shizuka told me about you, Cloud Strife, the current leader of the Strife clan, a mid-level Yakuza group that controls a sector of this city"

"That's all she told you about me? I'm a little sad" - Cloud replied while feigning a pained expression.

"Heh" - Rika replied with a disdainful smile because she could notice the sarcasm in the boy's expression - "As you might have deduced, that's some information from your file, anyway, she told me that you were a strong, kind and caring guy, honestly, I don't know how to react to these words"

"Jealous?" - Cloud asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, a little" - answered Rika honestly - "I'm bi, and let's just say I always wanted to have something with Shizuka, although she was never interested in this kind of thing."

"I understand" - nodded Cloud calmly.

"It doesn't help that you did it in my bathroom either..." - Rika said while clicking her tongue - "You could have at least invited me."

"We can do it again when we get back, I mean, I don't think Shizuka would mind you joining with how close you two are" - Cloud replied honestly.

"Hmm, doesn't sound like a bad idea, though I'll pass for now" - Rika replied as she shook her head - "I only sleep with men who earn my interest, and let's just say you're still far from succeeding"

Cloud simply shrugged his shoulders.

Rika frowned slightly as she didn't like the blond's attitude, though she quickly put these thoughts aside - "Are you sleeping with other women in your group as well?"

"Correct" - Cloud replied as he nodded calmly - "Who they are, well, you can find that out for yourself."

"You're more honest than I thought" - Rika muttered with a frown.

"That's because this I don't need to hide it" - Cloud replied as he ordered the driver to stop the car - "This is a good place to put the first checkpoint."

"Three path vision, a clear area to observe the approach of those things..." - Rika mused as she looked around appreciatively - "Not bad, I can tell you know what you're doing."

"I learned from Soichiro" - Cloud replied with a darkened expression.

"I feel like there's something off about your words, especially from your tone when talking about Soichiro Takagi" - Rika said while raising an eyebrow.

Cloud gave her a bored look before getting out of the car.

Rika was thoughtful at this attitude, after all, the blond boy had been honest with his answers during their little conversation, a rather drastic change compared to his silence with everything related to the Takagi patriarch - "Did something happen between him and Soichiro? And if it did... What was it that happened?"

"Cloud-sama, the sound of a group of zombies can be heard a few meters away!" - exclaimed a soldier.

"Prepare for combat!" exclaimed Cloud as he looked around - "We have to clear this area!"

The soldiers nodded firmly as they opened fire on the resurrected creatures.

Cloud smiled slightly as he nodded at the action of his subordinates - "We have to send those things back from the hell they crawled out of!"

* * * * *

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Seiya-sama?" - asked a tattooed man looking like a delinquent - "We're not even sure if the boss is alive"

"That's because you don't know him as well as I do, Saru" - replied Seiya as he gave him a blank look - "The moment he dies, then our fate won't be much better..."

Saru was silent before frowning - "Well, at least we're still alive, and the number of zombies we're facing is getting fewer"

"It's because the boss and his other group has to be getting all the attention from those things" - Seiya said while frowning - "Though I have to admit I'm a little worried, after all, we saw how the Takagi mansion was blown up"

"Leaving that aside, we're about to reach Taiei" - Seiya said while shaking his head - "And from what I can hear, someone has to be "having fun" a bit further ahead, that's why I want a pic of our friends."

"Right away!" - exclaimed a young man as he pulled out a pair of binoculars, only to open his eyes in surprise when he saw the person who was ordering the shots - "Leader Seiya! It's Cloud-sama!"

"Oh, this is good, we met up faster than I thought" - Seiya said as he folded his arms - "Let's go, we have to meet up with our boss, not to mention that our little friends I don't think they'll hold out for much longer from all the walking"

Seiya looked back in the direction of a group of kids who were mumbling nonsense.

"Is something wrong, Seiya-san?" - Lucia asked with a pale face, after all, she knew that even though the leader of this group was Cloud, she couldn't fully trust them because with the blond boy not being there to control them, they could cause harm to the children if they did something to upset them.

"We'll be meeting Cloud-sama soon, so tell the kids to behave" - Seiya said calmly.

"Really!" - Lucia exclaimed excitedly, after all, she misses the young blond boy she had raised since he was a baby.

"Of course, you can see for yourself, Lucia-san" - replied Seiya as he instructed one of his subordinates to give the older woman some binoculars.