Chapter 11 - The Urban Wasteland

Climbing up onto a building I started using parkour to get around faster, and safer as I was less likely to run into zombies up here. Once I was in the heart of the city, I pulled up my mini map and searched for locations that had medicine. Locating several places in the area I went to a small family clinic first to look for what I needed.

---Back at Base---

Pulling Takashi and Hisashi aside to talk with them, Mrs. Komuro wanted to speak with them. Having heard about what had been transpiring, she wanted them to make amends quickly.

"Takashi, I understand that you are having some issues with following Victor.", his mother said, "You to Hisashi, is this over Rei?"

Turning his head away, it was clear to her that for Hisashi it was. As for her son, it appeared it was part of the reason but not all of it. Asking him to tell her what was wrong with following him, Takashi looked her in the eyes.

"He kill Shido, and has been marching us around like he knows everything.", Takashi stated, "On top of that the women are just following his every order like he is God. I...I feel like we aren't doing enough to help people out there, and he is already talking about leaving here."

"Takashi, everyone here is petrified. We are watching people we know and care about being torn apart or killing one another. Victor is looking at this from a large picture, and is doing what he can to make our survival better.", she pointed out, "His father left him behind Takashi, I am sure he is hurt inside too. From what everyone says he risked his life to rescue all of you, even stayed up for two days so you all could sleep. I understand this situation may frustrate you, but at the end of the day he didn't need to save any of us. He has the skills to survive on his own, you know that. Instead of running he came to save you all and then eventually everyone else here."

"I...know.", he said reflecting on all that Victor had done up till now.

His mother was right, he had worked two days straight without a word of complaint to anyone. He could have abandoned everyone, or only saved a few people and left without any issue. Looking back everything he had done ultimately saved them, and had put food in their stomachs. No one else here could have planned this far ahead, probably not even Kohta could either. It wasn't like Victor was rubbing his relationships in everyone's face, and for that matter he was only keeping it to a select few women. Heck he was even helping Kohta buddy up with Merna...so maybe he just needed to take a step back and let it go.

"Can you both give him a chance, and work together?", she inquired, "I am not asking you to simply follow him, I am asking you to be team players. All of us here need to work together to survive."

Promising to be more understanding, both of them admitted they were being hard to deal with. The fact was both of them really liked Rei, but Victor had won her heart. Victor didn't manipulate the situation, he simply was there for Rei when they weren't. Hisashi acknowledge it was his cheating that ruined his relationship, and Takashi acknowledge he should have spoke up about his feelings. Seeing her with Victor pissed them off, but he was taking the whole survival situation seriously. He hadn't been using this to gain more favor from the women, he had been actively leading the group and planning ahead for the future.

"We will start working with him.", the two of them said.

"Thank you, I know it's hard losing the person you love to someone else but there are plenty of other women.", she told them with a hopeful smile, "I am sure you can win a few over if you show them you can provide for them."

Agreeing with that, they went down to work with Kohta. Sighing, she was relieved that her son listened. She didn't want her son to get in a fight with Victor as she knew how that would end up. Takashi was all she had left as she had been on the phone with her husband when he was attacked. She had heard him die, and she didn't have the heart to tell Takashi that he was dead. For now all she wanted to do was make sure that he was happy and safe.

'I will do whatever it takes to keep my son safe. If I lose him...I won't be able to continue living.', she thought as she went down to continue working with the others.

---Victor's POV---

Entering the family clinic through a roof access, I already knew the place was empty. The reason for the roof entry was solely based on the proximity to another group of survivors camped two buildings down in a convenience store. From my mini map I could tell they were enemies, and had several people held in the back of the building. My plan was to see if they were worth saving, and then strike if needed.

Breaking into the medicine room, I pulled everything into my inventory to sort through what I had. Finding some antibiotics and vaccine I needed, it wasn't enough according to Shizuka's list. Moving towards the convenience store, I listened into the discussion down below via the duct work. The group inside holding people prisoner were criminals that had escaped from the police when this whole thing started.

Reviewing the prisoners they had from my mini map, a few were staff from the clinic. Since they had medical knowledge it was a no brainer I had to save them. Dropping in a smoke grenade through the roof access, I descended into the room once it was full of smoke. Swinging their arms around like idiots, they were easily dispatched with their own weapons after I disarmed them.

Cutting the people out of their restraints, I told them to gather what goods they could carry and head to the daycare we were at. Telling them to be careful, everyone thanked me repeatedly before doing as I asked. Continuing on to more locations, the rest of the places were pretty much ghost towns with no survivors close by. Avoiding troublesome encounters with hordes and criminal groups roaming the streets, I managed to gather up the supplies we needed with a bit of extra just in case.

While I was on my way back, I heard a broadcast from the Takagi Mansion come over a radio in a gas station. Telling survivors to come to their mansion, Saya's parents were offering safe haven to those that wanted it. Sighing as I heard his overly patriotic speech, I just shook my head at his naïve view on survivors. I knew his base was going to fall, and I needed to be ready to swoop in to save Yuriko when the time was right. She was someone I wanted to save for her ability and potential in the future. Her husband would also be someone I wouldn't mind saving, but his mentality of going down with the ship wasn't going to fly.

'I will try to convince him to leave with us, but if he doesn't I am at least taking Yuriko. My future plans revolve around her international connections as a business woman.', I thought, 'Besides that...the only way safely across is the one bridge, and he is going to get all those people killed.'

Putting that aside for now, I took a look down at the bridge to see that the cops had stepped up their game on enforcing the crossing. Watching them use the bulldozers to scare people into jumping or running them over, I felt my stomach turn in disgust. I felt bad for those officers as they had to resort to this because they were forced into a corner. They weren't getting responses from their superiors, and the only order they had was to do whatever was necessary to maintain order.

'It's a tough decision...', I thought.

As I was about to keep going on home, I saw two dots appear on the map running in my direction. Stopping to look I saw Rei's mother and their neighbor running from something. It took only a second to see a red dot appear followed by a massive crashing sounds as a Charger burst through a wall.

"Mrs. Miyamoto!!", I shouted to her knowing only the Charger was nearby.

Looking on the rooftop, she saw me waving to her.

"Victor!", she replied, "You need to run!!"

"Don't worry about me, just get over here.", I said pulling my Beowulf off my back.

Loading a single bullet in, I took aim. Once I had a good shot at it, I blasted it's head clean off. Climbing down to the street level, I greeted the two of them.

"I am glad to see you both are okay.", I told them.

"Thanks to you.", Kiriko said with a smile, "Rei called me after she heard from you. It was that warning that saved Seto and I."

"I am glad I could help.", I replied, "I was just heading back to base, Rei is there too."

"Lead the way.", they said.

Nodding my head I started walking back to base.

"So you managed to get to Rei and company on the roof?", Kiriko asked.

"Yep, it wasn't easy by a long shot. This whole situation is nothing short of a full blown apocalypse.", I stated.

"How's your father?", she questioned.

"I honestly don't know, he wasn't there the morning this happened. He was off at Okinawa conveniently the same time everything went to shit.", I said, "I haven't heard from him even though I have a satellite phone. Either he is in a place he can't call from, or he abandoned me a second time."

"I am sorry.", Seto told me with an apologetic look.

"It's okay, I have a lot of other things I need to worry about right now.", I answered.

Telling them about the kids we rescued today, I said that was the reason I was out here to begin with. Talking about their travel up to this point, it seemed they had had a rough time with a horde closer to Tokyo. Informing me that a group of several thousand had wandered into the city, I sighed with frustration. A horde that big was a major issue, and I knew it was going to head for the bridge as it was the place with the most noise. After that, they would likely move on towards the Takagi Mansion as people fled there...which would make rescuing Saya's mother incredibly difficult.

Arriving back at base a short time later, Rei saw her mother with me and jumped over the fence in a hurry. Tackling her mother, she held her tightly thanking God her mother was alive. Seeing Takashi and Hisashi hard at work, I got a nod from Saya signaling that they were finally working with us not against us.

'The power a mother has over her children is truly amazing.', I thought, 'They weren't listening to anyone, but Mrs. Komuro managed to get them to see the error in their way. If they start showing progress I can start helping them find lovers too. Kohta and I can't be the only ones here making harems. Prove to me you can change, and I will help find you good women too.'

I had honestly thought based on my experience so far with them that I would have eventually needed to throw them out. Thankfully it appeared I may not, and that was a blessing for me because I needed as many troops as I could get.

Calling the men over, including the few maintenance men that were at the school, I told them what Kiriko had said. Telling them about the path I thought they would take, all of them agreed it was the most likely route. Also informing them of the broadcast I heard, I said I was thinking of going over there to warn them of the coming danger.

"Should we ask if anyone wants to go over there to stay?", Takashi asked.

"I mean we can, but with the horde headed that way I don't think it's safe. Besides, we are going to have to ford the river to get across. Taking the bridge isn't going to be an option.", I stated.

"Oh!", Kohta said, "Miss Shizuka remembered that she had a military friend nearby. She said something about having a tank, or something...I don't think she has a tank, but it's worth checking out."

"Sounds like a plan, I got the meds for her. I will hand that off, and take a team over.", I told them, "Actually...Kohta and Takashi, how about you two take a team over? It will get you experience in the field which is invaluable."

"Okay!", Kohta said with a big grin, "So we just need to go over, and take what we can?"

"Yes, just be careful as if the friend is home they may kill you on sight.", I warned.

"Roger!", Kohta chuckled with a big grin, "Who are we taking?"

"Take Hisashi, Merna, and a few archers with you. Make sure you make it quick, we only have a few hours of light left. Take one of the cars to get there, traveling on foot is too dangerous for a large group.", I ordered.

"Got it!", they said asking the people they needed to go with them.

Looking to me for confirmation, I nodded my head and asked them to be careful. Accepting the task, the group took a van and nervously took off...as none of them had driven before. I wasn't that worried as Kohta was driving so I was sure he had done simulators for driving, and I really couldn't afford to send someone with them that knew how to drive. The maintenance men were busy reinforcing the walls with metal, and the women from Nao's group and Mrs. Komuro's groups were too nervous to go out.

"How does it look so far?", Saya and Kyoko asked me pointing to the fences.

Having used car parts to reinforce the fence structure, I was very happy with the progress. Every bit of progress we had increased our chances of surviving this nightmare. Giving them a thumbs up of approval, I went inside to give Shizuka the medicine. Gratefully accepting it, I saw the medical staff I saved treating the children already. Having staff to back her up really took a weight off her shoulders, and she looked quite happy now.

Going back out to help reinforce defenses, we continued working till the sun started to dip down below the horizon. Around that time Takashi and Kohta's group returned with supplies and the Humvee from Rika's house. Apologizing for the delay, they said they had run into a few mutant zombies and had waited for them to pass. Getting the supplies inside, I energized our fence and made sure everyone was inside. Bracing the door tightly tonight, I wanted to be ready as it was likely we would have visitors of the deceased type.

Taking turns getting cleaned up in the bath, once we sat down for dinner I asked for an update on the children from Shizuka and team.

"The vaccine has been administered and they have been given medicine to help with infection.", Shizuka told me, "It will be a few days before they are back to full health, but they aren't in danger now. If I may...I know you said we needed to have everyone pitch in...you aren't going to have them go out there, and fight are you?"

Looking to me for an answer, I gave her a firm shake of my head.

"They are forbidden from leaving here without proper protection. No, there tasks will be stuff like cleaning, helping adults with works around the base, and helping prepare meals. I don't think that is too much to ask of them.", I said.

"That is acceptable.", the group as a whole agreed.

It wasn't dangerous work, and they would always be around adults that could protect them. With that settled I moved on to the maintenance men, and asked their opinion on the state of the building. Saying they felt confident that this place would hold, they said they really wanted to add more layers to our defensive line. On top of that, they wanted to completely remove most of the windows in favors or replacing them with concrete.

Going over the process for that, I gave them my blessing saying that they would need to focus on the sleeping areas first as they would be the most crucial areas. Telling them to also get something to make the floor more comfier, everyone agreed that the current arrangement wasn't going to cut it. We had reached the point now where we would be using almost the entire building to sleep everyone, and certain areas had been stripped bare to insulate windows against light and sound.

"Next on our list, tomorrow we are going to have two groups going out.", I stated, "One group is going to be securing food for all of us. With our current numbers we have a little over a week and a half of supplies left. The likelihood of running into an aggressive group now is going up so the looting party needs to be on their toes. Kohta, I want you leading that group tomorrow. Takashi and Hisashi, you will also go to learn from him so eventually we can have more than one group out. Merna you will be in charge of defense tomorrow here at the base, I want you making sure no one gets in while our teams are away. My team will take the Humvee, and go to the Takagi Mansion to warn them of the approaching horde"

"Sounds like a plan.", Kyoko said with a smile.

"Now then...", I told them with a serious expression, "As I mentioned we have a horde from the Tokyo area that has split off into our immediate area. I bring this up because it could be one of those larger hordes the Prime Minister mentioned. This needs to be said because I know some of you are kind hearted people...we can't risk our safety for others. When this horde comes through people are going to scatter like mice, and the horde will likely spread out to chase them."

"You are saying to abandon them?", Kiriko stated.

"No, I am saying we have to be careful. If it's a few of those things, our group can assist them...if there is a lot of them we can't help. As it stands we don't have the manpower to fight a horde of more than a few dozen of those things. Bullets and arrows are in limited supply right now, we need to conserve them for our immediate defense.", I told everyone, "Can everyone agree that we don't take overly unnecessary risks to save people?"

Seeing the hesitation in their eyes I sighed.

"These creatures don't run out of stamina, they are stronger than us, and in large numbers they will overwhelm our group. We have children here now that can't defend themselves even if they wanted too.", I said, "If we get the attention of even a quarter of the horde I think is out here, we won't be able to hold this place. I respect and understand that you want to save your countrymen, but you also have recognize we have little ones that will die if we bite off more than we can chew. Those kids will freeze up at the sight of the undead, and will likely start to cry with fear."

"That is true.", Mrs. Komuro agreed, "The children won't move at all if those things get close. All of them are petrified of them, and will attract more of them with their crying."

Acknowledging that fact, everyone agreed to not take too much risk when saving people. If there were too many zombies to handle, they wouldn't assist them.

"In addition, it safe to say that everyone here would never harm a child. As we gain more people, it's on all of us to watch the children closely. We won't know everyone we save, and there is always a chance we will find a predator among the people we save. I don't care what any of you think, but I will personally decapitate anyone that lays a finger on those children or any of the women here. That goes for everyone here regardless of how important you are to the group.", I stated with a firm resolve, "I won't stop anyone from having a consensual relationship with the adults here, but forcing yourself on anyone is immediate termination of your life...end of story."

No one argued against that thus bringing our meeting to an end. Getting everyone situated for the night, I settled into the security room to monitor the situation outside the premise. Tonight was eerily calm outside, which concerned me greatly. Not a single zombie was outside the building nor on the streets nearby.

"Something isn't right.", Saeko said holding me hand nervously for the first time.

"What could be going on out there?", Kyoko asked me.

"The largest noise out there is likely from the horde moving through. Most of the zombies are likely to get drawn to that as they make their way to the bridge. I don't know how long they will hold it, but once that falls they will be onto the Takagi Mansion.", I stated.

"Mom...Dad...", Saya said softly enough that only I could hear.

Calmly rubbing her back, I gave her a soft kiss on the lips. Telling her we would make it there to alert her father and mother, she smiled and thanked me before going to sleep.

'Here's to hoping your dear father will listen to reason, and fall back for now...', I thought realizing that chance was slim.

He had to much pride in his duty, and job to retreat or fall back. It was pretty clear his home would be the place he ultimately died standing his ground. In the two years I had known him it was clear he would rather die than retreat...I just hope he would listen to his daughter and wife over his pride.

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Author Note: Hey all, wanted to write a blurb really quick on some questions I have been seeing pop up.

Firstly, the bashing of Hisashi and Takashi end here. After the discussion and pleading from his mother, the two of them will fall in line. Up till now they were butting heads over morals and the usual boy drama over women. Takashi and Hisashi fought him because they wanted to take the moral high ground on saving everyone, and because they were trying to show they were the better leaders to the women. The MC didn't throw them out because he didn't want people to have the mistaken idea that simply disagreeing with him was enough to get thrown out. Not only that, he held out some hope that they would eventually come around to help run things like Kohta.

Secondly, apparently many of you forget how Satou's system works. The MC has ten pages of skills he learned/bought, but in reality it is far more than that. Take Weapon Specialist as an example, that skill is a fused skill of several other individual skills. To get Weapon Specialist, he had to get individual weapon skills first then it fused into Weapon Specialist. In Satou's system he didn't get the points back after the skills fused, nor did they apply anything towards the fused skill itself. With that in mind, the MC has put a lot of points into leveling up his skills and fusing them whenever possible. The Skill Shop prices vary from skill to skill, and each upgrade to a skill cost 100 points per level. Level 10 is the highest a skill can go, but it doesn't make him an expert instantly.

On the topic of that, for those of you who read the LN, WN, or Manga you would know that maxing out a skill didn't make him an instant expert. It made him as skilled as an expert, but it did nothing for his technique or knowledge of that skill. Take his sword fighting, it was clearly stated by his opponents that he acted like an experienced fighter but his technique and movements were that of a beginner. Personally, I took it to mean that each level effectively increased his affinity with learning the skill, as a whole, quicker. In the manga, a maxed skill improved vastly quicker than a skill of a lesser level.

Next, I do recognize that I haven't given the appearance of the MC nor made a page for others. I am working on getting that made now. As a side note, the High Human in this story is based on the High Human's from New Gate. They have high resistances against all debuffs, have long life spans, and have stats that dwarf almost every race when they reached a certain level. The MC hasn't hit that threshold yet, but is getting there. He can write off many of the physical differences by saying he is like Sayo though the extended life will cause problems. The addiction issue I mentioned was something I decided to add in as effectively he is a perfected human being.

Lastly, I wanted to discuss why he hasn't taken everything he sees while the group is out looting. It is stated in the LN, Manga, and Anime that the effective range he has of pulling things in is 5m or 15ft. He hasn't taken everything as if he did, his group would notice things were becoming causing scarce people to panic. Right now he has military equipment from all the countries he has visited, but he can't just pull them out of storage. His group is going to wonder where he got, how he got it, and why no one else hadn't seen it before. He can't lie about finding a US Troop Carrier, missiles, or larger military equipment...no one in their right mind would believe him. I will say he will start using the system more as he gets under pressure, but overall he has to be careful with what he shows them.