Taking The Chance

When Kazuichi glanced to his side after sensing a 'ripple' in the air, he was shocked to see a woman there. She was dressed in a black shirt and pants which hugged her body and showed her curves. Her red lips curved into a smile as she too looked at Satoshi.

"Stronghold leader, you've arrived." Despite the panic that grew in Rima's system, she maintained her composure as she bowed to their stronghold leader in greeting. Peruva greeted their leader with a slight bow before approaching Yamishiro and the others.

He was unsure whether Rima was messing with her about their leader's bite. But when he got nearer, he realized everything she spoke of was true. Their leader was indeed bitten, and Kazuichi was trying to deal with him so he won't go on a rampage.

"You were asking for a rope?" Peruva trailed off before he ran towards the group of survivors. At this point, the survivors of the shelter were now curious about the situation. Some of them even walked nearer to see what was happening— which was a bad idea since they would just panic if they found out that one infected had been left alive and it was none other than the leader of the elite group.

"No, we won't need a rope. For now, Peruva, I want you to stop the people from going over here. We'll be heading out first." The lady, who was addressed by Rima as their stronghold leader, commanded Peruva before prompting Yamishiro into a sitting position. Before Peruva could take another step, he stopped and decided to extend his hand in a t-pose position as he walked towards the people.

"Kazuichi, right? We have a lot of things to catch up on. For now, can you help me with this guy? He's going feral." The lady gently asked.

Since Kazuichi felt helpless and it seemed like the lady knew what she was doing, he decided to help out. Placing his hand on Yamishiro's shoulder and putting his neck right on Yamishiro's armpit, he hoisted him up with the help of the lady.

"Rima, assist us to the vehicle but don't go near us." The lady requested, to which Rima nodded her head even though she had no idea what was going on.

For all she knew, their leader was already bitten. There was no way he'd survive the bite. And yet Kazuichi and their stronghold leader had other thoughts in mind. She could tell that they were trying to save their leader even though there was no saving him already.

"So, you were with a little girl, right? Where is she? Ah, wait. No, I'm getting ahead of myself. We can talk more after we got back to the stronghold. I've been waiting for you, you know, ever since we met back at the Hybrid Auction. How was my gift? Did you find it useful?" The lady smiled before she shook her head a second time. She was getting ahead of herself once again. After a few deep breaths, she decided to keep quiet for the rest of the trip.

"Kazuichi, where are you going?" Tris asked, catching up to the group after she made her way through the crowd. It took her a second to explain to Peruva that she was, in fact, Kazuichi's companion.

When Tris leaned forward to see what was going on, he saw Yamishiro flailing around like a crazed lunatic. She gasped, shocked to see that Yamishiro was bitten. "What are you doing? He's already bitten, you know. Aren't we going to kill him? Isn't it merciless to drag him outside before killing him?"

"It is merciless. Where did you get that idea, Tris?" Kazuichi asked in a perplexed tone. "We're not going to kill him. Why would we kill him?"

"I mean..." When her voice trailed off, she decided to drop the argument and just zip her mouth. She couldn't understand the entire circumstance anyway so she'd just remain quiet. "May I know at least where we're going? We're not going to bring him out and let him loose, right?"

"To the Scarlet Blood Stronghold." After looking at Tris from her foot to her hair, the stronghold leader gave Kazuichi a suspicious gaze before mumbling under her breath. "She looks just like... now I have many questions."

Tris didn't bother asking any more questions. At the end of the day, they accomplished what needed to be done.

Once they got to the wired fence filled with heaps of 'dead' zombie bodies, they found a vehicle that seemed to be a jeep with modified tires. This was probably the reason why no one heard the vehicle approach. "Rima, can you open the trunk for me?" The stronghold leader asked.

With a nod, Rima went to the back compartment of the jeep and opened it.

"Now we hoist him up." She continued.

On her signal, Kazuichi and the stronghold leader threw Yamishiro towards the jeep's back compartment and shut it tight. She then pressed a button and a mysterious sound could be heard from the inside.

"What was that?"

"A sedative. Since he hasn't fully turned into a zombie, it would still affect him, but not for long." She responded. "Now we drive back to the stronghold and get him sorted out."

"Can you cure him, stronghold leader?" Rima asked, her eyes on the verge of tears.

"I don't know. We are well aware that there's only a small possibility that he could be saved. I'm willing to take that chance, but I can't promise you anything." The stronghold leader responded as she jerked a thumb toward Kazuichi.

"Also, it's thanks to your friend here that we could save him. Had he not put a towel in his mouth, he potentially would've bitten someone, and then there was no going back for him. Now get in, we're heading back to the stronghold."

Rima and Peruva nodded at Kazuichi as they muttered a soft thank you. Without asking further questions, all of them boarded the jeep bound for the Scarlet Blood Stronghold.