Chapter 40: Staff Room Group-up

They all entered the staffroom and saw desks, some neat and orderly, others strewn with papers and half-empty coffee mugs. Each desk had keyboards and phones. There was a coffee machine in the background. At the side of the room there was a whiteboard, a gleaming expanse of pristine surface. Files were neatly stacked and labeled in precise handwriting. There was the low hum of fluorescent lights.

James, Jasmine, Lois, Rei, Saya, Saeko, Shizuka, Hisashi and Takashi all were in the staffroom. "Okay, good to see everyone is okay," James said. He looked around and saw there was a bit of nervousness. Jasmine looked like she had something on her mind. Lois seemed collected. Shizuka looked in a daze. 

"Jasmine, Lois, this is Saeko and Shizuka," James introduced. 

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Lois replied. Shizuka saw the older woman. She looked very pretty and reminded me of her flatmate with that gun. Saeko nodded. 

"Very nice to meet you, and I hope we can work together," Jasmine graciously replied, her eyes sparkling with warmth and anticipation. Shizuka saw the brown skinned woman. She looked the same age as her students but she had this beauty akin to royalty. Saeko thought she was a striking woman. 

"It's good to see you are fine Miss Marikawa," Rei chimed in. Rei was glad to see the school nurse was okay. 

"It's good to see you as well and I told you to just call me Shizuka," Shizuka replied. She smiled. 

Rei nodded. She looked at Hisashi, the colour in his face was still pale and he was looking down. She thought something was strange. She looked at James and he seemed confident, cool. She smiled. 

"Could we stop the chit chat and tell us what your next plan is?" Takashi asked. He thought James was wasting time, time they did not have. 

"We will get to that but first a few things, this room seems to be safe for now and we should take a moment to compose ourselves," James replied. 

"Jasmine, can I get the bowie knife please?" James requested. Jasmine nodded as she opened the suitcase and took the Bowie Knife. She handed it to James. 

James walked over to Saeko. "This was the weapon I was talking about," James commented.

Saeko looked at the bowie knife. It was around 50cm. She thought it was closer to a small sword rather than a knife. She looked at the colour of the blade which was bright purple. The handle was dark purple. 

Saeko took the blade from James. "The Slasher," she remarked. She felt a blood lust from the blade. It was calling for her to kill. She smiled at that thought. 

"It matches your hair, you both are very pretty," James commented. Saeko heard this, her heart skipped a beat. She looked at James, his pretty eyes and smiled back. She was going to cherish this weapon. She held it against her chest between her breasts. 

Rei and Saya rolled their eyes. Saya looked at Lois. "Is he always like that?" she asked.

"Only with pretty and special woman," Lois replied. She smiled back. Rei thought she was special to him. 

Takashi thought they were not taking this seriously. 

"Jasmine, can you give Shizuka and Saeko the perks?" James asked. 

"Sure," Jasmine responded, her voice as melodious as a desert breeze. "We've already given it to Rei and Saya," she added.

Saya, standing nearby, couldn't help but chime in. "It tasted awful," she declared, her nose wrinkling in distaste.

Rei,nodded solemnly. "Like rotten eggs," she confirmed. 

Takashi looked at James. "What was in those drinks?" he asked. 

"They will help," James replied. He looked at Saeko and Shizuka. "Saeko, Shizuka, please trust me for this," he said. 

Saeko looked into his eyes and saw the conviction. There was no deceit or lies there. "I will," Saeko replied. 

Shizuka put her finger near her cheek. "I sometimes get tipsy from drinking and it's pretty early," Shizuka replied. She thought about when she got drunk last time.

"They don't affect you like that," Rei replied. She glanced at Saya.

Saya nodded in agreement. "It's strange," she mused. "You don't feel much at all, but it's there," she added. 

Shizuka, "Like a placebo," she suggested.

"No, it's definitely real," she asserted, her fingers tapping the holster at her side. "I can reload the gun faster," she added, her tone matter-of-fact.

Jasmine put the eight perk bottles on the deck. "Four for Saeko," she announced and added, "And four for Shizuka." The bottles glimmered on the table. 

"There are eight so we can share," Hisashi shouted. He thought those will give him powers like Lois said. He gripped his pipe. 

"I am sorry but these are for Shizuka and Saeko only, there are some special rules around them so they need to drink in batches," James explained. James knew that was not true but his priority was to give it to the girl he wanted. He could not bring more due to the limited size of the suitcase. He thought that did not matter in the end.

Hisashi did not like that response. "Why should they get it then and not us?" he shouted. His eyes were different, they had a mixture of emotions. There was anger and fear. 

"Hisashi," Rei muttered. She looked at him. She felt pity. 

James thought he was calm and collected usually. He thought Hisashi should be dead in the canon now however since he has been alive things have changed. He is not taking this too well. 

"We should give it to ladies first," James stated. 

Takashi thought he was right. If it's true then, it's better to give it to the girls first. He looked at Hisashi, he knew he was not right for Rei. 

"You just want to be with them, that's why you are giving everything to them," Hisashi shouted. He gripped his pipe. 

Lois clicked her weapon and pulled the safety trigger. It was a loud noise which attracted everyone`s attention. "Sorry," she remarked. She had a sinister smile on her face. 

Saeko looked at this boy. She thought he was not going to make it. She walked over to the desk and grabbed the first bottle and drank it down. She put the bottle down and repeated this until she drank it all for her. She used her sleeve to wipe her mouth. She did not look phased by the taste. 

"Let them drink it," Takashi said. He put his hand on Hisashi`s shoulder. 

He looked at James. "If something happens to them," Takashi warned. 

"I want to protect them," James stated. He added, "I will never hurt them." The girls in their room felt their heart skip a beat. 

"Fine," Hisashi replied. He was obviously not happy with this and this was evident when he hit the side of a desk with his pipe. 

"You drank them all," Shizuka observed as she walked to the desk. She saw Jasmine`s friendly and warm smile. "My turn," Shizuka said cheerfully as she drank the first red bottle down in one jug. She put the bottle down. "It tasted awful," she said as she grabbed the second bottle and drank it down. She repeated this until she drank them all. Shizuka smiled. "They tasted bad," she said to James. She looked slightly red. 

"Thank you all for trusting me and us," James said. Saeko nodded as she held Slasher, her new weapon from James. She caressed the small sword gently.

"It is fine, and thank you for this gun," Rei replied. Hisashi shot her a dirty look. 

"No worries, it is yours," James replied. He added, "We trust you with it." He smiled as he walked to Saya. 

James could see Saya a bit shaken. "What do you want?" Saya asked. She wondered why he was this close. 

He leaned into her ear. "I know it's a lot to take in right now but we will get out of here. Trust me, I will always be there for you," he whispered. Saya blushed. 

James took a step back. He offered the Porter X2 Ray Gun to her. "Here keep this for now," James offered. 

She looked at the strange pistol. It was definitely futuristic and looked special. "Don't you need this?" Saya asked. 

James smiled. He showed her his watch. "I have something else," he chucked. He added, "I trust this with you." 

"Another thing for the girl," Hisashi shouted. He added, "Do you think you will get some reward from her daddy?"

"Shut it or I will throw you out to the zombies," James stated. Hisashi was getting on James` nerves. 

Lois and Jasmine did not like him. Lois wanted to shoot him but she thought it would be a waste of a bullet. 

Hisashi looked down. Takashi could not figure out why Hisashi was acting like this. He was a bit annoyed that James was playing favourites however as a group they were now much powerful. 

"Here," James said to Saya.

Saya nodded and took the Ray Gun. "Wow," she remarked. 

"If you have any difficulties, just think of me and blast your way out with it," James remarked. Saya smiled as she touched the gun. It made a sound. 

Rei noticed there was a TV at the top. She found the remote and pressed it. The TV came on. Everyone looked at it. They saw a female broadcaster showing images of smoke and fire. "There has been a grave incident, everyone is advice to stay indoors," the broadcaster said. 

"Is that all?" Takashi said, looking at the television. 

"They are not telling everyone to avoid a panic," Rei replied. 

"We should get moving," Takashi said. 

"And we will," James said. He added, "We will be together as a team." 

"But what about our families?" Rei asked. She thought about her parents and where they were. This was a city or nation wide problem. 

"We would need a safe place for them." Saeko replied. She thought if this was truly a nationwide issue then there is no safe place to bring them all together. 

They looked at James. "Well, there is one place but first we need more weapons," James replied. Jasmine and Lois smiled. Everyone beside Hisashi looked at James as a leader. 

"My flatmate should have some," Shizuka replied cheerfully. 

"We should go there first to be better armed and then look for our families," Rei said. Saya nodded, she wondered how her father and mother were doing. 

"That sounds like a plan," James replied. He was not sure if they were alive but he could try for their sake. However, he did not want to spend too long here. James thought once they are alone he will tell them. He smiled.