Juia_Darkcrest

  The day went by quickly after they departed from the police station.

  Though a bit rough on the clutch, Saya turned out to be a decent driver, managing to lead the convoy to a nearby grocery store. It was only a small one, not much rger than the gas station they were at the other day, but it did have more dry goods and non-perishables.

  Much to John's relief, he drove again once they left the grocer. Saya pouted, but he didn't relent when she tried to insist she could drive just fine. He agreed, but he didn't want Saeko sitting on his p again. He could have sworn she was shifting around on his p on purpose, and when little John responded, he caught a glimpse of a small smile on her face.

  What is with all these women teasing me like this? I look twice their age! I am not imagining this, am I?

  They made their way to the coast to check the marina, but were blocked by car wrecks and a horde of zombies roaming the streets. They barely managed to get turned around before the leading edge of the horde was on top of them. It was only because of Kohta's team of shooters on top of the Humvee that John's car was able to avoid being swarmed.

  "This thing is too loud." He mused as they started to backtrack. "It makes even the Humvee sound quiet in comparison."

  "Well, what did you expect when you turned a kid's toy into some gas-guzzling American car from nearly thirty years ago? Couldn't you have turned it into something more... practical?" Saya said. She still sounded annoyed with him for not letting her drive.

  "It was fun to drive, wasn't it?" He said, trying to lighten the mood.

  "Fun to drive? Was that a joke, Sensei? Look around you! We are in the middle of the apocalypse! Why would I worry about having something as banal as fun right now!" she snapped at him. He felt his temper begin to rise, and he had to check himself.

  Despite how smart she is, she is still just a teenager.

  He took a few moments to compose himself before he replied, putting himself in her shoes for a moment. She was in a much different situation than he was. She just had her entire world turned upside down in a day, almost all her cssmates turned into the undead, and she was now just trying to survive.

  He, on the other hand, had lived a full life and was now hopping between worlds for the entertainment of some higher beings. He had the option of just leaving this reality at any time he chose. She had to live in it.

  "Miss Takagi, you are right. The world has gone to shit, and there isn't any going back. However, that doesn't mean you are not allowed to enjoy the little things when you can." He replied, trying to sound reasonable. "I am not saying not to take things seriously, being serious will be the only thing that will keep us alive. What I am saying is, when you have the chance to have some joy in your life, you should take it. Otherwise, you will just have a miserable existence, and drag everyone else down around you."

  She eyed him curiously. "You are such an enigma, Sensei. One minute, you are preaching about rescuing people, making jokes, and generally being an overly kind and understanding man. The next minute, you will change. Like a switch was flipped inside you, you will leap into a fight, giving out orders, killing these zombies without hesitation. Hell, Sensei, you killed that man yesterday without a second thought. How, how do you do it?"

  He kept his eyes on the road, but his thoughts were racing. How did he do it? Sure, he had seen enough death in his old life, but he had never killed anyone. When in the dungeon of The Great Cleric, he killed the men attacking him without hesitation. When he returned to this world, one of the first things he did was kill that gangbanger.

  No thoughts, no hesitation. He just threw a firebolt into his side, then ran a sword through his chest.

  No. That wasn't quite right. He did have some thoughts on the matter. Darker thoughts. Thoughts he had thought long suppressed.

  "Miss Takagi, what does it mean to be part of society?" He asked her, giving himself a few moments to confirm the intense emotions he was feeling.

  "Hun? To be part of society? What does that have anything to do with you seeming to be okay with... everything?" She replied.

  "Humour me, Miss Takagi."

  "Tsk... If I must. Society is the norms, values, and ideals that a group of people collectively accepts. To be part of society just means you accept the rules of the collective. Will that suffice, or did you want me to go deeper into it?"

  "No, that is a very textbook answer." He said, turning down a side street to avoid another group of zombies. They seemed much thicker in this part of the town than in other areas. Once they were back on clear roads, he continued.

  "Being part of society means accepting the rules of the society, adjusting your own behavior to conform to what society believes is normal and acceptable. Generally, this is a positive thing and is the basis of how our ws are formed." He said, then turned his head to face her for a moment. "The problem is not everyone fits into that mould.

  I could wax on for thirty minutes with different examples of what I mean, but in the end, those people need to force themselves into that mould, else they become the rejected of society. I am one of the people who forced themselves to change to become a well-adjusted member of society. However, in my heart, I always believed in the old saying 'An eye for an eye'. If someone is trying to hurt me or someone I care for, I will put that person down with prejudice, society's rules be damned. Killing that scum attacking Rei brought me a kind of peace I have not felt in a long time."

  John left it at that, turning his attention back to the road. He could feel his anger just under the surface now, ready to be released at the slightest provocation. He did not like this side of himself, his temper, his anger. It always caused him more issues than just shutting up would have, but from angry words to fistfights, he often solved problems with anger in his younger years.

  It wasn't until he was older, with two children and a third on the way, that he managed to get a firm grip on his emotions. And that was only because of his wife finally getting him to see reason. Now, slipping between different worlds filled with violence, he could feel the walls he had built to hold himself back slowly begin to crack.

  Saya murmured something about "Sounding like my Father" and then turned away. The silence persisted for quite some time, the growl of the motor the only noise really to be heard.

  He did catch Saeko staring at him a few times, her cool gaze appearing to appraise him anew.

  It was mid-afternoon by the time they made it back to the waterfront boulevard, heading towards the Onbetsu bridge. John pulled over a fair distance away, the sight in front of him giving him pause.

  The far half of the bridge was clear, the barricades and police checkpoint abandoned. However, the near side of the bridge was swarming with the undead. In the middle was a makeshift barrier of concrete, vehicles, and two rge bulldozers. It didn't take much imagination to figure out what happened there.

  He turned them around again, heading to the other bridge. As they were approaching a different gas station, the radio buzzed.

  "John, are you there? Shizuka says we need to stop for fuel soon." Rei said over the radio. "Also, a few of us need to use the bathroom."

  He sighed. "Roger. Pulling in here."

  Only a few zombies were roaming around the station, which the group dispatched fairly quickly. John tasked Tsunoda to take a couple of people to clear the building, while he went over to Shizuka's Humvee and started to fill it up for her. Kohta and the two girls, now all armed with AR-10 style rifles, sat on top of the vehicle, providing them with overwatch.

  "Good work earlier, everyone. Particurly you two, I know just how difficult it is to hump one of those weapons around." He said to Kohta and the two girls. "You seem like you are a natural instructor Kohta. In less than a day, you managed to teach these two to shoot from the back of a moving vehicle."

  "Ah ha ha... yeah. I dunno, I just get kind of excited when I get to talk about and use guns. Taniuchi and Kawamoto are great students, and seem to pick up everything I show them after one or two tries-" He started but was interrupted by the two girls, both speaking over top of him.

  "Senpai is amazing! He gets really serious and hands-on when teaching us to aim these rifles properly."

  "Senpai is really cute when he makes adjustments to our form, then turns beet red if he brushes our bodies accidentally."

  "I don't really mind it, it is kind of hot when he takes charge."

  "KAWA! Stop it with the flirting. You are making him blush again."

  John just chuckled a bit at the absurd situation Kohta found himself in. Just a couple of days ago, he was the fat reject in css; now he had two girls flirting with him because his obsession with firearms could help protect them.

  Might might not always make right, but it always puts up a good argument!

  "Just don't tease my general too badly. I need him-, Kohta, is your nose bleeding? What happened?" John asked him, concerned for the student turned sharpshooter's health.

  "Senpai? General? Err... umm. Ha ha." Kohta said, his eyes gzed over like he was just struck in the head with one of the bokken.

  "Ahh... can one of you two see if you can snap him out of that... maybe get something to clean up that blood too," John asked the two girls.

  "Yes, Sensei!"

  As they scrambled to deal with the stupefied Kohta, John moved up to the driver's window. Shizuka was sitting there, apparently lost in her thoughts, as she jumped when he touched her arm. Her gravity-defying breasts jiggled around hard enough to give someone a bck eye if they were standing too close.

  "Hey, how are you feeling?" He asked her.

  She looked at him with concern. "I want to stop by a pharmacy soon. There are a few things I want to pick up."

  "Ah, sure? Is there something in particur you need? I do have healing magic, you know." He said, a little concerned at what she might need from there.

  "It is not for healing anyone in particur; there is just something I want to pick up. It would be a good idea to grab some more drugs, too. Maybe a stop at a hospital too, as they have more of the things we would need if we get some more serious injuries. It can wait a while." She replied, then leaned out the window to kiss him.

  He returned it, still curious about what she wanted to pick up, but aware enough to know that she seemed not to want to talk about it.

  Maybe it is properly sized condoms.

  "ARRRGGHH!!"

  A shout came from inside the store, pausing any thoughts John had on Shizuka's secret. He drew his sword and rushed towards the sound.

  Tsunoda came out with Isamu over his shoulder, the older man's arm looking like it had been torn to shreds.

  "What happened?" John said, helping them y him down on the ground.

  "There was a Zombie in the bathroom, but it was acting weird. When we went to strike it down, it dodged our first swings. It then grappled Isamu and started to try and eat him. I beat it as hard as I could, but it took several swings to crack its skull." Tsunoda said, fear evident in his voice.

  "I see. Good work. Let me just fix him up. Cure! Middle Heal!" He chanted, a rge portion of his magic leaving his body. The older man's arm mended, leaving no trace of the bite.

  Isamu's eyes opened up, blinking up at John. "What happened?"

  "You got bitten, and I cured you and fixed up your wounds," John said, offering the man a hand up. "You might even feel better than you did earlier, but take it easy for a bit, okay?"

  "You... you really are chosen by God's!" Another man's voice said behind him.

  Kei was on the back of the truck, his mouth agape. His wife and daughters were in the same state, hearing from the other survivors about John, but not getting a chance to confront him about it yet.

  "Yeah, something like that anyway. Here, help him get cleaned up and find somewhere comfortable to sit. Tsunoda, Saeko, let's go finish clearing the pce so people can use the bathroom. We still have a bridge to cross today, and the longer we sit still, the more likely we will attract more zombies." John said, then did a double-take. "Saeko, when did you get beside me?"

  "I have been beside you the whole time, John-Sama." She said, bowing to him a little.

  She is like a bloody ghost when she wants to be. A very attractive ghost. STOP IT!

  The rest of the stop was uneventful. The zombie that acted strangely didn't look much different than a regur zombie, though it was hard to tell from the pounding Tsunoda gave it. Everyone had a short break, then mounted back up. Saya was in the driver's seat of the car again, biting her lips when he approached the door. It was kind of cute, her incisors poking down on her lower lip a bit, giving her a vampire vibe.

  A cute pink-haired vampire, anyway.

  "Easy on the clutch this time." He said, then turned to Saeko. "And you, stop wiggling your butt on me."

  "Yes, Sensei!" Saya said, pumping her fist a little.

  "No promises, John-Sama," Saeko replied, that small smile returning to her lips.

  John just shook his head.

  God, I am tired...