"My plan is simple," I said after a moment of thought. "You know where the Shimori Self-Storage Park is?"
Principle Yamada nodded. "I'm aware."
"Well, it's reasonably secure, outside the city proper, and I have a container unit there loaded with food and other supplies. While not long-term viable, it's secure, it's outside the city proper, has lots of scavenge..."
"Scavenge?" he asked.
"Sir, it's the end of the world out there. Conventional property rights are pretty much a null factor at this point. You take what you can for the sake of survival."
He nodded. "I see. So your plan so far is we go to this storage park, empty your storage container. Loot the others and..."
"Then we head into the mountains," I replied. "You ever heard of the Crystal Peaks Ski Lodge?"
He nodded. "Something about a construction scandal about 3 years ago. Lead to the owners being indicted. It has been for sale ever since..."
He paused for a moment. "I assume your plan is to relocate there, usings its limited accessibility and geographical isolation to provide a degree of protection against the restless dead?"
I nodded.
He smiled. "Brilliant planning, what I'd expect of my teachers." he paused. "Were it not absolutely insane. But in an insane world, the madman is king, is he not?"
He paused. "Though I can see one flaw in your plan. It would make relief from the authorities extremely difficult."
I took a deep breath. "There will be no relief. The city will be completely overrun by tomorrow and you can probably expect total worldwide social and government breakdown within five to seven days."
There was dead silence from both staff and students at those words. More than a few of either group looked ready to break down weeping. Which made me hate myself for this next part.
"In fact I wouldn't trust anything without EMP hardening after day three..."
Saya immediately went pale as her fast mind realized the implications of that statement. "Oh my god..."
I nodded. "My guess is a limited nuclear exchange by day three. Day five at the latest... once the nuclear powers start suffering large scale social breakdown, one of theirgreatest concerns will be ensuring that their enemies can't sweep in and pick up the pieces."
Horror descended across the entire assembled group like a fog. It was the kind of stifling oppressiveness that made it difficult to breathe. Understandable too, because these people were all Japanese. They alone in the world knew what it was like to be on the business end of a nuclear attack. It was something literally burned into their national identity.
Kyoko, who had followed Yamada when he gone to speak with me, collapsed in on herself and said: "W-why? Why do something like that, what's anything worth if the dead are walking around?"
"Pride. Short-sightedness. Sheer bloody-minded spite. An attempt to contain the outbreak. Take your pick, Hayashi-san."
"How do you know that going to happen? Who says you're right? For all we know the SDF and the American army will come marching in to clean things up in the next hour!" One male kendoist cut in. He blanched almost immediately when Saeko shot him with an absolutely terrifying glare.
"If they could, it wouldn't have gotten to this point," I cut in. "This has all the hallmarks of the beginnings of a worldwide epidemic! If you went to the computer labs right now, looked on the internet, I'm sure you'd find news from thirty different countries telling you the same thing, right now: the dead are walking."
"That is a good idea, Brody-san," Principle Yamada cut in. "Hikagi-kun," he looked at the Kendoist, "Shiratama-san's Computer Science course is currently in progress. I want them to find and print every piece of information they can find on the subject of this... situation."
"News sites aren't going to have this yet. It's happening too fast and right now the governments will be in damage control mode," I added. "As much as it hurts to say this... tell them to start with the Chans and other web-forums. First person accounts will be aplenty."
He looked over the two of us, then over to Saeko who was still giving him a hateful glare, and ran off as fast as his legs could carry them, his sheathed Katana still stuffed into his belt.
"Sensei?"
I looked over and nodded to Takashi. He was bloody, tired, but his eyes were sharp and focused. There was a good reason that he was the series protagonist. He had the guile to survive, the guts to go on, and as I'd learned over the past month, the makings of a real leader.
"Yes, Takashi?"
"How bad do you think it's going to get?" he demanded to know. "I mean, you're talking about the end of the world. So, how bad?"
I frowned. "Do you really want to know, Takashi-kun?"
He nodded. "Yeah. I mean, if we're going to have to live it, we have to know what to expect."
"At a generous estimate," I took a deep breath. "We're looking at a 90% loss."
He blinked. "Wait. What do you mean, 'we'?"
"Humanity."
Saya looked over almost incredulously. "And t-that's your generous estimate?"
"Do you really want to hear my worst case scenario?"
Nobody answered and a few actually looked away.
"Sensei," Saya asked, a look of mounting horror growing on her face. "Are you implying... extinction?"
I shook my head. "Thankfully not. But we very well could be very well looking at a death rate of 99.9% or more."
"Or more..." she repeated.
"Or more."
Several of the girls and at least one of the boys began to weep.
"I could be wrong. I hope I'm wrong," I said after a moment. "But let's not fool ourselves, it's better to prepare for the worst case scenario than to bet the house on a happy ending that may never come."
I took in the view that our raised elevation granted us, taking in the billowing smoke that rose all across the city. "Me, I'm heading for the tall timber and hunkering down, if I'm wrong then I can go back once the fires are out. If I'm right then I've given myself the best chance for survival possible."
I turned back to them, looking as many of them as I can in the eye. "I'd like it if you'd come with me. As many as will go."
------------
As we moved towards the school I made a beeline for the nurse's office, there was something that needed to be done as quickly as possible.
I was alone, principal Yamada and Ms. Hayashi having decided that, at this point, the only real option was to call an assembly and let the students know that something was up.
Once that was done, we also needed to make as many calls as possible to friends and family. The more people we could get linked up for recovery the more we could save. Plus, there were people who really needed to be contacted before everything went to total shit.
I did not look forward to telling Miss Takagi to call her parents. I was expecting a full-blown argument, but in the original timeline the man had the most organized and least psychotic group in the entire city. It had taken an act of Shido to fuck him over, and that asshole was pretty much the personification of Murphy's law.
If it can go wrong, it will go wrong, because of Shido.
I had to get on the man's good side and his daughter was my best opportunity to reach him. So little miss pigtails-and-bad attitude tsundere could take her teen angst and teenage pride and shove them right up her perfectly drawn little bottom. Sideways. Right next to the tent pole that was already there.
My mind was a jumbled mess, how was I going to explain this shit to Shizuka? She may have been a goof but she wasn't an idiot, and had always been able to suss out anything I'd tried to keep secret from her. It'd made Valentines hard as hell to buy a gift for her and make it a surprise.
When I reached her office door I'd still not been able to figure out what to say to her. Sighing, I opened the door. "Shizuka, honey are you al- OOF!"
All the air was driven from my lungs as Shizuka tackled me with enough force to give an NFL linebacker envy. She seemed to completely ignore the chainmail I was still wearing as her grip only tightened. "Tom-kun! Oh thank God you're alright! I heard what had happened at the gates and Teshima Sensei and that there were real Zombies and... and... ahhhhhh!"
And with that, I had a weeping Shizuka in my arms. What the hell did I do here?
Unsure of how to respond I removed my gloves and stroked her head while wrapping my other arm around her back while whispering: "It's alright, Shizuka, we're alright. I'm alright. Nothing bad happened." I pulled her up a bit and, lifting my helmet,kissed her. "See, honey? I'm alright."
She looked at me with her tear-filled eyes and sobbed again for a moment before clenching her arms around me even tighter. I swore I felt my ribs creak for a moment.
I sat there for a few minutes letting her calm down on her own terms, before I started to get back up while Shizuka more or less clung to me like a sexy limpet. "Alright,Shizuka, we can't just be sitting out here in the hallway. We've got things to do."
She looks up and blinked. "Things to do?"
I nodded. "We need to get ready to evacuate the school. It's not safe. And I need you to call Rika."
She blinked. "Why?"
"We're going to be stopping by her house," I replied. Her EMP-shielded hummer was alone too valuable an asset not to jump on. Her closet full of guns was just candy. Plus, call it hero syndrome, but I did kind of want to save Alice if I could.
I would also have to have Kouta call up Asami. A couple of cops would be useful, and once we'd cleared the school, a quick convoy to pick up the mall survivors wouldn't be at all an unreasonable act.
Rei's place would also be a top priority for looting. Plus she'd called him all of once in the Manga. Here, I'd encourage her to keep calling until she got through. His skills would be useful.
Shizuka blushed. "Um. Tom... One problem with that?"
I frowned. "Yes?"
"I forgot my phone this morning..."
I shrugged and tossed her mine. "I got it covered."
She frowned. "Tom. Why do you have my best friend's cell number in your phone?"
"Because you forget yours all the damned time," I replied as if it were as obvious as day.
And it was true too. I would have kept it for that reason even if there wasn't the whole 'My Zombie Plan Involves Robbing Your House" element.
"So why exactly are we going to be looting her place?" she asked. "I mean, what does she have?"
"Guns," I replied. "And a truck that could survive an EMP attack."
She blinked. "Oh. That," He eyes narrowed somewhat. "How did you know about all of that?"
"She's talkative when she's drunk," I replied.
Her eyes narrowed even more. "And how do you know what she's like when she's drunk?"
"Because the three of us go drinking and she normally gets chatty around the same point where you get silly," I replied with a bit more snarky than I'd intended. "So, and I don't mean to offend you when I say this, can we please drop the misplaced 'paranoid girlfriend' shit and focus on the issue at hand? That being the innumerable hordes of the undead hungering for our delicious brains?"
She pouted but I continued: "Because, if I really wanted to screw your roommate I'd have just said yes that time when the two of you got really plowed and suggested a threesome."
Her face took on a crimson glow as she pulled away waving her hands. "Okay! Okay! I'm sorry! You're not sleeping with Rika! I'm sorry I got paranoid! Next subject!"
I chuckled a bit. "Alright, honey, I'll stop with the teasing. But now we need to focus on getting out of here. If an outright horde of undead, and they were undead, I killed enough of them to know the diffrence, managed to get this far up the hill, then God knows how bad it'll be down in the city, and I'd rather we not be here for longer than we have to."
She nodded. "What do you need me to do?"
"I want you to get all your medical supplies and box them up. We don't have time to be neat. You can organize and count off what you have later. Right now, though, just get them in a bag and get ready to get with the fuck out of here."
She nodded and started ripping stuff off her shelves and throwing it onto the bed in her office.
As she did so, she looked over, a spike of fear in her eyes. "Tom...?"
"Yes Shizuka?" I asked her.
"I-in your dream, how bad does it get?"
I sighed, I didn't want to distress her any more than I already had, but better she hear it now then when the principal made the general announcement. If anything, at least I could help her deal with it. "Come next year, I'd be surprised if one in a thousand are still alive. It was that horrible." I said in as calm a voice as I could.
I placed my hand on her shoulder and smiled weakly. "But I never saw you hurt, or bitten or anything. As far as I could tell, you were alright. So take heart from that, I guess."
She bit her lip and nodded, fighting back tears as she continued to strip her room. "They're going to depend on us, aren't they?"
I nodded. "As if we were their parents."
"I'll be strong for them," she said, "Will you be strong for me?"
A much stronger smile spread across my face and I said in an upbeat tone, "For you, stronger than Goku."
------------
I found my quarry loitering about outside, watching the gate like a set of hawks. For someone who wasn't a fighter, Saya was awfully willing to get close to the action. Mostly so she could give orders.
From what I saw, she actually had things in good order. While they were badly damaged by the impact, the gates were still on their hinges. At a glance I'd thought them to a be a total loss, as they were not designed to open that way. The students under Saya's direction, however, had already managed to reset one of them and were slowly forcing the other back into position with sheer muscle power.
Huh, maybe they still maybe had a little life left in them after all. They'd need to be chained, but we had that. And locks. We were a high school after all.
"Careful you idiots! If you make too much noise 'they' will come back."
"They aren't 'they' Takagi, they're Zombies, I thought you were smarter than that." One male student commented dryly.
"You can only say 'the zombies' so many times before it gets old, Mishahara," she snapped. "Now get back to work!"
"Alright, alright, no need to get all bitchy... of all the days for her to be on the rag…"
Saya's face turned a bright shade of red as her eyebrow started to twitch. Now, as amusing as it would be to see a the captain of the wrestling club get his balls handed to him on a plate by a pink-haired pixie, I kinda needed him intact.
"Alright Ms. Takagi, calm down."
I looked up. "And Mr. Mishahara, shut up and get back to work."
"You need something, sensei?" Saya asked after glaring at Mishahara for a moment.
"As a matter of fact, I do." I paused. "I need to speak with you and Miss Miyamoto for a moment."
She nodded and followed me, as did Rei who'd been watching the gates with Takashi and Saeko.
"What's this about?" Takashi asked.
"I'm sure it's nothing." Kouta replied. "If we needed to know sensei would tell us."
I paused. "Actually, all of you can come with, I guess."
I lead them away from the group by about 10-20 yards and then turned back to them.
"Do you have your cellphones with you?" I asked.
Rei nodded. Saya only scowled.
"Miyamoto, your father's a police investigator correct?"
"Yes Sensei, but I tried calling him through the official lines and-"
I sighed. "Rei, do me a favor and look outside the school. Tell me what you see?"
She obediently glanced out towards the rising smoke, screams, and sirens that were now a constant background noise for the entire city. She then looked back. "He told me never to call his personal number while he was at work, unless it was an emergency…"
"Rei, I don't know about you, but I'd personally count the end of the world as we know it as an emergency."
Rei flushed like a neon sign. "Alright sensei…" She then reached into a pocket, pulled out a small flip-phone and began to punch in a number.
I then turned to Saya, who had waited until I'd turned my attention to her, then said: "I don't have a phone, I'm a model student."
I sighed and shook my head. "And somehow, having no means of contacting your family in an emergency makes you an ideal student. Sometimes I really wonder about this country." I pulled out mine. "I'm sure a genius like yourself has your parents' private numbers memorized, correct?"
She gave me a look that could melt steel before daintily taking my phone from my hand.
"You do realize who my father is, correct?"
"A prominent politician who has the mentality and resources to get shit done in an emergency?" I asked rhetorically.
"He's Souichiro Takagi, Don of the prefecture's Ultra-Nationalist organization."
"Again with the things I'm aware of." I commented dryly. "And I'm sure a strong Japanese patriot would be interested in cooperating with a well-meaning American ally who wants nothing more than to dedicate his efforts to preserving the lives of as many of his precious countrymen as possible."
That set her sputtering. "F-fine! Just don't say I didn't warn you, Sensei!"
She started to dial, I raised my hand. "Wait, let Rei contact her father first. Then we'll deal with yours, that way nothing gets missed in the kerfuffle."
She scowled but nodded, closing my phone shut.
The two of us then turned to Rei, whose concerned face lit up as she apparently managed to contact her father. "Daddy! Is that you? It's me, Rei!"
Her elation died as I heard a faint voice on the other end of the line, not enough to make out what they were saying but the tone seemed to indicate that they were extremely agitated.
"Daddy? Can you hear me? Daddy?"
Then I heard what sounded like gunfire erupting from the phone and Rei snatched it away from her ear. Then, sudden silence: "Daddy! Are you there? Daddy!?"
She closed her phone, then turned to me, her eyes shining with tears. "He... he couldn't hear me... and... I... I heard guns…"
"Call him back in a little while," I said calmly.
She looked at me for a moment, tears ready to stream down her face, when Takashi moved in to put an arm around her. "Sensei's right, Rei-chan, your dad's a tough guy. I'm sure he's going to be alright."
Rei turned her head and smiled at Takashi, she rubbed her eyes with her hands and calmed down enough to talk. "You're right, Takashi, I'll try again later, he wouldn't want me worrying about him like this."
I turned to Saya, who'd been waiting patiently for her turn. "Alright, Ms. Takagi, you're up."
She gritted her teeth and dialed the number. A moment later it was answered. "It's your daughter..."
She blinked. "Yes. I'm alright... It's my teacher's phone and-"
She scowled. "He wants to talk to you."
I blinked and nodded. "Alright, hand it here." She placed the phone into my hand and I quickly raised it to my ear. "Hello?
"To whom am I speaking?"
"This is Tom Brody. A teacher at your daughter's school."
"The American English teacher. The one who transformed the delinquent gangs of the district into a Viking army. I'm of a mixed opinion of you, Mr. Brody. On one hand, you have awakened the martial spirit in our youth. On another you did it by entrenching them in a deeply foreign culture. And now I find that my precious daughter is in your custody."
I blanched a bit at that gruff voice. "That���d be correct, Takagi-dono." I finally said, '-san' a bit too... plebeian for the man. Wow did that feel weird.
"Hm. Respectful for a foreigner. Very well, Brody-dono. I am currently fortifying my family estate. You and any survivors with you may take shelter here, along of course, with my daughter."
"I actually have my own fallback plans. I've managed to preserve almost the entire population of the school. The grounds are not secure so we are relocating. I've got a supply depot on this side of the river that I plan to fortify before heading over the river further upstream and away from the city. So-"
"I see," he replied."As much as it pains me to say this, I cannot expect you to abandon your charges for the sake of my daughter. So instead, I entrust her to your care. I would like to know the details of your plans, but I would prefer to do so in my wife's presence."
I nodded. "I understand. Your daughter is safe with me and my b- er, my men."
Then a thought occurred to me. "Takagi-dono, some of the... erm... gangs that have sworn themselves to obey my command are on your side of the river. They aren't trained soldiers but they're strong, brave, and tough-"
"Would they be willing to obey my orders?"
"They will if I tell them to, and as long as you don't force them to break any oaths."
"And what are these oaths?"
I sighed. Hope he didn't think this sounds stupid."Don't take up arms against the innocent."
I actually heard some slight amusement in his voice. "A most acceptable condition. Your soldiers will be a welcomed addition. My men and I welcome all survivors with the courage to carry on in these times. Now if you will excuse me, duty calls. And Brody-dono, tell Saya to remain safe."
"Of course, Takagi-dono."
The line went dead and I turned to Saya. "Your father wants to know the full details of my plans, but more importantly, he's asked me to watch after you. He asked me to tell you to stay safe."
She blinked. "My father said that?"
"He's your father," I stated calmly. "He loves you. Is that so hard to believe?"
She frowned. "If you knew him…" she said.
"Saya, he loves you. I could tell that much." I said.
Takashi put his hand on her shoulder and said: "Hey, at least you know your parents are alright."
"Speaking of which," I glanced to him, Saeko, and Kouta. "Maybe you three should contact your families as well..."
Takashi frowned. "My dad's out of town, but I probably should call my mom... Should probably tell Hisashi to call his parents too."
Kouta shrugged. "Well, my parents are out of the country."
"As is my father," Saeko added.
I raised an eyebrow. "You're not even going to call Asami?"
Kouta flushed and then turned white. "Oh shit. She was on shift today wasn't she? Crap!"
"Attention all students! Please report to the auditorium!"
I turned towards the boys working on the gates. "Saeko. You keep an eye on this lot and make sure they don't get eaten. The rest of you, follow me and let's see what Yamada-san has lined up for us."
-----------------
"Asami! Asami-chan are you there?"
"Kouta-kun! You're okay! I'm so happy to know you're alright! There dead are getting up and eating people! It's so scary out here!"
"Asami," he said with total relief, "I was so worried about you. Listen. Where are you? Brody-sensei has a plan! Where are you right now?"
"Asami is with Senpai at Taiei Shopping Town. We were helping with traffic when 'they' showed up!"
He frowned thinking back to what Sensei had said to Saya. "Asami, don't call the Zombies 'they', 'them', or any other stupid euphemism. They're zombies. The dead are walking and we all have to accept it."
"Okay… Y-you're so strong, Kouta-kun! I don't know if can-"
"Yes you can," he replied. "I believe in you."
"Thank you, Kouta-kun. You said your sensei has a plan?"
"Yeah. He has a fallback point stocked and supplied. But you're never going to be able to get across the river with the things are right now. Listen, you need to tell Matsushima-san to get everyone together and be ready to evacuate! Brody-sensei talked with some people and there's a safe spot on your side of the river at the Takagi estate. Brody-Sensei told some of the Thegns to guide you there if needed."
"But she says we should wait for our superiors!"
"They're not coming, Asami." he stated. "Listen. This isn't just just in Tokonosu. It's international. Across the country. Across the world. I know you want to be a good cop. You're a good person and you want to protect people. The best way to do that is to take everyone you can with you and head for a safe-zone."
"Kouta… I... I..."
"Asami-chan, please, Brody-Sensei thinks this is going to get bad, really bad. He told us that he be surprised if one in a thousand were still alive by next year!" Kouta whispered harshly, he barely stopped himself from shouting that last part. Looking around he saw to his relief that none of the civvies, as he'd privately labeled them, seemed to have noticed his outburst.
Asami was completely silent for a long while, then she said:"A-alright, I'll talk with Senpai and see what she thinks."
Kouta sighed. "Do what you can, Asami, that's all I ask, and remember, whatever happens, stay alive, whatever it takes. If you need me, just call me and I will find you, no matter what."
"T-thank you Kouta-kun... I... I love you!" She blurted that last bit in a rush as if embarrassed to say so.
"I love you too." Kouta sighed and ended the call, turning to walk back into the auditorium. It seemed that Brody-Sensei was going to explain to everyone what was going on and what his plan. He hoped that his fellow students would take it well.
The entire auditorium, that had been rumbling with panicky students, went silent when they saw who was stomping across the podium in full war-gear. His helmet under his arm.
Brody-sensei looked over the student body, teachers along the walls to help keep order. His green eyes as hard as flint, or at least they looked so to the young man. Behind him was Principal Yamada, pale as a sheet, covered in a sheen of sweat, and clenching a thick stack of computer print-out papers.
That more than anything made Kouta's blood run cold. He was willing to accept Sensei's judgement until proven wrong, but he knew what those print-outs were: final proof.
It was all he could do to not get up and run from the room, to call Asami again and tell her to make for safety as quickly as possible.
Brody-sensei then tapped the microphone to test it, once he saw it was on he turned and nodded to Principal Yamada.
The older man nodded back and stepped forward to the microphone while Brody-Sensei stepped back a few steps to give him room. Yamada looked over the sheets in his hands one last time, then took a deep breath and started.
"Students. This is an emergency as you have heard, but the nature of this emergency is hard to believe. So before I tell you, I will show you."
He brought up the projector. "This video was posted to the website 'Youtube' less than an hour ago. None of it is from a movie."
Then he pushed play.
The video was grainy and shaky but it was clear as a bell what it was. A horde of zombies overrunning several pedestrians, shot from a window overlooking the scene. It was horrible, though thankfully, it was also too low resolution to make out the worst details.
Then he moved onto another. This one being security footage of zombies storming into a convenience store.
And then another a live news report where the anchor and cameraman were ambushed and eaten alive, then seen to rise on camera.
Several of the students grimaced, others looked on in confusion, a couple idiots even laughed.
"You may think this is a laughing matter," he said coolly. "But I assure you it is not."
Then he brought up a picture of the gate. He could see several of his fellow Huscarls as well as a number of members of the sports clubs standing vigil, and behind them was a giant mass of corpses.
"This was taken at the main gate five minutes ago. After Brody-san lead the brave students of his Reenactment Club and the proud martial arts clubs of this school to victory against..." he paled as he said it. "The walking dead."
There was dead silence for a few heartbeats, then the auditorium, exploded in sound, as the students all voiced their disbelief or fears at the same time.
"Silence!" he exclaimed, bringing his fist down on the podium. "There is no time for frantic behavior. By showing your fear and acting irrationally you put yourselves and the whole of the student body in danger. I have in hand reports and first-hand accounts from across the world of what can only be described as the beginnings of a Zombie Apocalypse."
He paused. "So far, we have been lucky. One of our number was prepared for such an occasion and lead the school to a victory. A short-term one, however for we are not yet safe. We do, however, have a plan to ensure the safety of the students and staff."
He looked over. "Brody-san, if you will?"
Brody stepped forward to the podium, looking over the student body he seemed to finger something around his neck for a moment before taking a breath. "Students and Faculty, I'm not going to lie to you. It's bad out there and it's going to get a lot worse before it gets any better. Right here, right now, your greatest asset for survival isn't the police, isn't the military, it's the person sitting right next to you. Right now, all we have to depend on is each other."
He looked up. "Right now the school isn't safe. We need to evacuate. Using both busses and all of the faculty's cars, we should be able to evacuate the whole student body in three trips. Two, if we aggressively requisition vehicles found on the way down. Along those lines, any of you with driving experience need to report it here and now. I don't care if you're licensed. If don't care how you learned. Right now, all I need is the knowledge and the will."
"W-what about our families!" one of the students called out.
"Good question. How many of your families are in the city?"
About two thirds to three quarters of the student body raised their hands.
He nodded. "Alright. Once you're safe we're going to make arrangements. But you come first. Those who can will be encouraged to join us at the meeting place. Those who cannot will be encouraged to join together and find somewhere safe. When we can, we will try to get them out. I can make no promises but I swear to you all in God's name, that we will save as many people as we can."
He looked over to the principal who nodded. "The busses are being prepared as we speak. Once they are ready, we will call out names. I will now turn the podium back over to Principal Yamada."