"You can't be fuckin' serious, boss..."
"Yes, Hrothgar, I am 'fucking serious'. Listen, I'm no fan of the Ultra-Nationalists either, but strange times make for strange bedfellows and right now it'll be too dangerous for you to try and get across the river. Go to the Takagi estate and tell him you're one of mine. I've already talked with him. He'll take you in for now and we can link up tomorrow."
"How do I know he won't try to stab us in the back?"
"First, I have his word. Second, I have his daughter."
There was a momentary pause.
"Oh. Okay. See you there, boss."
My relief was almost palpable as I ended the call. And that was the last of them. Thank God I'd managed to deal with that quickly enough.
"So, you have his daughter?" Saya asked, with a peaked eyebrow. "How dastardly."
"The sarcasm is not nearly as charming as you think, Ms. Takagi. Especially in this heat." I replied with a sigh as I put away my phone. I instinctively glanced at the power meter, still around 85% but who knew how much longer it would work.
It was... odd, trying to comprehend a world without cellphones, or computers, tv, movies... I knew in my head that it was going to happen. But in my gut? That was taking longer to accept... and it sent a chill through me. I prayed that my preparations would be enough and I ran a thumb across the small gold crucifix I constantly wore around my neck. It was becoming a nervous tic and I wondered what other twitches I would develop in the weeks and months to come.
As I stared out the window I watched the houses roll by; thankfully Fujimi academy was outside the city proper, meaning that there were few others out here, alive or dead. The main reason it was taking so long to reach the storage lot was, frankly, cautious driving. Which made this ride seem endless and I could hear the sounds of misery from the students packed in here like sardines. In retrospect, this whole plan was dumb as hell and it was a miracle we didn't have someone keel over from heatstroke. But what choice did we really have?
I was taken out of my thoughts when I felt the bus come to a stop. "Everyone brace yourselves!" called out the driver. "We're here!"
"Halleluja…" I muttered under my breath as more than a few of the students started cheering.
"Alright everyone, I know your knees and legs are killing you but let's act like civilized human beings and get off in an orderly fashion." I called out.
"If you need water we have a few crates of water bottles in the over carry, they're not cold but better than nothing." A fair number of voices called out they'd like some, some more vociferous than others.
I continued: "If nature's calling there's a bathroom in the lot's office shed you can use after we clear out the lot. If you can't wait just go round the other side of the bus, we'll make sure no one bothers you."
When a few feminine voices shouted indignantly I replied: "Welcome to the Apocalypse, ladies. Make do, or get eaten. Just don't get the rest of us killed in the process."
"Brody-sensei..." Saeko said with a slight tsk. "There is no reason to be impolite."
She then paused before adding: "But he is correct," Her voice dropped to a tone that promised suffering. "Foolish risk taking is forbidden."
"And I'll let her dole out the punishment too," I replied as I pulled my gear from the overhead, "So just imagine what the nice girl with the razor sharp sword will do to you if you do something stupid and get people killed. Now. Huskarls to the front! We need to clear this place. Lane by lane sweep! All other armed students, your job is to defend the vehicles. Everyone else, once you're off the bus stay close and do NOT wander off."
"Right!" Several voices called over the heavy clink of armor as the huscarls made their way through the bus. I stood at the door, leading from the front. I was still feeling guilty over not fighting with my boys during their first battle and I intended to be there in the thick of it this time.
Of course, for better or worse, things don't always go as you've planned as the thick of it in this case was more the thin of it.
Inputting my access code took all of 15 seconds and we were in. There were six rows of containers with three lanes. So I had the combat martial arts clubs guard our rear while we broke into groups and marched down towards the manager's office. Thankfully, the place was emptier than a politician's words.
Well, except for the manager's office itself but that encounter went a little something like...
"Ugggh..."
Whack!
I love Kenji, I really do. He's a sweet kid... but sometimes he just makes me look bad. I don't want to sound like some kind of console kiddy screaming over Xbox Live, but when the boss says he's going to take the lead and there's only one thing worth hitting, you let him take the first swing!
Stepping over the lot manager, or rather, both halves of him, I walked over to the tool chest by the wall and picked up the rather impressive set of bolt cutters he kept in plain sight as a reminder to his customers to pay their rent and passed it on.
"Hayato," I said turning my head to them.
"Yes, sensei?" he asked.
I placed the bolt cutters on the desk, then snatched his keys as almost an afterthought. "Start cutting the locks and see what those keys belong to. I want every container in this place opened and inventoried to the best of your ability by nightfall. Get the others to help you, but I want the boys to open the containers. God only knows what's hiding in those boxes."
He nodded, reaching for the cutters. "I'm on it."
"Good. As expected of my lieutenant." I replied. Wasn't really me, but it was what they expected and what they needed to hear.
Hayato's chest puffed slightly at the half-handed compliment before I scribbled down a couple numbers. "This is my unit and my combination. Send someone to open it ASAP."
"Yes, sensei!"
"Good. Kohta, Takashi, you're with me. The rest of you, you know what to do." With an affirmation we broke up to our various tasks. Me, Takashi and Kohta headed back towards the vehicles where the teachers were helping the students disembark. When they spotted the three of us leaving the lot everyone came to a complete stop. I could see the apprehension in the faces of more than one person.
I smiled. "All clear, there was only the manager lurching around and we took care of him. Get on in ASAP, Kenji and Hayato are setting things up and taking inventory. Move the vehicles in and unload any cargo. The sooner we get done, the faster we can get the others."
The relief was evident on everyone's faces as they turned towards the lot. "Just a few rules." I said before they could get much further. "First off, no one leaves the lot. The place is secure but we haven't examined the area around it yet and who knows what might be lurking around. Second, everyone get a buddy, we're facing the zombie apocalypse here people and everyone knows what happens when you go off alone, right?"
That got a few dry laughs from people, but most just grimaced.
Huh. Too soon.
I looked at the martial arts club members and added; "And you, help patrol the perimeter. If you can, get some people on the roofs to look out but don't take any stupid risks."
The club members nodded. "As for the rest of you listen get settled in and make sure to listen to Hayato, they know what needs to be done."
I was about to look for Saeko when I looked past the busses for a moment, and blinked in amazement at what I saw.
Rolling up on the gates was a large black van with the words: "Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church".
"So, he did read my note," I muttered to myself as I walked towards the gate.
When the students and teachers paused in confusion I waved them to keep going. Once they were moving again I turned back to the van that had just turned off.
The door opened and out stepped, well, let me put it this way. If I'd known this was the man I was confessing to I would probably have been too nervous to enter the door. At times I'd wondered what Sig Curtis would look like in real life. Now, I knew.
I'm not exactly a short guy anymore thanks to whatever bullshit space magic dumped me in this shithole, but the father had a good head on me. And it was attached to a body, that while stocky with a rather jolly looking gut, just screamed 'Sumo', he also had arms that were probably as big around as most other men's thighs.
He locked eyes with me, and it made me feel like a small boy who had been caught playing in the baptismal font. They narrowed for a moment and I felt my bowels twist and fear far stronger than I had fighting the walking dead crawled up my spine. His bearded mouth twisted into a grimace for a second, and I suppressed the urge to swallow and instead matched the gaze to the best of my ability.
Then after a moment that felt like an eternity, his entire demeanor changed and he smiled warmly, suddenly looking like nothing more than an overgrown teddy bear of a man.
"Fifteen Our Fathers, one hundred and fifty Hail Mary's."
I sighed, releasing a breath I hadn't even known I'd been holding and hit the open button for the gate. "Welcome, father, to our little hideaway. One of the boys can explain the plan."
He nodded and stepped to the side. "I assume you're a very busy man, what with saving the innocent from the forces of judgement and all," he said in a tired, almost irreverent tone.
"Well, let's get you folks in." I told him. He nodded and got back into the van, while the students still entering the lot made room for the vehicle.
Moments later the van pulled in and once the gate was shut, disgorged a shockingly young and voluptuous young woman wearing what some young women wear when they're considering the Holy Orders, and about a dozen small children. Wait a minute, I've seen that girl's face before…
"Seems you've been busy yourself, father." I commented.
"We had a small daycare for the mothers in the community," he replied calmly. "It is the duty of a priest to shepherd the troubled and the innocent. In these times, we are all troubled, and there are none more innocent..."
He paused and crained backwards, looking out the gate. "And speaking of the troubled..."
There was a screech of tires as a battered bus that looks like it would be right at home running prison transfers screeched to a rough stop next to the gate. On its sides were blazoned the words Ishiyama High School.
Which meant it probably did perform prison transfers once upon a time.
The driver side window rolled down and I found myself looking into the lazy glare of Tatsumi Oga.
"Sup."
I couldn't help but laugh. "Why am I not surprised that you made it here first? Welcome aboard, Surtur."
The humor bounced off him like buckshot off an ironclad and he narrowed his eyes and half snarled; "You gonna let me in or do me and mine get to entertain the biters? Because as fun as it was smashin' their skulls in, we're kinda sick of it. Lost five guys in the escape."
I nodded and pushed the button and moments later, the bus was inside.
"Are you sure this is wise?" Kyoko asked me obviously nervous about inviting in a bus full of students from the most infamous school in the entire region.
"They might be a pack of ill-tempered punks, but they know when to follow orders and they can fight," I replied. "Right now, that's enough."
Kyoko didn't seem all that convinced but didn't protest, turning back to the students and other teachers.
"We're going to be staying here for some time..."
"Couple days," I cut in. "At the most. The sooner we move on, the better our chances of survival. Anyone who wants to try and contact your family, this is your chance..."
My eyes turned to Takayama. "If any teachers want to try and rescue their loved ones, then I can't stop you but understand we can't afford to wait up for you. Stay in contact because if we don't hear anything from you, we will assume you died in the attempt."
"Hey!" One of the students cut in. "What if we want to try and save our families!"
"Then I'll personally pound the stupid out of you. You have no weapons, no vehicle, and sadly I'm still responsible for your survival, but if you insist on sneaking out and earning yourself a Darwin Award then be my fucking guest, because that'll be one less mouth to feed and idiot to protect from their own terminal stupidity!"
The father who had silent during this conversation, sighed and turned to the young woman. "Mari-chan, look after the children."
She nodded. "Of course, father." That voice, I know it from somewhere… no… ROB, stop fucking with me here.
Oga, who had exited the bus grinned and turned his head his followers, a motley crew of tough-guys and sukeban, "Hey, Hilda. You're good with brats. Go help out."
The father's eyes widened somewhat, as a rather striking blond girl holding a rather vicious-looking green-haired baby stepped into view from the crowd. She was wearing a lovely black gothic lolita dress and a very deep scowl.
"Excuse me?" she snapped.
"You've already gotta watch out for one brat. Might as well put him with the others."
She sighed and walked off the bus before pausing before the nun and giving her an appraising look. Once her eyes had locked with the older girl's chest, which, to be honest,was rather... um... heavenly... she raised an eyebrow and asked. "Which fetish video did you trip and fall out of?"
Mari flushed red for a moment. "Excuse you?" Oh c'mon!
"The whole sexy nun thing," she replied. "Thought that only happened in pornos."
"First, I'm only a volunteer. I dress like this because I want to honor the church..."
The priest shot me a long-suffering look but said nothing. There was a story there because I knew the girl was way too young to have taken her vows.
"Second, like you're one to talk! And whose child is that anyways?"
"My sister's," Hilda replied, blandly. "She went out to get milk and asked me to look after the brat for half an hour. That was five months ago. Last I heard she was turning tricks in Nagasaki."
Mari flushed in indignant anger but impressed me after reciting something under her breath which calmed her down. Then she said: "As interesting as this slow motion trainwreck of a conversation is, there's stuff we've got to do."
Hilda laughed, 'Yeah, yeah," she said and rounded on the not-nun. "I like you, you've got spunk. Let's go."
She turned to the kids. "Alright brats, come on! If you're good I'll teach you how to set stuff on fire with sun lasers."
The children cheered and began to follow leaving the older girl to growl in indignation and rush after her.
There was a momentary pause and the priest released a deep sigh. "I see no good coming of this."
"Maybe," Oga observed. "But at least it'll be funny."
"So long as they stay alive and safe that's all I care about for the moment." I replied.
The priest grunted and nodded. "True."
"Sensei!"
I turned to see the petite form of Saya Takagi looking at me. One thing I did notice was that she was carrying a cellphone. Little Miss Model Student with a phone. Good to see.
"Where did you get the phone?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Off the manager," she replied. "I called my parents. Two of the other gangs have arrived at my family's compound. Also, the vehicles are unloaded."
I blinked in surprise. "That was fast." I glanced back over to the priest and Oga. "How long were we sitting around talking for?" I was a bit upset with myself for wasting time.
"We finished just now," she stated.
I nodded. "Good. Okay. We need to get moving again. I want you to put the spears from my stash the in all the busses."
She nodded in comprehension. "Understood."
I turned back to Oga and his thugs and noticed that half the male members were either staring at Saya, at Mari's retreating form, or the silent but irritated Kyoko. Hell, I swear one of them was even drooling.
Couldn't really blame them, to be honest. Mari could cosplay as Hinata Hyuga without any effort, and Kyoko and Saya... seriously, was there something in the water at this damned school?
Clearing my head, I simply shot the undeclared banchou a look with a raised eyebrow, and he gave me a slight nod in response as this was not the time, nor was it the place for this shit.
"Focus, you idiots!" Oga snarled and they snapped out of their daze.
I turned to Oga. "I need your bus and I've got a job for you and your boys. How many of you know how to drive a truck?"
He raised an eyebrow and looked at me as if I'd just asked him if he secretly moonlighted as a magical girl themed superhero called Okama Kamen. "Seriously?"
"Father, are you willing to help ensure the survival of this group in a more physical manner?" I asked turning to the priest.
"Of course!" he replied. "A shepherd's duty is never done!"
"Right. There's a truck rental about three kilometers down the road. I need you to get it it and retrieve as many vehicles as possible. Father, fill your van to the max. Oga, I need you to pick out the best fighters out of your group, and hit up my storage unit for arms and armor. If anyone isn't good enough, talk to Hayato about getting some Huskarls to back you up instead. Father's got command of this mission."
The Father nodded with all seriousness, but Oga crossed his arm and scowled. "Listen, I follow you because you're tough and trained the strongest gang in the entire city. This guy..." he thumbed to the priest. "I don't know."
"Would you like me to prove my strength?" The priest asked beatifically.
What.
"Sure, if you can lay even a single hit on me, I'll follow your lead."
What?
To my amazement the priest nodded in agreement to his demand and then, far faster than a man his size should be capable of, struck out at Oga with a palm strike.
What!
The delinquent saw it, and moved to dodge, but wasn't quite fast enough to dodge, and instead it clipped his shoulder and sent him into a spin. This was quickly capitalized on with a second strike which sent him flying through the air and into the door of one of the containers... a good five meters away.
Oga bounced with a wince-inducing thud and ended his short trip looking at the sky and grasping his ribs with a grimace.
Holy shit!
"Are you satisfied as to my credentials, young man?" the priest asked with a playful seriousness.
"Yeah, yeah... ughhh.... Let's go steal some trucks. Once I can breathe again."
I shook my head and turned to the other delinquents who'd been watching. "Who here can drive? Raise your hands."
Nearly every hand shot up.
I smiled. "Great. I need a volunteer to drive a truck back to Fujimi with me."
Most of the hands dropped and I looked over the remainder before settling on a silver haired kid who honestly didn't have the cast of a fighter. "You're in," I replied as I tossed him the keys.
Oga raised an eyebrow.
"You sure, Furuichi?"
"He's got the look of a man who wants to live instead of going out in a blaze of glory on a one way trip to Valhalla. Important for a rescue mission I think."
Oga grunted in acknowledgement.
"Besides," Furuichi added, "Chances are that truck is going to end up with a number of girls, several of whom might feel very thankful towards their courageous rescuer!"
I sighed. Or he could just be a pervert...
"Alright people!" I exclaimed. "Everyone load up and let's get...!"
My little impromptu motivational was cut off by the ringing of my phone.
Looking down at the number I felt a chill of dread run through my veins as I realized the number was Principal Yamada's.
With almost reluctance, I answered the phone, and took a deep breath.
"Yes?"
"Brody-san, we have a problem..."
---------
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," I muttered to myself as Fujimi came into view.
The gate was down, and sitting inside the courtyard was a wreck of a car. According to Yamada the vehicle crashed through the gates only a couple minutes before he called, and with most of the fighting forces gone, there was no time for a repeat performance of our little wall of men.
It was with twisted satisfaction that I noted the door was open and about 15 feet from the vehicle there was a rather indicative bloody smear on the ground that told the fate of the driver.
"What in all the fucks?" I growled in anger as I drove up on the school, the yard of which was well layered with the undead. "That son of bitch better be glad that the zeds got him, because if I'd gotten my hands on that asshole..."
I growled and banishing daydreams of bloody murder, looked over to Shizuka who'd joined me on the bus out of concern that there might be need for a medic. And by the bus, I meant the one Ota brought. The kid might be a lazy, sadistic, asshole delinquent, but bringing a third bus? Well shit, and it wasn't even Christmas.
Of course, someone had to drive it and I didn't exactly trust him or any of his psychotic little buddies with this job. And as I was stuck with the thankless of job running mission control, it also meant that Shizuka was driving.
And yes, those words were every bit as terrifying as you could imagine.
Taking a deep breath I lifted one of the school walkie talkies we'd brought with us and opened a line to the other drivers. "Alright, you all know the plan. Back up and we'll start the evacuation."
And better yet, that plan had been written with two in mind. With this bus, we had three and even better yet, this bus was actually a full-sized school bus and not one of those fancy mini-tour busses that they used at Fujimi. This, among other things, meant that it had a rear hatch and the seats were more easily removed. I'm not going to lie and say we didn't spend most of the trip throwing chairs out the rear. After all, Mama Brody didn't raise no liar and it doesn't count as littering if it's the Apocalypse!
"Yamada," I muttered over the phone, "We're moving in."
And we were. In about three minutes all the buses were lined up closely against the wall. Due to the particularities of the school's design, the first floor was actually slightly recessed in comparison to the higher stories. This meant if we pulled up close there was pretty much no gap between the wall and the roof. A bit of a drop, yes, but that's what rope was made for.
I smiled as I moved away from the cab and worked my way back. The next best thing about this bus was that it was large enough to have two evac hatches. That meant it we could move twice as fast.
Once we had the busses in place I pulled out the phone and called Yamada. When he picked up I said in a low tone: "Alright, we're lined up, we need you to exit through the second story windows. We have the busses lined up against the side of the buildings and it should only be just over a one meter drop to the roof of the busses. Once there we have the evac hatches open and you'll just climb and drop down in."
"Very well, Brody-san. I'll be sure to warn everyone to go slowly so as not to cause a traffic jam." Yamada replied. The relief was obvious in his voice. "I'm also glad you came back."
I put a mock affronted tone in my reply. "Why Yamada-san, doubting I'd return? I'm hurt that you'd think so little of me. Why if this were a more honorable time I'd request pistols at ten paces at dawn!"
That got a slight chuckle out of the man. "We'll send the students out first and should the worst happen… don't hesitate to leave us old coots behind. And as a personal favor… please watch out for my nephew. I've no idea what's happened to my brother and his wife and their son is the only family I know is still alive."
I was a bit surprised there as Yamada wasn't one to get teary-eyed. Then again, considering the situation...
"You have my word, Yamada-san."
"Thank you. We'll start sending the students out now." With that he hung up.
A few moments I heard a series of thuds on top of the bus, and a moment after that a scared looking young man dropped through the top hatch. He looked around furtively for a moment but when he saw he was safe he relaxed a little. "I'm glad you-"
I interrupted him with a raise of one of my hands and said. "Save it for when we get back, right now you need to move and let the next person down." I indicated the dangling legs swinging over the kid's head.
"Huh?"
He looked up only to receive a foot to the face.
"D-don't look up, pervert!"
"Hey! I didn't do it on purpose!"
Moments later a girl dropped down, still glaring, with her hands on her hips. "Well if that's so, why do you have a nose bleed?"
"Because you kicked me in the face!"
I sighed and pinched my nose. It was moments like this that I remembered that I was literally living in an fanservice manga with all the tits and tropes thereof. Oh, fuck my life.
"You two can have your little lover's squabble at the back of the bus. Now quiet down and get out of the goddamned way!"
Both young people flushed in embarrassment and meekly made way for the next person to drop down. Slowly but surely the students slid out of the window, scampered across the top of the bus, and slid down through the hatch.
I sighed deeply and leaned against the console next to Shizuka. "Not great, but could have been worse."
She smiled and gave me a chuckle. "I'd make some kind of observation about it, but I really don't want to jinx it."
My face split with a grin. Good God do I love this woman.
------------
Fucking Tanaka.
If there's one rule you always need to remember it's that no plan survives contact with the enemy, or in in this case, Ichiro Tanaka.
One thing I'd prided myself on when I'd created my Huscarls was that I'd taken many of the saddest, weakest, and physically useless members of the school and turned them into the toughest, hardest, Viking motherfuckers this side of Asgard. Sadly, it was only most, and one of the ones who'd failed muster was Ichiro Tanaka.
He'd been suggested about three weeks into training and then managed to last three minutes of training before he'd declared it too hard and slinked back off to his dorm to play creepy loli visual novels or whatever else it was the fuck he did in his spare time.
Before I'd found him Kohta had been short, weak, and fat. Now, while I couldn't say I helped him any with the short problem, he... well... now, lets just say 'nobody tosses a dwarf' and leave it at that.
Tanaka was a couple inches taller, and easily twice as wide as Kohta has been when we met, and after said three minutes of training, he'd been left sweating like a pig in sauna. Needless to say, he wasn't a very physical boy. The more cynical part of me would guess that the closest he'd gotten to cardio in the last couple years probably involved a dark room and a box of kleenex.
It was a shame too. I'll admit, I couldn't stand the kid. His attitude was crap, his personal hygiene was worse, and he the way he looked at the girls in the school made me wonder if we were dealing with a creepy stalker hentai protagonist in training, but nobody deserved what he'd gotten.
Well, except for Shido.
Getting into the busses wasn't exactly treacherous. Took some care, but lowering yourself three feet over a wall by a rope isn't exactly an obstacle course unless you're really unlucky, or the most pathetic fatass I'd ever met.
Ichiro Tanaka somehow managed surpass even my low opinion of him and be both at the same fucking time.
I was unable to see it happen because it happened on the bus to the right of mine, but I heard the entire thing. Tanaka had been trying to lower himself onto the bus roof when somehow he managed to slip and twist his ankle. He then somehow managed to stumble the entire length of the bus, thrashing as he tried to regain his balance before going flying off the front with a panicked scream which continued on in agony once he hit the pavement.
And of course, Zombies are attracted to loud noises. Which considering that the school grounds was swarming with them by this point, well, what happened next should be obvious. I only had a second to make eye contact with the boy before he was literally torn limb from limb.
To make matters worse, this was seen by literally half the remaining students who also started screaming, drawing in probably every zombie within damned near a kilometer...
I hate to speak ill of the dead but...
"Fucking Tanaka!" I cursed as I lept to my feet only moments after the chaos started. "All of you! Shut the fuck up and calm the fuck down!" I roared at the top of my lungs.
Jabbing a finger towards the approaching horde I snarled, "In case you didn't notice his screaming is why all the fucking zeds swarmed on him, now unless you want to share his fate I suggest you pipe the fuck down, NOW!"
I wish I was able to say that that was enough to get them all in perfect order but that would be deluding myself. There was still a general panic, especially among the students still in the school, many of whom were now too terrified to even risk the climb down.
Gritting my teeth and closing my eyes I picked up the hand set radio I was using to keep in contact with the other teachers.
I was probably going to hell for this but sometimes when things get bad you just have to swallow your kindness and institute a triage.
"This is Brody. Anyone who is too panicky to climb down, since we don't have time to coach every one of them, move them to the back of the line and explain this very clearly. If they climb down, there's a low chance they'll slip, they'll fall, and then they'll die horrible deaths. If they don't climb down, we'll have to leave them behind to save the others. In which case they will die horrible deaths. The choice is theirs. This might seem cruel, but right now we're on a time limit."
Taking a moment to center myself, I then spoke into the Radio again, this time with the intent on contacting the other drivers.
"Everyone crack the windows and get the spears. We can't keep them away from the school, but we can keep them off the busses. And for fucks sake, you spear out of the window you do not reach out of it. Anyone who gets bitten will turn into one of them."
I lowered my Radio and frowned. Fuck this waiting shit.
Pushing past the Throng of students I pulled myself onto the roof. "Alright! " I called out. "Anyone small and light, just jump and I'll catch you!"
It was a risk, but I could already see the horde bunching up, both around the busses, and slowly approaching the school from outside the grounds. We had maybe ten minutes and were going to be driving over a whole lot of speed bumps on the way out.
Fuck.
As I was guiding another small girl towards the hatch, I felt the bus shake. I immediately clasped the girl to my chest and knelt down to keep my balance, ignoring the squeak of embarrassment and the flush on her face that immediately appeared. I looked down over the edge and saw that the swarm had grown large enough that their combined mass could shift the bus.
I noted with some satisfaction that the spears were doing their job in driving them off or putting them down but I knew it couldn't last. Either enough zombies showed up to tip the bus or enough were killed that they could reach into the bus on top of their redead companions. Or worse, we could get in the rest of the students and find that there were too many zombies surrounding the bus to allow them to move from their standstill position.
Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!
Glancing down at the small girl still in my arms I saw the fear in her eyes, I looked back up to the students at the window, none of them looking at me, instead at the ever growing horde. I could hear the curses and battle-cries of the students in the busses, spearing everything that got close and the constant moans, rasps and death rattles of the horde. I realized that there was no way we'd all get out of this alive, and if anyone had to make the ultimate sacrifice….
I gently helped the girl into the hatch, I then stuck my head into the bus and and called for one of the huscarls who came along, Sasuke of all names. "Could you come up and bring my weapons with you?"
"Alright sensei." He pulled himself up and handed me my gear.
"Thanks, Sasuke," I said in a calm tone. I then started sliding my armor on. "I need you to help the rest of the students down and into the bus. I've got something else to do."
"Sensei?" The young man asked, his confusion obvious in his face.
"There's going to be too many zeds for the busses to get through and escape, someone's going to have to get their attention elsewhere. Who else is going to stay alive long enough?" I said strapping my shield to my arm and doing a few test swings with my axe.
"No. Sensei NO! Let me do it! I'm your huscarl, isn't that what a huscarl does? Fight and die for his chief?" Tears started forming in the young man's eyes.
I smiled and placed my hand on his shoulder. "I'm not your chief, I'm your teacher, you're too young to throw your life away, let a man who's lived his life do it. Besides, a leader has to sometimes make the ultimate sacrifice sometimes to keep his people safe."
I then pulled out the crucifix around my neck on last time, kissed it and handed it to him. "One last favor Sasuke? Could you give this Shizuka? Tell her I love her and always will. Tell her I asked her to keep safe and be happy. Tell- tell her that if the world wasn't ending I would have bought her a ring a long time ago."
Sasuke blinked back more tears and, taking the little golden cross said: "Yeah, I will."
"Good. Now, go help the others down." I smiled and turned towards the front of the bus where I could leap down to the ground more easily.
As I walked I started to pray. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me." For all of its inaccuracies the King James Bible had some lovely lines. Then I started up another prayer, "Our Father, who art in Heaven…" I needed to finish those prayers the good father had asked me to say for my penance and better now than never. Who knew maybe I'd get through all of them before I went down.
I was starting to build up speed for the jump when I was shaken out of my state of mind.
Someone was blowing an airhorn from one of the nearby doors, what idiot would...I turned my head and saw to my surprise that it was Principle Yamada, he'd found an airhorn and was blowing it from an open door on that bridge thing that spanned between the two buildings of the school. The zombies immediately turned towards the loudest noise and moved away from the busses.
Yamada waited and kept blowing his airhorn along with shouting at the top of his lungs in between blasts. "Hey! Hey! Over here!"
At the last moment he moved towards the building farthest away from our evacuation point. As the horde continued to pour up and into the building I realized that the zombies were no longer pressuring the bus and even the way out of thinning.
Deciding not to think about it I turned back to Sasuke and said. "Change of plans, we're going to work together and help the rest of the students down as quickly as possible."
Sasuke stared at me for a moment, then smiled and said, "Alright Sensei."
We then turned and started catching students again, then practically tossing them down the hatch. Quicker than I thought possible the last person, little Yamazaki of all people, much less angry than normal, downright scared actually, was lowered down into the bus. I glanced at the others and smiled when they were finished loading as well.
I turned to Sasuke and was about to tell him to hop back in when his eyes widened and he pointed at one of the buildings, "Sensei! Look!"
I turned and saw that Sasuke was pointing at the building Yamada had lured the zombies into, specifically it was the one with the dome on the roof for the astronomy club, standing up there was Principle Yamada, he'd barricaded the stairs and was still blowing his airhorn. He blasted one last time and looked back towards us. Right then the barricade broke and the swarm lurched up the stairs towards him.
Yamada backed up towards the railing, the side which opened up to the parking deck below. I never even blinked at the old man saluted and right when the zeds were reaching out to grab him, he leaned back and dropped out of sight, I swear he was smiling. A few zeds followed the sound after him. The rest milled about for a few moments, then began lurching in other directions.
I turned back to Sasuke and said: "Let's go."
He never said a word, he just nodded and slid through the hatch. I followed suit. When my feet hit the ground I turned to Sasuke who already knew what I wanted and handed back my crucifix. I slipped it back around my neck and under my shirt I turned to Shizuka and said: "Let's get moving, it's a long ride back."
"Alright, Tom." And with a roar of the engine she moved, the other vehicles followed suit. There was still an smattering of zeds in the way but not nearly enough to impede our path. All the while Shizuka repeated: "They're not people anymore." Over and over.
I just clutched my crucifix and started working on the rest of my penance. While at the same time offering my prayers for the soul of Mamoru Yamada, the bravest man I'd ever had the honor of meeting.