Getting a higher vantage point as we got to the location, the teams rushed out to take out the zombies in the immediate area. Sniping the Revenant and Ridden as they approached, I told the supply teams to get into the trucks and take anything that wasn't spoiled. While they were busy with that, I pulled everything of use in the building that was nearby me into storage. Fifteen minutes later we were on the move again with one truck completely full of supplies.
Moving from store to store we took everything we could, and I stowed things away in storage for future use. Getting through the small city in an hour, we continued towards the majority city in the area. Stopping before cresting the last hill before the city, I wanted to scope it out visually. Using the HUD to zoom in, there was a horde of around a thousand moving towards the larger group further north.
'Hmm...we can either wait, or try to take them.', I thought glancing back, 'They need the combat experience, and most of these undead are Revenant and normal zombies. If they can't handle them at this point they are dead against the mutants.'
"How's it looking?", Mikoto asked me, "We going to get some action?"
"Yes, we got a group of a thousand undead. They are majority common zombies with a few mutants in the mix. I don't see signs of a big guy or anything here.", I told them, "This is good practice for everyone, just be careful and watch each other's back."
"We can do that!", Kohta snickered with a grin on his face, "You ladies ready?"
"Yes darling!", his lovers agreed.
"I am going to hurl...", Saya complained.
"You haven't had to sit behind them, and watch...", Takashi sighed.
Telling them to advance, I charged forwards towards the dead. Leaping into the fray, I slammed into the ground blasting the dead away like rag dolls. Spraying the dead with my Heavy Assault Rifle, the dead were blown away like confetti. Running his Humvee through the dead, Kohta stopped once they reached a clear place before disembarking. Dishing out orders to his team, they followed his directions to the letter.
Following his lead, Takashi and Hisashi followed suit. Laying down suppressing fire, my group caught up to me and started backing me up. Slicing, dicing, and filling the dead with arrows and bullets we were making good progress. Five minutes in we already had halved the group easily. Noticing a Snitch wandering towards us I told Rika to take it out. Stressing that it had to be a one shot one kill, she nodded her head and lined up the shot.
Pulling the trigger, I watched the head of the Snitch explode before it could alert the horde. Seeing several more of them approaching, I told the teams to take them out in a single shot. Informing them that if they didn't those things would bring reinforcements here to fight us. Kohta's group was able to pull it off, but Takashi's wasn't able too. Kenichi and Miu had broken their weapons when they went to strike, and weren't able to kill the Snitch in a single blow. They had forgotten to aim for the glowing areas, and hit the armored plating. Hearing the ear piercing scream, I pulled up my rifle and put the Snitch down in a hurry.
Hearing the zombies scattered around the city start to move we only had a few moments to prepare. Ordering Kohta, Sayo, and Takashi to man the heavy machine guns, I followed with an order for the group to close ranks. Having our firing team getting into position, the horde came rushing towards us like a wave of undead. The atmosphere was tense now as the dead trampled everything in their path.
"Hold!", I shouted.
Waiting for them to be only a block away, once they were in my zone I ordered them to open fire. Opening up with the machine guns, the three of them mowed down the front lines in less than a second. Firing on the dead behind them, the squads didn't stop firing till the wall of dead stopped moving.
"The fuck was that shit!", Takashi shouted, "You both know to aim for their glowing spots!! We went over this before we left, and Victor told us yesterday!!"
"Sorry!", Kenichi apologized, "It's our first time out, it won't happen again."
Moving the dead out of the way so we could pass. With the area relatively empty of dead now, we were able to make up time pretty quick. Encountering several officers that came running out a station we passed, they wanted to join us and not die of starvation. Yuko and Shizuka confirmed that they were clean so I allowed it.
Getting the remaining supplies we need, we topped off the fuel at a gas station while we had the chance. While the teams were doing that, I looked further northward to the major port at the north side of the island. It looked like a scene out of Doom (2016), the place was a blaze with undead and demon filth all over the place. In all actuality it really looked like a Hellwave had changed people, but that shouldn't be possible.
"Midna, can you explain to me how Umbrella managed to make something like that?", I asked.
"That's a bit of a story, you sure you want to know?", she answered.
"Yeah.", I replied.
"Well I am sure you know who the Itami was that you ran into too.", she snickered.
"I got that idea when I saw his phone wallpaper...", I stated, "I am impressed he managed to protect it from the EMP."
Telling me that while exploring Europe, Umbrella and Miranda found the fungus and a strange object. Earth had at one point had another GATE that appeared near Greece, and the Greeks had traded with the people on the other side. When Mount Vesuvius erupted in the ancient past it destroyed the GATE, and the pieces that weren't consumed by magma were treated like holy relics. Centuries of conquest let to one of the pieces being left in an old Roman ruin that they discovered.
Umbrella scientists ran tests on it, and found a new energy source they could use. Their energy weapons, bases, and cybernetic units all used the fragment as a power source. Unfortunately they would also soon discover overloading the fragment causes a Hellwave when it created a backlash. The normal Demons are uncontrollable by Umbrella, and the Cybernetic ones have the potential to break their safeties if they fight hard enough. If they are hit by the Hellwave they will go insane, and attack anyone they come across...like they were now. They had built a nest, and were preparing to attack our group during the evening.
"So they will become a problem like the Ridden...", I sighed.
"Yes, Umbrella doesn't realize that Red Queen is skewing their test results. This is her way of trying to save humanity, but it's going to kill them quicker.", Midna stated, "No one understands that the the legend is true, and that they are dealing with forces of which they don't understand. Outside of the group you protect, less than ten percent of humanity will be alive...assuming you end this."
Seven hundred million people left...that was a horrible number considering we started out with seven billion.
"I should warn you as well, the next phase is going to be World War Z.", she told me, "Shit's going to get crazy, and you aren't going to want be near Asia when that happens."
Thanking her for the warning, right now we were only at 5% of World Phase 2 so it was a ways off. Still though, it only made getting the two groups out of China. Looking at hot sites of Revenant and other Demon Hellspawn around globe it was quickly becoming apparent the population was dropping quickly. My system showed we were already down to almost 5 billion people, and that number was dropping quickly.
Asking about my chances of running into Rory and others, she said it might happen depending on how I dealt with things. Liking the idea of that, I looked forwarded to seeing how it would pan out for me. I had a long life ahead of me so it would be nice to be with someone that would live a long life like me. My lovers meant a lot to me, but they would only live a fraction of my lifespan. One day I would have to bury them, and I would be alone. While I was pondering that thought, Kohta came up onto the roof where I was.
"Jesus that is a shithole.", Kohta said looking at the sight before us, "I didn't think it would be this bad."
"It's going to get worse, some of those things look completely out of this world.", I stated.
"No doubt...they really look demonic.", he gulped, "We sure that we aren't actually in Hell?"
"At this point I don't know.", I answered, "Either way we can't give up now."
Agreeing with me, we rejoined the others and got the hell out of there. Our group was the only ones left on this island, but there was a ship of Umbrella people coming our way. It was imperative that we got the tests done today, and out either by the end of today or early tomorrow. Sitting on the hood of the lead vehicle I watched the surrounding area for threats.
Tapping on the glass, Rei and Mikoto signaled to change the radio frequency on my helmet. Tuning into the frequency that they wanted me too, I asked them what was up. Asking what the few was like to the north, I said that there was no one survived. Explaining what we saw, I wanted to make it clear that our group should avoid the northern end of the island. If we need anything crucial I would go there to get it as the group was too big of a target to take.
"We have everything we needed so I don't think you will need to go.", Pucca and Aimi said.
"I know, I just meant that this is our last supply stop before China.", I chuckled.
The drive home was relatively quiet with only a few undead in our path. Picking them off easily, we returned and got the supplies unloaded. Getting people moved onto the boat and our supplies locked up I wanted people to check out the facilities as we would all be here for at least a few months. Walking around the ship I made sure one last time that we were completely water tight. Once I was sure we were good, I used the internal PA system to let everyone know we were going to start the tests.
"Umm...so what do you need us to do?", Kohta asked, "I thought we would start decorating, and getting comfortable?"
"Haha, I think you all should get used to being on the ship before doing that. Unlike the ferry, this ship moves with a purpose and can perform sharp turns. I am going to put her through her paces, and you all are going to want to make sure that you are all ready.", I chuckled.
"I don't like the sound of this...", Takashi and Hisashi said.
"Bring it on!!", Souichiro laughed.
"Dude, chill out.", Bob sighed, "This isn't a game."
Looking back to my lovers and Itami's men I told them all to hold on. Once we were free of the docks, and out in open water I pushed the turbines to the normal cruising speed. Telling everyone to brace over the PA, I put us into a sharp turn. Feeling the ship dip to the right, everyone in the wheelhouse started squealing as they started to slid. Hiding my smirk, I wanted to look back and laugh at them.
My time on ships taught me how to maintain my balance during sharp turns. Performing a few more sharp turns, I let the group know that I was preparing to firing the big guns. It was important to ensure that I didn't compromise the integrity of the ship with my modification. Sounding the alarms before I fired the guns, the entire ship shook as all the barrels let off in sequence.
"Do it again!!", Oriha laughed over the speakers.
"Don't do it again!!", Arashi shouted, "For some of us the sound is deafening!"
"Your such a sour puss!", Oriha giggled.
"What!?", Kenichi called out, "I can't hear anything!!"
"I think the test over!!", Miu remarked.
Cutting the PA system, I turned back with a smile on my face. There was nothing better than having cannons you could fire any time you wanted too. My lovers weren't impressed, and Itami looked like a scared cat that was trapped in a box.
"You all okay?", I asked.
"Yeah, that was just...surprising.", they said.
Leaving Saya at the helm, I did a once over to ensure that we weren't leaking anywhere for everyone. My system showed we were fine, but I had to act like I was checking. Once testing was complete, I asked everyone if they wanted to just make our way to China now. Everyone was happy to leave now, it meant we didn't have to worry about the undead or the demons attacking us which was always welcome. With the decision made, I gave Daiyu a call to give her an update.
---Daiyu POV---
It had been a long time since we got into the bunker, since then things outside had become even worse. Bejing was reduced to ruins, the dead were rampant, and now new mutants were showing up everyday. These beasts were mutating faster than any of us expected which had gotten my mother off my back. After Victor spoke with me I plead my case to my family, and they begrudgingly agreed to follow me. All of them hated Victor because he didn't give them any attention, even after they tried tempting him.
When I met Victor, it was like I met the man of my dreams. He was kind, caring, and listen to what I had to say without judging me. Unlike everyone in my family, save for my grandfather, he actually treated me like a human being and not a piece of meat that could be sold to the highest bidder. We would play chess, video games, and talk about his trips around the world with his father. Listening to him talk about people in other places...it made me want to see the world, but that couldn't happen if I stayed here.
My father really liked Victor, he appreciated that he didn't try to use me to get information since our nations didn't get along. That said...he hated Victor's father because he seemed disinterested in actually being in China. Father said it was because he hated China, but now I know it was because he was no good.
When this whole thing started, and we were trapped in our mansion I was afraid that we were going to die there. The call from Victor filled me with hope that we were going to survive so I took the information to my surviving family. As much as I disliked them, it would have left me with a heavy heart if I would have abandoned them without telling them. I was in utter shock that they agreed so readily when I said that Victor had told me to flee.
The journey here was treacherous, but no one complained after seeing how bad it got just a few hours after we hunkered down here. Our mansion walls collapsed and those that stayed behind were torn apart while we sat in the bunker. My family had whispered their words of thanks to Victor as they saw what would have happened to us. Now we were waiting for him to call me so we could finally leave this place. Even though we were safe here we slept very little as we could hear the dead all around the area above.
Just as I was about to go to sleep again, my phone started to ring. Looking at the caller I saw that it was Victor, and quickly answered.
"Victor!!", I cried, "Did you make it to Okinawa!?"
"Yes, and we are on our way to your location. Members of the Ma Dojo are going to meet up with you in your area. They are going to be coming with us when we make our escape.", he told me, "We should be arriving in about 35 hours or so, depending on the tide and weather. How are you holding up?"
"I will be happier when I can see you again.", I started to sob, "Victor, it looks like Hell out there!! There are creatures of unspeakable horror roaming around out there. We watched a family be devoured by things in the ground that leapt out, and swallowed them whole."
"Everything will be fine Daiyu.", he said in a soothing tone, "I will get you out of there, and take everyone somewhere safe. All I need you to do is trust me, I promise I won't let you down."
"I...I know.", I stated, "The Navy has already been told to let you pass, my father's men are the commanders in this area so they won't report you to Umbrella."
"That is reassuring.", he chuckled, "I didn't want to get into a naval battle just yet."
"Hehe.", I laughed wiping my tears away, "How did you get the Ma Dojo to come here?"
"I met Kensei and Renka Ma on our way to Okinawa. She called her mother, and told them to come to your location. They should arrive a few minutes before we do according to Renka, when we get into the port we are going to open fire into the city. We need to buy time for both groups to get onto the ship, and that is the best way to do it.", he said.
"You are on a first name basis with the Ma's eldest daughter?", I asked with a hint of anger.
"Renka and I are a couple.", he admitted without trying to hide it.
"I want to have a strong discussion with you about that when I see you...", I seethed, "It's no fair that I wasn't able to do anything with you, and she can just date you like that!!"
"She isn't a politicians daughter...", he sighed, "We can discuss this at length over some of your delicious tea. I miss your green tea, I haven't met someone that can make better tea than you."
"Is that so?", I giggled with a proud smile, "Very well, we can discuss it later."
"Alright Daiyu, I will see you soon.", he said, "Get some sleep, you are exhausted. I can tell by your tone that you haven't slept well in at least a week, if not longer."
'He knows me so well...', I thought, "I will, goodnight Victor."
"Haha, I am steering the ship so I am not going to sleep.", he laughed, "Good night though Daiyu, have some sweet dreams."
Ending the call, I clutched the phone and held it to my chest. I wouldn't let politics stop me from being with him now. Since the day he left I had a hole in my chest, and I wasn't going to let that happen again.
'If I am going to die, I want to die next to him.', I thought before giving the news to my family and climbing into bed.