Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Takanosu.
October, x785.
"So, where are we heading first?" Saeko asked from the passenger seat of the Humvee.
"We should check out the primary school where Komuro's mother should have been working when everything went to hell." Alfonzo replied while driving. "We'll take out any zombies we see along the way, too."
"The primary school is close to my house." Saya said as she checked the magazines in her magic pistols.
"I know." Alfonzo replied. "We'll be heading there after we check on Komuro's mother."
Not long later, Alfonzo, Saeko, and Saya saw a horde of zombies, numbering about four hundred, loitering outside a rather large building.
"That's the primary school, right?" Alfonzo asked.
"That's right." Saya replied with a stern nod.
"Well, it looks like there are still quite a few people still alive inside." Alfonzo said as he narrowed his eyes.
"How do you know that?" Saya asked with her eyebrows furrowed. "There's no way you can see or hear anything inside from here."
"Fairy Tail guild secret." Alfonzo said with a smile. A moment later, however, his expression turned solemn. "Alright, ladies, brace for impact."
"What are you--- Kya!" Saya began to question before screaming in surprise.
*Screech!*
Not giving Saya the chance to ask her question, Alfonzo stepped on the accelerator before sending the Humvee into a slide. And with the use of his magic, Alfonzo made sure that the vehicle did not roll. Instead, the driver's side of the vehicle crashed into the horde of zombies, sending many flying.
"Alright, let's take care of this horde." Alfonzo said as he slammed the door open, sending another zombie flying from the force. "Miss Takagi, climb to the roof and provide cover with your magic guns. Be careful, though. We don't need any friendly fire."
"Just who do you think you are?" Saya asked as she opened the hatch on the vehicle's ceiling. "A genius like me doesn't need to be reminded of something so simple. And you should just call me Saya. Miss Takagi is too slow to say in a situation like this."
As she spoke the last part, a slight blush made its way on to Saya's face. Meanwhile, Saeko had already opened her door, hopped out the vehicle, unsheathed her katana, and shut the door behind her.
*Bang!*
As the sound of the door slamming could be heard, the heads of three nearby zombies flew up into the air. Then, Saeko dashed forward, cutting through every zombie in her path. At the same time, she gracefully avoided the hands, fingernails, and teeth of the zombies.
*Swish!* *Swish!*
Making a quarter turn, Saeko dodged a zombie's outstretched hand. Then, with an upward slash, she cut off its hand. And with the reverse slash, she bisected the same zombie from its left shoulder to its right hip.
*Bang!*
Before the zombie's upper body could fall to the ground, Saeko spun on her left heel and through a devastating right kick into the zombie's upper body, sending it flying head first towards another zombie's head.
*Bang!* *Splatter!* x 2
As a result, both zombie's heads exploded into a mess of brain matter and shattered skull fragments.
"Flowing magic power through my body really makes a huge difference in battle." Saeko muttered to herself as she spun around and cut the legs off a zombie that tried to grab her from behind.
*Shing!*
Then, in the same motion, Saeko stabbed her katana through the head of the downed zombie.
*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*
In the next instant, four bullets, two on each side, whizzed past Saeko's head, exploding the heads of four approaching zombies.
"Thanks, Miss Takagi." Saeko said with a smile as she turned around and dashed into the horde.
Instead of replying to Saeko's thanks, Saya pointed her pistols at the zombies further into the horde, hoping to lessen the number of zombies Alfonzo and Saeko would have to face. Rapidly pulling the triggers, although not all of Saya's shots were headshots, she did manage to land every shot, slowing down the zombies' approach.
'That girl really is a genius.' Alfonzo thought to himself as he cut through the zombies with his [Circular Cutters]. 'She only had a night to train with those pistols. Yet, she's landed every shot.'
["Yeah, she's pretty good."] Bedlam said while nodding in agreement. ["Still, I don't think [Guns Magic] is her true calling. She seems like she'd do better with some kind of [Caster Magic]. Fire maybe…?"]
'Well, if she joins a guild, I'm sure they'd be able to help her figure out her specialization.' Alfonzo replied. 'And if I had brought any magic books with me, I could have got the process started faster.'
["Quit crying over spilled milk!"] Riot said in an irritated tone. ["Instead, you should save that girl."]
'I know." Alfonzo replied nonchalantly. I'm already on it.'
In the next instant, Alfonzo made a three hundred sixty degree turn with his arms extended. As a result, he cut through the necks of every zombie surrounding him. Then, he let the circular saw attached to his left arm disconnect, sending it flying in Saya's direction.
Meanwhile, Saya, who was about to eject the empty magazines from her magic pistols, panicked when she saw the circular saw flying towards her. Before she could try to evade, however, it flew past the left side of her head before splitting a magically enhanced zombie's head in half.
As a result, Saya was sprayed with blood and brain matter from behind, causing her to jump in surprise. Then, after getting her heart beat under control, she looked back over her shoulder.
Not seeing anything behind her, Saya looked down at the road. There she saw a zombie with its head split vertically down the middle.
"You could have warned me first!" Saya shouted as she dropped the empty magazines through the Humvee's hatch. Then, as she reached into the bag she carried to retrieve a new pair of magazines, she continued. "You almost scared me to death. That saw of yours almost killed me!"
"Nah, you were perfectly safe." Alfonzo replied as he manifested a pair of short swords in his hands. "I have perfect control of my magic."
Hearing Alfonzo's carefree tone, Saya gritted her teeth. Yet, she did not let her frustration slow her down. Instead, she reloaded her pistols and continued shooting.
Meanwhile, Saeko had cut a path from the Humvee to the gates leading to the primary school. Then, she began slaughtering all the zombies who were close to it. On top of that, she could hear the faint sounds of children crying and whimpering on the other side of the gate.
"Alfonzo was right." Saeko muttered while feeling amazed at how acute her senses had become with magic power bolstering them. "There really are a lot of people still inside. "And most of them seem to be children. No wonder there were so many zombies gathered here. I'm sure the kids are terrified and can't stop crying."
With that, Saeko, who was enjoying the violence, had her whole demeanor change. Although she truly enjoyed committing acts of violence, she was also raised to follow the knight's code. So, her desire to protect the weak superseded her desire for violence.
At the same time, while the battle on the street outside the primary school was going on, a number of children and teaching staff were huddled together in the main hall of the school building.
Fortunately, none of them were in particularly bad shape. While this place was a school, and there were stores of food for emergencies, there was not enough to completely fill the stomachs of all of the people present for more than a day.
As a result, none of the adults had eaten since lunch on the day all this started. Still, as responsible educators, they did all they could to keep the children safe. Even if they knew that most of these children would be orphans when everything was over.
"Mrs. Kamuro…" A little girl, appearing to be six or seven years old, said in a scared tone. "What are those things doing outside? Why is it so noisy?"
"I'm not sure." Mrs. Kamuro, or Sayuri Kamuro, Takashi's mother, said while hugging the little girl soothingly. "But I promise, we won't let anything happen to you or the other children."
Sayuri Komuro, a tall woman, standing at about 5'7" tall with long, straight black hair, brown eyes, fair skin, and a voluptuous figure, was currently the one leading the survivors in the primary school. Unfortunately, many of those higher in rank than her had been turned into zombies early on. Luckily, she and the other untainted teachers were able to put them down, keeping most of the student body safe. Though there were a few students who also lost their lives in this incident.
Like that, while listening to the sounds of battle coming from outside the primary school, the group of survivors huddled together in fear. Then, after about twenty more minutes, all the sounds stopped.
"Is it over?" Sayuri muttered while hugging the little girl in her arms a little tighter.
Eventually, the sound of the gates opening made its way into the main hall, causing everyone to panic once again. Yet, they never heard the sound of a large number of footsteps approaching.
*Knock!* *Knock!* *Knock!*
Instead, after about a minute, they heard the sound of someone knocking on the school's main entrance.
"The zombies outside the gates have been dealt with." A deep male voice said calmly after the knocking subsided. "Although I wouldn't suggest going outside, there is no immediate danger at the moment. Do you think you could let us in to check the conditions of those inside."
Hearing that voice, which belonged to Alfonzo, the entire group of survivors froze. At the moment, they were too scared to believe anything coming from outside the walls of the school. However, as the leader of the group, Sayuri eventually decided to, at least, speak to the ones outside the doors.
Releasing the little girl in her arms, Sayuri slowly stood up. Then, with steps weakened from hunger, she made her way to the front doors of the primary school.
"Who are you?" Sayuri asked through the door.
"Mrs. Komuro, is that you?" A female voice familiar to Sayuri asked in response.
"Saya?" Sayuri asked in surprise. "Is that really you?"
"Yes, it's me, Saya!" The female voice, Saya, exclaimed excitedly.
Hearing that, Sayuri breathed a sigh of relief. Then, with all the strength she could muster, she moved the heavy plank used to hold the door in place.
*Bang!*
The loud sound of the plank falling to the floor scared those hiding in the school. However, Sayuri was undeterred. The thought of meeting someone she knew in such a chaotic situation was driving her forward.
Eventually, Sayuri opened the door. However, instead of Saya, the first thing she saw was a brown-skinned young man. And when she saw him, Sayuri opened her eyes wide in surprise.
"You… You're Alfonzo Marcus of Fairy Tail… Right?" Sayuri asked.
"That's right." Alfonso replied with a nod and a reassuring smile.
"Thank goodness." Sayuri said in a relieved tone as she slumped down to the floor. "Then, that means we'll be saved."
"Mrs. Komuro." Saya said in a panicked tone after seeing Sayuri fall to the floor. Then, she rushed past Alfonzo to support her. "Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?"
"Saya, it really is you." Sayuri replied with a relieved smile. "I'm glad you're okay."
"Yeah, I'm fine." Saya said as she held Sayuri. Then, she pointed at Alfonzo. "He saved us when things were looking really bad."
"Us? Does that mean there are more people with you?" Sayuri asked with hope shining in her eyes.
"That's right." Saya said with a nod. "Ms. Busujima from the year above mine is here. Plus, Takashi, Miyamoto, and four others are back at our base, with Alfonzo's wife, Elicia Taylor."
"Thank goodness, my son is safe." Sayuri said, even more relief making it into her tone after hearing that Takashi was safe.
"We can talk about the situation later." Alfonzo said, stepping through the primary school's door as he did so. "For now, we need to check on the conditions of everyone here. The good thing is that I can't feel the presence of any more zombies nearby. Still, we need to make sure all the kids are okay."
"The kids should be fine." Sayuri replied. "They're probably a little hungry, though."
"I guess it's a good thing we've scavenged some food, then." Alfonzo said with a smile. "But I'm not sure if it will be enough for everyone."
"Just as long as you can give the kids enough to eat, it should be fine." Sayuri replied.
"No, that's not enough." Alfonzo replied sternly. "You and the other adults are here taking care of these kids. How are you supposed to keep doing that if you can't move because of hunger?"
"But…" Sayuri tried to argue.
"No buts." Alfonzo said, cutting off Sayuri's retort. "We'll be heading to the Takagi mansion after this. There's a shelter set up there. So, I'm sure they'll be able to spare some food for you. Hell, they might even be able to relocate all of you. And if you're lucky, some of the kids might be able to reunite with their families."
"*Sigh* You're right." Sayuri replied with a smile making its way onto her lips.
Meanwhile, Alfonzo turned his attention to Saeko and Saya.
"You two stay here." Alfonzo said. "Help them get a little food in their stomachs. Meanwhile, I'll go back to the apartment and get Shizuka. We don't' have anyone better for making sure all these people are okay."
"Understood." Saeko replied.
"That's probably the best idea." Saya muttered as she nodded in understanding.
With that, Alfonzo turned around and made his way to the Humvee. Then, using his magic, he brought the food the trio managed to scavenge on the way to the primary school inside. After that, while Saeko and Saya started preparing food, Alfonzo headed back to the apartment to pick up Shizuka.
However, when he would eventually return, everyone staying in the apartment would be accompanying him. On top of that, Elicia would be driving the Escalade, as well.
At the same time, Shido, who had been gathering magic power to take full control of the ritual that started this zombie apocalypse, had finally completed his task. So, he was currently standing at the entrance of the grocery store where he and the students who followed him had been hiding.
Meanwhile, in the street in front of the grocery store, a small horde of eighty zombies, thirty of which were magically enhanced, with the strongest five reaching S-Class in strength, were devouring several human bodies.
"Now, I have control of the undead, I'll make those bitches pay." Shido said as he watched the zombies under his control devour the male students, he had [Charmed] at the beginning of this incident. "But first, I think it's time I make my way to Takagi mansion. I've waited so long for my chance to taste that woman, Yuriko Takagi."
A few minutes later, once all the students were gone, Shido, still standing at the front entrance of the grocery store, looked over his horde of zombies with a manic smile on his face.
"Then, once I've had my fill of the mother, I'll go retrieve the daughter." Shido said as he started walking away from the grocery store. "And I'll enjoy them together. The way they should be enjoyed. Hahahaha!"
After a few steps, Shido reached the magic vehicle he took from Saeko, Takashi, and the others. Inside of which, all the female students, with their minds broken and still under the effect of Shido's [Charm Magic], were seated obediently. Then, after taking a seat behind the wheel and without acknowledging any of the young women in the vehicle, Shido wrapped the S.E. Plug around his wrist and pulled away from the grocery store.
At the same time, Shido commanded the small horde of thirty magically enhanced zombies and fifty normal zombies to follow him at a distance.
On a side note, the horde Shido controlled would have been bigger. However, the magically enhanced zombies had eaten five-sixths of the original number while Shido had his fun with the enslaved young women for the last time before heading out.
Driving slowly, Shido made his way across the town towards the Takagi mansion. At the speed he was going, he was slated to arrive near sunset. On top of that, Shido exerted control over every zombie the group passed, causing his horde to grow as they travelled.