Chapter Text
"Can't you slow down, Akutagawa?!" Tachihara yelled from the backseat as the mentioned swerved the vehicle hastily to take a different exit.
"I know how to drive perfectly! You were the ones that said to get out of here fast" The older man growled at him, his eyes focused on the road ahead. Still, he was aware of the rest of his surroundings, those that were filled with abandoned cars and splatters of blood that painted the pavement with death claims everywhere. He should have been mindful as to not run over anyone that was left in the city, but the situation didn’t favor his kindness. They needed to run away, there was no time to care about others.
A week prior, a horrible alarm— similar to the alerts for bomb attacks– had rung all over Yokohama before the pre-recorded message started. A government spokesman warned the civilians to take shelter as soon as feasible to be safe from an "unknown phenomenon" that was spreading through the country. Such a statement quickly became the first priority for the Armed Detective Agency and, even, the Port Mafia. They worked on investigating the case further, finding more cryptics rather than answers. Yet, with enough clues, it didn't take long for Ranpo to figure out what the government was hiding all along. And contrary to what was normal, the detective’s face didn’t remain impassive at his deduction, which brought matching panic to his colleagues. He then uttered the words with his eyes open wide and standing up abruptly, marking what would be the start of something much bigger.
"The dead are coming"
"Akutagawa, be careful!" Atsushi yelled this time, holding Kyoka's hands that grabbed his arm to avoid moving around too much in the backseat. "I see who taught Kyoka-chan how to fucking drive"
Surprisingly, Ryuunosuke didn't argue back at Atsushi’s claim. He was completely focused on the opening of the road which seemed to have fewer obstacles. Problem was that he didn't know where they were going.
It had all been too chaotic, from the outbreak of the dead to the organizations fighting together against whatever those things were, to getting separated from the rest of their peers...Akutagawa could only be glad that he hadn't lost Gin in the mass of people, he wouldn't have left without them had it been the case. He supposed it was the same for Nakajima, seeing how he had become an older brother figure to Kyoka through the years. It filled him with a strange sensation of relief to see them together and safe, at least for now.
Atsushi and Kyouka had been running away from a horde of those things, having lost the rest of the agency when they appeared. The streets were a mess, they needed to dodge cars and cracks that had been created by the various fights that took place those days as ability users tried and failed to contain the monsters.
Kyouka had been ahead of Atsushi, allowing the young man to keep an eye on her in case she needed help. Regrettably, she did in fact need it.
"Kyoka!" He yelled when he saw the teenager fall to the ground as she attempted to jump a raised portion of the pavement. Atsushi ran faster to get to her side and help her up, but the herd was too close to them, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to start running as fast as he had in order to save themselves. So, instead, he held Kyouka in his arms, closing his eyes tightly, and tried his best to cover her frame with his body as the zombies approached— a desperate attempt to protect her.
"Don't! Don't!" Kyouka yelled and punched his chest trying to get him off. He could run by himself if he left her there, but he wouldn't leave her. He’d rather sacrifice his body if it meant keeping her safe. "Atsushi..."
Just as Kyouka was lamenting their near future, the floor beneath them started shaking and rumbling, slowing the dead as some of them fell from the quivering. Then suddenly, pipes rose from the pavement and crossed in front of the zombies, creating a strong fence that would delay the march of the horde. Atsushi raised his head to see the scenario behind him, noting the orange glow that covered the metal fence.
"Get in the fucking car! Now!"
Now the tiger's head turned to look ahead of them. Tachihara stood on the roof of a car, his hands in front of him to control the pipes at his will. Atsushi didn’t stop to question anything, he started pulling himself and Kyouka up, readying to run for the car as the redhead had yelled at them. Inside the vehicle, he could see the Akutagawa siblings urging them on as well from their seats.
"Come on, Jinko! We don't have all day!" Akutagawa shouted at him before he got in the car, letting Kyouka in first to assure her safety.
"Tachihara, get in!" This time the youngest of the Akutagawa's yelled at their partner who obliged quickly and got in the back seat next to Atsushi.
Ryuunoske, immersed in his train of thought, then spared a second to glance at Tachihara through the rearview, and, as he had predicted, he wasn't looking too good. It wasn't just because of the way Akutagawa drove– it might have not even affected him at all– but the redhead had to leave Higuchi and Hirotsu behind, two of the most influential people to him.
He hadn’t been as lucky as the rest of them that were in the car, even if Gin and himself were also attached to their co-workers, he knew Tachihara had a greater heart than them, and the thought of losing them– again– was terrifying for the young man.
“Tachihara” The black-haired called from the driver's seat and Michizou’s attention quickly shifted to him. “They are strong, don’t doubt them.”
Reassuring words from Akutagawa often had a great impact on anyone who would get to receive them, even if in the past two years these had become more frequent, they were still rare but always honest. So, of course, Tachihara sighed. Some of the tension in his shoulders decreased.
“Yeah, I know” He offered a slow nod, not too convincing but Akutagawa knew he’d win nothing from discussing with him the matter. Even so, he spared another glance at him, only to notice the redhead’s attention was drawn towards where his eyes could meet Gin’s through the mirror. Maybe Ryunosuke’s words weren’t as efficient as his sibling’s gaze, even if they worked to some extent. Because, with that simple eye contact the two of them made, the young man relaxed further into his seat.
“We should try contacting someone once we are out of the city” Gin spoke, eyeing the road as if they were estimating how far away they were already. They had been in the car for about thirty-five minutes and they seemed to be passing Seya Ward. It would take over an hour to reach one of the bridges to cross over the Sagami River and be out of Yokohama.
“Do we know if the zombies are out of the city?” Atsushi asked, watching around them, seeing some of the creatures pass like shadows in the distance.
“They are like hungry predators,” Gin started explaining. That was visible in how they launched at people and didn’t hesitate to take bites out of them mercilessly— like rabid dogs. “They will focus on where people live, to feed from them.”
A shiver ran through Nakajima´s spine. Not only the thought of people serving as food for creatures that once were humans as well, was at fault for it but also the way Gin spoke as if they were already desensitized to the situation. At moments like this, Atsushi was painfully aware of how similar the siblings were.
“Fewer people, fewer monsters.” Tachihara sentenced to at least assure the younger man that they would be fine. Still, he couldn’t shake the bad, anxious feeling off his bones.
Atsushi felt the pressure on his arm, which had loosened previously, increase momentarily. He looked at Kyouka with concern but was greeted with a mirroring gaze, the young teen was worried about him; like always, she could easily read his mind. Nakajima smiled at her, genuinely, which was all it took for the black-haired girl to hug his arm comfortably and drop her head on her brother’s shoulder. Her movements were followed by Atsushi as he rested his own head on top of hers and whispered.
“We’ll be okay, I promise”
“You stupid, useless thing!”
Akutagawa threw his phone away after trying over and over to get in touch with someone, anyone . But there was no luck for any of them, there was no service even with the modifications that the mafiosos had on their phones, it didn’t matter how hard they tried. And surely, getting angry at their phone wouldn’t help at all.
“This is pointless, what are we even supposed to do?” Tachihara complained, visibly infuriated, yet he didn’t match Akutagawa’s fit against his phone.
“Doesn’t the Port Mafia have safe houses?” Kyoka spoke then. She recalled many times when she heard higher-ups mention the usage of said places, surely the three mafiosos would know at least one.
“Yes, but many are either in Yokohama or scattered over the country, all too far from here” Things didn’t look great and Gin’s statement didn’t bring them any hope. If they didn’t find a place with food and supplies, being killed by a zombie wouldn’t be at the top of their worries.
A creaking noise, branches being broken under the pressure of steps called Atsushi’s attention, his head shot up towards the forest. The other four stared at him, narrowed eyes and questioning looks were directed at him as he appeared to be the only one who heard the sound. The steps were slow, but they were surely coming their way and Nakajima tried his hardest to recognize how many sets of feet there were. He could count two for sure, but there could be three as well, either way, he didn’t like that.
Kyouka was pushed behind the gray-haired as the boy tensed, in case what he was hearing came any closer. He hoped the sounds would go away before the rest could hear them, that would mean they weren’t that close. But they’d be damned if they had that much luck.
Akutagawa was the next one to hear the noise from the woods, followed swiftly by Gin and then Tachihara. Those things would soon come into their vision range if they waited a few minutes. It took one second of brief eye contact for Atsushi and Ryuunoske to urge the rest into the car ready to hit the road again before anything happened. Staying there any longer was nothing but a death wish.
Apparently, their voices and quick movements triggered the creatures that were lurking between the trees given how their slow pace became a quick stride toward the group. There were only two of them, as the weretiger had guessed, and they were relatively small but they were set to eat them up with the hunger of twenty grown men.
Only Akutagawa and Atsushi remained outside of the car yet both zombies launched at the oldest as if they couldn’t bother running some more to catch the gray-haired. Nakajima attempted to come closer to his partner to assist him but Rashomon was already tearing through flesh mercilessly, pushing the monsters backward, before they could harm Ryuunosuke.
Atsushi didn’t lament his partner’s actions; he had already seen how the zombies couldn’t be cured of this disease they carried as Yosano had tried to multiple times in the early days, those things were no longer humans.
Akutagawa’s attack had stunned them enough for the pair to get in the car and leave the side of the road as quickly as possible without looking back. “Why the fuck didn’t you get in the car right away?!” Michizou yelled at them the second they started driving again. “Even I know better, you idiots!”
“Hey! We don’t know if they can follow us, we had to stop them!”
“Yeah, sure because they would chase us for miles, huh?”
“Maybe, they–!”
“Don’t question me, Tachihara” Akutagawa interrupted their argument with a stern command before Atsushi could say anything else to the redhead. It worked to shut the boy up but it seemed like he was not the only one who was against their choice to stay out of the car to push the zombies back.
“That was stupid,” Izumi and Gin said together, finally ending the argument, none of them wanted to upset their siblings anymore. Atsushi muttered an apology to the black-haired pair while Akutagawa redirected his attention to the task at hand, driving until they could find a safe place to stay or at least somewhere to stop and rest for a while.
They would definitely need it.