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Day 74 - Night - Last Defence Academy
It was a few hours past midnight and everyone had reconvened in the Garage since the Metal Shop had been taken over by the zombies. There was a lot of panting as both Gaku and Takemaru tried to board up the entrance to the room while Tsubasa and Shouma helped with the windows. Once they had gotten that all settled with they all turned to each other, panting, out of breath. It was when they had all lay eyes on each other that they were finally able to notice the two missing members.
“Wait, where are Takumi and Kyoshika?” Tsubasa asked, concern in her voice.
“They must still be out there!” Shouma exclaimed, fear on his face at the realisation.
“They can handle themselves. We gotta hol’ up here for now,” Takemaru spoke up. “Those two wouldn’t let no zombies get the better of ‘em!”
Tsubasa looked unsure at Takemaru’s words. “We don’t know if they could’ve been outnumbered or not…”
“Either way we can’t go out there now. There’s too many of them,” Gaku gave his two cents to the conversation. “We’d be better off searching for them in the morning when there’s more light.”
“But…”
“So, it’s decided then!” Takemaru yelled over Tsubasa. “Well look for them in the morning!”
She gave the two a worried glance before sharing a quick look with Shouma. Their other team-member was still locked in the Strange Room and as long as she stayed quiet she’d be safe. Tsubasa just hoped she wouldn’t have to come across anymore zombified forms of her friends. It really made her already ill stomach fill with up her throat making her cover her mouth.
She just wanted this to end.
The four slept through the next few hours restlessly, hearing the constant moans of those who had been turned along with their shifting footsteps. Those that had once been their friends. It put them on edge that at any moment the zombies would burst through their barricaded door and kill them. They were able to make it to morning and went out as a group, letting Kurara out in the process and splitting up across the school to try and find not just Nozomi now but Kyoshika and their leader.
They needed him back for moral support.
He was their leader.
But also … it was obvious how much Nozomi’s disappearance had affected him.
What if … she had been turned?
By the end of the day the group returned to the Garage and decided to share what they had found if anything.
“So…” Tsubasa started, staring at the wall as she avoided everyone’s gaze. “…we found Nozomi. She … was just like everyone else…”
“A zombie?” Shouma asked, shock in his voice.
She nodded, lowering her head. “If Takumi found himself facing her he probably wouldn’t be able to kill her…”
“Why do ya say that?”
“Dude, look what happened to Ima. He most likely saw her and couldn’t bring himself to kill her, so he died…” Gaku explained, voice drifting off at the end.
They still couldn’t believe Ima had done such a thing, but if he had truly seen his sister in such a state he would not have been to kill her. He would’ve just embraced death to be with her.
Takumi was different, but would he really spare Nozomi if he saw her in such a state?
He wouldn’t want to die but he definitely wouldn’t want to kill her either.
“That doesn’t mean that Takumi could end up the same!” Takemaru exclaimed, lifting his fist up, glaring at Gaku. “Ima an’ Kako were twins! Of course he’s going to be devastated at seeing her like that! I don’t know what Takumi’s deal with Nozomi is though…”
The girls in the room rolled their eyes, knowing exactly why Takumi was so protective of Nozomi.
It wasn’t just his past with her from the previous timeline, but also the fact he most likely had a crush on her.
“He just wants in her pants!” Kurara finally cried out.
“It’s nothing like that and you know it! Whatever Takumi feels for Nozomi it’s none of our business, but we have to find out what happened to him and Kyoshika now.” Someone had to stick up for Takumi and Tsubasa couldn’t believe she was the only one doing it.
Were they really falling a part?
They didn’t have anyone to keep them together anymore.
They couldn’t agree much on anything anymore.
What could they do?
The others in the room went silent after Tsubasa’s shout. They knew that she was right. They didn’t have much guidance now that Takumi and Hiruko were gone. One missing and one turned. They had to learn to get along and figure out how to do everything themselves and that meant also to continue to do the defensive battles as well.
Somehow…
Day 78 - Night - Last Defence Academy
It had been several days since the group had lost access to the Metal Shop and set up in the Garage. It was also that same amount of time that they had lost Takumi and Kyoshika. The day after they had found out about Nozomi which set out multiple theories on what potentially happened to the two.
But nothing was concrete yet.
On Day 76 they had finally found out about Kyoshika. Gaku had seen her wandering the hall on the second floor outside of the Courtyard. He had been with Tsubasa at the time and the two reported back their findings when they regrouped back at the Garage. It made everyone start to doubt more and more that Takumi had not survived and had in fact been turned.
But they still needed proof.
No one wanted to believe that Takumi of all people had turned into a zombie.
It all went downhill when the group went out together to grab their dinner before the night-time announcement. They had made sure that there were no zombies on the way to the Cafeteria. It was one of the few times where sneaking out of their little base was seen as an issue because they could come across any of their zombie-turned allies at any point. They had each grabbed a plateful of food, grateful that the Ration-o-Matic still worked. However the door to the Cafeteria opened and everyone froze at who stood before them.
“T…Takumi!”
He indeed stood before them in his Class Armour, on a bit of a limp and a large bite mark on his neck where dried blood marred his uniform. His once deep blue eyes were pale and lifeless. There was no sign of the Takumi they knew anywhere in those eyes.
It was blank. Completely blank.
“No way. If you really were a zombie all this time! Where have you been hiding!” Takemaru couldn’t hold back his anger as he yelled at the zombified Takumi.
”Shut up! Do you want all of them to come running!” Kurara cried out, shock in her voice. “One is bad enough!”
Tsubasa covered her mouth, trying her best to hold back tears. “No. No. No. No…” She closed her eyes to try and get rid of the vision before her but opening them back up only caused her to come back to reality.
“Gie…” Takumi just stood in the entrance, staring at them with blank eyes. He let out small groans and twitches every so often. “Ghah…”
They were at a stalemate. One of their zombified friends was blocking the only exit from the room. And he didn’t seem to realise it.
“S…Should we kill him?”
”Our Special Defence Weapons are too big to work inside the school. Besides we might draw noise.”
Tsubasa whimpered as her eyes stayed on the Zombie Takumi, standing in the Cafeteria exit.
Why did it have to be him?
Why did he let this happen?
Why? Why? Why!? WHY?!
WHY DID HE LET HIMSELF GET TURNED!?
As suddenly as he had appeared he decided to take a step away from the entrance, turning on his heel and limping away and down the hall. He was going in the direction of the Gym. This was a good chance for them to hurry back to the Garage and they all took this chance. Once they had closed and barricaded the door behind them, setting their food down they all looked at each other.
“What the fuck was that?!” Takemaru exclaimed; eyes blown open as he stared at the door. “Why didn’t he attack us!?”
“Y…Yea. He blocked our only escape! He had us cornered and yet he let us go! What’s up with that!” Gaku cried out, clutching at his head.
Tsubasa had a hand to her chin in thought. “Maybe … there’s some semblance of Takumi still in there, fighting for control against whatever that is?” Everyone looked over at Tsubasa and she held her hands up. “It’s just a theory that I came up with.”
“Even so it’s the closet thing we have right now,” Kurara spoke up, agreeing with Tsubasa’s theory. “It’s possible that Takumi may not be the only one. Everyone may still see what’s going on, but can’t control themselves anymore.”
Gaku looked down, sweat beginning to appear on his face. “That just makes killing them that much harder if they can still see us…”
It was still their friends after all.
The revelation that Takumi had been turned had made them realise that they had to continue on.
They had to be more careful.
They had to get along together.
They had to continue to try and protect the school still.
It would be a lot harder with only the five of them but somehow they would be able to make it work.
At least they hoped so…