Highschool of the Dead: Fanfiction Darkpenn

Chapter 9: mainland

New World: Mainland

What is more dangerous: Russian zombies or potato vodka?

They had taken the Archangel several kilometres upriver, until it had become too shallow for further progress. They had tied up at a broken-down little jetty and unloaded the horses, and were now travelling along a wide, once-paved road through overgrown fields.

"Canola," said Kazuki, looking around. "And over there, wheat."

"And just what is canola and wheat?" said Rise.

"They are, or at least were, crops," said Kazuki. "Canola was used to make oil, and wheat was used to make flour, which was used to make bread. My point is that these are not natural grasslands. They were deliberately planted, before the Outbreak. At some point they broke out of their fields and spread. Even then, I would say that parts of these fields were harvested, and not too long ago. Maybe a year, maybe a bit more."

"Meaning that there must be people not too far."

There were rabbits and birds in the fields. A lot of them.

"My dad told me once that when the number of people dropped the wildlife population exploded," said Nozomi. "Good for us, I suppose."

Hotaru suddenly brought her horse to a halt. She looked around.

A long way off, there was the sound of an engine. High-pitched, moving fast.

"Car, motorbike?" said Rise.

"Maybe," said Nozomi. "We should try and signal them."

"Uh, are we sure we want to?" said Kemi.

"We didn't come this far for nothing," said Nozomi. "But check your weapons, just in case."

Kazuki lifted his rifle. "Should we fire a shot to get their attention?" he said.

"No," said Hotaru. "They might think we're shooting at them." She reached into her pack and produced the flare pistol from the Archangel. She pointed it into the air and fired. A blue ball sailed skywards.

"You are full of tricks," said Nozomi.

"My mother is Rei Miyamato," said Hotaru. "There's upside and downside."

The sound of the engine stopped. Ten seconds passed. Fifteen. Then it started again - coming towards them. Nozomi dismounted and walked down the road a little, but gestured that the others should stay mounted. She unslung her Russian machine gun.

A vehicle zoomed around the corner. It was not a car; more like a metal frame, an engine, and two seats on a chassis.

"I know what this is!" said Rise. "There was a picture in one of Hirano's books at Maresato. It's a, what's the word, a ... buggy, that's it."

The buggy screeched to a halt, ten metres from Nozomi. There were two people, their faces covered with scarves. One of them, the passenger, got out, holding a loaded crossbow. The passenger and Nozomi looked at each other, and at each other's weapons.

"Now what?" whispered Kazuki to Rise.

Slowly, deliberately, Nozomi lowered her gun. Then she slung it over her shoulder. She showed the other person her empty hands.

There was a long pause. The two people in the buggy spoke softly to each other. And then the passenger put her bow back into the buggy. She began to walk towards Nozomi - warily.

"Kemi," said Nozomi over her shoulder. "Come here, and bring that dictionary."

Kemi jumped off her horse and ran to Nozomi, taking the book from her pack as she did so.