Highschool of the Dead: Fanfiction Darkpenn

Chap 27: all good things part 5

Amen

Z + 43 years

Saya, Rei, Shizuka and Alice were sitting together around the kitchen table at Maresato farm. The various other people who lived at Maresato had gone to bed; it was just the four of them now. They had not planned to get together but here they were.

"Been a while since the four of us have sat together at this table, so I think it calls for a celebration," said Shizuka. She took a bottle of rice wine from a cupboard. When their cups were filled, they all lifted them in a toast.

"What are we drinking to?" said Alice.

"Absent friends," said Rei.

The others nodded, and they drank. Shizuka re-filled the cups.

"Do you remember the first time we had too much to drink?" said Rei. "On the road to Tomo. Many years ago, now."

"Peppermint schnapps," said Shizuka. "Dangerous liquor."

"I was in the bus, asleep," said Alice. "But I remember hearing the story. And I remember getting some chocolates out of it. And I remember Saya being sick all the next day."

"I remember ... some of it," said Saya.

"Up to where you passed out, I assume," said Rei.

"Was anyone ever so young?" said Saya.

"Looking back, it's hard to believe that we were just high school kids," said Rei. "Alice, you were even younger. Shizuka, you were a bit older ... "

"Actually, in many ways I was younger than the rest of you," said Shizuka.

"And now we are grandmothers," said Rei. "Many times over."

They were silent for a while. Then Alice said: "Do you think we did it right? After Sheroda, we said that we would try and make a difference with our lives. Make them count for something. Have we?"

"I ... think ... so," said Saya.

"Well, you certainly have, Saya," said Alice. "The windmills, the technology, the New School. Japan would be a very different place without you. They're even using your things in America and China now. And you've played the key role in getting the next generation of people ready."

"Alice, you've done a lot of important things too," said Shizuka. "You mapped all the survivor settlements of the country when you were, what, seventeen. That turned scattered groups into a country again. And now you run the factory, which has opened up a whole new era. And you've got the train going, and your kids are making a damn good job of it. We've gone from subsistence farming to a society with all of the necessities, pretty well, plus quite a few comforts."

"That's true, but you're the one who has been on the front line of people's lives, Shizuka," said Rei. "You've delivered so many babies that you must be able to do it with your eyes closed. And now the hospital is making a big difference. Just getting medicine production established is a huge achievement."

"Rei, you're the one who has driven everything forward," said Saya. "Convinced people that they could do things even when they didn't think they could. Made plans and seen them through. The factory, the school, the hospital. And the fact that people come to you to solve disputes shows how much trust they have in you."

Rei considered. "Maybe, but there's still so much left to do," she said. "We need to make the meetings of the settlement representatives more organised, the currency production will have to be upgraded, people are wanting to make contracts for trade, which will require some rules - "

"Yes, and I'm concerned that some of the pre-Outbreak equipment is going to give out soon," said Saya. "We've already lost two radios, and I'm having trouble with the designs to build new ones, given that there are things we can't make yet - "

"And the factory will need to be larger, the way the population is growing - " said Alice.

"No," said Shizuka softly. The others turned to look at her.

"This is why we've been training people," she said. "So they can take over the problem-solving business. There are plenty of good people coming up, including our own children. They're smart and fair-minded. We taught them as well as we could teach them. And none of us are as young as we used to be. Maybe it's time for us to let others try. So they'll make a few mistakes. Well, so be it. I know I made enough. It's what humans do. Try things, and learn from the experience."

Rei nodded. "Yes, maybe it is time for us to step back a bit," she said.

"And to tell the truth, there are days when I feel pretty damn tired," said Saya.

"Maybe we all deserve a break," said Alice. "Do some things that we want to do, rather than things we feel obliged to do."

"Hmm," said Rei. "You know, maybe I'll see if there are any spare seats on the next boat to China. I've never been there."

"For once," said Saya, "I'd like to read a novel instead of a technical manual. I love the school, and want to stay there, but I think I would like to have a less hands-on role."

"Do you know what I'd like to try?" said Shizuka. "Mountain climbing."

"Mountain climbing?" said Saya. "Miss Marikawa, you never cease to surprise me."

"What's wrong with mountain climbing?" said Shizuka. "I mean, why not?"

"Which sounds like a pretty good reason," said Alice.

"What would you like to do, Alice?" said Rei.

Alice considered. Then she said: "Nothing. I think I would just like to do nothing for a while. No riding around the country, no factory. Stay here on the farm with Huyu, chase the chickens, milk the cows, weed the garden and plant some crops. I have always loved this place. I don't know if it's because of my family connection or because of the history we all have here, but I have always felt that my roots are on this farm."

They were silent for a while, contemplating their plans.

Eventually, Alice said: "Yes, I think that perhaps we did do it right."

"We did our best," said Saya.

"What we could," said Shizuka.

"Amen," said Rei.

END, AMEN & FAREWELL