Highschool of the Dead: Fanfiction Darkpenn

Chapter 4.1: Zombie version 3.0

Looking for human survivors, Takashi and Saeko find ... the last thing they expected.

[Author's Note: This short story comes after the chapter The Promise in The Chronicle of Takashi Komuro.]

Z+73

"I've always wanted a convertible," said Takashi, as they sped along the country road with the top down. It was three days since they had left the Maresato farmhouse on their mission to explore the Tomo area in the hope of finding more survivors. "Pretty cool, eh? And with a beautiful woman beside me."

He looked at Saeko. Yes, she was truly beautiful: her long hair flying in the wind, her dark eyes shining behind sunglasses, her lips showing the trace of her secret smile.

"It is not unacceptable," she said.

"Is that a joke?"

"Perhaps."

"Uh, is that a joke?"

"Yes."

"Ha! The samurai girl made a joke!"

"We are allowed to do so, occasionally," she said. She looked at the map she held. "You'd better slow down, we should be coming up to the next one. The village of Turona, population of 126. Formerly."

"Let's hope we find something soon," said Takashi. "We've been to two villages and four farms and haven't found a thing. Not sure where all the people went. You think that zombies got them all?"

"Maybe. But I remember one of the last television broadcasts saying that the government was collecting together everyone who was left so they could protect them better."

"That idea probably didn't work so well. Having a lot of people in a confined space is asking for trouble. But I guess they didn't know that then. Not like they had a whole lot of experience to draw on. Hey, what's this?"

He brought the car to a stop.

There was a large tree across the road.

Takashi drew his Mauser pistol. "It's broken, not cut," he said. "Could it have fallen over in a storm, maybe?"

"No," said Saeko.

"So someone put it here."

"Yes. But this would not be an effective obstacle to the undead. Only to vehicles. And if human survivors had sought to block the road against marauders, it would have been cut or chopped."

"Meaning ... ?"

"Meaning that we should explore the village of Turona further. On foot." She got out of the car and took her sword from the back. Takashi took the automatic MAC rifle to add to his Mauser.

They took a circuitous path, moving for safety rather than speed. Eventually, they worked their way to the top of a hill overlooking the village.

"Zombies," said Takashi. "A couple of dozen, maybe. But what are they doing?"

They watched them for a long time. Ten minutes. Thirty minutes. An hour. Two hours. Eventually, Saeko said: "Nothing."

"They just walk from one place to another," said Takashi. "They stop there for a while, and then they walk to another place. You're right, they're doing nothing at all. And look at their clothes. Rotten. These zombies have been zombies for a fair while, maybe from the early days of the Outbreak."

"We should go down there," said Saeko.

"What, walk into a nest of zombies?"

"Yes," said Saeko.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

He smiled. "Well, then let's go," he said.

They walked down into the town, not hiding but on their guard.

They came to one of the zombies, who was shuffling from somewhere to somewhere else. It stopped and looked at them. Takashi raised his gun. Saeko prepared to draw her sword.

The zombie looked at them for perhaps a minute. Then he shuffled around them, and proceeded on his way to whatever insignificant place he was going.

Takashi watched him go. "That was odd," he said.

They continued towards the little park at the centre of the village. On the way, they encountered several zombies. Some, after a pause, went around them. Some turned and went back the way they had come.

"In its own way, this is scarier than being attacked," said Takashi. "And they're so quiet. None of that growling or hissing stuff. Do you think that this is what they do all day? And maybe all night as well? I don't think zombies ever sleep. Maybe this is what zombies do when there are no people around."

"Look at their clothes," said Saeko. "These people are not from this village. They came here after they became zombies."

She drew her sword.

"What's the matter?" whispered Takashi.

"They've stopped," said Saeko.

All of the zombies had stopped moving and were now simply looking at Takashi and Saeko.

A dozen of them began to come toward the two humans. Takashi lifted his gun.

"No," said Saeko. "Not yet."

The zombies shuffled forward until they formed a loose circle around Takashi and Saeko, five metres away.

"Now what?" said Takashi.

The zombies were staring at Saeko's sword.

One of them, a woman, shuffled closer. She gave a low groan. She lifted a fetid arm and pointed at the sword, and then at Saeko. Then she leaned forward.

"I think ... I think she wants me to kill her," said Saeko.

The woman gave another groan, and shuffled forward another step. She seemed to close her eyes.

"I ... I don't think I can," said Saeko. "It's not like they're attacking or anything."

Takashi looked around. "This would be a terrible existence," he said. "Living like a shadow, and knowing that it is going to go on for years and years. Maybe forever. Maybe they remember some of what life - real life - used to be. They've tried to get a bit of it back by coming to this place. But they can't, really. They may have evolved from what they used to be but this is as far as they can go. We've encountered plenty of aggressive ones but these ones have gone in a different direction. They're more advanced than they were at first, when they were blind and slow, but they're not the smarter belligerent ones either. This is Zombie version 3.0. They're aware - but all they can be aware of is that they're dead. I can't think of anything worse."

A tear formed in Saeko's eye.

Then, in a single perfect motion, she decapitated the woman.

Another one, a man, shuffled forward, and stopped in front of Saeko. He leaned forward as the woman had done. Saeko swung again.

There was another, and another.

And that was all. The others turned and resumed their meandering.

Saeko looked at the four bodies. She bowed her head slightly.

"Time for us to go, I think," said Takashi.

They were almost at the edge of the village when one of the zombies made a noise, something like a cough. He shuffled up to them. Takashi raised his gun. The zombie pointed towards the west. Then he pointed to Takashi and Saeko. Then he pointed west again.

"I think he's trying to tell us that there are people in that direction," said Takashi. "Maybe it's his way of thanking us for helping the ones that were ready to die. Maybe he understands that we're looking for survivors."

"Then we should drive west," said Saeko.

So they did. And they found more survivors.

END