Highschool of the Dead: Fanfiction Darkpenn

Chapter 6.1: the travels and travails of Alice maresato

Part 1: What You Take With You

Exploring the post-zombie world, Alice finds a friend - and a new worry.

Alice Maresato was perfectly still, watching the rabbit as it emerged from the bushes and poked around in the grass by the stream. It was large and plump. Its ears twitched.

"You're cute, but a girl's gotta eat," said Alice softly. She aimed her crossbow and fired.

Later, as she gutted and cleaned the rabbit, she wondered at the skills she had gained. Before the Outbreak, she had been just another kid. Food came from the supermarket and was kept in the refrigerator until it went into the microwave. You ate it while you watched television or played a game on the computer.

She remembered the day, years ago, when her grandfather had shown her how to kill, skin, prepare and cook a rabbit. She smiled when she remembered that she had vomited. But Grandfather, ever patient, had gone slowly, explaining each step and saying that this was something she needed to know. She had taken the message, and the lesson, to heart. Girl's gotta eat. And rabbits were easy: this was the fourth one she had killed since leaving the farm twelve days ago.

And she had gathered other skills along the way. Rei had taught her how to shoot the Glock pistol she had given her. Shizuka had taught her how to ride a horse and some basics of medicine. Shun Yamiashi had given her the crank-assisted crossbow and shown her how to fire it, and retrieve the arrows as well. Saeko, five years ago, had taught her how to use a sword - the temple blade that had once been Saeko's was in a holster on her saddle. Saya had taught her, well, a lot of odd stuff. Kohta had taught her how to grow things. And Takashi and Grandmother had taught her about everything else.

And now she was on her journey of exploration, looking to find out what was beyond the sanctuary of Tomo prefecture and her grandparents' farm, where she had lived with her friends for the past six years, since the Outbreak.

She started a little fire and began to roast the rabbit. She had dried food in her saddlebags, but it was always a good idea to keep that until it was needed.

As the rabbit cooked, she pulled a book from her pack: a much-used, dog-eared copy of the Tomo region tourist guidebook. From the pages of the book she took one of her most precious possessions: a photograph. It had been taken by Shizuka over six years ago, when she, Alice, was only about nine, maybe ten, she couldn't exactly remember. It showed her, Kohta, Saya, Rei, Takashi and Saeko. The Humvee was in the background; everyone was happy, smiling, ready for the future.

They had survived. They had fought, and some had died, but they had built something solid, and they had inspired many of the others who had survived the Outbreak to do the same. Four years had passed since the Battle of Sheroda, where the huge zombie army had been met and defeated - at a terrible cost.

Gently, she touched the images of Takashi and Saeko. Then, carefully, she returned the photograph to its place.

She unfolded the map that was in the back of the book. According to it, she had crossed the northern border of Tomo a few days before, and was now in Begu prefecture. She was in no hurry; in fact, since leaving her grandparents' farm she had taken a circuitous route, stopping at several houses and farms of people she knew to pay her respects and tell them that she was travelling north, to see what she could find.

Something had happened that had surprised her: Migumi Hiro, one of a group of several families located at a dairy farm, had given her a letter. She had said that if Alice passed by a village called Mulitenko, on the Inland Sea, and if there was anyone alive there, she might try and find her sister Gabi and give her the letter. The letter, Migumi had said, did not actually say much: just that she was still alive and where she was living.