Highschool of the Dead: Fanfiction Darkpenn

Chapter 6.2: the trvels and travails of alice maresato

Part2: What You Leave Behind

Continuing to explore, Alice and Chizu encounter a surprising outpost of humanity - and new danger.

It was several weeks since Alice and Chizu had left Mulitenko, mainly travelling by foot but sometimes doubling on Riku. They were heading towards the city of Nagoya. Alice had never been there but Chizu had lived there before the Outbreak.

They had stopped for the night at a deserted cottage. Once, it had had a well-tended vegetable garden. Now, it was overgrown and wild, but at least it gave them food to eat. They harvested as much as they could, and gathered as many seeds as they could find.

Chizu had been quiet ever since they had left Mulitenko, obviously grieving for her mother. As they ate their vegetable stew, she said: "Do you think the zombies will start appearing again? Since my mom turned into one, I mean."

"I don't know," said Alice. "But your mother turning means that whatever created the zombies in the first place is still around. We never really knew how it all happened, although Saya thought that maybe it was a random genetic thing. That fitted with what Rei heard when she was on the aircraft carrier. One way or another, it means that we have to be careful. They might start off slow and blind but they get smart pretty quickly. Do you know how to use that shotgun you brought along?"

"Er, no. I only picked it because it had the most shells."

Alice laughed. "It will probably knock you over if you have to fire it," she said. "Let's just hope that it scares whoever you point it at to death. But zombies aren't our only problem."

"You mean human survivors that have gone feral?"

"Yes, although hopefully they've either killed each other off or settled down by now. Actually, I was thinking more of dogs. My friend Shun had spent some time riding around the south of the country and said that there were packs of dogs in the larger towns. Domestic dogs that had gone savage."

"Huh. You know, we used to have a dog in Nagoya. A spaniel. When we decided to leave, Mum said we couldn't take him, because we didn't have enough food. So we let him go instead. I guess a lot of people did."

They settled down to sleep. Chizu said: "Alice, tell me one of the stories. Of the seven."

"What? A story? Well, okay. Which one?"

"Uh, maybe the one where you and Kohta and Shizuka were trying to find a birthday present for Saya and zombies chased you onto the roof of the store."

Alice laughed again. Then she began to tell the story.

It was two days later. They were in the outskirts of Nagoya.

From a distance away, there was the sound of men shouting. There was a shot, and then another.

"Let's go," said Alice. "That way." She mounted Riku and helped Chizu climb on behind her.

"Is it a good idea to go towards the sound of gunfire?" said Chizu as they began to gallop.

"Probably not," said Alice. "But we are here to explore, aren't we?"

They rounded a corner.

There were three men running towards them. They were being chased by a pack of dogs, a dozen or more.

One of the men saw them. He stopped. His jaw fell open.

"Keep running!" shouted Alice to him. She drew the sword from its sheath as Riku swept past the amazed trio.

She leaned down as far as she could, and swung. One dog, then another. Two more went under Riku's hooves, yelping.

The other dogs scattered and ran. In a moment, they were gone.