Are We Dead Now?

Ten

Rin looked longingly back at the cabin. He wished he could stay here forever. A year ago, it wouldn't have been considered luxury, but now, whoever had survived these last about ten and a half months would want to stay here forever.

He knew he did. But hey, maybe someone else would stumble upon this place and cry in joy too. Hopefully without being chased by the zombie bear.

Which raised some hesitation. Why were the bears infected, but bunnies weren't? Were all the bears infected? Were there more in this forest?

Rin cringed at the sight of the forest he was about to plunge into.

He pulled out his old map to look at it again. He'd apparently stumbled upon Lake Biwa, accroding to the sign next to the water. He traced his finger across the map, tapping his next destination-Kyoto. A shudder made it's way through him. Another big city. Possibly more corpses.

He hoped not.

Rin sighed into the heavy silence, looked at the trees, and started running.

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Suguro was on babysitting duty.

Normally, he'd hate it. He didn't do kids. They were so annoying. Not to mention loud, messy, and useless.

But in the zombie apocalypse, he'd gladly change soiled diapers, feed them messy food, and clean up spit-up. At least the six month old couldn't crawl yet. She was trying, but the baby just didn't have that strength yet. It was kind of funny to watch since all she could do was wiggle in place.

Konekomeru was helping them map the city out. They'd taken him on their last run so he could memorize the areas and maybe find the safest route to leave the city.

That left Suguro with Yumi, Sachi, Ten, and Kensuke. Yumi liked to help, so she cut the sandwiches for Kensuke into small pieces so the toddler wouldn't choke while giving Ten her own sandwich to eat. Suguro just had to try and make sure Sachi didn't get any stains on her clothes so his mother didn't have to go through the trouble of having to wash the clothes the old-fashioned way.

He succeeded. It was when he was about to pick up the baby to burp her that she decided to mess with him by throwing up. It didn't get on her clothes, but it got on Suguro's. He groaned. "Really?" Sachi gurgled happily and wiggled in his hold. He sighed.

"Goddamn kids." He grumbled as he walked through the hallway, on his way to put his shirt in the dirty clothes pile that quickly got bigger by day. Washing clothes was a hassle with only washing basins and soap.

He happened to run into one of the servants of the Ryokan. She was one of the younger ones, around Suguro's age. If his memory served him right, her mother worked here as well. She immediately blushed and looked down, walking briskly past him. He snorted. He knew he was considered "hot." He'd known since middle school. He just didn't let it get to his head. Mostly because he was too busy trying to be successful in society to bother with relationships.

He almost wished he had someone by his side to support him through this now though.....

Finally, he made it to the where his mother was already doing the laundry. He gave her the shirt and she laughed at his misfortune once she realized what must have happened. He scowled and his mother sighed. "Oh, Ryuji, you sweet boy. It'll happen. She's a baby. Don't worry about it." She chided. Suguro did his best to ignore the blush on his cheeks at Torako's doting as he walked away.

"And get a shirt on, young man! You'll give the younger girls a heart attack!"

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