Can we Make It?

-6-

Blood and gore warning! In this chapter and upcoming chapters. This is a a warning ⚠️

Shuichi could tell I was less than pleased at having to go and look for others... I have nothing against helping others. It's just that I need to keep my beloved safe and going out to look for others when they could be infected... I'm not happy about this. I haven't been happy about any of this ever since it started. But knowing Shuichi is here alive and well by my side... it's not so bad.

"So where should we go first?" Rantaro asked the group although the was looking at Kaede. "Well, the last place we saw Tenko and Himiko was by the mall by the big office building." She walked over to the sink and placed her and Rantaro's dishes in the sink. "We should go and check there first." She finally said walking back over to Rantaro.

Shuichi snaked his arm around my waist and pulled me up so we could put our dishes in the sink. We would wash them later or before the next meal tomorrow... because it just takes more water...

"Kichi, are you alright? You seem tense." He whispered not wanting the others to hear. I looked up at him. "Yeah..." I said hoping he would understand why. I hate having to tell others how I'm feeling... the good thing about Shuichi though is that he somehow can read my mind sometimes and just understand without me saying anything.

"I know you are worried about me being safe. But now we have Rantaro and Kaede to help us." He pulled me into a hug securely holding me in his arms. I sighed not wanting to argue with him right now...

"Alright." I wrapped my arms around his back listening to his breathing. I like being like this. Feeling his warmth beside me. Hearing his calming breaths. It makes me feel safe to know that the one I care about more than anyone else is alive.

"Let's go back and talk about what we are going to do when we are outside, ok." I nodded and grabbed his hand in mine as we walked back over to the couch.

"Kaede, Rantaro, where are we planning to go exactly?" I asked trying to calm my nerves. "The mall by the office building over on 400 south." Rantaro gestured in the direction of the mall. "Alright, it's better to have an early start for these things. You all ready to go?" I asked standing up with Shuichi by my side. Kaede and Rantaro soon stood up as well.

We both gave each other a side glance before turning back to them. "Well let's get going," Kaede said as we all moved towards the exit hatch. "You ready?" Shuichi asked and my hands started to shake. "As ready as I'll ever be," I said opening the hatch and letting the light in as we entered the outside world.

It was the same as it always was. Cracked and weathered buildings. Dusty roads. Silence. It looked like something that was taken out of a movie. Almost to unreal to believe. This was our life now. Cracked, weathered, everything up in flames, our own personal living hell.

"Alright, if we stay on this road we will be there in about 20 minutes," Rantaro said walking in front of the rest of us. Kaede was right behind him and me and Shuichi stayed side by side in the back.

His thumb went over my cracked skin on the back of my hand. Callused fingers, cracked skin, chapped lips. Everything was dry. Water didn't do anything to help...

Fingers brushing over my skin made my thoughts stop. I wanted to just go back to the way it was before. Me waiting for him to come home. When he came home he would greet me with a hug and a kiss. Snuggled up on the couch watching a movie. When we would eat dinner together and talk about our days... I shook my head. Best not to dwell on that now. I need to focus on the present. Not mope about the past.

"Ugh." I heard Shuichi groan. I almost wondered why until I looked at the road. There were rotting corpses and some that were fresh. I felt myself gag as I looked up trying to avoid looking at them. The smell didn't help. But since this is just how it smells outside all the time you get used to it... to an extent.

.  .  . 

The mall towered over us. It was huge! Well, I didn't really ever leave the house unless me and Shuichi were going on a date... so I guess I never really have seen the mall before. "The back entrance is our best bet." Rantaro walked around the side of the mall and towards the back door.

Placing a hand on the door he looked back at us and nodded. The door opened and it was a mall most definitely... but it was almost as bad as outside. Corpses filling the isles and scattered across the entirety of the mall.

Kaede shivered and Rantaro grabbed her wrist. He gave her a supportive smile making her smile back. The nice thought was cut off by an unknown groan. I felt Shuichi tense.

"What was that?" Kaede froze. Rantaro wasn't responding. "Rantaro?" I asked standing in front of Shuichi. "..." Silence. "Rantaro are you alright?" Kaede asked looking over at him fear coating her face.

"Yeah sorry, I was just lost in my thoughts." He smiled walking over to Kaede and going back to leading the group. But what was that groan before? It didn't sound like it was Rantaro... wait

Shick

I turned around and saw Kaede on the ground with a dart in her neck. I took a closer look at her. She was still breathing, so it must have been something to just knock her out. I looked up and saw Rantaro had been hit with a similar dart. Except...

His eyes were turning red. Blood dripped down his mouth and was filling in his eyes. I paled. Shuichi gasped from beside me. I couldn't think. I didn't want to have to kill anyone else. My heart was pounding. My thoughts screaming at me. Telling me why the hell did I let these people in?! Why did I let this happen?!

"Shuichi we have to go! NOW!!" I screamed grabbing his hand pulling him away from Kaede's body. "K-Kokichi? What just happened?" He looked sick. I shouldn't have let them in. What if this was just a setup? This whole time I thought we could trust them... but I was wrong just like last time.

.  .  .

We ran through the bloodied streets I could tell Shuichi was crying. I wanted to cry so badly. But I have to be strong for him! After we were out of sight of the mall and it seemed like nobody followed us we stopped. Our breath was ragged and hard from running so much. My lungs were burning and my chest hurt like hell.

"We should have never-" I started only to be cut off by Shuichi pulling me into a hug. "It's ok we could have known. It wasn't your fault." I could t hold the tears back anymore. "But you could have-" I started only to be cut off by my own sobs. I could have lost him because of my mistake. I will never do something like that again. "It's ok. I'm right here." Shuichi whispered into my ear. We just stood there in the middle of the road as I cried into his chest.

-Rip. Here is the next part! I have a math test tomorrow... I just might die... it's fine though... I guess... Thanks for reading!-

-ShuichiOuma010-