“Wake up Hana, wake up.”

I slowly opened my eyelids, and saw Katashi in front of me.

"Where is this?"

I slowly got up with Katashi's help, then put my hand behind my neck. My whole body was sore. My head was spinning, my neck and shoulders were sore, it felt like the more I slept, the more tired I would become.

I was so tired that I leaned my head against the side of the car and fell asleep. Maybe I had a cold or was exhausted, but I slept very deeply. I didn't know what was going on until now.

Katashi handed me a bottle of water and a wet tissue to help me wake up. Before I knew it, Katashi had climbed into the back seat and sat between me and Rin.

A little sober, I opened my eyes wide to look around.

I was still in the back seat and there were still six people in the car, but the car seemed to stop moving and the space outside seemed darker, darkness filling the inside of the car as well.

Hari had moved into the front seat next to Daisuke. They were talking, but not very animatedly. I couldn't hear what they were saying either. That left only Yamato, who was probably still sitting alone in the trunk in the back.

Judging from the enviroment outside, I guessed the car was stopped in an alley. There were no zombies around. The car was sandwiched between two large brick walls, and there were air ducts extending all the way up. The car reeked of blood and the damp stench of us. I hadn’t paid much attention to it before, because I was so preoccupied with life and death, but now the smell of it made me want to throw up.

Especially Katashi, he also brought with him all sorts of sour smells from that dumpster. I quickly covered my nose and pushed him aside.

I don’t know if it was because the rain had subsided, or because we were in an alley, but the rain wasn’t as intense as before. Instead of the crashing sound of a waterfall, there was now only a crackling sound on the roof of the car.

I looked out the windshield toward the alley’s exit, but saw nothing but a white curtain of rain. So it had let up a bit, but the rain was still no better. The wipers were moving slowly, but that didn’t improve my visibility from here.

“So, what should we do?” – Daisuke's voice suddenly rang out from the front, attracting the attention of everyone in the car.

But still no one responded. Everyone was just waiting for someone else to speak.

“I mean…” – Daisuke stammered – “At first, I just planned to escape from school, but I didn’t know where to go. So when we leave, do you guys have any plans?”

Katashi and I turned to look at Rin but she immediately turned her face away, trying to ignore our gazes.

"Do not look at me."

So even Rin didn't think that far ahead. At first, Katashi and I just blindly followed her plan. We thought that escaping from school would be good enough. But when we did, we didn't know what to do.

“So you guys aren't going home?”

I just asked Daisuke.

“There is no home to return to anymore.”

His voice dropped, making me suddenly feel uneasy.

Daisuke pointed out the window, toward the rain.

“We’re already in town, Hana. The current location is also in a residential area. You were asleep just now so you don’t know, it’s not much better here than back then, the streets are full of those things too. Going home to see my family in zombie form… I’d rather not go back.”

We all fell silent for a while. If I couldn't go home now, what about my parents and Toru? And the promise I made to Miyu.

Suddenly Rin's voice rang out, interrupting our silence.

“Haven't you guys ever watched zombie movies? Where do the survivors in those movies go first?”

Rin's question made me quite confused. Why did she suddenly bring up that topic? Wasn't our current situation no different from those zombie movies she was talking about?

If I were a character in a movie, I would just go home, take a shower, and have a good night's sleep.

Then it was Yamato's turn to shout from the trunk.

“I know! I know! I've played some Zombie FPS games…” – He leaned forward and pressed his face close to Rin's.

“Are the first few missions in the Game about finding a military base or finding a safe zone?”

“Exactly.” – Rin placed her hand on Yamato’s face, pushing him back. – “Now we need to find a safe place without zombies to settle down and find allies.”

“But didn't you say before that you didn't want to be in a box?”

Katashi had just asked when Rin cut him off.

“I said I didn't want to be in a box. I never said I didn't want to be in a safe zone. You think a safe zone is just a building?”

“So what is in a safe zone?”

“How should I explain it? Like the area around the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Tokyo. Three years ago, they started building a defense system behind iron walls, preparing for this pandemic. Now that it’s finished, it looks like a miniature city…”

A safe city behind solid walls? Right now? Am I dreaming? If I had nothing to worry about, I would have taken that helicopter without hesitation. Who knows, I might be sitting there sipping coffee next to my beloved computer in a cozy room there.

Yet even Rin stayed, I really can't understand her.

But wait.

I began to see holes in Rin's explanation.

'Three years ago they started building a defense system behind the iron walls, preparing for this pandemic…'

Pandemic Preparedness? What the hell is going on here?

Three years ago?

Start building?

Iron walls?

How the hell have we been in Kyushu for three years now and not heard any news about an anti-zombie base being built in Tokyo?

Is she kidding us?

And most importantly, if this is not a myth then most importantly…

How did she know those walls were going up in Tokyo?

“Rin! Are you going home?”

“No, why?”

“Then why didn't you get on that helicopter from the beginning?”

This time, my voice was deep, each word clear, causing Rin to suddenly stop and turn her face away.

“Hey! Don't ignore my question!”

Rin still didn't answer, she ignored me.

“Don’t ignore me! Rin! There’s no way a normal person wouldn’t leave when they saw the opportunity. I have to stay in this town to find my family, and you don’t seem to want to stay. So tell me, why didn’t you get on the helicopter?”

From the other side of the car, Rin's face showed a strange anxiety. She tried to turn away, not to avoid my gaze, but to hide her worried face.

I knew it. Rin really had something to do with what was happening. She was mysterious from the moment we first met, and always knew what to do next. Could it be that she knew all this was going to happen? I had to ask.

“Rin, did you know that these things were going to happened?”

She still didn't answer. But having gained the upper hand once, I had to continue to pressure her.

“Or do you know what's going on in Tokyo right now?”

“Hey, you're starting to get on my nerves.”

“We still don't know the true origin of these zombies. What if you were sent from there?”

“What's in Tokyo?”

“Or what are you going to do to us?”

“Answer! Rin!”

Being pushed to the limit, Rin had no choice but to turn around and yell at me.

“I have my reasons? Is that okay?”

Rin's sudden shout took me by surprise. Since the first time I saw her, I had never seen Rin lose her composure like that. All eyes in the car were on Rin.

“Leave me alone…” – She suddenly lowered her head. She quietly huddled in a corner of the car. Although what Rin just said was not convincing at all, it seemed like I had gone too far with her.

“Hana! That’s enough!” Katashi put himself between Rin and me, grabbing my shoulders tightly. “We’re all tired, can you leave her alone?”

I tilted my head away from Katashi who was blocking my view to look at Rin. She was curled up in the corner of the car with her knees drawn up in her arms. Her eyes were a deep purple, but they were no longer mysterious like before, instead giving the impression that there was some hidden sadness within.

“Maybe Rin went to Tokyo for a trip or something in the past three years. Given that iron walls are not that prevalent. Anyone who comes to Tokyo would notice those walls, right? So she’s seen the walls before, but we’re only now finding out what they’re used for, don’t you think?”

I also began to regret the cruel words I had just said to Rin. She was a bit arrogant, cold towards life and death, had her reasons for not getting on the helicopter. But not long ago, it was Rin who saved my life and protected me until now. And she also wanted to go back to save Katashi.

So even though she's mysterious, Rin isn't a bad person, right?

I'm starting to feel like I'm the bad person here.

I betrayed her kindness just because of a little personal speculation in my mind.

“Uhm…” – I also bowed my head and turned away. I didn’t even bother to look at Katashi.

“Make up your mind quickly, it's getting dark guys.”

Daisuke tapped on the dashboard from the front seat, urging us on. It was already past six in the evening. Perhaps because it had been raining all day, I couldn't tell the time.

“Let’s at least find a place to hide. This alley won’t be safe forever. If you guys plan to spend the night in the car, by morning they’ll have the alley surrounded and there’ll be no way out.”

Daisuke reminded me. Damn, I also needed to go to the bathroom. Even if the zombies were all around me, I wouldn't want to have to go to the bathroom in front of four boys in here.

But the bad thing was, we couldn't stay anywhere around town. According to Daisuke, everywhere was overrun with zombies. From the street intersections to the hillside paths. There wasn't a place the car had gone that didn't have at least one zombie horde.

The pattering of rain outside seemed to mock my need to go to the bathroom. Damn it! I just wanted to go home.

But regardless of whether Daisuke, Rin, or Katashi wanted to go somewhere, my original goal of staying was to go home and confirm the status of my parents and Toru. So, if I didn't go home, I wouldn't leave this town.

Even if it's not today, or maybe not even tomorrow, I have to go home.

I leaned my head against the window, watching the rain flow on the other side of the glass and think.

Come to think of it, my neighborhood is all single-family homes, the streets are wide, sparsely populated, and far from the rest of town. Isn't it the perfect place to call a safe zone?

The idea flashed through my mind, just like when I had an idea for a game. Without further ado, I leaned forward and placed my hand on Daisuke's shoulder.

“Daisuke! Can you take me home?”

Daisuke was surprised by my suggestion and seemed disinterested.

“Why would I do that? I know we all want to go home, but the important thing is to find a safe place for everyone to spend the night. You can't make such a selfish decision for no reason.”

“No, listen to me, the area we live in is isolated from the rest of town… and has a strict security system… there's still a chance that place hasn't been taken over by zombies yet.”

I looked at Daisuke with a determined gaze. Even though I myself had no idea what was going on at home.

Hearing me say that, Katashi who was beside me also scratched his chin and considered. This was not a bad idea since my house and Katashi's house were close to each other. If Daisuke agreed to take me home, it meant that he would also be able to go home.

“Hana is right, an area like this has a lot of potential to become a safe zone, there is a high chance that there are still people alive. I also want to bet on this place.”

Daisuke frowned at us, suspicious.

“So what if that place is overrun by zombies?”

“Well, there aren’t many residents there, so even if it’s mutated, there probably won’t be as many zombies as in this town. We can at least stay the night if we’re careful.”

“I can confirm that. I live in the same neighborhood as Hana.”

Katashi backed my opinion. Unbelievably, he didn't hesitate to say that we were neighbors.

“Same neighborhood? So you want to go home too…”

Daisuke also seemed to have no choice but to scratch his head.

“Wait… You two live in the villa area south of town, right?”

I nodded.

Daisuke rested his chin in thought.

“Well… maybe you two are right… but…”

“Still better than staying in this alley, right?”

Katashi interjected, stopping any incoming doubts from Daisuke.

Hearing that, Daisuke didn't know how to respond to us, scratched his head again, and then turned to Hari to discuss.

“Okay, let me discuss this with Hari.”

Daisuke agreed with my opinion, now it was only Hari's decision. After all, this car belonged to the two of them. Where they wanted to go was up to the two of them.

Katashi and I listened attentively to Daisuke and Hari's conversation from the back seat.

“It seems like we’ve bet our lives many times today… We don’t know where to go now, so maybe betting one more time on these two wouldn’t be so bad, right?”

Hari didn't reply. He sat with his feet up on the frequency board in front of him, pondering, then shook his head.

“No, you go with them, I'll go back to my house.”

“Hari? What does that mean?”

“Daisuke! If Hana wants to go home, then on second thought, I should go home too…” – He lowered his legs and sat more seriously, turned his head back to look at us, then continued to Daisuke – “You are my friend, but these people… they don’t seem that important to me. If I had to choose who to stay with in the end, even if it was you, I would choose to stay with my grandmother.”

“Hari…” – Daisuke also suddenly changed his tone, looking down sadly.

“Daisuke, you have to understand. She's the only person important to me right now.”

He put his hand on Daisuke's shoulder, but was pushed away.

“Daisuke… you…”

“No, it's okay bro…” – Daisuke slowly raised his face to look at Hari – “I've been friends with you for so many years, I'm not surprised by anything.” – He lightly punched Hari's chest – “Go back to your grandmother, brat.”

“Sorry, buddy.” He thrust his fist out in front of Daisuke. Waiting for him to bump it. Daisuke didn’t hesitate, taking Hari’s friendly fist bump.

The image of the two brothers parting ways in front of me suddenly made my eyes sting. So, even those guys were trashy in my eyes before, also had their own stories. Sometimes, they even knew how to cherish beautiful friendships better than me.

“Fist bump?” – Katashi held out his hand in front of me, imitating Hari.

“Stop it!” – I immediately pushed his hand away.

Daisuke talked to Hari for a little longer, not too important so I didn't hear clearly, before he turned back to talk to us.

“You heard, so we're going to Hana's house? Does anyone object?”

Katashi and I were the ones who made the suggestion, so we didn't react. Yamato emerged from the trunk. He swung his arm from behind the back seat, making me almost jump.

“As long as it's safe, anywhere is fine, I'll follow!”

His face was filled with a look of cowardness. In this car, I was probably the only one who still had a contemptuous look towards Yamato. I guessed that Yamato didn't care about the life or death of his family right now. He just wanted to keep his own life.

“What about you?”

Daisuke called out to Rin.

"Whatever."

Rin was still huddled in the back seat, next to Katashi, letting out a soulless sentence, and not even looking at any of us. She was still feeling hurt by my words.

“Let’s decide then.” – Daisuke grabbed the iron rod under his seat and pushed the door open, preparing to step out. Hari did the same on the seat next to him. – “Then wait for us a moment.”

Before stepping out, Daisuke didn't forget to signal me.

“Hana, there's something we need you to look at too, do you mind if I take a minute of your time?”

I looked at Katashi, who jerked his chin at Daisuke, as if to say go ahead. Hari and Daisuke were going out alone together, even though they had saved me multiple times. But these two had tried to rape me less than 24 hours ago. So I couldn’t feel safe going out alone with them.

But Katashi's attitude was that it was something I should do. Damn, did I miss something important while I was sleeping?

Hari and Daisuke had three umbrellas in their weapon bags. They got out first, opened the trunk, and took out their umbrellas, then gave one to me. Luckily, my clothes weren’t completely dry yet, and I didn’t want to get caught in the rain again.

I took the umbrella from Daisuke and walked out.

It was past six in the evening, the sky was already dark but not completely black, we could still see clearly inside the alley. It must have been because our car was parked in the alley that it was so dark. I followed Hari and Daisuke out.

The rain stopped pouring so I could see everything clearly on the street from the alley.

Daisuke didn't let us go out right away, but instead stuck his head out to observe for a while. When he saw it was safe, he waved his hand to signal us to go out.

The streets were also invaded by zombies, but compared to the horrible hordes at school, these were still much more sparse. Hari and Daisuke took advantage of the fact that no zombies were paying attention and ran straight to the next alley. They signaled me to wait a moment and then ran after them.

I crossed the empty street with my heart pounding. Damn, even though it was empty, there were still zombies on the street. You two had weapons and ran ahead, leaving me alone like that.

I looked closely behind. The alley where the car was parked was formed from the gap between two high-rise apartment buildings.

Daisuke hid behind a truck that was abandoned in the middle of the street. Then he told me to look in his direction.

Daisuke's index finger pointed to a black mass lying on the street. It was so far away that I couldn't see clearly what it was. It looked more like a pile of plastic trash bags that had been thrown there.

“So what are you going to show me?”

“You really can't see?”

“No? What is it?”

“Take out your phone camera and zoom in.”

I did as Daisuke said. Even with the zoom function on my phone camera, my vision was limited by the rain so I had trouble figuring out what it was. It wasn't until I saw the skinny legs and wagging tail that I realized what it was.

Even though I had been facing unimaginable things for two consecutive days, what I saw before my eyes still took me by surprise. It didn't really make me jump like something strange, but it was enough to scare me, more than thinking about zombies.

That black mass turned out to be a corpse. But the key point Daisuke wanted to show me was that the things walking around and nibbling at the corpse were a pack of dogs that had reanimated into Zombies.

“Have you seen 'those things'?”

I put my phone in my pocket and nodded.

“So this virus also has effects on animals.”

Daisuke nodded. So I understood what he meant.

Normally, in a zombie movie, the Virus only affects humans, but in our world, it also affects animals.

So the zombies we had to face all day were just the easy ones. Humans, despite their flexible limbs, had only average physical strength and average speed. Compared to wild animals. Imagine if one day in the not too distant future, we had to face a zombie tiger.

Especially since our town is in the Kyushu region, where there are lots of mountains and forests.

I shudder just thinking about it.

“That’s it.” – Daisuke scratched his head with his hand – “Just now, while driving around town, we saw a lot of animals turned into zombies. We were going to wake you up, but we didn’t.”

“And Daisuke ran over a zombie Boar.” – Hari added – “The scene was pretty sick, luckily you didn't see that.”

Hari and Daisuke turned and walked away, leaving me to catch up with them.

I walked beside Hari and asked him.

“Even Boar?”

“Yes, it must have come down from the forest. When the car was going down the mountain, it suddenly came out of nowhere and hit our car straight in the front.”

Then he shook his head.

“Wait until the infected beasts get into town. Things are getting worse, aren't they?”

I didn't say anything. I just swallowed and followed him.

The three of us did not return to the alley immediately but stopped at a deserted street. Hari rushed up and took care of a few zombies that were wandering around with his iron baseball bat.

We found a motorcycle lying on the road, right in front of a fast food restaurant. From the rugged appearance, it looked like a biker type, a cruiser or a scrambler. Daisuke walked over to look at the bike and said to Hari.

“This baby looks good, want to try it?”

“Of course, I wonder what idiot would throw away such a nice bike.”

“Just take it, consider this your lucky day.” – Daisuke started taking out a knife from his side and prepared to mess with the bike's engine.

So Daisuke went out to get Hari a vehicle and to see him off. While he was at it, he showed me the strange thing they were talking about.

Suddenly, we heard a groan and immediately looked up.

Not far from us, a zombie was crawling towards the motorcycle, his lower body had been eaten so he could only crawl on his hands. The internal organs below the ribs had been pulled out, following the zombie as he crawled towards us.

"This is…"

Hari approached the zombie with his baseball bat. It wasn't hard for us to piece together that it was the owner of the motorbike.

The zombie wore a Biker vest, chains and skull tattoos all over his body. Looks a lot like a Metallic Rock singer or a Street Gangster.

“Fuck…” – Hari stood tall in the rain, gritting his teeth as he looked at the zombie crawling under his feet.

I was about to go closer to ask Hari who that was, but he answered.

“I know this guy… he lives in my neighborhood…”

The zombie crawled up to Hari's feet, reaching up to grab his calf. But Hari stood motionless in the rain, not moving at all.

It seemed like seeing someone he knew turn into a Zombie was too shocking for Hari, causing him to freeze and hesitate. Just like when I saw Miyu get bitten before.

I was about to rush forward to kill the zombie to save Hari but Daisuke spread his arm in front of me to stop me.

“He knows what to do.”

Not giving the zombie a chance to grab him, Hari swung his stick and smashed its head.

Hari slowly turned his face in the rain, looking back at Daisuke. Worry was evident on his face.

“Daisuke, I have to go home now.”

“Yeah, I know.” – Daisuke was still calm with the vehicle – “It'll be done soon.”

He twisted the knife stuck in the lock and the engine started to roar.

Finished, Daisuke stood up the bike and handed it to Hari. Without hesitation, Hari immediately got on the bike, tucked the stick on his side, and prepared to start the engine.

Before leaving, I hurriedly took out a city map from my backpack. I don't remember why I still kept it with me. I quickly circled the area where we lived and gave it to Hari.

“If you can't get home, come here, we'll stay there all night.”

Hari took the map from me, giving me a challenging look.

“So a noble like you is also considerate of us commoners?”

I quickly felt embarrassed and turned my face away.

“Just thank you for saving my life twice today.”

“You're blushing, princess.” – Hari chuckled – “But thank you for your kindness anyway.”

Then he turned to Daisuke who was standing next to me, and the two of them said their goodbyes.

“Hari, if you're still alive and planning to leave the city tomorrow morning, we'll be waiting at the tunnel at the foot of the mountain.”

“Got it. See you later, Daisuke.”

“You too. Take care, brother.”

“You and the others be careful too, Hana.” – Hari raised his hand to his forehead and waved at me, saying goodbye.

With that, Hari accelerated and the motorcycle sped forward, disappearing into the rain. On the way, he swerved to avoid zombies on the road.

“So he really left.”

Daisuke picked up the umbrella Hari had thrown on the ground, then put his hand on my shoulder.

“Come on, let's get back to the car. It's getting dark.”

I nodded slightly, then followed Daisuke the same path to get back to the car.

On the way back, Daisuke told me about Hari.

“Hari’s parents left when he was a child, leaving him alone with his grandmother in this town. His grandmother ran a small tofu shop, which was not enough to support both of them. When he was in middle school, Hari hid from his grandmother to work part-time and secretly sent money in the name of his parents to help his grandmother. Even though he couldn’t even remember what they looked like…”

Daisuke stopped, staring into the distance.

“He may look bad, but he's a very affectionate person. I hope he finds his grandmother.”

“So do you want to go find your family, Daisuke?”

My question unexpectedly caught Daisuke's gaze.

“I'm not trying to be considerate, but…”

“Family…” – two words came out from Daisuke’s mouth. I noticed that he seemed to be very sensitive to these two words.

It seemed like Daisuke was about to say something, but he shook his head and told me to get back to the car right away, there was no time left.

“What about your brother? Didn't you say that you two were very close?”

Daisuke did not reply.

I know that's a red herring. But it looks like learning more about Daisuke will have to wait for another time.

It was already dark by the time we got back to the car. Katashi asked me if I had seen anything special and I nodded. Rin was still curled up in the corner, angry at me.

Yamato sat playing with the stuff in the trunk in the back, he held a tennis ball and bounced it off the side of the car.

Daisuke sat in the front seat, started the engine, turned on the headlights, and drove out of the alley.

The zombies on the street were attracted by the movement of the car, and immediately gathered to chase after it. But they were left behind by the speed of the car. Partly because there were fewer of them than the ones at school.

With Hari no longer there chatting with Daisuke, the car fell silent. It had only been a moment, but I was already starting to miss his presence.

Perhaps because the number of people living is decreasing, each person I meet becomes so precious. It is true that only at times like this do I truly open my heart to see the good in others, only to be heartbroken when I lose them.

But those things no longer bothered me, because I was about to go home.

I sat nervously in the back seat, not knowing what lay ahead. But as long as there was a glimmer of hope, I would keep going.

The car sped down the coastal road, allowing us to continue our aimless journey.