There were three dead, two injured, and two missing.
Everyone was scared but had no choice — they had to fight their way through and get out of there. Allen carried Yuuki Miku over his shoulder intending to leave the place. He moved the couch blocking the door with one hand and kicked the reinforced door open.
No one had time to be impressed by what they just saw, because the guttural growls and screams of the creatures filled the air.
Everyone's scalp went cold. Out in the yard, there were mutant zombies — a dozen of "them" waiting, each one a Tier 2 zombie.
The shelter was solid, with sturdy walls both inside and out. However, it was vulnerable to any zombie capable of climbing or jumping, which clearly wasn't an issue for the mutant ones.
"Damn it!"
Allen was irritated. He had been forced into a red zone when it hadn't even been a full day since learning of their existence.
As if that wasn't bad enough, there were mutant zombies in the yard, and outside the gate, more of them had gathered — dozens, pressing and screaming to get in. They weren't ordinary zombies but the same kind Allen had fought at the park, the ones he'd called "Rage Zombies." They weren't as strong or resilient as Hunters, but their feral behavior was similar.
In an instant, Allen realized carrying Yuuki wasn't an option and made a decision.
He quickly used one of the bandages on Yuuki Miku's wound without hesitation. Unlike Toshimi's, her injury was debilitating. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time to use a green herb properly, but the bandage worked by simply applying it over the wound.
Yuuki's ankle healed at an incredible speed. Allen set her down, and though she was a little dazed by her sudden recovery, Allen — who had just kicked away a Hunter lunging at them — didn't have time to explain.
"You'll have to run on your own and fight," he said, handing her a Glock 44. "No safety — just aim and shoot!"
Allen didn't trust that it would help much, but it was better for more people besides him to have some means of fighting back. That's why he'd already given Hirano the Springfield and Kazu the crowbar.
Survive.
That was the only thing everyone needed to focus on.
"This is impossible!" Yamada stammered, trembling. It was one thing to escape from a horde of normal zombies — but mutant ones? Each is a terrifying monster that could kill them all?!
"..." Taniuchi's legs shook, but Kawamoto caught her before she fell.
"Don't give up!" said the girl with reddish-orange hair. Even though her face was pale and she was terrified, she still stood firm. "We've got a chance — as long as he's with us."
Taniuchi looked at Allen's back as he stood in front of everyone and felt calmer. Even though Allen was just another student, he had already pulled them out of hopeless situations before.
They just had to trust him again.
"Don't bother thinking about what's happening! Don't waste time trying to understand it! No matter what you see! No matter what you hear! DON'T STOP! All of you — cling to life!" Allen crushed a Hunter's skull with his metal pipe. "Even if you get bitten, even if you lose an arm or a leg — just survive, and I can still help you!"
In moments like these, people couldn't think straight, so no one noticed things appearing and disappearing from Allen's hands. They focused only on his words and actions. And his words inspired people; in such a desperate situation, everyone saw that they had a chance.
Allen looked straight ahead, "Saeko! Rei!"
Two Jockeys that had been waiting in a tree were sliced in half, and at the same time, a spear pierced the head of a Hunter running toward the group.
"Next time, give a warning before rushing ahead," said Saeko, frowning in frustration. She'd been sound asleep when Allen abruptly woke her, pushed her aside without explanation, and ran out of the Humvee at full speed.
"This is dangerous, so I'll let it slide for now!" Rei huffed — she'd had a similar experience.
Allen didn't bother to justify himself. He knew Saeko was only irritated because he'd left her behind, and Rei wasn't truly mad.
"Rei!" shouted Takashi when he saw her.
"Do you wanna die?!" Rei scolded, jumping aside to dodge a spit of acid and then impaling a Spitter through the head. "There's no time to talk!"
Hisashi felt bitter. Despite Rei's words, she still took the time to yell at Allen. Neither he nor Takashi could understand why she treated Allen so differently.
Saeko sensed danger and swung her katana, a sullen yet delighted smile curling her lips as she cut through a zombie's tongue.
Allen sensed the same threat — he grabbed a zombie's tongue with one hand and yanked hard, dragging the mutant out of the bushes.
It looked like a regular zombie except for its deformed throat, bloated like a Spitter's but covered in lumps like tumors.
This was the owner of the long tongue that was trying to catch them.
This zombie was the one who dragged Miura to his miserable end.
"What an abomination," said Saeko, rushing in to slice it in half. As soon as she did, she felt something was wrong and leapt back. The zombie's body exploded into a cloud of smoke.
It lived up to its name — a Smoker, also from Left 4 Dead.
...
"What kind of mutation could twist it like that?" said Saya, watching from a distance through binoculars.
Before leaving, Allen had told Shizuka not to drive into the street or anywhere with red illumination.
"I hope they make it..." said Shizuka, worried. Not even a horde of hundreds of zombies was as terrifying as these monsters.
"He'll be fine," said Saya, full of confidence.
"That's right, let's believe in him—Ah!" Kyoko yelped as she saw a face pressed against the glass. It turned out to be just a regular zombie that had silently approached and was now trying to bite the reinforced window.
Saya clenched her teeth, opened the hatch, and climbed out with her double-barreled shotgun. Unlike a pump-action, it could only fire twice before reloading.
"Saya-chan?!" gasped Shizuka. Since their bath together, their relationship had grown closer. After all, when you could die at any moment, there was no need for formality.
"I know," the girl replied, climbing onto the vehicle's roof and aiming her shotgun.
"...!" Kyoko covered Alice's ears to keep her from getting scared.
"I know, but I have to get used to it!"
Saya fired, blowing the zombie's head off. Seeing the burst of blood and brain matter made her feel nauseous. Kyoko caught her before she could fall.
"I'm fine, thank you, Kyoko-san," Saya said with a strained smile. "I just feel pathetic for breaking down after killing a zombie when "he" has seen this scene hundreds of times..."
Her words left Shizuka, Kyoko, and even little Alice silent. Watching zombies die from afar was one thing — experiencing it firsthand was another. The sound of bones breaking, the thick smell of blood, and the sight of a human body falling lifeless — it was all too real.
Saya looked into the distance. "Come back safe."
...
Allen cut down the zombies in front of him.
Since they were Tier 2, they were far more dangerous — but it didn't matter. At that moment, Allen had become an unstoppable beast.
He grabbed a Hunter by the head and used it as a shield against a Spitter's acid spit. With his other hand, he aimed the Ithaca 37 and blasted the Spitter's head apart.
Two Smokers tried to ensnare Hirano, but Saeko sliced their tongues clean off.
"Thanks, Saeko-senpai!" Hirano gasped — death had been inches away.
"Don't lose focus," she warned. "These seem a little smarter — so they'll target you first!"
The mutant zombies showed enough intelligence to realize that Hirano was dangerous from a distance but strangely vulnerable up close, so they tried to kill him, even though he was positioned at the center of the group to provide support in every direction.
"I'm sorry!" Hirano felt cold sweat running down his back. He wasn't strong in close combat, so if they grabbed him, it would be the end.
"Hirano, don't break!" shouted Teshima from the rear. He, Hisashi, and Takashi were keeping watch behind.
With the strength of this team, the courtyard was cleared in less than a minute.
"Get ready. We're moving out," said Allen with a grave look. He could see the red lights glowing down the street along with a horde of zombies. He didn't know how many more mutant zombies they'd have to kill to escape, and once they lost the protection of the walls, if someone was left behind, they wouldn't be able to save them.
Toshimi vomited. Her skin turned pale, her veins bulged—she was infected.
"Toshimi?!" Kawamoto held her in fear.
Allen didn't know what kind of virus it was, but he was sure it was different from the Harran virus or the one that had infected the blind zombies.
"I don't think I can... I'm sorry, Akari-chan."
Akari was Kawamoto's first name. She started crying—she had lost all her friends at Fujimi, and when she thought she'd finally found another, it ended like this.
"This isn't the time to cry—not yet!" Allen said, looking at the girl, and without hesitation, he threw her a bottle.
No matter the type of virus, it always reacted differently in each case. In the original story, Teshima had transformed in seconds after being bitten by a zombie, while Hisashi had taken much longer—from being bitten on the first floor until they reached the rooftop.
It seemed Toshimi had less tolerance to the virus, unlike Yuuki, who still looked fine.
"Drink it quickly. Once we're out, you won't have time!"
Toshimi nodded desperately, opened the bottle that looked like green tea, and drank it in one gulp. Soon, her complexion improved, and the dark veins and circles under her eyes faded away. The group stood in shock—except for those who had already seen the effects of the green herb.
"Thank you, Senpai," Toshimi said with flushed cheeks, her eyes shining.
"Do you all have a death wish?" Rei growled, though no one knew if it was because of the situation or because she was jealous. "We need to hurry and get out!"
"Get out? But isn't it clear already?" asked Kazu, confused. While this place wasn't exactly safe, it was better than going outside to face another horde.
"We can't..." Allen muttered as he walked toward the outer gate where the zombies had gathered. The garage and main door were made of steel bars, while the rest were concrete walls.
The hands of the Rage zombies reached through the bars, trying to grab and devour Allen.
These zombies couldn't get in, but Allen had a bad feeling. The system had warned him that a red zone was too dangerous even for him—and though it sounded arrogant, Tier 2 zombies couldn't kill him, meaning things would only get worse. Besides, there was no guarantee that a red zone would ever stop being one.
"If you want to take your chances and hide inside the shelter, you can. You're all free to follow your own path—I won't stop you," Allen didn't look at them, but his voice reached everyone's ears. "But if you stay, you'll have to obey."
Originally, there had been an open access point in the basement. By sealing it, they only had to worry about the window Allen had broken to get in. However, it wasn't safe—if Allen could break that window, then a Volatile or a Witch definitely could too.
No one dared to stay behind.
"Here's what we'll do. I'll open the door, let a few in, we kill them, and repeat until we can get out!"
No one objected.
Teshima, Tsunoda, Yamada, Takeshi, Hisashi, and Kazu formed a line in front of the girls and behind Allen, while Saeko and Rei stayed on each side, ready to intercept stronger zombies.
There was fear in the air, but after seeing what happened to Okada and Imamura, they had to endure and fight—or die like them.
"Alright," Allen nodded and opened the door. Immediately, zombies lunged forward like a swarm of ants, but they were stopped at once by a kick that sent them flying. "Just like the Battle of Thermopylae—the narrow entrance will be perfect to control the crowd!"
That was the reason Allen chose to open the small door instead of the large one.
Of course, that didn't stop the horde from coming in. The first zombies had their heads crushed by Allen, but two managed to slip past him and attack the group.
Teshima used his axe to decapitate, and Takeshi used his bat to smash.
More zombies entered—five this time. Allen dodged and quickly closed the door again, even though at least five were still pushing to get in—it didn't stop him.
The zombies charged at the group. This time, Kazu killed one by driving his crowbar into its head. Hisashi kicked one down and finished it by stabbing a butcher knife into its eye. Yamada used a golf club to kill another. Teshima killed one more, and Hirano fired his nail gun to take out the last.
The Springfield had no ammo left—it was better saved for the more terrifying types.
Allen was satisfied with the boys' performance and opened the door once more, letting in a dozen zombies. They repeated the process twice without any problems until one zombie jumped over the wall—but Saeko cut it down instantly.
The zombies outside began to become scarce, and at that moment Allen gave the signal—he kicked the door open, sending many zombies flying, and everyone ran out.
Roars of the undead echoed from every direction.
"Run and don't stop!"
Allen could feel it—as he killed zombies, as he crushed skulls, as blood splashed on him—something was watching them. Silently.
"I hope it doesn't attack before we make it out," Allen thought, though deep down he already knew the answer.
....
...
....
"We can't keep living like this! Why do we have to endure such injustice?!" Voices shouted from the courtyard of the Takagi mansion, even though it was late at night.
This was because the survivors, once they felt safe, had started to complain. The reason? Soichiro had set up several tents for them to stay in.
That left many people, used to a higher quality of life, deeply dissatisfied—especially since Soichiro owned a massive mansion but didn't allow the survivors to use it.
"Sir, let me remind you that this is not a public institution but the private property of Mr. Takagi," said one of Soichiro's men to the protesters.
"It doesn't matter! Soichiro Takagi is a man of power—he should care for the people who support him! We're part of the ultranationalist faction too!" growled a short-haired woman.
People wanted safety and food—once they had that, they wanted comfort.
Yuriko called her daughter again while watching the scene coldly. To her eyes, Soichiro was letting his group grow arrogant—he needed to rein them in. But despite being a decisive man, he also loved his country and its citizens, which was why he allowed the people to voice their complaints without stopping them.
"She's not answering..." Yuriko prayed that her daughter was safe. "There have been no government broadcasts for several hours now, which makes me feel that they have abandoned the country."
Yuriko had a bad feeling and wanted to get her daughter back before it was too late.
....
Ohio-Class Submarine (U.S.)
"Sir, we have authorization from the JSDF and the Japanese Minister. We can launch the Trident II and Tomahawk at any moment," said an officer, sweat running down his face.
Launch a warhead in Japan? In a city like Tokyo? What kind of madness was that?!
The Trident II was a ballistic missile capable of carrying low-yield nuclear warheads designed for EMPs. But the Tomahawk was an intercontinental missile built for nuclear strikes.
No matter which one they used, they'd be condemning the remaining survivors of Tokyo.
"We have no choice. If the virus isn't contained, all of humanity will perish!"
The commander took a deep breath of cold air. He was a soldier—one who followed orders, no matter how cruel.
Seeing their captain's resolve, two officers exchanged uneasy glances. They removed the keys hanging around their necks and inserted them simultaneously into two different slots.
The tension was unbearable. These weapons hadn't been used since World War II—no one wanted to go down in history as a mass murderer, but the situation had come to this.
When the keys turned, a chilling sound echoed as a button was activated. The commander took his own key, inserted it into the lock, and lifted the protective Tectite cover of the red button.
Even the commander, a cold man with forty years of naval service, had turned pale at what he was about to do.
He remembered the phrase J. Robert Oppenheimer once said upon realizing what he had created:
"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds..."