Canon Fodder

CHAPTER 33 MAIN PARTY

By the time we got to the main floor I had a group of 30 living people. I lost 2 from a zombie attack I wasn’t fast enough for. Some people cried as their friend’s head was bashed in, but I grabbed the bat from one of those fallen and threw it to someone else. I made sure to express the urgency that they needed to man up if they wanted to survive. 

I killed another dozen zombies on our way. My control of chakra around the Jitte was getting better, but it was very tiring. I ended up letting the water wobble on the shaft when I wasn’t attacking. This gave my concentration a break. No one had remarked on the weird weapon yet, so I wasn’t too worried. 

We got to what I thought was the faculty room on the main floor. Deciding to let people take a break inside I drafted a group of boys to stand outside with bats. About 6 boys there I told them to wait and help anyone that got close. Kill any zombies that came. And if it got bad to yell for me. I would be on the main floor, near enough to hear for anything too bad. They shook in fear, but put brave faces on. 

“Don’t leave,” one of the girls said as I turned. I noticed she was the mousy girl that had offered her money without explanation. Looking around to the other girls they all had nice racks and figures. In a hentai quality world of beauties, I was attracting the average girl, of course. Not that I much cared, but it was annoying. 

“I’ll be back,” I said. “Rest. We will be leaving within the next couple of hours.” 

Then I heard a scream and was heading down the hall. Smacking a turned teacher with my Jitte he was thrown off his feet and his skull was crushed against the wall. I pulled the girl up, did a cursory look to make sure she wasn’t bit then pointed her to the other group holed up. 

I heard more screams and was on my way. Once I got to the main entrance I noticed that there were somehow hundreds of people outside of the school. People screamed and yelled in anguish, but the majority of them were already turned. Letting out a sigh I felt bad, but turned around anyway as another yell went out inside the building. 

My body naturally Naruto running it was less awkward, but still very embarrassing. I got to the base of the stairs to find the main characters of HOTD. The pink haired bratty girl was stabbing the head of a zombie with an electric drill. The half-inch diameter drillbit was rotating in the skull of the zombie spraying brains and blood all over her. Since she was one of the main characters I guessed that proved that you had to be bit to turn, because she was covered in it’s blood.  

“Weston?” Hirano Kouta asked. He was a huskier black haired man that was the weapons expert of the group, and one of only 2 boys. 

“Good, you made it,” I said. He and I had been friends the last few years since we had the same interests and shared classes. This year we had been in different classes so we hadn’t talked much. 

“What are you doing?” He asked. 

“Looking for survivors,” I said. “Come on.” I noticed the tall purple haired girl. The real person I wanted to meet I would have to drill her for information first. 

“Is it safe?” The brown haired girl asked. She was Rei. Her boyfriend should have died on the roof earlier, but she looked fine. Which wasn’t a surprise. Her back-up boyfriend, Takashi, was behind her. He was really the main character of the story. When stuff happened in High School of the Dead it was usually around him. 

“Yeah, I have a few people there already,” I said. I started leading them down the halls. Some of the main party were lagging behind and others talking too loudly for the situation. I ignored them. We got to the boys guarding the outside.

“Weston, we heard some more yells that way,” one of them said.

“Good, you guys get rest,” I said. “You come with me. I might need help.” I pointed to Saeko Busujima. The purple haired beauty was the captain of the kendo club. She held a wooden bokken staff but was deadly with it. She gave me a confused look and looked to her friends, but they shrugged. 

I didn’t wait to see if she would follow. Running in the direction the others pointed I heard the sounds of fighting. A large group came down the opposite set of stairs the main characters had used. They were struggling with a larger group of zombies. Yelling and pushing they used chairs and other furniture to keep the zombies at bay. 

Jumping over them to the top step I began bashing in heads of the zombies. After 8 hits they were finally at peace on the ground. The only sound was the heavy breathing of the group as they stared at me. 

“Who is bit?” I asked, looking them over. 

“Uh, no one,” a girl said. She had a nice rack, but leaned to the side. I looked around her to see a big bite at the back of her thigh. 

“You’re turning,” I said. My voice emotionless as I stared into her eyes. “I can end it quickly for you if you want.”

“What! No!” She cried out, looking to her friends. 

“Don’t you dare touch her,” a boy said moving in front of her protectively. 

“That’s fine. But you’re on your own. Exit is that way,” I pointed. 

“Don’t tell us what to do,” the boy spat. 

I closed the distance between us in an instant. “Don’t,” I said simply. “You leave, or those bit die, no in between.” The man gulped. He still gripped a chair. Biting his lip he turned to the girl. She dropped to the ground. Her body shivering, the boy began yelling her name. Crying out as the others around us stepped back. 

The change took about 45 seconds. She was shaking, then still for a while, then her eyes blinked and she got up. I pulled the boy back as she lunged for his throat. My Jitte came down crashing into her skull. Her body went limp as her face became distorted. The boy cried out as I stood. I turned to see Saeko. She held her bokken firmly. Locking eyes with me I could tell she was seeing me for the first time. 

Besides the nerd, Kohta, none of the main characters had ever given me a second look. We stared at one another for a split second, then the gaze was gone as another 2 zombies stumbled down the stairs. I waited for them. My Jitte slicing down on the left one Saeko’s stroked up on the right. Dropping to the floor boneless they were making the pile of them bigger. 

“If you want, there is a group holed up there,” I said pointing to my group. “Otherwise do what you think best.” 

Turning to head back that way, Saeko quickly followed. “You’re the kendo club captain, right?” I asked. She nodded. “I’m Weston. I need pointers.” I showed her the Jitte. I kept the water chakra firm so it didn’t ripple. 

“What kind?” She asked. 

“Grip strength, the correct form, footwork, all of it,” I said.

“That would take a lifetime to learn it all,” she said. “But I can give you some tips.” 

I nodded. “Good enough,” I said. “In a bit though.” We got to the group of boys. “You guys switching with others inside every 30 mins?” 

The leader boy shook his head. “They refuse.” 

I cursed. Pushing my way into the room I found a few boys playing cards. They were laughing until I walked in. All of them had bats at their sides, but I grabbed the big leader's collar. Picking him up to stand on his feet I growled, “Get out there.” 

“Why? They’re-” I slapped him hard, maybe a little too hard. His head bounced off the table and his body dropped to the floor. 

“I said shifts,” I told the other ones. “We all deserve breaks.” They stood up and were soon outside the door. The earlier group coming inside the leader nodded to me as they walked around trying to find somewhere to relax. A lot of people were sitting on the floor as the room was filling up. 

On the main floor I looked out the window but there wasn’t anything much. A few zombies walking about, at least the screams had mostly stopped. 

“I hear you saved everyone here,” Kohta said. The husky guy walking up nervously. “I didn’t want to believe it, but you really look different. When did you get all the muscle?” 

“Today,” I said with a smirk. “Alright everybody. Who has money?” 

A few more people that knew the drill raised their hands. I went around taking donations. In the shop I bought a couple of cases of water. People’s eyes bulged as the water appeared in front of me. I pointed to one of the girls. 

“You and your friends, pass these out to everyone,” I said. They nodded and were soon going around the room. 

“Who wants a weapon?” I asked. A couple more boys raised their hands. I looked through the store but the aluminum bat was the best deal. Buying them I threw them to the guys. “Time to gameplan people.” 

I sat in the middle of the room. People looked to me as I spoke. “We have 2 options right now. 1 is to stay here. The school itself might be safe, but the yard around this place is crawling with the zombies,” I said. “The school is fenced in and if we could seal ourselves in, it might be a good place to try to ride it out.” I never understood why it was called high school of the dead if they weren’t stationed in a high school. 

There was mumbling going around, but no one spoke up. “Option 2 is to risk it out there. I don’t think this…outbreak will end any time soon. We all have loved ones out there. So I understand if people want to go.” 

I looked to the faces of those I had saved in the room. There was fear there of course. But I wasn’t up for beating around the bush. “You have 30 minutes to choose. I’ll be leaving after that. So pick if you want to go with me. On my way out I will kill every zombie I can to make sure those that stay have it a little easier.” Getting up I headed outside. 

“You hear all that?” I asked the makeshift guards. They nodded. “Good. Hitting the head. Let me know if anything happens.” The bathroom was down the hall a little. I took a leak and was surprised when Saeka followed me in. 

“Gotta piss?” I asked. 

She shook her head. “No, you need pointers badly.” I agreed. I was brute forcing it. We headed out into the hall. Saeko walked me through the correct stance when handling a sword. From the basics to advanced she talked about everything quickly and efficiently. Something as simple as where my thumbs were placed was important, and I knew I had a long road ahead of me. 

Correcting my stance as I slashed down she critiqued everything. “You have to use every muscle.” 

“I am,” I said, gritting my teeth.

“Are you using your back?” She asked, pointing to a muscle in my back. I did the slash again and I was, but not very much. “Put your weight into it. Focus on the muscles as you use them. A simple twist here or using your toes to firm up your form could be the difference between going too slow to survival.” 

I nodded. “How long you been doing this?” I asked. 

“As long as I can remember,” she said with a small smile. 

“When did you become confident enough to teach?” I asked. 

“A few years ago,” she said. “Your form is alright. But you’re using your muscles incorrectly. In a year you could be close to my level.” 

“Okay,” I said. “Thanks. It’s about time to leave. You coming with?” 

“Yes, my group and I will be leaving,” she said. 

“With me?” I asked. 

“If we are going the same direction, yes,” she said. 

“Good. I’ll stick to you till I get it right,” I said. She frowned but I walked away. She was the main reason I was there. That and I was kicking ass so far in the zombie apocalypse.

I turned and headed back into the room. “You guys are done,” I said to the group outside. The man I had knocked out was conscious and was sitting down by the door. He gave me an angry glare but I ignored him. 

“Who is leaving?” I asked. People looked around. About 15 kids raised their hands, then slowly the other 7 main protagonists raised their hands as well. 

“Let’s go,” I said. Turning around they acted shocked and began to scramble. Gathering what supplies they could I headed out of the room to the front of the school. 

Large glass doors separating us from the zombies I studied them. There were no humans anymore. Only the undead. Bites taken out of people, limbs missing, knifes in guts, their gray eyes stared sightlessly as they shambled around. 

“What do you think?” Saeko asked, coming up behind me. The groups with bats followed. 

“I’m thinking we go for the bus,” I said. It was a nice and big school bus with plenty of room and the main vehicle at the beginning of the story.  

“Got the keys?” She asked. I pulled the keys out of my pocket. They had been in the teacher’s lounge. “Know how to drive?” 

“I do,” I said. “But I’ll be busy killing.” I turned to see the blonde bombshell nurse. The oldest in my group I tossed her the keys. “You’re driving.” She frowned but nodded, her massive bigger than DD jugs jiggled with the simple motion. I struggled to not eye them, it was hard not to, but I succeeded. 

“Okay, remember your training,” I said to the group. “You’ll make it through this.” I moved toward the door. 

“We didn’t have any training,” a girl squeaked. 

“Exactly,” I said. “Stay in a V formation. You run from the group, you will be left behind. Attack anything dead.” I stepped through the doors into the sun.