17 The alley

Under the cover of shadow from a tall office building, a zombie gazed on its wall and looked very dazed. The fact that it just stood there for a long time making it resembling a person who admired the building's structure. Albeit nothing special marked its design but it was indeed the tallest building in the vicinity, one could get a headache by just trying to stare at its roof.

*Puchi!*

The zombie's sensitive ear picked a sound of footsteps but before it managed to identify who is the newcomer, the crown already fell off from the throne. Part of its head rolled to the side, the lack of luster eyes perceived the image of a young man with crimson eyes.

The delicious walking meat raised his jersey shoe and stomped upon the half head, a familiar splatting sound entered the area.

Fujimura grind the zombie's head left-over on the ground until it only a skin, a red skin.

"We should be only few blocks away from approaching the river..." a crisp female voice came from behind him, Saya stood with Iron Sword on her right hand, her left hand raised to her head and its forefinger touched on her temple.

"This area felt strange to me, it's... foreign," Rei looked around, the brown haired girl stayed on his left several feet away.

"There wasn't many of them around here, luckily..." Hirano raised his nail gun and shot two zombie who approached them from behind.

"My feet began to tire..." Shizuka sighed while tilting her head to the side.

"You really lack of exercise, we just walked for a couple minutes..." Saya fixed her glass while showing her cute tooth.

"Huh... I have routine morning jog once a week, it just my chest is sometimes tire me quickly..." she said while lifting her twin peak.

"They are... indeed too big..." Rei twitched her eyebrows, while the pink haired girl snorted in annoyance.

Kohta felt his nose turned hot at the sight, he abruptly assumed a proper sentry job.

Fujimura didn't say anything and told the group to move out.

After Kohta shot down the punk's dude shoulder, his group immediately walked down from the bus and took a high walking bridge to reach to the other side of the area. They arrived on a downtown and had been fighting their way to here. Since the kendoist mistress and heavy hitter took absent from the group, Fujimura didn't have a choice but took the front assault by himself while Rei and Saya took left and right side to protect Shizuka in the middle, Kohta hung on the back as the group support fire.

They took the main road which exposing their presence to them, it's not like they are doing it in purpose but the people in the group had rarely come to this area, therefore they had lost the sense of direction, especially if they are taking the alleyway.

Using conjecture and projection, they slowly made their way through the town and not long after arrived at the current location.

Fujimura bashed one zombie with his shield and Ashura slashed one down. Since the quantity of the zombie wasn't that many on this part of area, the group had been tried to conserve their energy as many as they can. But that wasn't mean they are leisurely stroll or something, and the daylight are losing fast, even Fujimura admitted it is dangerous to be still in the road by the times the night's come.

One zombie encroached on Saya's proximity, she grabbed the sword handle with two hand and pushed the sword to puncture the zombie's forehead. It smoothly entered the grey skin then coming out from the back of its head. She pulled it out quickly and heaved. It's Fujimura who told her to use the sword that way for a time being, also not cockily fight with only one hand unless she already got use with the weapon weight.

*Puchi!* *Puchi!*

Rei approached two zombie on the left before they came too close with her, she twirled the broom's stick on her hand then proceeded to horizontally hack their head. The knife on the pointy end of the stick prove to be useful to rise her combat prowess.

So far the fight had been smooth, thanks to their luck perhaps that they hardly met any horde.

The group passed by a short path, that's when Saya ears picked a crying tone.

"Senpai, wait!" she abruptly said, gaining attention not just from the blue haired senior but also other people of the group. Saya raised her right ear, trying to focus to identify the anomaly she just hear.

"Don't you guys heard it?" she said after the crying tone became clearer to her. The group went silent and all focused their hearing.

"Huuu...."

"Ah, someone has been crying!" Rei exclaimed.

"The voice sounds like a young girl, maybe younger than us..." Kohta knitted his eyebrows.

"Senpai... should we check on it?" Rei doubtfully faced Fujimura.

"..." Fujimura frowned, he looked to his surrounding, the alley was trapped between two and three stories building, right across is a main road for cars and another buildings at the other side. The area only had few quantity of zombies, and there is no sign of fierce fight happened here.

Why would there be a random girl crying in some alleyway?

He looked ahead of the tunnel, its dark visage making him hard to find the figure of the girl, by the size of her intonation, perhaps she was stayed deep inside.

Then again, why?

"Huu..."

The group was unable to bear this tearful voice, they impatiently waited for him to give out his response. By the ripple on their eyes, clearly they won't take a no for response.

"OK, but we follow my plan..."

(***)

The alley's path filled with trash can that overflowed by black plastic bags. The scent here was getting terrible the further he traveled in, With a flash light on his right hand, Fujimura spots the narrow corridor of darkness. He had no Ashura and only wore the iron buckler on his left forearm.

"Huu..."

The voice was near, and he saw three bodies laid on the ground. Two were facing the ground, blood gushed out from underneath them. The last one had he or her left shoulder kiss the ground and their body itself pasted on the wall. Fujimura ceased his steps, one couldn't describe what currently brewing inside his mind. He approached the nearest body and knelt a couple feet away from it. The flash light inspected its condition and he found the attire of this dead body appeared quite fine. He turned over the body and...

A pale skin with widened eyes and gaping mouth greeted his sight, there was a hole on his right chest, a stabbing mark. Unless the dead somehow learn a manner and no longer shred people with their bare hand, then I believed this was the result of human's killing.

"Huu..."

Fujimura abruptly raised his the flashlight to the front of him and he caught something white at the far end.

"Hello?" he said with a bit loud tone. But whatever it is, it didn't give him any response.

Fujimura stood from his spot, ignoring the other two dead bodies, he walked to the mysterious figure. The sobbing tone sneaked inside his tunnel of hearing and caressed his mind. Steps by steps, delivering him to the white figure who had been crying non-stop.

It's a human figure, precisely a girl, with her black hair fell into her back, her white luster skin wrapped in white dress. There was no more path ahead of this girl, only a tall dead end.

"Hey, are you fine?" Fujimura tried to speak friendly.

"Huu..." the girl sat on the ground in side saddle manner, she had her forehead touched against the wall and she just kept crying.

"There is nothing to be afraid of... I am not one of those monster."

The girl still ignored his persuasion, after no matter what attempt he did bore no success, Fujimura sighed in frustration.

Maybe it was a bad idea for him the one that enter. If this was Marikawa-sensei, perhaps the girl will find more comfort.

The sky started to become deep red, a sign that the sun must departed once again.

Fujimura strode forward, his hand reached out to her shoulder, attempted to wake her from her bathe of sadness.

"Look whatever happen to you, I am sorry, but this place is not safe, let me take you some-"

He halted his speech the moment his hand touched against her skin, this was... hard... like a plastic surface...

Fujimura startled and he whisked her body.

*Thud!*

'She' powerlessly fell onto the ground, her black hair made a gap with the back of her body, and a box like tools glued by tape onto the surface.

Looking at her face simply had no human feature, Fujimura immediately stood up but before he managed to retreat, a sharp thing was placed against the back of his neck. Although he had put on the leather armor, but it still won't protect all of his weak spot, neck is one of them.

"Hehe, onii-san, that is not good, you just broke my toy..." an adult human voice punched through his ears, he could a heat radiating from his back.

Then another figure walked beside him, a man who had his front part soaked in blood, he approached the 'girl', grabbed its waist and raised it to the air.

"Huu... huu... onii-san is bad... oni-san is cruel... he push me away... huu... huu..." the man twisted his expression mimicking a sad appearance while daunting the mannequin girl in the air.

That person probably around thirty or so, he had lanky body and light tanned skin. His hair was short in fact it was neatly tidied. He wore a shirt with a long pants that had straps on his shoulder blade.

Fujimura appeared panic at the sudden appearance of this people, by the mark of blood on his front part made him guess that he was one of the two dead body who previously laid on the floor.

"W-who are you people? What do you want?!"

The man behind him moved the sharp thing over his shoulder and stuck it on his neck, it's a medium size kitchen knife, almost the same as the one that Rei had.

"Onii-san, we want a repayment, you can't just broke my toy and walk away like that... that is unethical..." his voice had the hint of malice in it.

"Yes... yes... onii-san diss me away... me sad..." the other person played the mannequin while mimicking a girl voice again.

"OK, look you want money? Why don't you rob a bank? No police will ever stop you. There is no need to act like this," Fujimura greeted his teeth.

"Hehe... onii-san is cute, he think we want his money... haha... we should laugh at this..."

"Hehe... onii-san is funny... huhu... I am not crying anymore."

Their tone was full of mock and disdained. Making Fujimura frowned once again.

"What do you want?"

"The three woman with you, yes I know you have companion somewhere, waiting for you to return with my toy on your hand..." the guy behind spoke with excitement.

"That's it? A woman? that's what you want?" Fujimura wrinkled his eyebrows.

"Three woman! And the fat boy too..." the guy with mannequin girl walked to his front.

"What the heck do you want with him?" his voice had a sense of discomfort, don't tell me this both person swing both way?

"The three woman is for us! And the fat boy is for me~... I need some friend after all~" he said and played.

"Fine, so long you spare my life, then I give them to you..." Fujimura said after a long brief of silence.

"Heeh, onii-san is quite ruthless, eh? For your own safety you don't mind giving out your friend," the two person laughed.

"Hmph, they are not my friend, just a hindrance to me all the way here, might as well leave the burden to you, finally they have some use, right?" he snorted.

The duo exchanged glances, then sneering.

"Alright onii-san, lead us the way, but you better be not onto something, or I will not hesitate to tear your neck..."

"Don't worry, I know the consequence..."

Then the person turned his body around, by grabbing Fujimura's uniform, the three of them walked out from the alley.