Tokonosu Offshore International Airport.
"Alright, looks like you got a green light."
A 7.62 mm bullet was shot from a sniper rifle as the trigger was pulled.
It traveled from a distance of 4500 feet before it tore through the skull of a zombie.
Several more shots were fired, and several more zombies fell.
Looking through his scope, Tajima finally let out a sigh of relief before looking to his partner.
"Rika, where do you think all of them came from?" he asked. "We're on an island that you can only get to by boat."
To his left, Rika Minami stood up as she started to massage her breasts.
"Someone on the island was probably hiding their infection...they turned and started infecting others," Rika said.
"Wha-What are you doing?" Tajima said as he was staring at her breasts.
"My boobs are going numb from laying on them all day," Rika said as she continued to massage them.
Tajima stood up next to her before thoughts rolled through his head.
He thought back to the day the outbreak had begun.
Tajima had visited Rika's home with the excuse of showing off his motorcycle, which he had just finished working on.
It was all an excuse to go see her, with Tajima planning to make a move on Rika before they got official orders to immediately head to Tokonosu Offshore International Airport.
He had left his motorcycle behind at her home as they took Rika's car instead.
Now he was here on this island, fighting off corpses that only stopped moving when you shot them in the head.
But at least he was here with her.
Back to reality, Rika took off her bulletproof vest before speaking.
"Once we're done here, I'm going back to the city," she said.
Tajima looked at her as he crossed his arms.
"What...got a boyfriend or something?" Tajima asked.
"I have a friend there," she said, as a beautiful blonde came to her mind.
Before Tajima could say anything else, his cellphone started to ring in his pocket.
"Let me take this real quick," Tajima said before stepping to the side.
Rika glanced at him before looking forward again.
In the distance, she could see something starting to take shape in the sky.
That's strange, we're here to make sure that these airplanes can take off. But no one mentioned anything about them landing here. Rika thought to herself.
"Rika," Tajima said as he walked back towards her. "We have new orders."
"New orders? I thought our main mission was to make sure these airplanes took off?" Rkia asked.
"Well, apparently these new orders take priority...even over this," he said.
Rika stared at him before she sighed and continued.
"Okay then, what are the new orders?"
Tajima looked up at the sky and pointed as he spoke.
"They told me we would get our orders from our new friends from North America."
Rika looked behind where Tajima was pointing.
That one silhouette in the sky that she had seen before was now clearly visible.
That silhouette was a chopper, not just one chopper but three.
All three choppers landed smoothly in the open area infront of the two.
Rika looked at the three choppers as they landed, with each one of the choppers having the same thing written on the side.
S.T.A.R.S
Rika watched the countless people coming out of the choppers before she put her bulletproof vest back on.
She then grabbed her sniper rifle and hung it over her shoulder before looking at Tajima.
"Let's go and meet our new foreign friends," she said.
As they made their way down, Rika's friend came to her mind.
"Sorry, Shizuka. Looks like you'll need to wait a bit longer."
.....
Back at the Shopping District
"Dude, no way you found this?!" Ryuji said to Ren.
Takashi let out a chuckle as he spoke next.
"You look ridiculous, "Takashi said with a smile on his face.
"We'll see who's laughing when I'm alive, and you're walking around as a corpse because you thought this wasn't smart," Ren said to Takashi.
Across from the three idiots, the rest of the group sat together.
They all sat together as Shizuka, Miyu, and Hina explained everything that had happened to them since Saeko and the rest had left the bus.
"What? No way! You're telling me to believe that idiot did all that?!" Saya said as she pointed to where Ren was.
The entire group looked over as Ren was in a green frog mascot costume with his hands spread out while Takashi and Ryuji were biting his arms.
Miyu had a blank stare on her face as she looked back at the group.
"Yes," she said while Shizuka was nodding her head in support. "That idiot did all that."
A moment of silence passed between them before Rei spoke.
"I'm just glad he got rid of that neatly combed hair bastard," Rei said. "I'm just a bit disappointed I didn't get to see him getting his ass kicked."
A voice came from the side of the group.
"You're welcome," Ren said as he walked towards them with Takashi and Ryuji behind him.
"Thanks," Rei said as she nodded at him.
To her left, Saya stood with her arms crossed beneath her chest.
She spoke to Ren as she leaned a bit forward in his direction.
"Can you take off that stupid costume?" she said.
Ren stopped before the group.
He looked down at himself, then back to her.
"But, I thought this costume really brought out my eyes," Ren said.
Ryuji snorted behind him.
Saya pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Can you two not?" she said.
Ren looked back at her.
"You're really stuck on this, huh?"
"Yes," she said flatly. "Because we just reunited after almost dying, and you're standing there dressed like an idiot."
Ren reached up and grabbed the oversized frog head before pulling it off.
"That better?" he asked.
Saya looked at him before glancing away.
"It's an improvement at least," she said.
Takashi cut in before anyone else could speak.
"Okay, enough messing around," he said as he looked towards Ren. "We have to come up with a plan, we can't just sit here forever."
The mood between them all shifted in an instant.
Ren looked at Takashi before speaking.
"Yeah...We do," he said.
Kohta sat straight with his nail gun in hand.
"So... what's the plan?" Kohta asked.
Takashi didn't hesitate.
"We go find our families."
Silence lingered for a moment.
Rei broke the silence as she agreed with Takashi's plan.
"Yeah...That sounds good to me," she said quietly.
From the side Saya spoke.
"That's not a plan Takashi," she said.
Takashi frowned at her words.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
Miyu cut in before Saya could speak.
"Your plan is to aimlessly wander around the city until we find our families," Miyu continued. "What happens if we get separated again and we don't have anywhere we can go?"
Takashi's jaw clenched at Miyu's words.
"That won't happen," he said.
From the side, Saya spoke again.
"She's right," she said. "We just got lucky finding each other again. If we split up in a city this size, we might not get that chance twice."
Rei looked between them, clearly conflicted.
"But we can't just ignore our families either," Rei said quietly.
"No one's saying that," Ryuji cut in. "We're saying don't be stupid about it."
Takashi shot him a look.
A clap or what was supposed to be a clap, came from the green costume Ren still had on.
"That's enough Takashi," Ren said with his voice turning into a calm tone.
The group went silent as they all turned their attention to Ren.
"You're not the only one with family out there," Ren said. "Everyone here has someone out there, and just like you, they don't know whether they're alive or dead.
Ren continued.
"We have to think of ourselves for right now before we even consider others."
Takashi looked him over before speaking.
"Then what's your plan?" Takashi asked.
Ren smirked at Takashi before turning towards the beautiful school nurse.
"Shizuka," Ren said as everyone's attention turned toward her.
She blinked, caught off guard for a second.
"M-Me?" Shizuka asked.
Ren nodded once.
"Tell them what you told me before we reunited with them," he said.
Shizuka glanced around at the group before speaking.
"I have a friend who lives not too far from here," Shizuka said.
"She gave me the keys to her house before everything happened," Shizuka continued. "It should still be there…and it's safe. Or at least safer than here."
Takashi frowned.
"You're saying we go there instead of looking for our families?"
Ren stepped back in before Shizuka had to answer.
"I'm saying we don't run around the city like idiots with nowhere to go,"
Saeko cut in before Takashi could argue.
"Takashi, what Ren is saying makes sense," Saeko said.
Ryuji scratched the back of his head.
"I mean…having somewhere to crash that isn't a random store sounds pretty damn good."
Rei hesitated. What Ren was saying made sense to her, but the desire to see her father was just too strong.
"But what about our parents?" Rei muttered to herself more than anyone.
Ren looked at Takashi before glancing at the group.
"Let's put it to a vote," he said. "If you want to follow Takashi's plan and search for our families, raise your hand."
Takashi stared in silence as no one raised their hands.
His gaze shifted towards his childhood friend Rei.
Rei lowered her gaze slightly, not meeting his gaze as her hands didn't move.
Takashi's gaze then turned to the rest of the group.
Saya stood with her arms crossed below her chest. Saeko calmly stood next to her, expression unchanged.
Kohta avoided eye contact with Takashi before silently speaking.
"Statistically speaking...it's a bad idea," Kohta said.
Takashi exhaled slowly as it was decided.
Ren didn't say anything as he looked at Takashi.
"Now, if you want to follow mine and Shizuka's plan, raise your hand," Ren said.
There was no hesitation in everyone's decision.
Both Saya's and Miyu's hands raised at the same time.
After that, everyone's hand was raised.
Takashi looked at them in silence before accepting the decision the group had made.
"Alright, we go with your plan," Takashi said as he looked at Ren.
"Good," Ren said before turning his attention to Shizuka.
"Shizuka, how long would it take to get there?" Ren asked.
Shizuka blinked for a second, thinking it through.
"If the roads are clear…maybe twenty minutes?" she said. "Thirty if we have to slow down."
Hina let out a small breath.
"That's not bad," she said.
From the side, Saya spoke up.
"Assuming the roads are clear," she said. "Which they probably aren't."
Ren nodded slightly.
"We should move now before it gets dark," Ren said.
At his words, those who sat down stood up, everyone grabbed what they had scavenged, and made their way to the bus.
Arriving at the bus, they all sat one by one as Shizuka closed the doors.
Ren walked through the aisle like nothing was wrong before sitting down.
Across from him, Saya stared at him in disbelief.
"You're still wearing that?" she said flatly as she pointed to the frog costume.
Ren leaned back slightly in his seat.
"What?" he said. "It's comfortable."
Saya didn't blink.
"It's stupid," she said.
Ren tilted his head slightly at her words.
"And yet," he said, "I'm still the best dressed one here."
Saya didn't respond as she just stared at him before turning her head with a scoff.
"Unbelievable," she muttered.
Ren smirked faintly as he leaned his head back.
"You'll get used to it," he said.
The bus's wheels started to move, as they all moved as one towards their destination.
Towards Rika's home.
.....
End of Chapter 13