HOTD: A New Dawn

"That's the plan. My place."

"The city will likely become inhospitable within the hour." Saya interjected. "Ty's right, we need to leave before it gets too chaotic."

"Makes sense." Saeko said, nodding once.

"Do you have anywhere you need to go?" He asked politely, giving the option to join his party if she so pleased. "I saw that most of the city had been infested, though if someone's still waiting for you—" He trailed off, leaving the suggestion hanging in the air.

"No." Saeko responded firmly. "My father has a training dojo outside Tokonosu. I doubt anyone is still at home with the current state of affairs, but knowing him, he'll remain there, protecting it until everything is resolved."

The resolve in her words left little room for argument.

Tysone nodded. "Before leaving, we're planning on running through the entire school building. Hopefully, some people are still sheltering in place. We could really use some allies."

"That idiot must be with Rei." Saya mumbled with a sigh. Tysone knew who she was talking about.

Takashi Komuro.

He should be either on the rooftop or heading towards it, along with Rei and Hisashi. Well, according to the canon plot, anyway.

Would anything be different with him around?

"I could use some water..." Mai breathed out as she wiped her forehead with the hem of her shirt, exposing her pale belly slightly. Her skin glistened with sweat.

Tysone shrugged nonchalantly. "I did spot a water dispenser earlier, though I'd advise against drinking from it since we don't know if the infection has contaminated the water yet. I have water back at my place, so hold on a little longer."

"A-Alright."

"First off, let's try the rooftops…" He glanced at Saya. "Unless there's any classrooms you think are worth checking out."

She shook her head. "No, not really. This school is massive, and I'd rather not waste time searching blindly for survivors."

"That leaves us with one route..."

"Shall we get going then?"

Tysone nodded, leading them towards the exit. They moved as one unit, covering each other's backs and scanning every direction for threats. Any noise could signal danger. The sound of shoes scuffing on the polished hardwood floor; the soft hum of fluorescent lights above them—each sound seemed amplified.

As they ventured up the stairs towards the roof, there were signs of struggle everywhere: broken lockers, scattered backpacks and belongings strewn about. Blood stained portions of the walls where students may have desperately tried to hide only to meet an unfortunate demise in the process.

"It's almost eerie, isn't it?" Saeko spoke up beside Tysone as they climbed the last flight of steps. "Everything looks so... desolate."

"I'm sure we'll run into more survivors eventually." Tysone replied. "We're bound to find at least someone along the way."

"I hope you're right." Mai murmured, a somber note creeping into her voice.

'Well, if it isn't a survivor, it'll be a zombie. Not much of a choice here.'

Unfortunately, the path upwards was filled with obstacles—they encountered a large horde of undead blocking access to the hallway ahead. They were shambling around with bloodstained mouths. The group immediately hid behind a wall.

"S-Shit… how are we going to get past these bastards…?!" Miku asked, gripping the baseball bat tightly between both hands.

"We wait for them to thin out and rush through the opening." Tysone explained calmly, peering past the corner. "They seem to be focused on eating those corpses over there." His lip curled slightly in distaste at the gruesome sight.

"I've noticed that they're attracted by noise." Saya added quietly. "Perhaps we could lure a portion of them away somehow...?"

"But how?!" Miku stressed. "We barely survived that ambush at the gym!"

'Barely survived?' Tysone liked to think they handled it quite well, all considered.

Then again, they had Saeko.

Thankfully, by the grace of the almighty Anime God, the frantic sound of footsteps echoed from down the hallway, hand in hand. Two girls. It didn't take long before one of them was dragged down the stairs, with the other betraying her friend at the very last moment, before karma caught up with her and she met her gruesome fate at the hands of the infected.

At least this distracted most of the horde…

"Now."

Tysone took the lead, the others followed shortly after.

Despite the risk, they managed to slip through undetected. It looked like that when the zombies were busy eating, their ability to detect anything else dropped significantly. As they ran through another hallway, a teacher stumbled past them, eyes dead despite being still alive.

Tysone couldn't make out what he was muttering.

Mai turned around. "Hey you... don't go there! There are a lot of them—"

Tysone grabbed her hand and pulled her forward. She looked at him in disbelief, but he merely shook his head. "He knows." He said.

"What...?"

When she turned back around, she had to avert her gaze with a stifled scream.

The man had opened a window and jumped down.

Tysone sped up their pace.

A zombie lunged for them. Tysone didn't stop running as he loaded his bat back and hit a home run with the undead's head. More were crawling up the stairs, but Saeko, who had been holding up the rear, stopped briefly, unsheathed her bokken, and delivered a series of swift strikes, felling each zombie with deadly precision.

Mai stared, shocked.

"Don't get distracted!" Tysone urged. "Keep going."

They kept sprinting toward the stairwell leading to the roof, only stopping briefly when a cluster of zombies emerged ahead.

"There!" Saeko called out sharply, pointing toward a door leading outside.

Miku rushed forward and opened the latch.

Together, the group burst into the sunlight.

Panting heavily, they collapsed on the concrete rooftop. After a momentary reprieve from the constant adrenaline, Tysone looked at the other members of the group. "Is everyone okay? Nobody's hurt?"

Everyone checked themselves over carefully before giving affirmations. No injuries except some minor bruising here and there. Luckily enough, no one got bitten, either.

Tysone stood up first amongst them all, his legs shaking ever so slightly due to sheer exhaustion, then went around, helping each girl stand upright afterwards.

"Hey… look." Saya pointed out, drawing Tysone's attention. Her brows were knit together as she surveyed the rooftop. "There are more of them."

Tysone turned around as the girls backed off slowly. The rooftop was quite vast, so there was a lot of distance between them and the infected. Three zombies were stumbling aimlessly near the fence of the roof while another was crouched over the corpse of a student.

All of them were students themselves before, probably trapped in this place when it all went to hell.

Or maybe they were attracted by the scent of fresh meat, courtesy of Takashi's own little group. He was standing in the middle, holding a bat. Next to him was Rei, with a spike of some sorts, and Hisashi, unarmed. 

They were in the midst of a fight.

"Let's go help them." Tysone said, twirling his bloodied bat.

Saya, Mai, and Miku stood protectively behind Tysone, while Saeko slid forward, her bokken already flying through the air. An arc of blood soared up as Tysone began running, Saeko not far behind him.

In moments, two more of the four zombies collapsed upon the concrete, the first of their skulls having been split open cleanly. Another lay twitching after its brains were splattered across the floor from the sheer force of the blow.

However, the last one continued stalking toward Takashi, Rei, and Hisashi regardless, who were busy with their own battles.

Rei, in a moment of distraction, was pinned against the wall by a zombie.

"Rei!" Takashi called out.

Tysone's burst of speed was a testament to the long hours of hard work he had invested in himself. 

His body was strong, lean, and agile—and fast. Fast enough to close in on Rei's position in time and sink the barrel-end of his bat straight through the attacking zombie's head.

The creature toppled backwards. A dull thud resounded across the rooftop.

Rei was stunned. Her eyes met Tysone's.

And that was the only hiccup that took place during that quick engagement. With the addition of Tysone's group, the horde of zombies on the rooftop were dispatched with ease.

With that done, everyone could finally relax. A collective sigh of relief escaped their lips. Even the stoic Saeko relaxed somewhat after confirming the surrounding area was secure.

"Are you alright?" Saeko asked, approaching Rei, who was still reeling from the close call. She gave her a hand, pulling her up gently. "Are you injured?"

Rei shook her head slowly. "N-No, I'm fine...thanks to you guys showing up." She answered softly, still somewhat dazed. "It all happened so suddenly, it's all still hard to wrap my head around."

Tysone stepped forward. "Trust me, we're trying our best to process everything ourselves too." He chuckled dryly, shaking his head slightly.

Rei looked at Tysone, slightly intimidated. Perhaps his flashy entrance didn't exactly leave the best of impressions, but at least she was grateful enough to recognize that. "Thank you for saving me." She gulped. "But... w-who are you?"

Author's Note:

If you're enjoying the story and want to read ahead or support my work, you can check out my P@treon at [email protected]/LordCampione. But don't worry—all chapters will eventually be public. Just being here and reading means the world to me. Thank you for your time and support.