“Ready?” I asked, feeling my new weapons.
Searching through the security room located on the topmost floor had yielded a surprisingly nice piece: the Brügger & Thomet MP9.
It was a machine pistol designed for military and police use—in other words, not something you’d expect security guards in Japan to bust out. Heck, even in the U.S it would’ve been a little overkill due to its fully automatic firing mode.
Wouldn’t have expected less from a company known for its cutting-edge technology.
I might’ve found it a little more concerning back in the day, but that was then and this was now.
I filled a backpack with as many 9mm rounds as it could hold and took two MP9s, one in each hand.
Also, each MP9 came equipped with a red dot sight, a flashlight, and a laser sight—an all-you-can-eat attachment buffet.
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Otoha replied, clutching her trusty shovel.
I thought about handing her the spare MP9, but seeing as she wasn’t familiar with guns and would likely struggle handling one, I chose to dual wield them instead.
Shiiko looked over at me. “Are we seriously going through with this?”
“Getting cold feet, are we?”
“N-No, of course not,” Shiiko huffed with a cute little pout.
Not that there’s any turning back now.
We were making our way down to the first floor inside the elevator, which we had accessed using Shiiko’s key card.
“Three, two, one...” I counted down the floors as though counting down the seconds till we stepped into hell. “Charge!” I yelled as we rushed out of the elevator.
A zombie popped out right before us only to taste steel cutting through its neck. The head fell to the floor, followed by the body as I wheeled Shiiko along as fast as I could.
Although it was a power wheelchair, her model prioritized safety over speed, so I had to push it to get past the first floor as quickly and safely as possible. The massive battery wasn’t making my job any easier.
Whether it was our voices, our scents, or something else entirely, our presence appeared to have agitated the alarming number of zombies. They all stopped moving or resting and started walking toward us simultaneously.
One, two, three, four, five... Let’s just stop at five. I don’t wanna count any more.
Shiiko squeezed her eyes shut, shrinking in on herself.
“Cover your ears! Otoha, sliding maneuver!”
Otoha, who was running in front of us, got into position and then unleashed all hell.
The group of zombies Otoha had bunched together were pelted with the force of fifteen 9mm rounds per second.
Since I was busy with Shiiko, most of the bullets landed somewhere around the chest area, but even so, three or four of them packed enough of a punch to throw their rotting bodies off-balance.
Otoha used the opportunity to deliver a swift leg sweep, knocking them off their feet.
“Woohoo!” I cheered. Although we had it planned out in advance, seeing everything come together like that was still satisfying.
It’s like we’re in sync.
“Who are you people?!” Shiiko hollered.
This show’s just getting started, girlie.
Otoha rolled over to the nearest wall and stood back up, surrounded by zombies on all sides.
Shiiko gasped as the G-Wagen punched through the front entrance’s reinforced glass with its bumper guard, shards flying everywhere.
“Hiroaki!” The voice came from none other than my partner, Shino.
She loaded her rifle in one swift, flowing motion, then popped the zombies one after another, taking down one for each bullet.
Although we’d left the driving up to Tetsuko, Shino had been in charge of the timing, seeing as we had played alongside one another countless times in Field Battle.
Yep, we’re all on the same beautiful wavelength.
Its tires squealing, the G-Wagen’s titanic frame spun around with remarkable ease, turning the trunk toward us.
I made sure Shino, who was back in the car again, had left the rear door open. Then, I quickly lifted Shiiko out of her wheelchair.
“Catch!” I shouted.
“What do you mean, ca—”
Shiiko flew into the car, where she was caught by Shino.
“Drive!” The G-Wagen violently whipped around, slamming the doors shut with the sheer force, and drove off, kicking up tiny glass particles in its wake.
“Hiroaki!” Otoha ran up beside me.
The reason I hadn’t hopped in was because I couldn’t leave Shiiko’s wheelchair behind.
It was essentially her legs in all but name, and she would need it to function as a full-fledged member of the group. There was also the fear that she might start feeling like a burden without it.
We had made sure to let Shino and Tetsuko know about all this beforehand using our walkie-talkie.
“You should’ve bailed while you had the chance.” I stared down the zombies with a bitter smile.
“You’re my partner,” Otoha said, sitting down in the now-empty wheelchair. I knew what she was thinking without even needing to ask.
“Off we go!” I made sure Otoha had her shovel in position and then pushed her over to the busted-open hole with all my strength.
Although Otoha was heavier than Shiiko, I was able to concentrate on the actual pushing part without having to worry about covering fire.
“Out of the way!” I yelled at the top of my lungs as I—we—literally carved our way forward.
Otoha spun her shovel around, laying waste to the approaching zombies. I cleaned up any survivors with my MP9s.
Bulldozing through the zombies like a well-oiled machine, we made our way outside. This sense of oneness and solidarity, felt—dare I say—fun.
“Don’t forget the farewell gift!” I took out a grenade hanging from my belt, pulled the pin and tossed it with an underhand motion.
It rolled across the ground, stopped smack-dab in the middle of the zombies, and kablooey!
Smoke and flames followed the explosion.
What remained of the reinforced glass turned to dust particles that shot out in all directions.
Propelled by the resulting shockwave, we rushed even faster toward the sandbank, our meet-up point, which was relatively close by.
“And now for the final stretch.”
“Roger.”
With the few remaining zombies emerging from the building in the corner of our eyes, we left North River Co. behind.