Niroshima City

[koggthryn]

'That's inconvenient,' Naoko thought distantly, staring at the candle shop, which was now alight like one giant birthday cake gone wrong. She could see the flames licking their way up the inside walls, smoke pulsing against the viewing window and spilling out the door. A body outlined in fire hissed in pain, writhing around the store wildly, knocking over glass figurines and shelves. It would be little more than a pile of ashes and bone in time, and Naoko would be far away from here by then. But for now, she watched the scene playing out before her with open curiosity.

'What a strange costumer,' she mused, eyes narrowing in thought. The man had entered the store with an off-putting air, twitching and humming. Naoko had just put some soft music on to try soothing his nerves when he jerked around and lunged at her. In retrospect, she should have maybe tried to escape right away. Not thrown a burning candle. But the hungry, beady little eyes struck her with more force than his hands had. And she'd seen the red wax drip onto the counter over his shoulder- pooling around its base. It reminded her of blood seeping out of a body. She'd already had an uneasy feeling with his hands clutching her shirt, and the omen only doubled it. It seemed to foretell what would have happened if she hadn't lit the b*****d up. Even now, standing outside with the dull mixture of crackling and screams filling her ears, she had a feeling of impending doom. For some reason, standing here warming her hands against the bonfire that had become of the shop was a bad idea. She had to get out of here.

Turning her back on the shop, Naoko saw more commotion filtering down the street. People were coming out of other shops, staring at her with wide eyes. Sirens wailed in the distance. Shrieks sounded from somewhere down the street. Or maybe the next one over. She couldn't really pinpoint them. Naoko glanced down at herself, taking in her singed clothes. She'd left her bag in the store in the midst of things. Feeling around in her pockets, she came up with a little notepad and a handful of money. She pocketed the pad to examine the money and consider her situation. She'd heard of the outbreaks that had swept other nations. Everyone had thought Japan would be safe after they cut their ties with the rest of the world. Everyone but Naoko. She told her parents when they first heard the news what she thought. "The outbreak appeared out of nowhere in the other countries. Japan won't be spared, I promise." They hadn't appreciated her logic. Now, she wished she'd been wrong.

A hand on her shoulder jarred her out of her thoughts. She jerked away, turning to face a boy roughly her age who was looking at her with a mixture of concern and fear in his eyes. Somewhere in the back of her mind she remembered that he worked across the street at the cafe. He was all disheveled and scraped up and a bat was clutched in his hands. His eyes took her in in all her scorched glory. "Are you ok?"

Naoko blinked. Her eyes flicked down to the crumpled up money in her hand, and she opened her mouth to ask about his bat when movement behind the boy caught her eye. She recognized the jerky behavior the man in the shop had displayed. "You might want to turn around," she advised, grabbing the boy's sleeve and yanking him away from the zombie's outstretched hands. The boy grunted in surprise and the hands closed around empty air. The zombie garbled irritably and staggered closer, lunging at her. She shoved the boy back some more, putting space between her and the zombie. A sick feeling of dread rose in the back of her throat every time she caught sight of the zombie's gaze. It was a woman, who probably had a name and a story. Now she was just blank eyed and cold. Her reek flooded Naoko's senses. Whoever she had been, it was decaying with her body. But Naoko still felt sick as she snatched the boy's bat from his hands and swung. She wanted to believe that this woman still had some humanity, but it was hard to see that in her dead eyes. The bat collided with the woman's skull and she was knocked to the side with a sickening noise. Naoko stared at her for a long moment to be sure she wasn't moving. Not anytime soon, at least.

The boy was standing at her shoulder, staring down at the body with her. She slowly moved to hand him the bat, but he stopped her hand. "You keep it. I was just headed to Tsuki's to get something else."

She turned her attention from the body and met his gaze. "Tsuki's?"

"Yeah. The weapons place down the street."

Naoko twisted her lips in thought and knelt to pick up the money she'd dropped in the confrontation. She offered it to him. "You'll need this, then."

The boy took it and frowned before dropping it once more. She gave him a inquisitive look. "I seriously doubt money will be of any use now."

She thought of the other countries and the reports of how everything went to hell once the outbreaks took over. A new feeling rushed through her- a dangerous sort of thrill. Excitement laced with fear. She nodded. "Right. I should see you to the store at least." He blinked his thanks and turned to hurry down the street. There was another zombie in at an alley emptying onto the sidewalk they were taking, but Naoko heard the ruckus it was making and they avoided it.

At Tsuki's, people were grabbing whatever they saw and running with it. He had been right about the money's value. The storekeepers weren't even around- Naoko guessed that they had already abandoned the area. She glanced around for the boy, but he had already entered the store and gotten lost among the crowd. She eyed the people through the broken window, where what looked like a car had plunged into the store. The scent of death in the air and blood splattering the area hinted that someone had died in the incident. She didn't like the idea of going in, but a bat wasn't enough to defend herself with right now. Hopefully she could snag something better. She plunged into the shop.

[exit to Tsuki's Shop]


Metal Bat x1

 

[koggthryn]

Glass crunched under her as Naoko entered the gun store, her eyes lingering on the car that had rudely parked on top of someone. She couldn't see whoever the unfortunate soul had been, but the blood was slowly moving outward, mixing with glass and wreckage. 'Looks like the candle shop wasn't the only building to suffer damage.'

She finally ripped her gaze away from the scene to take in the rest of the store. Guns and weapons lined the place, what looked like an endless supply would probably be polished clean within a couple of weeks. Everyone's first thought would be weapons. Their second would most likely be a safe shelter, and then food. 'I should look into that next. Maybe there's a free sandwich with my name on it out there.' She pushed the thought away for now, brushing past a stranger to consider her options. She'd prefer something small, easy to handle. She had no experience with weapons before today. Swinging a bat or throwing a candle was hardly going to get her far, though those options appealed to her more when faced with a store full of guns and crossbows.

Something wet dripped on her nose, causing her to glance up with a puzzled expression. Light reflected off the glass scattering the floor, turned red with the blood and painting the ceiling the same color. It took another wet drop falling to her cheek before she realized that some of the red was actually blood. The car had really squashed that mysterious someone like a bug. Anger sliced through her. She was willing to bet the person hadn't even been infected. Just been in the wrong place as the wrong time. She bowed her head momentarily to mourn whoever it had been. After a solid beat, another drop of blood landed on the back of her neck. She raised her head and moved on with her business.

Rounding a shelf, she came face to face with a line of guns. Her eyes widened at the sight. She studied them all carefully, but none of the barrels and triggers made any sense to her. She didn't know the difference between one or the other. Running out of ideas, she pursed her lips and lifted a hand, pointing to each gun in turn. "Eenie meenie," she began, with total seriousness. Somewhere she heard a snort, but it didn't really register with her. She'd just grab whatever her finger landed on and run with it.

Her hand stilled and she ended with her finger pointed at a gun the length of her forearm. Shrugging, she walked foward and grabbed it from its perch. Empty, it felt okay in her hand, though the cold metal seared into it, mirroring the dread in her throat. She assumed she'd still have to hold on with both hands when firing, but some naive corner of her mind hoped that she wouldn't have to fire. Not at a living person, at least. She knelt and grabbed whatever ammo was nearby, hoping it was the right one, and also stopped for a holster- a strap that hooked onto the gun so she could sling it over her back. Pocketing the ammo, she headed for the door. No one stopped her and demanded payment so she continued until she was back on the street. From there, she decided to head away from the sirens, where all the commotion was bound to be at.


Metal Bat x1
IMI Uzi, Ammo available : 100

 

[koggthryn]

Naoko's feet kicked through some trash littering the ground, and notes of song hung on her tongue, spilling out through murmuring lips. "Take what you need while there's time / the city will be earth in a short while..." A gun heavily loaded with ammunition was strapped across her shoulders, thumping steadily against her lower back, and a bat was clutched in her hand. Touches of dried blood dotted her nose and cheek- not her own- and her clothes were slightly scorched. On any regular day, she would not be carrying a gun and looking like she just rampaged through town. Naoko was strange, but she wasn't violent. Screams echoed off the buildings and down alleyways and rattled inside her head. Fires burned somewhere in the distance, carrying the smell of chaos. She felt more lightheaded than lighthearted, but at the same time there was a weird calm about her.

She hadn't exactly known where she was headed when she left Tsuki's. All she knew was that she did not want to be anywhere near the police sirens. Or the screams. But there seemed to be no escaping them. Every street she turned down, every building she entered. She had been pushed by a man trying to avoid a zombie and nearly mauled in his place. Saw a little girl trying to get help from a man only to be shot in the forehead, no hesitation. She watched on numbly as another zombie tore into some woman's dog, a woman who then just ran and left the helpless thing to suffer. She thought maybe she should be distressed by the undead, but she was more disgusted in the living. The zombies at least had the excuse of being half dead and infected. She couldn't be disappointed in them for not being a decent human being.

Wandering through the streets, she eventually found herself in a place that was very familiar. The junk heaped up on the ground wasn't a new development that came with the chaos currently claiming the city. It had always been there. Naoko had grown up in it. This was rural Niroshima, the outskirts of the city. "There is a storm in the distance / the wind breathing warning of its imminence.." the tune continued, almost a whisper as she glanced around her, taking in the still street. Suddenly, a stiff wind stirred her hair, causing the words to die on her lips. 'Storm in the distance?' She glanced up. The sky had darkened and clouds crawled across, but none of them looked like they had a storm in their bellies. So the only other possibility was...

A moaning met her ears, causing her to turn towards it. A figure leaped out from the shadows of a door left ajar, closing in on her. Naoko briefly considered grabbing the firearm she picked up back at Tsuki's, but the thing was coming at her already and the only weapon available to her hands so short notice was her bat. She stepped back, putting enough room between her and the zombie to swing and knock it away. It hit the ground, raising its head to meet her gaze. Once again, the beady eyes bore into her and she couldn't look away as she brought the bat down on its head. Once. Angry moan. Twice. Muffled groan. Three times. Quiet. A fourth time for good measure. She stared down at the ragged form, its head caved in. 'These things should make use of bike helmets,' she mused in some far away corner of her mind. She might have stared at the zombie all night if another wind didn't brush past her. She blinked and looked up. Further down the street, more of them were coming into view. With a little noise of surprise, she turned and darted in the opposite direction, wincing as pain shot up her back from the gun's quickened thudding.


Metal Bat x1
IMI Uzi, Ammo available : 100

 

[koggthryn]

'I expected snails?' Naoko thought as she cut through the sketchy arrangement of homes and buildings she knew like that back of her hand. She tried to recall some of the information that had spread to countries that hadn't yet been affected in case disaster did strike. She did remember reading something about how the infection was supposed to mutate when faced with obstacles. There'd been some reports that claimed they had even started to fight and break through defenses. The idea that these things would only get more complex with time simultaneously spooked and interested her. 'I wonder if they could ever became equal to a living person in intelligence? Minus the peculiar health choices.' Still, even with them being a little faster than she'd expected, they weren't exactly athletes. Even she could keep some distance between herself and the trail of dead flesh.

A flash of movement from the corner of her eye had her coming to a stop and glancing behind her. A girl that looked about her own age had jumped out from behind a building Naoko had passed and lashed out at zombie, landing a blow into its skull. Her scream was shrill and stung Naoko's ears, making her frown. A finger flitted over her mouth, signaling for the girl to keep quiet, but she started running towards Naoko and probably didn't see her warning. Naoko motioned the girl down the street, only to nearly smash into another girl who raced past them to attack the band of dead. 'How many women will come to my rescue today?' Her mind tittered. The action was dizzying her, overloading her senses and making her fray a little. She was tempted to dart away into the security of the back alleys, but the second girl called a few things back to them, only one of which registering with her. She glanced down at her bat and an image of the kid who had given it to her passed through her thoughts. She brought it up to her shoulders and swung it forward, letting it fly over the heads of some zombies towards the girl. It clunk against the back of one's head before landing with a clatter a few feet from her second newly made acquaintance.


Metal Bat x1 [inapplicable]
IMI Uzi, Ammo available : 100