The Chat grew nervous after seeing the latest events, especially because Allen was infected.
Gwen – He'll be fine, right?
MJ – It's fine, even if Allen isn't immune, he'll endure; they just have to hurry and find a green herb!
Felicia – F*ck, why isn't he immune?!
Eve – This has to be Lucifer's doing, that bastard!
Erza – I haven't even seen him yet and I already want to smash his face!
Rukia – If anything happens to Allen, I swear I'll take revenge no matter how long it takes!
Diana – In the name of the Amazons, we will also declare Lucifer our eternal enemy if anything happens to Allen!
Rias – For the first time I feel disgusted about being a demon!
There was anger everywhere. Nobody liked that Allen had to go through such dangerous situations. They might understand he had no choice since Lucifer was stronger, but that didn't mean they would accept it.
Leaving aside the fury of the women in the chat, there was something else that caught the attention of people like Rick, Mayuri, or even the Emperor.
It felt as if someone was watching Allen. Maybe he wasn't just a peculiar student in that world.
....
Teshima and the others returned with several boxes. Saya grabbed one bottle of water to wash her face and another to drink.
"Is it okay to use water like that?" Takashi asked Saya, but all he got in return was a scornful glare from the girl.
"Idiot, in a few months maybe we'll have to think twice before using water like this, but for now it doesn't matter. And above all, don't question me. Do you have a problem with that?!"
"No, no, I'm sorry." Takashi stepped back, already regretting provoking Saya, knowing her bad temper.
"Hmph, Hirano and Isshii, don't let any zombies near me while I'm washing my face or you'll regret it!"
"Roger!" both boys replied in fear.
Saya nodded and got off the bus.
As Allen had said, for now food and water wouldn't be a problem. Besides, they didn't even know if the infection had been contained. If it had, maybe the survivors could be evacuated.
"Oh, melon bread~" Shizuka, who hadn't had breakfast, grabbed a bread and a can of coffee.
Some of them weren't hungry—or at least they thought so—but seeing Shizuka eat made several others crave food too.
An apocalypse is a terrifying, deadly, and cruel event that keeps you under constant tension, testing you every second, and punishing you with death the moment you make a mistake. But that doesn't mean all the problems and needs that used to worry you will suddenly vanish.
Eating and sleeping remain essential for life. The world might be ending, but your body doesn't care.
A couple of minutes later, Saya got back on the bus. Just because there were no zombies in sight didn't mean she liked being exposed outside, especially without Allen around.
Saya was watching Takashi, Hisashi, and Shizuka eat. She also got hungry and grabbed a chocolate and sat down.
"Excuse me, Takagi-san, may I take something?" Kawamoto asked timidly. The short-haired orange/reddish girl, despite being part of Allen's group, somehow still felt hesitant, as if she didn't belong.
"You don't have to ask," Saya replied with a frown. The girl looked scared of angering them, which was why she acted so timidly. "Allen already accepted you into the group, stop being afraid. We're not going to throw you out just because you speak your mind."
Kyoko laughed. "Just look at Takagi-san, she's an arrogant tsundere, but Allen-kun doesn't even scold her."
"Wh-?!"
"Thank you sensei", Kawamoto laughed.
The reason for her nervousness was her weakness. In the original story, she had been part of Shido's group, too weak to resist, and ended up joining his cult.
Kawamoto had an impressionable and weak mentality, so much so that she feared even slightly upsetting anyone in the group and being kicked out because of it.
"I was worried too," Yamada said with a smile, sweat dripping down his forehead from carrying boxes. "Allen-san is so strong, Hirano-san has incredible aim, and even Isshii-san is brave. As a guy, I worried they'd throw me out for being weak, but Allen-san isn't that kind of person. At the very least, he wouldn't toss me to the zombies."
Yamada had been one of Shido's followers in the original story, and his fate had been the most tragic. At first, he chose to follow Shido, but once he realized Shido wasn't seeking survival but rather building a twisted religion, he questioned him. That earned him an expulsion—thrown to the zombies and eaten alive.
Kawamoto smiled for the first time. "You're right, Allen-sama isn't that kind of person."
"Sama?" Shizuka tilted her head upon hearing the girl use such a respectful honorific.
"It's nothing!" Kawamoto blushed and hurried to sit down with some snacks.
"..."
Kawamoto tried to eat but noticed the gaze of another girl. When she was looked at, she quickly turned her face away and hid it.
Her name was Taniuchi, a girl with black hair tied in braids, glasses, and dark blue eyes. Another student who had fallen for Shido's words drowned in despair.
Just like with the store clerk, not everyone was capable of accepting reality. Many went insane, and others broke completely. Taniuchi was a weak girl, so much so that she didn't need to be Shido—anyone who promised her safety and shelter could have manipulated her. Or at least that was true until Allen's words struck her like a hammer, allowing her to regain clarity and think for herself.
Even so, Taniuchi was still afraid. Unlike Kawamoto and Yamada, she wasn't officially in Allen's group and felt she could be expelled at any moment.
Kawamoto smiled kindly at her and offered her a sandwich. "Don't worry, as long as you don't do anything to harm the group… our group, you don't have to be afraid."
Taniuchi stared silently at Kawamoto's outstretched hand before finally taking the bread and bursting into tears.
"Thank you."
Shizuka, Kyoko, and Teshima all smiled at the scene. The apocalypse would be a little better if more things like this happened. But they weren't naive; they knew that the collapse of society would bring out the worst in people.
Koichi Shido wasn't special. He was just a reflection of the kind of people who would start to thrive in the apocalypse.
Saya gazed out the window at the sunset. 'Come back soon…'
....
The streets reeked of blood and death, which was to be expected considering the largest genocide in human history was taking place.
Millions? Hundreds of millions? Billions?
No one knew the full scale, but the number of people dying every second was enough to overflow the Yellow River.
"No, stay back!"
A couple had been cornered inside their car, a dozen zombies slamming against the glass.
Allen appeared on the street, stepping out of an alley. His first instinct was to lend them a hand—after all, every living person was one less zombie. However, before he could act, the car windows shattered and the couple was caught, bitten, devoured.
"AHHHRGG!"
"NOOO!"
The windows were stained with blood as their desperate screams filled the air.
The couple's screams attracted more zombies, pouring out of houses and alleys.
"It's too late," Rei said, turning her gaze away from the scene.
"..." Allen remained silent. The strength of ordinary zombies was greater than that of a normal human. The glass of regular cars wouldn't last long, especially if there were several zombies.
"We have to go!" Saeko said as she saw a horde beginning to form ahead of them.
"Let's go," Allen answered and ran down another street, the girls right behind him.
Though Allen felt some pity for the countless people dying all around, he wouldn't let it affect him. The reason he stayed silent earlier was that he was worried about the bus. If it were surrounded by a horde, how long would the windows hold?
They needed a better vehicle, or at least to reinforce the one they had.
'The golden points on the minimap are supply crates, the green ones are shelters… what are the blue ones?'
The system had told him to head for the blue point after he'd been infected. So it had to be something important.
"If I remember correctly, it's this way!"
Allen swung his metal pipe, smashing a zombie's head. Saeko struck another, driving her bokken into its eye and destroying its brain.
The trio didn't stop running—it was the best way to avoid being surrounded.
From the second floor of a house, a middle-aged man watched the trio on the street. At first, he thought they were the police, but when he saw they were only young people, he grew discouraged. Only when he noticed how easily they killed zombies did he shout at them.
"Wait, help me!"
Allen turned to look at the man waving from a window. Below him, a group of zombies had gathered, having broken through the outer fence, piling up at the entrance.
"What should we do?" Rei asked.
Be good Samaritans? Or just leave? It might sound cold, but neither of the two girls wanted Allen to waste time helping every person they came across. After all, he had a ticking time bomb in his chest. Besides, this was the apocalypse—you couldn't afford to save everyone.
Allen frowned, and just as he was about to speak, they heard a scream. But this one was different—not human, but a guttural shriek from a zombie.
"...!"
From the group of zombies besieging the man's door, three of them suddenly broke off and charged toward Allen's group.
It was terrifying. The three had glowing yellow pupils and seemed to be breathing heavily as they sprinted toward them.
"What is that?!" Rei cried, standing defensively, shaken.
Normal zombies weren't so scary—you could even walk among them carefully without being attacked. But these?
These things sprinted at the speed of athletes, savage and alert! They were similar to the first mutant zombie Allen had encountered.
"We'll take them out!" Allen decided.
Saeko smirked and readied her bokken against the first zombie. It leapt at her, but the swing of her wooden sword was faster, striking its head mid-air.
The second mutated zombie also jumped, but this time toward Rei. She was scared, but that didn't stop her from fighting—she planted the back end of her staff on the ground and aligned it toward the zombie.
"Ah!"
Grotesquely, the staff pierced through the zombie's head like a skewer.
The third one also leaped like a puma at Allen, but he was more direct—he kicked it, shattering its skull.
Tier 2 – 01 Heart
Allen frowned. He had already suspected it, but it seemed that zombies killed by other people—even his allies—wouldn't count toward his kills.
It made sense. If Allen had a hundred allies and each of them killed at least ten zombies a day, he'd rack up a thousand hearts without lifting a finger.
Lucifer was clever—he wasn't going to let Allen exploit the system. Allen had to kill to earn hearts.
"Allen!" Saeko raised her voice as a horde appeared from an alley, likely attracted by the screams of the mutant zombies.
Rei was forced to abandon her staff, as it broke.
"Wait! Don't leave me!" the man shouted.
"We'll draw the horde away. Use the chance to escape. The rest is up to you," Allen responded. It was the most he could do for the man in this situation.
"No, wait!" the man screamed, but when he noticed more zombies closing in by the second, he collapsed, letting Allen take the horde with him.
Allen's group entered an alley with a horde that was slowly growing, soon reaching two hundred zombies.
It wasn't impossible to wipe them out, but he didn't want to waste time, so they simply ran. Luckily, regular zombies were slow.
"We'll cross through that house," Allen said before moving ahead toward a wall. He tossed his metal pipe to the other side, then turned back toward the girls.
Saeko understood the plan and ran, stepping on Allen's hands to vault over.
"Are you serious?!" Rei exclaimed.
"Just do it," Allen scolded.
"Fine." Rei pressed her lips together, ran, and jumped with Allen's help to the other side. Allen didn't need help to clear the wall himself. Once all three were over, they had a brief moment to breathe.
....
"This must be someone's garden," Rei murmured at the sight of the well-kept flowers.
Saeko shook her bokken to remove the blood. "I can hear murmurs inside. There must be people here."
Rei shrugged. "Hiding in your own home sounds more logical than going out with so many zombies around."
"Everyone has to decide how to survive," Allen commented calmly.
At this point, the whole world was betting on a roulette wheel.
Nothing guaranteed that leaving the city was safer than staying in your house, or that joining a group of survivors was better than going solo.
The trio exited through the front, ignoring the people hiding inside the house.
In Japan, streets outside the main avenues were narrow, so when they came out there wasn't a zombie in sight. Maybe they had joined a horde or moved somewhere else.
The three advanced through the streets, seeing the wreckage: blood trails here and there, a couple of wrecked vehicles, some houses with their doors broken down, making it clear whoever had been inside was already dead.
Checking his minimap, Allen managed to see the signal emitted by that mysterious location.
"We're close now."
Despite the mystery behind all these locations, one thing was certain so far—there was always something to gain by going to them.
After a few minutes on the streets, they reached an avenue.
"Look!" Rei pointed at an abandoned police car.
Judging by the shattered windows and the blood on the seat, the officer hadn't met a good end. Rei shivered for a moment, remembering her father must also be on duty right now.
"That could be useful," Saeko pointed at the ground, where a revolver lay.
Allen picked it up and checked it. "A standard police .22 caliber revolver. Nothing special, and doesn't seem very useful."
Rei blinked in confusion, "What are you saying? It's a gun—it'll definitely be useful,"
Allen laughed with a sly look. "Bullets of this caliber won't pierce the skin of a mutated zombie. Since it only holds six shots, you can kill six zombies before reloading. It's loud, so it'll attract a lot of attention. The real question is—would it be useful for someone like me?"
Rei opened her mouth but couldn't answer. She had seen Allen face dozens of zombies with his bare hands. A gun like this was more of a hindrance than a help.
Saeko laughed. "Don't tease her. Maybe it's useless to you, but it could help others."
"That's true," Allen agreed and pocketed it.
"Hmph." Rei pouted.
The group kept moving, but Allen felt uneasy.
System, shouldn't the blue point be closer? Did something happen?
The minimap was very small. In a vehicle, its range expanded several times over, but it shouldn't exceed a mile. Allen and his group had already moved much farther than that.
[It is possible the location moved.]
What? Is it a vehicle?
[...]
"Tsk." Allen cursed. He had thought he could go and come back quickly, but now he was moving far from Saya's group. He didn't doubt they'd be fine—they had Teshima and Hirano, plus Takashi and Hisashi were strong too, and they had a vehicle. In that sense, they were safer than Allen.
Still, that only applied to regular zombies. If they encountered a mutated one…
'We must hurry.'
After several more minutes killing zombies along the way, the trio reached a gas station. Beside it was a short tunnel that cut through a hill.
"It's on the other side of the tunnel."
Allen felt relieved to see the blue point blinking. He had to travel nearly six kilometers (3.7 miles) to find it.
"...!" Allen suddenly felt pain in his chest again.
"Allen!"
"Are you okay?!"
Both girls supported him as he broke into a sweat. His vision turned red, but after a few seconds, he managed to control it.
"I'm fine," Allen smiled. "I'm not fine, but I can handle it."
"Don't scare me like that!" Rei scolded, releasing the breath she had been holding and calming her racing heart. It was embarrassing that she feared Allen turning into a monster more than she feared zombies.
Saeko sighed before drawing a gentle smile on her face. "I understand that as a man you want to maintain a strong image all the time, but in front of me, don't worry about that. I swear I'll never embarrass you by mentioning it to anyone."
"Huh?" Rei widened her eyes. What kind of embarrassing declaration was that? Saeko almost sounded like a wife.
Allen felt grateful for such words. Certainly, a beautiful woman's affection was never wasted on a decent man. Though he still didn't know how deep Saeko's feelings went—whether they were beyond admiration for his strength.
"Thanks, but don't worry. I'm not pretending to be tough—I'm indestructible," Allen declared with complete confidence and shamelessness.
The two girls fell silent. Until now, Allen had been reliable and mature, but now and then he acted eccentric—something they never imagined seeing from the Allen they once knew.
"Stop right there!" a voice came from behind the trio, the aggressive shout even startling Rei.
Saeko looked hostilely, and Rei was confused.
"...!" Allen also turned, no longer leaning on the girls.
The man in question was relatively young, robust, tanned, with chains, baggy clothes, and a cap. For a moment Allen felt like he was in Brooklyn.
The man had a knife in his hand and seemed either under the influence of something—or just terrified.
"Haha, lucky me. This hell just started and I was just thinking about getting myself a good woman!"
Rei and Saeko's expressions turned to utter disgust.
Meanwhile, Allen's gaze grew dark. "Listen, I know this apocalypse is making people lose it, but I suggest you think carefully about what you're about to say—it could be your last words."
"Shut up, pretty boy!" the man leered at both girls. "Hand them over to me and I'll let y—"
Before he could finish, Allen had already appeared in front of him, burying his fist into the man's stomach.
"A…"
It was a devastating blow!
He couldn't speak, couldn't even breathe. His eyes bulged, his mouth opened, and he felt like vomiting as his organs shifted inside.
Allen was very irritated by the infection and this asshole made the worst mistake a man could make in front of him.
"Of all women, you had to target the ones in my group. I don't know whether to applaud your audacity or laugh at your stupidity…"
Helping people didn't mean Allen was a saint. For someone like this man, only a miserable fate awaited.
"A…" The man's face turned pale. He wanted to apologize, to run, to beg for his life—but he couldn't do any of that. He simply collapsed to the ground, unable to move.
Allen turned and smiled faintly. "Shall we go?"
Saeko and Rei blushed before obediently nodding. The trio left the bastard on the ground. He reached out a hand toward them, but they were already gone. Worse yet, his shouts had attracted zombies.
"NO, NO! NOOO!"
The zombies surrounded him, tearing into his flesh without mercy, ripping his body apart. One even tore open his stomach and pulled out his intestines while he was still alive. It was a miserable scene filled with screams of agony—but no one would feel pity for someone like him.
The trio exited the other side of the tunnel, crossed the street, and upon entering an alley, finally reached their destination.
"Seriously?" Allen was surprised when he finally saw what the blue point was.
====
If you want to read more, there are up to ten chapters ahead on Patreon.
Patreon.com/_Aizen