Chapter 6
Dawn bathed the Takagi mansion in a golden glow streaming through the large windows. The residence, with its wide hallways and elegant furnishings, stood in stark contrast to the chaos of the outside world. Here, at least for now, a calm reigned that felt almost unreal.
In one of the guest rooms, Alicia Muramasa opened her eyes. Her movements were calm, controlled, as if waking up in unfamiliar territory didn't signify danger. Her body was bandaged in a few spots; she only had superficial cuts and scratches, temporary scars from escaping the mutant zombie.
In front of her sat Saya Takagi, arms crossed, observing her with a mix of worry and curiosity. Her feet tapped softly against the floor—a nervous tic she couldn't quite control.
"You're finally awake…" said Takagi, letting out a slight sigh, as if lifting a weight off her shoulders.
"Seems you did a good job cleaning my wounds," Alicia said, examining her hands and the light bandage on her right arm, her voice calm, as if discussing something insignificant.
"They're just scratches," Takagi replied, straightening up in the chair. She adjusted her glasses with a mechanical motion. Her eyes studied Alicia closely, as if searching for some sign of weakness. "I don't know what happened out there, but when we found you, you looked like you'd escaped something extremely dangerous."
Alicia adjusted herself on the bed, her expression serene, almost indifferent.
"I didn't look like it. I was running from a zombie that mutated after eating something unknown."
The statement made Takagi's eyes widen in alarm. She pressed her lips together, swallowed hard, and ended up biting her thumb as she processed what she had heard. Even though she had only been around Alicia a short time, she could guess this was not someone who joked about dangerous things. And with a mutant zombie prowling around, the threat was greater than anyone wanted to admit.
"If that's the case!" she exclaimed, leaning forward with a frown. "Where's your father?!"
"Dad's dealing with that thing."
The bluntness of her words froze Takagi for a few seconds. The girl spoke with the ease of someone who blindly trusted her father, and that confidence was almost irritating in a world falling apart.
"And you trust he'll make it out of that?" Takagi asked at last, though her voice faltered at the end.
Alicia nodded without hesitation.
"I don't trust. I know."
Takagi bit her lower lip and turned her gaze to the window, where sunlight illuminated the mansion's garden. Her brow furrowed deeply.
"You talk as if he's invincible," she murmured, trying to sound rational, though the tension in her voice betrayed her.
"He's not invincible," Alicia gave a faint, cold smile, her eyes fixed on her interlocutor. "But he's more dangerous than any of those things."
Takagi exhaled a long breath and leaned back against the chair. She removed her glasses for a moment, rubbing the bridge of her nose as if trying to chase away a headache.
"After what I saw on the first day… I guess I can't argue with that."
Alicia turned her gaze to the window, where golden light bathed the glass.
"Then you know he'll be fine," she said, with a certainty that sounded more like a statement than hope.
Takagi didn't respond. The silence between them grew heavy. Alicia didn't need empty words of comfort; her conviction in Senji was unshakable, and all Takagi could do was glance at the bandage on the girl's arm, wondering how much longer that confidence could endure against a reality that was becoming crueler by the day.
[•••]
The fight in the forest had raged on until dawn. What had once been a serene setting now resembled a ravaged battlefield.
The trees had been reduced to splinters, their trunks split at grotesque angles, as if a colossal wrecking ball had swept through everything. The ground bore deep scars: trenches and craters torn open as if an excavator had worked relentlessly, exposing the earth's naked roots.
The air reeked of scorched bark and rancid blood. Crows perched atop the remains of branches, cawing uneasily, as if even they didn't dare approach too close to the epicenter of the devastation.
Amid this desolate scene stood evidence of a brutal struggle: rocks fractured from impacts, branches embedded into the earth like improvised spears, and dark stains mixing with the damp soil.
The place was deadly—destruction made manifest. A grim reminder that this was not a simple encounter with a mindless corpse, but a battle against something that had ceased to be human, something that had managed to push Senji Muramasa to his very limits.
Senji breathed heavily, his chest rising and falling with a labored rhythm. Dust still hung in the air, mixed with the stench of rotting flesh. His body was covered in blood and grime, deep cuts tracing across his torso and arms. None were fatal, but each was proof that the creature had pressed him further than he had anticipated.
The mutant zombie, a few meters away, staggered as well. Its grotesque frame stood tall among the debris, chunks of torn flesh hanging loose, viscous fluids dripping from its deformed jaw. Its breathing came in guttural, heavy growls, as though even the beast itself struggled to stay upright.
Both stood at the brink, eyes locked and burning.
And then, it happened.
A flash streaked across the sky, distant yet impossible to ignore. Senji squinted upward. It wasn't a mere bolt of lightning or sunlight reflecting off clouds: a sphere of light had erupted beyond the horizon, far from Japan, but bright enough to stain the clouds with glimmers of light and smoke.
The mutant zombie also froze, its dead eyes turning skyward as if some instinct compelled it to acknowledge the anomaly.
Senji clenched his jaw, exhaling through gritted teeth.
"What the hell was that…"
[•••]
The morning sun bathed the wide courtyard of the Takagi mansion. Between the distant cawing of crows and the rustle of wind through the trees, the survivors gathered—some preparing weapons, others saying their farewells.
Saya Takagi stood at the front, speaking with a small group of companions who had decided to leave in search of their families. Her expression was stern, but her eyes trembled as she looked at them. She knew it was practically suicide to leave the mansion, and yet she couldn't stop them.
A few meters away, the atmosphere was tense for another reason: the reunion with Shidou-sensei. Rei Miyamoto faced him with fury, her fingers tight on the trigger of her rifle.
"Damn bastard…! I should kill you right here and now!" she spat, aiming her weapon.
Komuro stepped in, grabbing her arm firmly. "Rei, stop! Now's not the time!"
"Not the time?!" Rei's eyes welled with tears as she shook with rage. "After what he did, there will never be a good time!"
The tension exploded into a heated argument, their voices echoing across the group. The others glanced at one another uneasily, too hesitant to intervene.
Meanwhile, standing apart from the whirlwind of emotions, Alicia calmly observed the scene. She turned her gaze to Marikawa, who was holding her phone in trembling hands.
"Sensei," Alicia asked in her serene voice, "are you calling someone?"
The woman blinked, as if the simple question had reminded her of something crucial. "That's right! Rika!" she muttered, almost stumbling over her words.
With trembling fingers, she began dialing the number, but she did so slowly, anxiety weighing on each keystroke as if she feared making a mistake with every digit.
"Sensei… if you'd like, I can dial it for you," Hirano offered, stepping closer.
"Don't interrupt me," she snapped, not lifting her gaze from the phone.
Silence reigned for a few seconds, broken only by the beeping of the call tone. And then—a voice.
"Rika…?" Marikawa's eyes widened, and with a burst of joy she shouted, "Rika!! You're alive!"
The euphoria spread like wildfire. Smiles and murmurs of relief filled the air; for a brief moment, the apocalypse felt distant.
Marikawa only had a short time to speak with her friend.
After just a few seconds, the call dropped. Marikawa stared at the phone, her expression confused.
"It's broken…" she murmured, still holding the device. Embarrassment spread across her face as she turned toward Hirano with a sheepish smile, as if apologizing. "Hirano-kun, your phone… it broke. I don't know if it was my fault."
Hirano calmly took the phone, but as soon as he saw the screen, his expression darkened.
"What…?" he muttered, incredulous. "A phone call can't break a cellphone…"
His confusion was palpable.
Saya, who hadn't taken her eyes off the scene, adjusted her glasses. A frown creased her forehead, betraying her unease.
"I wonder what happened…" she whispered, her voice tight with tension.
Then, as if that malfunction were the first domino to fall, complaints began to rise all over the courtyard.
"The battery's dead!" shouted one man.
"The truck won't start!" another yelled, pounding the steering wheel of a parked vehicle.
A gut-wrenching sob pierced through the chaos: a woman wept in despair because her husband's pacemaker had stopped working.
Saya absorbed every word, every cry, as if each were a stone crashing down on her. The weight of a collapsing reality pressed down faster than she could analyze it.
"How could this happen now…?" she muttered, teeth clenched.
Hirano turned to her, baffled. "What's going on, Saya-chan?"
"None of your business! Just stay put!" she barked, sharper than she'd intended.
The girl spun on her heel and walked straight toward Rei.
"Miyamoto, try aiming through the rifle's sight."
Rei blinked, confused. "What? Why?"
"Just do it! Can you see the dot in the scope?"
Grudgingly, Rei lifted the gun, closing one eye as she tried to focus.
"Let's see… no, I can't."
The answer hit like a bucket of cold water. Saya's voice rose louder than expected, shattering the courtyard's tension.
"Dad! We need to change our plans!"
Souichiro Takagi stood silent, arms crossed, watching his daughter out of the corner of his eye. He knew that whenever Saya panicked, it was always for a serious reason. He was about to approach her when a bloodcurdling scream cut him off.
"Don't come this way!"
Everyone turned toward the entrance. The sight froze them: a man, running desperately, burst into the courtyard only to be tackled to the ground by two zombies. His cries of terror were silenced in seconds beneath the crunch of flesh and bone being devoured.
"Defense unit! Assemble!" Souichiro's thunderous voice roared. "Don't let a single corpse get in!"
The armed men reacted instantly, forming a line to guard the entrance. But the desperation of the moment sparked questions.
"Sir!" one of his subordinates shouted. "Are we going to abandon the people still outside?"
Souichiro glared at him, his words sharp and heavy with authority.
"If we don't close it now, we lose everything! Do it!"
The subordinate swallowed hard, knowing the truth was undeniable. With trembling hands, he pulled out the gate's remote control and pressed the button.
Nothing happened.
"The remote broke now of all times?!" he shouted in frustration, pressing the button over and over.
Chaos erupted.
"Someone close the gate! Now!" Souichiro bellowed.
The nearest adults rushed to the gate, pushing it with all their strength. The metal screeched as it moved, while on the other side, the dead began piling up, ramming their bodies against it, reaching through every gap with clawed hands.
Every passing second was a race against death.
"One got through!" yelled a bald man, pointing frantically at a zombie that had slipped in before the gate could shut.
"Why are you just standing there?! You've got a gun, shoot it already!" screamed a short-haired woman at Hirano, who held his stance steady.
The boy didn't flinch. Calmly, he raised his rifle, braced the stock against his shoulder, and muttered in a deep voice:
"I've got it…"
A sharp gunshot cracked through the courtyard, and the zombie fell instantly, a bullet lodged in its forehead.
The bald man lowered his gaze, ashamed. "S-sorry, kid… I misjudged you."
Hirano, with a crooked grin and a devilish gleam in his eyes, gave a thumbs-up.
"I'm the biggest badass here…"
The tension broke with that line, drawing looks of surprise from some and a nervous nod from Komuro, as if that declaration was impossible to contest.
At that moment, one of the Takagi subordinates pushed through, carrying a small arsenal.
"Sir, ma'am! I've brought some weapons for you."
Yuriko, Souichiro's wife, stepped forward. Her elegant black dress, tight against her figure, was far from appropriate combat attire. Without hesitation, she grabbed the hem and ripped it, revealing her thigh for better mobility.
The ripping sound froze Hirano and Komuro, blushes creeping up their necks and ears like the hormone-driven teens they were.
"Mom!" Saya shouted, her face burning with embarrassment. "What the hell are you doing?!"
"I'm ready," Yuriko answered calmly, as if nothing was out of place. "And you, Souichiro-san?"
The patriarch of the Takagi clan stepped forward. His presence alone was commanding, even without a weapon, and his deep voice rumbled like a war drum.
"So am I. But I… don't need a weapon."
Yuriko looked at him fondly, smiling softly. "Yes, dear."
She then turned to her daughter, pulling a pristine pistol from the gear.
"Use this, Saya-chan."
The girl stared at the gun nervously, almost paralyzed. "A Luger P08… with a stock?! And even a drum magazine?! I don't know how to use this thing! And why do you have a gun?!"
"When I worked on Wall Street, I took an executive self-defense course," her mother said with serene composure. "I might even be a better shot than your father."
The casual way she revealed this left the group speechless. Rei, Saeko, and Komuro exchanged glances, and they couldn't help but imagine Yuriko Takagi as an elite bodyguard, striding forward with a gun in hand, ready to protect anyone.
And at that moment, for the first time, they understood that the Takagis weren't just words and wealth: they were a couple ready to fight to the bitter end.
Yuriko, with her sweet smile and composure that refused to crack even amidst chaos, turned to Hirano.
"Could you teach her how to shoot, Hirano-kun?"
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" he responded immediately, practically bouncing with excitement, like a dog being called to play.
Saya clenched her fist, resisting the urge to smack him right then and there. Her face burned with a mix of anger and shame.
Meanwhile, the gate rattled violently. On the other side, a mass of zombies pushed and clawed, trying to squeeze through any opening. The barrier held, but the pressure grew stronger by the second.
Amidst the tension, Komuro raised his voice, doubt etched across his face.
"Then… why did all the phones and cars stop working just now?"
All eyes turned toward Saya. The girl adjusted her glasses sharply, her mind racing faster than her words could keep up. Finally, she spoke with firm clarity:
"That was an E.M.P. (Electro-Magnetic Pulse)! Or… a H.E.M.P., a high-altitude nuclear explosion."
The others stared, confused, but Saya pressed on:
"If a nuclear missile detonates high above, the gamma rays overload air molecules with electrons, causing what's known as the Compton effect. Those high-speed electrons are trapped by Earth's magnetic field and discharged over a massive area, triggering the electromagnetic pulse."
Hirano blinked, struggling to follow. Komuro and Rei exchanged puzzled looks, but Saya's voice lashed like a whip:
"That's deadly for electronics. The E.M.P. enters through antennas and fries every integrated circuit."
A heavy silence fell over them. The weight of her words hit harder than any gunshot.
Saeko, grasping the gravity of the explanation, stepped forward with a serious expression.
"In other words, now we…"
"Exactly!" Saya interrupted with a sharp yell, her frustration boiling over. "We can't use any electronic equipment!"
Her voice echoed through the courtyard, as loud as the pounding of the dead against the gate.
"What?! So phones and everything else are useless?!" Rei cried, her face twisting in shock.
"Everything," Saya said firmly. "From phones to computers, they're all fried. Cars that rely on electronics won't move either. Power plants are likely down. If there were countermeasures against an E.M.P., things might be different, but… I think only a small fraction of the Self-Defense Forces and government agencies are prepared for that."
Souichiro's brows furrowed, his sharp gaze on her. "Is there a way to fix it?"
"If we replace the fried parts, some cars could run again. There's also a chance that a few vehicles weren't too affected by the pulse. Those might still work… and, of course, classic cars should be fine."
"Check that immediately!" Souichiro ordered.
"Yes, sir!" answered the subordinate who had brought the weapons.
"Saya!" her father's booming voice startled her.
"What is it?" she asked, startled.
"You managed to stay calm even in this chaos. I'm proud of you!"
"Ah…" Saya's eyes widened, her mouth slightly open, unable to respond.
"Hmph!"
She didn't get a chance to say anything. Her father strode forward, his face grim as he stared at the gate that was struggling to hold back the undead.
"They…" The bald man's voice trembled. "We're screwed…"
The zombies were slowly pushing harder.
"Hey…" Sweat trickled down his temple. And then the gate gave way, collapsing under the pressure and allowing the horde to pour in.
"Run! Sir, get out of here!" the bald man screamed, only to be the first to fall under the zombies' teeth, his cries dying in a chorus of agony.
Chaos erupted. The short-haired woman—the same who had yelled at Hirano—screamed for help. Her eyes darted to a knife lying nearby; she grabbed it and drove it into the zombie's head restraining her.
"Die! Die, die!" she shrieked hysterically, before more zombies swarmed her from behind and tore her apart.
In the midst of that hell, Alicia watched with a cold expression, no trace of panic in her eyes. Her gaze fell on the pile of weapons brought moments earlier. Among them rested a sheathed katana, coated with dust.
"This'll do for Dad…" she whispered, lifting the blade carefully.
She held it firmly against her chest. Though it wasn't for her, she already knew exactly who she would deliver it to.
The Takagi patriarch barked orders with unwavering authority, rallying his people.
"Take them down! Watch each other's backs! We'll live another day if we fight together!"
Souichiro's words spread like fire, igniting determination in the adults, who raised their weapons with renewed resolve. Chaos wouldn't make them retreat.
But Alicia heard none of it. Her priority wasn't the gate or the undead. It was her father. She could feel him… in the air, deep in her chest. That bond grew stronger with every second.
And then, it happened.
A deafening blast echoed across the skies, like the firing of a massive cannon. The sound was so overwhelming that, for an instant, the entire world froze. Time itself stopped. The screams, the gunfire, the howls of the undead… all of it faded away.
Only Alicia and that echo remained.
"Da… dad… Daddy…" she whispered, her voice breaking completely.
Her cold composure crumbled. She stumbled forward as she tried to run, nearly falling to the ground. What did fall were her tears, streaming freely down her face.
There he was.
Her father, Senji Muramasa, staggering forward. His breathing was ragged, every movement accompanied by muffled groans. His body was a map of wounds: torn, bloodied, nearly unrecognizable. And yet, he was smiling. Smiling as if death itself were nothing more than an old acquaintance.
A man who could collapse at any moment… yet refused to fall.
In front of him, his enemy wasn't faring much better. The mutant zombie limped forward clumsily. Its right arm had been ripped off, and a gaping hole where its heart once beat still smoldered from damage. It staggered, swayed… but with each step, it straightened its posture, walking as if pain were no more than a distant shadow.
Two shattered titans. Two monsters refusing to die.
And Alicia, katana trembling in her hands, knowing the only thing she could do was deliver it to the man in whom she had placed all her faith.