Upon arriving at the school, I stood on a rooftop next to it and saw that it was already overrun. "Damn, that was fast. Ava, make sure you're getting samples from the undead. I want to see how fast this virus mutates." I may have the T-virus vaccine, but since this world is a mix-and-mash of different zombie media, the Left 4 Dead zombies mutate extremely fast. I'll need to keep updating the vaccine as new mutations are discovered.
"Yes, sir," she responded instantly.
Taking a quick survey of my surroundings, I saw a bunch of students roaming the courtyard, looking toward the front gate. I could see that it was still closed. 'How did so many infected get in? Is there another entrance somewhere?'
I paused my train of thought when I noticed something. Near the front gate, on the ground, a woman was slowly trying to drag herself away from the zombies.
From the massive bloodstain on her shoulder and left arm, I could tell she was infected, but she hadn't turned yet, so she could still be saved.
Turning off my stealth because I no longer needed it, I hopped down into the school courtyard and quickly made my way over to the woman, killing every nearby zombie as I went.
Once I got to her, I pulled one of the vaccines and jabbed her with it. "Guh!" She grunted in pain for a moment before passing out. "Huh!?... Ava, make a note. Infected may feel pain when given the antivirus"
"Sir, are you sure you didn't just stab her too hard?"
"No, no, I'm not, but that's why it's just a note. We can do more tests later when we find more infected." I shrugged before hoisting the woman over my shoulder and busting into the school through a window.
"Ava, where's my sniper support?" I asked, shooting an approaching corpse in the face.
"She's getting in position, tall building northeast of your location."
Looking around, I asked Ava for the building's layout. Not a moment later, the HUD in my glasses updated, giving me the school's floor plan before I started moving.
It was a bit awkward to aim and shoot with a woman over my shoulder, so I brained any undead that came too close while leaving the further ones alone.
Walking up the blood-soaked stairs, I made my way to the faculty office.
As I got close to the door, I heard voices from within.
"Marikawa-sensei, where are your keys?" A male voice asked.
"In my bag!" a soft woman's voice was heard.
"Will it fit us all?" Another female voice spoke.
"... It's a compact"
Reaching for the door, I tried to slide it open, but it was jammed. I guess they barricaded it.
That's when the talking from in the room went quiet; it seems they heard me try to open the door, good. "Hey, whoever's in there, open the door. I've got an injured person with me!" I said loudly.
For a moment there was no answer before a shaky girl's voice was heard. "A-are they infected?"
"No, but she's still bleeding. Now open the door before her condition gets worse."
There was another stretch of silence from inside. I could hear muffled whispering, followed by the scrape of something heavy being dragged across the floor.
"How do we know you're telling the truth?" the girl asked, her voice still trembling.
"You don't. Now open the fucking door before I kick it in!" The sounds are starting to attract some of the dead. After taking a few shots at the approaching zombies, I heard a click before the door opened, and I moved inside.
"What the fuck?!"
"A soldier?"
"Are you part of the JSDF?"
"Why are you wearing a ski mask?"
"Do you know what is going on?"
"Questions later. You two, shut and barricade the door again." I gestured to the two boys who must be Takashi and Kohta.
"You, pinky, clear that desk so I can put her down." She must be Saya Takagi.
"Pinky?! Who are you calling?!-" Before she could berate me, she was interrupted.
"Hayashi-sensei!" The blonde woman, definitely Marikawa, with the biggest tits I have ever seen in my life, rushed over to check on the woman I was holding. And seriously, I could see the buttons on her blouse were struggling to contain those massive milkers.
"Quick, bring her over here," Another woman spoke while clearing the desk. This one I did not know. She wasn't Saeko or Rei, as I could see them in their school uniforms standing near Takagi.
No, this was another teacher. She had black hair, a slimmer body, and a very pretty face. She was also wearing a lab coat with a bit of blood spatter on it.
"Help me out". Placing the injured teacher on the desk, I pulled some gauze from my bag and handed it to Marikawa and the black-haired teacher.
"Keep pressure on the wounds; I'm going to cut her shirt off to see the damage and apply the healing gel."
Marikawa-sensei nodded quickly, and the other teacher pressed gauze firmly against Hayashi's arm and neck while I cut the fabric away, exposing her wounds. That's when everyone but me froze.
"…She's been bitten," Marikawa-sensei whispered quietly but loudly enough for us all to hear.
I could already see my two helpers letting up the pressure and the others in the room tensing up, ready to fight, so before that happened, I shut that shit down. "She's not infected; I gave her the anti-virus"
That stunned them long enough for me to apply the medi gel, healing her wounds at a visible pace.
"What the fuck..." I heard the black-haired teacher whisper to herself, now focused on the wounds closing.
"...What do you mean...Anti-virus?" the ginger girl asked in what was either hope or despair.
If I remember the show correctly, her boyfriend was bitten, and when he turned, his head was bashed in by Takashi.
"I mean what I said. This infection has an anti-virus, though it only works on those that have not turned yet." After I finished, she seemed to deflate a bit and fell into the chair next to her.
"And how exactly do you happen to have this anti-virus, and who even are you?" The tall girl, with a wooden bokken, asked.
"Jasper T. Jones, a former captain of Joint Task Force 2, specializing in counter-terrorism, hostage rescue, and special reconnaissance. And the reason I have the antivirus is that I stole it."
Before anyone could ask me more questions, the TV in the corner of the room crackled to life, drawing everyone's attention and showing the news.
"Casualties are being reported to have already passed more than ten thousand in the Saitama area so far. In response to outbreaks across the country, the government has already declared a state of emergency and imposed martial law. Citizens are told to report unusual behaviour, barricade their homes, avoid all contact with infected individuals, and wait for official instructions.
The report went on for a few more moments before gunshots were heard on screen; then the reporter was attacked, and the broadcast cut to static, leaving everyone in the room quiet.
"That's it? Nothing else?" Takashi punched the desk.
"They must be afraid of causing a panic," Takagi said, pushing her glasses up. "First panic, then chaos and chaos causes a disruption of order. When order is disrupted, well, you should just hand it all over to the walking dead.
"Wonderful analysis, Pinky, just one problem." Once again, before she could talk, I tapped away at the laptop I found on a desk, then turned it to show the group. "The walking dead are already in charge." On the screen were clips of outbreaks happening all over the world.
Moscow was overrun, Beijing was on fire. New York had the National Guard in the streets mowing down zombies, but there wasn't enough ammo to take down all the undead.
"Fucking hell... everything was normal when I checked the internet this morning," Kohta commented.
"It can't be... this happened all over the world in a few hours? But they can stop it, right? I mean they have to..." Rei shook and reached for Takashi's arm. "It will all go back to normal soon..."
"That's not gonna happen!" Takagi stated. "This is a pandemic, just like the Spanish flu in 1918. More than six hundred million were infected, and over fifty million died from it."
"Not to be disagreeable, but I think this is more like the black death from the fourteenth century; one-third of the European population died." Marikawa joined in.
"So how did the outbreaks end?" Takashi asked.
"There are plenty of theories. But mostly because a lot of people died, so there wouldn't be enough people around to spread the disease." The black-haired teacher whose name I still didn't know finished.
"Except now, all the dead keep wandering around and attack you," Kohta spoke, peering out the window.
"Yeah, except those weren't man-made," I said, grabbing their attention again.
"Are you trying to say somebody caused this? Like a global terrorist attack?" Saeko asked.
"I'm not trying to say anything. I am telling you it was. This has Umbrella's grubby little mitts all over it"
"Umbrella the pharmaceutical company?" she asked, confused.
"Yes, them, and while I wouldn't mind explaining it all to you, right now we need to leave. This place is not secure, and the sun is getting really low. I don't want to be out in the dark."
"Well, we were planning to escape using Marikawa-sensei's car just before you got here, but..." Saeko paused. I... Don't think it will fit all of us." She glanced around at the room of nine.
"Oh, I know, we can take the minibus the clubs use for field trips." Kohta had an idea. "The keys should be... There." He pointed to a rack in the back where the bus keys hung.
"Great, then we have a plan. Let's gear up and head out." I grabbed my duffle bag while checking on the unconscious teacher. She should wake up in a few minutes.
Dropping it on a table and exposing the contents to them, I looked to the group. "So, do any of you know how to use a gun?"
Kohta's eyes lit up, and his hand shot up fast as well, but I ignored him for the moment, looking at the rest of the group. Surprisingly, one other hand raised as well. The black-haired teacher whose name I still don't know.
"Well, that's actually more than I expected, but it's fine. It's really simple: just follow three rules, don't point the gun at anything you aren't gonna kill, aim for the head, and for the love of god, watch your fire. I don't want any of you shooting each other by accident."
"You big guy, what's your name? Actually, what are all of your names? I've been referring to you by hair colour in my head this entire time." I already knew their names other than the black-haired teacher, but they didn't know that.
They blinked at me, realizing they never introduced themselves.
The guy I'd pointed out earlier did an exaggerated salute. "Kohta Hirano, Sir!"
"You don't need to call me sir; Jasper is fine," I said before letting the rest of them continue.
The taller guy beside him followed. "Takashi Komuro"
The pink-haired girl crossed her arms immediately. "Saya Takagi."
The woman with the wooden bokken spoke next, calm and direct. "Saeko Busujima."
Next was the ginger girl. "Rei Miyamoto," she said.
I nodded once, then looked toward the teachers.
The blonde spoke up with a smile. "Shizuka Marikawa. And that's Kyoko Hayashi." She pointed to the unconscious teacher.
The black-haired teacher was the one that surprised me the most as I finally understood who she was. "Shizuka Hiratsuka"
Holy crap, she was the teacher and best waifu from OreGairu. Guess I've already found one of the crossover characters, cool.
"Alright, now I know who you are. I'm going to split you into pairs. Rei, you're with Marikawa. Takashi, you're with Saeko. Saya, you're with Kohta. Hiratsuka, you'll be with Kyoko. Everybody, take a weapon and get ready. I am going to take a lap around this floor and look for any more survivors." I reached into the bag and tossed a walkie-talkie to Hiratsuka before making my way to the door and moving the blockade.
"All the guns have suppressors, but suppressed does not mean silent, and the zombies are attracted to noise, so keep that in mind. If any get in, then use the cold weapons and use the guns as a last resort." I walked out the door and slid it closed behind me.
What greeted me was a quiet hallway, but I could hear groans in the distance. Deciding my gun would be too loud, I moved it to my back and pulled out my hatchet.
Slowly, I moved toward the groaning sounds while trying to stay relatively silent.
Arriving at a classroom door, I peered inside and saw three zombie students munching on what I guessed used to be their teacher and another zombie in the corner repeatedly walking into the wall.
Without making noise, I slowly opened the door wider. 'I'll drop the far one first; that should draw their attention.' Pulling a throwing knife from my belt, I whipped it at the far one's head, burying it deep in his skull, causing it to drop with a thud.
The others, hearing the sound, stood and slowly shuffled towards it. Grabbing two more knives, I tossed them at the other two. As the last one noticed me, before it could make a sound, I had moved in close and used my hatchet to decapitate it.
"Query, sir? Why are you moving so slowly and with caution? With your suit, body upgrades and technology, surely you would be able to clear out this entire school within a matter of minutes, yes?" Ava spoke up in my ear. She sees and hears everything I do thanks to my suit.
"Two reasons. Number one, if I'm too loud, I'll draw too many to me at once, and while I'm sure I could kill them all, it would take time and right now I'm still too close to the group, so any stragglers could possibly hear them and go attack them."
"Reason number two is a lot more childish. I used to play a fuck ton of Assassin's Creed when I was a kid, and now I get to pretend to be an assassin sneaking around and taking out enemies without being detected!" I was having fun.
"I see, then please carry on." She said, and I think I caught a hint of amusement in her voice.
And carry on I did, for the next twenty minutes or so I made my way through the floor, killing any infected I saw. Eventually my Ezio impression had to come to an end as Hiratsuka radioed me. "Jasper, we're ready."
"Alright, I'm on my way back." Not long after, I arrived and knocked. A few seconds later, I was back inside.
Looking around, I saw that everyone had a gun and a melee weapon, and I noticed Kyoko was awake, wearing Hiratsuka's lab coat to cover herself since I'd cut her shirt off.
"You were gone a while, but we didn't hear any gunshots. What happened?" Takashi asked. He was holding a Mac-10 and had his baseball bat slung over his back. Looked like he used what was left of Kyoko's old shirt to tie it to himself.
"I told you, suppressed does not mean silent. I've been using my hatchet and throwing knives." Looking to the rest, I noticed they all had pistols and submachine guns, other than Saeko, who had an M9 Beretta strapped to her leg and was holding the only sword I had put in my bag.
"Are you gonna be okay with just that?" I asked. The sword wasn't a katana; it was a single-edged straight blade similar to Sasuke's sword from Naruto, except it had a normal handle rather than a square wooden one.
"It's not my preferred blade, but it's better than a wooden bokken." She spoke while cradling the sword lovingly. "Yes, I think it will do just fine," she finished with a bloodthirsty smile.
'Fuck, that's hot,' I thought before shaking my head.
"Okay, I've cleared out most of the floor, but I'm sure there are still some left. With so many people, we can't be quiet, so use the guns, watch your partner's back, and please try not to shoot each other."
Just as we were about to move out, Kyoko walked up to me and, in a shaky tone, spoke to me. "You saved me from those things. So… thank you."
I waved it off. "Don't worry about it. Saving damsels in distress is part of my job. Well, it used to be... kind of."
Kyoko blinked at me, then gave a small, tired smile.
"Still," she said, "thank you."
"You're welcome," I said. "Now let's get you out of this place before something else tries to ruin our day." That may have jinxed us, because just as I finished speaking, a loud bang came from the front of the school.
We all ran to the window to see what it was, and when my eyes caught sight of it, my relaxed mood turned to annoyance.
"What the fuck is that thing?" Hiratsuka exclaimed.
Standing at the gate, in the middle of the zombie horde trying to bust it down, was a zombie taller than the rest. It had a bag over its head, a bloodstained leather apron and metal spikes protruding from its head and upper arms. In its hand, it carried a massive axe with a hammer on one side. A hammer it was currently using to bash against the gate.
'Great, it's a fucking Executioner.' I picked up my bag, seeing that it was mostly empty of weapons save for a short machete and two pistols.
"We need to leave right now!" I turned to the group, breaking the group out of their stunned state. "I'll take point. Takashi and Saeko, you're with me. Saya and Kohta, you're in the rear; watch our backs. The rest of you are in the middle; watch the sides and stay focused. Let's go," I ordered.
Moving out in a loose diamond formation, we made our way down the hallway and towards the stairs, where, surprisingly enough, four more student survivors were fighting off a few zombies.
"Stay back!" I heard the silver-haired girl with a baseball bat shout to the unarmed girls behind her as she and the brown-haired boy beside her prepared to attack the zombies.
I raised my rifle and, while still moving, popped the zombies in the head, causing the new survivors to freeze in surprise.
"Hey Mikami, it's good to see you're okay!" Kohta gave the brown-haired boy a fist bump like old friends.
"Was anybody bitten?" Saeko asked as we got close.
"What? No, no one!" One of the unarmed girls quickly stated, but I was not so much paying attention to them as I was to Mikami and his silver-haired friend. They were calm, a bit too calm for this situation. Unlike the panicking schoolgirls, those two seemed very used to high-tension situations.
'Mikami... I know that name. And judging by the scar under his left eye, I think I know exactly who he and the silver-haired girl are. I just need to test it.' I thought.
"They look fine; we should be alright," Rei said.
"Alright, then you can come with us; we're headed for the buses. You two," I pointed to the two girls without weapons. "Stay in the middle of the pack," I said before turning to the other two. "You two, take these." I reached into my bag and carelessly tossed the two pistols to them.
They caught the guns with ease, immediately checking their weight, magazines, and sights. 'I knew it. This was Arashi Mikami and Mikoto Kiba from Triage X.'
Glancing around, I saw the group wasn't really paying attention to Mikoto and Arashi's gun skills, so I moved on.
Continuing through the school with our new members, we eventually reached the entrance to where the shoe lockers were. Unfortunately, our path was blocked by a small horde of undead.
"There are around forty of them, and with so many people in our group, we won't be able to sneak past," I sighed.
"From what I can tell, the only thing they react to is sound. They can't see us, so it's pointless to hide from them," Saya stated, peering around the corner at the dead.
"That's where you're wrong. They can very much see you. They just react to sound first." I immediately shut down her train of thought. Even if she was right about the current undead, once they start mutating into uncommon infected and special infected, that would no longer be the case.
As I was thinking, another loud slam echoed from the school gate, causing everyone but the Triage duo, Saeko and me to flinch. Glancing over at a nearby window, I could see the gate, and it would not hold much longer.
"Alright, here's the plan. I'm going to lure this group away. Once they're out of sight, the rest of you are going to get to the doors and make a run for the bus." I said, pulling some firecrackers out of one of my vest pockets. "Here, use these to distract the ones outside, but do not stop running." I handed them to Takashi and Saya.
"What about you?" Kyoko asked. She seemed to have gotten a bit attached since I rescued her.
"I'll be fine," I said with a smile that couldn't be seen thanks to my mask. Tapping my ear, I spoke over my comms. "Overwatch, are you in position?"
A disciplined woman's voice came over my comms and Hiratsuka's radio. "In position and on standby, captain."
"Copy. I'm sending a group out the school's main entrance. Keep them covered. And stop calling me captain."
"Of course, captain."
I sighed. That woman was always serious when working.
"Umm… who was that?" Marikawa asked.
"My sniper. She'll keep you covered while you run. I'm going now. Once I've pulled them away, wait two minutes, then move. When you reach the bus, don't wait for me, just go."
"You want us to leave you here?!" Hiratsuka asked incredulously.
"Yes. Don't worry, I'll catch up. Now move."
Without waiting for a response, I turned the corner and dropped three undead with quick shots, immediately drawing the rest toward me.
I kept moving deeper into the hallway, picking off any infected that crossed my path as the crowd behind me grew larger.
"Ava, which part of the building leads to the parking lot?" I asked. I had a plan, but I needed the route.
"It's on the south side of the school, sir."
"Perfect. That's where I'm going."
-o-
-Takashi Komuro-
After Jasper drew the zombies away, they waited two minutes before making a break for the door.
Opening it carefully, the group found themselves in a courtyard filled with undead. There weren't as many as at the main gate, most having been drawn toward the noise and chaos outside.
"Let's go!" Saeko said.
They sprinted toward the bus.
Takashi and Saya occasionally threw firecrackers to pull the undead away. A few stragglers got too close, but they were quickly taken down.
By the time they reached the bus, everyone piled inside. Takashi glanced back to check the courtyard, expecting more to be following.
Instead, he saw several of the undead already dropping near the firecrackers, with clean holes through their heads.
'The sniper,' he thought, before climbing onto the bus with the others.
"Marikawa, start this thing and let's go!" Hiratsuka urged the ditsy blond.
"It's different than my little bug! Uh, let's see… gas, brake, clutch…" She fumbled with the controls as she tried to start the bus.
Outside, a few more survivors came running from the school, calling for help. "Wait! Don't leave us!"
"Who is that?" Kohta asked, now shooting from one of the buses' windows.
"Shidou, the third-year class A teacher," Saeko said flatly, clearly not caring about him. Rei, on the other hand, clenched her hands and glared when she heard his name.
Suddenly, the bus roared to life.
"Okay, we can go now!" Marikawa called out.
"Wait just a little longer. There are more people coming," Takashi said to her.
"Uhh, there are too many in front of us; any more and we won't be able to drive through here," Marikawa said, looking at the zombies thanks to the bus's engine.
Takashi leaned forward, "Run 'em down."
"If Dr. boobs tries to drive over that many, we'll flip the bus," Saya countered.
Takashi swore before trying to get off the bus to help, but Rei pulled him back, and the two started arguing. Rei hated Shidou, and for good reason, but Takashi didn't know that.
"Hurry, everyone, you're going to be alright!" Shidou herded the students he was running with. ''But I'm not even sure we'll make it there at this rate,' he thought, just as one of the students behind him fell, hurting himself.
"Ah! Shidou-sensei, help! I hurt my ankle!" The student called out.
If anyone was close enough to see Shidou, they would see the gears turning in his head. "Poor boy, how tragic. Well, I guess that's it for you then!" And with a twisted smile, he kicked the kid in the face and turned, leaving him for dead.
"The world we know is over and the powerless have no place in the new one," Shidou whispered to himself as he kept running, making it to the bus.
"Ahhh," the kid screamed as the zombies surrounded him.
Takashi, hearing the scream, finally got Rei to release him and power his way to the kid, but he would not make it in time as the first zombie grabbed the student, ready to bite down.
Luckily for him, it was not able to, as its head was blown off thanks to the resident sniper. One by one, the undead around him fell as bullet holes appeared in their heads.
"Quick, get up!" Takashi arrived and pulled the student to his feet, dragging him along to the bus.
Shidou, seeing the kid he had just left for dead about to make it, gritted his teeth. 'Fuck. I can't let him get on this bus.'
Just as the thought crossed his mind, an earth-shaking crash echoed across the school grounds, drawing everyone's attention.
The school's front gate now lay crumpled on the pavement. The horde of undead shuffled through the opening, with the Executioner lumbering at their head, its massive axe dragging along the ground.
The distraction was all Shidou needed to lose his chance. Takashi hauled the injured student onto the bus.
"You... You left me!" the student shouted, grabbing Shidou by the front of his shirt.
Before either of them could do anything else, another loud boom ripped through the courtyard, turning every head.
A smouldering hole had been blasted through the side of the school. Standing before it, with a pile of zombies behind him, was Jasper.
"Marikawa, drive and do not stop for anything. I'll take care of the Executioner." Jasper's voice was heard over Hiratsuka's radio.
With that, Jasper charged straight into the horde.
The first few undead barely had time to turn before their heads burst apart one after another. Whoever was watching over the group with the sniper rifle kept a clear path open for him.
The Executioner let out a guttural roar and swung its massive axe in a wide arc, which Jasper met head-on.
With a clang, his hatchet caught the axe's handle just below the head, knocking the weapon aside without breaking his stride. Using the opening, he planted a foot on the monster's shoulder and vaulted clean over it.
Midair, he pulled a Semtex grenade from his vest.
"Catch."
The bomb stuck to the back of the Executioner's hood as Jasper landed and kept running.
Behind him, the monster had only just begun to turn when the Semtex detonated with a boom.
The blast tore through its head and upper torso, and the headless corpse crashed to the pavement.
Ahead, the minibus sped past the horde and towards the school gates.
The passenger door slid open with Saeko leaning out, one hand gripping the frame as she reached toward him.
Jasper matched the bus's speed, grabbed her forearm, and swung himself aboard.
The instant both of his feet cleared the step, Marikawa put her foot down, and the bus roared away from Fujimi Academy.