Chapter Text
First there was one case. Then five, then twenty. No one knows how it started, but that hardly mattered anymore. Not to those still alive and running. They didn’t have time to wait for a cure. There were fifty, then a thousand, and then the world came burning down.
But that was four months ago.
Kojiro has been on his own for a while now. Like many, he lost everything. But he’s kept his spirits up anyway, as much as someone with a positive outlook on life could. There has to be a reason to live, to keep fighting, even if he’s on his own. Although, the loneliness is starting to get to him.
The woods are quiet, which is as much of a relief as it is a concern. He needs dinner, but he hasn’t seen an animal in a week, not even a wood mouse. He’ll starve if he doesn’t figure out something soon.
Kojiro’s lucky that he knows what wild plants are edible and that he has some canned food in his backpack. He decides to set up a simple trap with wire and sticks, hoping that when he comes back later something will be waiting for him.
After returning a few hours later from foraging, there is something waiting for him, but not an animal.
“A kid?” Kojiro whispers to himself.
The child is crouched, inspecting his trap and…
“Hey!” Kojiro shouts.
Startled, the child looks up and the small hare he removed from the rope jumps out of his hands and runs into the brush. Kojiro lets out a deep, frustrated sigh.
“There goes dinner.” He looks back up and sees the kid is slowly backing away. He’s putting on a brave face but there’s fear behind his eyes. He looks like he’s getting ready to make a break for it like the rabbit did. “Whoa, hey, it’s okay, I’m not gonna hurt you or anything.”
“Liar,” the kid says back defiantly.
“Do you need help?” Kojiro asks, ignoring the jab.
“No.”
“Liar,” Kojiro mimics. The kid has the audacity to puff his cheeks out in offense. “Where are your parents?”
That was clearly the wrong thing to ask, because the kid looks directly at the ground and his shoulders slump down.
“Oh…” Kojiro scratches the back of his head. So the kid was also looking for food. Judging by the look of him, he really needs it, too. “Here, let me—“
“I said I don’t need your help!” The kid shouts. “I can take care of myself.”
“How old are you even? Eight?”
“I’m almost thirteen!”
The indignant look on his face makes Kojiro laugh, but that only serves to embarrass the kid further.
“I’m leaving,” he says as he turns around to stomp off.
“Hey! Wait!” Kojiro calls and jogs after him.
“Go away!”
“Kid. Kiddo. I’m not leaving you out here alone.”
“I don’t need your help,” the kid spits out. “Or anyone’s.”
“At least let me give you some food—“
But the kid is already running off. Kojiro considers chasing him, but he doesn’t want to scare him and the kid is too fast for him anyway. He sighs. Maybe he’ll leave some food out. He doesn’t have much, but despite the sass, he can tell that kid hasn’t had a real meal in a while.
It’s getting dark, he’ll need to start setting up camp for the night soon. He has some protein bars he can eat, or even some canned food. Suddenly, Kojiro gets an idea, and he heads off to get some suitable dry firewood.
Kojiro makes sure to do a sweep of the area and to put himself on the highest plateau he can find before making a fire. He doesn't want to attract any zombies with the light, so he digs a small pit to build the fire in. He uses a small iron pot that can withstand the direct flames to cook up some canned beans and sausages. He lucked out earlier and found some Okinawan shallots that he heated up on one of the flat rocks in the pit before throwing it into the pot. The aroma is tantalizing, he hasn’t enjoyed cooking like this in a while. It will certainly bring in any creature in the nearby radius.
Kojiro hears a noise behind one of the trees and looks up. He hears a faint gasp and smiles to himself. Reaching into his pack, he pulls out a water canteen and two spoons, setting one on the rock next to him and using the other one to eat directly out of the pot.
Like a stray cat, the kid from earlier cautiously makes his way out from behind the tree. Joe doesn’t say anything, doesn’t want to scare him off, so he pretends to ignore him and keeps eating. After a few more moments, the kid comes closer and grabs the spoon quickly as if he’s waiting for Joe to turn on him. But Kojiro doesn’t move, just stares into the fire.
The kid puts the spoon into the pot and brings it to his mouth.
“Careful, it’s hot,” Kojiro says right before the kid hisses in pain. It makes him laugh and the kid glares at him. “Hey, now, don’t look at me like that.”
The kid grumbles something under his breath and takes another spoonful, this time blowing on it before taking another bite. The kid is shoveling it down as fast as he can without burning himself.
“Slow down, kiddo, you’re gonna make yourself sick.”
“Stop calling me that,” the kid tells him.
“Well, what’s your name then?” The kid doesn’t reply, and Kojiro sighs. “Guess I’m just gonna keep calling you kiddo if you’re not gonna tell me.”
The kid glares at the ground quietly.
“You can call me Joe.”
Still nothing.
Another moment passes in silence.
“Miya.”
Kojiro smiles at the small victory and moves to put his spoon away.
“You… don’t want anymore?” Miya asks hesitantly.
“Nah, I’m full,” Kojiro lies.
Miya considers him for a moment before digging back in with fervor. While he eats, Kojiro unrolls his sleeping bag, then lays down opposite it with his head on his backpack. It’s a cold night, but the fire will be enough to keep him warm.
“What’re you doing?” Miya asks with a mouthful of food. “You’re not gonna use your sleeping bag?”
“It’s for you,” Kojiro says and closes his eyes. If the kid doesn't take the bait, he isn't going to force him. He figures if he acts nonchalant about it, Miya won’t get spooked. It really is like dealing with a stray cat.
He keeps his eyes shut as he waits to hear what the kid will do. There is a moment of hesitation after he can tell Miya finished eating. He nearly thinks the kid is going to bolt again, but then he hears shuffling of fabric and he knows Miya is settling into the sleeping bag.
Kojiro barely hears the quietly mumbled ‘thanks’ and smiles to himself. Maybe he shouldn’t put so much trust in Miya, for all he knows this kid could rob him and run. But he’s just a kid, and he’s out here on his own, and judging by how thin he is it has to have been for a while. He’ll ask the kid if he wants to stay with him in the morning, for now he’ll let him get the rest he so clearly needs.
When Kojiro wakes up, all of his things are gone. The sleeping bag, the cast iron pot, the water. How the hell the kid grabbed his backpack while he was sleeping on it he’ll never know.
“Fuck! I knew this would happen!” Kojiro groans. This is what he gets for trying to be nice. Maybe if he’s lucky he’ll be able to track the kid and get his stuff back. He couldn’t have gone far, his pack is way too heavy for a small kid.
Kojiro startles when he hears shuffling from the bushes and instinctively reaches for his weapon in case it’s a zombie. There's more shuffling, then Miya comes out sporting a cheeky grin.
“Look at your face!” Miya points at him and laughs. Kojiro just blinks at him with his mouth hanging open.
“What?”
“You really thought I robbed you!” Miya wipes his eyes. “You should be more careful, you know. It was too easy.”
Kojiro smiles darkly as a vein nearly pops out of his head. “That’s it, come ‘ere you little shit!”
Before Miya can run off, Kojiro pulls him into a headlock and rubs his knuckles on top of his head. After a few moments of Miya whining and flailing around, Kojiro sets him back down and starts packing up.
“Mean…” Miya mutters, rubbing his head.
“Come on, help me put this all back so we can get going.”
“Go where?” Miya asks, then adds, “What makes you think I’m sticking with you?”
“You have breakfast yet?” Kojiro asks.
“I—Not yet.”
“Help me pack up and I’ll give you one of my protein bars.” Truthfully, Kojiro planned to give it to him anyway, but Miya doesn’t need to know that.
“I don’t need your food,” Miya says defiantly. Then his stomach growls loudly and he flushes with embarrassment. “I—I—I have my own!”
Despite the fuss, Miya puts dirt in the fire pit like Kojiro instructed while Kojiro rolls up the sleeping bag and packs everything back up securely. He loads it up on his back and tightens the straps, then pulls out two protein bars from his pocket. He only has four left, so he’ll have to go back into town to find a store to stock up on more.
Kojiro hands one out to Miya, who turns his nose up at it.
“I told you, I don’t need your help.” Miya digs into his small backpack and pulls out a candybar.
“That—That’s not breakfast,” Kojiro says.
Miya sticks his tongue out at him and then rips open the plastic with his teeth.
“Suit yourself.”
Kojiro puts the extra bar back into his pocket in case Miya decides he wants it later, then opens his own. While he’s munching on it he pulls out a compass and turns until he’s facing the direction of town.
“Where are you even going?” Miya asks, trying to not sound interested.
“There’s a town that way, I need to pick up some more food since someone let my catch get away last night.”
Miya flushes and looks at his feet.
“Well?” Kojiro asks.
“Well what?”
“You comin’ or what?” Kojiro smiles and jerks his head in the direction they need to go.
“I said I don’t need your help,” Miya repeats, though each time it carries less and less conviction.
“What are you planning to do, sit out here defenselessly and live off of candy bars?”
Miya puffs out his cheeks. “I could steal from fools like you.”
“But then who would cook for you?”
Kojiro smiles again and walks off. After a few moments, he hears the small pitter patter of footsteps as Miya hurries to catch up to him.
Over the next few weeks, Kojuro teaches Miya all he can about survival. He shows him how to make a rabbit trap out of wooden stakes and wire, how to build a fire both with flint and steel and with natural materials, he teaches him how to cook. He shows Miya which wild herbs, berries, mushrooms, fruit, and vegetables are safe to eat, and how to test if they are in case he’s not sure. He instructs Miya how to properly pack his backpack and how to hoist it up in a tree if he needs to keep it safe.
Miya learns it all pretty quickly, much to Kojiro‘s surprise. It makes him sort of proud, and he can't help but smile when Miya turns to him in excitement after successfully doing something.
Fishing, however, is proving to be difficult.
“Ugh, I can’t get any!” Miya whines as another fish gets away from him. Kojiro showed him how to make a spear out of branches, which he was able to do pretty well, but he hasn’t been able to catch a single fish in the two hours they’ve been in the river.
“Just be patient and still,” Kojiro tells him. “You’ll get one eventually.”
“I don’t see why I have to do this anyway,” Miya grumbles, and Kojiro nearly rolls his eyes at the tantrum he’s throwing. “You’re able to catch them yourself.”
It's true, Kojiro had already caught a few fish, enough for them to have for dinner and even as a snack tomorrow. But that isn't the point.
“I may not always be here to do this for you, kid,” Kojiro says. “You’re gonna have to figure out how to do this on your own.”
Miya visibly deflates and looks down into the water. Kojiro instantly feels bad, but it's the hard truth. There is no guarantee that he’ll always be around for the kid, for any number of reasons. He wants to make sure that if anything were to happen, Miya can take care of himself.
“Besides,” Kojiro continues, softening his tone. “I think it’s about time you start taking care of me .”
“What?” Miya squawks.
“That’s right, I expect you to start doing all the hunting and the cooking.”
“You lazy old man!”
Kojiro laughs and splashes some water on Miya, getting him to laugh too. After another ten minutes, Miya catches his first fish.
“Joe, how come you won’t let me kill any zombies?” Miya asks one day.
Kojiro sighs in exasperation. They had just come across a handful of zombies, and Kojiro had made Miya go hide while he took his blade to their heads.
“Listen, kid. If you don’t have to fight, you should avoid it.”
“But you just did…”
“Because there wasn’t a way around them,” Kojiro points out. “It’s dangerous and unnecessary to kill every zombie we come across.”
“But wouldn’t we be doing something… good?” Miya looks up at him. His eyes are still so innocent. Kojiro wishes they could stay that way.
“This isn’t a game, we aren’t here to hunt,” he says. “Our focus right now is to survive. Fighting is always a risk, and we can’t kill them all.”
“Shouldn’t you teach me how to fight, though?” Miya whines, then adds, “Just in case.”
Kojiro stares at him in consideration, then ruffles the top of Miya’s head.
“Hey!”
“Alright, alright,” Kojiro shakes his head. “Can’t believe I keep falling for your puppy dog eyes trick.”
“Yes!” Miya pumps his fist in the air. “Does this mean I get my own gun?”
“Absolutely not.” Kojiro reaches into one of his pockets and pulls out an extra blade. “Take this. Be careful with it though, it’s not a toy.”
Miya takes it with lackluster enthusiasm. “Kind of lame.”
“Once you master how to use that, I’ll let you get a bigger one.”
Suddenly, there was a sparkle in Miya’s eyes. “Like leveling up.”
“It’s not a game,” Kojiro repeats softly, but he’s glad to see some excitement in Miya. He has to remember that Miya is just a kid, and this is a terrible world to grow up in. His childhood has been robbed from him, but he still deserves to have some fun.
Preferably without weapons being involved.
“This is just for defense, by the way,” Kojiro says. “Close range combat is dangerous so don’t go looking for it. But if someone comes up on you, you can use it.”
“Okay, okay,” Miya waves him off, inspecting the blade. Kojiro will teach him later how to clean it and keep it sharp, but his first lesson will be about safety and defense.
Voices snake through the trees from a couple yards off, jarring them to an abrupt stop. Miya looks up to Kojiro, the color already draining from his face as panic sets in. They haven’t come across other people yet, and it was never a guarantee if they would be good or not. The apocalypse made people do all sorts of things, either out of desperation or impunity.
“Go hide over there and wait,” Kojiro says quietly and points to a large bush. “I’ll see if they’re trustworthy or not.”
“But—“ Miya protests, but Kojiro cuts him off with a look and pushes him towards the bushes, then draws his handgun. Miya is able to hide just in time before a man and a woman come through the clearing.
The man has a gun as well, and points it at Kojiro.
“It’s fine, I don’t want trouble,” Kojiro says, keeping his gun by his side but not directing it at them.
“Where’s your group?” the man asks, not putting his gun down.
“I don’t have one,” Kojiro says carefully. “It’s just me.”
“That’ll make this a lot easier, then.”
“Give us your stuff and you don’t have to get hurt,” the woman tells Kojiro.
If Kojiro were truly by himself, perhaps he would have given it to them. Perhaps he would have shot them already. But it’s not just him, he’s got Miya to look after. Supplies have been getting more sparse, they can’t afford to just hand it all over. It’s a lot more likely they’ll die without it.
“I can’t do that,” Kojiro says, slowly raising his gun now.
“You think you have a choice?” the man asks. “You said it yourself, you’re alone.”
“But look at him,” his partner says quietly. “He’s not like the others we’ve come across. He’s strong.”
“You’re right,” the man agrees. “We should kill him to make sure he can’t come after us.”
The hairs on the back of Kojiro’s neck are on end, and all he can think about is Miya in the bushes watching. He doesn’t want to let this kid watch him kill people, or possibly get killed by them himself. However, if faced with the choice, he’ll choose the former.
“Back off,” Kojiro says sternly. Each side has a gun pointed at the other. Kojiro just hopes he has the quicker trigger finger. “Last warning.”
“You really should’ve just given up,” the man says. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to put a bullet in your head so you don’t turn into one of them.”
The bushes shake, startling the strangers into jumping back. Miya comes running out from behind them and latches himself to Kojiro’s side.
“Please don’t hurt my Papa!” Miya cries, tears in his eyes. “Don’t take him away from me!”
The strangers gawk at him in total shock and Kojiro’s heart sinks to the forest floor. He immediately shields Miya as best he can while still pointing his gun, waiting for them to make a move. They all stare at each other with baited breath.
“He has a kid,” the woman whispers to her partner. “Let’s just go.”
The man stares at Kojiro, and Kojiro stares back, wordlessly conveying that he’ll do absolutely anything to protect this child. He must look crazy, because the guy puts his gun down.
“Whatever,” he mumbles, and the woman grabs him by the arm and pulls him away.
Kojiro and Miya watch them run off, neither of them move until they’re sure the strangers aren’t coming back. Kojiro lets out a deep exhale in relief, then crouches down and grabs Miya by the shoulders.
“Miya! What were you thinking? That was so dangerous!”
Miya shrugs, his forced tears already dried up. “They were going to hurt you.”
“They could have hurt you,” Kojiro says.
“I just… don’t want to see you go away,” Miya says quietly.
Kojiro sighs and drops his head. “I promise, I’m not going to do that.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I swear on it.” Kojiro sticks out his pinky, and Miya takes it with his own. “So just let me do the fighting, alright?”
“Didn't you just tell me we should be avoiding fights as much as possible?”
“Yes…” Kojiro mutters, frustrated. Of course the kid would use his own words against him. “But that was really dangerous. You can't ever do that again. Ever.”
Miya shrugs again. “Fine. It all worked out in the end anyway. Really, you should be thanking me.”
Kojiro stands up and ruffles Miya’s hair with a sigh. They continue walking where they were originally headed, keeping an ear out for more noises just in case.
“So…” Kojiro says. “Papa, huh?”
Miya flushes and turns away. “Oh, shut up!”
“You take acting classes or something, kid?”
“Ugh, you are so embarrassing… I should’ve let them attack you.”
“No need to be embarrassed, I think it’s adorable.”
Miya puffs out his cheeks like a hamster and Kojiro laughs. He puts his hand on Miya’s shoulder as they keep walking.
Miya claims that he continues to call Kojiro ‘Papa’ ironically out of spite, but it sticks. It stops feeling like an act pretty quickly. Somehow, in just over two months, they both started seeing each other as family.
Miya sleeps quietly in Kojiro’s arms as he walks them closer to the city border. He doesn’t want to be here, but there’s nothing left in all the small towns they’ve been hitting. They’re out of canned food, and medicine, and a number of other things leftover from civilization. He’s been putting it off, but there’s no more avoiding it.
“Okay, kiddo, nap time’s over,” Kojiro says lightly and gives Miya a few pats on the back. Miya yawns and rubs his eyes as Kojiro sets him down. “Not sure how long I’ll be able to keep carrying you, you’re getting really heavy.”
Miya sticks out his tongue. “Maybe you're just getting lazy.”
Kojiro pokes him in the cheek and has his hand slapped away. “Says the one who was too tired to keep walking.”
“Hey, do you think we’ll find any chocolate biscuits? Oh! Or Ramune?” Miya asks excitedly. Months ago he had told Kojiro how he never had sweets before the apocalypse started, so he was trying to eat as many as he could before they went bad.
“We can check,” Kojiro says. “But only after we get all the stuff we really need, okay?”
Miya nods, clearly still daydreaming about all the possible delicious snacks waiting for them in the zombie infested city below.
“Pay attention,” Kojiro nudges him lightly. “We need to be careful, this isn’t like all the other places. There are going to be a lot of zombies here. We have to be fast and quiet. No time for side quests.”
Miya deflates but nods his head again.
“Hey,” Kojiro says softly. “It’ll be fine, okay? I’ll make sure to get you at least one extremely unhealthy snack before we leave, sound good?”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Miya says, trying to hide his smile.
“Alright, let’s go then. And again—“
“Be careful, I know,” Miya sighs. “You say the same thing every time.”
“It’s important every time,” Kojiro smiles and shakes his head.
He lets Miya lead the way until they get further in. All of the buildings either have shattered glass or boarded windows, and some of those have been beaten in. They stay on the outskirts in case they run into a large hoard and need to make a break for it.
The walk carefully, trying to take featherlight steps on the glass covered gravel. Cars were left everywhere, clearly from some sort of traffic jam as everyone tried to abandon the city at the same time. Miya looked into them curiously to see if anything interesting was inside.
Kojiro waves him over so they can keep going. Something feels off. He knows it’s probably because he doesn’t like coming to big cities, not after what happened last time. He always trusts his gut, it’s kept him out of enough trouble until now. But they need food, they need medicine. Miya used the last of it with a cold he had a couple weeks ago. If he got sick again, he wouldn’t be able to leave him on his own to find some more. And animals have been becoming more sparse. Kojiro would’ve thought they’d be populating like crazy now with humans making less trouble for them. But it’s the infection, the incessant rot, he thinks, that’s keeping them away.
Kojiro sees movement at the corner and motions for Miya to halt and crouch down behind a car with him. They both have blades drawn, a gun would cause far too much noise and they can’t afford to start a frenzy. Kojiro peaks his head out.
Miraculously, it’s just one zombie. They could easily kill it, but the noise would likely just attract more unwanted attention.
“There‘s a convenience store at the end of this block,” Kojiro says, hardly above a whisper. “We can sneak by without it seeing us.”
He nods at Miya, who gives him an all trusting nod back. With that Kojiro turns around and continues to walk using the cars as cover.
He doesn’t even dare swallow. It’s just one for now, but who knows how many are in all these tall buildings. How many more are lurking beyond the streets they can’t see. Kojiro won’t risk it. Not when he has Miya with him.
While too busy keeping his eyes on the zombie, Kojiro doesn’t see the piece of rear view mirror on the ground next to the car he’s moving behind. It crunches loudly under his foot, to him it might as well have been a gong with a flashing sign saying, ‘Hey! Look over here! Free food!’
Cold sweat drips down the back of his neck and his eyes shoot over to Miya, who has panic blooming in his features. Kojiro makes a movement to express to him that it’s okay, just stay still. He peaks up above the car and sees the zombie still standing there at the corner, nearly motionless. He wonders idly if they just shut down if nothing alive is around for them to eat. He doesn’t care enough to experiment on that right now.
Kojiro waits a few minutes before he feels it’s safe to keep going. There’s no time to release a held breath, as there’s quite a few more cars ahead of them until they reach the store.
It takes time, but they eventually get there.
“Wait here, I’ll check if it’s clear,” Kojiro whispers, patting Miya on the head once. Miya nods dutifully and keeps an eye out front.
Kojiro makes his way through the store carefully. A lot of the shelves have already been emptied, but even at first glance there looks to be some useful things they can take. He smiles as he sees a lone box of panda chocolate biscuits on the ground. He looks around, then crouches down and puts it in his pocket before continuing on. Once he’s sure the store is empty, they can take what they can and finally get the hell out of there.
Miya is bored as he waits for Kojiro to finish up. The initial run in with the zombie was scary, sure, but if that’s all there is, he’d be fine even without Kojiro’s help.
He wishes he could find electricity, he misses his Nintendo Switch. He misses a lot of things from before everything happened. Sometimes he misses his family, but it hasn’t been that often since he met Kojiro.
A noise from the alley next to the store nearly makes him jump ten feet. Miya points his blade in the direction, and just beyond it he can see what his attacker is. It’s something he hasn’t seen in months, something that makes his heart so happy he momentarily forgets the hell of the world he now lives in. Poking its head out from the corner of the alley is a small, orange cat.
Miya’s legs move faster than his brain as he runs out to catch it. He just wants one pet, maybe if it’s good Kojiro will let him keep it!
The cat, of course, has other plans, and runs to the back of the alley towards more buildings.
“It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you!” Miya tells it, trying to catch up. He’s not keeping track of all the twists and turns he’s being led down. The cat runs up some discarded pallets and through one of the windows. Miya knows he can definitely make the same jump, but then—
A low, horrible moan, echoed by dozens more.
Miya turns his head to the side, and screams.
Kojiro has cleared the entire store and is getting ready to tell Miya it’s okay to come inside when he hears the scream. He doesn’t want it to be true, but he knows, he knows that voice, and sure enough when he looks to the front of the store, Miya is gone.
Kojiro hauls ass outside, throwing caution to the wind about noise.
“Papa!” he hears Miya scream. His heart breaks, dread socks him in the stomach.
“Miya!” Kojiro shouts desperately. “Miya, where are you?!”
“Papa! Help!” Miya cries, and Kojiro runs towards the source as fast as he can. Miya screams again, and then he hears it: the ever growing howl of undead stirred up into a frenzy. Kojiro runs through the alley and turns a corner only to be met with at least a hundred zombies in his way.
“Papa!” Miya cries upon seeing him. Kojiro’s eyes quickly scan his body, checking for any signs of bite or injury. Luckily, Miya looks unhurt, only terrified.
He’s trapped on top of the metal awning of a storefront, with zombies reaching and grabbing up for him. They’ve noticed Kojiro now, too, and he has to start driving his blade quickly into their skulls with all his strength to avoid being bitten.
“Miya, run!”
“No, I can’t!” Miya cries.
“Run! I’ll find you, just run!”
Kojiro has to take a few steps back as more and more take notice of him and come his way.
“I—I can’t—I don’t want to leave you!” Miya is sobbing, keeping his eyes on him even as zombies shake the awning. He slips, but is able to catch himself.
“You can, just go!” Kojiro shouts. “I’ll find you! Now run!”
Miya cries harder, watching Kojiro fight off far too many zombies than one person can handle. He wipes his eyes, then turns to make his escape.
Kojiro’s relief upon seeing Miya’s retreating form is short lived. There’s a lot of zombies on top of him, and still more focused on Miya. Kojiro leaps back, pulls out his handgun, and takes a few perfect shots to the heads of some zombies in front of him. The noise echoes through the city blocks, and all the zombies turn to him and become even more restless.
‘I hope this gives you more time,’ Kojiro thinks.
“Come on! This way!” Kojiro shouts at them, trying to lead them away. He jogs backwards, looking back and forth to make sure there’s none behind him and that they’re still following.
The hoard grows, and more zombies start funneling out from seemingly every end. Those gunshots might’ve worked too well, because now Kojiro’s sure he’s got about a thousand zombies zeroed in on his location.
A sudden close call nearly costs him everything when a zombie comes out from behind a car and tears off a piece of his shirt. Kojiro trips over some piece of debris on the ground and he hears a crack in his ankle. He doesn’t have time to think or to feel so he gets back up and just runs. He hisses when he first puts pressure on his left foot, but he pushes through it until he doesn’t feel anything at all except the blood in his ears.
Kojiro jumps and scales the side of a building that's had its lower floor boarded off. He pulls himself into the second story window, quickly makes sure no one's inside, then waits for the hoard to pass. It could take hours. He might have to make another run for it if they don’t move. But he doesn’t have that kind of time.
Somewhere out there is Miya, and he has to get to him. Despair sets in even as Kojiro uses the last of his strength to fight it off. He can’t bear the thought that something’s happened to him. That he might be…
No.
Kojiro won’t allow himself to think it. Miya is alive out there, his kid is out there somewhere. And he is going to find him. He has to.