Yoshito on the other side ran behind Cu, hiding behind him while watching the now undead Wakisaka get up from the group and make his way towards them. There was no life within his eyes, his skin becoming pale and both saliva and blood dripping from his mouth.
"It's a zombie, a fucking zombie!"
"Don't scream next to my ears! I can hear you well enough!" Cu said, massaging his ears while keeping his eyes on the undead in front of him. "Don't be too scared, they don't seem to be able to run. So you can just dodge them next time."
"Next time? THERE ARE MORE OF THESE FUCKER—Gah!"
"I said don't shout near my ears!" He reminded him with a quick slap at the back of his head again, then facing what was before a living person. "So, do you believe in the supernatural now?"
Got a hasty nod from the man, for someone so tall he was now no different to a frightened puppy trembling behind him. Now using him as a shield which was hilarious in its own way. Shaking his head, he focused on the present and grabbed Wakisaka by the throat just like he did with Kenji.
"Look out!"
Yoshito grew horrified at his action, especially when the zombie started to claw at his face and hands. But much to his shock, the thing could not leave a mark on his skin whatsoever, it couldn't even rip out his hair no matter how hard it pulled.
"Sorry about this, sensei. I was really about to let you go had you not been infected. Even if you were a pervert, you were not that bad of a teacher, hopefully things will be better for you in the afterlife. You probably got that infection from another undead you killed or escaped from, probably yer nephew." He squeezed his hand hard enough to crush the undead's neck in an instant, making it grow limp. Though his eyes continued to stare back at him and the mouth tried to bite the hand.
There were no emotions left within then, no reaction to any pain or anything — just pure hunger like Kenji's case. With a flick of his finger, a rune formed in the air and engulfed the man, burning him and his ashes into nothingness.
He turned around and looked at the stunned Yoshito, the latter's mouth hanging open with no words coming out of it. More taken aback by the usage of his rune magecraft than the appearance of a zombie.
"We better get a move on, we should reach that bus before it gets too far, there is a chance that the source of this is inside." He said while tapping his friend's shoulders, "I'll tell you about rune magecraft later. Oh, yeah, magic is real… and so are ghosts, so there's that. Let's hope that they don't get involved too."
"..."
{Break}
(Half an hour later)
"I'm starting to regret agreeing to accompany you, aniki." On their way towards the path the bus must have taken, Yoshito couldn't help muttering out loud. "I would much rather deal with the Yakuza or even the Russian Mafia then fucking zombies of all things! How the hell is this even possible!?"
Cu who had been comfortably enjoying the ride shrugged, "Trust me, I'm trying to find the answer to that question as well. They can't just appear out of nowhere for no reason, there has to be a source or something that led to its creation. That's what I'm hoping to find in that bus and stop before it's too late."
"Wait a minute… is that why the Takagi family are so restless lately!? They all knew zombies were real!? Are they magicians like you!?"
"Eyes on the road!" Cu shouted when the man took his eyes off of the road and nearly crashed against the mountain side. Unfortunately the side view mirror got crushed and fell off. "No, they aren't aware from what I know and they are not magecraft users. Just the head of the family has a stick up his ass but he seems like a good guy."
"Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, zombies are real… I'll have to evacuate my family from Tokonosu and.. and…" He started mumbling, worrying about their lives and how this would ruin his sister's education. Sweating like a pig and barely able to concentrate on the road ahead, Cu just kept looking for any signs of the bus.
Things were getting messy quickly, he could not tell just how many cases like the late teacher were around the town currently. For all he knew, hundreds of people could be infected and about to turn at any moment. He could not just go on the blood path and barge into every single building searching for them and kill immediately, it was impossible no matter what tactic he used.
But at least he could attempt at slowing down the rates of the spread and hopefully find the source of it all.
"There! Aniki!"
Fortunately, Yoshito was paying enough attention on the road to find the bus on another road further down the mountain that was splitting off to the right. "Shit, why did it take that road? We'll never be able to reach them in time even if I turn around now. W-What should we do!?" He was panicking, understandably in Cu's opinion. He did not blame him at his erratic emotions for this was the first time the man was dealing with this situation. Only time would make him calm down and unfortunately, he could not spare any efforts to do so as well.
Especially when he saw quite a bit of commotion going on from within the bus with blood splattering against the windows.
He was already too late.
"Don't stop driving, go as fast as you can! I'll handle this." He opened the door and pulled himself on top of the roof with surprising flexibility. The wind pushed against his hair as he made sure to not fall off the thing by accident.
"Aniki!?"
"Just keep driving!"
Yoshito was right that he would be unable to catch up with the bus even if they tried to go back. It would take ten minutes, and by then, the bus would be impossible to track down. Descending the mountain to reach that road would most likely just destroy the car in the end. This piece of junk could barely hold itself on a regular road.
This only left him with one option.
"If I grab it from the side… no, it might just tear the piece off rather than stop the thing. But if I try that method…. Hah… this is gonna hurt."
In the next moment he leapt off the roof of the car, jumping headfirst with Yoshito screaming his name with pure horror. The sound of screaming reached his ears and he finally got a glimpse of the bus driver whose body leaned against the wheel.
Completely unresponsive and most likely dead. More blood spraying everywhere and covering the front windows as well.
"Hn!" Cu landed on his feet, knees bending slightly to absorb the force. The moment he straightened, the glare of headlights swallowed his vision. The bus hurtled toward him, its engine roaring like a beast bearing down on its prey.
Yet, he didn't move.
Taking a deep breath, he arms spreading wide in an open stance to absorb as much force as possible.
Crash!
The metal screamed as the front of the bus crumpled against him, its reinforced frame warping like tin under his sheer resistance and around his figure. The windshield exploded into a rain of jagged glass, covering his skin but not slicing through, mixing with the spray of hot, fresh foreign blood. "Hngh!" Cu gritted his teeth, his jaw tightening as the crumpled front made it hard for him to get a good hold of the damn thing.
His boots scraped against the asphalt, nearly giving way as the sheer momentum of the vehicle threatened to drag him under — shredding apart within seconds and leaving him barefoot.
But he just dug in.
Muscles coiled, his core bracing like an iron pillar. His feet burrowed into the asphalt itself, carving deep trenches as he forced the bus to a screeching halt even with the tired that continued to spin. The ground cracked beneath the strain, the smell of burning rubber thick in the air the tires skidded violently, desperate to keep moving.
"Ha!"
With another burst of strength, his arm grabbed onto the steaming engine before ripping it out halfway through in one motion, fire and oil dripping all over his face. The thing finally stopped moving and he was free to let go.
"Hah, damn… hah… still not fully there yet." He breathed deeply, feeling strains and sore spots all around the body from his action. Wobbling in place for a moment as his injured feet covered in cuts and bruises that were stuck within the asphalt, pulling himself out before taking a moment to recover and gather his senses. Looking down at his arms, there were more wounds along his limbs, thankfully no broken bones
Cu was fully aware that there was still a way to go before he reached his peak state from when he was alive — his body continued to change and began reverting to his old self bit by bit over the years.
Thankfully he did not need to handle such a thing a decade ago otherwise it would have been very troublesome.
"I just… bought these clothes… hah…"
Still, despite his haggard state, he made his way to the door, pushed it open and walked inside without wasting any time. He didn't really hold out any hope to find survivors within.
"Tch," just like he expected, it was already too late. Dozens of bodies laying on the ground with chunks of their flesh missing, most of them were adults with the only people who resembled to be around his age at the back having already turned into undead.
Flesh and blood already filling their mouthes. Four students, going by their clothes, they must have been the lot he was searching for. The Tachibana kid and his little gang… all of them already long gone. And from the looks of it, they were no different to the last two undeads he dealt with, just as lifeless and hollow.
"Not the source then." Frustration laced his voice, every time he felt progress was made it led him to a dead end. This thing couldn't have just appeared out of thin air, it had to come from somewhere or brought in by someone with malicious intent or even accidentally.
"Uuuargh!" One of the undead zombies who had lost his legs crawled up to him and grabbed onto his ankles. Cu swiftly put the thing out of his cursed fate with a stomp, making blood cover his face and clothes.
"Alright, let me put you all out of your misery. I'm done here." His figure blurred, going from one end of the bus to the other with several decapitated heads held within his grasp. Their headless bodies dropping to the ground the next moment.
At that moment, he felt no joy or happiness from stopping these undead from spreading to another town, for nothing guaranteed there were not others roaming around already causing chaos in other areas.
The realization that this could be happening in his home country where his parents were further dampened the atmosphere. Uncertainty, regret and anger brewing within his mind at how powerless he felt at that moment.
With heavy steps, he left the remains of the vehicle after setting it on fire. Hoping back up the mountain to find Yoshito looking at him as if he were a monster.
Shaking like a leaf.
He gave him a smile, perhaps not being the best choice with all the blood on him.
"Let's go back, I'm tired."
.
.
.
The ride back home took another hour, the entire way back none of them spoke a word and state completely silent. The interior was filled with the stench of blood, though Yoshito was too numb to care at this point.
By the time they reached his apartment complex, the sun already started to set making the sky turned a deep orange color.
"Will you be alright?" He asked with concern over his state.
"I'm fine, I heal quickly, they'll be gone in a day or two anyways."
"Damn man, I… I don't know what to say. What do you think I should do?" He said, finally gathering the courage to address that topic. "I don't want to those things anywhere near my family if more of them appear. I… I will go crazy if something were to happen to them, aniki."
"I can't give ya a sure way to keep 'em safe all the time-I'm pretty much in the dark about a lot myself. But listen, if you ever feel threatened or worried for their safety, bring 'em to me. Either here or over to Kyoko's place. Sure, you can even bring 'em here tonight if you want-I've no problem with that."
"... Can't I send them out of town with the cash we found?"
He could come up in fact it was a good idea but once again, there was no guarantee that more of these undead were not roaming other places. At least if they were close by, he could try to save them.
"Perhaps it's safer for them to stay in a less populated area for now, keep your eyes and ears open about any information. I can add a bounded field around your house, just think of it as a temporary measure for now but it won't help in the long run." He got a confused look from Yoshito, most likely wondering what a bounded field was though he immediately nodded his head.
"Whatever you think works, if it's magic or whatever voodoo type shit you can do, I'm all for it. As long as it can keep them safe, then I'm happy. For now, I'll keep my eyes on my sister and she won't be going out alone anytime soon. I know someone who has connections with this chick from the US military, maybe I can buy a few guns from him to keep my folk safe."
The Irishman hummed in agreement with the plan, as long as it provided any measures of safety and ability to fight back. "If you see one, shoot it in the head, don't hesitate or it will kill you or infect your family. Don't bother using a knife or any melee weapon, you don't have the skills to do it." He left these words before leaving the car, closing the door and watching Yoshito drive off in the distance.
"What a day," he whispered, having made progress with what he initially wanted but the results were anything but satisfactory in his opinion. The more he uncovered the more dangerous and out of control this entire thing revealed itself to be.
All of this was happening far too quickly for his liking, and unfortunately, he did not have the luxury or ability to stop time.
As he made his way up to the floor where his apartment was, the sound of several things falling to the ground reached his ears as he found an orange just roll up to his foot. Taken aback, he looked ahead to find a familiar orangette high school girl standing in front of his apartment with a bag filled with vegetables and fruits lying next to her feet.
Oh right, the dried up blood, oil and shards of glass on him were still present on his body and messy hair.
Shock and disbelief plastered on her face as she looked at him, at his messed up appearance more accurately.
"... Um, I can explain."
For some reason, this situation felt oddly familiar.
+--------------------