"Could we peel them off one by one with chalk?" Utaha's brows knit.
"No." Yukino's voice was cool. "That only worked in a corridor—a contained space."
"Out there it's open air. One tiny sound cascades into a chain reaction."
"Even if we cover with guns, the shots will drag every zombie in the lot."
"Then what do we do…?"
Silence dropped like a lid.
Everyone knew what was missing: someone had to risk it.
But who wanted to bet their life for a set of keys?
Aiden scanned the lot, then said, "I've got a play."
A minute later the group looked both rattled and relieved.
They'd been locked in on the driver—and trapped in their own framing.
Aiden just flipped the angle.
"Your bow," he said, holding a hand to Yukino.
She blinked once, then slipped the recurve off her shoulder and passed it over.
"Simple feint," Aiden said while working. "Tie a Molotov to the shaft, tape on a frag. The blast will pull half the lot to the far side… and that's our window to hit the bus."
"Hayato-kun, you lead. The second you hear the bang, sprint."
"Kakeru, you and the baseball guys watch the flanks—kill with blades. No gunfire unless we're cornered."
"Everyone else, stay tight, keep quiet, don't get cute."
Crisp orders settled nerves.
"Ready?" Aiden breathed out, set the bottle, yanked the grenade pin—
drew to a full moon.
"Ready," Hayato said, Phoenix dagger slick in his grip. His eyes hardened. There wouldn't be a second failure.
"Three… two… one."
Aiden's gaze sharpened—Blade Intent snapping on.
The world slid into slow motion:
gnarled faces, flipped cars, black smoke—all hanging in a stretched second.
Ffff—t!
Bow bent like a crescent.
Arrow flew like a meteor.
Shaft and bottle and metal egg stitched the air—
and knifed into the densest knot of dead.
KRA-KOOM!
Fire bloomed like a cruel flower.
KR-ROOM-ROOM—
The concussions shivered the asphalt; chips and meat pattered down in a grisly rain.
"Raaagh—!"
Heads swung as one.
Clouded eyes locked to the flame.
Rotten throats belched a frenzy of howls.
The tide turned and rushed.
In seconds, the mass around the bus peeled away.
"Go!"
Hayato's knuckles blanched on the dagger. He bolted.
The others poured after him, feet whispering as lightly as they could, hearts pounding loud enough to give them away.
The ground was a smear of dried brown and fresh yellow-green.
A few halves still twitched.
Each step felt like running on knife points. No one stopped.
"…Good. It's working."
Keys in hand, Hayato hauled into the bus and finally dared to breathe—giddy relief breaking through.
He glanced back—
the last few were almost to the steps when—
the sky hit them.
A corpse-vulture stooped out of nowhere, claws slashing at a girl named Suzuki.
She jerked aside at shouted warnings; the swipe missed—
but her pack smashed a trash can.
CLANG!
The sound knifed the hush.
The vulture wheeled off—spooked—
"Bad," Yukino hissed, skidding to a halt, eyes snapping back.
The horde that had been drifting away turned.
Empty sockets fixed on the living.
"RROOAAARR!!"
The roar tore the air.
The dead surged back.
And beneath the wave came a new noise—
a tooth-aching, grinding bellow.
Something huge and dark shouldered out of the mass—charging like a freight truck.
"Damn it—Charger!"
Cold stabbed Aiden's back.
The thing was all corded purple meat, right arm swollen to a grotesque club, the left withered and useless. Overalls hung in strips. The bare skull listed to one side, eyes rolled white, a bass growl rattling its throat.
Every footfall cracked the road. It barreled straight for the tail of the group.
Worse—something else waddled out behind it, swollen and lurching, bile bubbling at its lips.
"Boomer…" Aiden's face set, grim as steel.
(End of Chapter)
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