by Tristan Vick
Choppy steps kicked up gravel as feet scraped along the rooftop. The brief silence was interrupted by the moan of the intruder. “Rughhh!”
Kevin and Saeko spun around just in time to see the walking corpse of a viciously maimed Shinji Terajima bearing down upon them. He hissed at them through his teeth and noseless face, blood dripping down both sides of his head where his ears used to be. His grotesque disfigurement gave him a horrific appearance that was both menacing and repulsive—and he was coming right towards them.
“Holy shit!” Kevin exclaimed. “He’s like...”
“Like what?” Saeko yelled. Bending down, she reached into her bag and fished out a practice sword called a bokken. It looked like a samurai sword but it was made of solid wood, and it was heavy. She sometimes used it for strength training. It would do more damage than her regular bamboo sword.
“He’s a fucking zombie!” Kevin yelped in terror-filled excitement as he hopped back to get safely out of reach.
“Don’t say that!” Saeko said, thinking of Makiko and Eri’s fate. Even if it were true, she didn’t want it to be.
“Well, what would you call him then?” Kevin asked.
Saeko thought for a moment, but couldn’t come up with anything. Shrugging her shoulders, she replied, “A zombie?”
“Exactly,” Kevin said proudly, having his point confirmed. At least it wasn’t all in his mind. “I’m just wondering how the hell he got up here.”
“He must have followed me back here from the school,” Saeko said in an annoyed tone. Even in his undead haze, the fucking asshole still wanted a piece of her.
Terajima staggered toward them and moaned. As he approached them, Saeko pushed Kevin behind her, slipped on her face guard, and, gripping her wooden sword tightly in both hands, politely said, “If you’ll excuse, I have some unfinished business to attend to.”
Not one to stand between a woman who had been wronged and her getting her revenge, Kevin stepped back and replied, “By all means.”
Reaching up with bent and arthritic hands, some of his fingers gnawed down to nothing but bone, Terajima swiped his bony claws at Saeko and snarled. Bearing down on her, his mouth pressed into the face guard of her kendo mask. The bars stopped his maw from reaching her, but his teeth stupidly clacked away against the metal barrier separating the monster from his prey.
Planting her feet, Saeko widened her stance, refusing to budge an inch as the menace tried to bite through her face guard. Saeko leaned into the weight of her attacker’s body and growled, “Bite me, asshole.”
Quickly pivoting, Saeko easily broke free of Terajima’s clutches and spun out of the way. Terajima stumbled forward, nearly falling flat on his face as he struggled to regain his balance. But Saeko didn’t give him the chance, and quickly acted. Using the butt of her sword’s handle, she gave Terajima a little tap on the back of the head that sent him crashing face first into the gravel on the rooftop.
Raising her bamboo sword high above her head, Saeko patiently waited for Terajima to gradually rise back up. Once he was back on his feet, Saeko yelled out a fierce “Ki-aiiii!!” and brought it crashing down onto Terajima’s skull.
Unfazed by the sharp blow, the brain-dead Terajima continued to press forward, moaning hungrily just to get a taste of her. With each step he took, Saeko struck his head with yet another bone-shattering blow, and then another, and another. As she pummeled the revolting creature before her as if it were a training dummy, underneath all the armor and sweat, she wore a simple unapologetic smile.
14
Dead Reckoning
Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
Beads of sweat dappled Saeko Sakaguchi’s face and neck. Rivulets of moisture glistened all the way down to her sternum and trailed into the crevices of her clothing under layers of bloodstained armor. She tugged on the speckled armor to let air lap at her body. Peeling off her helmet, she looked down at the zombified corpse of Shinji Terajima lying dead at her feet. Skull and brains smashed into the consistency of strawberry jam were all that remained of Terajima from the neck up.
With eyes as cold as steel, she gazed upon the bloody pulp that used to be his face and let out a big sigh of relief. Good riddance, she thought, but her worries were far from over. Now, they were trapped on the rooftop, surrounded by a horde of flesh-eating monsters, with nowhere to run.
Saeko fanned herself, then looked at Kevin. “Any ideas on what to do now?”
“I guess we can head back down and raid some mini fridges and get something to eat.”
“Good thinking.”
“Just one problem though.”
“And what’s that?”
“I think the door automatically locked behind Terajima when he followed you,” Kevin said, pointing back at the rooftop door.
“What?!” Saeko gasped. “You mean we’re trapped up here?”
“Well. It depends. Do you have any rope?”
Saeko shot Kevin a displeased look. “No. We don’t have any rope.”
The morning sun was beginning to get hot, and it would only get hotter as the day wore on.
Kevin unzipped Saeko’s duffel bag, fished out a bottled water, and tossed it to her. “Here, drink up.”
She caught it, twisted off the blue lid, and took big thirsty gulps. Smashing in Terajima’s skull had caused her to work up quite the sweat. In fact, she may have thrashed him a little too vigorously, but whatever. It felt good to finally stick it to him.
Kevin rubbed his hand through his hair and, thinking out loud, said, “Maybe we could use the emergency ladder to bait them. I could climb down and dangle my feet just out of their reach while you go down around the back. Once at street level, you could cause a distraction that would get their attention and draw them away from me, and then we could meet back up at the school.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Saeko said as she looked out over the other side of the building. “There’s just one problem.”
“Oh yeah? What’s that?” Kevin asked.
“Them,” Saeko said, pointing down at the additional throng of moaning monsters that had sidled up to the reverse side of the building. Now they really were surrounded.
“Shit,” Kevin gasped. “I hate to say it, but we’re fucked. No, worse than that. We’re a mile up the creek without a paddle and are being circled by an entire school of hungry sharks.”
“Sharks don’t swim up creeks,” Saeko said in her ‘matter of fact’ tone, which alerted Kevin to the fact that the expression had simply gone over her head.
“Sorry, I wasn’t being clear. It’s just a mixed metaphor,” Kevin said, smiling at her. “What I mean is that we’re worse than fucked.” Kevin rubbed the back of his head and looked over the edge again.
What had been a gathering of a couple dozen had quickly grown into a couple hundred. It seemed impossible. How could the disease be spreading so fast? It was as though the city had been completely infested overnight. But then again, ever since that horrific airplane crash a week ago, it seemed as though things that ordinarily were fringe events were happening all over the place.
There was even news that Mount Fuji was acting up, along with the added alert of possible lava flow breakouts and earthquake warnings.
Saeko continued to look down over the ledge as she took another drink from the bottle. Finishing it off, she chucked the bottle over the edge, aiming for the noisy mass of hungry zombies. Looking back at Kevin, she saw his big sparkling smile aimed right at her. “What?” she said defensively.
“Nothing,” Kevin chuckled. “You’re just cute when you’re frustrated, that’s all.”
Saeko squinted at him, then let a demure smile slip out of her otherwise uncompromising demeanor. She couldn’t stay mad at him. Considering they had only met yesterday, it felt a little strange, but still, she knew she was in love with him. Saeko had never believed in love at first sight. She had always imagined it was just a myth. But then yesterday he walked into her life, and it was like lightning. Cupid
’s arrow had pricked her, and it pricked her deeply.
“Well, it looks like we’re stuck up here for now,” Saeko lamented as she began to unfasten the breastplate of her armor.
“Seems so,” Kevin agreed. Seeing her struggle to get out of her gear, he went over to her to lend a hand. “Here, let me help you with that.”
“We could wait it out,” Saeko suggested. “Who knows, they might lose interest.”
“I don’t know,” Kevin said skeptically. “I suppose it’s possible. But somehow I doubt it.”
Saeko unfastened the final ties to her armor, and the bulky gear slid to the ground, revealing her underlying hakama, a light robe-like garment worn just underneath. Peeling off her sleeves, Saeko climbed out of the thicker garment and let the robe fall to her waist.
Usually she had on a sports bra underneath, but not today. Today, under the thicker robe, she had on a paper-thin robe that was soaked through and through with her sweat. Knowing that any attempt at modesty was in vain, she peeled off the thin wet fabric and let the fresh air kiss her moist skin.
Kevin’s eyes grew nearly two times bigger than they normally were as he beheld Saeko’s firm breasts standing at attention before him.
“Pass me that towel,” Saeko said, nodding back toward the duffel bag.
“Huh?” Kevin said, her words not registering as he got lost in the image of her body.
“Towel” she laughed, pointing over at the duffel.
Realizing that he was gawking, Kevin quickly snapped out of his lovesick daze and fetched it for her. He watched as she dabbed off the glistening sweat little by little.
After she finished drying off her chest, Saeko reached down and began to slide the robes down off her waist, but stopped short of revealing anything below the belly button. Then she let everything fall to the ground. Embarrassed, she blushed and fiddled with her hands, trying to figure out how to position them so she looked sexy rather than awkward.
“Wow!” Kevin gasped. He was beside himself. He’d never seen anything so beautiful in his entire life.
“Do you like me?”
“You bet I do!” Kevin said in an excited tone.
“So, do you want to … you know?”
“With you?”
Saeko shot him an impatient look. “Well? Are you just going to stand there gawking at me all day?”
Kevin stripped his clothes off faster than he’d ever stripped before and walked up to Saeko. Standing naked before her, they inspected one another’s bodies. Both felt vulnerable and embarrassed, but their teenage lust overrode their insecurities.
Kevin wrapped his hands around Saeko’s waist and pulled her into him. His erection pressed tightly into her pelvis, her breasts squeezed firmly against his chest, their eyes getting lost in the depths of the others, they kissed.
The hot yellow sun beat down on Kevin and Saeko’s naked bodies from overhead as they made love to each other. In their moment of lust, it was easy to ignore the moans rising all around them from the streets below, because theirs were louder. As far as either of them was concerned, they were the only two people left on the entire godforsaken planet.
15
A Remedy for the Rooftop Blues
Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
Leaning against the stairwell hutch, the only thing around providing an ounce of shade, the two teenagers sighed in satisfaction. Saeko looked into Kevin’s blue eyes, feeling like she could melt into him. Her legs were still quivering from the exertion of their marathon stretch of lovemaking. But she didn’t want to quit.
“Pass me something to drink,” Saeko said.
Kevin picked up their last sports drink and handed it to her. “Be careful not to drink it all. It’s all we have left.”
She winked at him as she unscrewed the cap and took a dainty sip. She offered him some, but he politely declined the offer. They would need it later when it got hot.
It wasn’t even noon yet, but Kevin dreaded thinking about the heat that would fry them like a couple of eggs sunny side up come this afternoon. With a grunt, he pushed off the wall and walked over to the edge of the roof.
Curious, Saeko followed him over, but not before she watched his tight ass for a few moments. Sidling up beside her man, she asked, “What’s up?”
“I’ve have to take a piss,” he said, sounding rather vexed about it. Looking over the edge, he let out a halfhearted sigh. “But I dunno.”
Leaning over the ledge, Saeko looked down. A large horde of white-eyed monsters hissed and moaned, their pallid hands and fingers reaching up, their teeth clacking in anticipation of filling their mouths with fresh meat.
Without warning, a golden stream arched out over the edge and Kevin jumped back in time to see Saeko, arching her back and thrusting out her hips, taking a piss on the heads of the monsters below.
“What on Earth are you doing?”
“Well, don’t you have to go too?” Saeko asked as she showered the zombies below with golden rain.
“They used to be people, you know,” gasped Kevin, half in shock.
Saeko finished relieving herself, then marched over to Kevin and stuck her face in his. With stern eyes she boldly looked up at him and said, “They’re not people. Hell, most people are barely even people.” Whipping her finger out, she aimed it at the throng of monsters. “Those things down there aren’t even human. Not any longer. Makiko and Eri … they …” Saeko’s eyes began to fill with tears and she put her hand on Kevin’s chest and looked away.
“It’ll be okay,” Kevin said. He tried to sound reassuring, but secretly he was just as distraught as she was.
Saeko looked back up into Kevin’s blue eyes and stared at him a few seconds longer than necessary. Then she turned and walked off.
Kevin watched her saunter off, rubbed the back of his neck, looked back over the ledge, and let out a big sigh. “Fuck it,” he said, and then he let it rip.
Rejoining Saeko in the shade, Kevin sat down next to her and leaned up against the cool concrete wall. It felt good against his sunbaked skin.
“Feel better?” Saeko laughed.
“Not really,” Kevin answered, a hint of guilt tucked into his words. “To tell you the truth,” he continued, “now I’m afraid all we did was quench their thirst. Now that they’ve had a taste, they’ll be craving us for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”
Saeko laughed so loud she had to cup her hands over her mouth. Eyeing him, she slid over, threw her leg over his, and sat right down in his lap. Kevin didn’t mind, since they weren’t wearing any clothes. In fact, it felt good to be this close to her.
Putting her hands around his neck, Saeko looked into his eyes and asked, “You worry a lot, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” Kevin laughed. “I guess I do.”
Saeko leaned forward, her breasts pressing into Kevin’s chest, and kissed him firmly on the mouth.
“What was that for?”
“That was to get you to relax.”
“Well, I’m still pretty stressed,” he said, reeling her in for another kiss.
Saeko laughed and then kissed him again. “There. Did that one work?”
“Well,” Kevin said putting his hands on her hips. “It’s starting to. But I think I may need a few more.”
Saeko laughed again, but stopped him before he could steal another kiss from her. “I don’t mean for this to sound corny, but I was sort of hoping it could be this way forever. You, me … the endless lovemaking at the end of the world.”
“I know what you mean,” Kevin agreed. He was beginning to feel frisky all over again, but Saeko suddenly climbed off of him and stood up. Then she found her underpants and pulled them on.
“You’re getting dressed?”
“Yeah,” Saeko answered. “We’ll sizzle like bacon if we don’t get some clothes on soon.”
Kevin let out a disappointed sigh. “I guess you’re right.”
Sneaking up to the ledge, Saeko peeked over. “Hey,” she whispered, motioni
ng for Kevin to come look down, “I think they’re thinning out.”
Kevin squinted hard at the horde down below. “Are you sure? I don’t see any difference.”
Saeko strolled back to the hutch and sat down in the small sliver of shade that remained, although she knew it wouldn’t last for long. She stared up at the blazing sun and said, “My God. We’re going to fry up here.”
Kevin looked around, searching for something to do, then went over to the door to the stairwell and put his ear up against it.
“What do you hear?” Saeko asked.
Kevin raised his finger to his lips and softly shushed her. Carefully, he grabbed the door handle and slowly twisted the doorknob. The heavy metal door opened with a creak and Kevin peered into the darkness. “Hmmph,” he puffed. “I guess it wasn’t locked after all.”
“What?!” Saeko practically screamed. She couldn’t believe her ears. Pushing Kevin aside, she bravely made her way into the dim stairwell. “You idiot! We’ve been baking out here all morning.”
“Um...” Kevin said, scratching the back of his head. “My bad?”
“We’ve been frying up here all day long! My white skin is going to turn a hideous brown because of you!”
“In America the women all want to be darkly tanned,” Kevin said, to try and take the edge off the fact that they were both sunburned and agitated.
“Do I look like an American to you?” Saeko snapped, pointing at her brown, almond-shaped eyes and oval face.
“I guess not,” Kevin answered as he sheepishly diverted his gaze.
Saeko marched up to him and shoved him backward. Catching himself, he raised his hands in defense.
“Hey, calm down!”
“What were you thinking?!” Saeko demanded.
Kevin held his ground and clutched her by the wrists before she could shove him again. Saeko struggled, her temper still flaring, but he held her firm and looked her in the eyes. Once she calmed a bit, she stopped struggling and just huffed.
“Sorry,” she said, realizing how foolishly she’d acted.