by Tristan Vick
“You don’t need to apologize,” Saeko said, smiling at him again. “All you need is to up your game.”
“I do, do I?”
“Yeah, you fight like a girl.”
“You’re a girl,” he shot back.
“An eight-year-old blind girl with a wooden leg,” she added.
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah,” Saeko said authoritatively. She bit her bottom lip and squinted at him, but she couldn’t keep it in. Suddenly they broke into a fit of hysterical laughter and just let it all out. It felt good to be together again.
When Kana saw Saeko touch Kevin’s arm from beyond the window, she became incensed. Grabbing the kitchen knife, Kana began to angrily chop carrots as she stared out the window of the kitchen even more intently, watching Saeko flirt with Kevin. Laugh with him. And once again Kana couldn’t help but grow insanely jealous.
Looking down at the cutting board she stared at her finger. If I cut it off, she thought.
Pressing the blade to her finger, Kana gritted her teeth and ran the blade across her index finger. As blood emptied from the self-inflicted gash, Kana let out a terrible shriek.
Startled by the scream, Kevin and Saeko both jumped up and turned toward the direction it had come. “That was Kana,” Kevin said.
“You’d better go,” Saeko said.
Making a beeline straight for their home, Kevin ran as fast as he could. Meanwhile, Kana stood sobbing in the kitchen when an elderly woman popped her head in through the door and asked “Are you all right, dear?”
“I’ll be fine,” Kana replied, her eyes tearing up from the pain. “I just cut myself slicing vegetables, that’s all.”
“You poor thing,” the old woman said in a gentle voice. “I’ll go fetch you some bandages and ointment.” With that the old woman disappeared. Just as soon as she was gone, Kevin appeared in the doorway looking flustered.
“I heard you scream and came right away. What happened?” he wheezed, trying to catch his breath.
“Oh, I’m such a stupid klutz,” Kana said, tears streaming out of her eyes. “I nearly cut my finger off just now.”
Kevin took her hand in his and inspected the wounded finger. “Well, it doesn’t look that bad,” he said. “Just a small cut.”
“It feels worse than it looks,” Kana complained.
“Lacerations of this kind always do,” Kevin informed her. Bringing her finger to his lips, he gently suckled her bloody finger and cleansed it off. As he did, Kana watched with a newfound passion burning inside her, and suddenly her jealous emotions took a backseat to her insatiable desire to have him all to herself. And she knew precisely how to pull her little puppet’s strings to get him to do as she wanted.
“The baby just kicked!” Kana stated excitedly. She eagerly put Kevin’s hands on her stomach, and said, “Here, feel.”
“Really?” Kevin said in amazement. With his hand on her belly, he waited for another kick but didn’t feel anything.
“There it is again!” Kana chirped. “Did you feel it?”
Miraculously he thought his fingers did feel something like a tiny, barely perceptible, thump. “Oh, yeah! I felt it!” Kevin admitted, even though he wasn’t entirely sure that it was the baby or something else.
Kevin continued to rest his hands on Kana’s belly, and taking his hand in hers she looked up at him with dreamy eyes and they stared at each other for the longest time.
Kana smiled at him and warned, “You better be careful, stud.”
“I beg your pardon?” Kevin asked.
“That last time you looked at me like that, this happened.” Kana pointed her pregnant belly. “Seriously though,” she went on, “you’re making me horny as hell by looking at me like that.”
Kevin laughed. “I think it’s the pregnancy that’s doing that.”
“Maybe,” Kana replied with a laugh. “But still…”
Gazing into his eyes, she smiled. She had him right where she wanted him. Taking his hand, Kana led Kevin to the back bedroom.
“You serious?” he asked. “Right now?”
“Right now,” Kana demanded.
“Well, if you say so,” Kevin said, letting her guide him to the bedroom without any further objections.
Moments later, lying on her back as Kevin buried his sweet lips deep inside her pussy, Kana seized his hair. “Lick me,” she screamed. “Lick me faster!”
The orgasm overwhelmed her and she came, then unexpectedly, just as soon she had finished she suddenly came again. She even squirted a little.
“How was that?” Kevin asked, laying back onto the bed.
Kana’s entire body quivered with the sweet aftershocks of post-orgasmic tremors, and, resting her head on the pillow, she looked up at Kevin’s handsome face, her juices still glistening on his wet lips. “It was amazing.”
“You know I love you, right?”
“I know,” Kana answered.
“Alright. Well, I’m gonna go rinse off,” he said, and grabbed his clothes and got dressed. Before leaving the room, he turned to her and asked, “Do you need me to get you anything?”
“No. I’ll be fine,” Kana insisted.
Kevin smiled at her then turned and left their bedroom.
Once he’d gone, Kana’s mind wandered elsewhere. Although she kept it bottled up tight inside of her, the truth was, she regretted not having killed Saeko when she had had the opportunity. After what she witnessed today, she realized that she’d ever only take second place in Kevin’s heart. And she hated him for it.
54
Illusions of Harmony
Aokigahara Village, Near Mount Fuji, Japan
According to Japanese legend, Aokigahara Forest was haunted by monsters, ghosts, and demons. But now it was outright infested with them. Saeko spent her days tracking the undead through the forest. She hunted them. It seemed village zombie slayer was her calling, and it suited her perfectly.
Saeko hated the domestic duties the women were always assigned—mostly cooking and cleaning. Tending to the young ones. That sort of thing. She wondered why the men never did any of the household chores. She supposed it was because they were all sexist pigs. So, instead of picking fights with the jingoistic males who only saw gender roles in black and white terms, she schooled them in the art of getting their asses kicked by a girl at the village dojo.
The dojo was just an elementary school’s gymnasium, but it was the only place available for her to use since none of the other buildings in the village were big enough to use for kendo practice. When Saeko wasn’t busy honing her skills in the forest, she taught the locals self-defense and basic survival skills at the school. But she preferred the forest, where there weren’t any people to bother her with their nonsense.
But the real reason she kept her distance from everyone and constantly ventured out of the village was to get away from Kevin. And although she hated Kana’s snide remarks and jealous looks, it was Kevin that she was worried about. The temptation she felt for sneaking off with him and doing something they shouldn’t was just too overwhelming for her. What’s more, there was no denying she’d love to do it, and for totally selfish reasons too. First, to spite Kana, sure. But also to gain some much needed satisfaction, no doubt about it. She was still a vibrant young woman, after all. She had needs.
And this was the problem. She knew it would only be a matter of time before he’d give her one of his looks, the kind he always gave her that melted her into a puddle of mush, and the next thing she’d know their clothes would be flung upon the floor, the door, and the bed and they’d be making love like there was no tomorrow.
But Saeko could see that the green stalk of jealousy had already begun to take root inside of Kana’s heart. She knew the thought of her boyfriend spending time with his ex-girlfriend, recently back from the dead, was just too much to handle for the insecure woman. Kevin was twenty and Kana was thirty-five, and she wasn’t getting any younger. She could possibly pop out five babies, one per year till she h
it forty if they wanted to make a go of it. Besides, they already had one on the way. Soon Kevin would be a father, and Saeko would fade into nothing but a distant memory.
So, although Saeko hated to admit it, she was the third wheel in this messed-up love triangle of theirs. She was the one who had butted back into Kevin’s life even though she had absolutely no right to do so. In the end, Saeko simply decided to avoid any unnecessary drama and kept to herself as best as possible. Let bygones be, she told herself. At least killing stray zombies gave her an outlet to release all her pent-up frustrations.
Walking along the edge of a stream, Saeko took in a deep breath of the crisp forest air. She tried to clear her mind of the unnecessary clutter and tried not to think about Kevin and Kana. Instead she stood by the babbling brook, closed her eyes, and listened to the tall stalks of bamboo swaying in the breeze.
“Rearghhhh!” a voice snarled behind her.
Opening her eyes, Saeko smiled. Without even looking back she knew the monster was standing just over her shoulder. “You’re late,” she informed the creature.
Drawing her sword, she held it out in front of her, over the stream, and listened for the creature’s footsteps to fall. Just as it was bearing down upon her, she spun around to deal a lethal blow to its head, but as her eyes laid themselves upon the face of the creature she suddenly froze.
Letting out a gasp, Saeko wasn’t prepared for what she saw. Fighting back tears, she gasped, “Iwasaki sensei?”
Was it a coincidence? How had he found her? After all these months. After having seen him along with Eri and Makiko at the school she’d fled that terrible scene—and after all that—here he was standing before her in the forest. It seemed impossible. But here he was.
“Grarrr!” Iwasaki sensei growled, lurching forward with outstretched arms and fingers.
Saeko took a step back to avoid the swipe of his hands. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and her heart sank in her chest. It was Iwasaki sensei, but, then again, it wasn’t. The man she knew was long gone. The man she respected and looked up to as a father figure was nowhere to be found behind those vacant white eyes.
Saeko took another step back to avoid another advance. Suddenly her foot slipped into the nearby stream, and the cold invigorated her and sent chills up her spine. She slowly found her balance in the middle of the creek as cold water rushed all around her ankles.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this, she thought to herself. The world was supposed to be different somehow. It was supposed to be safer, saner now. But now, somehow, her past had caught up to her. Is this all I have to look forward to now? Broken dreams and a sea of never-ending sadness?
Moving with lightning-quick speed, Saeko rushed out of the shallow creek and met her attacker head on. Before he could react to her blitzkrieg assault it was already too late: Her sword had pierced her old master’s cranium with a swift, decisive blow.
Having frozen in her place, Saeko held her blade in its last position of the stance she had learned so long ago, and she waited till the old master collapsed to the ground. With a thud, he landed at her feet, his cranium sliced open like a halved cantaloupe.
Saeko flicked the blood off from her blade, sheathed it, and composed herself. She turned back toward the babbling brook and closed her eyes and listened. More of them would be coming soon. More were always coming.
55
Calm Before the Storm
Aokigahara Village, Near Mount Fuji, Japan
Darkness descended on the village as the villagers gathered around a bonfire. It was the first real bonfire they had had in months. They were celebrating six months since their new arrivals had shown up, as well as letting off some steam after weeks of endless zombie attacks. It was almost as if something was driving the monsters out of the city and into the refuge of the great Aokigahara forest.
Centurions watched the perimeter between the edge of the forest and the valley leading up to the village, keeping a steady eye out for Biters, Walkers, Frosties, Fushimon, the Undead and whatever else you could think to call the infected, while the rest of the locals sang, danced, and played music. The laughter of old women and young children could be heard above the din of chatter. Everyone sounded as though they were having a good time, and Saeko noticed that a weight was lifted from the villagers for the first time in a long while.
Scanning the crowd, Saeko found Kevin from across the flickering flames of the crackling bonfire and fixated on him. She dreamed of holding him in her arms again. She might have dreamed it a thousand times already, but she never acted on it. It was just a girl’s silly fantasy, she always told herself. But tonight she felt differently somehow. Tonight, the only thing she wanted was to be with him again, even if for the last time.
Waiting patiently, Saeko kept off to the side of the festivities and bided her time until Kana was preoccupied with the other women of the group, who were all gathered around her in what appeared to be an impromptu baby shower. When the timing was right, Saeko went over to the bar, which was just a simple picnic table set up with drinks and food and nice scented candles.
She took a clear alcoholic beverage with a raspberry floating in it and drank it down hastily, even though her lips had never touched alcohol before. She coughed and hacked from the sharpness of it, which stung the back of her throat, but strangely enough it also tasted sweet. She hadn’t realized it was shōchū, a traditional Japanese spirit made of either distilled rice or sweet potatoes. It was strong, strong enough to mollify her worries. So she finished it off.
Making a sour face, she looked at the cup in disgust. Maybe she’d try a different beverage next time. When she looked back up she saw that she had caught Kevin’s attention. She smiled and brushed her hair behind her ear. She normally couldn’t keep her cool, but she felt a buzz from the liquor and became flushed. Fanning her glowing cheeks, she dreamily gazed at him. Suddenly, and unexpectedly, he got up and approached her.
Saeko immediately grew anxious and turned away. She didn’t know what to do in a situation like this. They hadn’t talked in ages. What would she say to him? And to make matters worse, she realized that she was sort of drunk at the moment.
“Hi,” Kevin said.
Saeko’s eyes grew wide with shock. She wasn’t expecting him to come up and talk to her. Now, suddenly, she couldn’t find the words to say. Slowly turning back around, she brushed her bangs out of her eyes, again, and smiled at him. “Hi yourself.”
She picked up a beer and offered it to Kevin, but he passed on it. Standing there holding the beer that she hadn’t intended on drinking made her feel stupid, like a regular alcoholic, and she was too embarrassed to set it back down again so she took a big gulp and fought to keep it down.
“Bleh!” she said with a shudder after a moment of trying to act as though she could hold her liquor. “How do people even drink this stuff? It’s bitter-tasting, has bubbles in it, and…*burp*…makes you gassy.” She felt another belch working its way up from the depths of her stomach and she covered her mouth like a lady this time.
Kevin laughed at her. This made her laugh too, her cheeks practically radiating pink heat from the combination of liquor and the feelings she still felt for him. The two of them stood gazing into each other eyes.
“So we haven’t talked in a while,” Kevin began, breaking the ice.
“I figured you were busy,” Saeko stated, as though it were obvious.
Sure, he’d been busy helping in the fields. But he wasn’t that busy. There were enough workers so that he only ever had to work fiver hour shifts. It was that way for everybody in the community. Kevin rubbed the back of his neck and tried to think of an adequate response. Something that would keep the conversation going.
“I mean getting ready for the baby’s arrival and everything,” Saeko added at the last minute.
“Oh, yeah,” Kevin answered with a chuckle. “I guess we have been pretty busy with baby stuff.”
“You picked out a name yet?”
“No,
not yet,” Kevin said.
“Oh, I see.” She smiled at him, and another awkward silence killed the conversation as they struggled to find something else to talk about instead of Kevin’s family life.
“I—”
“You—”
Having spoken simultaneously, they both laughed.
“You go first,” Saeko said.
“I think maybe I will have that beer now,” Kevin said. As he reached for a beer, Saeko grabbed his hand and stopped him.
“I have a better idea,” she said, squeezing his hand tight. From across the flames, Kana was still preoccupied opening gifts and making sure to gush over the littlest thing. After all, making good impressions were more important to her than being a good person. That much was clear to Saeko. She rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Kevin.
Although she wasn’t sure that what she was about to do was the wisest idea she’d ever had, it was however the only thing she had on her mind. “What do you say we get out of here?”
Bewildered, Kevin whispered, “You mean…?”
Saeko blushed as she chewed her bottom lip and brushed her hair out of her eyes for the umpteenth time. “Yes.”
Kevin paused and looked back at where Kana sat. Saeko could tell he was contemplating the pros and cons and considering things from every possible angle. He always did tend to overthink things. But if she let him do that she was certain he’d chicken out. So, without letting him have the chance to say no she took the initiative, pulled his hand, and dragged him away from the party.
“Come on,” she said. “It’s not like you’re married or anything.”
“I, well…” Kevin stuttered, but he gave up as Saeko towed him behind her and snuck him past the guards at the south gate.
Exiting the village, Kevin looked back as the orange glow faded, then asked, “Where we going?”
“You’ll see,” Saeko said as she led him out of the village walls and down the small dirty path that led into the forest. Once they were several meters in the thick of the trees and bamboo, Saeko showed him a path that led up to an old Shinto shrine. Next to it was a babbling brook that filled the evening with a most soothing sound and reflected the evening moon in its ripples. “Do you recognize it?”