"Ahh~, boy did I need that after a thirteen hour flight!" Sighed Aubrey, who had plopped herself down on the floor of the hotel room. Using only one hand to towel dry off her hair, the other felt around the tatami mats. "Look at these! Look at this room! Look at these futons! This is perfect~!" It's hard explain the kind of feeling a weeb gets when she is sitting inside a world she only knew from afar. Other, more foreigner friendly hotels were available, but this was exactly the kind of experience she wanted. "I know we aren't gonna spend much time in here, but this is perfect, and for such a cheap price too!" Absolutely beaming with joy, she flicked on the television out of curiosity, just to see what she could find, but as she scanned through the news channels she knew she wouldn't understand, a pattern seemed to be happening. Every channel was the same footage, some had different angles but they were all reporting on the same story and the tone of each announcer grew more and more concerned and serious.

The stressful tone and sound of helicopters, police and crowds screaming only made the ignorant American tense. "That's Ikebukoro Station... where we just got off a few hours ago..." It wasn't even a twenty minute walk from here to there... this big accident (or whatever was going on) was just a few blocks away? That's when her skin began to crawl and she banged her hand on the ground, summoning her brother from the hall where he was putting away his luggage. "Hey, hey, hey, hey! Come here, come here! I need you to translate this!" Sure, he was no expert, but he would be able to decipher most of it. "Something's going on at the station we were just at!"

Pale blue eyes were glued to the television screen as the camera angle zoomed in on the scene. Two women, covered head to toe in blood were stumbling toward the street, the scene cut off by police cars and armed officers. The noises they were making were unnatural, animalistic... as they stumbled closer to the edge of the line. The officers were shouting at them, the screams getting louder until gun shots were fired through the chest of each woman. They both fell, stumbling to the concrete. Shortly after, the officers moved in, but almost as quickly as they did, the two women who were just shot with enough lead to surely kill... came to their feet once more..

"What... the..." Aubrey's jaw hung agape as she watched in awe.

"One... two...three!" Ian said out loud as a countdown to pick up the heavy suitcase. Struggling to keep his balance while holding the suitcase, he eventually was able to lift it up high enough to place in the little closet in the room they had. "We have plenty of time to put the rest of the luggage in here, after that flight I wanna relax a little..." he thought to himself. Ian could here his sister in the main area where the tv was, peeking around the corner he saw her laying on the ground. He still couldn't believe it. They were finally here, after all those long nights and early mornings the money finally paid off. Everything from here on out could only get better and better.

Ian had returned moments later to try picking up the rest of the luggage, lightest bags first. But it wasn't long before he heard his sister call out to him. Immediatly dropping the bag he was holding he peeked around the corner to see his sister so very focused on the television. "Whatcha watching? some anime? I won't be able to translate all of it you know! he said with a chuckle. But he was quickly cut off by hearing something happened at the station the two had just got off from and to their hotel. "Are you sure it's the same station? Maybe this is just another one of those craziest shows Japan seems to have. Lemme see if I can find something we can watch! like maybe one of the current airing ani-" Ian stopped mid sentence. As he changed the channel the same broadcast was on the tv, this must be some kind of error he thought, as he continued to flip through the channels and the same thing appeared over and over again. What...the...pausing and putting the remote down he sat down next to Aubrey and tried to figure out what was going on. Ian couldn't read everything that was happening, or even fully understand the man on the tv, he was talking too quickly so he listened for key words. "Virus... the dead... warning... lock house... do not interact... contagious..." Ian stopped listening for a second and stared at the screen, this all sounded familiar from all those video games and shows he watched. The screen showed two police officers shoot two woman in the chest that were covered in blood, as they got closer the two shot victims got back on there feet and looked as if nothing had happened to them. "Is this a joke...?" It had to be. Zombies? here? that was all just made up stuff seen in video games, there's no way a virus like this could actually exist! Ian now felt butterflies in his stomach. This couldn't be happening! He turned to look at his sister, worried, then back to the television to listen some more. "Do not feel pain... eat flesh... remove head..." This had to be some kind of joke. "Zombies? do you think this is all true? I mean we just got here so how did we not notice it?" Ian's fist tightened. "We passed by that convenient store that was just around the corner from our hotel... d-do you wanna go down there and see what they got? I'm a little hungry... plus we can see if this is all real or not." standing back on his feet, Ian looked towards the door then back to his sister as he extended his hand out to help her up. "We can bring something heavy or blunt just encase." He said as he looked at all the luggage.

You know that feeling you'd get in school, when you'd sit down in class and as you rummage through your bag it suddenly dawns on you that you left your project at home? That cold sweat kind of sensation where you panic and try not to implode? Yeah... that was the feeling washing over Aubrey at that very moment, but multiply it by a thousand.

"But Ian..." Her hand absentmindedly reached out for the sleeve of his shirt as her eyes continued to glue to the television screen. "What if... this is true..?" Her throat was suddenly dry as she tried to swallow her fear down harshly. Could it really be that dangerous outside? Either way... she couldn't just sit here and wonder... if it wasn't that far away she was going to have to see for herself.

With a deep breath she came to her feet and nodded at her brother, "Alright, let's go. But don't grab anything suspicious. If this does turn out to be one big joke, I don't want to look like some paranoid foreigners who play too many video games." Her eyes peered around the room until she found an umbrella. Grasping it in her hand, it was metal framed with clear plastic. It probably wouldn't do much of anything... but it was something. And holding something in her hands rather than nothing made her a bit more at ease. "Okay, ready?"

MISSION BEGIN:

Get from Sakura Hotel to Ikebukoro Station.

To put it bluntly, Bryan wasn't impressed. Thus far, nothing was going as planned and his lack of Japanese-lingo was really starting to piss him off. The people in the meeting spent too much time shaking hands and asking odd questions. Would this kill? Uh, duh. It's a fucking gun. It's not some plastic toy with an orange cap. It's a gun. The gun-gun kind of gun. THE KIND OF GUN THAT BLOWS HEADS OFF AND KILLS PEOPLE! THE WAR KIND OF GUN!

Growling internally, he folded his hands on the table to check his pulse. It was rising and it was starting to show as one of his coworkers gestured toward the water tank on the edge of the room.

Excusing himself, Bryan rose and gathered himself a nice, cool glass of water. It wasn't enough though. It just didn't work.

And then the miracle happened. The hard stop.

Bowing, shaking hands, and saying good-bye could not happen fast enough. As soon as he could get to his hotel, he would learn how to speak the language -- rather than a few idiotic, anime phrases. He would also unwind some from the stressful meeting. Maybe watch an anime or two? Attack on Titan was always a good choice.

Gathering up his bags and gear, he and his coworkers went to the station that spat them back out at another station. From there, they napped a taxi and got to their respective hotels. Bryan was the only one that opted for a traditional Japanese-style hotel. Granted, being as rich as he was, he wasn't about to be holed up in some cheap room. Ha, no way! He was going to get the pent-house option. The entire top floor of the hotel. And yes, it was all to himself.

As he made his way to the top (free of bags, might I add for he had the hotel staff carry his stuff), he found himself yawning. That flight was brutal. Even a good night's sleep the day before wasn't enough to shake the shitty flight. And then that meeting? Oh yes, it was hell.

In his room, he flopped lazily on the couch. Hand fumbling around for the remote, he flicked on the TV and the large, LED screen came alive. 1920x1080 at its fullest.

When he saw a rather unusual scene play before his eyes, his brows furrowed. Was he watching a movie? Flipping channels, he noted that they were all playing the same thing.

"Great," he mused. "Piece of shit is broken. And I thought Japanese technology was 'the best.'" He rolled his eyes and flopped off the couch toward the TV. "Guess I better fix this piece of junk."

Just as he was about to disassemble the TV, a ring came to his door. "Oh that was perfect timing," he said in a monotone voice to himself. He honestly couldn't imagine getting caught 'hacking' a TV. Yeah, that would get his 'das boot.'

"Coming," he said and rolled up from the floor. At the door, he tucked away his Swiss Army Knife and unlatched the door. "Thanks," he plopped a few coins in the pocket of the staff. "Oh, hey, what's up with the TV?"

They knit their bows together. "TV." He pointed at the box in the middle of the room. Bryan's face was plainly dull. Almost annoyed, if you looked at it hard enough. "Broken."

The staff walked in and looked at the screen. Understanding Japanese, they instantly knew what was up and bolted from the room, not uttering another word to him, save for jumbled moans and words of panic.

"Right. Because that makes sense." His mood was worsening. "Guess I'll see if the front desk can help me."

He doubled back to grab an umbrella. Maybe he would go for a walk? Not like he could just wait for them to fix the TV.

Downstairs he went and eventually landed in the lobby. Something felt off. But... why?

"I'm sure this is all just a big joke. Or even a festival. But I just want to make sure..." Ian said, trying to sound as confident as possible, I mean he was the one who was so hooked into Japanese culture, he should know what's really going on here! Looking around the room for anything that could be used as a weapon, the first thing that came to mind was the leg of the table that the television was on. But Ian couldn't just go break a table, for all the know none of this is real, and then what? they damaged property. It should be something he brought along with them. Quickly, Ian went over to where all the luggage was and started opening them all, searching through everything, hands shaking, he finally came across something that was somewhat usable. The entire suit case. Ian emptied it all out and pushed the clothing to the side along with the other suitcases and stood back up. "Okay." looking over to his sister, he saw she was holding a umbrella in her hands as tight as she could.

Ian walked towards the door and stood by it until Aubrey was ready to go. Hand on the handle, Ian turned around and made eye contact with Aubrey. No matter what happens... if this is a joke or not, we do not split up at all. Okay? We stick together." Ian slowly turned the door handle so it was open, then reached his hand out and grabbed her hand. When we're out in the hallway and in the building, lets act casual unless there is a zombie in here okay?" slowly opening the door completely, Ian and Aubrey walked out of the room they had just settled in and into the hallway.

It was quiet. No noise, nothing. This was only making things worse on the two. But it could just be everyone is out enjoying the festival or whatever was going on. Ian quickly checked behind them to the end of the hall and proceeded to the entrance with the clerk. As the two neared the start of the main room, Ian quickly peeked in, nobody was there. Not even the lady who had greeted them at the service counter. Again, this meant nothing yet, but just a local or somebody to talk to would have made everything alright. Letting out a loud sigh, Ian and Aubrey walked towards the door entrance and he put down the suit case he was holding. This was where they found out what was happening. Zombie Apocalypse, or a joke. It was so hard for Ian to bring himself to grab the door handle even. He could tell his sister was terrified just by the look on her face. The only time she ever looked this frightened was when they were back at there parents house and when there father would take his anger out on them instead of his wife. This trip was made so Ian would never see that face again, and yet here it is, on the first day they arrived, within the first few hours of the trip. This needed to end right now.

Summoning up all the courage he could, Ian slowly opened the door, just enough to see outside. It was bright so the sun made things a little harder to see. With the little he had opened it was almost impossible to see anything other then what was right in front of him, so he opened it a little more, and a little more, and just enough so his entire head stuck outside. Ian was quickly greeted with distant groans and moaning sounds. His heart dropped as he looked in the direction of where the noise had come from. In the street all he could see was death. Blood, crashed cars, and the infected, shuffling around the streets, coated in blood. Ian was in shock. It was all true. This was actually happening. An actual outbreak had occurred right here in Tokyo. This was it. The end of the world. Ian pulled his head back in quickly not to be seen and closed the door without making a sound. Quickly turning around, he saw the look on Aubrey hadn't changed. He grabbed his sister and wrapped his arms around her as tightly as he possibly could. He wasn't going to let anything happen to her."Aubrey..." he said while still holding her as tight as he could. "This is all true. It's actually happening... they're zombies. It's not some crazy festival or some joke, the dead are actually walking the streets!" Ian said making sure it wasn't loud enough.

Once the two had collected themselves, they still needed to get out. They didn't have any food and they needed to survive. This wasn't going to be the end for them. Finally letting go of Aubrey, he picked up the suitcase once more and grabbed her hand again and slowly opened the door and peeked out. "On my mark, we move. Okay? " He wanted to wait for as many of the undead to not see them make their move as possible. As soon as most of them were not looking Ian whispered as loud as he could "Now!" as the two darted off to the left. Luckily enough, Ian couldn't see any zombies in this direction, on top of that it was the direction to the convenient store. As the two jogged towards the store the passed by an alley way, quickly looking down it Ian saw a hunched over man tearing apart another, it smelt terrible, he tried not to think too much of it as they continued toward the store, but that was something they needed to lookout for more often, just running by alley ways could be a quick end for the two. As the reached the corner, few zombies could be seen in each direction at a distance, Ian and Aubrey had no idea how well there eyesight was so the quickly turned the corner and arrived at the store which was right in front of them. All the lights were out. Quickly looking around, Ian attempted to push open the door, what luck! It wasn't locked! Quickly he pushed through the door and the two were now in the dark convenient store. What if someone was in here? There had to be more survivors. Ian needed to see if he could communicate with anyone in the store. " S-s-sumimasen... K-konbanwa?" it was silent. Looking around the store Ian took a few more steps into the store dragging Aubrey along. It was only seconds later the two were greeted with a load groan from the back room.

Hope you don't mind that I'm posting again! Since Bryan isn't with the group yet, I figured I would have him back track before leaving and bumping into Ian/Aubrey! If it's not okay, lemme know and I'll change it up B|

---

The lobby was empty. Absolutely empty. Blinking at how odd it was, he shrugged and stepped toward the door. Only, upon seeing how bright it was outside, he decided maybe he ought to go back and get some extra stuff. He was prone to getting lost and, he looked at his outfit, should probably bring an extra pair of clothes in case he wanted to go jogging later.

With a sigh, he moved back toward the stairs. Just as he took his first step, he swore he heard something -- someone? Two someones -- but waved it off as nothing. He was probably just hearing the piping or something. Or maybe someone else had a TV on really freaking loud?

"Eh." He moved up the stairs and eventually reached the top (he never takes elevators; he has a fear of them). Slipping into his room, Bryan shuffled across the floor and glared at the TV. It was still playing that garbage movie. How lame.

Into his room he went and pulled forth his backpack. Lazily, he dropped in a pair of Nike running shorts, an Under Armor shirt, an extra pair of socks, and an extra pair of boxers. He also dumped in his cologne and deodorant. He was lost-prone and often turned his misdirection into an adventure that ultimately ended with him running at least 5-miles. He refused to smell bad while doing this, too!

He looked over at his other stuff. Hand-cuffs? Kinky. Why not! He could run into a hooker along the way and have some... no... they have AIDS. Don't want AISD. Use the handcuffs to escape and be AIDS-free? Yes!

What else did he have in the room that was worthy of packing? Ah, a bottle of water, a book (the Hunger Games), the peanuts he horded on the plane, and a pack of gum. Looking at his phone, he decided he ought to bring the charger for it and maybe grab a flashlight. Dark allies tend to pop up out of nowhere!

With everything packed away, Bryan slung it across his back. Had he done a more thorough inspection of the bag's contents, he would learn that a packet of band-aids and tissues were stowed away in there. There were a dozen of plastic grocery bags too, as well as some Day-Quil, lighter, emery board (good nails is good hygiene), and a 3oz bottle of hand-sanitizer.

"Okay, that should be enough," he moaned as he moved for the door again. Only, he stopped just short of it. "Silly, silly, me. I can't leave my Bose behind." Back stepping into the room, he yanked up his noise-canceling earbuds. Plopping them in his ears, he connected the lime-green pair to his smartphone and pulled up Spotify. What downloaded playlist did he want today?

"Oh hell yeah, T-Swift." Grinning for a second, he moved from the room and started down the stares again. Sunglasses on his head and umbrella in the other hand, he reached the bottom in no time.

Without looking up from his device, he waved at the empty front desk (he really should pay less attention to the phone) and walked outside. Still not pulling up from the phone because he couldn't decide between Bang Bang and Shake It Off -- scratch that, Shake It Off isn't on Spotify yet, Bang Bang it is -- he heed no attention to the man-eating monsters outside. In fact, his oblivious nature seemed to make him invisible to the damned things for not a single one pulled from their meals to hunt him down.

"Wait a minute let me take you back," he hummed before plopping down the shades and walking toward no place in general. Eyes glued to his phone (snapchat + boobs = ultimate distraction; who doesn't love idiotic drunk girls?), he weaved past a few of the corpses on the ground as if he were actually paying attention.

Before he knew where he was, he was yanking open a door and walked into darkness. It didn't phase him though for his phone was backlit and he could still page through images on 9gag. "I'll never miss a beat, I'm lightning on my feet And that's what they don't see M-mmm, that's what they don't see M-mmm."

Bryan finally paused and subconsciously started dancing ("shaking it off"). Moving down one of the aisles, as if shopping for something, he sang again. "Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate!"

And then that's when it hit him.

Eyes pulling from the screen, he pulled down his shades and looked around the darkness. Pulling an earbud from his ear, he cocked a brow. "The fuck?"

A sigh of momentary relief passed over her as Ian took on his familiar "protector" role. He made sure that he had her attention the entire time they spoke, seeing as the raven haired girl had a tendency to drift off - but this was no time to drift off so she kept her eyes focused on his and nodded at the end of each statement in confirmation, all the while grasping tightly onto the metal framed umbrella.

As the two finally made it out to the street, her eyes widened to take in the scene around them. Mindless ghouls were scuffing their feet around aimlessly, while others were hunched over bodies, ripping them apart and... eating them?!

Placing a hand over her mouth and nose she choked back a gag. Why is it that with all the shows, all the video games depicting this exact scene didn't make her flinch? But when time came that Aubrey needed to keep her airplane food down, she couldn't keep her cool. "Oh god, this is sick..."

But she couldn't stop, she needed to keep pace with her brother. Catching up easily (seeing as he wasn't exactly swift on his feet) they eventually entered the market, the bell above the door was the only sound that filled the darkened convenience store.

...and what an eerie tone that was...

Slowly, she scuffed her sneakers along the ground as she followed closely behind her brother, her heart beating through her chest and the tension high.

Thump-thump, went her heart. Thump-thump. Thump-thump.

"I'll never miss a beat, I'm lightning on my feet And that's what they don't see M-mmm, that's what they don't see M-mmm." A loud, happy, sing song tone came barreling through the front door, and Aubrey wipped around to investigate, only to see someone who looked to be just like them. (American. Neither of them were as stunning as this man.) And he was dancing. Singing and dancing.

"Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate!" With furrowed brows, her jaw hung open - baffled by his disreguard for the situation. And as his shades pulled down to perhaps finally absorb the world around him - a gut wrenching screach came from the back room as the doorway suddenly burst open.

"GRAAAAAAAWWWR!" The remnance of what looked to be the old store clerk was soaked in blood and drool as his fingers gripped the doorway, neck tensed and gawked in the direction of the three of them - but primarily making furious eye contact with the vocally inclined man in the back.

"L-looks like he's not a fan of your song choice..." Her eyes - no, her whole body shook in fear and it seemed she had been turned to stone in it's presence. Shit... move Aubrey... move Aubrey... move Aubrey... I can't...

"IIAAAAAANN!!!!!!" She shrieked, gripping her eyes shut and pointing her umbrella hopelessly at the zombie.

It was only seconds after the groaning, but the door they had just entered flung open. Quickly turning around Ian prepared for the worst. But instead of a flesh craving monster, he was greeted with a man with sun glasses, music that was a little too loud as it was easy to hear, and what seemed to be a jogging outfit. The man paid no attention to what was around him and it seems as if he had no a clue that world was basically over. That or he was real good at keeping it cool. He sung and sung to himself as he aimlessly wandered the store singing to himself, and it wasn't long after that the door leading to the backroom was flinged open and out stumbled a man coated in his own blood and the blood of another, letting out a large groan the monster made its way towards the cocky man with sunglasses, clearly having lost interest in Ian and Aubrey.

What do I do? I don't know this man, and he doesn't know us... for all I know he could be the last other person alive in this world! too much time was spent thinking, the zombie was almost near the stranger. Ian needed to act now, Aubrey was too afraid to move and only shouted Ian's name. With out thinking twice, Ian lunged forward toward the zombie, gripped both hands on the handle of the suit case and sung it up, uppercutting the zombie and leaving a good impact on its jaw. The undead local only stumbled and fell to his feet, it was long before he got himself back up and turned his attention towards Ian. "Shit... now it's after me!" Ian shouted, looking down to see the suitcases handle was now broken, it would be harder to use. Ian scanned the store quickly for something to use, again without thinking, grabbed a bag of chips from the nearby shelf and whipped it at the man listening to music who was now clearly aware of what was going on. The bag only hit him in the shoulder but it was enough to get his attention. Hey! Pay attention!" Ian shouted as he started throwing as many bags of chips at the zombies face, it did nothing but it was all he could think of to do.

Constantly backing up and throwing items off the shelves at the zombie, Ian finally came up with an idea. Making sure Audrey was behind him the entire way, Ian kept throwing food at the walking corpse and waited till it was in place. Ian had to act quick as he ran to the other side of the store and with all his strength, pushed the entire shelf in the direction of the zombie, and ramming it up against the counter trapping the zombie in place. Ian wasn't strong so this was all he could do, even holding it like this was a struggle for him."A little help here?" Ian said, turning his attention to the stranger with glasses.

Just an fyi, but Bryan isn't in jogging gear. He packed that in the bag. He's still in his business attire Actually, now that I think about it, he's rocking a similar outfit to his favorite superhero from Tiger and Bunny. #irony

---

I really needed to stop tripping on acid and doing drugs. Okay, so neither of them were true, but they were the first things to race through his mind. Had he been poisoned? Was he drugged? Was this heave-- hell?

It was all just so weird. Nothing made sense, especially these two other evidently American young adults who just so happened to be in the same store he was.

Either the zombies planned this, or all Americans think alike. Since zombies can't think, it's clearly the latter. God, we're so predictable!

Blinking out of his thoughts, he taught the tail-end of what Ian was doing. Odd choice of a weapon, but it would do, he supposed. And it had sacrificed its life to save him. Oh noble suitcase, however will I repay thee?

As Ian shot chips at Bryan, his face grew grim. Really? REALLY! What if those were the last chips in the world!? And he was just wasting them as if they were junk food! Some Americans are just so stereotypical! Ian was no exception as far as Bryan was concerned.

And then the kid asked him for help. That meant work. It also meant helping two strangers.

A debt's a debt. Repay him and then move on. Moving to Ian's side, the tall brunette gave the shelf a good hip thrust before he pivoted around to gain leverage with his legs (he has legs for daaaays). It was almost too easy for him to unhinge the shelf from the floor and watch it topple onto the monster. The perks of being tall, strong, and a master builder.

As the zombie flattened, Bryan slid his previously discarded umbrella into the gap between his belt and pants. He was going for the "umbrella katana" look. Surprisingly, it looked really good on him. Clad in black and green, head held high, and sunglasses blacking out the already dark room-- why yes, he was a stunning man to feast eyes upon. With his leg up on the knocked over shelf, he almost looked heroic. Perhaps he needed to spend less time watching Tiger and Bunny... he was letting Kotetsu get to him.

Without a second thought, he yanked forth the umbrella, twirled it around in his hands, flung it open, and pointed it toward the door where the zombie appeared from. Either he was just trying to show off or he was preparing for the worse. When he shrugged at the lack of a body coming through the opening, he retired the umbrella.

Moving off the shelf and over to the counter, Bryan's blue orbs scanned for signs of security measures. He finally cracked a small side smirk when he saw a locked drawer. What were the odds that a gun was stashed inside as a "just in case" measure of self-defense? Reaching into his pocket, he tugged out his Swiss Army Knife and flicked it open to the flathead screwdriver option. Jimmying it between the open space, he then reached into his pocket to fetch a paperclip. (He put that in there just as soon as the meeting that morning started. Honestly, he forgot about it until now.) Jamming the paperclip into the narrow slit of the lock, he wiggled it around while playing with the screwdriver's angle.

While trying to break into the drawer, Bryan paid no attention to Ian and Aubrey. Frankly, he saw them as calculated risks. Ian had no strength and Aubrey froze. Neither were worthy of his attention or interest.

"Heh," his eyes narrowed as the lock opened.

Sliding the drawer open ever so carefully, he grunted in annoyance when he saw not a gun, but a baton. How unfortunate. There was no gun in this store after all. Growling, much like the zombies did, his cold expression fell on the other two Americans. Did they take the gun? Did they even know how to use the gun they stole? They looked like they had never held a gun before. There was no way they knew how to use it. And Bryan? He was a trained professional.

"Hand it over," his words were monotone and laced with his cold indifference. He wanted the gun and he wouldn't hesitate to mow the two down if they wouldn't give it to him.

Oh how unfortunate that Aubrey was falling into the stereotypical role of confused damsel as she let her younger brother handle the situation. The only thing she could bring herself to do at the time was watch, and if the musical stylings of this mystery man or the distracting capabilities of Ian, she would have been zombie chow by now.

Clenching tightly onto the umbrella she backed up farther from the scene, wondering if they were going to make it out of here alive, constantly staying behind her brothers back as if he were her shield. But she didn't want any harm to come of him either... but yet here she was literally being zero help.

As Ian held the zombie in place, it was hard to tell how long he could last. That was when the handsome guy (yes, this is what she was calling him in her mind for the time being. (She could have said a number of things, but right now, her young female brain could only manage "that handsome guy") had come to her brothers aid and swiftly sent the shelf down on top of the monster - finally silencing it's deathly growls for good. Well.. hopefully for good.

Aubrey's dark blue eyes blinked, astonished of the hero like scene this man was displaying before her. It was like that was rehearsed, like he knew exactly how to save the day, did it with style and then proceeded to add some extra dazzle in there. "So cool..." She managed to whisper, relaxing her arms and stepping up beside her brother.

She couldn't help but curiously watch this man as he investigated something behind the counter, soon realizing he was picking some kind of lock she took an alerted step back. Was he a criminal?! Who else knows how to do shady stuff like that besides criminals?! (Aubrey had a tendency to blow things out of proportion and jump to conclusions.) It was then she whispered in her brothers ear. "Is this guy some kind of mobster? I mean look at him. He did that like it was second na-" She was cut off as he addressed them as if they had something he wanted. "Oh my god he's robbing us!" Reaching into her pockets she knew she had nothing but her ID and debit card and pulled out her sad wallet in a bumbling panic, "I don't have any cash on me, I'm sorry! Please don't hurt us! It's been a really rough day as you can see!" She whimpered and thought to herself, WHY DO ALL THE GOOD LOOKING ONES HAVE TO BE BAD GUYS?! A personal reference to the fact she always falls for the worst guys, in real life or in anime.

And off she went, literally no clue how completely wrong she was - seeing as this girls life savings was pocket change to a guy like him. Looking over at her brother she elbowed him, "Come on Ian, don't be a hero and give the guy what he wants!!"

With a quick push from the stranger, the shelf had crushed the zombie beneath it. If only Ian was stronger, he could've done that himself. Standing back up properly, he tried to address the strange man. "Hey I'm sorry for throwing that bag at you earlier, I just needed your attention and thats the... only... way... " the man had completely ignored the two and had his eyes set on something behind the counter. Ian was completely ignored. What is with this guy? He was either very prepared for this outbreak to happen, or he just didn't give a fuck about the world. Or maybe both. Ian's watched carefully as the man behind the counter bent down and started fiddling with something. What was he looking for? It didn't matter, if he was set on some survival plan that's fine, all Ian wants is for him and his sister to live safely. Quickly picking back up the suitcase, Ian opened it and set it on the shelf and began filling it with as much food as possible, cans, bagged, boxes, anything. The longer it lasted the better.

Ian's looting came to a halt as the stranger now finally said something. Oh, so now that you want something you'll say something to me huh? Ian thought. But there was some anger in his tone, he wasn't going to mess around clearly. Aubrey's mind ran wild, a mobster? What would an American mobster be doing in Tokyo Japan? Then again the man was wearing a suit, his chest seemed somewhat puffy... was that a bullet vest?! The sunglasses didn't help, they were perfect for covering his eyes so anyone he made contact with couldn't see where his eyes were directed. Oh... wait. Aubrey might be right. Was this a mobster?! Ian took a few steps back, as he more then likely had a gun on him. Even now his sister had turned on him! Why did she think Ian took something, they both arrived at the same time!"L-look, I have no idea what you're talking about. We just arrived here and seconds later you can in right after. Whatever you're looking for I couldn't possibly have because as soon as we got here that z-zombie came from the backroom! What is it you're looking for?" Just as Ian finished his sentence it caught the corner of his eye, the bag of chips he had thrown at the man. Is this what he wanted? Ian bent over and held the bag in the air. "Is that what you wanted?" this all seemed silly, why did Ian think for a second that the man wanted a bag of fucking chips? Why would he look behind the counter for them? "N-nevermind..." Ian mumbled, as he dropped the destroyed bag onto the ground.

It was clear Ian's weapon choice wasn't the greatest, the suitcase only took one swing before breaking, so now he was forced to carry it back to the hotel with them, but in the mean time he needed something else, in case they ran into trouble on the way back. But what? What could be of use? It needed to be something he was able to hold comfortably, something that he could swing and that wasn't too heavy. Maybe something in the back room? "I'll help you find whatever it is you're looking for, but now might not be the best time or place to look." Ian said as he turned his head towards the windows of the store and the walking dead. "A-as you can see, I'm going to need something new to fight with. I see you have something yourself now. I'm gonna go look back here," Now turning his attention to Aubrey "Hey, wanna look around for a weapon too? I'll be outback I shouldn't be long." Ian quickly jogged over to the door of the back room and entered. There was a desk with a very old computer placed on it, on the monitor was the store so it was clearly used for security purposes. Ian looked all around to see what he could find. "Come on... there has to be something..." and there it was. Hanging on the wall, above the fire extinguisher was a fireman's axe. The clerk had to be some kind of retired fire fighter, that or this guy was really prepared for any nearby fires. Ian grabbed the axe off the handles and grasped it in his hands, it was light enough but strong, enough to kill. Ian then left the back room and into the store front, where Aubrey and the stranger had waited.

"Ugh I'm so bored! Isn't there anything to do here?" Irena protested, dropping onto one of the beds.

"Esta idea es de tu."

"Esta fue tu idea, Hina," Irena corrected.

"Really?" the black haired woman asked, throwing the towels from the bathroom onto the floor.

"I don't know dude, I forgot all my espanol after middle school," the redhead answered, rolling over at the gesture of her uniform-clad friend.

"If you're not going to teach me Spanish and you're not going to help me clean the rooms, could you at least stop complaining?"

"Hey now," Irena stood up and gestured, "I've done plenty to help you. Look at how nice and wrinkle-free these sheets are."

"Yes, after you kept complaining about how badly I was folding them under the mattress," Hina deadpanned, "at the very least, can you help me with the floors and windows? The only reason my boss let you tail me is because he thought I was training you."

"Fine, fine. I guess I will help you," Irena conceded with a smirk.

She grabbed the vacuum and began to clean the floor, only taking the occasional glance at the television before resigning herself to the bathroom where the last resident appeared to make the most out of their minibar...by vomiting all over the bathtub.

Was she serious?

"Are you serious?!"

"You agreed to clean the floor~"

I'm going to kill her, Irena thought as she grabbed a mop and wiped away each sake-laced speck that covered the tub.

She hated cleaning and especially hated mopping, but there wasn't much that the two of them could do since Hina was called into work to prepare some extra rooms for an upcoming business conference. Granted, the hotel always had to prepare more rooms, but God seemed to choose this day in particular to make suck the fun out of Irena's life. She figured that rather than be stuck alone and look like a tourist (well, more than a Latina woman with red hair who couldn't speak a lick of Japanese already did) she could keep her friend company and hopefully finish enough rooms that the two of them could get off early.

Fifteen minutes later, the bathroom was spotless and ready for the small bottles of shampoo and conditioner that would always be stolen by thrifty hotel guests (herself included) so Irena left the room to find an empty bedroom and a post-it note stating that Hina was heading to the supply closet to grab more mints. Damn I should have asked her to grab me one. Well not really. She was pretty sure that this hotel had cameras everywhere.

With nothing else to do, the redhead sat on one of the chairs and turned up the volume, changing the channels until she could find one with English subtitles.

"I'm here in the heart of Ikebukuro where what can only be described as a cannibalistic riot has broken out among its citizens. All around me citizens of Tokyo are leaping and ripping apart one another for no apparent reason. Police have been called to the scene but..."

The bloody mouths and guts were enough for Irena to reach for her knife, something that she hadn't done since she'd nearly gotten mugged three months ago and for two seconds she'd nearly believed the reports to be true.

"Okay Hina you got me. You got me. Now come out and tell me about this stupid video tape you're trolling me with. Hina? Hina?!"

She glanced over at Hina's phone, which was vibrating with messages from Twitter and 2channel. Fuck what did they even say? She was lucky in that her friend had switched her phone's interface from Japanese to Spanish in order to integrate the language more easily, but Google translate didn't fare very well when it came to entire message boards. The gist of 2channel seemed to be self-pictures with the deceased and confirmation that the ordeal was indeed real. Great.

If Left 4 Dead was any indication, she should start looking for a weapon and a gang of two or three white people. White people so rarely died in movies after all so it would be quite the pick up. Well, more importantly, she needed to find Hina.

"Where the hell are you?" Irena cursed, slipping the phone in her pocket.

She grabbed a spare mop and ran down the stairs, finding only an empty desk and scattered luggage.

"I really should go, but..."

Irena slowly stepped over to the first of a few strewn suitcases and zipped it open before tearing into the rest of the discarded items. There was nothing of use save a pair of earphones and a backpack to contain everything that she had acquired so far: a small toolkit, earphones, Hina's phone, a wallet, and her handy-dandy switchblade. Her mop unfortunately would have to be handheld.

Heading outside, she pressed herself against the walls as she tried to find some sign that she wasn't alone.

Pulling his glasses down so he could eyeball the girl who... well, she was just being weird. If he were to update his Twitter right now it would be something like: "Apparently I'm a mobster #bitchin #lifegoal" or something of that nature.

He started to laugh a rather dry laugh, but stopped when the other male held up chips. Really? New status update: "Surrounded by idiots #murika."

Was his message really that cryptic? Had neither of these Americans seen a crime drama? Why would they think he was looking for chips or their money if he was digging in a hidden drawer. Wasn't it obvious that he wanted a gun? What would chips do up against a zombie. OH, WATCH OUT! I GOT THE LETHAL CHIPS! Past-due! Likely to cause you to cough. Might blow off your head. Yeah.... useless.

Ah, it finally clicked for the male. AND HE SHRUGGED IT RIGHT OFF?! The hell is wrong with these Americans?! Bryan was trying his hardest not to let his blood boil, but he was pretty sure it was beyond hope now. They two were a complete mess. A total nightmare! They were incompetent and so useless. They didn't even know he wanted the gun until, well... yeah.

Looking at the girl he was magically assigned to babysit while the other guy left, Bryan moaned. Lazily rolling his eyes, Bryan's piercing blue gaze fell down on Aubrey. Pulling the shades off and tucking them into a pocket, he rolled his lip in annoyance. She still seemed pretty worried about what he wanted. Probably should let her in on the secret.

No. Make her sweat some more.

Gazing down at her with those menacing eyes, he grinned a rather malice smile. It was a fleeting gesture, for he realized that scaring her would make her scream and call forth the zombies, again.

Sighing, he shrugged and called the joke off. "Quit your squirming and whining. I wanted a gun, not your money." Hands shoved into his pockets, he pouted a bit before scoffing at the situation.

This was stupid; standing around waiting for some kid to get a weapon. Making ample use of the time, he walked down the aisle of smoked food and started to shove the jerky into his bag.

Midway through the operation to steal the food, he noticed the shelf of smokes. Cocking a brow, he stepped forward and pulled forth a pack. He wasn't a smoker, but he figured it was best to carry something like this just in case he wanted to start. It would also make a great item to trade.

As he zipped that into his bag, his wandering eyes fell back on Aubrey. Was she really just doing nothing?

He couldn't believe himself. He just couldn't believe what he was about to do.

Walking over to the woman, he took her hands and repositioned the umbrella. "If they come at you, you'll have more leverage this way." And, with that, he moved toward the door. A two-fingered salute to the head was his signal of goodbye. Only, before he could open the door and leave, a noise from the far-side of the building jarred his leaving.

Shades back on his face, he peered through the darkness at what might emerge.

"Shake it off? Oh my God Hina when I find you I am redoing your entire playlist."

Quickly switching to another station, she started humming as she raised her makeshift weapon.

"Look at me, look at me hands in the air like it's good to be alive and I'm a uninfected even when the paths're all bloody. I can show you how to do-si-do. I can show you how to scratch a record. I can take rip apart a zombie and I can almost put them back together."

Amongst the carnage that littered the streets, nothing indicated the footsteps of a runaway hotel maid or policemen with nice and shiny guns. There were only "boring", pedestrian corpses that would have normally traumatized a person if it weren't for the things that she'd seen in her carjacking days.

Her tío wasn't shy about letting her see the drivebys and gang wars that occurred on a regular basis and so long as she kept her grades high her parents never paid any attention to where her "long walks" during the day were. They hadn't known about the time that her partner in crime got shot in the leg when the two of them preyed upon Jake Batista who had the audacity to drive his disgustingly new corvette around the neighborhood when his wife was still working at McDonalds and Wal-Mart. She hated that man, hated him, but seeing her friend shot was enough for her to slam a crowbar into his side over and over and over again until both of his legs were broken and all he could do is watch Irena drive Harold to the hospital.

She remembered that moment as being the first time she became actively violent and always channeled it whenever she needed to raise a big "fuck you"...which was probably why she had torn off the head of her mop and started spearing it through a young woman behind a car. She was slow, but strong and had the tenacity (or perhaps single-mindedness) of a cockroach.

"But I can't find you without a telephone. Without a telephone. Without a telephone...Fuck why won't you die?"

Pausing her parody to deliver increasingly stronger strikes through the eye socket, she eventually found her way to the creature's brain. World War Z Rules: you go for the brain, avoid the bites, and get the hell out of there when possible. Same thing as meth-heads really. She dashed away from the corpse, looking around for any other sign of life, zombified or otherwise. None of the stores appeared open save the unhinged door of one of the 7-11 knock-offs on her left.

Was it really going to be that easy?

She wanted to think that there would be people behind that door, but the possibility of an infected horde made her all the more cautious. Who was to say that some dick didn't tell his friends that he hadn't been bitten and then proceeded to infect everyone else? Still, she had no better options and food, if she could find it, would be good for her. She approached the door and rammed the blunt end of the mop handle against the door, effectively slamming it open.

"Is anybody there?"

It seemed that her brother wasn't paying quite as much attention to her fears of this man as Aubrey thought he should. Either that, or Ian was just far cooler under pressure than she was. Maybe they didn't have to fear this man, after all... nobody was safe in this world right now, or at least that's what it felt like. Looking out the window she wondered if it was like this everywhere... if it was like this back home... and her stomach started to churn.

Thinking about that stuff won't do you any good, Aubrey.

Instead she found herself scoffing at her brother, who momentarily decided a small bag of Cape Cod potato chips were what this guy was after. Wow, she was really shocked she could pull off a laugh right now.

Shortly after, Ian recovered himself by taking action and going off to search for a weapon, she nodded at him as he walked off to the backroom but soon realized she was standing there alone with... mysterious-possible-convict-hot-guy. "H-heh..." His glance was so cold and unamusing she felt a chill up her spine before quickly forcing her glance to the ground and refusing to make contact with this devil man again.

But in those quiet moments she followed him with her ears as he walked around the little store until finally his steps were loud enough she knew he was right next to her. And without warning, he was moving her hands along the umbrella and giving her a slight advantage - a small tip. Was it pity? Absolutely. But as her eyes came up to meet his again (which she had previously vowed not to do again) he gave her a cool and casual salute before making his way to the door.

And like a scene from an old back and white western, she wanted to call out to him and ask him that age old question that you always ask the mysterious hero, "Wait! Can you tell me your na- ...." Aubrey trailed off as she saw a shaded figure approach the doorway, the posters and adds making it impossible to see... and suddenly... the door swung open with a force like a quick and powerful gust of wind! Blindsiding our handsome and mysterious hero.

With a gasp, Aubrey brought a hand to cover her mouth in shock as if she had just saw a clip from "Best 2014 Vine Videos" and her eyes darted to the doorway. Was it a zombie bursting in!? Was it going to maul him in his moments of dazed pain?!
But in the doorway was no ghoul... instead it was an-all-parts-intact living being. Well, seemed to be. She wasn't covered in blood or foaming at the mouth... and like the others was also weilding what looked like a weapon. She also articulated words. And from what she could remember, that wasn't a zombie talent... with the mashed potato brain they had.

"Y-yes... somebody was... there..." Pausing she scratched at the back of her neck, "But he might not be all there after.... that."

Ian's eyes scanned the room. Aubrey was still in the same place as before, but the stranger had made his way towards the door as if he was about to leave. Was this man really that fine with surviving on his own? Was he some kind of super hero? Ian wanted to say something. He wanted to tell him to wait, and that everything would be better if they grouped up. But he said nothing. Ian just stood there at the entrance to the backroom, with a big axe in one hand. Whack! the door had flung open with such strength and hit the stranger right in the face. That couldn't have felt too good. But more importantly, what was behind all that force? A zombie? No there is no way one zombie could hit the door that hard, it would have to be a group of zombies all piled up pushing against the door in order to do something like that. Then what was it?

A young female appeared at the other side of the door, darker skin, red hair, green eyes, and a pole in and with what looked to be a screw sticking out one end. Another survivor. With a sigh of releif Ian tried to talk to the women. "Konbanwa..." Ian said making eye contact with her. But she didn't look asian, not one bit. So odds are she spoke English and English only. "Hello?" trying again to talk with the women, Ian looked at her, up and down to see what kind of person he was about to start talking with. Her clothes we're okay, but wait... wait was that blood? It looked as if she had some blood on her leg, splattered blood. Odds are she killed one, not bitten. Ian's eyes shifted to her weapon, blood all around the tip. Yep, definitely killed one or two. "You should come in quickly, before any of those zombies see you." Ian lowered his axe and turned the sharp side towards his back to look less threatening, he didn't want this other stranger to think he was some kind of murderer.

Ian made eye contact with Aubrey and motioned for her to come over to him and stand by his side. He didn't want to be separated from her even if it was just a few steps away. But look what the two of them have gotten into. All they wanted to do was go grab some food, and run back to the hotel, instead they wound up killing a zombie and meeting two other people. The plan was to still do just that. "So..." Ian looked at the two who stood in front of him now, they might be the last 4 people alive, so what the hell, why not get to know each other? "What's your names?"

So much for having a slick exit. So much for looking sexy as hell in his escape. All that was gone when a face appeared behind the door and flung it open right into his nose. The impact was harsh enough to send him recoiling backwards into the rack of postcards. Nose bleeding (the actual damage done to it would have to be looked into later), Bryan's gaze fell to the woman that entered. Human or not, it was bloody rude to just shove a door in someone's face. What if she had ruined his face!

Correction. She definitely marred his face. He could feel the bruise that would soon be all over his face. His nose, not broken, was definitely sore. And his cheek was a bit scuffed. Thankfully, it was his cheek that already bore the scar so it's not like it could get any worse. It was already hideous!

Moaning, Bryan just laid in his pile of postcards and cocked a brow and Ian's coy ways. How could he be so calm? OH RIGHT! He didn't just take a door to the face. Yup, that would definitely do it. He was all fine and dandy while poor Bryan laid in his mess of postcards with his bleeding nose, cut lip, and injured cheek. Leering at the guy, he half-hoped he would just bugger off. But then Bryan realized he would probably need help finding medical supplies to patch up his bleeding nose. Obviously this little store wouldn't have the medicine he needed, but it would have supplies to at least get him from here to a CVS or whatever Japan had for drug stores.

Finally getting to his feet, the brunette held his head and hobbled around the dark store. He stepped on some of the chips that Ian had previously tried to hit he and the zombie with. As they crunched below his booted feet, he groped for what he needed. His hand grabbed a few other things and tucked him beneath his arms. Finding it, he tugged out the box and shuffled his way back to the group for it was the lightest spot in the whole store. No matter how dark it was in there, the postered windows let in just enough light to see, especially the closer to the front you where.

Taking a seat on the counter, he wiggled his finger at Aubrey. She was a girl. She appeared girly, or at least more girly than Ian, so she was going to be his aid. No way in hell he was going to have that bitch who hit him help him!

Hand reaching for a pair of scissors tucked in a cup behind the counter, he pulled them out before digging into the box he had nested between his legs. If Aubrey did move over to aid him, she would soon feast her eyes upon an all too familiar item.

A box of tampons.

Using the scissors to trim down the size, he made a make-shift nose plug. To have an open sore just dripping blood was to invite zombies in. He needed to stop the free-falling blood and at least get it contained. It would keep them alive that much longer, or so he mused.

Shoving the small sliver of a tampon into his nose, he tossed a box of medical tape at Aubrey. "I really can't see my nose, so I'll need you to tape over the blood." He tossed a pack of gauze at her too. "Use this before you apply that adhesive to my face."

When nothing happened and no one really moved, Bryan growled. "Bryan Harvey Wesson. If my accident and blatant lack of Japanese didn't give it away, I'm from the United States, Massachusetts to be exact." There, would that please the masses? Would that get Ian and/or Aubrey to aid him.

Harsh blue eyes fell on the woman that kicked the door open on him. He would have to deal with her later. For now, this other useless woman, Aubrey, seemed way better. And Ian? Well, at least he wasn't shrilling like the girl he was with.

Aubrey still hadn't moved. Was she really not going to help him. Was it really time to use it? Yes, he supposed.

Softening his features, hoping that maybe he could woo her into helping him, he let a sly, side grin sweep onto his face. "Please?" Those fierce eyes seemed to dance with something enticing, almost a glint of bedroom eyes. Would it work? Hell if he knew, but it was worth a shot!

And then, he gave her... the smolder. What woman in her right mind could reject a hottie with a pretty face, pursued lips, and the look of love in his eyes?

Ai took a brief moment to count to three. A swift glance to his left... Clear. “One...” With a swift glance to his right, a couple of them in the distance. His lilac eyes making sure they were at a good range. “Two...” He gave a large gulp as he slowly pushed the restaurant door open. “Three!” Ai let out the noise as he dashed out onto the street.

His chains jangled as he dashed forward full pace, trying to get near the bank. In his mind there is plenty of security in a bank. But in his haste and fear, Ai ran head first into a tall figure, sending the groaning creature to it's ass, or what is left of it's ass. Ai himself fell backwards. 'Shimatta!' Felling like a fool he scrambled to his feet, which a decomposing hand seemed rather attached to...

“AAAAIII!” He squealed in horror, using his free leg to stomp on the hand. He wasn't sure if that would even help, do they feel pain? With enough stomping, the brittle bone snapped, leaving the hand attached and the creature behind. Ai almost managed to sigh, feeling rather lucky to get away from this with no damage but his little scream gave him some new attention. Those deadheads were no longer so far away. “Gah! Shit!” He turned on his heels running as fast as he could. The male showed almost divine grace as he dove out of harms way, directly into the tall oak door. Fumbling as sweat poured down his brow, he yanked the door forwards, falling through the restaurant door, slamming it behind him. His worries were growing. Far too much was going on... His main concern? “Please... Kami-sama... DON'T LET THIS STAIN!” Tugging the hand off of his ankle, he launched it across the room. Ai took out a wet-wipe, rubbing down the leather. No marks left. Good. “Focus... Focus.”

How the hell did he get in this mess?

---

First Ai met with his producer. Getting told his new album would be delayed. Of course, this would be all thanks to the damn tattooed skinheads.

Ai's day had went worse since he woke up. First, his producer gave him lame excuses. Then, he had his usual visitor asking for money and making threats. Debt to the Yakuza is not something you want. In the end Ai had enough. He took the sub back to Central Tokyo and decided that he should see his folks.

Walking into the rather large and grand restaurant, Ai gave a grin. This building was in the best location, near the train station and all the high end work places. “Your boy bought you a good shop huh? Didn't I do you proud?” He said with a childish grin as he walked behind the kitchen.

“Oi, oi! Get outta here! How many times I gotta tell you! You will shed hairs everywhere!” His father glared at Ai and his overly dyed hair. “That's not very nice! I bought this joint! Through my wondrous voice! Why can't you be proud?” He teased as he picked up a bowl and began to serve himself noodles. “Gah. No good kid! You coulda just got a real job! I was fine in the old shop... We didn't need money to be happy...” His father was a traditional man. A small shop with regulars is what he desired. But now his son had moved them to the big city and forced them into this place.

The only thing that could be heard was the simmering of food, both stood silent for a moment. Steam and heat making Ai rather uncomfortable. “You can go back if you want. I can't. I am an idol. People need me.”

“So you are happy being a fake, with the Yakuza breathing down your neck?” It always came back to this. Ai took this long lilac nails and proceeded to push the hair from his face to give him a glare.
“I don't even know you any more. All that make-up... Cut your damn hair...”

An irritated grunt came from Ai as he slammed his hand on the counter. “Fine! Go back to the god damn country! I am doing fine! I am managing! You are fine with me being a star when you want to go gambling, isn't that convenient? I am going for a nap in the stock room! Screw you!”

At that point Ai spun on his heels and stormed out the room like a child. Ai had made this family good. He had pumped money into it and made them stand out! He let out a soft sigh as he stormed upstairs to the 'store' room. In reality it was his bedroom. A hide away from life. Sometimes he wished he could go back to that simple life. It was too late now. He was in too deep.

---

Hours later... He woke up. No one around. No people. No dad. No mum.

The news told him what was going on.

Here he is now. Trapped in the place his stardom bought him. The attention now on the front door. He could hear them. Clawing. Groaning. Scratching. “Kuso... Kuso!” he could feel himself tremble. Gripping onto his own hand, he attempted to calm himself. If he kept this up, his eye-liner would run.

Ai blocked the door with as many chairs as possible. He began to hum away to himself. Calming, simple humming. He had to focus. From what he could see the back way was clear. He could make out there with little confrontation. He can outrun Yakuza and casino goons, so these deadheads weren't going to give him too much trouble if the numbers are small.

Shuffling and jiggling about the restaurant, Ai now burst into song as he packed a light bag of snacks, some first aid and a small blade. Useless for self defence but sure, he could open a can or something? Knives can do that right? Been a while since he had to use his own brain. A small bottle of vodka. That could sterilise things or something. “Ano ko no shinshou wa yomemasu ka~~?” The male put on a small smile. He had gathered himself and got all the things into his stylish man bag. “Gotta look good...”

Soon he would depart.

With the door flying open and no one but a boy, girl, and a suited man lazing around on the floor, all Irena could do is scoff. This is what Japan had to offer her? These kids? These incompetentes? That guy was practically sleeping on the job!

"Y-yes... somebody was... there...But he might not be all there after.... that," spoke the girl (Aubrey).

Okay, maybe he wasn't sleeping around. Maybe she had actually busted his face wide open, but that didn't change her point!

Judging by their similar appearances, the boy and the girl were siblings and thankfully, foreigners. They had both the clothing and accents reminiscent of the United States. Neither of them could have been any older than herself while their "friend" looked much more mature than any of them. He had to have been a businessman or some sort of luxury tourist. Who else would dress that nicely during a zombie invasion, black-and-green Barney Stinson? Irena was honestly glad that it was one of the siblings doing the talking or she would have probably raided the place before leaving.

"I got you, don't worry," she replied to the blue-eyed boy (Ian).

The redhead eased the door shut before continuing inside (mainly as an apology to the door rather than the downed man). Presumptions aside, she was glad that she wasn't alone in dealing with these things. Zombies were often slow, but they gathered easily. Even if she'd found a real weapon she wouldn't be able to hold them off forever.

Forever...

Was this really it? Would there be no end to whatever was plaguing Japan (possibly the world)? She didn't want to think that the people she was in the store with might have been the last people remaining on Earth, especially with Hina still being missing. If that were the case though she ought to give them a name to remember her by.

"Shinju-oh we're not going to do the Zombieland thing?" she chuckled, "Irena then. Irena Santiago."

She relaxed her weapon to reflect the lowering of his axe as she casually strolled over, not to one of the various food shelves, but to the housewares, grabbing a two lighters, a scented candle, lighter fluid, and a few aerosol bottles for her backpack. She moved along the shelves to pillage all matter of energy bars, medication, and corn chips (they burned the most efficiently) before stopping upon the glorious liquor aisle. From the outside she might have looked less like their zombie savior (even though she totally would be) and more like an arsonist (which wasn't too far from the truth if one considered that time they tried snuffing out a rival chop shop), but she was just wanted a drink. She missed the soothing burn of a good whiskey. Sure it had only been a day at most, but time flew by quite quickly during code red infections.

Unlike grocery stores, convenience stores (even in Japan) didn't have that pesky anti-theft seal so opening a bottle was as easy as breaking the nose of a whiny rich kid (which was apparently effortless).

"Seriously?" she cocked her eyebrows, first at the blue-eyed boy as if to ask if his sister would fall for that pretty boy act so easily and then at Bryan as if to ask if he was so lazy that he couldn't tape his own nose.

In the moments Aubrey had watched the suited man get the handsome knocked out of him, (just kidding - that was near impossible) Ian had reappeared beside her. Only this time holding a rugged looking ax. Her eyes widened a little, leaning back as if she was shocked at it's presence in her little brothers hand. Why was she shocked? They needed means of protection, this was just the way things had to be at the moment. But still.. her innocent little brother wielding what looked like a fireman's ax? With intent to bust in skulls? It was insane.

A disappointed frown crawled across her face, wishing she could have prevented him from experiencing this - somehow. She was the big sister after all, it's only natural to want to keep your loved one's safe.. and right now she couldn't help but having flashbacks when it wasn't an ax in his hand but a ragged hand me down stuffed doll he was oh-so attached too as a child. Yes, even though he was a boy - he took kindly to a medium sized plush stuffed fairy doll Aubrey had. The fairy had scruffy blonde hair of yarn, a little button up green coat, blue pants and little red shoes to match his pointy red hat. The best thing about the little doll was it's face. Tiny button eyes and a huge open mouth smile that took up so much of it's face it looked silly. Aubrey would always use it to make her brother laugh during rough times as kids, and one day - when the two had it really bad, she gave him the stuffed fairy and told him no matter what she would always be with him.

Back to reality. Aubrey's steel blue eyes that were previously spaced out to such an extent it would be hard not to notice - caught upon the tall brunette beckoning her to him. It stunned her in place, and quickly she could feel sweat on the palms of her hands as her natural reflexes caught the pack of gauze without her even realizing he tossed it to her. Looking down at it and then back at him she swallowed roughly, choking down any glimmer of nervousness to maintain composure.

Bryan Harvey Wesson. Absolutely princely, and it was perfect. After daydreaming about what this man might look like shirtless riding bareback on a horse... she finally came to. In time to be caught prey in what could be honestly called Bryan's most deadliest attack. In that moment you could see Aubrey's HP melt away in an instant.

The latest addition to the convenience store, now known as Irena's glance and almost disappointed question of Aubrey's intelligence was no match to stop her from falling victim to those damn eyes.

And as if a master of teleportation, she was now at his side, tending his wounds as gently as she could. Gosh was this a damn good excuse to get up close. This guy looked good even with a tampon shoved up his nose. "Aubrey..." She spoke, concentration focused on not hurting him and accidentally pissing him off - she really didn't want that. As she finished up, she continued, "Aubrey Elmquist.. and this, " Waving a hand at her brother, smiling - very used to being the one to introduce her stand offish brother to others continued to do so in this circumstance. "... is my little brother Ian. We're from the states too as you can tell, New York." Pausing she rubbed the back of her neck, "Sorry... about the mobster thing. We just have a lot of those types where we're from." A light, awkward chuckle escaped her lips as she offered an apologetic smile at the now wounded Bryan.

To keep the awkward air in the room from growing thicker, Aubrey took hold of her brothers sleeve, "I'm no expert bro, but shouldn't we keep moving? We've made a lot of noise so we're bound to bring attention... plus, we need to get to the station as soon as possible... who know's if the trains are still even running."

Bryan Harvey Wesson and Irena Santiago. At last the two strangers had been identified. Bryan Harvey Wesson... what kind of name is that? I mean could he sound any fancier? I'm sure this guy was some big business man. I think I'll call him Money Bags. Oh and Irena Satiago. Well... at least it's clear where she comes from now, or at least her ancestors. Ian's mind wandered a little longer before he came back into reality. While this was all going on Aubrey had gone over to Bryan and started tending to his wounds from Irena. She was always good at taking care of that kind of stuff, he couldn't even count how many times she helped Ian whenever he was injured. "Bryan, Irena, nice to meet you. Ian's voice went from being loud enough to hear, down to a mumble. Even at times like this Ian was still nervous and shy when he met new people. "I'm Ian... and this is my sister, Aubrey..." picking his head back up, Ian moved back over to the suitcase he left on the shelf and tucked it under his arm.

Aubrey had returned to Ian's side and was now tugging lightly on his sleeve. I'm no expert bro, but shouldn't we keep moving? We've made a lot of noise so we're bound to bring attention... plus, we need to get to the station as soon as possible... who know's if the trains are still even running. She was right, they needed to move. That door slamming open had to attract plenty of zombies nearby so there time left in here was limited."Well I don't know if either of you have any plans, or a destination, but Aubrey and I are headed to the station. Ikebukoro Station. We had recently arrived from there and we want to see if trains are still running, the city is probably not the best place to be during something like this so we want to see where we can go. It would be best if we all teamed up, we would have more of a chance to survive." Ian moved toward the front of the store and up to the window, Aubrey holdling onto his sleeve the entire time. Peering outside, Ian could still see the same amount of zombies that were outside when they first got here, only this time they didn't have there backs turned or they weren't eating, they were all slowly shuffling towards the store they were in most likely they heard the loud door slam. Ian's stomach became all tingly as he turned around to everyone once again. "Irena, Moneyb-" Ian stopped quickly. It wasn't a good idea to start insulting one of the last alive humans. "Bryan. There is quite a few zombies headed this way now. I'd recommend grabbing whatever you can now that you think you'd need and leave. I saw an exit door out back in the back room, we can use that to get out and hopefully ignore the ones headed this way now. Again, our plan is to head to the station, if trains are running we're getting on one, but there is a chance they aren't and if that's the case theres a good chance that place will be flooded with zombies." Ian turned to his sister and addressed her and her only, making complete eye contact. "If the station is over run and there are no more running trains, I want us to head back to the hotel and to our room. The place is big enough and empty so we will need a new game plan. Plus all our stuff is there it would come in handy to have. Okay? Ian smiled. He didn't want to worry Aubrey anymore then she already was, he wanted her to think he had some great back up plan so no matter what, they'd be safe. His entire life she was always there to pick Ian back up and keep him from losing his mind, now it was his turn.

Grabbing his sisters hand, Ian moved to the back room and stood by the exit door. He had no idea if the other two would follow along but all he could do was hope. "Are you guys coming?"

Ai kept low as he headed out the back door. He knew the back alleys here rather well. Ai lipped the hood of his intentionally scruffy hoodie over his long hair, tucking his pony-tail in. Last thing he wanted was death by hair pull. He thought about taking the chains off of his leather trousers but he was only willing to sacrifice so much for his cause. He would rather die than look lame. The alley way was a long system of back roads, rather tight and easy to navigate. However, easy to get crowded up in. From what Ai could tell, the back way was not too infested with deadheads. “Osu...Ikuze.”

Keeping low, he headed forward, keeping an eye out for anything useful. A few corpses but not much for him to take. Until... He saw it. A dead cop. “Lucky!” He dashed over to the body. Perhaps a baton or a spare gun? Even cuffs would be handy. His hands swiftly worked over the body, careful to not sully himself with any mess that was in the alley. Well. He found what he wanted. A baton. Coated in blood. Brain matter attached to it. Only now did he realise the putrid smell. He hadn't thought about it until now but the smell was overpowering. Decaying flesh. This was really happening. The dead walking. Eating. Feasting. '… I don't want to die. I wanna live.'

Thoughts raced through his head. But that baton. 'No way... It stinks. And it's dirty! I better find something to clean it!' He started to look around. When the corpse began to twitch. 'Ara...? What was that?' Ai could hear movement but couldn't place it. Until the low groan came from the gent that he was in the middle of robbing.

That made his choice easy. “Keep your damn nightstick!” Ai had already started to run down the nearest alley. If he remembered correctly, this would take him out close to the Sakura Hotel Ikebukoro. He continued to run full pace forward, almost reaching the junction. Right would take him near the hotel, left to the store. He could stock up on some water or something. When something sickening happened. From both ways, deadheads closed off both ways.

Ai stopped so hard that he skidded on his feet. “Shit, my shoes!” He almost toppled forward, when he spun on his heel, to see his path behind him not looking so good either. Someone just twisted the knife in his gut. He could feel himself panicking. He was ready to vomit, his eyes starting to water. 'Not. Like... This...' Ai glanced around frantically. Any way out? He was closed in with deadheads coming up the rear. The walls? …. A fire escape. He leapt with all his might, hand extended to grab the metal frame, to pull himself to safety.

His fingers brushed the metal before gravity pulled him back to earth with a sickening thud. He pulled himself up instantly, he had no time as the zombies were only a few strides away. Ai ran at the wall, placing one foot on it to help launch himself higher. 'Clang!' He managed a good grip in the frame before pulling himself up.

With haste he made it up the frame, sticking his tongue out at the creatures below. “Don't try to eat what you can't afford!” For a moment he wondered who that 'witty' remark was for. There was no one here. He shook his head as decided what to do next. Seemed like he was on the escape for an office or something. However, there was a low roof beside it. He would have to climb across but at least he could see what awaited him there, nothing. No deadheads on the roofs.

Since he was on the side nearest the store, Ai decided to head that way. Humming as he went forth, he glanced into the distance. Destruction and chaos everywhere. How many were left and just how damn quickly had this spread? Was he part of the lone few left? '… The band better be okay...' Taking some pocky out his bag, he began to eat the sweet as he neared the end of the roof. To his delight there was no sign of deadheads down below. He quickly dismounted the roof and made his way to the window of the shop.

Movement. Shadows. Shit. Were the zombies trying to civilize themselves? He took a moment more to observe. “D...Did that guy just shove a tampon up his nose...?” Humanity clearly offering their best. Has that man not heard of toxic shock? He shook the idea from his head. Clearly he was treating a wound. Let it slide, Ai. What is important, is that there is people! They will surely help him. After all? Who could say no to the biggest J-Idol there is right now? Ai actually became excited at the idea of seeing people. He began to grin like an idiot, his bubbly side taking over. He started to skip forward, until it hit him. What if they are fans?

He couldn't be seen like this. He tossed down the hood, swiftly brushing his ponytail so that it was the perfect level of fluff. He calmed himself, putting on the camera ready smirk. He started to make his way to the door, pocky stick in mouth. “Etto! Gomen, Konbanwa?”

Yes, the girl that introduced herself as Aubrey was in fact serious. She was falling for that pretty boy man charm that the guy was laying on her. The flirtatious swagger, coy smirk, and begging eyes that she was sure worked on all other sorts of women in his age. Admittedly Bryan was handsome, but something about him rubbed Irena the wrong way. Maybe it was the (rightful) wrongful anger about the whole bruised nose thing or the fact that him being named after a gun company meant that her assumptions about his tax bracket were indeed true. What else was he going to reveal next, that he was going to have helicopters flown in to pull him and himself only out of Japan? That his left ear was worth more than the other three of them combined?

Maybe she was projecting too much. She had a chip on her shoulder about these sorts of thing.

Irena turned over from her quarter-empty bottle of alcohol and stifled a short burp before nodding at Ian.

"I've been looking for my friend," she explained, "we split up today so I'm hoping by the time I get (if I get there) there she isn't a walking corpse."

Her voice was devoid of emotion, as though she didn't actually care about Hina's outcome. Instead she capped the bottle and left it on the counter next to Bryan ("Gets you drunk and kills zombies!") before slowly examining the rest of the store for useful items. Though she had already given the place a once over, Ian's warning of oncoming zombies prompted her to grab a few more lighters...and containers of alcohol (a bottle of low quality scotch and two Four Locos to be exact). Did this make her an alcoholic or very strange? The answer was neither because she simply didn't want to acknowledge the possibility of Hina being anything but living.

With her backpack bulging at the seams, she reversed her weapon to zombie-slayer mode and headed to the door to follow after the siblings. It would be a good idea to leave before she tempted herself with the rest of the bottle...that was until she heard footsteps.

"More zombies?" she asked, lashing out her mop handle to stop the imaginary people behind her.

But no it wasn't zombies instead it was the sweet angelic voice of

"OH. MY. GOD. MIKAI AI? IS THAT YOU?" Irena practically squealed, "oh my God of course it's you! Oh my God I love your music. Like what are you even doing here? Come inside, come inside!"

Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. She was going to be like this for the rest of the trip wasn't she? She clapped her hands. Yes she was.

Success, sweet success! If Aubrey kept this up, Bryan might just have to ask the woman out on a date. Sure, most of the girls who broke to his every smile, gesture, and smolder would do something for him, but Aubrey did so much more. She actually tenderly and carefully put down the gauze and then taped up his face. Her hands were soft as butter, too. Smooth and so delicate, at least compared to his calloused hands. Certainly helped that she was cute. Almost too cute. Why, if he kept staring at her in this close proximity, he might just start to fall for her -- and he would have none of that.

Thankfully, that intimacy was broken when Irena burped and put her bottle beside him. She, like Aubrey, was everything he disliked in a woman. She was anything but feminine. She had no gentle, pleasing qualities about her. She was more of a tomboy that the girl who now retreated back to her brother. Heck, she was almost more manly than Ian -- and he had an ax for crying out loud!

When Ian spoke of their plan, Bryan simply sat and listened. Seemed viable and valid. If the trains worked, they could easily get out of this infected area and to someplace safer. Hell, if they could get to an airport, Bryan could call in his private jet to come pick him up. But that meant two big assumptions: 1) the airport had power and 2) the USA wasn't infected.

The latter he found hard to believe. The United States was a beacon of hope and fine training and talent. Some of the best doctors in the world lived and worked in the States. If anyone could come up with a cure for these godforsaken monsters, it was the Americans. WHO (the World Health Organization) would probably be up their on the list too. If news of the outbreak reached their eyes, WHO would begin working on a cure, or at least a treatment to stop the zombification from spreading.

Opening his mouth to speak, Bryan found himself very much alone in the store. They all just left him. So much for having a team! And then he heard Irena losing her marbles. Hastening so that he stood near the backdoor with the others, he cocked a brow at the....

"Is that a dude or a chick?" He leaned into Aubrey, his spearmint breath kissing her face with its cool, menthol flecks. Honestly, with the color scheme, it screamed female. And yet, it had some manly features about it. Transgender? He really couldn't tell. The fact that Irena was having a snowday with this thing made him believe it male. Then again, the redhead could have been very into women, which might explain why she brushed him off as if he were nothing.

"Right, so anyway," he turned to Ian, "if we can get to an airport, I might be able to get us out of here. If not, we need to get to higher grounds and figure out a plan."

The brunette bit his lip, holding back his suspicions. If this was the only place of outbreak, what were the odds that they were truly safe. No, he wasn't thinking about the zombies. He was thinking about something far worse -- something Japan was already too familiar with.

If the United States, UN, and WHO got hold of what was happening, would they authorize the States to drop the birds? Would they level Japan to stop the spread? If things went that south, would they receive warning prior to the bombs coming? Would the sirens sound and give them ample time to hull away in a fallout shelter?

There were so many "what ifs" running rampant in his mind. Right about now, there was really only one thing he was certain of. Well, two. First his nose hurt like hell. Second, they needed to find signs of humanity elsewhere. If the United States wasn't infected, they might be able to signal for help. But, if the States were just as doomed, then their best bet would be to fly somewhere low key.

He didn't want to drop his secrets yet, but if push came to shove, he could pilot a small plan and get them somewhere safe. Madagascar seemed safe. After all, who would go their in the heat of a zombie outbreak? Alaska was a viable option too. Zombies plus cold usually didn't work.

"Hate to break up your little party, but we need to keep things low key and get out of here. Unless you have a better plan, then I suggest you zip your trap and move it." Bryan's head nodded toward Ian, signaling that he was ready to move. "We might want to sweep some stores or police bodies for guns." Bryan's devious azure eyes flickered to Aubrey. "I do know a thing or two about them. And not because I'm a mobster."

Locked in conversation with her little brother, it seemed like it was crunch time - right before a game, and Ian was giving her that "you can do it!" pep talk that would give her enough confidence to take out the other team and set some new records. It was so strange how that form of encouragement always worked with her, it was so ingrained into her head.

"Alright. Let's do this." She balled her hand into a fist and jabbed it into her open palm. "Wait..." She blinked, suddenly realizing she dropped her umbrella at some point. Spinning around in a few quick circles she found it leaning on the counter - she must have put it down when she came to Bryan's aid. Snatching it up she scuffled back over to her brother, "I know... I won't be much good for fighting... so I'll just try to run and dodge for the time being... but do me a favor and keep an eye out for something a little better than this? I doubt it'll get me farther than that suitcase... if that." Even though Bryan gave her a quick tip on the item, it really wasn't ideal. Probably why it wasn't an available weapon choice in any video game she's seen before.

Aubrey was a little shocked Ian invited the others along, he wasn't usually the type to band up with others. It was always those two against the world - but it was a good idea. Numbers were always better, at least in her easily trusting eyes. In reality it was a matter of these people wanting to group up, Irena seemed like she'd lack any interest. She had that lone wolf vibe about her, but maybe they could be of use to her and help her find her friend.

As for Bryan... he too seemed like they didn't need him. But she couldn't help but want him to come along, she had this urge to take care of him that was hard to explain.

Suddenly, another body came into the mix - causing the raven haired girl to jump, latching on to the nearest person, whom she thought was Ian. But was not... it was in fact Bryan. Who quickly asked under his breath if the one coming through the door was a boy or a girl. As beautiful as he was, that was definitely a male. He looked to be one of those idol types, the pretty boys. Bishonen. She was almost let down that even in a situation like this, even in reality, he looked a thousand times better than her. But now was no time for jealousy.

Irena's reaction only solidified her thought, the name sounded vaguely familiar. "That's a boy." Like an idol an internet friend had recommended to her - but she never got around to checking out. Aubrey didn't listen to too much Japanese music, but it came with the territory of her interests so she knew general pop culture. Not only was it incredible to see another living, breathing human - he had to be a local. If they could somehow sway the man to leave with them, he'd be an incredible asset to the group. But we didn't have a lot of time to explain...

Wait. Wait. Wait. I'm still clinging to Bryan. Oh, no.

In a fluster she took a big step back and giggled... like an idiot... for a while... before clearing her throat and took steps toward the back door, waving to the idol. "We need to keep moving, i'm sorry... d-do you speak English?" She asked, unsure of how fluent he would be - not wanting to drown him in a long explanation when he wouldn't even be able to understand it.

Ai had made his greeting, in turn, he received an over excited one back. Instantly this put a little smile on his face. But it was odd to hear the English language. Ai's very own mother was from England and he has toured the US a few times so his English was pretty good but to hear it being spoke so casually in Japan... 'Ah. Tourists.' Well, that's not bad. At least there was no language barrier. The screeching woman's excitement however, was giving him attention he did not want whilst standing outside. Swiftly, (But with all the grace he could muster) Ai swung the door open casually, before marching in with his hand delicately placed on his hip. Using his heel, Ai gave the door a soft kick, closing it behind him.

Now he had a choice. Did he play up the whole Engrish thing? Tourists sure do love it. He decided against it. It happened occasionally anyway, no need to make a thing of it. For all he knew, Ai could be with this group for a while. Last thing he wanted was to lose his charm or risk annoying them. Ai can deal with being alone but in this situation, seeing the mass destruction and families around him torn apart, literally, made him long slightly for companionship. A place where he could feel safe. However he did not yet know these people. Ai knew the risk of trusting others but he was taking this gamble.

His face was still in a masked state, his typical photo shoot face. A sad expression on his eyes yet with a hint of a smirk. That calm demeanour that a leader should hold in a situation like this. Not that he wanted to be the leader of this. Ai just didn't want to let the fans down.

The first sight he was greeted with was a rather excited woman with red hair. She had a bag, good. She had supplies so she was at least prepared. He could swear from the moment he walked in the door this woman forgot all about the deadhead outbreak and went into fan mode. Well, whatever eases her mind. 'At least she is happy.' He thought to himself. That's the whole reason he does this business. Time for the big topper. He shot her an almost childlike smile for the briefest of moments before placing his eyes on the rest of the group.

Next was a young man with an axe in his had. Seemed to be the only person here shorter than him. He seemed to have a bit more of a serious expression on his face. Probably determined to protect his girlfriend over there. Or what he could assume was his girlfriend. Or so Ai thought until the girl latched onto the man in the suit, seemingly whispering into her ear.

The raven haired girl looked harmless, clutching an umbrella in one hand and a man in the other. Out of everyone here, she seemed the most afraid. Good, at least someone here hadn't already adjusted to this bleak world. Ai himself was terrified but how could he add to this girls fears?

“Do you speak English?” He could only grin at her as he prepared himself. “Ah! Etto. Good evening! You are not from here, no? Nice to... Meet you. Watashi.... Etto... My name is Ma... No, Ai Maki. That is how Americans introduce, yes? Family name last?” His smile broke through. His real one. A big cheesy grin. 'Most stylish one here, I see.'

Almost attached and mumbling to the raven haired woman was the man in the suit. Wearing an almost unamused expression he seemed to be rather disinterested in Ai. That's fine. If Ai had to shove a tampon up his nose, he would be a bit grouchy too. The gent had an air of confidence to him and he could tell the type a mile off. A cut-throat. As far as he could tell this man may as well be a mobster. Money and power would solve his problems.

Maybe this group would grow to be closer, in time Ai could learn these people. Together they may live. His first impressions may be a bit shaky but who was he to judge?

The sound of the horde growing closer broke his train of thought. “Uh... It's a pleasure to meet arl of you but... Do... We have a plan? Can I assist?” Just at that point, the male in the suit seemed to have the same thought. He instantly proposed that they get a move on. 'Is he in charge? Better keep that in mind.'

Just before bursting open the back door, another living human appeared. A man. He was clearly a local. Finally! This would be a great help, if he spoke English this man would make things so much easier for navigation. Ian could speak and read Japanese but only so much. But this man wasn't just your average person, at least from looks he wasn't. He had to be some kind of musician, judging by what he's wearing it had to be something along the lines of rock.Ian needed to try speaking with this new man, well, at least try to. But before Ian could even get a word out Irena was all over him squealing like a fan girl. Wait... she IS a fan girl. She really did not look like the type to listen to anything japanese. Bryan being typical Bryan, could not tell if that was a boy or a girl. I mean he was clearly a man, but it's possible Ian only really knew that because of the crap he's seen on the internet.

Aubrey spoke exactly what was on Ian's mind, they still needed to get the hell outta there. Zombies were still coming towards them. Luckily this man spoke English! Perfect! This would make things so much easier. But Ian still wanted to speak in Japanese with him, he would understand things more. " Konbanwa... Ian said waving his hand in his direction. "Watashi no namae ha Ian desu. Hajimemashite" Ian paused for a second trying to memorize as much Japanese as possible. "Watashi tachiha eigo o hanasu koto ga dekimasu ka?" after in agreement, they changed the talking to English. "We are headed to the station nearby. We want to see if any trains are still running to get out of Tokyo. We need to leave quickly, please follow." Ian wanted to make sure he used words he at least knew. He was clearly older then Ian, so he'd call him Maki-san. For whatever reason when Ian said that in his head all he could think of was sushi. That reminded him odds are he won't ever eat fresh sushi again. Ian was going to take Aubrey out tonight to the best sushi place nearby. What a sad thought...

Once everyone had gathered themselves, they were all at the door. Ian, Aubrey, Bryan, Irena, and Maki-san. These were probably the last few people alive. Ian's hand gripped the door handle and slowly started to turn it. This could possibly be the end for them, going outside. All these people were great to have along, but all he cared about was Aubrey. As long as he could keep her safe that's all could hope for. "Stick close..."Ian said before throwing the door open, Ian and everyone turned right and jogged down the alley way back out onto the street, avoiding the zombies that were now at the door of the store they just left. Out on the street, Ian looked at his surroundings, to the left down the street was a few zombies, but that was the opposite direction. Looking to the left, the direction they needed to head was pretty clear, only one visable zombie for a while. Perfect. Ian thought. But as he was about to make his charge down the road Ian saw in front of him that a few zombies were closing in from straight ahead. "Shit!" Ian said under his breath as he grabbed Aubrey's hand and headed to the right, down the road with street lights ahead of them.

Don't blush. Don't blush. Whatever you do, Bryan Harvey Wesson, don't blush! As Aubrey's hands wrapped around him, clinging to him as if he were her knight, the brunette found it all the harder to focus. Just how long had it been since he last had this kind of contact? How long had it been since he was this close to a very attractive woman? Hell, when was the last time a woman as sweet as she and as gorgeous willingly chose him to be their hug-buddy of choice?

Far too long (about 11 months actually, if not more). Naturally, he wanted things to progress further, but there was something about having zombies around that rendered those colorful images impossible. Although... the idea of her clothes... nope, I'm not going there! Keep it together BH. You've gone without a woman for nearly a year and just now, mist a zombie outbreak, you decide you need to get all horny? God sometimes I hate the body I was born into!

When her hands finally released him, his lip worried some. A small pout played on his face. She had taken to her brother again. Ian, that dastardly devil, was winning over his woman. Wait, my woman?! Since when are we a thing. God, I need to get laid more often so I don't have those random attractions of out nowhere.

Rather than being the stiff awkward guy he was currently playing out to be, tall American laughed. "Ah." It was just his remark to Maki's gender. Seriously, though, the guy was wearing an awful lot of purple. Plus, he had long hair and painted nails. What man did-- oh yeah, he's in Japan where this sort of thing is acceptable. Now, if they were in America, he would peg the guy to be either a Goth, punk, or emo. Was he in a band? That might explain Irena's screaming and rapid-fire gibberish.

Ah, so she likes those 'pretty' men that are all dolled up in makeup. Fine by me. Never been a fan of rude, surly redheads anyway.

Following Ian's lead, the crew moved forward and toward their destination. Only, it wasn't as easy as they had hoped. Had they forgotten about the zombies? Kinda.

Nose aching now to the point that Bryan wasn't able to feel a part of his face, he staggered after Ian and Aubrey. That door did a number on him. Pushing the shades onto his head, he gently prodded his the right side of his face. Yes, it was tender. He probably should have popped some Tylenol or whatever, but he hadn't thought of that until now. The sun being out certainly wasn't helping, especially now that he was squinting. Shades back down, he made his umbrella handy.

Well, it was now or never, he mused. Only, he didn't much like the idea of fighting just yet. It was too soon to bust out his moves. Not to mention, Aubrey wasn't in danger. Again?! What is with you man. You are losing your grip on reality. Aubrey is just a girl. Even if she's the last girl in the world, you cannot remain fixated on her or you'll get everyone killed. Just keep your eyes on what matters -- surviving.

It was pointless. Bryan had no real thing to protect so his desire to fight was at a minimum. Why not let someone else fill in for him for the time being? Maybe Irena could make her surly-self useful? Maybe she could scream a zombie to death. Or do something very unladylike. He shuddered at that last part.

"Just keep your cool, kid. In my line of work, confidence drives success. If we get all weak in the knees, we'll fall. If we stay focused and determined, knowing that we can survive, then we will survive. You just need to stay positive and don't let negative thoughts cloud your judgement."

The sound of everyone's feet shuffling about the concrete filled the alley, the group moved as a single unit. By no means was it as efficient and streamlined as say - a swat team. But it was still a sight to behold, various strangers now moving as one team, all sharing the same goal to push forward, together. Even though one might not trust the other, or one might not respect the other, they decided to band together. Humanity was always impressive, once threatened; racial, religious, status boundaries... they all dropped for the sake of survival.

Taking Bryan's words to heart she tried to stay confident and maintain that pre game psych Ian gave her. Focus. Determination. It all sounded so easy when he said it.

Aubrey felt her brother take hold of her hand, bracing his nervous palm against hers and tugging her along as streetlights flickered above their heads. This she could handle, running away from them like the hopeless little mouse she was, that was cake. But when it came to a fight, she wasn't sure she'd be able to take one on. Thinking back, she had never been in an actual physical fight her entire life! And I'm sorry - but she had no confidence in the umbrella she was clutching in her other hand.

Looking behind her briefly, she saw the faces of her new comrades - Irena, Ai and Bryan staying not too far behind. But not too far behind them, were a handful of zombies that were keeping up a surprising pace. Ahh, why couldn't these be like the old dumb zombies that shuffled around worse than nursing home patients? Nice little old people zombies. Yeah. Those would be better than these.

"Woah-!" Suddenly, Aubrey felt herself get ripped from her brothers grasp and stuck against the chain link fence. Her umbrella that was so carelessly swinging alongside her had gotten caught up within the links and yoinked her back against the fence as the others continued to charge by without having much time to react or realize. "Nonononono..." She repeated under her breath as she jerked about the umbrella trying to pull it free. In her mind, she couldn't just run empty handed into the danger zone - she needed that damn umbrella! "Come on...! Comee onn!" Pulling and tugging on it, finally it broke free - well... most of it. Looking at what was in her hand, she seemed to have lost all of the well... umbrella-y parts of it and now just had a big metal spike, completely jagged and broken on one end. (Impressive the kind of strength fear and adrenaline gives a gal.)

And that was when she realized the zombies that were tailing the others, were now only a few short steps away from Aubrey. Their dirty hands, blood crusting their broken finger nails reached out toward her - gurgling a terrible guttural moan as they came closing in.

Arms trembling she had to act. She absolutely had to act. But she was scared - so she shut her eyes, pulled back her arms and let out a panicked scream. Blindly driving the jagged metal forward, she felt it make contact, an audible popping sound following along. One eye opening after the other, she saw the umbrella's shaft jetting out of the zombies eye socket. "Oh... oh my God..." She took a step back as the monster sputtered before slowly dropping like a sack of potatoes. Unfortunately, it's buddies were not phased by it's death and continued to close in on Aubrey.