Chapter 60: Being Tracked?

The car's trunk lightened as two figures climbed out from the back. Sosuke Kitahara carefully observed the tall woman. She had Asian features mixed with a hint of Western blood. She was nearly as tall as Sosuke himself, dressed casually, her long hair tied loosely in a messy bun, strands falling around her pale face. Standing beside her was a shorter man, a typical Japanese with fair skin and close-set eyes. The two had just emerged from the trunk, ready to thank their savior. But instead of a warm welcome, they were met with the cold barrel of a gun, startling them both. "Hey, hey, don't get the wrong idea, kid. We weren't bitten. You can check if you want," the shorter man quickly waved his hands, spinning around to show he had no wounds. The tall woman said nothing, but after also turning around obediently, her brown eyes locked onto Sosuke, carefully studying him. From inside the car, Yukino glanced between Sosuke's raised gun and the two strangers. Yui whispered something into her sister's ear, and Yukino's expression shifted to one of realization, a guarded glint appearing in her eyes. Utaha, sitting in the passenger seat, diligently kept watch on their surroundings, following Sosuke's instructions. The shorter man noticed Sosuke's eyes scanning them, but the boy remained silent. The man forced a smile, spreading his hands. "Relax, kid. We have no weapons. I'm Akimoto, a photographer. This is my wife, Ryoko. She used to be a photographer too, but now she's a full-time housewife." "Hello, I'm Ryoko," the woman offered a timid smile and a polite bow, her gaze nervously darting around. "What on earth is happening? Why is everyone acting like maniacs, biting anyone they see? The broadcast said those people are already dead they even called them zombies. Are they really like the ones in video games?" Akimoto gasped, still tense as he glanced around. "Ah, right!" Akimoto suddenly smacked his forehead, bowing as he extended his hand toward Sosuke. "Thank you for saving us earlier. Without you, we would've been zombie chow..." Click! Sosuke's eyes narrowed as he deftly flipped the safety off his submachine gun. He may have preferred blades, but that didn't mean he was unfamiliar with firearms. In his past life, before becoming an Awakened, he had trained with guns and was quite accurate. Seeing the safety flick off, Akimoto quickly yanked his hand back, stiffly stepping half a pace away. Ryoko's brown eyes briefly flashed with annoyance but quickly shifted to feigned fear. She trembled, her face growing paler. "Yukino, Yui, search them. Check what they're carrying." Sosuke's gaze never left the two as he spoke. Yukino and Yui exchanged glances, quickly getting out of the car and walking toward the pair. "Go ahead, search us. Phones, wallets, bags we left them all in our hotel room. We dropped everything to lighten our load while escaping." Ryoko, appearing considerate, even raised her hands willingly, showing no anger at being searched. Her expression held only faint sadness. "Our car is still in the underground garage, but it's crawling with zombies now. Kid, would you mind giving us a lift? More people means more strength. We can look out for each other." Akimoto quickly echoed, "Yeah, fate brought us together. How about letting us ride along? Once we get to safety, I'll make sure to thank you properly." "Find anything?" Sosuke ignored their words, asking Yukino and Yui instead. The two girls shook their heads. "Nothing." "See? We're honest people. We wouldn't lie," Akimoto said quickly. "You two, get back in the car," Sosuke instructed Yukino and Yui to return to the vehicle. Just then, a lone zombie seemed to notice them from afar. Its gaping mouth revealed rows of jagged, yellowing teeth caked with flesh and blood. It staggered toward them, reeking of decay. "K-kid, the z-zombie... it's coming this way! Can we get in the car, please?" Ryoko's terrified voice was on the verge of tears. Sosuke frowned, glancing at the approaching zombie. His sharp eyes swept over Ryoko and Akimoto once more. After a brief hesitation, he pulled out another car key and tossed it to Ryoko. "If you want to live, get in that Suzuki MPV." "What? You don't want us with you?" Sosuke's narrowed eyes made it clear he wasn't asking. "No, no! We'll go, we'll go right now!" Ryoko snapped to attention, quickly agreeing. Akimoto bobbed his head like a nodding doll, snatching the key from her hand. They rushed to unlock the car and climbed in. Sosuke handed the submachine gun to Yui and floored the gas. The engine roared like a beast, and the black car shot off into the distance, soon disappearing from the Suzuki's sight. "Boss, that kid's really cautious," Akimoto said, his demeanor completely changing as he watched the departing car, his squinted eyes glinting dangerously. "Why didn't you let me make a move? Those two girls were total rookies. We could've taken them as hostages and forced the kid to cooperate." "And then what? Get ourselves shot?" Ryoko's face was calm as she stared at the slowly approaching zombie, showing no trace of the panic she displayed earlier. "You think he'd shoot us even if we had hostages?" Akimoto looked genuinely doubtful. "Believe me, if you so much as showed an ounce of hostility, you'd already be dead either shot or cut down." "No way, right? Aren't you overestimating him?" "Am I?" Ryoko tilted her head, calmly explaining, "Have you ever seen a high schooler, carrying only a sword and a bunch of burdens, make it all the way from home to this hotel, fight his way onto a helipad against a mini-horde, lose the helicopter, and still walk away alive with three girls in tow and a submachine gun to boot? Do I need to tell you where that gun came from?" Akimoto nodded vaguely but still seemed unconvinced. "I get what you're saying, but... it doesn't sound that impressive. I mean, we survived too, didn't we?" Huff~ Ryoko rolled her eyes so hard they nearly fell out. She let out an exasperated sigh and gave Akimoto a pitying look. "No wonder your previous partners didn't last long. They either died on the job or were driven to death by you." ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oh, you like the story? Wow, who knew. Go ahead, drop a review and throw some power stones maybe I'll be motivated to keep going. The story's already ahead on Patron. Go there if you want to catch up faster! [email protected]/_theon Change @ to "a"