Stupid People - Taiei Mall III

Ryo left the mall followed closely by his entourage without making much noise. Because of the stupid amount of zombies around them, he wanted to avoid making any sound as much as possible.

All their muscles felt stiff as they walked across the street. Each step slow and careful, watching both the asphalt and the zombies so as to avoid picking their attention. They could see the pharmacy just a few meters away from them. It was just a few steps away. But one wrong step with too much strength was more than enough to get them all dead. There was no surviving so many zombies without the bus's security.

Drops of sweat fell from their noses, their foreheads covered in them. Ryo knew. He knew that he could kill a hundred zombies or even more if he wanted. But at the same time he knew that he couldn't with all of them. He knew how weak he still was in the face sheer numbers. Not only him, but those behind him and even those watching from the mall, everyone felt the same. They were still a single number in front of billions.

'As soon as I get back I'm clearing every zombie around the Estate... I need those rewards' Ryo thought as soon as they finally entered the pharmacy, their backs drenched in sweat because of how tense the short walk had been. Asami and the man that had followed him and Kouta were even huffing from the mental exhaustion.

Ryo noticed that fear was a really powerful weapon, and wondered if he would ever need it. Of course, he was completely oblivious of the fact that the people that had seen him beat the guy at the mall were actually afraid of him. Even back at the Estate, a few of the people who had seen his two fights with Soichiro feared him slightly. And the fact that the people he took to help carry supplies explained how easily he killed zombies didn't help either.

Ryo only now realized that his weapon was quite uncomfortable to turn and twist in tight hallways, so he decided to modify it later. After all, he knew how to do it and had the materials needed from Rika's house. And hewas sure the Estate also had a lot of comps and mats.

"We've found the blood bags, Hashimoto-san" Asami told him from inside the room where the supplies were kept. Ryo currently couldn't help but curse his luck, since besides alcohol, all the supplies wouldn't last without electricity. Then a realization came to his mind. "This pharmacy must have a diesel-fueled generator... right?"

Everyone looked at him in shock. How hadn't it occurred to them? With a generator from the pharmacy, even if not the entire place, they would've been able to power a lot of the mall. The two people from the mall looked at Ryo with respect, thinking he was really smart. If Ryo knew that, he would've thought they were just too stupid.

"Good. I'll go search for the reactor with..." Ryo said, only now realizing he had no idea who the guy that had accompanied them was. "Ahahah... I forgot to introduce myself, so rude of me, shit. I'm Tamaru Hiro, the drippiest motherfucker around this parts... until you guys came, now I'm as good as Hirano-kun"

A bit surprised by how nice he was, in spite of his foul-mouthed speech, Ryo's eyes opened in surprise. When he looked at the man closely, he realized he indeed was pretty well dressed. His overall appearance was that of a street thug, with the short, dyied hair and earrings. But Ryo approved of his style. It suited his image very well.

"Hmm... you pass in style, kinda floppy in attitude, but that can be worked..." he began talking. When he noticed the weird looks they were giving him, he coughed to clear the awkwardness of the situation. "Anyways, let's go for the reactor, Hiro-san"

"Ma-ma, just Hiro is okay! We aren't that apart in age, Ryo-kun!" Ryo smilled at Hiro's words. He was a very nice person if you managed to ignore his manners, which clearly were raised on the streets of a big city.

Like that, they left the room with the medical supplies, all the time talking about the latest street fashion and how it had turned more vintage in Japan. Ryo liked the more modern techwear styles of Korea, while Hiro enjoyed the hip-hop wide clothes and accessories. In such an atmosphere, they found the reactor in a room at the back of the pharmacy. It had been working for a while, so they decided to turn it off. It wasn't particularly heavy, so they could carry it all the way to the mall.

"Come one... let's go" Ryo said when they were back to where Kouta and Asami where. To Ryo's surprise, Kouta and Asami seemed to get along extremely well, since she was also a guns nerd. Ryo wondered when he would find a vehicles nerd to talk to.

Once again, they had to cross the streets. The only difference was that Ryo and Hiro were doing an extreme effort to remain silent. Ryo was carrying the heavier side, of course. While all this was happening, Kouta wouldn't stop pointing at the zombies closest to them. Luckily, nothing bad happened.

Ryo and Hiro loaded the generator on the bus while Asami and Kouta went to deliver the supplies needed for the blood transfusion. Everything was going well but...

"We'll all fucking die! That is how all the movies end!" yelled a kid. It was the same kid Ryo had seen behaving dead. Apparently he had gotten much livelier when he was gone, but as soon as he saw Ryo he went back to having dead eyes.

Ryo decided to ignore the kid, but still kept a close eye to his behaviour and movements. For all he knew, the kid was the most dangerous and unstable factor in the entire mall. And god was he right. As soon as Ryo turned his back to the kid to talk with Cho on how they would move after the old lady recovered, the kid ran straight towards Hiro, who was laying around.

Ryo dashed towards him, as he had seen it from the corner of his eyes. Ryo wondered how he was the only one who noticed the kid was weird. Was everyone in the mall besides his group stupid? He caught the kid by the back of the collar and quickly grabbed his wrist, pressing hard enough for the midget to let go of whatever weapon he had. It just happened to be a common combat knife. He didn't even bother to thing about where the kid had gotten it from.

"Cho-san" Ryo said while still holding the kid, ignoring how he thrashed and kicked around, trying to release himself from Ryo's hold. Ryo's voice continued coldly. "If I was slower Hiro would be dead. I'm getting rid of the kid. Whether you like it or not"

Asami wanted to vocalize her dislike of Ryo's solution, but Kouta held her back and pointed towards Cho. Matsushima Cho wanted to argue, but she had nothing to say. She wanted to say it was immoral and illegal, but she had to see the world around her. While Ryo was gone she had talked to Hiratsuka and she had heard the kind of things that Ryo had done to keep everyone safe. She understood that Ryo did what had to be done for everyone to be safe, not just himself. She understood it. It was just hard to accept. In the end, she just nodded.

"Good" was all Ryo said before he began heading in the direction of the mall's rooftop.

The kid kept fighting, kicking and eventually whimpering. He knew that Ryo would do good on his words. All he regretted was that he couldn't take all of them with him. He didn't mind that much, though. They would die eventually. Once they reached the roof, Ryo threw him headfirst towards the floor. It was high enough to stay in a coma upon impact, but with the added strength of Ryo actually throwing him, he was sure to crack his head open. At least he wouldn't turn into a zombie.

As soon as he went downstairs, Ryo was told by Shizuka that the transfusion went well and the old lady had already woken up. Ryo immediately walked towards her direction. He found the old lady sitting in the bed, eating an apple that her husband had peeled and portioned for her. They were having a conversation like all elderly people do. Slowly and peacefully. When they noticed Ryo and Shizuka, they greeted them happily.

"Ah, if it isn't the young man that saved me" said the old lady as she took Ryo's hand in hers, carressing the backside of it. It was an action that reminded him of his mother. She did that too when he got sick. He smiled softly, understanding that the old lady probably had kids of her own. "I know it is not something one usually says, but we have a petition"

Ryo didn't like where things were going the moment he heard those words. And he was right not too.

"We want to stay h..." She didn't get to finish her words because of Ryo's sudden change in demeanor. He was not longer smiling softly at her, neither was he cold as he had been with the kid earlier. He was just neutral. "I'm sorry but I can't do that"

Those were all the words he needed to say. He already knew what she would ask. Probably something along the lines of "We want to stay here and die together, peacefully". But Ryo was having none of that. The reason was that he couldn't stand a certain idea.

"We didn't go to the pharmacy for a generator. We went to find blood... for you" he said with a strict tone to his voice. It reminded Shizuka, who was by his side, of the tone some doctors used with patients who wanted to avoid treatment. "You don't get to choose death after someone risked his life for yours"

"As such, you will live and you will die naturally"

There was no arguing. He had made his point clear and he wasn't taking a no for an answer. In the end, when Ryo left the old coupe under Shizuka's care, he reached one single conclusion.

'Everyone in this mall is stupid... I hope it isn't a contagious disease'

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This chapter was made somewhat seriously, but I think I hit it with the right amount of stupidity for it to not be too serious.