Pyrrhic Victory

I apologize, because last chapter I made a mistake when writing it. I forgot to explain in a paragraph that the zombies came from a tunnel, not just appeared out of nowhere. It was my mistake, so I edited the chapter so that fact is understandable. The initial horde Ryo saw was of a thousand, but more kept coming out, so he didn't know how big it could grow. Staying and defending wasn't an option, since in a war of attrition they might lose because of sheer numbers. I knew all of this, and it just slipped my mind when I was writing. I sincerely apologize since, this time, it is a big mistake.

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[Rewards for exceding your limits (527 zombies killed)

All Stats +5]

Ryo felt glad to see his stats go up in such a manner, since it would aid him in his battle. He could tell that, whatever was inside of that tunnel, was strong. At least as strong as him. It was something his instinct told him.

'If I half-ass this fight, I might die' Ryo thought as he approached the hole, killing all zombies on his way. Miku had already brough Yugo and Aki to the bus, while Saeko made Saya, Shouko and Kururu enter.

Saeko found a strange tint of worry in Kururu's face, something she had almost missed. She smiled a bit when she realized why Kururu was worried. After all, her eyes didn't leave Ryo's back for even a second. Ryo himself was too focused on two important facts. One was drawing the zombie out of the tunnel and the other was the stupid amount of zombies that kept pouring out of it.

"We won't be able to kill all of them..." Ryo said when he finally had a clear path to the tunnel "Our best shot is to kill that guy and flee in the bus"

Ryo already had a good idea of how to drag the battle to the surface, rather than taking a suicidal route and entering the tunnel. Ryo could tell it was overrun with undead and he'd rather not stick even a foot close to it.

Aiming the RH-15 at the eyes he had seen, Ryo fired not once, but twice. He expected whatever was in there to rush further into the tunnel, but he was surprised when it actually jumped out of it.

The zombie, creature, or whatever it was, looked pretty much like every other zombie out there, but it had two big differences with them. It looked more anthropomorph than fully human and, instead of two normal hands, it had two big shovel-like claws and it had so little hair in its head that Ryo wanted to compare it with Gollum. In fact, it kinda did look like a zombie Gollum with two shovel-like claws on each hand.

"So you are the fucker that digged this tunnel..." Ryo said as he stared at the creature. Feeling anger when he saw it's sickly green eyes. Ryo swung RH-15 to the side, killing a couple of zombies that came his way, and got into a stance while paying attention to the sickly mutant. "Come here you ugly piece of sickly virus... I'll fucking kill you"

The creature, which Ryo recognized as a mutated zombie, seemed to understand the taunt it was receiving. Or perhaps it just wanted to kill Ryo as much as Ryo wanted to kill it. Dashing towards Ryo with a speed that wouldn't fall behind his own, the creature tried to pierce his skull with its claws. Ryo swung RH-15 and hit them, parrying the attack to the side.

Taking advantage of the strength behind the parry, he turned in his place and slashed at the creature. To his surprise, his attack got blocked by its claws.

'Just how hard are those motherfuckers!' Ryo thought as they continued exchanging blow. One had refined movements that calculated the enemies movements, while the other was relying on instinct and attacking wildly. 'This bitch... it definitely is harder to kill than I expected!'

Ryo slashed at the creature's chest, but he was once again blocked. This time though, he turned his weapon slightly and, with a finger firmly pressing the trigger, shot it at point blank. The evolved zombie understood on an instinctual level that the shot was dangerous, so it tried to get out of the bullet's way. At such distance though, the bullet straight pierced a part of it's abdomen.

"Not so hard now, right undead motherfucker?" Ryo said smugly as he looked at the zombie. The creature shrieked at him and, charged, this time more furiously than before.

Ryo got grazed a few times, since the strength behind the blows was a bit above his own, he couldn't completely deflect or block all attacks. He made up for it in technique, though, since he could use feints and other parts of his body to attack.

Ryo pushed the zombie backwards by kicking its gut. When he chased after it, he began spinning his RH-15, turning the zombie around them into minced meat. When Ryo caught up to the evolved undead, it was trying to dig a way out.

"As if I'd let you!" yelled Ryo while twisting his weapon in a diagonal shape, severing one of the zombie's legs. Blood sprayed out from the stump, bathing Ryo's face in it. It had a sickly, greyish red color to it.

He could hear a muffled shriek, but he didn't care. He began pulling on the monsters remaining leg. It felt as if he was pulling on a truck sunk in quicksand. But Ryo kept pulling. Eventually, he felt something give way, so he used even more strength. He had switched RH-15 to Khopesh form and was using it to keep other zombies at bay.

"GAAAAAAHHHH!" the creature released a shriek of pain when it was pulled out. Ryo understood the reason as soon as he looked at the zombie's left hand, which was now missing, spraying even more blood on him and dying the surroundings in red. Taking advantage of the moment, Ryo used all his strength to lift the creature and smack it hard on the ground.

Effectively smashing a pair of zombies together with it, the evolved undead hit the ground hard. making a highly pitched crack sound. Ryo didn't lose a second and jumped at it, slashing at its neck with his weapon still in Khopesh mode. Seeing his first attack blocked by it's remaining arm, Ryo parried it out of the way and stomped on it, making the creature shriek as its arm was broken. When it started trying to kick Ryo, he cut it's one remaining leg off.

All that was left of the evolved zombie was a shrieking, limbless piece of meat, awaiting death. Ryo, standing on top of the creature, was bathed in blood and looked as if he was a god of war in the middle of the battlefield.

"*huff*... *huff... You took some job ey?" Ryo asked in between huffs as he stared at the creatures sickly eyes. That green color made him angry. It was the one responsible for the deaths of many an innocent person. "Well... you are no longer a threat"

As he said those words, Ryo slashed the creatures neck, severing it's head off. Extending RH-15's shaft, he aimed at the fuckers head and double-tapped him.

"Gotta make sure you really aren't coming back ever again" he said as he stomped on the now dead evolved zombie's head. In between the brains and blood, he found something he had been looking for for quite some time. "It's the crystallized virus! So these fuckers have it!"

"Ryo hurry the fuck up!" he heard Hiratsuka scream at him. He knew she was just worried because the zombies kept coming out of the tunnel constantly, and they were beginning to be overlwhelmed. If they didn't hurry to the bus, they would be stuck there.

He grabbed the crystal quickly and dashed towards the bus, the girls abandoning their fights and following his example. A few more zombies died on their path, but the horde kept growing, rather than dwindle. Ryo quickly got on the bus and turned the engine on and, a moment later, they were riding away.

*

Twenty kilometers away, they stopped by the highway. Ryo was the first one to get down of the bus, lighting a cigarette on and kicking the ground hard.

"AAAAAAHHHH!" he yelled, releasing all the stress and anger he felt.

In people's eyes, Ryo was a natural leader. But as capable as he was, Ryo was still a teenager. And what had just happened, was something that could've frustrated even the numbest adult. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, he lifted his head and found the girls looking at him with worry. Shouko hugged him, in spite of the blood he was covered in, sobbing slightly.

"It's ok... everything will be alright" he heard Shizuka say in a reassuring tone. Ryo felt like punching the ground until it bled, but he knew that wouldn't solve anything, so he took a deep breath and did what was right. "You're right... this is the first time we lose"

When everyone heard his words, they really thought that Ryo was mature for his age. Yes, he had bouts of uncontrolled emotions, but if he didn't, it would be worrying. Yuriko smiled warmly, seeing how he calmed himself down for their sake and his own.

"It's the first time, and it will be the last"

That was a promise he made. No to them. Not to his parents. But to himself.