Chapter-24<*with my own hands*>

The girls and Cloud were walking in the direction where the people were more active, only to see how Saya, Yuriko and the others were already in the place.

The girls in the group gave the newcomers an awkward look but still paid them off.

"What do you think, Cloud?" Yuriko asked with a relaxed look.

"That those idiots don't understand their situation" - denied the blond as he saw how a group of survivors was shouting against the leader of the mansion - "It seems that they don't understand that if it weren't for those they say are tyrants, they they would be dead or worse"

"I think the same... although I was talking about the general situation of the mansion" - answered Yuriko with a half smile.

"I think you should take some of them and train them

so that they better understand the situation" - replied the blond

- "Maybe that way, they will realize how cruel the world is

current"

The rest of the group just kept silent because they thought the same as their leader. They had gone through hordes of zombies, they had seen the most horrible faces of people, they had survived for a short time outside the mansion but it was more than necessary to understand the current situation in the city.

"Any response from the army or police forces?" - Asked the blonde seriously.

"The army has its hands tied and contact with the police forces is almost non-existent" - replied the beautiful woman with purple hair - "Let's say that the lines are collapsed"

"You could see it coming"-sighed the blonde while he saw how people

he was beginning to clear a path for the newcomers to pass.

Everyone was completely tired with the sole exception of the leader. A tall, muscular man with black hair who wore a black suit. His gaze was cold and wild as he looked around disdainfully, after all, to him all these people who could barely look after themselves were nothing more than a flock of sheep that he was only helping because he didn't want to have to explain himself to them. to the government or the military when this is all over.

"It's not the welcome he was expecting," the man said as he looked around, "Let's just say he was expecting something more...festive..."

"We can't celebrate the return of a tyrant!" - exclaimed a woman while the people she had managed to convince began to shout.

"Tyrant...huh?" - the man smiled as he looked at the woman - "Is this how they treat the man who not only gave them a place in his home, gave them food and a stable life... but also protected them from those things that devour people? your kind?"

"Those are just lies so you can cause fear in the population!" The woman exclaimed seriously.

"Lies?" - Souichiro couldn't contain his laughter when he heard this - "For what reason, I, Souichiro Takagi, should lie to you? If you haven't noticed, I not only have the power, but also the necessary men to subdue you and do what I want. with their lives but I haven't... have I?"

Those present were silent because the man's words were true.

"But since I don't like being called a liar... I'm going to show you a test that will be convincing so that you understand the current situation"-Souichiro continued while he looked around "Bring him!"

"Hai!" - His men exclaimed as they carefully took a movable cage that was covered by a blanket, although it was obvious that there was some kind of animal inside from the growls they could hear.

"Remove the blanket so that everyone knows the truth" - the yakusa leader said once again.

"As you order" - the men replied as they followed his instructions, only to hear how all the civilians gasped at the sight of the animal's form.

"Sweetie!" a woman shouted in terror when she recognized the person. She was the wife of one of the men under Souichiro's command, the same man who was acting like a wild beast – "Don't you recognize me?!"

"You'd better not get close to him" - Souichiro sighed as he looked at the woman with regret - "He's not the same person who came out of this mansion..."

"Souichiro-sama... please... tell me there is some way to save him"-said the woman as she tried to get closer to the cage, only to see how the man she once loved jumped at her as if he was trying to devour her The poor woman could only recoil in terror at the blank look she had on the love of her life.

"I'm sorry to say it but it's impossible" - the yakusa leader sighed once again - "We don't know the origin of all this but we can assure you that those things are zombies, the same creatures we saw in a lot of movies"

"Please! They're obviously just acting!" The woman exclaimed with a frown.

"If you don't believe me, you can check it yourself"-snorted Souichiro as he stepped aside next to the transformed man's wife.

"I will" - snorted the leader of the 'resistance' - "This way I will prove that you are not only a tyrant, but also a liar"

The woman slowly approached the man inside the cage, to slow down a few steps from arriving. She could feel her heart pounding, as if some primal instinct told her to stay away from the thing.

"What's going on?" - Souichiro asked - "I'm waiting for

Prove that I'm a liar

"..."-the woman was silent as she looked

zombie.

"You're sorry...right?" - said the yakusa leader - "Fear when this man is near"

He would never call a man a thing who sacrificed his life for

him, so this was the least respect he would give him in his

last moments.

"You can hear your brain screaming danger...can't you?" - Souichiro smiled - "Those are the same feelings that my men have every time we go out and find hundreds of those things..."

The woman could feel her heart pounding as she got closer to the zombie, who apparently heard her "ROAR!"

"Kya!" -The woman just screamed in fear as she felt her legs give way. She was scared, no, she was terrified.

"I'm going to make this clear... I didn't bring this man here to scare you" - Souichiro said after looking away from the woman in front of him - "I brought him so you can see how I take responsibility for my acts...such as giving one of my most loyal men a dignified end with my bare hands"

The man's wife just cried in pain as she watched her husband roar uncontrollably.

The girls in Cloud's group just watched with regret as everything unfolded because they could put themselves in the poor woman's shoes.

Souichiro slowly walked towards the cage and calmly opened it, only for the zombie to jump at him but to the bad luck of the beast, Souichiro just made a quick cut with the sword that was resting on his waist and cut his head.

"NO!" the woman screamed as she fell to the ground in tears. She was obvious

or that the image of her was too strong for her.

"I'm sorry," Souichiro murmured as he walked to the wife of his fallen man, "He turned into a zombie because he protected me from an ambush... if it wasn't for his sacrifice, I wouldn't be here in these moments"

The woman just continued crying while the other wives

of Souichiro's men hugged her.

The rioters just fell silent as they stared in fear at the corpse of a once loyal man. They never thought something like this would happen, as they were evacuated the moment Souichiro received the news about the virus outbreak.

"I'm sorry to give another bad news but I'm going to have to ask you to let us cremate his body, since we don't know if the virus will spread in other ways than being bitten" -sighed the yakusa leader. Honestly, he wanted that they could at least give this brave man a decent burial but he couldn't do it because he would be attempting against the lives of all the people who were living in the mansion.

"H-Hai..." the woman murmured as she continued to cry.

"I'm sorry..." Souichiro said once again as he looked at his men- "You know what to do... I'm sorry you have to go through this"

"It is our duty, Souichiro-sama" - said one of the subordinates - "Not to mention that it is the least we can do for our partner"

"I want her to have a good life... if I find out that someone is trying to take advantage of her, I will not only kill the bastard responsible, but also the people who didn't tell me about the situation... is that clear?" -said the yakusa leader while he looked at his troops.

"Loud and Clear, sir!" - exclaimed the troops.

"Perfect... now... I need to talk to my wife about the current situation in the city and what we discovered, you can take your well-deserved rest" - Souichiro ordered with a small smile - "That's right, I don't want you to do something stupid"

"As you order, sir!" - The subordinates shouted with emotion, finally they could rest after being away from the mansion for more than a day. They just wanted to reunite with their families and loved ones so that they could regain some normalcy in their lives, although there were some who went to the families of their fallen brothers to give them the bad news.

The man that Souichiro had freed from his suffering… hadn't been the only one to die on this mission…