New Dawn Chapter: 069

The next day saw more activity than the previous one. With the biker gang practically wiped out, there was no one in the area strong enough to cull the zombies. The roads were soon filled with the undead.

Tysone looked out the window; he had woken up a couple of hours earlier and was waiting for the rest of the group to do the same.

"Looks pretty bad out there." Takashi remarked grimly as he quietly shuffled next to Tysone.

"It does, and it'll get worse if we keep waiting." Tysone said, frowning. "Go wake up the others. We should get out of here quick before things escalate further."

Takashi nodded, making to way stand up, before he hesitated, rubbing the back of his head. He opened his mouth, but struggled to speak.

Seeing him stuck, Tysone sighed. "What is it?"

"Sorry..." Takashi said, at last. "You were right about Shido-sensei."

"Don't worry about it. You couldn't have known." Tysone replied, still looking outside. "You did what you thought was best. There's no shame in that. But you do need to be a little more decisive and ruthless. If not for yourself, then for the person that stands alongside you."

"Yeah, I think you're right."

Tysone wasn't entirely convinced Takashi really understood what he wanted to convey, but he'd learn the hard way. He decided to throw one last piece of wisdom his way. "You should go talk it out with Rei. She's actually quite pissed about what you did. Your relationship was not on solid ground yesterday. Being on bad terms when everything is a constant struggle is dangerous for both of you. In short, clear up the misunderstandings."

"R-Right!" Takashi bowed his head, making his way hurriedly towards Rei, who was in the process of waking up.

As for Tysone, he merely stood up and made his way towards Shizuka, who was blissfully asleep, with a trail of drool going down her chin.

Scoffing lightly, Tysone nudged the woman's shoulder. She mumbled incoherently in return, making him smirk. "Wakey-wakey, sunshine. Time to rise and shine. You slept well last night, so don't you worry about waking up cranky."

"Five more minutes..." The nurse muttered half-asleep, nuzzling deeper into her arms.

"I'm pretty sure zombies wouldn't care if you got an extra half hour of rest. Trust me, we won't either."

Shizuka whined.

"Get up."

"Hrrrnn... yeah. I'm getting up." Shizuka looked ready to just fall back asleep. Slowly, she stretched her arms above her head, back arching, her long, lean limbs almost distracting, with her shirt riding up and revealing a smooth, unmarked stomach.

It went without saying that her impressive breasts strained against the front of her shirt, making them even more prominent.

Tysone sighed. This woman would attract a lot of attention due to her appearance. Some of that would be unwanted attention, which would make things dangerous for them all, considering what a distraction she'd be.

"Anyway, eat this up quick and let's get moving." Tysone said, offering her an energy bar and a soft drink. "We should hit the road before we find ourselves trapped and overwhelmed."

"Aww, don't you have some beer back there? It might improve my mood~"

He raised his brow. "Do you want to be slurring your words while we fight the hordes of hell outside?"

"Now that you mention it... I'm starting to have second thoughts~"

"Eat up. Come on, we don't have time to fool around."

"Stingy." Shizuka pouted, but thankfully started eating her food and drinking up, despite her mild disappointment at the lack of alcoholic beverages.

...

It didn't take more than ten minutes before the bus rolled over the moaning horde and disappeared around the corner. As they drove past a particularly dense crowd, someone or something bashed into the side, but otherwise the ride was uneventful, all things considered.

Not only was it uneventful, but it was quite silent as well. The events of yesterday were still fresh in everyone's minds. Tysone decided to monitor everyone's mental state going forward. He couldn't have someone having a massive breakdown in the middle of a fight.

That being said, he was thankful it didn't affect them as much as he'd first assumed. 

On their way to the firing range, Tysone had Shizuka stop the bus a couple of times to restock on food and medical supplies, which they could never have enough of.

Of course, those 'restocks' consisted mostly of pilfered items from abandoned stores.

Eventually, the vehicle slowly came to a halt at the firing range. The once bustling and active spot was now littered with corpses. Taking into account the bullet holes riddled over their bodies, most, if not all, seemed to have been taken care of before their arrival.

Tysone leaned back in his seat as he put his foot on the dashboard, pondering their options. He scanned the area through the bus window, gripping his javelin. "Looks clear, but stay sharp. We don't know who did this or if they're still around."

Takashi nodded, holding his bat tight. "We should move fast. Grab what we need and go."

They exited the bus in pairs—Tysone with Saeko, Takashi with Rei, and Shizuka staying behind along with the others to keep watch. 

The entrance to the range was open, the lock broken. Inside, the smell of gunpowder still lingered. Spent casings littered the floor.

Tysone's eyes swept the room. "Someone was here recently." He mused.

"Definitely. I wonder where they all went." Saeko scanned the walls, a slight frown crossing her features.

"I suppose that remains to be seen." Tysone went towards the gun counters, the contents of each stand looted bare. The other displays were similarly empty, with only spent shell casings and crumpled bits of cardboard left behind. "It'd be a waste to leave empty handed."

He really wanted to get some firearms as soon as possible. The firepower would greatly help cover any lack of skill and make things generally easier. Black Label was well organized and equipped. It was stupid to think there weren't other groups around just as well armed and organized.

So, Tysone and his group could not allow themselves to be held back.

He arrived by the locked front door behind the register. He frowned and banged his fist against it in irritation, his frustration showing.

Saeko cleared her throat, raising one slender, tapered eyebrow as she glanced at him. "So...?"

"As I thought, the display cases are mostly looted, and all the safes have been forced open." Tysone muttered under his breath as he looked through each unlocked cabinet and locker.

"I'm pretty sure everyone passed by here. With such a thick horde on the highway, they probably couldn't resist clearing the area up." Saeko reasoned.

Tysone continued searching a metal crate, tossing discarded cartridges and boxes aside as he attempted to unearth a cache of untouched ammunition. "Perhaps. This is a popular spot. Plenty of folks use the place to teach others or to blow off steam."

After a long, fruitless search, Tysone slammed the lid back down, causing the sound of shuffling cardboard to echo. He stepped away, picking up the pace.

As he rounded the corner, he was met with the sight of another looted case. "Nothing? Let's head to the target range, then, I suppose." He scratched the top of his head, staring dejectedly at the empty display.

"Lead the way." Saeko motioned with a tilt of her head, grabbing one last empty box off of a shelf and chucking it in a nearby trash bin. "Maybe we'll find something there."

A faint sound echoed from the back—a soft shuffle. Everyone froze.

Tysone's senses told him that he wasn't alone. The instinct was validated moments later, when the source of the shuffling noise came bursting from behind a rack.

He motioned for everyone to not make any sudden sound as he slowly inched closer to the rack.

Whatever it was that made that noise, it was behind it. Saeko's eyes gleamed coldly as she tip-toed her way around, her bokken clutched in hand.

In one swift motion, Tysone stepped around the rack, his javelin ready to skewer the intruder, only to freeze mid-way and drop his weapon. A figure lay sprawled behind it, bleeding profusely from what looked like a bullet wound. "Hiro!"

"You..." Hiro blinked, blearily. It took him a moment to recognize Tysone. "Oh, that kid..."

It was obvious that the man's time was up, his voice sounding raspy.

"Oi Hiro. Talk to me." Tysone crouched, giving the man a few light slaps on the face to keep him from losing consciousness. "Come on, man. Talk to me."

Hiro mustered his dying strength to swat Tysone's hand away. "Shut the hell up, kid... don't slap a wounded old man."

"..." Tysone didn't know what to say. Hiro's face was pale and sweaty. His breathing was ragged, and blood had pooled up all around him. "Damn it… what happened, Hiro? Who did this to you?"

Author's Note:

If you're enjoying the story and want to read ahead or support my work, you can check out my P@treon at P@treon.com/LordCampione. But don't worry—all chapters will eventually be public. Just being here and reading means the world to me. Thank you for your time and support.