New Dawn Chapter: 075

"Sorry for earlier, I'm sure you understand that being cautious is necessary, given the circumstances." The man began, sighing softly. He had an air of weariness about him, almost like an invisible burden weighing him down, but even with that said, his eyes never wandered or wavered. "I'm Tysone, and I'm the leader of this group. What are your names?"

"Marin Kitagawa."

"I-I'm Yui Yuigahama!"

Tysone's eyes narrowed as he tilted his head, looking like he was desperately trying to recall something, but whatever answer he sought remained elusive like smoke slipping from his fingers.

Marin, though, wondered what this was about. Did he really expect her or Yui to be familiar? Maybe Yui knew who he was.

"Nice to meet you, even if it is under such strange circumstances." Tysone said in a measured, businesslike tone. "Just as a rundown to avoid future problems. I make most of the decisions here, though you can still voice out concerns or proposals as long as it doesn't endanger the group. If you think I'm about to do something that might lead the group to doom, feel free to speak your mind. However, if I deem you both a liability or otherwise untrustworthy, you'll be thrown out. We don't run a charity service here." He spoke as though his words were laced in cold, hard steel. "You're free to leave whenever you want, if you so decide. We lived up to our moral obligation of helping you."

And then he turned around and made his way to the big-breasted driver.

Marin slowly processed all this.

Yui, sitting next to her, tugged at Marin's sleeve. "He doesn't sound friendly..." She whined softly.

It wasn't as if Marin could fault the guy for being like that. To be honest, they owed this group, especially their leader, their lives.

"Don't mind him too much." Marin's eyes shifted towards a row of seats right next to her. An orange-haired, beautiful young woman said with a tired, comforting smile. "The last people we helped turned out to be quite the assholes, so Tysone can't be faulted for his coldness towards outsiders. Trust takes time to build. I'm Rei Miyamoto, by the way."

"I'm Kohta, nice to meet you." A chubby, awkward-looking guy greeted shyly.

"Takashi." Another guy, dark-haired, sitting by himself, nodded in their direction.

"Saeko. Just call me Saeko." The one from earlier, who had thoroughly inspected Marin and Yui, smiled gently. "It is a pleasure meeting you two. Forgive us if we come off a bit unfriendly. I'll explain how we operate as we go, though the premise should be easy enough to understand."

Then Mai, Miku, and Saya leaned in, each of them introducing themselves. 

Marin blinked a few times, slightly taken aback by how the members seemed to be nothing more than mere teenagers. Only Tysone and the driver, who she learned to be Shizuka—a nurse—were adults.

After inquiring for a while, she finally understood the layout of their group. The reason they appeared to be an oddly youthful group was because they were survivors from their high school.

It was honestly impressive that such a large group had managed to band together and survive the death trap their school had become. Not only survive, but drive out in style with a fully functional school bus.

They were even bedecked with new clothes and supplies, the vehicle filled with cases of food, water, and first-aid kits. The group must've cleared every nearby store to find the number of snacks, cans, and other dried foods stuffed into the cabinets.

They looked like they knew what they were doing, putting each one of them miles ahead of the students of Shinju High.

After a brief summary of their experience, Rei raised her hand. "This is perhaps the best opportunity for you guys to share your story. After all, knowing each other will make future conversations a lot easier."

Yui and Marin exchanged a brief look before the former nodded in response. Then, their eyes landed on Saya. Marin started recounting what had occurred on their side, from the first to the second day, where Marin lost Gojo, and Yui her friend Yumiko. That part of the story got them bawling their eyes out once again.

Marin told them how she had to kill so many infected, how she had almost died a couple of times.

Saeko saw occasional flicker in their eyes, the guilt and horror reflected there.

A stretch of silence ensued. There wasn't much anyone in the group could do to alleviate the two of them from such trauma, they would have to overcome it on their own, with their own strength.

Saeko gently comforted them, while Kohta ran to fetch two cans of soda.

...

From further away, Tysone stole glances and rubbed his jaw as if contemplating something.

"You alright, Ty?" Shizuka asked, airily. 

"Don't worry, it's nothing." He shook his head. "How long until we get there, Shizuka-sensei?"

"Not long~" She sighed, a cheerful smile playing upon her features. "Though we should stop by a gas station to refill the fuel tank."

Tysone nodded, looking at the fuel meter. "Alright. There should be a gas station nearby. We might as well stop to stretch our legs and check on our supplies while we're at it."

"Ayeee~"

Tysone's eyes lingered a little longer on Marin and Yui. That familiar nagging at the back of his mind told him that he knew Marin from somewhere. Blonde hair. White skin. Pretty face. Quite the stereotypical pretty girl in an anime.

But that choker around her neck, or the way she tied the hem of her shirt into a cute knot. Those glossy, pink-tinted lips. Even her dyed blonde hair, with pink tips. Marin Kitagawa, whose love interest was Wakana Gojo.

'Ah, I see. She's from that one anime... never watched it.'

But he did stumble upon clips and videos of her.

Then there was Yui Yuigahama. She didn't spark any sense of familiarity, but she was equally beautiful, with pink-reddish hair. She looked like a harem character that had accidentally wandered off the set of a rom-com anime.

Did it even matter, at this point? Two characters from rom-com anime. What worth could they have in the midst of the literal apocalypse? Pointless fanservice for the higher entities that decided it was a great idea to throw a bunch of anime girls into a survival horror setting? 

'Fantastic.'

Next thing he knew, a mecha pilot and a magical girl would pop out of nowhere, offering their superpowers as a way for the cast to fight against zombies.

A sigh escaped his lips.

"Ohhh, it's full of zombies." Shizuka's observation dragged Tysone out of his thoughts.

He turned his attention towards the road ahead, where a dimly lit gas station by the roadside was teeming with the undead. For any normal group of survivors, the numbers would make even going into the gas station impossible.

But this group wasn't like any normal group.

In fact, even Shizuka wasn't overly worried after going through this a number of times.

"Knock down a couple and stop by the fuel tanks. We'll provide cover while you quickly top off." Tysone ordered, getting up from the seat. He looked towards Marin and Yui. "Can you fight?"

Yui froze up from the sudden question. Her tear-stained face was now locked onto the floor.

Meanwhile, Marin nodded resolutely. "Yes!"

Tysone gestured to Kohta, who readily came forward with two metal bats. "Go for the head or to put 'em down permanently." He said as Kohta handed them the weapons.

Marin gripped it tightly with a glint in her eyes.

Yui, on other hand, tried to mirror her friend's confidence with little success. "Y-Yes! Let's kill them!" Her hands trembled, and the unease on her face was almost painful to look at.

Kohta noticed this and tried to offer words of encouragement. "I can stay close by if you need some support."

"Thank you, but... I'm fine. I can handle myself." She plastered on a bright and friendly smile for his benefit.

Saeko, Rei and Takashi swung the doors open just as Tysone turned around, being the first to climb down and take to the frontlines.

"Here goes." Tysone wouldn't use his pistol unless absolutely necessary. The number of zombies wasn't overwhelming. His trusty javelin would be more than enough. He twirled it in his hand; it had become an extension of him. Not too heavy. Quite easy to use. Got the job done.

A zombie barely had time to react that its head had been impaled and torn open by the javelin's iron tip. By the time it fell down, two more zombies behind it had been skewered as well.

Marin, who had been watching from the safety of the bus, had her mouth agape. "What the..."

Then Saeko, Rei, and Takashi came out as well.

Kohta sniped them all down from the rear.

Mai, Miku, and Saya weren't individually skilled, but when together they could hold their own very well—at least they were vastly better and more composed than the ragtag group Marin was momentarily part of back at Shinju High.

Shizuka walked out calmly as she cheerfully hummed a tune. 

It was then that Marin realized she wouldn't have to fight, because this group casually killed anything in its path.

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.