New Dawn Chapter: 076

'This isn't the same as our class.' Marin thought to herself. 'Maybe I can be a helpful member of this group.' She told herself as she watched the ease in which Tysone and Saeko cleared a bloody path around the fuel tank.

Even the most weak-looking chubby boy sniped down zombies left and right without faltering at the sight of their faces. His accuracy was deadly on point.

From her current perspective, she'd call them amazing.

Tysone and Saeko overpowered the zombies with strength and skill. Takashi and Rei were no slouches either as they could take on at least multiple zombies on their own without breaking a sweat.

"Am I seeing things?" Yui rubbed her eyes in disbelief.

"No, you're seeing everything." Marin breathed out.

Shizuka was now in a vacuum where no zombie could approach. It was like she was the eye of the hurricane, the rest of the group holding off any zombies from coming close to her.

It was an incredible display of skill, coordination, and courage. 

"Finished~" Shizuka giggled like a kid having fun, climbing back onto the bus and starting the engine again. Marin and Yui watched the unhurried gait of the nurse; they hadn't done anything, not that they needed to. At this point, intervening would've just made more trouble than it's worth.

The group quickly dispatched the last zombie nearby and promptly returned.

Tysone was the last one to board the bus. He took off the helmet, and the only sign that he had partook in a fight was the light sheen of sweat on his forehead.

After locking the doors, Tysone threw the helmet back onto his seat and went to check on Shizuka, confirming that the tank was now full and then asking her to return to their intended destination.

"You guys are good..." Marin said, staring at Saeko, who had her bokken between her arms.

Saeko flashed her a tiny smile. "Not as impressive as it might seem. All this is just the result of repetitive practice and trial-and-error."

Yui was quick to praise the older girl. "You're incredible, senpai! The way you slashed, bwish! The way those things toppled over like some bowling pins, ka-foom!"

"Eh~" Saeko was taken by surprise, but she refused to take credit for their collective effort. "A group like ours doesn't get to survive for as long as it did with a single individual acting as a hero." She laughed softly. "Every person plays their role and we all strive to watch out for each other."

"Is that so? Hehe~" Yui was all smiles.

"I'm sure you're quite amazing yourself." Rei chipped in, poking her head over the backrest of her seat. "You must have fought many zombies to survive as long as you did back in that school."

"Not as many as I'd like..." Marin murmured weakly.

Yui laughed weakly, opting to stay silent.

... 

Now that the group saw the addition of two more people, the atmosphere had become quite lively. Thankfully, they had enough food and supplies to share. Tokonosu City was filled with convenience stores, which made it easy to loot them during an apocalyptic scenario.

"We're almost there, boys and girls~"

The sound of Shizuka's cheerful voice was heard from the driver's seat.

Saya stretched languidly. "Finally! Will we sleep in comfortable beds today?"

Mai raised a finger. "We can't be careless! We should probably board the windows and—"

"—only leave the light on at night. Make as little noise as possible." Takashi pointed out the most important things.

Tysone tuned out the conversation behind him.

His shoulder and ribs ached. His body felt incredibly heavy. All he wanted right now was laying down on something softer than a goddamn bus seat.

"Umh, Ty?" Shizuka called out.

"Hmm?"

"What is that?"

Tysone's eyelids, which had been slightly sagging, flew wide-open.

Shizuka's slender finger pointed to a distant shadow in the road. With the speed they were traveling at, they'd soon reach that silhouette. From a surface inspection, it was obviously a zombie, but...

"Isn't it too big?" Shizuka asked, unsure. 

She squinted in its direction.

There were indeed numerous cars on the road, but the size of the shadow was vastly disproportionate to that of a normal human's. A zombie was a zombie, regardless of whether it was a man or a woman. Even kids' zombified counterparts possessed similar-sized silhouettes as their previous living selves.

But this zombie was way taller than the average person. At least a couple of heads taller than the surrounding horde—quite bulkier as well. "Must've been a peculiar individual when alive." Tysone muttered, not sure what else explanation could justify its sheer size. "Let's go around it for now. Our biggest priority is safety, so no unnecessary risks for the day."

He wouldn't admit it, but that towering, ominous-looking silhouette was unnerving him.

Shizuka gave him an affirmative thumbs up and turned the steering wheel. As the bus made a turn at the intersection, Tysone got one last, closer look at the zombie.

It stood there, unmoving. Tysone wouldn't have thought too much of it, until it suddenly lashed out with a burst of speed and strength that shouldn't have been possible for an undead being.

Its claws snapped towards a nearby, unaware zombie. Grabbed it. And bit down on its—

A concrete building slid into view, obscuring the sight of what Tysone, in his state of disbelief, could only describe as a zombie eating its own kind.

"What..." He breathed out, seeing the shock mirrored in Shizuka's eyes. "The hell..."

The weight on his shoulders seemed to multiply in that moment.

'What was that?'

He couldn't possibly claim to know everything about HSOTD, but cannibalism, surely, wasn't part of the infected's traits. They seemed to be attracted only to living flesh. 

So, what the fuck changed?!

...

Taking that detour meant a little bit of a delay to their arrival. The roads were congested with honking cars. Apparently, there was a roadblock of some sorts ahead. Tysone frowned in displeasure. The vehicle was now stuck in traffic.

And the noises were getting to his nerves.

"Aww, and we were so close as well." Shizuka pouted, taking one of her hands off the steering wheel to scratch her neck. "Ty-kyun, what do we do?"

Ty-kyun?

This woman...

He sighed, massaging his temples. "If you can't find a way, make one." He said. "Either force your way through, or reverse and look for a different route."

"Eehhh? There are too many of them..." Her pout turned into a tired grimace. She didn't exactly mind pushing through—if they didn't reach their next shelter in the next half an hour, it'd soon get too dark.

"Who cares? What are they gonna do? Pelt the car with stones?" Tysone scoffed, rolling his eyes.

Shizuka flashed a bright grin at the obvious permission she just got.

She leaned forward, adjusting the rear-view mirror, then revved the bus engine. The honking cars around them seemed to stop their noises for a moment, turning their attention towards the bus.

Shizuka steered the wheel all the way to the left, and drove slowly. The much smaller cars around couldn't possibly contend with the hulking monstrosity that was the bus.

Onlookers opened their doors, almost jumping away out of fear for their lives.

The bus forcefully made an opening to the left, pushing all the now empty vehicles aside, and cheerfully drove off, much to the protests of the bystanders. 

"Isn't it great!" She exclaimed, playfully waving her hand in the direction of the cars before sticking her tongue out.

Kohta sweatdropped as he looked back the outrage crowd stepping outside their vehicles.

The rest of the ride went on uneventfully and silently. And this time, there were no hiccups or detours as well. Before Tysone realized, the bus had slowed down and stopped altogether in a residential area.

"Alright, everyone!" Shizuka stood up from her seat, smiling. "We're here."

Everyone sighed in relief. Having a place to stay for the night was much better than the rock hard bus seats.

They stepped out of the bus one by one, and Kohta immediately squealed in excitement. "It's a Hum-Vee! And a military model at that!"

"See?" Shizuka gushed, as if that armored vehicle was hers. "Doesn't it look like a tank? Hehe~"

Saya glanced at a smiling Shizuka. "What kind of friend do you have?"

"Whoever she is, I doubt she'll mind us borrowing it for a while." Tysone said, passing by the Hum-Vee and towards the stairs, where zombies began to come out from. Naturally, everyone assembled behind him. Marin advanced towards the frontline, eager to prove herself. While Yui stayed behind. 

"Let's clear this place as quickly as possible, I'm getting sick and tired of walking and killing shit." Tysone clicked his tongue, irritated.

"Aye!"

Honestly, Tysone didn't have to do anything. The horde was small, and they were too far apart from each other to mob the group. He glanced at Marin, who was steadily increasing her kill count with each swing of her bat.

Blood soared each time she took a step forward. She was outdone only by Saeko, Rei, and Takashi.

Who'd have thought that the gyaru Marin Kitagawa from that romcom anime could've been capable of such prowess?

He smiled. 'The group is slowly expanding.'

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