Horde I

The blood rain continued for the rest of the day. A gloomy atmosphere enveloped the camp after the last call. Each has their thoughts in mind.

The next day, the blood rain stopped. It was decided they were going back to the Takagi Estate. The gloomy atmosphere remained in the group. The exception to this was Liam, who was racking his brains out in worry.

The journey back to their main base took longer than usual, primarily because the men had low morale, and their main fighting force aka Liam wasn't in his best condition.

After they arrived back at the base, they saw the devastating effect of the blood rain. The tents set up outside were littered with holes. Some people were cleaning up the mess left.

The expedition group was left tired after the events that happened so Souichiro has them rest properly. Meanwhile, he continued working and directing the camp.

.....

"Haaa," Liam sighed for the nth time this day. He leaned over the railing outside the mansion, watching people working to clean up the mess after the blood rain. It was the fifth day of the apocalypse and the news of the large horde was kept secret for now, even for the families of the soldiers stationed in the outpost as well as those of the workers in the plant.

"Did something happen? You and the group seem down." He heard a voice beside him.

"...I can't say it here," Liam glanced beside him and smiled at Saeko. "Thank you for worrying though, but we're okay. It's just..." He shook his head and didn't continue.

"Is that so..."

"Anyway, the blood rain devastated the camp this much." Liam changed the subject, "It caused us to be stuck too. Is everyone okay?"

"No one was hurt critically, though they did sustain minor burns. Luckily, Yuriko-san reacted quickly and gave instructions. The refugees are currently staying inside the lobby of the mansion." Saeko explained briefly. She was aware that Liam was hiding something but she didn't pry further.

"..."

"..."

The conversation stopped there. The two remained silent while watching the people work.

.....

Electric Plant Outpost~

The place was devastated as if a hurricane passed through. The small building that was treated as shelter by the troop stationed here was thoroughly demolished. Blood was everywhere with bits and pieces of flesh scattered.

Among them were corpses of zombies killed by the troops' final struggle which ultimately failed. The zombie horde was akin to a raging tsunami that brought destruction to this outpost.

Quite a distance from the now ruined outpost was the electric plant, a crucial facility. The scene was almost the same in the outpost, blood was everywhere, and zombie corpses were scattered but the facility was relatively intact.

Going further out, a few hundred meters away, there was the large horde of zombies. At the helm of the horde was a unique-looking zombie, its appearance was drastically different from the normal zombie. Whilst the normal ones still somewhat resemble humans albeit, with more rabid expressions, this new zombie was different.

It appeared completely different, standing at a height of over 3 meters, it had an exterior appearance that appears to be pure muscles. There was no skin and only some rocky armor pieces in some parts of the limbs.

Its head was covered in the same rocky armor plating which covered its eyes, only showing its mouth full of sharp teeth. On its back were small rocky spikes going from its head down its spines. Another thing to note was its large blade-like appendage growing out of its right hand.

The horde was marching together in a certain direction. It was the general direction of Shintoko Third Elementary School.

.....

"Huup! Haah!"

At the back of the estate, there is two youth. One was full of sweat, throwing punches and kicks at a target dummy. The other is busy cleaning the gun in his arms.

"Hey, Hisashi-san, why are you training like that? Wouldn't it be better to train in using weapons?" Kohta stared at this former classmate of his. Ever since Rei and, Takashi left, he has started training like this.

Hisashi stopped but didn't immediately reply. He thought back to a few days back when he and Rei broke up. Of course, he was saddened by it but not as much as he thought. Instead, what he realized was in their current world, he needed strength the most for survival. He thought of Liam and Saeko who were masters in swordsmanship. Kohta who was proficient in using guns, Rei with her spear, and Takashi...let's leave it at that.

The point was, he was pretty much useless in combat with his current state. Being a black belt in karate doesn't help much as it was extremely dangerous fighting zombies in close combat. He did ask for advice from Liam as the latter was proficient in martial arts from what they saw.

Their conversation that day was ingrained deep inside his mind.

"You want to fight zombies in close combat? Why don't you use weapons like baseball bats?" Liam stared at his kouhai in exasperation, while he knows close combat can be effective against small numbers of zombies, if someone was faced with numerous of them, that's another story.

Besides, Hisashi was only a high school student, even if say he is a black belt in karate, there are many factors that he needs improvement on before he can fight zombies in close combat.

"It might sound idiotic, senpai, but I don't think using a weapon fits me." Hisashi smiled awkwardly.

"Hmm, then my advice for you is to train your mind first. Otherwise, if your mind isn't strong enough, you will freeze in fear of facing numerous zombies without weapons. Also, try sparring with Saeko to get used to someone faster than you. I will also train and teach you some tips from my experience in fighting multiple zombies." Liam paused before smiling, "And if that's the path you wanted to take, walk it through the end. With enough courage and proper equipment, that fighting style would work."

"I'm looking forward to training with you, senpai!"

"Hmm, yeah. Though better be prepared."

Hisashi chuckled after remembering that conversation as it started his hell training as Liam called it.

"My reason is nothing special, I just feel that using weapons isn't for me," Hisashi replied. "Besides, I tried fighting zombies in melee and it went pretty well. Though senpai was with me and I was given gloves with hard knuckles."

"Hmm, I also like to try going out with this baby." Kohta caressed the gun in his hand. Oh, how he wishes to use his guns to kill those zombies.

"Haha, well..." Hisashi chuckled awkwardly, "–We have limited ammo so we have to use guns sparingly."

"..."

.....

At the same time at Shintoko Third Elementary School, atop a rooftop building, two military soldiers were stationed.

"Haah, just when are reinforcements coming?" One of the soldiers sighed. It was the fifth day since the apocalypse happened. They got the news from the higher-ups that reinforcements were coming to evacuate the remaining citizens.

It has been three days since that call but no one came. Three days might seem short but in their current situation, even an hour is vital. This is why some of the JSDF soldiers are losing hope that reinforcements are even coming.

"Hey, don't give up hope. I'm sure they're coming, maybe they were just delayed by the blood rain yesterday." The other soldier comforted his colleague.

"Maybe you're right..." Before the first soldier can finish his words, he heard some rumbling sounds. "You heard that?"

His colleague nodded, "Yeah, what is it?"

"I don't know," The first soldier shook his head. Then he noticed a dust cloud from the distance. He got curious and took his binoculars and tried seeing what the cause of the dust clouds was.

But he would soon regret this decision as what he saw brought him to despair. What he saw was a large horde of zombies with a unique looking one at the helm. The sheer number of the horde was enough to raze their camp to the ground.

Satoru trembled at the sight. He involuntarily loosened his grip on the binoculars.

*Tak!*

"Hey! Why did you drop it?" Saburo reprimanded his colleague.

"T-t-there's a la-large number of zombies coming!" Satoru shouted, "W-we're going to die!"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Saburo was confused as he saw his colleague trembling. He bent down to pick up the binoculars and see what made Satoru tremble.

When he saw the horde and how the leader, stared directly in their direction, he also dropped the binoculars in shock. He also trembled in fear but he controlled himself better than the Satoru.

"W-we need to tell our superiors."

.....

On the other side, the horde was moving at a steady pace. They flooded the streets of the city, and dust rose with each step they take. From afar, they appear as a black wave painting the city.

"#$%#%$#(Translation: We will have a feast later!)," Said the unique-looking zombie leader in incomprehensible language.

"Mnnrrgghhh!!!" The zombies roared in unison.

"$%&%," The leader smirked, showing its sharp teeth, staring directly towards the sentry and looking at it with the binoculars. It was different from the mindless zombies who only had the desire to kill and devour humans. The leader had enough intelligence that he can lead this horde.

"#$%&%$" It has already smelled the fragrance of food from the establishment in front, Shintoko Third Elementary School.

.....

Back at the Shintoko Third Elementary School, the military officers gave orders to their subordinates and prepared for an all-out defense. They were all scared as well by the number of the horde but evacuation isn't an option as the horde is already near them.

Some tanks immediately rolled out to the elementary school along with a considerable number of troops. This is the evacuation camp made by the army after all. So there is a considerable amount of troops stationed here.

"Ready! Fire!" One of the commanding officers glared at the incoming horde. In front of him were 3 tanks that they managed to bring after the apocalypse. With his command, the tanks fired toward the horde.

*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

Three shots were fired and directly hit the middle parts of the horde. It killed zombies in a radius of several meters where the shot landed. But the horde's advance didn't stop instead became faster.

"Hurry! Load the next shot!" The commanding officer shouted. The horde was only a few hundred meters from them.

"Y-yes, sir!"

Soon after another three shots were fired toward the horde. The troops lined up also started firing their rifles toward the zombie horde. Some were even throwing grenades and killing multiple zombies at once. But the horde didn't stop advancing.

It didn't take long before the large horde arrived at the evacuation camp and started a slaughter. And at the helm of it all was the horde leader.

"#$%$#%$ (Kahaha! Die, pitiful humans!)" The horde leader watched the slaughter happen in glee.

"Aahhhh!"

"Save us, anyone!"

"Mommy—!"

"Die, you fucking bastards!"

*Bratatatat!*

The chaotic scene of slaughter brought joy to the horde leader. He also joined the fray by killing humans easily. He cut them up into bite pieces and gleefully ate each bite.

Of course, the remaining JSDF troops tried fighting back, even civilians fought, but they were overwhelmed by the horde's number.

The slaughter continued till all humans were killed, all that was left after was blood splattered all over. The ground was dyed red with the blood of humans. A few thousand humans were slaughtered in this place with most being civilians.

No corpses were found as the horde leader ordered his subordinates to devour them all.

#$%%#%$ (What a wonderful feast!)" The horde leader chuckled, its mouth dripping with blood.

.....

Back at the Takagi Estate, a few hours after the slaughter, it was already night when Liam was once again called by his uncle.

Just after entering Souichiro's office, he was met with a gloomy atmosphere inside. He saw his uncle showing a grim expression.

"Uncle,"

Souichiro nodded at him, "We have grim news, this afternoon, we received another call from the Shintoko Camp. They were requesting reinforcements from us before the call got abruptly interrupted."

"That's—!" Liam thought of something, a worst-case scenario.

"Yes, I sent some of our men to see what happened but only saw a scene of carnage. No corpses were found, only dried blood dying the whole camp red." Souichiro said grimly, "I'm fairly sure it was the horde that did it. Worse still, they didn't see the horde in the area so we don't know where it currently is."

"This is the worst news right now..." Liam finally knew what the ominous feeling he felt since a few days ago was.

"We already warned the commanding officer of that camp but alas..." Souichiro sighed. "But, aren't those two friends of yours..."

"Takashi and Rei!" Liam finally remembered those two. They were more likely killed by the horde there but he wasn't sad or anything. He just felt a bit disappointed as he lose his former comrades.

"We should prepare to move before the horde gets to us," Souichiro said.

"Yes!"