Kane and Aiko

Oyabun gave me a smirk and replied, "Nothing. I knew from the beginning that you're different from the rest of those zombies. And since you gave me the chance to see my daughter again, you could have my gun. It's useless for now since it doesn't have any bullets. But once you find any, that gun could help you too."

"But I will take this from you," the yakuza's leader continued, while playfully waving the pistol I had in my pocket. "You can keep the cool-looking one."

"Wait! I don't care if you noticed I can't die! I already spelt it earlier! All I want is an explanation for why you killed your members and locked us inside the store's room! If you have a good heart, you could've saved everyone inside!!" I shouted, while maintaining my look in the yakuza's eyes.

"It's because those people are selfish. You weren't there, so you wouldn't know," Oyabun answered, while containing his sorrow in his eyes. "Before that even happened, those people that I abandoned were selfish. They saved themselves and pushed everyone around as if they're nothing but objects. Even children participated in killing other people to save themselves because their parents asked them to. And when we finally reached the safe room, those people blamed each other. They kept fighting who would eat the last resources we gathered or who would find an exit."

"I tried reasoning with them. But nobody would listen to us, since we're a group of notorious thugs in the street. And when I showcased our strengths to lead the group, they stabbed my men in the back and kept their extra share for themselves. I didn't care about that. Believe me, I want to save the children too. But how could I if those parents already brainwashed them to save themselves?"

"So you left them to rot inside the room and saved your group? You even killed those two members inside the room without hesitation! Do you think that doesn't make you like one of them, or even worse?" I retorted, while glaring in Oyabun's direction.

"Actually, it's the other way around. I told them to exit the place, but those people never listened. I even offered them my protection, since they were still people like us. But even after that, those people spit on our faces and told us to leave. They said they can't trust us because we're the yakuza. I agreed, left the room, and went towards the rooftop. Those people were the ones who told us to lock the door. And when the zombies reached that room, they begged for us to open it," Oyabun explained, and sat on the concrete floor. "Those two members of my group also did the same. They took advantage of our situation and instilled violence over the people, which put more oil in the fire. They even killed other people to demand respect for them. But in my group, we don't do that shit. We don't kill random people just for fun."

"Which is why I killed them and made it look like an accident. All those who survived with me knew it all along," Oyabun added, and finally stood from the ground. "By the way, you can call me Kane. That's what my people call me here. I run this place and my people. They believe in me more than anyone in this world. Besides Aiko and I, none of these boys ever had a family. They chose to follow me and my ideals. While they're at it, these boys protect our families like we protect each other."

(Author's note: Kane means Warrior in Japanese. Well, that's what Google told me.)

Nobody can separate the bond that these yakuza members had, even if the world had turned grim. After Kane told his story to me, I couldn't open my mouth and give my opinion. I was not there when that happened, and I couldn't place myself in Kane's shoes.

Kane was a yakuza who had killed more than any police officer I knew. And I was a teenager who just entered my youthful university life here in Japan.

Even though those brutal scenes told otherwise, Kane was still a good man. If he wasn't, these people wouldn't follow him. And Kane would have already killed those defenceless siblings without threatening me.

"I believe you, Kane…." I mumbled, while resting my hand on Kane's shoulder. "You don't have any reason to lie. And we wouldn't want Emiko to have a lying father, do we? And by the way, the name's Fukuyo. Fukuyo, Kawai. I want my martini cocktail shaken, not stirred."

(Author's Note: That line came from James Bond)

Kane chuckled to himself and answered, "What a weird zombie you are, Kawai. You even have a weird name. But we are now living inside a zombie apocalypse. Anything could happen. And even though I tried killing you, you still remained optimistic."

"That's how I am. Weird and optimistic guy, splashed with a handsome look on my face."

"More like dirt and carcass."

I raised my eyebrow and retorted, "HEY! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU'RE TALKING TO HUH?! YOU WANT TO GO, PUNK?! I CAN TAKE YOU UP FOR YOUR OFFER ANYTIME!"

After we bickered, Kane ordered his troops to cease their threats towards the siblings and me. And effortlessly enough, those thugs let the two act friendly to them. They even apologised for their actions, saying that their leader ordered them to do it.

And that person who expressed his concerns was the man named Aiko, who was also Emiko's uncle.

Those two siblings looked at me with confusion, hoping they could receive some advice. I gave them a nod, telling them it was okay to accept their apologies and move on from the matter. Fortunately, those two accepted their forgiveness and conversed with the other three.

Aiko went towards Kane and me, with his eyes staring at my figure.

"Are you sure we can trust this…. thing, Kane?" Aiko asked, while studying my body.

I twitched my eyes and shouted, "Hey! I feel defiled, you know?! Have some decency with your eyes. You look more like a perverted thug than a gangster alone."

"Besides his filthy mouth, we could trust this zombie. It's not like we have any plan to accomplish apart from surviving and saving my daughter.... I'm sorry for your loss, Aiko. We can still find some cure for this virus and…."

"It's fine, Kane. My family is gone and turned into one of them. That's the world we live in right now. And I'm still grateful you did everything for this group," Aiko interrupted Kane's words, and tapped his shoulders.

Aiko afterwards turned his eyes towards me and crossed his arms. "So, what are you planning to do from here on out, Kawai? Man, is your name really spelt as Kawai? You know, the cute thing?"

"NO!" I answered.

After saying those words, Kane continued Aiko's sentence. "Your abilities include immortality and resistance from pain. You're like a dog who barks at anything you see, but actually uses your mind."

"We have no right to ask you this. But we need your help and your abilities to leave this place. My people would go to the shelter around Metro Suka Hospital. That's where my daughter's probably in since she sent me a text when this started," Kane carried on, and revealed his phone.

My eyes became a sparkling fireworks display when I witnessed Kane's phone lit up with some charge. It only meant that Kane had some power left inside his base, where he charged his phone.

Without a hint of doubt, I dashed near him and asked with glittering eyes. "DO YOU HAVE A CHARGER?!"

Kane blinked a thousand times before replying to my question. "Yes. We still have one functional generator left inside our hideout. But before we could enter beyond this line, we would have to deal with….. zombies."

Since the Shimbashi Station had an enclosed tunnel, we needed to tread onward and deal with other yakuza and civilians caught by the apocalypse. And if that was the case, those people had already turned into mindless zombies hunting for their food.

"Get down!" Kane called out for everyone's attention and instructed us to cover ourselves behind the train.

All eight of us entered the station undetected and avoided the zombie's radar before they could even spot us. Those mindless undead creatures lurked around the vicinity and found nothing but the concrete walls and floor. As soon as they noticed they wasted their time, those living dead resumed lingering in the place.

"We just need to follow this train to reach our place," Aiko said, while clicking his tongue. "And this train is around one mile! Who makes these things anyway?!"

"O-One mile?!" I shouted. "That's impossible!"

"I'm just kidding, kid. Rule number one, don't believe anything other people say. Rule number two, this train is around three thousand five hundred feet. Pretty short, isn't it?"