The morning after the request began without unnecessary words.
Arthur walked out into the courtyard, where the bus—the same one they had used to break through the city—was already waiting. Hirano was tinkering with the engine, checking the oil and fuel. Saeko stood by the open door, her wooden sword on her back, her gaze calm and alert. Hana Uzaki came out last—dressed in jeans, sneakers, and a hoodie. Her blue eyes were dry, but her fingers, gripping the strap of her backpack, had turned white from tension.
"Twenty minutes," Arthur said. "Fast, quiet. No heroics."
Hana nodded. Veridis watched them from the garage—she had been ordered to stay and guard the house.
The city greeted them with silence. Not the dead silence that hung over the shopping mall in the previous days, but something else—taut, like a strained string. Zombies were rare, appearing only in small groups of two or three. Hirano drove the bus carefully, maneuvering around abandoned cars and debris. Hana sat by the window, peering into the grey facades of the houses.
"Turn left here," she said when an intersection appeared. "Two more blocks."
Arthur sat in the seat opposite her. He remained silent, but his gaze was fixed on Hana. He watched her clench her fists, bite her lip, and try to avoid looking at him.
"Tell me about them," he said suddenly.
Hana flinched.
"What?"
"Your sister and brother. What do they look like? Personality? Habits? I need to know what to expect."
Hana caught her breath. Then, slowly, as if recalling something very distant, she began to speak:
"Yanagi... she's smarter than me. Much smarter. She was always quiet, read books, did well in school. After our father passed away, she became even quieter. She's strong—stronger than she thinks. And Kiri..." her voice wavered. "We were just little kids when dad died. I was four, Yanagi was three, and Kiri was just a baby. They barely remember him. Now, Kiri... he's defiant, as a guy his age should be. Always rushing into trouble."
She tried to smile, but the smile came out crooked.
"I should have been there. When it all started. But I was at the university. Then—school, then this shopping mall. And they... they were left all alone."
"You couldn't have known," Arthur said.
"That's no excuse."
"It's a fact."
Hana fell silent. Empty streets passed by outside the window—overturned cars, broken storefronts, bodies that had already begun to decompose under the sun. The bus swayed softly over the potholes.
"Your mother is at Riki's house," Arthur continued. "She's alive. She's waiting for you."
"I know," Hana replied quietly. "When we return... when we all return..."
The required turn appeared ahead. Hirano slowed down.
"Almost there," he announced. "The house is behind that row of trees."
Arthur stood up and took his axe.
"Saeko—with me. Hirano—stay in the bus. If something goes wrong, start it and get out of here."
"And me?" Hana asked.
"You're coming with us. You know where they might have hidden."
The Uzaki house stood in the back of a small courtyard. The gate was slightly ajar. Overturned flower pots, Kiri's abandoned bicycle, and a torn curtain on the first-floor window lay in the yard. The silence was so dense that it made ears ring.
Hana rushed to the door and pulled the handle.
"Locked. From the inside."
Arthur inspected the door. It was old, wooden, but reinforced—someone had nailed crossbeams from the inside.
"Yanagi was always smart," Hana whispered. "She barricaded herself in. But she couldn't... she couldn't have known we were coming. She just locked up and waited."
"That means she's still alive," Arthur said. "If she had enough strength for a barricade."
He walked to the first-floor window. He shattered the glass with the handle of his axe—the sound carried across the entire street.
"We have a minute," Arthur said. "Climb in."
Hana scrambled up first—Arthur boosted her. Saeko followed. Arthur climbed in last. Inside, it smelled of dust and stagnant air.
"Yanagi! Kiri!" Hana's voice broke into a shout.
Silence. And then—a rustle. A faint, almost indistinguishable sound. A head appeared from behind an overturned sofa. It was a thin, pale girl with silver hair—Yanagi. Beside her, huddled close, sat a tall, lean young man—Kiri. He looked exhausted, but a spark lit up in his eyes when he saw his sister.
"You're alive..." Hana exhaled and rushed to them.
"I told you someone would come," Yanagi whispered. "I told you..."
From the street, Hirano's voice reached them:
"Arthur-san! They're coming! About a dozen of them!"
Arthur quickly assessed the state of the teenagers. Yanagi and Kiri were exhausted—sunken cheeks, dark circles under their eyes—but they were conscious.
"Let's move," Arthur commanded. "Hana, help Kiri. I'll help Yanagi."
He took the girl by the arm—she was weak but able to walk on her own.
Back through the window—Hirano was already starting the bus. Saeko covered the retreat. The first zombie appeared from around the corner of the neighboring house—Arthur took it down with one strike of his axe without stopping. Saeko finished off the others. The third one was hit by the bus bumper.
The bus door slammed shut. Hirano stepped on the gas.
Yanagi and Kiri sat in the back seat, wrapped in blankets. Hana sat beside them, hugging them both.
"Supermarket," Hirano reminded them, checking the map. "If we're lucky, it should be quiet there."
"We need to replenish supplies," Arthur nodded.
The supermarket greeted them with dark display windows. Arthur went in first, axe at the ready. Inside, it was quiet, but it didn't smell of decay—it smelled of food and candles. Someone had been living here.
"Come out," Arthur said loudly. "We are not enemies."
From behind a high shelf of canned goods, a woman slowly emerged. She was tall, dignified, with a piercing gaze. In her right hand, she gripped a long kitchen knife firmly. Behind her was another woman, shorter, holding a thin girl close. Behind them stood a young high school student in a uniform, and next to her, a woman with a kind but weary face.
Five of them. All alive. All women.
The first one—the one who looked like the leader—stepped forward and spoke calmly, almost defiantly:
"Did you come for supplies or for us? If for supplies, take them and leave. If for us, then we have something to talk about."