Chapter 11: Ep 11 - Smoke
The bus sputtered, coughed, and finally died, its engine shuddering to a cold halt amidst the crumbling remains of a long-abandoned shopping center. Kanata slammed his hands against the cracked dashboard, frustration boiling beneath the grime and sweat. The city was a maze of ash and silence, the distant skyline of Shinjuku a blackened silhouette against a blood-red sky.
Serizawa sat beside him, her face pale but sharp, eyes scanning the ruins beyond the shattered glass. "We can't stay here," she said, voice low and steady. "We need fuel if we want to get anywhere near the base."
Kanata nodded grimly. "Right. Takiya, Kanami, and Godou—guard the bus and watch our backs. Serizawa, you're coming with me. We'll look for gas." His voice was calm, but his gut churned with unease.
She gave him a short nod, then they slipped quietly from the vehicle into the crumbling streets.
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The ruined mall was a skeletal shell of what it once was—shops with broken windows, skeletal mannequins still draped in tattered clothes, cars abandoned like carcasses in the parking lot. But the air was thick with danger. Kanata's senses sharpened; something about this place was wrong.
Serizawa walked beside him, clutching her pistol tightly, eyes darting from shadow to shadow. "Be careful," she whispered. "People here... they've changed."
Kanata grimaced. "You mean like the zombies?"
"No," she said, shaking her head. "Survivors. Feral. Dangerous. They don't trust anyone anymore. They set traps to keep others out."
As if on cue, a faint click echoed beneath their feet. Kanata's heart leapt as he grabbed Serizawa's arm, yanking her back just as her foot triggered a wire stretched between two rusted poles.
A hidden panel snapped open, revealing jagged spikes aimed straight at her.