"Uncle... the teachers and students from my school are outside," Takashi Komuro pleaded, stepping closer to Soichiro Takagi. "Please, open the gate. Let them in."
But Soichiro shook his head coldly.
"No. The gate stays shut until every single zombie out there is eliminated. If we open it now, it'll be over the moment those undead get inside."
"But, Uncle... those zombies can't even get close to the gate," Komuro said, pointing toward the fallen zombies just outside the fence. "We just need to move fast. They can get in before the next wave arrives."
"NO!" Soichiro's voice suddenly rose, his eyes glaring fiercely at Komuro. Firm and unyielding.
"Pa—"
"Silence!" Soichiro snapped angrily. "If I say no, then no! Do you think it's that simple? Everyone here is fighting for their lives, and you want to open the gate?! Are you blind, Komuro? Look around you!"
He pointed wildly in every direction.
"Zombies are everywhere! You're risking letting even one slip inside. Do you want to see children and women here get bitten and chaos erupt? Everyone's morale will crumble if that happens! Don't be reckless!"
His anger boiled over, but it was rooted in reason. He was thinking of every soul behind these walls.
Takashi Komuro fell silent, unable to argue any further.
With heavy steps, he turned back to the gate.
Behind the iron bars, faces full of hope stared at him—Koichi Wisteria, a teacher he deeply respected, standing with exhausted, terrified students.
"Teacher..." Komuro whispered. "Please wait. After the zombies are wiped out, you'll be allowed inside."
But Wisteria gripped the gate in panic.
"Komuro! Look! Zombies are right behind us! We don't have time! Open the gate now! We can close it again from inside, they won't get through!"
The other students begged alongside, their voices trembling.
"Komuro, please... we don't want to die..."
Komuro tightened his grip on his staff.
His heart screamed... but his hands held fast on the gate's lock—too afraid to move.
Decisions aren't always born from courage. Sometimes, they come from guilt... and helplessness.
Komuro stared at his classmates.
Their voices trembled with desperation, their eyes filled with hope.
But inside, his heart was in chaos.
He truly didn't know what to do anymore.
Above them, standing on the Takagi residence's balcony, Soichiro Takagi observed the scene with calculating eyes. He noticed there was only one horde of zombies left outside the gate. Numerous, yes—but not unstoppable.
With commanding authority, his voice echoed through the compound:
"All units, get on top of the containers! This is the final wave. Eliminate them—then we're in the clear!"
The armed guards didn't hesitate.
Climbing the stacked shipping containers that formed their makeshift barricade, they took positions and aimed down.
Tak! Tak! Tak!
Gunfire erupted like thunder, echoing through the air.
Rotting flesh burst open.
One by one, the undead dropped to the ground, their blood and filth painting the earth red.
Meanwhile, down at the gate, Koichi Wisteria's eyes lit up with urgency.
The guards were no longer watching.
Now was their only chance.
"Komuro!" he shouted, his voice strained. "There's no one guarding the gate! Open it now! We'll close it as soon as we're inside—no one will even notice!"
"Please, senpai! Just unlock it!"
"Komuro! We're begging you!"
Their pleas rained down on him like a storm.
Komuro looked around.
No guards in sight.
Just the groaning of the dying undead and the desperate voices of people who had once laughed beside him in class.
His hands shook.
Guilt. Fear. Responsibility.
He moved.
Each step to the storage room felt heavier than the last.
He found the key.
And slowly, almost in a trance, he returned to the gate.
From the balcony, Miyamoto Rei caught a glimpse of his movement. Her eyes widened in horror as realization dawned.
"Komuro! Don't open it!!" she screamed.
Her voice sliced through the air.
But Komuro kept walking.
He inserted the key into the lock.
Turned it.
Click.
The gate creaked open.
The survivors outside surged forward, pushing through before Komuro could react. He stumbled and fell, the key slipping from his grasp and clattering to the ground.
Chaos.
From above, Soichiro Takagi heard Rei's scream. A knot of dread tightened in his chest.
He turned sharply—only to see it.
The gate.
Wide open.
And just beyond it…
The iron gate creaked open.
Before Komuro could react, a rush of desperate survivors burst through the opening. In their panic, they knocked him over like a rag doll. The key slipped from his fingers and skidded across the concrete.
Up on the Takagi estate balcony, Soichiro Takagi flinched as Rei's scream reached his ears. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong.
He rushed to the edge of the railing and looked down—only to see the gate fully open and its frame dented from the sudden surge.
> "Komuro! Close the gate! Quickly!"
His voice boomed with authority and urgency, echoing through the compound.
Komuro scrambled to his feet, dizzy and disoriented, his mind still reeling. He turned back to shut the gate—
And then he saw it.
A classmate—someone he recognized—was on top of another, teeth sunk deep into their neck. Blood sprayed in arcs. The scream was cut short, replaced by the sickening sound of tearing flesh.
> They've been bitten...
> No... infected.
> I let them in.
His breath caught in his throat.
> "Krak! Sruupphh... Ggrrhhh... chomp chomp... Krrsshh—!"
The sounds were grotesque, inhuman. The ones who had just entered—their bodies now twitching, writhing—were turning before his eyes. Panic exploded among them. One by one, they were attacked, dragged down, bitten.
It was chaos.
Komuro reached for the bat strapped to his back and swung.
Crack!
A zombie's skull split open. Another rushed him—he turned, parried, struck again.
But it was too late.
The bitten survivors had already rushed past him, running deeper into the safe zone.
> What do I do? What do I do?
His eyes scanned the chaos, landing on Wisteria-sensei—bloodied, limping, eyes clouded.
> He's been bitten too...
Wisteria and the other infected were headed straight toward the survivor camp.
Without another thought, Komuro turned and sprinted toward the Takagi mansion.
The front door was still open.
"Rei, we have to get out of here! Infected people just got inside!" Komuro shouted, his voice cracking as he sprinted into the Takagi residence.
"Why did you open the gate? Didn't I tell you not to?" Miyamoto Rei's tone was cold, almost accusing.
"I didn't want to… but they're from our school. I had no choice, Rei. Now we have infected survivors inside," Komuro replied, face pale with fear.
He glanced at Rei, desperate.
"Heh, you caused chaos in the camp and now you don't even know how to fix it. Just want to run away, huh?" Rei taunted, eyes sharp.
"I'm not running away. I just want to save them… save everyone," Komuro said, trembling.
Suddenly, panic-filled screams pierced the air from outside:
"Don't bite me! Please!"
"He's infected! Run!"
Both Komuro and Rei snapped their heads toward the noise. Rei swiftly grabbed the pistol Soichiro Takagi had given him, then dashed outside. Komuro opened his mouth to shout but swallowed it, turning back inside.
From the balcony, Soichiro Takagi looked down at the chaos unfolding in the survivor camp. They had barely held off the last wave of zombies, but now, someone had opened the gate at the worst possible moment — letting zombies and infected inside.
He took a deep breath and shouted with authority:
"Yoshioka!"
"Yes, Mr. Takagi! What's the order?" Yoshioka called out, ready.
"Take your team to the back, where the women and children are. Get them all into the containers prepared. Before they enter, strip them down to check for any bites or scratches. Lock the containers from outside. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!" Yoshioka immediately sprinted toward the rear area with his team.
Soichiro Takagi's voice cut through the chaos, sharp and commanding.
"Teams One and Two, move out—now! Eliminate every zombie approaching!"
"Teams Three and Four, assemble around me! Secure the camp area where the women and children are sheltered. Hold your positions—do not leave until everyone is safely inside the containers!"
"You all understand what's at stake. Behind you are families—children, wives, loved ones. Do not abandon your posts until they're safe inside!"
"Yes, sir!" came the unified response from the armed personnel.
Without hesitation, they descended and sprinted toward the camp, weapons raised and ready to fire. Upon arrival, they engaged the zombies trying to break through the perimeter where the vulnerable were hiding.
"Fire! Fire! Fire!" bursts of gunshots echoed sharply.
The relentless hail of bullets pushed the zombies back, forcing them to retreat step by step. But amid the horde, some zombies had already sunk their teeth into the guards at the rear lines.
Chaos erupted when some of the infected survivors—those turned into zombies—launched attacks from behind. The front lines suddenly found themselves surrounded and caught in a deadly maelstrom.
Many fought with desperation, struggling to hold off the infection creeping through their veins. In the confusion, no one could tell who was still human and who had already become one of the undead.
The situation spiraled into hell in mere minutes.
Zombies swarmed from all directions, their numbers multiplying by the second. Armed personnel were cut down one after another. Miyamoto Rei stood firm on the balcony steps, her hands steady as she fired round after round. But it wasn't enough. There were simply too many.
From the top balcony, Soichiro Takagi watched the battlefield unfold beneath him.
His face remained composed, but his eyes—aged and weary—betrayed a deep sorrow. He knew then: their defenses had fallen.
A voice confirmed in his earpiece: all women and children had been secured inside the containers. The doors were locked from the outside.
Soichiro drew a deep breath and shouted with all the strength he had left:
> "Fall back! Everyone, fall back! Take the tunnel—it's our only way out!"
The remaining guards scrambled to retreat, following Soichiro toward the main house.
But then—
> "AAARGHH!"
A scream pierced the air.
A zombie had broken through the line and sunk its teeth into Soichiro's back, dragging him down.
> "SIR!!" Yoshioka roared, unsheathing his sword in a flash and severing the creature's head with a single swing.
Rei dashed down from the balcony, rushing to the scene. Together with Yoshioka, she knelt beside their fallen leader.
Soichiro lay there, blood seeping from the bite on his shoulder, staining the floor beneath him.
> "T-Takagi-san..." Rei whispered, her voice shaking. She looked down at him, eyes trembling. She couldn't speak.
Soichiro looked at her. His eyes were fading, but his voice still held a trace of command.
> "Miyamoto Rei... kill me. I don't want to become one of those things..."
> "I... I can't..." she choked, backing slightly, the pistol trembling in her grip.
> "Rei. Now. End it," he rasped. "Get into the tunnel. Tell my daughter... I won't be there to protect her in the days to come. Let her listen to her mother instead..."
Yoshioka gritted his teeth, his grip tightening around the bloodied blade, his eyes burning with unspoken grief.
Soichiro turned to him next.
> "Yoshioka... protect Miyamoto Rei. Take her to Kenthelion. Tell him... save the women and children..."
His voice weakened, each breath more labored than the last.
"Takagi-sama..." Rei bit down on her lip, trembling as she lifted her pistol. Tears streamed freely down her cheeks.
"I'm sorry... I'll deliver your final message to your daughter."
Bang!
The single gunshot rang out inside the crumbling house.
Soichiro Takagi slumped to the ground, still. Gone.
Outside, flames began to consume the estate. Screams, gunfire, and explosions slowly faded—replaced by an eerie silence that wrapped around the night like a shroud.
From a ridge in the distance, cloaked in shadow, a squad of camouflaged Death Troopers observed through thermal scopes.
> "Mission complete. Two survivors confirmed," one of them whispered through silent comms.
> "Good... Leave them. The Emperor has taken a liking to the woman," replied a deep, distorted voice—the Inquisitor.
Without a sound, the Death Troopers melted back into the darkness, as if they had never been there.
Takagi Estate... had fallen.