A Forest on Fire (KuramaxOc)

Ch 32: Sheer Dumb Luck

(Back on earth)

Maru leapt down from his watch above the alley and landed on the infected human's chest just as Botan knocked him to the ground. The little shinigami was stronger than he would have given her credit for. Together they had made their way through several city blocks now, and could see the entrance to the pub from where they stood.

"GET BACK INSIDE!!" Kenji shouted as Shizuru and Kaoru ran past him. Each held a different weapon in their hand. Kenji had the bat he had still been carrying from practice that afternoon, while Kaoru did what she could with an old metal snow shovel, and Shizuru struck another infected human in the side of the head with a lead pipe she had found in the back of the pub. Tyler stood just inside, clutching a crowbar for dear life as he stood in front of a group of cowering regulars, all trying to hide from the seemingly zombie invasion.

"Kenji, I love you, but if you try to play the big masculine hero again, I'm going to hit you!!!" Kaoru half-snarled as she aimed another blow at a man twice her weight, and managed to stun him long enough for Kenji to knock him out.

"When did you become such a freaking hothead???" The boy snapped, frustration and fear making him rather short tempered as he yanked the stubborn brunette back by the arm, seconds before a very strong looking man grabbed for her.

Kaoru yelped at first, then gasped as the man's big hands closed right where her head had been. She tried to slam her shovel over his head, but the man barely flinched.

"ALRIGHT THEN!!!" She shouted, then brought her knee up hard right between the infected human's legs. Brain bugs or not, that still got the brute's attention.

"KAORU!!" Kenji screeched as a second assailant grabbed her from behind, pinning her arms. He took aim and yelled, "DUCK!!!"

A flicker of terror filled the girl's eyes as she let herself become dead weight in the brute's arms, her body dropping like a stone, and dragging him forward headfirst into that swing.

"HERE'S A HOMERUN!!!" He bellowed, slamming the bat against the man's temple to send him flying across the street.

Shizuru whistled in appreciation, and slammed her pipe into a lady who was trying desperately to get past her into the pub. "Damn kid, where'd you learn to hit like that??"

Kenji grinned and rubbed his nose, a few second's gap cleared between them and the coming wave of zombies. "Heheh, My dad got sent over seas for a couple years to work on this big engineering project, he took me with him so I could get "culturally diverse" and meet my Gramps, since he still lives over there! He taught me how to play! My junior high coach cried when I told him I was moving back!" He paused, raising the bat again as a skinny man with glasses lurched for him.

"GOOOO KNIGHTS!!!" He bellowed, giving his old American middle school's chant as the metal bat pinged against the man's skull.

"BE CAREFUL!!!" Botan's loud screech echoed in their skulls as she raced to the man's side and started to... heal him???

"What the hell are you doing??? They tried to kill us, why are you healing zombies???" Kenji screeched, and Shizuru smacked the back of his head.

"For the last time they're not zombies! They're just infected, right Botan?"

The shinigami nodded as Maru caught up, his hood drawn up to hide his horns. "They can be saved." He stated simply, then turned to slam the edge of his Bo staff into the stomach of one who had drawn too close for comfort. "If the others succeed, they will recover."

Kaoru gasped, and crouched down to check and see if the one she had knocked out earlier was still breathing. Luckily, it looked like they were all still alive, though Botan had to rush to heal the one Kenji had sent flying.