~ Chapter 28: Arriving at Resonance High

[Kardian’s point of view]

The closer we got to the High School, the fewer Nano-Z we encountered on our way. There were many signs of survivors roaming around, barricaded windows and doors, unique symbols that only they understood, camping site remains and even signs of fierce battles. Nataly found it interesting that the survivors were already developing their own codes to talk to one another and recalled that the same thing happened on Planet 6 during the terrible blackout periods. On the other hand, Xerya didn’t see the use in these strange methods of communicating when the internet was still up and running. She considered that simple pings and tags on a local map was enough for every survivor to know what they were up against when visiting this area.

The idea she mentioned might have been used during the early days of the outbreak, but as time went by and the raider camps became an ever-increasing concern for everyone, they probably began to use other methods of notifying other survivors, methods that didn’t show their current location on the map and would allow them to flee in case they were spotted.

“Just two more blocks and we’ll reach the High School.” I said.

“Yes, but you look a bit concerned.” Nataly told me while Xerya stabbed her Retractable Blade in the head of the Nano-Z she caught.

“Well, I think that if the situation is as dire as Zuiza and Yumino described, then instead of heading there unarmed as we are now, we should first procure some rudimentary weapons at least.” I replied as I pulled back my Retractable Blade from the skull of a Nano-Z and then in calmly fashion extracted his nanocore.

“The Hand Cannon upgrade is not yet ready to use.” Xerya reminded us.

“Hm, now that you mention it, cyborgs are often one of the fastest to get infected by Zombolik. We are technically cyborgs in a way, so fighting against them without a problem would seem weird to the survivors.” Nataly replied as she looked over at the Nano-Z I killed.

It had a prosthetic leg which still functioned thanks to the nanobots, but it was also highly damaged from the altering process.

“Then, should we go for some spike clubs or something like that?” I asked as I looked around, trying to see if there was a tool shop that we could use.

“Over there!” Nataly noticed something on our right.

There was a sports shop there, so maybe we could indeed find some bats or some other blunt objects. The sign at the top belonged to a shop chain that I had seen back on Earth. They didn’t deal in fancy, athlete-only items, but rather in stuff that everyone could use to get into the sport they liked. Personally, I bought a few things from them as well, such as rollerblades, and table tennis stuff, but what we were looking for now was something a bit more dangerous. 

We made our way to the shop, which was called Blannero, and after we killed the three Nano-Z trapped inside, we began to browse.

“I found a cricket bat!” Nataly announced.

“It has a weird shape.” Xerya commented.

“I found a metal bat.” I told them as I waved it above my head.

“Oh! I also found some sport gloves! I like them!” she declared.

“I will take them.” Xerya said as she walked over and picked up the right sizes for both me and her.

“Hm, these are wooden swords, like that type you see in kendo.” I said as I noticed a barrel filled with them.

I picked one from there and swung it around. It felt sturdy and easy to use, but I didn’t know exactly how useful it was against the Nano-Z. When I wanted to put it back, I saw something at the end of the aisle. It was the mountain climbing section.

“That means...” before I finished my words, I was already there “mountain climbing axes!” I shouted.

“Huh? Really? I would have thought those were picked clean by now.” Nataly commented.

“Well, there’s only three left here, and the shelf is empty, so maybe they just took whatever they could carry?” I replied and shrugged.

“Sounds possible. Alright, I’ll use an axe. You will stick to the bat?” Nataly asked.

“You said you will use the axe, but I am the one moving the body.” Xerya pointed out.

“By now, it’s the same thing. I don’t mind if you are the one moving it, but you’ll need to follow my guidance if you don’t want to hit me by accident with it!” Nataly laughed.

“You are taking advantage of the fact that I am not yet capable of fully controlling all of your motor systems.”

“Maaaybe~?” the woman poked out her tongue, and I laughed.

“I do not find this funny.” Xerya gave me a rebuke.

“But, well, it’s not bad to have someone to tell you where you are making a mistake so you can better adjust yourself, right?” I said with a wry smile.

“This statement is true.”

“Then it’s settled! You drive and I guide!” she declared with a smile.

After we took our preferred weapons, we headed outside and searched for a few Nano-Z to kill with them. Nothing like a batch of fresh nanobot-infested blood to make things nice and gory. It was easy to find a couple of willing testing subjects, there were literally just a few steps away from the entrance. They were attracted by the sound of our voices, but since Xerya’s camouflage was in full action, they didn’t rush into attack.

One hour later, we managed to get past the two blocks and reach the entrance of the campus. As expected, there were less Nano-Z in this area because the students and teachers here hunted them down regularly, but once the Rabid Mode was activated, some of them would find their way here. From the looks of things, even the entrance was once a place where new survivors were welcomed by the military. The tents, although now ripped and stained with blood, were still there.

A small barricade made with school desks and various pieces of furniture kept the Nano-Z from entering, but such a flimsy defense would sooner or later crumble to pieces, especially if a horde came by and gathered on their way the ones we spotted and avoided the other day. With more than a thousand bodies pushing into this barricade, it would fall before you could count to ten.

The school’s doors were made out of glass, which wasn’t good at keeping these things away. The only viable defense they had was the protective metal door which was used when there was a strong storm outside, in order to protect the fragile glass from flying debris. Of course, that thing was quite robust, and a lot of stores used it too, but the main disadvantage it had was the fact that it could not be nailed to the floor. Eventually, the hooks would snap, and it would then be pulled up by the Nano-Z. I saw it happen at a general store in one of the news casts.

The stores back on Earth as well some of the state buildings were all protected by forcefields that could keep up with the relentless force of a mob of angry Nano-Z, but from what I understood, because the designer of this colony wanted the cities to have a more retro aspect, they ditched all the tech that would otherwise be considered normal in a modern city. After all, even flying vehicles were only used by the medical and military systems, while the rich had to pay special licenses for them.

Driving a car instead of a flyer was considered normal here. The ideas and concepts behind Planet 9 were the restart of civilization on one side, and a throwback on memory lane on another. It wasn’t for everybody, but right now, it felt like this decision was what led us to our doom.

“They could have at least installed emergency forcefields...” I grumbled.

Just when we were about to get over the barricade, I noticed something far from here, at the very end of this road.

“What’s that?” I asked as I pointed there.

“Analyzing.” Xerya was the first to reply as she immediately used the Eye-Coat to enhance my vision to the point where those tiny specs of dust were now so clear and detailed that it felt as though they were standing right in front of me.

What I saw was...

“A horde...”

“Looking at the visible numbers, it appears to be a small one of only 74 individuals, however, if they take a left at the next intersection, they might have a chance of gathering close to 200 more Nano-Z. Depending on how they will react tonight, the horde’s size might increase, or it will eat itself.” Xerya gave us the report.

“If it heads in that direction, then... what if it takes another right and then at the end of the block, another right?” I asked.

“They will encounter the street that we avoided. If the horde is stabilized tonight and then tomorrow pass through that place, they might have close to 1000 individuals within it. If it destabilizes and begins to eat itself in that location, then the nearby area will become the nest of several Mutated Nano-Z, turning this area into a highly dangerous zone even for us.” she explained.

“If we are going to spend the night here, tomorrow morning we should leave right away...” Nataly suggested.

“I agree.” I nodded.

Still, the thought that crossed my mind first when I saw that horde of Nano-Z slowly creeping in closer to our location, even if it was far enough from us to consider it harmless for now, was rather naive and maybe still immature.

What if the horde comes here and attacks the students? What if this is all just a big misunderstanding and maybe... I don’t know the whole situation with them? I don’t want to see them harmed, they were once my students and my colleagues... I’m a teacher, not an executioner or a murderer... I... as my thoughts continued to spiral out of control, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to relax.

“Is everything alright?” Nataly asked out of concern when she saw me acting like this.

“I-I’m alright... just a bit worried... I’m alright.” I shook my head and then when I placed my hands on my hips, I touched the gun that I never used.

This thing is still with me... I thought as I took it out of its holster, which I completely forgot where I found it.

“That’s a NeoGlock 9Z. Although primitive compared to a Gattler or a 9-Lighter, with a good aim, you can take down even a cyborg. Although, it’s useless against armored types who have shielded skulls. For those guys, you need to aim at the eyes in order to incapacitate them and then run away while you still can.” Nataly explained with a smile.

“Yeah... it can easily kill a human, right?” I said, but not as enthusiastically as her, my words barely rolled off the tip of my tongue.

“Do you... Do you know how to use it?” she asked with a bit of concern this time in the tone of her voice.

“Never shot a gun in my life, but I can learn. Although, to be frank, I wonder if I can...” I said as I frowned. Do I really need it? I wondered and then when I looked at Nataly, I remembered that she was a beauty who was trained to use these things at their maximum efficiency. “Here, you take it... I might shoot myself in the leg if I’ll try. I’m a teacher, not a soldier.” I showed her a wry smile.

“Kardian that...” before she could finish her words, Xerya intervened.

“I do not know how to use this. I decline.”

“Just keep it somewhere hidden and safe... just in case.” I told her.

“Understood.” Xerya greed and then took the gun and stashed it in the most inconspicuous place I could have thought off: right between her breasts.

I blushed.

“Well, technically, I am the right size to hide something like that there...” Nataly added, seemingly surprised as well by Xerya’s act.

“There is enough room there. I can also try to use the nanobots around the mammary glands to camouflage it from scanners.” she replied with what sounded like a satisfied tone of voice.

I refrained from commenting, but at the very least, I was glad that the gun was now in safer hands. If anything, this also showed that I trusted Nataly more now, and hopefully, it would not be long now before Xerya would let her use her body again. Out of the two of us, the SAI was the one that had to be convinced that she could be trusted.

With my mind cleared of that burden, I looked towards the entry gates of Resonance High, the place where I went to teach children about the wonderful world of Philosophy, History, Religion, and on some occasions Art. I was once a teacher there, hoping to inspire those kids to reach for a future that was more blissful than I could ever hope for.

Back on Earth, while I did live in the areas that were called a slum, even those places needed schools and teachers. I did my best there, but watching children getting rounded up by the local gangs for their turf wars or seeing how my words could not reach them when they needed them the most was probably what made me run away from there. Yet, despite my best efforts, I felt afraid, thinking that once I entered the school, I would be met with the same gazes that looked at me for hope only to realize that they could never achieve it.

Someone once told me that we, as human beings, were not the masters of our own fate but rather the fools who happened to experience it. Sometimes, those fools ended up under the heel of others or were the ones who stepped down on those under them. Life was cruel and sometimes playful like this, but fate had nothing to do with it. What we saw and what we lived through was nothing more than a simple experience, that was it.

Honestly, at that time, I rebuked him, thinking that he wasn’t seeing things straight, however, when I looked now at the broken windows of the once beautiful Resonance High, and my nose was filled with the rotten stench of the dead, I could not help but wonder... if maybe, just maybe I really was just experiencing an unpleasant fate?