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[HOTD] Chapter 41 – Don Takagi’s Worries
🕑 Added 2025-04-14 08:33:58 +0000 UTCA few minutes ago.
In Takagi Mansion, Takagi Souichirou and his wife, Yuriko, stood in his office, looking at the refugee camp he set up in his mansion's garden. His eyes full of concern seeing his daughter nowhere.
"Is the plan going well?"
"Of course. All your subordinates, medical personnel, engineers, and people needed for self-sufficient lives such as those who know how to farm have been listed. We can move anywhere, but..."
"The unknown dangers are lurking."
Souichirou narrowed his eyes.
Indeed, there were countless mysteries awaiting him should they leave their home base here – one being why this catastrophe occurred in the first place without any warning beforehand or indication beforehand? What exactly happened? Who did it? Was anyone behind everything? And most importantly...
How long until things return back to normalcy again?
Heaving a heavy sigh; he gazed outside the window once more, observing surroundings beyond confines within the perimeter established by sturdy stone walls protecting inhabitants dwelling inside from danger.
"About the dog that you saw in the factory." Yuriko started. She remembered something when he mentioned zombie dogs before. "Have you confirmed it?"
"Yes. Two of my men who accompanied me to the factory confirmed it too."
"Then it will become a problem. If a dog can become a zombie, it's safe to assume cats and even bears, or maybe birds can turn too." The beautiful middle-aged woman crossed her arms. She stared at the wall with a contemplative look. "We can secure ourselves with tall walls, but it won't defend us against flying objects."
"That's right. But-"
"Excuse me!"
Just as they discussed the plan to survive further, the door opened widely and a man wearing a guard uniform entered the room. He was Nakamura. He panted heavily while giving his report to Souichirou.
"Sir! Miss Takagi and her group have gone missing!"
Souichirou's eyes widened and Yuriko gasped at the sudden revelation. Their expression shifted drastically within a span of seconds ranging between anger and confusion respectively.
"When? Where? How?"
"W-When I was on guard, one of Miss Takagi's friends returned while being covered in wounds. Daiki... He and his sister now come to rescue them in the mall. P-Please send rescue!" He bowed deeply. "The ambushers are... h-human."
"They went to a mall?" Souichirou scratched his chin. "Was it the mall near the school?"
"Y-Yes. Please send reinforcements."
"Then I'll send some."
Both husband and wife turned their attention to each other briefly before nodding resolutely simultaneously without hesitation whatsoever.
Their daughter had gotten herself caught up amidst chaos ensuing all around them; therefore urgent action was necessary. Not to mention the ambusher who attacked his daughter was another group of humans.
Left unchecked could potentially lead towards even greater disaster down road ahead. Moreover, this information alone provided adequate reason enough to warrant immediate intervention.
"Dear, send our men with guns. I will fortify our defense system in this place."
Yuriko advised her husband wisely, knowing full extent capabilities possessed by his subordinates.
"I will go myself with Yoshioka and Honda. Also, we might need medical attention, so I will bring the nurse that worked in Saya's school."
"That might be better. She can also drive the humvee to rescue them. Matsudo has fixed most parts already."
Souichirou nodded resolutely once more.
He then turned away and grabbed his sword resting atop desk surface behind him.
"Let's go." He said to Nakamura and walked out.
After calling Honda and Yoshioka to prepare themselves, Souichirou gave out commands. Moving fast was the key and they prepared themselves accordingly.
Shizuka was also informed and immediately agreed to help. Fortunately the medical tent had already calmed down after a hectic hour dealing with many patients.
And with haste, they departed towards the location.
Meanwhile...
***
"You subdued them all?" I asked Saya after entering the mall again.
Inside, we found Takashi, Rei, and Saya, standing in front of 3 grown men kneeling on the ground. Apparently they tried to attack the group once they entered, but Takashi shot one of them in the leg and threatened them to surrender.
As a result, no one else resisted and the rest surrendered.
"Hmph!" Saya snorted. She crossed her arms while glaring at the men in front of them, "Disgusting stupid bastards. You think I will let you lay a hand on me? You should be thankful that he didn't shoot further up, you stupid!"
From what she said, I could imagine their encounter with the men. They didn't need to elaborate on it to make me realize.
"Do you have anything that could bind them up?" I asked the group, particularly Takashi.
He nodded and told Rei to tie them up with the rope in the store. It seemed the survivor camp kept some equipment to capture 'unwanted guests'. Unfortunately, their rope would be used against them instead of the guests.
Also, the number of people here was too low, only 3 people left. We killed 4 earlier, so there should be more than this. But where could they hide? Maybe they escaped? Or did they get killed by a Tyrant?
"Oh right, senior." Takashi called me, handing me a gun, "This is the handgun you lent me earlier. I haven't used it yet, so I will return it to you."
"You didn't use this?"
"Yes, I picked the one on the top floor... You know, from the police that shot us. There are still 4 bullets, 3 now that I used one."
I raised my eyebrows, not expecting him to pick the handgun from before. I kinda left it behind back then because we had to move fast.
'Good thing they picked it up.'
It saved me trouble when going back to the top floor.
Anyway...
'I don't want to stay here for too long, but our stamina has drained. If I wanted to travel all the way back to the mansion, then we needed to rest for a bit longer. I have a good stamina stat, but everyone else doesn't have that privilege.'
Their complexion clearly showed exhaustion.
We had to rest at least until our reinforcements arrived. I already asked Miss Shizuka and even Nakamura to tell Don Takagi about Saya's whereabouts. But whether he could arrive in time was another problem altogether.
'Well, they are already late. If they arrived when we fought Tyrant outside, that would really help.'
