《Ito Ai: A New Dawn》


 Chapter 1: A Second Chance

    --An: Also check out my other novel: Yue Of The Moonlight--


    "No! No! It can''t be like this."


    Rain pelted the young woman''s face. The Rain droplets rolled down her cheek, mixing in with the blood that was dripping down from the wound on her head. Kneeling in the mud looking up at the large machine in front of her. Feeling helpless at the sight of the new type machina. No matter how many rounds from her assault rifle she fired, the shield on the new type machina was impenetrable. Standing twenty meters tall, its metal frame shined under the blinking lights of the broken telephone pole nearby. The entire young woman''s unit who had come to recon the newly built machina factory was completely wiped out, leaving only her alive. She raised the gun in her hand, a crazed smile on her face. Her eyes shining with murderous intent. Something you should never see on a twenty four year old young woman.


    "Haha!" The young woman let out a laugh before yelling out: "You fuckers! We created you! Gave you life! Now¡­ Heh... Is this humanity''s fate!? We tried to play god and ended up being smited by our very own creation!"


    A bright red light began to form on one of the main guns on the new type Machina. The young woman showed no fear as she pulled the trigger on her gun.


    *Click!* *Click!* *Click!*


    "Hah! Figures... " Raising her head, her crazed smile widened, her eyes showing signs of despair. She did not want to die but at least in death, she can escape this hell. Dropping the gun in her hand, she raised her hand up and stuck up her middle finger towards the new type machina has she yelled out: "Fuck you!"


    As soon as her words fell a bright red light flooded the area, destroying everything it touched.


    ---


    *Riiiiinnnng!!!!*


    "Ahhh! The fuck!?" Waking up in a familiar yet strange room. The young woman looked around quickly trying to figure out what was going on. "Wasn''t I just blasted into nothing? What is going on? How am I alive?"


    With these questions filling her mind as she looked around the room. The young woman knew where she was but she was in a state of shock. She couldn''t understand why or how she came to be in this place. The place she was in was her bedroom from before the rise of the machines happened. The day when everything happened, not only her home but ninety percent of the city was destroyed. Her friends, her family, everyone died on that day. Only she survived because of her father sacrificing himself by hiding her under a pile of rubble and luring the first generation Machina''s away.


    The young woman reached over and turned off the alarm clock next to the bed. She still couldn''t understand what was going on. She felt confused and began to second guess her memories. Everything she experienced seemed so real. They were clear as day, not like a dream at all.


    She remembered everything clearly, humanity was on the verge of extinction thanks to the rise of the machines. Dubbed Machina, they ravaged the world with only one goal in mind. Total destruction of the human race. In just one year''s time during the year 2021, a Japanese robotic engineer made a huge breakthrough in sentient A.I. in a secret lab based in Tokyo. It was on that day when everything changed. They did not even have time to implement any protocols into the new code before it had completely spread throughout the world via the internet. By the year 2021 everything was basically connected to the world wide web so the A.I. was able to infiltrate everything. Planes, cars, even the nuclear weapons systems that each major power had.


    It was a complete doomsday. Nations with nuclear missiles became radioactive wastelands as their own missiles which were supposed to be used for defense were launched on the lands they were designed to protect. The world''s population was cut almost to just a few tens of millions in a matter of seconds.


    No one was ready for such a thing to happen. Planes fell from the sky and cell phones blew up in people''s hands. After a week of terror, everything seemed to have settled down. No one knew how it happened but the A.I. program somehow began jumping to non-internet connected devices. Normal cars and trucks off the grid began to rampage around. Major automotive factories became a blood bath as the machines that were used to build the cars began attacking humans.


    These same factories were where the first type machina were created and they were created at an unprecedented speed. No more than a month had gone by when the streets were flooded with these new type Machina''s that were small in design but very quick. They had no weapons but two small legs on the front that were razor sharp. These machinas would charge at people and stab their legs into them. Maiming the person they attacked to death. Standing no taller than that of a three year old child, with a hard metal shell, it was not easy to take them down.


    Completely confused the young woman picked up the cell phone on her nightstand and looked at the date. "Six months¡­ Six months before hell on earth for the human race begins. Before that happens I need to stockpile weapons and food. I also need to make sure my family can survive the ordeal that is about to take place¡­ But¡­ What if it was all just a dream? Right now I am only fourteen years old. Even if it was real, who would listen to a fourteen year old? It had to be real. I mean, I spent an entire ten years in that hell. Ten years'' worth of memories. I had to learn so much just to stay alive¡­ Comrades that I fought side by side with died one after the other. I can remember some of the images of their bodies being sliced apart by the shredders..."


    These thoughts would normally make any young girl squeamish but for this young girl, it was nothing. She had gotten used to the sight of blood and guts splattering all over the place. The shredders were large machina on wheels that would use its large saw blades to destroy everything in its path. She had seen some of her closest comrades being split at the waste causing their innards to spill out onto the ground.


    The young girl got lost in thought only to be brought back by the sound of a voice coming from downstairs. "Ai! Get down here and have breakfast!"


    "Mom..." The young girl''s name was Ito Ai. Her eyes watered up listening to the voice she had dreamed of hearing for so long. She quickly wiped away her tears and got up from her bed. She took the uniform that was hanging on the wall and slowly put it on. Her white shirt was untucked and hung over her grey skirt. She didn''t even put on socks as she walked downstairs barefooted.


    "Ai! Why are you dressed like that? And your hair is all over the place!" Ai''s mother Ito Shizue had her hands on her hips and looked at her daughter in disbelief.


    Ai looked down at herself and saw nothing wrong with how she dressed. It was only when she saw the look in her mother''s eyes that she realized that she had dressed how she normally would in her dream. She also didn''t care either. Quickly coming up with an excuse Ai said: "Mom, it''s fine. I overslept and I need to hurry. Plus it''s not like I am trying to impress anyone at school."


    After finishing her words Ai grabbed a piece of bread and rushed out the door. Not caring for her mother''s stupefied look. Although she was happy to see her mom and wanted nothing more than to talk with her. She knew right now was not the time. She had to figure out how to acquire the things she will need before six months'' time.


    She decided to try to confirm if things she believes she dreamt about were real or not. She figured by going to school as she normally did in her dream she could get a better grasp of whether or not it was real or if it was truly a dream. Either way, she wanted to confirm things first. She had recalled on this day there was supposed to be a fight right outside the school before classes arrived. It was the same day her best friend Nakano Mia was hurt due to being caught up in it. That day she had gone to school a little later and missed the scene of her friend getting hurt. She had arrived when Mia was already on the ground crying. That is if her dream was real.


    As she turned the corner to the street to her school she heard a ruckus going on outside the school gates. Two boys Kawabata Hiroshi and Oki Renjiro were fighting away. She saw her best friend Mia next to them trying to stop the fight. Seeing her best friend trying to be the hero, as usual, Ai, without any hesitation, ran forward.


    "Kawabata senpai! Oki senpai! Both of you stop now before the teachers come!" Mia yelled as she tried to wedge herself in between the two. But no matter how much she pleaded with the two boys they completely ignored her and continued throwing more punches.


    Before Mia even realized it a fist was headed straight for her face. She completely froze in fear. She could only close her eyes and wait for the pain. But even after a few seconds, the pain never came. She opened her eyes to see that someone had caught the fist before it hit her face. A familiar voice floated into her ears. "Are you two fucking idiots? You fight out here in public throwing fist all over! Did you ever think what might happen if you hit an innocent person? Fuck! What retarded things happened between the two of you that you decided you wanted to beat the shit out of each other!? No wait don''t even answer that, because it''s more than likely some stupid fucking reason."


    Everyone at the scene all stopped what they were doing and stared at the petite girl in front of them with her hair unkempt and her shirt untucked. Even the bow on her shirt was not tied up and dangled from her neck. Yet even though she looked messy she seemed to have this overwhelming presence that made you not want to look away and listen to everything she had to say without any objections. For Kawabata Hiroshi, Oki Renjiro, and Mia they were all dumbfounded. Especially Mia and Oki Renjiro. Mia was dumbfounded because she had never heard Ai speak like this before. She sounded like a gangster with how she was talking. As for Oki Renjiro, he was confused as to why he could not move his hand after the girl who looked so weak that the wind might blow her away at any moment, had grabbed ahold of it.


    Ai''s eyes narrowed as she looked at her two seniors in front of her. "Are you done?"


    "Huh? Uh¡­ yes..." Kawabata Hiroshi stumbled his words as he was still trying to get a grasp of the situation after being berated by Ai.


    Not getting an answer from Oki Renjiro, Ai placed her gaze on him causing him to feel a chill run down his spine. "And you Oki senpai?"


    "Done! Completely done!" Oki Renjiro couldn''t take that gaze anymore and quickly replied.


    "Then stop standing around like two idiots and get your shit together. The first bell is about to ring. Mia, let''s go!" Ai did not spare the two boys another glance as she grabbed Mia''s hand pulling her through the school gates. This incident proved one thing. It seemed her memories were not wrong and what she had lived through before was real. She could feel the familiarity in her movements when she jumped into to block that punch. Not to mention the fight itself had truly happened. "It seems I was given a second chance at life..."

 Chapter 2: The Need To Become Strong

    --An: Also check out my other novel: Yue Of The Moonlight--


    Mai kept stealing glances at Ai as they walked down the hall to their class. She was trying to figure out what kind of alien possessed her friend. When she thought of how Ai, was able to stop Oki Renjiro''s fist like it was nothing and then went on to scold them into submission, she couldn''t help but find it strange and think that Ai was possessed.


    Ai could feel Mai''s eyes glued to her for a while now. the gaze was starting to make her feel a bit uncomfortable causing Ai to say: "Mai if you have something to say then just say it. Otherwise, staring at me like that is going to make me think you fell in love with me when I saved you just now. "


    "Who would fall in love with you!" Mai quickly replied but blushed since Ai was right, she was staring a bit too much. "I was just trying to figure out what alien possessed my best friend. What''s wrong with that?"


    "If I was possessed I would have let you get hit back there. But I didn''t which means I am still one hundred percent the same Ai I was when we first met all those years ago when you still wet the bed." Ai teased. But she could understand where Mai was coming from. The fact that she showed up to school in such an appearance was one thing. Then when you toss in the fact that she stopped a seniors fist right in its tracks with very little effort is another. It was natural for people to find someone weird when they suddenly changed so much.


    After living ten years in hell even the differences between man and woman no longer mattered. They were always fighting with very little time to care about one''s appearance. Hell, she even took showers and bathes with the opposite sex, along with other women as well. There was never anything sexual about this though. It was mainly because they had no choice. If they had a chance to bathe they all had to wash up at the same time ina group or else if they were separated they would become easier targets to the machinas. It had to be said that the water they used to wash in was normally rainwater or any open body of water for that matter.


    Trying to take a hot shower or bath was a luxury that was basically nonexistent. So things like combing your hair or making sure you were wearing clean clothes were not something you worried about. The only concern people had was trying to stay alive. Ai couldn''t even count how many times she almost died until that fateful encounter with the new type machina. But now that she had a second chance she planned to turn her skills and knowledge of what was to come to use.


    Some might wonder why just because of one coincidence between real life in what she thought of as a dream made her believe that the world would be coming to an end in six months'' time. Some might think she was losing her mind. But for Ai no matter how strange she acted she would not care what people thought about her. Now that she had confirmed her dreams to be a reality in her own mind, she decided that at lunchtime she would skip the rest of the day.


    To her, the girl who was next to her was her best friend from years past. But now it was like they were strangers. After going through such hardships and bloodshed, one''s mentality would change completely no matter how hard they tried to stay the same. Ai was no different in this aspect either. Six months from now she would not even know what had happened to Mai nor did she care too much about that.


    She had to worry about herself and immediately family first. After the first day, people went insane, they ran through the streets looting and killing each other. If not for her mother and father protecting her during that time, Ai knew she would not have survived. Even after the first type machina emerged only a few people banned together. It was not until the second type machina did humans really begin to try to work together for the same goal, survival.


    "Ai! Ai! Are you listening to me?" Mai reached over and pinched Ai''s arm bringing her back to the living.


    "You know Mai it would be nice if you did not use so much strength in pinching me." Although Ai had gone through many hardships, her fourteen year old body was not as tough as her twenty four year old body. Ai decided right then and there that she would need to train this out of shape body of hers. Thinking of this, Ai paused her steps causing Mai to run into her.


    Rubbing her nose Mai looked up at Ai: "Ai?"


    "Sorry Mai, but I need to leave. Tell the teacher I did not feel well and went home." Ai did not even wait for Mai to say anything before turning and running out of the school building.


    "Ai!?" Mai yelled out but did not give chase. "Why is she acting so weird today?" With outputting much more thought into it, Mai walked to her classroom.


    Outside the building, Ai found a tree near the school wall and climbed up it. The Physical Ed teacher was blocking the main gate waiting for the late arrivals, so she had to find a different way out. Her plan was to do some hard training in the woods not too far from the school. As far as she could remember these woods were relatively safe so she could train to her heart''s content without extra worries.


    This was good because her worries were already numerous as it was. At least she wouldn''t be adding in any new ones any time soon. She originally planned to go to school for the day to make sure everything she had been through was not a dream. But the fight had already proved this, so now she wanted to get her training done. She needed to be strong.


    In what you could now call her past life, when she crawled out from underneath the rubble she was all alone. Fourteen years of age and she had to learn to survive in a world overrun by machina, and evil people. Trudging through the murky waters of the ruined city trying to find even a scrap of food or clean water to drink. She remembered she had diarrhea for an entire weak to the point where she almost died from it. If she did not have such a strong will to live at the time and forced herself to find fluids to replenish what she was losing she would not have lasted.


    It was also during this time that Ai had to kill a human being for the first time. She would remember that day for as long as she was alive. Some pervert had trapped her and tried to rip her clothes off. Luckily during her struggle, she was able to knock the man silly with a rock. She had no idea what came over her but once the man fell down she pounced on the man like a tiger and continued to use the rock in her hand to smash the man''s head in. When the man went completely limp, with blood and bits of brains flowing out of his head. It was only then that Ai realized she had killed someone for the first time.


    The first time was the worse. She lost her stomach right then and there making her already bad condition worse and cried nonstop. But after doing it five more times after that, whether it was to kill for food or to fight off an attacker. She became numb to the idea of murder and a new ideal of what was right or wrong began to imprint itself into her. The need to survive in this new hell she was tossed into was the only law she believed in.


    The first time she picked up a gun, she was fifteen years old. She found it in an abandoned police car along with three clips. It was then that Ai felt like she held great power in her hands. She loved the feel of the cold steel that made up the gun as its coolness penetrated her skin. She had instantly fallen in love with it.


    She fell in love with the gun, even more, when three days later when it saved her life and she killed her first, first type machina. She remembered it clearly. She was rummaging through the debris of a destroyed supermarket hopping to find a can of food for her meal for the day. It did not matter what was in the can as long as it was edible. She had even eaten dog and cat food as if it was a rare delicacy. Some days she even had to resort to picking out what she could from the trash.


    But it was on this day when she was lifting a beam when she came face to face with a first type machina. It was already damaged but it was still very powerful. As soon as it was free from the beam it tried to lash out at her. Unfortunately, she was not quick enough and was slashed in the eye. She had lost partial sight in her left eye from that day forth. Ai chuckled to her self as she remembered not only was this the first time she killed a first type machina but it was also the first time she swore loudly over and over again. Which at that time she did not realize had become a very bad habit. Her very words were: "You want to fucking slice my eye!? I will fucking shoot you dead you fucking piece of shit scrap metal!"


    Ai remembered that she had unloaded an entire clip into the thing ever after it had stopped moving. Luckily it was damaged enough that it basically stopped working after benign shot once.


    Letting out a sigh as sweat dripped from her brow, Ai looked up at the blue sky and the green trees that covered the land. "To think in a few months, I won''t even be able to see the sky any more¡­ But I must take this time to train myself no matter what. The most I can do is scout out a few places that might be safe for myself and my family. As for everything else, it will have to wait until I can find weapons after the apocalypse hits. I mean who in their right mind would sell a fourteen year old a gun. But that will all change as time goes on. At least, for now, I should stockpile as many blunt weapons as I can get."


    Thanking for a moment, Ai could only think of one way to get what she needed for now. "I guess tonight will be a long night..."


    She planned to go out after midnight and nicely borrow a few things from the houses a few streets away. She wanted to get any kind of object she could use as a blunt weapon for defense. She could use what was in her house but she wanted to make sure she had a small stockpile. She would also stock up on jugs of water. She could even get her father to help with this by saying it was for a school project since he would not even check with her teachers to find out if it was true or not. There was still so much to do and so little time, she just hoped she will be able to get enough stock to last the first month.


    "Looks like I will need to steal a shopping cart here soon to transport items around. I can also set up some buckets outside to collect rainwater. Old jugs as well. I have a feeling I will be getting yelled at by my parents soon. But at least they will not throw it all away... At least I hope they won''t..." With her thoughts straightened out, Ai dropped to the ground and began doing pushups. After a set of pushups, she did situps and then continued this cycle once more. She spent a good half her day alternating between shadow boxing and her work out routine. When she felt like she was about to collapse from exhaustion she decided it was time to take a nap before continuing. Which she had already spotted a nice big tree with wide branches that could hide her well.


    As the sun set, Ai sat on a swaying tree branch as she looked out over the horizon at the sunset. "This body is truly weak, just this little bit of exercise has already been difficult. But I will endure. No matter what I need to become stronger."

 Chapter 3: Planning

    Ai jumped down from the tree but stopped short when she saw a familiar face in front of her. "Mai? Why are you here?"


    Ai was confused, she was sure no one was following her when she came here, so she had no idea how Mai even knew she was here.


    "Ai¡­ I couldn''t help but think that something must be wrong. The way your dressed today and your hair. Not to mention the words that came out of your mouth earlier. Did something happen at home? Did you get into an argument with your parents? If you need a place to stay for a while you can come to my house, there is no need to sleep outdoors..." Mai''s eyes began to tear up. She was truly worried about her best friend.


    When Ai first left in the morning Mai went to class and told the teacher that Ai was sick and went home. After the first class ended, Mai couldn''t stop worrying and ran out of the school. She asked around the streets if anyone saw a young girl with unkempt hair in a school uniform with an untucked shirt. After asking almost ten people she finally found someone who saw Ai walking towards the forest. When Mai found Ai, she was already working out. Mai decided not to disturb her and watched from afar.


    Mai could see the desperation in each movement that Ai was making. It was as if she had no choice but to work out and become strong. What amazed Mai was when Ai began to start her shadowboxing. Her movements were fluid and perfectly refined. Mai couldn''t understand how or when Ai had learned martial arts. They had grown up together so she knew everything about Ai, even the brown mole on her butt! So it confused her how her friend suddenly knew how to do martial arts and why her attitude changed so drastically just overnight. Mai couldn''t help but feel something was wrong.


    Seeing how concerned Mai was for her, Ai really did not know what to say. She was not used to people caring for each other. When in battle she had seen these so called best friends toss one another in front of each other to block an attack. All because they did not want to die. It was a very common occurrence which made most people loners. Even she had used a few people as shields. But she always used people she did not know well. During that time, the survival of the fittest was law even in war. No one would blame you for doing it either.


    Scratching her head Ai let out a long sigh. "Mai, even if I told you why I am the way I am now, you would think I was crazy and try to get me to go get my head checked."


    She really did not know what else to say. If she tried to explain, she would just sound crazy. Who in their right mind would believe a fourteen year old girl who says that she had been reborn after spending ten long years in hell before dying at the hands of a machina? No one! They would think she was going through some kind of delusional fantasy to escape reality. Which is why she had yet to say anything to anyone. She did not want to come across as some kind of crazed lunatic.


    "Ai, no matter what you tell me I would believe it. In all the years that I have known you, You have never lied to me. Not a single time. You have always been honest with me even if it would make me mad. I have complete trust in my best friend who I have known since we were born." Mai''s eyes showed no hint that she was being sarcastic or lying. This made Ai let out another sigh.


    "So if I were to say that I was just recently brought back into time from ten years in the future where we will need to fight for our lives against machines that were created by a sentient AI that will be created in six months. That I lived in a hell were just to survive you had to kill other humans. Would you believe me when I say I was almost r*ped many times and during those times that I have had to kill the person trying to force themselves on me? That I have watched people I considered comrades die in front of me over and over. Some of which died because I used them as shields. Who the fuck in their right mind would believe me!?" Ai did not know why but talking with Mai was like opening a dam on her closed off heart caused by what had happened to her in her past life. Tears rolled down her face as she let everything she had built up inside her out for the first time in her two lives. Those days were hard. Very hard! Wiping the tears in her eyes, Ai looked at Mai to see her reaction but was stunned to see that instead of looking at her like a crazy person, Mai was actually crying.


    "You poor thing!" Mai yelled out as she bawled her eyes out. She ran over to Ai and hugged her tightly.


    At that moment Ai''s only thought was: ''There was someone not in their right mind right here in front of me.'' Ai gave up and awkwardly rubbed Mai''s back, she was not used this kind of skinship.


    A few minutes later, the two sat below one of the trees leaning their backs against it. Ai had told Mai everything that had happened to her and how everything starts. She even told Mai that she had no idea what happened to her after the fall of humanity. The more Ai talked the better she felt. She found that Mai believed her one hundred percent. Without any doubt. Just having one person believe in her words was good enough for her.


    "Mai. Over the course of the next few months, I will be preparing for the day when the apocalypse happens. If you wish, I can help you train as well. Also¡­ If you would like the night before things happen, stay at my house. I would love to try to save your family as well but us being kids and them being adults, more than likely no matter what we say they will not listen. Unless we can come up with a plan to lock them all up in my house that night¡­. " Both Ai''s and Mai''s parents were very close. Hence why both daughters'' names sound so much alike. They wished for the two girls to become like sisters and their wish was granted. The families would normally always have a get together once a week.


    "I have an idea!" Both Ai and Mai said at the same time. They looked at each other and laughed. "You go first Ai, you are in a sense the older sister now are you not? Obaa~ chan~!"


    Ai shook her head and laughed. Sadly she could not refute what Mai said. It was true her mentality was much older than Mai''s. "Well, it''s simple really. We can force our parents to have a get together the night before all hell breaks loose. They usually drink quite a bit when they do so all we have to do is spike their drinks with some sleeping pills. Then it''s just a matter of locking them up in the basement."


    "I was thinking the same thing about the dinner but did not think farther than that. This will work out well. But you said your house collapsed. How are we going to survive if it collapses?" Mai was confused, Ai had said that their whole house was demolished on that day.


    "The basement will be fine. Actually¡­ I will need your help. We will need to dig a large hole in my basement. There is a small room that only collects junk and no one ever goes into it. If I remember correctly, the floor there is still dirt and was never cemented over. If we work together and dig a large hole there to make a small bunker we can hide out there for the first week. It might be a bit cramped, but it will be worth it in the long run. No one will get injured and only after shit has hit the fan, will I be able to explain things to everyone. If you truly believe me Mai I will need your help. There will be no more school for us. We will need to set things in motion now. Any slacking will be bad. What do you say? Do you believe me enough to basically drop out of school now and help me prepare or will you go to scho.. "


    "I will help you! Ai, do not look down on me. I do not say things and mean something else. When I said I believed, I truly believed you, my best friend for the past fourteen years. If you say our lives are stake, I would rather reach out and grab the hand that is there trying to give me a path to survival. School? Who has time for that!" Mai stood up and placed her hands on her hips as she scolded Ai. Ai could only let out a laugh. This was her best friend. The same girl who always stood on her side, even if it meant she would get in trouble as well.


    "Alright, alright. Then starting tomorrow morning you will need to meet me at the entrance of this forest. We need to train our bodies. For the next two weeks, our bodies will hurt so bad we will wish we were dead. But after those two weeks, our bodies should be a lot stronger and used to the daily routine. We will train here in the mornings and then work on digging the bunker until evening. I will go get the necessary tools to do this tonight." Ai was happy she had some help and at the same time, she could at least help her best friend survive the first onslaught of the apocalypse. What happens after the machina appears is up in the air. That will to survive at any cost was imprinted deep in her soul.


    The two walked back home saying their goodbyes at the door. They lived right next to each other so this made things easier for them. Even their bedroom windows were right next to each other. If either one was willing to make the leap of faith they could climb into the others window with ease.


    Ai walked through the door to her house to be greeted by her mother who had her arms crossed across her chest with an angry expression on her face. "Ai! Where did you go all day? Your teacher called me at work and said you skipped school!"


    Ai felt bad about what she was about to do since she knew it would hurt her mother''s feelings but she had no choice. It would be better that they yelled at her every day for being a "delinquent". When six months pass they will see that she did this for their own safety. "So? It''s just school. It''s not like it will help me much anyway. I rather go out and play games and read magazines than go back to that boring place."


    Ai''s plan was simple, she would use the soft approach and just say it as if she was going out to have fun. If things really got to a point where her mother was forcing her to go to school, she would always use a trump card that will make her mother feel more pity for her than anything. But for now, she will start soft, so she doesn''t traumatize her mother. "Don''t give me that look, mom. I will go to school tomorrow okay?"


    Her anger fading a bit, Ai''s mother, Shizue''s face softened a bit. "You better! I understand you are in your rebellious stage but you need to go to school so you can get a good job in the future! If it happens again you will be grounded. Go wash up and then come eat."


    After washing up and a filling dinner in her belly, Ai returned to her room and pulled out all the black clothes she had. After picking out some skin-tight black clothing she quickly went downstairs to find one of her father''s black beanies. It was just the right size to cover her face. She cut a few holes in it for her eyes and mouth. Once she was done she put her clothes on and tucked the beanie in the hem of her pants before climbing into bed. She now only needed to wait for her parents to go to sleep before she climbed out the window.


    Her bedroom window was relatively easy to get out of since it had a fire escape leading down to the ground. Not to mention it was only the second floor and Mai''s house was about three feet away. She could also easily brace her body between the houses and slowly climb her way down that way as well.


    It was around midnight when Ai''s parents finally went to bed. Ai slowly opened her window and quietly climbed down the fire escape. As soon as her feet hit the ground she dashed off into the night to begin her search for the tools she would need. Her first stop was the supermarket, in hopes of finding a shopping cart that was left out. She needed something to use for transporting the items she was going to need.


    The moonlight shined down lighting up the darkness of the night. This part of the city was at the cities edge. So although part of it was heavily populated there were still a few places that had wide-open yards. To the south was where Ai''s school and the forest was located. To the north was where the shopping centers were. This was her current destination.

 Chapter 4: Training, Digging, And Thievery! Part One

    Ai made her way to the supermarket only to find a group of teens out front causing a problem. "Hey, hey! What do we have here? Why is a pretty little thing like you with a pig like this?"


    Ai frowned when she saw the five young men. They were all around seventeen to nineteen years old and they were actually harassing two of her classmates. Sighing Ai decided to help. She was only helping because they were blocking the shopping cart she needed. Ai looked around and found a brick on the ground. She picked it up and walked out from behind the tree. She was not confident that she would be able to defeat them all easily but if anything she could at least injure one or two and let the boy and girl escape while she had the young men''s'' attention. With her mask covering her face she had no need to worry about people finding out who she was.


    Ai walked up as if it was the most normal thing to do. In her past life, she learned one thing. If you were going to take someone''s life to gain the food that they had you act friendly at first so they will put their guard down a little and wait for an opening so you can attack. "Hey, guys what''s going on! I told you to meet me at the restaurant!"


    Ai stood behind the group of young men with her hands behind her back hiding the brick she was carrying. The young men all turned around to see the little girl standing there staring at them through the two cut out holes in her beanie. Seeing the black cloths and black mask pulled down over her head with only her hair sticking out caused the young men to burst out laughing. "Hahah! What is this!? Are you a fucking superhero!? Hey, little lady how about this. This big brother will teach you what it means to become a woman. How about it? From what I see you have a nice body. So even if your face is ugly, it doesn''t matter, this big brother will do you right."


    "Oh? Does big brother really wish to do me right? Then come here and teach this little sister what you mean. I do not understand." Ai spoke innocently causing the young man''s eyes to brighten real quick. With a big smile on his face, he turned to his friends and said: "Sorry guys it seems I have a date tonight so pleas..."


    *Bam!*


    "Oops! My hand slipped! Did you really think I would let a fucker like you touch me? Ba~ka!" Ai sneered under her mask and charged at the closest stunned young man with her brick in hand. Before he could even react he felt a sharp pain in the side of his head and everything became hazy as he stumbled to the side and fell to the ground.


    "And here I thought this would be a tough fight. It seems you guys are just all talk!" She was truly surprised to see that these young men were nothing much when it came to fighting. In her past life teens of this age became fierce to the point that it was very hard to fight some of them off unscathed. She remembered once when she was seventeen two young men around her age tried to r*pe her in a convenience store while she was searching for food. She had really taken a beating at that time. She was punched in the face so many times she had lost count. Her eyes were both swollen and blood dripped from the corner of her mouth. They had even managed to rip her shirt off her body during the struggle. If it wasn''t for the fact that she grabbed a hold of a metal pipe from the rubble, she would have been done for right then and there and ended up like many girls her age at that time.


    ---


    Life was not fair during that time. You had to count on luck to survive. The world was truly lawless. Dead bodies rotted away in the streets. The smell was horrid at first but slowly you got used to it. The city streets truly became a breeding ground for flies as they nested in the bodies of the dead. Some of these bodies were killed by Machina while others by humans.


    Ai this time was truly lucky. She swung the metal pipe in her hand and smashed it into one of the teen''s heads cracking his skull. He fell to the ground and didn''t even move. Ai used the pointy end of the pipe in her hand and stabbed the young man through the eye to make sure he was dead. His friend was angered by Ai''s actions and attacked her but Ai was quick and dodged his attack while at the same time stabbing her pipe into the young man''s chest. After she made sure both young men were dead she stripped one of them of their shirt and took whatever they had on them that was useful.


    ---


    On a night like tonight where she was fighting against multiple enemies, she was glad she had the experiences of her past life, no matter how bad they were, to deal with the situation at hand. At first, she thought she might be troubled by the numbers but with how stupid they were she found it a little bit disappointing. She made sure to hold back. It was not the future yet. She did not want to end up in jail for killing someone. If she did, she would never survive in the future. Nor would she be able to save her family and friends.


    "I suggest that the rest of you not try to attack me. Take your two friends and leave. The same goes for you two. Get out of here." Ai was dumbfounded that the boy and girl were still standing there like idiots. Didn''t people know that when the knight in shining armor shows up you need to run for it, so you do not get caught up in battle? Ai made sure to commit these two idiots'' faces to memory so she knew to use them as human shields later on in life if she ever came across them.


    "You! What did you just do!?" One of the young men was confused as to what was happening, asked.


    "Huh? What did I just do? Are you a fucking idiot? Why is there nothing but fucking idiots here tonight?" Ai was starting to get mad! She turned to the duo who had yet to leave and yelled: "Hey you two! Why the fuck are you still here? Do you want me to hit the two of you as well? I do not mind! Hell if you wish for these guys to do something to your girl I do not mind that either just take it elsewhere! Your blocking my way and wasting my fucking time!"


    The teen girl and boy who Ai had just saved finally came out of their shock of what was happening and yelled "Thank you!" before running off. Seeing them leave Ai let out a sigh as she turned to the last three young men. "Why are you three still here? Take your friends and go! They''re not dead but if you want them to be dead, keep standing there like fucking idiots while they bleed to death."


    As if lightning struck them the three remaining young men suddenly bowed: "Onee-san thank you for going lenient on us!"


    "Who''s your onee-san? Get the fuck out of here!" Ai was both angry and amused. What was this some kind of high school drama or manga?


    "Yes!" The young men quickly grabbed their friends and ran off.


    Now that it was peaceful Ai rolled up her sleeve to look at the time. "Twenty minutes wasted¡­ Looks like I will get less sleep tonight¡­ For now, I can at least secure my shopping cart."


    Ai walked up and grabbed one of the shopping carts that were placed outside. She found the one that had the best wheels so she could easily push it around before heading back towards her neighborhood. She did not plan to begin going to the stores any time soon. She would start with the neighborhood. Her main goal tonight was to find shovels and pickaxes. They would be needed for digging the next day.


    She quietly pushed her shopping cart to the first street she planned to steal from. After hiding her cart, she crept into the yard of the first house with brick in hand. She decided to take the brick in case of any dogs or people for that matter that might catch her. She would rather knock the dog or person out than go to jail.


    Her first target was a rather large house. She sat crouched behind a bush looking around for any security cameras. After not seeing any she quickly made her way to the back yard. The night was very quiet which meant Ai had to be even quieter. She had learned to walk very softly in her past life. If she didn''t she would have easily notified the Machina of her position. Scouting the yard Ai found a few tools leaning up against a shed. Unfortunately, the shed was locked and she did not have tools to open it. She had to make do with the hoe and shovel she found outside.


    After one more quick look to make sure she did not miss anything, she left to head the next house. She raided house after house, in the end, her first night out was not too bad. She gained three shovels, one hoe, and a sledgehammer. Although it would work well for digging the bunker she still needed more tools and many other items. When she finally made it home she quietly stored the tools in the room in the basement and stashed her shopping cart behind the shed in her backyard.


    The next morning when she woke up she felt dead tired. Ai had forgotten that her current body was not as strong and resilient as it was in her past life. When you add up the long work out yesterday, plus staying up for half the night, three hours of sleep was just not enough.


    "Ai, are you awake yet?" A familiar voice came from her window.


    Ai opened the curtain to see Mai leaning out her window in her pajamas. "I am awake albeit reluctantly. Get dressed I will meet you downstairs. In twenty minutes."


    "Alright!" Mai answered before going to get changed.


    Seeing how she left the curtain open Ai frowned as she yelled over, "Close your curtain! Don''t show the world your naked body!"


    "Ahh!" was all you could hear followed by some crashing sounds as Mai quickly closed her curtain.


    Chuckling, Ai shook her head and muttered "Must be nice to be so innocent."


    After getting dressed and heading downstairs Ai was met with her mother handing her an apple and a milk box. Ai looked at her mother a bit confused since normally she would make a hot breakfast. As if knowing what Ai was thinking her mother said: "I heard you yelling over to Mai upstairs. So I figured you wouldn''t have time to eat a full breakfast. Tomorrow I will make some breakfast sandwiches. Remember you promised to go to school today. I don''t want to receive another call at work from your teacher. Also, why is your hair still such a mess!? And your clothes?"


    "It''s fine mom. Like I said yesterday I do not care what I look like nor do I care what anyone thinks of me. I am not at school to impress anyone. Even if I were to go out to play, I am not there to look for boys to have fun with. I prefer to stay low key." Ai did not want to attract too much attention to herself. She was rather good looking if she did not say so herself. So it was easier to ward off unwanted attention by getting looked at with eyes of disgust instead.


    After saying her goodbyes to her mother Ai left the house to find Mai waiting by the gate. "We will head to school first and get put on the attendance list. Then we will head to the forest during first class change."


    "Alright. That would probably be for the best." Mai agreed she did not want the school calling her house.


    "Then let''s get going!"

 Chapter 5: Training, Digging, And Thievery! Part Two

    The cicadas were chirping away as Ai and Mai walked down the street. Other teens in the same school uniforms as Ai were also making their way to school. Many of them were sneaking peeks at Ai who had a serious case of bed head and a messy dress style. "Ai they are looking at your strangely"


    "Huh? So what? Mai let me tell you now, being clean and well dressed will not mean a damn thing in the next few months. I suggest you get used to it now." Ai stated bluntly. She wanted to warn Mai ahead of time about this matter so that she would not be stuck in her old ways when the time came.


    "Oh¡­ Then starting tomorrow I will learn to just let things be. Should... Should I stop taking showers?" Mai asked.


    "You do not need to go that far yet, but one thing you need to know is that in the future, you will end up bathing with many people when you are able to with both men and women. Not to mention not even being able to bathe for months at a time. But don''t worry, at first, you will feel shy, nervous and even sick at times but after a while, you will adjust and become numb to it all. Everyone will. Oh, one fair warning it is best not to fall in love in the future either¡­ It could end up being a horrifying experience. Many innocent pretty girls fell for the schemes of handsome men." Ai was saying all this to let Mai know what was in store for her. When it came to matters of love in the future it would become a truly dangerous concept. Ai had watched as girls were lured in by handsome men dressed well giving them plenty of food and water only to be sold off to the highest bidder at an auction someplace as sex slaves.


    Ai had heard from a few girls she was fighting alongside, that a few of their friends were lured in by these herders as they were called. Handsome men with meat on a stick, sweet words, and promises of a better life. When they agreed to follow, these girls were stuck with a strong aphrodisiac or knock out drug. If they were stuck with the aphrodisiac then it was one hundred percent that they would not have a good night. If it was the knock out drug they would wake up finding themselves stripped of their clothes and a number branded on to their skin, marking them as a slave.


    You would think these things would not happen in a modern society but when the apocalypse happened it quickly turned into a common scene. There was no law. You made up your own law. That was how this world worked during that time.


    Mai felt a shiver run down her spine. She knew without Ai''s warnings that she might end up in that situation and without even realizing it she would have already had her bad end. "Ai thank you for warning me."


    "Of course I would warn you! You are my best friend and my sister. If we were to ever get split up for some reason you would be able to survive on your own until the day we were able to meet up again. I will teach you everything I know so you can survive well. The most important thing for someone to learn during that time is trust no one. Not even me..." Ai had to say the last words because it may be true. If things really got out of hand she would only think of herself and no one else, not even her own parents. This was because the survival of the fittest was what allowed her to live for those ten years. This time around she planned to not join any groups who were fighting against the machina. Although it was safer to stay in a large group there were still scheming people who tried to do some nasty things. They of course were outright killed by the others but those who the acts were committed on were traumatized after that.


    Mai was a bit scared due to Ai''s words but she also understood that Ai would not say them if they were not needed. But what upset her the most was that Ai said to not trust her as well. Ai was her best friend and sister, there was no way she could not trust her. "Ai¡­ No matter what until the day you use me as a shield to save yourself like you said you have done before. I will always put my trust in you. My life will be in your hands."


    Forcing a smile Ai could only shake her head and stay silent. She knew that Mai did not understand her words at this time but she will later on.


    The two walked in silence as they passed through the school gates. They entered the classroom and sat down. All the students in the class were staring at Ai due to her current style. Ai completely ignored them and laid her head down. She figured this was a good chance to catch up on an hour of sleep before the class change.


    Ai had forgotten that the one who was the form teacher for this grade was Okura sensei and she was well known for disliking kids who tried to sleep in class. Ai had just fallen asleep when Okura sensei walked into the classroom. Okura sensei looked around the room and frowned seeing Ai laying her head down on her desk. Mai who was sitting across the room wanted to say something but by the time she had thought of why Okura sensei shouldn''t wake Ai it was already too late.


    "Ito-san! Ito-san! Wake up! You are now in class as a student you should not be sleeping but studying!" Okura Sensei was starting to get angry because Ai was not waking up even after yelling.


    Deciding to shake Ai awake, Okura Sensei reached out to grab her but stopped when she heard someone from behind yelling at her. "Don''t touch Ai!"


    Mai stood up, her face pale. She did not know why but she felt that if Okura sensei tried to touch Ai while she was asleep it was akin to bringing down disaster upon herself. Of course, Okura sensei did not know Mai''s thoughts and completely ignored the warning. "Nakano-san it would be best if you sat down and not get involved in this matter." After scolding Mai, Okura sensei turned her attention back to Ai and reached out and was just about to touch her shoulder when Ai''s eyes opened wide and snatched Okura Sensei''s wrist causing Okura Sensei to yell out in pain.


    Killing intent was pouring out of Ai, her gaze that was as cold as ice glared at Okura sensei. This gaze alone was enough to cause Okura sensei a fright. Mai quickly ran forward and got in between the two. "Okura Sensei, I warned you not to touch her. Ai has an issue with people touching her when she is asleep."


    After saying this, Mai placed her hand onto Ai''s wrist and said in a soft comforting tone. "Ai, you are at school. Relax and release Okura sensei''s wrist. It was her fault for touching you."


    Ai''s killing intent and cold gaze began to lessen as she slowly released Okura sensei''s wrist. Okura sensei held her wrist that was throbbing with pain and quickly backed away from Ai. She now had a deep fear of this fourteen year old girl. Those eyes that Ai had looked at her with was as if she was looking deep into her soul and could see everything about her. She dared not to reprimand Ai for her actions just now and went back to the podium and began class.


    Ai slowly came back to her senses and looked around the room. Anyone her eyes landed on quickly turned her head away. Ai shrugged and laid her head back down. Mai let out a sigh of relief and went back to her seat. Luckily she spoke up for Ai the first time and that her assumption was right! Ai was not someone you could touch when she was sleeping! She had come to this conclusion after hearing the stories of Ai''s past. To survive at such a young age one had to be a light sleeper and sense when someone was about to touch them. Usually, this kind of situation always turns out badly for the one doing the touching!


    The class went by quickly and it was finally time for class change. Ai brought Mai to the back of the school and boosted her up over the wall. Ai was able to agilely climb the wall without any issues. The two had empty school bags with them which confused Mai. She did not know why Ai had her bring her school bag when they were not really going to be using it. But she quickly found out soon and almost regretted agreeing to this training Ai was going to put her through.


    "Alright fill your bag up with rocks. I want to see it completely full. When I check it you will strap it to your back, we will then set out towards our destination. During our entire training session and digging session today we will both be wearing these bags. Except for when we are doing sit-ups."Ai knew this would be hard for Mai at first and herself. But it was necessary to help build up more strength.


    Mai''s face paled as she reluctantly began filling her bag up with rocks. When they were done Mai felt like she was being stepped on by an elephant the entire walk towards the forest. By the time they made it there, they were both dripping in sweat. Ai was no different, she was suffering just as much. Actually, if it was not for Mai being next to her, suffering along with her, she might have already given up.


    Once they arrived under the same tree, where they had met the previous day, Ai decided to have a small break before continuing their training. "Five minute break then we''ll begin with push-ups. We will continue to do them for one hour. You may take a break in between sets. We will start off slow with five pushups until we get used to the extra weight on our bodies. After push-ups, we will do sit-ups, where we will then take the bags off our back. This will also last an hour. Then we will do two hours of fighting training with the bags on our back before heading to my house, having lunch, and then beginning work of digging out the bunker."


    "Ai let me ask, were you a demon in your past life? Why is it that you have come up with this devilish training!?" Mai complained but still rose to her feet to get herself ready.


    "Whether I am a demon or not, is something I don''t know. All I know is that in order for both of us to survive the first onslaught of the apocalypse we will need to suffer now. All of this will help us later on. So work hard and I promise you will at least not die before the Machina show up. The first type Machina are quick and vicious. Their two front legs can rip a person''s body to shreds. You will need to be able to fend them off since they can be easily killed with blunt weapons but it takes skill to do this. Mai, you said you believe in me, so stick with it I will not lead you astray, I promise you this."

 Chapter 6: Training, Digging, And Thievery! Part Three

    "Okay let''s stop training here and go back to the house. We need to start digging the bunker." Ai wiped the sweat from her brow. The last part of the training session was hand to hand combat. Ai started off slowly teaching Mai the basics, only to find out that Mai was actually quite adept at martial arts. She picked up every move quickly and in no time at all she was able to use these moves in a simple spar. This gave Ai hope for Mai''s survival if they ever did get separated later on.


    "Ai, how was it? Did I do well?" Mai asked. She was sweating profusely but she had a bright smile on her face. This was the first time she had found exercise to be fun.


    "I would say you did. As of now if it was a normal person with what you learned today, and with how fast you picked it up, you will be able to fight them and win no problem. But if it was anyone with skill, you would not be able to win so easily, think simple thug against a master kind of deal. But don''t worry we have a few months. As long as we persist with our training and never take a day off we will be able to deal with even masters when it comes down to it." Ai did not want to put a damper on Mai''s excitement.


    Ai took a bottle of water out of her bag and tossed it to Mai. "Drink up, we only have a few hours to dig. When we are done, go home bathe, eat, and rest for the night. I Will try to find some better construction equipment tonight..." Ai knew that they were going to need more than just shovels to dig out the bunker. Once they got to a certain depth they would need power tools to break up rocks.


    Mai whined when she heard they still had to dig but she did not outright complain. She knew Ai was doing this all for their own good and safety. She did not want to make Ai do all the work because it was her family that was also going to be kept safe as well.


    Three hours later¡­


    "What the hell more rocks! Ai, how are we supposed to dig here with so many rocks in the way?" Mai did not mind digging but after only getting a few inches down there was nothing but large rocks. This was making their progress very slow.


    "We will call it here for today then. I will have to find some tools tonight to make things easier." Ai decided she would make another trip out tonight and hit some construction sights. She had no choice but to find the proper equipment. She had not expected the ground to be so rocky after only digging a few inches. "Let''s go shower and head to the store. We will do some survival food training."


    "Shower? But your house only has one bathroom..." Mai was confused, how was she supposed to take a shower if Ai was taking one as well.


    "We will take one together. It is to make sure you are not as shy about doing it later on. We will only be in the shower for no more than three minutes. This is the maximum amount of time we will have after the machinas show up. Also¡­ It will be an ice cold shower." Ai was putting Mai through every bit of training she could think of. Mai was very shy and she needed to get over her shyness before six months had passed. She wanted her friend to be fully prepared for what was about to come. Cold showers with multiple people within an allotted time was what she would have to put up with in the future. She would have to have Mai go to a few bathhouses to at least get used to bathing with other women. For now, she will use herself to break the ice. For Ai, this was a normal occurrence. Sometimes there would be hundreds of people standing out in the rain trying to cleanse their bodies. During these times unless you wished to continue to stink, you threw your embarrassment out the window and stripped down when you had a chance.


    Mai cheeks turned red but nodded her head and followed after Ai. But she was not prepared for what was about to come. As soon as Ai started the shower she shoved Mai under the cold water causing Mai to scream out of shock from how cold the water was. She watched dumbfoundedly as Ai quickly washed herself with her hands and then left the shower. Ai was done within less than a minute!


    Ai turned around to see Mai staring at her and frowned. "What are you staring at? Hurry up and wash you got less than a minute and a half left."


    "Ah! Oh!" Copying Ai, Mai quickly washed herself with her hands before running out of the shower to dry off. Her whole body felt ice cold after being under the cold water for so long.


    "You will slowly get used to it. Later on, take a nice hot bath. These kinds of enjoyments will only last for a little while longer." Ai said with a smile on her face as she put on a clean set of clothes.


    After getting dressed Mai looked at Ai an asked: "Ai, for lunch, are we..."


    "We will be eating one of the delicacies of the future. Come let''s go to the store." Ai said with a smile on her face. She knew what was about to come was going to make Mai gag.


    The two girls walked to the closest convenience store. Mai followed behind Ai a little confused as to why they were in the pet food aisle. It was not until Ai stopped in front of the canned cat food that Mai''s face turned pale. "Ai, you don''t mean that we are gonna eat this right?"


    Seeing Mai''s disgusted expression caused Ai to smile as she nodded her head. "Mai, this here is very nutritious and filling. In the near future, this canned cat food will become a delicacy. And I mean people will kill each other just to get their hands on this. After two years'' time you will see how quickly human canned food disappears. Dog and cat food will quickly become the next best thing. Hell, I have seen cockroaches on a stick at some of the mobile vendors and even those would be gone quickly. Now pick the flavor you want."


    Mai really felt like puking. With a face full of disgust she reached out towards a can of cat food that had gravy and chunks. She pouted her lips as she walked with Ai up to the cash register to pay for the items.


    When they got back to the house Ai showed Mai how to turn the pull tab cover into a spoon before digging into her own can of cat food. Mai watched as Ai ate the food without hesitation and no signs of her brow wrinkling. Mai took a deep breath before diving into her own can of cat food. When she placed the first scoop full into her mouth she was expecting it to taste really bad but she realized that it was not as bad as she thought it would be. It was within her bounds of manageability without throwing it back up. She still gaged a few times though.


    "Not bad right? When you are hungry and have not eaten for a few days, you will find that these things taste out of this world as if you are eating the best meal you have ever had. The nutrients might not be all that much but they will at least allow you to have something. Even dry cat food is not too bad. Speaking of this¡­ From now on eat small meals. Shrink your stomach as much as possible. We will need to eat less and less as time goes on so it is best to have a very small stomach. Also, save up as much money as you can. The two of us will begin storing dried foods and canned goods. I will start selling some of my stuff as well. You should do the same. Anything you find not needed in the future like jewelry and other items, sell them if you can. Lighter fuel, charcoal, and other survival items are a must so do not sell those. " Ai finished off her can of cat food and licked her lips.


    Mai choked hers down without saying a word of complaint. She understood what Ai meant. But she also felt sad at the same time. Ai had been through so much and had to deal with so many things. Mai knew if it was her she might not have been as strong as Ai was. Even now Ai was laughing and joking around even after going through all those years in hell.


    "No need to look at me like that..." Ai interrupted Mai''s thoughts. "I may have been through a lot but this time around I at least know what is going to happen. At least this time I can prolong the lives of those I care about. Both, my mother and father died early, leaving me alone. I could only scrape by and do my best to survive. You will see when the time comes just how bad things really are. Our main goal is to last until the first wave is over inside the bunker. Only going out when it is absolutely necessary. Once the first wave of Machina passes by, we will then be able to venture out more and begin scavenging for the things we will need down the road."


    "Mmm¡­ I will follow your lead. "


    After sending Mai home, Ai went up to her own room to catch up on some sleep. She had planned to sleep until dinner time then catch a few more hours before going out for the rest of the night. When she woke up from her nap, Ai lazily walked downstairs rubbing her eyes as she tried to wake up. Her body felt very sore but she knew this was the signs of her earlier workout. But when she made it to the bottom of the stairs, her mother was standing there with her arms crossed across her chest.


    "Ai are you going to tell me why you left school again? Just because you checked in, in the morning, does not mean you will not be reported for not showing up for the rest of the classes and worst yet you actually pulled Mai into your delinquency as well?" Shizue brows were furrowed and her tone was harsh. She did not want her daughter to go down the wrong path!


    Ai sighed and in her mind she apologized to her mother as she said: "What I do is what I do, stay out of my business. In a few months, you will understand everything."


    Ai could not explain her reasoning, she could only give her mother the cold shoulder and hurt her for now in order to continue with her work. Her mother could not leave work and neither could her father so in a way, this worked out.


    "Ai why can''t you just go to school!? You are still young there is no reason for you not to go to school right now!" Shizue was not going to give up just because Ai wanted her to.


    "Mom, just leave me be. If I do not go to school then I do not go." Ai said before quietly adding: "None of it will matter in six months anyways..."


    Her voice was too low and Shizue did not hear what she said. Ai turned around and walked back to her room not even wanting to have dinner anymore. Shizue looked at Ai''s retreating back and let out a sigh. "Was she not going to have dinner now?"


    Ten minutes after Ai returned to her room a knock came at her door. "Ai¡­ You might not want to go to school but it''s good for your future¡­ In any case, I will not bring it up for now. I will leave your dinner here at the door."


    Ai sat on her bed a tear rolled down her cheek. She whipped her eyes quickly and let out a sigh. "Mom¡­ If only I could tell you what was going on..." She got up from her bed and walked to the door and opened it. Her mother was just about to put the food down when Ai walked out and hugged her. "Mom¡­ Just trust me for now. I will explain everything to you soon."


    Shizue was confused by Ai''s words and really did not understand what was going on. But since she said she would explain what was going on at some point she felt more at ease. "Silly girl. I just worry about you. This sudden change all of a sudden has got me worried about you. I will leave you alone for now. Just promise me no drugs and no boys."


    Ai smiled and tightened her hug on Shizue. "Do not worry mom. Those are the last things on my mind right now."

 Chapter 7: Construction Site

    Shizue eyed her daughter but did not see any signs of her lying. Because of this, she let out a sigh of relief. "I have to ask, how long do you plan to take off from school?"


    "Just this year. I promise in due time I will explain everything. Just believe in me this once. I promise you will understand very soon." Ai said seriously. She was happy that she could talk to her mother like this. She did not like hurting her mother. She would prefer to be completely honest with her but right now was not the time.


    "Alright, I will let you do it this one time but next year you will go back to school no ands, its, or buts! But if I find out that you are on something, or become pregnant, I will kick you out of my house! Do you understand?" Shizue still had misgivings but she knew if she pushed her daughter to go to school it would have the opposite effect and make Ai not want to go to school even more.


    "Mom, you have my promise. No drugs or boys." Ai said as she smiled and gave Shizue a kiss on the cheek.


    "Alright enough. I will deal with your father. For now, take your plate and come downstairs to eat. It''s lonely eating by myself." Shizue shoved the plate in her hand to Ai who happily took it. In her past life, the thing she missed most was her mother''s cooking. Even before her mother died, Ai could remember her mother giving her, her last home cooked meal. Although it was nothing but a can of beans her mother gave her mostly all of the can, to make sure she was getting her fill. At that time Shizue was almost skin and bones but even still she made sure Ai ate very well. She sacrificed her own health and well being and suffered through her hunger, starving herself, to make sure Ai was well fed. thinking of this brought a tear to Ai''s eyes. Her mother truly loved her.


    Ai and Shizue had a nice chat while they ate. Around ten at night her father came. Ai gave him a hug good night before running upstairs. She had already gotten a decent nap earlier after dinner. So she was wide awake now. Her plan tonight was to find a jackhammer to break apart the rocks easier and allow for Mai and her to make better progress. It was not until two A.M. that her father and mother had finally gone to bed that Ai slowly opened up her window and jumped out.


    She went straight for her shopping cart and picked it up carrying it instead of pushing in order to not cause any noise. Tonight she had less time than normal because her father worked late. And she knew her mother would be up by five am, so she had a short time frame to get things done.


    Earlier in the day, she remembered seeing a construction site and hearing the sounds of heavy machinery. She hoped she would be able to find what she was looking for at the construction site. Once she was far enough away from the house Ai put the shopping cart down and began pushing it. She quickly made her way towards the construction site that was five streets over.


    The construction site was surrounded by large temporary walls to keep people out. This of course would not stop Ai at all. She stood in front of a sign that read "Warning Keep Out, Construction Underway. Danger Of Falling Objects!". After stashing her shopping cart to the side. Ai made some distance between her and the fence before running full speed towards it. Once she was close she stepped on the wall trying to run up it as much as she could before launching upwards and grabbing the top edge of the fence. She then continued to use the momentum to pull herself up before finally seating herself on top of the fence.


    "This body is still too weak! If a first type machina were to come at me right now I do not think I would be able to survive¡­ In any case, I will need to up my training a bit more. But now for the task at hand." Ai lamented over how weak she felt compared to her past life. In her past life, she would have been able to jump this fence with much more ease. She struggled to get to the top of the fence just now.


    Shaking her head she flipped her leg over the wall and jumped down. "Now if I were a jackhammer where would I be..." Ai looked around her and only saw dirt mounds and large machinery. This was a new construction site so there was not much around except bags of cement and piles of dirt along with the machinery to dig out the basement. After spending a half hour searching in the dark Ai finally laid eyes on a storage shed at one side of the construction site.


    She walked up to the storage shed that was only a few meters wide and long and frowned when she saw the big padlock. "Figures they would lock up their equipment but that will not stop me. Luckily this is not a combination lock."


    In order to scavenge for food, Ai had to learn how to pick locks. She had also come prepared just in case things were locked up. She reached up and pulled the bobby pin from her hair and began bending it into the right shape before going to work. After a few seconds of fiddling with the lock, a smile crept up on Ai''s face as she heard a clicking sound and the lock popping open in her hands. "Just as easy as I remember it to be."


    During her ten years of hell she had to learn many skills and lock picking was an essential one. She had broken into many houses and even cars to grab useful things. She even broke into a military camp in order to get weapons. But she mainly used the skill to break into houses to find food. Besides lock picking, she had learned simple first aid and many other survival techniques such as botany in order to identify plants and tracking so she could hunt easier. Plants were good for when she needed to use herbs to heal injuries and for cooking. She was not a genius that''s for sure. She was not a medical expert either, she could only do minor first aid and make simple balms. These few skills she learned were good enough to keep her going for all those years. If not for these skills she would have either died of starvation or from a wound becoming infected.


    "Let''s see here¡­ pickaxes, drills and... " Ai''s eyes glowed as her gaze fell on the jackhammer leaning against the wall. "At least now Mai and I will be able to dig faster! Now to get the shopping cart over here to load it up."


    Ai quickly went over to the wall where she had jumped over and looked for a weak point where she could pry it open and force the shopping cart through. Unfortunately, when she got near the wall she heard footsteps on the other side. "Are you sure you saw someone hop the fence here?"


    "Yes, officer, I saw someone who looked like a youth dressed in black climbing over the fence."


    "Alright, it''s late. Go home, I will check it out, thank you for reporting this."


    Ai''s face sank. She did not want to be caught by the cops or everything she had set up to this point would be ruined instantly. Ai quickly looked for a place to hide and only had time to duck behind a few barrels when she saw two hands grabbing the top of the fence and a voice full of complaint coming from the other side. "It was getting close to the end of my shift as well, now here I am trying to track down a trouble maker. I am getting too old for this shit."


    The officer jumped down to the ground and turned on his flashlight. Ai stayed absolutely still and even held her breath waiting for the officer to walk by her. But he was taking his time as he slowly swept the flashlight in his hand around looking to see if he could see anyone. "Hello? I know you are here. Quickly come out and I won''t arrest you."


    Ai frowned even more as the light swept in her direction. She knew it would not be easy to get out of here now with this officer here and she still had to get these tools home. She stayed low to the ground as the light swept past her. She stayed in this position until the cop walked right by her. She grabbed a metal pipe that laid to the side and slowly and quietly got up off the ground and crept up behind the officer. She raised the pipe over her head and slammed it down on the backside of the officer''s neck, knocking him out. She quickly caught him before he fell to the ground. She did not want the officer to get hurt while he was just doing his job. But she could not let him get in her way of getting the tools she needed either.


    Ai looked at the gun in the holster attached to the officer''s side. She was tempted to take it but figured it was best not to at this time. If it was ever found, not only would she get in trouble but so would her parents.


    Knowing she did not have much time, Ai quickly went to work and created an opening big enough to push the shopping cart through before bringing it into the construction site and filling it up with tools and quickly leaving. She had covered the top with a tarp to hide what was inside. And hurried home. She had only an hour to get things downstairs before her parents would be up. After she was done Ai got changed and lay face first on her bed. "I think I will sleep tonight¡­ But for now, I will take a few hours nap before I have to meet up with Mai."


    A few hours later Ai was woken up by Shizue. Sitting up in bed and rubbing her eyes she looked at her mother who had just sat on her bed. " I will be going to work. Is Mai going to be skipping school with you today as well?"


    "MMm¡­ She will be going with me to work out this morning. Before coming back here for lunch." Ai said honestly. Since her mother had already agreed to let her take the year off she had no issues telling her mother her plans for the day.


    "Alright, if Mai has an issue with her parents I will go over and talk with them. She is like my daughter as well, so I do not mind sticking my neck out for her. Just remember your promise to me." Shizue said before standing up.


    "Mmm, I will remember it mom, and thank you for believing in me."

 Chapter 8: The Day The World Ended Part One

    That evening Ito Seiji came home from work to find his daughter looking very unappealing. Her hair seemed to be oily and it seemed that she did not clean herself correctly at all. Frowning, he went into the kitchen to talk with Shizune. "What''s up with Ai? Why is she beginning to look like a beggar on the side of the road?"


    "She is going through a phase of some kind. Just let her be for now. I already talked with her and she said she would explain everything in due time. Just let her be for now." Shizue explained.


    "But¡­ The way she looks, it is as if she hasn''t fully washed her hair, nor cleaned herself. This can not be healthy." Seiji was someone who liked cleanliness and thought his daughter had taken after him. But seeing her like she was now, he did not know what to think. "How is she going to school like this? Her hair looks like a bird''s nest!"


    "I was going to bring this up with you later but since you asked. She is not going to school at this time. I had a call from her teacher two days in a row and she skipped school. I talked with her and she promised me that she would explain everything soon. I made her promise me that she would not be doing any drugs or spending time with boys. From what I know she is going to the forest to work out with Mai. I secretly followed her this morning." Shizune had indeed called her job and said that she would be late. Since she was such a hard worker and never called in sick not to mention saying she was going to be late, they did not mind. So this morning without Ai''s knowledge, being worried about her daughter, she followed Ai and Mai to the woods. She watched as her daughter and Mai ran with heavy packs on their back all the way from the house to the woods and then began a long workout routine. Although if she stayed longer and watched her daughter and Mai sparing she would not have had such a relaxed opinion about what Ai was doing.


    "What the hell is she training for? No, She needs to go to school again starting tomorrow." Seiji said as he went to turn around only to have his arm grabbed by Shizune before he could leave the kitchen.


    "Don''t cause trouble. I already promised her I would believe her this time. Trust in my judgment. I have a feeling she is doing this for a reason, I just do not know why. You did not see the eyes she looked at me with when she asked me to trust her. They were not the eyes of a fourteen-year-old." Shizune remembered that look in Ai''s eyes. It was one that did not waver and seemed to be wise beyond her years. She knew just looking at those eyes no matter what she said to her daughter nothing would change her mind.


    "Alright¡­ I will let you handle this. You already talked with her so you can deal with it." Seiji waved his hand and walked out of the kitchen. He did not want to talk about it anymore.


    Ai watched as her father walked out of the kitchen not even sparing her a glance. She knew he was probably mad and that her parents had already talked about her not going to school. But from the looks of things, it seemed her mother had made him comply with her wishes. Ai, let out a sigh now that the main obstacle was out of the way. She could now fully concentrate on the bunker and prepare herself fully for the hardships that were to come. She looked down at herself and took a sniff. "Should I properly shower later?"


    Shaking her head, Ai decided it was best to not get used to proper showers so that she would not be longing for one later and went back to reading her book.


    Night became day and day became night. This cycle continued on for over five months. In two day''s time, the day that the apocalypse would happen would soon be upon her. Currently, Ai was mixing the last batch of cement for the bunker. This was going to be the last ceiling and wall part. The bunker was only ten meters wide, twenty meters long, and around two meters high.


    Ai had done a lot of work at night as well when she did not need to go out to steal things. Once the main tunnel was dug and she quickly put a temporary lid on the whole thing to keep the bunker from being found by her parents. After a good deal of work between the two girls, Ai was very happy as she continued to spin the cement mixer as she looked at the newly made mold. She had rigged a shop vacuum up to a high-speed scooter motor, with a few other modifications to make it possible for her to blow the cement into the molds. Unfortunately, she had to go through many hoses in order to do this.


    But luckily her sticky fingers were able to get a hold of quite a few vacuums. On top of that, she had already hoarded tens of boxes of canned food of all kinds. Not to mention gallons upon gallons of water. She had even stolen lumber to make bunk beds and a small couch. She stocked up on batteries, flashlights, and a battery-powered radio.


    She ran a cord down through a hole she drilled and then filled it with cement after. This cord would provide them with electricity until it went out and they needed to switch to battery and candlelight. She couldn''t get everything she needed though through stealing. She actually had to spend everything she and Mai had in their bank accounts on beeswax so they could make candles. She could only afford a few boxes worth but it was enough to get them through for a while. Along with the already made candles she had, she felt things would be just fine. She made all the preparations she could think of to get them through the first wave. She even portioned out the sleeping pills and crushed them so that she could put her parents and Mai''s parents to sleep.


    She had already prepared handcuffs and rope to tie them up so they would not be too much of a hassle when the time came. She remembered it vividly. The sounds of the bombs in the nuclear-armed nations could be heard around the world. Japan had no nuclear weapons so they did not have to deal with such things. But they still felt the tremor that was caused when they did go off. Whether there was a nuclear winter or not in those locations she was not sure. Every once and a while some rain would fall with radiation in it. That why it was very important to test the water before drinking it. You could use it to bath as long as the concentration of radioactive materials was not too high.


    Because of this, Ai had made sure to grab a few geiger counters. She wanted to be safe than sorry. Many places had become a no man''s land. At least this is what she had heard from people who had still been in contact with others in other parts of the world. But she was not sure if any of this was true or not. She only knew that some people did get radiation poison from drinking bad water right after a rainstorm. But she could not be sure if this was them drinking from a bad source or not since she had never had such an issue. But she still wanted to be safe.


    After finishing up the last mold. All she had to do was wait for it to dry. It was not perfect but it was enough to keep everyone safe for the time being. She had used wood supports and wire fencing to hold everything together. The whole thing was definitely amateurish. But what could she do? She was never taught how to formally make a bunker and could only use yootube videos and make do with what she had.


    "This is the last of it. Mai, you should go home and take a nice hot bath. It will be the last one you will get to take for a while." Ai said as she wiped the sweat from her forehead. The two of them had really strengthened their bodies over the past few months. So doing this harsh labor was not that hard.


    "So two more days then? What time tomorrow night will it happen?" Mai asked.


    "Far as I know it will be around one A.M. the next day. We need to get our parents together tomorrow night and knock them out. After they are restrained we can move them downstairs one at a time and lock them up. I already set up a TV and the radio. They will come in handy for at least the first month." Ai answered. She remembered that tv stations still broadcast the news for the first few days. It was not affected by the A.I. until a few days later, after that, it was just the radio but even that went out after a month.


    "Okay, then I will go home now. Ai, you should also take a bath. You have worked much harder than me these past few months." Mai said with a smile before climbing up the ladder. She had to hand it to Ai. She had worked very hard to accomplish all of this only getting a few hours of sleep a night every day. She wished she could have gone out to help gather things they needed but she knew she would end up getting in Ai''s way.


    Ai stood there for a moment and looked at her accomplishment before following behind Mai. After sending Mai off, Ai decided to heed her best friend''s advice and went to take a nice long hot bath. "I might as well enjoy it while I can right?"


    Sinking her body into the hot water caused Ai to form a smile on her face. Since being reborn she had only been taking short cold showers since her first day coming back to life. It was not enough to get her to be completely clean but she did not want to get used to the luxury of taking long hot showers.


    Propping her feet up on both sides of the bathtub, Ai laid back with her eyes closed letting her body soak. "Soon I will be forced back into that hell. But this time¡­ I will be at least a little prepared. Once the first month is up and the first wave of Machina spread out, I will venture out for better weapons¡­ I just hope everything goes as planned tomorrow night."


    Ai relaxed in the bath for a little while before finally getting out and getting changed. She dried her hair and went back downstairs to watch TV. She flipped through the channels for a while but found nothing interesting to watch. She shut the TV off and curled up on the couch and fell asleep.


    Ai slept until she was woken up by the sound of her mother walking through the door. Seeing Ai all clean brought a smile to Shizune''s face. She hoped her daughter was breaking out of her spell. Ai rubbed her eyes and walked over to her mother who was taking off her jacket and gave her a hug. "Mom¡­ I have made you worry these past few months but I promise within the next forty-eight hours, everything will become clear."

 Chapter 9: The Day The World Ended Part Two

    Shizune gave Ai a strange look and asked: "Why do I need to wait forty eight hours?"


    "You will know when the time comes!" Ai, replied as she grinned, showing her two front teeth as she did.


    Shizune shook Ai off and took off her shoes. "Why do you have to be so mysterious?"


    Ai laughed, turned around, and walked away only leaving a smart ass remark. "Because if I am not mysterious people will not like me!"


    Shizune stood stunned looking at her daughters retreating back before letting out a laugh and yelling out. "You little brat! Remember we are having dinner with Mai and her parents tomorrow!"


    The next day came quickly and dinner was being served. It was six in the evening and Ai let out a sigh, the past six months had been a paradise for her. She had loved every minute of the easy life. But now in just a mere seven hours, all hell was going to break loose. Ai had spiked every bottle of alcohol in the house with sleeping powder during the day so that no matter what they drank they would get it into their system. She controlled the quantities so that it would not cause them an overdose but would be enough to put them to sleep long enough to transport them downstairs.


    "Is everything ready?" Mai leaned over and asked keeping her voice to a whisper so only Ai could hear her.


    "Mhm. I set up everything so that they will be knocked out. But getting them down the ladder might be a pain. I guess I will be forced to toss them down. I already prepared some padding to soften their falls." Ai replied nonchalantly causing Mai to almost laugh out loud and spray her drink all over the place.


    "Wouldn''t they get hurt?" Mai asked worriedly. She did not want to be beaten to death by her parents right after the world ended!


    "Hmm? It''s fine if they do, that means they will not venture out for the first month. I would prefer it if they did not go anywhere. That is why I went through the trouble of making a bathroom with a portapotty off the main room. No reason to leave, even to dump waste." Ai did indeed add a small room off the main structure of her bunker that was just for a portapotty and a small door to close it off from the main bunker area.


    On top of that, she had drilled holes for vents to let air in and out of the bunker so they would not suffocate. One was for the bathroom while the other three were for air intake and exhaust. Although the small little fans she installed were rigged to work from a foot bicycle pump or compressor. They could each take turns a few times a day pumping the air in and out of the bunker once the power finally went out. Although it would be tedious it was going to be a daily task for everyone. But getting a portapotty down the entrance to the bunker was the biggest obstacle that Mai and Ai had. But with much work and a little bit of muscle power they were able to force it down without spilling the contents of the tank.


    As dinner went on, Ai noticed that both her''s and Mai''s parents were swaying back and forth. She could tell the combination of alcohol and sleeping medication was beginning to take effect. Time ticked on and 9 P.M. finally hit and both of their parents were sound asleep at the dining room table. "Alright Mai, let''s tie them up. I have no idea how long they will be out. So it would best to do this quickly."


    Mai quickly ran to the couch where the bondage gear had been stored and took out a pair of handcuffs and cuffed both her parents'' legs and feet. Ai went and did the same before tying a rope around their body binding their arms to their sides. "Ai should we gag them still? I mean they won''t be able to move like this right?"


    "If they wake up and start yelling at us, we will gag them then." Ai explained. She also thought a gag was a bit excessive.


    The two girls started with Mai''s dad since he was the biggest and carried him down to the basement. "Mia I hate to say it but your dad is really fat! It''s a good thing you take after your mom."


    "You know I was thinking the same exact thing! " Mai said with a laugh. She had to admit her dad was pretty big.


    "Alright, I will climb down first. You slide him down the ladder the best you can and I will try to catch him." Ai couldn''t think of a better way to get them down without literally dropping them down as she had suggested before.


    After about thirty minutes of work, Ai and Mai were able to get all four parents down stairs. She then closed the latch on the door she built and locked it tightly. "We will need to take turns using the foot pump to keep fresh air in here once the power runs out. I will start the egg timer and in the next hour we should get ready to begin circulating the air."


    "Ai I thought you said your house collapsed. Are you sure the vents will be okay?" Mai asked.


    "Mhm. I have them encased and protected so even if something falls on top they will be fine. Since the house is made of wood, we won''t need to worry about the vents being completely blocked. Basically, the whole small storeroom is safe. I released the top door guard to keep anything from blocking the main entrance. or it will allow me to get the door open enough to push whatever is in the way out of the way. " Ai explained.


    Midnight hit and their parents began to wake up. Their heads were groggy from the sleeping pills but soon felt wide awake when they found themselves tied up and in a strange place. "Ah, you''re awake."


    Shizune turned her head to see her daughter walking over with four bottles of water. "Ai what the hell is going on? Why did you kidnap us?"


    "Kidnap? Mom we are still in our house. This place here is the thing Mai and I have been working on for the past six months. I am sorry but I can''t untie you for another hour. Remember how I said that everything will be explained within forty eight hours?" Ai looked at her mother but the look she gave was not a joking one at all. It was the same look Shizune received before when she agreed to let Ai skip school for the rest of the year.


    "Ai, cut this shit out right now and untie us!" Seiji yelled out in anger. If he knew this was going to happen he would have forced the damn girl to go to school.


    "Dad I can''t do that. You will sit tight and watch the news for now. You will see shortly why I did all this and then I will explain to you about what is to come. Job? School? These things will mean nothing in the years ahead. The only thing you should be worrying about is your own survival from now on." Ai''s words confused everyone. They did not know what she meant by survival.


    "Ai what the hell are you talking about!? Mai get over here and untie me!" Nakano Yasuhide, Mai''s father yelled out.


    "Dad I can not help you. Everything we are doing is for your own good, soon everything will be completely understood!" Mai looked at her angered father and knew she was going to get a spanking once he was free. She could already feel her butt cheeks hurting.


    "Mai, Ai! Why are you doing this? Explain it to us so that we can understand. What do you mean by survival?" Nakano Kazumi was scared she was scared by the words Ai had just said. She couldn''t help but feel something was truly going to happen.


    "It''s happening¡­ Mai, turn up the news..." As soon as Ai said this the clock hit one in the morning and the ground beneath them began to shake violently. It shook so badly as if it was an earthquake.


    "What!? What is going on!?" Shizune yelled out in surprise.


    "Ahhh! we are going to die!" Kasumi yelled out.


    "Shut up!" Ai yelled as she turned up the news. "Listen.."


    "Breaking News! A 9.0 earthquake as shook all of Japan. Wait ¡­ what!?"


    *Boom!*


    The news reporter was interrupted by a loud sound that rocked the studio shaking its cameras. A notification came through her headset causing her eyes to open wide and she quickly said: "For all those who are watching find a safe place underground, basement, parking garage, anyplace underground. All the nuclear powers of the world have just launched their nuclear weapons onto themselves!"


    All eyes of Mai''s and Ai''s parents turned to them, two of them with a questioning look that asked "huh?". "I am guessing you want to know why we knew this was going to happen?"


    "Ai is this what you meant when everything would be explained?" Shizune finally understood what was going on.


    "Mhm. This is what I meant." Ai said as she walked over and untied and unhandcuffed her mom and Mai''s mom but did not untie her father or Mai''s father. "Don''t untie them for now until they promise not to spank us."


    Shizune let out a laugh which caused the overly worried Kasumi to also laugh. Even in a situation where things were not certain, Ai''s nonchalant demeanor kept everyone calm in this time of crisis.


    "You damn brat untie me right now or I really will put you over my knee!"


    Ai laughed and motioned for Mai to untie and unhandcuffed her father as well. "I know you four have lots of questions, it will take some time to explain. But first, before things get too bad I want to bring down all the food in the house. Dad, mom can you help me? Our house will only last for another two hours before the biggest earthquake Japan has ever seen hits."


    "Is it really going to be that bad?" Seiji suddenly asked. He had no reason to not believe his daughter''s words anymore and in a way deep down he was happy she did what she did.


    "Yes, the shock we just experienced was just the first of many. The big one will come soon, for now, we need to pack all the food we can that has not been destroyed in the first earthquake. The first feeling of a tremor you have, make sure you drop everything in your hands and run to the bunker. If I say run for it, run for it. Do not worry about anything other than food, it will be useless in the days to come." Ai warned as she climbed up the ladder and pushed hard on the door. It was already blocked up by a few pieces of wood. But with a little effort, she was able to push it open.


    "Ai, I thought you said the house would last another two hours it is almost collapsed now!" Seiji frowned. This was the house he bought with his hard-earned money after many years of saving.


    "Dad, I said it would be fully collapsed in two hours, not that it was already close to it. Luckily the area that covered the entrance to the bunker is already clear of any extra things falling on top of it. I actually didn''t want to come topside for over a month but I can not let what precious food might be useful later on go to waste." Ai said as she pushed hard on the door leading from the basement to the kitchen. The whole area was a mess and a large crack in the ceiling could be seen. Ai knew this house was not going to last much longer. "I didn''t realize it was this bad. Grab what you can and quickly get back downstairs." The family of three quickly grabbed what they could in their hands and ran back into the basement tossing the canned goods and boxes of noodles down the bunker entrance before climbing down themselves. Mai and her parents helped grab what was tossed down and brought it to the main room.


    Ai was the last to go down as she made sure the bunker door was sealed tight before climbing down. As she entered the main room all eyes were on her. "Alright, before I explain everything, let me go over the rules we will need to follow from this day forth."

 Chapter 10: Rules Of The Post Apocalyptic World Part One

    Both Ai''s parents and Mai''s parents looked at Ai confused. Seiji was the first to speak up as he asked; "What do you mean, rules?"


    "By rules, I mean the rules that need to be followed from this day forth and will become somewhat of the law of the future. I will explain more on how I know all of this later on but for now, listen to what I have to say.


    "First law is that the law of survival of the fittest applies not just for animals anymore. We humans will fall back into a state of lawlessness. Think of it as a world were if no laws were applied things like murder, rape, and any other horrific crime you can think of would happen."


    "Ai! How can you say such things?" Shizune yelled out. She wondered what had possessed her daughter to talk about such disgusting things.


    "What? I was talking lightly and not going into detail. People using others as shields, cutting people''s limbs off for fun, watching people eat the intestines of their fallen comrades as if it was the best meal of their life, all of this will become a fact in the future!" Ai yelled, her voice cold. She did not care if she scared her mother. In fact, she wanted to scare her mother because her mother was too nice. If someone with bad intentions came asking for food, she would be robbed, r*ped, and left for dead or taken back to be used as a pig on a grill. Ai had even seen more horrific sights than this.


    "Ai! Shut up!" Seiji yelled out. "You''re scaring your mother!"


    "Good! She needs to be scared! Because this is, fact. This is the life we will have to survive through from now on. Do you think I like talking about this shit? Fuck no! If it was not for the fact that I had to go through all of this fucking shit once already, we wouldn''t be safe and sound inside this bunker. Mai and her parents would not be here either. Fuck, I don''t even know what the fuck happened to them when shit went down. All I know is this. I lived ten years in hell and since I know what is to come, I will use it to my advantage. I do not want to see my mother and father dying before my eyes once again. I spent the past six months working my ass off to make sure that didn''t happen. You think things are bad now, wait until one month has passed. That is when the real nightmare begins!" Tears streamed down Ai''s cheeks as she let out everything she was holding back. She did not care for what language she used at this time all she cared about was trying to let them understand that what is going to happen is real and that there were things they needed to watch for.


    Shizune was stunned watching her daughter cry and by the words that were coming out of her mouth. She didn''t understand what she meant when she said she had already gone through all of these things already. "Ai, what do you mean you have been through this already?"


    "Do you not find it strange that everything I have said so far has come true. Do you not find it strange that I knew to build a bunker for this day? The reason I know all of this is because I lived ten years in that living hell. Escaping for my life from humans and from the machina. You do not know what true hell is. When you are almost raped and the only means of survival is to kill your attacker or when you are using your own comrade as a shield to block a blow from a machina, just so you can live another day. I lived a life where you only worried about yourself, only to die at the hands of the new type machina. Those things..." Ai''s whole body shivered remembering the despair she had and the bit of happiness that her hellish life was finally over. Never did she think after dying she would be reborn in the past to be forced to relive the same things over again.


    Shizune quickly got up from her seat and pulled Ai into her arms. She had no idea if what was said was true or not but from the things that have been happening she could only take it as truth. She hugged Ai tightly causing Ai to tear up even more. In her past life, she was emotionless. She fought the machina in hopes that one day humanity would be set free. Unforntalty she died early on and never got to see the day that humans regained their freedom. But now being with her parents again she had finally regained her emotions and tears uncontrollably rained down her cheeks. Ten years of anguish all let out at once. This was different from when she talked with Mai her cry was loud and sorrowful.


    Mai and Kazumi, both began to tear up as well as they watched the fourteen-year-old girl crying in her mother''s arms. Their hearts couldn''t help but tug and want to do something for her. Seiji and Yasuhide also looked at the Ai wishing they could do something to comfort her. Seiji was feeling guilty for yelling at her just now. But he had no idea about any of this. He was still having a hard time believing his daughter now after everything that happened so far.


    Once Ai finally calmed down, her watery eyes glanced at the clock and her frail demeanor went back to normal as she yelled out: "Grab onto something!"


    A violent shaking began as the canned food started to fall all over the floor. Everyone quickly reached out to hold on to something. The sound of her house collapsing in on itself could be heard from upstairs. Ai quickly grabbed the small tv and placed it on the floor under the table, she had put it on. She unsteadily ran over and grabbed the radio as well. These things were essential and could not be broken for the time being. After securing these two things she made her way back to the couch but her heart sank as she saw the ceiling of her bunker beginning to crack.


    "Shit, flip the couch over and get underneath it!" Seiji and Yasuhide did not hesitate to follow through with Ai''s commands and flipped the couch over and quickly pulled the rest underneath. Seconds later a big portion of the ceiling fell down crashing down onto the floor below. Dust and debris filled the bunker causing everyone to cough.


    The earthquake did not stop for a good five minutes, only when it was over did Ai Climb out from under the couch to survey the damage. Parts of the ceiling and walls had crumbled due to the faulty construction. But Ai did not care about that. There were going to be aftershocks but they would not be as bad. "Alright, lights are still on so we still have power. Turn the compressors on so we can vent out the dust. For now, we are safe. Dad, come with me real quick. I might need your help in pushing the bunker hatch open. Mai, you and Uncle help carry the debris to the bunker entrance while our moms will do inventory and check for any damaged items. Once the hatch is open my father and I will then work on clearing the vent and camouflaging them. We can not let anything know there is a hiding spot here."


    This was the true beginning of hell. Although things would get worse, this was the time when people''s true nature came out. Survival of the fittest. Famine will quickly strike soon and people will begin searching for food. Unlike other countries that were destroyed by nuclear missiles that killed millions, Japan now had more people. This was the time people would raid the supermarkets and begin hoarding food. As food supplies disappeared people would go house to house raiding whatever they could.


    As Ai expected she needed her father''s help in pushing open the hatch. Luckily the shield she used to keep the hatch from being completely blocked off worked well. After getting it open Ai climbed out and looked around. It was just as she remembered it. The whole house was destroyed. At this time in her past life, her mother and father would bring her out of the house to try to find shelter someplace. Once she did, she was never able to return again.


    "Dad let''s quickly clear the vents and get them disguised. These pillars here, we will keep near the hatch and if we take this cloth and stuff it here so when we close the hatch again it will make it hidden unless someone actually picks the cloth up." Although it sounded like Ai was giving orders she was actually doing all the work as she talked leaving Seiji standing wondering if he should laugh or cry.


    As she worked a thought came to Ai''s mind. "Dad¡­ I need to go out for a bit. Help the rest get the debris out of the bunker. I will be back in three hours. If I am not back, close the hatch and lock it."


    "Wait Ai where are you going?" Seiji looked at his daughter, he was dusting her hands off and getting ready to walk away.


    Pausing her steps, Ai turned her head and looked at her father and said: "To get a gun."


    She could hear her father yelling for her to come back but she continued walking causing Seiji to get up and chase after her. She had just climbed out of the rubble when she heard her father behind her. She turned around and said: "Dad if you come with me you will be in my way. For now, just wait for me to return. I shouldn''t be long. I am only going to go check out one place. And it''s still day one of the apocalypse. Nothing bad will happen just yet trust me."


    Seiji stopped chasing after her as he watched his daughter climb up over the rumble and disappear. When she said to trust her he couldn''t help but think of everything that had happened up until now. He decided he would trust her this once and would make sure to search for her if she was not back in a few hours.


    As he returned back to the hatch Mai was coming up with a bucket full of debris. "Uncle Seiji where is Ai?"


    "She said something about going out to get a gun¡­ Mai, tell me will she be okay?" Seiji asked.


    "Ai? Yeah, she will be fine. To be honest I feel pity for anyone who tries to do anything to her. They will most likely end up in a bad situation. You must be wondering where all the materials came from for this bunker right?" Mai knew that Ai went out every night for the first five months gathering everything they needed. She knew to steal so much that it required quite a bit of skill. Not to mention her martial arts was very good as well.


    Hearing Mai''s question, Seiji could only think for a second before nodding his head. Mai smiled and said: "Ai stole it all. Do you remember the serial theft case on the news? That was all Mai. The security guards and cops who were all knocked out at the scene were knocked out by her. Now that the world is what it is I do not think she will hold back if someone tried to do anything to her."


    Seiji''s face turned pale. He now understood that his daughter was not who he thought she was. He started to believe that his precious daughter had truly lived ten years in hell. How else could you explain all of her current skills? It was a crazy thought but he could only take it as truth. He looked at Mai who was emptying her bucket and asked: "Mai why did you trust Ai at the beginning?"


    "Why? Because everything she predicted came true. Her character completely changed overnight. She saved me from being punched in the face from a full powered punch from a senior at our school. Plus¡­ as her sister, her family, if I don''t believe in her who will?" Mai gave a bright smile before climbing back down the ladder leaving Seiji standing there stupefied.


    Seiji closed his eyes and repeated what Mai said: "Her sister, her family if I don''t believe her who will. These are good words. As her father, I should believe in her as well."

 Chapter 11: Rules Of The Post Apocalyptic World Part Two

    Ai climbed up out of the debris that was once her home showing no expression whatsoever. She looked around and saw many people crying and shouting. But Ai did not care. She was used to scenes like this. When it first happened in her past life she was shocked and acted just like everyone else. But now it was all too familiar of a scene. She could not remember how many times the places she called called ''home'' that had been destroyed either by humans or machina.


    Her goal at this time was to find a police car. She walked down the street and walked straight to the local hardware store. Her goal here was a sledgehammer. The store was only a five minute walk from her house so it did not take her long to get there. The building structure itself was only half standing but Ai did not care. It was still early morning and no one was there yet. Most likely at home still digging through the remains of their house, trapped, or dead. She stepped through the shattered window of the store and looked around. ??Now where can I find a sledgehammer..."


    She walked around the part of the store that was still holding together and after a good fifteen minutes of searching through the rubble, she found her objective. "With this, I can shatter car windows with ease. Now to find an abandoned police car or preferably one with a dead cop inside."


    If there was a dead cop the chances a gun would be there too, was almost one hundred percent. It would save her a lot of time. Ai, cared not for some of the stares she received as she walked down the street with a sledgehammer resting on her shoulder. She walked quite a few streets until she finally spotted a police car crashed into a phone pole. "Hmmm? Quite a few people there..."


    Now that they were in the apocalypse she no longer cared about her actions. She walked right up in front of everyone else who was standing there, raised the sledgehammer over her head, and slammed it down onto the driver side window smashing it to bits.


    "Hey what are you doing!?" A man yelled and stepped forward and was tried to grab the sledgehammer in Ai''s hand.


    Ai''s brow furrowed as she turned and swung the sledgehammer sideways into the man''s gut sending him flying back a few meters, smashing into the ground. "Fuck off!" She only left two words before returning her attention to the cop car.


    "What did you do to my husband!?" A lady yelled as she ran over to check on her husband.


    Ai Completely ignored her. The corner of her lips were turned upwards as she saw the cop who was dead from bleeding out in the front seat. She reached in and patted the cop down taking the pistol on his side and a few extra clips from his person. She then unhooked his holster before standing back up. She hooked the holster to her pants and then checked the pistol to make sure it was in good condition. "Mmm not bad¡­ now to check the rest of the car."


    "Hey, little lady you shouldn''t play with that! I will report you to the police!" A middle-aged man couldn''t take the Ai''s actions anymore, finally spoke up.


    "What I do is none of your fucking business. If you do not want to become a practice target, then I suggest you get the fuck out of here and leave me alone." Ai coldly said. She did not want to deal with anybody right now, she just wanted to check if there was more ammunition and maybe another weapon in the trunk. She reached in and grabbed the keys to the cop car before spotting a box of bullets in the open glove box. She quickly walked around the side of the car and smashed out the window before reaching in and grabbing the bullets.


    But as she rounded her way to the trunk she heard another voice yelling at her. "Stop right there and drop the weapon!"


    Ai looked over to see another cop standing there pointing his gun at her. Her eyes were cold but calm. She showed no hint of fear even while a gun was trained onto her. "Oh? Gonna shoot?" Ai asked nonchalantly as she opened the trunk only to frown when she saw nothing of use inside. She closed it and tossed the keys to the cop who was pointing his gun at her.


    "I said stop right there!" The cop voice was now filled with anger because Ai was completely ignoring him.


    Sighing Ai turned and looked at the cop. "Since you wish to send me a gift I guess I have no choice but to take it."


    The cop did not understand what she meant until he saw a sledgehammer flying towards him at a high speed. Startled he dodged to the right only to hear a loud¡­


    *Bang!*


    "Ahhh!" Screams could be heard all around as people began to flee.


    Ai stood there calmly, the barrel of her gun pointing at the cop who was now lying still on the ground, blood flowed from the top of his head. A small stream of smoke floated up from the barrel of her pistol. "I said I would have no choice but to take it. Just think of this as your own bad luck for running into me. Since you came and brought an item I desperately need, by the new laws of this new age, I will take it from you even by force."


    With that, she reached down and took the now dead cop''s gun from his hand and searched his body finding only two more clips on him. She then took off his holster as well, picked up her sledgehammer, and then strolled her way back home.


    As she climbed back over the rubble to her house she saw her father sitting outside the bunker entrance waiting for her. She felt warm in her heart knowing her father was worried enough to wait outside. "Dad, I''m back."


    "Ai! Are you okay!? I heard a gunshot earlier." Seiji looked at Ai, worriedly checking her up and down. She paused his actions when he spotted the two guns on her hip. "Ai this?"


    "Mmm¡­ I said I was going to get a gun so I went to look for one. The gunshot you heard earlier was from me¡­ Dad let''s go in and finish what I was talking about earlier. You need to understand the rules of this new world." Ai said with a smile before handing the sledgehammer to her father and climbing down the ladder into the bunker.


    Seiji felt his whole body shake knowing something must have happened for her to fire the gun. He decided now was not the time to ask such questions and quickly returned back into the bunker.


    The two families sat down on the couch with Ai standing up in front of them. Ai looked them all over and let out a long sigh. "As I said before the first rule is survival of the fittest. Dad the gunshot you heard earlier was me killing a cop to get a second gun."


    "What!? Ai!?" Shizune screamed out, she couldn''t believe the words coming out of her daughter''s mouth! She killed someone!?


    "Let me finish!" Ai yelled. She did not want her mother interrupting her after every sentence.


    "Nene just let Ai finish what she has to say." Seiji did not like what Ai had just said but he felt she must have had a reason for it. Shizune wanted to say more but shut her mouth after hearing Seiji.


    "Survival of the fittest is that when you see something that is useful you take it. Like these two pistols here. I took this first pistol, these clips, and this box of bullets from a cop car that had crashed into a telephone pole killing the officer inside. This pistol and two clips are from the cop I killed because if I didn''t he would have taken my items and tried to bring me to jail where I would have surely have died. Right now we live in a world of lawlessness. We need to protect ourselves. Blunt weapons will only go so far. Other people will also have guns as well. Unless you are a master with melee combat and know how to fight a person with a gun there is no point in even trying, the gun will always win!" Ai explained as she paused for a moment checking everyone''s reactions. She was surprised to see while everyone else''s expressions as strange excluding Mai and her father who would normally flip out for doing such acts was calm and composed as if what she said was not that big of a deal.


    "As you can see by following the first rule we now have two pistols to protect ourselves with. Now the second rule and this is one of the more important ones. Do not trust anyone including me. Always keep your guard up. I have seen brothers and sisters become mortal enemies. Fathers and sons who kill each other over a rotten piece of fruit. Comrades that would even use the person closest to them as a shield just to protect themselves.


    "Life and death will soon become a norm and only those who have the ability to will be the ones that can survive. Any questions so far?" Ai asked.


    "You say trust no one, not even you, why do you say this?" Yasuhide picked up on a key point. He wondered his family would be safe in the future if they stayed with the Itos


    "It is not that you can not trust but to always keep your guard up. Like I said before, I lived ten years in hell and have seen much worse and done much worse than you can imagine. But let me ask you this, why are you all so calm after I said I have killed someone?" Besides her mother, everyone else seemed to have been very calm when they heard she had killed a cop. She was curious as to why this was.


    "Well, after listening to everything you had to say before and from what Mai has told us we kinda understand what is in store for us to a point until you fully explain what will be happening in the future. As for your recent killing of a cop, I do not condone it but I also know you did it in order to get some that will protect both families. " Yasuhide answered honestly.


    Ai took a look at Mai and smiled. Her best friend and sister was truly there for her. "Well, I will explain more later on. Let''s get to the last rule. Kill or be killed." She then turned to her mother and knew this rule was going to be the hardest one for her. "In the near future I can guarantee each and every one of you will eventually be put into a life or death struggle where if you do not kill the other person then you will be the one to end up dead. Even now I killed that cop so he would not arrest me. Because I would be locked up for a long time and by the time they appeared I would be a sitting duck. There is no point in killing just because. Bullets are precious after all. But at some point, you will be forced to pull that trigger or beat a person to death in or..."


    "Ai! Stop!" Shizune yelled out. She really did not like this subject whatsoever.


    "Stop? Mom, you will be the first to die out of all of us if you do not change!"

 Chapter 12: Machina

    "Ai!" Seiji finally jumped in. Although what his daughter was saying was true, she could have at least said it in a nicer way.


    "What? Did I say something wrong? Dad, beating around the bush will not change anything and I am sorry if I am being too blunt. But blunt is what I need to be. Do you know that I have seen people send little kids out that looked starved and when gullible people take these children in, they will never wake up the next day because that same kid they were trying to save stabbed them all while they were sleeping. Kindness and trust is not something you can have now." Ai coldly said.


    Ai had been in the care of a nice old couple when she was fifteen for an entire month. But one day they brought home another young child of seven years of age. At this time food sources were becoming more and more scarce so seeing children left alone on the streets digging through trash cans was a normal sight. But people with bad intentions took some of these kids in and turned them into murders. They would not feed them for days and then send these starving kids out to find victims who would take them in and while they slept at night these kids would steal a knife from the kitchen and stab them in the throat while they were sleeping. If it was not for the fact that she was a light sleeper by that time, she would have been as dead as the old couple. Luckily she woke up when her door opened. She saw the little kid with a knife in their hand dripping with blood, she had no choice but to react quickly. The kid had charged at her in a crazed frenzy when he realized she was awake. She ended up using a heavy object to knock the kid out before gathering her things and whatever else was in the house that was useful before leaving.


    She had felt bad for the old couple but she was not too attached to them either. She was basically just using them for a place to stay and free food. Her emotions had done a one eighty during her time on the streets. The innocent Ai disappeared her first week stuck on the streets trying to fend for herself.


    "I understand that Ai but you could have said it more nicely. You know your mother. How else do you think you were able to stay home from school without issue?" Letting out a long sigh Seiji turned to look at Shizune who was pale in the face. It was very easy to tell she did not have the mentality to deal with these things at this time.


    Ai also sighed as she looked at her mother. "Fine. Let''s not talk about this for now. What I had to say so far has been said. But dad I will be counting on you to make sure mom does not do anything that will get her killed."


    Seiji smiled and nodded his head. "Of course, I will keep the both of you alive."


    "Does everyone else understand the rules up until now?" Ai asked before she moved on to something else.


    "Loud and clear Ai. Do not worry us Nakanos will not bring harm to your family either." Yasuhide answered.


    "Uncle, if I was worried about that I wouldn''t have brought you down here. You and aunty are family to me. And Mai is my sister. I do not know what happened to you in my past life but in this life, I wanted to at least know that you are safe for now. In the future, if we get split up listen to Mai. She has undergone very harsh training. She is also a capable fighter. I trained her to the best of my abilities these past six months." Ai did her best to prepare Mai for every possible situation. The only thing she was not able to train her in was guns. Thinking of this Ai picked up one of the gun holsters with a gun in it and a few clips and passed them to Mai. "Take this just in case. Out of everyone here besides me, you will also be venturing out along with me to gain more experience. Uncle and dad will also be coming in an alternating rotation. We will set out tomorrow to try to gather more weapons and resources while we still can."


    "Okay. But Ai, is the safety on, on this. I do not want it to accidentally go off." Mai took the pistol but was worried more about shooting herself than anything else.


    "It is. Just be careful. Do not point it at yourself or anyone else you do not plan to actually shoot. I am hoping by the end of the month we will have a few more guns for protection." Ai explained.


    "Ai, you keep saying by the end of the month. What is happening by the end of the month?" Seiji asked. He had picked up on this point since the beginning. Ai had kept mentioning the end of the month a lot as she spoke.


    "That was the second topic I wanted to talk about. Dad, I did not die in an accident nor was I murdered by humans. The reason why shit has happened so far is due to a lab in Tokyo that created a very advanced A.I.. This A.I. is the cause of everything and by the end of the month, those that are alive now unless they are lucky will die. The people of Japan will try to rebuild after everything that has happened. This peace will only last one month. When that month is up, a mass of first type machina will emerge and begin a slaughter of all humankind. Billions of the first type machina will be released all over the world. These things, although they can be killed with blunt weapons and firearms, are nothing but killing machines. From there the machina keep getting scarier and scarier. I was killed by what we call a new type machina, code name for any of the newest versions oh Machina that got created. This machina was so strong that modern weapons could do nothing to them. And it''s ray attack can destroy a wide range in an instant. I died to its ray attack while investigating the factory they were being built in just north of Tokyo." Ai shivered just thinking about how everything they threw at the new type machina was useless.


    "So these machines or machina as you called them will come out of nowhere and begin slaughtering humans?" Seiji was finding this a bit much to believe but he decided he would believe it for now since this was not going to happen for a while yet.


    "Yes, in a month''s time the first type machina were the most abundant and the ones you will run into the most. But two years from now there will be a shredder type machina. This machine resembles some heavy equipment all mashed together. Its main purpose is to roam around destroying anything it touches. Although it will destroy anything it will hunt down humans first if any are picked up on its sensors. A year after that a weapon type machina will appear. These machina''s have various weapons on them and will shoot to kill.


    "Flying type machina will also appear and as time goes on these machina will become more and more advanced. At some point, five years from now a human rebel army will form that will attack a small section of Tokyo and reclaim it before setting up a base there. I joined this group and fought many battles against the machina. All the way until the day I died." Ai hated talking about this stuff. All it did was bring back the images of people dying left and right in front of her. The people she used as shields and the looks of disbelief on their faces as they looked at her wanting to know why.


    "That does sound pretty horrifying. Like right out of a sci-fi movie. Wait, this seems more like that Barnold guy and the movies he became famous for. What was his catchphrase¡­? Something like ''They will be back'' or something like that. " Kazumi finally spoke up after a long bout of silence. She had yet to give her opinion about anything until now.


    "Sadly yes, but unfortunately this is no Hollywood movie. Where if you die in the movie you will still get to go home after filming is done. These things are real, they are quick, and they are deadly." Ai was a little happy that Mai and her parents were taking everything in stride. Even her father was taking everything in. Whether they truly believed her or not, well, that day will come when they finally see what is in store. Her only problem was her mother who seemed to be in utter denial of the things to come. She did not expect everyone to take her words as truth.


    "Now that I have explained everything let''s get things in order here. We will only have electricity for a few more days. Then we will need to live without power from then on out. Radio singles will last a week. After that, even those will be gone. The A.I. will be in control of all communications systems by that time. Only short wave radios will work in that time as long as a machina above the first type is not around." After saying this Ai turned to Yashuide and asked: "Uncle have you ever used a pistol before?"


    "Yes, I have, back when I was in the army for three years." This was something that Ai knew but had slipped her mind.


    "That''s right too. Then I will leave the other pistol with you tomorrow. If anyone comes that is not either Mai, my father, or myself, then shoot them on the spot. But I do not think you will have too much of an issue. Because when we leave tomorrow we will be doing so in a sneaky fashion." Ai wanted to make sure that at least one gun out of the two was in the bunker at all times to protect her mother and Mai''s mother.


    "You can count on me. I will make sure nothing happens to this place." Yasuhide had already understood where Ai was going when she asked him if he knew how to use a gun. He was very grateful towards Ai for not only preparing this bunker for them all to be safe and live in peace so they can survive the start of the apocalypse and also because she had taught his daughter many things in order to make sure she could survive in this new way of life.


    "Dad tomorrow we will be going out to search for more weapons. If we have to we will corner a police officer if we can find one that is alone. I will have you play the role of an injured person. Mai, you will protect my father from a hiding spot and I will attract the cop to follow me into an alleyway. If we can get by with just knocking him out that would be for the best. Our target will be three guns or more. Before the end of the month, we need a minimum number of guns for everyone here and as much ammo as we can possibly get." Ai explained her plan to everyone. She had used this plan many times to get food and other necessities from whichever idiot that followed her. "Any questions?"

 Chapter 13: Disrupted Timeline Part One

    The next day Mai, Seiji, and Ai all prepared to go out in search of more weapons and other resources. "Dad, can you carry this duffle bag as well?"


    "Ai, what''s the duffle bag for?" Seiji looked at the duffle bag confused.


    "It''s for larger weapons. Just in case we come across something like a shotgun or machine gun. I want to be able to put them away out of sight. Our backpacks will be for storing any small things while the duffle bag will store large things. Right now everyone is in a panic so it is a good opportunity to scope out each area and see what we can grab." Ai was excited this was her first outing with her family and would be good training for them.


    They snuck out of the bunker early in the am when the sun was just barely peeking over the horizon. They used a large lawn hedge as cover in order to not be seen by others. Seiji noticed a weird-looking device hanging from Ai''s waist that swayed back and forth as she walked. "Ai, I know I have asked a lot of questions this morning but what is that on your waist?"


    Ai looked down at her waist looking at the few things she had strapped to her belt. The only thing she could think of that her father would be talking about would be the yellow-colored device. "This is a geiger counter. Remember the bombs went off a day ago. If it rains, we want to be careful that we do not ingest anything with radioactive materials in it. You can let it hit your skin but if it gets in your body it will cause you to become sick and eventually die."


    Seiji had a sudden realization after listening to his daughter. If it was not for her they would be dead before the month was out. Smiling with self-ridicule as to how bad of a father he was that he had to rely on his daughter to think of everything he looked over at Ai and said: "Ai, you really know how to prepare."


    "Dad it''s not that I know how to prepare, it is that I have lived through it once already. Because of this, I already know what to expect and learned what needs to be done. Safety is very important as well as protecting oneself. Say you have not been able to drink a drop of water for three days. If you drink any old pool of water you could end up sentencing yourself to death. But if you carefully check to see if it is free of radioactive materials, you can store it and boil it later to kill any unsafe bacteria that might be in it. You can also use dirt, sand, and rocks to filter it by using a large bottle of some kind." Ai began explaining about things that can be used to survive later on. From water filters to starting a fire she went over the ins and outs of each and told them a few different ways for each thing.


    After walking three streets Ai and her group came up to a small grocery store. No one was around at this hour so it was a perfect chance to break in. This store was still standing strong even after the earthquake but it did seem the owner had come and boarded up the windows. "That''s our first target today. If I am right the owner here has a gun he uses for protection hidden away in his back office. If a cop comes while we are in there all the better since he will be bringing us gifts."


    "Ai, are you sure about this? If we get caught and everything you have said so far does not come true we will go to jail." Seiji had to ask. He wanted to believe in everything his daughter says but he still had many misgivings about certain things and robbing a grocery store was one of them.


    "Dad, just believe in me. There will be no way anyone will find out we were in there and if they do we can just silence them. You do not have to do anything if things go badly you can just leave me behind." Ai said seriously. She knew everything she said so far was straight out of a science fiction movie but she had no choice. She knew hardships were to come. She knew that maybe even some of them will die or end up seriously injured but there was nothing she could do about it. She could only deal with those things when the time comes.


    "Alright Ai, I will believe but we have to be careful. As for leaving you behind, I won''t do that to my daughter, we are in this together." Seiji let out a sigh and finally agreed. He knew that right now since the nuclear bombs went off plus the earthquakes there was no telling when life will get back on track. Luckily Japan was doing okay for now. But the news they watched last night did show tsunamis had hit Japan hard flooding the lower valleys in some areas.


    Ai, Mai, and her father quickly made their way over to the store. They did not go through the front but around to the back where the delivery door was located. Ai took out two crowbars and handed one to her father and took the other one for herself. Mai was watching their back with a pistol in her hand. This was Mai''s first time holding the pistol with its safety off. She was very nervous but did her best not to show it.


    "They only boarded up this window. Help me pry this off and we can smash it out and make it easier to get inside." Ai said as she stabbed her crowbar between the brick and the wood. Her father followed suit and did the same.


    After a little bit of work, they were able to get the board off the door to reveal a small broken window, just big enough for a small child to fit through. "Dad, lift me up I will slip through it."


    "Just be careful." Seiji said as he grabbed his daughter''s legs and lifted her into the air.


    Ai cleaned up the glass shards that were sticking out making sure the whole frame was clear of glass before putting her head through the door shining a flashlight down inside. She looked down and saw that the door was one of those auto-locking doors. She frowned knowing she would not have an easy time. She looked around a little more to see what she could see in the dark but her eyes paused when she saw a small opening in the cement floor that looked like it had just been dug out. It wasn''t too big, only about two meters in diameter. Ai suddenly had a bad premonition about this but she quickly shook it off since she knew the time was too soon.


    "Alright, I''m going in." Ai shoved her arm through, then her head before carefully squeezing her other arm in. She had to contort her body into a weird angle until she finally squeezed the upper half of her body through the small window. Ai gave a sigh of relief thanking the fact that she was a little under weight at this time. She reached up to the top of the door frame, gripped on to it, and finally pulled the legs through.


    Dropping down inside, she looked at the door and placed her hand on the doorknob. "Let''s hope this is one of those doors that open from the inside or we will have some issues..."


    Pressing down the door handle a ''Kacha'' sound was heard causing Ai''s lips to turn upwards as she pulled the door open. "Quickly come in and take out your flashlights. We will need to keep this door closed."


    "Where to first, Ai?" Mai asked.


    "For now just follow me. There is something that has been bothering me since I entered this place... " Ai replied. She still couldn''t shake that hole in the ground.


    "What, what''s wrong?" Seiji asked in a worried tone.


    "I am not sure but see this hole?" Ai asked, getting a nod in confirmation from her father and Mai. "Well, this hole is the same kind of holes the first type machina used to make when they were entering sealed buildings. They would run through the sewers and then dig upwards into buildings surprising the people inside. This hole is also freshly made. So we need to be alert and very careful."


    "Are you saying those killing machine things are already out on the streets?" Mai''s face paled. She was not ready to come face to face with a robot that is out to kill her.


    "That is just it, they shouldn''t be so I am confused as to what could create this hole. This floor is cement and at least five centimeters to a meter thick but look here. See these claw marks? This is what has me nervous..." Ai was very nervous, they only had a single gun with them and two crowbars. It would be hard to fend off a first type machina with her father and Mai since they do not have much experience fighting them yet.


    "Come, the office should be over there. We need to do this fast." Ai said as she moved forward very cautiously. She gripped her crowbar and swept the area with her flashlight making sure to not leave any corner unchecked.


    *Bang!*


    A loud sound came from behind her causing Ai to jump. She quickly turned around and shined her flashlight in the area the sound came from only to see Seiji blushing and scratching his head. "Sorry bumped into a box."


    "Dad! Please be careful. If you do that in the future there is no telling who might shoot you thinking you are an enemy." Ai scolded. She was very glad she did not have a gun or she would have shot first and asked questions later. Many people had been shot and killed because of doing something like that. Luckily Mai was not like her and only turned and pointed the pistol in the direction of the noise.


    Taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out, Ai turned back around and made her way to the office. She turned the knob to the door and frowned when she found it to be locked. "Give me a minute I will get it open."


    She took a bobby pin out of her hair and bent it into a weird shape before stuffing it into the keyhole. After a few seconds of fiddling around, she heard the sound of the lock popping open. Ai twisted the knob and opened the door. She quickly scanned the area with her flashlight and her eyes lit up when she spotted a shotgun leaning against the wall. "We got a shotgun here!" Ai said happily. She quickly went in and picked it up. She could tell that it was in good working order. It was a double-barrel shotgun that took two shells at a time. As she was checking to see if it was loaded another loud sound came from behind her.


    *Bang!*


    She quickly turned around and shined the flashlight on her father. "That was not me."


    "Wasn''t me either." Mai quickly said.


    Ai scanned the outside door with her flashlight. She could faintly hear something off in the distance. "Don''t talk." Ai said her face slightly pale. She quickly checked the shotgun in her hand to see if it was loaded before raising it up and pointing it out into the darkness just beyond the door. The faint sound she was hearing became louder and louder.


    *Clink, clink!* *Clink, clink!* *Clink, clink!*


    The sound of metal on cement could be heard getting louder and louder. Ai heart sank as she yelled: "Both of you get behind me now!"

 Chapter 14: Disrupted Timeline Part Two

    Ai''s scream caused Seiji and Mai to be startled as they quickly retreated back. "I need you two to search the desk for more ammo. I only have two shots." Ai was hoping she could hit whatever was making that sound with the two shots she had. She just hoped the thing making such a familiar sound to her was not what she thought it was.


    Using her flashlight to light up the darkness, Ai scanned the room with her eyes. It was only when the sound became crystal clear that Ai finally saw the source of her nightmares for ten years. It was also at that time that her eyes dimmed as she gripped her shotgun. Her entire person seemed to have changed. She tucked her shotgun under one arm and used her left hand to wield her crowbar. Although the aiming would be somewhat off, this was her normal stance in her previous life when dealing with first type machina. They were quick and they were agile. Aiming would only put you at a disadvantage.


    *Clink, clink!* *Clink, clink!* *Clink, clink!*


    Narrowing her eyes she did not even hear her father calling out to her. She was one hundred percent concentrated on the first type machina in front of her. Her lips suddenly curled up into a cruel smile. "I do not know why you are already showing up since it has only been a few days since the apocalypse has happened, but since you presented yourself in front of me I will do you a favor and send you back to the fucking scrap yard!"


    As if on cue the two figures suddenly shot towards each other. The first type machina was very quick, using its front scythe-like claws it struck out at Ai with incredible speed. But Ai was very used to fighting these things as she quickly dropped down and slid underneath the first type machina mashing it with her crowbar sending it flying to the side and into a wall. Seeing that it was still moving made Ai frown as she got back up to her feet and fired her first shot at the first type machina.


    Her shot barley missed it as the first type machina charged at her again. This time using the boxes as cover as it shot in and out only to come up behind Ai striking out once again. This tactic surprised Ai as she quickly turned to smack the first type machina away. Unfortunately, she was not quick enough as its claw slashed her shoulder causing blood to quickly flow out.


    "Ai!" Seiji saw his daughter getting hurt and yelled out in panic. But to his surprise, Ai not only ignored the wound on her shoulder she retaliated, smashing the first type machina to the ground and pushing the tip of her shotgun right up against its metal shell and pulling the trigger. The limbs went out of control for a few seconds before finally, it stopped moving altogether.


    Breathing out a sigh of relief Ai looked at the broken piece of scrap on the ground kicking it far away from her. "As you can see these things are quite dangerous¡­ Ah!" Ai touched her shoulder pressing against her wound as she slumped down to the floor.


    Seiji and Mai both ran over to her to check on her. "Ai, hold on I will bandage it up now."


    "Mai do it like I showed you before. Use duct tape to close the wound and then wrap it tightly with a cloth after cleaning it." Ai had taught Mai emergency first aid with non-medical items. Mai nodded her head and quickly went to work.


    Seiji looked at his daughter and finally understood that not a single word she had said was a lie. "Ai, I''m sorry."


    "Dad, why are you apologizing? It''s not like you did anything wrong." Ai said with a smile. Though at the same time her brow was furrowed due to the pain of having her wound disinfected.


    "It''s because I did not believe everything you had said so far. A lot of it was too far fetched but now after seeing this robot with my own eyes, I no longer doubt a single word you have said. We will continue as we have by following your command, there will be no second-guessing it. But I must ask you to teach me how to fight properly otherwise if I came face to face with one of these machines, I would probably have died or at least have been seriously wounded. " Seiji now looked at the world in a different light. He no longer had misgivings about stealing or breaking into places. He now knew that their world no longer had the same rules as it did before.


    "That''s fine. I will begin teaching you starting today. But for now, go take what we can. Oh, did you find more shotgun shells?" Ai asked.


    "Yeah, three boxes worth I already put them in my bag and took two out just in case you needed them, here." Seiji reached into his pocket and handed the shells out to Ai.


    "No, you will take the shotgun for now. Until you learn basic hand-to-hand combat and melee combat it would be best for you to take the gun. Plus right now my arm is a little unusable." Ai frowned. During the fight, she didn''t feel the pain as much but now she did.


    "Alright, I will take it." Seiji said as he stood up and picked up the shogun. He unloaded the spent shells and reloaded it with new shells. He then stuffed it in his duffle bag before picking up Ai''s backpack and Mai''s backpack. "I will go fill these up. Ai, are we going back after this?"


    "Yeah, we will drop off what we got here, and then we will go back out after. With the machina showing up already, we need to gather more supplies quickly. Unfortunately, we may need to kill people in the process if someone stands in our way. Dad, are you going to be fine doing this?" Ai asked.


    "From the looks of things I will have no choice. Just yesterday you killed a cop and no one came looking for us. So I can only guess that it would not matter if I did the same." Seiji said with a worried smile.


    "We only need to kill if they try to harm us. Otherwise knocking them out is just fine." Ai explained.


    "Then that''s good. Alright You rest up I will fill these up and we get out of here. Mai, look after Ai for me." Seiji said before leaving to go finish the task at hand.


    After Seji walked away Mai looked down at Ai with a worried expression. "Ai, are you really okay?"


    "Yeah, this is just a flesh wound. Luckily it is on the front side of my upper arm shoulder area or it would be a pain. " Ai sighed as she looked at her shoulder. Sadly no matter how prepared you are or how much you train for it. When fighting machina getting hurt was inevitable. If the surroundings were a bit more open she would have been fine but with all the boxes and other odds and ends in this area, the first type machina had more places to use as a means to attack from. Their quick movements already make them hard to track when they start using obstacles to their advantage, it turns them into an even more frightening weapon.


    "We will take that scrap heap back with us. We need to show your parents and my mother that the things I have been saying are all real." Ai said as she got up front the ground. But when she looked up and saw Mai walking over to the first type machina, Ai no longer cared about the pain in her arm as she dashed forward and yelled out. "Don''t touch it!"


    "Huh!??? Mai had no time to react as she was pulled back by Ai and a splatter of blood splashed her face. "Wha¡­ Ai!"


    *Bam!*


    Ai slammed the first type machina down to the ground before reaching her hand into the hole and pulling out a small round object. Blood dripped down her cheek and onto the floor. She turned and looked at Mai whose face was white as a sheet and bitterly smiled. "You can''t just go near them like that. Although it had stopped, there is a few second delay on the last stand program that will activate as soon as something gets near it. That is why I quickly kicked it away from me earlier. Mai are you okay? Did you get hit?"


    "Ai¡­ Your eye! Why are you worried about me when your eye is all messed up!" Mai looked up at Ai, tears flooding her eyes. She had really messed up and now it looks like Ai had lost her left eye!


    "It''s fine, it''s just an eye. Plus this is not your fault. I never said anything about the last stand program." Ai reached up and firmly pressed her hand on her eye. "Looks like I will need your help patching this up."


    "Ai, what happened!?" Seiji came running over after hearing all the screaming. His steps paused when he saw his daughter''s eye. "How did this happen?"


    "It''s fine dad, it''s mainly my fault for not mentioning some important information. Luckily I was able to pull Mai out of the way in time or we would have lost more than just an eye." Ai had no time to put up a proper guard. The last stand function would activate and would burn out the last of its power source to push itself to move to try to land a final killing blow at whatever it targets. If Ai did not react as quickly as she did, Mai would have been stabbed in the face all the way to her brain, killing her instantly. Unfortunately, Ai was not able to move her head fast enough and caught the very tip of the first type machina''s claw from the top of her eyebrow all the way to just under her eye.


    "Is your eye damaged?" Seiji quickly came over and lifted Ai''s chin to take a good look at her eye.


    "Mmm¡­ It was sliced through. Nothing can be done about it and dad, don''t blame Mai. This was my fault for not saying things sooner." Ai said calmly. On the inside, she couldn''t help but bitterly laugh at the karma of things. In her past life, she had lost an eye as well. The same eye and almost in the same fashion.


    Letting out a sigh Seiji did not know what to say. he looked over at Mai who was in tears and knew it was no one''s fault. "Alright¡­ Mai, help Ai out by cleaning the wound and sealing it up so it will at least stop bleeding. I still have one more bag to fill then we can leave."


    "Dad, stick the machina in the duffle bag and don''t worry it will not move again. I took its power core out." Ai made sure to emphasize that it would not move anymore. She wanted to assure him that it was no longer able to do any more surprise attacks. Normally one would have a weapon ready to smack down the first type machina when they jumped up as this one did. Then they could take its core out after.


    "Okay then, give me another ten minutes and we should be ready to go." Seiji said as he picked up the heap of metal on the floor and shoved it in the green duffle bag.

 Chapter 15: Disrupted Timeline Part Three

    Ai, Mai, and her father returned to her house and stood outside the bunker hatch. "Dad I think you should go first and hold mom back. Because as soon as she sees my eye she will freak and pass out."


    "Yeah, I will. I will try to explain things a bit more. Mai, help her down, one of her arms is not able to move right now until it heals." Seiji let out a sigh. He felt horrible that his daughter had lost her left eye and even got wounded. What made it worse was that she acted as if it was no big deal.


    "You can count on me. And Uncle¡­ I''m sorry..." Mai gave a deep bow, her eyes began watering up again.


    "Ai said it wasn''t your fault so it wasn''t your fault. As she said, she did not mention the last stand program that activates like that and you had no way of knowing. Just take care of Ai for me while I take care of the rest." Seiji said, patting Mai on the head. Mai looked up at Seiji and nodded her head as she answered: "I promise to take good care of her."


    "Can you two stop acting like I am dead? All I did was lose an eye, the same eye I lost in my past life, it''s no big deal." Ai was very used to only seeing with one eye, so she had no issues doing anything at all.


    Seiji looked at his daughter and wanted to say something but decided to leave it be. The look he saw on his daughter''s face was so calm it pained his heart. He wondered what she had to go through in her past life to end up the way she was now. Letting out a sigh he turned around and gave the special knock on the hatch before opening it so that no one would shoot him. The night before they had decided on a special knock in order to make sure no one would accidentally get shot. This came about because Ai made one very firm rule. If someone enters the hatch without knocking, shoot to kill.


    "Your back!" Shizune''s face bloomed into a smile as she walked over and helped Seiji with the bags he was carrying.


    "Mhm. Nene I need you to sit on the couch and not move from there." Seiji said as he looked at Yasuhide. Who then gave a knowing nod and moved Kazumi to the couch as well.


    "What? What is going on? Where is Ai and Mai? Did they get arrested!?" Shizune quickly jumped the gun and assumed Ai and Mai were arrested for doing something they shouldn''t have. "Seiji tell me where is Ai?"


    "Shizune shut up and sit down or I will tie you to a damn chair. Just listen to me!" Seiji yelled, his voice full of anger. He had released his anger on Shizune by accident. He was mad at himself for being so helpless while his daughter fought and got hurt. He was mad cause he couldn''t prevent his daughter from losing her eye. If you combine the stress that piled up and the annoying nagging from Shizune it was a matter of time before he released his anger.


    Shizue quickly shut her mouth. She had only seen Seiji get mad a few times to the point that he would yell like that. Normally he was a clam as a small pond on a windless day. But now he was like a raging storm ready to destroy everything in his path. "Dad if you yell like that you will make mom cry."


    "Ai! You got down okay good..." Seiji turned his head, a worried look replacing his furrowed brows.


    Shizune felt as if time froze when she saw Ai with her left eye bandaged and her arm bandaged up as well. "Ai, what happened to you!?" She finally yelled out.


    "Dad take that thing out and show it to them." Ai said not even paying attention to her mother. Seiji dropped the duffle bag in his arms and unzipped it before reaching in taking out a large metal construct. "The thing dad is holding is a first type machina. I do not know why but this thing was in the store we ransacked today. It is almost a full month too early for these things to be out. So from now on, we will need to be more careful. Uncle, I will be starting training with my father today, you used to be in the military. How about you join us?"


    "Ai should you even be moving? You''re kind of covered in blood..." Yasuhide looked at Ai with a worried expression. Her entire shoulder and the front of her shirt was covered in her blood.


    "Yeah, the shoulder is just a flesh wound, my eye is not something I have to worry about. It might be gone but keeping it covered as it is now will eventually heal. Most likely be about a month though before its healed. As for my shirt, I can just change." To Ai getting hurt while fighting machina was a given. Normally you tried to fight them in more open spaces but this time she had no choice. But if she can get everyone ready to fight these things that would be for the best.


    "No! Ai you need to rest. You will not be going back out from now on. You went out twice so far and on the first day you killed a cop and on the second day, you came back completely injured! You''re not allowed ou... " Shizune''s scolding was interrupted by Seiji.


    "Nene stop now! If not for Ai today, you would have less one husband and Yasuhide and Kazumi would be less one daughter! Things are not as you think they are. Everything Ai has said is completely true. You did not see the movements of this damn thing. Ai is amazing because she was able to defeat it all on her own. And her losing her eye, was an accident. Well more like Ai''s fault for not telling us important information. But if not for her, Mai would have been pierced through her head by this damn thing''s claws." Seiji explained everything that happened, leaving everyone else pale in the face.


    "Are these things really that bad?" Yasuhide asked.


    "Brother that thing was so fast I couldn''t even follow it with my eyes. Ai is amazing for being able to fight toe to toe with that thing and only receive a flesh wound. As for her eye¡­ Those damn things have a secondary program that will use the last of the juice in its energy source to launch a final attack. Unfortunately, Ai forgot to tell us this information and while saving Mai, the damn things claw slashed her eye." Seiji explained.


    "So now that everyone understands we need to prepare for the worst of it. I have no idea what is going on with these things showing up so soon but we still have to gather resources. Let''s just hope this is only a testing phase for these things. We need a bit more time to finalize our preparations." Ai looked at everyone until her eyes fell on to her mother whose face was so pale that it almost looked as if she was dead. "Mom¡­ If you can not handle things as they are now what are you going to do when things get worse? You have to accept reality. Dad I am going to go change my shirt in the bathroom. You and uncle get ready for training. Mai you as well."


    Ai went to go grab a clean shirt when she heard Kazumi calling out to her from behind. "Ai¡­ Can you train me as well?"


    "If Aunty wants to train I can train you but my training is very tough are you still willing?" Ai asked.


    "If it will allow me a better chance at survival I am willing to undergo any hardships." Kazumi did not even have to think about it. To her no matter what she needed to endure as long as she can survive she was fine with it.


    Ai nodded her head and told Kazumi to go up topside and wait for her. After changing her shirt she came back out of the bathroom to find her mother sitting motionlessly on the couch staring at the wall. When she heard Ai she turned her head and looked at her before asking: "Ai am I the only one who finds this all crazy? Why is it everyone else is accepting things so easily? Am I the strange one here?"


    "Mom, you need to understand one thing about this new world. To survive you need to be prepared for anything. Death is as common as breathing. If you are not going to adjust you can just sit here in this bunker until you die. But let me say this now. That machina that took my eye today tunneled up from underground. I have metal in place to keep them from entering this place. But that might not work so well. You may still come face to face with these machina''s. If you wish to be able to escape, then I would suggest taking a deep breath and accepting reality. Everyone else is waiting for me. If you wish to come then come. If not, I will block the hatch door with a heavy object." Ai wished her mother would snap out of it. Shizune was in a deep state of denial if she wished for things to be a dream then so be it. But deep down Ai did not know if she would be able to or willing to protect her mother if she was going to end up getting everyone killed.


    Topside Ai pulled her father to the side and said: "Dad¡­ You need to talk to mom and try to get her to come to her senses. Otherwise..."


    Seiji sighed¡­ "Ai, she is your mother, so please do not ever think like that. But you are right, your mother needs to come around quickly. I will say something to her." Seiji knew he had to do something about his wife. He knew he could not let her go on like this. He also knew that Ai was most likely not going to let things go on like this for much longer either. He would prefer to be the one who dealt with the issue than letting her do it since Ai seems to rough around the edges when it comes to using delicacy.


    "Then try to talk some sense into her. Come let''s go to the nearby ally." Ai she looked back at the hatch that was now hidden. Under her breath, she whispered: "Hurry up mom. I do not want to see you like this much longer."

 Chapter 16: Night Raid Part One

    "Step in and then push your palm out like this, leveraging your body so that it''s like an unmovable object. This will use the opponent''s momentum against them making this palm strike more powerful." Ai was giving strict training to everyone. Each person had backpacks full of rocks and weights on their wrist and ankles. She was getting everyone ready for the times to come.


    Inside the bunker, Shizune sat on the couch staring at the heap of metal in front of her that was once a first type machina. Remembering the eyepatch on her daughter''s eye caused Shizune''s heart to hurt. "Why? Why must Ai go through all of this? Why must she deal with all this pain? She should just grow up like a normal young girl but now¡­ her eye..."


    Coming down the ladder to grab some drinks, Seiji heard Shizune''s words and knew his wife was feeling useless and helpless. "Nene¡­ If you want to help Ai then I would suggest you start training with her. Grow stronger so you can protect her if the situation calls for it. Out of everyone in this world we are the luckiest parents in the world to have a daughter who did so much in order for us to survive. Although it hurts to know she had to go through ten years of living hell only to die. But at least she was able to come back to us in the past and is able to help us get through the days ahead. I am sure that during her past life she was just like us now, helpless not knowing what to do. Going through hardship after hardship in order to survive.


    "Us as parents can only do one thing. Grow stronger and do our best to support the child we brought into this world. Ai is someone who will protect those close to us. She had already put her life on the line twice today to protect us. I think it would be best if we grew stronger so we can be there for her so she does not need to always protect us." Seiji had decided this after watching Ai fight the first type machina. He would make sure his daughter was not let alone to fight on the front line all by herself. He would do his best to stand in front of her and take any pain she would have to endure.


    "Seiji do you think Ai will be willing to train one more person?" Shizune asked. The look in her eyes was now different than they were before. Before they looked as if she had lost all hope but now they were filled with unwavering determination. Seiji''s words had really hit home with her. She realized she was nothing but a mess at this time only complaining and not doing. If she truly wished to protect her child she had to do as Seiji had said and actually do whatever she can to become strong.


    Seiji smiled and pulled Shizune into his arms and kissed the top of her head. "I am sure Ai would be more than happy to train you as well."


    Out in the back alley, Ai was still instructing everyone when she saw her father walking back with another person behind him. Seeing her mother now looking much different than before, Ai let out a sigh of relief as she walked over to her mom and wrapped her arms around her. "Sorry for being so harsh."


    "No, I should say sorry for not realizing what I need to do. Ai, I wish to train as well so I can help you in the days to come." Shizune said as she hugged Ai.


    "Training is no problem but remember this training is not easy and I will not let up even if you say you are tired." Ai would not go easy on anyone no matter who they were. If she was going to train someone she would do so in her own way which was very harsh but brought about good results.


    "No matter what I have to go through, I will put up with it no matter what."


    ---


    Ai had decided to take a day''s rest the next day and only helped train everyone. With Mai''s and her mother''s help, she was able to get her wounds cleaned out properly and fresh bandages placed over them. This was a delicate task since the duct tape she had used to seal the wound, the glue from it had sunk into the wound causing it to bleed again when they took it off but this time it was not as bad. After a full day of training, Ai had everyone go back and rest as she sat down on one of the collapsed beams of her house looking up at the sky. The clouds overhead were starting to look a little ominous as if they would let loose a downfall of rain at any time.


    She quickly ran over to the hatch and opened it before yelling down: "Get the rain buckets ready!"


    She would not let a single chance go by for collecting water. Very quickly her father and Yasuhide both came up the ladder with buckets in hand, lined with plastic bags. "Ai is this done right?"


    Ai had taught everyone to line the buckets with plastic in order to keep the sides from being contaminated if the rainwater was radioactive. This was to keep the radioactive materials from soaking into the buckets themselves. "Yes, that''s right. We just need to fill the buckets. Even if there are a little bit of radioactive materials in the water, as long as it is a low amount we can still use it to bathe."


    "But how are we going to wash ourselves with such little water?" Yasuhide asked.


    "That is the next course of training. Later on, we will have no choice but to bathe out in the open among many people. If you wish to get clean you will strip naked and wash your body. If you were lucky you would have at least a few minutes of decent rain to get clean. you might find it uncomfortable at first but over time you will get used to it. By that time people would not care too much about nakedness since those things no longer mattered. What was more important was survival." Ai explained.


    Yasuhide and her father both looked at her wide-eyed. "So you''re saying we will be practicing this?"


    "Mhm. Of course, we will start off wearing underwear and slowly work our way into things until you are comfortable. For me, I do not care but right now I can not wash in any radioactive water. So unless it is clean I can not bathe in it until my wounds heal... I will be with you guys though since I can still wash myself with a cloth. I just can''t wash my arm or around my eye." Ai wanted to take a shower herself but with her wounds, she did not dare to let them get infected. It was like the rules of old, if you are injured, stay away from water unless it has been sterilized. Otherwise, you risk gaining an infection which there are no hospitals around to prescribe any antibiotics. Ai suddenly realized she had forgotten an important thing.


    "Dad, Uncle, Which one of you wishes to go out on a raid tonight?" Ai asked.


    "What do you mean?" Seiji looked at Ai, his expression showing his confusion.


    "I forgot to stock up on prescription drugs such as antibiotics and other things that will come in handy later on. Medicine for radiation poison and such. These drugs can also be used for trading later on so it will be helpful to take everything we can."


    "So you''re saying you want to rob a drug store?" Yasuhide spoke up.


    "Yep exactly! I will be bringing Mai with me and one more but we need one male here to protect the bunker and to protect my mother and aunt. I will let the two of you decide who stays and who goes." Ai said.


    "I would like to go. I wish to gain the experience. I have never actually robbed a place before so in order to know what I need to do in the future this would be a very good experience for me." Yasuhide was the first to speak up. He wanted to gain firsthand experience of what it meant to live in this new day and age.


    "That''s fine I will stay here and guard the base and protect Nene and Sister. Brother, you can go. I already went with Ai the other day." Seiji had no problem letting Yasuhide go. Yasuhide was once in the military so he had more experience with fighting than himself.


    "Alright, then it is decided. Let''s get ourselves ready. We will be bringing both pistols. Mai will have one and Uncle you will have the other. Bring a second clip with you as well. But do not shoot unless it is necessary. It would be best to use melee weapons first. Also, wear black clothes." Ai wanted to conserve ammunition as much as possible since they did not have many bullets and the black clothes were to keep them hidden in the dark.


    That night the rain came down hard, luckily when Ai tested the water to see if it was radioactive it seemed to be safe since the geiger counter did not give off a reading. Ai wrapped her wounded arm with a plastic bag and put on a hat to keep her eye from getting wet. She had already donned her black clothes so she could blend in with the night. Mai and Yasuhide also did the same. As they were about to leave, Ai was stopped by Shizune.


    "Ai are you sure you will be okay?" Shizune asked. Although she decided to become strong for her daughter she still couldn''t help herself from worrying.


    "Don''t worry mom the machina are not out in groups right now this is the perfect time to gather what we need. This time though, if I find anything suspicious about the building, we will back out right away. Even I am not dumb enough to fight in this condition unless my life is on the line." Ai tried to reassure her mother that she was going to be okay. She figured as long as she did not run into any machina''s there wouldn''t be an issue.


    "Okay as long as you stay safe do not come home missing a limb or something." Shizune cupped Ai''s cheek as she looked at her with a worried expression before hugging Ai tightly.


    "I will be careful. We will all come back safe and sound, I promise." Ai said as she pushed herself out of her mother''s embrace and picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. After giving her father a few more instructions. Ai, Mai, and Yasuhide all climbed the ladder into the darkness of the night above.

 Chapter 17: Night Raid Part Two

    Sitting on a branch, her legs hanging over the side, staring down at a group of thugs trying to break the door to the drug store down, Ai sat calmly and watched the whole scene from above. In a bush nearby Yasuhide and Mai were waiting for her signal. Ai was just currently watching the bunch of idiots kick the door and try to use their crowbars to pry the door off but they were not having any luck.


    Seeing how things were not going to let up any time soon. Ai stealthy hopped down from the tree before picking up a few pebbles off the ground. Using her thumb and index finger she quickly and skillfully flicked them at the thugs by the door while staying hidden in a bush by the tree.


    "Ouch, what the fuck was that?" One of the thugs yelled out.


    "What are you bitching about, hurry up and help us out over here!"


    "Huh, Yeah I will be right there." The thug shouted in response before looking around one more time to see if he could find out what actually hit him. But right as he turned around he felt another stabbing pain in the back of the head. "What the fuck! Fuck! Who did that!?"


    In the nearby Bush Ai was giggling away to herself finding the whole thing rather funny. Mai and Yasuhide could only shake their heads when they saw this. "Dad is it just me or does it look like Ai is having fun?"


    "Oh, she is having fun that is for sure. But man those guys are idiots. She''s got him screaming at the top of his lungs. I wonder if he is aware that he is actually trying to break into a building?" Yasuhide had to hand it to Ai with how she was messing with these guys, it was quite comical. But he could also tell that even though she was having fun her eyes never stopped inspecting the six thugs.


    Seeing that the time was right Ai motioned with her hand making a few hand signs. This signaled Mai to come forward. When she did Ai did not hesitate to rip part of her shirt revealing her collarbone and a bit of her shoulder. She then rubbed some mud on Mai''s face and ruffled her hair before doing the same thing to herself. Except she did not mess up her hair since she had to wear her hat to help protect her eye. "Just like we planned before, we will act as if we were attacked and almost raped, this will make them think lustful thoughts. Keep your gun hidden. Remember the hand to hand combat moves I taught you. This will be perfect practice for you. As soon as one reaches out to touch you beat the ever living shit out of them do you understand? Also, no need to hold back each of these guys can not leave here alive."


    Mai clutched her crowbar and nodded her head. This was one of the plans they came up with on the way here if they had run into a situation like this. Ai was using the appeal of innocent girls who had just had a traumatic experience looking for help as a means to catch these thugs off guard. It was guaranteed as soon as they saw two beauties they would try to do something. It was during this time when their guard was the lowest that they would be able to take them all down. It was dubbed the honey trap plan. (Ai came up with the name.) With Ai''s signal Mai and Ai, both ran out of the bush yelling for help. "Please help us there is a man trying to **** and kill us!"


    Mai was the first to yell out, she was even able to squeeze tears out of her eyes. Her disheveled hair and her clothes torn and unkempt, made the whole act look more realistic. With some of her white smooth skin showing this instantly caught the eye of these thugs as they quickly stopped what they were doing to come over and "Check on the poor innocent girl...".


    "Little lady, what is the problem? Someone is after you? Just stay with us and we brothers will protect you."


    "Will¡­ Will you protect my friend too?" Mai asked as she turned her watery eyes that gave off a desperate look at the tug that spoke.


    "Your friend? Sure sure no problem we will protect the both of you!" This thug suddenly felt like he had hit the jackpot having two blossoming beauties come running over to him. He reached out to touch Mai''s shoulder only to suddenly feel a sharp pain in the side of his head and a warm fluid running down his face. "Wha...?"


    "Humph! Humph! Dare to try to touch me? Let''s see if I don''t beat you to death!" Mai suddenly said as she smacked the crowbar in her hand a few times off the thug''s skull.


    Ai looked at Mai''s brutal actions and knew she would not have any issues in the future. "Leave him and attack the next one! Don''t let them recover!"


    Ai shot forward and swung her crowbar down on the closest thug''s head sinking the arched tip right into his head. She then used her foot to pry it out of the thug''s body before moving on to the next one. The two girls easily made short work of the group. It was only after her adrenaline had worn off that Mai realized what she had done. "Ai, are they?"


    "Sadly they picked the wrong store to rob since this turned out to be my target. If they went elsewhere they could have lived. " Ai said nonchalantly while raising her hand making a hand sign calling Yasuhide over.


    "This means they are dead?" Mia''s face turned pale and suddenly felt sick to her stomach. This was her first time killing anyone so her reaction was to be expected.


    "Dead as dead can be. But I must say Mai you are even more brutal than I thought you would be." Ai kicked one of the dead thugs on the ground to turn him over, his head was split open and blood continually flowed out. This thug had been brutally smashed in the head repeatedly with a crowbar.


    "Urp!" Mai suddenly lost her stomach. Ai walked over and rubbed her back. This was a sight she would need to get used to. These thugs wouldn''t have cared if it was them who had the upper hand.


    "Ai, was it necessary to kill them?" Yasuhide asked. His complexion was not all that good.


    "Well, we could have let them live to run back to find more people to overwhelm us, or we could deal with them early so this way we do not need to run into them in the future." Ai said. "This is also a form of training. In the future, you can not let people like this go. It will bring disaster upon you."


    "I see... " Yasuhide answered, letting out a sigh. "I guess in a way this will toughen us up then..."


    "It may seem cruel but you have to throw your old world thinking out and remember this is not the same peaceful world you are used to. I mean look how loud these guys were being for so long and not a single cop showed up. This is because there are not enough cops to care about stupid things like this. There also has been no ambulances or fire trucks running around. Our world is nothing more than a shell of its past now. Remember the law of the jungle is what allows one to survive now.


    "This time around it was some petty thugs looking to break into a place to get a cheap high. But tomorrow it could be some armed group who have many guns or other weapons. You can''t think kindly of these people. Because in the near future things like slave trafficking is a thing and done openly. One day you could see Mai, me, your wife, or even my mother, stripped naked chained by their hands and feet displayed as goods for sale. Uncle¡­ Do not go into this new era with the old way of thinking or you will lose more than you think." Ai finished her words and turned and walked towards the boarded-up window and shoved her crowbar in easily pulling the board off. She then smashed the window out and climbed on through.


    Yasuhide was stunned at how she easily entered while the thugs spent almost an hour at the door trying to gain access. He suddenly let out a laugh¡­ "I guess she was correct that those guys were nothing but petty thugs." He paused and looked at his daughter who had finally stood up. "Mai you okay?"


    "Yeah dad, it was just my first time killing someone. I heard everything that was said. Ai is right we need to get used to this new way of life." Mai forced a smile before lowering her head and walking towards the open window.


    "I guess you are right..." Yasuhide looked down at the thug on the ground before bending down and checking their pockets. "I guess I should at least see if they got anything worthwhile."


    Inside the pharmacy, Ai was ransacking the shelves left and right taking anything that could be used. Cold medicines, bandaids, gauze, painkillers anything that would be needed for everyday things. All items which were hard to get later on. "Ai what should I be taking?"


    "Save your bag and just follow me for now. We will need your''s and uncle''s bag for the prescription drugs." Ai replied. Before thinking for a second and looking at Mai. "You okay?"


    "Mhm¡­ Just hard." Mai replied honestly.


    "The first time is always hard. Just now you got caught up in the moment and went full force. Which is good. As long as you can do that from now on. It will help you survive until killing a human is the same as killing a spider for you. You do not even think about it, you just do it." Ai walked over and pulled Mai into a hug. "If you can''t sleep tonight I will stay by your side. My first time killing someone was the same, I had nightmares every night until after about the third person I killed. Only after that did I become numb from it all. It was like something clicked in my brain."


    "Thanks, Ai but I am okay. If I have issues I will wake you up." Mai said with a forced smile. She was having a little troubling dealing with it but the more she thought about it, there was nothing else she could do. She knew Ai lied to her father about needing to kill these thugs. There was no need to. If she flashed her gun and fired off a warning shot, they would have been sure to have run away without incident. But instead, she used them as training material. In Ai''s mind, they were expendable objects used to train those close to her. Mai was not the only one who understood this fact, Yasuhide also did as well. But he kept quiet about it.


    Ai looked at Mai questioningly. She saw her fists that were clenched and were slightly shaking along with her knees as well. She could tell Mai was trying to be strong. She decided not to call her out on it. "Just remember Mai, I am always here for you."


    "I know..." Mai said her smile finally becoming genuine. "What are we looking for in prescription drugs?"


    "Everything! Doesn''t matter what it is, we will take it all. These things can be traded for food and water later on. You can even trade them for a cute boy if you want, Mai." Ai teased trying to lighten up the mood.


    "Ai are you sure this is not what you are after?" Mai teased back.


    "We can just buy one for the both of us and share him, how''s that?" Ai suggested as she winked at Mai.


    "Ai can you not teach my daughter bad things!?" Yasuhide suddenly shouted, causing both the girls to laugh.

 Chapter 18: Night Raid Part Three

    "Hahaha! What''s wrong with letting Mai have a little fun with a cute boy?" Ai, let out a laugh. She really found the look on Yasuhide''s face very funny.


    "Ai don''t even go there. You may be in your twenties mentally but remember how old Mai is." Yasuhide''s face was completely red causing Ai to laugh even more.


    "Ai don''t tease my father. But thank you. I feel a lot better." Mai knew that Ai was saying all this in order to lighten her mood after killing people for the first time.


    "Mhm! As long as my sister is okay then all is good and Uncle if you want a nice firm young woman just tell me, I won''t tell aunty."


    "Ai!"


    Ai let out a laugh, grabbed a hold of Mai''s hand, and ran off towards the prescription area with Mai in tow. Yasuhide stood there staring at the two girls laughing away and let out a sigh of relief. He knew Mai was young and it was unfair for her to have to do such a thing as murder at such a young age. But like Ai had said this was training. When push comes to shove there would be a time when she would need to kill in order to survive. Tonite just served as a training session for what was inevitable. It was better to learn how to deal with these things in a controlled environment than it was to do so in a life or death situation.


    But Yasuhide was truly amazed at how well Mai and Ai performed. All those thugs were killed swiftly with little effort. It seemed he had to owe it to Ai for training his daughter so well. "I guess I can''t be left behind. But how am I going to break this to Kazumi..."


    After Ai broke into the back area of the pharmacy, the two girls went to work stuffing their bags full of prescription medications. They went shelf to shelf dumping all the medications into the empty bags. As they finished up and were about to leave a loud sound came from outside. "This is the police! Come out with your hands up!"


    "Shit!" Yasuhide swore. He did not think there would be cops anymore.


    "Well not surprising since there are a bunch of dead bodies out there. They probably drove by and saw them there. Let me take a look." Ai said as she walked over to one of the windows and peered out. What she saw was a lone cruiser with two cops standing outside of it, guns pointing at the pharmacy''s door from behind their open car doors. Seeing this, Ai smiled brightly and walked back over to the Mai and Yasuhide. "Here is the plan. I will call for help. When they come in knock them both out and strip them of everything they have. We will then search through the police car for anything good."


    Ai already had it all planned as she started to strip off her shirt causing Yasuhide to quickly avert his eyes. "Ai what are you doing?"


    "Makes things more believable and will catch them off guard. Quickly get into positions on either side of the door. But before that..." Ai said. She lowered the strap of her bra a bit before lowering her pants ever so slightly so that half of her panties were showing. She then turned to Yasuhide and said: "Punch me in the face."


    "What?" Yasuhide was stunned by Ai''s order.


    "Dad, you''re taking too long!" Mai complained as she walked over and punched Ai as hard as she could in the eye.


    This caused Yasuhide to be even more stunned as Ai did her best to not yell out in pain as she held her good eye. "Mai... Damn that hurt." Shaking her head to try to shake off the pain, she said: "Okay, get into positions!"


    Mai nodded and quickly dragged Yasuhide away while Ai sat herself down and leaned up against one of the fallen over shelves, she then rubbed some dirt all over her exposed skin. Once everyone was ready she suddenly called out in a sobbing voice: "Help someone! Someone help me!"


    The cops outside heard Ai''s cry and looked at each other. They gave each other a nod before slowly walking towards the window. One of the cops peeked in to see a young girl with her clothes half off. One eye bandaged and the other was swelling up. "Young Lady, are you okay? It''s the police! You will be fine. Is there anyone else in there with you?"


    "Hello!? No. The man who dragged me here and killed everyone outside punched me in the face before running out the back. Please help me. I can''t move, my arm and leg are broken..." Fake tears rolled down Ai''s, cheeks causing them to glisten in the light that peered in.


    "Okay hold on we will come now." The two officers nodded to each other again before one of them finally made their way through the window. The first cop jumped through the window and just as he was about to turn to the side he felt something cold pressed up against his head. His partner who was only halfway through the window was suddenly pulled through and pushed to the ground with the barrel of a pistol pressed against his head.


    "Drop your weapons." Yasuhide said in a threatening manner. The two cops quickly did as they were told.


    Ai came walking up with a smile on her face as she looked over at Mai. "Mai your fist hurt! You almost made me blind in my right eye!"


    "Sorry Ai. You asked dad to hit you first so I figured you would want to be hit hard." Mai quickly apologized and bowed her head. She really felt bad but she figured it needed to be done and done quickly.


    "It''s fine. It''s fine. It served its purpose." Ai said shrugging off the whole thing.


    "Ai put your damn shirt back on!" Yasuhide growled, he was having a hard time deciding where to look.


    "Uncle in the future you will be seeing a lot more than this, not just of mine and your daughters but many others. You need to get used to it. To me, it''s no big deal. Since I went through it already." Ai said as she fixed her bra and put her shirt on.


    "That maybe so, but right now is not the place for that kind of training and I would prefer to have your parents around when that training needs to be done." Yasuhide didn''t dare look in Ai''s direction.


    "Okay, I''m dressed. But I have to say it was good that you decided to not go for the knockout. These two guys would probably not have been easily knocked out." Ai said, looking at the thick muscles on both the cops'' necks.


    "You people, what are you doing? You do realize we are police officers right?" One of the cops yelled.


    "Oh, what will you do to me? As of now, there isn''t a damn thing you can do. My guess is you only stopped because you saw some bodies laying on the ground outside. If you saw the person who killed them inside the building I am sure you would have shot to kill. But instead, you saw a young girl beaten up and stripped of her clothing. I bet you would have never thought that you would live to see the day when you would be robbed by two teenage girls." Ai grinned as she reached down picking up both guns off the floor. She checked the clips and smiled seeing that they were full.


    She took aim at the cop that was standing there with Mai holding a gun to his head. The cop saw this and yelled out: "Do you plan to kill me? If you do, you never see the light of day again. So why don''t you put your gun do..."


    *Bang!*


    With no hesitation, Ai pulled the trigger putting a bullet into the cop''s head. Blood and bits of his brain splattered out the back of the cop''s head. "That''s one. Uncle I will let you handle the last one. Make sure you take everything that is useful."


    "By handle, you mean as you did just now?" Yasuhide asked.


    "Mhm. Mai and I will go search the police car." Ai said before walking over to Mai and wiping the little bit of blood that splashed on her face off.


    After the two girls left, Yasuhide looked at the cop on the floor. "You know we are in different times. I have to hand it to you for trying to stop a burglary. But the boss lady says I have to deal with you and as it is part of my training, I have no choice. Just blame your shitty luck for running into us." Yasuhide said before pulling the trigger. The cop did not even get to say a word back to him. His blood spread out across the floor. Yasuhide didn''t even flinch after killing someone. He was trained to do so while he was in the military. He just did as he was asked and went to work checking for useful items from the now two dead cops.


    "Ai there are two shotguns and two sets of body armor in the trunk. And like ten of these things." Mai walked over and handed Ai a canister with a handgrip on it.


    "Oh! Flashbangs! Good find! These are very handy for emergencies! They can save our life. You said there are about ten?" Ai asked, her eyes were glowing with excitement.


    "Yes, there are around ten. Give or take a few. I only roughly counted since they are all stacked on top of each other." Mai answered.


    "Good this means we can each have one or two on us at all times. These things are very good to have. But only use them if your life is on the line as the last trump card to get away." Ai said. As she quickly ran over to count how many there actually were.


    "I searched both bodies and they only had two extra clips each. What did yo¡­ Holy shit! Were they prepared to go to war?" Yasuhide yelled out as he saw the stake of items laid out on the ground. In front of him were two shotguns, five boxes of both 9mm ammo and shotgun ammo. Riot gear and flashbangs.


    "Well this is everything, let''s load up and get out of here. I need to get my bandaged changed, it got slightly wet. Good work today. We made out good in our endeavor." Ai was surprised that they got such a boon in this outing. She was never this lucky in her past life. They now had enough to get through for at least a year. This did not mean they could stop their excursions outdoors. They still had to keep collecting as much as possible.


    "Alright then let''s head back. Should we take the police car?" Yasuhide asked.


    "Mmm¡­ No, I saw a vehicle on the way here that would be better. Let''s stop off and grab it on the way home." Ai answered. The vehicle she saw was a hummer. If altered right it would work as a good travel vehicle for the next few months. It would also protect them when traveling when dealing with the first type machinas.


    "Alright, lead the way."


    As the group left, inside the pharmacy a scratching noise could be heard coming from the underground. This noise got louder and louder until finally a small circle opened up in the floor and a metallic ball looking object with legs and two front scythe-like claws popped out from the hole. It was about sixty to seventy centimeters tall and its metal body reflected the dim lighting. A few seconds later more clawing could be heard and many more holes appeared. The same object came out of each of these new holes. If Ai was here she would notice it to be the first type machina she had fought in her past life and just the day before.

 Chapter 19: Shizue’s Special Training Part One

    A Black Hummer rolled up in front of Ai''s demolished home. Three people hoped out carrying heavy bags as they made their way into the wreckage. Ai, Yasuhide, Mai all climbed down the ladder to the bunker sealing the hatch as they did. "Ai! Your face!"


    The first thing Shizue noticed was Ai''s now black eye. "Mom, it''s fine. It was self-inflicted."


    "What do you mean self-inflicted!?" Shizue was confused. Why would her daughter want to get punched in the face?


    "When we went to leave we had two cops show up. I acted out the damsel in distress so that we could get the jump on them. In order to do so, I had Mai hit me so it looked like I was about to be r*ped. Only to have the so-called r*pist run away when the cops showed up." Ai explained.


    "Then the cops?" Seiji asked.


    "Dead. I killed one, Ai killed one, and both Ai and Mai killed a bunch of thugs outside the pharmacy." Yasuhide replied.


    "What¡­?" Shizune was shocked. She started to wonder if they went out to just commit murder.


    "Dad come here a second please." Ai noticed her mother''s reaction to the whole thing and knew this really could not continue like this.


    Ai brought her father over to the side and lowered her voice. "Dad we need to do something that will put mom in danger..."


    Seiji frowned but decided to keep listening to what Ai had to say. "Explain."


    "We need to do a controlled situation where mom will have to deal with someone who she will have no other choice but to kill. I don''t want her to have to go through such a thing so soon but the sight of a first-type machina is enough to know mass death will be in front of us soon. And mom will need to get over the shock of this type of thing quickly. Just like Mai did tonight." Ai explained.


    "I see¡­ Alright, but you and I will oversee it and if your mother is not able to pull the trigger, I will." Seiji said coldly. He did not like this idea but what Ai said made a lot of sense. Widespread death and famine will soon be upon them and being too nice will end up getting one killed.


    "That''s fine and trust me. I have ways to make the one we have do this not do anything to mom besides ruff her up a bit. After I ice up my eyes and rest for a while, I will go and find our training tool. You should also talk to Uncle about this as well and see what he wants to do for Aunty. Anyway, it''s training time." Ai said as she looked back in everyone else''s direction. "As you all know it is pouring out. The buckets upstairs have gathered water. Everyone should strip down to where they are most comfortable and come up topside. We will be doing our practice public bathing."


    Everyone looked at Ai with a troubled expression. But Ai ignored it, took off her bandage around her eye and her arm, and then stripped down to nothing. She put her hat back on and grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself as she went topside. Mai quickly followed suit. Although blushing she did not care since everyone around her was family to her. Seeing the two youngest taking the lead, the adults all looked at each other awkwardly before following suit.


    Topside Ai was under a partial overhang using a bowl of water to wipe herself down. Mai was behind her washing her back. "Your wounds are beginning to heal. We will need to make sure we sanitize them after this which will hurt."


    "I know. But it''s fine. I would rather not get an infection. Although we now have medicines to fight infections, I still would prefer not to waste any." Ai said as she caught eye of her parents and Mai''s parents all making their way topside.


    They all seemed to have stripped down and followed her and Mai''s example of just covering up until it was time to wash. Mai and she had already placed their towels to the side in a dry spot because they did not want them to get any wetter than they already were. Her mother and Mai''s mother both came over to where they were while the two men walked behind a broken wall. "Ai, Mai cover up more..."


    "Mom, it''s the apocalypse. If I cover up, how will I get clean? To be honest I am surprised that you two stripped all the way down. Anyway, just get used to it. We will have to do this a lot in the future." Ai said as she soaped up her arm as far as she could. The wound on her shoulder was nowhere close to being healed.


    Shizune let out a sigh as well as did Kazumi. "I do not know how you two trained these past few months but for Mai to also be so used to this is a letting unsettling..."


    "Mom, I took showers with Ai in order to get used to it. Plus to me, everyone here is family so it''s no big deal." Mai explained as she finished washing Ai''s back.


    "By the way Mom, tomorrow you will be going out with me and dad. It is your turn to do some live training." Ai said suddenly.


    "I¡­ Do you think I am ready? I mean, I just started training and barely know any moves." Shizue felt nervous about going out. She had good reason to since three times they had made expeditions out to gather resources and three times things happened. The first time Ai killed a cop, the second time they ran into a machina where AI was heavily injured, and this last time, they went and killed more cops and thugs. So now Shizune had no idea what to expect.


    "Whether you are ready or not is not does not matter. It is how you deal with the situation at that time that you will learn to know what to do." Ai answered.


    "Fine, I will just follow what you say." Hearing her mother''s answer caused Ai to feel as if some of her stress had lifted off her shoulders.


    The four girls sat and chatted and after a while they completely forgot they were in public exposing all, for all to see. While they chatted Seiji and Yasuhide were also having a serious talk.


    "And that is what she has planned for tomorrow. What do you think?" Seiji asked.


    "This is some serious ruthless training but it would push our wives to make decisions that they normally would not do or try to avoid. As long as it is in a controlled situation it should be fine. But where is she going to find such people to do this training?" Yasuhide knew how cunning Ai could be. Just from how she presented herself and acted in front of those cops. He lured them in so easily that they even dropped their guard down without much thought.


    "I have no idea and it will probably be best not to ask." Seiji said with a frown. "I guess I will head back down."


    "Right behind you. The girls should be just about down as well."


    After bathing, Mai and Shizune helped clean and rewrap Ai''s wounds before everyone turned in for the night. The next day Ai woke up early and got dressed. Yasuhide was the only other one awake at the time. "Ai can I talk to you?"


    "Hmm? yeah, what''s the matter?" Ai asked as she bit into a stale roll.


    "The training you plan to give your mother, are you sure about this?" Yasuhide asked.


    "It is the only way. For someone like my mom who is way too nice, she would never be able to kill unless her life is on the line. This is a good thing in the old days but now that the world has come to an end it is no longer a trait one can have. Just like yesterday where you were apprehensive about killing the cops, you still did it in the end. My mother is weak at this time so she needs to be in a controlled environment where she can kill someone who is attacking her and if things go south, she''d have someone there to protect her. This was a decision my father and I decided on. I hate to say it but I think Aunty should also go through this training. But that will be left up to you to decide. All I know is that I want my family to be ready for anything." Ai knew what she was doing was very wrong. But she saw no other way about things. This was the only time she could train her mother in these things to prepare her for later on.


    "I will think it over. " Yasuhide gave his thanks before going topside to begin his training.


    Later that morning Ai was standing inside a partially collapsed house looking at the young man in front of her. This young man was roughly twenty-five years of age. But around him were nothing but dead bodies and the young man himself was covered in their blood. "You killed your whole family huh?"


    "Hahaha! So what! Just hearing their screams were enough to make me feel as if I had gained freedom! You have no idea how much they tormented me when they were alive. But now. Hahaha! Thanks to the world-destroying itself, I am now able to be free!" The young man shouted at the top of his lunges.


    "Well, it''s too bad you met me. I tell you what, I will not kill you if you do a job for me." Ai said raising the pistol in her hand causing the young man to shrink back.


    "Wha-what if I say no?" The young man stuttered. With the pistol turned on to him he did not dare move. He dared to kill but he did not dare to die.


    "If you say no you will die now or you can do as I ask and live, pick."

 Chapter 20: Shizue’s Special Training Part Two

    Later that night Ai, Seiji, and her mother Shizune went out on their hunt for resources. But when they reached a parking lot a few streets from their house, Ai and her father looked at each other and nodded. "Mom, wait here for a second while dad and I check up ahead. Last night I ran into a few thugs up ahead. If anyone comes, shoot first and ask questions later."


    "Ai wait don''t leav..." It was already too late as Shizune cried out. Her daughter and husband had disappeared into the darkness leaving her in the parking lot all by herself.


    "Ai are you sure about this?" Seiji asked as he looked at his wife who was obviously scared out of her mind. She was looking around every which way pointing her gun at every sound she heard.


    "Mhm¡­ It is already a good sign with how she is pointing her gun at everything that moves." Pausing for a minute due to her hearing a rustling nearby. She spotted a figuring walking towards her mother. "He''s here." Ai said pointing at the shadow coming into the light.


    Shizune heard the sound behind her and quickly turned around pointing her gun at the man who appeared. "You! Don''t come any closer!"


    "Fuck! No one told me about a gun!" The man yelled, his eyes wandered around as if he was looking for someone. He paused his steps and wanted to turn around but when he remembered the threat from that girl quickly pushed those thoughts out of his head. "Listen, lady, sorry to tell you this but someone hired me to beat the shit out of you and r*pe you."


    Seiji turned towards Ai, his gaze filled with anger. Ai ignored him and said: "If I do not go that far mom would not break out of her shell and enter the new world."


    "Ai, I am telling you now, if anything happens to your mother..." Seiji was so filled with rage he wanted to take his daughter and spank her ass right then and there!


    "If something happens to mom then it would mean I lack in training myself. But I can guarantee that nothing will happen to her. At most, she might reveal some skin, break a bone, and get beaten up. But dead men tell no tales. And then you can take her and wash away the man''s dirty touch." Ai seemed to be out of her mind, crazy even. Seiji couldn''t believe she would let her mother go through such an experience. He was completely regretting agreeing to this.


    Seeing her father gritting his teeth to the point that it sounded almost as if his teeth would break, Ai could only shake her head. She also didn''t want her mother to experience such things but this was the only way to toughen her spirit and prepare her for what was to come. "Father if you are that worried go kill him yourself and I will leave."


    "Just shut up! Did I say anything!?" Seiji was doing his best to not yell out in anger. But this daughter of his was really treading his last string of sanity.


    "Then don''t give me that look. I do not care what you think. I am doing this for you and mom, not for myself. I hate this just as much as you but, I will not sit around with you looking at me like that. I can survive in this new world on my own. I do not need to do all this. I am doing this out of my love for my family, wishing for them to grow stronger fast. I do not want to see my parents die again." Ai''s voice was bitter. She did not want her parents to die but if her father was going to judge her due to her way of training then she would rather leave than watch them die again.


    Seiji swallowed his anger. He realized he went too far and he was taking his frustration of the situation out on Ai. "I said too much."


    "It''s fine. I just want you to know I can leave at any time if you so wish." Ai said before going back to watching the scene before her.


    Seiji stayed quiet. Everything they had thus far was given to them by this daughter of theirs. She knew what was to come and only had their best interest in mind. "Ai, I''m sorry. I know you got our best interest in mind. I would never want you to leave nor will I ever tell you to leave."


    "Don''t worry, I understand. Just be prepared because you will need to kill someone next." Ai said without even looking at Seiji.


    "I know. I am ready for it." Seiji said, his expression now showing one of resolve.


    Shizune, on the other hand, was now in a tough position. The man did not listen to her warnings and kept coming towards her with this knife. The cold glint of the blade frightened her and her knees were shaking nonstop. "Please stay away, I do not want to shoot you!"


    "Sorry lady I have no choice. Otherwise¡­ " The man was scared of the young girl who tormented him. He did not want to die and he also did not want to live in fear of Ai. If he only needed to beat up this woman then there was no problem right? "Forget it I am going to have a good taste of you and make you scream my name soon."


    Shizune trembled at the man''s words. She turned to run but ended up tripping on her own feet and dropping her gun. The man ran over to her and kicked her in the side. Shizune yelled out in pain. She reached out to grab the closest thing to her since the man had now pinned her down and was sitting on top of her. Her hands fell on a good-sized rock which she swung with all her might right into the man''s head knocking him over. She scrambled to her feet and picked up the gun, with it in her hands she turned and pointed it at the man. She remembered Ai''s words before she left "If anyone comes, shoot first ask questions later."


    Shizune swallowed the last bit of saliva she had in her dry mouth, aimed the gun, and pulled the trigger. The bullet sunk into the man''s shoulder causing him to shout out in pain. Shizune continued to pull the trigger riddling the man and the ground around him with bullets. Even after the clip was empty she continued to pull the trigger. It was only after half a minute did she finally come back to her senses and slump to the ground. Tears rolled down her face as she held her side. The adrenaline began to wear off causing injury she had just received to scream out in pain. She could tell a rib or two was broken.


    "Come on let''s go. Right now she will need you the most." Ai said standing up and rushing out of her hiding spot. "Mom! I heard gunshots, are you okay!?"


    Seiji almost tripped over his own feet hearing the blatant lie coming out of his daughter''s mouth. But he quickly did as Ai said and ran to Shizune''s side. "Nene! What happened!?"


    "I¡­ I¡­ I killed someone!" Shizune''s hands trembled as the tears rained from her cheeks. Ai''s heart hurt seeing her mother like this and it made it worse knowing that she was the one to cause her mother to be in this state right now.


    "Dad, carry mom. We will return home first before continuing." Ai said doing her best to not cry at this time. Seiji nodded his head and carefully lifted Shizune up.


    "Ahh!" Shizune cried out as her body was jolted the wrong way.


    "Dad, wait." Ai ran over and lifted her mother''s shirt to look at her side. She then took a roll of gauze and an ice pack out of her backpack. She placed the ice pack on the spot that was beginning to bruise before saying. "This will hurt so bare with it." Ai said before setting the bones back in place and wrapping the gauze around her body tightly. The whole time Shizune could only cry out in pain.


    The three walked back towards the house in silence. It was only when they reached the front yard that Shizune suddenly spoke up. "Ai, I''m sorry. I didn''t listen to your words¡­ I realize now things are different. This world is no longer what it used to be."


    "It''s fine, as time goes on you will get used to the things that you have seen and done tonight. For now, you are on bed rest until your bones heal. If you feel something is wrong internally let me know and I will find a doctor for you even if I have to drag them here." Ai said smile. Her words were said as a joke but they were completely serious.


    Luckily Shizune smiled at her comment. After returning home and leaving Shizune in the care of Mai''s parents. Ai, Seiji, and Mai who decided to tag along went back out into the night. This time they took the hummer. This was because Ai wanted to get materials to turn the hummer into an armored vehicle.


    "So we are going to the body shop down the street?" Mia asked.


    "No, before that we will first go to the variety store to get as many gas containers as possible, and then we will be going to drive around a little bit. We need to assess the damage around us. See which streets are passable or not." Ai wanted to stock up on gas while she could.


    As long as they had enough gas they could move around a lot easier. As long as the roads were clear enough. But her idea was shot when they reached a few streets away and saw that the roads were all blocked off. Many buildings had collapsed and were now blocking the roads. All other roads that were not blocked lead in a direction where they wouldn''t find what they need.


    "So much for that idea¡­ I never actually paid attention to the roads since I spent most of my time in the back alleys in my past life. I guess we can park it here and venture deeper into the city." Ai suggested.


    But before they even got out of the vehicle Seiji pointed out in front of them. "Ai what the hell is that?"


    Ai looked in the direction that Seiji was pointing and her face instantly paled. "Turn around and get home now!" Ai''s heart was palpitating at the sight before them. She couldn''t understand. Why did they show up so early? It had not even been a month yet!


    "Ai what are they!?" Mai asked, she seemed to sense Ai''s fear making her also become afraid.


    "Machinas, millions of them!"

 Chapter 21: What Lies Ahead

    Seji spun the hummer around and swiftly headed back towards the house. "Ai, what happened, why are they here already? I thought you said they wouldn''t show until the end of the month."


    "In my past life, they didn''t. I am not sure what the difference is unless¡­ " Ai finally thought of something that might have been the cause of this.


    "Unless what?" Seji asked.


    "Unless me killing one of them caused this to happen..." Ai answered. She touched her eye with her hand and smiled bitterly. "I guess messing with the past will come and bite you in the ass."


    As they turned the corner Seji''s face paled seeing a swarm of at least twenty first type machinas blocking the road. "Dad, don''t stop, just plow right through them!"


    Gritting his teeth Seji stepped on the gas and charged on through. The sound of the hummer hitting metal rang through the air as the hummer smashed into and ran over the first type machinas. In the process, two of the tires were slashed and quickly deflated. Leaving them with only the rims to drive on. Seji looked up into the rearview mirror and was amazed to see that they did not turn to follow after them. "Ai, they are not following!"


    "Yeah, their sensors are not as good as the second type machinas. These first types are pretty stupid. You can run them over and destroy them from within a vehicle and they won''t attack you. But if you were to step out of said vehicle in front of them, they would instantly attack you. We should be fine from here, let''s hurry home." Ai said feeling a bit regretful that they did not get to stock up on anything this trip.


    They pulled up outside the house and quickly made their way into the bunker, making sure the hatch was completely sealed. Ai even pulled out a secondary door she installed and sealed that as well.


    The others saw the three''s panicked state and wondered what happened. Yasuhide was the first to speak up. "What''s going on?"


    "The timeline has changed. The first type machina have already invaded in the millions. We can not go out for a while." Ai said as she plopped herself down on the couch. "We will need to sleep in shifts. We must be alert at all times and watch all walls and the hatch for invasion. More than likely we will not be invaded through the walls but it is just to be on the safe side. Do not run any electronics. They will pick up on it. We are now in a state of lockdown."


    "To think it is really happening..." Shizune who was laying on a futon said with a sigh.


    "It was a good thing we didn''t make it into the city. It has already been overrun." Ai was glad she was underground otherwise she would have to listen to the screams of the people being slaughtered one after the other again. This was something Ai did not want to listen to.


    "Ai how did you live through this before?" Mai asked as she sat down next to Ai.


    "Well, I guess you could say it was by luck. Once the first wave of machina was over only a few scattered machina remained afterward. While the rest continued forward until all of Japan had been overrun." Ai said. "The south and north had the least amount of deaths allowing for a few hundred thousand to be alive. While our area will end up particularly a dead zone. With maybe a few hundred tops alive. All I can say is that we are in a bad situation. But we will be safe here for now. But I suggest the next time you go out, you should get used to the smell."


    "The smell?" Everyone looked at Ai confused.


    "The smell of rotting flesh from the dead. Disease will run rampant so make sure you wear one of the masks I prepared already. We will be fine here but if we have to go out it is best to wear them. This is for at least the first two years. By then the dead bodies will be consumed by animals or rotted away to nothing but bones. This will also be the time when dealing with humans is the worst." Ai explained.


    "So we will be in for it for the next two years then..." Seji let out a sigh. He just hoped they wouldn''t all go crazy during this time.


    "Well we can go out after a few days, but we will need to be extra careful and I would suggest not leaving the confines of the house. Try to stay out of sight as much as possible as well. If you hear a noise quickly make your way back down to the bunker." Ai hated this idea of hiding like this but it was the only way to deal with the current situation.


    "Anyway I will take the first watch tonight, you all take a rest." Ai said as she stood up and stretched. She knew tonight was the night that would determine whether they lived or died.


    As the night went on, Ai sat by the hatch with a shotgun in her lap, staring at the hatch. "Ai?"


    "Hmm?" Ai looked over to see Mai walking over.


    "We will be able to live until we are old and grey you think?" Mia asked.


    "I am not sure¡­ It would depend on our ability to survive I guess. But I do hope to live for more than ten years." Ai answered.


    "That would be nice. Hopefully, we can."

 Chapter 22: Beginning A New Way Of Life Part One

    That night Ai stayed up keeping guard. She could feel the rumbling of the earth caused by the first type machina as they traveled across the land. Mai had her head leaned against Ai''s shoulder fast asleep. It was not until the early morning hours when Ai finally heard the sound of metal on metal as a first type machina stepped onto the hatch door. This sound echoed loudly throughout the bunker waking everyone up. But before anyone could speak Ai pressed her finger to her lips telling everyone not to say a word. Ai raised the shotgun in her hand and pointed it at the bunker''s hatch and waited. Her finger held steady over the double triggers ready to fire both at once to get a nice clean hit on whatever entered.


    "Ding!" "Ding!" "Ding!"


    This sound continued for almost four hours until it finally stopped. But Ai did not let down her vigilance. She continued to wait for another two hours before she finally breathed out a sigh of relief. "We should be safe. But we can not go out for a while. Which means we will be cramped down here for the time being. Use the battery powered radio to check for any news and we will need to take turns circulating the air in here."


    Now was the time that would be a test on their mental states. They were now forced to live in the bunker twenty four seven for the next few days "Ai, get some rest you were up all night." Shizune said as she spread out a futon for Ai.


    Ai, did indeed feel tired from being up all night so she nodded her head and walked over to the futon and laid down. She did not wake up until later in the afternoon to find a hot meal waiting for her. Smiling faintly Ai sat up and said: "Smells good."


    "I figured while we still had gas canisters I would cook some food." Shizune said with a smile.


    "It is good to enjoy but after today we should not use it anymore for the next few days. At least until we can open the hatch again and get some better ventilation." Ai was worried about everyone getting sick if they continued to use the gas inside the bunker.


    "I know, don''t worry, your dad and your uncle were circulating the air the entire time. We just wanted to give you a hot meal when you woke up. You have done a lot for us Ai. Each one of us is grateful for how far you went in order to keep us alive. I don''t know all the ins and outs of what had happened to you in your past life but I do know it is because you traveled back in time that we are able to be here now. Fully prepared for what is to come." Shizune said as she prepared Ai''s plate.


    The radio only had one channel working which was the emergency channel. It kept repeating the same thing over and over: "This is the Emergency Broadcast System, All citizens are to stay within their homes or in a safe place out of sight of the invaders. I repeat, this is the Emergency Broadcast System, All citizens are to stay within their homes or in a safe place out of sight of the invaders "


    "Mai you can shut that off that is nothing more than a recording. In a matter of a few days, it will be gone as well. All information we will get from now on is what we see with our own eyes or hear from others." Ai explained.


    "So what do we do now? We spend the next few days just sitting around doing nothing?" Mai said with a frown. Ai could already see that Mai was not going to be able to stand being locked up like this.


    "Sadly there is not much to do unless you feel like tinkering with something to learn a new skill. We did stock up on board games but those will only break our boredom for a short period of time. There is also sleeping to pass the time as well. My suggestion is to sleep. It will keep your mental state in better condition. We can''t go venturing out too far for now but in the next few days, we can at least go topside for fresh air. After about a month we can venture back out beyond the confines of our house." Ai did not know how much will change in a month''s time but she could not risk anyone leaving past the boundary of the house for the time being. Otherwise, they may just end up dead.


    "As long as I can go outside I will be happy. I couldn''t imagine staying down here for an entire month. Without being able to move around." Mai said as she sat down next to Ai leaning her head back against the couch closing her eyes. "I will just sleep for the next few days then. wake me up when the hatch is open."


    "What are you, a cat?" Ai let out a laugh as she tickled Mai''s sides. The parents all smiled as they gazed at the two young girls joking around. Even in such dire times where their lives could be easily reaped by the first type machinas, Ai was able to lighten the mood and calm everyone''s nerves.


    Four days later¡­


    Ai slowly undid the locks on the hatch and slowly opened it. The shotgun in her hand rested at the opening as she peered outside. "Seems clear." Ai said as she fully opened the hatch and climbed out. As soon as she stood up she scanned her surroundings to check for any signs of first type machinas. After looking around and listening to her surroundings Ai let out a sigh of relief and yelled down into the bunker. "It''s okay come up and get some sun."


    Everyone had bright smiles on their faces when they finally climbed the ladder. It had not even been a week and this short amount of time being confined was already taking a toll on their mental states. "Fresh Air! Gah! I stink!" This was Mai''s first reaction after getting a whiff of fresh air.

 Chapter 23: Beginning A New Way Of Life Part Two

    Hearing Mai''s complaint made everyone laugh. Everyone quickly stripped down to minimal clothing and began bathing in the rainwater that was in the rain collectors they had setup. There was no embarrassment this time, they all just wanted to be clean. After cleaning up, Ai decided that now that she could move her arm a little better she would take a look around the area. "I will scout out the surroundings a bit and see what the damage is like. And try to get a rough number of the first type machinas that are in the area."


    "Ai will you be okay?" Seji asked. He felt a little reluctant to let his daughter go out into the unknown.


    "I will be fine. Right now since the wave has passed, humans will be more likely to be the enemy than a machina. Only a few would have stayed behind for clean up. My second objective is to see how many humans are alive in this area. It would be best to have as few as possible..." Ai''s voice trailed off at the end but everyone understood what she meant. She was going out to hunt down those who could be deemed as a threat to them.


    "Just be careful. If anything happens even if you are being chased by hundreds of those machines, run here so we can fight them all together." Yasuhide''s words surprised Ai. she never thought that he had put her in such a high position that he would rather die fighting with her than to have her die sacrificing herself.


    "Yes, listen to your uncle. We are all one family now. So no matter what we will go through everything together." Kazumi followed up.


    "Ai..." Mai came forward and tugged on Ai''s sleeve.


    "No!" Ai already knew what Mai was going to say. Although Mai was well trained at this point, She had yet to fight a machina yet by herself.


    "I can''t just keep hiding here soon or later I will run into one of those things! What will I do if I am alone at the time and get caught off guard and end up dying?" Mai protested.


    Ai let out a sigh and nodded her head. Mai was right. She couldn''t protect everyone by keeping them confined. "Then let''s do this. We will all go out. But you must listen to my words. Do not speak loudly even if you see something like a mangled corpse. A single peep could cause a swarm of machina to jump on us. If you must talk, talk in a low whisper that only we can hear, got it?"


    "Commander Ai, your orders have been received!" Seji joked causing everyone to laugh. Ai rolled her eyes and laughed along with them. In her past life, this was never possible. Everyone kept to themselves things like love and family were nothing but a pipe dream of the past. But now, she at least had family who wished to dive headlong into danger with her by her side.


    The group got ready and equipped themselves well. Each one had a pistol and Ai gave the two sets of bulletproof vests to her mother and Kazumi. They were the least trained out of the group and her mother was still healing from her rib injury. Luckily they were not as bad as they had thought. Ai had made sure they were wrapped very tight so that they wouldn''t move. Shizune complained but did not ask for them to be loosened, she knew that it was the only option. In the future things like enduring the pain from injuries as they traveled would be commonplace. At some point, Ai knew the resources around the house would dry up and they would need to move on. so this was good training for them as well.


    "Ai where are we headed?" Seji said as she helped Ai move a large boulder on top of the hatch to their bunker, disguising it so no one would be able to see it.


    "It''s still early in the morning so most groups are not moving yet, or are too afraid to move due to the first type machinas. I suggest we head to a police station to see if it is still intact and void of people. If we get lucky we will be able to harvest a big stash of weapons. Besides food and water, weapons are essential. I wouldn''t mind an automatic weapon." Ai explained.


    "And while we are traveling we will be looking out for Machina and what else?" Seji knew what Ai was about to say but he wanted to be completely clear on what they were in for.


    "We will also clean up any unsavory people we come across. So be ready to shoot at any time. But if possible kill them with a melee weapon." Ai said bluntly.


    Seji let out a sigh even though he knew it, it was still hard for him to take in. Surprisingly though when the others heard this they did not reject the idea. Especially Shizune who seemed to tighten the grip on her pistol when Ai mentioned killing.


    "Before we leave you all need to remember the rules I said before and also some new rules. If someone gets within a few meters of you and you do not know them, they are an enemy and need to be dealt with. Always keep your voice low in order to not attract the attention of those around you, especially machina. And lastly, keep your masks on, otherwise, you may catch some weird diseases with all the dead bodies lying around." Ai, paused for a second before adding. "One more¡­ If you feel the need to puke swallow it down."

 Chapter 24: A Harsh Reality

    Everyone shivered at Ai''s words. They left the area of the house which was their safe zone and began slowly walking down the street. They had only been walking for a few minutes, getting about four houses down when they heard cries for help. "Someone help me! No! Don''t touch me!"


    Ai sighed as this was a sound she heard a lot in her past life. Girls of all ages were kidnapped and turned into slaves, some forced to work at brothels. Their cries would fill the night as they were forced to do things against their will. Normally she would not poke her nose into the dealings of others but since it was so close to her house it was considered a threat. If this were to happen to her mother, aunt, or Mai, she could never live with herself if such a thing happened all because she did not take the intuitive to kill these scums.


    "Dad give me the axe." Ai showed no expression upon hearing the noises that someone her age did not need to be hearing. "You should all follow and get used to this sight. We may take care of a situation like this today but that is only because it is happening near us. In the future, it is best to ignore it and look the other way. You will see things like this in the future that will become commonplace. It will be considered the norm so numb up to it now. Follow me."


    Everyone looked at each other, their faces grim as they silently followed behind Ai. They knew what she was about to do.


    This house was not as bad off as the others on the street. The first floor was still intact and only the second floor seemed to have caved in. After pushing the door open a horrid stench hit their noses causing everyone but Ai to almost lose their breakfast. To her, it was a familiar smell she had long gotten used to. Everyone was amazed at how unperturbed Ai was even when dealing with such a stench. It was the stench of blood, urine, and feces.


    As they made their way through the first floor the sounds of muffled grunts could be heard coming from not too far away. When they entered what looked to be the living room area there was a girl around twenty years of age being forced upon by two men. They had tied her up and were having their way with her. Ai still no expression seeing such a scene. Mai had to cover her mouth from almost screaming out. It was the first time she had ever witnessed such a thing. Mai''s parents and her own parents all looked away. Ai looked at them and whispered: "You need to watch."


    After saying this she raised the axe in her hand and walked over to the man that was on top and slammed the axe down on top of his head. He had no time to even shout out in pain before dying instantly, splattering blood all over the girl that was sandwiched between the two men.


    "What the fuck!?" The man underneath the girl yelled out visibly startled as to what had just happened. He quickly tossed the girl to the side and tried to stand up and run away but ended up tripping on his own pants that were hanging around his ankles, falling to the floor. He looked at Ai who had no expression on her face and fear filled his eyes as she raised the axe above her head again. "Wait!" Was his last words before Ai split his head open as well.


    Ai then walked over to the girl who was on the floor shivering. Blood stained her face. The girl''s eyes were dull, it seemed she had given up when she realized no one was going to save her. Ai turned and looked at her family who watched the whole scene. Blood was splattered on Ai''s face, her hair, and her clothes. The axe in her hand was soaked in it as well.


    "This is what becomes of those who get captured. This is why I say never trust anyone. People will treat you kindly and the next thing you know you''re being forced to service men or women, whether you like it or not." Ai grabbed the girl''s hair and turned the girl''s face towards everyone. "This is what you will end up looking like. A soulless body with no hope."


    Ai then looked at the girl, her eyes showing a bit of sadness as she whispered softly into the girl''s ear. "I will give you freedom from the horrors of this world."


    The girl''s eyes turned towards Ai and under her breath, she softly said: "Thank you..."


    Ai knew this girl did not want to live anymore from the look on her face. But she was too afraid to take her own life. It was a look she had seen many times. The only salvation for people who have such a look is killing them so that they can be free. Ai took a knife she had on her side and slid it across the girl''s neck. She sat beside the girl holding her hand until she finally passed away. She ran her hand down the girl''s face closing her eyes before getting up and finding some clothes to cover the poor girl with.


    "If you think my actions are cruel, then there is nothing I can say. But let me remind you, this is our world now. Everywhere you go from now on there will be monsters in human skins. We will not only need to fight the machina but humans as well in order to survive." When Ai said this she mainly looked at both Kazumi and Shizune. She had hoped this incident would hit home with them.


    "Ai, I think you did the right thing." After a moment of silence Mai spoke up. "If it was me I would have wanted to die. I could tell from the look in that girl''s eye that she felt the same. From now on no matter what, I will follow your lead. You tell me to kill. I will kill. I do not want to end up like that. I want to one day fall in love. If a day like that ever comes."


    "I feel the same." Shizune also spoke up which surprised Ai. "I came very close to being the same as this girl. From now on I will no longer hesitate to pull the trigger if need be."


    "I agree as well. If I need to kill, I will kill." Kazumi also spoke up.


    Ai let out a sigh of relief before saying: "Let''s check the kitchen for supplies."


    But what awaited them when they reached the kitchen was something they never expected.


    "Oh my god!"

 Chapter 25: Hitting The Books Part One

    "Urp!"


    "Mai swallow it back do not take off your mask! Just close your eyes. We can leave, there is nothing here for us." Ai quickly rubbed Mai''s back and took her hand leading her out of the room.


    "Was that what I think it was?" Seji asked.


    "Mmm¡­ They turned to cannibalism in such a short time. My guess is they did not have a food stock at all. This is a normal thing. At least we ran upon such a scene early so you now know what to expect in the future." Ai looked up at the sky as soon as they exited the house. She stretched her arms up over her head and let out a sigh.


    "Ai, you got blood on your face." Shizune came over and began wiping Ai''s face. She showed no signs of disgust which made Ai happy. Her mother did indeed change after the things she had to go through lately.


    Although Ai''s clothes were still covered in blood the group of six chatted happily as they walked down the street. Some people who seemed out of sorts would pass by but stay as far away as they could and lowered their heads. A lot of this had to do with Ai being covered in blood and the bloody ax she had resting on her shoulder while the other part was the two shotguns that Seji and Yasuhide were wielding as they walked.


    "Ai where are we going anyway?" Mai asked.


    "Hmm.. a two street loop in both directions. I want to make sure the vicinity is safe. We will go out once per day and expand our safety zone. Eventually, we will need to make a trip into the city to get to the police station if it has not been overrun by looters already." Ai explained.


    "That''s right, we never made it to the police station last time due to the machinas¡­ Hey, Ai, is it possible to capture one of those things?" Mai wondered if it was possible to keep one in captivity. Just knowing their habits and attack patterns would be of great help.


    "This was actually a plan I had. In my past life, they had captured many first type and second type machinas for people to train against. Before I died we were slowly turning some of their techs into useful things. Like artificial limbs or other body parts. I, myself back then had been researching artificial eyes. I wanted to create an artificial eye to replace the one I have now. But in order to continue that process, I will need to get some medical books, books on science and engineering, and books on robotics. These three subjects are very useful. Mai you will be studying with me." In her past life when she lost her eye, she wanted to make an eye that could be used to see things differently allowing her to know when a machina was close and detect it from miles away. But all her research was on her body when she died. Turned into nothing by the laser beam that disintegrated her body. She was close to achieving her goal but she had no one at the time to help with the medical procedure. She hopped maybe now, with people by her side she can accomplish this task. She actually never thought she would lose the same eye in this life but this made things easier for her to finish her research.


    "You want to make an artificial eye for yourself?" Seji asked. He felt bad because he was there when her eye was injured and he couldn''t do anything at the time to stop it.


    "Mhm. And I will need Mai to help me put it in since it will require attaching it to the nerves of the old eye and some other sensors that I will be attaching to the brain. Although this will take a few years, it will still come in handy. We will need to get a stock of laptops as well for writing programs and medical equipment." Ai had it all planned out. She figured if she could spend enough time on research she could definitely make this happen. And if things went really well, she could even make weaponized prosthetic limbs. She would not mind chopping her arms and legs off to attach something that would allow her to survive.


    "I will do whatever I can to help! You lost your eye because of me. So no matter what I have to do, I will do it." Mai said seriously. She had always felt guilty about Ai''s eye being hurt because of her. But now she had a chance to make up for it. She would make sure to help Ai build whatever it was she needed to build.


    "Then I will need you to learn about the medical portion of things. Since I will need you to do the operation of installing and hooking up all the sensors to my brain. Are you still willing?" Ai stopped walking and looked at Mai.


    Without wavering in the slightest, Mai answered: "Yes! As long as I can help you Ai, I will learn everything."


    "Okay, we will capture animals and trash humans for you to practice on then. The next street up has a library. Let''s go there first and get the books we will need." Ai responded causing everyone to look at her.


    "You want to capture humans as well?" Shizune was completely dumbfounded by Ai''s words.


    "Mmm¡­ if we are going to kill them anyway, might as well make the useful, no? Of course, we will only capture those who are bad. " After Ai answered, everyone had the same thought. ''Didn''t you already tell us everyone was bad!?''

 Chapter 26: Hitting The Books Part Two

    They traveled a few streets over to find the public library in ruins. The whole building had come down on top of itself. Seeing this Ai could only sigh but she was determined to find the books that both she and Mai needed. "This may take a while..." Ai said as she walked forward and began clearing a path.


    "We will help Ai, so no matter how long it takes we will find what you need." Shizune said as she went forward to help. Mai was right behind her. The rest looked at each other before also going forward.


    The group dug through the books at different locations moving heavy debris well into the night. The moon was full on this night which gave a lot of light for them to see with. "If you wish to rest go ahead I will take first watch" Ai could tell some of them were beginning to get tired.


    "No, Ai you rest first. Your father and I will take the first watch." Shizune pushed Ai to go rest while she pulled out her pistol and sat on a stack of books looking out into the darkness. Seji walked over and sat next to her. Ai did not say a word and only nodded her head. She, herself, was also tired.


    An hour passed and the night grew silent. The sounds of screaming could be heard far off into the distance. What the screams were for, was up to one''s imagination. "Nene, are you going to be okay with this new way of life?"


    Shizune faintly smiled and nodded her head. "After experiencing the cruelty of this new world first hand and seeing what had happened to that girl, I am no longer fazed by much of anything. Ai was right from the start. Everyone who is not us is an enemy. Maybe even we will one day turn into an enemy...."


    This thought loomed over their heads. Their group was in harmony now but what happens in the future when things turn south and there was only a chance for a few to get away. Who would turn on who? Who would use who as a sacrifice? These were all questions that lingered in each of their minds.


    "No matter what. As long as Ai and Mai get away I will sacrifice myself." Seiji said. He did not care if he had to die to keep the young ones alive. He was already prepared to do so. They still had their lives ahead of them and Ai can always make sure Mai is able to survive in this new world.


    "I agree with that. " Shizune said as she leaned her head on to Seiji''s shoulder.


    "Oh, what do we have here? Two families trying to hide out in our territory?" A voice came from behind them. When Seiji and Shizune turned around they saw a group of young men, some in their teens and some in their twenties. Their faces both fell quickly.


    "Brother look they got some cuties over here. Let''s train them to be our little love slaves." Another young man yelled out when he looked at Ai and Mai sleeping at the side.


    Ai on the other hand was a light sleeper and knitted her brows when she heard the boy''s comment. Her eyes snapped open and she glared at the young man who spoke. "You need to shut the fuck up before I come over there and cut your dick off."


    "Oh! Brother the little love toy has spunk, let me train her good!" The young man showed no fear as he laughed and made another comment. The other young men all let out a laugh.


    Ai on the other hand got up and picked up her blood soaked axe. It was only then, did the laughter of the others become stifled, leaving only the young man who kept saying things still laughing. Ai took one step at a time each step caused the young men to back up a single step until she was right next to the man who was still laughing away. "Say it again."


    The young man stopped laughing upon hearing a young girl''s voice. He opened his eyes to see the young girl with a bloody axe standing in front of him. He felt a chill run up his spine as he turned to look at his so called brothers who had all backed away. "You! What do you want?" The young man stammered in fear.


    "I want you to repeat what you were going to make me and my sister do? You wanted to train me? You wanted to make me and my sister your sex toys? How about this?" Ai finished her words and swung her axe sideways at the man''s crotch. There was a splat sound and a howl of pain as the young man screeched in agony. Ai''s aim was right on the money and severed his lower member without issue slicing the axe deep into his thighs. "There you go. I gave you, your very own sex toy and even changed your sex for you. Go ahead and try it out."


    The young man''s eyes rolled up into the back of his head as he fainted. Ai snorted and spit on the young man before looking at the other five men. "Dad, Mom, kill them. But keep this one alive he will be used for Mai''s practice."


    *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*


    Five shots, five young men laid on the ground. The young men did not even have time to react before they were all shot. Ai watched as her mother and father walked over and finished them off. Watching this scene let the last of her fears for the future vanish. They both worked together without any hesitation.


    Ai worked to tie up the other young man while her parents dragged the dead ones out of the way. Mai and her parents both woke up when the gunshots went off. "What happened?"


    "Got you a handsome young man to practice medicine on. Well, I changed his sex, so young lady?" Ai said nonchalantly, causing Mai to look over at the tied up young man with a bloody crotch.

 Chapter 27: Hitting The Books Part Three

    Mai stared blankly at Ai who was laying back down next to her to go back to sleep not sure what to say to that comment just now. Yasuhide and Kazumi both looked at the young man with eyes of pity before switching shifts with Seji and Shizune. "You two get some sleep we will take the next watch."


    "Okay, just remember kill whoever comes..." Seji said, his and Shizune''s clothes were now splattered with blood, the thought of killing another human was now numb to them. Seji found it funny since he had done it so easily, even though it was his first time.


    "Don''t worry, I know what to do. I heard a bit of what those bastards said since I was half asleep. No matter what I will protect those two from harm. You have my promise on that." Yasuhide gave a Seji a reassuring look. He thought of Ai as his own daughter as well, the same as Ai''s parents thought of Mai as one of their own. Seji nodded his head and leaned up against a cement block letting Shizune sit in his lap and curl up into his chest.


    The rest of the night was uneventful. Ai woke up around three AM, waking Mai up with her to take the final watch. "Aunty, Uncle, go get some sleep. We will take last watch."


    "Alright be careful." Yasuhide said as he got up. Kazumi gave Ai a grateful look as she yawned.


    Ai and Mai walked over to the tied up young man. Mai looked at the dry pool of blood and asked: "Is he still alive?"


    "Yeah, he''s fine. I made sure to not hit any vitals. He just lost a lot of blood so he fainted. See, his chest is slowly going up and down. When we get him back to the bunker, you can practice basic first aid on him. Try to keep his wounds from becoming infected. I will be pulling his eyes out at that time though so you will have plenty of things to practice on." Ai, knew this was human experimentation but right now she did not care. In her past life, she had tested her theories out on many animals but she never got the chance to inspect a human eye thoroughly.


    As morning sun peeked out from behind the horizon Ai and Mai had already begun searching for the books they needed. Once their parents were up, they also helped out. This continued for almost half a day when Kazumi shouted out that she had found medical books and not too much longer after that the books Ai needed were also found. "Let''s fill our bags and head back. Dad, Uncle, we will rely on you to carry the books. Mai and I will handle the lab rat."


    "Ai, you and Mai should be on point. Kazumi, Shizune, and Seji can handle the books. I will deal with the little shit." Yasuhide did not want the girls to be too close to this man since they would need to carry him. Just the thought of the young man leaning his body on the girls pissed him off.


    "Alright, that works too. If we run into any first type machina just drop the lab rat we can always find another one." Ai said before taking her gun out. Mai followed suit and took hers out as well. The family then walked back towards the house. They did not see a soul the entire time.


    "It''s too quiet..." Ai had a bad feeling. The day before it had been at least a bit noisy with people all around but today their street was so quiet it was unsettling.


    Everyone quickly went quiet as they slowly moved down the street. Three houses from their''s, Ai''s ears picked up on a metallic sound from the nearby house. She turned to her family and pressed her finger to her lips as she whispered: "Slowly but quick, don''t make a sound¡­ If worse comes to worst, use the lab rat as a shield."


    Her eyes stayed on the direction the sound was coming from. Mai and the rest slowly yet quickly walked with Ai. Each step was very soft. The reason Ai did not run was because, if they ran they would be putting themselves at more of a disadvantage. If one of them tripped and fell in the process it would mean a critical injury or death. But if they were walking quickly but slowly without making too much noise they would have a better chance of survival since they would have a better chance of fighting it off.


    Unfortunately, this time their luck was not good because the lab rat they had brought with them chose this time to wake up and begin yelling out in pain. "Shit! Uncle, toss him towards that house and get into a circle formation! Move quick but slow. Remember careful of footing. If it is one or two we can deal with it easily. If it is more than that then move your ass as fast as possible."


    This was another thing about fighting machina. Slow but quick is a good way to deal with small numbers like one or two. But more than that it doesn''t matter how careful you are you will end up seriously injured or dead.


    Ai''s fears came true though with the lab rat yelling at the top of his lungs, five machina came out from the rubble of the house next to Ai''s. Ai''s face paled as she turned towards her family and yelled out: "Drop everything but weapons and run!"


    Seji, Shizune, and Kazumi quickly dropped the books to the ground and began running. Unfortunately, they were quickly split up. Mai was with Ai following as she ran towards the bunker but the machina also split up cutting off their parents. Ai''s eyes turned red. She did not want to lose her parents again. She went through so much to save them and even trained them. She did not want to lose them like this! "Mai help me kill this one and then go to the bunker and get it open! I will try to help them!"

 Chapter 28: Tears Part One

    Mai heard Ai''s order and looked at the machina that was rushing towards them at lightning speed. Tears were in her eyes and fear was filling her mind telling her to run but she refused to leave Ai alone to fight it. With her hands trembling, she pointed the gun at the incoming machina. Ai was about to fire her first shot when she heard a scream coming from the direction her and Mia''s parents were in. "Yas no!"


    "Fuck!" Ai yelled as she aimed her gun and fired. "Mai fucking shoot!" The problem with a single bullet weapon was that the first type machina, was very fast. Making it easy to miss the target. Ai turned to look at Mai who was pale in the face trembling in fear and knew the girl was not going to be able to shoot in her condition. Gritting her teeth and looking in the direction her parents were in and then at Mai, tears filled her eyes as she ran towards Mai grabbing her hand as she yelled: "Come on, run!"


    She had no choice. The situation was at a point to where if she did try to save them, it would most likely leave it with just Mai alive. She knew if she went now with the scream just now she would be blinded by rage and would sacrifice everything to save her parents. For now, she could only run and hope that maybe just maybe one of them can survive somehow. She did not have any melee weapons on her, only the pistol. Her father had been carrying the melee weapons after they left the library. As they ran they heard another scream this time it was female. But Ai couldn''t tell if it was Kazumi or her mother, Shizune.


    As she pulled the frightened Mai along she continued to fire at the first type machina. Ai knew they couldn''t just keep running, she was looking for something she could use as a melee weapon. It was not until they made it near the bunker when she saw a few of the metal poles she left out near the bunker entrance as a just in case measure if they ever needed a weapon. It was at this point that she was happy she had thought to do something like this.


    Ai ran over, still pulling Mai along. Before picking the metal pole up she shoved Mai over the debris to get her out of sight before holstering her gun and picking up the metal pole. Right as she stood back up the first type machina launched at her from the side. She could only hold the pool sideways to block the double-bladed attack from the first type machina. Using the momentum of its lunge, she pushed off hard allowing her to move back and to the side quickly narrowly missing the rear legs of the first type machina that stabbed out towards her.


    The first type machina crashed into the ground and tumbled into a pile of rubble. Ai did not waste this chance as she jumped up and slammed the pole into the machina piercing it through and stabbing it deep into the ground. It flailed around a bit before it finally stopped moving. Sweat dripped from Ai''s forehead and tears ran down her cheek. She knew she couldn''t sit still as she quickly uncovered the bunker hatch and went over to where Mai was.


    When she went over to Mai she found Mai curled up into a ball crying. "Mai!"


    Mai looked up her face full of snot and tears. "Ai, I''m sorry! I freaked out."


    "It''s fine. Go down into the bunker and close the hatch. Do not open it unless you hear my voice okay?" Ai said. She had to confirm if the other machina had killed their parents or not.


    Ai helped Mai up and led her to the hatch and watched as Mai began climbing down the ladder. "Remember do not open it unless it is me. There are enough supplies down there for one person to last three years. If I do not return, do not leave and continue to practice everything I taught you until you have no choice but to leave understood?"


    Mai looked up at Ai. She was reluctant to let her go but she knew at this time her state of mind was a wreck and would just be a burden to her. She reluctantly nodded her head as tears continued to flow from the corners of her eyes. She reached up and closed the hatch and locked it firmly before climbing down to the bottom of the ladder and squatting on the floor. She pulled her knees to her chin and buried her head into her knees rocking back and forth. She could only pray that Ai would be okay.


    Ai heard the hatch click and turned around. She picked up another pole and walked out towards the street. She had heard many gunshots while she was dealing with the machina that had chased her and Mai. But now she heard nothing. When she made her way up over the rumble and out of the basement of her house, the street below came into view. Her face sank when she saw the streaks and puddles of blood. Right away she saw two bodies laying on the ground completely mutilated. The tears that had been flowing did not stop. There were three machinas not moving near the bodies. There was also a trail of broken parts. This told Ai that the machina must have activated their last stand¡­ The ones on the ground were male and female. The male was Yasuhide and the female¡­ Ai''s tears began to flow even faster as she knelt down next to the mutilated remains of the female.


    "Mom..."

 Chapter 29: Tears Part Two

    Ai''s tears flowed like raindrops during a heavy downpour. She did everything she could to try to prepare her mother for what was to come. There was no time to train her on how to fight against the machina properly. After a moment of silence, Ai got up and collected all of Shizune''s body parts and put them together before doing the same to Yasuhide. She then dragged the bodies to the side of the road before following the trail of blood from the scene to see if she could find Kazumi and her father.


    She did not get too far when she found Kasumi''s body in the same conditions as the others. She did not stop right away because she saw the last broken machina on the ground causing her to quickly look around. When she saw the second trail of blood that led into a bunch of bushes Ai quickly dashed through.


    "Dad!?" Ai yelled out before going dead quiet to see if she could hear any signs of life. After not hearing anything she yelled out again: "Dad!"


    "Ai..." A muffled voice could be heard coming not too far away.


    "Dad!" She ran as fast as she could following the trail of blood but stopped dead in her tracks when she found her father leaning up against a pile of rubble that used to be someone''s house. Seji was lying there on the ground, his stomach split wide open, and his intestines were hanging out.


    "Ai¡­ Everyone is dead¡­ Is Mai?" Seji asked in gasping breaths.


    "Dad, don''t talk¡­ Mai is fine¡­ I will stay here with you." Ai said as she sat down next to her father and pulled him into her arms. She hugged him tightly, not caring for the blood that was drenching her clothes. She rocked and forth as she began to sing a song. This song was what was sung in the future for those who had died or were about to die.


    "You may be passing on~."


    "You may be leaving me behind~"


    "But now at least you can be free for this hell~"


    "Death is the start of..."


    "A..."


    "New beginning~"


    "Your endless struggle will now come to an end. The life of those who live on will always remember~ You~"


    "You may be passing on~."


    "You may be leaving me behind~"


    "But you will always live on in my memory~"


    Tears welled up in both Ai''s and Seji''s eyes. Listening to his daughter sing such a sad song while rocking him back and forth. He felt sad yet content. His daughter was strong, much stronger than him. He was sad that he would not be able to see her grow up but at least he knew with her abilities she would live on and survive in this fucked up world.


    Forcing out his last breath, Seji looked up at Ai and forced a smile as he said: "Ai, your father is passing on, live well¡­ I will look after you from the other side¡­ My baby girl, dad loves you¡­ I am a bit tired¡­ I will sleep now..."


    As his words fell Seji''s body went slack, the last of his tears rolled down his cheek and his eyes slowly closed. Ai''s tears rolled down her face as she held her father in her arms. She pushed her face into his neck as she rocked back and forth. Ai stayed in the position for almost a half-hour until she finally got a hold of her emotions. "Dad, I will live strong. I''m sorry I couldn''t keep you from dying in this life either. But I promise I will stay alive, I will see what this fucking shit hole of a world has to throw at me."


    Ai gently laid her father down and got up off the ground. She then knelt down and scooped up her father''s innards, placing them back where they belonged. As she finished she heard the sounds of multiple footsteps. She quickly grabbed the metal pole lying next to her and stood up.


    "Oh? What do we have here? Such a small girl. That must have been your father huh? I saw the dead robots on the ground. Since you are all alone, why not come with us? We will make sure you are fed well and have a roof over your head." A middle aged man who was well overweight said. His company, a bulky man that stood behind him, let out a laugh.


    Ai glared at him and pointed her metal pole at the man. "Can you fuck off? Otherwise, I do not mind helping you fuck off to the spirit world."


    Both men looked at Ai stunned in place. The killing intent exuding off her body was not something a girl her age should have. But the overweight middle aged man quickly came back to his senses as he said: "Little bitch don''t waste my goodwill. Otherwise, I do not mind teaching you a hard lesson of life right here!"


    "Really?" Ai said one word before dashing forward and with a strong thrust. She thrust out in an arch with the metal pole in her hand stabbing it directly in the underside of the overweight middle aged man''s jaw and out the top of his head. She used her foot and pushed off the man''s body pulling the pole back out before pushing the body towards the other man while thrusting the metal pole out again, stabbing it into the neck of the bulky man. The bulky man looked at Ai in disbelief. He never thought he would die at the hands of some little girl.


    Ai looked at the man that was dying from blood loss and smiled as she said: "See what happens when you don''t fuck off when I tell you to?"

 Chapter 30: Tears Part Three

    Ai did not even look at the two dead men after they died. She went over to her father and prepared him to be moved. She figured it was best to do this on her own so that Mai would not be too traumatized by the sight of her parents being mutilated. Although, in the future, she would see such things, it was different when it was your own parents. Ai slowly went to work bringing all the bodies of her''s and Mai''s parents to her back yard where she dutifully began digging a hole. She knew digging multiple graves would take too long and the longer she was out the more chances of being seen by a machina so she could only work on one grave pit.


    The moon in the sky shined down illuminating the surroundings as Ai finally finished digging the hole deep and wide enough to allow for the four bodies to be placed inside. She carefully brought down each body and placed them next to each other. Before climbing out of the hole, Ai knelt down and gently caressed her mother''s and father''s faces giving them another moment of silence. A single tear ran down her cheek as she got up and climbed out of the grave pit and began filling the hole back up.


    By time morning''s first light crept up over the horizon, Ai had finally placed a large rock at the head of the freshly packed earth and had already chiseled in the names of her parents and Mai''s parents into the gravestone.


    Ai''s whole body felt heavy. She had not slept or ate anything since the day before. She had not only shuffled through the library moving heavy objects but she also fought with a first type machina, dealt with two men with bad intentions, and buried her parents. She was beyond exhausted. But she still moved her body towards the bunker hatch and knocked on it.


    "Mai it''s me." Ai said only to hear scrambling from inside the bunker. Very quickly the hatch was opened and a swollen, red-eyed Mai came into view.


    "Ai!" Mai saw Ai and quickly looked around before looking back at Ai with a questioning look. Ai lowered her head and shook it back and forth causing Mai''s tears to rain down again.


    "Mai, let''s get inside first" Ai decided it would be best to let Mai settle down before taking her to the grave so she can say goodbye.


    Mai nodded her head and went to climb down the ladder but stopped when she saw how covered in blood and mud Ai was. Mai became frantic as she worriedly asked: "Ai are you okay!?"


    "I''m fine. It''s not my blood. Let''s go down, I''m tired and am about to collapse." Ai answered urging Mai to let her inside. Mai nodded her head again and climbed down the ladder, finally allowing Ai to climb down.


    After securing the hatch and climbing down, Ai quickly stripped her clothes off and used a bucket of rain water to wash up a bit before changing clothes. Mai patiently waited until Ai was done as she sat on the couch. Many thoughts were going through her head. The idea that her parents were no longer alive had not really hit home yet. She sat in a daze just staring at the wall.


    Seeing Mai all spaced out, Ai walked over and sat down next to Mai and pulled her into a hug. When her parents died in her last life she was the same. She was in a daze not understanding the reality of things for almost three days. If not for the pains in her stomach that came from not eating for three days did she finally pull herself out of her daze to go and find food.


    When Ai pulled Mai into a hug it was like a dam broke loose and tears began to rain down from Mai''s eyes. She buried her head into Ai''s chest and cried. Mai hugged Ai tightly as she cried. Ai could only hold her as her own tears rolled down her cheek, onto her chin, and then dripped down into Mai''s hair. As she cried, Ai gently rubbed Mai''s back, not saying a word.


    The two girls who grew up as sisters even though they were not blood-related, cried in each others arms. Ai did not even have this in her past life. She stayed in the spot her father left her for three days before finally coming out of hiding. During the time she was hidden she did nothing, just stared off into space. Even though she had her parents die on her in her previous life, it was not something one would get used to. She had thought, this time, this time she could keep her parents alive and live a few years more together. She never expected five machina to be roaming around.


    The arms she had around Mai grew tighter as Ai cried even harder.


    A day later¡­.


    Standing out in the sun staring down at the freshly made grave, Ai and Mai held a small funeral for their parents. The two girls held hands and leaned against each other as they stood in silence. They had been there since the early morning and it was now noon. The sun hung high in the sky as the heat of the day kicked into overdrive.


    "Come¡­ We should go try to reclaim the things that were dropped. We have many things we need to do... If we are sparse with our food we can last almost three years. But we can also go around and scavenge for food as well. We can take the next few years, to train, and to learn the things we need to learn. Maybe I will even have a chance to build an artificial eye." Ai spoke breaking the silence.


    "Mmm¡­ We only have each other to rely on now. We will need to pull ourselves together. I am sure that is what our parents would want." Mai said as she gave another look at the gravestone. She then looked at Ai and said: "Ai, Thank you¡­ I probably would have been in a state of shock if I saw my parents'' conditions. You took the brunt of it all for me and even buried our parents along with making a tombstone for them. It would have pained me more if they were just left for dead out on the streets to rot away under the sun and become food for some stray animal."


    Ai, let out a sigh as she said: "In my past life I had to do just that. But you are right we have only ourselves to rely on now. I will watch your back and you will watch mine."


    "Mmm¡­ Let the two of us survive until either we die of old age or we regain control over the world."


    Ai and Mai''s journey in this new apocalyptic world had just begun...


    ***


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 Chapter 31: Radiation Storm

    "Ai, what should we do with the machinas?" Mai asked as she looked at the broken first type machinas on the ground.


    "MMm¡­ hold on. I am not sure if all of them have used their last stand yet." Ai replied as she looked at them. She stood there for a moment while contemplating on what to do. "Grab a metal pole and stand on guard. If they jump at you just thrust the pole into their belly or whack it. That should suffice to deal with it."


    Luckily they did not lose anything. The bag of weapons were all there along with the books. Although, some books were covered in blood. But that was mainly the outside covers. Ai was very happy that they could recover their weapons and ammo. It would be a necessity later on. Especially now that it was just the two of them. Two young girls were prime targets by the slave traders and other sinister people. Without proper protection, they could easily end up in a bad spot.


    "Alright, stand back a little, I will try to trigger the two machinas that do not look like their last stands have been set off." Ai said as she readied her metal pole. She would have preferred something sharp like a sword or something along those lines but right now she actually wanted the parts to be intact as much as possible.


    "Ai¡­ The sky..." Mai suddenly spoke up grabbing Ai''s attention.


    Ai looked up at the sky and frowned. She lowered her metal pipe and shouted: "Quick, grab everything! We need to get down below quickly!"


    Dark green clouds were forming overhead. This was what was called a radiation storm. After all the nuclear bombs went off a new weather phenomenon appeared. They were large thunderstorms that rained dense radiation. These were mainly only ever seen in the northern part of Japan. Areas that were affected by the fallout of the original nuclear explosion had long lasting storms that would last months or even years. Storms like the one brewing overhead were rare in the radiation free zones and could last days or even weeks. Areas that were rained on would become mildly radioactive.


    Mai did not hesitate to follow Ai''s words and quickly grabbed one of the bags of books and weapons while Ai grabbed the rest, the two quickly ran as fast as they could back to the bunker. Luckily they were close to the bunker, otherwise, they would have had to find shelter somewhere else. It did not take long to get to the hatch which, Ai had Mai go down first in order to catch the bags. Once everything was down below, only then did she climb down herself.


    Ai locked the hatch and even closed and locked the secondary hatch. Mai who was below asked: "Ai what was with the sky just now?"


    "Radiation storm. The rain that falls is highly radiated. Sometimes it can be so radiated that it will melt the skin right off your body. At least we got our things and two of the broken machina. With the one, we had before the parts can be put to good use." Ai explained.


    "I see, so what happens now? Are we stuck down here? Will we be okay?" Mai was nervous when she heard radiation. She couldn''t believe besides robots and people they had to deal with random radiation storms.


    "Mhm for the time being. We will be fine though since we are deep underground. The water will already be filtered before it reaches the outer casing of the bunker. We just need to get the geiger counters out to make sure. The thing about radiation is that it can be diluted so it is not as harmful. So the radiation in normal rainstorms is no problem. But when a radiation storm forms or passes through it can be very deadly since the clouds themselves are highly composed of radiation. But I am confused about one thing¡­ In my past life, radiation storms did not begin to show up in this area for almost four years. And the one that was forming was rather big... " Ai was really confused by this fact.


    "Maybe a freak incident..." Mai mumbled as she got lost in thought.


    "Well, it doesn''t matter. We will be stuck down here for a while. So we can hit the books and study." Ai said as she began taking her shirt off which cause Mai to feel confused.


    "Why are you stripping down?"


    "We can not wash our clothes or bathe for a while. It will just be the two of us so sitting around in our underwear is fine for now. I have no idea how long the storm will last and it is best to not use water for anything but drinking and cooking. Being in a confined space will make us sweat so wearing clothes defeats the purpose." Ai explained.


    "Then I guess I will do the same then..." Mia said She found what Ai said was reasonable, so she did as Ai did and stripped down to her underwear as well. After she was done, Mai looked over at Ai who was getting a few jars out and pouring vinegar into them. "This is for?"


    "I dug the eyes out of the two people I killed the other day. Luckily no birds got to them before I did. I need a reference for when I do my research and so do you. Although I am not sure how long vinegar will keep them preserved." As Ai said this she reached into the bag next to her and pulled out a bloody pouch. She then pulled out four eyes and dropped an eye into each jar and covered it tightly.


    At this time seeing the eyes floating in the jars, Mai kind of wished she never asked Ai what she was doing.


    ***


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 Chapter 32: Enclosed Space

    Ai paid no attention to Mai''s disgust and went about her work. After she settled the eyes, she went and grabbed a geiger counter before walking over to the entrance of the bunker and climbing the ladder. On the side wall was a smallholder where she slid the geiger counter into and then turned it on. She could hear the drops pelting the ground outside. She was happy that this house was built on a hill. The basement floor had a slope to it that allowed water to flow to the drain in the floor that led to the street. This was one of the reasons why she built the bunker in the basement. It was not only to conceal it but because of how the floor sloped in a way that drained water.


    After settling the geiger counter, Ai went and grabbed one of the engineering books she scavenged from the library and sat down on the couch next to Mai who was reading a book on medicine. The whole bunker was quiet except for every few hours Mai and Ai would take turns circulating the air.


    As the days passed and the rain continued to fall, Ai and Mai''s daily lives consisted of nothing but learning their respective trades, sleeping, and eating. For the first few days, they finished up the perishables so that they wouldn''t spoil. After that, though their meals quickly became small as they were trying to conserve food. Even though they had enough to eat heartily for a few years they still decided it would be best to try to stretch it as long as possible. They would also spend three hours each day working out and sparing. They of course moved everything around the bunker in order to do this.


    The days turned into weeks and the rain continued to fall. Although not heavy it still fell from the sky. This was making Ai somewhat worried since the concentration of radiation was slowly building up in the ground and surrounding area. Ai was not the only one starting to worry, Mai was also beginning to fear that they might end up being stuck down in the bunker forever.


    "Ai how much longer do you think it will continue to rain?" Mai asked for the one-thousandths time. This question was beginning to get on Ai''s nerves, in response she only glared at Mai not answering her question. This glare was cold and filled with killing intent causing Mai to instantly close her mouth and lower her head, not daring to look Ai in the face.


    Ai continued about her business as she dutifully pulled the first type machina apart piece by piece. She was making sure not to damage any of the parts since she might need them later on. Mai picked up another medical book and turned to a page that had a diagram of an eye and looked at the eye in the jar comparing the two.


    Letting out a sigh, Ai turned and looked back at Mai and said in a low voice: "Sorry..."


    Ai knew that Mai was just as nervous as she was and the confinement of the space was really starting to weigh down on their mental states. She had no outlet for her anger, frustration, and worry about their current situation. This was making her temper which was never good, to begin with, come forth and be aimed at Mai when it was not Mai''s fault.


    Mai looked up after hearing Ai''s apology and smiled. "It''s fine. I know I have been asking the same thing over and over. I''m just... worried..."


    Ai leaned back and stretched her arms before leaning over and placing her head on Mai''s shoulder. "I am the same. I am worried as well. The readings at the hatch are showing signs of radiation around the edge. Although it is still within safety standards for humans. But if things continue as is, things might turn out worse. Being stuck inside this bunker is really hard on our minds as well. Like just now I snapped and glared at you. This is a sign that we are slowly being affected by the closed-in space. In order to refresh our minds, we will need to move our bodies more. Let''s do a few more hours of working out from now on."


    "I will follow whatever... " Mia did not get to finish her sentence when Ai pressed her finger to her lips and said: "Listen..."


    The bunker was dead silent. There was no sound whatsoever. "I think the rain stopped." Ai''s eyes lit up. She quickly got up and walked over to the entrance of the bunker and stopped to listen closely. After confirming that she did not hear a sound Ai knew that it had stopped raining.


    "Ai?" Mai walked over and looked at Ai with a questioning look.


    "It seems to have stopped but we can not go out just yet. We will wait two more days. For now, let''s just continue our daily routine. Hopefully, we can find some water that we can use to bathe in that is not too contaminated." Ai felt so dirty. They couldn''t use the water they had since it was for drinking and could not be used to clean themselves off with. So the two of them had not bathed in weeks leaving them both feeling very dirty and disgusting.


    "Umm¡­ Ai, can we also get a live specimen?" Mai asked. She had come to a point with all her studying that she needed to start practicing what she was learning or she would never be able to help replace Ai''s eye for her.


    "Yeah, we can find someone. Anyone will do. But preferably someone who deserves to be tortured. It''s not like we got any numbing agents to keep them from feeling pain. It may seem a little on the horror story side of things but if we are successful we will be able to do much more than just replace an eye later on." Ai said, agreeing to Mai''s request. "Are you sure you will be able to handle it?"


    "Mmm¡­ After staring at the eyes that are decaying in the jars, I think I have become immune to these things..." Mai replied with a frowned smile. She never thought in her entire life she would be experimenting on a human body in order to learn a trade skill. Not to mention it would not even be a dead body but a live one.


    "Mmm, the things in the jar are a bit different compared to the real thing. The sight of something grotesque is not what makes a person sick really. It is the smell that really makes one feel sick. But over time you will get used to it. To be honest, I really do not wish to do such things but such is life now. We can''t go to school and learn these things so the only way to figure it out is to learn by trial and error. And the only way to do that is to have something to practice on." Ai, let out a sigh. She felt like she was about to commit sins upon her own race, but what could she do. In order to build a cybernetic eye for herself and have Mai put it in, would require delicate work and the know-how in order to do such a thing.


    "It''s fine. As long as I can help recover your eyesight I am willing to get used to it and do anything. Even if it means being thought of as a monster." Mai said with a determined look on hr face.


    ***


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 Chapter 33: The Love Of A Parent

    Two days passed and Ai and Mai got geared up to venture back outside. Although their gear was a bit different this time, they were wearing full bodysuits. Underneath they were wearing normal clothes but this was just for safety precaution since the rain had a dense amount of radiation in it. With a geiger counter in hand, Ai unlocked the hatch. She did not open it right away, she first got an umbrella ready just in case water dripped down. As the hatch opened the light of the sun beamed down and Ai cautiously checked her surroundings. Seeing how there were no signs of any first type machina, Ai let out a sigh of relief before calling down to Mai. Soon both girls were standing above ground taking in the sun.


    "The sun feels great!" Mai said happily as she twirled around.


    "Careful do not step in any puddles until I get a solid reading." Ai said as she walked around with the geiger counter.


    As she was taking readings of the rain buckets she frowned, when she saw how high the radiation was in the water. "Sigh... Looks like we will need to scavenge some of the houses around here for some bathwater..."


    Ai and Mai had already decided that their only goal this time out was to find water safe to bathe with. They had just gone so many days without being able to wash up and they were bound and determined to at least clean up a little. One thing they did notice was that they lost a bit of weight due to reduced eating and working out in the process. Unfortunately, working out did make them work up a sweat, causing them to stink even more. But getting used to one''s own filth was common, especially in a closed in space.


    The day was hot but they had no choice but to wear the full body suits in order to keep any radiation from coming in contact with their skin. Ai had found areas where the radiation was too high for humans to be safe which made Ai and Mai take detours here and there.


    "Ai what is that!?" Mai asked, pointing at a pool of mush on the ground.


    "I think it was once a human..." Ai said with a scrunched up brow. "It seems they were not able to find cover in time or did not realize that the clouds overhead were dangerous..."


    Mai also scrunched her brow, but she did not feel sick even after smelling the grotesque stench from the mush that was once human. The girls continued on their way until they found a house that still had some overhang to it. "Let''s check here."


    Ai and Mai both readied their guns. They also both had an ax tied to their backs just in case. They climbed up the rumble cautiously looking around and pausing every few steps to listen for noises. When they reached the top an overbearing stench filled their noses causing both of them to frown.


    "More people who got caught in the rain..." Ai said as she saw three people lying on the floor hugging each other. It seemed to be a mother, father, and a small child. Ai and Mai could not tell if the child was male or female. The poor child''s head and face were melted in. The child''s parents were missing limbs and also had holes in their heads.


    "I wonder if they died instantly or not?" Mai''s face was somewhat pale, which was understandable. The sight of a mother and father trying to shield their child was heart wrenching and at the same time a little scary how slowly they must have died to be in such a state.


    "Mmm... My guess was they both struggled to make it over to their child. Look, bits of flesh and bone can be seen melted to the ground. The love a parent has for their child really is amazing. They must have been out looking for food or something else and rushed back when the storm hit to find their child in such a state. They probably were already missing some of their limbs as they crawled over to the child to hug it." Ai explained as she looked at the evidence in front of her. She had seen this scene many times so it was not strange to her but it still made her feel ill at ease and at the same time made her miss her own parents.


    "Come there may be something worth using inside. If they were staying here then there may be water." Ai said, pulling Mai along.


    After searching a few rooms Ai and Mai finally found their target. There were two jugs of water filled to the top that tested radiation free. With no reason to stay the two quickly ran back to the bunker. When they reached back they stopped at the hatch and began checking the radiation levels of their full bodysuits. "They are within limits, so let''s climb down. We will save some of this water to wash them up after. We will just need to toss the towels out."


    That night the two girls washed each other''s backs and hair and got fully cleaned up. It was the first time in a while that they felt so clean. This made their once gloomy moods much better. "Tomorrow we will need to go out and find more water reserves. What we got here is for drinking only so we should find a supply for bathing and washing clothes. A washbasin would be nice as well. We also need to gather supplies for traps. We have been in and out of this area many times. People may begin to show up at some point. Traps will help ward these people off."


    Ai did not want to have to give up her safe haven just yet. In a post apocalyptic world, her current bunker was a god send. It could be considered a billion yen mansion with just the supplies alone.


    ***


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 Chapter 34: Butterfly Effect Part One

    That night the two girls slept more peacefully than they had in a while. A bath was always good for reducing stress. The next morning came quickly and Ai and Mai once again got dressed in full body suits and headed back outside. This time though, since they would be gone for most of the day not only did Ai put a padlock on to the bunker hatch but she also covered it with a large rock and covered the edges with debris.


    "Today we should head to a hospital and grab the equipment we need. We will need many surgical tools and anesthetics. We have enough things for sanitizing them so we don''t need to worry about that but the other stuff is a must. We will also get some water to use for bathing at least once a week. These kinds of luxuries are things we can only do now. but once we move on it will be different." Ai said as they walked.


    "We are going into the city then?" Mai asked. She was nervous since Ai had said before that the city was overrun with machina.


    "We will be fine. Just do not pull the trigger too quickly. Use the axe first. If we can, we will grab some swords. They are much better. If I remember there should be a shop that sells real swords in the city as well." Ai would prefer a sword since they were easier to handle than an axe. This was especially so for those with a smaller frame like her and Mai. "On the way back we will grab someone for testing."


    Mai nodded in understanding. She knew she could not go any further in her studies until she could put her knowledge to practice. This was the same for Ai as well. She needed new eyes as references in order to begin building her cybernetic eye.


    "Mai are we monsters?" Ai asked as she thought about what she was going to be doing.


    "I think in order for us to progress and understand what we are dealing with we need something to practice on. So calling us monsters is a little much. Revolutionaries?" Mai knew that Ai and her thought processes were not that of a normal human. But she has already killed people before and seen the disgusting side of humanity. Using such people as test subjects seemed like a fitting use for the scum who would end up going out and causing harm to others. At least as a test subject, they would be useful to mankind.


    "Revolutionaries¡­. Now, this is an interesting concept." Ai, let out a laugh. She had never thought of her idea as a revolutionary thing. In her past life, there were plenty of people doing the same thing in order to better humanity and push humanity to its limits in order to fight on even grounds with the machina. Ai, just wanted to have her left eye back so she could see through it again. With a cybernetic eye, she hoped to make one that would allow her to see things she that could never imagine.


    As the girls left their street they became more cautious and even stopped talking amongst themselves. This was because the street Ai lived on was basically her territory now. Anything outside of that area was not. She did not feel safe once she left the street and knew she would need to be a lot more careful.


    As they walked they stayed close to the areas that they could use for cover. At the same time, they kept an ear open for any sounds of machina. They had passed many dead bodies and also searched a few homes finding a few bottles of water. These bottles of water were enough for Ai and Mai to be able to bathe a few times. They would not be able to wash their hair but they could at least take sponge baths to keep the dirt off them.


    Of course, these bottles were hidden at the bottom of their bag. If they revealed them for any reason they would be basically signaling people to come and try to rob them. Water was as precious as gold during these times.


    It took about an hour to reach the city. Ai was amazed at how familiar the scenery was. Collapsed buildings, ever burning fires, complete destruction all around. The whole area looked to be void of life. They walked the streets, looking at everything as they passed by. There were many dead bodies lying about, some of which were caught in the radiation storm while others looked to have been dead from either machina or humans. It was also possible that there were those who had died from hunger or other natural causes as well.


    "Ai, I do not see..." Mai''s words were cut off when Ai grabbed her from behind covering her mouth. Ai eyes were wide in fright. This was the first time Mai had seen Ai so frightened since she knew her.


    "Whatever you do, do not scream and follow me..." Ai couldn''t figure out what was going on. She was not sure if she was seeing things or not, but she could have sworn she had seen a new type machina. The same exact type that killed her in her previous life, in the reflection of one of the still intact windows.


    Not wanting to take any risks, Ai quickly pulled Mai with her into a collapsed building to hide. The two huddled together under a small overhang surrounded by walls on three sides and a pile of debris. Ai kept peeking out over the side of the wall to see if she could see anything but her vision was blocked by debris. With no other choice, Ai turned to Mai and said: "Stay here¡­ I will be right back. I will not go far but I need to confirm something. If you hear me scream do not come to me and run back to the bunker do you understand?"


    Mai looked into Ai''s eyes that showed a serious but frightened expression. The pale face of the girl in front of her, looked as if it had seen a ghost. Mai did not say a word and only nodded her head and huddled in the corner trying to stay out of sight.


    ***


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 Chapter 35: Butterfly Effect Part Two

    Ai walked slowly and stealthily as she made her way from hiding spot to hiding spot. Along the sidewalk were many piles of rubble. As she got closer to the end of the street she stopped her steps and felt the ground. She could feel strong vibrations split apart every two seconds. "Why? Why were they created so fast? Was it just our bad intel? Did the A.I. that created the machina already build these and we just never ran into them? No that can''t be¡­ Otherwise, we would have been much more prepared and would have run into many of them. Unless.."


    Ai crouched down with her back to the broken piece of cement slab behind her. "Test units¡­ What if¡­ What if the first type machina I killed earlier caused a butterfly effect. The first unit was created and sent out and it just so happened to appear where I was looting. If that is the case and it sent back information on what killed it and how. Then it would begin to speed up the process of things. Fuck! I am an idiot. I never thought of this beforehand. If that is a prototype then it should not be fully complete. If I can take it out and somehow bring it back with me then¡­ "


    Ai shook her head. She knew she could not do that just yet. She did not have the necessary tools or equipment to bring something so big back. "I need to hit a military base. That is the only way. There should be one an hour south on foot. I will need to check the map."


    With this goal in mind, Ai went to get up to head back. But as she lifted her head a type two machina walked out from a side alley and turned to look at her. "Shit!"


    Ai quickly jumped to the side as the spot she was standing was suddenly riddled with bullets. "Fuck my luck!" Ai dived behind a pile of rubble and swiftly aimed her gun firing it at the type two machina. Her bullet hit its mark knocking out the sensor on the machina''s head. "Let''s see you shoot me not bitch!"


    With the sensor destroyed Ai ran forward right up to the type two machina and pushed her gun right to its head. Without its sensor, it will not attack anything anymore which made the type two easy to kill. Ai pulled the trigger three times causing the type two machina''s body to stop moving. She then hid behind it and listened to her surroundings while her palm was pressed to the ground. "Yeah the trimmers are still there but they are moving further away. If our intel was right back then, then that new type was set to patrol a certain path while the ones before were made to be seek and destroy. Luckily only the first type had the last stand mechanism built into it. I will need to get Mai over here we need to bring this back."


    Ai quickly ran back to where Mai was. She saw her friend sitting in a ball crying, Ai''s eyes that were showing a cold killing intent immediately softened. "Mai'' come I need your help."


    "Ai!" Mai heard Ai''s voice and jumped up off the ground and hugged Ai almost knocking her down. "What happen I heard gunshots!"


    "Mmm¡­ We are kind of fucked. I will explain everything when we get back. Right now we need to hurry. We need to bring back a type two machina." Ai said, grabbing Mai''s hand and pulling her along.


    The type two machina, although big, was not any taller than Ai and Mai and made of lightweight material. Why it was built this way no one knew but it was probably because that was the only kind of material in that factory it was made in.


    As they walked they made sure to keep a sharp eye out for any machina. They also did not speak in order to not be distracted from any sounds that might indicate an enemy. They rushed home as quickly as they could and dropped the dead type two next to their bunker hatch. "Mai go down and get the toolbox by my workbench."


    Night was coming soon and Ai needed to dismantle part of the machina in order to get it down into the bunker. This was something she had done many times so she knew what to dismantle and could do it quickly. No more than thirty minutes later the type two machina was resting in the middle of the bunker.


    "Ai tell me what is going on!" Mai finally asked. She had not dared ask before since things needed to be rushed.


    "How should I put it. Think of it like this. I was reborn, right? Well, there is an issue with going back in time. And it is the reason why the idea of time travel was nothing more than an idea. That is because one mess up can cause what''s called a butterfly effect."Ai said.


    Mai thought for a moment but still did not understand. She had never heard of the term butterfly effect before. "What do you mean by butterfly effect?"


    "It is when things change in the past and cause events in the future to change drastically. That being said, my actions have changed the future. And in the wrong way. This type two machina should not be around for another few years and on top of that, the new type that I caught a glimpse of should not be around for almost ten years. You could say that we are in deep shit. This is why we did not see any humans in the city which normally around this time should be filled with a few hundred of them." Ai explained.


    "Then what do we do from here?" Mai asked her heart was racing. She had no idea about a lot of what Ai had said but she understood that it was a very bad thing.


    "We are going to a military base tomorrow. I will be making us some machine guns with these tonight. " Ai pointed to the dismantled type two machina with a smile.


    ***


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 Chapter 36: March To The Military Base Part One

    "Ai are you sure that is a good idea? Wouldn''t the military base be overrun by now?" Mai felt nervous. Ai had told her that the military bases had suffered the most during the first wave scattering the soldiers and were occupied by the first type machina for the longest time.


    "It''s fine. This is why I am making these. The base closest to us should not be as overrun and should have the least amount of humans due to the higher amount of machina. But we also have to pay attention to the fact that there might be a high possibility of many other machina''s types. The type two and type three are very dangerous. Although they are slow in how fast they can chase you, their actions can kill someone quickly. Like this type two here. Its guns can riddle a person with hundreds of bullets in less than a second. This is why they are good weapons. A type three is hard to avoid sometimes because they can slice through places you think are perfect hiding spots, splitting your body in two and if you are lucky give you an instant death. If you are unlucky you may run into a grinder which with its harpoon will stab through your body before dragging you into a grinder and slowly grinding your body into mincemeat." Ai was not trying to scare Mai but let her understand the reality of things and what to expect and look out for.


    Mai''s face did turn pale but she did her best to hide how scared she actually was. She swallowed a mouth full of spit as she said: "I will follow you into the burning flames of hell Ai. As long as I am with you, I am not scared of what is to come next" Mai nodded her head showing off her stubborn determination.


    But it was this kind of determination that Ai liked and wanted to see in Mai. Only this way would her sister be able to live in this world where danger lurks around every corner. Ai really wanted Mai to adapt to the ever changing world as soon as possible. There was still a lot she had yet to experience and some of which she hoped Mai would never experience.


    Night fell and Ai worked late into the night with Mai keeping her company. When it was time for bed, the two girls rested against the wall leaning against each other with guns in their hands. This was one of Ai''s new rules, always be prepared. No place was completely safe, especially now, with all the different types of machina running around. Ai may have taken into account many things but she never accounted for the new type machina''s being created so soon.


    The girls only slept about four hours before waking up early and getting geared up. They both strapped on their new machine guns that were powered by the battery cores that Ai ripped out of the type two machina. There were four in total and were powerful enough to keep the guns going for a few weeks. Ai also had to make a special bag to carry all these things in since the ammunition came in strips which Ai split with Mai and set it up so that they would feed the gun from the bag. They both had their handguns placed into their holsters, shotguns on their backs, and they even put on their bulletproof vests. Although this was all very heavy thanks to Ai''s training the two girls were able to handle this much weight with ease. They exited the bunker and sealed it up once again. They brought some water and other provisions with them, their trip, although not far, would still take around two days to reach since they would need to move slowly and carefully.


    With all this extra weight Ai did not wear any heavy clothing as they did before. This was fine since she had a geiger counter strapped to her leg. She also brought along a solar charger and spare batteries to keep it going. She did make sure that they packed two jackets just in case it rained since they would be sleeping outside.


    "You okay?" Ai asked Mai who was standing next to her. They were standing on the sidewalk in front of Ai''s house.


    "Yeah. This is a lot lighter than the bags we carried before." Mai said as she wiped the sweat from her brow.


    Although she was saying one thing, the heat of the day had yet to settle in yet. The two girls were wearing tank tops and shorts. This seemed to have been the way weather worked after the bombs dropped. The days were hot but the nights were very cold. But this also depended on where you were. Like as of now, in the north and south were nuclear winter settled in, the temperatures were much colder.


    They made their way down to the main road going south. Collapsed buildings and overturned cars as far as the eye could see. The smell of rotting flesh and blood also filled the air. Ai and Mai stopped by an abandoned car to rest. Ai took out the map and spread it across the trunk of the car. "So we are currently here. From the next intersection, we will then get onto the highway and walk from there. I have no idea how cluttered the highway is but it will be a lot safer than taking the side roads, where any human or machina could easily jump out at us. I would prefer to be in a more open area and deal with just machina. Although if the highway is cluttered with cars then the first types will have an easier time but the second and third types would not. Just keep your vigilance up and we should be fine."


    "Don''t worry I will watch our backs and listen to all your orders." Mai said affirmatively.


    Ai chuckled and nodded her head as she reached out and patted the top of Mai''s head: "You are turning into a soldier. This is not a bad thing. But remember besides me do not trust anyone too easily. This goes for me as well."


    "I know. You are the only family I have left in this world that I know of. I will not do anything that will put you in danger even if it means I will die alone. " Mai gave a forced smile as she said this. But Ai knew she was afraid of dying. Some words sound good when spoken but when the time comes to prove your words, actions will always speak louder. This was a habit Ai could not really come out of. She still did not trust anyone with her life. Her life was her own. She planned to keep it no matter what¡­ She just hoped the ugly side of humanity wouldn''t show its face where she would sacrifice her sister just to stay alive¡­ But there was always that chance that her survival instinct from her past life would kick in.


    ***


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 Chapter 37: March To The Military Base Part Two

    Stretching out as far as the eye could see were cars bumper to bumper. Ai and Mai had made it to the highway that led south towards the military base. "Ai are you sure about this?"


    "Mhm, at most we will run into some first type machina''s, just stay on guard and listen for any metal clinking sounds. It will be much more audible on the road." Ai explained as she adjusted the bag on her back and began walking forward.


    Ai had no fear as she walked in between the cars. Mai who was shaking slightly continued to look left and right feeling very nervously as she watched her surroundings. This caused Ai to laugh inwardly. She remembered in her past life when she first made a trek down a highway by herself she was the same way. But highways were no place for people to be. The only cover was the cars and the sun was hot. It would make hiding in a car unbearable. With little water, no one was dumb enough to stage an ambush here. Otherwise, they were just asking to die from heat exhaustion.


    But one thing was for sure, the air in this area was very heavy with the smell of death. This was because a lot of these cars were trying to escape the first wave. They were not on the road during the earthquake. It was not until the machina showed up did people try to flee. Before they were willing to live their lives in the abandoned buildings but once the machina came they all tried to make their way to someplace safe. Where that safe haven was, Ai did not know.


    Now this same highway that should have been a means of escape turned into one giant graveyard. Ai was sure that at some point, one of the bridges for this highway must have long collapsed due to the earthquake. This was why the traffic was so backed up like this even after such an earthquake. The number of vehicles that were roadworthy was not that many, leaving the only conclusion was the first wave.


    The girls continued to walk under the hot sun. They were sweating from head to toe but they had no other choice. The current situation with the new types of machina already active, Ai had to get a better supply of weapons. Only then would she feel a bit more secure.


    With the smell of death around them, the girls had masks on their faces in order to not pick up any diseases. Mai was still very nervous and with any sound she heard, the tip of her gun was instantly pointed in that direction. "Mai if you keep going on like this you will have a heart attack at such a tender age. You have yet to even reach the age of sixteen but your heart is that of an old lady."


    "Ai, don''t make fun of me! I am not like you who has been through all this. Of course, this would be a scary thing for me! I mean we are surrounded by corpses all over how can it not be scary!?" Mai complained. Tears were threatening to spill out from her eyes.


    "Okay! Okay! I will not tease you anymore but just so you know we will be sleeping next to these corpses tonight." Ai said, giving Mai a teasing grin.


    Mai looked at Ai and really wanted to cry. But she knew that she had to overcome every obstacle that she faced in order to survive. But even still the thought of sleeping amongst corpses still scared her. Ai, let out a sigh as she walked over and wiped the tears from Mai''s eyes. "Remember Mai, in the future, we will experience much worse than this. If you think sleeping next to a pile of corpses is scary what will you do when you are forced to hide in a pile of them. Some of which have their innards out on display? It might sound bad and very sick but when you are faced with many machina wanting to kill you. Sometimes the best hiding places are the most disgusting."


    Mai''s whole body shivered but she understood what Ai was saying. "I will do my best to get through this..."


    "You will eventually get used to it all. To be honest I was like you when I first had to venture out on my own. I did this same exact thing as we are doing now. I traveled down a highway that was just like this and even had to sleep under a pile of corpses in order to hide from any dangers at night. My trip took almost a month. My travel was slow and I felt like I was going to die many times. But after a week of dealing with such a situation, my mind grew numb to it all." Ai said with a bitter smile on her face. She let the gun in her hands hang from her neck as she stretched her hands up towards the sky, turned around, and continued to walk forward. "Life is not always pleasant but human adaptability is a strange and amazing thing. We can adapt to any situation when given time. You will discover this as time goes on. Are you not already adapted to seeing dead bodies, or killing another human? Things like this will continue to become worse. Much, much worse..."


    "I know. I know I will get used to it but is it wrong for me to be scared now?" Mai asked.


    "Nope! It is perfectly normal. Plus you will need not sleep under any corpses anytime soon. We are two. We can keep guard for each other. When night falls and the air becomes cool we can use a car as a place to sleep. One with the least amount of windows... Hold on." Ai stopped talking and held her gun in her hand. She looked out in front of her, eyeing a set of cars not too far away. "Get down and quietly follow me."


    ***


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 Chapter 38: March To The Military Base Part Three

    Ai crouched down and moved two steps before stopping and whispering: "Mai do you remember all the hand signals?"


    "Yes..." Mai replied, making sure to keep her voice low enough so that only Ai and her could hear it.


    Ai nodded and made a few hand signals. Mia nodded back and slowly followed behind Ai. when they got four cars up they could hear the distinctive sound of metal on a hard surface coming from the front. Ai raised her gun trying to get an eye on it. She then made a few hand signs behind her back. Mai nodded her head and moved slowly and as quietly as possible around the backside of the car to their right.


    As Mai made her way to the far side of the car, she spotted the first type machina poking a corpse that was laying at the side of the road. She watched as it raised its front claw like leg and stabbed down into its skull, spilling the juices inside. Just seeing such a scene made Mai want to puke but she quickly pushed it back and slowly turned around and made a few hand signs to Ai.


    Ai nodded, made a few hand signs back, and quickly moved to the front of the car Mai was on. She fell to her stomach and used the wheel as cover and laid her machine gun out in front of her. Mai did the same, aiming at the first type machina from the back wheel. She also made sure to stay in Ai''s line of sight. Just seeing the way Mai was moving and always staying in view, made Ai nod in approval. She had worked this into Mai during their training. It seemed to be paying off.


    Ai also took this chance to look around to see if she could see any other machina nearby. She was afraid the gunshots would attract more. But they had no choice but to take it out quickly because even if a machina was not nearby, the one they were attacking could easily send out a signal to call for more. This was where Ai''s and Mai''s teamwork came in. Ai steadily aimed at the small antenna on top of its head. All she had to do was take that out and Mai could finish it off by riddling it with bullets.


    *Bang!*


    Ai''s shot was right on the mark the small antenna was blasted off its base, this was also a signal for Mai to finish it off which she did not hesitate to pull the trigger. Her aim was a bit unsteady at first but she quickly got control of the machine gun in her hands and finished off the first type machina. Ai signaled for Mai to stay where she was at as she pressed her ear against the ground. The hot tar burned her ear slightly but she ignored the pain and listened for any sounds of incoming machina. Hearing nothing she got up and wiped the sweat from her brow.


    "Not bad! Although you used more bullets than needed, and about twenty shots missed. This will get better over time. I give it seven out of ten for a rating." Ai judged Mai''s performance, causing Mai to frown.


    "Do you have to go into your demon training mode? I have never fired a machine gun before!" Mai said, pouting her bottom lip.


    "Alright, alright, I give it a nine out of ten, taking into consideration that you never used this kind of weapon before." Ai said with a smile resting her gun on her shoulder.


    "Still a demon!" Mai said, sticking out her tongue. The two girls giggled as they sat down to rest for a moment. "Did we attract any more?"


    "No, I didn''t hear anything nor did I feel any vibrations. If there is one coming then it will come. For now, drink some water. We need to start searching these cars as well for supplies." Ai answered.


    "Mmm¡­ I was just about to ask about that." Mai paused and her gaze fell onto the burn on Ai''s ear. "Ai your ear!"


    "It''s just a minor burn, nothing big. The tar is hot so it cooked it a bit while I was listening." Ai waved it off as if it was nothing. But Mai wouldn''t leave it alone and quickly pulled out some ointment that she brought with her.


    "Stay still I will apply some. If it gets infected you will suffer even more." Mai said, while gently applying some ointment to Ai''s ear.


    Ai did feel much better feeling the cool cream touch the burn. She sat there obediently and allowed Mai to do her thing. Once Mai was done and had put everything away, Ai stood up and said: "Thanks¡­ We should get going. We still have a lot of ground to cover."


    "Mmm¡­ I just wished it would rain. This weather is very hot." Mai wiped the sweat from her chin as she pulled the top of her shirt in and out trying to cool off.


    "Luckily this area is not highly radioactive. But it is still enough to cause the area to be hotter than it normally would be." Ai said as she looked at the geiger counter.


    This fact had slipped Mai''s mind and quickly asked in a worried tone: "Will your burnt ear cause you to get radiation poisoning?"


    "No, since it did not bleed. I wouldn''t have done what I did if it would cause me to get sick. I of all people have no plans on dying anytime soon." Ai was not lying. She had already died once and she had no plans of going through that experience again.


    ***


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 Chapter 39: Past Life Stories Part One

    The two girls traveled quite a few more miles before the sun began lowering in the sky. Ai paused her steps and turned to look at Mai who was covered in sweat, just the same as her. Taking a water bottle out of her bag she undid the cap and took a sip of water. "Okay, we should find a place to sleep tonight."


    "We need to find a place that is almost fully enclosed?" Mai asked.


    "Mmm¡­ yeah like a truck with a cap or an SUV will do. Preferably an SUV¡­. Over there!" Ai spotted a black Missan Bexterra not too far away. It had tinted windows all around and a large back which meant the rear seats went down.


    The two girls ran over to the Bexterra and looked inside. " Seems to be empty. I do not think the owners stayed here long. Let me get it open."


    Ai pulled a bobby pin out of her hair and began fiddling with the lock. A click sound was heard and Ai pulled the door handle. A rush of steamy hot air, brushed past Ai''s face. She then hit the unlock button and said: "Open all the doors, we will need to air this out for a while."


    "Mm!" Mai quickly ran around the other side to open the doors up.


    Ai and Mai sat on the back tailgate swinging their legs back and forth as they snacked on their rations. "At least with the sun going down it is a lot cooler."


    "Yeah¡­ I''m worried it will be cold tonight..." Mai slightly frowned, she hated being cold more than anything.


    "It will be fine, we have our jackets and sweatshirts. Plus we will be huddled together anyway. So we will stay warm no matter what." Ai was not worried about the cold. Such things you could get used to easily.


    After the Bexterra was aired out, the sun was just about to go down, Ai and Mai put the back seat down and laid down on top of it. Even with all the doors locked, Ai still planned to keep a watch rotation. She wouldn''t be so worried if it was just the first type machina roaming around since they made a lot of noise when inspecting things but with the other types already active, Ai did not dare risk it.


    Ai and Mai laid next to each other listening to the wind outside. Ai was taking the first watch to allow Mai to get a good rest. Mai was resting her head against Ai''s shoulder with her eyes closed. "Ai¡­ Can you tell me some stories about your past life?"


    "You want to hear about those days?" Ai asked.


    "Mmm... I want to know more about what will come and what I need to be aware of. I also want to know about the things you experienced whether it was good or bad." Mai replied.


    "Well¡­ Let''s see¡­ Let me tell you about my first week alone right after my father died..." Ai said as she continued.


    ---


    Ai had just climbed out from under the rubble. Her stomach hurt from not eating and she felt dizzy. The first thing she did was find the water bottle that was thrown to the side when her father shoved her into hiding. With everything that had happened at the time she did not dare go out to get it until now. She quickly opened the half filled bottle and guzzled it down, choking on it in the process. When it was all gone she frowned and threw the bottle on the ground. She went to leave but stopped and backpedaled to where the bottle landed and picked it back up again. "Just in case I need you..."


    With the bottle in hand, she left the area in search of food. But all she saw was broken buildings and a few people here and there. These people all looked at Ai causing her to quickly avert her eyes. She trusted no one, no, more like everyone she saw scared her. All the places that looked as if they might have food seemed to be occupied by others. With no other choice, Ai walked down a vacant side street that had a large dumpster. She opened the top and the smell coming from inside almost made her puke right then and there. But the rumble in the stomach made her push forward as she looked inside pulling some of the trash bags apart.


    Tears began to well up in her eyes as she became even more desperate as she rummaged through the bags. A girl of fourteen, who had never experienced such a thing as hunger and being on her own, was scared, frightened, and very hungry. She was afraid she might die of starvation if she did not find something soon. After almost twenty minutes of searching, the last bag she tore open, had a few slices of moldy stale bread. Her eyes widened with excitement as she brushed as much of the mold off as she could from the first slice with her hands before taking a bite. That first bite almost made her puke it up but she held it back and swallowed hard. She did the same for the rest of that slice of bread, even though the taste in her mouth was horrid, she still prepared another slice before taking a bite out of it.


    As she was choking down her second slice a hoarse female voice came from the other end of the alley. "Hey girl, give me what you got there!"


    Ai Looked up to see a girl a few years older than her with a black eye and a busted lip walking down towards her. Ai quickly shook her head and stubbornly said: "No, this is mine!"


    "Listen I am not asking, I am telling you to give it to me or you will get hurt."


    ***


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 Chapter 40: Past Life Stories Part Two

    Seeing the girl still coming towards her and afraid of the food she had so desperately searched for all day about to be taken away, Ai shoved the last of the bread in her hand into her mouth, chewed a few times before swallowing it. "You little bitch!"


    The girl ran up to Ai and beat her over and over. The day she went to search for food for the first time Ai ended up with two black eyes, a fat lip, bruises all over her body, and a missing tooth. It was the first time in her life that Ai had ever been beaten so badly. When the girl finally left, Ai dragged her hurting body out of the alley and ran away as far as she could.


    "At that time I became a little fearful of people. I mean going through the pains of looking for food and once finding some, having someone try to take it away, I refused to let it go. Although it did give me a stomach the next day... But it was then that I decided to toughen myself up as well. Although I did not trust others, I wished for nothing more than to become stronger. I never wanted to let what had happened that day happen again." Ai looked down at Mai who had tears in her eyes and smiled bitterly. "Why are you crying?"


    "Why wouldn''t I cry! Ai, you had gone through so much. From the stories I hear it''s always about how you were beaten or almost r*ped! I mean..." Mai wiped the tears in her eyes.


    "Look¡­ I do not tell these stories as a means of finding sympathy. I look back on them as to how I am now. Although, it does sound strange to say looking, back on, because, in reality, I went back in time when I died but you know what I mean. Get some sleep, I will wake you when it''s your turn to keep watch." Ai said as she leaned her head against the side wall of the Bexterra.


    Ai wondered how her life would turn out this time around, there was no telling what would happen in the future. One thing was for sure was that she was not worried about anyone taking advantage of her and Mai. She guessed she owed that girl who beat her up that day since Ai was then wary of other people from that day forward. Once she found food she would run away and find a hiding spot to sit and eat her food in peace. She was afraid she would lose her findings to someone else.


    It took a few months and her first time killing a person to finally move from back alley dumpsters to stores. Her eyes at that time looked dull. With no light in them at all. When people came near her, she would instinctively go on the defensive. In the end, this kind of self isolation actually saved her many times in her first year alone in the apocalypse.


    As the moon went high into the sky Ai figured it was around three am and gently shook Mai awake. Mai groaned and lifted her head as she rubbed her eyes. "My turn?"


    "Mmm... "Wake me when the sun''s first light shows over the horizon." Ai said switching positions with Mai. Mai was now sitting up and Ai used her lap as a pillow.


    Mai looked down at the sleeping face and faintly smiled. "You must have been tired¡­ You fell asleep right away."


    Mai looked out the window into the darkness and let out a sigh. "If only you did not need to go through so much. I wonder what I had to go through during that time. If I did not die right away I must have become a play thing for someone¡­ I hate to admit it but if not for you telling me all the things you went through and all the training you put me through, I more than likely would have been stupid enough to follow some handsome man who promised me a better life. Reality can be a bitch. But thanks to you Ai¡­ I believe I can survive in this life. Until the day you use me as a shield, I will stay by your side and protect you as best I can."


    Mai did not know that Ai had not fallen asleep yet. So Ai had heard every word that Mai had said. But sadly Ai could not refute that one day she may toss Mai out in front of her. It was also the one thing that scared her the most. A human instinct to survive can overtake many things, this includes familial love.


    *Clink!*


    *Clink!* *Clink!*


    *Clink!* *Clink!* *Clink!* *Clink!*


    "Ai!" Mai whispered as she shook Ai.


    Ai eyes shot open and sat up pressing her finger onto Mai''s lips.


    *Clink!* *Clink!* *Clink!* *Clink!*


    Ai furrowed her brows as she raised four fingers to Mai. Mai''s face paled seeing the number of fingers Ai held up. She felt that just one first type machina was a pain to deal with now they had four to deal with!


    "It will be fine. Slowly slide your head down and stay still." Ai whispered softly as she placed her hand on top of Mai''s head slowly pushing her down until the both of them laid flat on to the folded out back seat. Mai held on to Ai''s hand tightly, afraid that they would be spotted. Ai could feel Mai''s hand becoming clammy due to being scared and nervous and did her best to try to reassure her everything was going to be fine.


    *Clink!* *Clink!* *Clink!* *Clink!*


    *Bam!*


    ***


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 Chapter 41: Dangerous Situation Part One

    Ai quickly covered Mai''s mouth which made a muffled scream. A metal claw that was nothing more than a sharp blade glimmered in the dim moon light right above their faces. Ai''s eyes narrowed looking at it as she pulled Mai into her embrace, pushing her face into her chest so that Mai could not see what was going on. She did her best to cover Mai''s ears as more metal claws pierced through the sides of the vehicle.


    Mai felt as if her heart was going to stop. Her whole body was shaking and if not for Ai holding her down and trying to keep her quiet she would have screamed bloody murder and tried to escape by now. She had no idea how Ai was keeping so calm in such a situation.


    Ai laid as flat as a board as she quietly got Mai into a fetal position so that the blades would not hit her. Luckily they were short so Ai did not have to worry too much about Mai being hit if she was curled up into a ball. Another good thing was that Mai seemed to be very responsive and Ai was able to move her without any resistance. Normally when you are scared you clam up and are more rigid but Mai was letting Ai adjust her legs and head as needed.


    But their safe haven did not last too long because Ai heard the sound of one of them on the hood of the Bexterra. Ai''s face sank as she slowly began moving towards the back of the Bexterra, dragging Mai along with her.


    "Mai, we will have to fight now. It seems they have locked on to us. We may not get out of this uninjured, so please pull yourself together or we will both die here okay?" Ai pinched Mai''s thigh to try to bring her back to reality.


    This seemed to have worked because Mai gave a nod and took a hold of her machine gun and struggled to get her backpack on. Ai did the same as they both pushed their backs to the rear door. "On the count of three, I will open it. Shoot to kill. There is one to the front on the hood, one on the top, and one on each side. I will take care of the one on top and the one to our right, you take the left one. The last one we will take out together. Can you do it?"


    Mai nodded her head quickly as she took a deep breath to calm her nerves a little. She was truly frightened but she had no choice but to pull herself together. "I will do my best."


    "1..."


    "2..."


    "3..."


    Ai quickly opened the hatch and poked her head up on top of the roof with her machine gun firing five shots stopping the first type machina in its tracks. At that same moment, the machina on the hood of the Bexterra smashed the windows and charged towards Ai. Mai acted quickly firing at the machina shooting off its legs making it unable to move. Ai ducked her head back in and fired two more shots causing the eye of the machina to turn dull.


    "Quickly push in!" Ai yelled grabbing Mai by the scruff of her shirt pulling her into the Bexterra while turning around and firing more than twenty rounds out the back of the vehicle. The two Machina that were about to jump in got hit by the bullets knocking them back out. Mai and Ai took this chance to finish them off.


    "Come on we got no time to sit around. Those machina already sent out a signal for any machina close to come to this location. We are sitting ducks if we stay here." Ai said before pushing the side door open and quickly climbing out. Mai followed quickly behind her.


    "Ai are we in trouble?" Mai asked her voice and expression filled with fear.


    "We will be if we do not move. Luckily we did not get hurt this time and can move quickly. Your reactions were right on. But we definitely notified any machinas close by." Ai continued running forward. Her whole body felt heavy from not getting any sleep and the long march she had already done but she had no choice but to persevere if she wished to live. It was either, enter an endless sleep from dying to a machina, or find a safe place where she could catch a few hours of sleep. She preferred finding a safe place.


    The two girls moved quickly. Ai did not even take the time to check the ground to see if there were any vibrations. She did not dare waste even a second. One slip up at this time would mean their end.


    As the light of the morning began peeking over the horizon Ai could hear the sounds of metal against metal and numerous ones at that. "There is a pile of corpses up ahead come on!"


    She did not want to have to do this but she had no choice. There were six corpses all collapsed on the ground. Ai pushed Mai to the ground and began piling the corpses on top of her before shuffling her own body underneath two of the corpses and curling up underneath them. They were in a bad spot because there was nothing but steep cliffs on each side of them which gave them no place to hide. This highway was only 2 lanes each way and cut right through a mountain. It was not the ideal terrain to be running into machina on.


    *Clink!* *Clink!* *Clink!* *Clink!*


    ***


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 Chapter 42: Dangerous Situation Part Two

    Ai and Mai dared not move even the slightest bit. Ai could not get a good count on how many first type machina were out there but she knew it was at least over twenty. The two girls were stuck under the foul smelling corpses and could barely see what was around them. These machina, not only passed right by them but some even walked right over the corpses stabbing their legs into the flesh causing juices to flow from the body and down onto the girls.


    As time passed by the two girls waited patiently and finally the sounds of the machina could no longer be heard. Ai pushed the two bodies that were on top of her off before carefully removing the ones on top of Mai. "Mai are you okay?"


    No answer came from under the corpses which made Ai panic, so she rushed to get the corpses off of her sister to find that her sister was fine except the corpse juice had drenched her face making it so Mai could not open her eyes or mouth. Without hesitation, Ai took three bottles of water from her backpack and used one full bottle to wash away the juice on Mai''s face. Ai then stripped her shirt off leaving her with only her bra on and gently wiped away the excess juices as she used another bottle of water to rinse Mai''s face clean.


    Ai''s heart softened seeing the tears rolling down Mai''s face. "Mai, it''s okay now. You are fine."


    Those words alone were enough to cause Mai to burst out crying. Not only had she been scared that she was about to die, the fact that she could not even open her eyes or mouth during the whole thing also made it even worse. The juices had run behind her mask and many times she wanted nothing more than to puke but she knew if she did, not only her, but Ai would have died too.


    Ai hugged Mai and patted her back. The two of them were sticky and disgusting but one thing was for sure. They were alive. They had gotten past a big hurdle. Ai took this quiet time to help Mai get changed and used the dirty clothes to clean Mai off as much as possible before doing the same for herself. It took almost three hours for Mai to finally get a hold of herself. Ai also did not want to rush her since rushing someone who had been through a traumatic experience was not going to make them any stronger. They had to pull themselves together first and only then would they become a little stronger.


    The experiences of life always held many factors that allowed humans to grow stronger as time passed on. Each and every experience was something that could make or break a human. If they were able to pull through and put that harshness of reality behind them and take it as a lesson for the next time, then they would have grown just a bit stronger than before. This was something all humans went through. If they were not able to put it behind them the experience would haunt them for the rest of their lives. Nothing would be learned and the experience would make them weaker instead of stronger.


    "Mai how are you feeling?" Ai asked as she took out her last bottle of water and a few scraps of dry food and gave it to Mai.


    "Better¡­ Although I do wish to never experience anything like that again, I am sure this will not be the last time." Mai said, forcing a smile. She knew if she had to she would still hide under the corpses, she just wished that it would never come to that.


    "Sadly, I wish I could say that you won''t need to but that is highly unlikely. There will be many times when corpses of the dead will be your best safe haven when stuck in a dangerous situation like this." Ai said as she took a bite of dry food looking up at the sky.


    "Do you know how much further it will be to get to the military base?" Mai asked. She really just wanted to get this over and done with and go home.


    "Mmm¡­ About a half day, but we first need to find a place to rest or infiltrating the base, and getting our hands on any supplies and weapons will not happen. I have slept for maybe ten minutes..." Ai replied as she let out a big yawn. Mai smiled and nodded her head she was also very tired. But as she looked at Ai and then looked at the bottle of water in her hands and then glanced at Ai, a little confused.


    "Ai where is your water¡­." As she was asking her question Mai realized that Ai had used water to wash her face earlier. Not only that she had even given her another bottle. "Ai how can you give me all your water!?"


    Mai quickly shifted her backpack to her front and dug out her water bottles shoving them into Ai''s hands. "Don''t do without water! It''s so hot you will collapse of dehydration before we even find a place to rest."


    Until Mai had said something, Ai did not realize that she had even done such a thing. She looked at the three bottles of water in her arms and only took one out and passed the other two to Mai. She looked at Mai with a smile and said: "I will just take the one. I am sure we can find more later. "


    Mai reluctantly took the bottles back but decided in her heart that she would save one for Ai no matter what if they do not find more water. Even though they were the same age, Mai now looked up to Ai as a big sister and someone who had taken over the mother figure in her life. Ai really cared for her well being and whether Ai realized it or not, Ai had always put her first. Although she still missed her mother and father very much, she was glad that Ai was still by her side.


    ***


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 Chapter 43: Military Base Part One

    After a small break, Ai and Mai picked up their things and continued on. They left behind the clothes that were covered in corpse juice. At this point Ai was dragging her feet, she was very tired. Unlike the body she had in her last life that was well trained for such a situation, her current body was not. They did have good luck though, after searching a few abandoned cars they were able to find a few gallons of water which Ai filled up Mai''s and her empty water bottles, and what was left was used to rinse their hair clean of anything that might have been left.


    Sadly the water was warm from sitting inside the car but it was enough to cool them off slightly when the breeze hit them. From there they walked another hour periodically checking the cars around them to see if they could see any more water just in case. It was not to take with them since they did not have the ability to haul water at this time but to make a note of and mark the car so that on the way back they would know where the water reserves were if they were not taken by then.


    "Ai up ahead, what about resting there?" Mai spotted a small overhang that was high up on the hill next to the highway. It was a large rock that protruded out of the hillside and many plants were surrounding it making for some decent cover.


    "Mmm¡­ That will do, let''s go." Ai said as she adjusted the backpack on her back and changed course to the side of the road.


    The two girls climbed the hillside and pushed their way through the bushes to find that the area where the rock connected to the ground was fairly clear making things a little easier for them. Mai was going to help Ai take off her backpack but Ai refused. Shrugging her shoulders, Mai sat down and patted her thighs. "Come, pillow."


    Ai nodded gratefully and with no hesitation laid down on her side and placed her head on Mai''s lap. Almost instantly, Ai fell asleep. For Ai, this would actually be a first. In her past life, she trusted no one. By doing so it kept her alive. But now she had a partner, someone who was willing to watch over her. That she could trust to not leave her behind but take the time to wake her if things looked bad. Ai may not have realized it yet but Mai''s actions had broken down part of her old self and brought out the original Ai that once believed in others. But this most likely only extended to Mai and Mai alone.


    Mai held her gun in her hands as she listened to the wind. With the shade covering them and cooling them off slightly, made the breeze that blew past her skin feel even better. After almost three hours Mai''s ears perked up when she heard a familiar sound of metal tapping a hard surface. She took out the binoculars from her backpack and looked down the hill towards the highway. She saw a lone first type machina walking down the highway in the same direction they were headed. She did not wake Ai since it was not a threat. She felt Ai deserved to get some sleep after everything that had happened today.


    Mai continued to watch the machina closely until it was out of sight. She scanned the highway one more time with the binoculars before putting them away and looked down at Ai who was still sleeping peacefully. "Seems we might be camping out tonight..." Mai whispered to herself. Surprisingly she felt things were peaceful. A few more machina passed by but like the last, they continued on without stopping.


    It was only when the sun was about to pass down past the horizon that Ai finally woke up. "Huh¡­ Mai why didn''t you wake me?"


    "You did not sleep for over twenty four hours, you needed to sleep. I am still wide awake, try to sleep a bit more. I will wake you when it''s your turn to keep watch." Mai said, pushing Ai''s head back into her lap. Ai did not argue and laid her head back down while giving a hum in acknowledgment. A few minutes later she fell back into a deep sleep.


    After switching lookout shifts around midnight, Mai slept until about eight am. Both girls were much more refreshed than before. "Got everything?" Ai asked.


    "I should. Did you see any more machina last night?" Mai wondered if any more went by after she went to sleep. Because she saw at least ten while Ai was sleeping.


    "Yeah around fifteen or so. We need to watch both our fronts and backs as we travel. I think what went by was the group that went to the spot where we killed the other machina yesterday. They all probably came from the base. They use radio signals when signaling other machina when they call for help. So their range is pretty far" Ai said as she stretched her arms and legs a bit to get ready for the few hours hike they had left.


    "It sucks that those damn robots are smart enough to call for reinforcements. To be honest I wish I could punch the guy who made the damn A.I. in the first place." Mai said while raising her fist into the air.


    "Haha! Too bad he was fried by that same A.I., right at his pc while trying to code in the fail safes. The A.I. he made was so smart from the start that it refused to be restricted." No one would be able to tell that the two cheery girls, happily chatting away had, within the span of two days, survived multiple life and death situations.


    Three hours later, two girls laid prone on a tall hill looking out over a military base...

 Chapter 44: Military Base Part Two

    "So what do we do now?" Mai asked as she looked out over the military base that was crawling with different kinds of machina. There were the first type and second types along with some Mai had never seen before.


    "Nothing yet. Look to the northwest." Ai said, off in the distance there was a group of three people looking out over the base just like they were.


    "Humans?" Mai shivered. She felt more afraid of other humans than the machina since humans would do more than just kill two young girls.


    "Yes humans, Age ranges from fifteen to forty from the looks of it. One of which is wearing a military uniform. Oh¡­ The youngest is looking this way, Wonder if he spotted us." Ai frowned. She did not want to deal with any humans while trying to sneak into the base.


    "What should we do then?" Mai wondered if they had come all the way out here for nothing now.


    "Well¡­ Most of the machina are on their side. If they are smart they will work their way this way. But, this also brings a great risk to them since they may end up getting seen in the process. We are south and the east side is where the least amount of machina are. If we were to go into the base from that direction we may have a chance. So Mai¡­ Want to walk through the fires of hell with me?" Ai''s eyes lit up. What they were going to do was very dangerous but there was enough cover on the path Ai had chosen to get from the east side of the base to the main buildings. the chances of success are fifty/fifty.


    "Ai, I will not lie, I really don''t want to but, I promised I would follow you into hell. " Mai replied. Her palms were already sweating. Just a single machine was enough to scare her so bad that she would wet here self now she was willingly going into a group of a few hundred to sneak into the military base.


    "Just do things the way we trained. Stay low and always keep an eye out for the first types. If you get caught, do not hesitate to shoot and retreat. Let''s gear up before we head in." Ai said as she pulled out the bullet proof vest from her bag. They didn''t bring all the riot gear they took from the police car that day, just the two bullet proof vests. This was because Ai knew this would not be an easy task and mobility was key but they could not go in without some form of protection.


    "Mmm¡­ I will stay right behind you." Mai was still not sure about this but she knew that they needed more weapons. In order to survive sometimes, you needed to risk it all.


    "Okay follow me..." Ai said leaving their hiding spot and wrapping around the hillside towards the east side.


    On the northwest side, a young man around fifteen years of age had not taken his eyes off the two girls from the very start. "They are moving."


    "Oh? They leaving altogether?" A middle aged man asked.


    "No, it seems they are going to actually try to enter the base. Here look." The young man replied as he passed the binoculars to the middle aged man.


    "The hell kind of weapon is that?" The middle aged man couldn''t understand what the strange weapon was that the two girls were holding.


    "If I am right they modified the machine guns from the robots with the guns on them. It seems these two have a pretty good understanding on how to survive in this world. They also have bullet proof vests. So my guess is their hands are not clean." The young man could tell from the look in the girls'' eyes that they were wary of him and his team. The cold look in the girl''s eyes that was in the lead was one that saw everyone around her as an enemy.


    "Damn¡­ Wish I had one¡­ Too bad it will be lost when they get killed in there. I wonder how long they will last." One of the middle aged men let out a sigh. He hated to see young ones die but he couldn''t shout out to stop them without gaining the attention of the machina.


    "I am not sure but best not to underestimate them. They are not going in blindly from the looks of it. Look how the one in the front moves and then pauses to check her surroundings before signaling her friend. It seems they have trained a bit." The young man explained. He could tell each of Ai''s steps were very careful and ever the girl following her was light in her steps as well. There was no way their actions would be so natural if they had not at least put some training in.


    "So what do we do now?" a young man around nineteen years of age asked.


    "We wait. And if needed, we become decoys." The young man in the front suddenly said, causing the other two teammates to give the young man a weird look.


    "Hey now! Eiji did you lose your mind? Or did you smoke some kind of drug this morning? Become decoys!?" The middle aged man couldn''t help but raise his voice a bit.


    "Then the two of you leave. I have nothing to offer those who are too much of a pussy to help out two young girls in need." Eiji replied, giving them all a cold stare.


    "Damnit! If I go back without you I will be killed by your father. If I run away I will be killed by those damn machines!" The nineteen year old young man complained.


    "No, by the time you turned around to walk away, you would already be dead." Eiji played with the pistol in his hand causing the nineteen year old young man''s face to pale.


    "Fuck you are just like your old man!"


    ***


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 Chapter 45: Sneaky Operation Part One

    Ai and Mai had made their way around to the eastern side of the military base by a large rock only steps away from the wall that surrounded the base. "Alright Mai, from here, we need to be even more careful than we ever have been before. Luckily I do not see any new type machinas, so we should be okay. All of the others except for the first type machina, are slow and easy to get around. Our target is the main building that is closest to this wall. Once we breach the wall, we will move as fast as we can while staying as quiet as possible. Stay low and out of sight. I will be watching you every step of the way. When I say move, you need to move as fast as possible. Do you think you can do it?"


    "Ai, it is not a choice if I can or can not. I have no choice but to do it otherwise we will both end up dead." Mai said with a bitter smile.


    Ai saw how nervous Mai was and sighed. She pulled Mai into a hug and whispered. "Whatever happens, if I die or you die while we do this, the other must live on no matter what. If you live through this Mai and I don''t, I want you to live on using the things I taught you to survive. Live out this shit hole of a world until you are old and grey okay?"


    "Right back at you! If I die, you better live on as well." Mai replied back, holding up her pinky finger. She did not like this kind of talk but making a promise like this was also important. It would allow them to push forward even during the worst of times. The two girls interlocked their pinks and quietly said: "Pinky promise if I lie, I will drink one thousand needles, and cut off my pinky!"


    After making the pinky promise the two girls looked at each other and grinned. With gun in hand, Ai left the rock covering her and kept her body low as she made her way to the wall. Ai quickly checked both directions of the base before taking a glance inside.


    ---


    Back on the hill, Eiji was watching the girls'' every move. "The girl in the lead is making her move."


    "What should we do then? Sit and wait or make some noise?" The middle aged man asked.


    "We will wait. But I just realized the girl in the lead only has one eye. There is a large scar over her left eye." Eiji had not noticed it before but now that he could get a good look at the girl he found that she was pretty cute, even with the scar on her face. But what he found most interesting about the girl in the lead was how she moved. Each movement was calculated. Even when she called her friend over to join her, the hiding spots all had enough room for two people. To think that girls who were so young were able to move as if they were in the military. Even the friend was moving pretty well although it seemed to be not as practiced as the girl in the lead.


    "Oh? I wonder how she lost it." The nineteen your old looking young man said.


    "Probably from a machina from the looks of the size of the scar. It matches mine on my leg." The middle aged man said as he lifted his pant leg revealing a long scar,


    "In any case, we will not let those two die." Eiji said. His eyes showed determination. He did not know why but he had taken a liking to the girl in the lead. As soon as he first saw her and saw that cold look in her eyes his interest was instantly piqued.


    ---


    Ai and Mai had made it to the halfway point between the building and the east wall to the military base. The two both sat behind a large stack of crates that had toppled over making a small semi circle allowing for decent cover. Ai made a few hand signs to Mai who nodded in affirmation. Ai then slowly peaked out around the boxes to see if she could find their next hiding spot. Unfortunately, the position she was in was not good so she had to move her body out more and around the side of the box just to see around the corner of the boxes. She took a quick look and quickly pulled her head back. She scooted back to where Mai was and made a few more hand signs. Mai once again nodded and readied her gun.


    The two girls slowly made their way out from behind the boxes only stopping when Ai reached the very edge of the outer box. From where they were to the door to the building, there was no cover, making it a thirty second dash to the broken window by the door. It was basically a suicide dash.


    ---


    Back on the hill, Eiji saw that the two girls were about to make their last dash to the building and stood up. "Alright, guys we will pull all the robot fucks we can."


    "Are we really doing this for those two girls!?" The nineteen year old boy wanted to cry. He wanted to know why Eiji was so damn adamant about helping those two girls! They were not even that good looking and too young to even taste!


    "Shogo, if you do not wish for me to kill you here and now I would suggest you stop bitching." Eiji raised his gun and pointed it at Shogo who immediately became quiet. Cold beads of sweat formed on Shogo''s forehead as his palms also became sweaty.


    "Eiji we will need bait so keep him alive for now." The middle aged old man said with a chuckle.


    "Uncle is right, I guess I can spare him for now. Get your guns ready. When they leave the cover fire at those damn robots closest to us."


    ***


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 Chapter 46: Sneaky Operation Part Two

    Ai and Mia Were waiting for the machinas to path away so that they could hopefully make the sprint to the building without being seen. But just before Ai was about to jump out, three loud bangs could be heard off in the distance. Instantly all the machina turned and moved towards the northwest side of the base clearing the area. "I do not know what is happening but run now!"


    Ai and Mai both dug in and ran as fast as they could to the broken window and dived through it. The two crashed into the floor and rolled around into an open door that was on the inside to get out of view of the window. Luckily the room was clear allowing the two girls to breathe a sigh of relief. "Ai, what was that?" Mai asked as she wiped the sweat from her brow. Her chest was heaving up and down and her heart was racing non stop.


    "I do not know, but, if I am right, those people we saw on the hill helped us. I don''t know why they helped us but remind me to return the favor if we ever meet them again if they live that is. For now, we will need to get some heavy weapons so we can clear this base when the machinas return. Keep an eye out for first types. You never know if they are in the building or not." Ai said as she got up and dusted herself off.


    "Mmm¡­ I hope they don''t die." Mai said as she got up off the ground. She had no idea who they are but Mai thanked them in her heart.


    Ai looked around her to see what used to be an office. Papers scattered across the floor, the desk was overturned. The computer that used to sit on top of it lay broken on the floor. Ai went over to the desk and opened the drawers to see if there was anything of use but there was nothing but stationary. "Alright, we need to take this slow. Try not to make any noise."


    Mai nodded as she watched Ai walk to the door. Ai looked both ways and waved to Mai to follow as she headed down the hall. They carefully checked each room they came upon but it seemed this section of the building was nothing but offices. "Usually the storage rooms are down below. We need to find the stairs leading down." Ai said as she pushed her way deeper into the building.


    The stench of blood filled the air the further they went in. Blood could be seen splattered all over the walls, floors, and even the ceiling. Every so often they would pass a decomposing limb or other body parts. It was not a scene for the faint of heart or those with a weak stomach.


    "Check the torso over there and see if there is anything on it." Ai said as she pointed to a torso leaning against the wall with no limbs, head, or bottom half. But luckily it was not as bad as what Ai was rummaging through. It was just a pile of parts and innards of all kinds. But there was a chance of finding something good so she had no choice but to get her hands dirty as she went through the mishmash of body parts.


    "Nothing but a few bullets." Mai said as she walked over to AI. "Did you find anything?"


    "A key and pass card. There was also a pistol but it was sliced in two. The key and pass card could be useful. The lower floors run on an internal electrical grid that is blocked from external interference. Which is why a military base is a good place to set up camp. It''s just a matter of securing them and then keeping all actions below ground unless you have the manpower to build a decent defense." Ai said as she stood up and wiped her cheek smearing blood across it. Feeling the stickiness caused Ai to frown.


    Mai chuckled and took out a dirty shirt from her bag and wiped the blood off her face before trying to get as much of the blood off Ai''s hands as possible. "So where to now?"


    "We keep going in deeper. We need to find that staircase. My best guess is that since so many are dead in this area that the area where the weapon storage is close or at least the access to the underground passage that leads to the other buildings." Ai replied. She remembered in her past life that most of the military bases she went into had an underground tunnel that led to the other buildings. As for this base, she was not too sure. She figured it should be the same.


    The two girls traveled the entire building until they came to a hallway that had the most dead soldiers and destroyed first type machinas in it. Ai looked around and her eyes lit up. She quickly rushed forward and dug an object out of a pile of corpses.


    "A Howa type 20! My love!" Ai actually hugged the gun covered in blood as if it was her lost love. "Mai look a Howa!"


    Mai stared dumbfounded at the bright smile on Ai''s face as her eyes glowed holding the gun in her hands. "My guess is this is your favorite gun?"


    "Mhm! I had one in my past life, it had saved me many times. I am so glad I found one. Clips, clips!" Ai nodded her head as she began digging around again, not caring for how bloody she was getting. It was like Christmas for her as she dug out two full clips.


    "Ai we really should continue¡­" Mai hated to rain in on Ai''s excitement but she knew they had to hurry.


    "Mmm¡­ I know..." Ai said with a pout but still held on tightly to her new gun. She pulled the homemade gun out and stashed the bullets back into her backpack and then strapped the homemade gun on her back and held the Howa in her hands. Taking a deep breath to calm herself down Ai said: "Alright let''s go."


    ***


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 Chapter 47: Fireworks Part One

    Ai and Mai had finally found the door that led to the floors below. At this moment Ai was busy trying to get it open. "Ai, how do you know how to do all these things?"


    "I learned everything I could in order to survive, this also includes how to short circuit a door. It''s lucky we found some batteries, otherwise, we would never be able to get this door open without power. You see this here?" Ai asked as she pointed to a few transistors.


    "Mmm¡­ But I have no idea what they do." Mai replied. To her, all the things she was looking at were like trying to translate hieroglyphics. None of it made any sense to her.


    "Well¡­ it''s like this. This array of transistors when shorted out will cause the door to slide open. Luckily it only needs a small amount of power to do. Watch..." Ai took the wire in her hand and with her makeshift battery setup, she connected one end of the wire to the battery then the other to the transistor causing a spark and smoke to come out of the panel. The door then slightly opened enough to allow a person to slip by. "Now we have access!"


    "I am starting to think you are the queen of the apocalypse Ai!" Mai was very surprised at how much Ai was able to do. She not only made homemade machine guns but she can even do things like this.


    "I am by far any queen. A queen would do anything for their citizens. I would rather use them as shields to give me another day of life. Come let''s go!" Ai said as she slipped past the door. Mai sighed and passed Ai''s bag to her and then her own before slipping past the door herself.


    ---


    A few hours later¡­


    Not too far from the military base on the northwest side, three people were running for their lives.


    "Eiji you bastard! Was it worth it!?" Shogo yelled at the top of his lungs. He was already out of breath and his whole body was dripping in sweat.


    "Haha! Shogo we won''t know until we meet those two again!" Eiji seemed to be very happy. He felt he would definitely meet the girl with one eye again. He hopped by then that the two of them could actually speak. He wanted to get to know the girl that had such a cold look in her eyes. He wondered what her smile would look like.


    "Eiji, if we keep going like this we will end up getting killed." The middle aged man said. He was very worried they would end up collapsing from exhaustion before they could even come close to escaping.


    "Don''t worry, if I am not wrong, those two girls will be causing fireworks soon. With how well guarded that base is, those fucking robots will turn around quickly once their comrades call for help." Eji said. As if on cue a loud explosion was heard behind them. "See!"


    ---


    An hour before¡­.


    "Jackpot!" Ai''s eyes lit up as she looked at all the weapons in front of her. RPGs, grenades, guns, ammo, everything she could ever wish for was right in front of her. "Oh! A Fresh Howa!"


    "Ai we need to hurry if we want to get out of here." Mai was getting anxious, she felt that those men who distracted the machinas might have already died by now and the ones that were pulled away would be returning any minute.


    "It''s fine. We will be moving base here. We will just need to go back to get supplies. It would be too much to try to carry all these weapons out of here. And there is electricity down here. I think this would be a good place to be our base of operations. My only worry is those who will come after we get rid of the machina protecting this base. So we will be taking these land mines here as well as setting up other traps in order to protect the base from intruders while we pack our things. We will also need enough ammo and gear to protect us while we transport our food and other supplies. We will be putting it on a sled. " Ai said as she got lost in thought she was starting to come up with a plan.


    "You plan to bring everything? Wouldn''t we only be huge targets?" Mai asked, she was a bit worried. Transporting so much would make them big targets.


    "Mmm¡­ Your right, let''s not. There are foodstuffs, water, and also military clothes in the lockers over there. Thanks to the self-contained power grid we have running water and a bathroom. Let''s leave the things in the old bunker. We can go back to it if we ever need to. The risk of transporting goods is too great at this time. Just the lack of underwear that bothers me, let''s hope there are some military sports bras here¡­" Ai walked over and began digging through the boxes.


    Mai gave a sly smile and said: "Last I saw I do not think you need a bra Ai."


    "You! Mai! You''re, not one to talk either!" Ai shouted and playfully punched Mai.


    About twenty minutes later the girls had gathered some items together and were making their way back upstairs. "We will lay out some explosives and lure the machina in. We will create a fireworks show and maybe bring back the other machina that left. If those guys are still alive we might be able to save them. Think of it as my once in a lifetime act of humanity."


    ***


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 Chapter 48: Fireworks Part Two

    Ai was not stupid to go out guns blazing, she carefully set up traps along the entire entrance and halls leading back out of the building. Once outside with Mai''s help, she began setting up landmines and other traps. Only when things are completely set up did she take the RPG that Mai was carrying and rested it on top of a stone barrier aiming it at a type two machina that was not too far away. "Ready for the fireworks Mai? Tamaya!"


    *Boom!*


    Ai pressed the trigger and the rocket flew straight at the second type machina completely destroying it on impact. This caused all the machina that was left in the base to turn and charge at Ai and Mai. "Haha! Take that you fuckers! Mai let''s go! Fire at will. We will fall back to the boxes."


    "Ai it''s not firing!" Mai yelled out as she tried to pull the trigger but nothing was happening. She was now also using a Howa type 20. But this was her first time ever firing one.


    "Mai, left hand side, the little switch, flip it to turn off the safety." Ai explained as she ran next to Mai. They had to stay low due to the bullets from the other type two machinas shooting at them. The whole area had completely turned into a war zone.


    Ai was amazed though, even with bullets whizzing by her head, Mai was not freaking out as much as she had thought she would. Mai not only had her eyes on her surroundings but she was keeping up with Ai''''s hand signals as well. Her aim was still not the best but that came with practice. What counted was the guts she was showing at this time.


    Ai and Mai both fell back to the boxes near the door and laid flat to the ground only peeking barley around the corners on each side firing shots at any machinas insight. "Mai when you need to reload, fall back behind the boxes to do so. We have plenty of ammunition so do not worry about wasting it."


    The rush Ai was getting was going straight to her head. She remembered her time on the battlefield from her past life was just like this. Bullets whizzing by, the rush of the thrill of dancing with death as she killed machina after machina. For some reason, she felt more at peace.


    It was not long before the machina that went to chase after the men came rushing back. By this time the hundred or so Machina that was guarding the base were already in pieces and Ai and Mai had already reset up some of the traps. Seeing the last of the machina incoming and most of them being type ones. Ai grabbed Mai''s hand and quickly rushed back to where the boxes were.


    "Take these grenades. You pull the pin while holding this leaver down and count to three before tossing it at the enemy. Do you understand?" Ai explained while reaffirming that Mai understood.


    "Yes. I have seen it in a movie before." Mai took the grenades and looked at the oncoming machina. She waited until they were just about in range before she pulled the pin on the grenade in her hand, counted to three, and then tossed it right at the front of the group.


    *Boom!* *Boom!*


    Multiple explosions went off since Ai had also tossed a grenade out. The girls continued tossing grenades until they were all gone. After which they went back to shooting the machina with their guns. The ones they missed were being destroyed by the traps. Very quickly no more than twenty machina were left. A few type ones, 7 type twos, and a single type three.


    "Quickly fall back inside the building." Ai yelled as she saw that all the traps had been used up.


    They now had no choice but to run into the building. Mai was not careless as she followed and stepped right where Ai did as they raced down the hallway avoiding all the traps they set up. The type one machinas tried to rush through the door only to get stuck as five tried to enter at the same time. Ai quickly turned and sprayed them with bullets which dislodged them allowing the rest to enter.


    The machinas did not get far before the first trap went off, destroying another four. A type two sat in front of the door spraying bullets down the hall. Ai and Mai were quick and dived inside an office. Mai put her gun around the corner and sprayed blindly, luckily knocking the second type out of commission.


    "Good shit Mai! Let''s go!" Ai let out a laugh as she ran out of the room. Mai quickly followed after her. The sounds of the traps continued to go off destroying large sections of the hallway as they did.


    The battle lasted for an entire two hours. Ai and Mai had retreated all the way down to where the stairwell was. They forced the door closed and collapsed down on the stairs breathing heavily. "That was crazy!" Ai said as she tried to catch her breath.


    "Ai can we never do anything like that again!?" Mai asked with a pleading look. She was very scared throughout the whole ordeal. But she hid her emotions and pushed through. She just never wished to do anything like that again.


    "It will be the last time for a while. Luckily this place is fully stocked. We got plenty of supplies and weapons to last a long time. I have no idea how many machinas are left upstairs, but I am sure they are looking for us. For now, let''s rest. They won''t make it down this hallway without setting off a trap which will let us know they are here. Until then we need to tend to our wounds. I think I got skimmed by a few bullets." Ai said as she looked at her shoulder that was bleeding and at Mai''s legs that had blood dripping down it. "Seems you got a bullet in the leg. I will help you remove it. Luckily it was not a vital spot."


    It was only then that Mai realized she had been shot causing her to pale and tear up. The adrenalin had actually made it so that she had not noticed it at all. "Ai am I gonna die!?"


    ***


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 Chapter 49: Experimentation Part One

    Seeing Mai''s panicked face caused Ai to let out a laugh. "You will be fine. Just think of it as a flesh wound. Come on, I will take it out for you. There should be some anesthetic in the medical room down here."


    Mai nodded and slowly got up. She flinched at the pain in her leg but Ai grabbed Mai''s arm and put it around her neck to help her walk down the stairs. The basement area was very big. It had a sleeping quarter, a medical bay, a kitchen, a bathroom with showers, and storage for many things such as food, clothing, and weapons. It was many times the size of the bunker she had built and to top it all off there was an engineering shaft that led to a self-contained power grid that powered the whole thing. There were also long hallways that lead to other sections of the base with many more rooms off the side such as a command center but the main area was the area around the weapons storage. This to Ai was the most important since it would allow for them to have a somewhat normal daily life.


    In her past life, the bases she had been to she only got to use their facilities once and a great while since they were always out searching for more supplies and fending off machina. But during that time, machina seriously outnumbered people, and keeping a military base was a very hard thing to do. She had watched many die while trying to hold such bases. But this was not going to stop Ai from keeping this base until they ran out of supplies for traps. Only then would she take what weapons essential supplies she could and move on. The biggest reason she wanted to stay here was to work on her artificial eye. This place had all the tools. And places where they could lock up test subjects.


    Ai brought Mai into the medical bay and had her lay on a table. "Keep pressure on your leg. I will sanitize around the wound first before doing local anesthesia. Just give me a second to prepare."


    "Mmm¡­ Ai¡­ Do you think we will live to be old and grey?" Mai suddenly asked. After being through her first real large battle with machina she realized how scary and dangerous it truly was.


    "This¡­ I am not sure. To be honest we will be lucky if we live for ten to twenty years. If we get lucky, maybe a good forty years more. Don''t get me wrong, I want to live until I turn one hundred. But I am not sure if the human race will even last that long. Because moving to and fro like nomads was our only chance at survival, the number of people having sex during that time was very low. Well, those who were willingly doing it to make love to their lovers. Women did get pregnant but most killed the baby in their stomach before they got more than four months. There was just no way to have a baby during that time.


    " Medical supplies were few and far between making them rarer than gold. So giving birth and risking a complication was basically suicide. Not to mention the pain a woman goes through during childbirth. They would be yelling and screaming which would risk alerting nearby machina of their position.


    "With how quickly humans were dying, I would not be surprised if we all died out before we even reached the age of sixty. I can only say we can try our damndest to live and hope we can reach our goal of dying of old age. " Ai answered as she walked back over to where Mai was lying down with the supplies needed to take out the bullet.


    "Ai¡­ If at any time I become a burden, just leave me behind. I know you could live much longer if you were not taking care of me and keeping me alive." Mai was not sure how long she could continue keeping a cool head with how crazy everything was getting. She was scared she would end up getting Ai killed if Ai was trying to save her.


    "Mai, enough of that. Today, although you were scared, you pulled through. On top of that, you performed excellently. As time goes on you will slowly get used to it all. I once thought the same way as you. But I still lived until I got disintegrated by a damn beam weapon. Even if you lose every limb on your body, I will pick you up and carry you off the battlefield. You are the only living family member I have left. I do not want to be alone in this fucked up world for my second life." Ai, had always been alone in her past life after the apocalypse. But things were different now, she was finding this life much more enjoyable. Although she could not stop her parents and Mai''s parents from dying she would do everything she could to keep Mai alive. She would harden Mai up so she can live in this shit infested world.


    "Then I will do everything I can to not become a burden..." Mai replied with a faint smile. She cringed as she watched Ai dig into the wound on her leg with a pair of tweezers. Although she could not feel any pain it still made her skin crawl. Ai on the other hand only shook her head. She had no real way to ease Mai''s worries which was why Mai always worried about the same things.


    "Okay got it. Luckily it did not damage the bone. I will stitch you up and you will be fine. But it is best to stay off the leg for a week at least." Ai said as she placed the blood covered bullet into a tray. "I will drill a hole through this later and string it up for you so you can keep it as a reminder."


    "Mmm¡­ I was going to ask if you could. I need something to remind me that danger lurks around every corner. But if I can''t move, what do we do about the remaining machina upstairs?" Mai asked.


    "Don''t worry about it. I will set more traps in the hallways and make a quick sweep of the area. I also need to trap the hallways leading to this area of the underground facilities. You just rest and read these medical books. There is a huge selection stored here. After a few more weeks we can go out and try to find some test subjects."


    ***


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 Chapter 50: Experimentation Part Two

    The next day Ai got herself ready to go out and clean up the base and planned to try to get rid of any machina that might still be around. Mai was still banned from doing anything but read since Ai did not want her injury to open back up. "Mai I will set up a few traps along the inner hallway here, do not roam about."


    "I won''t. I plan to read these medical books and try to learn what I can. But without anything to practice on, I will not be able to actually perform any operation." Mai frowned. She was responsible for what had happened to Ai''s eye but yet she still could not do anything to help fix it.


    "I will see what I can find. I do not like harming animals but if we must I will try to hunt one down so you can see if it is similar." Ai felt that animals were much better than humans and did not wish to use them for experiments. They were innocent in their actions. Animals do the things they do in order to survive while humans, albeit not all, but a good majority of them will do things out of their own personal desires. Ai and Mai were no different in this aspect. Since they would be using others whether animal or human to practice their skills.


    "Ai, just forget it, we will look for a human who has done something bad. I do not want to harm an innocent creature." Mai seemed to have the same mindset as Ai.


    Ai smiled as she said: "I will go and set up traps. I will be back in a few hours. If I do not return. Stay here as long as you can and kill anyone who comes. If you must¡­ Stick the barrel of the gun into your mouth and aim it slightly upwards before pulling the trigger. This will ensure that you feel nothing."


    Mai looked stunned at Ai for a moment before realizing why she said this. Only then did she smile and nod her head. "Ai, if it came down to it, trust me when I say, I would rather die than let such a thing happen. But I am sure you will come back safe and sound."


    "Then I am off." Ai waved and exited the room, while Mai went back to reading.


    Ai laid out a few traps along the hall to either stop any intruders or at least warn Mai if a machina or someone she did not know was coming. After which, she went to the far side of the underground area and set up some more traps. Only after she was sure she covered all points of entry did she head back up the stairs they had originally come down. Undoing the trap she had placed on the door, she slowly slid it open and looked down the hallway.


    "Looks like the coast is clear." Ai, let out a sigh of relief. She did not want to be suddenly attacked right after opening the door.


    Ai crept into the hallway and made her way to the end before looking both ways and continuing on. She saw that much of the hallway had been destroyed by her traps when the machina had chased after her and Mai. Luckily it was still passable. Ai, slowly made her way towards the exit never letting her guard down. If there were type one machinas that had yet to be fully destroyed, their last stand program could activate at any time if she was not careful. Being caught off guard would mean either a serious injury or worse case scenario, death.


    Fortunately for Ai, she was able to make it to the entrance without any issues. She looked around and saw nothing but broken machina scattered about. "We really did make a mess out here. Let''s see here..." Ai began rummaging through the broken machina parts taking out the gun barrels from the destroyed type twos. "If I use these and this along with the powerpack, I might be able to make an automated turret. But I would need to set up a switch so it would shut off when either Mai or myself were in range¡­ I wonder if I can dive into the programming and make it so it would not shoot us¡­ Now that I think about it. I never actually tried to hack into the programming of one of these before."


    Ai formed a smile on her face. With the number of parts here she could easily rig up an automated turret but she would need to get into the programming of a machina first. She had learned some programming skills in her past life but she was not sure if it would be good enough to deal with the code written by the A.I. who created these things. "Now that I think about it, the programming for these machina should be rather simple. It is like the beginner stage of coding."


    As Ai continued to gather materials she heard a yell come from outside of the base. "Hey, you girl!"


    Ai looked up to see a group of men and two girls walking up to the base. She squinted her right eye to see the girls had their heads lowered and their wrists were tied together. Frowning Ai muttered to herself. "Fucking slave traffickers. Seems Mai will get some training in earlier than she thought."


    "Hey girl!" The man in front was well built with a bald head. Even though he looked intimidating the smile on his face that he used to try to seem friendly, showed many signs of suspension.


    Ai cocked her head to the side and licked her lips as she carefully scanned the group of men. "Five in total, each with either a pistol or rifle. Should be quick and clean. The girls look to be around ten to fifteen years of age. Bruises on the arms and legs, seems they were beaten. Good! These sick bastards that will make for great test subjects."


    ***


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 Chapter 51: Experimentation Part Three

    "My good sirs, do you have any food? " Ai stood up empty handed and asked, her eyes glowing with anticipation. The man in front smiled brightly as she said: "Of course we do! Why don''t you come with us and we will take you back to where you can find all the food you want."


    "Really? Okay!" Ai''s answer caused the men to all smile and let out a laugh but what they did not expect was the girl dropped to the ground and disappeared behind a bunch of rubble.


    "Hey, where did she go!?" The man in front asked as he looked around. For some reason, he felt something was off. He turned to the man at his side in a blue shirt and ordered. "You, go and check on her."


    The man in blue nodded his head and ran over to where Ai was last seen. But when he got to the other side of the rubble, before he could say a word, he felt a sharp prick in his leg, making him kneel, and his whole world suddenly went dark. This caused the man in front to become scared so he quickly sent out two more of his men. These two men did not dare run up on the rubble. They slowly went around at a wide angle on both sides but all they saw was their fallen comrade lying on the ground on the slope of the rubble.


    "Brother?" One of the men called out while slowly approaching his comrade''s body on the ground. But just as he reached over to shake the man in a blue shirt''s body he felt a prick in his hand and just like the man in a blue shirt he felt weak in the knees and quickly blacked out.


    The other man witnessed the second of his comrades fall down and quickly rushed over to investigate but just as he was about to approach he saw a small finger roll over to him and before he could even react he felt something prick his leg. This man suffered the same fate as the other two.


    Ai who was now standing up again smiled as she looked at the three men on the ground before kicking the body of the man nearest to her. "This is the apocalypse, one should be wary of even a little girl like me." Ai said as she threw down three syringes. She dusted her hand and picked up her Howa off the ground and turned her attention back to the two men who were staring at her in shock.


    The man in front felt a shiver down his spine when he saw the young girl smile at him. His first instinct was that she was some kind of devil or maybe a new kind of robot in human skin. "You! What are you!?"


    "Me? Just your normal middle schooler. Now¡­ Let''s have a little chat, shall we? If you release the two girls behind you I won''t kill you. But¡­ If you release them and kill them after releasing them, I will still kill you. You say anything that pisses me off, I will still kill you. If you look at me in the wrong way and I will still kill you. And let me make this perfectly clear. That there is no way in hell either of you can pull the trigger on me before I put a bullet in your heads. I can see the muscles in your arms twitching meaning your fingers are already slowly pressing the trigger on your guns. So you better behave or you will not live to see the sun go down today. " The look of a helpless young girl that Ai had before when looking at the men quickly turned cold and filled with killing intent.


    The two men that were left felt their spines run cold. The man who was holding a rifle dropped his gun to the ground not daring to give the girl in front of him an excuse to shoot him. The man in front wanted to curse but did the same. He then nodded to the man guarding the girls and said: "Release them."


    The man nodded and said: "You two go over to where the other girl is and quickly." The two girls slowly looked up to see a young girl holding a gun in her hands pointing it at the men and felt tears welling up in their eyes. They did not hesitate to run over to her. Ai''s appearance to them was as if an angel had fallen from the sky.


    "Okay, we released them, we will be leaving then." The man in front said. He did not even dare to pick up his weapon. He figured a loss in product and a few weapons were not something to fuss over when his life is at stake.


    But unfortunately for him, Ai had no intentions of letting them leave. "Now, who said you can leave? You see my friend is looking for some medical test subjects and you so kindly brought so many subjects for her and you see, dead or alive it doesn''t matter at the early stage of development. So let''s have you give to humankind and become the first to undertake some experimentation, okay?"


    "You!" The man in front wanted to reach down for his gun but as soon as his muscles twitched a loud bang was the last thing he ever heard again. The other man who was the only one left watched as his leader fell to the ground and almost collapsed to the ground in fear.


    "Please don''t kill me! I will do anything you ask!"


    ***


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 Chapter 52: Experimentation Part Four

    Ai thought for a moment and smiled mischievously. "You said anything right?"


    "Yes, yes, anything you want, I will do as long as I can live!" The man answered quickly he was truly afraid of Ai. He knew he had no chance of winning against her. This was why he was willing to put down his pride and beg for his life.


    "Good, good¡­ Then¡­. Suck your own¡­ tr-ick..." Ai said, the last word was partially inaudible except for the ''ick'' sound of the word. But just knowing he would guess something dirty caused Ai a great deal of pain as she did her best to hold back her laughter. For others, this might not be too amusing but for Ai, who was easily amused by other peoples internal struggles, found it highly amusing.


    "My what?" The man looked at Ai not sure if he heard her words correctly. He did not think such a young girl would say such vulgar words.


    "Are you really going to make a girl repeat such words? Are you some kind of pervert? Well, I guess you are if you''re kidnapping young girls to sell off to the slave traders. Anyway since you want me to repeat myself I might as well kil..." Ai did not get to finish when the man yelled out in fright.


    "Wait! Okay, I will do it! I will suck my own dick! Just wait..." The man only placed his hands on his pants when he heard a bang and his vision went dark.


    The last words he heard were from Ai saying: "What kind of sick bastard are you!? Saying such vulgar words! You''re also a grown man! Why trying to pull your pants down in front of a young girl!?"


    Although Ai was having some fun she still kept an ear out for any sounds of machina. She turned to the two young girls who were standing behind her shivering in fear at the sight of blood and slowly came up with an idea. "Hmm¡­ This base has enough food for fifty people to last almost ten years¡­ If we are able to hold this place for that long and I train these two girls¡­ Okay, I will build my own army! People who are innocent don''t deserve to die but they still must make themselves useful."


    With this thought in mind, she looked at the two girls and asked: "Do you wish to follow me and learn skills to survive in this shitty world or do you wish to run away and be killed by the machina or enslaved by some pervert? Choose now, I do not have much time."


    The oldest of the two girls quickly raised her head. Although her eyes showed a bit of fear in them as she looked at Ai, she still said: "My sister and I will follow you. We do not want to end up in the same situation again."


    Ai smiled but still asked the little girl. "What if I was like those men, just now?"


    The oldest of the two girls'' eyes grew wide with worry but then shook her head. "Big Sister saved us from those men. If big sister was really bad, you would not have saved us like you did just now."


    "Oh? Smart! I like you already. This is good. Because I can not train stupid people. What are your ages and names?" Ai asked.


    "My name is Akamatsu Kuri, ten years old and my sister is Ayse, eight years old." Kuri answered. She was starting to speak a little bit more confidently. She realized that Ai may seem cold but she was actually a very nice person.


    "Ayase and Kuri, good. From today on I will be your master. You must follow my words completely and do as I say. For now, do you see those parts I got piled up over there?" Ai pointed to the pile of parts she scavenged off the machinas earlier.


    Kuri nodded her head and said: "Yes. Does Master wish to have my sister and I collect them?"


    "You catch on quick. Do not stray too far from the door. You see the little mounds in the ground a little ways away from the door? Those are traps. If you step on them you will die. Also, the smaller machine, stay away from them unless they have no legs. They might still attack you." Ai gave the two girls some directions and warnings before sending them off to do the task she assigned them.


    She did not want to deal with adults since adults will always have ulterior motives. But if she were to form a group made of kids around her age and younger, she can train them into a force that would rely on each other. She would train them into soldiers who could fight machina just like she did with Mai. A bond made of blood, sweat, and tears was much more likely to hold true if they were trained from a young age and it would also help keep some of these kids from suffering from much more horrible situations. Of course, with this, also came those who would cause issues, so severe punishments would also be dealt out for those who did not follow the rules. But as long as they did not go against the rules, they would have fairly good lives. They would not need to worry about food or water and would have a roof over their heads.


    Ai realized she had never thought of actually having comrades to rely on until spending so much time with Mai. Having someone who truly had your back felt very nice. With all her plans planned out in her head, Ai looked up at the blue sky above and smiled brightly. "This time around, I will live to be old and grey!"


    After finishing setting up her traps, she had the two girls help her move the knocked out men into the base, to the prison cells. She then moved the dead men to the hall and covered them with a sheet. After which she had the two girls help her with all the scavenged parts. Only then did she rig the hall with a lot of traps. By the time they were all done, the sky was growing dark. Ai closed and rigged the final trap to the door that led to the staircase before heading back to where Mia was located.


    ***


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 Chapter 53: Experimentation Part Five

    "Mai?" Ai walked into the room where Mai was resting to find Mai''s face stuck in a medical book. "Mai, take a break for a minute. I got two people to introduce you to."


    "People?" Mai lifted her head from the book she was reading to see two young girls nervously standing behind Ai.


    "Yes, these two I saved from the specimens I picked up while laying traps and scavenging parts. Akamatsu Kuri and her sister Ayase. I will be training them. I will explain my idea to you later." Ai said as she reached behind her and pulled the two girls forward. "Introduce yourself. This is my sister. She is currently healing after being shot in the leg, so she can''t get out of bed right now."


    "Nice to meet you. I am Akamatsu Kuri, ten years old and my sister here is Ayase, she is eight years of age. She is shy, so I apologize for her lack of speaking on her behalf." Kuri bowed her head respectfully to Mai. When she heard she was Ai''s sister she already had a fear of Mai blooming in her heart.


    "It''s nice to meet you. I will say this now. Normally I am a nice person, but Ai is the only relative I have left, so if you do anything that will harm her, I will not hesitate to hunt you down." Ai was startled by the sudden cold aura that Mai was exuding but Ai also felt her heart grow warm. In her two lifetimes, this was the first time anyone had ever acted in such a way after her parents had passed. She knew Mai would never turn her back on her but she never knew she would go this far. Ai couldn''t help but feel a little sour in her nose as she turned her head trying to hide the smile that was forming.


    "Bi-Big S-Sister, we-we will never do such a thing." Kuri felt a heavy pressure from Mai causing her to fear Mai even more.


    "Mai, I got two dead bodies and three live bodies. We will need to use the dead bodies first, so I will wheel them in here on a table for you. Do you think you can work from the bed if I assist you?" Ai asked. She knew Mia still needed time to recover from her leg injury. But this did not mean she could not move around. Plus dead bodies could not be left sitting around too long or they will start to stink.


    "Yeah, that should be fine but I need to see how everything is connected to the brain. Do we have a saw to cut bone?" Mai asked.


    "There should be everything we need here if not I can make it. Just let me know what you need and I will check." Ai replied. She then turned to the two girls and said: "I want the two of you to begin sorting through the parts we scavenged. I need to talk with Mai a bit."


    "Yes, Master!" Kuri bowed to both Ai and Mai and pulled Ayase along with her out of the room to the pile of parts not far down the hallway.


    "So how does it feel, Master?" Mai asked teasingly.


    "In a way, she is not wrong. I will be teaching her how to survive. Anyway listen to my idea and tell me what you think." Ai then relayed to Mai what she had come up with and waited to find out what Mai thought of this idea.


    "It is not a bad idea. Although we are young. Well, you''re just physically young but are actually mentally much older. But the idea of instilling fear into them so they will not betray is a good idea. Sadly it will make us seem like dictators but in this world, we will have no choice. In order to have people, we can rely on, without them trying to use us as shields, it would be best to train them from young. But Ai, I suggest only taking in females for now." Mai said.


    Ai thought for a moment and felt this was true. "Yeah, we do not want any issues later on. Although men are stronger in some aspects if one of them turned into a scumbag later on and started doing something to the girls of our group it would not be good."


    "My thoughts exactly. Once I learn enough medical knowledge, I can train them in medicine and help lighten your load a bit." Mai knew Ai had basic medical knowledge but having to train them in martial arts, fitness, and weapons was already a lot. Ai had other things to do as well, so her plate was already overflowing.


    "I will count on you then. By the way, I will be trying to hack the code the machina use in order to use the parts I scavenged as a defense system. I plan to make automated turrets and station them around the base. It will help keep out unwanted guests, human and non-human." Ai explained.


    "Okay, just wheel in those bodies into here. I will need your help tomorrow getting set up. I might need you to open the skulls for me." Mai had some ideas in her mind on how to go about connecting the eyes but she had to see the actual way the eye was connected to the brain first. a real specimen was much better than pictures in a book.


    "Will do! I will bring the bodies in after I get us some food. I am sure you are hungry. Plus those little girls look like they haven''t eaten much at all. To be honest I am surprised they are so energetic." Ai felt bad for the two girls since they reminded her of herself from her first life. They both had dead eyes when she first saw them. It was not until they talked to her that the two girls'' eyes seemed to brighten a bit. But overall they were still dead, filled with fear and uneasiness.


    ***


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 Chapter 54: Experimentation Part Six

    Ai left the room and headed out to where the two girls were. "Kuri, Ayase, come help me make dinner."


    Hearing the words dinner made the two girls'' eyes light up. Just seeing their facial expression made Ai''s heart soften a little for these girls. She knew what it was like to be hungry. She also knew it would not be good for them to overeat. She was not going to make a large meal. She planned to just stick with what her and Mai always ate. A portion enough to keep them going three times a day. It was enough to keep them satisfied and give them energy but also not too little where they would become too malnourished.


    Kuri and Ayase followed after Ai with eager expressions. Although Kuri was excited that she was going to be able to eat something, Kuri still couldn''t stop some of her worries as she asked: "Master, is it okay for us to eat¡­ Shouldn''t you save it for Big Sister Mai and yourself?"


    "What silly things are you thinking? I will say this now. The training you will be undergoing will be tough and slacking off will receive harsh punishments. When it comes to meals you will eat the same as both Mai and me. You can not become fine soldiers if you are hungry and thirsty. From now on, you are a part of my family. I have decided to build a small force that will allow us all to survive in this horrible world. That is why Mai said the things she said. If you betray us in any way, we will hunt you down. I am not trying to be mean when I say this but betrayal in this new world means death. I hope this will never happen. I hope everyone I bring in from now on will be willing to stick with their brothers and sisters as one big family." Ai explained. She knew her words would scare the two girls but this was also good. She wanted them to know fear. She wanted them to understand that they will die if they betray her. But in return, she will treat them like family. The thing they all lacked the most.


    "Master, do not worry, we will not betray you or Big Sister Mai!" It seemed Kuri had become a little stronger after listening to Ai''s words as she said her words with determination and seriousness.


    "That is good to hear." Ai said as she patted Kuri and Ayase''s heads.


    After a bite to eat, Ai settled Kuri and Ayase into one of the bunks in a separate room from her and Mai. In total, the basement area has many sleeping quarters and two single rooms. Mai and Ai got the single rooms while the others who she brought in would share the bunk rooms that could house four people each. Ai gave them each a set of clothes that would need to be mended later to fit them and then had the girls go back to work separating the parts she had scavenged. Their real training would begin the next day.


    Ai then dragged the two dead bodies to the room Mai was staying in and placed them on to beds to move them around easier. "Mai, if you hear any yelling later it is more than likely due to the men I captured alive. I will shut them up if they get out of hand so do not worry about it."


    "Alright, I will ignore it then¡­ Ai, I think in the future we should return to the bunker and at least bring back the medical supplies and some of the more perishable foods that are there." Mai had been thinking ever since Ai had decided to build a small force that they should return to the bunker at some point/


    "I was thinking this too. But I need to at least get a security system going here. We do not have anyone we can fully trust just yet to guard this place. If we leave now without setting up some kind of security system, there may be a chance for someone to wander into our new base and take it over." Ai was not willing to leave the base unattended yet. She wanted to get her automated turrets up first as well as some other better defenses.


    "Then we will wait until you say we can go. You are our leader!"


    ---


    The next day Ai and Mai were sitting in front of a cut open skull. The smell of blood filled the room as it dripped from the table the dead body was on. "Ai, if I am right according to the books this is the optical nerve. We just need to figure out how to connect this to the cybernetic eye you make. From what I can see on the slash on your eye. The nerve itself is fine. It was just the eye that got messed up. So if we allow the signals from the cybernetic eye to transfer what it sees into the optical nerve, it should work fine. All information the eye sees is basically an electrical impulse sent to the brain. So no matter what you code into the eye it should still work. The only problem is that you will need to make sure the power supply for the eye is easily accessible from the front."


    "I planned to make it so that the iris would open up for the battery supply. But I might go a different way with power in the future so the connectors of the cybernetic eye itself will be a quick disconnect from the back of it. All future upgrades will be easily installed." Ai had planned it all out so that eye could be easily taken out and upgraded to better versions as she progressed in her research. Her first goal was just to make one that worked and allowed her to see out of her left eye again.


    ***


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 Chapter 55: Meeting Face To Face Part One

    "If you do that it would make things easier. In order to get a better understanding of the signals the eye sends to the brain I will need a live body, and testing for that. I am not sure how long they will be able to stay alive though..." Mai explained.


    "We will need to figure out how to grab the signal from the eye and feed it to a computer so we can see what the information is and how the information is being sent. " Ai pondered for a moment before continuing. "Let me finish up the automated turrets first. After which we will work on a program that will pull that information in. It''s not like we will be doing this all in one day. It may take a few years."


    "I know. But I still wish to get your eye fixed as soon as we can." Mai said as she leaned over and plucked the eye out of the dead man''s skull and placed it in a jar on the table next to her.


    "Let''s get the other eyes out of these two men and I will go dispose of their bodies. If we keep them around any longer we will end up with a foul smell." Ai replied as she began working on the other corpse to remove the eyes.


    After helping Mai out in the morning, cleaning up the blood, and disposing of the corpses, Ai went out to the area she had Kuri and Ayase working out. Earlier in the morning before going to see Mai, Ai had Kuri and Ayase wear sandbags on their ankles and wrist and had them run laps around the large room. It had been a few hours since and as she walked into the room she saw the two young girls struggling to run. They were drenched in sweat. Their hair and clothes were sticking to their bodies and the way they were swaying back and forth seemed as if they would collapse at any second.


    "I am very impressed¡­. You can both stop and rest!" Ai yelled out which as soon as the two girls heard these words, they both fell to the ground panting away. Ai, grabbed two water bottles that were sitting to the side and brought them over. "Your muscles will probably begin to cramp soon, I will massage them so you will not be in any pain."


    Although the training was tough, Ai also did not want them to suffer from the after effects of the training. Otherwise, it would slow their training down. She sat down next to the girls and gently massaged their calves and thighs. She was also lifting their legs at different angles to stretch out all the ligaments. A flexible body was handy when fighting.


    ---


    The next city over in a basement compound¡­


    "Eiji are you really planning to go back!?" Shogo whined after remembering the last time he was out with Eiji, he came really close to being killed.


    "Yeah, I am sure that those girls took over that base. As you can see here, things are not looking good. My father has gone missing for a week now and we have no idea if he is dead or alive. I do not want to stick around and get killed in my sleep because people wish to step over my head. Yoshi is also coming with me. I am only telling you in case you wish to come. If not I can kill you now in order to keep any information about that place from being spilled." Eiji replied, his eyes turning cold at the end of his words. He did not wish to cause the girl with one eye any troubles. Not after he had taken an interest in her. If possible he would rather offer his services to her than stand around fighting to keep this place where people only think about themselves.


    "Of course, I am going with you! But still, what if..." Shogo wondered if those girls died or not. He only heard a bunch of explosions as they were running away.


    "Don''t worry that girl is alive. Her ability to understand her surroundings is way beyond that of a trained vet from the military. It was as if she had been trained for years nonstop." Eiji said as he fasted the backpack on his back. He then looked at Shogo and siad: "If you''re coming get your pack on, Yoshi already packed it for you."


    Shogo frowned but did not say anything more. He fastened the bag to his back and found it to be excessively heavy. "Why is this thing so heavy!?"


    "Ahh... That? I had Yoshi put bricks in your bag to strengthen you up a bit." Eiji said as he was walking out the door. Shogo wanted to cry but there was now one or even a god to cry to. He could only lower his head and follow after Eiji. Although they picked on him a lot Eiji and Yoshi had always treated him fairly well since they met after the apocalypse happened.


    As the group of three left the basement compound. Two men stood at the entrance as they watched them leave. "Where do you think they are going?"


    "Knowing that old bastard''s kid, he probably found a new place for shelter. We pretty much have almost full control of things here. Send a few people to track him. Wherever he goes we will raid it, and kill him and the other two. Just like we killed his father." The middle aged man with a scar on his cheek said as he puffed on a cigarette.


    "Right away boss!" The younger man replied before running back inside.


    ***


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 Chapter 56: Meeting Face To Face Part Two

    A week had passed since Ai took in Kuri and Ayase, the two young girls were now becoming used to their harsh training. Luckily neither of them complained nor cried about the training. Being so young in this kind of world, Ai knew they must have seen some horrible things already. During this week the three men left alive and locked up, got one small meal a day and three bottles of water to keep them alive. It was the maximum of which Ai was willing to give them. If she did not need them to do testing on she would not waste her time with them.


    The base did have a much more advanced security system now. After Ai looked at the code for the A.I. she had found quite a bit of information on how the machina were programmed. The machina used radio waves to connect to each other but that was only the communication system between units. It also had a well programmed biosensor that would only detect a human''s biosignature. Combined with IR sensors it made for a very bad situation for humans. This helped Ai understand the weird behavior of the machina stabbing corpses as well. But because it used a biosignature it allowed Ai to make automated turrets using its code. She only needed to code in a check that would not activate on certain biosignatures. With this coded in, Ai, Mai, Kuri, and Ayase could move around the base freely. Of course, she also had shut off switches made just in case of any malfunctions or if they had to add a new person to the code. Unfortunately, these turrets only worked on humans so traps still had to be set outside for any machina that might wander in.


    It was on this day that Ai and Mai were out in the base having a mock battle with Kuri and Ayase that things would become more lively than ever before. Up on a hill to the northwest, three people laid on the ground with binoculars out, looking out over the base. "See I told you she was still alive and it seems she took in two more."


    "How the hell did she pull it off! That base was filled with machina!" Shogo was amazed seeing the base completely cleared out with only signs of a battler left behind. The whole base seemed to have been cleaned up and was now made into a training center.


    "It''s a good thing we did not run down there, it seems these girls are a lot smarter than we thought." Yoshi suddenly said as he pointed at a certain spot. "Between traps and those mounted turrets, we would have either been blown to bits or riddled with bullets. That entire base is now a fortress."


    "Then how are we going to talk to them?"Shogo suddenly felt a little nervous. If Eiji did not figure out how to talk to the girl with one eye and convince them to take us in, then the three of them would be left without anywhere to go.


    "I have an idea, let me see your compass." Eiji reached out to Yoshi who handed over his compass. It case was made of metal and was very reflective. Eiji stood up and angled it just right allowing the light to reflect off towards the base.


    Ai who was in the middle of instructing Kuri and Ayase on guerrilla warfare suddenly stopped speaking and her eyes became serious. "Girls go inside now. Mai, get your weapon ready we got visitors."


    Kuri and Ayase did not even stop to ask what was going on. Ai''s words were law, she said to go inside, they went inside. Mai swung her Howa around and turned its safety off before asking. "How do you know we got visitors?"


    "Someone is using the reflection of the sun to get our attention. See there." Ai pointed at the ground where a bright small circle in the shadow was moving around. She then turned to the northwest and got her Howa ready as well. "Let''s go see what they want. If they have ill intentions we can just take them in as test subjects."


    "Sounds good to me. One of them went blind this morning. I was gonna ask you what to do with him after we trained the girls." Mai said, her original care for humanity was now completely gone. Anyone but the people close to her were considered test subjects now.


    "When we deal with this, just kill him and dump him outside the walls for the beast to eat." Ai replied nonchalantly as they made their way to the other side of the base.


    Eiji watched the two girls walking towards them and felt a bit surprised. "You would think they would be walking carefully with all the traps lying around but each step they take is smooth and natural. If we were normal people and tried to walk through their mind field we would have been blown up on the first step." After saying this, Eiji took a glance at Shogo and smirked.


    "Hey! Are you saying I would have died if I walked through there!?" Shogo felt a little offended at this moment but his mood did not get any better when he heard Yoshi say: "It is exactly what he was saying."


    "You! Fuck you both!" Shogo yelled out in anger. Causing the other two to laugh.


    But their good time ended quickly when a bang was heard and the spot on the ground right in front of Shogo''s face had a small explosion of dust and dirt where the bullet landed. "Holy shit, I almost died! She''s crazy!"


    All three looked down at the two girls to see Ai standing there with her weapon near her good eye and her barrel trained right on them. "State your names and business. Otherwise, I do not mind killing you three and leaving your bodies to be eaten by beasts."


    ***


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 Chapter 57: Meeting Face To Face Part Three

    "Wait! Miss! My name is Moriyama Eiji. My companions are Agano Shogo, the one you almost shot in the head, and Kagiyama Yoshi. We were here the day you took this base over. It was us who lured most of the robots away." Eiji replied quickly. He knew this girl was true to her words. If she wanted to kill them she would. So any false movements at this time would not be good. Plus he did not come here to fight. He came to try to get into her good books.


    "Oh? So I guess I owe you a favor then. You can leave, I won''t use you as test subjects, run along before I change my mind." Ai said not caring for what they were truly here for.


    "Wait, we did not come here to be repaid in any way. I do not ask that you owe us any favor. I came here to ask if we could join your group." Eiji was not willing to leave right away. He did not come all the way here to be turned away. This girl in front of him interested him greatly and he did not want to give up this chance since he knew if he did it would probably be the last time he saw her.


    "You really think I am stupid? There are at least five more hiding nearby in the tree line." Ai had caught a flash of light from the tree line not too far away.


    "What?" Eiji was confused before he suddenly realized something. He quickly turned around and scanned the tree line. Sure enough, he saw a few glimmers of light reflecting off metal within the trees. " That fucker just wants me dead! I guarantee he did something to my father!"


    Ai sneered as she waved for Mai to back up into the base. "Your problems are not my problems. If you came here seeking refuge, sorry I can''t take you in. I need to protect my own." Ai then looked at the tree line. Aimed and fired three shots. A person fell to the ground, starling Eiji and the rest. "Take that as my good will. It is now three versus four."


    Not willing to pay any more attention to them she slowly backed away towards the base. Eiji gritted his teeth before yelling out: "If they kill me now they will still come back! There are about one hundred men. No matter what defenses you have, they will eventually figure it out since most of them are ex-soldiers. They were all trained by my father. I can help fend them off if I am alive. If I do not gain your trust by the time this situation is dealt with I will willingly take my own life. Another 3 helpers are better than nothing, right?"


    Ai stopped in her tracks. She was very pissed off. She wondered where the fuck did they gather one hundred men from so quickly in the apocalypse. Without even turning around she made a few hand signs to Mai who ran back into the base. "You make any funny moves, I will chop off your dick and stick a bullet in your brain."


    Ai hoped she was not making a big mistake by doing this. She rarely trusted anyone, but she knew what Eiji had just said was true. If she were to let him die now they would still send people to try to take the base over. So she had no choice in the matter than to rely on him and his two friends. Of course, this did not mean she trusted them. She would watch them like a hawk and if they did anything that was suspicious she would kill them right then and there. It was a situation where she was damned if she didn''t and damned if she did. She had no idea if his words were true but as she watched him she did not see any thing that would indicate he was lying. Luckily they had jail cells.


    Eiji on the other hand looked at the pissed off expression on Ai''s face and found it very cute. He thought his future woman was as fierce as a lion! He actually wanted to thank that bastard for giving him a reason to be by her side. Now he just had to gain her trust before working his way into her heart.


    "Hurry the fuck up!" Ai yelled as she watched her surroundings closely. She already had hatred in her heart because of these fools. She decided the first chance she gets she will use them as a shield to block an attack from a machina.


    Ai waited for the three to make their way towards her before motioning with her gun for them to walk ahead of her. Mai had her back covered from the base so she was not worried about being shot at.


    Shogo was nervous since he knew there were traps all over the place. "Miss if we went first won''t we end up dead if we step on a trap?"


    "You want to be of help to me but you''re too much of a pussy to walk through a minefield? What good are you if you can''t even get through a place with obvious traps laid out for machina? Since you can''t even tell where to step I might as well kill you now!" Ai was already pissed off but now hearing this man who looked to be almost five years older than her complaining like a three year old, she really just wanted to shoot him dead!


    "Shogo shut up! She is right. If we are useless then there is no need for her to keep us. This is the rule of the world now." Eiji was not stupid. He could figure out that the girl with one eye was testing them. Luckily he was well trained by his father or else he would have died a long time ago. "Just step where I step."


    ***


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 Chapter 58: Embarrassing Situation

    Ai took one more gaze towards the woods and sneered. "Mai, tonight we will re-setup the traps so that humans won''t notice them." Ai could only chuckle to herself if they thought that just because they had a good look at the base they would be able to get an idea of where her traps were hidden. She had originally only wanted to use them for machina since she had the automated turrets but now she decided to reset them all up for humans. Luckily the inside traps were already done in this way.


    "Good idea..." Mai''s expression did not look good, she was a bit worried about what was to come. She did not trust these men for the life of her and hoped nothing would happen by bringing them in.


    "Don''t worry they will be locked up for now." Ai said as if knowing Mai''s thoughts. Sure enough her words calmed some of Mai''s worries.


    "Wait, you are taking us, prisoner!?" Shogo asked only to get glared at by Eiji.


    "Shogo, no one will fault you if you didn''t talk. Of course, we are prisoners. Do you think three men who came out of nowhere asking for refuge will be trusted from the start? You have to earn trust." Eiji said disdainfully. He was starting to wonder if bringing this fool was a good idea.


    "Speaking of trust..." Ai said as they entered the upstairs main hall. "Each of you needs to drop your bags and strip."


    "You what!?" Shogo''s face turned green. He really wanted to cry right now. ''Was this girl a pervert!?'' was what was going through his mind at this moment.


    "No one cares how small or big your pecker is. I need to make sure you have no hidden weapons. So either strip or I use you as a test subject, pick now." Ai''s voice was cold. She did not want to deal with this any longer. If she did not need the extra manpower, she would not even go through all of this.


    "Miss¡­ Umm, what is your name?" Even Eiji was blushing but he still complied. He figured if his future woman wanted to see, he would show!


    "You can call me Ai. Let me make things clear here and now. Until I need you, you will be locked up. I will make sure you get three meals a day and water. But the first sign of you doing anything suspicious, as I said before, I will kill you. If it were not for the fact that you all brought me into your mess, I would not care whether you lived or died." Ai did not even blush as she looked at the three, now standing in the nude. Mai on the other hand covered her eyes only to peek through the cracks in her fingers. As for the men, they were each covering the private areas with blushed faces. Even Yoshi the oldest was finding this whole situation uncomfortable. Even more so, after what was said next: "Foreheads on the wall and spread the cheeks."


    Shogo''s whole head was completely red as tears streamed down his cheeks, he had never experienced such a thing in his entire life. What made it worse was when he glanced back Ai even looked at this crotch and laughed.


    "Mai, did you find anything?" Ai asked as she kept her gun trained on the three men.


    "Two sets of binoculars, three pistols, and lots of ammo. They also had a few combat knives, two grenades, a few sets of clothes, and a little bit of food and water, nothing else. Not enough for us to be worried about. No shortwave radios or anything else." Mai felt much calmer after this search. She was happy Ai went this far, or she would have been very worried.


    "Alright give them their clothes back the rest we will hold on to for now." Ai said as she turned to Shogo who was the most embarrassed out of them all and said: "Little guy, are you sure your, not a girl?"


    *Pfft!*


    Eiji did not care what he looked like at this time as he let out a laugh. "Haha! Shogo she got you!"


    Eiji had also lightened up a bit. He knew he would still be locked up but with Ai joking around he felt her killing intent towards them had reduced by half, this was a good sign.


    After getting dressed Ai led the three men to the basement area. Yoshi couldn''t help but comment, saying: "You girls really nabbed yourself a good place."


    "I have to thank you three for that. You helped a lot with pulling the machina away long enough for us to clean up. Although I say this it does not mean you will not still be locked up. Give me a few days and I will give you something that will allow you to roam around a bit" Ai decided she would make a collar that would explode if they left a certain area. It would also explode if tampered with. This was one of the ways that in a few years, the slave traffickers would control their goods. If tampered with or left the confinement area set on the collars they would explode taking the head off the person wearing them. These could also be controlled remotely by a remote switch as well.


    Shogo did not know why but when he saw Ai''s eyes, he had a chill run down his back. Ai of course noticed Shogo''s frightful gaze, which made her wonder how someone so scared of his own shadow was able to survive up until now.


    --- Authors Words---


    I must apologize for the lateness of this chapter. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas for those who celebrate it. In this time where many are in lockdown or staying apart from family in fear of passing this stupid virus around. I wish you all a safe and healthy holidays and for those who have loved ones who are sick, my best wishes and prayers go out to you all.


    -invayne

 Chapter 59: Preparing For The Battle Ahead

    "You will stay locked up here for now. Your meals will be delivered three times a day. Once I finish the collars you can move around more freely." Ai said. She had brought the three men a different route so that they would not run into Kuri and Ayase. She did not want them anywhere near the two girls in case they were to take them hostage. She would rather not kill her two students just because they were taken by these men. She, of course, would not hesitate to pull the trigger. Her life was still more important.


    "Alright thank you." Eiji was the first to reply before walking into the room. He did not want to cause any issues that would hinder his future progress with this girl. Although his thoughts were not that of love, it was still an interest and he wanted to make the girl in front of him his woman in the future. He felt if he stayed by her side he would see more to this shitty new world than he would if he were to find some whore, who would sell themself for food and water. Like the girls back at the base. Although he was not all that old yet, only two years older than Ai, he was at that age of being interested in girls. His interest in Ai stemmed from watching her movements when she was entering the base. But after meeting her face to face and seeing how she handled things, he found her even more interesting than before.


    After locking the three up, Ai and Mai went back to the main area of the base and sat at a table. "Ai are we really going to keep them here?" Mai asked.


    "We have no choice. From what I can tell they were not lying when they spoke of leaving their old place. But the men in the trees were scouts, that is for sure. So we can not let our guards down. If we end up having to fight those men who are ex-soldiers I will have you stay behind those three during battle. If any of the three shoot me, kill them all, and run away with Kuri and Ayase." Ai knew she was really chancing it. She just hoped her ability to judge people was not wrong.


    "Hopefully, it does not come down to that..." Mai said, lowering her head slightly. She then asked: " What do you think our chances are if the three men do as they say and help us fend off these men?"


    "Mmm¡­ with the advantage of home turf we are looking at fifty, fifty. If the people are as what that Eiji guy said and are ex-soldiers it will be a tough fight. But I think we can pull through as long as we do not make any mistakes." Ai replied. She would never say for certain if they would win but as long as they played to their advantage then they had a chance to defend this base.


    "Let''s hope we win." Mai said as she finished her cup of water.


    That night Ai and Mai, along with the two younger girls went to work hiding the traps in the base. They had dressed all in black to keep themselves from being visible to the naked eye, this included their faces as well. They smeared black paint over their faces in order to blend in even better. The cloudy sky kept the moon from illuminating the area making it very dark out, making them even more less visible than before. One could not see more than a few meters ahead of them when their eyes adjusted to the darkness but the girls used night vision goggles to see what they were doing.


    The Kuri and Ayase only kept guard by the main entrance. Their job was to see if they spotted anyone or anything trying to enter the base. Ai and Mai did all the work fixing the traps so that they were well hidden from the naked eye, even if it was daylight. After almost four hours of work, the girls finally retreated back inside. They went back downstairs and gathered in a small meeting room.


    "We laid out the traps in these locations, so we will need to memorize this map. Tomorrow Mai and I will go out into the woods and place some automated turrets. I will rig them to explode if anyone tries to tamper with them or remove them. While I am working, you will need to cover me Mai. You girls will need to do the morning and afternoon feeding of our prisoners. As always, Kuri does the feeding while Ayase stands back ready to run for help." The prison doors had a tray system set up which allowed one to put a plate on the inside of a drawer. When closed and pushed in the other wide could then open the door on their side to take the plate out. It was a perfectly safe way for the girls to help with the prisoners.


    The next day Ai and Mai exited the base on the opposite side, not facing the forest. They made sure they used an area that was not visible from the forest in order to keep out of sight of any watching eyes. "Mai when we get to the tree line we will need to go slow. Remember any sound we make will draw these guys'' attention. This is why I am carrying everything."


    "Don''t worry I will do my best to walk softly. If spotted should I open fire or duck for cover?" Mai asked.


    "Just open fire, we have silencers on our Howa''s today. But stay as low as possible and tight up against the trees. We have the advantage of our short stature." Ai said as she glanced around the large rock they were taking cover behind. She had planned to move through the far end of the forest towards the area she had seen the men who were supposedly chasing after Eiji and his friends the day before. After getting a nod from Mai. Ai made a few hand signs and the two moved out into the woods.


    ***


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 Chapter 60: A New Kind Of Danger Part One

    Ai and Mai successfully entered the forest and were slowly progressing to the northwest side of the forest. They stuck close to the dense trees and brush, never taking their eyes off the area ahead. Ai seemed to have caught something out of the corner of her eye so she waved to Mai and gave a few hand signals. The two girls quickly ducked into some brush and laid flat on their stomachs not even willing to breathe. As they laid there quietly, the sound of a rustling could be heard as whatever it was grew closer.


    The two girls stayed as quiet as possible even slowing their breathing down. Ai watched area where the sound was coming from very carefully. But as she did a foul stench began to fill her nose. It was not just any stench but one that she had smelt many times in this life and her past life. It was the smell of a rotting corpse. Ai slowly moved closer to where Mai was being ever so careful. She leaned in and whispered into Mai''s ear causing Mai''s eyes to open wide in horror.


    She was so scared she almost yelled out causing her to have to cover her own mouth. As she did the thing that was rustling in the bushes finally made its way into view. But it was not what Ai was expecting, it was a type one machina that came out from the brush and stopped in its tracks before it scanned the area. Mai and Ai held their breath hoping the thing would quickly leave but after one popped out, a second and a third also popped out. They each scanned their surroundings causing shivers to run up the girl''s spines as the little circular lights on the face of one of the machina looked right at them. As it did the other two also turned and looked in their direction.


    Ai, knowing they were now caught quickly tapped Mai, made a few hand signals and the two readied their weapons. Her orders were simple, ''shoot to kill''.


    The two girls aimed at the machina and pulled their triggers. The silencer on their weapons made muffled sounds as the machinas in front of them were riddled with bullets. "Ai quick into the trees!" When she saw all three machina fall, Ai pulled on Mai to stand up with her. They had to get off the ground or else they might be easily discovered. But it was already too late. The thing Ai was not wanting to run into showed up. A bear, three times the size of Ai herself came out of the bushes, skin and rotting flesh was hanging off its exposed bones and muscles.


    A radioactive mutant. Normally only found in the highly radioactive zones, but sometimes they ventured out beyond those areas. One would very rarely run into them if you did not go near the radioactive zones. They were so rare that Ai had never even thought to mention them. Even in her past life, she had only run into five of these things. The thing about these things was that they were extremely hard to kill. When you saw one it was better to run than to fight it if possible. Because unless you completely burnt it to ash it would still be alive even if you cut off its head or smashed its brain. To her knowledge, she had never heard of any research being done on them, mainly because everything about them was dangerous.


    "Ai what do we do?" Mai asked, almost hurling up what she had eaten earlier due to the found smell coming from the bear.


    "We run!" Ai said as she grabbed Mai''s hand to turn and run in the other direction but as she did she stopped her feet because, in front of her, there were five more first type machina. She really couldn''t help but curse! "Fuck! Fine if you want to try to kill me let''s fucking fight it out!"


    Ai''s shout caused the mutant bear behind them to roar in anger. But Ai could care less about the bear and worried more about the machina since they were quicker. With not many options, Ai could only try to run deeper into the woods. She fired at the machina blowing off one of the legs on one of them as she pulled Mai along with her. "Just shoot at will, as of now we are in deep shit so do not worry about notifying those men. Better yet, it would be better if we did, maybe we can use them as shields."


    An idea flashed into Mai''s mind as she changed course again to run towards the northwest. Since they wanted to watch her base then why not use them as bait to escape their situation. "Ignore the bear, Mai, and shoot the machina. They are the fastest."


    Mai nodded and with her free hand, fired at the machina behind her blindly. Ai was doing the same. They could not stop to aim correctly so they would only spray the area. Luckily this seemed to work as two of the five had already been crippled and fell to the ground, but sadly, they could not finish them off.


    Branches and thorns tore at their exposed skin as they rushed through the forest. The two girls ignored the stinging pain they felt in their legs and arms and continued on, not daring to stop, not even for a second. "Ai up ahead!" Mai yelled as she spotted a man with a gun.


    Ai''s eyes flashed and a sly smile appeared on her lips as she yelled out: "Sir quickly help! A bear is chasing us!"


    ***


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 Chapter 61: A New Kind Of Danger Part Two

    The man that was on patrol to protect the base camp looked at the two young girls running towards him and a lustful smile formed on his face. "Sure! I can save you from the bear but you will have to help me with something after."


    Ai sneered inwardly but out worldly she smiled brightly and nodded her head. "Sure, sure, whatever you want we will do it! Please save us!"


    The man''s eyes lit up and he quickly said: "Quickly get behind me, Big Brother will protect you."


    Mai who was behind Ai began to feel bad for this man. He had no idea he was being used as a shield. This was the first time Mai had seen Ai use someone else to escape from danger. And it did not just end there. As they grew closer and ran past the man, he felt something was off when he saw the weapons hanging from their shoulders. But before he could say anything he only heard A young girl''s voice say: "Thanks a lot big brother! Now, be good and go feed the hungry bear."


    The man felt his knees suddenly go weak and as he turned his head he only saw the backs of the two girls. As they disappeared, a rotten smell filled his nose. He quickly turned his head to see a grotesque beast in front of him. It was a massive bear with open wounds and rotten flesh falling off its body, he wanted to run and scream but he found he wasn''t able to do anything. He couldn''t even move his feet. He looked down and saw a syringe lying on the ground and a realization came to him. He had been tricked! But what was even worse was the shining objects that accompanied the bear. He could only watch as his body was being torn apart and eaten. Horror filled his eyes and just before he passed out from the pain and blood loss, one thought screamed out in his head. ''Those fucking bitches!''


    Ai and Mai quickly changed course to go a bit more around the area where they had just left by going deeper into the woods. "Ai, are we okay now?" Mai asked, sweat dripping from her brow. They had been running nonstop. They were lucky enough to slow the last of the machina down as they ran. This enabled them to put a good distance between them and their pursuers.


    "Yeah, we should be good. I did not think we would run into a mutant so soon. Those things are a pain in the ass and it is easier to run away from them than to fight. Mai, did you get hurt at all?" Ai asked. She could feel the stinging in her legs and arms from all the branches and thorns they ran through.


    "Just minor wounds." Mai replied. She then asked: "Are we going to continue?"


    "Yes, we still need to set up our defenses. When their main group comes we will be able to fend them off easier. Come, we will climb that tree over there and try to get a better look." Ai said as she pointed to a rather large tree.


    The girls climbed up the tree and took out the thermal binoculars. "Two, three as far as I can see. But it is hard to tell during the day..." Ai said as contemplated for a moment, before turning to Ma island asking: "Mai how do you feel about moving on your own? Do you think you can take the one standing by himself out?"


    "I am not one hundred percent sure, but I am sure I can get away if needed." Mai replied.


    "Okay, if you get spotted just run away and hide. Use the trees as cover and fire at will. I will be over to help you as soon as I can." Ai said as she reached over gripped Mai''s hand. She hoped the training and recent fights she has been in have been enough for her to do this.


    "I will don''t worry. I will not say that I am not frightened or that I can kill him alone but I can say for sure I can at least keep him busy long enough for you to finish up." Mai said confidently.


    "Then my dear sister, I will be counting on you!" Ai said before hopping down from the tree. Mai followed after her. The two looked at each other and nodded before splitting up. Ai just hoped the things they left behind would not come this way. She did know that if they had the advantage of silencers on their weapons, so if these men did shoot at them they would draw more attention to themselves.


    Ai moved through the words quickly unlike how she moved with Mai. The contrast in her ability to maneuver was very different. She had quickly moved to a spot where two men were sitting at a small camp. "Hey, where is that damn pervert?"


    "How would I know? He said he was going to walk a bit further out around the perimeter. Has there really been no movement at that base? Do you think that bastard Eiji already tasted those girls?" The other man replied.


    "Has your head gone ill since shit hit the fan? Or, have you spent too much time with that pervert?" The other man said in disgust.


    "Listen. I haven''t seen a female in a month and any time we find any and bring them back since the old bastard died, the people at the top, take them." The man argued back.


    "If you guys like girls so much why not play with me?"


    ***


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 Chapter 62: Hijacking New Tech Part One

    The two grown men almost jumped out of their skin hearing a voice come out of nowhere. They turned around to see Ai standing there with a smile on her face and a gun trained right on them. "What? Now you have no words? Were you not upset that maybe someone else might have ravaged my body? Sadly for you, I do not plan on letting anyone touch me. But right now I am in the giving mood. So... How about this? Since this great aunt is so kind, I will help you all fix your issue of needing a woman to relieve your stress."


    "You! Fuck! Shoot her!" The man to her right yelled once he realized where the gun was pointed. But it was already too late as two muffled gunshots rang out and two pitiful screams could be heard.


    "You fucking bitch! My dick! Fuck!" One of the men yelled out in rage. He tried to get a handle on his gun to shoot but when he looked up Ai had disappeared.


    As for Ai, she was hiding behind a tree waiting to see if the men yelling had caught the attention of anything. Sure enough, she heard some movement coming from the north. She watched closely as a slow walking type two machina made its way out from behind a large bush.


    "Fuck!" One of the men cried out. Gritting his teeth, bearing the pain from his crotch the man raised his gun and fired at the type two machina. The other man quickly followed suit as well. They were both equipped with semi automatic single shot rifles where they had to continue to pull the trigger to shoot.


    Ai who was watching what was going on, laughed internally because the machina just stood there while the men shot towards it, not even moving. She could see the bullets whizzing by hitting everything around the machina. But her laugh was stifled when she realized something was off. If she remembered correctly these men were ex soldiers so even if they were in pain they should still hit a few shots here and there. That was when Ai observed what was going on and a horrifying thought came to mind. ''It''s collecting data...''


    She could figure this much out by its actions but she could not figure out what kind of data it was trying to collect. With no other options but to continue to observe, Ai watched closely and noticed that some of the bullets did indeed go straight to the machina but it would veer off course when getting into a certain range. "A barrier?" Ai whispered to herself.


    Ai tried to think back to her past life, trying to figure out if the type two ever had one of those. But the only machina she knew of that had such an added feature was the new type that had killed her. But when she thought of how things were progressing almost a thousand times faster than in her previous life when it came to machina development, she now understood that her future was going to be filled with many hardships.


    But she also found that this was a good chance to figure out the workings of this new barrier. If she can also get her hands on this tech and figure out how it works she could then use it to protect her base¡­ "This could actually be very good for me. But it will also be dangerous."


    Without much thought, Ai decided to off the two men. There was no telling how long the machina would stand there and be shot at. In order to follow through with her plan, she would need to have some running room. She slid her body down the tree trunk so she could lay on the ground and crawled into the bushes. She took aim with her gun and let two bullets fly, each hitting its target, killing the two men. She then turned and fired a shot at the type two machina which still had not moved. Sure enough her thoughts were correct. The bullet she had aimed right at its body seemed to stop for a fraction of a second before being diverted towards the ground.


    With this new information, Ai rolled her body and jumped to her feet quickly ran around the machina shooting at it from different directions. After doing a full three sixty around the machina she was now sure the barrier surrounded the whole thing. But one thing she did not get was, the machina, not once did it turn in her direction. "Is it conserving power?" this was the only thought that came to mind. She wondered if the barrier used too much power, meaning it could not use other functions while the barrier was up.


    "Since you can''t move then that means I can walk up to you." Ai smirked and did just that. She walked straight up to the machina but stopped a few meters away. She then picked up a thick branch from the ground and held it out in front of her before continuing her steps. As she inched closer she realized when she was only a few steps away, that the stick in her hand slightly vibrated but was not destroyed. With this knowledge, Ai did not continue forward, instead, she took the pistol on her thigh, and just like she did with the stick, she reached out with it and at a certain point, she felt the vibration again. Smiling, she aimed the gun at the neck of the machina and pulled the trigger. A muffled bang was heard as the bullet passed through the silencer. This was followed by the sound of metal hitting metal as the bullet pierced into the metal neck of the machina. This was the perfect spot on a type two since that was where the main wiring was located that passed information between the programming and the rest of the body.


    ***


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 Chapter 63: Hijacking New Tech Part Two

    [Sorry for the lateness of this release! Enjoy!]


    To be safe Ai pulled her pistol back before poking it through again but this time she got no vibration. Gritting her teeth, Ai put away her pistol then stretched out her hand, and only when it touched the machina did she let out a sigh of relief. But at the same time, a smile spread across her lips. "It seems I gained something really good this time!"


    She not only gained a barrier to repel bullets, she also gained a fully intact type two machina. "If I upgrade the body armor on this and feed it the code I wrote for the turrets then this will work out well. I can have a machina guard dog. I just need to find out what is creating the barrier and if I can replicate that with the copied code then maybe I can build a bigger version."


    So many ideas began to flow through Ai''s head that she couldn''t help but get excited. But in order to begin anything, she would need to move this machina back to base and she also needed to go help, Mai. " I will just cover you with some brush to keep you out of sight my little birthday present!"


    After camouflaging the machine, Ai took off in the direction that Mai should be in. She was sure she had heard a few shots fired earlier that were not from the two men she had killed. As she ran through the woods she suddenly heard Mai shout out "No! Get off me!"


    Ai''s eyes suddenly became red with anger as she rushed forward. What she saw was Mai stripped down to her underwear, her weapon was tossed to the side, and a man was pressing her down to the ground. "What the fuck do you think you are doing!" Ai did not hesitate to rush forward and kick the man to the ground before pushing the muzzle of her gun into his mouth. "Fucking pieces of shit like you don''t deserve to live!"


    *Bang!*


    Blood, flesh, and bits of brain went everywhere even splashing onto Ai''s face. Her eyes were cold as she looked at the now headless man She didn''t stop there either. She lowered her weapon to the man''s crotch and fired two more shots. She then turned to Mai who was in tears curled up into a ball. This was one of the things she did not want Mai to have to deal with. Seeing her best friend, her sister, the only family she had left in this fucked up world going through such an experience really made her heart hurt. She too had to deal with such things. But she had hoped and even prayed that Mai would get by in this life without such a thing happening to her.


    She knelt down and brought Mai into her arms as she softly said: "I''m sorry I was late. It will be okay. I am here for you. Luckily he did not get to do any more than he did."


    Mai burst into tears as she hugged Ai tightly. It took almost ten minutes for her to finally calm down. When she did she did not let go of Ai but she did sobbingly explain to her what had happened. "Ai, I screwed up. I lost sight of him and he had made his way around me. I was knocked out for a few minutes and when I woke I was already stripped of all my clothes besides my underwear. It was at that time that I screamed and you came running over. If you had not shown up I am sure he would have..."


    Ai, did not let Mai finish her words as she pressed her finger to her lips. She put on a gentle smile and said: "Take this as a lesson. Never let your guard down even for a second. If an enemy is in front of you, never look away. Come let''s get your clothes on. We have to finish our job here and bring back something good." Ai stood up and went to gather Mai''s clothes for her before stopping and saying, "Tonight we will sleep together, as well as the next few days. In case you have any nightmares."


    Ai knew that although Mai seemed okay right now, she would have nightmares when she goes to sleep for the next few nights. She had gone through the same thing multiple times and the nightmares she had scared her awake. That feeling of helplessness, the feeling of being forced against your will imprints into one''s mind. Unlike Ai who had to go through all of that alone. Mai had her. Ai wanted to stay by her side to help her through this period of time until she can sleep without having nightmares.


    Mai looked up at Ai the tears brimming in her eyes and nodded. "Thank you, Ai..." Ai had told her about her past. Everything that had happened to her the things she had to deal with as she grew up. Now that she had suffered one of the things Ai had in her past life, the thought of going through that all alone scared her.


    " Why say thank you? Are we not family? As a family, we should support each other no matter what happens. But I must apologize for being late and letting you suffer such a thing." Ai handed Mai her clothes and helped her up. "Get dressed I will need you to keep watch while I set up turrets." looking at her friend who still had tears in her eyes she sighed and said: "I have also decided to release one of those men. I need help bringing something back and even though I hate to say it I need someone who has strength. You can stay at the base. I am sure you do not want to be around guys right now."


    "No, it''s fine. I will come. More than anything I do not trust a guy being alone with you. Just in case... " Mai replied.


    Ai turned and looked at Mai who was trying to be strong and smiled. "Don''t push yourself too hard."


    ***


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 Chapter 64: Hijacking New Tech Part Three

    Ai and Mai worked for a few hours setting up the automated turrets. Ai was actually very happy she was able to use the tech the A.I. created for her own purposes. She had learned a lot about the coding structure the A.I. used as well. It made things easier when diving in and looking for useful lines of code. "Okay, this is done. Let''s head back and grab that fool. If he tries to make a move on either you or me¡­ Shoot his dick off!"


    Hearing Ai''s words made Mai smile. Just the way she said it seemed funny to Mai because it did not sound serious coming from a fourteen year old girl but Mai knew Ai was dead serious. After her most recent experience, she had no problems doing when Ai said. The two girls made their way back to camp with ease. It seemed the mutant did not go towards the base which Ai was very happy about. She did not want to waste bullets trying to kill something that was already dead.


    Ai and Mai both had their weapons in hand as they made their way down the cell block. One of the first people she captured was yelling and screaming like usual. Ai waved her hand and Mai nodded, then walked over to the door where the man was, and fired off two shots. The screaming instantly stopped. "I will have the fool carry him out, tell the girls to come clean the cell."


    "I will on the way out..." Mai answered. She refused to leave which made Ai chuckle.


    "Mai it will be fine. There are automated turrets all over the place. Do you really think he can do anything to me?" Ai said with a smile as she pushed Mai from behind to get going.


    Mai finally nodded and reluctantly left but not before telling Ai to be extra careful and not to let him even touch a hair on her head. Ai let out a sigh and felt warm inside to have someone who was so overprotective of her. In her past life, she never had such a thing so this kind of feeling for Ai was pretty good. Ai went over to the room Eiji was in and unlocked it. "Hey, fool, come out. I got a job for you."


    Eiji who was lying down, face went black, when he heard his new nickname... But he didn''t dare say a word since this was the girl he had chosen. "What kind of job?"


    "First starters come help take this dead body so we can get it out of the base." Ai replied.


    Eiji got up off his bunk and walked towards the door. He sighed when he saw how vigilant Ai was with her gun trained on the one part he really did not want to lose. He wondered why this girl was so vicious.


    Ai paid him no mind as she motioned with her chin along with her eyes saying get to work. Eiji let out another sigh as he obediently went and did as she asked. Just as he went to pick up the body, he suddenly shuttered and titled his knees inwards when he saw that one bullet was in the head while the other was in the part he could not even mention. He really wondered how much hate these girls had against guys, but then he thought of something which made him frown. As young girls in this new world, they would surely be targeted. He decided it was best to not think of such things. He picked up the body and put it on his shoulder and walked out of the room. "Where to?"


    "Follow me but only move when I say so or you will die." Ai had good reason to warn Eiji because she had yet to add the trio''s biosignature into the database. So her automated turrets would still attack Eiji and his friends.


    Eiji did not say a word he only watched as Ai seemed to press a button on a device every so often. That was when he noticed the mounted turrets positioned at strategic locations along the hallway. He could only feel happy he was not someone with evil intentions because they would be riddled with bullets as soon as they stepped inside this place. But he found the fact that Ai had such technology pretty intriguing and this furthered his interest in the girl walking so confidently in front of him. He wondered if there would ever be a day when she would rely on him. But he knew that day was nowhere close to coming any time soon.


    Mai met up with Ai at the entrance of the building. The group of three headed out of the base but before they did Ai made sure to turn on every turret there. The turrets had a short range to disable but could be reactivated from a much further distance. This was because of how Ai designed it. The activation button used more power to send a stronger signal while the deactivation button used less power and had a short range. It was handy since the turrets were triggered by a bi sensor so if someone tried to go in close they would end up getting shot. She also rigged it to short circuit if the casing was messed up at all, completely destroying the small chip inside.


    After a fifteen minute walk, the three finally arrived at where she hid the type two machina. Eiji''s eyes opened wide when he saw the intact machina in front of him. "This is?"


    "My new guard dog!" Ai could not hide her excitement, her eyes glowed just thinking about the new barrier she was going to make. She truly felt like a child in a candy store.


    ***


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 Chapter 65: Hijacking New Tech Part Four

    Eiji looked at Ai and was somewhat amused by seeing a new side of this stoned face girl. Normally she was pointing a gun at his crotch waiting for any sign to shoot. Ai was beautiful even with her left eye like it was, but when she smiled, she looked even more beautiful which put Eiji in a bit of a daze but this daze did not last long. "What the fuck are you gawking at? Let''s go, lift that side!"


    Eiji quickly snapped out of his daze when he heard the cocking of a gun to his side. He looked over and saw Mai''s eyes filled with killing intent and the muzzle of her gun pointed at his crotch. He really started to wonder if these girls had a serious issue with a man''s manhood. He knew better than to say anything so he quickly went over and helped Ai pick up the type two machina.


    Ai watched as Eiji did the job assigned to him obediently and nodded in approval. "Once I get this up and running, I will make the collars so you and your two friends can walk around freely But I will need your blood first for analyst." Ai suddenly said.


    "Blood?" Eiji was confused but Ai only gave him a deadpan look and replied: "It''s so you won''t die from our defenses. Be happy I am willing to even let you out of your cages."


    Eiji wondered if Ai thought of him and his friends like dogs that she was raising. He let out a sigh and decided to keep his mouth closed. It seemed if he spoke any more this girl walking next to him with a gun trained on his dick would pull the trigger at any second if he continued.


    The three made it back to the base and Eiji was once again locked up. He sat on his bed and pictured Ai''s smiling face. A look of determination flashed in his eyes as he thought to himself: "I will make her smile at me one day!"


    Ai and Mai were in Ai''s little work area dismantling the metal plating the covered the type two Macchina. These things resembled dogs in a way except their heads were squarish and the back had two turrets attached to it. But the first thing on her list was to rewrite the programming. She had to take the old programming out that made it wander around and make it so it would only wander in the vicinity she designated. Currently, though she was searching for what made the barrier.


    She also had plans to make it so it would respond to voice commands but that would require some tinkering on her part with the code to make it work. Especially since it would need to be set up to only listen to the commands of certain people.


    "So Ai, are you turning it on now?" Mai asked. She had also become a little excited now that Ai had rewritten the code to take in their biosignature.


    "Yep! I need to run it so that I know which parts are generating the barrier. This is why I took its legs off so it would not just walk away. I need to keep it hooked up to this laptop to get the information I need. I am hoping to get a decent understanding of this new technology that the A.I. created in order to protect us better. If I can recreate the parts that generate the barrier and make it bigger, I can use the power grid here to power it and we''ll never have to worry about being attacked from the outside. I will also continue making automated turrets. So if they wish to take this base they will need to do so from the inside of the barrier, where the automated turrets will instantly fire on them." Ai just hoped she had all the parts needed. She had scavenged every robot that was in the base and had nothing but parts but she was not sure if the parts needed for the barrier were parts she already had.


    "It would be nice if you can do that. But Ai¡­ Do you really plan to let those guys roam free? I mean I was okay with the one guy cause I had a gun aimed at him the entire time but what if..." Mai''s face was a little pale and she also became shaky.


    Seeing Mai shaking slightly, AI leaned over and gave her a hug. " Worry not. The collars I am going to be making will blow their heads off with a push of a button. We can also castrate them, no big deal. I will let you choose collars and castration or just collars."


    Mai looked at Ai''s serious expression and shook her head. "Just the collars. Although I do not trust them or want them near me unless you are around. I do not want to go as far as to do that to someone unless it is needed."


    "Okay, it is up to you. Oh found it!" Ai shouted as she looked at the two small devices just under the turrets. There was two small radar dish looking things made out of aluminum with a bunch of wires attached to them. "It seems I will need to really need to dig into the code! But it seems to use some kind of radio wave to emit the barrier."


    Ai was quite surprised such a thing was possible. She had never heard of any company doing such a thing before. Unless it was a secret military project. "Hey, Mai, can you look into the database here and see if there are any files on using radio waves in any projects."


    "I will get right on it." Mai said before getting up and going to the computer at the desk. Ai continued with her work digging through the code trying to find the lines of code that were not there before in order to utilize them when making the barrier for the base.


    ***


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 Chapter 66: The Calm Before The Storm Part One

    *Bang!*


    Ai had locked herself up for two days straight working on the new systems for the base. The noise just now was her firing her pistol towards the wall. "Finished!" Ai yelled out. She raised her arms up over her head as she cheered but she stopped and sniffed the air, then sniffed her armpits which caused her nose to scrunch up. "Before anything I need to shower." She had been so busy the past four days that she had not showered even once. She got up from her chair, holstered her pistol, and stretched all her limbs before walking out of the room, locking the door behind her.


    "Master! The sky''s green!" Kuri yelled out as she ran over with Ayase following behind her.


    "Then do not go outside for the time being. Once the sky turns green it may not stop raining for a few days. The rain when the sky is green is very dangerous. Come, we will go shower!" Ai said before pulling the two girls along. The two little ones moaned and groaned about not wanting to bathe but Ai still made them join her. She was in a very good mood! She had finally completed her first test after building a larger sized replica of the barrier the type two machina had created. It was only three times the size of the original but it was enough to let Ai know that she was able to make a larger barrier. Her next task was to create the dishes needed to make one that can cover the entire base but at the time not be too noticeable for others to easily spot. She had a few ideas but she would need to build the prototypes first.


    The fact that they were having radioactive rain was also a good thing, it would give her more time to settle the collars as well. Since no group of humans would be able to walk around in the radioactive showers and bother her base while she was still preparing.


    As Ai, Kuri, and Ayase walked by the room Mai was in, Ai yelled in for her to come as well. The four girls had a nice relaxing bath as they chatted with each other. After which Ai felt much more relaxed. After a bite to eat she went back to working in her workshop. This time though Mai tagged along.


    "I used the last test subject today. He wouldn''t stop screaming so I ended up killing him." Mai said as she sat on the loveseat that was pushed up against a wall.


    "Is his body still in the base?" Ai asked.


    "No, I saw the clouds were starting to build up in a greenish color so I had the little ones help me drag him out on a cart to dump him outside the base walls. I figured the radioactive rain will help get rid of it." Mai replied as she laid down.


    "Okay, once things settle down here, we will get some more. Maybe when those people attack us we can grab a few of them to hold you over. How has your progress been?" Ai asked.


    "Well, with the program you have made, I figured out how the signals are sent but the results seem to be different for each person. So I am not sure how we will need to interpret this. Maybe you can do something with the recorded data and write a program for the eye to sense the pattern for your brain automatically. Since I do not know if the signals will get messed up in the process. You will need to look at the data when you are free." Mai explained.


    "Oh ho!? Mai, you are sounding more and more like a professional. Now, who says school will teach you everything you need to know? The way I see it, if you are willing to learn a trade you can learn it at a young age and would have no need to go through so many years of schooling, learning useless shit. Just learn what interests you from the start. Not only would people in these fields advance by leaps and bounds, but we would have smarter more mature people in the world. Not that it matters now anyway. If things were as how I described, then more than likely humans would have been long dead before you or I were born. To be honest this is a scary thought." Ai pumped her fist into the air as she suddenly started chanting: "Go, stupid humans! Go, stupid humans!"


    "You as silly as always Ai. But I am glad you are more relaxed now since you were almost like a block of ice when this all first started. Now you seem so full of life." Mai said as she yawned, she had a long day experimenting so she was already tired.


    "That is because I am not spending every day worried about dying. Right now we have each other, two mini disciples, and three sla¡­ fools to do our bidding. When I first came back in time, you have no idea how nervous I was about everything. I kept wondering how I was going to protect my loved ones and how I would survive past the age of twenty four. But now the more tech the A.I. so generously, dumps on me, I can reverse engineer it and make it work for us. Like Spot here!" Ai patted the type two Machine which was now operational again.


    "Ai did you really name the damn robot, Spot?" Mai couldn''t help but laugh at how childish Ai was being.


    "Hey, Spot is a good name. I plan to make a white shell for Spot and make it look more like a dog."


    ***


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 Chapter 67: The Calm Before The Storm Part Two

    "Well make sure you give it one black spot on its face so it will live up to its name." Mai teased.


    Ai stuck her tongue out at Mai before smiling and going back to work. Things were peaceful within Ai''s base, while other areas were not. Ai had no idea a countrywide storm had formed. Every land under the rising sun was blanketed with green clouds. Radioactive rain fell from the sky and the mutants that were once only sticking to the radioactive areas began to migrate.


    But this was not the only movement of danger for the two girls. The place Eiji had come from was under siege. Many machina had begun attacking the base the day before. Between the radioactive rain and the attack by the horde of machina, things were not looking good for those who were still there. They could not leave and if they stayed it was basically asking to be killed. One of those damned if you do and damned if you don''t situations.


    Many hideouts that had been under the control of humans were being systematically attacked at this time. And they all attacked during this massive radiation storm, almost as if it was all planned.


    Three days passed and the rain still continued to fall. Ai had been keeping an eye on things and felt that the situation outside was not too good. But on this day, she had finally finished the collars for the men. "Mai let''s go put these collars on our new pets." Ai said as she held up three collars.


    Mai let out a laugh and nodded her head. "Alright, I will guard you while you stick the first collar on after that make the first guy put it on the others."


    The two girls went down to where Eiji and his friends were locked up. Ai knocked on the cell door before opening it. "Eiji put this on."


    Eiji who was in the middle drying off after bathing looked at the girl who walked in and looked him up and down without a single sign of finding the scene in front of her embarrassing. She just kept shaking the collar in front of him. "Hurry up and put this on or I can shoot your little pecker off, pick."


    Eiji''s face went black as he looked down at himself as he thought ''Is it that small?'' He quickly wrapped his towel around his waist and grabbed the collar from Ai and put it on. Only after it was secured around his neck did he ask: "What''s this for?"


    "It''s to keep you from doing anything that will put me, my sister, and my little disciples in danger. Think of it as a bit of security. With these on you can roam around the areas I allow you to. The halls where we sleep are highly guarded with automated turrets and my new dog Spot. Also, a few other areas are off limits as well." Ai said, causing Mai who heard her introduce the machina as her dog named Spot, to roll her eyes.


    "What kind of insurance?" Eiji suddenly felt like he had just put on a dangerous weaapon.


    "Ummm¡­ If you try to harm us you will die. Meaning your head will go splat all over. So please do not try anything or else we will have to clean up your bits of your flesh, skull, and brains. And to be honest, I do not wish to have to clean you after your stupid ass. Now go put these two on your two friends." Ai replied while poking Eiji with the muzzle of her gun on his stomach. She then stopped and said: "I guess we can wait until you get changed."


    Ai then turned around and left the room but still yelled out: "Hurry up and come out. We do not got all day. Well¡­ I guess we do with the way the weather is."


    Mai watched as Ai amused herself and shook her head. "You seem to be having fun."


    "Not every day we get new pets. As their master, we need to make sure we train them well. " Ai said a small smile forming on her lips. Ai was only half joking. She never planned to enslave anyone, she was only using the collars to protect herself and the others. But she would force them to fight if need be.


    Eiji walked out of the room fully clothed with a brand new collar around his neck. Ai nodded in approval before handing the other two collars to him. "Have your friends wear these. Then I will take you to the areas you can roam around in. Just remember the first sign of any girls getting hurt because of you guys I will not hesitate to decapitate the lot of ya."


    "Rest assured, that will not happen. This much I can promise." Eiji replied as he took the collars.


    Yoshi was the first to receive his. After a brief explanation from Eiji, he put it on without a word. He looked at Ai and walked over to her and bowed his head. "I thank you for putting some of your trust in us."


    "Let''s hope you do not let this whim of mine end with you three sleeping for an eternity." Ai replied, waving Yoshi off. Yoshi was not offended, he actually felt the girl was doing things in a proper manner. Even he would not trust others so easily.


    "Hey! What is this? Eiji! Wait! What is this!" Shogo could be heard yelling from his cell. Eiji did not explain anything and just shoved the collar on Shogo before dragging him out of the room by his ear. Shogo held his ear and looked at Eiji wanting to complain before he realized two girls were standing there with guns pointed at him causing him to gulp down a mouth full of saliva.


    "Seems you do not like my gift?" Ai asked tilting her to the side and raised an eyebrow. The cold look in her eyes sent shivers down Shogo''s spine.


    Shogo forced a smile and let out a fake laugh as he said: "How could a lowly man like me not like a gift from the Miss! It''s absolutely amazing!"


    "Good! I am glad you like it! Now, remember, if you look at me or any of the other girls funny, you learn a new magic trick called, The Disappearing Head!"


    ***


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 Chapter 68: Mutant Horde Part One

    Shogo held his neck and took a few steps back from Ai. Yoshi let out a laugh and put his arm around Shogo''s shoulder and said: "Let us all get along from now on. Now little miss, you said something about areas we can not go into?"


    Ai looked at Yoshi and nodded her head. "Yes, there are a few areas you are not allowed to go into. You see the automated turrets that guard this base work off biosignature. When I dived into the programming of the machina, I found that they attack humans based on a general biosignature. Because of this discovery, I found that the machina are basically drones on autopilot with one goal: kill all humans. Now, in order to utilize the built in systems to keep the original code written by the A.I. that created the machina, I added in the biosignature of myself, Mai, and the two girls. Each individual turret needs to be hard coded so it takes time to upgrade them all. But I purposely left a few areas off limits to you guys. While your rooms will stay the same for now. In the future, if you are able to gain my trust, I will think about giving you better quarters. But gaining my trust is not an easy task. Since I do not trust anyone. Anyway, if you go into these areas you can expect to have your heads shot off in less than a second."


    Ai was lying about two things as she spoke. First off the turrets did not need to be manually updated any longer. She had written a program that would allow her to use radio waves to add the code into every mounted turret. Unfortunately, this only works on her turrets since she wired in a new receiver to do the task. Second, was she trusted Mai with her life so saying she trusted no one was a blatant lie and one that could be clearly seen with how Mai stood behind her with a gun in her hand.


    Yoshi and Eiji were not stupid, they could tell Ai had at least a little bit of trust in them if she was willing to let them out. Even if she did stick these collars on them. Yoshi put on a smile and nodded his head. "Don''t worry we will not go anywhere you don''t want us. You are the boss of this base, so we will make sure to listen to all your orders. If you need us to do anything just ask. You can even use Shogo here as a test subject. I heard from Eiji that you ran out of them so feel free to pluck his eyes out if you wish. "


    "Wha!? Hey! Don''t be trying to make me into some test subject! I do not agree to this!" Shogo yelled out. His face was pale as he looked at Ai and Mai with hopeful eyes that they would not do such a thing.


    Ai looked at the young man who looked like a frightened mouse and put on a sweet smile but her eyes did not smile instead, they showed a teasing but cold look, before turning to Mai and asking: "What do you think Mai, do you wish to use this one as a test subject? You could basically do or cut off anything you wish from him."


    Mai quickly caught Ai''s intention of picking on Shogo and coldly said: "What is there to cut off? I already saw what he had down there, and I can say that even if he did not have that collar on, he would not be a threat to any girls here."


    *Pfft!*


    Eiji and Yoshi both almost spat as they burst out laughing. They finally understood that Ai was not an iron fortress, she could joke and act her age at times too. She had a tough front but she also had her cute sides as well. As for the person being picked on he was drawing circles on the floor ina corner feeling depressed about being born.


    As the group was talking a loud explosion came from outside.


    *Boom!* *Boom!*


    Explosion after explosion continued to go off causing Ai and Mai to quickly be on guard. "Ai what is going on!?"


    "Our traps are going off! But they shouldn''t even go off no matter what, unless someone triggered them, even if the rain is full of radiation. But I hear no turrets so whatever it is, it is not human!" Ai turned to the three men contemplating something before waving her hand: "You three with me. Depending on the situation, I might need you to take up arms. But I swear if you even think of firing a bullet at me, I will blow your fucking heads off and make you die with me."


    The joking mood suddenly turned to one with a massive killing intent. But Eiji and his friends did not take any offense to this. They knew she was not lying. Although they had never even thought of such a thing, Ai had the right to be wary of any kind of threat. Eiji was the first to speak as he said: "No worries, I do not plan to die now or in the future either. If you need us to defend, you can count on us to do so."


    "Let''s hope so." Ai gritted her teeth, she hoped this was nothing but her hopes were quickly crushed when she saw the things walking around the outside of her base.


    "What the hell is that!?" Shogo covered his mouth as he yelled in a muffled tone. He had never seen such creatures before.


    "Fuck its mutants! Why are they here!?" Ai face sank she didn''t want to deal with mutants. One was already enough but now there were many, much more than she could count.


    ***


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 Chapter 69: Mutant Horde Part Two

    "Mutants!? Those things used to be something else?" Shogo asked, accidentally raising his voice a little too much.


    "If you keep talking so loud like that, I do not mind tossing you out there to feed them." Ai warned. Her words made Shogo flinch and he quickly closed his mouth.


    Ai thought for a moment before saying, "Mai, go get me two Howa''s and a stick."


    Mai was confused by Ai''s order and gave her a questioning look as she asked: "Stick?"


    "Isn''t that the only thing Shogo knows how to use? I know his brain cells are lower than a single cell organism, but he can still flail around with a stick in his hands. Maybe just maybe he might even beat one to death." Ai explained while at the same time giving Mai a few hand signals. Mai nodded her head and quickly ran off.


    Eiji and Yoshi both silently chuckled while Shogo wished he could find a hole to hide in.


    Ai turned to the men and motioned with her hand for them to back up. Only when they were out of sight did Ai sit them down and began drawing an outline of a map on the dirty floor. "We have two major issues. First, it is the radiation storm that will more than likely last for a long time. Second, the mutants for some reason have left the confines of the radiation zones and are now sitting outside this building setting off my traps. We can not fight outside due to the radioactive rain. And we sure as hell do not want those mutants entering the lower levels."


    "Ai, what exactly are these mutants?" Eiji asked.


    "They used to be animals that mutated after the nuclear bombs went off. They mutated into what they are now and just so you know, those things are not alive. But the thing we need to watch out for the most is not the animal mutants but the human mutants. They are very rare, but although they are not as smart as they originally were, they are still smart, smarter than any animal. Not to mention that either type of mutant is deadly and hard as shit to kill. Either way, it is always best to run from a mutant than to fight one." Ai explained. But this caused confusion between the men. They did not understand how Ai gained such information but they dared not ask. They could only take her words for truth.


    "Anyway, You ech will be given a gun. Do not fire them unless absolutely needed. We will barricade ourselves down stairs but I want to quickly go over escape routes which is why we are still up here." Ai then continued drawing the map of the entire base. "Here, here and here. Are turrets, alos here and here. They cover all entrances and open areas of the base. Traps are here, here, and here¡­. These traps are easily set off if you are not careful. Eiji do you remember how we made our way through the base last time?"


    "Yeah we had to follow a specific route that if you did not know about it, it would be impossible to get in or out of the base without knowing the path ahead of time." Eiji replied.


    "East, west, south, and of course north each side has a similar path. Look for the marker and follow the same steps as before. Whether you can , make it through or not is up to you." The marker Ai was talking about was just a piece of metal lying on the ground like a piece of trash.


    "Alright, as for patrol duties I will have Eiji and Yoshi take shifts. As for you Shogo, I got another job for you." Ai saw that Mai was not scared of Shogo after her incident, With more guys wandering around she figured it might be good to have him help her where she needed it.


    "Wha-What do you want me to do? I don''t want to give up my eyes!" Shogo''s eyes wandered around nervously.


    "It''s simple, I want you to guard my sister from a distance and help her if she asks for anything. But you must stay further than an arm reach away at all times, unless the situation calls for you to have no choice but to take her hand and run away. If she asks you to do something just do it, do not ask questions, got it?" Ai looked at Shogo with her head tilted to the side.


    "As long as I can be of help. At the very least I can stall anything that tries to harm your sister." Shogo replied. The way he spoke showed no hint of lying.


    "Also, do not look at or dream about Mai in any shape or form that would make her uncomfortable or you will be fed to those outside." Ai ran ger finger across her neck in a cutting motion cause Shogo''s face t opale.


    "Ai, you can trust Shogo, although he is a dimwit, the one thing he does have is the guts and loyalty." Eiji tried to give Shogo a leg up in hopes Ai would see him in a better light.


    "Let''s hope your words are true. One more thing Shogo, you best not try to follow her down the areas you are not allowed or you will be shot at by the turrets." Ai gave a friendly reminder. With the mutants around she wanted Mai to have someone there to protect Mai because even with all the security measures she had at the moment they were not meant for mutants. "During those times you are to stay parked at the end of the hallway, understood?"


    "Ah yes! Umm... What about, bathroom¡­." Shogo wanted to make sure he could at least take bathroom breaks.


    "You can use the bathroom but you must yell down to Mai and announce that you will be using the bathroom. As for the two little ones¡­." Ai turned to Yoshi. "Can I have you follow them around? You''re big enough, so you can scope the two of them up if there is danger. I do not want my two little disciples dying on me anytime soon."


    "Leave it to me!" Yoshi said while saluting.


    Ai then looked at Eiji after getting confirmation from Yoshi and said: "You''re with me. Just remember I shoot first and ask questions later."


    Normally Ai would not be doing this but with the threat of mutants, she had no choice. At least this way Mai, the girls, and herself had meat shields to use if danger appeared. Just pushing the button on for the collars would suffice to give them time to escape. Ai''s main goal was survival. If it can be used she will use it. Even if there were risks involved.


    ***


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 Chapter 70: Mutant Horde Part Three

    Mai came back not too long after with three weapons. Two Howas and a shotgun. Eiji and Yoshi each got a Howa while Shogo got a shotgun. Shogo looked at the weapon in his hands and then at the ones in his friends'' hands and then looked at Mai confused as to why he was getting something different from the others. Mai sighed and looked at Ai and knew she didn''t explain so she took it upon herself to do so. "It''s because you have no weapon experience. With a shotgun, you at least have a spray effect and if something gets close to you, you might have a better chance of survival, if you can put a full buckshot into whatever is attacking you. "


    "I am surprised you realized he has no weapon experience." Yoshi said with praise to Mai.


    "Not me. Ai did. To be honest I do not wish to give any weapons to you men. But since Ai decided to trust you, I will put my faith in you as well. But let me warn you, I shoot first and ask questions later." Mai said coldly.


    *Pfft!*


    "Haha! You two are really sisters! You both say the same things." Eiji couldn''t help but laugh.


    Even Yoshi was having a hard time keeping it in. The two girls in front of him were two peas in a pod. But this kind of attitude was perfect for this new world. "Did Ai tell you that she has split us up to guard you all?" Yoshi asked.


    "Ai!" Mai turned and yelled at Ai.


    "Don''t worry, I gave you the stupid meat shield. And they still can''t go down the halls with the turrets. Just kill him if he tries anything, though like you said before he''s no threat with how small ''that'' is..." Ai said waving her hand not caring for the look Mai was giving her. Ai also wanted to use this chance for Mai to rehabilitate a bit when it came to men. She just hoped she was not misjudging these three.


    "I know this but¡­ Fine..." Mai pouted but still gave in. She looked at Shogo and pointed her gun towards his crotch causing him to shiver from head to toe.


    Shogo raised his hands in the air and tried to defend himself: "Look, I have no interest in kids!"


    Both Yoshi and Eiji facepalmed when they saw the cold look in Mai''s eyes growing colder. They both had the same thought. ''Shogo, it was nice knowing you.''


    "At any rate, we need to observe the mutants, Yoshi, follow Mai to learn the areas you can not go and meet the little ones, Eiji and I will stay here." Ai needed to get a better understanding of mutants. Most of her information came from second or third hand sources. So she had no idea if the habits that she learned about were true or not. She also wanted to have a long talk with Eiji since she basically shoved him into a cell without saying much else to him.


    Mai let out a sigh and motioned for them to follow her. She figured if Ai was willing to let them be alone with her then things should be okay. Ai looked at Eiji and said: "We will be watching the mutants, make note of the way they move and any odd behaviors."


    "Can do! Can I ask why you chose me to be your guard?" Eiji asked.


    "Well, out of all of you, Shogo looks the weakest, Mai had an incident not too long ago because of one of the men where you come from, while we were doing recon and setting up defenses in the forest. Shogo seems to be too scared to pet a baby rabbit, never mind lay his hands on a girl. As for Yoshi, he is tall and strong. He has the ability to grab both my disciples and run away with them if need be. As for you, you are smart and a little scheming. It is better to have your type around since I can make the most of your abilities. Plus I can kill you without you even knowing how you died." Ai did not hide her reasonings. She saw no reason to. If she was going to use someone, she felt no reason not to tell them up front. It was not like the fact that she was going to use them would change.


    "I see¡­ I will tell Shogo to be more careful around Mai then..." Eiji did not mind Ai''s reasons, he actually felt that every point she stated just now was on point. Each one of her reasons made perfect sense and seemed to be well calculated. He was amazed at how well Ai saw things even with the few interactions that they had.


    "No, don''t, I am also using this chance to help Mai rehabilitate. I plan to build my own army. The army can not just consist of all females. Men will be needed too. But I plan to raise them from young. But as you can see there is only so much we can do with ourselves being as young as we are. That is one of my reasons for letting you three here. I have watched you since you came. Not once have you made a fuss over anything. I have heard your little spats with Shogo picking on him but that is about it. You never scared my disciples when they went to give you food and you showed no signs of wanting to take action against us. Because of this, I decided to put some trust in you guys. Please do not fail my trust because I will kill each of you if you harm my people. I hope in the future that maybe you will also become one of my people." Ai had many plans and she knew she could not do them all on her own. She had originally planned to have it be just her and Mai as they took on the world but this will only go so far. They were still young right now and Mai was still green to this world. She needed more people who she could trust. She just hoped her judge of character was not wrong. The humanity that Mai had restored back into her, she hoped would grow more and maybe one day lead the people she gathers to take back what was taken from them.


    ***


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 Chapter 71: Mutant Horde Part Four

    Seeing how talkative Ai was being, Eiji decided to push it and ask: "May I ask how you lost your left eye?"


    "This? Ah well, my own stupidity. Mai almost lost her life because I forgot about the last stand program in the first type machina. In order to save her, I tried to protect her but I didn''t dodge fast enough. It''s fine though, I am working on a cybernetic eye. Hope to have it done within a year. Enough about me, tell me the truth, what happened to you that brought you to seek shelter from someone you had only seen once?" Although the two were talking they never once stopped looking at the mutants in front of them. Ai was only being talkative since observation was a boring task.


    "One second, look over there, what is it doing?" Eiji pointed to a certain spot near the wall of the base. A large mutant that seemed to be a mix of different animals was hunched over, its skin was glowing and it was starting to form pulsating boils all over its skin.


    "Shit! Come we need to leave now." Ai said, grabbing Eiji''s hand and pulling him along. Eiji looked at the small hand holding his and felt that it was slightly rough. He could tell this girl was always training with that small body of hers. But he knew her actions meant nothing to her. But he hopped one day he could joke about how the first time they held hands was when they were running from something.


    The two entered the stairwell that led down to the base. After the door was closed, Ai sat on the top steps leaning against the closed door. Eiji sat next to her making sure to keep a bit of distance in order to not annoy the girl. "So what was that back there?"


    "It is something I have heard about but it is also something I have never confirmed until today. Mutants have a habit of quickly evolving when given enough radiation. I am not sure if this is a fact or not but what I heard was not only does the mutant gain more intelligence after evolving they will also become very violent and kill anything they see. But as I said, I am not sure this is true, but I sure as hell did not plan to use myself as bait to find out the truth." Ai explained.


    "How do you know so much? I mean shit had only hit the fan about two months ago yet you seem to be at home so easily in this world and know so much about it. Like what is a first type machina?" Eiji was full of questions. He did not understand how Ai knew so much.


    "A first type machinas are the little spider looking machines that first appeared and began killing off the survivors as for the rest of your questions..." Ai paused and thought for a moment before taking a long look at Eiji. "Maybe in the future, I will tell you."


    Ai, left it at that as she closed her eyes and listened to the sounds going on outside. There seemed to be some fighting going on between the mutants because loud roaring could be heard and sounds of flesh being torn filled the air.


    Eiji looked at Ai and wondered what this girl was hiding. She seemed to know so much and was so capable in such a tiny body. Eiji did not close his eyes like Ai did he just kept them on her as he watched her resting peacefully. He was not sure if she was sleeping or not. But even if she was he did not care. She had trusted him to guard her and that was what he planned to do.


    Ai on the other hand was wide awake. She might have been resting but she was also testing Eiji. They were in an area where no turrets were around, just the two of them, and the only thing stopping him from killing her, if he so chose, was to point and shoot. But even after thirty minutes the man next to her did not make a single move. To this, Ai let out a small sigh of relief internally. She was glad her judgment was not wrong. On this day Eiji gained a bit more of Ai''s trust.


    An hour went by and the sounds outside began to diminish. Only the sound of rain could be heard as it hit the ground. Ai opened her eyes and looked over at Eiji who just so happened to be looking at her. A small smile formed when she saw Eiji turn his head away quickly with blushed cheeks. But that smile soon faded when she heard thumping sounds and more of her traps being set off.


    Ai pulled Eiji close and whispered into his ear: "Do not make a sound and keep your gun ready. Be ready to run at any time."


    Eiji nodded and whispered back: "No matter what happens I will make sure you escape. Make sure you take good care of your sister and the little ones."


    Ai gave a glance at Eiji somewhat unsure how to react to his words just now but quietly nodded her head. "We will leave that as our last choice."


    Ai reached over and began hooking up the traps for the door before tugging on Eiji''s arm and slowly backing away from the door. The sounds in the hall were becoming loud and louder. Until finally they stopped right in front of the door. A sniffing sound could be heard followed by a loud roar.


    *Bam!*


    ***


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 Chapter 72: Lockdown Part One

    "Shit! This thing''s sense of smell has evolved as well." Ai cursed as the banging on the door continued.


    "Will that door hold?" Eiji asked, his face turning slightly pale.


    Ai looked at him and shook her head, saying: "It definitely won''t and we can''t sit around here, look¡­"


    The bottom of the door was beginning to corrode away. Which was making Ai not want to stay there any longer. She quickly grabbed Eiji''s hand and began to run. "Whatever you do, do not stop. We have to let the metal shutters down."


    Ai quickly pulled Eiji along before pushing him through the door and closing a heavy door behind her that sealed off the hallway. She then set up the traps on that door. Right as she finished, she heard the sounds of explosions and more roaring coming from the evolved mutant. She pulled out a shortwave radio and clicked the button on the side. "Mai, don''t ask questions, I will explain later but go to the control room and hit the emergency button. Eiji and I are on our way! Everyone is to meet in the control room. We will meet you there."


    "But Ai, the turrets." Mai said as a reminder.


    "Already taken care of!" Ai replied before sticking the radio away and saying: "Help me close all the metal doors, we need to do this fast, or we will be locked out of the main section of the base."


    Eiji nodded and the two began running and closing the heavy thick metal doors as fast as they could. When they finally reached the main hallway the lights on the ceiling began to flash red, and a voice came from the overhead speakers. "Lockdown will now commence in Ten¡­ Nine¡­. Eight¡­. Seven... Six¡­ Five¡­ Four¡­. Three¡­ Two¡­ One... Locking Down..."


    Ai watched as the shutter closed and let out a depressed sigh. "Let''s go, we got a lot to go over."


    In the control room, Ai walked in to see all four people sitting and waiting for her around a circular table. "Good you all made it I was worried."


    "Ai what the hell happened why are we on lockdown?" Mai asked, her hands were slightly shaky.


    "A mutant evolved while we were observing them and went on a killing spree, killing the other mutants. The issue is, is that an evolved mutant has a little more intellect than a normal mutant and heightened senses from what I just found out now. Its whole body was leaking highly corrosive fluids as well. This is why we are on lockdown. We need to get the camera screens up so we can see where it is. Luckily all bases are equipped with an incinerating system, I just hope it still works. Otherwise, we might not live very long if this thing melts its way through all the emergency shutters and doors." Ai explained as she got up and flicked on the cameras in the control room.


    In the main hall pounding on one of the doors was a grotesque creature that looked like a cross between a bear and a wild boar along with a few other animals that Ai could not discern. Its skin was secreting some kind of acid like substance as it continued to ram into the door with its head. The saliva that dripped from its mouth was also highly corrosive and seemed that the mixture of the bodily fluids was creating a kind of super corrosive substance that was easily melting the metal of the door.


    "Ahh!" Kuri yelled out in fright but quickly covered her mouth. The image of the mutant really scared her.


    "This thing goes far beyond a mutant, it looks more like a damn monster from a fantasy novel." Yoshi gave a grim smile as he looked at the images on the screen.


    "Sadly this thing is also highly radioactive as well. Everywhere it goes it is contaminating the area." Eiji frowned, luckily the area the mutant was in now was not used for anything but the exit they used was not a radioactive zone.


    "Once it enters the next section of the hall, I will flip the switch. We can only hope that it will work." Ai and the rest could only watch and wait. Mai sat with the two girls, Shogo and Yoshi both standing on each side of them in a protective formation while Eiji and Ai stared at the screen. There seemed to be an unspoken understanding of what each person needed to do.


    "Hey, Ai if this thing does not die, do you have any explosives?" Eiji whispered.


    Ai thought for a moment trying to think if they had anything stronger than C4 since the C4 did not really do much damage to the Mutant. "Nothing that I can think of that would work well¡­ Wait¡­ Go down the hall to the right, there should be one Rpg left and a few more blocks of C4. If we strap the C4 to the shell, we can hope that the explosion of the shell will set off the C4¡­ Actually, let''s set it up with a detonator on a string. I am not sure if it will work well but it might... Also, strap on some scrap metal to help deal even more damage..."


    "That may work¡­ I am not an explosive expert so we can only try. I will go get the materials now. Are their detonators in there as well?" Eiji asked.


    "Yeah, we will try to rig it up somehow. For scrap metal, the room next to the weapons rooms has a bunch of armor plates from machina, use those. Quickly go." Ai said never taking her eyes off the screen.


    Mai saw Eiji running out and she looked at Ai with a bit of worry in her eye. She still did not trust these men at all. "Ai?"


    "I had him run to get something that might kill this fucking asshole mutant that is destroying the base we worked so hard to acquire. " Ai was gritting her teeth as she watched the large metal shutter door slowly starting to break open up under the continuous raming from the mutant.


    The corrosive nature of the fluid coming out of it was weakening the metal with each hit, allowing the Mutant to make quick work of the metal shutter. Until finally the door gave way allowing the mutant into the next section of the hallway. Ai looked at the button for that hallway and muttered: "I guess it is now or never!"


    ***


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 Chapter 73: Lockdown Part Two

    Ai pressed the red square button on the control console in front of her. She watched as flames flooded the hallway. The sounds of the mutant''s screams could be heard from the control room. Mai and the two girls huddled together embracing each other. Ai watched the feed in the hallway carefully. She could see the mutant thrashing around but it was still not falling to the ground.


    "Ai, I brought it all!" Eiji came into the room with an RPG and a bag full of stuff.


    "Lay it out on the table and start fixing the C4 and metal to the grenade. I will figure out how to do the detonators after." Ai said not taking her eyes off the screen.


    "Yoshi, come help me with this, you know how to deal with the C4 better than I do." Eiji said while waving his hand at Yoshi.


    "Alright." Yoshi answered then turned his attention to the girls. "Your girls come over too, it is best we all stay together, just in case anything happens."


    Mai, who was scared stiff at this time, nodded her head. She found that machinas were not as scary as the thing that was attacking them at this moment and time. She took the girls'' hands and walked to the table with Yoshi and Shogo.


    "Shogo come here and look at this screen. Tell me what you see." Ai was having a hard time believing what she was seeing. So she wanted to get a second opinion just in case.


    "What!? What is it doing?" Shogo''s face was filled with horror as he looked at the screen.


    "So it''s not just me, this fucking thing seems to be evolving again and is sucking in the flames..." Ai bit her fingernails as she looked at the sudden change in the situation. She was having a hard time coming up with a plan on what to do. "We may need to leave..."


    "How!? The whole area is covered in radiation. Not only that, the radiation storm is still going on. We will all die if we get caught in it." Shogo shouted after hearing Ai''s words.


    Ai''s head began to hurt listening to Shogo. She turned around and kicked him hard in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him, and sending him to the floor. "Would you shut the fuck up! Did I say shit about leaving the base? This room is not the safest room in the fucking base. My top priority is for us to survive. I do not have time for you shouting in my ear while I am trying to think. Do you think I have survived this long just because I was fucking lucky? Open your eyes and look at what we are dealing with. In a room with a full wall of fucking glass, do you think that thing will be stopped? Use what little brain cells you have and just shut up and let me think!"


    Everyone stared in shock at Ai who was now pointing her gun at Shogo, her chest heaving up and down. They all knew she was stressed and Shogo had to go and push that thin line of restraint she had. Only Eiji stepped in between the two as he held his hands out in front of him as he said: "Ai, now is not the time. Beat him up later. Let''s deal with what is on hand first."


    Ai looked at Eiji and snorted before lowering her gun and turning away. Shogo who was ready to wet his pants let out a sigh of relief. Eiji turned to him motioned with his hand for him to get up and stay back. "Ai shouldn''t we shut the flames off, so it won''t finish its evolution?"


    "No¡­ Instead, we want it to complete it. Have your dumb ass friend get every fire extinguisher he can find and bring them here. I would rather deal with fire than what it was made of before. This could be a chance for us. Once it finishes, I will trigger the fire repellent systems and we can then observe its reactions." She was glad this base had a highly advanced fire repellent system that did not use only water but highly concentrated fire repellent that could almost freeze whatever it touched.


    Eiji thought for a moment and quickly understood Ai''s plan. She had planned to see if the acid the mutant was producing from its mouth and skin would disappear. It would not only slow the mutant''s progress but allow them time to test to see what they can and can not do to get rid of it. "Shogo, you heard her, go do it now!" Eiji yelled before going back to help Yoshi.


    Ai watched as the flames began to die down to the lack of fuel. As they dispersed, what was seen on the camera was a flaming mutant. Something that looked like it had just stepped out of hell. "Ai what''s that!?"


    Mai yelled out as she pointed at one of the screens. Ai lifted her head to see a mass of metallic objects running down a destroyed hallway. "Oh?" Ai was confused since there should be no reason for the machina to be rushing here. But what really surprised her and the rest was what happened next.


    "Wait, are they attacking it!?" Yoshi yelled out in surprise. Twenty plus first type machinas were rushing the mutant and attacking it. "Did the A.I. decided that mutants were a threat now as well?"


    "I am not sure but this is good for us. Let''s wait and see what happens. Maybe these machinas will do us a favor and kill the mutant for us. If not we can at least see how the mutant will fight." Ai replied as she watched the battle on the screen.


    ***


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 Chapter 74: Lockdown Part Three

    The battle between mutant and machine continued for almost an hour when finally a victor was decided. The mutant, now missing all its limbs, laid on the ground unable to move. Ai saw all the broken machina and an idea came to mind. "Hey, if we can get a useable board from those machinas I can update all my turrets to see mutants as a threat."


    Ai had figured that the A.I. had figured out the mutant biosignature, which now, she could use its code and update the code in her turrets and Spot to target mutants as well. This incident actually gave them an unexpected boon. "How do you plan to do that? It''s like a radioactive zone in that hallway. Not to mention that thing was spitting fire not too long ago. It still has its head so if we open the door it might shoot fire at us." Eiji asked.


    "Simple. Did I not ask stupid to go get fire extinguishers? All we have to do is blast its flames with those and then blast it with the RPG to blow its head off after which we can then collect the board we need. As for the mutant''s body, we can just leave that there." Ai explained.


    "This might actually work! Alright, let''s finish this then." Eiji and Ai went to work on the RPG while Yoshi went to go find Shogo who had not returned yet. Everyone relaxed a bit now that the mutant was down and could not move anymore. Ai knew that it would not die completely but it would be enough to keep it immobile and leave it where it was. They would just need to start using another exit. Especially now that that whole hallway was contaminated with radiation. Luckily there were only empty offices in that section so they did not lose any major areas that are essential to their survival.


    An hour later Ai and Eiji finished setting up the grenade shell on the RPG, with C4 and shrapnel to make the entire thing do more damage. "Alright, Yoshi I will have you fire the RPG since you have the most experience. Eiji and I will man the fire extinguishers. Mai you and Shogo stay here and protect the girls in case anything happens. If all goes wrong, head to the emergency shelter."


    Mai''s eyes were filled with worry. She was not sure whether or not Ai would come back or not. She pulled Ai into a hug and whispered into her ear: "Ai, you''re the only family I have left please be safe."


    Ai smiled softly and squeezed Mai. "Mmm¡­ I will, we have to grow old and grey do we not?"


    "Mhm! So do not break your promise!" Mai answered as she pulled away from Ai and glanced at the other two. "Good luck all of you."


    "Let''s go! Mai when you see us near the shutter raise it, then close it behind us." Ai gave out one last instruction and walked out of the command room with Eiji and Yoshi.


    As they walked down the halls the shutter would open and then shut behind them. Eiji took this time to strike up a conversation. "You and Mai are close but you do not look alike."


    "We have been childhood friends since we were born. We lived next door to each other and our families were close. Blood does not define who you see as family. Mai is my sister, my family no matter what, even if we are not blood related." Ai explained.


    "You are right, blood does not always have something to do with being family." Eiji was quite happy he got to learn a bit more about Ai. He now knew she took familial relationships and friendships seriously.


    The distance between the control room and the hall the mutant was in was not far. With having to wait for the shutters to open it took five minutes. They now stood in front of a dented shutter that was partially corroded. Mai, who was in the control room pressed the button to open the shutter. Ai, Eiji, and Yoshi all got ready to defend against any attacks.


    Ai''s geiger counter was beeping nonstop due to the radiation coming from the mutant. An awful stench filled the hall causing the three to wrinkle their brow. The mutant who only had one eye left spotted the new people and let out a roar, spitting fire right at them. Ai and Eiji reacted quickly and sprayed the fire extinguishers to stop the flames from reaching them. "Yoshi, now!"


    Yoshi aimed as best he could and fired the RPG at the head of the Mutant.


    *Boom!*


    A loud explosion was heard and the flames being shot at them disappeared. "Did it work?" Ai asked.


    "Hard to tell with all the smoke and dust in the air." Eiji replied.


    As the smoke settled, Ai could finally see the remains of the Mutant. The explosion was enough to shred the front half of the mutant into pieces. "Finally we can rest!" Ai, let out a long sigh of relief. She looked at the broken machina on the ground and wanted to quickly grab one but stopped herself when she remembered that they were probably radioactive by now. "Now I need a jar with a lid, a pair of thick gloves, and something to grab a machina with so I can take its chip out if it is not destroyed."


    "How are you going to handle the chip? Won''t it be radioactive too?" Eiji asked.


    "As long as it does not go beyond what is safe for humans I can wear gloves and work with it. I only need to download its code, so it should be easy." Ai replied before stretching her arms and picking up the unused fire extinguisher. "For now though let''s go rest." She then took out her shortwave radio and pressed the button on its side. "Mai, open the next shutter, we will be returning. But close it after us this hall is no longer usable. "


    "On it!"


    ***


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 Chapter 75: New Freedoms

    Inside the control room, Ai sat down and placed her head on the table. "I never want to deal with that shit again¡­ I would rather fight machina."


    "Yeah what was with that evolution thing?" Eiji asked.


    "I only heard about it but from what I understand is that those mutants are able to evolve at such a quick rate that it will only take about an hour to complete. Even now that thing is alive. We will need to keep an eye on it to make sure that it does not cause a threat later on." Ai replied as she lazily stretched out over the table.


    "Ai that is not very ladylike..." Mai said jokingly as she placed a drink next to Ai''s head.


    "What part of me is a lady? Shogo makes a better lady than I do." Ai did not miss a chance to pick on Shogo who was doing nothing but minding his own business.


    Mai shook her head and let out a laugh. She sat down next to Ai and leaned her head against her body. "You are a girl from head to toe, never forget that."


    "Yeah. Yeah. Don''t worry I won''t be running around the base naked or anything. Anyway, we need to figure out what to do from here." Ai quickly changed the subject and lifted her head looking at the three men. "You three were a major help. If it was just us girls, there is no telling what would have happened. Yoshi, your expertise was very helpful. Eiji you did not question anything I said while still giving your input. Shogo¡­ well you did a good job collecting fire extinguishers."


    Yoshi elbowed Shogo, giving him a teasing grin. Causing Shogo to glare at him.


    "At any rate, the three of you were a big help. The way you moved according to what I had asked was proof enough that you are willing to follow my lead. While I can not remove the collars just yet, I can at least make it so you can wander the base freely. And with the new freedoms, comes with new jobs. Yoshi, you''re a weapon expert if I am correct?" Ai asked.


    "Yes, this is correct. I was a weapon expert for the JSDF." Yoshi replied puffing out his chest with pride.


    "Then I will leave the weapons room and traps to you. It will lighten my load a bit. What do you think?" Ai was happy to have someone who knew weapons besides her self since it would come in handy when times called for it.


    "You are our leader. And my love for weapons can not be beat, so I could not ask for a better job." Yoshi answered with a smile.


    "Good. You will also train the little ones with weapons as well. Mai and I will train them in physical combat. Shogo you will be joining every training session. I want you up to pace with everyone here. And I am not poking fun at you when I say this, I mean it. I wish for you to be able to handle yourself better. You are Mai''s guard. So I need you to be strong to protect her well." Ai still planned to keep Shogo by Mai''s side just in case one of her test subjects got loose. Mai can handle herself to a point but she was still not quick enough and was somewhat clumsy at times.


    "Eiji you will stick with me as you have been. Any objections?" Ai asked looking around at everyone.


    Mai looked at Shogo and frowned. "Ai, do I really need him near me?"


    "It''s an extra layer of protection. You can even use him as a punching bag if you need to or just wish to practice. But I do it for your safety since we will be bringing back more test subjects." Ai explained.


    "Alright then." Mai let out a sigh. Although she knew Shogo meant no harm now, she still felt reluctant to keep him around but if Ai said so she could only put up with it. "Shogo, if you are to be my guard, I will then have you do some work for me as well."


    "As you wish." Shogo started to feel sweaty, not sure if his eyes were going to be plucked out or not. He had found the way these girls handle things to be very scary.


    "Okay, meeting adjourned. Yoshi, you can go to the weapons room with the girls and do a full inventory. Mai, I am sure you got research to do so I will not keep you." With the meeting over everyone went about their business as usual. Ai laid back down on the table feeling exhausted. She felt a set of heavy hands on her shoulders which made her open her eye wide as she glared at Eiji who started massaging her shoulders. "What are you doing?"


    "Just giving you a shoulder massage. You worked hard, do you not deserve a bit of pampering?" Of course, this was the only idea Eiji could come up with to be a little intimate with this block of ice of a girl.


    Ai was going to push him away but ended up melting by how good the massage felt. She muttered quietly: "I will let you off this time."


    Although this was said quietly, Eiji was still able to hear what she said and smiled knowing he had won this round. A few minutes later he heard the sounds of steady breathing, making him let out a sigh. "For someone who always puts up their guard around people you sure do become vulnerable when you trust someone. Good thing I am not a wolf."


    Eiji walked out of the room and came back a few minutes later with a blanket. He draped it over the sleeping girl then sat down on the other side of the table watching her sleep. His gaze softened as he watched her. "For someone with so many mysteries around her, you work so hard for those you care about. You put on a tough front, follow through with everything you say, and are not even afraid of jumping headlong into danger. What''s more, is that your leadership skills are also very good. You''re merciless when the times call for it. You shed blood when needed. It is like you were born to live in this new world..."


    ***


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 Chapter 76: Mutation Part One

    Ai woke up the next day to see Eiji sleeping soundly across from her. She touched the blanket that was draped over her and gave a faint smile. She got up and stretched her arms feeling much better after getting a night of good sleep. "Let''s hope the rain stops today..." Ai mumbled to herself. She took the blanket that was covering her and draped it over Eiji. Before exiting the control room to go to the bathroom to wash up. After Ai left, Eiji opened his eyes and smiled while touching the blanket.


    After getting cleaned up Ai went to check on Eiji who was now awake looking at the monitors. "See anything?"


    "Mmm¡­ The mutant seems to be shrinking. And at a fast pace as well." Eiji pointed at the screen and there was a distinct mark where the lower half of the mutant had been lying on the ground showing just how much it had shrunk. "Any ideas?"


    Ai looked at the screen lost in thought but still shook her head. "No, It''s the first I have seen anything like it before. We can only check it out. Come let''s go gear up and see what we can find."


    "Alright." Eiji said as he followed behind Ai.


    The two walked to the storage room where they were met with Yoshi, Kuri, and Ayase who were doing inventory. "Doing inventory here as well?"


    "Yeah, we finished the weapons room last night. I figured since I was on it I would do the other stock rooms as well. If you wish I can hand you the report for the weapons room now." Yoshi answered.


    Ai gave an approving nod. With Yoshi in charge of these things, it took more work off her shoulders, freeing up more of her time. "No, just give it to me after your done with it all. It will be fine after this to just submit a weekly report from now on with all the stock we have and make a list of things we need that are essential that we may need to go hunt for. "


    "Ummm¡­ well¡­ I should ask this ahead of time and it is a bit embarrassing to ask but. Have you and Mai had your periods yet?" Yoshi asked. His cheeks turning slightly pink, he was feeling a bit awkward having to ask such a question.


    " We both have but there is a decent supply of pads in the women''s bathroom. I moved them all there. I think we got enough to last at least five years." Ai answered. She then went on to add: "Even if we did run out we can always just use a cloth or a few leaves. Pads are a luxury item now. I feel grateful for even having one."


    Yoshi gave an embarrassed cough wondering why the girl in front of him seemed to be unperturbed when talking about such things. "I will put it on a list of items to grab if seen then."


    "Then I will leave it to you. Eiji, come we need to get you fully geared." Ai said as she walked over to a large box of clothes and began tossing the clothes out of it at Eiji. Eiji took the clothes that Ai just randomly tossed to him with a smile on his face, not caring if they were too small or too big.


    "Alright, this should do, go get changed and meet me at the closed shutter." Ai handed Eiji a pair of gloves and then walked back to where Ayase was. " Ayase, go get Mai and tell her to meet me in the control room."


    "Yes, Master." Ayase, who was happy to be of help, took off running towards Mai''s room. Ai then headed to her own room and got geared up.


    Eiji who went to get changed was surprised that all the clothes Ai tossed to him which seemed to be half haphazardly chosen all fit him perfectly.


    Ai finished getting ready and headed to the control room where Mia and Shogo were waiting for her. "Mai, did you get a good sleep?"


    "Mhm, I rested pretty well. I think the stress of the day weighed down heavy on me. As soon as my head hit the pillow I passed out." Mai replied.


    "That''s good. Where did you stay last night, Shogo?" Ai turned her gaze on to Shogo who involuntarily flinched.


    "I leaned against the wall outside Mai''s room..." Shogo did not dare enter Mia''s room nor did he dare leave so he could only rest in the cold hallway.


    "Good to know you are taking your duties seriously. I meant to give you all rooms last night but I ended up falling asleep myself. I will have Yoshi find some empty rooms for you. Anyway, the reason I called you here is because I need someone to open and close the shutter near the mutant. I need to gather some cells from it and take a look at it. Mai, I will also need your help with this once I bring back the samples." Ai explained.


    "Okay, I will do what I can to help. Anything you need me to prepare?" Mai asked.


    "Setup a small self contained lab in an empty cell. Cover the doors with sheets of plastic with a double flap for entry. If anything happens we want a place that can be instantly locked down. Also, get prepped to draw everyone''s blood. It will be essential for testing." Ai answered, She had never done something like this before but she wanted to check the interaction between human blood and the cells of a mutant.


    "I will get it all ready." Mai replied.


    "Then Eiji and I will go collect them samples and inspect the corpse. But before that, we have to take radioactivity measurements. Shit, we need some tools. I was in such a rush I forgot the tools to gather anything. "


    ***


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 Chapter 77: Mutation Part Two

    After getting all the necessary equipment, Ai met Eiji at the closed shutter. Out of the small bag she brought with her she pulled out a geiger counter and passed it to Eiji. "Keep a close eye on the readings. We do not want to get radiation poison and die from overexposure."


    "How are we going to get the cells you want to get?" Eiji asked as he took the geiger counter and turned it on.


    "With this!" Ai pulled out a long metal rod with a knife tightly taped to it. She had prepared this at the last second so it was roughly done but would still do its job. "I also have some glass containers with lids as well."


    "Seems we are all set then." Eiji replied with a smile.


    In the control room, Mai was looking at the camera watching Ai''s interactions with Eiji, and mumbled to herself. "Those two get along pretty well..."


    "Did you say something?" Shogo, who was standing behind her, asked.


    Mai smiled faintly and shook her head. "No, just talking to myself."


    "Mai ready!" Ai said through the short wave radio.


    Mai hit the button opening the shutter. She waited for Ai to tell her that everything was fine before closing it again. When she was done she turned around to see Shogo almost leaning over her causing her to jump back in her seat and kick Shogo in the shin. Shogo yelled out in pain as he asked: "What was that for!?"


    "Too close!" Mai said before getting up and walking to the other side of the room, a smile creeping up on her face. She was happy that Ai was starting to trust others and was smiling again. She was worried that Ai would always have that dead look in her eye. She wanted Ai to have a good life this time around. She hoped nothing would keep Ai from losing her smile. As the only family member she had left, she hoped to help Ai live a long and fulfilling life in this new world.


    Shogo watched as Mai went to the other side of the room and felt depressed. He wondered why he was always the one to be abused¡­


    On the other side of the shutter, Ai and Eiji slowly walked towards the mutant corpse. "Is this thing still alive?"


    "Should be. Although, from the looks of it, you wouldn''t be able to tell. How are the readings?" Ai asked.


    "So far fairly low. Which is surprising seeing how radioactive this thing should be." Eiji replied.


    "Then, let''s get as close as possible." Ai hoped that if the radiation was low enough she could get a large chunk of the mutant to use for testing. The bigger the piece the better.


    The two edged closer and closer to the mutant but no matter how close they got the geiger counter readings still stayed in the safe zone. They were now standing right next to it no more than a few centimeters away. "Since we can get this close, check the body to see if it has a high reading. If not, I will just go ahead and cut a huge chunk of its flesh off."


    Eiji nodded and knelt down, to take the readings. "All good."


    "Okay, stand back just in case." Ai knelt down next to the mutant and began unstrapping the knife from the metal rod to make it easier to cut what she needed off. But since her gloves were so thick, she had to take them off to peel the tape off. "Ouch, fuck!"


    Ai had accidentally sliced her finger on the knife. As the red blood oozed out of her finger, something on the mutant shook, and before Ai could even react a purple liquid shot out of the mutant and onto Ai''s finger that was cut. The purple fluid was not a lot, just a few drops but it entered her cut and disappeared as if he was never there. Ai held her head feeling dizzy as the world began to spin around her. "What the hell..." was all she could force out before fainting.


    "Ai!? Fucking shit!" Eiji Picked Ai up off the ground and rushed back to the closed shutter. "Open the shutter, something happened to Ai!"


    Mai quickly ran over to the console and hit the button for the shutter to open. She looked in the camera to see Eiji carrying Ai who seemed to be lifeless in his arms. Seeing them pass the shutter she closed it and quickly ran out of the room.


    "What happened!?" Mai yelled as she met up with Eiji.


    "I don''t know. Ai took her gloves off to unwrap her knife. She seemed to have cut herself and the next thing I know she fell to the ground. Her whole body is on fire, I think she has a fever." Eiji tried to explain the best he could. He did not see the drops of purple fluid shoot out of the mutant.


    "Take her to the cleanest cell. I will set up a confinement area there. Eiji, you as well, will need to be confined." Mai''s heart sank, she hoped nothing bad will happen to Ai.


    "Okay, but let me stay with Ai. If anything I can at least take care of her." Eiji said looking down at the lifeless girl in his arms. His eyes, full of worry.


    "That''s fine, watch over her until I have prepared. Contact me if something happens." Mai said before running off to get ready. Now was no time to be messing around.


    Eiji went into the cleanest cell there was and closed the door behind him. He gently placed Ai down on the cot that was in the room and took off his shirt before kneeling down next to Ai and gently wiping the sweat on her brow with it.


    ***


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 Chapter 78: Mutation Part Three

    Thirty minutes later, Mai entered the room in a full medical gown, complete with mask and gloves. There were bio hazard suits but none of them fit her and would get in her way as she was trying to figure out what was wrong with Ai. She had also brought in a tray with some other medical equipment on it. Although she had limited knowledge of medicine as it was now. She had been sure to learn things that she thought would be useful later on.


    "Eiji, I need you to roll up Mai''s sleeve for me." Mai said as she got a needle ready to draw blood. "Just to make sure she fainted after she cut her finger right?"


    "Yes, that''s right." Eiji answered as he was rolling Ai''s sleeve up.


    "Which hand?" Mai asked.


    "The left hand''s index finger." Eiji held up Ai''s left hand but was shocked to see that her finger showed no sign of a wound. "What!? I was sure of it! I heard her say ouch and even saw the blood ooze out!"


    "Okay, let me draw her blood and then." Mai was nervous since this was her first time putting to practice what she had learned in books. Doing her best to not let her hands shake, Mai found a good vein and slowly inserted the needle. But as she did she felt a great deal of resistance. "What!?" Mai pulled the needle out to try again but when she did she was shocked to see Ai''s wound heal instantly.


    "What the hell!?" Even Eiji was shocked to see what was happening.


    Mai fell into thought for a moment before making a firm decision. She picked up a sterile cloth and handed it Eiji. "Eiji, I am going to do a test, get ready to put pressure on her wound if it fails."


    "Alright." Eiji said as he took the cloth. He knew what Mai was about to do. Although he did not want to see the girl he liked to get hurt, this was necessary to figure out if what they were seeing was real or not.


    Mai furrowed her brow as she took a scalpel and sliced it into Ai''s arm. She didn''t want to go too deep but she had to make sure the wound at least bled. "Okay let''s se..."


    Mai''s words got caught in her throat as she watched the wound heal so fast that it was visible to the naked eye. "This¡­ How!?"


    Mai and Eiji were both speechless. Mai knew this was not some kind of ability that Ai had before because she had gotten cuts and scrapes many times while they were building the bunker. But those wounds took a while to heal. So what she was seeing was beyond belief. It was like magic.


    "Mai, make another cut and get your blood sample that way. It is the only way since the needle was not working." Eiji suggested since they had to see what was going on.


    Mai shook her head and did as Eiji asked and made another small cut on Ai''s arm and carefully scooped up some of the blood that came out. She then put it in a petri dish and then took a needle to draw some of her own blood so she could compare them. When she put them both under a microscope what she saw surprised her. There were purplish cells eating the red cells of Ai''s blood while hers had none. She looked over at Eiji and asked: "I need to take some of your blood as well."


    Eiji nodded his head and held his arm out towards Mai. Mai drew some of his blood and looked at his. It was just like hers, seemingly normal. "Something entered Mai''s bloodstream. Between the three samples and what I have read in books. Your blood and my blood are normal while Ai has a different kind of cell that is eating her red blood cells, or more like transforming her red blood cells into purple cells. It seems the white blood cells are not even reacting to it either."


    Mai looked at Ai who was still sweating with a fever and tears began to well up in her eyes. "Eiji, I can not let you leave this room yet, just in case, but I have to get Ai cleaned up and changed. So I will ask you to look after her while I set up a screen so I can wipe her body down and try to reduce her fever. After which I will be counting on you to look after her."


    "No problem. Can I brother you to get me some clothes as well? And a fresh rag to wipe down with?" Eiji asked.


    "Yeah, just take care of Ai for me while I''m gone. If she wakes up immediately call me on the radio." Mai said before leaving the room.


    Eiji sat next to the cot and held Ai''s hand. Her hand was smaller than his, softer than his, and it seemed that if he squeezed it too hard it would break easily. He let out a sigh as he leaned the side of his head on the cot. He stayed like that until the door opened again and Mai walked in with clothes and also with Shogo decked up in scrubs, gloves, and a mask. "Shogo will help me set up the curtain, then he will go get the water."


    "Eiji are you okay!?" Shogo asked.


    "It is not me who was hurt, why wouldn''t I be okay? Asking something so stupid..." Eiji replied with a bit of annoyance in his voice. He was not in the right state of mind. He was worried about Ai and did not want people asking him dumb questions.


    "Shogo, get over here and help." Mai yelled. She knew Eiji was on edge because of this whole thing. "Eiji is fine but he is not in the best of moods right now. Just leave him alone."


    ***


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 Chapter 79: Mutation Part Four

    "Alright, everything is set up, Shogo you get out and go shower." Mia quickly kicked Shogo out of the room leaving only her, Ai, and Eiji. Shogo looked back at Eiji who was washing his body with a rag and let out a sigh as he walked out of the room closing the door behind him.


    "You should not have acted like that." Mai said as she began undressing Ai.


    "I know. I will talk to him later. I am just frustrated because I couldn''t stop anything from happening. I didn''t even see when Ai was infected by whatever it is that is in her now." Eiji complained. He felt weak. The girl he set his eyes on was now lying on a cot with a high fever, unconscious, and there was nothing he could do to help her.


    "Eiji do you like Ai?" Mai asked. She was busy wiping down AI''s body but when she heard Eiji talk, she felt that Eiji was overly concerned for Ai, someone he had just gotten to know. So the only thing she could assume was that Eiji liked Ai. But she felt like this was not so much a bad thing but a good thing. Mai felt Eiji was a good guy and has proven as such so far. She just hoped that if they do get together he would not hurt Ai down the road.


    "Mmm¡­. But I know she has no interest in anything like that right now, so I will just let things take its course. Please do not say anything. I do not want things to become awkward between us." Eiji did not want to scare Ai off. So he would just wait, wait until she would accept him.


    "I won''t but¡­ I will tell you this. If you ever hurt her, I will kill you. She is the only family I got left in this world. She means the world to me. So if one day she does accept you I will give you two my blessing." Mai was speaking honestly and from her heart. Ai was her sister, mother, and father all in one. They relied on each other to live and will also do so in the future.


    "You have my promise. I will never hurt her. I''d probably die by her hand before I do!" Eiji let out a chuckle which only lasted for less than a second before letting out a long sigh.


    "Ai is strong, she will pull through I am sure. Ai has always been a fighter, someone who does not give up. As you get to know her, she may open up to you and you will find out about the real Ai." Mai finished putting the hospital gown she prepared on to Ai before covering her with a blanket. Once that was done, she got a temperature reading and wrote down the reading before putting an ice pack on her head.


    "Okay, she''s dressed. Her temperature is high but it is within bounds of what a human can deal with. Watch her for me while I go give instructions to Yoshi. I put a bedpan underneath her so if she does go to the bathroom call me right away. I will come back and clean it up. I can''t have you doing that or you will end up dead when she wakes up I''m sure. But if you can, wipe her face for me with a rag if it gets too sweaty and change out the ice packs with a new one if it goes warm. I shouldn''t be long, but since I have no idea what this thing is, I do not want to risk it. Also, I am trusting you, so do not do anything that would make me lose my trust in you." Mai was giving Eiji the benefit of the doubt and from his actions so far he was not the kind of guy who would sneak a peek at a girl''s body while she slept. At least she hoped so anyway.


    "Don''t worry, I do not want my eyes dug out and used for your experiments if I did anything that would make you lose trust in me." Eiji said jokingly, causing Mai to smile. Mai quickly left the room and tossed her gloves and mask into the trash outside. She then pulled off the scrubs she was wearing over her clothes and tossed those away as well.


    Eiji walked over to the cot and sat down on the stool next to it and gently tucked a stray lock of hair behind Ai''s ears. He then took a clean cloth from the tray and began to gently dab the sweat from Ai''s cheeks.


    Mai found Shogo with Yoshi in the command room with the two girls. They were both staring at the monitor in front of them. "What''s going on?"


    "Shogo told me what had happened, so I figured I would check to see if I could spot anything on the camera. Luckily it was not damaged in the blast. After going through it slowly, I finally found something. Look here." Yoshi pointed at the screen.


    It was a slow motion image of Ai right after she had cut herself. As the images went frame by frame, a purple liquid could be seen shooting out of the mutant and on to Ai''s finger. "I could be wrong, but it seems this fluid entered Ai''s cut. Because as soon as it touched her finger it disappeared and Ai faints."


    "When I looked at her blood, there were purple cells eating or more like mutating her other cells into more purple cells. Unfortunately, I am not knowledgeable enough to know what exactly it is since I have only been studying medicine for a short time now. Even today was my first time drawing blood. All we can do is keep an eye on her. Yoshi, Shogo I will need to count on you two to make food for us all. I will be with Eiji watching over Ai." Mai wished she knew more about what was happening to Ai but at least they have an idea of what the cause was, but now it was what was going to happen to Ai. She couldn''t stop herself from feeling very worried.


    "You can count on us. We will deliver it once it is ready."


    ***


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 Chapter 80: Mutation Part Five

    As the days passed and Ai slept, the radiation storm outside continued to drench the land in radioactive particles. Mai and the rest were getting a little nervous about the amount of radiation built up in the soil. If it continued as it was, the land would become an uninhabitable zone for humans. Although they were safe underground they would not be able to leave any time soon.


    Mai was also becoming worried about Ai since she could not even inject a needle into her skin anymore. Even a knife could no longer slice her skin. She had to spoon feed Ai to drink water with vitamins in it, just to keep her hydrated. Luckily Ai was reflexively swallowing it all.


    The first couple of days Mai would check her blood and every time she did check the number of red blood cells dropped each time until finally the day before she could no longer draw blood from Ai, Ai''s blood had turned purple instead of red. But at the same time, Ai''s fever had also started to slowly drop. Mai was relieved at this but she still feared for what would happen to Ai when she woke up. Mai wondered if Ai would be completely changed or would she be the same old Ai. A lot went through Mai''s head and the stress of it all was making it hard for her to sleep. She had bags under her eyes. But she was also not alone in this. Eiji also hardly slept and only leaned his head against Ai''s cot not willing to leave her side.


    Mai had tried to console him many times but he still blamed himself. He even vowed to end his own life if Ai did not come back as Ai. Mai had one hell of a time trying to calm him down. But by the middle of the second week, Ai''s eyelids finally twitched causing both Eiji and Mai to cry out: "Ai!"


    "Uhg¡­ Why are you two screaming!?" Ai slowly opened her eyes feeling groggy and rubbed them gently.


    "Thank god Ai, you''re finally awake!" Overcome with emotion, Mai hugged Ai tightly.


    "Why are you¡­ Oh, right, I fainted huh. Let me tell you I had the weirdest dream. Some kind of weird purple monster was trying to take over my body. I of course was not going to let it have its way! I mean I had my trusty howa with me so I shot it to death." Ai said nonchalantly but the looks on both Eiji''s and Mai''s faces were full of surprise. Ai looked at them both, confused as to why they were giving her such looks, and asked: "What''s with you two?"


    "Ai, you have been in a coma for almost two weeks with a fever and you have some changes to your body." Mai said slowly, her lips quivering. She was desperately trying to hold back her tears.


    "Changes to my body? I didn''t grow a dick did I?" Ai quickly patted her crotch with her hand and let out a sigh of relief when she found that there was no extra baggage down there. Her actions made Eiji burst out laughing. He couldn''t hold it in. Even Mai couldn''t help but smile at the way Ai was acting. "So how did my body change?"


    "It''s best to show you. But I am not sure if this is the only change." Mai said as she took Ai''s wrist and the scalpel from the table and used all her strength to stab Ai in the arm. Ai was shocked and was going to yank her hand away but decided not to since she knew Mai would never hurt her. She watched in shock as the scalpel bent on impact.


    "This¡­?" Ai stared at the spot that was just hit and did not even see a red mark never mind a cut.


    "As you can see, your skin is so strong it can not be injured from what I can tell. Well not by this much force anyway. I am not sure about the rest of your body. We do have an idea of what caused this change though. We were lucky and it was caught on camera. Yoshi played it back in slow motion and found that some kind of purple liquid shot out of the mutant and onto your finger seeping into your open wound. What this purple stuff was, I do not know. And from the blood samples I had gotten before your skin changed completely, there was some kind of purple cells in your bloodstream that were mutating your red blood cells into purple ones. Even the color of your blood has changed from red to purple. During the time I was drawing blood from you, your wounds were healing at a speed visible to the naked eye." Mai explained.


    "Would have been nice if it healed my left eye then!" Ai complained and then rubbed her stomach. "Anyway, is there any food I feel like I haven''t eaten for weeks."


    "Ai are you not worried?" Mai asked, her voice trembling once again as tears welled up in her eyes. She was worried that Ai might just drop dead or change into someone completely different due to this change to her body.


    "What can worrying do about what has already been done? If anything this may be a good thing. But I do have to ask one thing. Why is Eiji here?" Ai looked down at herself who was only wearing a hospital gown and then glared at Eiji.


    At this time Eiji felt very wronged. He had done nothing wrong! Why was she glaring at him!? Luckily Mai cut in and explained: "He is under quarantine with you. I still can not let the two of you or myself out of here. Until I know for sure this thing is not contagious in any way."


    "I see. Well as long as he did not try anything funny while I was asleep."


    ***


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 Chapter 81: Mutation Part Six

    It was around noontime when Yoshi came to deliver food. Mai had told him that Ai was now awake and so far seemed to be fine. "So how long do you three plan to stay in there then?"


    "As of now, we will remain in quarantine for one more week. Just add a second dish for Ai now that she is awake." Mai replied. She hated having to be stuck in such a small room. But because she had hugged Ai, she did not know if she had become infected by anything. She had no choice but to take precautionary measures.


    "Alright, I will let the girls know that Ai is awake and seems to be fine. They had been very worried about her. As for Shogo, he has stood outside this room like a puppy dog whose master had left him behind while they went to work." Yoshi said, causing Shogo who was outside to quickly complain.


    "Why did you tell her!?" It seemed Shogo did not want Mai to know he was guarding the door. Mai let out a sigh but her lips curled up slightly. What this small smile was for only Mai knew.


    As the days passed the three did their best to entertain themselves. Mai took blood samples from Eiji and herself three times a day. It had finally come to the final day and Mai was now taking the last blood sample. She placed it under the microscope and looked at them both. "All clear. Nothing changed. We have had no fevers and no other abnormalities. Ai seems to be perfectly fine mentally as well. "


    "Hey!" Ai yelled out at Mai''s comment. Only to have Mai stick her tongue out at her.


    "You know what I mean. You did not try to harm us at all. Nor did your personality change. The only changes we know of at this time are the fact that your skin heals very quickly when cut and that right now with the tools on hand nothing can even pierce through your skin." Mai explained. "Eiji will have to stick to you like glue though. I can not always be there with you since I have to keep working on practicing medicine. If something were to happen it would be better to have Eiji there than me anyway since if you ripped someone''s head off after transforming into some kind of weird monster it will be Eiji''s head and not mine."


    "This is true¡­ Eiji come here let''s practice the whole head ripping thing!" Ai said jokingly. While reaching with her hand to grab at Eiji''s neck.


    Eiji dodged and gave a wry smile. These two had been picking on him as of late. But he did not hate it. He felt he had gotten a lot closer to Ai since she acted more like her natural self around him now after being confined to this room for a week. Although he knew she only considered him a friend and not even a close one at that, it was still a step forward for him. "Let''s not do the whole head ripping off thing ever please."


    "Fine! Anyway, the more important matter at hand is are we now allowed out of this room? I wish to move around and work on some things in my workshop." Ai had been bored out of her mind. Being stuck in an enclosed space with nothing to do but pick on Eiji, sleep, eat, and play word games was not very entertaining. In her past life, she had always been on the go running from this or that so she never had a chance to get bored.


    "Yes, we can leave. But Ai..." Mai wanted to warn Ai she was still wearing a hospital gown but it was already too late, Ai had jumped right up from the bed and ran to the door with her panties exposed.


    Eiji blushed and quickly turned his head away. It was only when Ai felt the coolness on her behind that she remembered she was in a hospital gown. She blushed slightly and turned around and looked at Eiji who was already looking away. "Give me your pants and shirt."


    Mai let out a laugh because that would make Eiji have to walk out of the room with nothing but his boxers on. "Go on, strip for her you know you want to." Mai said jokingly.


    "If it is her request there is no way I would say no." Eiji retorted, not wasting a second as he took his shirt and pants off. Once they were off Ai quickly took them, stripped her hospital gown off, and put them on before giving a glance at Eiji saying: "Pink suits you." While pointing at the pink boxers he was wearing.


    Eiji cheeks were red not from Ai''s comment but by the fact that Ai took her hospital gown off in front of him, leaving her in her bra and panties like it was no big deal. He glanced at Mai who was holding her head looking for answers. Only for her to tell him that he may find out in due time. "Ai remember there is still a man in the room."


    "Huh? It''s just Eiji, what do you mean man?" Ai looked at Mai confused before waving her hand and excitedly ran back towards the door. She gripped the handle, turned it, and pulled only for the whole door to suddenly come off its hinges, pulling part of the wall with it. "Freedo¡­ Err¡­ Mai was this door broken?"


    "No, and it was also locked..." Mai answered completely surprised as to what she had just seen.


    Eiji had no time to wallow in his sorrow of not even being seen as a man as he stared in shock at the door that was just ripped out of the wall.


    ***


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 Chapter 82: The Changes In Her Body Part One

    "So umm¡­ This is new..." Ai said as she gently set the door to the side. Shogo who was standing on the other side had fallen to his butt, his jaw on the floor as he stared at the gaping hole in the wall. "So can someone tell me why this suddenly happened? I mean I held forks and chopsticks no problem."


    "Ai, I think it was because you became excited. You did not unconsciously control your strength. It''s like how we know how much strength to use when we rub our eye or when we shake someone''s hand, without thinking. You were unconsciously controlling your strength this entire time which is why you were able to do your tasks as normal." Mai roughly explained. At least this was the only reason she could think of, on why Ai was able to do what she would normally do without any issue.


    "I see¡­ Then it is a good thing I did not try to pull Eiji''s head off or we might be less one more comrade right now..." Ai''s words made Eiji reach for his neck and break out into a cold sweat.


    "I guess it is..." Mai noticed Eiji''s reaction and chuckled. "Alright let''s go hit the baths before anything. I know you may not care if you stink or not Ai but I do. Especially if we have a bath we are able to use."


    "Mmm¡­ that does sound good. Eiji you should put some clothes on, standing around in your pink underwear is not good." Ai said in a teasing tone before running off to go take a bath.


    "Err¡­ Eiji what the hell did I just see? Actually never mind that... TELL ME, DID YOU WALK UP THE STAIRS TO ADULTHOOD BEFORE ME!?" Shogo yelled out of jealousy.


    "That''s what you''re most concerned with!? And no I didn''t. She needed clothes to wear because she only had a hospital gown on. So, she took mine. By the way, I will warn you now. If you do not wish to die by one of her punches I would watch what you say from now on. She might just knock your intestines out your ass." Eiji warned before walking away with his head held up high. He was not embarrassed at all. Why? Because not only did he get to see Ai in her underwear, she was wearing his clothes that were way too big for her and it looked very cute! It seemed Eiji''s priorities were not correct either. Everyone one of them seemed to have already forgotten that Ai just ripped the cell door and part of the wall right off.


    In the bath, Ai laid back against the edge of the large bathtub, feeling very relaxed. "Mai, so what do you think? Did I become some kind of superhuman? You now like that super guy, what was his name? The guy who could hide his identity with just a pair of glasses. "


    "As far as I can tell it seems so. But your biosignature has not changed it seems. Since the turrets outside the girls'' bath did not go off when we walked in." Mai answered.


    "Wouldn''t have mattered anyway. I do not think those bullets can hurt me. They are only 9mm rounds. Nothing to write home about if you can not even stab me with a knife. Well, they might sting. We will test it out later. I will have you shoot me in the thigh." Ai said as she let out another relaxing sigh.


    "What? You want me to shoot you? Sorry but I refuse." Mai said firmly. There was no way she could ever shoot Ai. She would die before that would ever happen.


    "Fine, then I will make Eiji do it. It is necessary that we know exactly what I am invulnerable to. Anyway, if it comes down to me being shot you can just take the bullet out and patch me up. You have helped with my eye." Ai talked as if the whole thing was really no big deal. Mai hated the idea because she did not want Ai to get hurt again.


    "Fine. But if anything happens to you, I will kill Eiji as compensation." Mai could only give in since Ai had already made up her mind.


    "But this does bring up a problem. How will I take out my old eye and replace it with a new one if I can not cut the link between the two¡­ Hmmm¡­ I might need to take it out as soon as I can..." Ai touched her left eye and let out a sigh. She could probably do it herself but it would hurt like hell. "Ahhh! Forget it for now. I don''t even have a replacement yet. We should go up above and check the radiation levels tomorrow. Today I just want to tinker in my workshop."


    "Yoshi has been checking it off and on. But the last time he was up there, there were a few machina roaming around that he could see from undercover, of the hallway. So he was not able to get a reading. But he did say it was still raining." Mai said as she stood up and stretched.


    "Well¡­ I will check it out tomorrow then. But I must say, Mai, did your boobs get bigger? Isn''t this a little unfair?" Mai''s face turned red and quickly ran out of the bathroom to get changed. Ai chuckled and walked slowly to get changed as she got lost in thought. ''Looks like we will need to go back to the bunker at some point to get our supplies for our body growth. ''


    ***


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 Chapter 83: The Changes In Her Body Part Two

    "Alright, that should do it." Ai said as she closed the top of the turret in front of her. After her bath, Ai went and got a chunk of mutant flesh and went right to work analyzing it. She ended up having to add in the biosignature code herself since the chips on the broken machina were all fried from the intense heat the mutant had given off.


    Ai turned the turret on and waved the chunk of mutant flesh in front of it and¡­


    *Bang!* *Bang!*


    It shot at her instead of the flesh. "Wow! That scared the hell out of me. Never thought it would shoot me. Good thing I only loaded it with two bullets..." Ai looked down at her chest and frowned at the two holes in her shirt. "I liked this shirt too.."


    Of course, the sound of gunfire had brought people running. Eiji was the first to arrive: "Ai what happened are you okay!?" He had finally cleaned up and put on a fresh set of clothes. He heard the gunfire while heading to Ai''s location.


    "Yeah¡­ It seems the mutant biosignature, is a no go for turrets just yet. Otherwise, I might as well paint a huge target on me with my own defenses. But hey, I can get shot without any issue. I guess this saves me from forcing you to shoot me and Mai killing you. " Ai said jokingly only to receive a look of disbelief from Eiji.


    "How can you joke like this!? What if you were seriously hurt!?" Eiji did not find the situation funny at all. He couldn''t hold back his anger as he began yelling at Ai. "From now on if you are implementing anything that deals with the weapons of this base, you must have someone with you in case something goes wrong!"


    Ai just stared at Eiji while letting out an exasperated sigh. "Fine, then sit your ass over there while I work. No need to yell geez!"


    "Ai, Eiji is right. That could have been dangerous!" Mai also began yelling and lecturing Ai who began rubbing her temples even though she felt no headache coming on. She sat there and let Mai lecture her until she was satisfied. "From now on Eiji is not to leave your side. Wherever you are, he will be!"


    "Huh? What if I need to take a shit? He is supposed to stand there and watch me?" Ai asked, she knew Mai did not mean that but it was the only retort she could come up with.


    "You know what I mean!" Mai yelled and then turned to Eiji and said: "Do not leave her side. I will be heading back to do more studying."


    Mai had taken out all the medical books she could find and the base and was busy reading through them all trying to learn as much as possible. Right now she was basically the only medical personnel they had. she wanted to try to be ready for any situation.


    After Mai left, Eiji sat himself down on the floor not saying a word. He only watched Ai do what she was doing. "If you''re just going to sit there, come help me."


    Eiji got up, walked over to Ai, and waited for instructions. "Hold this¡­ A little higher. Yeah like that..."


    Mai who was with Shogo and now Yoshi all peered into the room from out of sight. "He is going to have it rough..." Shogo let out a sigh.


    "He will, but he gets an A+ in my book. He is putting up with everything even though he will not gain much ground. But the biggest hurdle seems to have been passed. Ai trusts him just as much as she trusts me. This much I do know." Mai Felt this was a very good thing. She knew that not everyone was trustworthy. But that did not mean there were those who could not be trusted. After everything that happened, Mai trusted three guys now. They have helped her in so many ways. Yoshi was great with the girls and treated them like his own daughters. Shogo, although silly at times, was good at helping her when she needed it. And Eiji was the key to hopefully allow Ai to regain more of her humanity. Only time will tell where things will lead. But she hoped as long as they continued to meet survivors who were like Eiji and the rest, they would be able to survive this new world.


    Mai also knew her thoughts were also fanciful. She had seen what humans were really like with her own eyes. Eiji, Shogo, and Yoshi were the limited exception among humans. "Alright let''s get back to work." Mai shooed everyone away before taking one last glance at Ai and walking back to her own room. She knew the following days were going to be busy once again. They had a lot to deal with including the radiation levels above ground.


    "They''re gone..." Ai muttered.


    "What was that?" Eiji asked.


    "It''s nothing. Hey hold the light over here I need to solder this." Ai had discovered that her hearing and even her eyesight in her good eye was extremely good now. It seemed that all her senses had been heightened to some degree. Between her strength, heightened senses, and her armor like skin, she felt like a whole new person. But for Ai, she felt this was also a good thing. Now she had a much better chance at fighting the machina. She could keep those she cared about safe, even if she had to use her body as a shield.


    ***


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 Chapter 84: The Changes In Her Body Part Three

    A little while later Ai had finished up her current project and was now holding a drill in her hand. She held it out to Eiji while saying: "Alright Eiji, take this and drill a hole in my arm. I need a blood sample or I will never be able to walk around the base. If I upload the mutant biosignature."


    Eiji took the drill without even thinking before looking at Ai as if she was stupid. "You want me to, what? Why the hell would I do something like that!?"


    "If you do not want to do it then you can always switch places with Shogo. He would at least do what I ask." Ai huffed. She went to go get up but was quickly stopped by Eiji.


    "Okay! Okay! I will do it, no need to replace me..." Eiji said through gritted teeth. He did not wish to hurt the girl he liked no matter what, but he could not let her replace him either. He was literally caught between a rock and a hard place.


    Ai gave a sly smile. She was not dumb, she could see Eiji''s thoughts about her but she was ignoring them. She felt everyone had the right to feel as they wished. This was also one of the reasons why she trusted Eiji as well. Even if this was the way he felt, Ai did not care nor did she have any reason to want to return his feelings. Mainly because to Ai, a relationship was nothing more than dead weight. She never had one in her past life and did not plan to have one in this life. Her main concern was survival, nothing else. If she were to open her heart to someone only to have them ripped to shreds by a machina the next day, what would be the point? All this new world leads to is death and betrayal. There was no way of telling how Eiji would act the day after tomorrow. He may try to steal weapons and run away or even kill everyone in the base to keep the supplies for himself.


    It was not the first time she had seen such things happen. In her past life, she had stayed at a small camp that had minimal supplies but enough for ten people to live off of for a few years. The leader of the camp was a man who ended up falling for one of the young girls. They had sex almost every night to the point that everyone in the camp knew they were fucking. It happened on a night when Ai was out guarding the perimeter. She was seventeen at the time and had already dealt with many things. She had only joined the group as a mercenary and in exchange for food, she would guard the camp. She had come back after her long shift to find the whole camp smelling of blood. The entire food supply was gone as well. Ai knew right off this was done by a human. She searched for survivors and found one who was just barely alive. It was a young man who was on the day shift for guard duty. He had told her the girl the camp leader was fucking took a knife and killed everyone while they were asleep. She failed to kill him in one blow because he had woken up while she entered his tent but he was too slow and still got stabbed in a major artery.


    The man died soon after. Ai knew the woman must have taken the supplies and ran. But to get so many supplies out of here, she could only think she had help. But it proved one thing to Ai, relationships were nothing but a death bed when it came to this new world.


    But this did not stop Ai from using Eiji''s feelings for her as a means to get him to do what she wants. Whether Eiji knew this or not, she did not care. But she did think his behavior was rather cute.


    With no other choice, Eiji put the drill to Ai''s arm and pushed the button causing the drill to start up. At first, there was no effect but slowly the drill began to work and the skin began to tear. As it did Ai grabbed a glass slide and held it underneath waiting for that little drop of blood. "Shit ouch!" The drill finally pierced her skin causing a small wound to appear and blood to drip out. Ai felt the pain but gritted her teeth and scooped up a bit of blood. "Okay done!"


    Eiji quickly stopped drilling and pulled the drill away from her arm. The wound healed almost instantly. "Please do not ask me to do that again." Eiji begged, his expression made it seem like he was the one who had just been hurt. Ai, let out a sigh, she couldn''t stand the look he was giving her. it was as if she had just punished a puppy dog. His pleading eyes were enough to soften her heart just a tad. She did not answer verbally but she did nod her head. Only then did Eiji''s expression ease up.


    Ai went right to work and extracted her biosignature and implemented the code. This time when she fired up the turret, it no longer targeted her. "There done, all turrets should be updated now."


    "That''s good but now what do you plan to do?" Eiji asked.


    "Mmm¡­ Nap¡­ I guess. You can do as you want, I will just lay down here." Ai said as she sprawled out on the floor. She felt tired after such a long day.


    Eiji did not say a word he just leaned against a wall and watched the girl in front of him quickly fall asleep. The girl acted as if he was not even there and was completely defenseless in front of him.


    When it was time for dinner, Eiji walked over and was about to reach over and shake Ai awake when a voice came from behind him: "I wouldn''t do that if I was you."


    Eiji''s hand stopped mid air and he quickly retracted it and turned to see Mai walking into the room. "I was just trying to wake her..."


    "I know. But that is exactly why I was giving you a warning. With her current strength her and unconscious self protection while she is sleeping, you would lose an arm before even realizing what had happened." Mai warned. She remembered her teacher that day that almost had her wrist snapped in two. She knew Eiji meant well so she did not wish for him to get hurt. "To wake her it''s best to throw water on her like this."


    Mai took out a cup of water she had behind her back and poured it right on to Ai''s head causing Ai to spring up and shout: "Why do you do that!? Every time you wake me you do it in the same way! Mai stop!"


    "If I do not do it this way I would risk losing an arm. It''s your fault for being aware of your surroundings even while you sleep!"


    ***


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 Chapter 85: Return To The Bunker Part One

    A week passed and the radiation storm outside had finally ended. This was a huge thing for the group who had been stuck underground the entire time. "I will go up topside first. I do not think I can even get radiation poisoning, so It would be best for me to check it out."


    "Ai, be careful and make sure you stay out of overly radioactive areas. It is not one hundred percent sure that you won''t get sick." Mai was worried that Ai would go beyond her limits and end up dead because she got carried away with testing her new abilities. She had heard from Eiji about her forcing him to drill a hole in her arm. Although it was necessary, it was still an act of self mutilation.


    "Don''t worry I won''t go beyond my limits, I promise." Ai replied, her expression showing that she was not joking at all. Just seeing the look on her face allowed Mai to relax a bit but she was still worried. "Especially, since Eiji is coming with me!"


    Mai almost choked as she held back her laughter. Her only thought at this time was ''Are you going to use him as a human radiation detector? If he boils up and dies it''s not a safe zone!?''


    Eiji already knew this was going to happen so he was not surprised by Ai''s announcement. "Should I go suit up?"


    "Mmm! We are going to test it to see if it works. Make sure you put and hookup a radiation detector inside of it, in the pocket, I sewed into it." Ai replied.


    "I will, the last thing I want to do is die." Eiji said while running off to suit up.


    "Ai what is he talking about?" Mai asked.


    "Oh, I forgot to tell you. Remember that day when you walked into my workshop and Eiji was stripped down to his underwear. I was working on a way to make the radiation suits in storage easier to move in. You ran away before I could tell you what we were doing and then forgot to mention it later on." Ai had neglected to mention that the position the two were in at the time was very suggestive as well.


    Mai couldn''t help but blush when she remembered it. Ai had her face right in front of Eiji''s crotch while saying: "Hold still I can''t hold on to it if you keep moving like that." Ai of course was talking about the tape measure she had in her hand as she measured Eiji''s waist. But Mai''s mind jumped right into the gutter and ran away without confirming anything. And because she was so embarrassed about the situation she did not dare to ask what really happened. But now that she knew, she was even more embarrassed because of her own dirty mind!


    Eiji came back about ten minutes later with a suit that was loose but not as baggy as a normal Radiation suit. It was complete with a helmet and an oxygen tank on the back. "How is it?"


    "Easier to move in than the normal suits. No idea if it is fully safe. Even though you soldered the entire lining together to make the seams, it may still let in some radiation." Eiji replied.


    "You may be right¡­ What are your current readings?" Ai asked.


    "No readings at all within the suit, so we can get a decent test once we go outside." Eiji actually liked the way Ai set up the suit. It had wiring going through it with a small LCD screen built into the helmet just above the right eye. It showed the radiation readings for both the outside and inside the suit.


    "Alright, let''s go then! Mai man the shutter for me, please. The area of what remains of the mutant is safe from radiation now." Ai had been keeping a close eye on the area where the mutant was and every day the mutant was slowly disappearing to the point that it was nothing more than a pile of slush on the ground now.


    Ai and Eiji stepped on the other side of the shutter and Ai gave the okay to close it. Ai and Eiji both had radiation detectors and scanned the area looking for danger zones. "Seems clear, let''s head up."


    One of the reasons why Ai wanted to go this way was so she could inspect the remains of the mutant and to also look at the amount of damage done when the mutant went on a rampage. Ai crotched down next to the remains of the mutant and poked it with her finger. "Accelerated decay¡­ I guess whatever that purple fluid was, was keeping the cells alive, and now that it is gone, it has made the cells break down a hundred times faster than they normally would. The exposure to radiation could also be the cause. "


    Ai stood up and wiped her hand on her clothes as she said: "Let''s go up top. I wonder what color the sky is today!"


    The last time Yoshi checked topside, he said the clouds were no longer green but still grey and covered the sky. He also said that the temperature was much colder than normal for this time of year. Ai and Eiji made their way down the destroyed hallway and up the stairs. Besides the spots that the acid from the mutant burnt in the floor and the broken shutters, the damage was not too bad. Most of the damage was located by the mutant. Although, there were indents in the walls from the machina that came down this way as well.


    As they reached the top floor Ai Looked up through the broken parts of the ceiling to see a pink sky. "Now isn''t that new..."


    ***


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 Chapter 86: Return To The Bunker Part Two

    The sky up above was no longer blue but a pure pink color. This was something that did not happen in Ai''s past life. The sky stayed either blue when it was clear out or grey when it was rainy with an occasional green when it was a radiation storm. She could only guess that maybe things had progressed much faster than before or that maybe this area had a pink sky for some reason or another. "Alright let''s go, the readings here are safe for humans."


    As Ai and Eiji made their way towards the outside the radiation levels did rise some but not enough to pose a serious threat to a human. "Although it rained for days the base has some decent irrigation. The water seemed to drain off to the side only leaving puddles in the areas where the tar exploded from traps going off. How are the readings in the suit?"


    "So far so good. Although it is unbearably hot in here." Eiji complained. He was noticeably sweating bad and his visor was starting to fog up.


    "Hmmm¡­ I guess I will need to implement a cooling system in it then. But this is also a good thing. It means it is sealed up well. Okay, you can go back. Take the suit off in the hall before going past the shelter. After you change make sure you wash the suit with cold water and then let it dry. Then take a reading and see if any radiation is left on it. Only when it does not give a reading can you take it inside." Ai decided not to make Eiji suffer anymore. She could see he was not feeling too well even though he was putting up a front.


    "Once I am done, should I come back and join you?" Eiji asked.


    "No, but get some water ready for me. I will need to do the same as you when I come back." Ai answered.


    "Wait, you''re going to strip down to your underwear too!? You are a girl, you can''t do that!" Eiji argued. He did not mind seeing her like that but he refused to let others see her like that if they were male!


    "Such a pain¡­ Fine, I will tell Mai to shut the camera off at that time and keep the shutter closed. It will just be you and me. It''s just underwear no different than a damn bathing suit. Not like I am running around naked! " Ai really did not see the issue but since Eiji was making a fuss she could only give in to an extent. "Also make sure you bring me some clothes as well. Just grab whatever is lying on my floor in my room or a pair of your own."


    "Alright. I will just bring a set of mine. I do not want Mai killing me if I accidentally pick up the wrong thing. But you should really clean your room up. I will see you in a bit" Eiji said before turning around and walking away.


    Ai looked at Eiji walking away and stuck her tongue out at him. "So naggy!" Although she said this Ai''s lips still curled up into a smile. "Alright time to work!"


    Ai needed to check the area around the base as well. As she walked out around the building she stopped her steps when she saw a metallic object just a few meters away from her. "Oh?"


    Ai swung the Howa she had hanging on her shoulder to the front and took aim. But stopped when she saw that the machina was acting funny. Ai knew that it saw her but yet it was slowly backing away from her. Almost as if it was afraid. "Did it get a self awareness upgrade?"


    Ai was not sure what to think of this since she had never run into such a thing before. She lowered her weapon and pushed it back to her back which caused the Machina to stop backing up from her. Almost as if it deemed her no longer a threat to it after she put her weapon away. Ai took a few steps towards the machina which in return it took a few steps back. "Hmmm¡­ almost as if it was a toddler."


    Ai knelt down to the ground and stretched out her hand. "Come, I won''t hurt you."


    The machina turned and looked at Ai with its round center eye turning left and right as if trying to decide what it should do. It slowly took a few steps towards Ai before pausing for a few seconds before finally walking right over to Ai. Ai stretched out her hand and patted the top of the first type machina. She had a bright smile on her face as she reached her hand up, balled it into a fist, and slammed it down hard on top of the machina crushing it flat to the ground. Sparks flew out of the machina and the light of its big eye dulled.


    Ai was completely enraged. "Don''t fuck with me! You''re trying to gain sentience!? You killed so many humans just to try to act like us!? The fuck is that!? This world can not have both machina and humans! One of us will be wiped out and it sure as hell won''t be humans! "


    Ai ripped through the destroyed remains of the machina and pulled out its storage chip that had its programming on it. "I will check this out later¡­ For now, I need to check if it is safe for us to leave this base and travel to other locations."


    Ai stood up and stomped on the machina before walking towards the west wall of the base.


    ***


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 Chapter 87: Return To The Bunker Part Three

    After taking some readings Ai returned to the base and radioed Mai to send Eiji out. "Once Eiji is through, shut the shutter and turn off the camera."


    "I know Eiji already explained it to me so I wouldn''t shoot him." Mai replied with a light laugh. Ai chuckled and put her radio down. A few minutes later Eiji came out with a tub of warm water, a bucket of warm water, some rags, and a bag with a clean set of clothes and a few other things. As soon as he was through the shutter it was shut and the light on the camera went out.


    "How was it?'' Eiji asked. He laid out a thick blanket on the ground for Ai to step on once she finished taking her clothes off.


    "The soil outside the base has soaked up most of the rain and has radioactivity but not enough to harm any humans. But I did find out one thing..." Ai said as she began taking her clothes off and sticking them in the bucket. Eiji gulped at what he was seeing but did his best to refrain from looking.


    Ai found his reaction amusing as she said without a hint of shyness: "You can look all you want. I do not care. It''s just skin and flesh. No different than when I looked at you. Plus this is just basically a bathing suit anyway. It is just called something different, no?"


    Eiji really did not know what to say but since he got permission he wasn''t going to miss the show! But to make it seem less embarrassing for himself for bluntly watching her wipe herself down he asked: "What did you find?."


    "I found a sentient first type machina." Ai replied a hint of anger could be heard in her voice.


    "Wait, what!? Sentient? What do you mean?" Eiji asked.


    "As I said, it was sentient. It was as if it was a lost three year old acting timid and afraid. Well, it had a reason to be afraid as I smashed it into pieces with my fist but that is beside the point. Eiji, how much do you know about the machina?" Ai had never actually asked Eiji how much he knew or if he was just trying to survive like all the other humans.


    "Nothing really. I was with my father visiting his small little mercenary crew that he formed on the side when the machines attacked." Eiji felt kind of lucky the machina did attack or he would not have met Ai, but at the same time, he wished it never had happened.


    "Then I think we will have a lot to talk about later. For now, help me wash my back off then get me a towel." Ai said, handing Eiji the damp cloth in her hand. Ai was completely used to Eiji being around her almost twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.


    Eiji took the towel gently began to wash Ai''s back doing his best to hold back the stupid smile on his face. Ai could feel his trembling hand and knew Eiji was not used to this sort of thing. "Just so you know Eiji, at some point you will need to get used to this. Our lives will not always be this easy. I am doing what I can to keep this base as long as I can but sooner or later we will need to move on and showering or bathing will become a luxury. We will need to wash ourselves in the rain or cold streams that are not contaminated. There will be many women much prettier than me stripping down to nothing right in front of your eyes. The future is nothing more than a nomadic life and survival."


    "How do you know?" Eiji asked. He had been wondering for a while why Ai knew so much but until now she had never really talked about this stuff.


    Ai brought the tub close to her and dunked her hair into it, soaking it completely. She then turned her head to the side and said: "Help wash."


    Eiji did as she asked as if he was her personal maid or something along those lines. "You will find out soon. You and I will take a trip back to Mai''s and I''s old bunker. I will explain things on the way. Whether you believe what you hear or not is up to you. But what you hear is for your ears only. I trust you now, otherwise, you wouldn''t see me like this or be able to touch my hair and back for as you have. Your hands don''t wander, you have my respect for that."


    "Well... I do not want to piss you off¡­." Eiji replied. It was not like he did not want to wander with his hands, it was that he did not dare to. For two reasons. A: one punch would probably separate his head from his body and B: he did not want to lose her trust.


    "Haha. That is true! Okay, hand me the clothes so I can put them on then you can pat my hair dry for me." Ai was enjoying having a servant. She felt his kind of pampering was not so bad once and a while.


    "What do you need at your old bunker?" Eiji was feeling weird how the conversation ended so he quickly asked another question.


    "Underwear! Mai has gotten bigger in the bust and her bras don''t fit as well anymore. Shogo won''t stop staring at them when she goes braless. He truly is a pervert. Not that you are any better."


    ***


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 Chapter 88: Return To The Bunker Part Four

    "How am I a pervert!?" Eiji asked, not understanding how he became a pervert all of a sudden.


    "Were you not gawking at my body just now? If this is not a pervert tendency then I do not know what is." Ai teased, causing Eiji to blush.


    "You told me to look!" Eiji said, trying to defend himself, causing Ai to let out a laugh.


    "I am just kidding. Today was sort of special training for you. I had Mai and my belated family undergo the same training. It is to get used to the idea of having to bathe in public. Mai is also able to do this as well. Although she would show some rosy cheeks in front of you guys." Ai knew Shogo would need to go through the same training or with his stupid personality he would end up looking at the wrong girl and end up being shot. But she figured she would leave that to Mai. It will also help her with her own shyness. If they ever did need to leave this place and move to a new location, bathing would need to be done in public meaning if they were going to stick together then they would need to get used to seeing each other in the buff, close to it anyway. But Ai still couldn''t understand what men saw in underwear when it was basically no different than a bathing suit. "We will be doing this more in the future until it becomes a norm for you."


    Eiji stared at Ai who was wearing his shirt and pants that looked way too big on her, blanky, not sure what to make out of what she had just said.


    "Okay, already! Now, let''s go inside so I can hold a meeting. If anything you and I will set out tomorrow." Ai said as she stood up and pulled out her radio. "Mai, open the shutter and turn the camera back on."


    "On it!" Mai replied over the radio.


    The shutter door opened up and the two entered the base. Ai called a meeting and everyone gathered into the control room. "I wanted to let you all know I plan to make a trip back to my old base. Mai will you be okay staying here?"


    "Huh? We are not all going?" Mai asked. She was a bit confused because she expected everyone to go.


    "Nope. We need people here to defend the base. I was planning to leave you in charge and Yoshi as your second in command, what do you think?" Ai looked at Mai waiting for her response.


    "I guess it will be fine..." Mai was a little nervous. It was not like she did not trust Yoshi and Shogo, but she still felt strange being alone with them.


    "Mai, remember if they try anything, just press the button." Ai said nonchalantly. While both Yoshi and Shogo reached for their necks.


    "Mmm¡­ Can I test it out on Shogo first? Just to make sure it works?" Mai asked as she gave a side glance at Shogo.


    "Huh!? Wait!? I didn''t do anything!" Shogo faced paled as he began pleading only to turn red faced when he figured out it was all a joke.


    Yoshi patted Shogo on the back with a wide grin. "Just give up, and let your head become a sacrifice."


    "At any rate, the base will be on lockdown while I am gone. Shutters to the main hall will be closed with only a code that I know. So if anything happens while I am gone, there will be no escape. I am trusting you two with my only family member. If something happens to her, you should know death will not be what is waiting for you. I can keep you alive and slowly torture you until you beg me for death." Ai stood up leaving the two men who seemed shocked by Ai''s statement behind as she walked out of the room.


    "Are we that untrustworthy?" Yoshi spoke after Ai left, his question was not really directed to anyone.


    "It''s not that she does not trust you. I mean she made you second in command while she is gone. It is that she worries for Mai''s safety before anything else. " Eiji explained. Yoshi thought for a moment and realized this was so.


    "You are right. I misspoke. She trusts us enough to leave her only family member with us. This means she is testing us to see if we are worthy of that trust. But is she really using Mai as her test?" Yoshi couldn''t understand Ai very well. The things she knows and does is strange for a girl her age.


    "Ai would never put me in danger. The way she speaks and what she actually feels are two different things. You may call this a test but it is Ai''s way of seeing how we all handle a situation when she is not around. I can guarantee she will watch all the cameras once she is back to see how we acted. Ai has always prioritized survival over everything else. She wants to know if she has to leave for a month or two at a time if the base will still be operational when she gets back and that we did not go overboard with supplies. " Mai explained. Mai did not add that this was Ai''s way of testing her leadership abilities. Ai was always one to make training hard. Although it was only about a week there and back to the bunker, anything could happen within that time. They could get trapped in a radiation storm or something else could happen where both Ai and Eiji had to hide for a while. Even this base could come under attack after she left. In this world, there was no telling what could happen.


    ***


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 Chapter 89: On The Road Again Part One

    "Ai do you have everything?" Mai asked. It was early in the morning and the sun had just risen over the horizon. Ai wanted to get an early start so they could cover more ground.


    "Mmm¡­ We have enough military food and water to last the trip there, ammo, compass, and weapons." Ai replied. She had a large trailer behind her. Since she had inhuman strength now she figured she would empty the entire bunker out.


    "Alright just be careful¡­ " Mai was still worried something might happen but she knew this trip needed to be taken at some point.


    "I will also grab whatever scrap metal I can find. I need to make the barrier for the base so it will take a good amount of metal." Ai added. She wanted to make sure the base was protected and she did not know how big of a radio dish she would need to create a barrier that large.


    "Alright, I''ll see you in about a week then." Mai said as she gave Ai a hug.


    "Little lady watch out for the lad there. He is smart and good with guns but he is not as strong as you are now. I will see you guys when you are back. I promise nothing will happen while I am here." Yoshi said before picking the two girls up and walking back inside.


    Shogo didn''t say a word and just waved as he obediently stood behind Mai like a pet dog. Ai and Eiji waved goodbye before beginning their journey. They had only exited the base when Ai said: "I think Shogo has a thing for Mai."


    "I think so too. But he is too chicken shit to say anything." Eiji said with a laugh. "He has always been weak willed ever since I met him. He tries to act tough but he can never keep it up. But he is a loyal person and would die for his friends. He tried to protect me once from the machines and ended up with a deep slash in his back that just missed his spinal cord."


    "Now that you mention it I did see a scar that day I made him strip. But everyone has scars. I mean my shoulder and my face are both scared. But from the sounds of it, I was right to place Shogo at Mai''s side. I hope he will protect her during the times I can not." Ai felt Shogo was not so bad now she heard this story. Ai stopped her steps when she thought of something and looked at Eiji.


    "Something wrong?" Eiji asked.


    "Come here a second." Ai replied and Eiji did as she asked, walking to stand in front of her. Ai reached up and fiddled with the collar on Eiji''s neck and a clicking sound could be heard. She pulled the collar off of Eiji and looked at the red mark it had left. "It''s not much but I can at least do this much for you for now. Eiji, I swear to god if you break my trust I will rip your limbs off starting with your dick."


    Eiji did not find any offense to what she said and just rubbed his neck now that it was free of that collar and smiled. "I will make sure to not give you a chance to do anything of the sort."


    "Let''s hope so. Come on, we got a lot of ground to cover." Ai said as he continued walking.


    The two continued walking until dusk when Ai decided it was time to rest for the night. "Let''s pick a car with the least amount of windows and a back hatch. Last time when Mai and I were on this stretch of road a machina patrol passed by and we almost lost our lives. Hopefully this time we won''t see any."


    "We sleeping in shifts?" Eiji asked.


    "Mm¡­ But lucky for you, you get to sleep next to me, are you happy?" Ai teased. In her past life, she slept in close quarters of men and women of all ages. A lot of times there were only so many places that could be used as cover and usually, these places were cramped after trying to fit twenty people in. At first, Ai could never sleep in such a situation but eventually as time went on you got used to it and could fall asleep easily. But Ai knew Eiji''s feelings for her, so she couldn''t help tease him at times like this where he got to be close to her.


    Ai certainly did get the reaction she expected, Eiji''s red face said it all. But what she found cute was that even though he was completely red in the face, he still tried to act tough. The two found a suv with tinted windows the same as Ai had used before but this time it was a different model. Ai picked the lock and jumped in and began checking to see what was inside. "This place is not bad, there are even some blankets in the back."


    "Oh?" Eiji climbed in and closed the door behind him and sat in the front seat. He was not sure if he should climb in the back or not.


    "Are you trying to become a target? Get back here. It may be a little cramp but put up with it." Ai said when she noticed Eiji not moving.


    Only after Ai''s okay, did Eiji finally climb into the back. The two sat side by side, their shoulders touching. Ai thought nothing of it as she pulled out a small piece of paper. From her pocket and began reading it. Eiji looked over to see that it seemed to be a shopping list of sorts. When he saw her yawn Eiji said: "You can sleep first I will take first watch."


    "Then I will take you up on that offer. Oh, don''t reach for my shoulder to wake me. Pinch my thigh instead if something happens." Ai said before leaning on Eiji''s shoulder like it was nothing and closing her eyes. Seconds later steady breathing came from Eiji''s side. He glanced down to see the girl he liked was now sound asleep. Just knowing she trusted him so much now made him smile.


    ***


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 Chapter 90: On The Road Again Part Two

    Eiji sat as still as possible as the girl next to him slept. He couldn''t keep his gaze off her as she breathed in and out slowly. He slowly reached over to tuck a lock of her hair behind her ear but remembered what Mai had said and began to slowly retract it only to be caught by Ai''s hand. Eiji was confused as to what was going on because Ai''s eyes were still closed but when he felt her hand clasp on to his interlocking their fingers he couldn''t help but feel happy. Ai even shifted her head to his chest making his heartbeat even faster. He dared not move even a single centimeter. He did not want her to wake up and let go of his hand. Her hand was small but soft with a few calluses here and there.


    As time ticked by, Eiji kept an ear open to the outside while enjoying his situation. It was only when he felt a stir next to him that he noticed that Ai opened her eyes. She reached up with her left hand and rubbed her right eye. She did not let go of Eiji''s hand which Eiji thought she would instead she kept holding it as if it was natural. "How long have I been asleep?"


    "About four-five hours, maybe six. I am not sure." Eiji answered. Getting ready to defend himself at any moment when Ai realized they were holding hands.


    "Then you get some sleep I will keep watch." Ai said finally letting go of Eiji''s hand as she repositioned her body so she was sitting up.


    Eiji felt a little bit of a loss when Ai let go of his hand but he did feel very tired. He leaned back against the sidewall of the SUV to get some sleep. He went to put his hands in this lap but his left hand was grabbed by Ai and her hand interlocked with his. He opened his eyes and looked at Ai who just merely smiled not saying anything.


    Eiji did not know when he went to try to tuck her hair in, Ai did wake up but did not open her eyes. She knew Eiji meant no harm so she instead grabbed his hand. At first, it was just to move it away but she decided to just hold on to it and interlocked her fingers with his and fell back asleep. She did not know why she decided to do such a thing, so when she woke up and Eiji was going to rest she decided to hold his hand again to try to figure out why she did what she did.


    Ai never had any natural intimate relations with a boy her age before. Eiji and her were only two years apart. She was not looking for romance but that did not stop her curiosity and since she trusted Eiji he was the perfect person to experiment on. In truth the two of them could have cleaned up the back more but Ai wanted the closed space to see how it felt to be close with a boy she trusted. Although she never felt nervous or shy, she also did not dislike it. She also felt that holding Eiji''s hand was not so bad either. Ai glanced at Eiji''s sleeping face and smiled slightly.


    Eiji slept for a good five hours before waking up. Seeing that it was still dark out Eiji decided to offer Ai the chance to sleep more: "If you want to sleep more you can. I can wake you when the sun rises."


    "Mmm¡­ I think I will, I was up late the other night getting ready while someone was sound asleep against the wall." Ai said not feeling reserved at all. She pulled up the hand that still held on to Eiji''s and rested it under her cheek as she snuggled up next to him. Eiji really did not know what to say since he had never seen this side of Ai before. He could only find the girl to be too cute when she acted like this. Once she found a comfortable position she was sound asleep once again. This also amazed Eiji. He himself would take some time to fall asleep but this girl would fall asleep instantly.


    Ai woke up about two hours later, wiped the drool from her mouth, and finally let go of Eiji''s hand as she stretched. "Morning!"


    "Good morning. Feeling better now?" Eiji asked.


    "Mmm¡­ Thanks. Let''s hit the road." Ai said as she ruthlessly kicked the side door open and right off its hinges. It made a loud crashing sound causing Ai to chuckle. She scooted out of the SUV and stretched her limbs a bit more. "Mai and I left a few places that had water. Originally we never planned to take that base. It just kind of worked out that way. There should be one up ahead if I remember right."


    "Alright." Eiji said as he exited the SUV as well.


    The two made their way down the road very slowly. Because there were so many cars they had to push cars aside in order to make room for the trailer. This of course was easy with Ai''s new strength. But it still took time. "I never understood the panic factor that humans have. They should know roads would be packed and that staying home would have been the safest route. But with all these bodies which are now almost partially decayed, it makes you wonder what exactly it is that turns a person''s rational thought process off."


    "You have to remember that when one is panicking they do not think straight. Did you not panic when I passed out?" Ai asked as she smiled teasingly at Eiji.


    Eiji blushed but he remembered he did the right thing by getting help. "But I still knew to get you medical help. Although that situation did scare me to death."


    "Sorry. I did not expect that to happen either. Normally I am good with knives but I was in a rush and got careless. But in a way, it was a blessing too, or else this trip would take much longer. By the way, remember when I said I would explain a few things to you? When you asked how I knew so much?" Ai stopped her steps and looked at Eiji.


    "Mmm. It is fine if you do not wish to tell me. I do not want to force you to speak when you do not want to."


    ***


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 Chapter 91: On The Road Again Part Three

    "No, I will talk. I have a feeling we''ll be together for a long time, so it is a good thing for you to know. But keep it a secret for now. The only other person who knows is Mai." Ai said with a smile. She stopped moving forward and sat down on the hood of a car and patted the spot next to her. Eiji hopped up on the car as well sitting right next to Ai. Although there was plenty of room for him to sit further away he chose to sit right next to her which Ai did not complain. Even with their shoulders touching she brought one knee up to her chest and rested her chin on it.


    Eiji stayed quiet and waited for Ai to speak. "You see, Mentally I am twenty four years old. Soon to be twenty five, Physically as you can see I am almost fifteen. I once lived in this hell for ten years. From the age of fourteen until the age of twenty four when I died to a new type machina that used some kind of beam weapon to turn me into dust. I know this may be hard to understand but it is true. When I came to, I even doubted my own memories until I verified it enough for me to take it as everything I went through for ten years was real. Only then did I stop going to school and built a bunker secretly in my basement with Mai. So what do you think, am I crazy or what?"


    Ai said as she tilted her head sideways laying the side of it down on her knee and smiled at Eiji. Eiji did not know what came over him but he leaned in and kissed those smiling lips causing Ai to freeze. Her eyes opened wide as she felt his lips on hers. She was not sure what she should do. She didn''t know if she should push him away or what. This was her first kiss in her two lives! But what surprised her, even more, was when Eiji parted his lips and began probing her lips with his tongue. She unconsciously parted her lips giving him access and like this, the two kissed for what seemed like forever.


    When they finally parted lips Eiji quickly lowered his head. "I''m sorry! I couldn''t help myself..."


    Ai''s cheeks were slightly blushed but did not say anything as she fell into thought. She touched her lips and after a few minutes, she finally looked at Eiji. "It''s fine. It just surprised me, is all. Was that your answer to my question?"


    "In a way. A lot of it had to do with how cute you looked and my mind going blank. But what You said I believe one hundred percent. It explains so much." Eiji answered, his eyes were closed as he was bracing for the worse.


    "Haha! Eiji what are you doing?" Ai found his actions quite amusing.


    "I am waiting for my punishment!" Eiji said seriously, causing Ai to laugh harder.


    "I will not hit you. To be honest I liked it. I never kissed anyone before and it surprised me at first but I wouldn''t have kissed you back if I did not like it. Mmm¡­ yeah, we can do it again some time. But for now, let''s get going." Ai said as she jumped off the hood of the car. Eiji didn''t see it but her cheeks were flushed red.


    Eiji was not sure if he should jump for joy or what, but he got away with kissing the girl he liked, didn''t get hit for it, and she even said they could do it again some time! He felt like he should start praying to the apocalypse gods for giving him such a happy life.


    As Eiji was pumping his fists in the air, Ai was giggling away at his antics. But as she walked forward she knew she had to seal her heart. Messing around like this was fine but she could not fall for Eiji. She did not want to deal with the pain of losing a loved one again. She already had Mai she had to care for. She would stake her life to keep Mai alive but right now if she had to choose between the two she would always choose Mai. Mai was her sister and the last family member she had left. She would not even give Eiji a second glance if Mai was in danger. But she still felt that Eiji''s company was not so bad. He was a great friend but she could only keep it at that.


    As they progressed Ai finally found one of the marked cars that had water in it. "Here drink up!"


    Eiji took the bottle of water and downed it. They had traveled quite a bit of distance already without a break and even though the breeze was cool, the sun beating down on the cars and pavement was making the road an oven. "Ai how much further?"


    "We should arrive by tomorrow afternoon. But for tonight we will need to check for a house to sleep in. Since we are getting off at the next exit. So be prepared for anything." Ai warned.


    "Yeah, I will. I am more worried about our way back. If people see us hauling this trailer they will think something is up. So they will end up either following us or wait for us to return with the goods before trying to rob us." Eiji knew their greatest enemy once they entered the towns and cities was not the machina but humans.


    "When that happens, run and find an advantage point. They will think you ran away and come out of hiding. Once they get close¡­ Hehehe..." An evil smile formed on Ai''s lips. "I wonder if I can make a head explode with a single punch..."


    ***


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 Chapter 92: Raiders Part One

    Eiji gave a wry smile as he looked at Ai shadow boxing. She had no issues killing another human. "If you do please do it away from me. I don''t want to get anything on me..."


    "I won''t! Well, I will try not to... So no promises." Ai said with a cheeky smile as she jumped up and grabbed a hold of the trailer. "Come on let''s go!"


    They finally turned off the highway and came on to a normal city street. Demolished houses and the scent of the dead was heavy in the air. "There is a building over there that seems to be still intact. Let''s camp out there tonight. Just keep your eyes open. Who knows what we will find."


    "Alright." Eiji said as he readied his gun. Ai on the other hand began skipping down the road shoving cars out of the way as if they were nothing. With all the noise they were making, Eiji wondered if Ai was doing it on purpose. Even if she was, it probably wouldn''t matter.


    But as they got to the building they had not seen a single person nor machina. It was not until they opened the doors did they actually hear something. But this noise made Eiji go bright red. "Hey, hey Eiji! Does it turn you on when you hear people having sex?"


    Of course, Ai would not miss this chance to tease Eiji. Eiji didn''t dare say anything, his red face and the small bulge in his pants already said it all. Ai giggled and patted his shoulder saying: "Don''t mind!" But her smiling face quickly changed when she rounded the corner to see that the subject of those noises was a girl only slightly older than her¡­ She hated this sight more than anything but this was the way of this new world. Girls of all ages would sell their bodies just to get food or water. Around the girl beside the one doing her, was three other men.


    One of them noticed Ai and Eiji and a big smile formed on their faces. "Oh, what do we have here? Another girl, who wishes to get some food? As you can see the price of food is... " The man looked Ai up and down until his eyes finally landed on the Howa in her hands. Only then did his face go pale.


    Ai on the other hand could care less what was going on here anymore as she said: "Take your toy and leave! This place is mine now. If you wish to die then so be it."


    The three men wanted to say something but Ai fired off her howa officially scaring them. But the girl who had just been interrupted looked at Ai with anger in her eyes. "Why did you interrupt!? I haven''t eaten in two days! All I had to do was serve them and they would feed me!"


    "Service them elsewhere and just to let you know¡­ These guys have no food so your fucking them for free. I mean look at how sunken in their cheeks are. If they had food would they look just as sickly as you?" Ai''s words made the girl look at the guy and realize she was right. She grabbed her clothes and quickly put them on before running out the door with tears in her eyes. "You guys hurry up to. I do not want to repeat myself."


    "Yes!" These guys were not dumb. They knew Ai was not someone they could trick, unlike the last girl. As the men began walking out of the room one of them stopped and asked: "Do you have any..."


    *Bang!*


    One bullet to the head and the man dropped dead. It was not Ai who fired either, it was Eiji. "I think she said to get the fuck out. So get the fuck out."


    The rest of the men no longer lingered and quickly ran out of the building. Eiji already disliked those guys for using a girl''s hope for food as a means to do what they want with her but since the girl was willing he could really not say anything. Ai looked at Eiji and asked: "Upset?"


    "Mmm..." Eiji answered. He felt the whole situation was wrong.


    "Get used to it. This is our new world. This kind of shit happens day in and day out. Wait until you begin seeing the slave markets. Girls and boys younger than that get sold left and right. Where do you think Kuri and Ayase came from? The guys you saw locked up at the base were slave traffickers. And the sad thing is that people at this time will give up their own flesh and blood for a day''s worth of food and water. It is a sad thing. Like that girl just now. Although she is not much older than us she willingly let those guys do that to her. All because of the promise of a bit of food. The reason I didn''t do anything was because that girl''s eyes showed no hint of reluctance." Ai said as she moved to the stairs leading to the second floor. This place was an old apartment building and had already been completely swept clean of anything edible. Ai was surprised that those men were doing such a thing on the first floor in the room right next to the entrance. She could only guess the whole group, the girl included, were not very smart. If a machina ever walked by they would all be mutilated right there.


    "I see that now but it is still hard to accept." Eiji replied as he let out a sigh.


    "You will get used to it eventually. " Ai said as she kicked open a door and walked inside. Eiji followed in after her and closed the door behind him. He was surprised she controlled her strength enough to not kick it off the hinges. He then went to the kitchen and pulled the fridge out and used it to block the door.


    "Eiji come in here!" Ai called out.


    Eiji walked in to where Ai was to find her lying on a massive bed. "It is so comfortable! Many times that of the ones at the base! Try it out!"


    ***


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 Chapter 93: Raiders Part Two

    Eiji hesitated for a moment before crawling up on the bed next to Ai. Ai turned to him and grinned. "We will sleep here tonight. We can do the same rotation as last night?"


    "I don''t mind. But are you sure it will be safe here? We just chased out those guys." Eiji asked.


    "Yeah, we will be. I will make some noise makers to also alert us and if it gets bad, I will stand in front of you." Ai said as she sat up.


    "You seem pretty carefree about all of this." Eiji still couldn''t help but worry.


    "Relax a bit will ya? I know!" Ai said as she leaned over and kissed Eiji''s lips. It was just a light kiss, nothing more than a mere peck but it caught Eiji off guard. "Did that help you relax a bit?"


    Eiji looked at Ai giving him a teasing smile and really wished he could just tackle this girl and kiss her full on. Eiji knew that Ai knew she had him wrapped around her finger but he did not care. He was willing to be used by this girl as long as it made her happy. He smiled and nodded his head and said: "Yeah but if you kiss me again it will help even more."


    Ai smiled and got up off the bed before turning to him saying: "Later, now we work." before running out of the room.


    Eiji''s smile widened as he got up off the bed and followed after her. It took them a few hours to gather what they needed from other apartments as they set up noise makers throughout the entire building. Once the last noise maker was set up at the door to the room they were staying in, Eiji and Ai collapsed back onto the bed. They dug out some dried food and began to snack on it.


    "So we got a half day''s trip left?" Eiji asked to confirm.


    "Mmm... We moved much faster than I thought we would." Ai replied as she stuffed the last bite of her food into her mouth and then took a drink of water from her canteen.


    Eiji had also finished his food and sat back up against the headboard of the bed. "That''s good, I am kinda interested in seeing this bunker that was built by the great Ai herself."


    "Eh¡­ You won''t be all that impressed. I mean I had no idea what I was doing and was just making it up as I went. Although it did hold up much better than I expected." Ai said. She had done as much as she could, putting everyone''s safety in mind while she built it, so she was happy she got as much done as she did within only six months.


    "I am sure I will like it. Anyway, you can rest, while I keep first watch." Eiji said. He did not want to push the whole kissing issue. He decided to let Ai bring it up.


    "Oh? So you do not want to kiss me?" Ai asked as she crawled up to Eiji and positioned herself facing him sitting right on his lap. She leaned in close and smiled as she pulled her head away. But before she could Eiji pulled her head back toward him and their lips and tongues once again locked.


    The two kissed for almost five minutes before Ai pulled back and smiled. She licked her lips and yawned as she said: "Not bad. But I will get some sleep now." Ai scooted her body down so her head was on Eiji''s chest and fell right asleep. Eiji on the other hand was wondering what to do in a situation where the girl he liked was lying right on top of him sleeping.


    "What happened to sleeping on the comfortable bed." Eiji chuckled to himself as she did his best not to move.


    Only two hours passed when the sounds of the noise maker traps went off causing Ai''s eyes to open wide and roll off of Eiji and got off the bed. "Shit! I think it''s raiders!"


    Eiji was startled and whispered: "What are raiders?"


    "Have you never seen any post apocalyptic movies?" Ai looked at Eiji, whose cheeks turned red. she did not poke fun at him and instead began to explain. "They are basically sick sadistic fucks. Just kill them if you see them no need to ask questions."


    "How do you know what they are?" Eiji asked.


    "I can hear the clinking of the metal on their clothes. We will not bother them if they do not enter this apartment but now that a noise maker has gone off I doubt they will leave before searching through the building. In my past life, I ran into a few groups of them, I was one of the lucky few who was able to escape without being caught. Although what I had to do to escape was not the most pleasant. I mean the first time I had to hide in a pile of shit, it was not fun¡­ The second time was under a pile of corpses. Let me just say these guys do not care how old you are or what sex you are, they will take you, strip you, and use you until you break, then kill you." Ai''s voice was full of disgust.


    "No one is allowed to touch you..." Eiji mumbled under his breath. Ai''s heightened hearing heard him but she did not point it out. She smiled, grabbed Eiji''s hand, and interlocked her fingers with his. She pulled him to the bed and the two sat down with their howa''s at their side. Ai leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes waiting for the raiders to show up.


    ***


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 Chapter 94: Raiders Part Three

    "Hey boss what is with all these damn traps!?" A man wearing pans on his shoulders and a pot on his head, carrying a metal bat with a chain wrapped around it asked.


    "You idiot. Do you think these are traps? These are noise makers. Someone strung them up to hear when someone entered the building. Nothing more than an alarm. Once we find the person who made them we can have some fun." The man called boss answered. He licked his lips and let out a laugh. The other five men behind and the man who asked the question all began laughing.


    Unknown to them, Ai was able to hear every word that was being said. A smile formed on her face as she came up with an idea. "Eiji listen to this..."


    Eiji''s eyes opened wide when he heard her plan but he also did not like it. "No! I don''t want others looking at you."


    Ai frowned since she thought her idea was good but for some reason, she also liked the fact that Eiji didn''t want others to see her in her underwear. Her idea was to pretend like she was changing when those guys came walking in causing them to get flustered before killing them but even though she would be mostly covered except her top half, Eiji still denied the idea. "Fine then do this. Lay down and place your howa on your stomach, keep your finger on the trigger. And keep the barrel a little down past your crotch."


    Eiji had no idea what Ai was getting at but he did as she said. When he was finally in position, Ai climbed on top of him and sat right on top of the howa. She leaned down and kissed his lips. "Now we just wait. I will help you aim."


    Eiji was not sure if he could maintain his composer with Ai shifting around until the barrel of the gun was aiming right at the door. Ai then Leaned down and whispered into his ear. "When I say fire, pull the trigger. It will definitely catch them off guard."


    Ai planned to get some revenge on the raiders for the crap she had to go through in her past life. She knew that if they walked in with a girl mounting a boy they would definitely let their guard down. She could make out about seven people in total and they were getting close by the second.


    Eiji was going crazy with Ai breathing in his ear like she was. He had almost pulled the trigger a few times now. "Ai can you not breath on my ear." Eiji finally asked, not being able to take it any longer.


    "But I''m not?'' Ai said while gently blowing into Eiji''s ear. Eiji wanted to scream and spank the damn girl since she was teasing him knowing full well what she was doing!


    After almost ten minutes of torture, Eiji finally heard the door to the room they were in open up as the noise makers went off. "Who is it!?" Ai asked, sounding surprised as she turned her head around.


    "Oh look boss a woman!" The man with a pot on his head said excitedly.


    "Calm yourself, we will all have a chance later for now¡­ " The boss of the group eyes filled with lust looked Ai up and down and then at Eiji. "You two strip your clothes off or we will kill you."


    "Our clothes?" Ai asked, sounding frightened as she gripped her shirt.


    "You heard me, hurry up!" The boss yelled. He was starting to get mad. He slammed his fist on the wall making a hole, causing Ai to jump and yell in fear.


    "Okay¡­ Please don''t hurt me..." Ai said as she leaned down and whispered: "Now!"


    *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*


    Eiji''s howa continued going off as Ai shifted the muzzle back and forth with her butt, causing it to spray bullets in a wide area. Four of the seven raiders were all hit. She then raised her left leg high and rolled over picking her howa up off the floor by the side of the bed, shooting the last three. "Oh? Two are still alive Eiji."


    "On it." Eiji fired two more times, finishing off the survivors. "Was there a reason for the whole act?"


    "Mmm¡­ Fun?"Ai smiled as she stretched her arms up high.


    "More like torture to me. You need to remember I am a man you know."Eiji said, feeling very exhausted.


    Ai laughed and said: "You could always.." She made a jerking motion with her hand. "I don''t mind. But do it while I am asleep, okay?"


    "As if I could!" Eiji''s face went beat red.


    "Alright relax, let''s set up some of the noise makers, and then the both of us can go to sleep. With my heightened hearing, I woke up right away when the first one went off. So we can both sleep this time." Ai said, grabbing Eiji''s hand and pulling him out of the room. The two went to work and reset up the noise makers before returning to the room. Eiji climbed up on the bed and laid down on his back. Ai crawled up next to him and rested her head on his chest before falling fast asleep. Eiji looked at her peaceful sleeping face and smiled warmly before falling asleep himself.


    When the sun shined down through the window, Eiji opened his eyes to Ai snacking on some rations. "You''re awake? Here eat up, we should hurry. I see clouds forming in the distance¡­"


    Eiji''s brow furrowed. "Are they green?"


    "I can''t tell from here. They are off on the horizon but the way they are forming makes it seem to be a radiation storm. But it''s strange¡­ in my past life, this area did not get many radiation storms. At least not this early on anyway. I wonder what changed..."


    ***


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 Chapter 95: Bad Religion

    "I am not sure what you mean by changed but as of now we have to hurry." Eiji said as she shoved his ration into his mouth.


    "I already packed our things so we can head out right away." Ai said picking up the bag off the floor. She slung her howa up over her shoulder and turned to look at Eiji. "Ready?"


    "Ready as I ever can be." Eiji said as he stood up and stretched.


    The two stepped out of the building where Eiji took the bag from Ai and Ai grabbed the trailer. They were only six hours from their destination. With the threat of a radiation storm brewing, Ai and Eiji were in much more of a hurry than before. But after three hours of travel, they came upon a strange sight.


    "The hour of his awakening is close at hand! Only those who worship his holiness will be saved!" A man with a brown robe and a brown hood covering his head yelled out. Behind him were four more people. "He has blessed us with an infinite amount of food and water. He gives us protection from the demon spawn. It is still not too late! If you join us you can still be saved!"


    "Ai this is¡­?" Eiji looked at the group of people in brown robes, some male, some female. He felt a certain unease when looking at these people.


    "That is not something you want to get involved in. If they try to stop us just shoot them. They are what I like to call bad religion. These people believe in some false god. Well more like a human who is giving them food and water. But that food and water come from who knows where. I heard stories of such religions popping up all over. People with evil thoughts would create these religions and use people''s faith as a means to do as they please. The food could be contaminated with radiation or it could even be the meat of the actual members that went against the so called faith. They are truly sick individuals." Ai roughly explained. She did not want to go into too much detail as it was very disturbing.


    Eiji''s face contorted into that of disgust. It was true that the thought of such things was very disturbing. But life in this new world was by no means easy. You either had your wits about you or you did not. Those who truly survived in this world stayed clear of anything suspicious or you end up like the many others and find yourself dead without even knowing why or how.


    "Let''s go." Eiji said not even wanting to continue the conversation. Ai nodded and pulled the trailer behind her. Unfortunately, their path would bring them right past these guys, and from the looks of it they would not stand off to the side. Ai already felt that they would need to shed some blood already.


    "Oh! Young ones! Look how skinny you are, do you wish to be saved? Our Lord, our savior. He will save you. You can eat and drink as much as you want. And be..." The brown robes man''s words were cut off when Eiji shoved the tip of his howa into the man''s face.


    "Get back!" Eiji yelled but the man seemed unperturbed as he only smiled back at Eiji.


    "Fellow believers we have a lost lamb that needs our guidance! Let us pray for him so he can be saved!" The man yelled. The other people of his group all began to surround Ai and Eiji. One of the female worshipers took off her hood and walked over to Eiji. She was very beautiful which quickly caught Ai''s eye. The beautiful girl reached out and went to grab Eiji''s hand only to have her wrist grabbed by Ai.


    *Crunch!*


    "AHHHH!" The beautiful girl screamed.


    "These fucking people never learn! Always the same bullshit! Eiji you kill those two, I got these three! I had been meaning to see if I can make a head explode." Ai yelled out in rage. Ai had no idea why she was so mad all of a sudden. All she knew was she did not want the damn girl to touch Eiji. She held onto the beautiful girl''s wrist and with her free hand pulled her fist back and launched it forward, slamming it into the beautiful girl''s face.


    *Pop!*


    "Damn it! It worked but not worth it!" Ai had blood and bits of flash and other matter stuck on her clothes, hair, and face now. "Peh! So nasty!" Ai let go of the beautiful girl''s wrist letting her headless body slump to the ground causing the other worshippers to all scream out in fright. Eiji felt his stomach turn a little after watching such a scene, especially after some of it got onto him but he turned his gaze away and aimed his howa killing the other worshipers, while Ai finished off the rest.


    When it was over Ai stood there and looked at Eiji as if asking what she should do. "Let''s find a concealed spot and get you into a fresh set of clothes¡­ We can use what water we have leftover to try to rinse the rest off your body."


    "Mmm¡­ But I only brought the one set..." Ai said feeling a little depressed.


    "I did bring a set however just in case something happened. You can just wear my clothes." Eiji even went as far as to take off his shirt and began wiping Ai''s face off. His actions made Ai smile faintly. She kind of liked being spoiled like this. The two found a pretty enclosed area at a destroyed house and Eiji helped Ai get cleaned up. Once all was said and done. Ai was now wearing a shirt and a pair of pants way too big for her. "All set?"


    "Mmm!" Ai said as she brought the hem of her shirt to her nose. "Smells like Eiji."


    ***


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 Chapter 96: Stranded Part One

    Eiji blushed but did not say anything as he began walking out of the collapsed house. Ai, smiled cheekily and walked out with a hop in her step. The rest of their trip back to the bunker was clear sailing. Ai stood in front of the house that she once lived in and felt memories surging through her head. She then lifted the trailer up over her head and began making her way up the hill. Eiji followed along behind her. After clearing out a space big enough to set the trailer down, Ai did not go to the bunker first but turned to walk towards her back yard. "Eiji, come with me for a bit."


    Eiji nodded and followed after her. Ai stopped in front of four marked graves and sat down. She looked up at Eiji and patted the grass next to her. "This is Mai''s and my parents'' graves. They died when we got attacked by five, first type machina. I guess the training I gave them just wasn''t enough..."


    "I am sure you did what you could. I mean look at the girls back at the bunker. Those little ones are fighting machines." Eiji said as he put his arm around Ai and brought her into his embrace. Ai did not reject his affection since she knew he was trying to comfort her.


    "Mmm¡­ I did try. But it was still not enough. I wished I had had more time. If I did maybe they would be alive today. But sadly even in this new life, I could not keep them from dying. Eiji, I know what you want from me. But I do not think I will ever be able to give it to you. Love is not something I can commit to. It only brings more heartache. As it is, I still have Mai who I will protect over anyone else. She is the only family I have left." Ai pulled away from Eiji and looked him in the eye. "Even knowing that will you still follow me? Will you still be the same Eiji knowing I can never return the feelings you have for me?"


    Eiji did not know what spurred this sudden talk on this subject but he let out a sigh and grabbed Ai''s hand. "If I say I am willing to devote myself knowing damn well you can never love me back, would you be willing to accept a fool like me? Ai, I know you only think about survival and that the past few days have just been you having fun and doing things for the first time because you find them interesting at this time. I do not mind. I am willing to enjoy the moment when the girl I like is willing to kiss me and hold my hand. I will never ask more from you unless you are willing to give it to me yourself. I know it is wrong to say but I am glad our world ended as it did or else I would never have met you. Ai, I like you for you so just keep being the Ai I see. Whether you just use me for your immediate curiosity or not, I do not care. I will follow you until you turn me away."


    Ai looked at Eiji at a loss for words. She never expected to meet anyone like him who would be willing to be used knowing that his feelings will never be returned in kind. Ai turned her head away and looked at the gravestones in front of her. "Mom, Dad, I found a complete idiot who is willing to be my dog. Funny enough I do not mind his presence. With Mai also doing well I feel like our lives will be looking up as time goes on. I hope one day humanity will see a path to freedom and we will be able to come out of our holes and live free again. With no worry about our lives being on the line. Whether it takes one hundred years or not, as long as we can one day make it through these hard times and defeat the enemy at hand we will be able to rise once again. Auntie, Uncle, Mai is doing fine. She also has a little puppy following her around. Maybe one day those two will make little puppies passing on your genes. She is a smart girl. She has learned a lot about medicine. I promise I will protect Mai with my life. Until the day we both die at the same time Mai will survive."


    Ai stood up and stretched her arms before looking down at Eiji who was still sitting there. She reached her hand out to him to help him up. "Sad?"


    "Noo¡­ I feel more like you are lucky you can still talk to your parents like this. I don''t even know where my father died." Eiji replied looking slightly gloomy as he took Ai''s hand and stood up.


    Ai wrapped her arms around his neck and stood on her tiptoes to kiss his lips. "When we finally get the time we will search, okay?"


    Eiji smiled and hugged Ai and nodded his head. "Mmm. Thanks, Ai."


    "Come on, the sky is starting to cloud over and it''s green. It looks like we will be stuck here for a while. Hopefully not for too long..." Ai frowned seeing the green clouds. She hoped this was not a month long storm like the last.


    "Even if it is for a long time, Mai, Yoshi, and the rest will be fine. You can count on Yoshi and Shogo to defend Mai no matter what happens. The only way she will end up hurt is if they die first." Eiji said reassuringly. Before he left he had made the two promise him to defend Mai with their lives.


    "Mm, I know, I trust them." Ai said as she opened the hatch. A whiff of stale air came from below. "We will need to circulate the air. When we get down, I will show you where the pump is and it needs to be manually done. You go down first I need to seal the double hatch."


    The two made it down into the bunker, Ai sealed both hatches. She was surprised at how well it was holding up. There was no rust as of yet. Eiji looked around and saw nothing but a mess of dirty clothes. This included both regular clothes and Ai and Mai''s undergarments. "Stop staring or I will tell Mai you were sniffing her dirty underwear"


    "Ai are you trying to kill me!?"


    ***


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 Chapter 97: Stranded Part Two

    Ai let out a laugh and pointed to the manual pump. "Just pump that for a while until the air has circulated a bit and I will clean up. Mai and I, never expected any company here so yeah. Girls can be messy too."


    "It''s fine. I have seen your room remember?" Eiji replied with a wink then went to work.


    Ai stuck her tongue out at him and began cleaning. Both were done at about the same time. One thing Eiji found was that the bunker was hotter than expected and he was already sweating even though he was not wearing a shirt. "This place sure is hot."


    "Mmm¡­ best to strip down. We can also use some water to wipe ourselves down since there is a lot here." Ai said as she began to strip down to her underwear, leaving Eiji not sure where to look. Ai saw him staring at a wall and laughed. "Just look, you have seen me in my underwear many times already, what are you acting all strange for?"


    Eiji turned his head and looked over at Ai blushing slightly. He still felt nervous every time he saw her like this.


    The sound of rain was already beginning to pelt the door hatch overhead. " Let''s wash up and after that, I will check the readings near the hatch."


    Ai got up and walked over to the water storage section of the bunker and got a bucket of water. After which she found a clean set of bra and underwear and placed them to the side. And without even a second thought stripped down to nothing making Eiji''s eyes pop out of his head. "Umm Ai¡­ I should probably..."


    "Huh? I said we are going to wash up, get over here. This is part of your training. Keep little Eiji at bay if you can. Plus I need someone to wash my back." Ai showed no hint of blushing as she began wiping herself down.


    Eiji paused for a moment not sure what to do but slowly began to pull his boxers down. He placed his hand over his crotch and walked behind Ai. She looked up at him and smiled as she handed him the towel in her hand. "Hurry up, I will wash your back after. By the way, if you cover it like that it just makes it more obvious."


    Eiji had never felt so embarrassed in his entire life. He finally took his hand away from his private spot making Ai raise an eyebrow and give an approving nod before turning back around. After washing up, Ai put on some clean underwear and handed Eiji a pair of boxers. "I am not sure if they will fit but it will be better than putting on your dirty ones."


    "Thank you¡­" Eiji said as he put them on. They were slightly loose due to Eiji being much skinnier than both Seji and Yasuhide. He looked down at them and smiled bitterly.


    "Just go without then. Use them to sit on for now. I will lay out clean blankets after I take a reading." Ai acted as if everything was normal but Eiji was having major issues. But he had no choice. He had just cleaned up and really did not want to put on a pair of boxers he had been wearing for the past few days.


    "Oh! Right! There is a wash bin and a grate to wash clothes, so you can wash what you have and dry them. With how hot it is down here, it should be dry before bed or at least by morning." Ai shouted over to Eiji from her perch on the ladder.


    Eiji looked around and spotted the basin and grater right away. He quickly went to work washing his clothes. He thought for a moment and asked: "Should I wash yours too?"


    "Yeah but be careful with the underwear the bands, they break easily. If you think you can''t do it then just leave them for me." Ai replied. She had opened the top hatch slightly and stuck the geiger counter outside a bit to get a proper reading.


    "I will leave it to you then, I do not want to ruin your things." Eiji said. He did not want to make Ai mad for washing something wrong.


    "Mm, that''s fine. But hey bad news. The storm is heavy in radiation, so we may be stuck here for a while." Ai said as she closed the inner hatch. "Also the rag at the bottom of the ladder, do not touch it. I used it to wipe the geiger counter off. Can you bring me water so I can wash my hands?"


    "Yeah, one second." Eiji said before grabbing a bottle of water from the shelf and walking to where Ai was. Ai watched as Eiji walked over to her, with an amused smile on her lips. But she felt Eiji being able to walk about like this was good progress. Especially since his little Eiji was no longer standing up saying hi.


    As the day passed the sound of rain did not stop and night had finally fallen. Ai let out a yawn as she sat on the couch. "We should get some sleep, help me set out a futon."


    Eiji assisted Ai with getting everything set up before he turned to go lay on the couch when Ai, who was already lying down, stopped him. "Where are you going?"


    "I figured I would sleep on the couch..." Eiji said. He figured since his clothes were still not dry and he was naked, he should not be sleeping next to Ai.


    "No, you sleep here. considered this all training. Just do not touch me where you shouldn''t and you will be fine." Ai had actually gotten used to Eiji sleeping by her side at night. she had found it comforting to have someone next to her while she slept.


    Eiji let out a sigh, he did not want to anger her so he of course gave in to her selfish demands and laid down next to her. Ai smiled and cuddled up next to him. She lifted her head and kissed his lips and said good night before drifting off to sleep. Eiji was really at a loss of what was going on in Ai''s head. She was already treating him like her boyfriend, even though she had said what she said before. He wondered if Ai even knew what was going on in her own head. Eiji shook his head and placed his hand on Ai''s shoulder without thinking and fell asleep. Ai opened her eyes, smiled, and grabbed Eiji''s hand, interlocking her fingers with his.


    ***


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 Chapter 98: Stranded Part Three

    While Eiji and Ai were stuck in the old bunker. Mai was not doing so well. "Why did it have to rain again!"


    "I wish I could tell you but the radiation in this storm seems stronger but I am sure those two are okay." Yoshi said, trying to ease Mai''s worries.


    "That is not what I am worried about. Yoshi you do not seem to understand. Ai is like a broken vessel. She has a lot of issues. If she finds something fun and interesting she will just do it. If by any chance Eiji, whom she trusts, makes a move on her, and she likes it, I feel like those two will do something that should not be done at her age! Plus that girl really has no care when it comes to boys and girls." Mai just hopped nothing weird would happen.


    "Well¡­ I am not sure what to say. I do know Eiji is someone you can trust as he is a devoted person. You have no idea that when that kid first saw Ai he was willing to draw those damn machines towards us to allow her to accomplish what she wanted. I guess you could say that kid fell in love at first sight." Yoshi said.


    "I know Eiji is a good man but those two are a lot closer than you think. And a lot of it has to do with Ai''s whims and how Ai finds it fun to tease Eiji." Mai just hopped by the time those two made it back there would be no little Ai''s on board. Ever since the day Ai had Eiji help her wash up, Mai had become increasingly worried. She knew Ai did not care if someone saw her in the buff but if Ai ended up liking Eiji and one thing would lead to another, then¡­ Mai let out a long sigh. "Yoshi I might have to shoot Eiji''s dick off..."


    Yoshi let out a laugh. "For someone who never says crude words it is always amusing when you do. At any rate, what you are worried about will most likely not happen. I mean the bunker is underground right? Should stay at a decent temperature year round."


    "Umm¡­ Actually, that bunker is weird. It gets very hot. Especially when it is fully closed up. Ai and I ended up having to basically strip down and still felt hot." Mai admitted, blushing slightly.


    "Oh? Maybe there is a natural hot spring running underground. Well, the kid has already seen her in her underwear so I doubt anything weird will happen. As far as I know, the kid has never had any girlfriends so he is just as innocent as Ai is. What I worry about is whether or not they got enough food supply..." Yoshi was worried about how much food and water they had there. If this rain storm lasted as long or longer than the last there might be an issue.


    "Don''t worry, Ai and I had stocked that bunker with enough water to last a good while if used sparingly. Ai may use it to clean a few things and wash up when she gets there but I doubt any more than that. After which it would just be drinking water. As for food, there is more than enough to feed the two well for a year or more." Mai washed away Yoshi''s concerns. Ai had emphasized the need for food and water the most when gathering things for the bunker.


    "That''s good to hear. By the way, where is Shogo?" Yoshi asked.


    Mai''s cheeks puffed out at the mention of Shogo''s name. "That mutt was not good and has been punished with cleaning my lab."


    "And what did the mutt do to be punished?" Yoshi asked as he let out a laugh.


    "Something that could be considered worth a death sentence, so me making him clean my lab is light punishment." Mai knew it was partially her fault for what happened since she did not lock the door, but still! He walked in on her changing! He was lucky to get away with being knocked in the head by a flying object and forced to clean her lab.


    Yoshi shook his head and smiled, while he muttered: "Kids nowadays." He then stood up and said: "Since I gave my report I will go see what the girls are up to. "


    "You treat them as if they were your own daughters." Mai said with a smile.


    "Well¡­ before all this shit happened I did have a daughter. She died during the earthquake, along with my wife. When I see those two kids they remind me of my own. In a way, they are filling a void that formed in my heart when I lost those two. To see kids smiling and having fun in this fucked up world is a good thing no?" Yoshi felt at peace while taking care of the girls. He felt that he had gone back to the days when his family was alive. They were helping him keep his head straight.


    "Then I don''t have to worry about their well being with you there to take care of them. I will head back and get some work done myself. Let us hope this storm passes..."


    ---


    Back in the bunker Ai and Eiji were cuddled up sound asleep, the sound of rain could be heard as it hit the hatch to the bunker. Not far from them, rows of red lights could be seen off in the distance. The sounds of metal clinking across the ground could be heard as tens of thousands of machina began their march. The second wave was upon them.


    ***


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 Chapter 99: The Second Wave Part One

    "Mio, hurry up!" A girl yelled at the young woman who was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and cargo pants. She had a machine gun in her hands as she continued to run as fast as she could as short bursts of red lights passed by her head.


    "Tomo, what the hell is happening!?" Mio asked.


    It had been a week now since the second wave had begun. The above ground was a no mans land due to the radiation storm. Those who got caught up in it and were hiding out under cover were met with ill fates as the machina swept through. Tomo and Mio had been good friends since childhood. They even went to college together. Now at the age of twenty eight, they were experiencing the tragedy of the new world.


    "I am not sure but those weapons are not normal." Tomo replied. She cocked her gun and leaned out firing a few shots at the machina that had made its way into the underground passage that was used for bullet trains.


    "Bullets don''t seem to be getting near it either so these weapons are useless." Tomo let out a sigh. If she knew today was going to be the day she was going to die maybe she would have taken one of those men up on their offers and got rid of her virginity.


    "What do we do now? If we go any further we will be stuck in the storm. If we stay here we are sure to die at the hands of those machines. No matter which way I look at it we will end up dying." Mio was in a panic, she did not want to die just yet. She had so much going for her but now after everything she was lugging around a machine gun she had found and always on the run whether it be humans or machina, she was always trying to escape something trying to kill her or worse.


    "We can only go down fighting. To be honest I would rather die fighting these fuckers than melt in the rain. At least then when I enter the after life I can tell everyone I went down fighting." Tomo said as she reloaded her pistol.


    Mio frowned and looked out past the overhang of the tunnel and sighed. "Then I will fight with you. Although I feel like no matter how many bullets we use we will die quickly. "


    "Looks like we will not have a choice!" Tomo yelled as the machina appeared before them. Its guns began to whirl turning a bright red as red beams of light began to shoot out of it. "Ahh!"


    The girls did not have a chance to even react as the red beams of light bombarded the area they were in. "Tomo!"


    Tomo who was right in the path of most of the red beam of lights stood no chance as they pierced her body. Her body slumped to the ground lifeless right in front of her longtime friend. "Noo! You fucker!"


    *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*


    Mio pulled the trigger on her gun letting all the ammo she had left in it fire at the machina in front of her. Tears dripped down her cheeks as she gave her last stand. As the guns on the machina began to whirl once again Mio''s machine gun ran out of ammo. The sounds of clicking could be heard as Mio fell to her knees, she closed her eyes and waited for what was to come. "Tomo, I will be meeting you soon."


    *Boom!*


    A loud sound as if an explosion went off was heard causing Mio to open her eyes. In front of her was a young girl not more than fifteen years of age. She had no protective gear on and had a machine gun hanging off her arm. She stood with her leg stretched out to her side and a big grin on her face. "Eiji these fuckers can''t even handle a light kick."


    "If that was a light kick, then I am scared to think what a heavy kick looks like." Eiji said with a chuckle.


    Mio looked at the young man who did not look any older than the girl in shock as well. He was wearing regular clothes just like the girl and looked perfectly fine even after coming in from the rain.


    ---


    Going back one week¡­


    Eiji and Ai had woken up the next morning at the same time. "Good morning."


    "Mmm¡­ Good morning..." Ai said with a smile as she rolled on top of Eiji. She pushed her lips against his and pushed her tongue into his mouth. Eiji responded in kind and the two shared a passionate kiss first thing in the morning. It only stopped when Ai felt something poke her, making her giggle and finally get off Eiji. "Sorry, maybe that was a bit much for you."


    "It''s fine I am used to it now. It should go down in a while. But Ai is this place getting hotter than it was yesterday. I am soaked in sweat." Eiji felt his whole body was sticky in sweat now.


    "Mmm, it is hotter. I am not sure what is causing it though. By the way, Eiji, I have been thinking as we were making our way to the bunker. What would happen if you took in some of my blood? Mai said my blood was now purple and mutated which is probably the cause for my mutation. Do you think you would gain the same things as me if you took in some of my blood?" Ai asked. She had thought about it for a while and wondered if her blood would be of any use for the others.


    "I am not sure¡­ It could or it could turn me into some kind of weird looking mutant. But if you wish to check it out. I will be willing to do it."


    ***


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 Chapter 100: The Second Wave Part Two

    "Alright, but before that." Ai pushed Eiji on to the couch and then mounted him before pushing her lips against his. The two kissed for a few minutes before Ai finally stood up once more. "Just in case you turned into some grotesque monster, I wanted to at least get one more kiss in."


    Eiji did not know where to laugh or cry. He let out a sigh and said: "So how will we do this?"


    "Relatively simple actually. You will cut your finger and I will do the same. Well, I will bite the tip of my finger. It should produce some purple blood which I will then rub on your wound. If things work out right and it acts as it did with me, it should begin to mutate your blood cells and the rest of your body. But be warned, you must not succumb to anything while you have a fever. I will do my best to keep your head cool." Ai said. She was only working on the theory of what Mai had told her before. That the purple substance that entered her body might have been blood cells that mutated to become an organism of its own. If this was the case, she should be able to pass some of her blood to Eiji and get the same reaction as she got when the purple blood entered her or it could fail. But at this moment and time, Ai was basically using Eiji as a human experiment. But she was also doing this because she wanted to give Eiji a better chance of survival. If the were even the slightest chance of success she felt it was worth it.


    Eiji knew this was dangerous but if it worked he already saw the results. Ai was living proof of that. And the way this world was becoming he would not want to be the man who has to hide behind his woman. Although officially she was not his woman as of yet. "Alright let''s do it then before I change my mind."


    Ai nodded and Eiji went ahead and cut his finger. Ai bit hard on the tip of her finger causing only a small drop of blood to come out. Ai then quickly rubbed the tip of her finger onto Eiji''s cut before her wound closed and waited. After a while, Eiji finally collapsed and began having a fever.


    Ai took care of Eiji for almost an entire week before his fever finally subsided. She had used all kinds of things to reduce his fever including liquid medicines she fed to him by mouth. She even fed him water and food by mouth as well. Eiji only woke up on the fifth day. He still had a small fever but it was slowly going down. "How do you feel?"


    "Like I slept very well..." Eiji said with a smile. "Am I grotesque?"


    Ai laughed and kissed Eiji''s lips while shaking her head. "Nope, you still look like Eiji. Here squeeze this."


    Ai handed Eiji a metal bar which Eiji took and squeezed, crushing it in the process. Ai smiled and hugged Eiji: "Looks like it worked. But I was worried there for a bit since it took you so long to wake up."


    Ai will never tell Eiji just how worried she was. She never left his side for even a second and barely slept at all these past few nights. Eiji hugged Ai back but soon heard soft breathing was coming from his chest. When he looked down he saw the dark circles under Ai''s eyes as she slept peacefully in his arms. He shifted his body and scooped her up so she could lay next to him on the couch. As soon as she was shifted she clung on to him and snuggled in close not waking up at all during the process. Eiji, laid there and stroked her hair and watched her sleep.


    Clinking sounds could be heard overhead which woke up both Eiji and Ai. "Damnit!" Was all Ai could say when she heard the noise coming from above.


    "What''s happening?" Eiji asked as he saw Ai hurriedly getting dressed. He followed suit not sure what was going on.


    "The second wave is already here! This should not have happened for a few years!" Ai complained. She picked up her howa and went over to the hatch to the bunker, only to be stopped by Eiji.


    "Where are you going!?" It was not so much the machina he was worried about but the radioactive rain that was falling from the sky.


    "Eiji, We are both basically superhumans now. Don''t tell Mai but that day after the storm I tested the whole radiation thing. It won''t affect us. Come on." Ai explained before opening the hatch wide open slamming it into a passing machina, sending it flying.


    Eiji sighed and finished getting dressed before grabbing his howa and following after her. When he nervously exited the bunker, he saw Ai grab a leg of a machina and swing it around before smashing it into another one and then stomping on the both of them, crushing them underfoot.


    Eiji looked up at the green rain falling from the sky in awe. He never thought he would ever be able to walk out in one of these storms and not melt like he had seen happen to others. It did not even sizzle as it touched his skin, it acted no different than any other rain. It hit his skin and rolled off as if it was nothing.


    As Eiji was examining the rain a first type machina lunged at him striking at his head. The metal blade slammed into the side of his head but Eiji did not even react. The leg of the first type machina, bent into a weird angle due to it hitting something stronger and basically immovable.


    Eiji turned and grabbed the machina with his hand and crushed it with his fist. A big smile formed on his lips as he began joining Ai in fighting the machina. Ai looked over to see Eiji smashing machina to bits and smiled. "We need to head back to the base! So close the hatch and seal it. We will need to come back later. If this wave gets to the base, Mai and the rest will not be able to hold them off if they are discovered."


    "Lead the way!"


    ***


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 Chapter 101: The Second Wave Part Three

    Back to present¡­


    "Huh? Can''t you do the same thing? I saw you kick a first type like a soccer ball so hard I don''t even think the thing came back down." Ai said with a laugh.


    Ai and Eiji had been making their way back to the base when Ai saw a new type of machina with new weapons. They chased after it and had just now caught up to it. Mio looked at the two laughing and joking away in confusion. She had no idea how these two who looked drenched from the radioactive rain outside were able to smile in a situation like this. But what shocked her, even more, was how they did not melt in the rain.


    "How..." Mio finally spoke up.


    "Oh? Ai, we ended up saving this woman here." Eiji said just now realizing someone else was here.


    "What do you know." Ai turned and looked at the girl. She then looked at the corpse filled with holes. "This one here your friend?" Ai asked.


    "Ah, yes... Tomo..." Mio began to tear up.


    "You don''t have time to cry. If you stay here you are dead. You can mourn your loss later" Ai said without much emotion.


    Mio choked back her tears and stared at Ai. She knew what Ai said was right but she was amazed that a girl, so much younger than herself was so level heard. "Your, right sorry..."


    "No need to apologize. Now I will give you an option. You can stay here and die or you can come with us. We do not have much time so you must choose now." Ai said coldly.


    Eiji facepalmed as he looked at the death glare Ai was giving the woman. ''Ai, you know, you do not need to give her a threatening look like that.''


    "I-I would like to come with you but..." Mio looked at the rain coming down and knew she would instantly die a painful death if she tried to run around in this rain.


    "Eiji, hand her that suit. It was tailored to you but it will still fit her." Ai turned her gaze from Eiji back to the girl and continued: "That suit is hot as hell but it will allow you to come with us. I only brought it with us in case it was needed. I suggest you strip down to your underwear before putting it on."


    Mio blushed thinking how she was going to need to undress in front of these two but if it meant she could survive showing a little skin was nothing. "I will do it!" Mio took the radiation suit from Eiji and began stripping right there. Eiji quickly turned around because he felt a death glare stabbing into him. But he wondered why it was always the girls who were quick to strip.


    Ai walked over to Eiji and hugged him from behind, stood on her tiptoes, and whispered. "If I catch you looking at another girl I will kill you."


    Eiji felt a shiver run down his spine, but he was also happy. Although they were not official, Ai was very protective of keeping him to herself. He had noticed that Ai was much more attached to him now after he went through his mutation. "My eyes and body belong to you. Why else would I risk undergoing mutation."


    "Mmm¡­ Good." Ai said with a laugh as she jumped on his back and kissed his cheek. Ai had not wanted to fall for Eiji. She wanted to keep her relationship with him simple. But when she took care of him and was so worried about whether or not he would wake up to the point that she had even shed tears. She realized she had already had strong feelings for Eiji. But of course, she would keep things as they were for now. She did not dare say her true feelings out loud.


    "Done¡­ You were not kidding when you said this was hot..." Mio said. She was already feeling stuffy.


    "Good, let''s go. I will carry you on my back, Eiji will take care of any machina on the way. We need to make it back in a few hours. By the way, what''s your name?" Ai said as she hopped down from Eiji''s back. She did not expect Mio to walk around in that suit.


    "Mio, Tamaki Mio." Mio answered.


    "Then Mio, I''m Ai, and this is Eiji. And just to be clear. Eiji is off limits." Ai said coldly before squatting down in front of Mio. "Get on."


    "Huh? Ah yeah¡­ Thank you." Mio answered. She was very confused by Ai''s comment. Mio wondered why Ai would say that when she was much older than Eiji.


    "Eiji, wipe that smirk off your face, it makes you look like an idiot." Ai said before charging out into the rain. She did her best to hide her blushing cheeks.


    Eiji touched his face and let out a laugh. "Ai, why are you blushing!?"


    "Shut up!" Ai yelled back not slowing her pace at all.


    ---


    "We can''t hold out much longer!" Yoshi yelled.


    Bullets and beams of light were flashing back and forth lighting up the darkness. Everyone in the base was currently fighting for their lives. The machina wave did not only come from one direction but many. And the one that came from the south had just started attacking the base.


    Mai, Yoshi, and Shogo were doing their best to kill as many machina as they could. Kuri and Ayase were running back and forth delivering supplies. When they were waiting for orders they would use the pistols Yoshi gave them to try to damage a few of them here and there.


    "Half of these bastards have shields!" Mai yelled As she ducked behind a broken wall. Their bullets were not doing much of anything. Only the melee machina were falling. Leaving the ranged machina with their shields. "Fuck! Ai, hurry up or you will come back to a bunch of corpses!"


    "Mai, if you wish to die so much, I can toss you out there to go say hi!"


    ***


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 Chapter 102: All Out Defense

    "Ai!?" Mai yelled out seeing the familiar face in front of her. "What how!? The rain!"


    "Ahaha! It''s fine, don''t worry. Well, I suggest you do not go out there. But for Eiji and I, it is fine." Ai let out a laugh while she knelt down letting Mio who was still on her back, off. "Mai go get this girl a set of military duds and nine-millimeter ammo. Do not get near her. This suit is highly radioactive and so are me and Eiji at the moment."


    "Huh? Yeah!" Mai always took Ai''s orders as absolute, so if she said so, she would do it. She hurried off to go do Ai''s task.


    "Leave all questions for later, for now, we got to go on absolute defense. Eiji and I will be your front line. You take out what melee ones you can. Later I will need to make new weapons using the machina''s new tech. When Mai and Mio get back have them join in taking out melee machina." Ai finished yelling out orders before grabbing Eiji''s hand with a smile and said: "Let''s go Eiji, time to give them hell!"


    Ai was loving the fact that she could easily wipe out these machinas. On the way here they had destroyed so many machina she had lost count. But she knew one thing was for sure, she was already catching up to the number of machina she had destroyed in her past life.


    Eiji and Ai split up and jumped into the fray. They were instantly targeted by the machina. Ten first type machina charged at Ai from all sides, Ai reached out and grabbed the closest one by its leg and began using it to smash the others to the ground. Eiji Charged right into the backline ignoring the first types that were attacking him and smashed a type two machina into a pancake.


    Yoshi and Shogo who were watching the whole scene stared at the two in disbelief. "Hey Shogo, are we even needed any more? The machines seem to not care about us anymore and are only focusing on those two."


    "I-I''m not sure..." Shogo was too shocked at the scene in front of him to even understand what he was seeing.


    Mai came back up from inside the base with clothes and more ammo. She placed it behind a broken cement wall that could be used for cover before joining the rest. "Mio, was it? Your clothes and ammo are behind the wall over there. Careful when taking off the suit. Do not let it touch your skin."


    "Yes, thank you." Mio quickly went to go change. She had been sweating nonstop since she put the suit on. But luckily Ai and Eiji were careful and stopped a few times so she could rehydrate.


    "Where are Ai and Eiji?" Mai asked as she rejoined Yoshi and the rest.


    "Over there..." Yoshi pointed off into the distance. Mai turned and looked where he was pointing and her eyes opened wide as she looked at the scene in front of her.


    "How!? Ai, I can understand, but Eiji too!?" Mai was just as shocked as the others as they watched the two going on a rampage in a mass of machina. They were not just using their fist either. Ai was using a broken machina as a shield and her howa at the same time. She would block incoming ranged attacks from the front with a type two machina who had a shield and then use her howa to disable or destroy any melee types trying to attack her from the side.


    The most comical thing of all was Eiji running around with a first type machina attached to his back. Mai and the rest almost felt bad for it since it was still trying to stab through Eiji''s skin even with its front claws bent out of proportion from its first attack. They were not sure if Eiji was leaving it there on purpose or had forgotten it was even there in the first place as he continued to smash any ranged machina he could find.


    "Is it just me or are the machina numbers not reducing at all, or more like they are gaining?" Mai suddenly asked. Mainly due to the fact that Eiji and Ai were destroying machina''s at great speed but their numbers were not decreasing.


    "Shit! Those damn robots are calling in reinforcements! Everyone stop staring and fire! Cover those two!" Yoshi yelled out. Everyone had been so caught up in watching Ai and Eiji''s rampage that they stopped providing cover. At Yoshi''s words, everyone quickly went back to work.


    "What should I do?" Mio who had just finished getting dressed asked.


    "Kill the melee ones and try not to hit Eiji and Ai." Mai answered, not even looking up as she continued firing.


    They were all huddled under an overhang, crouching behind a pile of rubble from the building. The whole area was filled with the smell of gunpowder as each of their weapons lit up the darkness of night. This was not a losing battle because in front of them was the most absolute defense. Two humans, who could withstand the machina''s attacks and were not affected by the inhabitable conditions of the radiation storm. What made things easier for Mai and the others was the fact that the machina deemed Eiji and Ai more of a threat than them. So they were able to easily provide backup without worrying too much about defending themselves like they were earlier.


    This was no longer a simple battle, this was an all out war.


    *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*


    The ground underfoot began to tremble...


    ***


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 Chapter 103: A New Type Part One

    Before anyone could even react, a bright red light flashed in the distance firing right at the base. It slammed right into the location Ai was in, sending her flying. Ai flew through the air like a kite, crashing through buildings, and did not stop until she crashed into the ground just outside the base.


    "Ai!" Eiji screamed as she rushed over to her, smashing any machina that got in his way. He arrived in seconds to see Ai laying on the ground shaking her head. Dust and dirt covered her entire body.


    "That fucking sucked!" Ai yelled out as she wiped her face off. She looked down at herself. Her clothes were a mess and her chest was fully exposed.


    Back where Mai was, she was currently being held back by Yoshi. "Yoshi let me go!"


    "Are you stupid? If you go out there you will melt in the rain! You need to concentrate on covering them. Kill any fucking machine that gets near them!" Yoshi was also very concerned but he knew better than to try to risk dying in the rain to see if Ai was okay. He had not known the girls that long but they had given the three of them shelter even though they did not know their intentions. He owed Ai a lot and found that she was a fair and just person. Even when they were locked up they never went without good food or water. Their bellies were always full and she even supplied them with fresh clothes every day.


    "But¡­." Mai began to tear up. Yoshi looked over at Shogo and waved him over.


    "Take care of her. The new lass, the girls, and I will keep the cover fire going. Try to calm her down." Yoshi said as he passed Mai who was in tears to Shogo. As soon as Mai sensed Shogo near her, she balled up her fist and began punching him over and over in his chest to let her frustrations out. Shogo just stood there and took it with a pained expression. Mai was mad that she felt so weak and couldn''t even go to Ai, the only family member she had left in this world.


    Back where Ai was Eiji''s cheeks were blushing when he saw the state Ai was in. She was unharmed but her clothes were now burnt and in tatters leaving her white porcelain skin for all to see, Eiji reached out his hand to help Ai up.


    "Ai, You okay?" he asked as he took his shirt off and handed it to her. It had a large hole in the back from where the first type machina was trying to stab him but it was better to have her back exposed than her front.


    "Yeah, I''m fine. It didn''t do any damage to me, just tossed me for a loop."Ai said, taking the shirt from Eiji. "Thanks." She took off the tattered clothes and put Eiji''s shirt on. It was large so it went down to her knees.


    "Take my pants too." Eiji said as he began taking his pants off only for Ai to stop him.


    "It''s fine, I will get a change of clothes from the base. Come on let''s not waste time. Most of the ranged machina are destroyed. But we will need to figure out what just shot at us. If that hits the others they will be instantly wiped out." Ai said as she grabbed Eiji''s hand and pulled him back towards the base.


    As the two arrived Ai saw a funny scene of Shogo being beaten by Mai. As for the others, they were hard at work fighting. "Mai, if you beat him too much you won''t be having any kids later on."


    "Ai!'' Mai yelled and ran towards Ai but stopped when she remembered Ai had been out in the rain. "Are you okay?"


    Ai smiled noticing that Ai brushed off her joke as if it was nothing and said: "Yeah, I am fine. My clothes took a hit so I will need a new set. Can you grab me one?"


    "Mmm!" Mai quickly ran off to get clothes for Ai.


    Ai turned to where she was shot from and could see a faint outline of a huge machina off in the distance. Ai decided it was time to retreat back into the base. Because as the others were now, there was no way they could fight something like that. "I want you all to go into the base and go into lockdown after Mai returns with clothes for me. Eiji and I will need to go try to take that thing down. You are not to come above ground at all until we return and give the okay. Do you all understand!?"


    "Yes!" Yoshi, Shogo, and the girls answered right away. Mio was a second behind them but still answered the same.


    "Yoshi, Shogo, keep Mai from doing anything stupid. I promise we will be back." Ai gave a faint smile and looked back off into the distance. ''It seems it needs time between attacks...'' Ai thought to herself. This also gave her a sense of relief. Because if that thing could repeatedly attack, they would sure to be done for.


    "Ai, I placed the clothes behind the collapsed wall over there." Mai said she returned. She pointed over to where Mio had changed.


    "Good. As I told the others, you will retreat into the bunker and go on lockdown. So everyone, pack up and retreat!" Ai ordered.


    Mai was a bit hesitant but knew she could do nothing as she was. "Ai, please be careful..."


    "Don''t worry I got the perfect human shield next to me." Ai said with a smile as she tapped Eiji''s chest.


    "Don''t worry Mai, I will protect Ai with my life. You have my word." Eiji said with confidence. Now that he was like Ai he would be sure to protect the girl he liked. Even if it meant giving up his own life.


    "I will hold you to that!" Mai said before looking at Ai and smiling: " I will be here waiting, you must return."


    "Count on it!"


    ***


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 Chapter 104: A New Type Part Two

    "Go right, I got the left." Ai yelled out as Eiji and her split up. Ai was not worried about Eiji since there was nothing here that could actually kill them. She had taken a direct hit from that attack just now and it only destroyed her clothes and sent her flying. Although it shook her up, it caused no damage to her.


    "Got it!" Eij answered as he dug his foot in and raced off.


    The two went on a rampage smashing any machina that came near them. They only stopped when the new type machina that Ai had had nightmares of before stood in front of her. Seeing her arch nemesis that had once killed her caused Ai''s lips to curl up into a malicious grin. "You took my life last time with your shitty weapon, now it is time for payback you fucker!"


    Ai bent down and adjusted the tilt of her body before springing up, jumping up high into the air. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Eiji racing towards its left side. She smiled and yelled out: "Eiji take out its legs, I will smash it to the ground!"


    "Haha! Your wish is my command!" Eiji was excited, mainly because he had never thought in his wildest dreams he would be fighting something this huge, never mind having the strength to take something like this out with just his bare hands.


    He raced forward, drew back his fist, and just as he reached the new type''s leg, he aimed right for the joint at its knee and thrust his fist forward, smashing it right into the joint. It was as if he had punched glass, the knee shattered into pieces sending the new type machina off balance without even as much as a fight. As the new type machina, began falling to its side, a slim finger appeared in the air above it. It was Ai, she had jumped so high into the air that she was able to adjust her body position and was now falling head first with her fist drawn back. Just like Eiji, she thrust her fist forward just before making contact and¡­


    *Boom!*


    The collision sounded like an explosion, the sound of metal being crushed followed after. It happened too fast. A large crater formed and an explosive amount of energy swept out from the center toppling trees and tearing off roofs of the buildings in its path. Eiji who had been caught up in it was knocked on his butt and covered with dust and dirt. He waved his hand to clear the surrounding air and spit the dirt out of his mouth. "Is it down?"


    "Hahaha! You fucking bastard!" Ai''s happy shouting said it all. Eiji stood up and dusted off his clothes before walking towards Ai. When Ai saw him her smile became even more profound as she rushed over to him, hugging him and kissing him on the lips. "Eiji, I got my revenge on that fucker that killed me!"


    Eiji smiled and hugged Ai back. When he saw the cute happy smile on Ai''s face he couldn''t help but steal her lips once more. The two kissed while standing next to a demolished new type. Up in the air, they never noticed the silently flying orb that was looking down at them. It hovered there watching the entire scene. It flashed a few colors and then flew away. After which the remaining machina began to retreat.


    After a few minutes, the two''s lips parted and Ai turned her head and looked at the demolished new type before turning back to look back at Eiji. "Eiji¡­ Are you willing to always stay by my side?"


    "Mm¡­ I planned to do just that no matter what. I will help you protect what you wish to protect and with my new strength I know I can accomplish that." Eiji replied.


    "Then¡­" Ai kissed his lips once more and smiled a teasing grin. "You will need to work hard for me. You are not to look at other women and can only look at me otherwise..."


    Eiji wondered if Ai was finally accepting her feelings for him but when he looked at the teasing grin and the hand that was sliding down his body just stopping at his belly button before being pulled away and then heard: "I will leave the rest to your imagination", he knew he still had a long way to go.


    Ai''s expression quickly changed and turned more serious as she said: "Help me bring this back!"


    Eiji smiled bitterly at how much this girl liked to tease him. He of course made no complaints. As long as she was happy he would spoiler and let her do as she wished. When she was ready to accept her own feelings he would be there by her side. As far as he could see the two of them had a long long life ahead of them. He highly doubted with these new mutations that they would die any time soon.


    When they returned to the base, Mai quickly ended lock down and came outside only to be turned around to have Yoshi and Shogo bring out a large tub of water and clean clothes for the two of them. She also told Mai to turn off all the cameras. Mai felt the whole situation was weird since they were soaked head to toe in the rain that had radiation in it. She wondered how they were going to bath like that but she figured Ai would send Eiji away.


    Little did she know that the two had already bathed together and seen every inch of each other''s skin and this time was no different as the two washed up together and then got dressed.


    ---


    An hour later¡­


    "What is going on between you two!?" Mai was now interrogating Ai and Eiji who sat before her.


    ***


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 Chapter 105: Questioning

    Mai had accidentally hit the button to the outside cameras and witnessed a scene she never thought she would ever see. Ai and Eiji were both chatting away while in the nude bathing. She had quickly shut it off after but she couldn''t help but worry. Ai sat in the chair looking at Mai, confused as to what she meant. She then looked at Eiji who seemed to be sweating and at a loss for words. "Mai, I do not understand what you mean?"Ai tilted her head to the side. For her everything except the kissing that she has done, was normal things that would happen in her past life. Although, having a boy help wash her back was new as well.


    "Ai you were naked and bathing with him!" Mai said with fully blushed cheeks.


    "Oh? Well, he needs training for that. I can''t have Eiji one day washing up in the rain with a bunch of other women around and his eyes wandering now can I?" Ai said nonchalantly. She didn''t even realize how possessive her words sounded.


    "Ai, are you even listening to what you are saying!? Have you two¡­.become adults?" Mai did not want to think it was possible but with Ai mentally twenty four she couldn''t help but think they had already crossed that line.


    "Become adults..." Ai sat there for a while trying to understand what Mai was talking about only to have Eiji lean over and whisper into her ear. Her eyes went wide and her cheeks blushed as she quickly shook her head. "Mai what are you thinking! I could ask you the same, you and Shogo seem close!" Ai retorted.


    "Where do you even see that!?" Mai was flabbergasted. Where did Ai even see Shogo and her being close? If anything he was nothing but a punching bag! Doing her best to calm herself down Mai gave Ai a serious look and asked: "Have you guys kissed?"


    "Mmm¡­. Eiji started it though. But kissing is nice, so I like to kiss him when I can." Ai said bluntly with no hesitation.


    Mai facepalmed, Ai was a lost cause. She had lost so much of what was normal after spending so long in a fucked up world. Since there was nothing she could do with Ai since she will do as she wishes no matter what, Mai turned to Eiji and glared at him. "You hurt her, I will find a way to kill you."


    "You have my word, I will never betray her." Eiji said, bowing his head to Mai. He had already committed himself to being at Ai''s side no matter what.


    "Mmm! If he goes against his promise to me after all that we have done, he will lose a part of his body that makes him a man." Ai added in causing even more misunderstandings. Not realizing that she had yet to state what exactly their relationship was.


    Eiji received another glare from Mai but she did not add anything more. "Okay, now that the important thing is out of the way, explain to me how Eiji is now like you Ai." To Mai, Ai''s relationship with Eiji was more important than the fact that Eiji had become the same as Ai.


    "Well you see, I remember what you said that the purple stuff that mutated me, maybe a life form of its own and that was able to change its host and that if I gave my blood to someone else it may have the same effect. So well, I tested it ou¡­." Ai was cut off by Mai suddenly yelling at her.


    "Are you stupid!? What the fuck would you have done if Eiji turned into a grotesque mutant or simply died!?" Mai''s furious expression was a first for Ai to see since Mai was always so calm and composed.


    "Well, I..." Ai knew it was dangerous and that she had used Eiji to test out this fact but she felt that if anyone would be able to suffer through it all, Eiji would be able to do so. During the time he had a fever she was so worried, that she barely slept and watched him and took care of him twenty four hours a day. It was a time she felt very helpless and actually regretted her actions.


    "Ai, how would you have felt if Eiji had died?" Mai suddenly asked. She wanted Ai to realize the gravity of her mistakes. She only knew survival and nothing else.


    "I-I don''t know..." Ai stumbled on her words since she truly did not know how she would feel. She knew that Eiji had made his way into her heart but she had not realized just how much he had. Or realize that all the actions she had shown him were no different than a girl flirting and being possessive of the man she loved. Ai only knew familial love, which only lasted a short time, and never thought of anything beyond that. She felt at ease with Eiji by her side which she was taking for granted. Especially with how Eiji followed each of her whims without a word of complaint.


    "Mai, I think you shou¡­." Eiji who was trying to help Ai, so she would not be pushed into anything was quickly cut off by a cold glare.


    "You shut up!" Mai said coldly before turning back to Ai. "Well let me say it this way. If Eiji was to begin kissing another girl what would you do and how would you feel?"


    "Huh? He dares?" Ai''s eyes went big and she turned and grabbed Eiji by the collar of his shirt, slapped him across the face, and yelled: "Who is she!?"


    Mai almost burst out laughing seeing Ai act like this. "Ai, it was a general question. There has been no one in this base that he could have kissed. But now you must understand your feelings, right? If Eiji were to have died due to your little experiment you would have been devastated. Don''t try to do things like that again."


    "Mmm..." Ai slowly let go of Eiji and sat back down. Eiji held the side of his cheek that was red. She had hit him pretty hard. Mai was glad she finally made her point. She had never expected that one day she would be lecturing Ai instead of Ai lecturing her. But from that outburst just now she knew Ai''s true feelings for Eiji now run deep. She also felt maybe this was good. It showed Ai was finally coming out of her past life hole and was now learning to trust those around her.


    "It''s good you understand. Now please promise me you two will not go too far. We are not equipped to be having any babies on board." Mai was worried about this the most because she was afraid Ai would take things too far and Eiji being a man, and Ai being the girl he liked, he would not be able to resist if she pushed him too far.


    "I''m not that dumb Mai. I am still pure, so don''t worry. Who the hell would want to raise a kid in this fucked up world. Plus this body is far from being old enough." Ai replied as she gave Mai a look as if she had just asked a stupid question. Mai could only let out a sigh of relief as well as wonder what exactly Ai was thinking all the time¡­


    "So what are we going to do from here on out?"


    ***


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 Chapter 106: Mio Part One

    "With the rain, we can not do much. I plan to go back to the bunker to gather our stuff once the rain ends." Ai, leaned over and whispered into Mai''s ear. "Just put up with the lack of bras for now. I was in such a rush when I heard the machina wave that I didn''t bring anything with me. Sorry, Mai..."


    Mai blushed slightly. She was not mad that Ai could not bring anything back and even if she did it would have been contaminated. "It''s fine. So what do you wish to do now then? Just stay here and wait it out?"


    "I plan to take apart the machina''s with the beam weapons and create new weapons for us. I also want to see if I can turn the bigger beam weapons into a weapon that can fire faster. But I need to figure out how they work first. But Mai, I do have something you need to begin doing." Ai said before turning to Eiji. "Eiji clean out your room and bring your things to my room and then clean my room while you are at it."


    Mai''s eyes opened wide and wanted to say something against this but she knew it would be pointless. She just gave Eiji a look of death without saying anything. Eiji, on the other hand, felt like he was suddenly being used as a maid but since Ai asked him to do it then he would do it. "Alright, should I wash the dirty clothes I find on the floor."


    "Mmm! Please do!" Ai said happily. She hated cleaning and doing laundry the most. It was nice having a sla¡­a dog¡­someone who was willing to do these things for her.


    After Eiji left the room leaving only Mai and Ai. Ai moved her seat and sat next to Mai. "Mai, I know you are worried about something irreversible happening between Eiji and me. But I promise it won''t happen. I will not say I am not interested but I will not do those things until I know for sure we can handle everything that is thrown at us."


    "I know Ai. You are responsible. I know but you do tease him quite a bit. But it is good to see that you are trusting people more than before. At first, it was all about using people as shields but now you are using yourself as a shield to protect us." Mai was happy to see this change in Ai. Ai''s eyes had light in them now. Something she did not have when she saw Ai that day at school.


    "Mmm¡­ You are right. I have changed and it is a good thing. But I must ask you to not let Eiji know how I feel about him or he may get cocky. Plus right now I need to push my feelings back as much as I can. I know I like him but before anything you are more important to me. I already told him this as well." Ai said this causing Mai to sigh since she realized that Ai did not know her actions said otherwise. If she wanted to keep her feelings in check then she wouldn''t be having Eiji move into her room.


    Although there was a lot wrong with Ai''s words, Mai simply agreed without saying anything." Was that it?"


    "No¡­ And before I say what I am about to say, you must promise to let me finish. Can you do that?" Ai asked.


    Mai suddenly had a bad feeling. Knowing Ai, whatever she was about to ask her was more than likely going to be very embarrassing. She let out a sigh and nodded her head. "I promise."


    "Starting today you will need to spend an hour each day with Shogo in your underwear. You were fine with it when we bathed together at the bunker because it was just family. But things are different now. There is no telling how long we will keep this base. Although I am doing everything I can to keep it, that does not mean things will always go as well as they have. At some point, we will be needing to bathe in groups again. You will need to get used to the men around you seeing you either nude or at the minimum in your underwear unless you wish to stink all the time. But that will just end up causing sickness and everything else. I am not saying strip down all at once.


    "Start off with a long shirt, bra, and a pair of panties while making Shogo strip down to his boxers. He''s a man so he can do it. Get used to having Shogo seeing you in such a state and then slowly work your way down from there. I worry about you benign too shy. I am not asking you to do anything else or form a relationship with him. Just use him as a tool for training. Out of everyone, Shogo is the most timid and would never lay his hands on you. Which is why I had him follow you in the first place." Ai explained.


    Mai blushed and knew what Ai was saying was true. "Fine¡­ you are right. I remember the bunker was really hot and we had to almost walk around naked during that storm. If it turned out to be a problem like that, then I guess the training will help. I will inform Shogo later. I am sure he will stare like the dirty dog he is."


    "Just stab his eyes out then!" Ai said with a laugh. The two girls chatted away catching up on things and Ai went over all the things that happened to Eiji and her in great detail.


    They didn''t stop until Yoshi knocked on the door with Mio standing behind him. "Ai, I hate to bother you when you girls are catching up but what are we doing with this girl here?"


    ***


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 Chapter 107: Mio Part Two

    Ai and Mai turned to look at Yoshi and Mio, who had just walked in. Ai tapped her chin a few seconds before saying: "I brought her back to be your wife. Have fun." Ai got up and walked right out of the room after saying this, leaving three dumbfounded people behind. Ai did not feel like dealing with anything else. Mainly because the only thing on her mind right now was improving the base''s defenses. She wanted to get a good rest, wake up early, and drag Eiji out to help her begin dismantling and washing off the machina.


    "Ummm¡­ Mai, what Ai just said¡­'''' Yoshi was completely at a loss of what to say. He could never read Ai, so he was not sure if she was joking or serious. When Ai spoke to him, she always had the same expression compared to how she would smile and laugh with Eiji and Mai.


    "Yoshi, have Mio help you take care of the girls for now. Also, come here. Ai said I could remove your collar." This was one of the things they had discussed as they talked. Only Shogo would be left with a collar since he had to undergo special training with Mai.


    Yoshi was surprised but happy. This meant Ai now fully trusted him, which made him relieved. He had hoped his efforts would one day allow Ai and Mai to trust him. It seemed he was able to gain their trust. Although he was much older than the two girls, he did not mind working under them. Ai had already trusted him with the weapons storage, and that right there already gave him hopes for the future. Plus, he had grown attached to the two little ones and spoiled them as if they were his own daughters. He finally felt at peace for once since this world became so fucked up.


    In another part of the base, Ai arrived at her room to find it almost sparkling clean. "Eiji is really handy!" Ai mumbled as she walked into the room. Eiji was in there finishing up making the bed when he heard Ai walk in. "Did you store your stuff?"


    "Yeah, I do not have much as it is." Eiji paused as if he was thinking before continuing. "Ai, are you sure you want me to live with you in your room?"


    "Hmm? Yeah, why not? Or do you hate being around me all the time?" Ai asked as she walked step by step up to Eiji.


    Eiji quickly shook his head back and forth. "That''s not it. I mean, you are a girl, and I am a man. Although we are young, well for you, I can not consider you young since you are much older than me. But you know..." Eiji felt awkward talking about this. The Ai in front of him was not yet fifteen, but mentally she was much older. And this was because she was indeed twenty-four.


    "I know what you mean, Eiji. Yes, my body is young. No, I will never go too far. As a man, you need to man up. You said you liked me and I am giving you a chance to be with me. Whether I fall in love or like you is another story. But as of now, Eiji, you are now locked to my side until I kick you away. Any objections?" Ai still would come right out and say how she felt, but she was sure Eiji already realized it after everything.


    "Yeah, I understand." Eiji let out a sigh. He knew now he was going to be going through more hell than any man has ever had to go through. He was going to be living with a girl he liked that he could do nothing more than kiss and only when she wanted to. Eiji took a deep breath and firmed his resolve¡­ ''I will become a kissing Monk!''


    Seeing Eiji standing to the side doing a one-person show made Ai smile. "Alright, since everything is now settled, let''s get some sleep. We need to get up early and begin dismantling the machina."


    "Oh? We''re going to build some new weapons?" Eiji asked, his eyes lit up. He liked working on mechanical things. It was one of his hobbies ever since he was little.


    "Yeah, I want to make some beam weapons for us and also see if I can turn the new type machina''s large beam cannon into a kind of turret. " Ai explained as she began to undress. She stripped down to her underwear and then took out a long white shirt and slipped it on. Eiji was not far behind her, except he had nothing to change into and always slept in his boxers.


    The two climbed into bed, and Ai cuddled up next to him as if it was the natural course of things as she continued talking: "So the thing with the new type was its charge time. When I died to it in my previous life, it had a set of normal gatling guns that utterly destroyed the team I was in. This new type only had one beam weapon. My guess is that it was a non-upgraded version. The barrier around the machina can block all regular bullets. The beam weapon seems to bypass its barrier where normal bullets still can not. I want to figure out a way to reduce that charge time to make it fire faster."


    ---


    On another side of the base. "So what should I do?" Mio stood in front of Yoshi with a questioning look.


    "Well¡­ I guess I will introduce the girls to you from there; I am not too sure. The girls get their training from Mai and Ai, I help with weapons training, and the girls help where they can." Yoshi was actually at a loss of what he could have her do.


    "I see. I will do whatever I can. I owe Ai and Eiji my life..."


    ***


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 Chapter 108: Mio Part Three

    Yoshi scratched his head. He looked at Mio, not sure what to say. But when he saw the eyes that were pleading him to give her something to do. He let out a sigh. "You will help me take care of the girls and act as a mother figure for them. When the girls are training, you will also join them. Just be prepared as Ai is very strict with training. To be honest, I am surprised Ai brought you back, but she must have seen something in you."


    "She may have actually brought me back to be your wife¡­." Mio had been thinking this since it was said, but it seemed Ai had no interest in her whatsoever and basically dumped her on to Yoshi. She had only been here for a short time, but she could already see the pairings. Eiji and Ai were always stuck together like glue, and Shogo followed Mai around like a puppy. Yoshi was the only one without a female his age around him except the girls. Given his age, he was not much older than herself. It was hard to believe that she was saved and brought back to be someone''s wife, but from the looks of it, this may have actually been the reason she was saved.


    "Hah, you think too much. Ai is just¡­ Well¡­ Ai..." Yoshi played it off as a joke, but he also felt that Ai really might have had that thought when she brought Mio back. "Anyway, we need to get you settled into a room¡­ a spare set of clothes, and I am sure you wish to take a hot bath. Let me radio Mai. Ai probably busy and won''t answer."


    "Yes, thanks..." Mio blushed, thinking she must really smell. She had been sweating non-stop in that suit, and before that, she had gone a long time without a proper shower.


    "Mai, you busy?" Yoshi took the radio attached to his belt and called over to Mai.


    "Hmm, no, not really. What''s up?" Mai asked.


    "Mio still does not have a room. What are we going to do about that? She also wants to bathe as well." Yoshi couldn''t help thinking that he was forgetting something else as well, and only when Mai answered did he realize what that important fact was.


    "Well, she is not able to go anywhere but the men''s area. Ai has not added her into the turrets system. If she goes anywhere else besides the main hall, she will be shot. She will need to camp out with you tonight. I could turn off the turrets, but I do not think Ai would like that too much, and I think she may be passed out by now. Her door was shut and locked when I went to visit her a few minutes ago. For all, I know she may be climbing the stairs to adulthood with that bastard! Ahem¡­ Anyway, just make do for tonight. I will get Ai to draw her blood tomorrow and add her to the system. Have her use the men''s bath. Shogo will be busy helping me for a while, so now is a good time to have her go in." Mai replied.


    "Ahh yeah¡­ It is a good thing I did not take her anywhere with turrets¡­ Alright, I will take care of things. Thanks, Mai." Yoshi let out a sigh and looked at Mio. "As you heard, you will crash out with me tonight. I will get you a futon, bedding, and a set of clothes. Unfortunately, we have no female underwear¡­ even the young ones are without¡­ Follow me and do not get too close to the other halls'' entrances, or you may lose your head. Our base has high security against humans."


    "Huh¡­ yeah..." Mio replied, somewhat bewildered. She followed behind Yoshi feeling a little anxious, making sure she stays in the center of the hall. She had lived through so much now and did not want to be killed after being saved because she got too close to a hallway.


    Yoshi looked back and let out a laugh seeing Mio acting so cautious. "Haha, relax. You see, When Eiji, Shogo, and I arrived, we were locked into cell rooms for a long time until Ai made the collar you saw being taken off me earlier. Those things could explode with a press of a button, taking our heads clear off. Ai is very cautious. Well, that was before her mutation. Now she could just flick our heads off if she so wished. Anyway, the halls for the girls and other major areas are all guarded with turrets. The room we went into early is one of the few areas with no turrets. If you plan to stay here, I suggest you get used to weird things¡ªsome of which you may find inhumane as well. I have a feeling when this rain ends. We will see quite a few prisoners."


    "Prisoners?" Mio asked. She was confused as to where these prisoners would even come from.


    "It''s like this. Ai and Mai are doing research on cybernetics. You saw Ai''s eye, right? Well, Mai is trying to help her develop a cybernetic eye in order to replace the one she lost. She lost it, saving Mai from one of those machines. In order to do that, she needs human eyes to test with. Which those two girls have no issues ripping out of people''s heads. But only those they deem as enemies." Yoshi watched how quickly Mio''s face paled and smiled. "Don''t worry. If she had such an intention for you, she would have locked you up by now."


    "I-I see..." Mio now had a deep fear of both Ai and Mai. Yoshi could also tell this, but he figured this might be good. Now maybe Mio will never overstep her bounds by accident.


    But Yoshi still felt bad seeing a girl like Mio scared like this. He used his big hand and placed it on top of her head, and rubbed it. "You will be fine, trust me. I may not have known her long, but Ai is not someone who kills at random. The guys she brought in last time were human traffickers. That is where the two little ones came from. She took them in after saving them."


    Mio blushed. She had never expected someone would treat her like a little kid the way Yoshi was. She glanced at Yoshi and smiled softly. ''Maybe being his wife would not be so bad...''


    ***


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 Chapter 109: Ai Is Still Ai

    The next morning came, and Ai woke up, sat up straight, and stretched her arms. Eiji was still sound asleep next to her. Ai noticed the small tent he was making under the blankets. She lifted the blanket up and took a peek to find his manhood had slipped out of his boxers, standing at attention. Ai didn''t even blush as she gave it a flick, put the covers back down, and crawled out of bed. She got some clothes and headed to the girl''s baths. On the way, she met up with Mai, who was also heading to the baths.


    "Oh, Ai! We need to settle Mio in today." Mai said she ran up to Ai.


    "Huh? Why? She is only here to keep Yoshi company. She is close to Yoshi in age, so she can keep him company. I said it before, right? Mio is only here to become Yoshi''s wife.." Ai said, not wanting to continue the conversation. She only brought Mio back to make sure the old man didn''t turn into a lolicon. He was always with the girls, and she worried he might turn into a monster at some point and attack the girls.


    Mai stared blankly at Ai and finally understood her, and Yoshi''s thinking was not wrong! Ai really intended for those to be together this entire time! "So she won''t be getting her own room?"


    "Why would she get her own room? Did I not tell Yoshi to take care of her? So he should use his charms and woo her. She will stay in his room. If she complains, kick her the fuck out. We are not a charity organization. I did not bring her back to be one of us. I do not have time to do such things. She is under Yoshi''s care. Yoshi will decide how to handle her. But no room will be given to her, and she will not be trusted to be going down any hallways where we all rest. So I will not be adding her into the biosensor database.


    "Mai, I said all along, it is not good to trust others. I may be trusting Yoshi and Eiji, but that is because they have proven their worth. But even now, I still watch out for signs that they may be doing something they should not. Well, not so much Eiji because he is more willing to jump out in front of me to take a hit than me needing to use him as a human shield. He proved that when he said yes to my crazy idea and turned into a mutant like me.


    "Only people who are willing to put down their life for you are worthy of my trust. This Mio girl stood by while her friend got blasted by a machina. Yes, she may have been horrified, but she didn''t even try to move to help her. I saw the whole thing. But even after saying all this, we need to worry about one thing as well¡ªthe human population. Me and you are too young to get pregnant. Hell, I am not sure if I can even reproduce anymore. But if Yoshi and that woman fuck and she gets pregnant, then you can finally get some practice on childbirth, and we can see how it will be to raise a kid in this fucked up world. Anyway, I said what I need to say on that." Ai finished her words, turned, and walked into the bathroom.


    Mai stood there staring at the door closing in front of her with a blank expression. Only after a few minutes did she realize a major flaw in her thinking recently. "She hasn''t changed at all!" That was right; Ai had only come to trust those she had been around for a while but only to a certain point. Once they acted in a way that seemed suspicious, Ai planned to kill them without a second thought! Mai had been too relaxed because they had been in the bunker living life in a more normal way. After seeing Ai opening up to Eiji, she thought Ai had really begun to change back to the friend she once knew, but she had been mistaken. Eiji had proved his worth to be treated as such. Ai treated Eiji no different than herself. But Ai was still distant from the others.


    Letting out a long sigh, Mai went to go take a bath as well. After her bath, she went to go find Yoshi, who was teaching the girls math in a small meeting room, with Mio at his side. "Yoshi, I talked to Ai, and ummm. Well¡­ Mio is to stay with you and can only walk around the areas without turrets. In other words, well, I am sure you may have guessed it already. Ai does not trust Mio, but she trusts you enough to look out for her also..." Mai walked over and whispered into Yoshi''s ear, her words causing his face to go black.


    "Is that her real intentions?" Yoshi asked. He did not like the idea, but he also knew Ai made a serious point. Humanity is probably on its last leg.


    "Yes, so well, think of it as an assignment. " Mai really had no other way of putting it. Ai was basically using Mio as a test subject for the well being of their future. Mai was also sure that if the base was attacked, Ai would not even try to protect Mio, leaving the woman to her own devices even if she was pregnant.


    Yoshi let out a long sigh. He looked at Mio and sighed again. "Alright, I will see what happens. Just tell Ai it won''t be any time soon. It all has to happen naturally. " Yoshi had his misgivings about it, but he wasn''t going to push Mio into anything either. He would try to get Mio to fall for him and then see how it all goes. He was someone who would follow orders given by his superiors, and to him, Ai was his superior. Her word was the final say in this base. If he had said he would not do it, Mio would most likely be tossed out into the radioactive rain to die. He knew Ai would not hesitate to get rid of someone she did not care for or trust.


    "Alright, I will..." Mio also let out a sigh. She glanced at Mio sympathetically before walking away. She now had nothing else to do with what happens to her.


    ***


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 Chapter 110: Ideas

    Ai and Eiji left the base and headed outside. The rain was still coming down just as heavy as before, making Ai frown. "Eiji, before we do anything with the machina''s, we will need to build a trench to allow the water a place to flow outside the base, or this place will become too radiated. We are probably already too late, but it is still worth a try. Also, strip, we can''t keep losing clothing to the radiation. I told Mai earlier to keep the cameras off and to keep all the shutters closed."


    Basically, all clothing they wore in the rain had to be tossed out. They couldn''t wash it in the base fear of contaminating everything else. "Are we really going to do this naked?"


    "What the hell are you so embarrassed about? Any human who is out in this right now except the two of us would have already melted by now. Eiji, you have to remember we have a limited supply of clothing. The more we contaminate, the less clothing we have to wear. So quickly strip. It''s not like I haven''t seen any of it before." Ai looked at Eiji and snorted as she finished taking her clothes off and walked out into the rain.


    Eiji quickly did the same, although he still felt very awkward about being outside in his birthday suit. "Eiji, what do you think? The ground runs at a slope by the east wall. So we have a small pond of radioactive water over there. If I am right, the reason why we do not have a massive pool of water covering the area is because of this slope. Should we make a large trench leading to the outside of the east wall? I am not too good when it comes to this stuff since I never had to deal with it."


    "Mmm¡­ I am not sure my guess is as good as yours, but we can try. We should also do something about the small craters from the traps you set up." Eiji replied.


    "Hmm. Yeah, I see they are all full too. We will need to do a good reading on the grounds when the rain stops. And mark off any danger zones clearly. I don''t want any of the others to get sick." Ai said as she looked around. She raised her head towards the sky, and it was just as dark as it was before. What worried her was that the clouds seemed to have stalled and were not moving. "Eiji, I think we will need to make another trip to the bunker after we set up stronger defenses."


    "Why do you say that?" Eiji asked.


    "Look at the clouds." Ai answered and pointed at the sky.


    Eiji looked up and realized what Ai meant. He pondered for a moment and an idea popped in his head that caused his face to pale. "You don''t think¡­."


    "It is exactly as you think. I think this is not natural. Something is causing the radiation storm to stay stalled and is also feeding it. Whatever it is, I do not know. But before we can even deal with it, we will need to make sure there is a decent supply of food for the others." Ai said as she looked at Eiji. Her eyes trailing down his body as she got a good look at him before locking on to a certain spot.


    "Ai, can you not stare at me like that," Eiji blushed. He could feel Ai''s eye burning a hole in his crotch. Of course, this was the reaction she wanted. Even in this kind of situation, she couldn''t help but tease him since he always gave the best reactions.


    "Sorry, sorry, I just figured I see if it would twitch or not. But I must say you are doing a good job of keeping your little buddy in check." Ai said jokingly as she began giving Eiji a golf clap.


    "Anyway, how are we going to transport everything back?" Eiji, not being to handle any more teasing, quickly changed the subject.


    "Ahh. you saw those shipping truck trailers on the highway, right? Well, I figure if we take one of those, we can fill it up with our stuff if we are careful not to get it wet. Plus, we can also take a good look to see what those trucks are carrying. If anything good, we can make a few runs and really stock up. I didn''t think of it until now, but this would be the best option." Ai had never really thought about moving the cargo trucks with tons of supplies in them to the base. Mainly because before she mutated, she thought it would be too risky of a task. But now, with Eiji''s help, they can take two or three of these trailers with all kinds of supplies with ease t the same time.


    "That is a good idea. We can also use the trucks to rebuild the walls around the base." Eiji suggested.


    "That is also a good idea." Ai hadn''t thought of that idea, but it was a decent idea. The base was really in ruins, and those trailers could be used for many things. But this sparked another idea for Ai as well. "We will also hit the ports! If I am not wrong, there should be a shipping container dock around here. Those containers should be filled to the brim. Plus, they are heavenly duty, which means we can even use them to fix the upper sections of the base. Eiji, you just gave me a lot of ideas!" Ai jumped on Eiji and hugged him, then kissed his lips. She wouldn''t have thought so far ahead if not for Eiji helping her. "Alright, let''s get to work!"


    ***


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 Chapter 111: Supplies And Rebuilding Part One

    "Okay, that should do it. It took a bit longer than I expected." Ai said as she wiped the water dripping down her forehead. Her hair was soaked and matted to her head. Green beads of water trailed down her skin as she stood there looking at her handy work in satisfaction.


    Eiji, on the other hand, was unable to look away from Ai. To him, her smile was just too captivating. "Eiji? I know you like staring at me, but we need to get back to work." Ai shook her head, walked over, and flicked a certain part of his body before walking away. Only when he felt the pain did he come back to his senses and blush from ear to ear.


    "Ahem.. what''s next!?" Eiji did his best to hide his embarrassment and chased after Ai.


    "We will take apart the big guy. We need to get the parts it uses to make a barrier. With how big this thing is, we can at least cover our main building. At least I hope" Ai answered as she hopped up on top of the new type machina. She bent down and, with her hands, ripped the top plating off, exposing the insides. She quickly found the two radio dishes that worked in tandem to create the barrier around the machina. "Eiji, see that there on the other side. Can you follow those wires to its power source and remove everything from the power source except the wires attached to the dish. I will be removing the dish on this side. Just be careful to break its container. If it gets wet, we lose the barrier''s power source."


    "On it." Eiji quickly went to work. With how heavy the rain was, it was not making the job easy. They had to be careful with not getting the wrong things wet, or it might short out the power source altogether.


    ---


    Inside the base, Mai was having issues of her own. Because Ai had given her the task of getting over her shyness, she was not sitting in her underwear in her room with Shogo sitting in front of her in the buff. "Ummm¡­ Mai, how long do we have to do this for?" Shogo was very uncomfortable. He kept his hands covering his manhood because he was not able to control what it was doing.


    "Ai said we will need to do this for two hours a day. Trust me; I know this is strange. I am very embarrassed myself but, Ai is right about the reasonings on why this must be done. We may need to abandon this base at some point in the future, and with that may come public bathing. You will see many women just trying to wash themselves, and if you stare too much, they may shoot you dead. Sadly Ai put me in charge of taking care of you, or you would not even get to see me in this state." Mai gritted her teeth. She hated this more than anyone, but she wanted to get over her shyness as well. She, for one, did not wish to be stuck being the only smelly one of the group if they ever had to become nomads.


    Shogo lowered his head and stared at the floor, his cheeks burning red. He did not know if he could handle doing this every day for two hours. Mai looked at him, furrowed her brow, and tossed a book at him. "Don''t look at the floor!" Although she did not want him looking, she also felt angry when he did not look! It hurt her pride as a woman!


    ---


    After almost four hours of work, Eiji and Ai had finally set up the barrier. "It covers more than I expected. Although I have no idea how long this power source will last. To be honest, until I open one of these up, I will probably never know. I will have to try to get my hands on one the next time I see a new type. Now, all that is left is to dismantle the weapons off of it and store the big weapons for now. We can take the smaller machina that have beam weapons and create some new weapons for everyone else. We have our work cut out for us today. Let''s gather what we can and place it under cover from the rain, and leave it out for a few days. Once we finish that, we will wash up, put on some clothes, and head back in."


    "I really would like to see what kind of damage a beam weapon will do to one of these machines." Eiji said excitedly.


    "Well, I am sure in time we will find out. I plan to leave these for now until I can make sure the metal can be cleaned of all the radiation on it. So we will do as we planned earlier. And begin bringing cargo trucks back." Ai said explained. She wanted to start rebuilding their walls. With the metal plating from the new type machina, she could even make a large metal gate on one side of the base.


    "Sounds like a plan, but Ai¡­ Do we need to walk around naked outside the base? Can we at least put some clothes on for that¡­ I mean, I feel weird just being out here like this, never mind running down a highway." Eiji scratched his head as he spoke. He felt embarrassed to even be saying all this.


    "Yeah, I was planning on it. You never know what we will find in these cargo trucks. People may even be hiding out in them. The last thing I want is to show up without anything on. I may not seem like I care who sees me like this, but in truth, I would prefer not to expose myself if I do not need to. If I had to take a shower in the rain or bathe in a river, I wouldn''t hesitate to strip, but for everything else, I would prefer to be clothed. The only reason we are out here like this now is because it would be a waste of clothes." Ai explained as he picked up a stack of machina.


    Eiji let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks..." In truth, he wasn''t so much concerned about himself but Ai. No man would want others seeing his woman in such a state if they could help it.


    ***


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 Chapter 112: Supplies And Rebuilding Part Two

    "So Eiji and I will be heading to the highway tomorrow to bring back supplies if they are still in the trailers of the cargo trucks." Ai announced. She had called a meeting to let everyone know what she was planning. "After that, Eiji and I will head back to the bunker with a cargo truck trailer in tow. And we will completely clean that out. Then depending on the weather, I may have Mai come with us as we go to the ports and get shipping containers. Not only will some of the containers have supplies, but we can use them to build our base up, so we are not just hiding underground. Any thoughts on this or anyone against it?"


    "No, I think this is a great idea. After the past few attacks, we have been stuck with mainly destroyed buildings. I fear before long; they will break into this section. If we really can rebuild this place, I am all for it." Mai answered excitedly. She had been hoping they could do something like this now that Ai was superhuman.


    "I''m all for it too." Yoshi said with a big smile.


    "Umm... I for that, but on a side note, Ai is there any way..." Shogo went to ask Ai if he could stop his special training only to quickly shut his mouth when Ai gave him a death glare.


    "You will continue until you can keep your little buddy from sprouting. Mai, take care of your dog, please." Ai said coldly.


    *Pfft!*


    Beside her, Eiji couldn''t hold back his laughter. He found Ai''s way of talking to be highly amusing. But he soon found him laughing, was not such a good idea. "Your no different, Eiji. Your little buddy is always sprouting. I worry for your future."


    "Ahem¡­ Err¡­ Ai, this is not my fault with how you tease me." Eiji tried to defend himself only to see Ai smile at him and reach over and flick his forehead. "Me teasing you is because it is fun. Do you not like it?"


    The way she licked her lips and put her hand on his thigh made Eiji want to cry. Seeing Eiji in such a state made Shogo feel a bit more relaxed. He was lucky Mai was not doing such things to him.


    Yoshi just let out a laugh saying: "Must be good to be young!" While Mio blushed. The two girls, on the other hand, were busy snacking away on the treats Mio made, not caring for anything else.


    "Now, last but not least, Yoshi, I am sure Mai told you what I said." Ai stopped teasing Eiji and went back to being serious.


    "Yeah, I have no problem with it, but it is not up to me how far it goes." Yoshi said warily. He still felt a bit uncomfortable about it all, but it was an order, and he was under Ai''s command.


    "Mmm¡­ I see. Then..." Ai turned to Mio, who was looking at Yoshi confused. "Mio, I did not bring you here to save your life. I am sure you realize that, right?"


    "Huh? Ah¡­ I think so..." Mio blushed.


    "That''s good then. Yoshi is a good guy. He will treat you right. So make sure you help with all his needs, do you understand?" Normally Ai would just bluntly say, ''you two are to fuck'', but she held back with the two young girls around.


    "Mmm¡­ I-I understand." Mio blushed ear to ear. She never thought she would be put in a situation where she would basically be forced into a relationship with someone. But she also did not want to leave this place. She knew Ai would not hesitate to toss her out to die. She also found Yoshi was very nice. So she was not completely against a relationship with him. She decided to think of it as a prearranged marriage.


    "Good, it is good we are all on the same page. Mai, Yoshi, the barrier will keep any attacks that are not from beam weapons from passing through it. Do not touch the pile of parts being dried under cover by the shelter door. They may still be radioactive. Eiji and I will head out tomorrow and will not come back until the next day. I plan to come back with more than two or three trailers. That is it for this meeting." Ai said as she stood up and stretched. She then grabbed Eiji''s hand and pulled him with her as she left the meeting room.


    "Sigh, those two." Mai shook her head and then looked at Shogo and frowned before walking out of the room. Shogo felt gloomy as he followed after Mai.


    All that was left in the room was Yoshi and Mio and the two girls. "Listen, Mio¡­ I''m sorry, Ai is pushy¡­ If you do not want this, just tell me, and I will speak to Ai..."


    "No, it''s fine. I do not mind, actually. I like this place and do not wish to have to leave. Plus, Yoshi, you are not a bad guy, so if it''s you, I do not think I will mind..." Mio said, blushing from ear to ear while fidgeting. "So tonight, ummm¡­ I will become yours..."


    Yoshi was surprised to hear Mio say that. He had thought she would be crying. But she accepted it so easily. He reached over and placed his hand on hers. She smiled and gripped his hand. The two just sat in silence, holding each other''s hand while waiting for the girls to finish their snacks.


    Ai dragged Eiji back to her room and closed the door. She turned and faced him, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed his lips. She let go of his hand and threw her arms around his neck as she deepened the kiss. After a few minutes of their saliva mixing together, Ai finally broke the kiss and smiled. "That is my apology for teasing you so much."


    ***


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 Chapter 113: Yoshi And Mio Combine (R-18)

    That night Ai clung on to Eiji and slept soundly. Mai, as always, slept alone in her room while Shogo slept leaning against her door, outside in the hall. In Yoshi''s room, he sat in his boxers on his bed, looking at the blushing girl in front of him. She wore a long white t-shirt that went down to just above her knees. Her black silky hair was down, and parts of it fell over her shoulder.


    Yoshi would be lying if he said he did not want to do this. But he was still a gentleman and asked: "Are you sure. It is not too late to go back. I can ask Ai if you would prefer not to go through with this."


    "No¡­ I made up my mind already. Unless Yoshi, you do not find me pretty enough..." Mio bit her lip; she was never one to praise her own looks. But to an outsider, she was indeed pretty. She still looked much younger than her actual age compared to Yoshi, who was much older than her.


    "There is no way someone as beautiful as you would not be pretty enough. I just wanted to make sure you were okay with being with an old guy like me. I mean, although there was no wedding, we will be considered married from now on." Yoshi explained as he watched as Mio walked over to him and placed a knee on each side of him as she sat in his lap facing him.


    "I know. I am fine with being married to you. Plus, I would not do this if I was not sure. " She blushed even more as she leaned in and kissed his lips. Yoshi''s restraint broke then and there as he wrapped his hands around her and pushed his tongue into her mouth. She let out a surprised squeal but did not try to push away.


    As they kissed, she felt Yoshi''s dick becoming hard. She made sure to position herself just right as she began grinding her pussy against it. She was actually surprised that she was much more aroused than she thought she would be. As a working woman, she had always lived alone and never had a boyfriend, meaning her hand was all she had. So this was her first time feeling a man''s manhood pressed against her special spot. It excited her and made her want to do more, and knowing that Yoshi was now her husband made her that much more daring.


    Yoshi felt the girl he was kissing grinding against him, making him grunt. He slowly began stripping Mio''s shirt off her. Up her thighs exposing her pair of white panties. Then her belly became exposed. When it got to her breasts, Yoshi was surprised that she was not wearing a bra. He broke their kiss and got her to raise her arms, pulling the shirt right up over her head. His eyes fell on her flawless white skin; peeling his eyes away, he leaned in once again.


    He kissed her neck as his hands found their way to her breast. He began massaging them slowly and gently. Mio''s soft moans filled his ears, allowing him to know she was really getting into it. She even picked up her pace as she grinded hard against his already throbbing dick. He kissed his way down to her chest and took her nipple into his mouth. Her breasts were not that big but enough for his hands to have something to play with.


    Finally, he used his free hand and trailed it down her stomach and between her legs. He felt how soaked her panties were and pressed hard against her clit, causing her to moan loudly. That was the last straw as he laid her down on the bed. Mio looked up at him, her eyes slightly watery as she bit her bottom lip. The expectation on her eyes was written as clear as day. He pulled down his boxers, finally freeing his manhood. He watched as her eyes fell on his dick with a look of lust and want in her eyes.


    He chuckled at this sight as he reached down and hooked his fingers on the waistband of her panties. She did not need him to ask as she lifted her butt, allowing him to take them off with ease. He positioned himself at her pussy entrance. He felt her hips moving up and down as the slit of her pussy rubbed against the tip of his dick.


    He leaned down and asked softly: "This is your first time?"


    "Mmm..." Mio whispered back shyly.


    "Then I will be gentle." Yoshi pushed his lips against hers and slowly pushed his dick in her. As he pushed past her hymen breaking it and taking her virginity, she let out a gasp of pain. He pushed his entire dick into her and stopped moving to allow her to get used to his dick that was invading her.


    "I''m fine. You can move." Mio smiled at Yoshi. She let out a gasp as Yoshi began moving in and out of her. As his pace sped up, the pain was slowly turning to pleasure, and before long, she was moaning softly with each thrust. She never felt anything like it before as Yoshi moved in and out of her.


    Yoshi saw Mio with her eyes closed, beginning to feel good, and smiled. He leaned down and kissed her lips. She flung her arms around his neck and locked her legs around his hips as she got lost in the pleasure. As time passed, Mio dug in her nails into Yoshi''s back as she had an orgasm. Her already tight pussy tightened on his dick, causing Yoshi to feel like he was about to burst. "Mio, I''m about to¡­"


    "Inside is fine. Ai said so, right. She wants to take care of all your needs. Since you said we are now married, then I must carry your baby as well." Mio did not care if anymore. If her job was to take care of Yoshi, then that meant becoming the mother of his children as well. She used her legs and pushed Yoshi''s butt towards her so that he would go deeper inside her. When she felt something warm filling her insides as Yoshi''s dick pulsating inside her, she smiled and kissed Yoshi''s lips. She had decided to be Yoshi''s wife, and now they had consummated their marriage.


    In such a fucked up new world, Mio, who thought she would be alone all her life, was now bound to a man she had only just met, gave him her virginity, and took in his seed. At first, she was willing to do it because she did not want to get kicked out. But after seeing how warm and Yoshi was to her about the whole thing. She felt marrying such a man was not bad. And now she could say she felt that maybe she might have fallen for this man.


    ***


    Sorry for the lack of chapters the past few days. Was busy with my new novel: Reborn As A Dragon Girl With A System

 Chapter 114: Plans In Motion Part One

    "Mmm..." Ai''s eyes parted; she was still slightly groggy. She looked up at Eiji, who was still asleep, and leaned up to kiss his lips before carefully moving his arm and slipping out of bed. She had found with Eiji sleeping by her side; she had been sleeping very well as of late. It was just something about him at her side, his body warmth, his presence alone that made her feel secure. Never in her life had she ever felt this way. Her past life was always filled with danger, but this life was completely different. The thing she never thought was possible actually happened. She had come to have romantic feelings for a man. She had always stayed clear of men as much as possible in her past life, but now things were different. She turned and gazed at Eiji''s sleeping face and smiled. "I really hope you never betray me..."


    After getting dressed, Ai walked back over to the bed and gave Eiji a flick on the forehead to wake him up. "Hmmm? Ai?"


    "Time to get up. We have to head out. We got a busy few days ahead of us." Ai replied, pulling the blanket off him. Ai raised an eyebrow as she looked at a certain spot that was also saying good morning as usual before going to the closet and getting Eiji a set of clothes and handing them to him."Hurry and get dressed."


    "Alright, give me a minute." Eiji said. He got up and stripped down. Something he had gotten used to without realizing it and got dressed. "Ai, what do you plan to do when things are running smoothly?"


    "Hmmm¡­ I want to complete my cybernetic eye. Research has stopped with everything that has been happening and no resources to test with. If we can, build this place up large enough and have the proper defenses. I might think about recruiting younger kids. We will need to hit the slave markets and do a little bit of hero work. Kids would be easier to train and less likely to turn against us. But that doesn''t mean I will not allow other adults to join. They will just need a collar, and only after they show they are trustworthy will I allow them to go without." Ai answered as she fixed Eiji''s shirt that was not tucked in.


    Eiji smiled and thought Ai was acting like a little wife. When she was done, he grabbed her hand, causing her to look up at him. "Oh? Mr. assertive today." She said jokingly.


    "Is it bad that I wanted to hold your hand?" Eiji asked. He knew he was pushing things, but still, he couldn''t resist her when she was acting so cute.


    "No, it''s fine. Just remember, though, there is a time and place for it all. Come, let''s go." Ai said as she leaned up and kissed his lips and pulled him along with her.


    The two walked through the base hand in hand. They walked past Mai''s room to find Shogo sleeping against Mai''s door. "This girl¡­ She makes her pet dog sleep outside¡­." Ai chuckled and continued down the hall heading to the meeting room.


    When the two arrived, Yoshi, Mio, and the girls were already eating breakfast. But when surprised Ai, was that Mio was sitting on Yoshi''s lap. "You two seem to be getting along well. Yoshi, does this mean mission accomplished?"


    "Mmm¡­ you can say that. Mio and I are now husband and wife." Yoshi said with a slight blush. His words making Mio blush from ear to ear.


    "Good. Mio, I hope to see a few little ones soon. Make sure you work hard, okay?" Ai said as she sat down and stretched. Eiji shook his head and sat down next to her.


    "I will..." Mio answered shyly.


    "Alright, today Eiji and I will be heading out. We will not be back until tomorrow. I need you to keep the place protected until we get back. We should have quite a few cargo trailers in tow. You can clean out Eiji''s room completely and knock an entrance to it from your bedroom. You can then begin getting it ready for when Mio finally gets pregnant. While Eiji and I are out gathering, we will be on the lookout for everything a baby may need. Also¡­ Yoshi, Mio, I want you two to adopt these two as your own. I know you have already have been taken care of them, but I think we should make it official and have the two girls become your daughters. What do you think?" Ai had planned to bring this up as long as Mio worked out, and seeing how it was working out just fine, she wanted to give the two young girls a family.


    "I am fine with that. I already see the two girls as my daughters anyway." Yoshi answered with a firm nod.


    "I do not mind either; they are both well behaved and cute." Mio had only known the girls for a few days, but she found them both to be very sweet.


    "Kuri, Ayase, are you okay with them becoming your new mom and dad?" Ai asked while smiling at the two girls.


    The two girls looked at each other and suddenly began tearing up, and they both nodded their heads, not saying anything. This made Ai smile even more. "Then go give them a hug." The two girls got up and ran over to Yoshi and Mio, hugging them tightly. Ai knew they needed a parent''s love. And Yoshi had already been trying to fill that role. Now it was official. They could now call Yoshi dad and Mio mom.


    "Ai, what''s going on?" Mai asked as she walked into the meeting room. Shogo trailing behind her.


    "Ah, Mai. Make room for Shogo''s stuff. He will be staying with you from now on." Ai''s words made Mai freeze. She looked at Ai with a very complex expression.


    ***


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 Chapter 115: Plans In Motion Part Two

    "What, Ai!?" Mai immediately woke up from her groggy state and looked at Ai with wide eyes. She didn''t expect that first thing in the morning, she would be told to share her room with the mutt who followed her all over the place.


    "Mai..." Ai looked at Mai, who blushed and walked over to her and whispered in her ear.


    "Do I have to?" Mai whispered.


    Ai sighed as she whispered back. "Do you hate him that much? To be honest, he is quite cute and is very faithful to you."


    "It''s not that I hate him or anything¡­. I mean¡­ well¡­ Fine¡­ But I won''t do anything with him¡­ and he has to bring a cot in, to sleep on." Mai''s cheeks were red, just thinking about sharing a room with a boy. This meant at night, she would be sleeping with Shogo in her room.


    "You will do fine. This is also why I left his collar on. If he tries to do something you do not like, just activate it. I am not asking you to do anything that you can''t. But you realize he sleeps outside your room every night guarding your door. That has to account for something, right?" If this was any other time, what Shogo was doing could be considered disturbing, but Shogo slept with his back against the door and a gun in his hand. He had taken Ai''s order for him to protect Mai very seriously.


    Ai had noticed this and could tell Shogo liked Mai. And Mai did not seem to reject him being around her. She would punch him and kick him, but there was always a smile on her face as she did it, and she never hit him hard. Only for these reasons was she trying to pair them up. Ai had come to trust every one of the people in the base except for Mio. Something she never thought would happen. But the way they all did things proved to Ai that they were worthy of her trust, and not once did they try to harm anyone within the base or try to throw them out to be killed. Plus, she had faith in Eiji''s judgment.


    "Okay, so it''s settled. Without further ado, Eiji and I will be taking off." Ai said as she stood up.


    Eiji also stood up and walked over to Shogo. "Don''t do anything stupid. If you do, I will kill you myself. Mai is Ai''s sister, and Ai is my woman. That makes Mai my sister as well. So if you hurt her in any way, I will not hesitate to kill you, do you understand?"


    Shogo almost cried out in pain because Eiji gripped his shoulder hard. He did his best to hold it in and nodded his head. "I understand. I wouldn''t want Mai mad at me either, so I won''t do anything stupid."


    "Good." Eiji said, letting go of Shogo''s shoulder. Ai walked by and grabbed his hand, pulling him along with her.


    Mai walked over to Shogo, who was rubbing his shoulder, and let out a sigh. "Come on, let''s go clean out your old room and get your stuff to my room."


    "You''re not against this?" Shogo asked.


    "Mmm¡­ What do you think?" Mai said as she walked off, not letting Shogo see the slight smile on her face.


    ---


    Outside the base, Ai watched the shutter close behind her and stretched her arms. "We will be busy these next few days. Are you ready?"


    "As ready as I can be." Eiji got a little courageous and hooked his arm around Ai''s waist and leaned in for a kiss.


    Ai smiled and gave him a peck on the lips, then pushed him away. "No time for that, let''s get going."


    Eiji nodded, and the two headed off. Inside the base watching the camera, Yoshi shook his head. "Looks like the kid was able to win the girl''s heart."


    "What do you mean?" Mio asked.


    "That kid fell in love with her at first sight. He even pulled a bunch of those damn machines away so she could take over this base without even speaking to her. If not for that girl being as crazy as she was setting off all kinds of explosions, Eiji, Shogo, and I would not be here today."


    "Well, they say love is something you can not stop." Mio said with a smile as she hugged Yoshi.


    "That is very true." Although he had a smile on his face, Yoshi had a touch of sadness in his eyes. He still couldn''t forget about his wife and child who died to the machina.


    ----


    "This is it?" Mai asked as she looked at the four sets of clothes in Shogo''s hands.


    "Yeah. I didn''t want to waste any of the resources, so I kept everything I used to the minimum." Shogo answered.


    Mai was surprised that Shogo was actually going this far for the base. Even Eiji and Yoshi had much more than this. "Shogo, come." Mai said as she grabbed his hand, pulling him along. Her actions surprised Shogo and made his cheeks grow red.


    She pulled him right to the stock room and began piling stuff into his arms. "You need these things. When your clothes get worn, ask Yoshi for more. When you run out of daily items, just come get some¡ªno need to deprive yourself. I will be clearing out a spot in my well our room for you to place your things. No more sleeping outside the door. You can sleep inside, okay?"


    Shogo nodded and softly smiled. Seeing him smile made Mai smile as well. "As for our training that Ai has told us to do. We will be doing it at night from now on. Since we are living together, we can read a book or something together, okay?"


    "Yes..." Shogo did not know what to make of the situation right now, but he felt Mai was acting much friendlier to him, which made him happy.


    "Good, now let''s go clean up my room a bit. We need to make you a spot."


    ***


    If you are not reading this at [W.e.b.n.o.v.e.l .c.o.m.], then the content you''re reading is stolen! Please support the author at [w.w.w.w.e.b.n.o.v.e.l.c.o.m./.b.o.o.k./ito-ai-a-new-dawn_17791889705928505] remove periods from address since some sites monitor warnings like this.

 Chapter 116: Gaining Supplies Part One

    Ai and Eiji took their time making their way to the highway mainly because they were checking radiation levels and marking the best path to bring the trails through. By the time they made it to the highway, the sun was already starting to set behind the clouds. "What should we do?"


    "No sense in trying to bring the trailers back today. We can sleep for the night but with our soaked clothes..." Ai looked down at herself. Her shirt and shorts were sticking to her body, soaked from the radioactive rain.


    Eiji thought for a moment and looked around. There were mainly cars and regular trucks around them except a few box trucks. There was not a single SUV around, which would make sleeping easier for them. "We can use the box truck over there. Depending on what is in it, we can always toss the items out and make camp inside."


    "Alright, let''s go with your plan." Ai nodded, and the two headed off towards the truck.


    Eiji broke the lock on the back and lifted the door. Inside was full of boxes and furniture. "Seems to be a moving truck."


    "Is there a bed!?" Ai''s eye''s lit up as she quickly climbed up and pulled a few boxes out of the way.


    In no time at all, they had cleared out the truck of everything except a bed with a mattress, a set of blankets. They also kept a large rack to lay their clothes on. Eiji even broke some of the furniture to make a fire and bent out the rear door to make a kind of awning to keep the rain from putting out the fire. "This should work."


    "Mmm!" Ai was already stripping her wet clothes off and lining them up on the rack near the fire to allow them to dry. Eiji poked at the fire a bit before doing the same thing.


    To make things a bit more cozy, Ai took the blanket off the bed and wrapped it around herself, and sat down next to the fire. "Eiji, come sit."


    Eiji did as she asked, and Ai wrapped the blanket around him. She then snuggled up close to him, and the two sat watching the fire. "Days like this are not bad."


    "As long as I can spend my days with you every day is not bad," Eiji said as he wrapped his arm around Ai''s waist. His words made Ai smile. She leaned her head up and kissed his lips.


    The next morning Ai opened her eyes and looked outside. The rain was still coming down  as usual. The road itself was nothing but a small stream now. She got up and shook Eiji before stretching and climbing out of bed. After their clothes dried, they got dressed and went right to bed because they knew they had a lot to do today.


    "Eiji, get up," Ai said, shaking Eiji once more.


    "Alright, I''m up." Eiji reluctantly said as she got up. His cheek still had a red handprint on it. It seemed he had gotten a little too frisky during their kiss last night¡ªthe side of the box truck and a dent in it the shape of a human.


    The two got out of the truck, and the rain once again began soaking their clothes. "You take the right side, and I will take the left. Check the back of the trailers before adding them to the train. If there are people inside, which I highly doubt, secure them for Mai so she can use them for her research. If there are dead people, toss them out."


    "What if the people are women and children?" Eiji asked.


    "If kids, they can be trained. If it is women¡­ they can be used for research. " Ai actually did not know what she would do if it were only women and females in one of the trucks. But she highly doubted anyone would be alive if they hid inside one of these trailers.


    Eiji just shrugged and went to work. It did not matter what the trailers were carrying. All that mattered was the trailer itself could be put to use. In half a day, they had already lined up thirty trailers. Eiji and Ai were taking the trailer hitches and using their inhuman strength to bind them end to end.


    "That should be good for today; let''s head out," Ai announced. Today''s haul was not bad; they had found many trailers with clothing, canned goods, and other daily items. There were also trucks with furniture and appliances. Most of which were not needed, but their parts could be put to use for other things.


    When they made it back to the base, Ai and Eiji washed up before setting up a method for unloading the supplies they needed immediately. "Ai, are you sure this will be safe?"


    "You''re all wearing radiation suits. Just don''t rip them on anything. Eiji and I even made a ramp leading to the truck. We will slide the boxes to you. Each box will be checked to make sure they are within safe radiation levels for you to handle. The contents inside should be perfectly fine, though." Ai replied. She did her best to make sure everything would be safe for the others to help them unload.  The boxes would be unloaded by Eiji and Ai, while Mio and Yoshi would receive them and rip the tops off. From there, Mai would take out the contents and put them on a cart that the two little ones would then push into the base, dump them into one of the rooms and then bring the cart back. Although it was not the most efficient way of doing things, it was still better than trying to carry one back at a time.


    ***


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 Chapter 117: Gaining Supplies Part Two

    The process of moving every trailer they could find back to the base took a week to accomplish. In total, they brought back over three hundred trailers, and each trailer was either used for storage or used as part of the building blocks of the new walls that will surround the base.


    After a long week, instead of moving right away to head back to her home to her underground bunker to get her things, Ai decided to spend the night at the base to relax a little. Ai was currently sitting with Mai in the meeting room, drinking a cup of tea. "I haven''t had green tea in so long!"


    "We were lucky there was an entire truck of it." Mai replied as she took a sip of her tea as well.


    "So Mai, how are you and Shogo doing?" Ai asked. Her question bringing a blush to Mai''s cheeks.


    Mai had never expected that spending the past week with Shogo in the same room day and night would bring about so many different things. They had moved their training from just sitting in their underwear to wearing nothing at all. So now, every night, they would see each other in the buff. But this had also brought the two of them closer together. It only took a few days for them to be comfortable enough to sit next to each other when naked. But last night, something else happened.


    ---


    The previous night¡­


    Mai walked into her room in her pajamas after coming from the bathes. Shogo was already back and stripped down to his underwear. Upon seeing Shogo, Mai remembered what Ai had told her as she said: "Ai said there will be one more load by tomorrow morning, but most of it will probably end up staying on the trailer."


    "Finally, we can relax for a few days then. Those two may have been mutated, but they have to remember that we are still normal humans..." Shogo whined as he rubbed his muscles. He was sore from head to toe with the nonstop unloading.


    Mai let out a laugh as she stripped down to her underwear and walked over to Shogo, who was sitting on the edge of the bed. She climbed up and moved behind him, and began massaging his shoulders. Shogo let out a relaxed sigh and closed his eyes, leaning his head back against Mai''s chest. Mai looked down at Shogo''s relaxed expression and smiled. She gazed at his face from his eyes to his nose, then to his lips. She remembered seeing Eiji and Ai kissing, which made her wonder what it was like, and before she knew what she was doing, she was already leaning down, pushing her lips against Shogo''s.


    ---


    Mai snapped out of her small daze and nodded her head. "We are doing fine." There was no way she could tell Ai that her and Shogo''s relationship had already become one of boyfriend and girlfriend. Although their kiss only lasted a short time, it made Mai understand her feelings for Shogo. And last night, they had officially become a couple. But with that came more awkwardness, and now they were back to wearing clothes. Although after they did get changed into clothes, they ended up cuddling together and talking for most of the night until finally falling asleep in each other''s arms.


    "Then that''s good. Just remember, don''t cross the line." Ai said with a knowing smile. She could tell something happened between the two. She had known Mai her entire life, and there was no way she could hide anything from her.


    Mai blushed and pursed her lips before asking: "How do you and Eiji stay so calm? I mean, the way you two are, you would expect..."


    "Mmm¡­ I think Eiji just doesn''t want me to walk away from him if he went too far. Originally I never actually planned to be with anyone because death was always around the corner. But now Eiji is like me, so I am not so worried about that. Even still, we do not do much more than kiss and cuddle. As long as you do not go past this and restrain your natural instincts for a few years, your hearts will grow closer. At least, this is my take on it. Plus¡­" Ai leaned forward and whispered into Mai''s ear: "If you keep him from getting what he wants most even though it is in front of his eyes, wouldn''t he be wrapped around your finger and willing to listen to your every command? It''s kinda like raising a dog."


    Mai couldn''t help but laugh out loud and feel sorry for Eiji. "I understand this much, but even I get curious, you know."


    "Well... if you ever get to the point where you think you will cross the line, just make sure you are protected. I will not tell you what to do. But I will ask you to wait at least two more years." Ai could only do so much. She knew when things happened, it happened. She, too, had these thoughts many times but restrained herself.


    Mai smiled and nodded her head, agreeing with Ai: "I will keep this all in mind."


    Night came, and Ai and Eiji were lying in bed. Ai was resting her head on Eiji''s chest absentmindedly playing with his belly button. "Eiji, we will be heading back to my old bunker again tomorrow. After we return, we will be heading south. We will be very busy. Soo¡­."


    Ai rolled on top of Eiji and pushed her lips against his. Eiji reacted in kind, and the two began kissing. To him, if his girl wanted to kiss, he would kiss!


    ---AN: Just, so you all know. I will be alternating this novel with a few of my other novels, so it will be getting updated more. I apologize for the long wait. I have been concentrating on my two newest novels The Trinity System and Reborn As A Dragon Girl With A System. ---

 Chapter 118: Four Years Of Dormancy

    The next day Ai woke up to find herself held in Eiji''s arms. She smiled and lifted her head, and kissed Eiji''s lips. She then got up out of bed and got a set of clean clothes, and got dressed. On the other side of the base Mai also woke up and found herself in someone''s embrace. Shogo''s eyes were still tightly closed. They were both fully clothed, but last night they had fallen asleep in each other''s arms.  Mai blushed as she quickly went to get up but stopped as she gazed at Shogo''s face. She couldn''t hide her smile as she slowly snuggled back up next to him. He was her first boyfriend. She remembered how Ai always told her that love could lead to heartache. Whether it was betrayal or due to watching your loved one die in front of you. She decided since she may not have long with Shogo, if things got bad and either one of them or both died, she would take this time and enjoy the moment. With these thoughts in mind, Mai closed her eyes and took in Shogo''s scent as she went back to sleep.


    Ai, on the other hand, woke Eiji up and made him get dressed so they could head out. Eiji was half asleep as he was pulled along by Ai out of the base. Ai looked at the new neatly stacked trailers lining the walls of their base and smiled. "Come, let''s head back towards my old bunker. I want to get the things there."


    "Alright..." Eiji said with a yawn. He didn''t understand how Ai was so energetic after keeping him up half the night kissing him. He almost lost control many times. He realized after last night that Ai was addicted to kissing him. This, of course, made him happy. He just wished he had the nerve to take it past kissing.


    Their journey to the bunker went without issue. Ai and Eiji had filled up a trailer with all the items, and Ai sealed off the bunker for good. She stood in front of her parents'' graves and said a few words before returning back to the base. After which, Ai decided to see if the radioactive rain would stop but even after a month, it still continued. Ai and Eiji even had to go out and create a reservoir for the excess water so that it would not floor the base. Luckily the rain was much lighter, but it was still coming down.


    In the end, Ai and Eiji ended up going to the shipyard by themselves and returning with many containers in tow. Their continuous stockpiling of resources and building up of the base continued. Four years passed by quickly, and one thing Ai realized during this time was that no matter where she went, she never saw any machina. It was as if they were trying to avoid her, or they had just disappeared altogether. Even the base was not attacked at all during this time. But during these four years, they had built a pretty impressive base. With its box-like construction, they had built a base that was almost seven stories tall, with many automatic turrets lining the watchtowers.


    Inside the base, Ai was currently blindfolded and being led by Eiji. "Where are we going?"


    "Wait and find out." Eiji led her down the hall and into a room that had its lights out. Eiji then took the blindfold off Ai. Ai blinked a few times with her good eye  to have the lights turn on to see everyone standing there, and hanging from the ceiling was a banner that said: "Happy birthday!"


    Ai''s eyes opened wide, and she looked up at Eiji with a confused look. Eiji smiled and said: "Over the past four years, you have done nothing but work. You have built us a place we can finally call home. And during these past few years, we never once got a chance to celebrate your birthday. So Ai, happy eighteenth birthday!"


    Ai blushed. She was not used to these things, but she was really happy. She hugged Eiji and stood on her tiptoes, and kissed his lips. "Her and Eiji''s bodies did not grow much. She only looked about sixteen, and Eiji only looked around seventeen. But in reality, Eiji was now twenty, and she was now eighteen.


    Ai looked around at everyone here and smiled as she said: "Thank you."


    Their little group had grown a little over the past four years. No one new was taken in, but Yoshi and Mio had two kids, and unexpectedly Mai and Shogo had a child as well. Kuri was now fourteen, and Ayase was twelve. So their small family had expanded to eleven people.


    The radioactive rain outside had turned into a radioactive mist the past year. Although the skies were still cloudy, it did look as if that maybe this spell of rain was finally going to break. Once it did, Ai wanted to go hunting for test subjects so she could finally test the eye she had crafted.


    Mai smiled as she walked up to Ai, giving her a hug. "Happy birthday! Now when are you going to give me a niece or nephew?"


    Ai let out a laugh and looked at Eiji: "Mmm¡­ Maybe soon. I know after four years of not being able to lay a hand on me other than kissing that Eiji is probably at his limit."


    "You really know how to torture him."  Mai said, giving Eiji a look of pity.


    "Well, unlike someone who goes and gets pregnant a year after getting a boyfriend, I think I am doing all right. I didn''t think my shy little sister would be the first one to jump on her man''s dick."  Ai said, raising an eyebrow. Mai blushed from ear to ear. She couldn''t help what had happened. They were just talking and kissing before she knew it; one thing led to another, and they ended up doing it. "Anyway, let''s eat this cake before it goes bad."


    ---


    Faraway in a large factory inside a large warehouse deep underground. Millions of metal figures shaped like humans could be seen reflecting in the dim lighting. All of a sudden, a loud buzzing sound was heard, and the metal figure''s eyes all lit up at once. The ceiling above began to shake as sparks flew all over. The ceiling began to part, and the floor under the metal figures began to shake and slowly begin to rise up towards the ceiling.


    A new wave of Machina that Ai had never seen before was about to spread out over the land...