CHAPTER 4

“So there’s no food anywhere, reducing our chances of survival unless we kill somebody.” Grace explained to herself right after closing the refrigerator's door, standing in a fancy supermarket with all emptied fridges. “I like that…” She smiled, with a twisted, seductive expression.

Now that she turned around, her face looked eerily calm and sweet as if there was something new that she had found out recently. Like a girl with a new doll, something to play with for at least a little while. 
Afterwards, Grace was seen at the entrance of the supermarket, looking at the street from right to left to see if the other lady was somewhere around. Then, staring at a brown wall with advertisings of a commercial center, including a lusty woman for a shoes store, the warrior turned upset. Approaching slowly while holding her katana in her right hand, she stood right in front of the picture of the red silk dressed woman with long and straight red hair. 
“Where did you go...? ~” She mumbled while lifting her sword to the top left and violently slashing the picture down to the right. She wanted to find the other swordswoman whom she had seen before, so she decided to walk away to her right and leave the shattered poster behind.

Soon, Grace found the others, all stupefied, dumbed, incredulous, nailing their gazes at Saguchi’s headless body. Behind a parked truck, not even bothering to hide herself very well, she grinned and analyzed them; none looked dangerous. A silly woman with a cellphone, a young police officer perhaps her age, maybe the Tae-kwon do teacher? The three of them scared to death. No. Definitely not worth her time. The other blonde with the katana looked more dangerous than all of these morons together. Her eyes showed no remorse but determination. Grace wanted to fight her and to kill her. Wasting her precious time with those idiots wouldn’t be any fun at all.

“W-Who are you…?” Nova managed to ask, looking towards Grace.

Gardon and Jaqueline looked that way too, but couldn’t find any words whatsoever to spit out of their mouths.

This was not a dream. Was this a nightmare?

This was real. Saguchi was dead. The yakuza guy, Argento, had been freed.

“You people are weak.” Grace replied.

“S-So you’re one of us… Please, stay. I want to talk to you.”

“You’re also boring, not worth my time.”

“Wait! I’m a police officer. Don’t go. We need to find every single person involved in this and I need your assistance.” Nova sheathed her gun and approached to her.

Gardon followed with his eyes only. Jaqueline was still extremely scared to move at all.

“Have you seen another blonde around here? She uses a katana, too.” Grace, turning her back on them, inquired.

“No, I haven’t. May I ask your name? I am officer Nova D…”

“I don’t give a shit. Bye.”

Grace jumped over the truck and landed on the other side. When Nova reached the point, she was nowhere to be seen. And before she tried to look for her, a child’s yell destroyed the possibility.

“Holy crap!” The kid said at Saguchi’s decapitated corpse.

Allen Reen, a fat, idiotic, disgusting bully from whatever elementary school. Brown tousled hair, green eyes, yellow t-shirt, gray shorts, white tennis shoes… At first sight, he looked like a normal kid. But that repulsive face of his, that ridiculous and annoying laughter, gay-ish contortions on his neck and round stomach, Allen was a very horrible child. And there he was, this imbecile, staring graciously at the corpse. Nova hurried back while Gardon tried to block the kid’s view.

As for Jaqueline… She had lost her mind, engulfed in a panic attack. She yelled, finally, horrified, and turned around, ready to explode in a quick run.

“Wait, hold on!” Nova shouted but Jaqueline’s horror screams distorted the sound as she left in a hurry.

“Let her go. We have to take care of him.” Gardon reprimanded.

Nova stopped.

“You’re right…” Still she worried, looking over at the distance beyond the parking lot, hoping to find Jaqueline soon.

“Let’s find a safer place and talk things out. We seem to be the only sane people in this place as of now.”

Gardon was right. Saguchi was nuts and he was dead. Argento was gone, Jaqueline was hysterical and that other blonde girl with the headphones, she seemed even more sinister and crazier than all others. Nova and Gardon were, as a matter of fact, the only ones who could protect the stupid rat child named Allen.