Kenpachi looked out upon the devastated town laid out before them, leaned upon the port-side railing of the ship as he listlessly gazed upon the ruins, the past destruction altogether pronounced under moonlight - but what was worse was the sheer, dead silence from the town before them, but a few kilometres before them... He idly clicked his tongue, pushing himself up from his folded arms as he thought back on the events that brought them here...

============================
Three weeks ago...
============================
Location: Loguetown Marine HQ, Classified Room

Kenpachi stepped into the haze-filled room, the thin veneer of smoke maintained by the man opposite him, who took a slow drag of the cigarette as his company entered, giving a gentle exhale when the veritable titan closed the door shut behind him...
"It seems the situation at Toshino didn't end as expected..." The beshadowed figure intoned calmly, gesturing with his hand for Kenpachi to take a seat - the captain obliging if mostly for a sense of getting the conversation over with...
"Ye could say that... ye could also say it went t'smoke an' Hell, too, fer all th'shit that went off-plan..." He grumbled, not getting much of a reaction from his superior...

No, if anything there might have been a slight narrowing of the eyes, followed by a short period of uncomfortable silence... before a brief, ever-so-small nod as he extinguished his cigarette, leaning back in his seat as he exhaled the last of the poisonous fumes...
"... So the reports say - however, I believe we've salvaged some useful intelligence out of the debacle, your decision to spare one Nemako Uematsu has proven most fortuitous... T&I didn't even have to get very rough for him to explain what little he may have been hiding, past what he readily confessed..." He spoke - quite calmly considering the particularly forboding topic...
Kenpachi's brow raised, an impatient tenseness in his shoulders even as he tried to appear relaxed... before he stopped caring, anyway...
"... So th'hell d'y'need me for asides? I figured th'bigwigs'd be squabblin' about how t'crush the latest band o'rebels that'd holed up in who knows where...?" He grunted out, annoyed at the continued talk when, by past examples at least, the next few weeks, or probably months, were liable to be filled with unnacountable amounts of discussion - or more specifically, how they'd best make an example to try and deter more rebellion.

The beshadowed man gave a quiet sigh, pulling another cigarette from his coat pocket, moving to light it as he spoke again;
"And therein lies the issue... that is in fact the case, but with the information we've been granted, it's likely that Toshino Harbor was simply a forward testing site for this... weapon of there's that wouldn't garner any unwanted attention - that you and your division decided to use it as a place to... cut teeth, as it were, simply forced their hand - it's likely we're already too late to stop subsequent attack plans they're likely to have - and with that in mind, none of us can rely on a unanimous decision to come in time..." He spoke, voice unwavering as he lit the cigarette, taking a shallow drag... the implication was slowly becoming clear... this wasn't simply a minor rebellion that could be quashed in the space of a few weeks... they were staring in the face of another Civil War in the Blue Seas.

Kenpachi's eyes narrowed a bit, sitting up as he stared across the room towards him, ponderously...
"... Ye've got somethin' in mind, then...?"

The man gave an exhale as he breathed out more of the toxic smoke...
"Perhaps... but I don't think it need be said...

Time is of the essence - And something we decidedly lack."

======================
Current Day.
======================

Kenpachi rumbled frustratedly as he turned to go back to his room... they'd been late... now all that could be done was try and find clues on where to go next... They'd have to start investigation in the morning...

"An' if we get there t'find a smokin' pit...?"

"Obvious, isn't it...? Find out where to go next. No sense wasting their sacrifice..."

-------------------------------

The next morning was a sad affair as the ship slowly sailed into port, though the greeting was one of silence, as old embers smoldered on still-simmering timbers, and the foul scent of that horrid miasma filled the air, much too soon to memory for many of the division members than they would enjoy remembering... Still, it had apparently either been turned off, or simply allowed to run it's course... likely the latter, judging by the grizzly sights in some of the windows...

Kenpachi strode to the front of the pack, getting ready to walk down the gangplank, looking over the destruction, now better-seen in the light... the whole thing sent a bitter taste in his mouth... the way that many of these people had died... he shook his head... it just wasn't right - normally, he was accustomed to the sight of death, but this... even his stomach churned a little, how deathly silent it all was...

He gave a half-turn towards his gathered division, giving them a slow once-over, before he began to speak...
"... You all know why we're here..." He began, gaze going back to the ruins before them... "... Look for survivors, but don't expect anything better than back at Toshino... still - report immediately if any sign of the Tiger Lillies is found, or where they might be headed next... Move out." He finished, stepping down onto the port...

Nonetheless... even the sharpest-eyed of them wouldn't notice the quiet gazes from the shadows... they wouldn't move yet, no... Time wasn't right... voices were too many, yes... better to wait...

“…It’s too quiet…”

Kali stared out at the wreckage, standing apart from the others. She never really fit into the line of officers that stood so in harmony at meetings. She was always a bit away, her presence only announced by the minor cough she still carried from their earlier mission. She was having trouble shaking it off; none of the doctors could understand it, though she had a bit of an inkling…not that she would tell any of the doctors the reason she thought it still remained. Or anyone, for that matter.

But even with her occasional cough, and the captain’s speech, the place was giving her the shivers with how quiet it was. There wasn’t any point in docking, really. There was nothing left. Anyone with half a brain could see that. How could there be survivors, or really even clues, in something so…

She shuddered again. Yes, far too quiet. She would have to watch herself, maybe take a break. Keep her book and picture close to her if she needed a wake-up call. And surely if the captain could see that she wasn’t quite…herself, she could be excused for a few minutes.

Keeping her eyes focused intently on the ground, she began to walk down the gangplank. She was doing her best not to stare at the wreckage at large, concentrating on a rock, a bit of wood, a splinter of rubble. Taking it in all at once so quickly wouldn’t be good. The darkness wasn’t helping her either…she had to shut her eyes once or twice and retreat for a moment, pausing off to the side and taking a small breath before continuing onto the main town road off the port.

“…I don’t like this…” she whispered…but even through that she forced herself on. It was all for a cause, in the end…not obeying orders here could someday mean trouble…so long as she could just keep herself out of trouble here, where everything was non-threatening and already destroyed and…and so quiet…so terribly quiet…

When they arrived, it had been like a bloodless slaughter, people dead in the streets, small trails of smoke blowiing up towards the heavens, while a deadly silence hung in the air. all in all, it was a grisly sight, even Masamune, who was used to seeing people's skin being dissolved from their bones, was affected, though instead of nausea he felt anger.

The man clenched his hand tightly, silently vowing to hunt these pirates down, whereever they may hide. As he walked down the gangplank he thought he could see something moving in the shadows, but before he could check it was gone, he figured it was just his mind playing tricks on him.

Masamune decided to check the worst parts, saving the others the trouble of dealing with the nausea-inducing sights. These people had not only been taken down by the gas but had been slashed up afterwards, like they were pigs, ready to be slaughtered, Masamune could only grit his teeth in anger, heading towards the houses to look for survivors.

Getsuei shook his head as he left the ship, shortly after Masamune had done the same. To be quite honest, the swordsman wasn't too happy with this assignment. Their last trip at least was based off "fight some pirates", now it seemed to have turned into; "Search for survivors, which most likely don't exist, from the attack of the villains of last time." And simply walking around a town that had been attacked wasn't exactly Getsuei's favourite thing. Justice was. And they wouldn't be able to bring whoever did this to justice, because he was long gone. And everything they would find would just be victims. Victims which they wouldn't be able to help.

However, there was one more thing that slightly bothered the marine; Why had the 45th, under command of Kenpachi, been sent to do this, and not another division? One that was less big and less made-to-fight. Without doubt a decision from the higher ups, because Kenpachi didn't seem like a captain to volunteer for a mission like this.

But for now, Getsuei could do little else but wonder about their exact reasons for being here. After all, he DID have an objective; scout the area for (mostly like non-existing) survivors. So that was what he did.

Getsuei simply walked around the place, doing what was asked of him; looking for survivors. But like he had expected, all he could find where people who had fallen victim to the gass that had almost taken out the 45th Divison themselves just a while back. It was horrible to see, and made Getsuei previous feelings of anger reawaken. Nonetheless, he kept looking, if only in the hope he could actually find someone responsible for this and deliver some justice where justice was due.

Kenpachi strode through the streets, along with a small group of his men (including the recently recovered, and recently promoted Sergeant Wilhelm... how he survived *exploding* wasn't entirely certain, but that alone had earned the man a promotion, if nothing else) Searching primarily for survivors... he snorted, rubbing his nose as he glanced into a ruined window... the smell of that foul miasma was still in the air after what looked to have been more than a week of it being gone... A horrid, pungent mix of mildew, sulphur and soured dairy hung in the air - though thankfully faint; it was still nonetheless abbhorant to his nostrils...

He moved to enter a door, only to find the handle locked... he grunted, pulling the door from it's hinges and placing it aside before he entered, closely followed by his company... what greeted them was a gruesome sight...
The door had likely been locked in a vain attempt to keep out the smoke, from the looks of it... bodies huddles together in a sad group in the far corner of the room - skin necrotically blackenned and somewhat swollen from the foul plague, just like the victims outside... though from the looks of it, they'd suffered longer, in silence...
Wilhelm looked on, teeth grit in quiet, sorrowful anger... "... The hell kind of monster does this to people...? This was a family... there's children in here...!" He growled out, frustratedly aware that his anger was ultimately impotent... his fists were clenched tightly together, simply staring at the sad, broken remains of what had once been a family... he was broken from his thoughts when a giant hand settled on his shoulder, Kenpachi giving him a look...
"I know... There ain't anythin' y'can do fer 'em now, Sergeant... Best we can do is make sure they didn't die fer nothin' fer now... Try an' keep that thought." He spoke, gaze turning back towards the exit... "...Check for any other clues here before movin' on... Wilhelm - take half th'group and head towards the East end... if you find any other groups, grab 'em, too..." He quietly spoke, stepping out of the room, half the marines from the original party leaving with him, leaving the Sergeant to carry out his orders as he left towards the North sector of town...

===========================

Toshiro clung to the shadows as he searched the abandoned homes of residents for clues or information, and quietly paying his respects to those poor souls he came across who'd shuffled off their mortal coil... which was depressingly common - the gruesome state they were in only illuminated the fact that these madmen had to be stopped, by any means necessary...

He gently closed the eyes of another victim - mostly out of respect, but... the milky whites their eyes had turned was deeply unsettling to even him, who was largely desensitized to carnage and pestilance... He sighed, rising from his kneel to turn towards a batch of files in the room, gently moving the body aside so as not to have to lean over the blackenned corpse...

He shook his head, taking anything that seemed even somewhat useful... dates preceeding the attack, recent events... before turning and leaping out a window, landing on an adjacent rooftop before making his way to another building... he couldn't shake the idea that not all was as it seemed, though...
Regardless... a quiet pot of anger built it's way into his stomach... He was a tightly controlled individual, but he was not bereft of human emotion as some other agents were... All of this senseless genocide struck home upon him as strongly as it did the rest of them...

It was a truly sickening sight, bodies strewn about, horribly mangled beyond recognition, the one who did this could not be called a human anymore, they were too cruel.

Masamune tried to ignore the corpses best he could, searching through the houses, most of them were locked. it seemed the gas had an effect on wood as well because Masura could easily break through the locked doors. What he found inside however was no better than outside, in a way even worse, families gathered in each other's arms, their bodies blackened and their eyes white, it was truly sickening.

To Masamune's credit he didn't show any emotion on his face, being used to horrific sights thanks to his acidic power. this didn't mean he was emotionless however, in fact, he was outraged. His hand clenched so tightly he drew blood, dripping down onto the floor, the small amounts of acid in his blood slowly working through the floor.

He decided to stop doing nothing and start cleaning up, covering any corpses he could find in acid, it would be better to have no body at all than have a body like this.

“…Breathe…”

..It was probably a good thing that Kali had moved so far away from the others…

“….Breathe…breathe….!”

She shuddered, huddling in the corner of the building she had stepped in, covering her ears and staring at her shoes as if they were heaven’s forgiving light.

“Breathe…f-focus, and breathe…Breathe!”

It had to have been an orphanage…this place that she had stumbled upon, so many tiny bodies, mangled, clutching at their soulless eyes, clutching at each other, clutching at the only adult-sized body in the main room, their hands with deadened nails, deadened skin, deadened hair and lips and legs and arms and eyes and…

“I-It hurts...”

“I know…”

“Breathe, breathe…”

“I told you, I’ll keep you safe…”

“Breathe…!!”

…Adults, she could handle…but this…

She tried looking up once more, her eyes wide and half-covered by her fingers, before turning around and giving a dry retch, coughing violently and clutching onto her throat. Children, they were children…children...!

...It was a very good thing that Kali had moved so far away from the others.

“….Breathe…” She rested her head against the cool wood panel of the wall. “Breathe…” She forced her eyes shut, half-haggardly wrestling with her lungs to take in air. “Breathe…” Fighting against the urge to tear something, anything in half, to allow a violent burst of wind to rip through the city and make it all disappear…

“…Because that’s all you’re good for, after all…”

Her eyes flashed black, and she shook. “Stop it stop it stopitstopitstopit…!”

“Well, who would you really want to avoid killing here, hm? Not many I could think of—“

“Stop it, stop it!” Her hands shook as she hurried to take out her book, hurried to turn to her bookmark. She sat in the quiet, staring, until her eyes slowly began to return to their gray hue. “…It’s alright…” she whispered. “There they are…there you are….” She shut her eyes, letting out a deep sigh. “There they are…that’s it…”

Eventually, she stood. She knew better than to stay in this building. It was something to report, certainly, but she knew she wouldn’t last even giving them a respectful position or lowering their eyelids. There was more to look for, anyway. Staying in a place that was knowingly hopeless, well…it didn’t make a lot of sense.

“…I’m sorry,” she whispered. With that, she lowered her head, and hurried out to the next street over…but as for why, she didn’t know…

“Even Kenpachi should realize this is all a lost cause…”

After a bit of stumbling around aimlessly, Getsuei had found his way to a bunch of houses that seemed to have shut off really well. Windows closed, doors closed, with some kind of obstruction in front of the windows to disable anybody from looking in. If there was any place there would survivors, this would definitely be it. The swordsman walked up to the door and hit it with his fists three times. "This is commander Getsuei Uingu from the 45th Division! If anybody is in there, please open the door!" He shouted, but to no avail. No response came from within the house. Not a voice, as he had secretly hoped, and nobody opening the door.

Once more he slammed his arm against the door, this time even harder than before, probably bruising up his arm in the process. "Is anybody in there!?" He shouted, once again aggressively knocking on the door while he did so. The marine waited at least a full minute before deciding to simply force the door open. Hoping there was nothing behind it like there was behind the windows. He prepared himself and brought up his booted foot, smashing it into the door and managing to open it by force.
Counting himself lucky that the door hadn't been barricaded, the swordsman stepped into the house, sadly with diminished hopes of finding any survivors.

What had remained of his hope of finding survivors had disappeared the second Getsuei saw the bodies in the light coming from the only possible source, the open door. Right in front of him he saw two bodies of two boys, or young men. One seemed slightly older than the other, if only because of his length. The older one was holding the smaller boy in his arms. But not in a hug of love. It appeared to be more of an attempt to calm the younger one down. Most likey his younger brother. "Brothers till the end..." Getsuei whispered to himself, as he closed his eyes and tried to calm his mind.

Rarely, if ever, had Getsuei been so angry. He just stood in the door opening, fist clenched as tight as possible and tried to find his usual peace of mind. He just stood there, nearly perfectly still when he suddenly heard something behind him. Trained as he was, he turned around with one of his hands on the hilt of one of his katana, but the person behind him was just a marine. However, it was one Getsuei recognized; it was the one that was apparently impossible to kill. Leeroy was his name?

Leeroy seemed to recognize Getsuei too (which didn't come as a surprise, seeing how he had moved up the ranks of the 45th) and thus seemed a bit hesitant to say what he wanted to say, but Leeroy decided to speak anyway. "You might want to continue with the mission instead of standing around doing nothing." Leeroy said, rather awkwardly, before continuing. "Standing around and whining isn't going to help these people."

Leeroy had barely finished his sentence before Getsuei's right fist crashed right into his face, with enough to force to send him actually flying until he landed on his back a few feet away. Leeroy released a short yell out of pain, and most likely also surprise, but before he could even respond in anyway to Getsuei, the swordsman had already walked up to him and pulled him up by the collar. Without speaking a word, letting the expression on his face do the talking, Getsuei pushed Leeroy against the wall in front of him and started punching him in the face. Over and over again, only stopping when his own knuckles started to bleed. Leeroy fell to the ground without any signs of life showing, even though Getsuei knew in the back of his mind that he would probably get up soon. "How dare you talk to me like that? Do you even care about these people? Does this whole situation affect you at all!?" The swordsman shouted at Leeroy's lifeless body, who unsurprisingly didn't respond.

Getsuei closed his eyes and yelled at the sky. He would get whoever had done this to these people. And when he, and the rest of the 45th got them, the would wish Death would come and save them.

Kenpachi's group walked through the abandoned districts... morale was rapidly taking blows from all sides as they moved into more populated areas... these poor souls seemed to have been attacked while in the middle of their every day - probably what would have happened in Toshino, had the 45th not made their (perhaps untimely) entrance... stalls were set up, fruit and vegetables rotted with their peddlers and jewelry glimmered dully under a thin layer of dust and dirt - it seems the survivors had likely regained their sensibilities of what really mattered when things had hit... If there were any, anyway... the Tiger Lillies likely simply hadn't cared, or weren't present to loot, when the poison had hit...

Kenpachi kneeled down, examining a body to search for anything of use for when this had happened... finding nothing, he growled, simply closing the man's eyes out of some respect before standing... he was caught from his musings by one of his men -
"Captain! I think I just saw something! Moving, in the shadows!" He called out, one or two of the others nodding in agreement... had it just been the young Lieutenant, he might've just passed it off to blaming the raw atmosphere of where they were, and even now was considering it, but...
"Then keep yer eyes open fer more of it... it could be survivors! Now, which way did it come from...?" He questioned, the men saluting quickly before leading him, and by proxy the rest of the group into the alleyways...

They didn't know what would meet them, and how... eager what survivors remained were for company...

=========================

Toshiro cursed silently as he held his arm, hiding in some dark corner or another as he inspected the injury... he was bleeding, but nothing too serious... what had mostly caught him was the shock of it - a claw or something, from the darkness... nails...? He couldn't say... he licked his lips... thankfully, it didn't look like it would get infected, but... his eyes scanned the darkness for anything more... but something had to be alive here, albeit utterly unfriendly - or perhaps frightenned...? Either way, he could no longer assume safety...

He climbed, quietly as he could, to a nearby rooftop... he'd at least have some warning, should he be attacked again...
Pulling out his den-den mushi (the officers having been issued at least one before this, following the utter clusterfuck of non-communication in Toshino) he pressed the transmitter...
"Attention... I have come under attack and sustained minor injury - assistance is not requested - but be aware of potential hostilit-" He was cut off as something lashed out at him again, forcing him to leap back, rolling backwards in the jump, he landed on his hands, pushing himself further away before he re-balanced himself...

... It seemed he had company...

Her own footsteps were the only things keeping Kali calm. Every house she went into was the same. True, for her it wasn’t so bad as the orphanage, but they were all so mangled, so charred, their eyes somehow showed fear beneath the milky plague that strangled their pupils into nothingness. Unable to bear it, she took instead to the streets and alleys, hoping to find some physical evidence that wasn’t in the form of a body.

But there was nothing. Nothing left. The businesses were still full of cakes, groceries, jewelry, but they were rotting, there wasn’t anything left to take them home. There wasn’t even a moth left to tear into the furniture displays. It was simply too quiet.

“They should just hurry and call off this search,” she thought, shaking her head as she dug through some stray posters in an alley in attempt to find…well, anything; Tiger Lily propaganda, notes, anything…Nothing, nothing in the streets either. It was just getting worse and worse, more and more hopeless. “It’s time they faced the facts,” she mumbled, digging in her pocket for her den-den-mushi. “Spending more time here is only going to take away fr—“

…She squinted in the darkness as a new sound filled her ears. It didn’t sound like footsteps; not that that would make sense as she had gone off in a different direction from the others. It was a strange noise, a scratching, mixed with something feeble and finished…

Moving closer, she was nearly sick again. An animal, a dog perhaps from the shape, surrounded by equally blackened pups. There was no chance the mother would have been able to move them all in time. Had she just waited for death, confused by what was shriveling them all up…?

Still, that didn’t explain the noise. They were clearly gone. But she bent down, tilting an ear, carefully fingering through the remains…and heard it again. Her eyes widened as a possibility crossed her mind, and she lifted up the body of the mother.

“…You smart little pup…”

It didn’t seem to be alive. It was thin and scraggly and probably on death’s door. But it wasn’t black. The fur didn’t crumble at her touch, the tongue wasn’t hanging out and blue. It had been so far burrowed under its mother that it was a miracle it hadn’t suffocated. That had been what saved it…Kali picked it up by the scruff of its neck, squinting at it and looking into its mouth, its ears. She rubbed the paws, poked the belly. And there it was again, a little squeak as little blue eyes shot open and stared at her with a weakness that made her cringe in familiarity.

“…How did you make it out…?” she asked, bringing her other hand up so it could settle on its hind legs. “…Stupid question, isn’t it, you can never really be sure of tbat, huh…” The pup closed its eyes again, not even having the energy for a tail wag. Who knew how long it had been buried under there, no food, no water…

“…Bet you didn’t think anyone would find you, did you…”

“…Okay, you, settle in,” she murmured, opening her jacket and nestling him into the inside pocket. “Warm up. You’re as much a survivor as whatever they told us to find…you need some milk, mm…?”

…A shadow brushed past the alley’s entrance; Kali’s eyes neglected in exchange for sight of the pup…

“I guess you need milk…or meat…? Whichever. We’ll try both.” She straightened, hugging her arms loosely around the jacket. “The captain’s going to be spitting mad that the only thing surviving here is a—“

She only barely had time to register and turn to the side the pup wasn’t on before she fully slammed into the alley wall. Dazed less from hurt and more from surprise, she spun up and looked through the shadows warily, hand still over her jacket protectively.

“…What the…?”

“Attention... I have come under attack and sustained minor injury - assistance is not requested - but be aware of potential hostilit-"

The den-den mushi spoke in a frantic note of calm, but she didn’t have enough time to register the warning before it came at her again, striking from the shadows…She only barely twisted out of harms way, leaping backwards into the safety, away from the shadows, on the main street.

“No hiding…” she whispered, squinting a glare into the shadows, waiting for any sign of…of whatever it was to show up again…what was going on…?

Masamune walked through the dead town, dissolving the bodies of the deceased as he went. "To think that they have a weapon that can wipe out an entire town without having to do anything. These pirates must be stopped." Masura said angrily before calming himself, it would do him no good to get angry at a time like this.

As he wandered he couldn't help but feel that he was being watched, even though he couldn't see anyone. it was as if there were still pirates waiting for them.

That theory kept buzzing around in his head as he 'cleaned' the streets, that was until he heard something, soft shuffling. When he turned to the source he saw a young man limping towards him, the man looked like he was on death's doorstep, barely able to stand.

"please... h-help." Was all the man could utter, trying to get towards Masamune, though he would never reach him, before he could take another step he was attacked by other townspeople, their skin blackened like the rest, yet they were alive.

The man screamed in agony as he was beaten to death, the others giving off eerie, gargling sounds, once they were done they focused on Masamune, a myriad of emotions on their faces, some were angry while others seemed lost and confused.

"heeeelp!" one of them shouted as they hobbled towards Masamune who was astonished by the display, they seemed like creatures displayed in fairy tales.

"whyyyyyyy?! kiiiiiiiiiiill!" others shouted as they got closer and closer, their arms extended to grab Masura. He wasn't just going to take it lying down however, He created an acid shield, keeping the crowd at bay with it. "What happened to you? why are you attacking people for no reason?" He asked, though he could guess the awnsers. The villagers weren't too talkative however, instead trying to bite his face off.

Getsuei had taken a bit of time to think about what he had to do with Leeroy. He knew for a fact that he hadn't permanently damaged the man; a feat like that seemed impossible, for whatever reason. However, the two sure shouldn't stay together. Getsuei figured he would cover the last part of town he wanted to scout as fast as possible and then look up any of the other officers to perhaps assist. Being by himself wouldn't be the smartest move at this point, considering his emotional state. But sticking with Leeroy would be an even worse decision.

While Getsuei had been thinking to himself, it seemed Leeroy had started to get up. Or at least attempt to. He still seemed slightly dizzy and unaware of his surroundings. Which was not surprising, considering the beating he had just taken. Getsuei closed his eyes for a bit to clear his mind of frustration and offered his hand to Leeroy, yanking his fellow Marine back to his feet. "Get back to your squad, I'll take care of this remaining area." Getsuei spoke calmly as he turned around, not looking Leeroy in the eye or even attempting an apology. He simply didn't feel regret for what he had just done.

"Y-... Yes sir." Leeroy responded as he too turned around to go back to wherever he was actually needed, not wise-cracking to his superior; just the way Getsuei liked it. That was untill he heard screams coming from behind. Immediately Getsuei turned around, only to be greeted by what must have been one of the most confusing and disturbing things the swordsman had ever seen.

Leeroy was one the ground once again, with a figure looming over him, his face in Leeroy's face. But this figure wasn't a marine. No. It was like one of the deceased all over town. This was a dead person looming over Leeroy. But that was (possibly) not even the worst part. The reason their faces seemed to so close together, was because the figure was eating Leeroy's face. It was that exact moment Getsuei heard Toshiro's voice over his Den Den Mushi.

Getsuei ignored the call and stormed towards the blacked body that was covering Leeroy. The marine put his hand on the left shoulder of the person, the shoulder that was closests to him, which caused the figure to look Getsuei in the eye for just a second, before going back to his little "snack". Not knowing exactly what to do, Getsuei started punching in the figure in the face, his knuckles bashing against the figures cheek, but it just wouldn't stop ripping flesh of Leeroy's face.

With the hand he wasn't punching the figre with, Getsuei grabbed his Den Den Mushi. However, unlike Toshiro, he didn't go for the calm approach.

"What the fuck is going on here!? I am under attack by I-don't-know-what-the-fuck-it-is! Caution, It seems the locals aren't very happy to see us!"

Gunfire sounded from the streets as Kenpachi and his men fought their way through what appeared to be the epicentre of the swarming 'survivors'... The captain snarled, giving a hard swing as he cleave through a group of them... they were strong, and fast - as if the body's self-imposed limitations no longer held sway for them; even being on the top of a structure wasn't the best solution, seeing as they could climb with almost spider-like ability... the men soon found themselves having to abandon their firearms and switch to their swords; being forced to carve their way through the street, with Kenpachi leading the way...

"How the hell're so many of these bastards still alive?! The whole place got gassed!" He roared out, stomping another into the ground, joining it's downed brethren in a mess of pulp... though the dead had still vastly outnumbered the living - there must have been dozens of them rushing at them in a swarm (dozens to hundreds compared to a port-town with a population boasting in the tens of thousands, bearing in mind...) and while normally a bunch of unarmed combatants would never be an issue to the battle-hardenned and well-trained men of the Fourty-Fifth Division, these were hordes of the crazed, the craven and the unhinged, no longer shackled by the limitations of their own body... near-superhuman - and all of them madenned by their own pain and nausia, the deadening of their flesh and rotting of their mind as they came forth as a dead tide through the streets, lashing out at those they pittied, envied and hated, all for the same reason... pity, for they could not control their anger towards them - envied for their lack of pain... and hated, for they still had their humanity...

Kenpachi hacked down a few more, taking a moment for a breath as he barged his way through a mob of them - his men quickly taking the opportunity to advance into a more narrow street, where the difference in numbers wouldn't matter so much...
"Find us a building! We've got to get out of the open...!"


========================

Toshiro was having his own problems... a lone agent, his main defence against this horde, which knew not fear or pain (for what was a blade's edge or the fist against the agony they already bore?) was stealth... and the blood from his first wound had given them a scent to follow... thankfully, while he could be followed they had neither the best sight, nor hearing to actually attack him - not to mention the majority of the horde seemed focused on the North and East districts... but that didn't mean there weren't plenty to deal with here...

He licked his lips, quickly climbing up the side of a building as he began to try making his way back to port... in the time he'd been searching, he'd been able to find some useful tidbits about the time it had happened, but little that could be linked to the Tiger Lillies... he had to get help for the ones still trapped in the city... if the rest of the division could be rallied, the zombies would cease to be a problem...
'I did *not* sign up to fight fairytales...'

Masamune grabbed for his portable den den mushi as well, putting it on his shoulder. "I have encountered heavy resistance here as well, i am managing but help would be appreciated." Masamune said before his den den mushi got knocked off his shoulder, leaving him unable to contact the rest unless he wanted to expose himself to the crazed civilians.

The man had had quite enough of the things pushing against his shield, launching his fist against the horde, though being sure to coat it in acid beforehand. Once the crowd got knocked back a bit he gathered acid in his palm and launched, it covering them all in the dissolving stuff.

Masamune quickly turned around when he heard moans behind him, apparently there had been quite a large force massing behind him. large enough to fill the street. "Wel... fuck." Was all the man said before springing into action, covering the ground in acid before scurrying away, he would not be able to defeat such a large force by himself, he needed to find his comrades.

"So would anyone like to tell me who sent us here so I may join in their slaughtering?" Kali muttered into the Den-Den-Mushi, huddling in the shadows of another alley. Even though her voice held the usual demeanor of calm, there was a notable strain. She was not happy.

Whatever it was had friends. They had found an interest in pursuit and had chased her down ten blocks of open streets, pouncing up on top of the rooftops, throwing things at her and in her way to deter her. She had to jump and rip into things and even pull out a pistol, something she hadn't done in ages and only held onto due to protocol, and shoot one's rotting head off. All the while holding onto a whimpering, yelping puppy dog who had more of an interest in burrowing past the limits of her jacket pocket than being helpful and keeping still.

At last she had managed to lose them and slip into the shadows, risking a call. "Location unknown," she whispered. "But there's at least fifteen of them who seem to have an interest in devouring me. Remind me again why I'm here and not working on a chart?" Perhaps not the best time for the captain to have to deal with yet another insistence she wasn't there to fight, but she certainly could see no better example than a moment where her face was at risk of being a zombie take-away meal.

The puppy whimpered in her jacket, bringing her back to reality. "Heading back to main docks," she finished, stuffing the little snail back in her pocket. She took a look at the little puppy and winced...still looked hungry as ever...but it wouldn't be on anyone's minds but hers that it needed to be fed, when there were rotting humans chasing them to kingdom come. She would have to get to the ship first and sneak him on-board, get him what he needed before they demanded her focus yet again to the island's new inhabitants.

"...Let's go," she whispered, before jolting off. The docks weren't far. She could see the ocean peeking down past the buildings. All she had to do was--

"Gah!!"

They had caught up to her. Five of them still, and more likely behind them, crashing into her side and ripping her jacket. Frantically she checked to make sure the puppy was all right--thank goodness they had ripped the opposite side--before standing, facing the group of blackened flesh, only letting a hint of a scowl cross her face...

"...I liked this jacket," she said, lowering to a crouch. "...Consider yourself lucky you'll be dead before I'm stuck with a marine uniform replacement and a need to take it out on something..."

...With that, she launched...pistol shots wringing, snaps and screeches and broken necks and legs and torsos, scratches and yelps and whimpers and bites...

"Help me!"

Leeroy shouted as the flesh continued being ripped off his face by another man's teeth. As quickly as possible, Getsuei put his Den Den Mushi back in his pocket and threw himself full force at the face-eater. The man, as far as one could call him that, fell away from Leeroy and landed on his back, giving Getsuei enough time to pull Leeroy up, trying his best to not look at the marine's half-eaten face. "Let's get out of here and regroup." Getsuei said as he turned around, hoping to just run away from his attacker along with Leeroy. Only instead of turning his back to his only enemy, he had now simply turned his face to an entire horde of similar figures. All blackened and rotted because of the gas.

Getsuei frowned and looked around to see if he was being charged from any other place, but luckily that didn't seem to be the case. "Okay, not that way." The swordsman said to Leeroy before once again turning around and this time running straight towards the man that had just been gnawing on Leeroy's face, who had gotten back to his feet. The figure screeched, like a monster from a horror movie, before making an incredibly leap forwards towards Getsuei and his partner. Immediately Getsuei's right hand shot towards the sheath at his left side, from which he pulled one his katana, cutting the leaping man's side in the very same motion. The man dropped to the floor, but Getsuei didn't feel like seeing if he would remain there. No, it was time to run. He very well knew he wouldn't be able to beat down the entire horde of people behind him.

However, as they where running, Getsuei was struck down. It seemed crazy leaping wasn't the only superhuman thing these walking dead could do. Getsuei landed on his knee and quickly spun around, cutting the chest of his attacker. As quick as he could, the swordsman got up and kicked his opponent in the same spot he had just cut him, sending him tumbling backwards into one of the other hostiles. Getsuei clenched his teeth as he cut another one down, and quickly glanced to the side to see if Leeroy was doing okay. Seemed they would have to cut these people down before they could return. And that was something Getsuei wasn't exactly very happy about.

Kenpachi sighed as he wiped his forehead of sweat, leaning back against a wall... they'd had to take shelter in a half-ruined building... probably another orphanage, from the looks of the bodies inside, the sight severely disheartening the men as they barricaded the entrances... they'd have kept moving, but the ceaseless chasing on them had even left the hearty, elite warriors of the 45th tired, from having to fight superhuman beasts at every corner... the stop thankfully giving them a chance to open more of the ammunition boxes squads usually carried along with them, with men taking turns to man the windows and make sure none of the animals got in...
"Back, you damned corpse! You should be dead already!" One of them shouted, smashing the poor, twisted soul in the face with the butt of his rifle - Kenpachi chose to ignore it for now, catching his breath... having done most of the face-to-face combat to spare his men the trouble, even he had begun to feel the strain...

He prepared to stand properly, using his sword, implanted in the hardwood floorboards, as a support to ease the transition, more out of comfort than need, before he heard a shuffle in the corner of the room, along with a whimper...

He blinked, looking towards the assorted debris there... there couldn't be anyone alive here, could there...? At least, not in the good way...
Narrowing his eyes somewhat, he made his way over...

==============================

Toshiro had been getting close to the docks, he was certain - the sound of the 'dead' was all around, now... it seems the entire city's surviving populous was up in arms against the intruders... He shook his head, knocking down a support beam as he sumersaulted across a gap, crushing the group of abominations rushing towards Getsuei's approximate position, before continuing onward...

He paused for a moment, noticing something flicking through the wind... was that... cloth...? He frowned a little, idly catching it from the breeze... looking at it, the material matched the coat Kali had worn that day... though the lack of blood was reassuring... looked like it was a piece of her jacket... he absent-mindedly checked the pocket, just to make sure there wasn't something she would need ret... urned...

Toshiro's widenned significantly behind his sunglasses...

.... This could change a few things...

It was possible that people would find Kali’s actions…immoral. But she couldn’t find sympathy in her heart to keep her from ending the zombie-like monsters’ existences. Either they were no longer conscious of their actions, thus meaning ending their life was a service, or they were fully aware that they were attacking those who had come for their aid…which meant she had every right to crack their murderous heads off of their shoulders.

“That’s enough of that…” she grumbled, as the last of the pack was taken care of. A high shriek was all that echoed after the snap of the broken neck. She looked about at the bodies, splayed out before her, and shook her head. At least they had all been adults. If the children from the orphanage had come to life…well, best to make it to the ship before she ran across one that was once a child.

Sighing, she checked in on the puppy. It was only just rattled from the experience, lightly pawing at her pocket and whimpering. She ran her finger along the top of his muzzle, shushing him, before looking out to the streets and pulling her ripped jacket close.

“Oh right...ripped…” She groaned and took another look at the damage. The entire side had been slashed up; even the inside pocket was missing. They would probably issue her something standard now, something drastically unbearable. She had worked so hard to get around the…dress…code..

…The pocket was gone.

The pocket was gone.

The pocket was…was GONE, the pocket was gone, thepocketwasgonethepocketwasgone.

Her picture was gone.

Her eyes shot open as she realized. The “book” that she had been reading was nothing more than stapled-together essays, a pamphlet that would be easy enough to blow away in a breeze. If it had been caught up with the fabric, both it and the picture would be…Hurriedly she sprinted into the alley where she had been slashed at, turning over every blackened body, every bit of garbage and remain, looking for a patch of fabric, a loose page, anything.

Nothing. There was nothing.

Shakily she slid down the alley wall, beginning to hyperventilate. She had lost it. She had been careless and had lost it. What would she do without that picture. The picture that kept her calm, and sane, that kept her list safe on its back, oh sure she knew every person that was left by heart, but that didn’t mean…

“D-Don’t panic,” she whispered, hands partially covering her wide eyes as she shook. “Don’t panic, don’t lose it…” It hadn’t been long. The breeze was rough but trackable. She could follow it and perhaps learn the course of where it all flew. So long as the essays and picture stayed in the pocket, it would all be there in a nice, compact little package…she just needed to track it down.

“Sorry, pup. You can wait a bit more on food,” she murmured, jumping up through the fire escapes and windowsills to the roof. Shutting her eyes, she began to feel the current, doing her best to read the ebbs and flows…

There. A trackable pattern. She opened her eyes in the direction of the wind’s travel and saw the docks off in the distance. It had to have gone that way. She launched off from roof to roof, her eyes desperately scanning every street, every rooftop, every inch of sky when the wind picked up and brought debris into the air. Ignored were the howls of the monsters left below, the distant calls of her fellow division members. All of that was pointless.

Without the picture, it was all pointless.

"Well, this isn't working out." Masamune mumbled as he was getting chased by a horde of the crazed villagers, they were slowly starting to gain.

He heard gunshots coming from nearby, just a few blocks away. "Well, i know where to go, ácido creación." Masamune uttered, four acidic bodies slowly being created, their fists made out of hardened acid, punching away any crazy that got too close.

He quickly got to the area where the gunshots came from, seeing several marines holed up in a building and several villagers trying to break in, they wouldn't last though. "ácido choque." Masamune said, creating a large glob of acid in his hand and throwing it carefully, making sure to not get any acid on the building. The villagers got covered in acid, and with it changed target, storming at Masamune.

He quickly dispatched them, his clones slamming them to the ground and getting them covered with acid, letting them dissolve until nothing was left, after that he headed to the door, the marines opening it for him as he got rid of all the acid, heading towards his commander.

"What's the situation sir?" He asked, saluting Kenpachi before hearing him out, with any luck the man would still be in contact with the rest of the crew.

Just like all the other marines, Getsuei was trying his best to hold off the locals. However, unlike the other officers, he was having quite a hard time doing so. His swords didn't always seem to hit the way he wanted to, and very few of his attacks turned out to be lethal. Almost every opponent required at least two or three slashes to go down; not exactly great considering these "opponents" where pretty much crazy, untrained locals (albeit they did seem to have broken the limits of their own bodies). Now, this wouldn't even be that bad, if only the group of locals appeared to get thinned with every one of them that went down, but it didn't. For every local either Getsuei or Leeroy downed, there was another one to take his or her place.

Getsuei frowned. He too noted that he wasn't performing like he should. But he also knew he couldn't do anything about it, because he very well knew why he wasn't fighting like he could. However, as these thoughts shot through his head, someone jumped on him, knocking the swordsman of his feet. Getsuei's head banged against the ground, making him close his eyes for a second, only to open them and be greeted by the rotting face of what appeared to have been a middle-aged man yelling at his face, spit flying in Getsuei's face, much to his disgust. "Leeroy!?" He shouted, hoping his fellow marine would pull this guy off him much like Getsuei had done for Leeroy before, but Leeroy seemed to have his own problems.

Seeing no other way, Getsuei pierced both his swords into the man's side and attempted to push him up. But no matter how painful this must have been for the man atop of him, the zombie-like creature didn't move an inch, and instead continued screaming while probably getting ready to feast on some face.

Just as Getsuei was thinking how shitty it must be to have your face eaten, the situation changed around dramatically, as he suddenly witnessed what seemed to be some part of a building simply coming crashing down, smashing right into the group of locals that where waiting for their turn to feast, leaving only three creatures Getsuei and Leeroy had to worry about, including the man currently atop of Getsuei.

Seemingly somewhat surprised, the man that was preparing to feast on Getsuei turned around to look what had happened to his allies, which was all Getsuei needed to get rid of him. Taking him by surprise, Getsuei pushed him away and pulled his swords out of his sides, making a 360 degree spin to lob the man's head right of his shoulders. Having no time to risk, the swordsman immediately dashed towards Leeroy, who was being attacked by the last two locals in the area, and took care of them too.

Both marines sat down for a bit, clearly exhausted by what had just gone down. If that building hadn't seemingly randomly crashed down, who knew what had happened. "Let's... return to the docks, I believe we've seen enough." Getsuei muttured, letting out a heavy sigh. "I couldn't agree more."

Kenpachi gave Masamune a brief, if stern glance and an entirely eloquent "Shut up fer a sec', dipshit... can't y'see I'm busy?" in response, the words rolling off his tongue quite smoothly as he stalked towards the rubble... his shark-ish eyes scanned the dim lighting, slitted pupils allowing them to drink in what light there was in the room as he worked to clear away the debris... it wasn't as much as first seemed, really... more a ramshackle shelter, really... built for someone of very small stature; With that in mind, he felt just a little bit bad for effectively tearing down someone's home, the shelter from the beasts outside, or perhaps just what remained of a beggar's hovel...

The tarp atop it all almost collapsed, a small squeak sounding as it began before Kenpachi managed to catch the falling beam, pulling the tarp along with it as he looked onto the now revealed sanctuary... stale food and half-ruined treasures and toys littered the small shelter... rotted newspaper served as it's bedding and covers all in one... but he didn't notice any of that,
Bright emerald eyes met hazel, seeming to freeze time as they each seemed to read one another...

Kenpachi stood still as he looked over the tiny girl... short, slightly curled pink locks matted with dirt and soot, her skin and half-ruined, hand-stitched clothes no less matted... But in spite of her appearance, there was an immense fire in her that couldn't be misplaced... Abandoned in a world that sought to destroy her, yet still surviving... Clawing in the dark to some unknowable hope.

She was like him.

===============

He'd been silent for a while, shaking as he stared at the picture before him... He'd barely been able to keep his breathing in check - barely conscious to the fact that he was still in very real danger... The picture had obviously gone through a lot of hardship over the years... Some fading... folds and the signs of wear around the edges with faint traces of bloodspatter here and there... Kali... perhaps Marie or Rose... had obviously kept the picture with her for some time... He quietly slid it back into his inside pocket, gently patting it as he prepared to move... He had suffered through far too many periods of hope, or finding something resembling a lead, only to come up short, or have some harsh reality thrown into his face to trust to such a fickle thing as chance now...

The bitter root had also burrowed into his mind as to the thought of a hostile response if he just tried to personally reveal himself here and now... A decade was a long time... and she may well (understandibly) hold him in contempt for his failure to protect her...

He turned, quickly returning to make his way back to the ship... he was close, now... it was actually in sight - seems they'd suffered a few foolhardy attacks by a swarm beforehand, only to be cut down by the vast majority of the division before they so much as made contact with the ship itself... If he could gather reinforcements from the ship itself, he could push forward to aid his beleaguered comrades before they were overwhelmed...

He spotted Sergeant Wilhelm's squadron fighting their way towards the docks, moving to intercept their path and lend assistance...

It would be difficult to see, but there would be another in the area, away from Wilhelm and his men and looking about as dead-eyed as the corpses at her feet.

Oooooh!! You broke the picture frame! Papa’s gonna be maaaad!

She had searched everywhere. She had sped through the path that the wind would have taken it, kicking over rocks, sifting through rubble, but there hadn’t been a trace of her jacket or papers or anything, not anywhere…and now here she was, the docks; she had made it all the way to the ship and there was nothing, nothing but broken bodies and living corpses continuing to get in her way. She shot at them without thinking, cracking the necks of those that got too close, all while staring either at the ground or out to sea with her barren expression…

I-I, I’ll be careful! I’ll keep it safe till I can get a new one with my ‘llowance! Promise!

It could have been anywhere. It could have fallen into the ocean by that point. She hadn’t been fast enough, she hadn’t been thinking, and now…

You’re gonna have to carry it everywhere for a long time if you’re countin’ on ‘llowance…

“…” Another dared to come towards her; down it went. The puppy shivering inside her coat was all that was holding her back, and even then she shook hard, angry at herself, at the situation, feeling as though she was about to shatter in a dozen different directions to no beneficial outcome. The picture was gone. She had gone through every alley that it would have passed with the breeze’s flow, searched every rooftop. Sure, she had the back list memorized, but that wasn’t what she most cared about. The last picture left of any of them…

I’ll keep it long as I have to. Right safe in here…

Angrily gritting her teeth, she turned on another zombie, grabbing its outstretched arms and twisting them until they broke. As it stumbled back she pushed it down with her foot, watching it squirm with its backwards arms before gutting its head open with her heel. “This never would have happened if it wasn’t for you,” she wanted to scream. “It’s all gone, my list, my family, my last link, you took it all, you did, you did!” But she didn’t let out a peep. She just kept gritting her teeth, looking down at her miserable victim through the glazed eyes that spoke of a sorrow that only comes through deadened hope.

It took a bit of time before she stopped, mainly thanks to the puppy. A whimper brought her back up, momentarily halting the glazed expression. He was in desperate need of food and water, and now she was fighting a lost cause…lost especially because, as soon as her captain and the rest of them returned, they would most likely be shipping off; wouldn’t even care a bit about her trying to find something likely drowned in the ocean anyway, even if she told them what it really was. Nobody would care. But the dog…someone needed to care about it…

Perhaps it was everyone’s lucky day that she had another distraction to worry about.

Looking back up, though her eyes returned to the deadened daze of before, she calculated a pathway to the ship from her location. She wasn’t far, even with the others around she could get there quickly. But there were a lot of wretched bodies in-between, and those fighting under Wilhelm seemed to be tiring. But the last thing she wanted to do was help the men who had a hand in coming to the island in the first place…

“…” Silently she ducked through to an alternate path, just trying to make it to the ship as quickly as possible. It would be best to avoid violence until the puppy was locked up securely, though even after she wouldn’t want to help them. There were more pressing matters.

You promise you won’t lose it? That’s the most special one on the whole shelf!

If there was even one second left, even the tiniest bit of hope hiding in the back of her desolation, she would use it. The beaches, underneath the harbor, the top layer of the sludgy dock water…there were a few places left…and she would keep her promise.

I told you, I’ll take real’ good care of it! I’ll keep it with me the whole time till I earn ‘nough beli for a frame.

“I can’t stop…even if it’s gone I can’t stop…I have to hurry…”

Masamune sensed Kenpachi was busy, though could being told to get the fuck away because he's busy really be called sensing? not really, but he wouldn't keep that from following the man's orders, checking up on the rest of the crew.

The acid Masa had left had done quite a wonderfull job, the skin of the townspeople had all but rotted away in the first place so the acid was working far faster than usual, dissolving the people's feet quite easily, slowing them down enough to not come close to the door again unless they massed towards it.

"I don't know what the boss' plan is but we need to prepare to make a run for it back to the ship, gather anything necessary and keep an eye on those freaks, we don't want them breaking in here, let me know if they're getting through." Masamune commanded, he wasn't a very high rank but the men listened to him anyway, not in the mood for a face full of acid.

As Getsuei and Leeroy walked back to the docks to regroup, there was a feeling of disgust Getsuei just couldn't shake off. He felt horrible, to the point that he nearly became physically ill of it. So ill, that was trying his best to resist his urge to throw up. His swords where planted firmly in his sheaths, but the only thing that kept the swordsman from throwing them right away was the fact he might need them incase they where ambushed by more of the locals. From the sides of his eyes, Leeroy was watching his commander, knowing very well that something was wrong. From the moment they had met in the home of the dead family, he had known something was up. And then, during the fighting, something had still been off. Leeroy decided to confront Getsuei about it, but he held back a bit. He didn't want to risk getting beat into a blood pulp again.

"Are...- Are you okay, commander?" Leeroy asked, his voice sounding weak and insecure. Getsuei glanced back at him, without turning his head. "No Leeroy. I am not okay." The swordsman responded, his voice intense, almost angry. "And I hope NOBODY is okay, after what he had to do, today." He continued, shaking his head in disgust. No, after what the collective 45th had done today, he sure hoped everyone would feel the same as he did. But that didn't seem to be the case. At least not with Leeroy. If everybody felt just like Leeroy felt, then Getsuei wondered why they had even bothered to become marines. Wasn't this whole job about saving lives of the innocent, not taking them, like they had done today?

Getsuei's blades has been stained by blood, and that wasn't the first time. But it was the first time they had been stained by the blood of people that simply did not deserve that.

Getsuei walked in on a group of marines, accompanied by one of the officers; Masamune. His mind still slightly off the objective, Getsuei decided to check how everybody was doing. "What's the status here? Is everybody okay?" Getsuei asked, while Leeroy walked up to some of his fellow marines to tell them about the crazy battle with the creatures that couldn't be called "human" anymore.

(Theme for the scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY1Dd4Sx-AM )

The child didn't seem terribly frightenned, surprisingly...

There was a curious look in her eyes as she stepped towards the mountainous man, now kneeling, feet patting on the rotted hardwood as she looked him over... he didn't look like one of the nasty men... His skin wasn't black... and he wasn't groaning and moaning and wanting to eat her...
It was a few moments of silence before she looked back up at him, keeping gazes locked... even kneeling down, he towered over the tiny child, standing barely at above three feet in height (3'3" exactly) ... There was something odd, there... perhaps she saw in him the same as she did in her, that they were the same... or maybe just something that others couldn't yet...

... But all the same, she didn't say anything, offering a bright little smile that seemed to glimmer in the dim light... before simply reaching a tiny hand up... which, surprisingly, the giant matched in kind, gathering her up in his arms before turning back to his men... Something had just happened there that would continue to cause ripples for quite some time...
Getsuei had turned up while he was busy apparently, and Leeroy was with him... he nodded, stepping forward to rejoin the conversation, child curled into the crook of his arm as he grabbed his blade with his free hand, wrenching it from the wood...

"We're fine... just been holed up in here fer a while until Masa turned up... At any rate, we should get ready to move - it'll only be a matter of time before th'storm hits, and I doubt they'll be any less motivated then b'fore t'have a snack." He spoke gruffly, turning to nod to his men, Leeroy being forced to halt his almost obviously expanded explanation as to how many zombies he'd bisected... the man could fight, true - but no more or less-so than most other marines in the division (granted, that was a high standard to live up to for the average)

He grunted, readying to exit the building as he made sure the little girl was safe... it wouldn't be easy to use the monster of a weapon in a single hand, but... it would be worth the effort...
"... You with me, boys?" He questioned, mostly rhetorically... the question was more directed towards the pair of officers in the room, the streets beginning to sound with a rumbling din...

They were coming.

======================

Wilhelm's group was having something of a hard time... Almost constantly attacked, poor lighting, bad terrain and limited ammunition all culminated in a poor day for his squad... The man himself, now renowned for his resilience, growled as he beheaded another poor sap with his cutlass... he was badly scarred now from his experience in Toshino - but it earned him nothing but respect from his divisionmates, and even some popularity with the female members... one would think life would be somewhat better for the Sergeant now that he'd gained himself a real reputation, but things continued to mount labours upon his shoulders... but in a way, he enjoyed it; such was the life expected of a warrior, and one that thrived proved themselves of worth...

... That didn't make being assaulted by zombies any happier an experience for him, though... throughout it all there was this immense sense of... failure whenever one was cut down... weren't these people they'd signed on to protect...? People that, just like in Toshino Harbour, were killed so wantonly? Whose lives were ruined...? ... His mind quietly went to the ponderance of people surviving in that hole and coming out like this... he quickly put it out of his mind.

It was around that time that a dark-coloured blur shot down from a rooftop, crashing down onto an incoming hostile before somersaulting upon another, a foot lashing out to break a neck before he smoothly landed onto the ground... a sense of relief filled him when he realized it was the Lieutenant, Toshiro. Once the fighting was done, the men quickly presented themselves to their newly-arrived superior; "Sir! Sergeant Wi-" He was cut off when the enigmatic assassin lashed out with a flattened palm, cracking the neck of one that had attempted to sneak behind him...

"Wilhelm, I am aware... your objective is to return to the ship and raise the alarm, correct...? It would be prudent for us to move together." He spoke smoothly, though with a neutral coldness that send a mild shiver through the sergeant's spine... not that he said so.

Truth be told, Toshiro had spoken with a coldness that wasn't quite intentional... he was distracted by what had just happened with the picture, and the papers... more specifically the former... He couldn't keep it out of his mind, and it was itching at him for immediate answers that he simply couldn't respond to at the moment... He would need to sate his curiosity until the end of the mission, to make sure everyone was secure... to not do so would be selfish, and unproffessional in the extreme...

He told himself that to try and ease the knots in his stomach formed in fear of the inevitable rejection brought on by his failures years ago.

He shook his head, ignoring the confused looks he garnered as a result...
"Come along... We've no time to tarry. Move out."

"Yes Sir!"

"...Nothing..."

Still nothing. Now she had even looked in the beaches, and in places where trash had collected under the docks thanks to the winds and the currents. There wasn't even a sign of one piece of paper. This wasn't just terrifying that she had lost the paper, it was odd. She had passed through the entire area where it could have collected, all the alleys, the roofs, the corners...and it was gone...disappeared into thin air...

"I just...I don't understand where...where else am I supposed to look...?" she whispered underneath the docks, her fists tightly clenched. The only other option was open sea, and if it had made it that far...

Desperately, she dug through her memory. She had seen the picture so many times; perhaps she would be able to sketch it out. There was no way that it would be exact, but something, anything...No, but then if it wasn't exact would the memory change? Would one slip or forgetful mistake lead her entire view of everyone to change? Even something so small as forgetting a freckle, or changing a nose shape, or forgetting the exact length of the hair...How could she forgive herself for that? There were already so many things on her shoulders, and now...

"Why....why...." The breeze made her shake again...or at least, she blamed it on the breeze. "Why...?!"

What had she done before to earn all of this...

"....?" Blinking, she glanced up from the searched debris at her feet. She could hear something...Picking herself back up and out of the calf-height watery sludge, she made her way back up to the shoreline, squinting out. What was that change in the wind that seemed so forced?

What was that feeling of suspicion and dread, so strong it could make a dent through her panic towards her lost memories...?

Masamune had seen the pair of soldiers come in, viewing them questioning the soldiers, he decided to keep his mouth shut and support the soldiers, it would do no good to have the freaks break in now, especially when they had found someone alive, how it was possible that a small child survived the man would never know. what he did know however was that they had to protect the child at all costs, such was the task of a marine, to save the lives of the innocent.

There had been a few individual freaks attacking the house but they where quickly dealth with, a shot to the head had sufficed, yet Masa could not shake the feeling that something was up, like they were preparing for something.

He listened to his captain, nodding when he asked if they were ready. "Sir, i believe it's best if i take the rear, i can cover the streets in acid and halt any freaks that chase us.The man as large as the captain himself suggested, looking at the skillsets of the others he was probably the best choice as Gets and Kenpachi were both melee fighters, He could cover a much larger area in places where their team didn't need to tread.

It was when Getsuei really inspected the room that he noted members of the Zansatsu Corps weren't the only people there. They seemed to be accompanied by some kind of little, pink haired girl. And the swordsman couldn't help but notice that Kenpachi had lost his ordinary, somewhat fearsome exterior. Nonetheless, Kenpachi quickly fell back into his captain-role and reported back to Getsuei, before making clear they would be busting out and probably making a run for the docks. As far as that would be possible. "Yeah, let's get our collective asses out of here." Getsuei responded to Kenpachi, wearing a smug grin on his face. He was about done with this all.

While Getsuei might have still been in a good physical shape, mentally the swordsman was exhausted. Most other marines seemed okay, and Getsuei just couldn't drop the thought of how these marines where just okay taking down, and killing, innocent people.

Getsuei closed his eyes and shook his head for just a second (his way of clearing his mind), before looking at Masamune who had seemingly come up with some sort of plan. "Sounds like a solid plan, Masamune." The swordsman said, giving the Lieutenant a nod of approval. And it seemed Masamune had come up with the plan just in time, as Getsuei couldn't help but feel something was coming. Something big.

With a more serious expression decorating his face, Getsuei slowly pushed the door fully open, and took a look outside.

Getsuei's eyes widened as soon as he saw what was happening. He thought the group he had been fighting along side Leeroy had been large. But he had been wrong. "Captain! Masamune!" Getsuei shouted, without his eyes moving away from their current point of focus.

Questions raced through Getsuei's mind; Could they take these guys on? But more importantly; how could there be SO many. Even by himself (which some help of a falling building) the swordsman had taken down quite an amount of locals. They had even found dead bodies all over town. How could such an amount of them have gathered, without any of the marines noting it? Or had someone tried to note it, only to be swallowed by the wave of zombies before he could report it back to any of the officers. "We need to get out of here! NOW!"

Kenpachi followed his Second-in-Command's gaze for a moment... falling upon the writhing, harrowing swarm... no, the gathering tide before them... they eyed the assorted group of gathered marines in the street and in the house like a carcass ready to be carved up between them... he almost wondered that, if they were caught, there'd be so much as a mouthful between this horde to begin with... His next thoughts first came to combat, hand tightening on his blade... before he tossed it aside - trying to fight them all would be utter suicide - and he couldn't risk the child looking on, frightenned, in his arm...

He grit his teeth... they didn't have time for his ponderances...

He swung out with the sword, catching one of the poor, twisted souls across the chest and savagely bisecting the beast, before turning towards his men...
"Back to the ship...! Move it! MOVE IT!" He bellowed out, Leeroy and the rest of the grunts quickly taking heed of the order and beginning to book it, Kenpachi following soon after... his gaze wandered briefly to the little girl, holding on for dear life as they bolted through the ruined street... many of the buildings looked as if they could collapse at any moment...
"I'll get y'out o'this kid... Don't worry..."

The horde behind them screeched and moaned as the phantom dam burst open...

==============

Toshiro's group froze for a moment as they heard the veritable roll of thunder coming from just down the road... many of them turned, only to see a writhing mass of black churning down the main street...
For once, thoughts of family shrunk from his mind, eyes widenning as even he showed shock, and even a small amount of dread on his features...

Thankfully, he was the first to gather himself, other marines turning to him for guidance...
"Sir...?" Wilhelm asked uncertainly... even being blown up seemed minor in comparison to the veritable storm before them... the sound along was unimagineable upon their ears...

He frowned softly, turning to them.
"I should imagine it would be common sense, Sergeant... we must return to the ship, post-haste! With the weapons on-board, we stand a chance of repelling this filth! Now go!" He ordered sharply with a motion of his hand, the group quickly responding in kind as they began to run towards the rest of the distance to the docks...

===============

Sergeant Haakon was a rarity in the marines... a Valkyrion-born who'd joined the marines, the veritable tower of a man was at first treated with open distrust and suspicion... but he'd clawed through marine missions they'd laid before him and found a strong home in the fourty-fifth... He'd wanted to be the one to go into the city with their captain, to make sure he was safe... unfortunately for him, Wilhelm seemed to be the current celebrity amongst the Fourty-Fifth due to his surviving exploding of all things...

Still, he supposed he had a good lot anyway... Hell, he'd had more fighting today with these... zombies or whatever they were than he'd had for the last few weeks! But there was still something bothering him...

"Sergeant! There's something in the city!" He heard called, turning his head as he strode towards the side of the ship facing the port-city... eyes widenning...

"Well I'll be.... Boys, ready the cannons! The captain'll want to give this city a shower when he gets in, and we may as well start it early!" He called out, watching as the many marines onboard prepared to go about the business of readying the guns... by nightfall, the city would likely be burning...





The Flood has begun.

Kali had seen a lot of gruesome things in her life so far…but this was still enough to make her heart drop.

She could hear the shouts even from the docks, see the edges of a black stampede, and knew they wouldn’t have much time left to remain on the isle. Perhaps it was because she was so close to the ship that her thoughts again strayed to her picture. It really was hopeless now. They wouldn’t stay on an island of crazed zombies just so she could search for a bit of paper. They had perhaps minutes left, really however much time it took for the others to get back to the docks.

It was gone for sure, now.

She shook in place, her eyes going glazed again from the panic. Was she already forgetting their faces? Had she already driven away details with thoughts of routines and mundane marine orders? Would she even be able to replicate…?—

She jumped as another sound began to pound in her ears. She felt the wriggling in her coat pocket begin once more, heard the whimper. It was like a jump start.

“…Right,” she whispered with a nod. She hurried from the sandy shores to the docks, hastening to make it up the gangplank. The grunts who had remained on-board were hurriedly preparing to make sail, loading guns and fiddling with the anchor and letting out the canvas. One nervous-looking fellow nearly knocked into her on his way to catch up; it was only because her feet were flying that he tripped into the air instead of her side. She recognized him; an alternate helmsman that sometimes took the night watch.

“M-Miss Kali, we need a heading—“

“Isn’t it obvious? Away from here, you imbecile,” she muttered, holding her jacket close. “I’ll be right back. Don’t let the topsail out until the anchor’s up, unless you want to rip it again.” She ignored his flinch and hurried down the steps two at a time, to her quarters. The shouting instantly quieted as she shut the door.

“…There…” she said softly, letting the pup out of her pocket at last. In the better light, she could get a good look at him. Definitely malnourished, but he could recover. Once they were off into open sea, she would get to work on that. For now, it was back up top, spying on the currents and trying to guess if the zombies could swim.

The living came first. Her dead memories would have to wait for any sort of mourning.

But that didn’t erase the deadened look in the back of her eye.

Masamune heard Getsui's shout, having been busy going over battle plans in his head, taking a small break to check on what he saw, when he did he scrapped all his battle plans for the simple, run like hell. He had fought in battles with a lot of men, but this was insane, he couldn't even see the end of the crowd, it was like a damn sea with how they were all moving.

He saw the rest spring away from the horde, quickly following them, bringing up the rear, he'd have to focus on two things at once, it wouldn't be easy but he was the only one who could. while sprinting he held his arms behind his back, hands pointing to the floor behind him as acid slowly covered them before shooting out like a hose, quite literally covering the entire width of the street behind him, if acid melting their feet wouldn't slow them down he couldn't imagine what would.

The acid seemed to have an effect as the front lines slowly started collapsing, though their bodies were then trampled, unconsciously used to protect the rest, their only shot was to run for the boat.

As soon as soon as Kenpachi struck down one of the zombies, Getsuei took charged through the door opening and started running. This was crazy. Even though all three of the higher ranking marines certainly weren't the weakest fighters, against an amount of enemies like this, fighting prowess was simply useless. In the moment it would take for either Kenpachi or Getsuei to strike down, they would already be trampled by the ten behind their victim. Running was certainly the most reasonable thing to do, and all the other marines seemed to realise this. As he looked over his shoulder, he saw Masamune attempt to slow down the hordes of zombies behind them, but to no avail.

However, while looking over his shoulder, he also saw how two of the creatures leaped towards Kenpachi, who appeared to be slightly slowed down by the mini-human he was dragging along with him. With pain in his heart, Getsuei once again grabbed both his swords and stopped his run, jumping at the two former humans that where going for his captains back. "Nitoryu; Wakai Raikou!" The swordsman shouted, spinning around in his jump and cutting both of the zombies down before they could grab a hold of Kenpachi or the girl he was carrying with him. Getsuei tried to regain his posture as fast as possible and go back to running, but it seemed his attack had taken too much time.

"God fucking dammit!"

Before he could even turn around three other zombies had already leaped at them, only for Getsuei to cut all three down. But it was too late.

The 45th commander was swallowed by the wave existing of former humans.

Kenpachi cursed harshly as he heard Getsuei be overcome by the horde... he doubted he would ever see the man again after that - but the best he could do was trust in his second and bear in mind that the Flood's main attention was focused on Kenpach's group... the bigger prize merited the most attention, after all...

His ponderance was harshly cut off as some of the horde made their presence known upon the buildings beside them - leaping at them from out of windows and darkenned streets, trying to enclose them into the horde... with a vicious roar, he lashed out with a blade, cutting down a score of them before continuing his sprint, men following suit as they were forced to continue fighting on the move amongst the shrill cries and gutteral screeches of the horde...

Their numbers only seemed to be increasing as a thunderous sound cut through the din of hellish pandemonium, reducing all to silence...

=============
(Mere moments before...)
=============

Haakon looked through his set of binoculars with a snarl... that was his captain out there...! The Commander had just been overwhelmed and the rest of them seemed set to join him!

... Perhaps there was still a chance, but they would have to hurry...
He didn't need to think twice; things needed to be stepped up.
"The hell're you south-bred mongrels staring at?! Fire those blasted guns!"

And thus thunder was added to the storm - balls of lead, superheated due to the contained explosions of their fire were launched into the town, gouts of the maddened living being blown appart... though the openings were quickly refilled...

=============
(Back with Kenpachi and Co.)
=============

Many in the group were held in awe as cannonfire lay down upon the horde... it seemed they hadn't been forgotten about after all...!
The Flood seemed to recoil from the hunt, for a moment or two as they beheld this new threat to their feast... it was this moment Kenpachi leapt upon.
He rather hurriedly delivered a headbutt to one of his nearby men, jolting the rest to immediate attention, the victim coming to very shortly after;
"Th'hell're you waitin' for! If we just sit on our asses, we'll lose this chance! GET MOVING!" He roared at them again, quickly ramming a path through the small 'barricade' of mutants that had begun forming in front of them before the cannonfire began to rain upon them...

The action, followed by his men taking the same, was what roused The Flood back into chase a few moments later.


============
(With Toshiro, Wilhelm & Co.)
============

It was an exhausted troupe that finally came upon the ship, now having to fight their way to it just to get on board... it seemed as if The Flood had broken up somewhat, with a few (much, much smaller) break-off groups attempting to swarm other survivors as they clamoured for safety... thankfully they were aided by the men garrisoning the ship, with fresh marines of the 45th leaping down from the side to join the melee and assist their tiring comrades...

Toshiro snapped the neck of another, using the carcass to knock down another group with a chilling lack of emotion on his countenance... He couldn't afford to feel anything at this moment, as any feelings of pity for these poor souls would only cloud his ability to put them down... thankfully, due to the assistance the fighting didn't last much longer after that... but it was liable to change soon...

A few moments afterward of climbing back onto the ship, Toshiro was assisted to a place where he would better serve more of a command role - his leg having suffered a rather nasty bite-wound during the run to the ship, along with a few others that flight simply hadn't been in aid of - the numbers of the enemy had simply been too excessive for such an extreme close-melee fighter as such himself to avoid entirely, in spite of his considerable dexterity; From here on, Toshiro's injuries were rather debilitating for now - he'd be forced to contain himself to non-combat duties from here on in...

Thankfully, his business-like approach to things hid rather well his feelings of inadequacy on the matter....
"Keep fire concentrated as much as possible on that street... it appears as though that is where the bulk of their number resides."

...hopefully, at least...

When Masamune ran past Getsuei he immediately stopped the flow of acid, not wanting the man to be dissolved, his attack seemed to take out a lot of the freaks but they were just as easily replaced, He couldn't bear seeing the man overwhelmed.

Against all his instincts he stopped and turned around, letting the rest of the group escape to their freedom. "Getsuei! Get back up! damn freaks, Ácido escude!" Masamune snarled, acid flooding out of his palms, drying up near instantly, creating a shield the size of the street and twice his length. As the mutants crashed into the shield he pushed back, pumping more acid into the shield, covering the front in the goo, slowly desolving the mutants, not like it would make a sizeable impact, but that wasn't why he was doing this. "GETSUEI! GET THE HELL UP, I'M NOT LEAVING YOU HERE TO ROT!" The man shouted, the sea of mutants slowly pushing the man and his very large shield back.

Masamune couldn't even hear anything besides the mass of mutants, the only thing distracting him for a moment where shells impacting the mass attacking him, giving him a slight breather, then they started pushing back again, the only reason he wasn't bombarding them was because Getsuei was in the mass somewhere. "Ácido creación!" Masamune shouted, three acid clones appearing out of his body and hardening quickly, placing their palms against the shield, helping him push the shield back, though it only slowed down how fast it was being pushed, he would not be able to last much longer through this, the constant force against his shield actually made him grit his teeth, one of the first real emotions he'd had shown during battle... besides the whole act of saving his superior anyway.

“They already know that.”The cold voice came from behind and slightly above him. Kali’s feet hit the deck again, falling from the rigging she had been previously perched upon. She had returned from her room minutes before, but had gotten busy in the short amount of time. “As soon as direct order was given to fire, I was on patrol here,” she said roughly, looking off to the men on the starboard cannons rather than her own reflection in his glasses. She was still rather bitter towards this man and his actions on Toshino--even Kenpachi was tolerable over someone who wished to claim and overstep everything that she did—and on top of that she wasn’t quite in the mood to look at her own reflection…

“Not that it matters. The cannons only delay.” She managed a glance to him, her eyes both dead and full of resentment. “Even an idiot could see there’s too many of them to do anything but save a few seconds more.” Perhaps it came out harsher than intended, but…well her bitterness with him had been clear ever since they had gotten off the last island.

“…Just stay here. I’ll go organize the men at the gangplank.” It was only after a once-over that revealed his injured leg that Kali let him get away with taking over the orders. It would be pointless to hurt someone further until they were out to open sea. Her eyes breaking off to the side again, she began to move off…before she noticed.

A few of the rotting bodies were managing to climb up the ship…and all the men were doing was trying to push them off.

Idiots.

She made her way down the planned path to the gangplank. But in midstride she reached out and grabbed a pistol from one of the men’s hands, shooting one, two, three fleshy black lumps in a swift stroke, right in the head. “Get them in the head next time, and make sure they stay dead,” she growled, shoving the butt of the gun back in the grunt’s chest. “They rip our sails and we’re done for, you hear me? Don’t just push them off like you’re afraid. You signed up for this, so grow up. Everyone has to someday.” Dropping the gun at his feet, she went off through the panicking marines, disappearing from Toshiro and the starboard’s sight like the moon behind a cloud.

The cannon fire was primarily aimed towards the street. But she knew that wasn’t the only place that needed attention. All the men were doing at the actual entrance of the ship was fighting the things with swords and guns. That wasn’t the biggest problem either…they’d be dragging a rush of zombies with them in too fast a pace to manually push or raise the plank up. There needed to be another force…

She tapped the shoulders of the men with the biggest deck guns and motioned for them to follow. “Gangplank, now,” she ordered, nodding towards the plank. The men looked at her like she was crazy. “Two loaded cannons right now I said,” she repeated with a glare. “We’ll need that ricochet in less than three minutes, so hurry the hell up and put one on each side so the rest of our men can get through. Make sure the wheels hit the edge of the plank so they’ll push it forward with the force.” Suddenly seeing the light of the plan, the two men nodded, hurrying to load and move the cannons. Even though it seemed like cannons moved back, they initially thrusted forward from the explosion…it would likely be enough to make the floor literally drop under, and if they fired right as the zombie citizens were beginning to board, the floor would drop beneath their feet.

With a successfully placed order for once in her life on the ship—she blamed it on the men being too panicky to remember they didn’t think of her as a superior—she went back, setting herself on the rail and grabbing another person’s gun straight out of their belt.

“Sorry. Mine’s out,”she murmured, before turning out towards the docks and taking aim…

“…One. Two. Three. Four. There’s a head. Six. Seven…” Each number accompanied by a bang and a tortured scream so unlike the calm, focused expression in her eyes.

Was this it? Everywhere Getsuei looked, he saw rotting bodies. He was quite sure he could hear somebody shout his name in the distance. But the voice was too muffled to be able to recognize who it was. Then again, it didn't seem like it would matter. It would probably all be over soon. But Getsuei couldn't make peace with that. Giving up was simply not something the swordsman could do. There where things he wanted to do in the future. And he couldn't leave this world without first having done those things. Releasing a yell from deep within his body, Getsuei unleashed all his strength, and in a feat of what appeared breaking the limits of the human body, pushed the zombies piling up on him off him. Now he could hear the voice that had been yelling clearly coming from behind it was Masamune. That idiot had apparently made the crazy decision to stick behind and attempt to save his commander. A stupid decision, but not one Getsuei would complain about at this point.

With both his swords still in his hand, Getsuei spun around 360 degrees, cutting up the former-humans that where once again trying to pile up on him. With one move at least five bodies hit the floor, but they where quickly replaced by others who didn't seem to have a problem simply stepping on their allies to get to their target. Realizing it would just be a waste of time to cut down more of the zombies coming from the back, Getsuei turned around and started cutting down the zombies separating him from Masamune's acid wall. However, as he tried to move forward, he felt hands grabbing onto the back of his coat, pulling him towards the mass. Seeing there was only one row of zombies between him and Masamune's wall, Getsuei slid his arms out of his coat and cut down two of the zombies in front of him.

Now, the third obstacle, which was possibly even more dangerous than the zombies; There was a giant wall of acid right in front of Getsuei, and if the zombies still had any of their human intelligence left, they would know that they could now kill the swordsman with a simple push to the back. Then again, in that case Getsuei would smash into the acid and dissolve, and since the zombies seemed really fond of eating people, they would most likely not attempt that (if they could figure it out at all).

Masamune! Take down that motherfucking wall of yours before your acid instead of the zombies eat up my flesh!"

===================
With Kenpachi
===================

Kenpachi almost stopped, half-turning in his run as Masamune seemed determined to save the second in command... while he admired the idiot's courage and dedication, he couldn't help but wonder about the young man's sense of propriety... Granted, he might have been just as tempted to run back himself had he not been carrying the tiny child in his arm... The thought brought him back to his own state of thought, being forced to turn back forward mid-stride as he cut down another Twisted, continuing his run... he was on the home stretch now; and those two had better hurry before the hole town went sky high...!

He cursed as he was forced to duck from some flying shrapnel from a collapsing building, before charging through another mob of the Twisted, the men rapidly following after him... the ship was in sight, eyes taking in the merciful view of his suddenly much more beloved ship...
Snarling as he stomped one of the infected down to the ground, he began closing in on the last stretch, putting the blade back into it's "sheathed" position in preparation to climb... that pair of dumbasses had better hurry, or they'd be caught in the bombardment.

Or worse... left behind - much as the thought pained him, he couldn't risk the whole division because those two decided to have a sense of self-sacrifice.

===================
With Toshiro
===================

He'd held a barely concievably wince when she'd spoken to him, the disdain obvious from her tone... Had he really been so cruel? He mentally shook his head... in hindsight, it appears that his hubris had gotten the better of him... Over the years, he'd used his career to try and cover up the mistakes of his past, hope dimming on the concept of ever seeing... them again. But he was becoming increasingly certain that he had in this case, just by the subtle nuances and mannerisms, and especially upon paying real attention to her face... - and that conclusion was, oddly, setting in him something of a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach rather than relief... well, relief was there, but it was overshadowed by the increasing sense of failure, that he'd ruined whatever relationship he could have had before he'd even known through his own arrogance.

He grunted, adjusting his position in his seat as one of the squad medics came to start patching him up... There was still research to be done before he could be certain, but it was honestly just for comfort's sake, now... his mind was putting things into place, and considering Marie's and Rose's profiles all those years ago... everything simply fit, asides her hair color... but ten years could do a lot of things.. He rubbed his forehead lightly, most simply shrugging it off as pain or stress... He had a lot to think about...

“…Why the hell is this giving you so much trouble.”

Kali watched in disdain as a few of the men tried to deal with their current..situation. Seemed a few of these zombie…whatever-they-were’s could swim well, all the way to the other side where nobody had been expecting one. Now they had to deal with not only the zombies trying to climb up the ship, but one trying to climb up the main mast. How it knew that destroying the sails would make them an easy meal, she hadn’t a clue…but she wasn’t about to let it happen.

But when the best ideas people had were to try and knock it loose…thinking that would be more respectable, or whatever one of them had whined out.

“For the love of…” Kali muttered, grabbing someone’s pistol and taking care of the issue in much the same manner she had with the others. It fell to the deck in a heap, black oozing out of the bullet wound in the back of its head. “Don’t feel sorry for what’s trying to kill you,” she said sternly, aiming and letting another round off just in case. “You all are a bunch of idiots. They aren’t people anymore, so don’t try nudging them off with a pole, just kill them.” Leaving them to clean up the mass of flesh, she turned around. It was surprising really…perhaps it was because the captain had still not made it onto the deck, or the others that were higher-ranked than herself, but the men were actually listening to her. Probably for the best—she was saving the stupid fools’ lives—but still surprising, especially after what she had heard on Toshino…

Well, they were probably all too frightened to *not* listen to someone who had a good shot on a ship without a sniper.

She looked out to the horizon, past the bundles of arms and legs and tattered screams, and saw the silhouettes of the men in the town growing closer… She turned to the two she had assigned to the cannons flanking the gangplank, knowing it was time to prepare. “Load up the guns, soon as the last of our men’s feet hit the deck you shoot them, got it?” she said. They nodded hurriedly, fumbling about with the cannonballs.

If they were lucky, they wouldn’t have to shoot them off before every man got aboard…

As soon as Masamune heard his commander's voice he scrambled in tearing a hole in the shield, tearing out a strip of it, slightly wider than Getsui. "Come on, we need to hurry! Masamune said urgently, waiting for the man to cross the shield before patching up the hole, buying them some extra time.

AS soon as he was finished he broke out into a sprint, he knew the crews' modus operandi they would have little time to get to the ship before they bombarded the town. "Leave any dead on the left to me, you take care of those on the right!" Masamune shouted, knowing Getsui would be close behind, if not gaining on him.

He ran as fast as he could, smashing any freak that tried to attack in the face hard enough to snap their necks. as he ran he could see the ship getting into view, just a little more and they'd be there.

Getsuei turned his upperbody around and cut down a few of the former humans on his right, as he watched the hole in Masamune's shield open. "About time!" The swordsman shouted, a small grin forming on his face because this meant it was time to get out. He jumped through the hole, avoiding any of the acid so he wouldn't be dissolved after all and then started running, right along side Masamune. As they where running, Masamune started commanding Getsuei around. "How about this; we both take down none of them and just run like Hell? And that isn't actually question, Mr. Petty Officer." The commander responded, Masamune having having no choice but to obey as the swordsman was significantly superior in rank to the acid man.

Sadly, the no-fighting part of Getsuei's plan didn't manage to flourish, as some of the zombie-like people where still quicker than both himself and Masamune. Hearing them closing in, Getsuei spun around and cut down another zombie, taking the opportunity to look behind, and see that the sea of beserking locals was closing in on them. "You're an idiot, you know that? Should have just left m-"

Before Getsuei could finish his sentence, he was cut off by a large explosion. It seemed the rest of the 45th had started firing at the flood of formers, which could have two potential outcomes; Either Masamune and Getsuei could get lucky and enlarge the distances between themselves and the flood, or they would be bombed into pieces. And Getsuei wasn't a real big fan of the second option.

"Good to know those fuckers expect us to make it." Getsuei remarked sarcasticly, more to himself than to Masamune and he started to increase his running speed to as fast as his body would allow him to. They where getting closer to the ship, and if they weren't bombed by the members of their own division, it seemed likely they where going to make it. Sadly, this meant that they would not board the ship with just the two of him, but take a crazy amount of zombies with them to join the ride.