EP 23 : Argument

No one fired.

For a long second, the hallway froze in a deadlock of raised guns and shallow breaths.

The newcomers were rough. Three men. One woman. Civilian gear mixed with police vests that didn’t fit right. Nervous eyes. Fingers too close to triggers.

“Easy,” Kanata said. Calm. Flat. “We’re just passing through.”

One of the men laughed. Too loud. “Funny. So were we.”

Godou shifted behind Kanata and whispered, “Please tell me this isn’t a hostage episode.”

Serizawa snorted. “Shut up.”

The woman with the group glanced at the armory behind Kanata, eyes sharp. “You already looted?”

Kanata didn’t answer.

That was answer enough.

The tension snapped when a zombie slammed into a door down the hall, shrieking.

“Shit!” one man yelled.

Gunfire erupted. Chaos. The other group turned and fired wildly. Bullets chewed into walls. Glass shattered.

Kanata moved instantly. “Cover left!”

Takiya obeyed without thinking. Kanami pulled Koko down behind a desk. Serizawa leaned out and dropped two zombies with clean shots.

The other group panicked.

One of them ran.

Straight into a zombie.

Screaming. Blood. Over fast.

The rest bolted.

Silence returned, thick and ugly.

Godou exhaled loudly. “I officially hate people again.”

Serizawa lowered her gun. “Told you. Zombies are honest.”

Kanami stood up, face tight. “That’s exactly why we need to leave.”

She turned to Kanata, voice firm now. “Big places draw armed idiots. We stay, more like them show up. Or worse.”

Serizawa scoffed. “And where do we go? Hide in a shed and pray?”

“At least sheds don’t have guns pointed at you,” Kanami shot back.

Serizawa stepped closer, eyes flashing. “You’re scared.”

Kanami didn’t deny it. “I’m realistic.”

Their voices rose.

“This world doesn’t reward crowds,” Kanami said. “It rewards being small. Quiet. Alive.”

“And small gets eaten,” Serizawa snapped. “Big places mean supplies. Power. Control.”

“You don’t want safety,” Kanami said. “You want control.”

The word hung there.

Takiya stepped between them, calm but unyielding. “Enough. Survival isn’t about pride.”

Serizawa looked away, jaw tight.

Godou raised her hands awkwardly. “Okay, group therapy later? Preferably somewhere without bullets?”

No one laughed.

Kanata stood apart, leaning against the armory door. He hadn’t spoken since the gunfight.

Serizawa turned to him. “Say something.”

Kanami looked at him too. “Please.”

Kanata stared at the floor, then at the weapons, then at the blood drying in the hallway.

Too many people.

Too many guns.

Too many lies dressed up as safety.

He said nothing.

That silence pressed harder than any shout.

Godou swallowed. “I… don’t like that look.”

Kanata finally straightened.

“We move,” he said.

Not now.

Not together.

Just… move.

They all felt it.

Something had shifted.

The argument wasn’t over.

It had only been postponed.

And that was worse.