Empty Bottles

[Guest90206]

Welp, I did it. Here you have the first chapter of a Kenji-centric zombie half-comedy that I wrote about a week ago. Figured here was the best place to post it, so... enjoy. Feedback and criticism (be gentle :3) is always welcome.
Kenji and zombies are in spoilers because I deliberately wanted to make it super-ambiguous until the end.

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

-shtCLACK
-CLACKsht

I turn the metallic object over and over in my hands, mindlessly and rhythmically performing the simple action it was designed to do. Of course, it's of no use now, not in its current state, but that doesn’t particularly matter to me. I’ve always been a bit of a sucker for curiosities, I guess. I go ahead and place the weighted piece of steel in my pocket, take a seat on my bed, and pinch myself hard just to make sure that the past two weeks haven’t been some delusion.


Ouch.


Goddammit.

Still doesn’t work. I lay back and stretch out as my mind grasps upon some oddly outstanding fact.

…two weeks…

Holy shit. It’s actually only been two weeks since this whole… business… began. That’s fourteen whole days. Doing a quick mental count-off, that means that it’s been…

“Five days.”

My own voice sounds so foreign that I start rather violently, hand immediately going to the machete at my side. Of course, I calm down. After all, there’s no harm coming from talking to myself, right?

“Five days,” I say again, now used to the sound. Five days since I’d last seen another man – no, scratch that - another anybody.

Taking sudden note of my scratchy voice, I take a quick glance to my right and confirm my dreading suspicion. I’m dry as a fish out of water. The final bottle of whiskey, some fancy American brand, has run out. Casting my mind back about five days, I’m able to recall the last time I had seen anyone… and a nearly full bottle.

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

We sit in silence, passing the bottle back and forth. No words are spoken. No words are necessary. I’m pretty sure we both know how this is going to have to end. Neither of us wants to say it, though.

Interesting circumstances, I must say, though. It happened to be my hall-mate who had procured the drink this final time. Funny. I hadn’t had him pegged as the kind that would wait on his liquor… or share it, current tremulous conditions considered… “So hey, uh…” I began.

“Nine days,” he said - and rather emotionlessly, might I add. My mate gets a bit odd (well, moreso than normal) when he sets to drink. He also gets sloshed a bit easier than normal.

With a bit more life (and a lot more slur), he asks a question. “What’dya s’pect the fem- the fimin- ah, feministics ‘re upta?”

Told you so.

“Haven’t a clue, bro. N’frankly, I couldn’t give less of a flying fuck, considering that we’re essentially stuck here.” I take a pull from the bottle. Half-empty now. This Bean or Beng or Bang guy, he sure knows how to make his liquor.

“Ngh,” he grunts. “Hop on out, ladies.”

Beam. That was it. We pass it back and forth. Maybe I could go to America once this is all over and drink whiskey and talk to this Beam guy and learn how he makes whiskey so well and then go buy a whole new-

We both freeze as we hear the rattle of cans. Normally a commonplace sound, we could instead tell immediately that it was one of his noise traps. I’d never known how resourceful my hallmate was, at least until we had to deal with a nationwide crisis. We quickly ( and carefully) rise and get ready to duck into our respective dorms, when he does something that catches me completely off-guard.

He passes me the bottle.

“No, dude, no, this one’s yours,” I try and protest, but he has none of it.

“Trus’ me, bro, you’re gonna need it more’n I will. Now stay safe… ‘n watch yer back!” With those words, the very last Manly Picnic ended, and the sound of multiple locks engaging reminded me to get inside. Right. The fuck. Then. As I step inside and lock my door, it dawns on me that this might have been the last time I would ever see my hallmate. I ensure my current safety, then glance at the bottle.
Guess I’d better get started.

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

I reluctantly pull myself out of my memory and take stock of the situation. Empty bottle means nothing else to drink. That means I’d have to leave the room.

Dammit.

I worry about this for long enough that I start to drift off, and unconsciously begin to fiddle with that hunk of steel. I realize what I’m doing, and then re-realize why this situation sucks. I’m out of drinkables, low on foodstuffs, and this bolt assembly is gonna drive me nuts until I find the rifle it goes to. I mean, I’d rather just stay in here…

…bolt assembly…

…rifle…

Rifle?!

Welp, I wanted motivation. Now I guess I’ve got it. That’ll be a serious help next time they decide to show up. Last time, they nearly got into my room; one was close enough to grab my scarf.

Now that’s just rude.

Kenji Setou, you’ve got quite the day ahead of you.

[Scissorlips]

Definitely interesting. Zombies might be a bit played out these days, but I think it lends to Kenji's character pretty well. I think it would be interesting if he didn't change gears immediately from feminists to zombies, kind of work in a transition as he adapts his methods and theories? Anyway, it will be cool to see where you go with it. Your format, spelling, grammar, etc, have no real issues.

[Guest90206]

Ha ha, thank you for the feedback and i was totally not checking with dread every five minutes yesterday! I initially wondered whether this would be something that could realistically translate to Japan, but I'm glad I was able to make it work. My biggest concern was that I was able to pull off the Kenji-but-also-not-anymore kind of character mindset. Also...

...changed gears immediately from feminists to zombies.

Worry not, for I have a plan/explanation for this!

[stanman237]

Why can't they be feminist zombies?

[BlackRockHanako]

Why can't they be feminist zombies?

Because zombies enjoy meat in their mouths

Edit - Should also add that I like where this story is going. Look forward to seeing more!