"Mom... Please, I really need to eat something..." Juro begs as they walk through the alleyway, cautious of their surroundings.

"For the last time, Juro," she sighs, looking away guiltily, "We can't spare anything right now. After we pick through everything here, we have a probably two day trip ahead of us. Imagine what's going to happen if we use it all now. Especially with the insufficient amount right now, our best luck would be not running into any raiders on the way."

He decided against protesting, especially since his mother had such a valid point. "Alright..." "I'm sorry, Juro. You know I'd give you a lot if we had so much to spare. We just don't have any at the moment right now..."

They quietly walk together, stealthily sneaking past the streets. "Come and help me open this, seems stuck."

With a sigh, the hazel-haired boy help his mother shove the door open but the items blocking the door toppled over, causing loud bangs which drew LOTS of unwanted attention towards them.

The walkers all turned their heads towards them and groaned as they began staggering after them. "Shit... Get in, Juro. We need to make this pick-through quick." she orders and rushes inside with her son, blocking the door with a few chairs and tables around.

"Make it quick, Juro," she barks, "I want you to make sure there are no obstacles near the back exit. And after that, I want you to look behind the counter for anything. Hurry up."

He rushes off as Maiko begins looking through the shelves. She had managed to find a few canned peaches and pineapples, a pack of bread and some jam. A few water bottles and energy bars and even juice.

"Mom! I got everything behind the counter!" Maiko was about to grab a box of biscuits when the blocked door bursts open, walkers tumbling in. Quickly grabbing the box and a few cans of beans on the way out, she rushes to her son, only to find that there were also walkers in the other entrance.

"WHAT?! JURO!" "It was empty in the alley before I swear!" he claims, raising his hands. 

"Dammit..." Just as she was about to lose hope, she spots an open vent. She could see a path towards it but that would mean they would have to push through a few of these fuckers.

"Come on, Juro..." She grabs his wrist and runs, pushing and tackling walkers on the way as she jumps onto the chair underneath the vent. "Get in, hurry up!" she pushes him up to the vent and in a few seconds, her son's hand stretches out. Taking it, she lets him pull her up before she kicks off a walker behind her as they start crawling away.

"Way too close..." She breathes as they take a turn. "Juro, I can see a fan over there. Kick it open." she orders, moving back a little. Her son, since he couldn't slide around, just breaks the fan with his fist before removing the remaining parts. He jumps out, landing on top of a dumpster outside, his mother following suit.

"How many things did you get?" she asks, gesturing to his backpack. "I got two boxes of energy bars and a couple of cans of beans and fruits. Pretty good stocks left there."

"Yeah, let's go, that was the last store. We need to leave this place, those things are everywhere now." Maiko sighs. 

"Okay, remember the plan? The Survivor Smugglers should be here soon, and we'll get a ride then."

"Wait... How much did it cost again?" "10 per person. But I still don't understand why we have to pay, money has nothing to do with the world anymore."

"Where do we need to wait?" "By the train station, they'll be there in thirty minutes so we need to leave now."

~*****~

In the train car, the family of two sat on the floor, leaning against the wall as they both slowly nibbled on small sandwiches, sharing a water bottle. "Hey," a man comes from another car and calls out to the two, "Your stop's coming up in the tiny town up ahead, that's as far as your money's gonna take you."

"Got it, thanks." she nods and gets up, finishing her sandwich as she hands the last few gulps of water to her son. "Let's go, Juro, we're there in five minutes."

Once they got off, they walked away from the station and began their on-foot trip. "It's almost night, and we need to find a shelter..."

"Well, looks like we're making another one again..." "Okay, I-" "WAIT! I remember, look what I found in that store earlier!" he drops down to his knees and from his back pack, he pulls out a smaller, rolled up bag. It was a tent.

"Damn... Where did you find it?" Maiko asks, inspecting the hardly damaged bag. "In the storage behind back, lots of good supplies. I forgot to tell you."

"What did you get?" "A couple of new weapons, a change of clothes for us, and I have some batteries and flashlights. But the walkers got in before I could call you over, mom."

"This is good... Great job, Juro," she chuckles, "Looks like you can manage yourself when I'm gone, hm?" she laughs, beginning to set up the tent. "That's not funny, mom." he groans, but begins to set up a fire.

"I'm just happy, Juro. I know that I can go when I need to without worrying about my little boy."

"Jeez.... So worried." "A mother's job." she chuckles, finishing the tent. "Well, let's get started."

~*****~

"Here we are... Sanyu City...." Maiko sighs, tired. "Juro, I need you to-"

"PUT YOUR HANDS UP!"

A loud voice calls from above and the two feel guns pressed against their backs as they were forced onto their knees. "Who are you?" 

"Juro... Don't do anything, and stay quiet." she whispers to her son, looking at him out the corner of her eye. 

"Take their things." the man orders and two more appear, attempting to pry the bags away from the duo. "Please let us go," Maiko breathes calmly, "We don't want any trouble okay? We just wanted to-"

"Shut up, bitch," the man snarls nastily, pressing the gun harder against her. "Now tell me who you two are, and I'll consider sparing your pathetic lives, got it?"

"Tch, you don't have to know." she replies, nastily. "Listen up, you have no right to disrespect me, girl. You entered Axel's part of town, and once you entered, you have no right to disrespect us."

"Mom..." Juro whispers, "You know we need to do it..."

"Alright... You ready...?" she breathes, head down. "Mhm..." 

"GO!" At his mother's shout, Juro quickly does a back spin kick on the man behind him, getting his pressure point behind his knees, Maiko doing the same.

But what they weren't ready for was snipers from the roof tops, and they were only warned when a bullet hit the ground, narrowly missing Maiko. "Dammit... MOM! WE NEED TO GO!" Juro shouts, stumbling to his feet and grabbing his mother.

"NO! YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" The man calls and they hear the click of a gun, before Juro hears his mother scream, making him turn around and dart out just in time to catch her fall.

A bullet was lodged in her stomach as it began bleeding, his mother's venom red shirt turning into an even darker red. "Holy shit... Hold on, mom." 

"COME OUT LITTLE BOY!" He heard a shout, followed by rushed footsteps. "WE GOT YOUR MOM! YOU DON'T WANT TO BE NEXT, DO YOU?!"

"Hold on... Sorry, mom... Looks like we're taking the sewers..."

~*****~

They've been in here for at least more than an hour...

Trudging through the narrow waters by the side, Juro tries carrying his mother without causing her anymore pain. He made a hasty patch up, managed to get the bullet out and patch it up, but it wasn't a very good suit up.

He was about to turn a corner when a bright light flashed in his eye. He was blinded for a moment, and he froze when he heard the click of a gun.

"Who are you, and what are you doing on our group's territory?" a raven haired man asked from beside the tall brunette who held the flashlight.

"I... I..." "Talk, boy," the man nudged, a bit less threatening, but the gun still cocked at him. "J-Juro..." he found himself weak, these two looked incredibly strong, and he could maybe fight the raven one off, but certainly not the brunette.

And certainly not when his mother was injured with no one to care for her.

"Now what are you doing here?" "I... We were just trying to get away from the raiders, I swear! They shot my mom and I was just trying to get her away."

They turned their attention to the woman Juro was carrying on his back. "What's her name?" "Maiko Fukuyumi..." "Where's your father?" "..."

The ravenette sighed, "Never mind," he took the hint, dropping the subject. "Come on, we'll get you out of here and fix up your mother over there. It's uncomfortable having to carry two backpacks and a woman at once."

"I..." Juro mumbled as they began walking away. "WAIT! What's your names...?"

"I'm Riki," the ravenette smirked, "And this is Kenshi..."

"I'm the leader of the Black Foxes."