"Has anybody seen my mom today?" Juro walks out to the middle of their camp, looking for his mother, who was nowhere to be found. But he noticed that neither was Kenshi and Hiro.

"I sent her out with Kenshi and Hiro to get rid of some walkers nearby. It might get out of hand if we don't take care of it now." Riki replies, handing him a bowl of what looked to be tomato soup and a small half sandwich.

"But her stomach..." he mumbles, looking at his food blankly. "Kenshi checked it before they left, she's fine."

"Don't worry, they had the bandages on, they just made sure it was no longer bleeding or had any infections." he says with a chuckle and Juro releases some tension as he sits down, cross legged and beginning to eat.

"Any chance I can join them?" "I have other plans for you. I decided that Arisugawa and Togoshi will be training you on guarding the towers. Just in case we have some unwanted visitors or something." Riki replies, gesturing to the two men.

"Riki! I think I got some signals from one of the antenna towers nearby!" Just then, Takuto, who was eating with a surprisingly in-good-condition laptop, shouts out with wide eyes.

"Seriously? Try to get in contact with someone using our radio." Riki grabs a radio nearby and tosses it lightly at the blonde, who catches it and swiftly turns it on, static playing. "Let's see..." he mumbles, tweaking it as the others all watch him expectantly, hoping for any sort of contact with survivors.

"I think I-" Takuto starts, but he was cut off by static again. "Hey guys, let us in!" a shout from the gate sounded and Riki lets the three in. Kenshi, Maiko and Hiro all walk in. "Shit..." Takuto mutters.

"What happened?" "The antennas went offline. Something must've tampered with it." the blonde replies, sighing. "Where's the tower?" Maiko asks.

"Just ways out of the forest. But you've gotta go through the thing to get there." Yuki replies from the side with a frown, "But I heard a bunch of those things out there last night. Even if you cleared it, it was just one side, and the side to the towers are crowded with the things."

"Besides, you still have to pass a small town on the way," Tatsuro nods, "But none of us are familiar with that place, and there's a group of survivors there who wont let anyone pass. Well, unless you're familiar with the place so nobody's gotta give you a tour when passing."

"They won't let anyone pass just because they might get lost?" Juro asks, a bit annoyed at the rules. All of them nod. 

"Yeah, and it doesn't really help when rumors about us are going around the cities." Kenshi sighs, running a hand through his spiky hair. "Since they know we're the Foxes too, they won't let us in. Apparently, people are saying we're thieves looking to steal supplies and weapons."

"Really?" Maiko grins, making everyone look at her. "Well they don't know about me and Juro being in the Foxes yet, do they? And we're pretty familiar with that place actually, my cousin used to live there and we visited every summer as a kid."

"Wow... Coincidences like this never happen..." Riki mumbles, "Can you do it?"

"I wouldn't be telling you this if I wouldn't." Maiko laughs, standing. "Besides, I'll probably just get bored here. Who can I bring?"

"Your son's not known as a Black Fox yet, so you can totally take him!" Hiro suggests, then looks towards Kenshi. "But there's also a ton of walkers in the tower area from what I heard last. So just bring Kenny with you!"

"Hiro! They already I know I'm part of the Foxes, man!" "Relax, Kenny! Remember, I studied art back then. I can disguise you!"

"The why didn't you do it back then?" "Because we couldn't find any makeup around. Surprisingly, there were a lot of food and drinks, but no makeup anywhere."

"Really? Oh... so that's why Kenshi picked up that makeup last time..." Maiko nods, grinning. "Alright, let's do this." she smirks.

~*****~

"So why is this antenna so important, anyway?" Juro asks Kenshi as they walk. "Alright, watch it, we're entering the forest." he says in reply before smiling a little.

"It's really important actually. There could be more survivors out there than we thought, and maybe we could get in contact with other places, farther than we can travel." he explains seriously, "Besides, this might be a good way to find out how other places are doing, without putting ourselves in danger just in case it's gone to shit."

"Good point." Juro nods, fixing his back pack. With the help of Hiro earlier, they had managed to disguise Kenshi, who still had brown hair, but now with a sharper-looking jaw and with contouring, managed to shape his face differently.

Luckily, Hiro already had some contacts with him, colored contacts. Kenshi's eyes were no longer a deep hazel, but a pine green. But he still looked handsome if Maiko had to admit.

"Oh shit..." Juro suddenly stopped and mumbled, before the two could ask what was wrong, scary moaning and groaning could be heard. Accompanied with a bunch of rustling and the sound of stumbling steps, they didn't need to know who or what that was because the sound was familiar. Something they dealt with almost everyday.

"Walkers... Let's get out of here, now!" Maiko orders and she begins to run, making sure to dodge all obstacles in her way. 

~*****~

After managing to get them off their trail, the trio slow down to a walk around to catch their breath. "That was way too close for my liking." Mai's son breathes out as he slowly trudges a little behind the two adults. 

"Sorry, Juro," Maiko apologizes, turning to him for a brief moment. "There's water in my bag if you guys want any." 

"Don't mind me." Juro laughs and reaches into her bag to pull out the promised water bottles, tossing one to Kenshi, who catches it with one hand easily. "So, Kenshi," Juro says as he takes a gulp, "You never told us, what was your job before all this started?"

"Well, I was a firefighter actually. But I also helped in my family's restaurant whenever I could." he replied. "Riki used to work as a government official looking to take over after his father, but he also tried to take care of his little sister, Ibuki."

"He had a sister?" Maiko asked as she walked beside them. "Yeah, he doesn't want to believe she's dead, and he's still looking around the areas until he finds her."

"Damn... What about the others?"

"Well... Takuto used to be some programmer in a big IT company. Hiro was pretty young when this started, he was still in college studying art as he said earlier." Kenshi thinks back on his friends as he spoke, "Boss used to own his own restaurant named Le Renard Noir, which we helped out in on occasions when we had time."

"Explains his good cooking skills." Maiko chuckled. "Well, Yuki and Tatsuro were FBI agents so they know a lot about weapons. And Taiga and Hyosuke were living alone, Taiga being a doctor and Hyosuke was a museum curator."

"A good team you have there. Someone for disguises just in case needed to trick survivors..." Juro mumbled, scratching his head, "Someone who knows about technology and a government official who probably makes good plans... Sharp shooters from the FBI and doctors for wounded, and a firefighter who's incredibly strong. Even a good cook..."

"Looks like we stumbled on a good group then," Maiko laughs. "Heh, don't forget it, we've got strong willed people too, all of us. And it's only gotten stronger with you two, we just don't know what your skills are."

"Well, if you need to know," she smiles, "Juro studied karate and a lot more sports that I can't all list. I was actually a hit man."

"What?!" he yelps, looking at her with wide eyes. "Just kidding, calm down. I was an Interpol agent, but I can also shoot a gun without missing most of the time." she chuckles, "But mostly, I use my brains more."

"Mom actually has an IQ of 181!" Juro brags with a wide grin. "Juro! Can it." she shakes her head with a small smile. "Pretty high. That's really good for planning, hm? You even beat Hiro's IQ level."

"What's the points?" Juro asked. "180." Kenshi replies with a small laugh. "Boom! Another one beat, mom!" Juro laughs, "Told you, you were smart!" he smiles brightly, definitely proud. "Juro..." she warns in a mocking tone. "You'll be as smart as me one day. Your IQ is 167 at the current moment anyway." she laughs.

"This kid's smarter than I am!" Kenshi laughs, and the trio were just talking, when a gunshot suddenly stopped them when it landed right in front of Juro. They look up to see a glaring woman who called to them.

"Who are you?" she calls, "And what are you here for?"

"We're friendly, I'm Maiko, this is Juro and Kenshi." she replies, pointing at herself, then her son, then her comrade. "We're just passing by to get to the other side." she explains, "We wanted to get to the antenna towers a few ways out."

"I'd suggest not," the woman says, "The place is crowded, and not by survivors but then again, I don't care. Let me get our chief and we'll get back to you."

~*****~

They managed to get through and now, they were a few ways out and they had set up camp with Juro's tent he had founds days before. They already had cooked things from Atsumu and they were all eating quietly, looking at the sky above them, which was littered with stars, the full moon shining down on them.

"A nice night out, huh?" Kenshi says, starting a small conversation. "Mhm." Maiko replies, taking a bite of her sandwich. "I'm going to bed," Juro replies and finishes his drink before crawling into the tent.

"Good night, son." she smiles as the flashlight inside the tent went off, leaving them in darkness, except the bonfire still crackling outside with the pair.

"So... I forgot to ask..." Kenshi starts, "It's been kind of bothering me, and I feel like this is true in some way..." "Okay... Shoot."

"Are you keeping secrets from Juro...?"

~*****~

A/N:

I know this wans't a very significant chapter, more just being an intro to the world and stuff and the beginning of the drama. Sorry if this was a boring chapter, and I'll try to update as much as possible from now on. 

I just had a lot of chores today since my parents were gone most of the day.

Ciao!

~Dark Angel