Hopefully you guys liked the original Death Road To Canada fic! Not to be that person and all, but uh… I made more.

Now, you should TOTALLY read this because the amount of time that went into this is absolutely absurd. I’d also like to personally thank Mod Nagito for being my second set of eyes and making sure that everything was actually comprehensible.

Now, with a nice word count of 5055, I give you…

DANGANPOCALYPSE: Death Road To Canada, Day 2

“… up! God, you sleep like a damn rock.”

“.. Nnnmrrph.”

“If you don’t wake up, you’re gonna get left behind again, you know,” a voice said matter of factly.

Kazuichi lifted his head from the pillow he had been provided, running a finger through his knotted hair. He admittedly should have been putting more effort into taking care of it, but the task had been proven to be a bit difficult without an actual hairbrush. He rubbed his eyes open, slouching over as he attempted to recall everything from the day before.

The thought of the bathroom, and the horde surrounding his stall came flushing back, along with the girl with purple hair and a laugh that would make any man feel a chill crawl up his spine. The obnoxious, grape-haired boy who managed to slip past the field of view of the zombies was sitting in front of him, tying his bandana around his neck. The thwick of a thread somewhere being pulled on his clothing made him grumble in frustration, and Kazuichi watched Kokichi lift his arms and look around intently. Eventually he gave up, and tossed the mechanic his beanie with a brand new patch of two diamonds, one with a face and another an E inside of a larger C. He looked up at Kokichi, who was already fixing to leave the building.

“Anyone who travels with me for more than a day gets that emblem. Consider yourself part of D.I.C.E.” He announced, walking into the bright light.

“H-hold on, I don’t even know what that is!!” Kazuichi called out, gaining no response. He looked back down at the patch, putting his fingers on the threads. It was still warm, and he figured that it was an iron-on. He made a mental note to ask someone to secure it much better. He wasn’t quite sure what D.I.C.E. was, but he felt he owed the leader something for his generosity.

He grabbed a box of ammunition and a pistol that had been left by a previous camper, putting them in one of his many pockets. When he walked outside, he lifted his hand in an attempt to avoid the harsh morning sun. The rest of the camp was waking up with them, along with Toko and the redhead from before, Himiko. Out of curiosity, he looked at Toko and Himiko’s clothes closer. Sure enough, there was a brand new emblem attached to the sailor-style collar of her school uniform, and Himiko’s hat brandished the same thing.

“Re-remind me why you modified my clothes?!” Fukawa questioned, practically foaming at the mouth. Kokichi shrugged, smirking.

“Look, if I’m gonna have more people traveling with me, we’re gonna travel in style. Since I don’t have bandanas… why not the organization patch? I see no problem with it, considering I put it in pretty hard to notice places, anyways.” Kokichi looked to his right, flourishing his hand. Toko looked over to Himiko, enraged.

“Nyeh, this isn’t anything new, honestly. You get used to it, so you should let him have this.” Himiko dismissively replied, straightening her hat out.

“Besides, it’s nice to have a bit of flair…” Kazuichi tried to speak up, coughing out the last syllable. He rubbed his neck as he winced in pain, regretting talking at all. Instead, he pointed to the car and nodded his head towards it.

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll be getting in the car soon, but give me a moment, since I have an announcement!” He yelled far louder than he should have. Tired eyes were cast in their direction, still trying to rub the sleep from them. “Starting today, we’re gonna have the cutest witch in the world come with us! I’m a little shocked that you would leave poor, poor Tenko, but what can you do?” Kokichi chirped, wrapping his arms around Himiko. She quickly grabbed her hat so it wouldn’t come off completely, and crouched out of his embrace. He whined in protest, then sighed.

“Yeah, yeah. Can we save the dramatics for when we need them?” Toko asked, hurriedly pacing towards the car. Everyone followed in suite, Kokichi finally unlocking the doors. As the group piled in, he turned around, pausing a beat longer than he should have, making Toko think that he was leaving something here. She decided it wasn’t her business, and grabbed her notebook she had obtained from the camp. Fumbling in the glove compartment, she finally found a cheap pen. Uncapping it, she quickly went into writing.

Himiko took a moment to look at her new team before rubbing her eyes once more, yawning. “If it makes no difference to you, I’m going to take some time to charge my mana.” She laid her head on top of Kazuichi, who had been looking out the window again up until then.

“I-I–why bother?” He said, watching her hat already toppling off of her hair. She was already clocked out before he could have a say, leaving him to sigh. At least she was light, he thought.

With that, Kokichi turned on the car and left with a serious look on his face. He grabbed at the emblem he had sewn on his sleeve long ago, thinking about all of his organization, wondering how they would be faring in the apocalyptic world they were in. Regardless, he couldn’t be as upfront about it as he would’ve preferred, but seeing one of them look so defeated in front of the campfire hurt him more than he could’ve imagined.

He recalled the night before when everyone else turned in, leaving the two of them out by the fire. It flickered on their faces, and their voices remained hushed.

“So, this is where you’ve been.” Kokichi murmured, adding more fodder to the fire. The man looked up, running fingers through his curly hair.

“Yeah, it certainly beats where some of the others ended up. I’d rather be helping people like you out. I can worry about pranks in the future, y’know?” He asked carefully, his eyes never leaving the ashen logs.

“I suppose I get it,” Kokichi admitted. He looked around, tugging at his curled up hair. “You know I’ve never been the type to let other people on to how I do my work.”

The beat of silence minus the crickets and croaking of frogs made Kokichi feel uneasy. He hadn’t rested like this in awhile, since he never could stay as calm as he played himself to be.

“That’s fine and all. Just… remember that talking to the rest of the people you travel with isn’t going to hurt you. Communication is your tool, not your downfall.” The man with the afro got up, wiping off his clothes. Before he could leave, Kokichi grabbed onto his pants leg. He turned around, looking at the leader’s face with confusion. Kokichi fished in his back pocket and eventually placed a DICE emblem in the man’s hands.

“You’re always a part of the team, you know. That’s no lie,” He said. Kokichi proceeded to let go, watching the man walk into one of the small buildings. He couldn’t tell if he had made the right decision showing how much he cared at that moment.

It didn’t matter, considering he had already been driving the car for thirty minutes aimlessly, somehow keeping everyone safe. Looking in the rear view mirror revealed the mechanic gently patting Himiko’s hair unknowingly while he looked out the window, muttering something about not drinking enough Blue Ram. Toko was still vigorously writing something down. He couldn’t look into it much, but deciphered it was some fictitious story.

It isn’t long before they reach a completely barricaded road, and Kokichi is forced to hit the brakes several yards earlier. The halting of movement caused Himiko to stir, reaching aimlessly to grab her witch’s hat. The silhouettes of 8 figures stood atop the wall, holding what looked like guns. They were clad in various clothes, one with a poncho that billowed in the wind. l. Kokichi sighed, looking back and forth in an attempt to find some other road to take. Kazuichi gasped as he looked out the window to see a man with a scar over his left eye approaching from what appeared to be a gate. The bandages on his arm, the all too familiar scarf that hung around him, the coat that fluttered with a slight breeze– he knew the person all too well. He quickly rolled down the window.

“What gives, man?! Had you waited for me and that white-haired freak, we wouldn’t have gotten separated!” He groaned, earning Kokichi’s attention.

“What, you know this Hot Topic peruser?” Kokichi gasped, shaking Toko’s arm like an excited fangirl. “What, is he the lead singer of one of your angsty bands, Toki?” Toko growled as she ripped her arm out of Kokichi’s grasp, who pouted.

“You should excuse yourself, impudent cur. I have more dignity than your own disastrous dynasty struck you with in your infantile stages,” the man grumbled as he reached the car, a chubby hamster peeking out of his scarf with beady eyes.

“Oooh, those are some fancy words! It’s cute how you think that you’re so above us all, really,” Kokichi said, prodding at the man further. Kazuichi looked between the two of them, worried.

“Look, man, he’s just really annoying. When you travel with him, he’s maybe a little less annoying, you know.” Kazuichi laughed nervously, watching the man squint his eyes.

“That may be so, but what makes you think I would let you traverse our barrier? What if one of you are of the afflicted??” He questioned, his words laced with fierce paranoia. Kazuichi looked at the rest of the passengers giving him expectant eyes, then turned back to the man, and opened the car door. He stepped out and met eyes with the visibly tired man. Kazuichi could see it on his face that this man was a far cry from what he was. His eyes seemed more sunken, and it looked as if he wasn’t eating as much anymore.

“Gundham, I know that you can’t stand being this worried, but you’re gonna have to let Sonia go. She wouldn’t have wanted you to hold people back, you know?” Kazuichi softened his gaze as he watched Gundham visibly tensen. Kokichi looked like he was going to butt in before Himiko covered his mouth with a tiny hand, clearly invested in the miniature soap opera unfolding in front of them.

“I… if only I had reached her side sooner, maybe I could’ve defended her with my dying breath as I had promised,” He sniffled, and Kazuichi quickly shushed him, grabbing a hand that was about to reach up to his face to stop the tears. “My oath, my pact to her, my promise…”

“I… Miss Sonia may not have liked me much, but I can tell you that she wouldn’t wish anyone to be harsh on themselves, especially not you.” Kazuichi grasped something out of his left breast pocket, gently laying it in Gundham’s open hand. There laid a limp, black bow with small gemstones attached to it. The man looked at the mechanic with teary eyes as he held the bow as if it were more fragile than a glass figurine. Before Kazuichi could say more, Gundham turned and walked back to the barricade, motioning Kokichi to pull up with the hand holding the memento of what everyone else assumed was a fallen friend. Kazuichi nodded and sat back into the car, securing the door. As they rolled closer, Kokichi noticed that what he thought were people standing atop the wall were actually dressed up mannequins, pipes and things jammed into their hands to look like weapons.

Before Gundham completely opened the makeshift checkpoint to let them through, he looked through the rear passenger side window at Kazuichi with longing eyes. Kazuichi reciprocated, knowing that if it weren’t for already having a pretty sound group, they would go off on their own to make it for Sonia’s sake. Gundham nodded one last time at Kazuichi, then rounded the front of the car to unlatch the gate. Stepping out of the way, he looked to Kokichi and stretched his arm to the road ahead, letting them through. On the other side of the barrier a bridge met with the road, handing over a river that had been following the road for miles.

As the barrier seemed to be out of the distance, he could almost make out Gundham’s silhouette looking into the water off of the bridge. His heart stopped at the thought of what could possibly be going through his head before Himiko’s growling stomach ripped his attention away.

Gundham was better than that now, right?

“Nyehhh, where’s the food?” She whined, looking in the pockets of the seats in front of her. She must have moved around the seat behind Toko too much, considering how quickly she slammed her pen down to give an icy glare at the mage.

“May-Maybe someone can give me some peace and quiet so I can write! If I give you this nature bar crap, will that please you?” She leaned over and grabbed a green granola bar off the dashboard that she could tell was going to flake all over the place, waving it in the air condescendingly. Himiko attempted to grab at it, but Kokichi hit an unexpected bump that caused her to fall forward. Unable to catch herself, she fell head first into the armrest of the front seat. While trying to help her back up onto the seat, Kazuichi saw little blood trickling down her forehead, making him panic.

“Gah, you should be more careful, you know!!” He reached into his right shirt pocket and retrieved a bandaid with pokémon on it. He caught a look from Himiko as she checked it out in one of the side mirrors. He shrugged, looking away.

“Get what you can get.” Kazuichi mumbled, looking back out to the passing scenery while Himiko rubbed her forehead, making tiny grunts of pain. Toko dropped the granola bar in Himiko’s lap before resting her head on her seat, cursing the car for not being more comfortable.

Before Kokichi could make a stab at either of them, he noticed a completely impossible road ahead, littered with multiple trees that had been deliberately cut down. Thinking quickly, he swerved onto a smaller, bumpier road that made everyone bounce constantly. Kazuichi threw his head out the window, attempting not to be sick in the process while Himiko panicked that the granola bar would fall out of her hands. Kokichi gritted his teeth, just moving forward. Eventually, the road evened out. The group let out a collective sigh just as Kokichi stopped the vehicle in front of a remote cabin. He turned off the car before rolling out, checking the area for zombies. The area didn’t have many from what he could tell, making him motion everyone to get out of the car as he brought out his knitting needle.

“Have you really been surviving the apocalypse with Tsumugi’s needles?” Himiko said as she pulled out an umbrella that had certainly seen better days. Her feet dangled for a moment before she finally touched the ground and stretched. Kokichi shrugged, too focused on finding the quickest entrance to the place that wouldn’t attract much attention from the horde that was bound to notice them. They approached the cabin, ready to bust in and see what awaited them.

Breaking in caused a small group of zombies to turn their heads slowly at the noise of the door swinging and hitting the wall. Kokichi was already weaving between the group quicker than they could comprehend before heading to the fridge. He was already scooping as much food as he could into a bag while the rest of the group made quick work of the undead. He waved as he showed the inside of his bag already packed with food which was met with excitement from Kazuichi and Himiko. Toko was already checking all the drawers in the house, finding more bullets than necessary for what they had, but decided to pocket them anyways.

Breaking into the bedroom showed a little pink purse sitting on the bed along with a little baseball with someone’s signature on it. Toko blinked a few times as she grabbed the ball with tension. She recognized the handwriting and decided to slowly pocket it in the purse and move on, slinging it on her left shoulder. Kokichi was on the ground checking underneath the bed with wide eyes. He could see a big box on the ground, practically begging to be grabbed. He tried his hand at lifting the bed frame with no luck, and sat on the ground panting for a moment.

“A… a little help here?” He asked, attempting to life the bed off the ground. Kazuichi came to his side, picking up the hint and lifting the other piece of the bed frame. Beneath it sat a large medical kit along with some more emergency rations. The mechanic picked up the kit while Himiko grabbed at the food. Before they could exit, a group of zombies swarmed the door, rushing in. Before Himiko could run off, A zombie grabbed her by the arm. She struggled violently to get out of its grasp, shrieking when the arm went limp and pulled away from the zombie. Kazuichi had pulled out his wrench, swinging it down with all his might. The zombie faltered for a moment before moving it’s attention to him.

He swung for the head this time, screaming and instantly regretting it due to the coughing fit it brought with it. Missing his mark proved to have its consequences, as another pair of rotting hands made it onto his waist, drool falling onto him. He found himself unable to get away as he gasped for air desperately. Toko managed to plant a pair of scissors into its partially opened head, grunting as she pushed it further in before kicking it down to the ground. The mechanic was visibly struggling to get air in, his breaths laborious. The rest of the horde went in for an attempt to finish him off. Quickly thinking, Himiko pierced through the abdomens of two of them with her umbrella before opening it up and twisting it around. Kokichi went in front, helping her twirl, and throwing the less lively zombies into the others. The leader went to the mechanic’s side, lifting him up and leaning the poor guy onto him.

“Check the bathroom, Toki! I gotta get him back to the car,” Kokichi called.

“D-do I really have to go alone?” She whined, her fingers curling as though she was about to strangle someone. Kokichi quickly pushed Himiko towards her, knowing she would catch her balance.

“Fine, then take the little witch! That way, we have noooo problems.” Before either could protest, Kokichi had opened the door with his foot and was leading Kazuichi outside. The two girls looked at each other, trying to get a read on each other.

“… No worries, I’m handy with my steel-enforced umbrella,” Himiko reassured, shrugging. Toko couldn’t look at the umbrella for long before grimacing and shutting her eyes tight. They moved towards the bathroom, Himiko staying at the very front of the room in case more zombies trudged in there. Toko went to a cabinet in the back, finding a large rifle filled with ammunition. Her eyes lit up as she slung it around her and grabbed some amenities from it.

“This wasn’t a total waste of our time, let’s get a move on,” Toko demanded. Himiko nodded, moving ahead of her. Toko lost track of her in the ever growing group of moaning zombies. Faking a limp like Kokichi had done before, she traipsed through the horde and found herself outside of the cabin. She whipped her head back and forth until she found Kokichi leading the mechanic into one of the back seats, murmuring something to him to calm him down. Himiko was running over to them and swinging her umbrella to give them some extra time. Toko burrowed into the passenger seat, already turning the key for extra airflow to get Kazuichi more comfortable.

Kokich was about to get into the driver’s seat before being pulled out by a marred hand. He yelped, getting Toko to grab his hand as he was being pulled between the two forces. Himiko found her way into the other back seat and pulled as well, finally releasing him from the grasp. However, he pulled his leg back, wincing.

“Something tells me that’s, uh, gonna-gonna bruise,” He spat out in between breaths to calm himself down. Himiko hummed nervously in the back, trembling a bit. Kazuichi’s breathing stabilized as they drove, leading him to a peaceful slumber.

The drive was peaceful for awhile, and everyone besides Kokichi got to rest. Toko was initially reluctant to close her eyes for long, but eventually got over it. Himiko had curled back up into Kazuichi’s lap, lightly snoring. Kazuichi faded in and out of consciousness, occasionally opening his eyes to catch the blur of landscape passing by. The leader looked at his little ragtag bunch, smiling a bit knowing that they had escaped yet another tough situation.

Kokichi hitting the brakes woke everyone up, filling the car with moans of displeasure.

“It isn’t my fault that I need to rest too, y’know,” Kokichi grinned, opening the car door and planting his feet firmly in an attempt to hide the fact the his leg felt horrible. Everyone else stumbled out of the car doors, looking at where they stopped. It was a mechanics shop, with one garage door open. Kazuichi gasped with excitement, running inside and laughing with excitement. Toko took a moment to think about how fortified this place would be for a night, realizing Kokichi intended for the group to stay there.

“I guess I’ve stayed in odder places,” she admitted to herself. She followed Kazuichi’s lead, dragging herself through the items in the garage. She was more interested in the giant van in another part of it, opening it up. Inside was a mattress that was surprisingly cleaner than she could’ve asked for along with a few blankets.

“Hey, if people want to squeeze in, I think I found a safe place for us to actually sleep,” Toko called out, getting Himiko and Kokichi to come over. Inspecting it, Kokichi leaped onto it with a content sigh.

“Holy crap, good find, Toki!” He exclaimed, curling up. She didn’t have the energy to be frustrated and simply walked away. Himiko found a fridge of sodas and cracked one open, pleased at the fizzle that came with it. She took a sip as she watched Kazuichi file through all different shock absorbers, all while checking out the car they had been driving the entire time. He grabbed the keys from Kokichi with little protest, bringing the car closer to the repair shop. Toko watched him with curious eyes, eventually coming out.

“What are you… doing?” She asked, biting her nails. He looked at her, smiling.

“Oh, am I that interesting? No worries, I’m just testing the shock absorbers on this to decide on if I should add newer ones.” He wiped his hands, about to get up before stopping and pointing at her. “Actually, since I have you here, can I get you to do me a favor? I just need a bit more weight more than my own to check something.” He motioned her closer with a gesture, and she complied.

“Can you push down as hard as you can right here?” He asked, gently grabbing her hand to move it onto the area. She pushed down the urge to take her hands away as he let go and pushed the area next to her small hands.

“Okay, on the count of three, take all your weight off super fast, got it?”

“G-got it.”

When he yelled three, she took her hands off and moved away as if the car was going to explode. The car bounced a bit, returning back to its original resting position. Kazuichi nodded, making a mental note.

“So… why are you wasting my time with this?” Toko asked, trying to feign frustration. Kazuichi whipped around, looking at her with fierce eyes.

“Hey, it isn’t a waste of time to make sure this car doesn’t take a shit out on the road, you know! The roads aren’t always kind to cars, especially when they’re as messed up as they are these days,” He explained, closing his eyes. “All I’m doing is making sure we can take on uneven terrain a bit better.” Toko watched the poor mechanic move to the other side of the car, repeating the same process. She put her hands next to his after some hesitation, looking up at him. She could tell he was trying to force himself not to smile at the help. They repeated the process over again two more times.

“Alright, we’re looking good on all but the front two. The left is what’s really concerning me, but I have to change both at the same time.”

“Okay, but… why, exactly?” She questioned, opening the car door to grab the notepad she had been so invested in along with a pen.

“Well, it isn’t always the case, but adding only one new bad boy can mess with the handling of the car entirely, since they aren’t balanced out. It’s better to be safe than sorry, right?” Kazuichi turned to see her vigorously scribbling something down. He continued explaining to her as he walked back and forth, happy for the attention.

Meanwhile, Himiko climbed into the van with Kokichi, who had been tending to various scratches he’d accumulated from slipping between zombies and other miscellaneous events. She sat propped up against one of the walls and looked over at him. He never took his eyes off his nicks and bloody scratches.

“Hey, even I can get hurt, you know. It’s nothing to gawk at,” He said, suddenly breaking the silence. She looked down at her torn tights, nodding.

“I would be a little surprised if you weren’t. No one’s invincible, and you don’t have Gonta to protect you right now.” She took off her shoes while she spoke and put them up in the passenger seat before returning to where she sat.

“Nishishi, I suppose you’d say something like that,” He laughed, letting his legs unfold again. He looked at the metal ceiling, humming. He finally looked over at Himiko with a smile.

“Say, how do you think Tenko’s doing? You didn’t leave her completely alone, right?” He asked. Himiko shook her head as she thought about the last time she saw Tenko with her determined smile.

“No, I left her in good company- Kaito and a girl with short black hair who refused to give us her name were traveling with us.”

“Then why’d you leave them behind?” Kokichi’s face sterned, making Himiko feel like she should feel more guilty.

“Since Tenko and Kaito were more determined to get people up to the trader camp safe, they didn’t want to progress much. Not only that, but they were running low on food. I just decided to leave so they could ration it all a little easier.” Her shoulders relaxed as she explained, glad that someone would listen to her. She wasn’t ready for Kokichi to be mere inches away from her face, his eyes still serious.

“Do me a favor and… don’t leave, okay?” He asked of her, grabbing her hands. Kokichi had been known for his lies in the past, but he couldn’t lie about the shakiness of his palms as he took her hands in his. “I… someone at the trading camp that I have a bit of respect for told me I should be a little more open about how I feel, so I figured I’d give it a try.”

Himiko gulped as he didn’t move away. She knew that it wasn’t like Kokichi to be so completely open, making her wonder if his intentions were as pure as he had started making them out to be. “… Nyeh?”

He slowly backed off of her, an empty smile finding its way onto his face as he looked into his lap. “I don’t blame you for not believing me immediately, you know. I’m a liar, I know. But maybe you can suspend your disbelief for a moment.” His eyes glistened in the light coming from the windshield in the front. Before he could get another word in, he could hear Toko and Kazuichi coming inside, pulling the car into a different garage lane and closing the large doors. Kokichi peeked out the back of the van to see the mechanic put his hand out for a high five. Toko looked at him for a moment before sighing and gently meeting his hand with hers.

“Wooooow, you actually touched another human being! I’m impressed, really.” Kokichi snickered, making Toko point at him and scream.

“Hey, you’re one to talk! Remind me of a time you’ve gone out of your way to tou-touch anyone!” Her anger dissipated as she realized her own words, her eyes widening. “Touching… anyone…” Her eyes closed as she salivated and wrapped her arms around herself and moved back and forth. Kazuichi watched her for a moment before slowly backing away. He could hear her muttering something about her master, making him feel absurdly uncomfortable. He joined the two in the van, throwing off his beanie and his shoes. He stretched out, and Toko followed in suite with some food rations a different group must have left behind. Tossing the beef jerky bag between everyone along with an almost full thing of pringles and some instant ramen she was luckily able to microwave in a room she could only assume was for breaks.

They spent the night rustling around and talking about other people they’d left behind. Kokichi remained silent the entire time, just focusing on his food and turning over so he could rest. Eventually, everyone followed his lead, calming down. And with that, everyone dozed off into yet another peaceful sleep they’d earned.