Bite To Death

Hana strides through the doors of the radio tower, pressing the button to call a lift impatiently. She clutches the papers in her hand tighter, the material crumpling under her grip.

Whenever she closes her eyes she can see the speech prepared, word for word. She was one of the people who wrote it after all, and it was incredibly difficult to keep it short while also staying at the level people would expect from a teenager.

It's kind of ridiculous how the DC can still pull out the 'we're just kids' mask despite everything they've done. People fall for it as well, puffing up in confidence when they get hit in the face with that fact, because then they think 'if kids can manage this, we're fine'.

The consensus among the a.d.u.l.ts that are used to being in positions of power –either new to Namimori or just stubborn and delusional- is that the Disciplinary Committee is only being humoured at this point in time, and soon enough the a.d.u.l.ts will take over again and set things to 'the way they should be'.

They still believe -despite seeing the reality with their own eyes- that a.d.u.l.ts can lead better and give people a greater chance at survival. The more outspoken ones continuously try to take over operations in a DC members place or they'll claw up the ladder in their industry and start trying to change things.

They're the minority though, barely heard through all the praise the Disciplinary Committee are showered with. These people and their methods never work either because the DC are ruthless when people get in the way of their jobs.

However, even in the rest of the population, there's always just that little voice at the back of the a.d.u.l.ts' heads that says the DC are children, and if they falter then the women and men can pick it up and rule even better simply because they have experience where the kids don't – and this gives them confidence.

The Namimori town natives think it's funny, how delusional some people can be.

The shiny metal doors of the elevator glide open soundlessly and she steps in, pressing the number for the top floor. While she waits she scans the speech in her hands.

...

My name is Kusakabe Tetsuya and I'll be speaking on the behalf of all of the Disciplinary Committee.

It's been four months since the outbreak, since Namimori first became a safe zone, and since the effort to make Japan an infected-free place first started.

The situation has gotten to the point where Tokyo is the only infected area left, and it's long past the time to deal with it.

This is not a sudden decision, as Tokyo has been debated and planed over from the very start, even when the Namimori safe zone was still confined to a high school. We're going into this completely aware of what awaits us.

We are ready. We cannot be more prepared to take on this mission.

This plan has been building for a while. People participating already know their role in this conflict. Everything is set up to begin and even outside resources have been called in.

The outside soldiers will arrive in groups throughout the next few days and by next week we'll open the fence and begin to clean Tokyo.

Some of you have expressed interest in joining as Patrollers for this. We'd like to announce that only trained individuals are going to be allowed access past the pressure fences.

As you all know, infected hold strength without human limits placed on them. They never get tired and they will do anything they can to reach a target, regardless of injury to themselves. Most of all, they are very, very hungry.

It's something people tend to forget, surrounded by Namimori and safety. There have been no deaths relating to infected in Namimori since its founding, and sometimes people forget that there is a very large threat out there.

Stories of people like our very own Chairman spread, and most don't remember that even one infected usually overpowers an average human easily.

The Patrols so far have been in a controlled environment, despite being away from Namimori borders. The chopper runs keep numbers down, and even despite that, populations we've seen so far can't stand up against Tokyo.

This is a risky operation and we ask all of you not entering to stay far away from the pressure fence, to keep yourselves safe and to keep the Patrollers from being distracted.

The Chairman has said there will be no casualties, so there will be no casualties.

...

Hana looks up from the speech and steps out through the opening elevator doors before she strides down the hallway and pushes open the door to the studio.

Everywhere over Namimori people are switching on their radios and listening intently to the private channel being broadcasted solely over Japan. The Vice Chairman Tetsuya is the one giving the announcement, and all over, the safe zone falls into stasis as they wait with bated breath.

Hana watches through the glass of the radio booth as Tetsuya scans the speech once more. He looks up and the red On Air light blinks to life. He turns his focus to the microphone and Hana gestures him to start even though he isn't look at her. It's a good speech; brief but informative, factual but emotive.

She sees him drop the papers back to the table and Hana tenses.

"Don't do it," Hana mutters in horror. "Don't say it, stick with the script."

"Sometime last night," Tetsuya begins calmly. "Hibari Kyouya left Namimori and entered Tokyo, alone."