“Ahem.”
Standing behind me, Haruka coughed. How had she known what I was thinking when she couldn’t even see my face from there?
“I’m Lisa Hoshimiya. You’re Kousaka, right? I heard you tied up a zombie. That’s amazing.”
“Oh, uh, I mean…”
“So far, I’ve only ever seen zombies from a distance. Tsukishiro says it’s dangerous and won’t let me leave the dorm. I skipped class yesterday and stayed in my room to play video games, but then, all of a sudden, the internet dropped out and I couldn’t get back online. So I was lying on my bed, feeling all annoyed, when I heard something that sounded like a scream and rushed downstairs. That’s when Tsukishiro came running back to the dorm and locked the gate.”
Hoshimiya excitedly yammered on, then looked at me with a serious expression.
“Y’know, I still find it hard to believe, but are they really zombies? Do they try to bite you like in the movies?”
“Yep; they thrash around like crazy trying to get their teeth in you.”
“Oh yeah…? I wonder if everyone at school is okay…,” she said, sounding concerned. I was sure Tsukishiro had tried to spare them most of the details, so I decided not to tell Hoshimiya that her school had been full of zombies when I’d passed by there earlier.
“By the way… Kousaka. Is it true that you might go out looking for food for us…?”
“Yeah, that’s the plan.”
“Wow, you’re so brave! I’m seriously counting on you!”
Hoshimiya reached out and wrapped both her hands around my right fist like she was pleading. From where she was standing, I must have looked like a savior. I wasn’t sure how to react, though—after all, I had a secret advantage: the ability to turn into a zombie.
As we left her room, I thought about how happy it made me to get such a warm welcome. But the moment Hoshimiya closed her door, Haruka pushed me against the wall and began her interrogation.
“You were staring at her breasts, weren’t you?”
“Wh-what’re you talking about?”
“So anybody will do, as long as they’ve got big boobs?”
“No, it’s not like that…”
“Then, is it because she’s beautiful?”
“……”
“Hmph…” Haruka pouted as I struggled over how to answer.
“Hey, I can’t help it if my eyes are drawn there. It’s just instinct.”
“And after I let you feast your eyes on my boobs…”
“I can’t say anything to that.”
“I’ll forgive you if you promise never to look at her chest again.”
“…I’ll do my best to avoid having her in my line of sight.”
“I appreciate your honesty, but don’t think you’re going to get away with this by just admitting everything.”
“I mean, it’s gonna be practically impossible to avoid seeing her when we’re living in the same dorm…”
“You’re a zombie, so I’m pretty sure you’ll be okay if I crush your eyes, right?”
“Absolutely not.”
I wished she wouldn’t say such scary things… But this was no time for idle chatter, so we shelved the issue for now and resumed our inspection.
We continued checking the dorm, but in the end, our fears were unfounded. We searched everywhere, including the kitchen and the bathrooms, but didn’t find a single zombie.
Now that we could relax on the zombie front, we decided to go and get the car. I went alone to where we’d parked and tried to drive it back, recalling how Haruka had done it.
Driving was more difficult than I’d expected. I had trouble with every part of it—knowing the amount of pressure to use on the accelerator, figuring out the angle I needed to turn the steering wheel, checking behind the car when driving in reverse—and was seriously impressed by how easy Haruka had made it look.
I gave myself plenty of time and eventually managed to drive back to the dorm, then carried all our belongings inside and prepared to venture out to a nearby supermarket.
“Are you sure you don’t mind going…?” Tsukishiro asked me seriously when I told her I was heading out for supplies. “You don’t have to go today… We can survive for at least a week with what we have now.”
Tsukishiro was looking out for me, hoping I would stay alive as long as possible. It was only natural for her to react like that, since she believed she was sending me out into a life-or-death situation.
“Don’t worry, I’ll come back alive for sure. And if I’m going out at some point, I might as well do it before fresh foods go bad.”
“All right… I’ll pray for your safe return…”
She bowed deeply, making me feel guilty about lying to her as I got in the car.
At that moment, I saw Haruka walk out of the building.
“Have you come to see me off?”
“Yeah. Get out there and steal lots of food for us.”
“The way you say that…”
“It sounds like so much fun, going on a stealing spree in a deserted supermarket.”
“…If I can make sure the supermarket’s safe, do you wanna come with me later?”
“Absolutely! I can’t wait to go looting with you!”
“There’s seriously something wrong with the way you say that…”
With a wry chuckle, I started the car and set off.
First up, I went to the supermarket closest to the dorm. There were too many zombies there to count, and they all came rushing toward me, reacting to the sound of the car engine.
I hit the brakes in a panic. Even I might be in danger if that huge horde of zombies surrounded me on all sides and bit me everywhere, so I parked a little ways away and went into a dark alley. There, I waited for zombies to approach me, and one by one, I tied them up and laid them down on the ground.
Once I eventually finished clearing the area near where I’d parked the car, I went into the supermarket. I lured all the zombies inside to the entrance, then repeated the process.
Halfway through, I ran out of rope, and with no other option, I looked for a replacement down the aisles swarming with zombies. Fortunately, however, the shop was half supermarket, half hardware store, so I found a huge range of rope in the materials section.
I kept going for quite a while after that, and in the end, I tied up more than fifty zombies, leaving me completely exhausted. Still, I didn’t feel comfortable having them lying all over the place, so one at a time, I dragged the zombies by their feet to the stockroom.
By the time I’d finished securing the store, it was a little after one PM. I had to hurry up and gather supplies to take back to the dorm. I began putting packs of sushi and steaks with the nearest expiration dates in my shopping basket, since it would only go bad if I left it here. I also helped myself to some vegetables including green onions and cabbage.
The shopping basket was soon full, so I returned to the car, moved it in front of the entrance, and loaded up the goods. It was so much fun taking stuff from the supermarket without worrying about the prices. I’d thought that what Haruka said earlier had seemed pretty inappropriate, but maybe I was the one who’d been wrong; I was basically looting this place. I was only doing it to survive, though, so I hoped the people who owned the store would forgive me.
I took a break at one point and ate the omelet that Haruka had made for me to restore my strength. After lunch, I went back to work—and by the time I was done, the passenger seat, back seat, and the trunk of the car were filled with five shopping baskets packed to the brim with food.
It was a relief to see that we’d hardly made a dent in the store, even with our haul. There was also a considerable supply of canned goods and freeze-dried foods, so it looked like we wouldn’t have to worry about starving for a while. That said, there was no guarantee that we’d be able to take everything in the supermarket, of course, since other survivors might also come here.
On my way out, I came up with the idea of putting a sign on the door. I tore a sheet of paper from a notebook in the stationery section, scribbled a message saying that the five of us were taking shelter in the dormitory of a girls’ high school, and taped it to the automatic doors of the supermarket. Maybe now we’d be able to contact other survivors.
Driving carefully the whole way, I returned to the girls’ dorm to see Haruka and Tsukishiro standing guard outside. They ran toward me as I arrived and opened up the gate.
“Kousaka!! I’m so glad you’re safe…!!” Tsukishiro exclaimed emotionally.