I kept watch of Lisa’s progress throughout the night, not sleeping a wink, but by the next morning, she still seemed as human as ever.
It was six AM. More than twelve hours had passed since she’d been exposed to the contaminated water, so it was probably safe to assume she was fine. I didn’t know if the virus hadn’t been in the tap water, if it was and just hadn’t gotten into her body, or if the only way to get infected was directly from a bite… But whatever the reason, one thing was clear: We could no longer use the tap water.
Lisa and I went downstairs to the cafeteria and told the other three that she was okay, which was a relief to everyone.
“Thank you so much, Kousaka,” Tsukishiro said, bowing deeply. “…I hate to ask this when I know you must be tired, but I was hoping you might be able to go out and get us water somewhere…”
“Of course.”
What I really wanted to do was sleep, but the dorm only had soft drinks, so our health might be affected if I didn’t go out to get water soon.
“I had considered the possibility that we might not be able to use the tap water at some point, but I didn’t think it would happen so soon…,” Tsukishiro continued with a sigh. “I’m afraid we’ll need to ask you to find drinking water for us now, as well as food. Will you be okay doing that?”
“No problem. Leave it to me.”
“Thank you… There’s a limited supply of water at stores, though, so we’ll need to use it sparingly. Assuming we use the contaminated water to flush the toilet, we can no longer fill the bath, so we won’t be able to wash ourselves every day. We’ll also have to think about how to do laundry…”
I could feel the atmosphere in the cafeteria grow heavier as we went over our current situation. There was a limit to how far I could venture out to find supplies, so we might have to move somewhere else once we used up all the water at nearby stores. I decided to keep an eye out for buildings that looked safe when I went out…
“Well then, I’ll head off to get supplies.”
“Okay, Yuuma! It’s dangerous if you fall asleep behind the wheel, so I’ll drive you!” Haruka said brightly. She took the car keys and stepped outside. I decided not to argue, since I had promised to take her to the supermarket.
Lisa caught me just as I was leaving the dorm.
“I’m sorry, Yuuma. You didn’t get any sleep because of me, and now you’re going out to get water…”
“That’s okay. Don’t worry about me; you just go back inside and rest. I might ask you to watch the gate at some point.”
“Okay. I’ll see you later then.”
Lisa gave me a small wave as I got into the passenger seat, and Haruka suddenly stepped on the accelerator—hard.
“…Yuuma. Did something happen with Hoshimiya last night?”
Her sudden question blew away all my drowsiness.
“No, nothing.”
“Are you sure? The way you two called each other by your first names, you sounded awfully close…”
“Oh, that… She suggested it. That’s all…”
“Hmm… But wouldn’t a sex-crazed guy like you have all sorts of strange thoughts spending the night with Hoshimiya?”
“Of course not. We thought she was about to turn into a zombie.”
“I see. And the two of you didn’t find comfort in one another, thinking you might as well succumb to temptation if she was going to die soon?”
“O-of course not.”
“What was that little stumble just now?”
“You must’ve imagined it.”
All I’d done was think back to when Lisa propositioned me the night before, but Haruka still wasn’t convinced.
“Something doesn’t add up…”
“That’s an unfair accusation. I might infect her with the virus if—and that’s a big if—we did anything like that.”
“Oh, that’s true. I guess that means you can only sleep with another zombie.”
“Guess so.”
“Ah… I’m sorry I doubted you. So if you can only be intimate with another zombie, does that mean you see all female zombies as potential brides?”
“You’re kidding, right?”
I couldn’t say for sure, since I’d never seen a zombie naked, but I doubted that would get me excited…
“Never mind that,” I told Haruka. “Stop yammering and focus on driving.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. Oh, by the way, do you remember when we went to the supermarket we’re going to now, back in grade school?”
“…Sure.”
“You don’t, do you?”
“N-no, I do. We went there to buy sweets for Takuya’s birthday party.” I said it like I’d known it all along—but the truth was, I’d had to desperately dredge it up from my memories.
Haruka sounded delighted. “You do remember!”
“Of course. How could I forget? It feels like it was just yesterday.”
“Then, question number one: What sweets and drinks did we buy that day?”
“Sorry, I can’t remember those little details.”
I immediately raised the white flag, and Haruka puffed out her cheeks in frustration.
“Yuuma, you forget way too much.”
“Your memory’s just too good.”
“I don’t see it like that. I’m not good at memorizing things, but I do tend to remember things that have to do with you.”
“Did I really make that much of an impact on you when I was in grade school?”
“…That’s not what I meant…,” she mumbled, sounding embarrassed for some reason.
“Then why do you remember things involving me so well?”
“Stop talking to me. I’m going to focus on driving.”
“What’s with the one-eighty?!”
Haruka’s gaze remained fixed on the road, so I didn’t ask her any more questions.
After driving in silence for a while, we arrived at the supermarket I’d secured yesterday. There were zombies scattered around the parking lot that could still move around freely, and they came toward us when they heard the sound of the car engine. None of them looked familiar, so they must have come from somewhere else.
“Haruka, wait in the car. I’m going to tie them up. Leave the engine running, and step on the accelerator if anything happens.”
I got out of the car with my rope at the ready and restrained the oncoming zombies one by one, lying them down where they were. Once the coast was clear, I went into the supermarket and looked around. None seemed to have made it inside.
I returned to the car, then brought Haruka back with me to the store.
“Hey, what did you do with the zombies that were inside the store yesterday?”
“I tied them all up and crowded them into the storage room.”
“Can I go take a look?”
“It isn’t a pretty sight, so I don’t recommend it…”
“Just a quick peek?”
Haruka begged to see it, so I ended up leading her to the back of the store. The storage room was about the size of a convenience store, and it was filled with rows of incapacitated zombies.
“Wow!! This is amazing…!”
“Happy now…? Like I said, it isn’t a pleasant sight…”
“Yeah. Okay then, let’s get started with our shopping date.”
“…Come again?”
“A date. We’re all alone now, so let’s do something couple-y,” Haruka said in a voice that was almost a purr. God, she’s cute…
However, I was rudely brought back to reality seeing the huge horde of zombies lying on the floor behind her.
“Don’t tell me you can really enjoy shopping with all these zombies around…”
“Just don’t let them enter your field of vision. We’re all alone in a supermarket. Isn’t that fun?”
“I—I guess…?”