His clouded eyes turned toward me. I could almost feel him mocking me.
It was over. There was no way I could defeat something like this—
However, the gigantic zombie suddenly let out an agonized groan. He let go of the bat, shook me off, leaned forward, and spat out my arm.
I had no idea what was happening, but this was my one-in-a-million chance to take this thing down. I aimed for his head and swung the bat as hard as I could.
“—Haruka!!”
“On it!!”
It seemed Haruka had understood me perfectly, because she backed up the car, then slammed her foot on the gas. She knocked the giant’s body down to the ground, then crushed his head with the left front wheel.
We couldn’t let a monster like that come back to life. Once Haruka moved the car, and I made sure the giant zombie was dead, I completely destroyed his head so he would never move again.
Although our greatest threat was gone, we couldn’t relax just yet. We still had to wipe out all the zombies that’d entered the dorm grounds.
First, I picked up my torn-off right hand and arm. When I put the open wounds against one another, not only did they attach in a matter of seconds, but I could also move them around without any problems. I’d had no idea that my body would be able to regenerate so well. Zombies’ bodies really are amazing…!!
But this wasn’t the time to focus on something like that. Now that I could hold my bat in both hands again, I went back inside and began taking care of the remaining zombies. Halfway through the process, I realized I was no longer feeling any resistance to killing them, but I decided to put it out of my mind for now.
It only took about another ten minutes to finish exterminating all the zombies on the first floor, and I went back out into the yard. Haruka had her head out the driver’s side window and was pointing up into the sky. I looked up where she was indicating and was relieved to see Lisa and Ichinose peeking out of the window. They were safe.
“There might still be more zombies in the dorm! Lock the door, and don’t open it until I get there!” I shouted up to them, and the girls replied with a thumbs-up.
From this point on, I had to make sure I did things in the right order. First, I would take Tsukishiro and the woman somewhere safe, then check to see if there were still any zombies inside the dorm, and finally I’d meet up with Lisa and Ichinose.
“Haruka, you stay here. Watch the gate and keep the engine running. I’ll bring Tsukishiro and the woman who showed up asking for help to the car.”
“Okay.”
“Honk if anything happens, and I’ll come running.”
I returned to the dorm and opened the door to the room where Tsukishiro and the woman were hiding.
“The ground floor is safe, at least for now. I’m going to check the other floors, so I want you both to wait with Haruka in the car,” I said into the dark room. The two of them nodded, and the mystery woman stepped out into the hallway, followed by Tsukishiro.
I took the lead and headed for the yard where Haruka was waiting, all the while watching for zombies hiding in the shadows.
“—Watch out!!”
Tsukishiro suddenly yelled out from behind me, and I was pushed forward.
I turned around, confused, and saw the mystery woman biting Tsukishiro’s upper arm.
Her skin had turned gray. It had been too dark to notice earlier, but she’d turned into a zombie. She must’ve been bitten before coming here. I should’ve anticipated something like this happening!
Cursing my carelessness, I pulled the zombie away from Tsukishiro and wrestled her to the floor.
“Damn you!! How could you do that?!”
I caved her head in with the baseball bat and immediately turned to Tsukishiro. She was slumped to the floor, clearly having trouble breathing.
“Sorry about this, but I’m going to take your top off.”
I removed the upper part of her archery uniform and saw a painful-looking bite mark high up on her right arm. The wound was deep, so there was no doubt she’d been infected…
I had no idea what to say to her…
But as I fell silent, Tsukishiro smiled.
“I’m glad…that you’re okay…”
“Tsukishiro—”
“It’s more important for everyone’s sakes that you survive instead of me… So don’t feel bad…” Tsukishiro’s voice was weak, and her face contorted in pain.
…I’d never even imagined that something like this might happen.
If only I’d explained to her that I’d been fine after being bitten by a zombie…
I took Tsukishiro in my arms and went back inside the room we’d just left. I laid her down on the bed, but she was barely breathing anymore, and I used my phone to give us some light.
“Can you see me?”
“…Yes…”
“I want you to calmly listen to what I’m about to tell you. I can turn myself into a zombie.”
I’d dropped a bombshell, but Tsukishiro didn’t even react.
“I don’t blame you if you don’t believe me. But—” I went ahead and turned myself into a zombie and could see Tsukishiro swallow. “It’s true. That’s why I’m fine, even if I get bitten… I’m really sorry I hid this from you…”
“I…see…”
“I know an apology at this point isn’t going to make you less angry, and I’ll take any punishment you throw at me, so just please, live through this. There’s a chance that, like me, you won’t lose your consciousness. You have to stay strong.”
I held her hand and tried to cheer her up, but Tsukishiro’s body temperature was rapidly dropping. This was exactly how it had happened to me…
“…Kousaka. Please don’t worry about me dying.”
“But…”
As I hesitated, Tsukishiro looked at me with a strong gaze.
“—I’ve been in love with you ever since you first came to us.”
“…Huh…?!”
“Even in a difficult situation like this, you think of others…and protect them… You are a man worthy of respect…”
“You’re wrong. That’s not who I really am. The real me is a coward who deceives people and—”
“Even if you’ve been hiding the fact that you’re a zombie, you’ve still been doing everything you can to help me… You never abused your power… That is noble of you…”
“…But because I lied to you, you…”
“…I didn’t think I would ever confess my feelings for you, because you have Hyuuga… But now that I’m about to die, I can tell you how I truly feel, which makes me happy.”
“…Tsukishiro…”
“May I ask you to do me one last favor…?”
“Of course. Anything you want.”
“…I don’t want you to see me as a zombie, so please, kill me now.”
“…I can’t do that…”
But Tsukishiro’s skin was becoming grayer by the minute. She didn’t have much time left.
There had to be some way to save her… How could I be the only person to turn into a zombie and still maintain my consciousness?
Just then, a memory of my fight with the giant zombie earlier flashed through my mind—when it had swallowed my arm and immediately started writhing in agony.
Unlike other zombies, I hadn’t lost my self-awareness. Could that be because there was some kind of special bacteria in my body fighting the virus? Was that why the giant zombie had looked to be in pain after drinking my blood?
If I was right, then I could give Tsukishiro that bacteria—
“Tsukishiro, there’s something I want to try! Tsukishiro!”
But she just stared at me vacantly without responding. Her skin had turned completely gray, and her eyes were starting to cloud over.
Would she be able to drink my blood in her current state? Was there some other way I could give her the bacteria in my body?
—I could get her to drink my saliva.
When a zombie bit a person, they were infected by the virus contained in its saliva, so there was a good chance the same went for the anti-zombie virus in my body.
There was no time to lose. I instinctively pressed my mouth against Tsukishiro’s, pried open the gap between her top and bottom teeth with my tongue, and desperately forced my saliva into her mouth.
“Tsukishiro! Swallow, please!”
“…Ngh…!”