When we first met, she seemed withdrawn, but I guess she’d gotten used to me. It really helped that she’d started to be more assertive expressing her opinions.
“We should consider what we need most at this point in time—whether we need a new supermarket to get food, a Self-Defense Forces base or police station to find tools to protect ourselves, or a library or large bookstore to gather information…”
“I see… Well, we still have plenty of food, and we can filter water from the river to drink… Information is important, but first, I think we need to protect ourselves. That said, it seems like we’d have to go a long way to find a Self-Defense Forces base.”
“True. From here, it’s probably better if we aim for a police station.”
Ichinose pulled out a map and drew a red mark on it to indicate the location of the police station.
“We should be able to find a lot of guns if we go there. Maybe even riot shields.”
“Riot shields…?”
“Large shields the police use to cover their entire bodies. We should be able to use them if we ever need to break through a crowd of zombies.”
“I think I’ve seen them in movies.”
If they had guns and shields, then maybe even Haruka and everyone else here would be able to fight back against the zombies.
So with that, we decided to start clearing the roads that led to the nearest police station.
Mai and I got into the sedan, and I drove us to the main road. After tying up every zombie around us, I began clearing the road.
I showed Mai how to start the car and asked her to wait inside, while I moved the obstacles piled up on the road to create an opening for a car to pass through. Most of those obstacles were undamaged cars, but some had been charred by fire. The intact cars had probably been abandoned by their owners, who’d been stuck in traffic and run off to escape from the zombies. I didn’t find the car keys in most of them, so the only way to move them was to zombify and push the vehicles to the side of the road using my superstrength.
I left the large cars that I couldn’t move even with my zombie strength. When I was leaving the dorm, Ichinose had suggested that for anything too big, I could use a hydraulic jack to tilt it and shove it out of the way, so I decided to come back later and do that.
The line of abandoned cars went on for miles. I also had to capture any zombies that wandered too close, and it felt like the job would never end…
About half an hour later, I ran out of ropes to tie up zombies and went back to the car where Mai was waiting. I figured I might as well take a break.
“…I’m sorry, Yuuma. This is all my fault,” she said from the passenger seat when I got into the car. “I was thinking while I was sitting here, waiting for you, and I realized you wouldn’t need to do this if you didn’t have to kiss me every six hours… You could’ve just walked where cars can’t pass, found another one up ahead, and continued like that. You probably would’ve been able to bring the guns back by the end of the day.”
“Well, maybe I can gather supplies on foot, but there’s a limit to how much I can carry, so it’s better to clear the roads so any one of us can drive. Considering all the things that can happen, it isn’t good if I’m the only one who can get around.”
“I guess…”
“So don’t feel guilty and rest up. Though, of course, zombies might attack the car, so you have to stay awake.”
“I’m so sorry that I can’t do anything to help while I sit here waiting for you… If only there were something I could do in the car. I’ve been wondering, is it really a problem for me to get bitten by a zombie? I want to help clear the roads if I can.”
“I think we should avoid any more of the zombie virus getting into your body. Right now, we’re holding off your zombification with my saliva, but it might get seriously dangerous if the zombie virus begins to outweigh it. Besides, I think it would be tough for someone with human strength to move a car. I appreciate the thought, though.”
“All right… But if there’s anything I can help out with or anything you want me to do for you, please don’t hesitate to say so. If you’d like, when we return to the dorm, I can give you a massage like Amano did yesterday…!!” Mai said to motivate me as she held my hands in hers.
She really is such a nice person…
Energized, I went back to work and moved the cars out of the way one at a time. As I was working, I suddenly noticed a brand-new house along the road. It even had solar panels installed on the roof. We’d probably have power if we used this place as our base.
I quickly approached it and pressed the bell, but there was no response. I tried opening the door, but it was locked, so I went around the building and found that all the windows were closed.
…I didn’t want to act like a burglar, though I didn’t really have much of a choice…
I went around the back of the house and broke a window with my metal bat, opening a hole the size of my fist. I stuck my hand inside the window and unlocked it.
It was a Western-style room, slightly larger than average. The doors and curtains were all closed, and it was dimly lit.
I took off my shoes, pressed the switch at the entrance to the room, and suddenly the light came on. I was tremendously impressed by the technology behind solar panels. If only I could install these at our dormitory, then we wouldn’t have any more inconveniences in our daily lives. Though, of course, it was hard to imagine average high school students like us managing to pull off any sort of large-scale construction…