Nevertheless, finding a house with electricity, even during the current power outage, was a big step forward.
After unlocking the front door and going outside, I tied up every zombie around me and secured the area. Then I brought Mai, who was waiting in the car.
She let out a small cheer when she saw the light go on.
“It’s way different from the tiny battery-powered lights we use.”
“Uh-huh. The power generated by the solar panels seems to be stored somewhere, so we can use electrical appliances. You can even check to see how much power there is left.”
My heart racing, I pointed to a monitor screen embedded in a wall of the living room. The screen indicated the amount of power generated and used up, and the figures seemed to change in real time.
“The amount of power generated seems to vary considerably between sunny days and cloudy days,” I said, looking through the past data. “But as long as we’re careful, I don’t think we’d have power outages due to overuse.”
“Are you thinking of using this place as our second base?”
“Yes, ma’am. For example, if we bring a lot of refrigerators here and get them working, we could store food for a long time. And if we built a fence or something around the house before next summer, we could use the air conditioners.”
The more I talked, the bigger my dreams seemed to get.
After that, we started exploring the house. It looked fairly new, and the kitchen and bathrooms were spotless. Next, we decided to go upstairs and see the house from end to end. It almost felt like we’d come to visit a model home.
But the happy mood was blown away when we opened the first door.
Inside, we found a weird-looking zombie waiting for us.
I could tell the zombie had been a young man, even though his hair and fingernails were unusually long. His arms had become enlarged, and his fingernails, which looked at least fifteen centimeters long, were razor-sharp like weapons.
“—Mai!! Run!!”
As soon as I cried out to her, the clawed zombie jumped at me, its long black hair in disarray. It was so agile I could hardly believe it was a zombie.
I reflexively closed the door, and it suddenly dawned on me. Like that giant zombie I’d seen the other day, this was another example of a special kind of zombie.
I’d managed to shut the door just in the nick of time—but the zombie roared, and its claws sunk into it. The sharp tips of its fingernails pierced all the way through to our side and moved toward us in the hallway. I stood there stunned as the zombie pulled its claws out of the door. I could see the room inside through a small hole.
My eyes met those of the clawed zombie. I feared for my life.
“Mai! Get back to the car!”
We quickly turned around and ran down the stairs, and a split second later, I heard the door being torn apart and the sound of footsteps approaching. I guess it had no intention of letting intruders into its house.
This was entirely my fault. I’d been so distracted by the solar panels that I neglected to check the house for zombies. And to make matters worse, I’d left the bat near the front door.
In a panic, I put on my shoes and grabbed the bat, then transformed, leaving the door wide open.
“Yuuma?! You’re going to fight it?!”
“I want us to use this house as our base. We can’t do that in peace if that thing is here.”
As I’d been speaking, the clawed zombie had come downstairs.
“Mai, can you make it to the car on your own?”
“Yes,” she answered curtly and started running in the direction of the car. I was worried that zombies might attack her, but I wasn’t in a position where I could go and help her. I’d restrained all the zombies I’d seen in the area, so I had to believe she’d be okay.
The clawed zombie’s gaze met mine, and it started toward me.
We faced off on the cobblestones just outside the front door. The clawed zombie closed the distance between us and swung its right arm toward me—but his speed and range were nothing compared to the giant zombie I’d fought the other day.
I stepped back to avoid my opponent’s first attack and swung my bat as hard as I could at the right arm reached out toward me. With an unpleasant metallic sound, the four claws from its index finger to the pinkie were snapped at once.
That didn’t seem to bother the clawed zombie, though, and it followed up with an attack with its left hand. Judging my timing, I swung and slammed the bat into its left hand, smashing it against the stone pavement. Next, I aimed for the zombie as it bent forward, took a proper batting stance, and unleashed a full swing, delivering a powerful blow to its head and sending everything from its nose up flying.
Now in a horribly disfigured state, the clawed zombie collapsed to the ground face-first. I put down the bat, clasped my hands, and said a silent prayer for him, then examined the zombie’s hands.
Its fingernails had changed to look like the claws of a ravenous beast. This had to be another mutation brought about by the zombie virus…
This was the second case of a special-type zombie. Or would it be the third, including me?
Haruka had ordered me to figure out how people turned into zombies. So did that mean I should collect samples of these unusual zombies in case some research institute analyzes the virus in the future…?
Regardless, I had no way to take blood samples here. Maybe I could take the corpse back to the dorm. I was reluctant, especially with the foul smell, but I could wrap it in a big piece of plastic so the car wouldn’t get dirty…
As I was thinking, the clawed zombie suddenly got back up.
The entire part of its head from the nose up was missing. A normal zombie wouldn’t be able to move in this state. And yet…