While I was puzzling over this, something even more incredible happened: The area above its nose began to regenerate. First, its gray brain was restored; then the skull reappeared around it, which was eventually covered by similarly gray skin. I couldn’t comprehend what I was seeing.
As I stood there, stunned, the empty eye sockets and even the whitewashed eyeballs reappeared. The clawed zombie turned its newly regenerated eyes in my direction, locked its sights onto me, and raised its right arm. Even its claws had reappeared.
Oh shit, this guy’s dangerous!! Who would’ve thought there’d be a zombie that could regenerate its head…?!
I was dumbfounded but desperately dodged his attack and picked up the bat. I swung hard, aiming for its head again—but the clawed zombie jumped back without giving any indication of what it was doing, and my bat flew through the air.
This zombie hadn’t considered self-defense before, yet immediately after regenerating, it started making evasive moves… Did that mean it was evolving? Was it using the experience of getting hit the last time around to learn?
If that were the case, things were getting too nasty. It was bad enough to begin with since I didn’t know how to defeat it.
The best idea seemed to be to withdraw for now, so I turned my back to the clawed zombie and ran as fast as I could. Caught off guard for a moment, the clawed zombie chased after me, but with a ten-meter head start, I managed to get away.
I soon saw our car, where Mai was waiting for me. She was in the passenger seat, and the engine was turned off so as not to attract attention from other zombies.
I jumped into the driver’s seat and gunned the engine.
“—Yuuma, were you unable to defeat that zombie?”
“I’ll explain later. Let’s get out of here.”
I put the car in reverse and stepped on the gas.
By now, the clawed zombie was right in front us. If it jumped onto the car, we’d be done for. I briefly considered running it over, thinking that even if it was immortal, we might be able to stop its movements if we pinned it under the car. That said, I had no idea how strong this zombie was. If it had the strength to move the car off itself, then running it over would be pointless.
If we lost our car here, we’d have to walk back to the dorm, which was too risky considering that Tsukishiro was with me. Checking the side mirror, I started trying to escape by backing up, something I wasn’t used to doing. The road was barely wide enough for a car to pass in many places, and I couldn’t go very fast—
The clawed zombie immediately caught up with us and slashed the hood. At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before it destroyed the car.
“Mai! Switch places with me and drive! That zombie can’t be killed by crushing its head, so we have no choice but to run!”
I shifted gears into park and opened the driver’s side door as I continued shouting instructions to her.
“Keep going back till you get to a wide-open area, then make a U-turn!” I yelled as I grabbed the bat and jumped out of the car.
The clawed zombie was right there, staring straight at me, its hands at the ready. It almost seemed to have a mind of its own.
“…Can you understand what I’m saying? Who are you?” I called out, but it didn’t make any sort of human response. It just turned hostile and came slashing at me.
I swung the bat and continued to repel the clawed zombie’s swipes. Its attacks seemed to be becoming more precise. Was it learning to move more efficiently?
If I could keep defending myself and jump in the car when Mai was ready to take off, then we might get away in one piece. But was it okay to leave this monster on the loose? Wasn’t it possible that it would be more powerful the next time I encountered it?
“—Yuuma! I’m ready!” Mai shouted before I could organize my thoughts, and I instantly ran toward the car.
Needless to say, the clawed zombie was right on my tail.
I didn’t have time to go around to the passenger seat, so instead I jumped on top of the trunk.
“Go!”
The car immediately started moving forward, but because Mai had never driven before, we were going quite slowly.
Meanwhile, the clawed zombie didn’t stop coming after us. There were no limits to its physical strength since it was a zombie, so at this rate, it would follow us to the dorm.
Once we were finally off the densely congested road and out in the open, I jumped off the car and shouted to Mai.
“Let’s split up here! I’ll make my own way back to the dorm!”
I didn’t know if that was enough to tell her what my plan was, but I couldn’t think of any other way.
I was facing the clawed zombie again. I’d keep it occupied until the car was a good distance away, then find a way to escape myself.
But the car came right back. Had Mai thought she’d shaken me off?
No—after driving in a wide circle around us, Mai got behind the clawed zombie. Then she stepped on the gas, and the car came charging toward us with a rumbling noise.
I jumped back, and Mai hit the clawed zombie from behind, then drove off with it slumped against the hood. The car showed no signs of stopping, so I quickly went after it.
Mai kept driving for a short while, then finally stopped in the middle of a large bridge. As for the clawed zombie—it quickly got up and tried to attack Mai through the front windshield. Getting run over didn’t seem to have done much damage to it.
I ran as fast as I could and, once I’d caught up, leaped onto the car. I ran over the roof and kicked the zombie off the vehicle.
“Mai! Run over it one more time!”
As soon as I shouted that, the car sped forward. It ran right over the zombie lying on its side and crushed its head. Still, chances were high that it would revive again, just like it had before. Wasn’t there any way to stop that from happening?
“Yuuma! Let’s push it off the bridge!”