“There’s no risk of me being infected from a droplet of his saliva. And besides, we have to kiss every six hours, so it wouldn’t be convenient if we weren’t living together. I’d be in trouble if one of us were fast asleep late at night or early in the morning, and seeing as we can’t use our phones, we couldn’t wake each other up, either.”
“That’s true…,” I conceded. “But there’s the risk of zombies coming to attack us if we live somewhere that doesn’t have a steel fence around it like we do here.”
“Then I’ll try to stay as close to you as possible. I’ll be safe that way, won’t I?”
“……”
“And anyway, I have the zombie virus in my body, so wouldn’t it be pointless if we weren’t quarantined together?”
“You’re right… Shall we live together, then?”
“Yes, please. ♪”
“Wait just a minute!!” Haruka shouted at the top of her lungs. “Then I’m going to live with Yuuma, too!! I have to keep watch over the two of you!!”
“We wouldn’t really be quarantined, then.”
“It’s okay. I don’t feel like I need to quarantine from you anyway.”
“Haruka, it’s not about whether you feel like you need to or not. There’s a risk of you being infected by a droplet of Yuuma’s saliva.”
“I can’t prove it, but I’ll probably be fine.”
“Where do you get that confidence of yours…?”
“About that,” Ichinose said, having so far remained quiet. “Isn’t the risk of infection considerably lower living with Kousaka? A huge number of zombies attacked our dorm the other day, and their blood splattered all over the place after Kousaka destroyed their heads. We cleaned it up and got rid of the bodies, but no one got infected, and we’re all living as we were before. In other words, I think the zombie virus may be less infectious if it doesn’t enter your body directly.”
“Come to think of it, even when I came out of the shower drenched in zombies’ bodily fluids, I didn’t turn into one of them,” Lisa added.
“But there’s no proof that Ichinose’s hypothesis is correct,” I cut in. “Aren’t you scared?”
“You ask us that, but there’s also the possibility of us getting wiped out after you left us to be quarantined. A horde of zombies could suddenly come attacking in the middle of the night and kill us before we have a chance to come and get you.”
“…True…”
There were risks involved either way…
“—Okay, then I’ll leave the dorm. That should solve things, right?” Kamiji said offhandedly after watching our exchange.
“But…that’s dangerous. I’m the one who needs to be quarantined.”
“There are more people here who want to live with you, so it’s only natural that I move out. Besides, I know how to kill zombies now… I hate to trouble you, but I’ll be able to manage if you bring me food supplies every now and then.”
“I can do that…but won’t you reconsider? Zombies break windows and enter through them…”
“They attack at the sound of noise, so I should be okay if I live quietly. Amano and I weren’t attacked while we hid in that home improvement store, remember?”
“That may be so…but what if we separated our living spaces in the dorm? Like, I could limit myself to using only certain areas on the first floor.”
“That would be inconvenient for both of us. Besides, I feel like the whole dorm is already covered in the zombie virus. We don’t know how to disinfect it, either, so I can’t exactly relax living here.”
“…I see…”
Kamiji’s logic made perfect sense, and I had no way to stop her from leaving the dorm. It was probably better for us to continue living together for a little while longer to prove there was no risk of infection and then ask her to come back.
“So, Amano, what do you want to do? Stay in the dorm or come with me?”
Amano’s eyes darted around at Kamiji’s sudden question. After hesitating for a while, she looked down at her feet and gave her answer.
“…I’m sorry. I’m staying in the dorm. I don’t want to keep living in fear of zombies that could come and attack us at any moment.”
That settled it. Kamiji would leave us to live on her own.
We quickly finished bathing and went straight back to the dorm, where I walked around the area looking for a building that seemed as safe and close as possible. I found a house that was about a minute away on foot. It was surrounded by other houses on three sides as well as a fence about a meter tall—enough that the average zombie wouldn’t be able to get inside. For the side facing the road, we could park the sedan we’d been using there to make it even more difficult for zombies to get through.
The door was locked, so I broke a window and slipped inside. I checked all the corners and made sure no one was inside the house.
Once I’d finished with the preparations, I showed it to Kamiji and made sure she was happy with the interior.
“Thanks. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.”
“I know you don’t need me to tell you this, but please don’t take unnecessary risks. Let us know if you encounter a zombie. Don’t try to deal with it on your own. We’ll take turns watching your front gate, so as long as you make it to the dorm, we should have no problem noticing you. And don’t hesitate to let me know if you need anything.”
“Thanks for everything. I won’t accept one-sided charity, so I want you to tell me if there’s ever anything I can do for you,” Kamiji said in a rather businesslike tone, then went inside the house.
I had already taken her a week’s worth of food and water, as well as battery-operated lamps and other necessities. On top of that, I’d also restrained all the zombies in the area, so she should be fine as long as nothing out of the ordinary happened.
After returning to the dorm, I took Amano upstairs to the third floor so I could show her where Kamiji’s new home was.
“…I really hope Saya will be okay by herself…,” Amano whispered uncertainly as she looked down.
“I’m sorry you had to split up with your friend because of me.”
“It’s not your fault, Kousaka. We would have turned into zombies if you hadn’t rescued us. Saya’s acting all cautious now, but I’m sure she’ll be back after I live here for a while and show her I haven’t turned into a zombie.”
“……”
Amano seemed convinced that she’d be okay living here, but no one knew whether or not I might infect them. The only thing I could do at this point was not get too close when I spoke to my dorm mates and pray that nothing would happen.