…She had a point.
Attack is the best defense.
“I wonder if there’s any way for us to find out where the enemy’s base is or if they even exist in the first place… Doesn’t it seem impossible for us to find them unless they make contact with us first…?”
“About that, I’m wondering how the enemy generated the zombie panic in the first place. Did they go around stabbing pedestrians with shots of the zombie virus? Or fill a truck with a huge number of zombies and let them loose?”
Kamiji’s questions made me realize something.
“Whatever method they used, there’s a chance someone saw them.”
“Yeah. Those witnesses probably turned into zombies, but there’s a chance one of them might have shot a video of the zombies on their phone.”
“Are you saying that by checking the data on zombies’ cell phones, there’s a chance we could find the person who spread the virus…?”
My mind was swimming, but we were going to reach the truth—I could feel it.
Still, it was going to be incredibly difficult to collect all that information. Did fingerprint and facial recognition work with zombies…?
I brought my phone over to see if it would respond when I was in a zombified state and found that I couldn’t unlock it.
“Most people have their phones locked, and it’s probably tough to trace zombies’ phones to the people who started this… We might have been able to spread their images on social media or something if we still had internet, but that’s not really an option right now…”
“…Maybe whoever is behind this made sure our phones wouldn’t be connected,” Ichinose murmured.
“Huh?! Is that possible?”
“They could have prepared a massive number of devices to disrupt communications, caused system failures through hacking, or destroyed cell towers… Anything’s possible, depending on the number of people working for them.”
“I see… If our hypothesis is correct, it means the killers were very well prepared.”
“But I had an idea while listening to Kamiji,” Ichinose continued. “The zombies’ smartphones probably aren’t the only way for us to obtain images of the culprits. If we collected and analyzed footage from dashcams and security cameras installed in shops, there’s a chance we could find out where those zombies came from.”
“Yeah, you’re right…!!”
If we figured out who the enemy is, found their base of operations, and took over their research facilities, then everything might be resolved. We were finally starting to see a ray of hope in all this mess.
Thus, our next goal was decided.
After breakfast, Haruka and I headed to her house. I hadn’t gotten any sleep the night before and was dying to get some rest, but first I wanted to know what my blood was capable of.
We parked in front of her house and carefully opened the front door. I listened closely, but no sounds could be heard from inside. I crept cautiously through the house and entered the bedroom on the first floor.
Haruka’s dad lay on the bed, his eyes closed. The sheets looked exactly the same as when I’d last seen him, so it didn’t seem like he’d stirred.
Six days had already gone by since Haruka’s dad had drunk my blood. Was he going to stay asleep like this forever…?
“It looks like we can immobilize a normal zombie for at least a few days by injecting it with your blood…,” Haruka said.
The mixed emotions going through her mind were evident on her face as she sat up straight at her dad’s bedside. She must be worried that her dad may never wake up again.
“…I’m sure he’ll be fine. If we can take over the bad guys’ research facility, extract the antivirus from my body, and give it to him, he should wake up.”
“Thank you…for saying that…,” Haruka mumbled and stood up.
“Haruka, are you okay…?” I asked.
“Of course. I have faith in you. I’m sure you’ll fix this somehow… It’s just…”
“Just what?”
“No, never mind… By the way, Yuuma, there’s something I want to bring from my room. Will you come upstairs with me?”
“Oh, sure.”
We’d locked the house, but that didn’t mean there weren’t any zombies inside. I took the lead to make sure the coast was clear.
“Thank you. Will you close your eyes a minute so I can get changed?”
“I can wait in the hallway.”
“That’s okay. I trust you.”
No sooner had she said that than Haruka started unbuttoning her shirt.
I quickly turned around and closed my eyes. After hearing the rustling of clothes for a little while, the sound suddenly stopped. Haruka had come around to stand in front of me, but she hadn’t said I could open my eyes yet.
As I wondered what she was up to, she suddenly hugged me. And the next moment—
Something soft pressed against my lips.
I reflexively opened my eyes and saw Haruka before me, her eyes closed.
It took me a second to realize she’d kissed me.
“—Wh-what are you doing?!”
Stunned, I pulled back and saw that Haruka was in her underwear—a cute pink bra and matching panties.
“Sorry, but I couldn’t control myself,” she said shyly, covering her body with her hands.
“You couldn’t control yourself…?! You’ll turn into a zombie if my saliva gets in your body…!!”
“But I’ll be okay if you kiss me regularly like you do Tsukishiro and Kamiji.”
“We don’t know that—it works differently for everyone. What if you completely turn into a zombie?”
“Oh, that’s true… But it’s too late now. We’ve already kissed,” she said and smiled mischievously.
“…Haruka, why would you do something so reckless? One wrong step and you could die.”
“…But you’re immortal, right, Yuuma?” she said accusingly. “You’ll die like those other zombies if you get your head crushed, won’t you?”
“Y-yeah, but what does that have to do with kissing you?”
“I watched as you almost died fighting that clawed zombie yesterday, and I thought, No one knows what’ll happen at any moment. There’s no guarantee that we’ll be alive tomorrow. So I’d regret it if I kept holding back from kissing you.”
“…Haruka…”
“Besides, we’re going to start looking for the base the organization that spread the zombie virus works out of, right? The idea that we have to deal not only with zombies but with humans…is kind of terrifying.”
“Haruka, are you against the idea of taking over the enemy’s base?”
“That’s not it… I think it’s necessary to find out the truth of this world… But it just scares me to think about what will happen if we fail.”
“Even if we find them, it isn’t as if we’re going to attack them without thinking. First, we’ll get an idea of their fighting capabilities, and then we’ll come up with a plan.”
“But what if the enemy makes the first move? Maybe they have the latest equipment, and we won’t stand a chance against them.”
“There is that possibility…”
“Every time I watch you leave the dorm, I always think that it might be the last time I’ll ever see you. I’m anxious and scared every moment of the day…and I don’t want to have any regrets…”
Haruka unhooked her bra and revealed her breasts.
Then she continued speaking as she hugged me.
“—Why don’t we make a baby?”
…What an incredible thing to say.
“I’m hopelessly in love with you, Yuuma. I want to be your one and only…”
Seeing Haruka cling to me, I sensed there wasn’t any particular reason for her feelings for me. She just loved me. Period.