By sundown, we had decided on staying the night here.
Tetsuko and Shino rested in the car while Otoha and I stood guard. The plan was to switch shifts in six hours, wait out the night, and get back on the road come sunrise.
“Not seeing much,” I said, looking through the binoculars Tetsuko had given me.
Whenever I did come upon something suspicious, I’d immediately switch to the rifle, only to find out that I was either seeing things or that the zombie was very far away.
“Shame.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Don’t let your guard down.”
“I won’t.” As obsessive as she was, Otoha was pretty much the sole reason we had even made it this far. Her advice was to be taken seriously.
“So...” I said, looking through the binoculars once more.
“So?”
“I never really got around to saying it, but...”
“Uh-huh?”
“Well, it’s not like I didn’t want to, I just never got the chance.”
“Never got the chance to say what?” Otoha was starting to get a little confused.
“To, umm, to say thank you.”
“Huh?”
I couldn’t say for sure, but I had a feeling that I’d put a tiny dent in her deadpan expression.
I, of course, had my back turned to her. Otherwise, I would’ve died of embarrassment the moment those words left my lips.
“If it wasn’t for you, I never would’ve made it this far.”
Yes, she had almost sent my head flying back in the police station. Yes, she had pulled the shovel on me multiple times during our checkups, but she had also saved my life again and again.
If she hadn’t come to my rescue back when I was wrestling with zombie Shouji, I would’ve been toast, even if Shino had landed her shot on time. Imagine if Shino had put down her dad and then put me down, too... Actually, don’t.
“You’ve got the smarts, you’ve got the, umm, decisiveness... Both equally important, of course. Because of all this, uhh, well, not just because of this; I mean, there’s more to you than that, naturally. But, umm...”
Just gotta find the right words... Oh, I know. Otoha, there’s probably been someone just as smart and just as decisive as you, but know this.
“You’re perfect just the way you are,” I said.
“What?”
“I find your presence comforting.”
Even this late into the game, Otoha, being the zombie otaku that she was, still managed to enjoy herself.
She had gone toe-to-toe with countless zombies and endured one life-threatening encounter after another, and she had never once shown any sign of weakness.
On the contrary, Otoha always reveled in it. It was as though her whole life had been building up to this very moment.
There was something about her enthusiasm that I—and Tetsuko and Shino, I imagined—found oddly comforting. The end was nowhere in sight, our future was uncertain, and yet here we were on a fun little camping trip. No existential dread, no sorrow, nothing.
And it was all thanks to Otoha.
“Thanks for that and everything else.”
“Don’t mention it.”
That’s not very generous of you. I’m on the brink of dying from embarrassment over here, and all I get in return is a brisk “Don’t mention it”? Guess that’s Otoha for ya.
“You know,” Otoha said after a few moments, “I’ve always felt like I don’t belong.”
“Don’t belong where?”
“In this world. I know I’m weird; I’ve been told as much by my family, my classmates, everybody. Again and again and again. You’re pretty messed up even for a horror junkie, they said.”
“I know what you mean.”
I myself had been called all sorts of names by people who had only seen the world in black and white, thinking they were doing God’s work by informing me of my flaws or something.
“Seeing the world brought to its knees, seeing zombies roam the streets... It made me feel warm inside. Finally, my time has come, I thought. Finally, I get to apply my knowledge to the real world. At the same time, it felt like they were right about me all along.”
“I feel ya.”
Our tormentors were gone, but their hurtful words had never left our minds. There they festered, inducing feelings of guilt and worthlessness, reminding us of our weirdness.
It took a toll, and a heavy one at that.
“So, umm, yeah.” Otoha grew quiet, and for a few moments, we listened to the river babbling in the background. “Thanks.”
“Come again?”
“Thanks... for the thanks.”
I think I understand.
“And another thanks for having my back.”
“As a wise woman once said, ‘Don’t mention it.’”
“No, really, I mean it. Without your gun expertise, your marksmanship, your military knowledge, and your quick wit, I wouldn’t have made it this far either.”
“Huh.” The first three made sense, but that last one caught me by surprise.
I suppose being put through countless life-or-death situations in a VRFPS environment does wonders for one’s quick-thinking skills.
“Only you could’ve convinced Shino what needed to be done. That’s something to be proud of. Although you can be rather brash, forceful, and even pervy at times.”
“You just had to include that last bit, didn’t you?”
Could’ve ended on a high note, but no.
“You did try to spy on us earlier.”
“Yeah, but...”
You have no idea what it’s like being perpetually horny! Saying that would cement my reputation as a creep, though, so I’ll just keep it to myself.
“I appreciate you for who you are, warts and all. I’m glad we met.”
So... it’s okay if I’m perpetually horny?
“I-I’m glad we met, too.”
Good thing I have an excuse not to look her in the face. Thanks, binocu...lars?
“What is it?” Otoha asked, sensing a disturbance in the force.
“I think something just moved on the top of that building over there.” I put away the binoculars and switched to the rifle.
It was one of few buildings over by the river, a big one made entirely of concrete. Judging from the shortage of windows, it was likely a factory or a research facility of some kind.
“Is it a zombie?” Otoha inquired gleefully.
I know you’re into zombies and all, but please don’t just blindly charge in, okay?
“I think so. Actually, wait.” I couldn’t tell what, but there was something off about its movements, so I adjusted the lens.
“What’s the verdict?”
“It’s... a human.”
On top of the roof, there was a lone girl sitting in a wheelchair.
✦ ✦ ✦
Shiiko Katsura was faced with her greatest obstacle yet: the chain-link fence.
It was rather short for a fence and purposefully so. It had been put up as a fall-prevention measure for maintenance workers who would have periodically checked up on the solar panels.
Your average healthy adult could climb over without so much as breaking a sweat, but to Shiiko, this would be a Herculean task.
Wheelchair-bound since early childhood, she couldn’t stand on her own two feet without falling over, let alone walk. The one-meter-tall fence towered over her.
“Who needs legs when you’ve got arms? I sure don’t.” Shiiko gave herself a little pep talk, wheeled herself up to the fence, then grabbed onto it with her right hand, lifting herself up. Her left hand joined shortly after.
✦ ✦ ✦
“You can do this. You can do this.” Shiiko clambered up the fence, the metal digging into her hands. She rested her chin against the top rail, catching her breath, and then pushed herself over it.
Almost there. You’ve got this. You always have.
All she had to do now was fall.
I don’t need anyone. I’ve got this! Just a little more and then off I g—
“STOP!” A male-sounding voice called out to her from the neighboring building, prompting Shiiko to lift her head up in surprise.
“How in the world—?!”
The site consisted of many tightly packed buildings. Atop the neighboring office building stood two people: a boy and a girl.
“Don’t do anything stupid!” the guy yelled, twirling a rope tied to a crowbar as though it were a lasso. He then hurled the crowbar, which zoomed past in a satisfying arc and lodged itself against one of the nearby solar panels. “We’ll be right there!”
Shiiko looked on in bewilderment as they began climbing along the rope. Seeing other living people was surprising enough, but the fact that they were about her age was even more of a shocker.
How did they get here?
For whatever reason, they were also interfering with Shiiko’s suicide attempt.
“Can’t even kill myself in... peace?”
At that moment, the boy fell to his doom.
“Help! Help!”
Or not. Presumably, he had some sort of safety device attached to his clothes.
He flailed around for a bit until the girl behind him pulled him back up, and then they were back on their way.