Volume 2 Chapter 21 (2/2)

“Did you not think of going down by yourself first to check the situation? Why did you take the kids with you?”

“…………..”

Mizuki hangs her head in silence. Yusuke draws a deep breath and scratches his head.

“…..but!”

Mizuki shouts with a distraught voice.

“For there to be zombies! Something like that……. They don’t exis……..”

Her last word is caught in her throat, and she starts to cry.

“……you, come here for a sec.”

Even though Yusuke grabs her by the hand, she does not resist.

The place he takes her, is the roof of the supermarket. After climbing the private stairwell, scattered around the rooftop before them were various tanks and equipment. Pus.h.i.+ng past the obstructions, they near the edge of the roof.

“………….”

At that wide open scenery, Mizuki said nothing.

All around the parking garage of the supermarket, there were numerous figures. The surrounding roads were littered with crashed cars and wandering people who used to be human.

“You understand, don’t you?”

Mizuki didn’t answer those words.

Clasping the railing firmly with her hands, she stares at the scene. Gradually, the day turned to night, and the surroundings grew dark. Even then, no lights came on. It was as if all the houses in sight were dead asleep. The windows of the apartment buildings remained dark, and were silent, as if there was no longer anyone living there.

“There are no lights because there are no survivors. If something turns on, it just because a switch happened to be flipped.”

“…………..”

For roughly 30 minutes, they stared at the scene. Finally, Mizuki opens her mouth to speak.

“……everyone’s disappeared, haven’t they…”

“Aa” (TL: Confirming what she said.)

“……do you think my mother and father are safe?”

“I wonder. People who are lucky like you guys, there’s only about one in 100 remaining. But, the only survivors I’ve seen are you guys.”

Hearing those words, Mizuki lets out a small breath, and leans against the fence. With a small voice, she mutters.

“…….why is Takemura-san able to remain so composed?”

“Hmm?”

“The city has ended up like this… aren’t you scared? Also, before….. how were you, how did you survive against those kind of opponents? I, I thought Takemura-san had… died……..”

Mizuki looked at Yusuke with questioning eyes.

(This is bad. I haven’t thought of an excuse.)

Yusuke silently turns his head. Certainly it would be impossible for an ordinary human to survive in a situation like that. After a moment of deliberation, he pulls back his coat and takes the pistol out of his revealed holster.

“I took this guy off of a cop’s body.”

Mizuki stares at it for a while, but when she realizes what it is, she swallows her breath.

“……..it isn’t, a toy huh?”

“It’s the real thing. I cleared away the guys before with it.”

In that chaotic situation, Mizuki was also thrown into chaos, so she didn’t notice the details. But, to be able to successfully escape from that situation where he couldn’t even move by just using a gun, would be impossible.

“Ahh, also, those guys are sensitive to people’s presence. When zombies sense fear, they come in groups. If you keep your heart calm, zen, and centered; and you don’t get too close, you’ll be safe.”

Finding a suitable explanation, these words are spouted from Yusuke.

He is aware of the aura he gives off, but in his apartment building, when he came face to face with a zombie, and even grabbed its hips. In that state, the zombie didn’t attack, but that was just because he is special.

(TL: Talking about the female zombie, about how he is able to get close to them, which goes against his rules he made up.)

With that said, it would be hard for a human to not fear zombies. Even if they are suspicious of it, they are not likely to confirm whether it’s true or not.

However, Mizuki wasn’t really listening to the excuses. She was completely focused on the gun the entire time. Eventually, she quietly spoke.

“….if you threatened me with that, you could have freely done anything you wanted to me.”

In other words, if she refused the deal for food, he would have just forced her anyway with the gun.

Yusuke raises an eyebrow,

“Don’t be conceited. I did have an interest in your body…… but I just thought it sucked to give food for nothing”

“…………”

Mizuki takes her sight off the pistol, and looks out at the city.

The sun had sunk, and the town was wrapped in darkness. Within that darkness, were countless moving shadows. That getting food meant risking your life, Mizuki finally feels the weight of that truth.

As if recalling past memories, her blank gaze wanders in the darkness. Breaking away from the darkness, she speaks earnestly.

“……that’s, that’s right isn’t it….. I’m……”

With that kind of fragile atmosphere, Yusuke becomes nervous. If she were to jump from here, his investments would be lost.

“……..well, in any case, it’s not like j.a.pan has been wiped out. I don’t know when rescue might come, but you have to hold out until then. Because you can rely on borrowing lots from me.”

Seemingly bottling various feelings, Mizuki looks at her hands gripping the rail. After a while, she swallows hard and nods.

With that their conversation ends.

Yusuke turns on his heel and walks back while Mizuki obediently follows. In front of the door leading inside, he is stopped by Mizuki.

“Ano.” (TL: It’s kind of like “Hey.” Or “Um.”)

“What is it?”

“If it’s okay with you, after my brothers are asleep….. is it alright?”

“Ah? Yeah.”

“…….if it’s in the locker room, we can lock the door.”

“Right, got it.” (TL: “Un? Wakatta.”)

Just once, Mizuki looked back at the rooftop. Within the darkness, everything became vague. As if getting rid of any lingering regret, she lets out a short breath, and proceeds down the stairs after Yusuke had already descended.

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