Vol 1 Chapter 5 (1/2)

Chapter 5

Night fell.

That meant the vampires were freed from the bonds of sunlight and could unleash their true power.

“Erika.”

“What is it, Satori-kun?”

Over the phone, Erika sounded gentle, kind…and most of all, triumphant. She would not wait until the morning. She would not give up her turn. I could hear it in her voice.

“It’s getting dark around here, but what do vampires eat? With that many of you, you’ll need a lot of supplies just for dinner.”

“Hee hee. Don’t worry. As long as we have fresh blood, we can survive in the wild or in the mountains or wherever else. Of course, eating hamburger steak and cabbage rolls like normal provides nourishment for the heart. So for the time being, I’ve ordered them to expand our forces while finding their own supplies. Of course, things might change once the vampires cover the entire city…Urp.”

“Um, Erika?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine. I’ll be back to normal after a few deep breaths. …I refuse to let Ayumi-chan beat me. If I work at expanding my stomach bit by bit, I’ll be able to shock you with how much blood I can drink.”

“You don’t have to compete over that and that isn’t what I’m looking for in a girl!!”

“By the way, what about your dinner, Satori-kun? I always take care of the cooking when mom isn’t around, so did you manage to find something? I’m honestly kind of worried.”

“Yeah. Ayumi and I ate barbecue together”

“What!? That sounds like so much fun! Why didn’t you call me!? Aren’t we family!?”

“Huh? I thought a clean freak like you wouldn’t like sitting outside with smoke everywhere and getting your hands all messy.”

“Satori-kun, it is being a clean freak that gives me such a clear distinction between what is and isn’t clean. Now, which is cleaner: letting yourself enjoy an event or refusing to take part due to sour grapes? And no fair! Noooo fair! Why is Ayumi-chan the only one that gets to be with you!?”

“Sorry, sorry.”

I moved the phone from my ear when she started yelling.

And then I said it.

“But this is all your fault.”

“…Oh?”

The cellphone signal could not carry an atmosphere or aura, but I still felt a squeezing at my chest.

But I didn’t care.

I had decided I would save the Swimsuit Cla.s.s Rep from the vampires. And I was willing to make a mess of the simulated Kukyou City to do it. So this was not the time to declare war. Erika had already done that when she captured the Cla.s.s Rep.

“I’m only saying this once, so listen up.”

“Okay.”

“Take the Cla.s.s Rep and escape to an elevated place. If it’s a building, get to at least the third floor. To be honest, I haven’t done the detailed calculations, so the higher the better.”

“Hey, Satori-kun. I don’t want to ruin this moment because my heart is pounding hearing my cute little brother sounding so cool, but I’m going to do it anyway. I don’t know what you’re about to do, but do you really believe you can defeat me? After my overwhelming victory during the day, do you really believe you can even touch me at night?”

“Didn’t I say I’m only saying it once? This is all wasted if the Cla.s.s Rep is caught in it.”

Yes.

Normally, she would have been right.

But…

The deluge of water pouring from the broken dam overturned all of that.

A giant reservoir of water in the mountains supported the city’s water supply.

I had gotten some help from Ayumi the zombie girl to take control of the dam. No, to destroy it.

It was obvious what would happen to the city downstream. The Weather Spheres meant to predict flooding were entirely useless.

“Satori…-kun!? Wait, don’t tell me…!!”

“Is the water already there? It doesn’t rush in as a solid wall. It will start rising at your feet, but the next thing you know, it’s several meters deep.”

I viewed the nighttime city from the mountain road, but then moved the smartphone from my face a little.

The aerial image from the drone showed the roads filling up with dark water in no time at all. The buildings looked like lines of square stones cutting across a pond.

In truth, the depth and speed of the water did not matter.

The main point lay elsewhere.

“Vampires can’t cross running water.”

“!?”

“So prepare yourself, Erika. A vampire’s strength comes from their twisted social structure with the queen at the top. You can’t take advantage of that if you’re trapped on separate rooftops. And it goes without saying that the water won’t stop the zombies from moving around the city.”

Our battle preparations were complete.

I had no more reason to wait, so I hung up and got to work.

“Onii-chan, where can we find a boat!?”

“This is a disaster prevention city! We can find one just about anywhere!”

Next to the roadside metal cases for fire hoses were identical sized containers. When I opened one and turned the valve, a rubber boat with an electric motor inflated like an airbag.

“More importantly, Ayumi, are you okay? You’re injured!”

“Hm? Why are you worried about a zombie’s injuries?”

She gave a quick wave of her b.l.o.o.d.y hand. She had been like this since getting back from the dam. I could guess that the workers had put up a valiant fight to prevent the entire city from being flooded, but it was odd that the top of the zombie side had been this badly injured. Was there something more to the dam?

She used a sewing set’s needle and thread to roughly sew up the wounds like she was repairing a stuffed animal.

“We need to hurry, Onii-chan. Time isn’t going to wait around!”

“Well, if you’re fine, okay. But be more careful next time! You’re a girl, after all!!”

“C’mon, you’re making me blush. Oops, my arm came off.”

“Ayumi, make sure you get thaaaaaat!!”

We placed the rubber boat on the water that was as dark as the sea at night. First Ayumi climbed on while continuing to sew and then I followed with the collapsible bike in my arms.

I hadn’t even thought about how to use one of these since they had taught us in school, but I managed to use the motor that doubled as a rudder to steer us along the great muddy stream and toward Kukyou City.

“How are we on zombies!?”

“I made some more at that campground and at the dam! Once there are enough of them, they’ll multiply like crazy on their own!!”

I used the aerial footage from the drone to steer the boat toward where Erika was. The buildings rising from the sunken city whooshed by on either side of us.

The pandemonium had already begun.

The vampires could not cross flowing water, so they were stuck on the building rooftops. Then the countless zombies rose from the water, climbed the walls, and swarmed the isolated vampires. Even if there were more vampires in all, the zombies outnumbered them on the individual rooftops. After that, they were helplessly devoured.

Wow…I know it’s not fair to judge zombies like this, but you certainly can’t call them smart…

“Good, it looks like they’re multiplying just fine. Go get ‘em, men!!”

“It looks like the drowned corpses and the ‘uninfected’ who aren’t part of either group can both be turned into zombies. But it also looks like we aren’t powerful enough to turn a vampire into a zombie or vice-versa.”

“That doesn’t matter as long as we can get back at our smug sister.”

We discussed the situation as our rubber boat raced across the dark water.

Using the drone, I could tell exactly where Erika was and that was thanks to one of the vampire’s major restrictions.

A vampire could not enter a house without permission.

Our home and public facilities like a school were exceptions, but she could not set foot inside any private property. That meant she was stuck out on the rooftop.

To her and the other vampires, the world was made up of separated square fields.

I just had to peer down at them with the drone.

The balance of power had been reversed in no time. The vampires were no longer a group centered on their queen, so a local difference in numbers was enough to defeat them individually.

“Onee-chaaaaan!!”

Ayumi shouted over the roar of the rubber boat’s motor.

We were right next to the rooftop where Erika waited.

A chapel bell tower was visible next to it, so it was not that tall a building.

We practically crashed the boat into the edge of the half-submerged rooftop. While I tied the boat on with a rope, my little sister climbed onto the roof and faced the vampire in a gothic lolita dress.

Erika had a servant on either side of her like bodyguards. Those two, Erika herself, and the forehead gla.s.ses Cla.s.s Rep were the only ones there.

I heard splas.h.i.+ng from all around us.

Five, ten, fifteen, twenty… More and more arms broke through the dark water and grabbed the edge of the roof. Then the zombies pulled themselves up. Ayumi’s forces looked like they were crawling up from the depths of h.e.l.l.

Ayumi jabbed a finger toward our older sister’s face and gave a shout.

“This is checkmate!! Okay, it’s time to pay the piper. Don’t think I’m going to forgive you if you apologize now!!”

“Don’t act so proud. This devilish resolve was definitely more Satori-kun’s style.”

“That doesn’t matter!! Onii-chan is mine right now!!”

“Oh, my. I’ll kill you for that one, little sister.”

“Fuguu!!”

The abandoned Swimsuit Cla.s.s Rep stared at me with blank eyes that said “awaiting instructions”.