Zombie Master

When Takumi returned to the tea room, Amber and Yu welcomed Takumi with a relieved expression.After all, it makes a big difference if you have a reliable family or an adult man.

"For the time being, the director has released it in a remote place. I think I'll never come here because I walked in a different direction."

The truth is, he is instructing the zombies who were relatively close to the tea room, including the future of the director, to "prevent zombies from going in the direction of the tea room."

"First of all, about Ruri, unfortunately I have to accept the fact that I became a zombie."

Amber and Yu held their faces down to the words.I really want to start crying, but I understand that yelling at night is fatal.It's dangerous to have a conversation like this.However, Takumi understands that there is no need to worry about it, so he is having a conversation in this way.However, it's a whisper so as not to bother them.

"I've seen zombies to some extent, but I've never seen a zombie that speaks words. I don't know if I'm still willing because I'm just saying words, not conversations. Well, I don't know. It's full of "

Ruri is now outside the tea room.I don't know if it will be useful, but I'm hoping for a role as a watchman.However, it is not necessary because it is very unlikely that zombies will come here due to Takumi's work.

"But I think it's important to help them from the director and not attack us."

I can't even make a hypothesis about this because there is almost no information.Takumi thinks that Ruri didn't attack two people who didn't have the ability like Takumi because he remembers being close to him in his lifetime.I'm sure the zombies have memories of their lives, so it's natural to think that's the effect.

However, as far as Takumi searched online, there were countless miserable stories of seeing a person who was unavoidably attacked by his family and was killed by a family who became a zombie.If so, Ruri would have attacked them.However, in reality, Ruri took an action that seemed to have helped them.

"I don't know how many other zombies like lapis lazuli, but as long as we aren't attacked like this now, I want to treat lapis lazuli as a family as before."

Amber and Yu nodded to the words.Although Yu is not a family member, I think he has had a close relationship with Ruri as a close friend for a short period of time.

"But there will be various problems in the future. The biggest problem is that if you look at Ruri's eyes, you can tell at a glance that you are a zombie. From our point of view, it is an important family. Even if you are a friend or a friend, you can only think of it as a dangerous zombie from the perspective of others in red. "

The real biggest problem Takumi thinks is that Ruri may launch an attack on a red stranger who has no close relationship with his family and friends.I don't know until I try this, but I can't.

"In other words, the existence of lapis lazuli must be hidden from others. Never talk about amber, Kisaragi-san, or lapis lazuli to others."

Amber and Yu nod.

"However, there is a problem whether or not we can return to a life where we have to worry about such things."

Takumi is thinking about more than ten patterns of what the world will be like in the future, but thinks that it is unlikely that humankind will be able to overcome the situation of zombie panic of this scale all over the world.Even if it were overcome, humankind would be devastated.

So you don't have to think about living normally.Takumi doesn't have to take into account the threat of zombies, so it's okay if only those who know the situation can live.There is no doubt that there will be many difficulties in stabilizing that life.

"Brother, what are you going to do now?"

"First of all, I want to confirm the safety of my mother and father. If I use a bicycle, I can get home in 30 minutes from here. I will go there right away."

"We?"

"Hide in this tea room. If you're hiding under the floor, you're unlikely to be noticed unless you make a sound. There's lapis lazuli, and you should be able to do something about it."

The reason they were discovered in the future when they became zombies was because they screamed out of fear of becoming a zombie.If you keep quiet, you won't notice it so easily.In addition, Takumi has ordered the surrounding zombies to keep other zombies away.Takumi thinks that the current tea room is a fairly safe place.

"Ruri-chan's older brother ..."

Yu gave an uneasy voice.From her point of view, Takumi is an adult man, and Takumi, who remains calm despite this situation, looks very reliable.I instinctively feel a sense of crisis when Takumi leaves.

"Takumi Hiiragi. Call it whatever you like."

"Then, brother"

Takumi looked at Yu with a slightly surprised look.Amber is called "brother" and lapis lazuli is called "brother", so this is the first time that they have been called.

"Please call me by name."

"Oh, I understand. Then, I wonder if Yu-chan is okay."

"Yes!"

Yu smiled a little happily.It wasn't a heartfelt smile because I had just been sad.

"Brother, can you come back?"

"Of course. I'll be back before morning. Even if it's late for some reason, I'll definitely be back by noon. Anyway, both of us should be hiding until I'm back. I will always call out when I come back, so if you hear anything other than me, never leave the hiding place. "

Then, after taking some precautions, he took out about half of the food from his backpack and hid it under the floor with them, and Takumi started to ride his bicycle to his parents' house.

"This is ... terrible"

After riding a bicycle for about 30 minutes, Takumi arrived at the town where he once lived.Although it is not a high-class residential area, it is a popular place with many houses.I still have strong memories of those days, and I can remember the sights of the town in detail.

However, zombies are wandering around here as well, and abandoned cars are left unattended on the road.The unpleasant odor that comes to my nose is probably because there is a corpse somewhere nearby.Of course, I don't feel like looking for the corpse.

After I became a college student and started living alone, I felt nostalgic when I arrived at the town and looked at the scenery of the town to return to my parents' house, but now I can't really feel that kind of sentimental feeling. Was out.

While feeling unpleasant feelings, run the bicycle toward the parents' house.

Not surprisingly, there are no lights in the surrounding houses.There is a time zone of midnight, but there is no doubt that it is a countermeasure against zombies at night.However, there are many houses where the front doors and windows are torn, probably because the countermeasures have been delayed.It makes me uncomfortable to imagine what happened as a result.

Then, when I was about to arrive, I found a zombie with a familiar face.

"Mr. Nishizuka ..."

A housewife who lives in the neighborhood.I was on good terms with Takumi's mother, and on a clear day I often saw them talking on the roadside.Looking around further, many of the zombies in the area had familiar faces.And that was an unacceptable reality for Takumi.

"Damn ...!"

When Takumi arrives at his nostalgic parents' house, he hurries to open the front door.However, it is locked tightly and the door does not open.Takumi is relieved to that.

It might be okay if the door isn't torn.

Use the key in your wallet to go inside and look for your father and mother with a promising look.

“…………!?”

The moment he entered the living room, Takumi wondered if his heart was held by the ice.

I noticed that one of the windows was cracked.The view of the garden from the window was my mother's favorite, and I couldn't close the shutter until I went to bed.Perhaps the custom remained, the shutters were not closed only for the windows.

And Takumi's eyes, which can be seen well even at night, caught the things lying in the garden at the same time.

At that time, the outside air flowed toward Takumi, probably because the wind direction changed.

The smell of something rotten suffocated for a moment.But we have to confirm what it is.Takumi fluttered closer to it, half absent-minded.

And Takumi found the corpse of his mother.

Almost half of his body was devoured by something, and the moment he saw countless maggots wriggling in his big vacant belly, Takumi rushed into the bathroom, feeling something rising.

Then Takumi killed his voice and cried.

Isn't it too cruel for the end of my kind mother?

But I can't do that forever.Takumi cleaned up with his thoughts half paralyzed.

I can't say that I can't leave my mother's corpse as it is.However, it is not possible to contact the funeral company.Therefore, Takumi could only wrap the corpse with the futon that his mother used and dig a hole with a shovel to bury the corpse.I really wanted to cremate it, but I have to give up because it could burn my house.It was Takumi's last filial piety for her mother to bury her in the garden that she liked at least.

Then vacuum the glass shards scattered in the living room.A zombie with a familiar face appeared several times when he heard the sound, but each time he ordered and drove him away.Then close the shutters and wipe as much blood as possible with a rag.I wanted to keep the house back as much as possible.

After cleaning up innocently and calming down to some extent, Takumi decided to look for his father's traces.However, there is no record on the answering machine, and there is no evidence that his father has returned.Therefore, I decided to leave a message to my father in a prominent place in the living room.The content is that my mother died and was buried in the garden, and that we are alive.I don't write about Ruri in detail, I just write that the three of us are acting together.I'll be back several times, so I left a message at the end asking me to stay here when I see this memo, and if I go out, write down my destination.

After all was done, I put my hands together with the flowers that were displayed in the room at the place where my mother was buried.

And Takumi leaves the house.

Riding a bicycle with regret that I couldn't help my mother.At the same time, I was relieved that I died as a human instead of becoming a zombie.

If zombies are viral and a silver bullet is developed in the future, there may be a future in which humans who have become zombies can be returned.Considering the extremely low possibility, even if it becomes a zombie, it may return to its original state, so I think it is better.

However, looking at the zombies, I think that dying as a human is the only way to maintain human dignity.

The intellect is not felt by the zombies who wriggle in the dark.I'm sure many people think that it's unbearable to wander around the ground in such a figure.

However, it also leads to an insult to Ruri who became a zombie.Even if you become a zombie, you cannot see Ruri as just a zombie.In particular, he was called to be an older brother, albeit in a nutshell.As long as it looks almost the same as it was in life, Takumi is a sister before being a zombie and should be protected.

What should I do to protect my sisters?You have to think about how to do it seriously.To do that, you'll have to do a lot of research on zombies.

With such a determination, Takumi returned to school.

When Takumi returned to the tea room, he had to make a painful report to Amber.

The shocked Amber clung to Takumi and cried for a while, but he seemed to be prepared to some extent, and after crying for a while, he no longer showed tears.Takumi had no choice but to feel helpless as an older brother because of the healthy appearance of Amber.

Then Takumi decided to return Yu to his home.If the family is alive, it must be happier to live with the family.

Since it was within walking distance, I decided to leave amber and lapis lazuli in the tea room and head on foot.At this time, the zombies did not show their intention to attack Yu, who was near Takumi.However, perhaps because of that, Yu arrived in front of his house and jumped in without hearing Takumi's restraint.As a result, he was attacked by his mother, who had become a zombie.Takumi broke into a dangerous place and escaped with a crying Yu in his arms.However, Yu's shock was so great that he was absent-minded for a while after returning to the tea room, but when Amber gently hugged Yu, Yu began to cry again.In response, Amber also cried.

Eventually, the two were tired of crying and fell asleep.

When Takumi laid them down on the tatami mats, he decided not to sleep.I'm pretty sleepy because I've been up all the time, but ensuring the safety of the two is a top priority.

For that purpose, we need a place that will be a more solid base.However, Takumi now has no idea of ​​that.

"For the time being, let's make a part of the school a safe zone ..."

Sit on the porch of the tea room and think about various things.

Takumi was thinking of keeping zombies out of a particular floor and making them a safe place for them if they could prevent new zombies from invading.It may be a good safe zone until you find a base.

However, in order to do that, we cannot guarantee the safety of the two unless we reveal Takumi's ability.Takumi is worried about that.Amber aside, I still can't really trust Yu, who is a red stranger.I believe that this ability should never be known to others.

It's easy to talk about Yu if you can abandon him here, but if you hear that he was a friend of two younger sisters, especially Ruri's best friend, you can't easily abandon him.

"What should I do, lapis lazuli"

Takumi had Ruri sitting next to him.

Then, knowing that no answer will be returned, call out.Of course, there was no reply, and Ruri just stared at Takumi with no expression.

At that time, Yu came out of the tea room.

"Can't you sleep?"

Takumi gently called out, but Yu sat down next to Takumi on the opposite side of Ruri with a stiff look.His eyes were shaking like hesitation, and he seemed to be scared of something.