The call was over.
More precisely, the line cut off abruptly.
She dialed again several times. No connection.
However, Saya Takagi understood that nothing abnormal had happened on her father's end. This looked like a pure communications failure.
She had conveyed what she needed to convey. Her father would surely hear the subtext in her words, and he would understand that the "guest" coming to their home was not simple.
So Saya returned the phone to Saeko Busujima.
Under normal circumstances, the school did not allow students to carry phones. Saya was a good student, so of course she had not brought one.
As for Saeko, today was probably the first time she had brought hers. From the way she had acted, Saeko had known something like this would happen today.
Today, the world had welcomed the end.
Yes. It was confirmed to be the end of the world, as her father had told her.
It still felt unreal to Saya.
If that was the case, then the truth behind the man guarding the door saying "this world might still be saved" was probably that whatever "medicine" was on that hard drive could be used as a vaccine, something that could counter the virus that had brought about the apocalypse.
Even so, she could not help feeling puzzled. Why had he needed her to help?
If he simply wanted the Takagi family's power to assist, there was no need to have her crack anything.
How had he decided a high school girl could open that thing?
Wait. Maybe he knew she was a genius. Maybe he knew that only she could solve puzzles like these.
That was not Saya being vain. She was the real thing, a genuine genius with formidable analytical ability.
Only she could learn quickly enough, be "taught" properly, pass one "exam" after another, and unlock what was inside.
"All right, we can go now."
Shizuka Marikawa's words snapped Saya back to reality.
This scatterbrained teacher showed no fear at all toward the current situation. She was as ditzy as ever.
That kind of innocence was… honestly, enviable.
So Saya stepped forward and helped carry one of the bags. Ms. Marikawa would have trouble moving with it on her own.
As for Saeko and that exceedingly rude man, they were combat personnel. Carrying supplies would only get in the way.
Correction. For that man, it probably would not get in the way at all.
Those frenzied things posed zero danger to him. On the way here, even when over a dozen had swarmed him at once, he had killed them with effortless ease.
Of course, Saya was not stupid enough to get obstinate at a time like this. This was a man who killed without blinking.
The best move was obedience, and better yet, being proactive. If she could help, then she should help.
So she kept up, and along the way, the sense of security was overwhelming.
Just how inhuman was this guy?
As they moved, Saya carefully observed the monsters that had already become living dead.
They were slow, but their strength was terrifying.
She had seen one pressed against iron fencing, its ankle twisted at an impossible angle as it strained forward.
That was not something a normal human body could do. If a person forced themselves that far, their muscles would tear apart.
Yet these living dead could do it. Their hands were unaffected, too, which meant their bodies had been enhanced, their physical toughness increased.
And if someone could snap their necks, or casually break their arms, then the force required would be even more frightening.
Of course, it might have been that his weapon was abnormally sharp. But the way he moved was so fast that even with her excellent dynamic vision she could only catch blurred afterimages.
That told her one thing.
He was an even more terrifying monster than the living dead.
And there was another problem.
Because he looked so relaxed, if some careless idiot failed to properly analyze the living dead's condition, they might assume they were easy to knock down and foolishly try to fight.
Then they would die under gunfire.
Their steady advance suddenly stopped, because the path ahead was scalp-crawling.
It was packed full of the living dead.
In the next second, Saya saw him raise his gun and aim forward.
Was he going to shoot? Did he even have enough bullets?
You had to destroy the head to stop them.
Bang—!
The sound was enormous. You would think a sniper rifle had fired.
"A-ah…!"
Saya gasped in shock.
The living dead crowding the corridor entrance were instantly swallowed by flame. More than half of them melted away.
It was like he had fired white phosphorus. In a single moment, a huge portion of their bodies burned away.
But even from what Saya knew, white phosphorus did not have anything like this kind of destructive burning power.
He pulled the trigger a few more times, and only then did the jammed corridor "open," melted into a passable route.
When they walked through, Saya realized the damage was even worse than she had imagined.
The floor, walls, and ceiling had all been affected. Portions of them had melted, too.
What kind of gun was that?
More accurately, what kind of ammunition could do something like this?
Even an armored vehicle would have been completely liquefied.
With a weapon like that clearing the way, they reached the staff office without trouble. The teachers' car keys were kept there.
"Take the school bus."
That was what the man said to the teacher rummaging for keys.
"Huh? My car works. The four of us can fit just fine."
"Ms. Marikawa, your car is too fragile. These living dead could tear it open easily. And it's small. If too many of them block the road, we'll be stuck. A larger vehicle can just smash through. It's also less likely to flip."
That was Saya's explanation.
She suspected the man had the same reasoning, which was why he wanted the school bus. It was more stable to drive.
"Oh, oh, I see. Then for the bus… which key is it? Ah, found it."
Ms. Marikawa really was like a child. Saya could not help sighing.
With that kind of personality, in a world without order, a person like Ms. Marikawa would have a hard time surviving.
"Then… do we leave now?"
Ms. Marikawa asked a question that sounded extremely foolish.
No, Saya could tell from the hesitation on her face that the teacher's real meaning was different.
The school obviously was not just the four of them. Along the way, they had seen plenty of living survivors.
But he had ignored them. And he had no obligation to clear the living dead around those people.
Ms. Marikawa had seen them, too. She wanted him to help, or at least wait.
But he had given a reason that left Ms. Marikawa with no choice but silence.
In his hand, he possessed pharmaceutical technology that could counter the current virus. It needed to be delivered, in time, to three places so that medicine could be developed.
So the choice was this.
Should Ms. Marikawa insist on delaying to save a few more people now, risking that far more people would never receive treatment later?
Or worse, risk something happening to the only copy of that technical data, dooming the entire world?
That was the balance she had to weigh.
That reason made Ms. Marikawa fall silent.
Even now, the kind teacher still wanted him to rescue others, or to wait for people who might be following behind.
Before he could answer, she suddenly smacked her own forehead, looking stunned.
"Ah, I'm so stupid. Of course we leave now. If we wait, it'll be trouble when those living dead catch up."
Saya felt her heart ease slightly.
She understood the pain a teacher, especially a conscientious teacher, would feel in this moment.
But understanding was understanding. This was not a time to negotiate, and they had no standing to bargain.
If Ms. Marikawa really had been that foolish, she might have been abandoned.
But Saya also knew Ms. Marikawa was not simply choosing survival at the cost of others.
She was not afraid of death.
She likely had someone she cared about, and she wanted to live for that person.
And the drug technology in his possession might be the hope that the person she cared about could survive.
That, too, was something she wanted to protect.
So, with no more hesitation, they took the keys and headed straight for the parking lot.
And then the worst thing still happened.
It was not only four people anymore.
Other students and teachers rushed over to join them.
With so many people, a mini-bus could not hold everyone. It would immediately become a matter of human nature.
And that mysterious man had no patience for delays.
In an instant, everything went quiet.
Saya's face went deathly pale.
He killed someone.
A living person, not a living dead monster.
A living head rolled on the ground. The eyes blinked once or twice. The expression shifted from confusion, to blank bewilderment, then froze.
And then there was nothing.
A headless body collapsed. Blood rapidly soaked the ground.
And the way he had done it looked like nothing more than impatience, casually killing someone at random.
Everyone trembled, terrified that they would be next.
(End of Chapter)
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