Chapter 23 - Let's Eat

"Let's get something to eat."

It's about time, Takumi thought. They were reaching their limit.

Everyone was visibly out of breath, shoulders rising and falling heavily.

When stamina runs out, so does concentration.

“We're pulling back.”

Just as he was about to retreat to the meeting room, pulling a carbon arrow from the corpse—

BRRRRIIIING!

A sharp bell sound sliced through the air, piercing his ears.

“Something's happened. Let's move!”

Slightly winded, they made it to the meeting room.

Opening the door, they were met with the sight of Rei swinging a knife at a red, writhing mass, while Hazuki and Miu stood around a collapsed Daiki.

“What happened? Is Daiki alright?”

Rei stopped her swinging and turned toward him.

“This thing dropped down from above.”

“From above?”

He looked up at the ceiling. A large hole had been torn open.

The red mass twitched violently.

“Oh, it’s still alive, so be careful,” Rei warned.

Something felt off.

If he remembered correctly, Rei used to be more timid and unsure of herself.

Maybe fighting these monsters had changed him. Made him grow.

Whether that growth was for the better, he couldn't say.

“For now, I'm going to cut its tendons so it can’t move, then tie it up. I don’t know how to kill it. Daiki’s fine. He wasn’t scratched, so he’s not infected.”

Takumi nodded, glancing around the room.

Someone was missing.

Sakura Yamashita.

“Where’s Sakura?”

“She said she wasn’t feeling well, so she’s resting in the studio. Aso-senpai is with her.”

“Kazuma’s with her!? Damn it!”

He bolted toward the studio.

That guy was little better than a wild animal.

It was obvious what someone like him might do to a sick, defenseless girl.

He kicked the studio door open.

“Kazuma-senpai…”

She made sure not to break character of the image of the weak, sickly girl had to be maintained.

Just a moment.

All she needed was one bite.

Sink her teeth in somewhere—anywhere—and this boy would be under her control.

She could take her time feeding after that.

“You okay? You're looking pretty pale~.”

With every step Kazuma took toward her, it became harder and harder to hold back her laughter.

Just a few more steps…

“It’s just… a bit much…”

She deliberately feigned weakness, her voice laced with sweetness and subtle allure.

Like a moody black cat gently rubbing up for attention.

And, of course, Kazuma noticed nothing.

He took one more step forward.

Now━━━

The moment she sprang forward to pounce—

the studio door exploded open.

“Kazumaaaaa!!”

There he stood.

A demon.

“T-Ta-Ta-Ta-Tacchan!? What’s going on!?”

Kazuma stammered, flustered, while Takumi's cold, piercing gaze bored into him.

“You… what were you about to do to Sakura?”

“N-Nothing! I wasn’t gonna do anything, I swear! Right, Sakura-chan?”

She turned away from him.

Takumi had probably seen her just as she was about to leap. At least part of it.

In that case, if she played the part of a girl who was about to be attacked, it might look like she was just trying to escape instead.

“Kazuma… you bastard…”

The killing intent in the room spiked.

“W-Wait, I didn’t do anything—!”

A moment later, Takumi’s right hook crashed into Kazuma’s face.

After a while, Tooru and the others brought in the zombie.

It had been expertly tied up like a human roll of straw mat—unable to move, barely able to writhe, and could only let out muffled groans through the gag in its mouth.

Shinji gave a firm nod, as if to affirm his own hypothesis.

The zombie’s face was horribly chewed up, making it impossible to identify, but it was probably someone none of them knew.

Most likely, just someone they had passed in the hallway once or twice.

“For now, let’s just leave it in the break room,” Tooru said. “Uhh, Rei—could you keep an eye on it?”

Rei nodded sharply.

“Huh? Where’s Aso-senpai?”

Takumi silently pointed behind him.

“…………”

The thing hanging off the wall like a ragged old towel must’ve been a trick of the eye.

Surely it was just their imagination.

Daiki had been laid down in the corner of the room.

“Well then, let’s eat lunch for now.”

Canned food was handed out to everyone, but despite everything, the rate at which they were going through it felt alarmingly fast.

Maybe it was time to start rationing more carefully.

At the very least, once the cleanup inside the school was complete, a meeting about their resources would be necessary.

They weren’t exactly in a position of abundance.

And with canned food, thirst was inevitable.

Securing drinking water would have to be one of their top priorities.

“Um, there’s something I’d like to bring up,” Rei said.

It was rare for Rei to initiate conversation like this.

And if she did, there was likely only one reason behind it.

“That frog, right?”

“Yeah. I was thinking… maybe this zombie outbreak originally came from rabies.”

“Rabies, huh…”

“When it saw water, it started convulsing and just stopped moving. There were no hydrophobia symptoms, but maybe its nerves aren’t fully connected or functioning.”

“Then what does that mean for the zombies?”

Seiji asked with a sulky tone.

He probably wasn’t trying to be difficult, but with that sharp tone and glare, he definitely came off that way.

“Well, maybe it’s because their eyes are clouded over,” Rei answered.

“Their eyes? What’s that got to do with water?”

“Hydrophobia—what they call the fear of water—doesn’t actually mean they’re afraid of water itself. It’s supposedly because water reflects and refracts light. So, if the zombies can’t see, then the fear response might not be triggered at all.”

“That’s something we could confirm with an experiment.”

Shinji adjusted his glasses as he spoke.

A perfectly reasonable opinion.

Still, interrupting someone while they’re trying to explain something—was that really necessary?

Rei felt a bit annoyed.