Chapter 17

"I'll be back by dawn. Stay in the room and be good."

I said this to Kaede, who stood beside me, with my backpack on my back.

After returning to the staff room, I had Kaede show me the location of the nearby high school, which was the closest evacuation center, using the map posted on the wall. I also confirmed the location of another school on the way to the city hall.

I thought it would be best to search for other survivors first.

"According to the last thing I saw on the internet, the infected become more aggressive at night. Can't you wait until dawn...?"

Kaede asked me, looking worried.

The zombies in the other world had similar characteristics. Kaede's words made me think that the zombies in this world were probably the same. However, what concerned me was the video she mentioned.

If they were turned into zombies by syringes, does that mean they were cursed by them? Why does this world have such technology? Or is this something different from magic or curses?

These were questions I couldn't answer, so I quickly switched my focus to what I needed to do now.

"It's urgent. I need to take care of it."

Besides, even if the zombies were somewhat stronger at night, it didn't make much difference to me. On the contrary, it was more convenient to move around in the darkness without worrying about being seen.

"Are you really going...?"

Kaede, who somewhat resembled the girl who had said those words recently, asked me with a worried look. Not knowing this, Kaede gave me a questioning glance.

For Kaede, the current situation must have felt similar to her father's departure, and she must have had her own thoughts.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I told you, I defeated the zombies to get here."

"But!"

Kaede tugged at the sleeve of my shirt.

I could somewhat understand how Kaede felt, having lost her mother and separated from her father, living alone here. However, I was truly fine, and the difference in our feelings made me feel a bit guilty.

"Hey, is there anything you want? I can get it for you if you do."

"Please don't go. If you must, please come back safely."

When I asked her, trying to hide my concern, Kaede immediately replied, still worrying about me. I couldn't help but smile wryly and said,

"Alright. I promise I'll come back without a scratch."

+++++

Just to be safe, I cleared out the zombies on the second floor and added more barricades in front of the escalator. I also guided the new zombies that had entered the first floor outside and defeated them before leaving the home center.

It was already dark outside, and in this darkness, it was unlikely that other survivors would see my unrealistic movements.

The stars in the sky were much clearer than in my memory. Before transferring to this world, they didn't look like this.

It wasn't because of the "Night Vision" skill, but rather because there was no artificial light. The moon's light softly illuminated the ground.

I first moved to the nearest evacuation center, the high school Kaede was supposed to attend.

The main gate was closed, and the school building looked abandoned with broken windows, showing no signs of survivors. Most importantly, seeing many zombies walking around the schoolyard made it seem like a very optimistic scenario.

I jumped over the iron bars and entered the school. Sneaking into a school at night, which would normally result in immediate arrest, made me feel a bit uneasy as I began my search.

First, I headed towards the gymnasium, which is often used as an evacuation center in disasters.

There were quite a few zombies wandering around the school grounds, and it didn't seem like there were any survivors. Nevertheless, I proceeded, defeating the zombies that attacked me.

The gymnasium's door was wide open, and there were many zombies inside. The floor was littered with belongings, indicating that many people had sought refuge here. Given that the main gate was closed, it was reasonable to assume that a zombie outbreak had occurred inside.

"...This is endless."

I muttered to myself as I blew the heads off the approaching zombies. Even though they were weak, dealing with so many of them was troublesome.

I closed the gymnasium's door and, with the sound of zombies pounding on it, headed towards the school building.

The first floor was swarming with zombies. If there were any survivors, they would likely be upstairs. Zombies are strong but can't use their bodies well, making them poor at handling height differences. While some can navigate stairs, they have to crawl when faced with higher obstacles.

To reduce the number of opponents, I climbed the stairs and moved to the upper floors. Given the height of the school, if there were survivors on the first floor, I could detect their presence with my senses by checking the second floor.

I cleared out the remaining zombies and walked through the blood-stained hallways.