Chapter 26

Early in the morning, I woke up in a room of an apartment building near the city hall.

Last night, after finishing my work, I went to a car dealership, picked out a sturdy SUV, filled it with gas, and drove it to near a home center for a test drive. The road was quite comfortable, thanks to the fact that I had just cleared out a fair number of zombies.

Of course, I ran over a few of them without hesitation, and when it comes to transporting Kaede, there will probably be more zombies flowing in from somewhere, so the journey might not be as easy.

After that, I moved to a motorcycle shop, filled a medium-sized motorcycle with gas, checked its operation, and stored it in the item box. I had created some space in the item box by leaving some luggage in the car. This motorcycle is for the first contact with the city hall.

I had slept in my underwear, so I got out of bed and changed into new clothes from the item box. The clothes I had been wearing were covered in blood from the large number of zombies I had faced last night.

I had thought about borrowing some clothes from this unlocked room I had entered without permission, but that didn't work out. There was a female zombie in the room, and the furniture suggested that a woman had lived there.

Well, since I was here, I thought I might as well look through the wardrobe for something Kaede could wear, but all I found was a row of women's underwear.

...What a terrible scene.

I can't help but feel sympathy for the former resident of this room, who was invaded by an old man and had her underwear rifled through. And to top it off, I had climbed into her bed in my underwear.

Well, the zombie in this room was probably the former resident, so I sent my apologies to her. In this world, I hope she can be lenient.

I put on a rider's jacket, slung a backpack over my shoulder, and put on a full-face helmet before leaving the room. These items were obtained from the motorcycle shop.

Just to be safe, I had walked around the building when I arrived to check for survivors using my presence detection, but unfortunately, like in the building where I lived, there were zombies in the rooms but no survivors.

I went down the emergency stairs of the apartment building, which had the fire doors closed, and headed to the parking lot. A few remaining zombies attacked me, but I swung a crowbar at them without turning around.

I channeled magic through the ring on my thumb and stuck my arm into the opened dimensional hole. When I pulled my hand back, the motorcycle appeared with a thud on the hard asphalt of the parking lot.

"...But, Robelia is truly a genius."

How can such a large object be taken out of this small dimensional hole?

It's mainly due to the application of space-time magic and alchemy, I was told, but it was all Greek to me. Anyway, this item box is something that only a select few can obtain as a skill, and it's not something that can be used as an item.

Apparently, Robelia only made one of these.

Thinking about Robelia, who made this possible, I got on the motorcycle and started the engine. I chose a relatively quiet two-cylinder motorcycle, which wouldn't make much noise.

The main reason I wanted to use the motorcycle to make contact with survivors was to wear the full-face helmet.

Considering the possibility that the survivors at that location might be dangerous, I thought it would be better not to show my face until I made contact. For all I know, the other building might be a police station, and there's a chance I could be shot. However, I also have a hopeful feeling that the people inside are probably police officers and that such a thing won't happen.

Of course, in this day and age, it's not unusual to wear a full-face helmet as standard equipment, and being on a motorcycle would naturally reduce the sense of intimidation. Also, a motorcycle is more maneuverable, so if something happens, it would be easier to escape naturally.

I might be overthinking it, but it's just right.

I held a crowbar between my hand and the handlebars as I left the parking lot. Thanks to the thinning of the zombies in the area last night, there weren't many left on the road. I hoped that the sounds of the battles at a distance would have dispersed them a bit, though I couldn't be sure.

I avoided the zombies that appeared sporadically on the road as I headed toward the city hall. After turning at the intersection in front of me, it was a straight shot.

As I passed through the traffic light above, I sensed a reaction from my presence detection. It was probably coming from the city hall. Squinting, I could see a lookout with binoculars on the roof.

They were on lookout even at night, and naturally, they would continue during the day. It was the expected result. Now, it's a matter of how they will respond.

I revved the throttle and sped up, riding the motorcycle straight ahead. There weren't many zombies on the road leading to the city hall, so I wouldn't have to act unnaturally. After all, I was just a refugee seeking help at the shelter.

When I reached the front of the city hall, I saw a middle-aged, friendly-looking man, who seemed to be a few years older than me, coming down from a second-story window. He was pointing in the direction of the police station and shouting.

"Refugee! Climb the ladder at the police station over there!"

Naturally, the surrounding zombies were drawn to his voice and gathered under the awning, reaching up desperately.

Looking in the direction he pointed, I saw that a rope ladder had been lowered from a second-story window of the police station.

I see, they thought this through.

One of the characteristics of zombies is that they react to sound and light, but more strongly to human voices. The strongest reaction is to the sight of a human. Once they see a human, they will pursue them with great tenacity.

Conversely, if they don't see a human, they won't be as persistent even if they hear a voice. Kaede had apparently spoken to her mother several times, but she was safe because the door of the room where she was trapped wasn't broken down.

Zombies lack intelligence and can't think to take a detour. Even if the middle-aged man returned to the building through the window, the zombies would basically continue to pursue him in a straight line, so they wouldn't break down the fire doors or barricades. If there were a way to go up nearby, it might be a different story, but in this situation, they would just reach out toward the window.

Of course, it's a bit worrying that a large number of zombies might gather in front of the city hall.

In any case, the plan is to use this characteristic to draw the zombies' attention to the entrance of the city hall and take advantage of the opportunity to evacuate to the police station. Of course, zombies can't climb ladders, so it's a very logical plan.

I roughly stopped the motorcycle near the police station, swung the crowbar at the heads of the zombies that attacked me, and grabbed the ladder.

After climbing a little, I heard a voice from above.

"Just a little more, keep going!"

It was the first time I heard a voice from the police station side. They must have been waiting for me, the refugee, to get out of the zombies' reach before making a sound.

...They are thorough.

To understand the nature of zombies to this extent and calculate accordingly.

"Grab on!"

Just as I finished climbing the ladder, I was grabbed and pulled up by someone from the window. I landed on the floor, half carried.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Looking up, I saw a man about my age, wearing a police uniform and sporting a stubble.