Chapter 45

The sound of zombies pounding on the shutter outside was grating on the ears. Those on the truck bed, with the noise behind them, were breathing heavily and carefully shining their flashlights around to check if there were any moving zombies.

Even if you were in the center of the truck bed, the zombies' fangs wouldn't reach you, but their hands might. When it came to taking them down, you had to move to the sides, which increased the risk of being grabbed. It was a relief that nothing happened.

There was no more response from the zombies inside the building, as detected by the presence sensor. However, it was impossible to know how many were in the store through the back yard from here.

"It seems to be okay... Let's get down."

Following Mr. Oda's instructions, we got out of the car. As a precaution, we thoroughly checked the back area and confirmed that the loading area was completely clear.

The shutter being open meant that someone other than us had definitely been here. Given the height at which it was open, it was reasonable to assume they had entered and exited by car. There were no unfamiliar vehicles here now, though.

To avoid hindering the work, we first moved the zombie corpses to the side, just as we did last time. We didn't know the current state inside the store. If we had to retreat suddenly, tripping over the bodies would be disastrous. By doing this, we could also avoid the ridiculous situation of a body that we thought was dead suddenly coming to life. Mr. Oda was indeed thorough in this regard.

During this work, I discovered a bullet wound on the forehead of one of the bodies, which had likely been there from the beginning.

"Mr. Oda..."

Tension ran through us.

We didn't need to use guns to take down the zombies this time. When we were here last, we used an axe to kill the zombies that had entered when we closed the shutter. We also moved the bodies at that time, so this bullet-wounded body was almost certainly killed by someone else with a gun.

There was a possibility that the person with the gun was still inside the building. Mr. Oda immediately informed the two people who were keeping watch on the corridor.

The work went smoothly, and the next step was to explore the inside of the store.

We formed a line and entered the back yard. In case of a fight with humans, I was moved to a slightly rear position in the formation.

I couldn't refuse this suggestion, but at this distance, my presence sensor's range still extended well beyond the front, so I could still provide support against zombies. If someone with a gun was still inside and suddenly shot, that would be a different story, but given the situation, it was more likely that they had already left. Mr. Oda must have made the same judgment and decided to continue the supply gathering.

Even if those people were still inside, it wasn't certain that a gunfight would break out.

There was no presence detected in the rooms on both sides of the back yard. Of course, Mr. Oda and the others carefully checked each room.

Everyone was on high alert, but there were no human or zombie responses in the immediate vicinity. Since the zombies hadn't gathered in this corridor due to the sound of the shutter, I had expected this. However, the store was large, and if they had entered through the front entrance, the zombies might not have reacted to the sound. The rooms were quite dark, so we had to be extra cautious.

+++++

We circled the inside of the store once before starting the transportation work.

In the end, we didn't find any zombies inside the store, nor any signs of the survivors we thought might have had guns.

Mr. Oda mentioned that a significant amount of merchandise was missing. Even I, who had only been here once before, noticed the substantial reduction. The store was almost empty.

We loaded the remaining stock from the warehouse onto the truck.

Due to the incident with the open shutter, this work took longer than last time.

"I thought this place would be useful for a while, but it seems we should look for a new supply location."

"...Yeah."

There were still some usable supplies left, but given the amount of goods that had been moved, it was clear that a group of people, likely armed with guns, had been here. In the current situation, it was possible that they were dangerous.

From Mr. Oda's perspective, if he were to die, it would mean the loss of the refugees' lives as well. The risk of getting into a fight with other humans was not a good strategy.

"It's a good thing we came out for supplies early. This will last us for a while. We'll consider the next candidate location during this time."

Mr. Oda said this with a sad smile.