Chapter 48

"Damn it... When the hell is it going to come..."

In a room at the police station, Mr. Oda said irritably.

It had already been a week since the deadline.

The rescue helicopter still hadn't arrived.

It had been sunny for days, so there was no trouble due to the weather.

Disappointment was beginning to show among the evacuees.

If things continued like this, it wouldn't be surprising if stress-induced troubles started to arise among the evacuees.

Fortunately, as initially expected, there was still plenty of food and water, but there was only enough for about another week, and soon they would have to go out to procure more supplies.

However, waiting for rescue also meant hesitating to go outside.

If they left and the rescue came in the meantime, it could become a complicated situation.

Moreover, the supermarket where they had been able to procure supplies relatively safely was no longer usable, and they would have to search for another location, which would be very risky.

For Mr. Oda, it was frustrating that a way to save his subordinates without them taking such risks had been offered, yet it hadn't arrived.

At this point, I was hesitating.

The power I brought from the other world.

If I used it without worrying about people's eyes, most of Mr. Oda's worries would vanish.

However, seeing the Self-Defense Forces still functioning, I hesitated to use it.

Most of all, it seemed odd to do such a thing at this late stage.

If I had said something earlier, it would have been a different story.

Standing next to Mr. Oda, I opened my mouth.

"Well, it's a bit late to say this..."

"Hmm?"

"The car that Kaede and I came in is packed to the brim with water and food, just in case. If the supplies run out, we can use that."

I couldn't tell him about my power.

But I wanted to do something, so I told Mr. Oda about the items I had brought from the home center just in case.

"Mr. Yanagi... Is that okay?"

Mr. Oda was asking if these were items for Kaede and me, and if it was okay to provide them.

"This is for a situation like this. I brought them here for this place, after all."

I hadn't told him because deviating from the usual supply routine would increase the risk.

"I see... You prepared so much."

"I didn't want to cause trouble by making you worry and complicating the recovery process, so I didn't mention it earlier. Sorry."

"No, that's not the case. Thank you, I'll use them. If we pack the garage, we can probably recover the car as well, so it should be fine."

When the time comes, I'll take the lead.

That way, I won't expose Mr. Oda and the others to unnecessary danger.

Mr. Oda will try to stop me, but I won't back down.

"For now, we just have to wait. Wait, and when the supplies start to run low, we'll recover them then."

I said this to Mr. Oda and patted his shoulder.

Still, what are the Self-Defense Forces doing?

I didn't expect them to come immediately, but it's a bad feeling that they haven't arrived even after the deadline.

Maybe I should go and check.

+++++

Late at night, I decided to check the base and took out a black rider suit from the item box to change into it.

I hadn't used it when we evacuated here, but I had procured it from a motorcycle shop.

This way, I could blend into the darkness more easily.

Thinking of such times, I always kept the door to my room locked when I was alone at night, and I made sure to check it again.

Fortunately, it had started raining outside.

Getting wet was annoying, but the deeper darkness created by the rain clouds was convenient for moving around.

This time, I would act after everyone except the lookout had gone to sleep, and time was limited.

The base, which I had checked on the map, was much farther away than the home center, but if I didn't worry about being seen, I could return before sunrise even if it took some time to get there.

I put on gloves and a full-face helmet, opened the window, and climbed out, hanging from the edge and closing it quietly.

The wind wasn't strong, so the window wouldn't rattle if it wasn't locked.

I jumped from the third floor to the ground and grabbed and threw a zombie that lunged at me.

I moved quietly along the wall, trying to stay out of the blind spots visible from the police station roof.

Since there was no lookout at the city hall now, even someone like me, who wasn't a specialist, could do this easily.

If I had been a high-level thief or ranger from the other world, I might have been able to walk through the middle of the street in broad daylight without being noticed.

After running on the road for a while, I found it increasingly troublesome to deal with the zombies, so I started moving by jumping from building to building.

If I could use flight magic, it would have been much easier, but there was nothing I could do about that.

There was no reaction from my perception of sight or presence during the move, and eventually, I arrived near the base.

From there, I moved on the ground and entered a nearby tall building to observe the situation.

"...As I thought."

What my magic-enhanced eyes saw was the sight of countless zombies swarming the grounds.