Chapter 60

"Who the hell are you…?"

The room was filled with the stifling smell of blood, and beside the long-haired man who had spoken those words lay a heated shotgun.

It seemed that this man was the leader of the group.

I had just beheaded the three remaining subordinates in this room, and now the only survivors in the building were me and him. He had tried to fight me with the shotgun on the floor, but it was as useless as a child's toy.

"…Just a passerby. It seems you picked the wrong person to challenge."

As I took a step forward, he collapsed onto the floor, his legs giving out. He moved his hands and feet skillfully, inching backward.

Since entering the building, I hadn't used my "Intimidation" skill, which usually instills fear. Of course, I didn't need to, but there was a slightly softer reason: I didn't want to reduce the enemy's hostility before fighting, as I wanted to give this act of domination a bit of legitimacy.

I felt that showing fear before attacking and then mercilessly killing someone whose hostility had vanished was too "unrealistic" for this world.

So, I let them attack first almost all the time. Whether this truly gave me legitimacy is highly questionable, but they were a bunch of scum, and there was no need to worry about them any further. Most importantly, I shouldn't care about such things anymore.

"I have a few questions."

"Y-Yes…"

This man, who had led a gang of delinquents, must have been through his fair share of battles. Yet, he was now shrinking in front of me, almost crying.

Was I that scary?

He answered my questions immediately. His comrades, except for the two lookouts, were still inside. The supermarket they had been using to gather supplies was indeed their doing. I also asked if there were any other armed groups nearby, but he said he didn't know of any.

"Is that so? Then there's no need to worry anymore."

"Y-Yes! S-So, please, help…"

The man's mouth didn't get to finish what he was saying. With a terrified look in his eyes, his head flew through the air.

With a thud, it hit the ground, and an undead head appeared.

"…So even just the head can turn into one."

I crushed it with a squish.

With this, the armed group that had been hostile to the Oda group was annihilated.

We could now gather supplies more safely. However, I couldn't tell them the truth, so we would still need to maintain some vigilance and couldn't allocate as many people as before. On the other hand, if I joined them, the smaller group would be easier to protect.

Relieved that one worry was gone, I looked at my watch.

There was still time. I decided to do a bit of work before leaving.

I couldn't do everything, but I finished what I could and left the delinquents' hideout, leaving a small knot in my heart.

+++++

After disposing of the last lookout and cleaning my blood-soaked body with water from my item box, I returned to the police station.

I sat alone in my room, thinking. There were many things to consider.

First, the zombies. It turned out that everything the bald man had said was true. All the others in the hideout had turned into zombies if their heads weren't crushed. Everyone knew that being bitten turned you into a zombie, but no one had mentioned this.

Did the Oda group know? What about the Self-Defense Forces?

Oda had been troubled by killing those who had turned into zombies, but I hadn't heard of them killing uninfected people. Similarly, the Self-Defense Forces probably didn't kill uninfected, living people. So, Oda and the Self-Defense Forces likely didn't know this.

On the other hand, the reason they knew was that they had killed many people since the pandemic began.

Considering this, the carnage at the base wasn't entirely incomprehensible.

There were a few zombies in the barracks, and many in the gymnasium.

Perhaps the barracks housed injured evacuees in separate rooms, while unharmed evacuees were gathered in the gymnasium.

Then, someone died in the gymnasium. It could have been a pre-existing condition or a sudden subarachnoid hemorrhage, and it happened at night. In the dark, the person turned into a zombie and attacked the evacuee next to them, who also turned into a zombie.

The evacuees must have panicked. In the darkness and crowded conditions, the number of zombies increased rapidly.

The Self-Defense Forces in the gymnasium couldn't shoot, as they couldn't tell who was alive and who was a zombie, and a missed shot could hit a survivor.

Many survivors and zombies fled the gymnasium. The base must have fallen into chaos, with no one knowing who was friend or foe. The spent shell casings indicated that guns were used, which might have created more zombies.

Given this, it was natural for the Self-Defense Forces to abandon the base and move to the safety of the sea.

While this is all speculation, it might not be far from the truth.

I should tell Oda about this tomorrow. In this shelter, people like Yuki and Kaede share rooms.

I could say I remembered something I saw online and suggest that everyone have their own room. It's a bit of a hassle to have everyone in separate rooms, but at least those with conditions that could cause sudden death should have their own room. We can discuss this with everyone.

Just when one problem seemed to be solved, I had to think about another troublesome issue. I sighed.