"What is it?"
Haruno Yukinoshita rose from the bed and whispered softly to her sister, only for Yukino to immediately gesture for silence and then beckon them over urgently.
Utaha Kasumigaoka furrowed her brows, confused, and tiptoed barefoot across the floor. Peeking out the window, she too froze in surprise, then murmured, "There are survivors out there…"
"Shhh…"
Sosuke Kitahara signaled for silence, his sharp gaze fixed beyond the villa's iron gate. Bathed in moonlight, two shadows crept along cautiously. From their silhouettes, it was clear they were a man and a woman. They stopped just outside the gate, crouched low, and peered intently into the courtyard, scanning for danger.
Both moved carefully, their backs burdened with backpacks. After several minutes of stillness and observation, they slipped inside like shadows, moving toward the parking area.
Sosuke's eyes narrowed. "They're here for the vehicles."
Haruno frowned. "Why come here for a car? Don't tell me they actually have the key to that Coaster?"
Sosuke patted his pocket the Nissan keys were still with him. There was no rush. Instead, he turned toward the others. "Let's check the surveillance room first."
The group quietly made their way to the villa's monitoring room on the first floor. Thanks to the wooden boards they had nailed over the windows earlier, the dim glow of the monitors was invisible from outside.
Onscreen, the man and woman were now crouched near the front of the Toyota Coaster. They huddled beside the vehicle, facing the villa. Though they tried to steady their breathing, the tension in their bodies was obvious.
Several more minutes passed before the man cautiously peered out. Once certain the main gate was undisturbed, he retrieved something from his bag.
Thud!
A muffled sound rang out as the man pressed a tool against the tinted window. The glass sank in without resistance. Wearing gloves, he carefully swept away the shards and climbed inside. Moments later, the door popped open with a soft click. He slipped inside with practiced ease, barely making a sound.
"Can we hear what they're saying?" Sosuke asked.
Haruno nodded, pressed a few buttons on the console, and handed out sets of headphones. She and the others put them on, and Sosuke quickly followed suit.
A faint static buzz filled his ears before soft voices came through.
This surveillance setup was impressive if only they didn't have to worry about sudden blackouts or the villa's overall fragile defenses, Sosuke might've considered staying here permanently just for this system alone.
He gave Haruno a thumbs-up, and she returned a sweet smile.
Inside the vehicle, the young man fiddled around in the front seat for a while before grinning. He leaned closer and whispered, "Got it. The alarm's disabled. Honestly, we should just drive this thing back."
"Are you crazy? Driving at night without headlights? You trying to get us killed?" the woman scolded, tossing a bag at his feet.
Her voice was firm, mature. While the surveillance didn't show her face clearly, her tone and figure suggested she was in her mid-twenties definitely not a student. The man seemed about her age too. Whether they were a couple or siblings, it wasn't clear.
"I was joking, alright? I'm not that dumb," the guy muttered with a dry laugh. Then he sighed heavily, his face clouding. "The soldiers at the airport won't let us in. They keep telling us to wait for rescue. But it's been ages, and there's no sign of help. We just lost two more people yesterday. I didn't know them well, but watching them turn into zombies... it messes with your head. Honestly, I'm thinking about making a run for it. There's a Nissan in the lot too. If we stay, we'll die anyway."
"And where exactly would we go?" the woman sighed. "Zombies are everywhere. Just the two of us what good would that do? You never know what might happen. I'd rather take a chance where at least the people around us are still human."
She looked utterly lost and exhausted.
The man stepped out of the driver's seat and patted her shoulder gently. "You're right. At least over there, we can open our eyes and still see people. Let's leave it up to fate. If God's let us survive this far, maybe we're meant to keep going. I believe we'll live to see help arrive."
"Let's hope so…"
She nodded faintly and turned to crouch low, ready to leave. But the man grabbed her arm, eyes gleaming. "Wait. We're already here. Let's check inside. I heard the villa's owner was loaded there might be food and weapons. If we get our hands on a gun, that'd be huge."
"No way. There's definitely zombies in there."
The woman shook her head anxiously, glancing at the pitch-black house. But the man waved her off. "Relax. That guy said the family fled already. You think I'd come here without solid intel?"
She sighed. "Sometimes people are worse than zombies. Remember Shota-kun? He just wanted shelter, and they stabbed him the moment he walked in. He died right there on their doorstep…"
The man's face darkened. "Yeah… That was rough."
He turned toward the villa. "I'll try climbing through a window."
"Graaaaah!"
The moment his hand touched the railing, a tall, emaciated zombie hurled itself against the window. Its cloudy eyes rolled up into its skull, and its teeth snapped wildly. The man yelped, stumbling backward and landing hard on the ground. The woman lunged forward and clamped a hand over his mouth before he could scream.
"Shit… almost got me killed," he cursed under his breath, eyes wide with lingering fear. The zombie wasn't alone more shapes moved behind the curtains, rattling the windows.
Every window they checked was protected by iron bars. Any hope of breaking in quickly vanished.
"You really pulled that off," Utaha chuckled, smacking Sosuke's arm as she watched the two survivors panic and scramble away into the night.
Sosuke shrugged. "I thought they were professionals. Turns out they're just amateurs. If they were zombies, they'd be slamming on the windows nonstop. These two clearly didn't do their homework."
"Still… did you have to scare them off?" Yukino asked softly, her eyes fixed in the direction the two had disappeared. From their conversation, she'd learned one important thing her parents had already fled this place.
Sosuke's tone turned serious. "You heard them. There are other survivors out there. Probably a whole group. Otherwise, they'd have taken the smaller Nissan, not the big Coaster. And we don't know if they're friendly, how many there are, or what weapons they have. Best to wait till morning. They'll be back."
He glanced out the window into the quiet night. "Everyone get some rest. We'll deal with them tomorrow."
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