Prologue
"Tell me, why did you call me?"
[Demon Lord, Oni King Sengo, Age: +1000]
For some reason, I was called by the daughter I had with Leticia Draculea.
"A game!"
[Alicia Draculea, Age: 15]
"Eh… what kind of game?"
I sighed at her words—well, she's 15, I guess she still wants to have fun.
"Survive a zombie apocalypse!"
Hmm… I won't lie, I'm tempted. After all, this is the first time I've heard of that, and I'm over a thousand years old.
"So, surviving a zombie apocalypse… tell me how the [Gift Game] will work."
A geass roll appeared before me, showing the details.
{Gift Game Name: "Surviving a Zombie Apocalypse"}
Participant(s):
*[Demon Lord] Oni King Sengo
*Alicia Draculea
Victory Condition:
*Survive one month in the zombie apocalypse chosen by the host.
How to Win:
*Win the Gift Game as a normal human being, without using spiritual energy (powers/magical abilities).
Loss Condition:
*Surrender or fail to meet the stated victory condition.
Oath: Respecting the above, under the pride, flag, and name of the Host Master, the Gift Game shall commence.
Seal: "Alicia Draculea"
"Wait, you're going to participate in your own [Gift Game]?" I was a bit surprised to see Alicia joining the game she herself created.
"Yes! It'll be an exciting adventure!" she replied with a big smile.
I sighed. "Alright, then I accept to play the Gift Game."
"Yeah! Now for the final touches."
Hmm?
A magic circle lit up beneath our feet, then blinded us with an intense flash of light.
{Alicia}
While the light blinded my father, I quickly finished the preparations. I needed to seal his powers and also neutralize the poison that would result from using my time-space magic— for some strange reason, whenever I use it, it always ends up harming my father. That doesn't happen with my older sisters: Kurumi and Shiro.
I turned my father's body into a black sphere and began rewriting his soul. After a few minutes, the preparations were done, and with that, the [Gift Game] began.
Using my powers, we traveled to another reality, where I then watched as my father's soul began to suffer punishment—several black-and-red lightning bolts erupted into his soul, attempting to fracture and destroy it.
"It's time to neutralize this inconvenience."
I quickly worked to eliminate the factor that appeared due to me using my powers to prevent my father's death.
With that removed and my father stabilized, I moved on to the next step.
"His body also needs to change."
Since he has an oni's body, it must be rewritten from monster to human.
"And one last thing…"
That part involves me. So, let's begin the [Gift Game].
{Sengo}
I woke up, unsure of how much time had passed, as I could feel my soul had been manipulated by Alicia.
I was now standing on what looked like a school rooftop. In the distance, something troublesome was happening.
"Smoke is spreading across the city, and there are bodies moving… so, the undead. Looks like the [Gift Game] has already started."
Rotting corpses were moving in the distance—and inside the school grounds too.
"Now that I think about it, where's Alicia?"
I got so caught up in what was happening that I forgot my daughter was participating in her own game.
"Zzzzz~."
I heard a soft noise behind me—it was Alicia…
"Why is she a little girl now…"
It was a child version of Alicia, around 10 to 12 years old. She slept peacefully, shaded from the sun by a large cloud.
"I suppose I should wake her up."
BAM!
I looked down to see what caused the noise. A small group of three students—two boys and one girl—had entered.
Fear was visible on their faces. Perhaps the zombies had already invaded the school.
For now, I won't approach. I'll just observe the group that entered the rooftop.
"What the hell is going on…?"
The black-haired boy said that—I could hear them even from this distance.
"That's why the police weren't responding," added the gray-haired boy, worried about the state of the city.
"What is this?! What's happening?!" the girl with reddish-brown hair screamed. "Hisashi, Takashi! You must have some idea! Until this morning… no, even just minutes ago everything was normal…"
Then, the sound of helicopters was heard. I watched them all.
"AHH!"
"They're Black Hawks. It's the American army—wait, no, it's the Self-Defense Forces!"
"Where did they come from?! There aren't any bases around here!"
"HELP US!!"
"It's useless."
I decided to stop listening. Though even saying that—I could still hear everything.
"Why?!"
"Think about what Takashi said. He's right to wonder why they're here. They must be following specific orders."
"They're not here to rescue us. Besides, look over there."
He pointed to the undead. He was right. It's better to sacrifice a few people to save many more. They can't stop to save a group of students when other areas have more important individuals who need rescue.
I covered my ears with my fingers—seems like that helps block their conversation. I'll take a short nap with my daughter still asleep.
(A few minutes later)
"Hisashi! Hisashi! Nooo! Don't die!!"
Hmm? Something interrupted my nap.
I looked again toward the group—but they weren't at the door anymore. Seems they moved elsewhere.
"--- THIS IS ALL REAL!"
Crack!
"AAAAAHHH!"
Sounds came from the other side of the rooftop—and the distinct sound of human bones breaking.
"Did they kill one of their own?"
Must've been infected by the undead, so they destroyed his head.
"Stop! No! Don't leave! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! I didn't know what I was saying! Please. Please, stay… stay with me!!"
Looks like he was about to leave the girl behind to survive on his own.
I sighed.
Seriously, what a pain listening to people I don't care about.
I covered my ears again. Let's see if I can nap this time.
(30 minutes later)
CRASH!
I woke up from the loud sound of a steel door falling.
"Hmph… looks like they left."
No sign of them up here anymore—and undead were now roaming the rooftop. Guess they went down.
"Alicia, wake up."
I began shaking Alicia gently until she started waking up.
"Something wrong, Dad?"
How adorable.
"Hmph." I let out a puff that startled her. I couldn't deny it—seeing her wake up like that was cute, but I couldn't let my guard down. "We need to go. Can you use your powers?"
"Powers? What powers, Dad?"
"Eh!"
She's messing with me, right…
"Do you remember how we got here?"
She shook her head.
"Speaking of that, Dad, why are we up here?"
… She seriously doesn't remember anything. There must be a clue left behind by Alicia.
I quickly searched my pants pockets—and found a small note.
(Note)
Sorry, Father, but I sealed my memories. The seal will break in one month, when the Gift Game ends. I want to experience the zombie apocalypse as a 12-year-old girl protected by her beloved father.
Love, your precious daughter, Alicia.
Goddammit, Alicia!
"Is something wrong, Dad?"
I looked at her carefree face. For now, I'll calm down. I didn't expect Alicia to seal her memories.
I sighed. "Haah, nothing important. Let's head down for now."
Alicia smiled. I carried her like a princess and jumped down, then set her gently on the ground.
"Don't wander from me. And scream if you're in danger."
"Got it, Dad!"
I wish I had her carefree attitude. I need to protect her at all costs.
Now I have to test my strength. Alicia sealed all my powers—but my superhuman strength might be something else.
Am I still that strong, or am I truly an ordinary human now?
The first undead that approached me was a schoolgirl.
I placed my right hand on her head and crushed it with full strength—success.
Too weak. My superhuman strength is vastly diminished, but I'm sure from an average human's point of view, it's still considerable.
At least it's enough to protect my daughter.
"Wow, Dad, you're super strong!" Alicia beamed with joy and clapped at my feat.
Your comment doesn't make me happy.
"Let's go. At least I know I can protect you."
"Thank you, Daddy!" She grabbed my left arm with her right hand.
"It's better if you let go. Fighting with one arm while protecting you isn't a good idea."
"Oops, my bad, Daddy." She apologized in an exaggerated way, but it's best to move on and forget small things.
As we walked toward the rooftop exit, a group of five zombies blocked our path.
Now knowing my strength, I destroyed their heads with my fists—then saw a horde of zombies coming up the stairs.
"I don't think going down the stairs is a good idea."
"You're right, Dad."
"Get on my back—we'll leave this building another way."
"Hai!"
Once Alicia was on my back and held tight, I ran toward the fence.
"Wait, Dad! What you're thinking is crazy!"
"Of course not! It's better than fighting 20 zombies on the stairs where we'll definitely get bitten!"
"AAAHHH!"
Alicia screamed in fear while I shouted with excitement.
{Elsewhere}
"Looks like everyone is okay," said a girl with purple hair wearing a school uniform.
"That should do it."
"Yeah."
In one corner, two boys were talking.
"Let's take a little break," the purple-haired girl said again.
A short, stocky boy approached a girl with pink twin tails.
"Takagi-san, are you alright?"
He saw her changing from contact lenses to glasses.
"Oh, glasses."
"So what?! My contacts fall out if I wear them too long!!" the pink-haired girl exclaimed.
"Marikawa-sensei, where are your car keys?"
Another boy, taller and slimmer, spoke to the beautiful blonde woman.
"Ah, they're in my bag…"
"Can your car carry all of us?"
"Urk… it's a Copen…"
"What about the excursion buses? We have all the keys we need here," the purple-haired girl suggested.
"They're still out there," the stocky boy pointed out the window to where the buses were parked along with other vehicles.
CRASH!
"What's going on?!"
The sudden sound of a window shattering alarmed everyone.
Then they saw two people enter through the broken window.
Sigh. "That was exciting—jumping off the roof and coming in through the window."
"That was scary, Dad!"
The two individuals—with matching white hair and red eyes—were the ones who broke in.
"Oh, looks like there are people here… Nice to meet you… I guess."
"Sorry for my dad's sudden action—sometimes he loses a screw in certain situations."
"I won't apologize."
"That's why I do it for you."
Everyone was staring at the strange sight of a young man, probably in his twenties, having a weird conversation with a 10-year-old girl who was apologizing for his actions.
[...Due to the ongoing unrest, the government is studying how to combat this emergency. However---]
"Looks like something interesting is on TV."
What the young adult said made everyone look more closely at what was happening on the screen—they could ask about his actions later.
[Politicians are reviewing the deployment of Self-Defense Forces as…]
"Riots?! What riots?!" the tall boy burst out emotionally at the news.
[...Local deaths have already surpassed one thousand. The Governor has declared a State of Emergency, and has requested… gunshots--- Those are gunshots!!! The police have opened fire!! I don't know exactly what's happening, but… AAHHH!! What…?! This isn't--- H-help! WAAAHHH!]
The woman's broadcast was abruptly replaced.
[…We are experiencing technical difficulties. W-We'll be broadcasting from the studio for the rest of the program.]
"What is this…?! Why won't they keep talking about it?!"
"They don't want to cause panic," the pink-haired girl responded to the tall boy.
"Even now?" the girl with orange-brown hair couldn't believe it.
"Especially now! Fear causes confusion. Confusion leads to the collapse of order. And without order… how will we fight the undead?"
"What the pink-haired girl said brought back old memories… of people running around trying to escape me—some tripping over others, but I killed them all anyway. There was no escape when I decided to kill," thought Sengo.
[...Since it is very dangerous outside, we ask that you remain in your homes if possible. Please close all windows and doors, and barricade them if you can. If you are not at home for some reason, please seek out a designated shelter…]
They changed the channel.
[In the United States, efforts are being made to contain this bizarre situation. The President and his Cabinet have left the White House and announced they will continue operations from an aircraft carrier at sea. Nuclear options are being considered. Communication with Moscow has been cut off. All of Beijing is in flames. Comparatively, London is struggling to maintain public order. Looting has broken out in Paris and Rome.]
"There was nothing out of the ordinary when I checked the news online this morning," the short boy said.
"I can't believe it…" added the orange-brown-haired girl. "In a matter of minutes, the whole world is in disaster. Hey, this can't be real, right? There has to be a safe place somewhere, right?!"
"Hahahaha!" The girl's laughter echoed. "Dad, this girl is hilarious. Even after seeing all this, she still can't accept that it's real!"
The girl seemed amused, like she didn't fully grasp what was really happening outside.
"Calm down. There's no need to mock her."
The girl pouted. "You're boring, Dad. But I'm just saying the truth—seems like all countries were infected simultaneously by a strange virus that turned humans into the undead. It's not like it's some divine punishment from God."
Sigh. "Not gonna lie, I thought the same. But we all react to crises in different ways. That the girl can't accept the reality of the situation is something that will happen to many."
"It would be so boring if everyone just accepted that the world is no longer what it used to be."
The girl grabbed a chair, pulled it near the window, sat down, and stared at the ruined cityscape.
"Like I said, I won't apologize. Even if my daughter did something wrong." The young adult searched his black pants pocket and pulled out a lighter and a box of cigarettes. "I wonder who told Alicia I liked to smoke…"
"Don't worry. But your daughter said something alarming," the blonde woman raised her index finger to her chin. "A strange virus suddenly appeared worldwide… I hate to suggest conspiracies, but she's right. We also can't rule out the idea that it might be divine punishment."
"I'm not particularly religious, but what's happening is unnatural," the purple-haired girl shared her thoughts. "If this isn't the work of God, then something—or someone—caused this disease to spread like a global epidemic."
"You're not saying that humans caused this, right?" The short boy was beginning to fear the worst.
"It's a possibility," the pink-haired girl said, arms folded beneath her chest. "Even if I don't like what the little girl said, some things can't be dismissed. Whether it's divine punishment or an organization behind all this, someone caused 'them.' This couldn't happen overnight. If it was planned… they did it meticulously so no one would notice."
"I like how you think~." The girl kicked her legs, which didn't reach the floor, and glanced sideways at the pink-haired girl. "So, do you think there's a solution?"
The pink-haired girl furrowed her brows. "There's nothing for now. But maybe in the future, there's a chance we'll discover the truth—and find a way to stop 'them.'"
"Hehe. I guess you're right. Hope is the last thing to die. So a solution will come… eventually." It seemed the girl didn't really believe the teenager's words. "I want to see it." She left the chair and approached her father.
"Wait… don't tell me you want to go with them." A sweat drop appeared on the father's forehead.
"Well, she's interesting. She said that in the future, they'll find a way to end the undead—or whoever caused all this."
"Yare yare." The father scratched the back of his head while still smoking. "I might be a burden going with you all…"
Everyone looked at one another.
"Haah~. I don't mind. Besides, I want to rub it in your daughter's face when we find out the truth."
"Then the most important thing now is to find a safe place to hide, after we check on our families. But we won't survive acting selfishly. We're a team—we have to work together. We should also join any other survivors we find," the purple-haired girl said, and everyone agreed.
"How are we going to get out?" asked the orange-brown-haired girl.
"....." Everyone hesitated.
"Let's go through the main entrance. It's the fastest way to reach the parking lot."
"Well, looks like we have a leader," said the father, glancing at the tall (but short to him) boy.
"Hahaha, you're right." They all chuckled a little, which eased the tension. Everyone had been stressed out thinking about the undead and the fear of turning into one.
"Let's go—we can't waste any more time here!" said the group leader, still blushing.
"I'll go first. Someone cover the other exits so we can move safely. Also, I'll leave my daughter in the doctor's care."
"Eh!" The blonde woman let out a surprised sound, but quickly composed herself. "Alright, I'll take care of your daughter."
"Daddy!" His daughter looked at him. "Have fun!"
"Of course I will." He gave her a thumbs-up. "Everyone ready?" he asked, as the others gathered supplies and got ready to leave.
"Yes!" they all responded.
[Hallway]
They left the place they had been in and saw that the hallways were empty. It seemed like a divine entity was protecting the protagonists' lives.
Until they heard someone screaming and followed the sound to a staircase, where they saw three students surrounded by the undead.
"For now, I recommend you conserve your energy. It's an adult's duty to protect the young." Saying that, the father jumped down, surprising everyone—especially when what he did next astonished them even more.
The students, horror-stricken, looked up at the sudden shadow that clouded their vision. A young adult, probably in his twenties, came flying through the air and with his arms and legs easily destroyed the heads of the zombies.
They were speechless, witnessing the man's feats—as was the group watching from the hallway above.
"My dad is really strong!" exclaimed a red-eyed albino girl, clearly related to the man who had just saved them. "He's someone you should keep around. With strength like my dad's, he'll definitely be useful."
"...You're right." The pink-haired girl adjusted her glasses, almost falling off. She couldn't believe what the girl's father had just done. "He's a wildcard I'd hate to lose if I want to survive."
"T-Thanks..." the rescued teens began to speak.
"Don't talk so loud. Was anyone bitten?" The purple-haired teen quickly recovered, descending the stairs to talk to the saved kids.
"W-What...?! No, none of us were bitten!!"
The girl answered quickly and quietly.
"They seem fine," said the orange-brown-haired girl after analyzing the three students.
"We're trying to escape the school. Want to come with us?" the leader asked the rescued group.
"Y-Yes!"
"About time." The albino man looked bored at the teenagers. "This hallway's clear, but it won't be for long. They'll probably come from the noise of me smashing those zombies."
"Seriously, Dad... I said you could have fun, but try to tone it down a little," his daughter scolded.
"Nah. I'll do whatever I want."
"I'm a bit surprised by their relationship," the girl with glasses commented, watching them interact.
"Same here," agreed the blonde woman.
"Let's move. We have to get to the school entrance quickly."
"You're right, Busujima-senpai," said one of the rescued boys.
They advanced carefully through the halls, keeping an eye out for the undead lurking in different places. Luckily, the path they took had no zombies.
They reached the school entrance without incident—only to see about ten zombies.
They walked over to the lockers near the left wall and hid there.
"We have to be careful," the leader said, analyzing how to escape.
"This is boring," said the father. "Move ahead while I do my thing."
"Wait, don't do anything crazy!"
He advanced, ignoring the girl's warning.
Midway between two locker walls, he suddenly began banging on them, drawing the attention of the zombies near the entrance. The noise was low but enough to lure the undead toward him, leaving the path clear for the others.
"Your dad's seriously nuts!" the pink-haired girl whispered to the daughter.
"That's just how he is," she smiled.
With a jump, the father climbed the lockers and watched them escape silently.
"RUN!!"
"Who the hell just yelled?" thought the father, watching the zombies now chase after the fleeing group.
"Why did you scream?! If you'd stayed quiet, we'd only have had to deal with the nearby ones!"
Zap!
Busujima struck a zombie in the mouth, knocking it down.
"Sounds echo! There's no point arguing—YAAAH!"
"Shut up and run!" ordered their leader.
"HAHA! This is hilarious! We're doing the opposite of what we should! We should be sneaking, but everyone's yelling! HAHAHA!"
"Stop being problematic, Alicia."
Her father joined them, running ahead to ease the situation.
"A shame—I'd love to keep smashing them, but I'd rather send them flying and save energy."
Two by two, the zombies were launched into the air.
"Your dad isn't even human anymore!" shouted the pink-haired girl, seeing zombies fly five meters high and land headfirst.
"Forget that and focus—we're escaping, remember?"
The daughter dashed ahead, leaving the pink-haired girl behind.
"Hey!"
As if it were a race, she also ran faster.
"WE'RE ALMOST THERE!!"
As they reached the bus, the rescued teens were a few steps behind and vulnerable.
"Tazuko!"
"DON'T GO!! If you get bitten, it's over..." the pink-haired girl shouted at the black-haired girl.
She cried but didn't obey.
"Wait... Why?! What is she doing?! She heard me! Why is she going back?! I don't get it!"
"......"
"I think I do. If the rest of the world's like this... maybe it's better if we were dead."
"That's a pathetic way of thinking... but my dad says everyone handles crises differently. I guess that's the solution she found for herself."
"She's right! And you call yourself a nurse?!"
"Just shut up and move—we're wasting time arguing!"
CRACK!
Her father was angry—he couldn't stand all the whining. A zombie near his daughter had its head crushed by his right fist.
"Hey kid, lend me your bat for a second. I'll make better use of it!"
"Here!" The bat flew into his hand.
"Get on the damn bus, I'm getting real sick of this!"
One, two, three, four—zombies were taken down one after another by his swings.
They quickly boarded the bus as someone dealt with the zombies.
"Ahh, this isn't like my car... Umm, A-B-C, A-B-C."
"WAIT!!"
"!"
"Who's that?"
"Shidou, the homeroom teacher for Class 3-A," said the purple-haired girl.
"Shidou..." The orange-brown-haired girl scowled at the name.
"Hey, hey, that engine's still off."
The father kept smashing zombies as he called out to the blonde adult.
"I don't know how to drive this thing!"
"Keep trying—I can last several more minutes. Plus, this bat's good quality."
CRACK! CRACK!
"Hyahhh!" The blood splatter scared her. She tried the ignition again. "Finally! We're ready to go!"
"WAIT!!"
"They're coming from the front too!! We won't make it if we wait!"
"Doctor, don't worry. Just drive over them. If you want to wait for that group and let them board, I can hold them off for a minute more."
"Thank you, sir." The leader opened the door, waiting for them to arrive.
"Tch, don't thank me. I'm enjoying myself smashing things without worrying about noise."
"WE CAN'T SAVE THEM!!" shouted the orange-brown-haired girl.
"Rei! What the hell are you saying?!"
"We can't save them! People like that are better off dead!!"
"Hey kid... listen to me." The man looked at him. "She probably has a reason—look at that adult named Shidou."
"Ugh!" He obeyed, curious about what his childhood friend meant. "What?!"
It became clear—Shidou was stepping on a student who couldn't get up.
"Be careful with that teacher," the leader warned.
The group with Shidou boarded the bus.
"Marikawa-sensei!"
"Here we go!!"
The bus started moving as the father jumped in, smashing two zombies trying to bite him.
"We're safe... Is Busujima-san in charge?"
"No. I am." Shidou looked at the man standing near the door.
"Excuse me, may I ask who you are?"
"A new P.E. teacher for the first years. My name is Senji Muramasa," Muramasa Senji lied.
"Hey, is what your dad said true...?"
"No, it's a lie. He just said that so people would trust him—and so that guy wouldn't try to take leadership of our group."
"Not a bad idea. I don't trust Professor Shidou very much."
"Seems like no one does."
The daughter and pink-haired girl whispered.
"By the way, my name is Muramasa Alicia. We never introduced ourselves."
"I'm Saya Takagi. No one's introduced themselves, so you don't know who we are."
"I think it's better if we do that now."
Alicia approached the seat where the leader and the girl named Rei sat.
"My name is Muramasa Alicia. Nice to meet you."
Seeing her introduce herself, they gave their names.
"Takashi Komuro. Your dad is trustworthy."
"Rei Miyamoto. We can trust you. You really helped us."
Senji listened silently, learning everyone's names.
"Saeko Busujima. Thanks for the help," said the purple-haired girl.
"I'm Kohta Hirano. By the way... you're amazing! Like seeing a manga character come to life!"
The short boy was starstruck.
"Ugh... I guess thanks. What's the name of the woman driving?"
"She's Shizuka Marikawa-sensei. Our school nurse."
"Well, now I know all your names."
As Senji spoke, the sound of Marikawa hitting zombies filled the bus.
"I'll go rest. I'm tired after all that."
They let him be—he probably had body aches after those incredible feats.
As Senji rested near Marikawa, everyone remained alert.
They'd left the school some time ago.
Driving toward the city, they watched Marikawa dangerously run over zombies on the streets.
"Why do we have to go with Komuro and those other idiots?! They decided to head into the city without our permission!"
"I'm amazed by the arrogance of that stupid boy," Alicia said with disdain, looking toward the students in the back seats.
"That was dangerous! Go to hell, you damn bitch!"
They heard the shout of a man in a car—Marikawa had almost collided with him while driving the bus.
"He's right, you know. Driving like that puts us in danger... We should stop somewhere and hide. There was a convenience store a few blocks back," said one of the students who came with Mr. Shidou.
Something caught everyone's attention outside the window—they saw a helicopter where someone fell out. Marikawa didn't have the willpower to watch; she closed her eyes, which startled Rei.
"WHAT are you doing?! I'm going to—"
"SHUT UP!! I'm tense enough just trying to drive normally right now!"
"Shizuka-sensei wasn't kidding," thought Takashi.
"What the hell do you want?! You wanna fight or something?!"
Takashi, lost in thought, hadn't realized he was glaring at the loud student from before.
"What's your problem?" Busujima scolded the angry student.
"Urk... I HATE this guy! I hate this bastard!!"
"As if you were some kind of saint..." Kohta muttered angrily.
"I've had enough." Alicia stood up from her seat, easily stepping past Takagi who was sitting beside her.
She walked toward the student making a scene, who hadn't noticed her presence.
Since the boy was taller, she struck the back of his knees hard, causing him to fall. She then put him in a chokehold and didn't let go.
"Annoying guys like you need to sleep."
After a minute of suffocating him, the boy finally passed out.
"...Wow, I guess the dad isn't the only one who's impressive—his daughter is too."
Kohta stared in awe at what Alicia had done, and so did the others.
"That was a pathetic plan," Alicia said, glaring at Mr. Shidou. She had figured out what the adult had tried to do. "Even if my dad's sleeping, I can easily deal with any problems that come up unexpectedly." After speaking, she kicked the unconscious student hard, sending him to the back seats.
She returned to her seat by the window next to Takagi.
"What was that disgusting teacher planning?"
"Since my dad's asleep, he caused a disturbance to make it seem like Dad wasn't fit to lead. How pathetic."
"I see. You actually resolved it pretty cleanly. Nice chokehold, by the way."
"Mmm... thanks."
Several minutes passed until they saw another bus approaching from the opposite direction.
"What's that guy doing?! They're going to crash..." Takashi warned everyone.
The bus crashed into a vehicle in the middle of the street and then rolled over, colliding hard with another car.
BOOM!
"What the hell—?"
Flames erupted after the explosion from the bus hitting the other vehicle.
"Marikawa-sensei! We can't keep going this way!"
"I know! I'll take a different route!"
"Haah~." Senji had woken up from the explosion and yawned. "What happened?"
"An accident. A bus exploded."
"Mmm... if it's nothing serious, I'm going back to sleep."
[Elsewhere]
At an airport, the undead were everywhere too.
"We've finished checking all the passengers. None of them are infected."
"There are no wounded or sick either, so we're ready for takeoff... They're already dead."
"Your family lives in Tokyo, right?"
"Nobody answered when I called..."
(Tokonosu Tower: "JX089" ready for takeoff)
("JX089," Tokonosu Tower, hold on at runway 34. We've got a... situation)
"Oh no, I remember him. He was a good man. Came to Tokonosu for a play. He was an actor."
A dark-skinned woman with black hair spoke as she looked through her rifle's scope.
(...If we wait any longer, we'll have to make wind adjustments. You're authorized to shoot!)
Bang!
The woman, alongside her partner, began clearing out the problem blocking the plane's departure.
(Great shot! All targets eliminated!)
"Phew..." The woman began massaging her chest.
"...What are you doing?" Her male partner looked at her blankly.
"I'm a bit tense. I couldn't sleep at all this morning," she said, removing her hands.
"If you want, I could give you a massage," he smiled.
"If you can shoot better than me, then sure."
[S.A.T. Prefectural Police, First Squad Leader: Nanami Rika]
"Don't be ridiculous! You were named one of the top 5 agents in the entire country!"
"Then stop being annoying."
"Another thing—ships aren't allowed in the port, but planes are still taking off. Is that because of the new regulations?" the male officer expressed his disdain.
"Yes, blame the higher-ups. The 'indispensable engineers' in charge of airport maintenance are leaving in droves to see their families..."
"Anyone could be the next to go. We've got enough staff for now, but it won't last long," Rika responded. "We couldn't do any damage to those monsters. The airports in Hokkaido and Kyushu are still taking in new passengers—maybe we should send reinforcements to help protect them..."
"But we don't have unlimited bullets..."
"Are you planning to run away?" Rika teased her partner.
"No, not yet."
"I'm heading into the city. So... who do I call 'partner' now?" Rika smiled.
"...You have a friend there."
They continued their conversation.