When the roars and screams finally faded into silence, only dark red pools of blood remained in the uneven ground of the iron cage.
Zeroy stood outside, her gaze cold as frost, watching this apocalyptic performance without the slightest ripple in her expression.
Seven humans, two zombies—now only broken corpses and ragged breaths remained.
Four had been torn to pieces, their mangled remains scattered across the floor, shreds of clothing still clinging to stark white bones.
These ones wouldn't even have the chance to turn into zombies.
The three remaining survivors, driven by fear and desperation, clutched crude weapons—ones Zeroy had deliberately left in the cage, since a completely one-sided slaughter would be too dull.
Panting heavily, their eyes a mix of terror and madness, they mustered every ounce of strength to kill the two zombies.
But victory came at a heavy cost.
Two of them were bitten, the virus spreading rapidly through their bodies.
The first to turn was a middle-aged man.
His eyes clouded over, a low growl rumbling from his throat as his body convulsed and lunged at his former companions.
The other two, horrified, struck him down together, their clubs smashing his skull with ease.
Yet, the nightmare didn't end there.
The second infected soon followed—coughing blood, kneeling and wailing in pain.
The last survivor was a middle-aged woman, covered in blood. She was lucky enough to still be alive and unbitten.
When she saw her final companion's reaction, her body froze in place.
Her trembling hand instinctively reached for a cold stone nearby.
As her companion coughed up another mouthful of blood, she suddenly lunged like a wounded beast.
Before the infected could fully turn into a zombie or pay attention to her surroundings, the woman brought the stone down hard, spraying blood.
"It's all your fault... hehe... all your fault!"
Her voice was hysterical, mixed with manic laughter, her twisted face ghastly in the light.
"Why did you have to get bitten? If you hadn't, I wouldn't have had to do this! Why?! It's your fault! Your fault! Hahaha!"
The stone came down again and again, blood and flesh splattering within the cage, dull thuds echoing off the bars.
Her companion's struggles had long ceased; the head smashed into an unrecognizable pulp, blood and brain matter mixing on the ground.
Still, she didn't stop. Mechanically, she kept swinging, her tears, laughter, and the blood painting this nightmare night.
Only after a long while—perhaps from exhaustion or belated awareness—did she finally stop.
Looking around at the field of corpses, her blank face slowly twisted into a smile.
"Heehee... I... I survived, I survived!"
She lunged toward Zeroy, only to be blocked by the bars.
"Let me out! Let me out! I survived! You saw it! I survived, I killed them!"
"...Idiot."
Zeroy simply looked at her coldly.
"—!"
The woman shuddered, fear crawling back onto her face.
"N-no, you can't! I did it, I really did it!"
...
Her answer was Zeroy's blade.
The woman's head and body parted.
From the moment Zeroy had deemed these seven a danger, their deaths had been decided; No matter what they did afterward, their end was inevitable.
Even if they had banded together from the start to easily kill the two zombies—
Zeroy would simply bring more zombies or cut them down herself.
If they could have killed the zombies so easily, it meant they were never the naive sympathizers they claimed to be, and had come to cause trouble—schemers deserved death.
If they failed and ended up like this, then they truly were sympathizers unable to face reality. Zeroy didn't need such people in her base. They wouldn't survive the apocalypse and would only drag others down—so they had to die.
Even without her intervention, this woman wouldn't have lived.
In that cramped space, with blood flying in a desperate fight, the moment she killed the others, their blood had splashed into her mouth and nose.
She was already infected.
After dealing with them, Zeroy turned to the other survivors.
Fear and pity mingled on their faces, but most wore a complex silence. Among them were not a few of the so-called righteous fools.
Some felt a measure of pity for zombies.
Anyhow, cowed by Zeroy's presence, they dared neither to act nor even speak of it.
Now, she had given them a harsh lesson, shoving the bloody truth in their faces: Pity zombies, and this would be the result.
Whether or not Zeroy spared them, zombies would never heed their words, nor would they refrain from eating them because of pity.
"Alright, you can disperse."
At her word, the crowd gradually drifted apart in silence.
She stayed behind.
These corpses were now infection sources. She needed to burn the mess and let the flames cleanse it.
Normally, she wouldn't use fire, as burning large numbers of bodies could damage the environment.
However, this was only a few corpses—the impact was negligible.
...
Flames rose, their light reflecting off Zeroy's calm face.
Her mood, however, was far from good.
As a Sky Striker Ace, a beautiful girl who fought for humanity, kindness, and justice, she had no interest in such bloody performances.
And she had only just mocked the zombie sympathizers at Saya Takagi's parents' base—yet here she was, facing the same thing herself.
It had opened her eyes.
If it were one's dearest turning into a zombie, she could understand not wanting to kill them.
But pitying all zombies? That was truly absurd.
More absurd still… she had thought the situation with Saya's parents was an isolated case, though maybe it wasn't?
Was there something wrong with this country's people? Or with this world's people?
The difficulty of ensuring humanity's survival seemed to have just gone up...
...
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