Inside the room, Zima watched the two Infected disappear before her eyes. Their wretched state made her feel extremely uncomfortable.
Not long ago, these two were still members of her student club, but for some reason, they had suddenly contracted Oripathy. Perhaps they had been scratched during a brawl, or perhaps there was an Infected among their opponents in a past fight. Regardless, they had suddenly become Infected one day and fled shortly after. It was only recently, wanting to visit their families, that they had secretly sneaked back in.
"We can't help them. If word gets out that we have ties to the Infected, we're finished. We need to evacuate quickly before they find this place!"
Several friends nearby hurriedly urged Zima to leave. If those guys suspected them, their lives would truly be ruined! They had to vanish before those people arrived.
"I'll go see them out. You guys find a way to leave quickly! Once I've sent them off, I'll be back!"
With that, Zima ignored everyone's objections and jumped down the trash chute. Her friends could only stomp their feet in frustration and leave in a hurry.
What she didn't expect was that in the short time she had wasted, her friends had already fallen victim to "foul play" by others—now lying unconscious, their fate unknown.
"Who are you people? You aren't from around here, are you? What are you doing kidnapping them this late at night?"
Zima looked at the two people supporting her friends with a face full of wariness. She hadn't expected to run into this situation the moment she came out, bumping head-on into people transporting Infected.
Common sense dictated that Zima should find a way to escape, but her friends were right there in danger, and she had already been spotted by the opposition.
Opposite her, Jeanne and Talulah hadn't expected another person to pop out either. Weren't you supposed to be evacuating in an emergency? Why are you running over here for a life-and-death farewell?
"Don't misunderstand. We are people who accepted a request to take them to a safe location. It's just that they were far too slow—if we waste any more time, we'll run out of it."
As the three of them stood there staring at each other, it was Jeanne who broke the silence. However, it seemed the girl didn't believe Jeanne's words, as she settled into a combat stance.
"Sigh. Just like Grandma once said, the best weapons for dealing with Ursus people are fists and vodka... Well then, I choose you! Go, Talulah!"
Jeanne pressed a hand to her forehead. In the next moment, it was as if she were possessed by something strange; she spoke words Talulah didn't understand and struck a bizarre pose while saying something with an off-the-charts cringe factor.
"I think you're genuinely sick. When did Grandma ever say that? How come I've never heard her say that before?"
Talulah looked at Jeanne with an expression that said, 'Did you eat something rotten today?' Disgust was written all over her face. There were simply too many things to nitpick about that sentence; even as a single "Talulah," she couldn't possibly cover them all.
"Right, I've got it. Ta~lu~lah."
Jeanne continued to speak to Talulah in that lighthearted tone, using it to draw the girl's attention so Talulah could finish the fight quickly.
Zima, on the other hand, hadn't thought that far ahead. She was simply thrown off by Jeanne's erratic behavior, unsure of what to do. In the split second she was distracted, something unexpected happened.
Talulah lunged at her instantly, striking her abdomen with an elbow before using a shoulder throw to slam the off-balance Zima to the ground. Immediately after, small sparks of fire began to circle around Zima.
"Wha—! What is this? You're actually an Infected?"
Faced with the pressure of time and having no intention of wasting words, Talulah subdued Zima in an instant. The flames rising around them proved the fact that Talulah was an Infected. Zima hadn't expected to be defeated so quickly. She considered herself a battle-hardened warrior, so how could the gap between her and the opponent be this large?
"You understand now, don't you? We aren't here to harm them. We are their compatriots, and we came here specifically to rescue them."
Talulah deliberately used a voice that sounded like a cold, heartless female villain to explain things to Zima. This was also meant to intimidate the hot-headed Ursus girl.
"Talk is cheap. Then why did you knock them out? Wouldn't it have been better to just explain it to them clearly?"
Zima, somewhat unwilling to accept defeat, stubbornly questioned Talulah. Although this woman looked like a terrifying person on the surface, the fact that she had deliberately lessened her strength when throwing Zima proved she wasn't that kind of person.
"Because they are as chatty as you are. We can't stay here any longer; we need to leave immediately!"
Jeanne said as she pulled Talulah to leave. She could feel that the police responsible for the search were getting closer and closer. If they bumped into them, it would be another huge hassle.
"Fine. I hope what you're saying is true. If I find out you lied to me and took my friends to be trafficked or something, I'll fight you to the death, even if I'm no match for you."
The somewhat discouraged Zima still barked a threat at the two. Even if it sounded like a joke to their ears, she had to make her stance clear!
"Think whatever you like! Anyway, everything we said is... Wait, hide!"
As Jeanne spoke, she suddenly sensed something. She grabbed the unresponsive Zima and shoved her back into the chute before picking up the two unconscious girls to leave.
"Who's there? Cooperate with the inspection immediately! What are you doing over there? Raise your hands, or we'll fire our crossbows!"
A voice rang out from the distance as several armed police pointed various crossbows at Jeanne. They advanced slowly, shouting threats to force her to give up resistance.
Fortunately, Jeanne was wearing all black. Before coming here, she had put on a black hooded garment to hide her platinum-blonde hair. To the police, she just looked like a dark mass moving in the shadows. As for Talulah, she had hidden behind a wall and remained unseen; the police only saw Jeanne.
Just then, a figure suddenly appeared in the blind spot beside Jeanne. Mist poured from the figure's mouth, obscuring the police's vision, before she stepped beside Jeanne to take the two girls.
"You and Talulah get out of here! They only saw one person. I'll stay and deal with them. We'll meet up in a bit by the car you drove in!"
The one who had arrived to help Jeanne was none other than Crownslayer, who had disappeared earlier today to handle her own business!