Chapter 46 - Sleeping Beauty
“Zzz… Zzz…”
She heard the rhythmic breathing of the sleeping person.
Miu devoted herself to reading a book next to Sayo sleeping in the bed.
Reading was wonderful.
You could absorb all kinds of knowledge, and above anything else, it was fun.
The rhythmic breathing of the sleeping person and the sound from turning over pages were like an elaborately created clock that kept marking the passage of time.
There was a reason why she decided to take the turn and watch over Sayo.
Though even if she said that, it wasn’t any special.
She had only wanted to read books in a quiet place.
“The man finally managed to make a scratch on the ground. It was a proof that he had been there-”
She read each word of the last sentence, then closed the book.
It had been pretty interesting.
As she thought, it was better to read a book in silence.
She could enter the stories.
The door to the infirmary opened with a click.
Miu turned to the door and saw Daiki standing there.
“Oota1?”
Daiki approached Sayo without saying anything, grabbed her, and jolted her.
“W-what are you doing!?”
Flustered, Miu stopped him.
“Hurry, and open your eyes… Please give me proof and say that everyone is lying, that Senior Kazuma isn’t dead…”
“...Oota, Senior Aso2 is dead.”
“...”
“Even though you don’t want to believe it, the truth won’t change.”
Miu said coldly.
“You don’t believe in what you don’t want to believe. You won’t be able to move forward that way. By accepting what you don’t want to accept, people grow.”
“...I was weak. Even if I don’t want to believe in what I don’t want to believe, I know that nothing will change. But I still push others.”
Daiki turned over and raised his face.
There, he saw Miu’s face which was as beautiful as Virgin Mary.
“Your actions might certainly cause trouble to those around you. However, I think that Senior Aso appreciates your kindness of mourning over him.”
“Senior… You’re so kind.”
Daiki showed a smiling face.
As he did that, for some reason, her face grew hot.
“A-aren’t you misunderstanding something!? I-I-I am not…!”
“I’ve decided! I will go and apologize to everyone! Thank you very much!”
Daiki bowed and left the infirmary as fast as the wind.
“C-come on, what was that…”
Looking at the mirror at the side of the bed, she only needed one glance to tell that her face was growing red.
No, she knew it without even having to confirm.
“L-let’s calm down by reading…”
However, on that day, Miu wasn’t able to concentrate on the book.
“Well then, what will we do…”
Ryou who had moved to the technology room muttered in front of a large number of materials.
As he had thought, what he felt during the expedition was the lack of attack power.
It was unreasonable to fight against that number, to begin with, but he became impatient because he couldn’t do anything.
It had been good if they had the New Namba, but they hadn’t been able to recover it, so not being able to get their hands on a gun was a hard blow for them.
Moreover, they wouldn’t be able to use it freely because of the sound of the gunshots either.
“A weapon effective within a wide range… Chainsaws make a lot of noise and get entangled with things like clothes and muscles. There aren’t any swords, and since we aren’t any experts, there’ll probably be chips in the blade straight away… The durability is the problem after all…”
As he was being troubled, Rei came into the technology room.
“Ryou, won’t you rest?”
“Hmm? Yeah, well.”
“That reminds me, that bomb…”
“Yeah, wasn’t it amazing? It’s called thermit bomb.”
“If it had been a game, we’d have something like a flame grenade, but is that no good?”
“Well, it would be effective since humans has oxygen in them, but since zombies aren’t breathing, they have a lack of oxygen, so it’s pointless.”
“Then, what are you making?”
“Well, rather than say ‘make’... I want to make something with a wide range and it would be ideal if it was durable too.”
“To be honest, I can’t think of anything.”
“Somehow, I feel like a huge wooden hammer to swing around would be better.”
“Isn’t that fine? It suits you.”
“It’s that, you know? A cheerful and heavy armed lleader of an African tribe?”
“Exactly.”
“Would I die?”
“Wouldn’t a flag be risen?”
“We can’t only use a wooden hammer.”
“Aaaa…”
The zombie drooled.
“No pain. However, the skin will melt like for humans…”
Next, he poured boiling water on its hands.
“No reflexes. Doesn’t it feel anything?”
And then, he fastened cockroached caught around the school on a pole and shoved it in its mouth.
When he did that, the zombie started to wholeheartedly chew on them.
“A lively appetite. If it can eat it, anything is good.”
Shinji took a breath, put down the pen, and closed the notebook.
He had just started experimenting, but the mystery only deepend.
If he could find an effective measure, he had no intention on letting the other members know.
The bunch here disregarded him and overdid various other things.
He would drive out or kill everyone here at one point, gather new refugees, and create a community where he was the leader.
(Tooru… he would only kill that guy as painfully as possible.)
Shinij’s eyes were blank like as if he was possessed.