Hero Pandemic chapter 48: Involvement
Yumi´s POV
“……Let’s go around there tomorrow”
In the darkness produced by a blackout, Kaede illuminated by my smartphone murmured.
Only her upper body is vaguely emerging, but she is in a position much lower than me. She is also low in height, but it seems that she is gathered in the corner of a window so that she can confirm the appearance of the outside earlier than me.
“How about the number?”
“It’s not decreasing, I don’t see any signs of declining……you don’t need to forcefully come?”
The answer is not returned and her head is shaken silently. I can’t see it clearly, but I can sense it from a slight sign and loosen my mouth.
“Do as you like”
And again silence arises. Even today’s conversation, I don’t know how many hours it was.
Arriving at the university which is Kaede´s destination, we abandoned the idea to intrude because of a large number of zombies……so how long will we stay in this room where the situation can be seen? Especially now that we have nothing to talk about anymore.
Fortunately or unfortunately, because there are too many zombies around here, there is no fear of meeting humans. Of course there are zombies, but we were able to take a warm meal in consideration of sound and light.
Therefore, there is no big dissatisfaction even if staying here for a long time.
On the way, I felt human signs. People were alive beyond expectations, and order was kept more than imagined. However, there was no such thing as a good person more than expected.
“Do you want something to eat?”
To that question, Kaede swings her head again.
I stood up slowly while looking at her from the side and opened the refrigerator. There are a lot of canned food and seasoning in it.
From there I took out canned peaches which I had taken as a dessert after meal and opened the lid using a can cutter.
In a quiet space, you can hear the sound of the peaches and the canned food.
“Do you like peaches?”
“Yes. I’ve always liked peaches, but I’ve come to like them more in this world”
“When you can eat at any time, you especially want to eat what you like”
There seemed to be a verse from Kaede, and she muttered it while looking at the university.
The peach can is a memory of Kazuya and I keeps eating without especially denying it though it is understood by Kaede´s words.
“I hope you can eat anything you like”
“……That’s right”
To that phrase, Kaede smiled.
Next day. Until the night is clear, the two of us didn’t say any words. I understand the importance of sleeping but I couldn’t sleep at all.
Only food is crammed into our stomachs and preparation is done.
“They are here”
“Yeah, it’s more than before the pandemic”
Besides believing in a small miracle, the amount of zombies never decreases.
There are not only young zombies who would have gone here as well as Kaede, but also older zombies, as well as elementary school student zombies.
When I thought of jumping into it, I couldn’t afford to laugh at Kaede´s joke.
“You won’t say we will cut through this……”
There are a lot of zombies in the university, and it will be difficult to walk straight around the open school gate. It was like going to commit suicide if evernote in such a while, of course, Kaede did not desire going to break through the front.
“Of course. Over here. Come with me”
“Yes”
I was thinking about why there are a lot of zombies here while chasing the running Kaede.
If most of the zombies in college are students, the remnants of humans…… I would have thought they were following the habit of being human. However, there is no such situation and the crowd of zombies exists regardless of old and young.
And if so, the answer now is “zombies react to light and sound”, but there is no element that collects zombies in this university unlike the Self-Defense Force Base. There are zombies here, so it’s possible the zombies responded to the sound. However, there is a section where zombies recognize each other.
Zombies don’t eat other zombies, to be precise, but at least until now the pattern of zombies are sound or light or bait.
None of them are here. Paradoxically, the only thing here is the answer.
“Kaede-san… What is here?”
“Laboratory”
Kaede didn’t speak more.
(After all there is something here）
Maybe the answer itself is in this laboratory.
So Kaede chose to go to the laboratory to do reckless things like this. It might be natural to think so.
I feel like seeking Kazuya at once. But I can not ignore the truth that may be known in the future though I may know it.
So in the end I decided to walk down the path I don’t know and what awaits me.
“……It’s here”
There is no sign of zombies around. That’s quite natural……this is a street several hundred meters away from the university.
“Is this the laboratory?”
It’s nice to be away from the university, but why did you kill time by betting on the possibility of zombies leaving?
To answer that question, Kaede put her hand on the manhole.
“Um……Yumi, could you help me?”
“Ah, yes”
The manhole is heavy due to its role, and it is about 50 kilogram.
We managed to lift it by two people and dismissed it to the side.
“I think you already know, but I’m going to go from sewage to the university campus. The lab is in the basement, so it was supposed to be used as an emergency escape port”
Certainty, my shoulders get heavier.
“……Emergency……?”
My lips are dried and I licked around with my tongue unconsciously.
Swallowing saliva with strong stickiness, I gulped.
“――――Biological harm biohazard. Have you heard about it before?”
Of course, it’s not a game. I couldn’t afford to react to Kaede´s joke who kept doing so.
“Do you mean…………”
It is sure to say at this time. It is not different because we came here at this stage.
“Kaede………..”
The mysterious scientist who I met by chance at the Self-Defense Force Base looked like a little girl.
“To the cause that has made this world like this……are you involved in the pandemic?”
It is not something like topics or robbery, but if you go away a bit, it will not be a topic. More ridiculously, even a comparable crime is a crime. It is a heinous weapon that is unique in the world……is she involved in it?
That can’t be. She is not the kind of person who can do that. I still barely thought so.
However, Kaede easily crushed my burning desire and affirms with the ease as when asked as if she liked me.
“Yes. I was definitely involved in an experiment to build a biological weapon”
In my head, Kazuya´s figure falling down appeared.