Ch.132Chapter 18. Trust (2)

One. Two. Three.

I unlocked the door on cue. Opening it slightly, I stepped back. The hinges let out a creaking groan.

“Grrrk.”

Zombies enter through the open door. Tatatang, Leticia’s submachine gun spits fire. The head of the one in front flies off.

With a thud, as that one collapses onto the hood, another zombie enters. Leticia fires again. She switches to single shot and fires once, then once more. The zombie, with a hole through the center of its forehead, helplessly drops to its knees. No matter how resilient zombies are, once their heads are gone, they’re just puppets with cut strings.

“GYAAAAK!”

The third one came in slightly hunched over. The submachine gun’s bullet pierced through the crown of its head. The fourth one couldn’t even make it inside because of the dead zombies collapsed in front. Bang! This time I finished it off with my pistol. The angle was too awkward for Leticia to shoot anyway.

The twitching stopped. No more sounds could be heard. After waiting a good 30 seconds, I whispered.

“I’ll lift the shutter. Cover me. There might be more outside.”

Leticia nodded in response.

“Only halfway up.”

That was my plan anyway. Just in case something was waiting outside. I pulled the chain to wind the pulley, and the shutter rose with an incredibly loud creaking noise.

“GRRRAAAH!”

As expected. One of them had been waiting outside. Impatient that the shutter wasn’t fully raised, it started banging on it. Without hesitation, I shot both its ankles. As it crumbled, Leticia finished it off with a single shot. Bang.

“Johan, you’re more composed than I expected?”

Leticia seemed quite surprised.

“Well, I’ve got the world’s most reliable soldier next to me, don’t I?”

“The situation’s not over yet. Don’t let your guard down.”

But I could see the corners of her mouth turning up.

* * * * *

Midday. The sedan races across the fields. It’s hot, and Leticia keeps complaining, but we can’t open the windows. The front of the car is covered in blood.

Of course, it’s long since dried to a dark reddish color in the sunlight and wind. So the bacteria in the blood couldn’t possibly still be alive… could they? I’m not entirely sure.

“Hey, Johan. Is there much further to go?”

Leticia, who had been fluttering her collar to get some air, finally spoke up.

“I think about three to four more hours, why?”

“Is the route very complicated? Stop the car for a bit. Let’s switch drivers.”

Well, it’s not complicated. For now, we just need to go straight ahead. The road is so monotonous that I have to struggle not to fall asleep.

“Just a moment.”

I drove for about five more minutes. I stopped the car in the middle of a desolate field. A wide-open space like this is better. If any hostile entities approach, we’ll notice them.

“Should we switch here? Looks like there are about three zombies over there though.”

Leticia narrowed her eyes and nodded.

“Yeah. It’ll take those guys at least five minutes to walk over here. Stop the car.”

When I stopped and opened the door, a blast of fresh hot air rushed in. The heat inside and outside the car wasn’t much different. Still, the breeze made it somewhat bearable.

“Ah, that feels goooood!”

Out of nowhere, Leticia whipped off her top. She was wearing an emerald-colored lace bra underneath, but it was still quite shocking.

“L-Leticia? What are you doing?”

“I told you I was hot.”

“Isn’t that a bit too sudden?”

“What? I didn’t take you for such a prude.”

I wonder how a woman like her survived in the military. It’s baffling. This woman who’s just happily touching the car and then going “Ah, hot!” while flapping her hands in the air.

“Johan, are you judging me too?”

Leticia gives me a sidelong glance. I shake my head and suggest we just get going. The zombies were limping toward us anyway.

“Just keep going straight. About two hours, and when you see a red brick house at the intersection, turn right. And Leticia.”

“Yeah?”

“Put your clothes back on when we arrive.”

“Why should I?”

“Because there are a lot of zombies there. Having clothes on is at least somewhat better.”

“Fine.”

Why are all the women I know so strange?

* * * * *

The journey to the research facility was without major issues. I took out my phone and sent a message to Camilla. ‘We’ll arrive in about an hour.’ Before sending the next message, I glanced at Leticia’s profile.

The four of us, will we be able to get along? I’m quite worried.

“Hey, Leticia. I need to tell you something.”

“What’s with the serious tone?”

“As you probably know, I have companions. One is Camilla, who as you already know, was with the Elsa Liberation Corps. And the other is Cassandra, who was a senior researcher at the Disease Control Bureau.”

Leticia didn’t say much. Instead, she slammed on the accelerator. I suddenly felt my body jerk backward. Fortunately, though she was gripping the steering wheel tightly, she seemed to have taken her foot off the pedal.

“…We almost had an accident.”

“You’re not that surprised.”

“Of course I had my suspicions. And I found it hard to believe that you were being dragged around by such people against your will. To be honest, my head almost didn’t believe it at all.”

That’s a strange way to put it. She knew it in her head?

“What do you mean by that?”

“It means I wanted to believe whatever you said, regardless.”

If I were to say, ‘Did you like me that much? We haven’t even talked in person that much,’ it would be insensitive. In situations like this, just showing speechless gratitude is enough.

“…Really?”

“Really.”

Leticia seemed a bit conflicted. It seemed she had other reasons she wasn’t ready to share with me yet. Well, she’ll tell me when she’s comfortable.

“Cassandra.”

Leticia sighed.

“You know her?”

“I do. I interrogated her. Actually, as soon as she came in, she started blurting out such explicit things that writing the report was really…?”

Suddenly, Leticia whipped her head toward me.

“We’re going to crash!”

“Wait, was it you?!”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“Were you the one who supposedly touched her at Lambert or whatever?!”

“Yes, that was me, why?”

Screech. Leticia finally hit the brakes. As the car slowed to a stop, she put it in park and even pulled up the handbrake.

“You!”

“Yes?”

“You were V?”

“Huh? What are you saying?”

“I’m asking if you’re V! The moderate faction of Elsa Intelligence!”

“Can you explain so I can understand?!”

Leticia kept rubbing her forehead in disbelief. This woman’s expressions are really diverse. Blinking her eyes, biting her lips up and down. After swallowing hard, she fired off words like a machine gun.

It was certain that Cassandra had gotten out of V’s car in Lambert. And Cassandra had said something about ‘allowing a certain man to have her body,’ causing strange misunderstandings. Now that I mentioned I was with Cassandra, Leticia immediately connected V with me.

But wait, thinking about it slowly, isn’t this a logical leap?

“Aren’t you jumping to conclusions?”

But Leticia seemed to have already made up her mind.

“It is you! You’re definitely V! I knew something was off! What is the moderate faction of Elsa Intelligence up to now?”

I can’t deny being V. Camilla and Cassandra already know about it anyway.

“Yes, I did use the nickname V, but I’m not from the moderate faction of Elsa Intelligence.”

For some reason, Leticia’s face seems to brighten even more.

“Hey, Johan.”

“What?”

Suddenly she twists her waist and hugs me tightly. So forcefully that her underwear gets disheveled.

“…This really is fate.”

“What are you talking about now?”

“Remember that National Military Police officer who contacted you about buying a bag? That was me!”

She must be talking about that half-hearted nickname. That carelessly chosen nickname that screamed military.

“…Yeah, I remember.”

“Wow. Really. We meet like this. Back then, I was really curious about what kind of person you were. Though I also hated you enough to want to kill you.”

This doesn’t feel good. Not good at all. This woman’s eyes seem to be spinning. It’s like when Camilla and Cassandra sometimes flip out, with their pupils dilating like they’re going to devour you.

“Yeah. What a coincidence.”

“People who are meant to meet will always find each other. This is fate, Johan. The Goddess of Hunger predetermined our connection. Ah, Goddess, thank you so much. An inevitable bond as certain as death…”

I should probably say something in advance.

“Um. I’m sorry.”

“Why? What for? Don’t tell me you’re about to say something trashy like you don’t like me or don’t see me as a woman?”

That sounds like it would be criminal territory.

“No, not that. It’s just that, I actually have a… deeper relationship with Camilla and Cassandra.”

Yes, I should mention this beforehand. I don’t want to unintentionally hurt her feelings. What kind of dilemma is this?

“What? So not only were you two-timing, but you slept with me too? You’re quite the bad guy, aren’t you?”

Leticia’s tone was strange. It wasn’t like she was calling me a ‘sinful man’ but more like she was looking at a piece of trash she’d stepped on while walking.

“…Yeah. That’s right. So maybe it’s not fate or destiny or anything like that, that’s what I’m saying.”

At my words, Leticia snickers.

“So that’s what it was? You were worried that your destined partner turned out to be a playboy? Don’t worry about it.”

“You don’t care?”

“I’ll just take you away from them. That’s more fun anyway. I think I’ve already taken half of you. You must have been dissatisfied with those women in some way to come to me. They weren’t your destiny.”

No. I don’t think that’s it. That’s definitely not it.

“Ah, now I understand why you told me to put clothes on. If I show up in front of those women like this, it would put you in a difficult position, right? It’s obvious things would get worse.”

“To be honest, yes.”

“Alright. Let’s go.”

This woman’s eyes are half-crazed. I don’t think she should be driving like this.

“I’ll drive. I need to drive from here anyway.”

Leticia agreed. I took the wheel again. Just as I was starting the engine and about to accelerate, Leticia suddenly opened the window.

And threw her top out.

“What are you doing?”

“Oh my. What a shame.”

Leticia is completely nonchalant.

“My clothes disappeared? Kind sir with the nice body, could you spare me one of your outer garments? Surely you wouldn’t throw a lady to the zombies dressed like this?”

“And if I don’t?”

“I’ll take off more. It’s so hot I could die.”