Ch.140Chapter 18. Trust (10)

* * * * *

Not everyone you meet in life can become your friend.

However, when living under the same roof, facing the same enemy, and united under the grand premise of survival, some level of cooperation is natural, even if not to the point of cheerful camaraderie. That’s what happened between Camilla and Leticia.

After inadvertently looking down at Cassandra sunbathing, the two women didn’t feel jealous of her. In some ways, when someone shows such an overwhelming performance, it transcends jealousy and inspires awe instead. Instead, the two women creatively criticized each other.

“Today I successfully made a shot from 2,500 meters. Thanks to that, I went shopping quite comfortably. The wind was strong, but Johan did an amazing job with the observations.”

The day after Camilla boasted like this, Leticia packed two submachine guns and plenty of spare magazines. It seemed like she was about to carry the entire ammunition storage out with her.

Then she single-handedly “swept” the northern area. Sitting in the pickup truck’s trunk, she fired in bursts of two or three shots, blowing the zombies’ heads off.

“Whether you shoot from 20 meters or 2,500 meters, it’s still just ‘one’ zombie. And today I took down more than 30 zombies. Thanks to Johan’s delicate driving, I could aim accurately. We seem to have good ‘chemistry’ in many ways, don’t you think?”

At Leticia’s provocative words, Camilla cracked her neck with a loud pop.

“I have no interest in finding out about your chemistry with Johan. Nor do I want to brag about such things. But I would like to test our ‘compatibility.’ How about in 30 minutes?”

“Fine.”

And so the two engaged in a fierce fight in the gym.

Of course, I actively imposed conditions like “no face strikes, no joint locks or techniques that could cause injury and reduce combat effectiveness, no attacks that could cause bleeding, no strikes to vital points.”

As a result, they could only engage in something between wrestling and sumo, but judging from the fierce shouts coming from outside the door, that seemed to be enough.

The contest appeared surprisingly even—while Leticia had superior technique, Camilla had the physical advantage, so it was either Leticia ending it quickly or Camilla enduring for a long battle. It was easy to tell who won just by looking at their expressions.

Of course, I never actually saw it. The atmosphere was strange, but I quickly excused myself saying, “I’m going to talk with Cassandra about our research progress.”

“What if those two end up strangling each other to death?”

Cassandra seemed worried.

“Cassandra, are you now worried about Leticia as well as Camilla?”

“She is an officer who has accommodated Cassandra’s needs. Of course, what happened in that infirmary was still terrible. Anyway, that aside, I’ve completed this.”

Cassandra took out a long test tube and shook it. It contained a transparent, pale liquid. My face flushed involuntarily.

“Um, so that’s… my scent?”

“More precisely, it’s a synthetic compound of pheromones produced by your body, Johan. I’ve significantly increased the purity, so it should have quite a powerful effect. Just to be safe, I’d advise against using it on Camilla and Leticia. I can’t guarantee what might happen.”

The pheromones produced by the virus in my body were described as ’emotion-amplifying substances.’ And knowing full well what those two ‘heated’ individuals were capable of, I had no desire to make them ‘more dangerous.’

“What about you, Cassandra, who made this? Are you okay?”

“Cassandra isn’t greatly affected by such things. It’s also a rather impolite question to ask a scientist who knows exactly what they’re creating.”

Her curt response made me feel embarrassed. I tried to change the subject.

“Well, it’s not meant for use on people anyway, but on zombies. So… zombies that hate me will literally try to eat me, and those that somewhat like me will like me even more, right?”

“That’s right. To the point where they recognize you as ‘one of their kind.'”

A short, sharp sound came from the gym. It seemed Camilla had won this time. Due to the strict ‘agreement,’ they wouldn’t inflict bodily harm on each other, but their clothes probably wouldn’t survive intact, so I deliberately stayed away.

“Come to think of it, we haven’t tested this yet. Not just those two, but you too, Johan, will have to work hard tomorrow, and it would be a shame if all that effort went to waste.”

“Test? How would we do that?”

“Like this.”

Cassandra gently shook the test tube and then opened the cap. There was a slightly pungent scent—to me, it smelled somewhat like old laundry. Cassandra took a deep breath, inhaling it deeply into her nostrils, then closed the cap.

That was it. Cassandra calmly checked her pulse, examined her eyes in the mirror, took her temperature, and recorded everything on a chart.

Is it not working?

“It’s a bit too strong. Next time, I can lower the concentration.”

“Too strong?”

“Yes.”

Cassandra stood up and suddenly moved closer to me. At first, I thought nothing of it when our chests touched slightly, but then she moved even closer. Even for a woman with a small chest, she was uncomfortably close.

“This isn’t entirely Cassandra’s will… not completely absent, but not entirely intact either.”

It feels strange when she says such things while sniffing at my chest. Cassandra even has a subtly strange smile. Her smile seems somewhat sticky.

“Um, Cassandra? Are you okay?”

“No, not really. I brought my nose too close to the test tube and inhaled the vapor too quickly. I’m sorry, but could you open the lab door? I think I need some fresh air to recover.”

“You’re currently holding onto my arm?”

“After all that exercise, you can’t even shake off Cassandra’s arm?”

When she presses against me so tightly and pushes me against the wall, my body loses strength. Cassandra’s eyes are completely dilated. Looking directly into them makes me feel like I’m being hypnotized as they spin around.

“Are you drunk?”

“No. This should be called acute intoxication. My perception is completely distorted, and my brain is giving incorrect commands. I need to think about an antidote… how to make one… this shouldn’t be happening.”

Yet she smiles loosely and starts unbuttoning her shirt one by one. My breathing has become quite rapid, and Cassandra’s face is completely flushed. Finally, one side of her shirt is completely open. Something impressive emerges.

“This is going to cause a medical accident.”

Whether Cassandra’s arm pulled me in or I leaned forward myself, I’m not sure. Accidents are typically hard to remember clearly.

Whether due to scholarly ethics or her own reason, Cassandra didn’t remove her lower undergarments. Instead, she “satisfied” her acute craving in other ways, leaving me quite exhausted.

“What’s this? Johan, why are you on an IV drip? *sniff* What’s that smell? Did you put on perfume? It’s subtly addictive. What is it, Cassandra? Are you using it all for yourself?”

Camilla entered the lab and sniffed the air.

“It’s just a simple vitamin injection. Would you like one too, Camilla?”

“No. I feel completely refreshed today. I was anxious after losing several times, but I won with a comeback at the end. Hmph, she looked really upset.”

Camilla’s face brightened up. She looked very refreshed. As refreshed as Cassandra’s face.

* * * * *

From the next morning, Camilla and Leticia were busy gathering ropes and stones. When I asked what they were doing, they said they were making hunting tools called “bolas.”

The principle is simple: tie stones to both ends of a rope, throw it at the prey’s legs, and the rope wraps around them, bringing them down. And like all simple principles in the world, while it’s easy to start, it takes a long time to master.

It’s better when the bolas don’t fly toward the prey at all; with bad luck, you might end up hitting yourself or the back of someone’s head with the spinning stones.

“But weren’t we going to capture zombies with snares or nets?”

“We decided to compete. Since we each have different specialties, arguing about who’s better or worse seemed endless. So we decided to try something neither of us knows. After all, this also requires physical ability and skill.”

Leticia answered my question.

“Johan, don’t worry. We’ll prepare snares and nets too. But those won’t count. Points will only be awarded for captures made with bolas.”

Camilla added from the side. Well, since they’re people who do their jobs properly, I’m not too worried.

Today we’re going to select the “proactive zombies” that Leticia had pointed out. Of course, since zombies don’t understand speech, methods like “you, you, and you, come with me” won’t work.

So the plan is for me to set up a food distribution stand at a distance to lure the zombies, then Camilla and Leticia will throw various tools to eliminate the “non-proactive” ones, leaving only the proactive ones.

Once only the proactive ones remain, we’ll spray them with the problematic pheromone that put Cassandra into an acute intoxication state last night.

Cassandra brought the spray this morning. I was quite startled when she suddenly opened my door and came in. There wasn’t anyone else with me, but I was not properly dressed, and it was “morning,” so things were quite embarrassing down below.

“Is it okay if I talk while you stay under the blanket? You’re not dressed properly.”

“Yes. Since it’s simple, I’ll be quick. I’ve adjusted the concentration a lot based on yesterday’s experience. At least the zombies won’t try to make love to you.”

That sounds too serious to be a joke.

Cassandra quickly continued:

“However, I need to track whether there are long-term intoxication symptoms or if they’re limited to a short period. Actually, that’s why I came. On this second day, it’s less severe than yesterday, but I think some intoxication symptoms still remain? Can you help Cassandra for a moment?”

You say you need help, but why are you locking the door with a “click”?