Ch.157Chapter 20. Patriot (9)

We couldn’t access the central district via the roads. So we planted explosives on buildings to create openings.

The installation wasn’t difficult, but calculating “just enough to break through without collapsing the entire building” proved challenging. Fortunately, Camilla and Leticia worked it out precisely after some discussion. Camilla had extensive experience installing explosives, while Leticia was skilled at dismantling them.

“I see your terrorist roots are showing.”

“Rich coming from an incompetent cat burglar who didn’t notice bombs being planted right under your unit’s nose.”

While the two engaged in this remarkably constructive conversation, Cassandra and I passed time by creating graffiti. We used spray paint to draw the “Night Wolf” symbol that I had photographed and saved on my phone.

“Johan. Does this actually mean anything?”

“It might, or it might not.”

“Then why are we doing it?”

“Because it seemed fun.”

Cassandra didn’t ask further. She just focused on painting, then took cover in the car and covered her ears at the detonation signal. After the wall collapsed, we continued forward.

Zombies caught in the explosion turned to bloody pulp. It was almost like they’d rolled out a red carpet to welcome us.

The final barrier was a thin wall. Beyond it was no wall at all. Just an open road. Across the road stood an upscale residential area that was impressive even at first glance.

Solar panels gleamed on the rooftops. The fences, which once might have been beautifully covered with rose vines, were now topped with barbed wire, and the walls were embedded with broken glass and rusty cans.

That was all there was to see.

Groans, dry heaving, and curses came through the radio. I understood why. It was the corpses. Bodies were piled up along the fences surrounding the central district.

It was a horrific sight, but I couldn’t look away. What made it strange was that none of the bodies faced the city. They all lay face down toward the barrier, as if they had desperately tried to escape from that terrible center.

Wooo – woo – woo.

Four-legged beasts appeared in the middle of the road. A wolf pack. A sign on the road read “Elza 4 National Zoo, 1km.”

The wolves were clearly in bad shape. Chunks of flesh had been torn away, replaced by tumor-like growths of flesh hanging from their bodies.

They were already infected.

The wolves, which seemed to be eyeing us, suddenly turned tail and fled. We understood why exactly thirty seconds later.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

The ground shook. Simultaneously, something emerged onto the road ahead.

An elephant. A male elephant. Once it might have lived comfortably and beloved in a zoo, but now it was a zombie elephant.

A very angry zombie elephant charging straight toward us.

“Did it come all this way because of the explosion?”

If so, it must be extremely aggressive. Most creatures run away from loud noises, but this one had come charging toward us.

I understood why.

This was its territory. An animal whose territory has been invaded won’t stand idle.

“Camilla. Can you hear me?”

– Y-yeah. I’m listening.

“I’ll draw its attention, so could you shoot a flare at its rear? You can do that, right?”

– What? No! It’s too dangerous! I’ll draw its attention and you—

I didn’t listen to the rest. I drove the truck straight ahead. Without zombies weighing it down, the truck moved surprisingly fast.

HONNNNNK!

The sound of the horn was satisfying. I also flashed the high beams erratically. If the elephant backed down from such provocation, it wouldn’t deserve the title of king. As expected, it charged toward us, foaming at the mouth.

I switched to cruise control and jammed the pedal with a block. A once-popular game that had become ordinary crossed my mind.

“Try nerfing this.”

Just before it accelerated, I grabbed my weapon, opened the door, and jumped. The truck drove straight toward the elephant. The elephant, with its neck stretched forward, rammed its head into the truck.

Neither the truck nor the elephant could overcome their momentum. The truck slid past the elephant, rolled over several times, and exploded. The elephant, with a severe head injury, let out a triumphant roar.

Then Camilla opened the window and fired a flare.

“PWOOOOOO!”

Direct hit on its rear. I could see the elephant’s eyes roll back even from where I stood. It might have been prepared to ram its head into a truck, but it certainly hadn’t expected a burning projectile in its backside.

It charged madly as if that were the only solution. That is, straight toward me. Screech! A Humvee came to a halt. Surprisingly, it was Cassandra. Without a second thought, I jumped into the vehicle. Screech! She stomped on the pedal so hard it left long tire marks on the road.

And then the beating began.

“Ow! Ow! That hurts! Hey!”

“Die! Die! Die right there!”

Cassandra was sobbing as she struck me with her palms. Though she was hitting me with her bare hands, it felt like being beaten with a steel pipe. Even taking a punch from an angry Camilla hadn’t hurt this much.

“Ow, bone! You hit my bone!”

“Cassandra’s a doctor! She’ll break it and put it back together!”

I desperately crawled to the back seat. Running away was better than being beaten to death by Cassandra. The elephant with its flaming rear rushed past us. I felt a strange sense of kinship with it.

* * * * *

CRASH.

The armored Humvee smashed right through the metal gate. Behind it came the truck and trailer driven by Leticia, and finally the truck driven by Camilla. Camilla’s truck moved back and forth, serving as a replacement for the destroyed gate. It was only a temporary measure—it could block zombies trying to walk in but not those crawling underneath.

“Let’s get out.”

Cassandra, her eyes red from crying, jumped out of the car with a pistol in hand. Camilla and Leticia were already securing the area. This place seemed to have been a private outdoor tennis club before the zombie outbreak. I’m not sure what kind of people used it, but the walls were as high as those of a prison.

There was only one building, a garage with its door wide open. Nothing inside except dirty tennis balls and broken rackets scattered on the floor. There was a water supply system, but nothing came out when I turned the faucet.

“Good.”

After confirming the area was safe, Camilla strode toward me with purpose. Her confident gait made me quite nervous. Sure enough, she grabbed my wrist and twisted my arm.

“Do you have a death wish? What kind of lunatic charges at an elephant like that?”

I also had to stop Leticia, who was trying to pull down my pants during all this. Only after I promised “never to make such impulsive decisions that worry everyone again” was I released from the three women.

“So,” Camilla brushed her bangs up. “This is the central district. The infamous central district.”

Though called the central district, it’s about the size of a small city. They say more than 200,000 people lived in the central district alone. If you count those who worked in offices and government buildings, there would have been even more.

The good news is that no people live here now. The bad news is that there are many zombies. A lot of them. But right now, the zombies aren’t paying much attention to this remote location. They’ve all gathered near the barrier.

After the elephant left, we moved cautiously. We didn’t want to provoke the zombies.

Surprisingly, zombies weren’t very interested in slowly passing vehicles. Well, with explosions going off behind us and the scent of blood carried by the wind, not to mention all sorts of wild animals running around, I’d probably go check that out too if I were them.

So we temporarily set up here at the tennis court, which is on slightly higher ground than the surrounding area. Our supplies are in the truck, and we can sleep in the trailer, so we’ve secured minimal safety, but we’re not 100% safe from zombie attacks. Above all, there aren’t just human zombies here.

“So the zoo animals escaped en masse. That means we might encounter zombie lions, zombie tigers, or zombie monkeys.”

It’s nearly impossible for humans to fend off zombie beasts at night. Especially if they’re starving animals with crazed eyes.

But we’re fine for now. Regular gunshots can be heard from the barrier about 3km away. It seems the gang and the cult are having a major confrontation. If you add the zombies we released to the mix, it’s quite a decent fight.

“Thank you, MP.”

I thought of the military policeman with chains wrapped around him. It would be good if he survived and infected others. But even if he’s defeated, it doesn’t matter much. It might even be better.

Of course, it would feel good if he won. But even if he’s defeated and eaten, it’s not a problem. The “our version of Crowe virus” will still enter the zombies’ bodies. The zombies will just continue to infect others.

We’ve already infected more than 300 zombies. If each one is eaten by four others, that’s 1,200. If our infected ones survive, even more will be infected.

“Live strong, wherever you are.”

I sincerely wished for his peace.

Ah.

Come to think of it, I still had some awful-tasting canned food left.

Maybe I should have given it to him before leaving.