Ch.162Chapter 20. Patriot (14)

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‘Evergreen Health Center’ is located in the center of the Silver Town.

It’s a two-story building situated beside a four-lane road, and despite its modest size, it had quite a spacious parking lot surrounded by a fence just tall enough to keep chickens in.

Anywhere in Silver Town, there were ambulances that could dispatch emergency vehicles, medical equipment capable of precise diagnoses, and medical staff on standby 24 hours a day.

All these benefits were free. The reason being they were already included in the Silver Town residence fee. At least, that’s what it said on the website.

The laptop was connected to the communication satellite in Minsk, Western Union, and thanks to Cassandra activating the anti-tracking protocol, it was secure, though the connection was a bit slow.

“You want to go here? It looks too difficult to defend. No walls, and it’s on a main road. The windows are so large that if zombies ram their heads into them—bang!—they’ll break right through.”

“It seems convenient for parking vehicles, but I don’t see any other advantages.”

Camilla and Leticia, sitting side by side in front of the laptop, each made a comment. It was quite surprising. Not that the two women agreed, but that they were sitting so close their hips were touching. Even in the cramped trailer, the two had always avoided physical contact.

“It’s changed quite a bit.”

I handed my smartphone to the two women. This was the place where Cassandra and I had agreed to “return if we circle around here without finding anything,” but it looked better than expected, so I had taken photos.

The fence that had once been ankle-high had been replaced with a cement wall that towered well above the height of an average person. On the roof of the colorfully painted building sat a mounted machine gun nest reinforced with sandbags.

The four-lane road was now filled with military trucks, tents, and more sandbag fortifications and barbed wire barricades, thoroughly surrounding the Evergreen Health Center.

Moreover, instead of the Elsa national flag, a large banner hung from the flagpole. It was a flag torn and tattered by wind and rain, but Leticia managed to identify it.

“Hmm, it’s the 284th Military Police flag. And… it’s the Headquarters Company flag. Strange. Why would the HQ Company be here?”

It was indeed strange. This was a human non-protected zone. When the evacuation order was issued, all military units were supposed to move to protected areas for reorganization and redeployment.

Furthermore, the Headquarters Company contained the core officers and soldiers of the military unit—equivalent to the brain of a human body. It made no sense why they would set up camp here.

“Even if they were planning an operation, they’d usually set up at core public facilities like city hall or provincial government buildings, police stations, or fire stations. If not those, they’d use military bases within the city. They wouldn’t set up at a health center in a retirement community. Is this really the Headquarters Company?”

It was a reasonable doubt. I showed them the next photo. In fact, this was why I had decided we needed to go here.

Camilla and Leticia’s eyes immediately widened.

“Is that…?”

“Yes. A generator.”

It was a vehicle-mounted generator used by the military. I wasn’t sure about its output, but since it was mounted on a 10-ton truck, the power generation must be substantial. Fortunately, the generator vehicle was neatly parked in the health center’s fenced parking lot.

“Actually, this is why I suggested staying here. First, the defenses have been greatly reinforced, and most importantly, there’s a generator. Given the width of the road, our vehicles should be able to move around freely. Besides, there’s no one here but us. We can make as much noise as we want without risk of human attack. We just need to deal with animals and zombies.”

This is a city, and moreover, it was a quarantine zone. This was something we had prepared for since entering the city. Our goal was to re-infect zombies with ‘our version’ of the Chro virus and freely roam and live in the city.

So here, unlike at the research facility, we don’t need to worry about being spotted by other ‘people.’

“But isn’t this decision too hasty? If vehicles can come and go, that means zombies can gather in large numbers too. Plus, if we run the generator, the smell and noise will attract all sorts of creatures. Oh, are you thinking of extracting the generator and taking it somewhere safer?”

Leticia’s point was valid. Of course, I had considered that too.

“That’s even better. Our goal is to infect more zombies, right? If we make noise, more zombies will gather, making it easier to spread the infection. With the food and water we have, we can easily last a month. Plus, this health center supposedly has decent medical analysis equipment.”

I hadn’t checked inside yet, but they wouldn’t have taken such heavy equipment during a zombie outbreak. It would make more sense to move the same weight in medicine containers, which could save many more lives.

Camilla, who seemed lost in thought, asked:

“Cassandra, what do you think? You’ve been there too, right?”

“Yes, and the sooner the better. I was bitten.”

That was Cassandra’s stubbornness—insisting on revealing that she’d been bitten. I thought there was no need to mention it.

Camilla covered her mouth, and Leticia’s eyes looked like they might pop out. Cassandra, without changing her expression, briefly told them what we had seen and experienced.

She skimmed over what happened in the small storage room, only saying that she had “completed disinfection.” Normally, Cassandra would have told everything without omission, which was a bit strange, but that wasn’t important right now.

“As I’ve mentioned before, Cassandra underwent a ‘procedure’ when she was very young. Because of that, most zombie viruses don’t have much effect on her. Cassandra knows this from her own experiments.”

“…What do you mean by her own experiments?”

Leticia asked suspiciously.

“She injected herself with various weakened forms of the Chro virus, hoping to find clues for an antibody. She gave up because there were too many variants.”

Camilla answered for her. A shocked Leticia pulled back.

“Are you c-c-crazy?”

“If by crazy you mean having lost logical reasoning abilities, then no. I’m speaking based on rational grounds. However, the viruses Cassandra previously injected were ones with reduced infectivity. This time, she was bitten by a zombie, so the infection strength is high. In other words, there’s a possibility that Cassandra could turn into a zombie.”

For someone talking about potentially becoming a zombie herself, she was remarkably calm. Camilla clutched her forehead as if dizzy.

“So, what do we do?”

“That’s why I suggested going to the health center. With blood analysis tools, a microscope, and analysis software, we can measure the infection risk. It would be better to find another hospital, but this is the best option among the places we’ve found. Even if Cassandra turns into a zombie, I want to make as many sprays as possible before that happens. Or I could teach you how to make them.”

“How can you talk about this so calmly?”

Leticia asked in shock. Cassandra didn’t even blink.

“Cassandra will definitely eliminate this virus. But it doesn’t necessarily have to be Cassandra who defeats the Chro virus. That’s enough.”

Usually easily startled, fearful, and skilled at hiding, she was braver than anyone when it came to virus issues.

It didn’t seem to be just because she felt guilty for contributing to the creation of the Chro virus and felt the need to atone. In a way, it seemed like she was challenging herself—the current Cassandra solving the problem created by the past Cassandra.

“Then we have no choice. We need to break in there. But if there’s no suitable equipment inside, let’s immediately head to a large hospital.”

Camilla’s proposal was more aggressive. Noticing my gaze, she raised an eyebrow.

“Why are you looking at me like that? I may not be able to analyze viruses, but I can shoot. I’m confident I can shoot everything until Cassandra finishes her research analysis. My friend might die—what’s more important than that?”

“F-friend…?”

The confident doctor from a moment ago disappeared, and the usual Cassandra who flinched at her shoulders returned. Camilla gave a hollow laugh.

“Weren’t we friends? That’s what I thought.”

“W-well, yes, but…”

Leticia, who had been listening, interrupted.

“Anyway, when are we leaving? I’m fine with this evening.”

“I think that might be difficult for Cassandra…”

Honestly, I’d like to just collapse and sleep right now. My inner thigh is still tingling too. But we have to do what needs to be done. I spread out the map.

“We should check if the weather is good tomorrow morning. First, we’ll set fires here and here, then blow up the car on this road…”