Ch.184Chapter 20. Patriot (36)

I’m not sure if zombies have good memory, or if zombies are generally known for remembering things well. What matters is that this one didn’t forget me.

“Here you go.”

When I unwrapped a chocolate bar and tossed it to him, the Military Police zombie drooled with delight. I threw some to the others who had followed us from the laboratory as well. They chewed the chocolate bars as if they were gum.

“You’re still ugly.”

“Grrrk.”

“Yeah. Chronic conditions are hard to cure.”

“Guk.”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

The Military Police zombie, who had been staring at me with rather pitiful eyes, quietly moved toward the shade. I started to wonder if he was half-human. But he sat down in the tree’s shadow and drifted off to sleep.

He was in a food coma. Just like the other zombies around him.

* * * * *

Zombies identified each other by smell. When I say “identified,” I don’t mean they wouldn’t eat each other. If one showed weakness or dripped blood, it would be recognized as “fresh food” regardless of how it smelled.

However, they were much more likely to eat zombies that weren’t infected with “our version” of the Cro virus than those that were.

The “non-our” zombies were eaten helplessly. It’s a natural outcome when three zombies gang up on one that’s been reinfected with “our version” of the Cro virus.

If there were no wounds, they wouldn’t bother attacking. That seemed to be why they didn’t follow Catherine and Elian’s reconnaissance team. Spraying pheromones into the air to attract infected ones had paid off.

We won.

Me. Camilla. Cassandra. Leticia. And the zombies.

“Gather many zombies indiscriminately, control those already infected with our version of the Cro virus to escape danger. Meanwhile, let humans either fight and get eaten or run away. Whichever way it ends, collect the spoils.”

I’m not sure if I should include zombies in “us,” but it’s a strategy I couldn’t have devised if I hadn’t known that the Military Police zombie and his group were alive.

Thanks to them, we secured plenty of ammunition, food, water, and equipment. The supply depot had enough provisions for an infantry company to carry out field missions for at least a month. Unopened rifles, dried food, blankets, sleeping bags, personal equipment, and medical supplies.

The chemicals, lab tools, various experimental equipment, expensive machine parts, and clean new clothes left around the university were a bonus. Opening each student cabinet felt like opening a random loot box. Some even had photos attached, and I made sure to whisper, “Thank you. I’ll put this to good use,” each time.

“Ow ow ow ow ow!”

Of course, the “settlement” time came with its share of torment.

“I, I suffered too!”

“Sure you did. You could have comfortably spent 20 days sleeping with one person per day, but instead you had to rush through them all. How unfortunate for you.”

Camilla pulled my ear whenever she got the chance. Leticia, seeing this, didn’t try to stop her but clicked her tongue in disgust. Cassandra had set up her space far away from us. She was the only one who somewhat listened to my side of the story.

Normally, pheromone spray only transmitted the virus and amplified emotions, not completely overturning a person’s reason. Of course, hidden desires sometimes surfaced in the process, but that was something that could happen naturally between healthy adults, so I didn’t find it strange.

That’s why this incident was even more incomprehensible. Even with concentrated pheromones, I couldn’t understand why not just women but men too would attack me while experiencing sexual identity confusion. That was the main point Cassandra questioned me about.

“It’s not certain, but it’s not unexplainable either.”

“What is it?”

“Those people in Elian’s reconnaissance team, they said they caught a group cold after visiting the southern gas station, right?”

Come to think of it, that did seem to be the case.

“Yes.”

“Then the dormant Cro virus there would have already been replaced by ‘our version’ of the Cro virus. But after that, exposure to concentrated and excessive pheromones seems to have caused a kind of hypersensitivity reaction. Like an allergy, I suppose.”

Camilla, who had been listening, suddenly waved her hand.

“So the allergic reaction manifests as explosive sexual desire?”

“Not all of it. Remember that woman Catherine said she got hungry and ate everything at first? She wasn’t part of Elian’s reconnaissance team, so she wasn’t infected with our virus. She got infected while traveling with them, suffered from body aches, and during that time, her exposure turned into sexual desire. Though I’m not certain about this either.”

“Wait a minute. We’re traveling with a walking pheromone mass, but we don’t react that strongly, do we?”

It was a bit absurd hearing this from Leticia, who tried to creep into my room every night, but thinking about it, she was originally a bit of a pervert, so maybe she wasn’t the best example.

“That’s because Johan didn’t pour two canisters of concentrated pheromones on himself. And as I said, pheromones don’t unconditionally attract people. They amplify thoughts and emotions that people already harbor.”

“Ah.”

Camilla snapped her fingers as if she’d realized something.

“What is it?”

“Johan. Those fanatics, they’re people who truly desired and expected a savior, right? So when they smelled Johan’s pheromones, they were heavily influenced and tried to fit him into their image of a savior, don’t you think?”

“Ugh. The savior of the Goddess of Hunger is not a sex-crazed monkey!”

Leticia was disgusted, but Camilla didn’t back down.

“I know enough about the doctrine too! And those guys are fanatics, not ordinary believers. So maybe they believed something different?”

“I’ve heard that the savior would save the world from misery, but I’ve never heard that he’d try to sleep with everyone at every opportunity!”

“Couldn’t that happen if they were enchanted?”

Camilla and Leticia seemed to enjoy their debate, but I couldn’t get into it. Whether man or woman, the desire for a savior would be the same. But there’s no rule that such enchantment would only be expressed sexually.

Leaving the two women to talk, I went up to the engineering building’s rooftop. While the starlight was brilliant, the city at night was dark and gloomy. The ugly, twisted zombies were deeply asleep under the dark blanket of evening.

Where should we go?

There was too much stuff in the gym, so it seemed we’d have to struggle for a few days. With the gym, the health center at Silver Town, and the city hall all exposed, I was worried about where to go next.

What about those guys?

I looked down at the zombies surrounding us. Though they were hidden in the tree’s shadow, there seemed to be well over a hundred. With the RV and RV helicopter, we could move them too. Being among them would provide some measure of safety. Provided we could keep them well-fed and we had no wounds ourselves.

“Johan.”

I heard Cassandra’s voice. She had come up the stairs and was watching me. Of course, she kept her distance from me, but now there were no unnecessary misunderstandings.

“You wrapped yourself up so tightly because you were afraid of addiction? Is that also why you’re keeping your distance now?”

She nodded at my question.

“Cassandra’s body has undergone some changes. It’s what happened to those fanatics. When I analyzed Cassandra’s blood, there were black sediments. Their number is decreasing rapidly, but they haven’t been completely expelled yet.”

“What exactly does that do?”

“It responds to your pheromones and stimulates desires. Hunger. Sexual desire. Dominance. Those are actually the tamer ones. In some cases, it could even incite murderous intent. Human desires are as complex as thoughts. And Cassandra remembers everything she did to you when she was ‘hungry.'”

What’s the difference between loving and devouring? That the former has a future while the latter doesn’t? That seems insufficient. What matters is that she’s keeping her distance from me, and now that distance doesn’t feel so far.

“You’re keeping your distance to avoid losing yourself, right?”

“Yes. Doing strange things to you isn’t ‘my’ will. I don’t want to do such things.”

Cassandra’s face is hard to read. Always the same expressionless look. Instead, she talked about “me.” It was sincere.

“Thank you.”

So I thanked her.

“For what?”

“For everything. Your efforts. Your consideration. I haven’t said it, but I’ve always been grateful. I’m expressing it now. I’d like to get closer, but that’s…”

“Not yet.”

Cassandra stepped back. The darkness made it even harder to read her expression. She even turned her head slightly, making me feel like I was glimpsing a crescent moon.

“…Ahem. You’ll catch a cold. Come down soon.”

“Huh?”

But Cassandra was already gone.

I couldn’t help but smile.

I leaned against the railing and looked down. The people I care about are in this building, and the beasts I need to lead are out there. Humans and what were once humans. Animals that love, get jealous, hate, and suffer from hunger, bound by the absurd commonality of being infected with the same virus.

“It’s not a big deal.”

Whatever happens out there isn’t my concern. I just need to keep doing what I’ve been doing. Eat, love, sleep, fight. Take it easy. Spread our version of the Cro virus to be safer, fall asleep somewhere no one knows about. Occasionally find pretty clothes, eat delicious canned food.

For those trivial, small days.