I Am Necromancer (2)
Honestly, I wanted to watch the spectacle from the front row, right in the middle of that swarming crowd of zombies. Pretending to be one of them, of course. Honestly, with a lymph node, it’s not even difficult, is it? If I wanted to, I could. The only reason I can't is because I’m wearing a gas mask. A zombie in a gas mask is a bit weird. Same goes for a surgical mask. Should I take off the gas mask for a front-row seat? That makes no sense either. I can't increase my own risk just for a momentary dopamine hit. That would be stupid. It’s the same as walking near a fire while holding a gasoline can just to watch it burn. So, I’ll pass. Watching from a distance is the right call. It won’t matter if I check in after the commotion starts inside.
So, when those people inside get so distracted that they can’t even pay attention to a gas-masked zombie? I sit at what used to be a café in front of the mart, watching the main entrance through the glass. It’s still quiet inside. Even looking through binoculars, there’s no movement. Zombies don’t move at all if there’s no sign of life around them. So, it’s only natural that they’re standing there like dead things right now. But that won’t last long. Once a commotion breaks out in there, that’s when the real show begins.
However, even after the sun rose and the day brightened, the zombies still showed no particular movement. What’s going on? Why is it so quiet? There’s no hole for those bastards to crawl out of. I gathered the zombies as if to besiege the mart, and I made sure the first floor was packed with them. So, there’s no way for the people inside that mart to escape. It’s not like there’s a path leading to a subway or anything. If that’s the case, there’s only one conclusion I can draw: they already witnessed me gathering the zombies, and now they’re holding their breath, staying quiet as mice. There’s no other explanation.
Since the zombies are only on the first floor, it seems they’re avoiding the lower levels entirely, trying not to provoke them. I don’t know what they’re thinking. Do they think the zombies gathered naturally? Well, I suppose they wouldn’t think someone gathered them on purpose. It would be more rational to think there’s an intelligent zombie leading the others around. It’s hard to imagine that "a human who isn't recognized by zombies gathered them with malice for no reason." That’s not having a vivid imagination; that’s a delusional disorder.
Just then, I saw a window open on the upper floor of the mart. And something was thrown out—whoosh!—onto the ground. A bottle with a flame. A Molotov cocktail. It shattered on the floor with a crack! and burst into flames. About three zombies were instantly engulfed in the fire. Perhaps because they were wearing clothes, the fire spread to them quickly. But there were no screams, no signs of agony. The burning zombies just slowly charred to death. I’d seen it once before, so it wasn’t that surprising. A few more Molotov cocktails were thrown, burning a few more zombies. But, well, that’s only a few.
It looked like about ten Molotovs had been dropped, but that’s not enough to deal with this many zombies. Those guys are funny, too. Did they throw them thinking they could burn all these zombies to death with just that? They should have doused them in oil and set them ablaze. It’s impressive they even managed to make Molotovs. Ultimately, though, it’s a waste of resources. Anyway, it was a little incident that let me gauge the intelligence level of the people inside. So, I decided to watch a little longer. I was curious to see what other interesting things those guys might do.
However, even after waiting for a long time, there was no further reaction. Are they putting their heads together for a meeting? Well, if the best they could come up with after racking their brains since dawn was a Molotov cocktail, I suppose it would take them a while. And whatever they do next probably won't be anything smarter than that. Bored of waiting, I looked for something to do myself.
Project Necromancer. Not a bad name. What if I could lead this many zombies around and order them to attack at will? Furthermore, zombies stay perfectly still when there’s no stimulus. In other words, there’s no better guard than a zombie. They react to humans on their own and even repel them? I can’t pass this up. How useful. It doesn’t have anything to do with me, anyway.
The problem is that I have to do the "lymph node play." And if I make one wrong move, I’ll be the first one to become zombie food. So, I need to be able to move the zombies while having the lymph node out. But is that even possible? Seems difficult. I went down for a moment to observe the zombies. The zombies near where I am are just standing still, doing nothing. They look like they’re hibernating while standing up. Bizarre postures. Wait, doesn’t standing like that consume energy? Wouldn’t it be better to lie down?
I brought a mug and threw it—crash! As the mug shattered, the zombies’ heads turned in unison. But that was it. They just went back to standing still in the same posture they were in before. They react to sound, but it’s only for a moment. In the end, there would need to be something additional for the zombies to react to. Would an RC car work? If an RC car kept moving and making noise, would the zombies follow it? I picked up a tumbler. And I found a spoon. Clink, clink, clink, clink. As I made the sound, the zombies looked toward me. And they started to approach, slowly. They react to sound, but there’s no aggression. That means it’s possible.
Well, they reacted to the drone, too. Then a drone would be better than an RC car. It allows for a wider range of movement. Ah. Then I drove around in the car for nothing. I could have just gathered them with a drone from the start. A necromancer who handles drones. That’s kind of funny. Where did such a strange combination come from? But isn’t there a way to make the zombies move faster? Their reaction to the drone isn't much different from their reaction to the mug. If the distance increases or the sound gets quieter, they’ll soon stop reacting and stand still again.
Should I attach a living creature to it? Should I attach a small living creature to the drone and fly it? Would they react more intensely then? I’m worried about zombie birds, but they fly like idiots anyway. So that shouldn’t be a big problem. Thinking about that, I watched the mart. The mart was still quiet, and there had been no reaction since the Molotovs.
Is there no way to make them go upstairs? Should I go myself? Or is something happening in there even now? I was curious about the situation, but for now, I’ll wait. Ah. I should refill my lymph node. Just in case. I went back down to the first floor and caught a zombie. Even if I catch a zombie right in front of them, the other zombies don’t care. I refilled my lymph node, and as for the old one, I just stepped on it and crushed it.
I waited until lunchtime, but they still had no reaction. What are they doing? I’m waiting here. I’m getting hungry and tired, so I’ll withdraw for now. I’ll come back when it gets dark. It won’t matter if I go inside wearing a gas mask then. They won’t be able to see me anyway. If I’m really worried, I can just put masks on a few other zombies. Or I could put something like a motorcycle helmet on them.
I installed a black box inside the café. Just in case something happens while I’m away. After doing that, I passed the zombies and headed to the car. I had to walk a bit because I parked far away, but it couldn’t be helped. I can’t park the car near the mart, can I? When I started the engine, a few zombies looked toward me. As the car moved, they chased after me. But I ignored them all and just drove off. What can I do? There’s nothing I can do.
I returned to my base, disinfected the car, and washed myself thoroughly. It’s a hassle, but I have to do it. I can’t let my base get contaminated with spores. The moment I skip it because I’m lazy is the moment everything I’ve done becomes meaningless. So, I can’t be negligent. The world is either 0 or 100. The middle ground is meaningless. I ate a simple meal and lay down in bed to sleep. Even if I wasn't sleepy, I forced myself to sleep. I don’t know how long I’ll have to stay awake tonight, so I should sleep now. I wasn't sleepy at all, and I thought about going to the woman to have a go, but I just forced myself to sleep. After much struggle, I managed to fall asleep.
It was a sleep that left me feeling completely unrefreshed even after waking up. But that was fine. I slept for a few hours, so I won’t be sleepy or tired for a while. Looking at the time, the sun must have set by now. I prepared myself fully again, got into the car, and headed out. I parked the car in a different spot than before and got out. The zombies approached me. But as I took out the lymph node I’d kept in saline, they ignored me as expected. Alright. That’s settled, then.
I’ve become a necromancer again. A necromancer with several hundred zombies that don’t listen to a damn word I say. When I got to the mart, the zombies that had been swarming the first floor were still there. I don’t think I need to go in and check the footage. It seems those bastards didn’t move an inch from there until the sun went down. What are they aiming for? The idea that if they just leave them alone and hold out, the zombies will die on their own? Well, it’s not impossible. After a few days, the zombies’ functions will drop significantly. Especially since they’re gathered in such a crowd, they won’t be able to eat anything, so that’s even more likely. If they die like that, they’ll tear into the corpses, and the numbers might decrease. Or they might take advantage of the zombies being weakened. They probably have plans like that, too. With 11 adults, they might be able to break through the weakened zombies.
I entered the first floor of the mart. I don’t think I need another gas mask or helmet. It’s dark and hard to see, so I think I can just go like this. A siege, huh? I can’t let them do that. I walked through the zombies and looked toward the moving walkway that leads to the second floor. Did they not block it because they were close to the zombies? Did they go even higher? Then, it’s my turn to shine. It’s a dark mart anyway, so they won’t notice whatever I do, right?
In the middle of the moving walkway, I put the lymph node into a sealed container. Then I looked down. The zombies slowly looked toward me. They turned their bodies. Kyahhhk! The first zombie screamed. And the other zombies screamed as well. Then, they followed the moving walkway to catch me. Alright. Let’s go, then. Zombies. Follow your necromancer.