The First Hunt
I ended up inside a zombie apocalypse novel. This time the loot was a cup of spaghetti ramen and a tortilla. I'd heard that as long as the packaging wasn't torn open, it was still safe to eat, so I quickly heated them up and scarfed them down, chewing frantically. Luckily, nothing seemed wrong with them. Guess expiration dates and best-by dates really are different things—two weeks later and these frozen foods were still perfectly edible. The instant stuff, on the other hand, all went straight into the trash bin and got buried deep.
Still, there was plenty left to eat. "Whew." I tore open a bag of snacks to cleanse my palate and started planning. Two weeks had already passed, so the whole "just hold out" strategy was officially scratched. If the zombies kept powering up faster than I did, the world would end for real. That meant I had to get stronger, and fast.
Thankfully my ability was the same as the protagonist's, so if I could just put in the effort, my growth rate should be insane. "If I'd known this was gonna happen, I would've actually gone to the gym like a normal person." I flipped through a dusty home workout book, but there wasn't much useful info. It was all basic exercises you could do without leaving the house. Still, better than nothing.
"Twenty swings. If I can swing this bat twenty times and still stand properly, I'll clear out the building." There was no one around to hear me, but that didn't matter. I wasn't saying it for anyone else anyway. It was just a way to plant a goal in my own head. First, I'd wipe out every zombie in this building, burn the corpses, and clean the place up. Zombie bodies could be used as food for other zombies or as materials for creating variants. A few I'd left behind because I was too busy to deal with them were one thing, but from now on, every zombie I killed needed to be thoroughly incinerated.
I stretched again, lightly slapped my cheeks to sharpen up, then tossed the trash, unplugged everything, and went looking for other equipment. This time I decided to try the dumbbells. I followed the book's instructions and split up the sets, but my stamina was absolute garbage—I couldn't even last ten minutes. After that I lay down for about thirty minutes, got back up, and moved on to the next machine. I used resistance bands to work on flexibility, did some push-ups, and whenever my stomach growled I'd eat something. I kept repeating that cycle of frantic exercise and rest.
And finally—
"This is... haaa... it, damn." After swinging the baseball bat with full power fifteen times, I could at least stay standing. Of course, if I tried to do anything else, ten swings was still my limit, but my stomach had definitely gotten bigger than before. At this rate, I figured I could handle two zombies. Just calmly smash the head, then smash it again. Simple.
"Should I head out?" It'd cool me down after being drenched in sweat and let me do some scouting. Better to take one careful lap around and come back. It was already six o'clock. Considering the weather was starting to get cold, I could probably stay out for another hour.
"Alright. Let's get some fresh air and take a walk." I slung the baseball bat over my shoulder with swagger and looked for a bag I could strap to my waist. I wasn't an idiot, so I planned for the possibility of having to hide. That meant packing at least two meals' worth of food. There were small water jugs at the PC Bang, so grabbing two of those should do it.
I packed relatively light, strapped the bag tightly around my waist so I wouldn't lose it, and—
".............................."
In case I had to run back, I dragged all the cleaning tools from the emergency exit over to a corner of the PC Bang. Today's objectives were simple: lightly scout the surroundings and block the stairs. Those zombies were definitely banging on the door to the staircase leading to the PC Bang. And if my memory was right, closing the stairwell door would keep me safe for a while. Obviously I'd have to kill them all eventually, but right now survival came first.
I'd close the emergency stairwell door, explore only up to the first and second floors, then sprint back to the PC Bang. That was the plan.
"...........Whew." I slowly opened the door and closed it just as carefully behind me. There didn't seem to be any zombies nearby. Only then did I realize where I was. It was the empty space between buildings—the kind of spot where people went to smoke. I needed to pick a direction and head inside, so without hesitation I turned right.
"...................."
I almost cursed out loud. And for good reason—the back of a zombie's head had suddenly appeared right in front of me. It hadn't noticed me yet. It was just standing there, letting out quiet groans and staring blankly. Dodging and moving on was no longer an option. I had a much better conversation tool.
I slowly lifted the baseball bat, put my weight behind it, and slammed it down on the zombie's head. There was a wet crunching sound as its skull caved in.
".....Ugh." The sticky mess made the bat stick. But that was actually lucky. If the zombie had just collapsed on its own, the noise might have attracted others. So I carefully pulled the bat back toward me and stuck my leg out where the body would fall. The corpse bumped into my leg and flopped straight to the ground. It made a little noise, but it was quiet enough that I could pretend it didn't happen.
Killing one gave me a surge of confidence. Still, letting my guard down would be stupid, so I carefully peeked around the corner and checked my surroundings. Strangely, there were no other zombies nearby. Actually, there shouldn't be any. Two weeks had passed—it was about time for them to start forming groups. Variants would probably start appearing soon too, and in another month, breeding would begin. I needed to get stronger before that happened. With that thought in mind, I crouched low and moved forward.
"Good thing the door's closed." This building's door was shut, so zombies couldn't open it. If they couldn't gather here, it wasn't a good spot for a group to stay. They must have moved on to another building. I slowly opened the door, slipped inside, and closed it behind me. Not a single sound came from within.
"Oh." The zombies on the first floor must have all headed toward the emergency stairs. I considered that very lucky as I closed the emergency stairwell door. As long as I didn't make any loud noises, no one should come up to the first floor. Just to be safe, I quietly closed every door I could find and even wedged a makeshift latch made from cleaning tools I'd found in the bathroom. The door I'd entered through would need to stay usable, so I'd put the latch on from the outside later. For now, I left that thought for later and headed up the regular stairs instead of the emergency ones. I'd check the first-floor shops later. Not now. Later.
"......It's cleaner than I expected." I carefully peeked out at the second floor and saw nothing. So I decided to close the emergency stairwell door first. Thankfully, nothing went wrong while I was doing it. Feeling a bit more confident, I checked the bathrooms, but both were empty. All that remained was checking the rooms on the second floor.
There were three rooms total: a beauty salon, an academy, and a stationery store.
"Looks like it's connected to the stationery store on the first floor." I'd check the stationery store later. For now, I'd start with the beauty salon. I crouched down and looked through the glass wall. Nothing seemed to be moving inside. There was some clutter knocked over, but I didn't get the feeling that a zombie was in there. The door was open too, so it looked like whoever had been inside had managed to escape.
I carefully stepped inside and quickly confirmed there were no zombies. "Ugh, everything in the fridge is rotten." A puddle of slimy liquid had collected under it. Better not to open that. I checked the other cabinets instead. Luckily there were a few things like coffee and ramen. I'd grab them on the way out. Then I headed to the academy.
The academy also looked empty when I peered through the gap in the door. And the door opened easily...
"Let's go in." The academy was divided into several rooms. There were no zombies in the hallway. I slowly approached the nearest room and looked through the window. Nothing. Just workbooks, study sheets, and some writing utensils. The other rooms were the same. Even the third room was empty. That left the fourth room and the one labeled Director's Office.
"Fuck......" The fourth room's window didn't let me see the whole space. There was definitely more room inside. The Director's Office had no window at all. That meant I'd have to go into both. I swallowed hard and gripped the baseball bat tighter. I turned the handle slightly, then kicked the door open wider. The moment I looked to the side, a zombie with its mouth wide open lunged at me.
"Shit!"
"Grrrk!" I reflexively swung the bat, hoping it wouldn't hit me, but luck was on my side—it slammed perfectly into the zombie's jaw. I didn't need to be afraid of a jawless zombie that had lost its weapon. I brainwashed myself with that thought, reset my stance, and delivered the final blow. Down from above. One zombie dead.
"...........Haaaa. Fuuuuck....." I calmed my pounding heart and looked around the room. There were two more dead zombies inside. Come to think of it, the one I'd just killed was dressed like a teacher. The other two looked like students. ......The students must have turned first, and the teacher had sacrificed himself.
"....Sorry for cursing. Still, well. The living have to live, right?" I'd clean up the bodies later. With that thought, I opened the door and left. The moment I decided to search the Director's Office, its door swung open. For a second I thought it might be a person, but the green skin told me everything I needed to know. Two zombies. And they were already ready to pounce.
"Fuck!" I sprinted down the hallway in a panic. The one in front leaped and smashed its head into the door. But the other one stared at me slowly, then charged. I scrambled to get into position and swing the bat, but my instincts screamed at me.
That bastard was going for a tackle.
"Mommy!" Since getting bitten was the absolute worst thing that could happen, I held the bat horizontally like I was bunting. Luckily I managed to stop it from biting me. But I couldn't stop myself from being shoved backward and falling.
"Grrraaah.... Grrrrraaaaah....!" The zombie gnashed its teeth, trying to bite me. I forced the bat against its neck to hold it back, but I needed a plan. So I'd kick it in the stomach, knock it away, then get up—ah, fuck.
"Mommy........." The other zombie that had smashed its head into the door earlier was now diving straight on top of me. It was good that it landed on the first zombie so I didn't get bitten, but the situation was still completely fucked. I couldn't run like this, and the noise might bring zombies down from the third or fourth floor. Plus, with my strength, I didn't think I could shake these two off.
In other words, I was completely, utterly screwed.