January 16
The three women were hiding inside the school's administration building.
Miranda sat with her back pressed against a filing cabinet, trembling uncontrollably, her younger sister cradled tightly in her arms. Doris looked a little better after taking the medicine earlier, but she was still far from recovered. She remained terribly frail, as though she could slip into a truly dangerous state at any moment.
And the medicine they had traded for was already gone. She would still need more treatment afterward. If not for Doris's illness, they never would have joined the other survivors in trying to seize the supply drop.
Brent stood by the doorway, peeking into the corridor outside. After a single explosion, a burst of gunfire had followed, but now all of it had gone still. The building was eerily silent. Even the sounds of infected roaming and smashing things had stopped. All they could hear now was each other's breathing.
The entire floor was so quiet it felt like the tense pause in a horror film right before disaster struck, as though a storm of terror would descend at any second.
Then, with a sharp click, the stillness shattered.
It was like a stone thrown into a calm pond, sending ripples in every direction.
"Damn it! Miss, our pistols are completely out of ammo!"
Brent yanked out her pistol magazine in panic and looked at it. Empty.
The night before, they had encountered several bizarre infected and spent everything there. Then came an entire night of running for their lives. In the chaos, she had forgotten to reload. Just now, when the people chasing them had come after them again, she had instinctively drawn her gun—only for the hollow click of an empty weapon to tell her there was nothing left inside.
Now she searched every pocket on her body and found not even a single loose round. The gun in her hand had become nothing but dead weight. In the end, she could only draw a dagger and stand guard behind the door.
"Brent, maybe that late-arriving shooter won. Things might still turn around."
Holding the weak Doris in her arms, Miranda tried to reassure Brent in a low voice. But in truth, she was even more frightened than Brent was. To stop herself from trembling visibly, Miranda pressed her knees tightly together, clamping them shut like a vise.
The heavy armor of her chest was squeezed hard against Doris, making the already-feeble girl struggle for breath. Though uncomfortable, Doris's face merely flushed red, and for some reason she seemed to enjoy the warmth of being held like this, so she said nothing.
"Miss, don't place too much hope in anyone. No one is going to help us that much. In the end, only we ourselves can save ourselves."
Brent did not think like Miranda.
She had seen both the vileness and the nobility human beings were capable of. On the battlefield, she had watched former comrades sell each other out just to stay alive, and she had seen people she once helped turn away from her suffering without a shred of pity. But she had also encountered genuine kindness—like the way Miranda's parents, people who had owed her nothing, had still dragged her back from death's edge.
So she would never condemn everyone with a single judgment, but neither would she lower her guard around anyone. Not except for Miss Miranda, Miss Doris, and their parents.
"Then what do we do, Brent? Doris and I can barely move anymore!"
The pursuit earlier had been too terrifying. Those scum working with the infected had hunted them alongside the monsters. Some of the survivors they met yesterday had been sprayed by corrosive liquid just for being a little too slow, and in less than half a minute, living people had been burned down into charred husks.
Having seen that with their own eyes, how could they not be terrified? Their guns were useless now. Armed with only short blades, how were they supposed to stay calm?
Even Brent, the most mature and composed among them, was deeply troubled. She was ready to die if that was what it took to protect the two young women. But even if she died, what would happen to them afterward? Two pampered, defenseless girls—how were they supposed to survive?
There was no good answer.
They had only two options.
First, negotiate. If the person outside was lawful and decent, then they had hope. Even someone merely neutral would do. But if that person was evil, then they were finished, and Brent did not dare imagine what fate awaited them.
Second, try to flee in secret. If the outsider had not noticed them, maybe they still had a chance. But Brent was worried that the shooter might not be alone. What if there were companions outside?
In other words, this was nearly a dead end. They were in an utterly inferior position, like meat laid out on a cutting board, waiting for someone else to decide whether they would be braised, steamed, or carved apart.
In the end, Brent hardened her heart.
Whatever happened, happened. Better to gamble now than sit here waiting for death. It was better to take the initiative and break the deadlock than wait until the other side came knocking and trapped them for good.
She set aside the pistol that had no more bullets in it. To show her sincerity, she even handed her dagger over to Miranda.
Then she pushed open the door.
The foul, blood-tainted air from outside rushed into her lungs without restraint.
She saw the other person almost at once—a black gun leveled at her, a red laser dot resting over the left side of her chest.
Recognizing the situation, she silently raised her hands in surrender.
Kyoko's Perspective
After slinging her M4A1—now running low on ammunition—across her back, Kyoko switched to her sidearm, the G18C. The fifty-round drum magazine was perfect for close-range suppression.
She had only roughly finished cleaning up the battlefield before hurrying toward the place where the survivors had hidden.
"Can't let them get away. I still need answers."
Kyoko did not really think the people there posed a serious threat. Judging from the way they had just been chased, it was unlikely any real heavy-hitters were among them.
Although gunshots had been fired earlier, those had come from the infected-aligned group, and only after Kyoko launched her attack. Against the ordinary survivors, those people had relied mostly on controlled infected.
Passing through the corridor, Kyoko followed the familiar route across campus with practiced ease until she reached the administration building where the survivors had taken shelter.
She had not gotten far before she saw one of the doors in the hallway slowly opening from the inside.
Someone was coming out.
She immediately raised her pistol into a firing stance and aimed.
A tall adult woman stepped through the doorway, a little taller than Kyoko herself. She had brown hair, shooting glasses, and a white down jacket stained with blood.
The moment she realized she had been spotted, the woman obediently raised both hands. The motion was smooth and almost professional, as though she had practiced surrendering many times before.
"Don't move! Hands on your head, squat down! Who are you? Are you carrying anything dangerous? Is anyone else with you?"
Kyoko barked the order sharply. Brent complied without hesitation.
"No. I don't have any weapons on me. I'm Brent, a tourist from Italy. Please, believe me!"
Her Japanese came out in a rushed torrent, heavily accented in a way that somehow made it sound like it had been flavored with pasta.
Seeing that the terrifying gunfighter was actually a girl even younger than she was, Brent was stunned. But the other girl held absolute power now, and Brent had no choice but to crouch obediently if she wanted to live.
Watching Brent follow instructions so neatly, Kyoko felt satisfied. Her voice softened just a little as she continued questioning her, at the same time studying her expression and clothing to decide how much of her story was true.
"If you're unarmed, then take off that heavy coat so I can check. And do you have any companions? Relax. I'm not some saint, but I'm not the sort who murders people on sight either. If possible, I'd prefer for us to get along without trouble."
How was Brent supposed to answer that?
Even if she lied, the two young women were just behind that door. If they tried to escape through the window, Kyoko would notice. If she searched the room, she would find them anyway.
What was she supposed to do?
One wrong move and the lightest outcome would be all three of them shot dead. The worst was something far darker—dragged off alive and turned into helpless slaves. This was not mere imagination. She had seen such things happen with her own eyes in the early days after the outbreak.
The end of the world had stripped away the restraints from the filthiest people. Moral collapse, twisted humanity, regression into outright barbarism—these were exactly the kinds of horrors evil people would commit.
Brent's thoughts spun wildly, and in those ten seconds of hesitation, she forgot the warnings old veterans had once given her on the battlefield.
She did not answer.
And that alone was answer enough.
Kyoko's trust, which had only barely begun to form, thinned at once. Something was behind that door. She wanted to see what it was.
"Wait... there really are people behind the door. Please don't shoot!"
The instant she saw Kyoko raise her rifle toward the room where the two girls were hiding, Brent panicked and blurted out the truth. All her earlier plans crumbled in an instant.
At that moment, she hated herself for her own stupidity. If anything happened to the two young ladies she was meant to protect, then what kind of bodyguard was she?
Seeing her little provocation work, Kyoko smiled. To Brent, that victor's smile made her want to tear the girl apart.
If not for the fact that Brent had already thrown away her weapons, that her gun was empty, and that the safety of the two girls mattered more than anything else—if Kyoko so much as tried anything unforgivable—then Brent would drag her down even if it cost her life.
"So you can tell the truth. Bring the people inside out. I don't want to catch you lying to me again. From now on, I ask, you answer honestly. I don't want to use force, but don't push me."
Kyoko shook the gun in her hand menacingly.
"Yes! Please spare us!"
Now that everything had come this far, there was no point regretting it. They never should have come here for the airdrop in the first place. Earlier, the supply crates had looked like salvation. Now all that hope had soured into remorse.
With a heart full of helplessness, Brent opened the door as though all strength had drained from her body, exposing the two young women she had sworn to protect to danger.
At this point, all they could do was submit and hope. If the stranger did not force things too far, then maybe the three of them would still have a narrow path to survival. And if she did—if she truly intended the worst—then even as a lone person, Kyoko with that fully automatic weapon left them no real way to resist.
Brent knew guns well enough to recognize the G18C at once. The thing could spit rounds at a frightening rate. If it came to that, then even dying, she would try to take Kyoko with her.
Her eyes flicked to the grenades still hanging from Kyoko's rig, pins intact.
Then two girls stepped out of the room.
They were strikingly alike in face, though their hair was different colors. The older one had long blue hair flowing behind her. The younger one wore vivid red twin tails that swayed fiercely behind her head.
"Oh? Two pretty girls. Sisters?"
Kyoko glanced at them, then back to Brent.
"Brent, care to explain who exactly you people are?"
Brent had already prepared a lie—but before she could speak, her lady stopped her. Brent swallowed the lie and fell silent. She was a bodyguard, no matter how close she stood to them. She had no right to interfere with her mistress's decision.
"Let me explain," Miranda said, steadying her weak sister.
"I am the first heir of the Christian family. The one beside me is my cousin, and the other is my bodyguard. You may not know our family name, but I swear to you—if you keep your word and spare us, then even in this ruined world, you will be rewarded for it."
The words were half true and half false. Calling Doris her cousin was a deliberate lie. Compared to admitting she was her own younger sister, presenting her as a cousin might protect her better. If anything happened, then Miranda herself, the more important target, would be the one taken first.
Miranda's calculations were clever, but they were still not clever enough for Kyoko.
I don't care who you are, Kyoko thought. For safety's sake, you're all coming with me.
"Christian family? Never heard of it. But if you tell me the truth, then it doesn't matter who you are. I won't make things difficult for you."
"I hope you'll honor your word. I'll tell you everything I know. Please... help my cousin."
Miranda forced herself to trust this stranger—not because she truly wanted to, but because Doris's condition was worsening again, and she desperately needed help.
For Doris's sake, she was staking everything.
As long as her sister remained alive, the family would not collapse. Their father was gone, and their mother was consumed with work. If Doris had not insisted on traveling abroad, Miranda would likely still be at home, buried in family duties, helping her mother manage the enormous burden waiting for her there.
So for Doris, Miranda was willing to risk it all.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter116)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 118
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 111
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 80
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 112
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 95
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 89
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 53
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 61
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 65
Uma Musume: From Beginner 61
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 37
Uma Musume: I Want All 35
I Can Copy Unique Skills 36
A Guide to Aid in the Underwor 26
Summoning an Evil God, but the 27
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