January 16
The sun was setting, and the last light of dusk spilled across the hardened asphalt road. Ruined corpses lay scattered everywhere, and shattered houses stood with their doors wide open, welcoming any passerby without complaint.
Kyoko and Brent, serving as the group's firepower, kept watch at the front and rear, alert to the slightest disturbance around them.
Luxury boutiques along the shopping street had suffered the least looting. Those fashionable bags, useless except for their appearance, still lay quietly inside their transparent glass coffins. Kyoko would have scoffed at the idea of even using them as firewood—the stench of burning leather was unbearable.
The glory and prestige they once carried faded quickly the moment the soil that had sustained them disappeared, like flowers withering and losing color.
Now that barter had replaced money, the inflated worth of luxury goods had collapsed overnight. Unlike gold and silver, these dazzling jewels and accessories—once woven from the lifeblood of countless laborers—were now little better than trash. Until a new order stabilized, they were only fit to be consumed and used up.
Miranda drove with fierce concentration, terrified of making one wrong move on the broken road. The sound of the chain turning brought a small measure of life to a world otherwise filled only with the howl of the wind.
There were not many obstacles along the way. Ordinary infected were too weak to pose any real threat once firearms came into play, while the special infected seemed to have vanished entirely.
Still, Kyoko felt that something was off.
Maybe things were going too smoothly. The silence on this road felt excessive. This was one of Nihonmatsu's main streets. Even on the way here, she had thought there were too few infected. Not ten thousand, perhaps—but on a road this important, there should have been at least over a thousand. The Sumero virus didn't just infect humans, after all.
She carefully checked their surroundings again and again, but found nothing strange. To be safe, she even opened the system panel and asked the system for help. But even the system girl sensed no immediate threat nearby. In the end, Kyoko concluded that perhaps she was simply being paranoid again.
Even so, staying outside for too long always meant danger. Better to get back to the warmth of home as quickly as possible.
Under Kyoko's guidance, the four of them advanced in steady order toward her safe zone. Their little vehicle left pale white tracks across the damaged road, stretching far into the distance.
Crossing through the corpse-strewn gate, the three newcomers saw the brightly lit building. In the darkness, it shone like a beacon, radiating the warm glow of civilization.
The solar panels Kyoko had set up were finally doing their job. Thanks to solar power, her home now had lights again.
There was still the risk of drawing the attention of special infected attracted to light, but Kyoko had already installed sturdy iron grates over the core area of the safehouse—solid anti-theft bars with only two-centimeter gaps. As for threats from the ground, she planned to build proper defenses downstairs over the next few days.
After all, she had to protect the home she shared with Huaxiu.
When they arrived below the building, the place was still a mess. On the way in, they passed corpses torn into all manner of shapes, body parts strewn everywhere, explosion marks burned into the ground, and shattered stone and broken tiles scattered all around. Crushed glass lay across bloodstains, reflecting the light into a strange, vivid crimson gleam.
The three newcomers felt no great horror at the sight. If the surrounding infected had not been completely wiped out, could this really be called a safe zone? More than anything, the scene proved just how strong Kyoko really was. Otherwise, things would never have ended like this.
"This is our home now. Once we get upstairs, you can finally relax a little."
Kyoko removed her heavy helmet and wiped away the sweat that had gathered on her face beneath it. Her cheeks were red from the heat and pressure, and she looked visibly relieved.
"So this whole building is your safe zone, Miss Takagi? It's huge!"
Thanks to the antiviral medicine she had taken earlier, Doris was already looking slightly better. On arriving, she could not help but speak with excitement.
After all, who wouldn't want to sit in a warm house after exhausting travel—leaning back on a sofa, sipping tea, enjoying a peaceful domestic life?
"Brent, give me a hand. Let's unload the airdrop and move it over here."
Kyoko and Brent worked together to lift the supply crate off the tricycle and carry it into the narrow space between the buildings.
"You're not taking it upstairs?" Miranda asked in confusion after parking the cart beneath a shelter that offered at least a little protection from wind and rain. "Wouldn't it be dangerous to leave supplies there outside?"
She had expected Kyoko to head straight into the building, not stash the airdrop in a corner outside. The outdoors was hardly safe. Leaving supplies there felt like asking for disaster.
"No. I blew up the stairs, remember? Otherwise I never could've secured this place as a safe zone. Ground-level infected are too annoying."
Kyoko answered while unloading the rest of the gear from her backpack into the crate.
"Then how are we supposed to get up there, Miss Takagi? Did you fix the elevator?" Miranda immediately asked.
"We climb by rope. I built a ladder out of parachute cord. Hurry and put everything back into the crate. Once we're up there, we'll haul it in."
Kyoko explained the situation quickly. She, Brent, and Doris had already emptied their packs. Only Miranda still needed to finish.
"All right, then let's hurry."
Just as she spoke, a flashlight flicked on from the fifth floor, terribly conspicuous in the blood-red twilight.
Seeing the little head popping out from above, Kyoko smiled. She had originally planned to climb up herself first and then lower the ladder, but now that trouble was unnecessary. The way into Kyoko's home worked like this: from the window area of Room 704, a rope-and-plank hanging ladder led to the four-story-high platform outside. From there, a second hanging ladder led down to the smaller platform below, which was only two stories high, and from there one could safely reach the ground.
"Kyoko! Why are you back so late? Dinner's getting cold already. Come up!"
Huaxiu stood on the large outdoor platform on the fifth floor, leaning down and calling to her. Even as she shouted, she was already moving, hurrying to lower the rope ladder for them.
She had long since grown too anxious to keep waiting upstairs. Since Kyoko had forbidden her from going down to ground level, all she could do was wait above.
After finishing the tasks Kyoko had left her, Huaxiu had gone to make dinner. But now it was already almost six-thirty. The sun had become nothing more than a thin line on the horizon.
Kyoko's delay had worried her terribly. With a telescope in hand, she had been watching from above the whole time. When she heard gunfire and explosions from the direction Kyoko had gone earlier in the afternoon, Huaxiu had nearly gone after her herself.
Thankfully, she had finally spotted the familiar figure.
Although…
There also seemed to be three other people with her.
That had immediately made Huaxiu focus harder. Had someone captured her Kyoko? Was someone trying to take her away?
That absolutely could not be allowed.
Then Huaxiu realized that Kyoko was walking behind the three of them, gun in hand, and finally relaxed.
My Kyoko—no, my girlfriend—being captured by someone else? Impossible!
"Right. Be careful. Two at a time. The rope might not be able to hold too much weight."
After the ladder was lowered, Kyoko warned them seriously. She tied the rope to the airdrop crate, then had the frail Doris climb first. Kyoko went after her, ready to catch her if anything went wrong.
Once the two of them were up, Miranda and Brent followed. Then all of them worked together to haul the airdrop supplies upward. After that, each person carried part of the cargo into the building, leaving only the empty crate behind below.
"That's done. Everyone, come on—time to eat."
Seeing how drenched in sweat everyone was, Kyoko hurried them toward the living room in Apartment 1502.
"Wonderful! Thank you so much for the meal, Miss Takagi," Miranda said brightly, not noticing at all the doubtful look from her younger sister or the wary tension still written all over Brent's face.
Had her clever sister lost her mind from hunger? Doris wondered.
Was this really wise?
Even if Takagi Kyoko had accepted them, they still needed to stay on guard. What if she had put something in the food?
Brent was equally uneasy. Going straight to eat at Kyoko's table felt risky.
If Miranda had known the two of them were mentally criticizing her at that exact moment, she definitely would have made them pay for doubting her.
She was not an idiot.
At this stage, refusing the meal would only look strange. And if Kyoko truly meant them harm, then she had already had countless chances since the moment they met. There was no need for something as roundabout as drugging their food.
In the most extreme case, she could have simply captured all three of them on the spot. Why go through such unnecessary trouble? A woman who could slaughter her way through swarms of infected did not need underhanded methods like that.
So Miranda chose not to refuse. Whether this was a banquet or a trap no longer mattered. If disaster were going to strike, hadn't that been decided from the moment Kyoko saved them? Without her, they might already have died at the hands of those scum from before.
Since the leader of the three had made up her mind, the other two had no choice but to follow.
Kyoko, however, thought nothing so complicated. She simply led Miranda and the others inside to rest. Huaxiu, meanwhile, volunteered to prepare more food, since what she had made earlier had only been enough for the two of them.
And so, still carrying their doubts and exhaustion, the three newcomers followed Kyoko deeper into the safehouse.
Join here to read ahead.
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