January 19
After dinner, no one was particularly sleepy yet, but outside it was pitch-black, and beyond the service area there was nothing but dense forest in every direction.
So the group went upstairs. With nothing better to do, they pulled over some chairs and sat around chatting. Whoever sat by the window could still look out through the glass into the night beyond.
The campfire burned steadily in the room, casting a warm yellow glow that brought a little comfort to the cold space. They had cracked open a rear-facing window behind the fire so the smoke could escape without letting in too much wind or snow.
Their heavy body armor, helmets, and load-bearing gear had all been set aside. Nobody could sleep properly wearing that stuff. Later, before bed, they planned to jam the door shut and lock the windows tight. There was no way they could get ambushed every single night, right?
Miranda stretched an arm out the window for a second, feeling the difference between the indoor and outdoor temperatures.
"The mountains really are freezing. It's got to be below zero outside. In here, maybe a little over ten degrees at best."
She hurriedly pulled her hand back in. The wind outside was vicious enough to cut straight through flesh and into bone.
"Honestly, maybe we should just hide out in the mountains," Miranda said, edging a little closer to the fire. After removing her gloves, faint pressure marks could still be seen on her pale fingers. "With the snow blocking everything off and the weather this awful, I don't believe the infected could really search the mountains for us."
Kyoko laughed at that. "Even if the infected are affected by weather like this, so are we."
The infected might suffer in these extreme conditions, sure, but humans weren't exempt either. If they didn't have enough fuel, food, water, clothing, shelter, and everything else they needed, this weather could kill them just as easily.
In the apocalypse, the infected were never the only problem.
"I'm just saying," Miranda replied, waving a hand. "If we really stayed in the mountains forever, once our supplies ran out, we'd be in trouble."
Then Dorothy, clutching a blanket, called out from the sofa-bed. "Big sis, aren't you tired? I want to sleep."
She was already drowsy, her body too weak to handle everything they'd been through. The liveliness that once defined her had long since been worn away by the apocalypse.
"Go ahead if you're tired, Dorothy. I'm going to stay up a bit longer and chat with Kyoko and the others."
Rejected, Dorothy could only give up.
"Then I'm going to bed first. Big sis, everyone—go to sleep early too. Driving while tired is dangerous, you know."
With that, she collapsed onto the improvised bed they'd made by covering the leather sofas with a layer of thick blankets. The leather had been too stiff and cold to sleep on otherwise, so they'd lined it first.
Soft blankets really were the best.
The moment Dorothy lay down, the warmth and comfort pulled her straight into sleep.
Worried she might get cold, Miranda walked over and tucked the blanket more securely around her.
Huaxiu was busy maintaining the crossbow, dripping lubricant onto it, rubbing it evenly across the mechanism, then setting it aside. Brent, meanwhile, had nothing else to do, so she simply sat there holding her newly acquired sniper rifle, inspecting every detail with serious concentration.
The previous owner really had been a complete idiot. Such a fine weapon, and he'd treated it like this.
No. I need to clean off all traces of him.
The proper tools were still in the vehicle downstairs, though. Since the car was parked directly below and visible from the window, it wasn't far. She decided she might as well go fetch them.
"Miranda, Kyoko, I'm heading downstairs to get something. I'll be right back."
Brent pulled on a knit cap and slung the sniper rifle over her shoulder. Before Miranda could respond, both Kyoko and Miranda were already on their feet.
"I'll go with you," Kyoko said. "It's pitch-black outside, and we're in the middle of nowhere. It's not safe to go alone."
Miranda had started to get up too, but since Kyoko was already moving, she sank back into her chair instead. "Be careful."
"I will."
So Kyoko and Brent headed downstairs together. In horror movies, side characters always died after splitting off alone. Better to stick together whenever possible.
The door opened, then their footsteps gradually faded away.
Now the only ones left awake in the room were Miranda and Huaxiu. Neither of them really knew what to talk about, so they just chatted in bits and pieces.
"Miranda, is your blue hair dyed?" Huaxiu asked.
"Nope. It's natural. People ask me that all the time, though. It's kind of annoying." Miranda idly curled a few strands around her fingers.
"I'm jealous. Your blue hair and Dorothy's red hair are both so beautiful," Huaxiu said, and there was real envy in her voice. Hair colors that rare were an automatic visual advantage.
"Your golden hair is gorgeous too," Miranda replied. "It shines more brilliantly than some Europeans' hair does."
And it was true. Huaxiu's hair really did gleam like actual gold. When life had been harsher and the apocalypse had first torn through their lives, her once-beautiful hair had grown dull and brittle. But now, with life stabilizing under Kyoko's care, its rich brilliance had returned.
Outside, it seemed like the snowfall might finally be starting to ease.
Huaxiu idly rummaged through the office's leftover belongings, pulling old folders from the cabinets and flipping through them.
"By the way," Miranda said, "how exactly did you and Kyoko meet?"
She had gotten curious. At first, she'd thought the two of them were just close friends. Very close friends.
Then, after spending more time with them, she'd realized they were that kind of "close." So Kyoko was gay. Well then. She'd been rescued by a lesbian.
But after living with them for a while, Miranda had realized it wasn't scary at all. Kyoko was practically perfect. Huaxiu's cooking was amazing. If anything, the real problem was that the three of them kept receiving help without having any way to properly repay it.
Ever since they'd been rescued, Kyoko had taken care of them in every possible way.
At the moment, Miranda, this stranded Italian heiress, truly had nothing. She wasn't a mean person, nor a stingy one, but all her family's wealth and influence were back in Europe. Out here, she had nothing at all.
"Our story?" Huaxiu repeated, blushing at once. "It's kind of a long story. Though really, we haven't known each other for that long."
Just mentioning it turned her cheeks red. She was still shy about it.
Then she started explaining—from the first time they met all the way up to when they encountered the three of them. She summarized everything between herself and Kyoko in an impressively compact stream of words.
She didn't pause even once. The sentences poured out so fast Miranda could barely keep up. Her Japanese was good enough to get by, but not nearly good enough for this kind of rapid-fire storytelling. In fact, Dorothy's Japanese was probably better than her big sister's.
After a few minutes, Huaxiu finally finished.
So that was how it was.
Only half a month, and yet their relationship had already gone that far.
Miranda couldn't help admiring Kyoko. In so little time, she'd managed to completely win a girl's heart. Kyoko really was dangerous.
Still, in a world like this, having such a perfect girlfriend probably did make life a lot sweeter. In every sense.
"Wait," Miranda suddenly said. "Why aren't Kyoko and Brent back yet?"
At last, the two of them remembered the ones who had gone downstairs.
That immediately made both of them uneasy. It had already been over ten minutes. No matter how much gear Brent wanted, surely it shouldn't take that long to retrieve it.
They exchanged a look, then rushed to the window and looked down.
Bad.
There was no sign of anyone near the vehicle.
Outside the window, the darkness was almost solid. After steeling themselves, the two women hurried for the door, weapons in hand, sticking close together, both afraid of encountering infected the moment they stepped out.
"Ow! My head!"
They had only just reached the doorway when the door suddenly opened inward and smacked both of them in the head. They nearly toppled over. Luckily, whoever pushed the door hadn't used much force, or the two of them would have landed flat on the freezing floor.
"I mean, seriously—what were you two doing standing right behind the door?" Kyoko said helplessly as she stepped inside with Brent. "That was careless."
If she'd shoved the door open any harder, they would have gone down for sure.
"Kyoko! Why did you take so long?" Huaxiu immediately reached out, brushing snowflakes from Kyoko's clothes.
"Exactly," Miranda added. "Did something happen outside?"
Kyoko answered them both. "After we got the maintenance kit from the car, Brent and I found a pile of snacks in there too. So... we ended up eating some."
"Huh? That's why?!"
Both of them stared in disbelief. The reason they'd been so worried was because Kyoko and Brent had stopped to eat snacks?
Unforgivable.
"Kyoko, are you trying to die?!"
"Biting me is not allowed! Not the face!"
Huaxiu dropped the crossbow and lunged like a starving tiger, tackling Kyoko and taking a bite out of her in retaliation.
"Eating snacks without calling me? Sneaking off to eat by yourself, huh?"
It wasn't really the snacks she cared about. Kyoko could have eaten the whole damn vehicle and Huaxiu wouldn't have minded. What mattered was that Kyoko had disappeared for over ten minutes in a strange place at night. That was what had frightened her.
Even if Kyoko was the strongest among them, what if something had happened? What would the rest of them have done then?
"Let them work out their emotional issues," Miranda muttered, heading off with Brent instead.
Brent pulled out the cleaning tools and prepared to erase every trace of the previous owner from her newly acquired KSVK sniper rifle.
Miranda leaned closer and whispered, "So what exactly did you two eat down there? What took ten whole minutes?"
"It was just chips, jelly cups, stuff like that. I didn't eat much, but..."
"But what? Brent, why are you talking in suspenseful pauses all of a sudden?"
Brent looked troubled.
"The thing is... Miss Kyoko's appetite is honestly kind of terrifying."
"How terrifying? Just say it."
She really wasn't trying to be dramatic. But Kyoko had absolutely demolished a giant bag of jelly cups in what felt like no time at all. And that was after already eating dinner.
"It was one whole bag of jelly, several bars of chocolate, plus chips, cola... honestly, she ate a ridiculous amount."
"Seriously? She really can eat," Miranda said. "And she's not worried about gaining weight?"
Meanwhile, over on the other side, Huaxiu finally calmed down. She had half-climbed onto Kyoko and was making small aggrieved noises like a pouting little animal.
"All right, enough," Kyoko said. "Let's go to sleep. It's nearly eleven, and we still need to keep moving tomorrow."
"...Okay."
Huaxiu finally gave in and headed toward the sofa-bed.
Miranda and Brent had already claimed their spots. It really was cramped now. Brent, Dorothy, Miranda, an open space, then Huaxiu.
Once Kyoko joined them, it would be absurdly tight.
The three sisters-in-all-but-name shared one blanket. Huaxiu and Kyoko shared another. A third blanket was spread underneath everyone, and before lying down, Kyoko pulled a final large blanket over all five of them.
That made it at least survivable. Nobody would freeze awake during the night.
Even so, Kyoko—normally a firm believer in sleeping in full "blank-slate" mode—abandoned that policy tonight.
There were several reasons.
First: it was too cold. It would be even colder before dawn. Sleeping completely naked would make the morning miserable.
Second: they were outside. If anything happened during the night, being completely bare would be a terrible state to be caught in.
Third: they were all sleeping together in one giant pile. If she went to sleep stark naked in a situation like this...
What was this supposed to be, an orgy?
So for once, Kyoko went to sleep in thermal underwear. Her pistol and her Miao Dao were placed on the sofa beside the bed in case anything happened.
The long night began.
Before sleeping, Kyoko made one last inspection of the outside. She lifted her night-vision goggles like a pair of binoculars and peered through the window into the trees.
Good.
Nothing but silent forest.
Then again, in weather this cold, who knew where infected creatures might be hiding?
She wondered how far the great zombie tide had come by now. Hopefully this difficult stretch of life would pass soon.
Tomorrow, they would leave early.
This service station might be far from Fukushima City, but there was a Self-Defense Force training base nearby. If someone with bad intentions looted military equipment there—or if the SDF themselves had already turned hostile—
Well.
Better not think about it now.
After reinforcing the doors and windows one last time, Kyoko returned to the bed.
Everyone else was already lying down. She was the only one still standing.
"All right, then. I'll sleep here."
Four women of above-average beauty lay before her. It was a serious test of self-control.
Dorothy, Brent, Miranda, open space, Huaxiu.
Then Kyoko climbed in, filling the last gap.
She tucked the blankets more securely around all of them, then settled down.
And because this wasn't home, she kept her sleepwear on.
The reasons were obvious.
One: it was cold, and dawn would be even colder.
Two: if something happened during the night, being undressed would be disastrous.
Three: with everyone packed together under one blanket... not wearing pajamas would be insane.
All right then.
Kyoko lay down in her thermals. On the sofa in front of the bed were her pistol and her Miao Dao, ready in case of trouble.
The long night truly began.
Good night, survivors.
Tomorrow's sun was already on its way.
Only... would surprise or disaster arrive first?
None of them, now deep in sleep, had any idea what was happening that very night in Nihonmatsu.
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 139)
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 (Chapter171)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter100)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter184)
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 168
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 156
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 105
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 185
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 160
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 150
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 76
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 97
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 116
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 75
Uma Musume: I Want All 93
I Can Copy Unique Skills 79
Summoning an Evil God, but the 55
Supernatural Multiverse 75
My Harem Is Indescribable 68
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 70
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 66
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 69
Still playing traditional Honk 49
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 53
What Should I Do After Switchi 42
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 50
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 38
Transmigrated as Sukuna 35
Checking In in Demon Slayer 40
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 55
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