How To Be Misunderstood as a Villain in a Zombie Apocalypse

Chapter 21. The Art of Deceiving One Another (16)

* * * * *

Not only Virginia, but all the other soldiers were captured. It was even more fortunate that they were captured before a distress signal could be sent, but the fanatics from the National Military Police unexpectedly proved to be a great help.

Rewards according to merit… It’s a bit grandiose, but we decided to baptize them together at the ‘bathhouse’ once the work is roughly finished. I wondered if it was necessary to go as far as using the grandiose modifier of ‘baptism by water’ when I was just asking everyone to get infected together in the water I polluted, but I gave up on persuading the fanatics, so I decided to move on.

Now there are two questions left.

One is that now that we have Virginia in our hands, the entire National Guard is now our enemy, and the other is, what on earth are we to do with this woman who is more aggressive than a zombie elephant?

“You can’t do it with force. She’s like a spring. If you force her, she’ll bounce back even more.”

“I don’t think Cassandra will be able to be persuaded.”

“How about just sending it to Roemer?”

Everyone looked at Camilla’s suggestion. It was to the point where Camilla herself was embarrassed.

“Or send it to Minsk.”

“There’s no real benefit. Virginia may be a bit rough, but you have to give her some credit for leading the entire National Guard. If she disappears, she’ll just crumble like a rag.”

Leticia shook her head. I agree with Leticia. I’ve talked to the captured soldiers like Virginia, and her position in the army seems closer to that of a priest-politician.

“It’s a bit funny, but the Elsa soldiers don’t expect anything from the Elsa officers. They think they’re rotten. There are some officials who are honest and upright, but there are too many who aren’t. That’s why they think the ‘real noble soldiers’ from Römer are more trustworthy. If the hiatus gets too long, then it’s really going to be an all-out war.”

“In the end, it’s a story that goes round and round.”

Camilla yawned, looking tired. If she couldn’t just get rid of Virginia, or keep her, what was the answer?

Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind.

“What if we do this?”

* * * * *

Even the most elite soldiers need to eat and live. Humans who have been in protected areas for a long time and then enter unprotected areas are more sensitive to hunger.

People who have been in the wilderness for a long time and those who have just arrived are equally hungry, but their methods of resisting hunger are very different.

People who have been around for a long time already know that ‘hunger’ is never satisfied. So they learn how to control it in their own way, like a diet fasting state. They pray, do mental exercises like yoga, or play games. Games are especially effective. If you focus on something else, you can forget about hunger.

But a person who just arrived acts as if he or she will starve to death tomorrow if he or she does not eat this today. Of course, since the body has never felt that much hunger before, it comes across as more stressful than it actually is. Before getting used to the idea that ‘I won’t die even if I don’t eat this much for a long time’, he or she even feels the fear of starvation.

“Here, eat this too.”

“Go, thank you!”

People who have become like that can easily eat these grain-pressed blocks as if they were the world’s best food. This food, which is included in the special forces’ emergency rations, has the texture of chalk, the taste of powdered milk, and the fragrance of crushed red beans, which is a fantastic trifecta. This is because it is literally made by drying and pressing grains without any moisture.

Of course, it is common sense that emergency rations are made to taste bad on purpose, so that people would eat them little by little if they taste good, but there is a clear difference between ‘not tasty’ and ‘people can eat it’. So this poor sergeant who is eating this as if it were a delicacy must have lost his sense of reason due to hunger.

“Don’t they give you food in the capital?”

“They do provide it, but only one meal, and you have to pay for the rest yourself. They only provide three meals to those who go on a mission. That’s why there are people who go on two missions a day.”

“Really? Why?”

“That’s because they don’t give you the meal right away, but give you a meal voucher. So you give the voucher to your family and share it with the soldier next to you. There are a lot of kids like that.”

“Isn’t Virginia being too vulgar?”

“What are you talking about? You said things got better after he came. The previous commander told me to bring food from home and eat it.”

I’m not sure how much of a jerk her predecessors were that Virginia seems like a sensible person. Anyway, I think I know what Virginia means to these guys. She might have been the first commander they’d ever had who ‘talked well and thought well’.

In this situation, it would never be a good idea to leave it until a successor is chosen. Whoever comes, there is a high probability that they will be worse than Virginia. The soldiers who have good memories of Virginia’s time will run around everywhere looking for her, but they will not serve a new leader.

“But, hyung.”

The guy who just finished that new block is drooling at the sight of the pressed pound cake in my right hand. This guy has already consumed quite a few calories, and I’m a little worried about his kidney health.

“Okay. Since you answered well, eat this too.”

But it doesn’t seem to matter since it’s not my kidney.

“Thank you. By the way, what about the other kids…?”

“Oh, you want to see?”

I showed him the picture on my phone. The sergeant’s face immediately distorted.

“What, you’re doing better than me! One, two, three girls… What is this?”

The guy in the picture was wearing only a thin outfit and was having fun with girls who were also wearing thin outfits. I intentionally didn’t tell him that the guy in the picture was having fun with girls instead of eating only one meal a day.

People are like that. They think that what they have, others have it too, and they go out of their way to look for what others have but they don’t.

“Oh, this guy told me a bit more than you did.”

“What do you want to hear? Just tell me!”

The sergeant’s eyes sparkled.

* * * * *

With her whole body bound, Virginia shook her head.

“Ugh… Kill me.”

“Don’t do that.”

I tried to comfort her with all my heart, but I was afraid that if I rashly reached out my finger, it would get cut off, so I just cheered her on from afar.

“I know that you are an officer, raised as a soldier, and acting president Elsa. But that doesn’t mean you should treat life lightly. You must first burn with the will to live.”

“I’ll hang you on the gallows and burn you!”

“It’s great that you’re full of fighting spirit. Did I do it?”

It was a little creepy to hear a sound that didn’t sound like a person saying “Gyaaak Guaak”, but it didn’t seem too bad. Anyway, I think this is enough for me.

“Cassandra?”

“huh.”

Cassandra came in, looking a little excited. Her eyes were shining like stars, she was wearing new latex gloves, and she was carrying a huge syringe full of syringes that made you gasp.

“Hey, isn’t the needle a bit thick?”

“It’s okay. It’s saline solution.”

Cassandra filled the syringe with saline solution and approached Virginia. Virginia, who was chained up all over, struggled, but Cassandra simply shot the syringe into her mouth.

“Here, drink some water. Right. Right. You’re listening well. I was wondering if I should water you with a watering can.”

“Oww, wooom!”

It’s a desperate measure, as the zombies try to bite our limbs while their limbs are tied up. Everyone is satisfied, except that they’re just as excited as when Cassandra was rescued.

“oooh… Brrrrgh…”

Even with a little bit of saline water dripping from her mouth, Virginia still glares at us like an angry beast. So today we have a special video for her.

“Are you bored in solitary confinement? That’s why I prepared a video.”

“What is this…?”

“About how the men who came with you are doing.”

“under.”

Virginia’s mouth curled up.

“This is where your base nature and poor imagination come from. Do you think I would submit to you just because my men are falling to their deaths?”

I wondered for a moment what this woman was thinking, but it seemed like she had seriously misunderstood something.

“Hey. No. Virginia. ‘If you don’t listen to me, I’ll execute your men one by one.’ I’m not that kind of person. Just look at me.”

The TV was on. The large screen was split into four. It showed Virginia’s men in turns. In one room, food and drink were piled up like a mountain, while in another, they were engrossed in a game. In another room, a ‘doctrinal study’ with a group of cult members was in full swing, while in another room, reading and listening to music were taking place.

“Fattening pigs before slaughter? That’s funny.”

“You’re too negative, Virginia.”

And then I showed up. I showed the guys in each room what they didn’t have, but the guys in the other rooms had.

– What? I want this too!

The comments were different for each person, but they all came down to one thing. I put my arm around the guys, linked arms, and shook hands.

“You, what the hell are you doing…?”

Virginia glared at me, but I just pointed to the screen with my chin.

Soon, about half of them came over to me. But the other half was hesitating. So, I brought in some very special people.

Soldiers who came over to my side, and fanatics who were former members of the National Military Police. Some of them were from the Public Instruction Corps. Some were good at talking and others were stubborn and persuaded by their old comrades.

– Brother John, we also share your views!

“… … .”

Virginia squeezed her eyes shut. She probably already knew about the soldiers’ poor discipline, but it seemed to have taken quite a hit to see even her specially selected elite soldiers fall for it so easily.

“These guys all swore allegiance to me. So now they’re all out of the room. They’ve probably been ‘baptized’ and are at the ‘party’ by now.”

“…What does that have to do with me?”

“They say that three people can make a tiger out of nothing. I’m going to send these guys back to the capital. I’m going to put them on a helicopter. I’m going to tell them that I’m taking good care of Virginia, and that I’m going to deliver the message through me. If you want, I can edit your voice into a computer program and play it for you. Technology is really good these days. And I’m going to just leave you here in this hotel. I don’t care if you turn into a zombie or not.”

“That’s interesting.”

Even though Virginia said that, she looked visibly embarrassed.

I decided to back off at this point. She wasn’t a woman who would collapse all at once anyway. Slowly, widening the gap and letting water flow through her to corrode her.

“So think carefully. What is the right choice for you?”