How To Be Misunderstood as a Villain in a Zombie Apocalypse

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

* * * * *

I walked up the transmission tower with binoculars in hand. It’s the tallest structure around here. I drank water and chewed on some hard biscuits.

As I climbed to the top, the wind swept over me. It was a rough wind mixed with dust and sand. I guess it was because it was blowing from the barren wasteland.

I look at the horizon through binoculars.

You can see helicopters flying in the sky.

A distant city could be seen below.

Black smoke rises here and there, and explosions are heard intermittently. Small dots fall from tall buildings. Judging by the shaking of their limbs, they seem likely to be zombies. I don’t think there are any people left in that city.

Even so, we will enter that city tomorrow.

Infect more zombies. If you’re lucky, you might be able to save the ones who are still alive. Who knows, they might turn into zombies or they might become the people who build bunkers and hide in them according to Elsa’s general mobilization order.

shelter.

I know that bunkers will survive into the distant future. I know where to build them safely and where to abandon them. I don’t know whether I will still be here then.

But I know for sure that this world will never get better. It’s not because of anyone’s fault. It’s just the way it is.

The land throughout Elsa is contaminated. The fungus will continue to spread, and when it has nothing more to infect, it will cover itself with spores and stop its activity, but will spread again when someone touches it.

A fungus that will never disappear unless a meteor falls from the sky or a nuclear bomb destroys the earth.

A long time ago, the people living in Elsa’s land created a germ out of resentment. We still don’t know how they created it. It could be that during the war, this disease and that infectious disease were rampant and overlapped. Or it could be that the mold and germs mixed together in the body of a wolf and created something unexpected.

Even that terrible germ was so fearful of being discovered by the oppressors that the priests of Elsa harbored infinite malice and hid it inside the ‘Statue of the Goddess’.

Even though they were the victims, and had to prey on the priest next to them. Until the time came, they buried the statues of the goddesses all over Elsa, leaving behind their locations as a belief known only to them.

That’s what ‘real’ fanatics do, not those idiots.

– What if all the land burns?

Virginia called it a ‘baptism of fire’. Unless we dumped explosives all over Elsa and turned the surface upside down, these fungi would never go away.

– But now it’s all over. If the fungus that was hiding in the ground was the embers, then the zombies are the bearers of the fire. The fungus has spread all over the world, and will eventually consume everything on the ground. Elsa’s archaeologists – that is, the most diehard fanatics who were hiding – called it ‘the cycle’.

“What cycle?”

– The goddess who gave everything said that it would be time for her to fatten herself again. The goddess who was full fell asleep on the ground, and if someone called her, she would gladly give her flesh. That’s what I found in Joanna Mustaine’s archaeological lab.

“So what? It sounds like you were trying to start a war by becoming Elsa’s commander, or like you were trying to perform surgery on Elsa.”

-Does it look like that?

Virginia pursed one lip, seemingly trying to suppress a smile.

She had two motivations: the desire to rule the world and the desire to destroy the world that had ruined her life.

* * * * *

“You have no intention of stopping. Not at all.”

I looked down at the barbecue grill, which was now empty. I considered clearing it away, but I left it alone. Instead, I left Virginia behind and headed to the armory. A monstrous revolver. I returned with her gun, which had only one bullet left.

“What are your intentions?”

Virginia asked back in a hoarse voice. Instead of answering, I took out my key. It was the key that unlocked the chain that bound her. Clang. Clang. Virginia fell forward, perhaps because she had been tied up for too long. Of course, she tried to grab my collar, but I had guessed that was the case, so I easily avoided it.

Virginia staggered forward and grabbed the revolver with one bullet left. She was trembling, but she and I were less than two meters apart, so it was harder to miss. As expected, she aimed the revolver at me.

“Are you going to shoot?”

“Did you think you could live with such insults to me?”

“Do you really love me? I knew it from the moment we registered our marriage.”

Virginia frowned.

“I guess the rumor is true? The Helfords always save one last bullet, because there’s a curse that guarantees that last bullet will hit the thing they love most. That’s why you made that revolver a seven-shot drum, right?”

Virginia’s expression changed. She seemed a little disappointed.

“…It is for suicide.”

“uh?”

“It’s better to die than be captured. The House of Senator Roemer has many enemies. If you live, you won’t see a good outcome, so it’s easier to die with one last shot left. I trained you from a very young age, so it’s a habit to leave it behind. So…”

Clang. The gun was thrown back. I spread my arms slightly. Virginia swore and pulled the trigger.

Pfft, I hit the empty drum. Virginia, unable to control her anger, opened the gun and took out the bullets. She filled the empty drum and continued shooting at me. They say that getting hit by an empty gun brings bad luck, but since I couldn’t lose any more luck, I thought it didn’t matter.

“You son of a b*tch…!”

Virginia held the gun upside down and swung it like a hammer. But no matter how strong he was, he wasn’t weak enough to be hit by a woman who hadn’t starved for days. He dodged it lightly and placed both hands on her chest.

“Ouch!”

It was a strange sound, neither a scream nor a howl. I squeezed it a little while I was at it anyway. The kick came without mercy, but it wasn’t bad. It was a heart that was as angry as its owner.

“You shallow b*stard…!”

“But you were the one who took him as a husband, right?”

“stop!”

I let go of his hand. I told you to stop, so stop. Virginia straightened her clothes angrily. Still, she looked cute with her blushing face.

“Well. But it didn’t shoot. Surprisingly. I thought it would blow my head off right away.”

Of course, I knew you couldn’t shoot me. Without me, you wouldn’t be able to handle those countless zombies.

“…you?”

“Me? I don’t gain anything by killing you. But if you stay alive, you’ll be helpful in many ways. That’s how it’s always been. I kept you alive because we’ve been helpful to each other.”

Yes. For now, let’s start like this. We keep them alive because we need them, and we meet because we need them. In the end, it’s them who’s going to be disappointed, not me.

“Go back first. Do whatever you want. Let’s keep in touch more often.”

“… When you come back, you…”

But Virginia simply brushed her bangs back and did not continue speaking. Instead, she sighed deeply.

“If you’re doing that because you feel sorry, why don’t you build some bunkers? If war is going to happen anyway, it wouldn’t hurt to build some shelters and trenches here and there, right?”

“It’s a bunker.”

“Yeah. There are some places I was thinking of, you know… .”

* * * * *

Virginia may not know, but the other soldiers have been infected. Now all we have to do is wait quietly.

Maybe, if all the humans and zombies in this world are infected with the same virus, if no more dominant species appear. If even if a dominant species appears, if I can push them away first.

So, if we hold out until Cassandra or someone else develops a cure.

It will be a good day.

Otherwise, I might get shot and killed tomorrow. If I’m infected with the Cro Virus, then I don’t have to be afraid of zombies anymore.

People will be freer than ever before.

What would such free people, uncontrolled by society and accustomed to plunder, do?

I don’t know.

It’s clear that it will be different from before.

* * * * *

Is it a life where we live as if we are living only when we get better every day? Is it a life where we have a reason to live only when we get better than yesterday?

When I was young, I had expectations about tomorrow. I believed that everything would change with time, whether it was good or bad. And it did. The world might have stayed the same, but I had changed.

But at some point it stopped.

The world is boring? It wasn’t like that. I stopped. I was going to go round and round in the same orbit. At best, it’s all about maintaining the status quo, and things will only get worse. The end of the hallway is getting closer, and there aren’t many doors left to open.

I lower my binoculars and look down at the ground far away.

If you take just one more step forward, you might be able to escape this world. If you’re lucky, you might even be able to go back to the world you originally belonged to.

Maybe not.

I don’t know. There’s a lot I don’t know.

So let’s take another look at what we know.

Fanatics dancing around a campfire.

Zombies fighting and trying to eat each other.

The helicopters now appear as small dots.

Camilla, Cassandra, and Leticia are now motioning for them to come down.

If you take one step, you can start anew.

The beginning is always difficult.

It’s not that I have nothing to say, but I think I might have to repeat countless stories that you probably already know.

Conquer. Infect. Survive. Collect. Conceal. Rest. Among them, the only path not taken is death. The path not taken. A path from which there is no return. But there may be something there that has not yet been opened.

So, with difficulty, I take a step forward.

The iron staircase groans dully. Step by step. I turn and descend the spiral staircase. When I finally reach the bottom, a shabby man wrapped in a worn-out blanket approaches me, tears streaming down his face.

“Oh, finally, I see you… The one who grants miracles…!”

I welcome you with a big smile and open arms.

“Oh my, welcome.”

He sends a hand signal to take a quick picture. Leticia sends out an RV helicopter with a camera. This one has a microphone, so it picks up sound pretty well. The group that came with the old man shouts in unison.

“A person who protects both humans and zombies by giving love…!”

“Yes. I am that person.”

“He who does not belong to this world…!”

“Yes, that’s me too.”

Come to think of it, it might be a good idea to add Minsk and Römer to the video. I don’t know about Camilla, but I wonder if Cassandra or Leticia are fluent in both languages? I guess it would be better to ask Virginia for this.

“Did you come after watching the video?”

“That’s right…!”

It works well. Next time I should add some effects to the video.

Those who are thirsty. Those who are hungry. Those who want to live. Come to me.

Until the border between the two countries collapsed and people started to rush out.

Until the day when everyone becomes one under the same virus.

Maybe, everyone will be able to effectively drive out the zombies.

Maybe, the ending will be that everyone turns into zombies.

I don’t know either.

But you can still lie.

“Anyway, maybe someday I’ll be able to live in a better place than here. But you know what? Actually, we all come from there. Heaven. I don’t know if I’ll be able to go there after this life, but I’m sure it’s there.”

“You speak with such confidence…!”

Of course. I came from there. I don’t know if it’s heaven or not, but anyway, there are no zombies.

“But before we get there, shouldn’t we try our best on this land?”

“That’s right…!”

No. These people also know what they should do. They must know. They were living well before they met me. They just aren’t sure. Just like me.

I don’t really know, but I guess it’s not a bad idea to pretend to know.

okay.

Not bad.

＜Complete＞