NOVEL NEXT Chapter 30: CHAPTER 30
"I'm glad you're okay," Marikawa-sensei said with a warm smile, her voice gentle. As a school nurse, she couldn't help but feel responsible for her students, especially in a world turned upside down like this.
"Naomi-san, why don't you take a bath?" Rei approached Naomi with a kind expression. "It might help you feel better and clean off all the dirt."
Naomi's face lit up at first, grateful for the offer. She truly needed a bath after everything they had been through. "Oh, thanks! I definitely won't say no to that, but..." Her voice trailed off, and her smile faded into a somber look.
Saeko noticed the sudden change in Naomi's demeanor and raised an eyebrow. "Hmm? What's wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?"
Naomi quickly shook her head. "No, it's not that... It's just that I want to... apologize to everyone."
The group exchanged curious glances before Rei asked gently, "Eh? What do you mean, Naomi?"
Naomi hesitated for a moment, glancing at the others with a guilty expression. "Back on the bus... we acted like jerks. We sided with Shido-sensei instead of you all. I-I'm sorry. We made the wrong choice, and I hope you can forgive us."
The room fell silent for a moment before Saeko chuckled softly, her composed demeanor unwavering. "There's no need to apologize. I understand the pressure of the situation back then."
Rei nodded, offering Naomi a reassuring smile. "We're just glad you're here with us now. That's what matters." She nudged Naomi gently with a playful grin. "Go on, take that bath. Clean yourself up and feel refreshed. We're all in this together now."
Naomi's face flushed, and she nodded gratefully. "Thank you... all of you." She felt a weight lift off her shoulders as she headed to the bathroom, finally feeling accepted.
Meanwhile, the boys gathered in the living room, still glancing enviously toward the bathroom. Takashi sighed heavily. "I'd love to take a bath too, but there's no spare clothes for us."
Yamada perked up at that, snapping his fingers. "Oh, I almost forgot! We brought some clothes from the convenience store!"
All heads turned toward him, eyes widening in hope. "Wait, really?" Takashi asked, sitting up straight.
Yamada grinned, gesturing to the entrance where several large bags sat. "We grabbed whatever we could find. Clothes, canned food, snacks-you name it."
The group eagerly gathered around as Yamada opened the bags. Inside were various items: a mix of casual clothes, canned goods, and even some instant noodles.
"Looks like everyone is here now, I feel like this house is becoming small for some reason" Takagi keep sorting out the goods as she found canned food, chips, even a dried squid. She saw that with disgust eyes while holding in two fingers like most rich kids are.
"Seems like we have enough food for everyone" Saeko's widened to see so much variety of food inside the bag.
"This is amazing," Hisashi said with a rare smile. "You have no idea how glad I am to see food and clean clothes."
Takuzo smiled shyly and gestured toward the bags. "It was all Niikaz's idea."
At the mention of her name, Takashi glanced around. "Wait... where is Niikaz?"
Few moments earlier...
Niikaz had been fending off a small group of undead with swift precision. As she wiped her blade clean on her sleeve, a sudden memory surfaced—a significant scene from her knowledge of this world. One of the main characters who would later join the group was a little girl.
The faint sound of a dog barking interrupted her thoughts. She froze, her heightened senses on alert. The barking came from a direction slightly off her current path. Her eyes narrowed as the sound grew louder.
"Kazu, take the others and head to Hisashi's group, here is the device, you can track down another device in this screen. Also the red dots means undead so follow the green line here it will guide the safe path," she said quickly while shove the GPS-look alike device to him while pointing a green line on the screen, her tone leaving no room for argument.
"What? Niikaz, what are you—" Kazu started, but she had already turned away, sprinting toward the noise.
"Go!" she called over her shoulder, her voice firm as she rushed to the opposite direction.
Kazu hesitated but eventually nodded, ushering the group forward. "Stay safe," he murmured under his breath, watching her disappear into the shadows.
As Niikaz approached the source of the barking, she saw a small dog frantically trying to fend off a pair of undead. Without hesitation, she dispatched the creatures with a few well-aimed shot. The dog whimpered, backing away but still barking nervously.
"Hey, easy now," she whispered, kneeling and extending a hand cautiously.
The dog sniffed her hand before slowly inching closer. She gently scooped him up, cradling him to her chest. "Quiet now. We don't want to attract more attention."
To her surprise, the dog licked her face in what seemed like approval. A rare, soft smile crossed her lips.
Then, her eyes glowed faintly, and an intricate holographic map materialized before her, seemingly projected from her mind. She studied it intently. Red dots scattered across the map represented the undead. Mostly they moving towards the bridge. Among them, a cluster of blue dots stood out—symbols of human life.
Her gaze focused on two blue dots not far from her location. They appeared to be outside a house, trying to avoid the swarming red dots nearby. One blue dot, smaller than the others, was stationary within the house, moving slowly towards one of the house that has light on.
Niikaz's grip on the dog tightened slightly as she whispered to herself, "That must be them. I need to get there fast."
With the dog nestled securely in her arms, she sprinted toward the location marked on the map.
Back to present......
As the girls, checked the bags Naomi, Yamada, Takuzo, and Kazu brought in, they were pleasantly surprised to find pajamas inside. Excited murmurs filled the room as they sorted through the clothes, noting how perfectly the sizes seemed to fit. "This must have been Niikaz's idea," Rei remarked with a small smile, pulling out a set of neatly folded pajamas.
"Ouh! Look at this clothes its soo cute!" Marikawa-sensei joined the sorting team.
The boys, who had been waiting for their turn to clean up, were equally relieved to find a change of clothes among the haul. With a proper set of fresh clothes now available, they finally had the chance to take a bath after Naomi finished hers.
While the girls admired their cozy pajamas, Takashi and Hisashi approached Kazu. Hisashi repeat his friend's question as his brow furrowed slightly. "Kazu, where's Niikaz? She's not here with you."
Kazu's expression turned serious, and he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "She... separated from us on the way here."
"Separated?" Takashi echoed, clearly concerned.
Kazu nodded, lowering his gaze. "It happened about 30 minutes ago, after we left the convenience store. On the way here, there weren't many undead because most of them were attracted to a bigger commotion near the bridge. Niikaz mentioned it was probably safer because of that, but..."
He trailed off, his voice tinged with regret. "She noticed something while we were walking and suddenly told us to go ahead. She said she'd catch up later and took off before we could stop her."
Takashi's lips pressed into a thin line. "And you just let her go alone?"
"I'm sorry!" Kazu raised up a bit feels apologetic. "She's fast. Before I could even react, she was already gone."
The group exchanged uneasy glances, the atmosphere growing heavier.
Hisashi clenched his fists. "Whatever she's doing, I hope she's okay. She wouldn't just leave for no reason."
Saeko, overhearing the conversation, placed a comforting hand on Hisashi's shoulder.
"Niikaz is strong. If anyone can handle themselves out there, it's her."
"Just incase, I will standby and watch outside from upstairs" Takashi rush upstairs following Hirano.
"We can use Springfield M1A1 super match! Although the distance is nothing compare to Remington 700 or Barrett MRAD sniper rifle, is still can cover up to 1KM!" Hirano explanation makes Takashi look speechless.
"You can use that for me, I'm good with binoculars".
"M-me too, let me help!" Kazu follow them as he feel responsible for not stopping Niikaz.
As most of the boys go upstairs, Marikawa-sensei trying to break the atmosphere. "Why not we cook something, everyone is hungry right?"
"Y-yeah, let's do that then" Takagi added.
Still, the tension in the air was obvious as everyone silently hoped Niikaz would return safely.