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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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This morning.
“I’ve finished writing the search program. Now I just have to run it. It’ll take a while because the amount of data is so vast.”
Cassandra ate breakfast with a very happy face. Camilla, who was listening to her, had her eyes sparkle.
“If you don’t have any work to do for a while, want to go out with me to get some food?”
“Okay.”
Camilla and I looked at each other in surprise. It was a prejudice that all researchers and doctors in the world disliked outdoor activities, but Cassandra was a woman who fit that prejudice perfectly.
And yet Cassandra had readily volunteered for an outdoor activity.
“Uh, Cassandra. Are you really sure you’ll be okay? It’ll be much harder than the evening workout.”
At my question, Cassandra answered nonchalantly.
“I’m going to get some virus samples while I’m out.”
This time, Camilla asked, looking somewhat tense.
“Uh, you don’t mean we have to catch a zombie alive, or collect it from a freshly caught, fresh zombie or anything like that, right?”
“That would be nice, but it’s fine to just take it from a dead zombie corpse or from rotten water or fabric.”
The thought of collecting food and viruses at the same time was a bit unsettling, but Camilla answered, ‘Well, if it’s something like that, I guess it’s fine,’ and Cassandra insisted that it was ‘absolutely safe.’
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While I was left alone, I took a little nap, finished organizing the supplies, looked at the several costume photos Leti had sent me, and then watered the flowerpots on the rooftop.
Each pot had different soil, but what was planted was all beans.
They had already sprouted, and the tender new shoots were sparkling a light green. I watered them carefully so as not to damage the cotyledons and observed them.
So far, there didn’t seem to be a very big difference in their growth stage. However, after a certain point, there was a possibility that some would suddenly grow rapidly.
Just like what I had seen at the floriculture research complex.
The ones on this side of the culture medium had died without even being able to grow properly, but hadn’t the ones on the other side grown to a bizarre extent?
It wasn’t just at the research complex. On the way here, I had seen many sights where there was a difference between a wasteland and a jungle level, with just a single road in between.
What was the reason?
This experiment was also to figure that out. What kind of difference would be seen when seeds from the same seed packet were planted in different soils.
If things went well, I might be able to find a combination that was safe for the body and could be grown quickly. If we could grow and eat vegetables and greens, our dependence on looting or gathering could also be greatly reduced.
It meant we could become safer. And for now, it was positive.
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The two women returned late in the afternoon. With a sack of potatoes, a sack of carrots, and enough samples to fill a rather large first-aid box.
She had said there was a low-temperature warehouse for crops about 10km south of the research facility. The electricity was out, so the cooling system wasn’t running, but the walls were sturdy, and the entrance had been locked with a padlock.
Thanks to that, dinner was roasted potatoes and carrots, with a side of canned meatballs. Seasoned with pepper and salt, the well-browned potatoes made me feel full.
“Camilla. How did you open the lock? Did you put a wire in and turn it?”
“I put a thick cloth over it and cut it by gently pressing the bolt cutters.”
“You worked hard. It must have been pretty thick.”
At my question, Camilla turned her head toward Cassandra.
“Cassandra used her strength. Her grip strength and muscle strength are stronger than mine.”
Cassandra, who had suddenly become the center of attention, blushed and fidgeted.
“I-it was nothing for Cassandra. Camilla had a harder time. It must have been hard to take Cassandra around…”
At Cassandra’s modesty, Camilla made a very proud face.
“The workouts we do every evening were definitely effective. Cassandra was just like a cat. She moved so smoothly and quietly.”
Was she the type who was weak to this kind of compliment? Cassandra was so embarrassed she couldn’t even lift her face. Anyway, seeing the two women, who had seemed a bit awkward, get along well made me feel good too.
And that night.
In bed, Camilla moved her body very intensely. She wanted more than usual and made pleading requests for more.
Finally, she even got on top of my body. In the darkness, I could see her deliberating, gulping hard. I thought I knew what she was deliberating about.
We had only comforted each other with our hands so far. Meaning we hadn’t gone to a deeper stage yet. But now, Camilla seemed to be deliberating whether to cross that line or not.
Something was strange. It didn’t seem like the two of them had just quietly gone and come. But Camilla was only engrossed in the act.
Camilla let out a more delicate moan than before. She hugged me desperately as if she were drowning. Whether it was because she had been very tense all day, or because she was immersed in the afterglow of pleasure. She fell asleep, breathing softly in my arms.
Creeak…
I heard the sound of a hinge moving. And a faint, cold air blew in. It was very subtle, but certain.
Did I not close the door properly?
Not wanting to wake Camilla, I turned my head over my shoulder. For a long time, there was no sound. Just as I was thinking I was being too sensitive, Camilla let out a hum, mmm, and pulled me closer.
Camilla’s breathing was slow and comfortable. Listening to it, sleep washed over me like a wave. It’s probably nothing, I thought and fell asleep.
The next morning.
After washing up and going down to the 3rd floor, I found Cassandra sitting on the sofa. Her hair was messy, and her eyes were slightly bloodshot.
No matter how I looked at her, she looked like a college student who had pulled an all-nighter during an exam period.
“You didn’t sleep?”
“I slept.”
“I don’t believe you when you answer while yawning so languidly.”
“…I organized the samples a bit and also… looked at the data analysis results a little.”
Cassandra was trying hard to make excuses, but they didn’t really resonate.
She had definitely said she had finished organizing the samples before going to bed yesterday.
Finally, Cassandra even started to doze off while sitting on the sofa. I thought she might have overdone it yesterday.
“Go inside and sleep. We don’t have much to do this morning, do we? We just need to make sure the batteries are charged with solar power so the computer doesn’t turn off.”
“Where’s Camilla?”
“Still sleeping. She must have been very tired yesterday.”
At my answer, Cassandra smiled. Only one corner of her mouth went up.
“Ah, I bet she was.”
“This won’t do. Get up, quickly. I’ll take you.”
I grabbed Cassandra’s hand and helped her up. Unexpectedly, Cassandra did not resist. No, rather, she even leaned her body toward me as if she had been waiting.
“Where did your shoes go again?”
Now I saw she was walking around in her socks. They were black from having walked around for a while.
“…They’re in my room.”
Cassandra’s room was very neat. It felt like a well-organized laboratory. On top of that, there was a faint, pleasant scent.
I managed to get her to sit on the bed, but she wouldn’t lie down.
“…Johan. Are you busy?”
“Not really.”
“Then just be Cassandra’s conversation partner for a bit.”
Cassandra, still sitting on the bed, kicked off her socks. Compared to her chest, which was large enough to bury one’s face in on one side alone, her feet were absurdly small and pretty. It felt like they would fit right in one hand.
“If you lie down under the covers on your bed.”
I dragged a chair over and sat down. Cassandra obediently got under the covers. Every time she breathed, the blanket heaved up and down. It was like waves were crashing on the bed.
“Conversation partner? What are you trying to talk about?”
For some reason, Cassandra just stared at me blankly.
“…You can just do what you do for Camilla.”
“What on earth happened with Camilla yesterday?”
At my question, Cassandra turned her head.
“Talking about others isn’t my thing.”
Anyway, something had happened, but it didn’t seem like either woman had much intention of telling me. Well, I didn’t particularly want to know that much either.
So I just brought up a story I was interested in.
“Do zombies eat vegetables? I mean, humanoid zombies eat meat, but what about things like zombie giraffes or zombie rabbits…”
“Their habits themselves don’t change much. They eat vegetables because they originally ate grass. But they eat until their stomachs burst and then die.”
“Uh, what did you say?”
“Because they can’t feel pain, they don’t even realize their stomachs are tearing. The ones in the unprotected zones are even worse. The part of the brain that controls appetite, the part that regulates the body, breaks down.
Human zombies, well. The story of zombies filling their stomachs with grass or raw rice is interesting. It would be worth testing. If so…”
I think I picked the wrong topic. The woman who had been about to die of sleepiness just now had her eyes sparkle with curiosity and a thirst for knowledge.
“I’ve seen a record of someone who cooked for a zombie. To be precise, it’s the story of a pitiful man who couldn’t accept that his wife had become a zombie.
The man supposedly locked his wife in the basement. He hung a solid iron door, but he would put food through a feeding slot. The wife, who had become a zombie, would gobble it all up, but even after that, she was still hungry and kept wanting to eat something.
But the man had already run out of money, and he couldn’t deceive the eyes of those around him any longer. In the end, the man opened the basement door and offered himself to be eaten.
When the husband went missing, his workplace and neighbors reported it. Anyway, at that time, it was before the unprotected zones were declared, and the number of zombies wasn’t large. It was a situation where opinions were divided on whether it was rabies or a type of mental illness.
So the National Gendarmerie and the Disease Crisis Management Agency went to investigate. As soon as they entered, a terrible smell came up from the basement, so they all braced themselves and opened the door. And they saw.”
Cassandra closed her mouth after that sentence. No, no matter what, wasn’t it a bit much to not speak for more than ten breaths?
“…What on earth did they see?”
In the end, I couldn’t hold back and asked. Cassandra burst out laughing as if it were funny.
“What, what is it?”
“…No. No. I was just kidding. The gendarmerie and the doctors from the Agency who went down to the basement saw the remaining bones of the husband, who hadn’t even become a zombie, and a female zombie, fast asleep with a bloated stomach. Just like how a predator sleeps when it’s full, they said she didn’t wake up or get up easily even when they shone a light on her and fired a warning shot.”
“Was it because she was too full?”
“I don’t know. The gendarmerie and the Disease Crisis Management Agency forcibly relocated the residents of not only the basement but the entire village and set it on fire.
But I do remember a certain clergyman making a rather impressive assessment. He was a zombie rights activist, but not long after, he himself became a zombie, so that assessment became something of a final work.”
Cassandra let out a long yawn. It seemed her eyes were half-closed. But as if she wanted to tell this story, she smiled and looked up at me.
“According to that person, zombies just faithfully reflect the three major human desires. Appetite. The need for sleep. Sexual desire.
If a zombie could eat its fill, then it would fall asleep as if dead again, and after waking up again, it would live for love. That’s why he said he couldn’t see zombies as anything other than human.”
“That’s a pretty radical theory, isn’t it?”
“That if they know how to share love, they should all be respected, that’s what that person was trying to say.”
Cassandra took her hand out from under the covers. It was covered in wounds and scars. For some reason, feeling sorry for her, I held that hand. Cassandra was surprised, but she soon relaxed as I touched her.
“…Are you still experimenting on your own body these days?”
This was the reason there were so many needle marks on Cassandra’s body. Because she was injecting viruses into her own body. Drawing blood, putting in viruses. So her arms and hands couldn’t possibly be unscathed.
“Why? Are you scared I’ll eat you?”
Of course, the virus in Cassandra’s body was a very special kind. And her body was also different from a normal person’s in many ways. To the extent that even Camilla, who was well-versed in the human body, would often say she didn’t quite understand.
“It’s not like that. It’s your work, so you must be doing it well. But…”
“But?”
This time, I didn’t speak for more than ten breaths. Cassandra’s eyes narrowed. I smiled and gently placed my hand on her forehead.
“I was just thinking it would be good if you cherished your body a little more.”
I held her eyes closed for a long time. It felt like if I didn’t do at least this, she wouldn’t fall asleep.
Cassandra soon fell asleep, but she did not let go of my hand.
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