Chapter 34 - Yohan's Bizarre Vacation (2)

Yohan looked over Sua, who had sprained her ankle.

He'd only gone along with Ellie... but he didn't particularly regret saving her. Saving people was a good thing. He didn't think Ellie was wrong in the first place, either. They just had different dispositions.

Besides, wouldn't it be a little disturbing in its own way if a nun abandoned someone without hesitation?

It was just that, in an emergency like this, what mattered was deciding quickly. If you were going to abandon someone, abandon them. If you were going to save them, do it fast. You couldn't waste time hesitating or agonizing over it.

Once you'd decided to save someone, failing to do so was a loss.

I took Sua's left arm and draped it over my shoulder, then spoke to Ellie.

"I'll support her on the left. Please take the right."

We'd support her from both sides and make a quick getaway. Naturally, we'd be slower than if we ran alone.

One tip I'd learned from zombie fiction: keep an eye on your surroundings.

Unfortunately—but fortunately for us—when I looked around, I saw people who still hadn't grasped the situation and people screaming at the sudden attack by walking corpses. Zombies.

"Huh? Uh..."

"Aaaaaah!"

When zombies were chasing you, you didn't have to finish first. Being just a little farther ahead than someone else was enough.

... But Ellie hadn't lifted Sua's right arm. Sua and I called out to her at the same time.

"Ellie?"

"Ellie! I won't call the orphans orphans anymore! Save me!"

Was it because this was an emergency? Sua spoke incredibly fast.

'Is she a rapper?'

Anyway.

Ellie's delicate brow furrowed at the carnage unfolding across the campground.

"Yohan, run."

"What?"

With a practiced movement, she immediately dropped to one knee and leaned Sua's body against her. Then she stood, secured Sua's legs with one arm, and wedged her shoulder against Sua's abdomen, folding her body over it.

It was the shoulder carry you often saw in war movies, when soldiers carried wounded comrades through bombardments.

"Aaah...!"

Just then, the zombie I'd kicked earlier approached again. Ellie took a short, deep breath.

"Whew."

Then she smashed her free hand into its head.

CRASH!

Yes, "smashed" was more accurate than "hit." Its head shattered, and the zombie flew even farther than when I'd kicked it.

"—!?"

Sua and I stared at Ellie with our mouths hanging open.

Carrying someone over her shoulder while sending a zombie flying with one hand—she was truly a modern-day crusader. A crusader warrior!

Ellie's blue eyes shone.

"Everyone! Run to the hall!"

Her voice rang out, rousing the lost. Zombies and humans alike turned their attention to her at once.

"Th-the hall?"

"L-let's just go!"

The panicking people came to their senses and started moving.

My gaze swept around.

'This is driving me nuts...'

That's right. This kindhearted nun wasn't merely planning to save Sua. She intended to save as many people as possible.

"Aaah...!"

The zombies ran after the fleeing people. I ran too.

As long as some people hadn't figured out what was happening, I could have gotten away with a moderate pace. Now, though, I had to run like I was sprinting a hundred meters.

I could feel the weight of the grimoires and magical supplies in my bag.

... But what could I do?

I looked at Ellie's back as she ran. A nun who could smash a zombie with one punch and outrun me while carrying someone had decided to save people.

... I'd just have to go along with her. What choice did I have?

Fortunately, these didn't seem to be zombies from the latest zombie movies. They weren't all that fast.

When we reached the hall entrance, the orphan children, unaware of what was happening, tried to approach Ellie.

"Ellie!"

I shouted from behind her.

"Don't come out! Get inside!"

Ellie set Sua down.

"Sua, take the children inside."

"O-okay. Kids, gather round! Get inside!"

Limping on one foot, Sua took the children into the hall first. I tried to follow, but my eyes met Ellie's.

"Yohan!"

'Sigh...'

Sighing inwardly, I held the hall door open and let in the people who had arrived with Ellie.

Ellie and I realized there were more zombies than we'd expected. We could see a horde cutting through the fog, converging on the hall.

We guarded the door to the very end. Once the last survivor who hadn't been caught by the zombies made it inside, we quickly shut it.

THUDTHUDTHUDTHUD!

BANG! BANG! BOOM! BANG! BOOM! CRASH!

The horde piled up against the door immediately, filling the air with the chilling sound of bodies colliding and pounding against it.

Fortunately, the door was thick, and it had to be pulled open from outside, so it stayed shut. I reached over and engaged the lock.

We'd have been in serious trouble if there had been an intelligent zombie capable of reading "PULL."

A flood of zombies would have poured inside. I'd have summoned Grizzly to survive—

'Gyaa~!'

—and then killed everyone here to keep them quiet.

As I keep saying, I'm not a psychopath who enjoys killing people. If I can avoid killing them, I'd rather not.

The pounding on the door continued.

BANG! CRASH! CRAAASH!

The door was thick, but leaving it like this still made me nervous. We needed a plank to slip between the handles, or something to use as a barricade.

"A-aaaargh!"

If they were nervous, they should look for something to barricade the door with.

Perhaps because of the pounding, several people sank to the floor and shouted.

"Why! Why! Why the hell is this happening!"

"Are we even safe here!"

Naturally, shouting inside a building surrounded by zombies was a bad idea. It advertised our presence.

I slowly raised my hand where everyone could see it and spoke in a low voice.

"Everyone, quiet. Please keep your voices down."

Their attention briefly gathered on me, then their faces immediately twisted into scowls.

"Who the hell are you—!"

Good question. Who was I? How philosophical. Meaning, it was a question I hated.

Why were people who panicked in situations like this always hostile to the first person who stepped up?

Would they shut up if I said I was a serial killer carrying an illegal firearm? Or would they shut up out of pity if I said I was an orphan bastard with no mom or dad? Oh, but they might laugh at that one.

Well, I understood. They were probably so anxious they couldn't control themselves.

As I tried to choose the right words, Ellie stepped forward and told them who I was for me. Her blue eyes sparkled.

Perhaps she was following my request to keep quiet, because she spoke softly but emphatically.

"He's a Ghostbuster. He's an amazing man!"

Wow~ A Ghostbuster!

Everyone except Ellie fixed me with looks of utter disbelief.

"What...?"

"Are you kidding us?"

Fine, I'd admit it. I'd gotten carried away after defeating the boogeyman possessing Emily, and now I regretted introducing myself as a Ghostbuster.

'I should've just gone with exorcist...'

Sua narrowed her eyes at me.

"Mister, were you a fake religious con artist? Figures... Calling yourself the friendly camp mister."

"You told us to ask if we needed help, but when I asked, you abandoned me! I knew it right then! You fraud!"

Apparently, she'd overheard my camp-mister speech to the little orphans on the bus.

I sighed and gave her head a light smack.

"Ow! Why'd you hit me?"

"Because I'm not the friendly camp mister."

"Then what are you!?"

"What else would I be—"

Just then, we heard something knocking objects over.

CLATTER!

A zombie walked out from deeper inside the hall.

"Aaah...!"

Apparently, one that had been inside had heard our voices and come out. People were startled by the zombie staggering toward us.

Seeing it, I stepped forward and finished my reply to Sua.

"—a Ghostbuster."

Right. It had been fun to say at the time. Since things had come this far, I might as well commit to it.

When we were running outside, the zombies had prioritized wherever they heard noise.

"Everyone, don't make a sound. It won't run unless you provoke it."

I gestured for Ellie not to intervene. There were things I wanted to investigate and test.

When everyone closed their mouths and fell silent, the zombie slowly walked toward me. I took the iron-covered grimoire <Mysteries of the Worm> out of my bag and held it.

FLIP-FLIP-FLIP!

Its pages opened on their own, showing me the knowledge I needed.

『How to put to rest those who must not rise, the walking dead. Lay them back upon the ground.』

"..."

A corpse got up? Lay it back down.

... Well, yes. That was obvious, if you thought about it. Straightforward.

I closed the grimoire and put it back in my bag.

I watched the zombie approach. A corpse with a great bite torn out of its neck and a dress shirt drenched in red blood was walking toward me.

Right. It was just a corpse. Not a monster.

Then why was a moving corpse frightening? Because it defied common sense. Something that shouldn't move was moving. That was what made it scary.

Which made this the most basic solution: restore something that wasn't in its proper state to the state it belonged in.

"Aaah...!"

I quickly placed my hand on the zombie's shoulder. You couldn't hesitate with something like this.

In one swift movement, I gripped its right shoulder and extended my right foot against its right ankle. Then I pressed my other hand against its chest and pushed.

It was a basic self-defense move I'd happened to see in a comic.

THUD!

"Aaah—!"

With its foot caught, the zombie fell backward according to the laws of motion. I pinned its body down with my knee and hand and recited the incantation.

"By whose permission do you walk? I have given you none."

"Ah... aaah...!"

That was all it took. A faint wisp of smoke escaped the zombie's mouth.

'... Fog?'

Like a puppet with its strings cut, it went limp and stopped moving. I stood up, looking down at what was no longer a zombie, but an ordinary corpse.

"..."

Everyone's eyes were fixed on me.

They always needed to see something before they'd believe. ... Though, to be fair, that was only natural.

Sua stared at me, then abruptly blinked and asked,

"Whoa. But why not just call yourself an exorcist? Why use a lame name like Ghostbuster?"

Ellie turned to Sua in shock. Her blue eyes wavered.

"Huh? Um... i-isn't Ghostbuster cool?"

Anyway, now that everyone had shut up, the zombies pounding on the door scattered.

BANG...

The pounding on the hall doors gradually grew quieter.

Since I had everyone's attention, I took advantage of the mood and spoke.

"Everyone, let's start by looking for planks or something to barricade the doors with."

We'd made it through one crisis. Now it was time to secure the most important thing in any zombie story: a safe base.