In the pitch-black stairwell, only a single flashlight beam cut through the darkness.
Kyoko advanced slowly toward the top floor.
From time to time, the roar of imprisoned creatures drifted out from some unseen room. Dark, dried blood stained the mottled walls. Perhaps a survivor had once fought a desperate battle with zombies here. Or perhaps two survivors had turned on each other. Either way, someone had definitely passed through this place before.
Kyoko silently warned herself to stay alert.
One hand held her pistol. The other gripped the flashlight tightly. She kept her body lowered.
Her sharp ears strained for the slightest disturbance, while her eyes fixed on every corner that might conceal danger.
She moved with painstaking caution the entire way. A visible weapon was easy enough to guard against; it was the hidden blade that killed you. Kyoko had already taken the safety off the gun, and there was a round chambered. If anything seemed off, she would fire immediately.
Survival came first. Better to strike first, even if it turned out to be a misunderstanding.
If carelessness on her part led to disaster, that would just be too stupid.
In an apocalyptic world like this, there was no such thing as being too cautious. The infected were simple—what they wanted was your life. But people could want all kinds of things.
The trip proved tense but uneventful, and Kyoko finally reached her destination.
It was only a difference of five floors, yet it felt as though she had been climbing forever.
[Well, obviously. Creeping around this carefully is bound to be slower than how you normally walk.]
"I'd rather be overly cautious than die for no reason. Also, why are you eavesdropping on my thoughts again?"
[Can't I be concerned about your mental health?]
Kyoko had no interest in wasting time on more pointless banter with the system. Under the guidance of her flashlight, she carefully examined the corridor outside Rooms 2001 and 2002. Since there were only two units on the twentieth floor, one on each side, the only other door led to the rooftop. She checked that too. There were not even any footprints in the snow. Nothing looked out of place.
She did, however, notice something she had previously overlooked. The rooftop on the 2001 side connected to the neighboring building. The apartment blocks in this complex were arranged in paired A and B wings. Each pair stood side by side, separated by a wall barely two meters high.
That would need to be raised later.
Putting thoughts of the future aside, it was time for close-quarters work.
Friend or foe, she was about to find out.
"Room 2002 really does have a white cloth hanging outside. Let's see if there's anything written on it."
When she unfolded the cloth with her hand, she found an arrow drawn on it, pointing upward.
Following the direction it indicated, Kyoko spotted a rolled-up slip of paper stuffed into the peephole.
"This girl really likes writing notes. Don't tell me she's some kind of weird literary maiden."
Looking at the note in her hand, Kyoko already felt a little tired. This kind of indirect communication was such a pain.
Why couldn't the other person just come out and meet her directly? This way both sides had to waste time and effort.
What, did she think Kyoko was going to eat her the moment she showed up?
Did Kyoko really look that vicious?
In her own opinion, she might not be some saint, but she was not the sort of terrifying cannibal who would invite people over for dinner in the worst possible sense.
The contents of the note were simple. There was a cord behind the peephole; if she pulled it, it would alert the person in the bedroom that a visitor was outside.
Kyoko happened to have another cord on her, so she tied the two together. Then she moved beside the fire pipe next to the apartment door, confirmed that no one inside could attack that spot, and yanked sharply on the line before retreating back toward the stairwell in case anything went wrong.
She raised her gun and aimed at 2002's door, ready to fire.
A faint sound came from inside. The owner had arrived. There was a click as the door latch opened—
and then a white French flag poked out from inside.
Behind the door, Yurizono Huaxiu was so nervous that even her breathing was barely audible. Her small hand trembled as she extended the improvised flag of surrender, hoping the person outside would accept it and not attack.
"I'm Yurizono Huaxiu, a middle school student. I mean no harm. I... I don't even have the strength left to do anything else.
"Right now, you could do anything you wanted to me and I wouldn't be able to resist. Please... I beg you... I hope you'll kindly accept my surrender and let me join you."
Her voice broke repeatedly, and there was even a faint sob in it. If Kyoko's hearing had been any worse, she might not have caught the words at all.
"I can put down my weapon. I'm not a bad person either. But in the apocalypse, there's no such thing as being too careful. Can you come out and talk to me?"
"Of course. I don't really have any other choice."
Huaxiu's voice was extremely low and subdued.
Which made sense. Who would entrust their life to a complete stranger in a situation like this?
For Huaxiu, driven into a corner, this was desperation. Her combat ability was practically zero. Even the weakest kind of worm creature had taken everything she had just to kill. Asking her to fight infected head-on was no different from sending her to her death.
At that moment, Yurizono Huaxiu bitterly regretted what had happened the month before. After a serious fight with her parents, she had taken a taxi from Tokyo all the way back to her family's home in Nihonmatsu.
Who could have guessed that only a few days after returning home, while she was still sulking and refusing to reconcile with them, the apocalypse would break out?
At first she had planned to follow the fleeing crowds and go to a shelter in Tokyo. But halfway there, armed soldiers had informed them that Tokyo was already sealed off. People could leave, but no one was being allowed in.
With no other option, she had returned here.
Her last phone call with her parents had not even ended before the solar magnetic storm struck and communications failed. While making her way home through the chaos, she had "bought" some supplies from a convenience store. Without that, there was no way she could have lasted this long with how little food and water there had been in the apartment.
If Kyoko had not started moving around two days ago, Huaxiu might truly have believed she was the only living person left in the entire building.
She had even planned to finish writing her final letter and then kill herself.
Faced with a world this hopeless, wouldn't it be better to end things cleanly than to suffer until she turned into one of the infected?
With that thought, Yurizono Huaxiu steeled herself, opened the door completely, and stepped outside.
"I'm out now. Will you be honest with me too?"
Kyoko carefully looked the girl over.
She seemed like the sort of bookish girl who disliked exercise. She wore black-rimmed glasses, had a blonde ponytail, and looked to be a little shorter than Kyoko—probably around 160 centimeters. Her chest, however, seemed a bit fuller than Kyoko's. And in weather this cold, she was dressed that lightly?
Was this girl an idiot?
While Kyoko was sizing Huaxiu up, Huaxiu was also carefully studying the infamous barbecue maniac in front of her.
Kyoko's performance the day before had frightened her badly. But she had never imagined that such a wild arsonist would turn out to be a girl not much older than herself.
She was wrapped up from head to toe, with a helmet on her head and a face shield covering even her face. She was wearing all sorts of tactical gear Huaxiu could not identify. Everything was pitch black, making her look like someone who had just climbed out of a coal mine.
"So... is your whole family gone except for you? No, wait—I mean, are you the only survivor here?"
The moment the words came out, Kyoko realized how badly she had phrased that and hurriedly corrected herself. Fortunately, the girl opposite her did not seem to focus too much on it.
"Yes. I'm the only one here. My family is in Tokyo. I came back here because I fought with my parents. Then I ended up trapped here and couldn't get back."
"I see. Can you tell me how you managed to survive these past few days?"
Even though Kyoko was beautiful and did not look like some brutal thug, Huaxiu was still terribly nervous. This felt like an interrogation. The woman in front of her had a gun. Who would not be scared in a situation like that?
And they were standing in the corridor, of all places. If anything went wrong, that would be the end of her life. The other girl might not have been afraid of being shoved over the edge—but Huaxiu definitely was. This was the twentieth floor, more than sixty meters above the ground. Falling from here was not a matter of getting bruised and scraped.
A person would turn into a splattered anime cutout on the pavement.
You would have to scrape them up with a shovel.
"I had some supplies at home. I've been rationing them carefully until now. Yesterday, I ran out of the food I'd stored. I still have about two days' worth of water left."
Huaxiu looked at Kyoko pitifully and pointed shyly at her stomach, her face slightly flushed.
As if on cue, her belly let out its own protest at being left empty. That settled it—her face went bright red, saying more than words ever could.
Kyoko could not see anything obviously wrong with her.
And with truth itself holstered at her side, what could one little girl who had not even made it to high school yet possibly do to her?
"Then I won't beat around the bush. Let's speak plainly. This—"
"Yes, I'll listen to you. As long as I can keep living like a human being, that's enough."
"That wish is still too luxurious right now. If you don't struggle with everything you have to save yourself, nobody else will be able to save you."
Kyoko had been interrupted, but she did not get angry. She simply continued from Huaxiu's words.
By now, Huaxiu had already decided to treat Kyoko as her last lifeline. All she wanted was to grab hold of this opportunity as tightly as possible.
Her own strength was nowhere near enough to let her survive in an apocalypse this dangerous. After seeing Kyoko's methods and capabilities, she decided to gamble.
Starve to death, die of thirst, die of illness, get killed by the infected—
death was waiting either way.
So why not gamble on this?
"I'll do everything I can. I'll go with you. Whatever you tell me to do, I'll do it."
Seeing how straightforward Huaxiu was being, Kyoko stopped putting on airs too.
"Since you're willing to trust me, then come back to my place with me. We can eat and talk there.
"I mean you no harm. If I did, you'd already be dead. But don't try anything clever with me. I believe you're a smart girl."
As she spoke, Kyoko gestured meaningfully and let Huaxiu see the pistol hanging at her waist.
Faced with that silver embodiment of truth, Huaxiu—a girl who had barely even seen knives up close—naturally did not dare object. She obediently followed Kyoko toward the fifteenth floor.
Huaxiu walked ahead. Kyoko followed behind her.
At that moment, Huaxiu's heart was filled with unease, but in the end she forced it down.
After all, what could this woman possibly want from her?
Her empty apartment?
A body so weak she needed six minutes just to run a kilometer?
A grimy self that had not bathed in ten days and had practically marinated in her own smell?
No... someone like this older girl could not possibly be as rotten and gloomy as she herself was.
In any case, may fortune smile on me.
I hope this choice will let me go on living as a human being.
Holding onto that resolve, Huaxiu stepped into a new chapter whose ending she could not yet see.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter108)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 99
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 95
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 99
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 92
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 47
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 44
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 43
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 26
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