I’m In A World Infested By Zombies… But I Have Special Perks As A Formerly Isekai’d Person! - Chapter 18: Gasoline Recovery

Chapter 18: Gasoline Recovery

Hayato, who had obtained the pump and hose needed to recover gasoline, headed for the central business district of Kirigaoka City.

It was the business district leading to the large shopping mall on the opposite side of the station, not the shuttered street where the pharmacy was located.

Kirigaoka City was, quite frankly, a rural area.

The large shopping mall was a valuable entertainment venue for Kirigaoka City, and it was an important facility where everything from daily necessities to the latest fashion items could be found.

The mall had a supermarket, drugstore, and electronics store, and one could take care of many errands in a single visit.

—That’s why the shopping street died out, after all.

There was some resistance at the initial planning stage.

However, faced with the justice of job creation and convenience, the shopping street had no choice but to resist and was defeated.

Then, after once dying out, it was resurrected as a nightlife district.

Setting aside the shopping street’s resurrection story as a phoenix, the large shopping mall began to attract many visitors.

There were countless stores and eateries, a wide food court, a kids’ zone, and entertainment facilities such as movie theaters and game centers.

Cars were lined up in the parking lot, and people came from surrounding municipalities, creating a very lively atmosphere.

In other words, it had become a dangerous area with a mountain of zombies.

In the event of a massive zombie outbreak, one must not seek refuge in a shopping mall.

“Gasoline stations where fuel supply was limited to emergency vehicles, store staff turned into zombies, police were unable to recover all the gasoline, and citizens were unable to recover it due to zombies.”

Hayato had chosen the central business district as a candidate for such a place.

He hoped that the zombies around the gas station would do their best to drive away the citizens.

And if they had chased after the fleeing citizens and made them disappear completely, it would have been even better.

Hayato increased his bicycle’s speed and distanced himself from the zombies that had been chasing the survivors.

Perhaps it was a good thing that Kirigaoka City was a small town. If it had been Shibuya or Shinjuku, perhaps tens of thousands of zombies would have followed him.

As he passed between the low-rise buildings, the gas station eventually came into view.

Unfortunately, the zombies were walking around vigorously.

Hayato sighed and got off his bicycle, storing it away in his space storage and taking out his spear.

“Let’s get this over with quickly.”

In the next moment after taking aim at his target, Hayato dashed forward.

A brown bear can run at speeds of 50 to 60 kilometers per hour.

The ferocious beast in human form rushed forward, brandishing a metal weapon sharper than claws.

A dull thud was heard, and the first prey was hunted down.

At the moment the second zombie turned around, the spear tip drew a new trajectory and was sucked into the zombie’s head.

A popping sound was heard, and the second prey was felled.

The sound of Hayato’s sneakers as he ran was almost inaudible.

The only sounds that echoed around were the impact sounds of the spear tip colliding and the sound of the zombies collapsing.

After several sounds echoed, the same number of moving corpses became motionless.

Hayato, who had scattered the surrounding zombies with overwhelming force, swung his spear to wipe off the blood.

The spear tip, which had been active in the battle against the demons, shone without a single scratch.

Hayato checked the surroundings of the gas station and, confirming that it was safe, turned his attention to the metal cover on the ground.

He needed to open this cover to find the fill port.

“First, I’ll look for a tool to open the cover.”

Hayato entered the gas station and began searching for tools and equipment.

He overturned the shelves and sifted through the scattered merchandise, looking for anything that might be useful.

However, since he didn’t really understand it in the first place, he couldn’t find the dedicated tool for opening the cover.

Hayato sighed and continued searching the store.

The counter register had been overturned, documents were scattered, and various items had been pulled out or taken away.

It was obvious at a glance that this was the result of a thorough search.

As time passed uselessly without finding anything, Hayato decided to use force.

He returned to the outside of the store, took the spear in his hand, and approached the metal cover on the ground.

He inserted the spear tip into the gap in the cover and used the principle of the lever, gradually lifting the heavy cover.

Hayato used all his strength to lift the cover and finally succeeded in removing it.

However, when he looked at the removed cover, it was engraved with the word “UNLEADED.”

“……I messed up.”

A gas station has underground tanks for regular gasoline, high-octane gasoline, and diesel.

Regular gasoline is marked as “REGULAR” or “UNLEADED.”

High-octane gasoline is marked as “PREMIUM” or “HIGH-OCTANE.”

Diesel is marked as “DIESEL.”

And the SUV that Hayato had found was a luxury car designed for high-octane gasoline.

In other words, even if he recovered regular gasoline, it couldn’t be used for the car he had found.

Hayato sighed and moved to the cover of the other tank, searching for the fill port for high-octane gasoline.

Three out of the five were regular, one was diesel, and the last cover he saw was finally for high-octane.

“I found it, so that’s good enough.”

Hayato took a deep breath, opened the cover of the fill port for high-octane gasoline, and there appeared the entrance to refill the underground tank with gasoline.

By inserting the hose into this, it would connect to the underground tank.

Since most cars use regular gasoline, it could be assumed that people had refueled with regular gasoline until fuel supply was limited to emergency vehicles.

After fuel supply was limited to emergency vehicles, even emergency vehicles used regular gasoline, so it could be assumed that regular gasoline ran out first.

While high-octane gasoline can be used in regular cars, if there was still regular gasoline available, emergency vehicles probably wouldn’t refuel with high-octane.

Thus, it was more likely that high-octane gasoline would remain.

“First, I’ll choose a hose.”

Hayato selected the pressure-resistant hose from the hoses he had obtained.

It was highly transparent, allowing the fuel inside the hose to be seen, making it easier to confirm the progress of the work. Hayato checked the length of the hose and chose the 7-meter one, which was long enough to reach the underground tank.

A longer hose would reach, but if it was too long, it might become difficult to recover. Therefore, the length of the hose was kept moderate.

“Next is the pump.”

Hayato picked up both the hand pump and the piston pump and reviewed their respective features.

The hand pump was a type that drew by manually turning the handle, but he had been told that it might not have enough suction power to recover gasoline from a high position.

On the other hand, the piston pump had enough suction power.

It was a type that drew by moving the piston up and down, and by moving it up and down, it seemed to work by drawing up and pushing out the liquid. In other words, Hayato just had to push it with force.

“I’ll use the piston pump.”

Hayato decided to use the piston pump, considering it a moderate choice.

He connected the hose and pump using the pump parts.

Finally, he took out an empty water bucket from his space storage.

With the preparations on the ground finally complete, Hayato inserted the transparent hose into the fill port and lowered it into the underground tank.

It was a hassle to draw up the gasoline from below, but it was easy to insert the hose from above.

The hose’s diameter was also thinner than the usual refueling hose, so it didn’t get clogged.

—

I’ll take my time with this.

Zombies are a hassle, but I don’t want to do it all at once and cause a big explosion.

Hayato began to move the piston pump up and down carefully.

As the pump moved, gasoline was drawn up through the hose.

Fortunately, it seemed that high-octane gasoline was still available.

As the high-octane gasoline that had been drawn up began to fill the empty bucket, Hayato watched it fill up.

High-octane gasoline might also be available at other gas stations.

After confirming that the empty bucket was filled with high-octane gasoline, Hayato stored it and began pouring gasoline into the next bucket.

Hayato spent the next six hours continuously recovering gasoline from the underground tank.