Jobless Man’s Zombie Survival Life - Chapter 55: The One We Sought Arrives

Chapter 55: The One We Sought Arrives

After some light parkour, we finally reach Akizuki Town’s city hall.

Kanzaki-san and I stand on the roof of the adjacent warehouse.

We walk across the roof to the second-floor window and knock.

“Uh, excuse me. We’re from the Akizuki General Hospital shelter. I’m looking for someone who might be here…”

I call out, but there’s no response.

“…They’ve gotta be here, right?”

“Zombies aren’t smart enough to send light signals…”

“Yeah, true.”

Kanzaki-san answers, her face no longer tomato-red.

Hmm, maybe we wait a bit.

※

After a while with no reply, I knock again and call out like before.

“Hey! Excuse me! We’re here looking for someone!”

The curtain twitches.

Oh? Finally, someone’s coming.

Open it quick—

“Kanzaki-san, something’s bad!!”

I leap back, shouting to her.

A split second later, something crashes through the window from behind the curtain, shattering glass and landing on the roof.

A zombie!!

It tumbles forward onto the roof.

I yank the bokken from my back and smash its skull.

What’s going on!?

The city hall’s supposed to be sealed from the inside… Is the back breached, or…?

“It turned into a zombie from the inside…?”

“Maybe someone hid a bite and evacuated here…”

As I talk with Kanzaki-san, who’s attaching a bayonet to her rifle, an unwelcome scream echoes from the broken window.

※

“AAAAAAA!!” “OGAAAAA!!” “IIIIIII!!”

“Damn it! Guess we’ve gotta fight!”

“Yes!”

The grounds are swarming with zombies, and there’s no escape.

Luckily, this roof has only one entry point.

Bring it on!!

“AAAAA!!”

“Shut up!!”

I slam the first zombie’s temple.

It staggers and falls, and I move to finish it—

“Ha!!”

Kanzaki-san rushes in, dropping her heel on its neck.

“I’ll finish them! Tanakano-san, just land the first hit!!”

“Got it!!”

Two more leap out.

“Ooo… Take that!!”

A low slash cuts their legs, toppling them.

They roll backward with their momentum.

Two crushing sounds follow.

Next!

A zombie in a helmet and protector, like Ooki-kun from before, charges out screaming.

Damn, what a pain!!

A survivor turned zombie after being bitten?

The full-face helmet should prevent bites, at least.

I scan its body, striking both unprotected arms.

Breaking bones should halve the threat.

I trip it and leave it to Kanzaki-san.

“KIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAA!!”

“…!?”

A middle-school-aged girl zombie leaps out.

I hesitate for a moment, missing the first strike.

…Zombies are zombies, no matter who they were.

But facing a kid for the first time slows me down.

She swats my bokken.

She’s faster than other zombies!

Is this what happens when a young person turns!?

I let the swat’s momentum spin my arm, channeling centrifugal force into a diagonal overhead slash.

The strike to her neck snaps it.

Killing a kid-shaped zombie feels awful…

※

No time to dwell—footsteps and screams still come from the window.

Fine, I’ll send them all to nirvana!!

“Nagumo-ryu, Tanakano Ichirouta! Here I come!!”

I shout to psych myself up, resting the bokken on my right shoulder.

I exhale, loosening my body just enough.

“Aa!!”

A horizontal swipe crushes a head.

“Shi!!”

I shatter an ankle, toppling another.

“Ooo!!”

I break both arms.

“Rii… Yaa!!”

An upward cut snaps a jaw, followed by a downward strike splitting a forehead.

“Come on! Keep coming!!”

“Ze… Aa!!”

I smash a zombie’s thigh, breaking the bone.

As it pitches forward, I step back and slam the bokken into its skull, cracking it.

I take a seigan stance, staring at the window.

No more sounds from within.

After waiting and confirming nothing else comes, I exhale.

“Haa… haa… That’s the last of them, right?”

I turn to Kanzaki-san.

Her uniform’s splattered with blood, but she holds her rifle steady.

Her bayonet’s stained red-black.

“Phew… Seems so. Any injuries, Tanakano-san?”

“Just tomorrow’s muscle aches, probably. …You, Kanzaki-san?”

“Just ruined my clothes… Um, any blood on my face? I can’t tell…”

“You’re fine, fine. As gorgeous as ever.”

“Wha…! R-Really?”

Crap, exhaustion made me blurt that out.

Please don’t sue me, Kanzaki-san!!

I scan the roof, counting zombies.

Whoa… fifteen of them?

I lost track in the frenzy.

I stand, catching my breath.

Okay, calming down.

Now we can explore.

There might still be survivors on the third floor, so we need to get inside…

“Above!!”

Kanzaki-san’s voice.

A presence overhead.

No time to look up—I’m a beat late.

I swing my bokken upward.

A heavy impact.

I’ll get crushed like this!

I fold my body with the weight, rolling forward.

Mid-roll, I push off the ground with one hand, leaping diagonally.

I land, taking a stance.

I see a figure in a tracksuit.

Full-face helmet, long black hair spilling out—a woman.

She’s holding… a naginata-shaped bokken!

She swung it down while jumping from the third floor!

She lands and instantly spins, aiming a centrifugal slash at my shins.

I hop to dodge.

She reverses, thrusting the naginata’s butt at me mid-air.

So fast!?

I parry with the handle while landing, stepping in for a downward cut.

She pulls her left hand back, intercepting my bokken with the tip.

It’s heavy for a woman!

No way!? My bokken broke!?

The strain finally snapped it in half.

Her naginata reverses toward me.

I dive flat to dodge, throwing the broken bokken.

As she deflects it, I draw my sword naginata.

I block her overhead strike with the flat, leaping back to a low stance.

Should I draw shuriken?

Or close the distance…?

“Tanakano-san!”

“I’m fine!!”

I reply to Kanzaki-san’s shout.

“Stay still! Move, and I shoot!!”

A gunshot.

A bullet sparks at her feet.

You’re shooting anyway! So reliable!!

“Ah… okay.”

She drops the naginata with a clatter.

“Hey…”

Her voice… sounds familiar…?

“You in the helmet… Ichirouta?”

“…Misa-neesan?”

※

“No way, sorry, sorry! Some guys attacked before, so I thought you were one of them!!”

The woman laughing after removing her helmet is Sakurai Misa (桜井美沙).

Maiden name: Nakamura.

Yes, Mondo-occhan and Sachiko-san’s eldest daughter, Miku-chan’s mother.

The one I was searching for.

Long black hair, tall and stunning.

…Is she really older than me? She hasn’t aged a bit.

By the way, “Ichirouta” is what she’s called me since I was a kid.

Apparently, “Ichirouta” was easier than “Ichirou-ta.”

“Well, it’s been rough lately, so don’t worry… No injuries here. But I didn’t know you did naginata, Misa-neesan.”

“Learned it in college. I wasn’t living at home then.”

No way!? That skill from college naginata!?

…As expected of Occhan’s daughter.

Anyway, no more zombies, it seems.

I take off my helmet.

“Whoa! You’ve gotten rugged since I last saw you!! That skill just now—your manliness’s leveled up!”

“Come on…”

She even talks like Occhan.

“Uh, Tanakano-san. So this is…?”

“Oh, yeah. My search target.”

“Hm? You came for me, Ichirouta? I’m flattered, but I’ve got a husband…”

“What’re you talking about!? …Here’s the thing…”

I start explaining to Misa-neesan, who’s got the wrong idea.

※

“Well done!! Well done, Ichirouta!!”

“Ow, ow, ow!! That hurts!?”

“Uh, um… please…!”

Saving Miku-chan.

Meeting Occhan and learning Misa-neesan was her mom.

Miku-chan’s current situation.

I recap everything, and Misa-neesan hugs me, pounding my back.

My shoulder blades! They’re gonna crack!!

Damn, she’s just like Occhan!!

“With the world like this, I was so worried about Miku!! I was gonna go look for her eventually!”

“I was shocked at how small the world is—mff!?”

“But we’ve got evacuees here, zombies everywhere, and then zombies popping up from the evacuees!!”

“Mmf!?”

“We sent SOS signals, got replies from the hospital, and were holding out for rescue when you showed up! Thank you, thank you!!”

“…”

“Tanakano-san’s suffocating!!”

“…Oh.”

※

“An unfamiliar yet familiar sky…”

I blacked out in Misa-neesan’s embrace and wake up lying on the roof.

Looking around, I see Misa-neesan and Kanzaki-san talking nearby.

“…So you just push, push, and knock him down! That’s how I…”

“I see…”

What’re they talking about?

It’s too far to hear clearly.

Eavesdropping on ladies is bad manners, so I stand and call out.

“Getting along with Kanzaki-san, huh, Misa-neesan?”

“Oh, you’re up, you perv!”

“Stop spreading rumors!!”

I rush over to them.