Jobless Man’s Zombie Survival Life - Chapter 62: The Matter of Sakurai Atsushi-san

Chapter 62: The Matter of Sakurai Atsushi-san

“So, you’re the Ichirouta-kun that Misa kept talking about, huh? Thanks for looking after my wife and daughter.”

“No, no, Misa-neesan and the others have always been good to me, so don’t worry about it.”

Standing before me is a humanoid bear… or rather, a man who looks remarkably like one.

This is Sakurai Atsushi-san, the person we came to find.

We’re inside the staff room on Platform 6 of Shiiya Station.

Most of the zombies were lured away by the firecracker strategy, but it’s too reckless to chat casually on the platform.

Atsushi-san unlocked the door for us, and we’re taking a quick break inside.

I knew from Miku-chan that Atsushi-san smokes, so I got his permission and lit up.

Of course, I offered him one too.

“Phew… This brings me back to life. Cigarettes were the one thing I couldn’t manage.”

“Were you okay with food and stuff?”

“Yeah, I climbed the ceiling or pipes to grab stuff from the platform’s kiosk or used the supplies here.”

…What’s that?

Wait, was this guy free-climbing or something?

I heard he was into mountain climbing, but…

“Luckily or unluckily, my colleagues and any decent people either died or turned into zombies early on… One person doesn’t need much food.”

“…Atsushi-san, what exactly happened here?”

“Hmm, I don’t really know myself…”

Atsushi-san crosses his arms, deep in thought.

“But I think it started with an express train from Ryuugu…”

He begins, recalling the memory.

“It was… before 10 a.m., I think? A train came in way too fast and barely stopped…”

“I was on the elevated walkway at the time, but my colleagues thought it was an accident and pried open the door. That’s when zombies poured in…”

“After that, it was chaos. I tried guiding people to safety, but before I knew it, I couldn’t get out of the station. Never thought to escape through the station building.”

So, the zombies came from a downbound train from Ryuugu.

Doesn’t mean Ryuugu City was the source, though.

Kanzaki-san said the zombies in Akizuki Town appeared around the same time on the same day.

Oh well.

Let’s leave that to the researchers.

“But coming all the way out here… Just like Misa said.”

“…What exactly did Misa-neesan say about me…?”

“Uh, let’s see, oh, that! Back in high school, you got hospitalized protecting a girl…”

“Stop! Please stop!!”

“I’m curious, Tanakano-san!!”

“I plead the fifth!!”

I’m blindsided by a black mark from my past I’d completely forgotten!

Misa-neesan! Leaking info is off-limits! Forbidden!!

And Kanzaki-san, don’t bite on that!!

“A-Anyway… let’s get out of here. Atsushi-san, anything you want to take?”

“Nah, not really.”

“How about weapons?”

At that, Atsushi-san grabs something like an iron pipe from the back of the room.

“I’ve always been hopeless at martial arts… Will this do?”

He swings it lightly, but the sound’s way too intense.

…That’s not just a pipe, is it?

It’s a solid iron rod, the kind used for staking fields…

And he’s swinging it like a bokken…

“…Just, uh, smash heads with it as hard as you can.”

“Got it? I’ll do my best!”

Between his strength to climb ceilings and the mentality to survive this long…

No wonder Misa-neesan chose him as her husband.

He probably got along great with the old-timers too…

No point staying here forever, so we start moving.

We’ll take the same route back.

I lead, Kanzaki-san takes the rear.

Atsushi-san’s got insane physical strength but isn’t used to fighting, so he’s in the middle.

We climb the stairs, checking around.

There shouldn’t be any zombies left, but better safe than sorry.

The elevated walkway’s clear too.

So far, so peaceful.

The problem’s ahead.

If the firecrackers reached the station building, the zombie layout might’ve shifted.

Gotta stay sharp.

I check my grip on the bokken and climb over the station building’s ticket gate.

As expected, there are a few zombies that weren’t here before…

I peek inside from the entrance, thinking.

I glance back, quietly signaling the two to be cautious, and we start moving slowly.

I creep up to the nearest zombie and bash its head, neutralizing it.

Kanzaki-san shoots the ones farther away.

We clear them methodically as we go.

We reach the escalator and look down.

…One zombie.

I signal Kanzaki-san to take it out.

We descend slowly and reach the first floor.

No other zombies besides the one we just dealt with.

“(Man, you two are amazing… So skilled, like a great team.)”

“(Right…? Kanzaki-san’s the best partner!)”

“(Mgh! …No idle chatter!)”

We talk quietly while scanning the area.

This place stinks, so I want out fast… but no letting our guard down.

Enduring the indescribable stench, we inch forward, and the back entrance we came through comes into view.

Phew, finally back…

No zombies in sight…

A crashing sound and a jolt hit my body.

I collapse to the floor.

Something’s on my back.

“AAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!”

…A zombie!?

I wasn’t careless or off guard.

But from above!?

I can’t get bitten!!

I unhook my backpack’s straps, headbutt backward, twist my body, and slam my elbow in.

Using the momentum, I stand and check around.

Just this one around me.

Kanzaki-san… just shot a zombie in the head, one left, she’s fine!

Atsushi-san… is swarmed by three zombies!

This is bad!!

He’s swinging the iron rod, but he’s panicking a bit.

I kick the face of the zombie I knocked down, snapping its neck, and sprint toward Atsushi-san.

“Atsushi-san, back off! Swing and retreat!!”

I throw my bokken as I run.

It spins, tripping a zombie’s legs.

Two left.

A gunshot—one more drops, head snapped back.

One left.

Almost there!!

I reach for my sword as I run.

“Guh!?”

I see a zombie bite Atsushi-san’s left hand.

Around the pinky.

My blood runs cold.

Time slows down.

“Papa’s back is so big, Miku loves it!”

Miku-chan’s smiling face, talking about her dad.

“Look at this, his uniform had to be custom-made, but isn’t it cool~?”

Misa-neesan’s shy grin as she hands me the photo.

They flash through my mind.

“…Reach out to me!!”

I draw my sword with the momentum of my lunge.

“Guhh!”

I slice off Atsushi-san’s hand from the pinky to the ring finger, palm and all.

“Ora!!”

I charge into the zombie shoulder-first, knocking it away.

“Press your wrist to stop the bleeding!!”

I yell, stomping the fallen zombie’s neck.

I do the same to the tripped one with my bokken.

“Kanzaki-san! You okay!?”

“Yes! …Atsushi-san! Show me the wound!”

I leave first aid to Kanzaki-san and grab my backpack.

The zombie and I both yelled, so they’re coming fast!

“Treatment done! Let’s retreat!”

“Sorry…”

“Don’t worry about it! …Kanzaki-san, get Atsushi-san outside!”

I hear zombie roars from the second floor and the station’s ticket gate.

Through the front entrance’s automatic door, a ton of zombies are running our way.

They’ve noticed us.

“Tanakano-san!?”

“Don’t worry, I’m escaping with you! I’m done with people crying over me!”

I joke, sheathing my sword and pulling a grenade from my pocket.

“Just lightening the load!”

I yank the pin and toss it toward the second floor, barely visible from the escalator.

I grab another and throw it toward the ticket gate.

“Retreat!!!”

I sprint toward Kanzaki-san, who’s opening the automatic door.

Two muffled explosions sound behind me, with slight shockwaves.

Hope that throws them off… but no, I still hear footsteps coming.

“Atsushi-san! Run to the truck!!”

“Got it!”

“Tanakano-san, grenade! I’ll cover!!”

I throw my last grenade toward the chasing zombies.

Glancing back while running, there’s still over ten after us.

Atsushi-san grabs the truck bed’s edge with his good hand and jumps in.

I unlock the truck with the key I’d taken out, hopping in.

Kanzaki-san takes the passenger side, firing her rifle from the hip at the zombies.

I start the engine, confirm Kanzaki-san’s in, and floor it.

We sideswipe zombies riddled with bullet wounds, knocking them away as we hit the road.

Thank goodness for the reinforced bumper…

After driving a bit, the chasing zombies disappear.

In the rearview mirror, I see Atsushi-san slumped in the truck bed.

I let out a heavy sigh and turn to Kanzaki-san.

“…Kanzaki-san, how long does it take to turn into a zombie after a bite…?”

“…At shortest, two hours. At longest, one and a half days. No longer cases confirmed.”

Atsushi-san was bitten, and I cut off the area almost instantly.

Like in some zombie movie, I should’ve gone for the wrist, but the position was bad, and I wasn’t confident I could sever that thick wrist in one go.

We don’t know what causes zombie infection, but that timing should’ve worked…

“Kanzaki-san, I need to discuss something…”

※

“Come on in, it’s a messy house, but make yourself at home.”

“Sorry for the intrusion.”

“Thank you for having us.”

We didn’t head back to Yurei but to my place instead.

I had Kanzaki-san contact Miyata-san earlier, sending a false radio message:

“The station’s overrun with zombies. We secured a safe spot in the station building and will stay a few nights to search thoroughly.”

For now, Atsushi-san will stay at my place under our watch until the one-and-a-half-day limit passes.

Yurei has isolation rooms, but if he turned there, it’d devastate Miku-chan.

Neither I, Kanzaki-san, nor Atsushi-san want that, so we settled on this.

I tell them to relax, then head to a nearby pharmacy.

There, with a list from Kanzaki-san, who consulted the hospital and SDF medics, I grab medicines and disinfectants.

“Kanzaki-san, I’m back… Here’s the medicine. How’s Atsushi-san?”

“Welcome back, Tanakano-san. Yes, got it.”

“Thanks, Ichirouta-kun. It hurts, but I’m managing.”

I glance at Kanzaki-san treating Atsushi-san.

…Thank goodness for Kanzaki-san.

I couldn’t have handled this alone.

Reliable friends are everything.

Now… what happens next…

Just one and a half days… one and a half days…