Chapter 19. First spread (3)
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In addition to abandoned cars on the road and zombies crawling out of the roadside, there were many things that interfered with driving. For example, there is noise in the cargo hold.
The road was straight, but there were some elevation differences. So, every time I went down or up a hill, I heard a ‘thud’ or ‘thud’ sound from the cargo compartment carrying the zombies.
That was fine, but sometimes I had to stop the car when I heard a sound like ‘Kkeeek’ or ‘Heeep’. The walls of the cargo compartment are quite thick, and the fact that the driver’s seat is lifted means that there was a big fight inside. Every time, we had to stop the truck and open the canned food or convenience food inside and throw it away.
Stopping a truck means stopping the entire group. However, the interval is getting considerably shorter.
“The more I think about it, the more I feel embarrassed. “I guess I should have just left you to starve to death.”
It wasn’t my fault, but I was a little embarrassed. In fact, I was the one who strongly advocated taking the zombies. Each time, everyone would say, ‘It’s okay, I’m a little sleepy, I need to go to the trailer restroom for a bit.’
And when she stopped for the tenth time, she received a radio call from Camilla.
– John?
It’s not her entire public channel, it’s her private channel with me and her. So right now the conversation is only between me and Camilla.
“Yes, I’m listening.”
– Don’t be too embarrassed.
“Did you get caught?”
– I don’t care what other people think. To be honest, I think it’s brave that they didn’t eat each other in the cargo hold. Or maybe Johan’s driving skills are so bad that he has no desire to eat anything.
“What? Not funny.”
Still, I am grateful that you internally take my side and tell me not to be discouraged. Now that I think about it, it seems like it’s been a while since I’ve talked to Camilla alone like this.
Of course, most of it was useless. They should have given blankets or cushions because the floor of the truck is made of iron, or zombie welfare is better than that of Liberation Army personnel, and such trivial stories. However, I was thankful that there was someone I could share even such trivial stories with and listen to.
“Now that I think about it, I’m curious. Can I ask this? You said that the goddess of hunger is a part of Erza’s traditional beliefs. Then wouldn’t she have been able to form something of a united front with the Liberation Corps?”
If she had been Camilla before, she might have been a little wary of asking, but now she had completely made up her mind about her side of the Liberation Organization. So she answered these questions in a refreshing manner. Of course, when Leticia subtly accused him of being a ‘nationalist terrorist’, she would call him a ‘dictatorship stooge’.
– Oh my, those idiots. I can’t speak. Do you know what we said to each other? I said it was like a ‘civil servant’.
“Civil servant?”
– If you do something, ‘It’s not in the regulations. You say things like ‘It’s not my job’ mechanically, right? Those people are exactly like that. ‘It’s against God’s will.’ That’s funny. You mean you opened a 1:1 chat room with the Goddess of Hunger? And above all, the direction of our activities was completely different.
“How?”
– As you know, the Liberation Front also boldly engaged in armed struggle. However, those fanatics went on to pursue educational activities, welfare, or enter politics. Oh, I did that too. Cooperative.
I suddenly wondered what kind of cooperative it was, and it was something like this.
No matter which city or country you go to, there are people who believe in the goddess of hunger.
When foreigners come, they not only receive them kindly, but also arrange for them to work at other people’s businesses according to their specialties and aptitude, and eventually even allow them to open their own stores.
When someone opens a store like that, people from the ‘cooperative’ eagerly buy the store’s products. Of course, there was no rule that you had to buy products only from stores affiliated with the cooperative, but if possible, you went to the cooperative and bought them.
– Although there were no extremely high-end items, the quality was good. If you think about it, that’s natural. Because you can’t give bad things to the cooperative people who trust and buy your products. Perhaps loans were provided at low interest rates to members within the union?
“After hearing it, it seems okay?”
– Right? But those people suddenly turned into armed forces after the declaration of a non-human protection zone. That also changed in some places and not in others, so I wondered what this was.
In fact, there is no law that all people think the same. Camilla also changed her mind after filming Liberation Front propaganda, and Leticia also turned her back on the military she had clung to all her life.
There, the two have something in common. Both Camilla and Leticia believed in ‘goddess faith.’ Camilla doesn’t seem to attach much importance to it now, but Leticia used to pray and give thanks regularly.
On the other hand, Cassandra showed no such appearance at all. She doesn’t know exactly about her childhood, but considering that her family came not from Erza but from the eastern dictatorship of Römer, it seems likely that she would have never been exposed to the goddess faith in the first place.
“Why did the people of Erza believe in the goddess of hunger? It’s a bit strange that it’s simply a traditional faith. Religion couldn’t have been the only thing, and I think there must have been some reason why it survived for such a long time.”
– Um, sorry. Actually, I don’t know much about that. When she was young, she always went to weekend prayer meetings, but in fact, she only went there to get the snacks that were distributed to the children in the kindergarten and spent the rest of the time sleeping. Ah, I still remember that one thing.
“What?”
– Well, I think it’s a story I’ve told before. I remember? It is said that someone was too greedy and was cursed by the goddess of hunger. The story is that she suffered from insatiable hunger and starvation throughout her life.
The story of Erijikton. I know because I heard it. The story of a person who ate her entire world and her daughter, her only family, but her hunger did not go away, so she ended up eating her own body. It was said that only a pair of her teeth remained in that place.
– But the priest who told the story asked this question. What would it have been like if that person had come to his senses just before tearing his body apart?
“Isn’t the level of difficulty too high for a question to ask young children?”
– Johan, what do you think it was like for you?
Camilla liked this type of question and answer. Like I want to know better what kind of person I am.
“I think it was sad.”
– Are you sad? Why? How? Tell me in detail. Because that’s important.
“In the end, you have inhaled her own life. Because she tried to satisfy her unfulfilled desires, and ended up with nothing left. She may have been sad, but the truth is she doesn’t have much sympathy. Camilla, what did you answer?”
– It’s similar to you, but don’t laugh. I said I was going to shoot him in the head. If you have any guns left.
I think it’s too extreme for a child to say. I imagine Camilla must have been quite naughty as a child, and I think she must have been quite cute.
“What? Why?”
-She thought that someone who remembered everything she had done would not be able to live soberly. But there was a reason why the priest asked that question. The priest’s father had a severe gambling addiction. So, he ate everything in the house. That was why the priest could not go to college and became a monk.
Thump thump. Thud. The zombies behind are making a fuss again.
“Uh, over there. Sorry. I need to stop the car. Could you please spread the word? Coincidentally, there is a gas station about 4km further from here. “Let’s put some gas there for a moment and let’s go.”
– Yes, don’t worry.
Until just now, I thought it was annoying. I feel a little strange right now. How did the priest whose father was ‘starving’ feel when he heard the story of Erijkton?
I’m not sure, but it certainly wouldn’t have been considered someone else’s story. So it may have been a question asked to the children. It doesn’t feel like someone else’s story to me, but what about you guys…….
The gas station seems to have been abandoned a long time ago. However, we did not let down our guard. Camilla and Leticia stood guard in their respective cars with guns out the window. I also put my rifle on my shoulder and got off.
Thump thump thump.
“Okay, I’ll give you food!”
I shouted loudly on purpose and threw the cans into the cargo hold as soon as they were opened. I heard the sound of zombies rushing in.
“Ugh.”
In an instant, I felt hunger stabbing my waist.
“Is everyone okay? “I think the level of Limos virus contamination here is a bit high.”
– I thought I was hungry because I talked to you a lot, but I guess I wasn’t.
– Cassandra is worth holding on to.
– If you don’t leave soon, I’ll eat you.
The fight between the zombies has quieted down like a lie. It made me laugh in many ways. I walked towards the gas tank, thinking I should put some gas in the car since it was already like this.
– John.
This is Camilla’s radio.
“Yes.”
– Can you see a picture on the pillar?
It is a pillar. Now that I think about it, there is a picture attached to the pillar of the gas station. It seemed like a copy of the silhouette of the goddess statue.
– That’s it. That combination… A symbol of something similar.
It was then.
“Uh.”
A man in shabby clothes was looking down at us from the rooftop of the gas station.