Chapter 20. Patriot (5)
Camilla’s point was also in line with my concerns.
Now we are fighting while transporting zombies in trucks. It’s a kind of guerrilla warfare, and if it were human soldiers there wouldn’t be a problem, but it becomes a problem because the target of boarding and alighting is zombies.
“Isn’t it a week today that we started ‘pioneering’ together? Those guys have been growling at you more often. “I’ve been counting for three days, and I’m sure.”
“They are rebelling? Should we try to regain discipline?”
It was a joke, but Camilla took it seriously.
“John. Those guys were originally people too. And sometimes people can’t overcome their emotions and act unexpectedly. I was like that right now, and Leticia was like that too. “What about zombies?”
Zombies are beasts. When animals show affection, they act kindly, but when the trigger is pulled, their wild instincts awaken.
Moreover, the pheromones that come out of my body are not the type that ‘makes both people and zombies fall in love’. It is the one that amplifies the emotions that were originally harbored.
If he liked me, he would like me more, if he didn’t like me, he would hate me even more and go wild, and if he wasn’t particularly interested, he would be indifferent.
“But Camilla, in this situation, this is the fastest way to spread. Make zombies fight each other, injure them, and spray spray on them. “Just spraying it is dangerous and has low contagious effect.”
“I agree with the method of spread itself. Because it’s hard to think of another way. What I mean is, you expose yourself to too much risk in the process.”
“Then what should we do?”
“I also thought about this.”
Even after waiting for a long time, Camilla could hardly open her mouth. The patter of raindrops was hitting the truck window. It was as if she couldn’t wait to hear it from them too.
“What were you thinking that made your face so red?”
“I’m infected with your virus too, but you said I can’t produce as much pheromones as you.”
“That’s right?”
“I thought that if I accepted you more deeply than I do now, I could become like that too.”
Only after passing one more street did she understand what Camilla meant. Camilla turned away from me, her earlobes flushed, and I almost knocked over her trash can in the middle of her intersection from looking at her. Still, I wasn’t angry.
“Don’t look at me like that.”
Camilla covered her lower abdomen with both hands and cleared her throat.
“That’s big. But when I thought about it, it didn’t seem like much. I think my life in the trailer will end quickly, but if I get pregnant in this situation, it would be a bit inconvenient for others, and… “I don’t think having a zombie commute to work will have any good effect on the unborn baby.”
“That’s right…” Ji.”
I can’t speak properly because my heart is pounding. Camilla is constantly fanning her hands as if it’s hot. But it seemed like she still had more to say.
“… That, and. I… I don’t want to just go around here and there like someone else, like an exhibitionist. Still, I want to do it in a romantic place first… Uh. “Do you look too girly?”
Leticia wasn’t just here and there, but she wasn’t that important. In the end, Camilla bowed her head.
The rain poured harder. Because she couldn’t see clearly, she drove the truck slowly. Suddenly her eyes widened. In the big and grand awning… The words “Department store” Were written on it. It was dark inside the department store, but it didn’t look bad for stopping for a moment.
“Why are you stopping?”
She gently stroked Camilla’s astonished cheek and kissed her. The smell of her rain-soaked hair mixed with the smell of sweat, but she didn’t look bad at all.
“What is it all of a sudden?”
As she said, Camilla’s hand fumbled with the hem of my clothes. As she was about to put her hand into the gap, the cargo compartment made a ‘thud’ sound. Moans filled with complaints also flowed out.
“Those kids really have no sense.”
She sighed, but Camilla smiled and ruffled my hair.
“Camilla. “Let’s get off.”
“Let’s get off?”
“But it’s still a department store. I don’t know what’s left, but pick it anyway. “I’ll buy it for you.”
“Are you living there?”
“Of course.”
I filled her magazine and checked her firearm. Camilla also polished her gun and polished her outfit. Zombies, whether they were frustrated or not, I just turned off the engine and got out.
“But, Camilla. Before you go shopping, just this one. So, what do you want me to do?”
“… “She tried to tell me to ask Leticia for her advice.”
Camilla surprised me several times today.
“You hate Leticia, right?”
“Of course I don’t like it.”
Camilla’s face suddenly became grim.
“I don’t like flirting with you whenever I get the chance. I hate that her big buttocks are pushing and I can’t tell when to wear them or not. It sucks to suck on you like you’re candy in a bag. “Sometimes I even hate you.”
“But you ask Leticia for her advice?”
“… Because it’s okay to be an ‘officer’. This wasn’t my judgment, it was in the Liberation Front database. Of course, the data contained information that Leticia’s real brother lives in Römer, but it did not say that she was a perverted woman without an answer, so her reliability is a bit questionable.
I am confident that I will not lose to anyone when it comes to protecting you, Johan. But directing and instructing someone is a different matter. I only worked with like-minded people, but Leticia was stuck with her stupid underlings and incompetent superiors, so she was able to build her own unit. So, when it comes to running an organization, you’ll be better than me.”
As I was looking at it with admiration, Camilla added a word.
“… Don’t tell me I said this. “Because I don’t want to see that b*tch getting upset.”
“I just need to know. Shall we go in now? “Just the two of us.”
“It’s been a while since I went shopping.”
She took her gun and went inside. A growling sound was heard. It was time to pay.
* * * * *
When I opened the trailer door and entered, Cassandra was eating cereal and Leticia was flipping through channels on her radio.
“Why did you come so late! You were worried! “I’m not even answering the radio!”
As soon as we closed the trailer door, Leticia started nagging her.
Camilla, who normally would have been out of the way, unpacked her gear with a rather refreshed look on her face. She seems to be in a good mood as she has changed into pretty new underwear and brought some new ones as well. One you chose, one I chose, and one you both chose together.
“To be safe. “Do you hear any good news on the radio?”
“There was one. “My old boss has become the commander of the central and southern region of the Unified Forces.”
“… Virginia? “What is the Unified Army?”
Camilla sat on the bed with her serious face. Leticia summarized what she heard on the radio. In short, the story was that Elsa had become a huge military family.
“The government is attracting Elsa people to the city. This makes it easier to control materials and manpower and utilize resources effectively. “The unified army means to unite those cities and make them into a huge group.”
“Will anything affect us?”
“Beitrashi is located in the central and southern part of the operational division. So this means that this is also Virginia’s jurisdiction.”
Cassandra missed the spoon. She didn’t fall to the floor, but she hit the bowl and made a clattering sound. Leticia rubbed her forehead.
“Don’t worry. They won’t attack right away. This place is quite far from the Hamptons and has been a non-protected area for a long time, so it is out of the question. But….”
“Just?”
Leticia’s face became serious.
“There is a separate reason for giving ‘soldier’ status to civilians. Civilians are prohibited from entering unprotected areas, but soldiers are allowed. “This means securing private supplies.”
It was just as Leticia said. Taking supplies from civilians is ‘plunder,’ but when the military takes civilian property, it is closer to ‘requisition.’
If you have to take away the last canned food from an old couple, it means that you can lessen the guilt by saying, ‘It’s the state’s order, give it to me,’ rather than saying, ‘I have to make a living, so I can’t help it.’
Perhaps Virginia will organize things step by step, starting with the surrounding areas. Just as it has already been done under the name of ‘volunteer army’. However, now that it has expanded into a ‘unified group’, the cleanup work will now be able to be done on a larger scale than before.
“We also have to move quickly. “What else?”
“Other than that, there was nothing special. The rainy season is coming in three weeks? But you have to be able to trust the Korea Meteorological Administration’s forecast.”
“True. Leticia. There’s something I’d like to discuss. No, Cassandra. Let’s listen together too. Camilla, you too.”
Leticia listened to my concerns quite seriously. The problem of me taking on too much risk, the growing dissatisfaction of the zombies, the slow pace of progress, etc. Lastly, he even said, ‘Since you were a soldier, wouldn’t you know these command-related issues better than us?’
“I think it will be easy.”
It was a more refreshing answer than expected.
“Really?”
“Human subordinates shoot their superiors if they don’t like them, but zombies have to come close and bite. Then you can avoid it.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
But Leticia shook her head.
“No. I thought it would be a good idea to take advantage of my frustration. “There are times when subtly putting pressure on your subordinates can be helpful?”