Chapter 20. Patriot (10)
* * * * *
I opened the map and found a place to settle down. Can use electricity, has good defense, and has more than one entrance. A place where research and development is possible and where the four of us can live comfortably.
It will be difficult to find 100% perfect conditions. Instead, you can find a close approximation and gradually change it.
“First, let’s eliminate all places where there are a lot of people. Government offices, universities, shopping centers or large hospitals. “Even places like gyms and shelters.”
“Then how about here?”
Camilla pointed to one spot. It was a housing complex named ‘Shining Silver Town’.
From Noble mtl dot com
When I searched, I saw an advertisement saying, ‘This is a place for seniors who want a comfortable retirement, with comfortable amenities and 24-hour doctors, nurses, and caregivers.’
It was a facility for people who wanted to spend the last years of their lives comfortably. There was also a dedicated public health center within the housing complex, and as a facility dealing with the elderly, it was advertised as having expensive equipment and a variety of checkups available.
“Does it look good? It was only built two years ago. Of course, I’m not sure if it’s still okay, but I think I should check….”
No sooner had they said anything than the three women raised their hands at the same time.
“It may be a zombie training operation, but it’s an exploration, so of course they’ll take me, right?”
As soon as Camilla spoke, Leticia laughed.
“There is nothing in this world that is natural. And I know more about this city system than you, right? “This is a planned city.”
I looked at Cassandra. Although she felt intimidated between the two other women, she still did not put down her hand.
“Ka, even Cassandra can fight… And it’s better for Cassandra to see in person to see if the facilities are good….”
“I’ll go with Cassandra.”
It wasn’t just that I never went out with Cassandra.
“There are no zombies ‘on our side’ here. But all our property remains here. So, I think I will feel at ease if the two people who fight the best and trust me remain.”
After trying hard to keep their spirits up, Camilla and Leticia’s expressions seemed to have relaxed a little. Besides, Cassandra is by no means weak. I just lack experience.
Although she is not as strong as Virginia, who can tear apart a piece of metal with her hands, her physical strength is also good. Her shooting skills are worse than that of Leticia, an active-duty soldier, but not at a terrible level. Her body movements are slower than that of Camilla, a former athlete, but thanks to her consistent training and training. It is easily surpassed by most ordinary people.
“hehehehe…. Finally, Cassandra….”
Camilla and Leticia reluctantly agreed because she couldn’t bear to say such harsh words to Cassandra, who was smiling brightly.
While I was gathering drinking water, emergency food, and medicine, I secretly called Camilla.
“Why?”
“If anything happens while I’m away, don’t hide it and let me know.”
I watched Leticia carefully, but I could not see her ‘muttering to herself into her cell phone’, as Cassandra put it. However, if you ask him directly, it seems strange that you are asking based on what you have heard.
“That’s natural. “What do you have to hide between us?”
Camilla looked at me as if I was talking nonsense, but she said nothing more.
* * * * *
I packed my weapons and equipment as lightly as possible and got on the electric bike. She was the best thing in the apocalypse, saving pedaling power but making almost no sound.
– Cassandra, I’m shaking.
Cassandra, who was riding another bike, also seemed to be in a good mood. Of course she didn’t look back at her. What a shame it would be if your attention was taken away by a moving part and you fell over because you neglected to look ahead.
Furthermore, it was difficult to speed up because of the plants.
Cities are the crystallization of ‘artificiality.’ The water in the fountain flows from bottom to top, and the air conditioner blows in cold air and removes heat.
What is strange is that the most expensive areas of the city attract nature. Modifiers such as ‘a beautiful curve that harmonizes with nature’ or ‘a green-eco system reminiscent of a beautiful forest’ are examples.
Is that why? The central district was green everywhere. Rooftop gardens were standard for every building, and ivy vines grew tightly on the iron fences on the streets.
Even the shrubs were cool. I don’t know how they did it, but the shrub hedge with naturally drawn hearts with stems was pleasing to the eye.
But that’s it.
The person who kept trimming them nicely disappeared, and the plants showed signs of overgrowth, possibly due to the Limos virus. Some ivy even grew almost as high as my forearm.
And, under the bushes, corpses were lying here and there, rotting. In some cases, the bones were exposed. The smell was terrible.
– Strange.
Cassandra’s radio came through the earphones.
“What?”
– You said this is the area where zombies are confined. Right?
“Yes. They said they crowded the infected people into the central district and shut down the entire district. Why?”
– Then there must be a huge number of zombies. But why… Doesn’t it seem like there isn’t one?
I stopped my bicycle. Cassandra followed and stopped. It was as she said. The street was extremely quiet. Cassandra’s bike pulled up next to me.
“Well, there is a border fence. There were a lot of bodies there. Wasn’t that because everyone flocked there? Or maybe all the people who were supposed to get out already got out before we got there….”
Cassandra’s expression became serious at my question.
“They said close to 1 million people lived in this city. “Even if only 1% of them developed acute zombie syndrome, wouldn’t that be more corpses than we’ve seen so far?”
It was just as she said. Come to think of it, there were almost no zombies around our trailer.
In an instant, an eerie feeling went up my spine. A feeling I had forgotten for quite some time. That feeling I got when I thought, ‘It’s time for something to come out.’
“Cassandra. Let’s leave calmly again. There’s a bus stop in front of there, right? “Let’s stand there for a moment.”
“Uh, yes.”
Just when I thought I was missing something, I heard a faint sound. Cassandra must have heard, too, and her body stiffened. I raised my hand.
Tu-duk-tuk-tu-duk.
Stone dust was falling from the building in front. Cassandra and I looked at the rooftop at the same time.
Before the zombie outbreak, it was a house that you had to pay quite a lot of money to move into. Not only that building, but the entire surrounding area was a high-end residential complex. A luxurious house with reddish tiles.
But there was a human figure standing in that building. With a very long tail.
“Monkey… ?”
Cassandra let out her moan.
She was right. It was a monkey. Soon other monkeys appeared. Struggle, fight. Struggle, fight. While holding onto the roof tiles. I picked up the binoculars and looked. Red eyes, drooling, festering body and boil marks here and there. Traces of infection were evident.
“Oh, us…” “Is the monkey watching?”
“No. “I’m looking in the opposite direction.”
They didn’t seem to be interested in us. There was something on the other side that was more interesting than ours. As I looked around, there was an outdoor billboard. It was about the height of the 3rd floor of an ordinary building and had a ladder, so it seemed like a good place to look around.
“Over there.”
Cassandra also came up without difficulty. She was breathing a little harder, which caused her chest to shake a lot, but she held it together and looked towards the monkeys.
The monkeys were sitting in a circle on the rooftop of the housing complex we saw earlier. There seemed to be at least 40 of them. There were different species mixed in, but overall their bodies were small and similar. It seems like similar people who escaped from the zoo live together.
“What are we doing?”
A monkey with a long tail bared its teeth in the middle of the group, and a monkey with a white head was growling uncontrollably. Seeing that both of them had their tails stiffly up, it looked like they were about to have a fight.
The long tail picked up the tile and threw it. The white monkey easily avoided it, and the spectator monkeys didn’t get hit either. Even though he almost got hit in the wrong direction, the audience did not invade.
Kyaekkyak – More onlooker monkeys gathered. Everyone had something to eat in their hands. Bread. A bag of cookies. Bones with flesh attached. Meanwhile, the long-tailed monkey’s tile hit the white-headed monkey’s stomach.
Unexpectedly, the white-headed monkey did not fall. Instead, he became even more indignant and rushed towards him. The panicked tailed monkey picked up the tile, but was unable to withstand the white monkey’s quickness.
After fighting for a while, the long-tailed monkey lay down on its stomach. The white-haired guy looked up at the sky and cried.
Then.
“… Her?”
Cassandra, who was looking at the scope, covered her mouth. I was dumbfounded, but I couldn’t get my binoculars off her. The two monkeys began to engage in intense mating. I didn’t know because I was moving around so frantically, but it looks like the white-haired guy was a female.
Soon, a squeak-squeak, a pitiful sound was heard. One of the guys trembled and collapsed on top of the other.
The guys who were watching were making a mess, squeak-squeaking and moving around, and when they heard something, they all squealed and ran away on the roof of the house next door. The guys who had left for the affair also got up and disappeared after them.
Soon after, a black leopard jumped onto the rooftop. There was no sound, like a cat climbing a tree. Of course, he was also infected.
“… No.”
Cassandra’s face was filled with fear.
“Oh, how can this be…?” ?”
The black leopard had a small, wriggling object in its mouth.
It was a cub. Infected pups.
The infected animals were producing offspring.