Part 13: To Save or to Kill

Why do I feel so uneasy? I ask myself.

Not even when I killed Tanaka or when I lost my grandfather did I ever feel this bad.

As I try to sort through the vague, troubling feelings, I recall the item I just acquired yesterday—“Dokukeshi”—from my pocket.

Ah, that's right.

This entire situation… If I had been a bit more alert, I could have prevented it.

At that very moment, I became aware of something sour surging up from my stomach.

It scorched down my esophagus like a torrent of magma,—

"Phooeeh... ghaaahh—"

In an instant, I was spewing girl juice from my mouth.

"Feh... gah... cough..."

Even to myself, it was utterly pathetic.

Still, dwelling on it now would be uncharacteristic of me.

Let us vow not to repeat the same mistake.

"Um..."

I looked and saw Rika-chan standing in front of the door.

"What is it?"

"About the matter with Mizutani-san, everyone wants to talk about it... and since they wanted to hear your opinion too, your father asked me to..."

Mizutani-san?

I thought, then remembered the two men who had turned into "zombies" and their family.

"I understand. I'll go right away."

Hastily, I took a sip of water from the bottle and blew it toward the window.

On the way, I felt a little awkward and said,

"I showed you something pretty embarrassing."

Then Rika-chan smiled faintly and replied,

"But it was good."

"Good? What was good?"

"Because you're human, after all. You have your weak spots too. Yeah, yeah."

"Well, sure. I do worry like anyone else."

They're all awful. They say things like, "She doesn't worry about Senpai like a robot."

Ah... So that's what it's like?

I'm trying my best to stay as inconspicuous as possible.

Well, given that this is a law-abiding nation like Japan, the fact that they're casually and seriously wielding such influence speaks volumes, don't you think?

The place of this discussion—arriving at Class 2-3 not long after.

▼

The group gathered there consisted of various adults, including Ms. Mizutani (the mother). One elderly person was seated in a wheelchair. A total of seventeen people were sitting on chairs arranged in a circle.

"Too dangerous!"

Shouting with a high-pitched voice, spittle flying from her mouth, was Ms. Sasaki, the English teacher.

"But..."

Looking pale, with a strained expression, was Rika's dad, Takeshi Asada.

"I've known Ms. Mizutani for a long time."

"That's understandable, I know, but come on—someone with a knife plunged into their chest still breathing? That's no longer human, really."

"But..."

"In movies, once someone changes, they never go back to how they were—everyone knows that's the rule."

At this point, Ms. Suzuki Asaka interjects.

"Please wait a moment. Just because it's like that in movies doesn't mean we have to follow that rule..."

No way, if it's come to this, there's no choice but to believe everything in the movie was true. It's gotta be some kind of U.S. biological weapon that started this whole thing. It's obvious.

I see, American weaponry.

Normally, I would have scoffed at such a ridiculous claim, but in reality, walking corpses were strutting outside the window, so it wasn't beyond belief.

Come to think of it, I haven't really given much thought to why things turned out this way.

I vaguely assumed it was some kind of conspiracy by someone somewhere.

"...For so long... Can't we just keep her locked away... there...?"

Wataya-san (mother), embraced by the other ladies, whispers in a voice like a mosquito's buzz.

To this, Mr. Sasaki responds with a bitter expression.

"I'm truly sorry to your husband... But people like that are dangerous. You've all seen them, haven't you? They're slow-moving, but their strength is greater than ours. I've seen many people torn apart by them—with their bare hands, I tell you. Even now, we don't know when they might break through the classroom door and escape."

Huh. Really now.

I'd vaguely sensed that zombies possessed strength far beyond ordinary humans, but not to this extent.

I've tried to avoid being grabbed whenever possible, but from now on, I'll need to be even more careful.

"Any ideas on how to escape or keep them at bay?"

"How? Their movements are unpredictable. Who can guarantee they won’t accidentally head toward children or elderly people? I’m saying—please, I can’t bear it if anyone else gets hurt, not even by accident."

An awkward silence settled over the room.

No one offered any opposing opinions.

Apparently, the meeting was clearly leaning toward Mr. Sasaki’s viewpoint.

I, too, felt that Mr. Sasaki's words were correct in this matter. In fact, he voluntarily took on the unpopular role—what others dislike—so in that sense, his actions could be considered courageous.

That said, his English teaching method was absolutely terrible.

Because of that, I ended up really hating English.

"Then... well, in that case..."

Mr. Asada, the leader, spoke in a solemn tone.

The conclusion had been reached.

I know full well that this won’t bring any comfort... Still, I’m sure even your husband never wished to cling to life in such a state.

I can hear Mrs. Mizutani (mother) sobbing quietly. Even the other ladies around her begin to weep bitterly.

One of the ladies desperately tries to console everyone, repeating, “We’ll get through this together, we’ll get through this together.”

“Then... um... regarding the matter of Mrs. Mizutani and her family...”

All at once, the adults’ gazes turned toward me.

"Well... it's hard to say... um... well..."

I thought, well, that's about what I expected.

"Still, if you don't want to do it, that's fine too. You're still just a student, after all... But... well... I don't know how to put this... You seem, somehow, used to this kind of thing."

Mr. Asada Kozo appeared to be struggling hard to find the right words.

I'm not really used to it, that's all.

Apparently, I'm the only one who's managed to deal with the zombies before reaching this place.

The one eligible to carry out the execution was naturally me.

As I recall the time when, as a primary school student, I was forced into the unappreciated job of erasing the blackboard,

I don't mind at all.

And responds.

"Still, I think you'd all do well to get used to it while you still can. I'm sure you'll have opportunities to do it again in the future."

No one speaks up in protest.

To ease the tension, Asada speaks up.

"If anything happens later and you're charged with murder, come talk to me. I'll testify that I ordered you to do it. Let's make a promise."

Those words, unfortunately, offered no comfort at all.