Part 321: Prey

The handling of the "zombie" situation will be between me, Nanami-san, and Mayoi-san.

"Hmm," "I got it."

Ran-chan, please remind everyone just to be safe.

Y-yes!

Following Hama's guidance, we headed to the supermarket on the ground floor of the building.

Since this area near the entrance is where "zombies" are visible, most of the food supplies have already been moved.

In the corner where merchandise and popularity have faded, we discover traces of excessive consumption.

"Patrolling the mall was routine. Then, by chance, I stumbled upon this scene."

"This... this is..."

"All the food appears to have been stolen from the storage room. After the decision to escape was made, management had become quite lax."

"Hmm."

"I thought something was off, so I peeked into the next room. That's when I found them... the horrifying, twisted forms of three people, like a nightmare made real."

Then we opened the door to the meat processing room that Hanada was pointing at.

"Uwah!"

What filled the space inside was a nauseating stench of rotten meat.

And an incredibly gruesome scene, even more horrifying than anything in a splatter film.

The man lying there, his upper and lower body severed, was perhaps Mr. Suematsu.

Bending beside him were Mr. Yoshitake and Mr. Umegaki.

They were frantically scooping up the squishy, oozing organs spilling from Mr. Suematsu's abdomen, gathering them in their hands and shoving them into their mouths.

"What... what is this..."

I couldn't help but stare in shock—then, Nanami dashed toward the far corner of the room,

"Geh… ghaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh……"

I vomited up the tea I'd just drunk, along with transparent gastric fluid.

No wonder. She had, after all, slept with these three before—though it was just a game.

"Why did this happen…?"

"I don't know. They seemed really shaken by what happened yesterday."

"I know that much, but…"

"Being humiliated like that in front of everyone... I might have even drunk the blood of a 'zombie' myself."

"Um..."

"Damn it. I never thought the three of them were serious about Nanami. I should've offered my support."

I feel a somewhat unreasonable anger toward Hamada-san.

It seemed inappropriate to bring up such a topic—especially not in front of the person who just threw up.

"Hey, Nanami, stay strong."

It was Mayoi who immediately handed over the disinfected water.

Nanami rinsed her mouth with it, scraping it repeatedly,

"Damn it. I still remember the taste of everyone's saliva."

Her face twisted in agony.

Then, finally,

"Ooooh………O, o, o, o………"

They let out a mournful moan, noticing at last the arrival of fresh meat.

"I… me…"

Ignoring Nanami’s words as she was about to speak, Mayi tossed two knives hanging nearby straight at the foreheads of Yoshiba and Umegi.

‘Gh………’

With just that, the two “zombies” abruptly stopped breathing, their bodies sinking into seas of blood.

Then, with a quick stab, she drove a knife into the forehead of the last-ranked contestant, whose body was already half-cut.

There's no way they'll get up again now. Namu namu.

"Hey, Mayi. Don't go doing anything reckless."

"Take it easy. You're not supposed to push yourself right now."

"Pushing myself?...When have I ever pushed myself like that?"

Mayi ignored her and said,

"Hey, 'Nameless' girl. I'm going to explain things to Ran-chan. Can I leave this place in your hands?"

I said nothing, just nodded silently.

Hama-da also wanted to leave this place, but I kept him here for now.

I'll let Mayi handle Nanami.

After that, the two of us, me and Hama-da, wandered through the meat processing room filled with a powerful stench and discovered a bottle of red wine, half-drunk.

"This is it..."

"Yeah, there's no doubt about it. He drank wine mixed with the 'zombie's' bodily fluid."

"But where on earth did he get something like that?"

"I don't know. But nowadays, if you really want something like that, you can find it anywhere."

That was certainly true.

"Since everyone's reaction varies before mutation, only Master Matsu got eaten by the 'zombie.' That's tragic..."

"Hmm."

There was nothing suspicious about that point.

"Still, this smell—like gas filling the air—"

"Yeah. It's been left undisturbed for a while. The meat originally placed here must have rotted."

Then this wasn't the smell of a "zombie's" corpse after all.

Now that you mention it, a freshly dead body shouldn't smell this bad.

Mr. Hamada, pressing his mouth with a handkerchief.

So, uh... what should we do about this?

Let's carry it all the way to the rooftop and pay our proper respects. After all, it was one of us—we should see it off together, as a group.

Do we really need to go that far?

"What do you mean by that?"

Since we haven't convinced the members who need to move yet, the escape plan will just be delayed again.

"That is..."

It's unavoidable, isn't it?

The three funerals must be properly arranged.

You're right....Thank you, "Anonymous." I'm sorry to keep you from rushing.

Yes

They were a bit rough around the edges, but full of humor and fun—sunshine with smiles for us.

Yes

"Then, I'll call over my companions."

"...Yes."

As I answered, I felt an intensely bitter taste on my tongue.

Red wine.

Mixed with the blood of something not human.

Its manner of death was correct—exactly the same as my own end in my previous life.

Still, back then I immediately severed my own neck and ended my life, so there's a slight difference in circumstances, I suppose.