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Chapter: 28
“Is that so.”
Edwin, who had already guessed the rest of Morton’s words, nodded with a dark expression. There was no way a village could be intact.
“Let’s leave immediately.”
Now that the destination was decided, there was no reason to delay. As Caliph, who had been listening to Morton and Edwin’s conversation, urged them to depart, Maya—who looked like she had something to say and was hesitating—carefully raised her hand.
“Um… wouldn’t it be better for Peggy and Ryan to stay at the farm?”
At Maya’s words, everyone’s gaze turned to Peggy and Ryan. Peggy, whose complexion was pale to the point of looking bluish, clearly appeared ill at a glance.
Ryan’s injured leg hadn’t fully healed either. Since they couldn’t guess what condition the village was in from Morton’s explanation alone, bringing the two of them along would be too much.
‘But I’ve got a bad feeling….’
With her vision tinged red, Jigu scanned the farm and cast a sidelong glance at Morton’s profile.
Ever since arriving at the farm, her detection skill had been faintly but continuously warning her of danger. She had a rough idea why, but still…
“Would that be all right?”
Wiping the cold sweat beading on her forehead, Peggy asked, looking utterly exhausted. After some hesitation, Jigu finally nodded reluctantly.
“Listen carefully, Ryan. You stay alone with Peggy. Okay?”
“What? Why?”
“The answer is yes or yes.”
“…Got it.”
She got his answer, yet somehow felt even more uneasy. Ryan looked extremely sulky, clearly displeased at having to stay behind at the farm alone with Peggy.
“It’s a promise. For sure.”
“…Yeah.”
Jigu playfully pinched the child’s pouting lips, then gave a thumbs-up as if praising him and ran over to the group, who were finishing their preparations to depart.
“Honestly, I didn’t expect him to lend us a car.”
Through the car window as they sped along, thick leaves brushed past with a rustle, rustle.
Instead of the cornfields that had seemed endless, wild thickets now scratched fiercely along the side of the vehicle.
The distance between the farm and the village was about five miles—far enough to take well over two hours on foot—but thanks to the vehicle Morton had lent them, they closed the gap in no time.
“Should we have brought Peggy and Ryan with us after all?”
It was Maya who reacted to Edwin’s mutter. She couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling about how readily Morton had handed over the vehicle. After all, on this vast continent, a car was an extremely valuable survival resource.
Lending something like that to people he’d met only a few days ago—gratitude aside, it was hard to understand.
“But we don’t know what state the village is in. Bringing patients recklessly would be far too dangerous. We just need to get the cooling hose and come back as quickly as possible.”
Edwin was right. In any case, thanks to the car Morton had lent them, the entrance to the village was already shimmering in the distance.
Spotting the entrance to the small village—without even a signpost—Edwin gradually slowed the vehicle.
“Just in case, should we walk from here?”
“Let’s do that.”
At Caliph’s approval, the car came to a complete stop. Caliph, Edwin, Jigu, followed by Maya and Luke with tense expressions, got out of the vehicle.
“Damn. This place feels creepy.”
Clang—clang.
Luke kicked an empty can caught at his feet and grumbled with an irritated look.
The village entrance, where not a single sign of life could be felt, was so overgrown with weeds that its original shape was barely recognizable. If there was one silver lining, perhaps it was that there were no zombies in sight.
“I see the repair shop over there.”
Morton had said the repair shop was in an alley one block from the village entrance.
He’d said it would be visible as soon as they entered the village, and sure enough, since the village was so small that its entire layout could be taken in at a glance, finding the repair shop wasn’t difficult.
After pausing at the entrance to look around, the group began to enter the village carefully, quieting their footsteps.
“Did a tornado sweep through here?”
Maya asked cautiously as she moved while keeping watch. The village was far too chaotic to be explained solely by a zombie outbreak.
Half-torn roofs, overturned cars exposing their underbellies, broken signboards—it seemed likely that the effects of a tornado had reached this place.
“Well, thanks to that, there are no zombies and it’s pretty pleasant.”
Even though we almost got hit by that zombie hailstorm.
As Edwin replied with a playful wink, Caliph—who had been looking at him with displeasure—raised a hand to stop the group.
“There are zombies inside the repair shop.”
“What? How many?”
“Three.”
Caliph was right. The closer they got to the repair shop, the more Jigu’s once-calm vision began to slowly tinge red at the edges.
‘Three isn’t that hard.’
It might be a bit tough alone, but with the group together… living in a cooperative society really is the best.
As soon as Caliph finished speaking, Jigu looked at the others gripping their weapons and smiled in satisfaction, pulling a poker from her inventory.
Since they didn’t know how many other zombies might be in the village, it was best to move quietly.
‘As quietly and quickly as possible.’
From the outside, the repair shop looked safe, with not a hint of presence.
Just as Jigu, watching it with her reddish vision, was about to step forward, Caliph blocked her path and warned in a low voice.
“Stop. Wait here.”
“What? Why?”
“It’s better if I handle this alone. Everyone else, stay here.”
At the firm response, Jigu’s lips immediately jutted out in a pout. The others, however, simply nodded as if it were obvious.
“That’s right. If we step in, we’ll probably just get in the way.”
Edwin answered casually, lacing his fingers behind his neck. Still, Jigu looked at Caliph with eyes full of distrust.
Caliph’s mutation rate hadn’t dropped a single bit from 87%.
Noticing Jigu’s gaze fixed on his watch, Caliph let out a sigh, half exasperated.
That woman always looked at him like a child left alone near water. Sometimes it felt nice, but other times it was rather annoying. A little ridiculous, too.
“Who’s worried about whom here?”
“But still…”
Dealing with just three zombies wouldn’t be enough to injure a Sentinel like him to the point of using his ability.
Even so, that worried look wasn’t entirely unpleasant. Caliph lifted the corner of his mouth just barely and spoke again.
“You want to get back quickly, don’t you?”
At Caliph’s words, which pierced straight through her thoughts, Jigu’s shoulders stiffened. He had already noticed that she was worried about Peggy and Ryan back at the farm.
“…Yeah.”
When Jigu finally nodded and retreated reluctantly, Caliph let out a small chuckle and lightly tapped her round forehead with a thump.
“I’ll be back.”
“Okay. Be safe.”
“Ugh, this is disgusting….”
He’s not usually like this. Who are you?
Edwin narrowed his eyes in mock nausea at the ticklish atmosphere flowing between the two and dry-heaved.
Naturally, no one paid Edwin any attention.
Contrary to the earnest farewell, Caliph—who had gone into the repair shop alone—reappeared not long after in virtually the same condition as when he entered.
Looking into the repair shop, where even the zombie corpses had been neatly dealt with so as not to stand out, Edwin clicked his tongue, saying it was all such a fuss, but once again, he was lightly ignored.
“I was worried since the repair shop is small, but it seems to have everything it should.”
Because it was such a tiny village’s only repair shop, Jigu had wondered if they’d really be able to find a cooling hose, but fortunately, it was an unnecessary concern.
Perhaps because it was the only repair shop in town, it had a surprisingly wide variety of parts stocked.
“Eddie, what’s this?”
“Ah, that’s probably an engine part.”
“Do we need it?”
“Well, we don’t need it right now, but if we have it, it might come in handy someday, right?”
“Hm, really?”
I see.
Jigu’s eyes sparkled as she surveyed the repair shop.
Not something you need right away, but carefully saving things for when you might need them someday—that’s my specialty.
Grinning broadly, Jigu swept everything she could get her hands on straight into her inventory. A flustered Edwin fidgeted and glanced nervously at Maya and Luke.
“Jigu, please…!”
“Hm?”
“Haaa… never mind….”
When she even started stuffing scrap tires into the air one after another, Edwin shook his head helplessly. It was obvious she wouldn’t listen no matter what he said.
Besides, he’d already seen her dump out a whole pile of blankets at the farm—what was the point of trying to stop her now?
In the end, Edwin gave up on saying anything more and let out a long sigh.
“But why are you taking scrap tires?”
“You never know. These tires might save our lives.”
“……”
What are you even talking about?
Edwin’s eyes went cold.
After clearing out the pile of scrap tires in one corner of the repair shop, Jigu moved on to thoroughly empty the shelves on the opposite side. Seeing her back, which somehow looked excited, Edwin let out a small, resigned laugh.
But at that moment, Jigu—who had been rummaging through the shop like a fish in water—suddenly froze.
“W-What is it? What’s wrong?”
Startled by her stiffened expression, Edwin asked. Jigu clenched her lips tightly.
“We need to go back to the farm immediately.”
