A youth story of a passerby at the end of the world

Just like the name that Representative Yukinoshita chose, it's called the Chiba Self-Help Committee.

"I understand," the man said.

Seeing that he understood, Uesugi Genshin looked at the others, "No one else has any questions, right?"

"No." "No."

Everyone else said the same thing, and even if someone wanted to know, knowing the details over there wouldn't help compared to the fact that they were already planning to leave.

"Then let's go."

Chapter 199: A Woman with a Radiant Smile

Everyone was carrying their own luggage. The man named Mitarai was having a little trouble because he was carrying a child. The caretaker's wife helped him carry half of his luggage, since her own luggage had already been taken away by Hachiman.

Stepping out of the apartment building, I could feel the damp air again. Why was it damp? It was probably just an illusion created by the surrounding green plants.

Everyone stared blankly at the long-unseen outside, a view completely different from looking down from the window.

Yes, just looking at those swarming zombies from above makes me feel uneasy.

Even though I felt increasingly pessimistic, I would still occasionally lean out the window and look down, though I probably didn't really hope for any rescue.

Pulling his suitcase, Uesugi Genshin walked ahead first, while Hachiman consciously stayed behind, carrying a baseball bat and looking around.

"Ah!!!" The bespectacled office worker in the middle suddenly let out a wail, then dodged toward a patch of grass, an action that instantly caused the crowd to instinctively scatter in an arc.

When Uesugi Genshin looked back, he realized that he was frightened by the zombie corpses in the lawn on his right.

Even though no one else saw it, it was mainly because everyone was staring intently at Uesugi Genshin's back and front, unlike him who was looking around aimlessly.

Is it that they are bold or timid?

"Weihua, you can't look." The father, who was holding his daughter, quickly covered her eyes.

It's best to keep kindergarten children away from this bloody scene, as it could cause them to have a seizure.

If your child is already in elementary school, you might watch zombie movies with them so they can learn about the dangers of zombies in advance.

“This has already been dealt with; it’s dead,” Hiratsuka Shizuka said silently, standing in the middle of the path.

"You scared me to death." Yui Yuigahama breathed a sigh of relief as she pulled away her mother's arm that was blocking her way.

"Why are you still scared?" Uesugi Genshin complained to Yui beside him, even though he had just killed one himself.

"Who told that old man to yell like that?" she whispered in defense, acknowledging that people can indeed be frightening.

“I’ve cleared the area; there are no zombies there. But if we make any loud noises, I can’t guarantee anything.” Uesugi Genshin said to the group in front of him, withdrawing his gaze from Yui.

"I...I understand, I'm sorry." The office worker who made the strange noise apologized softly, the words of apology coming out of his mouth. In the past, every minute, there must have been an office worker in Japan saying sorry.

Originally, I didn't want to scare them, so I just moved the zombies off the road, but they were still scared in the end.

Of course, there are also environmental considerations. Who knows if they will come back in the future? Rather than rotting in the middle of the road and breeding maggots, it is better to let them rot on the roadside grass. In the end, the maggots, along with some other carrion insects, will also disappear into the soil.

Uesugi Genshin didn't say anything and continued walking. When he stood on the road, the underground parking lot was on his left. He looked left and right at both sides of the road and could vaguely see swaying figures in the blurry area.

He waved for them to go into the underground parking lot first, while Hiratsuka Shizuka stepped forward to take over monitoring the zombies.

Everyone followed him, barely daring to breathe, and entered the dimly lit space again. This time it was much better because the parking lot was basically visible.

With no sign of the monsters around, they relaxed their shoulders.

"Those two cars." With his voice back to normal, Uesugi Genshin pointed to the two cars parked at the entrance. The basin of water he had taken down and the towel draped over it were still beside the cars. He had borrowed them from the caretaker's wife, and the water inside had been poured out a short distance away.

They arrived at the car and began to assign seats. Ono, who was an office worker, and Mitarai, who had a child, rode in Hiratsuka Shizuka's car, while the building manager's wife, the neighbor's wife Kawashima, and Yuihama's mother rode in Uesugi Genshin's car.

They opened the trunk, put their luggage in the back, and planned how to fit so much luggage into the small space.

As expected, Hiratsuka-sensei's car couldn't fit all the luggage for so many people in the back, so some had to be placed in the front and back seats. Fortunately, although there were six people, one of them was a child, so the child could sit on the adult's lap.

With a bang, Uesugi Genshin slammed the trunk shut and said to everyone, "Get in."

Some of them took one last look at the sunlight streaming into the parking lot entrance, then got into their cars. Once seated, they locked the doors themselves, and no matter what they did, they couldn't pull the doors out from the outside. Only then did they feel completely at ease.

The Wrangler started first, and the engine sound was clearly audible inside the vehicle because it was so quiet.

Next, Ms. Hiratsuka drove out of the parking lot first, since she was the only one who knew the way, while Uesugi Genshin followed behind.

Mr. Mitarai, sitting in Hiratsuka Shizuka's car, kept looking back until the apartment building disappeared from sight.

"Are you reluctant to part with it?" Hachiman saw this through the rearview mirror.

"I'm afraid that if my wife comes back, she won't be able to find us," he said with a wry smile.

"I see," Hachiman said with a light laugh.

"Is Mom coming back?" his daughter asked in his arms, a question with no answer.

Mr. Mitarai patted her head and said, "Mom has always been busy. If Mika misses her mom, she can go see her when she grows up."

"Then I want to grow up quickly," the child said innocently.

"Grow up quickly so you can be a good boy/girl," Hachiman said, sitting in front.

"Then Mika will listen."

"Hmm, very good." The father smiled and hugged his daughter back into his arms. Normally, the child would fall asleep in the car in no time.

However, Hiratsuka Shizuka sighed, "The journey might not be so peaceful later, so try not to let her cause too much trouble."

As soon as he finished speaking, the car swerved, dodging the zombie that was charging from the side.

"Hmm?" Xiao Weihua curiously tried to peer through the car window, but her father held her tightly in his arms, as if protecting her.

"I see."

"Kids will be kids." He hesitated, then turned to look out the window. He disliked kids because they were noisy and needed to be soothed. He couldn't imagine having kids himself and had never gotten married.

Hiratsuka Shizuka wasn't driving fast, not only because she had to dodge haphazardly parked cars, but also because of clumps of corpses gathered around wrecked vehicles, or scattered zombies on the road.

Everyone remained quiet throughout the journey, except for Hachiman, who was flipping through the map in his hand and constantly giving directions to the teacher.

Even Hiratsuka Shizuka couldn't possibly remember all the road conditions; she would need to drive from here to a section she was familiar with first.

During the journey, there were several loud "bangs," which, apart from making the two people in the back seat gasp, seemed to cause no other problems.

From detached houses to dense apartment buildings, they paid special attention to avoiding bustling commercial areas.

Two cars drove through the silent city, the sound of the vehicles drowning out the unconscious roars of the zombies.

The sky was still as blue as ever, but the city was completely different from before.

The journey on the bus felt incredibly long, at least to those sitting in the back. It would have been so relaxing to sleep the whole way.

However, their anxiety made it difficult for them to fall asleep, and they even felt that if they fell asleep and died in a daze, it would be better to die with their eyes open and know the truth.

This heavy and increasingly pessimistic mood lasted for several hours.

Even Yuihama's mother didn't speak to her daughter, afraid of disturbing Uesugi-kun's driving.

After passing Hanamigawa and some time had passed, Uesugi Genshin saw a figure standing guard at a building, and he knew that he had probably arrived.

Then Hiratsuka-sensei's taillights came on, reminding him that he should slow down.

Two men who looked like guards stood on either side of the road waving at them, each holding an iron rod about a meter long as a weapon.

The two cars stopped at the checkpoint. Uesugi Genshin narrowed his eyes and saw a man standing motionless on the other side of the checkpoint, and it seemed that the man was holding a gun.

A guard approached Hiratsuka-sensei's car window and spoke to him. Uesugi Genshin didn't hear what they were saying, but he could guess that they were asking questions.

Not long after, the guard outside the car window walked towards Uesugi Genshin's car again. Uesugi Genshin lowered the car window and put his arm on the side of the window.

The man, who was completely covered up, raised one hand and said, "Hi~"

"Hello," Uesugi Genshin replied briefly.

He glanced inside briefly and saw several women in the car, after confirming that...

They walked back to the checkpoint and talked to the man at the very back. They both glanced in their direction and nodded. The leader waved for them to pass.

They finally passed through the checkpoint, which consisted of sandbags, barbed wire, and stone blocks.

As they passed by, Uesugi Genshin saw the leader-like man talking on a walkie-talkie, probably reporting to the people inside.

The survivor base established by Councilor Yukinoshita looks pretty good.

At least there were rules and regulations, and Hachiman also established rules and systems for the guards under his leadership, which seemed to make sense.

As Hiratsuka-sensei drove in, they passed a small temple and stopped in front of a building. They knew this because the building had the words "Self-Government Hall" written on it.

It's something like a community center.

As soon as the car came to a stop, a figure emerged that immediately caught Uesugi Genshin's eye. The person ignored Hiratsuka Shizuka's greeting and looked in their direction, or rather, looked at the car.

The next second, she laughed, a laugh so dazzling that it left people speechless.

"It's Yuki's older sister!" Yui Yuigahama exclaimed softly. Ms. Haruno was wearing a red coat, a black sweater, and a gray long skirt that covered most of her calves. She looked very fashionable and was a beautiful woman.

No, perhaps the sense of style is due to the individual; if someone else wore it, it might look tacky.

"I'm getting off now," said Uesugi Genshin, opening the car door.

"Ah, me too," Yui Yuigahama quickly said, then reached out to the car door as well.

"What a wind is blowing! What an honored guest." Judging from these words alone, Uesugi Genshin would probably think he was being sarcastic.

"I've come to see you," he teased.

"Oh my, I'm truly honored." Her expression of being flattered was genuinely warm and welcoming, without a hint of affectation. At least, Yukino's outward demeanor exuded the grace and elegance of a well-bred young lady.

When are you coming to visit me?

"You're saying this as soon as we meet?"

"I'm really looking forward to it."

"What a persistent man!"

"Hey!" Hiratsuka Shizuka called out after getting off the car, "Yono, don't ignore me."

“How can you say that, Shizuka?” Yukinoshita Haruno blinked. “Because Shizuka and I are already quite familiar with each other. We used to go to izakayas for drinks together.”

In other words, is it because he's not familiar with Uesugi Genshin that he needs to exchange pleasantries?

"Are these the people Xiaojing brought back?" She looked at the people in the car who were looking at her.

“Yes,” Hiratsuka Shizuka nodded casually.

"Xiao Jing is so kind." There was no dissatisfaction in her words, but Uesugi Genshin could hear the helplessness in her voice. Indeed, there were already five thousand people.

"Who is Shizuka?" Hachiman got out of the car and stood next to his teacher, speaking softly.

"Ah." Hiratsuka Shizuka covered her forehead in distress. "That's what Haruno calls me in private."

In public, she is the respected Hiratsuka-sensei; in private, she is Shizuka-chan, someone you can drink with.

If a teacher were to shout like that in front of students, they would lose all their authority. Fortunately, Hachiman is not only a student, but other people also don't care and won't say anything.

“Mhm.” Yukinoshita Haruno nodded and smiled without any hesitation.

“Actually, Hino.” Hiratsuka Shizuka lowered her hand from her forehead and said seriously, “These people are slightly different. One of them is Yuihama’s mother.”

"?" Yukinoshita Haruno looked at the cute girl with a bun hairstyle next to her. When she looked over, the girl instinctively hid behind Uesugi Genshin. "I see."

She nodded and smiled, "Girlfriend?"

In response to her direct question, Uesugi Genshin nodded and replied, "Yes."

"Hey~" Her smile widened, as if she had heard good news, her expression genuinely curious.

"So?" she asked.

"So I came over to see how things are going here?" Uesugi Genshin spread his hands.

"Heh~" Her eyes seemed to say, "So it wasn't for her after all."

It was just a polite remark. Don't assume that Yukino Yukinoshita's expression means she actually took what she said seriously. It was just a joke.

"Aren't we allies?"

There was no response, but it seemed to be a tacit agreement. Yukino Yukino sighed, "I will take good care of them and arrange for them to be placed in a suitable place that is easy, safe, engaging, and stress-free."

One person alone would be too conspicuous, so let's include the women in the back seat together.