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

“There probably aren’t tens of thousands,” Hachiman added casually. “If there are residents seeking refuge here, the Self-Defense Forces, if they’re smart, will definitely keep them under close surveillance and won’t let them wander off.”

Kuriyama glanced at him, clenching her fist tightly. "If I could, I'd like to think that way too. But what if..."

“You said ‘what if,’ so we’ll discuss it over the radio.” Murai’s voice was calm, but his tone carried an undisguised reproach.

Making discouraging remarks before the operation has even begun can damage morale.

Morale is crucial; it determines whether you calmly think things through or panic and run away when facing a horde of zombies.

"If the losses are too heavy, hide and wait for rescue. Don't lead the horde of corpses towards the exit, to avoid blocking it." Yukinoshita Haruno smiled with her eyes narrowed, her expression sunny and bright.

“I understand.” Kuriyama nodded and smiled at Yukinoshita Haruno, a smile that seemed perfectly normal.

“Let’s get started then. We’ll lead the way,” Yukino Yukinoshita said. She said this because having Murai and the others with equipment would slightly hinder their movement, and besides, she was the leader of the team.

She stood up and nodded to Uesugi Genshin and SIT's group.

Uesugi Genshin gripped the knife he had used to wipe it clean on the zombie's clothes back in his hand, and walked ahead of Yukinoshita Haruno with Hachiman.

Looking towards the end, National Highway 296 was still congested with vehicles; it seems this road is not very smooth.

Standing at the corner, he looked to both sides. There were no more zombies, only abandoned vehicles.

As for whether there are zombies in the houses on the other side of the street, that's unknown.

"Let's keep going." Yukinoshita Haruno was very close to him, close enough to feel the air moving as she spoke.

“Hmm.” Uesugi Genshin replied, and headed toward the entrance to the garrison. Hachiman followed behind him, walking forward through the space beside the traffic.

The gate to the garrison was unsettlingly open, and peering inside, one could see wandering zombies dressed as civilians, not members of the Self-Defense Forces.

"They're standing too far apart," Hachiman said from behind.

“I’ll handle the left side,” Uesugi Genshin said without turning his head.

“Okay.” Hachiman stepped forward knowingly and stood on the right.

Upon seeing the living people, the zombies excitedly pounced on them, heading towards whichever was closest.

The swiftly advancing zombie had already reached Uesugi Genshin, and with a single horizontal slash, the zombie's head fell to the ground.

Then, with a kasaya slash, he sliced ​​the other zombie's body in half, and its spine was also broken by the heavy blow.

Raw bones are much more fragile; they can crack even from the slightest impact, let alone withstand a charged attack from a modern alloy knife.

After slaying three in succession, the drooping blade was undamaged except for dripping blood onto the ground.

He takes good care of it, sharpening it with a whetstone and maintaining it with oil, so it seems he can use this knife for a long time.

There was another door ahead, and there were no other zombies, but you could see zombies in the woods on both sides of the road if you looked inside.

Now we can be absolutely certain that everyone inside is dead.

Others followed, and one of the Self-Defense Force members kicked the head into the grass next to it with his boot as he passed by.

Murai glanced at Uesugi Genshin standing next to Yukino Yukinoshita and sighed. He had to accept the fact that there were no living people here, but he hadn't seen any Self-Defense Force members turned into zombies yet.

They continued forward, the path leading in was several hundred meters long, with zombies occasionally emerging from the woods on both sides.

Yukinoshita also joined the battle between Uesugi Genshin and Hachiman.

She wielded her weapon with heroic grace, killing the zombies and drawing the attention of Uesugi Genshin. Her confidence made her appear dazzling.

This is the first time I've seen her fight, but she's really cool!

Chapter 205: The Monster of Reason

When they entered the gate, the entire encampment was deathly silent. The only sounds were the clanging of weapons hitting the ground, the tearing of clothes, and the creaking of boots on the road. It was as if they could also hear the ominous cawing of crows circling the treetops after the tragedy.

What should have been a two- or three-minute walk took seven or eight minutes, and felt like it had taken several hours.

Finally, they stepped over the corpses of zombies and arrived at a crossroads. At least for now, all the zombies they encountered were simply dressed civilians.

"The cafeteria and hospital are on the left." Although he had explained it clearly earlier, Murai still pointed over there. "When the zombies appeared, that was the worst-hit area. We moved people who had fainted for some unknown reason to that area, and the next second they suddenly attacked and bit people everywhere."

"I don't know what the situation is now." At least when he left, no one wanted to eat there anymore, even though the body had been cleaned up.

As he spoke, he looked towards the far right, "That's the regimental headquarters building over there, but..."

Looking from here to there, the path is full of zombies, making it a little difficult to get through.

"The armory is located deep inside on the first floor, and it's accessed." After saying that, he looked at Yukinoshita.

As previously agreed, Yukino Yukinoshita said, "I know. As for the access card, I'll go to the duty room first, then the storage room, and then the officer's office."

"Yes, and I've already told you the password." Murai wanted to confirm that the other person had really remembered it and whether he needed to repeat it. Only after receiving a clear response from the other person did he feel at ease.

When it was time to part ways, he became very talkative, afraid that his actions might fail because of his own fault.

When the time came, I found that things I thought were unnecessary to mention now felt like I had to say them all to feel at ease, but ultimately there wasn't enough time to finish.

They were going to be separated for a short time.

"May your martial prowess endure." That was all he could wish for.

The SAT personnel retreated to the outer gate, ready to provide support inside at any time. After all, they were originally a rapid response force for counterterrorism.

Uesugi Genshin followed Yukinoshita Haruno to the right, along with the SIT group.

Murai and the others continued walking forward; the warehouse was located further inside.

As we traversed the narrow path, the two SIT men who followed us were both dark-skinned and rather short, but with sharp eyes and a serious demeanor.

They belong to the criminal investigation department, unlike the SATs who are directly under the National Police Agency. They deal with heinous criminal cases, so joking around is definitely not an option. This should be their usual work routine.

Two other survivors looked around with a hint of fear and tension in their eyes.

Everyone experiences fear. Although Uesugi Genshin didn't know if there was any tension in his eyes, he knew his adrenaline was pumping, which made him even more excited.

"Let's go first as forwards, you guys take a short rest," SIT said, stepping forward to Yukino Yukinoshita, while glancing at Uesugi Genshin and Hachiman.

“Okay.” Yukinoshita Haruno had no objections; they did need to relax their muscles a little.

The alleyway had just enough space for three people to stand side by side and wield their weapons, so the SIT members stood in the middle, leaving one person behind to provide support.

Just seconds after they entered the fork in the road, the zombies that had turned to face them noticed them and began to move toward them.

Most of them walked slowly, and many of them were infected people whose leg muscles were severely damaged by being bitten. Some of them only had a few pieces of flesh missing from their upper body, which did not affect their ability to run.

This group had already rushed to the front, and the SIT group no longer used the safer iron pipe spears, but instead picked up spare iron bars and smashed them on the heads of the zombies.

"So there are spare weapons." Uesugi Genshin had previously thought that while spears were safe, their killing efficiency was too low.

“I don’t have any.” Yukinoshita Haruno spread her hands next to him. If it weren’t for the blood on her gloves, the gesture would have looked quite relaxed.

"Hmph~" With a proud expression, Uesugi Genshin pulled out a wakizashi from the inside of his clothes. "I have one."

"..." Yukino Yukinoshita suddenly became much more interesting, and then patted him hard on the shoulder, scolding him.

"Um, I don't have any either," Hachiman muttered to himself behind them.

In Hachiman's opinion, the SIT team's combat performance was commendable. They had not failed in the face of wave after wave of zombie attacks, which showed that they had rich combat experience and were the backbone of the base's field operations personnel.

After all, a slip could be fatal, and even a slight scrape on exposed skin could have unbearable consequences. If you're tackled to the ground but not injured, and someone comes to your rescue in time, you're much luckier.

Neither of these two scenarios has occurred yet. As for the possibility of an accident, well, that's just how it is.

It wasn't because they were members of the Chiba Self-Salvation Committee; even members of Soubu High thought the same way. He believed Genshin thought the same way, allowing for sacrifices when necessary.

A good commander cannot be someone who is not hard-hearted.

He believed he was rational enough on this matter, as was Xuanxin.

Even standing still, the zombies in the distance sensed the fighting and swarmed towards them.

Further away, closer to the building, they were no longer visible.

After the battle that had been raging for so long ended, they finally had a chance to catch their breath.

The corpses scattered on the ground made the already narrow road even more congested, though it was more like a visual illusion.

“Take over, we’ll do it next,” Yukinoshita Haruno said, stepping forward.

“Okay,” the SIT man replied, panting heavily.

Uesugi Genshin and Hachiman passed them, carefully navigating the piles of corpses on the solid ground, watching their step to avoid any that weren't truly dead.

One of them swayed slightly, and Uesugi Genshin's sword pierced straight into the back of his head.

Its body swayed slightly, whether from the knife or from its instinctive twitching, it was unclear.

The knife I pulled out was dirty again, a reddish-yellow hue. I wiped it every now and then, but it soon looked like this again.

Yukino followed behind him, and he could hear the rustling sound of the stiff fabric of her upper body clothing. Why the upper body? Because her lower body was too tight, so there probably wouldn't be any sound.

The group carefully stepped over the pile of corpses, with Uesugi Genshin leading the way without hesitation, followed by Hachiman and Yukinoshita Haruno on his right and left respectively.

Only then did he realize that there was a convenience store on his left. "Wait a minute, I'll go in and take a look."

Uesugi Genshin planned to go inside briefly to gather some information.

"Let's go together then." Yukinoshita Haruno asked the SIT people behind her to stop and wait, while they turned left and walked towards the convenience store.

The glass in the door was completely shattered, and a black cat was seen wandering among the broken glass on the ground.

It's clearly a stray cat, not a domesticated one, but a purebred stray.

Silence suddenly descended, broken only by the ominous yelps of the cat that had been frightened into the house.

A little worried about disturbing the zombies inside, Uesugi Genshin entered the building, while Hachiman and Yukinoshita Haruno also moved quietly, suppressing their noise.

The convenience store is on the left, and on the right is a coffee shop with yellow-toned decor and a sign that reads "Rodolyn." Rodolyn is a large chain brand in Japan with very affordable prices.

You don't even need to go inside to see that the convenience store shelves are completely empty, having been emptied out.

On the right, Uesugi Genshin walked over to the empty bar.

The equipment was covered in a layer of dust; you could clearly see the extent of the dust accumulation with a light rub of your finger, but of course he wouldn't do that.

"Would you like to order something, gentlemen?" Uesugi Genshin asked the two men elegantly from behind the bar.

Hachiman turned his head away, unable to bear watching, and instead observed the neatly arranged tables and chairs around him.

Yukinoshita relaxed and said with a grin, "Just get me whatever you have."

"That's really true." Uesugi Genshin spread his hands, his face full of helplessness. "There's nothing there."

"Hahahaha..." Yukinoshita Haruno was amused, clutching her lower abdomen and panting softly. Her pained expression as she suppressed her voice was extremely alluring.

"If you have any coffee beans left, I wouldn't mind making you each a cup of coffee." Uesugi Genshin walked out from behind the bar and returned to the two of them.

"It's all been emptied out," Hachiman stated the fact.

Yukinoshita wiped away the tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes, "I still have some at home, I can make you a cup when we get back."

"The personal service of Miss Yukinoshita, that's something to look forward to," Uesugi Genshin shrugged.

As if pleased with being addressed as "young lady," a pleased smile curved her lips.

I'm not sure if it refers to the form of address itself or to the person speaking it.

Then, waving his hand, Uesugi Genshin made a "let's go" gesture, and Hachiman and Yukinoshita Haruno nodded. Then they walked outside together.

The fact that everything was clean and tidy indicates that they had at least restored order for a period of time, emptied the place, and then abandoned the building.

Yukino explained the situation inside to the people at SIT, and they nodded in agreement, indicating that they understood.

At least no fighting happened, which is the best thing that could happen.

As they continued forward, the zombies in front of the building gradually spotted them and rushed towards them in twos and threes. The main ones were heading towards Uesugi Genshin, because he was standing at the very front.

Then he demonstrated his superb swordsmanship, using a single-leg spinning step to pass between them, the movement so fluid that it seemed as if his feet did not touch the ground.

In the instant he passed through, Uesugi Gensuke struck the zombie's carotid artery with his sword. If it were a human, they would have been spitting blood all over their face at that moment. Incredibly, the zombie's blood pressure wasn't that high, and the latter collapsed.

The sword strike was so light that it didn't even affect the rhythm of his next strike.

His movements were elegant and swift; not a single drop of blood splattered from the zombie's neck before the body finished spinning.

Another one pounced from behind, trying to bite his neck, but the knife blocked the dangerous attack.

Bend over, turn around, jump up, gather strength in both hands and swing the knife, using the movement of the waist to amplify the force.

The snow-white blade transformed into a beam of light, cleaving through the air with a whooshing sound as it sliced ​​open the opponent's abdomen.