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

The only zombie in front of him, Hachiman Hikigaya, went to meet it, swinging his baseball bat.

The weapon lacks precision, but its advantage lies in the fact that you only need to swing it along with the momentum.

Thanks to the afternoon's battle, he no longer takes these zombies seriously. As long as he concentrates and leaves enough room to move, he can kill them one by one.

"Ah!"

The zombie was knocked to the ground, blood splattering everywhere, and the baseball bat was covered in a new layer of blood.

After defeating the last one, Hiratsuka-sensei began running towards the slowly moving zombies.

Seeing this, Hachiman Hikigaya moved towards Hayato Hayama. After losing sight of Hayato Hayama in the zombies' view, he was indeed drawn to him.

"Hikigaya!"

"Take care of yourself." Hachiman Hikigaya called back to Hayato Hayama, who was calling out to him with concern.

Seeing that he had dealt with the zombies efficiently, Hayama Hayato was relieved and followed their instructions to lure the zombies to a suitable location.

Finally, after clearing them out one by one, all the zombies were eliminated, including some that had re-entered the playground from outside.

The crisis was finally resolved when no more zombies entered.

When they returned to the ground floor of the special building, a crowd surged up.

"Hayato, are you alright?" "Yes, Hayato."

"Everyone, I'm fine," Hayama Hayato reassured them, his sunny smile uplifting everyone.

"..." It seems there's nothing for me to do anymore.

Hachiman Hikigaya scratched his head, picked up his weapon, and prepared to leave first.

"You should just stay here quietly."

Suddenly, a hand grabbed my shoulder, and I felt a soft weight on my arm. It was Hiratsuka-sensei.

"Teacher, you should be the one who always rushes to the front."

"I am your teacher."

"So, teacher, what are we going to do if you get injured?"

"With my strength, that won't happen. There's absolutely no way that will occur. I don't need to worry." Hiratsuka Shizuka patted her chest and assured him, her confidence so strong that it made Hikigaya Hachiman look away.

"No, I'll worry, so please don't do it again next time." He felt he should still have a proper talk with them.

"..."

Without looking at her expression, but her words and actions stopped, Hachiman Hikigaya broke free from her restraints, took a few steps forward, and turned back to Shizuka Hiratsuka, who was standing there dumbfounded.

"Teacher, please trust us a little more."

-----------------

"How are you?" I texted the person who hadn't returned yet, just to see what would happen.

There was no reply, well, his phone was out of battery.

A reply with a "bang" suddenly came through.

He only sent one picture, which looked like it had just been taken.

The screen was a bit shaky and blurry, but you could clearly see that the picture was of two girls from Soubu High School running, and you could see the silhouettes of zombies in the corners of the surrounding street background.

"?" Wasn't your phone out of battery?

But it seems there's no problem. By the way, will he still have time to come back for dinner?

Chapter 44: So what exactly are they doing?

"It's safe here for now."

Pull the roller shutter down forcefully to keep them out of the zombies' sight.

This shopping mall, or rather, this large supermarket, is an old building with a rustic design featuring roller shutter doors.

The force is released at the last moment before closing, rather than slamming to the ground, thus reducing the potentially loud noise.

However, the clanging sound of metal scraping together might still attract the attention of some of the zombies deeper inside.

Anticipating this, Uesugi Genshin pulled up Miura Yumiko and Yuigahama Yui, who were already exhausted and slumped on the ground.

"Move slightly to the side, so you don't appear in their field of vision."

"Hmm." Miura Yumiko responded reluctantly, supporting herself on her knees as she stood up.

Yui Yuigahama grabbed up with her right hand as well, seemingly too exhausted to lift. Uesugi Genshin used the strength of one hand to pull her up.

"Hahaha..." He gasped for breath, trying to relieve the oxygen deprivation he had accumulated along the way.

They kept running, and by sheer coincidence, they passed several schools where zombies followed them in waves, like a relay race.

There are indeed many schools near Zongwu High School; it's a district filled with schools.

As a result, they fled for several kilometers away from Zongwu High, and another result was that the further they went, the denser the zombies became.

So Uesugi Genshin chose a supermarket that was fairly spacious and quiet enough. The large English letters on the supermarket's sign were probably its name, which translates to: Big A.

Besides the supermarket's name, there's a line of smaller print below with the English phrase for discounted food.

He chose this location because he knew the building must have multiple exits, and simply hiding in a roadside shop would likely lead to certain death.

The first floor sells clothing and some household goods, while the second floor is entirely dedicated to food and condiments.

Apart from the girl's suppressed breathing, the supermarket was very quiet.

Even with their hearts pounding, they covered their mouths, forcibly slowing down the rapid expansion of their lungs.

A series of footsteps sounded, the rustling of shoes on the ground.

I don't know if it was because there were no living people in front of them that made them less aggressive, or if it was because their bodies couldn't support them running fast.

he does not know.

Uesugi Genshin looked around, searching for a possible weapon. The wooden stick in his hand was fine against a few zombies, but against a dozen or so, he would have no choice but to run.

Moreover, the sounds of battle will surely be even more intense later, and it's impossible to estimate the number of people who will come.

He took off his shoes, held them, and threw them inwards. They were heavy but not too heavy, and the sound they made was not loud, which should be just enough to attract the attention of the zombies in the vicinity.

He pressed his face close to Miura Yumiko's, where she stared intently into his emerald eyes.

"I'm going to find weapons. You stay here." He uttered each word softly, his breath brushing against her nose.

chocolate?

She nodded to indicate that she understood, and then looked at Yui Yuigahama, who also nodded.

With his forefoot touching the ground as quietly as possible, Uesugi Genshin walked to the shelf; the supermarket should sell some sporting goods.

He believed that just as he could buy ping-pong balls in the supermarket "over there," he could find baseball bats in the supermarket "here."

Of course, if he had a large cleaver that was a meter long, no, half a meter long, he could try using it.

After all the zombies he could see disappeared, he began to move, his steps light as he stealthily explored further in.

The two remaining, Miura Yumiko and Yuigahama Yui, kept their eyes glued to the passageways on either side, wondering if zombies would suddenly appear.

Most of the people in the supermarket had been bitten; not many were unharmed. Of course, that makes sense, given the large flow of people in the place.

The zombie outbreak occurred in the afternoon before people were off work, which objectively meant that there weren't many zombies here. Those who could escape had already escaped, which is why there was blood on the ground at the supermarket entrance.

They walked quickly but quietly inside, trying to avoid being exposed to the zombies' sight for too long, so that even if the zombies followed the direction of the disappearing figure, they wouldn't see them.

My pace quickened, and finally I spotted the sports equipment displayed in a corner on the first floor.

It circled around the shelves, shaking off the little tail that was following behind.

I squatted down in front of the shelf, examined the packaging material, and started unpacking.

It's made of wood, but we can't expect too much. We'll have to hold back a bit when we hit it later.

The disassembled baseball bat was gently placed down, and the long wooden stick was tossed aside at the same time. He had been carrying this in his hand the whole way, and hadn't had a moment to spare.

In a secluded space, he tossed his hair back, loosened the black hair tie in his hand, and tied it into a ponytail at the back of his head.

This time, I was very meticulous, making sure no stray hairs were sticking out, leaving only the sideburns hanging down on both sides.

The results are in: Soubu High School is having fish today...

So what exactly is he doing?

After tying his hair up, he sighed, picked up a baseball bat and slammed it on the ground, making a sound in the corner to attract them.

The "thump-thump" sound echoed in the empty supermarket, as if something was awakening in the silence.

With the sound of footsteps and groans, hordes of zombies came into view.

They moved forward one by one, stumbling and hurried, with the first few already close to him.

"Ha." He gripped the baseball bat tightly, his knuckles cracking.

With its feet planted firmly on the ground, it charged towards the leader of the zombies, its momentum resembling that of a lion hunting its prey, a stark contrast in its offensive and defensive postures.

Then, a series of "bang" sounds began to echo throughout the supermarket.

Yumiko Miura and Yui Yuigahama held each other's hands tightly as they heard a series of "bangs" in the air, as if offering each other some comfort.

The symphony's rhythm gradually slowed down, and the intervals between the sounds grew longer until there was no sound at all.

They had no idea how much time had passed, and now they had no way of finding out the outcome.

Anxiety arose in their hearts, accompanied by despair. If even he was dead, what would they do next?

Their intertwined fingers turned slightly white from the force they exerted, and they leaned their shoulders closer together to feel the comforting warmth of each other's bodies.

Then came the sound of unrestrained footsteps, and a pair of white shoes with stains appeared. The figure that appeared at the same time was somewhat unfamiliar.

"You..." Miura Yumiko felt a little uncertain. "Who are you?"

"You're really joking," Uesugi Genshin retorted in a normal voice, indicating that the crisis had been averted.

"Ah~ that's great, you're safe and sound." Yui Yuigahama blinked, her joy barely concealed.

"By the way, I don't know your name yet." Actually, she knew roughly what it was.

"Uesugi Genshin."

"I am Yumiko Miura," she introduced herself properly.

"Hey there, I'm Yui Yuigahama," Yui Yuigahama said cheerfully.

Is this really how high school girls (JKs) greet each other nowadays...?

"So, is it safe now?" Miura Yumiko asked again to confirm.

"Yes, it's completely safe now."

The light filtering through the glass was dim and unclear; the supermarket lights were not on, and everything seemed somewhat gloomy. However, there was a light in the girl's eyes.

"I see." Miura Yumiko smiled with relief.

"Thank you anyway," she said sincerely.

"You're welcome." In their minds, they probably already considered themselves good people.

If you're going to save people, you have to save them all. He went with Hayama when he said he was going, but if he hadn't managed to bring Miura and the other two back, Uesugi Genshin didn't know what Hayama would think.

He failed to save his friend, but instead escaped unharmed. Would he blame himself?

It doesn't matter, but it's unnecessary. If he has the ability, he doesn't mind doing it as a favor, because that's Hayama Hayato's job.

From a practical standpoint, gaining Hayama Hayato's favor is worthwhile.

"Let's just wait for Hiratsuka-sensei to come and rescue us," was Uesugi Genshin's plan.

“Hiratsuka-sensei…” Miura Yumiko murmured the name of their homeroom teacher.

"At this distance, there's no way we can walk back. Instead of finding a car ourselves, we might as well wait for Hiratsuka-sensei to drive here."

Knowing what happened, Hayama will always be able to handle things at school, so they should just stay here obediently.