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

Turning around, I saw that Uesugi Genshin had already left the classroom door, dragging Hikigaya Hachiman along with him.

A vein bulged on Hiratsuka Shizuka's temple.

"What Tanaka?!" He instantly realized something was wrong.

"I'm going out for a bit, you guys study on your own first." She then hurried out.

Looking to the right side of the corridor, the two of them had already reached the stairs, and in the blink of an eye, their clothes had disappeared at the top of the stairs.

"..."

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

"Hey, what do you want?"

"Hey, I didn't expect you to know it was me looking for you." Uesugi Genshin grabbed Hikigaya Hachiman with one hand and ran forward, not forgetting to turn back and tease him.

“...Nonsense.” Hachiman Hikigaya said with a hint of exasperation.

"Well... it's a troublesome matter." His tone returned to normal, even somewhat melancholy.

"..."

what......

Hachiman Hikigaya noticed the somewhat forced smile on Genshin Uesugi's face earlier; or rather, it was a cold, mocking sneer.

He quickened his pace, making Uesugi Genshin pull less forcefully.

Anyway, let's catch up first.

The two went down to the first floor, ran past the pillar, and ran out of the teaching building toward the school gate.

"Aaaaaah!!!" A scream rang out at just the right moment.

The two glanced at each other and saw the two people entangled together at the school gate.

An outsider was clinging to the security guard, the two of them locked in a tight embrace. If it weren't for the screams, the scene would have been quite a sight.

Because that outsider bit the security guard's neck!

"This is!" Hachiman Hikigaya stopped, looking at the scene in the distance with some surprise.

"Isn't that strange?" Uesugi Genshin said to him.

The two just watched, which suggests that the students had no obligation or responsibility to intervene in the "rioters."

If he really was a thug who entered the school.

No matter what, no one bites someone's neck when they fight.

"Ahhh..." The screams from afar didn't carry very far, and probably wouldn't attract the attention of the people inside the building.

As the security guard fought back in pain, the man convulsed on the ground.

The security guard was out of breath and collapsed to the ground, staring in horror at the person in front of him, his hand covering his neck where blood was gushing out, the blood soaking half of his clothes.

He clutched his neck, looking like he was trying to breathe in pain, but after a few seconds, he began to convulse.

"What is this...?" Hachiman Hikigaya, standing beside him, clearly sensed that something was amiss.

Uesugi Genshin chuckled and said, "Don't you think this looks a lot like a zombie?"

A pair of hands interrupted their conversation.

"You two!!" Behind her was Hiratsuka Shizuka, who had already chased after them.

"Didn't Mr. Tanaka have something to do?"

"I see two students skipping class!!" The voice was filled with anger.

“Hiratsuka-sensei,” Uesugi Genshin calmly pointed ahead, “zombies.”

"What zombies?" Hiratsuka Shizuka's eyes remained fixed on the two students in front of her.

Uesugi Genshin ignored him and turned to look at the security guard who had already stood up.

"Hey!"

Ignoring him, Uesugi Genshin narrowed his eyes and began to think.

Foreigners without any broken skin or obvious wounds were probably the initial infected individuals.

It is currently in the period of high viral reproduction and should not have been completely transformed yet. Is the body still futilely resisting the viral invasion, which is why it is performing so poorly?

This security guard... ah, blood has pooled on the ground, probably from being bitten through a blood vessel.

In other words, does damage that could lead to death accelerate the spread of the virus?

Ah, I'm so sorry, but it's too late to save him.

"What is this?" Hiratsuka Shizuya, who had already fallen silent, asked in a low voice, puzzled.

“Zombies, huh? Zombies,” Uesugi Genshin replied nonchalantly, turning to look at Hachiman beside him. “What do you think?”

"Is it really a zombie? Anyway... let's check it out first." No matter how much Hachiman Hikigaya didn't believe it, this was the first time he had felt the strangeness of this world, so he decided to check it out first, with his hands, with his eyes, and with his own eyes.

The three men looked at the two people in the distance. The other man who had fallen to the ground also got up leisurely and then staggered toward the three men with the security guard.

Uesugi Genshin was about to step forward when his shoulder was grabbed.

"Hey, zombies, isn't it dangerous to make contact with them so rashly?"

Hiratsuka Shizuka herself was incredulous, but recalling the zombie movies she had watched before, and out of a sense of duty as a teacher, she still held onto her student.

Shouldn't zombies be dangerous creatures that can be infected and turned into zombies just by being brushed against?

"I'll still be in charge here." They all understood the implication in Hiratsuka Shizuka's words.

The force on his shoulder increased, and he was pulled behind him.

Uesugi Genshin had great faith in Hiratsuka Shizuka's fighting prowess; she was probably the strongest in Soubu High School besides him.

She has long black hair and is a quiet beauty. She comes from a powerful family, loves to smoke and drink, enjoys reading action comics and driving around. She is a typical single woman approaching 30. Because she is very "masculine", it is obvious why she has repeatedly failed in blind dates.

But she treated her students very well. Even the autistic Hachiman Hikigaya did not give up on him. In Hachiman's mind later on, she was a "big sister" whom he respected and was very close to. She was a very good teacher.

So at this moment, she stepped forward. Regardless of whether it was a zombie or not, it should have been her who stood up, not her students.

The two zombies in the distance were almost right in front of us.

Their appearances were also clearly seen by the three of them.

Its mouth opened wide unconsciously, revealing yellowed teeth, and its eyes, already contorted in a ferocious manner, didn't even look at them.

"They really are zombies, right?" Uesugi Genshin confirmed again.

Hachiman Hikigaya responded, "It certainly seems so."

"Aren't zombies considered human?"

"What are you trying to say?" Hachiman Hikigaya asked, somewhat puzzled, but still replied, "Zombies shouldn't be human."

"Hoo." Uesugi Genshin took a deep breath. "Hiratsuka-sensei, please step back."

"Hey," Hiratsuka Shizuka snapped in a low voice, "What are you saying?"

“I am saying this,” Uesugi Genshin said, turning his head and smiling.

Suddenly breaking free from Hiratsuka Shizuka's grasp, he charged forward.

In the blink of an eye, he arrived in front of a zombie, its face inches away. He placed a hand on its forehead and then slammed it hard into the ground with a dull thud.

He stood up, spun around, and kicked down another zombie that was rushing towards him. In the blink of an eye, both zombies were knocked to the ground.

“Ah…” Hiratsuka Shizuka stared blankly as Uesugi Genshin broke the arms and legs of two zombies.

"..." This guy...

Hachiman Hikigaya was also surprised, as if he had gotten to know this person in a new light, someone who should have been a friend of an ordinary Soubu High School student.

"Alright." Uesugi Genshin frowned and lowered the zombie's hand.

He initially only intended to dislocate the shoulder, but... when he actually started working on it, he discovered that the zombie's body was abnormal.

Strength beyond that of an ordinary person, and "hard" muscles.

Uesugi Genshin could only attribute the injury to the virus, but the dislocation alone was far from sufficient.

He was afraid that the dislocated bone would straighten back into place due to the pulling of the muscles.

"Where did you learn all this from?" Hiratsuka Shizuka wanted to understand when her student had become so violent.

That was really ruthless!

She looked at the zombies wriggling on the ground like earthworms and muttered to herself.

"Edo, ah, Tokyo, training grounds?" Uesugi Genshin muttered as he answered Hiratsuka Shizuka's question, while crouching down to observe the zombies in front of him.

“Training hall? Are you trying to say you’re studying Shinto Munen-ryu?” Hachiman Hikigaya squatted down next to him.

A great figure in history studied this school of swordsmanship; one of the three heroes of the Meiji Restoration—Katsura Kogoro of the Choshu Domain—so he happened to know about it.

“I forgot you also studied humanities.” Uesugi Genshin clicked his tongue. “I studied a little, but not to the point of mastering all subjects.”

Hey Hey hey?

Hikigaya Hachiman suppressed his inner grumbling and withdrew his gaze. "So persistent."

Despite having broken limbs, the two zombies in front of them were still writhing on the ground, trying to get closer to them.

"Isn't the word 'persistent' a bit problematic? He actually wants to eat you alive."

Uesugi Genshin kicked the zombie on the left in the head, sending it flying backward.

"It really is a zombie." Hiratsuka Shizuka calmly stepped forward, placed her foot on the zombie's back, and put her hand on its heart, concluding, "The heart has stopped beating."

Look at these zombies, their mouths agape unconsciously, as if they're about to bite, simply because they're right in front of you.

"So what's the next step?" Uesugi Genshin asked.

"Should we break their necks, throw a rock at them, or just leave them alone?"

"This..." Hiratsuka Shizuka was speechless for a moment.

Both of them have some problems, right?

At least at this stage.

"Let's leave it for now? At least they can't bite anyone in this situation."

With its limbs severed, it was merely struggling on the ground, its face contorted in a grotesque grimace. If it could still bite someone, then someone must have been incredibly foolish to get too close.

"So what do we do next?" Hachiman Hikigaya turned to look at the school building.

“Let’s always check on the students’ situation first,” Hiratsuka Shizuka replied.

“This zombie is unharmed, which means it wasn’t infected by a bite,” Uesugi Genshin said, pointing at the outsider.

"The first batch of zombies, huh?" Hachiman Hikigaya pondered.

“I saw a living woman yesterday who was in a car accident and turned into a zombie,” Uesugi Genshin added.

"That means the virus must have already been lurking in the human body."

Hachiman Hikigaya and Shizuka Hiratsuka tensed up instantly, since they couldn't be sure if the virus was lurking in their bodies.

"Let's go back first." Hiratsuka Shizuka took out a cigarette from the pocket of her white coat. Her hand trembled, and a cigarette popped out of the pack. She put it in her mouth, lit it with a lighter.

"Let's first observe the specific situation of the students in the classroom before making a judgment."

Uesugi Genshin and Hikigaya Hachiman exchanged a glance, then stood up.

The three walked toward the teaching building, leaving two wriggling zombies behind.

Chapter Seven: Chaos

As soon as Uesugi Genshin, Hikigaya Hachiman, and Hirazuka Shizuka arrived at the entrance of the teaching building, they heard a scream coming from a classroom inside, interrupting the orderly teaching.

"Hurry up," Hiratsuka Shizuka urged, quickening her pace first.

Uesugi Genshin and Hikigaya Hachiman followed behind her, discussing...