The Middle-Aged Shut-In and the Apocalypse - Chapter 6

 The Shut-In Goes Down to the Village

The next day. I left Shion behind, who was still processing the aftereffects of our session, and stepped out of the house. I told her I was going out, but it’s debatable whether she understood. Even if she were to just disappear while I was gone, there was nothing I could do about it.

Well, I’m worried about the garden and the traps, but first, I’ll go check on the village. I have a feeling the entire settlement is wiped out. Still, I should at least see Shion’s family home. She’s no longer in a state to care, but I feel it’s my duty as her "guardian."

I drove down the mountain road in my light wagon. I’m impressed Shion managed to climb all this way. The distance to the village is about twenty minutes by car. Keeping in mind the possibility of zombies wandering the road, I drove down the mountain path cautiously.

“I heard they attack the moment they see a living human... Let's see.”

I parked the wagon in front of the village's only bus stop. What looked like the scheduled bus had plummeted off a small bridge over the stream. In the driver's seat, I could see a zombie in a spectacular state of decay. It seemed unable to undo its seatbelt, but it was definitely moving. It was a fairly nightmarish sight.

In a field along the road, a zombie old man was tilling the soil with a hoe. Generally, it seems the younger the body, the harder it is for a zombie to rot. If they sustain injuries, they seem to rot rapidly from that point. I read on the Undead Message Board that injuries don't heal, but for some reason, Shion’s skin has become perfectly smooth.

Well, putting that aside for now. I approached with a shovel from the wagon in hand, but the old man didn't react at all. About half his flesh had rotted away, and the stench of decay was overpowering. In other rice paddies and fields, I could see the silhouettes of other zombies weeding or tending to the land.

“A pattern where they were infected and turned without even noticing, huh?”

Zombie-fied humans apparently fall into two main behavioral patterns. The first is the active type that wanders around and attacks living humans. Shion is likely this type. The second type becomes a zombie that emulates its behavior from when it was alive. Some repeat an entire day's routine, while others loop a specific action. Most seem to be the latter. The zombie old man swinging his hoe showed no sign of moving from that spot. He was endlessly tilling the exact same patch of dirt.

For the time being, I headed back to the bus stop and bought a hot coffee from a vending machine. I'm grateful the electricity is still on.

“What to do, what to do...”

I sat on the bench and sipped my coffee. Apparently, the behavioral pattern is decided by the situation at the moment of transformation. If you're attacked by a zombie and get infected while in a state of panic, you become a wandering, aggressive zombie. Conversely, if you're at peace and turn without realizing it, you become an "NPC-style" zombie. The cause of the transformation remains unknown. While contact infection is certain, there are cases that can only be explained by airborne transmission.

“Can’t be helped. I’ll do a quick loop and check everything.”

Judging by the idyllic sight of zombies wandering around, it feels as though the entire village was hit by airborne infection. It's a bit late for this thought, but it's a mystery why I haven't turned. It's possible I've turned into an undead myself and just haven't realized it. I stopped thinking about scary things and got back into my wagon. Even with the distance between the houses, I should be able to check them all in less than an hour.

According to a village map sign with peeling paint, more than half of the twenty or so houses were already abandoned. To be safe, I'll check them all. As for Shion’s "Sarashina" residence... okay, most of them have the same surname. Well, in a rural settlement like this, almost everyone is likely a relative. Even if there are the "aggressive" types, I’d like to think I can outrun them in the car.

---

I don't know the mechanism by which humans become zombies. However, it seems only humans are susceptible. As for livestock and pets, the ones that could escape have gone feral, and the ones that couldn't have withered away.

Fortunately, there were no aggressive-type zombies. About eighty percent of the residents were elderly, and they were all rotted beyond what I could bear to look at. I didn't go inside the houses to check, but I called out to the ones where the front door was unlocked. I doubt there are any survivors.

The wave of contamination likely hit the village in the middle of the day. Most of the zombies were outside and moving about. That's probably why the decay had progressed so much. Being exposed to the elements plays a part, and then, well... there are the wild animals and insects.

I did find a few zombies that hadn't rotted. An ossan zombie in what looked like a farming shed, walking endlessly into a wall. And a glasses-wearing girl zombie in plain clothes, looking like a university student, sleeping on an open veranda. This one surprised me. Since she looked exactly as she did in life, I checked to see if she was just sleeping, but she had neither a pulse nor breath. She was tossing and turning, so she must have turned.

In the same house as the glasses girl, there was also a zombie who appeared to be her mother. She looked quite up there in years, but her figure wasn't sagging at all. I don't know what kind of situation fixed her behavior, but in what looked like a bedroom, she was repeatedly taking off and putting on her panties. Was she caught right in the middle of changing? Her large breasts sagged slightly, and she had a firm lower body, likely forged through farm work. Her waist was narrow, and her tanned skin gave off a healthy, erotic vibe.

I’m not going to make excuses at this point. A mature female body with no scent of decay. Driven by lust, I engaged in necrophilia once again. The "Mama" zombie, who had been busy putting on and taking off her loose-elastic panties, struggled on the futon for a while. Coincidentally, the same olive oil I use was in the kitchen.

I straddled the Mama zombie face-down and engaged in clammy intercourse in the dimly lit bedroom with the curtains drawn. Unlike Shion, she didn't groan "ah-uu"; I suppose that's her personality. I savored the chilly vagina of the housewife. Honestly, I preferred this body to Shion’s youthful limbs.

When I finished inside the loose housewife-genitalia, her struggling resistance stopped. It was similar to Shion's reaction. I thought to myself that it would be a waste to let her rot. I grabbed her long hair, which was tied in a shrimp-braid, and used it like a rein to continue. It was incredibly erotic seeing her breasts bouncing back and forth. She was like a high-spec upgrade of my divorced ex-wife.

I have no grudge against this zombie, but I can't deny a sense of venting my frustrations. Though it’s hollow, I think I’m a monster for not being able to deny the feeling of refreshment. I turned the limp Mama zombie onto her back. She was a beauty—the kind most men would stop to look at if she were walking through the city. She had a gentle, adult look with slightly drooping eyes.

“...”

Well, she does try to bite. But it’s a very refined, "ham-like" nibble. A bit like Shion. Since she felt good to hold, I decided to take her back with me after all. She had no physical damage, likely because she’d been indoors ever since turning. When I picked her up while still inside her, she clung to me like a reflex. The ripe Mama zombie was nibbling on my shoulder in "Ekiben" (station bento) style. It seems she craves heat, just like Shion. Once I held her tight, she stopped struggling and simply clung to me.

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