Employment Ice Age of the Dead - Chapter 7

 The Collapse of Banryu High School

"Aaaaaah!"

"Save meeee!"

"D-Don't come any closer!"

A horde of zombies finally swarmed Banryu High School.

No matter how high the school's outer walls were, or how sturdy and fortress-like its gates were built, they couldn't hold off a horde of hundreds to thousands of zombies attacking all at once.

To make matters worse, inside the school, infighting had already erupted between the students, teachers, and their family members who had taken refuge first, and the townspeople who fled there later.

Naturally, the townspeople—who far outnumbered the school faction—rebelled when the students and teachers tried to take full control.

Among the refugees were a city council member and senior municipal employees. Furthermore, word had spread that the Student Council President, who had gone out earlier to forage for food, abandoned a student from another school who was helping him and fled back alone. Thus, the two factions split completely in a matter of moments.

“Next after that schoolgirl, we townspeople will be used as shields for the Banryu High crowd.”

That rumor spread instantly, ruining any remaining chance of repairing relations between the two groups.

Originally, the food and supplies stockpiled at the school were scarce. Being located up on a hill, the running water cut out almost immediately, bringing the water shortage into plain view.

Even before that, the teachers and Student Council President had already begun reducing the rations of food and water allocated to the townspeople, which proved fatal.

It took only three days for both sides to start fighting over the remaining water and food.

Food and water are vital to human survival, and modern people accustomed to abundance cannot endure the terror of losing them.

Fear drives human judgment insane.

As a result, the Student Council President led the school faction while the city council member led the townspeople. Both sides took up weapons for self-defense and engaged in a tense standoff—but less than an hour later, a swarm of zombies flooded into the campus.

How did such a thing happen?

The answer was simple and utterly foolish: the main gate, which students and townspeople had previously guarded together, was left completely unmanned because of their conflict, allowing zombies to avalanche right in.

In this way, the school's safety collapsed in a mere three days.

The zombies that surged into the campus immediately targeted those who were slow to run, such as the elderly and children.

Corpses of people mauled to death by zombies were scattered everywhere, but anyone who didn't flee immediately risked being attacked when those corpses reanimated as zombies.

"Hey! Let's get out of here!"

"Yeah. This school is finished."

The main culprits behind this breakdown—the Student Council President and the teachers—began escaping in cars parked on campus. Many townspeople had fled there in their cars, which were now being hijacked for the escape.

"That's my car..."

"Shut up!"

The person who struck down an elderly man with a wooden stick for resisting the theft of his car was Tazaki—the board chairman's grandson who used to mock the janitor uncle all the time—along with his cronies.

"Damn you!"

"Kyah! What are you doing?! Help me!"

While many were devoured by zombies, others intentionally tripped people to save themselves.

Beyond merely stealing cars from teachers and residents, some showed no hesitation in using violence against anyone who resisted.

In an extreme situation like this, human reason proved to be completely unreliable.

"Let me in!"

"Heh, sure... but you know what that means, right?"

"...Yes..."

A pretty female student from the top of the school hierarchy clung to a male student who had fortunately secured a car.

Looking at the male student's disgusting expression, it was easy to imagine what she was offering in exchange for a seat in that car.

Frankly, if it weren't for such dire circumstances, there was no way she would have paid any attention to a guy like him approaching her.

Right now, however, she accepted giving her body to any man who could guarantee her safety, regardless of his looks or personality.

She was desperately using her attractiveness as a weapon just to survive.

"It really is an extreme situation..."

The civilized, privileged life from before—along with the order maintained only because of that abundance—was destroyed in an instant by the zombies.

And I happened to witness that exact moment.

"...What should I do...?"

I hated everything about my life back then, constantly fighting with my parents every single day.

To show my defiance, I dressed like a gyaru—an appearance unfitting for a Banryu High student—which left me isolated at school. Three days ago, when I fled from my home to the school as if chased by zombies, I thought it would be safe. Yet the Student Council President and teachers treated me no differently from the townspeople who fled here later.

And as for the townspeople, because I wore the Banryu High uniform, they excluded me too, refusing to share food with me for an entire day.

"Are Mom and Dad safe?"

The day before the zombie outbreak, my parents had gone on a long business trip to Tokyo.

I didn't even know if they were safe. Feeling scared all alone, I fled to the school alongside the townspeople, but even in this emergency, I was cast aside. When I tried to join the townspeople, they suspected I was a spy for the school side and refused to give me food or water.

While all this was happening, zombies breached the school and slaughtered countless people.

All alone, I fled into a tool shed at the edge of the school grounds. Through its window, all I could do was watch the school shelter collapse after staying safe for only three days.

"There's no escape left..."

Aside from those who secured cars and fled early, nothing remained in sight except zombies and the corpses of people devoured by them.

And those corpses would soon revive as zombies themselves.

When that happened, escaping would become even harder for me.

"Maybe it's better to be killed by zombies than to starve to death..."

Why did I flee to a school I hated so much?

I didn't even have a single friend there...

"Ah... but... maybe it's because the uncle was there?"

The uncle was a janitor who was always mocked by the board chairman's grandson and his group.

Yet he paid them no mind, quietly working on his own. Even when I went to hang out in the janitor's room, he accepted me without making a fuss.

I don't think the uncle and I were friends.

After all, he was older than my father.

Still, sitting in the janitor's room after school, drinking tea and chatting with him was when my heart felt most at peace.

It had been three full days since the zombies appeared.

The uncle hadn't fled to the school, so he was probably dead. But the reason I ran from town to the school in the first place was that I thought I might meet him there.

In the end, I couldn't meet him. Left behind alone in a campus crawling with zombies, all I had left was to wait for death.

"Why did I run into the tool shed and lock the door earlier?"

Even if the zombies didn't find me, there was no water or food here, and I hadn't consumed anything for a full day.

"Am I going to die here all alone...?"

I hated the thought, but there was no helping it.

Besides, it might be better than getting eaten and turned into a zombie.

"At the very least, I wanted to see the uncle one last time..."

"If there is an afterlife, I wonder if he's already waiting there for me?"

Just as I was thinking about that...

Suddenly, a car burst through the main gate at full speed.

It mercilessly ran over and launched zombies into the air before slamming to a stop in the middle of the schoolyard. The door opened, and a girl from another school stepped out...

("(Isn't that the girl who was supposedly killed when she went foraging for food with the Student Council President...?)")

Over her uniform, she was wearing some kind of armor, and in her hands...

"A water gun?"

Just as I was thinking something like that couldn't possibly work against zombies, she fired the water gun right at them.

Instantly, white smoke billowed furiously from the zombies sprayed with water, and they writhed on the spot.

When the white smoke cleared, the skin of the zombies touched by the water was scorched away, exposing flesh and bone.

"Hmm... The holy water was more effective than I expected."

"It seems difficult to actually defeat them with just this, though."

"Well, it's holy water meant for warding off undead, so that can't be helped."

"Ahhh!"

The man talking to her was dressed like a character from a fantasy game where knights defeat monsters with swords. Looking closely at his face—it was the janitor uncle!

"Uncle, you're alive..."

Hot tears welled up in my eyes.

When zombies appeared and the town fell into panic, my parents were away on business in Tokyo. I didn't know if they were safe, but I didn't worry too much about them.

The uncle, on the other hand, was the only person who talked to me normally every day when I was isolated both at home and at school...

It had been three days since the zombies appeared.

Because he hadn't escaped to the school, I was truly worried he might have been killed by zombies.

"I'm so glad you're doing well... Wait, huh? Why?"

I was glad he was safe, but why was he dressed like a medieval European soldier, slashing down zombies one after another with a sword?

And the zombies struck by his sword spewed thick white smoke before crumbling into mere bones.

"What kind of weapon is that? Uncle can actually defeat zombies..."

Until three days ago, he gave off the impression of a gentle person who wasn't built for violence at all. But looking closely now, his expression was sharp and fearless, almost as if he had rejuvenated.

"He looks kind of cool... Ah! That's right!"

This was no time to be entranced watching him fluidly slice through zombies.

I had to let him know I was here.

("(Though... he might not save me...)")

Most of the students, teachers, and staff at this school looked down on him for being a janitor.

To be a non-regular janitor at that age means your life is over. Calling it the "Employment Ice Age" is just an excuse for lazy people.

Because of that, even if the uncle survived this situation, there was a high chance he wouldn't come back here.

He would only be made uncomfortable again, and he certainly wasn't getting paid anymore.

Even so, the reason I fled to a school I hated was that I thought I might see him.

I thought we might be able to talk again.

("(It's fine even if he doesn't save me. I just want to talk to him one last time, even a little bit...)") "Uncleeee!"

I shouted at the top of my lungs to the uncle fighting in the schoolyard.

Doing so, however, meant announcing my presence inside the tool shed to every zombie that had invaded the campus.

Instantly spotted by the zombies, the locked entrance door began ringing out with loud BANG! BANG! thuds.

They were repeatedly slamming their bodies against it, trying to break it down.

If the door broke, I could try escaping through the window... no, even that would be hard.

Zombies wandering outside the building heard my voice and had already taken up positions right in front of the window.

"If uncle doesn't save me, I'll just be eaten alive by zombies and that's it."

I was already someone left behind to die anyway, and even if I managed to escape the school, I had no food or water.

Even so, I wanted to tell the uncle that I was still alive.

"Uncleeee!"

Even if he couldn't hear me, I kept screaming from the tool shed window, desperate for him to notice me.

Because of that, more and more zombies gathered around the tool shed, but I didn't care about that anymore.

"Uncleeee!"

I kept shouting.

At least before I died, I wanted to say a single word to him.

So please, uncle, just notice me!

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