Employment Ice Age of the Dead - Chapter 8

Rescue

"Hm? I hear someone's voice."

"Izaku-san, I hear a voice coming from over by the equipment shed. It seems someone is still left behind."

"I can't believe there's still a survivor. Who in the world could it be?"

We raided the campus to look for Shirai-san, once again slashing through numerous zombies.

Sakata-san poured holy water—which I brought back from the other world—into a water gun I retrieved from a toy store, and fired it at any approaching zombies.

To zombies, holy water is equivalent to concentrated sulfuric acid to humans.

The moment it touches them, their skin and flesh burn and scorch.

Although zombies don't feel pain, holy water is an exception.

Drenched in holy water by Sakata-san, the zombies whose skin and flesh were burning felt intense pain and writhed on the spot.

"Now's our chance!"

I cut down only the zombies blocking our path to the equipment shed while Sakata-san continued firing holy water.

As we closed the distance, I was able to confirm through the window of the equipment shed that the person calling out to me was none other than Shirai-san.

"Shirai-san, you're safe! What a relief."

"I'm so glad you're safe too, uncle. But I think I'm done for..."

Shirai-san had quietly hidden inside the equipment shed all by herself, but when she raised her voice to get my attention, the shed ended up surrounded by zombies.

We have to rescue her quickly.

The areas in front of both the window and the door of the equipment shed were crawling with zombies.

In particular, the entrance door was severely warped from zombies repeatedly ramming their bodies against it, looking like it would break open at any second.

"The window, or the door... Sakata-san, it's the door!"

The window was too small for zombies to squeeze through, but that applied to us as well.

So I came up with a plan in my head: Sakata-san and I would wipe out the zombies trying to break down the door, rescue Shirai-san, and run back to the car to escape.

Without me having to spell everything out, Sakata-san understood my plan perfectly.

She was smart and had surprisingly good combat sense.

When I handed her an extra bottle of holy water from my "Item Box," she quickly refilled her water gun.

She showed a look of surprise when a bottle of holy water suddenly appeared out of thin air, but understanding that now was not the time to dwell on it, she resumed showering the zombies with holy water using her water gun.

(Even though she looks quiet and refined, her motor skills are great, and she's showering zombies with holy water without flinching at all.)

People really can't be judged by appearances.

"Get out of the wayyyy!"

I then slashed through the zombies that were repeatedly ramming the door one after another with my silver sword.

Still lacking enough hands, I cast "Heal" as well, succeeding in clearing out the horde in front of the entrance door in a short time.

"The door is warped, so we'll just have to force it open."

Having leveled up to 11, I should be able to manage.

I charged at full speed into the iron door that had caved in from the zombies' continuous body slams.

That must have been the final blow.

The door's hinges snapped off and fell inward, and unable to stop my momentum, I tumbled into the equipment shed.

"Ouch, ow, ow, ow..."

"Uncle!"

No time to lie around lazily.

Getting up immediately, I saw Shirai-san standing inside the shed in her uniform.

I was relieved to see she was her usual gyaru self.

"Hey, long time no see."

"Uncle!"

"E-Eh! Eh?!"

Shirai-san hugged me tightly—she must have felt extremely anxious being surrounded by zombies with no way to escape.

Otherwise, there's no way a pretty young woman would hug an uncle like me.

"Shirai-san, there are still plenty of zombies around, so escaping from here right now is our top priority."

"...You're right."

When I spoke to her, Shirai-san seemed to regain her composure and pulled away.

To be honest, I felt a little disappointed, but right now we had to escape this school as quickly as possible.

"Run toward the car!"

If I ran at full speed, the two of them wouldn't be able to keep up, so as I left the equipment shed, I matched my running speed to theirs while cutting down the new waves of zombies rushing toward us with my silver sword.

"It's a waste to leave the magic stones behind, but there's no time to collect them. Get in the carrrr!"

When the three of us reached the car in the middle of the schoolyard, dozens of zombies had already surrounded it.

By instinct from when they were alive, they seemed to think there were people inside the car.

Or were they drawn by the scent of humans remaining inside?

Because zombies lose their eyesight as their bodies rot, they habituate toward targets relying on smell and hearing.

Of course, there were exceptions, as some zombies had good eyesight.

"Kizaki..."

The name Shirai-san muttered while staring at one zombie belonged to a student from a wealthy family who always used to make fun of me.

Because their parents donated large sums to the school, his group could harass and force several janitors to quit without facing any consequences—but that trick didn't work on zombies, and he was attacked.

"For those who get killed, the time it takes to turn into a zombie is less than an hour for fast ones. If you're bitten by a zombie, you have to treat it immediately; if you turn into a zombie before that, there's no way left to save you."

Was it because I encountered someone I knew turned into a zombie?

Muttering that unconsciously, I felled the zombies surrounding the car with my silver sword.

Thanks to leveling up, I no longer struggled against zombies, but if those I defeated and turned into mere bones end up becoming skeletons, my current self might not be able to win.

This isn't a game; if I fail and get killed by the undead, it's instant game over.

There are no saves, loads, or resurrection spells, so I needed to act cautiously.

"Alright! Get in the car!"

""Yes!""

With the zombies surrounding the car wiped out, we hurriedly got inside.

Then I quickly started the engine.

"Alright, let's go! Don't forget your seatbelts!"

"Ehh! Uncle, you're saying that at a time like this?"

"Because it IS a time like this! And besides!"

I suddenly floored the gas pedal, running over and launching the zombies blocking our path without mercy.

It was actually a pretty nice car, but the front was already completely dented and covered in blood, mysterious bodily fluids, and bits of flesh that were best left unexamined.

If it were a luxury car I bought on a residual value loan, I'd be in tears, but since it was borrowed from one abandoned in town, I could beat it up without worry.

"Whoops!"

Blood and fluids splattered onto the windshield as well, so I turned on the wipers to clear them away and maintain visibility, driving out through the school gate and heading straight up the mountain.

"...So the school was wiped out too..."

"There were people who escaped beforehand, though."

"I see... But we can't say for sure that they'll survive either..."

Before passing through the main gate, I witnessed many students, teachers, and town residents mauled to death by zombies.

Even though it was the school where I worked as a janitor, to be honest, I didn't have very fond memories of it.

I only cared about Shirai-san, and didn't really care what happened to the other teachers or students... Yet, I still didn't want to watch people I knew getting eaten to death by zombies.

Someone might ask why I didn't save them then, but I had reset back to Level 1.

No matter if I was once a hero in another world, acting recklessly would easily get me killed.

I should consider it a huge success just being able to save Shirai-san and Sakata-san.

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