Unlike what Nach assumed, Saya only had to crash the van once before finally getting accustomed to driving—and that one crash happened when she rammed the van into a bunch of undead, ending up saving the dog Zeke and his master, a young, elegant lady who introduced herself as Karen Inukai.
(Note: The name Karen Inukai is from the manga/anime My Life as Inukai-san's Dog.)
"It will only hurt at first, so please endure it, Karen."
"I actually don't mind the pain, Nach—Ahh~!"
"I'm sorry for tearing it apart..."
"Would you mind making your conversation a bit less misleading!"
Like Saya said, the situation inside the van didn't actually involve anything lewd or naughty, except for Nach's perverted grin and Karen's flustered, blushing face.
The pain Nach was talking about, along with Karen's painful moaning, involved cleaning the scrapes on her hands and knees with the water he had in his camping backpack. And since they didn't have any gauze pads or spare clothes to use as bandages, Nach tore apart the edge of Karen's dress—exposing her slim, slender thighs—and used the fabric to wrap her wounds.
While Nach was treating Karen in the back seat with Zeke watching beside his master, Saeko sat in the middle seat, keeping an eye on the surroundings. Meanwhile, Saya drove anxiously and slowly, carefully evading the few undead lurking on the road while following Imamura's directions toward his house.
---
"Turn right at that corner, Takagi-san," Imamura said, pointing at the crossroad ahead.
"At least call me Takagi-sama, for the favor of driving to your house," Saya grumbled as she took a sharp right turn—only to suddenly step on the brakes and abruptly stop the van.
A swarm of undead filling the entire street ahead, blocking a single house, was the sight that greeted the group, as if they had taken a wrong turn toward the last place they should go.
"So this is where they all gathered," Saeko said, confirming her suspicion as to why they had encountered fewer and fewer undead as they neared Imamura's house.
"There's no way we could get past that even if we rammed the van," Saya said as she shifted the van into reverse. But before she could drive away...
"Fuc'!—My house is just right past there."
Hearing Imamura's remark, even Saya paused with her foot on the accelerator, unable to decide whether to push through and rescue whoever was at Imamura's house or just abandon them and escape safely back to the apartment.
"Pervert-sensei..." she murmured, silently asking Nach what to do.
Nach couldn't confirm through Reader's Viewpoint whether Imamura's parents were still alive. What he could confirm was that the little girl Alice was still alive together with her mother and father inside their house—the house the swarm of undead was currently trying to break into.
Dammit, why does saving Alice's family feel like it's in hard mode? Nach thought before giving his answer to Saya.
"We've got no choice..." he said, earning a desperate look from Imamura, who thought no one would help him rescue his mother and father—or so he thought.
"Park the van a bit farther away and wait for us. Imamura and I will find another way around to his house."
"I owe you a lot, Sensei..." Imamura said, grateful to Nach.
"Be careful, Nach-sensei, Imamura-kun," Saeko said, understanding that she couldn't come with them even if she wanted to, since there would be no one left to protect Saya and Karen. And her next words made Nach realize something was wrong.
"These undead are acting more unusual than the ones we've encountered so far."
Saeko had only fought the slow-moving undead and had only seen the aggressive ones from afar—those that reacted only to sound. She didn't yet know of the stronger undead that could clearly recognize prey using sight. But what she meant was neither of those.
"Why aren't they reacting to us?" Saya said, voicing the same concern Nach felt.
Their group was only about a dozen meters away from the undead, with the van's engine still running and loud enough to attract them—and yet not a single undead paid them any attention.
"It's like they're all trying to get into the Maresato house," Imamura said, confirming to Nach that it was indeed Alice's home.
Whatever the reason the undead were only showing interest in the Maresato house, Nach still wanted to save Alice's family.
"If you think you can't wait for us anymore, then leave and go back to Shizuka at the apartment," Nach said before opening the door and stepping outside the van, carrying his axe and shotgun.
"Let's go, Imamura."
---
While Saya drove the van back through the route they came from and parked three streets away from the undead swarm, Nach and Imamura moved toward the house behind the Maresato residence.
Their plan was simple: pass through the adjacent house, climb over the wall fence, and reach the Maresato house along with Imamura's house next door. But as they reached the gate of the house behind the Maresato residence, what they saw was a backyard swarming with undead.
"It seems like they're really surrounding the Maresato house and trying to break in," Nach said as he gazed around, thinking of a way to reach Alice aside from forcing their way through the swarm—since killing even one undead might trigger the entire horde to attack them.
His remark, however, only made Imamura more worried about his parents. After all, if the undead were surrounding the Maresato house, then it likely meant his own house next door was also swarming with them.
"Mom... Dad..."
"They could be hiding somewhere safe inside your house, so don't lose hope yet."
With little choice for a safe route to reach Alice, Nach and Imamura climbed onto the wall fence and walked on top of it, which was barely wide enough for Nach to step on without slipping and falling into the undead swarming on both sides.
"Fuc'! Why the hel' is this happening!" Imamura shouted in anger and frustration, seeing almost everyone he knew in his neighborhood now turned into undead—among them the ones trying to reach up and grab their feet.
Right then—"Gyaahhh!"—a loud scream came from the Maresato house.
"It's the mother next door!" he said in panic, recognizing the voice.
"What do you want to do, Imamura?" Nach asked, questioning who he wanted to save first.