"This should give us a few minutes at least," Nach said as he dragged the cabinet to block the doorway, even before the undead swarmed the entire hallway on the second floor and began bashing on the door.
Inside the room, Imamura sat on the floor, devastated, grieving for his parents who had already turned undead. He kept thinking that if they had arrived a bit earlier—if only he hadn't stayed overnight at school but had gone home yesterday when the undead outbreak started—then maybe he could have saved them.
"I'm sorry for your loss, Imamura-kun."
Mrs. Maresato knelt in front of Imamura, embracing him as she caressed his back to console him, making Imamura bury his face in her breasts to silence his cries.
"It's okay to cry, Imamura-oniisan," Alice added, patting Imamura on the head.
It was the sight of a mother consoling her son, and of a sister comforting her big brother—at least that's what Nach wanted to think, and hoped it actually was.
"Once again, thank you for saving us," Mr. Maresato said, pulling Nach's attention away from his doubt and suspicion about Imamura and Mrs. Maresato's real relationship.
"We didn't hear any screams from the neighbors yesterday when all of this horror started, so his parents were probably outside their house when they got bitten," he added, intending to ease Imamura's regrets and guilt.
Whether it was true or not, if they didn't think of a way to escape, they would end up the same as Imamura's parents.
Except for you, Mr. Maresato, Nach thought, remembering that the undead only wanted to capture him alive without even biting him.
Don't tell me that strikingly hot, horny undead woman is actually after you? / "We aren't safe yet," Nach said, making sure not to let his thoughts slip into his words.
Setting aside his growing doubt and suspicion about Mr. Maresato, Nach walked toward the balcony and opened the door, revealing the house behind Imamura's house.
"A more lazy and lousy, convenient plot would be far better," Nach muttered, looking at the five-meter gap from the balcony toward the roof of the single-story house behind Imamura's house.
The five-meter gap was divided into a three-meter gap from the second-floor balcony to the wall fence, then another two-meter gap from the wall fence to the roof of the single-story house.
Looking at the adjacent house beside it, Nach estimated a wider six-meter gap.
They could walk on top of the wall fence again, but aside from the risk of someone—most likely Alice or her mother—slipping down to the ground, Nach feared the undead would be able to reach up and grab their feet, considering how desperate they had become to capture Mr. Maresato.
"Fine… Let's MacGyver our way out of this shit."
---
"Are you sure this will work, Sensei?"
"If you have a far better idea, Imamura, then I'd like to hear it."
Although Imamura was still grieving, Nach didn't have a choice but to ask him to help.
—Bamm!—
As the undead began bashing behind the door, Nach proceeded to build a makeshift scaffold using only the frame of the bed along with the bedsheets and curtain.
"Three, two, one, go!"
At his count, Nach together with Imamura and Mr. Maresato, tossed the bed frame toward the wall fence.
The front legs of the solid wood bed frame barely made it past the top of the wall fence with how heavy it was, but that was all Nach needed for that part.
With the back legs of the bed frame roped with bedsheets and curtains on each side, then tied to the railing of the balcony, the bed frame was suspended on top of the wall, forming a scaffold between the five-meter-wide gap.
"It works!" Nach shouted excitedly, amazed that his MacGyver idea actually worked.
"So you weren't actually sure about this." Imamura sighed, tired from lifting the bed and the chaos, as he looked down at all the undead swarming the ground below. Then a sudden thought crossed his mind.
"Sensei…" he said, asking Nach for a favor.
"I know. Leave it to me." Nach replied, understanding exactly what Imamura was asking for.
---
"Are you really sure this will work?" Imamura asked again, doubting the stability and reliability of the bed barely hanging on the edge of the wall fence on one end, with the other end loosely tied by bedsheets and curtains to the metal railing of the balcony.
"What? Don't tell me you're scared? Haven't you jumped like this many times before?"
"I told you, it wasn't like what you're thinking!"
Shouting in annoyance, Imamura jumped from the balcony and landed on the shaking bed frame. Before he lost his balance, he made another jump and safely landed on the roof of the next house.
Mrs. Maresato jumped next with a little push from her husband. She landed stumbling as she sat on the bed frame but managed to avoid falling onto the swarm of undead below before jumping toward Imamura.
Mr. Maresato followed and easily jumped through the bed frame onto the roof, but injured his hands, bleeding as he grabbed the sharp roof tiles to steady himself.
"Hold tight to me, okay?" Nach said, carrying Alice on his back.
"Mhm! Let's go, Oniisan," Alice replied as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
Right then—BAMM!—the door and the cabinet collapsed, and the undead slowly swarmed the room, heading for Nach and Alice at the balcony.
Nach stepped on the railing. But before he made the jump, he looked over his shoulder and aimed the shotgun he was holding in his right hand to grant Imamura's request—Bang!—firing its last shot to put Imamura's undead parents to rest.
After reaching the roof, all they had to do was jump down to the other side of the house into the street and run away from the slow-moving horde of undead.
Or so Nach thought.
---
"I guess that means they're still alive, or at least one of them," Saya said upon hearing the gunshot coming from the direction of the undead-swarmed street.
"Maybe we should move the van a bit closer to see what's happening?" Karen suggested as she leaned from the driver's seat to talk to Saya, who was leaning on the side of the van beside the open driver-side door.
"Arf!"
While being held by Karen, Zeke barked, as if agreeing with his master.
"I risked my life enough for today, so no," Saya replied, refusing Karen's idea, knowing they wouldn't be able to do anything to help Nach and Imamura and would only put themselves in danger.
"And I won't risk it any further waiting for Pervent-sensei until it gets dark."
"Arf!"
"Shut it, you puny dog! You're attracting the undead!"
While Saya and Zeke were squabbling, Saeko beheaded the last of the undead that had approached their location. As she sheathed her katana, she turned her gaze to the nearing sunset, realizing they could only wait for Nach and Imamura for a few more minutes unless they wanted to risk driving back to the apartment at night.
Right then, she heard faint voices coming from the corner of the street three blocks ahead.
"Start the van, Takagi-san!" Saeko shouted in panic, since it wasn't only the voices of the living she heard.
"What's… Ah! It's them—"
Saya looked toward Saeko and saw Nach and Imamura along with some other people running toward them—"Eek!"—only for a terrified shriek to escape her lips upon seeing the horde of undead following their group close behind.
—"Hurry up and start the van!"—