"What are we stopping for again?"
Ren once again asked Evelyn to stop the microbus in front of a decently large store currently being ransacked by people desperate to survive the undead outbreak.
"We need some kind of weapons, don't we?" he said, answering everyone's question.
"And we need to gather food and other supplies before the outbreak gets any worse."
"Don't say it's going to get worse, idiot," Ren's friends retorted with terrified looks, though they knew exactly what kind of reality awaited them.
"Then we'd better hurry up." Natalie glared at Ren.
"We've already wasted too much time."
Her sharp tone and irritated expression made it seem like she was getting annoyed by all the stops Ren kept making.
Ren, however, understood that Natalie was simply worried and growing impatient.
He approached her and gently patted her head, giving her a reassuring smile.
"I'm sure both of our sisters are safe," he said, trusting his sister's survival skills to keep herself and her friend safe.
"We won't be able to reach them safely if we aren't completely prepared, right?"
"I know that already, idiot Ren."
Natalie retorted, but she didn't move away from him. She simply continued glaring at him, her face slightly flushed.
You perverted bastards, Ren's friends thought, cursing him for flirting with Natalie while mocking Tristan, who was glaring at the two out of jealousy.
***
RARGHHH—!
BAM!
"So that's how it feels to run someone over."
Evelyn parked the microbus by running over an undead security guard standing right in front of the store.
"Look after the bus," Ren said as he split the group into three.
Elizabeth, Evelyn, Marcus, and Tristan would stay with the microbus and watch over it in case someone tried to steal it.
Karl, Mike, and Ivan would gather food and other supplies.
Meanwhile, Ren, Natalie, and Gian would look for anything they could use as weapons.
"You can drive off and leave us behind if something troublesome happens."
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear you say that, Ren." Elizabeth replied with a soft, warm smile.
However, Natalie, Evelyn, and even Ren knew just how angry she actually was beneath her calm and composed demeanor.
"There's no way we'd ditch either of you," Evelyn grumbled, clearly just as angry at Ren while saying what Elizabeth truly wanted to tell him.
"What about us?"
Karl, Mike, and Ivan asked at the same time, looking envious.
"We're leaving you three behind if you're even a minute late."
"Bastard!"
After teasing his friends, Ren grabbed Natalie's hand and rushed inside the store, guiding her along with him.
"Wait for me, Ms. Kurobara!"
Gian followed, trying to catch up with the two.
***
"What did that greedy perverted bastard say we should get again?"
Food, drinks, and medicine. Those were the three necessities Ren had asked his friends to gather, though he hadn't had enough time to tell them exactly which items they should prioritize.
"I'll get the medicine," Karl said, grabbing two grocery carts.
"Then I'll handle the drinks."
Mike grabbed two carts as well, intending to take as much as he could.
"I'll get the food," Ivan said.
"Let's split up and get this done quickly."
The moment he said it, however, Ivan began to doubt his own words.
Karl and Mike gave him the same doubtful look. They were all thinking the same thing.
That's how we're all gonna die.
Survivors rushed in and out of the store, looting whatever they needed.
Maniacs assaulted other survivors for their own twisted satisfaction.
Undead corpses lay scattered across the floor, while others were still busy devouring their prey.
With how chaotic the store had become, Karl, Mike, and Ivan decided to stay together. It gave them a better chance of surviving.
They headed to the pharmacy store first.
After filling one of his carts with toilet paper, Karl grabbed everything he thought might be necessary for survival.
Antibiotics, pain relievers, fever reducers, cough and cold medicine, isopropyl alcohol, bandages, and other first-aid supplies. Then came contraceptive pills and condoms...
"What the heck are you taking those for, pervert?" Mike asked, though he didn't actually try to stop Karl.
Karl, however, misunderstood what Mike and Ivan were concerned about.
"Don't worry. I'll get some for both of you too."
"That's not what we're asking about!"
After filling his second cart with medical supplies, they moved on to the drinks section.
"You moron, at least get some energy and vitamin drinks," Ivan said as he watched Mike fill his first cart with beer, alcoholic drinks, and wine.
"Just get another cart for those," Mike retorted, refusing to let go of his loot.
Once they had filled Mike's second cart with bottled water and a third one with energy and vitamin drinks, they proceeded to the food section.
"No one's going to complain, right?" Ivan asked as he filled one of his carts with the most expensive cuts of meat.
"Let's get another cart."
Ivan ended up filling two carts with meat and a third with expensive canned goods, along with different kinds of biscuits and chocolates.
***
With their task finished, Karl, Mike, and Ivan hurried back, pushing multiple carts while worrying about Ren's threat to leave them behind if they were the last group to return.
However, before they could even leave the food section, a group of seven men surrounded them.
The men were armed with crowbars, machetes, axes, and sledgehammers.
Meanwhile, a woman who appeared to be a store employee, judging by her torn uniform, stood in a daze while being held by one of the men.
"Hold it right there, brats."
The leader was a ragged-looking man in his forties. His muscular frame, like that of someone who worked in construction, allowed him to casually wield a sledgehammer with one hand while keeping his other arm wrapped around the woman's waist.
"Thanks for gathering all those supplies for us."
The second man had the exhausted appearance of a deadbeat middle-aged salaryman and carried a crowbar.
"Now hand them over and fuck off."
The third man looked like an overweight NEET armed with a machete.
"We're also taking the bus you came with."
"And those bitches too."
The fourth and fifth men were nothing more than ordinary-looking thugs carrying axes. Neither Karl, Mike, nor Ivan could notice anything particularly distinctive about them.
"This bitch alone barely satisfies us, after all."
"I'm getting hard just thinking about those college girls—HAHAHA!"
The sixth and seventh men had builds similar to the leader's, both carrying sledgehammers.
You fucking maniacs, Karl, Mike, and Ivan thought, cursing the seven men after realizing what they had done to the helpless woman.
The maniacs continued laughing, completely lost in their imaginations.
Meanwhile, Karl, Mike, and Ivan desperately armed themselves with whatever they could grab from their carts—bottles of wine, canned goods, and even isopropyl alcohol.
"We should've been the ones to get the weapons," Karl muttered, regretting their decision when Ren had asked which task they wanted to take.
"Either way, we're not going down without a fight," Mike said with a confident grin.
Ivan, however, corrected him.
"You mean we're not going down because we're fighting to runaway."
The three understood the plan without needing to say anything else.
There was no way they could defeat seven armed men, especially without proper weapons. Their only option was to give up the supplies and run.
Once the maniacs went after Elizabeth's group and the microbus, they could regroup with Ren and ambush them from behind.
Everything should be fine then, they thought.
Karl, Mike, and Ivan slowly began backing away, making the seven men laugh and mock their cowardice.
Then, all of a sudden, before Karl, Mike, and Ivan could even step out of the encirclement...
RARGHHH!
The woman in the leader's arms suddenly turned undead and bit him in the neck, tearing out his throat.
The leader couldn't even scream. He desperately clutched at his neck with both hands, trying to stop the blood spurting from the wound and splattering across the floor.
RARGHHH!
"What the fuck just happened?!"
"How the hell did this bitch turn?!"
"Just kill her!"
"Let me kill that bastard too!"
"Now I can be the leader and fuck those college girls first!"
"Who said you get to be the new leader?!"
The undead woman continued devouring the leader as she straddled him on the floor. Meanwhile, the remaining six men either panicked, attacked the undead woman, continued beating their dying leader, or argued over who would become their new leader.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Karl, Mike, and Ivan didn't hesitate to fight their way out.
Karl sprayed isopropyl alcohol directly into the eyes of the two muscular men arguing over who would take over.
"ARGHHH!"
"It burns, doesn't it?"
Mike launched a sneak attack against the deadbeat, middle-aged salaryman who was mercilessly beating their dying leader, knocking him out by smashing a wine bottle against the back of his head.
"Damn it, why did I grab the most expensive wine?"
Meanwhile, the overweight NEET who had attacked the undead woman was now being devoured.
Ivan followed up by throwing canned goods straight at the faces of the two thugs who were still panicking, causing them to run away bleeding and confused.
"Now let's run before we become her next meal."