Chapter 11: Leaving the Apartment

I wasted a precious few seconds standing like an idiot in my room. I can't do that. Time is ticking!

I felt the warm trickle entering me after killing that zombie. It added at least two seconds to my duration. Still, simply standing here would waste it.

I haven't seen clearly, but I think there are more zombies behind the ones who almost reached me. Tsk. I quickly pinched my arm as my body shivered at the reminder. I have to be strong!

There is no time left. I have to leave right now.

It's quite sad leaving this room. What should I do outside? Is there any place out there that is still safe?

"Dammit! Just move!"

I slapped myself hard.

Ouch...

My cheek stings, but it pushes me out of my overthinking stupidity. My eyes lingered on my room for a moment before forcing my eyes forward. The pain in my palms told me that my nails were almost digging into my skin, but it didn't matter.

I have to go!

I climbed up on the table. I don't have time to move these obstacles away from my path. It will take a long time.

Before I take another step, I look forward and notice the pitch-black darkness beyond the room. Only my room has light in it, owing to the many power lamps active around it.

I can't just move around without light. The city is in total blackout, and without the natural moonlight, I'll basically be grasping blindly if I don't take any light source. I just realized that, if a city loses electricity, night would turn into a pitch-black world. I needed a light source!

So I take one of the power lamps near me. Then, I finally moved past the corpse on the table and stepped my way towards the splintered wardrobe and door.

The power lamp was still sufficiently charged. I'll be throwing this out later after I get to the bike shop. For now, it will be useful for me to navigate the building.

Looking beyond the hallway, I can see multiple trails of bloody footprints on the tiled floors. It goes on both paths, which means the zombies occupied both stairs leading down.

That doesn't matter now. In this empty mirror world, I don't have to worry about anyone. The silence permeating the surroundings assured me that there wouldn't be any creatures out there that would jump at me.

This personal safe haven would only last for fifty-five minutes. I have to make every second count!

So, despite the sense of reluctance in my heart, I forced myself to step forward and never look back at my room.

This place is not a sanctuary anymore...

_______________________

The zombies fell on top of one another as their target suddenly vanished in front of their cloudy sight. Their hive mind reeled in shock, and the zombies in the scene of action crawled around. A few of them stood on their own flesh-rendered feet in a daze.

They let out groans; their moans still sounded like the gasps of a dehydrated person. Though, the noises they made sounded a lot more frenzied than normal.

They lingered in the room for some time before most of them left. A few zombies, staying as their main network, the flesh hatchery in charge of them, leave them on autopilot. They couldn't fathom a human just suddenly vanishing without leaving any trace of their existence.

It's as if she left the world.

It was a perplexing situation to these mold monsters.

_______________________

So, the fire escape route here is quite different from the other japanese apartments. Most apartments have a retractable ladder on their balcony that they can use to escape in case of fires or other disasters that make escaping through conventional pathways impossible. This high-rise apartment is not like that. Instead, as the real estate worker who has eloquently explained the reasoning behind it, it is for the safety of the guest that they turn it into a whole new flight of stairs entirely separate from the main hallways instead of ladders because, in his words, stairs are much safer to go down than ladders when people are in a panic.

It's the type of stupidity that I'll usually hear from any high-class establishment trying to be unique, and I already expected it when I rented a room here. The only people who stayed in this apartment are those rich people who thought being unique was somehow a score to their image.

Anyway, this is why there is no balcony in this apartment. Escape through the balcony is quite impossible. Instead, I'll have to go to the nineteenth floor and then go straight to the path that looks like a dead end and then go to the nondescript door there with the fire exit sign above it.

I just did that. My steps are hurried, though not at a running pace. The backpack I am carrying is quite heavy now that I think about it. There is a lot of stuff contained in it, even though I've cut it all down into the bare necessities. The light from the lamp illuminated the bloody footprints that extended all the way to the lower floor. It looked like a scene from a horror movie as I walked past the trail of bloody footprints from the stairs.

When I arrived at the exit, my heart fell at the sight of the bloody handprints on it. I occasionally saw it around the walls of this building, and it was giving me quite the creeps.

But there is no time to be hesitating, so I opened the door. The white, nondescript door slid easily from my push, and I barely acknowledged the dull, clinical design of the staircase as I immediately moved forward. The creaks of my shoes echoed in this silent world as I briskly walked on each step of the stairs. I didn't stop even as I moved lower and lower.

"Haaah... ugh... this is so tiring..."

Ugh... Is my exercise not effective?

I have been making the effort to do light exercise on a daily basis because I thought it would build up my stamina. It looks like it doesn't matter because, after going down a few flights of stairs, I'm already sweating up a bunch, and I'm running out of breath.

I can't move continuously at this pace, so I've slowed myself. My shoulders felt sore along with my entire back, so I found myself supporting the weight of my baggage by holding onto the sling of my backpack, despite both of my hands already being occupied holding a power lamp and a golf club. I still tried to move even with the exhaustion piling up on me.

Ugh... Dammit! Now I regret living unhealthily!

My diet might have also contributed to my lack of stamina. I do only eat cup ramen and recently canned tun--OH MY GOD, WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?!?

My inner monologue was forgotten after arriving at another landing. Unlike the others from above, this one left a surprise in my eyes. It was the sight of gore that was scattered around the floor. I have been ignoring it, but the scent of rotten flesh is strong in this place. I immediately cover my mouth with my hands, disgusted and horrified at this scene.

Okay. Calm down. This is normal. This is the apocalypse. This kind of sight is normal. The outside has moving piles of flesh and weird blobs filled with the dried-up corpses of people. I've seen it with my phone.

I should get used to this.

"... Phew."

Having finally calmed myself, I stepped forward, forcing myself to ignore the squishy sound below me as I walked past the gory landing. I force the bile rising from my throat to come down and clench my golf club tight while only looking at my path.

"... Eugh..."

Turning into the next set of stairs almost made me puke. From the steps, into the beyond, it's all a gorefest. Blood, bits of guts, and unidentifiable liquid were scattered on the ceilings, the walls, and the floor. Most of them were already dried up, but there were a few that looked viscous and still wet.

"Ignore it... ignore it..."

I returned to my brisk pace. The exhaustion from the long trek downwards with the backpack was entirely forgotten as I moved with the express purpose of finding the exit as soon as possible.

_______________________

The fire exit led to the underground car park. Directly just beyond the walkway was the outside. It was supposed to be smooth sailing going from here, but it wasn't. This entire place makes me sick, and it is even more so seeing the entire area full of scattered bits of flesh, rotting and overwhelming my nose with the stench of decomposed corpses. The icky sound of squelches and the stickiness akin to stepping on bubblegum, with the disturbing knowledge of where these red viscous liquids came from, just made my stomach roil from disgust.

The raw gruesomeness of the sight has affected me so much that my pace has slowed down, even when I'm trying to move as fast as I can. The thought that I'll be forced to see such a sight in the future filled me with dread.

Is this going to be my life?

If I die, am I going to be part of this gruesome display?

What is the point of living if it will be this hard?

Is it even worth all the trouble?

What if I die. Wouldn't all of my struggle be a waste?

Those were questions that always made me pause. Thinking about whether it was worth it to continue on or just end it all by killing myself. But my desire for survival let me hold on. So even while feeling acids rising on the back of my throat, I moved on and held everything in. I faced forward, holding onto the power lamp and using the light as a guide to illuminate my path.

When I passed the walkway, the streets became visible to my eyes. It has been the first time I've left my room entirely. Everything felt so vast and humongous. My earlier confidence that I could run all the way to the bike shop was gone, doubting whether I could do it with my current pace. I am mentally drained by the vivid sight of death and the unbearable smell that clung to my nose. I felt like I could taste the rotten stench itself, which just further worsened the feeling of sickness in my stomach. My body is too tired. Despite wanting to leave as fast as I can, my lungs craved more air. My legs felt heavy, protesting against this much activity despite me having just left the building.

I am so weak!

"... Tsk."

No. I've come this far. I have to move on even if I puke!

So I continue moving. Walking past the bloodstained road. As I walked, I noticed a few glinting objects on the ground, and getting closer to one made me realize that they were knives, smeared with dirt and blood. They were scattered around the streets, with most of them blackened and a few bent. As I continued walking, I saw darkened spots on the street and the strong smell of burnt charcoal. It added to the disturbing image of the gore-filled street.

I moved past all of that and ignored all of the buildings. Even if I'm curious whether these buildings have any notable stuff I can loot in them, that doesn't matter because I'm already having a hard time carrying the backpack. I walked past most of the buildings until I finally arrived at the cycling shop.

The garage-like door was wide open, and inside I could see a bunch of bicycles lined up in front. Most were intact, despite having some smears of blood and dirt on them, while a few were lying on the ground, a few broken, and one even missing a wheel. I walked towards the one that looked relatively clean before stopping as I realized something.

Right... The streets are incredibly dark. If I throw the lamp away, the only light sources I'll have left will be the flashlight and the phone I carry. I can't just throw it away. But I can't carry the lamp while I am using a bike. I can put the golf club in my backpack, but the power lamp doesn't have a purpose other than being clutter in my bag. It's also quite bulky.

But all of the bikes here don't have a front light extension on them. I looked around for a bit and confirmed that all of these bikes were basic. These are the ones that people usually buy accessories to complete their own bike. Basically, it has that basic look in it.

Every bike here is all for civilian use, and I don't have time to roam around the building. The subtle pressure in my head is telling me that my time is running out. I didn't time it, but I think I might have used twenty minutes of my time just getting to this place from my room. The headache will occur at the thirty-minute mark, and it will worsen as time passes. So I basically have ten minutes to still be fine, another ten minutes having a migraine, and the remaining time being spent with the worst headache in my life.

I don't want to just jump back to the real world. My starting point is already compromised, so I can only return to the original world using my current location. If I come back by mistake, and there are monsters everywhere, I wouldn't even know how I died!

I'll have to find a safe place as soon as possible!

So I just browsed around briefly on the bikes available in front of this shop and found what I was looking for. It was a bike with a basket in front of it. It's the one typically used in anime.

I didn't hesitate and put my lamp in the basket.

After that, I push the bike forward, and with some effort, I climb on top of it and then make myself comfortable on its seat. I tried my balance for a bit, testing myself whether I could ride it in a straight line even with a backpack behind me. I did use bicycles when I was a child, though this is my first time doing it while carrying something on my back.

Thankfully, despite it being a long time since I used a bike, my skills are still there. I can keep my balance so long as I don't overextend. Feeling confident right now, I stopped going at a snail's pace and pushed my feet heavily on the pedal. The slight, crinkling groan of the bike echoes on the empty streets as I move forward, faster than when I'm walking.

I look back, staring above where my former room was located. It is frustrating and sad that I am forced to leave my base. Even if that place is a room I simply used to hide from the world and live in obscurity, I still have some attachment to it.

But that's only it. It's not a strong attachment where I won't just leave it if my life is on the line. I have some good memories in that room, like playing all the games I want or reading anything I want. I am essentially free from all the conglomerate nonsense from my family and their politicking nonsense that affects my everything. It's my first sanctuary in this world.

... Honestly, I don't want to leave!

But I don't have enough strength.

So I can only just stare at it, remembering my time in there, before putting my eyes back on the road.

I can't be complacent. I am not out of danger yet. I don't really know where I should go, but I'm hoping it's a place that can defend well against zombie breaches. I don't know where that will be, as I haven't read the maps lately, and I barely go outside, thinking the world doesn't concern me. That's another minus to my survival, but what's done is done. I just have to accept that I'm completely clueless.

My only plan is to get as far as here, and when the headache hits me, I'll try and attempt to enter one of the buildings. Higher floors seem to be unpopular with the zombies. So I'll just go to one and pray that there are no monsters in my chosen room.

Those are my simple plans as I pedaled the bike. The light on the lamp illuminated my path forward on the dark, blood-smeared streets.