[32] Pigs and Zombies

You know that feeling when you're sick for one day, come back to work, and your inbox somehow has hundreds of new emails waiting for you?

This was worse.

My phone wouldn't stop vibrating. Messages, missed calls, old notifications. Most of them were days or weeks late, piling onto the screen faster than I could read.

I scrolled past a few familiar names before opening the reservist group chat.

Hundreds of unread messages. Most of it was noise, but a few things stood out.

The guys in there didn't sound the same anymore. Reading through the chat now, there was a tiredness to it that hadn't been there before. Death came up far too casually. Jokes about "borrowing" cars nobody was coming back for, empty flats, shops worth breaking into. Some of it probably wasn't really a joke anymore. Then again, I wasn't exactly innocent either. I'd broken into enough places for supplies by now.

I winced and kept scrolling.

Between everything they were saying, I could get a rough idea of which areas I should stay away from for now, and which ones might actually be worth heading toward later.

After that, I checked the government messages.

Instructions to remain indoors where possible. Updates on designated shelters. Notices telling civilians to avoid affected districts and leave dangerous areas to the EDF. The wording was careful enough that, if this was all you had to go on, you'd think things were still mostly under control.

I stared at the screen for a few seconds.

It's bullshit. 

I opened one of my social feeds next.

Most of the images loaded slowly, but enough came through to get the idea.

There weren't many carefully staged selfies anymore.

Still, some people were apparently determined to keep going. A few women were vlogging their "survival days," contact information conveniently attached to their profiles, and I couldn't help thinking about those old zombie stories where women with fewer options sometimes leaned on the one advantage they still had to get by.

Others were posting camera footage from supply runs. Grocery stores, warehouses, abandoned homes. Some of it looked useful. People adapted fast. But eventually, these supplies would run out too.

I saved a few posts for later, then locked my phone and looked toward the chamber again. People were still scattered around it. Some were eating like us, while others had clearly come here just to use their phones. Every now and then, somebody would leave and another person would take their place.

I felt a little bad knowing that after tonight, they might lose this too.

"...We'll have to do it tonight as planned. Luna."

At my words, Lunallu's eyes shifted toward one of the patrolmen farther down.

"...That one."

He had just finished speaking to another guard and was heading toward the back of the food queue.

"His build is quite close to yours, Doctor."

He'll do.

Lunallu waited until he reached the queue before getting up.

I stood with Yoru.

"Meet us back at the room when you're done. If anything happens, use Private Communications."

"...Understood."

Then she slipped away into the crowd.

Yoru watched her go before looking back at me.

"Come on."

For now, there wasn't much else for us to do but return to our lodgings and wait until dark. Yoru stayed close beside me as we made our way back through the settlement. Lunallu had already disappeared somewhere behind us, leaving the two of us alone for the first time since we came in.

We were almost back when a voice called out.

"Hey."

I glanced over.

Three men were sitting outside one of the occupied shopfronts, halfway through their food. One of them raised his chin at me.

"You're the guy who came in earlier, right?"

"Yeah. You need something from us?"

His eyes shifted to Yoru.

"Sister?"

It's the same everywhere. Thinking back, most of the faces I'd passed today had been male.

"Yeah."

He gave a small laugh.

"Pretty close, aren't you?"

Yoru looked at me, clearly not understanding what was supposed to be funny.

I kept walking.

"Come on."

"Relax, man." The same guy stood up. "Just talking."

The other two were watching now too.

"Visitors, right? You need anything?"

"No." I passed them without slowing.

One of them laughed under his breath.

"Cold, huh?"

I waved. "Won't be here for long, don't mind us."

We kept walking.

"Must be nice..." one of them muttered behind me, just loud enough to hear.

I ignored it. Probably better if we didn't stay here for too long anyway.

Everyone was under pressure. Weeks of sleeping badly, watching people die, never knowing whether tomorrow would be worse. Add enough men packed together with barely any privacy, and some of them were probably handling the extended abstinence worse than others.

As long as they didn't make it my problem.

Yoru stayed close as we headed back toward the lodgings.

After a while, she muttered under her breath.

"...Pigs."

I looked at her, then laughed softly and rubbed the top of her head.

Night fell without incident.

A faint violet shimmer formed in front of me.

Lunallu appeared a moment later, holding a small lizard this time. One of the shortened chains at her waist was looped loosely around it, the last traces of Refraction fading along the links. The lizard was flicked out of the window.

A folded set of patrol clothes rested beneath her other arm.

"Good work."

She set the uniform down on the mattress.

"The man returned to his quarters after eating. I made sure he was asleep before I took it."

I looked at her.

"...Luna. ...He's still alive, right?"

Lunallu blinked.

"Of course."

"Haha... just checking."

I picked up the shirt and held it against myself. Close enough. The rest of the uniform was about the same. A little loose around the waist, but nothing that would stand out in the dark. Yoru sat on the edge of the mattress watching me change. Lunallu was watching too, a faint blush creeping across her face.

[Affinity has increased by 1.]

"Doctor?!"

I paused.

...I'd gotten too used to changing around Yoru.

"Sorry... Give me a second."

I took the rest of the uniform behind the room's partition. Once I was done, I reached into my Inventory and took out the metallic choker.

A moment later, someone else stepped back out.

Lunallu froze.

Her eyes widened behind the round glasses as she stared at me.

"...Doctor?"

"Still me."

She looked me over again, clearly trying to reconcile the voice with the older, scarred face in front of her.

It should be fine if it was Lunallu. I'd already trusted her with more important things than this by now.

Still, there was no reason for anyone else to know. Especially Charlotte.

"Keep this to yourself, okay?"

Her gaze stayed on my face before she nodded, suddenly solemn.

"...Of course, Doctor."

She looked like she'd carry it to the grave.

"Alright." I glanced down at the borrowed uniform.

With this face, it fit the role a lot better.

...Now we're ready.

Lunallu would go with me, while Yoru, with Wolfstalker active, would take the highest vantage point she could find nearby. From up there, she'd have a much better view of the roads than either of us would.

We'd already agreed on three signals.

A if the route stayed clear. B if someone started moving our way. C if something went wrong and we needed to change plans immediately.

Simple enough for Yoru. That gave us another set of eyes on the whole area while Lunallu and I were moving below.

I gave the borrowed uniform and my companions one last check.

"It's time. Let's go."

Linda lay across me, her breathing gradually settling as she rested her cheek against my chest.

Every time we ended up like this, the guilt came back.

Not while it was happening. Always after.

I stared at the ceiling.

What exactly were Linda and I now?

She acted like the answer was obvious. Sometimes I almost believed her.

"Mmm..." Linda sighed contentedly against me. "You were great."

"...Linda."

She only smiled. My thoughts went somewhere else anyway. ...Celeste.

That made the guilt worse.

I liked having Linda close. I liked that she wanted me. But whenever I tried imagining what this meant between us, Celeste somehow ended up there too.

Linda lifted her head.

"We should clean up before Celeste gets back."

That got me moving immediately.

"Right." I sat up and started putting everything back in place.

Still, where had she gone? She'd left without saying much.

A stupid thought slipped into my head.

She didn't go see that guy, did she?

The older one from earlier. I frowned as I pulled my shirt on.

No. Why would she? Celeste still liked me. She was waiting for my answer.

Linda tugged lightly at my sleeve.

"Come on. Help me with the bed sheets."

"Yeah. Let me w—"

A shout outside cut me off. Then another rose somewhere farther down, followed by several voices at once.

For one horrible second, I wondered if somebody had—

Linda was already at the window.

"Huh..."

I hurried over while pulling my shirt properly into place.

"What's wrong?"

She leaned closer to the glass.

"Something big happened."

I joined her at the window. People were spilling out onto the road despite the curfew. A few guards were already pushing through the crowd toward the far end of the settlement.

"What's going on?"

Linda turned to me, looking genuinely stunned.

"That pod thing."

"The one that came from the sky?"

She pointed outside.

"Yeah. They say... it's gone."

By morning, everyone had an opinion.

Lunallu, who had gone out for her morning exercise, joined Yoru and me on the way down.

The space where the chamber had been was already cordoned off by the time we reached the road, but people crowded around the edges anyway.

"I heard it just disappeared."

"No way. Someone moved it."

"Moved it with what?"

"The EDF probably took it."

"Then why are they asking us what happened?"

That last one shut the group up for a moment.

I looked past them.

Several EDF personnel were walking around the empty patch of ground, occasionally crouching to check something before speaking among themselves. The settlement patrols weren't having a much better morning.

One of the night guards was being questioned for what looked like the third time.

"I already told you. Nobody came through."

"Nobody?"

"Nobody. I walked that road twice."

Another patrolman nearby nodded quickly.

"Same on our side. Nothing went in, nothing came out."

Closer to the front stood a man and woman with people constantly moving around them, reporting what they'd seen and waiting for instructions. That had to be the couple Chen mentioned yesterday.

The husband was a broad man somewhere in his forties, already sounding increasingly irritated as people tried talking over each other. His wife stood beside him with a clipboard, taking names and writing down whatever little information people could give them.

"Everyone who was outside after curfew has already been accounted for," she said.

Someone in the crowd raised his voice.

"Then where did the thing go?"

"If we knew that, we wouldn't be asking."

Her husband lifted both hands.

"Back up. Let the EDF look at it first. Nobody touches anything until they're done."

"There isn't anything to touch!"

A few people laughed, but he didn't look amused.

"Enough. Get runners to the other blocks and let them know we're cut off again. Until we know more, nobody else goes outside alone."

That quietened them. His wife immediately started passing instructions to the people around her while the EDF personnel moved closer to the empty site.

Some of the crowd now looked uneasy at the implication of his words. Others just seemed annoyed.

"My phone's dead again."

"Mine too."

"Seriously? I was halfway through downloading something."

The EDF personnel were already pulling the night patrols aside one by one. Whatever questions they had now would only multiply once word spread farther.

Just then, something at Lunallu's waist gave a faint buzz. She paused, then pulled out the small device hidden beneath her jacket.

"...Excuse me for a moment."

She stepped aside and raised it to her ear.

"Yes?"

A faint voice crackled through the receiver. Lunallu listened without interrupting, her expression slowly changing.

Then she glanced at me.

"Hold on."

She lowered the device.

"Charlotte wants to speak with me. In person."

"Now?"

"...Yes."

I looked back toward the empty space where the chamber had been. There wasn't much left for Lunallu to do here anyway.

"Alright. Thanks for helping with everything."

Her expression softened.

Lunallu raised the receiver again.

"I'll come to you."

Another brief crackle answered before she switched it off.

I pointed at the device.

"What's that, anyway?"

She held it up.

"A receiver Charlotte made. The range is limited, so she should still be somewhere nearby."

...Of course. Besides being a detective, Charlotte had a habit of putting together little trinkets like this too. She wasn't on the level of the dedicated crafting Operators, especially someone like Silen, a six-star in later versions, but it was still useful.

Maybe I could ask her to make a few more.

"One more thing. Transporter."

He still hadn't woken up since we pulled him from the chamber. According to the System, being left uncollected for so long had triggered some kind of safety stasis, and I had no idea when it would wear off.

"Bring Transporter with you first. After you're done with Charlotte, I'll send you a location through Private Communications. Move him there and stay with him until Yoru and I come back."

"...Understood."

"Sorry for the trouble."

Lunallu gave me a small look.

"...You don't have to say that."

She tucked it away, then stepped closer to me.

"Doctor, one more thing..."

"Hm?"

It looked like she wanted to say something else. Her eyes shifted toward Yoru beside me, and Yoru stared right back. Lunallu paused, then gave a tiny shake of her head and smiled.

"...It's not too late next time."

Before I could ask what that meant, she turned away.

"I'll see you again, Doctor."

"Yeah. Be careful."

She gave Yoru a small wave before heading toward the gate.

I watched her disappear into the crowd.

...Well.

If she was saying there'd be a next time, maybe I didn't need to rush that conversation just yet.

I looked toward the food area. Most people were still crowded around the missing chamber, which meant the breakfast queue was shorter than usual. Might as well take advantage of it.

"Come on, Yoru."

She followed without complaint. We hadn't eaten yet, and I wanted to get out before the settlement settled back into its normal rhythm. Before that, though, I could probably leave something behind. Nothing obvious. A few emergency rations. Maybe some medical supplies. Enough to help without making anyone ask where they came from, discreetly.

I still felt a little bad about taking away their signal. This wouldn't make up for it, but it was something.

I barely heard what the people around me were saying.

Something about the chamber disappearing. Someone else complaining about the signal being gone.

I stared down at my breakfast without much appetite. My head had been somewhere else since last night. I'd gone over to the visitor building sometime before evening and waited nearby, feeling increasingly stupid the longer nothing happened.

Maybe I'd imagined it. Maybe the girl yesterday only looked familiar because I wanted her to.

Nightfall proved otherwise.

Voss walked out with those two women.

I'd stood there staring from where I'd hidden myself. The same girl from before was with him. That couldn't be a coincidence. I still wasn't sure what it meant, but whatever doubts I'd had before were getting harder to ignore.

"...Celeste?"

Someone nearby said my name.

I looked up too late to catch what they had been talking about.

"Hm?"

A girl across from me laughed.

"Never mind. You're totally somewhere else today."

"...Sorry."

I looked away.

My eyes drifted across the breakfast area until they landed on someone familiar.

The man from yesterday had just settled down farther away with the girl in the loose cap. The same two people. I'd been looking for them all morning without even realising it. My grip tightened slightly around the edge of the bowl.

Last night, Voss had left from the same place they were staying. With the same woman in blue hair.

...Yoru, right?

And now Voss was nowhere to be seen.

...No. That didn't prove anything.

Still, the doubt I'd tried to talk myself out of last night came back stronger than before.

I watched him from across the crowd.

Beside me, Ethan went quiet.

"...Do you really like him that much..."

His voice was low enough that I almost missed it.

"Eh?"

He suddenly slammed both hands against the table.

I jumped.

"E-Ethan?!"

Linda stared at him.

"What the hell are you doing?"

He was already standing.

"Ethan, what are you..."

He ignored us and started walking.

My stomach dropped when I realised where he was going.

"Wait, Ethan!" Linda got up too, but he was already pushing past the people between us.

I hurried after him.

By the time I caught up, he'd stopped directly in front of their table.

The man looked up at him.

The girl beside him did too.

I froze a few steps behind Ethan.

...What is he doing?

Still, being this close finally settled one thing.

The way she kept half a step behind him, watching everyone around them before looking back at him, was exactly the same.

That girl really was Yoru.

I had barely gotten through half my breakfast when someone stopped in front of us.

I looked up.

This kid... ...Ethan?

He didn't look particularly happy to see me.

Yoru had already noticed. Her eyes followed him as he came closer, while her hand stopped halfway to her bowl.

"Can I help you?"

Ethan stared at me for a moment.

"...What did you do to her?"

"What?"

Behind him, Celeste and Linda were already hurrying over.

"Ethan, stop!"

He ignored them.

"She keeps staring at you."

Ah.

I glanced past him at Celeste, and she immediately looked away.

...Was this really what this was about?

"I don't even know her."

"Then why does she keep looking at you?"

"How would I know?"

His jaw tightened.

Celeste finally reached him and grabbed his arm.

"Ethan, seriously. What are you doing?"

"I'm asking him a question."

"You don't even know him!"

That seemed to make him angrier.

"And you do?"

Celeste went quiet. I caught the hesitation, and so did Ethan. Before either of us could say anything, Celeste's eyes moved past me, straight to Yoru. Being this close seemed to settle whatever she'd been trying to figure out.

Her grip on Ethan's arm loosened.

"...Yoru."

Yoru's head turned toward her.

I stopped eating.

...That's not good.

Ethan looked between them.

"So you know her?"

Celeste seemed to realise what she'd said a second too late.

"I... saw her before."

"Where?"

Her eyes flicked toward me.

Then back to Yoru.

"With Voss."

Ethan's expression changed with that name.

"Voss?"

Celeste didn't answer.

He turned back to me.

"You know him?"

"No?"

That came easily enough.

His eyes narrowed.

"Really?"

"What's wrong with you, kid. Go bother someone else."

Celeste was staring at me now too, and Ethan caught it.

He frowned.

"...Hey, why do you sound like him?"

A small pang of irritation finally got through.

"Seriously, kid? Go away. Can't you see your girlfriends are worried?"

His shoulders tensed at a certain word.

"Bastard...!!! What do you knowww?!"

He swung before I could answer.

Yoru caught his fist.

The impact barely moved her arm.

"What..."

Ethan stared at his hand in hers in astonishment.

He tried to pull back.

"...Let go."

Yoru's eyes narrowed.

"Don't, touch."

Ethan's face reddened as he strained against her grip, his arm trembling from the effort.

The harder he pulled, the more obvious it became.

"Yuna."

She looked at me.

"Let him go."

Her fingers opened immediately.

Ethan stumbled backward, catching himself before he fell. His hand went straight to his wrist.

Around us, a few people had gone quiet. That probably hurt more than the grip did.

Celeste was the first to move.

"Ethan! What are you doing?!"

"He—"

"You tried to hit him!"

"I was just trying to..."

"You came over here!"

Each word seemed to make him shrink and stiffen at the same time.

Linda reached for his arm, but he pulled it away.

I sighed and picked my spoon back up.

"Are we done?"

That probably didn't help.

Ethan looked at me, then at Yoru. His eyes stayed on her longer this time. Not just angry. Uneasy. Yoru had already gone back to sitting beside me.

"Ethan. Let's go."

He didn't move at first. Then his jaw tightened and he finally turned away. Linda followed after him. Celeste lingered for half a second longer, her gaze settling on Yoru again.

Yoru stared back. Neither said anything.

Then Celeste hurried after the other two.

I watched them leave.

"Troublesome kids."

Yoru looked up at me.

"...Pig?"

I nearly choked on my breakfast.

We headed back toward the lodgings after eating.

There wasn't much reason to stay any longer. Lunallu had already left, Transporter was accounted for, and I'd done what I could here without drawing more attention. I still wanted to say goodbye to Auntie May and some of the older folks before we went.

Yoru followed beside me, quieter than usual after what happened at breakfast.

"So?"

She looked up.

"What did you think of this place, the people here?"

Yoru thought about it longer than I expected.

"...Loud."

I smiled.

"Anything else?"

Her eyes moved across the road ahead.

"...Many, people. Talk, smile. Give food."

She paused.

"...Some, pigs."

I laughed under my breath.

She looked at me again.

"...People. ...Not bad."

That was probably more praise than most people here would ever realise.

Overall, this trip had gone better than I'd expected for both Yoru and me.

By the time we got back to the lodgings, a few of the older folks were already sitting outside again.

Auntie May spotted us first.

"Leaving already?"

"Yeah. We won't be staying another night."

She clicked her tongue.

"So fast."

Yoru gave her a small bow.

"...Thank, you."

Auntie May smiled and patted her arm.

"Come back when you can, sweetheart."

Yoru glanced at me before nodding.

"...Okay."

I thanked a few of the others who had accommodated us during our short stay.

Auntie May was still telling Yoru to eat more the next time she visited when someone came running down the road.

"Jun!"

I turned.

Chen was hurrying toward us, breathing hard.

"Chen?"

He almost stumbled to a stop.

"You guys need to get inside."

The smile disappeared from Auntie May's face.

"What happened?"

Chen looked back over his shoulder.

"Something's wrong at the outer barricade."

Before I could ask what, shouting carried over the rooftops.

Auntie May stood up.

"Chen, slow down and tell us."

He bent forward with both hands on his knees, dragging in a few breaths before looking back up.

"There's infected... coming in from the west side... A lot of them!"

The words took a moment to land. The older people around us started cursing in half a dozen dialects, gathering their things as Chen pointed toward the building.

"Everyone inside. Now."

Somewhere farther out, metal gave way with a heavy crash. Screams rose beyond the buildings. Yoru's head snapped toward the sound. I caught her wrist before she could move.

"Stay with me."

Her eyes were already fixed beyond the buildings.

"...Many."

"You can hear them?"

She nodded once.

Chen looked between us.

"What?"

"Nothing. Go."

He hesitated, then turned to help Auntie May and the others inside.

I stepped out into the road. People were already moving in both directions now. Some were carrying weapons toward the west side. Others were pulling children along behind them or shouting for family members.

A harsh squeal erupted overhead, spilling from the horn speakers mounted on the settlement's PA towers.

I flinched as Yoru screamed beside me.

A raw, feral sound tore out of her as one hand dug into my arm while the other flew to her ear.

Her nails bit deep enough to hurt, but I didn't pull away.

Yoru was the one in pain.

"Yoru!"

Another burst hit.

Her grip tore away from me as she clamped both hands over her ears and doubled over.

"Master—! Aaaahhhhhh!!!"

Her voice broke apart.

The sound stretched longer this time. Her legs gave out beneath her, dropping her to one knee as she shook violently.

I knew what this was.

The Chimera Project had used certain high-frequency sounds to contain her. Not just anything loud would do it. The right frequency dragged the trauma straight back out of her.

"Yoru. Come on."

I got an arm around her and pulled her up.

Usually, moving Yoru anywhere she didn't want to go would've been impossible. Now most of her weight sagged against me, her steps uneven as I half-carried her back toward the building.

By the time we reached our room, I was breathing hard.

I lowered her onto the mattress.

"Stay here first. I'll deal with what's happening outside."

Her hand caught mine immediately.

"...Don't, go."

Yoru looked terrible. Her breathing was still uneven, and every distant burst of noise made her flinch.

I almost stayed.

Instead, I opened my Inventory.

There had to be something.

My eyes ran through the lower-rarity stuff until I found one.

★ ME4 Insulation Hood — Equipment

A cheap insulation hood once common among maintenance crews working the lower sectors around old Meridian facilities. Most units were patched, reused, and modified so often that finding two identical ones became difficult.

20 | Weight: 0.1kg

Environmental Buffer: Maintains a tolerable micro-environment around the wearer's head, filtering airborne contaminants while reducing exposure to extreme temperatures, pressure changes and other environmental hazards.

Operational Duration: 500 hours per full charge; accepts compatible external battery units

The hood looked a little ridiculous, but the seal formed almost immediately once I pulled it over Yoru's head.

A faint layer of air settled around her face and neck. More importantly, the noise outside became noticeably duller.

Another burst rolled through the settlement.

Yoru still flinched, but she didn't fold in on herself this time.

...Good enough.

I adjusted the hood around her head.

"Yoru, be good and stay here for now."

She kept hold of my hand.

Another scream carried in from outside.

...Too many people were out there.

I reached into my Inventory and pulled out one of the spare PZ400s I'd gotten from the earlier pulls.

"Can you still use this?"

She swallowed and gave a small nod.

"Only if someone dangerous comes in here, alright?"

Her fingers closed around the grip.

"...Pigs."

"Yeah, pigs... and zombies."

I watched her for another second. The trembling hadn't stopped completely, but she was steady enough to hold it.

"I won't be long."

Her other hand tightened around mine.

"I promise."

Slowly, I pulled my hand free.

I could feel her eyes on my back as I headed for the door.

...Sorry.

Whatever was happening, I couldn't let a place like this disappear overnight.

I still didn't know why the infected had suddenly started moving toward the settlement in such numbers.

But something about it felt familiar.

The boss I'd fought before had done something similar.

Noise. A crowd of infected. All moving toward one place.

...Was someone deliberately luring them here?

I stepped outside.

The road had changed completely.

People were running in both directions now. Some were dragging furniture and scrap toward the barricades, while others shouted for children and older survivors to get indoors. Gunfire cracked somewhere ahead, followed by screams from the western side.

I pushed through the flow of people heading the other way.

The closer I got, the worse it looked.

One of the barricades had already buckled inward. Men were bracing whatever they could against it while others fired through the gaps.

Beyond them, infected packed the road.

Not dozens. Hundreds.

"...What the hell."

Another burst screamed from the PA towers.

A few people around me covered their ears, but nobody reacted anywhere near as badly as Yoru had.

My eyes went up toward the nearest tower.

Someone had taken control of the system.

"More coming from the left!"

Gunfire shifted immediately.

An infected stumbled through the opening and was beaten down before it could get far. But it wasn't the first to try.

I looked past the infected and caught movement farther back.

People. At first I thought they were survivors trying to get away. One of them lit something and threw it. A bottle spun through the air and shattered against the barricade. Fire climbed across the wood almost instantly.

The front line erupted into shouting as people scrambled to smother the flames before they could spread.

"...They're doing this."

Farther back, one of the figures hurled something heavier.

It disappeared behind the barricade.

The explosion kicked dust and splinters into the air hard enough that I felt it in my chest. Several people went down hard. Screams broke out around them as those still standing scrambled to pull the injured away.

The infected surged toward the breach.

Some people really did just want to watch the world burn.

They had come here prepared to tear the place apart.