Once we confirmed that all the zombies had disappeared, we hurriedly started making our way back to the library.
While on the run, I overheard a conversation between Kane and Bruno, who were vigilantly scanning the surroundings.
"...We're moving too slow."
"This guy can't even pull himself together. He'd probably start bawling after running a few steps."
Bruno lightly tapped the back of Smith's head, who was dragging himself along in a daze.
Sweat dripped down his dishevelled hair.
Ugh, pathetic.
The rear wasn't much better.
"…Ugh, ahh…"
Sam's suppressed groans reached my ears.
He was trying to hold it in, but he couldn't fool my eyes.
His limping gait and the pained grimace on his face with each step gave him away.
It seemed he had sprained his ankle or something during the frantic dash to the rooftop earlier.
A fool who injures his own hand during an attack, that is still acceptable, however this guy is truly pathetic…injuring his leg while running away. What a legendary duo.
I stopped admiring the sway of Cristine's hips and moved to lightly support Sam.
Startled, he looked at me and gave an awkward smile.
The stench of rot, likely from not bathing for days, hit me like a wall, but I held my breath and bore it with the utmost patience.
"Sam, let me help you."
"...Oh, was it that obvious? Thanks."
"Be careful. In a world like this, your body is your most valuable asset, don't you think?"
"Ahaha…"
His voice trailed off, his eyes darting about aimlessly.
Seriously, what am I supposed to do with a reaction like that?
What I meant as concern now sounded like criticism for getting injured.
Is this what they call apocalypse mansplaining?
This guy has a knack for instantly making people feel like jerks. My loser radar was flashing red with certainty. This guy's the real deal.
Clearing my throat, I lowered my voice as if about to reveal some big secret.
"Uh, Sam, can I ask you something?"
"W-what is it?"
"Are Kane and Bruno brothers by any chance?"
"...What?"
Sam looked at me, bewildered. I put on the most clueless expression I could muster and asked again.
"Brother palmer…One is white and other is black. How could they be brothers?"
"...Ah!"
Pretending to have an epiphany, I let out a dumb grin. Sam's face lit up with pride almost instantly.
There you go, buddy.
Guys like him need to see someone else's ignorance to feel confident in themselves.
"So, Bro Palmer, how have you managed to survive all this time?"
Oh, look at that. Now he's even starting the conversation himself.
"...Honestly, after I saw the emergency alert that morning, I didn't step out of my house at all. Today's the first time I've come out."
"Oh, I was at the library studying when this all happened."
"Wow, what were you studying?"
"Ah… I was preparing for the civil service exam."
"Ah, a humanities major? I was one too."
As the conversation flowed naturally, Sam's tone grew more animated.
I half-listened while subtly steering the topic toward something I wanted to know.
"...But that woman—she looks really unstable. Is it okay to keep her around?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying! Bro Palmer, stay away from her too. Smith lost his arm, but who knows what'll happen next?"
That idiot broke his arm on his own, so how's that Cristine's fault?
What's driving Sam's hostility toward Cristine?
Judging by Kane's leadership style, this group hadn't completely devolved into savagery.
They weren't one of those hardcore survival groups that enslaved men and raped women like barbarians.
If that's the case, beauty still held significant power.
In fact, in a situation where primal urges run rampant, beauty might have even more influence than in normal society.
So why such intense hatred toward Cristine?
While Sam continued rambling on self-importantly, I casually dropped a keyword.
"Do you think she might be a 'potential carrier'?"
"It's not just a possibility—it's a fact! How could she explain blacking out and waking up a days later in the bathroom? It doesn't add up. She's probably an asymptomatic carrier, like with COVID!"
Pretending to be impressed by his knowledge, I shot him a look that screamed Wow, you're so smart! Emboldened, Sam's tone became even more passionate.
"Then why is she still with the group?"
"Hah, Sister Nina and the librarian insisted she be quarantined, but Brother Kane opposed it. That's why we're in this mess."
Sister Nina, huh?
So, there's another woman in the library group.
"She claims she's 'awakened' person. What is this, a fantasy novel? And yet, she couldn't even handle a single zombie and was trembling like a leaf. What kind of 'awakening' nonsense is that?"
At this point, Sam was so worked up he couldn't stop spilling information. I just kept nodding along with an expression of deep agreement.
Good job. Keep going, you little troll.
So, to summarize our troll's testimony,
Cristine suddenly appeared out of the women's bathroom a days after the zombie apocalypse began. Same as me when I woke days later apocalypse hit.
She told the wary group members that she had simply blacked out and then regained consciousness.
And, when this women named Nina questioned how she survived for a week without food or water, Cristine made the audacious claim that she was an "awakened" individual.
This led to her being labelled a "potential carrier."
Just as she was on the verge of being quarantined, Kane, the group leader, defended her, claiming she might indeed have some ability to "sense danger."
When I subtly prodded about what exactly a "potential carrier" was, Sam eagerly filled in the details.
When I asked Sam if he knew how the first zombies appeared, he gave me a dumb grin and said, "Maybe from eating bats?"
Sam smirked back at me as if I were the idiot.
Ah, playing along with this guy is exhausting.
"No one knows. It wasn't biochemical warfare or a disease. And, of course, it wasn't because of eating bats. People just fainted suddenly, and when they woke up, they were zombies."
He described the chaos of the reading room—people who'd briefly lowered their heads on desks suddenly weren't just napping but turning into zombies, later attacking everyone nearby.
I looked at him, his expression like a war-hardened veteran, but I could only imagine him screaming and running aimlessly during the outbreak. It took every ounce of self-control not to punch him.
Grrit-Control it, palmer!
The apocalypse began when people fainted and turned into zombies.
But not everyone who fainted turned into one right away.
Apparently, some people stayed unconscious for a long time without becoming zombies.
Strangely, these unconscious people weren't attacked by zombies. This fact ingrained a particular belief among survivors:
People who fainted but didn't wake up yet were "potential carriers" destined to turn into zombies once they regained consciousness.
At last, the pieces I'd been wondering about fell into place.
The moment people suddenly started collapsing a 4 day ago, some were first-generation zombies, while others were awakened beings.
I recalled a news report showing a hospital filled with unconscious "potential carriers" burning to the ground.
Damn it—they weren't all zombies. Most of them were awakened beings.
Whoever designed this setup had an utterly diabolical streak.
But for me, this was good news.
The fewer awakened beings there were, the more unique I became.
"So, Bro Palmer, you should be careful too. Never go near one of those potential carriers when they're asleep!"
Sam's voice rose deliberately, loud enough for others to hear. His target, Cristine, flinched visibly.
Kane, noticing her reaction, shot Sam a warning look.
Well, that was amusing.
This situation was shaping up to be more perfect than I'd imagined.
I activated [Divine Perception] on the trembling Cristine, who looked more helpless than a stray puppy.
[Someone's warm comfort and attention.
Someone, anyone…help me, I am not mutant…why no one believes me…]
'Good. Very good'
In an instant, a clear plan to manipulate Cristine unfolded in my mind.
"We made it back safely, thankfully," Kane said, wiping the sweat from his brow with his arm.
The surrounding zombies had already moved toward the direction the mutant flew off to, but of course, someone without abilities like him wouldn't know that.
Passing the now-useless checkpoint, I spotted a four-story blue building to the left.
[Liverpool Central Library.]
Bookshelves blocked the library's front entrance, forming a makeshift barricade.
It wouldn't hold against a proper zombie wave—it would crumble like matchsticks—but it wasn't entirely useless.
Kane knocked on the bookshelf acting as the door. From inside, a voice asked,
"San, is that you? Are you back?"
"It's me, Nina. Everyone is safe."
Creak—
The heavy bookshelf slowly shifted open, and a woman immediately threw herself into Kane's arms.
"Thank goodness… thank goodness you're okay."
Kane awkwardly patted her back as she clung to him, repeating the same phrase over and over.
This must be the "Nina" that Sam mentioned earlier.
The woman's tear-streaked face emerged as she lifted her head from Kane's shoulder.
"You're not hurt, are you? Is everyone else safe?"
"…Yeah. Uh, Nina… there are other people here…"
"…Oh."
Finally snapping out of their melodrama, Kane introduced me.
"Nina, this is Palmer. He saved us during a dangerous moment. He'll be joining us from now on. Mr. Palmer, this is my friend, Nina."
Following Kane's gesture, Nina's gaze landed on me.
"Your name is Nina? Nice to meet you."
"…Hello."
Her cold gaze toward me was entirely different from the warmth she showed Kane.
'Oh, acting tough.'