Infinite Days Chapter 3

Not to mention the girl's body was so full and soft, showing no sign of being a young maiden at all—strictly speaking, it was more like a perfectly ripe peach.

"Speaking of which, Food Wars! was a fanservice series, right? She seems like a blonde tsundere?"

Li Ke gently stroked the girl's back, comforting her while recalling this fact.

If he remembered correctly, she was definitely a tsundere. But from their encounter so far, this was no tsundere at all—she was a textbook delicate, pampered young lady.

Though a chef, she was truly a noblewoman, one who ruled over Japan's food industry, a super-aristocrat who could make the heiress of a major meat conglomerate her lackey.

"If I were in her world, I probably wouldn't have had any chance to interact with her, right? But honestly, I actually prefer the girl named Meat Charm from that series..."

The influence of circumstance was astonishing, turning a proud person so fragile.

But as Li Ke recalled Food Wars!, he suddenly remembered that he actually preferred the character who was purely there for fanservice—that blonde gyaru who was always going on about A5 meat.

No particular reason, just that she was big and showed it off, making people...

"Mmm..."

Erina Nakiri's startled cry rang out. Li Ke only then remembered that a young girl whose figure was in no way inferior to Meat Charm's was lying in his arms, and her current position allowed her inner thigh to feel his reaction.

Li Ke coughed awkwardly a couple of times, but honestly, burning up as he was, he had no such interest. What surprised him was that even after noticing his change, the girl in just a shirt showed no sign of pulling away.

Like an ostrich, she clung tightly to Li Ke's neck, unwilling to lift her head and face this cruel world.

Li Ke could only sigh, pulled the blanket off the bed, and covered them both as they fell asleep together on the floor.

By morning, Li Ke woke first, not for any other reason than his about-to-burst bladder.

While Erina Nakiri was still asleep, Li Ke carried her to the bed and rushed into his own room, using an empty plastic bottle to relieve himself.

When he came back out with his pants refastened, he saw Erina Nakiri in just her shirt, leaning against the doorframe, blushing as she looked his way.

Caught staring, Erina Nakiri instinctively turned her head away and spoke softly.

"It's not like... I was worried about you..."

Such a tsundere display was truly delightful, especially when about to embark on another adventure.

By the time Erina Nakiri had dressed properly, Li Ke came over with the remaining food from yesterday and handed her a can of Spam.

"Food's running low, so we have to scavenge today and find a safer place, or at least find replacement tires for this RV."

Li Ke hadn't expected the zombies to be so dangerous at night—their speed, strength, and even detection range all increased.

The wolf packs at night were also a major problem. If the zombies hadn't driven them off, their first issue today would be a wolf siege, not anything else.

"Mm."

Erina Nakiri looked at the dwindling food supplies and nodded. She naturally knew why food was scarce—it was because of her.

Yesterday, Li Ke had clearly been searching for food, but she had interrupted him. And with her added presence, consumption had doubled. So she had no objection to scavenging with him.

"So later, wear some thick clothes that can be taken off quickly but don't hinder movement. I'm worried there might still be wolves nearby. And don't come down until I say it's safe."

Li Ke ate his Spam while giving instructions, finally seeing how Erina Nakiri ate hers.

"Okay."

Erina Nakiri took a deep breath, then under Li Ke's gaze, cut the Spam into delicate pieces, poured a large amount of honey over them, and swallowed it like medicine—no chewing, not even wanting the food to linger in her mouth.

Compared to Li Ke's slow, deliberate eating, this was obviously wasteful. So when she saw him curiously watching her eat, Erina Nakiri lowered her head uneasily.

"I... I can only eat it this way."

Li Ke didn't mind. He could feel her resistance to eating, especially the instinctive gagging—that wasn't faked.

"It's fine. Everyone needs time to adapt."

He smiled, popped the last few pieces of Spam into his mouth, then took out the last two bottles of water, handed one to the girl, and poured his share into his own honey jar.

Erina Nakiri held the water bottle, unable to muster the courage to drink for a long time. She spoke in a low, dejected voice.

"A cursed wretch like me must be pretty useless, right?"

For the first time, she hated her own tongue.

If not for it, she wouldn't have been discovered so easily by the zombies. Her meeting with Mr. Li Ke would have been calmer, not like this—a complete burden, and a picky eater at that.

"Maybe. I don't have your tongue, so I can't understand your feelings. I have no standing to comment on that. But what I do know is that our priority now is to survive."

Li Ke was noncommittal. They might not even have a tomorrow.

Erina Nakiri still didn't understand where Li Ke got his calm attitude toward despair, but she nodded seriously anyway.

"Mm."

After Erina Nakiri forced down her meal and both had rested for two minutes, they put on coats found in the RV and set out to work for today's food.

"If there are wolves later, protect yourself first. Don't worry about me."

Before opening the door, Li Ke took a deep breath. He wasn't sure if any zombies remained outside, or if wolves were still around. He had to prepare for the worst.

Erina Nakiri, holding an axe and a sharp kitchen knife, nodded with a serious expression.

"Mm. I'll do my best."

"Alright, let's move!"

Li Ke's heart began to race. He threw open the door and lunged out, the sound of his landing not too loud, but enough to stir the zombies.

Yet the bad outcome he'd feared didn't happen. There were no zombies or wolves nearby—it seemed they had all steered clear of this place.

The two cautiously scouted the area around the RV. Only after confirming no zombies or wolves were present did they breathe a sigh of relief, and Li Ke naturally turned his gaze to the houses beside the RV.

Earlier, he hadn't dared to loot here. The reason was simple: the zombies.

Several zombies lingered at the town's entrance, and the densely packed rooms were all marked by traces of the undead.

If a fight broke out, nearly half the town's zombies would be drawn over, and then things would truly be dire.

But now it was different. Most of the zombies inside had been lured away, and Li Ke also needed to verify something.

More importantly, a supermarket was very close to the RV, and yesterday's wolf pack had drawn out all the zombies inside as well.

If possible, Li Ke wanted to see if that supermarket held a large stock of supplies.

Treading carefully through the grass with Erina Nakiri, they approached the nearest house. Li Ke peered through a broken window at the already rotting floorboards and surroundings before entering with Erina through the already shattered door, cautiously scavenging for anything useful.

This room didn't have much leftover food. Li Ke and the girl only found some vitamin tablets and a few candies, but they unexpectedly discovered a box of gold bars on the table.

In normal times, Li Ke would have been overjoyed. But in this world, gold bars were of dubious use, so he just took one as a souvenir to keep his hands from coming back empty, then left the room with Erina Nakiri and headed for the next one.

The second house went just as smoothly—no zombies encountered, and the haul was decent. They found three cans of chicken and some well-preserved ham.

But...

"This is weird," Li Ke said, staring at the empty bedside tables and various cabinets, a little speechless.

"What's wrong?" Erina Nakiri, who was searching for edible condiments, looked at him in confusion.

"They say every American carries a gun. Why doesn't that apply here?" Li Ke was genuinely puzzled. It wasn't that they hadn't searched thoroughly—they'd opened every drawer to find useful things.

But after two houses, not even a pistol, let alone a single bullet casing!

That just didn't make sense!

"Maybe... um, their original owners were holding them?" Erina Nakiri didn't know what to say, so she offered an awkward smile and an explanation.

"Probably," Li Ke shook his head. He really wanted a gun—especially a submachine gun. That way, even if he ran into a massive horde of zombies, he'd at least have a fighting chance, or die with some dignity.

Unfortunately, he hadn't found a single gun yet, which left him uneasy.

Though he would never actually use it, having one and not having one were two different things.

And what if there were other survivors...

Taking a deep breath, Li Ke pushed those thoughts aside. Last night, while sleeping with Erina Nakiri in his arms, he'd noticed she was also starting to run a fever, just like him. So the two of them probably didn't need to worry about other survivors.

"Alright, let's check the next room. We'll hit the supermarket last..." He packed the food the girl had gathered into his backpack and turned to leave with her, but just then, both of them heard a broadcast from behind.

"The store is open!"

With that sound, a noise like a lock clicking followed. Li Ke and Erina Nakiri stared in shock toward the source, and saw, behind the house that had been blocking their view, a building flying a strange flag.

The sound had come from there.

The two exchanged glances and nodded.

If there were other survivors here, that was the best news. If someone was opening for business, it meant human order still existed!

Why did they instinctively assume it was a human broadcasting?

Simple.

The town had lost power long ago.

And this kind of broadcast—even the lights weren't on!

"Check it out carefully. If it's just a timed broadcast and there are zombies nearby, we run fast," Li Ke whispered. The two crept toward the source of the broadcast, and soon saw a fortress surrounded by countless barbed wire fences and walls, its gate clearly reinforced with iron sheets and other sturdy materials—a perfect stronghold for the apocalypse!

Inside those barbed wire barriers, in a tin house fitted with bars, a woman with a stethoscope around her neck stood quietly behind a counter. There was no rot on her body, and she was breathing normally.

How could Li Ke be so sure? Because she was big!

With every breath, the things on her chest swayed!

And most importantly, there was no trace of zombies inside!

"A living person!" Joy flashed in both Li Ke and Erina Nakiri's eyes. The next moment, they both moved forward toward the place with the living person.

As they neared the store, Li Ke also made sure to check if there were any zombies hidden behind doors in the building. Still nothing—there wasn't even a second person here!

But Li Ke also noticed something off.

The merchant inside.

It seemed...

He hadn't noticed them?

Chapter 4: Golden Finger?

Something was a little off.

Li Ke frowned.

If this were a normal living person, seeing two people wandering around—even if they didn't mistake them for zombies—they should have reacted after they'd circled around twice.

But the problem was, there was no reaction at all. Whether they called out to him or tried to provoke a response like driving them away, nothing happened.

"Strange..."

Still, Li Ke suppressed his doubts, walked up to the iron gate, cleared his throat, and called out toward the inside.

"Could you please open the gate?"

He tried to make his voice loud enough for the other party to hear without attracting any potential zombies, but there was still no reaction.

The merchant neither started crashing and destroying everything in front of him like a zombie drawn by the sound of a living person, nor did he show any reaction at all, let alone respond to their arrival.

It was as if he were a statue, still standing there, swaying, breathing, and staring straight ahead.

"What's going on?"

Li Ke couldn't help but ask. He had a bad feeling, and the other party's complete lack of response sent a chill down his spine.

But since he'd made it this far, there was no reason to back down now.

"Should we go in?"