Chapter 48: If You Think You Can Do It, Go Ahead. I’ll Watch.

With just one sentence, the entire helipad fell silent. Sosuke Kitahara slowly scanned the crowd in front of him. After the recent chaos, the number of survivors had dropped from over twenty to just fifteen nearly half gone. Before his sharp gaze could sweep across everyone, a hand timidly rose from the corner. "I-I was bitten!" All eyes immediately turned toward the voice. Iida Yuma exclaimed in shock, "Kazamori... you?" Kazamori slumped against the wall, his strength completely gone. He didn't even look at his coworker, Iida Yuma. Instead, his eyes settled on Sosuke Kitahara. "Don't worry about me. I'll stay right here and won't move. I swear I won't harm anyone. But I have one request please wait until I fully turn before you kill me." "I... I'm scared of pain. I don't want to die. I really, really want to live." A thirty-seven-year-old man openly sobbing in front of everyone. "Alright, I hope you keep your word." If it wasn't absolutely necessary, Sosuke didn't want to kill a living person either. "Anyone else?" His tone was calm, but in this tense atmosphere, it was like the calm before a storm. The blood-stained blade in Sosuke's hand glinted coldly. "Not me, not me!" one survivor frantically shook his head. "Me neither! I came up here with you!" "I took the elevator I wasn't bitten!" The survivors all rushed to explain themselves. They knew well what would happen to anyone bitten desperately trying to distance themselves from that fate. But Sosuke didn't believe them. No one wants to die. At least not while they're still alive. Some would rather gamble with luck and hide their infection, even from family. "That man's waist is covered in blood!" A female office worker suddenly pointed, panic-stricken, at a couple in front of her. "He has a wound! I saw his clothes were torn! Everyone, stay away from them!" "Ah!" Everyone shrieked and scattered like startled birds. Even the man's wife scrambled away, creating a clear circle of empty space around him. "Bullshit! I just scraped myself earlier who said I was bitten?!" The middle-aged man's eyes bulged with rage as he staggered to his feet, glaring at everyone. But his blood-soaked waist and the large tear in his clothing, sticking to his mangled skin, betrayed him. No matter what he said, no one believed him now. They all looked at him as if he were already a zombie, desperate to stay as far away as possible. Seeing everyone, even his wife, avoiding him like the plague, the man screamed, "Wife! You you're staying away from me too?" But his young wife was terrified. "D-darling, just rest for a bit... I'll try to find you a blanket. It's cold tonight..." "You bitch! Get over here!" The man roared with grief and fury, taking a step toward her. His face twisted in rage as he bellowed, "If you move again, I'll break your damn legs! I loved you! I left everything behind to be with you, and now you're running away from me? Get back here!" "No... I won't. You've been bitten. You'll turn into a zombie. If you really love me, don't make this harder for me..." The young woman burst into tears, shaking her head wildly while backing away as fast as she could. "Who the hell said I was bitten?! Was it you?!" The man suddenly whipped around, his bloodshot eyes scanning the crowd with murderous rage. Everyone he looked at frantically shook their heads and waved their hands in denial, shouting, "It wasn't me!" "It was you! You filthy bitch! I'll kill you!" His gaze locked onto a woman dressed as an office worker. Snarling, he charged at her. The woman, despite wearing high heels, dodged like a slippery fish, twisting her waist and evading him. "It wasn't me! You've got the wrong person!" she cried out. The man, missing his first target, completely lost his mind. He suddenly tackled another survivor to the ground, howling, "If I'm going to die, I'll drag you all down with me!" "Ahhh!" The pinned survivor screamed in terror as the man bit down savagely on her hip, veins bulging from his forehead, biting as hard as he could. The intense pain made the woman scream even louder. The others scattered like frightened animals. No one dared to intervene. Yukino Yukinoshita clenched her sharpened wooden spear, about to rush forward, but Haruno Yukinoshita stopped her with a firm grip. "Yukino, there are fifteen of us left. When the helicopter arrives, who should take the available seats? Would you give up yours for them?" The helicopter. The reality struck Yukino hard. They had gone through hell to reach this rooftop, all to board that helicopter and escape Tokyo. Could she give up her seat for them? Slowly, she lowered her foot. She couldn't do it. Sosuke, observing all of this, raised an eyebrow. So Haruno had seen through this too. They were on the same page. "Yukino, we've already done enough," Sosuke said. "We're not their babysitters. The zombies on the helipad? We killed them all. We're the ones who fought our way here. By rights, it should be the older ones who step up now. But look at what they're doing." Following Sosuke's finger, Yukino saw the rest of the survivors cowering far away, watching like spectators. "Sure, it makes sense they're scared of zombies," Sosuke continued. "But that man hasn't even turned yet. It would only take three people to pin him down, but not a single one is willing to step up. They're all waiting for someone else to take the risk." Even Sosuke had to risk his life to survive. The world was fair. Only those who fought on the front lines, risking their lives, would have a chance to rise. Those who cowered would always remain ordinary. "Hahaha!" The man suddenly cackled madly, clinging desperately to his victim as he sank his teeth into her arm. His bite wasn't as powerful as a zombie's, but he bit down hard enough to draw blood, bright red spilling from the corners of his mouth. "I'll bite you to death! Let's turn into zombies together!" His bloodshot eyes bulged, his face utterly deranged as the woman beneath him screamed in terror and despair. Suddenly, the man vomited a mouthful of black blood and collapsed, his body convulsing violently as dark lines blackened veins spread rapidly across his skin. Sosuke's brow furrowed. The virus was spreading faster now. If the man had calmly accepted his fate, he might have had a few hours to say goodbye to his loved ones. But his rage and desperate struggle had accelerated his transformation. Sosuke silently tightened his grip on his katana. Everyone watched, eyes wide in horror, as the man spasmed uncontrollably, black blood gushing from his mouth like a fountain. The survivor he had pinned down frantically kicked away from him, scrambling to distance herself from the rapidly zombifying man. A suffocating wave of panic rippled through the group. Thanks to Sora^^ for the salted fish surprise stab! ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oh, you like the story? Wow, who knew. Go ahead, drop a review and throw some power stones maybe I'll be motivated to keep going. The story's already ahead on Patron. Go there if you want to catch up faster! [email protected]/_theon Change @ to "a"