With a creak, M99 pushed open the door of the staff dormitory, a sniper rifle in her arms.
"Commander, does your wound still hurt?"
Putting down her gun, M99 asked with concern.
"It still hurts, but it's a bit better now. It's both painful and itchy, and I can't even scratch it."
Lux said gloomily.
"Itching means new flesh is growing. Commander, your body is in great condition. You may scab over earlier than most people. Eat more and replenish your nutrition."
HK416 said as she handed over a lunch box packed full of food.
"Commander, drinking alcohol while injured isn't a good idea."
M99 said reproachfully.
"I didn't drink."
Lux said blankly while eating.
"Mmm—do you really think you can fool me without even hiding the beer cans?"
M99 puffed out her cheeks and pointed at the beer cans by Lux's bed.
"That was MDR drinking… I really didn't drink. If you don't believe me, ask HK."
"Eh? Girls drink alcohol too?"
M99 asked in shock.
"Well, if they can drink, they drink. MDR is pretty lively—she can accept all kinds of new things."
"I'm… not very good at dealing with drunk people…"
"It's fine. Normally I wouldn't let her drink. I store alcohol as a form of currency to trade resources with other survivors later. Today I just let her relax a little."
"That's good, that's good."
M99 finally relaxed and sat down by the hotpot to start dinner.
Before long, AA-12 and Lianne also returned to the staff dormitory.
"Ahh, finally time to eat. Oh right, Brother Lux, I found some good news on the way back."
Lianne took out her lunch box from her backpack and walked toward the hotpot.
"What kind of good news?"
"Um, Commander, you'd better not listen—at least not while eating. This woman's nature is really awful."
AA-12 put down her shotgun, then ran outside the dormitory to dry-heave.
"…Let's talk after we finish eating."
Since AA-12 had already warned him in advance, Lux naturally wasn't going to do something suicidal like listening during a meal.
Even if he could endure it, the rabbit sniper probably wouldn't.
"Okay~"
Lianne smiled cheerfully and sat beside M99, joining the dinner.
"Commander, your leg is injured. Let us take night watch."
M99 requested.
"This place is relatively safe. I can handle it alone at night. Let me sleep during the day tomorrow."
AA-12 walked into the dormitory, grabbed the mineral water by Lux's pillow, rinsed her mouth by the window, then spoke.
"Alright. Since we finally have beds, everyone get a good night's sleep today. Night watch will be handled by AA-12."
Lux nodded. With his leg injured, he wouldn't be leaving the granary for a few days anyway, and AA-12 being a night owl made this arrangement suitable for everyone.
After dinner, Lianne sat on the bed opposite Lux, cleared her throat, and said happily.
"Ahem, Brother Lux, I've got two pieces of good news. Do you want to hear the normal good news first, or the even better good news?"
"Sounds like you're confident. Let's hear the normal good news first."
"There are rats in this granary, but they haven't ruined much food. Basically, the grain hasn't been contaminated by zombies or rats."
Lianne said with a grin.
"Not bad, not bad. Then what's the even better news?"
Lux said happily. If the grain here had been partially contaminated, coming here would have been a massive loss—especially after getting shot. If he gained nothing from it… he might actually cry.
The tens of thousands of tons of grain stored here were extremely important for the shelter he planned to establish in the future. To recruit survivors to mine resources, the first priority was guaranteeing their safety and food.
"Rats will eat zombie flesh, but they can't become carriers of the infection. On the way back, I saw a rat eating the corpse of a zombie that had been shot dead."
"About three minutes later, its whole body started rotting and melting. The entire process lasted five minutes. I think it's because rats are too small, or their brain capacity is too limited, to withstand the virus-induced evolution."
"This means we at least don't have to worry about rats… or even some small animals."
"Mosquitoes and flies will probably go extinct because of this too. Tsk, tsk—this stuff would be an amazing pesticide."
"See? That's a great piece of news, right?"
Lianne said proudly.
AA-12 covered her mouth and ran out of the dormitory again. Lux suddenly felt a bit sorry for AA-12—she had probably been dragged by Lianne to watch a rat dissolve into a pool of blood.
"Yeah. If rats turned into zombie rats, humanity really wouldn't stand a chance."
Lux nodded. He hadn't seen many rats in the city before, so he hadn't considered this issue.
Getting confirmation from Lianne now was definitely reassuring.
"However, based on my guess, animals like cats and dogs should be able to withstand the virus's transformation."
"Human children still turn into zombies, and some large dogs are even bigger than those children."
"Encountering zombie cats could be extremely dangerous. Cats have incredible reflexes, and both cats and dogs are far faster than humans when it comes to running speed."
Lianne said seriously.
"Do you have any good solutions?"
On this point, Lux agreed. Humanoid zombies were relatively easy to kill because they ran straight at you. In theory, if you placed a sharp object along their path, they'd impale themselves.
But cats and dogs were different. Humans weren't accustomed to their movement patterns, nor did they have time to adapt. Once scratched or bitten, you'd turn into a zombie.
"Pray that cats can't withstand the zombie virus either."
Lianne shrugged.
"Relying on the gods… With the world like this, is there even a god left…"
Lux said speechlessly.
"Hahaha, who knows? If we really run into them, just let Miss AA-12 suppress them. A shotgun's bullet spread should be enough to kill cats. Or we could use area fire coverage."
"Isn't there any better way?"
"I'm not a god. I can't conjure solutions out of thin air. And we haven't even seen zombie cats or dogs yet, so we don't know their speed. But I'm sure it won't be slow."
"Honestly, I really don't want to encounter them."
Lianne spread her hands helplessly.