A Middle-aged Man Who Returned From Another World Becomes Unrivaled In The Apocalyptic World – Vol 1 – Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Fuji Kaede 4

 

My mother then entered the women’s changing room alone.

“Honey, lock me here please.”

Her eyes were stronger and sharper than I had ever seen them before. Combinated with my normally mild-mannered mother, I felt that I could not say no.

My father felt the same way, and he didn’t object to the suggestion. He gave her a blanket and a small amount of food and drink, and took her into the women’s changing room.

“It opens from the inside anyway, so if I’m safe I can get out, just put some furniture outside the door, just in case.”

Following my mother’s advice, my father and I placed the heavy furniture there.

“I’m sorry. But I’m scared. I’m afraid that I might lose my mind. More than anything, I’m afraid that I might end up doing the same thing to you and Kaede.”

“Mom is surely fine!”

“Kaede……Hmmm, yeah, maybe you’re right. ……Actually, maybe I should go downstairs and get away from you two instead of staying here. But I’m too scared to do that. I’m sorry I’m a weak mother.”

“Don’t say that..”

My mother and I were supposed to be talking through the door, but somehow the distance between us seemed to be getting further and further away.

I’m sure my father felt the same way.

Trying to drown out such anxiety, my father and I sat there talking with my mother for a while. About an hour passed, and my mother.

“I feel a little tired. I want to take a day off if that’s okay.”

I said cheerfully. 

“… all right. I’ll keep trying to contact the police and you can get some rest.”

“I’ m depending on you. Kaede, please help your father. I’m sorry for leaving so many things to you.”

“It’s okay. Mom, let’s talk tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

With those words from my mother, my father and I left the room and returned to the staff room. While I was talking to my mother, I kept trying to call the police and fire department many times, but they were still not connected.

I turned on the TV and tried to ask for help while collecting information on my phone, but in the end I was so exhausted by the helpless situation that I fell asleep before I knew it.

 

+++++

 

When I woke up the next morning, I looked at the blanket that had been draped over me and felt ashamed of myself for falling asleep before I knew it.

“…. Kaede, you’re awake. You can go back to sleep if you want.”

My father noticed that I was awake and said in a quiet voice.

“Dad, have you been awake all night?”

“….Ah bad luck, I don’t think we can call for help. The phones are still not connected.”

My father said, sitting in a chair, facing the TV with the volume turned down low, his elbows on the office table and his head in his hands.

“Well…did your Mom wake up?”

“I don’t know, let’s go wake her up.”

Then I got up, and my father got up from his chair too.

As I turned to my father, I could see the images on TV. I could hear voices in hospitals all over the country telling us that there was a pandemic and that we should stay away from people who had been bitten by infected people. A feeling of inexplicable anxiety rose up in my sickle, and my heart beat so hard that I could feel it beating in my chest.

My father and I left the staff room and headed for the girls’ changing room. The distance we walked down the dark hallway was only a few meters, but it was eerie and felt like a very long distance.

The piled up furniture and blocked door seemed to create a strange atmosphere, and for a moment I hesitated to speak.

 “…Mom, are you awake?”

There was no reply to my question. Instead, I heard a sound like scratching at something.

“Mom…?”

At the second call, Don!  there was a sudden loud slamming of the door, making my father and me shake as if we were going to jump. The crunching and scratching on the door soon became a grinding sound, and then a harsh unpleasant sound as if something was coming off.

My father and I could only stand there , trembling unable to speak at the response we received.

The door was still slamming hard with an inarticulate groan.

 

 

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