"Ah~! I remember now, you are the person I met in the gas station before, right~?"
Amidst the strange confrontation between Zeno and Saya, Shizuka suddenly exclaimed out loud as she finally remembered where she had seen Zeno before, which ended up breaking the brewing tension between the two as the others also turned to look at her with an inquisitive expression on their faces.
"How are you~? It has been a while~!"
Seemingly not noticing the others reaction, Shizuka's face brightens up as she greets Zeno with a carefree tone and waves her hand cutely at him like she just met her old friend again after a long time. When they met for the first time back then at the gas station, Zeno was in a casual getup with a friendly look on his face, giving off the air of a foreign tourist, so she was not able to recognize him right away now that he is dressed in a black suit, giving off sharp and dangerous vibes, which Shizuka finds very cool in a mob boss kind of way.
"You know him, Marikawa-sensei?"
Said Takashi Komuro, the protagonist with short, spiky black hair, who stepped forward beside Saya with Kouta, who was ready to defend her if necessary. Takashi's eyes narrowed at Zeno cautiously. This foreigner is making him feel uneasy, like when you're standing beside an unpredictable and dangerous wild beast, as you don't really know what it will do next.
"Oh? Look who we have here. If it isn't the silly girl who bumped into my car at the gas station."
Zeno ignored the three teenagers in front of him as he looked over them to Shizuka with an amused smirk. He was quite amused when they met a while back, as she randomly appeared out of nowhere and accidentally bumped her car into the back of his car, which fortunately did not cause much damage.
"It's been quite some time since we first met, hasn't it? You seem to be doing rather well, considering the unfortunate circumstances of today."
He said as his eyes glanced over the nurse whose skirt was ripped on the side for mobility, which exposed the glimpse of her alluring thigh that he appreciated.
"Yes~? Well, I think so~? I'm alive, and that's what matters, right~?"
She replied with a forced silly chuckle as the gruesome memory of the recent hours flashed briefly in her mind. Deciding to ignore the negative thoughts and focus back on the present, Shizuka is pleasantly surprised that the handsome stranger she had met by chance and didn't think that they would ever meet again was now standing before her in the midst of the apocalypse. What a coincidence, she thought to herself, without knowing that Zeno being here is no coincidence.
"Indeed."
Zeno nodded in agreement, his icy blue eyes sweeping over the rest of the main characters group next. They were still a bit on guard, as he observed their body language, especially Saeko, who was very silent and always kept her eyes on him, as she clearly sensed the dangerous presence from him the most in the group.
"Looks like you all are quite capable if you all have survived this far. How about we join forces, hmm? I'm Zeno Zavior, a simple businessman, and I'm sure that our interest in getting the hell out of here is aligned with one another, so what would you all say?"
He said with a smirk as he introduced himself to them, while Kyoko, who was observing the situation behind him in silence until now, walked forward beside Zeno as she also wanted to persuade them to work together.
"Please, everyone, let's work together."
Kyoko spoke up, her voice still shaking slightly but filled with a newfound confidence. Since she had seen the way Zeno handled the zombies previously, she knew that with someone as capable as him together with an additional group that was capable of fighting "them," their chances of survival would increase significantly.
"..."
The group of students looked at each other, weighing their options.
"What do you think we should do?"
Rei Miyamoto, a girl with long brown hair, turned to her childhood friend Takashi as the others also looked at him for his opinion as their unofficial leader that he doesn't know he was.
"Why are you guys letting me decide…?"
Takashi was speechless and felt exasperated by them suddenly putting him in the decision-making position of the group. He then looked over at Zeno and Kyoko, his expression contemplative.
"Well, we could use all the help we can get, so I don't mind working together."
He said as he glanced around the group, receiving nods of agreement from Rei, Kouta, a reluctant Saya, the enthusiastic Shizuka, and the silent but deadly Saeko. The tension in the air dissipated slightly as the students realized the value of more helping hands in this dire situation.
"That's great~!"
Shizuka's cheerfulness was like a beacon of light in the darkest hour, and despite their wariness, the group of survivors couldn't help but feel a bit comforted by her carefree attitude towards the current situation. Shizuka's silly demeanor was infectious, and even though they were all still on their guard for any danger, they couldn't help but let their tension ease slightly.
"Very well, if Marikawa-sensei knows him, then I guess we have no more reason to be so against working together with him..."
Saeko muttered with a glimpse of intrigue in her eyes while glancing at Zeno, who was watching them with a small smirk and confident demeanor, like nothing in this world could faze him. Saeko's trust in Shizuka regarding survival matters is quite small, but she thinks that Shizuka should at least be able to judge men by instinct since many men must have approached her with bad intentions in the past with her beauty and large breasts that guarantee men's attention everywhere. So the fact that she didn't display any bad reaction towards Zeno means that he probably is not a bad man.
The group, now slightly less wary, introduced themselves to Zeno one by one. First to introduce herself was Saeko; next was the fussy and sharp-tongued Saya. Then Kouta, Takashi, Rei, and finally, the dizzy Shizuka.
"Nice to meet you, Zavior-san~. My name is Marikawa Shizuka~."
She introduced herself with a bow and then rose up with her large breasts jiggling in a physically impossible way. Zeno stared at her breasts with a mystified look for a second before he managed to tear his gaze away from them.
"Nice to meet you too. Now that we've introduced ourselves, let's go to the faculty room. You all look like you need some rest."
Zeno nods at their introduction one by one before he suggests they take a rest in the faculty room with a jerk of his chin, which they all agree to.
While they were walking to the room, Zeno's gaze inevitably wandered to Shizuka's back and then lower down as his gaze lingered a bit longer on her big, plump butt beneath her torn-up skirt. Her busty and voluptuous figure is quite appealing, but since he was milk-dried just this morning by White Dream, he can only appreciate it by staring at it respectfully.
"..."
Unbeknownst to him, his gaze was felt by Shizuka, who blushed a little as she may or may not have been swaying her hips more than usual with every step.
÷×÷×÷
In the faculty room after the group blocked the entrance with furniture, Zeno could be seen pouring hot water from the electric kettle into the cup of instant noodles he found in the stash of some random teacher while the rest of the group sat around the room resting as they looked at him with a mix of amazement and apprehension. They couldn't help but notice how nonchalant he seems in the current situation even though the world has gone mad, as if hell has manifested on earth.
No wonder that Marikawa-sensei seems to be getting along with him so well, they thought in unison before they turned to look at Shizuka, who was sitting at her desk while currently mourning her brand-name skirt that was torn up by Saeko.
"So, can you tell us more about your business, Zavior-san?"
Rei was the first one to speak up, her eyes filled with curiosity.
"Hmm? Well, my business is quite famous around here; you've probably heard of it by now. It's called Freedom Carrier; you all should be familiar with its service, right?"
Zeno said it with such smugness that it almost radiated out from his skin as he walked towards the desk next to Shizuka with his cup noodle. It's such a good feeling when he can boast about his company to the clueless people.
"Freedom Carrier…!"
The mention of the Freedom Carrier company made the group of students exchange glances in surprise. They had all seen the Freedom vans everywhere and heard of the company that had been in the news for its dominance of the delivery business in Tonokosu City, but they didn't expect to meet the owner of the famous company in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.
"Freedom Carrier? You're the owner?!"
Kouta's eyes widened in surprise. He never thought that Zeno was such a big shot.
"But you're so young!"
Rei also exclaimed with disbelief as Zeno looked like he was still in college.
"Age is but a number in the world of business. Plus, when you've got the brain and the resources, you can achieve a lot."
Zeno put down his cup noodles on the table before he sat down on the chair next to Shizuka as he replied to them before he smirked at the group, and Shizuka couldn't help but be impressed by his accomplishment at such a young age.
"But what are you doing here, before we're in the middle of all this, I mean?"
Saya couldn't help but question him with a doubtful expression since she thinks that people like him shouldn't be here at the high school without any official business.
"Let me answer that. He was here to propose school buses for the school before... all of this happened when we were in the principal's office."
Kyoko answered for him, her voice quivering slightly as she remembered the gory scene outside of the building. Zeno nodded along with her explanation, his expression focused behind the steam rising from his noodles as he peeked inside the cup to see if the noodles had softened yet.
"Ah, yes. I had an appointment with the principal regarding the school bus proposal, but it seems we've been interrupted by some unfortunate circumstances. Now I doubt you all will see even the shadow of a school bus any time soon."
He said casually, his eyes narrowed with amusement, while the others just snorted or smiled a little at his comment. The group then exchanged glances, unsure of how to proceed from here, until they gradually started talking among themselves about their experiences since the outbreak began.
As they shared their harrowing tales, Zeno didn't even bother to listen to them as he turned on the TV that was still working. The news showed the city descending into chaos, with zombies roaming the streets and survivors fighting for their lives throughout the globe. The news anchor's voice was filled with panic, and the footage was choppy, likely from the cameraman's shaking hands. The scene was grim, with only uncertainty and fear painting the faces of those who were still alive.
Everyone glued their eyes to the screen of the TV while they discussed the world situation before Saya showed off her common sense, which she proudly called genius intellect, to the others with a solemn expression.
"Right now the world probably..."
Until a sound of slurping broke the serious atmosphere, as the students and Kyoko couldn't help but turn to stare at Zeno, who was eating instant noodles without caring about the heavy mood whatsoever; his carefree attitude was quite enviable to them.
"Well, we shouldn't think about things we could do nothing about and focus on how to survive for now."
Then Saeko said with a light chuckle as she watched Zeno slurping his noodles so nonchalantly; it's a refreshing sight from the despair and defeatism that had been building in the room after they truly knew the scale of the pandemic.
"Heh, you guys are still alive; why look so down? It's not like the sun will explode tomorrow or the planet Earth will stop spinning suddenly."
Zeno commented, slurping another mouthful of noodles as he looked at them with a condescending look.
"It's just a zombie apocalypse; my company can build a new world order in a year."
Now they're giving him an "are you insane?" look after he said that. Their lack of faith really saddened him.