Chapter 109 - The Story of How I Pay Them Back If They Do Something to Me
The sudden explosion sound and the gunshots that followed. Even without looking outside, it was clear that something extraordinary was happening. Yuko told Rei to keep her posture low and peered outside from the camper van's window. Dust was rising from the direction of the parking lot, but she couldn't see in detail as it was blocked by other cars.
"What on earth..."
Were they fighting the infected, or had another group of survivors attacked? The most likely possibility was that the boy had launched an attack on the survivors here. He was the type who would do it.
When Yuko looked outside, the men who had been guarding until just now were gone. Instead, the children and mothers who had been playing outside were running around in confusion, hurriedly fleeing into the cars.
If she had the key, she could drive this camper van and escape right now.
Gunshots could still be heard sporadically. Occasionally another gunshot echoed as if someone was counterattacking, but it soon vanished. And——.
"Teacher, I've come to pick you up!"
That boy's voice was heard from outside. When she went around to the driver's seat side, she could see the boy standing there with a rifle slung over his shoulder and a submachine gun in his hand. Gunsmoke was rising from the submachine gun's muzzle, and the window of the camper van behind him was stained bright red with blood.
"...It seems there won't be a development where we're all killed together..."
Rei said as if relieved. If the boy had executed the attack without considering the damage to Yuko and Rei, he wouldn't go to the trouble of saying he came to pick them up. He would just have to fire bullets into all the stationary cars and kill everything that moved.
But why did he go to the trouble of coming to help them despite the danger? Yuko couldn't understand that. With that boy's personality, it wouldn't be strange if the two had long since been treated as dead.
"Let's go out."
Urging Rei, Yuko opened the car door and went outside while raising both hands. Immediately the boy pointed his muzzle, but he lowered the gun upon realizing it was Yuko who had gotten off the camper van. Following after Yuko, Rei also got off the car.
"You're too careless, teachers. Why did you think of following people you don't know?"
"Eh, no, that..."
"Did you finally understand that the people outside aren't all good? Now let's go home quickly. Hold this."
Saying so, the boy thrust revolvers at Yuko and Rei. Blood was stuck thickly on the grips, and Yuko noticed that the handguns were the ones the survivors here had held.
"Wait, what are you going to do with the people here??"
"I'll think about that part from now on. You two go home quickly, I'll handle things well after that."
"Go home... what about the ride? Are you telling us to walk home?"
At Rei's words, the boy silently walked toward a nearby wagon. From the wagon's window, the faces of women and children trembling with fear were peeking out. And when the boy got down near that wagon, he fired one shot into the sky.
"Hey! Get out!"
Saying so, he pointed the muzzle toward the wagon. The survivors inside, who seemed to have seen that scene through the window, let out screams. The boy put his hand on the wagon's rear door, but the door wouldn't open perhaps because it was locked from the inside. Instead, the boy, who took out an axe, vigorously struck the door's window glass. Along with the sound of glass breaking, the screams could be heard even more loudly.
The boy reached his hand through the broken window, released the lock, opened the door, and pulled a girl out with a rough hand. She looked about 10 years old, but without caring about that, the boy pointed the gun at the girl.
"I told you to get out!"
"Stop it!"
A woman who seemed to be the mother hurriedly jumped out of the wagon. Saying "Everyone inside, get out," the boy thrust the gun at the people who were in the car. Hurriedly, the three remaining in the car came out as if rolling. The adults were all women, and others were all children. When the gunfight started, they seemed to have hurriedly fled into the car and hidden.
"Everyone else in the other cars, come out too! Otherwise I'll kill this child."
Saying so, the boy pointed the muzzle of the revolver in his left hand toward the head of the girl he had just pulled out. While pointing the submachine gun held in his right hand toward the survivors who came out of the wagon, his finger was on the trigger of the revolver in his left hand so he could fire at any time. He was serious, Yuko realized.
"Wait a minute! To do such a thing to a still small girl..."
"Teacher, can you please keep quiet. It's because you were careless like that that this kind of situation has occurred."
When told that, Yuko couldn't argue back at all. As the boy said, this kind of thing happened because she was careless. The fact that the boy executed the attack to help the two and as a result many people died in this group was also all her own fault.
"Come down quickly! I know how many people there are, if you don't all come down I'll shoot them one by one! 17 more people, raise both hands and come out of the cars quickly."
She didn't know why the boy grasped the number of survivors here, but he must have performed torture. Yuko noticed that among the group that attacked her, the trio who headed to abduct the boy and Aoi were nowhere to be seen. The boy must have caught the trio and heard information from them.
From the windows of multiple vehicles, the faces of frightened people could be seen. No one was trying to counterattack. Those who had guns must have all been killed by the boy.
Seeing that people wouldn't easily get out of the cars, the boy suddenly fired one shot at the leg of the mother of the girl who was nearby. The gravel spread on the ground was stained bright red with blood, and the mother suppressed her shot leg and let out a scream. Seeing that, the survivors finally understood the boy was serious and hurriedly got out of the cars. Everyone raised both hands and had frightened faces.
"Five, ten, fifteen... it seems there are properly 17 people."
"My husband? What happened to my husband!?"
A middle-aged woman who got off another camper van shouted, but the boy only cast an indifferent gaze at her.
"I don't know. Since he's not here, he's probably dead over by the parking lot."
"Dead...!?"
The moment she heard those words, the woman slumped on the spot. The boy ordered the survivors to move to the side of the large camper van, and said to Yuko while pointing at the wagon with the broken window glass with the revolver.
"Well then, teacher. Please take this and go back to the academy. This time, make sure not to be caught by anyone."
At the tone that permitted no argument, Yuko had no choice but to nod. She wanted to protest that the boy had shot through the leg of an innocent woman without hesitation, but the boy was emitting an atmosphere that wouldn't even permit that.
Yuko and Rei boarded the wagon where women and children had been riding until just now. She had never driven a large wagon, but since it could be driven with a regular license, it shouldn't be a big problem.
"Ah, by the way, I forgot to ask. The group here hasn't departed for the academy yet, right?"
Just as she was about to close the door, the boy called out to Yuko.
"Yes... they were saying they were about to depart, but you came immediately after that..."
"I see, that's good."
"Um, certainly it's a fact that the people here attacked us, but the people there haven't done anything. No violence was used either. The only bad ones are the people you killed, and the people there are unrelated."
Even though they were companions of the group that attacked them, the 22 people who were now raising both hands and trembling with fear hadn't used violence against Yuko and the other. It was just that they were the families of the group that attacked. And among them, there were even young children. They should be innocent.
Even if they were enemies, Yuko couldn't somehow hold the thought that it was okay to kill everyone. Even though living humans are few, if they kept killing the same humans more than this, humanity would be wiped out before being eaten by the infected. From the perspective of Yuko who was attacked, it was something that could never be accepted, but they too had circumstances that couldn't be helped. Yuko didn't want to do the act of not considering the other's circumstances and only criticizing the result, not just as a teacher but also as a human.
"Whether they're bad or unrelated is for me to judge. More importantly, please depart quickly, infected might come after hearing the gunshots and explosion sounds just now."
Yuko had no choice but to yield to the silent pressure to "go home quickly." Leaving the words "...You too, come back safely," Yuko started the car.
"...Is it okay? Like that."
"There's no way it's okay. But..."
But, what was it. Yuko couldn't think of the words to follow "But...".
After seeing off the car Yuko and Rei were in as it left the campground, the boy faced the people who survived. The people lined up in front of the camper van as large as a wall were directing frightened eyes at the boy as to what would be done to them from now on. He could see a man who seemed to be a father standing in front of a child to protect them.
The reason the survivors weren't trying to stand up against the boy was not just because they didn't have guns. They had been completely swallowed by fear. If everyone attacked the boy while being prepared for the sacrifice of companions, there might be a slight chance of victory. However, the survivors realized that even that was useless. The boy who mercilessly killed companions and was about to lay hands even on women and children seemed like a different creature, not a human.
"Now, I have two or three questions. First, did you guys know the fact that your companions were repeating looting acts by attacking survivors?"
Of course, there was no way they didn't know. At the point they abducted Yuko and the other and brought them to the campground, everyone in this group had come to know the fact of the looting acts. Whether the survivors also realized that, they nodded their heads fearfully. Some opened their mouths as if to make excuses.
"T-The leader started doing it on his own. We were against it!"
"That's right, we're not bad!"
"It couldn't be helped! Otherwise the children would have starved to death."
Voices joining in with "That's right, that's right" rose from here and there. The boy didn't particularly want to criticize the looting act itself. He had never attacked someone to get supplies himself, but most of the weapons and clothes the boy held were obtained from vacant private houses or stripped from corpses. Furthermore, he could understand that looting was a quicker way to get supplies.
"Don't misunderstand. It doesn't matter to me whether you guys loot or do whatever. The problem is the fact that your companions attacked me."
Even if the people here were attacking someone else in front of the boy, the boy would have stayed in the position of a bystander. However, their group attacked not only Yuko but also the boy. This was a clear hostile act and was the same as a declaration of war against the boy. Now that he knew there were enemies who would attack him, he had to annihilate them and secure safety.
"You guys attacked me. In other words, you're my enemies. If you're enemies——"
It was at that moment when the boy lowered the submachine gun's muzzle for just an instant. Letting out a war cry of "Uwaaaaaah!", a boy of about elementary school age jumped out from the line of people. Gripped in his hand was a folding knife with a blade length of about 5 centimeters.
"Wait, stop!"
A man who seemed to be the father tried to stop the boy, but the boy readied the knife and rushed at the boy.
Whether he went crazy from fear, or he took a desperate action to save everyone, was unknown. If this were a movie or something, his act would be where everyone is saved.
However, the boy calmly pointed the muzzle at the boy and pulled the trigger of the submachine gun. Along with a short gunshot of "pan," the boy collapsed while drawing a trail of blood from his chest. The knife that fell from his hand, which lost its strength, hit a stone and made a metallic sound.
"Ryota!"
"Nooooooo!"
A man and woman who seemed to be the shot boy's parents rushed to him while changing their expressions. The father cradled that body, but the boy was already dead.
"How could you..."
"Why, why did you shoot Ryota!? Ryota is only 10 years old!"
The mother shouted at the boy while shedding tears. The people lined up next to the camper van also couldn't hide their agitation at the fact that a young boy was shot dead in front of them. Children crying and screaming at their friend being killed, and parents cradling and trying to protect them.
"Why? That guy was trying to stab me with a knife, you know? You should know what happens if you stab someone with a knife even if you're a child, right?"
"Ryota is a kind boy! He might have done it thinking to protect everyone!"
"Even if that's the case, it's not my concern. At the point you attack while holding a weapon, whether you're an elementary schooler or an old person, you're an enemy."
The boy held the submachine gun again and continued anew.
"So, a new question. Suppose I were to release you guys here now and make you free. What would you do after that?"
"I'll kill you! No matter where you are I'll surely find you and take revenge for Ryota!"
The boy's father shouted. At the fact that the answer returned exactly as he expected, the boy was disappointed.
If an answer exactly opposite to what he expected had returned, his way of thinking toward this world might have changed. He might have been able to produce an answer other than the choice of judging everyone as enemies and killing them all. The boy was thinking such a thing, but as expected, the answer was as he had thought.
It's natural. The people have had close people like family and friends killed by the boy and are holding fear. That fear turns into anger and eventually evolves into a spirit of revenge toward the boy. Feelings of anger or trying to take revenge are something anyone has if they are human. They are natural emotions for a human.
The boy too, when his comrades were killed in the past, had a feeling of wanting to kill the man who attacked with his own hands. However, that man was killed by a comrade, and only a misplaced anger and spirit of revenge remained in the boy.
The people would surely attack the boy and try to achieve revenge. No matter where the boy is, they would try to find and kill him. And if the boy counterattacks that, the people would further amplify their anger and hold a further spirit of revenge. At the point someone was first killed, an endless chain of revenge begins.
And there are only two means to solve that. One is to have a heart like a saint, forgive the opponent, and erase one's own spirit of revenge. However, there are not many people who can do this. If there were, that person would be non-human in another sense.
And the other means, that is to kill everyone in the opponent's group. Because there are those who burn with anger from having parents or friends killed, the chain of revenge doesn't stop. Then, he should just kill everyone in the opponent's group. If he does that, no one will hold anger anymore, and he won't have to fear being revenged again.
The boy was not human enough to accept those who try to attack him or forgive being attacked. And it would be the same for the opponent. They too cannot forgive the deaths of companions, even though it was something they themselves sowed the seeds of. Until one side dies out, the killing will continue.
The boy had no intention of being killed silently by them. In that case, there was only one choice.
"That's how it is."
Muttering so, the boy set the submachine gun's selector to full auto. And toward the people lined up next to the camper van, he pulled the trigger.
Along with continuous gunshots, 9mm bullets were spat out and pierced the people's bodies one after another. The submachine gun with light recoil was easy to control even when fired in full auto. The boy fired the submachine gun in a sweeping motion from right to left. The bullets fired at point-blank range pierced the people with almost no misses. Screams and shrieks vibrated the air.
The submachine gun's magazine became empty in less than 3 seconds, but the boy switched to the rifle and continued firing. There were humans who were uninjured and unharmed by chance because others became shields or they were out of the line of fire. The boy shot the backs of those who tried to flee and blew away the heads of those who slumped and trembled with fear with rifle bullets. After that, he delivered finishing blows one after another to those who were still alive despite being hit.
Men, women, children, and the elderly didn't matter. They were companions of the group that attacked the boy and were those with a high possibility of becoming threats in the future. If left alone, they would surely attack and try to kill the boy again. To prevent that, he had no choice but to kill everyone here.
He shot both the sobbing children and the adults who raised groans and begged for their lives. What remained afterward was a large pool of blood made on the ground and the bodies of 22 people who remained fallen and unmoving. The only one standing was the boy.
Was this really okay? Someone asked in his head. The boy couldn't answer that question.
No one taught him what was good or what he should do, and the people who seemed likely to teach him had all died. Then, he had no choice but to think and produce a conclusion himself. Even if it was wrong, as long as no one taught him the correct answer, he had no choice but to push forward on the path he chose himself.
After casting a glance at the numerous corpses rolling on the ground, the boy boarded the camper van they had been using until now. Because he had made quite a lot of gunshots echo, infected might swarm this campground. Before that, he wanted to collect all the supplies and usable tools and leave this place.
I look forward to your opinions and impressions.