Chapter 12 - Chapter 11: A Fainting Story
It's shorter than usual, it can't be helped.
How did the infected realize we were hiding in this room? Before I could think about that, seeing the door where the infected were raining down knocks shake violently, I instinctively leaned against the bed I'd moved as a barricade and pushed with my back. The door looked like it would come off the frame at any moment, and my idea was to delay the infected entering the room even a little.
My whole body shook from the vibrations transmitted from the door, as if I were sitting in an intense massage chair. The weight of the bed was considerable, but even with my body weight added, the whole barricade might be blown away. From outside the door, the frustrated screams of the infected could be heard.
"This is bad... this is real bad... what do we do?"
The window was the only escape route. But this was the second floor. Moreover, there was a significant height from the window to the ground, and it was concrete below. If we jumped, a bone fracture was guaranteed, and even if we could escape, the end result would be being eaten as is because we couldn't move.
If we tore up sheets or curtains and tied them to make a rope, we might be able to descend safely. When I looked outside earlier, I didn't see any infected on the road, perhaps because they had entered the house chasing us.
"What are we going to do!"
There was only one means.
I took a small folding knife out of my pocket with my left hand and tossed it to Yui. Perhaps because I moved, an even sharper pain shot through my right arm pushing the bed.
"Cut the sheets and curtains with that and make a rope! Then go down..."
At my words, Yui's and Mana-chan's faces brightened instantly. They immediately reached for the sheets scattered on the floor, and then looked at my face as if they'd noticed something.
"...What about you? Can you go down with that hand?"
It was impossible. Even though we'd tied it tightly with a bandana, blood was still flowing from my wrist. On top of that, it hurt like hell. There was absolutely no way I could descend by a rope in this state. No matter how I thought about it, I would have to support my entire body weight with both hands; if I did that, I would let go from the intense pain and fall to the ground. To begin with, perhaps due to the intense pain and blood loss, I'd had no sensation in my right hand for a while. Even when I tried to clench my hand, it wouldn't move well.
"I'll manage somehow, so hurry..."
"Liar! Your face says it's impossible, you're planning to stay here alone, aren't you!?"
How did she find out?
Just as Yui said, I intended to stay here alone and buy even a little time for the two of them to escape. Besides, the door was near its limit and would be destroyed within a few minutes. If that happened, the infected would flood into the room and witness us escaping from the room. If a chase with the infected started again, we who had used up our stamina wouldn't last even a few minutes.
Fortunately, in addition to the weight of the barricade, the infected hadn't been able to enter the room yet because I was holding it down. But if I moved away from the barricade, it would break in no time.
And no matter how I thought about it, I couldn't descend to the ground with this arm. If so, it was better for me to stay and keep the infected here, extending the time for Yui and Mana-chan to escape by even a minute. If everyone was destined to die by forcing it, it was better for one person, whose survival was uncertain anyway, to be sacrificed to let the others escape.
"...Yeah, that's right! If you dally, everyone will be killed!"
"Don't say such stupid things! Do you think I can leave you here after coming this far!?"
"What about Mana-chan!?"
At those words, Yui fell silent.
Suppose I allowed Yui to stay; what would Mana-chan do then? Would we take her down with us? If we wanted her to live, we'd have to have her escape alone, but in that case, do you think Mana-chan could survive alone?
It was impossible. Mana-chan alone wouldn't be able to search for necessary supplies, find a safe place, or of course, fight the infected. In that case, what awaited her was a slow death.
But if Yui went with her, that probability would increase. However, I would only be a hindrance. My head had been lightheaded for a while, perhaps due to blood loss, and my vision was gradually blurring. In this state, I might collapse from anemia if I ran for even a minute. I could never escape the evil clutches of the infected.
"It's impossible for me to go down, so you two go. Which is better, all three of us dying together, or as many as possible surviving?"
"But..."
"Mana-chan, you're going to look for your family, right? Is it okay to die in a place like this?"
I've used a cowardly trick again. Even though Mana-chan's family is no longer in this world.
The two of them looked into my eyes for a while as if trying to say something, but eventually, they looked down and began the work of tearing sheets to make a rope.
To be honest, I don't want to die. If a Grim Reaper were in front of me and said I would be saved if I sacrificed Yui and Mana-chan, I might do it. But that is something that cannot be allowed.
Dying is scary. It must be a very terrifying thing to have your whole body eaten and die in intense pain.
But if I think that two people will be saved by my actions, the fear might be distracted. At least, it makes me feel easier.
Besides, I no longer have people I must reunite with. No friends, and of course, no family.
Abruptly, the vibrations of the door ceased. Yui, who had been tearing sheets with the knife, and Mana-chan, who was tying them, looked up. I, who was holding down the barricade, also couldn't hide my confusion at the infected suddenly stopping their movements.
The door was about to come off, with the hinges nearly pulled out along with the bolts. At the moment I wondered why they stopped moving when they were so close to smashing through the door, a violent noise was heard from downstairs.
Mixed with the sound of glass breaking and the heavy vibration of something falling to the floor, the screams of the infected could be heard. I thought another group had come after hearing their comrades' cries, but the noise heard from below felt as if something was fighting.
Then the infected in the hallway barked, and footsteps followed. Why would those who had been trying to eat us until now leave the prey in front of them and go downstairs? Is there something more important than the appetite that dominates their brains? When I thought that, a tremendous thunderous sound was heard from the hallway.
"What, what is it...?"
The sound of something being slammed against a wall, the screams of the infected. The receding vibrations—was something tumbling down the stairs? The voices of the infected heard from the hallway gradually decreased one by one.
Silence dominated the room. Mana-chan was frightened, Yui stood dazed with her mouth open, and I was lightheaded with blood not reaching my head. No one uttered a word; the intense knocking of the infected from earlier had stopped, and footsteps were heard again in the silence. There was only one set of footsteps, and moreover, they seemed to be approaching this room.
The sound of floorboards creaking could be clearly heard. While Yui hugged Mana-chan, wondering if the infected had returned, and I pushed the barricade with all my might—
"Hey, is anyone still alive?"
When a woman's voice came from outside the door, for a moment I thought I was finally hearing hallucinations due to excessive blood loss. Because there was no way a human could nonchalantly enter a house full of infected. Those who had been showering the door with destructive knocks until earlier were infected; there were no humans. Therefore, the voice just now was a hallucination, a delusion created by the desire to be saved.
Thinking so, I turned back to Yui and the others to urge them on with their work. But both of them had their mouths hanging open like idiots, their gazes nailed to the door.
"That voice just now..."
"It's a human, right?"
"Eh?"
The fact that the two of them heard it too meant that the voice just now apparently wasn't my hallucination. But the infected had been loitering in front of the door until just now. It would be impossible to stand in front of the door unless all of them were defeated, and defeating all the infected—at a low estimate, ten of them inside and outside the house—would be impossible unless you were Schwarzenegger, Stallone, or Seagal.
If so, is an infected speaking? Could they have turned back into humans?
—No good, my head isn't working well, probably due to lack of blood. The bleeding from my right wrist must be worse than I thought; my head has been heavy and I've been dizzy for a while.
"I know you're in there, I've defeated all of them, so could you open up?"
This time I heard it clearly. Judging from the voice, a woman about the same age as me or slightly older must be in the hallway. She said she defeated all the infected, but can a woman do such a thing? Even I, a high school boy, could only manage to run away.
"Um, who is it?"
While wearing a face of disbelief, Mana-chan raised her voice.
"I'm a survivor from this town! I saw you being chased by those things, so I came to help!"
If what she says is true, it means she went out of her way to risk danger to help us. But is it really an action out of goodwill? I don't have the guts to help people being chased by dozens of infected. Since I might die myself if I got involved poorly, if it were me, I would probably pretend I didn't see anything. In fact, until I helped Yui, even if I saw others being chased by infected, I chose to abandon them rather than help them more often than not.
Maybe she's trying to steal our supplies. Or there are other humans besides her, and they're targeting Yui and Mana-chan because they're female. In a world where law and police are gone, many people act according to their desires. But it's too risky to go out of one's way to help people being chased by infected and then steal their supplies or kidnap the women.
"What are we going to do?"
Yui said, but it seemed better to just go out honestly. If she really helps us, that's great. It's difficult for me to escape from the window anyway, and above all, even if she harbored ill intent toward us, it would still be easier to fight against a human. Though even for me, I haven't fought a human yet.
"For now, let's move the bed. It's already at its limit."
I tried to remove the TV, chairs, and other things piled on top of the bed, but it was impossible with just one left arm. Cooperating with Yui and Mana-chan, we cleared the top of the bed and moved it from in front of the door. Broken TV parts and broken desk legs rolled on the floor, but we didn't care about that. Right now, I could only think about escaping from here.
The three of us dragged the wooden bed all at once, removing it from in front of the door. At that moment, the hinges that had been taking inhuman blows from the infected finally reached their limit, and the door fell into the room all at once.
"Ah, crap..."
And perhaps because I had also reached my limit, a dull pain like being hit in the head ran through my head, and strength left my body. As I collapsed onto the floor, in my sideways vision, Yui and Mana-chan clung to my body with panicked faces. Beyond them, the hallway wall visible from the room's entrance was stained bright red with spray-back blood, and against that background, I saw a single woman standing at the entrance.
After seeing that woman's blonde hair and blue eyes, my consciousness was swallowed by darkness.
I look forward to your opinions and impressions.