Chapter 138 - Chapter 122: A Tale of Being Forced
First, the boy and Sato set about collecting supplies. This didn't mean they were going to gather what the two of them would consume from now on. The amount the boy had loaded in the car and the amount Sato had stockpiled in preparation for guerrilla warfare. If they combined those, it was an amount that would last about two months if they were frugal.
The supplies they were going to gather from now on were for handing over to Sato's comrades. As the boy had heard, Sato's comrades had their quota for supply collection increased to 1.5 times by The Brotherhood. They have already explored most of the safe places, and the only ones they haven't touched are the densely populated areas where many infected wander.
However, Sato's comrades don't have weapons, and almost all the people who can fight have joined The Brotherhood's side. If they don't bring supplies, The Brotherhood will kill Sato's comrades without hesitation. The reason The Brotherhood is keeping Sato's comrades alive is simply because they see them as disposable pawns to be forced into dangerous acts that they wouldn't miss even if they died. Disposable pawns that don't fulfill their role or are rebellious are unnecessary.
Therefore, Sato and the boy decided to head to an area they had never entered before and gather supplies that would likely remain mostly untouched. The gathered supplies would be secretly handed over to Sato's comrades, and they would offer them to The Brotherhood under the guise that they had gathered them. As long as they continue to offer supplies, Sato's comrades probably won't be killed.
At the same time, it was also necessary to gather more powerful weapons. The squad of The Brotherhood that attacked the boy was all armed with firearms, but only one person possessed a military gun. However, according to Sato's story, there are more members of The Brotherhood armed with guns taken from the corpses of JSDF members or police officers, or from the infected. No matter how good your marksmanship is, what says the final word is the performance of the weapons and the number of muzzles.
If they can't win with the number of muzzles, they have no choice but to bring more powerful weapons. The time will come when they must eventually exchange fire with The Brotherhood head-on.
"There are many warehouses and factories around here, so isn't there a food factory somewhere?"
The boy asked Sato, who was gripping the steering wheel of the SUV. Where the two are heading now is the densely populated area along the coast. It is a reclaimed district where development has already finished, and many people lived in the newly constructed tower mansions. It's unknown how many residents died and how many became infected, but because many infected were witnessed wandering around the vicinity, it was an area they had avoided entering until now.
Thanks to using the electric driving mode, only the slight sound of the motor rotating is echoing in the car. The SUV the boy and Sato found was a perfect car for driving through areas with many infected.
"There was one, we found it. But now it's occupied by The Brotherhood."
"Why?"
"The people who betrayed us told The Brotherhood."
Naturally, Sato and the others had thought of the same thing. The factory that processes food is along the coast, and from there, products were delivered to various places. Since it's a factory that handles distribution in the metropolitan area, the amount of food produced is naturally enormous. The products that were finished and just waiting for delivery, and the amount of raw materials before being put into the production line, were more than enough to fill the stomachs of a hundred people for several months, and Sato and the others, who found the factory, were able to live for several months without risking any more danger thanks to that.
Though, if electricity can't be used, there's a limit to food preservation, and in the first place, the consumed portion won't be newly replenished. Just as the stock of food was steadily decreasing, the factory was taken away by the people who betrayed them. The Brotherhood carried away all the food and its raw materials that remained in the factory, and now it's a hollow shell with no value.
"There were other factories, but it was a bread factory. Bread doesn't last long, and because electricity couldn't be used, the raw materials had also gone bad. The distribution centers are also after being scavenged nearby, and the only ones we haven't touched are the stores in areas with many infected."
Even so, among the food items that have been left for nearly a year, how many can withstand being eaten? Sato's comrades are being forced to search for food that is already scarce and whose existence is unknown, while risking danger.
Perhaps because they drove the car without making noise with the battery drive, the two were able to come near the supermarket at the destination without being found by the infected. Even so, they couldn't just drive into the supermarket as is. In the first place, since it's unknown if sufficient food remains, the two decided to head to the supermarket on foot for reconnaissance this time.
The target supermarket was a famous chain store that expands nationwide. Since it's in a densely populated area, its scale is large, and it also has apparel stores and game centers attached, so it can be called a small shopping mall. The fact that there are many people who purchase products naturally means there are many products in stock, and unless The Brotherhood has already gone ahead and snatched everything up, the possibility that products remain is high.
The problem was that the roads were wide and the visibility was good. If the population is large, the number of cars owned is naturally large, and furthermore, because it's a redeveloped area, the roads in the entire vicinity are made wide. To head to the target supermarket, they have to cross several roads on the way, but during that time, there is a danger of being seen from a wide range. Not to mention the infected, if members of The Brotherhood were also visiting this area, they would surely be discovered if they tried to cross the road. Moreover, the only obstacles are the passenger cars left on the road.
"I'll cover you. You go first."
At times like this, it was convenient to be acting in a pair. Sato readied his carbine with a suppressor attached to the muzzle and guarded the vicinity. If the figure of an infected or a member of The Brotherhood was seen while the boy was crossing the street, Sato was to deal with it.
"My gun has a suppressor, so even if I shoot, the sound won't be heard unless it's at very close range, but you're not like that. Even if there's an enemy in a position I can't see, don't shoot as much as possible. First let me know, and then stay hidden."
Prompted by Sato who said so, the boy raised his head and looked around the street. The two are currently hiding in the shadow of a passenger car left by the roadside, but in the middle of the street, no such abandoned vehicles or accident vehicles are seen. While crossing the street, the boy will be in a completely defenseless state.
Since a suppressor is not attached to the boy's Type 89 rifle, he can't just fire carelessly. He has no choice but to run across the street all at once while praying that Sato will cover him properly, but it's been a long time since he acted while leaving his back to someone.
Until half a year ago, the boy also acted while trusting someone. However, since losing all his comrades, he has become unable to trust anyone. Even if he temporarily acts together, he never trusts them and never shows his back. That was the boy's motto until now.
To be honest, he still has some anxiety now. Will Sato really cover him? The moment he shows his defenseless back, won't a bullet be hammered in? Such a thought cannot be erased from his head. However, since it's too late to say such a thing, the boy had no choice but to act while trusting him as told.
He looked around the street, confirmed there were no moving things, and started running. The stores and buildings lining the left and right of the street showed traces of destruction just like other towns, and it could be seen that the infected had been rampaging in this vicinity too.
How many people became infected in Tokyo, and how many died? Are there other people who had the same experience as me? Those who chose the path of being unable to trust anyone and continuing to fight loneliness...
Suddenly, he felt like something moved in the corner of his swaying vision. The one that appeared from the entrance of a building whose glass automatic doors were shattered into pieces, with a staggering gait like a drunkard, was not a human, however. Clad in a brown, dirty dress shirt, with bloodshot eyes glaring in a gaunt face, it was undoubtedly an infected.
The boy was about to point his muzzle instinctively, but faster than that, two muffled gunshots, thump, thump, echoed behind him. Almost simultaneously, the infected fell with blood flowing from its head and chest, and the boy managed to reach the other side of the street without being discovered by the infected.
Looking back, Sato, who was holding his carbine with gunpowder smoke rising from the muzzle covered by the suppressor, was giving a thumbs-up to the boy. It seems he kept his promise and protected his back.
In the first place, if Sato intended to kill the boy, he would have done it a long time ago. He has both the opportunity and the power. However, the fact that he hasn't done so meant that at least for Sato, the boy has utility value and is an existence too good to kill.
He couldn't completely trust Sato, but there should be no problem acting with him due to the coincidence of interests. The boy was convinced of that and readied his rifle this time to cover Sato as he crossed the street.
After that, they repeated several times the alternating leap—as Sato called it—where they took turns advancing and covering, and the two arrived at the target supermarket. In the parking lot, which secured a spaciousness unthinkable for a densely populated area, a dozen or so passenger cars were left, but what caught his eye more than anything was the strangeness of the building.
Including the rooftop parking lot, the windows on the first floor of the three-story supermarket were all boarded up and blocked. Around the building, abatis made by cutting iron bars diagonally to sharpen them and bundling several together were lined up, giving an intimidating feeling to those who saw them. On several of the abatis, corpses of what appeared to be infected were draped with sharp iron bars protruding from their bellies or limbs, showing that those defense facilities were not just for show.
"Are there survivors inside?"
Hiding in the shadow of a ticket machine with a gate installed at the entrance of the parking lot, the boy spoke. Unless they were doing some strange campaign, a supermarket in normal times would never block its windows and surround the building with abatis. Therefore, it's safe to assume those obstacles were made by survivors to hole up in the supermarket after the infected appeared.
"It's strange for that; no sign can be felt. Did they leave this place a long time ago, or are they holding their breath deep in the store? If someone remained, they would at least replace the abatis that became unusable with corpses stuck in them."
The two went around the supermarket, which has a vast site, from the outside while hiding in shadows. What they found out from observing from the outside was that there is no major damage to the building itself. And that there was no sign of anyone having left. There was no sign of the windows on the first floor being broken from the outside, and the doors and shutters were all closed.
"What should we do, go back?"
"No, if there are survivors, I want to make contact. I want them to know about the existence of The Brotherhood too."
If there were survivors in the supermarket, naturally the supplies left inside would have been mostly consumed. The purpose of procuring food ended in failure, but even so, it seems Sato intends to enter the supermarket. The boy wasn't keen on it, but he decided to follow Sato here.
First, as the boy has done until now, he throws a stone at the supermarket building. The distance from the parking lot to the building should have been considerable, but the stone Sato threw hit the outer wall while drawing a large curve. A surprisingly large sound echoed, and immediately the two readied their guns and took a posture to deal with any situation.
If there is someone inside the building, they would show their face to see what's going on. However, even after ten minutes, no survivor peeked out from the supermarket windows, and only two infected who heard the sound came running. Sato calmly shot those infected and threw a stone again. This time one infected came, but that was it. As before, no matter how long they waited, no movement was felt inside the building.
"It seems the infected aren't inside either."
What can be thought of is the situation where all the survivors became infected inside the supermarket that had its defenses solidified. But since there is no reaction no matter how many stones are thrown, that too is hard to consider. If there were infected inside the building, they would be making a big fuss by now in response to the sound.
"It can't be helped. It's a bit forced, but we're going inside."
"Is that okay?"
"What we should do now is find food, not think about whether there are people in the supermarket. If there's someone inside, we'll just ask them to share some food."
"What if they don't share?"
"I'll keep asking until they nod their head."
If he wanted to, he could point a muzzle and take it by force, but if he did that, he'd be the same as The Brotherhood. Sato apparently wants to solve things peacefully to the end.
The parking lot is vast with good visibility, and furthermore, the infected who would be nearby had been shot when they came after being lured by the sound of the stones thrown earlier. Sato and the boy approached the supermarket building while keeping the muzzles of their rifles pointed down to show as much as possible that they had no hostility. Going around to the entrance grandly from the front, Sato knocked on the glass door of the automatic door, but the other side of the boarded-up door couldn't be seen, and the state of the interior couldn't be gauged.
"There's no answer."
"It can't be helped; help me since I'm going to open it."
Sato forced open the glass door whose sensor had stopped because the power was out. Behind him, the boy guarded the vicinity and took a posture to be able to shoot his rifle at any time in case of an emergency.
The boards placed on the other side of the glass door were apparently nailed to the barricade inside the building, and even when pushed, they only sagged slightly. Sato took out a crowbar and began peeling off those boards somewhat forcibly. From the gap in the barricade, the inside of the building seen was wrapped in darkness, but as before, there was no sign of people.
Eventually, when a gap opened enough for one person to pass, Sato entered the building while readying his carbine. The fact that Sato, who said he would settle things amicably, is readying his gun might mean he feels something is wrong.
As soon as they entered the building, what assaulted the two was a strong, rancid smell. A smell like something had rotted. He had smelled the scent of corpses rotting many times until now, but this time it was stronger than any of those. He couldn't think at all that someone was living in a building wrapped in such a smell.
He felt like he wanted to pinch his nose, but he couldn't do that while readying a gun. The boy turned on the flashlight he had forcibly attached to the handguard of his rifle with duct tape and illuminated the inside of the store. Sato also turned on the light attached to his carbine and swung the muzzle left and right.
There seemed to have been a food corner in front of the entrance, but the shelves were completely empty. With only a few plastic bags of packaging remaining, not only fresh food but even drinking water has all vanished. Does this mean there were indeed survivors in this supermarket?
"Is this a bust...?"
There are no people, and no supplies. In the supermarket they finally reached by consuming precious bullets, it seems nothing remains.
"Let's check the other shelves just in case. Don't fire as much as possible."
Sato said so, and the two split up and went around the supermarket inside on the first floor. Relying on the light of the flashlights, they also went around the corners for preserved foods like dried noodles and canned goods, but those shelves are also cleanly empty.
Seeing that products are not scattered on the floor, the boy felt that it wasn't looted. Someone moved these products somewhere after holing up in the supermarket.
"Let's check the second floor too, just in case."
There is a furniture store on the second floor of the supermarket. Speaking of furniture stores, beds and such are also placed there, and if survivors were living in this supermarket, they would have naturally slept there. He didn't think supplies remained, but the two went up the stopped escalator and headed to the second floor.
There, they learned the true identity of the rot smell filling this building.
"Whoa."
As soon as they entered the second floor, what came into view were countless corpses scattered as if falling on the floor or leaning against walls. Corpses were just everywhere, and in quite a large number. Some were sitting on benches at the end of the escalator, some were lying on sofas placed in the aisles and dead. From a quick look, the number is no less than thirty. Whether several months have passed since they died, the corpses were all quite advanced in decomposition. Because the building was sealed, the rot smell had apparently been trapped inside until now.
"Did they kill each other?"
"It doesn't look like that, look."
Saying so, Sato kicked a kitchen knife lying beside a corpse with the toe of his boot. Although decomposition was quite advanced, no damage was seen on the abdomen, neck, or head of the corpse. There were wounds like those made by cutting the wrists with a sharp blade, but if so, are these corpses of people who committed suicide?
Certainly, there was no sign of a struggle in any of the corpses. Beside almost all the corpses, kitchen knives, razors, or box cutters were lying, but those seem to have all been used against themselves. Furthermore, seeing several hanging corpses dangling from the ceiling, the boy finally understood that the survivors who were in this supermarket had attempted mass suicide.
It's not that they chose death rather than suffering from hunger because food ran out. On the second floor, several cardboard boxes containing food like canned goods remained, and there was an amount that could sustain the number of people here for more than a week if they were frugal. If it was a week, they could have procured food from the outside or left this supermarket.
It's not that they didn't have weapons to fight the infected either. In the hall right next to the escalator, weapons like metal bats and handmade spears were placed in racks, and there was also a corpse that had attempted suicide with a pistol. Five corpses that appeared to have shot themselves in the head, just like the magazine capacity of a revolver, were lying on the floor in a circle. In the cylinder of the police revolver one of the corpses was gripping, there were only empty shells, but when he searched the pockets, several bullets remained.
Looking at the clothing, there seem to have been ten powerful young men. They have food, and they have weapons. Even so, why did they take their own lives?
"Maybe they despaired, of this world. They thought there was no meaning in living anymore, so they chose death themselves."
While everyone harbored despair, finally one person who couldn't endure it committed suicide. And like dominoes falling, the survivors in this supermarket chose death one after another? Or did everyone arrange it all at once and cut their wrists, hang their necks, and shoot their heads?
Since there are no survivors, it will probably never be known what happened in this supermarket. Were they happy at that moment they chose death? Did they feel glad to be able to part with this hellish world? Seeing two corpses that appeared to be parent and child lying side by side on a bed in the furniture store, the boy couldn't help but think so.
I look forward to your opinions and impressions.