Chapter 145 - A Good Person
He was able to secure weapons and ammunition to some extent. But that was all. He couldn't find any clues as to where the unit deployed in the sports park had headed, and no information was found about there being a safe place somewhere.
The JSDF headquarters responsible for evacuation activities and the elimination of the infected was placed in the management office of the sports park, but the remaining communication equipment and important documents had all been either destroyed or incinerated. Even in an emergency——————no, precisely because it was an emergency, the maintenance of secrecy must have been thorough. The helicopter left on the tennis court showed no signs of destruction, perhaps because they couldn't get that far, but the radio installed was in an unusable state. He didn't know if the battery was dead, if it was broken, or if it was because the helicopter's engine remained stopped, but anyway, it couldn't be used. If the helicopter's radio had been alive, he could have confirmed if there were survivors somewhere.
"It can't be helped to ask for the impossible. Just being able to find weapons is a gain."
In the car on the way back to the safe house after leaving the sports park, Sato, who was gripping the steering wheel, said so.
"Even if you say weapons, we couldn't find that many. There isn't much ammunition either."
On the other hand, the boy sitting in the back seat was preoccupied with fiddling with the collected weapons in the interior space expanded by folding the backrest forward. In the end, it seemed most of the weapons and ammunition that had apparently been stockpiled in the sports park were taken away at the time of withdrawal, and what remained was only a not-so-large amount of ammunition that had apparently been overlooked. Several corpses abandoned outdoors were still wearing equipment including guns, but he didn't think weapons exposed to wind and rain for nearly a year would move properly.
"At most there were two machine guns, and then useless recoilless rifle shells. Other than that, the weapons are not much different from the ones we have now."
Saying so, the boy took one machine gun from the cargo bed. A 5.56mm machine gun. If the opponent is human, he can check the enemy with suppressive fire that incessantly hammers in 200 rounds of bullets, and he can repel rushing infected by putting up a curtain of fire. Only two were found, but it could be said that it had overwhelming firepower compared to an assault rifle that can only be loaded with at most 30 rounds. Since it's heavy and bulky, it's not suited for swinging around, though.
"What's the use of bringing back shells that can't even be fired?"
The boy looked at the machine gun for a while and then returned it to the cargo bed. Instead, he turned his gaze toward the case, which was two cylinders the size of a 2-liter plastic bottle connected together, rolling in the corner of the cargo bed. Inside that case was a recoilless rifle shell used by the JSDF when attacking positions or armored vehicles.
He found the shell in a building that the JSDF had apparently used as a material collection point, but the essential barrel was not found, perhaps taken away at the time of withdrawal. Even for a recoilless rifle that can shatter armored vehicles into pieces, it has no meaning if it cannot be fired. He felt there was no point in bringing it back, but Sato didn't seem to think so.
"There are various uses. If combined with a radio, it becomes an improvised explosive device (IED) that can be detonated by remote control, and it can also be used for traps using wires. Well, it's necessary to add various touches, though."
For Sato, who is a special forces member, there would be plenty of uses. However, when it comes to combining it with wires or radios, it can only be used for defense or stalling, not for attack. When going on an active offensive, it probably won't be very useful.
Usually, it's a daily routine to go around the town and collect materials while eliminating infected and collecting information on the Brotherhood. If using the picked-up recoilless rifle shells as traps, they would be sufficiently useful for the defense of the living base. However, eventually, they must also engage in a full-scale battle with the Brotherhood. At that time, it would have been good if he could find high-firepower weapons like rocket launchers or grenade launchers.
"In any case, the number of people and muzzles that can fight are different between us and the Brotherhood. There should be few times we challenge them to a fight head-on."
"But, someday we might end up fighting head-on."
"We have to maneuver well so that doesn't happen."
The boy had also gone through quite a few scenes of carnage and had experience fighting many times against human opponents. However, if Sato, who is a professional in combat, said so, they should probably avoid head-on combat with the Brotherhood as much as possible.
The boy had fought the Brotherhood twice so far. Both were one-versus-many situations, and the boy was able to repel the Brotherhood guys. However, the reason he could win was because luck acted by chance in both cases. If they were to engage in a gunfight head-on with the Brotherhood guys, frankly speaking, there is no prospect of winning.
"Even if the equipment is poor, we should be able to do well depending on the maneuvering. Fortunately, although the Brotherhood guys have skill, they were originally amateurs. To guys who are just acting tough with guns..."
Suddenly, Sato stepped on the brakes. Due to the too sudden braking, the boy, who lost his posture, clung to the backrest of the passenger seat in a hurry.
"1 o'clock, 5 people."
It was minimal information, but the boy immediately understood what Sato was saying. It meant that five figures were seen diagonally to the right in the direction the car was proceeding.
Sato probably stopped the car so as not to be discovered by those figures. This SUV is also capable of electric driving by a motor, and its quietness is far higher than a gasoline car. Even so, if a car is running in a town where not a single thing moves, it's conspicuous no matter what, and if it passes nearby, the sound can be heard as expected.
The boy also equipped the night vision device and looked in the direction Sato indicated. In front of a building that looked like a convenience store, five figures were indeed squirming. From the movements, they are not infected. Whether those are the Brotherhood guys or completely unrelated survivors, he could not judge as expected.
"What should we do, shall we detour?"
"No, let's try to make contact. I want to confirm who they are. Besides, if they are people unrelated to the Brotherhood, I want to protect them before they are taken in by the Brotherhood."
The Brotherhood is an organization that has grown by taking in survivors. Although the Brotherhood seeks only the strong among survivors, they still want to avoid the situation where the members increase. If the Brotherhood makes contact with other survivors, they will probably pick out only the people who seem usable and kill the rest, or even if not, they will treat them as slaves who are pushed into jobs with a high risk of dying after using them for a long time.
"Just in case, hold your gun. However, don't shoot until I say it's okay to shoot or until we are shot at."
"I know."
The boy took the submachine gun that was rolling on the seat, pulled the cocking handle, and loaded the first round. Sato quietly opened the door, readied his carbine, and kept watch on the surroundings. The boy also got out of the car and looked around. Other than the figures in front, there is no one reflected in the green-tinted field of vision of the night vision device.
So that they could escape immediately if something happened, the two approached the figures in front with the car doors left open. Since the boy and Sato were wearing night vision devices, they knew someone was outside, but it seemed the group of five was not so. Although they had guns, their movements were just like amateurs. They seemed to be waiting for someone inside the convenience store, and although they were looking around, there was no sign at all of them being braced that they might be attacked by someone at any moment.
It seemed that the group of five were women. Sato sent a hand signal to the boy to lower his gun and released his hand from the carbine himself. Instead, he gripped a flashlight, and Sato, who had been keeping a low posture, stood up. On the other hand, the boy prepared a posture where he could shoot at any time in a position where they could not see him, in case the survivors fired.
Sato took a deep breath and called out "Who is it!" while turning on the flashlight.
"What are you doing there, it's dangerous here!"
It wasn't that loud, but Sato said so in a clear voice. On the other hand, the five figures suddenly illuminated by the light raised small screams, perhaps because they hadn't sensed Sato's presence at all. Several people were about to ready their guns, and the boy also tried to ready his submachine gun in case of an emergency. However, one person among the group of five was stopping her comrades from trying to ready their guns.
"Wait, don't shoot!"
From the boy's position, the faces of the survivors were not clearly visible, but even so, only the voice could be heard. It was a young woman's voice, but the boy had heard that voice somewhere. With the silhouette of the figure visible through the night vision device and the current voice, the boy had an intuition that he had met that person somewhere.
"Could it be, Sakaguchi-sensei?"
The women seemed to be startled by the boy who suddenly stood up, and furthermore, they didn't seem to know who he was because he was wearing a night vision device. When he took off the night vision device, ignoring Sato who showed a slight air of confusion, the woman who spoke earlier raised a voice of surprise.
"You, no way..."
The woman in her early 20s who called the boy's name was indeed familiar. A young teacher who had been acting together with him until just a few months ago and was protecting the students at the school that the boy had impulsively jumped out of. Sakaguchi Yuko's figure was there.
If he looked closely, the other four together were also her students and were all faces that had been involved with the boy. Students of the same age as the boy who were living hidden in a girls' high school far from human habitation.
"You, why are you here..."
The one who said so while unable to hide her surprise was Aki, who had asked the boy "Is it fun to be alive?" The one next to her would be Rei, who had confessed that she liked the boy. In the first place, partly because one of the reasons the boy had escaped from the safe girls' academy was her confession, the boy felt somewhat awkward. On the other hand, Rei only showed a slightly surprised face, whether she had forgotten such a thing or didn't care.
"Sensei, why are you here..."
"You too, why! Or rather, you're injured!"
"What, are they acquaintances?"
Sato asked the boy while casually placing one hand on top of the holster.
"They are people who took care of me before. But we parted a long time ago in a place far from here. For now, as far as I know, they are harmless people."
"Seems so."
Sato looked around at everyone and muttered so. Why are Yuko and the others, who should have parted far to the west, here? What have they been doing these past few months? How are the other members doing? There are many things he wants to ask. However, Yuko opening her mouth was faster.
"Um, that man over there is?"
Since Sato was a person the boy met after parting with Yuko and the others, it was natural that Yuko didn't know him.
"This person is Sato-san, a JSDF member. He helped me when I came to this town, and we've been acting together since then."
"Is that so? We were also helped by another person after coming to this town. Now we're having him act together with us."
"Him? Who is it? Or rather, why are you here? What happened to the academy?"
According to what Yuko told him, it was only recently that her group came to this town.
After the boy jumped out of the academy, they apparently hesitated over whether to search for the boy or not. However, from the judgment that no good would come to either side even if they forcibly brought back someone who said they were leaving, they gave up searching for the boy and continued the life of living quietly at the academy as before.
They had guns, and thanks to being taught how to use guns by the boy and Aoi, a second-year student who was a military otaku, they were able to continue maintaining the safety of the academy even after the boy was gone. However, a few weeks ago, the academy was finally found by a swarm of infected, and they chose to escape.
"It didn't seem like we had a chance of winning even if we fought, and food was becoming scarce. We put everyone in cars, loaded necessary things, and escaped in a great hurry."
Fortunately, perhaps thanks to making the decision to escape early, no deaths occurred among the surviving students. Yuko and the others, who were divided into three cars, aimed intently for the east and arrived at this town.
"Why did you aim for the east?"
"Even if it's just a possibility, Tokyo is a city of 10 million, right? Compared to others, there might be many people alive, and since there are many girls from Tokyo too. We know it's dangerous, but I want to help them find their families."
The words "Do you still intend to search even after seeing this disaster?" were about to come out of his throat, but the boy said nothing. He was aware that Yuko, who was acting for the sake of the students even by exposing her own life to danger, was more admirable than the boy who had done nothing but think about his own safety.
"Even so, to meet you who went out in a place like this. The world is unexpectedly narrow, isn't it?"
"The world is an exaggeration; at least say Japan. But as Aki says, to meet in a place like this."
In Japan, where many people have died, roads are cut off here and there, and dangerous infected are squirming, how much possibility is there to be able to reunite with the same human in a distant place? It's probably only a slightly higher probability than winning the lottery.
"So, where is the man who helped you, Sensei?"
"He said he was going to the toilet, and now he's inside this convenience store. We had him call his companions, so we're planning to join up now. Since the radio waves don't reach, we left the other girls and only we came this far."
"Is that person trustworthy?"
"I think he is, and I want to believe so. At least I don't think he's a bad person, and if we feel something is strange, we plan to escape immediately, so it's okay."
He wondered if it was really okay, but Yuko and the others probably aren't the same carefree people they were when the boy first met them. They must have experienced various things these past few months, and even when they were with the boy, they were exposed to the malice and murderous intent of others. They should have understood through their own bodies that they must not easily trust people.
"Well, if Sensei says so, it's probably okay."
When the boy said that much, a man's voice was heard from inside the convenience store saying, "Sorry to have kept you waiting." The owner of the current voice would be the man who supposedly helped Yuko and the others.
Immediately, one young man peeked out from inside the building. His age would be in his early 20s. With a face as well-formed as an actor or an idol, and a tall, slender height. His voice is also quite good. If it were a peaceful era, he would have been very popular. He was quite a refreshing good-looking guy. The young man showed no sign of being particularly surprised by the figures of the boy and Sato who had appeared out of nowhere, and the boy thought he must have a strong heart.
"Oh, who are those two?"
"That boy is the one who helped us a long time ago. And that's his savior."
Yuko talks familiarly with the young man. They look like a well-matched couple, the boy thought and exchanged looks with Sato. It was almost a wonder how a harmless-looking refreshing ikemen had survived.
"Sato-san, what should we do? Shall we go together too?"
"We are―――――――"
There, Sato's eyes narrowed sharply, and his finger went to the trigger of the carbine he held. When the boy followed Sato's gaze to see what was happening, the figure of the young man was at the end of it.
It wasn't visible because it was in a blind spot when he first came out of the convenience store, but the young man had something wrapped around his left upper arm. A pitch-black bandana, the same as the darkness enveloping this town.
Just as the members of the Brotherhood he fought at the elementary school evacuation center this morning were, the members of the Brotherhood all wrap a black cloth somewhere on their bodies to show their affiliation. There have been no exceptions among the Brotherhood guys he has met so far.
And now, the young man in front of him has a black bandana wrapped around his arm. The moment the boy realized the true identity of the young man and the companions he had called, he was pointing the muzzle of the submachine gun in his hand at the young man.
I look forward to your opinions and impressions.