Chapter 146 - Die Set Down
"Don't move, drop the gun!"
The moment he saw the young man had a black bandana wrapped around his arm, the boy was shouting while readying his submachine gun. He was driven by an impulse to just pull the trigger, but Yuko and the others were standing in front of the young man. If his hand shook even slightly when pulling the trigger, there was a risk of hitting them.
Beside the boy, Sato was also readying his gun, but it seemed he couldn't shoot either. On the other hand, Yuko and the others, who had fallen into a situation equivalent to having a gun suddenly pointed at them, didn't seem to understand what was happening at all.
"W-Wait a minute! Why are you pointing a gun, we didn't..."
"Sensei, get out of the way! I can't kill him!"
"Kill... what did he do?"
Saying so, far from moving away, Yuko instead stood in front of the boy's muzzle as if to protect the young man. What a foolish thing to do... the boy thought, but in the first place, it hasn't been many days since they came to this town. They don't know the numerous evil deeds of the Brotherhood.
"He belongs to a dangerous group! Those guys don't care one bit about other people's lives if it's for their own survival, and they'll use them as disposable pawns without hesitation. Even today, we were attacked by that man's companions!"
"What nonsense... aren't you the dangerous ones?"
At the boy's words, the young man calmly spat that out.
"Listen everyone, they are the dangerous ones. That man in camouflage has been going around killing many of my companions until now, and that boy is the same. We have tried to dialogue with them many times, but it was all in vain. They are going around killing people here and there for their own selfish desires; they are existences that cannot be left unchecked."
"You're the one talking nonsense!"
The boy, enraged by the words that conversely disparaged them, seriously tried to pull the trigger, but the young man skillfully hid behind Yuko and the others and did not expose himself to the line of fire. On the contrary, the eyes of Yuko and the others looking at the boy, who was seriously trying to kill the young man, were like eyes looking at a madman.
"Anyway, let's calm down for a moment, maybe there's some misunderstanding between each other..."
"There's no misunderstanding! They are people who must die! To survive, we have no choice but to kill them!"
Yuko and the others said they were helped by the young man from the Brotherhood after coming to this town. That's why they had been acting together until now without doubting him, and even if the boy pointed a gun like this, they didn't even understand that he was a member of a dangerous group.
The Brotherhood has driven many people to their deaths until now, and even now they are putting Sato's companions in danger. On the contrary, they suddenly launched an attack on the boy whom they met by chance today. But Yuko and the others did not witness that scene, and the boy does not have evidence of it either. It would probably be the quickest to actually take Yuko and the others to the place where the massacre by the Brotherhood was carried out, but there is no such time.
And Yuko said earlier that the young man was in contact with his companions. If they stay in this place, the Brotherhood, who are the young man's companions and the boy's enemies, will come. Before that happens, he wanted to take Yuko and the others and leave this place.
"Is there evidence? Is there evidence that this person is dangerous?"
"That black cloth wrapped around his arm is it. The guys wrapping that cloth are the kind of people who attacked me the moment I arrived in this town."
"No, he was the one who attacked first. He started shooting the moment he found my companions."
The young man tells another lie, but there is nothing to prove which story is the truth. The development will change depending on whether they trust the boy or the young man. Even if it's different from the facts, people judge based on the story of the person they trust.
"Listen, can I say one thing? We also lived together with you for a month, and we know you in our own way. We want to trust you, but if a gun is suddenly pointed at us, it makes us doubt whether you're a trustworthy person. First of all, is there evidence that your story is true?"
"Evidence... isn't here. But my story is all true, believe me."
"Then we don't know which is true, your story or his story. Anyway, first calm down and let us hear the story. So lower the gun."
The boy hesitated over what to do at Aki's words, but in the end, he did not lower the gun. He had a feeling that he wanted Aki and the others to trust him, but the sense of caution toward the young man, who was a member of the Brotherhood, outweighed that. The boy feared that the moment he lowered the gun, he would shoot.
"No. He can't be trusted."
"Then we can't trust you either. A person who tells us to trust them but doesn't trust other people."
"..."
"Besides, looking at and hearing what you've done until now, I can't help but think his story is the truth rather than yours. You said his group is going around killing people for selfish desires, but aren't you the same? You've also killed many other people until now to survive, right? What's the difference?"
The boy could say nothing back. "Don't care about other people's lives if it's for survival," "use them as disposable pawns," those were all things the boy had said to Aki. No one can be trusted or relied upon. If so, you have to use everything else and live with a relentless attitude toward everything to survive in this world. The boy told Aki that many times, and at that time he seriously thought so.
And to think that all those words would come back now. From their perspective, no matter how much the boy claimed the young man was a dangerous existence, the boy was just as dangerous or even more dangerous. It's just that he didn't bring harm to them, so he wasn't hostile to them.
As if to sneer at the boy who was lost for words to Aki, the young man curled his lips. And he placed his hand on the holster hanging from his waist and drew a handgun.
That series of movements probably wasn't visible to Aki and the others because it was in Yuko's shadow. However, the boy and Sato, who were facing the young man, witnessed him taking the handgun.
Shoot before being shot. Following that instinct, the boy points the muzzle of the submachine gun at the young man. Perhaps because she was engrossed in the dialogue with the boy, Yuko had moved away from the young man before he knew it. The young man's upper body was peeking out, albeit slightly, from the shadow of Yuko's body.
I can hit him now. Aiming at the torso, which has the largest area, the moment the boy was about to pull the trigger, the young man took an unexpected action. He suddenly grabbed the hand of Yuko, who was standing in front of him, and pulled her toward him as if to make her his shield.
"――――――!"
Yuko's body was at the end of the muzzle. The boy tried to stop shooting in a hurry, but his index finger had already pulled the trigger. The muzzle flash illuminated the night town brightly, and he could clearly see the red flower of blood blooming on Yuko's stomach.
I shot her. Her, who is not an enemy. Along with those words, excuses like "it's not my fault" and "it's because the young man made her a shield" immediately raced through his head. However, with the screams of Aki and the others and the young man's shout of "He's shooting, everyone hide!" the boy suddenly came to his senses.
While there is a girl rushing to Yuko, who is bleeding from her stomach with a face like she's about to cry, there is also someone pointing eyes at the boy as if looking at a monster. It's Aki. There are also girls standing still, perhaps because they can't understand what happened in front of them.
"No, it's not my fault..."
The moment he tried to say so, something hot grazed over his head along with a gunshot. The young man, who was the first to hide in the shadow of the convenience store's pillar, shot the handgun he held.
That muzzle was aimed straight at the boy, but his body didn't move. His head still hasn't understood the reality of the fact that he shot Yuko. But just before the young man's handgun spat fire, Sato launched a tackle and the boy was pushed down to the ground.
"You idiot, do you want to die...!"
Saying so, Sato readied his carbine. But the figures of the girls trying to help Yuko are on the line of fire. Sato, who clicked his tongue, lowered his muzzle and dragged the boy, who remained prostrate on the ground, to the shadow of a nearby car.
"Everyone be careful! They are enemies, hide quickly!"
In a tone like a hero of justice, the young man shouts so and fires. Sparks scatter on the hood of the car the boy and Sato hid behind, and Sato leans out slightly and fires back. The surface of the concrete pillar was crushed and fragments flew, but the young man seemed to be safe by quickly hiding.
"Why did you shoot Yuko-sensei! Why!? I believed you were still a sane person!"
Aki's scream echoes. While the girls were cowering at the roaring gunshots, they were trying to carry the injured Yuko into cover somehow. They are in the way, so he can't aim accurately at the young man. Or rather, it was in a form where the young man was firing while hiding in the shadow of the girls.
"No, he made Sensei a shield! I didn't intend to shoot Sensei!"
"I can't believe it! You suddenly pointed a gun at us, don't lie about not intending to shoot!"
Aki is still shouting. On the other hand, the sound of a car engine was heard from somewhere. The Brotherhood companions the young man called must have arrived. If they stay here and continue the gunfight, they might be able to kill the young man, but they will also end up fighting the Brotherhood who come later. This is where they should retreat quickly, but the boy's feet didn't move.
"You always said it, didn't you? If a muzzle is pointed at you, think of them as an enemy. That pointing a muzzle means they are trying to kill you. We were fools to trust you; you are an enemy!"
Along with that voice of Aki, the gunshots that could be heard increased. Aki and the others also started firing at the boy and Sato along with the young man. The window glass of the abandoned car the two were hiding behind shattered into pieces, and the metallic sound of bullets piercing the car body echoed.
"Hey, what are you dazed for! We're leaving here!"
"But..."
"Unfortunately, those girls believe what the Brotherhood man says now. No matter what we do now, we probably won't be able to clear the misunderstanding. Which is better, staying in this place and fighting those girls, or retreating once and thinking of countermeasures?"
Now Aki and the others were also adding relentless gunfire toward the boy and Sato. There is also the option to recognize them as enemies and kill them all at the point they shot. But the boy could not make that choice.
That it became like this was about half the boy's responsibility. With the boy's words and actions until now, Aki and the others had certified the boy as an enemy. From their perspective, it only looks like the boy suddenly pointed a muzzle and shouted that the young man was a dangerous person without evidence, and then suddenly shot Yuko. Because no one witnessed the young man making Yuko a shield.
Now Aki and the others have become the boy's enemies. If it were the boy until now, even if he was the cause, he would have chosen to kill all the people who were hostile to him. But now, he can't do that. Even if he pointed a muzzle at Aki and the others, he couldn't pull the trigger.
Two minivans with headlights lit ran on the road while cutting through the darkness. Muzzle flashes burst from the hands of the figures leaning out from the sunroofs, and bullets grazed right beside the boy and the others. Seeing that the young man does not fire toward the minivans, the ones riding in the two minivans must be the Brotherhood companions the young man called.
The Brotherhood man leaning out from the roof fires an assault rifle in bursts, and the boy and Sato also return fire. Since reinforcements have come, the chance of winning even if they fight is thin. Besides, thanks to making the gunshots ring out flashily since earlier, the infected have also become aware of their presence. Roars of infected can be heard here and there in the ruined town. Their figures are not visible yet, but they will soon attack the boy and the others.
If possible, he wanted to clear the misunderstanding of Aki and the others and apologize to the injured Yuko. But the current situation does not allow that. While the Brotherhood members who got out of the minivans blocked the movements of the boy and the others with gunfire, they were guiding the blood-covered Yuko and Aki and the others to the cars. He doesn't know where they will be taken from now on, but they will surely keep the boy certified as an enemy. And the Brotherhood, who are hostile to the boy, must be heroes of justice to them.
There was no choice but to escape now. While firing warning shots at the Brotherhood members, the boy and Sato aimed for the SUV they had come in.
I look forward to your opinions and impressions.