Chapter 150 - Night Raider
It's raining hard outside, and the wind is also blowing strongly. There are no lights in the town, and a darkness that continues everywhere is spreading.
In this situation, even if someone approaches, they won't know. The boy made the man with both hands tied stand in front and started walking the corridor of the apartment toward the stairs. The clothes immediately absorbed water and became heavy with rain, and furthermore, the blowing wind takes away body temperature.
"Hey, it's cold."
To the man's voice of protest, the boy replied with a kick. He forcibly made the man, who was agonizing and crouching, stand, and the boy started descending the stairs.
The sky lit up for a moment, and then a thunderclap that burst the ears roared. When he looked up at the sky, a lightning bolt of a color that could not be called yellow or purple was shining in the sky like a dragon.
"Ghost, this is Deadman. The weather has worsened. Is the join-up not yet?"
"Deadman, this side is still in battle. The bullets don't hit because of the wind. Can you see the enemy around?"
The boy looked around the apartment from the stairs. That said, because it's dark, he almost doesn't know what is where. Even if he equips the night vision device, the field of vision is dyed pure white. It's a level where it's better to see the surroundings by relying on the light of lightning with the naked eye.
"I can't confirm, for now."
"Understood. I also lost sight of the enemy here. Let's leave here quickly. Wait at the entrance, over."
He replies roger and ends the communication. When he was about to descend the stairs with the man again, lightning dyed the sky bright for a moment. Apparently thunder fell nearby, and immediately a thunderclap like an explosion roared.
In that moment when the sky lit up bright, the boy saw something move on the road near the apartment. A round object like a human head is peeking slightly from the shadow of the road's block wall. When he was straining his eyes, the sky became bright again with a thunderclap, and the boy finally noticed that what he was seeing was a half-destroyed curve mirror.
In addition to this darkness, in a state where footsteps can't be heard with the sound of the wind, it will be difficult to detect the existence of the enemy until they come in front of his eyes. The boy grabbed the man's collar again and forcibly made him stand, aiming for the entrance on the first floor. Both were already soaking wet with the blowing rain.
"To go outside in this state, you're crazy!"
"Shut up."
When the boy replied so, the man floated a creepy smile with a grin.
"I see, I understand. My companions are coming, right? That's why you're trying to escape from here in a hurry."
"..."
"I see, I see, this is the end for you guys too. Surrender while you can, I'll make sure it's not bad for you――――――"
"I'm telling you to shut up."
When the boy hit the back with the grip of the handgun, the man groaned and staggered. But whether he was encouraged by the fact that his companions came, the timid attitude until earlier has disappeared somewhere.
In this state, it's a situation where it's not strange even if he counterattacks in a moment he lets his guard down. While deciding in his heart to shoot without hesitation if he lays a hand, the boy grabbed the man's collar and aimed for the entrance on the first floor.
The inside of the entrance was maintained in the state as it was when the residents of the apartment left. The flyers and direct mail postcards scattered on the floor became wrinkled because they continued to be exposed to moisture, and the wind entering from the service gate left open pushes those pieces of paper into the back of the entrance. The inside of the entrance was also naturally pitch black, and only the light of lightning that occasionally roared outside enters from the entrance.
"Ghost, this is Deadman. Arrived at the entrance, how about you?"
"I'm descending now. Don't neglect vigilance, over."
The boy confirmed again that the suppressor was attached to the handgun and pressed the button on the grip to eject the magazine. He confirmed again that 15 rounds of 9mm bullets were fully loaded in the magazine and pulled the slide lightly. Confirming the golden bullet housed in the chamber, the boy gave a knee kick to the man and made him kneel on the spot.
The thunderstorm was gradually weakening its force. The boy who looked back at the stairs behind many times wondering if Sato is not yet, and the man who was smirking as if it were a reversal of the situation. In such a situation, the boy surely heard something approaching, mixed with the rain sound that was becoming small.
The footsteps were heard from outside, he felt. If Sato descends from the rooftop, he shouldn't go through the entrance from outside on purpose. The boy applied the night vision device to his eye and readied the handgun with a suppressor. From the entrance of the apartment, the road and several passenger cars left abandoned on the shoulder are visible.
Because the man tried to say something again, the boy made the man bite the bandana he had as a gag substitute. And when he dragged the man into the shadow of a large foliage plant placed in the corridor, he himself hides in the shadow of the pillar of the elevator hall located in front of the entrance. When he puts out his eye applied with the night vision device slightly from the shadow of the pillar, one figure entered the entrance from the glass door left open.
A figure that seemed to be a male wearing a long coat and readying a submachine gun in hand. Seemed to be, because the head of that guy was covered by a helmet equipped with bulletproof glass. A helmet equipped with a bulletproof visor made of polycarbonate that seems to be one centimeter thick. Only the weapon and from the neck up were just like the police special forces.
Such a man with an unbalanced appearance steps into the entrance of the apartment with a submachine gun in hand. From that footstep, not even a bit of fear can be felt. He doesn't even seem to be thinking that the boy is waiting just ahead.
This would be the true identity of the enemy Sato was talking about. Although the color is not visible because it's through the night vision device, there is no mistake in thinking he is one of the Brotherhood from the fact that he has a cloth wrapped around his arm. He was driven by an impulse to fire immediately, but with a handgun whose power and accuracy are inferior to a rifle, it has no effect unless he fires after drawing him in to the limit.
Because the head is protected by a helmet, the part to aim for is the torso. As far as he saw, the enemy didn't seem to be wearing a bulletproof vest or such. Shoot several rounds into the torso and surely take away the breath of life. Even if there is still breath, he will die soon.
The moment he exhaled and the enemy approached to a distance of 10 meters, the boy put out only his upper body from the shadow of the pillar and pulled the trigger. The Brotherhood member of the enemy is exposed to the boy's muzzle flash without even having time to pull the trigger of the submachine gun he held at his hip. The muffled gunshot through the suppressor echoes in the narrow entrance.
He saw something scatter from the enemy's chest. The shot Brotherhood member fell on his back without a voice, and the sound of the helmet he was wearing hitting the floor echoes. Three rounds in the chest, with this he surely took away the combat capability. Even if he still has breath, he'll die soon.
The moment he readied the handgun again to deliver the finishing blow, the fluorescent light that was above the boy's head shattered into pieces. At the same time, small holes were opening one after another in the elevator door that was behind the boy, along with sparks.
Gunfire. In the midst of the fragments of the shattered fluorescent light raining down, the boy prostrated on the spot in a hurry. The bullets flying without a sound open holes in the wall one after another. The gunshot that should accompany the firing can't be heard.
"Ghost, this side is receiving gunfire. The enemy's position is unknown, gunshots can't be heard either."
"This side is also being stalled. They seem to have guns with suppressors."
Sato's voice and faint gunshots can be heard over the radio. Sato must have encountered the enemy on the way to the entrance. If so, he must manage this situation alone.
The boy took off the night vision device and strained his eyes in the darkness outside. Beyond the road, he saw something squirming in the shadow of an abandoned vehicle. The reason he could judge it was the enemy was because the slight muzzle flash suppressed by a suppressor was seen bursting from its hand.
Multiple enemies were firing from the road toward the entrance of the apartment. With a handgun, it's a distance that absolutely won't hit, and he doesn't want to use a rifle because the gunshot will echo. While the boy was thinking about what to do, the gunfire stopped unexpectedly.
In that moment, the prisoner man who was hiding on the opposite side across the passage jumped out toward the entrance.
"Hey, wait...!"
When the boy readied the handgun, it was already too late, and the man had run out from the entrance toward the outside.
"Help me!"
Whether he fell into a panic in the middle of the gunfight, or tried to seek help from his companions. The man ran toward the Brotherhood members who were his companions while raising a shout, but the Brotherhood people welcomed the man with bullets.
The man's body was pierced by multiple bullets, and his body swayed as if dancing a clumsy dance. Without the boy laying a hand, the man died. Whether it was a misfire or they dared to shoot is unknown, but he was killed by the hands of his own companions.
The gunfire stops again. Joining up at the entrance is only dangerous. The boy pressed the microphone of the radio and called Sato.
"Ghost, this is Deadman. The prisoner is dead. There are multiple enemies outside the entrance, and joining up is difficult. Retreat and to your side――――――"
In front of the boy's eyes who was about to say the continuation, something like doubting his eyes happened. The enemy who should have been shot and killed earlier in the entrance raised his upper body while groaning.
The boy surely shot 3 bullets into the chest of the enemy who stepped into the entrance. Unless he is wearing a bulletproof vest, it's unavoidable to be a fatal wound, and the boy himself witnessed the blood scattering from the shot enemy. Even if it didn't become a fatal wound by a hair's breadth, he shouldn't be able to move with intense pain.
Despite that, the enemy raised his upper body and is trying to stand up while raising a groan. The boy shot 2 bullets into the enemy's chest again, avoiding the head protected by the helmet. The enemy who should have been hit swayed his upper body greatly, but that was all.
"No way..."
Despite having eaten several bullets, not even a painful gesture can be seen. He was just like an infected who rushes without flinching even if shot.
Does the Brotherhood tame infected who can shoot guns? Such a thought crossed his head for a moment. But he immediately denied it as impossible and retreated once. The enemy follows the boy while bleeding and raising a creepy voice that can't be taken as either a groan or a roar.
The boy fired the handgun at the approaching enemy while walking backward. But this time because both are moving, the fired bullets almost didn't hit. Even if it hit, it was a level of grazing the arm or leg, but even so, the enemy doesn't stop.
"What is this guy...!"
Stop and shoot aiming for the head. He knew it, but the bullet was bounced by the bulletproof helmet. The eyes beyond the thick bulletproof visor are aiming straight at the boy.
Whether he dropped the gun when he was shot earlier, although he doesn't have a gun, the boy was harboring fear toward the enemy who follows even if shot. He has a rifle and a shotgun. If he uses them, he might be able to pierce the helmet, but the gunshot will echo and infected will gather. No, in the first place, do guns work on this guy? Am I not fighting an enemy who doesn't die――――――.
Whether he panicked with such fear, the feet walking backward got tangled, and the boy fell and sat on his buttocks on the spot. The handgun in hand is out of ammo, with the slide remained retreated. He tried to ready the rifle at the approaching enemy in a hurry, but the enemy punching the boy was faster.
He catches that fist with the rifle in a hurry. His hand trembles with a tremendous impact. He was able to avoid the situation of eating a right straight to the face, but as a trade-off, the rifle flew to the corner of the corridor.
"Dieeeee!"
An abuse rose from beyond the bulletproof visor, and a fist flew. There finally the boy understood the enemy was human and was relieved. To emit words means he is not an infected. Infected don't have the intelligence to emit words.
The boy dodges the unleashed fist somehow. The enemy ended up punching the concrete wall with his bare hand with all his might, but he didn't seem to feel pain. The skin of the back of the hand is torn and blood is flowing, but the enemy's eyes are staring straight at the boy.
Madness was dwelling in the enemy's eyes visible through the bulletproof visor. No emotion of fear can be seen there. The boy harbors fear toward that.
The enemy rushes again while shouting something. This time a knife that seems to have a blade length of 20 centimeters was gripped in that hand.
He no longer had time to hesitate. The boy grabbed the grip of the double-barreled shotgun protruding from the backpack he carried and pulled it out at once, jumping into the enemy's bosom.
Even if he shoots several rounds into the torso, the enemy doesn't flinch or fall. Then, he has no choice but to shoot the head.
Because the enemy's head is protected by a helmet, there was no meaning in shooting from afar. The boy gripped the grip of the double-barreled shotgun with the barrel and stock cut down and avoided the knife blade the enemy swung by crouching. And using the momentum of standing up, he pushed the muzzle of the shotgun in hand against the enemy's throat not protected by the helmet.
The moment he pulled the trigger, it rained blood along with a dull gunshot.
The buckshot fired from point-blank range blew the enemy's head to pieces. The helmet whose bulletproof visor was dyed bright red from the inside flew away spinning, and the enemy's body whose head above the lower jaw was lost kneels on the spot. Only the tongue remaining forgotten in the head where only the lower jaw remained was swaying like a streamer.
He used a gun, but the enemy died. For some reason he seems to be strong against pain and damage, but he understood only that he can be killed.
"From Deadman to Ghost... shot and killed one enemy. These guys, they don't die at all."
"Yeah. Apparently they are doing drugs or something. That's why they don't feel fear, and they rush without caring even if shot. This side is also being stalled because of that."
"I'll join up there now. At this rate, the enemy will enter the apartment immediately."
"Be careful. If it's a handgun, they won't fall no matter how many rounds you shoot into the torso. If you do it, you have no choice but to hammer in bullets until they stop moving."
"I'll manage. Over."
The boy remembered the white powder the already dead prisoner man had.
The enemy was apparently high. The reason they don't flinch when shot and don't feel fear is for that. It means they are the same as infected with slightly remaining reason.
With a weak handgun, furthermore using subsonic rounds to increase the silencing effect, they won't die easily no matter how many rounds are shot into the torso. However, because the head is covered by a bulletproof helmet, no proper damage can be given with handgun bullets.
If it becomes like this, he has no choice but to use powerful rifles and such while being prepared that infected will gather. While thinking which is better, the infected or the drug-soaked enemy, the boy who picked up the rifle hurries to Sato's place.
I look forward to your opinions and impressions.