Chapter 151 - Armor Zone
Against an enemy whose pain sensation is dulled by drugs, challenging with a handgun is too weak. Gunshots will roar and he might end up fighting infected too, but the boy chose to use a powerful rifle. It was clear as day that if infected come, escape will be even more difficult than now, but it would be better than continuing to shower bullets that don't work against the Brotherhood.
That said, he still wants to avoid firing as much as possible. Fortunately, the corridor of the apartment is narrow, so there is plenty of room to bring it into close combat using blades. The drug-soaked Brotherhood members have dulled pain sensation and come rushing regardless of being hit, but it doesn't mean they don't die. He just has to give enough damage to kill them instantly.
The enemy leader must be excellent, the boy thought. He probably sent the drug-soaked people as expendable pawns, thinking that this side can only use weak silenced weapons. Because pain sensation is dulled by drugs, the torso is left unguarded to make them light, and the head, which could be killed instantly with one blow if attacked, is guarded with a bulletproof helmet. To top it off, the enemy has weapons with suppressors, so they can attack unilaterally without worrying about gunshots.
To counter such people, he has no choice but to use powerful weapons where gunshots echo while being prepared to fight infected, or challenge dangerous close combat. Whichever he chooses, it's equally dangerous.
The boy, readying an assault rifle, proceeded quietly through the corridor of the apartment. Enemies would have already boarded from the entrance side. If so, he has no choice but to escape by cutting through the parking lot, but if they are surrounded from all directions, there is a high possibility that enemies are already lurking in the parking lot too.
Fortunately, an emergency escape chute is provided on the upper floor. He has brought some ammunition, and there is food too. Escaping or holeing up is fine. But since fighting or escaping alone only narrows the probability of survival, he aims to join up with Sato for now.
While proceeding through the corridor readying the rifle, he suddenly felt some presence from the side. The moment he lowered his head in a hurry, holes were opened one after another in the metal door next to the boy, along with sparks. He was apparently shot with a gun with a suppressor.
The boy raised his face and pulled the trigger of the rifle in hand... but the gun only made a dry sound of a click, and no bullet flies out from the muzzle.
Is it a dud? Thinking so, he quickly pulls the bolt handle and manually loads the next round. And he pulls the trigger again, but he could not fire after all.
Earlier when he was about to be punched by the enemy, it seems something went wrong somewhere because he caught it with the rifle. Along with a click of the tongue, he removes the magazine and throws it into the pouch along with the bullet he ejected earlier. He had no choice but to throw away the broken rifle.
Whether the enemy thought it was a chance that the boy could not fire, the enemy who was hiding in the bushes of the apartment parking lot stood up and ran to close the distance at once. In that hand, a submachine gun with a suppressor was indeed gripped, and the head was covered by a helmet.
The enemy closes the distance to the corridor where the boy is at once while running and firing the submachine gun he held at his hip in bursts. The boy fired the handgun instead of the broken rifle, but it doesn't hit easily against a moving opponent. Even if it hit, the bullets whose powder was reduced for silencing had no much effect on the enemy who was high on drugs.
The enemy jumps at the boy with a short sword that seems to have a blade length of 30 centimeters in hand instead of the submachine gun that ran out of ammo. The boy continued firing until the handgun's ammo was exhausted, but the enemy did not stop after all. Returning the handgun that ran out of ammo to the holster, the boy readies the knife he pulled from the sheath with a reverse grip.
He dodges the short sword swung down along with a roar by a hair's breadth and cuts the enemy's flank that became wide open. Fresh blood gushes out and the enemy raised a groan, but it immediately changed to a voice of anger. Normally one loses the will to fight when injured, but the Brotherhood people whose senses are crazy with drugs seem to change even pain into the power of anger to fight.
Only at this time, the fact that the enemy was wearing a heavy bulletproof helmet was fortunate. A helmet with a bulletproof visor is heavy and the field of vision is poor. The enemy whose pain sensation was dulled by drugs doesn't die easily and unleash an attack that exerted superhuman strength, but that movement was full of openings.
He jumps at that body and thrusts the knife gripped with a reverse grip into the enemy's stomach. A groan rose, but that was all. The muscle contracted, and the knife thrust deep into the enemy's body becomes unable to be pulled out. The boy released his hand from the knife and picked up the fire extinguisher placed at the end of the corridor.
As expected the movement was dull because the knife was thrust into the stomach, but the enemy was not trying to stop the fight yet. The boy full-swings the fire extinguisher with both hands aiming for the enemy's head. Whether the helmet was a bit too large, the chin strap that was not tightened well danced in the air, and the helmet with a bulletproof visor flew away from the enemy's head.
Under the visor of the blown-away helmet, there was a face of a man whose bloodshot eyes were glaring. Looking at that face, the boy thought he was just like an infected.
No, essentially they might be the same. Suppressing fear with drugs, paralyzing senses, and the only use of the slightly left reason is how to kill the opponent. Once it becomes like this, it's the same as infected. Only the difference of whether human words are understood or not remains.
The boy full-swung the fire extinguisher again toward the head of the man whose helmet was blown away. Along with a dull sound and sensation, the man's head distorts greatly. Although he fell down, the boy swung down the fire extinguisher with all his might on the head of the man who still tries to stand up.
There was a wet sound of a squish. The man's body convulsed once greatly, and then the limbs moved slightly as if cramped. But there is no sign of standing up. Even if pain sensation was paralyzed, if the head is crushed with a fire extinguisher, he will surely die.
The boy approached the corpse of the man whose head was crushed and snatched the magazine of the submachine gun from that body that still had heat and occasionally convulsed. And he picks up the submachine gun the man dropped earlier.
The submachine gun the man had was the same police equipment as the one the boy was using, but it caught his eye that a cylinder of about 30 centimeters was attached to the muzzle. That metal cylinder where raw welding marks were painted over with black paint was apparently a homemade suppressor.
The boy also made a homemade suppressor to attach to a submachine gun before, but unlike the homemade suppressor that could only fire one shot, the suppressor the Brotherhood manufactured seems to have enough durability and silencing effect. Moreover, although it's handmade, there are traces of being made using machine tools such as a welding machine. A person familiar with machine work must be joined in the Brotherhood.
He loads ammo into the submachine gun with a suppressor and proceeds readying it instead of the assault rifle. The power of a submachine gun is also significantly lower than an assault rifle because it uses handgun bullets, but even so, it's much better than a handgun. Anyway, the assault rifle cannot be used because it's broken.
"Oh, were you safe."
With that voice, Sato showed himself. From the muzzle of the carbine with a suppressor in hand, steam is rising whether rain hit the heated barrel. Whether a bullet grazed, the sleeve of the camouflage uniform was torn and blood was coming out.
"Sato-san, you're bleeding too, are you okay?"
"I'm no problem, you..."
Immediately after saying so, Sato dragged the boy to the ground. In the next moment, the fluorescent light that was overhead shattered into pieces and rained down on the two. It seems the Brotherhood fired from the parking lot toward the corridor.
"It seems those guys have two groups: the group soaked in drugs and the group that is not."
While firing back with the carbine, Sato said. The boy also raised his face and readies the submachine gun he just snatched from the enemy using the wall of the corridor as a shield. But outside darkness is spreading, and the field of vision is poor with rain. Furthermore, with firing with a suppressor attached, gunshots and muzzle flashes almost don't come out. Even so, Sato seemed to know where the enemy was firing from based on experience.
He doesn't know where the enemy is firing from from within the darkness. Whether he sensed such a state of the boy, Sato turned on the laser sight. A red dot danced in the darkness like the light of a firefly, and then Sato turned on the flashlight also attached to the carbine.
A strong light cuts through the darkness and illuminates the hedge separating the parking lot and the road. The raindrops falling from the sky float up like a curtain, and beyond that, the boy surely witnessed the figures squirming.
The enemies hiding in the bushes were different from the ones who boarded into the apartment, and they didn't seem to be wearing helmets or such. However, whether they are aware of being lightly equipped, they are firing while hiding in the shadow of objects. The drug-soaked people were firing while boldly exposing their bodies because fear was suppressed, but the enemies he is facing now are clearly wary of our gunfire. They would be the "sane" Brotherhood enemies who are not soaked in drugs.
The enemy was also armed with submachine guns equipped with homemade suppressors. What's troublesome unlike the group that became junkies is that they attack while keeping distance and being wary of our attacks. If they were the group whose fear was paralyzed by drugs, they would come rushing regardless of some hits and try to kill us. But the group that maintains reason and fear doesn't try to show themselves easily, and doesn't try to approach.
Because it's a gunfight while being exposed to strong wind and heavy rain, bullets don't hit easily. Hands shake with wind and field of vision is poor with rain, and in such a situation it's more difficult to hit and hit. Of course that circumstance is the same for the enemy, and the bullets the enemy fires don't hit the boy and the others either.
That said, this waste of bullets won't continue long. The Brotherhood is trying to throw in junkie members seeing an opening, and they themselves had an air of trying to board into the apartment somehow. If Sato's story is true, he should see that the surroundings of the apartment are already surrounded by the Brotherhood. If they can't break through the encirclement somehow, the two were the same as rats in a bag.
They have already allowed the enemy's intrusion on the first floor. The boy saw multiple enemies show themselves from the entrance he just escaped from. Because they were wearing helmets with bulletproof visors, they would be the drug-soaked group.
The boy and Sato fired guns from above the stairs respectively. The boy aimed for the enemy's legs to dull the movement, and Sato shot through the head. Even if it's a bulletproof helmet, it's not sturdy enough to withstand a rifle bullet from point-blank range. After defeating only two, Sato muttered "There's no end to this."
"We'll escape from here through the room on the first floor. You have necessary things, right?"
"Necessary things" are weapons and ammunition, and food and medical supplies necessary for survival for several days. Since they were already wearing those when they were attempting the first escape, there is no need to go back to get them on purpose. This apartment is used as a safe house, so weapons, ammunition, food, etc. are stockpiled, but in this situation there would be no time to go back to get them. It's a pity, but they have no choice but to leave them.
Sato ran down the stairs and opened the door of a nearby room, jumped into the room and confirmed the safety of the interior. And he looked out the window and confirmed the state of the road. Whether he confirmed the safety, he waves his hand saying "It's okay, come!" He probably judged they could break through somehow even though there would be enemies outside too.
The moment the boy was about to escape into the room, he suddenly felt intense heat around the shin of his left leg. Then intense pain attacked, and the boy understood he was shot. Even so, it was good until he jumped into the room somehow, but the boy who was shot in the leg tripped at the entrance and fell down greatly at the entrance. A Brotherhood member wearing a bulletproof helmet immediately showed himself from the open door and tries to kill the boy by swinging up a short sword greatly.
There Sato, who had gone to the window, returned to the entrance while firing the carbine in bursts. The bulletproof visor of the helmet the Brotherhood member wore was dyed bright red from the inside, and the body that lost strength falls on its back toward the corridor side. Before that back touched the floor, Sato closed the door so as not to be intruded into the room further and locked it.
"Are you okay?"
Looking, the hem of the pants was torn in a straight line, and red blood was flowing out. Apparently the bullet stayed at grazing the boy's leg, but even so, the pain of having flesh and skin scraped over several centimeters is extraordinary.
"Can you stand?"
At those words of Sato, he managed to stand up, but running would be absolutely impossible. The muscle and bone would not be injured, but the pain is worse than that. Just moving slightly, intense pain thrusts up to the brain.
"We're leaving here, hurry."
Sato made the boy stand while holding him as if embracing with his left hand while holding the carbine with his right hand, and moved him to the window. He peeked out the window, but whether Sato had defeated the enemies who were outside the window earlier, no moving things were found.
But immediately other enemies will come around to block the path of the boy and the others. They must escape this apartment no matter what before that happens, but it's difficult now that he was shot in the leg.
Go out from the window and climb over the brick wall separating the narrow yard and the road. It's only about the height of an adult's chest, but climbing it while dragging the shot leg was quite hard work. The more he puts in strength and braces himself, the more blood flows from the shot leg.
He managed to get over the wall with Sato pushing from below, but the boy already had almost no physical strength left. The corpse of the Brotherhood member shot and killed by Sato from within the room of the apartment was rolling on the road, and the blood that flowed from that body was being sucked into the gutter along with the rain water.
I look forward to your opinions and impressions.