Chapter 154 - A Story Where Life is More Hellish Than Hell
Two days had passed since the boy was detained by The Brotherhood. There was no clock in the small warehouse room, so the exact time was unknown, but he knew from the light shining through the window overhead that at least one sunset had occurred.
The men of The Brotherhood who had been interrogating him left the place after extracting a great deal of information from the boy, without particularly harming him further. Instead, the boy was given sufficient meals.
Even though he said sufficient, it was simple things like hardtack, canned meat, and bean sprouts, but in these times when supplies were hard to come by, it could be said to be quite luxurious. He couldn't understand why The Brotherhood would keep the boy, who was an enemy, alive and even share precious food with him. However, judging that recovering his strength was the top priority for now, the boy obediently ate the food provided.
What he realized from observing The Brotherhood's people was that they possessed abundant supplies. The people interrogating the boy all had good complexions and showed no signs of hunger. Their weapons varied in type, but each person held at least one gun.
And they frequently exchanged information using radios. They weren't high-performance military ones, but transceivers that looked like they might be sold at home appliance stores, yet they seemed to have a sufficient number of them.
Furthermore, the men's appearances were clean. Since humans stop caring about their appearance when they have no leeway, being able to care for one's appearance meant they had that much leeway in their lives.
Even so, he knew without even having to observe that The Brotherhood harbored hostility toward the boy. Even though they prepared meals and didn't lay a hand on him, there was no doubt they hated the boy. During the interrogation, the boy was assaulted many times, and after the interrogation, he was insulted many times. It seemed the men truly wanted to kill the boy, and a sense of reluctance was clearly conveyed even when they handed him food.
Even so, what on earth do they intend to make me do? The boy looked up at the high ceiling.
After extracting information, they didn't kill him but left him alone with sufficient food. They must be keeping him alive because he has some utility value, but what kind of value could a boy who is an enemy of The Brotherhood have? If they just wanted to keep him alive, they should have given him only the bare minimum of food.
It seemed to be daytime now, as blue sky was visible through the ceiling window. The bare fluorescent lights hanging from the ceiling were not lit now. Even for The Brotherhood with its abundant supplies, they probably didn't have enough leeway to keep the lights on during the day.
Mixed with the sound of the waves, the sound of car engines could be heard occasionally. The Brotherhood's base was by the sea, and during times when the north wind blew, the downwind was the sea, so there was no fear of the engine sounds being heard by the infected on the wind. Besides, knowing The Brotherhood, they must have eradicated all the infected in the surrounding area.
Was that particularly loud engine sound from a truck's diesel engine? Using a truck must mean they were carrying quite a large load. If it were just carrying people or a certain amount of supplies, they could have used an electric vehicle that made no engine noise.
If The Brotherhood were left alone like this, they would expand their range of action even further and come to threaten even more survivors. Some might be recognized for their ability and welcomed as comrades of The Brotherhood, but there would be far more people discarded as "valueless." And since valueless people were no different from disposable slaves to The Brotherhood, they would either die of exhaustion from heavy labor without decent meals or be killed by the infected after being forced into dangerous jobs with a high risk of death.
While thinking that such things must be stopped, the boy felt whether he had the right to do so. What he had done until now was no different from what The Brotherhood was doing. To survive himself, he abandoned others, made them decoys for the infected, and killed them if he judged them dangerous.
He had no right to criticize The Brotherhood. He was in no position to say cool things like stopping The Brotherhood by pretending to be a hero of justice now.
He was starting to feel that everything didn't matter anymore. Having been abandoned by Sato and caught by The Brotherhood, and finally realizing how cold-blooded and atrocious his actions had been, the boy had no energy left to think about taking any action.
He had nothing to protect and no meaning to live. This was the result of acting solely on the thought of not wanting to die. Having driven many people to their deaths, he was still despicably clinging to life. If living selfishly meant taking even more people's lives, it might be better to die.
While he was thinking about such things, the door in front of the boy was suddenly opened. Seeing the face of the person who entered, the boy was lost for words.
"It's been a while."
The one who entered the room saying so was Aki, whom the boy had met at the girls' academy where he had previously stayed. The last time he met her was several weeks ago, and they hadn't met since their worst possible parting.
The reason their relationship was severed was also because of The Brotherhood. He thought if only he could have made contact with Aki and the others before The Brotherhood when they coincidentally came to this town. But reality was not so; they ended up trusting a man from The Brotherhood they had just met, and the bullet the boy fired at the man hit their teacher instead.
Because of that, Aki and the others judged the boy to be an enemy and went to The Brotherhood's side. He hadn't seen them since then, but to reunite at a time like this. It seemed he was thoroughly out of luck.
"Only ten minutes."
The man standing guard outside said so and closed the door. Only the boy and Aki were in the room. However, the boy was a captive with his hands tied, and Aki was a person on the side of the guards.
Ten minutes must be the visitation time. He didn't know why she came to see him, but he could tell immediately just by looking at her face that she didn't have good feelings toward the boy.
"You're still not dead yet."
"That's a harsh way to put it. Would it have been better if I had died?"
"I want to kill you with my own hands."
It sounded like a joke, but it didn't sound like a joke. He told himself it couldn't be helped since he had done something that warranted it. From their perspective, the boy had suddenly vanished from before them, and when they reunited, he called the person who had helped them a dangerous individual, and on top of that, he shot their precious teacher and seriously injured her.
Even though misunderstandings had piled up, he was also responsible for acting hastily while being hot-headed. The boy intended to accept Aki's criticism submissively.
"So... how is Yuko-sensei?"
"She was seriously injured because you shot her, but the people here saved her. But maybe because the injury was so terrible, she's still in no-visitation status."
The boy felt a sense of incongruity at the words "saved her." Could The Brotherhood, which thought there was no value in people who couldn't fight or weren't useful, possibly take in an injured outsider and provide treatment? But since it felt like Aki would leave immediately if he spoke that aloud, he decided not to say it.
"So, what are you all doing now?"
"Is there a need to tell you?"
"...True, I don't have the right. But, if possible, I'd like you to tell me."
When the boy said that, Aki tapped the holster attached to her waist belt. Inside the holster was an automatic handgun.
"Various things. Since coming here, guarding, procuring supplies... well, just odd jobs."
"What about combat? Were you present at the scene where I was caught?"
"No, but maybe I'll be allowed to fight soon."
"Allowed to fight," in other words, was she wishing to fight?
Certainly, it was the boy who had kept saying that those who couldn't fight would die and that there was no choice but to die if one couldn't fight, and there was a time when he thought he wanted Aki and the others to become people who could fight. But seeing Aki actually carrying a gun as if it were natural and saying things like "kill" or "fight," he felt somewhat complicated.
"Do you really want to fight that much?"
"What are you saying? You were the one who said those who can't fight will die, weren't you? After you were gone, I finally understood that's exactly right. We don't want to die. So we fight, and we kill the enemy."
"...Have you killed anyone?"
"No, I haven't killed a human yet. But if it's to survive, I'll kill."
The boy felt as if he were looking at himself from a while ago. If you don't fight, you die, so you fight and survive yourself. Kill the enemy without mercy. He had blustered like that and taken dozens of lives until now.
But the boy knew what awaited at the end of those actions.
Even if he said now that such a way of life might not be right, they wouldn't listen. The boy's way of life had changed even them.
But unlike the boy, Aki and the others had not killed anyone yet. In that regard, they could still turn back. If they were to kill someone, from that moment on, they would be stepping into a hell from which they could not return.
"Listen. It's not something I should be saying, but don't kill people."
"What's that? Are you saying we should just be killed without resisting even if someone attacks us?"
"No. I'm saying you must absolutely never commit unnecessary murder by using excuses like 'to survive' or 'it couldn't be helped.'"
"You're the one saying that? The very person who has killed so many people until now?"
"It's precisely because I've killed so many people until now that I think so."
Aki made a face as if she were exasperated. Certainly, from her perspective, she might not understand what the boy was saying. She must be feeling what the person who killed people and told them to do the same was saying now. But the boy didn't want Aki and the others to experience the same hell as himself.
Just as they had lived peacefully for months in the secluded academy, in current Japan, one could lead a life unrelated to conflict if things went well. But once you kill a person, that fact will follow you for the rest of your life. In your head, the faces of those you killed will appear and vanish, and you will continue to be driven by the fear that you might be the one killed next. Driven by that fear, the boy had killed many people until now.
"I heard you were caught so I came to see, but did you hit your head or something? You look like a completely different person."
"I woke up. It's not that this world is hell; it's that hell is spread out inside my head."
"I don't understand what you're talking about... I'm going back now."
To Aki's back as she tried to leave the room, the boy called out.
"You should escape from here quickly. The people here aren't sane."
"Again, you're the one saying that? You, who shot Sensei?"
"I can't say anything back to that. But there's no doubt these people are the kind who think it's fine for others to end up however as long as they survive themselves. They think it's fine to die or kill. Many people have already been killed by the people here."
"Do you have proof?"
"I don't have proof that can convince you right now... So, go see Sensei. If the people here are sane and humane, they should be treating Sensei properly. But if they are the people I know them to be, then Sensei is surely..."
Valueless people, people who can't work, have no value. Would The Brotherhood, which holds such values, be treating the seriously injured Yuko?
I look forward to your opinions and impressions.