Chapter 159 - A One-on-One Fight Story
The boy, who had given up on persuading the guard, searched for other means to escape, but there was no way out in a room surrounded by iron bars and walls. Moreover, the guard was in front of the boy the whole time, so there was no way to escape. He thought about resuming the persuasion of the guard, but this man probably wouldn't reach a conclusion after worrying forever unless he faced a life-threatening situation.
While doing so, night fell, and the boy was dragged out of the solitary cell by several members of The Brotherhood. The guard seemed like he wanted to say something seeing the boy being taken away somewhere, but in the end, his mouth did not open.
Outside the cell, a narrow corridor continued, and there was a staircase at the end. The boy was ordered to go down the stairs with a gun pointed at him. He thought it was a chance to resist, but The Brotherhood members were escorting the boy while keeping a proper distance. It's a distance where they can shoot the boy dead with leeway even if he tries to escape or resist.
Inevitably, the boy went down the stairs. There was a thick iron door at the end of the stairs, and the boy was pushed from behind and rolled into the back of that door.
The room behind the door was pitch black. At the same time as The Brotherhood member closed the iron door behind him, intense light suddenly descended from the ceiling. He instinctively closed his eyes, but the boy felt the presence of many people around him.
At the same time, he felt a strong smell of iron. And a smell of something rotting that seemed like his nose would bend. That smell, which he had smelled many times, was the putrid smell emitted by dead humans.
"Now, the long-awaited Colosseum is starting! Are you guys getting excited!"
Suddenly, a voice of a man like a DJ—or rather, a DJ himself—flowed from the speakers installed on the ceiling. At the same time, cheers of young men and women rose, and the boy felt like an idol standing on a stage.
Finally, his eyes got used to the light. When the boy looked up at the ceiling, he saw many figures moving under the colorful spotlights hanging down.
The place where the boy is now is a place like the warehouse where he was previously confined. The only difference was that black sound-absorbing material was stretched all over the walls, and a catwalk made of steel frames was built so that the floor where the boy is could be looked down upon. And large containers were placed in the four corners of the warehouse, which was about the size of a small gymnasium.
And the concrete floor was stained brown here and there. Those brown stains emitting a strong smell of iron would be human blood that had coagulated.
White stick-like things were rolling here and there on the brown floor illuminated by the spotlights. Those stick-like things with brown lumps sticking to them here and there, when looked closely, were human femurs with dried meat attached in spots.
"Whoa."
Such a voice inadvertently leaked from the boy's mouth.
Human bones were rolling around in a disjointed state here and there on the floor. Sharp ribs, and even a half-crushed skull among them. What they had in common was that there were traces of being eaten somewhere. The boy had seen the remains of people eaten to death by the infected while wandering through the city many times. The state of those eaten corpses and the white bones rolling on the floor were almost the same.
Looking down at the boy from the catwalk on the second floor were many young men and women. Since they all wore black bandanas around their arms, necks, or foreheads, they must be members of The Brotherhood. They were looking down at the boy with curious eyes, like spectators watching a show.
Among them were faces the boy knew. Aki and the others, who should have joined The Brotherhood, were looking at the boy from the catwalk, flanked by men from The Brotherhood. However, a look of confusion could be seen on those faces. Aki's companions, except for Yuko who should have been seriously injured, were all looking down at the boy from above the catwalk.
And at the highest point of the catwalk, there was the figure of the Leader of The Brotherhood. The eyes of the Leader, sitting in a large chair like a special seat and flanked by women wearing very revealing clothes, were looking straight at the boy.
"Now everyone, today's fun Colosseum is starting! This man is a hateful enemy who attacked us, The Brotherhood! To attack us who are acting according to justice, what a foolish guy! There must be some whose comrades were killed by him!"
"Die, you bastard!"
" I'll kill you!"
When the DJ said that, words insulting the boy fell from above along with boos. Not only words fell, but even empty cans and beer bottles with contents still inside were thrown by The Brotherhood members. The flashy sound of bottles breaking and the dull metallic sound of empty cans hitting the floor played a strange harmony. In their eyes, anger toward the boy and the pleasure of holding the boy's fate in their own hands could be seen.
"Whoops everyone, I know you're angry, but it's still before the Colosseum starts! Please be careful not to injure him. Now, this time, odds are concentrated on losing in the first round. No one has been able to break through the second round until now, and the challenger this time is a kid. Boy over there, please do your best not to die in the first round. I'm betting on you surviving until the second round."
Seeing the words like first round or surviving, and the white bones left scattered on the floor, the boy was beginning to vaguely understand what was going to be done to him from now on.
Looking up at the catwalk, he saw Aki and the others protesting something to the men of The Brotherhood. The Brotherhood man made an exasperated face and said something, but his words were not heard due to the noise of the spectators.
Speaking of which, wouldn't the infected notice with all this noise? Looking up at the spotlights on the ceiling, the boy speculated that this place was originally a live house or something.
He had heard that there are live houses made by renovating warehouses that are no longer used. If it's a live house, soundproofing measures would be perfect so as not to disturb the surrounding residents. The catwalk above might also be for the spectators to look down at the stage. Even if they are making noise here, almost no sound would leak outside. Even if it were leaking, there might be no infected within the range where it can be heard.
"Now then, let's start the first round! Leader, a word to the challenger!"
A microphone was handed to the Leader, and his cold eyes shot straight through the boy. The Leader threw something down from above, so the boy hurriedly caught it with both hands connected by handcuffs. What the Leader threw was the key to the handcuffs.
"Do your best."
With those words, the bolt hung on the door of one of the containers was lifted up by a connected wire. At the same time, a wire tied to the door of the same container was pulled, and the door gradually began to open.
The boy hurriedly tried to remove the handcuffs. However, perhaps because of panic, the key wouldn't easily go into the keyhole. While doing so, the container door finally opened completely, and the thing the boy expected jumped out from inside.
Dripping saliva mixed with blood, looking at the boy with bloodshot eyes, and jumping out while letting out a roar was one infected.
How did The Brotherhood catch the infected? Catching an infected that attacks as soon as it sees a human figure would be more difficult than catching a lion or a tiger.
A tag-like thing made of cardboard was wrapped around the arm of the male infected that jumped out of the container. Perhaps The Brotherhood was intentionally turning survivors from other groups they caught, or comrades who were "valueless" to them, into infected? They might have been experimenting with how long it takes to transform after being bitten by an infected, or how much body fluid from an infected needs to enter the body to become an infected oneself.
The moment the rushing infected reached out its hand to the boy's nose, the handcuffs were removed. The boy hurriedly rolled sideways, and the infected's outstretched hand grazed the empty air.
The infected's running momentum did not stop, and it crashed into the wall covered with sound-absorbing material. It would have been good if it had just spun its eyes from the impact of hitting the wall hard, but the infected immediately looked back and roared again, looking at the boy. The infected's roar vibrated the air, and the The Brotherhood members, who were the spectators, got even more excited.
The boy finally remembered the meaning of the word "Colosseum" that the Leader had said. An arena in ancient Rome. A show where gladiators kill each other or wild beasts in front of a large audience. The gladiator here is the boy, and the wild beast is the infected. Although to call him a gladiator, not even a single sword was given.
"Shit...!"
The infected rushed again, and the boy avoided it by a hair's breadth. In a space only about the size of a school classroom, even if he could somehow avoid the rush, the infected would immediately regain its posture and launch an attack again. Just avoiding it many times will eventually exhaust his physical strength and he'll just become unable to move.
If so, he has no choice but to defeat the infected. But the boy was now empty-handed. Even if it's not a gun, if he had an axe or a metal bat, he could somehow defeat one infected. But in a space with no escape, facing an infected empty-handed is equivalent to a suicidal act.
"Don't run away!"
"Hurry up and get eaten!"
From above the catwalk spectator seats, The Brotherhood members showered him with insults. For them, this show would be a place to confirm their own justification as well as being entertainment.
They want to see the enemy who defied The Brotherhood scream and be eaten by the infected while begging for their lives. And they want to laugh at the victims killed by the infected as weaklings and feel that they, who hold guns, are strong people.
If they have guns, they can defeat one infected. But the victims of the Colosseum must face the infected without guns because they defied The Brotherhood. In contrast, they, who belong to The Brotherhood, have guns, so they are not afraid of the infected.
Stupid. The boy spat out. The blood stained on the floor and the bones rolling here and there were the figures of people who lost their lives for such a stupid show. And now the boy is also about to join them.
But the boy had no intention of pleasing The Brotherhood members at all. If they are wishing for his death, he will resist until the end. If they want to see the boy screaming and begging for his life, even if he is eaten to death by the infected, he won't scream until the end, and he won't beg for his life to The Brotherhood members.
Moreover, the boy had not survived this nearly one year for nothing. If it's one infected, even if empty-handed, there is some chance of winning. It's an extremely low chance, but he has no intention of giving up.
After avoiding the rush several times, the boy looked straight at the infected. The important thing is timing in everything. If the timing is right, he can manage. But if the timing is wrong, what awaits is death.
Again, the infected rushed toward the boy with both hands outstretched. The boy did not move from the spot and just waited for the timing. The excited catwalk members call out "Die."
At the moment the fingertips of the hand outstretched by the rushing infected grazed the boy's nose, the boy shifted his body slightly sideways. It's the minimum distance where he's not too far from the infected, but not at a distance where he'll be caught as he is.
When the infected passed through the space where he had been until just before, the boy let out a kick with all his might toward the infected's leg. The momentum of the rushing infected and the momentum of the kick he delivered were synthesized, and a shock as if he thought he was hit by a car ran through the boy's right leg. The boy sat down, unable to withstand the shock and losing his balance, but the infected suffered more damage. Having its leg kicked away while rushing vigorously, it fell spectacularly and hit its face hard on the floor.
The boy quickly stood up and ran toward the infected prostrate on the floor. The infected tried to raise its body and turned on its back, but before that, he kicked its head with all his might. A creaking sound was heard and the infected's face was strangely distorted, but the infected was still alive.
An ordinary person would have a concussion and be unconscious, but for the physically sturdy infected, it seemed not to be much damage. However, its movements became sluggish. The boy mounted the infected as it tried to stand up sluggishly and thrust a glass shard, which he had picked up while avoiding the rush, into its throat.
It was a shard of a broken beer bottle thrown into the stage by the excited members. The glass shard, broken into a sharp shape like a blade, pierced deeply into the infected's neck. The infected's eyes widened, and it tried to reach out its hand to grab the boy's head. Despite the glass shard piercing its neck, he pressed the infected's forehead against the floor to suppress the infected, which was still trying to eat the prey in front of it, and then he pulled the glass shard pierced into the neck sideways with force.
Skin and blood vessels were torn, and bright red blood flowed out of the infected's neck like a faucet being turned. The glass shard was sharp and even the boy's hand that held it was torn and blood seeped out, but without caring about the pain, the boy put even more strength into the hand holding the glass shard.
Along with a sensation of something being punctured, the infected began to blow bubbles mixed with blood from its mouth. A hole was opened in the windpipe. Furthermore, perhaps the artery was also torn, as fresh blood spurted from the wound like a fountain. Even after receiving a fatal wound that would make an ordinary person lose consciousness from shock, the infected continued to struggle. However, the boy mounting its body continued to press the infected's head against the ground with both hands, sealing its movements.
Although it's an infected that doesn't feel pain and is strong against damage, if it receives a fatal wound that would kill an ordinary person, it will eventually die. While spurting blood from its neck, it swung its hands around to kill the boy and made a clicking sound with its teeth, but as the momentum of the blood spurting from its neck weakened, strength also left its body.
And the infected completely stopped moving. The boy stood up and kicked the neck of the unmoving infected many times with force. A dry sound like breaking a thick tree branch echoed, and at the point where the infected's neck was twisted in an impossible direction, the boy finally stopped kicking.