Chapter 163 - A Story of Putting Things Away
The ground shook with the sound of an explosion, and the Brotherhood crowd began to make a fuss about what was happening. Even in the midst of that, the Leader did not lose his composure and questioned the executive waiting next to him, "What is the situation?"
"We don't know! Only that an explosion occurred..."
"I can tell that much myself. Who did it, where did the explosion occur, what is the damage status—has no information come in?"
"I'm sorry, not that far yet..."
"Confirm it immediately. Also, issue Type 1 Deployment; prepare for combat."
As expected of a former politician, even if a young one, his way of issuing precise instructions was spot on. I don't know what Type 1 Deployment is, but it must be one of the combat readiness states. Preparing from this situation might mean preparing for combat with full armament.
Looking around, the Brotherhood members in the live house, excluding the security personnel, were lightly armed. At most, they only had handguns. There might be a restriction to prevent rebellion, but rifles and the like are bulky and heavy, so carrying them around twenty-four seven is very tiring. Since the inside of the base was considered safe, they probably only carried handguns.
"The explosion occurred at the West Gate! The barricade and gateposts have been completely destroyed!"
One of the executives holding a radio to his ear shouted. The Brotherhood's base is established in a corner of a warehouse district along the coast. To the east is the sea, and to the west is the city area.
The infected around the base have been mostly wiped out, and the Brotherhood is progressing with the eradication of infected in the city area, but many infected still remain. If those infected were to surge in, no matter how rich in weapons and ammunition the Brotherhood is, they would struggle to deal with it.
"Reports are coming in that fires are breaking out in various locations! The firefighting team is currently being dispatched."
"This is a guerrilla attack. Everyone, move in pairs or more. If you're alone, you'll be an easy target."
As soon as the Leader issued instructions, the members who had been enjoying the deathmatch between the boy and the infected until a moment ago rushed out of the live house one after another.
The boy wondered, Did Sato come to save me? But it was that Sato who created the cause for the boy being caught by the Brotherhood. Would he really come back to save him after abandoning him to escape himself?
"Leader, what do we do with this guy?"
At the DJ's words, the boy came to his senses. The live house, which had been packed until just now, now had almost no one left. Only the Leader and other Brotherhood executives, the boy, and Aki and the others. Now having become hostile existences to the Brotherhood, they stood unable to move with guns pointed at them.
"Restrain those women and lock them up; they have a use. Put that guy back in solitary; we'll continue this another time."
Aki and the others were led out of the live house with guns pressed against them by guards. Following after them, the Leader and other Brotherhood executives also left the live house, and the boy could only look up at the scene from the stage.
It seemed the Colosseum had been canceled. It was natural since the audience was gone, but the boy was relieved for the time being that he didn't have to fight the infected with his bare hands anymore. Although he had somehow managed to defeat two infected and clear the second stage, anything more would be physically difficult. Furthermore, if three infected were to come out in the third stage, it would truly be the end.
The infected still trapped in the remaining container were also banging on the door, perhaps excited by hearing the sound of the explosion. The bolt seemed to be halfway coming off, perhaps because it had been hoisted by a wire until just now, but it was still fulfilling its role.
It would be unbearable if the bolt came off for some reason and the infected inside jumped out. The boy tried to reset the bolt of the container, but before he could, the door at the side of the stage opened, and guards holding submachine guns came out faster.
"Put your hands up!"
The two guards kept their distance from the boy and pointed the muzzles of their submachine guns at him. The reason they didn't try to approach carelessly was likely because they had witnessed the scene of the boy killing three infected with his bare hands. One of the guards took out handcuffs and threw them in front of the boy, saying, "Put the handcuffs on yourself!"
Unlike the unarmed infected, the boy was aware that he had no chance of winning if he fought two people with guns with his bare hands. Just as he was about to obey that instruction obediently, the boy suddenly remembered the existence of the container next to him. What was inside the container?
"Alright, alright, so don't shoot."
Saying so, the boy pretended to raise both hands and, with his raised right hand, flicked the bolt of the container upward. The bolt blocking the container door came off, and the door was immediately flung open from the inside as if pushed. From there, three infected jumped out.
Having sensed that there were humans—prey—nearby due to the shouting and the sound of the explosion, the infected had become even more ferocious. Because the boy was at the side of the container, he didn't enter the infected's field of vision, but the two guards who were trying to restrain the boy were standing right in front of the container. As a result, the three infected that jumped out from inside set the guards as their prey just like that and pounced on them.
"Uwaaaah!"
The guards fired the submachine guns in their hands, but in a state where they hadn't even aimed properly, there was no way they would hit. Even so, a few bullets hit the infected, but with weak handgun rounds, it's difficult to take down an infected in one blow unless aiming for the head.
The shot infected, while bleeding from their bodies, pounced on one of the guards without flinching. The guard who took the body blow fell to the floor, and the submachine gun flew from his hand and slid toward the door. The guard resisted the infected that had mounted him by flailing both hands, but the infected punched him messily. The guard instinctively held up both hands in front of his face to protect it, but the infected bit into that arm.
"Nooooo!"
The other guard, seeing his comrade become prey for the infected, tried to run away showing his back. But two more infected attacked there. The infected pounced on the fleeing guard from behind and pinned him face down onto the concrete floor.
"Help me!"
He probably pulled the trigger out of fear. From the submachine gun gripped in the hand of the guard's flailing arm as he lay face down, bullets were fired continuously, and sparks flew on the floor and ceiling. Several light bulbs of the spotlights on the ceiling broke, and the stage became dim.
An infected bit into the defenseless neck of the guard who was swinging the submachine gun that had run out of ammo. A scream rose, and the infected bit off the skin of the guard's neck along with yellow fat and red muscle.
The remaining one infected seemed to have set its sights on the boy, but before that, the boy had started running toward the door the guards had come in through. He picked up the submachine gun one of the guards had dropped on the way and dove into the exit at full speed. Then, immediately turning his body and closing the door, the roar of an infected slamming into the door thundered right after.
The infected was slamming into the door repeatedly, but based on the concept of the Colosseum—making humans fight infected—the door seemed to have been made sturdily in preparation for unforeseen circumstances. Judging that the door would hold for a while, the boy finally took a breath.
From beyond the door, the screams and pleas for help of the guards being devoured by the infected echoed. The boy checked the condition of the submachine gun he had just picked up, which had the engraving "9mm Machine Pistol" on the side of the receiver.
Perhaps because the guard had been firing on full auto at the infected before dropping it, there weren't even five rounds left in the magazine. Spare bullets would be in the pouches of the vest the guard was wearing, but to get those, he would have to open the door again, return to the stage where three infected were devouring their prey, and defeat the infected. Even though he had obtained a gun, both the power and the bullets were insufficient to contend with three infected. Having finally escaped from the infected, he was not about to fight them again.
The boy gave up on securing bullets and prioritized escaping from the live house anyway. When the guards came earlier, there were no other Brotherhood people around. Since it was unthinkable that they would leave the building empty except for those two, they might have temporarily left the stage area or be in another part of the live house. The fact that the boy had escaped would soon become known to the others. Before that, he needed to escape from the Brotherhood's base, or at least be outside this live house.
The boy set the selector of the submachine gun to "Ta" for semi-auto and proceeded through the live house. It seemed even the Brotherhood couldn't make many silencers, as the submachine gun the boy took from the guard was not equipped with one.
Furthermore, bullets were few. If it came to a fight, he would literally shoot through them in an instant. If he fought humans with firearms, and multiple enemies at that, with his bare hands, he would surely be killed this time. He had luckily survived with his bare hands against the infected in the Colosseum earlier, but luck doesn't necessarily last forever.
Even if he were to escape the Brotherhood's base, they would have heightened their vigilance due to the earlier explosion, so he should assume that any place leading outside is being watched. Furthermore, since the Leader had said the earlier explosion was due to a guerrilla attack, heavily armed members would be running around inside the base for vigilance and searching for intruders.
That said, there was no guarantee he could stay hidden without being found in the enemy's home forever. In the worst case, he would have to break through the enemy's siege and escape. For that, he first needed more weapons.
Fortunately, although only a few bullets remained, he also had a gun. If it came down to it, he could defeat an enemy and seize weapons and ammunition. In that respect, he was grateful not to be empty-handed.
By the way, just who was it that caused this attack? Since he didn't think Sato, who had abandoned him, would come to help, perhaps another faction hostile to the Brotherhood had launched an attack. If such people existed, that is.
What was concerning was the future treatment of Aki and the others. They had completely developed a sense of distrust toward the Brotherhood, and the Brotherhood side also seemed to have stopped treating them as comrades. To the Brotherhood, anyone other than their own comrades—it would be more accurate to say members—was nothing but an enemy. And in the Brotherhood, the perception toward people other than members was that it didn't matter what was done to them.
It would be fine to escape alone from here. But what would happen to Aki and the others after that? When the boy was fighting the infected, he clearly remembered the sight of them protesting to the Brotherhood executives to save his life.
If he abandoned such girls and escaped alone, he would be no different from the Brotherhood crowd. The boy decided to save Aki and the others as well.
Please send your opinions and impressions.