Chapter 177 - A Story of 'Isn't the Sidewalk Wide?'
The convoy, having left The Brotherhood's base where fires were raging everywhere, was heading straight for the convenience store where Aki and the others were waiting.
How many members had been able to escape? the boy thought. The Brotherhood was an organization that had been maintained because of the Leader's leadership. It wasn't hard to imagine that after the Leader and the others escaped from the base, the organization had collapsed in an instant.
He heard that weapons and ammunition were stockpiled at The Brotherhood's base, but according to Sato's comrades, infected had also gathered around the Armory. The members had tried to continue the battle toward the Armory, but it seemed they had been caught and killed by the infected before they could obtain the weapons.
Likely The Brotherhood had never had their base seriously attacked until now. If you have a gun, you can eliminate infected safely from a long distance. But that's only when the numbers are small. If dozens of infected swarm at once, no matter how many guns you have, if you can't deal with them calmly, you'll be approached and eaten alive in no time.
Until now, the members had used guns as a group to eliminate infected, so they must have thought that infected were nothing to fear. But with the boy and Sato running amok inside the base, being divided individually, and with the fear of not knowing where they would be attacked from, they surely couldn't deal with the infected properly.
Even when Sato seized the armored vehicle, the members had already begun to abandon their posts and flee. When one person fled, two fled, and eventually everyone turned their backs on the infected and fled. He said there wasn't even anyone who tried to fight Sato, who had seized the armored vehicle.
In the end, it was just a gathering of guys who were acting tough because they had obtained the absolute violence of guns. It's the gun that's strong, not the person, and it doesn't mean the person's heart became strong. The moment they thought they "couldn't win," the outcome of the battle was decided.
"Few of those who fled will survive. Even if they remain, it's doubtful whether they can gather again in a state where they've lost the Leader. Besides, the weapons, ammunition, and supplies they relied on are now left right in the middle of the infected. Those guys don't have the guts to go back and take them back even if they have to risk danger."
Sato said in a voice that didn't lose to the diesel engine's vibration and the gunshots while gripping the steering wheel. For the boy, it felt like a bit of a waste to leave behind all the weapons, ammunition, food, and fuel that The Brotherhood had gathered, but for now, escaping from the base and merging with Aki and the others was the priority. Besides, infected have no interest in weapons or supplies, so even if those things are right in front of them, they will never touch them. Regardless of the means, they could come back later and carry them out.
"What will you do from now on, Sato-san?"
The boy shouted while showering a burst from the Minimi light machine gun upon an infected that jumped out from an alley. Although the numbers were fewer compared to the interior of the base, there were normally infected outside as well. While hitting them and showering them with gunfire, the convoy advanced with the armored vehicle at the head. Fortunately, except for the members who deserted of their own will, there were no vehicles that had fallen behind yet.
In the driver's seat, Sato was talking into a transceiver about something. He was likely telling his comrades on the reclaimed land, "We're coming there now."
"That's something to think about after we safely escape from this place. It's almost the convenience store; we'll depart immediately after picking up those girls!"
Sato said after hitting another infected. Since there was a swarm of infected that had been chasing the convoy since The Brotherhood's base, they couldn't stay stopped for long.
Eventually, the convenience store where Aki and the others were hiding came into view ahead. There were no figures of infected around the convenience store. But soon, the swarm of infected chasing the convoy would come swarming.
The boy told Sato and flashed the armored vehicle's headlights three times at short intervals, which had been off until then. It was a signal decided upon when separating from Aki and the others to identify themselves as allies even while in a car. Aki and the others were hiding inside the convenience store so as not to encounter Brotherhood remnants or infected, but it was arranged that if a car that came to the convenience store flashed its headlights three times, it was an ally and they should come outside.
Immediately, Aki and the others appeared from inside the convenience store, and the boy felt relieved in his heart. Their numbers hadn't decreased, and they didn't seem to be injured. Toward them, who had come out in a timid manner, the boy shouted.
"Get in quickly! The infected are coming!"
The boy looked back. In the darkness, he could see human figures wriggling in the distance. He couldn't see the faces of those human figures running toward the convoy, but he could easily imagine they were infected.
The boy took this opportunity to search for anything useful in the rear seat or cargo area of the armored vehicle. The Minimi light machine gun's ammunition belt was already almost gone, and he needed an alternative weapon. He was already in a state of firing the automatic rifle, which is normally used on semi-auto, on full-auto to create a curtain of fire.
The girls who came out of the convenience store climbed into the SUVs driven by Sato's comrades one after another. As expected, he couldn't put them in the cars of the members who were coming along. After seeing everyone get into the cars, Aki crawled into the car through the armored vehicle's rear door.
"Everyone's in."
"Alright, hang on!"
Sato started the armored vehicle with force, but the infected were already closing in to within a dozen meters from the end of the convoy. The boy found one ammunition box containing 12.7mm rounds for the vehicle-mounted heavy machine gun from under a waterproof sheet in the armored vehicle's cargo area and returned to the roof.
"They're getting quite close!"
"That's why you're going to return fire!"
The boy hurriedly reloaded the vehicle-mounted heavy machine gun. He had never handled this kind of heavy machine gun until he climbed into this armored vehicle, but he had been taught the operation method as knowledge by Sato. Besides, as far as the loading method went, there wasn't a big difference from the Minimi light machine gun he had been handling until just now.
After finishing the loading, the boy leveled the heavy machine gun and faced the direction of travel. It was only fortunate that the infected didn't shoot guns. If the opponent were human, in the midst of flying bullets, it would have been a fearful reloading, and he wouldn't even have been able to fire the gun properly.
"Keep this loaded!"
The boy said so and handed the empty rifle he had been firing until just now to Aki inside the car. The heavy machine gun bullets would also run out in no time if he continued firing at this rate.
After hitting several infected and turning several corners, Sato suddenly stepped on the brakes. Looking ahead, the road was blocked by the rubble of a collapsed building.
"It was fine when I passed through here before, though..."
Looking closely, the rubble was charred black. After Sato passed through for the last time, it likely caught fire from lightning or something, and then the weakened remains collapsed and blocked the road. Anyway, it didn't seem like a car could pass through the rubble-strewn road. They might be able to manage if they abandoned the car and went on foot, but then they would be caught by the infected in no time.
"Changing the route. We'll charge through the city center where there are many infected; don't stop, any of you!"
Sato turned the steering wheel and drove the car onto a route heading for the city center. Since the city center was originally a place with many people, there were many who had become infected just like that. It was dangerous, but if that was the shortest route, it couldn't be helped.
"...Hey, what happened to the teacher?"
Aki asked from inside the car to the boy, who was gripping the heavy machine gun handles. Aki was the one who shot the Leader, who was trying to kill the boy. At that time, the Leader was talking boastfully to the boy about Yuko having died, but it seemed Aki hadn't heard it.
He hesitated whether to tell her honestly, but he had no choice. Even if he hid it, she would find out eventually. Besides, he didn't want to layer any more lies for the sake of pointless self-preservation at this late stage.
"The teacher is dead. I killed her. The Leader said so; he said she died because of the wound I shot."
"..."
"...I'm sorry."
Aki said nothing. Was she speechless with anger toward the boy, or had she already imagined that Yuko was dead?
He knew that anything more he said would just be an excuse. He intended to accept it even if Aki or her friends said anything to him. But Aki said nothing to him. On the contrary, how much easier would he feel if she insulted him to his face or blamed him?
The convoy entered the main street of the city center. On rainy days, infected are often inside buildings, but they came jumping out of buildings and shops one after another, drawn by the car engine sounds. The roadway of the main street was blocked by accident vehicles, and Sato drove the armored vehicle onto the sidewalk. The sidewalk was wide, and even the wide armored vehicle could manage to drive without contacting guardrails or buildings.
Something fell from above in front of the boy, who was firing the machine gun toward the infected visible ahead on the sidewalk. Looking up, human-shaped things were falling toward the sidewalk one after another.
They were infected that had jumped out from the buildings. From the second-floor windows of the buildings that had been broken by stray bullets or subsequent natural disasters, the infected who were inside the buildings must have jumped outside after hearing the engine sounds. The infected didn't show any sign of pain even when slammed onto the ground, and stood up just like that to chase the convoy.
One infected fell right in front of the armored vehicle, but Sato increased the speed and hit it just like that.
"They're falling from above!"
Without waiting for those words of Sato, the boy tried to point the machine gun overhead, but it was too late. One infected fell right on top of the armored vehicle.
The infected that landed on the front part of the armored vehicle stood up and reached its hand toward the boy before its eyes. The boy reflexively let go of the machine gun and pulled his handgun. He pulled the trigger three times, but they all hit the infected's arm or chest and didn't deliver a fatal wound.
The handgun, which hadn't been reloaded after firing, ran out of ammunition just like that. The boy struck the hand of the infected that reached out with the empty handgun, and while keeping his gaze on the infected before his eyes, he reached a hand toward Aki inside the car.
"Gun! Give me a gun!"
He couldn't use the machine gun at this distance. He'd be bitten while he was rotating it. While striking the infected that was grabbing the gun mount's shield and bringing its face close, the boy urged, "Hurry!" With Aki's voice saying, "This!", something hard touched his fingertips, so he grabbed it and pulled his arm up.
In his hand, one revolver was gripped. The boy, who threw the empty handgun into the car and instead leveled the revolver, thrust the muzzle against the forehead of the infected that was literally right under his nose and pulled the trigger. Fragments of skull and brain matter were scattered from the back of the infected's head, and the body, which had lost its strength, was thrown off the vehicle. That corpse was crushed by the following car just like that.
"That helped!"
Saying so, the boy tucked the revolver into his belt. Now that no one in the convoy could poke their face outside, the boy was the only one in a state where he could return fire against the infected. He asked Aki to reload the empty handgun and again gripped the heavy machine gun handles.
"Returning to the roadway!"
Sato said so and turned the steering wheel, forcibly tearing off a thin handrail and going out onto the roadway. Since they had passed the place where the accident occurred, the roadway was empty enough for a car to pass without issue. But infected were wandering around that road as if it were a pedestrian zone.
I look forward to your opinions and impressions.