Chapter 188 - A Story of This Is Japan...
The former members also became cooperative, and the manpower increased. When that happened, there was leeway in the transport of supplies, and Sato and the others started bringing back various things from the site of the Brotherhood's base. The transport of the remaining food and fuel is also almost complete, and after that, they just go back and forth between the base site and the landfill regularly and carry other things that seem useful.
There are many things brought into the landfill. Various machine tools, and maintenance equipment for automobiles. Solar power panels and small wind turbines for wind power generation. All were collected by the Brotherhood and stored in the warehouse.
There are solar power panels on the roof of the shopping mall, but the number cannot be said to be sufficient. Above all, because they had not been maintained, several had broken and the power generation capacity had dropped, so replacements were needed.
Various machine tools range from things like drills and grinders that might be placed in a middle school art room to 3D printers. Since large things cannot be brought in all at once, they were disassembled and transported to the landfill, but even so, things that seemed useful were sent to the landfill one after another.
Among the former members who were saved, there were several technicians besides the doctor. One who has qualifications related to electrical work, and one who handled the modification of firearms. Regarding the latter, his interest in weapons was so high that he not only modified model guns to give them killing power, but he even used the machine tools of the town factory where he worked without permission to make real guns.
The Brotherhood was equipped with firearms recovered from the JSDF and police, so they did not seem to make guns, but instead, what he was making were suppressors to be attached to those weapons. At first, he reportedly manufactured them by diverting oil filters, but because they had disadvantages such as poor balance or being thick in diameter and making aiming difficult, he gradually started making them himself.
Because oil filters that can be attached to automobiles are thick, they block the sights and make it impossible to aim the gun. Therefore, the gunsmith was making sound reducers using other materials. At first, he made a prototype with an iron pipe that was around, but the strength was insufficient and it burst or melted, and finally, he decided to divert the grip part of a flashlight into a sound reducer.
Even though it's called a flashlight, it's not a flimsy plastic thing, but a high-priced item sold at home improvement stores or military shops, made of lightweight and strong aircraft-grade aluminum with excellent shock resistance and water resistance, some of which are powerful enough for light to reach several hundred meters away. Except for being sturdy and having good performance, it is not much different in structure from a normal flashlight, and the grip part is made hollow to accommodate batteries.
The gunsmith diverted that into a sound reducer. Inside the metal cylinder of the grip part, he inserts parts called baffles, which are provided with many partitions to catch the high-pressure gas at the time of firing. The switch and light parts at both ends of the light are removed, and on one side, a part for attaching to the muzzle is screwed in, and on the other side, a part that is blocked and provided with a hole for the bullet to pass through is screwed in. By doing so, although the performance is considerably inferior to those used by the military or police, a usable handmade sound reducer is completed.
However, although the material for the sound reducer body is relatively easy to obtain, the baffles and parts for attaching to the muzzle have to be made by oneself. Moreover, it is difficult to obtain a large amount of flashlights with sufficient strength using aircraft-grade aluminum at once, and he has to make sound reducers using products from different manufacturers and brands.
Because those have different screw pitches and grip thicknesses, he could not do something like unifying standards and mass-producing. Therefore, the gunsmith is manufacturing parts one by one by hand according to the material, and it takes time until completion. Also, although the material is sturdy, it is not made assuming it will be attached to a gun and fired, so deterioration progresses with every shot, and compared to a real sound reducer, the lifespan was also short. They are made and break, and while a new one is being made, another one breaks... so even for the Brotherhood with abundant supplies, they were not able to equip everyone with suppressed guns.
Now, to process infected safely from a distance, he is having the gunsmith make sound reducers for sniper rifles. Sato and the boy were worried that the gunsmith might commit sabotage because he was being made to work under former enemies, but it was rather the opposite. The gunsmith is not particularly resisting, and on the contrary, he continues to make sound reducers happily.
Apparently, for him, being able to touch guns and make something is more important. Whether he is escaping from reality by immersing himself in work, or whether he truly loves weapons. In any case, the boy felt a little envious of him, who can be immersed in something even in this situation.
And useful human resources were also sleeping in familiar places.
After an expedition one day, Sato and the others brought back some equipment from the site of the Brotherhood's base. To that, which also looked like a game machine cabinet for a moment, many dial switches and buttons were attached, and a microphone and headphones are connected by cables.
"What is that?"
"It's an amateur radio, don't you know?"
One of the people who brought back the equipment, Fushimi, was installing the amateur radio in the security room of the shopping mall while saying so. The security room where the monitors for surveillance cameras are installed is one of the few places where electricity is supplied day and night, and Fushimi placed the amateur radio cabinets on a rack installed against the wall of the security room. Not just one, but many cabinets are lined up on the rack.
As a place where information within the shopping mall can be gathered at once, entry by former members should be prohibited. However, when checked with Sato using a transceiver, he had apparently given permission. Fushimi, who is cooperative here, is permitted to act with almost no surveillance, and bringing back the amateur radio this time was also his idea.
"I had obtained an amateur radio license before. So I was also entrusted with being the radio operator several times in the Brotherhood."
"Radio? To get in touch with comrades?"
"No, interception of radio. Among survivors, there are also groups getting in touch with amateur radios. You intercept the communications of such groups."
Although the boy has experience handling transceivers and such, he has never handled a full-scale radio. The communication distance of a transceiver is a few hundred meters at most, but an amateur radio can communicate with an opponent in a distant foreign country across the sea.
"Were you thinking of intercepting the radio and bringing them into the Brotherhood?"
"No, to attack them. People who use radios also have abundant supplies. We found such people and attacked them. Transmitting from here was basically prohibited."
I see, the boy was convinced. It's truly like the Brotherhood. To use it for attacking rather than for helping someone.
The reason he prepared many radio cabinets was to intercept communications carried out on various frequencies. If there is only one radio, it is necessary to frequently switch frequency bands and continue interception. However, if many radios are prepared and different frequencies are assigned to each, there is no such thing as missing a communication carried out while switching frequencies.
"Didn't you hear communications from the JSDF or police? I think there are people surviving somewhere."
"Not even once. In the first place, there's no way the JSDF would communicate on amateur radio frequency bands."
That's also true, the boy thought. If a radio used by the JSDF could be obtained, he might be able to intercept the communications of JSDF members who should be surviving, but that is also difficult. Communication devices are a mass of secrets for military organizations, and even in this emergency... no, because it is an emergency, the maintenance of secrecy was all the more thorough.
The boy and Sato previously headed to the sports park that the JSDF used as a base of operations and performed procurement of weapons and ammunition, but not a single usable radio was left. Most were carried out when the JSDF retreated, and regarding those that were likely not in time to be brought out, they were thoroughly destroyed. The armored vehicle that the Brotherhood obtained and the boy and the others are now using apparently did not have a radio installed, and they have not been able to obtain a military radio.
"Well, even if we put out a rescue request, I don't think there are guys who would respond."
"Why do you think so?"
"Before joining the Brotherhood, I was doing the job of a communication operator at a shelter. There, I put out rescue requests on many frequencies many times, but in the end, no one responded. I heard many communications seeking rescue, but there's never been a time when the JSDF or police responded. They didn't come to help even when there were still many surviving people, they're not going to come now."
Along with being convinced by Fushimi's explanation, the boy realized that he too was a normal human before. He didn't join the Brotherhood because he wanted to hurt someone from the start, he likely joined the Brotherhood as a means to survive.
"...I wanted to be a radio personality."
It was decided to install the radio antenna on the roof of the shopping mall, and the boy also helped with the work. While fixing the pole supporting the antenna to the handrail on the roof, Fushimi muttered abruptly.
"Why don't you become one? If you survive beyond this, the chance will surely come around."
"Who do you think would listen? If there's no one listening, it doesn't mean anything no matter how much you put your voice on the airwaves."
"At least there are still people surviving here. So, there must be many people living elsewhere too."
When the boy said so, Fushimi showed a face that was convinced, yet not convinced. It was not something the boy said with certainty, but even so, he wanted to believe that there are other people still living.
"...You're somehow positive. Even though it's such a terrible situation."
"Yeah, I stopped thinking only about negative things. If I don't think positively, the vitality to live won't well up."
What made him realize that was seeing the figure of Han, who believes his family is alive and continues efforts for his return. Han, who has a goal to live for, was lively, and he doesn't feel a negative aura from him. The residents here are all exhausted and have lost hope for living. They are just continuing to live out of fear of death, and there is no human thinking they want to live because they want to do something.
At this rate, this place will also eventually fail. That's why the boy decided to make his way of thinking as positive as possible. Besides, an old novelist said, "To live without hope is the same as stopping living."
"Hah, well... I'll try to think as positively as possible too."
Fushimi said so and faced the microphone connected by a cord to the cabinet installed in the security room.
"CQ, CQ, CQ, this is JA1... um, come to think of it, what should I do for the identification signal?"
"What's that?"
"It's a code to distinguish who is talking. Well, since it's this situation, anything is fine."
Fushimi said so and pressed the transmit button on the microphone again.
"CQ, CQ, CQ, this is Tokyo. If there are any stations listening, please QSO. Over."
Saying so, Fushimi releases his hand from the transmit button. QSO is apparently an abbreviation for confirming whether communication is possible. In the past, by doing this, people who were in front of a radio at that time would sometimes respond.
Connecting with a distant person whose name and face you don't know. In the past, there were such things in smartphone apps too, but after all, connecting with people through a method that cannot be called easy, like a radio, might have its own flavor.
The speaker of the radio remained silent. But Fushimi gripped the microphone again and said.
"I'll continue calling for a while to see if anyone responds."
"I'm counting on you."
The boy said so and left the security room. Fushimi's back, repeating "CQ, CQ...", looked more energetic than before.