Chapter 195 - A Red Light Isn't Scary if Everyone Crosses Together
Most of the infected the boy had drawn were still searching for the boy, who had long since escaped, inside the empty multi-tenant building. However, perhaps infected who heard the gunshots from afar had just arrived, as the boy encountered over a dozen infected on the street. He thought about turning back the way he came in front of the infected wandering the street while groaning, but that would be a significant time loss. Sato and the others, who remained at the sports park to pick up the boy, wouldn't wait forever.
The boy looked left and right along the street and found a truck abandoned by the side of the roadway. The truck, which had large tires, had a high ground clearance, with enough space that one could hide under the vehicle. Moreover, perhaps it was in the middle of a move or something, as two trucks with silver-colored containers were lined up.
As the boy approached the truck, he took out a piece of concrete he had picked up on the roof earlier from his pocket. He threw the concrete piece, which was about a size smaller than a fist, toward the window of a nearby convenience store whose glass wasn't broken yet. A few seconds later, from the opposite side of where the infected were with the boy in between, the flashy sound of window glass breaking was heard.
Immediately, the infected's bloodshot eyes all turned at once toward where the sound of breaking glass was heard. At the moment the infected began to rush toward that direction with groans, the boy crawled under the truck. While he was crawling slowly under the truck as he was, the infected near the boy ran one after another toward where the glass had broken. From under the truck's body, he could only see the feet of the running infected.
If this were a human opponent, a hiding place like under a truck would have been found long ago. But they were infected; they couldn't do something like searching with suspicion.
The boy continued to crawl under the truck and returned once more under the sun. All the infected that had been nearby seemed to have gone toward where the sound was, and the boy began running toward the sports park again. He should be able to reach it in another 10 minutes.
What on earth am I doing? He thought suddenly while proceeding through the ruined city.
To think I'd go out of my way to do something dangerous and end up helping someone. Half a year ago, I surely wouldn't have considered such a thing. Back then, I prioritized surviving no matter what and tried to eliminate all dangers. I absolutely wouldn't have done something like voluntarily becoming a decoy for the infected.
Now, in order to help people I don't even know, I'm proceeding alone through a city full of infected like this. Humans change, he thought, and couldn't help but laugh. He felt he might have changed too much.
Readying the suppressed handgun, he fired at an infected that appeared wobbling from an alley a few meters ahead. Two shots to the chest, and one to the head once it fell. Passing by the corpse of the infected that had stopped moving, the boy quickly pointed the muzzle left and right to watch for followers. But the next infected didn't appear.
Now, I've even acquired the skills for killing. I've certainly changed, the boy thought once more.
As he headed toward the designated meeting point at the sports park, the cityscape gradually changed. The sports park was near a residential area, and the boy proceeded through a cluster of private houses that had burned down in various places. Perhaps relatively wealthy people had lived there, as the grounds of the houses were all spacious, and the cars parked in the parking lots were all luxury cars.
In the parking lot of one of those private houses, a sedan was parked. The boy, who was about to pass by it without a second thought, reflexively stopped his feet at the sight he saw beyond the windshield.
In the driver's seat and the passenger seat, bleached skeletons were sitting together. The car was clean and didn't look like they had died from an accident or being attacked by infected. Since the gate remained closed, it didn't seem like they both died of a disease or something the moment they got into the car to escape somewhere.
At that time, he saw several infected walking this way from across the road, so the boy quickly climbed over the gate and hid in the shadow of that sedan. The infected passed by the place where the boy had been just a moment ago while groaning.
Confirming the infected had left without noticing him, the boy stood up. He intended to resume his advance, but because he had inadvertently looked inside the car, his feet stopped again.
In the back seat of the sedan, two corpses about the size of children were sitting side-by-side. And duct tape was applied to the edges of the car's window glass, and the air conditioner vents were also blocked with clumps of cloth. When he peeked into the car through the window, he could see a charcoal brazier placed on the floor of the back seat.
Family suicide. That word came to his mind.
The contents of that brazier were briquettes, and the windows being sealed with duct tape would be to make it impossible to ventilate the car. It was a so-called briquette suicide. He heard that suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning doesn't have much pain. Since the boy had never committed briquette suicide, he didn't know if that was true.
This family chose neither to fight the infected nor to find a safe place and escape. Instead, they chose to say goodbye to this world while they were all still human.
He had seen many people who had committed suicide until now. People who were bitten by the infected and chose death themselves because they didn't want to attack at least their loved ones before they lost their reason. Or people who couldn't endure the fear and loneliness of not knowing when they would be attacked by the infected and tried to obtain the peace of death.
There were even people who committed suicide in a group. While walking through a forest, he had once seen several corpses suddenly hanging from the trees. People who had given up on living, thinking they couldn't escape from the infected, had gathered naturally and hung themselves all at once.
But he had never seen a family suicide where parents even involved their own children. If they had a car, they should have escaped. Or were they so exhausted that they couldn't even reach such a thought?
Judging from the child seats in the car and their clothing, the dead children probably weren't even elementary school students yet. Is it okay to drive children who haven't reached the age of discretion to death because of the parents' selfish thoughts? Isn't it the parents' role to protect their children no matter what?
On the other hand, he felt like he understood their feelings too. The world is full of desperate news, and eventually, social infrastructure like electricity, gas, water, and communication dies. Dangerous infected are wandering outside, and despite that, the police and JSDF don't come to the rescue.
If you are attacked by the infected, you have to die while your whole body is eaten in agony. If you were the only one to taste that pain, you could still endure it. But what if you thought your precious family might meet such a fate?
The boy has no children. He has never had a lover even once. That's why the boy wasn't in a position to say this or that about the parents who had become bones inside the car in front of him. A feeling of indignation that they involved their children in their suicide and a feeling of sympathy that they wouldn't want their children to die in agony coexisted.
Parents who chose death instead of fighting to protect their loved ones. Was that judgment correct?
The boy had many times until now thought he wanted to die. But in the end, he lost to the fear of death and has lived this far while sacrificing many people. At the very least, it would be a much better judgment than that. Because they didn't lay a hand on anyone other than themselves.
Will the day come when he understands their feelings? If he becomes a parent and has a child, he might be able to understand the decision of those who have become bones before his eyes.
At the sports park, the one remaining minivan was waiting for the boy's arrival. The rescued children have already been put in other vehicles and have headed to the Reclaimed Land first. But Sato was waiting for his arrival at the empty sports park in order to pick up the boy who had volunteered to be the decoy.
"He's still not coming... as I thought, maybe something happened to him."
The girl gripping the steering wheel in the driver's seat, Aki, muttered that while looking at her wristwatch many times. It was her who said she would stay herself as the one to pick up the boy. There were various troubles with the boy, but even so, they've been together for a long time. She might not be able to leave him alone.
"Calm down, an hour hasn't even passed yet. The promise is to wait up to 90 minutes; rest assured, I don't intend to leave here earlier than that."
"But, there's no response on the radio, you know? Maybe he couldn't escape from that building, or maybe he's cornered somewhere."
"The radio doesn't get through because there's distance. With the portable one he has, he can only talk for 500 meters or so at most. It's natural it doesn't come out."
"Then, what if he doesn't show up even after 90 minutes?"
Sato was naturally considering that possibility too. Rather, he even thought the possibility of him not coming was higher.
The boy dared to make himself a decoy in order to let the rescued children escape safely. Just as the boy intended, because the infected rushed toward him as he noisily fired his gun, Sato and the others and the rescued university students and children were able to leave the department store safely without being found by the infected.
When leaving the department store, Sato had witnessed the boy standing tall on the roof of the multi-tenant building firing his rifle and the infected running toward the building he was in and rushing up the stairs. If it were an ordinary human, they would definitely not be able to escape. He had taught him various techniques, but even using those, it was doubtful whether he could escape safely from a building overflowing with infected.
But Sato was convinced somewhere in his heart that the boy would be safe. His obsession with life is tremendous. So much so that, in the past, he had driven many people to their deaths in order to survive no matter what.
There's no way that boy would take on a role that's like a suicide wish. He likely hasn't given up on living from the start. Sato thought so.
And that thought was correct. A few minutes later, the boy's voice flowed along with noise from the radio that had been left on.
"Ah—, this is Deadman. I've arrived at the sports park. Ghost, please tell me your position."
"See?"
The moment the boy's voice was heard, Aki's face brightened. He didn't know what he did, but it seemed he had accomplished it. As far as he could hear from the voice, it didn't seem like he was injured either.
"This is Ghost, good work. We are currently in the woods by the tennis courts. You?"
"I'm in the baseball field's waiting room right after entering the sports park."
"Are there infected?"
"No, but maybe they're nearby."
"Understood. Either way, we'll pass near the baseball field to leave here. We're coming to pick you up now, so wait."
"Understood. And..."
"Don't worry, the rescue targets are all safe. They've gone home first."
When Sato said that, he could tell even through the radio that the boy breathed a sigh of relief.
All that's left is to leave this sports park and follow the ones who went home first. Sato patted the shoulder of Aki sitting in the driver's seat, and Aki started the car. Sitting down on the floor that had become flat after removing the seats, Sato was checking his weapons while he himself was also relieved that the boy had returned safely.
I look forward to your opinions and impressions.