Chapter 204 - A Hill Start-ish Story
"Before long, we will completely lose our reason and turn into infected... I wanted to settle things with my own hands before that happened."
The man reached into his coat and took something out. What was gripped in his hand was a revolver handgun.
Aki reflexively raised the knife, wondering if he intended to kill her. But the man did not try to point the muzzle at Aki.
"But I just couldn't kill those children... They're people who attack and eat others, doing such cruel things. But they are comrades who have survived together with me until now. I know what their names are, where they lived, and what they like. Because I know them, I can't kill them."
"How selfish... Do something about it yourself."
"I'd do that if I could! But it's impossible. When I point a gun at those sleeping children, I remember the days we spent together until now. What those children were sad about, what they were happy about, what they wanted to do in the future—only such trivial things come to mind and I can't pull the trigger!"
I don't care about that, Aki wanted to say, but even if she knew they would become infected, would she be able to shoot her friends? Thinking about it that way, Aki couldn't blame the man.
Killing people important to oneself. While thinking that such a thing might happen someday, fortunately or unfortunately, such a thing had not happened until now. Fortunately, Aki had been able to spend her time until now without killing a human with her own hands.
But what if she ended up killing someone? Would she be able to kill without hesitation at that time? Through the dialogue with the man, Aki was reminded of that once again.
If it were people who held hostility toward them and were trying to kill them right now, she might be able to fight somehow. But what if the opponent was still human, and a child at that? What if the reason they were attacking people was because of the infection, and it wasn't something they were doing because they wanted to?
What if it were a friend or an acquaintance? Could she kill a comrade she had shared joys and sorrows with until now?
Maybe a cure would be found in the future and there might be a possibility they could remain human. But if she killed them, that would be the end. In exchange for their own safety, they would nip future possibilities in the bud. Could she do such a thing?
"The reason I attacked you this time was also because I thought that if it were you, you would kill those children for me. You are sufficiently trained and have weapons. Even if those children attacked in a group, they surely wouldn't win. That's why I ordered those children to attack you."
"You're saying you intentionally attacked us just to make us kill them?"
"That's right. This is something I should do, but it's already impossible for me. I'm truly sorry for pushing such a nasty role onto you."
Because he couldn't kill his comrades himself, he would have total strangers—Sato and the boys—kill them. How selfish, Aki felt indignant. But to kill the children before they completely became infected and caused harm to more people, this might have been the only way.
At the very least, Aki wouldn't have been able to kill her comrades and would have just stood by with her hands folded. The man might be better off for having at least resolved to settle things properly. Although, from the perspective of Sato and the boy who were attacked for that purpose, and Aki who was punched and kidnapped, it was quite unbearable.
"Please, kill those children. Before they completely become infected."
"...Even if you say that."
"There are still other children left in this building. They are still young and can't go outside. Kill those children too. If you do that, I'll give you all the weapons and supplies we've collected until now. So—"
When he had said that much, the man suddenly clutched his head and began to groan. He dropped the handgun he was holding, pressed his head with both hands, and slammed it against the floor repeatedly. Along with a hideous groaning, the dull sound of his head hitting the floor echoed many times. Between the fingers of the man pressing his face, she saw bright red blood. The writhing man crashed into the altar made of bleached bones, and with a dry sound, bones scattered on the floor.
"—Please, kill, me—"
Mixed in with the groaning, she could faintly hear such words escaping the man's mouth. Reflexively, Aki picked up the handgun the man had dropped and pointed the muzzle at his head. But she just couldn't pull the finger she had placed on the trigger.
Maybe he was still human. This seizure might be temporary, and he might be able to regain his reason again. If she killed him now, wouldn't she become a murderer? Various thoughts came to her mind.
Probably if she shot him here now, her own safety would be ensured. There might not be many people who would criticize her for shooting an infected man. Thinking normally, the only action Aki should take here was to shoot the man.
Even so, Aki couldn't shoot him. If the man was still human, he shouldn't be killed; above all, her fear of killing a living human made her hesitate.
A scream that sounded like it would tear his throat burst from the man's mouth, and his body arched so much she thought his spine would break. The scream emitted from his wide-open mouth continued for many seconds and then stopped abruptly. At the same time, strength left the man's body and he collapsed onto the floor.
"...Hey."
Even when Aki called out like that, his body did not move.
Is he dead? Just as she thought that, the man's body collapsed on the floor suddenly convulsed. His eyes snapped open and stared straight at Aki.
Those eyes were completely bloodshot and red, exactly the same as the infected Aki and the others had faced many times until now.
Drool mixed with blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. As soon as the man recognized Aki's figure, he let out a roar and stood up.
"Stop!"
She warned him, but the man who had stood up charged toward Aki. But no matter how she looked at it, reason had already been lost from him. What was overflowing from those eyes dyed bright red was intense murderous intent.
The moment she saw those eyes, she had pulled the trigger without thinking. One, two shots thundered, and flowers of blood bloomed on the body of the charging man. She had trained for shooting many times, and at this distance, there was no way she could miss.
One of those shots pierced the man's head. The roaring stopped, and the body, having lost its strength, continued to move forward even as it collapsed. The blood-smeared man's body bumped into Aki, and she reflexively fell on her backside.
She pointed the muzzle of the handgun at the man's head, but there was no longer any need to pull the trigger. A small hole that a forefinger could fit into was open in the man's forehead, and from there, fresh blood was dripping onto the ground. The man's body, still warm, didn't move even a twitch anymore.
Was the one she killed a human, or an infected? Aki hoped it was the latter.
If the man had only had a temporary seizure and was still human. In that case, would she become a murderer?
Surely neither Sato nor the boy would ever criticize Aki for shooting this man. Rather, they would sympathize and say she did well to survive. Even if the man had still been human, that answer probably wouldn't change. They would surely justify Aki, saying it was a necessary thing to do to protect herself.
From an outsider's perspective, she should have done the right thing. Kidnapped by an infected group, she shot the leader of a dangerous group who had lost his sanity before her eyes in self-defense. There was nothing there that should be criticized.
————Even so, what is this unsettled feeling?
Meanwhile, Sato and the boy, who had been continuing to advance while eliminating the attacking children, noticed that the wave of attacks was receding. Until now, they had been recklessly charging in relying on numbers only to be shot, but now only a few people were launching sporadic attacks, and the assault like a violence of numbers from earlier was subsiding.
Even so, by the time they had weathered the attacks up to this point, both of them had considerably exhausted their physical strength and ammunition. It would be best if they could eliminate the children with guns before they launched a close-quarters battle, but they were unfortunately nimble and small in stature. On top of that, since they wouldn't stop unless it was a fatal wound even if shot, they frequently allowed them to get close.
Thanks to that, they were slashed with blades and beaten in various parts of their bodies. They hadn't sustained deep wounds, and it seemed no poison or the like was adhering to the blades, but even so, getting injured exhausted their physical strength even more. Furthermore, they only had about 100 rounds of ammunition left, and if an attack like the one from earlier was launched again, they didn't know if they could weather it.
"It's probably inside that building."
The building Sato pointed to appeared to be a large commercial facility. The closer they got to the building, the stronger the beacon's signal became, and it seemed certain that Aki was inside that facility.
The road leading to the commercial facility was a wide road with two lanes on each side, but here too, a barricade had been constructed with abandoned vehicles and office desks that seemed to have been dragged out from nearby buildings. Although there were several gaps large enough for a person to pass through, the wall-like barricade made for poor visibility. Furthermore, barbed wire was strung across the top of the barricade, making it seem difficult to climb over and advance.
"I'll go first. Sato-san, cover me."
The boy said so, raised his shield, and approached the barricade. Even if he received a surprise attack, he could weather the first blow with the shield. Even if they were being ambushed, as long as he could endure the attack, he could just retreat and look for another path.
Drawing his handgun, the boy peeked at the situation inside through a gap in the barricade. The barricade, about the height of an adult and constructed over a width of two meters, almost blocked the road, and two passages just wide enough for people to pass each other had been made. Beyond that was the commercial facility where Aki was presumably being held, and its entrance, which would have been glass-walled before, now had a lattice-like shutter lowered. Beyond the shutter, a barricade made by stacking furniture could be seen, and it was clear that someone was inside.
However, there was no sign of people. Could it be that the people who attacked them had already been wiped out? Such a thought crossed his mind.
They had piled up many corpses to get here. All those who attacked were children, but even so, it was quite a number. It wouldn't stop at 10 or 20. He didn't know who was commanding them, but sending in a large number of children must mean that they had no decent fighting force left.
"It seems there's no one inside—"
"Avoid it!"
Turning around, the moment he said that, Sato shouted with a desperate look. At the same time, with a clunk, the sound of something starting to move was heard from the side.
Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw a truck coming toward them. No one was sitting in the driver's seat. The unmanned truck ran down the slope at the side of the road and charged toward the boy with that momentum.
Immediately after the boy hid inside the barricade, with a roar, the truck crashed into a shop at the side of the road and stopped. Since the truck had advanced parallel to the barricade, its container bed ended up blocking the entrance to the barricade where the boy had been standing just now.
"Are you okay!?"
Sato's voice was heard from the other side of the truck. The boy, who replied that he was safe, looked for a way to return to the outside of the barricade somehow, but the entrance was completely blocked by the truck.
Probably, the boy thought it was a trap by the people who were using that commercial facility as their base. They would park a truck in neutral on the slope at the side of the road without setting the parking brake and fix it with a wheel chock or something. If an enemy tried to invade from the barricade, they would remove the wheel chock and let the truck, which started to move pulled by gravity, charge in. The people who attempted the invasion would be run over by the truck, and the entrance would be blocked. Or they might be able to split the fighting force between the inside and outside of the barricade.
He also thought about whether he could return by passing under the vehicle body, but when he peeked under the truck, sharp blades were protruding downward all over. Apparently, the method to prevent escape was also thorough. What remained was either to look for another path or to continue advancing as he was.
As the boy was on guard of the surroundings, he heard gunshots through a silencer from the other side of the barricade. Apparently, Sato was firing.
"Those guys, they were still left. Are you okay!?"
"Over here..."
He looked around. Then, from the shops and buildings at the side of the road, several figures jumped out. The children holding blades and blunt weapons were undoubtedly comrades of the people who had attacked the boy.
"They're here! Damn it, even though I don't have any bullets left...!"
"Can you come back here?"
"That seems difficult."
The boy switched from the shield to a rifle and shot the nearest child. Even when their comrade was shot, the children charged without even changing their facial expressions.
"Go on ahead, I'll also find a way to cross the barricade somehow. Let's meet up at that shopping mall."
With Sato also in a situation where he couldn't take his hands off, he had no choice but to advance alone. To save bullets, the boy ran while firing his gun switched to semi-auto. Occasionally turning around and firing bullets at the children chasing him, he aimed for the shopping mall where Aki presumably was.
I'm waiting for your opinions and impressions.