Chapter 220 - A Story of 'Not Just Simply Running and Fleeing Around'
The infected approach the stalled van. Should they stop and rescue the occupants, or leave them behind to escape as quickly as possible? Sato's judgment seemed to be the former. With Sato's voice saying "Stop!", the driver slammed on the brakes, and the two vans came to a sudden stop.
"Get on quickly!"
The boy opened the van's sliding door and shouted to the occupants of the stalled car. The swarm of infected was already approaching to within ten meters or so. The doors of the car, which was emitting white smoke from under the chassis, opened, and the security personnel who had been inside got out with desperate expressions. Aki was among them.
Remaining ammunition was low, but it couldn't be helped. The boy leveled his rifle from the open door and fired toward the approaching infected. Sato also thrust the muzzle of his carbine out of the passenger window and shot the infected reaching out toward Aki and the others.
First, the occupants moved to the rear van, which was closer to the stalled vehicle, and those who couldn't fit moved to the lead vehicle, Unit 1, where the boy and Sato were. The rear Unit 2, which had taken in the security personnel first, departed, accelerating suddenly with enough force to leave tire marks on the ground.
The boy grabbed Aki's extended hand and pulled her into the car all at once. Without waiting for Sato's "Go!" after confirming everyone was on, the driver floored the accelerator all at once. The infected had already approached to a distance where they could reach Unit 1.
Just as the boy was about to close the door, a hand suddenly extended from outside and grabbed the boy's arm. And from the sliding door that remained open, an infected showed itself and tried to board the car. Feeling as if the arm gripped by the infected's brute strength had made a creaking sound, the boy involuntarily let out a groan.
"You!!"
Immediately, Aki, who had just boarded, pulled a machete from its sheath and swung it down on the infected's hand grabbing the boy's arm. Breaking the bone and with the blade piercing halfway through, the infected's strength loosened, and in that gap, the boy delivered a powerful kick to the infected's upper body peeking from the door. The figure of the infected with the machete still stuck in its arm vanished from the boy's sight, and there was a sound of something rolling on the ground, but that too immediately flowed to the rear.
"Step on the gas more!"
"I am!"
In the driver's seat, such a scream-like exchange was being traded. They had only been stopped for ten seconds or so, but the infected had already approached very close to the car. And because the people from the stalled vehicle had boarded, the car's speed had also dropped considerably.
"Run faster!"
"There's no more ammo!!"
The boys continued firing at the approaching infected from the car windows, but ammunition was almost no longer left. The sound of infected trying to cling to the vehicle thumping against the body echoed, and the distance had closed so much that the bloodshot eyes of the infected could be clearly seen from the windows.
Thud! Thud! Dull impact sounds were heard from the front of the car, followed by the sensation of the car running over something. They ran over the infected, the boy realized. There were only a few, but they had already been flanked even to the front.
"Stop it, don't run them over! The car will get wrecked!"
Sato shouted, but it didn't seem to reach the driver's ears. Whether swallowed by fear, the driver stared wide-eyed and actively charged toward the infected in front of the vehicle. White cracks ran across the windshield, and the bodies of the infected who were knocked away flew through the air.
After that, the car seemed to run over infected several times, but after a bursting sound occurred at their feet, the speed dropped rapidly. The van's body shook up and down with a clatter, and the boy realized the tire had gone flat.
It's a common occurrence when running over infected with a car. Even if you can run over and kill the infected with the car's power, the sharp bones protruding from broken limbs pierce the tires, causing a flat. The boy had many times seen the sight of survivors who tried to force a breakthrough after the way was blocked by infected, or who over-relied on the car and knocked away many infected, only for the tires to go flat or the piping under the chassis to be damaged, making them unable to move.
Whether it lost control after the flat, the van's body began to swerve and veered off the road. Whether he fell into a panic or mistook the accelerator for the brake, the van with the flat accelerated further. It knocked away a few more infected, pierced through the guardrail like paper, mowed down a roadside tree, and finally stopped after hitting a utility pole. Due to the impact of the collision, the bodies of the boys, who were not wearing seatbelts, flew through the air for an instant and then fell, pulled by gravity. It was an impact as if their entire bodies were being torn apart.
"Ugh..."
Groans filled the car. In the driver's seat where the airbag had deployed, the driver remained slumped over the steering wheel, and Sato, who was in the passenger seat, seemed to be trying to open the door somehow.
In the midst of that, the boy, who had come to his senses, looked outside through the window where the glass had shattered into powder. The infected are approaching. Giving up on opening the sliding door whose rails had warped and wouldn't budge, the boy crawled out through the window several times, leveled the rifle he had properly held onto, and fired toward the approaching infected.
Unit 2, which had been safe, seemed to have gone ahead. As expected, there was no longer time to stop and recover the people from the accident car, and in the first place, there was no space for everyone to board.
That being the case, from here on, they would aim for the land on foot.
"Get out quickly! They're approaching!"
The boy held the rifle with his right hand while pulling the occupants out through the window with his left hand. Aki also crawled out of the car, but she was holding her arm, perhaps having hit it somewhere at the moment of the collision. The other occupants also seemed to have injuries to their limbs, and not a single one was unhurt.
"Sato-san, are you okay!?"
While Aki pulled the driver out from the crushed driver's seat, the boy checked on Sato in the passenger seat. He had somehow regained consciousness, but the door wouldn't open. When the boy pulled with all his might from the outside, the warped door finally opened, but Sato, who was in the passenger seat, seemed unable to move with his leg caught in the seat.
When the boy dragged Sato out from the passenger seat, he immediately let out a groan. Apparently, his leg bone was broken. He tried to stand up somehow, but it seemed impossible alone, and the boy instinctively lent him a shoulder.
"Run quickly! Go!"
The security personnel who had crawled outside were intercepting the infected with the guns they held, but they were injured and couldn't even aim properly, and on top of that, they had no ammunition. Furthermore, almost everyone was injured, and some, like Sato, couldn't move without someone's help.
"...Don't worry about me, you guys go first..."
"What are you saying! If you're not here, we won't be able to survive either!"
The boy barked at Sato and lent his shoulder to him, whose leg was broken, aiming for the direction of the bridge. It was fortunate that the number of attacking infected had decreased, perhaps because they had gained distance from the luxury liner, but even so, the infected were still running toward the security personnel. And the survivors, who had lost their means of transportation, had their movement speed significantly dropped due to injuries; at this rate, they would be caught by the infected before reaching the bridge.
Is there no way? The boy thought. But no brilliant idea came to mind. Unless a miracle occurred, such as an American bomber flying here right now and burning away the swarm of infected, there was no means for all the humans here to reach the bridge together safely.
But if it wasn't everyone—if they left the injured people behind, they might be able to be saved to some extent. People with leg injuries are slow and become a burden. If they left them behind, the others might be able to reach the bridge without being caught by the infected if they ran, and perhaps by having the ones left behind become bait for the infected, they could also divert attention from the other survivors.
But he couldn't do that. The boy swore he wouldn't do something like abandoning someone to survive himself. If it were his old self, he would have abandoned others and run away alone to survive, but he had decided not to live that way. Live by helping each other like humans. Even if he were to die, the boy wanted to live as a human and die as a human.
Almost everyone who had been in the van, except for the boy, was injured in some way due to the accident. Even if they moved, it would be difficult to run at full speed. It would take time for them to reach the bridge. But in the meantime, if someone could stall the infected or draw their attention and lead them in another direction, they might be able to buy that time.
And there was only one person on this spot who could do that.
The boy took out the notebook he had tucked away and pushed it onto Aki, who was lending her shoulder to a security personnel with a leg injury. Aki, who was suddenly pushed a notebook, was blinking her eyes, trying to gauge the meaning of the boy's action.
"I'll stall those guys; in the meantime, go to the bridge."
"What are you even saying..."
"Hurry! More infected will swarm here! Go before that!"
The boy shouted while exchanging the empty magazine of his rifle. This was the last one. They had managed to defeat the nearby infected for the most part, but from the direction the boy had come, the figures of infected running this way could still be seen.
"Are you an idiot!? If you do that, you'll die!"
"Then are we going to leave the injured guys behind? You don't want to do that, and you can't! Someone has to stall those guys and buy time!"
"That's why I'll stay..."
Immediately after saying that, Sato let out a groan. He had been performing emergency treatment on his broken leg using a knife as a splint, but in this state, running would be impossible for a while.
"Sato-san, you can't run, right? In that state, you'll be eaten by those guys in no time and won't even be a distraction. You don't have ammo either!"
"Children should listen to what adults say..."
"I'm sorry, but I'm already eighteen, not a minor. I'm a full-fledged adult. Besides, whether Sato-san is here or not will change the probability of everyone surviving from here on."
Even if he were injured, Sato was a member of a special forces unit with abundant combat experience. There was no doubt that his knowledge and skills would be useful for surviving after evacuating this Reclaimed Land. He couldn't afford to lose him here.
On the other hand, even if someone else stayed here, they wouldn't be able to fight or run properly because they were injured. That being the case, currently, the only one who could serve as a decoy was the boy, who was almost uninjured.
"That thing I gave to Aki is my diary. I'm just leaving it with you, so don't look at the contents."
"What kind of stupid thing are you saying..."
"I don't intend to die either. I'll just draw their attention and run around right under their noses, and once everyone has crossed the bridge, I'll follow. So leave one car for me!"
Certainly, being a decoy for thousands of infected to buy time was a dangerous act. But it wasn't a plan based on death. The bridge connecting the Reclaimed Land to the land can be raised and sealed by operation from the land side. If the injured people here can somehow cross the bridge, and the boy follows and crosses to the land and they raise the bridge, the infected will no longer be able to pursue.
There is another bridge connecting to the Reclaimed Land that humans can cross despite a large hole in the center making it impassable for vehicles, but that is quite far from the current evacuation point and obstacles have been installed. Even if the infected were to cross the other bridge, it would buy a considerable amount of time.
"Go quickly! There's no more time!"
To the boy who shouted so, Sato pushed something. It was a magazine for the rifle loaded with bullets. It was the last one Sato had.
"I'm counting on you."
Saying so, Sato gave instructions to everyone to aim for the bridge. It's not a very far distance from here to the bridge, but it would be necessary to buy ten to twenty minutes for the injured everyone to arrive. If he could hold out that long, it was the boy's "victory."
The injured security personnel looked back and forth between the boy's and Sato's faces, and began moving with regretful or disappointed expressions. Since it was a movement while supporting the injured, they couldn't run, but for now, it was important to keep walking.
"...Don't die."
Saying so, Aki lent her shoulder to the personnel with the leg injury and began walking toward the bridge. Somehow, the boy wanted to see that face one more time, but Aki did not look back.
With the roars of the approaching infected, the boy came to his senses. The lead group of infected was already pressing very close. Stuffing the other magazine he received from Sato into his pouch, the boy leveled his rifle and started running toward the infected. Without even realizing it himself, he was letting out a war cry with his mouth wide open.
Until now, the boy had only thought about his own survival, utilizing and abandoning others while simply running and fleeing around. From now on, the boy will also flee. But he isn't fleeing just so he alone can live; he will fight the infected to protect everyone, and then flee. For every bit the boy flees while drawing the infected with him, he can buy time for everyone to move safely to the bridge.
I guess the time has come to pay the price for running away from various things until now. He somehow thought so.
Waiting for your opinions and impressions.