Chapter 229 - Epilogue-3: A Story About Returning North
Aki followed behind the man in the baseball cap, and the man in the boonie hat followed while keeping watch behind. Infected were still chasing from behind, but the men didn't even glance back. The man in the baseball cap ahead was whispering something into his radio, but Aki, who was busy escaping, couldn't hear what he was saying.
Despite escaping from the infected, the men seemed to be choosing wide main streets to advance. It was a four-lane arterial road with convenience stores and home centers lined up on the left and right, where the figure of a person running on the road could be found even from afar. Did they have no intention of escaping from the infected?
Aki even thought such a thing, but as they advanced further, she noticed something strange. The road was filled with accident vehicles. That itself was common, but what was strange was that every car was crashed into the guardrails or convenience store buildings lined up on the left and right of the road, or was rear-ending the car in front.
It was as if every car had lost control while driving. Furthermore, red-black liquid pools that seemed to be bloodstains made recently were seen here and there on the ground. But strangely, there was not a single corpse around.
What on earth was happening here? Just as she was about to ask that, the man in the baseball cap ahead suddenly stopped and looked back. The gun he leveled was aiming at the group of infected far behind, who were just about to catch up with Aki and the others.
Several gunshots roared. It was as if someone else was also firing besides the two men in front of Aki.
The gunshots through silencers echoed on the main street, and the infected running aiming for Aki and the others fell one after another while spurting blood. These somewhat large gunshots are from a large-caliber rifle, the single somewhat light gunshots are from a carbine, these continuous gunshots are from a machine gun, Aki somehow understood. Because she had heard many gunshots so far, she had become able to roughly guess the type of gun that was firing.
Due to the gunshots through silencers, the figures of the other shooters were not visible, but she could tell they were in a close place anyway. The group of a dozen or so infected that chased Aki and the others were annihilated in an instant with holes all over their bodies and fell to the ground, stopping their movements.
After confirming that the infected who fell to the ground had completely stopped moving, the man in the baseball cap finally lowered his gun. At the same time, from between the group of accident vehicles blocking the road, two figures suddenly stood up and she could see them coming this way. One was holding a machine gun and the other a sniper rifle, and she realized they were the people who were firing together just now. As expected, they also wore JSDF camouflage and were carrying large backpacks that seemed to be packed with equipment.
"Um, that, thank you for help..."
Without even time to say thanks for saving her life, the man in the baseball cap pointed the muzzle he had lowered toward Aki this time. Without waiting for the words "Hands up" to come out of his mouth, the boonie hat man, who had moved to her side before she knew it, took the submachine gun from Aki's hand. Furthermore, he snatched the handgun from the holster on her waist, and Aki was disarmed in an instant. It was a masterful move that made her impressed.
"Don't move."
It was a voice so terrifying it made her shudder. While the machine gunner and sniper kept watch on the surroundings, the other two quickly body-checked Aki and took away everything that seemed like it could be a weapon. Not to mention knives, even a small screwdriver or cutter she had in her pouch was snatched. And when they confiscated all the weapons from Aki, they put her hands behind her back and restrained her wrists with something like a plastic zip-tie, a hand-cuff.
"Follow us. Don't resist."
Immediately after the man who seemed to be the leader in the cap said that, Aki's vision went pitch black. She realized she had been blindfolded when she was poked in the back with a muzzle along with the word "Move."
What on earth are these men in camouflage? Why do they do something like restraining her after helping her? Where is she being taken from now? There were as many things she wanted to ask as she wanted, but she felt now was not the time to voice them. Due to the blindfold, her vision was pitch black, but she could sufficiently feel the atmosphere that the men were on edge.
Aki was made to walk for about 10 minutes while still blindfolded. She couldn't see anything, but the way the sound was heard changed and she knew she had probably entered a building.
The sound of a door opening was heard, and there Aki was finally blindfolded. She was brought to what seemed to be the office of some store, a room without windows. Two pipe chairs were placed in the very middle of the pitch-black room illuminated only by a lantern, facing each other.
"Sit."
Being told so, Aki obeyed quietly. The man in the boonie hat took out pliers and cut the plastic cuff wrapped around her wrists, but as soon as Aki sat on the chair, she was restrained again as if hugging the backrest with her hands behind her.
"You guys, who...?"
"First, you'll answer our questions. Are you alone?"
Without a moment's delay, the man in the baseball cap who sat on the other chair in front of her opened his mouth. As if their business was done, the other three left the room. Only Aki and the man in the baseball cap remained in the room, but she thought it would be impossible to defeat him and escape. Although he didn't point his gun this way, the handgun in the holster on his thigh was ready to be drawn at any time, and above all, Aki was restrained and couldn't move.
It would be better to answer the questions honestly here and have them tell her their identity and purpose afterward. Though, that was if the men had the intention of letting Aki go back alive.
Aki answered the man's questions honestly. That she was not alone. How many companions there were, where they were now, how many weapons they had, and for what purpose they had come here.
She thought it might be bad to talk about her companions in the main body, but it was not an atmosphere where she could tell a lie. Furthermore, because the radio was unusable, the distance between Aki, who was dispatched as a reconnaissance team, and the main body was not that far. Even if Aki didn't say anything about her companions, the men would soon find the main body too. It was better to gain even a little trust from them than to hide things and be suspected of something.
"Will your companions also come here?"
"I don't know... if I don't return, they might judge this course as dangerous and take another route."
"Did you go out on reconnaissance for miles alone for your companions? You've got guts."
"Not really. There are few young people who can move and fight properly, and besides..."
The figure of her former companion floated in Aki's mind. The boy who took on the danger alone to let everyone escape and finally didn't return.
"If I was scared and tried to stay in a safe place by myself, I wouldn't be able to face that guy."
"That guy?"
"My companion. The one who died to let everyone escape."
"...I see."
In that one word, she could feel a slight human touch from the man in the baseball cap who had seemed like a terrifying interrogator.
The questions continued after that. She became anxious that they might use this information to launch an attack on the main body, but she could only hope that Sato and the others would sense the danger and be moving since she hadn't returned. Since it was long past the time she should have returned to the main body and reported the reconnaissance results, Sato and the others should also have grasped that something had happened to Aki.
"Where is your destination?"
"It's not particularly decided. Searching for a safe place..."
"Then there would be no need to go to the trouble of coming to a place like this. Where are you trying to go?"
Should she say this honestly too? It was not a lie that it was not particularly decided. The reason they aimed for the north was mostly because the population was small so there wouldn't be many infected, and no one believed from the bottom of their heart the rumor that the JSDF and police were securing safe zones. If there was a place on the way where there were no infected or other survivors and a fair amount of supplies could be secured, the majority thought they could end their journey there. But since such a place couldn't be found, they had come this far draggingly.
"...To the north."
"Why are you heading north?"
"Because I heard a story that in the north, the JSDF and police have eliminated the infected and created safe zones."
The moment she said that, Aki felt the man in front of her turn a look of pity toward her. She thought maybe she shouldn't have said it, but it was too late.
"...I see. With this, there's no more reason to let you and your companions live."
With a sigh, the man in the baseball cap stood up and drew his handgun. It was not an atmosphere where he was joking. She felt she really shouldn't have answered honestly, but it was too late. The color drained from Aki's face, and just as she was about to show she had no hostility by waving both hands, she finally remembered she was restrained with her hands behind her.
"Wait wait wait! It's not like we want to attack someone or steal something! It's natural to think you want to go to a safe place if there is one! What's wrong with wanting to live in peace!?"
"That's the problem."
Seeing the man lightly pulling the handgun's slide and checking if the first round was chambered, Aki realized he truly intended to shoot. If he intended to threaten, just drawing the handgun would be enough. Such a gesture is not necessary.
"Besides, who are you guys!? JSDF? US military? Either way, why are you in a place like this? Why are you trying to kill us!?"
"We're also here under orders. I'm not given the authority to talk about that to you, and it's something that would be meaningless to tell you."
Orders meant they were here under command from a higher unit or something. It didn't seem like the surviving JSDF members were just surviving. In that case, a JSDF unit might really be surviving. But Aki couldn't understand why they were issuing orders to kill survivors.
There were as many things she wanted to ask as she wanted and her mouth seemed to move on its own, but the muzzle thrust in front of her eyes refused any further questions. What was in the eyes of the man pointing the handgun at Aki was not anger or fear, but just a feeling of pity.
"This is also an order, don't think badly of me."
The man's finger went to the trigger.
To die in such a place, in such a way. What surfaced suddenly was regret. Not being able to know why she was being killed, and not being able to tell her companions that danger was pressing. Even if she died here, it was a completely meaningless death. If she was going to die, she wanted to die by being useful to someone like the boy at least. Otherwise, she couldn't be satisfied even if she was going to die now.
"Squad Leader, please come!"
The door opened abruptly, and the man in the boonie hat rushed into the room with a stiff face. He first looked at the man in the baseball cap who was leveling his handgun, and then turned his eyes to Aki whom his muzzle was pointing at. Seeing Aki trembling in front of the muzzle, for some reason the man in the boonie hat breathed a large sigh as if relieved.
"What happened?"
"An emergency contact from headquarters... anyway, please come quickly."
"I understand, before that, this one..."
"It seems all operational actions are canceled as of the current time."
Hearing those words, the man in the baseball cap called the Squad Leader frowned and then lowered his handgun. She didn't know what the directive given to them was, but since he stopped killing Aki as soon as he heard it was canceled, it must be something bad.
"...I'll go immediately."
Saying so, the Squad Leader returned the handgun's hammer so it wouldn't discharge accidentally and put it in his holster. At least it seemed she had a narrow escape. Aki, who let out a large breath at the breath she had been holding before she knew it and was trembling remembering that she was in a fate to die just a moment ago, was told by the Squad Leader.
"You had a narrow escape."
After they left the room, she heard the sound of him locking the door from the outside. She was still restrained and there was no prospect of being able to leave the room, but at least she wouldn't be killed. For some reason, Aki was convinced of that.
Anyway, what on earth are they? For what purpose were they here, and for what purpose were they trying to kill survivors? What on earth was the directive given to them, and why was that directive canceled? The things she wanted to know increased further.
Anyway, let's be happy that she had a narrow escape now. Just as she was about to think positively, Aki's stomach growled.
I look forward to your opinions and impressions.