Chapter 23 - Chapter 21: The Story of the Recommendation of Resolve
"I found a means of escape."
As soon as Naomi-san returned and said those words, I spat out the mineral water I was drinking. Mana-chan rubbed my back as I writhed and coughed from the water getting into my windpipe, and once I settled down, Naomi-san began to speak again.
"There was a car dealership about two kilometers south of this apartment. They all looked like they'd run, and there's a gas station nearby. We can use those."
"But won't the infected notice us from the car's engine noise? If not for that, we would have moved using cars or bikes a long time ago."
Well, I don't have a license. Yui added that part.
Just as Yui said, the infected hear the engine noise of cars and attack. Their hearing is about the same as a normal person's, but there isn't a single car running in the city now. The moment a car is driven, that engine noise will spread far and wide, and the infected will swarm immediately.
In fact, I had seen survivors trying to escape by car; it was probably about three weeks after the pandemic started in Japan. A group trying to escape in a self-made armored vehicle—a route bus with iron plates and wire mesh attached to the windows—recklessly charged into a place with many infected.
At first, they moved forward by running over several infected, but eventually, the tires slipped on blood and fat, they were caught by the infected who boasted the speed of Olympic athletes, and finally, the bus became stranded in a sea of infected. I don't know what fate they met after that, as I left the scene before seeing the end.
"It's just as Yui says. Cars can move fast and carry supplies, but the risk of being found is high."
"Don't worry, what I found is a hybrid car. It usually runs on gasoline, but it can be switched to battery drive, which makes almost no noise. We can use normal drive in places with few infected and switch to electric drive in places where they're likely to be. No problem."
I wondered if it really would be no problem, but the truth was I didn't really know. The reason we hadn't moved by car until now was simply that we didn't have licenses and didn't know how to drive; if we had the driving skills, we might have made a different choice.
Either way, the supplies and water left in this apartment are running out. In the end, it never rained since we came to this apartment, so the water is only being consumed. If we stay here for another week, the water will be completely gone. In any case, there is no choice but to leave this apartment as soon as possible.
"Then we have to bring the car quickly and get out of here."
Mana-chan said that, but Naomi-san had a smile that looked somewhat troubled. Even I could tell that things weren't that simple.
"I'd love to do that, but there are various problems. First is how to get to the car dealership two kilometers away without being spotted by the infected, and how to return to this apartment without being noticed."
"Why do we need to return to the apartment? We can all go to the dealership and head straight somewhere else from there."
"We can't carry the luggage that way, right? Weapons, food, water, fuel... there are many things we need. If we set out empty-handed and can't procure supplies at our destination, we'll be in a worse state than we are now."
There's a limit to the amount of luggage we can carry. It's better to have as little luggage as possible in case we're spotted by the infected, but then we can't carry most of the necessary supplies. Unlike our experience so far, there's no guarantee that sufficient supplies will be left at the places we visit.
"But if we pull up to this apartment directly in a car, the infected will definitely find out. Naomi-san is fast and trained, so she might be able to move alone without being spotted, but we can't. With that many infected, there's no way we can move forward without being seen."
Naomi-san might be fine since she's like a Solid Snake, but unless the infected are as incompetent as Genome Soldiers, the moment Yui, Mana-chan, or I step outside, we'll be spotted by them. Even if we give up on loading the luggage at the apartment, the possibility of being discovered by the infected before reaching the car dealership is very high. If that happens, we won't be able to escape this town, nor will we be able to return to the safe apartment, and we'll be guided to the other world.
"I've thought of a method, for now. ...It's a method where only one person will be in extreme danger, but I can't think of any other way to escape from here right now."
"Please tell us. Otherwise, we can't even consider whether to do it."
When I said that, Naomi-san took a deep breath and spread a map on the table. It was a map of this town and its surroundings, with information about the town that Naomi-san or we had witnessed drawn in various places.
"First, there was a motorcycle in the underground parking lot of this apartment. One person will ride that, making a lot of noise to attract the infected. In other words, a decoy. The decoy will lead the infected from this entire area toward the north, and in the meantime, the other three will go to the car dealership and secure the hybrid car. Since the infected will be chasing the motorcycle, they can reach it without being spotted. Then the three will return to the apartment, load the luggage, and head north as well."
"Then the person on the motorcycle will just keep being chased. If we charge in with the car to help them, there was no point in procuring a quiet hybrid car."
Yui interjected, but Naomi-san silenced her with a hand and continued. Then she pointed to a narrow road about one kilometer north of this apartment on the map. Something was written in English at that spot.
"A tank truck was stranded here. Perhaps the driver panicked during the pandemic in Japan; the tank truck is stopped so that it blocks the road. There's only enough gap for a single motorcycle to pass through. The decoy will lead the infected to this location and pass through the side of the tank truck on the bike. The infected are stupid, so they'll swarm the tank truck all at once and block the path. Then, before they can climb over the tank truck and resume the pursuit, the decoy will throw this."
Saying so, Naomi-san took an object that looked like a gray spray can out of her pocket. If a fuse, safety lever, and a safety pin piercing through them hadn't been sticking out of the top of the can, it would have looked exactly like a spray can or something. When placed on the table, it made a heavy gotori sound; it was the hand grenade Naomi-san had recovered from the JSDF truck that had overturned on the bridge.
"This is called an incendiary grenade, and it can generate 4000 degrees of heat in an instant. If this explodes, a hole will open in the fuel tank in an instant, and the gasoline inside will ignite. Most of the infected will be caught in the explosion, and even if they survive, they won't be unscathed. And then we'll meet up at a pre-determined location."
It wasn't just my imagination that the scent of a death flag was wafting strongly. In fact, it was an idea with too many dangers. If the infected catch up to the motorcycle, the decoy will die before meeting up. The infected are actually incredibly fast. Plus, they might be caught in the tank truck explosion. There are any number of dangers.
"I can't think of an idea better than this. To let three people live, someone has to have the resolve to be sacrificed. If you have a better idea, I'd like you to tell me."
Sacrificing the small for the sake of the large—this plan was based on that premise. Of course, Naomi-san probably had no intention of abandoning the "small" at all, but in reality, the person who became the decoy had a high probability of dying.
But neither I, Yui, nor Mana-chan had an idea we could assert was better than this. Everyone escaping together was nothing more than an ideal; everyone was resolved to the fact that someone might be sacrificed during the escape. This world had become such a heartless place.
Naomi-san couldn't serve as the decoy because she had to drive the car and protect the two people getting into it. As for Mana-chan, it was a question of whether she could even ride a motorcycle. Inevitably, the one to be the decoy would be either Yui or me.
I didn't want to die either. I still had many things left undone, and my body trembled when I imagined dying in intense pain. But that must be the same for Yui. She shouldn't want to die either, and if possible, she surely wants to leave this town without experiencing the fear of being chased by the infected.
An older male exposing a younger girl to terror in exchange for safety. Could I do such a pathetic thing?
No, I couldn't. I'll be damned if I do.
"I understand, Naomi-san. Let's go with that method. I'll be the decoy."