kscans

Chapter 234 - End: O Boy

The town was silent.
A convenience store with broken windows and ransacked shelves. A passenger car that had crashed into a utility pole and was totaled. Skeletons rolling on the roadside. Private houses with gardens overgrown with weeds. Buildings burned down.
There were those who watched these sights from high above.
"Reconnaissance aircraft has arrived at the operation area."
In an underground command post hundreds of kilometers away from the desolate town where nothing moved, footage sent from an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft was displayed on a large monitor. JSDF members wearing gray or green camouflage faced computer monitors, staring at the footage captured from above by the drone.
"Multiple heat sources on the ground. Presumed to be the infected."
The footage on the monitor zoomed in, showing a large image of the human silhouettes captured from above. On the infrared night vision device, which displayed low-temperature objects as black and high-temperature ones as white, white human-shaped shadows wandering aimlessly on the road were displayed.
Switching to normal visible light footage, it was clear that the clothing of those silhouettes was so grimy they could almost be called rags. The displayed silhouettes were determined to be the infected, and their positions were marked on a map of the town shown on another monitor.
"Alpha has completed deployment; Bravo is currently on standby at their location."
"Five minutes until the start of the operation."
At those words, the gazes of those in the command post turned toward a large digital clock installed on the wall. The time was 8:55 AM.
Many thought that clocks had long since become meaningless. A clock is provided to create a common standard of time for running social life; if that society disappears and there is no longer a need to worry about train departure times, work start times, or times to meet with business partners, a clock becomes nothing more than an accessory.
However, time was important in this operation. If they could not act according to the time set in minute increments, no one's life could be saved.
Far below the unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, in a private house in a corner of the desolate town, a certain boy was peering outside from a second-floor window. He gripped a metal bat as a substitute for a weapon, and a small backpack was placed at his feet.
Three years had already passed since the boy began living with bated breath alone in this house. When the infected appeared in Japan, he was luckily at home because the elementary school was closed. Although an evacuation order had been issued, he could not leave the house because there were infected outside; by barricading himself and holding his breath, he escaped disaster, but in exchange, the boy was left behind in a town full of the infected.
The boy's parents did not return from work. No matter how many times he called their cell phones, they wouldn't connect, and eventually, the lines became congested. There was no reply at all to emails or messaging apps, and eventually, cell phones and the internet became unusable. The boy was forced to live alone in his own house.
In the beginning, there were many safe residents in the neighborhood, so he exchanged information and cooperated to gather necessary supplies while making sure the infected were not nearby, but gradually that number decreased. Those who risked danger to leave the town after hearing the north was safer, those who were found by the infected when they went outside to procure supplies, elderly people who found it difficult to move on their own and grew weak or died of illness because the medicine for chronic conditions they received at the hospital ran out.
Screams were heard from the neighborhood almost every night, and the boy shivered under his blanket, praying the infected wouldn't come here. And after a month, there were no living residents in the neighborhood besides himself.
Finding food and daily necessities from the residents' vanished private houses and supermarkets and bringing them back, he lived with bated breath for three years with all the curtains in his house closed. Supplies had mostly vanished from the nearby houses and shops, and the food he had stockpiled at home was gone; just as he was wondering whether to abandon his safe home and move, a large amount of flyers suddenly fell from the sky.
The flyers stated that a rescue operation for survivors by the JSDF would be conducted in this region. To the boy, who had even thought that perhaps there were no other living people besides himself since the television and internet became unusable, the fact that the Japanese government and JSDF still existed was nothing but a surprise. Since the television, radio, and internet had all been wiped out a while after the pandemic, he had thought broadcasts were long since over, but he hurriedly pulled out an emergency hand-cranked radio and learned that broadcasts from the government had been conducted for two years.
The flyer stated that a rescue operation would be conducted one week later. It said that survivors in this region who desired rescue should gather at the designated time at the elementary school that had been designated as an emergency evacuation center. And it also said that the rescue operation would be conducted only once, and if this opportunity was missed, there were no plans for a next time.
And today was exactly the day the rescue by the JSDF would be conducted. How many days had he waited for this day since picking up the flyer?
Living every day while holding his breath in a dark house with closed curtains, without talking to anyone and always in fear of the infected, could truly be said to be living as if dead. If he continued to stay in this house, only a slow death awaited him.
The boy went up to the second-floor window and waited for the signal for the start of the rescue operation at any moment. It was said that the rescue would begin at 9:15 AM, but unfortunately, he did not have a clock that told the accurate time. Before the infected appeared, his means of checking the time was primarily his smartphone, and the only cheap wristwatch he had, which had been bought for an elementary school field trip, was a quartz type. There was a radio-controlled wall clock in the house, but the standard radio wave stopped being transmitted because the transmission station had a power outage or the maintenance personnel had evacuated, and after the battery ran out and the clock stopped, it had been left as is. Since he lived alone and didn't need to synchronize time with anyone, he had never worried about the clock until now.
Assuming there would be those who didn't know the time, it was said that a signal flare would be fired at the start of rescue activities, and until then, they were to stay at their current location to avoid danger. If possible, he wanted to head to the elementary school, the rescue point, even now to avoid the risk of being left behind, but it was dangerous to move while there were infected everywhere. The possibility of encountering the infected on the way would be higher. Suppressing his impatient feelings, he had no choice but to act according to the instructions written on the flyer.
Gazing outside from the window, he waited for the signal flare to be fired at any moment. The boy, who did not have a clock, had no way of knowing, but the time was just about to reach 9:00 AM.
When the clock hands passed 9:00 AM, the JSDF, which had infiltrated the town, began their action.
The signal marking 9:00 was the explosion of a community center located on the south side of the town. Prior to the rescue operation, the JSDF, which had infiltrated the city, detonated explosives they had set in the community center where many infected lurked.
From prior aerial reconnaissance and investigation, it was known that there were nearly 50 infected in the community center; if they all rushed out at once, it would be a major threat. Whether there were so many infected because it had been designated as an evacuation center, or whether elderly infected had gathered out of habit from when they were human, was unknown, but there was no doubt that wiping out the infected gathered in such numbers would reduce future threats.
The explosives set in the community center exploded all at once, involving the infected inside and collapsing with a loud noise. The air shook greatly, and the sound of the explosion thundered throughout the town. The building that had been a community center collapsed into rubble, and a thick cloud of dust rose.
"The infected have come out all at once. They are moving south."
"The diversion seems to be a success."
The camera of the reconnaissance aircraft circling above captured the infected rushing out from various buildings throughout the town and running toward the south where the sound of the explosion had occurred.
The rescue operation was divided into two stages. First was the diversion starting from the explosion that just occurred, followed by the transport of survivors. Helicopters were planned to be used for the rescue of survivors, but the engine noise of the rotor sound emitted when a helicopter flies would surely be noticed by the infected. Although instructions had been given via flyers dropped from drones for those desiring rescue to gather at the elementary school, if a helicopter were to land on the elementary school's ground just like that, it was not difficult to imagine that the infected would immediately swarm and danger would also reach the rescue targets.
For that reason, prior to the rescue by helicopter, a diversion to lure the city's infected in a different direction was to be conducted. A small unit of the JSDF that had infiltrated the urban area would loudly make explosion sounds and gunshots to draw the infected, and after the infected near the elementary school were mostly gone, they would give a signal to the survivors with a flare, and once they gathered at the elementary school, they would rescue them all at once with helicopters. In the current situation where enough force did not remain to sweep every single infected lurking in the town, no other optimal method could be considered.
After blowing up the community center and processing dozens of infected at once, the members deployed on the city's main street began their activity. The members, who took up positions in the middle of a crossroads on the main street, began shooting every infected they laid eyes on. In a town where there were neither cars nor human voices, the gunshots of machine guns echoed loudly.
"Alpha has commenced combat. The operation is proceeding smoothly."
There were only four members in the diversionary unit called Alpha. While not many people were needed for just a diversion, and moving in a large force would increase the possibility of being detected by the infected before the operation and render the diversion meaningless, the maximum factor was that there were not that many people who could be committed to this operation.
The four members of the Diversionary Unit showered a fierce barrage of gunfire toward the infected swarms that noticed their presence and came running. Grenade rounds detonated in the middle of the running infected groups, and several were caught in the blast and danced in the air. Machine guns spat fire, mowing down the infected approaching from the front, but it was clear that both personnel and firepower were insufficient.
Because they had infiltrated on foot for fear of their presence being revealed beforehand, they did not have armed vehicles or sufficient ammunition. Since it was just a diversion, defeating all the swarming infected was not the objective from the start, but even so, if they could not endure until the rescue of survivors was completed, the members would be swallowed by the wave of the infected in no time.
"The number of infected is too high. Requesting air support."
Before the member of the Diversionary Unit could make that request over the radio, attack helicopters had begun taking off from the FOB established in the mountains about 40 kilometers away from the town for the execution of the rescue operation.
Helicopters held by public institutions such as the JSDF, police, fire department, and Japan Coast Guard continued to operate constantly for rescue activities during the pandemic. As a result, strain was placed on the airframes and parts were consumed; by the time the government moved to Hokkaido, the number of flyable helicopters had decreased to less than 10% of the total. In a state with neither satisfactory fuel nor parts, they couldn't fly helicopters at all, but after the recapture operations of JSDF and USFJ bases and supply depots were conducted and a certain amount of aviation fuel, spare parts, and ammunition were obtained, the prospect of executing this rescue operation was established.
"Dragon has already taken off and is heading to support Alpha."
Several helicopters took off from a temporary heliport established in a mountain basin where it was difficult for the infected to find them, and began flying toward the town. Taking the lead was the AH-64D "Apache" attack helicopter, which had been assigned the callsign "Dragon" for the execution of the operation.
Originally developed for the purpose of ground attacks such as against enemy tanks, the Apache, which could not transport personnel, had been driven into sweeping missions for the infected during the pandemic. However, after the extermination orders were canceled in the face of the increasing number of infected, the attack helicopters, which could not transport personnel or supplies, were quickly retired and, after crossing to Hokkaido in a state of relatively low consumption, had been left as they were.
In this rescue operation, the Apache had been pulled out to fill the lacking number of aircraft for ground unit support, but against the infected who carried no weapons and used no vehicles, its boastful bulletproof armor and state-of-the-art radar that could detect tanks 10 kilometers away were nothing but a waste. Armor plates that could be removed were all taken off, and unnecessary radar and the like were also removed to lighten the weight and aim for improved fuel efficiency.
Swarms of the infected that noticed the helicopter flying while thundering with explosive sound began running after it. Inside the Apache, which was flying toward the town while leading the swarms of the infected running on the ground, the gunner in the front seat was looking at the monitor installed in front.
The Apache, which reached the overhead of the Diversionary Unit taking up positions in the middle of the crossroads and shooting, circled the perimeter while showering the members on the ground with a powerful downwash. When the gunner operated the sighting device and switched to infrared night vision mode, suddenly many white human-shaped shadows running on the ground were displayed on the monitor before his eyes.
"Permission to fire granted. Shoot anything other than humans as you like."
Receiving the contact from the command post, when the Apache's gunner operated the joystick, the chain gun protruding from under the nose moved in synchronization with it. After aligning the sight with the lead of the infected swarm approaching the crossroads, the gunner pulled the trigger attached to the joystick.
The 30mm chain gun spat fire, and the running human-shaped shadows that had been displayed in white on the monitor became invisible in an instant, enveloped in the same white explosive flames. A few seconds later, what was left there were only human body parts that were already so disjointed they didn't even retain a human shape, still carrying heat. Seeing the corpses of the crushed infected that remained reflected in white on the monitor, the gunner grimaced.
Even if they are the infected, it still feels bad to shoot things in the shape of humans. Especially if he is forced to see them being crushed by his own hands and scattered into pieces through the monitor. However, he knew that now was not the time to be saying such things, and if they didn't shoot, further danger would press upon the Diversionary Unit below.
Every time the Apache fired the chain gun in bursts, infected hundreds of meters away were blown away, turned into meat fragments, and rolled onto the road. Still, the wave of the infected did not stop. However, while they were continuing to shoot here, the infected would be distracted by the Diversionary Unit on the ground and the attack helicopter, and would move away from the elementary school, the survivor collection point.
Even so, ammunition was not infinite. While seeing the remaining ammunition count displayed on the monitor decrease every time he pulled the trigger, the gunner continued firing. Although they had replenished to some extent from JSDF supply depots and US military bases, ammunition was not plentiful.
Seeing the explosion sound and the following gunshots thundering from the direction of the urban area, and the helicopter that flew over his head, the boy realized that the rescue operation had begun. Since the flyer said that a diversion against the infected would be conducted prior to the rescue at the elementary school, the combat currently taking place seemed to be exactly that.
Perhaps having heard the explosion sound or the helicopter rotor sound, several infected could be seen running toward the urban area outside the window. If he had gone outside to the elementary school prematurely, he might have been attacked by the infected who were wandering outside on the way. Many infected still remained in this town.
Now that the diversionary operation had begun, the rescue of survivors would also begin soon. Just as he thought so, he saw a red signal flare, indicating the signal to "Assemble," rise from the direction of the elementary school. Seeing that signal flare flying toward the sky while emitting a dazzling light, the boy grabbed his backpack, rushed down the stairs with momentum, and went outside for the first time in several days.
The sky was clear, as if to bless the boy's departure from now on. Since the elementary school was in a place that wouldn't take even 10 minutes to run to from here, he shouldn't be left behind. The boy started running toward the school with the metal bat in one hand.
No one was moving on the roads of the residential area. The crows, which had increased in large numbers at one time by eating corpses, had returned to their original numbers after fresh corpses decreased and were perched on the power lines. While the crows, which had become fearless, looked down, the boy ran toward the school.
Many infected would have gone because of the diversion, but even so, it was better to be cautious. The boy always stopped when passing through an intersection and confirmed that no one was on the left or right before crossing. Except for the gunshots and explosion sounds heard from the direction of the urban area, it was a town so filled with silence that he doubted if anyone else was alive besides himself.
"Uwa!?"
Suddenly, a dry sound of something breaking occurred at his feet, and the boy, who was just about to cross the intersection, lost his balance and fell. Looking back, a human skull, half-crushed, was rolling there. Considering the size, was it a child's?
He had been paying attention only to the presence of the infected and hadn't been looking at his feet. In the first place, human bones were just one of the common sights rolling everywhere now, so he had inadvertently overlooked it.
"Ouch...!"
When he tried to stand up, a sharp pain ran through his right ankle. It seemed he had sprained his ankle when he fell after stepping on the skull. He managed to stand up, but running was impossible like this.
The elementary school, the rescue point, was still far from here. He didn't know how much time margin there was from when the signal flare rose until they left the elementary school, but he wanted to avoid being left behind at all costs.
"Damn it, why at a time like this..."
He cursed like that and tried to kick away the skull he had stepped on, but stopped. The hollow eye sockets of the half-crushed skull were looking up at the boy.
Why are we dead while you alone are living? You become our comrade too. Since only terrible things happen even if you're alive, let's die quickly and be at ease. If you die, you don't think of anything, and there's no fear, pain, or sadness.
The skull he had stepped on seemed to be speaking to him like that.
These three years had been a daily life of enduring only fear and sadness. He couldn't get in touch with his parents or friends, and the neighbors who had barely survived died one after another, or turned into the infected themselves every day.
There was no meaning in the days of living as if dead, and it was just that he was living because he wasn't dead.
His family and friends must all be dead. What would become of him living when he couldn't find meaning or a reason to live? Even if he was saved here, how was he supposed to live from now on?
That thought was something he couldn't shake off since he picked up the flyer saying rescue was coming. However, he didn't know the meaning of living, but he was afraid of dying. That was the reason the boy had survived until now, and that feeling had not changed even now.
Using the metal bat as a cane, the boy began to move again toward the school while dragging his right foot. He didn't know how much longer it would be until the rescue helicopter came.
At the elementary school designated as the rescue point, the JSDF members who had infiltrated beforehand were taking action. Many people seemed to have gathered at the elementary school, which had been designated as an evacuation center during the previous pandemic, but what was left were only skeletons. The elementary school had also been attacked by the infected, and the people who survived seemed to have abandoned this place.
"As previously communicated, first you will take off your clothes for a body inspection. If you refuse, we will not rescue you!"
The First Lieutenant leading the Bravo Squad in charge of the rescue at the elementary school announced that to the survivors who had gathered immediately upon seeing the signal flare. Taking off clothes was to check if they had been bitten by the infected, and that was also written on the flyers scattered beforehand. If they refused the body inspection here, they would be excluded from the rescue targets unconditionally at that point, and in the worst case, he was considering shooting them on the spot.
No objections at all rose from the survivors. The members were only men and there were women among the survivors, but no one refused the body inspection. Whether they understood that they couldn't waste the rescue opportunity that had finally arrived, or whether they had no margin to raise an objection because they were exhausted, or both.
"The rescue helicopter will arrive shortly. Until then, please wait in the gymnasium."
Two members guided the survivors who had finished the body inspection to the gymnasium. Skeletons were rolling here and there on the school building floors, but no one paid them any mind. Everyone had long since become used to corpses.
"No sign of the infected in the perimeter. Three more civilians entering from the main gate."
From the reports from the members positioned on the roof, it seemed the infected in the surrounding area had been drawn to the urban area by the diversion, but they couldn't be careless. The squad's personnel was fewer than 10 people, and while slightly better than the Diversionary Unit, they wouldn't be able to stand against the infected if they pushed in in a great swarm.
"This is bad..."
The number of survivors in this vicinity had been estimated at about 50 through unmanned aerial reconnaissance and the like, but despite only about 10 minutes having passed since the signal flare was fired, over 40 survivors had already gathered at the school. At this rate, even more survivors would likely gather.
Helicopters would be used for the rescue of survivors, but the number of aircraft was only three in total. Since one was planned to be used for the withdrawal of the Diversionary Unit in the urban area, only two could practically be used. The JSDF helicopters had developed rattles in their airframes or had heavy consumption of parts due to rescue and transport during the pandemic, and they were failing one after another; the helicopters used in this rescue operation were also finished to a state where they could somehow be flown by scraping together usable parts through cannibalization and using parts borrowed from recaptured US military bases.
While the Lieutenant was discussing changes to the operation with headquarters, even more survivors gathered at the school. Everyone was exhausted and emaciated, telling the members of the harshness of the survival life of these three years. However, only the color of hope remained in the eyes looking at the JSDF members.
"Survivor at the main gate, being chased by the infected!"
At the radio from the member on the roof, the Lieutenant jumped out into the schoolyard to find a trio that seemed to be a family entering the school grounds from the main gate. A single infected could be seen chasing them from behind, and the family was desperately running toward them.
The sniper positioned on the school building roof responded immediately, shooting through the head of the infected chasing the family with a gun equipped with a silencer. Without even a glance at the infected that fell to the ground with the upper half of its head blown away, the family rushed into the school building as if diving.
"According to reconnaissance by drone, many heat sources are heading toward the school. Please be advised."
At the report from headquarters, the Lieutenant thought that the rescue likely wouldn't proceed smoothly. While many of the infected near the school would be drawn that way if a diversion was conducted in the urban area, not all would be caught. Since the situation was already progressing with the prospect of the number of people to be rescued greatly exceeding the estimate, he didn't want any more unnecessary anxiety factors added.
The Lieutenant looked at his wristwatch. It was written on the flyers dropped by the drone that the rescue by helicopter would be conducted from 9:30 AM, 15 minutes after the signal flare was fired, and 10 minutes had already passed since the signal flare was released. The helicopters had already taken off from the FOB and were expected to arrive on time.
If possible, he wanted to rescue even one more person. The Lieutenant dropped his eyes to the face of his wristwatch again.
Meanwhile, even more infected were swarming toward the Diversionary Unit continuing the diversion in the urban area.
"We're almost out of ammo! Where's the heli!?"
A voice close to a scream rose from the member continuing to shoot at the infected on the ground. It was good that they were able to attract the infected with the diversion, but the number exceeded the estimate. Because they had infiltrated on foot, they only had the weapons and ammunition they carried, and since they had fulfilled the objective of fulfilling the diversion and drawing the infected to the urban area, they should have just been withdrawing.
"CP to Alpha, changing operation. Because the number of survivors is high, the recovery heli will be diverted to the school. Standby at your current location."
A large and a medium helicopter were each planned to be used for the rescue of survivors, but because the number of people to be accommodated increased, the helicopter that was supposed to withdraw the Diversionary Unit was also diverted to the rescue of survivors. It was said they would recover the Diversionary Unit again after the rescue of survivors, but by then the ammunition would be exhausted and the Diversionary Unit would be swallowed by the tsunami of the infected.
The Apache circling overhead showered the area around the Diversionary Unit with chain gun fire and fired rockets to support them. Multiple explosions occurred on the ground, and charred and disjointed human bodies and meat fragments rained down on the Diversionary Unit like rain. Still, the infected did not stop.
If a 30mm chain gun round hits a human body directly, it easily disjoints it, and if it impacts at close range, a human within a radius of several meters will easily sustain a fatal injury from the scattered fragments. However, the infected do not stop moving even if they lose a limb or two. Moreover, although the chain gun rounds have a hazard range of a dozen meters from the impact point, the infected were not clustered and were pushing in in small groups, so the pace of consuming rounds was also fast.
"Dragon to CP, we are also below half ammo. Requesting early recovery of Alpha."
"Changing operation; Alpha's withdrawal is last. Because the heli is full, Alpha will be withdrawn by extraction rope."
This meant the Diversionary Unit had no choice but to wait on the ground until the rescue at the elementary school was finished. Surrounded by many infected and exhausting their ammunition, the only thing the Diversionary Unit could rely on was the Apache providing support from above.
The Apache's gunner fired an anti-tank missile toward a group of about 20 infected. The missile, accelerated by a rocket motor, flew toward the laser irradiation point emitted by the gunner and impacted right in the middle of the infected running on the ground. A particularly large explosive flame rose, and a car parked nearby was blown to pieces.
Still, the Apache's gunner witnessed through the sighting device that the infected who had taken the missile at close range were still writhing despite losing limbs.
Compared to the ground, the helicopter above is safe as long as fuel lasts, but even so, it's tough to keep watching this hellish scenery. He wanted it to end quickly, the gunner thought.
Fifteen minutes after the signal flare was fired, three helicopters flew over the elementary school while thundering with a noisy rotor sound. The number of survivors who had come to the elementary school after seeing the flyer already amounted to nearly 80.
The members suppressed the survivors who tried to jump outside upon seeing the rescue helicopters, and following the instructions of the guide on the schoolyard, the helicopters slowly began to descend. A "Chinook" transport helicopter, with rotors at the front and back of its large fuselage, kicked up a powerful cloud of dust with its strong downwash.
"CP to Bravo Commander, swarms of the infected are heading your way after the helis. Accommodate the refugees quickly and withdraw."
Even without hearing the radio from headquarters, the Lieutenant understood that from here on it would be a race against time. The rotor sound of the three helicopters would be clearly audible from afar, and the infected who saw the helicopters flying overhead and chased after them would soon reach the school. Besides, although most of the nearby infected had been drawn toward the urban area by the diversion, there should still be infected remaining in the vicinity. It was within the scope of expectations that they would notice the rescue helicopters and swarm toward the elementary school.
Whether it couldn't withstand the powerful downwash, the withered trees at the corner of the schoolyard fell over while involving the fence, making a loud noise. Confirming that the Chinook had landed, the Lieutenant raised his voice toward the survivors gathered at the school building entrance.
"We will have you board the helicopter now. Please follow instructions without breaking the order!"
The survivors gathered at the elementary school had already undergone body inspections, and it had been confirmed that no one had been bitten by the infected. The order of boarding the helicopter was the order in which they had arrived at the elementary school.
"The front of the helicopter is dangerous! Absolutely do not enter!"
Following the guide's instructions, the survivors formed a line toward the helicopter. The rear ramp of the aircraft lowered, revealing a cabin that could even be loaded with vehicles.
"Two infected at 3 o'clock."
The infected chasing the rescue helicopters seemed to be approaching the school as well, as the gunshots of the members positioned on the roof thundered. To the survivors who instinctively shrank and stopped their feet at the gunshots, the guide shouted in a loud voice not to be drowned out by the rotor sound, "Don't stop! Go straight ahead!"
The Chinook's capacity is a maximum of 55 people, but more can be carried if seats are removed. However, since this Chinook was also an aircraft that had been made flyable by gathering parts from airframes used heavily during the pandemic, he couldn't force it to fly with a significant over-capacity. If the number of survivors was about 50 as originally estimated, everyone could have been transported by one Chinook, but because there were more survivors than that, the plan was changed so that even the helicopter that was to head for the withdrawal of the Diversionary Unit would be used for the transport of survivors.
"Please move to the back! Don't stop, move further in!"
The flight engineer raised his voice, and the survivors who boarded the helicopter sat down on the cold floor. To drown out their relief at finally being able to go to a safe place, another engineer fired the machine gun mounted in the front window of the aircraft.
"More are coming!"
The engineer shouted and pulled the machine gun's trigger. The ejected shell casings fell to the floor, rolling with a clear metallic sound.
"Accommodation of civilians complete, taking off."
The Chinook, carrying nearly 70 of the over 80 survivors, increased its engine RPM and took off. The engineers inside the aircraft each fired the machine guns installed in the left and right windows, showering gunfire toward the infected closing in on the school.
At the same time the Chinook took off, the medium transport helicopter—the Black Hawk—which had been waiting overhead, began its approach. It was a landing while flashily firing machine guns toward the infected approaching the elementary school. All the remaining dozen or so survivors were to be packed into this Black Hawk, and finally, the members were planned to withdraw from the elementary school by boarding another Black Hawk.
The infected who noticed the helicopters seemed to be coming to the elementary school one after another, as the gunshots of the members positioned on the roof and near the gate were thundering incessantly.
If only everyone could escape safely like this. The Lieutenant thought so and guided the remaining survivors to the helicopter.
The boy, who was heading toward the elementary school while dragging his painful right foot, noticed that the rotor sounds of multiple helicopters were approaching. Along with the conviction that rescue had truly come, an impatience that he wouldn't be helped if he missed this welled up. The elementary school was not even 500 meters from here, but the foot he had sprained when he crushed the skull earlier was still running with sharp pain.
He saw a large helicopter with rotors at the front and back of its long fuselage descending toward the elementary school. Overhead, two more helicopters were repeating circles, perhaps waiting for landing.
He wouldn't make it at this rate. Thinking so, the boy instinctively raised his voice, "Hey!" and waved his hand toward the helicopters. He had a faint hope that they might notice him and come to rescue him, but the helicopters were continuing to circle as if the boy was not even in their sight.
He knew it was a futile thing, but even so, the boy felt a desperate feeling toward the helicopters that wouldn't notice him. If he was left behind here, how on earth was he supposed to live from now on?
Suddenly, the roar of the infected thundered and the boy shivered. Looking left and right, those guys he didn't want to meet were there.
From the end of the road leading to the elementary school, two infected could be seen running toward the boy. He thought they should just go toward the elementary school, but maybe they noticed him because he shouted just now to get the helicopters to notice him. Or maybe the infected who noticed the helicopters just happened to find the boy on their way to the elementary school.
In any case, there was no doubt it was a desperate situation.
He couldn't run properly because he sprained his foot, and there were two infected. In these three years, he had had several opportunities to see the infected, but at those times he was in good health and the infected he encountered was only one. Either hold his breath and wait it out, or run away. He had somehow managed to pull through until now with one of those, but those methods didn't seem usable.
Despite having a metal bat as a weapon, there were two opponents. It was not difficult to imagine that while he was dealing with one, he would be bitten by the other.
He couldn't hide, run, or fight.
Ah, so my life is finally ending here. Seeing the infected running toward him, the boy thought as if it were someone else's business. The time had finally come for him to be caught by the hand of the reaper he had somehow escaped until now.
What on earth were these three years for? What was the end of enduring days of living while holding his breath in fear of death and suffering from hunger and thirst, only to have this be the result?
But this is the last of it. It will be very painful to be eaten alive by the infected, but after that, neither fear nor pain will be waiting. He would finally be released from this hell. Thinking so, the boy lowered the metal bat he had started to brandish and slumped on the spot. Everything was fine now.
The infected, clad in dirty and tattered clothes, ran toward the boy while raising beastly roars. The distance was only a few meters. And—.
"Don't give up!"
A man's voice, raspy like an old man's but powerful, was heard, and the boy raised his face. The infected who had pressed right before his eyes were blown away together after taking a flying kick from someone from the side.
"Stand up! If you die, it's over right there!"
The someone who showered the infected with a flying kick was a man clad in a black coat. The only thing that concerned him was that the man's face was covered by a mask. A handmade mask with a low-budget feel, like a local hero some poor municipality made for the sake of creating a buzz. However, countless scars were carved into that mask.
The infected who took the flying kick immediately stood up and changed their target to the masked man to attack. The man drew a machete from the sheath hanging at his waist and held it in his right hand, slamming a fist into the face of one first.
The infected that took the punch to the face recoiled, but the other one tried to bite the man in that gap. However, the man immediately slashed the throat of the infected with the machete in his right hand and, as a finishing blow, thrust its tip into the eye socket. The body of the infected, with the machete handle growing from its eye, convulsed greatly and collapsed on the ground.
The man, who had defeated two infected in no time, faced the boy and held out a gloved hand, saying, "Can you stand?" The boy was about to say what that mask was, but was pulled back to reality by the pain in his foot.
"I sprained my foot... running is impossible."
"I see, then I'll lend you a shoulder. Do you want to ride that helicopter?"
Saying that, the masked man pointed to the two helicopters still circling overhead. There, he finally noticed that gunshots were also being heard from the direction of the elementary school. The infected must be heading toward the rescue point as well.
When the boy nodded, the masked man carried the boy's body on his shoulder as if carrying a bale. The boy noticed that the man was hanging an automatic rifle on his back, but by then the man had already started running as if he didn't feel the weight of the boy's body at all.
Perhaps having noticed the noise of the helicopters, the number of infected increased as they approached the elementary school, the landing point, whether they were gathering from the surrounding area or returning from the urban area. The man was running while ignoring those infected, but a single infected suddenly jumped out in front.
"Watch out!"
The boy carried on his shoulder instinctively shrank his head, but the man was calm. Without a word, he drew a short shotgun with the barrel and stock cut down from under his coat and pulled the trigger toward the infected in front of him. The gunshot of the shotgun fired at close range was loud enough that he thought his eardrums might burst.
The upper half of the head of the infected that took the buckshot at close range was blown away. The man fired at another infected approaching. After firing two shots and running out of ammunition, the masked man put the shotgun back in his breast and called out to the boy.
"It's almost there! So don't give up!"
At that powerful voice, the boy wondered what on earth this masked man was. At least he wasn't a police officer or a JSDF member. If there were a civil servant who worked while wearing such a ridiculous mask, he'd like to see them.
"Living is a battle. If you give up on fighting, tomorrow won't come. So don't give up on fighting!"
The masked man said that while running to the elementary school with the boy on his shoulder. What on earth was this man who suddenly appeared from nowhere and helped him? The boy, who thought so, instinctively opened his mouth.
"Who are you?"
To that question, the man answered without even looking at the boy's face.
"Just a person passing by."
The first Black Hawk, packed with the remaining survivors, took off from the schoolyard. The Lieutenant was relieved that all of the over 80 survivors gathered at the school had been rescued safely, but he didn't have the margin to breathe a sigh of relief. The maximum task of withdrawing their own Bravo Team still remained.
"Rescue of civilians complete. Bravo will now withdraw."
"Second squad, withdraw from the roof immediately."
The second Black Hawk landed on the schoolyard while raining bullets toward the infected on the ground approaching the school. No one was left inside the school building or the gymnasium anymore. The members who had been on guard at the main gate and back gate also retreated to the ground, and the snipers and machine gunners positioned on the roof descended to the ground using ropes.
Confirming that all members were present, the Lieutenant instructed his subordinates to board the helicopter. Immediately, the members boarded the landed Black Hawk, and just as the Lieutenant was about to step into the aircraft last, a communication came from the other helicopter that had accommodated the refugees earlier and was guarding from overhead.
"Survivor confirmed on the ground. They are near the main gate!"
When the Lieutenant looked back toward the main gate, he could certainly see silhouettes running toward them. And beyond them, the figures of many infected.
"One is a child!"
The Lieutenant, holding his rifle, peered through the scope at the silhouettes running toward them. A man wearing a strange mask was carrying a child. Was the child's age still about middle school level?
"What should we do?"
Unexpectedly, the Lieutenant remembered his own son. His son, who was in the 6th grade of elementary school. The Lieutenant had left his wife and son at the official residence and gone out on public order duty, but that was the last time he saw them. During the public order duty, the garrison his unit belonged to was destroyed along with the adjacent official residence by the infected, and his wife and child had remained missing since then.
The members here were also those who had lost their families or were forced to flee to Hokkaido while their safety was unknown. Seeing the figure of the boy being carried toward them by the masked man, the Lieutenant instinctively turned his back to the helicopter and started running.
"We will withdraw after accommodating those two! Others, standby in the aircraft!"
The Lieutenant held his rifle and fired toward the infected chasing the man. He heard the masked man turn this way and shout to the boy, "Run!"
Nearly 10 infected were closing in behind him. The masked man, who put the boy down, faced the infected with the automatic rifle he held in his hand.
The boy seemed to be injured, as he headed toward the helicopter while dragging his right foot. The Lieutenant ran to the boy, lent him a shoulder, and returned to the helicopter. Behind them, the masked man was fighting while surrounded by the infected.
He fired at the heads of the infected, parried the arms stretched toward him with the gunstock, and for the infected that charged, he poked their faces with the muzzle and shot them as they lost their balance. He performed a leg sweep and slammed bullets into the head of the fallen infected, and slammed the gunstock into the face of an infected and kicked it away just like that.
"What's with that guy..."
One of the members muttered that. It was a way of fighting that almost could be called suicidal, not considering the danger of being bitten by the infected at all. However, the masked man seemed quite used to fighting, as he showed no sign of being moved even when surrounded by the infected.
In no time, the masked man defeated several infected; behind him, the boy was being carried into the Black Hawk's cabin by the Lieutenant's hands. The Black Hawk, which had a capacity of about a dozen people, was cramped because the members clad in equipment were on board, but even so, a few more could ride if they packed in.
"Sorry, but I'm going to have to restrain you."
The survivors accommodated in the helicopter earlier had all been checked to see if they were bitten by looking at every corner of their bodies, but there was no margin to body-check the boy in this situation. In preparation for the event that the boy was bitten and developed symptoms and went on a rampage in the aircraft, the Lieutenant put handcuffs on both his hands. It pained his heart to put handcuffs on a child about his son's age, but it couldn't be helped.
"Many infected are heading to the elementary school. Withdraw quickly!"
At the radio from the pilot of the other Black Hawk showering gunfire from overhead to support the Lieutenant and the others on the ground, the Lieutenant looked back and shouted to the masked man, "You come quickly too." However, perhaps because he couldn't hear due to the helicopter rotor sound, there was no sign of the masked man looking back.
Inevitably, the Lieutenant ran to the main gate while shooting and called out to the masked man, who was still fending off the closing infected alone, "Only you are left, get on the heli quickly!" However, the masked man turned toward the Lieutenant and answered, "I still have things to do, so I'll pass."
"Pass? There are no plans for rescue activities in this region in the future; if you miss this, rescue won't come anymore!"
"That's why I'm saying I have things to do. Please go quickly."
Not expecting that there would be someone who refused rescue, the Lieutenant was taken aback. That said, since the infected were closing in on the landing point, he couldn't keep wasting time by continuing the question-and-answer session here.
"By the way, was the vaccine finished? Since you started rescue activities, it means it was finished, right?"
"Why do you..."
The existence of the vaccine was supposed to be classified; why did this man know that?
All the members of Alpha and Bravo participating in this rescue operation had been inoculated with the vaccine that was finished just half a year ago. The Lieutenant, who was not a scientist, didn't know in detail, but that vaccine was apparently finished by researching the blood of a human who had antibodies to the virus. Anyway, the vaccine that was just finished was proven to be effective through clinical trials.
Because the vaccine was finished, there was no longer a fear of developing symptoms even if bitten by the infected, and for that reason, the JSDF was able to activate operation activities in Honshu. The JSDF members who were inoculated with the vaccine suppressed JSDF and USFJ bases, airports, and fuel storage facilities occupied by the infected, and by recovering weapons, ammunition, fuel, and parts from there, the equipment that could be operated also increased. This rescue operation also couldn't have been executed without the existence of the vaccine and the recovered ammunition and fuel.
Seeing him hesitate, the Lieutenant knew the man was laughing under the mask despite his face being hidden. Along with a very happy laughter, the masked man turned toward the Lieutenant.
"It was finished! No—that's good, now my hard work will be rewarded at least a little."
"Hard work—could it be that you..."
"Knowing that is enough. Look, your comrades are waiting."
The infected near the main gate had been mostly cleared by the man and the Lieutenant's gunfire, but more infected would surely swarm soon. He didn't know what the man was thinking because his face was covered by a mask, but at least he didn't seem like a bad person. Besides, he had the ability to pull through even if surrounded by the infected. Thinking so, the Lieutenant decided to respect the masked man's will.
"...I understand. I don't know who you are, but I wish you luck."
Telling him that, the Lieutenant turned his back to the man and ran again toward the helicopter that was landing on the schoolyard with its rotors turning. When he looked back just once, he saw the masked man running away from the elementary school.
"The other person isn't coming; take off as soon as I board."
"He's not coming... what does that mean?"
"He said he wasn't going, so it can't be helped, can it?"
The Lieutenant, who slid into the cabin from the open door, was met by the perplexed expressions of the members. It was nonsensical enough to be wearing a mask, but to then refuse rescue and remain in this town full of the infected.
"Taking off now."
Immediately after the Lieutenant boarded the helicopter, the Black Hawk took off from the schoolyard along with a high-pitched metallic sound of the engine roaring. What was left behind were the corpses of the infected and the masked man running somewhere with his back to the elementary school.
"That person is...?"
The boy restrained by handcuffs asked that, but the Lieutenant only replied, "He seems to have things to do."
And the Lieutenant and the others also had things to do.
The Chinook transport helicopter, which had accommodated the survivors earlier and taken off, was flying over the urban area where the Diversionary Unit was deployed. Inside the aircraft, the engineers were preparing to accommodate the Diversionary Unit and instructed the survivors who had boarded to move away from the rear ramp.
"Please pack further into the back!"
Lowering the cargo ramp at the rear of the aircraft, the Chinook began hovering over the crossroads where the Diversionary Unit was deployed. From the ramp of the Chinook stationary overhead, a thick rope was thrown down toward the ground.
"Alpha, prepare for withdrawal. Requesting cover."
The four members on the ground stopped shooting. Immediately, the infected approached the crossroads, but the Apache and Black Hawk overhead added fierce gunfire.
While a powerful downwash blew from above, the members of the Diversionary Unit donned harnesses and confirmed with each other that they were firmly fixed to their bodies. And they hooked the carabiners attached to the harnesses into the ring at the tip of the rope hanging from the helicopter.
While the members were preparing for withdrawal, even more infected approached the crossroads. Since the Apache's chain gun rounds had a killing range within 15 meters of the impact point, they couldn't shoot because there was a possibility of accidental fire if the infected approached the Diversionary Unit. The members leaning out from the Black Hawk's cabin shot at the infected reaching out to the Diversionary Unit with rifles in place of the Apache.
"Ready!"
"Roger, ascending."
When the members on the ground announced they were ready by attaching the carabiners to the rope, the Chinook pilot ascended the aircraft that had been hovering. The rope stretched taut, and the bodies of the members tied to the harnesses at its tip floated in the air.
Immediately after the helicopter began ascending, the infected finally entered the crossroads. They reached out toward the members hanging from the tip of the rope, trying to grab their bodies. The members suspended by the rope fired toward the infected at their feet who were reaching out to them.
"Withdrawal!"
The helicopter ascended further in altitude and left the crossroads while hanging the members from the rope. The members suspended by the rope had already ascended to a distance where the infected's hands couldn't reach. While pointing their muzzles downward, the members hanging in mid-air were relieved that they were able to withdraw safely.
"Recovery of Alpha complete. No damage to Alpha or Bravo."
"Roger, return to base."
While swinging the members hanging from the rope, the formation of three more helicopters flew after the Chinook as it left the urban area. Swarms of the infected who failed to eat the members gathered on the ground and raised roars, but none of the aircraft had enough ammunition left to wipe them out.
The infected looked up at the formation of helicopters flying overhead while thundering with a noisy rotor sound and raised beastly roars. The commander, who was watching that scene through the camera of the drone in the operation room hundreds of kilometers away, breathed a sigh of relief and sank into his chair.
"Operation complete, well done."
The commander had not expected that they could rescue over 80 survivors without any dead or injured in this rescue operation conducted upon the completion of the vaccine. In a situation without the vaccine, urban combat where encounters with the infected at close range inevitably become frequent was something he couldn't have the members do, and that was one of the reasons rescue operations had not been conducted until now. Combat in a situation where they might be bitten by the infected and become beasts without reason or intellect had lowered the members' morale.
However, if they were inoculated with the vaccine, they could at least die as humans. Upon the success of this operation, similar rescue operations might be conducted in the future. Fuel, ammunition, and equipment parts are still insufficient, but if sweeping operations by members inoculated with the vaccine are continued, more people can be saved.
"Heat source moving near the elementary school, the rescue point."
At those words, the commander raised his face and looked at the monitor in front. The drone's camera captured a motorcycle running on the ground from above.
"That is..."
According to the members who rescued the civilians, a mysterious man wearing a mask appeared, carried one injured boy to the elementary school, and then refused rescue himself and left. The figure reflected on the screen was only the back of a person wearing a coat on a motorcycle, but this man was likely that.
It was a surprise that there was still a moving motorcycle and fuel, but the commander didn't understand at all what this man wanted to do. Despite being able to evacuate to a safe place, he refused it and remained in a dangerous region. According to the members' report, he said he "still had things to do," but what did this man want to do?
Is he playing at being a justice hero? He felt a momentary unpleasantness, but the commander thought that maybe it was okay for there to be one person who lived that way. In today's Japan, where many people have died and the survivors are living while hiding from the infected in fear, a hero who risks danger for someone's sake and gives salvation is exactly what is needed.
"Shall we track him?"
"No, it's fine. Have the reconnaissance aircraft return to base as well."
Come to think of it, the commander remembered a certain story. Since the broadcast by the Hokkaido government began, the number of people who had evacuated to Cape Oma in Aomori was quite high, but many of them apparently said they were "saved by a masked man." The masked man saved people in the north-aiming groups from predicaments and, after escorting them to Aomori, returned south alone.
Could this man be that? The commander tried to stare at the monitor again, but by then the operator had operated the drone and turned off the camera, and the monitor was offline.
"Come to think of it, it's been five years already."
At the principal's words, Aki raised her face. Inside the narrow staff room, the principal sitting opposite Aki muttered that while looking at the calendar on the wall. It wasn't a calendar made by some design company or printing company, but just a table created in Excel and printed on copy paper. Today's date was March 16th.
It was the day the pandemic occurred, when the infected first appeared in Japan and civilized society was pushed to the brink of destruction. "Ah..." Aki instinctively let out a voice. She had been busy lately and had completely forgotten what day it was today, and she barely remembered the date the pandemic occurred.
Looking out the window, the evening darkness had already enveloped the town. The decisive difference from five years ago was that even when the night darkness arrived, the town was not lit up as brightly as before.
"Do you remember what you were doing that day?"
Aki was asked by the principal and searched the depths of her memory. On that day, she was a high school girl attending a boarding school in a remote place, and after the school closed due to government policy, she was watching television in the dormitory with other students who couldn't return to their parents for various reasons. She remembers thinking that the shocking scenes reflected on the television were like something out of a movie.
"Principal, were you from Hokkaido?"
"Yes, I was at school that day too... even if school was closed, the fact that I had to give grades to the students at the end of the term didn't change."
The principal, a man in his late 50s with thinning hair, worked at this "school" just like Aki. As one of the few experienced teachers with a teaching license, he was someone who, like Aki, had volunteered to work at this "school" outside of safe Hokkaido.
"When I was watching the news on TV, I thought the mainland was in a terrible state, but at that time it still didn't feel real. I finally realized that something terrible was happening after the TV stopped and the phones to the mainland wouldn't connect, and JSDF members with guns started appearing everywhere in town."
That's why I haven't suffered as much as you, teacher... the principal made a slightly apologetic face. The town where the principal lived was far from large cities, and because he was moved to an isolation zone afterward, he had never seen an infected person in real life.
"I've heard that you went through a lot after that, teacher..."
"Yes, many things happened..."
Aki suddenly remembered and took out a black notebook she had kept in her bag. The notebook entrusted to her that day, which recorded the life of a single boy.
Come to think of it, the first person from the outside Aki and the others had contact with after the pandemic was also that boy. After that, many things happened, they left the school, were deceived by bad people...
"Is that the one from the boy you've mentioned several times, teacher?"
"Yes, I must have reread it dozens of times and the content should be in my head word for word, but I just carry it around..."
At the principal's words upon seeing the black notebook, Aki replied while feeling a bit embarrassed.
After crossing to Hokkaido, she searched as much as possible for anyone who knew the name or address recorded in the notebook, but she was never able to find any relatives, associates, or acquaintances of that boy. And so, Aki still carries this notebook even now.
By the time she finished work and left the "school," the sun had completely set. Looking up at the sky, a starry sky was spread out, undaunted by the streetlights.
The dormitory where Aki and other "school" associates live is about a 10-minute walk away. The air is freezing, and her breath is white. Since she can't use heating freely, she has to warm her body by walking.
A dark green truck, with its canopy removed and a machine gun mounted on the roll bar, passed slowly by Aki's side along with the noisy vibration sound of a diesel engine. It was a JSDF vehicle patrolling this isolation zone.
This town where Aki is now was one of the isolation zones created in several places in Honshu.
The JSDF, which had been afraid of losing its few forces in combat with the infected and fuel shortages, began recapture operations of airports, JSDF, and USFJ bases left in Honshu at a certain point. After securing equipment and weapons and ammunition, they conducted sweeping operations in regions with relatively few infected and succeeded in creating safe isolation zones there.
The isolation zones utilized terrain such as rivers and mountains, and were designed so that the infected could not invade from the outside with walls, fences, and minefields; furthermore, JSDF and police were also deployed for defense and maintenance of public order. And the transfer of Honshu survivors to Hokkaido was canceled, and it was decided to accept them in isolation zones established in Honshu.
The supply situation in the isolation zones was strict; food was rationed and electricity couldn't be used freely. Naturally, fuel was given top priority to the JSDF and police, and it never came to the civilians. Though, in the narrow isolation zones, there was no need to move by car anyway. In that respect, the situation inside the isolation zones in both Honshu and Hokkaido didn't change much.
There are also children in the isolation zones. After the government repeatedly considered how to handle education for children, they decided that if they didn't have minimum reading, writing, and education, they wouldn't even be a labor force for reconstruction, so compulsory education up to the middle school level was resumed within the isolation zones.
After crossing to Hokkaido, Aki worked hard to study to become a teacher. She wanted to follow the same path as the mentor who once protected them and advance society in a good direction through education. And when the story came out about recruiting teachers for the isolation zones in Honshu, Aki was the first to raise her hand. Although Honshu, where many infected still existed, was a dangerous place even in an isolation zone, she was prepared.
And so Aki returned to Honshu, but what she witnessed were the figures of children whose hearts were completely hardened.
The children accepted into the isolation zones were, naturally, all those who had lived by hiding and fleeing from the infected until then. Children who were lucky enough to come to the isolation zone with their whole family were a minority, and many had lost all their parents and friends.
Perhaps because they had spent every day in fear of death, there were only children with realistic personalities in the isolation zones. The first thing the children gathered at the "school" did was not making friends, but "appraising" each other: "What can this guy do?" "Will this guy be useful to me?" "Is this guy a useless person who will drag me down?"
It's natural to become such a personality. Among the survivors living while hiding from the infected and sharing scarce supplies, those judged to be unable to do anything were kicked out as useless people who wasted supplies, and those judged to be dragging others down were also expelled before they brought danger to the group, and in the worst cases, they were even killed.
Moving by profit and loss calculation is natural for humans, but Aki didn't think living with only that as a judgment criterion was the correct form. If they cut off those who are not useful and don't involve themselves with others because there is no merit to themselves and don't help anyone, what awaits beyond that is a society where the weak judged to be "worthless" are abandoned and killed as useless eaters, and the strong judged to be "worthwhile" are allowed to do whatever they want. And that is also the society the Leader of The Brotherhood aimed for.
That's why Aki faced the children as a "teacher" and worked hard in education to have them have feelings of caring for someone and sometimes helping each other beyond profit and loss calculations. In the beginning, they were hardened and looked at Aki's classes with cold eyes, but after Aki told the story of the boy in class, something began to change.
The story of the boy who risked his life for someone else seemed interesting to them. Moving beyond profit and loss calculations and being able to move for someone's sake—of course, it's out of the question to die as a result, but Aki thinks that living while helping each other like that is what makes a human. If all humans act while thinking only of their own merits and demerits and treat others only as existences to be utilized, isn't that the same as a robot? Only the direction is different, but it's no different from the infected who have lost their human nature of reason and intellect.
The boy of the past also lived with himself as the only consideration, using whether others had utility value or whether they were dangerous to himself as judgment criteria. It's also properly written in the notebook that he ended up killing many people as a result.
However, the boy was able to regain a human heart and have feelings of caring for others again. Aki wants the children she is teaching to become like that, and she is also realizing that the children have started to change little by little lately. Greetings, which the children had previously judged to be meaningless, had recently become something they naturally exchanged when they saw each other in the morning.
She doesn't know if she has the qualification to teach and guide others. Even so, she wants to change the world in a good direction, even if just a little. Aki thinks so.
"Good work."
On the way, Aki passed by police officers on patrol on foot and spoke those words. The police officers returned a salute to Aki and returned to their patrol; although they were called police officers, they were armed with submachine guns and military shotguns for the maintenance of public order and defense against the infected, a far cry from the days when they were equipped with only a single handgun in peaceful times.
"Come to think of it, he apparently appeared near here too."
"The Skull Man, huh. He doesn't seem like a bad guy, but..."
The conversation of the patrolling police officers reached Aki's ears. The existence of the Skull Man was a rumor in isolation zones everywhere, and Aki knew of it. Aki didn't know the origin of the name Skull Man, but among the children she teaches, there is actually a child who was saved by that Skull Man.
According to them, he is a mysterious masked man who appears all over Japan and goes around helping people. Before the isolation zones were made in Honshu, there were even stories that many people were taken to Aomori Prefecture, the evacuation site, by him.
Furthermore, the Skull Man seems to not only defeat the infected but also go around imposing sanctions on humans who do evil deeds. He appears before those who use violence and hurt someone, beats them up, and makes them swear never to do the same thing again; if they break that oath, he appears again and this time takes their life. She hears that there are quite a few people who were sanctioned and threatened by the Skull Man and, whether they reflected or were terrified, stopped doing things like hurting someone afterward.
There are people doing things like a hero in a children's program, Aki thought.
Early morning.
The inside and outside of the isolation zone are separated by a large concrete wall. In the beginning, the boundaries were demarcated with barricades of stacked containers and vehicles, fences with barbed wire, and concrete blocks, but through the labor of the survivors who evacuated to the isolation zone, a grand wall was gradually built.
The isolation zones cannot be entered or exited freely, and it is necessary to pass through checkpoints established in several places. Armed JSDF members are positioned at the checkpoints, and gun mounts and searchlights are installed on the watchtowers.
Though, there is no one in the isolation zone who likes to go out to the dangerous outside. For that reason, the only ones passing through the checkpoints were mostly JSDF trucks going out for external reconnaissance or supply transport.
When the eastern sky began to turn a faint orange, the members at the eastern checkpoint heard the faint sound of an engine of a vehicle approaching from afar. To avoid danger, supply transport is basically not conducted at night, and they haven't heard of any vehicle coming at this time. There are plenty of vehicles left outside the isolation zone, but in five years, the batteries have completely died, the tires are cracked, and the gasoline has degraded, so there should be almost no cars that can be moved.
Seeing the headlight of a motorcycle approaching from afar, the members pointed the machine guns installed at the checkpoint toward that direction. The tank, which was mostly treated as a fixed battery and parked beside the checkpoint because it devoured fuel, aligned its sight with the approaching motorcycle.
"Wait, don't shoot."
Just as the members were taking a combat stance, the one who said that and restrained them was the First Colonel who oversaw this isolation zone. The Colonel ordered the members to lower their guns, and a single motorcycle stopped before the perplexed members.
The one on the motorcycle was a single man clad in a black coat and wearing a mask on his face. The members had also heard the rumors of the masked man—the Skull Man—who went around helping people outside the isolation zone. Among the members who rarely leave the isolation zone, not many had actually seen his figure, but they had heard the rumors.
"Let him through."
"Is it okay?"
Entering the isolation zone requires special permission, and even if that permission is granted, one would be held outside for a week for body inspections and various procedures. However, some members harbored doubts that the Colonel, the commander, had skipped those procedures and given permission.
"Yeah. You all have likely heard the stories at least. If we don't do anything, he won't lay a hand on us either."
While having some doubts at those words, the checkpoint members decided to let the masked man through as told. The heavy metal door, which couldn't be broken even if a truck crashed into it, opened, and the masked man entered while pushing his motorcycle.
"Right on time. This way."
The Colonel, who directly met the masked man, guided him to a warehouse beside the checkpoint. The warehouse shutter was closed and the interior situation was not visible, but it didn't look to the members as if the two were meeting for the first time.
The Colonel, who brought the masked man to the warehouse, closed the shutter and pressed a switch on the wall to turn on the lights. A mountain of supplies piled in the middle of the not-so-wide warehouse was illuminated by the ceiling lights.
"Is it really okay for me to take this?"
When the masked man asked that, the Colonel replied, "Take as much as you like."
In addition to food and medical supplies, there was even gasoline for the motorcycle the man was riding and weapons and ammunition. All were supplies gathered by supporters of the masked man, just like the Colonel. Supply management is strictly conducted, but since these were things not recorded in the ledgers to begin with, no one would particularly notice even if they were gone.
"I didn't expect a high-ranking JSDF person, the head of an isolation zone, to do something like this."
"It's a reward for saving my subordinates. Besides, you are doing things we cannot do."
About half a year ago, there was an accident where a JSDF helicopter heading to another isolation zone for supply transport made an emergency landing due to engine trouble. Unluckily, the place where it made the emergency landing was a region where many infected remained, and the survival of the two pilots was thought to be desperate.
However, the one who saved those pilots was the masked man in front of him. The masked man carried one who had injured his leg and escorted the other back to the isolation zone. And those pilots were the Colonel's subordinates.
The Colonel had heard the rumors of the masked man active outside the isolation zone, but because his subordinates were actually saved, he came to be grateful to him and wanted to help his activities somehow.
Although the fuel and supply situation had improved, the sweeping of the infected outside the isolation zones had hardly progressed, and furthermore, rescue operations for survivors outside the isolation zones were only conducted occasionally as if they had just remembered, and many people still lived while hiding from the infected outside the isolation zones. Moreover, there were said to be looters who went around stealing supplies from those people, but the JSDF and police, whose activities outside the isolation zones were restricted, could neither help the survivors who were about to be attacked by the infected nor suppress the rioters.
However, there was nothing to bind the masked man who did not belong to those organizations, and he went around helping survivors outside the isolation zones and knocking down villains to conduct public order maintenance activities alone. The Colonel, who wondered if he could somehow help the masked man who was active in place of themselves who couldn't move freely outside, learned that the people who had been saved by the man in the past had formed a network to support his activities.
Among those who were saved by the masked man and wanted to support his activities, there were not only civilians but also police officers and JSDF members who were saved by the man during missions. That group kept in secret contact with the masked man and provided fuel and medical supplies that had become difficult to obtain outside the isolation zones, and weapons and ammunition obtained from somewhere, to support the man's actions. The Colonel also joined that group and contacted the man via radio to come to this isolation zone today.
"Well, I'll gratefully take what I can get. Especially gasoline, which is hardly obtainable lately. I manage tires by finding ones in good storage condition in warehouses, but those will also go bad eventually."
The masked man said that and piled tanks filled with gasoline onto the motorcycle's rack. When the Colonel asked what he would do if the motorcycle became unusable, the man silently tapped his own leg.
"What do you think legs are for?"
The masked man also loaded boxes of medical supplies and food onto the motorcycle. And he picked up a single automatic rifle that was placed on a blanket on the floor.
"I didn't expect to get even a gun."
"It's USFJ equipment. It's not our weapon, so no one will care if one or two disappear."
The man aimed the gun and peered through the sight. It was a large-caliber automatic rifle with a wooden stock that could also serve as a sniper rifle. It was a standard-issue gun from around the Vietnam War era, and it had been left to rot in the back of a USFJ warehouse suppressed by the JSDF.
"It has more power than a 5.56mm, and at this caliber, hunting rifle bullets can be reused, so the availability of ammunition will be somewhat better."
"I'm grateful. JSDF rifle bullets are hardly obtainable."
The masked man operated the gun with practiced movements and, after confirming there were no problems, attached a 20-round magazine and hung it on his back. He picked up another, this time a .45 caliber automatic handgun, and pulled the slide to check the action. This was also among the USFJ equipment the JSDF had requisitioned.
But where did this man learn to handle weapons, the Colonel wondered. He had heard that he could not only handle firearms but also fight using knives and the like. He heard that he could deal with multiple infected alone even if they attacked at once. He must have surely continued to fight for a long time until now.
"By the way, I heard a strange rumor."
"A rumor?"
While checking the weapons, the masked man said as if just bringing up small talk.
"The story that despite the vaccine that prevents you from becoming an infected being finished, it's being kept a secret from the general public. I heard the vaccine was finished already two years ago."
"It's because the mass production system for the vaccine is not in place. If its existence alone is made public when the amount to reach the general public is not secured, people will come out demanding it be given to them too and there will be a panic."
There was no lie in the Colonel's words. Whether it's for influenza or anything else, chicken eggs are needed as a raw material to make a vaccine. However, the large-scale livestock industry was also destroyed in the pandemic five years ago, and it was difficult to secure enough chicken eggs to manufacture a large amount of vaccine with only the poultry farming maintained in Hokkaido. It would take many years to supply enough vaccine to reach all surviving Japanese citizens.
"I see, that's certainly true. But, I also heard a different story. That the government is trying to use the vaccine as a diplomatic card."
"That is..."
The Colonel hesitated. Military rule was imposed in the isolation zones in various places, and the Colonel, who was the commander of the stationed JSDF for the maintenance of public order, also served as the administrative head of the isolation zone. Therefore, detailed information regarding the government's movements also reached the Colonel's ears, and what the masked man said was a fact.
The governing systems of various countries around the world collapsed due to the global pandemic, and some governments vanished. However, there were also governments that somehow managed to stay on the brink of collapse and aimed for reconstruction.
America suffered great damage in the pandemic, but because it is a gun-owning superpower, there are many armed organizations, including legal and illegal ones, and many citizens are surviving thanks to them. However, because it was originally a country formed by states that had strong autonomy and even had their own militaries, states have declared independence after leaving the federal government, or because authority transfer was not properly conducted due to the President and his aides becoming infected together, groups claiming to be the legitimate federal government are springing up everywhere. To make matters worse, the National Guard and the split federal military are acting as the "national army" of each government, and it is apparently almost in a state of civil war.
In other countries as well, they are taking advantage of the fact that the military power of neighboring countries has decreased due to the pandemic to invade other countries, or because there is no safe place in their own country to escape from the infected, they are invading neighboring countries to seize safe zones; the tragic state of the world now is that humans are fighting each other out of desire while leaving the infected aside.
Though, the situation in Japan now is the same. Japan, which is poor in resources, relied on imports for many natural resources including oil, but that naturally stopped due to the pandemic. Even if they took back fuel storage bases and the like with the JSDF, once the current portion is used up, resources will no longer be exported from foreign countries.
For that reason, the Hokkaido government, under the name of Peacekeeping Operations (PKO), had dispatched most of the remaining JSDF force to overseas resource zones. It sounds good to call it an international contribution to conduct public order maintenance and sweeping of the infected in place of the collapsed local governments, but in short, the objective is to occupy the resource zones and send the secured crude oil and natural gas to Japan.
Despite the vaccine being developed and five years having passed since the pandemic, the reason the sweeping of the infected has not progressed at all domestically was because of that. Most of the operable force is sent to foreign countries for resource security, and along with that, rescue operations for survivors in various places in Japan have hardly been conducted. The vaccine has not reached the citizens, and the JSDF and police remaining domestically have their hands full just maintaining public order within the isolation zones. That's why the masked man is still helping people outside the isolation zones, yet there is no prospect of the infected decreasing.
"I heard they received permission to requisition all USFJ equipment in exchange for providing the vaccine to America. Not only that, but they're even talking about having nuclear weapons provided in exchange."
Groups claiming to be the legitimate federal government were springing up everywhere in America, and the Japanese government in Hokkaido was in contact with one of the largest factions among them. It couldn't be determined if they were truly the legitimate federal government, but because many surviving high-ranking officials belonged to it, they were judged to be the current American government and negotiations regarding vaccine provision were brought up, and it took the form that the Japanese government could freely use all US military equipment within Japan. The supplies such as weapons and fuel provided to the masked man were also all USFJ equipment requisitioned in exchange for vaccine provision if traced back.
Furthermore, the Colonel had heard the story that they were trying to obtain American nuclear weapons as a reward for providing even more vaccine. He didn't know what they were trying to do with those nuclear weapons, but at least it wasn't a story about using them on the infected in Japan. The Colonel speculated that the government was trying to use the set of the vaccine and the nuke as a carrot and stick for foreign countries.
Currently, Japan is the only one that has succeeded in manufacturing the vaccine. The few vaccines are prioritized for use as trading materials with foreign countries, and there are no plans at all for inoculation for general citizens. Most of the JSDF and police active for the maintenance of public order have not received it either.
"Actually, you all are the ones working hard to make the vaccine. I understand the feeling of wanting to use what you worked hard to make as a trading material. But..."
The masked man continued while putting the handgun into the holster.
"If you all intend to oppress someone or threaten them into obedience, I will fight you all too."
"Do you intend to fight the government all alone?"
Those words instinctively came out of the Colonel's mouth. Although they lost much force in the pandemic, the JSDF is still the largest armed group in Japan and holds many weapons, including those requisitioned from the USFJ. No matter how strong the masked man is, fighting as an individual is beyond reckless; it's impossible.
However, the masked man answered in a raspy voice, but clearly and powerfully.
"Even if I am all alone. If there are those who try to hurt someone or try to take away someone's freedom, I will fight them even if I am alone."
His face was hidden by the mask and not visible, but the Colonel thought he must surely have straight eyes. And he also felt envious of him for being able to say such a naive ideal so grandly.
The Colonel also wants to help people in trouble, and he thinks he can't forgive someone if they are hurting someone or threatening them with force to make them obey. However, he can't go as far as to think of being active outside the isolation zones where the infected overflow like the man, and trying to fight all alone no matter who the opponent is. He has a family, and he has his duties as the isolation zone's supervisor. Above all, he is afraid of dying.
However, this masked man likely has neither such shackles nor fear. That's why he has no hesitation at all in continuing to risk his life to fight for someone's sake, and he is not afraid to fight no matter who the opponent is.
He cannot live like the man. However, he can support him. And there were many people who held the same feelings.
"Come to think of it, there's something I was entrusted with by your supporter in Hokkaido."
"Something entrusted?"
"A new mask, apparently. The one who made it was certainly... Onodera, was it?"
Saying that, the Colonel pointed to a wooden box placed on the floor. When the man opened the box, inside was a mask similar to the one he was wearing, wrapped in sawdust as a substitute for cushioning.
"Apparently it's V [Version (Version)] 3.0 with improved bulletproof performance. It's said to be able to withstand a 12-gauge shotgun blast from a distance of 10 meters."
The mask the man was wearing had countless scars. There were scars that seemed to have been made by blades, and among them were even dents that seemed to be marks of being shot. The mask the man wore was being made consistently by a man named Onodera who was saved by him in the past, and every time a new work was finished, it seemed to be delivered to the man through the support network. It seemed he was exchanging it for a new mask sent by Onodera in Hokkaido at a pace of once a year.
The new mask had an appearance like something that would appear in a special effects program for children, just like the one he was currently wearing. However, the mask, which was based on gray, had an appearance that reminded one of a human skull, and it was finished in a design that was appropriate for the name of Skull Man yet somehow heroic.
The man checked the strength by tapping the mask, and confirmed the lightness by lifting it, and after judging there was no problem, he took off the scarred mask before the Colonel. The man had his back to the Colonel, but his bare skin, which was red and inflamed, was visible for an instant.
"It's not bad. It's lighter compared to the previous one."
The man wearing the new mask was turning his head and seemed to be checking the field of vision and range of motion. The Colonel asked if that mask wasn't a hindrance, but the answer came back, "It's better than showing this face and causing unnecessary anxiety."
Because he wears a mask, not many people have seen his bare face, but he takes off the mask for those who do evil deeds to urge reflection. And those who see that face shiver with fear and, he hears, withdraw from evil deeds thereafter. Even so, if there are those who continue to do bad things without reflecting, he comes to take their life next—the Colonel thought it was like Namahage just hearing the story.
However, in a situation where sweeping operations for the infected were not conducted and support for survivors outside the isolation zones was hardly provided, it was a fact that an existence like the masked man was necessary. An existence that would come to help in times of trouble, a hope.
Since it was impossible for him to do the same thing, he could only support his activities like this. He hoped he wouldn't become an enemy, the Colonel thought.
Early morning, before the sun had even risen. Aki was awakened by a sudden knock on her room door. No light was shining through the gaps in the blackout curtains. While rubbing her eyes in her sleepiness, she opened the door to find the principal's face, which was clearly pale even in the dim light.
"Aki-san, it's terrible. An emergency contact came saying Susumu-kun has disappeared."
"Susumu-kun...?"
He was one of the children Aki taught at the "school." He was a boy who would turn 15 this year, and he was a child who had evacuated to the isolation zone from the town where he lived two years ago through a JSDF rescue operation. As is the case with other children, his family remains missing.
"Yes. When his roommate tried to go to the toilet in the middle of the night, the bed was empty, and there was a note on the desk saying he was leaving here."
"Leaving—to where?"
"Well... it wasn't written that far. However, according to the children around him, he apparently said something strange last night. He said, 'I'm going to become the Skull Man too.'"
Since she served as the children's teacher, Aki had also researched their pasts to some extent. Two years ago, the one who rescued Susumu, who had been surviving all alone, and took him to the JSDF rescue unit was the Skull Man; she had heard that from him personally. Since compulsory education would end this year, she had asked him in a previous interview what he wanted to do in the future, and Susumu had said, "I want to help people."
Come to think of it, the police officers were saying yesterday that the Skull Man had come near here. Maybe Susumu is planning to slip out of this isolation zone and go see him.
To enter or exit the isolation zone, basically one has no choice but to pass through the checkpoints established in the east, west, south, and north. It is quite difficult to enter the isolation zone due to quarantine and procedures, but it is relatively easy to leave. Though, since almost no one has returned alive after leaving, no one tries to leave here.
When Aki told that story to the principal, it was decided that they would "split up and check the checkpoints." Aki would go to the eastern checkpoint, and the principal and other teachers would go to the rest to see if Susumu had passed through.
Immediately changing and throwing on a jacket, Aki jumped outside. Thanks to the isolation zone not being very wide, she could go from one end to the other in less than 30 minutes by bicycle.
Straddling her parked bicycle, Aki pedaled. The eastern sky began to brighten, and the bicycle's chain and gears, which had not been oiled, made an unpleasant metallic sound.
In less than 10 minutes, Aki reached the eastern checkpoint. To Aki, who came to the checkpoint in the early morning while it was still dim, the guards approached with troubled faces.
"Are you by any chance related to that child?"
"He suddenly came just now, and we're in trouble because he won't listen when we tell him to go home."
Saying that, the direction the member pointed to had two silhouettes. In front of the checkpoint gate were a person wearing a strange mask and clad in a black coat, and Susumu carrying a large backpack and desperately conveying something to him.
"I'm sorry, I'll take him home immediately."
Saying that, Aki took her leave from the member and stepped into the checkpoint. Anyway, first, she had to take Susumu home.
"Please take me with you too!"
Susumu was shouting that toward the masked person. This man, wearing a mask that seemed to be modeled after a skull, seemed to be the Skull Man who went around helping people outside the isolation zone.
"Take you with me... that's quite sudden."
From under the mask the Skull Man wore, a raspy voice that sounded troubled was heard. His expression was hidden by the mask and not visible, but he must surely have a troubled face.
"Don't you remember? Two years ago, I was saved by you. When I had injured my foot, you took me to the JSDF rescue unit..."
"...Ah, the boy from that time."
"Since then, I've always wanted to be a person like you. That's why I've been studying hard and training my body since I came here... I want to fight like you too!"
Naturally, there are physical education classes at the "school," but Aki also knew that Susumu moved his body, engaged in training, and worked out more than other children of his generation. Was that also because he admired this masked man and wanted to fight?
However, the moment the word "fight" came out of Susumu's mouth, Aki felt as if the atmosphere the man was clad in changed. And the man said to Susumu as if to admonish him.
"Fight, huh... by the way, who do you intend to fight?"
"The infected or bad guys, anyway, I'll fight to help people in trouble."
"Isn't that something you don't have to do?"
"When you saved me, didn't you say it? That living is a battle. That's why I want to fight too, be useful to someone, and protect everyone's tomorrow... if I do that, I thought maybe a peaceful world like before would return..."
The man scratched his head over the mask as if a bit troubled.
"Listen, the outside of the isolation zone [here (here)] is, to put it clearly, hell. I think you, who survived in a town full of the infected at that time, understand, but if you leave the isolation zone, there's no guarantee of your life. Being able to live here is itself like a maximum stroke of luck. Are you going to throw away that chance to live peacefully?"
"Yes. I can't live peacefully and nonchalantly while there are many people in trouble outside."
"It's not just the infected; you'll end up killing each other with humans too. You might get injured, or be killed."
"I'm prepared for that. Besides, I'm all alone anyway; I have no family who would be sad if I died."
Listening to the conversation between the man and Susumu, Aki felt anxiety. She wondered if this man was planning to take Susumu out of here.
Certainly, Susumu would soon finish compulsory education and would be treated as an adult from now on. Now, once you pass 15, you're treated as an adult. Aki has no right to force him to do this or that. However, she couldn't just silently watch her student head to a dangerous place.
But the man's next action was unexpected for Aki. The man put a hand on the mask he was wearing and said.
"I see. Then, can you say the same thing even if you end up with a face like this at the end of the battle?"
And the man pulled off the mask in one go. At the man's bare face that appeared underneath, Aki instinctively gasped. From the checkpoint members who were watching the exchange between Susumu and the man, cries of surprise like "Uwa!" and "What is that!" also rose.
The face under the mask was truly in a state like the man's alias, a skull. Perhaps he had sustained a major burn; the flesh of his face was burned off, and it was as if skin was thinly stuck to the skull. Although parts like cheeks, lips, nose, and ears were present, his original face was completely unimaginable. It was a face with an appearance that would pass even if someone said it was a corpse in the middle of rotting.
And the left eye, which had no eyelid, was lost, and a pure white prosthetic eye without a pupil was fitted. The man's eye, which was only on the right side, ghoulishly stared at Susumu. "Hi...!" Susumu raised a scream and slumped on the spot.
"Can you still live even if you end up with a face like this as a result of killing each other? You might be eaten by the infected and lose your face. You might have your limbs bitten off, or you might survive even if you end up with a body that makes you wish you were dead. What if you end up living the rest of your life tormented by suffering from the aftereffects? Even so, do you think you want to fight even if you face a dangerous experience?"
"I... I... I..."
Apparently, Susumu had never seen the man's bare face. Susumu, who saw the man's face, was clearly terrified. Although he had admired the man and thought he wanted to fight too, it seemed he hadn't imagined as far as the possibility of facing a tragic experience as a result.
It's still fine if you're just attacked and killed by the infected. But what if you survive halfway? If you end up with a face like a monster where you don't even know who you are, can you still endure and live on?
"Listen, boy, I certainly said that living is a battle. But, taking up weapons and killing each other is not the only battle."
The man put the mask back on. The monster-like skull bare face was hidden by the mask, but the voice he addressed to Susumu did not change.
"Living each day, today, with all your might is also a battle. Don't be easily swayed by someone, have your own beliefs, and say what you think is wrong is wrong in your daily life. Correcting mistaken things without turning a blind eye and leaving them as they are. That too is your battle."
The masked man crouched and placed a hand on the shoulder of Susumu, who remained seated in fear. Susumu's body shivered for an instant, but his eyes were looking at the man's mask.
"Helping people can be done without going to dangerous places. People in trouble are everywhere in today's world. The job of building the walls that surround the isolation zone to protect everyone's safety. The job of cutting down trees from the forest to become fuel so everyone doesn't freeze. The job of making rationed meals so everyone doesn't go hungry. Anything is something for someone's sake. Lending a hand to a child who fell and is crying is also a noble act of helping people. Taking a gun in hand and jumping into dangerous places is not the only way to protect someone or help someone. Living each day with all your might and fulfilling your own job. Just by that, you should be of use to someone."
The man spoke gently and made Susumu stand up. He brushed off the dirt on Susumu's pants and stared at his face.
"And please be considerate and kind to other people, even if just a little. If everyone starts to act while thinking of people other than themselves, even if just a little, I'm sure it will become a peaceful world. Until then, I will continue to fight."
And when he finally said, "Do you understand?" Susumu nodded.
"Boy, you are still a child. You have various futures. Think firmly about what you want to do and how you want to live. Besides, you don't seem to be all alone."
When the man said that and pointed toward Aki, Susumu also looked back. When Aki called out, "Susumu-kun!" she heard him mutter softly, "Teacher..."
"There is someone who worries about you and comes to look for you even at this early hour. I think that's enough for me."
"Teacher!" Susumu shouted and ran to Aki. "I was worried! I, the other children, and the teachers!" Aki scolded him, and then she hugged Susumu.
"Teacher, I'm sorry... I didn't even understand what fighting meant, but I just thought that person was cool and wanted to do the same thing... I thought I was thinking properly, but it wasn't enough at all..."
"First, go home and apologize to everyone. Everyone was truly worried when you disappeared from the dormitory in the middle of the night. Then after that, shall we have a career consultation?"
When Aki said that, Susumu nodded slightly. Although it wasn't an action after careful consideration, it's not a bad thing to have something he wants to do and a feeling of wanting to be of use to someone.
First, she would listen to his consultation and talk about what he wants to do, what he desires, and what can be done for that. Aki thought so.
"Um... my student has caused you trouble."
"I don't mind."
To the man who said it as if it were nothing, Aki felt a sense of déjà vu somewhere. The back of the masked man, pushing a motorcycle loaded with jerry cans and boxes on a rack and hanging an automatic rifle, somehow overlapped with the figure of the boy who fought alone to let Aki and the others escape on that day and never returned.
No, that can't be. Because that boy died. He stood alone against countless infected to let the injured Aki and the others escape, and then he was bitten. Even if he were alive, he would no longer be human.
Besides, his voice is a raspy voice like an old man's, completely different from that boy's. Above all, if this man were truly that boy, he should remember her. But the man's current reaction was as if he were doing so to a first-time acquaintance.
Even so, thinking maybe, Aki called out to the man's back.
"Um, haven't we met somewhere before?"
At those words, the man stopped his feet and looked back. That inorganic, yet somehow reassuring mask turned this way.
"No, I don't remember."
The words issued without a pause were exactly what Aki had expected. Even so, for some reason, Aki felt a somewhat disappointed feeling at that answer. Aki asked the man at the end.
"Where are you going from here?"
"Anywhere. If there's a place where people are seeking help, anywhere."
The metal door of the checkpoint opened, and while Aki, Susumu, the Colonel, and others watched, the man started running on the motorcycle along with a healthy engine sound. Immediately the metal door closed, and his back was no longer visible.
In the middle of the silent town of ruins, only the engine sound of the motorcycle the man drove was echoing. The sun rose, and the morning glow enveloped the town where not a single living human was present.
A single motorcycle ran along the road where rusted and weed-covered cars were dotted. On the cherry blossom trees that had not been pruned and whose branches and leaves had grown as they pleased, small buds were sprouting.
Even if humanity perishes, the Earth will continue to turn as it has until now.
The night broke, and just as it was in the peaceful times of the past, a new day was about to begin under a cloudless blue sky.

---

Afterword

Hello everyone, for those of you I'm meeting for the first time, nice to meet you.

For those I've met before, it's been a while.

I am Zannen Munen, the author of "A Story of Just Running Around and Fleeing."

Since this is the final chapter, the volume is a bit more than usual.

With this, "A Story of Just Running Around and Fleeing" is complete.

Since the first post was on September 27, 2012, it calculates to 13 years until completion.

Thirteen years is a period of time in which a child born in the same year goes from kindergarten through elementary school and enters middle school. Time flies.

Furthermore, the number of characters, including this final chapter, is nearly 1.27 million. Considering one paperback book is about 100,000 characters, there are about 13 volumes' worth. It's an amount that seems like it could be a weapon if bundled and swung around.

Many things happened during those 13 years (stares into the distance).

I didn't think a pandemic of an infectious disease, which I thought was an event in fiction, would actually happen in reality, and I can't forget that society changed completely because of it, and that various ugly sides of humans were exposed.

People who tried to make money for themselves by reselling masks and daily necessities despite people being in trouble. People who showered verbal abuse on medical professionals who were working hard to save others without regard for the danger of infection. I was taken aback when I heard stories of people who identified and slandered the person who became the first infected in their prefecture because "they brought the virus despite there being zero infected until now."

There were also people who easily believed internet hoaxes, and I think that if zombies that attack people like in movies really appeared, humanity might perish quite easily. I thought that even if there were various things, humanity would be able to unite and stand against a world crisis, but reality is harsh.

Now, the boy who is the protagonist of this novel has just been running around, hiding, and surviving in such a world on the brink of destruction.

Despite harboring an admiration for heroes, the reality was the exact opposite. Fear won over courage, he couldn't trust others, and he thought only of himself. As a result, there were times when he drove many people to their deaths.

However, I think that boy was finally able to become a hero who could fight for someone's sake with courage.

In the end, the boy lost his face, name, and memory, and chose to continue fighting for someone's sake as a masked man who is a nobody rather than a peaceful life, but I leave it to the readers to decide whether to consider this conclusion a good end or a bad end.

In the Japan of the work, many infected still remain, and people who try to do as they please with self-interest remain just like in reality, and many seeds of conflict are scattered all over the world, but the protagonist will likely continue to fight without running away. Probably.

But I think that if everyone thinks of other people even just a little and has a feeling of caring for the other person, the world will head in a good direction, even if just a little bit.

In any case, as "A Story of Just Running Around and Fleeing," this is the end.

If this work has become even a small part of the enjoyment of your lives, there is nothing that would make me happier.

Finally, I would like to offer my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who took this novel in hand and read it.

Thank you very much!