Chapter 27 - Chapter 25: The Story of NIGHT OF FIRE
(T/N: The author includes a note about playing Kantai Collection while writing.)
"Alright, let's take a break around here."
At the voice of Naomi-san, who was gripping the steering wheel in the driver's seat, I woke up. Looking at the clock, it's already past noon. While being shaken by the car in the passenger seat, I seem to have fallen asleep before I knew it. Since it's my job to keep watch at night while Naomi-san drives during the day, I'm intensely sleepy during the day.
Looking out the window, there are only trees around. The road I'm running on is also a gravel road and not paved; it seems I'm in the forest.
"Wait, where is this?"
"Around here. I was heading east even after you slept, but when I tried to cross the river, the bridge was gone halfway. I had no choice but to come to the upper reaches of the river."
Saying so, the point Naomi-san pointed to on the map was deep in the forest away from human habitation. The route we were originally supposed to take is far to the south. We were talking about taking a place with as few people as possible so as not to be found by the infected, but in a forest like this, there must be neither infected nor humans.
Nearly a week is about to pass since we escaped the town where we met Naomi-san. After I blew up the tank truck, I met up with the three after that, headed north, and crossed the river by crossing the only bridge that remained.
If it were normal times, we would have already arrived in the Tohoku region where a provisional government is rumored to be, but because of the confusion during the pandemic, roads in various places were blocked by accident vehicles, and bridges had been blown up by the JSDF. And it's also necessary to drive the car at low speed so as not to be found by the infected by sound.
In the end, we only advanced about 100 kilometers or so in this one week. Since it was a continuation of advancing and returning and looking for a detour, we haven't advanced as much as I thought, but even so, we are able to move a much farther distance compared to walking. And since we can carry many supplies together, there's no need to take risks and procure supplies in the city. In this one week, we haven't been attacked by the infected.
Thanks to continuing to run on routes that seem safe, we've managed to avoid encountering the infected, but we haven't seen a single human either. What I saw was only the corpses of the infected who seem to have starved to death, and parts of corpses that were eaten and rotted in the summer sunlight. Not a single person besides the four of us has seen a living human.
And perhaps because we've been advancing only through areas away from human habitation near mountains and forests lately, we've also come to see the infected themselves less often. If it's a place where there were no people to begin with, naturally there are no infected. In such a place, there's no worry of being found by the infected, so we ran on gasoline drive and charging the battery was also possible. However, the fear that there might be infected somewhere was always stuck in a corner of my head, and I couldn't let my guard down.
No, since we can't build a safe place by ourselves, such a place away from human habitation is not safe even for a moment. Like the apartment Naomi-san was using as a base, if you find a place where you won't be found by the infected and live in hiding, there are infected in the surroundings but you can get a sense of security that you won't be found if you don't mess up.
However, it's difficult to build a base in such a forest or field, or rather, it's impossible. There are almost no places where you can shelter from rain and wind and relax, and since there are no shops in the surroundings, you can't procure food either. So even if you can stay for a day or two, you can't stay forever. And since you don't know where the infected are, you can't let your guard down for a second.
In this one week, I've become quite a night-type person. Now that streetlights are not lit, moving at night when visibility is poor is a suicidal act. For that reason, movement is limited to daytime, but even though she's trained, Naomi-san will get tired if she drives all the time. For that reason, it was decided that I would mainly be awake at night to keep watch on the surroundings. Mana-chan is out of the question because she's too young, and Yui also has little physical strength as a junior high school girl.
Because of that, I'm quite sleepy even now. Although I'm told by Naomi-san that I can sleep all the time during the day, I can't sleep even if I want to if my body is being shaken by running on a bad road. It's to the point where I think I might collapse eventually. Naomi-san also seems to be feeling the limit of continuing to move all the time, and talk is coming up about finding a safe place somewhere soon and taking a break for several days there.
When I got out of the car, a sweltering heat suddenly wrapped around me. Compared to the inside of the car where the air conditioning was working, it's too hot outside.
"Ah, there's a river!"
Mana-chan shouted that and pointed ahead. When I strained my eyes, there is indeed a small river about 3 meters wide. There are no people around here, and there's probably no worry of the water being contaminated.
A few days ago, there was a time when we found a river and tried to replenish water there, but unfortunately, a corpse was floating in that river. Perhaps it was good until they jumped into the river to escape from the infected, but they seem to have drowned just like that. The corpse, which had a large hole in its stomach from accumulated gas due to decomposition, couldn't even be identified by gender, and we had no choice but to leave the place in silence. For now, Naomi-san said it would be safe if she made a simple filtration device and drank it after boiling, but it's mentally unbearable to drink water that a corpse was soaked in.
I looked around, but there's no sign of anything moving. I took the crossbow from the rear seat, cocked it, and loaded a bolt. Naomi-san says she's better at close combat, and girls don't have enough strength to cock the string. Inevitably, it became my role to handle the crossbow, which is a projectile weapon, but thanks to intense practice, I've come to hit the target often lately.
Just in case, I went around the surroundings with Naomi-san, but no infected are to be found. What can be heard is only the babbling of the river and the intense buzzing of cicadas, and the sound of branches and leaves rubbing in the wind.
"Then can Yui and Mana go fetch water? We'll look around this area."
The two nodded, took the empty plastic tanks loaded in the trunk, and ran toward the river. There's quite a lot of water left, including what was procured from shops, but we want to procure it when we can. And the time might come when cooling water for the radiator is needed.
While the two were fetching water at the river, Naomi-san spread a map on the bonnet and beckoned me.
"We are around here now. And the problem is from here, but it seems there's a village in a place a little to the east from here."
"A village?"
Indeed, looking at the map, there seems to be a small village not so far from here. And in a place several kilometers further east from that village, there's a reasonably large town.
Naomi-san is probably asking whether to advance as is or to detour. Since there's a large town, there must be a fair number of infected. And in the village near it, there must have been many people who fled from the town. Following such people, the infected might have invaded the village too. If that happens, if we keep advancing as is, there's a possibility of charging into a den of infected.
"How much longer will the food and stuff last?"
"It'll easily last for about another two weeks. But the problem is gasoline. No matter how much it's low fuel consumption and battery-driven, it can't run without gasoline."
There are several portable cans of gasoline in the car, but Naomi-san said we'll have to start using them soon. Because the electricity stopped, the pumps at gas stations stopped, and it takes quite a lot of time to pump up gasoline from the underground tank with an emergency manual pump. Since we don't know where the infected are, we can't stay in one place for long, and because there was still leeway, the procurement of gasoline was currently being put off.
"Well, even if we don't forcibly procure it, we can still run, but what do you want to do? The nearest gas station is this village."
Saying so, the place Naomi-san pointed to was the village in the nearest place just like earlier.
There's a fear that there are infected, so should we avoid it? No, if we say such things, we won't be able to procure necessary supplies forever. Maybe there won't be an opportunity to procure gasoline from now on, and I want to secure everything necessary here.
And it's a small village; the people who were originally there would be few. If there are few humans, there are few infected. It's out if people have fled from the town, but even then, if there are few humans to be prey, they will surely go somewhere eventually. In other words, it can be said to be somewhat safer than a big city.
"As for me, I want to replenish gasoline in that village."
"I think so too. Then, let's also ask Yui and Mana."
Since we act as a group, it's decided in advance that when deciding something, it should be by unanimous consent. It's from the idea that it's better to have a thorough discussion, convince the opponent, and make sure each person has no dissatisfaction before deciding, rather than having the relationship turn sour by ignoring the opinion of the minority—well, it's only one person.
Yui, who returned after fetching water, had an anxious face at first, but finally, she herself was convinced to procure gasoline in the village. Since Mana-chan said from the beginning that she would leave it to our decision, it was decided by unanimous consent to head to the village.