Chapter 28 - Chapter 26: The Story of Utopia
After fetching water and resting for a while, we set off again. The destination is the nearest village with a gas station. However, because we are heading to a place where humans once were, it was decided to drive the car slowly with battery drive so as not to make much noise.
All the more, since I could sleep longer because of that, it was a thankful thing for me. There's no engine noise with battery drive, and since it's running slowly, there's no worry of the body being shaken up and down. I was sleeping soundly, but that didn't last long either.
"What's this?"
With those words of Naomi-san, she suddenly stopped, and my consciousness was pulled back to reality. I, who raised my face while rubbing my sleepy eyes, saw something stretched across the road.
The gravel road, which was so desolate that I think even local people hardly used it, was surrounded by trees on the left and right of the road. And in front of us, something like a rope tied to the trees on the side of the road is stretched taut.
"No, it's a wire. I wonder what would have happened if I had charged in vigorously..."
The wire is stretched exactly at the height of an adult's neck. If I had been trying to pass through here on a bike or something, my head might have literally flown off.
Who and for what purpose did they stretch a wire in such a place... I thought, but when I turned my gaze immediately below, the question was instantly solved. Several wires are stretched up and down as if to block the road, and a board with characters written on it is hanging on the lower tier. Along with a warning "CAUTION!" in large red bold characters, something like a map is drawn.
"What is that, I wonder? Did the landowner do it to prevent intrusion? But then they'd usually block the road by stretching a chain or something..."
"I don't know. Anyway, I have to check it."
No sooner said than done, Naomi-san opened the door and went outside. In a hurry, I also got off the passenger seat with the crossbow in one hand, and Yui and Mana-chan followed. To avoid being separated even if receiving a sudden attack, it's decided to act all together when doing something.
I looked around while holding the crossbow, but no human figure is seen. All the more, even if there were infected nearby, the lush trees would be in the way and I wouldn't be able to see them. What can be heard is only the chirping of birds and the sound of insects, and there's no sign of infected nearby.
"'There is a shelter ahead, all necessary things such as food and weapons are available, and there is no intrusion of infected. Those who want to evacuate, please head by the following route'... ?"
Yui read out the content of the sign and tilted her head. When I looked at the guidance written under the notice, it says to head north by another route after turning back once. When I pulled out the map and compared it, the shelter written on the sign was the very small village we are currently heading to.
"Is this for real?"
"I wonder. But this sign looks still new, and there's no doubt that someone recently blocked this road with a wire and left the sign."
"That means... are there people nearby!?"
Mana-chan was about to shout and hurriedly covered her own mouth. Certainly, if it were a notice to prevent intrusion, they wouldn't write about a shelter or anything, and a map wouldn't be needed.
If so, it seems there really are survivors nearby. Moreover, they seem to provide a safe place and sufficient food.
"If you think about it, there were few people to begin with, so even if an infected person occurred, they could probably contain it immediately, and doesn't it mean they succeeded in that? It seems infected didn't come in from the nearby town either."
"Then maybe we can be protected there too?"
"Since such a sign is out, they'll accept us. If food and stuff were insufficient, they'd refuse the visit of people from outside to begin with, but as far as the map shows, there are rice fields and fields in the village, so they must be sufficiently self-sufficient."
"Then maybe my family has fled there!"
At those words of Mana-chan, the bright feeling suddenly vanished in an instant. I still haven't told her of the death of her family. Mana-chan still believes even now that her family escaped from the shelter and is living somewhere.
"...That would be tough. After all, there's quite a distance between the shelter Mana-chan was at and the village ahead. The possibility that Mana-chan's family is there is not zero, but it's infinitely close to zero."
When I realized it, I was talking like that on my own. Seeing Mana-chan dropping her shoulders and saying "Is that so...", my heart ached further. It's useless no matter how much she searches; Mana-chan's family is surely becoming a decomposed corpse by now at that shelter.
Before I knew it, the means and the end have become reversed. At first, I decided to tell a lie to have Mana-chan have hope, but now I'm in a state of sticking to the lie because I'm afraid of being blamed by everyone.
If I keep my mouth shut, surely the lie won't be found out. The corpses with many wounds will have become decomposed and muddy due to the summer temperature and will no longer be identifiable as to who they are, and since the police are not functioning, it's not possible to search for people. Even if this pandemic ends, it might take quite a lot of time until returning to the former life—no, a life that has completely changed from before might be waiting.
However, that means Mana-chan will search for her dead family forever. She will surely believe until she dies that her family is living somewhere. And I must always carry the regret and sense of self-reproach for having told a lie.
"...Hey, are you listening? I'm asking whether to go to the shelter according to this sign?"
When I returned to my senses after being shaken by the shoulder, Yui's face was in front of me.
"You, it's not like your head was done in by the heat or something, right?"
"...No, I was just thinking a little. So, what was the talk?"
"So, it's the talk about whether to go to the shelter written here. Incidentally, I'm in favor; I want to rest for the first time in a while because I've been on the car all the time lately."
The other two also seem to be of the same opinion.
"I don't mind either way, but it doesn't change the fact that we have to procure fuel somewhere ahead. If that shelter is functioning properly and is a safe place, I think it's better to go there. And just like Yui, I want to rest a little. Maybe we can live there until this commotion settles down."
"I also want to go to the shelter. Even if it's not zero, I want to check if my family is there!"
It seems the other three are in favor of going to the shelter. As for me, if it's really safe and there's sufficient food and water, I think it's worth going. And as Naomi-san says, there's also the option of living in seclusion if possible and waiting for all the infected to starve to death. The infected are not zombies; they are just former humans who have become violent and powerful and lost their reason. If there are no humans to eat, they will eventually starve and die.
Either way, we can no longer advance ahead on this road. Looking, not only the wire but also a large concrete block placed right in the middle of the road can be seen, which eloquently showed the intention not to let people pass from here on. We could go on foot if we abandoned the car, but if there were no shelter, we would waste all the supplies. And at this rate, traps might be set in preparation for the intrusion of infected.
"Isn't it fine?"
"Alright, it's decided. Then everyone get in the car quickly, get in."
As Naomi-san hurried us, we returned to the car. Since it's a one-way road, we advanced in reverse for a while, and when we returned to the last junction we passed, we switched the handle and started advancing on another route.
It became a form of advancing through the forest again, but when we ran on the winding road for several minutes, suddenly a huge iron wall appeared in front of us. Naomi-san stepped on it, opened the window, and held the crossbow. Such a wall was not drawn on the map I saw earlier, but...
Looking, just like the road that was a dead end earlier, wires were stretched on the trees. The wires were stretched in many tiers on the left and right of the wall, constructing a pseudo-wall using the trees. The wall blocking the road seems to have been made by welding iron plates, and it seems possible to open and close it widely to the left and right.
"What shall we do? Shall we just open it and go inside?"
"There seems to be no need for that... look at that."
Naomi-san points to the upper part of the wall. I didn't notice earlier, but a watchtower made by assembling steel frames was standing on the other side of the wall. And on top of it, I didn't miss that something moved for an instant.
I opened the window, and the moment I tried to lean out and confirm its identity, this time a man's voice "Don't move!" echoed from deep in the forest. Having put my hand on the crossbow, I noticed along with that voice that multiple footsteps were approaching toward here.
At the footsteps approaching while treading on fallen leaves with a gasa-gasa, Naomi-san also softly puts her hand on the bush knife at her waist. I also secretly cocked the crossbow under the dashboard, loaded a bolt, and prepared to be able to shoot at any time.
Yui and Mana-chan, who cannot fight, hide under the seats while lowering their posture.
Eventually, from beyond the trees, a man appeared. What is gripped in the hand of that man in his mid-40s who has grown a stubble is, if my eyes are not mistaken, a rifle.
Further one after another, as if they were ninjas, about five men appeared from the forest following him. If they also didn't have guns like the man, I would surely have shouted "Aieee!?" or something.
Realizing that what they have are guns, my body stiffens. Although the muzzles are not pointed, their fingers are on the triggers. In other words, if they feel like it, they can turn us into a honeycomb in an instant.
On the other hand, our projectile weapon is only the crossbow I have. A rifle and a crossbow are not even a conversation. And no matter how much Naomi-san is good at close combat using a knife, she is also powerless before a gun. The moment she tries to get out of the car with a knife, it wouldn't be strange if she were shot.
The few seconds of glaring at each other felt as if dozens of minutes had passed. But suddenly the man laughed and said.
"You saw that sign and came here, didn't you? Welcome to our Osawa Village."
(T/N: The author includes another note about wanting to use Bunshin-no-Jutsu to finish their novels.)