Chapter 37 - Chapter 35: A Story of a Prison
Walking through the dark cave for several minutes while having a muzzle thrust against my back. Suddenly, the front became bright, and subsequently, the rock faces that had been closing in on both sides vanished. Dazzling light enveloped me, and I instinctively covered my eyes with my arms, which had their wrists tied. Even though it had been quiet enough to make my ears hurt until now, the buzzing of people entered my ears in a complete reversal.
Finally, my eyes adjusted to the light, and an unexpected sight spread before my eyes as I lowered my arms that had been covering my vision.
"What on earth are you people..."
The end of the cave was structured like a wide hall, and many people were there. Moreover, among them were faces I had seen several times. Not just the guards, but even the village residents are there.
What on earth does this mean? I thought the guard had run wild and was doing something, but could it be that all the village residents were involved in my abduction?
The voices of the people stopped in an instant. Everyone in this place right now is focusing their gaze on me, whose hands are tied.
"What is this, what does it mean! Explain it, what on earth do you people intend to do with me!"
"Hey, hold him down! Someone bring a syringe!"
Suddenly, the guards who had been behind me until now grabbed both my hands and held me firmly. I flailed both hands and kicked the ground, but there was no sign of being released at all. Into my vision, the figure of a man approaching with a syringe entered. The middle-aged man with a barcode-bald head wearing a white coat is certainly the doctor who works at the village clinic. I saw him when I received a physical examination to see if there were any wounds on my body when I first came to the village.
Probably, the contents are anesthesia or something. If I'm injected with that, I'll lose consciousness again. And probably, I'll never wake up again. Even if I were to wake up, it would be in heaven or hell.
"Don't mess with me, I'm not going to die without knowing anything! Someone, anyone, explain the situation! Otherwise, I won't be able to die in peace!"
"Don't struggle... don't struggle."
The doctor said that and tried to stab the needle of the syringe into my upper arm. My voice as I shouted echoed off the rock walls and spread throughout the cave. However, the village residents said nothing and only directed gazes filled with pity toward me.
Is it already over? Is my life ending here? 'O Brave One, to think you would die, how pathetic'——————in role-playing games, you can start over from a save point with such a message, but this isn't a game. If you die, that's it.
"Hey, wait. Let's grant his wish."
A voice I've heard somewhere echoed in the cave. The one who suddenly said that and came out from the crowd like Moses was Yamato-san, who serves as the acting village head of Osawa Village——————no, Yamato. His expression is calm as usual, but no emotion is contained in it. Yamato, who had a smile plastered on like a mask, stood in front of me and said.
"I'm sorry. Truly, I intended to end everything while you were still asleep."
"Don't mess with me. Explain what on earth you're trying to do! Is this something you set up?"
"That's right."
That one word was short, but it contained sufficient destructive power. It seems their plan had begun from the moment we came to the village. I don't know what Yamato and the others are trying to do, but it certainly won't be something pleasant.
"But I want you to understand, this is necessary. We will never let your sacrifice be in vain; many people will be saved by your death."
"I have no idea what you're talking about. Anyway, explain where this is, why you knocked me unconscious and carried me to a place like this, and what you're trying to do from now on!"
"...You ask nothing but questions."
"Of course. I'm not going to die without knowing anything."
The village residents are just watching the exchange between Yamato and me in silence. They don't stop it or egg it on. Apparently, according to what Yamato said, I am to be sacrificed for a "necessary thing."
"First, I'll answer the first question. This is an underground position constructed by the former army for the final battle on the mainland. Though, it didn't reach completion because the war ended during construction. Even so, it's designed to withstand bombing, so it doesn't collapse, and we've been using it as a storehouse in the village."
"Then next is the second question. Why did you bring me here? And after knocking me unconscious. Have you people been plotting to do this since we came to the village?"
Thinking about it, everything was strange. Setting up a sign saying there's a shelter in a distant place, smoothly accepting people who were lured by it, and keeping us in the house without making us work. I had harbored doubts about all of those, large or small, but I didn't think deeply. This is the result; I'm starting to laugh at my own stupidity.
"I'll say it briefly: you're going to die now."
"Wow, straight to the point. Were you people trying to kill me while I was unconscious? Why didn't you just kill us quickly when we came to the village? That would have been more efficient."
"Don't misunderstand. It's not like we have a murderous impulse or are trying to kill you for your belongings. And at first, we wanted to see if you could get along with us."
I see, so that's what the talk about taking our side was about. But unfortunately, I'm not that crazy. No matter what the reason, I refuse to join a group that kills innocent people.
"Then the last question: what are you trying to do from now on?"
"...I'll show you that now. Hey, open the door!"
With that one word, I noticed there was a large iron door behind the crowd. The sturdy iron door, although rusted here and there, is provided so as to block the way ahead in the cave. Immediately after that door was opened heavily with the sound of metal scraping, the roar of a beast echoed within the cave.
No, not a beast. This voice belongs to an infected, who has fallen into a wild beast while having a human form.
"Stand up, and see for yourself."
With those words from Yamato, the guards who had been gripping my arms painfully until now let go. I thought it was a perfect chance to escape, but as soon as they let go, the guards thrust their guns against my back again. Plus, with this many people, escaping is nearly impossible.
The village residents stepped back as if a ferocious lion were approaching as I took a step toward the iron door. I walked step by step through the hall where there was nothing to block the way. Eventually, the full view of the space that the iron door had been hiding until just now became clear.
It was likely originally designed as a command post or something; the space beyond the iron door had the ground a few meters lower, like a colosseum. Around that space that was one level lower, a sturdy-looking fence, which seemed to have been made later, surrounded it. The roar of the infected can be heard from below.
The ceiling light turned on, and I doubted my eyes. The space one level lower, about 4 meters down from where I am now, had an area about the size of a 25-meter pool, and there were dozens of human figures there.
No, not humans. Those things, which drooled blood from the corners of their mouths and glared at me with bloodshot eyes, were the infected I hadn't seen even once in these past few weeks——————and whom I thought I probably wouldn't have to see ever again.
As soon as they saw me, the infected raised a roar and rushed toward me. They clawed at the walls, trying to drag me down into the hall. But unfortunately, in addition to the smooth rock face, the height to the fence overhead is 4 meters. Even for the infected, whose physical abilities exceed those of humans, if they can't grab the fence after jumping up without a handhold, they can't do anything no matter how much a human is in front of them.
One infected jumped high and touched the iron pillar of the fence embedded in the bedrock. In an instant, a flash ran along with a loud 'zap' sound, and the infected's body convulsed greatly for a moment and was slammed to the ground. Looking closely, electric wires are connected to the iron bars supporting the fence; it seems electricity is being run through the fence. Surrounded by the electrified fence and rock face overhead, the infected won't be able to escape from this pit.
The sound like the roar of an infected that I heard while in the bath before. At that time, I was satisfied that it was the sound of the wind, but as I thought, that was the roar of an infected.
But why are they keeping the infected in a place like this? Since Yamato was said to be a police officer, he should understand the danger of the infected. If there is one infected, the infection spreads from there in a geometric progression. 'Kill the infected on sight'—when television was still being broadcast, it was frequently broadcast that such an order had been issued to the JSDF and police.
Are they capturing the infected and doing some kind of experiment? No, then why are there so many infected? The infected attack as soon as they see a human. Even if they try to capture them, the risk of being killed or infected is too great. No matter how much they are equipped with abundant firearms, they shouldn't be able to capture as many infected as they want like using a Roach Motel.
Moreover, as we didn't encounter a single infected on the way to this village, Osawa Village is in a remote place, so the infected shouldn't come very often. That is also the biggest factor in how they have survived until now without being found by the infected. Where did Yamato and the others capture this many infected, and for what purpose?
I've heard there are no scientists in this village, and in fact, no one with that kind of atmosphere can be seen among the people surrounding me now. The barcode-bald doctor who brought the syringe just now seems to be truly just a doctor.
Then where did these infected come from, and why are they here——————.
While watching the infected who looked up at me and roared, rushing at the rock face, I noticed something. The majority of the infected in the pit are children, and the remaining half are only old people or women.
A girl who would look right at home laughing at school is now drooling blood from the corners of her eyes and mouth, barking in a high-pitched voice with an expression of hatred plastered on her face. Behind her, a man who looks to be in his late 70s is vigorously rushing toward me. It's an ironic story that he became energetic by being infected with the virus, even though he would have been in a nursing home or the other world if it were a peaceful world.
There are almost no adult male infected in the pit. Why are Yamato and the others keeping only children and elderly infected in such a place?
No, were these infected really brought from the outside?
The impression I had when I came to this village was why there were almost no children to be seen. At that time, Kaburagi told me it was because the children were attacked while the residents of urban areas were evacuating to the village.
If attacked by an infected, the person attacked either bleeds to death or becomes infected themselves and loses their reason. I had thought until now that all the children who were attacked had died, and in fact, Kaburagi had said so, but maybe that's not the case.
"Ah."
I realized everything. The reason there are no children in this village. The reason the people who evacuated here vanished from this village. The reason Yamato and the others confined the infected in such a place. The reason they knocked me unconscious and went out of their way to bring me to this place. All of those connected in a single line.
And as if to back up my prediction, Yamato pointed to the infected in front of me and opened his mouth again.
"They are our families."
And then, turning back toward me, he said while staring into my eyes.
"You will become their sustenance."
I look forward to your opinions and impressions.