Chapter 39 - Chapter 37: A Story of a Great Escape
Both hands remained restrained, but it was fortunate that they were not tied behind my back. The blade of the knife I swung thrust into the upper arm of the guard who was next to me, and my hand became wet with lukewarm blood.
This was the first time I had thrust a knife into a human, but no sentimentality welled up. I've assassinated defenseless infected from behind many times, and above all, the fact that I don't have time to think about unnecessary things right now is likely the cause.
The guard, who looked to be in his mid-20s, let out a scream like the roar of a beast, but by then I had pulled the blood-stained knife out of his arm. I've heard that when you stab with a blade like a knife, the muscles contract and it becomes difficult to pull out, and in fact, I've had difficulty trying to pull a knife out of an infected's corpse.
The truly unpleasant sensation of the knife being pulled out of the flesh was transmitted to my hand, but I didn't care and swung the knife, shouting.
"Get out of the way!"
I brandished the knife with both hands still tied and swung it around recklessly. A knife with a blade only a few centimeters long shouldn't be a threat at all in front of people with guns, but they must have been startled by the fact that an opponent they thought was defenseless suddenly started swinging a blood-stained knife. The other guard standing next to me fell on his backside and avoided the swinging knife blade, and the village residents standing in front of me jumped away all at once. Like Moses parting the sea and walking on the seabed, I ran through the sea of the crowd toward the cave I had come from.
"Stop!"
Perhaps having finally recovered from the agitation, a guard's roar flew from behind. But, of course, there's no way I'd stop. If I stay in a place like this forever, I'll be made into food for the infected.
However, at the subsequent gunshots that echoed within the underground bunker, I almost instinctively stopped. Not the single gunshots of a handgun or hunting rifle, but continuous gunshots. A police submachine gun is aiming at me! Sparks flew on the rock faces closing in on both sides, and fragments of rock shattered into pieces flew into my eyes.
"Don't shoot, what if he dies!"
The gunshots that were heard for just an instant ceased at Yamato's shout. But Yamato didn't stop the shooting out of humanism that one shouldn't point a gun at a child; he just stopped it because it would be troublesome if I died. The infected only eat living humans; if I become a corpse, the food just decreases.
This is also the first time I've been shot at by a human. Though, the infected don't have the wisdom to use guns.
I put some spirit into my heart, which was about to wither from being shot at, and continued to run with strength in my legs. The curses and footsteps of the guards and residents chasing from behind echoed within the narrow cave and stabbed my ears.
While running, I cut the rope on my wrists with the knife blade. It felt dangerous to handle a knife while my body was swaying and I couldn't see my hands well, but I didn't have the leeway to stop. After spending about ten seconds, I somehow managed to cut the loathsome rope.
There was no light other than the light bulbs hanging every ten meters, and I escaped while paying attention to my feet so as not to fall. The cave is a single path, and I have no idea what is ahead. I know for sure there is the small room I was confined in, but maybe the path beyond that is a dead end.
That said, I couldn't turn back the way I came. For me, who doesn't know the structure of the underground bunker, the only thing I can do is keep running. I might be a rat in a bag right now, but I have no intention of waiting for death or giving up. If there's no place to run, I'll at least run wild flashily and make them struggle.
I have no way of knowing what happened to Yui and the others right now. But they surely aren't suffering a fate where they'd die right away. If they intended to make them food for the infected along with me, they should have been brought to this underground bunker, but Yui and the others were not to be seen in that place. In other words, making them food is still far off, or maybe they haven't been caught in the first place.
Either way, Naomi-san, the strongest person, is over there. She would be acting with priority on surviving in any situation. I had confidence that she wouldn't be defeated so easily.
However, how far should I run? Just as I thought that, the familiar iron door on the rock face in front of me approached. That's the small room where I was thrown in while unconscious. A metal plate that seemed to have a room number written on it was pasted above the door, but it was rusted and couldn't be seen well.
Looking closely, similar iron doors are lined up beyond that as well. I didn't notice because I didn't have time to look back earlier, but this was likely a residential block or something. If so, the structure of the room inside the door in front of me shouldn't be much different from the room I was confined in. If so, there's no exit even if I flee into it.
Continuing to run without entering the room, the width of the cave gradually becomes wider. Is the entrance/exit close? At that moment, the wind stroked my cheek.
The fact that the wind is blowing in means the exit is close. It seems I was right to keep running this way. The guard is still chasing from behind, but for now, once I get outside, it'll be my turn.
The blowing wind gradually increased in strength, and eventually, the exit came into view ahead. Is it evening now? Orange light shines in from the exit, and the sound of insects chirping can be heard from outside.
"I did it..."
Now I'm free. Just as I thought that, something suddenly appeared before my eyes as I tried to jump out of the exit with momentum. A man in his mid-40s, likely a resident returning from farm work, was looking at me with eyes wide in shock, an axe hanging from a case at his waist.
Probably, my appearance was unexpected for him as well. My body, which had gained momentum, wouldn't listen to me suddenly, and I charged into the man who was standing still. Along with a dull sound, an impact ran through my body, and the two of us rolled on the ground together. Heaven and earth turned over and over, and the ground and the sunset sky were reflected alternately in my full vision.
"I'm sorr..."
Raising my face, I was about to apologize out of habit, but what I saw was the figure of the man who had stood up a step earlier and was coming toward me while brandishing a hand axe. Come to think of it, all the residents of this village were as good as enemies. The man in front of me just happened to not be at the place where I was to be offered as a sacrifice to the infected, but he must know what Yamato and the others are doing. And what kind of fate the refugees who came to this village are suffering.
"Don't move, behave yourself!"
The man shouted that and edged closer to me bit by bit. As I thought, this man also knows that I am a person who should not be in this place. Originally, I should be in the stomachs of the infected inside the underground bunker behind me right now. Despite that, the fact that I am here means he knows something must have happened.
It doesn't seem like I can talk things out with him either. As soon as I turned my back and started running, footsteps chased from behind as well. But I am still a youth full of young vigor, while the opponent is a middle-aged man who's starting to wither. He doesn't have a projectile weapon, and to keep his family who turned into infected alive, he has to feed me to them. If so, he won't throw the axe or make a lethal attack. I should be able to outrun him easily.
That was only for an instant. Just as I thought something had collided from behind, the next moment, I was pinned to the ground. In my confusion, not knowing why, the voice of the middle-aged man shouting "I caught you!" entered my ears.
Despite being middle-aged, what kind of leg strength does he have to catch up to me, a teenager? An endless question welled up, but the next moment, my arm was twisted behind my back, and a scream inadvertently spilled from my mouth.
"That hurts, let go!"
"I'm sorry, forgive me. I can't lose my wife and child, forgive me..."
While gripping my arm as firmly as a vise, the middle-aged man was saying that. He must also be one of the people who couldn't kill their family members who turned into infected. I sympathize with the fact that his family turned into infected, but even so, he, like Yamato and the residents in that underground bunker, is just a person who ran away from the decision not to take matters into his own hands against his family who lost their reason and turned into ferocious beasts in human form. I had not a single millimeter of intention to show mercy toward the middle-aged man on my back who was trying to kill me to keep his family alive.
...But the middle-aged man who was mounted on me is heavy, and the arm that was twisted up is emitting intense pain. Even if I flailed my legs and shook my body, the middle-aged man on top wouldn't move.
Furthermore, I can even hear the sound of footsteps treading on gravel from behind. Was my struggling in vain after all? Am I destined to vanish into the stomachs of the infected in this village without anyone knowing?
Just as that thought crossed my mind, along with a groan like a squashed frog, "Guh," lukewarm liquid rained down from above. The gravel was dyed bright red, and strength left the hands of the middle-aged man who had been twisting my arm.
Hurriedly crawling out from under the middle-aged man and looking back, what I saw was the large blade of a blood-stained hunting knife protruding from the middle-aged man's chest. The sharp blade, which must have been over 20 centimeters long, shone in the sunset, and the middle-aged man, who spat blood from his mouth, collapsed on the spot. The one who pulled the knife out of his body was——————.
"Why are you..."
The young man with a buzz cut, who had a shotgun slung over his shoulder and was shaking the blood off the knife, was the guard who had sent me to the village office earlier. Why did he, who had told us outsiders to get out quickly while belonging to the guard, help me even by killing a fellow village resident?
"Are you hurt?"
The guard, who put the hunting knife back in its sheath and held the shotgun, asked. When I instinctively nodded, he pushed something toward me. It was the work hand axe that the middle-aged man had been brandishing just now.
"Follow me, it's dangerous here."
"Why did you help me..."
"I don't have time to explain now. But for now, I'll just say that I'm not your enemy. So please, don't do something like slashing me from behind, okay?"
It didn't have much persuasiveness coming from the youth in front of me who belonged to the guard that tried to attack me and feed me to the infected, but if they were Yamato's allies, he should be pointing a gun at me right now. An act to catch me after letting my guard down? Then would he go out of his way to hand over a weapon, even if it's for close quarters?
Anyway, I had no choice but to trust him for now. I am alone right now, and moreover, the surroundings are full of enemies. In such a situation, I have no choice but to follow the youth who appeared.
"Let's go."
Leaving the blood-stained middle-aged man, who no longer moved even a twitch, in the middle of the gravel road, the youth stepped into the woods spreading to the left and right of the road. While gripping the axe with my arm that still hurt, I also followed after him.
I look forward to your opinions and impressions.