Chapter 45 - Chapter 43: A Tale of Fighting
As I proceeded toward the south, the gunshots I heard gradually grew louder. The gunshots had been ringing incessantly for a while, but the village's clamor far surpassed them.
Because of the explosion I caused, fires seemed to be breaking out here and there. I bypassed several fire engines that were not operating their red lights and sirens and headed for the only main street in this village. The main street running east-west through the center of the village used to have shops and the like gathered, but most of them have now turned into uninhabited ruins. It's likely because the population had been flowing out of this village since long before the virus turmoil.
And from that main street, fierce gunshots were heard. Now that almost no one walks there, and because I blew up the power plant, I walked along the pitch-black street relying on the slight moonlight. Because the fires haven't reached this area yet, the only lights are torches placed in various parts of the street.
Suddenly at that time, a muzzle flash flickered on the roof of a building ahead. Immediately after, a gunshot rang out, and I instinctively went prone on the spot. However, since I didn't hear the sound of a bullet cutting the air or the sound of an impact, apparently the gunshot just now wasn't aimed at me.
I peered through the binoculars and observed the roof of the building that seemed to have been a supermarket or something before. On that roof, which was one level higher than the surrounding buildings, one human figure could be confirmed under the moonlight. A muzzle flash burst again from that figure's hand, and the gunshot shook the air. As expected, he's not shooting at me.
Apparently, the one shooting that gun was a guard. If it were Naomi-san and the others, they wouldn't go out of their way to climb to a high place and shoot a gun. If they had that much time, they'd be escaping.
But the fact that a guard is shooting a gun in front of me means Naomi-san and the others are also nearby. For a while now, the radio has been a jumble of voices requesting manpower for fire extinguishing or wanting to transport injured residents, and I hardly knew where Naomi-san and the others were. In addition to that, the guards change channels every few minutes, so eavesdropping is not easy, and the radio I went to the trouble of getting had been left alone until now.
"Hello, can you hear me?"
To check the progress of the explosive placement with the young man, and if possible, to find out Naomi-san and the others' location, I pressed the talk button after setting the channel to 15 as he told me. However, all I heard was noise. Perhaps he can't take his hands off now, or he's in the bunker and it's hard to receive radio waves. Either way, it seemed I had to do it alone again.
The guard positioned on the roof of the building was still firing. The building he was in was located at a bend in the gently curving street, and from there, one could overlook the street running east and west of the village. The guard was facing the west direction, the center of the village, and there was no sign of him noticing me approaching from the east behind him.
I readied the revolver I had obtained at the human figure floating under the moonlight. I was about to pull the trigger just like that, but I stopped. The distance from here to the man on the roof of the building is about 50 meters or so; with my skill, I could never hit him. If I get close, the man's body will be blocked by the edge of the roof and become invisible, and I'm not very confident in aiming at an enemy in a high place with a crossbow either. If I could hit him with one shot and put him out of action, it would be a different story, but if I miss, the guard will notice me. And the muzzle will turn this way.
As expected, it seems the only way is to get close and finish him off for sure. Fortunately, I haven't been noticed by the guard yet, and thanks to blowing up the power plant, the area is pitch black. With only torches and bonfires placed here and there, it's impossible to illuminate the entire street.
I approached while hiding in the shadows of utility poles and arcade pillars and clung to the wall of the building. When I looked around as I was, a narrow path between buildings that seemed to have been used by employees caught my eye. Perhaps for inspection, a ladder made of metal pipes was hanging on the wall of the ruined supermarket.
There was a fear of being ambushed the moment I stepped onto the roof, but I steeled my resolve and decided to climb the ladder. The supermarket entrance was closed with a shutter and it didn't seem like I could get inside, and other entrances would also be locked. To reach the roof without making much noise, I had no choice but to climb the ladder.
I slung the crossbow over my back with a sling and tucked the two handguns into my belt. The metal ladder was chilly when I gripped it, but perhaps because it hadn't been cleaned for a long time, my palms were immediately stained pitch black with dust.
"Next is Tarzan, huh."
I muttered that quietly and climbed the ladder while trying to make as little noise as possible. In the first place, gunshots have been ringing frequently for a while. If I climb up while blending in with them, I won't be noticed by the sniper on the roof.
The problem is whether I'll slip and fall from the ladder. My whole body has been drenched in sweat for a while, and my palms are also damp with sweat. With a heavy body carrying a backpack full of weapons and a crossbow, it felt like my hands would slip and I'd fall headfirst to the ground the moment I let my guard down.
Even so, I climbed the ladder step by step surely while blending in with the gunshots, and finally reached the roof. The moment I stepped onto the roof, a string that seemed to be for alarm was stretched at my feet, but it was clearly visible illuminated by the moonlight. An empty can was hanging at the end of the string, and it seemed to be a mechanism where the empty can would fall and make a noise if someone tripped over the string.
He seemed to be wary of his back just in case, but the back of the guard in front of me was wide open. The guard seemed to be absorbed in firing his hunting rifle toward the west and hadn't even noticed that I had appeared on the roof after climbing the ladder.
I pulled out the axe and walked up behind the guard. Walking without making footsteps had been my specialty since long ago. The guard didn't even notice that the person he should kill was approaching to a distance of one meter behind him and was taking a rifle bullet out of his pocket to reload. After confirming that procedure, I swung down the axe with all my might toward his neck.
The axe blade pierced his sun-tanned neck, and the spine and spinal cord were smashed in one blow. On that body which had lost its strength and fallen, I swung down the axe once more as a finishing blow. This time the axe blade thrust from the side severed an artery, and fresh blood gushed out from the wound like a fountain.
The one who had been firing the rifle was a man who seemed to be in his late 20s. In his eyes, which were wide open as if to say he didn't know what had happened, probably nothing is reflected anymore. I ignored the man who was gushing blood from his neck and picked up the rifle he had dropped.
The rifle with the engraving "Model 700" on the side of the barrel seemed to be the type where you pull the bolt handle to eject the shell and load every time you fire a shot. A long scope was attached right above the bolt handle protruding from the rear of the barrel, and when I peered through it, I could see the guards having a gunfight on the west side of the street. And beyond them was golden hair shining in the moonlight.
"Naomi-san..."
She was alive; that was what made me happiest right now. There were two other human figures at her side, and when I squinted, I could see they were Yui and Mana-chan.
However, I didn't have time to be happy. They were hiding behind abandoned vehicles, but their position seemed to have been grasped by the guards pressing from the east. Gunshots have been ringing incessantly for a while, and orange sparks scattered on the abandoned vehicles in the darkness. Naomi-san occasionally leaned out and fired a handgun, and her well-featured face was brightly illuminated by the muzzle flash.
In contrast, there are about 5 guards attacking Naomi-san and the others. All are armed with guns, and some seem to have submachine guns as occasional continuous gunshots are ringing.
In addition to that, one light truck was approaching from the west side. The light truck entered the street while emitting the powerful light of its headlights and stopped at a place about 100 meters away from Naomi-san and the others. Several men got down from its bed, hid behind nearby cover, and started firing guns.
The street, which had only the weak light of torches and bonfires until just now, was now brightly illuminated by the light truck's headlights. Now Naomi-san and the others are caught in a pincer attack, and with it being this bright, it's also impossible to escape by blending into the darkness.
At this rate, Naomi-san and the others will be gradually cornered and killed as soon as they run out of bullets. Right now they can still use abandoned cars and arcade pillars as shields, but it's unknown how long those will be useful. To make matters worse, the street is a single road, and there are no side paths they could escape into.
There was one shop whose shutter wasn't closed and seemed like they could escape into, but it was on the opposite side of where Naomi-san and the others were hiding. Unless they sprint across the street where bullets are flying, they can't hide in that shop. But in a situation where they are being targeted from two directions, they don't even seem to be able to move from the spot.
It seems the time has come to use the rifle I obtained. I searched the body of the man who was no longer moving at all and pulled out rifle bullets with pointed tips from his jacket pocket. After stuffing them into my own pocket and placing the backpack and crossbow on the roof, I readied the rifle.
I gripped the grip integrated with the stock, which was very similar to that of a crossbow. When I pressed my cheek against the cheekpiece of the stock and peered through the scope, the center of the crosshairs for aiming was glowing red. Apparently, it's made so that aim can be set even at night using a battery or something.
Screws that seemed to be for adjusting the aim protruded from the top and sides of the scope. In movies and the like, they turned these to adjust the aim, but if an amateur like me did it, the aim that the guard had gone to the trouble of setting would only go haywire. A gun that doesn't hit is the same as a firecracker.
I tried readying the rifle in a standing position, but because the barrel was longer than a crossbow, my arms wavered. I was forced to sit down on the spot with my legs crossed and propped my left arm, which supported the fore-end, on my left thigh. Then, my arms wavered less than in the standing position.
I had already confirmed that bullets were loaded in the rifle before killing the original owner, the guard.
Sitting on the roof which had no fence or anything to prevent falling, I readied the rifle and took aim at the nearest guard. I aligned the red dot in the center of the scope with the back of the guard who was firing a hunting rifle while hiding behind a utility pole. As expected, they haven't noticed my existence and don't look back.
"I'll blow away that pretty face!"
Though, I'm aiming for the large area of the back.
Thanks to the light truck coming, the street was brighter than before, and aiming wasn't that difficult. Though, whether I can hit is a different matter.
I took a deep breath, and stopped breathing after exhaling about half. I put my index finger on the trigger and pulled it as it was.
In the next instant, an impact like being kicked ran through my shoulder, and the rifle almost slipped out of my hand from the recoil. A gunshot incomparable to that of a handgun rang out, and tinnitus attacked me again.
The launched bullet had hit a place several dozen centimeters above the guard's head. Apparently, the aim went off due to the recoil; I saw the guard, whose head the impact of the hit had exploded above, turn around and stand with his mouth agape.
"Uh, how do I do this..."
I immediately tried to pull the bolt handle to load the next round, but it wouldn't move as if it were fixed with glue. Just as I thought it was broken, it seemed I couldn't pull the bolt handle unless I first rotated the bolt handle which was bent 90 degrees. Since it's the first time I've touched a rifle, I don't know the operation method well. I had been taught how to use a hunting rifle by Naomi-san too, but I'm not a person smart enough to be able to do anything just by hearing it.
When I pulled the bolt handle, a burnt and dull empty shell was ejected and danced in the air, sparkling as it caught the moonlight. When I returned the bolt handle, a bullet was loaded into the chamber from the internal magazine.
I peered through the scope again and overlapped the reticle on the guard I had missed just now. The guard who was standing and facing this way blankly was nothing but a good target for my shooting practice.
I fired again. This time, unlike before, I was holding the gun properly, and the target guard was standing still. In the scope, a flower of blood bloomed on the chest of the guard who was looking up this way blankly with his mouth open, and the guard fell to the ground from his back as if he had been struck hard. Having tripped partway through, a large hole that a fist could fit into had opened in the back of him who had become prone.
From the hole in his back, a white object that seemed to be a rib was peeking out. The moment I saw that, a man's shouting voice, as if he had swallowed a bubble, flowed from the radio hanging on the belt of the corpse at my side.
"What are you doing, Yasaka! Have you lost your mind? The one you're shooting is an ally!"
Apparently, this man's name is Yasaka. After glancing at the corpse, I pulled the bolt handle to load a bullet and peered through the scope seeking the next prey. The guards, who seemed to be convinced they were suddenly shot by an ally from behind, have completely forgotten to shoot Naomi-san and the others and are facing this way.
Naomi-san also seemed to be bewildered by the fact that the guards suddenly stopped shooting, but she seemed to have thought now was the chance. Taking Yui and Mana-chan's hands, she had sprinted toward the shop whose shutter wasn't closed on the opposite side of the street.
One of the guards who noticed that hurriedly pointed his gun at them. I immediately took aim at him and fired. Because it was a sudden thing, I couldn't take aim accurately, and the launched bullet hit the ground about a meter away from the guard and scattered sparks. Perhaps they finally realized that this wasn't an accidental shot or a stray bullet; the guards hurriedly hid behind cover and fired toward here all at once.
"Whoa, whoa..."
The amount of bullets flying was on a different level compared to when I was shot at the gas station. Muzzle flashes flickered in various parts of the street, and the dry sound of bullets hitting concrete and the whiz of bullets grazing over my head shook the air. A loud sound of glass breaking was heard downstairs, and I hurriedly lowered my head.
The continuous gunshots of a submachine gun rang out, and a human figure trying to run toward here entered the corner of my vision. Now that it's been exposed that I'm in this place, staying on the roof is equivalent to suicide. Naomi-san and the others have already passed through the shop and left the street, and there's no longer a need for me to be in this place. I've already succeeded in distracting the guards sufficiently.
It was time. Ignoring the radio of the corpse that was still shouting, I, carrying the backpack and crossbow, headed for the ladder. I ended up carrying a crossbow, two handguns, and a backpack full of weapons, plus a rifle, and I felt my body become heavily weighted.
I felt like I could throw away the crossbow now that I got a rifle too, but a weapon that doesn't emit sound like when I infiltrated the gas station will also be necessary.
"This is a human armory, huh..."
I slung the crossbow over my back and hung the rifle from my shoulder. Every time I moved my body, the two weapons hit each other and made a small sound, but I didn't have time to care.
I didn't have the luxury of going down step by step leisurely; I gripped the two vertical rails of the ladder with both hands and placed both feet on the vertical rails instead of the rungs. After making it so I was pinching the vertical rails with the arches of both feet, I let go of the strength in both hands, and my body began to slide down toward the bottom all at once.
I tried to imitate James Bond or someone I saw in a movie sliding down a ladder quickly, but seeing the ground approaching my feet in an instant was nothing but terror. As I approached the ground, I put strength into both hands again, and my body which was sliding down the ladder began to decelerate.
"Hiee."
I was greeted by bullets as soon as I landed on the ground, but I don't have the luxury of shooting back now. Carrying the rifle I was hanging from my shoulder, I started running as if being chased by bullets.
I ended up going back the way I came, but it's a great harvest just to have confirmed Naomi-san and the others' safety. After that, I just have to somehow bypass the chasing guards and meet up with Naomi-san and the others. The hope that everyone will escape this village safely came into view, and I felt strength welling up in my body.