Chapter 56 - Chapter 54: A Story of Falling Down
It couldn't be helped. Telling myself that, I start running after Naomi-san and the others toward the apartment. The man's scream, which roared as if to drown out the groans and roars of the infected, gradually became smaller after ten seconds passed. And now it can't be heard at all.
It takes the form of me having had him become a so-called sacrificial offering so that I could escape, but I felt almost no guilt about that. If we hadn't happened to be present, the man would have died while having his whole body devoured by the infected who caught up, without being able to escape from inside the car. Whether we were there or not, there was no change in him dying.
"Naomi-san, can you hear me? Have you already arrived at the apartment?"
While gripping the shotgun in one hand, I grip the portable radio and speak into the microphone. It's something brought out from Osawa Village, but because it's small, the output is limited, and the communicable range is at most 500 meters or so. However, if it's a short distance, there's no problem with communication. Though, if there were no opponent responding on the other side of the radio, it would just be a piece of junk.
Fortunately, Naomi-san responded immediately.
"Are you safe over there?"
"Somehow, but that man died."
"I see... We also lost that woman on the way. I think she probably went back to look for her husband."
What a thoroughly troublesome family, I cursed in my mouth. Whether it's having caused a flashy accident and called a swarm of infected to this town, or not saying a word of thanks despite having been helped, and on top of that taking selfish actions. They are nothing but a jinx for us.
Of course, I also understand that they did so out of a single-minded desire to survive. If chased by a swarm of infected, one has no choice but to use a car or anything to escape, and even if helped, one would prioritize confirming the safety of one's own family first. Taking selfish actions was also surely out of a single-minded desire to help one's precious person.
But now, all such actions full of love could end up backfiring.
"What will you do about that person? I'm heading toward the apartment now, should I try looking for her?"
"No, let's concentrate on escaping from this town. I'm having Mana and Yui load the luggage into the car now. Fortunately, the infected haven't come here yet. You come straight here just like that. Oh, but try not to bring the infected along as much as possible."
"Roger."
Saying that, I release my finger from the transmit button of the radio. Naomi-san's judgment is correct. We were in agreement on the point that we should leave this place first rather than risking danger to go out of our way to help a person who takes selfish actions on top of having just met. To put it poorly, I cannot bet my life for such a woman. To say even more, I don't want to die for someone.
It seems Yui and Naomi-san also took the backpacks filled with food when they escaped to the apartment. With this, we'll avoid starving for the time being, but having to leave this town was a painful story. The fact that those two corpses had backpacks filled with food meant that in this town——————to be precise, in the south side of the town that we haven't explored——————there should have been food remaining. It's honestly a shame to have to escape here without recovering those.
But in this case, what should be prioritized above all was our lives. Since the swarm of infected that chased the family has come snowballed into this town, we can't go on hiding and letting them pass like before. Until now, because the number of infected wandering outside was small, we could go outside boldly during the day, and we were also able to act by establishing a room in the apartment as a base. However, if the number of infected walking outside increases, the possibility of being found by them also increases. On the other hand, if we were holed up in a room, we would just consume supplies and eventually starve to death.
At the point when a large number of infected came, the value of this town was lost. Then it's better to leave here as soon as possible while the damage is small and look for some other place. Bases and supplies can be obtained anew, but life, once lost, can never be obtained again.
I, proceeding along the road while readying the shotgun, was noticing that the roars of the infected were gradually approaching. Not satisfied with just devouring the man's body, the infected probably started spreading through the town in search of other prey. I only took a glance, but the number of infected was at least not something that could be counted in 100s or 200s. Compared to the size of this town, it's a pittance of a number, but the infected are running around here and there in search of humans. The possibility of happening upon them somewhere is high.
The distance to the apartment that is the destination is probably not even 400 meters in a straight line, but if I have to proceed while being vigilant of the infected, I couldn't move by running. I don't know what is beyond the corners; I have to proceed with caution for things jumping out.
But such determination of mine also withered immediately at a woman's scream heard from somewhere and the roars of the infected that roared as if to drown it out. The scream like tearing cloth was heard from very close to me.
Having a bad feeling again, I looked back, but nothing was standing on the road of the residential area with many corners. The next moment I breathed a sigh of relief, something jumped out from one of those corners.
"Heeeelp meee!"
It was the young woman who was on the car earlier, wandering and escaping while holding the baby. Behind her were the figures of over a dozen infected. Apparently, it was fine that she turned back to help that man, but she was found by the infected on the way. The reason she appeared from behind me was probably because we had crossed paths on the way.
"That damn bitch...!"
Turning my back to her, I also start running. If the infected catch up to the woman and devour her, the next one to become prey is me. Before that happens, I want to gain as much distance as possible.
Besides, I couldn't head toward Naomi-san and the others while bringing the infected along. If that happened, it would be a repeat of that family. Until I become alone by defeating the infected or letting them pass, I cannot head toward them.
"Wait, don't leave me! Help!"
"Like I care!"
While replying so, I ran desperately to escape from the woman and the infected chasing her. It's no joke to die as a collateral of someone I just met. If it were me from right after meeting Yui, it would be a different story, but the current me has realized the truth of this world that has gone mad. If I'm going to die together helping someone, I'll survive even if alone——————.
Deciding so, I, who tried to turn right at the T-junction in front, hurriedly stopped my feet upon seeing several infected wandering on the road as if to block the way. The infected who came to this vicinity after hearing gunshots, screams, and the roars of their comrades seemed to have been searching around for prey. At the next moment I thought several gazes pierced my body all at once, the infected came attacking while dripping red drool mixed with blood.
Readying the shotgun, I pull the trigger twice. Several infected fell after taking buckshot to the head, but the several infected who were behind them were safe. The number of infected who avoided a direct hit of buckshot because their comrades' bodies became shields was three; there is no time to reload the shotgun.
Readying the automatic handgun snatched from Yamato's corpse in Osawa Village, I extended both hands straight and aimed at the leading infected. The infected, who can endure a certain amount of blood loss and do not feel pain, will attack humans whether they are shot in the limbs or stabbed in the torso. To bring them down in one shot, it was necessary to shoot through the heart or the brain. Shooting the limbs just blunts their movement to some extent.
Gunshots and recoil, which were light compared to those of the shotgun, echoed in the narrow road of the residential area. First, I fired three shots toward the very first infected; their movement blunted when the second shot hit the chest, and the third shot shot through the space between the eyebrows. I calmly shot through the head of the second one who tripped over the corpse of their dead comrade, but in the meantime, the third one was approaching within several meters of me.
"Don't underestimate me...!"
This time I fired five shots. Because I was panicked, most of the bullets missed, but one hit the eyeball and also pierced the brain behind it. I diverted my line of sight from the corpse of the infected who decided on a sliding from the head while shedding tears of blood and confirmed the surrounding situation. Already behind me, the group of infected and the woman being chased by them were approaching.
"Please, help!"
I tried to escape by ignoring her, but if newly appeared infected block the way ahead, I can neither proceed nor turn back.
When I turned my gaze around, there was a two-story apartment right nearby. If I go up the stairs and proceed along the second-floor corridor, I should be able to get down beyond the wall of the neighboring house. Just beyond the wall surrounding the apartment grounds, the roof of a prefabricated shed of the neighboring house is peeking out. If I jump from the end of the corridor, I'll probably be able to get down onto the roof of that shed.
At least for now, escaping from the sight of the infected was the first priority. Unless I hide my figure, those guys will chase me anywhere.
"Go up the stairs of that apartment!"
While loading shells into the shotgun, I look back and point at the apartment. Confirming that the woman nodded, I pull the trigger toward the infected approaching from the front. This time I was able to shoot calmly because the distance was sufficiently far.
While I was folding the barrel and ejecting the empty shells, the woman brushed past my side and started going up the apartment stairs.
The old stairs were rusted here and there, to the point I thought they might break if several people got on. The surface was stained reddish-brown with rust, and peeled paint was blowing into the corners. Whether corrosion was progressing, there were also places where holes large enough for a finger to enter were open.
Even after going up to the second floor of the apartment, no nameplates could be found at any of the rooms. The window next to the door was broken, but it seemed to be something broken long before the infection spread. Inside the room visible beyond the broken glass, there was nothing, conveying to me that no people lived here.
From the state of disrepair and the lack of signs of people living there, this apartment seemed to have been in a state no different from a ruin since before the spread of infection. Come to think of it, I've heard that it's becoming a problem that old buildings are not being demolished on purpose as a tax measure. I heard on the news that because taxes are higher for vacant land, many landlords do not demolish even aged buildings for that reason.
Such an uninhabited apartment is now bustling with a large number of infected. The infected who chased us indeed entered the apartment grounds, and upon seeing us on the second floor, they tried to go up the stairs just like that. However, because the infected have no reason or spirit of sharing, a large number crowded into the narrow stairs at once, and the infected are pushing and shoving without being able to go up the stairs.
"Alright, jump down to the grounds of the house over there from the end of the corridor!"
"What are you saying, there's no way I can do such a thing!?"
"You can see the roof of the shed, jump down there!"
From the end of the corridor to the grounds of the neighboring house is only a meter or so. Since the prefabricated warehouse is also installed close to the wall, even a woman holding a baby will probably be able to jump across. However, there was no sign of her hesitating to jump across to the grounds of the neighboring house at all.
While she was doing so, the infected who escaped from the pushing and shoving started going up the stairs one by one, then another. But thanks to there being only enough width for one person to pass, they have no choice but to go up in a line one by one. It was quite easy to have to deal with only one at a time.
I moved to the top of the stairs and fired the handgun at the infected who was halfway up the stairs. Because their movement was limited thanks to the narrow stairs, it was easy to hit. The body of the infected who lost strength tumbled down the stairs and returned to the ground while involving several behind them.
"Yes, goodbye."
But the infected also seem to be quite hungry. Without being discouraged by the corpses of their comrades falling from above, they continue to try to go up the stairs in a line. Because they have no reason or fear, they continue to proceed without being frightened even if their comrades die.
Looking, the apartment grounds had become completely full of infected. Apparently, we have ended up calling almost all of the infected in this vicinity. The number is only about 100, but it might increase from now on. To the woman who is still hesitating to jump across to the warehouse roof, I finally roared.
"You, enough already! If you want to die, jump down from here right now; even if you don't want to die, jump down!"
When I pointed the muzzle of the handgun along with those words, the woman raised a scream. After fixing the baby firmly in front of her body with a baby carrier, she climbed over the old railing and jumped toward the grounds of the neighboring house all at once. Along with a dull thud! sound, the woman's groan could be heard.
Looking back, I could see the figure of the woman agonizing on the roof of the shed. The baby she held is somehow safe, but she seems to have hit her body somewhere. However, it will be a much better injury than being eaten alive by the infected.
"You, get down from there quickly! Or I can't go over there."
Because I have to go up the rusted stairs to go up to the second floor, for now, the infected's progress route is narrowed to one. However, I cannot continue to unfold a fruitless battle of offense and defense here forever. Already corpses are starting to pile up halfway up the stairs, and many infected are trying to go up by using them as stepping stones.
Since a girl infected tried to rush straight up the stairs, I fire the shotgun. The thin ankle of the infected who took buckshot from close range was mangled and severed, and that body which lost balance by losing one leg fell and returned to the ground. That infected who is still alive was stepped on by the comrades gathered near the entrance and their figure could no longer be seen.
If I keep fighting here like this, eventually the ammunition or my physical strength will run out. Before that happens, I have to move from here quickly and return to Naomi-san and the others. The corpses of the infected have already piled up to around the middle of the stairs.
I drew the axe to save ammunition and swung the blade down onto the head of the infected who went up the stairs. The axe blade pierced deeply into that head, and the infected's body convulsed greatly for a moment and then stopped moving. At the next moment I pushed that body with my foot and pulled out the blade, along with a roar, dust danced in the surroundings.
Looking, the stairs in front of me had vanished. Apparently, unable to endure the weight of the large number of infected riding on them, they had broken from the part connecting to the second floor. The pillars that had been left and aged for a long time finally seemed to have broken under the weight of the surging infected and the piled-up corpses. The pillars of the stairs rolling on the ground were riddled with holes from corrosion.
I shuddered to think if I had been on the stairs. If so, I would have fallen straight to the ground along with the infected by now, and I surely would have been eaten while unconscious.
By the only stairs going up to the second floor having broken, the danger of me being attacked by the infected was gone. But that doesn't mean I can stay here. The infected cannot go up to the second floor, but until those guys disappear from around the house, I also cannot get down to the ground. As long as the infected are besieging this apartment, I cannot move from the second floor.
"Hey you, I'm going over there now, so wait there!"
The woman who jumped across to the grounds of the neighboring house was finally about to get down from the roof of the shed. This apartment is now no different from a desert island. I have to move to the neighboring house quickly.
When I look down, the infected were looking up at me with eyes bloodshot with red, howling. Even though the prey they longed for is right in front of them, the current them cannot lay a hand on me. I felt like saying 'How do you feel now?', but I stopped because it seemed like I would just feel empty. Ignoring the infected wandering around the apartment, I proceeded straight along the corridor.
When I look down from the end of the corridor, in the gap of about one meter between the apartment building and the wall of the neighboring house, I could see the figures of the infected who were waiting for when I would fall. In the unlikely event that my foot slips or something and I cannot jump across to the neighboring grounds, I will end up being thrown into the midst of the infected crowding below.
While trying not to look down, I climb up onto the railing surrounding the corridor. When I stand on the railing while grabbing the electric meter installed on the wall, I kicked the railing vigorously so as not to hit my head on the ceiling protruding into the corridor.
My body was probably only in the air for a mere moment, but from my perspective, it felt like several seconds had elapsed. Jumping over the wall separating the apartment grounds and the neighboring grounds, my shoe soles touch the roof of the prefabricated warehouse that was the target.
I did it. Before I could think so, suddenly the sensation of gravity vanished from my body. Immediately after, a flashy metal sound of something breaking and collapsing echoed, and by the time I noticed, my body had been slammed onto the ground. Around me, several metal plates that constituted the warehouse and what seemed to have been crushed cardboard boxes that were inside are rolling.
Apparently, this shed was also quite old, just like that apartment. It seems the roof couldn't endure the weight of me who was wearing a gun and various other equipment. In the first place, a prefabricated shed probably isn't made assuming someone will fall vigorously onto the roof.
The impact of the woman who landed first caused the shed to become unstable, and then I who landed next delivered the finishing blow to the old shed, and the shed seems to have fallen apart. Fortunately, I only ended up slamming my body hard onto the ground. It seems the cardboard boxes that were inside became cushions and softened the impact. I confirm that no bones are broken, and then I check whether the weapons are safe.
Luckily, there was not a single scratch on the equipment other than my body.
"Um... are you okay?"
I unintentionally glared back at the woman who spoke to me timidly. If only it weren't for her, I should have been able to say goodbye to this town along with Naomi-san and the others by now.
"...Let's go quickly. We can't dally."
Ignoring the pain in my waist, I somehow raise my body. I cursed the resident of this house, whose life or death is not even certain, wishing they had at least made it a shed that would be fine even if 100 people rode on it.