Chapter 68 - The Story of The Last of Us
Lending a shoulder to Yui, who had sprained her foot, I head east while half-dragging her. In the city on the opposite bank after crossing the bridge, the figures of the infected are few, perhaps thanks to the JSDF having blown up the bridge. Even so, the roars of the infected roar in the city, and from alleys or private houses with doors left open, several human figures show their figures.
But I now was calm to an extent I hadn't been until now. My heart was messily disturbed by the sadness of having lost Naomi-san and anger toward myself, but regardless of that, my body moves on its own. While supporting Yui's body with my left hand, I pull out an automatic pistol from the holster with my right hand and pull the trigger twice toward an infected rushing from the front. The first shot pierces the chest, and the second bullet pierces the head as it recoiled.
Even though I could hardly even hit a running infected until now. At the point where I shot three rounds into an infected coming from another direction and killed it, the pistol's slide stopped while retracted. I quickly ejected the empty magazine, hammered in a spare magazine that had been thrust into the vest's pouch, and lowered the slide stop.
"We'll shake them off. Your foot must hurt, but please endure a bit more."
Yui didn't answer anything. Even though she was attacked by the infected and lost all weapons, and even though she left her backpack because it would be a burden on her foot, her footsteps are heavy. Part of it must be due to the injury, but the biggest reason is likely that she lost Naomi-san further following Mana-chan.
But the fact that she doesn't open her mouth now was a thankful thing for me. If we were exchanging words, I would end up realizing that the people to converse with have decreased.
Moving further east, the scenery changed from an urban area where buildings are lined up to a residential area where old private houses are densely packed. From behind, the roars of the infected are still chasing us as we flee.
Just as I was about to go straight through a crossroads, something squirmed in the curve mirror reflected in the corner of my vision. Having a bad feeling, I instinctively pushed Yui away and quickly leveled the pistol in that direction.
Dripping saliva mixed with blood from its mouth, one infected jumped out from the side of the intersection. I immediately shot two rounds into the chest and one into the head, but the infected only staggered its body. Even though I certainly shot through the head, it doesn't die. I immediately understood the reason.
The infected was wearing a helmet and a bulletproof vest. That infected, clad in camouflage clothes based on green and brown, must have originally been a JSDF member. The infected, who had solidified its body with bulletproof equipment, raised a large roar and rushed straight toward me.
A bulletproof vest can standardly block up to pistol rounds, and if a ceramic plate is inserted inside, it's possible to prevent even rifle rounds. In a public security dispatch against the infected, bulletproof equipment wouldn't have been sought that much, but even so, no matter how much I shot with a pistol, the infected before my eyes wouldn't fall. Its ribs might be broken by the impact, but the infected, which doesn't feel pain, didn't flinch at all.
Just as I was about to level the rifle slung from my shoulder, the infected tackled me. I let go of the rifle and pulled out a knife. The head and torso are protected, but the face is exposed.
Seeing the moment the infected was about to get astride me, I swung the knife held in a reverse grip down on its face with all my might. Below the brim of the helmet, the knife blade pierced deeply into the eye, and the infected's body convulsed greatly once. From the eye socket where the eyeball was crushed, thick blood mixed with transparent liquid flows out.
"Behind!"
While still sitting on her rear on the ground, Yui pointed in the direction we came from. A group of about ten infected that had been chasing us all along is pressing in right before our eyes. Just as I was about to take the rifle fallen on the ground, I notice that an oval object with a metal ring attached is stored in a pouch attached to the dead infected's bulletproof vest.
It was a hand grenade. Not the incendiary type used when blowing up the tank truck before, but the kind that kills and wounds enemies by scattering fragments with an explosion. I instinctively pulled out the lemon-like oval hand grenade from inside the pouch, pulled out the safety pin, and threw it toward the approaching infected. And immediately after I covered Yui's body to protect her, the hand grenade whose fuse was activated exploded.
It was a hand grenade that fell on the road in front of the infected, but the infected sprinting toward us ended up rushing right into the middle of the kill zone themselves. As a result, the hand grenade exploded in the middle of the swarm, and the scattered iron pieces pierced into the infected's bodies at high speed, shredding them to pieces.
When I raised my face, half of the swarm had fallen to the ground and stopped moving. Those with iron pieces embedded in their heads and not moving, those whose necks are twisted in unnatural directions by the blast...
Even so, perhaps thanks to their companions having become a wall of meat, the other half was standing on the spot. However, whether their semicircular canals were disturbed by the explosion that occurred at close range, they are swaying their upper bodies back and forth like a metronome. The bright red bloodshot eyes were facing us, but their footsteps are heavy.
I picked up the rifle and shot through the heads of the infected whose movements are dull. When the last individual fell, silence filled the residential area. The roars of the infected are heard from afar riding the wind, but apparently they are not nearby. For now, it means the pressing threat could be eliminated.
I scavenge the corpse of the infected who was originally a JSDF member and secure weapons and ammunition. In the wagon left across the collapsed bridge, weapons and ammunition were still piled. If we can return and take them, there is no problem, but for the case where that cannot be done, I wanted to secure even a few weapons. Weapons and supplies, you can never have too many.
Whether they let go when they developed the disease and lost their reason, the corpse was not wearing the assault rifle that is the standard equipment of JSDF members. If there were a weapon that could also fire in bursts, it would have been encouraging, but there's no use asking for what's not there. In the pouches of the bulletproof vest, ammunition for the assault rifle is stored in several magazines, but even if there is ammunition, it's meaningless without a gun. However, since the possibility of finding an assault rifle from here on is not zero, I pack the 5.56mm NATO rounds along with the 30-round magazines into the backpack.
The pistol was still in the state of being stored in the leg holster. I unfastened the lanyard for loss prevention that was still connected to the belt at the waist, and lightly pulled the slide with the cherry blossom mark and the engraving of "9mm Pistol." A 9mm round was already chambered in the chamber. I push the magazine catch at the bottom of the grip and eject the magazine. Ammunition is already loaded here too.
I fiddle with the bulletproof vest and take the pouch where the pistol magazines were stored as a whole. Since the possession of pistols by ordinary people is regulated by the Sword and Firearms Law, even if I went to a gun shop, pistol rounds are naturally not placed. Against the infected, the pistol is underpowered, but even so, it's far better than facing them with blunt instruments or blades. The German automatic pistol Yamato possessed and I am using now also uses the same 9mm rounds, so in an emergency, they can be shared.
I thrust one more hand grenade that had remained into an open pouch of the vest, and again lend a shoulder to Yui to make her stand. What was obtained was one gun and one hand grenade, and several dozen pistol rounds and about 200 rifle rounds that cannot be used. It's better than nothing, but it's an amount that would be used up in an instant if it becomes a battle.
And we now were in a state of being covered in wounds. Yui is unable to move satisfactorily due to her foot injury, and I am fine in body but not so in mental state. Above all, we lost Naomi-san, who was the greatest combat force. What we can do now is at most run around and hide.
On a utility pole standing at the roadside, a green sign was hung. Along with the name of an elementary school, the white characters of 'Shelter' are noted along with the distance.
"A school, huh..."
In this disaster, even if that elementary school had become a shelter, no one would be there now. Places where many people gather, such as shelters, were the first to be attacked by the infected. Even if not attacked, infected remain in the city; I don't think anyone is living there. The people who had taken refuge in the elementary school would have been killed by the infected or joined their ranks, or fled somewhere in search of a safer place.
I can't be optimistic, but various shelters I've visited until now were mostly turned into uninhabited ruins. In the event of a disaster such as an earthquake, if you wait at a shelter, a rescue team will come in a few days and perform distribution of supplies and so on. However, in this situation, no matter how long you stay at a shelter, no one will come to help. The supplies in stock only decrease, and people pushed into narrow places accumulate dissatisfaction. On top of that, if the possibility of being attacked by the infected becomes high, it's natural to abandon a cramped shelter and head for another place. Even in shelters not attacked by the infected, there were places where people who apparently thought such things had taken all the supplies they could and fled.
I should hide in a safe place right now, but on the other hand, I couldn't jump into the private houses lined up on the left and right of the road. I don't know what is lurking inside, and it would be troublesome if there were no place to escape when attacked. And to keep a lookout outside, it's better to go to as high a place as possible.
And since schools are also used as shelters in times of disaster, emergency supplies are in stock. If there are none, it can't be helped, but if there are, I want to get them. And I also want to obtain a map of this area.
Of course, I'm just using the school as a temporary shelter. What to do after this, where to make a base, I'll think about later. Right now I wanted to take a breath as soon as possible.
"...We've become two again."
Yui didn't answer anything. Suddenly, I remember the time I just met Yui. The time when I could still believe that salvation remained in the world, when I was still pure compared to now.
Why did it become like this? Where did I take the wrong path? No one will surely show the answer to that question. If we had stayed as just the two of us all along, maybe it would have ended without becoming like this. Not helping Mana-chan, not meeting Naomi-san, and just staying holed up in some ruin as the two of us. If so, I might have been able to avoid staining my hands with murder and cutting off important people.
However, I don't have the leeway to be thinking about unnecessary things now. What should be done now is to find a safe place as soon as possible and hide there. Next is the collection of weapons and supplies; regret is at the very bottom of the priority list.
Whether the typhoon moved further east, the force of the rain and wind is weakening. At this rate, surely tomorrow morning a blue sky without a single cloud will spread. But my heart clearing up like the sky, probably won't happen.
I look forward to your opinions and impressions.