Chapter 73 - Chapter 71: A Story About Burning Down Houses Every Day From Now On
The elementary school was found immediately. Iron plates were attached to the fence surrounding the premises, making it impossible to see inside, and a medium-sized bus was parked sideways at the school gate as a substitute for a barricade. No human figure was visible within range, but the boy sensed that someone was indeed inside.
"Now, how to get in..."
He had fought back and defeated the bunch who attacked him, but he must also make their comrades settle the score. He must make them reflect on what they did and swear never to lay a hand on him again. Repairing the flat tire seemed likely to take more time than expected, and the boy was not so dexterous that he could work while fighting someone during that time.
"Excuse me—, is anyone there—? Or rather, I know you're there, so could you show your face?"
He had already confirmed that there were no infected in the town. Since coming to this town, he hadn't seen a single infected person. To begin with, it's a town with not much population, and being a countryside far from urban areas is likely one factor.
Even when he asked in a loud voice, no one showed themselves. If there's no welcome, he has no choice but to charge in. Just as the boy leaned out from a passenger car left on the road in front of the elementary school, gunfire burst from the window of the bus blocking the school gate.
Two gunshots roared at short intervals. However, the fired bullets didn't hit the boy and only smashed the window glass of a nearby private house. Even so, the boy, who lowered his posture instantly, rested his upper body on the hood of the passenger car and leveled the M1A rifle in his hand.
When he peered through the mounted low-magnification scope, there was the figure of one boy, about a middle schooler, inside the bus serving as a barricade. He was thrusting the muzzle of a revolver out of the open window and shouting, "Don't come close, I'll shoot!" However, without listening to those words, the boy aligned the sights with the other boy's chest and pulled the trigger.
A gunshot incomparable to that of a handgun roared, and Tsuchiya Miku momentarily trembled. The first two gunshots heard were likely fired by Yudai, the lookout, from inside the bus parked at the school gate as a barricade.
Of the only two handguns, Yuki, who headed to attack the survivor, took one. The remaining one was to be held by the children who remained at the elementary school serving as a shelter, in case of an emergency. Yudai, a second-year middle schooler who was confident in his use of guns from games, had been on lookout in front of the school gate with the handgun, but after one large gunshot was heard, the firing sound of the handgun ceased to be heard.
Before the gunshot was heard, a man's voice was heard from outside. However, it wasn't the voice of Yuki or the others, and the wary Miku and the others had holed up in the gym without giving an answer.
Yuki and the others, who headed to attack the survivor, have not yet returned, not even one person. Multiple gunshots were heard carried by the wind from the direction of the town, but the gunshots stopped about ten minutes ago. And now, a gunshot that echoed again quite nearby. Miku realized that the survivor Yuki and the others were trying to attack had come to this elementary school. The attack had ended in failure.
"W-What should we do? Should we go to the bus and see how things are?"
"No, there's no proof Yudai-san was done in. Let's wait for Yudai-san to come back."
The elementary schoolers gathered in the gym, which had become the survivors' living area, clamored disjointedly. Until this very day, not one of the children had heard a gunshot. The adults who had hunting guns hadn't returned for two weeks, and even after the children got handguns by attacking the pair of survivors, they hadn't fired a single shot until now because the bullets were a waste.
"Anyway, everyone calm down! Lock all the gym entrances and exits, and someone go up to the second floor and see how the school gate is!"
Yuki, who had been in charge of the surviving children, had gone to attack the survivor who newly arrived yesterday. The oldest person remaining in the shelter now is Miku, but she is only a 13-year-old first-year middle schooler, and the instructions she could give were at most that much.
Running through the gym where blankets, manga magazines, and packs of preserved food were scattered in disorder, the gathered children headed to confirm the locking of all entrances and exits. The windows on the first floor of the gym are blocked by stacking desks and chairs, and all doors other than the one usually used for passage are locked and similarly blocked with barricades. Just as Miku tried to calm down thinking it was safe here, an elementary schooler who went up to the second-floor gallery shouted, "Someone entered the schoolyard!"
"It's not Yudai-niichan, it's a guy about high school age! He has a gun!"
"No way... what about Yudai?"
"I don't know, he's nowhere!"
Just as Miku was about to say "No way——", the boy's voice saying "It's mean to suddenly shoot at me, isn't it?" was heard from outside through the thin window.
That voice was the same as the one heard from outside the school earlier. As expected, Yuki and the others were all killed, and Yudai, who stood on lookout, also died after a gunfight. Miku, who trembled, called out in a small voice to the children, "Gather in the center of the gym."
"Why did you suddenly attack me? Could you come outside and explain?"
"Don't answer, absolutely don't make a sound."
If there's anything that could be a weapon inside the gym, it's at most blunt instruments like bats and knives. Yudai, who had the handgun, is dead outside the gym. Once they go outside, they will likely all be killed.
However, if they are inside the gym, the boy outside shouldn't be able to easily lay a hand on them. All entrances are blocked making intrusion from outside difficult, and the windows that aren't blocked are on the second floor. If the boy tries to force his way into the gym, they will just attack him all at once then. If they attack all at once in a narrow place, they should be able to defeat him even if he has a gun.
"I know you're the comrades of the bunch who attacked me. If you come outside now, apologize to me, and swear never to lay a hand on me again, I'll guarantee your lives. So please come outside."
The boy's voice became calm, but Miku had absolutely no intention of going outside. The boy outside knows that they are Yuki's comrades. That means he captured the members who went on the attack and made them spill it after torture. She can't trust what such a guy says. Once they go outside, they'll all be killed together.
"What should we do, Miku-neechan..."
"It's okay, I'll protect everyone."
Yes, she is the oldest in this place. So if she doesn't stay firm, what will? Miku resolved so while stroking the heads of the children with anxious expressions. Fortunately, the opponent is alone; if they somehow endure and wait for night, they might be able to manage. Surely when night comes and the surroundings become dark, an opening will be born in the opponent too.
"For me too, I don't want to waste various things, so I'd appreciate it if you'd come out obediently."
"It's no use everyone, don't pay attention to him."
Miku tried to predict how the boy would come next. Would he fire bullets through the wall, or would he attempt a forced breakthrough? If it's the former, she must evacuate everyone to a safe place. That's right, if it's the sports equipment storage, there are many obstacles, so even if bullets come, direct hits can be avoided. Let's move everyone to the storage——.
"I see, so that's the answer. It's a pity, I thought I gave a warning."
A chilling, emotionless voice was heard from outside. Even though the tone is bright, a voice where she has no idea what he's thinking. When Miku involuntarily trembled, a gunshot roared from outside.
The windows lined up on the second floor of the gym were smashed one after another, and glass fragments rained down. The children, who covered themselves with blankets that were on the floor, screamed at the gunshots that roared at close range.
Fortunately, there are no injuries. Is he sounding gunshots close by to threaten them? Miku, while lying flat on the floor, told the gathered children to go to the storage.
"It's dangerous there, come back quickly!"
"Got it... wait, that guy has something."
A boy who was about to go down from the gallery has his eyes glued to the boy outside. Miku was about to say "Come here quickly," but the next moment she lost her words seeing what flew in from the window.
"Get, hotter."
While muttering such a thing, what the boy threw into the gym from the broken window was a beer bottle filled with liquid. A lit rag was thrust into the mouth, and the bottle, which flew into the gym while rotating and hit the floor, shattered into pieces. The next moment, the scattered liquid flared up all at once.
What the boy threw in was a Molotov cocktail. He took another Molotov cocktail from the backpack he carried and lit the cloth stuffed into the mouth with a lighter. The Molotov cocktail, thrown with a running start, fell into the gym drawing a beautiful arc.
The fire spread to the gasoline inside, and lumps of fire were scattered. On the floor of the gym, which the children used as a living area, blankets and trash were scattered, and in an instant, the fire ignited those flammable materials. The children inside the gym, which was immediately engulfed in flames, fell into a panic and aimed for the exit.
But because they had piled up barricades even at the entrances and exits to prevent the boy's intrusion, getting outside immediately was not granted. While they were swarming the barricades and pushing and shoving to somehow get outside, in the back, a girl who was late in escaping was writhing while wrapped in fire over her whole body.
"Hot, it's hot—! Aaaaaaaah!"
"Help!"
In such a hellish scene of agonizing cries, Miku was desperate to somehow move the children to another place. If they go outside, the boy is waiting. However, the children, terrified by the fire that spread throughout the gym, had completely forgotten the boy's existence.
Somehow pushing aside the barricades and shoving aside comrades they had helped each other with until yesterday, they jump out from the door. Along with the gunshot that roared the next moment, a boy who had just started running toward the outside fell to the ground while spurting blood from his chest. Beyond the fallen boy was the figure of the boy leveling an automatic rifle.
The girl who went out next had her head blown off. The 7.62mm bullet, which falls into the large-caliber category for rifle bullets, has enough power to destroy a human head like a watermelon. The part above the forehead disappeared, and brains stirred messily by the bullet and skull fragments were scattered around. The children, who finally remembered the boy's existence, tried to return inside the gym in a hurry, but they were pushed outside by other children coming one after another and fell one by one before the boy's gunfire.
Even if they returned inside the gym, it was a sea of fire everywhere. Already several had stopped moving while charred black, and Miku had no choice but to lead the remaining children outside. Other entrances and exits were blocked by themselves, and moreover, they were beyond the wall of fire. They had no choice but to go out from the door where the boy was waiting outside.
"Don't shoot! We're coming outside now. We'll do anything, so please don't shoot!"
There was no answer. With a white handkerchief in one hand as a substitute for a white flag, Miku went outside with resolve. No gunshot was heard. The boy remained motionless while leveling the rifle.
Miku was shocked that the boy in front of her was only about high school age. And seeing the many guns he wore, and those eyes where no emotion could be gathered, she suddenly remembered a movie about a killer robot that came from the future.
Although he wasn't wearing sunglasses, the eyes visible behind the scar running from his forehead to his right cheek were directing a gaze as if Miku and the others weren't human. Not even pest control, but eyes like he's working without holding any emotion, like he's removing a bothersome pebble.
Already flames are spurting from the gym windows along with black smoke. The surviving children are five, including Miku. When they had all come out, the boy opened his mouth again.
"Why did you attack me?"
"I'm sorry, please forgive me. Our parents disappeared, and we became so hungry we couldn't help it..."
It was a cold tone, as if saying he won't allow lies. Miku desperately lined up words of apology, but the boy didn't lower the leveled rifle. Miku tried to beg for forgiveness somehow. Whatever the reason, it was themselves who tried to kill the boy first.
Miku explained everything. That the town's food ran out, and the parents who went to look for food haven't returned. That the hot-blooded boys had attacked a pair of survivors two weeks ago and seemed to have gotten a taste for it. That this time too, the older boys took the lead and made a plan to attack the boy, but she desperately opposed it, and that the children knew nothing about the attack plan, and so on.
During that time, the boy didn't interject a single word. While the terrified children clung to Miku, the boy, who finally finished listening to her story, at last lowered the muzzle.
"...I see, you were hungry. Then you should have just said so from the beginning."
"I'm sorry. But I didn't think you would help..."
"Well, it was something that couldn't be helped for you guys."
Miku desperately nodded her head. It seems he somehow understood the circumstances; with this, he might overlook us who survived——.
She was about to feel relieved that they were saved, but she was brought back to reality by a cold voice saying, "But, there are circumstances that can't be helped for me too."
The boy is pointing the muzzle at them again. His index finger was on the trigger.
"Why..."
"If I don't eliminate you here and now, you might attack again. Unfortunately, I don't want to die."
"No way, we have no intention of attacking you anymore! Please, help us!"
"If you had asked me for help from the beginning, it would be a different story. Even if you say it after attacking, it doesn't change the fact that you are comrades of the bunch who attacked me. I've decided on a rule that I will absolutely eliminate those who try to hurt me. Even if it's a slight possibility, I can't overlook it."
"Wai——!"
Miku's words were never uttered to the end. Without laughing or getting angry, the boy continued indifferently.
"I don't want to die."
The next moment, the boy fires. An impact as if her head was hit hard was Miku's last perception.
Miku's body, with half her head blown off, fell backward, and the children who were clinging to her body also fell on their rumps. At the children who gazed at him with terrified eyes, the boy fired without hesitation.
After five gunshots roared, nothing moving remained except for the boy. Only the sound of the gym's building materials bursting and the sound of the fire's surge continued to ring in the silenced shelter.
Even seeing children who were still elementary schoolers or not even that turned into speechless corpses, no feelings of regret or self-reproach welled up in the boy's heart. They were comrades of the bunch who tried to attack him, and if he overlooked them here, they might take revenge later. He just nipped that possibility in the bud beforehand.
If they had asked for help honestly from the beginning, in some cases the boy would have responded to it. However, at the moment they sought weapons, the surviving children were categorized from "non-enemy" existences to "enemy." And the boy has imposed a rule on himself to defeat all enemies. Even if they are young children, they cannot escape from that rule.
Still, seeing the figure of a girl about an elementary schooler collapsed while covered in blood, the boy suddenly remembered the girl he had been acting with until before. But, he tried not to think about that either. She died, it's meaningless no matter what he thinks now.
"Was it a waste of bullets?"
The words of regret that finally came out were also ones regretting the bullets used to defeat all the "enemies." He shot and killed the boy who fired from the bus at the school gate, and there were only 3 rounds left in the stolen revolver. It doesn't at all balance with the amount consumed.
Well, whatever, safety was secured. With this, no one will attack me while I'm changing the car's tire. The boy, satisfied with that fact, started walking back the way he came without even looking at the burning gym and the children's corpses.
Protagonist: "I've really made you angry! Me! You've really made big brother angry!"