Chapter 87 - The Story of Going Out
A small, dry popping sound was heard from the schoolyard, and Aki, who was in the middle of changing in the dorm, opened the curtains and looked outside. Right beside the van parked in the center of the schoolyard, she could see the boy holding a submachine gun. At the end of that muzzle, about 20 meters away, were empty cans placed on a desk. One of them had been torn in half from the middle and was significantly damaged.
Again, a gunshot resounded. This time, she felt the gunshot sounded louder than before. The empty cans lined up on the desk didn't move an inch. It seemed he missed.
"Oh, Senpai, you were still here? Aren't you scheduled to depart soon?"
The room door opened, and Aoi, who lived with her, arrived. At those words, Aki hurriedly resumed changing. She changed from her uniform into an easy-to-move jersey and tied her long hair with a rubber band. The mustard-colored jersey was famous for being tacky, but unfortunately, she didn't have any clothes easier to move in than this right now.
"The one he's shooting now is an MP5. He said it was a police one."
"Is it okay without guns? If something happens while we're gone..."
"Either way, you won't hit anything with a gun unless you've trained. Besides, without the Captain, we're finished anyway."
"The Captain?"
"That person."
Saying so, Aoi pointed outside. The boy in the schoolyard had removed the magazine from the submachine gun and was beginning to tidy up the desk and the empty cans used as targets.
"You called him the Sergeant the other day, didn't you?"
"But he's the Captain this time, right? I thought that was better."
"The Captain, huh... He certainly is a captain, but..."
To determine whether to continue staying at this academy, the boy proposed taking the students outside once. He originally had plans to scout the nearby village, and he said if the students accompanied him and could act as instructed, he might consider extending his stay.
There was repulsion toward that condescending proposal, but there were no options. Even stray dogs were difficult for the students without guns to handle; if those were infected or rioters with ill intent, they wouldn't stand a chance. The students' true feeling was that they wanted the boy, who had guns and was experienced in combat, to stay no matter what.
In the end, it was decided that the teacher Yuko, Aki, and Rei would accompany the scouting. The other students would wait at the academy. Although barricade reinforcement and weapon creation had been taking place since the stray dog incident, it was unknown if they could prevent it if the same thing happened again. Yuko reportedly asked the boy to lend guns to the students remaining at the academy, but he refused. His reason was that if they hadn't trained, they wouldn't hit anything so it was meaningless, but Aki understood that in his heart, he still didn't trust them.
It was galling, but they had no choice but to do as he said for now. She didn't like having her right to life or death held by someone else, especially a boy the same age, but on the other hand, she also knew things would be quite bad without him. Aki and the others, who had lived peacefully at the academy until now, didn't even know how to fight. They only knew what it was like outside from the boy's stories.
Therefore, this scouting would likely be a turning point for the students as well. They had to see the reality of the outside world with their own eyes and acquire the art of surviving in the world that had changed.
When Aki headed to the schoolyard, Yuko and Rei, who were to accompany this scouting, had already arrived. Yuko was chosen as the teacher leading the students, and Rei because she was a third-year. Sakuma had also volunteered, but it was decided that it would be bad for all the third-years to be gone, so she was to remain this time.
All three, including Aki, had brought their respective weapons. That said, the boy still wouldn't lend them guns, and all they had were appropriate things found at the academy. Aki had a metal bat, Rei an iron pipe, and Yuko a crowbar—flimsy equipment, but better than fighting empty-handed when attacked.
In contrast to Aki and the others, the heavily armed boy returned after finishing tidying up the targets. He wore a chest rig—a chest-hanging ammunition belt for carrying ammo and equipment—and an automatic handgun was housed in a leg holster. In his hand was the submachine gun he had been shooting until just now, and a sawed-off shotgun in a holder hung from his waist.
He's like a walking armory, Aki thought. At the same time, she realized that the world had become one where you couldn't even walk around outside without this much armament. The boy handed the car keys to Yuko and asked, "You can drive, right?"
"I can drive too, for what it's worth. I got my license locally when I was studying abroad in America."
Rei said. In foreign countries, the age at which one can get a license is lower than in Japan, and there are people like Rei who learned how to drive and got a license locally. "I see, but you couldn't drive in Japan yet, could you?" the boy answered, and again asked Yuko to drive the car. As for Aki, she thought she'd rather ride in a car driven by Yuko than Rei, whose skills would be rusty since she couldn't drive in Japan due to her age. She absolutely wanted to avoid the situation of going to the other world in an accident before being taken out by infected or rioters.
"I'm sure you know, but the outside is full of danger. Act according to my instructions, or you'll die. I'll leave behind anyone who doesn't follow instructions. Whether you die or go missing has nothing to do with me."
"What if someone gets infected?"
The boy answered Yuko's question by lightly tapping the holster where his handgun was housed. The television and radio said there were reportedly people who had antibodies or immunity to the virus, but they couldn't rely on such a miracle-like, near-zero lucky chance. Aki also understood that if even one person returned to the academy in an infected state, the infection could immediately spread to everyone. It's the same as influenza or a cold.
"We'll avoid the infected as much as possible. We'll also avoid contact with other survivors; it's impossible to take care of anyone else anymore. If we're attacked by rioters... well, I'll leave that to your imagination."
The last case was a situation she didn't want to think about. She didn't want to believe there were people who would still fight even after falling into such a situation. However, she likely had to always assume the worst-case scenario. When it became a fight between humans, would they be able to stand against them with such flimsy weapons?
The boy suddenly began some work. Picking up the submachine gun that had been placed aside, he removed the magazine and pulled the bolt to lock it. Then, taking an empty plastic bottle from his backpack, he thrust the muzzle, which had a large flash hider attached, into its mouth.
"What are you doing?"
"It's a suppressor, a substitute for a silencer. I tested it just now."
"Ah, so that's..."
She remembered the sight of the boy shooting the submachine gun in the schoolyard before leaving her room. The boy brought the muzzle and the mouth of the plastic bottle into close contact and fixed them by wrapping them with vinyl tape. In the center of the bottom of the plastic bottle, a hole about the size of a thumb was open.
"Even if I call it sound reduction, it's only so much. Besides, since I'm using a plastic bottle, it'll be ruined after one shot. I don't have the leeway to go out of my way to replace it, and I can't carry around a large amount of plastic bottles. When taking down infected, it's still desirable to use blunt instruments or blades as much as possible."
That was something she had heard in the prior explanation. The infected look for prey using their five senses, just like humans. Sound is especially important. Since loud noises might attract infected, the boy said he didn't want to use guns as much as possible.
"Where did you get that kind of knowledge? Were you doing assassinations somewhere?"
"Movies, Hollywood ones. Well, mostly they're fictional and useless, but I learned the rest on my own or was taught by people. Textbooks didn't have how to kill humans or handle weapons."
She saw Yuko, who was holding the steering wheel in the driver's seat, make a sad face through the rearview mirror. As a teacher, there was no way she'd be happy hearing such a story. It was as if the boy was saying Yuko's work was useless and meaningless.
But such techniques are likely what one must acquire to live in today's world. They must throw away all previous common sense and learn knowledge to survive in the new world. Just as the boy did, would they also become like that from now on?
When Aki thought such a thing, the car finally left the forest. The scenery outside the forest, which she was seeing for the first time in nine months, felt somehow faded.
I await your opinions and impressions.