Chapter 20. Patriot (15)
* * * * *
Ready.
Start.
As always, it starts with breaking the window of a luxury car. A car that is as expensive as possible is best. Only then will a high-performing noise alarm sound loudly.
Beep beep beep! Beep beep beep!
“But your master has already abandoned you.”
Beep beep beep! Bread! Bread!
Boom. A zombie from next door opened the door and jumped out. A loud beep beep sound came from the worn-out pants pocket.
“It wasn’t.”
I opened the driver’s door and spun the car around. I even broke the passenger window. Still, the zombie didn’t move, so I hit her side mirror with the grip of my pistol. A zombie crawled into the driver’s seat.
Just like that, boom. A hole was shot in the head. The guy’s body fell limp on the sheet. I took a tablecloth from the house the guy had just left, stuffed it into the gas tank, and set it on fire with a lighter.
“Now I am with my master forever.”
If you sit on the motorcycle and wait, boom, boom. The car explodes.
“Krrr!”
Then the zombies approach, giggling like this. Shoot each person in front once in the knees. As the guys in front collapse, the guys in the back also trip and fall.
Wide the distance, exit through the alley, and say “Now” To the transmitter in your helmet.
Boom.
The surrounding houses exploded in sequence. There are explosives such as gas cylinders in every home. After setting it up in a good place to shoot, Camilla snipes from afar and sets it off.
Boom. Bang. Bang.
The flames spread in a U shape. The open space is swarming with zombies. Fortunately, this is a wealthy neighborhood, so there is a fairly spacious yard between the houses. So even if the fire spreads, there are many ways to escape.
Raise your speed as much as possible and get out of the gap. Zombies come out after them and bang. Bang. Camilla’s head explodes after being hit by a sniper. The fire quickly fills the gap.
The zombies that followed me were as if they were caught in a trap. The front and sides are blocked by fire, and the back is swarming with zombies. All that remains is clean incineration.
A truck approached behind the zombies. Cassandra was driving, and Leticia was in the cargo hold. She eagerly threw the pre-made firebomb onto the zombies’ heads. There was no need to light a fire.
“Kyaaa!”
Guys with their bodies on fire run around and start blowing themselves out.
“Eup.”
When I set my hair on fire, there was such a terrible smell. Even though I was wearing a mask and motorcycle helmet, this smell was not filtered out.
Cassandra has already left. I also drove a motorcycle and defeated as many zombies as possible. Most of the zombies tried to follow me, but they soon turned towards the fire area where there was fire, noise, and the smell of grilling meat.
There was a beautiful tree on the windward side. Monkeys sit on tree branches and watch. Of course they are infected.
This is a strange thing.
When chaos breaks out like this, the ones who flock in are the weakest humanoid zombies. The animals never came close. Do you think you have nothing to lose by going in first? Otherwise, even if infected, wouldn’t the intelligence of animals be significantly lower than that of humans?
The sky suddenly darkened. The humidity in the air rose quickly. I wanted to take off my jacket because of the dampness, but I had to hold back.
As predicted, it was drizzling.
Under the darkening sky, the burning housing complex was clearly visible. The flames were flames, but it seemed as if black soot would cover the sky. Maybe it can be seen from the other end of the central district.
That much, other areas will become safer.
I drove my motorcycle, being careful not to slip in the pouring rain. So, by the time he arrived at the public health center he was aiming for, it was well past lunch time.
Crash.
I turned off the motorcycle completely and looked around. I saw familiar cars. Camilla, Leticia, and Cassandra were waiting in advance. Each person wore a motorcycle helmet, rider jacket, gloves, and military boots. If we fight a zombie in close proximity, it is us who loses.
Enter.
Mud flowed from the burst sandbag. The mounted machine gun is completely rusted out, so I’m not sure if it can be used. Human-sized black plastic bags were placed throughout the camp, but I had no intention of opening them.
It was clearly a man-made base, but it was difficult to find traces of living people. Instead, there are only dead bodies lying down with holes all over their bodies.
I turned on the pistol flashlight and examined the body. He is a soldier. A pistol was held in his right hand, and there was a hole in the right side of his head. The soldiers around him also fell dead, with their helmets removed and holes in their heads and hearts.
No traces of mutation were found.
– That’s strange.
Leticia’s radio call was heard.
– They are all headquarters personnel. Judging by the fact that he wasn’t hit in the back or the back of the head, it’s not like he was hit while running away. There is no sign of being bound, so he is not under arrest. They were all shot from the front. Unarmed.
– What is it? Are you saying everyone committed suicide here?
Camilla shot back sharply.
“Leticia. 284 Do you really know anything about the National Military Police?”
– Yes. 284 Wasn’t even a unit near us. As I said before, we are busy just taking care of our unit. I might be able to find something if I access the database, but that would be a bit risky. Because you will be tracked.
Camilla stopped her steps and gestured with her hand. She was a box of ammunition. She was completely empty. She pulled out her mounted machine gun magazine just in case. This too was empty. Rusty shell casings were all over the floor, so you had to be careful not to fall.
Did they defend this place until the last moment, and when they got to the point where they couldn’t do anything anymore, they committed mass suicide?
That doesn’t make sense either. If the National Military Police Headquarters had to protect it directly, it would make more sense to evacuate it at any cost. There is no reason to build a camp and hold a sit-in protest in a place like this.
The rain became heavier.
Gkwarung, lightning is tearing the sky. The smell of protein that permeated my nose no longer exists.
I sent a gesture to Cassandra. With her gun slung over her shoulder, she pushed hard against her barricade. The sturdy structure that seemed completely unmovable was pushed back little by little. Although it wasn’t as good as Virginia, Cassandra also had some level of strength.
– 3 O’clock. I’ll take charge.
As soon as the words left my mouth, there was a sound. Leticia easily killed a zombie approaching. The road has been secured. Leticia and I watched the road, while Camilla and Cassandra approached our car and started it.
Clearing obstacles from the road, moving vehicles into the parking lot, and finally securing the building itself. That was the order we decided on.
At first, it was a heavily armed Humvee. Then a pickup truck and a camping trailer. Everything was moved, including the truck. The entrance was not closed just in case.
Wow, lightning struck again. The entrance to the Evergreen Public Health Center was visible. It looks more like an old-fashioned mansion than a public health center. A curtain was drawn over the glass, so you couldn’t see inside.
I took out a hunting knife and looked up and down the crack in the door. If there is an alarm device, it is triggered from the top or bottom. Fortunately, there was nothing to catch.
The door was locked from the inside, but Camilla came out. She put a flat-head screwdriver into the keyhole, unfolded a paper clip, pushed it around, and with a clang, the lock came off.
Three. Two. One.
Kkiik.
I went inside. A foul smell wafted out. Perhaps it was because of the high humidity, but the stomach-churning smell was stronger. It appears that the outside and inside were blocked for a long time.
– It’s so neat and quiet.
I was in the lead, followed right behind by Cassandra, followed by Leticia and Camilla. We looked into each other’s blind spots. As I passed through the large hall, I saw a straight hallway and name signs such as ‘treatment room,’ ‘nurse’s office,’ ‘waiting room,’ and ‘blood test room.’
I opened the door to the frontmost treatment room.
Weeeing…. They are flies. Six bunks. Six withered corpses. Six gun marks. Flies. As the cool outside wind blew, the flies flew outside.
– Look at this.
Leticia’s voice trembled. Dog tags were placed at the feet of the six bodies.
『J. Clayton
“Do you know someone?”
– 284 This is the military police commander. I remember this person’s name.
There was no need to go far. Their uniforms and military caps were neatly folded in the closet. Military police commander. Headquarters Commander. Personnel staff. Information staff….
“… Let’s get these bodies out first. “What should I do with Paris?”
I don’t know if there was a body bag, but I couldn’t lift them and move them. We had no choice but to push the medical bed itself out of the building. I was glad it had wheels.
Camilla saw Leticia gathering her dog tags, and without saying a word, Camilla gathered up the rest and handed them to her.
– For what reason?
– Because I don’t want to judge the affiliation of even a dead person.
It seemed like Leticia slightly lowered her head.
The rain was pounding on the world. I pushed off the bed, praying that the souls of the dead would rest in peace. Six beds carrying corpses skidded along the road. Fortunately, there were no zombies coming to eat them.
“Can I go back in?”
– Yes.
There was nothing special on the first floor. The good news was that the medical equipment was intact. After taking a quick look, Cassandra diagnosed, ‘We’ll only know when electricity comes on, but there doesn’t seem to be any damage.’ However, I was very bothered by the fact that the test tube was full of blood.
– No. Do not dispose of it. Because I don’t know what’s inside.
We went up to the second floor. If the first floor was for patients, the second floor seemed to be the living space for medical staff.
The first thing I saw was a closet. The medical records of the people who lived in this village were neatly organized by district. The front room was the director’s office.
I pressed myself tightly into the hallway. Camilla grabbed her door handle. She pushed open the door and aimed her pistol.
Huh?
I opened the door further. Camilla, Leticia, and Cassandra each exhaled.
There was no one in the room. There were only monitors filling one wall. Small monitors, about the size of A5, were crowded together. All monitors were turned off.
『Street 43』
『Zoo Back Gate』
『City Hall Plaza #1』
A map of the central district was hung on the opposite wall, and pins were inserted one by one. When I looked closely at the places where the pins were embedded, I found that they corresponded to the addresses written below the monitor.
The laptop on the desk was turned off. I took the power bank from the car, plugged it in, and it turned on after a while. There was a message floating around.
『End of real-time streaming mode. To restart, click Yes.』
The rain that had been falling just now stopped in an instant. The sun shone everywhere again.
“Wait a minute.”
I connected the power source behind the monitor that said Street 43 to the power bank. The monitor turned on. The scene of Street 43 was clearly revealed. Zombies wandering around. Broken down car. Destroyed streets.
“It’s a solar generator.”
The CCTV itself would have been running on a solar power generator. It’s just that the monitor here ran out of power and didn’t turn on.
– Look at this.
Cassandra pointed to the laptop in a calm voice. The desktop background was familiar. It was a picture of the goddess of hunger.
Cassandra looked at her laptop for a moment and entered a simple search term. Soon, a results window appeared on the laptop screen.
『Report List』
A1. Effects of Crovirus on pregnant animals – Analysis of the effects on mothers and offspring according to the timing of infection during the pregnancy cycle
A2. Study of survival strategies of humanoid zombies in closed places – Survival policy of the weak against predators and its application
A3….
Someone, someone who had used this central district as a huge testing ground, was not only broadcasting the state of this world to the outside world, but was even writing a report.
At that time.
A faint sound was heard from the doorway.