Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: D Zone (2)
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The seniors leaped out of the military vehicle in an instant.
“Drag Hilde out.”
Ami said it casually before vanishing out the door.
It was meant for Walker. Now, inside the military vehicle, only he and I remained.
Surprisingly, Walker—who had the least seniority aside from me—didn’t respond.
But even with his mouth shut, William Walker had an overwhelming presence.
The largest man I’d ever seen gripped my arm heavily and leaped out the door. My body was dragged along with him.
His strength was tremendous, matching his massive build. Walker had the kind of face that would make me avert my eyes if we passed on the street.
We landed, greeted by a chilly wind.
A vast horizon stretched before us.
A decaying city filled our view. Empty buildings and worn-down asphalt.
Unknown things lurked everywhere nearby.
The guidebook shouted.
[Creature ‘Apostate’. Stage 6. Crashes its rotting body into targets for impact damage. The main body is a black parasite that infests hosts. Hosts die one week after turning into Apostates. Highly aggressive, some possess strong poison….]
[Creature ‘Witch’. Stage 5. Floats through the air, approaching to fire energy blasts. Skilled Witches fire more powerful blasts. Spears and swords are better against them than guns. Weak point is….]
[Creature ‘Young Goat’. Stage 4. Fires poison from its three torn mouths. Skilled Young Goats have more eyeballs. Weak point is….]
[Creature ‘Flying Insect.’ Stage 4. Slices through the air with its small body and self-destructs on impact. Travels in swarms, causing chain explosions. Weak point is….]
[Creature ‘Young Goat’. Stage 4. Torn….]
[Creature ‘Young Goat.’ Stage 4….]
Bang, bang! Bang!
A goat’s head exploded.
“I’ll take the goats.”
Aki declared, brushing her bobbed hair behind her ear.
“Let me know if you need help elsewhere.”
“Jason! You and I handle the Apostates!”
Richard Green charged forward with a rifle as big as his upper body.
The Apostates approaching from afar were the largest of the Creatures. The most intimidating, too. Was the gap between Stage 6 and the others really that huge?
Tvein clicked his tongue as he loaded his gun.
“Everyone else, clear the surrounding ones!”
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat!
Headshot! Headshot! Headshot!
Aki’s bullets precisely shattered the goats’ heads. It was breathtaking speed.
I stayed rooted where I’d landed, watching the seniors dispatch the Creatures. My hand instinctively went to my sheath, but I couldn’t gauge where to fit into their flow.
Jumping in recklessly would just get in the way.
Walker released my arm and lumbered forward.
“Rookie.”
He rumbled in a deep voice, back turned to me.
“Yes.”
“Get the military vehicle back in position.”
Huh?
“It’s the only ride we’ve got.”
Why is everything so rundown here?
The library in E Zone had several autonomous motorcycles.
Of course, I didn’t argue and spun around quickly. I dashed toward the military vehicle lying sprawled on the asphalt.
I grabbed the wheel of the overturned vehicle and pushed.
Pressing down on the wheel, I lifted it straight up.
“Oh. Got it.”
Squelch.
Something getting crushed came from behind.
I whipped my head around to see Walker’s massive fist. Blood and saliva dripped between his clenched knuckles.
I stared blankly at the man who’d smashed a Flying Insect barehanded.
Where’s his weapon…?
“Flying Insects are drawn to you.”
Walker swung his blood-dripping fist.
Whoosh! He flung his arm like a pitcher. His thick arm blurred across my vision at incredible speed. The insect corpse sailed through the air like a baseball.
The balled-up body struck incoming Flying Insects mid-flight through the ashen air.
Thud, thud.
The Creatures plummeted after hitting their comrade’s corpse.
This guy fights barehanded.
“Stay by the vehicle. You’re in the way.”
The gruff man swung his fists—even larger than Richard Green’s—in wide arcs. I watched in awe as the Flying Insects died in rapid punches and corpse barrages, fast enough to scare me.
No need for me to jump in.
After blasting all approaching Flying Insects and finishing them with corpse volleys, I felt certain watching Walker move away from the vehicle.
Just as Ami said, they were top-ten fighters even excluding Yoon, Ye-hyeon, and Sca.
Richard Green and Jason Tvein were war heroes who survived the 1st and 2nd Wars like Ami. But Aki and William Walker were public recruits. They’d never seen war, never lost family to Creatures or anything like that.
Talented prodigies who rose above experience.
Aki had been a fringe core shooting rep. William Walker came from Center Core fixers.
‘In pure talent, they might outshine anyone in Black Badger?’
Ami’s words echoed in my head.
The ambush was sudden, but defense was no issue. Rat-a-tat-tat! Aki’s gunfire continued. Walker pulverized an energy blast with his fist (is that even possible?) then crushed a ghostly Witch’s head by hand.
Green and Tvein were turning the Apostates into beehives.
What about Ami?
[Creature ‘Mad Buffalo’. Stage 5. Individually not very powerful, but always travels in herds and…]
“Crazy cows incoming!”
Ami yelled from the sky.
“Run! They’ll trample us all!”
The ground shook.
I turned toward where Ami looked. I saw a dust cloud engulfing the roots of a decayed apartment.
What’s that?
I stared at the goat Creatures bouncing into the air and the twisted buffalo herd emerging from the dust.
Such a Creature exists?
What’s the point of Creatures like that? And why do they keep coming endlessly here? Is it my problem or the zone’s?
Both maybe?
“Hey! Start the engine!”
Tvein bellowed, already running our way.
“Get the vehicle moving!”
“Huh?”
I don’t have a license?
“Are you blind? You don’t see that?”
“I see it, but….”
“It’s on-the-job training!”
Ami swooped down from the sky with a bright smile.
“Hilde. Get in the driver’s seat! Left is brake, right is accelerator!”
Wow, that’s straightforward.
No time to argue. I dashed to the upright military vehicle and flung open the driver’s door.
I hopped in, and through the half-shattered windshield, the road spread out. I heard people piling in. Walker. Aki. Tvein. Green.
Ami hopped into the passenger seat.
Wait. I think I get it?
“Hilde, that’s the acce—”
Screeeeech!
I floored the accelerator.
The vehicle shot forward. Ami, who’d been pointing, yelped and pitched forward before steadying herself. Reflexive groans came from the seniors in back.
But no time to turn and apologize.
The rearview mirror showed the buffalo herd closing in.
I stomped the accelerator again for more speed. The battered military vehicle didn’t accelerate as hoped, but it plowed through ruined roads well enough.
Just maintain this speed. I turned the wheel to dodge fast-approaching obstacles.
“Argh! Hey! Signal before turning!”
“You’re doing great!”
Grumbling Tvein. Ami leaned out, giggling.
“Hilde just lacks a license!”
Tell me about it.
A forgotten memory surfaced. Gripping the wheel overlapped my vision with a fond recollection.
Driving.
Someone sat beside me. A neutral, friendly voice. “You’ll get your license in no time,” a whisper.
Ah. They almost always wore a white coat. Two-tone hair. Black and blue? Blue and purple?
Anyway—thought that person was a fool. Someone clueless, unable to guess the inevitable events ahead.
But since they were friendly, we had to play nice on the surface.
—would say that, brushing aside curtain-like black hair.
Who’d have guessed we’d live so comfortably.
Anyway, with time to kill, want to spar with swords?
Like the good old days?
Boom!
A crazy buffalo rammed the vehicle’s rear.
“Don’t stop!”
Richard Green bellowed deeply, popping the sunroof.
“Ignore it and keep going! We have to thin them out anyway.”
“Richard. I got it.”
Ami clambered from the passenger seat to the back.
In the rearview, I saw her climb through the open sunroof. She still wore those odd boots.
Planning to leap up and kick the buffaloes?
Racing down the endless road, I kept glancing at the mirror.
Richard Green didn’t object as Ami vanished from sight.
For about two minutes….
Crunch!
A massive noise erupted behind.
Startled, I checked the rearview and side mirrors. But glass and mirrors were splattered with blood, obscuring everything.
What the—?
“Took out about twenty bundled together.”
Ami popped back inside.
“A pile of corpses should buy us some distance.”
Green grunted in heavy approval. The other seniors sat calmly.
The vehicle reeked of blood. I tried not to gawk stupidly at Ami casually brushing herself off.
What the hell did she do? Side mirrors showed Creature bones and flesh splatter, so not just kicks.
Bundled twenty together?
The eternally youthful little sister stripped off her black outer coat and returned to the passenger seat.
Then she grinned at me.
“Now you can slow down!”
“…Yes, ma’am.”
“Too fast, and a snag hits harder.”
Slow down, got it. Ami chatted breezily, and I just nodded repeatedly.
Ignoring Richard Green muttering behind, “With skills like that, should’ve gotten a license ages ago,” and Aki asking Walker, “That rookie from your world? Why no license?”
I rolled down the window, wiped the side mirror with my hand, and kept driving.
Until we reached the destination.
***
The safe point was in a wide-open wasteland.