Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: For That Handful of Silver Coins (9)
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***
“Uwooooooh!!!”
Kesselring frowned at the cavern-shaking roar.
“The Type Twos are up. Don’t panic—hold your formation. Snipers, target their legs. They’re just mindless monsters anyway.”
Kesselring couldn’t hide his irritation as he surveyed the increasingly chaotic battlefield. The fight was going well enough. The fires were spreading steadily, and while the presence of mutants in their stronghold was unexpected, it was a manageable wrinkle.
Bang—!
As he slammed a round into the joint of a leaping mutant, something odd caught Kesselring’s eye.
‘...A fuse?’
Sssizzle—
The burning fuse snaked toward the mutant’s clothing, which was writhing as it reached for his combat boot. Kesselring had no trouble guessing what that meant.
‘Those vermin bastards—!’
BOOM!!!
Before he could even issue an order, he hurled himself aside as a massive explosion engulfed the spot behind him.
***
“It’s in!”
“Kuhahaha! Eat this, you dirtbag sons of bitches!”
Professor gauged the enemy’s damage while watching the entrance get swallowed in flames. The blast had gone off closer than expected, and from the looks of it, a flamethrower’s fuel tank had detonated too.
“Good.”
“H, we going in now?”
“What’re you talking about? Time to pull out.”
“Huh? Again?”
“Yeah. If their protective suits can shrug off grenade shrapnel, we can’t count on that for catastrophic damage. But now the Raptors have no choice but to come into this alley.”
‘Because they don’t know we’re out of those things.’
Every deception tactic relied on fear born from uncertain information. The Raptors had already taken a nasty hit from that suicide mutant, and the dread of more to come must be burned into their minds. To avoid getting picked off one-sidedly by mutants, they’d have no option but to enter the Dome soldiers’ alley.
“They won’t be able to go out the emergency exit now that it’s on fire. Let Dome handle the rest of the fight. We’ll grab firefighting gear from the residential block and slip out—”
“Hey, H, over here.”
“Hm? You found it already?”
“Yeah. For sure. Smells like engine oil.”
“Wait, why that all of a sudden? You can even tell in this mess?”
“Quit yapping and follow. It’ll be a hundred times more useful than some extinguisher.”
Before Professor and Vex could stop him, Ian started moving. In the end, the two decided to follow.
***
Crunch!
“Kuhuhu. Lucky break! The wall’s half-collapsed already?”
“What kinda shelter crumbles this easy? Kek!”
“Nuclear bunker sublevel three—no need for the residential blocks to be that sturdy.”
The building they’d entered was a bit larger than the other residential units. Ian dug through the debris, found the garage door, and grinned ear to ear.
“Heh heh heh... hahahaha! Found it! I found it!”
“Found what?”
“Our ride outta here—our dream machine!”
“Keep it down, will ya...!”
Professor, who’d been rummaging elsewhere and crawled under the half-open garage door, trailed off.
“A truck? No, a tank?”
“It’s a Hummer. Not wrong, though—this thing’s a tank in its own right.”
Ian smashed the window with his rifle butt, popped the door, and started inspecting under the hood.
“All good. Just gotta swap the dead battery. Hey, H! That one on the shelf over there! Grab it!”
Professor fetched the battery, and Ian swapped it out with practiced ease. Then he pried open the ignition with his pocketknife and fired it up.
Zzzt, zzzt—
Vrooom!
“Kuhahaha! Yes! She’s running!”
“So... we ride this out?”
“What else? Ram the emergency exit, collapse it, wait for the fire to die down a bit...”
“Then take another route out.”
While Professor and Ian searched the garage, Vex—who’d vanished somewhere—returned.
“Think about it. A beast like that here? Big enough to squeeze through the emergency exit? There’s gotta be another... uh... that...”
“Meaning another entrance?”
“Exactly! Other entrance! Saw a few buildings like this on the way in, so that means multiple rigs like this came through. There’s gotta be a passage for hauling gear up and down.”
“Vex, good idea, but we don’t have time to hunt for it now? Air’s getting kinda thick.”
Smack—
In response to Professor, Vex silently pointed out the window.
“Already found it.”
At the end of his finger was an iron door marked “Authorized Personnel Only.”
“Don’t buildings like this have a management annex or something?”
.
.
.
Rip!
“Doggo~! You beautiful bastard!”
“Old man! You pulled it off!”
The group piled into the vehicle right away.
Vroooom—!
“Kuhuhu, this baby’s got some kick!”
“Alley’s kinda narrow—think we’ll fit?”
“Psh, no problem. Vehicles like this don’t find the road!”
Vrooom! Screeech!
“They make it!”
Boom!
The engine roar drowned out the battlefield din for an instant as the vehicle burst through the garage door.
Cruncha-crunch!
The truck flew up the slope of the half-ruined building, then raced across the rooftops of the tightly packed residential blocks. The iron door, small from afar, rushed toward them in a blink.
“Hey, pals! Hold on tight!”
“Why!”
“You think the management door’s wide open? No time to pick it!”
“Then...”
“We ram it!”
After watching him a few times, it clicked. This guy had a habit of stopping thinking when he got hyped.
“Th-think rationally, I!!!”
“We’re dead! They haven’t cleared it yet! Cleared iiit!!”
“I’m the most rational guy in the world right now! Kuhahahaha!!!”
“You’re wrong! This psycho’s los—”
BOOM!!!
Ian, eyes wild, never eased off the accelerator.
Crunched—
“Cough, hack! V... you alive?”
“Ughhh... H, I-I saw somethin’ weird. Like a river, and some creepy old man...”
“Get over here quick. Follow that and you’re dead.”
Miraculously, since it was the same level, the concrete wall wasn’t as tough as the outer one. The vehicle had smashed through the door and wall, and aside from a crumpled bumper, looked fine. Ian... well... seemed not dead.
“We’ll grab him later. Anyway... this is one hell of a setup.”
The management room was huge, probably for a sizable staff—rivaling the residential areas. One wall was lined with dozens of monitors, and keyboards were sectioned off in various spots. It reminded him of NASA’s control tower from his childhood.
‘Freight elevator... that it?’
Not hard to spot. A massive iron door like an elevator sat right there. The problem? It was at the highest point, next to what looked like a system panel—and a giant pile of shit.
‘It’s... breathing.’
Part of the enormous pile rose and fell rhythmically, slowly. He’d heard about things like this.
Vex crept up beside Professor and whispered, voice low.
“What... is that?”
“Abomination. A type of Type Three mutant. During mutation, if there are lots of corpses around, the viruses inside sync up and clump together. Only seen pics on the community boards—first time live.”
Wine bottles rolling near corpses and dozens of pill bottles made the scene easy to piece together.
“The management staff did a group suicide here. Irresponsible bastards. Didn’t they know clean deaths like that always spawn a Type Three?”
“Probably didn’t. This place was sealed off before the war.”
That was the biggest reason the community warned against depression. A fresh corpse with no wounds, no one to handle cleanup afterward. Type Threes could have insane strength depending on the specimen—one of the top wasteland threats to watch for.
They watched for depression, and if you still wanted to go, one clean shot to the head. A pact: your death wouldn’t screw everyone else.
Professor eyed the slowly writhing mass of bodies. No external stimuli for a while, so it seemed in some hibernation-like state.
“V, elevator lights out?”
“Duh. Power’s off everywhere.”
“...Probably that thing.”
“What?”
“There. Next to it. Lever marked P/C. That’s gotta be the power.”
“...Power Control. Yeah, looks right.”
Beside the twitching flesh mound was a lever with a red handle, pulled all the way down—definitely a power switch.
“V, you drive?”
“...Nope.”
“Then I’ll go wake I or clear him and bring the truck to the elevator. You sneak over quiet-like, flip the power, then bolt back here. Questions?”
Smack—
Vex just gave a thumbs-up.
Professor confirmed Vex heading for the panel, then cautiously moved toward the vehicle.
Scraaape, pffft—
Every twitch of the massive flesh heap unleashed a stench that made you want to claw your nose off. Professor watched worriedly as Vex approached the mutant.
‘Hasn’t fed in ages. Even fully mutated, that rot smell means it ate its own flesh. Might be weaker than a standard Type Three.’
Not that it made it fightable now. That truck-sized bulk moving was a living catastrophe.
Click—
‘Ughhh!’
The tiny door-open sound hit like thunder.
“Ugh, uuuugh...”
“Shhh! Hey, you with us? Raise a hand.”
Ian, face buried in the airbag, shook his head and lifted his left hand. Blood soaked the airbag and around his nose—probably broken.
“How... is it?”
“Keep your voice down. Situation’s gone south.”
“...Even here?”
“Big Type Three. Still sleeping, so ease us to the elevator.”
“Noise an issue, why not ditch the truck?”
“Gotta think ahead. Don’t even know the exit, end up amid scavengers or weirdos, still gotta bail.”
Ian nodded in agreement, then fiddled with the wires.
Psssh!
“Gasp!”
“Behind!”
Bullets poured through the hole they’d made. Amid the shots came a voice, far hoarser than before.
“I’ll give you credit! You little rats! You fooled me good! Always the way! Pearls in mud, treasures in trash! Even among hypocrite Dome scum, talent hides!”
A half-burned uniform and bloodied face—an officer appeared beyond the hole.
Rat-tat-tat!
Bullets thudding into the chassis sent chills up his spine.
“Worthless Dome trash! Even set the stage and you still lose!”
Gunfire echoed from behind too, so the Dome-Raptor skirmish was ongoing. The commander had left minimal forces against Dome and rushed here.
Zzzt, zzzt—
“H, buy time!”
Pew!
“How from here! No more explosives!”
“Can’t use ’em now—figure it out!”
Thud! Clang!
“Argh! Shit!”
Professor hunched lower amid the hail of bullets, desperately recalling the enemy. A commander still leading the charge despite his state. Pointless monologue at first sight, exaggerated gestures. A moronic final-boss type who loved yapping before fighting.
“Hey! Raptor!”
Pew—!
“Safe here? Hear your men dying back there! Just three of us!”
Had to keep him talking. Play cornered, like desperate last words!
“Stalling, eh? Pathetic! Just three! Sure, three grunts would be pointless. But Dome’s commander? Different story!”
Rat-a-tat-tat!
‘Uh... play along?’
“H-How’d you...?”
“How! Saw your street-fighting bait, knew you were Dome rats instantly! But that bomb-strapped mutant tipped it! That massive blast trace in one room upstairs—a grand ploy to fool me! This place a giant tomb to kill Fedor Raptor Kesselring, vanguard of the great Raptors!”
‘...He’s scripting his own story? Well, it’s working?’
Guys like that had the sickness. Couldn’t resist proving they’d been ahead the whole time after cornering foes! Especially wounded—made ’em rant more. Wouldn’t kill till they’d shown they’d seen through everything.
So only Kesselring fired; the rest aimed but held.
“Brilliant! My head’s still ringing! Masterful strategy! Luring with this treasure vault, hiding one dagger! Must be one of Dome’s top strategists! I admit strategic defeat! But I survived, and most Raptor warriors too! I’ll kill you and claim tactical victory!”
Groooar! Grroooar!
“Got it! H! She’s running!”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Then, lights in the management annex and residential ceiling fixtures flared up simultaneously.
‘Vex? Timing... haven’t even reached the elevator yet...!!’
Thud. Thud! Thud!!
Professor froze, glancing in the rearview. Yeah, that noise wouldn’t wake it? No way!
“...Floor it.”
“What!”
“Hardest you’ve ever done in your life! Abomination’s up!”
In the mirror: Vex sprinting madly, arms flailing, chased by the abomination.
Groooar! VROOOOM!!!
“Fleeing? Dead end here! A pack leader faces honorable death...”
“Pack leader! Th-there, to the side!”
“Oooooooooh!!!!!”
Screeeee—
“Argh!”
“Gaaaah!”
“What... sound!”
A massive howl shook their eardrums. Dozens of heads dangling from the flesh mass wailed as one, a grotesque shriek tearing at their skulls.
“Abomination?! Why here?”
“With our depleted firepower, we cannot engage that specimen!”
“Damn it!”
Kesselring clenched his fist till it cracked. So close. Those rats who’d roughed him up—almost had ’em...!
“...All forces, retreat.”
Kesselring hesitated but, true to Raptor pack leader form, buried regrets and decided.
“Dome commander’s end to that monster. V, I, and Hepburn... I’ll remember. If I survive, one day with these hands...!”
Grrrrrind!
Muttering the names he’d overheard on the battlefield, Kesselring turned away.
***