Hunter in the Bush (3)
I head to the garage. Then, I ponder which car to take. It would’ve been nice to have a choice of several supercars, but what I’m picking isn’t a supercar. It’s a combat vehicle. Eventually, I settle on a pickup truck. In truth, I didn’t have many options to begin with. I was just indulging in the mood.
A pickup truck. But not an ordinary one. This is a vehicle that would have been difficult to take out in public before the world turned into this mess. First and foremost, the primary purpose of this car is to ram people. It is, quite literally, a combat vehicle. I modified it to be able to drive through just about anything in an emergency. Of course, it’s illegal. I had a shop handle the bulletproof glass and other technical bits, but I installed the spike-studded bumper and the extra armor myself. I spent quite a bit of time on the welding, too. Though, I wouldn’t say my skills are anything to brag about yet.
With all preparations complete, I climb into the car. I start the engine and head out. I want to roll down the windows and breathe in the night air, but I hold back. It’s the time of year when it’s starting to get cold, so the crisp night air would probably clear my sinuses right up. It would feel like my brain was being washed clean of all my stray thoughts, wouldn’t it? But the reality is an atmosphere thick with spores. I have no desire to breathe without protecting my respiratory system.
There isn’t really a village between my main base and the restaurant. Just a few houses. But those houses are empty now. I’ve already confirmed everything with my drone. So, I drive with a relaxed mind. Despite being a pickup truck, it’s an electric vehicle, so there’s almost no noise. At the very least, the infected won’t come running toward me drawn by the sound. Still, I have to be quite careful since I’m driving with the headlights off. But the moon is bright tonight. I shouldn’t end up driving off the road or hitting a guardrail. The restaurant isn’t that far away, anyway.
Near the restaurant. Now there are no houses nearby. So, I turn on the headlights. As I reach the vicinity of the restaurant, sure enough, I see an infected standing there, motionless. Thankfully, it’s outside. I thought about honking the horn, but then it spots my car, screams, and charges at me. Hmm. I guess its intelligence really isn’t that high. It’s charging at a car. Like an idiot.
CRASH!
A clean hit. I braked just enough that I didn’t flatten it completely. The infected went rolling away after being struck by the spike-studded bumper. But it starts to squirm and tries to stand up again. Just like a zombie. No, is it a zombie? It’s already been tearing into human flesh. It’s lost its reason and doesn’t seem to feel pain. There’s no reason not to call it a zombie. A zombie created by spores. That’s right. It’s a zombie.
The little bit of guilt I had left vanished completely. What’s in front of me is a zombie, which is no different from being dead. A zombie for which there is no cure. If I could turn that thing back into a human, winning a Nobel Prize in Medicine would be a joke. Of course, the Nobel Foundation doesn’t exist anymore, so they couldn’t give it to me anyway.
Reverse. Then, I ram into the infected that just stood up. CRASH! It goes tumbling again. This time, something must have broken because it just twitches and can’t get up. But the zombie is still looking at me. With a grotesque expression. And dried blood caked around its mouth.
"Stop grinning."
I mutter that and press the accelerator. The car rolls over the zombie. A sickening, squelching vibration of something breaking travels through the car. Reverse again. Thump. The zombie can’t lift its head. I guess I crushed its spine or neck. Is this enough? I don’t want to get attacked for no reason.
I pull the car back. Then, I put on my gas mask and check my body one more time. No bare skin is exposed. Honestly, this might be a bit excessive. I step out of the car. The gas mask definitely limits my vision. It’s stifling, too. But it can’t be helped. It’s the only way to be safe.
I go to the back and open the toolbox. Ah. Is it a toolbox, or a tool chest? I debated between a crowbar and a sledgehammer, but decided the sledgehammer was better and grabbed it immediately. The zombie makes a gurgling sound, squirming like a bug because it can’t move its limbs properly.
"Huuuh."
I let out a sigh, and it makes a bizarre sound because of the gas mask. If anyone were watching me, they’d probably think the same thing. That it’s grotesque.
With a sharp intake of breath, I bring the sledgehammer down on the zombie’s arm. There’s a sickening crack as the bone breaks, but the zombie shows no sign of pain. I proceed to smash its arms and legs. A zombie that can neither attack nor run away. A sight where it can’t even move its head and only makes grotesque noises. It was quite horrific. Even though I’m the one who did it, it’s a bit much. No, wait. The spores did half, and I did half. No, should I shift the responsibility a bit more? Spores 90 percent. Me 10 percent.
I take out a body transport bag. It’s a good thing I had plenty of time and money. I was able to prepare things like this. Perhaps I’ve been preparing for a situation like this for a long time. Of course, the probability of it being a human corpse rather than a zombie was higher. A long-standing mental preparation. That’s why I don’t feel like vomiting when I see the zombie in front of me. I’m wearing a gas mask, so I shouldn’t anyway. It’s horrific. It’s a pity. With its limbs smashed, this zombie can’t put up any resistance. The zombie, now inside the body bag, can’t move a muscle, and I tie it up with a rope one more time to be sure. That’s it. Secured.
I lift the bag and load it into the back of the truck. Now, all that’s left is to go back. I wonder if there’s anyone watching me from nearby? Since I made such a racket, there might be, right? Because of that, the return trip took a bit of time. I already know the geography around here perfectly. I’ve secured sections where it’s easy to notice if someone is tailing me. But there are no cars following me. Then that’s fine.
Since I passed through a tunnel, it would have been hard for a drone to follow me, and hard to see with binoculars. I thought to myself that being this thorough is a bit pathological. There might be people who would see what I’m doing and say I’m making a fuss. Of course, I’m certain there aren’t any. But it can’t be helped. There are too many smart and talented people in the world. There are plenty of people more capable than a guy like me. Above all, there’s luck. You can’t beat a lucky bastard. Or a guy named Coincidence. So, to beat those guys, I have to think of everything I can and prepare for it all.
After a long detour, I arrive at my main base. I enter the second garage that leads to the laboratory next to the main garage. It’s a house I built by preparing everything from the start. That’s why I was able to build something like this. This place is, well, a decontamination room. It’s a place where I can disinfect my car or my body every time I go out and come back if the situation outside gets serious. You never know. A radiation leak or something could happen.
I disinfect the car. I disinfect my body. I don’t think I can remove the spores perfectly. Still, with this much care, most of them should be gone. If any are left... well, it can’t be helped.
I load the zombie bag onto a cart and enter the laboratory. My own laboratory. Subject No. 1 enters. I wonder, what can I find out with this Subject No. 1?
After Subject No. 1 arrived, I’ve been spending more time in the lab. In truth, there isn’t much I can do. Just check the zombie’s condition while being careful of further spore infection, and run a few tests? But those tests don’t mean much. P is already doing what I’m doing. And they’re doing it more professionally, too. Since I can still communicate with the Doctor, I can share that information. Thank you, low-orbit satellite. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be able to get this high-end information.
Anyway, what I’m doing now is just confirming if the results P found are the same here. But this alone isn’t enough. I need to do experiments that P can’t. Here, the only place where I can do what I want. Things they can’t easily do over there due to various forms of resistance. Human experimentation. That’s all there is.
Bringing in a living person, infecting them forcibly, and finding out how the disease develops. P can’t do that kind of thing. They still have a sense of ethics left. Above all, there are too many people there. With that many people, it’s not easy to reach a consensus. Even if they’ve banded together for survival, it’s too much to infect a healthy person, trigger the disease, and check this and that. The moment they do that, P becomes a group of criminals. Of course, that doesn’t mean they’re clean. They might already be doing it. But it’s definitely a dangerous thing to do. Being able to sacrifice someone without a second thought means it could be your turn next.
So they’ll avoid it. Even if they do it, they wouldn’t let every member know. But I’m different. I’m the only decision-maker. Just me. So I immediately approved the decision to force human experiments on myself. Yes. Since it’s approved, I need to find subjects. It would be great if there were volunteers. Unfortunately, there aren’t. Then, I’ll have to induce involuntary participation. There are still healthy people left in the world.
I change my profession from a quack researcher to a person in charge, and then back to a hunter. The problem is where to find participants. The first place that comes to mind is, of course, the village. The village where the elderly live. A place where a few people are still left. But the elderly are a bit... if they die during the experiment, it’s a problem. So it should be a healthy person with some stamina.
Night. The drone leaves my main base. If it keeps coming out from one place, it’s suspicious, so I pass through the mountain attached to the house and go around to a more distant area to explore the surroundings. Looking around like this, there are still quite a few survivors. However, the conditions are a bit tricky. I need people who are gathered in small groups and wouldn’t be missed. First, I need at least two people. But the more, the better.
I narrow down the candidates for subjects while exploring with the drone. And I decide where to go. Alright. Then I need to head out again. It’s time to welcome some guests.