Chapter 22: Through the Scope
Takashi had stopped counting the screams.
At first, each one had pulled his attention toward a different part of the neighborhood.
A man trapped on top of a car.
A woman running barefoot between two houses.
Someone pounding against a locked gate while several figures slowly approached from behind.
Every time, Takashi raised the binoculars.
Every time, there was nothing he could do.
The balcony gave them a clear view of the surrounding streets.
From this height, everything looked close.
A few walls.
One or two houses.
Maybe a hundred meters.
Close enough that reaching them seemed possible.
Close enough that standing still felt like a choice.
Saeko's words from earlier continued circling through his mind.
She had brought food upstairs for him and Kohta, then remained with them for a short while.
She had not told them to stop caring.
She had simply explained what would happen if Kohta began shooting whenever they saw someone in danger.
The gunfire would attract Them.
More would gather.
Eventually, the noise might guide them directly toward the mansion.
They could save one stranger and put everyone inside at risk.
Takashi understood.
He hated it anyway.
Through the binoculars, the man on the car slipped.
Several corpses reached him before he could climb back up.
Takashi lowered the binoculars.
His fingers remained clenched around them.
Beside him, Kohta lay behind the rifle, slowly moving the scope between streets.
The food Saeko had brought remained untouched.
After a long silence, Takashi spoke.
"Could you have hit them?"
Kohta kept his eye against the scope.
"The ones near the car?"
"Yeah."
Kohta hesitated.
"The first two."
His voice had changed since taking position behind the rifle.
Quieter.
More focused.
"The others were too close together."
"And if you kept shooting?"
Kohta's finger rested along the side of the trigger guard.
"They'd follow the noise."
"I know."
The answer came out sharper than Takashi intended.
Kohta pulled away from the scope.
"I-I wasn't saying we shouldn't help."
"I know."
"I just…"
He looked down at the rifle.
"If I shoot, I need to think about what happens afterward."
Takashi said nothing.
Kohta swallowed.
"We could save someone down there and bring all of Them here."
Saeko had already told them the same thing.
Hearing it again did not make it easier.
Takashi raised the binoculars.
Most of the nearby houses were dark.
Some still had lights behind covered windows.
Others had doors left open, with no sign that anyone living remained inside.
Movement appeared near a wall two streets over.
Kohta adjusted the rifle.
"Komuro."
"What?"
"Near the house with the metal gate."
Takashi searched the area.
It took several seconds to find them.
A man and a little girl were moving quickly along the road.
The father held tightly onto her hand, pulling whenever she began falling behind.
He kept looking over his shoulder.
The girl struggled to match his pace.
They stopped in front of a house with light visible around the curtains.
The father rushed toward the entrance and began knocking.
Takashi adjusted the binoculars.
The man shouted toward the people inside.
The exact words were difficult to hear, but the desperation in his voice carried through the neighborhood.
Someone answered from behind the door.
The father pointed toward his daughter.
He pleaded with them.
The door remained closed.
He looked back toward the street.
Several figures were moving between the houses.
The father struck the door again.
Harder.
The people inside shouted back.
The girl stood behind him, clutching his shirt.
The father pointed toward her once more.
Even without hearing every word, Takashi understood.
He was asking them to take her.
Even if they refused to shelter him, he wanted them to save his daughter.
The people inside refused again.
The father looked toward the road.
Then down at the girl.
Something in his expression changed.
He gripped the long metal tool he had been carrying and raised it over his head.
"If you won't let us inside, I'll break the door down!"
His voice carried clearly this time.
The girl grabbed the back of his shirt.
"Papa!"
Someone shouted from inside.
They told him to wait.
The father hesitated.
A moment later, the front door swung wide open.
Relief crossed his face.
He lowered the tool and stepped toward the entrance.
Then one of the men inside drove a bladed pole into his body.
The father jerked to a stop.
Takashi froze.
The weapon was ripped free.
The man staggered backward as blood spread across his clothes.
The door slammed shut again.
"No…"
The father collapsed onto the steps.
The little girl dropped beside him.
"Papa!"
She grabbed his arm and began shaking him.
Kohta stared through the scope.
His mouth opened.
"…"
But no words came out.
The father was still alive.
Barely.
He raised one hand and touched the side of his daughter's head.
His lips moved.
Takashi could not hear what he said.
Then his arm fell.
The girl remained beside him.
For several seconds, she appeared unable to understand.
Then she began crying.
The sound carried through the quiet neighborhood.
Movement appeared near the end of the street.
One of Them emerged between two abandoned cars.
Another wandered from the narrow path beside the house.
The girl did not notice.
She remained bent over her father.
A small white dog appeared from somewhere near the neighboring property.
It stopped when it saw her.
Then the first corpse entered the yard.
The dog rushed closer and began barking.
It placed itself between the girl and the approaching dead.
Kohta immediately returned to the rifle.
"Komuro…"
Takashi tightened his grip around the binoculars.
More shapes were turning toward the house.
Kohta pressed his cheek against the stock.
The corpse moved deeper into the yard.
The dog continued barking.
Kohta adjusted his aim.
His finger remained outside the trigger guard.
Then the corpse reached toward the girl.
Kohta's breathing slowed.
His finger moved toward the trigger.
He cannot simply watch anymore and is about to do something, but...
Something crossed the scope.
"Huh?!"
Kohta pulled his finger away.
A figure rushed into the yard from the side.
The movement had passed directly through his line of fire.
Kohta adjusted the scope.
His eye widened.
"H-Hiro?"
Takashi turned toward him.
"What?"
"That's Hiro!"
Takashi raised the binoculars again.
By the time he found the yard, Hiro had already reached the first corpse.
The crowbar struck the side of its head.
The body twisted and collapsed.
A second corpse turned toward the impact.
Hiro stepped forward and swung again.
The crowbar caught it near the temple.
It dropped to one knee but continued reaching toward him.
A third corpse entered through the gate.
There was no room for another full swing.
Hiro caught it with the crowbar held across his body and shoved it backward.
Its shoulders struck the wall.
Its mouth snapped toward his face.
Kohta followed them through the scope.
His finger moved back toward the trigger, but Hiro remained too close.
The girl was behind him.
There was no clear shot.
Hiro pinned the corpse against the wall with one arm.
His other hand reached toward his waist.
A knife appeared.
Hiro drove it into the side of the corpse's head.
The body went limp.
He released it and turned.
The second corpse was beginning to rise.
The crowbar came down.
Once.
Twice.
Then again.
It stopped moving.
Kohta remained behind the scope.
He had forgotten to shoot.
Hiro rushed toward the gate and pulled it closed before another corpse could enter.
Several bodies gathered outside, reaching through the metal bars.
The gate held.
Hiro turned back toward the corpses on the ground.
One of the bodies was still moving.
Hiro stepped toward it and brought the crowbar down again.
He did not stop until it went still
Takashi watched through the binoculars.
If one were to review Hiro's movements, it can only be described as rough.
He stumbled slightly after one strike, recovered, then continued.
There was nothing graceful about it.
But the thing is, his action contains an unbound commitment to it.
If he swings, he swings hard. To the point that it almost looks savage.
Kohta slowly moved his finger away from the trigger.
"H-He really went in there…"
Takashi did not answer.
Kohta swallowed.
"I thought he was going to get bitten."
"So did I."
Hiro suddenly turned toward the mansion.
At that distance, he could not possibly see their expressions.
But he knew where the balcony was.
He raised both arms and crossed them in front of his chest.
An X.
Kohta blinked.
"He's probably telling us... not to shoot."
Takashi lowered the binoculars for a moment.
Then raised them again.
"He knew we were watching?"
Kohta slowly lowered the rifle.
"I guess so…"
They stared toward the yard.
Then Takashi quietly asked—
"Why is he even out there?"
Kohta had no answer.
—
My wrist hurt.
My shoulder hurt more.
And apparently, hitting skulls with a metal bar sent an unreasonable amount of pain back into your arms.
Useful information.
A little late.
But useful.
I looked down at the man beside the entrance.
Blood had already spread beneath his body.
His eyes remained open, but there was nothing behind them.
"Damn."
Taking lots of detours to avoid the zombies scattered around the neighborhood delayed my arrival.
By the time I heard the commotion, everything had already happened.
"I was too late."
The little girl remained beside her father.
Her hands gripped his sleeve while tears continued falling down her face.
The dog stood near her.
It growled at me now that the immediate danger was gone.
Small.
White.
And apparently convinced it could win against me in a fight.
I lowered the crowbar.
"Easy."
The dog barked.
"Alright... Good talk."
The corpses outside the gate had begun gathering.
Four pressed against the bars.
Then another joined them.
The gate remained firmly shut.
The hinges did not move.
Still, the larger the group became, the harder leaving would be.
I crouched several steps away from the girl.
"Hey."
She did not respond.
"What's your name?"
Nothing.
"I'm Hiro."
The dog barked again.
I looked at it.
"You're not helping."
It stared back at me.
The girl continued holding her father's sleeve.
"We need to leave."
"My papa…"
Her voice barely came out.
"He told me to wait."
"No. He wanted you to be safe."
"He... he'll wake up."
"No. He won't."
The answer came out too quickly.
The girl finally looked at me.
Her face crumpled.
Excellent.
Clearly, I possessed a natural gift for talking to grieving children.
I lowered my voice.
"He isn't going to wake up."
Her fingers tightened around his clothes.
"I'm sorry."
She stared at me through her tears.
"But I'm not going to leave you here."
As she heard those words of mine, her expression changed slightly.
It seems that one reached her.
Not completely.
But enough that she began listening.
"What's your name?"
Several seconds passed.
Then—
"Alice."
"Okay, Alice."
I pointed toward the direction of the mansion.
"I have friends nearby. There's a safe house."
Food.
Water.
Walls.
Enough firearms to make the place resemble a private military base.
"There are people there who can protect you."
Alice looked up at me.
Then spoke slowly.
"You... you too?"
The question caught me off guard.
"...Yeah."
I simply nodded.
"Me too."
She looked down at her father again.
"I don't want to leave him."
"I know. Me too. But we have to."
The gate remained strong, but more bodies were collecting outside.
I had no intention of waiting to discover how many more the gate could handle.
We needed to move now.
I reached into the sling bag and removed the firecrackers.
During our visit to the convenience store earlier, I had found them among the seasonal products.
At the time, I had no specific use for them.
But carrying something deliberately loud in a world where the dead followed sound had seemed like basic common sense.
Alice watched me light the fuse.
"Wha- what's that?"
"Our way out."
I threw the packet over the wall toward the next street.
A moment later—
CRACK!
Alice jumped.
The dog barked.
More explosions followed, echoing between the houses.
The corpses outside the gate stopped pressing against it.
One turned away.
Then another.
Soon, the gathering began drifting toward the repeated noise.
The gate remained perfectly intact.
That had never been the immediate problem.
The growing crowd outside it had been.
I returned to Alice.
"That won't keep them away forever."
I held out my hand.
"We have to go."
Alice looked at it.
Then she looked down at her father.
Slowly, she released his sleeve and leaned forward, wrapping both arms around him one last time.
"Goodbye, Papa."
Her voice broke.
Then she stood and placed her small hand inside mine.
Her grip tightened immediately.
She looked up at me.
And spoke slowly but steadily.
"I'm ready now, Hiro-oniichan."
"..."
That sounded unexpectedly dangerous.
Not in the usual way.
More in the permanent-responsibility kind of way.
Still, I squeezed her hand gently.
"Stay close."
"Hmm."
The dog followed as I led her around the side of the house.
Apparently, it had decided to join us without consulting anyone.
The rear wall was lower than the one facing the street, though still too high for Alice to climb alone.
I released her hand and looked over first.
The neighboring garden appeared empty.
Dark windows.
Plants.
An overturned patio table near the side of the house.
Nothing moving.
For now.
I placed the crowbar along the top of the wall, then crouched in front of Alice.
"Come here."
She approached without arguing.
I lifted her until she could sit along the top.
Alice looked down into the other yard.
"It's high."
"I'll be waiting on the other side."
She hesitated.
Then nodded.
The dog squeezed through a damaged section beneath us.
Apparently, it had discovered the easier route and chosen not to share.
I climbed over and lowered myself into the neighboring garden.
Then I turned and raised both arms toward Alice.
"Come down."
She remained seated on the wall.
Her eyes moved toward the blood covering my gloves.
Then toward the dark yard behind me.
"Come on."
Alice hesitated for only another second.
Then she leaned forward.
I caught her beneath the arms and lowered her carefully until her feet touched the ground.
The moment I released her, she grabbed the back of my jacket.
She did not let go.
I looked down at her hand.
Alice moved slightly closer.
Fair enough.
At least I would not need to check whether she was still following.
The firecrackers continued exploding somewhere beyond the houses.
The sound was already beginning to fade.
I reached up and pulled the crowbar from the wall.
The dog stood near the overturned patio table.
Its ears lifted.
A low growl came from its throat.
Alice tightened her hold on my vest.
Something beneath the table moved.
I raised the crowbar.
Our trip home had officially begun.
End of Chapter 22