Surviving the Apocalypse with Crafting Skills

“…pheww, pheww.”

Above the mutilated corpse, Ms. Angela was continuously exhaling.

Thud, thud – the falling blood melted the piled snow on the ground.

“Guhk, uhlk, uhp…”

Lying on the ground, a cultist whose throat hadn’t been fully severed yet was moving his fingers slightly.

I also pulled out my dagger from my waist and was about to stab it into his neck.

-Katch.

For some reason, it didn’t penetrate as deeply as Mr. James’s or Ms. Angela’s stabs.

All I felt was the blade constantly being blocked by the bone at the tips of my fingers.

“Khheuk, ek-”

“Damn…”

Until now, I thought that killing hostile people wouldn’t evoke such strong resistance in me.

Even if I saw someone die, it would only last for a short moment, or since I’ve mostly used large weapons, I never really paid much attention when they transformed back into human forms.

But now.

“Eeek, ek, guh, phewp…”

The futile gestures trying to resist while spilling blood.

Only causing pain, the windpipe that couldn’t be easily cut with the knife.

“Please, just die already…!”

It made me think that using a gun might have been better.

Watching me like that, Ms. Angela extended her hand.

-Tuck.

Carefully pushing me away after I exerted all my strength pressing down on the blade,

“Ughk, h- bgrlrlk…”

she swiftly aimed the knife inside the clavicle and plunged it deep with her weight.

A sound like a balloon bursting.

And two more strikes of the blade onto the chest.

The body that had been thrashing around just moments ago suddenly fell silent as if by magic.

“…huu, huu.”

Her back arched up and sank repeatedly.

Ms. Angela slowly got up from the body she had just stabbed and threw the knife aside, leaning against the car.

The trembling of her blood-soaked hands showed no signs of stopping.

“…Ms. Angela?”

Mr. James, who returned with blood on his body, hastily put down his gun and tried to approach Ms. Angela, but her blank gaze turning her head, with a gas mask covered in blood, was enough to make him break out in cold sweat.

“Hooo… Hooo…”

Clutching the gas mask with blood-soaked hands.

Unable to control the trembling, she soon hugged herself.

The white clothes gradually dyed crimson red.

It seemed her mental strength had dropped significantly.

“…”

Approaching slowly, I sat beside her.

And gently held her shoulder.

“…Good job.”

In the chaotic scene, an alarm suddenly rang out.

I rummaged through my pocket and took out an air filter.

“Wanna hold your breath?”

There was no particular response, but I took her silence as an answer when I noticed she stopped exhaling white vapor.

-Creak, creak, creak.

Putting the used filter in my left hand.

With the new filter in my right hand, I securely attached it.

If we move to the ‘Rangers’ base camp, we can either wash or replace the protective suits and gas masks there.

Given the state of blood-soaked mental exhaustion, we needed to act quickly.

-Pooduk, pooduk.

“…Phew.”

With several footsteps, a man with four green eyes appeared.

Picking something up, he holstered his pistol.

He wiped the blood-stained knife on the corpse’s black robe and then placed it back at his waist.

“Anyone injured?”

“No.”

“Thankfully, none of the blood on my body is mine.”

“…”

“Who’s this person here?”

“He went into shock a bit, but he’ll be fine. He needs some rest though.”

“I heard a doctor is coming, but…”

“This person.”

At the sight of her raising her head blankly, Carlos hesitated for a moment but then nodded.

“Radio.”

“…Here.”

Picking up what he had thrown on the ground and handing it back, he blinked a few times and pressed the button firmly.

“Cole, respond.”

[No further movement detected from our side. Probably cleared.]

“We’re bringing people up now. Lower the barricade.”

After placing the radio back where it should be, Carlos gestured with his hand.

“Hurry. At least in Hartwell’s room and ours, you can take off the gas masks.”

“Is Hartwell one of the injured?”

“Yeah.”

Watching Carlos go ahead, I extended my hand to Ms. Angela.

Though the bloody gloves holding my arm were weak,

“…”

her legs must have given out because her boots kept scraping the floor.

Finally, unable to bear it anymore, Mr. James extended his hand.

“…Two, three!”

While feeling the chilling temperature of the rapidly cooling blood, I helped bring Ms. Angela, who could barely take a step, inside the building.

A doctor who should save lives – although technically a veterinarian.

Yet the one who pulls the trigger without hesitation and cleanly ends lives with a drawn knife, how will this idealist look after all this is over?

“…This means the water in the tank is usable.”

“Damn, are you crazy?”

Quickly assembling a water filter using four air filters,

after connecting it to the rooftop water tank and coming down, an excited voice reached my ears.

“It’s really clean water? Damn, we can actually drink it – hah, haha! Carlos!”

“J, excuse me.”

Hurrying into the bathroom, the sound of gulping water loudly came from inside.

…Was he that ecstatic?

While the two soldiers hurriedly quenched their thirst, I entered another room’s bathroom.

Turning on the shower, I wiped my hazmat suit thoroughly.

I still shouldn’t feel tired.

Not yet.

-Dock, dock, dock…

After splashing through the puddles of water, I knocked on the innermost door twice.

As the door quietly opened, Ms. Angela stared at me blankly with dead eyes… Was it appropriate to call it a greeting?

“Come in.”

Hartwell turned out to be a woman unexpectedly.

A sturdy build that reminded me of Sarah.

Sharper eyes than Sarah’s.

But exhausted eyes and brown hair.

The dirty bandages wrapped around her shoulders, arms, and legs told of the severity of the situation.

“The water tank has extra equipment installed.”

“Infection… You know, right?”

A figure that looked like it could collapse at any moment.

Perhaps delaying treatment would be better.

“-Although the wound did get infected, I’ve already pre-treated it with the antibiotics we brought… But if we don’t hurry, even the antibiotics won’t be able to handle it.”

As if reading my mind, she quietly explained with a voice that was fading slowly, then pointed to the rubber gloves.

Taking off the gas mask and putting on a mask.

Removing the gloves used outside and slipping on surgical gloves.

“…Let’s start.”

Upon confirming my appearance, Ms. Angela silently cut the bandages and clothes with scissors without saying a word.

Despite treating a conscious patient.

“!?-?!?!?”

“If you move recklessly, you’ll hurt yourself. Stay still.”

“Even if so, in front of a stranger-”

“I…”

She suppressed the impending protest with a very quiet, low voice.

With eyes that clearly showed fatigue.

No.

With eyes that were almost icy cold.

“…I originally swore to use my knowledge to treat animals. Now, I’m going to use it to save humans.”

Ms. Angela lightly peeled off the contaminated clothes and tossed the blood-soaked bandages away.

“Today, I broke that oath.”

Opening the cap of the alcohol bottle and soaking the cotton thoroughly,

she rubbed it on Hartwell’s wounds.

“────────!!”

Despite the silent scream echoing, Ms. Angela’s movements remained flawless.

Soaking the next piece of cotton as soon as the previous one turned black, she continued rubbing…

“To save people, you have to kill others. At first, I thought there couldn’t be anything more contradictory than that. Turns out, the biggest contradiction was me.”

“What exactly are you trying to say…!”

“Do you want to live?”

While throwing the used cotton into the container, she asked quietly as she threaded the needle.

Her face devoid of any trace of laughter.

“…”

“If so, shut up and cooperate with the person trying to save you.”

She seemed like a completely different person.

One level cleaner, Hartwell lay asleep on the bed under the influence of morphine.

During the final cleanup, I felt a cold hand grab mine.

It was Ms. Angela’s, which had been washed multiple times in ice-cold water until it turned red.

“…Today, really-”

“I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to apologize for.”

“No, it’s something I need to say to Mr. James and everyone else when we get back.”

Her roughly combed hair and face that looked like it could burst into tears at any moment added to her pitiful appearance.

Tightly biting her lower lip, her tearful face.

I gently wiped away the tears glistening in her blue eyes.

“While I was fighting these things and other people, I was foolishly mumbling nonsense by myself.”

“Being foolish and feeling stifled are different.”

“…”

“Of course, they can both happen at the same time.”

I handed her the cup of water.

As she drank it hastily, she finally began to cough.

“Cough, cough…!”

“Can you see them?”

The guns and ammunition scattered around the room.

Most notably, the boxes filled with unassembled rifle cartridges.

“If you want peace, prepare for war.”

“…”

“These people are the ones who can best wage that war. Whether there are people better than them, I don’t know.”

With the coughing subsiding, Angela looked at me.

The tears streaming down her cheeks showed no sign of stopping.

“…We almost died, because of me. Because I said something foolish, all of us…”

“But everyone survived. Me, these people. All thanks to Angela’s choice.”

Had she continued to act cowardly, it would have been problematic, but the sight of her pulling the trigger and drawing the knife to save me.

“The process was a little… messy, but if the result is good, isn’t that all that matters?”

“…”

“A little late, but thank you, Angela.”

I firmly clasped both her hands and carefully embraced her.

“Huuuk, uhk, kheu, uhk, kheeu…!”

Tonight, hopefully, everyone can rest well and recover from the accumulated fatigue and mental strain from the continuous battles.

Of course, I still need to assemble those bullets.

-Wheeii.

As my shirt became damp, the harsh cutting wind from outside blew through the air.

Other predators probably won’t wander the streets in weather like this.

But… the smell of blood.

The gunfire we spread.

Will everything be alright?

“Haa, uhk, hup, uuu…”

The hand gripping me tightly, refusing to let go.

I gently stroked Angela’s back.

…Right now, let’s focus on this.

Her mental strength must have hit rock bottom.

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