NOVEL NEXT Chapter 9
– Bang, bang, bang, bang.
A sound so loud it felt like my ears were about to burst.
At this rate, I’ll probably end up gathering all kinds of monsters right from the start.
Still, whatever….
Since we’re doing this while securing a safe zone, it’s fine, right?
“Do you remember when we went hunting in the forest back in the day, Father?”
“I haven’t gotten that old yet, young man!”
He’s supposed to be a veteran of the war.
He’s always saying how terrible war is.
I still remember how both of them used to wear such grave expressions when talking about it.
Yet here he is, handling a gun just fine… sigh.
Or maybe now that he’s gotten a chance to take revenge, after all this time of running away, he’s enjoying himself?
– Bang, bang.
Blood gushed onto the floor, and the remains of the parasites scattered across it.
James’ combat boots trampled over the black masses as he walked by.
“Reload!”
“Take your time. They’re already running away now!”
Still, the smoke is getting ridiculous.
At this rate, it’ll be hard to even breathe properly –
“Achoo!”
– Bang.
As I was rubbing my nose, a zombie whose head had been blown off crashed face-first onto the ground.
We must have advanced about ten minutes from the barricade.
The relatively large square where three corridors met was now cleaned up, or rather, turned into a bloodbath.
With the zombies gone, this place… if left as it is, it’ll definitely become a breeding ground for all sorts of diseases.
“Let’s see, that makes sixteen, right?”
“Twenty for me.”
“Old man, don’t rub it in just because you’re still spry.”
“I haven’t been able to hide my white hair for quite some time now. What do you mean by ‘spry’?”
“Are you talking to me, James?”
While I’m worried about all this, James and Curtis are just exchanging words and bursting into laughter.
Still, what are we going to do with all these corpses?
It’s nearly impossible to burn them without finding a space where the ventilation ducts are working properly.
On the other hand, feeding them to a horde of spiders might be too risky… hmm –
Hmm.
Funny how things work out, isn’t it?
“Damn spiders.”
For some reason, the moment Sarah was mentioned, both their faces turned cold.
Guessing they believed the spider’s armor would be impenetrable, James tucked his rifle behind him and began to search around like I did earlier, looking for a metal rod.
“No, let me do it with the hammer.”
Curtis stepped forward, removing the regular bullets from the gun that had been loaded and replacing them, one by one, with white bullets marked ‘AP’ in black ink.
“What are those?”
“Special rounds.”
“Special rounds?”
“Curtis asked me to help design them. We gave it a try.”
I initially wondered how we’d explain the craftsman’s contraptions, but luckily, the empty supply crates we’ve been dismantling to get wooden panels gave Curtis a perfect excuse.
“With buckshot, we’re still struggling since we can’t use iron beads yet. Instead, I’m testing out some experimental rounds that guarantee destructive power as long as I can aim correctly.”
“…Huh.”
James gave Curtis a peculiar look.
What can I say? It’s filled with dissatisfaction.
Curtis, though, is awkwardly clearing his throat.
Was he annoyed because I gave these rounds to Curtis first?…?
“If you, uh, need any -”
“Quiet. They’re getting closer.”
The heated rifle barrel was pointed straight ahead.
The spiders, making hissing sounds, slowly advanced step by step, struggling under their massive bodies, exuding overconfidence in their armor.
But this time, without a doubt –
– Pow.
The bullet drilled a green hole through their thick carapace.
The trembling legs gave way, and the spider collapsed to the ground.
“…Ah?”
“Haha, it works, doesn’t it!”
The second round was fired immediately at another spider.
With a splat, green blood sprayed everywhere.
“Is that a slug round? No?”
“It’s a slug, but I slightly modified it.”
Laughing heartily while aiming at the fleeing spiders, Curtis quickly searched his pocket but –
“Tsk, they sure are quick when it comes to running away.”
Before he could even shine the flashlight, the creatures disappeared into the dark alleys and corners.
“…So what did you shoot it with? Isn’t their armor supposed to be impenetrable even by 5.56?”
“This.”
Curtis pulled out an AP slug bullet from his pocket and showed it to us.
A bullet shaped like a nail’s head welded to a nut.
Unlike typical slug rounds that fire blunt metal chunks, this one focused on piercing by sharpening the fat nail and driving it in with its pointed edge.
“…Attaching a nut to a rivet’s head. Huh.”
“Your handiwork is truly, absolutely amazing. You’re like a walking factory, man!”
Curtis laughed heartily while patting his back and quickly glanced around.
No movements were detected.
Honestly, who would come near a place where we’ve fired dozens of bullets anyway?
While one well-aimed shot might attract looters or other factions’ guards, spraying dozens of rounds in succession significantly lowers our chances of encountering anyone.
Even stray dogs, known for being sound-sensitive, have vacated the area, and even the earth bats fled.
“Well then, how about we search for more supply crates?”
“I’ll go check on Sarah. I’m sure she’ll worry if I leave her alone for too long.”
“Why don’t you give her some alone time? Door locked. Tripwire set.”
“Tripwire – what do you mean?”
Curtis eagerly started explaining the structure of a makeshift grenade he somehow came up with.
Filling it with lots of gunpowder and nails made it a pipe bomb.
Connecting a lighter with a string to light the fuze turned it into a trap lethal enough to kill someone.
“No, really…”
“If you can use it, it’s only polite to milk it for all it’s worth, right? Right?”
Laughing boisterously while shrugging his shoulders, Curtis was looked at awkwardly by James.
His eyes looking at me were filled with concern as well.
“It’s fine. It was fun. And I enjoyed watching both of you from behind.”
“…I’ll need to have a word with Father later.”
Curtis, who had already settled into place, was pulling out a crowbar from his bag and wedging it between the crate.
“Let me. I’ll do it.”
“You go see Sarah already. I can handle this. Come on, help this old man open this crate.”
Watching James trudge toward the base, muttering something, I was drawn to the sound of him knocking on the wooden crates.
“I was considering looking for an arsenal bunker, but I guess that worry is resolved now. You really have a golden touch.”
“Haha…”
Of course, all of this is thanks to Crafter’s efforts.
While other classes sweat bullets creating bombs or buying/searching for high-penetration bullets, Crafter just clicks a few things together.
No, not even clicking anymore.
It’s all stuff I manually craft until my hands are black with soot, but still…
“You see this writing?”
The writings had been rubbed off due to wear and tear.
Yet, the large ‘U.S.’ letters were still prominent.
“Smells good. If we’re lucky, there might be guns and bullets inside. Help me with it.”
Is there a rule that good looting spots always appear after clearing out a horde of monsters?
I put all my strength into the crowbar lodged in the lid.
“Ahh…”
– Creak. Click.
The nails slowly came out, and finally, the lid was lifted.
I quickly shone my flashlight on the contents.
“Whoa.”
Curtis’s eyes sparkled upon seeing it.
His mouth stretched into a wide grin, his hands trembling.
What was in front of us could only be described as… just lumps of iron… and one single ammo box?
“What is this thing?”
Upon pulling out the ammo container, it was marked as .50 Cal…
Is this… .50 caliber?
Isn’t this for anti-material rifles?
“Not bad. This…”
“Not bad?”
The trembling hand of the elder touched the metal gently.
Slowly, softly.
But roughly too.
The massive lump of metal didn’t have a trigger.
But… it looked kind of like a mounted machine gun.
“The one you’re looking at has been around since before I went to war. It’s older than me and has seen countless battlefields.”
“Older than you?”
“Yeah. ‘Older.'”
The word I heard was ‘Older.’
But why does ‘beach’ come to mind? Is it just my imagination?
“I heard some marine hit a guy’s head from over 1.4 miles away with this. Not just accuracy, but the real kicker is what it can do.”
“Anti-material rifle rounds?”
“You know those but not this gun?”
Of course, I don’t.
I’ve never seen this gun in action.
It looked like a mounted machine gun but in games, such weapons only appear on armed trains or in the bunkers of the Zeroth Empire.
But it’s not like those bunkers’ weapons.
That one looked somewhat gun-like, but this… this is just a slab of metal.
“It just tears through thin steel plates and rips limbs apart through walls. And if it hits the body… well, everything the victim ate that day comes right back out their mouth.”
Curtis slowly nodded, stroking the gun as if lost in reminiscence.
“Have you ever fired it yourself?”
“…Nothing felt better than James’ mother when I touched this gun.”
Yes, he talks dirty. Always.
“Are you taking it with you?”
“If you’re not taking it, then leave me here.”
Damn.
I still haven’t relieved my muscle aches yet!