As we quickened our pace out of the mansion, the sound of gunshots was getting louder.
"Why aren't they using any suppressors?
"We don't have that much, at most there are only two, and one of them is in your gun."
"What about the makeshift ones?"
"No one else aside from you knows that much!"
When I asked Claire why no one else was using any suppressors, it appeared that they didn't have them in stock. And no one knows how to build a makeshift one.
Certainly, even back at the camp, I was the only guy who even thought of such an idea. It became really helpful when we had to hunt in open spaces. Since at that time, we didn't have much access to advanced weaponry.
The only ones we used were some standard-issued firearms.
When we reached the courtyard, I saw a half-awesome and half-terrifying scene. It looked like a standoff against the undead. A whole bunch of them were swarming the gates.
A large of the wall surrounding the gates are reinforced with metal panels. Are those ramparts? There were also four scaffoldings that seemed to be makeshift watchtowers.
I didn't see these because we entered at the other gate at the back of the mansion.
Claire led me to one of the watchtowers and asked the guy there to go down. We then climbed over and I got a clearer view of the surroundings. It's hell. That's the only way I can describe it.
She then placed the boxes of ammunition on the small table atop the tower. Seems like she also brought a speed loader. Claire pointed at the stuff before speaking.
"Now quickly, you know how to load them, right?"
"Yeah."
I took off the extended mag and used the loader to scoop up a line of ammo in the box. Then, I loaded the magazine and pulled on the charging handle.
Positioning myself, I held the rifle in the basic way and aimed down at the undead. Claire then came over and reached her hand from the back to fix my form, her breasts pressing on my back.
"Snuggle the buttstock on top of your shoulder firmly, grip the handle but don't squeeze it too much. Unfortunately, we don't have a scope so you'll have to make do with the iron sight for now... Why are you squirming?"
"!? N- Nothing, don't mind me."
"What, you're not embarrassed at something like this, are you?"
"Huh, me, embarrassed?"
My voice trailed off along with my cheeks slowly becoming red. Claire who saw that, laughed which only made it more embarrassing. To be honest, the action itself wasn't the one that made me embarrassed but the unintended implications of it.
"Let's save that for later. For now, focus on using this gun properly."
"...Alright."
Feeling like a child who got scolded for thinking about unimportant things in an important situation, I could only accept her words.
I corrected my position the way Claire guided me. However, when I fired my first shot, I was a bit startled by the recoil and messed up my sight, moving the rifle upwards, and hitting a different undead that was farther away.
A lucky headshot? I smiled as I didn't think much of it but Claire squeezed my other shoulder a bit forcefully.
"Again. Properly."
She said with a pretty stern tone, admonishing me for being satisfied over a wrong shot.
My bad, my bad.
Once again, I lined up my rifle for another shot, this time more properly with the force of the recoil in mind.
I aimed slightly at the higher chest area and when the trigger was pulled, I felt the recoil once again but this time, even though the margin of error was only reduced for a little bit, it was an expected outcome.
The shot connected with the undead's head that I aimed at, killing it in one blow.
When I looked at Claire, I saw that she had been using binoculars.
"Good work, as expected of Leon!"
Her admonishing tone earlier was gone as she praised me happily.
"Thanks to you."
"Alright, I'll also expend some bullets."
As Claire said that, Jean came over to the bottom of the watchtower with another rifle in tow. When Claire received it, she also assumed a shooting form and started blasting undead as well.
I also focused on my gun and started shooting. After expending an entire magazine's worth of bullets, I was able to shoot more proficiently than I did earlier.
However, as I was reloading my magazine for the 4th time, a commotion broke through the hail of bullets.
"Oi oi, look at that!"
"Tch shoot it down!"
"It's too fast!"
I was curious about what was happening so I quickly loaded the magazine in and aimed to where they were pointing at.
When I saw that, a cold chill ran down my spine. In the same way that I was terrified at that time when an undead punched a hole through the door of the store.
There was a peculiar undead that was running straight towards the gate. No, it was... sprinting.
I quickly aimed at it but no matter how much I fired, it was too fast to be hit. When it reached the gates, the guards who were outside seemed to have panicked and failed to shoot down the sprinting undead.
They quickly got caught and bitten. The ones who managed to get back safely helped close the gates. Unfortunately, the situation quickly took another turn for the worse.
Some undead who seem to be the same as the sprinting one earlier emerged from the horde. Closing the gap so quickly that they managed to slip inside the half-closed gates.
"...Damn it!"
"Stay calm, Leon."
I got a bit agitated as I changed my position and aimed at the undead who managed to slip in. But the gun jammed.
"Are you kidding me!?"
When I saw one of the undead who managed to slip in and dived on someone, I dropped my rifle and unholstered my Glock-19 from my waist. I then aimed at the undead and shot its head off.
It was only until that when I realized that the one I saved was Jean. Seems like the bullet pierced through the undead's skull. Fortunately, however, I was positioned to the side so the bullet only grazed his cheek.
Still, that was enough for Jean to scowl at me. I also stared at him in annoyance at his ungratefulness. Claire who saw that shot me a worried look but I ignored it.
The undead's blood splattered across his face, and if the graze is an open wound... Won't he get infected from that? Well, it's not my problem anymore.
I picked up the rifle, with the muzzle pointing at the ground to avoid accidents, and turned to Claire.
"How do you clear a jam in this?"
"...Eh? Ah come here, let me teach you."
Claire demonstrated and easily cleared the jam. She asked me to try shooting it afterward and it worked properly.
Now, the only problem remaining is the approaching undead in the gates. We continued the standoff against the undead until the sun came down. When the spare ammo for my gun was expended, I switched to an M-16.
◇◇◇
"This bastard tried to kill me, he can't be trusted!"
When the defensive battle ended and we were about to go back inside to rest, Jean stopped us and threw a tantrum. Some of the men also seemed to know what he wanted to do and sent me a worried gaze.
I ignored them and faced Jean.
"Is that how you thank the one who saved you?"
"Saved? Aren't you good at sarcasm!? I had it by the throat, I should have been able to kill it with my knife before you interfered!"
When Claire heard him, she huffed and was about to talk back before I pulled her close to me and smiled at her. It was an action that made Jean even more furious that it felt like I was seeing a vein popping in his forehead.
"Open your eyes, Claire! This man is just deceiving you!"
Now he wasn't even addressing her with any honorifics.
Jean walked forward and tried to grab Claire and separate her away from me, however, I stepped in front and stopped him.
"You're really pathetic, aren't you? I get that you can't be honest with yourself but you shouldn't make up stories like that either. I don't take kindly to liars."
"Tch! Do you think you have the right to say that!? I've been with Claire for a long time and I know what kind of people take interest in her. I'm sure you're just after her body!"
"Hooh?"
Is this guy deranged? He's been spouting nonsense since the beginning. I mean, I also get that love can make people desperate but even that should have its limits.
"I- I won't let someone like you break what we have here! If only you didn't come... Tch! Look, everyone!"
As if he was taking out his final card, he scanned the men surrounding us.
"Are we just going to let a suspicious man like this take charge of us? If our boss were to see this, he would be laughing!"
"Stop it already, Jean."
Claire, who was silent until now, reacted at the mention of her father. However, Jean was unfazed. Instead, he only fueled the fire that was about to erupt inside me.
"Your father entrusted you to me. I vowed that I'll always protect you. However, why the hell are you acting like a slut in front of this b-"
I wasn't sure if he just slipped or what but the moment he uttered that word, anger surged within me. I reflexively drew my pistol so quickly that Jean cut off his own words.
Aiming it at his head, my finger was already positioned properly on the trigger. A single movement will pierce a hole through his brain.
"Listen, I wouldn't care no matter how much you insult me or whatever but... Say something like that to her one more time, and I'll make sure it'll be your last."
"H- Hah! S- So, you'll kill me?"
As I said that as threateningly as I could, sweat dropped from Jean's forehead. The bravado he had earlier was gone and replaced with a hint of worry.
Seems like he didn't expect that I would step up. Well, I guess I did seem like a meek person when he was watching us.
"How many of those things do you think I've killed? When I killed the first one, I acknowledged that they weren't human anymore but perhaps that was just an excuse. The world had already changed and even though there are still things that I can't do... There's one thing I'm positive about. I can kill them, I can kill the dead and I'm sure I can kill the living too."
My words were followed by complete silence. From my peripheral vision, I could see that the other men were reflexively gripping their weapons harder.
Even though I spoke with determination, I didn't think that it would actually have an impact. After all, if I kill him now I would probably regret it.
I would puke at the thought of killing another living person. I would grieve by the fact that I didn't consider the one I killed to have the chance of changing.
I wasn't ready, not by a mile. But you know, humans have always been fragile creatures. In the same way, we weigh the worth of the lives of others in our mind, we can also weigh the choices that can impact our conscience.
And I've chosen. If it's better to kill him now for the sake of the future, then I'd rather regret killing another person than regret that I didn't kill him when I got the chance to do so.
What about you then, Jean? What would be your choice? I thought of that as I looked at him coldly.
Someone clapped their hands, catching both my and Jean's attention. I didn't look at the one who did that since I was worried that the guy in front of me would try anything funny.
However, her voice confirmed who she was.
"Now now, let's calm down everyone~ I'm sure that all of you are tired, so it's better to take a rest and rest your frustrations away!"
Aunt Amelie spoke in a higher tone. The other men who heard that loosened their guard and went on their way, leaving the four of us in the lightly illuminated courtyard.
Then, she approached us and hugged me while slowly guiding me to lower my weapon. Of course, I followed her obediently. That action of hers made Jean frown once more.
I'm not sure what's running on his mind at this point but it's probably not any calmer than mine.
"Jean, you will be punished for starting this commotion and accusing one of your comrades."
"Wha-"
"Don't argue with me, I saw everything that happened."
"...Yes, ma'am...!"
"Now, go back to your quarters, we will decide your punishment tomorrow!"
Just with that, he obeyed her without any further opposition. Giving me one final glare, Jean headed back to the back of the mansion.
Aunt Amelie then turned to me with an indescribable smile on her face. Eh? Is it my turn to be scolded!?
Once again, a chill ran down my spine as I completely forgot what just happened, and instead, a memory of Aunt Amelie scolding me resurfaced in my mind.