000020 - The Little Prince in the Ossuary
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# High Risk, High Return, Paso Robles (8)
Finding the final advancement point for Able Company wasn't difficult. The road was only cleared up to that point.
It was enough to climb onto an abandoned SUV to take a look.
Creston Road branches right from the 101 Highway, which runs north-south through the city. Walnut Drive was the road leading into the residential area.
At the intersection where the two roads met, the wreckage of destroyed U. S. military vehicles lay scattered.
The blood that stained the asphalt red and the fragments of mutants were supplementary details.
Bullet holes, bloodstains, skid marks. The battlefield remnants were scattered everywhere.
「Perception」 and 「Survival Sense」 automatically analyzed these traces. The rough sequence of the past battle appeared in augmented reality.
Although the hologram was noisy due to the limitations of technology, it was sufficient to deduce the story.
This intersection, the sight was blocked to the south. Fences, houses, and street trees were the obstacles.
Able Company must have been ambushed from the flank. One could tell by the Humvee door that was dented as if hit by a giant sledgehammer.
Another Humvee and a transport truck were destroyed on the spot. Gyeo-ul approached to gauge the size of the fist mark imprinted on the metal plate.
The diameter was roughly a hand and a half in length.
Fortunately, it seemed it was not the worst case of being a special mutant and an enhanced mutant. Moreover, it was a type that Gyeo-ul knew how to hunt.
'Mutation code 「Grumble」. Judging by the size and depth of the mark, the basic enhancement rank is alpha. There are probably two of them.'
Special mutants found within the game are given names (mutation codes) according to their forms and characteristics.
Grumble, meaning the sound of thunder. This is due to their habit of always letting out a sound before attacking.
Gyeo-ul searched through the vehicle wreckage and the bodies of the U. S. soldiers. He gathered ammunition, grenades, an extra pistol, and a silencer.
Two sets of combat rations were a valuable gain as well.
Wondering if there might be any other clues or useful items, he scanned the surroundings.
His gaze lingered on an automotive supply store located on the north side of the intersection and to the left.
It seemed more like a retail store handling satellite TVs or audio equipment for cars than a full-fledged repair shop.
Upon approaching and looking around, there seemed to be no particular oddity. With the front glass broken, he could enter without making noise.
As Gyeo-ul stepped on the glass shards, there were many coveted items inside. However, he couldn't take them all. He took a mini TV and a rechargeable radio.
The TV was for the camp and the radio was intended to be used as a decoy or noise source.
Across from there was a diner and gas station. Gyeo-ul confirmed that fuel was available from the pump but left it as it was.
Not long after heading north from there, Gyeo-ul found the first marker.
"That would be the health center......"
One of the clues obtained from Sergeant Cohen was the health center. It would have been hard to find if not for 「Cartography」.
It was a single-story building, not much different from any ordinary house. The only sign indicating it was a health center was a small sign reading 「San Luis Obispo County Health Department」.
There was still plenty of time. Gyeo-ul decided to explore the interior. If survivors remained, and if they were injured, they would have sought drugs, he thought. Even if not, Cohen's injuries must be considered.
It would be good to find antibiotics, painkillers, splints, and compression bandages.
The health center was not a structure where defensive strength could be expected. There were large glass doors with windows nearly the same size as the door lined up.
However, they were reflective glasses, not ordinary glass. From outside, one couldn't peek inside. Even if some were transparent, blinds were drawn. It meant it was not a bad place to hide.
Two mutants lingered near the side entrance. With a knife in hand, Gyeo-ul approached from behind and stabbed one firmly.
Its skull caved in, killing it instantly. In reaction to the noise, Gyeo-ul turned and kicked the other one. The upward kick connected with its chin.
Its brain rattled. It couldn't even cry out, barely able to stand upright.
In its staggered, groggy state, Gyeo-ul kicked it away and stabbed the center of its forehead with his full weight.
Splash.
It ended with only a splash of dead blood. Although the mutant's limbs convulsed, moving didn't mean it was alive.
No matter how strong they were compared to humans, nothing could survive with a destroyed brain.
After clearing away the corpses, Gyeo-ul tried opening the door. Tsk. It was locked. What to do?
Gyeo-ul looked around but there wasn't any specific way in sight. The boy approached a nearby glass window.
He placed the end of the machete against the glass, gently tapping the handle with his other hand.
Tap, tap, tap, crack, crack. Once a crack appeared, it began to spread faster.
Breaking it all at once would be noisy. All audible mutants would swarm. Gathering them all and killing them wasn't a bad idea, but that's something to try on the way back if there's really time later.
The finely broken pieces mostly fell inside the window. With a gentle pop. They were small. If one didn't listen closely, it was hard to hear. When a suitable hole was made, Gyeo-ul widened the blinds to peek inside.
After hesitating for a few seconds, he finally reached in to feel around. The blinds were a nuisance, but weren't the positions of locking mechanisms always the same?
The window was soon open.
Though called a window, it was larger than a person. It wasn't inconvenient to enter. The inside of the health center was a mess. All sorts of equipment were disorderly fallen over. From desks facing each other and scattered charts, it seemed to have been used as a consultation space.
Boom, boom.
Sounds that couldn't be heard outside. The hallway led to where blood was splattered all over. A suffocating stench hung in the air.
From the dark interior where the lights were out, light leaked in through a window beyond a door. Five mutants were crowded, banging on the door.
Gyeo-ul pulled a portable bed closer and blocked the hallway horizontally. Then he pushed forward.
"Grr?"
Attention was drawn by the rolling sound of the bed. Their heads twisted awkwardly. Seeing things like that used to be so creepy.
Now, even when they ran at him screeching, his heartbeat didn't increase. Gyeo-ul accelerated, pushing and kicking the bed.
The rolling bed collided with the mutants. The mutants tangled up with the bed and fell over.
Gyeo-ul ran over them. Two steps crushing the necks of two mutants.
Snap.
When others tried to grab his legs, Gyeo-ul twisted his body, standing on the overturned bed.
With a spinning slash. The first one to rise was hit. He nicked the temple laterally.
Piercing deep into the eye socket, damaging the brain. The mutant, losing both its eyes, grabbed its face and fell, frenzied.
It resembled a person bleeding tears. With part of its brain left inadequately, it didn't die immediately. This frenzy tripped and pulled down the feet of the remaining two again.
Gyeo-ul looked down at the mutant entangled mess and drew his pistol to shoot three times.
Thud, thud, thud.
Three consecutive heads shatter. Combined blood and brain matter flowed messily. The smell of old death hung in the air.
Gyeo-ul approached the door that the dead ones had been pounding. There had to be something inside worth all that noise.
Gyeo-ul knocked on the door.
"Is anyone inside?"
No answer came. Gyeo-ul knocked again calmly. Still no response.
It was locked. The mutants had battered it so much that the gap in the door was a stroke of luck.
earby, a drip stand looked fit to be used as a lever. He wedged it into the door gap and pressed with his whole body.
A creaking sound emerged. The stand bent. The door, which had resisted until now, soon gave way and creaked open.
Rattatat-ratatat!
The sound of a silenced rifle set on automatic scraping.
Without the prediction of the firing lines, he would have been hit and killed right away. 「Survival Sense」, 「Perception」, and 「Instigation」 in tandem.
The door splintered wildly. A din of debris spread out along the once silent hallway.
The gunshots ceased. A flapping door, behind it was one panting soldier and one mummy-like corpse. The latter looked long dead, but several fresh bullet holes dotted it.
From the condition of the soldier, one could understand the situation. It seemed like a storeroom-like space.
Shelves with displayed medicines and emergency supplies were toppled.
Gyeo-ul slowly put down his weapon, removing his gas mask to reveal his face.
"Calm down. I'm not here to harm you."
Quickly scanning the rank and name tag with his eyes, he added. It wasn't just a soldier.
"... Staff Sergeant Ashford."
The barrel dropped. From the start, it had been trembling, held with one hand.
The panting sergeant, rubbing his eyes harshly, looked again. Contracted pupils, sweat beaded on his forehead.
"You're not a hallucination, are you?"
"Well, what do you think?"
"Damn! Don't say it like that! Just moments ago, the dead ones were calling out to me. Just there. If they died, they should've gone quietly, damned it......"
Mumbling and dropping his head, his demeanor wasn't stable. Well, his comrades dead all around, all alone and cornered.
Mutated creatures just outside. Trapped in the dangerous confinement with a corpse, with the steadily loosening door. It was enough to drive him mad.
Especially if he had received morphine. Nearby lay an empty morphine tube.
He had held the gun in one hand because his other arm was injured. The hastily wrapped bandage was soaked red.
The time had come to use experience points. This is what they had been conserved for. Gyeo-ul opened his skills list, investing experience points in 「First Aid」.
The progress bar filled up. Level 5 should be sufficient. It was at a Proficient, intermediate-rank level.
"Stay still. I'll redo the bandage for you."
The bandage was more tangled than tied. The blood had dried, sticking the bandage to the skin. Loosening it recklessly would ruin the wound. He unwrapped it cautiously.
Hydrogen peroxide was found in a medicine cabinet. He opened the cap and poured it over the affected area. The disinfectant effect.
The wound foamed up. The disinfectant and clotted blood dripped down. It seeped into the deep places.
Even under the influence of morphine, it seemed there was no absence of pain. The sergeant let out a low groan. If not for the residual effects of the drug, he would have screamed terribly.
Morphine is called the "last resort painkiller".
It has many side effects, and primarily, it's highly addictive. There is a true story of a soldier who never forgot the sensation of receiving morphine once when young, even until he died of old age.
"How did you get injured?"
"I was on the Humvee turret... and the vehicle rolled over......"
"Lucky you didn't die."
A long time had passed since the injury, and blood seeped through the exposed skin underneath.
According to the skill correction, his body moved on its own. Even if it wasn't moving by his own will, the sensation was fully transmitted, a peculiar feeling.
The experience of viewers with 「Sensory Synchronization」 turned on might be the same.
Compression bandages are different from ordinary ones, having elastic properties similar to rubber. When pulled tight and wrapped, they provide a hemostatic effect.
However, wrapping it too tightly isn't good either. There had been an accident in Korea where a military doctor wrapped a bandage too tightly.
he blood circulation stopped, and the soldier's toes entirely necrotized. The only option was amputation.
This was one of the reasons Gyeo-ul had invested up to Proficient level in 「First Aid」.
Ashford asked.
"But who are you? No rank insignia, suspicious......."
"Would you know who I am if I say my call sign is Banana?"
"Ah, are you the company commander's monkey?"
Since the words weren't spoken in a sane manner, Gyeo-ul paid them no mind. Wrapping the bandage didn't take long.
What to do next.
Although basic communication was possible, relying on him for long-distance self-transport seems difficult.
Combat was, of course, out of the question. Among the side effects of morphine were visual disturbances and reduced judgment.
Holding a gun would endanger people uninvolved.
"Are there any other survivors, by any chance?"
"Do I look like I'd know?"
The sergeant grumbled in irritation. Gyeo-ul bagged the visible drugs and emergency supplies haphazardly, then tied a crutch to his duffle bag's side.
He then helped the sergeant to rise.
"For now, stand up. Staying in a doorless room is troublesome."
"I feel woozy...... I might puke."
Despite his words, he wobbled to stand up. Gyeo-ul moved him to a room with a proper door.
After checking for any other threats, he confiscated all the morphine tubes from the sergeant's portable medical bag.
"Please wait here. I'm taking the remaining morphine with me."
"What?... Hey, don't. Where are you going?"
His attempts to grab both the morphine and the boy at once were futile.
"I can't take you with me right now. Do you remember Sergeant Cohen?"
"Cohen? Of course I know."
"I was on my way to rescue him."
"That bastard's still alive?"
The sergeant teared up. Despite the strong pain and medicinal effects, it seemed he still had the mind to be glad for a comrade's survival. Gyeo-ul nodded.
"It's also about time for a communication check. Wait a moment, I'll connect you."
Calling out to Sergeant Cohen, Gyeo-ul seemed quite anxious. The response came promptly.
「Hey, kid! Where are you now? Are you almost here?」
"Calm down. I'm still at the health center."
「Ah... is that so.」
Even without seeing his face, one could deduce a forlorn expression. The time waiting alone was likely excruciatingly long. Gyeo-ul changed the subject.
"Moreover, I have good news to tell you."
「Good news?」
"Yes. Staff Sergeant Ashford here is alive."
「Oh, thank God! That damned guy is alive!」
"... He's right here listening."
「Oops.」
Staff Sergeant Ashford chuckled, holding out his hand. It meant he wanted the radio. Upon handing it over, he started with curses.
Of course, it wasn't real anger. It was sharing the joy of being alive. Despite the slurred speech due to the medication, the genuine warmth coated his words.
"You weekend warrior bastard dared to insult a sergeant like me. Do you want to die?"
A weekend warrior is a nickname for the National Guard, who serve only for certain periods throughout the year.
Even among the National Guard, officers and core personnel serve year-round, making them different from ordinary soldiers.
After a brief conversation filled with hostility, Gyeo-ul lightly tapped his watch to show it was time.
"I'm sorry, but please keep the communication short."
"Time limit, right. You're a Cinderella boy."
The sergeant, having partially regained his composure, made a light joke. Gyeo-ul handed him two magazines with 30 rounds each.
"You know why I took the morphine, right?"
"Enough, go ahead. Just being a wreck like this is embarrassing. A promise to return is enough. And also......."
Staff Sergeant Ashford averted his eyes awkwardly and scratched inside his helmet.
"Thanks."
"No need to mention it."
Gyeo-ul gave him one last look and left the room. The sound of the door locking followed shortly after.