In every era, romance and marriage have often served as a means to an end.
While a love-filled marriage would be ideal… like the stories of Egypt and Rome.
Cleopatra, for instance, aligned herself with a Roman general who was thirteen years her senior to strengthen her power.
Even in the post-apocalyptic world, where might and power reign supreme, things aren’t much different.
When starting with a male character, the females tend to gain dominance or secure important positions in the surviving group.
When starting with a female character, the males are the ones leading the surviving groups.
Alliances through marriage are also not uncommon, and I’ve always considered marriage in games synonymous with an alliance.
Because, after all, the person willing to risk their life to protect you, even without any emotional ties, is a rarity.
And should a child come into the picture, it would be perfect.
Still, I never expected such open bickering about my position.
Particularly since the settlement was still in its early stages.
Also, this place had been relocated once already due to being chased by the Empire Zero.
“What is with so much cable here? Where do they intend to use all these wires?”
While opening and closing the drawers, I eventually muttered in frustration, sitting on the chair and drinking water.
The occasional glance in my direction was particularly unsettling.
“Have you found anything?”
“Not yet. A military-grade radio isn’t something that can be found easily.”
“If Sarah were here, even with her creaky old joints, I’m sure she would have moved faster than me.”
He gave an awkward cough while surreptitiously gauging my reaction.
Curtis pressing me for a quick decision was slightly…
What’s the right word?
It was obvious he wanted to assert control.
Of course, I had no intention of succumbing to the pressure… Even if the idea wasn’t entirely bad, there was no reason for me to give in just because he pushed.
Especially in a situation where we can’t sustain our food supply, starting a relationship would just be time-consuming, and getting unexpectedly pregnant would lose us valuable labor. And if childbirth fails, our mental well-being is also at risk.
In an apocalypse, love is a highly perilous business.
Of course, during those moments, you receive an enormous mood boost; the mere presence of someone might significantly reduce stress. In fact, I remember instances where people played same-sex love interests to benefit just from the advantages of romantic relationships.
However, even if it’s just a game, that’s… not something I’m comfortable with.
More importantly, this is now my reality.
“Nothing here either.”
We’ve already turned the second room upside down, but the object resembling a black box continues to elude us.
All we’ve found so far are multi-outlets, cables, computer parts, and extra LED lamps.
“Should we try moving further?”
“Let’s. I want to get out of this dusty room as soon as possible.”
Walking out of the room, we didn’t have to go far before we encountered an iron door.
As I reached for the lever to push the door open, Curtis suddenly tapped my shoulder.
“What’s that over there?”
Following Curtis’s finger, I saw something hanging from the ceiling.
When the flashlight beam hit it, a sign commonly found in airports and hospitals appeared.
“What does it say? My eyes aren’t that sharp.”
“Medical wing… Cafeteria… Broadcast station. Broadcast station!”
The place we could almost certainly find military radios.
And with some dismantling, we could even produce a Morse code signal transmitter for base upgrades.
“Don’t rush like that. We need to check the way back.”
Leaving chalk marks, Curtis, armed with a shotgun, frowned as he tightened his grip on it.
“The letters are so small I can barely see.”
“It’s over here, connected to the cafeteria.”
“We might also be able to stock up on food supplies.”
“If we have time, there’s also the option of visiting here often…”
-Click.
The joy was cut short by a sound—metal clashing against metal.
If I wasn’t mistaken…
The sound didn’t come from Curtis, who stood frozen, gripping his shotgun tightly.
“…Get down!”
Curtis tackled me with all his strength toward the open room.
The sound of gunfire echoed down the hallway.
-Bang, bang, bang, bang.
“Get them! The brats!”
Of course, in an apocalypse, it’s expected—no monsters, humans come. No humans, monsters!
-Boom.
Curtis’s reaction was swift and unwavering.
With no hesitation, he kicked a steel desk over and crouched behind it.
I stood up and leaned against a steel rack on the right side.
It seemed the flashlight had been scattered somewhere in the hallway.
“Kill the old man, and drag the young guy alive!”
“Meat, meat, meat!!!”
“Ha, hahaha, ha! Hoohoo!”
Cannibals, no doubt.
Judging from the noise of their steps, there was quite a group.
“Let’s plan to fire first; I’ll provide cover. Get ready.”
Listening intently to the low murmur, I pulled out the slug round from the rifle and inserted a bullet filled with razor-sharp fragments.
“I can’t take it anymore. It smells good inside there! And it’s clean too. Spotless meat.”
“The young guy was particularly fresh, wasn’t he?”
“Eating raw sashimi feels so good.”
“The childless female might be good for cutting sashimi, but since the meat is so clean, anything works.”
I couldn’t stop my hands from trembling.
Their voices teasing each other, laughing openly, were all coarse and eerie.
For a moment, I realized how every member of my settlement possessed a certain civility.
“Should we start with this guy?”
“Let’s go in together. Aren’t there only two of them?”
I could see a thin arm repeatedly drumming against the open door.
With a rust-covered knife stained with blood dragging across the steel, they spun a jagged fragment on a wooden bat like a trophy.
Were the shadows cast by their flashlights, even human?
“Take a deep breath. If you’re nervous, your shots will miss.”
Even though I understood it in theory, my body wouldn’t obey—here’s what that feels like.
Clamping my lips shut and gritting my teeth, I gripped the rifle tightly.
Even with a rifle, all I’ve done until now is fight up close.
The trembling of my hands from diseases related to cannibalism and negative effects didn’t help. Even with a rifle, I wouldn’t be able to shoot properly.
And if they closed the distance, even my rage wouldn’t help.
“Breathe in… breathe out…”
Purposely exaggerating the act of filling and emptying my chest, I calmed my heart bit by bit.
Perhaps, living in relative peace had made me forget the reality.
This is the apocalypse.
A place where one mistake can cost your life.
Holding the rifle with my left hand, I gripped the handle with my right.
I was ready to charge out at any moment.
At any moment—
“Meat!!!”
Finally, the owner of the panting voice came charging ahead.
The face, obscured in darkness and shadows, seemed so far from human with wild hair and beard, almost like a lion’s mane, displaying a savage nature. In each hand, he wielded sharp weapons as he roared and closed the gap in an instant.
-Boom.
The trigger pulled, I felt everything move in slow motion.
The position of my fingers on the gun.
The recoil straining my wrist.
The sizzling sound of the gunpowder.
And the opponent’s face, rent and mangled by the shards of metal that struck him.
-Clang.
The speed at which he charged was so great that his body hit the wall behind after sliding across the floor.
“G, gun—”
There was no time to hesitate or confirm.
I quickly fired the second bullet in the magazine, hitting the opponent’s leg.
“AARRGH!!!”
Though it didn’t burst like a slug, the leg was shredded, and the figure collapsed.
Switching the shotgun to a slug while reloading—
-BOOM.
Curtis shot down another armed cannibal who charged in despite seeing the gun.
Already, three corpses lay scattered in the room.
Almost instantly, the stench of death began to spread.
“Captain! They’ve got guns—shotguns, shotguns!”
“Doesn’t matter if they’ve got them! There are more of us! Aren’t you going to eat the meat?! Push forward!”
A relatively normal voice compared to the others—it sounded like the “captain.”
Was he the one holding the gun?
“HYYYYYAAAA!!!”
Three figures charging from the doorway were immediately pierced through by Curtis’s slug.
“Urgh… urgh… uh…”
One of the fallen cannibals, in his dying gasps, had stabbed his own comrade.
But Curtis didn’t go for the finishing blow, choosing instead to keep watch at the entrance.
“If I run out of bullets, you’re going to have to cover me!”
Why did he have to shout that so loudly?
Even with buzzing in my ears from the gunshots—it would’ve still been audible to the enemy.
“One round left, I think.”
“One or two? The gun’s too thick, captain!”
“Even one or two doesn’t matter since we have more people. We’ll push forward anyway. Not like someone is scared just because they lack a gun! Move in!”
“But—”
Two bullets expended from my gun.
Without any movement to reload, Curtis held the now last-two-shot shotgun.
Outside, the sound of more cannibals, likely exceeding the last four, could be heard.
Even assuming the fortunate shot through three bodies, would a mere six slug rounds be enough to hold them off?
“Anyway, the meat-eaters’ mouths are sealed now! The fatso’s dead, so you lot will just have to eat more!”
“Th, that’s right, yea, true. True.”
“The captain’s smart. Haha.”
“I’ll cover! Move!”
“AARRGGHHHH!!!”
A pistol suddenly appeared, and its wielder began firing in all directions.
As the armed cannibals charged forward while stooped down—
-BOOM, BOOM.
Curtis, lying on the floor sideways, blew off the legs of two men.
“UUUUUUAAAAAAHH!!! AAAUUUUUUGHHHH!!”
As the falling cannibals obstructed the way, I pulled the trigger at the charging cannibal heading toward Curtis.
“Not this way!”
-Bang.
“Urgh!”
Somehow managing to fire off one of the incoming pistol rounds, the ejected shell flew into the air.
Burning pain surged from my penetrated left arm.
“GYAAAAAAH!”
Without time to block, the remaining cannibal pounced on Curtis, and the figure who had been firing from the shadows finally revealed himself as the “captain.”
-Tick, tick, tick, tick.
“Damn!”
The spent pistol was thrown down, and the captain drew a knife from his waist, bracing himself.
Curtis and the cannibal he fought wrestled and rolled on the ground violently.
“I’ll have a full-course meal for the first time in ages. Sashimi from you alive, and soup cooked from the old guy!”
Reloading wasn’t an option.
My arm was throbbing painfully with blood.
As for weapons, I only had a tiny crosshead screwdriver stored in my pocket.
“HIYAA!”
I immediately pulled out the screwdriver from my pocket, but he was quicker to charge.
The screwdriver flew off, skittering across the floor.
“Grrrrr… die… DIEEEE!!!”
With all his might, the cannibal drove the knife down toward me, and I barely managed to hold onto his arm with sheer effort.
It was as difficult as turning a wrench under immense strain.
“GRAAAAHHH!”
The foul breath emanating from his mouth.
The unnaturally sharp teeth.
Even the copious blood spurting from his arm felt surreal.
The knife was getting closer.
Its sharp tip, wobbling as it zeroed in on my heart, was undoubtedly lethal.
I had to push him back, somehow…!
“The heart’s not that tasty when cooked. Flailing hearts are just a bundle of muscles with lots of lean tissue.”
I didn’t want to be eaten.
After all this, I couldn’t die here.
But my arms had reached their limit, and the knife was nearly touching my clothes.
So, I put all my remaining strength into—kicking him off with my right leg.
-Dunk.
“ARRRRGGGHHH!!!”
Somehow, I managed to twist my body, but the knife found its mark only in my arm.
Thrusting my fist forward, I managed to knock him down, causing him to drop the knife.
“OOOOOHHHHH!!!”
Though I tried to seize the knife, his body slammed into mine, pinning me against the wall.
Hitting him with my good arm only prompted him to thrust his fist into my stomach.
“Ugh…!”
Falling back to the floor, I found him looming over me.
“For the first time in ages, it’s been entertaining. Now—”
-Click.
At the sound, Curtis finished reloading the shotgun behind him.
-Boom.
As the brains splattered against the wall, warm droplets trickled onto my face.
“There are people worse than Nazis in this world.”
Even in his limping state, Curtis’s eyes tightened, revealing a deep wound on his leg.
The cannibal who attacked Curtis had my screwdriver lodged in his eye.
“Are you alright?”
Maybe, bringing Curtis along was the right call after all.
