33. Doctor
When they reached the location Philip had indicated, a large church appeared. It was a Gothic-style building with impressive pointed spires reminiscent of Notre-Dame Cathedral. A man guarded the church entrance.
"What brings you here?"
The man thought it an odd combination seeing two hunters with guns and young boys.
"We're hunters dispatched by the government. I heard there's a doctor here."
When Pringle answered, the man slightly lowered his guard and said.
"Are you injured?"
"No. There's a casualty across the street. We were asked to bring the doctor."
"The doctors are inside but... there are too many patients right now, so it'll be difficult. Come in and see."
The man stepped aside. Pringle's group opened the door and entered. The church interior was filled entirely with cots, and people's groans could be heard sporadically. It was just like a field hospital. Nurses walked quickly around looking for patients, and along one church wall, pews were lined up in a row where people sat watching those being examined. There sat various people—a baby crying with fever and the mother soothing it, a man holding his arm as if one shoulder was dislocated, an elderly person sick and ailing—and at a glance, there seemed to be far too few doctors. Though there were many people, the church seemed quieter and more compassionate than ever.
A young priest was receiving patients beside the platform. When Pringle's group walked toward where the young priest was, people watched them with their guns.
"We came looking for a doctor."
"Are you here for treatment?"
"No. We were asked to bring a doctor."
"That's difficult right now. As you can see, there are many patients and we can't do house calls."
Pringle turned his face to look behind. The patients all seemed to be enduring pain with dark faces. They hadn't thought there would be this many patients.
"Emergency patient. They'll die if left as is."
"I'm sorry. Right now all the doctors are in the middle of treatment..."
The young priest made a troubled expression at Pringle's words. Pringle looked around again. There were only a few people in white gowns, all examining patients lying in beds and talking to nurses. Standing still, they couldn't understand how busy the doctors examining patients were. To their eyes, it just looked like ordinary examinations. Then a doctor who had been watching the armed hunters from afar appeared. The doctor looked old and high-ranking.
"What's the matter?"
"Are you a doctor?"
"That's right."
"We're hunters dispatched by the government. There's an emergency patient across the street, and we were asked to bring a doctor."
"What's the patient's condition?"
"Fell from a high building with a broken leg."
The doctor thought briefly, then spoke as if decided.
"I'll go myself."
"You can't, doctor. You haven't slept a wink recently due to treatment. You'll collapse."
The young priest spoke firmly looking at the doctor.
"It's fine. I'll get some air and come right back. Don't worry too much."
The doctor placed his hand on the young priest's shoulder and smiled.
***
Pringle's group left the church with the doctor. Dark clouds gradually began gathering in the sky and raindrops started falling.
"Why don't you treat people at the hospital?"
Pringle asked.
"There are madmen at the hospital, so we can't go."
Pringle nodded as if expecting the doctor's answer.
"Why did so many madmen appear?"
Roan asked.
"The madmen here are different from the naturally occurring kind we know. Though their appearance and seizure symptoms are similar, the transformation symptoms that come from madmen didn't appear. There's only one possibility for such simultaneous identical seizure symptoms appearing everywhere. 「Infection」."
"Infection?"
"Typical pandemic infections transmit through airway systems causing vomiting or fever, destroying internal organs. Like the plague of the past. Such infections spread quickly, so similar symptoms should appear not just in Murmansk but elsewhere too. But this incident occurred only in the Murmansk area. Also, unlike simple self-destructive past infection symptoms like vomiting or fever, the infected show severe mental confusion along with aggression. That means the virus didn't go to the respiratory system but to people's brains."
"Is there such a virus?"
"No. Typical viruses continue self-destructive behavior fighting immune systems until the host dies, but as you can see, the madmen here don't starve to death and keep living, searching for energy sources to keep the host alive. That could be animals or people."
"Before coming here, I heard from someone named Philip that the virus seems to have spread in the water pipes. Has anything been investigated about that?"
"Well. We don't have the capacity here for such investigation or vaccine development. If bitten by infected, you show the same infection symptoms immediately, so we're just desperate to run away. I understand the city already collected samples, but even if they investigate the virus now, it'll take over 2 years for a new vaccine. By then many people will already be dead."
The doctor seemed very tired as he finished speaking. Pringle felt sorry and didn't speak further.
While Pringle's group traveled, the rain fell harder. They moved to an underground road to avoid the rain. Abandoned cars were left in disarray in the underground road. They navigated forward avoiding between cars. Then madmen's groaning sounds echoed along the underground road ceiling from far away. Pringle turned his head signaling the group to wait, then carefully climbed onto a car. Madmen were wandering here and there in the underground road. He couldn't see clearly how far the madmen extended. Pringle told the children to fall back with the doctor. Then he and Bracket took out guns and attached silencers.
[Thud]
A nearby madman hit in the head by Pringle's gun fell. Hearing the sound of the madman hitting the ground, surrounding madmen all turned their heads toward the sound. Pringle quickly pressed his face to the floor hiding. The madmen made excited intense groaning sounds but seemed unable to find the hunters. Standing up again, this time Bracket shot at a distant madman and it fell limply. Thus the two repeatedly took turns shooting and hiding. When all visible madmen fell, they got down from the car and gestured to the children. Then advanced step by step into the maze formed by abandoned cars.
The rain sounds grew fiercer. Water draining sounds came loudly from sewers. Dark clouds rumbled in the distance, then light flashed from the opposite entrance of the underground road. After that, thunder sounded loudly as if a gourd had broken. When Pringle's group reached about midway through the underground road, Roan briefly stopped the group.
"I think there are madmen in front of this bus."
Pringle tilted his head at Roan's words. Since they were walking at the same position, it was impossible for this delicate-looking young master to talk about a view he couldn't see. But thinking there was no harm being careful, Pringle walked carefully with his back to the bus and peeked his head out. Indeed, three madmen stood across from the bus. Pringle and Bracket carefully turned the corner and aimed at the madmen's heads. When both fired, two madmen in front fell. The madman behind turned its head toward the sound and rushed at Pringle. Pringle quickly raised his gun barrel and shot at the madman, but hitting the head of a madman running close with a sniper rifle wasn't easy. The bullet pierced the madman's body but it seemed to feel no pain and rushed reaching out hands toward Pringle. Pringle quickly blocked with his gun.
[Thwack!]
Suddenly sharp wind blew and the madman's head in front of Pringle separated from its body and flew to the opposite side. Beyond the fallen body, Will's back appeared.
"You boys."
Pringle stood up as if briefly losing his mind, dazed.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah."
Pringle looked alternately at Roan and Will approaching from behind speaking to him. Then suddenly he laughed. He too had thought of these young friends as just children, not hunters. The fact that hunter licenses were issued by headquarters definitely meant these boys had sufficient strength to handle madmen, yet unknowingly he'd ignored these boys' abilities. A hollow laugh came at the thought he'd grown old enough to fall easily into such prejudice.
They safely crossed the underground passage and reached the building Philip had indicated. When Pringle knocked on the door, a man appeared opening a second-floor window, looked them over, then seemed to recognize Pringle's face and hurried down to open the door. The doctor immediately received the man's guidance and went to the fourth floor where the patient was. The patient had his left leg broken, wrapped tightly in white bandages—when unwrapped, the leg was swollen and blood flowed like water through gaps where bone protruded. The doctor quickly opened his bag, took out anesthetic, and began treatment.
***
Four men in raincoats patrolled the neighborhood in the rain. Feng stood at the front and saw a black object quickly entering a building. When Feng turned his head to look at Sid, Sid nodded. They entered a three-story brick building entrance. It seemed to be a cafe with desks and chairs scattered about—some commotion had already passed through. They saw the black object quickly pass again on stairs going to the second floor. Following the object's trail, they quietly held their breath climbing step by step.
Outside, the sound of pouring rain was refreshing. Lightning struck and the pitch-dark interior brightened momentarily then became dark again. Feng moved shining the light attached to his rifle here and there. On shelves on the wall were books, frames, flower pots—the flowers seemed dead, dried up without water. Feng picked up a book on the shelf and shone light on it—dust was piled thick on the book. Brushing off the dust revealed black letters reading 『The Plague』. Then Sid briefly whistled from behind, and Feng and Jimmy in front turned back. Sid saw something wriggling in the smoking room in the second floor corner. Sid quietly aimed his gun barrel at the glass window where the black object was nearby.
[Gunshot]
When the glass window broke, a man inside repeatedly shouted save me. When Sid judged the man wasn't a madman, he quickly approached and covered the man's mouth.
"Be quiet. Unless you want a bullet in your head."
The man with his mouth covered made groaning sounds then met Sid's fierce eyes. He breathed heavily through his nose trembling. Sid looked at the man's eyes silently, then slowly removed his hand from the mouth when he seemed calm.
"What are you doing?"
The man hesitated at Sid's question for a while then spoke.
"...I'm a local resident..."
"Why are you skulking around here alone?"
"...I was being chased..."
"Chased? By whom?"
Sid pressed without pause.
"Mad... madmen!"
Sid seemed to half-believe the man's words, looked at colleagues behind once, then glared at the man again. The man wore a blue jacket with black grime as if having experienced rough things outside.
"He doesn't seem to be a madman at least, so lower your gun, Sid."
Feng put down his rifle and spoke gently. Sid lowered the pistol in his right hand and released the left hand that had been pressing, letting go of the collar. The man seemed to finally breathe, relieved, and stood up.
"Are you alone?"
The man nodded.
"Didn't you hear the evacuation order?"
"Near my house... madmen came rushing in... I was being chased."
Feng nodded thinking that could be possible.
"It's procedural, but could I see your ID card?"
At Feng's words, the man handed over a card from his pocket. Feng took out a device from his pocket and scanned the ID card. Then the screen showed the man searched as the name "Ralph." The man's residence was the 5th Corps they were patrolling. Feng nodded and returned the ID card to the man.
"What should we do? We can't just leave him alone."
"Hmm."
Sid seemed troubled, stroked his rough beard once, then crossed his arms.
"Do you have anywhere to go?"
"I'm heading to Golden Tower..."
"Golden Tower?"
"I have a friend there."
"Isn't that a bit far to walk?"
"..."
Feng shrugged toward Sid.
"Let's take him to headquarters for now. We should check for infection too."
Jimmy who had been listening behind spoke in a low voice. Sid nodded at Jimmy's words.
"Um... couldn't you just pretend you didn't see me?... It seems like it would be troublesome..."
The man spoke indirectly as if hoping to be released.
"We can't do that. We have rules too anyway."
Sid flatly rejected the man's opinion and turned around. Feng looked at the man and smiled as if sorry, then followed Sid. The man followed Feng with an uncomfortable expression as if things had gone wrong, and behind him Jimmy and Jeff followed.
***
The doctor finally seemed to finish emergency treatment and wiped his sweat. Pringle approached the doctor and handed him water. The doctor drank a sip of water without words then caught his breath.
"I barely managed to suture it, but the wound could fester, so he'll need to be moved to a hospital."
Pringle nodded.
"Are you okay?"
"For now. But he lost some blood, so hypothermia symptoms will appear."
"No, I mean you."
The doctor looked at Pringle's face once then spoke as if mocking.
"That doesn't seem like something you should say."
Pringle laughed as if taking a hit at the doctor's words. The doctor looked pitifully at the old hunter in front, then seeing scratched wounds on his face and rough hands, his heart softened.
"The day the incident occurred, we received a patient in the emergency room, and that person was infected. We didn't know and gave anesthetic hoping he'd calm down. The man got up and bit the treating doctor's neck. After that, infection spread really instantly. The infectivity was so strong, within less than 10 minutes of being bitten they went crazy rampaging."
The doctor made an uncomfortable expression as if recalling colleagues he'd lived with transforming into madmen.
"After that, I moved around here and there avoiding madmen. I had no time to go to family. Just when I thought I'd hidden, someone who'd hidden being bitten had seizures and I'd run away again. Really hectic days. And there were so many injured people in the midst of it all. I've been wearing the same underwear for a week, so I smell rancid. Heh."
Pringle smiled bitterly at the doctor's words.
"I heard support came from the south—does the city have any solution?"
"Well. We just arrived the day before yesterday, but there doesn't seem to be any innovative alternative yet."
"Eventually it'll go as the mayor wants."
"?"
Pringle was curious what the doctor's words meant.
"Since Mayor Victor took office, Murmansk outside Golden Tower has been gradually dying. He's someone with absolutely no interest except Golden Tower development. People hated such a Victor. So going to Golden Tower to protest was almost daily. Victor too probably saw local residents as thorns in his eye. He must have wanted to somehow eliminate local residents who interfered with what he was trying to do at every turn. Once he invited hospital directors from each city, and there he said it seemed high-quality talent like doctors weren't being properly valued. He said soon he'd gather hospitals throughout the city in Golden Tower to create one huge medical district. And raise medical costs more than double current rates. Doctors were pleased, but it was nothing but crazy talk. Because it meant not treating people without money."
Pringle recalled Victor's image that had fleetingly passed by at the doctor's words. Victor in memory always showed excessive gestures and smiles as if conscious of cameras. Seeing him like that, it seemed understandable why people avoided him.
***
Only when night fell and surroundings darkened did the rain stop. Whenever people came and went from barracks, light leaked out. The guard at the entrance spotted April's exhausted group returning and sent a radio message.
"Good work. You did something amazing on the first day!"
Palmer said with sparkling eyes toward April who entered the barracks.
"Rumors have already spread throughout the base. Just today you incinerated 65 madmen! Among platoons that came for support from the south, our platoon is probably in the lead! You really did something big!"
Palmer continued praise until his mouth dried, but the three were tired and didn't want to hear more.
"Where's Nick?"
"The armored units are in a separate barracks in the center of the base."
April had Palmer tell Nick to see her briefly, then left the barracks. Early autumn nights had severe daily temperature differences and were chilly. Sounds of crickets crying seemed to come from around, and grass smells felt particularly strong under her nose. April approached a steel drum and took out a cigarette. Red flame burned dancing in the blowing wind.
"April."
It was Nick.
"I heard about today's work. Must have been hard."
Nick greeted April warmly.
"I have something to ask."
"Yes, please speak."
"Among the madmen we killed today, someone wore a military uniform. Looked like the initially deployed regional militia..."
April continued while puffing hazy smoke.
"Real 「madmen」 don't get infected or transmitted. So what we're trying to eliminate now isn't 「madmen」 but 「infected」."
Nick nodded silently as if understanding April's words.
"Does hunter headquarters know too?"
"Because basic symptoms are similar to madmen, they probably called them that, but they were sufficiently informed about transmissibility like infection."
April silently watched the burning flame.
"How far does our role go?"
"As explained earlier. Eliminating infected and restoring villages. That's our mission."
"Who decided that?"
"Pardon?"
"That mission."
Nick seemed to ponder at the sudden question.
"Well. Since orders came from above, probably the Defense Minister level?"
Nick looked at April's face to see if that answered her question, but she kept watching the brightly burning flame as if thinking deeply about something. She felt like she was being played with in a board woven by some black shadow.
"Some problem?"
April threw the finished cigarette butt into the drum, smiled, and left.