Ch.173Chapter 20. Patriot (25)

The people of Beitrassi called the East District 32 Disaster Shelter a “hospital.”

It was a place where they would take sick people, give them medicine, wrap them in bandages, and even personally execute those who showed symptoms of acute zombification.

What made it even better was that this hospital operated “for free.” After all, it was run by the Goddess of Hunger branch as a form of “charity work.”

The branch even operated shuttle buses that transported patients to the eastern, southern, and outer regions of the city.

Although these buses were prison transport vehicles with the driver’s compartment strictly separated from the passenger area—creating the minor issue that if acute zombie mutation occurred in either section, the vehicle could overturn—most incidents ended with the assistant driver or patrol officer in the passenger compartment performing a “rapid disposal.”

The city’s residents didn’t know exactly where these “patrol officers” came from. They could only vaguely guess from their behavior, speech patterns, and their once-long but now-cropped hair that they had originally been soldiers.

Above all, the hospital’s supplies were clearly marked with military insignia. The hospital’s “doctors” and “nurses” initially tried to erase them with markers, but after some time, they didn’t even bother hiding them anymore.

The rumor that “deserters had hidden themselves in the city” had now moved beyond an open secret to being accepted as fact.

But nobody cared. These deserters were protecting the city’s people, providing medicine, sometimes falling in love, and building new families.

If there was one problem with this wonderful system, it was that the relationship between the “High Priest” representing the existing religious order and the “Vice High Priest” representing the “suspicious armed forces” was extremely poor.

The High Priest had a solid support base and many followers but feared the Vice High Priest’s military power. It made sense, as he could become a martyr overnight if the Vice High Priest ever made a decisive move.

Meanwhile, the Vice High Priest was impatient because of the defectors. One-third of the proud 284th National Military Police had defected to become gang members.

“Why should we bow down? It doesn’t make sense!”

“The Goddess will not forgive you!”

“If the Goddess had been around earlier, She wouldn’t have let us commit sins in the first place. Are we supposed to fear a goddess who’s so hungry she eats dirt?”

When the situation reached the level of blasphemy, it was Lieutenant Ellen Burrow who mediated.

At a meeting attended by all unit commanders, Ellen pulled out an M1911 pistol and barked, “Anyone who wants to leave, leave now. Those who leave late, those who regret not leaving when they should have, and those who neither stay nor go but blaspheme against the Goddess or harm civilians—I’ll blow your heads off.”

Those who yearned for a lawless world took over the local gangs and now rule the western and northern districts. Meanwhile, those deeply moved by faith in the Goddess occupy the eastern and southern districts.

Ironically, this maintains a balance between the two forces. They know that each other is a well-trained military organization. If they fought, both sides would have to prepare for significant casualties, which neither wants.

Being divided like this, each ruling and dominating their own territory to the best of their ability—that was the win-win strategy for both sides.

Of course, one cannot ignore the influence of Ellen Burrow, the de facto leader of the 284th National Military Police headquarters who leaked certain information to both factions.

Although Ellen had returned to the National Military Police, she occasionally provided useful information to both sides, such as important supply transports, medical information, or zombie flock alerts.

But Ellen didn’t specify details like “A convoy transporting medical supplies will pass along Highway 8829 at 3 PM on the 31st.” Instead, it was more like “31st. 3 PM. Highway 8829. Handle it as you see fit.”

Sometimes there would be National Military Police detachments present, or they would fight remnants of the Radical Liberation Army. Only Ellen knew what advantage was being sought from these situations.

As a result, both the gang and the religious order understood yet deeply hated Ellen. Understanding meant acknowledging that without this control of information, both factions would have abandoned Ellen. Hatred stemmed from the fact that nobody enjoys being a puppet.

“How should we interpret this?”

That’s why the brief instruction transmitted in Morse code—”Check Silvertown Health Center and eliminate risk factors”—was incredibly vague.

“We went through hell escaping from there, and now we’re supposed to go back? We didn’t even leave anything behind!”

“Yes, we did. Medical Company Commander Ron.”

“He was in the process of zombification! It was his noble wish to be left behind. He said, ‘I’ll stay here and document the city’s changes, while you go your own way!'”

But among the members of Shelter 32, no one remembered such a speech.

Instead, they recalled a drunken Ron raging wildly, and Ellen pointing a gun at his head, growling, “Do you want to live nicely and turn into a zombie, or have your head turned to mush while you’re still human?”

Ron chose the former, under the condition that his family would receive an extra week’s worth of food ration vouchers for each report he sent. Of course, only Ellen knew whether those vouchers were actually delivered.

“Anyway, we have to go to that damn place.”

Catherine, who was once the 1st Platoon Leader of the Medical Company but now called a “patrol leader,” handed the orders to her subordinates.

“This is absurd! We’re talking about entering the central district. The High Priest would never allow it!”

2nd Platoon Leader Martin clutched his head. Among the medical unit personnel, he was one who prioritized unity within the religious order.

“He did allow it.”

Catherine’s words were cold.

“He said if not for this opportunity, how would we know what’s in the central district and what’s happening there, and told us to gather as much information as possible. That also means bringing back good alcohol if we find any. The central district was where the city’s wealth was concentrated, so there would be many such luxuries.”

Martin still seemed very dissatisfied.

“Catherine, do we really have to go? This is completely different from our usual orders. We know better than anyone that there’s nothing there! That damn Ellen!”

“No cursing.”

“We’re not even soldiers anymore, why does it matter!”

Martin’s point was quite sharp. But Catherine already knew how to handle him.

“We follow an even more noble purpose now. Remember? We’ve joined the Goddess’s army.”

Catherine wasn’t that deeply religious, but she knew Martin wouldn’t budge without this approach. And as always, Martin responded.

“…Fine. Let’s send a reconnaissance team first…”

“Is that necessary?”

Catherine folded her arms.

“What now? You want to go without reconnaissance? Even if we know the terrain, should we just barge in like that?”

“And what will our dear High Priest say after we’ve done reconnaissance? ‘Go back and bring more alcohol,’ isn’t that what he’ll say? But if we all go in at once and quickly get out, he wouldn’t dare send us back in. Martin, it’s a health center. That building we all know. What’s so difficult? We just go in, take a look, and that’s it.”

Though it felt like he was being manipulated, Martin eventually agreed.

* * * * *

The 1st and 2nd Platoons weren’t fully deployed. Shelter 32 was an important missionary outpost, and removing the medics working there was unthinkable.

So the High Priest kindly ordered that “either the 1st or 2nd Platoon Leader will guide the way, and the rest will be drawn from the Elian Patrol, who recently recovered from the flu.”

“Cunning bastard.”

Catherine, who had drawn the short straw, cursed. Martin was trying hard to manage his expression, but he too was outraged at the High Priest’s cunning calculation.

“Right. Sending just us isn’t satisfying or trustworthy enough? Those Elian Patrol idiots are famous for being stupid and careless!”

“Ahem. Catherine. While Elian may show blind devotion to the Goddess, they’re not stupid or careless. They just recite salvation prayers aloud before each operation, when they’re nervous, or when they encounter zombies.”

Martin’s polite explanation provided no comfort. Cursing, Catherine packed her gear. Outside Shelter 32, five Humvees with mounted machine guns were lined up.

“Ms. Catherine? Pleased to meet you. I’m Elian, captain of the Elian Patrol. May the Goddess’s blessing be with you.”

Elian was a beautiful woman with a tanned complexion, creating a good contrast with Catherine’s pale, almost ghostly appearance.

“You brought Humvees? I’m sorry, but the central district is completely sealed off, so we can’t go by Humvee.”

Catherine was stating a fact, but Elian and her subordinates snickered, which was clearly unpleasant.

“Well, since you’ve been cooped up in the hospital, you wouldn’t know what’s happening in the world. I’m sorry to say, but the wall at the southern and western border zone has collapsed. A mad elephant broke loose. Thanks to that, there’s quite a large hole now. You didn’t know?”

“Vehicles are not an option.”

Catherine said firmly. Elian shook her head.

“We need to take them. The High Priest ordered us to bring back alcohol. He said offerings for the Goddess are needed.”

Like a crazy fanatic. Catherine wanted to curse.

“…I don’t care about the alcohol, let’s just go and get back quickly!”

As Catherine walked away, Elian flashed a slight smile.

“That’s more like it.”