Surviving the Apocalypse with Crafting Skills

-Whoosh, whoooaaah.

The jet of flame shot out fiercely like a spear, starting to pierce through the resisting mass of flesh.

Lying on the ground, the severed hands and feet attempted to crawl away, but they too slowly burned and sizzled under the flame thrower wielded by James.

The abundant blood on the ground boiled and stuck, and the wriggling lump of flesh that came toward us turned into ashes.

“Hahahaha, ahahahahaha!!!”

Unlike the excited Curtis, all I could do was stare blankly at the burning lump of flesh.

Certainly, it was a gloomy, eerie monster.

Now, it was just becoming a huge lump of charcoal.

Too meaningless.

“Kieeeeek….”

Who knows how large the thing’s size was, but the deafening noise echoed off the walls.

Surely there were faces on the ‘tail’ too.

If not, there’d be no way cries of pain would come from the parts being burned.

“Reload.”

“Reload!”

Taking out an extra oil tank from the cart, I removed the one James was carrying.

With the wrench from my pocket, I separated the hose connecting the fuel tank to the launcher and cleaned it out.

Connecting it to the new oil tank and tightening it with a wrench, I placed it back on James’ back.

With a gesture of his hand pushing me aside, James aimed the flame thrower at the ground again.

-Fwoooosh.

Once again, a flame as bright as the sun surged before my eyes.

The red hands and feet that had been trying to climb up the wall to stop the source of the flames fell to the ground upon being hit by the jet of flame.

Until now, I had only seen James as a father fiercely protecting his daughter.

Unlike Curtis, who was laughing as if drunk on the flames, James was silently adjusting the flame, spraying it while observing his surroundings and stamping down firmly on any flailing hands or legs to finish them off.

This scene hammered into my mind the fact that he was a former soldier.

I couldn’t do anything but stand there…

“…Xuan Woo!”

Startled by the sudden call of my name, I came to my senses and saw James nodding at me.

The tape wrapped around his arm had long melted away due to the heat.

But the direction he was pointing to… was the passage.

More specifically, a passage with electrical wiring.

“The generator you were looking for.”

Saying that and nothing more, James proceeded to clear the way for Curtis’ flamethrower as it continued advancing.

A fireworks show of sparks falling from the ceiling.

I wonder how many days it had been since I hadn’t seen the sky.

Of course, in reality, it had been a long time since I could find stars due to fine dust and pollution…

“Xuan Woo!”

When I turned around due to someone shaking my back, Sarah was pushing me toward the passage.

Dietrich followed closely behind.

“…Haa, haa.”

How far had James and Curtis advanced to create some distance?

When I opened my gas mask, sweat poured out.

As Sarah placed the oxygen tank on the ground, that annoying ringing in my ears returned.

While wiping off the sweat with my soaked sleeve, Sarah and Dietrich were both fanning themselves with their hands, breathing heavily.

“Phew.”

“Impressive, these former soldiers. Amazing, all of them. Even though these are flame-retardant suits, they act as if it doesn’t affect them at all.”

Speaking with a somewhat excited voice, Dietrich suddenly looked at me.

“You mean to say we should dissect something like that? Find the weak points of such creatures? Honestly, I’m curious. It’s quite beyond common sense. Lumps of flesh fused together to be so large? Where does it get its energy from? Does it have a digestive system? Does it use the digestive systems of each individual part? Or—”

And then, with her eyes glazing slightly, she began to pour out her words like a madwoman.

“Are there no limits to the living organisms it can absorb? Or rather, how are the biological organs connected in the first place? Do the brains remain intact? Do these brains connect in series or in parallel? Do they become smarter as they absorb knowledge—gurggle!?”

“Spirit, try to regain some composure.”

Before I could say anything, Sarah grabbed Dietrich’s cheeks and pulled them down sharply.

“Euueee.”

“It looks like the adrenaline went to your head—doesn’t it? The adrenaline has completely confused your thoughts.”

“That’s right.”

“Gurgle, gurgle.”

Despite the stretched cheeks and trembling lips, I couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

Of course, I had to wear the gas mask again because of the suffocating smell of decaying flesh that entered through my nostrils and the foul stench that weighed on my head.

“Chuuuuuf.”

Taking a deep breath and exhaling while looking around.

The sound of flames being spewed continued.

At the same time, black smoke rose endlessly, darkening the ceiling.

We needed to activate the ventilator before the oxygen became more contaminated.

Which was, of course, located just ahead near the generator.

“…Urgh. This.”

As expected.

Monstrous creatures would not have appeared out of nowhere.

There were signs of survivors all over the floor.

Rotten food, burned pots.

The wet traces of blood on the floor and bandages rolling around.

The dried blood stuck to the corners.

“…People…people were here first….”

Shaking the oil drum in the corner, the weight of the drum swaying could be felt.

After opening the cap and feeling around in the dark for the fuel tank of the generator, Sarah quickly turned on her flashlight and shone it into the opening.

-Chunk, chunk, chunk. Chug, chug, chug…

Pulling the rope hard three times, the ceiling lights began to light up with a trembling sound.

However, the room was not as bright as expected.

“…What a mess.”

The stains that were not visible with just the flashlight were everywhere.

The grotesque, grotesque state of the room with blood smeared all over was more than unpleasant.

“I anticipated, huh…yeah…this much. A bit more.”

Until now, thanks to the effects of the medication, Dietrich, who seemed somewhat excited, got up, brushing herself off and actively looking around.

But it didn’t look like she could keep that up for long.

“Let’s go back and try opening the bunker door together. With the heat and smoke, there likely won’t be any approaching creatures. Dietrich?”

“Yes, yes! I heard it. Let’s hurry back to watch the burning show. Ah, can we collect some samples?”

“Um… while smaller ones might be manageable, I hesitate to tamper with the larger ones. They can devour an entire pig whole.”

“But wouldn’t it be hard to find beings like those connected in such a manner again? Honestly, I’m curious. It’s like some biological adhesive that merges different organisms into one….”

Even with adrenaline messing up her brain and making it chaotic, doesn’t she?

Is it the same person who cautiously mentioned dissection of a corpse earlier?

“Let’s go quickly. We have to find out as much as we can.”

Before I could stop her, she pulled out the shotgun from her waist, gripped it tightly with both hands, and dashed off.

Watching her dumbfounded.

And.

“Was she always like this…?”

Sarah, turning her head to ask me.

“I don’t know.”

“The one who brought her in, no less?”

“Even if I’m the one who brought her in, how on earth could I know she’d act like this?”

“…If we inject adrenaline, will she push forward a bit more manfully?”

“Huh?”

“Hm?”

This darn gas mask.

Not only is it fogging up, but it also echoes and numbs the sound, ugh.

“Let’s catch up quickly. I want to take a shower as soon as possible.”