443: Yamata Arahun (2)

As Kōsuke ran for dozens of meters, a half-unopened sports drink bottle on the ruins at the street corner stood out like an oasis in the desert.

The bottle was covered in mud, but the plastic packaging was intact, enough to quench the burning thirst in his throat.

He looked left and right; the surroundings were filled with survivors fleeing in panic, and no one noticed this corner.

He bent down to grab it.

"Don't move! That's mine."

A piercing scream erupted. A woman in work clothes pounced like a protective mother beast, her emaciated fingers tightly gripping Kōsuke's wrist.

The dried blood on her face mixed with dust, and her cracked lips moved, "My son has a high fever, his lips are cracked, he's barely holding on... This water is life-saving, please..."

Kōsuke violently shook his arm, his brute force flinging the woman towards a broken wall nearby.

The woman's back hit the concrete with a dull thud, and she curled up, gasping for air.

But she caught her breath and pounced back, wrapping her arms around Kōsuke's calf: "Please, just half a bottle of water... I'll kowtow to you, as many times as you want."

"Kowtowing until your head breaks won't help."

Kōsuke lifted his foot and kicked, his sole landing heavily on the woman's abdomen, again and again.

"Let that teach you to block my way!"

"Let that teach you to fight with me, baka yarō."

The woman screamed in pain, but the hands clutching his leg tightened like iron bands.

Kōsuke, infuriated by her persistence, bent down, picked up a sharp piece of shattered stone, and aimed it at the woman's head.

"Let go, you dead woman. Can't you understand human words?"

The dull thud of the stone hitting her skull was sickening.

Blood gushed out instantly, obscuring the woman's eyes, and her hands, clutching Kōsuke's calf, finally slid away powerlessly.

Kōsuke spat a mouthful of bloody saliva onto the ground, picked up the drink, twisted it open, and tilted his head back, gulping down most of it.

He tightened the cap on the remainder and stuffed it into his pocket, turning to leave. As he passed the woman, he deliberately ground his shoe sole over her blood-stained hand, his voice chilling: "Want water?"

"Be born into a better life next time, and don't try to snatch my way of survival again."

He hadn't gone far when a child's heartbreaking cries came from behind him.

He looked back to see a four or five-year-old boy, dressed in ill-fitting, tattered clothes, emerging from behind the rubble, throwing himself onto the woman's gradually stiffening body, wailing loudly.

The cries were particularly jarring on the chaotic street.

"Tsk, little brat."

Miyazawa Megumi lay sprawled on a pile of shattered stones, the black mist already Entanglement her knees, and the bone-chilling sensation was creeping up her skin.

Suddenly, she heard her daughter's familiar cries: "Mommy, Mommy, I'm so scared."

"Where are you?"

She struggled to look up and saw Miyu being dragged by a strange man towards the denser black mist, her arm clutched.

The little girl's wrist was squeezed red, and she was trembling from crying.

"No, you bastard, let go of my daughter!!!"

Miyazawa Megumi used all her strength to get up, limping on her bleeding leg as she charged forward.

The man heard the sound and turned, a greedy smile appearing on his face as he saw her rushing over: "Want your daughter? Simple, hand over all your valuables, and I'll let her go."

Miyazawa Megumi frantically searched her entire body; only the wedding ring on her finger was somewhat valuable. She quickly took it off and handed it over, her voice filled with desperate pleading: "This is all I have, take it all. Please let her go, she's still so young."

The man took the ring, glanced at it, and casually threw it onto the shattered stone ground, then kicked Miyazawa Megumi down: "This kind of trash isn't worth a life?"

He dragged Miyu by her hair into the black mist, his tone contemptuous: "This little girl has tender skin and flesh, maybe she can last a bit longer, just enough to shield me from disaster. Much more useful than you, a lame woman."

Miyu cried heartbreakingly, her small hands desperately reaching out to Miyazawa Megumi: "Mommy, save me! Why isn't Daddy coming to save us? Where is Daddy?"

Miyazawa Megumi lay on the ground, watching helplessly as her daughter was dragged further and further away, a beast-like wail escaping her throat.

The black mist had already wrapped around her waist and abdomen, the chill seeping into her bones. She suddenly started laughing, her laughter more unpleasant than crying: "Matsumoto Kenichi, you beast. I must have been blind to marry you. I won't let you off even as a ghost."

...In a nearby alley, Matsumoto Kenichi was pinned to the ground by two young men with dyed yellow hair.

His hiking bag was snatched, and biscuits and water were scattered everywhere. The young man on the left pressed a rusty iron rod against his throat, saying fiercely: "Hand over the hidden water, don't play dumb, or I'll kill you right now."

"There's none left, truly none left."

Matsumoto Kenichi's face was covered in blood, and his nose was still bleeding profusely as he struggled to explain.

"The water and biscuits were all in the bag; you took everything. I really have nothing left on me."

The young man on the right raised his leg and delivered a powerful kick to his stomach: "Bullshit, we searched and that's all there was? You definitely hid it! Hand it over quickly, or I'll break your legs."

Matsumoto Kenichi's eyes darted around.

He pointed in Miyazawa Megumi's direction, his tone fawning and urgent: "My wife has some, she has two more bottles of water in her pocket that I specifically saved for her."

"Go snatch them from her; her leg is injured, so she can't run. It's a sure thing."

The two young men exchanged glances. The one on the left raised an eyebrow and asked, "Where's your wife? If you dare to lie to us, we'll crack your head open."

"Over there in the ruins, the one in the red dress." Matsumoto Kenichi pointed in Miyazawa Megumi's direction, afraid they wouldn't believe him, and added, "She also has a ring on her hand. Although it's not valuable, it can at least be exchanged for something."

"You guys hurry, or someone else will snatch it."

The young men were convinced and ran towards that direction, clutching their iron rods.

Matsumoto Kenichi seized the opportunity to scramble up from the ground, picked up a sharp piece of shattered stone, and violently smashed it onto the back of the nearest young man: "Baka! Trying to steal my things, you're asking for death."

The young man was hit on the back of his head, grunted, and immediately fell to the ground.

The other young man turned and saw his companion fall, his eyes wide with fury: "Shit, you dared to trick us."

Matsumoto Kenichi turned and ran, shouting, "Come chase me if you dare, who's afraid of whom?"

He hadn't run many steps when he saw the area behind him shrouded in black mist, and his daughter Miyu was nowhere to be seen. He felt no guilt, but rather a sense of relief.

Good thing they're all dead; no need to be a burden anymore.

It saves him from having to share supplies with them.

"Baka, don't you dare run!"

The yellow-haired young man behind him roared in anger, clutching the rusty iron rod, and chased quickly over the shattered stones, his footsteps echoing loudly in the narrow alley.

Matsumoto Kenichi glanced back, seeing the young man getting closer and closer, panicking. He could only sprint forward desperately, the few remaining biscuits in his backpack rustling with each bump.

But just as he was about to turn into another alley, thinking he could shake off his pursuers, a dark shadow suddenly darted out from the side.