Chapter 118: The List of Survivors
Thunk! Roll, roll.
Garrett’s head rolled across the ground.
The headless body gushed out dark red blood in spurts, then quickly toppled over on the spot.
At the scene that had unfolded in the blink of an eye, Colton, along with the three young men, froze stiff.
And a moment later,
"Wh-what the hell...!"
"What was that for?!"
The young men trembled all over.
Shock, fear, bewilderment, and more.
With expressions steeped in all sorts of emotions, they immediately backed away from Walfred.
"Damn it! Isn’t that exactly what I said!?"
The young man with dark, tanned skin.
Donovan gripped his fire axe tight.
"From the moment the Skinwalkers showed up, we should’ve just assumed every outsider was a monster!"
A reasonable judgment.
It might seem cold from an outsider’s point of view, but that level of defensiveness was necessary to protect the shelter’s existing members.
Just as Walfred was thinking that,
the mood around them quickly turned ugly.
"What are you doing!? Hurry up and go get everyone..."
Donovan was about to call for backup.
At the sight, Walfred shook his head.
"There’s no need for that."
"Wh, what...?"
"Look over there."
Walfred’s eyes turned to Garrett’s head and body lying on the ground.
"Does that still look human to you?"
The words were barely out of his mouth
when Garrett’s body began to melt down rapidly. In no time, it changed into a form reminiscent of jelly, or a jellyfish.
The moment they saw it,
"...!?"
"A, a Skinwalker...!"
everyone’s faces went rigid.
They looked deeply shaken by the fact that Garrett, whom they had thought of as a comrade, had actually been a Skinwalker, a monster imitating a person.
"That settles it for all of you, doesn’t it?"
Colton turned to the three.
Then, pointing at Walfred, he said,
"This Hunter here can tell humans and Skinwalkers apart. On top of that, he’s powerful enough to take out a Skinwalker in a single blow."
"..."
No rebuttal came.
After all, they had seen it with their own eyes.
Maybe that was why. Instead of hostility and wariness, the three young men’s eyes began to shine with hope as they looked at Walfred, as if they were standing before a savior.
"T-to think you really had that kind of ability."
"I’m so sorry for misjudging you!"
"...I’m sorry."
The young men bowed their heads in unison.
Donovan, who had reacted most fiercely, also lowered his head as if genuinely sorry.
Walfred, for his part, didn’t mind.
If their positions had been reversed, he would have acted exactly the same as Donovan.
As the situation settled down,
"This way, Hunter."
Colton gestured toward the interior of the shelter. Then, just as they were about to step inside,
Walfred abruptly threw out a question.
"Before that, there’s something I want to ask."
"Yes? What is it?"
"Who’s managing the shelter right now?"
Before coming here, Colton had said
that Helen, the shelter’s original manager, was currently missing. In that case, there had to be someone who had taken over managing the shelter in her place.
That was the only way a group could hold together.
’Once I meet the shelter manager...’
The first order of business was a head count.
He needed to know the total number of survivors to carry out the screening process reliably.
’And I should meet the Hunters too.’
The Hunters who had returned from the investigation.
He had questions for them as well.
To find out what the strange phenomenon that supposedly occurred between Savannah and Brunswick was, and what exactly had happened during the investigation.
But then,
"Uh, well, the thing is..."
Colton wore a flustered expression.
What’s with him? It wasn’t exactly a difficult question to answer.
"What? Is there a problem?"
"Ah, it’s just..."
Colton hesitated for a moment.
Then, with a sigh, he said,
"It’s him."
"...Ah."
The moment he saw where Colton was pointing,
Walfred let out a short groan.
What lay there was the corpse of the Skinwalker that had gone by the name Garrett.
To think that thing had been the shelter manager.
"Any other manager besides him?"
"One hasn’t been chosen yet."
According to Donovan’s explanation, from the moment the shelter manager’s seat became vacant, they had been electing the next manager by vote.
’Nothing ever goes smoothly.’
Then how am I supposed to tally the head count?
If they counted people by hand, someone was bound to slip through the cracks. Furrowing his brow, he looked at Colton and asked, not expecting much,
"Is there any chance there’s a list of survivors?"
"Yes, there is."
"...There is?"
He had asked without any real expectations.
The fact that a list existed was a relief, at least.
"The Pharmacist is quite meticulous, you see."
Hearing she was meticulous put him further at ease.
If so, there was a good chance she had properly sorted out the Hunters from the non-Awakened as well.
"Where’s the list?"
"In the Pharmacist’s office."
"Lead the way."
"Yes, sir!"
Just as Colton took the lead,
a loud shout suddenly came from behind.
"I-if it’s all right! I’d like to help too!"
It was Donovan.
At the sight of him volunteering to assist, just like Colton, Walfred tilted his head.
"Why bother?"
"...I want to know who the Skinwalkers were."
His expression suggested he had his reasons.
Whatever they were, the more helpers the better, so Walfred nodded.
"Fine. Come along."
"Th-thank you!"
Donovan’s face brightened.
And so Walfred followed Colton and Donovan into the interior of the Wine Cave shelter.
***
Unlike what he had seen at the entrance, the inside of the Wine Cave shelter was quite spacious. At a glance, it looked more than big enough to house several hundred people.
How long had they walked?
Just as Walfred was thinking they had come in quite deep, the two men in the lead stopped.
"We’re here, Hunter."
"This is the Pharmacist’s office."
Creeeak!
Colton opened the door right away.
What appeared was a surprisingly ordinary room.
A worn desk and chair, a set of drawers, and a bookshelf holding a few books. That was all there was to it. Then Walfred’s gaze came to rest on one spot.
Just then,
Thump!
perhaps because of the vibration from the door opening, a file folder fell from the bookshelf. Colton immediately pointed at it.
"Ah, that’s the list."
The very thing he was looking for had come rolling to his feet.
Walfred opened the folder, and soon he had secured the list bearing the names of the shelter’s members.