Chapter 96: The Name That Made Her Tremble
The two women who appeared alongside the hunters.
The two looked to be in their fifties and twenties respectively, a fairly wide age gap. One unusual thing was that the middle-aged woman was supporting the younger one.
In the meantime the distance had closed before he knew it, and the instant Walfred saw the younger woman’s face, he was certain.
’So that’s Erica.’
Her overall appearance matched what he’d heard from Lauren in the past. On top of that, her delicate, finely set features were the spitting image of Lauren’s.
’But...’
The relief of having finally found her was short-lived.
His brow tightened. And no wonder, since Erica’s condition looked far from good.
The grimy clothes and the gaunt, skin-and-bones frame he could let slide, given the circumstances.
The problem was Erica’s expression.
Pupils that had gone hazy and unfocused.
A precarious gait, so unsteady she couldn’t even walk properly without someone holding her up. And the look on her face, staring blankly into empty space the whole time, like a person whose soul had left her body.
At a glance, she seemed half out of her mind.
"Why is she in this state?"
"That, even we aren’t quite sure..."
The hunters wore awkward expressions.
Then they pointed at the middle-aged woman who’d been supporting Erica and spoke.
"This person might know."
"We heard she lived together with Erica at the shelter where Erica was staying."
The instant those words finished.
Walfred, and Margaret beside him, turned to look at the middle-aged woman. Perhaps because everyone’s eyes were fixed on her, she shrank back a little.
"W-well, you see, the thing is..."
The middle-aged woman’s name was Marcie.
She’d met Erica about two months ago, by her account.
Marcie had moved over to the Spring Mill Station shelter after the Chestnut Hill Station shelter she’d been living in fell apart due to some incident, and that was when she met Erica.
"Back then, Erica had a lively personality. She wasn’t shy at all and got close with everyone right away."
Maybe that was why.
Marcie, an outsider at the time, had gotten close with Erica quickly too. After that, Erica kept on treating refugees from various shelters with warmth.
Then tragedy struck.
"...It was probably about three weeks ago."
Marcie bit her lower lip lightly.
As she did, shadows fell over the faces of Margaret and the hunters who were listening along.
"Three weeks ago, you said..."
"I see. A survivor of that incident?"
Their reactions made it seem they had a guess about something, so Walfred immediately threw out a question.
"What is this incident you’re talking about?"
"Ah, that’s..."
"...This is something I’d better explain."
Just as Marcie was about to speak.
Margaret beat her to it. After a short clearing of her throat, she opened her mouth with a serious face.
"Three weeks ago, a B-rank gate broke open near Philadelphia National Cemetery."
The B-rank gate, [Ice-Pick Ant Den].
There were no shelters around the cemetery, not even anyone passing through, so when it appeared, no one noticed the gate’s existence.
And as a result.
The catastrophe of a gate break occurred.
"The ants’ advance was vicious at the time. We immediately mounted a counterattack, and a defensive line was formed centered on Walt Whitman Bridge and Girard Avenue Bridge."
Philadelphia’s hunters fought fiercely.
Finally, on the tenth day of the gate break, the hunters at last exterminated the gate boss and succeeded in clearing the Ice-Pick Ant Den.
But the problem wasn’t over.
"While investigating the shelters in the areas the ants had overrun to assess the damage, we found out that a considerable number of people had been carried off."
The Spring Mill Station where Erica had been was no exception. So the hunters hurriedly combed through the ant tunnels inside the gate with a fine-tooth comb.
"Fortunately, we rescued some of them, but..."
Their condition was anything but whole.
It couldn’t have been otherwise.
The reason the ants had carried off the survivors was to use them as food for their larvae.
"From what we heard later, the people taken prisoner by the ants vividly witnessed their families and companions being eaten alive by the larvae."
"..."
Walfred couldn’t say a word.
Watching your family get devoured alive while you stood there powerless, unable to do anything, was too horrific even to imagine.
And on top of that, they must have lived in dread of meeting a similar end themselves at any moment. That state had dragged on for a long stretch, and they’d lost their minds because of it.
Just like the Erica before him.
"From Marcie’s story, it sounds like Erica was one of the survivors we rescued from the ant den back then."
"Th-that’s right. I was assigned to the search team at the time, so I escaped the worst of it, but Erica... *Sob!*"
Marcie answered, on the verge of tears.
Right after learning the whole story.
Walfred gazed silently at Erica.
’To think there were circumstances like that.’
Now it made sense.
No matter how lively your personality was, going through something like that would inevitably break your mind.
’But I can’t leave her like this.’
Walfred knew.
In this frozen world, it wasn’t only the cold and the monsters that threatened survival.
Lose your reason or purpose for living, and more often than not you wouldn’t last long before you died. Before becoming a hunter, he’d seen that sight countless times.
’So...’
He had to get her to come back to her senses somehow.
Otherwise she might not hold on until Lauren came. With his thoughts in order, Walfred slowly stepped toward Erica.
And he greeted her with a smile.
"Hello, Erica."
"..."
"My name is Walfred."
Walfred spoke while meeting Erica’s eyes, but she showed no reaction whatsoever.
She just stood there blankly like a broken doll, staring into empty space. He tried a few more words after that, but all that came back was silence.
So he decided to throw out a word that might stir Erica.
"Lauren."
Namely her one and only younger sister.
The moment he mentioned Lauren’s name, Erica’s shoulders trembled faintly for an instant.
It was a very slight reaction, but Walfred didn’t miss it. So after that he calmly recited Lauren’s name several more times.
A little while later.
"Lau, ren...?"
Forcing its way through lips as dry as a desert, a rasping voice trickled out. Walfred didn’t let the chance slip and nodded.
"Yes. Your younger sister, Lauren."
"Lauren, my sister, Lauren..."
She just mumbled Lauren’s name blankly.