Bang!
Gunshots rang out from the rooftop where Harrison and Jose were stationed.
Ethan and I had climbed up to the clock tower to survey the surroundings. How? Naturally, through the police station’s underground passage.
The clock tower was close to the station, making it easy to reach.
Thankfully, the Kint survivors hadn’t yet taken full control of Brunel. The impostor soldiers, who had previously attempted to abduct Ethan, were keeping them occupied.
Using the spare binoculars I’d brought, I observed the ongoing shootout. The chaos was punctuated by monsters darting through the crossfire, adding to the sense of disorder. It was almost exhausting to watch.
“It’s surprising how trained soldiers are struggling against a civilian militia,” I said.
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“It’s a numbers game. Plus, the monsters are in the mix,” Ethan replied.
He had a point. The Kint survivors wielding firearms numbered at least ten, while the impostor soldiers seemed to be only three.
I handed the binoculars to Ethan and glanced toward Happy House, visible on the hill. From this distance, I could just make out Victor and Nox on the rooftop.
Right now, Brunel was host to three factions: the Happy House family, the Kint survivors, and the impostor soldiers posing as the kingdom’s military.
From a rooftop near the clock tower, Harrison and Jose waved a flag with a cherry design—our signal that they were ready. Next, it would be Vanilla and Amy’s turn to signal.
Ethan, watching the flag, turned to me. “Why do you have so many of those handkerchiefs, anyway?”
Scratching my cheek awkwardly, I explained.
Before heading out, we’d made flags for communication. Conveniently, I’d had a stash of matching cloth perfect for the purpose.
“My parents made them in bulk when I was playing cricket. They wanted to hand them out as gifts to my teammates.”
My parents had been obsessively doting—overbearing to the extreme. Their constant interference had been mortifying, especially when they insisted on distributing those handkerchiefs to everyone on my team.
Ethan’s gaze dropped to the flag in my hand. It featured a cherry motif with “Cherry Sinclair” embroidered beneath it.
“You must have been a beloved daughter,” he remarked.
I shrugged. “Sometimes a little too much. It’s why I grew up so spoiled.”
Honestly, if I hadn’t regained memories of my past life, I might have faced the apocalypse just as immature as I was before.
At that moment, another flag signal appeared near the plaza. It was Vanilla and Amy.
“Sir Ethan, the signal’s here.”
Ethan set the binoculars aside and readied the light machine gun slung over his shoulder. By now, we’d tracked the positions of all three impostor soldiers near the clock tower.
“Looks like today’s a good day to relieve some stress,” Ethan said with a grin as he loaded the gun, his excitement almost palpable.
Then, without hesitation, he aimed into the air and unleashed a relentless hail of bullets.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!
The rapid-fire was deafening and impossible to ignore.
Unsurprisingly, the impostor soldiers emerged from their building, moving toward the clock tower. Their intention to abduct Ethan was now clear.
As they exposed themselves, the Kint survivors seized the opportunity to fire at them, revealing their positions in the process. Harrison and Jose quickly began picking off the survivors one by one.
One crucial aspect of this operation was that the gunfire wasn’t just attracting the attention of soldiers and survivors. The nearby monsters, drawn by the sound, were now converging on the clock tower.
Gripping my axe, I looked down at the growing crowd of monsters. Not enough yet. We needed more.
*****
Jose and Harrison, stationed near the clock tower, were guarding a single captive—Charlie from the Kint survivors.
Cherry had insisted on keeping one alive, though Charlie’s resistance was fierce.
“Can’t we just kill him?” Jose grumbled.
“Stick to Miss Cherry’s orders and stay calm,” Harrison replied firmly.
“Man, you only ever care about what Cherry says,” Jose muttered.
Suddenly, the sound of rapid gunfire echoed from the clock tower. Jose turned to see Ethan, perched casually on the tower’s ledge, gleefully firing his rifle into the air. His broad grin was visible even from a distance.
Meanwhile, Jose and Harrison noticed a new development—monsters were swarming toward the clock tower. Their presence caused the impostor soldiers to hesitate, their approach faltering.
“Uh, are there more monsters than we planned for? What if they bring the clock tower down?”
“Miss Cherry will handle it. Focus on sniping the Kint survivors. There are eight left now,” Harrison instructed.
“Damn, still a lot,” Jose muttered.
But they weren’t much of a threat to Jose. These survivors were civilians at best, lucky enough to know how to use firearms but far from professional. Their frequent misfires, especially when shooting at the impostor soldiers, made that obvious.
Jose, on the other hand, was a sniper of the highest caliber—a weapons expert whose mainstay was the Sharps rifle.
Following Harrison’s orders, Jose tracked the next shooter among the Kint survivors and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
A direct hit.
Click. He reloaded the rifle, glancing at Harrison as he mentally tallied the remaining enemies.
“Seven left.”
*****
The sniper positioned on the rooftop, Charlie, had gone silent.
Frank, the leader of the Kint survival camp's scouting unit, was firing from a second-floor window toward the soldiers near the clock tower. Yet, something about the atmosphere in Brunel felt off.
From the clock tower, someone was firing nonstop. The relentless barrage of gunfire filled the air—a light machine gun, no doubt.
“Damn it, what kind of lunatic is that?”
There he was: a man in a police uniform, perched on the clock tower, unloading his weapon into the sky like a madman.
“Of course, it’s a cop. F***ing great,” Frank cursed bitterly, checking the situation outside the window.
Strangely, he couldn’t hear any gunfire from his team below. Had they been taken out? But the three soldiers impersonating the kingdom’s military were all within his sight.
Then who got to them? The monsters?
No, that didn’t seem likely. The monsters were all drawn to the noise, converging on the clock tower in droves.
Frank gritted his teeth. His numbers were dwindling fast. If this kept up, they’d be overrun and annihilated. Reluctantly, he decided to show himself.
As Frank stepped into the street, the scattered survivors in hiding interpreted it as their signal. They emerged from their buildings, ready for battle.
“It’s all-out war now,” Frank declared, reloading his rifle as he addressed his team.
The amateur scouts had yet to realize they were being targeted by a third party—a sniper hidden among the chaos.
Their ignorance was understandable. Brunel was even smaller than Kint, and the villagers Frank knew weren’t the type to possess illegal firearms like El did. Nor were they capable of overpowering his scouting team.
Frank turned to his group.
“They’ve only got three armed soldiers and one crazy cop on the clock tower. We can handle them—just avoid the damn monsters.”
“But, sir, isn’t the real problem those monsters?” one scout hesitantly asked.
Frank shot him a deadly glare, silencing the scout. The man shrank under Frank’s gaze, his shoulders slumping as he fell silent. Satisfied, Frank nodded and surveyed his team.
“The Brunel villagers—”
“They’re locked up in the village chief’s house,” another scout reported.
Frank nodded in approval, then focused on the monsters surrounding the clock tower.
“Jacob, Mark, you’re with me in the rear. The rest of you, move forward, take out the monsters, and secure the clock tower.”
“What? But, sir... shouldn’t we handle the monsters together? If we split up, we might—”
“Do you want me to report your insubordination to El?”
The dissenting scout’s face went pale. He quickly shut his mouth and nodded, terrified of the consequences.
Jacob and Mark obediently stood beside Frank. None of them dared risk disobeying, knowing full well that even if they survived the mission, failure to follow orders would mean no reward from El.
Reluctantly, the remaining four scouts advanced toward the clock tower. Frank and his two men followed from the rear, confident in their strategy.
“Once they move in, the only thing left in this village will be monsters. We’ll deal with them later when reinforcements arrive. No problem there,” Frank assured Jacob and Mark, his tone brimming with confidence.
The two nodded in agreement, scanning their surroundings carefully. They had no reason to doubt their plan—at least, not yet.