[TL: Due to lacking support I will not be translating any new chapters as I am focusing on uploading more chapters on series that people are willing to pay for (This is my job lol don’t hate me for it.) If you wish to keep reading this series via me translating simply join the discord and message in general chat. Even just 1 or 2 people doing it could make me continue :)]

Bang, bang, bang, bang.

A deafening noise that felt like it could burst my eardrums.

At this rate, we were going to attract every monster in the area from the very start.

But, well…

Since we were securing a safe zone, it didn’t really matter.

"Remember when we used to go hunting in the woods, Dad?"

"I’m not that old yet, kid!"

A war veteran, huh.

Always talked about how terrible war was.

I still remembered the grim expressions they both wore whenever it was brought up.

Yet here they were, shooting away without hesitation…

Maybe it was just the thrill of getting a chance to fight back after running for so long?

Bang, bang.

Blood splattered across the ground and parasite fragments rolled over the floor.

James stepped over the blackened flesh with his boots.

"Reloading!"

"Take your time! They’re running now!"

Still, the smoke was getting unbearable.

I could barely—

“Achoo!"

Bang.

I rubbed my nose just as a zombie, now missing its head, collapsed to the ground.

We must have pushed forward about ten minutes from the barricade.

A large hall connecting three corridors was now completely… well.

A bloodbath.

The zombies were gone, but if we left this mess unattended, disease would spread like wildfire.

"Let’s see… That makes sixteen for me."

"I got twenty."

"Showing off to an old man now, huh?"

"You’ve been hiding those gray hairs for a while now. What’s so youthful about that?"

"You saying that for me to hear, James?"

While I worried about the aftermath, James and Curtis casually exchanged words, laughing.

But seriously, what were we going to do with the bodies?

If we couldn’t find a well-ventilated space, burning them was out of the question.

And feeding them to the spiders… too risky.

Wait.

Speak of the devil.

"...Damn spiders."

Sarah’s bite must have still been on their minds because their expressions immediately darkened.

Assuming bullets wouldn’t work, James slung his gun over his back and searched for a metal rod like I had before.

But—

"No need, I got this."

Curtis stepped forward, ejecting the loaded rounds.

Instead, he pulled out white shells marked ‘AP’ in black pen and loaded them one by one.

"What’s that?"

"Special ammo."

"Special ammo?"

"Curtis asked me to help him make these."

At first, I was unsure how to explain away all the materials in the workshop.

But since we had dismantled empty supply crates to use as wooden planks, I never had to make any excuses.

"Buckshot is still a bit tricky without steel pellets, so we’re testing rounds that guarantee stopping power as long as we hit the target."

"...Huh."

James shot Curtis an odd look.

Something like… discontent?

Curtis gave an awkward cough.

Was James just annoyed that Curtis got them first?

"If you need—"

"Quiet, they're closing in."

The overheated barrel aimed forward.

The spiders, making hissing sounds, crept forward step by step under the weight of their own bodies.

So arrogant, relying on their thick exoskeletons.

But this time, for sure—

Thud.

The bullet punched a green hole straight through the armor.

Its legs wobbled before collapsing to the ground.

"...Huh?"

"Hah! It works!"

Another shot flew toward the second spider.

Thud.

Green blood splattered everywhere.

"That’s a slug round, right? No, wait, it isn’t?"

"It’s a slug. Just modified a bit."

Curtis laughed as he reached into his pocket, but—

"Tch, fast little bastards."

The spiders scurried into the dark alley and out of flashlight range before he could reload.

"...What the hell kind of round does that? I thought their armor could withstand 5.56 rounds."

"This."

I pulled out an improvised AP slug from my pocket.

A nail with a nut welded onto the head.

Unlike traditional slugs, which were just heavy hunks of metal, these had sharpened points designed to pierce through.

"...A rivet head with a nut welded on. Huh."

"You’ve got hands of gold, kid. You’re a walking factory!"

Curtis clapped me on the back, laughing heartily, then scanned the surroundings.

There was no sign of movement.

Not surprising, no one would approach a place where dozens of gunshots had been fired.

A single shot could attract scavengers or guards from other factions, but sustained fire had the opposite effect—keeping people away.

Even stray dogs and land bats had cleared out.

"So, what now? Should we check for supply crates?"

"I’ll go see Sarah. She’s been alone for a while, she’s probably worried."

"Give her some space, the door’s locked. I even set up a tripwire."

"You set up a what?"

Curtis grinned and started explaining grenade mechanisms, which had given him the idea for an improvised one.

Stuffing a pipe with gunpowder and nails made a simple pipe bomb.

Hooking up a lighter and a string to the fuse made it a deadly trap.

"Come on…"

"If you can use something, use it to the fullest. Ain't that right?"

James sighed as Curtis shrugged, laughing.

He glanced at me with concern.

"I’m fine, it was interesting and I got to watch the two of you put on a good show."

"...I need to have a talk with my father later."

Curtis had already settled down, pulling a crowbar from his bag and wedging it into a crate.

"Careful, I’ll do it."

"Just go see Sarah already. Come on, help an old man pry this open."

James grumbled as he headed back to the base, while I, drawn by the knocking sound of Curtis tapping the wooden crate, moved closer.

"Thought we’d have to find a military bunker for supplies, but it looks like we lucked out. You’ve got golden hands, kid."

"Ha…"

It was really just the Crafter's skills at work.

While other classes struggled to find armor-piercing rounds or spent a fortune on them, the Crafter just clicked.

Well, not clicked anymore.

I had to work my hands black making these now.

"Still, look at this label."

The letters were scraped and faded.

But the bold ‘U.S.’ was still legible.

"Smells promising. If we’re lucky, there’ll be guns and ammo inside. Give me a hand."

Clearing out an enemy-infested area always led to good loot spots.

That was practically a rule.

I threw my weight into the crowbar wedged into the crate.

"Ugh…"

Creak, crack.

The nails slowly gave way, and the lid lifted.

I immediately shined my flashlight inside.

"Whoa."

Curtis’s eyes lit up.

He grinned wide, hands trembling slightly.

What lay before us was… well, mostly chunks of metal and an ammo box.

"Huh."

I pulled out the ammo can.

.50 Cal.

.50 caliber?

Wasn’t this for anti-materiel rifles?

"Decent find, this is—"

"Decent?"

Curtis’s aged hands traced the metal.

Slowly, gently.

Yet firmly.

With a grunt, he lifted something heavy—no trigger, but it looked like… a machine gun?

"You’re looking at a relic older than my time in the war. It’s still on battlefields today."

"Relic, huh."

"Some Marine once shot a guy 1.4 miles away with this. But more importantly, it’s about what this thing spits out."

".50 caliber rounds, right?"

"At least you know that much. Even if you don’t know the gun."

I didn’t.

I’d never seen it in use.

It looked like a mounted machine gun, but in the game, those only appeared on armored trains or in the Empire’s bunkers.

Still, it didn’t quite match the ones in the bunker.

Those looked like actual guns.

This was just a hunk of metal.

"Thin steel plates? It shreds through ‘em. Limbs on the other side of walls? Turns ‘em into confetti. If it hits center mass, well… they’ll be throwing up everything they ate that day."

Curtis nodded slowly, lost in memories as he ran his hands over the gun.

"Ever fired one yourself?"

"The only thing that felt better in my hands than this thing was James’s mother."

Well, his mouth was rough.

"Should we take it with us?"

"If you’re not taking it, you might as well leave me here."

Damn.

My muscles hadn’t even recovered yet.