Resistance

At first, Vanessa had been a little worried, but she later found that concern unnecessary. Most people living on the streets could barely walk, and a wooden club was enough to deal with them. Those who could walk would not bother with the few slices of bread she had.

This time, however, Vanessa had an extremely bad feeling.

"Meat... meat...!!!"

A hoarse roar, thick with phlegm, forced its way from deep in his throat. Viscous drool streaked with dark red blood dripped incessantly from the cracked corners of his mouth. The man's right leg was already somewhat twisted, clearly not as it should have been.

Yet his eyes were at odds with his skeletal condition, holding an extreme excitement tinged with madness.

Vanessa was utterly horrified. She felt that what stood before her was not a person, but a crazed beast!

She frantically looked around. This was where the Clock Tower District met the Harbor District, and there was not a soul in sight, let alone a patrol officer.

Only a few scavenging crows stood on the dilapidated eaves above, their cold gazes falling on the scene below.

"This is hospital cargo! You'll be arrested!" Vanessa said, forcing herself to hold firm.

But the man completely ignored Vanessa's warning and her wooden club. Dragging his broken leg, he limped and lunged at her with a reckless, terrifying speed!

She could tell that he had once been a sturdy fellow. Life on the streets had left his eyes sunken and reduced him to skin and bones, but his large frame still showed traces of what he had once been.

Terrified, Vanessa grabbed the flatbed cart, turned, and ran for her life!

Even with his leg bone twisted, the man was not slow in the slightest. He was even faster than Vanessa, utterly heedless of his own body, like a mindless beast!

Vanessa ran until her vision darkened and she could barely breathe. She could no longer watch where she was going, only pray that she would encounter a patrol officer or somewhere with more people.

But after several turns through the alleys, a wall suddenly appeared before her.

Oh no, a dead end!

Despair washed over Vanessa. Before she could think of a way out, she felt her entire body slammed to one side.

The world seemed to spin, followed by a jolt, and then excruciating pain throughout her body.

She struggled to open her eyes, but could only make out a blur of blood.

The man had rammed her straight into the wall!

The wooden club lay nearby, but she did not even have the strength to move a finger.

The man let out a piercing cackle. Completely ignoring his leg, which had begun to bleed, he pounced eagerly.

I'm done for.

Vanessa closed her eyes in despair.

But the violence she had imagined never came. Only after a long while did she cautiously open her eyes a crack.

The sight before her made her eyes fly wide, her stomach churning violently!

Her flatbed cart had tipped to one side, and the sack containing the "cargo" had been brutally torn open.

And the crazed man was now pressed firmly against the fat male corpse that should have been cold. His filthy nails frantically tore at the sack, and beastlike, ravenous roars came from his blood-streaked mouth:

"Meat... meat... meat!!!"

Vanessa was completely stunned, her mind blank. She watched helplessly as the man lowered his head and viciously gnawed at the corpse's flesh like a hyena driven mad by hunger!

Looking closely, she saw that although his blood-red eyes were full of madness, they were vacant and utterly unfocused.

He was a complete madman, long since stripped of all reason!

Relief at having survived surged through Vanessa's heart. She drew a deep breath, endured the agonizing pain that made her feel as though her whole body were falling apart, and struggled to prop herself up. Holding her breath, she crept toward the alley's mouth like a frightened cat.

It went unexpectedly smoothly. All the man's attention was focused on the corpse, and he paid her no heed.

Good! I just need to get out of this damned alley and find a patrol officer! For the hospital's sake, he'll definitely come and deal with this!

Still shaken, Vanessa glanced at the sickening scene and prepared to leave, but her toe struck something hard.

-it was the wooden club she had just dropped.

The nail-studded club seemed to exert some sort of attraction, leaving Vanessa unable to look away.

She could not help swallowing.

She should have fled without looking back, but a somewhat unfamiliar feeling churned and roared fiercely within her chest.

She was a weak person, but at this moment, what screamed from the depths of her soul was not a call to flee, but... revenge!

She had finally managed to find this job, finally managed to crawl out of the abyss!

She had two degrees. Every day, she hauled corpses like a beast of burden. To save money, she ate nothing but baked potatoes, relying on Winnie's charity for even a decent slice of bread, and only just scraped by.

If she lost the hospital's cargo, she would lose this last job and end up on the streets.

The living were people; the dead were meat. In this city, losing your job meant death.

Vanessa stared fixedly at the man before her, as though what he was gnawing on was not the corpse, but her own flesh and blood.

How strange. The scene was clearly horrifying and bizarre, yet the fear in her heart gradually disappeared. Despair turned into searing rage, burning until her eyes reddened.

When she realized she had nothing left, she was no longer willing to retreat.

"If only someone could make the decision for me." The thought appeared so abruptly that it startled even her. She had always feared and shunned the control of that inexplicable will, yet this time, she inexplicably felt a little anticipation.

As Vanessa thought this, her legs began to move, carrying her toward the wooden club.

In her daze, the girl seemed to hear a soft chuckle.

Elliot watched the girl's card on the tabletop with interest.

He had done nothing, yet a pusher suddenly rose from the table and slowly pushed her card into the slot labeled [Combat].

As the card slid into place, the entire tabletop jolted violently! The original wooden surface abruptly flipped downward, and a brand-new combat surface, dark red like congealed blood, instantly rose! The other miscellaneous supply cards slid with a clatter into the storage area beside it, leaving only the three most essential cards on the surface, stark against the scarlet background:

[Nurse Girl] [Nail-Headed Club] [Man in a Frenzy]

Elliot's mouth spread into a grin.

"How could I refuse an invitation to combat?"

He picked up [Nail-Headed Club], placed it over the [Nurse Girl] card, and pressed them into the slot.

A rapid series of mechanical meshing sounds rang out. The slot sank down with the cards inside, and almost simultaneously, a completely new card shot out of the card outlet beside it:

[Armed Girl]

The card still bore the same girl's outline, but her bearing was utterly different. Her frail body was taut as a bow, both hands gripping the vicious-looking Nail-Headed Club, her gaze as sharp as a gleaming blade's tip.

Holding the card, Elliot turned his gaze toward [Man in a Frenzy], his mouth stretching into a grin.