Chapter 7: Three Days
We survived.
Honestly, that alone felt worthy of celebration.
Unfortunately, nobody seemed particularly interested in celebrating.
Mostly because we were exhausted.
And injured.
A lot.
The sun had already begun setting by the time we found a building Officer Sakamoto deemed suitable.
Personally, I thought it looked exactly like every other building we'd entered so far.
Gray.
Depressing.
Full of offices.
The usual.
"This one."
Officer Sakamoto pushed open the door leading to the office floor.
Immediately, he began moving.
Checking corners.
Checking rooms.
Checking windows.
Emergency exits.
Blind spots.
The entire process looked practiced.
Professional.
Like muscle memory.
After making one complete sweep of the floor, he finally nodded.
"We'll stay here tonight."
Without another word, he started dragging tables toward the entrances.
Yuri and I exchanged a glance.
Then quietly joined him.
Nobody complained.
At that point, if Officer Sakamoto had told me sleeping inside an air conditioner increased our survival rate by ten percent, I would've climbed in willingly.
Several minutes later, the floor had been transformed into a miniature fortress.
Honestly.
Calling it a fortress might've been generous.
But it looked slightly less terrible than before.
Which was close enough.
Officer Sakamoto sat near the main entrance, the Nurse's katana resting across his lap.
Watching.
Waiting.
I stared at him for a moment.
"How many times have you done this?"
Officer Sakamoto remained silent.
Then—
"Enough."
"...That's not a number."
"It's enough."
"...Fair."
A brief silence followed.
Eventually, Yuri quietly spoke.
"I'm Yuri."
The officer nodded.
"Sakamoto Daichi."
A beat passed.
Then he added—
"Police officer."
I raised a hand.
"Hiro."
Officer Sakamoto nodded.
"I know."
I blinked.
"You do?"
"You've been shouting each other's names nonstop since we met."
"...Right."
That was apparently the extent of our introductions.
Honestly.
I respected it.
Conversations required energy.
None of us had any.
I tried sleeping.
I failed.
Miserably.
Every little sound made me open my eyes.
The wind.
The building creaking.
The distant sound of something metallic falling somewhere far away.
At some point, I realized Officer Sakamoto still hadn't moved.
He remained seated by the entrance.
Watching.
Waiting.
Guarding.
"...Aren't you going to sleep?"
Officer Sakamoto shook his head.
"I'll sleep tomorrow."
That sounded deeply unhealthy.
Then again, so was this city.
Eventually, exhaustion won.
And I slept.
___________
The next few days blurred together.
Building.
Bridge.
Building.
Bridge.
Again.
And again.
Apparently, staying in one place for too long was a bad idea.
Officer Sakamoto had many rules.
Never assume a Mask is dead.
Never cross a bridge without checking the opposite rooftop first.
Always know your escape routes.
Never enter a room without knowing how to leave it.
And above all—
Avoid fights whenever possible.
That last rule sounded especially hypocritical considering how we'd met.
Still, I listened.
Because unlike me, Officer Sakamoto actually knew what he was doing.
On the second day, while crossing a bridge, I almost stepped on a loose plank.
A hand suddenly grabbed the back of my jacket.
Hard.
I stumbled backward.
The plank immediately snapped and disappeared into the abyss below.
"..."
"..."
Yuri slowly released my jacket.
"...Thanks."
She looked away.
"Don't mention it."
Honestly.
Character development.
Amazing.
We also saw other survivors.
Some alive.
Most not.
At one point, distant gunshots echoed through the city.
Several minutes later, we spotted smoke rising somewhere far away.
Nobody suggested investigating.
Another time, we spotted a Mask standing on a distant rooftop.
It never noticed us.
We left immediately anyway.
Food slowly became scarce.
Water too.
Everyone was tired.
Everyone was stressed.
Nobody said it out loud.
Nobody needed to.
On the third day, I realized something.
Blood no longer bothered me.
Not as much.
The first corpse I'd seen in this place had nearly made me throw up.
Now?
Now I simply looked away and kept walking.
Honestly.
That scared me a little.
Apparently, humans could adapt to anything.
Even rooftop murder cities.
Late that afternoon, we entered another office building.
Unlike most of the places we'd searched, this one had clearly been occupied recently.
Three bodies sat in the corner of a conference room.
Peacefully.
Almost naturally.
No visible wounds.
No signs of a struggle.
Several empty pill bottles rested nearby.
"..."
Nobody said anything.
Officer Sakamoto quietly searched the room.
Professional.
Efficient.
Yuri and I did the same.
Mostly because standing around and staring at dead people was somehow even more depressing.
A few minutes later, I found a backpack hidden beneath a desk.
Inside was food.
Water.
Medicine.
Rope.
Flashlights.
Batteries.
Useful things.
Very useful things.
Then I found something else.
A pistol.
I immediately checked the magazine.
Once.
Twice.
Seven rounds.
Actual bullets.
Human civilization had officially returned.
Without hesitation, I slipped the gun into my jacket.
Officer Sakamoto noticed.
Of course he did.
The man noticed everything.
He watched me for several seconds.
"...What?"
"Nothing."
"You want it?"
"No."
Officer Sakamoto resumed searching.
Then casually added—
"Just don't point it at your own face."
"...That's oddly specific."
"It happens."
"...What?"
Officer Sakamoto didn't elaborate.
Honestly.
I wasn't sure I wanted him to.
That night, we rested on a rooftop.
The city stretched endlessly around us.
Silent.
Cold.
Yuri had already fallen asleep.
For a while, neither Officer Sakamoto nor I spoke.
The only sound was the wind.
"...Do you think we'll get out of here?"
Officer Sakamoto didn't answer immediately.
He continued cleaning the katana for several seconds.
Long enough that I thought he'd decided to ignore me.
Finally—
"I don't know."
Honest.
Simple.
Somehow, that answer felt more reassuring than a lie.
"I'd like to say yes."
Officer Sakamoto looked out over the endless city.
"But after ten days in this place, I've learned not to make promises."
"...That's depressing."
"It is."
Silence returned.
The wind quietly howled between the buildings.
Then Officer Sakamoto spoke again.
"But..."
I looked at him.
"If we stop trying..."
He adjusted his grip on the katana.
"Then we're already dead."
I stared at him for a moment.
Then looked away.
"...You know, for a police officer, you're surprisingly bad at motivational speeches."
For the first time since I'd met him, Officer Sakamoto laughed.
A quiet one.
"Tired."
"...Fair."
For some reason, that conversation stayed with me.
The next morning, we resumed moving.
Building.
Bridge.
Building.
Bridge.
Routine.
Normal.
Or as normal as rooftop survival in a murder dimension could be.
Maybe that was why none of us noticed it.
The gunshot came without warning.
BANG!
Something slammed into my chest.
Hard.
For a brief moment, I thought I'd simply tripped.
Then warmth spread beneath my clothes.
My legs gave out.
I fell.
The world spun.
Somewhere nearby, Yuri screamed.
Officer Sakamoto shouted something.
I couldn't hear him.
The rooftop.
The sky.
The endless city.
Everything blurred together.
"...Huh?"
I looked down.
Blood.
A lot of blood.
"...Oh."
That was mine.
Then everything went dark.
End of Chapter 7