She was getting closer, step by step.
For some reason, it brought a feeling of fear greater than the sound of the gunshot earlier. My heart was beating faster, and I couldn't take my eyes off the masked woman.
Before she took off her mask and knelt in front of me.
What was this woman doing?
"We have to get out of here, we don't have much time."
What time was she referring to? Did she know something about the man in military attire? How had she survived the terrorist attack?
"Take this,"
She handed me a crutch, the kind used by people with leg disabilities, but wait a minute. My leg hadn't even been confirmed as broken.
Reluctantly, I followed his instructions and threw the wooden splinter, though hesitantly. I looked around the medical room. The boot prints he left behind formed bloodstains in his wake.
I took the crutch and placed it under my left armpit, but I wasn't used to using it yet.
I tried to stand on my only leg that could still walk. To my surprise, I still lost my balance even with the aid.
He quickly caught my arm before I fell again. After that, he put my arm around his shoulder to help me walk.
He led me out of the room, and the school hallway, which had been bright blue, was now dark as if it had turned nighttime. This situation was exactly the same as what had happened yesterday.
The school hallway was dark, and the electricity seemed to be out. However, the bloodstains splattered in front of the door were still very clearly visible.
I felt goosebumps all over my body and tried to look away from the corpses that seemed to have already decomposed.
This was not a dream, but a real event.
The smell and the dried bloodstains on the door felt very real, and I couldn't bear to look at them anymore. Without realizing it, I gripped the woman's shoulders harder.
But she seemed to realize it.
"This won't work," she said.
Then she let go of my shoulder and put on the mask she had been wearing before, taking my right hand.
"Follow where I lead you if you can't bear to look at these corpses. Look at my hand, don't look at anything else."
I nodded slowly, having no other choice. Besides, this method was clearly better. I didn't know where she was taking me. I passed through corridor after corridor—the more classrooms there were, the stronger the smell of corpses became.
I only looked at the woman's hand and walked on one foot. She walked very slowly, adjusting her movements to my creaking cane.
I don't remember how many classrooms we passed through before we arrived at the school storage room, which was usually used to store sports equipment.
She led me inside and finally opened a rusty silver door that had probably been left untouched for years. Then she locked it, leaving me and herself trapped in that spacious room.
I wanted to ask him why, but I already knew the reason he had brought me to this notoriously deserted area. It was probably uninhabited.
Had he brought me here to avoid the dark soldiers? Not wanting to dwell on it any longer, I looked around the storage room.
Everything was covered in dust.
Ahem.
I'm allergic to dust.
Walking around, I only saw a few shelves filled with balls or baseball bats that might be cracked. Rather than a storage area─── I'd rather call this place a dumping ground.
The gray walls were creaking and covered in black graffiti. It was truly abstract graffiti. There, I saw a staircase leading to a giant window covered by invisible curtains.
Before I tried to open it slowly.
I saw the soldiers carrying several corpses wearing the same school uniform as me, and my body felt weak.
Then the woman stood beside me and covered my eyes with her raised palm, blocking my view of the soldiers.
"If you don't want to see it, don't look."
I didn't want to see it, suddenly I remembered my friend's condition.
Frederick!
I immediately pushed away his hand, which had been blocking my view,
"Frederick, you're in the same class as him. Is he still alive?"
Then I gripped her hand tightly, hoping she would answer my question. I held her hand with both of my palms.
My eyes looked down, always thinking about the worst possible thing that could have happened to him.
"Hey... answer me."
She remained silent, staring at me. I looked at her with despair and a glimmer of hope. Still hoping that he was alive.
However, it was impossible.
"No, I don't feel any sign of life," she replied.
I felt angry, frustrated, desperate, and regretful for my reckless actions. If only I hadn't been so rash and broken my leg.
Maybe I could have given him a gentle warning, even if it was just for him.
I put on an angry face and looked back at the masked woman, hitting her shoulder with my right hand, which had no strength left.
I tried to stand up, but it hurt terribly.
"Why, why─── didn't you save them?"
I hit her with every word I uttered.
"You have enough power to save them, you... are just a fake vampire with no power."
I said that with heavy breathing, feeling my heart and soul burning with fire.
I didn't care about the condition of my other friends, but it was too late. How could I not have noticed the arrival of the terrorists?
I released my grip on the collar of the woman's shirt.
Strangely, she didn't resist at all, feeling that talking to her was useless. I immediately grabbed my krek stick and moved to open the silver door of this warehouse.
"Stop,"
Suddenly, I felt my body being pushed slightly to the side.
Srak
"Hey?! What the hell." I shouted.
"They're still here,"
Instantly, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. A group of terrorist soldiers? Why did they bring the corpses?
What's more, I didn't hear any danger alarms or anything like that. Did that woman know something?
If she had bad intentions, she should have killed me this time. So I decided to give her a little trust.
"Mako—"
"Akoto, my nickname is Akoto."
An unusual name for a woman,
"If you want to ask questions, I suggest we do it after we leave here."
The atmosphere was silent and the air was cold. It perfectly described this terrifying situation.
"After this, the entire city will be filled with masked citizens. Before that happens, we must leave immediately before They become suspicious of us."
They? Who exactly was he referring to? I couldn't comprehend every word he said to me.
It was complicated and didn't explain the urgent situation that was happening right now.
It was impossible for him to tell me to leave while those soldiers were still roaming around.