The thought of escape had morphed into an absolute resolution, now bolstered by the new triple objective. I pushed the partially broken wooden door and stepped out of that cursed house.
I breathed the outside air for the first time, but it wasn't much better. The air was heavy and sunny, laden with the stench of rotting garbage and the metallic odor of blood, which now emanated more clearly from the entrance behind me.
I looked around. There was no one. The state of the neighborhood was dismal. The old buildings were ruined, the windows shattered, and a pale brown color covered everything.
Where to go?
The city was vast and unknown, and I only possessed a memory of fragmented anime plots, with no real knowledge of this specific location.
I remembered something. I quickly returned inside, towards the rusty desk. There was an old, partially shattered phone lying on the table. I picked it up. The phone wasn't functionally working; its screen was black and cracked, making it useless for calls or searching. Still, I didn't bother throwing it away; I put it in my pocket. Perhaps it had some slight monetary value.
I stepped out again, dropping my exhausted body onto the dirty ground directly in front of the house. I had to move, but there was no clear direction.
I grabbed an empty plastic bottle lying nearby. This was the best way to make a random, reckless decision befitting my situation.
I spun the bottle hard on the concrete ground.
It spun... it spun...
Its rotation slowed little by little, finally settling and pointing towards the West, toward the city skyline where the buildings looked taller and darker.
"Then, to there," I muttered.
I stood up, the kitchen knife grazing the steel wires at my belt. I began walking in the direction the bottle indicated.
The journey was long, boring, and frustrating. Cars were parked haphazardly, some completely smashed, with rusty grease covering the cracked asphalt. The further I moved from the abandoned neighborhood, the more the signs of destruction and the scarcity of people increased. Buildings were completely demolished in some sections, as if hit by an earthquake or a violent battle. I couldn't help but wonder why this city was in such a state.
The smell of blood and garbage still dominated the air, especially as I passed through the ruins.
I paused, raising the high collar of the tracksuit, which resembled Toge's suit, to cover my nose and mouth against the disgusting odor.
I continued walking west. Every step was painful. The journey, which I thought would only take a few minutes, was prolonged and exhausting, passing through masses of rubble and ruined buildings.
After what felt like hours of continuous walking, the scenery began to change slowly. The buildings were no longer completely leveled, but simply abandoned structures.
I saw a towering building, which had once been a hotel or a luxury apartment complex, but was now just a massive, dark concrete shell. The majority of its facade was shattered, and broken glass glittered under the pale sunlight.
I decided against stopping to rest, immediately dismissing the idea.
I pushed my way into the building's entrance. The interior lobby was covered in dust, and the furniture was smashed and overturned. The place was terrifyingly silent.
I began climbing the winding stairs slowly and carefully, avoiding the debris. On every floor, I found the same devastation: cracked walls, rust covering every metal surface, and clear signs of the place being looted.
After much effort, I reached the fifth floor. The hallways here were less destroyed. As I walked, I noticed something strange:
A solid iron door to a single room was tightly shut, as if its builder had anticipated a disaster. The other doors in the corridor were shattered and open.
Hope crept into my heart. I approached the door and pushed it hard with my swollen shoulder.
Screech...!!!
A loud grating sound rang out, and the door opened slightly.
I entered the room quickly.
The room was a small apartment. The destruction had barely reached it! Perhaps the solid door or its location isolated it. The furniture was simple, but intact. Most importantly, there was a simple bed, a window that still held some of its glass, and a usable bathroom.
I sighed in relief—or rather, I would have if I was breathing normally. I felt a deep, internal comfort.
"Tuna."
A wide, yet scornful and calm, smile cracked my parched lips. I had found it. A safe place. A hideout. A temporary base of operations.
Objective One was almost complete.
I dropped my exhausted body onto the old bed. It wasn't comfortable, but it was paradise compared to the dirty ground and blood I had been leaning on.
I closed my eyes for a moment. I put the knife and wires on the small table next to the bed.
Rest is enough for now.
My exhausted body finally settled onto the old bed. The relief was momentary, but necessary after the long walk and the effort I'd exerted. I set the kitchen knife and steel wires on the table beside me, like ready claws.
"Rest is enough for now," I whispered to myself.
I closed my eyes for a single moment, trying to sort the chaos in my mind, but before my consciousness could descend into the darkness of repose, I felt it.
"Swish."
I sensed something moving outside the hallway.
I instantly tensed, all my senses on high alert. Perhaps the residual blood from the three men was still clinging to me, or maybe it had attracted some creatures.
I slowly pushed my body away from the bed, avoiding any sound. I moved like a shadow towards the iron door, which was slightly ajar to allow entry. I gripped the handle of the knife on the table, but didn't pull it out yet.
I reached the edge of the door, paused for a moment, and listened.
Silence. The silence of the dead.
I slowly and cautiously turned my head, scanning the pale brown corridor beyond the door. There was nothing. No movement, not a sound, not even dust motes stirring.
I sighed a quiet relief. Maybe it was just a creak in the old building, or a figment of my exhaustion.
I turned my back to the door, intending to return to the bed and close the door behind me first.
But as soon as I turned to look at the bed...
I froze in place.
There was something on the bed.
It was not a person, but something closer to a nightmare. A swollen, disfigured human body, covered in a thick layer of corroded gray skin. The limbs looked thick and distorted, and the body itself was etched with wide openings instead of eyes and ears.
The head was a horrifying spectacle in itself. It was not merely a face, but a mass of exposed brain and coagulated blood that covered the entire upper section. The blood was slowly dripping from the cracked skull, staining the old bedsheet.
The brain looked as if it had been ripped out and then replaced in this monstrous way.
"Damn it."