First Aid
Chiyo winced as Tomo kicked the front door hard enough to make it shudder violently. She then immediately regretted it as she drew away a stubbed toe to add to her growing list of injuries.
It was locked. Of course it was locked. How could it not be? No school in the world would leave its doors open overnight, unless it was in an area where crime was truly absent. After taking the pause to put her cardigan back on as a second layer against the cold, Chiyo was about to suggest they try for home after all when Tomo knelt down to take something out of the bottom of her school bag. Chiyo didn't know whether to be reassured or scared by the confident, mischievous grin that had suddenly appeared on her face.
Eventually, after some searching, Tomo withdrew two long strips of metal, one shaped like a letter L. Chiyo lacked the specialist knowledge to say what they were or what they were called exactly, but their essential nature quickly became obvious as Tomo knelt down and inserted them into the lock before starting to pick it.
"T-that's really bad! You could go to jail for a year just for having those things!"
Tomo just kept on picking away as she decided not to listen and wondered at Chyo's priorities. The occasional click heralded the fall of each pin as Tomo steadily wiggled the straight pick around as she held the L-shaped one in place. Occasionally, she'd adjust the latter slightly, usually as a click happened. Chiyo simply looked on aghast. Was her friend a burglar?
She had plenty of time to dwell on that as the process took some time. Tomo obviously knew what she was doing, but several curses were uttered as the lock redid itself repeatedly. However, eventually Chiyo heard one final decisive click as the door unlocked to a triumphant yell. Tomo opened the door and turned around, grinning like an idiot.
"If I'm gonna join Interpol it helps to know the tricks of the other team's trade." she explained. Chiyo decided it wasn't a good time to explain that as an organisation dedicated to the monitoring of international crimes that seldom handled arrests itself, Tomo was very unlikely to be called upon to solve a burglary in Interpol.
The knowledge that Tomo wasn't a criminal however did reassure her (aside from the illegal ownership of lockpicks, but Chiyo couldn't help but find that interesting rather than reprehensible). Without another word, Chiyo joined Tomo in entering the building.
Dark and cold. That was the best way to describe what met them. There were no windows in the entrance corridor, meaning the only source of weak sunlight was the front door.
Walking forward meant walking into gloom. Tomo looked around for a few moments afraid. It was eerie enough being in an empty school, let alone one that was completely dark. In the twisting corridors and dark rooms ahead, Tomo felt like she was walking into the set of a horror movie.
But it had to be done. Bracing herself, she stepped boldly forward, prepared to explore the school in darkness.
"We'd better find a source of light soon. I don't suppose you brought a tor-"
Tomo's words and foosteps were cut off by the hallway bursting into light. She jumped slightly before looked over to her left to find Chiyo standing next to a lightswitch, looking slightly smug.
This time it was Chiyo who was trying not to laugh, and Tomo was the one weighing up whether or not her companion was too young for a boot to the knees. In the end, Tomo decided against it.
"…come on then." she said bemusedly, starting off down the hall.
The source of light only made the atmosphere slightly less creepy. A big billboard stood at the end of the hall. Chiyo took a good look at it, hoping there might be some note or instruction that would indicate another person had taken refuge here. But the billboard was exactly as she'd left it when she'd left school yesterday, simply listing the latest achievements of its pupils and announcements on various upcoming events.
There was one item that grabbed Chiyo's attention however. There was an announcement of a school play that was apparently taking place two weeks from now. That wasn't that unusual in itself. It was the type of play, and specifically the name, that caused Chiyo to stop in her tracks and pull Tomo around to point to it.
"Kanadehon Chūshingura?" Tomo asked. "Oh wow. I wonder how they managed to get this past the principal?"
Chiyo thought that was a very good question, even if the enthusiasm in Tomo's voice was a bit alarming. Kanadehon Chūshingura was a very famous Kabuki play about a band of forty seven ronin who swore revenge after their master was forced to commit Seppuku. The play contained two ritualised on-stage suicides, a massive battle and at the end, it was implied almost to the point of stating that all forty six remaining ronin committed Seppuku themselves. It was not the sort of play to be performed by highschoolers.
"Have you heard anything about this?" Chiyo asked. The play would have also been the talk of the school under normal circumstances, but with two weeks apparently left to its production, Chiyo couldn't recall having ever heard of it. This didn't seem to bother Tomo though as she looked positively thrilled at the promise of the gory spectacle.
"No, but who cares? This is gonna be awesome!"
"Don't you think it's a little rough for a high school production?" Chiyo tried to point out as much as ask. The subtlety was wasted on Tomo however.
"I wonder if they're still doing auditions. Aww, but all the cool characters are boys. Hey I wonder if I can play a samurai anyway-"
"Tomo!" Chiyo shouted, breaking Tomo out of her reverie but making slightly too much noise in the process. Both of them looked around nervously. The corridors were as quiet as ever.
Once they were done jumping at their own shadows, Tomo was left looking slightly sheepish.
"Right… I suppose this isn't the time." she said. Chiyo simply nodded and suggested they move on.
Just as they were about to turn and move towards the first aid station, Tomo stopped, looking back the way they'd came.
"Hang on." Tomo headed back towards the entrance. Closing the door, she went over to a nearby bench and started dragging it along the ground, wincing slightly at the extra strain on her injured leg. She did the same with another bench, stacking it on top of the first. Then she added a table.
Chiyo watched in bewilderment as Tomo continued this with a few more items of heavy furniture. Before long the door was thoroughly barricaded. Nothing was getting in without either their permission or explosives.
"I don't want to lock it again in case we need to leave in a hurry." she explained, though Chiyo didn't see how blocking the door with several items of furniture was going to help there. "It'll take forever to pick that lock again. Anyway, I want to get off this leg."
Chiyo wasn't quite sure why Tomo was worried about escaping from the building in a hurry, but she could understand the last point. Tomo's lower leg still looked like a swollen hunk of meat. It wasn't torn open and the damage was mostly superficial, but the area was large. The dog had left deep gashes and there would be scars there when it healed. Chiyo shivered as she realised that was what her neck could easily have looked like now.
It was then that she remembered that Tomo owed her an explanation about what had made her so determined to get to school in the first place.
"Tomo what did you see back there? Why did we have to get off the streets?"
Tomo gave Chiyo an irritated glare. "Do we have to talk about that right now?" she asked, her tone harsher than she'd intended. Chiyo noticed how tired and pale she looked, but the mystery was eating into her and she felt she deserved an answer now. Tomo's tone hadn't helped. Whatever had sent her jogging through the streets was still bothering her and Chiyo needed to know what it was.
"I want to know." was all she said, but there was an edge to her tone.
Tomo groaned, rolled her eyes and allowed herself to slump down against a wall, exhaustion still evident from her features. Chiyo made a note not to allow her to fall asleep before they got that leg bandaged. Tomo sat there for a few seconds, thinking carefully about what to say next.
"I saw… someone. In the alley back the way we came. I think they were armed with something."
"That's it?" Chiyo asked, exasperated.
Tomo saw her friend's dissatisfaction. She thought about saying more, but what was she supposed to say? She saw a monster?
After seeing those dogs Tomo was starting to believe in monsters. But she didn't want Chiyo to know that.
So she lied. Or maybe told the truth.
"That's all I saw."
"But that could have been help!" Chiyo protested. There was some anger in her voice now. "We could have found another-"
"Did you want to stay and find out?" Tomo asked sharply. She didn't understand. What did Chiyo not get? Whoever was in that alleyway, Tomo was sure they were dangerous.
"Yes!" Chiyo whined. "He could have told us where to go! We could have gone-"
Tomo lost her temper.
"Fine!" Tomo snarled. "Next time we see a strange man in an alleyway I'll send you to ask him first. You can have a tea party with his axe murderer friend! Just remember to get in the van if he offers you sweets!"
Tomo regretted that almost immediately when she saw Chiyo recoil with a pitiful look of shock and guilt on her face. While the true nastiness of that barb flew over Chiyo's young head it had still been a horrible thing to say. Chiyo's face contorted from the effort to hold back tears. Tomo sighed and stood up, using a nearby wall to stabilise herself slightly.
"Look, Chiyo…" she started
The tears came.
"…I didn't mean that!" she finished. "Look, you're right, maybe I should have…"
"I'm sorry." Chiyo interrupted quietly, her voice breaking with tears. "I'm just… I'm just…"
Chiyo stared at the floor, tears coursing down her cheeks. She fought to keep her voice steady but every word betrayed her fear and emotion.
"I don't know where anyone is. I don't know where my parents are or if they're safe or if something horrible has happened. I thought… maybe it might be someone coming to rescue us and now you're telling… now you're saying they're dangerous as well. Those dogs tried to kill us and I…. I'm…
Tomo looked on speechless. Chiyo had slumped against the wall, studying the floor to hide her face. "I'm scared." she admitted, sinking down to sit on the floor with head against her knees. She was trembling.
Tomo stood there dumbly, her mind going a mile a minute. Comforting people wasn't something she was good at. Awkwardly, she moved over to sit beside Chiyo, clumsily putting an arm around her.
"I want to go home…" Chiyo sobbed. Tomo took a full five seconds before she said anything back, moments she spent staring at the opposite wall. Wondering if anything she said could make the horrible situation ok.
"I know. I'm scared too. Listen, Chiyo…"
Tomo moved round to look Chiyo in the eyes, kneeling on the floor in front of her.
"…I know you want to go home. But it might not be the best thing we can do. Do you know where your parents are?"
Chiyo shook her head. "They left for work before me this morning." Tomo bit her lip, thinking. It was a while before she spoke again.
"Alright look. We probably shouldn't move from here just yet. My leg still hurts and those dogs might still be out there. With any luck someone friendly will find us."
"And if they don't?" Chiyo asked.
"If they don't we'll head for my place. I know Yomi is there because she was sick with the flu today. We'll head there, pick her up and then…" Tomo paused to consider what she was saying before she continued. "…Chiyo I think we need to try to get out of the city."
Conflict joined fear on Chiyo's face. "But what about the others? What about my parents?"
"We don't know where to start searching for the others. It's possible they've escaped already with the rest of the city. In any case there's no use sitting around waiting for a rescue." Especially if one might not be coming, but Tomo filtered that bit out. "If everyone left there has to be a reason and I don't want to be here to find out. Let's get my leg bandaged up, try to find something to eat and drink and search for other people. After that I think we should go somewhere else."
As Chiyo nodded Tomo gave her the most encouraging grin she could manage, but it came across as more of a forced smile. She got up to leave.
"Thank you…"
Tomo turned around again to see Chiyo looking up at her. She looked back dumbly.
"Thank you for coming back for me. If you hadn't… if you hadn't beaten those dogs off I'd be dead."
The certainty with which Chiyo said that sent a shiver down Tomo's spine. It wasn't something she wanted to dwell on.
"Don't mention it." she replied abruptly. "Thanks for patching me up."
There wasn't really much to add to that. Tomo started walking down the corridor, and Chiyo followed after, two pairs of footsteps echoing along the corridor.
The First Aid post was on the first floor, but it was also on the other side of the school, far enough away to give them plenty of time to soak in the gloomy atmosphere. It was just like outside, a world shorn of colour and warmth, yet the claustrophobic, dark corridors added to the dismal atmosphere even as the girls lit them up. Tomo was starting to understand exactly why she didn't like school. Walking the empty hallways felt more like exploring a prison. She began to wonder what it would be like being locked up half your life.
Chiyo was subdued and stayed uncomfortably quiet the entire journey. Tomo tried occasionally to make small talk, but there wasn't much to say. Talking about how things were normally simply reinforced for both of them how abnormal the situation had become.
On the way there, they passed the school security office. Teachers retrieved their keys from here and it was where the school's sole security guard was stationed.
Ieysu High was unusual in even having a security guard. Most Japanese schools didn't bother; like Britain its citizens didn't have the right to bear arms. Knife rampages had happened in the past but the political will hadn't swung round towards making guards mandatory at the turn of the millennium. Even so it was little more than a precaution and the guard, a large and imposing man who scared some of the students slightly, seldom left his office. Even then, it was usually just to yell at some miscreant caught dropping litter on CCTV or to help break up a fight. Tomo suspected his bark was worse than his bite.
At any rate Tomo was enterprising enough to recognise the value of gaining access here… and as bad as the situation was there was a certain excitement about being able to gain access anywhere. The picks came out again and she began her work. It wasn't long until the door swung open… not that it was a very imposing door. It was flimsy and Tomo suspected that a good kick or shoulder barge would probably have brought it down. Still, once everything returned to normal Tomo would have to explain what had happened here and she didn't want to cause any damage that couldn't be put right again.
The office was small and cramped. Tomo had some trouble believing that anyone could spend a full day in here. A third of the space was taken up by monitors that kept various parts of the school under supervision at all times. Most of them guarded the stairs, but a few were positioned in the hallways. Tomo gulped slightly when she realised that one of the cameras was aimed right outside her classroom door. Maybe she should stop making a reputation for herself.
The rest of the space was occupied by a large swivel chair, some magazines (a few of a nature which Tomo thought best to hide from Chiyo) and a large metal cabinet. Tomo guessed that the keys to the various classrooms were in there.
She also saw something that creeped her out. Sitting on one of the consoles was a folder. When Tomo opened it up, she was aghast to find photos of all the school's students there alongside their names.
"That creepy-"
"It's to recognise students in an emergency."
Tomo spun round to see Chiyo holding another large file, this one full of protocols. "Security officials are advised to be able to recognise as many individuals as possible in the event of an emergency. In this state of emergency security officials will be better able to recognize and attract the attention of individual students so as to better impose order on a potentially chaotic situation." Chiyo finished reading and closed the book.
Tomo felt slightly guilty at her previous outburst as she put the book down. It still creeped her out though. Tomo came in and out of her homeroom every morning and left there at the end of the day. She often talked to her friends outside in the corridors and on the way to class on the stairs. How much did the man who spent his days in here know about her? The cameras didn't have sound, but Tomo's actions tended to speak louder than her words anyway.
Tomo went for the cabinet and was relieved to find it was open. Quickly searching through the keys she took the key to the first aid room and its various cabinets, the key to the garage, the key to the locker rooms and the pool area beyond, the key to the assembly hall, the keys to a few of the larger classrooms including her own home room, the back door and roof keys and… the keys to the staff room and principals office. Well who wouldn't be curious?
Tomo also noticed something else on the ground. It was a torch and a few extra batteries. Tomo picked everything up to put in her bag. Hopefully it wouldn't be necessary.
Then Tomo saw something else that momentarily fixated her attention.
A stun gun was located in the far corner of the locker room. It occurred to Tomo that this would be the last place an intruder would search. She quickly bagged that too. Tomo really hoped these wouldn't be needed as she tried to hide the weapon from Chiyo, who was looking on with curiosity.
Eventually Tomo finished looting the cabinet and refastened her bag, beckoning Chiyo to leave. She was about to examine a few drawers in the security desk when she noticed one of the screens.
It had gone to static. Tomo noted that that screen monitored a hallway close to the security office itself. The feeling of foreboding only got worse when the screen flickered on a few seconds later as if nothing had happened. It was only static, but something bothered her about those few seconds of lost footage. She ensured they left the room quickly, in the opposite direction.
Tomo tried to make towards the first aid bay at as fast a rate as possible without arousing Chiyo's suspicions. She tried to tell herself she was overreacting. All she had seen so far was a shadowy figure, some angry dogs and some static. Yet still she checked every corner, and was mindful of the stun gun she'd ensured was at the top of her pack, within easy reach. She wouldn't be running on her leg for very long. It was starting to hurt more, and tiring too. Tomo still needed a full rest from her previous exertions, and Chiyo was a concern too. She probably couldn't walk forever.
She thought ahead. If this went on longer than a day then they would need more than just breaks to rest. At some point they were going to have to sleep. Tomo hoped they'd be able to do that once they were out of the city, but Tokyo was a big place and they were almost at its heart. It could take them a day to get all the way to the edge of town. Even travelling north to south the Tokyo area stretched a colossal 25 kilometres. Travelling east to west you would have to walk 90 kilometres from one end to the other to reach the other side. Twelve kilometres wasn't an insurmountable distance, but it would take several hours of walking. A bike on the other hand…
Camping inside the city didn't pose a problem on the surface of things. But Tomo's paranoia was growing with every second. The capital city of one of the most densely populated nations on Earth didn't just empty itself overnight.
Chiyo seemed to pick up on Tomo's tension as she was once again looking around at their surroundings frantically, as if the walls and corridors would tell them what was going on. Tomo had taken her hand again, though a shoulder ride was out of the question for the time being.
Tomo almost gave a gasp of relief when they finally got to the first aid station. She tried to open the door as quietly as she could.
She also turned a couple of lights on in the nearby corridors they hadn't been to yet, though she left a nearby stairwell to the second floor unlit. That was a bit harder to explain to Chiyo but Tomo wrote it off by saying they might as well light up as much as possible around them. Given that Tomo couldn't even rationalise to herself the idea that someone was following them she managed to make a fairly convincing case, but Chiyo's eyes were still flitting up and down the corridors when they finally opened the aid room door.
The first aid centre was fairly substantial, which was just as well because it doubled as lost and found. Aside from the medical cabinet, bed and desk, there were numerous lockers used to store all kinds of lost treasures since the start of term. A nurse was usually on duty, a fairly gruff old lady who Chiyo had had to go see on several occasions. Occasionally those cases were Tomo-related, in which case she'd usually turn up with an ice pack strapped to her head and a headache. Neither of them decided to dig up that piece of history however. Tomo went straight for the first aid pack on the wall.
Bandages! And not just bandages. Medical alcohol, torques, plasters and even material for binding up a broken or sprained limb were in here, alongside a warm blanket and… a shot of epinephrine?
"It's for allergic reactions." Chiyo explained. Tomo suddenly felt very stupid. If someone was in the middle of a heart attack there were far better options for treatment than sticking a needle of adrenaline in them.
Tomo sat down and started to unravel a few bandages, cutting through them with a pair of nearby scissors which she placed inside the first aid pack. After that it was up to Chiyo to carefuly clean the area around the wound with the alcohol before binding it up with bandages. Tomo tried very hard not to scream during the application. Once Chiyo was finally done the area felt funny, but at least the risk of infection was now much lower. Tomo also insisted on plastering up the claw marks on Chiyo's sternum, which were surprisingly deep and ugly for the size of the animal that had caused them. Tomo felt a pang of anxiety when she realized how much more severe Chiyo's injuries could have been.
That didn't leave Tomo a whole lot better off. The swelling had gone down steadily but she still didn't trust herself on that leg. On the other hand, she didn't particularly want to stay here either. Chiyo was getting settled and Tomo didn't want this rest to last very long. She couldn't say why, but she wanted to leave here as soon as possible.
Chiyo watched Tomo get up to leave. While she looked stronger she was still dangerously pale, and there was a haunted expression in her eyes that Chiyo didn't like. Aside from that Tomo still looked dead on her feet, but Chiyo had already figured there was something else going on, something which could drive Tomo into another collapse. Next time, she might not get up. She voiced the obvious.
"Are we leaving already?"
"Yup. Got to keep moving." Tomo asked, walking for the door. Chiyo grabbed her arm.
"Why?" She asked, looking Tomo directly in the eyes. Tomo sighed and pulled her arm away, but Chiyo noticed that she also moved her eyes away before she spoke.
"We'd be better off exploring the school as fast as possible. If there is anyone here with us I want to find them and if not we need to move on." Tomo had hesitated slightly before talking about finding other people, and Chiyo noticed. Tomo's priority seemed to be the opposite of what she was saying.
"On that leg of yours?" Chiyo asked, a slightly accusatory tone slipping in.
"I'm fine." Tomo said firmly, but she couldn't hide the weary edge to her tone and Chiyo wasn't buying it.
"No you're not!" Chiyo almost shouted it. "No you're not! You must have lost half a pint of blood back there and your leg still isn't healed!" Tomo grimaced as Chiyo finished her tirade, looking at the door nervously. Chiyo was starting to worry about her state of mind.
"Look, we'll search the first floor. Then we'll-"
Both of them froze. There were footsteps in the corridor, and they were coming closer.
Chiyo wanted to go out and take a look, but Tomo got her way first. Grabbing Chiyo by the mouth and chest, she quietly opened a nearby locker and pushed Chiyo into it before entering herself. She swung the door closed and, in a moment of clear thinking, adjusted the lock from inside so it couldn't be opened.
Tomo had to fight to keep Chiyo quiet, but she quickly fell silent anyway as the door flew open. Both of them stood rooted to the floor in terror as they realised that whoever was in the room with them was in a bad mood.
Whoever or whatever was on the other side of the metal door, it had come here deliberately. Tomo heard the sound of the door to the medical cupboard being flung open with some force, causing her to flinch. Below, Chiyo was already trembling.
The figure drew closer. Tomo crouched down as best she could without displacing Chiyo noisily. She prayed it wouldn't see them through the cracks…
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
It was knocking at the doors of the lockers.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
No, it was throwing them open. Tomo heard a few items falling out of lockers. The banging grew closer. It reached their locker…
BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG! The figure hammered on the door repeatedly, great big horrifying clangs which made the door sound like it was being beaten in. Fortunately Tomo and Chiyo both went silent with fear rather than screaming as they heard a growl from outside that sounded anything but human. The banging went on for a full thirty seconds until finally the… whatever it was, went away, slamming the remaining lockers before it finally reached the end and exited the room.
Tomo and Chiyo both lay there for a full thirty seconds, neither of them saying a word. Even Tomo was trembling uncontrollably now as thoughts of meeting… that out in the corridors filled her thoughts with waking nightmares. Below Chiyo had actually gone still, too stunned with shock to even shake anymore and muttering what sounded like a prayer for preservation.
When Tomo finally recovered enough to move her body voluntarily, she quietly undid the lock, got out of the locker and physically lifted the petrified child behind her out. She placed her hands on Chiyo's shoulders again and looked her dead in the eyes as she issued a series of very fast instructions.
"Upstairs, with me. Quietly. Now."
If Chiyo had been even the slightest bit calmer she might have pointed out that that going up was not a good recipe for escaping a building, but as she was Tomo could have told her to sprint down the corridor with her screaming like the first victim in a horror movie and she'd have obeyed in an instant. As it was she simply took Tomo's hand as Tomo opened the door quietly, looked both ways and headed straight for the stairs.
She got about halfway up them when the lights went out.