Sabin Figaro knelt and made the sign of the cross as he looked upon the body of Saikichi, gently closing the corpse's eyes as Akari rubbed his shoulder. The two hadn't strayed far from the school; they'd broken into the back door of the grocery store, and had seen Fujiyama in passing shortly after the three gunshots were fired. The pair waited until she was gone and emerged through the back door again, heading up into the park. It was there that they the first victim of the Program.

Saikichi has always been kinda quiet, Akari saw him every once in a while when she went to the mall. He would just be sweating his ass off in the arcade wile playing Dance Dance Revolution. She'd almost considered joining him once, striking up a friendship and it was now that she felt remorse. His number was right before her own. Perhaps if she'd taken that little bit of time to try and befriend the boy, he might not have been all alone out here, in this hellish city, dead and bleeding. He could've joined them…Sabin and herself…but she didn't even consider looking for him, or calling out to him after she left the building. She was too concerned with simply waiting for Sabin, and getting out of the area.

There had been three gunshots, yet Saikichi's wound was clearly not that of a bullet, and there was no sign of a gun or any kind of weapon lying around. There were also distinct signs of bullet holes marking a tree not far from where the body had been laid to rest. This knowledge led the duo to assume one of three possible conclusions. First they considered the possibility that Saikichi was attacked by someone with a gun, who missed and gave up on the weapon, choosing instead to use a more close range attack. This was dismissed as the shots were fired into a tree, and no one could be that bad of an aim, and the fact that a gun, no matter the situation, would be better to use in a fight than a melee weapon.

The second option was that he attacked first, with a gun, and was then killed by the person he'd tried to off. This was thrown out as well, given the fact that nine times out of ten, a gunman would be able to kill someone before they got around behind to deliver the final blow. So this meant that only the third option remained, that there were at least two people against Saikichi, and he must've tried fending one off while the other got behind him and took him out. That meant that even teams couldn't be trusted…a sad thought that anyone in their class could have been the killer.

The snap of a twig rang in Akari's ears and she looked up just in time to push Sabin behind the tree as a blare of gunfire erupted from the muzzle of a submachine gun pointed directly at the pair. Akari dove behind another tree, but not before taking a shot to the arm, causing her to scream out in pain as the attacker moved forward into the clearing.

Sefi Rasu had lost track of Kasumi and decided that rather than trying to personally defend her, he would simply eliminate all possible threats to her survival. The trio he'd found in the park were the first he'd found since he began his hunt. Not seeing the massive, gaping head wound on Saikichi, he simply assumed that the boy was still alive and playing possum. Holding up his Uzi, he fired at the corpse, blowing Saikichi's face to bits and pieces, the blood spraying onto the nearby form of Sabin.

His eyes darting over to Akari, Sabin looked to her for some kind of plan, only to see the girl, in his eyes the strongest in the class, writhing in agony and clutching at the bleeding hole in her bicep. For once, he would have to come up with the plan and lead the way for her. Looking around, he saw no way for it to be safe so long as the shooter was still out there with a full clip. Still think, he dug a patch of dirt and scooped it up in his palm, whispering across to Akari.

"Psst…Kari! When he fires, you run, you get your ass over here and we're gonna make a run for it, okay?"

Wincing in pain, she nodded, motioning for him to give her a minute, before tearing the hem of her skirt off and tying a tight tourniquet around her arm. She gave the thumbs up, and Sabin knew it was time for action. Looking out for just a second, he saw the bloody and almost unrecognizable face of Saikichi, and beyond him, the psychotic, gleaming eyes of Sefi. He turned to the other side of the tree, wound up, and through the dirt, listening to the light sound it made against the dead earth of the park.

Sefi took the bait and swung around, firing his Uzi, and Akari bolted across the gap into Sabin's arms. Sefi saw this and turned, but they were already running, hearts pumping and legs moving as fast as they could possibly go, Sefi didn't bother giving chase. He'd already made his first kill, or so he thought, Saikichi had no weaponry on him it seemed, but that didn't matter. Even when he would return the Uzi Kasumi had left for him, he still had his own pistol tucked away within his bag, and he was willing to use it if necessary.

Sabin and Akari didn't stop running as they made their way through the circle of houses west of the park, too distracted to notice the body of Fujiyama, who they'd seen not 20 minutes before. They didn't stop until they reach the main road and noted the church on their maps, which indicated the close proximity of the edge of the playing field. There was a hospital nearby, and Akari's wound would need to be looked at, so that was their first destination.

It was a short walk, and as Sabin pushed open the door, Akari yelled into the empty medical facility, checking to make sure that it was safe to enter. Sabin led the way, directing Akari into an examining room where, despite his protests, she removed her blouse to give easier access to the wound. Careful to avoid touching any part of her bra, Sabin turned on his flashlight to get a better look. The bullet had struck the bone, and it would be easy enough to remove…the problem was getting into the wound.

"Akari…um…I can get the bullet out…but this is probably gonna be really fuckin' painful."

"I can take it. You know I can."

"Okay…just lemme get some antiseptic so you don't get infected like Shimizu from two years ago…or Inbuko from last year."

"Yeah…"

Akari sat patiently, holding onto the tourniquet as Sabin rummaged through shelves, knocking down jars of cotton swabs and bandages before finding a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. Returning to her side, Sabin unscrewed the cap and tilted the bottle just slightly, letting the liquid roll over the wound and feeling the pain as Akari squeezed his hand rather tightly in an effort to keep from screaming too loud. After the wound was washed, he pulled the ice pick from his backpack and pressed the tip into the hole, trying to fish out the bullet.

It was at that moment, with Sabin appearing to be stabbing his weapon into the arm of Akari, shortly after her scream had echoed through the hospital, that the door burst open and Ino leapt in brandishing a kitchen knife. Right behind her stood the class president, a bit disheveled, but otherwise okay, carrying a pair of shurikens, her body blocking the figure of a somewhat less aggressive Yuri Sakazaki.

"Get away from her!"

Ino drew the knife to Sabin's throat, pulling him away from Akari while Hara and Yuri moved to the girl's side, concerned and hurriedly asking what had happened and if she was going to be okay.

"What'd you do sicko?! She didn't wanna fool around so ya stabbed her?!"

"No! I would never…I don't even wanna be here!"

"Liar!"

"He's not lying…me and Sabin found Saikichi dead…and then Sefi attacked us. I took a bullet in the arm…he was just trying to fix me up."

"Yeah…the bullet's still there, and I was using the pick to try and scoop it out."

"And it really hurts…so I'd kinda like him to finish."

Ino gave Sabin a look to say she was watching him, and let him go. While she positioned herself to hold Akari's hand, Sabin plunged the pick in, striking metal. It took a few tries, and Akari screamed the whole time, but he finally managed to hook the tip of the blade under the lodged projectile, and soon enough, it came loose of her flesh and fell to the ground. After Sabin applied another helping of peroxide along with a bandage, Akari redressed, taking a moment to address the three girls.

"So how long have you guys been here? How'd you team up?"

Hara assumed the role of speaker for the group once more, using a variety of hand gestures and her own map to demonstrate how exactly the three had met.

"Yuri left first and she came here, thinking the hospital was the best place to go for safety, with all the medicine and stuff. Ino thought the same got here. I wanted to wait around for Shun to come out, but I saw Saikichi hiding…and he had a gun…so I just ran. I thought about coming here too…same reason. I guess we were all right."

"Did any of you see Ryo on your way here?"

"Hazuki? No...you guys see Tanaka?"

"No…sorry…why're you looking for him?"

"I have my reasons…"

Akari nodded, understanding and windmilling her arm a few times, wincing just slightly as the pain was finally starting to die down in her. She hopped off the medical bench and headed for the door without anything else to say to the girls.

"Where are you going?"

"Sabin and I need to find Ryo…if he's playing, it's our job to stop him, and if he's not, it's our job as friends to defend him."

"So you're just gonna leave? You don't think he'll come here on his own?"

"Nah…Ryo's not like that…he's gonna be searching the streets long before he even thinks about going inside. So we need to find him…it's not safe out there. If we find him, we'll come back here…"

"Well if you're gonna go…take one of these…we have no use for two."

Hara reached out and Yuri unzipped her bag, pulling out a black walkie-talkie and handing it to her. Hara then in turn extended the item to Akari, who took it and shoved it into her bag alongside the provided katana. The two females stared at each other for a moment, each admiring the other's strength before Akari quickly departed from the room with Sabin close at her heels.

"If you find Ryo…or Yo…contact us!"

Akari whispered a simple yes as she exited the building, ready to seek out her friend, glad to know that she and Sabin weren't the only ones not playing the game.