„Walking down this road I´ve never been before

It´s so hard to realize the painful truth

And everything around us looks unreal to me

But now my time has come, please tell me that I´m wrong.

My love will give you comfort, make you strong...

All those hopes and plans that grew along our way

Will always be a never-ending dream

And I wish I´d had the time to tell you how I feel

But when the lights go out, your faith is all I have

Forever to your heart I will belong...

Remember how it used to be when we had just sunny weather

Every little thing seemed possible

But even in the darkest times our hearts will stay together

´Cause love will find a way, yes love will find a way."

(Shakra: Love will find a way)

Chapter 34

The unending darkness had suddenly stopped, after a sharp light Rena Bando's senses became clear. At first, she could see blurry forms and colors of her surroundings, she needed some time to realize what was happening around her.

Or so far.

The events of the past few hours ran through her brain with the speed of light as she returned to reality physically and spiritually as well.

Cold raindrops were falling to her face, which could be felt as freezing as the narrow yet high pit she found herself in. The only light she could see was a blurry, floating round, the entrance of the dwell or whatever it was.

Rena's first thought was:

Light at the end of the tunnel? Is it already the end? Then why does it hurt?

She was quite stiff and in pain what she felt unbearable. The scruff was the worst like the whole skin had been removed from there. She tried to raise her arm to touch the wound, but she did not even have enough strength to do it. She whimpered. At least she could turn her head aside, but like every movement she made, proved to be a horrendous effort.

She took a long look around when she concluded that it could be a dried-up well indeed. It was probably covered with planks, which, despite Rena's weight of a snowflake, broke in, so the girl ended up in its bottom. Yes, that would explain those old pieces of wood scattered around, mixed with the pebble stones. Rena felt a few under her body, their rusty nails poked her without mercy.

The pain was so disturbing and did not want to go away. Sadly, she could not do anything. Her limbs became as cold as ice, the only heat she produced came from the back of her neck in a form of something clammy and liquidus. She must have been bleeding. Another proof that she was not dead, but her temperature was dropping too fast. She shivered, felt cold more and more.

How long has she been there by the way? What happened out there? What about the electric fences? The others? The danger zones? And Rena's biggest concern: who will take her out of this pit?

Is Dan willing to look for me at all? Will I be alive? Or I bleed out, maybe my wound gets infected...

Not to mention, that there were worse things than that. Eaten alive by slimy creatures or rats, before her body could cool off. The last one would have been nice. They say freezing to death is the most pleasant way of passing. We can experience a lot of peaceful things.

No matter how hard she tried to accept the fate that awaited her, she could not do it. She had a short career in life; happy moments, sometimes some bitterness, but she finally realized that she had not lived yet. The time they spent with Dan was mostly learning together, as students in Zentsuji Nr. 4, there was a lot of information to memorize.

Dan...

She was overcome by emotions. This name meant a treasure to her. Then she became rebellious with terrible rage inside, the love towards him vanished in no time. Why is he not looking for her? This gaming area is not that big that Dan could not find her after so much time.

Here we go... And I start to hallucinate...

She could bet she had just heard the voice of his beloved, in reality, and it was not her imagination deceiving. She shook her blond tuft. Strange. She could still hear Dan's voice.

He's here!

She broke into a tired smile.

"Fucking sons of a whore! Goddamn soviet pieces of shit, they made us fight each other! And that asshole Fuyuki obeys them like a servant! They all can go to the fiery hole of the archdevil in hell!" Dan Nomura kept cursing with an intensifying voice, which meant that he was approaching.

Rena was delighted: she escaped eventually. Not only Dan did not forget her, he came for her. She wanted to shout, to draw Dan's attention, but she was unable to give out any sound. The curse of the dry mouth and the thirstiness. The only noise she could produce was a weak whimper.

When she was looking right into the middle of the round blurry light, she could see the forest which covered the sky from that angle. She also saw Dan's shadow as he jumped over the pit like a cat, sadly, he seemed too busy to look into the deep.

Why don't you look down? Your love is here! And injured!

Rena gave way to hysteria in herself. She cried as loud as a tannoy, aiming Dan unforgiving, angry, and ignorant once again.

"It's good to see you again, Dan." then another boy sounded on the surface.

"Look at that! Talking garbage!" answered Dan coldly.

It was enough for Rena to realize, that the student who jumped over the pit was not her boyfriend. It was Fuyuki Shinji Egami.

Dan came near from the opposite direction.

"I would stay there if I were you," said Fuyuki.

"Wow. Garbage, who gives orders." Rena imagined Dan as he crossed his arms and looked down his nose at the classmate. "Whom if I may ask?"

Fuyuki burst into a laugh, quite like a madman.

"I saw that you tried it out on Fukashi." Dan changed the topic.

"Why are you so sure it was me?" Rena heard Fuyuki spitting out. "Whatever, you won't believe me anyway. You never did."

"The guy who always defended him from the bullies caused his death after all."

Rena wondered if Dan would speak the same if he knew that she was the one who killed Fukashi Murata. Feeling the shame gave her goosebumps.

"Your look doesn't scare me. I have this." Fuyuki continued. He sounded provoking.

Meanwhile, Rena figured out the details around those two. It meant the crossbow, which she had until those planks collapsed under her and somehow she lost it. If she was right, Dan was in trouble and she could say goodbye to the hope that she will be saved from that dirty hole. Who cared about such an obvious place in the open? Nobody wanted to hide there in such circumstances.

Rena forgot her self-pity fast, she became agitated and worried because of Dan. Fuyuki was not picky when it came to taking away lives as soon as possible or as painfully as possible.

Fuyuki, you rat!

"I'm not scared of you." Fuyuki repeated.

Rena was disgusted just by hearing that voice, but at the same time, she was envious of him. It was Fuyuki who could see Dan, his beautiful walnut-colored eyes.

"I can't see you acting. You're just standing there like a pile of shit." Dan struck back.

Rena's heart forgot to beat for a second, but after that, it was hitting her chest like a ram.

Her love had gone too far. It was no wonder that Fuyuki responded with the crossbow, angrily.

Rena would have screamed if she had the voice.

In the next second, she heard the typical noise of a bush rustling.

Fuyuki laughed.

"Good one, right? I almost had you."

Thanks to the wind his laughter echoed far away. Dan did not find it funny, Rean could hear as he came out of the bushes, at first panting, then swearing he started to chase the fleeing classmate. The pit was shaking under the simultaneous pounding of their feet.

Even though Dan cheated on PE lessons if they had to do the running tests and he showed absolutely zero interest in all kinds of sports (he played volleyball on an amateur level though but just for fun and in case of good weather or if he could not go to the gym), he kept pace with the running champion of the 3/e. Fuyuki's laugh, Dan's swearing, and all the noises they made seemed to fade away in the dark woods.

Rena was desperate. She forgot all of her pain for a short time and even believed that she will be saved, but now, as she remained alone, these doubts returned five times stronger than before.

There's no escape from here. I'm going to die.

She tried to shout again, she failed. Again. The cold raindrops froze on her slightly freckled face, giving her the feeling as she would have a stern mask on.

Her eyes were heavy, with every look as if she was lifting weights on the eyelids.

"Don't worry."

Fuyuki's voice brought her back to reality. Were they back?

"I have more."

"Do you think you're ballsy?" Dan replied.

Fuyuki just laughed. Then a noise could be heard, something like a zipping sound.

Rena was shocked as if her body would have been rooted to the ground.

"Well, well, Mr. Badass has been nailed to the tree," Fuyuki said with satisfaction.

"No injury from that distance." Dan sneered "Noob."

Oh my, you're playing with your luck.

"Idiot! You'll get a hole into your cocky brain, right next to your uniform!"

According to his voice, he went closer to Dan, who, soon, freed himself from the shackles of the arrow.

"Nice try though" he said at the end.

They sounded as they were an arm's length from one another.

"This time you might make it. I am in front of your nose."

"You son of a!" Fuyuki cursed. He was quite angry.

"Seriously. I'm the one you hate the most. You don't shed a tear by killing so many of the guys and now you're a chicken."

Dan, you stupid! He's going to shoot you for sure if you talk like that!

"I thought you had a big mouth only when the situation isn't hot" Fuyuki admitted "I was wrong."

"Of course, because you act like a godfather only if your skin's in safe." Dan said out all of these with one breath, thus putting the extinguisher on the other student.

Even if Fuyuki's voice was cheerful:

"Spit out as many things you like, you don't have much left anyway." Rena would have dared to swear she heard out some suppressed rage as well. "A for honesty though."

A little break, then he continued.

"I want to tell you something too... my friend."

"I'm all ears" Dan yawned as a sign of his interest.

"I'll be short, I promise. I want more time to give you a slow death."

Rena imagined him with an ear-to-ear grin.

"With that knife?" Dan acted as he was surprised. "Against concrete?"

Knife? What knife?

Rena was a bit late remembering that Fuyuki possessed a combat knife, which he got from Baku Baisotei.

Suddenly, Dan burst into a laugh, almost at the same time as other people. People from a third party, near the two boys. Probably they were hiding behind the leaves.

That was followed by an awkward silence.

"Damn it." then someone whispered.

The kids were not alone. They, even Rena listened quietly.

"Ah, fuck." finally another anonymous broke the quiet. "Back to kindergarten."

He spoke quietly but was grumpy.

"That was a good one," said the previous anonym half answered, half apologetically. "So, where's my money? The one with the crossbow didn't take the other out."

"Shut your bloody mouth! If the puppies escape, you'll have a bigger problem than losing a few coins."

"Okay. " he got the ironic answer. "Lead us, Comrade. On our very first mission."

"Yeah, smartass!"

More and more joined the conversation, which was already like a quarrel.

Dan and Fuyuki remained still since it broke out.

"I guess we've been spotted."

Bushes rustled as a sign of the strangers came out, one by one, boots tramped, rifles clanked with a metallic noise. Somebody shot into the air.

Rena knew, that the boys were surrounded.

Moskvin's men, who else, she thought, and according to other noises - like knocking fingers on the keyboard - there were other creatures, too nearby.

"Damn, I missed those machines." Dan, true to his nature, said out what he thought even in these circumstances.

Right. Those plate-shaped spider-like robots. The Terror Drones.

"Whoa, I surrender!" Fuyuki said immediately "I surrender!"

Rena heard a thud as a sign he dropped the crossbow and raised his arms high.

"Wise decision little boy." said one of the soldiers. "You won't be harmed. For now."

Some other dull noises echoed into the pit, where the girl was laying: Moskvin's men captured the boys, tied them, and were ready to leave.

"What the hell's so funny?" the spokesman asked aggressively. "Do you want to say goodbye for a few teeth or what?"

It turned out soon, that he was talking to Dan.

"Fine by me." Dan remained calm.

Many of them might not like his attitude, but some had found it remarkable.

"If you kill that waste before me" Dan continued "I gladly take a bullet."

More and more soldiers started to like him, Rena heard their comments.

"What if we let you do it?" asked someone joyfully. "With this?"

"Not the rifle!" somebody interrupted the soldier. "I bet he could beat him to the pulp with his bare hands. Whaddaya say?"

Rena was sure that they waited for an answer from Dan, who, she was also sure looked back at them with an overacted pleasure to scare Fuyuki.

If it was true, he managed to scare everything out of the boy.

"Hey ... wa-wa-wa-wait ... I'm innocent!" he began to explain things as usual "Okay, wanted to kill Dan, but he hates me too ... it ... it's complicated ..."

Dan yawned wearily:

"I told you. Candyass."

That entertained the soviets for a while, so Rena was reassured that Dan was not in immediate danger. She could just hope that her boyfriend was going to figure out something and escapes. After the last fragments of their echoes disappeared in the far forest, things went back to normal as no human had ever been there.

Rena's last hopes sunk into the bottom of the pit. She did not try to shout anymore, who would have heard it anyway. She could just whimper like an injured dog.

She had just been so close to Dan. For a long time. She remained in this gaming area because of him, discarding the opportunity to escape like it would have been a dirty paper tissue.

Bitter, dark thoughts chased one another in her mind, the soft whispering of nature was crowded out completely. She lost her love for the second time.

She was nothing more than a corpse resting in a cemetery crypt.

Rena Bando felt that these were her final moments and universes were separating her from Dan Nomura.

[Number of students: 13]