Chapter 3: Survival

Shuichi wasn't an expert at survival by any means. He never bothered to watch the survival tip videos he would see online every once in a while, figuring they'd never apply to him. After all, he lived in one of the most technologically advanced cities in the world, and his plans for the future included getting a stable job as a detective and maybe even settling down to have a family eventually. He wondered if any of those plans were realistic now that this happened.

Despite his lack of knowledge in terms of survival, he knew a few things. Humans could survive three weeks without food and three days without water. It had been about half a day since everyone disappeared, so he wasn't worried about food yet. Water was a bigger problem right now. Then again, it wasn't like they had to hunt for anything. Grocery stores, houses, and gas stations were still stocked.

The problem was other people. If anyone else was still here, they would have the same idea, and it was likely they could encounter them at those places. How long would it be before the city ran out of food? Also, those robot creatures. Did they have enough intelligence to patrol the areas people would gather? Or would they wander aimlessly until they found someone?

"Shuichi!" Maki yelled. Shuichi was brought back to the real world from his thoughts. He and his new friends were still just walking with no goal in sight, only an endless stretch of gray concrete ahead of them, bordered on either side by oppressive skyscrapers. Over the course of the day, more clouds blocked out the sun, turning the city streets into a gloomy wasteland of what they once were. A cold wind had started about fifteen minutes before, and Shuichi wished he was wearing something warmer now.

"What?" Shuichi responded.

"Weren't you listening at all?" Maki growled.

Shuichi paused. Maki was talking? "Sorry…" he said meekly. Himiko looked at him with a sympathetic look.

He heard her mutter something about "useless" under her breath. He ignored it, now used to the constant insults from her. "I was saying that we should have a plan. Otherwise, we might as well just give up now and wait for our deaths."

"Yeah, you're right," Shuichi said. "I was thinking the same thing."

"I think we should plan on staying in the city for one or two more weeks to see if anyone else is here. Then we can question them. Someone's bound to have an idea of what's going on. After that, we should go to another city. Maybe things won't be so screwed up there. At least, we'll have to hope that's the case."

"Yeah…Sounds good to me," Shuichi said. Part of him wanted to escape the city immediately. It was obvious nothing good would happen by them staying here. Honestly, he didn't even care about figuring out what was going on. He just wanted a normal life back.

"What about the monsters?" Himiko asked. "They probably have a whole army after us now!" Her expression grew panicked at the thought.

While Maki previously would have rolled her eyes at the girl and called her a liar, she had seen the "monsters" with her own two eyes, so denying them wasn't a possibility anymore. What made it worse was that she didn't know how they worked. Humans were easy to figure out and predict, but robots were a whole different situation. Until she figured out how they were programmed or how they were being controlled, she didn't want to get involved with them.

"How about we stay at someone's house, then? It'll be familiar to one of us, and I'm sure we all know hiding places at our own houses in case we need them," Shuichi suggested. Neither of the girls had any complaints. "Okay, does anyone volunteer?"

"Not mine," Maki said. Shuichi raised an eyebrow at her and she glared back, causing the boy to avert his eyes. She wasn't happy about having to stay at someone else's house, especially someone she'd only met hours before, but it was better than having two suspicious teenagers at her apartment, where they could easily uncover her secret.

"I don't wanna go to my house," Himiko said. "The monster was by it and it's probably waiting outside for us to come back." Shuichi couldn't argue with that. There was nothing to prove the robot knew where she lived, but it was probably better to not take risks right now.

"Alright then, I guess we're staying at mine," Shuichi said. His house, well, his uncle's house, was decently sized. It had three bedrooms and three bathrooms, as well as a backyard that went right against the forest bordering the city. But there was one problem… "We're going in the wrong direction, though."

"What?" Maki hissed.

"We have to go back the other way."

From the look Maki was giving him, she was probably imagining strangling him. He wanted to say that he didn't choose to travel this way, it was Maki who led them after their escape, but he held his tongue.

"How far is it?" Maki asked coldly.

"Um… probably around forty five minutes to walk from here…" Shuichi guessed after looking around at their surroundings. Years spent working in the police station made him well acquainted with the various streets of Hope City. "Yeah. If we walk fast, it could be less, though."

"Well, we don't have time to waste. Let's go," Maki said as she started briskly walking back the way they came. Shuichi turned to follow her, but a small hand grabbed his sleeve and pulled him back.

"Wait!" Himiko shouted at Maki, who stopped in her tracks and turned around. "Shuichi, do you have food at your house?" Himiko asked.

"Of course I do."

"Well…" Himiko was interrupted by a loud growl from her stomach. "I'm really hungry. I lost my candy I was gonna eat, so…" Himiko attempted a dirty look at Maki, who seemed not to notice or care. "Can we stop somewhere to get snacks before we go to your house?" She looked back to Shuichi with her wide, child-like eyes.

Shuichi was about to agree, feeling a jab of discomfort in his own stomach. He didn't have breakfast this morning, stupid decision, he knew, and his lunch period at school would have been an hour ago if not for the disappearance. Food was a very appealing thought at the moment, especially after running around the city for the entire afternoon. He would have agreed if not for her…

"Snacks? At this time? Are you kidding me?" Maki questioned. "Humans are made to survive weeks without food and you're complaining after half a day? Do you really expect to survive being that weak?" Maki snarled at the short girl, who flinched back at the uncalled-for hostility.

"Maki, she has a point!" Shuichi said, putting his arm between the girls. This was the second fight he had to break up in one day. If this was how his life was going to be from now on, maybe he'd be better off alone. "I mean, if we have access to food, why not get it? We don't really have anything to lose at this point. We'll still be at my house before sunset."

Maki looked between him and Himiko as if she was assessing if it was worth beating them both up. Her eyes told them she wasn't giving up easily this time. "I still refuse to stop somewhere to get snacks. Shuichi, how much food do you have at your house?"

"A good amount? Definitely enough for three people."

"How long will it last?"

"Uh… maybe a few days?" Shuichi estimated. His aunt and uncle liked to save money, buying enough food to live on comfortably, but not too much that it would be wasted if no one wanted it.

"Fine. Then here's my idea: I'll run to a grocery store and grab some essential food, not snacks. You two go to Shuichi's house. I'll meet you there later. It won't take me long."

"Wait… wouldn't it make more sense for me to go to the store? I know the way back pretty well, so I could make it on my own. And also, you should be there to protect Himiko in case something happens." Maki was scowling at him. In reality, Shuichi didn't trust her with their food. She would probably either poison it or just take it all for herself and run away. He couldn't deny that she was useful to be with during a time like this. She seemed to have experience with wandering the streets and had good instincts. If not for her, they might not have made it out of the police station alive. So he had to keep her with them, no matter what.

Not even Maki could argue with the points Shuichi made. He was right, even if she wouldn't admit it to his face. She only wanted some freedom for a few minutes, but it appeared she wouldn't be getting it today. Those two got on her nerves a lot, but it seemed like she was stuck with them if she wanted the best chances of being successful in this… whatever this was.

"I don't need protecting! I've got my magic to fight with!" Himiko insisted.

"I thought you were out of MP?" Shuichi asked, whatever that meant.

"Ah! You're right!" Himiko waved her hands around as if casting spells, but nothing happened.

"What do you say, Maki?" Shuichi asked nervously.

"Whatever." Maki threw her hands up in defeat.

"Thank you," Shuichi let a small smile creep onto his face. He appreciated that she was working with him for once. "Do you have a cellphone?"

"Yeah…" Maki said slowly as she reached for something on her leg, hidden underneath her black skirt. She pulled out a crimson-colored phone. Shuichi reached into his pants pocket and pulled his navy blue phone. He held out his hand to Maki, who stared at it apprehensively.

"Give me your phone. I'll add my number," Shuichi said. Maki looked at his palm as if it would attack her. Eventually, she cautiously set her phone in it. Shuichi quickly typed the combination of numbers that were his on her contacts app, added his name, then handed it back to her. Maki immediately flipped her phone around like she was studying it for any traps Shuichi might have put on it. Shuichi just watched her in confusion.

"I don't have a phone. I use magic to talk to people through their minds," Himiko explained, pointing to Shuichi's and Maki's foreheads and squeezing her eyes shut. "Okay, now I've got your brainwaves memorized."

"Yeah, thanks, Himiko," Shuichi sighed. "Oh, one more thing," he added, digging into his pocket again. He pulled out a small gold key. "This is for the front door." He handed the key to Maki, who grasped her fist around it tightly. "Also, the address is 5373 Pine Drive."

"Okay, then we'll see you later," Maki said. "If you don't text me by 8:00 tonight, I'll assume you were killed. And if that happens, I'm free to leave and not have to take care of this kid." Maki gestured to Himiko, who seemed insulted. With that, Maki continued her march to Shuichi's house, with Himiko running to catch up. He wondered if they would really be okay together. Maki was probably a bigger threat to Himiko than any outside force.

Shuichi looked around again. The nearest grocery store was only about three streets north. So, he walked in that direction, listening to the sound of his footsteps echoing between giant glass and steel walls on either side of him. Every few seconds, he would turn around to make sure no one was following him. His nerves were getting the better of him, turning random shadows in the corners of streets into ghosts or murderers or those robot things.

At one particularly dark alleyway, he could swear something ran deeper into the darkness when he passed. He stopped and stared into the murky black that was the alleyway, looking for signs of life. If it was a person, he wanted to talk to them. But it was probably an animal. For only a fraction of a second, he thought he could see eyes staring back at him from the darkness. Shuichi abandoned any hope of talking to another person he had and sprinted to the grocery store.