CHAPTER 11: Between Life and Death
Duo felt the cold cement against his skin when he opened his eyes. He had fallen asleep. But he woke up to a nightmare.
His whole body ached and he winced as he tried to sit himself. "Ugh… what happened?" He felt dizzy. "Damn drug," he was numbed and pained at the same time.
"What the hell happened?" Duo said as he ran his fingers through his hair, as he tried to position himself against the wall. He reached out for the blanket lying near him.
"Clank!" Duo heard an object hit the floor as he pulled the blanket.
"What's this?" he said as he picked it up. It took a while before he realized that what he was holding was a metal crucifix with a broken chain. He examined closely. Somehow his heart started beating wildly. It looked very familiar. Too familiar that it pained him for realizing too late.
Taking a deep breath, he turned the cross over. There at the bottom part of the metal crucifix were three roughly etched names…
SOLO
DUO
CHIAKI
"Iie… you have to be kidding… why now?"
The cross was cold against his skin. And his hands shook as he remembered the things Chiaki told him.
"I really loved it then, it was hip-long and beautifully braided. I always wanted to keep it that way because it reminded me of my childhood friend. He was always happy, always strong… Not really, I was part of an orphanage before… But then there was the war and I lost everybody else… We were three then, best friends, but…"
Duo put the cross against his chest. "Why didn't I remember? Why didn't I recognize her from the beginning? Why didn't Chiaki… Wait. Chiaki. Chiaki's in trouble!!"
Just then, the alarm started sounding.
"I have to get out here, fast!" Duo tried to carry his limping body to the gate. "Let me out! LET ME OUT!!"
He shook the bars violently, but they didn't even budge. He thrust himself towards them. He punched as much as he could, he was rattling the gate violently, but it only made him weak.
"Please… I don't want to lose someone again…" He said as he finally sank down to his knees.
He was facing the ground, all hope lost, tears running across his face…
…But the gate opened.
It was no mistake. He heard the heavy metal open. And he saw two familiar shoes before him.
"You're…"
The man pointed to something. Duo was so overwhelmed that he couldn't clearly see or hear what was going on. All he knew was that the alarm kept sounding, and everybody seemed to be in a hurry. Everybody seemed to be in distress, but he can feel no pain. He felt healed, he had hope.
"That way, that old elevator will take you up easier. Chiaki's above."
"You're the guard who gave us medicine… But why are you doing all this?"
"You have to hurry," the guard answered. "There's not much time left."
Duo realized what he meant. He rushed past the swarm of people trying to get out. Prisoners have been released, it made no sense to him. He didn't know what was going on, but now's he only chance to find Chiaki.
He stopped. He looked back, the guard was still standing from where he was before. He couldn't see his face nor his eyes, but he knew he was looking at him.
"Thank you!" Duo shouted. And he ran past the people, struggling between life and death.