Chapter 15
Still in shock as blood soaked through the carpet, Kagura sprinted for the nearby stairwell, running down to the lower level as Yukari and Kubo unleashed a volley of gunfire towards the creature. The last thing Kagura saw before leaping through a fire exit was chairs being ripped out of their fittings as the creature rushed towards the soldiers. She yelled out having ran through the door, not expecting the wall to be so close. She closed her eyes as she struck, and heard a loud screech before she succumbed to the darkness.
---
"You ok Kagura?" asked Kimura, standing over the girl in the cramped narrow corridor.
"I guess so" said Kagura rubbing her head. "I'm alive right?"
"I bloody hope so" replied Kimura, "Because the surroundings haven't changed much."
"Jeez, my head is absolutely killing me" groaned Kagura, rubbing her head. Pains ran across the back of her head every time she moved. They seemed potent, but even now she noticed that the pain seemed to be receding.
"Now I guess you know how I felt on the trip down here" joked Ohyama nervously.
Initially blinded by the light and sterile white surroundings, slowly the corridor came into focus. She saw Ohyama and Yomi standing across from where she sat on the floor, both looking uncomfortable and nervous. They looked just as worried as she felt. A short distance on her other side stood Minamo, looking down at a blood stained bandage.
"Damn Yukari, couldn't wrap a bandage to save her life" grumbled Minamo to herself.
As soon as she spotted the injured soldier, it dawned on her that the others weren't present. Kubo, Yukari and Hirano weren't with them- they must have stayed behind. But how could they be ok? How could they survive against that thing? They were soldiers, but surely they'd need a better weapon to beat the creature with the giant tongue.
"What was that thing?" asked Ohyama. Kagura noticed that he looked towards Yomi, as though expecting to receive some kind of answers from the anxious young employee.
"I don't know" said Yomi, shivering slightly. "I've never seen anything like that before."
"Don't know? You do work here don't you? It's not like that is something you can just hide!" said Ohyama.
"I'm telling you I've never seen that thing before!" said Yomi. "I don't know what it is or why it's here." She fell silent for a moment. "All I know is it killed Dr Ishihara."
"You know him well?" asked Kimura moving across to the girl.
"He-he was like a mentor to me" said Yomi. "He helped me with my work. He was even kind enough to help me when everything bad started to happen!"
"Sounds like a nice guy" said Minamo, wrapping a new bandage over the old bandage.
"He was" said Yomi. "Some people said bad things about him, but I've never noticed anything."
Kagura slowly stood up. One soldier. One scared scientist in training. A police officer and two civilians with foggy memories. And they were all here, trapped in this cramped corridor, isolated from the outside world, buried deep beneath ground. Kagura dusted herself down, and felt an odd feeling of reinvigoration. She felt strangely calm. She had a strong urge to get the others out of here. She strode towards Minamo.
"Are you ok Miss Kurosawa? Able to walk?"
"Yeah I'll be fine" said Minamo. "The bites just sting a bit."
"We can't just stay here" said Kagura. "That fire door won't hold much when it comes down to it. We have to escape from this place."
"And how do you suppose we do that?" asked Ohyama. "Open the door and walk out."
"Yes" said Kagura. Memories of stairways and corridors slowly returned. Nothing about her, or why she seemed to work here. But she had an idea of where she was. And that gave her something to work with.
"And we go where?" asked Ohyama, sounding far from confident.
"At the end of this corridor is a doorway leading into a stairwell. Taking that will lead right back into the laboratory area. We'll be at the far end, but we can make our way through and reach the train again" said Kagura. She was certain of this.
"Sound right to you?" asked Kimura, directing his question to Yomi.
"I guess so. I haven't really seen much of this area."
"Trust me" said Kagura. "It will work."
The entire group was startled as Minamo's walkie-talkie crackled into life. She gripped hold of it and looked up towards the others. Kagura was certain that Minamo hoped it was Yukari calling them.
"Hello?"
"Minamo! This is Kubo. Yukari and I have escaped. Hirano vanished when we tried to fight the thing."
"Are you and Yukari in good health?" asked Minamo.
"Yeah, we're both good" replied Kubo. Minamo didn't bother to hide the smile that appeared. "But Yukari has taken a large loan out from the swear jar. What is your situation Minamo?"
"We have a way up into the labs" said Minamo, nodding in appreciation towards Kagura. "We should be able to reach the foyer in roughly thirty minutes."
"Good. We're turning the Queen back on. We need answers, and it might be needed to power up the train. According to the schematics you have a clean straight route through the labs, so you don't have to worry about any dead ends."
"I understand" replied Minamo over the walkie-talkie. "I guess we'll meet you again soon."
"I hope so. Take care of yourself and the others."
"I will. Kubo…don't let anything happen to Yukari."
"I won't" replied Kubo.
"So see you in thirty minutes then" said Minamo.
---
"Doors locked" said Ohyama, trying the handle. He stepped out of the way hastily as Kagura kicked the door open, splintered lock offering no resistance. She shrugged as the others stood, Kimura watching her adoringly.
"I guess that's just one of the perks to having an athletic body" he commented. "A lovely, shapely body…" he said, thoughts fading into the darkness of the abyss that was the hive.
"Where did you find this guy?" asked Yomi.
"He found me" replied Kagura.
"And he's a police officer isn't he? I think I saw him once" said Yomi, walking alongside Kagura.
"Yeah he is" said Kagura.
"Is he a pervert?" asked Yomi.
"Yeah, he probably is" said Kagura without changing her tone of voice.
"Are you girls talking about me?" asked Kimura, turning back to look at them.
"Oh yeah" said Kagura.
"Oh. So what are you talking about?" asked the man.
"How much of a pervert you are" said Yomi indifferently. Kimura paused and then turned back, suddenly engrossed in making sure he didn't step in anything. Yomi and Kagura grinned as the man marched forwards.
In silence they climbed the stairs. They'd yet to come across anything, but with the locks currently disabled those things could move freely- if they knew how to push open doors. Kagura doubted they would know how to properly open closed doors. And she was certain that the things would relocate, to get closer to the meat.
Minamo pulled open the door and stepped out into the partially flooded lab complex. Yomi was pale faced as she looked through the window at one of the drowned scientists.
"That could have been me."
Kagura was uneasy.
"Weren't there more last time?" she asked.
"Yes" said Minamo cautiously.
They leapt back in surprise as the drowned man climbed to his feet, and tried to get through the reinforced glass, smacking his head against it in frustration. Blood continued to splat across the glass as the skull began to deform.
"Good, he can't get us" said Ohyama.
Click. Click. Click.
Kagura froze as she heard the sounds of seemingly nails against the polished floor. A low growl was emitted.
"Go!" called out Kagura. "Run!"