Chapter 9
"So that's why there's no one here." Law understood, as the video was well and truly over. "They preferred to run away on their own, to escape the monsters and they surely scattered on the island. "
"It's still strange that a few of them didn't decide to stay hidden in the device." Shirahoshi remarked. "Even if attacked, this place must be the safest we can find on this island! Proof, its doors can still lock, which is proof that the Andrewsarchus failed to break them to enter in the plane. "
"Maybe, but time would have favored those monsters." Law stated. "Because of the lack of water and food, and because of the fear, the others would not have survived long on the plane and, anyway, they would have had to flee! In my opinion, as soon as the Andrewsarchus moved away from the plane, they took the opportunity to leave the device and flee as far as possible. "
For his part, being still so stunned by what he had just seen, Luffy preferred to remain silent.
He was scared. Frightened by the fact that his friends were in danger without him being able to do anything to save them. Usopp, Kaya, Sanji, Vivi, Nami, Ace, as well as all the others... Everyone had been in mortal danger without his knowing it and this feeling of helplessness filled him with rage. While they were in danger, he had simply wanted to amuse himself by exploring the island.
" Why? But why was I not with them at that time? I could have protected them! At least one of them! »
Seeing him clench his fist, Law understood that he was feeling guilty.
"Don't worry, you don't have to worry about Ace and the others, Strawhat-ya." He tried to assure him. "After all, Nami is a very smart girl, while Sanji and Ace know how to fight! Besides, don't forget what we learned! Near the plane, there's a bunker full of weapons! If it's really the case, they had surely to find a place to hide."
" A place to hide? " Luffy thought.
"Weakhoshi! Is there a safe place here? A place where someone could hide."
"A safe place?" Repeated the stewardess, surprised by my question. "Huh…! Not especially."
"Stop it, Strawhat." Law exclaimed, realizing what he had in mind. "No one must have been on the plane for a long time! Anyway, you have seen that the aircraft is completely..."
"There's the rest room, next to the cockpit." Shirahoshi suddenly remembered! It's the door right next to..."
She didn't even have time to finish speaking when Luffy left the cockpit and rushed towards the nearest door.
" It must be this one." He thought, turning the handle.
" DAMN IT ! Open up. "
It was locked.
"Why is there a rest room here?" Law asked, arriving with Shirahoshi.
"We use it for long flights." She explained to him.
"Strawhat-ya, there's really little chance for…" The boy began.
"The person filming." Luffy stopped him, banging his shoulder against the door.
"Who? Johnny?"
"Yes." Luffy affirmed. "I think of a hypothesis but I could be wrong."
"What do you mean?" Antoine asked him.
"This video…" Luffy started, giving the door another bump. "...towards the middle, it's not the same person holding the camera anymore."
"What?" Wondered Law. "The cameraman changed? When?"
"At the time the pilot was stabbed." Luffy replied, shouldering again. "The video had stopped there and then resumed right at the start of the fight! Do you remember that?"
"Yes, but how do you know the cameraman has changed?"
"When the person got to the bathroom, she spoke." Luffy reminded him. "His voice was not that of a boy! No, it was that of a girl."
"A girl?" Law repeated. "Sorry, but I was so stunned by what I saw that I didn't hear that detail! But are you really sure, at least?"
Luffy then stopped harassing me against the door.
"Yes! I'm sure of it, because that voice was Nami's! I'd bet my hand on it."
"Na…Nami?" Law stammered. "But… But how is that possible? I don't understand! Why did she have the camera and not Johnny? Where was he?"
" It's not just that that's strange. " Luffy remarked. "There is also his bracelet in the pilot room! I cannot know or say what happened! started and Johnny was forced, one way or another, to abandon his camera! For his part, the pilot, in a last gasp of life, must have panicked, and attacked the people who were around him, including Johnny and Nami! And she must have lost her bracelet during the battle! A few seconds later, the pilot ended up in the cockpit and died there! Then, for some reason that I don't know, Nami picked up the camera and started filming."
" That's completely stupid. " Law retorted. "Why film carnage, if you yourself are in danger?"
"Surely so that those who weren't there would understand what had happened." Luffy explained to him.
"But why do you think someone is still on the plane?" Shirahoshi asked him.
" Because … "
" It's true ! Why would anyone still be here? "
"I don't know! It's just that... I just hope that one of my friends stayed on the plane and decided to wait for me to come back, to that I can help him find the others. "
Law and Shirahoshi looked at him, maintaining their silence.
"Even if what I say must seem completely idiotic to you, I know my friends and they would never have all left without leaving me a clue to enable me to find them."
Knocking the door again with his shoulder, he finally moaned in pain.
"Open up."
Suddenly, heaving a weary sigh, Law positioned himself next to him.
"You really are an annoyance, Strawhat-ya! Three of us! One! Two!"
"THREEEEEE!" The two boys shouted, crashing into the door, with violence.
In an instant, the lock on the door broke and it opened.
"Finally!" Luffy gloated, rushing into the room.
Lit by the sunlight streaming through the opening, he could see that the rest room was not large at all. Five meters long and four wide at most. There were only four bunk beds in the room, and nothing else, not even a small porthole.
"Is anyone there?" Luffy asked, trying to make out the outlines of anyone in the dark.
It was at this moment that he saw her. At the back of the room, sitting against the wall, a person he recognized was staring at him.
"Ka…Kaya." He exclaimed, rushing towards her.
Despite the noise he made, she didn't move an eyelash. Even her eyes remained wide open. Also, Luffy didn't notice any breathing from her. It didn't take long for him to understand why she kept this icy silence.
" Not impossible. »
For his part, having smelled a horrible smell inside the room, Law had also understood where it came from. That smell...it was the smell of death.
" Strawhat-ya ... "
Ignoring her, Luffy crouches down in front of Kaya. Then he grabbed her by the shoulders and noticed that she was completely frozen. He shook her, but she still gave no sign of life.
"Kaya ! Hey, Kaya."
He might not want to believe it, but he had to resign himself to accepting this dismal news: she was dead.
" It's not possible! I must be dreaming. Luffy thought, as two tears rolled down his cheeks. " Yes! " All of this can be nothing but a horrible nightmare. »
At this moment, Shirahoshi arrived in the room, before lighting it with a flashlight.
"The switch doesn't work." She declared! Luckily, there are some flashlights, on board the plane, in case of emergency..."
She stopped, seeing the body of the deceased next to Luffy.
"AHHHHHHHHH!" she cried, falling on her ass, pointing at Kaya's body. "A corpse! There is a corpse."
Simply growling, Law bent down to pick up the lamp that had fallen on the ground, before approaching Luffy.
" Who is it ? "
Compared to Luffy, him and Kaya had never been in the same class let alone developed any bond of friendship between them. That was why he didn't know her.
"She…She was a friend." Luffy affirmed, trying to hold back his tears. "Her name was Kaya! She was also the girl that Usopp loved! When we were in elementary school, we got along well and we had continued to bond! Why? How did she die?
"She died of a hemorrhage, due to an injury." Law told him.
He then passed the beam of light over one of Kaya's shoulders, which was covered in blood. through his torn clothes, it was easy to see various bite wounds, while a lot of blood had flowed onto his clothes.
"She has a huge wound that has caused her to lose a lot of blood! From the marks, it looks like it was done by a bite."
Immediately, Luffy then remembered the video, where he had seen her returning to the plane, while being bitten by an Andrewsarchus. Then, when she had found herself on the ground when the fight had started. She had been bitten by one of the andrewsarchus and, deprived of care, she had to end up dying while bleeding.
" It's because of those damn monsters. " Luffy understood, clenching his fist. " They'll pay me for it. " »
Trying to calm her fear, Shirahoshi took long breaths. Then, finally, she managed to get to her feet, despite feeling her legs continue to shake.
"She... She would have hidden here to avoid being trampled by the others?"
" No! From what I see, someone else dragged her here. " Law retorted.
"How do you know that?" The woman wondered.
Antoine immediately lit up the ground around the corpse and then traced an invisible line to the door. This allowed Shirahoshi and Luffy to discern a long trail of blood covering the ground.
"That trail proves it." The boy asserted. "In my opinion, seeing her in bad shape, someone must have taken her here, for her to be safe and, dragging her, she left these blood marks on the ground! Unfortunately , that was not enough to save her."
"Maybe, but, in that case, who tried to help her ?" Luffy wanted to know.
"Me!" confessed a voice, behind them.
Immediately, Shirahoshi uttered a new cry of fear which surprised Law so much that he dropped his lamp. A person had appeared in the opening of the door. Face covered in tears, clothes torn here and there, hair in disarray… The girl, who stood in front of the trio, had changed a lot since the last time Luffy had seen her. Still, it was her.
"Na…Nami? Is that you?
"LUFFY!" She exclaimed, starting to cry, before running around the room and throwing herself into his arms.
For several seconds, Luffy did nothing except hug her, until she could calm down. to tell the truth, he was happy. He had finally found another survivor. Moreover, he was one of the people he considered his friend.
"Finally...Finally." »
Seeing them like this, Nadia couldn't help but smile. Their efforts had finally paid off. From now on, they were no longer three but four.
"Luffy…that was awful." Nami affirmed. "Kaya… She died in front of me!
"It's over now. " Luffy tried to reassure her. "You have nothing to worry about anymore."
"I couldn't save her! I couldn't do anything! How? How am I going to tell Usopp?"
She burst into tears again.
"T-Bone sensei is dead too! And also Curiel and Mero! They got killed by monsters."
" I'm here now. "
Hearing this simple sentence, Nami stopped sobbing, before suddenly pushing Luffy away.
" Huh ? "
"Where have you been?" She finally asked him.
" What ? "
"Where were you when we needed you?" Nami questioned him, her face showing both sadness and anger. "Why weren't you there to help us?"
Then, looking at Kaya's corpse, she finally fell to her knees, while remembering the horrible night that had passed.
"Why weren't you there to save her? If you had been there...Kaya...maybe Kaya..."
"I'm sorry." Luffy could only say.
Seeming to be angrier, Nami stood up before jumping on him, knocking him to the ground. Then, sitting astride, she raised her hand, before slapping him.
"Sorry! Is that all you have to say? You...YOU...! Where were you when your friends needed you the most?"
Letting himself be slapped, Luffy tried to speak.
"I couldn't help it! When I woke up, I was far from the plane! It wasn't my fault! If I had known you were in danger, I would have come immediately."
"Stop lying! I hate you! I hate you! I..."
Suddenly managing to grab hold of her hands, Luffy stopped her, before roaring.
"NAMI... THERE IS NOTHING MORE IMPORTANT THAN MY FRIENDS."
Hearing this, Nami suddenly widened her eyes. Then, lowering her gaze, she began to sob again, before stammering.
"Luffy...help me."
Letting go of his arm, Luffy then placed his hand on her head, before bringing his face closer to hers.
"Nami...I'll protect you! I swear! And together, we'll find the rest of our friends! I promise."
With Luffy : Law / Shirahoshi / Nami
Others passengers: Sanji / Usopp / Nami / Ace / Coby / Kaya / Vivi / Katakuri / Perospero / Zoro / Chopper / Johnny / Yosaku / Kid / Wapol ! Musshru / Tashigi (teacher) / Smoker (teacher)
Deceased : Dalton (pilot) / Kaya / AO / Mero / Curiel / T-Bone (teacher)