A shock overwhelms my body as I stumble back, all the air in my chest stricken from me in an instant. Sako catches me, keeping me from falling on my rear, and steadies my balance. My heart rate elevates once again, and I shakily shine my light back onto the body, hoping that I didn’t see it quite right.
No, it’s a body. A dead, rotting, human body. It looks like a mummy; its skin stretched over its skull and a stench like an open sewer hatch. I want to vomit, but I manage to keep it down my throat.
“Let’s go,” I say, quickly turning the other way.
“Wait,” Sako says.
Wait. Wait, she says. What’s wrong with this girl? Is a dead body not enough to make you want to turn tail and run?
“There’s something in his hand,” she says.
Much to my apprehension, I inhale the stale, stinky air and slowly peer back at the putrid phantom. I’m shaking even more violently now, as shown by my wavering light as it falls back onto the corpse. She’s right. In its hand, there’s something shiny and made of metal.
I watch as Sako slowly creeps over to it.
“What are you doing?” I ask. “It could be dangerous.”
“There are no other lifeforms in the room,” Titania says.
“It’s fine. Just keep shining the light over here,” Sako says.
When she reaches the body, she reaches down tardily, almost like she doesn’t want to make contact. She places her hand on the object, removing it as slowly and steadily as a surgeon. Not an actual surgeon. Like someone playing that board game where you have to pull objects from the board without touching the sides. The only difference is that I don’t think this dude’s nose will light up if she messes up.
After what seems like an eternity, she finally stands up, holding the object. She takes one final look around the room before running back over to me, placing her head right into my chest, and breathing terrified gasps into it.
“I thought… I thought I was gonna die; that was so scary,” she says, nestling her face deep between my breasts. My heart rate skyrockets to new heights, but not because I’m scared. Seriously, why does she have to be like this? Doesn’t she know it’s embarrassing as hell? I’m glad it’s so dark down here, because I’m certain my cheeks are redder than a beet right now. No-life, anti-social losers like me aren’t equipped for situations like this.
“S-so what did you, uh, find?” I ask, trying with all my power not to stutter like a fool.
She pulls away from me and holds up the object. “A gun.”
I take a sudden hop back as I realize that she’s holding a revolver.
“Get that the hell away from me!” I yell. “Are you insane?! How can you hug me while carrying such a dangerous weapon?”
“Oh, don’t worry, I’ve handled guns before,” Sako says. “Remember my dad? He was quite the enthusiast.”
“Seems like your dad was a lot of things other than sane,” I mutter.
Now, this may be stereotypical and presumptuous of me, but aren’t the Japanese supposed to be a peaceful people nowadays? The way Sako describes her dad is more like a wild man than a functional person in society. Then again, it’s because of him that Sako has all these useful skills, so I can’t complain too much.
“I didn’t see any ammo around, sadly,” Sako says, fiddling with the cylinder chamber. She clicks it open carefully and peers inside. “Looks like there are five bullets left. If we ever have to use them, we’ll have to be careful. Who knows if we’ll ever find more.”
“Wait, you’re taking it with us?” I ask.
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“Yeah, why not?” Sako asks.
“Uh, I don’t know, because I can already do that with my fingers,” I say.
“Okay, but what if you run out of EL?” Sako asks. “Don’t worry, it’s just a backup tool. If anything, we can use it to hunt or bluff.”
I cannot believe that we have these amazing superpowers with the ability to do anything, and we’re still resorting to guns in the end. Either America was way ahead of its time, or we’ve fallen further than we thought.
“Fine, but you’re carrying it,” I say. “I don’t want it going off in my pocket and blowing my toes off.”
“Don’t worry, it won’t,” Sako says. “In order for a revolver to go off, the firing pin has to be pulled all the way back to the hammer, which prevents accidental shots. It’s a safety feature found in most modern revolvers, which this one definitely is. Maybe a Ruger or a colt.”
Alright, I’m pretty sure I’m not into women or anything, but why do I find it kind of attractive when she talks about her nerdy interests like that? I doubt there are many other girls as knowledgeable about guns as she is, and that somehow makes her even prettier than she already is. I mean, I’m sure it’s because of her father, whom she looks up to, but she still seems to enjoy this kind of stuff. She’s really cool, isn’t she?
“You okay?” Sako asks.
“Huh? Oh yeah. Why?” I ask.
“Because you’re staring off into space,” she says. “It’s kinda creepy.”
“Says the one obsessed with exploring dark basements,” I say. “Which reminds me, can we please leave now?”
I’d almost forgotten about the body. Out of respect, I shut the door behind me, or as much as it will go, and start heading the other way. We pass the ominous holes in the wall one last time, and I swear I hear a noise coming from one of them. It’s probably my imagination, but in case it’s not, I walk to the stairs as fast as I possibly can.
About halfway up, I hear Sako fiddling with her new toy behind me.
“You think there are bullets down there after all?” she asks. “We didn’t really check all that thoroughly.”
“You can go back down if you want,” I say.
“Fine, hand me the crank flashlight,” she says.
“No, I don’t think you will,” Titania says. “You’ve spent enough time down there. You’ve got to get back to your shelter before it gets dark.”
“Exactly,” I say. “I think I’ve had enough excitement for one day.”
Also, if whatever made those holes is still lurking down there, I don’t want to ever find out.
When we are finally back in nature’s fresh air, I almost topple over. That really was a terrifying experience, and I hope I never have to do anything like it again. Of course, Sako is completely unaffected and skips on ahead, the gun still in her hand as if it’s a picnic basket.
“You know, we found some pretty neat stuff down there,” Sako says. “And we didn’t even have to fight anything for it.”
Thankfully.
“If you two jog, you should be able to make it back just shy of sunset,” Titania says.
“And generate some EP, too,” Angel adds.
“I’m up for it,” Sako says. “C’mon, Lily! Let’s go!”
I sigh as I am forced to start running close behind the most energetic person in the world. She keeps the pace relatively light, but I’m still sweating like a pig. I promise you that the end of the world isn’t nearly as exciting as it sounds. It’s just a lot of work, and I hate it.
I’m pretty sure it takes an hour to get back, as the surroundings begin to look vaguely familiar. At least, I think. Actually, it all looks the fucking same to me. It’s a forest, for crying out loud. A contrived, bug-infested forest.
Before we can move further, our two little AI balls move in front of our faces, prompting us to stop.
“What is it now?” I ask. “Let me guess, it’s-”
“There are two readings at your campsite just ahead,” Angel says.
“Huh? HET or human?” I ask.
“We don’t know,” Angel says. “They’re not very strong, but you should proceed with caution.”
“You sure it’s not some deer digging in our food?” I ask.
“No, their readings are too abnormal to be animals,” Titania says. “From here, make sure to tread lightly, and be prepared to fight.”
I look at Sako, and she nods, drawing her new pistol and pointing it forward. Slowly, she begins walking through the brambles and dirt, using trees for cover as we get closer. That’s when we hear it. Shuffling sounds just ahead.
Our eyes are locked straight. Every fiber in our bodies is tense. We’re ready to either fight or run away, depending on what we see.
Then, we do see. At our camp, there are two figures standing over it, going through our stuff. I am ready to turn back and run the other way when Sako leaps out and starts to shout.
“Hey, you!”