Akira sat in silence and stared at the laptop screen.
“…This island doesn’t exist…”
The words repeated in his mind as he looked back at the map.
There was nothing there.
No land, no markings, only endless ocean.
“No… that’s…” He forced out a laugh, but even he could tell it sounded unnatural.
“That has to be wrong. Maybe your data is off or you made a mistake in the calculations.”
“I’m not you, Sengoku. I don’t make such silly mistakes.”
Mariya adjusted his glasses.
“I checked multiple reference points, including the coordinates, flight duration, and direction. Everything matches.”
Akira’s expression tightened.
“…Then where are we?”
Mariya finally looked at him and shook his head.
“I don’t know yet, but I’m sure there shouldn’t be an island where we are.”
Akira slumped down and fell silent.
“…That’s insane,” he muttered.
Nearby, Kanako’s quiet sobbing filled the silence.
Akira glanced at her.
She hadn’t moved much since they returned to the waterfall.
“…Hey,” he said awkwardly.
“Are you okay now?”
She shook her head as tears continued to fall.
“How can I be okay? I thought I would die in the crash, then I woke up and there was a monstrous bird that almost killed me, and now we’re on an island that’s nowhere…”
Her voice broke as she lowered her head.
“This was supposed to be my first flight. I failed the employment exam sixteen times. Sixteen times… and I finally passed. I finally became a flight attendant…”
She wiped her eyes with a trembling hand.
“And now this happens…? I haven’t even properly started working yet…”
Akira didn’t know what to say.
After a moment, he scratched the back of his head.
“I’m sorry for asking.”
Kanako didn’t said anything.
She simply continued crying.
Mariya looked toward the sky.
“…It’s getting dark. If you don’t want to attract that bird again, stop crying.”
Kanako’s crying stopped for a moment, but her face turned pale as she looked toward the jungle.
She hugged herself tightly and tried to hold back her tears.
Akira glanced at her and frowned.
“Don’t scare her like that, Mariya. She’s already scared enough.”
“I’m not joking,” Mariya replied.
“We’re not safe. The last thing we should do is make a racket in an unfamiliar place where there might be dangerous animals. For now, we should find somewhere to sleep.”
“You could say it nicely.”
“I use logic rather than my emotions. Which is the exact opposite of you,” Mariya said.
“What does that mean?” Akira asked.
“Figure that out yourself.”
“Umm…”
Kanako hesitated, looking between them.
“What is it, flight attendant-san?” Akira asked.
Kanako blinked.
“My name is Kanako Oomori,” she said, wiping her face with the back of her hand.
“Oh… right. Oomori-san.”
Akira scratched the back of his head.
“I’m Akira Sengoku.”
He pointed toward Mariya.
“And this is Mariya.”
Mariya gave a small nod.
“So, what did you want to ask?” he said.
Kanako hesitated again.
“H-How did that bird speak in a human voice?”
Akira’s eyes widened.
“That’s right. I almost forgot about that. How did it mimic a human voice?”
Mariya closed his laptop and looked at them.
“We have no evidence that Diatryma could actually mimic human speech. There’s no fossil evidence that would allow us to determine its vocal abilities precisely.”
He adjusted his glasses.
“But birds have a syrinx instead of vocal cords. It’s the organ they use to produce sound. Some birds can imitate sounds they hear around them, including human voices.”
Akira’s expression changed.
“So if that Diatryma copied a human voice… it must have heard someone speaking.”
Kanako’s eyes widened.
“There could be someone else nearby?”
“Possibly,” Mariya said.
“We don’t have enough information to know for sure.”
Akira immediately stood up.
“Then we should look for them.”
“Not tonight, Sengoku,” Mariya said.
“It’s getting dark, and we don’t know what else is out there. We’ll search for the others tomorrow.”
Akira reluctantly sat down.
“Yeah… you’re right.”
Mariya looked toward the jungle, but the thought remained in his mind.
If it really was imitating someone… what happened to the person it heard?
After a moment, they stood up and began looking for a place where they could spend the night.
Mariya examined the area around the stream for any signs of dangerous animals.
After finding nothing that suggested anything was nearby, they stayed near the large boulder beside the stream.
Kanako stayed close to them as they moved, too afraid to be left alone.
Since they had no way to build a fire or gather anything for bedding, the three of them lay down on the cold, hard ground for the night.
October 5th, Day 2
After waking, Akira, Mariya, and Kanako left the waterfall and began searching for the others.
Rather than moving blindly through the forest, they decided to follow the stream that flowed away from the waterfall.
It gave them a clear route to follow and an easy way to find their way back.
They moved along the stream, checking both sides as they went.
Whenever the trees opened up enough for their voices to carry, Akira stopped and called out.
“HELLOOO!! ANYBODY THERE?!”
His voice echoed through the trees, but no answer came back.
Akira looked behind him.
“Seriously, guys, why am I the only one shouting? Can’t you both help?”
Kanako hesitated before cupping her hands around her mouth.
“Is anyone there?! Please answer!” Get faster updates on g.com.
Her voice was much quieter than Akira’s.
Akira rolled his eyes.
“Like that helps.”
“But Mariya-kun said it’s dangerous to shout,” Kanako muttered.
“That’s right, Sengoku,” Mariya said.
“We’re still too close to the Diatryma’s nest. Keep your voice down until we’re farther away.”
“You should’ve told me that first,” Akira sulked.
After that, Akira stopped shouting as they continued along the stream.
They searched both sides of the water, checking the surrounding areas and stopping whenever they found a place where someone might have passed through.
After several hours, they had found no sign of another survivor.
Eventually, they stopped near a cluster of trees.
“Let’s rest for a bit,” Mariya said.
Akira let out a tired breath.
“…Yeah. I’m exhausted.”
Kanako sat down nearby while Akira picked up a sharp rock and crouched beside one of the trees.
He carved a rough arrow into the bark.
Kanako watched him for a moment before asking, “What are you doing?”
“I’m marking the route so we don’t lose our direction,” Akira replied, pointing at the arrow.
Kanako looked at the marking.
“…That’s actually smart. Is there a name for this?”
“Yeah. It’s part of an expanding square search,” Akira explained.
“Instead of moving randomly, we search outward in a pattern and keep track of the areas we’ve already covered.”
He pointed toward the direction they had come from.
“We start from one point and gradually expand the search area. The marks tell us which paths we’ve already checked, so we don’t waste time going over the same place twice or accidentally lose our way back.”
Kanako blinked.
“…Amazing. You’re so knowledgeable, Sengoku-kun.”
Akira’s face turned red at the compliment.
“Uh… well, it’s Mariya’s idea.”
“Ah… I see. Mariya-kun really is smart, isn’t he?”
“Yeah,” Akira said.
Before Akira could say anything else, Mariya called to him from a short distance away.
“Hey, Sengoku. Come with me for a bit.”
“What, do you wanna take a piss or something? Too scared to go alone?” Akira joked.
“Shut up and just come along.”
Mariya led Akira a little farther away from Kanako before stopping.
“Hey, Mariya, how far are we going? It’s dangerous to leave Oomori-san all by herself.”
“I don’t want her to overhear this,” Mariya said.
“It’ll be a real pain if she starts wailing again.”
Akira’s expression stiffened.
“What do you want to say?”
Mariya’s expression turned serious.
“Don’t you think it’s really odd? We’ve been searching for five hours, and we haven’t found even a trace of the accident, much less any other survivors.”
Akira turned his face away.
“It’s only been five hours. If we search harder, we’ll find them.”
“Sengoku,” Mariya interrupted.
“Maybe everyone else is dead.”
Akira’s face went pale.
Mariya continued before Akira could respond.
“You’ve seen the news about plane crashes before, right? Airplane crashes are rare, but when a serious accident happens, the mortality rate can be extremely high. The fact that the three of us are alive is already a miracle.”
“Q-Quit saying things like that.”
“Sengoku, listen.”
“I don’t want to hear anymore!” Akira snapped.
“I’m going back. We need to keep searching, and I’m worried about Oomori-san too.”
“Sengoku… wait.”
Mariya watched him turn away, but before he could say anything else, Kanako’s voice came from nearby.
“…Eeek! A mouse! A mouse!”
Kanako was still sitting when something suddenly moved through the leaves beside her.
She carefully lifted her arm and looked down at the small animal that had climbed onto her sleeve.
Mariya and Akira immediately moved toward her.
“Oh, it’s that animal we saw earlier in the encyclopedia,” Akira sighed in relief.
“Yeah, it’s a Ptilodus,” Mariya said with a nod.
The animal looked similar to a mouse, but its body was longer, and its eyes watched Kanako with curiosity.
Kanako studied it for a moment before a small smile appeared on her face.
“It’s kind of cute,” she muttered.
The Ptilodus suddenly twitched its ears and stopped moving.
It remained still for several seconds, as if it had noticed something they hadn’t.
Then it suddenly jumped from Kanako’s sleeve and disappeared into the trees.
Kanako stared after it.
“…Ah, it ran away.”
“Something is not right,” Mariya muttered, keeping his eyes fixed on the bushes.
Kanako slowly moved closer to Akira.
“What do you mean?”
Mariya did not answer.
He continued watching the vegetation, trying to figure out what had made the animal flee.
Before anyone could say anything else, the bushes burst open, and the Diatryma stepped into the clearing with a sharp screech.
Kanako screamed and stumbled backward.
Akira immediately stepped in front of her and grabbed a thick branch from the ground.
“Stay back. Don’t come any closer.”
The Diatryma ignored him and moved toward Kanako, who was frantically trying to get back on her feet.
Akira tightened his grip on the branch and lunged toward the bird.
He swung it directly at the Diatryma’s beak, forcing it to take a step back.
“Mariya, help Oomori-san!”
“Damn it!”
Mariya grabbed Kanako and tried to pull her away.
The Diatryma shook its head before turning toward Kanako again.
“Hieeek! Why me?!” Kanako cried.
Akira saw that Mariya was still struggling to get her away.
He quickly picked up a rock with his free hand and threw it.
The rock struck the side of the Diatryma’s body, making it screech in pain before it immediately turned toward Akira.
“Damn it…”
Akira raised the branch as the Diatryma started moving toward him.
“Run!”
He stepped backward, keeping his eyes on the bird.
With Mariya’s help, Kanako finally managed to stand and turned to run.
After only a few steps, she noticed that Mariya had stopped moving.
He was staring straight ahead, his face turned pale.
Kanako followed his gaze and froze.
“Hey! Run, you too! What are you standing there for?! Go!”
Akira looked back.
“Hurr…y…”
The rock slipped from his hand.
A massive feline stepped out from the bushes behind them.
Its thick body was covered in fur, and two long, curved fangs extended from its mouth, making it look like a giant tiger.
“No… that can’t be possible…” Mariya stared at it, unable to hide the fear on his face.
Akira stood frozen, his eyes fixed on the animal.
Is it a tiger?
No… a lion?
N-No, it’s not either of them.
Even someone as ignorant about animals as Akira could tell what he was looking at.
“It’s a sabertooth,” he muttered.
“No,” Mariya said, his voice shaking.
“To be exact, it’s a Smilodon.”
Akira looked from the Diatryma in front of him to the Smilodon behind them.
No… we’ve been trapped between them.
The Smilodon lowered its body and let out a roar that sent a tremor through all three of them before it lunged forward.
“Duck!”
Akira threw himself toward Mariya and Kanako, pushing them down as the Smilodon charged past them.
It slammed into the Diatryma and knocked the bird to the ground.
The Diatryma kicked wildly as the Smilodon clamped its jaws around its neck and forced it against the ground.
The Diatryma let out a sharp, desperate screech and thrashed beneath the predator, but it could not break free.
Its movements gradually became weaker until they finally stopped.
Akira stared at the Diatryma that had nearly killed them only moments earlier.
It had seemed so powerful when it attacked them, yet it could not resist the Smilodon at all.
The Smilodon released its bite and shook the carcass before gripping it by the head.
It looked toward the three of them, then started walking in their direction, pulling the dead Diatryma along behind it.
Akira’s body went rigid.
Don’t come any closer…
The Smilodon continued toward them without taking its eyes off them.
Akira barely breathed as it approached.
But instead of attacking, the predator walked straight past them and disappeared into the jungle with its prey.
Only when the jungle became quiet again did Akira finally let out the breath he had been holding.
“Why’d it just leave like that?” Akira asked, his hands still shaking.
Mariya took a deep breath before answering.
“It found more suitable prey. The Diatryma was a better target for it than we were. It wasn’t interested in fighting us when it already had something easier to kill.”
He looked toward the jungle where the Smilodon had disappeared.
“The same principle applied when the Diatryma attacked Oomori-san. It went after the target it thought it could take down.”
Akira slowly nodded.
“So it chose the prey that was easiest to kill…”
“Exactly,” Mariya said.
“That’s survival of the fittest.”
Akira placed a hand on the ground to push himself up.
When he felt moisture against his palm, he looked down before turning toward Kanako and immediately understood what had happened.
She was still trembling, her arms wrapped tightly around herself.
She had been so terrified that she had wet herself without even realizing it.
Akira immediately looked away as well.
“…Let’s just go back.”
Eventually, they returned to the waterfall and gathered some dry wood from the surrounding area to start a small fire.
Once it was burning, they collected leaves and spread them beneath themselves to keep their bodies off the cold ground.
The three of them sat quietly around the fire for a while.
Mariya looked at the screen of his laptop before finally speaking.
“It’s just inconceivable. A Smilodon was supposed to have died out around ten thousand years ago.”
“Why are you bringing this up again, Mariya? I told you, regardless of what that says, they’re still alive.”
Mariya shut the laptop and looked directly at Akira.
“No matter how stupid you’re being, you need to understand how serious our situation is.”
“But what am I supposed to do with that information? Right now, finding everyone is more important.”
“They’re probably dead,” Mariya said bluntly.
“All of them.”
Kanako lowered her head.
“And even if they’re not… we’ll probably get eaten eventually too,” she muttered.
“Quit saying things like that,” Akira snapped.
“Search and rescue is going to show up any minute.”
Kanako looked up at him.
“Is there any guarantee we’ll survive until they come?”
Akira fell silent.
“You keep saying search and rescue will come, but you don’t know that. None of us know where we are, and we don’t even know if anyone knows where this plane went.”
Her voice began to shake.
“There’s no way we’re getting off this island alive…”
She covered her face as the tears started again.
“We’re never getting home!”
Kanako collapsed forward and cried uncontrollably.
Akira looked away and clenched his jaw.
Mariya remained silent.
Exhaustion soon caught up with them, and they finally lay down to rest.
Akira lay on his back and stared at the night sky.
“At school, I was always at the bottom of the class. My grades were terrible, and all the girls hated me. I’d been an alternate on the volleyball team for three years. No matter what I did, I could never beat my best friend or my childhood friend.”
He let out a quiet breath.
“I used to wish that my life would change. But now…”
“The ramen we ate after club activities, getting scolded by my teachers, fooling around with my friends, my childhood friend worrying about me, Mom’s bento…”
“Right now, I’d do anything just to eat those things again.”
Akira continued looking at the sky.
“Even though I complained about everything back then, I never thought I’d miss it this much.”
Kanako quietly bit her lip as she listened.
Mariya clenched his jaw.
“Shut it, Sengoku. Go to sleep.”
Akira’s face turned red.
“W-What? Mariya, you were still awake? Did you hear all that?”
“Just sleep.”
Akira stared at him for a moment before closing his eyes.