October 4th, Day 1
At the same time Yarai woke inside the aircraft, somewhere else on the island, Sengoku Akira slowly opened his eyes.
“U…unnh…”
Something soft brushed against his nose.
As his vision cleared, he found a small animal staring directly at his face.
“…WAAAH!! What the hell is that?! A monkey?!”
Akira jerked backward and scrambled to his feet as his heart pounded violently inside his chest.
His breathing grew heavier as he looked around.
Dense jungle surrounded him in every direction.
Thick vines hung between the trees, and unfamiliar cries echoed faintly through the forest.
“What the… what’s going on…? I was on the plane…”
A cold thought entered his mind.
Did we crash?
And I’m the only one who got thrown out…?
His chest tightened immediately.
“No way…!”
He suddenly turned toward the jungle and shouted.
“Rion!!”
“Ko-chan!”
“Eiken!”
“Hello?!”
“Anybody???”
His voice echoed weakly through the trees, but nothing answered him.
Panic slowly took hold, and Akira ran through the jungle while shouting desperately for the others until his throat turned raw and painful.
“Why isn’t anyone here…?”
He searched for a long time but found no sign of anyone.
Eventually, exhaustion caught up to him, and his legs gave out.
“I can’t walk anymore… I’m so thirsty… I’m gonna die… shit…”
He rolled weakly onto his side and noticed a strange squirrel-like animal nearby eating a cricket.
Akira stared at it blankly before speaking weakly.
“Tch… animals are lucky… they can eat anything…”
A rustling sound suddenly came from the bushes nearby.
Akira slowly turned his head and saw a large beaver-like animal emerge from the vegetation.
It was far larger than any beaver he had ever seen before.
“Whoa… it’s huge. What is that? I’ve never seen an animal like it…”
His eyes followed it carefully.
Maybe it’s one of those dam-building beavers…
If I follow it, maybe I’ll find water.
It was not much of a plan, but it was enough.
Akira forced himself back onto his feet and staggered after the animal.
Every step felt heavier than the last.
Luckily, he was right.
The creature was moving toward a waterfall.
Akira stumbled forward, then broke into a desperate run and plunged straight into the water.
“Pheeweee…! Cold! This is amazing!” he gasped while drinking desperately.
After drinking his fill, he wiped his mouth and finally looked around properly.
Different animals wandered around the water, yet none of them looked familiar.
“Wh… what are those tiny things… horses?”
Akira stared at them for a while, unable to make sense of anything he was seeing.
Eventually, he sighed and started walking again.
“Sigh… is this seriously some deserted island? This sucks… what am I supposed to…”
He suddenly remembered something.
“Ah… that’s right. My phone.”
Akira reached into his pocket, pulled it out, and checked the screen.
“No signal… figures…”
A dry laugh escaped him.
He slowly lowered the phone and sat down against a nearby boulder.
“I bet Ma’s freaking out right now…”
His gaze drifted downward as his thoughts darkened.
Why does this happen to me?
Don’t tell me I’m the only one who survived…
Akira closed his eyes briefly.
“That reminds me… what was that thing I saw on the plane? Was it some kind of illusion? That was seriously weird…”
Before he could think further, a faint voice reached him through the jungle.
“…Heee..lp… peo…ple…”
Akira froze as relief washed over him.
Someone else was alive.
Akira jumped to his feet and dashed through the jungle toward the voice.
“Finally… there are other people! Who is it? I don’t recognize that voice…”
“…Heee..lp… p…eo…ple…”
“It doesn’t matter! Someone else survived too!!” Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
Akira burst through the trees and came to an abrupt stop.
A massive bird stood directly in front of him.
Its body towered over him, with thick muscular legs and a huge beak.
It’s huge…
What is this?
Some kind of ostrich?
Without thinking, he pulled out his phone and aimed it at the bird.
The sharp click of the shutter broke the silence.
The bird reacted instantly and kicked the phone straight out of his hand.
“Hey, what the hell was that?!”
The bird immediately turned and moved back toward a large nest nearby.
“S…en…goku…”
Akira froze for a moment before quickly looking around.
“Mariya!!”
Shirou Mariya lay on the ground while clutching his injured left leg.
“Lend me a hand… my leg’s injured,” he groaned.
Akira rushed over and pulled Mariya to his feet, supporting him with one arm.
“You survived too?!”
Mariya shook his head before grabbing Akira’s sleeve.
“Shh… there’s another one nearby…”
“Another…?”
Akira slowly followed Mariya’s gaze, and his expression froze.
Another giant bird was dragging a woman across the ground by her clothes.
“Aeeeeeek… Help me! Please help!”
It was Oomori Kanako, one of the flight attendants.
The bird dragged her into its nest and dropped her carelessly inside.
“Argh…”
Kanako cried out in pain.
Her uniform was torn in several places and stained with mud from being dragged across the ground.
“Sengoku, we need to leave while we still can,” Mariya said urgently.
“Hurry… while it’s focused on her.”
“…Run away?” Akira muttered.
He looked toward Kanako, who was struggling desperately as she cried for help.
Every instinct told him to turn around and run.
If he rushed in now, he could die.
But the thought of leaving her behind never crossed his mind.
He carefully lowered Mariya back onto the ground and turned toward the nest.
“S-Sengoku?!” Mariya’s eyes widened.
“Hey, what are you thinking? No! Don’t do it! Leave her and run!”
“…Be quiet.”
Akira’s body trembled with fear, but he forced his legs forward
“S…Sengoku!” Mariya shouted in shock.
Akira sprinted straight toward the nest.
The giant bird noticed him immediately and lashed out with a powerful kick.
Akira threw himself low at the last second.
The massive foot swept over his head, missing him by inches.
Before the bird could recover, he dove into the nest.
“Uggh!”
He hit the ground hard beside Kanako, grabbed her by the arm, and dragged her out of the nest.
“Hey! Are you alright?!”
Kanako looked up at him through tear-filled eyes, unable to speak.
“Uhn… uhn… waaah…”
The bird shrieked and lunged again.
Akira instinctively ducked as its enormous beak slammed into the tree behind him with a deafening crack, burying itself deep in the trunk.
“Hey… we have to run! Get up!” Akira shouted.
“I… I can’t stand…” Kanako cried weakly.
“Give me a break… there’s no other choice,” Akira muttered.
He quickly hoisted her onto his shoulder and took off running.
Behind them, the giant bird ripped its beak free from the tree, sending splinters of wood flying in every direction.
“KWWAAAKK!!”
Kanako looked back in terror.
“Aeeek! Run faster! It’s coming!!”
“Hah… hah… easy for you to say…” Akira gasped.
“I know it’s behind us!”
Ahead of them, Mariya limped forward as quickly as he could.
“That idiot Sengoku… he’s dead…” Mariya muttered while panting.
“Aaaaahhhhhh!!”
Mariya turned around and his eyes widened instantly.
Akira was sprinting toward him while carrying Kanako, and the enraged bird was charging right behind them.
“Bloody hell… Sengoku?! Bastard, don’t bring it here!” Mariya shouted while trying to limp faster.
“Shut up, Mariya! Wait, you can still run?!” Akira yelled back.
Without warning, the bird charged straight into them.
The impact sent all three of them tumbling across the ground.
“Ugh…”
“Ungh…”
Akira rolled several times before crashing against a rock.
His face was bruised, and pain spread through his entire body, but he forced himself back onto his feet.
Nearby, Mariya groaned as he struggled to sit up, while Kanako cried out in pain.
Akira’s eyes darted around frantically before spotting a narrow crevice between two large boulders.
“There!! Hurry! Get in there!”
He grabbed Kanako and shoved her toward the opening before helping Mariya stumble after her.
Akira threw himself in after them just as the giant bird drove its beak into the crevice, but the opening was too narrow for it to reach them.
“KAAAWKK!!”
“Eeeehh! Don’t come in! Don’t come in!” Kanako cried as she pressed herself against the back of the crevice.
“Quiet…” Akira muttered weakly while leaning against the rock wall.
Outside, the bird clawed at the entrance and repeatedly drove its beak between the rocks, trying to reach them.
After several more failed attempts, the bird finally stopped attacking.
It slowly raised its head toward the sky and let out a strange call before turning and disappearing into the jungle.
The three remained inside, listening carefully.
Only after the forest had fallen completely silent did Mariya finally let out the breath he had been holding.
“We’re… okay…” Mariya finally muttered with a sigh of relief.
Only then did Akira slump back against the stone and exhale deeply.
“Let’s… get out of here…”
After waiting a little longer, the three cautiously crawled out of the crevice.
Exhausted and bruised, they made their way toward the nearby waterfall.
Kanako collapsed beside the stream, her shoulders shaking as she continued crying softly, still unable to calm herself down.
“Whew… that was insane,” Akira splashed cold water over his face before letting out a shaky laugh.
“What was that bird? I thought it was some kind of ostrich at first, but there’s no way I’ve ever seen anything like that before.”
After washing the dirt from his face, Akira walked over to Kanako.
He stood there awkwardly for a moment before scratching the back of his head and crouching in front of her.
“Hey… can you stop crying for a second?”
“Sob… sob…”
Kanako continued crying without responding.
Nearby, Mariya had already opened his laptop.
“Mariya! You’re seriously using your laptop right now?” Akira snapped.
“There’s no internet here, you know?”
Without looking up from the screen, Mariya replied calmly, “Even without internet, I can still access my files.”
Akira frowned and walked over behind him.
“…An encyclopedia?” he muttered.
“Wait… that bird’s in here? So it actually exists?”
“No,” Mariya answered.
“Huh?”
“It shouldn’t,”
Mariya’s expression grew tense.
“This isn’t a normal encyclopedia,” he explained.
“It’s a database of extinct animals.”
He turned the screen slightly toward Akira.
“That bird is called Diatryma. It went extinct around fifty million years ago.”
“…Fifty million years ago?” Akira laughed in disbelief.
“What are you talking about? We just saw it…”
He stopped mid-sentence as his eyes moved across the screen, where images, names, and extinction dates were displayed.
The squirrel-like creature was Ptilodus, which went extinct around fifty-five million years ago.
The giant beaver-like animal was Eumegamys, which went extinct roughly two million years ago.
The small horse-like creatures were Hyracotherium, which went extinct around thirty-five million years ago.
Akira felt his throat tighten.
I saw them… the exact same animals…
“Move, Sengoku.”
Mariya nudged him aside and switched to another screen.
“That isn’t the only problem,” he said.
“Considering the circumstances, we’re obviously on an island.”
He opened a world map on the laptop.
“I tried calculating our position.”
Tracing a line across the screen with his finger, Mariya continued, “This was the plane’s flight path.”
His finger continued farther along the route.
“About thirty minutes after the plane deviated from its course, the turbulence started here.”
Akira leaned closer and froze.
“…B-But there’s nothing there.”
“Exactly,”
The map showed nothing but open ocean.
“Sengoku,” he said quietly, “there’s no island here.”
“This island doesn’t exist.”
Akira slowly lifted his gaze from the laptop and looked out toward the endless jungle surrounding them.
Where the hell are we?