It had been hours since the announcements played. How many? It was hard to say. The world was still dark, but the horizon behind her was turning lighter. Fumiyo had slept fitfully at some point in there, huddled in a patch of undergrowth, but she had tried not to be out for too long. After all, while she was still staying out of the center of things, she did have to continue her search.
Fumiyo wouldn't be finding Megumi to tell her anything on behalf of Chisato. Chisato wouldn't be finding Megumi either, because Megumi was dead. Kazuhiko wouldn't be finding Fumiyo to chase after her with his axe, because he was dead too. There weren't many of them left, and that was whenever Sakamochi last spoke, those unknown hours ago.
Next time the man's voice broke the stillness, would Noriko's name be spoken? Would Fumiyo's?
There was a faint air of futility about the hunt. She was trying to stay far enough from hot spots of activity to avoid getting into trouble, but close enough to have a chance to find Noriko. But Noriko was sneaky. She'd just about materialized out of nowhere at the Clinic, and since then Fumiyo hadn't found any sign of her.
Could the other girl be hiding too? And if she was, was it because she was scared, or because she was lying in ambush?
The terrain here made moving it difficult to move surreptitiously. Undergrowth crunched beneath her feet, and she had to go slowly to avoid stumbling. There had to be a path nearby, but she hadn't found it. The air felt thick and humid, and she coughed and sniffled now and then.
Up above, at the top of a fairly steep slope, sat a shrine. It might have been auspicious in other circumstances, but now it was mostly notable as one of the areas that would soon become off-limits. Fumiyo thought it might have been a good place to hide out otherwise. It offered shelter, but it was also far from everything else. Someone could be there and be relatively undisturbed, perhaps.
Maybe there was someone here, and maybe there wasn't. Maybe someone had been hiding inside since the very first day, and maybe Fumiyo was the first to even pass this way. In any case, she didn't dare go any closer, but she squinted up at it, trying to make something of what she saw. Sometimes, she could tell herself she caught sight of a flicker of motion, but maybe that was just the wind rustling the branches of the trees in between. It was so dark that it was just black on midnight blue.
Would she even be able to shoot Noriko? Fumiyo wasn't sure if this doubt was about the act of killing, or the practical aspects. Sakura had been a quick thing, and Fumiyo hadn't gone looking for that confrontation. And Noriko was better armed, and had killed people. What if they fought, and Noriko was just better? Wouldn't that be worse than never finding the girl? Or was it better to have tried?
This was so different from helping the nurse.
Fumiyo paced, her shoes turning up the dirt, the gun held in her unsteady hands. Was she just stalling? Waiting here, where Noriko might not be, despite what she'd told herself? Should she have stayed with Chisato instead?
There was a faint light grey glow in the direction opposite the shrine. The sun would rise before too long. It was probably time to go somewhere else, whatever the reason and whatever she did when she arrived.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, there was a flash, a sharp popping sound, and a sharper pain.
Fumiyo never realized precisely what had happened, but while she was downhill from the shrine proper, she had still wandered into the edge of zone C-4, and as the clock struck 05:00, her collar instantly detonated.
The shrine above sat empty, still and dark. Nobody else was nearby to realize her mistake.
~*~
10 STUDENTS REMAINING
10 STUDENTS REMAINING
