Chapter 99

The sound of a dry crack echoed loudly, and I jumped up in a panic, wondering what had happened.

Immediately, a loud crash of breaking glass resounded, and small lights flickered on here and there in the dark department store.

"What's going on!?"

Yuki, who had been lying next to me, turned on the LED lantern by her pillow slightly and whispered those words.

The clock by the pillow showed it was still before dawn, but Shu, who had been sleeping next to me, had also woken up due to the commotion.

Then, the dry sound was heard again, followed by a low, rumbling noise that seemed to resonate in my stomach. When I realized these were probably gunshots, a loud voice echoed from downstairs.

"If you don't resist, I won't hurt you! Surrender quietly, all of you!"

Another gunshot, which seemed to be a warning shot, was heard, and the department store, which had been buzzing, fell silent as if water had been poured over it.

Seeing Shu, who was trembling with fear at the sudden events, I gently hugged him.

"Answer! What's going on!?"

Again, a low, rough voice was heard, followed by a high-pitched metallic sound ringing through the department store. This was the signal for evacuation.

The three of us immediately opened the shutter of the tenant and started moving.

I pulled Shu, who followed me like he was tripping, and it seemed that the other evacuees in the other tenants had also started moving quietly.

It had been decided that in the event of an unexpected situation, evacuees would move to the rooftop, which was not connected to the multi-level parking lot.

We had practiced evacuation drills several times since we arrived here, and the movements of Yuki, me, and the other evacuees were smooth.

"Both of you, this way!"

"Shu, it's okay."

Shu, who seemed to be in a mild panic, was unsteady on his feet, so I gently spoke to him and grabbed his hand, and the three of us jogged toward the rooftop with Yuki leading the way.

This time, heavy gunshots were heard from the direction of the multi-level parking lot, and the sound made both Shu and me shudder.

In the midst of the hectic atmosphere, just as we were about to reach the emergency stairs a little later than the other evacuees, another intense gunshot echoed from the direction of the multi-level parking lot.

A male police officer was already at the stairs, guarding the lower floors and guiding the evacuation.

Seeing him, I felt a bit more at ease.

"Da, Da...chan..."

Shu murmured softly, and the slight slack in my grip, which came from my momentary lapse in attention, allowed him to slip away.

If I had grabbed his clothes more roughly and without hesitation, I might have been able to stop him.

Shu suddenly ran in a different direction from where we were heading.

"Shu, wait!"

"Kaede!"

I called out to him as I chased after him, but he didn't listen and kept running.

The direction he was heading was toward the multi-level parking lot, where his father, Ijima, was on night watch.

The gunshots coming from that direction suggested something had happened there, and I think Shu couldn't bear the worry about his father's safety.

Of course, going there wouldn't change the situation and would only increase the danger, but he couldn't think clearly.

Shu had already been in a panic, and the thought of losing his father after losing his mother to the pandemic must have been too much for the young boy to bear.

Why did I loosen my grip at that moment?

I regretted it intensely, but I finally caught up to Shu and grabbed his clothes roughly.

"No, Shu!"

We had already moved a considerable distance and were close to the entrance of the multi-level parking lot, so I whispered to him and covered his mouth just in case.

Although we couldn't hear gunshots from that direction anymore, we couldn't risk going to check.

"Both of you, let's go back!"

I hadn't noticed, but Yuki had also come from behind and whispered to us.

At that moment, a gunshot rang out, and the glass door, which was not far away and had been an automatic door, shattered with a high-pitched sound.

Although no figures were visible beyond the glass door, Yuki and I, without a word, dragged Shu into a nearby tenant and hid.

"Anyone there, come out!"

"Hey, hey, we've got you completely surrounded, no need to rush."

For a moment, I regretted our decision to hide, but then the sound of rough footsteps and the voices of the men who had broken in were heard. If we had stayed out in the open, we might have been shot from behind, so perhaps our decision wasn't entirely wrong.

However, if these men had come from the multi-level parking lot, what had happened to the people who were supposed to be on watch there?

Shu must have realized this too, and I hugged his small body from behind, still covering his mouth.

"Shu, be quiet, okay..."

"Hey! You there! Come out with your hands up!"

As I whispered these words of comfort to him, almost simultaneously, the man who had broken in shouted, and the three of us shuddered.

My heart nearly leaped out of my chest, thinking he might have heard me, but it seemed he wasn't addressing us, and a response was soon heard.

"Please, calm down. I'll try to meet your demands as much as possible."

That voice belonged to the male police officer who had been guiding the evacuation at the emergency stairs. He must have been following us.

I felt intense guilt and could only hope nothing would happen to him.

"Hey, it's just a guy."

But my hope was shattered by the sound of a gunshot and the indifferent words that followed.

"Hey, he could have been a hostage. Think about it a little. Oh well, just make sure he's dead."

"Roger that."

The conversation, spoken as if killing someone was nothing, made me hug Shu tighter to suppress my fear.

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The timeline has finally caught up to the main story. The next part will be Azami's perspective.