Chapter 5: Allies or A New Threat ?

After walking for a while and passing through several doors that increasingly began to require more authorizations. They finally arrived there is an elevator that opened only after Sergeant Takahiro approached it. The elevator was relatively large, able to accommodate nine people a good distance apart, or twelve if they squeezed a little.

- Okay, let's split into two groups. I will go in the first group- Said Sergeant Takahiro with his calm but imposing voice - While Private Riki you will be in charge of the second group.

- Yes sir! - He answered loudly while saluting his superior.

As soon as everyone was seated in the elevator, the soldiers made a point of organizing themselves so that people remained in a circle in the center of the elevator under strict surveillance of every single detail of the three soldiers who entered and their weapons that at no time since they had found at no point did they point them at anyone in the group. While Sergeant Takahiro found himself with his back facing the door. Nakajima and Kurihara were in the first group that would go down with Sergeant. Being propelled by the gun barrels in their backs, all six entered the elevator.

Already familiarized after two weeks stuck in the routine of entering and leaving the dormitory, Satoru notices that Takahiro repeats the same processes already performed by other soldiers for opening or closing the doors.

" But what?!"

However this time something catches his attention. Satoru notices that Sergeant Takahiro performs a certain movement with his hands and head, however due to the Sergeant having his back to them Nakajima cannot see the exact movements performed by him, since when he slightly moves his head to the left side in trying to get a better look at Takahiro, he ends up receiving a strong push from the soldier who was on his right side.

- AGH!

As soon as the elevator started to move, Satoru subtly lifts his head to see the light panel above the door that indicated they were going down, and almost at a glance he could see the drawing of a red arrow pointing down, on the left side. next to the arrow he turns the numeral "Four". The moment they stopped, he looked again, only looking up at the panel to find out which floor they had stopped on, he came across the number "One" glowing. After he turns the number he looks back at the door that opens.

When the door opened, they were again rudely and aggressively pushed by the two soldiers.

- Get out soon!

- Let's go!

By the time the second group exited the elevator the formation had returned to what it was before they descended. Then they were ordered to start walking again, going through curves and double paths again until they reached a wide corridor that contained a door identical to the others in size and shape at the end of it, but it differed in its color that instead of the common and cloying shiny silver that predominated in the dorm this door was completely black and gave the impression of being much more resistant than the others, these doors seemed much thicker than the previous ones, which made the following thoughts hover in Satoru's mind:

"What do they intend to do now? Why would they suddenly divide us? Why didn't they do this two weeks ago before they put us in the dorms? Wouldn't it be a lot simpler if they wouldn't let us have contact with each other, if they would then split us up? Had they been so stupid as to make the simple mistake of putting us in the wrong place? Or with all that must be happening they still had no idea how to distribute people? Well, there are a lot of possibilities that are valid as I also couldn't find any kind of pattern or variable that we have in common that could explain their method of choice. Gender, age, weight, none of that we have in common. The only thing we have in common is the fact that we've been in the same dorm. But that doesn't explain anything. However, explaining what happened simply, "It was a simple mistake." It seems too convenient to me and I think that despite being desperate and in a hurry the chances of them having selected us completely at random in my opinion seem low. But then what could it have been?"

Immersed in his thoughts, Satoru feels a light weight on his shirt. And when he turned his head slightly to the point where he could look out of the corners of his eyes, he saw a small hand that was trembling as it tightly gripped his clothes. They finally stop in front of the door at the end of the hall.

"It must be here. What awaits us beyond her?"

Nakajima turns and crouchs gently to face Emiko. The girl had red eyes filled with tears and a visible sadness and fear that dominated her being, her face was shining through the small marks of tears that flowed, looking fixedly at Nakajima her expression made clear the fearful question that the girl could not pronounce : "What will happen now?! When will I see them again?! What should I do?!

Satoru just slowly and affectionately strokes the girl's head. With a happy smile he tells her:

- Emiko, everything will be fine! You must be very scared, right?!

Waiting for a moment for the young woman's reaction, who limited herself to nodding in the affirmative, he continues:

- Let me tell you a secret. I'm too.

- EHHH?! Even Aniki is afraid of something?!

Said the young woman with her eyes no longer crying, but wide in an expression of surprise. As if she'd heard the most amazing thing in the world.

- Sure. And it's okay to be afraid of something. Everyone has. Because that's not a bad thing. It is actually very good, because fear is a signal from our brain warning us to be careful with something, otherwise we will be in danger. The living beings that we know today only survived by adapting to the situation in which they lived and even though it was not the best they found a way that valued their abilities so that they could survive. You don't have to be the strongest or the smartest to survive, just hang on to that fear and do whatever it takes to survive. Even though I'm very scared.

- But what if I can't do anything because I don't have some special skill?! Or not being able to think of something to protect myself, what do I do?! - The girl's voice trembled slightly between the words.

- If that happens, stay behind me. In case we're apart, call my name even if you're thinking and I'll go to where you are and I'll fix it. Do not worry! I won't let anything or anyone hurt you. I promise. - By his tone that became more serious, Satoru passes total conviction in what he said. His determination emanated from him mostly from his gaze.

Sergeant Takahiro turns to the twelve people in line and speaks coldly:

- Turn around and lean your heads against the wall.

Despite being hesitant, people begin to turn to the wall little by little. With their heads turned to the wall, no one could know what was about to happen behind them. Which left everyone anxious and their imaginations working nonstop to find out what they would do to them now. At the moment when everyone was too anxious, euphoric or scared feeding their imaginations with theories, Nakajima closes his eyes and controls his breathing keeping it serene, inaudible and almost imperceptible to the point that it was impossible to perceive the moment he breathed resembling himself. to a corpse. With that he starts to focus on everything around him, his ears were fully attentive to the slightest sound. His thoughts were focused on culling the relevant information from the guards' conversations in an attempt to find out what they would do to them or whatever else he thought would be useful.

"Three of them are going to the front of the line and the other two have spread out across the line."

- Ah! That always sucks!

It may be, but complaining doesn't help. So can you shut up and do your damn job right!

- TSK!

- Hey! You two! Get on with it! - shouted Takahiro.

From the certain echo of his voice, the attentive young man concluded that he was on the far right side of the line, the direction where two other soldiers were accompanying him.

Among the soldiers' complaints could be heard moans of pain or screams, especially the high-pitched screams of women.

- AHH! No! Please! No!

Nakajima is surprised to hear the scream of the woman next to him who starts screaming and struggling desperately. He heard the blows with some force from the woman who seemed to be trying to break free from the soldiers, however, his resistance would have been in vain, since 10 seconds later there was nothing left, except for a low clinking of a lock. Unable to turn around, the boy just feels when a hand presses him by the head hard against the wall. Looking down he could see through the lighting the faint dirt marks from the dull green boots stained with brown from the two pairs of feet that surrounded him, the next instant he was having his neck tightened aggressively almost causing him to gasp for air. Despite this, Satoru didn't show any resistance, but still the soldier who was holding him by the neck didn't loosen the slightest bit and continued to press him violently against the wall. Feeling abruptly startled by something icy touching his neck

"Tight. What is it?"

Soon Nakajima began to feel some discomfort when breathing, feeling the hand that held her move away and the feet going to her left side where Emiko was, hearing a small noise from the girl. The boy almost instinctively turned to the girl, but controlled himself by realizing what he was about to do.

It didn't take long for Takahiro to give them the next order:

- Right! We will!

As they walked, Satoru discreetly studied the glittering necklaces of those in front of him. The oval necklaces close to the neck were completely black, they resembled a black hole, because it seemed that the more you looked at them, the more they sucked in the light, becoming darker each time.

"What are these necklaces for? Or those purple spheres in the center of them? I can feel the metal is a little thick. They seem very sturdy and are very close to the neck to make it difficult to take them off. But what makes this place different from the dorms? What's behind that door? What are they so afraid of?!"

Passing through the door it quickly closes behind him and everyone starts to turn their heads and eyes watching everything very carefully from every corner.

Beyond the door they come face to face with gleaming silver tables that reflect the light from the lamps on them. There were 8 tables arranged in 4 rows of two tables each. In these tables there was a group of people in each one in which they were formed by 6 people.

- What place is this?! A cafeteria?!"

The cafeteria as well as the other rooms that Nakajima had been in were also white with various metal objects. When crossing the room with your eyes you can see what looked like the kitchen with a cook and her 3 helpers. Also, ALL 48 people at the tables also had the black collar around their necks.

As soon as the new group of 12 people set foot inside the cafeteria, the people at the tables eating breakfast immediately turned to face them. As they saw the many pairs of eyes that watched them, they saw the disdain and judgment in each one's eyes. The hosts did not disguise that they analyzed them thoroughly. However, even if they were afraid and worried about these new people, at the same time they felt restless and sad for them, since it was not just hostile looks that faced them, since in that group there were also people who had a shaken face. Even the youngest of the members of this group, who could not have even been 10 years old yet, had a black shadow that hovered in the back of his eyes and that showed his total apathy and despair.

- Let's go! Hurry up! - Kazuya shouted with power in his voice that echoed throughout the cafeteria.

With the room silent, the noise of chairs being pushed aside and dragged across the floor was high-pitched and uncomfortable. One by one people got up with their trays walking towards a cart the same color as the tables next to the kitchen where they placed them. As soon as people placed their trays on the silver cart, they walked towards the door and gradually formed two neat lines like the ones the Sergeant had formed in the dormitory.

A certain soldier who was in formation behind Takahiro starts saying in a tired and clearly lazy voice as he utters the words and yawns loudly with his mouth wide open:

- AHH! I want to go to bed and sleep! Why did I have to watch out for these monsters?! And on top of that on the morning shift.

- It's no use complaining. It's still two hours to eight until our shift ends. So stop complaining! It just makes everything worse!

The answer came from a voice not so deep and powerful that was common among most soldiers, but that was certainly irritated.

- But after all, why should we babysit these damn people? If any of them try anything funny, just wear the necklaces! After all, that's what these collars are for, right? - This time the lazy soldier's voice was energetic and said everything with a wide smile on his face.

- You! What are you waiting for?! - Rugia Takahiro.

Nakajima and Kurihara will enter the line, the girl will enter carelessly tripping over her own feet awkwardly by the Sergeant's sudden order for fear that they will do something to her if she does not comply with the order, she ends up bumping into a man in his early 30s, no much taller than her.

- Me...I... Sorry..sorry!

- There is?!

The man turns to see who hit him and when he sees the frightened girl his face takes on an expression of disgust and contempt and very, very angry. Her voice was strong and that made Kurihara scared even more, taking a step back.

As Emiko backs away, Satoru nimbly pulls her gently towards him, keeping her close to her body. And he stares for a few moments at the man who, upon seeing the voracity of her gaze, ends up retreating by instinct. Which astonishes himself, as when he realized what he had done, his eyes immediately widened.

"There is?! But what… Impossible! I?! How could I back down to a mere boy barely out of diapers?!"

- Hey! What is happening?! Get in line soon! - Kazuya shouted with force, as was customary when chanting orders to other people. The soldier had walked a little way and was now in front of Takahiro with his rifle pointed at the three of them.

The three resume their respective places in line. With his back to the line while also returning to his place in the formation behind the Sergeant, Kazuya receives a nasty and enraged look from Takahiro who remains silent until Takahiro is back behind him. Having passed the quick check that everyone was present, the lines began to march.

[A few minutes later in some room in the Complex]

- Ohohoho! You arrived! Finally you arrived! And then they missed me?! Because I missed ALL of you sooooooo much! Let's not waste any more time! Let's get started soon! Who's excited to play?!