The second guard, now hanging sideways from his seat, slowly regains consciousness. His eyes widen when he sees the large man before him now unrestrained. He lifts his weapon and points it directly at the prisoner.
Guard 1 "Don't move! I will put you down!"
He shouts commandingly but with fear lining his every word. The prisoner stares at him for a moment before taking a step towards him. The guard then fires his gun at point blank but instead of hitting the prisoner, he instead catches the metal slug blasted from the gun in the palm of his hand right before his face. The guard sweats with fear filling his entire body before he screams in pain as bashing sounds are heard from the rear of the van until the screaming stops. The driver shakes his head before adjusting himself in his chair.
Driver "You guys okay back there?"
He asks when a death filled scream sounds out as a metal spike pierces his body from behind, through the seat and out the broken windshield. The other four officers approach the van with their weapons drawn. Suddenly, a metal object comes bursting out of the van, piercing through its armored exterior and shoots straight towards one of the officers. It stabs straight through his face causing him to collapse backwards when another one jets out, hitting the other officer in the shoulder. He falls back in pain but quickly crawls behind his car, holding his shoulder. He looks at it for a moment to see what stabbed him.
Officer 2 "A… rail spike?.."
His attention is quickly taken elsewhere when he hears the door to the van slam open along with the quick response of his peers.
Officer 3 "Take down!"
Gunshots ring out before the murderous sounds of violence screams. The officer hiding covers his ears from the brutal noises he hears until everything goes quiet. He slowly uncovers his ears before looking up a bit. He jumps back in fear as he sees the prisoner standing over him with the same uninterested expression on his face.
Officer 2 "W-what are you?.."
He asks, his voice and body trembling. The prisoner stares down at him for a moment before speaking.
Prisoner "My name is death. I reap and remove life because that is all it's good for."
He raises his hand as another rail spike sits in his grasp. The officer's eyes widen as he screams before a splash of blood paints the road behind him.
Prisoner "There is no such thing as a good life or a valuable one. There is only death…"
He says as he looks at his blood covered hand before turning around to walk away.
Prisoner "And the bodies that follow."
He says with a cold tone as he walks away from the scene. Step. Drag. Step. Drag. The sound of his footsteps and the heavy ball and chain that follows behind him as he walks into the dark forest.
The next day, at Camp Circle V, the class is cozied into their bunk beds when a trumpet horn plays in the distance, signaling them to wake up. Sugawara sits up rapidly with a drowsy and confused look.
Sugawara "Huh? What?.."
He looks around for a moment before yawning and rubbing his eyes. As he does, Haru falls off the top bunk and crashes on the floor right next to their bed, startling Sugawara. He leans over the edge of the bed and looks at Haru groaning on the ground.
Sugawara "You okay love?.."
Haru gives him a mangled thumbs up.
Haru "Yep.. I'm good.."
In the bathrooms, the door opens up letting steam pour out, revealing Suiyoubi in a bath towel wrapped around her body. Alice stretches as she walks over but stops as her jaw drops seeing her walking out and to her belongings. Alice's nose bleeds a little as she stares.
Suiyoubi "Don't worry about the hot water, they're community showers."
Alice then slaps herself in the face to snap her out of it.
Alice "Community showers you say?.."
She gets a mischievous look before rushing to Shiori and grabbing her by the shoulders.
Alice "Come on Shiori! Let's go shower! We don't want the water to get cold!"
She says while pushing her to the bathroom and slamming the door behind them. The others watch with a sweat drop.
Lucy "Don't worry, we'll make sure she's okay."
She says as the other girls all get up and head to the bathroom to get ready.
Daiki "You know what this means.."
He says with a smirk. Kitaro sweats as they look at the other bathroom.
Kitaro "No way. I think I'll wait my turn.."
He says nervously.
Kuzan "Come on brother. There's no reason to be ashamed of your body."
He says, placing a hand on Kitaro's back. Kitaro turns and looks at him but jumps back with a blush when he notices he's naked.
Kitaro "HEY! What are you doing?!"
Daiki "Get over here and bond with us brother! Hoorah!"
He shouts as he, Kuzan and Touma all flex and pose together, naked. Haru smiles and takes his shirt off.
Haru "Bro bonding, let's go!"
He then jumps in and poses over them before they all rush to the bathroom. Kitaro and Sugawara watch with looks of disbelief when Hikigaya grabs a towel and follows them into the bathroom casually.
Kitaro "You too Hikigaya?.."
Hikigaya "Nah, but I wanna shower so whatever."
He says with a smile as Kitaro, Ryuji and Sugawara sigh and follow them in. Soon after the students all get dressed and ready for the day, they rush out to the mess hall for a hearty breakfast.
Chef "Ah, back so soon?"
She says loudly with a laugh as she serves the students.
Haru "Hell yeah! French toast and eggs??"
Chizuru "And bacon and ham? The food here is amazing!"
They say with big smiles while taking their trays to the table.
Chef "Oh, one thing for the pretty little lady there."
She says pointing to Hisana. Hisana looks surprised but steps to the window as the chef turns around and grabs something.
Chef "Heard a little something so I made this special, just for you."
She hands Hisana a bowl as she sniffs the food in it before getting a big smile on her face and lifting it over her head.
Hisana "Red bean soup and french toast!"
Hikigaya "Really?.."
The chef lady chuckles before continuing her work.
Samuel "Okay, first thing on today's agenda. I think we can start with a fresh morning hike. Then after that, we can visit the nature center and look at some of the native species that live here."
She says with an excited smile while staring at a sheet of paper and a map.
Lucy "A hike already?.."
Airi "Isn't it like 42 degrees outside right now?"
Samuel "That's the fun part! Now you don't have to worry about the heat."
She says with a smile. The class looks a little disappointed at the idea as they eat their food.
Samuel "I'm just trying to make this fun for you guys!"
She yells cartoonishly angry. They sit in silence for a moment as Samuel pouts.
Samuel "Fine, I guess you don't want to see the ruins then.."
She mumbles as the class' eyes instantly light up.
Alice "Ruins??"
Daiki "In the forest??"
Shiori looks at Hikigaya with a smile.
Shiori "Could be haunted."
Hikigaya "Not the first ghost we've fought."
Samuel "Oh, now there's interest. Well too bad."
She sticks her tongue out at the class and turns her back to them.
Samuel "You were all pouting about it two seconds ago."
Haru "Aw, come on! We didn't know it would actually be interesting!"
Hisana "Please?"
The class all begs Samuel with big eyes as Samuel looks back. She stares at her class for a moment as they sparkle to her. She blushes a bit as she sighs.
Samuel "How can I say no to you?"
She smiles in defeat as the class cheers. Soon the class is walking up a trail in light jackets and a few bags with them being led by Samuel. Chizuru pants and struggles a bit as she stops for a moment. Touma and Shiori stop and look at her.
Shiori "You okay?"
She asks gently as Chizuru nods.
Chizuru "Just gotta… catch my breath.."
She pants while placing her hand on her chest. Touma looks at her for a moment before suddenly he grabs her and lifts her up. She is surprised by this as he puts her on his back.
Chizuru "T-Touma! What are you doing??"
She asks, blushing and embarrassed.
Touma "I want you to enjoy the hike too…"
He says softly with a slightly embarrassed look too. Shiori smiles as they continue with the rest of the group, Touma now carrying her on his back. She smiles a flustered smile as she gently wraps her arms around his neck.
Chizuru "Thank you.."
She says softly as Touma shakes his head a bit.
Touma "I.. I am strong.. Strong enough for the both of us.. You don't need to worry, Chizuru.."
He says with an embarrassed look before turning his head to look at her a bit.
Touma "I just love you."
He says with a smile causing Chizuru to blush more and place her forehead on his shoulder, steam coming from her head.
Chizuru "You're too good to me.."
She lifts her head and looks at him with an embarrassed look.
Chizuru "I love you too!"
She says with a smile as they continue up the hill.
Samuel "Alright, here we are!"
She says with a smile as the class reaches the top of the hill. Sounded by forest on all sides, they look down to see a medium sized stone structure, overgrown with vines and leaves and quite aged.
Chizuru "Woah! Let's go in it! Onward!"
She points excitedly as Touma follows her command.
Alice "I wonder if anyone has died here?"
She says with a smile while rushing to the structure. Samuel looks shocked as the class all makes their way to the structure.
Samuel "Hey! Wait! We can't just.. Ugh."
Realizing the class isn't listening, she follows them.
Haru "Woah! This place is kinda big!"
He says, standing on a concrete stage surrounded by stone steps facing it.
Suiyoubi "It kind of looks like an outdoor theater. Could that be what it was intended for?"
She asks, standing next to Samuel.
Samuel "Yes, explorers believe so. It's been here for a long time, long before the camp has been here but the reason this site is so interesting is the lack of civilization around it. Whoever was here first, built this place and nothing else for kilometers around."
Suiyoubi "Interesting."
Mormo then jumps out of her bag.
Mormo "Alright, if you're gonna talk history, I'm outta here. It's supposed to be vacation, not education."
He walks away as Samuel stares at him with big eyes. She turns to Suiyoubi who just shrugs in response.