RABBIT 7: Town of Predator or Prey

The cold air clenched my shaking hand, as my fingers wrapped tightly around the blood-soaked wooden bat. It had only occurred to me then, as my fingers stuck to the dried blood, that this instrument was used to take lives.

The dark, wet streets of the town stretched for a fair distance, likely taking five minutes to walk from one corner of the town to another. Small apartments lined the centre of the town, and small buildings, cars, and general debris lined the outside walls.

We were making our way from the West to the North, from the apartment we left to an empty corner. We had decided to investigate the walls of the town first, which seemed too high to climb, not to mention topped off with rusty spiked fences, decorated with barbed wire. You could argue that these fences were climbable, but there didn't seem to be any point in doing so, as there was nothing but barren land past the walls, and the occasional pine tree.

Michifuku: "Sheesh, it's cold… I'm relieved I died in my winter uniform."

Tatesada Hakaru: "You in highschool?"

Michifuku: "Nope, college."

Tatesada Hakaru: "What kind of college has school uniforms?"

Michifuku: "Were you in college, Tatesada-kun?"

Tatesada Hakaru: "K-Kun? Uh… yeah, kinda - not really, though."

Michifuku: "...Is that a yes or a no?"

Tatesada Hakaru: "It's complicated… was complicated."

Michifuku: "I see…"

Itogaya: "Let's search here."

We had reached a building, perhaps fifty feet from the original apartment. It was small, with quick steps leading up to the desolate entrance. It seemed to be a storage building, with the inside protected by brick walls, and a small unmoveable lever attached to said wall.

Itogaya: "I'll briefly check the inside before we all enter."

Tatesada Hakaru: "No need to take it so seriously, Itogaya-senseiii. Doubt there's anything in there, anyway."

Itogaya: "..."

Itogaya-san opened the single metal door, which grinded against the floor below, as if to stop him from entering. After a minute, he returned, letting us know it was safe to enter.

The inside was smaller than expected, though I'd chalk that up to most of the space being taken up by opened storage boxes. The walls were lined with empty cans and water bottles, as well as decorative cups. The storage boxes filled the centre of the room, creating an impassable wall, and endless wires ran through the ceiling like a maze. Steep steps led up to the roof, which housed a small satellite dish. Next to the stairs was a messy futon, with a torn pillow and some unsavoury magazines laying on top. The most interesting piece in the building, however, was the computer desk facing the furthest wall from the stairs, with three beaten monitors sitting on its plastic surface.

Tatesada Hakaru: "Jesus, this is ancient…"

Tatesada-san lowered himself below the desk, picking at the dusty desktop ageing under it.

Kobayashi Amano: "You familiar with computers?"

Tatesada Hakaru: "Sure."

Tatesada Hakaru: "It's plugged in and I've tried turning it on, so it's clear there isn't any power coming through here. If we wanna see what's on it, we'll need to switch that on."

Kobayashi Amano: "The only lighting we're getting is through the holes in the roof and the windows…"

Tatesada Hakaru: "Doubt there'll be anything good on here, though. It's probably running ancient Mayan tech."

Itogaya: "If there isn't anything of interest here, we should move forward."

Michifuku: "Gross…"

Michifuku-san dropped the dirty magazine as quickly as she had picked it up, before the four of us left.

The North-East corner of the town was mostly empty, aside from the limitless radio tower reaching towards the endless sky, which seemed prone to collapsing at the slightest touch.

Connected to the East side streets, close to the South-East corner, was a lonely two-door garage, who's torn roof should've been exposed to the moonlight above. The inside housed a decayed Toyota, according to Michifuku-san, as well as the essential inventory of a garage, and more dirty posters, suggesting the owner was an old man - also according to Michifuku-san. Aside from tattered tools and leaking pipes, there wasn't much of interest inside.

Closing in on the South-East corner, we located our main goal - the exit. A wide, iron spiked gate, held firmly by two brick columns, blocked off a long stretch of road reaching a foggy building in the distance. And like the fences it stood next to, barbed wire was wrapped on top. Tatesada-san was also familiar with these types of gates.

Tatesada Hakaru: "This is likely remote controlled. We'll have to either find its device, or power it through another building - maybe that storage place from before."

Michifuku: "Couldn't we just climb it? Barbed wire isn't that big of a deal."

Tatesada Hakaru: "Probably, doesn't sound that hard."

Itogaya: "Don't forget about our two injured. How do you suppose they'll pass this gate?"

Tatesada Hakaru: "Well, we could just carry them up with some sorta rope, maybe."

Itogaya: "I doubt that'll be feasible with the barbed wire."

Itogaya: "Though, this doesn't seem to be much of a challenge, unlike that of the apartment."

Kobayashi Amano: "Why give us an accessible exit this soon?"

Kobayashi Amano: "Compared to the apartment exit, this seems far too approachable. Even with our injured."

Itogaya: "Whatever the case, we can come back to this later. We still need to locate food and water."

Having put it aside temporarily, we made our way to the small factory next to the gate. There were two floors, the second being connected by stairs both inside and outside. There wasn't much of note within the factory, with the first floor being a lounge area, and the second a mini box factory. An office room was joined by a heavy metal door and paned window. Itogaya-san noted the building as being usable for shelter.

Compared to the East and North walls, the South wall was far more lenient on space. It stretched out slightly, and contained several multiple-story apartment complexes, as well as minute garages, which were lined up in two separate rows. The apartments and garages contained no food or running water, essentially nothing of interest. Though, some apartments hosted a basement that refused to open, no matter how hard we pushed or pulled against its metal frame. Aside from that, a small power station was located in the furthest right corner of the wall, near the garages, and although it was locked tight with a dried chain, it piqued our interest far more than anything else as it suggested something towards our benefit. A lever was attached to a wall, similar to the storage building, and it also did not move.

Tatesada Hakaru: "We get this open, and we might be able to power some of these buildings. Maybe that storage one, too."

Michifuku: "We're gonna need bolt cutters to get in, though. You'd think we'd find them in one of those garages, but…"

Itogaya: "There's a small opening up here, through a vent. However, I doubt any of you could fit through."

Kobayashi Amano: "What about Ishimasu-san? She's quite small, don't you think?"

Tatesada Hakaru: "Nine year-olds tend to be…"

Michifuku: "I thought she was ten?"

Like the North, no buildings were attached to the East wall, only a long road connecting to the lone apartment we came from. Having failed to discover food or running water, our next destination was in the centre of town, and the abundance of unexplored buildings within it.

…Unbeknownst to us at that time however, one of us had just stepped in the drool of a predator.

The town was claustrophobic, with dark, damp alleyways separating each section, and tall buildings closing us in. Gates blocked off certain alleyways, and refused to open without power. Apartments, small stores and storage buildings acted as walls, with most of them being empty or unopenable. There was a small green park near the centremost of town, with a non-working marble water-fountain and playpark within. The decorations in town were towering trees, foetid dumpsters and worn benches, with the occasional wind phone and bus stop. The yellow hue from the street lights led from one building to another, and at one point led us to another chained door, leading to a likely electrical station.

Tatesada Hakaru: "Sigh… still nothing, huh?"

Michifuku: "Right… I think I might starve."

Tatesada Hakaru: "I'm more worried about water…"

Itogaya: "..."

Kobayashi Amano: "Everything okay, Itogaya-san?"

I turned towards Itogaya-san, who had stopped walking, seemingly lost in thought.

Itogaya: "...It feels rather pointless."

Kobayashi Amano: "Hm?"

Itogaya: "No food, nor water. But another exit, possibly leading us to another place to search."

Itogaya: "What is the purpose, do you think?"

Kobayashi Amano: "...Beats me. We're not finished searching yet, anyway."

Itogaya: "Despite the lack of reason for staying here, there is no threat. What do animals do in a time like this? Migrate?"

Kobayashi Amano: "Animals don't typically make homes in barren lands…"

Itogaya: "My point exactly. But, something else is bothering me."

Itogaya: "This area seems lived in. Either those before us left in a hurry, or were eliminated."

Kobayashi Amano: "...What are you suggesting?"

Itogaya: "Perhaps this isn't the breeding ground for our prey."

Itogaya-san was suggesting something sinister, that our current location wasn't to our benefit, but to that of another predator.

Itogaya: "Either way… this path is dwindling and suffocating. It's becoming hard to envision anything…"

Kobayashi Amano: "Path?"

Itogaya: "...All we can do is continue moving forward for now, until we confirm our options."

Kobayashi Amano: "..."

The final point of interest was highlighted not only by the street lights, but the green light radiating from behind its windows. A regular convenience store, with a small parking lot and rusted cars attached to it. The inside was clear as day, and its inventory alluring. No one was inside, but despite that, it seemed to have been recently attended to.

Itogaya: "...A konbini?"

Tatesada Hakaru: "Oh, it actually looks useful! We might be able to find something here worth our while."

Michifuku: "Heating?!"

Kobayashi Amano: "Why is this the only place powered?"

Tatesada-san and Michifuku-san made their way to the front door, rushing past us and the fence closing the store in. Itogaya-san, however, didn't move from his spot.

Itogaya: "Predators and prey…"

Itogaya: "Kobayashi-san… tell me; what is the easiest way to trap prey?"

Kobayashi Amano: "...!"

Food and water, no less.

Itogaya: "You two, get out of there now!"

It was too late.

The automatic sliding doors slammed tight, and along with the windows, were covered by metal shutters that flung down from above. The green light from within was shut out, leaving only the yellow hue of the streetlights to shine upon us outside.

As if the store sensed it would fail to capture more prey, it satisfied its stomach with two.