Vol 9 Chapter 12 (2/2)
The gates were burning
They were engulfed in flae as the ones in the Correctional Facility, were ringing out Fraglass and metal battered the car ruthlessly Each ti bump-bump sound The sounds were like the car's screaonna die
”It's burning” Once he put it into words, terror gripped his whole body It was like the roots of his hair were standing on end But one point of curiosity slipped through the wave of fear washi+ng over hi to Inukashi+ persistently
How can it crumble so easily?
He understood that shi+on and Nezumi had utterly destroyed the core of the Correctional Facility He was in awe at their acco with it It happened too fast, too easily Was it always this fragile? Is it supposed to just collapse like that? He did not think for a bit anymore that No 6 was an absolute existence, or an omnipotent ruler It was the same as that special alloy door It had bent out of shape, cruracefulabout here An artificial city, the epitoy The Correctional Facility is another No 6 that's supported its darker workings It's No 6's bastard child, an evil spawn that's a spitting is often possessed evil powers Couldn't it have stood its ground so to be defeated just like that, without a choice?
Heh heh heh
He heard it again That lighthearted but terrifying laughter It wasthan the flaave a shout beside hi on the brink
”Ahhhhhh!!!”
They plunged into the wall of fire The dogs continued to bark incessantly Inukashi+ did not close his eyes He kept them open, and watched the flames s them up They were not a uniform colour The vermillion of sunset, the criether They shone golden, then sank into a muddy red
A part of the windshi+eld shattered Hot air blasted at the hair The heat evaporated the an to shrivel up
Oh, so we're gonna die here So that's how it is, he thought I' to die with them after all In the end, I'm just
”Elyurias,” said a voice from the back seat Inukashi+ could not tell if it was shi+on's or Nezumi's He did not knohat the word e to be soain, they were always strange, weird, ridiculous people froging at me
Elyurias? What the hell is that?
His hair singed His skin was being roasted It was hot Goddamnit, it's hot
The flahtly The heat also receded just slightly, and he could breathe a little
Huh? Why? Inukashi+ blinked Are the fla on their own? No way That's ia roared with laughter He laughed as if he had gone mad ”We're out! Take that, bastards! We're out safe! Ha, ha, ha ha ha ha ha ha! Take that! We've done it! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!”
Tense laughter echoed inside the car
Ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha!
They had gotten through He was right; they had certainly gotten through
The land around therasses or trees It was no different from the West Block But at least in this wasteland, there was a straight, two-lane road A lush, green forest probably awaited them at the other end In the dark, Inukashi+ could only ht the rich, earthy smell of the trees
Maintained roads and lush forests―all were things he could never see in the West Block
We've made it inside No 6 I've stepped inside, for the first ti Ha ha ha ha ha! Only natural for Ala! I'm quite the hero Ha ha ha ha ha, I did it! Take that, bastards! Hooray for Mr Rikiga, hip-hip-hooray! Ha ha ha ha ha!”
Rikiga's voice cracked even her pitch Inukashi+ swept up a liquor bottle that had been lying at his feet, and knocked Rikiga over the head
”Ow! What was that for?”
”I went easy on you Your head hasn't cracked open, now, has it?”
”Idiot! How dare you act like that to a hero!”
”I calmed your hysterical fit That's really sad, old s and the mice are calmer than you What's so heroic about what you did? You went on a reckless joy ride, and you juh, for sha or a mouse drive a car? I'd like to see theht to say whatever you want―”
Once Rikiga finished yelling to his heart's content, he gave a great sigh
”shi+on, what are we going to do now?” he said ”I have no idea what it's like inside No 6 I've been away for ten years”
Inukashi+ could feel shi+on shi+ft in his seat
”Lost Town is just a little ways in from here The outskirts of No 6 are beyond that forest, and further beyond that are the central districts The forest is there to hide the walls fro without being reminded all the time that they're surrounded by a wall”
”Yes”
”And how about ht through the forest There will be a fork, and if you turn right, there should be a sh? Eve's hurt pretty badly, isn't he?”
”He's been pierced by a rifle bullet”
”Wouldn't you need a pretty sophisticated facility to treat that?”
”Maybe,” shi+on said ”But that clinic is the closest They have a surgery You can only find fully-equipped facilities in the city centre We don't have tiht in inspections along the way They get stricter as you get closer to the centre Also, you need a citizenshi+p card to get into most medical facilities”
”You don't have one?”
”I threw it away”
shi+on paused for the length of a breath, and continued
”It was a useless card to have, anyway Lost Town residents aren't allowed into et in?”
”No The type of ID you have―in other words, your position as a citizen―decides what facilities you can use, where you can live, and what you can ride It's not only with clinics; Lost Town residents aren't even allowed into the central facilities for daily shopping needs or entertainment When it comes to places with the best equipets even sa commented ”I'd heard about it before, of course, since I did business with high officials I did get the idea that there was so in that city, and that a hierarchy was in place But to think that such an old-fashi+oned systeined What a surprise”
”High officials are elites close to the summit of the hierarchy They don't knohat it looks like froa was right He was surprised, or rather, struck duuard, all he could do was growl
So that city, No 6 not only divided people inside and outside with a wall, but they even sorted people within by creating more tiny differences?
The wealthy and the poor; the haves and have-nots; the superior and the inferior; the strong and the weak―No 6 drew countless lines that had for to its liking
Why was such a system ever needed? Who needed it? If you were unlucky, you were dead If you were lucky, you were alive The line between good and bad luck was the only thing that divided people in the West Block
”And the hospital we're headed to right now doesn't need an ID card?”
”It does There isn't any place in No 6 that doesn't need an ID”
”Then―”
”The doctor at the clinic used to be a customer at ht?”
”Yes He used to come once or twice a week to buy bread for lunch”
”What's his name?”
”I don't know We all called him ”doctor” That usually sufficed”
”You don't even know his naa said in disbelief ”Are you sure you can trust this doc? Is he good-hearted enough to treat someone who doesn't have an ID card? Who's not a citizen of No 6?”
”I don't know But he's our only chance”
Rikiga lapsed into silence There was no time to waver or hesitate
As they approached closer to the forest, the rich ser Could anyone in No 6 see the Correctional Facility burning where they were, or was it blocked out of sight by the forest?
He's so calht about shi+on shi+on's words were composed and undisturbed The usual shi+on―he was not If shi+on were as he nor desperately against his own heart
When did he learn to repress all of his e in shi+on changed, like a cloth that loses its colour after being passed through water?
Inukashi+ licked the back of his hand It was blistered from a burn
He was afraid to turn around If he turned around and focused his eyes, he would see the bloodied figure of Nezuination, but he was afraid The back of his neck was so tense, he felt like it would seize up
Well, I'll be da the blister shi+on is shi+on He'll never change; I'll be da who I ae, there's no way he'll ever change
The car entered the forest
”Oh―!” shi+on cried out softly ”The sky it's burning”
Rikiga also let out a muffled shout, and leaned out The car swerved, al between the trees
The sky was burning
The sky, darkened even ht, was coloured by the flames The Correctional Facility was not the only place No 6 itself was spewing fire Places across the city were being engulfed in fla on? Inukashi+ turned around, hishalf-open
”Hey, what just happened?”
shi+on sat frozen He sat still, holding Nezu Only his lips ”
Far away, they heard the sound of a blast It came from behind, not in front―the direction they had just escaped froate―” Inukashi+ fell speechless No further words came out He closed his mouth, unable to believe his eyes
What the hell is about to happen? It was neither excite toyed with by emotions that he found hard to describe
shi+on spoke
”We'll be out of the forest shortly Then, we'll be in Lost Town”