At the beginning of the second week where there were no intact windows on the second floor, the 'coils' on the pendant began to lose focus and appear as though they were moving. A subdued cheer rose up from the dejected forms lying along the narrow area. They waited until the morning visit was paid by their enormous, smelly friend and then moved down to the dining room and kitchen to make a final feast.
For the first time in weeks, the smell of meat and noodles filled the house. Large bowls of ramen with sliced chicken and steamed broccoli sat in front of each of them at the long dining room table. The meal was eaten in silence, but each of the original dwellers of this world had an expression of both satisfaction and sadness on their face. Soon, four of them would be leaving, going somewhere that in all likelihood nobody from their planet had ever been before. They might die within minutes of arriving in the next world. In their bowls was warm food, though, and for the moment, all was right.
Despite the danger levels being higher than ever before, Sensei still planned on staying. He reasoned that with fewer dead on the street, he could go wherever he wanted if he did not desire to stay where he was. It would not take long after they left before their smells began to fade from the house, and he thought it possible that the house would be left alone before too long, but he could leave if he wanted to. In truth, he just didn't want to leave his world.
"I am 92 years old," he told them after lunch with a small smile. "I am old and tired. I no longer have the energy or curiosity to go to new places. When you are all safely away, I will spend my days reading through the rest of the books I have not read yet and eating whatever I want."
They all smiled and nodded understandingly, but nobody wanted to lose another of their family.
"You are not losing me," he clarified before heading up to start looking for his next book. "We are just parting for a while."
Zaria did not join in on the discussion of the afterlife that followed. Every culture has its own beliefs about what happens after death. If they all believed that their souls would meet up across universes, who was she to say anything one way or the other? The idea was nice, though. She hoped that if they were right, then she would be able to meet her grandma and dad again one day. Not for a long time, though. She looked over at Gu Cheng to find him staring at her. His lips curled up every so slightly, and his hand closed over her own as though he knew what she was thinking of.
With Sensei already in bed, the remaining six cleaned up their meal, wiping down all dishes and pots for the last time. The kitchen was cleaned up and dining table sparkling when they were done. It was almost time. The pendant had taken on a pink hue, and the 'snakes' were moving steadily.
"Soon," Gu Cheng announced in the quiet of the kitchen, looking at each of them in turn. We should all -"
He stopped as something large moved along the street outside, shaking the dishes in the cabinets. Everyone looked toward the front of the house, even if they could not see outside from where they were.
"Is that him?" Yamada-kun asked quietly. "Isn't it much too early? Why is he here so early?"
Nobody answered him. The now familiar sounds grew louder and then stopped, so close it must have been just outside the wall once again.
"Upstairs, now." Gu Cheng ordered. Six sets of feet raced through the house, no longer concerned about noise as the house shook around them. Rapidly approaching, thunderous steps stopped with a window shattering boom as something large hit the front of the house. Someone screamed as a chunk of ceiling fell in the front hall, narrowly missing the first of the group to reach the stairs. The booming steps retreated and then approached swiftly again, hitting the building hard enough that the walls of the entryway cracked, sunlight leaking through. Ito-kun and Zaria dodged the debris and rounded the newel post at the bottom of the stairs. She pushed him ahead of her, following on his heels.
The next impact sent bricks flying into the stairwell as part of the front wall collapsed inward. The stairs below the first landing separated from the wall, and the banister broke. Zaria threw herself flat against the stairs,hugging them to keep from falling, but Ito-kun was not so lucky. With a yell, he toppled over the side and back into the entryway on the first floor. A gap larger than any of the windows in the house was opened to the world outside, and from her spot flat on the steps she could hear the low growl as the large head tried to push through. Bits of brick and plaster rained down on her from above. The head retreated finally, the steps moving back toward the road, and she surged to her feet, darting up the final stairs to the hallway above. Behind her, she knew that Ito-kun was doing the same, but she could not hear him over the charging animal outside.
With a triumphant roar, the corner of the house came down entirely, the bricks falling like a toppled Jenga tower. A blood curdling scream ripped through the air. Zaria scurried backward down the hall, her arms held wide to keep anyone from getting past. She could see the dinosaur dragging something out through the opening in the wall, cries trailing behind it. There was nothing they could do to help Ito-kun, and if she let any of them past, they would die as well. The cries ended abruptly as soon as the head cleared the wall. Behind her, she could hear someone choke back a sob.
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"Get back," she called. "It can't get to us yet, but if everyone keeps pressing forward, then we will all be within eating range."
The pressure against her back lessened so abruptly that she stumbled backward. Familiar arms wrapped around her waist, helping her regain her footing and pulling her toward the group that was huddled at the other end of the hall.
"If it can break through walls, are we any safer here?" A thread of hysteria could be heard in the words, but they were spoken so quietly that she could not tell who said them.
"For the moment the walls behind us stand," Gu Cheng explained patiently. "It might also take longer to get through the back walls since there is not enough room to get a running start before ramming into the house from that side. We are safer here than anywhere else at the moment."
Zaria huddled on the floor, her arms wrapped around her knees and back against the wall. The image of teeth almost as long as her forearm piercing through someone she just ate lunch next to was still fresh in her head. Blood fell down through the air as he was pulled out of the house, and she recalled the sound of the teeth snapping together outside. There was no malice in the creature's eyes. It was not attacking them for any diabolical reason. They were food, and fresh food was impossible to find in the world outside. Something so large and so completely unbelievable to her, a live DINOSAUR. She wished she could see it as something evil,but it was just a hungry animal. She tried to repeat that to herself as her mind filled with images from the attack.
The growls came through the opening for several minutes before the animal moved away. The steps did not return this time, moving farther out toward the street and then off to wherever the creature went after it was finished at their home. It was possible that it was no longer hungry. Or maybe it just didn't want to expend more energy getting to the rest of the morsels trapped in their brick shell. Whatever the reason, it was gone for the moment. That didn't mean that they were safe, but they could stop and breathe.
"Is anyone hurt?" Zaria lifted her head up and tried to focus on those around her. Yamashita-kun was awkwardly patting Saito-san on the back, her face buried in his shoulder as she quietly cried. His wide open eyes were barely blinking, and Zaria could tell he was trying not to cry as well. Yamada-kun sat loosely against the wall, staring at his hands. Even if he had been too far to see what Zaria had seen, he had surely heard his friend's last moments. They all had.
Eyes traveling back up, she ended on Gu Cheng, who was crouched down at her side. His eyes were focused on her chin, and she reached up to touch it, her fingertips coming away with a small amount of red on them. "I must have hit my chin on the stairs. I bet I banged my knees, too," she said with a chuckle to lighten the atmosphere. It did not work, and she sighed before standing up and walking past him. "I'm fine, Gu Cheng. We should check on Sensei."
Hearing those words, Saito-san stood up as well. The end of her sleeve was soon wet as she wiped the tears from her face. "I will go with you," she said in a voice that was remarkably brave for how much her legs were shaking. After a few unsteady steps, she seemed to gain strength from her task and was surefooted by the time her voice called through Sensei's door. The older man had decided to lay his futon in the large closet of the master bedroom so that he would be able to sleep during the day while others were loitering in the hall. There had been attempts to talk him out of it, the closet still cold even with the doors closed, but he insisted.
"Sensei-sama, are you alright in there?" When there was no answer, she looked back hesitantly to Zaria. The younger woman nodded, and the door was opened slowly.
The temperature was no longer noticeably colder in the bedroom with its broken windows. A large part of the front wall being gone made the hallway just as cold. Not far from the door, laying halfway out of the closet, they found Sensei. Saito-san dropped to her knees and began life-saving measures while Zaria stepped back into the hallway and shook her head subtly at Gu Cheng. "How is the pendant coming?"
He startled visibly, his head looking downward as if he had forgotten he was wearing it. "It looks almost the same as it did the last time. It could be the level of light making it look brighter, but I think we can try it in another 30 minutes."
"Alright," she acknowledged with a nod. "Yamashita-kun, would you be okay checking your monitors to see if the dinosaur is still hiding out in the area?"
"What does it matter?"
Zaria stilled at his dejected tone. With Saito-san no longer needing his strength, he was wilting, his chin resting on his chest. She crouched down in front of him. "I wish that we could take the time to adjust to the most recent horribleness, but if we can find out whether or not it is gone for now we might be able to spend our last 30 minutes in this world not scared for our lives. It would give us all peace of mind to know it is not nearby. " He did not move, and she gentled her voice more. "If you explain to me how to do it from the doorway, I can check. I don't want to mess things up since I don't know your system."
He nodded imperceptibly and left the hall, not hesitating to walk directly into his closed room. Zaria rushed after him, unsure what she could do if somehow the dinosaur was lurking outside the windows but was ready to at least drag the boy back into the hall. They went back into the hall with the news that the creature was spotted on one of the old cameras still up nearly a kilometer away. It was not much, but it was good news that there was less immediate danger. Saito-san came back in a few minutes later, shaking her head. Sensei appeared to have suffered a heart attack during the assault in the house.
By the time that the pendant was glowing red and it was time to go, there was nothing left for any of them in that world. Zaria held on to Gu Cheng with one hand, and the rest formed a chain hanging off of her stretching down the hallway. The last five humans left in all of Tokyo. There was a flash of light, although none could see it since they were warned to close their eyes before the pendant was pressed. And then, they were gone.