No30 Ch6

The radio crackled. No matter what he pressed, it was the same. With his head leaned back, a faint distress call was barely audible.

Liella opened and closed her hazy eyes.

Had she fallen asleep? When?

Her last memory was leaning her exhausted head against his chest after a kiss—or something like it. As she tried to tuck the stray hairs stuck to her lips behind her ear, the clothes covering her instead of a blanket slipped down. The solid shoulder supporting her head shifted.

“Are you awake?”

“…How long did I sleep?”

She asked, only tilting her head back while still leaning on him. The man, wearing only a white shirt without a jacket, still had blood all over his face.

“About three hours. You were shivering, so I covered you with my clothes. You can keep them if you’re still cold.”

He tapped his watch to check the time before answering. Midnight. Come to think of it, she did feel a bit chilly.

“Is that okay? Aren’t you cold?”

“Fortunately, I tend to run hot.”

As if to prove his point, he had unbuttoned two buttons. Usually, in winter, keeping the neck warm is enough. She blankly stared up at his thick neck and prominent Adam’s apple before her focus returned, reminded of what had happened earlier.

“Are you feeling any better?”

The man who had lent her his shoulder asked, only slightly twisting his head against the wall. His sharp gaze scanned her face like a blade. She nodded, and the bent fingers that had been tapping the floor stopped.

“That’s good. You were drooling in your sleep, so I was wondering if I should wake you up.”

“Really?”

Her eyes widened as she pulled away, but the pristine white shirt was spotless. She realized it was a joke only after seeing the man’s faint smile. Really, in such a serious situation, it was inappropriate. Or perhaps, that was why he made such an out-of-place joke?

Feeling drained, she glared at him. Aslan stood up and offered his hand.

“Aren’t you hungry?”

“Right after waking up? I don’t know.”

As she took his hand and stood up, she swayed, and his strong arm caught her.

He was large and imposing. Leaning against him, she looked up at the man who was as big as a door. Perhaps there was a threshold for physical contact; after what had happened earlier, this much didn’t feel like anything. But the moment their eyes met, Aslan removed his arm.

“…It’ll get weird if you touch me like I’m dirty.”

She grumbled sullenly, and the man slowly lowered his arm as if suddenly realizing something.

“It’s stranger to hold you unnecessarily.”

“And it’s okay to kiss me when necessary?”

“……”

She smiled triumphantly at the man who fell silent. More than anything else, there was something she had to address.

“Thank you. For saving me twice. I won’t forget the debt of saving my life. Anytime, not just for the interview.”

“I don’t particularly care about repaying the debt, but it’s best to eat when you can. Especially if you plan to survive here.”

Aslan stared intently at her before slowly answering after a long pause. Only then did the surrounding scenery come into view. It was the food storage. The room they had entered to escape the monster.

Well, given the distance, it had to be here.

She thought it was fortunate. If it was the food storage, they could endure by eating something, so there was no need to leave immediately.

Aslan went to the water tank and opened the lowest of the several valves. Hesitating, she cupped some water in her palm and brought it to her lips. Her eyes widened. Had water always tasted this sweet?

She gulped it down and, on a whim, splashed water on her face and washed away the blood matted in her hair. After tying up her disheveled hair with the rubber band on her wrist, she felt refreshed.

“The water is incredibly sweet. Hurry and drink some. I’ll check the food supplies first.”

She said, jumping up and moving aside.

Come to think of it, the one who was truly hungry and thirsty must have been the one who was awake. He must have stayed still, lending her his shoulder while she slept. He had even covered her with his coat, leaving his bloodied face as it was. She felt strange. Why would he do so much for someone he had just met?

“For now, it’s better to eat emergency rations, right? There are no utensils or cooking facilities.”

Only the sound of water echoed in the silence. Like the radio that only crackled in response to Aslan’s distress call.

Instead of waiting for an answer, Liella reached for the shelf. It was so high that even on tiptoes, she could barely reach it. Just a little more, she thought, straining, when a thick arm appeared above her head and grabbed the biscuits.

“Ah, thank you.”

“Can I take a look at your hand for a moment?”

She turned around, brightening, but he grabbed her wrist and asked. Liella tilted her head in confusion.

“Yes? Yes. But why?”

He began to unwrap the tightly wound bandage. It was the exact same place as before, but the opposite situation. She looked up in bewilderment for a moment before her gaze was stolen. It wasn’t because of the wet hair carelessly swept back, nor the handsome forehead creased in a frown.

There was no wound.

“Logically…”

His distinct jawline and neck were clean, without a single scar.

“Do you think this is a reasonable healing rate?”

Liella followed his gaze and widened her eyes even further.

The fingers, now free of the bloodied bandage, were as if there had never been a wound in the first place.

“……”

Impossible.

Drip, drip. Water dripped from the man’s chin, where he had washed away the blood, leaving streaks on his fingers. He must have noticed the wound disappearing while washing his face. Liella flinched at the cold sensation, then snapped out of it and shook her head.

“No. This can’t be. Self-healing happens if you leave it alone, but this… a normal human can’t recover this quickly. At least a scar should have remained.”

“There are two possible hypotheses. Either the place we’re in is helping the wounds heal, or, as the radio said, we are ‘changing.’”

“…You lack imagination. I even considered the possibility that we aren’t actually living humans.”

Aslan stretched his lips into a smile. In other words, his eyes were still sharp.

“Regardless of whether you like it or not, I think the latter of the options I mentioned is the correct one. What do you think?”

“Changing? Into what?”

“Into what’s outside the door.”

Silence fell again. This silence was longer than before. They read the same memories in each other’s eyes.

The black bugs that continued to regenerate even after being shot on the lower floor. And the clothes the corpse was wearing.

The tattered navy blue uniform was exactly the same as the ones they were wearing. As if that monster was also once an ordinary human who had woken up in a sealed room. Combining the radio message and their experiences, there was only one conclusion.

“I take back what I said earlier. You have a vivid imagination.”

Liella’s voice trembled. She looked up and met his eyes, as dark as the deep sea. He was hurt because of her. If Anton’s guess was correct and it was because of the wound, then Aslan was being too unfairly treated.

“But we don’t know yet. Other than healing quickly, there are no other changes, and we haven’t confirmed whether Dylan in the living quarters has recovered. Until objective evidence appears, I’ll keep thinking that we can get out of here soon.”

In the pitch-black night where you can’t see ahead, the most important thing is the belief that the sun will rise tomorrow. That’s what living is. Having hope that tomorrow will be better than today.

Liella tore open the emergency rations and offered them to him.

“It’s best to eat when you can. Especially when you don’t know what will happen in the future.”

The man, who received the advice like a boomerang, silently picked up the square energy bar.

***

Total: 7 people. 4 dead. 2 survivors. 1 missing.

There was no shortage of water and food. But was that all that was needed to survive?

Aslan checked the watch with the light on. One of the three bars of battery was already gone. If he were alone, he would have sat in the dark long ago to conserve power. But not now.

“Two pieces per meal, right? They’re smaller than a bill when placed side by side, but they contain all the nutrients. I don’t know if I should call this diet food or the enemy of dieting.”

His dark blue eyes lingered on the woman who was looking at the ingredient list. The woman, wearing his clothes, was just finishing the last piece of the energy bar.

He didn’t want to turn off the light rashly, in case the darkness was the cause of her hyperventilation.

“Don’t you think so?”

Liella asked again. Just before she turned her head, his gaze barely averted from her lips.

“Of course, it’s diet food. It’s so tasteless that I don’t want to eat more than three.”

“Really? I think it’s savory and delicious. It’s a shame we’re the only ones eating it. Dylan must still be starving.”

“I was thinking of going to the living quarters anyway.”

“You’re going outside again?”

Liella’s eyes widened like a frightened puppy. The words “Are you crazy?” were written on her face.

“We have to go out anyway. I keep thinking about the recorder Anton mentioned.”

As long as the radio remained silent, the recorder was their only chance to find clues. Assuming it wasn’t damaged by the bullets.

Searching the corpses in the hallway. Confirming the safety of the living quarters. And…

“Then I’ll go with you.”

Just then, the train of thought he was organizing was cut off.

“It’s too dangerous. I’ve received help several times, and I don’t want to rest comfortably by myself.”

“Unarmed personnel are of no help. We’ll have to turn on the light, even if only for a moment, to identify the corpses.”

“Then I can just arm myself.”

Aslan was uncharacteristically speechless. Liella boldly gestured towards the rifle leaning against the door.

“Two handguns too, right? I saw you packing extra ammunition earlier.”

“……”

“I know how to shoot. If you lend it to me, I’ll definitely be helpful.”