No30 Ch13

“…The fish are dead.”

Liella was the first to notice the abnormality in the fish tank. The men who had been opening canned goods followed her gaze.

“One, two, three, four. Four of them… When was the last time you added the living water?”

“I checked them all alive and healthy this morning before adding it. Whatever happened must not have been long ago.”

Aslan answered. Liella, looking pale, stared at the corpses at the bottom before taking out a bowl and ladle.

“I know we put them in there for a reason… but seeing them dead like this makes me feel so sorry for them.”

Aslan wordlessly scooped out the corpses and put them in the bowl Liella had brought. Unlike her, who couldn’t even look at them properly, he did all the dirty work as if it were his assigned task, even taking them to the bathroom to flush them away.

“I’ll go out to check the living water after the meal.”

So, when Aslan spoke dryly as he sat back down at the table, his words and actions were so natural that Dylan and Liella were startled belatedly, like thunder following a beat behind, and looked up.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to go out. It’s not drinking water, it’s just for washing.”

“You’re going alone, right?”

Liella stared at Dylan, mouth agape at his selfish question, but Aslan continued.

“It’s water that comes into direct contact with our skin. If we’re going to be living here for a long time, it’s better to resolve the issue before it becomes a bigger problem. I can roughly guess where the purification tank might be, given the structure of the exploration ship.”

“Oh, for once you’re thinking straight? If you’re going alone, I’m all for it.”

Even with Dylan’s taunting, Aslan seemed indifferent, as if he were talking about someone else’s business. Liella frowned worriedly as she watched him take out jam but not actually spread it on his bread.

There were two of ‘them’ in that hallway. Somehow, maybe it was just her imagination, but it felt like he had been deliberately pushing her into danger since yesterday. At first, she had thought he was ‘taking’ the risk, but now…

“Then I’ll go with you…”

“So, about that, please protect the living quarters.”

“……”

“There are only two guns, and we can’t leave the base camp unarmed.”

“We’re not leaving it empty. Dylan’s here. You can leave the pistol behind.”

“Wait a minute. I don’t know how to shoot a gun.”

He was useless as ever. Liella glared at him, and Dylan grinned and winked. Aslan glanced briefly in his direction before adding nonchalantly,

“He may seem a bit dim-witted, but he’s better than being alone.”

“Hey, I can hear you, you know.”

“It’s not that I’m scared and want to go with you. I’m just worried.”

Aslan paused as he picked up a piece of milk bread. He looked up as if he hadn’t expected to hear that, and his eyes met hers. Their knees brushed lightly.

“We almost died yesterday. Have you forgotten?”

Liella drooped her eyes and leaned forward, her legs extending and intertwining with his. Aslan looked at her strangely. She seemed like a lost child who never expected anyone to look for her, or like a man covered in black ink staring into a clear stream.

“It was dangerous when you shielded me downstairs, and when Anton died. We’ve finally come to a place where we can hide safely, so why are you deliberately making things difficult?”

“Oh.”

“…Oh? Is that all you have to say?”

“No, it’s just that I never thought anyone would worry about me.”

What did he mean? It wasn’t as if she could only be safe if someone was worried about her.

He stared at her quizzically. He didn’t avoid her gaze, and after a long moment, he spoke as if he couldn’t help himself.

“I’ve figured out their pattern of behavior, so as long as I stick to the dark areas, I should be fine. I’ll be careful.”

His deep voice was pleasant to listen to, but either way, he was still going out. Now she knew why she had accepted his regrettable kiss yesterday.

This man must be bored. He needed a thrill because he was bored. Yesterday, he had said it would be reassuring to go together.

It sounded like he was drawing a line, so she couldn’t say anything more and straightened her back.

She shoved a piece of bread slathered with strawberry jam into her mouth in dissatisfaction, and just then, she saw his blunt gaze land on her munching lips. The gaze, which she thought would quickly fall away, remained fixed in place.

Why? Was he also thinking about yesterday’s kiss, like her? Was he sending a signal that he wanted to do it again before he left?

But Dylan was here.

Worry mixed with embarrassment in an instant.

Liella swallowed the mouthful of savory bread nervously, and then she was horrified to see his hand reaching out and quickly shook her head.

“Not here. Later…”

“You have jam on your…”

Their words cut each other off. Liella blinked blankly and stared at the brown napkin in his outstretched hand. In the silence that seemed to freeze time, Dylan sensed the strange atmosphere and glanced up.

“What are you two doing? Is this some kind of performance art?”

“…No. I just needed a napkin, and he was kind enough to offer me one. Thank you.”

Liella answered mechanically and took the napkin, pretending to be nonchalant as if there had been no silence at all. The man, propping his temple with his hand, turned his head away; he was clearly holding back a laugh. She tried to look away from his defined jawline and wiped her lips. The strawberry jam that came off was red.

So much for acting like nothing was wrong.

***

“I really don’t understand. Is there a total amount of courage, so if someone in a group is too cowardly, does someone else become that much more reckless?”

Liella, sitting on the sofa, asked gloomily as she looked at the pistol on the table. Aslan had really gone outside after all. He said he was going down to the first floor, where he expected the purification facility to be. That was his reason for today, but judging by his attitude, it didn’t seem like he would be sitting still in the facility in the future either.

“What, cowardly? Just letting it go, and she keeps subtly dissing people.”

“Oh, am I hitting a nerve? How did you know? I didn’t say who was being cowardly.”

Liella feigned surprise and covered her mouth, and Dylan, sprawled out on the sofa, retorted.

“Shut up, I don’t understand you either. Why are you worried? That bastard doesn’t get hurt. There’s a sad and fucked up law in this world that only the scared get hurt, you know?”

“How do you know if they’re actually scared or not?”

“Then did he look scared to you?”

Liella’s mouth snapped shut. Dylan shrugged, wearing a ‘see, I told you so’ expression.

“Yesterday, I was lying there in a broken mental state, and that bastard came in and said this: ‘Six months. I’ll guarantee you at least that much lifespan, so crawl out. Don’t cower in the dark like a rat.’”

He must have been talking about when Aslan went in to call Dylan instead of her yesterday. She had been wondering what he had said to cheer him up. Fear came from uncertainty. Giving him a definite period of survival helped him feel stable during that time. But…

“…Don’t make things up. He used the word ‘rat’? And just now, you weren’t trying to imitate Aslan by lowering your voice, were you?”

“Hey, he acts like a gentleman to you, but do you think that’s his real personality? Do you think he’d talk to a woman he’s trying to sleep with the same way he talks to a man with three legs? I’m a rival to him. Of course, I don’t like cute faces like yours, I prefer more voluptuous women, but… Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that bastard is confident about surviving for six months…”

Dylan was making an obscene gesture with his hand when suddenly, a loud explosion, bang, made him scream like a girl, and Liella screamed in surprise as well.

Bang, kaboom, bang.

Whether it was a chain explosion or not, a series of loud noises erupted, the light fixture above the table creaked, and the water in the fish tank trembled.

The two people, completely frozen and huddled on the sofa, looked at each other. The first thought that came to mind was ‘people.’

Only humans could create such artificial explosions. A thought flashed through Liella’s mind, and she jumped up from her seat and gave a short instruction.

“Turn off the lights!”

“I’m not their subordinate, always giving orders.”

“Ah, turn them off after I go into the room!”

Liella shouted as she ran into Aslan’s room, which had a window. Dylan’s dumbfounded expression was the last thing she saw before darkness enveloped everything.

A bomb had exploded nearby. In other words, there were humans nearby!

Liella groped her way to the window and opened the curtains and the hatch without hesitation. The outside world, which she was seeing for the first time since she had opened her eyes, pierced her retinas, and her heart pounded as if it would burst. Thump, thump, thump.

“…No-”

Liella’s eyes widened.

“This is…”

Heads. Heads. And heads.

Every time a flare was launched, the ground that was revealed was covered with black, melted humans. Their faces were half-melted, and their eyes and teeth were all exposed, making them look like black skulls with gaping mouths. Some were standing, and some had their lower bodies melted and sprawled out, but they all had their hands reaching into the air as if trying to grab the stars in the night sky. Black, worm-like things extended from their fingertips and snatched at the flares, and then another flame was launched from somewhere. It was clearly bait to attract attention.

“Oh, shit, God…”

Dylan, who had somehow walked up behind her, combined two words that should never be together in a shocked tone. Forgetting to point it out, Liella frantically rubbed her arms, which were covered in goosebumps. She wanted to scream as well. If she had gone out the emergency exit as soon as she had opened her eyes, she would have run into ‘those’ things.

“Someone keeps launching flares. They’re definitely trying to lure us out.”

Liella muttered softly.

There had been an explosion, but it seemed like they were focusing on luring them out rather than fighting, at least for now. While ‘those things’ were reacting to the light, they must be hiding in the darkness and moving around.

But where? Where could they go in this vast and dark space?

She had been staring blankly at the grotesque faces for a long time.

A faint whirring sound, like a refrigerator, began to be heard, and then, like in a horror movie, the lights in the facility began to turn on one by one, starting from the distance. Click, click, click.