The fresh blood dripped against the marble tiles, each time echoing silently through the hall. The neverending grin on the rabbit's face tightened as it clenched its bat.
Before I could move to the stairs, I felt Daikubara-san and Kuro-san brush against my clothes as they rushed past. And without realizing it, I was being dragged along with them.
Daikubara-san had a strong grip on my arm, pulling me alongside him. I couldn't reach for the chance to take a breath, and so I powered through with him, picking myself up and sprinting.
We reached the stairs, almost tumbling down them. The pitter patter footsteps of the rabbit grew closer. We had limited options, which is when Kuro-san spoke.
Kuro: "Lead him through the tenth floor and back up to the twelfth. I've got an idea."
There was no argument. We had no other choice than to hope Kuro-san's mysterious plan would work.
Kuro-san ran through the eleventh floor's hallway, to the furthest staircase. Daikubara-san and I headed straight for the tenth floor, and began running through the same hallway. The rabbit was gaining distance on us.
Through the tenth floor we ran, which felt like an eternity. Reaching the staircase, we made our way up to the twelfth floor, with Kuro-san out of sight. And then, after stepping foot onto the floor, we heard it.
The alarm.
Through every speaker on the floor, and I'd assume the floors below, the sound of a ringing alarm echoed. I turned to Daikubara-san, who seemed confused, and then to the rabbit, who's grin morphed to a frown.
Kuro-san had outplayed it.
However, there was a prominent issue. If Kuro-san had taken the keycard, then he was still in the corridor connected to it. We were fast approaching that same corridor, and he still wasn't in sight. If he wasn't able to escape in time, he would be the rabbit's first target, and we would lose both a life and the keycard.
Four doors away. Three. Two. Getting closer and closer, and yet not even a hint of Kuro-san, until light footsteps began to ring through the corridor's open door. Those light footsteps turned heavy and then in volume, as we saw the shadow of Kuro-san darken the lit hallway floor.
One door away, and Kuro-san had lept out, immediately turning his body to the right staircase, and his head to the left, checking for his allies.
The rabbit was speeding up, but in the same sense so were we. We knew at this point stopping meant death. And so, we ran, and we ran and ran until we could reach the front doors.
This wasn't the outcome we had hoped for. Michifuku-san and Konsako-san's locations were unknown, nevermind the latter's safety. Would only the three of us be able to escape alive? There was guilt to be found, but at the same time, no other choice could be made. It was either them or us, and we had to choose. If we didn't grab the keycard now, and still miraculously escaped the rabbit, the difficulty would only rise. The rabbit had already proved itself willing to adapt, when it began checking each apartment on every floor. What would its next adaptation bring? Finding out wasn't an option - but escaping was.
Tenth floor, ninth, eighth, seventh, sixth, fifth, fourth, third and second.
We were almost there.
It was on the first floor where the rabbit passed us. Daikubara-san and I were split in the middle, with the rabbit running straight through. We weren't its target, of course. That was Kuro-san.
Kuro-san turned behind him, eyeing the rabbit that was gaining distance on him. Something had to be done.
Daikubara: "BASTARD!"
Daikubara-san jumped on the rabbit, pinning it to the ground. The bat toppled to the floor, and I quickly grabbed it as Kuro-san swiped the front door with the blue keycard. It opened, and he immediately left. Daikubara-san began to stab his fingers into the rabbit's visible right eye, as it kicked around in restraint.
Daikubara: "HIT IT!"
I held the bat tightly, and swung violently towards the rabbit's head. But it was too late.
The rabbit shifted its body, dodging the bat, and then swiped it with his open right arm, sending it flying to the right side of the open hall. Before I could react, it pulled a sharp blade from its right pocket, stabbing Daikubara-san in the arm.
Daikubara-san lost grip of the rabbit, who then kicked him, forcing him back to the ground. The rabbit picked itself up, the blade in its hand dancing with glee.
I was meters away from the exit, which was being held open by Kuro-san.
Kuro: "Now!"
Daikubara-san held his right arm, spurting out blood. He gave me one look of approval before preparing to run in the opposite direction. But, I couldn't be satisfied with this. There's no way I could. Two escaping alive, leaving the rest to die? The rabbit would have no trouble picking off the rest of them. They'd have no escape. Daikubara-san would surely bleed out, and we wouldn't have the chance to open the door for them from the outside, considering the rabbit could simply wait there, and there was no form of communication to be had once we were separated, and the knowledge that Daikubara-san was sure to bleed out if something wasn't done about his wound–
I moved to the door, with the rabbit immediately taking chase. At that moment, I grabbed hold of Kuro-san and pulled him towards me, inside the apartment complex we were so close to escaping. I then moved out of the way of the blindly rushing rabbit, who skidded past me through the exit. Before it could comprehend what I had done, I pulled the doors shut, locking the rabbit outside.
Silence.
…
Kuro: "...What?"
Daikubara: "What the… what did you–"
I fell to the ground, completely exhausted, in both mind and body.
The rabbit was shut from the light of the complex. The front door, like the windows, were bolted with metal covers. We were completely separated.
Daikubara: "Why the hell did you do that?"
Kobayashi Amano: "You're going to bleed out… that wound looks deep…"
Daikubara: "Who cares about that?! You two would've gotten out–"
Kobayashi Amano: "And the rest of you would've been stuck here, with that thing."
Daikubara: "Like I said, who cares? Why would you–"
Kobayashi Amano: "Why do I have to explain myself? You get it, don't you?"
Daikubara: "..."
Daikubara: "Sigh… right, I get it. You idiot."
Daikubara-san fell to his back, applying pressure to his wound via his left hand.
Kuro: "...That rabbit might have a keycard itself, you know?"
Kobayashi Amano: "I doubt it…"
Kobayashi Amano: "And even if it did, escaping wouldn't have made any difference. It would've continued chasing us once we got out."
Kobayashi Amano: "Given how desperate it was to stop us, I don't think it has one."
Kuro: "..."
Kuro: "Even then, we have no supplies. We can leave at any time, but it'll be waiting for us. We don't even know where it'll attack from."
Kobayashi Amano: "Still… this is the better option, right?"
Kuro: "...We'll see."
I picked myself up, heading towards Daikubara-san.
Kobayashi Amano: "Let me have a look."
Daikubara: "Go ahead."
Kobayashi Amano: "It's deep. Take off your jacket, we'll need to stop the bleeding."
I wrapped Daikubara-san's jacket around his arm as a tourniquet, before Kuro-san spoke again.
Kuro: "There isn't much time for us to waste. Let's head to the office and use the speaker system to gather everyone still alive."
Kobayashi Amano: "Okay."
Kuro-san and I headed to the office in the far corner. It was small and had a dusty microphone linked to a speaker. I turned it on, tapping the microphone for feedback, confirming it was in working condition.
Kobayashi Amano: "Umm… hello. This is Kobayashi Amano speaking. We've managed to lock the rabbit outside of the apartment complex, and three of us are currently situated in the first floor's entrance hall."
Kobayashi Amano: "So we can assess the situation and continue making the best decisions, come to the entrance hall. We'll wait fifteen minutes."
I let go of the button, sitting back on the office chair.
Kobayashi Amano: "I hope everyone's safe…"
Kuro: "..."
The next few agonising moments were spent in stillness, waiting for even one person to return to the lobby. But as each moment passed, the question digged at me…
…Were we the only survivors?