The train had finally come to a stop. Silence settled over the car as Yuuto, Kazuki, Aya, and Akari caught their breath, each still trembling from their encounter with the Consumer. The faint glow from Aya's pendant dimmed but remained enough to keep the shadows at bay.
"We need to keep moving," Yuuto said, his voice shaky but determined. "There's no telling when that thing will catch up."
Akari nodded, though her eyes still shimmered with tears. "What if there's more… like it?"
Kazuki clenched his fists. "We'll deal with it. But we're not alone, right? We have to find the others."
Yuuto wasn't so sure. After the chaos that had consumed the class when they were first sucked into the novel's nightmarish world, he had assumed most of them were gone—dead or worse. But Kazuki had a point. Maybe, just maybe, there were survivors who had managed to escape the horrors they'd faced so far.
The group cautiously moved through the train car, stepping over broken glass and overturned seats. The air felt stale, and an eerie quiet hung in the air. As they reached the next car, Yuuto felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. He pushed open the door, bracing for the worst.
Instead, they heard voices.
Yuuto raised his hand, signaling the others to stop. The voices were faint but unmistakable—someone was talking ahead. His heart leaped in his chest. Other survivors.
"Do you hear that?" Aya whispered, clutching her pendant tightly.
Yuuto nodded. "Yeah. Stay close."
They moved forward, creeping into the next car. The interior of this one was less damaged—no twisted metal or warped seats, though the atmosphere was just as oppressive. As they approached the source of the voices, they saw them—three figures huddled together, whispering in frantic, hushed tones.
Yuuto recognized them immediately.
"Rika?" he called out, his voice barely louder than a whisper.
The figures jumped at the sound of his voice, their faces pale with fear. Rika Takahashi, the class's star athlete, whipped her head around, her eyes wide with shock. Beside her were two other students—Naoki, the class clown, and Miki, one of the quieter students who often kept to herself.
"Yuuto?" Rika's voice trembled as she stepped toward him, her legs shaky. "Is that really you?"
Yuuto nodded, relief flooding through him. "Yeah, it's me. We thought… we thought you were gone."
Rika shook her head, her face pale. "We've been running. Hiding. There's… there's something out there. Something awful."
"We know," Kazuki said, stepping forward. "We ran into it too. But we managed to escape."
Naoki, who had been uncharacteristically silent, spoke up, his voice barely audible. "It killed Minami… we couldn't do anything."
A heavy silence fell over the group. Minami had been one of their classmates, a quiet girl who had sat in the back of the room. Hearing her name sent a chill down Yuuto's spine. Another one gone.
"Did anyone else make it?" Aya asked, her voice fragile. "We need to know how many of us are still out there."
Rika shook her head. "I don't know. After the first attack, everyone scattered. I've only seen Naoki and Miki since then. There could be others, but… it's hard to tell."
Yuuto clenched his fists, frustration boiling inside him. They were supposed to be a class, a team. They were supposed to have each other's backs. But now, their numbers were dwindling, and the monsters were relentless.
"We need to regroup," Yuuto said firmly. "If we stay separated, we'll all be picked off one by one. The only way we survive this is if we work together."
Kazuki nodded in agreement. "He's right. We don't stand a chance alone. But if we're together, we might have a shot at making it out of here."
Miki, who had been silent the entire time, finally spoke up, her voice trembling. "There's no way out, is there? We're trapped in this… this nightmare."
Yuuto swallowed hard. He wanted to tell her she was wrong, that there was a way out. But the truth was, he didn't know. The novel had thrown them into its darkest, most twisted pages, and the rules of reality no longer applied.
But he couldn't let them lose hope. Not now.
"There's always a way," he said, forcing confidence into his voice. "We'll figure it out. We've made it this far, haven't we?"
Rika nodded, though the fear in her eyes hadn't faded. "What's the plan, then? We can't just keep running forever."
Yuuto thought for a moment. They couldn't outrun the monsters forever, and hiding wouldn't save them either. They needed to find a way to take control of the situation.
"We need to find the source," Yuuto said, his mind racing. "Whatever pulled us into this world—there has to be something at the heart of it. Maybe if we destroy that, we can break free."
"And how do we do that?" Naoki asked, his voice laced with sarcasm. "We're high school students, not monster hunters."
"We're all we've got," Kazuki said, his voice sharp. "So either we figure it out, or we die here."
Aya stepped forward, her pendant still glowing faintly. "The book brought us here. Maybe… maybe it's connected somehow."
Yuuto stared at the pendant. The Consumer had reacted to it, as if the light had been its weakness. There had to be more to it than they understood. The pendant might be their key to survival.
"Then we start with that," Yuuto said, pointing to Aya's pendant. "We find out why it's reacting to the monsters. If we can unlock its power, it might give us the edge we need."
The others nodded, their faces grim but determined. It wasn't much of a plan, but it was all they had.
Suddenly, the train lurched forward, the lights flickering ominously. The faint sound of metal grinding echoed from somewhere far down the tracks.
Yuuto's heart skipped a beat. The Consumer.
"We need to move," Rika said, her voice urgent. "Now."
They didn't need to be told twice. Together, the group of seven sprinted toward the front of the train, knowing that they had just bought themselves a brief moment of safety. But behind them, in the shadows of the endless train cars, the Consumer was still there, lurking, waiting for its next opportunity to strike.