After contacting the city police just in case, we follow Miss Sasaki until she guides us to the morgue. Corpses are quite valuable, so the doors are sturdier than normal to protect from theft. The iron door is latched shut. It’s the perfect place to confine someone. I make sure it’s not booby-trapped before breaking the lock and rushing into the room.
With one hand over the other, I point the gun and flashlight forward. Wall to wall, the morgue is around thirty-five feet long and dreadfully dark. The room is almost completely bare, most everything having been moved or stolen. All that’s left are a stretcher with bent legs, a ripped body bag, and the lockers on the walls. Nothing else. Nobody dead or alive… Wait.
Something in the back of the room moved in reaction to the light. I shine my flashlight in its direction.
“Hel…p…us…”
The room isn’t empty. There are four people bunched in an iron cage against the wall, wearing only their underwear, just like Miss Sasaki.
“Where am I?”
“I heard a woman scream… What’s going on?”
“There’s no need to worry. We’re here to save you. We already saved the woman you heard screaming. Is anyone hurt?”
“N-no, we’re fine. But where are we? And why are we here?”
I get closer. Attached to the wall opposite the entrance is a metal cage made to transport wild animals. It would be hard to unfasten with the tools I have in hand. The cage’s structure itself is simple but extremely strong. Undoubtedly, much time would be needed to break it open.
“Hmm… An electronic lock, huh?” Dazai approaches the lock for further inspection. “Is it password protected? Or maybe biometric authentication? Or maybe it’s voice controlled? …‘Open sesame’! ‘Flash and thunder’! ‘Mine has been a life of much shame’! Hmm… That didn’t work. Guess we’ll just have to break it open.”
What on earth was that last line?
“If we want to break it, we’ll probably have to start with this—”
The moment Dazai goes to touch the lock pad, Miss Sasaki lets out a piercing scream.
“Don’t touch the lock!”
Dazai turns around in astonishment. A red light flashes on the lock pad. The sound of metal dropping echoes from the floor above, and I hear something opening. Milky-white gas shoots into the cage. After I instinctively rush over, my eyes and throat violently burn with lancinating pain. The caged victims let out bloodcurdling screams.
“It’s poison gas!!”
The extreme pain causes tears to well in my eyes. I can hardly see a thing. It’s all a blur, as if everything is dancing before me. I may have accidentally breathed in some of the gas, but that doesn’t mean I can abandon these people. I place a hand on the cage.
“Get back! It’s too late!”
Somebody grabs me by the arm and pulls me back.
Don’t you dare tell me what I can and can’t do. I have to save them. The victims must not die. That’s the ideal. That’s the way the world should be.
“Kunikida, hurry!” Dazai yells to me from behind.
No. This isn’t right.
“No!” Miss Sasaki wraps me in her arms, stopping me.
Why? Why are you holding me back? Nobody deserves to die. I won’t let them.
Dazai drags me out of the room. All I remember is screaming something.
All four victims are dead.
CHAPTER II
11th