42 Backstory: Konoe Kanata (2)

"We should probably go, Tomori."

"Yes…"

when I was a kid, I usually dig for lost treasures and such on our backyard. There, I had stumble upon a hidden passage that led me straight towards the other side of the forest. It was similar to the caves used by igneous Japanese people as their temporary shelter for wild boars, and a roof for heavy rains. The interior of the cave was akin to our modern railway tunnel, voided from any source of light. Even so, that did not stop me from decorating its whole environment, making it as my own selfish domain. There are plenty of snakes and other indifferent species that are likely lurking from all fours but…we'll leave that to a different matter.

I am currently leading the way, looking for our mom and our grandmother who had been separated from us from the time being. However, beyond the abyss there lies 3 disconnected holes. Each of the subways are linked to their respectful terrains: Near the beach, eye of the forest, and to the crashing thunderous waterfall. Unfortunately for us, we had absolutely no idea where the adults had ventured forth.

"Hmmm…if I were my mom, where on earth would I go?"

I cross my arms and desperately sought for an answer, mimicking what my mother would habitually do. But the thought had never appeared in my mind. Prying my eyes wide open, I resigned myself on the nearby rock and sigh hopelessly out from desperation.

"MOOOM, WHERE ARE YOU?!" Lost in thought, I started to scream, hoping for a response. I knew from the start that what I did was a terrible resolution from the loud noise that I had produced. Despite my abrupt decisions, a soft voice echoes throughout the cave, seemingly repeating every word I had spoken.

"Nee-chan, your voice…" Tomori was still a young girl, yet was too smart for her age. She rarely speaks her mind; but when she does, she guides me toward the answers.

"The echoes!"

Just as I was about to pat Tomori's head, a voice coming from the middle hole responded to the reverberation. It was the familiar sound coming from my mother.

"MOM!" I shouted once more, hoping to get a clear resonance of the voice. But alas, the other side was unresponsive after the previous reply.

Tomori hurriedly sprints deeper in the middle hole, where we have heard our mother's shrieks. I followed suit and chase her from behind.

"Tomori! Tomori, get back here!" As we ventured further inside, the faint light from our breech slowly fades its radiance.

We were greeted with nothing but an open space, where darkness had truly prevailed. All that I could hear was the vague drops of dripping water slowly hitting the sedimentary rocks.

I reached out for my pocket and opened my smartphone. The brightness from my screen had provided a mellow light ample enough for me to distinguish my surroundings. There I saw numerous boulders blocking our way, and a puddle induced by the droplets of water falling from the ceiling.

"Tomori!" I saw the figure of my sister frozen in place, staring at the curve road of the cavern. The distance between her and I was fairly short, just enough for me to discern her colourful dress. However, as I steadily crept my way to her, a light growl farther from afar had alerted my ears. It was alike from the monsters we had seen from the surface.

I switched off the flashlight of my phone and swiftly increased my pace towards Tomori's behind. I abruptly took her from the side, in the back of a convenient tall rock, and briskly covered her mouth.

She was shivering rigorously. Even her breath seems irregular, as she tried her best to calm herself down. Eventually, 2 footsteps came closer to our direction—snarling at the sudden figure that they've seen.

The light from before had attracted their attention and saw Tomori glaring at their physique. Luckily they were still miles away before they can even approach our fragile bodies. Judging from the position where the hole had led us into, it was relatively close towards the boarders of the village.

"I don't understand! Why would they choose a path headed for our infected village and not away from it?!" I couldn't help but hysterically laugh silently from our hapless situation. Nonetheless, our mom and grandmother are still wandering alive up ahead from these zombies.

Just as I was about to formulate a plan, Tomori reaches out the pieces of ceramic rocks beneath our feet.

"Lure….them…"

Just as Tomori had said, these zombies appears to rely more on their physical senses; despite their organs being rotten, and pretty much unusable, from their disease.

"Nee-chan is very proud of you"

I said, and soon patted her head.

Right afterwards, I positioned myself at the edge of our gibber and threw the gravel onto the parallel wall. The pebble crashes against the moisturised wall and produced a loud clank resounding the enclosed space. It was now then accompanied by hasty footsteps rallying at the origin of the sound—eyeing for their next prey. Despite the cave being cataclysmic, the audio produced was enough to lure them away.

"Tomori, let's make a run for it…on my signal" I whispered through her ear, as I continuously touch her skin to reassure myself that she's still standing nearby. I readied once more my reliable phone and covered the mesmerising light with the use of my cloth. It was not enough to illuminate the whole room, but it was sufficient for us to avoid being disoriented by the enlarge cave.

I lowered my light and carefully identify the road leading to the outskirts. It was a difficult feat for me to establish, but it was the only thing that we can afford.

"Nee-chan…light…"

similar from the famous quote "there's always a light at the end of each tunnel", at long last we had conquered the labyrinth of the said light, and we were just 100 feet away from our awaited destination.

"Tomori, we're almost there" I encourage my little sister to steel her courage for a little while longer. I was delighted to feel her body at ease compared from what she had felt last time.

"Nee-chan…"

From afar, Tomori noticed something much worse than the humanoid zombies we had encountered. Just from their sound, our brain had already described what was lying ahead of us.

"You got to be kidding me." Just as we've thought, the soft sniffing sounds and the barking tune—it was none other than dogs. Infected hounds.

Their sound travelled through the wind and caught the ears of the infected from behind.

"Hang on tight!" I carried my sister to my shoulder and began sprinting away from the ingress, towards the humanoid zombies. Putting me up against four legged beast or 2 humanoid creatures, I'd rather prefer the latter.

I ran as fast as my legs could offer, and so did the zombies. Luckily for me, the zombie trips over to the slippery ground before he could even reach my shoulder.

"Nee-chan…look out…" Tomori's warnings had yet again saved my life, after she had pointed out the stream of water leaking from the side of the wall. Without moments to spare, I took out the hardest ore I could find, resting on my fore, and smashed the tiny little hole with all of my sheer force.

"Did it work?" I questioned myself for doing such a thing, after all the actions that I did had soon haunted me again. The zombies had finally pick up the pace, and there was nothing left for me to do that can guarantee my escape. Just as I was about to resign myself on the ground, the whole wall had emerged a crack, and a gush water could be heard at the opposite side of the wall.

All I can think was to RUN as far away as possible from here, hence I did just that. The adrenaline rushes all over my body and sprinted like a chicken, hunted to be cooked.

I was hesitant to turn around and check for their status, but boy did I regret it when I saw the azure gigantic wave crashing against the wall. It was a miniature tsunami devouring anything to its path, and that path had included me from its meal.

"EEEK"

"N-nesjojs-chan slowww downdqdq" Even Tomori's voice seemed muffled from the speed I am running with. Eventually the crystal water had finally caught our tail and manages to wet the tip of my cloth from behind. And never did before I had experience running since the day I had bought my favourite takoyaki from the previous summer festival before running out of stock.

I took a turn without overly thinking where I am headed to; not knowing which direction I was thrown off. The roaring sound of water kept chasing after us that even the zombies was immobilised from the sheer force of the tide.

Finally, the trial had ended and eventually consumed our body, washing us over on the nearby beach. Both Tomori and I landed on the soft foam of sands, which had cushioned our fall. Oddly enough, the zombies from behind was nowhere to be seen, and the next thing we knew, we headed back inside the forest.

Upon our journey, we've bumped into Itsuki and his brother, Natsuki.

"Itsuki?!" I was relieved that both of them were alive and unscathed. However, our village wasn't that fortunate as we are, making my mood shifted back to the negative side.

"I'm glad you're safe" I widened my eyes to see Itsuki…tightly hugging me with joy. Tears ran through his eyes like a baby who had finally seen his mother. He wraps his body against mine as we both felt the warm of each other's heart.

"Me too."

"Let's go find the others"

Itsuki declared, as we resumed our journey once again

"By the time we had arrived, the whole town was engulfed with flames. The next thing we knew, zombies far worse than the vine ones sprouted like embers."