Chapter 11: Into the Hollow

"What?" Takeru asked.

"We said you need to prepare. You're going into the Hollow."

"Just like that?"

"It's been a month. It's time to go."

Takeru pulled himself up to sit on the bed, his body still feeling weak. "But if I've been stuck in this infirmary the whole time, how the hell am I supposed to go? I have no information, no training. What am I going to do there?"

The guard looked at him with a cold expression. "It's not our problem that you spent all your time here. And we can't wait either. So get ready. You leave in two hours."

Takeru didn't know what to say. He didn't even know what to do now.

He nodded silently.

He got up from the bed. As soon as he stood, the guards grabbed his wrists and snapped on the handcuffs.

CLICK.

"We haven't forgotten what you did yesterday," the guard said.

Takeru said nothing.

The guards escorted him out of the infirmary.

They walked through corridors Takeru had never seen before. Wider. Taller.

Then they stopped in front of two enormous metal doors.

A guard pressed a button on the wall.

The doors opened slowly with a deep mechanical rumble.

And Takeru saw it.

The barracks.

A massive space. An incredibly high ceiling supported by steel beams. Cold lights illuminating every corner.

And a thousand students.

Everywhere.

Some were doing stretches. Others checked their equipment. Others talked among themselves in low voices, their faces tense.

Mental preparation. Physical preparation.

Everyone knew what was about to happen.

Takeru was pushed forward.

"So?" he asked, looking around. "Where do I go?"

"So what?" the guard replied.

"You don't go into the Hollow alone. You go in teams. What's my team and where?"

"Relax. Let me check."

The guard pulled out a tablet and scrolled with his finger.

"Your team is number twenty-three."

"Twenty-three," Takeru repeated.

They walked through the crowd of students. The barracks was divided into numbered sections. Each section had a team.

Team 1. Team 2. Team 3.

They passed boys already wearing their uniforms. Armor. Weapons.

Some looked confident. Others trembled.

Finally, they arrived at section 23.

Takeru looked up.

And saw them.

Five people.

Four were already there.

Kenji. Tall, broad shoulders, proud expression. He moved with the confidence of someone who knew what he was doing.

Sato. Checking his equipment carefully, his hands steady.

Kobayashi. More nervous, but focused.

And then—

Midorikawa.

Takeru froze.

His breathing became heavy.

His hands clenched into fists inside the handcuffs.

Her.

Midorikawa stood there, motionless. She checked her uniform calmly. She didn't look at anyone. As if nothing had happened. As if she hadn't done anything.

Takeru felt his blood boil.

How could she stand there so calm?

And then, without thinking—

He lunged forward.

"MIDORIKAWA!"

The guards grabbed him immediately, but Takeru fought with animalistic strength.

He pulled. Pushed. Thrashed.

The handcuffs creaked. For a moment they seemed about to break.

"LET ME GO! I WON'T LET HER LIVE!"

Midorikawa turned slowly.

She looked at him.

Empty expression.

But in her eyes—

Something.

As if she was... enjoying it.

Takeru saw it. Saw that glimmer. And went even crazier.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU LOOKING AT!? I'LL KILL YOU!"

The guards threw him to the ground. Three of them held him down, but Takeru continued to thrash like a maddened bull.

All the students around turned.

They watched in terror.

The situation was already tense. And now this.

Sato and Kobayashi approached quickly.

"Aragiri-san! Calm down!" Sato said, crouching near him.

"HOW CAN I BE CALM RIGHT NOW!?" Takeru screamed, his face flushed, the veins in his neck bulging.

Sato moved even closer and lowered his voice.

"Nothing here seems normal. Making things worse will be a disadvantage for us."

Takeru stared at him, still breathing heavily.

Kobayashi nodded. "He's right. We can't afford for something to happen to you. Not before we understand what's really going on."

Takeru closed his eyes.

He breathed. Once. Twice.

They were right.

I have to control myself.

He relaxed slowly. The guards, feeling he was no longer fighting, loosened their grip.

Then, a voice.

Loud. Authoritative.

"Aragiri Takeru, stop!"

Takeru opened his eyes.

The Headmaster stood before him.

Tall. Severe expression. Hands behind his back.

"If you don't stop these childish scenes, I'll have to take very serious measures."

The Headmaster paused. He stared down at Takeru.

"You should already be thanking me. I didn't put you in a cell for what you did yesterday. But you continue to resist."

Takeru pulled himself up to his knees, still handcuffed.

"That person tried to kill me!"

"She didn't do it on purpose. It was just an involuntary accident."

"And the poison!?"

The Headmaster tilted his head slightly, as if confused.

"The poison? What poison?"

Takeru stared at him, incredulous.

"The poison on the knife! The one she attacked me with!"

"There was no poison, Aragiri-kun." The Headmaster spoke in a calm tone, almost compassionate. "You were wounded with a normal cafeteria knife. The doctors treated the wound. That's all."

"WHAT!? But the doctors said—"

"The doctors treated a wound. Nothing more."

Takeru's blood ran cold.

They're lying.

They're covering everything up.

The Headmaster bent down slightly, bringing his face closer to Takeru's.

"We'll talk about this later," he said in a low voice, just for him. "For now, don't try to do anything stupid. If you don't want to make your situation worse."

Then he straightened and added, louder:

"Have a good trip to the Hollow."

And he left.

The guards pulled Takeru up and brought him to a section where equipment was being distributed.

Long lines of students.

Each received their own set based on rank.

A guard with a tablet checked names.

"Aragiri Takeru. Rank C."

He handed him a black uniform with reinforced inserts. Heavy. About two kilograms.

"Protective vest. Protects against short and pointed weapons. Daggers, blades, claws."

Takeru took it.

Then they gave him a small medikit, about the size of a pack of cigarettes.

"Contains everything necessary to save you in critical moments. Keep it in the left pocket of your uniform at all times."

Takeru nodded.

"Firearms." The guard handed him a Glock 18 and a box of ammunition. "Use it intelligently. Don't waste bullets."

Finally, the guard pointed to a table full of melee weapons.

"Choose."

Takeru looked. Short swords. Batons. Axes. Daggers of various sizes.

He took a small dagger. Sharp. Light. Easy to hide.

He slipped it into his belt.

Once equipped, Takeru returned to section 23.

Sato, Kobayashi, and Kenji were already ready. They talked among themselves in low voices.

Midorikawa stood apart. She laced up her boots calmly, as if it were a normal day.

Takeru approached the other three.

"Aragiri," Sato said, turning. "Listen. We don't have much time, so we'll tell you everything possible now."

Takeru nodded.

"The Detroits are fast. Faster than you think," Sato began. "They don't attack randomly. They look for the weakest in the group. If you separate, you're dead. And there are many types, based on rank and with different attributes like faster, stronger, smarter, and so on."

Kobayashi added: "Ammunition is limited. Don't waste bullets. Only shoot when you're sure you'll hit."

Kenji, with a proud expression, crossed his arms. "We stay together. Always. If someone falls behind, the group stops. No one gets left behind."

Takeru listened to every word.

"The mission?" he asked.

Sato pulled out a school-issued phone. He scrolled on the screen and showed Takeru.

MISSION: Eliminate 50 Detroits. Time limit: 24 hours.

"If we don't make it in twenty-four hours," Kobayashi said, "the portal closes. And it only reopens after another twenty-four hours."

"And during that time?" Takeru asked.

"You stay there. Inside the Hollow. With the Detroits."

Takeru gripped the dagger.

Not good.

Meanwhile, in the barracks, the professors walked among the teams.

They stopped in front of each one. They gave final instructions. Clear. Precise.

"Stay in formation."

"Never separate."

"If you see a Detroit, shoot."

"Don't hesitate."

The professors' voices echoed everywhere, mixing with the sound of weapons being loaded, uniforms being fastened, nervous breaths.

Then, a sound.

A loud bell rang throughout the barracks.

Everyone fell silent.

They looked up.

In the center of the barracks, where there had been nothing before, now there was—

The portal.

Enormous.

A perfect circle of shimmering purple light. It seemed alive. It pulsed slowly, as if breathing.

Getting closer, it seemed to devour you.

Takeru stared at it.

So this is the Hollow.

The teams began to move. One at a time.

Team 1. Team 2. Team 3.

Each team approached the portal. Five people. They entered together.

And disappeared.

"Team twenty-three! Move forward!"

Takeru turned. Their team.

Kenji stood up. Sato and Kobayashi followed him.

Midorikawa walked forward without hesitation. Rank A. Designated leader, even though no one had said anything.

Takeru watched her walk.

Calm. Too calm.

Then he followed too.

They approached the portal.

The purple light became more intense. The sound—like a low, constant hum—increased.

Midorikawa was first.

She stopped in front of the portal. Looked inside.

Then, without turning, she entered.

She disappeared into the light.

Takeru was second. He entered with confident steps.

Kenji. Then Sato.

Finally, Kobayashi.

He stopped in front of the portal.

His heart beat hard.

His hands gripped the Glock.

There's no way out.

Forward.

He took a step.

The light enveloped him.

And everything became—

Darkness.

. . .

. .

.

Time: 2:00 PM
Location: Tokyo

The students of Team 23 crossed through the portal.

The purple light enveloped them for an instant, then disappeared.

And they found themselves on the other side.

"Eh, but we're in Tokyo," Takeru said, looking around.

The landscape looked like Tokyo. The streets. The buildings. The billboards hanging on the buildings.

But something was different.

The first thing Takeru noticed was the sky.

Gray.

Uniform gray, without a cloud, without a variation in color. Like a slab of concrete above their heads.

Then the silence.

A silence so absolute it hurt the ears.

There was no traffic. There were no voices. There were no birds. Nothing.

As if everything was dead.

As if the world had stopped.

Takeru took a step forward.

Tap.

The sound of his boot on the sidewalk echoed.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The others moved too. Each step resonated loudly, too loudly, as if they were walking in an empty cathedral.

The air was cold.

Takeru felt it on his face, stinging, almost acidic. It had no taste, but there was a strange sensation. As if something was missing. As if it was empty.

His body, however, was warm, protected by the uniform. But not his face. The cold bit his cheeks.

He looked around.

The buildings were dark. The windows black. No lights on. No movement behind the glass.

They looked like sleeping giants. Or worse. They looked like gaping mouths ready to swallow them.

Takeru looked up at a skyscraper. Dozens of floors. Hundreds of black windows watching him from above.

This place is wrong.

The smell.

Or rather, the lack of smell.

There was nothing. No smell of food. No smell of gasoline. No smell of city.

Just... nothing.

And that nothing bothered him.

Takeru gripped the dagger at his belt.

Then he turned sharply.

Toward Midorikawa.

"Why?" he asked, his voice low.

Midorikawa didn't answer immediately. She checked her sniper calmly, as if she hadn't heard.

"Why?" Takeru repeated, louder.

She looked up.

"I didn't do it on purpose."

"Don't mock me!" Takeru's voice rose. "You think I'm stupid? It was clearly planned!"

"I told you I didn't do it on purpose. It was just an accident."

"Lies."

Takeru took a step forward. His hands began to tremble.

Not from fear.

From rage.

"I don't care if you believe me or not," Midorikawa said, her tone flat. "But that's the truth."

"Accidents don't have poison on the weapon."

Silence.

Midorikawa looked at him. Empty expression. Cold as ice.

Takeru felt his blood boil.

His right hand slowly moved toward the Glock at his belt.

His fingers brushed the grip of the pistol.

Adrenaline rushed through his veins. His hands trembled more.

Just pull. Just pull.

End it here. Now.

"Guys, this isn't the time to talk about it," Kenji intervened, raising his hands. "We have other things to do."

But Takeru didn't listen to him.

His eyes were fixed on Midorikawa. They pulsed. They seemed almost to bulge out of their sockets.

And then, without realizing it, a smile appeared on his face.

Crooked. Strange.

Like someone who had lost their mind.

"We'll do other things, whatever you want," Takeru said, his voice low and dangerous. "But first I have to take care of this person properly."

Sato quickly approached and grabbed his arm. "Aragiri-san, stop."

Kobayashi grabbed his other arm. "Not now. Not here."

Takeru shook them off forcefully. "Let me go!"

"And how will you do it?" Midorikawa asked, still calm. As if nothing was happening.

That calmness drove him even crazier.

"I heard that in the Hollow the professors don't know anything about what happens," Takeru said, clenching his fist. "So if I kill you now, no one will know. And we'll say you were killed by the Detroits."

Kenji stood in front of Midorikawa. "Enough, Aragiri!"

But Midorikawa didn't move. She wasn't afraid.

"No one will believe you," she said, her tone cold. "You'll be the first to be interrogated and most likely killed too. They know I'm Rank A and you're Rank C. A Rank A dead from the Detroits, and a C not? Doesn't that seem strange to you?"

She paused.

"So if you want to live, don't do dangerous things. And leave the past in the past."

Takeru knew what she said was true.

But he didn't want to believe it.

It was too much.

It was too much for him.

His hand returned toward the pistol.

His fingers trembled. His eyes pulsed. The smile widened.

Sato pulled him back forcefully. "Aragiri-san! Enough!"

Kobayashi grabbed his shoulders. "Please! Not now!"

Takeru breathed heavily.

In. Out. In. Out.

Then, slowly, his hand moved away from the pistol.

His eyes remained fixed on Midorikawa.

"But don't think everything is roses and flowers," he said, his voice trembling. "The moment I see you trying to do anything strange, I'll put a bullet between your eyes."

"Yeah, yeah," Midorikawa replied, with a subtle smile. "If you manage before I finish you with my sniper."

That smile.

That damned calmness.

Takeru clenched his teeth so hard he felt pain in his jaw.

"So now can we discuss useful things?" Kenji asked, his tone tired.

"Go ahead," Takeru responded, without taking his eyes off Midorikawa.

"Good. Our team is composed strangely. We have one sniper, two with long-range weapons—M4A1—and two with Glock 18, handguns. We need to organize ourselves properly."

"Put the lady in front, since she's strong," Takeru said, sarcastically.

"Aragiri-san, this isn't the time to joke," Sato said.

Takeru fell silent.

"So, how do we organize?" Kenji asked.

"I'll stay in back," Midorikawa said, with that smile that for Takeru was pure poison. "You and Sato who have long-range weapons stay in front of me. And in front of you we'll put Kobayashi and Mr. Aragiri."

Kenji nodded. "Okay. Let's go."

They got into formation.

Takeru in front. Kobayashi beside him.

Behind them, Kenji and Sato with the M4A1s.

And behind still, Midorikawa with the sniper.

They began to walk.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Their steps echoed in the silence.

Takeru looked ahead.

The street was empty. Completely empty.

No cars. No traffic lights on. No lit signs.

Just gray. Just silence.

They passed in front of an electronics store. The windows were intact, but inside it was dark. The screens off. The displayed phones covered in dust.

They passed in front of a restaurant. The tables were still set. The chairs in order. But no one inside.

Everything was frozen.

As if time had stopped.

Takeru looked up.

The buildings around them rose toward the gray sky. Dozens of floors. Hundreds of black windows.

They're watching us.

No.

They're waiting for us.

The cold on his face became more biting.

The empty air entered his lungs and bothered him.

This place is wrong.

This place is dead.

"Guys," Kobayashi said, his voice nervous. "Time is running. We need to hurry before the Detroits arrive."

No one responded.

They continued to walk.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Then, silence.

Even their steps stopped.

For a moment, no one said anything.

No one moved.

And in that silence—

UUUUuuuu.

A sound.

Distant. Low. Continuous.

Everyone turned sharply.

And they saw it.

In the middle of the street.

About two hundred meters away.

A Detroit.

Tall. Thin. Long arms hanging at the sides of its body.

It moved toward them.

Slowly.

Steadily.

But constantly.

UUUUuuuu.

The sound continued.

Takeru gripped the dagger.

The first Detroit.