20 [FINAL]

Countdown: 1:58:16 Remaining.

Both Rui and Makoto struggled to breathe as they reached the bottom floor, and they exchanged looks acknowledging that their mechanical lungs had started to fail. Makoto could function well without his, since it was a new addition, but Rui’s organic lung had atrophied from lack of use, and he panted while standing still a few weeks ago. I shouldn’t be surprised. By his calculations, we have just under two hours left to make it out before the lack of regeneration kills me.

Rui recovered faster, but Makoto felt the weight of exhaustion on his chest as he waited for Rui to check out the door. When he saw Rui’s shoulders tense, he asked, “How many?”

“Almost a dozen,” he said. “They’re lined up along the walls, facing the entrance, waiting for an army that will never come.” The corner of his mouth twitched upwards, then the smile died as he looked back at Miyuki, and Makoto knew he had thought of simply gassing the guards then running through.

“That won’t be-” Makoto started.

“I know.” He looked back out again, then said, “This would be so much easier if I still had my eye.” He met Makoto’s gaze as he said, “I’ll lure them into the side hallway, then you take Miyuki out the doors. I’ll give you two a five minute head start, then I’ll catch up.” He looked at Miyuki, then took off his jacket and handed it to her. “Hide your hair. If anyone outside sees that you’re a girl, they’ll bring you back here. Pures don’t fear each other like they do us.”

Miyuki complied, pulling the hood over her head and tucking her long hair inside until not a wisp stuck out. She tugged the edge down over her eyes.

“Shu will help divert attention away if anyone sees you -- he helped us earlier. Trust nobody else out there.” Once Rui had finished his monologue, he glanced out the window once more then said, “Wait ten seconds, then go.”

“Wait,” Makoto said, grabbing his arm. “Be careful out there,” he said softly. “Don’t do anything reckless.”

“I won’t,” he promised. Makoto let go, and Rui was out the door before he could release the breath he’d been holding.

The lobby door wasn’t as soundproofed as the one above them, so the siblings heard the moment the ruckus broke out by the entrance. In a split second, their surroundings went from eerily calm to pure chaos -- voices shouted and overlapped, footsteps pounding simultaneously closer and farther from them, the sounds of fighting trickled in between the rest of the cacophony.

Makoto could barely concentrate enough to count to ten then check the empty hallway. He yearned to help his partner, but he had to prioritize Miyuki’s safety over all.

He pulled Miyuki close behind himself and dashed for the door, refusing to look down the side hallway. He was almost glad his mechanical ear had gone deaf. All he could listen for with his organic ear were sounds indicating immediate danger. Anything else had to be ignored.

They made it to the door with little interruption, thanks to Rui.

Outside, Makoto cursed himself for not having expected more security surrounding the building.

Although there were fewer than inside, the four guards flanking the door were more muscular than those Makoto had seen in the building. They stood at attention, and had knives holstered to their sides.

Yet when they moved, it seemed to be in slow motion. Makoto pushed Miyuki ahead of him, rushing her forward as a guard grabbed his arm. “Go!” he shouted as she looked back, and he was relieved to see her follow the plan and run down the cobbled path.

Two of the guards started to give chase, but their steps were drunk and wobbly. One tripped on the first cobblestone, and although the other made it a few extra steps, he also fell on his face.

Even the man holding Makoto’s arm couldn’t keep a tight grip as his fingers twitched by Makoto’s elbow. It took only one quick twist for Makoto to pull his arm free. The guard slumped against the wall.

Makoto caught a glimpse of his eyes before he turned to run, and he saw they were half-lidded, pupils blown and eyelids fluttering. It wasn’t until the guard beside him spoke a slurred groan of syllables that Makoto realized what had happened: the knockout gas Rui had released earlier still lingered in the stagnant air, and although it hadn’t sufficed to knock them unconscious, it had weakened them considerably.

He couldn’t help the smile that tugged his lips upward as he caught up to Miyuki.

Together the siblings continued towards the barrier, passing the same empty construction sites Makoto had crossed on the way in. Although a few hours had passed since then, nothing had changed, much to Makoto’s relief. He stopped, gasping for breath beside the third one. For just a brief respite, he let himself lean against the half-constructed wall of what looked to be a house.

Miyuki stopped a few feet ahead of him, but Makoto waved her on. He tried to say that he just needed a moment, but the words never made it out of his mouth.

Every breath he wheezed in burned his throat, and he felt a constriction in his chest. His ribs hurt, and for the first time in his life, he noticed an irregularity in his heartbeat -- for every three beats, it skipped one. It maintained the same speed as always, albeit with an erratic rhythm. I expected the lung to fail me, but my heart… I’ve probably used up too much energy already. I don’t think resting will help.

Peeling himself away from the wall, Makoto forced himself to continue. He had another rescue promise to fulfill.

Countdown: 1:11:17 Remaining.

Makoto signaled for Miyuki to stay back as he approached the bustling site to search for Shu.

The boy was easy to spot, with his missing arm, but he looked even worse than when Makoto and Rui had encountered him previously. His limp had worsened, and he walked bent over, holding his stomach. Makoto could only imagine how many hits he had taken as punishment for acting up, and he felt a simultaneous wash of guilt and gratitude.

He waited until the other crew members were occupied to step over the short wall surrounding the site and gesture at Shu.

The young boy immediately gave up on trying to lift a metal pole and hobbled over, unshed tears shining in his brown eyes as he regarded Makoto with hope.

Makoto could only offer a half-hearted smile in response. He knew he was doing a terrible job at hiding the pity he felt, so he turned away.

As he led Shu back to the main path, keeping his ear open for any sign that his absence had been noticed, he caught Miyuki looking back down towards the main building. She bit her lip and picked at the loose threads along the hem of Rui's jacket.

Makoto followed her gaze, hoping to see Rui coming down their path, catching up at last. Only the cobblestones greeted him.

He should’ve arrived by now. He’s always been faster than me. A wave of cold fear washed over him alongside the horrifying realization that something must have happened to Rui. He felt a tightness in his chest, and the air around him grew thick and harder to breathe. What if his lung collapsed?

The rest of his thoughts tucked themselves away in the back of his mind until he could focus on nothing beyond his mental image of Rui lying face down somewhere, gasping for air.

“I have to go back for him.” The words fell out of his mouth before he could stop them. I’m running out of time.

He turned to Miyuki and Shu and said, “Keep heading south towards the barrier, and you’ll find the hole we dug. It’ll lead you out of here, but don’t stay close to it for long. You know where to go from there.” He addressed Miyuki specifically, ignoring Shu’s confused frown.

Miyuki gave him a desperate look, and her fingers twitched as she resisted reaching out for him. Her sad face gave away the words she was holding back: We finally got reunited, and now you’re leaving me.

He hugged her in apology, and said, “I promise, I’ll see you on the other side.” ‘Why are you talking like you plan to die in there? You’ve completely given up.’ Rui’s words from that morning echoed in his head, but now that things were different. He gave Miyuki as reassuring a smile as he could. “We’ll make it out,” he said, though he wished he’d said those words to Rui.

Her face sobered up and she nodded, hiding her disappointment. She looked to Shu, and held out her arm to help hold him up. He grimaced, but sidled over to her anyways, letting her slide under his bad arm first, then releasing his stomach long enough to give her space under his good arm. Makoto watched them for a second longer, until they had begun the journey in the right direction, then he turned away, and sprinted down the path he’d taken only a few hours ago.

Countdown: 0:39:15 Remaining.

Makoto stumbled over the loose bricks of yet another half-constructed house. He was dangerously close to the main building, and every instinct in his gut told him to stop. Despite trying to listen for any indication that the security guards had made it this far, he only had one functioning ear, and the hearing range was abysmal compared to what he was accustomed to. On top of that, his erratic heartbeat had worsened, and it thumped louder than he’d ever heard it before. Is this how it feels to have a normal heart?

He pushed the question away, and forced himself to continue despite his reservations. Every movement ached and each limb tingled with an overwhelming numbness that had him tripping over everything.

It was because he had to keep his eyes to the ground that he almost didn’t see the seated figure. He stopped only inches away from tripping over Rui’s leg. For a moment, he felt a sense of relief over having finally found his partner.

Then his eyes roamed up, and saw how Rui was slumped, motionless. Blood covered his torso. Cuts littered his face and arms. His head tilted against his shoulder, leaning into the wall that was already stained crimson.

He dropped to his knees, checking for a pulse despite fearing not finding anything. His fingers trembled against Rui’s neck. What he found was weak and thready, but present nonetheless. It took another moment for Makoto to see that Rui’s chest was still moving, albeit slowly, with each inhale and exhale.

His blue eye fluttered open and focused on Makoto. A slight smile pulled up the corners of his lips, and he exhaled a soft sigh. It was almost a laugh.

“I guess… I’m the one who won’t make it out, huh?” Wheezes interrupted every few words. He tried to sit up, but his arms shook, then flopped back down to his side. “I’m sorry, Makoto…”

“No.” Makoto tried to shout the word, but it came out as barely a whisper. “No, you can’t do that.” You can’t die. You can’t leave me.

“I tried to get away, but there were too many, and I couldn’t get to the beads.” Rui’s hand reached for his chest, and he pulled away to look at the blood on his fingers, mesmerized by the color that matched his hair. “I’m sorry,” he whispered again.

“Stay still,” Makoto said. “I can help you.” He fumbled with the port on his abdomen, reaching in for his scope. His other hand grabbed at the pocket of his shirt, but it was empty. He cursed the loss of his monocle.

"Looking for this?" Rui asked, pulling something out of his pants pocket. "I swiped it from a guard early on. I'd hoped to get it back to you outside, but…" He trailed off, and the monocle slipped from his fingers as his hand fell back.

Makoto snatched it up and wiped the blood off on his sleeve. The lens was cracked, but he hoped it would work enough to help him one last time. "Stay with me," he begged Rui as he pulled up his shirt. There was so much blood coating his chest that it looked like his skin had gone crimson. Makoto screwed the scope into the port in the boy's chest and connected the wire to his monocle, refusing to count the number of wounds that had been inflicted upon Rui.

"You're running… out of time…" Rui said, trying to reach for Makoto's hand. "Get out before it's too late."

"No!" This time the protest came out loud and clear, echoing off the walls. "I'm not leaving you." If I could just see past all this blood… But Rui’s pulse was slowing more every second.

“Don’t be stupid,” Rui said, wheezing harder. Makoto struggled to make out what he was saying. “You can’t save me. Don’t throw it all away for nothing.”

“You’re not nothing; you’re my partner.” He used the needle of his multitool to suck out as much blood as he could, to get a better look, but more filled the cavity with every weak beat of Rui’s heart.

“I’m glad I met you, you know?”

“Shut up. Stop talking like you’re gonna die.” He could only parrot Rui’s words, unable to think of anything else. He kept moving the scope and the needle, but he barely saw anything anymore. Everything had become a blur, and he couldn’t focus.

A cold hand wiped away tears Makoto hadn’t realized he’d been crying. Icy fingers intertwined with his own as Rui pulled Makoto’s hand away from his chest. There was no regret as he met Makoto’s gaze. “I’m glad I could do something good, in the end.”

Then his blue eye closed. His hand fell away. Between his fingers, Makoto felt Rui’s pulse stop, and everything around him went horribly still.

“No,” Makoto protested, shaking the hand he held. It was so limp, so lifeless. Rui’s arm flopped uselessly around as he tried again and again to shake life into him. “You can’t leave me. We were supposed to go to the beach together, remember? We were supposed to make the most of our time. Rui, please…”

But there was no response.

Countdown: 0:13:15 Remaining.

Voices swept over Makoto from the construction site. Men shouting, scurrying. He couldn’t make sense of any of it, but distantly he knew they were looking for Shu. A few stopped to watch him as he inched past, adjusting Rui over his back, but nobody tried to stop him. Nobody tried to help.

The countdown in his head spurred him on faster. He couldn’t feel the ground beneath his feet or taste the ashes in the air as he approached the barrier. Everything around him swam in and out of focus, but he couldn’t take a second to rest. He had to make it out. He had to bring Rui outside, no matter what.

“I’m not leaving you,” he grunted to the heavy body slumped over his back. Rui grew colder with every passing second, and Makoto swore he was getting heavier, though he knew that was the weight of exhaustion slowing him down. Regardless, he pushed onward toward the hole they’d made just a few hours ago. “You said we’d both get out of here. We promised.” The words came out in a whisper as he panted.

Every inch of Makoto’s body hurt, and the pain in his chest intensified with every step. His vision blurred, the edges going black.

I have to make it.

Countdown: 0:00:03 Remaining.

Makoto fell into the hole and rolled, clinging to Rui as he tumbled under the barrier. With the last of his strength, he pulled himself to the other side, and back into the rest of Tokyo.

Everything went dark, and Makoto thought he felt his heart stop.

Then he blinked and saw the swirling ashes through the entrance of the hole, and breathed in a deep, clogged breath of bitter air.

His slowed heartbeat began to regulate again, drawing energy back in from the rest of his shivering body. Finally the tightness around his chest began to lift, and he swallowed deeper gulps of air, reveling in the familiarity of it.

But he couldn’t let himself feel relieved, not when he looked at the motionless boy laying limply beside him. Not when he felt the weight of all he had lost.

He took a deep breath, wiped the tears away, and picked Rui up again.

“Makoto!” Miyuki leaned out the door of the Rebel’s hideout, excitedly calling his name as he approached. “You guys made i…” She trailed off, and her gaze focused on Rui. Makoto saw the shift in her expression -- from relief, to excitement, to confusion, to horror. Her mouth gaped open, watching Makoto as he walked past her into the small room.

Shu was seated in a corner, dozing off. He opened one eye as they entered, sleepily, then both of them snapped open wide and he scrambled clumsily to his feet. A small gasp escaped his swollen lips.

Makoto lowered Rui to the ground beside the rusty table, laying the boy gently on his back. His fingers stuck out at odd angles, and his arms and legs stayed slightly bent. Crimson hair clung to his forehead, glued to his pallid skin by blood that was already turning a dark brown.

“Miyuki, bring me the backpacks,” he said. He was already removing Rui’s shirt and scrubbing away the blood on Rui’s skin. In a glance, he counted seven stab wounds across his chest and stomach. Several looked non-fatal, but one had pierced near his heart.

“Is he dead?” Shu asked, his voice trembling. When Makoto nodded, he asked, “What are you doing?”

“Saving him,” Makoto said through gritted teeth. He pulled out his scope and multi-tool, fitting them in place as Miyuki dropped the backpacks at his side and opened the main pocket for him.

“What do you need?” she asked.

“Dump everything out and sort through the pieces. Find me anything usable.”

As she got to work, and Makoto started siphoning more of the now stagnant blood from Rui’s chest cavity, Shu wavered. He shifted from one foot to the other, a dozen questions dancing across his eyes. Finally, he asked, “How can I help?”

With one hand, Makoto grabbed his empty backpack, unlocked the bottom pocket, then chucked the pack at Shu. “Go out and use those probes to siphon heat from as many bulbs as you can find.”

Shu nodded and left without protest.

“Here,” Miyuki said, pushing a pile of organ pieces and wires towards Makoto. Anything left behind was too small or rusted to use immediately.

Makoto worked as quickly as he could, welding pieces together, connecting wires. He’d done this a dozen times in school and knew every piece, every part, inside and out. By the time he was halfway through, he knew he wouldn’t have enough to finish.

“I need more connectors,” he said, rifling through the pile. He even checked the discards, but to no avail. “There’s nothing else in there?” he pointed to Rui’s backpack with a shaking finger. When Miyuki shook it again and nothing more came out, he cursed.

He pounded a fist into the soft dirt, kicking up a cloud of it. When he didn't cough from it, a thought crossed his mind.

Unscrewing the scope from Rui's chest, he opened the port in his own and checked the lung he'd made himself. It provided the first shred of hope he'd had since reaching the hideout.

It took Makoto no more than a minute to reroute his airways back to his organic lung and take out the mechanical one. He dismantled it as quickly but carefully as he could, paying extra mind to the connectors he needed to salvage.

There were just enough to finish the mechanical heart, and he sighed with relief as he pulled the chip out of his glove and inserted it, checking the readout of the dormant heart with his monocle. He'd carried that chip for days because he couldn't bear to part with the last thing he'd tried to do for Sumire. Now he thanked her for that.

Shu returned a moment later, limping worse than before but not voicing a single complaint. He handed the backpack to Makoto, but avoided looking at Rui.

“Thanks,” Makoto mumbled. The vial only contained a couple of drops, but it would be enough to get the heart beating, at least.

Returning his attention to Rui, he took a deep breath before examining the boy’s heart. It had been a long time since he’d focused his attention on a real heart, and that had mostly been in labs at school. He’d avoided looking at them whenever he worked on anyone else, but now the time had come.

The organ was as still as the rest of Rui, but that didn’t make it any less intimidating. Despite this one being bigger, it was virtually identical to his neighbor’s, all those years ago. And Makoto still remembered how it felt in his hands, how it beat until the moment he pulled it from the boy’s chest, how horrified he’d felt when it went still and he didn’t know how to make it work again.

Once again, the little hands closed around his throat, and he gasped for air. A buzzing filled his mind, drowning out any thoughts. His body went numb, limb by limb, until he wasn’t in it anymore. For a second, he was trapped in the back of his mind, watching the scene through his eyes, but unable to interact with anything.

I’m not killing anyone this time. I’m trying to save him. The thoughts pulled the hands off his neck, and he managed to take in a shaky breath, bringing feeling back into his limbs. He repeated the words to himself over and over as he cut Rui’s organic heart out, broke it into smaller pieces, and siphoned it out with his multitool.

When that was done, he injected the mechanical heart with the energy from the vial, and felt it beat in his hands. It obeyed his order to condense itself, and he managed to push it through the port with ease. It fit perfectly into place and integrated itself into Rui’s body as if it had always been there, beating a steady rhythm and sending a small shock through his system to jumpstart everything else.

Makoto, Miyuki, and Shu all watched with bated breath for several long, horrible seconds. The silence in the room clung to each of them, and nobody dared to break it.

Then, a flutter, a blink, a gasp. Rui sat up coughing and wheezing, his one eye blinking rapidly.

Makoto didn’t give him a chance to understand what was happening before he threw himself into his partner’s arms, clinging to his back with desperation. He sobbed loudly into Rui’s shoulder, both out of fear from what he’d almost lost and relief that Rui was back.

Rui’s arms shook as he returned the hug. He tried to squeeze Makoto back, but he had no strength. An airy chuckle escaped his lips, and he said, “What happened to not caring about us Defectives, because we’ll all be dead by winter anyways?”

Makoto finally pulled away and saw the grateful yet slightly mischievous look in Rui’s eye. “Winter’s still a while away, right? Who knows what can happen between now and then.” He met Rui’s smile with one of his own, and heard Miyuki and Shu both sigh in relief.

Standing, he held out a hand to help Rui up, and his partner accepted.

Countdown: ???