Battle Royale

The rain grew heavy, so Shuya gave up and left the area. Noriko and Shogo probably hadn't moved much. C=3 was forbidden, but the adjacent D=3 and C=4 were still safe. They were probably in that area, so he could make another fire once he was in the vicinity.

With this thought in mind he began walking. That was when we heard the distant chirping sound of a bird as he turned westward on the north shore of the island around 2:30 p.m. Shuya listened closely...and quickly glanced down at his watch. The seconds hand moved seven degrees, and the faint chirping stopped. Shogo had said fifteen seconds. Given the time it took for him to look at his watch, its duration corresponded to that length of time. Besides, he doubted there were many birds chirping in the rain. And he heard none of those little birds that he'd heard during the day ever since the game began.

Shuya continued along the northwest shore of the island—and once again heard the same chirping. This time it was clear. Exactly fifteen minutes had elapsed since the last one—and it stopped exactly fifteen seconds later. It was Shogo. There was no need for the smoke signal. Shogo was using the bird call.

The third fake chirping occurred only three minutes ago. It sounded close. According to the map, Shuya was moving from B=6 to B=5.

Shuya rested a little, tucked the Uzi's barrel under his left wrist, and lifted his left arm. It was easier that way because he didn't have to exert his muscles. The watch hands, out of focus from the raindrops against the glass, indicated it was 3:05 p.m.

The chirping sounded closer to the mountain than it was to the sea. Shuya glanced at the sea, then moved towards and then up the gentle slope. As he looked up, he noticed that the northern mountain in front of him looked different, which made him realize he'd been moving along the foot of the mountain and was now approaching the western shore.

Just a little more. He'd barely covered 1.5 kilometers, but he still felt woozy from all the blood he'd lost. The pain in his body was so severe he felt like throwing up (he really had to stop and rest). But he was almost there. Almost.

He made his way through the grove and his fatigue became overwhelming. Of course...he could be attacked at any point from the bushes. But he couldn't afford to worry about that..If that happened...he would just have to pull the trigger of the Uzi.

The low bushes became sparse and then were cut off. Shuya stood still. It wasn't as if there was someone holding a gun...but there was something strange in this narrow opening.

At first it looked like two stiff gray clumps to Shuya. On top of that, they seemed to be moving. He stared at them. There were black pants and sneakers poking out of these two clumps.

He realized they were corpses. Two boys had died here. A flash of red color flew up from the stiff gray clump and cried, "KAW!" It was a large heron-sized bird, its head drenched in red. The birds were feeding on the corpses!

Shuya reflexively raised his Uzi at them. He put his finger against the trigger—but decided against it. He walked over.

The birds flapped their wings and flew away from the two corpses.

Shuya stood still in the rain by them...and lifted his right hand up to his mouth. He felt a sudden urge to vomit.

It was a chilling sight. The birds had picked away at their exposed faces. Their red flesh broke out of their skin. They were covered in blood.

Shuya held back his nausea and somehow managed to look at them. He saw they were probably Tadakatsu Hatagami and Yuichiro Takiguchi. Then he noticed something about Tadakatsu's face, which was in worse condition than Yuichiro's. The birds weren't responsible for his deformed skull. His nose, unharmed by the birds, was also crushed.

He looked around and found a bat lying on the grass. Even though it was washed by the rain, the tip of the bat was still tinged with red. Given the state of Tadakatsu's face, he was most likely beaten to death. With the gear of his sport— a baseball bat.

Compared to him, Yuichiro's face was in relatively good shape. Of course...Shuya had a feeling his lips and eyeballs were gone by now.

One of the birds landed on top of Tadakatsu's face. Then several more birds came by. Given how Shuya remained frozen, they probably assumed they were safe.

Safe? You got to be kidding!

Shuya once again put his finger on the trigger of the Uzi...but restrained himself. The important thing was for him to get back to Shogo and Noriko.

More birds reappeared.

Were they feeding on the other bodies sprawled all over the island? Or was it just because they were near the sea?

Peeling his eyes off the two corpses, Shuya staggered around them and entered the bushes ahead. He heard the birds cry, "KAW!"