Alice in Borderland

Chapter 60 - Kaboom

Ann scheduled the supply run for the next day and found enough volunteers from the military squad to ride with us. Ann didn't really like the strong presence of Aguni's people, but the Hatter thought it would be a good idea. With two cars we made our way to the hospital. In the first car were Ann, Chishiya and two of the military squad. I had to sit in the second car with Niragi, a man with a handgun and the guy with the sword. At some point during the ride, I notice the latter staring at me silently, which eventually gets on my nerves so much that I just stare back. After a while, he seems to get uncomfortable with that and finally looks out the window again.

In general, my nerves are irritated to the max, because the man in front of me is drinking beer the whole time and Niragi has the radio turned up to full volume. Why couldn't I just go with Ann?

After an estimated twenty minutes, we pull into the hospital's underground parking garage and get out of the vehicles. We line up in a semicircle in front of a map of the building. Chishiya and Ann seem to be discussing the best way to proceed and which floors to go to. Meanwhile, I just look at Niragi waiting and after he rolls his eyes emphatically, he hands me my knife. I tuck it behind my back into my pants as usual, and when the sword guy looks curiously at the blade, I just spark at him.

"So, me and Sayuuri are going to check out the top two floors. Chishiya take the floor after that with two of the military squad, Niragi you take the bottom floor with one of your soldiers"

Gorillas is more like it. I just nod in affirmation and before Niragi can say anything sexist about needing someone to protect the two of us, she pulls me along to the stairwell.

"Will you take the top floor?"

"Sure, what should I look for?"

"Here's a list of the files I need. Anything else you might need: Antibiotics, sedatives, bandages, scalpels, and disposable gloves."

Understanding, I nod and we part ways. I walk one more floor and read 'Psychiatry' on the sign. Great.

I stand in front of a large glass door and see only a card reader. I walk around the front desk looking for one of those card keys so I can continue. I break open one of the drawers with my knife and take out a caregiver's card. After I gingerly pull it through, a green light appears and with a lock sound, the door opens a small crack. I keep the card in case the door falls back into the lock.

The first thing I do is look for the archive with the patient files. I look for the names on the slip of paper in their respective tabs and put them all in a pile. Why does Ann only need the files? I leave the files in place for now and start looking for other useful things. I discover a large, black sports bag and empty its contents. It's perfect for transporting. I first pack the files and then throw in all the medicines that sound interesting.

Niragi is still acting like himself since our last game, but I'm definitely handling it better. Knowing that he's not just shooting people for no reason calms me down a bit. I don't know why, but my thoughts automatically go to Chishiya. The way he said yesterday that he was coming along today still makes me grin. It was like it had a completely different meaning to me and Ann. 

A loud bang makes me cringe and I see a cloud of black smoke out the window. I cautiously walk towards it and realize the smoke is from a vehicle fire. How the hell can a car just blow up like that, something is wrong. I quickly close the bag and shoulder it before walking back out of the cordoned off area. I run to the stairwell and look down over the railing. At the same moment, three more heads appear. One floor below me, I can make out Ann, one railing down, both Chishiya's white blonde hair and Niragi's black chignon appear.

"What was that?" asks Niragi annoyed, looking up.

"An explosion, we'd better get out of here," Ann says seriously. Three loud shots ring out from downstairs and we all look to the second floor. Someone grabs me by my shoulders and with a tremendous force I am knocked over. I let out a short scream as I fall down the stairs. And I keep hearing the same sounds: Kaboom, Kaboom.