Heart of a survivor × Chishiya Shuntaro

Chapter Ten

Her breathing quickened, knowing that now she had no means of escape. 

She probably had about a minute to come up with a miracle to survive, she quietly rummaged through the shelves and drawers under the counter. A pen? No. Some half price stickers? Nope. A pair of scissors? Not good enough.

Surveying the rest of the area behind the counter, she did a double take. Could this be her miracle? There, a mere few steps away from her, a wooden hatch could be seen on the floor.

With not a second to waste, Takara crawled over to the hatch, slowly opening it trying to be as quiet as possible. With the hatch now open, there were stairs that led down to what she guessed could be a cellar. Carefully yet quickly, Takara descended down the stairs, hearing the same chime of the door opening as she closed the hatch behind her.

Making her way down the stairs, her eyes adjusted to the dimly lit cellar. But it wasn't a cellar at all, instead, a network of passages that connected each of the stalls and shops laid out in front of her. She wondered why they would've even made this secret tunnel system, maybe it had been an extra addition specifically for the game.

Reminding herself that she was in fact being hunted down and now was not the time for questions, she tried to determine which way she should take. She didn't want to go backwards; it would only lead her closer to the game entrance. She needed to go deeper, the choice was between going right to the stall next to the sweet shop, or across to the shops on the other side of the boulevard.

Thinking it would be quicker to go right, she continued down the path that would lead her to the stairs under a game stall. Starting to ascend the stairs, she creeped up them ever so quietly in case the hunter was close above her. Now at the top of the stairs, she gradually pushed open the wooden hatch, still careful of her movements so as to not make a sound.

Now out of the tunnels, she crouched down so that she wasn't visible over the edge of the game stall. She glanced around, seeing what type of stall she found herself in. Behind her an array of bullseye's had been nailed to the wall, the circles of paint had been chipped off from years of use, with a few bullet indents could be seen in the metal.

Turning back round to the front of the stall, Takara felt a spark of hope ignite inside of her. Laid out on the counter of the stall were three pistols, and she had a hunch they weren't fake ones but rather real ones to be used in the game.

Quickly, she grabbed the closest one to her and examined it. She wasn't that confident in using a gun, all she knew was to turn off the safety and shoot. She hoped that's all she needed to know.

Sliding the top part of the pistol towards her, she checked if there was a bullet inside. She was met with the glint of brass shining back at her inside the chamber of the gun. Sliding the top of the gun back into place, she looked out over the boulevard to see if the hunter was anywhere to be seen.

The coast seemed to be clear, and Takara took this as an opportunity to start moving forward. Jumping over the stall counter, pistol in hand, she cautiously went deeper into the fair. Up ahead, she could see another rollercoaster lit up with numerous carriages making their way around the course.

Making her way closer and closer to the coaster, she heard another gunshot resound in the air, followed by the whizz of a bullet flying straight past her ear. The hunter was not far behind her.

Spinning around, she saw the hunter stop to reload his shotgun. Thinking on her feet, she made a run for the rollercoaster.

As she sprinted towards the ride, another bullet narrowly missed her head as she ducked. She made her way onto the coaster platform just as a carriage was approaching. The carriage wasn't slowing down making Takara have to jump onto it while it was still moving.