The stairs looked like stairs that led to a dead end– an open dead-end– open for you to jump down the cliff and into the Liquid of Doom– a pool of Hydrofluoric acid– to burn, wait, no; to melt your body to nothing.
The stairs are nothing more than escalators. When Kyoryu stepped on the first stair and lifted his foot to charge forward, the stairs started escalating him to the top. He stumbled on the next stair and danced around till he grabbed the railing.
Hitori grabbed a face mask from the basket stuck by the escalator, then jumped on the escalator. The others grabbed masks from the basket and followed Hitori.
When they reached the first-floor hallway, Hitori saw a few robots rolling toward them, so he increased his pace and jumped on the second set of stairs which started rolling. He turned and glanced down at the robot, it stopped near a door, then entered the room.
Kyoryu led climbed the stairs and went ahead to check the second floor for guards or robots. He lifted his hand and signaled them to follow him.
But for a just-in-case scenario, Hitori drew his wand and held it by the side. No one else bothered to draw their wands since their hands were good enough. Hitori doubted he could still use magic without a wand; it had been a long time since he last played the game and used magic without a wand.
When he stepped into the gray, polished hallway, he found it strange– the hallway was empty except for an old man walking around with a walker in his hands.
Kyoryu went ahead to find room 273, and Hitori lowered his wand. Kakashi went to the other side of the hallway while Akira waited on the side of the stairs, near the basket with hundreds of face masks wrapped in third-quality plastic.
Hitori glanced around and yes, the hallway was empty. He wondered if someone was even in the rooms. He looked for Kyoryu and found him standing in front of a glass door.
When he reached the glass door, Kyoryu pushed it open and went inside. The door closed on Hitori before he could it. He saw the words written on the door: Deceased Patients. Then in the subtext at the bottom was: We are sorry for your loss.
"They even have such a place?" Hitori frowned before pushing the door. A cold wave burst from the room and sent chills down his spine.
"Careful, it is freezing in here," Kyoryu said.
Not just it was freezing in the Deceased section, but it was too dark for a morning, too. He glanced around and saw not a single window. Only a little window with a fan over it for ventilation, in the middle.
Kyoryu was moving around to the doors lined up side by side. When the cold fog cleared up, Hitori saw numerous doors with a number of nameplates– as if telling their name deliberately and each door asking for help.
.Hitori was not interested in the other rooms such as the 264 and the 266. They were grey in color and the name was written in bold, black color.
Soon after, he heard Reon greeting the others. She said, "To the Deceased section, quick." Then she hurried over to the freezing room.
Kyoryu kept looking for room number 273 since the rooms were not arranged by their serial number– but they were arranged by the latest death. The most recent one was the first one and the story was processed. A man's body from 2025 is said to be still lying inside one of the rooms.
He was a loner and did not have many friends or relatives. He was found dead in his apartment– lonely death– then brought here. But for thirty years, no one came to get his body. No one.
Was Reon trying to scare them? A tragedy for the old man, yes., but it was already creepy to enter a freezing room filled with dead bodies.
Hitori was going to the other corner to check for the room when he heard the creak. He turned and his eyes met with Reon's. This was the first he had seen her eyes only as her face was covered with a mask.
"Did you find it?" she asked.
Hitori snapped from the beauty of her eyes– god knows what things he had started admiring– and shook his head. "The rooms are not arranged in order."
"They are not," Kakashi said, standing in the doorway, "but looks like I found it." He turned to his left and rested his finger on a door beside him.
Hitori adjusted his eyes as he stepped forward. The fog cleared and revealed room number: 273, Rion Hiroshi.
"Right," Reon nodded, "his death was the latest death in the hospital."
Of course– Hitori felt stupid– the doors were arranged in order of the newest death to the oldest, and he was searching in the middle. Hiroshi had died just a day ago.
Reon stood in front of the door as everyone gathered behind her. "We all can not go in," Eya said, "just Hitori-san and you, Reon…"
Reon did not care who came with her, she just wanted to see her brother for the last time and bid her goodbye. She grabbed the doorknob and took a few deep breaths.
But still, when she could not control her racing heart, Hitori kept a hand on her shoulder. He hesitated himself, but he knew someone had to do it– so he went ahead.
As his hand fell on her shoulder, he sensed a sudden jump. She glanced at him, then forced a smile, and looked away quickly.
"Open the door, Reon," Hitori said, standing close to her. "You are not alone, so open the door and let us face it."
Reon gulped. Hitori noticed her trembling hand on the doorknob. He wanted to grab it for her and give it a twist, then a push.
Another blow of air washed their faces as the fog in the freezing room cleared and revealed a bed in the middle of the room with a white cloth over it.
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