LOST TIME MEMORY Vol. 1

Chapter 3.1

Shintaro's eyes were wide open, his mouth agape in horror, and his arms were up in surrender. He was entirely out in the open. His hands were shaking, and he was struggling to keep them still, his pupils focusing only on the rifle heads pointed at him. One pull, and he was dead.

"Is he one of them!?" someone yelled.

"Maybe," responded the leader, staring Shintaro down with a furious glare. As if this was the last thing he needed right then. Every single one of them looked away for one moment when another yelled out:

"The others are gone!"

Shintaro violently swung his body back, crouched, and ran low along the rails, using them as cover with an almost instantaneous reaction. What was he doing? He needed to get away from their line of sight right away. They wanted to kill him. It was a panic reaction but one he had to make. There wouldn't be any more opportunities. He was breathing fast. Too fast. He tried calming down his pulse, breathing in with his nose and breathing out heavily with his mouth. Sweat was running in a messy stream of lines from his forehead. He mumbled shaky words, repeating "calm down, calm down, calm down" as he studied his environment and gradually recognized his location and navigated through. All of this happened in just two seconds. And as his mind and feet dragged him to the nearest corner in the hallway, away from the men, he could hear their loud, angry voices echoing behind him.

"Split into two groups! You three, chase after him and confirm his identity! Don't shoot unless necessary! No civilians. Are we clear?" A series of concurring grunts reassured the leading man. "We'll lock down the store and search it down, get moving before we run out of time!"

They're gone? Shintaro thought. Had they escaped? No, I can't count on that. Momo's there. I need to keep distracting them. He looked around after reaching the corner. There was a door leading to a toilet. But this was the third floor. He couldn't jump out the window inside the toilet stall to call for help or have them chase him outside of the building. They likely wouldn't even follow him if he got too far away. No, he had to remain inside and distract them there; keeping them away from Momo was his main priority right now. A fire hose stood immediately to his right; the kind that looked like a long patch of gum folded into a circle. Ene was whispering, "what's going on?" in anxious anticipation from inside his pocket. The camera couldn't give her a clear view in the dark. Putting that aside for the moment, Shintaro's brain worked rapidly for a solution as he continued his calm breath routine. Then, suddenly, he was still. He had a plan. Yet again, in reality, not much time had passed at all. Only now were the men moving towards him, their footsteps menacingly getting louder and louder- nearing somewhere along the edge of his corner. There was no time to waste giving it any more concern. He knew what he had to do, and he did them step by step.

"Ene, call the cops." The lights were out. So was the internet. He didn't have 4G coverage because he never went out. His usually frugal ways never allowed him to include them in his own monthly mobile plan. And though she was capable of it, Ene couldn't access their database, hack their systems, or open up the mall if everything was offline. But she could still call for help, and she immediately executed his order.

Shintaro grabbed the head of the fire hydrant, pulled it, and leaped out of the corner into the open hallway. He dragged the hose and pushed an excess length across his own body, then flung it past the rails. The rubber slammed against the rail walls and alerted the already moving black-clad men. As they cocked their guns and turned on their flashlights, they yelled at him to stand where he was, or they'd shoot. At the exact same time as they were making their move, Shintaro made his. He pushed the fire hose head through an opening in the rails' upper horizontal metal pole and then towards himself. He tied the excess hose around his arm and held them tight. And then he jumped straight off over the rails and into the open, floorless midsection of the mall. He gritted his mouth and grunted through but forced his teary eyes open as the grand sight of the mall's interior in its beautiful but terrifying entirety rushed past his vision, air pushing against his body, his hair flying violently along a downward spiral. Ene screamed alongside him, remaining firmly in place inside his pocket, "ARGH, WHAT THE HEEEEEELL!?"

"HE FUCKING JUMPED!?" One of the men cried after him.

Gravity had left Shintaro's body. He was in the air, and he felt for a very brief, quiet moment that he was free-falling down without stop. But with a snap, the hose that'd been tied to the rail reached the end of its length. It abruptly stopped his fall. The recoil reverberated like a heavy shock throughout his whole body. His arms and hands took the brunt of it all, but he held onto the hose for dear life while yelling out a pained grunt through his still-gritted teeth. His body swung slowly from the open mid-section and beyond the rail of the floor underneath. He closed his eyes, pressed his tongue against his teeth, breathed in sharply, untangled the hose, and then let go. After landing feet first, he folded his body and rolled across the floor before collapsing onto his back. He stared at the ceiling in absolute terror. His body was now drenched in a cold sweat, and his breathing was entirely out of control.

His ears were ringing. He couldn't hear a thing. His eyes were slanted, and his crumbled body didn't want to do anything else than lie down and manage the throbbing pain. His back, arms, and legs all cried out in agony- his palms were completely red from burns. But Ene was telling him to get up. Bit by bit, he could gradually hear her voice like a radio finding its right frequency.

"T-they're coming down! Get up, Shintaro; we need to get out of here! NOW!"

The men were yelling after him and running downstairs with an even bigger group than what was initially split. They must have thought it necessary to send more after him. He hadn't heard them until now but could see them from the corner of his eye. Perhaps they'd upped their numbers because they couldn't manage to find their target. So an even smaller group was left behind to search upstairs. Good, he thought. With his goal almost entirely achieved, he was almost tempted to give up. But the little Miku-wannabe in his pocket wouldn't let him.

"GET THE HELL UP RIGHT NOW YOU LITTLE SHIT YOU'RE NOT DYING TODAY!!"

The sound of his own breath reached his ears. He took in forceful breaths and let out an unintentional chuckle that sounded more like a sob at the accompanying pain in his chest. Then, he heaved and rolled his body to the side and onto his stomach. His sling bag pushed against the middle of his chest and forced the wheezing air out of him. With his hand was firmly planted on the floor he now felt the cold concrete press hard against the friction burns on his palms, and another whimper escaped his mouth. He pushed himself up, and all of his muscles cried out in agony. There was no time to lose; he had to focus. Dragging, raising, and advancing forward with his limping legs, his hand awkwardly clutching the rails to support his body weight while his eyes scanned through and took in his new surroundings. He'd briefly glanced over them earlier. He was familiar with the layout and there were enough stores to have a simple plan in store. Somehow, he thought of how funny he would look from a third person's perspective—a shut-in doing the work. Ene might have cracked a joke if not for the situation.

"Ene."

"What?" He could feel her dismay from her voice alone.

"Um. This'll sound weird, but... Get ready to get out."

"..Sssure? Okay? I mean- right. Ready, Master" It was good determination to have despite her cluelessness.

He quickened his tempo, one foot in front of the other, and endured the stinging pain branching through his ankles and upward. The many doors along the first floor were visible from where he was, and they were all locked down with steel bars. They'd probably hacked or taken over the control room for the mall. Shintaroknew where that room was. It was on the third floor where they'd just been. But there was absolutely no way he would have been able to reach it after he'd gone and yelled out a "hey!" at them earlier. He might be able to reach it now, though. He'd made another plan. It was a risky one, nonetheless. But the first one had worked so maybe he'd get lucky this time, too, he thought. Right near where he landed was a girls' clothing store, and that was his current destination.