The Two Sides of Survival

7

Hitoshi woke up in the early morning to sirens blaring throughout the complex. He left his room, grabbing a jacket on the way out, and found Kaminari sitting on a chair with Eri in his lap. He was already dressed and ready for school. Eri was sitting there quietly while Kaminari did her hair in cute ponytails. The police sirens stopped, but the flashing lights were seen from the front windows of the apartment. Hitoshi put on the jacket and walked over to Kaminari.

"Do you know what's going on outside?" He asked while putting on his jacket. More sirens started up. They kept getting closer to the complex. Whatever was happening was definitely bad. Kaminari sent Eri back into her room and nodded.

"You weren't awake for it, but one of your neighbors came by and told me that something happened on the basement level. She doesn't know what it is. I was going to go look after Eri's hair." Kaminari said. Shinso looked out the window and there were more flashing lights. It was looking like the situation was getting worse. Kaminari slipped on his shoes while Hitoshi went to get his. He left the apartment and went down the stairs that lead to the green area the residents shared. He looked to his right. There were paramedics going down the steps to the basement level with a stretcher. There were more paramedics at the top with a few medical supplies. They didn't look to be in a hurry. It could have been not as serious as the lady told him.

Kaminari walked over to the group to ask about the situation, but someone had grabbed his shoulder to stop him. He looked over and it had been a police officer. She told him to stay back and let the paramedics handle it. Kaminari listened and stepped back, but continued to watch. The officer led him to a bench and sat him down.

"What you're about to see ain't gonna be pretty." She said. "Keep that in mind." She left to do her job just as Hitoshi came down the stairs. Hitoshi spotted him on the bench and sat with him.

The paramedics came back up. They were carrying up a person with a cloth over most of their body. The cloth had fallen at some point on the stairs, revealing the person's face. Before the paramedics could fix it once they got to the top, Hitoshi had seen him. He stood to get a better look, then began screaming. Tears streamed down his face as he fell to his knees. Kaminari instantly fell with him and grabbed him in an embrace, an attempt to comfort him. Hitoshi grabbed the arm around his chest and leaned against it.

Kaminari hadn't seen the body. All he knew was it made his friend upset. He watched as the stretcher was put into the ambulance. It drove off in silence. Most of the police cars followed, only one remained. The officers were talking to each other. One was asking the other questions to the other and wrote his responses in a small notebook. The officer being questioned was the man they had spoken to the night before.

Hitoshi hadn't stopped screaming nor crying. He held onto Kaminari tightly. He normally hated any kind of attention, but at that moment, he really needed it. He was gone. Hitoshi hadn't seen him in months, and there he was, under a cloth. Hitoshi couldn't even say his name. It hurt too much.

"He's gone! Kaminari, he's gone!" He yelled. He had lost a large part of him. A man he lived with for so long was dead. He was family. He didn't even know what killed him. He was dead, and there had been blood.

"Who's gone, Shinso?" Kaminari asked. Hitoshi couldn't articulate his words correctly. His words came out as mumbled gibberish. He couldn't stop crying. Kaminari couldn't stand seeing him so hurt, but he had no idea how to help him. He couldn't understand the words he was shouting. Nothing he came up with would help. He had just seen the dead body of someone he cared about. No one can bounce back from that.

The last police car left the two alone in the yard. Hitoshi's crying didn't let up. The best Kaminari could do for him was stay by his side. The complex was usually quiet. Not a soul dared to leave their apartment. It was typically a pretty safe and quiet place to live. They never thought anything like this would happen. The residents were in pure shock. The police weren't giving them any details, but a few people had their theories.