Crushed Suns - SCI (Mysteries)

5 - Trashed

"Is this it?"

Zhan looked up at the rundown building, double checking the address scribbled on the paper. "This is it." 

They walked up a rickety staircase up to the 4th floor, stepping into a brownish-white hallway, stopping at a peeling green door.

#43

Tap, tap, tap.

No answer. 

Tap, tap, tap.

Again, no answer.

Bai raised an eyebrow at Zhan. The latter rolled his eyes, practically hearing the question in his mind. "This is the right one." 

Bai took a few steps back and shrugged. "If it's not, you called it." 

Dr. Zhan moved to the side just in time. With a powerful launch, Bai kicked the door in, gun whipped up at the ready. Sensing nothing out of the ordinary, he put the gun back down. "Huh. That was easy." The investigator turned his intercom on. "All clear. Unit 2, proceed." Turning around, Bai mock-bowed to his friend by the door frame. "After you." 

Dr. Zhan rolled his eyes. "So courteous." Ignoring the undignified false-hurt gasp the Mouse gave him, the inspector scanned the empty living room. 

There was not much to go by. Aside from the crudely cut carpet, there were a 3 small frames covering a green crack in the right wall. There was a stench of mold arising from somewhere further down the hall, where all the cheaply painted doors were closed shut. No pictures. No bags. No signs of new life either. It was vacant. 

"What happened here? Another apocalypse?"

The rest of the unit arrived and flooded in. As they inspected the apartment, Bai Yutong headed directly to the furthest room, gun in hand. The door opened with a low, eerie creak. Light filtered through leading into a dimly light room. 

He walked around the mat (supposedly a bed)and opened the blinds. It did nothing to help. The windows were so dirty that the sun rays barely squeezed through. He had to squint to see clearly. This room was almost as desolate as the living room, beating it simply by having a mattress, a few apples on the cover, and a pile of bagged junk in the corner. There was nothing but bareness, void, as if someone was camping out in the middle of the apocalypse. 

With a sigh, Bai stepped to leave-

Scruff-scruuufff.

-and (internally) wanted to smack himself upside the head. 

'Of course! There is always something in the closet! Why did I not notice it before?'
(read: possibly from the lack of strong presence and characteristics?)

Slowly... slowly... painstakingly slowly . . . Bai yanked the closet open, gun loaded. 

A whimper. 

He froze. 

"You!"

There he was, the boy they were looking for, all huddled up in the darkest corner. He looked like a terrified puppy. 'Shit. What do I do now?' Breaking into cold sweat, Bai did what he saw one of his colleagues do when saving a dog; he lowered the gun onto the floor, kicking it just out of reaching distance before kneeling down slowly. Then, using his calmest voice, he started talking quietly.

"Hey, hey. Look at me. Come on, look up. Please?" Bai waited until the boy raised his head just enough to peek over his knees. Brown eyes judged intently. The officer gave a light smile.
"Good. Good! That's one step. Now we can both see each other. So...yeah." He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Listen. It's all going to be fine. I'm a police, see?" He showed his I.D. card. Luckily, it did not have the same affect as it did last time."I'm not going to hurt you or your friend."