Memento mori. 

For starters, I decided to clean up the bodies and clear the path ahead before rejoining the group. Although I thought I didn’t take long to finish it, it seemed like everyone had been on edge since I left. 

“W-where did you go, big sis Mori?” Lila’s lips trembled as she asked hoarsely, blinking away the tears in her eyes. 

“Uh, er, sorry, it took me some time to cut the bodies up,” I said truthfully while panicking at the sight of her scared face. “Here, I’ll return your phone back.” 

“Cut the what up?” Gee gave me a confused look.

Oops. “I mean, I was delayed because I cut the wires up. T-there were some wires blocking the way ahead, s-so…”

“It’s alright now though, right?” Nico asked with an easy smile. 

I nodded my head. Ave then gestured for us to continue moving into the station. Thanks to the near-impenetrable darkness, no one else seemed to realise the stains on the grimy floor tiles were off. Countless dust particles and microbes floated under the dim light from Lila’s phone, like specks on an old black-and-white TV without a signal. 

Past the broken-down turnstiles, we ended up on the deserted subway platforms. The station had two side platforms with the train tracks running through the center; a row of half-height platform screen doors was put up along the edges to prevent passengers from falling off. But right now, it was an annoying obstruction standing in our way. 

“We’ll have to climb over,” Ave said in a matter-of-fact voice. 

“It’s around my chest level,” Nico rejoined after evaluating the height of the screen doors. “You and I can probably do that, but what about the girls?” 

He paused, seemingly mulling over Nico’s concern. “If not, we can try breaking the glass, but…” 

I approached the screen doors and concentrated my force at my fingertip before pushing lightly on the glass pane. It shook for a brief moment before instantaneously disintegrating into minute fragments, leaving behind a hole big enough for a human to pass through.

“Is this good enough?” I tilted my head towards the hole. 

“...I was going to say it’s made of tempered glass, but I guess not,” he murmured. 

“Wow, you’re seriously strong, big sis Mori!” Lila exclaimed in excitement. Gee on the other hand was too stunned to even register what just happened. 

“I’ll go first to check how deep the tracks are,” Ave returned to his commanding voice, drawing everyone’s attention back to him. 

Nico took Lila’s phone and shone the light above Ave while he carefully squeezed through the hole and jumped down. After he gave the all-clear signal, Nico scooped Lila up and they both made their way down to the tracks with Ave’s help. Gee was next, and then it was finally my turn. 

“You need any help?” Nico asked, his face pointed up towards me. 

“It’s alright.” I nimbly landed on the solid sleeper so that I wouldn’t lose my footing—compared to Gee, who slipped on the ballast and nearly fell face-down onto the sharp rocks if not for Ave’s quick instincts. 

After making sure everyone was ready, we proceeded to head down the tunnel. Ave told Lila to shut her phone off and conserve its battery; since our eyes were already adjusted to the darkness, we could make out the general path ahead without the light. 

Hao-yi-duo-mei-li-de-mo-li-hua…

Lila suddenly began to hum a children’s song quietly, perhaps to change the mood, or more likely, it was to quell her nerves. She had been putting up a very brave front since leaving the hut, and it seemed like it wasn’t easy to keep her facade up. 

Everyone else didn’t stop her, and Nico even whistled the melody beside her softly. It was even starting to have an influence on me, I realise, as I started to mouth the lilting notes too. 

It helped to distract us momentarily, so no one noticed the faint blinking light up ahead at first. It wasn’t until Gee gasped in surprise that I snapped my head up and saw it. 

In the dark and dreary tunnel, light was something completely unexpected and starkly out of place. 

“Guys—” 

“There’s a light shining in front,” Ave finished her sentence with a wary nod. 

“Look, it seems to be blinking some sort of pattern,” Nico whispered. 

“Can it be Morse code?” Gee said with a jubilant smile forming on her face. “D-doesn’t that mean there are survivors trying to convey us a message?” 

Ave met her expectant eyes with a cold stare. “Are you mentally challenged? Think harder for a bit, will you? The next station is still pretty far off from here, why would there be survivors camping out in the middle of the tunnel?” 

“Maybe something happened at the next station?” she said defiantly, not ready to give up hope just yet. 

“I don’t think the light is caused by survivors,” I said quietly so as to not alarm her.

She narrowed her eyes and pointed at the blinking light. “Then…what is it?” 

I shook my head to indicate I didn’t have a definite answer. Ave pursed his lips together and held his hand up. 

“Who’s in favour of going ahead to check out its source?” 

Gee quickly raised her hand, while Nico and I followed suit after a moment’s hesitation. Lila simply said “I’ll follow what big sis Mori does!” in an unwavering voice.

I ought to tell her that she was pinning too much unfounded trust on me, I thought with a resigned smile. Lila’s mother had entrusted her daughter’s life in my hands, and naturally I would do everything I can to protect her, but her pure innocence is starting to put a lot of stress on my human physique. 

Since everyone agreed to go, we quickly set off in the direction of the light. The tunnel was wide enough for three people to walk side-by-side at a time, so Ave, Nico and Gee took the lead while Lila and I followed close behind. 

I felt a peculiar warmth enveloping my hand and glanced down in surprise. Lila was holding my hand tight in hers, just like a daughter would hold a mother’s hand. 

I wondered why she would be so willing to hold a hand that wouldn’t offer any comforting warmth to her, but I simply kept that question to myself and relaxed my hand. 

“...uh?” I heard Ave utter a sound that came across as a mixture of shock and incredulity. Nico and Gee also froze with their mouths agape. 

Past them, my eyes caught the object that was causing the blinking light—a portable flashlight. Its batteries were on the verge of dying, causing its beam to flicker on and off erratically. 

And against all odds, there was a person holding that flashlight straight at us.