Story Reader / Main Story / 13 Fake Ascension / Story
It takes them a while to finally find a strong enough building.
Just when they have finished settling in for the night, a group of armed young scavengers appears.
Who gave you the okay to stay here?
Why would we need your permission to stay here?
Talking back now, uh?
He waves his hand for his minions to come forward.
Say hello to our new friends here.
The hoodlums wake up to the sunlight seeping through the hotel's cracked glasses.
Crying foul over the injustice, the scavengers crouch in the corner with bruises all over.
Let's send them to the commercial area today to see if they can find anything useful there...
He rubs his eyes as he says to the rest of his group.
All of you, stand up!
He swings an iron pipe as he shouts his order to the scavengers trembling by the wall.
God will not forgive you!
The girl's serious remark, however, is met with an outburst of laughter from the hoodlums.
You can pray all you want.
I'm sure God is out there! My dad and mom always told me that God is out there!
I've seen an angel myself! It was that very angel from God who told me about there being supplies here!
Aah!
The girl covers her mouth with her hands because she realizes she just said something she should not have. The young hoodlums, however, simply shrug it off as nonsense.
Oh? Well, did God come to save your parents?
The upset young girl takes a step back, again causing an outburst of laughter from the hoodlums.
Enough chit-chat. Get them to work now. If they try anything funny—
He does the cutthroat gesture with his thumb. With iron pipes in their hands, the other hoodlums start ushering the feeble scavengers out of the building.
Not until it has turned dark that the scavengers trudge back to the abandoned hotel.
What's the result?
He examines the items the scavengers have brought back and finds most of them useless.
All except for one brand new supply bag, which stands out like a piece of cheese sitting on a mousetrap.
Unbothered, he picks up the bag, takes out a can and some hardtacks and distributes them to his group.
Store the rest of it.
What about us?
Huh? What made you think you'd get anything when this is all the lot of you came back with?
Want to have a taste of my rage for a change?
We're almost there.
Huh?
He's crazy. Just ignore him...
Crazy, uh? Let's see if we can fix him. Won't do us no good keeping a madman around.
What are you trying to do?
The girl tries to stop the hoodlums but is held back by a pair of weak hands.
Youle, please...
B-but...
Let's just take care of ourselves for now...
...
Starved and tired, the scavengers wake up to another day.
I couldn't catch any sleep. I kept hearing waves splashing right behind the building.
So did I.
Right in the middle of their discussion about the mysterious waves last night, one of the hoodlums comes in.
Where's the crazy dude?
Didn't you...
We only tried to fix him a little.
He looks at them without a trace of remorse, as if trying to tell them that they really only tried to "fix" him.
They look around. The man, who was crouching in the corner before, is nowhere to be found now.
He didn't come back.
Tsk. Then look for him when you're out looking for supplies later. Not that I care if he's found anyways.
After scratching his filthy hair, he raises a pipe and starts ushering them out of the room.
Hurry up and get to work!
It is now dark, yet the man is still nowhere to be found.
The scavengers come back again with nothing useful, except for another brand new supply bag.
Having gotten nothing again, they go back to their corner, talking while trying to keep one another warm.
Cough, cough... My infection is getting worse.
Where did he go exactly?
I wonder if we're going to hear the waves again tonight? I want to go and have a look...
They seem to be having a conversation, but everyone is really just trying to vent, paying no attention to anyone else.
Should we just leave this place, then?
He casts his eyes over the others as he raises the question. There is no way they can make it back in their current conditions.
No one even knows what the supply hunt tomorrow will be like.
I'm sure we'll come back with plenty of supplies tomorrow. If we do, we'll all finally be able to eat.
The girl is feeling no better than anyone else, but she sounds as if she knows for certain what is going to happen the next day.
God will grant us happiness.
With a helpless smile on his face, the man sitting before the girl pats her head with his wrinkled hand, thinking that she is talking out of her imagination.
Yes, for sure... Let's call it a night for now.
They huddle together, shivering as they fall asleep.
They hear people shouting and cursing in the middle of the night.
What's that...
Stop right there, you thief! Catch him already!
But I was the one who found it!
They hear splashes of waves after the group of people dashes out of the building. Then, peace returns.
Youle wakes up to the midday sun from a deep sleep. It is now way past when the hoodlums would usually come.
Where is everyone?
One of the scavengers is missing. Could this have to do with the commotion last night?
I saw them.
The old lady says, shivering so badly that she almost bites her own tongue.
I had a hard time falling asleep again last night. I went out to check on things when I heard the waves, and...
The path just out the back entrance, it... It was all red.
T-they came out of the red stuff and started talking to me.
It tastes so good...
I'm still alive...
We're almost there.
Could it be... That they're living in that red stuff?
They are deep in thought when a group of scavengers they never saw before trudges into the room.
Hello, is this place your turf?
...
