Corpse March

Chapter 31

“What… Did you do?”

The Deathless stare at the bloody sight contained in the train cars. The mixture of blood and corpses stain the ground in some kind of macabre portrait. The abject terror they felt moments before they died remains frozen on their faces. It’s an expression that the Deathless share. Even through their masks, Kuroko can tell that they haven’t seen carnage like this before. 

“I killed them.”

“These… aren’t Monarchs.”

One of the Deathless stumbles over to her motorbike, where a radio transceiver waits for her. 

“Strike Team Alpha, this is Gleam speaking, has the Monarchian transport been intercepted?”

“Lady Gleam, this is Alpha one. The Monarchian transport has been intercepted and its payload exterminated by Shindou Kuroko. However, the Monarchian transport was carrying Lady Tsumugi’s standing army. I repeat, the Monarchian transport was carrying Lady Tsumugi’s standing army.”

“What?! Are there any survivors?”

“Only two of approximately fifty survived. Commanding officer Asuka and Kikimi of the Bridal Elites.”

“DAMMIT!”

The sound of something breaking very very violently. Alpha one can’t help but wince under her mask.

“And Lady Tsumugi herself?!”

“Missing, Lady Gleam.”

“She will be held responsible for her actions later! For now, attend to the survivors immediately!”

“Your will is so, Lady Gleam.”

Alpha one shakes off her own fear as she steps back into the train, the site of the massacre. She does her best to ignore the corpses and makes a beeline straight for the cockpit. Kuroko steps aside. She can’t even look that monster in the eye. Her suit’s bloodstained and it’s missing its left sleeve but other than that, she looks relatively unhurt. The healing enhancements of the outside world truly are things to marvel at. 

“Our orders?”

“Not now.”

There are guns trained on Asuka, as though she might go berserk at any minute. She can tell by the look in her eye that she’s been through this song and dance hundreds of times before. It’s not that she’s in shock, she genuinely just isn’t bothered anymore. She was this way even when she was Theta One, a Deathless like her. 

“Asuka Katame. You are under arrest for trespassing on Takakumo soil. I’m now going to read you your rights. You have the right to remain silent and make no statement at all. Any statement you do make can and will be used against you in judicial proceedings.”

Asuka has a blank expression on her face. 

“Take her away.”

She slaps a pair of handcuffs on Asuka’s petite hands and Alpha two takes her away. Alpha one pushes open the door to the cockpit to see a girl about the same age as her, dressed in commando gear. Her eyes seem sunken, and her face pallid from shock. She’s seen the expression many times before. 

“My name is Alpha One but you can call me Akane and I’m going to be your corpsman today. Can you tell me your name?”

“...”

“Can you tell me your name?”

“K– Ki–...”

She struggles to get the words out of her throat but she nods her head as though she was talking. Her voice sounds like she’s on the verge of tears. 

“It’s Kikimi. That’s my name.”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m okay.”

“You don’t look okay.”

“I’m okay.”

“Are you in any pain?”

“N… No.”

“You’re covered in blood. Is any of it yours?”

“It’s not– not mine.”

“Okay now I want you to look at me, okay?”

“Okay– Okay, okay.”

“Don’t look behind me, there’s nothing there.”

She closes the door behind them with her leg. 

“Focus on my eyes okay?”

“Alright.”

Her face contorts as she desperately tries to hold back tears.

“I want you to repeat after me and I want you to breathe, do you understand me?”

“O– okay, yeah. Yeah, okay.”

Her chest heaves up and down, up and down, up and down. 

“You’re safe now, okay?”

“I’m… I’m safe now?”

“You’re safe now.”

“What about the others? You… you have to help them. Did anyone else make it?”

“You’re safe now.”

———————————————————————————————————————

This is a disaster. Those words echo over and over in Gleam’s mind. It stings all the more knowing that it was her fault for letting this massacre happen in the first place. But more than guilt, there’s the despair in knowing that there’s no going back. From here on out, she is Gleam, the one who ordered the deaths of forty-nine people. 

No, there’s no time to think about that right now. Her most pressing concern is where Tsumugi is at the moment. She bites her lip. Think, c’mon, think. In order to answer that question, she first has to answer the question of what was the point of the attack in the first place. If the point was to sneak in unhampered, they made a mistake in flashing their headlights at the Deathless at the entrance. Matter of fact, it’s almost like they were trying to grab her attention.

Then, it hits her. The truth. She rushes over to the radio. 

“Strike Teams Beta to Zeta, this is Lady Gleam, assume search protocols immediately. The existence of a second Monarchian Transport is suspected. Alpha Strike Team, remain on standby.”

———————————————————————————————————————

“Time to see if these things can travel ninety degree angles.”

“You ready?”

“I’m ready.”

“Alright.”

“BRACE!!!”

Haru and Tsumugi yell at the car behind them where someone hears them and passes the message along. She gives them a minute. Then, once she’s sure that everyone’s strapped down nice and tight to their seats, she pushes the lever all the way forwards. The train lurches to life and the solid wall of concrete protecting Takakumo’s borders zooms forwards at them. For a moment, it seems like they’re not going to make it. Haru closes her eyes. Her stomach turns as gravity is flipped on its side. That’s a good sign, it means they’re at least going up. This next part is the hard part. Her insides rise all the way into her chest as the train climbs over the wall and starts traveling straight down. She resists the urge to scream and look really uncool in front of Tsumugi. Thankfully, it all only lasts for a few seconds before they return to the ground. A little worse for wear, but otherwise unharmed. 

“Did we make it?”

“I think we made it.”

Haru pumps her arms into the air. 

“YES!”

“We’re not out of the woods just yet. Thirty minutes to Takakumo.”

Tsumugi checks her pocket watch. This is the fourth time in the past five minutes. Haru can’t blame her though. Shenotices the subtle frown lines on her forehead. 

“Are you worried about Kikimi and the others?”

“Yeah… I know they should be okay. Gleam would never kill her own, but I don’t know, I guess I’m still just really worried.”

“It’ll be alright. I’m sure they knew what they were doing when they volunteered to be on the decoy train.”

Haru gives Tsumugi a reassuring pat on the back. Or at least, it was meant to be reassuring, she accidentally just kinda smacked her really hard. More time passes in the cockpit in silence. 

“Are you scared?”

Tsumugi breaks the silence. Gently, softly, like tearing through a pillow.

“Not particularly. You?”

“A little bit.”

She leans on the wall, using her staff to support her. Haru does the same, using KANNIBAL for support in place of the staff. She closes her eyelids to rest her eyes. One moment, there’s twenty minutes left on the clock then the next moment, there’s only ten minutes. In the distance, Haru’s ears, keen from years of scrutinizing her music, pick up the distant whir of an engine. Though, it’s strange. She only hears one. 

“Wait here.”

“Where are you going?”

“Wait here. I have a bad feeling about this.”