A moment later, after being sure the elementary school children's heads were gone, Irwan quickly pulled Nadia towards the room door. But just as Irwan's hand reached the doorknob, "cklek," someone opened the door from outside. Irwan released his hand and stepped back, then the door swung open.
"Waaaaaaaaa," Irwan screamed simultaneously with a girl from behind the door.
"Ri... Riana?" Nadia asked from behind Irwan.
"You... why are you screaming? Good thing I don't have a heart condition," Riana said, patting her chest.
"Wan, Nad, we have to get out of here," Brian said, standing behind Riana.
"I agree," Irwan replied.
But before they could get out, "duk... duk... duk," they heard the sound of many people coming down the stairs. Irwan immediately pulled Riana's hand, whose hand was also holding Brian's behind her. "Klap," the door closed. Brian and Irwan immediately pressed their ears to the door, while Riana and Nadia held hands behind them, their bodies trembling.
Outside, the sound of several people descending could be heard. Brian opened the door slightly so they could peek out. Irwan's and Brian's eyes, peeking, immediately widened as they saw several men with red circles in their pupils carrying Lusi downstairs. On Lusi's wrist, a syringe with an empty barrel was still stuck. Behind those two men were two more men carrying Felix with a syringe stuck in his thigh.
"Klap," Irwan quickly closed the door again and stood with his back against it, along with Brian. Both signaled to Riana and Nadia to be quiet. Riana immediately moved forward, hugging Brian and covering his mouth, as did Nadia, who moved forward to hug Irwan, covering her mouth. "Krieeek," "brak," they heard the sound of the opposite room's door opening and closing again.
"Hey... that kid isn't here, quick, find him!" a man outside shouted.
Irwan turned and locked the door. "Duk... duk... klek... klek," they heard the sound of the door being pushed and the handle being tried.
"It's locked, maybe they're sleeping. Let's try again tomorrow," a man outside said.
"Alright, they can't leave the city either, but we have to find the missing one, don't let the residents find them," another man said.
"Yeah, hurry up!" the previous man replied.
"Duk... duk... duk," they heard the two men running towards the stairs and going down them. After it became somewhat quiet, Brian and Irwan sighed in relief and slightly pushed Riana and Nadia.
"H-how... now?" Riana whispered.
"Once they're gone, we'll get out of here," Brian whispered.
"But what did he mean by 'don't let the residents find them'?" Irwan whispered.
"I don't know, but this place is definitely terrifying, and I don't like it here," Brian replied.
"R-right, I don't like it either," Nadia whispered back.
"I'll check for a bit," Irwan said.
"Krek," Irwan opened the door slightly after unlocking it. Then he peeked out for a moment and immediately came back in, locking the door again. Brian crept towards the window. He stood pressed against the wall next to the window and peeked out through a gap in the curtain. After that, Brian turned to look at Irwan and nodded. Irwan turned to look at Nadia and Riana.
"Listen, as soon as I open the door, we'll all go out together and run downstairs," Irwan whispered.
Riana and Nadia didn't answer, but they nodded. After Brian returned and was ready, "brak," Irwan opened the door. He immediately took Riana's and Nadia's hands, then ran out, followed by Brian at the very back. They immediately ran down the stairs, and when they reached the first floor, they darted towards the exit on the first floor. "Brak," Brian opened the door, and all four ran outside. However, once outside, their steps halted.
"S-so many people," Irwan said.
They saw many people passing by on the street right in front of their apartment building. They appeared to be active as if it were daytime. Directly across from them, an old woman sat on the sidewalk, selling pecel (a traditional Indonesian salad) and wearing a kebaya. Several men passed by wearing office shirts and ties. There was also a gado-gado (another traditional Indonesian salad) seller pushing his cart past them. Several high school teenagers their age casually walked by together, chatting.
"This is... the middle of the night, right?" Brian asked.
"Good evening,"
All four immediately focused on an old man with white hair, wearing a white T-shirt and trousers. He wore a totopong (a Sundanese headwrap), a sarong around his waist, and carried a walking stick. His body was slightly hunched, and his beard was long. He looked at the four of them, but the four became scared because there were red circles in the old man's pupils, even though his face looked friendly and he was smiling.
"G-good evening," Irwan replied.
"Are you... humans?" the old man asked.
"Sreeg," "drap," suddenly all the pedestrians passing by, even the vendors selling their wares across the street, stopped walking and turned to look at the four. Their faces were all smiling kindly, but their eyes all had red circles in their pupils.
"Um... y-yes, that's right," Irwan replied.
All pedestrians, male or female, old or young, all vendors, and anyone passing by on the street in front of them immediately greeted them, "Good evening," in unison.
"H-hey... l-look," Riana pointed, trembling.
When they opened their mouths, fangs protruded from both the lower and upper parts of their mouths. They began to walk closer to the four together. The pecel vendor woman, who had been sitting on the sidewalk, stood up and walked across the street with the gado-gado seller, who abandoned his cart. The high school students who had passed them turned around and walked towards them. Seeing everyone advancing towards the building, Irwan, Nadia, Brian, and Riana retreated. "Duk," they pressed back against the door.
"Good evening,"
All of them greeted them again with hoarse voices. Suddenly, all their heads shot towards the four rapidly, while their bodies continued to approach slowly.
"Get in... quick, get in!" Irwan shouted.
"Open... open!" Riana screamed.
"Brak," Brian opened the door and pulled Riana inside. Irwan pushed Nadia inside, and he reached out his hand to pull the doorknob. "Skreeeeek," several heads were very close to the door, led by the old man's head who had greeted them first.
"Close it, Wan!" Brian shouted.
With both hands, Irwan closed the door. "Brak," the door successfully closed, causing Irwan to fall to a sitting position. "Duk... duk... duk," sounds of commotion knocking on the door could be heard. Irwan, sitting on the floor, crawled backward, pulled by Nadia from behind. The four of them remained silent and close to each other because they were truly terrified. Irwan glanced to the side and saw Vincent's room.
"Let's go to Vincent's room, quickly!" Irwan said.
They quickly shifted and opened Vincent's room door. Gasping, they entered and immediately sat on the floor, feeling relieved. After calming down a bit, they looked at the contents of Vincent's room. There was only a bed facing the door in the middle of the room. There were no partitions or furniture other than that bed; everything looked open and empty. The four slowly stood up then walked to the bed. They were surprised to see Vincent lying supine on the bed with both hands on his stomach, his face smiling, looking calm and peaceful.
Brian stepped forward and extended his finger to Vincent's nose. Then he rested his ear on Vincent's chest. After that, he turned to look at Irwan, Nadia, and Riana.
"He... he's dead. He's not breathing, and his heart isn't beating anymore," Brian said.
"Look next to his pillow," Riana pointed.
An empty syringe with an open needle lay right next to Vincent's head pillow. The four of them stepped back, standing next to Vincent's bed, staring at Vincent, who was no longer in this world.