Red and the Apocalypse Chapter 75 — The Choice (Part 2)
Daichi fell silent.
For several seconds, he stared at the floor, his hands resting loosely on his knees. The story he had just told them was over, but the weight of those memories remained etched into his face.
Across from him, Tokita Ayuto sat motionless.
Kaito had stopped leaning against the wall. Natsuki's arms were folded across his chest, but even he had nothing to say. Raizo stood behind Daichi, his enormous frame casting a shadow over the floor.
Finally, Daichi raised his head.
"That is what happened after Jin took control of the sanctuary."
Nobody responded immediately.
Tokita's gaze remained fixed on him.
"Woah, woah, woah... Wait."
Daichi glanced at him.
Tokita slowly shook his head, as if he were still trying to make sense of everything he had heard.
"Jin shot you in the head?" Tokita asked.
"Yes," Daichi replied.
"And you're telling me you actually died?" Tokita continued.
"That's generally what happens when someone gets shot in the head," Natsuki muttered.
Tokita ignored him.
"No, hold on. That's not what I mean." He pointed at Daichi, his confusion growing. "You were shot in the head. You were dead. So how are you sitting here talking to us right now?"
Kaito leaned forward.
"Actually, that's a fair question," Kaito replied.
"Of course it is," Tokita exclaimed. "How can you hear someone say they were killed and just move on?"
Daichi watched them for a moment before releasing a tired sigh.
"Would you three calm down and let the man finish explaining himself?"
Raizo's deep voice cut through the room.
The others turned toward him.
He looked down at them with a stern expression.
"Mr. Daichi has been telling you what happened to him and his people. The least you can do is let him finish without interrupting him every few minutes."
His eyes narrowed.
"And don't ever interrupt Mr. Daichi in the middle of his story like that again."
He paused.
"Unless you'd like me to kick your asses," Raizo replied.
Natsuki crossed his arms more tightly and gave Raizo a sideways look.
"Yeah? I'd like to see you try," Natsuki replied.
"Natsuki," Kaito warned.
"What? I'm just saying," Natsuki replied.
"You're also proving his point," Kaito replied.
Daichi rubbed his forehead.
"Yes, well, before you all so rudely interrupted me, I was about to explain what happened next."
Tokita lowered his hand.
"Sorry. Please continue," Tokita replied.
Daichi nodded.
"When Jin pulled the trigger, I thought my life was over. But instead of dying, something inside me awakened. My body changed, the bullets passed through me, and the sand around me began to move."
His expression grew serious.
"I didn't understand what was happening. I barely understood what I had become. All I knew was that Jin had taken my sanctuary, my people were in danger, and I couldn't afford to lose control of whatever power had awakened inside me."
He paused before continuing.
"I could have tried to escape from prison. Even after Jin locked me away, I could still feel the sand around me. It was in the walls, beneath the floors, and mixed into the concrete. I suspected I could use it to get out."
"Then why didn't you?" Natsuki asked.
"Because I wasn't the only person Jin had taken prisoner."
Daichi looked directly at him.
"Hiori was still there. Raizo was injured. The residents were under Jin's control, and the children were being held near that thing he kept chained underground. If I had escaped alone, I would have abandoned everyone who depended on me."
He drew a slow breath.
"And I couldn't risk starting a fight without knowing what Jin was doing to the people inside that complex."
His fingers tightened against his knees.
"Over the following days, I heard prisoners being taken away. Some of them never returned. At first, I thought Jin was simply moving them somewhere else. Then I heard the chains."
The room became quieter.
"I began to suspect he was feeding people to the Horde Leader. I didn't have proof, but the disappearances, the sounds from underground, and the way Jin guarded that creature all pointed in the same direction."
Tokita's expression hardened.
"He was sacrificing his own people to keep the infected away from the complex?"
"That's what I believe."
"And all that time, the residents outside thought everything was fine?" Kaito asked.
"Jin made sure the sanctuary continued to function. Food was distributed. Guards maintained order. The lights stayed on. From the outside, it looked as though nothing had changed."
Daichi's mouth tightened.
"But people were disappearing, and nobody was allowed to ask why."
He looked down at his hands.
"Three days into my imprisonment, I discovered something else about my ability. I separated one of my eyes from my body and watched it dissolve into sand. The sand moved through the complex, and I could see through it. I could observe places that were far beyond the walls of my cell, and I could observe my wife's well-being as well as the residents in the apartment complex."
Tokita stared at him again.
"You can see through sand?"
"I'm still learning the limits of my ability. I don't know everything it can do yet."
Daichi raised his gaze.
"But I know enough to understand that Jin hasn't won. He has only put me somewhere he believes I can no longer interfere."
"And you stayed because of the people outside," Kaito said.
"Yes."
Daichi's answer came without hesitation.
"I could have chosen my own freedom. Instead, I chose to remain where I could learn what was happening and wait for an opportunity to help them."
He paused.
"That is the chain Jin put around my neck. Not the prison. Not the guards. The people I refuse to abandon."
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Daichi leaned forward.
"Which brings me to why I asked to speak with you," Daichi replied.
Tokita's expression changed.
He had a feeling he already knew what was coming.
"Mr. Daichi," he said carefully, "what exactly are you asking us to do?" Tokita replied.
Daichi looked him in the eyes.
"I want you to help me take back my sanctuary," Daichi replied.
The words settled over the room.
Natsuki's eyebrows rose.
Kaito remained silent, studying Daichi's face.
Tokita, however, leaned back in his seat.
"Sorry, but no," Tokita replied.
Daichi didn't react immediately.
Tokita continued before anyone else could speak.
"I understand what happened to you. I understand that Jin is doing terrible things to your people. But you're asking us to walk into a dangerous situation without knowing the full extent of his forces, his abilities, or what else he has hidden inside that complex," Tokita replied.
"That's why I need your help," Daichi replied.
"And that's exactly why I'm saying no," Tokita responded.
Tokita's voice remained controlled, but there was a firmness to it that hadn't been there before.
"We have our own objectives. We have people we need to find, and we have somewhere we need to get to. Every day we spend here is another day we're not moving toward our goal. And do you know it costs more than our time? It's costing people their lives somewhere, right now, around the globe," Tokita replied.
He glanced briefly at Kaito and Natsuki.
"I can't just drag my friends into another war because someone needs our help," Tokita responded.
Daichi listened without interrupting.
"I know what I'm asking of you," he said. "And I'm not going to pretend that I can guarantee your safety. I can't. I couldn't even protect the people who trusted me," Daichi replied.
His expression tightened.
"But I can tell you that the people living in that sanctuary are not soldiers. They are ordinary survivors who believed they had found somewhere safe. Families. Children. People who have already lost more than they should have had to lose," Daichi replied.
He looked down for a moment.
"I built that place so they wouldn't have to face the world alone. Now the man I trusted to help protect them is using them to maintain his power," Daichi replied.
Daichi raised his head again.
"I won't ask you to fight for me because I want revenge against Jin. I am asking you to help those people before more of them disappear."
Tokita's jaw tightened.
He knew what it meant to have people depending on someone. He had seen what happened when power became an excuse to decide whose life mattered and whose didn't.
But understanding Daichi's situation didn't make the decision any easier.
"Even if we agree," Tokita said, "we can't just charge in and kill Jin. We don't know how the Horde Leader affects the infected around the complex, and we don't know what happens if that arrangement collapses," Tokita replied.
"Exactly," Daichi replied.
Tokita frowned.
"Exactly?"
"Jin has built his control around more than weapons and soldiers. The Horde Leader is part of that system. If we rush in without understanding it, we could put every resident in danger. That is why I need people who can think before they act," Daichi replied.
Daichi's eyes settled on Tokita.
"And that is why I came to you," Daichi replied.
Tokita looked away.
For a few seconds, the only sound in the room was the faint movement of someone shifting their weight.
Then Kaito spoke.
"Let's help him."
Tokita turned sharply.
"Kaito," Tokita replied.
"What?" Kaito replied.
"You heard what I said," Tokita replied.
"I did." Kaito straightened. "And I understand the risks. But if Daichi is telling the truth, people are being taken from their homes and fed to an infected creature so Jin can keep control of the complex."
His expression hardened.
"Just because we have an objective of grave importance doesn't mean we abandon people who need help along the way. I mean, isn't the whole point of this to help people? I'm not going to pretend that isn't our problem just because we have somewhere else to be," Kaito replied firmly.
Tokita stared at him.
"Kaito, this is the first time I'm seeing you speak as someone older than us. You're right about everything you said, but..." Tokita stopped mid-sentence while thinking about what Kaito just said.
Kaito shrugged.
"You don't have to like it. But that's where I stand," Kaito replied.
Natsuki let out a short breath through his nose.
"Fine. Count me in too."
Tokita turned toward Natsuki.
"You're agreeing just like that?" Tokita asked.
"No. I'm agreeing because I'm sick of people using the apocalypse as an excuse to do whatever they want." Natsuki's eyes narrowed. "First, they get power. Then they decide everyone else has to bow down to them. And if someone refuses, they get hurt. Plus, the main reason I'm in this is for revenge," Natsuki replied with a wicked grin on his face.
Of course that's the main reason, both Kaito and Tokita thought the same thing while looking at Natsuki's face.
Natsuki glanced at Daichi.
"I'm not saying I trust him completely. I don't know him well enough for that. But I know what Jin is doing is wrong," Natsuki replied.
Natsuki looked back at Tokita.
"If we can stop it, then we should," Natsuki replied.
Tokita rubbed a hand over his face.
"Both of you are unbelievable," Tokita replied.
"That's rich coming from you," Kaito replied.
"This isn't funny," Tokita replied.
"I'm not laughing," Kaito responded.
Tokita fell silent.
He looked at Daichi, who hadn't tried to pressure him into changing his mind. The older man simply waited, accepting that the decision belonged to them.
That made it harder.
If Daichi had begged, threatened, or tried to guilt them into helping him, Tokita could have rejected him without another thought. But Daichi wasn't promising glory or pretending that the fight would be easy. He was telling them the truth as he understood it and leaving them to make their own choice.
Tokita knew that kind of decision.
He had made enough of them himself.
He glanced toward Raizo, who stood quietly behind Daichi. The giant man's expression remained stern, but beneath it was something else: the patience of someone who had already spent too long watching the people he cared about suffer.
Tokita looked back at Daichi.
"If we help you, we're doing it on our terms," Tokita replied.
Daichi nodded.
"Of course."
"We need information. We need to know what we're walking into, how many soldiers Jin has, where the Horde Leader is being kept, and what happens to the infected if something goes wrong," Tokita replied.
"Agreed," Daichi replied.
"And if we discover that your plan is going to get innocent people killed, we change it. I don't care how much you want your sanctuary back," Tokita replied.
Daichi held his gaze.
"Neither do I," Daichi replied.
Tokita studied him for another moment.
Then he exhaled.
"Fine," Tokita replied.
Kaito's expression eased slightly.
Natsuki gave a small, satisfied nod.
Tokita raised a hand before either of them could celebrate.
"Don't misunderstand me. I'm not agreeing because I think this is going to be easy. I'm agreeing because I don't want to walk away knowing what might happen to those people if nobody intervenes," Tokita replied.
He leaned forward.
"But we're not doing anything until we understand the situation and get everyone we need on the same page," Tokita replied.
For the first time since the conversation began, Daichi's shoulders seemed to relax.
"That's all I ask," Daichi replied.
"No," Tokita replied. "You asked us to help you reclaim your sanctuary. That's a lot more than all you ask."
A faint smile touched Daichi's face.
"Fair enough."
Raizo stepped forward.
"Then we should prepare. The longer we wait, the more time Jin has to strengthen his position."
"We'll need to meet with the others first," Kaito said.
At that, Daichi nodded.
"Yes. There are people you need to see, and there are things we need to discuss before we can make a proper plan," Daichi replied.
Tokita's expression grew serious again.
"Then that's our next step. We find a way to meet them without drawing unnecessary attention," Tokita replied.
Natsuki pushed himself away from the wall.
"And after that?" Natsuki asked.
Tokita looked toward the door.
"After that, we find out exactly what traps Jin has set in this place," Tokita replied.
Daichi's hand tightened briefly at his side.
"And then we decide how to take it back," Daichi replied.
Daichi rose to his feet. Raizo immediately moved beside him, ready to support him if he needed it, though Daichi seemed determined to stand on his own.
For the first time in days, the older man allowed himself to believe that the situation might change.
He had spent so long watching his sanctuary fall apart that hope had begun to feel like another thing he couldn't afford.
Now, at last, he had people willing to stand beside him.
It wasn't victory. It wasn't even a plan yet.
But it was a beginning.
And for the people still trapped inside the sanctuary, a beginning was more than they had been given in a long time.
End of Chapter 75 — The Choice