A gunshot sound blasts through the long hallways of the school. The science professor just blew his head off, and a great commotion takes over the classroom; the students are hysterical, screaming and bursting out of the place at the face of such horrendous action; most of the girls start crying, and others throw up, what they want the most is to get out of there. A stampede takes form in seconds, full of students trying to flee as fast as possible; no one foresaw this—a teacher taking his life in fro...
Akasha: Guty, let's get out of here!
Guty: I must stay here, wait until everyone gets out so you are not crushed by the crowd.
Just like everybody else, Akasha is in shock; her body is trembling, and tears pour down her face; this scene is not for the faint of heart.
Akasha: Why do you have to stay?
Guty: I have to take care of something…
Once most students leave the room, I tell Akasha to leave and walk her to the door so she may leave calmly. Once she left, I go back to the death scene; I walk over to the professor's corpse lying on the floor, I examine the weapon he used to take his life: a .45 caliber Colt M1911 handgun, single action, semi auto. This particular weapon was the standard issue side arm for the United States Army from 1911 until 1985. Designed by John Moses Browning at the Colt factory before the Second World War, this we...
After some time, a group of teachers accompanied by the school Principal entered the room. Their reaction is quite different from the students': anguished faces, horrified screams, bursts of tears; everyone seems really impressed by the scene.
Guty: Principal… is there something about this teacher that I should know?
Principal: He used to get angry fast, and whenever he disagreed with something, he would wrathfully protest. On many occasions, I sent him to the school's therapist. Thanks to this, his overall humor and stress levels improved drastically. I really don't know when he had this horrendous downfall.
Guty: The school has its own psychologist?
Principal: Of course, it is part of the protocol to have one inside the premises.
Guty: I see… Where can I find them?
Principal: His office is located on the second floor just beside the stairs.
Guty: Thank you, I'll go visit him… hopefully he can provide information about the mental state of the teacher.
Principal: Unfortunately, he's gone already. He usually checks out earlier than the rest of the teachers; if you want to find him, it's best to be here early tomorrow.
Guty: Fine, tomorrow then.
Principal: Classes are over for the day; you may leave if you want to, Agent Guty.
Guty: Thank you, Sir, by the way, I need to check all medical certificates of this class students.
Principal: I will give you my password so you can access the records online.
Guty: Excellent. See you tomorrow then.
While I make my way to the exit, I notice the school bus is gone. I will have to take a taxi home. I hope it's not long before one of them passes by. Despite being 3 pm here, it is cold outside; Japan is a freezing place during the winter for someone from hot weather like me.
A taxi arrives after 15 minutes; I did not wait as long as I thought; right away, I indicate the address to the driver, he acknowledges the place and starts driving. Today was a hard day at school; two people died today; one was a student, and another one was a teacher. The cause of the professor's suicide is still unknown to me. I hope tomorrow I will have answers; a death like this does not happen every day and leaves a lot to think of, while the other death was very alarming. Hacked to pieces with a m...
Cab driver: Sir, we have arrived.
Guty: Thank you. Here you go.
Cab drive: Have a good day.
Guty: Likewise.
I get out of the taxi and walk to my apartment. It is a long way up the stairs, but I have never really cared for it; each step I take resounds thanks to the echo of the building; as I get closer to my apartment door, I look for my keys in my pocket. I can feel my stomach grunting; I am starving; once I have a bite to eat, I will look at the students' medical records; there are 40 of them, so the task ahead is big. I go inside my apartment; I leave my backpack on the couch and sit on it, looking straigh...
Guty: Ah… I needed a rest…
I could not help but stay there for a while. All day, I was running around the school from one point to another, so my feet were a bit sore. I relaxed for a moment on my comfortable sofa. Nonetheless, the growl from my stomach told me I had to go to the kitchen and find something to eat, which left me with a decision to make: stay here for an hour or go and make dinner, a tough choice.
Guty: Hmmm? Has this place always been this quiet?
Now that I think of it, the department is really silent, there is something missing here… What is it? I start to walk around the place looking for anomalies, I gaze upon each corner, but everything is just as I left it in the morning, so far, I am yet to find something out of place. Maybe it is just my head, I am tired and hungry, I might just be paranoid at the moment… it is best if I go eat something.
Guty: A steak would be nice…
After enjoying my fancy meal, I start looking into the medical records, but first, I must wash the dishes; when doing so, I notice something.
Guty: Hmm? Why has the sink stopped dripping?
Last night, I could clearly hear the leak, and I did not use the sink in the morning. Why would it stop all of a sudden? Something is not right. From the moment I arrived, I noticed something odd in the place. Someone might have sneaked inside the apartment while I was gone. I will check the windows right away. I move as fast as I can to the one in my bedroom, but my legs start to fail me. My head starts spinning.
Guty: What the hell…?
I quickly reached for my cell phone and sent a message to my supervisor and start dialing.
Guty: Quickly! I need an ambulance at apartment 4 Akiho Street Sakurada!
Receptionist: Right away! The ambulance is on the way.
Guty: Thank you, miss…
I hang up the phone.
Guty: Dammit! I was poisoned, someone came in while I was gone and tampered with my food.
Despite the venom going through my body, I try to stay calm, but it is not easy when you stop feeling your limbs, and the air grows thin.
Guty: Easy, easy… stay calm and it will all be alright, if the boss does his job well there won't be anyone dying.
Over the minutes, the poison continued to flow through my body; the only thing that I could do was to remain calm and wait for the ambulance. Otherwise, a lot of people could die. At that moment, I could see something near me that looked like a piece of paper; I tried to reach it while I heard the medics open the door.
Medics: There he is!
Without losing a second, they put me on the litter to carry me over to the ambulance; once in it, they administered a general antidote which would try to slow the poison. The siren of the vehicle was loud while it raced through the streets at a very high speed; the paramedics finally deciphered, which is the venom that is inside me.
Paramedic: All symptoms the patient shows derive from a toxin produced by a bacteria called Clostridium botulinum. It is known for developing vegetative alterations and muscle progressive paralysis, which can cause death through asphyxiation and negatively affect the breathing function of the body… just one nanogram is enough to kill a full-grown man…
It was not exactly what I wanted to hear at the moment, but anyway, without anything to do, I tried to elongate the inevitable. At that moment, I realized I was still carrying the piece of paper I found on my apartment floor; now that I am a bit back in my senses, I can look at it with detail only to realize it is a band-aid.
Guty: This is Kintaro's band-aid!
Medics: Please lie down! Or the venom will move faster.
At that very moment a phone call reaches the ambulance paramedics with instructions to get away as much as they can from the city with me inside the vehicle.
Medics: Why do they want us to do that? We must save this man!
Driver: Orders are orders, we must obey.
Medic: Are we just going to let him die?!
The ambulance heads away from the city at full speed. Apparently, my superior had already pulled some strings to minimize the coming disaster. I did not expect any less from him. Now, my life is in the hands of the driver.
In only a matter of minutes, the ambulance reaches the city outskirts and continues to drive away from it; the poison is too strong… I have tried to hold on as long as possible, but I don't think I can stay awake much longer. After a couple of minutes, the ambulance was far enough from the city.
Driver: Let's go!
Says the conductor while he runs as fast as he can from the ambulance.
Medics: We can't just leave him here; what kind of medics are we?!
Guty: Run!
Medic: Please, sir, lie still, you are burning up in fever.
Guty: Run, dammit, run!
Medic: No way in hell. It is my job to attend to you, even if you die.
Guty: Gck…AHHHHH!
To be continued in Part 2...