第44話: 砂漠の行軍を経て廃墟でドローンから逃れた子供たち、ハワードの鏡が信吾を救う

44

The children sit stunned by the side of the quicksand pit. Luna and Shingo each blame themselves - Luna for suggesting they go to the mainland, and Shingo because the Orion was his design. Menori, knowing that they would never survive in the desert in the day, forces them all to start walking. They walk by night and rest by day, reaching a forest at the edge of the desert the following night. Chako tries to lighten the mood, but Shingo becomes angry at Menori's hard-line stance and the two get into an argument. As they lie down to sleep, they all recall memories of Howard and Sharla. The next day, the children continue through the forest, soon reaching a ruined city. When they enter the city, they are immediately chased by three drones. Luna and Kaoru act as decoys to allow the rest to escape, but Shingo, still feeling guilty, tries to sacrifice himself to the drones, but Menori saves him, and the two run into a sewer to escape. Shingo tells Menori he's better off dead, but she slaps him and asks him if Sharla or Howard would be happy if he died. A drone attacks them, and when Shingo tries to protect Menori, Howard's mirror - which was in his jacket around Shingo's shoulders - flies out and distracts the drone, causing it to shoot the ceiling above itself, crushing it. The other children hear the commotion, and find Menori and Shingo in the sewer. They decide to continue along the sewer, as Chako realizes it's the most direct route to Survive's buried spaceship, and after a long walk, they find themselves up against the spaceship's outer hull. (Source: Wikipedia)