Nathan Pedde

In the Land of Ice and Ash

TOKYO TEMPEST

CULTURE SHOCK SERIES: BOOK ONE

Dedication

The first draft of this project was written over the course of a NaNoWriMo. I thought to myself, if I were to create a really bad end of society disaster, what would it be. Then I thought, where would be one of the absolute worst places to be during that scenario.

Tokyo Tempest was born.

I dedicate this novel to all those that help me along the way. It is the unnamed individuals that answer a random unusual question. Or help with a plot devise.

I would like to thank my wonderful wife, Grace. She is the cattle prod, the one that inspires and encourages me to keep going. She is the reason I wake up at 5am to write. I would also like to thank my kids, for their enthusiasm and candor.

I would also like to thank Bren MacDonald for being there to bounce weird story ideas with.

And The DRS Podcast community which has also been there in that capacity.

In the immortal words of someone that I don’t remember, stay shinny.

Nathan Pedde

Prologue

La Garita Caldera, San Juan, USA. Approx date: 25 Million BCE

Atana Ignimbrite, Chile. Approx date: 3.8 Million BCE

Yellowstone, Idaho, USA. Approx date: 630 Thousand BCE

Lake Taba, North Sumatra, Indonesia. Approx date: 72 Thousand BCE

Orumana Taupo, North Island, New Zealand. Approx Date: 24 Thousand BCE

Mount Tambora, Sumbawa Island, Indonesia Date: 1815 CE

These Supervolcanoes have erupted before. Each time that they have, their eruptions have changed the Earth’s climate, and not always for the better. Some have created years with no sun, while others have brought on global ices ages.

The Mount Tambora supervolcanic eruption changed the global climate for an entire year. It spewed 120 cubic kilometers of ash and debris into the atmosphere. It turned 1816 CE into the ‘Year Without a Summer.’

The list above is only some of the world’s known supervolcanos and there last major eruption. Those eruptions were 20 to 50 times larger than the Mount Tombaro eruption.

On May 18, 1980, Mount St Helens blew its top. It spewed out one cubic kilometer of ash and debris. The last time that Yellowstone erupted, it sent one thousand cubic kilometers of ash into the atmosphere, and that was a small eruption for Yellowstone.

Scientists claim that many of the supervolcanos of the world are overdue to erupt. They also claim that many of them are not as dormant as one would hope. While they do have a good idea of what will happen when the eruptions occur, there are many disagreements on the exact nature of the eruptions.

Chapter 1

Darren Cunningham leaned against a wall at the luggage turnstile at the Haneda International Airport in Tokyo Japan. He stared at his phone.

For the last year, Darren had been living in Tokyo with his father, Fred. His mother had sent him there when she was diagnosed with cancer. Darren was sixteen years old. He was a tall and thin teenager that more resembled a scarecrow than a person at times. The long, messy hair and baggy clothes didn’t help the image. He wore blue jeans and a simple tee-shirt underneath his bomber jacket.

He didn’t personally like the bomber jacket, and fedora look that he was sporting, but when his school friend Yuki Tanamoro had suggested he buy it, he just couldn’t say no. Not that she was his girlfriend, she was just a friend.

Freddie worked for Yuki’s dad at some corporation that built robots. He was a robotic engineer.

“Everything okay?” A Japanese voice said from beside him.

Darren looked over. Yuki had walked up and was standing beside him. She wore a simple blue skirt, a white button up blouse and matching blue sports jacket. An emblem of some kind was stitched over the right breast of the coat.

Yuki was shorter than Darren but held herself in confidence. She wore little make-up and had short cropped hair.

“Yes.” Darren said in Japanese, “My mom keeps texting me about Anthony.”

“Time difference?” Yuki asked in Japanese.

“Yes.” Darren said, “After a year, she still doesn’t understand that we’re seventeen hours ahead of them.”

“When is your brother going to be here?” Yuki said.

“His flight’s been delayed,” Darren said.

“Again?” Yuki said.

“It will still be a half hour.”

“Didn’t they delay it in Vancouver?” Yuki asked.

“Yes,” Darren said.

Yuki leaned against Darren.

“I’m bored,” Yuki said.

Darren’s phone buzzed, and he looked at the display. A news article flashed across the screen. It was something about the Yellowstone National Park in the United States.

“While this is an unprecedented geological event.” The news anchor on the tiny screen said in English, “It is not unusual. It has happened before. Geologists are urging calm and collected thoughts. Yellowstone while releasing ash is not going to erupt anytime soon. Similar events have happened many times in the last fifteen years.”

Darren turned up the volume of the small TV screen so that he and Yuki could hear it.

The news reporter was in Yellowstone national park with the volcano spitting up ash and smoke in the background. Huge lights lit up the volcano in the darkness of the night. Darren saw a large group of scientists behind him near the volcano. The news reporter was whispering to a man just off of the video screen.

“That’s right, the amount of smoke and ash coming out of the volcano has picked up in the last five minutes.” The news reporter on the tiny screen.

“The scientists here are saying that the volcano is going to let off some ash and smoke for a couple of days and then go back to normal. This is a good sign for the volcano. It means that there is no pressure in the magma chamber and that there is little fear of it erupting. The most problems that we may experience is for those with asthma or other breathing problems in the immediate area.”

The News Reporter leaned out of the camera shot for a moment.

“Sorry about that Bob.” The Reporter said, “Due to the ash, I have been notified that we are being asked to leave here immediately. The area 150 miles around the park is included in the area of evacuations.”

The scene changed back to a man sitting at a desk in a newsroom.

“More will come with this breaking story as it unfolds. Until then, here is a word from our sponsors.” The news anchor said.

The screen changed to an advertisement about a late night talk show.

Darren turned off the phone.

“That’s scary.” Yuki said, “I should probably tell my dad about it. He’ll want to know.”

Yuki pulled out her phone and typed some text out.

Darren and Yuki stood at the luggage turnstile waiting for Anthony’s flight to show up. The Haneda International Airport was spread out around them. The airport terminal was large and spacious. It’s brown tiled floor, and large open spaces gave it a very public feeling. The airport was crowded with hundreds of passengers, but Darren didn’t feel as claustrophobic as he thought that we would.

Most of the passengers were from Asia, with a few from Europe and North America scattered around the terminal for spice. Darren figured that most people were probably Japanese as they were in Japan. It made sense to him, especially after living here for a year.

The massive digital sign on a far wall changed. The part that mentioned Anthony’s flight changed to ‘Arrived.’

A few minutes later, a long line of passengers walked past Darren and Yuki. They all went to wait by the Turnstile. In amongst the passengers was Anthony.

Anthony Cunningham was Darren’s younger brother and was two years his junior. Though Darren wondered at times if there was a conspiracy and he was really much younger than that. Or at least his maturity level said as much. Like Darren, Anthony was scrawny and small for his age. But that was where the similarities between them stopped. Anthony’s hair was always in wild hairdo that resembled a favorite anime character. Darren thought that he looked like a bit of a dork.

Darren gave Anthony a hug and introduced him to Yuki.

“Hi.” Anthony said in English, then turned to Darren, “You didn’t tell me you have a hot Japanese girlfriend.”

“She’s not my girlfriend.” Darren said back to him in English, “She’s a friend. Stop being weird.”

“I think you’re a poor liar.” Anthony said, “Does she have a friend for me?”

Yuki looked at Anthony, with a happy smile on her face.

“I think you need to realize that I speak excellent English,” Yuki said.

Anthony’s face turned deep red.

Darren laughed.

“What color is your luggage?” Darren asked.

“Its the blue one,” Anthony replied.

The luggage turnstile spun before Darren in a long loop. Bags traveled past them, but his brother’s luggage wasn’t in sight.

“Where’s mine?” Anthony asked.

“It’ll be here,” Darren replied.

“Are we at the right place?”

A second later, a blue suitcase turned the same corner.

“Told you,” Darren said.

“Great. Now what?” Anthony said, “Lunch? It’s like what two in the afternoon?”

Darren looked at a big clock on the wall.

“No dude.” Darren replied, “It’s more like seven in the morning. The next day.”

“Dang. breakfast then.”

Darren, Yuki, and Anthony walked through the airport. They grabbed breakfast from a small shop and walked towards the Taxi round-about.

They walked through the airport terminal to the exit. Off to one side was a kiosk with newspapers and a couple TV’s showing the news. On one of the screens was a picture of Yellowstone.

“Hold on,” Darren said.

Darren marched up to the TV screen. Flashing on the screen were reports of the seismic event. A news reporter talked, but the sound was off. Japanese sub-titles flashed on the screen.

Yuki walked up behind him.

“This is a report on that Volcano in America,” Yuki said in Japanese without thinking about it, “Did you want me to read it for Anthony?”

“Yes, please. I can’t translate Japanese text into English as fast as you can.” Darren said in English.

“The reporter is saying that the small tremors that have been persistent for three months and the smoke and ash have stopped,” Yuki said in English.

“Oh good.” Darren said, he walked away from the kiosk, “I was afraid the volcano was going to blow.”

“But its not, right?” Yuki asked.

“Exactly,” Darren said, “To the taxi.”

“Are you like a Wayfinder?” Anthony asked.

Yuki gave Anthony a perplexed look.

“I may speak English quite well, but I don’t speak American,” Yuki said.

Anthony broke out into a fit of laughter. Yuki looked at Darren with a shocked look on her face.

“What’s so funny?” Yuki said in Japanese.

“I’m sorry.” Darren replied in Japanese, “We’re not American, we’re Canadian.”

Yuki looked at the confused look on Anthony’s face.

“He doesn’t speak Japanese does he?” Yuki asked in Japanese.

“Not a word.”

“What did your brother mean by his comment?”

“Right.” Darren said dropping back into English, “My brother is a geek and doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut.”

“What were you two talking about?” Anthony said.

“If you learned Japanese like dad asked you to, you would have understood it. Until then, what I say to pretty girls in their language is none of your business.”

“You were hitting on her then. Right?” Anthony said to Darren.

Darren’s face turned bright red.

“He wasn’t hitting on me.” Yuki said, “But we can go. There’s more to see of Tokyo than just the airport terminal.”

The round-about was filled with taxis of every color. Most of them were yellow, but there were green taxis and even red taxis.

Chapter 2

The trip to the Apartment was uneventful, Darren stared at the signs as he passed them. Some of the words he understood, but others he did not. After about twenty minutes, the taxi pulled up to a ten-story white apartment building.

The apartment building was more modern looking than some of the ones that they passed. The apartment building was covered in white stucco, and it seemed almost like a pile of kids construction blocks stacked in a heap.

Darren paid the driver while Anthony and Yuki retrieved Anthony’s suitcases from the truck. Darren left the cab, and it sped away.

Darren opened the door and walked into the foyer of the building. The entrance was decorated with dark gray marble floors and sand colored tile on the walls. The ceiling was very high, about fifteen feet. A small desk sat to one side with a row elevators off to one side. A security guard sat in the chair behind the counter.

“Hi, Goru.” Darren waved at the security guard.

“Hi Darren, how may I help you?” Goru, the security guard, said in Japanese.

“This is my this is my little brother Anthony,” Darren said in Japanese.

“Ah, another son of Freddy the Gaijin.” Goru said in Japanese, “I was told that you were going to be coming by today.”

“He doesn’t speak Japanese,” Darren said.

“My name is Goro Hayata.” Goru said in English, “If you need anything, please feel free to ring me up and ask.”

Darren, Anthony, and Yuki traveled up the elevator to the seventh floor.

Darren unlocked the door to and walked into the apartment.

The apartment was a two bedroom corner unit. Long walls of clear windows let in daylight that brightened up the apartment.

The two bedrooms were on opposite sides of a great room that was the living room, dining room, and a small kitchen. The kitchen was off to one side. A small table with four chairs sat in the middle of the dining room. The TV was attached to one wall, with a couple sofas facing it.

On the walls and shelves were many small souvenirs from various parts of the world. Darren knew that there was art from Norway, Russia, Africa, and Brazil. In amongst the tokens was a little hand-drawn picture of some crayoned stick figures. Darren recognized the picture as something that he drew when he was tiny. He was surprised that his dad had kept it.

“It’s quite small,” Anthony said, referring to the apartment.

Anthony walked into the kitchen, his shoes still on his feet.

“Dude.” Darren said, “Take off your bloody shoes.”

“Why its just dad’s house,” Anthony said.

“And he’s been living in Japan for six years. He has some Japanese customs now. Take off your shoes.”

Anthony took off his shoes.

“You’re annoying,” Darren said.

“You’re pig-headed,” Anthony said.

“You two fight like brothers,” Yuki said.

“We are brothers.” They both said in unison.

Yuki rolled her eyes and sighed.

“Where do you want to go,” Yuki asked.

“I don’t want to go anywhere.” Anthony said, “I’m tired, and I want to have a nap.”

“Your loss.” Darren said, “Don’t leave the apartment as no one will be able to understand you.”

Darren turned away from the sulking Anthony.

“Shall we go?” Darren asked.

“We have ten hours to spend before dinner with our dads.” Yuki said, “Are you sure your little brother is going to be all right?”

“I’ll be fine. I won’t go anywhere.” Anthony said.

Anthony walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. The fridge was bare of essentials usually found in the refrigerator, but there were things like juice and beer. There were also some random takeout leftovers.

“I guess he eats out a lot.”

“Or at our house.” Yuki said, “He is single and lives with his sixteen year old son. Neither of them know how to cook.”

Anthony opened a cupboard and found bags chips and other snacks. All of the bags were in Japanese.

“The Japanese have some weird flavors.” Darren said, “Like avocado, and plum and beef.”

“A chip is a chip, and at least the bags are small.” Anthony said, “That way if it’s earwax flavor, I don’t have a big bag that’s wasted.”

“Earwax flavor?” Yuki said, “We would never have an ear wax flavor.”

Darren turned and looked at Yuki. She was visibly frustrated.

Darren put a hand on her arm, and she turned to look at him. Darren saw fire in her eyes.

“Yuki.” Darren said in Japanese, “It’s a reference from a stupid children’s book about wizards.”

Yuki’s face lit up.

“Oh…” Yuki said in English, “I am a huff…”

“Don’t start that.” Darren said, “I was forced to sit through the movies. I don’t want to hear about it.”

Darren and Yuki left the apartment. Darren walked down the road with Yuki beside him.

The street was a very narrow two-lane road that was barely wide enough for cars to pass by each other. A line of cars lined one side of the already narrow road making it even more cramped.

“Where did you want to go?” Darren said, “We ditched the younger brother. We have no studying to do at the moment. Where did you want to go?”

“Let’s go downtown.” Yuki said, “Let’s go shopping.”

Darren and Yuki walked for twenty minutes, and she led him into the subway. The subway entrance was housed around a large building that was sandwiched between two lanes of a road. The building was constructed in a white wood siding. Around the building was a series small shops and stores such as coffee shops, corner stores, and other small stores.

Off to one side was the entrance to the Subway. A white sign was hung by the opening with a red circle and a number on it. Darren knew that the sign designated the route number of the train that ran under his own feet.

Darren followed Yuki into the large entrance and through a set of chrome metal turnstiles. Darren used his transit pass to get on the subway. The escalator down to the subway station was steep and long. White tiles were on the walls, with a gray stone tile on the floor. Music played on speakers along the subway tunnel. Darren wasn’t sure who was currently playing, but he knew that it was a J-Pop group.

The subway was packed with people coming and going up and down the escalator. Groups of elementary aged school girls passed Darren going up the escalator. Their chatter was fast and high pitched. Like school-aged girls the world over. A few of them sang along to the songs playing on the speakers.

Darren followed Yuki off of the escalator and down the tunnel. They stepped onto the train, and it left the station behind. Darren and Yuki traveled in silence. Yuki leaned against Darren as they traveled. They both stared at their phones. News articles about Yellowstone flashed on the screens.

“This is our stop,” Yuki said.

Darren and Yuki made their way through the crowd to the doors. The train lurched to a stop, and they got out. Darren and Yuki exited the train.

He hadn’t had time to look at anything or read any of the signs. The crowd was so thick that it took most of Darren’s concentration to keep up with Yuki.

Yuki seemed to weave effortlessly through the crowd. She managed to find and exploit the space between two people and was through and past them before Darren knew it. Darren, however, was the complete opposite. He blundered along behind, using a mixture of waiting impatiently to get through the crowd, and accidentally elbowing his way through the crowd.

When he got to the entrance of the subway, Yuki was waiting by the door. Her blue skirt blew in the wind.

“I thought I had lost you,” Yuki said to Darren as he approached her.

“Almost.” Darren said in Japanese, “I thought I had seen crowds in Vancouver, but this is insane every time I experience it.”

“Just imagine when its a festival,” Yuki said.

“I missed the last one.” Darren said, “You’ll have to take me.”

“Maybe.” Yuki said, “It depends if you behave yourself.”

Darren looked around. Tall skyscrapers crowded out the sky. Bright lights and other signs littered the skyline. The lights and signs were off, but Darren knew that they would be breathtaking at night fully lit.

“Where to now?” Darren said.

Suddenly, a female voice pierced their private conversation.

“Yuki!” The voice said.

Darren turned, and a Japanese girl ran up to Yuki. She wrapped her arms around Yuki and hugged her.

“Sakiko.” Yuki said, “Careful. You almost knocked me over.”

Sakiko released Yuki.

“I know.” Sakiko said, “I was trying.”

Sakiko Hina was a few inches shorter than Yuki. She was dressed in blue jeans and a sweater. Her hair was bright pink. They all went to the same school.

“Hi Darren,” Sakiko said and turned to Yuki, “What are you two doing down here?”

“Exploring the city before exams start,” Yuki said,

“And you are ‘guiding’ him around Tokyo are you?” Sakiko said, “Lucky girl. You get him all to your self.”

“I guess I’ll tell the Katana Club you’re busy this evening?” Sakiko asked Yuki.

“Yeh. I have dinner at eight.”

“Well, the boys wanted to meet at nine-thirty at the dojo.” Sakiko said, “But if you’re busy with your Gaijin, then…”

“Care to have a visitor for your meeting?” Darren asked,

Sakiko looked at Darren and then at Yuki.

“Do you sword fight?” Sakiko asked Darren.

“I’ve done four years of Judo in the past, little rusty on it, but I’ve also dabbled in European sword fighting.”

“European?” Sakiko said, “LARPer?”

“No. Not a LARPer?” Darren said, “I was going to go into matches, but it was too expensive to get the full kit.”

“Just like your dad,” Yuki said.

Sakiko looked at Yuki.

“His dad practices Kendo.” Yuki said, “He is of the three-dan rank.”

“Did you want him to come?” Sakiko asked Yuki.

“Will you let Seiji know that I’ll be there with a guest,” Yuki said.

“Of course.” Sakiko said, then she checked her watch, “Oops. I gotta run. Later.”

Sakiko waved goodbye and disappeared into the crowd.

“Katana Club?” Darren asked, “What do you do? Kendo?”

“No.” Yuki said, “Closer to LARPing. We do skits and just have fun. Some of us try and train Kendo.”

Yuki wrapped her arms around Darren’s and squeezed him tight.

Darren felt the softness of Yuki’s breasts through her shirt. Confused emotions muddled his thoughts.

“As I was saying before your friend found us, where to now?” Darren asked in Japanese.

“Shopping. This way.” Yuki said.

Chapter 3

Darren and Yuki wandered around Downtown Tokyo for hours. They visited many stores looking at things. Yuki only bought a few items, while Darren bought nothing. He had no desire to do so.

Darren looked at his watch. It was close to seven pm.

“When were we meeting up with our dad’s?” Darren asked.

“At eight,” Yuki said.

“Where did the time go?”

“That means that we will have to head back now to make it on time,” Yuki said.

“So then let’s go,” Darren said.

“But there was a manga store that I wanted to show you,” Yuki said.

Yuki grumbled to herself.

“I have an idea.” Yuki said, “Let me text my dad. We’ll just go to the restaurant.”

“My brother?” Darren asked, “How is he going to get there?”

“No idea.” Yuki said, “My dad can figure it out.”

Yuki pulled out her phone from her bra and started to type on it rapidly. After a few moments, she put it back in her bra.

Darren was slightly shocked by Yuki’s photo storage area.

“What? I don’t have any pockets in this,” Yuki said.

“Then where do you keep your money?” Darren asked.

Yuki looked at Darren with a you-got-to-be-kidding-me look.

“Right.” Darren said, “Too much information.”

“Come. Let’s go check out the manga shop.” Yuki said.

Her phone buzzed suddenly.

Yuki pulled out her phone.

“Sweet.” She said, “My dad says that we are meeting up at the restaurant. He wants you to call your brother and have him ready to go.”

“Where are we going for food?”

“An all you can eat sushi place,” Yuki said.

“Sounds good,” Darren said, “I better text Anthony and make sure that he is okay anyway.”

Darren pulled out his phone and opened it up.

A news article flashed on the screen.

The article said, ‘Yellowstone swells as multiple micro-shakes rocks the area. Scientists urge calm, but have issued an evacuation alert to anyone within five hundred miles of the epicenter.’

Darren swiped at the screen and opened his messaging application.

Darren looked at it. There was a couple from Anthony.

“It looks like Anthony had sent a couple of messages.”

“Oh, what did he say?” Yuki asked.

“He got hungry. Didn’t want to order anything. He ate some leftovers in dad’s fridge and is now feeling sick.”

“That idiot.”

Darren typed, “Are you sure? All you can eat sushi?”

“Yes.” Anthony texted, “Not throwing up yet. Just massive stomach cramps. I am going to go to sleep. Tell dad to not to worry. See you later.”

“He is not that sick.” Darren said, “He probably cleaned dad’s out of junk food and is now feeling it.”

“Having siblings must make things fun,” Yuki said.

“Yes.” Darren said, “I keep forgetting that you have none.”

“Not a one.”

Darren followed Yuki down the street back to the mall. It was still full of people shopping. They browsed through the store. Yuki wanted him to buy stuff, but he had no interest in it at the moment.

“I’ll bring my brother here tomorrow.” Darren said, “You can come with.”

“Sounds good.” Yuki said, “We should get to the sushi place.”

The trip from downtown to the restaurant was shorter than the trip to the mall.

Darren thought that Yuki had led them onto a different train route than before, but he wasn’t sure as he had gotten turned around in all of the tunnels.

The train had gone from traveling below ground to above ground at one point.

After a few moments, Darren and Yuki got off the train. The station that they arrived at was farther away from downtown than Darren’s dads were. It was almost double the distance away and in the entirely different direction than his dad’s apartment.

The neighborhood around the station was larger warehouse-style buildings. Darren saw that there was a small strip of shops to one side of the street. The other side of the road was filled with warehouses.

“This is a little out of the way,” Darren said.

“This is their favorite place,” Yuki said.

“I know.” Darren said, “And it is close to work, so they go there all the time for lunches and dinners.”

Darren followed Yuki down the road to the small strip of shops. The shops looked like they were selling car parts and paint. Except in the middle of the rows of stores was a little sushi restaurant. The sign to the restaurant was hand painted with a red background and black lettering. It was called Sushi Sushi. Darren smiled to himself as he read the sign.

Darren and Yuki walked into the sushi restaurant. The restaurant was decorated with an assortment of different types of cats. Cat pictures, figurines, and stuffed animals were all over the restaurant. There were small Chinese style cats next to kitty hello cats. There were cats everywhere.

The hostess, a teenage girl, stood by the front entrance. She wore a set low cut white blouse and a short red skirt. A pair of cat ears sat on her head.

“Hello.” The Hostess said, “Party of two?”

Yuki looked at her. “Is my dad here?”

“Oh. Yuki.” The hostess said, “He’s over in the back booth.”

“Their regular booth?”

“Yes.”

Darren followed Yuki through the store to the back of the mostly empty restaurant. Only a couple people sat at the tables. To Darren, they looked like warehouse workers.

Off to one side was a large sushi bar. The bar was long enough for three sushi chefs to work at the same time. Behind the bar was a single sushi chef, who worked at a breakneck pace.

At the back of the restaurant was a half dozen booths. The booths were semi-enclosed tables that you sat on the floor at. Each had a small shoe rack by the entrance and a coat rack. The booth was enclosed by decorative half walls and curtains over the opening.

Yuki peeked her head into the booth.

“Boo,” Yuki said.

“Yuki!” A deep male Japanese voice said, “Come in. Come in.”

Yuki took off her shoes and opened up the curtain.

Darren took off his shoes, as well as his jacket and his fedora.

Darren’s dad, or Freddi, was in his mid-forties. He had long dark brown hair and a very hawkish nose. The same nose that Anthony had. Darren was lucky in that regard. Freddi was wearing a business suit, a white button-up shirt, and a tie.

Freddi sat on the floor to one side of the table and across the table was Yuki’s dad.

Yuki’s dad or Masaki Tanamoro was also in his mid-forties. He was completely bald, and Darren could see that he shaved his head regularly as he could see the shadow of hair around the edges of his round head. He was also dressed in business attire.

Both men wore happy smiles on their faces. They also had slightly red cheeks from the empty bottle of sake on the table.

“We started without you.” Mr. Tanamoro said to Yuki.

Darren bowed to Mr. Tanamoro.

“Hello, Mr. Tanamoro,” Darren said as he sat next to his dad.

Darren looked down at the closed menu that sat at the end of the table. Darren pointed at it.

“Have you thought of anything for Anthony? I was thinking of ordering something and having it delivered to your apartment, but I ran out of time.”

“No worries.” Freddi said, “I got that covered. We got here twenty minutes ago, and I had them deliver a bunch of sushi to him. We also ordered a large tray of food for us. It should be here soon. I hope you are hungry.”

The food arrived a couple of moments later. Trays and trays of sushi were placed before them.

“Now this is a generous meal.” Darren said, “Thank you, dad.”

“Don’t thank me.” Freddi said, “It is all Masaki’s doing.”

“Thank you Mr. Tanamoro for the meal,” Darren said.

“No worries.” Mr. Tanamoro said, “I would do anything to help my star engineer out.”

Darren loaded his plate up with sushi. He was unsure what some of the different types were, but he didn’t care. After Darren picked up a particular piece, Freddie shift in his chair.

“Um. Son…” Freddie said.

“Don’t tell me what anything is.” Darren said, “If its something that I’ll find repulsive, tell me tomorrow. Tonight I plan on eating a bit of everything.”

Darren ate his fill in silence. He noticed that Yuki ate without saying much either. Freddi and Mr. Tanamoro did most of the talking. And laughing. They told each other stories about each of their kids growing up.

During the dinner, Darren learned some things about Yuki. She hates spiders, and that her mom died when she was young.

Yuki learned stuff about him too. His first words, the name of his favorite stuffed animal, and other equally embarrassing things that he would sooner not have anyone know about.

Yuki’s dad’s cell phone rang.

“Hello, Taikaso,” Mr. Tanamoro said. “Yeh Yeh. What’s going on? You are interrupting an important dinner… The what?…” A panicked look appeared on his face. ”We are not far… Yes, favorite restaurant… Yes, Freddi is with me… A car will be here in five? We’ll be outside.”

“What’s wrong?” Freddie asked.

“Problem. I need your help, my friend.” Mr. Tanamoro said.

Freddi looked over at Darren.

“Go.” Darren said, “I’ll be fine.”

Mr. Tanamoro looked over to Yuki.

“Are you planning on going home or…”

“Dad.” She said, “I was planning on hanging with Darren tonight.”

“That’s my girl,” Mr. Tanamoro said.

Mr. Tanamoro put a bunch of money on the table.

“Finish your meal,” Mr. Tanamoro said, “That should pay for it and a bit extra. It is Sunday night. Take him to a movie or something.”

Freddi and Mr. Tanamoro both left in a hurry.

“Its funny how normal that is,” Darren asked after a moment.

“The hurried departure or the obvious date set up for us?” Yuki said.

“Umm…” Darren said, “I… umm…”

Yuki broke out into laughter.

“They’re trying to set us up,” Yuki said.

“Does it bother you?” Darren asked.

“Not really.” Yuki said, “Japanese culture is that the men work long hours to support the family.”

“I meant the other part,” Darren said.

“What?” Yuki said, “You don’t want to be set up with me?”

Darren blushed again.

“Umm…” Darren stammered, “Umm…”

Yuki leaned over the table and kissed Darren on the cheek.

“I like you.” Yuki said, “I don’t know why, but I do like you.”

“I umm…” Darren said.

“Cat caught your tongue?” Yuki asked.

“Kinda.” Darren said, “I’m not sure what to do or say…”

“I understand.” Yuki said, “Things are changing very fast for you. I have patience. I can wait if I need to.”

Darren finished the last of the sushi. Yuki was done eating too.

“That was very good.” Darren said, “Way better than anything I have ever had back in Canada.”

“I bet.” Yuki said, “There’s even better food at other restaurants too.”

“So your dad wants us to go out to a movie.” Darren said, “Was there another movie you want to go see?”

“Not really.” Yuki said, “I want to go do Karaoke.”

“Oh dear lord.” Darren said, “I can’t sing very well.”

“That’s nice.” Yuki said, “I can. Let’s go.”

Yuki used most of the money her dad had left to pay for the meal and they left the restaurant.

“Wait.” Darren said, “Aren’t we going to that Katana Club Meeting?”

“That’s what they’re doing tonight,” Yuki said.

Chapter 4

Darren and Yuki walked down the street. The lights of the city glowed in the distance. In all of the confusion of what was going on with his mom and his ex-girlfriend, he felt happy.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. A news article flashed on the screen. In big red letters, it said, ‘Emergency. Read this article.’

Darren clicked on the link and then stopped walking. The karaoke with the Katana club was forgotten.

Displayed on the phone was a live news report from a news agency in the United States. Darren turned the volume up.

A view of a female reporter at an airport. A large sign was displaying a long list of flights. After each flight was the red letters that said, “Canceled.”

“Reports are coming in that flights in and out of most airports in the continental US have been canceled due to ash,” The reporter said, “as well as parts of Mexico and Canada. Please stay away from the airports.”

The screen changed to show a shot of a stock photo of a male reporter, with a sub-title that said, “Audio Only.”

“Can you hear me? The noise was deafening.” The off-screen reported said, “The smoke and ash exploded from the Caldara, and I am worried about the people left at the scene. This is devastating. We are being told by the national guard to get out and leave, but there…” The phone cut out.

A news reporter came on the screen, “For those that are just tuning in, I will recap what we know so far. Twenty minutes ago, in the Yellowstone national park, the volcano has erupted. A hundred square miles around the park is inaccessible due to the falling ash, and there is ash falling up to a thousand miles away. This is bad people. If you are in the following states, you are to evacuate immediately. Do not stay home. Get out now before it is too late.”

Yuki pulled out her phone from her bra as Darren muted his. She fiddled with her phone and then a couple of moments later, the screen changed to a female Japanese news reporter.

“…Caldera has erupted.” The reporter said in Japanese, “Government officials have reported that while the eruption has happened in the United States, people will need to prepare for ash to fall on the islands. They say that anyone with respiratory problems needs to stay inside or get to an emergency facility. If any ash is to fall on Japan, it will be in light quantities and in sixteen hours…”

Yuki put the phone away.

“Is that what I think that it is?” Yuki asked.

“It is bad,” Darren said.

“How bad.” Yuki said, “My English is not as good as I thought.”

“Do you know what…” Darren said, “I’m looking for the Japanese word for a mountain that spits fire. Like Mount Fuji.”

“Volcano,” Yuki said the Japanese word.

“Right.” Darren said, “Do you know where Yellowstone National Park is?”

“Kinda.” Yuki said, “It’s in America somewhere.”

“Well, the entire park is a giant volcano. It makes Mount Fuji look like a pimple.”

“And that means?” Yuki asked.

“If the news report was correct, then things are going to get worse.”

“How bad?” Yuki said, “Tsunami? Earthquake?”

To Darren, it looked like Yuki had tensed up. He could almost taste the fear in her.

“Maybe, I don’t know.” Darren said, “I’m not an expert. I only know what I’ve read online. I don’t think a volcanic eruption can trigger earthquakes and tsunamis. And if they do, I don’t think they will affect us here. ”

“So what do we do?”

“Not sure. I don’t think the ash will get to us over here.” Darren said.

“What do we do?” Yuki asked.

Yuki held onto his arm while Darren looked into her eyes. A look of sheer panic showed in her eyes. She closed her eyes after a few moments and took deep breaths.

“I survived the Tohoku tsunami.” Yuki said, “My family was in the area. We climbed onto a roof and watched the water swirl around us. A helicopter had to come a day later to pick us up.”

Darren held her shoulders and looked into her eyes.

“I promise you Yuki, that no matter what happens, I will keep you safe,” Darren said.

Yuki and Darren looked into each other eyes for a few minutes. Yuki lowered her eyes and blushed.

“Thank you.” Yuki said, “I appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome,” Darren said.

“We should go catch that train.” Yuki said, “Its getting cold out, and we need to get to your brother. He might be freaking out right now.”

“We will take a cab.” Yuki said, “It is faster.”

Darren started to take off his jacket.

“I am not cold yet, silly,” Yuki said.

Darren looked down at her open sports jacket and her white blouse. Yuki’s nipples showed through her shirt.

“Still.” Darren said as he took off his bomber jacket and put it on her shoulders, “I have this hoody, and you just have that thin jacket.”

“Thank you,” Yuki said.

Yuki called a cab, and they rode down the streets towards the apartment. Darren was afraid of what the bill was going to be.

Darren pulled out his phone and sent a couple of texts out about the news. He sent one to his mom and his sister. He wanted to make sure that they were okay.

“Sorry,” Darren said, “I sent some text messages to my family back home. I need to know that they are safe.”

Yuki’s phone rang.

She picked it up.

“Hi, dad.” Yuki said, “What’s going on?” Yuki paused, and stood at the bottom of the steps, “We are in a cab on the way to Freddi’s apartment… We saw the news on my phone and Darren explained it to me… Yes, dad higher ground… Earthquakes? Is that normal? No, dad, I don’t remember that from high school… Yes, dad… We will go back to the apartment and make sure that Anthony is safe. Do you want us to go to our shelter? You sure? Bye, dad. See you later.”

“What’s happening?” Darren asked.

Yuki leaned in so that her head was right beside Darren. She spoke in a quiet, hushed tone right next to his ear. To Darren, it was evident that she didn’t want the cab driver to hear the conversation.

“My dad says there have been a couple earthquakes. Major ones just hit America.”

“Where?”

“New Madrid and San Andraois.” Yuki said, “I am not sure where those are.”

“I know the San Andraois one. Its pushing California into the sea.”

“Isn’t there a bad movie about that?”

“Yes, there is.”

“Where’s New Madrid?”

“I’m not sure.” Darren said, “My gut says that we should prepare somehow.”

“My dad has a storage bin on Omotesando Hills.” Yuki said, “Its filled with things that we can use.”

“Are we going to go meet them there then?”

“No.” Yuki said, “He thinks that its premature. Something about the apartment being good for an earthquake if one comes.”

“What about Tsunamis?”

“He isn’t worried,” Yuki said.

Darren looked at Yuki. She seemed calmer now. Like the act of calling her dad calmed her nerves down.

“So you’re preppers?” Darren said.

“Preppers? I don’t understand.”

“Preppers is a North American term for people who plan for the end of the world.”

“Zombies?” Yuki asked, “Those people that prepare for Zombies?”

“Kinda.”

“Aren’t they all crazy?”

“Some of them are.”

“Are you a Prepper?” Yuki asked.

“No,” Darren said, “I have an uncle who’s a big one. He says that if anything happens that we can head out to his house.”

“Its a little far now though.”

“Way too far,” Darren said.

“Aren’t you scared?” Yuki asked.

“I am.” Darren said, “But its abstract. Its not here yet. It isn’t going to hurt us five thousand miles away.”

“But what if it does?”

“That’s why we’re going to go get Anthony, and we’re going to go to a safe place.”

“You are humoring me,” Yuki said.

“Yes I am, but if your fears are correct, then we are safer.”

“And if it turns out to be nothing?”

“Then we have a funny story to tell,” Darren said.

The taxi bounced along the road in the darkness. The lights of the metropolis of Tokyo spread out before them. Darren found himself staring at the lights in the distance.

“Beautiful isn’t it?” Yuki said.

“It is serene,” Darren said.

Yuki leaned in and rested her head on his shoulder.

“You’re comfy,” Yuki said.

Darren wrapped his arm around her. Yuki grabbed hold of it and held on tight.

“Is it bad that I have a bad feeling,” Yuki said.

“What type of feeling?” Darren said.

“I don’t know how to describe it, but years ago with that tsunami, I wanted to go driving into the mountains that day. Something wanted to make me go.”

“I think I understand.”

“Do you really?” Yuki asked.

“I think so.” Darren said, “Its a feeling of unease. You don’t know what causes it, but something is making you feel off. You can sometimes drown the feeling with food or drink, but if its important, it stays.”

“That’s it.” Yuki said, “I’ve been having that feeling for a couple weeks now.”

Yuki’s phone rang again.

“Hello.” Yuki said, “Hi Sakiko… No, I can’t make it tonight… Just… No, I am not… Well maybe… Look, I can’t make it cause I must do something for my dad… Yes, I know that he’s paranoid… I’ll call you tomorrow… Get your mind out of the gutter.”

“Who was that?” Darren asked.

“That was just Sakiko,” Yuki said.

“Weren’t we going to the Katana club?” Darren said,

“That’s what she called about.” Yuki said, “But I said no.”

“Yellowstone?” Darren asked.

“Yes.”

The trip to the apartment was uneventful. The taxi pulled up to the front of the condo, and Yuki paid the bill.

“Let’s go get your brother,” Yuki said.

Chapter 5

Goru, the security guard, sat at his desk. He looked bored as he stared at a computer monitor.

Darren walked through the lobby to the security guard.

“Hi, Darren.” Goro, the security guard, said, “How are you this evening?”

“Good.” Darren said, “And you?”

“Good good. Some food arrived for your brother, but no one answered the bell.” Goro said, “Did you want to take it up with you?”

“Sure,” Darren said.

Darren picked up the paper bag full of food. Darren followed Yuki into the elevator.

“That’s weird.” Darren said, “My brother is usually all over free food. Especially sushi.”

“Maybe he’s sicker than we thought,” Yuki said.

“Maybe,” Darren said.

Worry crept into Darren’s mind. Darren was worried that something terrible had happened to Anthony.

Darren and Yuki walked out of the elevator and stopped outside the apartment. Darren grabbed hold of the door handle. It was unlocked.

“That’s weird,” Darren said.

He entered the apartment quickly.

The apartment was empty. Darren walked from room to room, looking for Anthony. No one was there. On the coffee table and dining room table were empty bags of chips. The two suite cases were where they were left, and both were completely untouched. Anthony’s backpack was gone.

“That stupid kid.” Darren said, “I shouldn’t have let him stay home.”

Yuki pulled out her phone and began to type a text message into it.

“I’m texting my dad to get him to call,” Yuki said.

“That’s a good idea,” Darren said.

Darren paced around the apartment, and he looked in the little areas that someone could hide if they wanted to prank someone. Darren looked in the closets, in all of the cabinets, and he even looked under the bed.

Yuki sat on the couch. She had her shoes off and was relaxing.

“Will you take your shoes off and relax,” Yuki said.

“But…”

“Yes, your brother has left.” Yuki said, “He’s a thirteen-year-old caucasian boy wandering around the streets of Tokyo. He will be stopped by the police and taken to a precinct. Your dad’s contact information is in his bag right?”

“Yes,” Darren said, “But he doesn’t speak the language, he’s going to be so scared.”

“Someone there will.” Yuki said, “The police will call your dad, and then he’ll go down to get him. It’ll be fine.”

Darren slumped down onto the couch next to Yuki, his shoes sat by the front door.

“First the volcano and now this,” Darren said.

Yuki’s phone beeped, and she looked at the screen.

“My dad is asking if we’ve tried calling Anthony’s cell phone,” Yuki said.

Darren pulled out his phone and punched Anthony’s name on the contact list.

The phone started to ring. After a couple of rings, the phone cut out to an answering machine.

“Call me,” Darren said into the machine, then he hung up.

“I sent our dads a text.” Yuki said, “This is ridiculous.”

“That stupid kid.” Darren said, “I wonder if the front desk’s number is written by the phone.”

Darren got up and looked at the house phone. Taped to the receiver was a number taped to it.

Darren picked up the phone and dialed the front desk.

“Front desk.” Goro said, “How can I help you?”

“This is Darren, Freddie’s son,” Darren said.

“Yes.” Goro said, “How may I help you?”

“Has my younger brother passed by this evening?” Darren asked.

“Not that I’m aware,” Goro said, “But its possible he could have snuck past me.”

“Is there a way you can review camera footage or something?” Darren asked, “He’s thirteen, doesn’t speak the language and isn’t here.”

“No.” Goro said, “There are only a couple cameras, and I don’t have access to them. This is Japan after all.”

“What does that have to do with it?”

“Your dad and I have had long conversations about the lack of technology in this country.” Goro said, “Even though the popular anime’s tell the world differently.”

“Right.” Darren said, “If you remember anything about my kid brother, please let me know.”

Darren hung up the phone and walked back to the couch.

Yuki looked up at Darren.

“He doesn’t know,” Darren said.

“My dad has texted me back,” Yuki said.

“What does he say?”

“He says to sit tight, get our go bags ready just in case. And to relax. He has sent out a picture of Anthony to a couple of friends who will go out to look for him.”

“Great,” Darren said.

Darren collapsed onto the couch.

“Patience.” Yuki said, “My dad knows what he’s doing.”

“I know,” Darren said.

“Let’s order some pay-per-view on your dad’s cable.” Yuki said, “Watch a movie.”

“You sure.” Darren said, “I feel like we should be doing something.”

Yuki turned on the TV and flipped over to a news channel.

“The word coming from the Japanese government is that its not any time to panic about the Yellowstone incident.” The news reporter said, “There will be effects, and the fallout from the disaster will be widely felt. But for now, unless your building isn’t fitted for earthquakes, there is no need to leave your homes. For those that live in older homes, please stay with relatives that do, or go to your nearest shelter.”

Yuki muted the TV and put down the remote.

“I’m sorry for panicking,” Yuki said.

Darren leaned in.

“It’s okay. We’re all scared of something. I would have reacted the same way.”

Yuki leaned in and kissed him on the lips.

Panic flooded his brain. He was suddenly less confident in his actions. He didn’t know what to do. Was he supposed to hold her.

Yuki pulled away.

“Thank you.” Yuki said, “What movie would you like to watch?”

Yuki turned on a movie, and she snuggled into him on the couch.

The movie was a silly anime about a boy and his dog. Darren didn’t pay too much attention to it. He was more concerned with the fact that his brother was still missing. Darren was in a foreign country, his brother was missing, and he was sitting around doing nothing. He was lounging on a couch with a gorgeous girl.

After about half the movie had passed, Darren realized that Yuki had fallen asleep leaning on him. He felt her breast on his arm as she slept. Darren looked down at her sleeping body. He could see down the front of her blouse and could see the ample shape of her breasts underneath the cloth.

Darren was tempted to touch them. His teenage hormones flared. He reached over to them. He moved slowly as he was very nervous.

Suddenly Yuki shifted and slumped in closer to Darren making her breasts out of easy reach of Darren’s grabby hands. Darren shrugged his shoulders and continued to watch the movie.

After a couple more minutes of watching the movie, Darren’s head slumped against the couch’s back and he fell asleep.

Darren woke up with a creak in his neck.

“So yesterday wasn’t a dream,” Darren said in English.

“It isn’t tomorrow yet,” Yuki said.

Darren blinked in surprise. Laying her head on his lap was Yuki. She stared up at Darren.

The movie that they had been watching was on the main menu screen.

Yuki poked her finger at his crotch. Darren realized that Yuki had fallen to rest her head on his lap sometime when they were sleeping. During the time Yuki had slept there, his little friend had other ideas. His pants felt tight.

“I see that the other part of you is awake,” Yuki said.

She giggled at her joke.

“I am so sorry,” Darren said.

“Shh…” Yuki said.

She undid his pants button and fiddled around with his boxer shorts. Pleasant sensations ran up his body as he felt his cheeks turn red.

“What are you…”

Darren didn’t get anything else out as he felt perfect for a moment.

Yuki nearly choked and then swallowed.

“Yuck.” Yuki said, “That didn’t go as I had planned.”

“Sorry.” Darren said, “I didn’t mean…”

Yuki put her fingers to his lips.

“Shh…” Yuki said, “I wanted to see what doing that was like.”

“I’ve never had that happen to me before,” Darren said.

“I like you.” Yuki said, “I don’t know why I do, but I do.”

“I like you too,” Darren said.

Yuki curled up beside Darren, and she placed her head on his shoulder.

She picked up her phone and looked at the screen for a moment.

“No word from my dad.” Yuki said, “What about you?”

Darren looked at his.

“Nothing.”

Darren looked over at the side table. On it was Anthony’s small tablet computer. He swiped it open and looked at all the applications on the screen.

“Maybe there’s a clue on here,” Darren said.

Darren looked at the options on the tablet as Yuki played with his crotch.

After a couple of minutes, Darren put the phone down.

“There’s nothing useful in here,” Darren said.

Yuki put her head on his lap and grabbed the phone.

Darren shifted uncomfortably.

“Let me look at this,” Yuki said.

Yuki shifted through the items on the screen. After a few minutes, she moved her weight.

“I think I found something,” Yuki said.

She handed him the phone.

On the phone was a website of a picture of a young looking Japanese actress. The actress was dressed in a short revealing skirt and a loose fitting shirt. She was wearing pigtails.

“Who is that?” Darren asked, his hand unconsciously moved up Yuki’s thigh.

“That is Aiki Hayata.” Yuki said, “She’s an English speaking Metuber. According to this website, there was a signing not too far from here. Its also happening tomorrow.”

“So in the morning, we can go check it out.”

“Yup,” Yuki said.

Yuki lifted her skirt up to rest on her stomach. Darren looked down and saw that she wasn’t wearing any panties.

“Do you like?” Yuki asked.

“Yes,” Darren said.

“Would you like to return the favor,” Yuki asked.

Darren turned a few shades of deep red as he nervously got off the couch. Yuki scooted up the sofa to make herself more comfortable. Darren laid down on the couch with his head between her legs. Yuki moaned in pleasure.

After about ten minutes, Yuki pushed him off of her. In her hand was an opened condom. She placed it on him and then sat on his lap.

The couch creaked as they rocked in unison. Pleasure spread over his body as he felt Yuki’s firm breasts against his body. Yuki threw her head back in pleasure. She undid the buttons of her blouse and flapped it open. Darren stared at the firm breasts in her white bra. Darren ran his fingers up the sides of her stomach to her breasts. He cupped his hands around them and felt the silkiness of them.

Then suddenly, the world began to shake and rumble. Nicknacks and other pictures fell off the wall and onto the floor.

“Oh shit.” Darren said, “Earthquake.”

Darren grabbed Yuki and pulled her close to him. He rolled off the couch and onto the hardwood floor next to the sofa. Yuki screamed and grabbed hold of Darren tight.

Chapter 6

Darren saw that Yuki’s eyes were closed as she clung to Darren for dear life. Lights flickered as the ground continued to shake. Loud bangs and large creaks erupted from different parts of the building.

After twenty minutes, the ground stopped shaking. Debris settled down into a dull silence. Sirens echoed from outside of the apartment building.

“Oh shit,” Yuki said.

“Are you okay,” Darren said.

He didn’t let go of her.

“Yes,” Yuki said.

Yuki opened her eyes.

“We need to leave.” She said fear rocked her eyes.

Darren could tell that she was panicking inside.

“Tsunami.” Yuki said, “Tsunami.”

“I know.” Darren said, “If a tsunami were to hit Tokyo, is this apartment building high enough?”

“Maybe.” Yuki said, “We need to get to the storage unit. What time is it?”

Darren looked at a clock.

“It’s two in the morning,” Darren said.

Yuki looked down at Darren’s crotch.

Darren looked at the condom that hung off of him.

“I better get rid of that,” Darren said.

More sirens blared out in the distance from the outside.

Darren cleaned himself up and returned to find Yuki going through a couple of plastic bins. Her blouse was still unbuttoned.

“What are those?” Darren asked referring to the bins.

“Most families have stored emergency rations.” Yuki said, “The government wants us to shelter in place in the event of a disaster.”

“But we’re not.” Darren said, “Are we?”

“No.” Yuki said, “We did that six years ago, and my mom died. I’m leaving. Are you coming?”

“Of course.”

“Good.” Yuki said, “Fill your bag with as much as this stuff as you can.”

Yuki handed him his backpack.

They filled them with food and water. Darren grabbed a couple of changes of clothes and stuffed them in the bag as well. After five more minutes, they were done packing the bags.

Suddenly, Darren’s dad’s phone rang. Darren jumped.

He walked over to the phone and picked it up.

“This is the front desk.” Goro said over the phone, “Is everything all right?”

“Yes.” Darren said, “No injuries to report.”

“Good,” Goro said, “Shelter in place. Help will arrive soon.”

Darren hung up the phone.

“Who was that?”

“Front desk.”

“What does he want?”

“He wants us to shelter in place.”

“Not going to happen,” Yuki said.

Darren looked at Yuki. He saw the raw panic in her eyes. He crouched next to Yuki and wrapped his arms around her.

At first, she tensed up, and her emotions ran high.

“It’s going to be all right,” Darren said.

Yuki wrapped her arms around Darren and started to cry. Tears rolled down her face as she held onto Darren.

“Its going to be all right.” Darren kept saying.

After Yuki had cried for a few minutes, she still cuddled in his arms. Yuki looked up at him. Darren looked at her and kissed her firmly on the lips.

“Thank you for being understanding.” Yuki said, “Not many people put up with my paranoia.”

“I understand. I’ll always be here for you.” Darren said.

“Thank you anyways,” Yuki said.

She paused and blushed.

“Am I your first?” Yuki asked.

Darren blushed as well.

“Yes.” Darren said, “Did it show?”

“I’m not sure.” Yuki said, “You are mine.”

“But…” Darren said, “How did you know what to do? That was very sexy.”

“I watched a lot of porn,” Yuki said.

Darren blushed higher.

“That’s surprising,” Darren said.

Yuki shrugged.

Yuki’s phone rang. The noise split the night like thunder on a bright day.

“Shit.” Darren said, “That scared me.”

Yuki grabbed her phone.

“It’s Sakiko.” Yuki said, “I was hoping for my dad.”

Yuki answered the phone.

“Hi, Sakiko.” Yuki said, “Did you feel that earthquake?”

Darren heard crying coming from the phone.

“Calm down…” Yuki said, “I can’t understand you when you talk like that… What? Now I understood you. I am close to you. We’ll be there soon.”

Yuki hung up her phone.

“Sakiko’s house has collapsed.” Yuki said, “She’s stuck inside it.”

Darren threw on his bomber jacket, his fedora, and his shoes.

“Are the bags packed?” Darren asked.

“Yes,” Yuki said.

Yuki buttoned up her shirt and put on her panties.

“Let’s go pull your friend out of the rubble,” Darren said.

Yuki threw a couple more items into the bags and threw one at Darren. As she put a jacket on and her shoes, Darren noticed a Katana on the wall.

“Its tempting to take that.” Darren said, “What happens if we run into any thugs?”

“You can, but if a cop sees you with it, you’ll get arrested,” Yuki said.

Locking the door behind him, Darren left the apartment. Yuki grabbed his hand as they walked down the hallway.

Darren went towards the elevator, but Yuki pulled him away.

“Not the elevator.” Yuki said, “The stairs.”

“Right.” Darren said, “I remember that from all of the fire drills as a kid.

They ran down the stairs towards the lobby. The stairwell was very utilitarian. Concrete floors and painted white concrete walls. The glamour of the rest of the building didn’t reach the stairs.

Darren opened a massive steel door when he got to the bottom of the stairs.

Goro, the Security Guard, sat at his desk on the phone. A stressed look was plastered across his face. Suddenly, the lights went out enveloping the lobby in sticky darkness.

For a few seconds, Darren looked at the darkened ceiling. He worried about his brother and his father for a few seconds. Then the emergency lights came back on.

“You can’t leave!” Goro shouted, still on the phone.

Darren and Yuki marched out the door hand in hand. He ignored Goro’s pleas.

Darren and Yuki left the apartment and stepped outside. The night had brought a slight chill in the air. Not so much that he would be able to see his breath, but enough that he noticed it on his face.

The beautiful glow from the immense city hours before was now gone. A few patches of flickering was all that was seen in the darkness. In the cloudless night sky was a sea of stars so vast that it took Darren’s breath away.

“Look up Yuki,” Darren said.

Yuki looked up and gasped. The night sky was filled with a thin line of stars.

“Wow.” She said, “That is beautiful.”

Darren and Yuki stood holding hands and looking up at the stars.

“We better get going before Goro drags us back in,” Yuki said.

“Care to do some jogging?”

Yuki and Darren jogged down the street. Sirens blared in the darkness. As they ran, they could hear screaming and shouts coming from the night. They turned a corner, and they saw house after house that had collapsed. Rescuers scoured the wreckage of the homes. Lights from helmets and flashlights poked into the rubble.

“This is bad.” Yuki said, “Did that earthquake feel long to you?”

“I’ve never been in an earthquake before.” Darren shrugged, “I have nothing to compare it to.”

The street started to shake, parked cars vibrated from their parking spots.

“Aftershock,” Yuki yelled.

Darren grabbed hold of Yuki as he lost balance and collapsed onto the sidewalk. He pulled Yuki down to land on top of him. Darren held onto her as the shaking continued. He watched an emergency vehicle lose control and slam into a parked car at high speed. Metal crunched and groaned it flipped onto its side.

A loud crash erupted behind Darren. The apartment building next to Freddie’s was leaning onto one side. It was threatening to collapse under its own weight. Then the building toppled and landed on the house beside it. Dust exploded from the collapsing wreckage as it spat towards Darren.

Darren covered his mouth with his shirt as he held Yuki tight. After ten minutes, the earth stopped shaking.

“Oh shit,” Darren said in English.

Darren stood up and helped Yuki up.

“Are you okay?” Darren asked.

“Yes.” She said.

Yuki pulled out her phone.

“I still have service.” She said, “We should call our dads. I can do it while we walk.”

They walked down the dust filled street, Darren’s shoes crunched on the dirt as it settled. Yuki punched buttons on her phone.

“No one is answering.” Yuki said, “I even called the office number. Nothing.”

“Leave a message,” Darren said.

“It didn’t go to voicemail,” Yuki said.

Yuki handed Darren the phone. The phone made a clicking noise.

“No connection.” Darren said, “Either the lines are down, or worse.”

“Shit.” Yuki said, “What do we do?”

Yuki’s phone rang.

“Hi, Sakiko?” Yuki said, “Are you okay?”

Darren heard sobbing from the phone.

“Good,” Yuki said, “Can you get out?”

Darren heard more sobbing from the phone.

“Sakiko…” Yuki said, “I need you to calm down. We are almost there… Yes… Can you see an exit… Your phone has a light on it… Yes, I will stay on the line…”

Darren and Yuki turned a corner headed up a small side street. Most of the houses on the street had suffered some sort of damage. Most of the homes had collapsed in some way.

People were pouring over the wreckage of the homes. Flashlights and shouts broke the silence of the night. But these weren’t rescuers. They were neighbors, friends, and family. Darren saw more than one person sitting on the side with tears pouring down their face.

Yuki led Darren past the houses towards the end of the street. No rescuers were on this side of the road. They were all working at the other end still.

Yuki stopped at a collapsed house at the end of the street. The left side of the house was still standing, but the entire right side had collapsed into a giant pile of rubble.

“I am here Sakiko.” Yuki said, “Where were you?”

Sakiko told her.

“Okay. I will head to that area and shine a flashlight into the wreckage.”

Chapter 7

Darren pulled a flashlight out of his bag. He aimed it into the wreckage. Boards and pieces of the house were twisted each way. After ten minutes, Darren saw a flash.

“I think I see her,” Darren said.

“Hey.” A voice called out from inside the wreckage.

“Sakiko.” Darren said, “Is that you?”

Yuki was still on the phone with her.

“Okay, we see you. I am going to hang up with you now.” Yuki said, “We will get you out soon.”

Darren looked at the pieces of wreckage. The entire side of the house had collapsed, but the falling roof and walls had created a safe space where Sakiko was huddled. But the area shrunk to just six inches by six inches at the exterior of the house.

“That’s not enough for her to get through, but it looks like the boards go straight down to her and there is some plywood on top. It looks like we can risk lifting this up and nothing will fall on her.” Darren said.

“How do we move it?” Yuki said.

“Keep your light on her.” Darren said, he turned to Sakiko, “Shine your light around you and see if there’s anywhere else you can go.”

“I’m scared,” Sakiko yelled from the wreckage.

“I know.” Darren said, “I am too. But please, shine your light.”

Sakiko shined her light on the different areas.

“I think I can go up,” Sakiko yelled.

“Which way does it go?”

“Up and to the right,” Sakiko yelled.

Darren looked and saw her light appear twenty feet away. It showed between two pieces of wood at about his head height.

“Try it,” Darren said, “I’ll shine my light in over there.”

Darren walked around the rubble to where he saw the light shine in.

“Can you see my light?” Darren yelled.

“Yes,” Sakiko yelled.

Darren heard crunches from inside the house. As well as swearing and curses.

Darren looked over at Yuki.

“That gap isn’t big enough either,” Yuki said, being as quiet as she could.

“I know.” Darren said, “But I’m giving her hope. There’s no way we can move most of this rubble. Its too wrenched in.”

After a couple minutes, Darren saw a hand stick out from the gap. Darren grabbed it and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

“I can’t get any farther,” Sakiko said from the other side of the gap.

“Use your light.” Darren said, “Can you see any other way?”

“No,” Sakiko said.

Darren turned to Yuki.

“Shine your light at those large openings in the rubble,” Darren said.

Yuki nodded and did so. Darren aimed his light at a couple openings as well.

“Can you see those?” Darren said.

“Yes. I can see the one to your left.” Sakiko said, “But I can’t get at it. There’s a lot of wood in the way, and it looks like more is stacked on top of it.”

Darren aimed his light at the wreckage that separated him and Sakiko.

“How much room do you need?” Darren asked.

“I need another foot to get out.” Sakiko said, “Its literally a piece of support wood and the stupid siding that is in my way.”

Darren looked at the pieces again. He noticed a long piece of wood on the ground.

“I’m gonna try and lever this piece out of the way. It looks like there isn’t much holding it down.” Darren said.

“Do it,” Sakiko said.

“If I do I risk bringing it down on top of you,” Darren said.

“How much damage is out there?” Sakiko said.

“Why?”

“In that last aftershock, I heard a loud crash.”

“That was an emergency vehicle crashing.”

“It wasn’t metallic. It was like a building toppling over. Like those videos of buildings collapsing.”

“That was an apartment building near my dad’s toppling over.” Darren said, “We had only gotten out maybe five minutes before it toppled over.”

Sakiko sobbed.

“I know there is no help coming.” Sakiko said, “Do it. Before another aftershock hits and it crushes me.”

“Okay,” Darren said.

Darren turned to Yuki.

“How much of a friend is she?” Darren asked.

“My best friend,” Yuki said.

“Thought so,” Darren said as he picked up the long piece of wood.

“Sakiko.” Darren said, “Move back a bit.”

Darren wedged the piece of wood in the gap and pried on it. Nothing happened. Darren’s weight didn’t budge anything.

“Hey.” A male voice called in the darkness, “Is there a survivor over there?”

“Yes.” Yuki said, “She’s trapped, and we need help to get her out.”

A small group of rescuers walked over, the team carried a bunch of tools. They held hammers and prybars. One had a chainsaw. They all had headlamps on.

“What’s the situation?” the older man of the group asked.

“The only thing that’s blocking her from getting out is the exterior wall.” Darren said, “There’s a support stud blocking the opening with some pieces of siding in the way.”

“I can cut the stud.” One of the rescuers said.

“Then the rest of us need to use this beam to hold the opening up.” Darren said, “I’m not sure how sturdy the rest of the wall is.”

The older man thought about it for a moment.

“Let’s do it.” He said and turned to Darren, “Gaijin, its your show. You give the order.”

Darren nodded.

“Sakiko.” Darren yelled, “We have help. They’re gonna use a saw to cut the wood while we hold the building up. I need to back up a bit. As soon as I yell, head for the hole. Yuki will grab you when you get out. Okay.”

“Okay,” Sakiko said.

Darren turned to the rescuers, “Ready?”

They nodded.

Darren and the rescuers grabbed hold of the beam and pulled on it. Darren saw the rubble shift slightly.

“Cut it,” Darren yelled.

The man roared the saw to life, and with a quick cut, pieces of siding and rubble fell away making the hole bigger.

Darren felt the beam strain from the weight as the man pulled the saw away and tossed it to the ground. The chainsaw hit the ground and sputtered a bit, but didn’t turn off.

“Now Sakiko,” Darren yelled.

Yuki and the chainsaw man moved to the now larger opening. The chainsaw man jumped into the hole. His upper body was in the hole, his feet dangling in the air. A moment later, he came back out with Sakiko in his arms.

They both collapsed onto the ground, as Darren and the rescuers let got of the beam. The rubble shifted and closed the opening tight.

Sakiko’s pink hair shined in the darkness. Tears flowed down Sakiko’s face. Darren thought she looked unharmed, except that she had no clothes on but her underwear.

The rescuers turned their back to the naked girl. The chainsaw man stood up and did the same.

“Darren.” Yuki said, “your jacket if you please.”

“Right.”

Darren took off his jacket and handed it to her.

“Thanks,” Yuki said.

“Is she decent?” The older man asked.

“Kinda,” Yuki said.

They all turned around, and he looked at her.

“Are you hurt?” The older man asked.

“No.” Sakiko said, “Some scrapes. That’s all. A couple splinters.”

“Is there anyone else in the building?”

“No.” Sakiko said, “My mom and dad aren’t home. Not in the country…”

“Okay.” The older man said, then turned to Darren and Yuki, “I need to clear some more buildings. Can I leave her in your care? Get her to the shelter? Some clothes?”

“Yes,” Yuki said.

The older man turned to Darren and looked him in the eyes.

“Thanks, Gaijin.” The older man said.

The group of rescuers moved onto another building.

Darren turned to Yuki and Sakiko.

“Yuki,” Darren asked, “Do you have any first aid training? Supplies?”

“I have supplies, but no official training. Why?”

“Cause Sakiko has blood running down her leg,” Darren said.

“I do?” Sakiko said as she looked at her legs, “Crap I do.”

Darren shined his light into her eyes.

“I don’t think she has a concussion,” Darren said, “Its the adrenaline keeping her from feeling the pain.”

Yuki bent down and looked at her leg.

“Sakiko.” Yuki said, “You need to sit down.”

Sakiko did. Sticking out of her inner thigh was a splinter the size of a small kids fork.

Yuki looked at Darren.

“Please say you have some training?” Yuki said.

“I do.” Darren said, “My old high school offered a course, and my mom made me take it.”

Darren looked at Sakiko.

“You’re going to have to open your legs for me and let me help you,” Darren said.

Sakiko looked at Yuki.

“You trust this Gaijin?” She asked Yuki.

“Yes.” Yuki said, “And if he tries anything inappropriate, I’ll take his balls.”

“You slept with him didn’t you?” Sakiko said.

Darren could see Yuki blush in the darkness.

“If you trust him enough to give him your virginity, I’ll trust him to fix my leg.” Sakiko said and turned to Darren, “Is this going to hurt?”

“Probably,” Darren said.

“Do you have any morphine?” Sakiko asked.

“No drugs.” Darren said, “I’m not sure the state of the hospitals and we need her coherent and functional.”

“Okay.” Yuki said, “Hold my hand and squeeze if it hurts.”

Sakiko held onto Yuki’s hand and squeezed.

Yuki shined her light at the splinter.

Darren looked at the large splinter sticking into Yuki’s leg. It was stuck in her inner thigh close to where her panty line was. Darren couldn’t help himself, but he took a small peek at the panties. Like her hair, they were pink.

“Yuki,” Darren said, “Hand me some gauze and some alcohol.”

Yuki did.

“Okay.” Darren said to Sakiko, “The splinter scrapped away some skin before it penetrated. That’s what is bleeding. The splinter is sticking in just under the skin. I don’t think its gone deep enough to hit any major veins.”

“Pull it out.” Sakiko said, “Its starting to hurt.”

Chapter 8

Darren poured some alcohol over his hands and onto her leg. Sakiko winced in pain from the alcohol.

He grabbed hold of the splinter and pulled. A small squirt of blood came with it and then stopped. Darren poured some alcohol into the wound and then wiped it with the gauze. The bleeding was slight, but Darren could still see a small chunk of wood in Sakiko’s leg.

“I need a pair of tweezers,” Darren said.

Yuki handed him the tweezers.

Darren poured the alcohol onto the tweezers and dug around the hole.

“Oh fuck.” Sakiko said, “That hurts.”

Darren pulled a small chunk of wood out of the hole.

“There’s one more small piece,” Darren said.

After another moment, the piece was out. And Darren poured some more alcohol onto the wound. He cleaned it up with the gauze.

“Bandage,” Darren said.

Yuki handed him a sizeable adhesive bandage. Darren applied it.

“There you go.” Darren said as he stood up, “You should get it looked at by someone with more medical training than me, but it’ll do.”

Sakiko and Yuki sat next to each other on the lawn.

Sakiko wrapped her arms around Yuki and started to bawl in tears. A couple minutes later, she stopped and regained composure.

“I’m okay now.” Sakiko said, “I am alive, and we will survive this.”

The ground started to shake again. Yuki grabbed hold of Darren and Sakiko grabbed hold of Yuki as the ground shook. Darren heard the rumble crunch as a few more houses collapsed under their own weight.

The shaking seemed to take a long time, but shorter than the previous ones. Moments later, the shaking stopped.

“Is it over?” Yuki asked.

“I think so,” Darren said.

“What now?” Sakiko asked.

Yuki looked at her phone.

“We have no service anymore.” Yuki said, “It looks like the cell towers collapsed.”

Darren rubbed his eyes.

“Here’s the situation we’re in.” Darren said, “My brother is still missing, my dad is missing, and your dad is missing.”

“My dad and your dad’s cells and office phones didn’t work.” Yuki said, “They could be in trouble.”

“And I have no clothes,” Sakiko said.

Darren thought for a moment.

The older rescuer ran towards them, his light bobbed in the darkness.

“A Tsunami buoy just went off.” The older rescuer yelled, “This ones big. Get to the shelter, it’s not far.”

The older man ran down the street and into the darkness of the night.

“We could go to the shelter.” Darren said, “They’ll have clothes and someone who can look at her leg.”

“I don’t trust them.” Yuki said, “Once we’re there, we might not be able to leave again.”

“My brother could be there?” Darren said.

“He could.” Yuki said, “But he might not.”

“Why don’t you trust them?” Darren asked.

“Cause they failed my family and me.” Yuki said, “Years ago when that earthquake hit and the tsunami came, we were told to stay in place. The Tsunami destroyed everything, and it took my mom. If we ignored their orders and went to high ground, the Tsunami wouldn’t have hurt us.”

Darren looked at Yuki.

“Is the shelter high enough?” Darren asked.

“No.” Yuki said, “Its on higher ground, but not high enough. Look, years ago, that tsunami took a half hour to get to us from when the quake hit. It’s been twenty-five minutes.”

Darren looked at Sakiko for a moment.

He grabbed his backpack and pulled out a pair of pants and a shirt.

“Put these on.” Darren said, “They won’t fit very good, but its better than nothing.”

Yuki looked at Darren as Sakiko got dressed.

“Do you have anything for her bare feet?” Darren asked Yuki.

“No,” Yuki said.

“I need a belt.” Sakiko said, “I feel like a clown in this.”

Darren turned and looked at her. The shirt was very baggy and went down to her thighs, and the pants were so loose that if she let go of them, they would fall to the ground.

Darren pulled a piece of rope out of his pack. He cut it with a small knife.

“You can use this,” Darren said.

Sakiko tied the rope around her waist.

“Here.” She said, “Take your jacket back. Its a warm night, and I’ll make it all sweaty. Because I think Yuki is gonna make us do a bunch of running.”

Darren put the jacket back on.

“So its decided,” Yuki said.

“Time to get to higher ground,” Darren said.

Darren ran down the street, in the darkness of the night, in the middle of Tokyo. He followed Yuki and Sakiko, but couldn’t help but look at the devastation.

Signs of damage were everywhere, power lines were collapsed, home and businesses were in different degrees of destruction. Some only had a few shingles knocked loose, while others had collapsed entirely. In all, a surprising number of buildings, especially the newer ones, were still standing.

Groups of headlamp and tool clad rescuers roamed the streets to pull helpless victims out of the rubble of collapsed buildings. Sirens blared across the city as ambulances, and other emergency personnel raced to the latest hot spot.

After about fifteen minutes of jogging, Darren called a stop. He heaved with heavy breathing and pain shot up his gut. Sakiko leaned against a nearby tree. A pained look on her face.

“This is insane,” Darren said.

“We have to keep moving,” Yuki said.

“How far away is higher ground?” Darren asked.

“Where I want to go is the storage unit.” Yuki said, “I know that the hill that it is on will be safe.”

“How long if we walk it on a Sunday afternoon?” Darren asked.

“Three hours,” Yuki said.

“That’s far.” Sakiko said, “Why don’t we go to that hill?”

Sakiko pointed at a hill to the right. It stretched out in the darkness. The quickest way to the hill was through a park and then a road that wound its way up the hill.

Yuki looked at both Darren and Sakiko. Panic was visible on her face.

“Yuki,” Darren said, “Sakiko’s right. We get to the top of that hill and wait until morning. After the tsunami has passed, we go to the storage unit to wait for our dads.”

“Okay.” Yuki said, “The tsunami could be here anytime.”

The park was treed with paths running in multiple directions. Sizable wooden gates showed Darren where the entrance to the park was.

They quickly walked into the park. Dark shadows were cast in multiple directions.

“Is there a way around this?” Darren asked.

“Afraid of the dark?” Yuki asked.

“No.” Darren said.

“There is a way around, but it’ll take us twenty minutes out of the way.” Yuki said, “I’ve gone through this park many times. There are no problems with this park.”

Darren, Yuki, and Sakiko walked farther into the park. Shadows cast ghostly figures across the trees.

“Now that you mention it.” Yuki said, “This park has gotten creepier than I remember it.”

Two tall Japanese men jumped out of the woods. They wore cut off jeans and t-shirts with slogans on them.

“So its two little girls and their Gaijin pet.” One of the Japanese men said.

They looked at Yuki, who backed away from them. While Sakiko balled her fists.

“Tell your Gaijin friend to drop his wallet and run, and he can live. You two, on the other hand, are staying right there.”

“Really,” Darren said.

Yuki backed up behind Darren. Sakiko stood to Darren’s side.

“I bet we can outrun them,” Yuki said.

Darren looked behind himself. A third Japanese thug walked out from behind a tree.

“Not that way.” Darren said, “Looks like we fight.”

“Look at that.” The first thug said, “The Gaijin freak can speak Japanese.”

Darren looked around the park. Empty bottles were strewn about.

“They’re drunk,” Sakiko said.

Darren turned to the two drunk Thugs.

“We don’t mean any harm,” Darren began, “But a Tsunami is coming this way. We need to get to a shelter.”

“Shut up. Leave your wallet. And go away.” The thug said, “My worm and those girls there are going to have an intimate discussion.”

Darren saw what looked to be a large branch sticking out of a bush. Darren grabbed it and pulled it out. What Darren thought was a branch was actually a straw broom.

Darren held it out with two hands like a sword, the straw end pointed at the thugs. Darren raised the makeshift sword up into a high guard.

“Oh. He wants to fight.” The first thug said, “What’re you gonna do? Sweep us to death?”

The drunken thug charged forward.

Darren swung the broom down towards the charging thug. The broom hit the thug in the face. The straw end broke off and flew off into a bush. The force of the blow staggered the thug. Darren followed the first strike with a fast backhand blow on the other side of the head. The thug stood still, and his eyes were unfocused. Darren swung the broom handle up into a high guard again. With a swift blow that caused the air to sing, the handle bounced off of the thugs head with a crack.

The thug dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. The other two thugs, who stood by watching, fled in opposite directions.

“You two okay?” Darren asked.

“Yeh.” Yuki said, “Are you?”

“Yeh. Let’s get out of this park.” Darren said.

“You can fight?” Sakiko said.

“Only a little.”

Chapter 9

Darren, Yuki, and Sakiko left the unconscious Thug lying on the pathway in the park. Darren followed Yuki and Sakiko up the hill. The hill was steep, and it was next to impossible to jog up it. It took everything Darren had to walk up the hill.

Darren looked around and saw that other groups of people were crowding up the hill as well. Some drove up the hill, and others rode their bikes, while most walked. Men, women, and children all walked up the hill to the summit.

About halfway up the hill, the traffic on the road stopped to a standstill. The cars were parked in the middle of the street. Panicked looking people were abandoning their vehicles in the middle of the road to finish the trek up the hill.

Once they got there, Darren found himself in a small park. The park was filled with people. Most were scared, and everyone looked like they were in varying levels of readiness. Some were still in their pajamas. Many kids were laying on the ground next to their parents. The kids were fast asleep with blankets and stuffies curled up next to them.

Yuki found a spot on the lower part of the hill under a pine tree.

“That was tiring.” Yuki said, “We should rest here for a few hours.”

Darren leaned against the tree. Yuki and Sakiko both leaned against Darren.

“I know why Yuki is leaning against you.” Sakiko said to Darren, “I’m just here to steal your body heat. Don’t get any ideas.”

Darren shrugged his shoulders and rested his head against the tree.

Darren closed his eyes and not five minutes had passed when loud metallic crashing echoed in the distance. Darren was awake and on his feet the next moment.

In the darkness, Darren could hear the sound of rushing water and loud metallic crashing. Darren saw a large body of water crash its way up the hill.

Down the hill, Darren saw the line of cars being pushed against each other by the force of a wave. People were bowled down under the wave as they ran up the hill towards safety.

“Oh lord,” Darren said.

A moment after the wave crested, it receded down the hill towards the sea.

Darren collapsed back where he was sitting before.

Yuki looked at Darren and then at Sakiko.

“You two were right.” Yuki said, “We wouldn’t have made it to the storage locker.”

“You were right to get us moving.” Darren said, “Those shelters lower down would not have kept us all safe.”

Yuki looked at Darren.

“I don’t want to think anymore.” Yuki said, “What do we do?”

“Its still early in the morning.” Darren said, “Its a few hours until it gets light out. Let’s sleep here and then we can move out once it gets light out.”

Yuki nodded and fell asleep next to Darren.

“What are we going to do about shoes for me?” Sakiko asked, “My feet are killing me.”

“We’ll find you some shoes in the morning,” Darren said.

“You better,” Sakiko said as she fell asleep.

Darren slept fitfully, he wasn’t sure what time it was, but something woke him up. He opened his eyes to see a Japanese man slowly opening his backpack.

“Hey,” Darren said grabbing at the strap.

The man yanked at the bag, but Darren had managed to get the bag into his grip.

Darren kicked at the man, but he dodged out of the way. That movement made the assailant lose grip of the bag and fall backward. He ran away in the predawn glow.

“And stay away, you thief!” Darren yelled at him in Japanese.

Yuki was awake and standing next to him.

“Are you okay?” She asked.

“Yes.” Darren said, “Where’s your bag?”

Yuki looked around the base of the tree.

“Shit,” Yuki said, "Where is my bag?"

“I have it.” Sakiko said, “I used it as a pillow.”

Darren took a sigh of relief. The sun was starting to rise over the hills, and it was getting bight in the east. Not a cloud was in the sky.

“It is what? Five in the morning?” Darren asked.

“Yes.” Yuki said looking at her phone, “My phone is almost dead. I’ll have to use it sparingly.”

Darren looked around at the crowd of people sleeping silently. The thief was nowhere to be seen.

“Stupid bastard taking advantage of people like this,” Yuki said.

“What are we gonna do about Sakiko and her shoes?” Darren asked Yuki.

“Trade someone?” Yuki said.

Darren looked at the crowd of people again.

“I have an idea.” Darren said, “Let’s go now and get an early start.”

Yuki nodded.

Sakiko still laid on her back.

“I guess this place is too exposed to sleep too soundly,” Sakiko said.

Sakiko groaned and pried herself off the ground. Yuki threw the bag over her shoulders, and they left the park quietly.

When they were close to the edge of the park, they saw a police officer near the entrance. The thief that had tried to rob them earlier was laying on the ground in the fetal position. Darren saw that blood poured out of his nose.

“Hey, you three?” The police officer called out, “Where are you going?”

Darren looked at the man. He was an older gentleman with greying hair under his standard-issue police uniform.

“We need to find his brother,” Yuki said.

“Lots of people are going to be missing after today.” The police officer said, “And I understand you wanting… Hey,” The police officer turned to Sakiko, “Where are your shoes?”

Sakiko blushed.

“These two pulled me out of the rubble from my house, and my shoes got left behind,” Sakiko said.

“All right.” The police officer said, he walked up to a pile of random supplies and routed around for a few minutes.

He pulled out a pair of sneakers and a rolled up pair of socks. He tossed them to Sakiko.

“Put these on.” The police officer said, “Then I need you three to do me a favor.”

“Favor?” Yuki said.

“Yes.” He said, “My name is Lt. Harrito. I need you three to take a message to this sectors Emergency Command H.Q. I need you to tell Captain Yusako that we have lots of people that need evacuation. Can you do it? Cause I can’t, not with these thieves lurking around. Will you tell him that?”

“I see.” Yuki said as she pointed at the thief, “He tried to get into our bag before my friend gave him a kick.”

“Will you help?” Lt. Harrito said.

“Okay.” Yuki said, “Where do we have to go?”

Lt. Harrito gave them directions on a piece of paper, as well as a written note, addressed to the Captain.

“That’ll take us hours to get there,” Yuki said.

“Commandeer a bike each,” Lt. Harrito, he wrote a note from his notepad, “Give this to the owner of it. He can give it to the Head Quarters and will be compensated for his loss. Now go.”

Darren, Yuki, and Sakiko left the park and started to walk down the hill.

“Are we going to do that?” Sakiko asked.

“Commandeer a bike? Or give that message to the Captain?” Yuki asked.

“Yes.” Darren said, “We are going to do both.”

“What about getting to the storage unit?” Yuki asked.

“Is it on the way?” Darren asked.

“Kinda,” Yuki said.

“Then we are still making progress.” Sakiko said, “Think of all of the people that we are helping on the way.”

“It does help ease the guilt of all the people that we didn’t help,” Yuki said.

They walked in silence for a couple more minutes. Darren saw a door open at one of the house’s garage. Inside the home were a half dozen bikes of different sizes. There was bikes for little kids to bikes for adults.

“What are you doing?” Yuki asked.

Darren walked up to the house and slowly opened the door. A chain ran through the bike tires, but the lock was broken.

“Commandeering some bikes for us,” Darren said.

Darren took the note from Yuki and stuck it to the wall with a nearby pin.

They each grabbed a bike and left the house.

“This way the owner can claim multiple bikes and get compensated for their loss,” Darren said.

“You’re insane,” Yuki said with a smile.

Darren, Yuki, and Sakiko flew down the hill. They rode down, not the same way that they had struggled up, but the opposite side of the hill.

Houses lined the sides of the hill. They looked to be townhouses, all stacked close to each other.

The road was clogged with cars, but the waves hadn’t reached this side of the hill. Not this part of the hill at least.

In the pre-dawn hours, Darren saw that the tsunami had moved around the hill to the other side. The hill formed a small valley between two of the high parts of Tokyo.

Chapter 10

About halfway down the hill, the road was suddenly filled with a sticky, mucky mess. The townhouses had disappeared and had turned into what Darren thought were small shops. The shops had been smashed apart and were filled to the brim with water. Piles of debris were piled in places where they got caught on something. More pieces of debris had piled up on top of each other creating small roadblocks. Piles of rubble were in piles everywhere. Piles of broken wood, cars on their sides, houses were simply gone. All that remained was a scattering of debris and kindling.

Darren, Yuki, and Sakiko slowed down to a snail pace. It took all the effort that Darren could muster not to fall off his bike. After about twenty feet, the muck dissipated but didn’t go away entirely. A thin layer of watery muck lined the streets.

Yuki and Sakiko weren’t as lucky. Sakiko didn’t make it through the muck and had to put a sneaker into the mess. Yuki made it through but then stopped to try and help Sakiko and put her foot in it. Darren stopped after a few more feet. He watched the two girls following him pushing their bikes.

“We have twenty more feet of this and then a pile of this stuff where the water crested on the other side of this valley,” Darren said.

“Not five minutes,” Sakiko said, “and my feet are already wet.”

“So are mine,” Yuki said.

Darren ignored the girl’s complaints.

“If we can get enough speed in this thin stuff, we can get through the thick stuff and be clear of this mess.” Darren said, “I’ll go first. Follow my tracks, and it’ll be easier for you two.”

Darren, Yuki, and Sakiko got on the bikes. Darren rode as fast as he could towards the upper side of the small valley.

Darren plowed through the small piles of muck. Wet gooey mess sprayed out from his tires. Muck splashed on his pants and up the back of his jacket. Darren plowed into the last pile and stopped flat. His front tire hit something in the muck and turned to the side. Darren’s bike toppled to the side throwing Darren into the muck.

Sakiko and Yuki broke into laughter behind him.

“Laugh it up,” Darren said.

Darren picked himself off of the ground. He lifted his pack up and rested it on his bike. Darren grabbed his hat from the muck and knocked the excess mess off it. He reached into the muck and pulled a pieced of debris out of the muck. It was a broken chunk of a tree trunk. The piece was a foot long and six inches thick. It looked like it exploded off of a tree from the force of the water.

Darren tossed the log off to one side.

“You could’ve asked to see if I was hurt,” Darren yelled as he grabbed his bag.

He picked up his bike from the ground and dragged it through the mud to the other side of the muck.

“Next,” Darren yelled towards the two laughing girls.

Yuki rode next.

Darren watched as she sped up. A spray of mud flew from her tires as she plowed through the muck. She followed in Darren’s tire treads and pushed through the final muck pile with ease.

Sakiko left a moment after Yuki had finished riding through the muck. Sakiko had no problems as both Darren and Yuki had plowed through the piles of muck.

“You’re a mess.” Yuki said to Darren, “You have mud all up your backside.”

Yuki kissed Darren on the lips with a grin.

“It’ll dry.” Darren said, “I’ll change later into the spare set of…”

“Spare set of what?” Yuki asked.

“I gave my spare set of clothes to Sakiko.” Darren said, “I guess we need to add that to the list of things we need to find.”

“We have a list?”

“If we don’t, we should,” Darren said.

Sakiko rode up to Darren and Yuki.

“What’s this about a list?” Sakiko asked, “I hate lists.”

“Its just dawning on me how bad this is?” Darren said. “It’s this level of destruction all around us.”

Darren pointed to the piles of debris scattered around the area.

Darren knew that only yesterday when they passed by this area, this neighborhood was filled with small homes. It was an area that was usually filled with rentals for students and young adults.

Now, the area was close to bare of standing buildings. The buildings that weren’t knocked over by the earthquakes and its aftershocks were swept away by the ensuing tsunami. The area was filled with plum trees, and yesterday the area was filled with acres of the white and pink flowers of the plum blossoms. Now, the area was covered in the pale brown of the muck that the wave had left behind.

Yuki looked at Darren and rubbed her eyes.

“I’ve been telling you.” Yuki said, “I have a storage unit that we need to get to. There are enough supplies there for us.”

“I know,” Darren said, “But we need to do that favor for that cop, and then we can go to the storage unit.”

Sakiko put her hands on Darren’s and Yuki’s shoulders.

“Maybe we should talk about this later,” Sakiko said.

“Right.” Yuki said, “Let’s get to the shelter, give the cop the message and then get away.”

Yuki hopped on the bike and rode ahead of them. Darren and Yuki chased to keep up with her.

The destruction from the tsunami was replaced by the devastation of the earthquake. Which was considerably less in comparison to the amount of damage from the tsunami.

The plum blossoms were in full bloom. It hid the destruction of the buildings from immediate view. A few buildings had collapsed, while others had suffered from a light amount of damaged. Some only had a few broken windows, while others had entire walls collapse.

They rode into a commercial district. There were no people in the area. Nobody walking in the early morning light heading to work Monday morning or to School. The streets were deserted by the regular people that dwelled there not a day before.

Rescuers dug into the wreckage and pulled people from the rubble. Most of the people looked tired and worn out. Darren saw a line of bodies covered with bedsheets and tarps. The corpses were a range of sizes ranging from the smallest of the small to the largest of large. Crying people wept by a few of them.

Tears welled up in Darren’s eyes as he looked away from the death and destruction. He couldn’t bear the sight of it.

They turned a corner and reached a small looking brick building. The building had a big sign in Japanese and in English. It said ‘Shelter here.’ Darren, Yuki, and Sakiko rode up to the entrance.

The entrance had a young looking adult guarding the door. The young guard seemed to be a little older than Darren. He wore a bright yellow safety vest, and a white hard hat overtop of his army fatigues. Darren noticed that he wasn’t armed with anything but a baton.

“Refugee’s are to go around the corner to the big doors to the side.” The young guard said.

“We’re not refugees,” Darren said in Japanese.

“The Gaijin speaks proper Japanese.” The young guard said, “You still need to go around to the side…”

“We have a message for Captain Yusako from Lt Harrito,” Yuki said.

The young guard peeked his head in the door and then came back out.

“Leave your bikes here and go in.” The young guard said.

Sakiko looked at the guard and then at Darren and Yuki.

“You two go.” Sakiko said, “I’ll keep our bikes from being commandeered.”

Darren and Yuki entered the building.

Before they had walked a step, Yuki tapped Darren on the arm.

“You do the talking,” Yuki said.

Darren nodded.

The building had a small foyer that had a single desk in it. Sitting at the desk was a short, skinny man with balding, greying hair in a Japanese Self-Defense Force uniform. The Captain looked at Darren and Yuki for a couple seconds.

“Come in.” Captain Yusako said in English, “You two look well done.” The Captain turned to Darren, “And you look an absolute mess. What happened? Mud fight? Anyways, I’d offer you some tea, but I don’t have the means to heat it up this early in the morning, and we have a shelter packed with refugees to look after.”

“No issues.” Darren said in Japanese, “We only wish to give you a message.”

“The Gaijin speaks Japanese.” Captain Yusako said, “The accent is off, but it is pretty good.”

“I have a good tutor,” Darren said.

“Yes. Well.” Captain Yusako said, “What is the message?”

Darren handed the Captain the paper note.

“Lt. Harrito is on the hill in the tsunami zone. Its packed with refugees, and they need an evacuation.” Darren said.

The Captain nodded.

“So some survived over there.” Captain Yusako said, “Good, We’ll get them out. Can I pick your brain for a moment?”

“If I can answer the question, I will,” Darren said.

“How bad is it?”

“In the tsunami zone?”

“Yes.”

“Unless they were on the top of the building and it didn’t get knocked down, they’re all dead,” Darren said coldly.

“I thought so.” Captain Yusako said.

“If its not too bold for me to say so, some trucks with mud tires or helicopters might be able to find a few survivors if they got lucky.”

“That’s good advice.” The Captain said, “I remember the last tsunami and that was a big lesson that we learned.”

Darren nodded.

“Listen, if you want, you can stay here in the shelter.”

“I appreciate the offer, but I need to find my family. My dad and my younger brother are out there somewhere. Not to mention Yuki’s family. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t try to find them.”

The Captain shuffled the papers on his desk. Darren got a distinct feeling that the conversation was over.

“Can I ask you a question?” Darren asked.

“If I can answer it, I will.” The Captain said.

“How big is this disaster?” Darren asked.

Chapter 11

The Captain’s face was a grim mask as he stared at Darren. After a few moments, he spoke up.

“The east coast of Japan has been hit.” The Captain said, “The west coast is relatively undamaged from the Tsunami, but I’m unsure how bad it is as we have no radio communication. Judging from the amount of destruction from those earthquakes, I would say that every part of Japan has taken extensive damage. Every family all over Japan is going to have lost someone today.”

“What about Canada? America?”

“You’re referencing the Yellowstone eruption.” The Captain said.

Darren nodded.

“Well,” The Captain said, “That’s not the only seismic activity that has happened in the last twenty-four hours, and I don’t think it’ll be the last. And like I said, with no communication, we have no idea what the United States is like. I would assume the worse.”

“So we aren’t getting any help from outside Japan.”

“I’m not going to sugar coat things.” The Captain said, “Things are bad, things are really bad. But if we stick together and work together, then we will get through this.”

Darren gave a bow.

“Thank you for your honesty,” Darren said.

The Captain nodded and then rang a small bell.

A young girl that looked about the age of twelve entered.

“Yes, father?” The girl said.

“Get these two some MRI’s.” He said, then turned to Darren, “There are two of you?”

“Three, sir,” Darren said, “The third is guarding our bikes.”

“Get six MRI’s for these two.” The Captain said.

The girl had their rewards for them a few seconds later. Darren and Yuki packed them away into a bag.

“Thank you,” Darren said.

“I have one more thing for you three to do for me.” The Captain said, “If you mind.”

“Not at all,” Darren said.

“I’d like you to get out of Tokyo.” The Captain said, “Things are going to get bad here. Get away from the coast. Things will be safer there.”

Darren nodded, and he turned to leave.

“How did you get covered in mud?” The Captain asked.

“I fell into a giant pile of muck in the Tsunami zone.”

“Would you like a change of clothes?”

“No thank you. I have some in my bag, plus it has already dried.”

“If you’re still here when it gets dark, I can get you a set of clothes, but it’ll be army get up.”

“I’m not sure where I’m gonna be tonight, but thanks.”

Darren and Yuki left the building.

Sakiko was standing next to the bikes.

“You’re back.” Sakiko said, “Thank god.”

“What happened?” Darren asked.

“Nothing.” Sakiko said, “But this guy is a stick in the mud and doesn’t want to talk to anyone.”

“I am working. Unlike you.” said the young guard.

“That’s nice.” Sakiko said, “Did you bring food? I’m starving.”

“Yes, we did.” Darren said, “We’ll eat it once we get to a safe place.”

Darren looked at the groups of rescuers working on a nearby building. He could feel himself being silently judged by a few of them. It felt like a set of knives running down his spine.

The three of them rode away from the shelter. Darren led them down some side streets and made some random turns to see if they were being followed and if so by whom.

After ten minutes, Darren determined that they weren’t being followed.

“We should eat over there,” Darren said pointing to a small sheltered area next to a building. The covered area was built in a way that you could hide in it and not be watched by a hundred people from every window in the area.

Darren got off his bike and crouched down on the ground. Yuki and Sakiko did the same.

“Why are we eating here?” Sakiko asked.

“Because people can’t see us.” Yuki said, “I like it.”

“What does that matter?”

“Because from now on, we’re gonna be dealing with an increasing amount of people that will have no food.” Yuki said, “They’ll have a sob story that they need food, but if we give all of our food away, then we will have nothing.”

“But they can get food from the shelter,” Sakiko said.

“For now.” Darren said, “But what happens when the shelter runs out of food?”

Sakiko was silent. Her face showed that she was lost in thought.

“I think that we need to adopt a gray man approach to things,” Yuki said.

“What is a grey man?” Darren asked.

“We need to seem uninteresting, unimportant, and in the background.” Yuki said, “We need to empty these packs at the storage unit, and if we go around then they should be mostly empty.”

“I think I get it.” Darren said, “We want to be quickly forgotten when we talk to people. Not unhelpful, but just not noteworthy. That way we can be invisible and not a target.”

“Exactly.” Yuki said, she turned to Sakiko, “What do you think?”

“I’m not sure what to think.” Sakiko said, “I’m trying to keep positive, but its hard.”

“I know,” Yuki said as she gave Sakiko a hug.

“We need to fix her hair color.” Darren said, “Pink hair stands out too much.”

“Dirt for now.” Yuki said, “Maybe dye later.”

“It’ll fade out in a week or two,” Sakiko said.

“Didn’t you bleach your hair?” Yuki asked.

“Yes.”

“Then you’d be a blond Japanese girl,” Yuki said.

“Fine, mud then,” Sakiko said.

Darren pulled out an MRI package from the backpack. The MRI was a block of hard bread substance that was vacuum sealed in a grey plastic wrapping. He quickly reopened the bag and removed the block of food.

“What flavor is that?” Sakiko asked.

“Honey and oats,” Darren replied.

Darren ripped the block into three pieces and handed one to each Yuki and Sakiko.

Sakiko tore into her chunk of food.

“Pace yourself,” Yuki said.

Yuki ate the block slowly.

Soon Darren, Yuki, and Sakiko were all done eating their food.

“That was more filling than I thought it was going to be,” Yuki said.

“The packaging says that a full package contains twenty-four hundred calories.” Darren said looking at the MRI, “That’s an entire day worth.”

Yuki whipped the crumbs from the front of her dirty blouse. Darren noticed that the three of them were all covered in mud and grime. Darren was covered in dirt from his fall, but the girls were dirty from little things like the spray of mud from the tires, and the errant dirty hand touching clothing. Darren hoped that there were changes of clothes at the storage unit.

“The storage unit isn’t too far from here,” Yuki said.

“How long?” Darren asked.

“A half-hour walk.” Yuki said, “Give or take.”

“So not that far from here,” Darren said. “We can rest then.”

“Are you telling us that…”

“No,” Darren said, “I’m giving myself a pep-talk. That food is making me sleepy.”

“He also gave us tea,” Yuki said.

Darren pulled out the thermos and filled the cap full of tea. There was only the one cup. They took turns drinking some tea.

After what turned into a fifteen-minute break, Darren pried himself off the ground. He looked around the area. At one end of the alley was a small group of youths. Boys and girls younger than them stood around in a group. Strips of colored fabric were tied around their right arms.

“Time to go.” Darren said, “We have company.”

“What do you mean company?” Yuki asked not moving from her spot.

“I mean pack up now and get on your bike,” Darren said, the stress rose in him, and it showed in his voice.

Yuki took a peek above the concrete barrier and then swore.

“Pack up.” Yuki said as she threw the thermos in her bag, “It’s a color gang.”

Darren was first on his bike. The youths were walking fast towards Darren. They carried bats and pipes as weapons.

“Time to go,” Darren said.

Yuki and Sakiko were both on their bikes.

“Hey don’t run away.” One of the youths called out, “We just wanna talk.”

“Do we stay and listen?” Sakiko asked.

“Listening won’t hurt. I’ll do the talking.” Yuki said, and turned to the color gang, “Keep your distance.”

“That’s fine.” The leader said, “My name is Michio Asahara. This is my little sister Emiko Asahara. See if we wanted to fight, I wouldn’t have brought my kid sister with me.”

Darren got a good look at the leader, Michio. He noticed that the man looked like he was the same age as Darren, but Darren had no idea which school he went to. The teenager was tall and lanky for his age. He stood over the other kids.

“What do you want?” Yuki asked.

“What’s going on?” Michio asked.

Yuki told him about the tsunami and the shelters.

“I knew that.” Michio said, “Where are you headed?”

“Away from here,” Yuki said.

“Join us.” Michio said, “You three look resourceful.”

“No thank you,” Yuki said.

“That wasn’t a question,” Michio said.

Michio raised a baseball bat in his hand and ran towards them.

“Get them, and take their bikes!” Michio yelled.

Darren, Yuki, and Sakiko sped off down the alley with the color gang close behind. The gang members were on foot and couldn’t keep up. Darren hung back so Yuki and Sakiko road out front. They exploded out the other side of the alley. Darren followed close behind them.

They turned the corner and rode fast down the street when they got out of the alley.

The street was busy with people. Cars packed the road as people left their homes. Darren could see that most people packed their vehicles with all the goods that they could. Some of the people, mainly the people that couldn’t afford to buy a car, stayed behind and watched the other people leave.

Darren looked back and saw that the youths ran out of the alley. He could see the anger on their faces. The other people moved away from the teenagers in shock and fright.

Darren, Yuki, and Sakiko didn’t stop. They kept riding their bikes as fast as they could. Luckily, no one else noticed them.

Chapter 12

After ten minutes of riding, the three of them stopped at a large metal gate in front of a vast brick building. The building looked like it was in decent shape after the earthquakes and all of the aftershocks. The windowless square brick building looked like the brick was only a facade in front of a concrete built structure. Parts of the brick facade had broken off and fallen to the ground. The rest of the building looked like it was in one piece.

“This is the storage building,” Yuki said.

“Can we get in if no one’s come to work?” Darren asked.

“Yes.” Yuki said, “As long as you have a key, you’re allowed to enter the building anytime twenty-four hours a day.”

Yuki opened the gate using her key, and they entered with their bikes. Yuki locked the gate behind her.

They found themselves in a loading bay to the building.

Sakiko looked nervous at the building. Darren could tell she was afraid.

“Is it going to survive the aftershocks?” Sakiko asked, “What if another earthquake hits again?”

Yuki leaned into Sakiko and kissed her on the lips.

“Shh.” Yuki said, “This is a very well built building. My father picked it for that very reason.”

“We will follow you,” Darren said to Yuki.

Darren’s pants felt tight from Yuki and Sakiko’s display.

A single set of garage-style overhead doors stretched along one side of the raised loading bay. A couple big metal doors were at either side of the overhead doors. One of the doors had a large sign over it in Japanese characters that Darren thought said office. The other door had no sign over it, but Darren believed it was to the storage units.

Darren and Sakiko followed Yuki up the stairs and to the metal door that led to the storage units.

Yuki used her key on the door, and it opened up. After the three of them walked into the building, Yuki locked the door.

Darren and Yuki pulled out flashlights from his backpack. The light split the darkness but didn’t shine enough to cut it out completely.

Darren and Sakiko followed Yuki through the building. They walked their bikes through the halls past storage lockers.

Yuki walked up to one of the lockers and stopped in front of the door. The door was a gray metal sliding door that came down from the ceiling. The door was locked in the middle of the door by a simple key.

Yuki looked at the door and then looked at the top left of the door.

“My dad hasn’t been here yet,” Yuki said.

“How can you tell?” Darren asked.

“No mark.” Yuki said, “If he were here, he would’ve left a chalk mark in the upper left corner of the door. Then I would know that he’s been here and gone.”

Yuki wiped the back of her hand across a small part of the door. A small piece of glass was underneath a some grease.

“What is that?” Darren asked.

“It’s a peephole.” Yuki said, “So we can see out of it.”

Yuki unlocked the door and slid it up.

The locker was an eight foot wide by twenty-foot long room. For such a large room, it was surprisingly empty of stuff. A pile of supplies were piled in the corner of the locker. Some in cardboard boxes, others in plastic totes. Darren wasn’t sure what all the stuff was, it was all written in Japanese and his Japanese characters weren’t that good yet.

Yuki walked into the locker and found a dusty oil lamp and lit it. She hung it up from a hook on the ceiling.

“Is that it?” Darren asked, “Is that all of the supplies?”

“We should get in and get that door locked,” Yuki said.

Darren, Yuki, and Sakiko pulled their bikes into the locker, and Yuki shut the door.

“How can you lock it from the inside?” Darren asked.

“The lock works both ways,” Yuki said.

“Oh,” Darren said as he piled the bikes close to each other.

“Is that all the supplies?” Darren asked.

Yuki looked at the boxes. Darren was disappointed by the number of supplies in the locker.

“This does seem like not that much does it?” Yuki said.

“What happened to all of it?” Darren asked.

“I’m not sure.” Yuki said, “We were in here a month ago, and I swear we had put more stuff in here than this.”

“Maybe he moved it?” Darren said.

“Maybe.” Yuki said, “He doesn’t exactly tell me everything he’s planning.”

Darren looked at Yuki.

“Didn’t you have a place outside Tokyo we can go to?” Darren asked.

“Yes, I do.” Yuki said, “But we can’t get there yet.”

“Why not?”

“Three reasons,” Yuki said.

“First, where are our dads? Did they survive so far? Two, where’s Anthony? And three, my dad has the vehicle that we need to use to get there at the apartment.”

“Okay.” Darren said, “We can go get the vehicle.”

“Underground parking and my apartment was closer to the water than yours was. We didn’t take into account for earthquakes and tsunami’s that bad.”

“Oh.” Darren said, “Why didn’t you live farther out of town?”

“The company provided the apartment.” Yuki said, “Not many choices.”

“I always thought your dad was the boss,” Darren said.

“Boss yes. Owner no.”

“I see,” Darren said.

Darren, Yuki, and Sakiko made quick work of opening all of the boxes and totes. Darren looked through them and saw that while there were some useful items, they lacked some things.

Darren opened up a duffle bag and some rolled up clothes were tightly stuffed in.

“Sweet, clothes.” Sakiko said, “I’m soaked.”

Sakiko looked into the duffle bags and started to root through the items.

“We should change wet socks and take our shoes off so they can dry.” Darren said, “Do we have anything more waterproof?”

“There are no shoes in this bag,” Sakiko said.

“I have a single pair of rubber boots.” Yuki said as she pulled out a pair of pink rubber boots, “We never planned on having anyone else with us.”

“That means that I could share,” Sakiko said.

“Your feet are too big for these.” Yuki said, “Sorry.”

“Crap.” Sakiko said, “I can find a pair somewhere.”

“We do have a small stove,” Yuki said.

Yuki pulled out a small propane cook stove and a bundle of propane bottles.

“Who wants some tea? Or coffee?”

“I don’t think a propane cook stove is safe to use inside,” Darren said.

“There’s a vent shaft right there.” Yuki said pointing to a grate in the ceiling, “The vent will suck the fumes out to exchange the air.”

“There’s no power,” Darren said.

“That’s fine.” Yuki said, “The pressure in here is higher than outside. The air is sucked out through the vent shaft to make it safe. I mean, its not like its super sealed in here, to begin with.”

“As long as we vent the place after we cook to make sure, then I’m fine with it,” Darren said.

Darren sat down on the ground and put his head against the wall.

“I don’t know about you two, but I’m tired,” Darren said.

“Me too.” Yuki said, “Two long nights with little sleep.”

Sakiko plopped next to Darren.

“What time is it?” She asked Darren.

Darren looked at his phone. There was no service, but the clock still worked.

“Its a little after eleven in the morning,” Darren said.

“Is it just me or is this day lasting forever?” Sakiko asked as she rested her head on his shoulder.

“We’ve been moving since like two in the morning, if you don’t include that short hour nap in that park,” Yuki said.

Sakiko nodded.

“Well, I slept from about ten to the earthquake.” Sakiko said, “I’m less tired than you two. I’ll make tea, you two snuggle up and have a short nap.”

Sakiko stood up from the ground and walked across the storage unit to the small camp stove.

Yuki sat down next to Darren and leaned into him. She rested her head on his shoulder.

Darren wrapped his arm around her and quickly fell asleep. He was unsure how long he slept or what he dreamed about. But he did remember that he was scared and that he spent it running from things.

“Darren.” A voice called out in his dream, “Darren wake up.”

Darren woke up with a start. It took him a second to realize where he was. Darren sat in a small storage unit with Yuki and Sakiko. Yuki squatted by a small camp stove. A pot sat boiling on the stove.

Chapter 13

Darren looked around the small locker. Sakiko had taken the lead in organizing the supplies into the different piles. She had the food stacked in one pile, and the other supplies were arranged by category. Sorted out, the number of supplies they had was worse than Darren originally thought.

“Sorry.” Darren said, “Was I snoring?”

“Not really.” Yuki said, “Its noon. You slept for two hours.”

“How long did you sleep for?” Darren asked.

“An hour.” Yuki said, “I should be good until tonight.”

Darren nodded and stretched. Sleeping on the cold hard ground was hard on his back.

“What’s the plan?” Darren said.

“Lunch,” Yuki said.

“After lunch?”

“Not sure.” Yuki said, “I’m tempted to stay here and shelter in place for a few days.”

“How many days worth of food do we have?” Darren asked.

“We have two more days from those MRI’s,” Yuki said, “And three more days worth of food after those are gone.”

“What type of food do we have?” Darren said.

“Ramen.” Sakiko said, “Ramen noodles and instant powders.”

“We do have liters and liters of bottled water though.”

“And a bathroom?” Darren said, “Cause I really have to use one at the moment.”

“Umm…” Yuki said, “I’m sure there’s one in the building, but I’m not sure if the toilet will flush.”

“With the age of this building,” Sakiko said, “I’m sure its one of those ancient floor models.”

“Floor?” Darren said.

“You’ll see if you come across one.” Sakiko said, “I personally hate them.”

Darren looked at the pile of supplies and other goods.

“You can shelter here for now.” Darren said, “I can go out and see if I can find my dad, your dad, and Anthony.”

“By yourself?” Yuki said.

“Yeh.” Darren said, “It won’t take me too long to get around if I’m by myself.”

“You’re serious,” Yuki said.

“I’m not one to sit around and not do anything.” Darren said, “I have to go out and do something.”

“That’s a bad idea,” Sakiko said.

“Why is that?” Darren asked.

“Because you’re a single Gaijin riding around Tokyo looking for a couple people out of millions.” Sakiko said, “Looking for a needle in a haystack is easier.”

“So?” Darren asked.

“Look.” Sakiko said, “Yuki and I had this talk when you were sleeping. If your dad was at work when the earthquake and tsunami hit, he’s probably dead.”

“You don’t know that,” Darren said.

“No,” Sakiko said, “but if he survived he’ll find his way back here.”

“And my brother?”

“If he’s alive, the only way we’re gonna find him is if he stumbles past us,” Sakiko said.

“I can go around to the different shelters and ask around.”

“You’re hoping he’ll just happen to be at that exact shelter at that exact moment,” Sakiko said.

“It’s not like you have a printer and a stack of paper to post around, either,” Yuki said.

“So what do we do?” Darren asked.

“We’re safe here for now.” Yuki said, “We keep our head down, and we hide here. If our dads are alive, they’ll find us.”

Darren slumped against the wall.

“You can go if you want.” Yuki said, “But I think its a bad idea.”

Darren took a deep breath.

“No, you’re right.” Darren said, “Holding up here for a few days is a good plan. But only a few days. I don’t want to run out of food and still be stuck here.”

“Well.” Sakiko said, “Now that we’ve managed to talk some sense into you, we can go over what we have and what we need. Since I love lists all so much.”

Over the course of an hour, while they ate lunch, they went over the list of supplies that Sakiko had compiled while they were sleeping. They didn’t have much. Some random things like a twelve-man, three room tent, Darren had no idea how they would be able to take it from the storage unit. They did have a rather large first aid kit as well as water for three weeks if they rationed it carefully.

“Do we know if anyone else is in this building?” Darren asked.

Yuki looked at him blankly.

“No,” Yuki said, “I didn’t think of that.”

“We could have problems living in the same building,” Darren said.

“Then two of us should go out and look around.” Yuki said, “Who wants to stay here?”

“I’ll stay here.” Sakiko said, “If we’re gonna live here, this storage unit needs a good cleaning.”

Darren picked up a large crowbar off of the ground.

“What are you doing with that?” Sakiko said.

“These lockers are abandoned and probably always will be.” Darren said, “We need some things. Like rubber boots that fit me. Extra clothes. Weapons. Food. There may be a some in a locker somewhere.”

“And if you find a pile of someone’s jewelry?” Yuki asked.

“Why do we need jewelry?” Darren said, “We’re not thieves.”

“Uhuh,” Sakiko said.

“Plus there’s still some semblance of order out there.” Darren said, “Until that disintegrates, I don’t think we should take anything that we don’t need to survive.”

“And after?” Sakiko asked.

“Then after, small trinkets like that will be useful for bartering,” Darren said.

“That’s stealing,” Sakiko said.

“If society disintegrates, then the storage unit is abandoned. The original owner is probably dead, and it won’t matter who it belongs to.”

“If society disintegrates?” Sakiko said, “Help will come to save us.”

“Sakiko.” Yuki said, “I’m afraid there will be no help.”

“What do you mean?”

Yuki looked at Darren.

“You tell her,” Yuki said to Darren.

“Yellowstone blew its top.” Darren said, “Most of America is covered in ash. The last I saw is that earthquakes are happening all over the globe. There is no help coming.”

Sakiko was silent for a moment.

“Sakiko, listen,” Yuki said, “Darren has some good points about scavenging, we need supplies. There might be some dried food in one of the more accessible bays. There might be weapons. Or clothes.”

“And if tomorrow it turns back to normal and help shows up?” Sakiko said.

“Then I’m sure they’ll overlook our crimes because we only took what we needed to survive,” Yuki said.

“Okay.” Sakiko said, “Only what we need to survive. We will talk out what to do after society has broken down later.”

Yuki peeked out the small peephole.

“I don’t see anyone,” Yuki said, “But its so dark that its impossible to see anything.”

“Where are those flashlights,” Darren said.

Sakiko handed him and Yuki a flashlight as well as a couple empty backpacks.

Yuki opened the door to the storage unit. Light from the oil lamp flooded the hallway with the flickering light.

The hallway was pitch black in either direction. Yuki turned on the flashlight and pointed it down the hall.

“Careful with the light.” Darren said, “Keep it away from corners in the hallway, that way if someone else is in the building, then they won’t be alerted to our presence if we can help it.”

Sakiko closed the storage unit door behind them.

Darren and Yuki walked down the hallway. They crept along the halls trying to be as silent as they could. The building was three stories tall, Yuki’s storage unit was on the ground floor.

Chapter 14

Darren and Yuki ambled along the first floor of the storage building. At the front of the building, by the bay doors, was a door to the office as well as a couple doors that were marked, ‘Toilets.’ Darren checked them, and the toilet was going to be uncomfortable at best. They were the squatty-potty style that was popular in the past.

They listened to the sounds of the building. Darren thought that if someone else were in the building, then they would make noise at some point. But so far, they had heard nothing and had seen no one. Darren walked up the stairs and searched the next two floors. Darren frequently paused to listen to see if there was anyone else in the building. There were no noises, but for their own footsteps and breathing. No sound echoed down the halls of the building. The entire building was empty of people.

“Should we go back down and try the office,” Darren said.

“That’s a good idea.” Yuki said, “It may have a fridge with some food and a first aid kit.”

“Lead the way,” Darren said.

“There are signs,” Yuki said.

“Reading Japanese isn’t my strong suit,” Darren said.

Yuki pointed to a large sign that had some Japanese characters on it. Underneath it was the sign in English. It said ‘Office.’

“You didn’t even look at the sign.” Yuki said, “And you’ve been here a year.”

“Sorry,” Darren said.

“How did you get accepted into Japanese Highschool?”

“By the skin of my teeth,” Darren said.

“Skin of teeth?” Yuki said.

“I studied hard and just barely made it in,” Darren said.

They walked down the hall and down the stairs to a door set with a heavy steel frame.

Darren turned the handle. It was locked with both a deadbolt and the handle.

“Crap.” Darren said, “How to break in?”

Darren looked at the door for a few seconds.

“Any ideas?” Darren asked.

“Metal bar like the police do.” Yuki said, “Your shoulder perhaps.”

Darren ran his fingers over the door frame, the handle, the hinges.

“Wait.” Darren said, “These guys are idiots.”

“Oh?”

“The hinges are on this side.” Darren said, “Watch this.”

Using the crowbar, Darren popped the hinge pins out of the hinges. A few seconds later the door was off. Darren set it to the side.

“We can put this back when we leave,” Darren said.

They walked into the small office. The office had a long counter to one side with a waiting area on the other. Workstations were behind the long desk. Big windows spanned one wall. Daylight streamed in through the windows showing the area outside.

The side of the building was on the outside of the wall that surrounded the storage building. Darren could see people walking around the street outside.

“Crap.” Darren said, “Light off and get behind something.”

Darren ducked behind a chair, and Yuki hid behind him.

“Why are we hiding?” Yuki said.

“Gray man principle. Do not bring attention to your self.” Darren said.

“Right.” Yuki said, “I told you that.”

After a couple minutes the people left the view of the window. Yuki stared out the window and at the sky as if something was wrong with it.

“Look outside.” Yuki said, “Do you notice anything?”

“Maybe.” Darren said, “The streets are filled with trash and wreckage?”

“No.” Yuki said, “Look at the sky. Does that look right to you?”

Darren looked at the sky. The sun, while bright, was muted somehow. It was dim and redder than it should have been. Darren looked at a parked car. Thin grey powder coated the car.

“The sky isn’t normal.” Darren said, “And is that snow?”

“I think its ash,” Yuki said.

“We better grab what we’re looking for and get back to Sakiko,” Darren said.

Darren looked around the small office from where he hid. A couple small rooms were to one side of the office.

“Where do those doors go to, I wonder,” Darren said.

“Break-room and managers office.” Yuki said, “There are signs on the doors.”

Darren looked out the window.

“Let’s go,” Darren said.

They walked across the office to the break room. They shut the door behind them.

A thin set of windows stretched across the top of exterior walls. Off to one side was a row of three lockers with padlocks. A large table wast in the middle of the room and a sink and counter-top to the other side of the room. A small bar fridge was underneath the counter top.

Darren walked over to the sink and turned it on. Nothing came out of the tap.

“Thought so.” Darren said, “No running water. The earthquake must have broken something.”

“Try those lockers with your bar,” Yuki said.

Darren walked over to one of the lockers. The locker had a flimsy lock on it. The kind you could get at a dollar store. Using his crowbar and an ample amount of force and noise, Darren busted the locker open.

Inside the locker was a pair of steel-toed work boots and a safety vest. Darren picked up the boots. They were very tiny.

“Yuki,” Darren said, “There’s a pair of boots in here. Do you think you can fit these?”

Yuki looked at them.

“No.” She said, “They’re too small for me.”

“What about for Sakiko?”

“No,” Yuki said, “Her feet are even bigger than mine.”

Darren tossed them back in the locker, and he moved to the next locker. With the same amount of force and effort, the following locker opened up.

“What’s in this one?” Yuki asked.

Darren looked in the locker. This one was covered in pictures of a small family. On the top shelf was a box with a needle in it, hanging on the hook was a waterproof jacket and on the floor was a pair of rubber boots. The boots looked like they would fit Darren.

“I have boots for me, a jacket for Sukiko and some drugs,” Darren said.

He handed the needle to Sukiko.

“What is it?” Darren asked.

Yuki looked at the needle for a few minutes.

“Its an epipen.” Yuki said, “It’s for people that are allergic to bees or peanuts. We can trade this. This’ll save someone’s life.”

Yuki put the epipen in her backpack. She searched through the cupboards. In it were coffee and sugar. A small first aid kit also found its way into her bag.

Darren broke open the last locker. He only found rotten food and garbage.

“This guy was a slob,” Darren said.

Yuki covered her nose and prepared to open the door to the small fridge.

“What are you doing?” Darren asked.

“I’m preparing myself for the stench of a lifetime,” Yuki said.

“I’m sorry.” Darren said, “I don’t understand.”

“A couple years ago, the power went out for a week.” Yuki said, “The fridge smelled so bad that we had to throw it out and buy a new one.”

Yuki opened the door. The fridge didn’t smell at all.

“There’s your problem.” Darren said in English with a bad Australian accent, “Powers out.”

“Funny man.”

“Not my best work.” Darren said, “Anything in there?”

“Old Pizza and some half full cans of soda,” Yuki said as she closed the fridge door.

Darren opened the break room door to peek if anyone was in view from the window. Seeing that no one was in sight, Darren walked over to the office door. The door was locked.

“This is getting annoying,” Darren said.

“How are you going to get it open?” Yuki asked.

Darren lifted up a boot and kicked the door open. The door handle busted apart, and the door opened.

“Destruction of property,” Yuki said.

“Only a little,” Darren said.

The office was small in size. A simple wooden desk was in the middle of the room. A filing cabinet was off to one side of the office. A large leather chair sat behind the desk.

“We could take the chair.” Darren said, “Have some comfort.”

“Really?”

“Sarcasm.” Darren said, “We don’t need a chair.”

Chapter 15

Darren rifled through the desk. He couldn’t read some of the papers on the desk, but he could understand most of them. They looked like they were account listings. To Darren, it was uninteresting for him to look at.

“What are you looking for?” Yuki said, “You can’t read the paper.”

Darren picked up a piece of paper.

“This says, ‘account’ right?” Darren asked, “I can read some. I’m just very slow at it.”

“I’m joking,” Yuki said.

“I know.”

Darren pulled the desk drawer. It was locked. Darren put the crowbar up to the desk drawer and heaved at it. The front of the desk drawer pulled open.

“Success.” Darren said, “Are those filing cabinets unlocked?”

“Not sure,” Yuki said.

She pulled the door handle.

“They’re locked,” Yuki said.

“One moment,” Darren said.

Darren used the crowbar to break open the other side of the desk drawers.

“Can you look at the desk and see if there’s anything you think we might need?” Darren said.

Yuki nodded.

Darren used the crowbar to pry open the metal filing cabinet. It took more effort than the desk did.

“There’s nothing important in here.” Yuki said, then after a pause, “Oh, there’s a chocolate bar in here.” Yuki dug around in the desk drawer, “There are a bunch of chocolate bars in here.”

“Grab them,” Darren said.

With a thunderous bang, the filing cabinet flew open.

“Success,” Darren said.

Darren searched through the metal drawers. There was nothing significant in them. When he was exploring the bottom cabinet, Darren noticed that the bottom cabinet was different.

“That’s funny.” Darren said, “The bottom cabinet drawer is different than the other two.”

Darren lifted and slid the drawer out of the filing cabinet. In the cabinet was a large metal spacer that hid the back six inches of the drawer from view. In the space, was a handgun, some magazines and some boxes of bullets.

“That’s a 9mm,” Darren said as he picked it up.

“Is that real?” Yuki said.

“Yes. Its unloaded , but its real.” Darren said, “Its heavier than I thought it was going to be.”

“Are we going to keep it?” Yuki asked, “We could have trouble if we run into cops.”

“We’ll have trouble if we run into thugs without it.”

“Let’s keep it them,” Yuki said.

“Stand behind me.” Darren said, “I’m going to load this thing.”

Darren loaded the magazines and then loaded the handgun. He followed the motions that he remembered seeing in movies and video games.

“And there’s the safety.” Darren said, and flicked it off, “Its loaded, but no round is chambered.” Darren pulled back the slider and let it go. “Now its ready to fire.” Darren released the magazine and put it on top of the filing cabinet. He pulled back the slider and released the chambered round. With a flick of his finger, the safety was back on.

“It seems like you know what you’re doing?” Yuki said, “How do you know how to do that?”

“Video games.” Darren said, “and movies.”

Darren reloaded the handgun using the magazine that he had put on the filing cabinet. He put it in his inside coat pocket. It stayed secure in the big pocket. Darren put the two extra loaded magazines in his other inside coat pocket. The remaining rounds went into his backpack.

“We shouldn’t use that though.” Yuki said, “It could cause us lots of trouble.”

“Only if we have to.” Darren said, “We only have a limited amount of bullets.”

A glass ping echoed in the silent office.

“What was that?” Yuki asked.

Darren crouched down and threw the backpack onto his back. He crept his head out of the office and looked out into the central office area. The big windows had a large crack and an impact point from a large heavy object.

“Someone’s trying to break in.” Darren whispered, “We need to get across the office to the other end and get out of here.”

Yuki nodded.

“How?”

“The street is lower than we are.” Darren said, “If we crouch down, they won’t see us.”

Darren and Yuki both crouched down with their bellies on the floor. Darren kept himself as far away from the window as possible.

He looked out at the window, and he could see the heads of the people who were trying to break into the office.

After another moment of crawling, Darren reached the doorway. They crawled into the storage bay.

Yuki followed quickly behind him. Once she was in, he quietly closed the door behind him, putting the door hinge pins back into place.

“Problem.” Yuki said, “The door locks on the other side.”

Darren turned on his light.

“Stay here.” Darren said, “Listen to them. I’m going to see if I can’t get a locker open. I’ll pile a locker full of heavy boxes in front of this door.”

Yuki nodded.

Darren looked to the side and saw a nice long row of push carts. Darren grabbed a cart and pushed it down the hallway. After he had gone far enough that the gang of thugs couldn’t hear him, Darren got to work.

Using the knowledge of the sliding door to Yuki’s locker, Darren knew that the door locks consisted of two bars that slid horizontally into place when you turned the key.

Darren shoved the crowbar into the wood frame where he thought that the bar was. After a couple minutes of bashing, Darren broke a chunk out of the frame. Darren pushed the gate back into itself and shoved at the now exposed bar to get it and the other one in the door to unlock.

Darren slid the door up. The locker was filled with boxes. Darren picked up a box. It was light.

“Shit,” Darren said.

He tossed the box out into the hallway and grabbed a few more. The third box was cumbersome. After another couple minutes, the cart was full of heavy boxes.

Darren pushed the cart over to the office door. He walked using careful footsteps on the concrete floor. The cart squeaked as he neared Yuki.

Yuki motioned quiet and for him to kill the light.

“They’re on the other side searching the office,” Yuki said when Darren stood next to her.

“Then let’s pile these boxes quickly so I can go back for more,” Darren said.

Darren stacked four trips worth of boxes in front of the door.

“No one’s getting through those doors,” Yuki said.

“Shh,” Darren said.

A voice echoed through the office.

“We got the main register, but it looks like this place was hit before we got here.” A thug said on the other side of the door.

“Why are we hitting a storage unit?” A voice said.

“Cause its an easy hit and we’re here.” The first voice said, “And there could be a storage unit full of gold in here.”

“Or grandpa’s old socks. I think we need to look elsewhere. If someone got the office first, then they might be in the storage unit. Let’s not get into a fight.”

Footsteps echoed away, then the sound of boots on glass echoed. Then there was nothing.

“That was close,” Darren said.

Darren slumped onto a box.

Yuki laughed, and Darren looked at Yuki with a raised eyebrow.

“This box says Grandpa’s socks,” Yuki said.

“That one was way heavier than socks,” Darren said.

Yuki shrugged.

“What time is it?” Yuki asked.

“Nearly five in the evening.” Darren said, “It’ll be dark soon.”

“We should head back to the storage unit,” Yuki said.

“Yeah we should, but I’m worried about securing this place,” Darren said.

“After some food, maybe we can look around for some ideas,” Yuki said.

“Sounds like a plan,” Darren said.

Chapter 16

Darren and Yuki banged on the storage unit door.

“What’s the password,” Sakiko yelled from inside the storage unit.

“Open up Sakiko,” Yuki said.

Sakiko opened the door. The door slid up to reveal Sakiko standing in front of them. The oil lamp was lit from the ceiling. Sakiko stood in her bra and panties.

“Took you long enough.” Sakiko said, “Did you find anything out there?”

Darren turned beet red and turned around, away from Sakiko.

“Sakiko.” Yuki said, “Can you please put some clothes on?”

“Do you know how hot it is in here?” Sakiko said, “Especially when you’ve been cleaning?”

Darren peeked behind himself. A bunch of rags were piled in a corner by the door. A bucket of some type of cleaner beside them.

“Put a shirt on at least,” Yuki said.

“Darren can look.” Sakiko said, “If it’s okay with you Yuki.”

Yuki was silent for a moment.

“It’s not like we’re dating or anything.” Yuki said, “I suppose that a bra and panties are no worse than you walking around in a bikini.”

Darren turned around. Sakiko had rubber gloves on, in addition to her red bra and panties.

“Where did you find that underwear?” Darren asked.

“Why?” Sakiko asked.

“Cause when we pulled you out of your house, you had nothing but a pair of pink panties on,” Darren said.

“They’re Yuki’s.” Sakiko said, “We’ve been trading clothes since we were young, so they fit me.”

The boxes were all stacked to the back of the storage unit. It left the entire front of the storage unit clear and empty of boxes. On the floor of the unit was a blanket with their bags on top of it.

Sakiko placed her hand on Darren’s chest.

“Stop right there.” Sakiko said, “I spent all afternoon cleaning this unit to make it livable. Take your shoes and your dirty clothes off right here.”

“But my pants are filthy…” Darren said.

“And I’m in my underwear.” Sakiko said, “Strip.”

Yuki laughed and smiled. She took her shoes off as she closed the sliding door behind them.

“You too.” Sakiko said, “You’re just as dirty.”

Darren’s face turned red again as he took off his shoes, pants, and shirt. He felt nervous and uncomfortable wearing nothing but his boxers. But then Yuki and Sakiko were in their underwear too.

“Happy,” Yuki said.

“Very.” Sakiko said as she looked at Darren with a grin, “I didn’t actually think you’d listen to me.”

Darren walked onto the blanket and sat down. Yuki followed him and sat beside him.

Sakiko took the rubber cleaning gloves off and threw them into the rag pile. She sat down in front of them. Her legs crossed.

“The unit is getting homey,” Darren said as he kept his eyes averted from Sakiko.

“Did you find the toilets?” Sakiko asked.

“Yes,” Darren told her about them.

“There’s a tank at the top part of the wall,” Sakiko said, “Is it full of water?”

“Yes.” Darren said staring at the ceiling, “But water will be an issue with them, we’ll have a limited amount of flushes.”

“What else did you find?” Sakiko said.

“The building is empty,” Darren said.

Darren then proceeded to tell her about the office and the thugs.

“So the office is barricaded by a steel door and then a pile of boxes,” Sakiko said.

“Yes.” Darren said, “We came back to get some food and then we need to find all the other entrances to this place to secure them.”

“Did you want me to come out with you two?” Sakiko asked.

“Yes actually.” Darren said, “I don’t think that’s a bad idea.”

“Definitely.” Yuki said, “We should all learn the quick ways through this building. I think this is going to be home for a while.”

Sakiko gave Yuki a questioning look.

“What?” Yuki said, “We need to get out there and get this building secure.”

Yuki walked over to a pile of MRI’s, and they split it between them.

Darren spent the time looking at either the floor, the boxes, or the ceiling.

“Darren.” Yuki said, “Are you okay?”

“Yes.” Darren said, “Why do you ask?”

“Cause you won’t look at us,” Yuki said.

“I don’t want to seem rude.”

“Act as if we were guys,” Sakiko said.

“Guys don’t walk around each other in their underwear,” Darren said.

“Well.” Sakiko said as she crawled up to him, “Then don’t act as if we were guys, but I wouldn’t walk around in my underwear if I didn’t want you to look at me.”

Darren looked at Sakiko’s face. He made sure he didn’t look down at her chest.

Yuki grabbed Darren’s chin and pulled it down so he was looking at Sakiko breasts.

“What do you think of her?” Yuki said.

“Umm…” Darren said.

Yuki kissed Darren on the lips.

“Its okay to look.” Yuki said, “Its how Sakiko copes with stress. She gets grabby and bubbly.”

“Oh,” Darren said.

Darren gave Sakiko a look. She did look pretty in the red bra and panties. Yuki looked good in her underwear as well.

After the three of them split the MRI, Darren got dressed in his grubby clothes.

“We should get out there,” Darren said.

They left the storage unit and used the flashlights to light their way as they walked down the hallway.

“So we have the big set of overhead doors to secure somehow.” Darren said, “Then I’m assuming that there’s going to be at least one or two other ways to get out of this building.”

“Fire escape routes maybe,” Yuki said.

“Exactly,” Darren said.

Darren, Yuki, and Sakiko walked through the building. Darren showed Sakiko where the washrooms were. Warned not to flush them unless they had to. He also showed her the pile of boxes that blocked the door to the office.

After fifteen minutes of walking, Darren found two fire escape doors. Each one had an overly broad door handle meant to set off a fire alarm if pushed. Darren was sure that if he pushed it, nothing would happen.

“I was wondering.” Darren said, “Why isn’t there any emergency powered lights on?”

Yuki laughed.

“My dad picked this one cause it was substandard in certain things and generally shunned by the rich people.” Yuki said, “Its behind on its safety features, but its very secure.”

“So no rich clients means that no real risk of it being robbed or looted in this situation?” Darren asked.

“Exactly.” Yuki said, “Notice that those thugs grabbed the money from the front, but they didn’t try very hard to get into the storage part.”

“Out of curiosity,” Darren said, “Why didn’t we just go a shelter? Have them help us?”

“I’ve been skirting that question for a while, haven’t I?”

Darren and Sakiko both nodded.

“In the last disaster, we weren’t prepared at all. And after my dad and I had been picked up by our rescuers, we were stuck in a shelter for a few months while we waited to be told to do stuff. Dad’s work was destroyed, and he was laid off. We had no money to leave and go to a hotel. We were absolutely helpless. We were stuck jumping at the whim of those bureaucrats. It was the most horrible experience we had ever experienced. My dad vowed that if we were ever to get into a similar situation, we would be prepared. We wouldn’t go to the shelters to be treated like cattle.”

Sakiko gave Yuki a hug.

Darren nodded.

“Well.” Darren said, “I’ll help you any way I can. But first, how do we secure those doors?”

“We could pile boxes across these two doors.” Sakiko said, “But how do we secure the overhead doors?”

“Let’s worry about the overhead doors later,” Yuki said, and she turned to Darren, “Where was that locker that you broke into?”

“This way,” Darren said.

Darren led them down the hallway to the opened locker.

“Here it is,” Darren said.

The locker was still piled up full of boxes.

Sakiko looked at the boxes.

“Do you know what this is from?” Sakiko asked.

“No? What?” Yuki said.

“This is from that bookstore called ‘Grandpa’s Books.’ Its all leather bound books that are sold to the collectors. This must be his overflow.”

“This will make excellent barricade building material,” Darren said.

Darren, Yuki, and Sakiko loaded up cartloads of the boxes of books. They tracked them across the storage building and piled them at one door and then the other. The piles were four boxes deep, and three boxes wide and as tall as the door was. The piles made it hard to push the cart past the piles of boxes.

Chapter 17

Darren, Yuki, and Sakiko walked to the overhead garage doors. Darren studied the garage doors and then the metal door to its side.

“The weak point is these doors.” Darren said, “Right now they have a metal bar going into a little slot here that will keep the door down. If we can get a lock or something, we can lock them, but there’s no way to prevent someone breaking it apart with an ax or something.”

“The man door has a slot for a piece of lumber,” Darren said and looked to the side.

In a corner by the door was a large piece of lumber. Darren picked it up and put it in the barricade.

“One door secured,” Yuki said.

Darren looked at the big overhead doors.

“So the doors are sufficiently locked, right?” Yuki asked.

“They’ll keep the thieves looking for an easy score, but not wanting to use a lot of effort in their attempt,” Darren said.

“Could we pile boxes and stuff in front of the doors?” Yuki asked.

“We could.” Darren said, “But it’ll only slow down the invaders.”

“Let’s brace the door, plug the rollers. Whatever. Then open up some of these lockers and see if we can get some stuff to use to secure these doors.” Yuki said.

Darren nodded and walked up to the first locker that he saw. Using the knowledge from before, Darren started to pry at the door frame. After a few minutes, Darren slid the door up.

The locker was small and only partially full. Darren, Yuki, and Sakiko looked around at the boxes and opened a few of them.

“Nick-nacks,” Yuki said.

“I got stuffed animals in this one,” Sakiko said.

“You know what,” Darren said, “Lets pile stuff in front of the doors.”

“You said that it wouldn’t be perfect,” Sakiko said.

“So what. If someone is that desperate enough to get in here to smash apart a door and then to push a large pile of crap out of the way, then he’s gonna find a way in no matter what we do. But he/ll be creating so much racket that we’ll know he’s coming, then we can go out another door,”

“A door that we just piled boxes in front of,” Sakiko said.

“The piles of crap buys us time to move those boxes of crap out of the way and for us to make our way out of here.”

“I like it, let’s do it,” Yuki said.

Darren, Yuki, and Sakiko worked late into the night moving boxes and piling it into a large pile in front of the garage door. Darren thought he could still get more stuff on the heap, but if he got much more, then he wouldn’t be able to access the bathroom. When they were done, they were too tired to do anything else. They dragged themselves back to the storage unit to sleep for the night.

The next day, Darren leaned against the wall. In his hands were a small bowl of porridge that Yuki had made. He wore only his boxers. Sakiko leaned against his shoulder, still asleep. She was wearing her panties and a t-shirt.

Yuki walked to Darren holding a bowl for Sakiko. Yuki was dressed in a tank top and short shorts. Darren was trying not to stare at her.

Sakiko opened one eye, then closed it again. She burrowed her way closer against Darren.

“Give me five more minutes.” Sakiko said, “I slept poorly, and Darren is comfy.”

“That’s fine,” Yuki said, and she walked up and sat beside Darren.

“I just realized something,” Darren said.

“What?” Yuki said.

“I just realized how little I know about my dad,” Darren said.

“What do you mean?” Yuki said.

“He’s been over here for six years.” Darren said, “And friends with your dad for five them?”

“Something like that,” Yuki said.

“After my dad divorced my mom and moved,” Darren said, “I hadn’t seen him in person at all. I only talked to him over the Internet maybe a dozen times. I’ve been living here a year, but my dad works too much. Some months, I only see him a few times for a few meals.”

“That is sad.” Sakiko said, “My parents are nature photographers and always jetting to exotic locations, leaving me here to study. But at least I saw them regularly.”

“Exactly,” Darren said.

“What brought up those thoughts?” Sakiko asked.

“I realized that I might never get to know him very well.” Darren said, “That I might have missed my chance.”

“For one.” Yuki said, “Your dad has embraced the Japanese culture. I personally think he was born into the wrong culture.”

“What does the term Gaijin mean?” Darren asked, “You guys keep calling me one, and I don’t understand.”

“A Gaijin is anyone that’s not Japanese,” Yuki said.

“Is it bad being a Gaijin?” Darren asked.

“You’re not Japanese.” Yuki said, “You will never be Japanese, even if you embrace our ways as much as your dad has. It still won’t make you Japanese.”

“So that means I’m a Gaijin.”

“Yes,” Yuki said.

“There are three types of Gaijin’s,” Sakiko said.

“Three?”

“Yes,” Yuki said, “you can embrace the Japanese culture, you can become Japanese in everything, but name. It is hard, but you will make some good friends like you dad has.”

“Or?” Darren said.

“Embrace being a Gaijin.” Sakiko said, “Its harder in some ways, and you’ll make some people angry at you for being so silly.”

“Or?” Darren said.

“Reject being anything, be friends with other Gaijin and then when you leave Japan, whenever that is, you won’t have made a single Japanese friend.”

“So those are the same choices my dad had to make as well?”

“Yes, but most people make them unconsciously. Just as I’m sure, you have too.”

“The first one.”

Yuki nodded, “We’ll see.”

Sakiko kissed Darren on the cheek and got up. She sauntered over to the pot and dished her out a bowl of food.

“My body hurts today,” Sakiko said.

“Well.” Darren said, “We have more to do today.”

“What’s the plan?” Sakiko said.

“I want to go through some of the other lockers.” Darren said, “See if there’s anything else that we can use.”

Sakiko nodded.

For three days, Darren, Yuki, and Sakiko worked around the storage unit. They broke into lockers and dug through the contents. Darren didn’t have anyplace to put the stuff, so he moved things out of the way. Unfortunately, they didn’t find stashes of money or weapons. Most items they found were baby pictures, furniture, and other useless things.

The first day, they had heard no signs of life from the outside world. They felt a few aftershocks, but nothing to even suggest that there was an outside world.

Sometime during the middle of the second day, gunshots rang out from around the building. The metallic crunch of a car crash echoed through the building as it shook from the impact.

For the day, more and more noise and chaos could be heard from the other side of the brick walls. The chaos rose and sank like waves in the ocean.

In the early morning hours of the third day, Darren was looking through a large locker on the ground floor. The locker seemed to be full of large furniture. Which was all made of solid hardwood and was coated with many layers of glossy lacquer. Darren thought that the furniture had to be expensive.

Darren was currently trying to figure out how to drag the large items out of the locker by himself. He knew that Yuki and Sakiko weren’t going to want to help him with the task. He hoped there was something useful in this locker. He had seen a sign that said, ‘Yum yum’s.’ He hoped it was a sign from a fast food restaurant and that there was some canned food in a box.

In the constant darkness of the storage unit, a series of loud bangs echoed across the building.

Darren jerked upright as he tensed. He knew that it had to be a door somewhere.

He threw a box to the floor. The fine china that filled it smashed to pieces.

Darren ran down the hallway towards their locker.

Standing in the door of it was Yuki. She wore a pair of dirty clothes.

“Was that a door?” Yuki asked.

“Yes.” Darren said, “Where’s my gun?”

Darren lifted off a box as the echoes from the door rang out once more.

Sitting underneath the box was the gun. Darren grabbed it and ran towards the door. Yuki grabbed a pry-bar and followed close behind.

Darren ran across the storage building to the back door.

The banging echoed again. To Darren, it sounded like someone was trying to break into the door.

Sakiko stood next to the door. In her hand was a giant hammer.

“Shh,” Sakiko said.

Darren crept beside her and stopped against the concrete.

“Hurry up.” A male voice said in Japanese, “The JDF will be here soon.”

“I don’t know what’s worse, going to a JDF Shelter or joining a color gang.” A female voice said, “I think we need to keep moving.”

“Shut it will you two.” A third Japanese voice said, “This door isn’t wanting to budge. I know the building. A pry-bar on the latch and a kick should open it up.”

Chapter 18

Another loud bang echoed from the door, the boxes of books moved back a hair. Darren, Yuki, and Sakiko stood behind some boxes. Panic filled Darren. Whoever was behind the door was trying to get in. They would already be in if they hadn’t blocked the door with boxes of books.

Multiple footsteps echoed from the other side of the door.

“Shit.” The female voice yelled.

“JDF! Stop right there!” A male JDF Soldier said, “ Stop!”

“Halt.” A female JDF Solider’s voice said, “A shelter is a safe place. Stop running.”

Darren, Yuki, and Sakiko huddled behind the wall. He didn’t know what was going on and that worried him.

“What was that…” Sakiko began, but Darren held his hand to her lips.

Another loud bang echoed through the door.

“I don’t think anyone is too stupid to hide in that building, specialist.” A female JDT soldier said from beyond the door.

“Why not sarg?” The male JDP soldier said.

“Cause there’s no food in there.” The female JDF Soldier said, “It’s not like a bakery. Come. We need to keep moving.”

Darren didn’t know what to make of the exchange. For the most part, he though they were safe in the building, but he knew deep down that they were going to be forced to leave at some point.

“What’s going on?” Darren asked.

“The Japanese Defense Force is out,” Yuki said.

“Martial Law.” Darren said, “This isn’t good.”

“I’m nervous about leaving this building,” Yuki said.

“I am too, but we have to leave at some point,” Sakiko said.

“We haven’t found any new food or water in any of the lockers,” Darren said.

“In a week, we run out of water,” Sakiko said.

“How much food do we have?” Darren asked.

“Two days. We do have enough kerosene to last us a few months. We have lots of batteries too.” Yuki said.

“So we need to leave here in the next day or so.” Sakiko said, “Or we risk running out of food.”

“Or we go out and try to scavenge things close to here,” Darren said.

“Going out is bad.” Yuki said, “Those JDF soldiers sound like they’re pulling people to the shelters.”

“How much control do they have?” Darren asked, “It sounds like they’re trying during the daylight, but its a drop in the bucket.”

“So what do we do?” Sakiko asked, “Where do we go?”

“I don’t know.” Yuki said, “My dad was supposed to be here. He promised.”

“We need a plan,” Darren said.

“I know that,” Yuki said.

“I understand you’re scared.” Darren said, “I understand that you don’t want to get stuck in a shelter. And I don’t either. But we can’t stay here forever, and if we stay too long, then we’ll be leaving with no food and water.”

Yuki frowned and sat down on the ground.

“We need to stay hidden until after the die off,” Yuki said.

“The what?” Sakiko said.

“Remember that Captain?” Yuki said.

“Yes,” Sakiko said, “What about him?”

“He told us to get out of Tokyo.”

“And?”

“There’s no more food coming in.” Yuki said, “There’s no food on grocery shelves. There’s no new food being shipped to where its needed. People are going to starve.”

“Won’t everyone else want to head out of Tokyo too?” Sakiko asked.

“This is just a theory that’s been discussed in secret.” Yuki said, “But, the theory is that if something bad were to happen and help from the outside world was an impossibility, then the Japanese Government would have to close down Japan’s largest city centers and let the people fend for themselves.”

“Why?” Darren asked.

“Cause Japan can only grow fifty percent of its food needs. If it were to let the major cities starve, like all of Tokyo, or Nagoya. Then the rest of the nation will have enough food to live.” Yuki said.

“Its a theory,” Sakiko said.

“You’re skeptical,” Yuki said.

“So am I.” Darren said, “I would have to test your theory by questioning people or trying to get out of the city.”

“Not you too Darren,” Yuki said, “You don’t believe me?”

“I don’t believe that the government has a secret plan to starve half the population.” Darren said, “A secret like that wouldn’t stay secret.”

“Its true though,” Yuki said.

“How do you know?” Darren asked.

“Cause my dad had a politician over for dinner a couple weeks ago.” Yuki said, “The topic of prepping came up. They talked about that.”

“Okay.” Darren said, “How long do we have until this mass die off?”

“In about four, maybe five weeks, all of the weak and desperate people will be dead,” Yuki said.

“Then what?” Darren asked.

“After that, it’ll be safer to leave at that point. We could ride our bikes to the bug out location.”

“I still don’t understand why we’re entertaining such a topic.” Sakiko said, “Die off? Desperate people?”

“I’ve done a lot of thinking about this scenario.” Yuki said, “Power grids are down. Probably for good. No cargo ships filled with goods are moving. People will run out of food, and fuel in no time.”

“I understand that, but can you be correct?”

“I think this event is global.” Yuki said, “I think its going to get worse before it gets better.”

“But…”

“Look at how many people already died.” Yuki said, “How many people were trapped in the earthquake then got washed away by the Tsunami?”

“That earthquake lasted twenty minutes,” Darren said.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Sakiko said.

“Everything.” Yuki said, “Earthquakes don’t usually last that long. Then the tsunami. It’s like something from a bad Hollywood movie, but its real life.”

“But.” Sakiko said, “What about the government? Shouldn’t they be bringing in emergency supplies to people?”

“Yes.” Yuki said, “But with that long of an earthquake, they’re going to be scrambling to help a lot of people. People will get forgotten about. It did last time. Remember?”

“Okay.” Darren said, “Let’s say that Sakiko and I both believe you. What happens in two days once we run out of food?”

“I don’t know,” Yuki said.

Darren thought for a couple seconds.

“How far away is the bug out location?” Darren asked.

“Its three hundred kilometers away.” Yuki said, “Its a four-hour trip to drive there.”

“What is it?” Darren asked.

“My dad bought a piece of land deep in the mountains. There aren’t very many people for kilometers and kilometers. We have it set up. Food, water, a small cabin built out of the way. No one knows its there and no one will be able to find us. Except those that know where to look.” Yuki said.

“How long if we walk it?” Darren asked.

“If there were no one stopping us, or no roadblocks,” Yuki said, “Eight days.”

“A vehicle would be better,” Sakiko said.

“Yeh.” Darren said, “But a vehicle makes noise and people will notice us passing.”

“What are you thinking?” Yuki asked.

“In that locker on the second level, there’s a couple child carriers that we can strap to the back of a bike.” Darren said, “We ride at night, and we ride fast.”

“If we ride,” Yuki said, “that’ll cut our time down to at least half. We’ll have to stop to rest four times. How do we find safe locations to stop for the night?”

“What about motorbikes?” Sakiko asked.

“What do you mean?”

“The advantage of a motorbike is that it can go places that a car can’t. Its very fast. We can make the trip in a few hours one night. The night will defuse the noise from our engine and people won’t know where it is coming from.” Sakiko said.

“That sounds good,” Darren said, “But where do we get a motorbike?”

“I don’t know.” Sakiko said, “We would have to venture outside to try and find a running one.”

“Fat chance of that happening.” Darren said, “Running motorbikes are going to be hard to find.”

Darren, Yuki, and Sakiko all sat down together to eat some food, rice ,re-hydrated meat, and vegetable pieces that they had no idea what it was because the label was too faded to read. All they learned from the label was that it was good for thirty years.

“Its getting late.” Darren said, “We should go to sleep.”

Darren, Yuki, and Sakiko moved to their respected sleeping areas.

“This is ridiculous.” Sakiko said, “Its cold in here at night.”

Sakiko picked up her sleeping mat and plopped it next to Yuki’s mat. Then dragged Darren’s over to be next to Yuki’s.

“Or did you want to be in the middle?” Sakiko asked Darren.

“I’m good at the end,” Darren said.

Yuki and Sakiko quickly fell asleep curled up together. Darren stared into the darkness. Thoughts of home, his mom, his dad, his sister and his brother raced around his head. In the silence of the night, tears rolled down his face. Like all nights he had spent in this dark storage unit, Darren spent it with tears rolling down his face. After a little while of him silently sobbing to himself, Darren finally fell asleep.

He dreamed that a massive water monster was chasing him down the street. Except he was back home in Vancouver and he was trying to catch up to Yuki, who kept calling to him. Nothing made sense. He wondered why he was in Vancouver and not in Tokyo. He also questioned how he got there from Tokyo.

“Darren wake up.” A voice called in the darkness.

Darren opened his eyes.

Yuki and Sakiko stood overtop of him, a flashlight was shining into a white cardboard box. The light bounced around the storage unit and lit up the room.

“What is it?” Darren said, “Is it time to get up?”

“No.” Yuki said, “You were calling out and talking in your sleep.”

“Nightmare,” Sakiko said.

“Sorry.” Darren said, “I had a hard time getting to sleep. That’s all.”

“That’s okay,” Yuki said as she lay down beside him.

“I think you need comforting,” Sakiko said as she lay down on the other side of him.

In the darkness of the storage unit, Yuki leaned into Darren and kissed him on the lips. Darren felt himself melting into her. A moment later, Yuki released his lips from its passionate embrace.

“Hello,” Darren said.

Yuki smiled, “It felt like the thing to do.”

“I like it,” Darren said.

“Don’t forget about me.” Sakiko said, “I don’t want to be stuck watching.”

Darren felt his face get hot.

“We’re in this together.” Sakiko said, “The three of us.”

Darren was at a loss for words.

“Each of us has loved ones that are unaccounted for.” Sakiko continued, “Each of us is suffering from hurt, heartache, and pain. We need each other in more ways than one. I love each of you, and I’d like to show it any way I can.”

Sakiko reached over and touched Yuki’s chin. She raised her chin up and kissed Yuki on the lips.

“Sakiko.” Yuki said, “I don’t know.”

“Shh.” Sakiko said, “Darren doesn’t mind, right?”

Darren blubbered incoherently.

Yuki kissed Sakiko on the lips back. Then Sakiko kissed Darren, and Darren kissed Yuki.

Sakiko undid the top of Darren’s pants and pulled at his boxers.

Yuki and Sakiko kissed and sucked on Darren. Sakiko lost her pants at some point, and Darren discovered the intense feeling of her sitting on his face.

Darren was lost in a sea of passion when one of the girls, Darren wasn’t sure which put a condom on him. Yuki and Sakiko took turns riding him like a horse.

Chapter 19

After what seemed like a couple hours, the two girls were cuddled on either side of Darren. Darren felt each of their soft breasts against his skin.

“How long has it been?” Darren asked.

“Twenty minutes,” Sakiko said.

“That’s it.” Darren said, “It felt like longer.”

“You sure did last a long time.” Sakiko said, “Some of the boys from the Katana Club only lasted a few minutes.”

“Katana Club?” Yuki said, “Sakiko. Really?”

“You mean you weren’t fooling around with them?” Sakiko said, “They said you were. That’s why I did it with them.”

“A couple of them tried, even got my top off, but I didn’t go all the way,” Yuki said.

Yuki leaned over to Sakiko and punched her in the arm.

“You aren’t angry?” Sakiko said to Darren, “Are you?”

“Why would I be angry?” Darren said, “The world has gone to shit. I’m just glad that I get to spend it with two pretty, loving angels.”

Sakiko kissed Darren on the lips. Darren felt her tongue go into his mouth.

“Sakiko?” Yuki said.

“Yes, Yuki?” Sakiko asked.

Yuki kissed Sakiko on the lips.

“Are you two ready to go again?” Darren asked.

“We are women, we’re ready anytime,” Yuki said.

Then a bang echoed through the building. The bang shattered the silence of the night.

Darren was up and off the floor, he grabbed a nearby flashlight and turned it on.

Yuki and Sakiko were awake next to him.

“Get dressed.” Darren said, “I’m gonna take a look.”

Another bang echoed through the building.

Darren put on a pair of pants, a shirt, and a pair of boots. Darren pulled the handgun from its hiding place. He handed his flashlight to Yuki.

“Keep silent and turn the light off once you’re dressed.” Darren said, “I’ll be right back.”

Darren left the storage locker and went down the hall towards the sound. His eyes quickly adapted to the lack of light. Darren got to the front of the storage area.

Large piles of people’s stuff were stacked in front of the bay doors and in front of the door to the office.

Another loud bang echoed through the office door.

Darren crouched down next to the pile of books.

“Its bloody blocked with stuff.” A voice said from the other side in Japanese.

“That means people are living in this.” A second voice said in Japanese, “You probably woke them up, and now they know we’re here.”

“So.” The first voice said, “They’re probably pissing in their shoes.”

“If they have food and are living in here, we should take it. If they know that we’re coming, then we’ve lost the element of surprise.” The second voice said, “Check the other doors. See if they’ve blocked them all.”

Darren heard footsteps echo from around the building. They exited the office and walked into the loading bay.

“There’s a loading bay door and a man door.”

A bang echoed through the man door.

“Its blocked too.” The first voice said.

Darren heard the second set of footsteps echo from the office to the loading bay.

“I doubt this place is full of supplies.” The second voice said.

“Remember what that kid and his girlfriend said yesterday.” The first voice said, “That he knows of at least one prepper that uses it for storage.”

“Who knows how much supplies are actually here.” The second voice said, “That kid could have been lying.”

“But any amount of supplies is good, right?” The first voice said, “That’s what the boss said.”

“So how do we break in?” The second voice said.

“We bring in the truck and use it to pull down the bay doors.” The first voice said, “Boom. We’re in.”

“How many people do you think are in here?” The second voice said.

“Not a lot or else they would have ventured out to gather supplies.” The first voice said, “And then we would have seen them.”

“When do we do it?” The second voice said.

“Tomorrow night.”

Gravel crunched as the two people walked away from the loading bay. Darren heard them enter the office and then the crunch of broken glass announced that they had left.

Darren walked back to the storage unit.

Yuki and Sakiko sat in the darkness waiting for Darren to return.

“Its me.” Darren said, “I’m back.”

Yuki turned on a flashlight.

“What’s going on?” Yuki said, “False alarm?”

“No.” Darren said, “People are getting desperate. A couple thugs were sizing up the building. They’re gonna hit us tomorrow night.”

Darren told them about their conversation.

“So they’re coming in tomorrow through the bay doors?” Sakiko said.

Darren nodded.

“Do we defend or do we flee?” Sakiko said.

“If we flee, we have to face the crowds of hungry, desperate people.”

“If we stay and defend we will have to defend the place from constant attack.” Darren said, “They intend on pulling down the bay doors.”

“I vote that we leave.” Sakiko said, “Better to leave and take everything of value with us. Leave them with nothing.”

“I vote that we leave, take it all with us, and then burn the building down as we leave,” Darren said.

Sakiko smiled.

“I like that idea,” Sakiko said.

“How do we get a building built out of bricks to burn?” Yuki asked.

“We pile all that crap in front of the door and set it on fire.” Darren said, “We have enough kerosene.”

“So we burn the door down for them?” Yuki asked.

“I was thinking of lighting it when they attack and use the fire as a distraction for us to get out,” Darren said.

“How do we get out?” Yuki asked, “We blocked all the doors?”

“We go out a back fire escape,” Darren said.

“Okay.” Yuki said, “Let’s do this. What’s the plan?”

“Are we starting now?” Darren asked.

“Yes. We’re up, we can nap once we’re ready for them.” Yuki said.

“Good idea,” Sakiko said, “That way if they attack earlier than we thought, we’re still ready.”

“Yuki and Sakiko,” Darren said, “Between the two of you, can you pack the bags up? Grab those child carriers and load them up with stuff.”

“We can do that.” Yuki said, “What are you gonna do?”

“I’m gonna start leaving some surprises for them.” Darren said, “I’ll have to clear out our escape route.”

Yuki lit the kerosene lamp, and the two girls got to work.

Darren grabbed a cart and started loading it full of random bits and pieces that he could find. Trip after trip he made. He would fill the cart full of items, then rush them to the big bay doors and piled them on. He grabbed the boxes of books from in front of the fire escape door. They were piled onto the heap of abandoned belongings.

After hours of work, Yuki approached him with a chunk of an MRI.

“Here.” Yuki said, “Eat.”

Darren stuffed his face with the food.

“Darren,” Yuki said, “I have a question for you.”

“What is it?” Darren asked.

“Do you think I’m being paranoid?” Yuki asked.

“No.” Darren said, “I think you’re scared and that you lost someone important to you. Now you don’t want that to happen again.”

“Where do we go?” Yuki asked.

“I thought we were headed to your bug out location,” Darren said.

“We should have left days ago.” Yuki said, “Our food situation is pretty low.”

“I know.” Darren said, “Maybe we can scavenge on the way.”

“Okay.” Yuki said, “Thanks for understanding.”

Yuki walked down the hallway, Darren knew she was lost in thought. She stopped a moment later.

“What type of relationship do we have?” Yuki asked.

“What do you mean?”

“We’re living in close quarters together, and Sakiko is with us. We’re all sleeping together. What does that make us?”

Darren thought about it for a minute.

“We’re family.” Darren said, “Our own original family is missing and probably dead, and that means that you two are my family. I’m not sure what our roles are, but I don’t think it matters. We’re family.”

“Family.” Yuki said, “So if I had slept with Sakiko, you wouldn’t be angry at me?”

“Only disappointed that you didn’t invite me to join.”

Yuki hugged and kissed him on the lips.

“Maybe once we get to where we’re going, we can have some fun times too,” Yuki said.

Yuki walked down the hallway and disappeared.

“When would they have time to do that?” Darren asked himself.

Chapter 20

After ten minutes, Darren had finished eating his snack and was back to working on the pile of stuff. The pile completely blocked the entranceway to the front area from the bay doors. Darren thought he could climb over all the things, but there was no secure footing, and he was sure that they would break something climbing through.

Darren returned to the storage unit. The three bikes were lined up in the hall in front of it. Two of the bikes had child carriers bolted to the back. Small piles of supplies were next to each bike.

“We’re almost done.” Sakiko said, “Those child carriers are pretty empty. Are you sure you didn’t want to take the tent?”

“Its too big,” Yuki said.

“How much water are we taking?” Darren asked.

“All of it,” Sakiko said, “But we have sanitation tablets and that water filter straw thingy. We should be fine.”

Darren nodded.

“I need all the kerosene that we’re not going to take,” Darren said.

Sakiko pointed to a pile of kerosene jugs by the door.

“Where’s Yuki?” Darren asked.

“She’s taking a poop,” Sakiko said.

Sakiko turned to Darren.

“I’d like to apologize,” Sakiko said.

“For what?” Darren said.

“For not being upfront with my intentions with Yuki. She and I slept together, and I apologize.” Sakiko said.

Darren laughed.

“I know. Yuki told me.” Darren said, “And I’m not angry.”

“You aren’t…”

“We’re a family.” Darren said, “We may not be related by blood…”

“Thank god for that, or this would be really awkward,” Sakiko said.

“… we don’t have done a ceremony together. And our relationship is different than normal. But we’re a family, through thick and thin. I’ll stay with you two until the very end. Till whenever we meet our fates, whatever they may be.”

Sakiko kissed Darren on the lips.

Darren laughed as he loaded up the jugs of kerosene onto his cart.

He hauled the jugs over to the giant pile. Darren tossed jugs randomly throughout the piles of boxes and furniture.

Darren only saw one jug open up, but it ended up right side up.

Darren left three jugs sitting by the start of the pile. A pile of cotton rags and a lighter sat next to the jugs.

After completing his task, Darren walked back to the storage unit. He found Yuki and Sakiko packing the child carriers and the three backpacks.

“Drink all the water you can from that pile, we dump it before we leave,” Yuki said pointing to a small pile by the door.

“What time is it?” Darren asked.

“You have the working watch,” Yuki said.

Darren looked at his watch.

“Its four in the evening. Have we been working all day?” Darren said, “Are we loaded?”

“Yes, and yes,” Yuki said as she closed the child carrier.

“Then we should rest,” Darren said.

“And eat,” Sakiko said.

Darren, Yuki, and Sakiko sat on the ground next to each other. They ate out of a couple cans of pork and beans.

“We should rest up.” Yuki said, “I’ll take first watch at the pile. They could come anytime.”

Darren closed his eyes and fell asleep instantly. Something that had never happened in the last two weeks.

After what seemed like a moment had passed, Darren felt himself being shocked awake.

“Darren,” Sakiko said.

“What?” Darren said.

“They’re here.”

“How long?” Darren said.

Darren sprang to his feet. He grabbed his gun on the way up.

“Only minutes.” Sakiko said, “What do we do?”

Darren noticed that the food they couldn’t take was piled on a waiting cart.

“Dump the water.” Darren said, “Then get the bikes and bags to the door.”

Sakiko nodded and went to work.

Darren walked down the hall to Yuki.

Darren kept his voice to a whisper.

“What’s going on?” Darren asked.

“They’re talking next to the door.” Yuki said, “Not sure what they’re talking about.”

A couple loud bangs echoed from the overhead door. It was followed by the clanking of chains.

“It begins,” Darren said.

Darren picked up the jugs of kerosene and opened up all but one. He threw the opened jugs onto the pile. Darren opened up the last one, and he shoved a rag into the top of the jug.

He picked up the lighter.

“This is it,” Darren said.

A loud bang erupted as the overhead door began to give.

Darren lit the rag and tossed the jug onto the pile. Flames erupted from the spilled kerosene.

Another loud bang, and then many followed as the overhead door flew off its rollers.

“Time to leave,” Darren said.

Darren and Yuki ran to the fire escape. Sakiko sat on a bike with a child carrier and waited for them.

Darren hoped onto the second child carrier-bike.

“Let’s make like a tree,” Sakiko said.

“And get the fuck out of here,” Darren said.

Yuki opened the door with a kick and Darren saw outside. It was still night out, and the alleyway was dark. The only light came from the stars on a clear night lit the way. Thankfully Darren spent most of his time in the dark storage building, and he found he could see pretty well.

Parked cars were scattered everywhere. The back alley was very full of random debris. It was much fuller than Darren had thought.

“Shit.” Darren said, “I should have scouted. This isn’t an easy escape.”

Yuki butted her head out the door.

“There’s a small path that way,” Yuki said pointing to the other end of the alley.

“Let’s try it,” Darren said.

Darren, Yuki, and Sakiko left the storage building and escaped into the alley. The smell of smoke and ash filled his nostrils, Darren coughed on the sudden smell. Smoke billowed out of the storage building as other kerosene jugs caught fire and exploded with flames. Darren could hear the screams of the thugs as they retreated from the inferno of flames.

Darren weaved his way slowly around a small path of parked cars, dead bodies and other random debris. They slowly made their way out of the alley and onto a more cleared road.

They rode in silence in the darkness. No one made a lot of loud noises or showed any lights. Darren didn’t want to give away their position.

A loud bang exploded from the storage building. Flames erupted from the building as something very flammable caught fire inside the building.

Yuki looked at Darren and Sakiko with a worried look on her face.

Darren shrugged his shoulders as he rode forward in silence.

He followed behind Yuki and Sakiko as they rode their bikes away from the storage building. The road was covered in debris and vehicles. Darren could see the distinct shapes of a few bodies amongst the rubble. A few buildings showed signs from the recent fires, while a few others showed signs from the earthquake. Even in the dark, the level of destruction scared Darren.

In the darkness, they heard the roar of an engine. The engine noise was deep and loud. Darren scanned the area for someplace to hide. They hadn’t been out of the building for more than twenty minutes, and they had to hide once more. Darren looked over and saw that there was an alley that ran between two buildings.

“Vehicle coming. Into the alley.” Darren said.

Yuki led them into the darkness of the alley. Darren dismounted from his bike as they sheltered behind a tipped over dumpster.

Bright lights lit up the road as a pair of military armored vehicles roared by followed by a passenger van. Darren wasn’t sure what the passenger van was doing following the armored vehicles. Part of him didn’t want to know.

“It looks like the JDF has the main routes patrolled.” Darren said, “Those are headed to your dad’s storage unit.”

Yuki nodded.

“I think I might know some ways through the alleys.” Yuki said, “Lets see if we can get past the patrols.”

Darren and Sakiko followed Yuki through the alleys. The alleys were full of debris that it made getting past them difficult at best. They had to bypass and work their way around piles of rubble. After they stopped at the end of another alley, Darren began to get frustrated. The end of the lane had been entirely blocked by a couple wrecked cars and a dumpster.

To Darren, it almost seemed like the piles of debris were placed there for a reason. Like it was to keep people in. Like a prison wall.

“This is stupid.” Darren said, “We’re blocked in.”

Sakiko walked over to a door to a nearby building. “Maybe we can go through this building,” Sakiko said.

Darren took a look at the building. The building was a large office building that stretched up six stories. It was built of bricks and concrete.

“That doesn’t look like it goes past the roadblocks,” Darren said.

“But the upper floors of it will allow us to see over the building in front of it.” Yuki said, “Great idea. Sakiko.”

Chapter 21

Darren pulled out his handgun from his jacket pocket, opened the door, and walked in. Behind the door was a concrete stairwell that stretched up into the building.

“It goes up,” Darren said.

They carried the bikes up the stairs. It was painful to do it quietly. Darren had no idea if there was anyone in the building or if it was abandoned. They took the child carriers off the two bikes, then they carried each part up to the next landing. It was a slow and painful process. They reached the top floor and Darren’s legs burned from walking up and down the stairs a half-dozen times. After a moment of rest, Yuki re-attached the child carriers.

Darren tried the door handle. It was unlocked. He pulled the door open slowly. The door was unlocked not because it had been left unlocked, but because the locking mechanism had been smashed apart from the other side. Someone had left in a hurry.

The hallway was pitch black. Darren pulled out his small flashlight. He needed to risk it to see what was in the hall. Debris was clustered in corners and edges. The hallway was empty otherwise. A distinct shape of a body lay at the other end of the hall.

Darren walked down the hallway and jiggled the door handles as he walked. A door handle fell off the first door, and the door creaked open.

“Someone smashed their way through here,” Darren said.

A sign was attached to the door. Japanese letters scrawled across the sign.

“The sign is for a lawyer’s office,” Yuki said.

Darren nodded as he opened the door. The room was messed up. Most pictures were knocked off the walls and lay on the ground where they fell. The rest of the office looked the same. Chairs were knocked over and piled haphazardly. There was no sign of any life in the office. An extensive set of windows stretched across the far wall. The glass panes had been smashed out. A brisk wind blew through them into the office.

“This one will work for now,” Darren said as he turned off his flashlight.

“It looks like all the doors are broken into,” Yuki said.

Sakiko pulled the bikes into the small office as Yuki cleared some space for them to sit.

Darren looked out the window. The sun was creeping its ways up the horizon. The reddish glow of the sun seemed dimmer to Darren. A light sprinkling of ash fell from the sky. It made it look like it was snowing, but Darren knew that it wasn’t snow.

Darren could see for miles, and he saw the extent of the damage. He saw smoke rising from the storage unit, as well as smoke from a dozen fires that burned across the city of Tokyo. No building that he looked at was spared damage. They were all damaged in some way. Some had been partially collapsed, while others had lost parts and pieces. To Darren, it seemed like even four days since the earthquake and tsunami, that the extent of the damage was even worse than it was before.

The next street over, Darren saw it. A pile of broken cars had been stacked like Lego bricks on top of each other. The roadblock covered most of the road. A single cargo van blocked a gap in the barricade. Soldiers manned the roadblock. A couple trailer generators with lights illuminated the area.

Sitting on the side of the road, was a line of people. Darren couldn’t make out any more details.

He turned back to Yuki.

“Did we have any binoculars?” Darren asked.

“Yes, why?” Yuki asked.

Darren described the roadblock and the row of people.

Yuki pulled out a pair of binoculars from a child carrier and handed them to him.

Darren looked at the row of people. The people were from a wide range of ages. Darren saw kids sitting next to adults and high school kids. They all looked downtrodden, battered, and bruised. Darren saw that none of them had their hands in front of them.

“Those are kids, like us,” Darren said.

Yuki crawled over and sat next to him.

“It looks like they’re gathering up anyone they see as looters,” Yuki said.

A large truck pulled up to the kids. Out of the back, a couple soldiers got out. One by one they started to load them up into the truck. Darren saw that their hands were restrained behind their backs.

Then a couple minutes into the process, the two armored vehicles, and passenger vehicle caravan pulled up to the impromptu gate. Darren watched the van drive to the side, clearing the way for the vehicles. The caravan rolled past the large truck and the prisoners.

At that moment with the distraction of the passing caravan and the open gate, a teenage girl made her move. With her hands somehow free, she jumped up to her feet. The girl looked to be in her late teens and was dressed in a school uniform. The girl ran towards the gate as fast as she could. The soldiers yelled and raised their weapons.

Gunshots echoed through the silent city. The young girl collapsed to the ground and blood pooled underneath her. Darren watched in horror as a soldier walked over to her and dragged her outside the wall and to the side of the road. Another gunshot rang out in the night, Darren had seen enough.

“We need to get some distance from these guys,” Darren said.

Yuki grabbed the binoculars from Darren, and she left the small office and went across the hall. A few moments later she came back.

“That was stupid.” Sakiko said, “We didn’t clear that office.”

“Calm down. The building is empty.” Yuki said, “But I saw those roadblocks stretching out as far as I could see.”

“So we’re trapped here,” Darren said.

“No.” Yuki said, “There’s a path open to us.”

“We have to venture back into the Tsunami zone,” Yuki said.

Darren, Yuki, and Sakiko pulled their bikes from the small office. Darren didn’t like the thought of having to drag them back down the stairs. But he knew that he had to do it.

Only a block away was a Japanese Defense Force roadblock, and they had just watched them shoot a girl for running. Darren didn’t know the exact details of why they chose to use lethal force, he had no wish to stick around to find out.

They got the three bikes to the bottom landing, and the girls waited while Darren went back for a child carrier. He heard heavy footsteps on the concrete stairs. Darren looked up.

Three lights waved in the air. Soldiers were coming down the stairs.

Darren had time to grab one child carrier. He lifted one and if felt light. He tried the other. It had some weight to it. Darren grabbed the heavy one and picked it up.

As quickly and as quietly as he could, Darren ran down the stairs to the bottom.

“Soldiers are coming.” Darren said, “Let’s go.”

Sakiko ran up the stairs.

“The other carrier.” She said.

“Sakiko.” Yuki said, her voice a high whisper, “Leave it.”

Darren attached the child carrier to the bike.

“Hey, you!” A gruff voice echoed down the stairwell, “Stop!”

Darren looked up and saw Sakiko pulling the other child carrier down the steps. It looked like it was a slow process, the carriers were awkward to maneuver down something it wasn’t designed to go down. Sakiko was at the top of the final stretch of steps. Fourteen steps to go and then they could leave.

“Stop now, or I’ll shoot.” The gruff voice said.

Darren recognized the voice from before. It was one of the soldiers that had loitered by the door to the storage unit.

“Run Sakiko,” Yuki yelled.

Sakiko pushed the child carrier down the steps. It bounced along the steps, and Darren caught the carrier.

A gunshot echoed in the stairwell. Drops of wetness spattered across the stairs and onto Darren. Darren looked up at Sakiko. The lifeless body dropped down to the floor of the stairs.

“Sakiko!” Yuki yelled at the top of her lungs.

Darren had his handgun out a second later. He headed for the steps with anger in his eyes.

“No.” Yuki said as she grabbed his arm, “There are too many. We need to run for it.”

Darren re-holstered his handgun and attached the child carrier.

With heavy footsteps cascading down the stairwell, Darren and Yuki jumped on their bikes and rode out into the pre-dawn light. He didn’t look back at Sakiko’s corpse. Angry tears welled up in his eyes.

Darren and Yuki rode as fast as they could away from the roadblocks and the soldiers. They sped down back alleys and along streets. Darren had no idea where they were going, but Yuki was following him. He had to lead the way.

After about an hour of riding, the sun had come up. And then went away again. Dark, red clouds filled the sky. Only they weren’t clouds. They were smoke. Darren wasn’t sure from what. A moment later, large gobs of ash fell from the sky. The smell of ash rose up as the ash fell.

“Hold up,” Darren said to Yuki.

They stopped in the middle of an alley.

Darren pulled a scarf from his child carrier and ripped it in half. He tied it around his mouth. Yuki wiped her face and dried her tears. Then she saw what Darren did with his scarf and she the same.

Yuki sobbed silently.

“Where are we going to go now?” Yuki said, her voice quiet, almost a whisper.

“We need to get off the street,” Darren said.

Chapter 22

Darren looked around the area they were in. He saw a few heads peek out the windows.

“Ride.” Darren said.

A larger man with wide shoulders and a shaggy beard left a building. He held a large ax.

“Don’t run.” The man said, “You need to get off the street. Its still curfew.”

“Where?” Yuki said.

“In here.” The man said.

“Don’t trust him.” A female voice said above Darren.

Darren looked up. Beside them was a small two-story apartment building. The building had suffered some damage but had survived the seismic events. Sitting at a window was a little old lady. In her hand was a broom. She held it like a weapon.

“He’ll likely kill you.” The old lady said, “My grandson is coming down to let you into the building. You can stay here for a few hours until curfew is lifted.”

The door clicked open and a young boy about six years old held the door open. The roar of an engine echoed nearby.

“In here.” The boy said.

Darren and Yuki both entered the building. The boy locked the door behind them.

With some effort, the three of them lifted the bikes up the single flight of stairs into a small apartment. They took off their makeshift bandannas.

The little old lady greeted them at the door. The lady was small in stature but held herself with confidence.

“My name is Hana Nagaoka, and this is my grandson, Toru,” Hana said.

“Thank you for letting us in,” Yuki said with a bow.

Darren followed Yuki’s lead and bowed.

“A Gaijin.” Hana said to Yuki, “My English is no good. You’ll have to translate for me.”

“No need to translate.” Darren said, “My Japanese is getting very good.”

“Very good.” Hana said, “Now. You two look a wreck. Come sit and tell me what happened.”

Darren and Yuki sat on plastic chairs and told Hana about the run-in with the Japanese Defense Force and what happened to Sakiko.

“Poor girl.” Hana said, “You didn’t know about the curfew?”

“No,” Darren said, “We had hidden in a storage building after we got attacked by some color gangs.”

“The color gangs are what started the curfew.” Hana said, “Those bastards ran all over town stealing anything in sight. The police and JDF did nothing to stop it. Then a few days in, the authorities appeared and built a wall blocking off the ways out of Tokyo.”

“We saw it.” Darren said, “Built out of wrecked cars.”

Hana nodded.

“They allow no one out, and nothing gets in.” Hana said, “They claim that the gangs are the cause.”

“May we rest here for a few hours?” Yuki asked.

“Yes.” Hana said, “But you’re filthy.”

“I’ll sleep on the floor by my bike,” Yuki said.

Hana nodded as Yuki leaned against a wall and fell asleep.

“Let me get you a cloth.” Hana said, “You’re covered in blood.”

Darren cleaned himself up as best he could. He didn’t use any water on the cloth. It was too precious to use to clean himself.

“You can keep the cloth.” Hana said, “Its not like I can clean it anyway.”

After five minutes, Darren scanned the apartment.

“Didn’t you have a grandson or something?” Darren asked.

“Yes.” Hana said, “Now that you mention it, where did he go?”

Darren watched Hana walk around the apartment as she hunted for Toru, her grandson. After a few minutes, Hana came back to where Darren waited.

“That child has gone across to Toboto’s.” Hana said.

“Who?” Darren asked.

“That man with the ax that offered you a place to rest before I did.” Hana said, “We have to go and get him.”

“The curfew.” Darren said.

“This is my grandson.” Hana said, “I need your help.”

“Okay.” Darren said, “But I want to leave Yuki here. Let her rest.”

“That’s fine.”

Darren wrote a note on a scrap piece of paper and left it on the child carrier for Yuki.

He followed Hana out of the apartment and onto the street. They waited and listened to the city. Darren listened to the telltale sound of the engines from the soldier’s trucks.

With no sign of the JDF anywhere near, Darren made his move.

Darren walked across the street with Hana following close behind. Across the street was a townhouse style building made up of tiny buildings built in rows that stretched down the road. Next, to Toboto’s townhouse, a small alleyway headed around into the back of the buildings.

Hana didn’t head towards the front door, but she headed down the alley. Behind the house was a small yard. It was a real luxury in Tokyo to have one.

Darren struggled to keep up with the old lady. There was a fire to her step that Darren hadn’t seen in many people.

With a swift kick, Hana kicked the gate open and entered the backyard. She walked towards the shed and opened it.

She screamed.

Darren craned his neck to see around Hana. Laying in the dirt on the floor was the small boy. Darren moved past Hana and into the shed.

An ax was embedded in the boy’s back. Hanging from the rafters of the shed were two more dead bodies. These bodies looked older and female, but it was hard to tell as they had been mutilated.

“He shouldn’t have come snooping in here.” A deep male voice said from behind him.

Darren turned to see Toroto standing in the doorway to the shed. He couldn’t see what Toroto had in his hands, but Darren knew it had to be a weapon of some kind.

A loud blast echoed from Toroto and Hana went down in a heap of blood and bone. Darren reached for his handgun.

“Don’t do it.” Toroto said.

In Toroto’s hands was a hunting style rifle. Darren wasn’t sure what type, or if it was bolt action or a semi-auto, but that was the least concern at the moment.

Darren held his hands out.

“It looks like I got you.” Toroto said.

“Do you now.” A familiar voice said from behind Toroto.

Toroto collapsed to his knees and fell to the ground. Standing behind him was Yuki. She had a baseball bat in her hands. She raised it up once more.

“Wait.” Darren said, “Do you want to kill him?”

Yuki pointed at the many dead bodies in the shed.

“You have a point.” Darren said.

Yuki brought the bat down. The force of the blow cracked on the man’s head. Darren saw the cranial cavity cave in and squish flat. Yuki raised the bat once more and the bat sunk deeper into Toroto’s head.

“I thought I was about to die.” Darren said.

Yuki wrapped her arms around Darren.

“I thought I was going to lose you too and be left alone in this world.” Yuki said.

Darren grabbed the rifle. It was a bolt action rifle.

“That bastard was bluffing.” Darren said.

“What?”

Darren aimed the rifle at the wall and pulled the trigger. The rifle went click. He operated the action of the rifle, and a spent brass casing flew out.

He loaded up a fresh one from the chamber. Yuki quickly checked Hana to see if she was alive, and seeing that she wasn’t, Yuki said a small prayer over her.

Darren grabbed a small box of shells from a bench as well as a few that were in Toroto’s pockets. Darren wondered if the old man was crazy or if he had snapped due to being quarantined in the city.

“Let’s get out of here,” Yuki said.

Darren nodded.

They walked back across the road and into the apartment. The home was quiet now that Hana wasn’t there. Darren had no intention of staying in the apartment for too long.

“Grab what you can,” Darren said.

Yuki nodded.

“Sounds good.”

Hana’s cupboards were surprisingly empty of food. In a cabinet was a machete tapped to a broom handle. Darren took the machete off the broom handle and took it.

“What?” Darren said, “We need weapons.”

Yuki picked up the hunting rifle. Darren couldn’t see what the caliber of the rifle was. He would check that later, when he had time.

After an hour, a loud horn sounded.

“Time to go.” Darren said.

Yuki nodded.

They carried the bikes back down the stairs and out into the city once more. The ash still fell in thick globs from the sky.

Chapter 23

Darren and Yuki rode slowly down the street. The city seemed to come to life. Darren held his fedora down over his eyes and his scarf over his face. The ash-fall fell steadily from the sky. As they rode their bikes, he saw many people huddled by small burn barrels. People looked at them nervously as they rode past, but no one thought to try and stop them.

The people all looked tired. Like there was a party they had gone to that they were recovering from. But Darren knew that there was no party. It was too many days huddled scared in the dark, while they watched their food supply dwindle by the day. A couple stores had their doors open. Hand painted signs adorned the building. “No Food.” “No Water.” “Cash Only.”

It looked like merchants were still trying to stay open, but with no trucks coming in with new merchandise to sell, Darren wondered how long they were going to be open.

They rode their bikes past an alley, and a foul stench reached out from the lane. It smelled like it was a bathroom in there.

Darren looked over at Yuki. He could tell that new tears had poured down her face. But Yuki was doing everything that she could do to be strong.

Debris stretched out before them, and the buildings disappeared. They reached the end of the town. The other area in front of them was the Tsunami zone.

Darren and Yuki stopped at the edge of the Tsunami zone. There were some buildings still standing in the area. But there were no people.

“What are you thinking?” Yuki asked.

“The pickings are thin out there.” Darren said, “But the place looks deserted.”

“Remember the hill where we got the bikes?” Yuki said, “Maybe there?”

“Let’s go look,” Darren said.

Darren and Yuki rode down the deserted street. Piles of drying mush and debris were piled along the sides of the road. Darren saw piles of broken cars, and in the distance, he saw a fishing boat.

“Fishing boat.” Darren said, “Maybe there’s some food in that.”

“Won’t that be picked through already?” Yuki said.

“Only one way to find out.”

Darren rode along the debris to the boat. The ash fall made a covered the dried muck that covered the road in a thin veil. Darren looked behind himself, his tracks were visible in the ash.

He approached the boat and rode up to the low side. Due to how the hull of it was built, the boat sat on the ground in a lopsided way. It leaned to one side.

Darren looked at the boat. It looked like it was unoccupied, but he knew that could be deceiving.

“Are you going in?” Yuki asked.

“Yes.” Darren said, “We need supplies. As it looks like we are stuck in Tokyo for the time being and no one is selling stuff that we need.”

“And if someone comes?” Yuki asked.

“Got a whistle?” Darren asked.

“Yes.”

“If you see someone, blow it,” Darren said.

Darren pulled an empty backpack from the child carrier and slipped it on his back. He climbed up the side of the boat. Getting onto the side was hard. He had to use the seat of his bike to get onto it. Darren walked on the deck of the boat. His footsteps echoed as he walked towards the single hatch. Darren looked at the deck. No signs of human footsteps were on the deck. Or at least not in the layers of ash.

Darren approached the door to the cabin. The hatch was slightly ajar. He pushed it open and took a quick look. Light poured into the cabin from the many windows. Shadows danced across the walls of the two-story structure. Darren knew that the bridge would be on the second level. The lower level was the living quarters.

Darren entered the cabin. A foul stench filled his nostrils. It was so bad that he tasted it. The smell was one of rotting fish.

Darren gagged and spat into the ash on the deck.

The ship looked like it had been abandoned. Clothing and tools lay on the ground where they had fallen. No sane person would live somewhere with that stench in the air.

A can of food sat on the ground. Darren put it into the bag as he searched the cabin. He found more cans of food, as well as a can opener, and a hatchet.

Darren walked out of the cabin with his backpack full of stuff. Darren walked to the edge of the deck and looked down at Yuki. She sat in the dust with her knees to her chest. Tears poured down her face.

“Yuki,” Darren said.

Yuki jerked up.

“Are you okay?” Darren said.

“No.” Yuki said, “I can’t stop crying.”

“It’s okay.” Darren said, “One moment.”

Darren walked along the deck and searched the area. No one was around. Like before, there was no sign of life in the area around the ship. In the distance, Darren saw the hill. The one where they had taken refuge from the tsunami.

He walked to the deck and jumped from the deck to the ground. He knees protested from the sudden jolt, but he was unhurt.

“I found lots of stuff.” Darren said, “The hold is full of rotting fish. No one has gone into it.”

“That’s good,” Yuki said.

Darren put the bag into the child carrier. He sat behind Yuki and wrapped his arms around Yuki.

“Do you know why Sakiko went back?” Yuki asked.

“No. I hadn’t the time to really look.”

“She had spread the supplies out between the two carriers.” Yuki said, “The one that you grabbed is heavy.”

“Yes.” Darren said, “I felt like I only had time to get one, so I grabbed the heavy one.”

“That one is full of water.” Yuki said, “Only water.”

“And the other one?”

“The food.” Yuki said, “Sakiko saved our lives for a few days.”

Darren held Yuki for a few minutes as Yuki wept. Her sobbing slowed down as her breathing calmed down.

“We should get moving,” Yuki said.

“Yes,” Darren said. “Should I go back into the boat for another load of food?”

“No.” Yuki said, “We’re being watched.”

Darren looked out and saw that in the distance, in the middle of the Tsunami zone was a half dozen people. They were all dressed in different types of protective clothing. Some had sports gear on, while others carried large blunt weapons. They all had their faces covered by bandanas and rode motorbikes.

Chapter 24

Yuki and Darren rode along the ash fallen, debris-filled streets. In the distance, but closing fast, were six thugs. Or as Darren thought of them, road warriors.

The road warriors look to be kids, at Darren’s age. It was hard to tell by the gear that they all carried.

“Color gang,” Yuki yelled.

Darren looked at the kids closer. Red sashes were wrapped around their waists.

The road warriors closed in, their motorbikes roared loudly in the silence of the day.

“Stop you two.” A road warrior yelled.

“We only want to talk.” The other yelled.

The six laughed. The roar warriors herded Darren and Yuki away from the hill towards the openness of the ruined city.

A road warrior, a kid that wore the over sized hockey gear, raced towards Darren. In his hands was a baseball bat.

“What.” Darren yelled, “Is your name Casey Jones?”

“Excuse me?” The hockey-gear wearing road warrior yelled, “Pull over.”

Darren pulled out his handgun and aimed it at the kid.

“Shit.” The kid yelled.

Darren pulled the trigger, and the gun bucked in his hand. Darren squeezed the trigger three times in quick succession. He aimed each shot as best he could at the kid.

The road warrior fell to the ground in a heap of blood, dirt, and ash.

“He’s got a gun.” Another road warrior yelled.

The other road warriors stopped and rode away.

Darren and Yuki kept riding towards the hill. Darren put his handgun back in the holster.

He couldn’t stop thinking about the look of shock on the kid’s face as he aimed the gun at him. Darren shook his head as he cleared the thought.

As they neared the hill, Darren looked at the buildings. Standing in amongst them were people. They all looked like the road warriors from before. They had different colored sashes on their waists.

“Not the hill.” Darren said to Yuki, “Look.”

Yuki nodded as they rode away from the hill.

In the distance was a single road warrior on his motorbike. The single warrior kept his distance.

“That one is going to follow us and report back to the others,” Darren said to Yuki.

“They’ll attack us in our sleep,” Yuki said.

“Most likely,” Darren said.

Up ahead was a line of two-story buildings. The buildings looked more like ruins than actual structures. Darren could see that water had poured over the entire structure and washed anything of value away. They were empty shells of buildings.

“That way.” Darren said, “Let’s see if we can ambush him.”

Yuki nodded.

They pulled into the building, and when the single warrior dipped out of sight, they hid in the rubble.

Darren watched the single warrior ride his motorbike around the buildings. The warrior stopped at the other side, not seeing Darren or Yuki on the other side.

The single warrior rode his bike towards the building. Darren ducked down as he saw the road warrior stop and pull out a pair of binoculars.

“Do you think I could hit him from here?” Darren asked Yuki.

“That’s very far away,” Yuki said.

The road warrior stood at least two hundred meters away.

“Waste of shots,” Darren said.

“Do we stop here for a bit?” Yuki asked, “We haven’t slept in a while.”

“Rest for a few.” Darren said, “I’ll watch this guy and see what he does.”

Yuki looked at Darren.

“You’ve gotten less sleep than I have,” Yuki said.

“I know.” Darren said, “But you need it more. So rest.”

Yuki kissed Darren on the lips and curled up, using a piece of plywood as back support.

Darren looked at the road warrior. He sat on his bike, not moving, his binoculars on his lap. Then the wind picked up. Ash blew into the building and through the landscape.

After ten minutes, the road warrior roared his engine and sped away from the building. Darren watched the kid leave the area and disappear from sight.

“He’s gone,” Darren said to Yuki. “We need to move.”

Yuki woke up.

“What’s the point,” Yuki said.

“We need to survive this,” Darren said.

“Of course. But look at the ash.” Yuki said, “You can see our tracks.”

“The wind is masking that.” Darren said, “He gave up.”

Darren and Yuki sluggishly got on their bikes, and they rode away from the ruined buildings. The weaved their way through piles of debris, wrecked cars, and abandoned homes. Most buildings had been washed away by the cascade of water, but the few that remained were destroyed. In the distance were a handful of taller buildings. The apartment complexes. Most of them had survived. The concrete had withstood the waves.

In the distance was a familiar looking building. One that looked like stacked blocks.

“Isn’t that my dad’s building?” Darren asked.

“It is.” Yuki said, “This land is unrecognizable. Its hard to remember exactly where we are.”

Darren and Yuki rode towards the building. The bottom four floors had been washed clean, but the levels higher were untouched.

Darren entered the building on his bike.

The once great looking marble tiles were broken and covered in muck and ash.

The door to the stairway was closed, but it was clear of debris.

“There might be people living here,” Darren said.

“Should we go elsewhere?” Yuki asked.

“No.” Darren said, “Not yet. I don’t see very many tracks around here. The doorway might have been pushed clear when the people left to go to the shelters.”

Yuki pulled out a crowbar. She used it on the door, and it slid open. The latch had been broken at some point.

“I really don’t want to have to bring these bikes up the stairs if there are people there,” Darren said.

Yuki nodded. They dragged the bikes into the stairwell and closed the doors. It was a tight fit, but both bikes fit into the stairs.

“I’ll go up the stairs and scout,” Darren said.

Yuki nodded.

“I’ll be right back,” Darren said.

Darren pulled out his handgun and a flashlight. He walked up the stairs. The doors to the first four floors had been ripped from their hinges by the water. Debris and dust covered the story and the walls of those levels.

The fifth floor’s door was still attached. The door was also locked.

Darren kept walking up the stairs. He stopped on the seventh floor. Sitting on the seventh-floor landing was the security guard, Goro. Goro had been murdered and left for dead. Or at least Darren assumed as much. Goro’s right arm had been forcefully removed and was nowhere to be seen. Darren carefully searched the body. He found a wallet and not much else. The wallet had money still in it. Darren pocketed the money and put the wallet back where he found it.

Lying on the stairs up to the eighth floor was another body. This body was Caucasian. Or at least it looked that way. It was hard to tell as it didn’t have a head.

Darren looked around, and like Goru’s arm, he couldn’t see the head anywhere.

What was different to this body was his uniform. The body was wearing a United States Air Force uniform. Lying in a pool of blood near the body was a bent and busted trombone.

Darren pulled the body over onto its back.

He froze. The airman, a man with the last name of Handley, had his pants down exposing his expanded and throbbing member. On it was Goru’s keyring.

The keychain looked like it was a set of master keys for the building.

“Really.” Darren muttered, “Stupid Americans.”

He took a deep breath and lifted the keyring off and held it with two fingers.

“This is really gross,” Darren said to the dead man.

Darren used the key to the seventh floor. The floor was abandoned, like the floors below it, but apartment suites were still intact. Darren saw the door to his dad’s apartment. Is was closed and locked. He pulled the key from his pocket and opened the door.

He aimed his light at the ground. The large windows were spread across one wall. Anyone looking this way would see the light. No one was here. Beside things being moved and tossed around by the earthquake, there were no signs that anyone was here either.

Chapter 25

The painful process of carrying the bikes up six flights of stairs began. It took them too long to get the bikes up. Darren’s legs and body hurt by the time they had gotten the bikes into the suite and the door locked.

Yuki stared at Goru’s corpse as they walked by it. Her eyes looked at where the arm should have been.

“Is that what I think it is?” Yuki said, referring to the Airman Handley’s hard on.

“That’s where I found the keys,” Darren said.

“Better you grabbing it than me.”

“Thanks.”

Once they were in the apartment, Darren unpacked the camp stove and heated up a can of food. He wasn’t sure what it was, he was too tired to try and decipher the faded Japanese characters. But they ate it anyway.

“You need to eat,” Darren said to Yuki.

“I’m not that hungry,” Yuki said.

“Bullshit.” Darren said, “I know you’re hurting. I am too. But you need to eat. We need to keep going.”

Yuki looked up at Darren. Tears welled up in her eyes. Yuki wrapped her arms around Darren as she cried. Darren let her cry and cry hard. He knew that she needed it. After ten minutes, she stopped.

“I’m sorry for being such a mess,” Yuki said.

“That’s okay.” Darren said, “She was your best friend.” Darren handed her the can of food, the chopsticks still in the can, “you need to eat.”

Yuki ate the canned food in a half daze.

“What now?” Yuki asked.

“Now.” Darren said, “We rest. One person should be awake at all times.”

“Sleeping in shifts?”

“Yes.” Darren said, “It was a pain to get up here, but who knows who’s in the building.”

“Then you sleep first.” Yuki said, “I’ll take the first watch. How long should I let you sleep?”

“A few hours.”

Darren fell asleep quickly. He didn’t want to go to sleep. He wished that he didn’t need to. But he had to. He didn’t want to as his dreams had been filled with nightmares and he usually slept fitfully.

Darren woke up with a start. Yuki sat next to him.

“You okay?” Yuki asked.

“Yes, why?” Darren said.

“Cause I couldn’t wake you.” Yuki said, “Your sleep was so deep.”

“Oh. I’m sorry. You can sleep if you want.”

Yuki curled up and fell asleep.

Darren got up and walked around the apartment. Night had fallen while he slept. He looked out at what was left of the city. Darkness hid most of the city from him, but he could see a few pinpoints of light in the far distance.

He searched the apartment. He pulled out anything that he thought was going to be useful. His dad’s samurai sword. All the food he could find. It wasn’t a lot, but he had discovered a case of beer in the fridge. He took it.

Darren didn’t like the stuff, but he knew he could use it as trade with someone else. Or as a bribe.

After a few hours, Yuki woke up. She was drenched in sweat and was scared.

Darren held her tight as she cried.

“Sakiko,” Yuki said over and over before falling back asleep.

Darren laid her back down on the blankets on the floor and went back to searching the apartment.

Darren watched the sun rise above the horizon and light up the sky. The sky was clear of smoke and ash, but not clear of clouds and rain. Water fell from the sky as it poured onto the volcanic ash. Darren watched as the water washed some of the ash away from parts of the city. The ash compacted together and formed a solid layer on top of whatever it had landed on.

“Bucket,” Darren said.

Darren grabbed a small bucket and a broom handle. He taped the bucket to the broom and stuck it out of the window. The end was trapped underneath the couch to keep it from falling down to the ground below.

He saw the bucket slowly start to fill with water.

It would be slow, but he had some rags his luggage from his trip across the Pacific. He was hoping that he could get clean. Grey ash and other debris still clung to his face and skin.

The rain poured down in a torrent. It looked like a wall of water outside.

After a few minutes, Darren looked at the bucket. It was nearly full of water.

Darren pulled it inside the apartment.

“Is it raining?” Yuki asked.

“Yes.” Darren said, “It is. I managed to gather a bucket of rainwater to clean ourselves.”

Darren poured the water into a pot and started to heat it up on the stove. He stuck the broom-bucket back out the window.

A few minutes later, the water was lukewarm, and he turned off the stove. He stuck a rag in the pot.

“Yuki.” Darren said, “Come here.”

Darren slowly undressed Yuki and cleaned her the best he could using the tools he had.

“My dad has shampoo.” Darren said, “Did you want me to wash your hair?”

“Wash my hair?” Yuki said, “No. You don’t have to do that for me? Why would you want you to do that for me?”

“Cause.” Darren said, “I love you. I want you to feel better.”

“Oh.” Yuki said, “We shouldn’t use shampoo. We’ll smell like roses, or whatever, and others will smell it. They’ll think we’re rich or something.”

Darren nodded.

Yuki took a clean rag from the pile and then undressed Darren. It took two cloths for Yuki to clean Darren. After they had gotten clean, they dressed in new clothes. They threw the dirty clothes into a plastic bag and stuffed them in the child carrier.

“How are you doing?” Yuki asked as she sat next to him.

“What do you mean?” Darren said.

“You killed a man.” Yuki said, “I watched blood pour out of his mouth…”

“I’m trying not to think about it.” Darren said, “I’m worried that if I do that, I’ll become paralyzed by the horror of what I’ve done.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’re in a scary situation.” Darren said, “We haven’t gone through anything like this before. We’re scavenging ruins for food. We’re running from bloodthirsty soldiers and hungry gangs. We’re watching friends die horrible, horrible deaths. This isn’t time for me to dwell on what I’ve done. That will come later. Now, its best to keep going and not think about that stuff.”

“Tell me about where you lived? Tell me about Canada?” Yuki asked.

“Why do you want to know?” Darren asked.

“I’m curious.” Yuki said, “I’ve never been out of Tokyo before.”

“I’m from a small city called Vancouver.” Darren said, “Its a quaint little town of three million.”

“So small that everyone knows each other?”

“Pretty much.” Darren said, “But not really.”

Yuki snuggled into him.

“I need a weapon.” Yuki said, “I need to be able to defend myself.”

“I agree.” Darren said, “But isn’t it illegal to carry weapons?”

“Yes.” Yuki said, “But you do.”

“I have a small handgun that I can hide,” Darren said.

“And?”

“If we find another handgun, then you get it.” Darren said, “Deal?”

“Deal,” Yuki said, “What do we do now?”

Darren looked out. The sun was high in the sky. The dim, reddish glow still glowed eerily in the sky.

“The sun is out.” Darren said, “And I have the master key to this building. I say we should explore it. See what else we can find.”

Darren and Yuki spent the next few days exploring the building. They would use the master key ring to open up the apartments and see what else they could find. Most apartments were in a state of disarray. Most of it was from the earthquakes and the sudden departure of the panicked occupant.

Darren discovered that there had been lots of things left behind. They refused to search through fridges, instead concentrated on cupboards and pantries. They found cans of fish, curry, and others. To Darren it was great. But the amount of food they were pulling from each apartment was a can or two each.

Darren knew they would be able to fill one carrier, but not two. If they were lucky. There wasn’t enough food in the apartment building. They would have to leave to find more.

Darren didn’t want to leave. He knew that he had to, it wasn’t sustainable to live there. There had to be someplace better.

“Did anyone in this building buy groceries?” Darren asked.

“Doesn’t look like they did.” Yuki said, “Its a company building. Most people ate out because they worked too much.”

“Well.” Darren said, “At least we found some stuff.”

Chapter 26

Days rolled by. Darren and Yuki hid in the apartment building. Darren watched groups of people wander by the building. He knew that they were getting desperate and had spread out their search for more food. Darren knew that the apartment building was a treasure trove.

The problem they had was water. Their water supply was down to about half of what they had left the storage building with. Darren knew that they had to get some more clean water.

The problem was that the rainwater they were able to collect always had bits of ash in it. And it was hard to filter out. Darren managed to clean the water by filtering the water through a rag, then boiling it, then filtering it again. Or he had to filter it a couple times before he used a clean water tablet.

The first solution used a lot of fuel. The second used precious water purifier tablets. Darren wasn’t happy with either solution.

“We should plan to leave,” Yuki said.

It was day fourteen of the disaster. So much had changed since his brother had stepped off that plane. It seemed like it was a lifetime ago, but Darren knew that it was only two weeks.

“I know.” Darren said, “This is a nice stopover, and we could scavenge our way through the tower, but how much more are we going to find?”

“And eventually someone else will get into the tower.” Yuki said, “Then we’ll have to fight them.”

“Yeh. Best to leave here.” Darren said, “Get past the roadblocks and then into the countryside.”

Darren looked outside. Rain poured down from the sky as torrents of rain drenched everything outside.

“We’ll leave tomorrow.” Darren said, “I have no intention of leaving in that.”

Darren and Yuki lounged on the couch. They ate the last MRI they had. He knew that he was too used to this.

As the day turned to night, they fell asleep on the couch in each other’s arms. In the middle of the night, something woke Darren up with a start.

A stink filled the apartment. A foul odor that smelled of sewer.

Darren grabbed the flashlight and shined it at the apartment. Pouring out of the bathroom was a layer of brown water on the floor.

“Gross,” Darren said.

“What is that?” Yuki asked.

“I’m not sure what’s going on, but water is coming out of the bathroom,” Darren said.

“It’s still raining out.” Yuki said, “But I guess its a good time as any to leave.”

Darren and Yuki gathered the last of their supplies and packed the child carriers. With brown sewer water lapping at their feet and running down the stairs, the process of packing the carriers down the stairs was more laborious. The carriers were now heavier than they were before.

But the process was uneventful. With the carriers and the bikes at the bottom of the stairs, Darren pulled the master key ring. He put the key to the stairs in the door handle of the stairwell. He let the keyring hang from that one key.

“What are you doing?” Yuki asked.

“I don’t want to carry that heavy thing around anymore,” Darren said.

“And?”

“If someone else wants to venture into that sewer smelling building to find what we didn’t get, then that’s fine.” Darren said, “They can have it.”

“I guess that’s true.” Yuki said, “I don’t plan on coming back here anytime soon.”

Darren pulled his jacket tighter, as well as his fedora. His scarf hung loosely on his jacket, waiting to go if the ash started to fall again.

“What time is it?” Yuki asked.

Darren looked at his watch.

“Its four in the morning,” Darren said.

“The time to leave is now though,” Yuki said.

With rain still pouring down from the sky, Darren left the apartment building. The land was as dark as it could be, but near the horizon, the moon shined brightly in the night sky. Using that little light, they rode through the streets away from the apartment.

They kept away from the Color Gang Hill. Darren had no intention of running into them again. If he was lucky, he could get into the standing part of the city without too much trouble.

The rain stopped after an hour of riding, but his feet were already soaked. Darren knew that it was going to be a miserable day.

He had searched his dad’s apartment for better shoes that fit him, but his dad had small feet.

The reddish sun rose into the sky as it became easier to see. The terrain stayed the same, though. The caked muck mixed with ash was everywhere. Wrecked cars, trucks, and boats were scattered along in almost random places. Darren followed Yuki as they navigated their way around the wrecks and into the city.

The city was the remains of Tokyo. The city had been wrecked by near-constant earthquakes and aftershocks. Parts of houses and buildings had been damaged, and Darren began to see more bodies lying in the streets. He didn’t look too closely at them to see how they died. He didn’t care too much to find out.

Stepping from behind a couple wrecked cars were a half-dozen teenagers. The teens looked dirty, with their clothes covered in ash. Wrapped around their waists were a strips of colored fabric. Darren and Yuki were ambushed by a color gang. They all held weapons, like pipes and chains.

Darren saw that in amongst the colors was Michio Asahara and his little sister Emiko Asahara. They both looked similar to when Darren had seen him last. Their clothes were dirtier, and their faces were a little thinner. Strapped to Michio’s waist was a samurai sword.

“I see that we meet again.” Darren said, “Long time.”

Michio smiled, “I see that you remember me. I like that.”

“I try not to forget people,” Darren said.

“Have you considered my previous offer?” Michio asked.

“We have, and we won’t join you,” Darren said.

“Thats is a pity,” Michio said.

Darren had his handgun out and aimed at Michio.

“He’s got a gun.” Michio said, “Fancy that. Do you know how to use it.”

A color gang member leaned into Michio.

“That’s the one that we chased in the wastes a couple days ago.” The gang member said.

“The monster that shot Gigi?” Michio asked.

“Yes.” The gang member said, “He’s the Dark Rider.”

“I see that I have a reputation,” Darren said.

“Gigi died cause of you,” Michio said.

“He shouldn’t have attacked us.” Darren said, “Then I wouldn’t have had to do that.”

Michio glared down the barrel of the handgun.

“Get going.” Michio said, “Don’t let me run into you again.”

Darren and Yuki rode away from the color gang.

The route that Yuki lead Darren down wasn’t straight. The way was more of a zigzag. Multiple times, the street came to an end, and they had to turn. Numerous times they came across roadblocks, both man-made with guards behind them and unintentional ones made by falling rubble.

After a couple hours of riding, and a few miles down the road, Darren checked his watch. His watch said that it was eight in the morning.

They had ridden past many bodies scattered along the streets. The burned out cars, and buildings were everywhere. Darren felt eyes watching him as he rode past.

“We should stop and find shelter soon,” Darren said.

Yuki looked at the ruined landmarks.

“I know of a place,” Yuki said.

“What place?” Darren asked.

“The Katana Club,” Yuki said.

“Katana club?”

“Yes. Its close by, in a small industrial area.”

“Its partly hidden from view and has no window.” Yuki said, “If we can get there, we can be safe for a few hours. Dry out.”

Clouds of ash threatened to block out the sun. Darren and Yuki pulled into the mostly empty parking lot that the Katana Club was based out of. Darren could see piles of ash that coated places where the rain didn’t wash it away. He wondered if it was still falling from the sky or if the eruptions had stopped.

“Why isn’t the club in a high school?” Darren asked.

“Cause the high school said we already have a sword fighting club. Denied the club. So we pooled money together and rented this place.” Yuki said.

“Are we going to find anyone here?” Darren asked.

“I don’t know.” Yuki said, “I doubt it.”

The two of them pulled up to a simple metal door. No lettering was on or around the door.

“I’ll go in and check it out,” Darren said.

“I should,” Yuki said.

Darren turned to look at Yuki. She glanced nervously at Darren.

“Cause if there’s a member of the Katana Club in there,” Yuki said, “then they’ll recognize me, while they’ll see you as an invading Gaijin and probably attack first. Ask questions later.”

Chapter 27

Yuki walked up to the door and stood beside it. She took a key from her pocket and unlocked the door.

“Hello.” Yuki said, “Anyone there? It’s Yuki.”

She stepped into the small Katana Club. Darren watched her shine her flashlight around the club.

“Its clear,” Yuki said,

Darren followed her into the club with their bikes.

The Katana club was a small twelve foot wide by fifty foot long space. Inside the club was a large area where floor mats were laid down on the floor. Couches and other comfortable places to sit lined the walls. A big screen was up against the other wall.

All over the place, Darren saw signs that people had been living here recently. Sleeping bags and blankets were strewn across the floor. Discarded clothes and food wrappers were all over the place.

“It looks like they’ve been here,” Yuki said as she walked around the place.

“Looks like recently,” Darren said.

“It also looks like they’re out of most supplies.” Yuki said, “There’s nothing left here.”

“No water, food.” Darren said, “Or even medicine. Its all scraps.”

Yuki turned to Darren.

“What’s the plan?” Yuki asked.

“We sleep in shifts.” Darren said, “We leave after dark.”

“And if someone from the Katana Club comes back?” Yuki asked.

“We give them some food, thanks and be on our way,” Darren said.

“Why not have them join us?” Yuki asked.

Darren was nervous at the thought. Was it cause he didn’t want to risk what he had with Yuki or was it that he didn’t want to share the food.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” Darren said, “More mouths to feed means our supplies will run out faster.”

“I understand that,” Yuki said.

“I also don’t know what type of animals they’ve become.” Darren said, “Remember those color gang kids.”

“You have a point.” Yuki said, “Let’s get some sleep.”

Darren took the first shift. Yuki quickly fell asleep.

After only an hour had passed, Darren heard the distinct sound of a key in the door. Darren moved into a shadow for when the door opened up.

Yuki was up too. She looked over at Darren. She nodded and took a deep breath.

Two young skinny boys walked in the door. They were both Japanese, and both looked to be about Darren’s age. If you accounted for the fact that they both looked like they hadn’t eaten very well in the last two weeks.

“Who’s there?” the first boy yelled and held a baseball bat threatening.

“Intruders show yourself.” The second yelled.

Darren had his handgun pointed at the two teenagers.

Darren cocked his handgun, making the distinct handgun loading sound.

The two Japanese teenagers stopped in their tracks.

“We don’t have anything.” The first said much quieter.

“Drop your weapons,” Darren said.

The baseball bat fell to the ground.

“Close and lock the door,” Darren said.

The first boy closed the door, and the room dropped back into darkness.

“Yuki.” Darren said, “Do you know these two?”

Yuki turned on her flashlight. She aimed it at the ceiling to bounce the light around, lighting her up.

“Yuki?” The second boy said, “It is Ryoo and Seiji.”

Yuki pointed the flashlight at them. A dark hunger showed in their eyes. While the two young teens looked gaunt and sickly, Yuki looked trim and fit. There was no fat on Yuki’s bones, but toned muscle. The comparison was very distinct.

“Sit.” Yuki said, “Or my friend over their puts a bullet in your guts.”

The two teens sat on the ground.

Yuki walked to within ten feet of them and sat down.

“Where are the rest?” Yuki said.

“They…” Ryoo began, but Seiji hit him with the back of his hand.

“Don’t say anything.” Seiji said, “Yuki’s turned evil like the rest. Tell her nothing.”

“But Seiji.” Ryoo said, “Look at her. She must have food. Maybe we can get her to give us some.”

“We don’t beg,” Seiji said.

“But I’m hungry.”

“Enough.” Seiji said, “I doubt they have any bullets for that gun anyways.”

Yuki aimed her flashlight at Darren. She started at his feet and aimed it up his body, stopping at his arms.

Darren covered his eyes as he felt the light shine on him.

“That’s enough Yuki.” Darren said, “Please don’t kill my night vision.”

The light disappeared, and Darren took his hand away.

“Answer the question,” Yuki said.

“Either they didn’t show up here, or they died,” Ryoo said.

“Some went out to get supplies and didn’t return,” Seiji said. “Now its only the two of us.”

“Have you seen Taishi, Ayame or Sakiko?” Ryoo asked.

“I havn’t seen Taishi or Ayame.” Yuki said, “But Sakiko is dead.”

“What?” Ryoo said, “Is that how… I mean, how did she die?”

“She was killed by the JDF,” Yuki said.

“Oh… Can you spare some food?” Ryoo said, “We’ll go away, and you can have this clubhouse.”

“Ryoo!” Seiji said, “No begging.”

“Sorry Seiji. Its just that I’m very hungry.” Ryoo said, “Its hard to think sometimes.”

“You two stay there.” Yuki said, “I’m gonna talk to my companion. If you move, you’ll die.” Yuki aimed her light at the two.

Yuki joined Darren. She kept her light at the two teenagers, while Darren aimed his gun at them.

“What do we do?” Darren said quietly.

“What do you mean what do we do?” Yuki said, “They’re friends. We give them food and save them.”

“Something stinks like fish,” Darren said.

“What?” Yuki said.

“Something doesn’t smell right about their story,” Darren said.

“Like what?”

“How fast they gave up.” Darren said, “If they’re as starving and against begging as they make themselves out to be, they wouldn’t have given up. I might have been bluffing.”

“You think they’re acting?” Yuki said.

“Isn’t that what you used to do in this club?” Darren asked, “Act out different roles.”

“Well… Now that you put it that way…” Yuki muttered.

Yuki was silent for a few moments.

“We shove them out the door.” Yuki said, “Tell them that if we see them again, we kill them.”

“They’ve been hunting this area for two weeks.” Darren said, “We’re just passing through. They could hunt us down and attack us at any point.”

“What are you suggesting?” Yuki said.

“The right thing for us.” Darren said, “I’ve seen too many dead bodies to become one now.”

Darren noticed that while he was talking to Yuki, the two young teenagers were whispering to each other.

“Crap.” Darren said, “They noticed that we’re taking a long time to decide. We make a decision now.”

Yuki mouthed a silent prayer. She reached up and took Darren’s gun. She held a finger to her lips.

With one hand holding the gun behind her back, and the other holding a flashlight aimed at the young men, Yuki walked closer to them.

“Okay.” Yuki said louder, “We’ve decided. We’ll be leaving come nightfall. We’ll give you guys some food in exchange for a bit of sleep.

Darren palmed a flashlight and walked towards the two young teenagers.

“I want proof that the gun is away,” Seiji said.

Darren turned on his flashlight and pointed it at his other hand.

“See, it’s away,” Darren said.

“Now,” Ryoo said.

Seiji bolted to his feet, knife in hand, He started to run at Darren. Ryoo charged at Yuki, with a knife in his hand.

Yuki pulled out the handgun from behind her back and squeezed the trigger. The bullet slammed into Ryoo’s chest, and Ryoo crumpled to the ground.

Seiji ignored the gunshot and kept charging at Darren. Seiji reached at Darren’s face as he closed the distance.

Years of Judo training fled back into his physique. Darren grabbed Seiji’s wrist and using Seiji’s own bodyweight, he threw Seiji over his shoulder and onto the hard concrete floor. Seiji’s knife clattered to the ground at Darren’s feet. Darren heard bones snap as Seiji’s weak body crunched on the concrete.

Seiji cried out in the sudden onslaught of pain. Darren turned Seiji’s wrist over and stepped on Seiji’s elbow and pushed. The elbow crunched and snapped.

Seiji screamed.

“What happened to the others?” Darren asked.

Seiji still screamed.

Darren picked up Seiji’s knife.

“Stop screaming.” Darren said, “And answer my question.”

“Please don’t kill me.” Seiji said, “Please. Please.”

“Answer my question,” Darren said.

“We started out as twelve members.” Seiji said, “Then we lost people during scavenging missions. Then we got very hungry.”

“What happened to them?”

Seiji started to cry.

“I killed Jiara, and we ate her,” Seiji said.

Yuki gasped in shock.

“She was my friend,” Yuki screamed.

Yuki ran up to Seiji and kicked him in the face.

“Yuki,” Darren said as she pulled her back.

He took the gun from her as he walked up to Seiji.

Darren walked up to Seiji.

“What happened to the rest?” Darren asked.

“After I killed her, they fled.” Seiji said, “Only Ryoo and I stayed behind.”

In one quick motion, Darren pulled out the gun and pulled the trigger. The bullet smashed into Seiji’s skull. Blood sprayed on the ground.

Yuki grabbed hold of Darren and hugged him tightly. She cried and cried into his arms.

Darren put the gun back into its holster as he held Yuki. She wrapped her arms around the two of them and cried.

Chapter 28

After ten minutes, Yuki regained her composure. Her eyes were red from crying, and Darren could see the hurt in them. Like the events from the last week had boiled into a single point.

“Now what do we do?” Yuki said.

“Its ten in the morning.” Darren said, “Let’s move away from these bodies. To the back of the clubhouse.”

“Are we going to sleep in this place?” Yuki said.

“We don’t have much of a choice. We need to rest up as much as we can.” Darren said.

Darren and Yuki walked to the back of the clubhouse. They collapsed in a heap. Darren took the first watch for a few hours and then switched with Yuki.

After he attempted to sleep for roughly eight hours, Yuki shook Darren awake.

“Its time to leave,” Yuki said.

Darren pulled himself off the cold concrete floor.

“I think I’m coming down with something,” Yuki said.

“Nauseous?” Darren asked.

“No.” Yuki said, “Just feel gross.”

“Probably not enough good sleep,” Darren said.

“I think with a full night of riding we can get to the mountains.”

“If we can get through.” Darren said, “Did you see those roadblocks?”

“Yeah, some of them were being manned by soldiers.”

“Shall we go?” Darren asked.

The two of them pushed the bikes towards the front of the clubhouse. The two dead bodies lay where they had fallen. Their eyes stared straight up at nothing.

Darren unlocked the door and opened it up a crack. He couldn’t see anyone out there. He crept it open and scanned the surroundings.

Darren and Yuki walked out of the clubhouse and into the parking lot.

Distant gunshots echoed from afar.

Darren mounted his bike, and the two of them rode out of the clubhouse. They left the door wide open.

The night was darker than it had been the night before. Clouds filled the sky and blocked out the moon and the stars. The darkness hid Darren, and Yuki entirely from sight. No one would see them ride by.

The darkness had the unfortunate side effect of making their surroundings harder to see, and that forced them to go slower then they did yesterday. Darren and Yuki were forced to push their bikes down the road and trust that they would see anything before they would run into it. Darren could make out shapes of the parked cars as they passed them, but he couldn’t make out any details of the vehicles.

They were lost in the maze of streets in the big city. Darren figured that after the second turn to go around a car crash, they got turned around. Without being able to see any street signs or any landmarks, even Yuki was lost.

Yuki traveled first, her figure a silhouette about five feet in front of him.

“Darren.” Yuki said, “You coming? I can barely see you.”

“I’m coming,” Darren said, “Wait up.”

“Again,” Yuki said.

Yuki stopped walking and waited for Darren.

“This is getting ridiculous.” Yuki said quietly, “Can’t we turn on a flashlight?”

“Then the whole neighborhood will know we’re here.” Darren said, “There’s a curfew on, remember.”

“Maybe the stars will come out.” Yuki said, “Or maybe it will rain.”

“Well,” Darren said, “Now that we’ve caught up again, let’s get a move on.”

Darren and Yuki started to push their bikes again. They were careful where they went, they avoided pieces of glass and other debris. Some of which Darren didn’t want to think about.

He grunted from the strain of pushing the bike. He figured that it would have been easier going if he could coast most of the way.

Just as Darren was going to call a break, the moon and the stars came out from behind the clouds. It looked like it was going to be a clear night for the rest of the night.

With the added light from the stars and the moon, the area lit up revealing the surrounding streets. Darren and Yuki were in the middle of what looked like a business district of some kind. Tall buildings with broken windows surrounded them. Parked cars were scattered across the street, but a distinct pathway wove its way through the mess. Garbage and junk lined the roads and in the corners around the cars. The parked cars were all missing different parts. Some were missing pieces of their bodywork like fenders. Some were missing tires, while others were missing seats.

Different tables or market stalls were set up along the sidewalks of the streets. Nothing was on the tables, but Darren assumed that the tables were to barter and trade for different items.

Out of the darkness walked a group of ten younger looking men and woman. Darren’s stomach dropped. They stood around on a street corner. They wore high school uniforms from different schools. Darren couldn’t tell the different colors of the uniforms, but they were of different styles.

The school-aged kids noticed the two of them in the middle of the road. They turned to face the two of them. Darren could see that they all carried weapons. A couple brandished different types of swords, while others carried bats and chains.

“Hey, you two.” One of the school-age kids yelled out, “Stop where you are. This is a toll.”

“Yeh.” Another one laughed, “A toll.”

Darren looked at Yuki.

“Time to leave,” Darren said.

Darren and Yuki jumped on their bikes, and the group of teenage thugs ran at them.

“Ride,” Darren yelled.

Darren rode forward, using his strong legs to propel himself forward ahead of Yuki.

A scream echoed from behind him.

Yuki was stopped. Two thugs had grabbed hold of her child carrier and were holding her back. A third charged at her with a sword held high. In the darkness, Darren didn’t recognize any of the people.

Darren screeched to a halt. He pulled out his handgun and aimed it at the charging thug. It was going to be a long shot. Darren steadied the gun with both hands. He squeezed the trigger. The gun bucked in his hand. He reorientated his aim and fired off a second shot.

The bullets flew through the air and missed the swordsman thug. The thug stopped and ducked to the ground.

A young looking teenage girl ran behind the swordsman. She held a tire iron in her hand. Blood spurted from her chest as the bullet slammed home. The girl dropped to the ground like a rock with a small little squeak of a screech.

The swordsman turned and ran toward the girl.

Darren could hear his yell and his sobs.

Darren’s hands shook as he aimed his gun at the two young thugs that held Yuki’s child carrier.

They let go the child carrier. Yuki rode away from the young thugs towards Darren.

Darren looked at the thugs.

“Attacking two travelers in the middle of the night.” Darren said to the thugs, “You should be ashamed of yourselves.”

The swordsman stood up and started to walk towards Darren. Anger filled his eyes. It was Michio, the color gang leader. Darren could see the anger in his eyes.

“Fight me you Gaijin Punk.” The young man said, “That was my little sister.”

Darren pointed the gun at the swordsman.

“I’m trying to pass through.” Darren said, “I’m sorry your sister died, but you shouldn’t have attacked us.”

Michio charged forward towards Darren.

Darren steadied his hand and aimed his gun at Michio’s sword hand.

With a squeeze of the trigger, the gun went off. The bullet screamed through the air to smash into Michio’s forearm. He dropped the sword and crumpled to the ground.

He wept on the asphalt.

“Just kill me,” Michio said.

“No.” Darren said, “I do not kill the unarmed. I aimed at you, and I missed. If I didn’t, you would have killed my friend with that sword. I am sorry that your sister was in the line of fire.”

“Kill me!” Michio said.

Yuki rode past Darren.

Darren took Michio’s sheath out of his belt and picked the sword off of the ground.

“Get that looked at,” Darren said.

Darren got on his bike.

“What’s your sister’s name again?” Darren asked.

“Emiko Asahara.”

“I’ll remember that. I’m sorry about your sister.” Daren said.

Darren put the sword through his belt and rode down the street to catch up with Yuki. The group of thugs hung back and watched Darren and Yuki ride off into the darkness of the night.

They rode in silence down the dark streets for a few minutes. Darren was lost in thought as they glided down the road. The light from the stars and the moon lit up the street more than before. Darren could see the rough outlines of objects as they passed them.

“Thank you,” Yuki said.

“Your welcome.” Darren said, “I’am just kicking myself for missing that guy.”

“You saved my life.” Yuki said, “If you didn’t shoot at him, then I would be dead right now.”

“I know,” Darren said.

That fact didn’t help his thoughts though.

Chapter 29

Darren followed Yuki down the road in a half daze. He remembered the girl he had killed back in the street. He remembered the girl’s shocked look on her face, the way she crumpled to the ground. Then he remembered the motorbiking color gang member and the two Kanata Club boys. A couple tears ran down his face.

He followed Yuki as she bounced off the road and onto a footpath. The path ran along the rows of houses. Darren followed behind Yuki as they meandered through the streets.

Yuki came to a halt, and Darren slid to a complete stop behind her. Stretched out in front of them, was a wall made out of stacked cars. The wall was three vehicles high, and it stretched as far as Darren could see. Stretched across the street was a cargo truck. The side of it had dusty, faded advertising of some soda company.

“JDF Roadblock.” Yuki said, “Get back.”

Yuki and Darren hid in an alley. The darkness of the alley hid them from sight.

Darren studied the roadblock, there were no lights on the other side. No floodlights shining across the area in front of it. No Guards standing out in front. There were no signs of people behind it. Darren knew that something was off.

“Is that roadblock full of soldiers?” Yuki said, “Or not?”

“I’m not sure.” Darren said, “I’m sure this is a trap.”

In the distance was a rumble of engines.

“Someone’s coming,” Yuki said.

Darren and Yuki hid further in the alley.

The rumble of the engines came closer and closer. To Darren, they didn’t sound like car or truck engines. They weren’t the rumble of a large diesel engine.

After a couple minutes, the first one came into view. It was a lone figure on a motorbike.

Darren could just make out the person, but he was too far away to tell anything else. Darren swore that he had seen him before.

“Color gang.” Yuki said, “That guy that followed us by that boat.”

“Right.” Darren said, “Michio’s gang.”

After a few moments, the single rider turned around and rode off down the street.

“Should we try to sneak through?” Yuki asked as she stood up.

Darren put a hand on her arm.

“Wait.” Darren said, “I bet he’s come to the same conclusion as us about that roadblock.”

“Which is?” Yuki asked.

“That it’s probably a trap,” Darren said, “but it might not be.”

“So what do we do?” Yuki asked.

“We wait.”

Darren and Yuki didn’t have to wait long. Not ten minutes after they sat down, the rumble of the engines came closer. Sitting on the front motorbike, was the distinct figure of Michio. Behind him was at least thirty other gang members. Behind them was a caravan of twelve mini-vans.

A light turned on in one of the mini-vans. In the van were women and children. But the term women was subjective. None of the women in the van looked to be older than Darren. A couple of the other vans turned their interior lights on, and Darren saw that they were much the same.

Darren immediately knew what this was. This was a migration, an exodus. Michio’s gang was leaving the ravaged city of Tokyo and leaving the area.

Michio said something to a gang member, and he ran towards the roadblock. He pulled a hatchet out of his belt and smashed the cargo vans window.

“Keys are in it.” Darren heard the gang member yell, “Give me a moment.”

Darren saw the bike-riding gang members pull weapons out of their belts. Darren thought they must believe it was a trap.

A moment later, the cargo van’s engine started, and it rumbled to life. The van rolled forward and out of the way. The van’s engine died a moment later.

The gang member exited the truck and ran back to Michio. Darren watched the gang member hand Michio the keys to the van. Michio threw the keys across the street.

Michio started his bike and bolted forward towards the roadblock. The gang started their engines, and they followed close behind Michio.

The echo of the engines faded into the night as the gang drove off into the night. The resulting silence was deafening. Darren found himself holding his breath.

“Are they gone?” A voice said behind Darren.

It wasn’t Yuki’s voice.

Darren had his handgun out a moment later and pointed at the figure behind him.

“Don’t shoot.” The figure said as he held up his hands.

Darren looked at the guy. It was a Japanese man who seemed to be in his fifties. He was dressed in a business suit and a tie.

“Do you want to get shot?” Darren asked.

“Sorry.” The man asked, “I watched them from above. I wanted to get a better look.”

“Then look.” Darren said, “Just don’t sneak up on people.”

“That JDF roadblock is empty.” The man said, “Isn’t it.”

“What do you think?” Darren said, he still pointed his handgun at the man.

“I’ve got to spread the word.” He said, “There has to be food and supplies on the other side.”

The man backed away and ran down the alley.

“The way is clear!” He yelled as he disappeared.

“We better get moving.” Darren said, “Before this roadblock gets closed again.”

“I agree,” Yuki said.

Yuki and Darren hopped on their bikes and rode through the roadblock. It was empty of people and material. There was no sign that the JDF was there.

“Why did they abandon their post?” Yuki asked.

“No idea,” Darren said.

“Maybe they don’t have enough men to man all the positions?” Yuki asked.

“No idea.” Darren said, “Let’s get some distance between us and this roadblock before the JDF decide to man it.”

Darren and Yuki passed out of the Special wards of Tokyo and into a different prefecture. The city melted away and farmer’s fields appeared around them.

The fields were bare of crops and were filled with clumps of grass. A thin layer of ash covered the ground. Grass was growing up through the layer. The path that they were following rose up a hill. They rode along the top of a large earth dike next to a river.

On the other side of the river was a different city. Darren wasn’t sure what city it was, his geography wasn’t perfect. Darren couldn’t tell the state of the city in the distance. He didn’t know how many buildings had been affected by the earthquake and how many were burnt down by fires from rioting, hungry people.

Darren could see a handful of lights flickering in the distance. Most of them were from fires that burned through some of the surrounding buildings. Darren could tell that a few other lights were made by electrical means.

“Are we lost?” Darren asked Yuki.

“No. I know where I am.” Yuki said, “I’m looking for a bridge that hasn’t collapsed.”

“Didn’t we pass one?” Darren asked.

“That bridge was partially collapsed,” Yuki said

“So we’re backtracking?” Darren asked.

“No.” Yuki said, “We’ve been forced to go the long way.”

“Ok,” Darren said.

“Are you okay?” Yuki asked, “After that incident, you’re acting differently.”

“I’m beating myself up.” Darren said, “That’s all.”

“Her name is… was Emiko Asahara,” Darren said.

“Darren…”

“It’s one thing when it’s someone wanting to do us harm…”

“Darren…”

“I can live with that, at least for now…”

“Darren…”

“But some girl that’s only crime is that she wanted to do what her brother does.”

Yuki grabbed Darren by the face and pulled him into her. She kissed him on the lips.

“Stop.” Yuki said, “We’re also hurting from what happened to Ryoo and Seiji and Jiara. We can deal with our emotions later. We need to keep it together.”

“Yes,” Darren said, “but now Michio is out of Tokyo.”

“I know…” Yuki said.

“He’s going to want revenge.”

“Stop.” Yuki said, “Japan is a big place, and they have vehicles. They could go anywhere.”

“Right.” Darren said, “I’ve got to get in the game.”

“Good.” Yuki said, “The night is still early, and we have a long way to go still.”

“Where are we?” Darren asked, “I’m so turned around.”

“That’s the Arakawa River, and Saitama Prefecture lies on the other side of it,” Yuki said.

“Oh.” Darren said, “Where are we going again?”

Darren took a chug from his water bottle.

“We’re going to the mountains above the City of Sano,” Yuki said.

“I’ve heard of Sano, but the city goes into the mountains?” Darren said.

“Exactly.” Yuki said, “No one knows it’s there.”

“How much farther do we have left to go?” Darren asked.

“About a hundred and fifty kilometers,” Yuki said.

“That long?” Darren said.

“I plan on taking a longer route so we’re in the mountains more. I’m hoping there will be fewer people up there. I mean, most of the people there are more friendly.”

“And if they’re not?” Darren said.

“They will be.” Yuki said, “My dad was always going to the community center to visit.”

“Isn’t that a problem with the ‘Greyman’ approach?” Darren asked.

“No. Cause being the Grayman will only take you so far.” Yuki said, “You have to be friendly with some people, so if something happens like it has they might think we’re weird, but will still be friendly to us.”

“So do you think we can get to the mountains by the time the sun rises?” Darren said.

“Probably not,” Yuki said.

“Do you have any ideas about where we can hide for the night?” Darren said.

“I do.” Yuki said, “If it’s still there. The building was built fifty years ago, and it might have collapsed during the earthquakes.”

Chapter 30

Suddenly the earth started to shake violently. Darren got off his bike as the earth rumbled and shook. He lost footing and collapsed on the ground. Yuki sat beside him.

“Aftershock,” Darren said.

It took twenty minutes of the earth-shaking before it subsided. In the distance, Darren heard the distinct rumble and crash of buildings toppling over and collapsing.

“Maybe more than an aftershock.” Yuki said, “That’s a strong one.”

“We should get moving,” Darren said.

Darren and Yuki hopped back on their bikes and rode along the top of the berm. They followed the berm for quite a ways. They hunted for a way across the river. Before the Quakes, they would have been able to cross any one of a half-dozen different crossings. Now they rode past many broken bridges looking for a way across.

Eventually, they found a way across the river. They found a small foot bridge that crossed the river.

Once across, Darren quickly found himself in the midst of a city. The city was heavily damaged by the earthquakes and the many aftershocks. There were signs up in places. They pointed to where the emergency shelter was, or where the JDF station was. To Darren, it looked like someone was trying to keep things organized. Like they were trying to get things back to normal.

The two of them rode down the street. Damaged buildings were on either side of the road. Some of the buildings were freshly damaged. Broken glass spread out across the streets. It took all of Darren’s concentration to dodge the shards of glass.

Darren glanced over and saw that Yuki was doing the same.

People were emerging from the broken buildings, many had worried, and fearful looks on their faces. Darren saw men and women, children and the elderly all huddled outside of the buildings. A person with a megaphone was yelling orders into the device. He was telling them where to go and what to do.

Darren followed Yuki as they sped through side streets and down alleyways to dodge clogged roads full of debris and people.

Darren began to see figures in every shadow. Darren thought that he saw dangerous thugs carrying machetes and clubs.

In front of them, the street was full of abandoned cars and piles of debris.

Yuki turned to go down a nearby alley. Darren followed her down the narrow passageway. The tall buildings on either side blocked out most of the starlight and moonlight that lit their passage. The alley had many piles of boxes and garbages cans. Darren could see piles of other garbage waste piled around the sides of the lane.

A figure stepped out of the shadows. He was a middle-aged Japanese man who wore a business suite. In one hand he carried a broom handle. The businessman threw the broom handle at Darren’s bike underhand. The handle soared through the air and hit Darren’s front tire. The shaft of the handle went through the spokes. The broom handle crunched against the bike frame, and Darren’s bike suddenly stopped.

“Oh fuck…” Darren said.

Darren flew over the handlebars to scrape against the ground. Darren’s arm, shoulders, and face slid across the uneven pavement. Pain crept up through his body, and his clothes ripped in places. Blood dripped from his scalp and down his face. His fedora fell to the ground at his feet.

A flash of anger engulfed Darren as he got back on his feet. Yuki screeched to a full stop a little bit away from Darren.

The businessman ran towards Darren’s bike. Darren pulled out his handgun and aimed it just at the business man’s head.

The businessman pulled at the broom handle in an attempt to remove the handle from the spokes of the bike tire.

Darren squeezed the trigger, and his gun went off.

The gunshot echoed in the silence of the night. The business man’s throat exploded as the bullet hit. Blood and bits of bone spattered amongst the alleyway. Pieces dribbled on Darren.

The businessman unnaturally crumpled to the ground. His hands clutched at his throat as he thrashed wildly on the ground. Darren could see the fear in the man’s eyes as his life bleed out onto the street.

Darren walked to the man while still holding his handgun. He aimed it at the man, not trusting the sight before him. But it was apparent that the businessman was going to be dead soon.

“You son-of-a-bitch.” A loud, angry Japanese voice echoed from behind Darren.

Darren turned around to see three middle-aged business men holding makeshift clubs.

“Go away and leave us alone,” Darren said.

Blood dripped down Darren’s face and onto his Jacket.

Darren aimed his gun at the three businessmen.

“It’s a crazy Gaijin.” One said.

“Stupid cowboy American.” Another said.

“Kio is dead,” the third said, “Let’s get out of here.”

The three businessmen disappeared into the darkness. Darren holstered his gun.

Darren picked up his fedora and put it on his head. He walked over to his bike.

To Darren, the bike looked in decent repair. A single spoke had broken loose. The bike had toppled to its side. The child carrier was still attached to the bike.

Darren picked the bike up and up-righted it.

With a quick pull, Darren pulled the broom handle out of the bike spokes. He was on the bike a moment later and quickly caught up with Yuki.

“You’re bleeding,” Yuki said.

“It’s a head wound.” Darren said, “They bleed a lot.”

“Let me get the first aid kit, we need to look at that,” Yuki said.

“Not here.” Darren said, “This place isn’t safe, and people might be heading towards that gunshot.”

“Like who?” Yuki said.

“The police or army if they are still functional.” Darren said, “Or worse.”

Yuki nodded. She ripped a large piece off the bottom of her blouse. She wrapped it around Darren’s head.

“I know a place we can stop for a rest.” Yuki said, “We can clean that out when we get there.”

Darren and Yuki rode their bikes through the remaining part of the alley, and they were out onto a street. The tall buildings quickly disappeared, and they rode down residential streets with small houses decorated by small yards. After a few turns, they approached a small park.

The park had been turned into a makeshift refugee camp. The camp had spilled over the sides of the park and into the streets. There were signs that the park was once forested, but now all of the trees had been cut down. Darren could barely see the playground equipment through all of the makeshift structures.

Around the camp was armed men in army uniforms standing by a roadblock. One of the men turned to face them as they approached.

“Not that way,” Yuki said.

Yuki turned down a smaller side street away from the camp.

Darren heard the echo of engines spring to life behind them.

“Crap,” Yuki said.

“Get us out of here,” Darren said.

“Where. Where. Where.” Yuki said.

“Someplace that an army vehicle can’t go,” Darren said.

Yuki turned down a footpath and raced away between some buildings.

They turned another corner and into a large field. The field was a grassy sports field. In the distance was a baseball diamond.

Darren heard the army truck rumble in the distance behind them.

“Do you think we’ve lost them?” Yuki asked.

“No.” Darren said, “We need to hide.”

Off to the right, was a small drainage ditch.

“This way,” Darren yelled.

The drainage ditch was three feet deep and was empty of water.

Darren screeched to a full stop and dismounted his bike. He laid his bike down on its side and Yuki did the same.

Darren could see the bright searchlight from the army truck as it rumbled down a road in the distance.

“Don’t look at the light.” Darren said, “Save your night vision.”

Darren put his hat over his head and closed his eyes.

The truck rumbled past, and then it stopped. It idled but sat in one space in the middle of the road.

“What’s going on?” Yuki asked.

Yuki lifted her head up a bit.

“Stay down,” Darren said.

“Either they know where we are and we’re caught,” Yuki said.

“Or they’re relaying that they lost us back to their base,” Darren said.

“Did you see that camp?” Yuki asked.

“Not really.” Darren said, “I saw that there was a lot of things there, but that’s it.”

“It was full of refugees. ” Yuki said, “It was spilling out of that tiny park. That place is going to be a muddy, mess of waste and squalor. I don’t want to be there.”

“Shh,” Darren said.

In the distance, the metallic creak of a truck door opened and shut.

Darren peeked his head up above the crest of the ditch. About two hundred and fifty feet away was the parked army truck. Two soldiers in full combat gear walked around the truck. A third sat behind the wheel. The soldiers carried scary looking military rifles.

Darren could see that they were talking to each other, but they were too far away for him to read their lips.

Darren saw one of the two soldiers pointing towards the small ditch where they were hiding.

Darren ducked back down into the ditch.

A moment later, the light from a flashlight illuminated the crest of the ditch.

“Crap.” Darren said, “They’re coming this way.”

“Shh.” Yuki said, “Maybe they won’t get this far.”

Darren hid in the ditch and waited. They heard the crunch of the footsteps of the two soldiers as they approached the ditch.

“Hey, look at who we have here.” The first Japanese soldier said to the other.

“A Gaijin and his friend.” The second one said.

Darren held his hands up. Yuki did the same.

“Get up.” The first soldier said.

Darren stood up, the soldier hit him in the head with the butt of his rifle. Darren collapsed to the ground in a heap, and everything went temporarily blank.

Darren wasn’t sure how long he was unconscious for. He opened his eyes to find that he was still in the ditch. Yuki wasn’t with him.

A scream echoed from where Darren remembered the army truck being. Darren crawled up to the top of the ditch.

Chapter 31

The three soldiers lounged around the truck. Two of the soldiers stood around the armored vehicle and were drinking bottles of beer and smoking cigarettes. Darren saw the soldier’s rifles and helmets sitting on the hood of the truck. Darren saw that Yuki was pressed against the side of the truck, her pants were by her feet.

The third had Yuki held down and was fumbling with the buckle of his pants.

Darren listened to the soldier’s laughter echo in the night. It was the laugh that guys make when doing something they think they can get away with. There was a mocking edginess to it that dug beneath Darren’s skin.

The samurai sword, the hunting rifle, and his handgun were still where he had left them. Darren took his gun from the holster and checked it over. It was still good. With only ten rounds spent from its fifteen shot magazine, it left Darren with five rounds. Darren pulled out the magazine and replaced it with a full one. He cocked the gun and loaded a round.

He put the handgun under his belt and grabbed the rifle. He loaded a single round into the chamber.

Darren crawled to the top of the ditch and ran forward in a low crawl. After he ran about fifteen feet, he stopped. Darren lay down in the uncut grass. He took up laying down firing position. Darren aimed the rifle at the soldier farthest away from Yuki.

He lined up his sight at the soldier’s center mass and aimed his shot.

“Please dear lord.” Darren whispered, saying a silent prayer, “Please forgive me for what I’m about to do.”

Darren squeezed the trigger to his handgun. Nothing happened. Darren looked at the side of the rifle. The safety was on. Darren shook his head and steadied his breathing once more. He released the safety and looked down across the field once more.

“Please.” Yuki pleaded from the truck, “Please stop.”

Darren lined his shot up once more, but the other soldiers were moving towards Yuki.

“She said to stop!” Darren yelled in Japanese.

The three soldiers stopped what they were doing and turned to face where Darren had yelled from.

Darren lined up his shot on one of the three soldiers and squeezed the trigger.

The gun jumped in his hand as it went off. The gunshot echoed in the silence of the cold dark night. The bullet curved slightly in flight and struck the soldier’s shoulder. The soldier dropped to the ground with a cry of pain.

The other drinking soldier dropped his beer bottle and ran for his rifle. The soldier that had tried to rape Yuki reached down to pull up his pants. Yuki kneed him in the balls.

The soldier curled over in pain momentarily. With a right-hand blow, the soldier struck Yuki’s face. Darren saw Yuki crumple to the ground.

Darren focused his rifle at the soldier who ran for his military gun. Darren aimed his weapon at the moving target, but he waited. The soldier paused when he grabbed the rifle from the hood of the armored vehicle. At that moment, Darren took his shot.

The gun jumped in his hand and slammed against his shoulder. The bullet struck the soldier in the middle of his chest. The soldier dropped his weapon and fell to his knees. Darren saw that the soldier’s body armor saved his life.

Darren got to his feet and dropped the rifle. He sprinted towards the dazed soldier. Darren knew that he had to get at him before he could recover.

The soldier stared at Darren in a daze. Darren drew his sword and his nine-millimeter handgun. He yelled at the top of his lungs and charged at the soldier. He froze momentarily as Darren closed in on him. A pistol in one hand, sword in the other, raised above his head. Darren swung the sword down at the soldier.

The soldier attempted to dodge out of the way, but the blade struck him in the chest. The edge cut through the kevlar body armor and sliced into the soldier’s chest. Blood flowed from the soldier’s wound as the blade cut to the rib cage. The soldier crumpled to the ground in pain.

Darren looked over at Yuki. Yuki had gotten off of the ground. Her pants still by her ankles. She screamed loudly as she punched the soldier in the face with her fists. Her screams echoed in the night. The soldier blocked her feeble swings.

Darren looked at the soldier that he had shot in the arm. He had gotten up off the ground and had his rifle in one hand by the handle.

Darren aimed his handgun at the soldier and squeezed off a shot. The bullet went wide, and the soldier ducked down as the round screamed by his head. The soldier took cover behind the front of the army truck. Darren re-aimed his gun at the soldier, but there was no clean shot.

Yuki was laying on the ground again, blood trickled from her nose.

Yuki was twenty feet from him, but he couldn’t help her. Not with the other soldier armed. She struggled to her feet once more.

“Yuki,” Darren said.

Yuki looked at Darren, and he threw the blade first in the direction of Yuki. The sword stuck into the ground point first five feet from Yuki.

The soldier hidden behind the truck had his rifle to his shoulder and was looking for a clean shot at Yuki.

Darren ran into the open pointing his handgun at the armed soldier.

“Hey, ass fuck.” Darren yelled as he ran, “Die.”

Darren squeezed off a couple shots at the solider. He wasn’t sure if any of the bullets hit, but none came back at him.

A scream echoed in the night. Yuki managed to grab the sword from the ground and shoved the sword into the soldier’s gut. The sword pierced the soldier’s body armor as he doubled over. Yuki removed the sword from his abdomen and stabbed at his neck.

Darren looked at the armed soldier once more. The soldier wasn’t standing. He was laying in front of the army truck clutching his throat with his hands. Darren watched his legs kick and twitch as blood poured out between his fingers and out of his mouth.

“Fuck,” Darren said as nausea swept over him.

Darren swallowed it and mentally strengthened his stomach. He holstered the handgun.

Darren walked over to Yuki.

Yuki was pulling up her pants. Yuki’s eyes and face were starting to bruise up, and blood from her nose had stained her shirt.

Darren ran towards them.

“Are you okay?” Darren said.

“Yes,” Yuki said.

“Thank god.” Darren said, “We need to go. Before someone investigates all the noise.”

“Yuki.” Darren said, “Grab the bikes from the ditch. I’m going to grab some stuff from the truck.”

Yuki ran towards the ditch where the bikes lay.

Darren grabbed the three rifles from the ground and put them in a pile. He grabbed all the extra magazines he could find. They were on the bodies of the two dead soldiers.

The soldier that he had sliced open with his sword moaned and groaned from where he fell. Blood stained the ground around him. The slice through his chest pulsed blood.

Yuki came back with the two bikes and child carriers.

“He’ll probably die if we leave him be,” Yuki said.

“He might get saved and then we’ll have issues.” Darren said, “Better leave no survivors.”

Darren nodded and looked at Yuki. She looked like she was about to say something.

“I’ll do it,” Darren said.

Darren took the sword in his hands and walked up to the fallen soldier.

“Rape her will you?” Darren said, “Picking on the helpless. Tell that to whoever you believe in.”

Darren stabbed the soldier in the throat. The blade sank deep into the flesh and crunched into bone. Darren twisted the sword as he yanked it out of the bloody wound.

The soldier twitched uncontrollably, and Darren walked away. He cleaned the sword on a piece of torn cloth.

Without the need to say anything to each other, Darren and Yuki made quick work of scavenging the army truck of supplies. They only took the easy stuff like the rations, the weapons, and the bullets. They also took a jug of gasoline from the storage. There were two full jugs of gas.

“The rifles don’t fit in the carrier,” Yuki said.

“Then leave them,” Darren said, “Throw them in the vehicle.”

Yuki did so.

“There’s a handgun in here,” Yuki said.

“Take it,” Darren said.

“How do I put this on?”

“Put it in the carrier.” Darren said, “Before we get caught.”

Yuki had grabbed the rifle from where it lay. They hid the weapons, the bullets, and accessories from the handgun in the child carriers. Darren was amazed that it fit in the carrier, but the bulkier military grade ones didn’t.

Darren looked at his watch. From when he had regained consciousness up to the time of them packing up the scavenged materials, only ten minutes had passed.

“We should burn the truck.” Darren said, “Deny the army the vehicle.”

“It’ll be a beacon to the area,” Yuki said.

“I think that it’s worth the risk,” Darren said.

“So do I.” Yuki said, “I just wanted to make sure we knew the consequences of burning this thing.”

Darren poured gas from one of the jugs on the hood and on the inside of the truck. Darren took a lighter that he had pulled from the pocket of one of the soldiers. The lighter was one of the refillable kind that stayed lit real easily.

Darren and Yuki backed away from the truck and threw the lighter into the front seat of the truck. The truck lit up and burned brightly in the dark night.

Chapter 32

The two of them hopped on their bikes and rode down the road away from the burning truck. Darren couldn’t see much as he lit the truck up. His night vision was gone, and it was taking its time to fix itself.

After they had gotten about a kilometer away, Yuki pulled up and stopped.

Four people stood in the darkness in front of them. They held flashlights and held them at Darren, and Yuki. The light blinded Darren again and he covered his eyes.

“Dear lord, you two look a mess.” An older man said.

Darren couldn’t make out who was talking to them due to the bright flashlights.

“What happened?” The older man said.

Yuki blubbered a few words.

“Wait.” The older man said, “Yuki Tanamoro? Is that you?”

“Mr. Sugihara?” Yuki said.

“Oh my god girl.” Mr. Sugihara said, “What happened? It sounded like there was a war going on?”

“Three army soldiers,” Yuki began, “tried to rape me. My friend here managed to save us.”

“A Gaijin.” Mr. Sugihara said, he looked at Darren and then went back to Yuki, “Yuki, where’s your dad?”

“I don’t know.” Yuki said, “He was at work when the earthquake hit. I don’t know if he got out. He didn’t show at the first rendezvous, so we’re heading to the secondary rendezvous.”

“At night? It’s past curfew” Mr. Sugihara said, “Wait. Let’s get back inside before those soldiers investigate that car fire.”

Darren and Yuki followed Mr. Sugihara along the road to where they came to a small cluster of houses. They were all built close together with their backyards facing together in an irregular circle. The front of the homes had an attached garage to them.

Mr. Sugihara looked at a younger-looking man, “Go un-bar the garage door so that they can put the bikes in there to lock up.”

Darren and Yuki put the bikes in the garage, and they quickly found their way to the living room. Mr. Sugihara used a flashlight to see his way around the townhouse. Darren noticed that all of the windows were covered up with small dark blankets.

The living room was minimalist in design. A simple TV rested on a stand against one wall, a couch along the other wall. No posters or pictures adorned the walls. The floor was covered with air mattresses and makeshift beds.

The beds were covered with a young woman and some small children.

“That’s my daughter-in-law.” Mr. Sugihara said, “My son died in the tsunami. They fled and came here.”

“The three other young men?” Darren asked, “Who are they?”

“Two are neighbors and they went back to bed,” Mr. Sugihara said, “The last lad is my other son. He has gone back upstairs to crawl back in bed with his girlfriend.”

Darren took off his boots at the door. Yuki followed suit.

“Hanso.” An older woman said quietly from upstairs, “Who are you talking to?”

Mr. Sugihara winced.

“Crap. That woman has the ears of a fox.” Mr. Sugihara said, “You better come down.”

Mr. Sugihara turned to Darren and Yuki.

“We better step into the den.” Mr. Sugihara said, “We shouldn’t wake the children.”

Darren and Yuki followed Mr. Sugihara into a small room off to the side of the living room. The room had a small desk with a computer on it.

Mr. Sugihara lit a small oil lamp.

“My wife is a nurse.” Mr. Sugihara said, “She’ll get you cleaned up.”

“You are too kind.” Yuki said, “But we don’t wish to impose on you. We can stay in the garage until tomorrow night and then we can be on our way.”

“Shut up.” Mrs. Sugihara said from behind them, “You, little missy, aren’t going anywhere.”

Mrs. Sugihara was an older lady who stooped when she walked. She did carry an air of superiority around with her. She was dressed in simple street clothes. Darren noticed that she probably wasn’t wearing a bra, but pretended not to notice. Her speech came out as a hoarse whisper, her attempts to quiet her voice were hampered by the need to chastise youngsters.

“I’m sorry…” Darren began.

“You can shut up too.” Mrs. Sugihara snapped, “It’s four in the morning. What in the world are you two teenagers doing riding around at this hour at night.”

Anger seethed up through his teeth.

Yuki put her hand on Darren’s arm.

“Oh, the Gaijin wants to speak angry words to his betters. Lets hear the American try and defend himself in proper Japanese, not that dirty foul English. Let’s hear it. Why were you criminals riding around at night after the curfew? The army could arrest you for being out after dark.”

Darren breathed deeply and calmed his fried nerves.

“I see that the Gaijin can’t speak.” Mrs. Sugihara said, “If these two criminals can’t defend themselves, then they can leave.”

“Woman.” Mr. Sugihara said, “You’re being unreasonable and rude. Calling this man a Gaijin. Not seeing these youngsters for who they are and not for…”

Darren put his hand on Mr. Sugihara’s shoulder.

“We are sorry to bother you.” Darren said in Japanese, “We will leave.”

“No.” Mr. Sugihara said, “You two are too injured to go back out.”

“And we aren’t going to receive any help from a judgmental harpy.” Darren said, “I’ll leave and trust my injuries to Yuki.”

A cold hush sprang around the room as Darren walked towards the door.

“What did you call me?” Mrs. Sugihara said.

“A judgmentally harpy,” Darren said.

“I am not…” Mrs. Sugihara said, before being interrupted by Darren.

“Shut up.” Darren said, “I don’t care about you or your feelings. I don’t care about your customs or your etiquette. I am not Japanese, and I don’t care. Your customs and etiquette almost got Yuki raped and killed not two kilometers from your house. You want to know why we ride out in the dark? Cause the fucking Yellowstone volcano erupted and blew up. Tsunamis and earthquakes ravage the globe and don’t seem to be getting better. And now the people have gone mad. If you walk down the street in most parts of what’s left of Tokyo, you’ll be killed just in case you have a granola bar in your pocket. Some people are eating people. Think about that. Let that roll around in your tiny little judgmental brain. You want to know why we ride at night? So we will live another day. Riding in the day might get us killed. Now if we’re done, and we aren’t going to receive any help, then I withdraw my acceptance to receiving help from you and will excuse myself from your presence. I’ll go bleed on the streets where my criminal ass belongs.”

“No.” Mrs. Sugihara said, “I’m sorry. I forgot that there’re others that need help too.”

“What was that all about Mr. Sugihara.” Yuki turned to her old teacher.

“My wife gets cranky when she gets woken up at four in the morning by a war.” Mr. Sugihara said, “Especially when I run out into the night and bring back people who need our help.”

Mrs. Sugihara turned to her husband.

“Go to bed. I’ll patch these two up the best I can.” She said and then she turned to Darren, “I’ll need you to step outside and wait until I have looked at this girl.”

Mr. Sugihara turned and left the room.

Yuki turned to Mrs. Sugihara, “No. He can stay.”

“Excuse me.” Mrs. Sugihara, her voice rose up.

“You know nothing about us.” Yuki said, “He has been the one person that has been there for me no matter what. He has saved my life many times. He can stay and if he sees me naked, then so be it. These are not the times for modesty.”

Mrs. Sugihara glared at Yuki, “So be it.”

Chapter 33

Yuki stripped down as Mrs. Sugihara examined her beaten body for injuries. Darren was done last. The old lady barely looked at him. It wasn’t until Yuki had pulled off the makeshift bandage that was wrapped around Darren’s head that she looked at him.

She stomped off out of the room after she finished.

Mr. Sugihara walked back into the room.

“I apologize for my wife.” Mr. Sugihara said, “Losing her son has been hard on her.”

“No excuse,” Yuki said.

“I know.” Mr. Sugihara said, “Stay for a few days. Let me make it up to you two.”

“No,” Yuki said.

Mr. Sagihara looked at her, shocked.

“You have nowhere to go, and the sun is rising.” Mr. Sugihara said, “Once you get out of this community, the lawlessness of the outside will get you. You have to stay until at least nightfall.”

“No,” Yuki said, “I know of a place not too far from here that we could probably hide out until dark.”

Darren and Yuki entered the garage. Hunched over an open child carrier, was Mr. Sugihara’s son. He rummaged through the supplies.

Darren had his handgun out a moment later.

“Get away from our stuff,” Darren said.

“Boy.” Mr. Sugihara said, “There better be a good reason for it.”

“Mother told me to.” He said, “They have lots of food in there. And there isn’t enough to go around. The army didn’t distribute any yesterday.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Mr. Sugihara said, “It all better be here.”

“It is.” The boy said as he ran away.

“I’ll help you pack.” Mr. Sugihara said.

“Leave us alone.” Yuki said, “You’re a nice man who thought to help us through a difficult time, but your family is crazy, and your son almost got killed.”

“You would have killed him?”

“You have no idea what is happening in Tokyo.” Darren said, “The entire population is stuck there, no help arrives, no food. They are killing each other for a snack bar.”

“What do you mean?” Mr. Sugihara asked.

“Here,” Darren said, “There are distributing supplies. Pulling people out of wrecks. Taking them to camps and helping people.”

“I know.” Mt Sugihara said, “It’s just a larger event than that tsunami years ago.”

“Yes.” Darren said, “But they aren’t doing that in Tokyo.”

“The army must be blockading Tokyo.”

“They built a wall around it and shoot people that try to leave.”

“No wonder they hunted you.” Mr. Sugihara said.

“Probably still hunting us,” Yuki said.

“Leave us alone. We’ll leave and be on our way.” Darren said.

“If you excuse me,” Mr. Sugihara said with a small bow, “I am going to yell at my wife and son. I apologize again for their behavior.”

Mr. Sugihara left the garage. Darren could hear the echoes of Mr. Sugihara’s raised voice from the house. He didn’t care. He packed the scattered supplies and put it all back in the child carriers. The handgun was still in it’s hiding place. Darren took off his sword and pistol. He put it in the child carrier.

With the supplies packed up, Darren, and Yuki left the garage.

Outside, the sun was above the horizon. It’s reddish glow started to take the chill away from the night. In the distance, clouds were rolling towards them. They were dark, gray and ugly looking.

“If you’re from around here. How long do we have until we get rained on?” Darren asked.

“Not sure.” Yuki said, “Maybe we won’t get rained on at all.

Yuki sported a dark black eye, and her nose was broken. They both were tender. Luckily Mrs. Sugihara had managed to straighten it. Yuki was still dressed in the blood-stained pants.

From seeing her without any clothes on, Darren knew that Yuki had a shoulder that had turned black and blue, as well as the upper part of one leg.

They found themselves in a set of townhouses. It was still very early in the morning, and there were only a couple people outside. A couple townhouses looked damaged by the earthquakes. Windows were broken, and a few had shingles missing from the roof. They rode around a corner, and three townhouses had collapsed. Rubble was heaped in a giant pile where the townhouses once stood.

Two army vehicles were parked next to the road. A dozen army soldiers stood around the trucks lazily.

They rode towards the groups of soldiers.

One man, held up a hand to them signaling them to stop.

“Let me do the talking,” Yuki said.

They slowed down to a stop in front of the soldier.

Now that they were close, Darren could see that the soldier had officer bars on his uniform.

“You two look beat up.” The officer said, “What happened to you?”

“Looters attacked us in the night,” Yuki said.

“Where are you taking those heavy looking little wagons there?” The officer said.

“We’re just trying to get home.” Yuki said, “I’m hoping that my dad is there waiting for me.”

“Where is home?”

“Sano,” Yuki said.

“You have a long way to go.” The officer said, “What’s in the carriers?”

“Supplies to last us until we get there.”

“That’s a lot of supplies.”

“No, it isn’t.” Yuki said, “It’s no more than what we’re supposed to stock up for the event of an emergency.”

“Is that so?”

“We just packed all the stuff from our house to take with us,” Yuki said.

“You must have a hard time keeping that stuff safe.” The officer said.

“Yes.” Yuki said, “The going is slow as lots of people think that I should pay exorbitant tolls and taxes. We keep having to avoid gangs of thugs and thieves.”

“Yes.” The officer said, “Why go home? You could stay with us. Ditch your friend there, and we’ll keep you safe.”

“I’m truly sorry, but I can’t.” Yuki said, “If my dad is alive, he’ll be there waiting for me.”

“Waiting for you? Why not come looking?”

“And start where? No communication and it’s hazardous out. Better to shelter in place.” Yuki said.

“All right.” The officer said, “Get going. I’m not supposed to let people wonder, but I like you.”

Darren followed Yuki out from the cluster of townhouses. They turned a corner and disappeared away from the Army officer.

They reached the top of a small hill, and sports fields appeared in front of them. A single burnt out vehicle sat where they left it. Darren couldn’t see the bodies of the three soldiers that were killed.

“They must have moved the bodies,” Darren said.

“Yes.” Yuki said, “Let’s get as far away from this place as we can.”

Darren and Yuki rode up the side of the embankment from the dike to the river. The embankment followed along the bank of the river. The other side of the barrier had clusters of houses and buildings of a city that Darren wasn’t familiar with.

The sun showed dimly through what looked like a red haze. Like there was something in the air changing the color of the light and dimming it somehow. Darren wished that he had studied more or that his phone had power and wifi so he could figure out what was going on. Darren wouldn’t admit it, but he missed the Internet.

As they rode, darker and darker clouds rolled in. Lightning flashed in the sky in the distance.

“Nine… Ten… Eleven… Twelve…” Darren said to himself.

Thunder rolled across the sky.

“Storm is at least ten kilometers away,” Darren said.

Yuki nodded.

They rode along the side of the hill keeping away from the top. They didn’t want to be silhouettes riding at the top.

Weariness crept into Darren’s bones as they rode forward at a slower pace.

“You mentioned that you knew where we can stop next?” Darren asked.

“I do.” Yuki said, “It’s not far.”

“Is it better than the last one.”

“I didn’t choose the Sugihara’s.”

“I meant the Katana Club,” Darren said.

“Oh.”

“I hope it isn’t infested with cannibals,” Darren said.

“It’s a used bookstore.”

“Might have been looted for its books,” Darren said.

“People loot books?” Yuki said.

“Books burn,” Darren said.

“I doubt it.”

“Where is this bookstore?”

“We follow this dike to the next town. The dike disappears by some school. The bookstore is near there.” Yuki said.

Chapter 34

Darren and Yuki rode across the school field. The school was empty of kids. No one was on the field to play sports. The school itself was a burnt husk of ruin. Fires had burnt through what the earthquakes hadn’t knocked down.

They stopped in front of the bookstore that Yuki had mentioned. The building was only half standing. The front parts of the building had toppled over. The back half, looked like it was built differently and it was still standing.

“So where do we go now?” Darren asked Yuki.

“I have no idea.” Yuki said, “As we rode into the place, I got a good look at the surrounding areas, it looks like fires burned up the entire neighborhood. There isn’t much standing left.”

“Probably where those refugees in that camp came from,” Darren said.

“Possibly.”

“Do we keep going?” Darren asked.

“We’re tired.” Yuki said, “We need to stop. Eat something and sleep for a few hours.”

“The question is where?” Darren asked.

“We’ll have to backtrack a bit and go around some of this destruction. Maybe find someplace over there.” Yuki said.

“Let’s rest here,” Darren said.

“Where?” Yuki asked.

“In the back half of the building.” Darren said, “It’s still standing. We sleep in shifts and rest until dark.”

“We can’t go on much farther,” Yuki said.

Darren and Yuki slowly crept into the broken building. Near the back door looked to be the rear storage room. Unopened boxes of books sat untouched from where they were delivered. Broken glass was scattered around the building from the windows being busted during one of the many earthquakes. The entire room was only thirty feet long. It looked to Darren that there was a significant steel beam that kept the back section of the building from falling over while the front collapsed.

There was a small broom off to one side. Darren grabbed it and cleared out a section of the hard concrete floor.

“We block the back door with books, and we make a small camp here,” Darren said.

“Let’s not unpack anything.” Yuki said, “I don’t want to be too comfy and not want to leave once it gets dark out.”

Darren and Yuki moved the pile of boxes to block the door. They also blocked the few broken windows with debris so that no one could look in.

They shared a can of cold curry and Darren took the first watch. Yuki closed her eyes and was soon fast asleep.

Darren took apart his handgun and cleaned it as he waited. He was careful not to take the safety off and to not to touch the trigger when it was loaded.

Sitting in a leather holster was the other handgun. Darren pulled the gun out and held it in his hand. It was a weapon that he had taken from the JDF that they had fought. He took the magazine out and fiddled with the gun. It looked like it was in good shape. He studied the bullets. They were the same that his handgun used. Unfortunately, he had only the one magazine for it, and it just carried eight bullets.

He put the weapons in the child carrier and re-hid them. He left the handgun out, sitting on top of the carrier.

After his watch was over, he woke Yuki to take the second part.

“I hate this sleeping in shifts,” Yuki said.

“I know. I do too.”

“What do you do during your shift?”

“I whittle, or I clean the guns,” Darren said. “I putter.”

Yuki grumbled.

Darren pointed to the handgun on the child carrier.

“You wanted a weapon before,” Darren said.

“Yes,” Yuki said.

“If you get scared.” Darren said, “Don’t be afraid to use it.”

Darren sat on the ground went to sleep very quickly.

In his dreams, he saw the face of his mother. She was laughing and smiling at him. She was saying something, but he couldn’t quite make it out.

It didn’t seem like he was asleep for long, but Darren was soon shaken awake.

“Darren wake up.” Yuki was shaking him awake.

Yuki had the holstered handgun strapped to her leg.

“What time is it?” Darren asked.

“It’s sundown,” Yuki said, “and it’s wet out there.”

“It’s wet in here.” Darren said, “I can hear the water pour through that debris.”

“Who knows how long this building will keep the water off us,” Yuki said.

Darren and Yuki moved the boxes away from the doorway and walked out into the cold rain. The dark clouds poured water down on them with a vengeance. They darkened up the night sky and made it very difficult to walk around.

“This is ridiculous.” Darren said, “I can’t even see you, and I’m standing next to you.”

“Do we go back into that death trap of a building or do we press on?” Yuki said.

“I’m tempted to say press on, but how do we keep from being separated?” Darren said.

“Flashlight?” Yuki said.

“And then we become a beacon,” Darren said.

“We wait,” Yuki said.

They pulled their bikes back into the damp ruined building. They piled the boxes back over the door to block the entrance. Darren took a blanket and a bit of rope. He hung the blanket to block off any escaping light that they might create. Yuki took out an oil lamp and lit it. Darren made sure that there was no excess light escaping from the blanket.

“This should be safe enough.” Darren said.

“We might be stuck here until morning,” Yuki said.

Yuki sat on the cold hard floor.

Darren sat down on the ground next to Yuki.

“What are your parents like?” Yuki asked.

“That’s a strange question,” Darren said.

“It’s just a question.” Yuki said, “And I’m just curious.”

“Well.” Darren said, “What are your parents like?”

“Strict. Reserved.” Yuki said, “My mom would hate knowing that I was spending time with boys.”

“And she let you join the Katana Club?”

“That was after the event years ago.” Yuki said, “I had a nanny who basically raised me. I got away with lots of stuff.”

“So then what was your nanny like?” Darren asked.

“She was nice and friendly. She always had a smile on her face and was always interested in what I was doing.” Yuki said.

“What happened to her?”

“I grew up.” Yuki said, “Then I didn’t need her to look after me, so she moved on. I’m curious how she’s making out in this disaster. But the other part of me doesn’t want to find out. That if I do, her fate will be horrible and sad. I just hope she’s alright.”

“There’s always hope,” Darren said.

“What were your parents like?” Yuki asked.

“My dad left when I was nine.” Darren said, “Parents divorced.”

“That’s sad.”

“A year after my dad left, I overheard my mom talk about him to her sister.” Darren said, “The things she called him were vile and completely uncalled for. A week later I learned that they split up cause he couldn’t stand her vile evilness any longer. I begged my dad to take me with him, but the courts said no. My dad was moving to Japan, and the courts wouldn’t give him full custody. My mom wouldn’t give me permission to go.”

“That makes my parents sound nice.”

“Yeh. I took Japanese lessons hoping that I could impress my dad enough to take me. I obsessed over it for a while.” Darren said.

“Do you think your mom’s alive?” Yuki said.

“Probably not,” Darren said.

“Why?”

“Cause she was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Was given a year to live. That’s the only reason she let me move here. Her sister could only take one of us. My younger brother was supposed to go.”

“Well. I’m glad you’re here with me.” Yuki said, “It makes me happy to have you as a friend.”

Darren nodded.

“Darren.”

“Yes, Yuki.”

“What type of relationship do we have?” Yuki said.

“What do you mean?” Darren asked.

“Well,” Yuki said, “we’re traveling together. And we’ve done it a bunch of times. And when Sakiko died, I was hurting for a bit. I still am, anyways… you said that you loved me. Do you?”

“I do.” Darren said, “I’m a guy, and it takes us a while to get things like that. If the quake didn’t hit, we would be dating at some point. Our parents were pushing us together.”

“And now?” Yuki said.

“Now I’m living day to day with the smartest, prettiest girl in the world during the worst time in human history,” Darren said.

“And the relationship we have?” Yuki said.

“If you want it, we can call this a relationship. I can be your boyfriend.” Darren said.

“That would be nice,” Yuki said.

Yuki curled up against him.

“I know that normally a couple would do it about now.” Yuki said, “But I don’t think it’s a good idea in this place.”

“That’s fine,” Darren said.

“You get some more sleep.” Yuki said, “I’ll take first watch.”

Darren leaned up against the wall and closed his eyes.

Yuki turned off the oil lamp. She leaned in and kissed him on the lips.

“Sleep well,” Yuki said.

Darren winced in pain.

“Take it easy on yourself.” Yuki said, “I need you to get healed up.”

“Yes dear,” Darren said.

Darren curled up and slept.

Hours passed. Another one of Darren’s weird dreams rolled by. This one was of him being chased by an angry dog. The dog was as big as a horse and had dark red eyes.

“Darren.” The dog sounded like Yuki, “Wake up.”

Darren opened his eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Darren said with a start.

“Nothings wrong.” Yuki said, “It looks like the storm has passed. I thought we should leave now and get a few hours in before we have to ride in the daylight.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Darren said.

“That’s what it thought too,” Yuki said.

“Is there a way that when the sun comes up that we can avoid towns and travel along rural fields?” Darren asked.

“Kinda.” Yuki said, “If I remember correctly, there are some areas that we’ll have no choice but to travel through urban areas.”

“Let’s pack…” Darren said.

Darren looked around. The blanket and all of the gear that they had unpacked was put away.

“I fiddled with my handgun.” Yuki said, “But after I had loaded and unloaded it a couple times, I got bored. So when I got bored, I packed up.”

“Is that the holster?” Darren asked.

“Yes,” Yuki said.

“Crap,” Darren said.

“At least I have one?”

“Yes,” Darren said, “But that’s not concealable.”

Yuki took the holster off and pulled the handgun out. She put it in the inside pocket to her jacket.

“That doesn’t feel safe,” Yuki said.

“I know.” Darren said, “But it’ll have to do for now.”

Chapter 35

Darren pried himself off the cold concrete floor. He moved the piles of boxes away from the door.

The two of them mounted their bikes, and they rode out of the ruined building.

The storm had passed, taking most of the clouds with them. The stars danced in the moonlight as they rode down the alleyway. It was a much different situation than they were in earlier when they couldn’t see two feet in front of their faces.

Darren kept one eye on the shadows as he left the alley and went into the street. The street was initially a commercial area where shops lined both sides of the road. It was once the place the neighborhood gathered to do their shopping. Now, most of the buildings were either burnt out husks or piles of rubble. The many earthquakes had shaken the structures off of their foundations.

Darren thought they would follow the main street, but Yuki didn’t go that route. She crossed the street and rode up a small side street. Soon they found themselves riding up a small residential area. The ruins of small one-story houses were dotted along the grid-like streets.

Darren and Yuki dodged around debris, rotting corpses, and abandoned cars. The rain had washed away the smell of burnt ashes and decomposing bodies for a while. Darren could smell the freshness that you could only smell right after a rainstorm.

Soon they passed out from the buildings and into some farmland. Fields spread over the land for a bit between the different towns and cities.

In the distance, Darren saw the lights from houses and small fires. He also saw the lights of vehicles moving around. Cresting a hill and riding hard, Darren thought he saw a man on a motorbike. The same one that had followed them by the boat they had scavenged.

Darren blinked and rubbed his eyes. The bike rider was gone.

A couple hours went by as they passed the farmer’s fields and rode back into an urban town. The sun was still on the horizon, and that meant that the streets were still deserted and empty. There were no signs of life around the area. Darren heard the howls and barks of dogs in the distance.

“Do you think dogs would have gone feral by now?” Yuki asked.

“What do you mean feral?” Darren said.

“Wild.”

“I know what feral means, I was meaning what you were talking about.”

“There are stories of abandoned pets going feral. With no owners to feed them they turned back into feral beasts and attacked anything that moved,” Yuki said.

“I doubt it,” Darren said.

Darren and Yuki rode down the street in silence. Buildings passed by and eventually they were out of the town they were passing through. They now rode down the small farming roads.

The roads were made of packed gravel and giant puddles spread out throughout the street. Being dark still and not being able to see how deep that the pools were, they dodged the puddles as best they could. Darren did not want to get stuck in a puddle.

With the sun cresting over the horizon, Darren, and Yuki stopped for a small break.

They pulled a can of peaches out of the child carrier and opened it up to share.

“What’s bothering me is why didn’t that army officer question us about those soldiers?” Yuki asked.

“I was wondering the same thing. Why weren’t they questioning everyone about what happened there?” Darren asked.

“Maybe they knew that they were doing something wrong,” Yuki said, “and swept it under the rug.”

“Hide the evidence that there soldiers tried to rape a high school girl?”

“I’m not sure about that.” Yuki said, “I doubt the army would care that they were raping girls. I think they should be reacting to the deaths of three soldiers. That they should be hunting for the ones that did it.”

“It was probably different units,” Darren said.

“What?” Yuki said.

“They had different armbands on.” Darren said, “They were from a different military unit than the officer was. With communications down, I doubt they’re communicating very well with each other. I bet you they’ll react to the deaths of the soldiers, but it will take time for them to get the word out to investigate.”

“That harpy will probably rat us out,” Yuki said.

“Most likely.” Darren said, “But we didn’t say where we were going.”

“We did to the officer.” Yuki said, “I told him that we were going to Sano.”

“You didn’t tell him where in Sano right?” Darren said.

“No. I didn’t.” Yuki said.

“Good. You said that the hiding place was north of Sano in the mountains, right?”

“Yes,” Yuki said.

“Do you know a route that skirts around Sano?” Darren said, “It can be a long way around.”

“We can go up through Ashikaga, but there are no routes around that city,” Yuki said.

“So if we go through Sano, we can skirt around the main parts of the city. But we risk those soldiers. If we go through Ashikaga, then we risk the city.” Darren said.

“The city could be held by soldiers,” Yuki said.

“Are there any other ways to your place?” Darren asked, “One that skirts around those cities?”

“No. No matter which way we go, there are cities and towns everywhere.” Yuki said.

“So we face risk no matter which way we go,” Darren said.

“Exactly.” Yuki said, “The question is which way.”

Darren pondered it for a bit.

“How long do we have before we have to decide which way we must go?” Darren asked.

“If we ride all day,” Yuki said, “We will get to the outskirts of Ashikaga by then. At that point, we go right, and we go to Sano, we go left, and we go to Ashikaga.”

“I say we ponder it and decide later,” Darren said.

“Let’s go,” Yuki said.

Darren and Yuki rode down the farmer’s road. They turned left and right as they followed the road, keeping to the smaller back roads. They skirted around parts that were built up.

Darren saw more people out walking along the major roads. Carts were dragged along. Darren also saw a car speed along the road. It barely dodged people walking along the road. Panicked looks spread across faces as it sped along the back roads.

In the distance, was the color gang bike rider once more. He was riding the bike along a ridge of a hill away from them. The tires spewing out dirt and dust.

After a few hours, they came to the first people walking in the opposite direction.

The group was made up of eight people walking together. They wore mish-mashed clothing and carried large packs on their backs. They ranged from little kids, riding in a plastic child’s pull wagon, to older men using walking staffs as support.

“Nothing that way but death.” An older gentleman said.

“Same with that way,” Darren said. “Are you from Ashikaga?”

“Maybe.” The older man said, “Why?”

“We’ve run into soldiers back our way that demanded bribes and other things to get past them. I’m wondering what we’re facing.”

The older gentleman stared at Darren for a moment.

“I tell you something, then you tell me something. Agreed?”

“Agreed.” Darren said, “Keep away from main roads and Tokyo. Soldiers patrol them and seem to be keeping people away from the city.”

“Ashikaga suffered bad damage, and most of the survivors have headed towards Sano and the coast. The Word is that the mountains have many survivors walking into it as well.” The older gentleman said.

“Beware the gangs.” Darren said, “They get bad the closer you get to Tokyo. I would stay out of towns and cities as much as you can.”

“Ashikaga had no gangs when we left. But stay indoors at night.”

“Why’s that?”

“Cause some crazy bastard is going around hunting people with a sword when it gets dark. He only attacks you if you’re on the streets. Not if you’re in a camp and sleeping.”

“I don’t have much else.” Darren said, “Good luck to you.”

The gentleman and the group of refugees walked along the road and out of sight.

“We should have asked them what the situation is like in Sano,” Yuki said.

“Too late now,” Darren said.

Darren and Yuki continued down the road along the farmer’s fields. The fields spread out before them, and they weaved their way along the dirt roads. Darren noticed that the dirt roads were in an irregular checkerboard pattern. The dirt roads were around groups of fields between the different towns and cities.

In the early part of the morning, they came to another built-up area in front of a bridge next to a river. Darren wasn’t sure which river it was, or what town it was and he didn’t care.

The town was in a poor state of repair. Most of the buildings were damaged in some form from the earthquakes, others were destroyed by vandalism and fires.

People hung around the main streets of the small town. They stared at Darren as he rode past. In amongst the crowd were police officers who seemed to be keeping the peace.

Yuki led him through some side streets away from the crowds of people. They were soon in front of the bridge, in the middle of the bridge were army vehicles.

“There are a bunch of different bridges along the river,” Yuki said.

They kept riding along the side streets and were soon out of the town.

Throughout the day, Darren, and Yuki traveled along the back roads around most of the crowds. They stopped periodically to eat something from their supplies.

Darren noticed something in a nearby ditch. A naked woman lay face down in the muddy ditch. A massive slash ran down her back from her neck to the small of her back.

“We should move on,” Darren said.

“Oh dear…” Yuki said, “I’m never going to get used to all the death.”

Darren turned his back to the ditch.

“I don’t think you should get used it.” Darren said, “I think if you get used to seeing dead people, then you have a problem.”

Chapter 36

Darren and Yuki mounted their bikes and rode away from the dead body. They were sullen after seeing the dead naked woman.

In the distance was a small bridge across a river. The bridge was connected to a small two-lane highway, unlike the six-lane monstrosity of the other bridges they had road by.

On the other side of the river, in the distance was a city. What Darren could see of the town, showed that the city didn’t have a large number of tall buildings.

“What city is that?” Darren asked, “Please say that it’s Ashikaga?”

“That is Ashikaga,” Yuki said.

“Finally,” Darren said. “What’s the plan?”

“If we go through the city, we need to ride into the mountains and then through a couple mountain passes, and then we’ll be in Sano.”

“So do we risk going through the city or trying to skirt around Sano?” Darren said.

“I don’t know,” Yuki said.

“I’m the Gaijin remember. I don’t know the two cities. You do.” Darren said. “You decide which way to go. I’ll protect you the best I can either way.”

“First I think we should press on tonight and see how far we can get,” Yuki said.

“I agree with that,” Darren said.

“But I have two minds about how,” Yuki said, “It’s thirty kilometers the Sano way, and forty kilometers the Askikawa way. If we try the Sano way, it’s shorter, and we might get lucky enough to dodge any soldiers. But I’m nervous about the soldiers. What if we get stopped again? We won’t get lucky again. Then there’s that unknown killer that’s slicing people up with a bloody sword? If we ride through the night and we get stopped by him. And I have yet to see signs of that gang. What do you think?”

“I think the choice puts us in a rock and a hard place.” Darren said, “As much as the soldiers scare me. We have no evidence that they’re even there.”

“Alright.” Yuki said, “We go up towards Sano. We keep our eyes and our ears open. The first sign of trouble and we hide.”

“Luckily soldiers will have bright lights and loud trucks to give themselves away,” Darren said.

Darren and Yuki mounted their bikes and rode off towards the bridge. The road was clear of debris and abandoned vehicles. The area was also clear of people.

Darren saw dozens of lights flash on in the distance. The lights flickered and danced to the slight breeze that ran down the mountains towards the sea. Darren thought the lights must be small cook fires as it must be around dinner time.

The sun slowly set in the west as they glided silently across the bridge.

Darren stopped at the end of the bridge. Yuki stopped beside him.

“Until we stop for the night, I don’t think we should be talking much,” Darren said.

“Good idea.” Yuki said, “Stealth like a ninja.”

“You and your anime,” Darren said.

“You like anime too,” Yuki said.

“Not that show.” Darren said, “I can’t stand his voice.”

Darren gave Yuki a look.

“Right.” Yuki said, “Silent. Silent as night.”

Yuki smirked.

“Ninja,” Yuki whispered.

Darren rolled his eyes.

Darren and Yuki set out down the road and onto the other side of the river. Darren knew that there was going to be no more essential river crossings until they got to the mountains.

The two of them rode silently down the small highway and turned onto a back road. They rode slowly as their eyes adapted to the changing light. Their world shrank in as they glided along the road.

Darren could see lights in the distance. A couple cars drove down the road away from them. Darren saw that man on the motorbike again. The color gang member seemed to be the same distance away from them and riding fast. The city appeared in the distance. Darren knew that the city was there because he could see a cluster of lights from candles and flashlights in the distance.

The sky darkened up, and the stars and moon appeared out of the darkness. The familiar sight of the night engulfed Darren.

With their eyes fully adapted, they slid down the road. They made multiple turns onto different roads but heading in the same direction.

Darren saw in the distance that the cook fires ran up into the dark sky. After a few kilometers, Darren realized that it was the mountains that made the campfires spread up the sky.

In the distance was an armored army vehicle. It was riding slowly down the road. It had a big searchlight on the top that was scanning the ditches and fields.

“Crap.” Darren said, “You see that.”

“This way,” Yuki said.

They turned down a different road heading in the opposite direction that they needed to go.

“They’re looking for someone,” Yuki said.

“Could be us.” Darren said, “Lets ride.”

The farmer’s road turned up the side of the hill and became very narrow and twisty.

They slowed down to a crawl as they pushed the bikes up the hill.

“Where do we go?” Darren said.

“Next driveway we turn down and hide,” Yuki said.

The truck turned up the road just as they were pushing their bikes into a driveway.

The light glowed on them. Darren heard the truck screech to a stop. The sound echoed through a door opening and gun cocking.

“Freeze.” A loud male voice shouted out from behind them.

Darren and Yuki stopped in their tracks.

“Turn around, and let’s see your hands.” The voice continued.

Darren and Yuki let go of their bikes. The child carriers kept the bikes upright.

Darren and Yuki turned around to face the truck. The bright light completely blinded them from seeing anything around them. Darren attempted to shield himself from the light with his hands.

“Curfew breaker.” The soldier yelled, “Get your hands up.”

Darren looked at the soldier and then at Yuki.

“When I tell you to, dive into that ditch,” Darren said.

“What…” Yuki said.

“Don’t argue.” Darren said, “I promised that I would keep you safe and I intend to do so.”

“I love you,” Yuki said.

“We had a good run,” Darren said.

“Hands on your…” The soldier started to shout.

A gunshot echoed out from the hillside. Darren heard the distinct thud of a body hitting the ground.

“To the ditch!” Darren yelled.

Yuki jumped into the ditch. Darren heard a splash from the water in the bottom.

“Man down!” A soldiers voice echoed from the truck.

The light moved from Darren and pointed up into the hills behind the truck.

Darren ran towards the truck and pulled out his handgun.

Darren aimed his handgun at the big bright light that was mounted on the truck.

He squeezed the trigger, and the bullet smashed into the light, killing it. A shower of sparks erupted from the light.

At that moment, Darren saw the situation he was in. The soldier that was in the passenger seat was on the ground in a pool of his own blood.

The driver had gotten out of the truck with a rifle in hand. He was running around the hood to get a shot at Darren.

A soldier stood in the opening of the roof hatch, shielding himself from the sparks of the busted light. A rifle was slung across his shoulders.

A fourth soldier sat behind the driver. He fumbled with the door as he attempted to exit the vehicle.

Darren, with his gun still aimed at the light, moved his aim over a foot and fired a couple shots at the soldier in the roof hatch. A bullet hit the soldier in the arm and the chest. The bullet that had hit the arm pierced the skin and broke a bone. The round that hit the chest exploded against the soldier’s Kevlar vest. The soldier’s head exploded a moment later.

Chapter 37

Darren heard another gunshot from a distance. Darren saw the driver duck behind the hood. Darren raced towards the vehicle and took cover behind the rear truck tire. Darren looked back towards Yuki and the ditch.

Yuki had pulled herself out of the ditch, and she was hiding behind her carrier.

Darren drew his sword from its sheath.

The fourth soldier opened the rear passenger door. His gun was out and in front of him. Darren aimed his weapon at the soldier, He fired off a burst of shots at the soldier, and then his handgun jammed.

The soldier jumped out of the truck. His rifle moving to aim at Darren’s chest.

Darren let out a scream and swung his sword at the soldier. His sword swung underneath the barrel of the rifle and skimmed across the skin of the man’s left elbow. It continued on to dig into the chest of the soldier.

Darren saw that it was just a kid no older than himself. The kid squeezed the trigger, and the rifle slammed back into his shoulder. The bullet raced towards Darren causing Darren to jump backward letting go of the sword.

Darren fell on his ass as he watched the kid slump backward onto the ground. Darren felt blood trickle down his neck. He pressed his hand to his neck and felt the warmness of his own blood.

“Darren!” Yuki’s voice echoed from the bikes.

The driver appeared around the back of the truck. His rifle was pointed at Darren.

“Shit,” Darren said.

A gunshot fired off from the bikes. Meaty smacks echoed from the soldier. Darren looked to see that a bullet wound appeared on the drivers lower abdomen. A second bullet went into his upper chest a moment later. Blood spattered behind him as the round went through the body.

The soldier collapsed to the ground in a heap.

“Darren,” Yuki yelled as she ran towards him.

“You were supposed to run away,” Darren said.

“Shut up you idiot.” Yuki said, then stopped to see the blood seeping through Darren’s fingers, “Hold on. I’ll get the medkit.”

“My carrier, front. Next to the rice.” Darren said.

Darren held onto the bloody wound and held it tight. Blood flowed from the wound.

“It’s not that bad.” Darren said, “I think that it barely scratched it.”

“Shut up.” Yuki said, “I got it.”

“I mean. It barely hurts.” Darren said.

A moment later, Yuki ran up to Darren.

“Oh fuck,” Yuki said.

“I don’t think it got the artery.” Darren said, “But it’s bleeding bad. I need a bandage.”

Yuki wrapped the bandage around Darren’s neck and held it tight.

Darren closed his eyes for a moment.

Yuki slapped his face.

“Don’t die.” Yuki said, “I’m not losing you too.”

“I won’t,” Darren said.

“Don’t try to sleep,” Yuki said.

The crunch of a pair of boots appeared behind them.

“I think I know you two.” The voice said.

Darren saw a Japanese man in a dirty army uniform.

Yuki raised her handgun from the ground.

“Don’t.” The man said, “I met you before. Gave you some tea and some rations.”

“Captain Yusako.” Yuki said, “Darren’s hit.”

The Captain walked up to Darren and looked at the wound.

“Keep it wrapped up.” The Captain said, “My medic will look at him. I think he’ll live.”

“See. I told you I’m fine.” Darren said.

A moment later, ten army men poured onto the road.

“Secure the area.” The Captain said, before turning to one man, “You are late Lt Harrito.”

“You’re in the wrong position.” Lt Harrito said, “We were supposed to ambush them up the road.”

“You are correct on that.” The Captain said, “These civilians got caught. But enough of that for now. Get their gear to base camp and clean up the area. I am going to have a walk with these two.”

A soldier came and looked at Darren’s neck. He cleaned the area and poured a white powder on it.

Yuki sat next to Darren.

“Can he walk?” The Captain asked.

“Yes, sir.” The medic said, “Flesh wound. He’ll be fine.”

“Walk with me to camp.” The Captain said.

“Our gear?” Yuki said.

“Your gear will be packed up and won’t be touched.” The Captain said.

“Our guns?” Darren said.

“Keep them.” The Captain said, “I trust you.”

Darren stood up. He used the door to pull himself up. He picked up his gun from the ground. With a couple quick motions, he cleared out the jammed bullet. He put the handgun away in his holster. He picked up his fedora where it had fallen.

“Where did you get the gun?” The Captain asked.

“The boss’s desk at the storage unit where we were hiding out at,” Darren said.

Darren pulled the sword out of the body of the kid soldier. He cleaned the sword with the soldier’s jacket and put it back in his sheath.

“I’m not going to ask you where you go the sword from, let alone know why you fight with it.” The Captain asked.

Darren and Yuki followed the Captain up the hill and the narrow road. Yuki put her handgun back in her jacket.

“It’s been a long time.” The Captain said, “I see you made it out of Tokyo.”

“Barely.” Darren said, “At least not right away. Things got ugly, and we went to ground.”

“And then.”

“And then things got uglier, and we were forced to fight our way out,” Darren said.

“How did you get this far on bikes with child carriers full of supplies?”

Darren told him a brief story of how they rode at night to get this far.

“Which route did you take?”

Yuki told him.

“How about you, Captain?” Darren asked, “Last time we saw you, you were running a shelter in the middle of Tokyo.”

“The government screwed us.” The Captain said, “You two got lucky to get out how you did.”

“What do you mean?” Darren asked.

“The government is using the army to quarantine the big cities like Tokyo and a few others.” The Captain said, “They’re letting them die and eat each other.”

“We saw that,” Darren said.

“I was a part of a group that was holding the perimeter.” The Captain said, “I held a roadblock checkpoint. By riding at night, and going the route that you did, you two escaped detection nicely. Considering you went through my abandoned roadblock.”

“You mutinied?” Darren asked.

“Such a harsh word.” The Captain said, “But yes. I couldn’t force my men to shoot unarmed civilians just for trying to find safety.”

“Many do.”

The captain paused for a moment.

“Wasn’t there a third riding with you?” The Captain said, “When I met you in the shelter, you two had a friend watching the bikes.”

“We ran into JDF on our way through the city.” Darren said, “Sakiko got shot in the head by some soldier.”

“Oh.” The Captain said, “You have my sympathies.”

“Are we prisoners?” Yuki asked.

“No.” The Captain said.

“Why did you save us?” Yuki asked.

“Cause I recognized your boyfriend here.” The Captain said.

“You recognized him after a ten-minute meeting weeks ago?” Yuki said.

“We’re almost at the camp,” The Captain said, “I have a question for you. Why did you bloody charge at the truck? You were fortunate not to die.”

“Lucky yes.” Darren said, “Stupid, probably. But I’m armed with a handgun, it’s not a very good handgun, and I don’t have a very good aim with it. I needed to get close to try and hit them.”

“Why the sword?” The Captain said.

“Cause it makes non-soldiers nervous when they see us.” Darren said, “They stay away, and they don’t bother us.”

“He thinks that it looks cool,” Yuki said.

“I knew that was the reason.” The Captain said, “Come, let’s enter the camp.”

Chapter 38

Darren and Yuki entered the camp. The camp was a small shrine temple. Massive stone walls surrounded the temple with a makeshift gate covering the entrance. The temple was a traditional one made with a sloping clay tiled roof. The temple grounds were surrounded by tents and temporary buildings.

The camp was full of people. Some in army gear, some in regular clothes. There were old and young, women and children. The able-bodied men and women were around the perimeter armed with army rifles.

The Captain stood up on a box.

“It’s all clear people.” The Captain said, “Back to bed. The Lieutenant has the night shift and will keep us safe.”

Darren saw the people sling rifles on shoulders and walk back to their tents.

“Darren Cunningham.” A kids voice rang out of the night in English.

Darren turned to the source of the voice.

Standing in the middle of the crowd of people stood Anthony. Anthony had a rifle in his hands. His hair was cut short, and he was in a pair of shorts and a simple shirt.

“Anthony?” Darren said, and he switched to English, “Sweet Christmas. You’re alive.”

Darren ran up and gave Anthony a big hug.

“Where’s dad?” Anthony asked.

“I was about to ask you the same question.” Darren said, “We have a lot to talk about. Do you have some place we can talk?”

“Yes, I do,” Anthony said.

Darren turned to Yuki.

“Come along,” Darren said.

Anthony led them into the temple. Sitting at a desk was the Captain. An oil lamp lit his desk.

“We’re going to use the side room,” Anthony said in Japanese.

“Okay.” The Captain said, “I’ll join you in a few minutes. I need to check on Mika.”

“I’m sure she’s sleeping.” Anthony said, “That girl can sleep through anything.”

The Captain chuckled and looked back at the paper.

“You know Japanese,” Darren said in Japanese.

“I know a bit.” Anthony said, “Mika has been teaching me.”

Darren and Yuki entered the side room. Darren put his sword next to the door. The three of them sat down at a low Japanese style table.

“I’d offer you tea, but it’s very early, and the fires are still cold.”

“I’d offer you something stronger,” Darren said, “but you’re a kid, and our supplies are still being brought up the hill.”

“What happened to you?” Yuki asked in English.

Anthony looked at the table.

“I wasn’t sick that night.” Anthony said in English, “I went to a meet and greet of Anastasia Yusio.”

“The internet star?” Darren asked.

“Yes.” Anthony said, “Only reason I came to this country was so I could meet her.”

“Did you meet her?” Darren said.

“Yes.” Anthony said, “I managed to hang out with her for a couple hours that night. I lost track of time, and we went around Tokyo. Then the earthquake hit. Her bodyguards swept her away, and I was left in the middle of who knows where.”

“That must of been scary,” Darren said.

“It was kinda exciting.” Anthony said, “Until Lt Harrito found me wandering around Tokyo alone. He took me to the shelter where the Captain was.”

“You were what?” Yuki said.

“I was at the shelter,” Anthony said.

“Son of a…” Darren said.

Darren told Anthony about his night, leaving out select details. He told him about the building collapsing and pulling out Sakiko from the rubble. He told him about sleeping the night on top of the hill. He also told him about talking to the Captain and leaving.

“Wait,” Yuki said, “If you were at the shelter and you asked the Captain about your family, why didn’t he say anything?”

“Cause the boy didn’t meet my Mika until he was there for three days.” The Captain said walking into the room, “After that they were inseparable.” He looked at Anthony, “Put some clothes on.”

Anthony bowed, “Yes Sensei.”

Anthony left the room.

“He met my Mika,” The Captain said, “And they became friends. Then I met him and realized that I had met you before. When we moved from the shelter to the perimeter, I took him with us.”

Anthony walked back in the room wearing a pair of blue jeans.

“Why didn’t you say anything to me?” Anthony said.

“Cause you, in your stubbornness, would have left the shelter to try and find him.” The Captain said, “Did you wake Mika when you grabbed your pants?”

“No, I didn’t.” Anthony said, “She needs to sleep.”

“You’re sleeping in the same room as Mika?” Darren asked.

“So.” Anthony said, “Space is limited here. And we’re too young to do anything. The Captain will kill me if I do. He has told me as much.”

“Mika insisted upon it.” The Captain said, “It was her idea on how to solve the space issue.”

Darren told them an abbreviated version of their travels from the storage unit to meeting the Captain again.

“That burnt truck was you two?” The Captain said, “My scouts reported about that. Some big rumor of the Night Riders riding out of Tokyo and away.”

“Night Riders?” Darren asked.

“Yeh.” The Captain said, “When we abandoned the post, it was empty for eight hours. Reports say that it let out gangs on bikes and on foot. The Word is that a big gang on dirt bikes left first. They’ve been dubbed the Night Riders.”

“Color gangs,” Darren said.

“And Yakuza.” The Captain said, “And anyone that could get out.”

“Is that how you got out?” Anthony said.

“Yes.” Darren said, “We were trying to be stealthy.”

“Why were you heading out this way?” The Captain asked.

Yuki told them about her dad and his cabin in the woods.

“So your dad was a prepper.” The Captain said, “And you’re just trying to get there.”

“Yeh,” Yuki said yawning.

“How long ago did you two got some sleep?” The Captain said.

“Is it after midnight yet?” Darren asked.

“Way past.” The Captain said.

“Then about twenty-four hours ago,” Darren said.

“Then you two need to get some sleep.” The Captain said, “There’s a small side room off this one. You can use that. Anthony will grab a couple blankets for you two.”

Darren nodded.

“I’ll take the first watch,” Yuki said out of habit.

“Excuse me?” The Captain said, “We got the watch. You two sleep.”

“You mean that we both get to sleep at the same time?” Yuki said.

“Just no hanky-panky in the temple.” The Captain said.

“Thank you,” Yuki said.

Darren bowed to the Captain.

“Thank you for the hospitality and saving my life,” Darren said.

The Captain nodded and excused himself from the room.

Blankets in hand, Darren, and Yuki walked into the small side room. The room they were in was more like a closet than anything. But after the greater part of a month of not sleeping very well, the space was perfect.

Moments later, Darren and Yuki were sleeping underneath a blanket. Yuki snuggled up to Darren. He dreamed that he was being chased again. He tossed and turned in his fitful sleep.

Darren wasn’t sure how long he slept for, but Darren’s eyes shot open, and he couldn’t go back to sleep no matter how hard he tried.

He got up from the makeshift bed that he slept on with Yuki.

With Yuki still sleeping, Darren didn’t wake her as he put on his pants and a clean shirt. Darren grabbed his watch as left the small closet of a room.

In the small side room were three men and two women. They all sat around the small table. At the head of the table was the Captain.

Darren looked at his watch. It was six in the morning.

Maps and charts were scattered around the table. Two of the men wore some type of army fatigues, while one wore regular clothes. One of the women also wore army fatigues and the other wore street clothes. Darren noticed quickly that all of the people were middle-aged and that they were all Japanese.

“Ahh.” The Captain said at the head of the table in English, “You’re awake.”

“I prefer Japanese.” Darren said in Japanese, “And yes. I’ve gotten in the habit of not sleeping much before I get up to check on things.”

“The rewards of being in a leadership position. Am I right?” The Captain said.

“You can say that I guess.” Darren said, “If you excuse me, I didn’t mean to interrupt your meeting.”

Darren gave a small bow and walked towards the exit.

“Come and join us.” The Captain said, “We could use your input.”

Darren gave the Captain a skeptical look.

“You managed to skirt around the army and sneak past them.” The Captain said, “You got out of Tokyo.”

“So did you,” Darren said.

“I bluffed my way out.” The Captain said, “I used the lack of communication and organization to get out of the city with everyone here. You and your friend are the only people that have joined us since we left. You snuck through. I need your help.”

Chapter 39

An army officer, a middle-aged man of stocky build, motioned to an empty seat next to him.

Darren sat down next to him. He was nervous

“For all of you that haven’t been introduced yet, this is Darren Cunningham. He is from Canada.” The Captain said.

Darren nodded to the dozen people at the table.

“You know Lt Harrito.” The Captain said, “The rest you can introduce yourself later, we’re running out of time for this meeting. Where were we?”

“Hiki was whining, Captain.” Lt Harrito said.

Hiki was a middle-aged man who wore a business suit with a white shirt and a tie. The man looked fit and trim.

“The army will know that we’re here,” Hiki said.

“Maybe. Maybe not.” Lt Harrito said.

“They will come looking for their lost men.” Hiki said, “They’ll send the army out in force against us.”

“Are you an army man?” Lt Harrito said.

“Well. No.” Hiki said.

“You’re a politician.” Lt Harrito said, “What do you know of army tactics?”

“Harrito.” The Captain said, “Let the man speak.”

“Fine.” Lt Harrito said with a smile, “Speak. Tell us what you think we should do?”

“We need to flee.” Hiki said, “We need to pack up and go. This place is indefensible. We need to abandon it. There’s no hope here.”

Hiki paused for a moment.

“Is that it?” Lt Harrito said, and when there was no response from Hiki, Lt Harriot continued, “Where do we go?”

“Anywhere,” Hiki said.

“So you have no plan besides whining?” Lt Harrito said.

“I have a plan,” Hiki said as he stood up.

“This boy, Darren,” Lt Harrito said as he pointed at him, “Probably has a plan.”

“The Gaijin knows nothing,” Hiki said.

Darren smirked and laughed.

“I know more than you,” Darren said.

“Do you have a plan?” Captain Yusako asked.

“I have a plan for Yuki and me,” Darren said, “But not for an army of people.”

“There’s three hundred and forty-one in this camp.” Lt Harrito said, “Including you two.”

“Exactly,” Darren said.

“So what’s your plan?” Hiki said.

“None of your business,” Darren said.

“What’s your plan?” Lt Harrito said.

“Bug out to seclusion,” Darren said.

“That’s it.” Hiki said, “That doesn’t sound like…”

“Oh shut it,” Darren said.

“Excuse me,” Hiki said.

“The term bug out is familiar and valid to everyone that has thought about this situation.” Darren said, “We have a location that we’re headed to. We have prepped for it. We can survive seclusion for a long time. Can you?”

Hiki stood up, his face red.

“Sit down.” The Captain said.

Hiki glared at Darren and sat down.

“Darren,” The Captain said, “What do you think we should do?”

“This is a waste of my time.” Hiki said, “Stinky Gaijin.”

“Yes, I smell.” Darren said, “We haven’t washed in a while. The the last time it rained we were in the middle of a burnt city and couldn’t get to a safe place to shower. Unlike you and your survival shelter and your temple, out in the real world of chaos and death, little things like that will get you killed. You see, I’m not sure how much time you spent outside the survival shelter when you were in Tokyo, but I didn’t have a shelter. We hunkered down in a storage unit waiting for someone to show up. When we did leave that storage unit, friends died. I have seen more death in the last two weeks than most people have seen in a lifetime.”

“Well.” Hiki said, “I never expected to be talked to like…”

“Oh shut up.” Darren said, “I’m not finished. You asked for my advice, but in reality, I have no idea what you need to do. I have no idea if you need to stay here or flee. That’s a decision that needs to be made by yourselves. You’re right. The army will come. Hordes of hungry people will come. That much is certain. But the question is, can you defend yourselves from each. Do you even have enough food and water for all of you? Or do you need to get more?”

A general murmur erupted from the table.

“If I want his opinion,” Hiki said, “I shall tell it to him…”

“Shut it, Hiki.” The Captain said.

Hiki sat back and glared at Darren. His eyes glowering at him.

“Cause if you don’t have the supplies to last you, then maybe you do need to move?” Darren said.

“See.” Hiki said, “He admitted it. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about and is wasting our time.”

“People are eating each other in Tokyo,” Darren said.

The table quieted down faster than Darren thought that it would.

“Two of Yuki’s friends turned to cannibalism to feed themselves as they felt that had no choice.” Darren said, “We were forced to kill them before they ate us too.”

“What does that have to do anything?” Hiki said.

“Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth? I mean, I’m still learning Japanese, but I thought I was clear.”

“What do you mean?” The Captain said.

“I mean.” Darren said, “Not a hundred kilometers from us there’s an entire city of people that all of us at this table abandoned to their fate instead of saving. That city of people is now literally eating each other. Are you prepared to defend against that? Can you defend here?”

A younger girl that Darren assumed to be Mika and Anthony walked into the room. They held hands.

“Father.” Mika said, “Minoru Eguchi is still waiting for you.”

“Tell him that I will see him soon.” The Captain said, “That scavenger can wait a while longer.”

Mika nodded, “He won’t like it. He has been waiting all day.”

“Tell him that anyways.” The Captain said, “And you two better get to training. The Drill Sergeant won’t like it if you two are late again. And tell him that I will be by once I’m done with these distractions.”

Mika and Anthony gave the Captain a small bow, and they left.

“Now where were we?” The Captain said.

“Can we defend this place?” Hiki asked.

Hiki glared at Cameron who shrugged his shoulders.

“First,” Lt Harrito said, “We need to fully understand the situation here in Japan.”

“There’s no main communication still.” The Captain said, “The army is using runners and scouts.”

“That means we need to use scouts.” Lt Harrito said, “And scout.”

“Well…” Hiki said.

Lt Harrito glared at Hiki.

“Shut it, I am not done,” Lt Harrito said, “Luckily Darren has been out in the countryside. I’m sure he has a good idea of what’s going on.”

“Then what is?” Hiki sneered.

“Darren?” Lt Harrito said.

“We all know the big cities are being left to fend for themselves.” Darren said, “The smaller ones are being helped by the army. But we all know that heading there is bad.”

Darren gave a brief description of some of the cities and towns they had passed through.

“So the army is trying to keep control.” Captain Yusako said.

“Looks like it,” Darren said.

“It won’t last.” Lt Harrito said.

“And why not?” Hiki sneered.

“Many reasons.” Lt Harrito said, “There’s no new food coming in. No new food growing. The supply is limited. Once the stockpiles are gone, and they will be soon, then their control will disappear.”

“Is that all,” Hiki said.

“Plus, the quarantines aren’t going to last.” Lt Harrito said, “Communications are non-existent, and a couple more breaches will cause it to collapse. Those people will flood the surrounding areas.”

“No good will come from that,” Darren said.

“Exactly.” Lt Harrito said, “And the atrocities that are being committed by the JDF are angering people. They can’t keep control with a rioting populace.”

“Sooner or later, things will collapse.” Darren said, “All it takes is ambitious army officers or gang leaders or politicians to cause chaos.”

“Ambitious army officers?” Captain Yusako said, “Like me.”

“Maybe.” Darren said, “I barely know you. I have no right to judge you.”

“So what should we do?” Hiki said.

“I am getting to that.” Lt Harrito said, “To know what to do, you need to understand why.”

“Why?”

“Yes.” Lt Harrito said.

“We know why.”

“And I will repeat it,” Lt Harrito said, “For those with low intelligence.”

“Why you…”

“The army is going to flex its muscles.” Darren said as he interrupted Hiki, “It will attack. It will find you and stamp you down. It has no choice.”

“That’s what I was saying,” Hiki said.

“Shut it,” Darren said.

“Why will it attack?” Captain Yusako said.

“Cause you bloodied its nose and people will see it as weakness.” Lt Harrito said.

“Exactly.” Darren said, “And more importantly, there’s going to be a die off.”

“Die off?” Hiki said.

“Yes.” Darren said, “It’s Yuki’s term. In the next few months, there’s going to be a drastic population reduction. The stupid, the weak, and the sick will die. The famine is going to be very bad.”

“What do we…” Hiki began.

“Shut it,” Darren said.

“What we need to do,” Lt Harrito said, “is to secure an area that you can protect until the army leaves us alone, and until the hordes of hungry refugees move on.”

“And then,” Captain Yusako said.

“And then you need farmland that you can grow your own food,” Darren said.

“We discussed that at length back in the shelter and the perimeter post.” Hiki said, “This discussion brings nothing new.”

Captain Yusako looked at each of the members of the council.

“I want a full report on each department.” The Captain said, “I want to know our food situation, water, and plans on defending this place.”

The council members looked at each other with worried expressions.

“Dismissed.” Captain Yusako said.

The council members filed out of the small room. Hiki glared at Darren as they left.

Darren stood up and went to leave.

“Stay for a moment.” Captain Yusako asked.

Darren turned to face the Captain.

“What would you like?” Darren asked.

“I’m wondering what it will take to get you to stay.” Captain Yusako asked, “You seem like you know what you’re doing. I could use you.”

“That isn’t a decision that I can make by myself.” Darren said, “I need to talk to Yuki cause it’s a joint decision.”

“I would like you to consider it.”

“We shall,” Darren said.

Captain left the room and exited to the temple grounds.

Chapter 40

Darren sat on the floor next to Yuki. She was curled up in blankets with them pulled up to her face. A single kerosene lantern sat on a box casting its light across the room.

“Did you hear the discussion?” Darren asked.

“Yes,” Yuki said.

“And?”

“The Captain seems nice, but I don’t know…” Yuki said.

“You don’t know?” Darren said.

Yuki sat up, and the blanket fell down to her waist. She wasn’t wearing any clothes. Her small firm breasts glowed in the low light of the lantern.

“I want to get to the cabin.” Yuki said, “Maybe we can join up with them later, but I don’t know if it’s a smart thing now.”

“Granted.” Darren said, “What’s your argument against?”

“Three hundred people.” Yuki said, “Lots of mouths to feed. Plus the JDF will attack here.”

“There is the problem of my brother,” Darren said.

“I know.” Yuki said, “You can stay with your brother. I’ll go on alone.”

Darren wrapped his hands around her and pulled her close.

“I love you.” Darren said, “If you go, I go.”

“What do we do with your brother?” Yuki said.

“We can convince him to come with us.”

“Good luck with that. The kid has a girlfriend.” Yuki said.

“You should get dressed, and we should go see him,” Darren said.

Yuki got dressed in a pair of clean jeans and a t-shirt.

Darren and Yuki exited the closet they were using as a bedroom. The little meeting room was empty of people. As well as the central temple area.

They exited the temple into the compound and walked around exploring it. The compound was a busy hive of people. To Darren, it looked like everyone had a job and they were doing it. People were washing clothes, or cooking food. Others were cleaning the grounds.

Darren saw a bunch of armored vehicles lined up in a row, as well as a few covered trucks. At the end of the row was the truck with the light. The one that the four JDF soldiers had ambushed them with. A couple mechanics were tinkering with the truck. It looked like they were going to detach the broken light.

Turning the corner was a line of young teenagers. There were stripped down to shorts, the girls wore tank tops, the boys were bare chested. They were running around the compound. In the middle of the group were Anthony and Mika. Anthony held up his hand as he ran by.

After the running teenagers disappeared into the distance, Darren turned to Yuki.

“It looks like they’re building an army,” Darren said.

“That it does.” Yuki said, “It makes sense.”

“Yeh.” Darren said, “It does, and that’s scary.”

After a few moments, Lt Harrito walked up to Darren.

“Not a bad base?” Lt Harrito said, “No?”

“Busy,” Darren said.

“That it is.” Lt Harrito said, “Shall we go find breakfast? I am sure the cantina has something made.”

Darren’s stomach growled. He shrugged his shoulders and nodded his agreement.

Darren and Yuki followed Lt Harrito into a canvas-roofed tented off area. The area had many tables lined up in neat rows with a couple chefs cooking over a pair of bulky looking wood-fired stoves.

“Porridge.” Lt Harrito said, “My favorite.”

The Lieutenant grabbed three small bowls, and they sat down at a table.

“So?” Lt Harrito said, “What do you think?”

“Weren’t you a police officer?” Darren asked.

“I am.” Lt Harrito said, “But before that, I was a Lieutenant in the JDF. I was actually Captain Yusako’s commanding officer.”

“Then what happened.” Yuki asked between mouthfuls, “Get kicked out?”

“No.” Lt Harrito said, “I retired from the army. Joined the police instead. When the Captain pulled us off that hill, he pulled me into his company. Luckily, I was able to get my family out as well. My wife is the one cooking.”

“I see,” Darren said.

“Anthony is your little brother?” Lt Harrito said.

“Yes.”

“It’ll be good to be here with him then.” Lt Harrito said, “He talks about you lots.”

“We aren’t staying,” Darren said.

“Why not?” Lt Harrito said.

“I’m sure they have reasons,” Anthony said from behind him.

Darren jumped slightly.

Anthony and Mika sat down beside them. They were still in their shorts, but sweat glistened off of their brows. Mika’s white tank top was dripping with sweat.

“I’m sorry,” Darren said.

“No worries.” Anthony said, “I might only be thirteen, but I understand.”

“You do?” Yuki said.

“Darren has a look in his eyes.” Anthony said, “He has only had it once before.”

“And what look is that?” Darren said.

“You know the look.” Anthony said, “It tells me that you’re going to do whatever it takes to be with Yuki. No matter what.”

Darren blushed.

“I made him blush!” Anthony said to Mika, “Pay up.”

Mika glared at Anthony. “I’ll pay you later. Jerk.”

“You two are impossible.” Lt Harrito said, then laughed.

Darren finished his bowl of porridge.

“Are you going to stay here for a few days?” Anthony asked.

“No.” Yuki said, “I get nervous sitting in one place for too long.”

Anthony nodded.

Darren and Yuki packed up their supply carriers. The Lieutenant watched them pack it up. Darren pulled out the six pack of beer.

“Is that beer?” Lt Harrito asked, “Like real beer?”

“It is.” Darren said, “Are you guys allowed beer in this camp?”

“Yes, but I shouldn’t.”

“Why not?”

“Cause I’m an alcoholic.” Lt Harrito said.

Darren put them back into the carrier.

“I don’t drink beer.” Darren said, “But I’ll find a good use for them somehow.”

A few minutes later, Anthony, Mika, Lt Harrito and Captain Yusako stood next to the gate of the camp. Darren pushed his bike up to the entrance with Yuki close behind.

“I wish you would change your mind.” Captain Yusako said.

“Maybe one day,” Darren said.

Anthony walked over to Darren and gave him a hug.

“Be safe out there,” Anthony said.

“Be safe here.” Darren said, “I still have to find dad.”

“I know.”

Darren and Yuki mounted the bikes and rode out of the temple compound.

The compound had been built on the top of a large hill. The hill looked like someone had cut a large sausage in half lengthwise. The hill stretched into the distance and ran into a mountain.

Yuki turned down a small street that led up the mountainside.

Darren followed Yuki up the hill. He started out riding his bike, but the hill quickly rose up. Darren was forced to change gears to make it easier. But that didn’t last, and Darren found himself pushing the heavy bike and trailer up the hill. Darren was walking up what looked like a long and wide curved valley that rose up between two small mountains.

Yuki grunted with effort.

“I didn’t think about this part.” Yuki said, “It always looked so easy to get to when you’re in a car.”

“It could be worse,” Darren said.

He looked up at the reddish glow from the sun.

“How can this get worse?”

“It could be ashing or raining,” Darren said.

“Oh.” Yuki said, “Ashing?”

“You know when ash falls from the sky,” Darren said.

“We have raining, and snowing.” Yuki said, “So why not ashing.”

In the distance, he heard the rumble of a motorbike. Darren looked around to see if he could spot the motorcycle.

“Do you think that’s Captain Yusako’s men?” Yuki asked.

“Probably not.” Darren said, “I didn’t see any motorbikes in the compound.”

Darren listened to the rumble. It was getting closer, and it wasn’t coming from the mountain valley.

“Keep going.” Darren said, “Hurry.”

Darren and Yuki pushed the bikes hard. Sweat poured down his face as he breathed hard. The rumble from the motorcycle stopped after a few minutes. But that didn’t stop Darren or Yuki. They kept pushing the bikes up the steep incline. After struggling with the bikes for fifteen minutes, the slope of the hill flattened out.

“That’s better.” Darren said, “Do you have any energy to ride?”

“I hope so,” Yuki said.

Darren looked at her and down the incline that they had walked up. In the distance was a single motorbike rider. He wore a red sash around his waist. In his hands was a pair of binoculars. The reddish sun reflected off of the glass from the binoculars.

“A scout,” Darren said.

Darren watched the bike rider turn on his engine once more and ride away down the hill.

“We need to hide,” Yuki said.

“Not here.” Darren said, “We need to keep going and try and lose them up the hill.”

Darren and Yuki followed the road into the valley.

The valley had suffered some damage resulting from the earthquake. Some of the houses had fallen down, but they were few in number. Most had windows boarded up.

To Darren it was like the craziness of Tokyo was a world away. The madness of the JDF’s martial law was just as far.

A couple people stood by their front steps. They looked at Darren and Yuki ride by. There was no anger in their faces or fear. Some people smiled. A couple even waved. Darren waved back as he rode by.

They reached a small community. It almost looked like a village. A couple dozen small buildings clustered around a couple intersections of road. Darren read some of the signs. There were butchers and a small bookstore. As well as a library. Most of the buildings were still closed, but people were out and about the village.

The street had been cleared of cars, people rode bikes around the village.

“It’s a nice village,” Darren said.

“It’s not a village.” Yuki said, “It’s actually part of the city of Suno.”

“But it’s so far away from the rest of it,” Darren said.

“It may have been a village once, but the expanding city engulfed it years ago,” Yuki said.

“I guess that it will be a village once more,” Darren said.

“Most likely,” Yuki said.

Standing against a building was a couple police officers. They had guns on their hips. They looked at Darren and Yuki as they passed.

Chapter 41

The two police officers did nothing to stop Darren and Yuki as they rode by. No one raised the alarm or called them over.

The people in the village had clean appearances, which was a complete contrast to Darren’s and Yuki’s mess.

Darren’s face was covered in dirt and sweat, and his clothes felt sticky and clingy in all the wrong places. He knew that he needed a bath. If he could find enough water to have one.

After a few more minutes of walking, they stopped at another intersection at the edge of the village.

“How far away is your dad’s cabin?” Darren asked.

“Not too far.” Yuki said, “It’s just up that hill.”

“Not another hill,” Darren said.

“Yes, another hill.” Yuki said, “Again, the hill didn’t look too bad when you had to drive it.”

“Pushing a bike up it is another story,” Darren said.

Darren opened the carrier and pulled out a couple granola bars. He threw one at Yuki, who caught it.

“Let’s take five.” Darren said, “Then we can keep going.”

They ate their snack in silence as they watched the hill.

Then they heard the rumble of a motorbike. Then it was the rumble of a couple motorcycles.

Darren watched as the half dozen color gang members rode their bikes through the village. Screams echoed as Darren watched people run from the gang members. Darren looked to where the two police officers had stood a few moments before.

Darren couldn’t see the police officers. They had left and gone somewhere else.

In the distance, one of the color gang members pointed at Darren and Yuki.

“They’re headed this way.” Darren said, “Run.”

But before they could get twenty feet up the hill, the bike riders surrounded them.

Six color gang members sat around them on motorbikes. They had chains and bats in their hands. Michio Asahara rode out front, and he had a handgun. They got off their motorcycles and stood around them in a half circle.

“Do you know how long it took us to find you?” Michio said.

“I didn’t know you were looking for us,” Darren said.

“Shut up.” Michio said, “You two are coming with us.”

“Fat chance,” Darren said.

“And why not?”

“Cause of the ten soldiers walking towards you from the village,” Darren said as he pointed past the gang members.

There was no one there, but the gang members turned their heads.

In that brief moment, Darren had his handgun out and pointed at Michio’s head.

“Oh, crap,” Michio said as he saw Darren holding his gun.

Michio pointed his gun at Darren’s head. The handgun looked beat up and clunky.

“This is going to go one of two ways,” Darren said.

“And what is that?” Michio asked.

“Either I will kill you, or you will ride back to where ever you came from,” Darren said.

“I think not.” Michio said, “I think that it will be you handing over your guns and come peacefully or you’ll be dragged there.”

Darren looked at Michio. He could pull the trigger and take him out, but the five gang members might fight on. That would be a problem.

“Darren,” Yuki said.

“Yes,” Darren said.

“What do we do?” Yuki said.

“Keep your gun pointed at the closest gang member,” Darren said.

Yuki nodded.

Darren knew that he wasn’t getting out of this without a fight.

“Now what?” Michio said, “What are you going to do now? I dare you. Pull that trigger. Start the fight.”

Darren ignored him, and after ten minutes, his arms had gotten tired.

Then a color gang member close to Yuki made a move. He swung his bat at Yuki’s gun. The bat hit the slide with the gun, and it went off. The pistol fell from her hands as the bullet slammed into the leg of a different gang member.

Darren was distracted by the sudden movement, Michio fired a shot at Darren. The bullet hissed by his ear to slam into a tree behind him.

Darren pointed his gun back at Michio and pulled the trigger. His bullet missed, and Michio ducked down low.

Yuki grappled with a gang member. She held onto his wrists as he tried to hit her. Darren looked closer and saw that the gang member was a girl about Yuki’s age.

Michio aimed another shot and the gun jammed. Michio pulled at the gun’s slider frantically.

Darren took aim at Michio and pulled the trigger. The bullet hit him in the side. Michio fell to the ground limp.

“Get him.” A color gang member yelled.

The three gang members moved in before Darren could bring his handgun up to aim at the gang member.

A baseball bat hit him in the gut and Darren collapsed to the ground in pain.

Another gang member lifted his bat up, with full intent on bringing it down on Darren’s head.

Darren aimed his gun at the gang member and fired a shot, the gang member crumpled to the ground. A second gunshot echoed from behind him. Then two more shots echoed in the distance. Another gang member that stood over Darren fell to the ground.

“Run.” A gang member yelled.

Darren watched Michio and the remaining gang members got on their bikes and rode off down the hill into the distance. Standing with her handgun in her hand was Yuki. Her face had blood dribbling down it, and she was breathing hard.

Darren holstered his handgun and Yuki did the same.

Laying around them were four gang members. Three of them were already dead. The one that had been shot first had dragged himself away but had bled out. The last one was the girl that Yuki had grappled with. Three bullet wounds bled profusely from her leg and side.

To Darren, it was amazing that she was still alive. She had a scared look in her eyes that had sadness to it.

“Freeze.” The deep growl came from behind him.

Standing in a small row were three police officers armed with rifles and riot gear. They marched towards Darren and Yuki.

“Hands up.” One police officer yelled.

Darren and Yuki raised their hands.

When the police officers got closer, one of them stopped.

“Little Yuki.” He said, “Yuki Tanamoro? Is that you?”

“Yes.” Yuki said, “Who are you?”

“It’s Keitaro Nishi,” Keitoro said.

“You know this girl?” the first one said.

“Yes.” Keitoro said, “Remember Masaki Tanamoro. He bought the old Terada place up the hill.”

“I do, but the last time I was him was two years ago.”

“That’s his daughter.”

The three police officers relaxed.

“My name is Joben Yano.” Joben said, “I’m the Police Sergent here and I’m in charge. Are you armed still? And are they all dead?”

Joben referred to the four gang members.

The gang member girl raised an arm.

“Shit.” Joben said, “One’s still alive. Keitaro, get the doctor.” Keitaro ran off down the street. Joben turned to Darren and Yuki, “Please sit there. I’m not done with you yet.”

The two police officers went to work on the girl. They removed pieces of clothing to get access to her wounds. Darren and Yuki sat on the ground by the bikes and just watched.

Keitaro and a middle-aged woman came running up to them with a pole and fabric stretcher.

They transferred the gang member girl to the stretcher. The doctor and the third police officer took off down the road.

Jedon wiped off his hands on a rag.

“What do we do about those three?” Jedon asked motioning to the dead gang members that lay in the street.

“The morgue has no power.” Keitaro said, “And with no communication, it’s not like we can notify next of kin.”

“Get the delinquents from the jail, and they can dig a small grave near here,” Joben said.

Chapter 42

An hour later, Darren and Yuki sat in a small police station or what they called a Koban. Their guns and swords lay on a desk while Joben and Keitaro looked over some papers. They had taken off their riot gear and now only wore their uniforms.

The delinquents were a group of four young men that were causing trouble in the village. They loaded the three dead bodies into a small cart and took them to a hastily created cemetery in the village.

“These are trying times.” Joben said as he looked up from his paper, “If these weren’t then I’d have arrested you for gang violence and possession of illegal firearms.”

Darren’s mouth dropped open.

“Tell me Yuki,” Joben continued, “What’s your plan now that you’re here?”

“I take it from earlier that you haven’t seen my father,” Yuki asked.

“No,” Joben said.

“The plan is to live in his house and to survive whatever this is in peace,” Yuki said.

“Tell me.” Keitaro said looking up from his paper, “What’s going on outside this village?”

Yuki looked at Darren, “Can you tell him?”

Darren nodded and told them of the situation in Tokyo. He told them how the JDF had quarantined the city. How they had enacted martial law. He also told them about Sakiko’s demise.

“Is it really that bad in Tokyo?” Keitaro asked.

“Yes.” Darren said, “I’m surprised you haven’t gotten any refugees up here.”

“We have.” Keitaro said, “The community center is full of people that we’re not sure how we’re going to feed them long term.”

“But that’s not going to be our problem.” Joben said, “I’m sure the JDF will get a shipment of food up here soon.”

Darren kept his mouth shut. He wasn’t sure what to say or how to say it.

“Are we under arrest?” Yuki said.

“No.” Joben said, “I won’t.”

“Can we have our weapons back?” Yuki said.

“That part, I’m not sure about,” Joben said.

“Why did that color gang come here to attack you?” Keitaro said.

“Back in Tokyo,” Darren said, “we were moving at night to avoid unwanted attention. We were trying to find a way through the JDF quarantine. They ambushed us and the leader tried to slice Yuki up with that sword.” Darren pointed at one of the swords. “I fired my gun at him, but I hit his sister who was going to hit Yuki with a tire iron.”

“So he’ll be back.” Joben said, “To get his revenge?”

“Maybe.” Darren said, “Or maybe that bullet wound he took will kill him. I don’t know.”

“Take the weapons.” Joben said, “But consider yourselves deputies.”

“Deputies?” Yuki said.

“Yes.” Joben said, “Due to the emergency and lack of communication. The people have made me the leader of this ‘village.’ That means I have the power to do many things. And I need help. So you two will help me.”

“That’s fine,” Darren said.

“Keitaro will accompany you two to your father’s house,” Joben said.

Darren and Yuki gathered up their weapons. They pushed the bikes out of the Koban and into the street.

Keitaro followed with them on a bike of his own. Darren thought it was comical seeing a police officer on a bicycle. He didn’t let it show on his face, however.

“So you two rode all the way from Tokyo?” Keitaro asked.

“Yes,” Darren said.

“That must have been scary,” Keitaro said.

“Our experience has been a mix of terror and boredom,” Yuki said.

“Either we are bored waiting for something, or we are scared for our lives,” Darren said.

They pushed their way up the hill and near the top of it was a small driveway. The driveway was blocked off by a large wooden gate. The gate was built of plywood and lumber. The gate had a large padlock on it. Darren thought a swift kick with his foot could break the gate apart.

“I hope you have a key,” Darren asked Yuki.

Yuki pulled one out of her pocket and unlocked the gate.

They pushed their bikes up the driveway and into the yard. The cabin, as Yuki had called it was a two-story building built of stacked rocks and cedar wood. Large windows encased one side of the building, and let in a significant amount of sunlight that lit up the main areas of the house.

“This is the cabin?” Darren said, “It’s huge.”

“It looks big, but it isn’t,” Yuki said.

Keitaro walked around the cabin. One hand was on his handgun.

“You’re clear.” Keitaro said, “There’s no sign that any squatters have taken over this place.”

“Thank you,” Yuki said.

“A bit of advice.” Keitaro said, “Get cleaned up before you come to the village.”

Keitaro turned on his heels and left the house.

“Yuki,” Keitaro said, “Can you unlock the gate for me?”

Yuki nodded and left.

Darren walked around the house. Paintings and pictures adorned the walls. Darren saw a picture of Yuki, her dad, and a woman. Yuki looked young in the picture, and Darren assumed that the picture was one of her mom.

A few moments later, Yuki walked into the house and locked the door.

“We’re finally here,” Yuki said.

Darren walked over to her and embraced her.

“We are,” Darren said.

They held each other for a few moments.

“Now what?” Darren said.

“I’m not sure.” Yuki said, “I didn’t think this far in advance. I didn’t think we would make it here.”

Get Book Two

Here ends the first book of the Culture Shock Series.

Book Two continues the struggle of Darren Cunningham as the temperature drops and volcanic winter sets in.

Volcanic Winter: Culture Shock Series Book Two.

Currently Forthcoming.

For more information and behind the scenes about myself and the worlds that I have created, go to peddehouse.com or sign up to my mailing list for more.

About the Author

Nathan Pedde was born in central British Columbia, Canada. He was apparently a relative many times removed of the Brothers Grimm. Living on Vancouver Island he has a wife and two kids. His wife is a visual artists with pieces in local exhibits. He works with his kids to work on Middle-Grade Fiction series.

Nathan began writing in the seventh grade writing an illustrated fairy-tale. He dabbled in it during High School, and started writing in college. Life got in the way and now fifteen years after high school, the serious writing began.

He has many novels written, and some of them are publishable. He plans on Indie publishing them as he completes them.

You can find him at his website at Peddehouse.com and he has a newsletter that he posts when he releases new books.

Other Books by Nathan Pedde

Land of Ice and Ash Verse

Culture Shock Series

Tokyo Tempest (June 2018)

World of Agersolum

Felix the Swift Saga

Phantom Sorcerer (January 2018)

Under the Shadow of Giants (forthcoming)

Shattered Worlds Verse

Jovian Marines Saga

Behind Enemy Lines (forthcoming)

Fighting Mechas Saga

Long Way Home (forthcoming)

Children of the Shattered Worlds Verse

With Donald Pedde

Space Courier Series

Missile Attack (Febuary 2018)

Saboteur Confronted (forthcoming)

Fairies and Dragons

With Audrey Pedde

The Adventures of Evana Sweetland (March 2018)

For information about upcoming projects, publishing news, and behind the scenes blog posts, please visit peddehouse.com or join the Sci-Fi Newsletter.

Copyright

Tokyo Tempest: Culture Shock Series Book 1

Copyright © 2018 by Pedde House Publishing

All rights reserved.

This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Cover art by Josh Thornbrugh

E-book version, 2018

ISBN: 978-0-9959846-3-9

Pedde House Publishing

Content

Nathan Pedde
In the Land of Ice and Ash
TOKYO TEMPEST
CULTURE SHOCK SERIES: BOOK ONE

Dedication

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Get Book Two

About the Author

Other Books by Nathan Pedde

Copyright