Nathan Pedde - Tokyo Tempest

“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.

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.