Nathan Pedde - Tokyo Tempest

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.

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.