Nathan Pedde - Tokyo Tempest

“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.”

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.