Nathan Pedde - Tokyo Tempest

“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.

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.”