Кобо Абэ - The Ark Sakura

“Thanks a million. I’d about given up hope.”

“So nothing’s changed,” mused the shill. “I’m no different from before. We didn’t really ‘survive,’ after all.”

Clawing the sides of the toilet, I sought to endure the agony of returning sensation; it felt as if the raw nerves were at the mercy of a merciless wind. I forced myself to exercise the ankle.

“You’re strange, you know that?” I scoffed. “You actually sound regretful. None of that crowd is worth a moment’s regret, if you ask me.”

“They are a bedraggled lot, those old men,” he agreed. “Scraggly eyebrows, long hairs sticking out of their noses, wrinkled hippopotamuses under their chins. Well, you can’t blame them for how they look, can you? What I can’t forgive is that miserable, know-it-all thickheadedness of theirs.”

“As soon as you’re ready, let’s go. The longer we hang around here, the greater the chance they’ll be back.”

“He’s right,” said the girl, and added, laughing, “After all, you’re bound to have a lot to do after your new promotion.” She bent over in leapfrog position.

Laying a hand on her shoulder, I stood on my right leg and set my freed left leg on the floor. There was no pain, and the knee and hip joints did everything I told them to. The leg might look like a rotten eggplant, but inside, anyway, it was sound. Cheered, I shifted my weight. My vision whirled, and before I could tell what was happening, pain was shooting through my shoulder and arm, and I lay face down in water, Evidently sensation had not yet returned to the left leg. The shill and the girl helped me up.

“I’ll carry you piggyback,” said the shill. “Come on — this is no time to stand on ceremony. With you out of the toilet, every second counts.”

He was right. If they knew I’d gotten free, our chances for escaping here would dwindle. I put my arms around his neck, keeping my right foot on the ground to ease his burden. Reeling, he spluttered:

“How much do you weigh? You’re just as heavy as you look, aren’t you?”

The girl’s voice followed us. “You want your camera, don’t you? Shall I get it?”

“Yes, the one that’s out, and the case next to it, if you don’t mind. They’re heavy. While you’re at it, I’d appreciate it if you could bring the eupcaccia.”

There were dozens of others out in the jeep, I knew, but somehow they weren’t the same. I could only be satisfied with my eupcaccia, the one that I had checked with my own eyes.

“Something bothers me. ” said the shill, his breath coming hard. “It’s all this water. You don’t suppose the entire cave is going to be flooded, do you?”

“My guess, from the general topography, is that it won’t go higher than a foot or so off the ground. The work hold will be all right.”

“What about places lower than this?”

“Some will become pools, filled to the ceiling.”

“What if those girls are really hiding out somewhere? Then they could flee from the water right into a waiting net.”

I hadn’t thought of it before, but there was such a possibility. Was that my responsibility too? My brain could not forget the adjutant’s comment likening young girls to wet paper. It seemed unlikely, but what if these people, thinking this was all that remained of the world, should go on living here in this spurious ark for a year, two years, three, four — maybe a decade or longer — spinning out their days.

The girl caught up with us in front of the lockers. “These are heavy. I see photography isn’t all just pushing buttons — it’s hard work!”

“You’d better believe it,” said the shill. “Even flea circus trainers end up with a sprained back, you know.” He used the back of his hand to wipe sweat from his chin, then rubbed the hand on the side of his trousers.

I glanced with satisfaction at the label on locker number one: “Flammable Solvents; Lathe Blades, All Sizes; Rubber Work Aprons; Infrared Lamps; Waterproof Sandpaper; Insulation; Corking Materials; Aluminum; Heat-resistant Facial Cream.” A plausible list of items that nobody would be likely to need or care about, and yet that aroused no suspicions. Even the most rapacious thief would surely decide it was not worth the trouble of breaking the lock.

Right 1—left 1—right 1.

The items actually stored inside were a close match for the label on the door, although in some cases the containers were barely filled, or empty. The idea was to lower the overall weight, but even so, I was careful not to make it suspiciously light. Rails were attached to the locker ceiling, and when a hook was removed, the shelves swung out opposite the door. In other words, they served as a hidden inner door.

From beyond the back of the locker, now opened, there swept up a moist breeze smelling rather like the warehouse in the fish market. The shill’s penlight lit up the casing of the escape hatch, which measured two feet by two and a half. The shill whistled.

“You could fool anybody with this.”

“Maybe I had a presentiment something like this would happen.”

“Where does it lead?” he asked.

“He says it comes out underneath the city hall,” answered the girl in my place. There was a lilt in her voice, as if she sensed light at the end of a very long tunnel.

“Is it safe?”

“Of course. The nuclear explosion’s a fake, and I deliberately left the dynamite unconnected here. Let’s go — there’s no time to waste. Once they’re on to us, that will be that.”

“What will they do when they find out?” asked the girl, hunching her shoulders and stifling a giggle.

“I wouldn’t worry. They’ll be too busy looking for those junior high school girls for the time being.” The shill passed a critical hand over the locker door.

“I’m a girl too, you know,” she said.

“They wouldn’t dare lay a hand on a crack shot like you,” he answered.

“What do you mean?” I said. “You’re both coming with me, aren’t you?”

“I can’t decide. ” he said.

“What is there to decide? You’ve had it with those old men, haven’t you?”

“Still, I don’t know. ” He stepped out of the locker and bit his lower lip. A sound like uneven hand-clapping, apparently an echo from the work hold, rose and fell like the sound of rain pelting eaves.

“The world outside is exactly the same as before. All that about a nuclear war was a pack of lies. Don’t tell me you’re going to stay here knowing it was a lie.”

“That depends. If you imagine it really happened, then it seems real. And you’ve been saying so all along, haven’t you? That one of these days it really would happen. That a nuclear war starts before it starts. ” All three of us pricked up our ears in the darkness. It was either an unintelligible command from the insect dealer, or a howl of laughter from Sengoku, or a scream. The shill went on: “I wouldn’t mind a bit — staying on here as we are awhile longer.”

“You’re out of your mind.” I fixed my eyes on the girl, seeking her support. “I don’t care how good a shot you are — you can’t stay awake twenty-four hours a day.”

“That’s true — the air here is too stale,” said the girl, her voice muffled and hesitant.

“It’s not only the air. There’s no sky, no day and night. You can’t even take pictures.”

“If you’re going, you’d better get on with it,” he said.

The girl drew her lips into a sharp line, tilted her head, and looked from me to the shill and back. What a peculiar fellow — why in the world was he hesitating? I couldn’t understand it.

“Let’s go; there’s no more time for jokes,” I said.