Yuki handed him a sizeable adhesive bandage. Darren applied it.
“There you go.” Darren said as he stood up, “You should get it looked at by someone with more medical training than me, but it’ll do.”
Sakiko and Yuki sat next to each other on the lawn.
Sakiko wrapped her arms around Yuki and started to bawl in tears. A couple minutes later, she stopped and regained composure.
“I’m okay now.” Sakiko said, “I am alive, and we will survive this.”
The ground started to shake again. Yuki grabbed hold of Darren and Sakiko grabbed hold of Yuki as the ground shook. Darren heard the rumble crunch as a few more houses collapsed under their own weight.
The shaking seemed to take a long time, but shorter than the previous ones. Moments later, the shaking stopped.
“Is it over?” Yuki asked.
“I think so,” Darren said.
“What now?” Sakiko asked.
Yuki looked at her phone.
“We have no service anymore.” Yuki said, “It looks like the cell towers collapsed.”
Darren rubbed his eyes.
“Here’s the situation we’re in.” Darren said, “My brother is still missing, my dad is missing, and your dad is missing.”
“My dad and your dad’s cells and office phones didn’t work.” Yuki said, “They could be in trouble.”
“And I have no clothes,” Sakiko said.
Darren thought for a moment.
The older rescuer ran towards them, his light bobbed in the darkness.
“A Tsunami buoy just went off.” The older rescuer yelled, “This ones big. Get to the shelter, it’s not far.”
The older man ran down the street and into the darkness of the night.
“We could go to the shelter.” Darren said, “They’ll have clothes and someone who can look at her leg.”
“I don’t trust them.” Yuki said, “Once we’re there, we might not be able to leave again.”
“My brother could be there?” Darren said.
“He could.” Yuki said, “But he might not.”
“Why don’t you trust them?” Darren asked.
“Cause they failed my family and me.” Yuki said, “Years ago when that earthquake hit and the tsunami came, we were told to stay in place. The Tsunami destroyed everything, and it took my mom. If we ignored their orders and went to high ground, the Tsunami wouldn’t have hurt us.”
Darren looked at Yuki.
“Is the shelter high enough?” Darren asked.
“No.” Yuki said, “Its on higher ground, but not high enough. Look, years ago, that tsunami took a half hour to get to us from when the quake hit. It’s been twenty-five minutes.”
Darren looked at Sakiko for a moment.
He grabbed his backpack and pulled out a pair of pants and a shirt.
“Put these on.” Darren said, “They won’t fit very good, but its better than nothing.”
Yuki looked at Darren as Sakiko got dressed.
“Do you have anything for her bare feet?” Darren asked Yuki.
“No,” Yuki said.
“I need a belt.” Sakiko said, “I feel like a clown in this.”
Darren turned and looked at her. The shirt was very baggy and went down to her thighs, and the pants were so loose that if she let go of them, they would fall to the ground.
Darren pulled a piece of rope out of his pack. He cut it with a small knife.
“You can use this,” Darren said.
Sakiko tied the rope around her waist.
“Here.” She said, “Take your jacket back. Its a warm night, and I’ll make it all sweaty. Because I think Yuki is gonna make us do a bunch of running.”
Darren put the jacket back on.
“So its decided,” Yuki said.
“Time to get to higher ground,” Darren said.
Darren ran down the street, in the darkness of the night, in the middle of Tokyo. He followed Yuki and Sakiko, but couldn’t help but look at the devastation.
Signs of damage were everywhere, power lines were collapsed, home and businesses were in different degrees of destruction. Some only had a few shingles knocked loose, while others had collapsed entirely. In all, a surprising number of buildings, especially the newer ones, were still standing.
Groups of headlamp and tool clad rescuers roamed the streets to pull helpless victims out of the rubble of collapsed buildings. Sirens blared across the city as ambulances, and other emergency personnel raced to the latest hot spot.
After about fifteen minutes of jogging, Darren called a stop. He heaved with heavy breathing and pain shot up his gut. Sakiko leaned against a nearby tree. A pained look on her face.
“This is insane,” Darren said.
“We have to keep moving,” Yuki said.
“How far away is higher ground?” Darren asked.
“Where I want to go is the storage unit.” Yuki said, “I know that the hill that it is on will be safe.”
“How long if we walk it on a Sunday afternoon?” Darren asked.
“Three hours,” Yuki said.
“That’s far.” Sakiko said, “Why don’t we go to that hill?”
Sakiko pointed at a hill to the right. It stretched out in the darkness. The quickest way to the hill was through a park and then a road that wound its way up the hill.
Yuki looked at both Darren and Sakiko. Panic was visible on her face.
“Yuki,” Darren said, “Sakiko’s right. We get to the top of that hill and wait until morning. After the tsunami has passed, we go to the storage unit to wait for our dads.”
“Okay.” Yuki said, “The tsunami could be here anytime.”
The park was treed with paths running in multiple directions. Sizable wooden gates showed Darren where the entrance to the park was.
They quickly walked into the park. Dark shadows were cast in multiple directions.
“Is there a way around this?” Darren asked.
“Afraid of the dark?” Yuki asked.
“No.” Darren said.
“There is a way around, but it’ll take us twenty minutes out of the way.” Yuki said, “I’ve gone through this park many times. There are no problems with this park.”
Darren, Yuki, and Sakiko walked farther into the park. Shadows cast ghostly figures across the trees.
“Now that you mention it.” Yuki said, “This park has gotten creepier than I remember it.”
Two tall Japanese men jumped out of the woods. They wore cut off jeans and t-shirts with slogans on them.
“So its two little girls and their Gaijin pet.” One of the Japanese men said.
They looked at Yuki, who backed away from them. While Sakiko balled her fists.
“Tell your Gaijin friend to drop his wallet and run, and he can live. You two, on the other hand, are staying right there.”
“Really,” Darren said.
Yuki backed up behind Darren. Sakiko stood to Darren’s side.
“I bet we can outrun them,” Yuki said.
Darren looked behind himself. A third Japanese thug walked out from behind a tree.
“Not that way.” Darren said, “Looks like we fight.”
“Look at that.” The first thug said, “The Gaijin freak can speak Japanese.”
Darren looked around the park. Empty bottles were strewn about.
“They’re drunk,” Sakiko said.
Darren turned to the two drunk Thugs.
“We don’t mean any harm,” Darren began, “But a Tsunami is coming this way. We need to get to a shelter.”
“Shut up. Leave your wallet. And go away.” The thug said, “My worm and those girls there are going to have an intimate discussion.”
Darren saw what looked to be a large branch sticking out of a bush. Darren grabbed it and pulled it out. What Darren thought was a branch was actually a straw broom.
Darren held it out with two hands like a sword, the straw end pointed at the thugs. Darren raised the makeshift sword up into a high guard.
“Oh. He wants to fight.” The first thug said, “What’re you gonna do? Sweep us to death?”