Darren nodded and stretched. Sleeping on the cold hard ground was hard on his back.
“What’s the plan?” Darren said.
“Lunch,” Yuki said.
“After lunch?”
“Not sure.” Yuki said, “I’m tempted to stay here and shelter in place for a few days.”
“How many days worth of food do we have?” Darren asked.
“We have two more days from those MRI’s,” Yuki said, “And three more days worth of food after those are gone.”
“What type of food do we have?” Darren said.
“Ramen.” Sakiko said, “Ramen noodles and instant powders.”
“We do have liters and liters of bottled water though.”
“And a bathroom?” Darren said, “Cause I really have to use one at the moment.”
“Umm…” Yuki said, “I’m sure there’s one in the building, but I’m not sure if the toilet will flush.”
“With the age of this building,” Sakiko said, “I’m sure its one of those ancient floor models.”
“Floor?” Darren said.
“You’ll see if you come across one.” Sakiko said, “I personally hate them.”
Darren looked at the pile of supplies and other goods.
“You can shelter here for now.” Darren said, “I can go out and see if I can find my dad, your dad, and Anthony.”
“By yourself?” Yuki said.
“Yeh.” Darren said, “It won’t take me too long to get around if I’m by myself.”
“You’re serious,” Yuki said.
“I’m not one to sit around and not do anything.” Darren said, “I have to go out and do something.”
“That’s a bad idea,” Sakiko said.
“Why is that?” Darren asked.
“Because you’re a single Gaijin riding around Tokyo looking for a couple people out of millions.” Sakiko said, “Looking for a needle in a haystack is easier.”
“So?” Darren asked.
“Look.” Sakiko said, “Yuki and I had this talk when you were sleeping. If your dad was at work when the earthquake and tsunami hit, he’s probably dead.”
“You don’t know that,” Darren said.
“No,” Sakiko said, “but if he survived he’ll find his way back here.”
“And my brother?”
“If he’s alive, the only way we’re gonna find him is if he stumbles past us,” Sakiko said.
“I can go around to the different shelters and ask around.”
“You’re hoping he’ll just happen to be at that exact shelter at that exact moment,” Sakiko said.
“It’s not like you have a printer and a stack of paper to post around, either,” Yuki said.
“So what do we do?” Darren asked.
“We’re safe here for now.” Yuki said, “We keep our head down, and we hide here. If our dads are alive, they’ll find us.”
Darren slumped against the wall.
“You can go if you want.” Yuki said, “But I think its a bad idea.”
Darren took a deep breath.
“No, you’re right.” Darren said, “Holding up here for a few days is a good plan. But only a few days. I don’t want to run out of food and still be stuck here.”
“Well.” Sakiko said, “Now that we’ve managed to talk some sense into you, we can go over what we have and what we need. Since I love lists all so much.”
Over the course of an hour, while they ate lunch, they went over the list of supplies that Sakiko had compiled while they were sleeping. They didn’t have much. Some random things like a twelve-man, three room tent, Darren had no idea how they would be able to take it from the storage unit. They did have a rather large first aid kit as well as water for three weeks if they rationed it carefully.
“Do we know if anyone else is in this building?” Darren asked.
Yuki looked at him blankly.
“No,” Yuki said, “I didn’t think of that.”
“We could have problems living in the same building,” Darren said.
“Then two of us should go out and look around.” Yuki said, “Who wants to stay here?”
“I’ll stay here.” Sakiko said, “If we’re gonna live here, this storage unit needs a good cleaning.”
Darren picked up a large crowbar off of the ground.
“What are you doing with that?” Sakiko said.
“These lockers are abandoned and probably always will be.” Darren said, “We need some things. Like rubber boots that fit me. Extra clothes. Weapons. Food. There may be a some in a locker somewhere.”
“And if you find a pile of someone’s jewelry?” Yuki asked.
“Why do we need jewelry?” Darren said, “We’re not thieves.”
“Uhuh,” Sakiko said.
“Plus there’s still some semblance of order out there.” Darren said, “Until that disintegrates, I don’t think we should take anything that we don’t need to survive.”
“And after?” Sakiko asked.
“Then after, small trinkets like that will be useful for bartering,” Darren said.
“That’s stealing,” Sakiko said.
“If society disintegrates, then the storage unit is abandoned. The original owner is probably dead, and it won’t matter who it belongs to.”
“If society disintegrates?” Sakiko said, “Help will come to save us.”
“Sakiko.” Yuki said, “I’m afraid there will be no help.”
“What do you mean?”
Yuki looked at Darren.
“You tell her,” Yuki said to Darren.
“Yellowstone blew its top.” Darren said, “Most of America is covered in ash. The last I saw is that earthquakes are happening all over the globe. There is no help coming.”
Sakiko was silent for a moment.
“Sakiko, listen,” Yuki said, “Darren has some good points about scavenging, we need supplies. There might be some dried food in one of the more accessible bays. There might be weapons. Or clothes.”
“And if tomorrow it turns back to normal and help shows up?” Sakiko said.
“Then I’m sure they’ll overlook our crimes because we only took what we needed to survive,” Yuki said.
“Okay.” Sakiko said, “Only what we need to survive. We will talk out what to do after society has broken down later.”
Yuki peeked out the small peephole.
“I don’t see anyone,” Yuki said, “But its so dark that its impossible to see anything.”
“Where are those flashlights,” Darren said.
Sakiko handed him and Yuki a flashlight as well as a couple empty backpacks.
Yuki opened the door to the storage unit. Light from the oil lamp flooded the hallway with the flickering light.
The hallway was pitch black in either direction. Yuki turned on the flashlight and pointed it down the hall.
“Careful with the light.” Darren said, “Keep it away from corners in the hallway, that way if someone else is in the building, then they won’t be alerted to our presence if we can help it.”
Sakiko closed the storage unit door behind them.
Darren and Yuki walked down the hallway. They crept along the halls trying to be as silent as they could. The building was three stories tall, Yuki’s storage unit was on the ground floor.
Chapter 14
Darren and Yuki ambled along the first floor of the storage building. At the front of the building, by the bay doors, was a door to the office as well as a couple doors that were marked, ‘Toilets.’ Darren checked them, and the toilet was going to be uncomfortable at best. They were the squatty-potty style that was popular in the past.
They listened to the sounds of the building. Darren thought that if someone else were in the building, then they would make noise at some point. But so far, they had heard nothing and had seen no one. Darren walked up the stairs and searched the next two floors. Darren frequently paused to listen to see if there was anyone else in the building. There were no noises, but for their own footsteps and breathing. No sound echoed down the halls of the building. The entire building was empty of people.