“Its too big,” Yuki said.
“How much water are we taking?” Darren asked.
“All of it,” Sakiko said, “But we have sanitation tablets and that water filter straw thingy. We should be fine.”
Darren nodded.
“I need all the kerosene that we’re not going to take,” Darren said.
Sakiko pointed to a pile of kerosene jugs by the door.
“Where’s Yuki?” Darren asked.
“She’s taking a poop,” Sakiko said.
Sakiko turned to Darren.
“I’d like to apologize,” Sakiko said.
“For what?” Darren said.
“For not being upfront with my intentions with Yuki. She and I slept together, and I apologize.” Sakiko said.
Darren laughed.
“I know. Yuki told me.” Darren said, “And I’m not angry.”
“You aren’t…”
“We’re a family.” Darren said, “We may not be related by blood…”
“Thank god for that, or this would be really awkward,” Sakiko said.
“… we don’t have done a ceremony together. And our relationship is different than normal. But we’re a family, through thick and thin. I’ll stay with you two until the very end. Till whenever we meet our fates, whatever they may be.”
Sakiko kissed Darren on the lips.
Darren laughed as he loaded up the jugs of kerosene onto his cart.
He hauled the jugs over to the giant pile. Darren tossed jugs randomly throughout the piles of boxes and furniture.
Darren only saw one jug open up, but it ended up right side up.
Darren left three jugs sitting by the start of the pile. A pile of cotton rags and a lighter sat next to the jugs.
After completing his task, Darren walked back to the storage unit. He found Yuki and Sakiko packing the child carriers and the three backpacks.
“Drink all the water you can from that pile, we dump it before we leave,” Yuki said pointing to a small pile by the door.
“What time is it?” Darren asked.
“You have the working watch,” Yuki said.
Darren looked at his watch.
“Its four in the evening. Have we been working all day?” Darren said, “Are we loaded?”
“Yes, and yes,” Yuki said as she closed the child carrier.
“Then we should rest,” Darren said.
“And eat,” Sakiko said.
Darren, Yuki, and Sakiko sat on the ground next to each other. They ate out of a couple cans of pork and beans.
“We should rest up.” Yuki said, “I’ll take first watch at the pile. They could come anytime.”
Darren closed his eyes and fell asleep instantly. Something that had never happened in the last two weeks.
After what seemed like a moment had passed, Darren felt himself being shocked awake.
“Darren,” Sakiko said.
“What?” Darren said.
“They’re here.”
“How long?” Darren said.
Darren sprang to his feet. He grabbed his gun on the way up.
“Only minutes.” Sakiko said, “What do we do?”
Darren noticed that the food they couldn’t take was piled on a waiting cart.
“Dump the water.” Darren said, “Then get the bikes and bags to the door.”
Sakiko nodded and went to work.
Darren walked down the hall to Yuki.
Darren kept his voice to a whisper.
“What’s going on?” Darren asked.
“They’re talking next to the door.” Yuki said, “Not sure what they’re talking about.”
A couple loud bangs echoed from the overhead door. It was followed by the clanking of chains.
“It begins,” Darren said.
Darren picked up the jugs of kerosene and opened up all but one. He threw the opened jugs onto the pile. Darren opened up the last one, and he shoved a rag into the top of the jug.
He picked up the lighter.
“This is it,” Darren said.
A loud bang erupted as the overhead door began to give.
Darren lit the rag and tossed the jug onto the pile. Flames erupted from the spilled kerosene.
Another loud bang, and then many followed as the overhead door flew off its rollers.
“Time to leave,” Darren said.
Darren and Yuki ran to the fire escape. Sakiko sat on a bike with a child carrier and waited for them.
Darren hoped onto the second child carrier-bike.
“Let’s make like a tree,” Sakiko said.
“And get the fuck out of here,” Darren said.
Yuki opened the door with a kick and Darren saw outside. It was still night out, and the alleyway was dark. The only light came from the stars on a clear night lit the way. Thankfully Darren spent most of his time in the dark storage building, and he found he could see pretty well.
Parked cars were scattered everywhere. The back alley was very full of random debris. It was much fuller than Darren had thought.
“Shit.” Darren said, “I should have scouted. This isn’t an easy escape.”
Yuki butted her head out the door.
“There’s a small path that way,” Yuki said pointing to the other end of the alley.
“Let’s try it,” Darren said.
Darren, Yuki, and Sakiko left the storage building and escaped into the alley. The smell of smoke and ash filled his nostrils, Darren coughed on the sudden smell. Smoke billowed out of the storage building as other kerosene jugs caught fire and exploded with flames. Darren could hear the screams of the thugs as they retreated from the inferno of flames.
Darren weaved his way slowly around a small path of parked cars, dead bodies and other random debris. They slowly made their way out of the alley and onto a more cleared road.
They rode in silence in the darkness. No one made a lot of loud noises or showed any lights. Darren didn’t want to give away their position.
A loud bang exploded from the storage building. Flames erupted from the building as something very flammable caught fire inside the building.
Yuki looked at Darren and Sakiko with a worried look on her face.
Darren shrugged his shoulders as he rode forward in silence.
He followed behind Yuki and Sakiko as they rode their bikes away from the storage building. The road was covered in debris and vehicles. Darren could see the distinct shapes of a few bodies amongst the rubble. A few buildings showed signs from the recent fires, while a few others showed signs from the earthquake. Even in the dark, the level of destruction scared Darren.
In the darkness, they heard the roar of an engine. The engine noise was deep and loud. Darren scanned the area for someplace to hide. They hadn’t been out of the building for more than twenty minutes, and they had to hide once more. Darren looked over and saw that there was an alley that ran between two buildings.
“Vehicle coming. Into the alley.” Darren said.
Yuki led them into the darkness of the alley. Darren dismounted from his bike as they sheltered behind a tipped over dumpster.
Bright lights lit up the road as a pair of military armored vehicles roared by followed by a passenger van. Darren wasn’t sure what the passenger van was doing following the armored vehicles. Part of him didn’t want to know.
“It looks like the JDF has the main routes patrolled.” Darren said, “Those are headed to your dad’s storage unit.”
Yuki nodded.
“I think I might know some ways through the alleys.” Yuki said, “Lets see if we can get past the patrols.”
Darren and Sakiko followed Yuki through the alleys. The alleys were full of debris that it made getting past them difficult at best. They had to bypass and work their way around piles of rubble. After they stopped at the end of another alley, Darren began to get frustrated. The end of the lane had been entirely blocked by a couple wrecked cars and a dumpster.