“She had spread the supplies out between the two carriers.” Yuki said, “The one that you grabbed is heavy.”
“Yes.” Darren said, “I felt like I only had time to get one, so I grabbed the heavy one.”
“That one is full of water.” Yuki said, “Only water.”
“And the other one?”
“The food.” Yuki said, “Sakiko saved our lives for a few days.”
Darren held Yuki for a few minutes as Yuki wept. Her sobbing slowed down as her breathing calmed down.
“We should get moving,” Yuki said.
“Yes,” Darren said. “Should I go back into the boat for another load of food?”
“No.” Yuki said, “We’re being watched.”
Darren looked out and saw that in the distance, in the middle of the Tsunami zone was a half dozen people. They were all dressed in different types of protective clothing. Some had sports gear on, while others carried large blunt weapons. They all had their faces covered by bandanas and rode motorbikes.
Chapter 24
Yuki and Darren rode along the ash fallen, debris-filled streets. In the distance, but closing fast, were six thugs. Or as Darren thought of them, road warriors.
The road warriors look to be kids, at Darren’s age. It was hard to tell by the gear that they all carried.
“Color gang,” Yuki yelled.
Darren looked at the kids closer. Red sashes were wrapped around their waists.
The road warriors closed in, their motorbikes roared loudly in the silence of the day.
“Stop you two.” A road warrior yelled.
“We only want to talk.” The other yelled.
The six laughed. The roar warriors herded Darren and Yuki away from the hill towards the openness of the ruined city.
A road warrior, a kid that wore the over sized hockey gear, raced towards Darren. In his hands was a baseball bat.
“What.” Darren yelled, “Is your name Casey Jones?”
“Excuse me?” The hockey-gear wearing road warrior yelled, “Pull over.”
Darren pulled out his handgun and aimed it at the kid.
“Shit.” The kid yelled.
Darren pulled the trigger, and the gun bucked in his hand. Darren squeezed the trigger three times in quick succession. He aimed each shot as best he could at the kid.
The road warrior fell to the ground in a heap of blood, dirt, and ash.
“He’s got a gun.” Another road warrior yelled.
The other road warriors stopped and rode away.
Darren and Yuki kept riding towards the hill. Darren put his handgun back in the holster.
He couldn’t stop thinking about the look of shock on the kid’s face as he aimed the gun at him. Darren shook his head as he cleared the thought.
As they neared the hill, Darren looked at the buildings. Standing in amongst them were people. They all looked like the road warriors from before. They had different colored sashes on their waists.
“Not the hill.” Darren said to Yuki, “Look.”
Yuki nodded as they rode away from the hill.
In the distance was a single road warrior on his motorbike. The single warrior kept his distance.
“That one is going to follow us and report back to the others,” Darren said to Yuki.
“They’ll attack us in our sleep,” Yuki said.
“Most likely,” Darren said.
Up ahead was a line of two-story buildings. The buildings looked more like ruins than actual structures. Darren could see that water had poured over the entire structure and washed anything of value away. They were empty shells of buildings.
“That way.” Darren said, “Let’s see if we can ambush him.”
Yuki nodded.
They pulled into the building, and when the single warrior dipped out of sight, they hid in the rubble.
Darren watched the single warrior ride his motorbike around the buildings. The warrior stopped at the other side, not seeing Darren or Yuki on the other side.
The single warrior rode his bike towards the building. Darren ducked down as he saw the road warrior stop and pull out a pair of binoculars.
“Do you think I could hit him from here?” Darren asked Yuki.
“That’s very far away,” Yuki said.
The road warrior stood at least two hundred meters away.
“Waste of shots,” Darren said.
“Do we stop here for a bit?” Yuki asked, “We haven’t slept in a while.”
“Rest for a few.” Darren said, “I’ll watch this guy and see what he does.”
Yuki looked at Darren.
“You’ve gotten less sleep than I have,” Yuki said.
“I know.” Darren said, “But you need it more. So rest.”
Yuki kissed Darren on the lips and curled up, using a piece of plywood as back support.
Darren looked at the road warrior. He sat on his bike, not moving, his binoculars on his lap. Then the wind picked up. Ash blew into the building and through the landscape.
After ten minutes, the road warrior roared his engine and sped away from the building. Darren watched the kid leave the area and disappear from sight.
“He’s gone,” Darren said to Yuki. “We need to move.”
Yuki woke up.
“What’s the point,” Yuki said.
“We need to survive this,” Darren said.
“Of course. But look at the ash.” Yuki said, “You can see our tracks.”
“The wind is masking that.” Darren said, “He gave up.”
Darren and Yuki sluggishly got on their bikes, and they rode away from the ruined buildings. The weaved their way through piles of debris, wrecked cars, and abandoned homes. Most buildings had been washed away by the cascade of water, but the few that remained were destroyed. In the distance were a handful of taller buildings. The apartment complexes. Most of them had survived. The concrete had withstood the waves.
In the distance was a familiar looking building. One that looked like stacked blocks.
“Isn’t that my dad’s building?” Darren asked.
“It is.” Yuki said, “This land is unrecognizable. Its hard to remember exactly where we are.”
Darren and Yuki rode towards the building. The bottom four floors had been washed clean, but the levels higher were untouched.
Darren entered the building on his bike.
The once great looking marble tiles were broken and covered in muck and ash.
The door to the stairway was closed, but it was clear of debris.
“There might be people living here,” Darren said.
“Should we go elsewhere?” Yuki asked.
“No.” Darren said, “Not yet. I don’t see very many tracks around here. The doorway might have been pushed clear when the people left to go to the shelters.”
Yuki pulled out a crowbar. She used it on the door, and it slid open. The latch had been broken at some point.
“I really don’t want to have to bring these bikes up the stairs if there are people there,” Darren said.
Yuki nodded. They dragged the bikes into the stairwell and closed the doors. It was a tight fit, but both bikes fit into the stairs.
“I’ll go up the stairs and scout,” Darren said.
Yuki nodded.
“I’ll be right back,” Darren said.
Darren pulled out his handgun and a flashlight. He walked up the stairs. The doors to the first four floors had been ripped from their hinges by the water. Debris and dust covered the story and the walls of those levels.
The fifth floor’s door was still attached. The door was also locked.
Darren kept walking up the stairs. He stopped on the seventh floor. Sitting on the seventh-floor landing was the security guard, Goro. Goro had been murdered and left for dead. Or at least Darren assumed as much. Goro’s right arm had been forcefully removed and was nowhere to be seen. Darren carefully searched the body. He found a wallet and not much else. The wallet had money still in it. Darren pocketed the money and put the wallet back where he found it.