Yuki turned down a footpath and raced away between some buildings.
They turned another corner and into a large field. The field was a grassy sports field. In the distance was a baseball diamond.
Darren heard the army truck rumble in the distance behind them.
“Do you think we’ve lost them?” Yuki asked.
“No.” Darren said, “We need to hide.”
Off to the right, was a small drainage ditch.
“This way,” Darren yelled.
The drainage ditch was three feet deep and was empty of water.
Darren screeched to a full stop and dismounted his bike. He laid his bike down on its side and Yuki did the same.
Darren could see the bright searchlight from the army truck as it rumbled down a road in the distance.
“Don’t look at the light.” Darren said, “Save your night vision.”
Darren put his hat over his head and closed his eyes.
The truck rumbled past, and then it stopped. It idled but sat in one space in the middle of the road.
“What’s going on?” Yuki asked.
Yuki lifted her head up a bit.
“Stay down,” Darren said.
“Either they know where we are and we’re caught,” Yuki said.
“Or they’re relaying that they lost us back to their base,” Darren said.
“Did you see that camp?” Yuki asked.
“Not really.” Darren said, “I saw that there was a lot of things there, but that’s it.”
“It was full of refugees. ” Yuki said, “It was spilling out of that tiny park. That place is going to be a muddy, mess of waste and squalor. I don’t want to be there.”
“Shh,” Darren said.
In the distance, the metallic creak of a truck door opened and shut.
Darren peeked his head up above the crest of the ditch. About two hundred and fifty feet away was the parked army truck. Two soldiers in full combat gear walked around the truck. A third sat behind the wheel. The soldiers carried scary looking military rifles.
Darren could see that they were talking to each other, but they were too far away for him to read their lips.
Darren saw one of the two soldiers pointing towards the small ditch where they were hiding.
Darren ducked back down into the ditch.
A moment later, the light from a flashlight illuminated the crest of the ditch.
“Crap.” Darren said, “They’re coming this way.”
“Shh.” Yuki said, “Maybe they won’t get this far.”
Darren hid in the ditch and waited. They heard the crunch of the footsteps of the two soldiers as they approached the ditch.
“Hey, look at who we have here.” The first Japanese soldier said to the other.
“A Gaijin and his friend.” The second one said.
Darren held his hands up. Yuki did the same.
“Get up.” The first soldier said.
Darren stood up, the soldier hit him in the head with the butt of his rifle. Darren collapsed to the ground in a heap, and everything went temporarily blank.
Darren wasn’t sure how long he was unconscious for. He opened his eyes to find that he was still in the ditch. Yuki wasn’t with him.
A scream echoed from where Darren remembered the army truck being. Darren crawled up to the top of the ditch.
Chapter 31
The three soldiers lounged around the truck. Two of the soldiers stood around the armored vehicle and were drinking bottles of beer and smoking cigarettes. Darren saw the soldier’s rifles and helmets sitting on the hood of the truck. Darren saw that Yuki was pressed against the side of the truck, her pants were by her feet.
The third had Yuki held down and was fumbling with the buckle of his pants.
Darren listened to the soldier’s laughter echo in the night. It was the laugh that guys make when doing something they think they can get away with. There was a mocking edginess to it that dug beneath Darren’s skin.
The samurai sword, the hunting rifle, and his handgun were still where he had left them. Darren took his gun from the holster and checked it over. It was still good. With only ten rounds spent from its fifteen shot magazine, it left Darren with five rounds. Darren pulled out the magazine and replaced it with a full one. He cocked the gun and loaded a round.
He put the handgun under his belt and grabbed the rifle. He loaded a single round into the chamber.
Darren crawled to the top of the ditch and ran forward in a low crawl. After he ran about fifteen feet, he stopped. Darren lay down in the uncut grass. He took up laying down firing position. Darren aimed the rifle at the soldier farthest away from Yuki.
He lined up his sight at the soldier’s center mass and aimed his shot.
“Please dear lord.” Darren whispered, saying a silent prayer, “Please forgive me for what I’m about to do.”
Darren squeezed the trigger to his handgun. Nothing happened. Darren looked at the side of the rifle. The safety was on. Darren shook his head and steadied his breathing once more. He released the safety and looked down across the field once more.
“Please.” Yuki pleaded from the truck, “Please stop.”
Darren lined his shot up once more, but the other soldiers were moving towards Yuki.
“She said to stop!” Darren yelled in Japanese.
The three soldiers stopped what they were doing and turned to face where Darren had yelled from.
Darren lined up his shot on one of the three soldiers and squeezed the trigger.
The gun jumped in his hand as it went off. The gunshot echoed in the silence of the cold dark night. The bullet curved slightly in flight and struck the soldier’s shoulder. The soldier dropped to the ground with a cry of pain.
The other drinking soldier dropped his beer bottle and ran for his rifle. The soldier that had tried to rape Yuki reached down to pull up his pants. Yuki kneed him in the balls.
The soldier curled over in pain momentarily. With a right-hand blow, the soldier struck Yuki’s face. Darren saw Yuki crumple to the ground.
Darren focused his rifle at the soldier who ran for his military gun. Darren aimed his weapon at the moving target, but he waited. The soldier paused when he grabbed the rifle from the hood of the armored vehicle. At that moment, Darren took his shot.
The gun jumped in his hand and slammed against his shoulder. The bullet struck the soldier in the middle of his chest. The soldier dropped his weapon and fell to his knees. Darren saw that the soldier’s body armor saved his life.
Darren got to his feet and dropped the rifle. He sprinted towards the dazed soldier. Darren knew that he had to get at him before he could recover.
The soldier stared at Darren in a daze. Darren drew his sword and his nine-millimeter handgun. He yelled at the top of his lungs and charged at the soldier. He froze momentarily as Darren closed in on him. A pistol in one hand, sword in the other, raised above his head. Darren swung the sword down at the soldier.
The soldier attempted to dodge out of the way, but the blade struck him in the chest. The edge cut through the kevlar body armor and sliced into the soldier’s chest. Blood flowed from the soldier’s wound as the blade cut to the rib cage. The soldier crumpled to the ground in pain.
Darren looked over at Yuki. Yuki had gotten off of the ground. Her pants still by her ankles. She screamed loudly as she punched the soldier in the face with her fists. Her screams echoed in the night. The soldier blocked her feeble swings.
Darren looked at the soldier that he had shot in the arm. He had gotten up off the ground and had his rifle in one hand by the handle.
Darren aimed his handgun at the soldier and squeezed off a shot. The bullet went wide, and the soldier ducked down as the round screamed by his head. The soldier took cover behind the front of the army truck. Darren re-aimed his gun at the soldier, but there was no clean shot.