They shared a can of cold curry and Darren took the first watch. Yuki closed her eyes and was soon fast asleep.
Darren took apart his handgun and cleaned it as he waited. He was careful not to take the safety off and to not to touch the trigger when it was loaded.
Sitting in a leather holster was the other handgun. Darren pulled the gun out and held it in his hand. It was a weapon that he had taken from the JDF that they had fought. He took the magazine out and fiddled with the gun. It looked like it was in good shape. He studied the bullets. They were the same that his handgun used. Unfortunately, he had only the one magazine for it, and it just carried eight bullets.
He put the weapons in the child carrier and re-hid them. He left the handgun out, sitting on top of the carrier.
After his watch was over, he woke Yuki to take the second part.
“I hate this sleeping in shifts,” Yuki said.
“I know. I do too.”
“What do you do during your shift?”
“I whittle, or I clean the guns,” Darren said. “I putter.”
Yuki grumbled.
Darren pointed to the handgun on the child carrier.
“You wanted a weapon before,” Darren said.
“Yes,” Yuki said.
“If you get scared.” Darren said, “Don’t be afraid to use it.”
Darren sat on the ground went to sleep very quickly.
In his dreams, he saw the face of his mother. She was laughing and smiling at him. She was saying something, but he couldn’t quite make it out.
It didn’t seem like he was asleep for long, but Darren was soon shaken awake.
“Darren wake up.” Yuki was shaking him awake.
Yuki had the holstered handgun strapped to her leg.
“What time is it?” Darren asked.
“It’s sundown,” Yuki said, “and it’s wet out there.”
“It’s wet in here.” Darren said, “I can hear the water pour through that debris.”
“Who knows how long this building will keep the water off us,” Yuki said.
Darren and Yuki moved the boxes away from the doorway and walked out into the cold rain. The dark clouds poured water down on them with a vengeance. They darkened up the night sky and made it very difficult to walk around.
“This is ridiculous.” Darren said, “I can’t even see you, and I’m standing next to you.”
“Do we go back into that death trap of a building or do we press on?” Yuki said.
“I’m tempted to say press on, but how do we keep from being separated?” Darren said.
“Flashlight?” Yuki said.
“And then we become a beacon,” Darren said.
“We wait,” Yuki said.
They pulled their bikes back into the damp ruined building. They piled the boxes back over the door to block the entrance. Darren took a blanket and a bit of rope. He hung the blanket to block off any escaping light that they might create. Yuki took out an oil lamp and lit it. Darren made sure that there was no excess light escaping from the blanket.
“This should be safe enough.” Darren said.
“We might be stuck here until morning,” Yuki said.
Yuki sat on the cold hard floor.
Darren sat down on the ground next to Yuki.
“What are your parents like?” Yuki asked.
“That’s a strange question,” Darren said.
“It’s just a question.” Yuki said, “And I’m just curious.”
“Well.” Darren said, “What are your parents like?”
“Strict. Reserved.” Yuki said, “My mom would hate knowing that I was spending time with boys.”
“And she let you join the Katana Club?”
“That was after the event years ago.” Yuki said, “I had a nanny who basically raised me. I got away with lots of stuff.”
“So then what was your nanny like?” Darren asked.
“She was nice and friendly. She always had a smile on her face and was always interested in what I was doing.” Yuki said.
“What happened to her?”
“I grew up.” Yuki said, “Then I didn’t need her to look after me, so she moved on. I’m curious how she’s making out in this disaster. But the other part of me doesn’t want to find out. That if I do, her fate will be horrible and sad. I just hope she’s alright.”
“There’s always hope,” Darren said.
“What were your parents like?” Yuki asked.
“My dad left when I was nine.” Darren said, “Parents divorced.”
“That’s sad.”
“A year after my dad left, I overheard my mom talk about him to her sister.” Darren said, “The things she called him were vile and completely uncalled for. A week later I learned that they split up cause he couldn’t stand her vile evilness any longer. I begged my dad to take me with him, but the courts said no. My dad was moving to Japan, and the courts wouldn’t give him full custody. My mom wouldn’t give me permission to go.”
“That makes my parents sound nice.”
“Yeh. I took Japanese lessons hoping that I could impress my dad enough to take me. I obsessed over it for a while.” Darren said.
“Do you think your mom’s alive?” Yuki said.
“Probably not,” Darren said.
“Why?”
“Cause she was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Was given a year to live. That’s the only reason she let me move here. Her sister could only take one of us. My younger brother was supposed to go.”
“Well. I’m glad you’re here with me.” Yuki said, “It makes me happy to have you as a friend.”
Darren nodded.
“Darren.”
“Yes, Yuki.”
“What type of relationship do we have?” Yuki said.
“What do you mean?” Darren asked.
“Well,” Yuki said, “we’re traveling together. And we’ve done it a bunch of times. And when Sakiko died, I was hurting for a bit. I still am, anyways… you said that you loved me. Do you?”
“I do.” Darren said, “I’m a guy, and it takes us a while to get things like that. If the quake didn’t hit, we would be dating at some point. Our parents were pushing us together.”
“And now?” Yuki said.
“Now I’m living day to day with the smartest, prettiest girl in the world during the worst time in human history,” Darren said.
“And the relationship we have?” Yuki said.
“If you want it, we can call this a relationship. I can be your boyfriend.” Darren said.
“That would be nice,” Yuki said.
Yuki curled up against him.
“I know that normally a couple would do it about now.” Yuki said, “But I don’t think it’s a good idea in this place.”
“That’s fine,” Darren said.
“You get some more sleep.” Yuki said, “I’ll take first watch.”
Darren leaned up against the wall and closed his eyes.
Yuki turned off the oil lamp. She leaned in and kissed him on the lips.
“Sleep well,” Yuki said.
Darren winced in pain.
“Take it easy on yourself.” Yuki said, “I need you to get healed up.”
“Yes dear,” Darren said.
Darren curled up and slept.
Hours passed. Another one of Darren’s weird dreams rolled by. This one was of him being chased by an angry dog. The dog was as big as a horse and had dark red eyes.
“Darren.” The dog sounded like Yuki, “Wake up.”
Darren opened his eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Darren said with a start.
“Nothings wrong.” Yuki said, “It looks like the storm has passed. I thought we should leave now and get a few hours in before we have to ride in the daylight.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Darren said.
“That’s what it thought too,” Yuki said.
“Is there a way that when the sun comes up that we can avoid towns and travel along rural fields?” Darren asked.
“Kinda.” Yuki said, “If I remember correctly, there are some areas that we’ll have no choice but to travel through urban areas.”