“I’m not going to ask you where you go the sword from, let alone know why you fight with it.” The Captain asked.
Darren and Yuki followed the Captain up the hill and the narrow road. Yuki put her handgun back in her jacket.
“It’s been a long time.” The Captain said, “I see you made it out of Tokyo.”
“Barely.” Darren said, “At least not right away. Things got ugly, and we went to ground.”
“And then.”
“And then things got uglier, and we were forced to fight our way out,” Darren said.
“How did you get this far on bikes with child carriers full of supplies?”
Darren told him a brief story of how they rode at night to get this far.
“Which route did you take?”
Yuki told him.
“How about you, Captain?” Darren asked, “Last time we saw you, you were running a shelter in the middle of Tokyo.”
“The government screwed us.” The Captain said, “You two got lucky to get out how you did.”
“What do you mean?” Darren asked.
“The government is using the army to quarantine the big cities like Tokyo and a few others.” The Captain said, “They’re letting them die and eat each other.”
“We saw that,” Darren said.
“I was a part of a group that was holding the perimeter.” The Captain said, “I held a roadblock checkpoint. By riding at night, and going the route that you did, you two escaped detection nicely. Considering you went through my abandoned roadblock.”
“You mutinied?” Darren asked.
“Such a harsh word.” The Captain said, “But yes. I couldn’t force my men to shoot unarmed civilians just for trying to find safety.”
“Many do.”
The captain paused for a moment.
“Wasn’t there a third riding with you?” The Captain said, “When I met you in the shelter, you two had a friend watching the bikes.”
“We ran into JDF on our way through the city.” Darren said, “Sakiko got shot in the head by some soldier.”
“Oh.” The Captain said, “You have my sympathies.”
“Are we prisoners?” Yuki asked.
“No.” The Captain said.
“Why did you save us?” Yuki asked.
“Cause I recognized your boyfriend here.” The Captain said.
“You recognized him after a ten-minute meeting weeks ago?” Yuki said.
“We’re almost at the camp,” The Captain said, “I have a question for you. Why did you bloody charge at the truck? You were fortunate not to die.”
“Lucky yes.” Darren said, “Stupid, probably. But I’m armed with a handgun, it’s not a very good handgun, and I don’t have a very good aim with it. I needed to get close to try and hit them.”
“Why the sword?” The Captain said.
“Cause it makes non-soldiers nervous when they see us.” Darren said, “They stay away, and they don’t bother us.”
“He thinks that it looks cool,” Yuki said.
“I knew that was the reason.” The Captain said, “Come, let’s enter the camp.”
Chapter 38
Darren and Yuki entered the camp. The camp was a small shrine temple. Massive stone walls surrounded the temple with a makeshift gate covering the entrance. The temple was a traditional one made with a sloping clay tiled roof. The temple grounds were surrounded by tents and temporary buildings.
The camp was full of people. Some in army gear, some in regular clothes. There were old and young, women and children. The able-bodied men and women were around the perimeter armed with army rifles.
The Captain stood up on a box.
“It’s all clear people.” The Captain said, “Back to bed. The Lieutenant has the night shift and will keep us safe.”
Darren saw the people sling rifles on shoulders and walk back to their tents.
“Darren Cunningham.” A kids voice rang out of the night in English.
Darren turned to the source of the voice.
Standing in the middle of the crowd of people stood Anthony. Anthony had a rifle in his hands. His hair was cut short, and he was in a pair of shorts and a simple shirt.
“Anthony?” Darren said, and he switched to English, “Sweet Christmas. You’re alive.”
Darren ran up and gave Anthony a big hug.
“Where’s dad?” Anthony asked.
“I was about to ask you the same question.” Darren said, “We have a lot to talk about. Do you have some place we can talk?”
“Yes, I do,” Anthony said.
Darren turned to Yuki.
“Come along,” Darren said.
Anthony led them into the temple. Sitting at a desk was the Captain. An oil lamp lit his desk.
“We’re going to use the side room,” Anthony said in Japanese.
“Okay.” The Captain said, “I’ll join you in a few minutes. I need to check on Mika.”
“I’m sure she’s sleeping.” Anthony said, “That girl can sleep through anything.”
The Captain chuckled and looked back at the paper.
“You know Japanese,” Darren said in Japanese.
“I know a bit.” Anthony said, “Mika has been teaching me.”
Darren and Yuki entered the side room. Darren put his sword next to the door. The three of them sat down at a low Japanese style table.
“I’d offer you tea, but it’s very early, and the fires are still cold.”
“I’d offer you something stronger,” Darren said, “but you’re a kid, and our supplies are still being brought up the hill.”
“What happened to you?” Yuki asked in English.
Anthony looked at the table.
“I wasn’t sick that night.” Anthony said in English, “I went to a meet and greet of Anastasia Yusio.”
“The internet star?” Darren asked.
“Yes.” Anthony said, “Only reason I came to this country was so I could meet her.”
“Did you meet her?” Darren said.
“Yes.” Anthony said, “I managed to hang out with her for a couple hours that night. I lost track of time, and we went around Tokyo. Then the earthquake hit. Her bodyguards swept her away, and I was left in the middle of who knows where.”
“That must of been scary,” Darren said.
“It was kinda exciting.” Anthony said, “Until Lt Harrito found me wandering around Tokyo alone. He took me to the shelter where the Captain was.”
“You were what?” Yuki said.
“I was at the shelter,” Anthony said.
“Son of a…” Darren said.
Darren told Anthony about his night, leaving out select details. He told him about the building collapsing and pulling out Sakiko from the rubble. He told him about sleeping the night on top of the hill. He also told him about talking to the Captain and leaving.
“Wait,” Yuki said, “If you were at the shelter and you asked the Captain about your family, why didn’t he say anything?”
“Cause the boy didn’t meet my Mika until he was there for three days.” The Captain said walking into the room, “After that they were inseparable.” He looked at Anthony, “Put some clothes on.”
Anthony bowed, “Yes Sensei.”
Anthony left the room.
“He met my Mika,” The Captain said, “And they became friends. Then I met him and realized that I had met you before. When we moved from the shelter to the perimeter, I took him with us.”
Anthony walked back in the room wearing a pair of blue jeans.
“Why didn’t you say anything to me?” Anthony said.
“Cause you, in your stubbornness, would have left the shelter to try and find him.” The Captain said, “Did you wake Mika when you grabbed your pants?”
“No, I didn’t.” Anthony said, “She needs to sleep.”
“You’re sleeping in the same room as Mika?” Darren asked.