“Well.” Hiki said, “I never expected to be talked to like…”
“Oh shut up.” Darren said, “I’m not finished. You asked for my advice, but in reality, I have no idea what you need to do. I have no idea if you need to stay here or flee. That’s a decision that needs to be made by yourselves. You’re right. The army will come. Hordes of hungry people will come. That much is certain. But the question is, can you defend yourselves from each. Do you even have enough food and water for all of you? Or do you need to get more?”
A general murmur erupted from the table.
“If I want his opinion,” Hiki said, “I shall tell it to him…”
“Shut it, Hiki.” The Captain said.
Hiki sat back and glared at Darren. His eyes glowering at him.
“Cause if you don’t have the supplies to last you, then maybe you do need to move?” Darren said.
“See.” Hiki said, “He admitted it. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about and is wasting our time.”
“People are eating each other in Tokyo,” Darren said.
The table quieted down faster than Darren thought that it would.
“Two of Yuki’s friends turned to cannibalism to feed themselves as they felt that had no choice.” Darren said, “We were forced to kill them before they ate us too.”
“What does that have to do anything?” Hiki said.
“Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth? I mean, I’m still learning Japanese, but I thought I was clear.”
“What do you mean?” The Captain said.
“I mean.” Darren said, “Not a hundred kilometers from us there’s an entire city of people that all of us at this table abandoned to their fate instead of saving. That city of people is now literally eating each other. Are you prepared to defend against that? Can you defend here?”
A younger girl that Darren assumed to be Mika and Anthony walked into the room. They held hands.
“Father.” Mika said, “Minoru Eguchi is still waiting for you.”
“Tell him that I will see him soon.” The Captain said, “That scavenger can wait a while longer.”
Mika nodded, “He won’t like it. He has been waiting all day.”
“Tell him that anyways.” The Captain said, “And you two better get to training. The Drill Sergeant won’t like it if you two are late again. And tell him that I will be by once I’m done with these distractions.”
Mika and Anthony gave the Captain a small bow, and they left.
“Now where were we?” The Captain said.
“Can we defend this place?” Hiki asked.
Hiki glared at Cameron who shrugged his shoulders.
“First,” Lt Harrito said, “We need to fully understand the situation here in Japan.”
“There’s no main communication still.” The Captain said, “The army is using runners and scouts.”
“That means we need to use scouts.” Lt Harrito said, “And scout.”
“Well…” Hiki said.
Lt Harrito glared at Hiki.
“Shut it, I am not done,” Lt Harrito said, “Luckily Darren has been out in the countryside. I’m sure he has a good idea of what’s going on.”
“Then what is?” Hiki sneered.
“Darren?” Lt Harrito said.
“We all know the big cities are being left to fend for themselves.” Darren said, “The smaller ones are being helped by the army. But we all know that heading there is bad.”
Darren gave a brief description of some of the cities and towns they had passed through.
“So the army is trying to keep control.” Captain Yusako said.
“Looks like it,” Darren said.
“It won’t last.” Lt Harrito said.
“And why not?” Hiki sneered.
“Many reasons.” Lt Harrito said, “There’s no new food coming in. No new food growing. The supply is limited. Once the stockpiles are gone, and they will be soon, then their control will disappear.”
“Is that all,” Hiki said.
“Plus, the quarantines aren’t going to last.” Lt Harrito said, “Communications are non-existent, and a couple more breaches will cause it to collapse. Those people will flood the surrounding areas.”
“No good will come from that,” Darren said.
“Exactly.” Lt Harrito said, “And the atrocities that are being committed by the JDF are angering people. They can’t keep control with a rioting populace.”
“Sooner or later, things will collapse.” Darren said, “All it takes is ambitious army officers or gang leaders or politicians to cause chaos.”
“Ambitious army officers?” Captain Yusako said, “Like me.”
“Maybe.” Darren said, “I barely know you. I have no right to judge you.”
“So what should we do?” Hiki said.
“I am getting to that.” Lt Harrito said, “To know what to do, you need to understand why.”
“Why?”
“Yes.” Lt Harrito said.
“We know why.”
“And I will repeat it,” Lt Harrito said, “For those with low intelligence.”
“Why you…”
“The army is going to flex its muscles.” Darren said as he interrupted Hiki, “It will attack. It will find you and stamp you down. It has no choice.”
“That’s what I was saying,” Hiki said.
“Shut it,” Darren said.
“Why will it attack?” Captain Yusako said.
“Cause you bloodied its nose and people will see it as weakness.” Lt Harrito said.
“Exactly.” Darren said, “And more importantly, there’s going to be a die off.”
“Die off?” Hiki said.
“Yes.” Darren said, “It’s Yuki’s term. In the next few months, there’s going to be a drastic population reduction. The stupid, the weak, and the sick will die. The famine is going to be very bad.”
“What do we…” Hiki began.
“Shut it,” Darren said.
“What we need to do,” Lt Harrito said, “is to secure an area that you can protect until the army leaves us alone, and until the hordes of hungry refugees move on.”
“And then,” Captain Yusako said.
“And then you need farmland that you can grow your own food,” Darren said.
“We discussed that at length back in the shelter and the perimeter post.” Hiki said, “This discussion brings nothing new.”
Captain Yusako looked at each of the members of the council.
“I want a full report on each department.” The Captain said, “I want to know our food situation, water, and plans on defending this place.”
The council members looked at each other with worried expressions.
“Dismissed.” Captain Yusako said.
The council members filed out of the small room. Hiki glared at Darren as they left.
Darren stood up and went to leave.
“Stay for a moment.” Captain Yusako asked.
Darren turned to face the Captain.
“What would you like?” Darren asked.
“I’m wondering what it will take to get you to stay.” Captain Yusako asked, “You seem like you know what you’re doing. I could use you.”
“That isn’t a decision that I can make by myself.” Darren said, “I need to talk to Yuki cause it’s a joint decision.”
“I would like you to consider it.”
“We shall,” Darren said.
Captain left the room and exited to the temple grounds.
Chapter 40
Darren sat on the floor next to Yuki. She was curled up in blankets with them pulled up to her face. A single kerosene lantern sat on a box casting its light across the room.