by JT Sawyer
“Nice to meet you, Yoshi,” said Shane, feigning a handshake and then rushing forward and clutching the young man in a chokehold while pressing his pistol to the man’s temple. He held the diminutive figure tight against him. “Maybe my English wasn’t clear enough. Turn this boat around before my friends disappear into the subway and I lose them.”
Shiro eased off the accelerator and let the boat slow to an idle. He turned towards Shane with his one hand resting on the hilt of a tanto blade tucked in his belt, his expression unflinching.
“If you are to be of use to your friends, it will not be by returning to the mainland. There are other routes into the subway that I can show you.”
Yoshi squirmed slightly under Shane’s grip, freeing his trachea enough to speak in broken English. “I don’t know what it’s like where you’re from, but the city streets here will soon be filled with tens of thousands of goryo. We have to get back to our base.”
Shane swiveled his torso slightly to the left, peering at the shoreline in the vicinity of where the wreckage had gone down while keeping Shiro in his peripheral vision. All he could see were the shadowy forms of what must have been over three thousand creatures around the damaged concrete barrier on the edge of the airfield. They peered longingly into the recesses of the rippling waters before making their way towards the distant subway tunnel. His stomach churned at the sight until he heard Carlie’s voice again—a few words about heading into the dark passageway ahead before the signal faded into static. He had to rescue them—had to save his team, his friends. It was all that mattered in his life at this moment but he knew heading back to the airfield would be suicidal.
Shane pivoted back to the front of the boat, looking at Shiro then at the peninsula ahead where they were headed. “Alright, I’ll play by your rules for now.” He eased off the chokehold on Yoshi and then released him while quickly stepping to the rear of the boat. Shane lowered his pistol and stood facing Shiro while Yoshi massaged his throat.
The older man turned his head, emitting a grumble at Shane before moving back to his position at the console.
Chapter 23
The sound of waves slapping against concrete and the familiar moaning of undead stabbed into Eliza’s psyche as she regained consciousness. She raised a hand to her throbbing head and struggled to focus her eyes in the dim setting. The moonlight was filtering in through the rotting floorboards of the dock overhead and she could see the outline of Jared before her. She felt his hands on her arms as he helped her to sit up.
“I was hopin’ you’d awaken from your nap soon,” he said. “You got dinged up pretty good.”
She slid her fingers up to her temple and felt a swath of damp cloth wrapped around her head. “How long have I been out?”
“Not sure—maybe half an hour. I’ve been scanning the area for the others and just laying low until you came around. Too many creatures hovering near the airfield.”
“What happened to the plane? I remember spinning in circles after we landed and then having the sensation we were sledding but don’t remember anything else.”
“Our bird turned into a pretzel and tore apart. I got sucked out the rear like you.” Jared rubbed the back of his neck, letting out a long exhale and looking back at Osaka Bay, whose vastness was being revealed in the pre-dawn light. “While I was swimming with you over here, I saw the plane sink. I…uhm…I don’t know if the others made it.”
Eliza could feel the muscles in her face tightening and her heart racing as she looked into Jared’s terrified eyes and then out to the unrevealing waters of the bay. She nervously reached for her ear-mic and began tapping on the call button.
“I already tried that—don’t you think I already tried that?” said Jared, who slumped back against the concrete and hung his head down. “I haven’t seen or heard any signs that anyone else is still alive but us. Amy—she’s gotta be out there somewhere. I…I don’t even know where or if she made it out of the wreck. God, what if she’s injured and all alone?” He went silent, continually clenching and unclenching his fist.
Eliza leaned forward in a half-squat, making sure not to bump her sore head against the low beams. She did a tactile inventory of her gear, running her hands along the familiar hilt of her knife, the butt of her pistol, and the assorted items stowed in her vest. She saw her rifle leaning against the wall beside Jared’s. Eliza scanned her immediate surroundings and then raised one eye up to a crack in the cement foundation where it met the boat dock.
She could see thousands of figures milling about the airfield, all of them within fifty yards of their location. She retreated and turned the other way, crouch-walking on the narrow strip of foundation until she could see part of the boat docks. There were four parallel docks that shot out into the bay. Each was around two hundred feet long and six feet wide. There were several dozen sailboats moored to the farthest dock and three speedboats tethered to the one closest to her.
“What are the chances of one of those jet boats being able to work after all this time sitting here?”
Jared didn’t answer and she swung her head back to see him resting his head in his hands.
“Hey—what are the chances of getting one of those started?”
“About as good a chance as us getting our asses back to Fort Lewis—we’re fucked.”
She moved back towards him, her head injury pulsating with each step. “Jared—I need you to focus. We can’t stay here and we don’t have much time before daybreak puts us in the spotlight.”
Jared raised his head up, sweat streaking down his pale face. “We’re fucked. Everyone’s missing, maybe even dead, and now we’re gonna buy it on this island of noodle-heads.”
Eliza grabbed him by the vest and pulled him forward, still fighting to refocus her vision. “I didn’t come all this way to get munched on in some godforsaken airfield. We’ll make it through this just as we always have. And when we do, we’ll go search for the others.” She released him and reached over for a rifle, shoving it into his chest, then glanced down at her watch. “Now, let’s get a boat and get the hell out of here—we still have close to eleven hours to get the package from the hospital and make it to the sub. Hopefully, the others are headed there too and we’ll link up with them shortly.”
Jared looked down at his rifle and back up at Eliza, the tension easing slightly from his cheeks. He nodded at her and squinted, shaking his head to clear the sweat from his eyes. She patted him on the shoulder with a clenched fist. “Vamonos,” she said, motioning over her shoulder to the boats while they crouched and made their way along the concealed platform.
Jared leaned out from under the lip of the dock supports and scanned the offerings ahead. “Those three speed boats are all in close proximity to each other. I’ll swim over there while you cover me from here. The best bet is to untie all of them and let ’em drift into the bay. Then we can swim aboard each one and see if they will get started.”
Jared rubbed the whiskers on his chin. “As I mentioned on the flight over, the gasoline they used over here had more chemical preservatives in it than our stuff back in the States so the engines may fire up after all this time.” He looked back towards the vicinity of the creatures and at the rising sun over the ocean. He handed his rifle to Eliza and then started sliding down into the water.
“Hey,” Eliza said, resting her hand on top of his as he clung to the boat dock.
“Yeah.”
“We’ll find her. Amy’s a fighter like you and she’s probably just as worried about you right now.”
Eliza saw him clench his jaw and she could see the old Jared returning, his blue eyes focusing on the choppy waters ahead. Then he turned and slunk into the current, making his way towards the boats.
Chapter 24
Shiro powered down the speedboat as it neared the weathered posts of the dock. The sun was almost above the horizon and he could see the road in the distance behind the aquatics center starting to fill with creatures. Though they had blocked the one
entrance road long ago with buses covered in razor wire, the occasional creature still got through, especially if they were motivated by unfamiliar odors or noise.
Peering through the rear exit door of the building was Haru, his eyes widening at the sight of the stranger clad in military garb. Three slender zombies had slithered over the contorted bodies of others caught in the razor wire and jumped down onto the street. While the men disembarked from the boat, the creatures began sprinting. Yoshi was frantically tethering the boat to the dock while Shiro unsheathed his sword. With the creatures bounding like starved leopards on all fours, Shane’s suppressed M4 slightly crackled as he deftly dropped two of them with headshots within forty feet. The third one was on the other side of Shiro and Shane couldn’t move in time to make sure the man was clear of his muzzle. With blinding speed, Shiro slid forward a few feet and then sidestepped with only a glint of steel reflecting momentarily off the sun to indicate that his sword had just swept through the air. The decrepit figure kept rushing forward, its body seemingly unaffected by the head dropping off behind it like a ripe cherry. The decapitated creature came crashing to a halt before the end of the parking lot, its severed spine throbbing out black ooze upon the cement.
Shiro looked back at Shane without any sentiment and nodded for everyone to retreat inside. With Yoshi securing the door behind them, Shiro rushed up to a desk in the lobby. A cluster of radio equipment, old laptops, and wiring were jumbled together. Shiro flipped a red switch and then began adjusting a black dial until a CD began playing a karaoke version of “Ring of Fire” by Johnny Cash.
Shane raised an eyebrow and looked at Yoshi. “This music will play on speakers we have mounted on storefronts on the other side of the barrier. It’ll draw the goryo away from the buses,” the younger man said.
“My man, Cash, comes through for us even now,” whispered Shane.
Nora and the other residents had descended the stairs at the sound of the unfamiliar voice. Upon seeing Shane they slowly crept around him in a circle, visually inspecting him like curious visitors standing before a zoo observation window. Nora’s son Tyler was the only brave one to reach out and try and touch Shane but his ambivalent mother quickly pulled him back into her arms.
The room was silent and Shane could only hear the droplets of water cascading off the inside windows from the condensation. The place was humid from the pools and smelled like sweat mixed with seaweed and fish.
Shiro spoke to the others in Japanese, explaining with hand motions what had unfolded in the bay and what he had learned about their visitor. The other members never took their eyes off of Shane.
“Forgive us—it has been a long time since we’ve seen another person. Three months perhaps. We don’t get out much during the day,” said Nora. She put her hands up to her lips and smiled. “And quite a while since I’ve spoken so much English.”
“My name is Shane Colter. I’m out of Fort Lewis, Washington.” He extended his hand and shook hers then did the same with the others, who hesitantly responded.
Shane gazed around at the rest of the motley bunch, noticing their pale skin from the lack of sunlight. Then he studied the layout of the room, noticing the welded plates over the remaining exit doors, the boarded-up windows, and the spring-fed pool. In the far corner were stacks of canned goods and dried fish beside a propane stove and a makeshift kitchen.
“Looks like you’ve done well holing up here.”
They all glanced at each other while Nora translated.
“By the time we made it here, we had lost seven of our people,” said Shiro.
“How many are at Fort Lewis?” said Nora.
Shane rubbed his chin. “Mmm—somewhere around six hundred and forty with new groups of survivors arriving every week or so. Then we have several outposts scattered around the state and a platoon of troops at the dam which provides us with our electricity.”
Nora’s eyebrows arched up and her mouth hung open. “Then the radio reports are true—there are areas that escaped the virus.”
“Not escaped,” said Shane as a montage of battle scenes and grisly images cycled through his mind from the past year. He looked into the gaunt faces of those around him and realized just how desperate their daily struggle to survive must have been. “We seem to have been blessed with greater numbers and firepower than other places though.”
“Six hundred and forty people,” exclaimed Nora. “I can’t imagine being around so many folks.”
Shiro motioned for him to follow as he led them towards the kitchen area. The Yakuza handed Shane a bottle of water and some dried wedges of mackerel while the rest of the group sat down on tatami mats near the wall.
Shane raised the water up to his lips and then paused. “No offense, but you’re mighty friendly towards a guy who was just holding a gun to your friend’s head.”
“The mountain spirits directed you here. I trust in their wisdom,” said Shiro.
Shane tilted his head in confusion and then studied the enigma of a man before swigging down some water. “As much as I’d like to stay in your spa, I need to get to the hospital. My people are headed there now and we only have,” he paused, glancing down at his watch, “ten hours to get what we came for and make it back to Osaka Bay.”
“Then where?” said Nora. “It sounds like your plane is gone and the nearest islands are over four days from here.”
Shane sighed and looked at the inquiring faces around him, save Shiro. It seemed like there was little point in maintaining further operational security and he needed the help of these people if their mission was going to succeed. He rubbed the back of his neck, looking forward to the moment when he was reunited with Carlie and his friends, agonizing over their fate in the tunnels. “One of our last remaining submarines will be arriving in the bay this evening to pick up me, my team, and a device from the hospital.”
“What could be so important that you would fly all the way here from the U.S.?” said Yoshi.
Shane rolled up his left shirt sleeve, revealing a quarter-sized red welt on his shoulder. “It may not look like much but this is from a vaccination I received yesterday—a vaccination against the virus.”
The others grew silent as they stared at his arm and then back at his face. “One of our scientists, who was involved with the original virus that started all of this, just completed a cure—one that will put an end to this misery and give us a chance to reclaim our world.”
“A cure?” said Nora in a solemn tone while the others mumbled excitedly amongst themselves in Japanese.
“In that hospital is a device that can allow us to mass produce the serum for getting more people inoculated. It’s imperative that I get there and help my crew obtain it.”
“And once you have it, then what?” said Yoshi. “What about us—can we come with you?”
“Our primary mission here was locating and extracting the device.” He raised his voice as the others started grumbling. “And then assist any survivors.”
“You mean offer handouts—what does that mean, ‘assist?’” said Nora.
“Look, I have no problem inviting you all back to the States.” Though convincing the commander of the Olympia may be another story if we have too many people.
“How do we know that you are who you say you are?” said Nora with a fiery expression in her green eyes.
Shane gave her a puzzled look and then glanced over to Shiro. “Is she always so spirited?”
A faint smile crept out from the corners of Shiro’s mouth. “Nora-san is like a dragon—always breathing fire in her words.”
Nora just smirked at Shiro and then resumed her countenance towards Shane.
“Don’t take my word for it.” Shane reached into his vest and removed a laminated index card with a series of numbers on it. “This is a ham radio frequency operated by Fort Lewis. I can show you on your device in the lobby. It should be coming up on the broadcast that’s put out every two hours indicating the status of the sub that is enroute. I need to
check on things anyway.”
Nora glanced at the card and back up at Shane, still translating to the others. She took the card and held it up for everyone to see. “This might be the same place we’ve gotten radio messages from in the past. That place was supposed to have been somewhere in Washington State.”
“We don’t have long,” he said. “I must rendezvous with my people at the hospital. And whatever is happening with that nuclear reactor in Kyoto is going to turn this entire region into a blast furnace soon according to my sources. I understand your hesitation—hell, I can’t believe I’m even standing here havin’ this conversation but, if you aren’t going to accompany me, at least point me in the direction of the tunnels on the other side, and I’ll be on my way.”
While Shane headed to the lobby to check on the radio transmission from Duncan, Shiro and the others spoke amongst themselves. The conversation mostly consisted of him reiterating what Shane had said followed by their options.
“What about our original plan to sail away from here and locate an island?” said Arisu, the nurse, who had pushed her way past Nora.
“And what will happen to us if we go to America—to their base?” said Haru. “We don’t even know how they will treat us or what their lives are like.”
Nora brushed her elbow alongside Arisu’s ribs as she moved up front. “The point is that they have lives—and much better ones than what we have here or might find trying to battle our way over to an island to find another place to live.” She clutched her son close, letting out an exhale as she stood with her feet firmly planted. “I know this is your homeland but look at us,” she said, sweeping her hand in front of her. “We’re barely holding on as it is. We need to go where there are more people—people with resources, medicine, and food. Six months ago our group was twice this size and now this is it—we’re all that’s left.”
