Chapter 22: Recycling is good

Friday, 9 May, 20XX - Part 3

The person driving the minivan wasn’t Murakami Kota.

It was an older man, around 40 years-old. He wore a sweater and even from where we stood, I could tell that his face was somewhat greasy. He hadn’t shaved in weeks. He was smoking in the car.

The white minivan stopped next to our Kei car. Three guys and a girl spilled out of the minivan.

I swallowed. My hands felt sweaty.

These weren’t university students. They were all adults in their 30s and 40s. The driver got out last.

I glanced at Yui. She gave me a nervous look. It was a look that said, “I don’t have any schemes up my sleeve.”

What did these guys want?

It was an unnecessary question. Deep down inside, I already knew what they wanted. Because people always wanted more or less the same things, no matter what era we lived in.

“Good morning,” the driver said. “I’m Yamaguchi Nagi, it’s nice to meet you. We’re looking for someone by the name of Murakami Ryu. We have his brother with us. Is he here?”

Fumi was the oldest out of all of us. She stepped forward.

“Kobayashi Fumi. It’s nice to meet you.” She cast a hesitant gaze at the newcomers. Including the driver, Yamaguchi, there were five newcomers. Four men and one woman.

While Yamaguchi did the talking, the other four got out cigarettes and began smoking.

“Our companions found Ryu in the city and brought him here,” Fumi said. “Do you have business with him?”

Yamaguchi dropped his cigarette on the ground and stepped on it.

“We are here to arrest him.”

–!!

“What do you mean? I don’t understand.”

“You see, Ryu committed a crime in the city. So, we’re here to arrest him.”

“What crime did he commit?”

Yamaguchi grinned. He was clearly enjoying this.

“We caught Ryu and his brother looting a store after the power went out. You can’t start stealing just because the security cameras aren’t working, you know? Ryu got away. Can you believe it? Trying to steal and then running away?” He shook his head while clicking his tongue. “We got his brother, Kota, to tell us where Ryu and his friends are camping.”

He turned around and jutted his chin. One of the men went into the van and pulled Kota out. Just like Ryu, he was covered in blood and bruises. Unlike Ryu, he had his hands tied behind his back.

“Kota!” Fumi cried. She was going to run to him, but I held her back. Fumi tried to shake me off, but Yui grabbed her other arm.

“Are you with the police?” I asked.

“Hahhh?” Yamaguchi sneered at me. Even with several steps separating us, I could smell his sour bodily odor.

“Are you with the police? Can you show us your ID?”

“The police are busy patrolling the city. A lot of stuff happened during the night!” He put his hands on his hips. “It is up to us to arrest people who are committing crimes until the police can get around to it!”

He let out a self-satisfied sigh. I wonder how long he had rehearsed that line in his head.

“So, where is Murakami Ryu?”

“He is unconscious.” I glanced at the tent. Which was a mistake.

“So he is in there, is he?” The three guys behind him moved towards the tent.

Crap. I had to do something now. No matter what, we couldn’t let the newcomers take control.

“We need to get a statement from him first,” I said. “Isn’t that how police operate? First the person needs to make a statement before you can do anything.”

Yamaguchi raised his hand. The three guys stopped. Evidently, he was the boss.

“You’re right. But all of you are with him, correct? In that case, we will confiscate your belongings. I’m sure you have no objections.”

“Of course not.” I tried my best to smile.

All men want the same thing, regardless of the era we lived in.

The woman who hung back the entire time, took one of the camping chairs that belonged to us, and sat down in front of the tent housing Ryu. Two of the guys positioned themselves in front of our cars.

I see…

They probably didn’t care about whatever Ryu and Kota did in the city. They were just using that as a pretext to take control of this campsite.

They looked like local losers who wanted to use this moment when society was unstable to take as many things as possible.

Cars, food, tents – as long as they had the pretext for it.

Outsiders like us were the perfect target.

And if society broke down for good, they had two vehicles, two tents, a campsite – their own little kingdom. They just had to get rid of us. Looking at them closely, they didn’t have tattoos on them, so at least they weren’t yakuza.

“I’m going to get some water,” Yui suddenly announced. “Does anyone want some coffee? We got some instant coffee from the supermarket.”

She turned to Yamaguchi with a bright smile.

“Sure,” he said.

The rest of his gang nodded.

“Would you like a snack with that?” Yui asked.

“Sure, if it’s not too much trouble.”

“It’s no trouble at all! It’s the least I can do for upstanding people who try to enforce order when the police are busy.”

She put a hand on his arm.

“Whoa! Uncle! You’re strong!”

Yamaguchi’s face reddened.

“Don’t call me uncle.” He didn’t shake off Yui’s hand. “Just go make the coffee.”

“Hai~ Got it~”

Yui shot me a look. “Haruto, come with me. I need an extra pair of hands to carry the water. Fumi-chan? Can you come too?”

The three of us took some buckets and walked to the edge of the lake.

“What’s your plan?” I whispered.

“My plan – wait.” Yui reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. It was vibrating. “I’ve been getting calls from random numbers. Ugh…this is so annoying.” She rejected the call.

“I need all three of you to help me.” She looked at Fumi. “Can you talk to Yuki about it?”

“W-What’s the plan?” Fumi asked, sweat running down her neck. Her eyes were filled with fear.

Yui explained her plan to us.

We both nodded. It was risky, but we had to try it.

Fumi went back to the camp to talk to her sister. Yui and I remained by the lake shore.

“You’re amazing,” I said.

“Hmm?” Yui tilted her head slightly.

“You were able to come up with all of that in just a few minutes.”

I thought she would puff out her chest with pride and ask to be praised, but her expression was subdued.

“I didn’t think of this plan just now. It’s something I used whenever my parents got drunk.”

“Ah – “

That made sense.

Yui had to think of all sorts of ways to protect herself.

“I’m going to go back first,” Yui said. “Don’t forget to do your part, okay?”

“Got it.”

Yui went back to the camp with her bucket of water. I stayed behind a bit. It was better if we didn’t go back together. The plan will work better that way.

My phone vibrated in my pocket.

I took it out. It was a text message from that person. The person who was in charge of the end of the world.

The message read:

“Let’s meet up in Aomori at 6pm, May 16, 20XX.”

Below that were GPS coordinates for the exact location.

My heart stopped for a moment.

May 16th.

That was exactly one week from now.

I walked back to the campsite. It was time to get rid of these intruders.