Into the Thick of It

It has been exactly two weeks since Asuka and Hotaru left the bathhouse village. When Hotaru asks how Asuka’s been feeling in reference to her previous sickness, Asuka reveals that she’s been feeling much healthier since they stayed at the onsen. 

“I feel like I could get another cold and recover in a day!” she says while she bikes them along an abandoned highway.

“Haha, please don’t,” Hotaru says above Asuka’s head while her hands rest on her companion’s shoulders.

Right now, the pair is about halfway there to Tohoku. They travel along using a map of the prefecture they found while spending the night in an old library. 

Using the radio on the cassette player, they were able to pick up on news regarding the status of the people in their region. A dedicated newscaster reports that there have been wars amongst the gangs for territory; many ended up killing each other off or leaving one another severely scattered.

Though it’s always unfortunate to hear about death, it makes their trip a bit easier.

It is a bright sunny evening when the back tire of their bike pops and flattens. They had been using it the whole way there, taking turns cuddling to save energy. It’s unsure if it’s because the bike was on the older side, or because of the extra weight, but they’re forced to abandon it.

“Let’s take a break,” Asuka groans as they’re walking through another city. This one is in particularly bad shape. Buildings have crumbled, and evidence of scorching fires permeate the air. Large blocks of debris and concrete rubble litter the streets.

“We should wait until we find some better cover,” Hotaru is also exhausted after walking for an hour straight, but she knows how unsafe it would be to stop in this place. Not only for their lungs, but in case someone comes out of nowhere.

They move out a few miles further until they reach a forest that hangs close to the city limits. Beyond that appears to be more empty road. Agreeing that this is the best place to stop, they make the decision to rest here. The sun hangs low in the sky, threatening to disappear. Enough food is stored in their bags from previous supply runs to last them another day, but they take a quick look around just in case another store is unable to be found when they travel the next day.

The place feels completely abandoned, and most of the stores have caved in from the destruction, making it too dangerous to enter. They’re about to give up when they hear something in the distance. When they stop to listen, it grows louder, and the closer it comes the more it sounds like a crying child. Before returning to their campsite, they hide behind some pieces of a fallen building to observe the situation.

Sure enough, a small boy shuffles into view. From where they are, they can see that his clothes are tattered, and he is dirty, his hair wild and unbrushed. Asuka watches his pitiful form with sadness. She chances a look at Hotaru who already knows what she’s thinking and immediately shakes her head slowly.

The scene is all too familiar, and experience tells them to stay put and not approach him. A blade pierces Asuka’s heart as the boy trips and falls; his cries momentarily cease. Asuka feels a tight grip on her shoulder as Hotaru pulls her away. She looks back at the boy one more time before turning to leave with Hotaru.

Back at the campsite, the two sit eating in silence. Unsure of what the right thing to do was. The last time they had tried to help someone; Asuka made the wrong call, and they ended up getting kidnapped. It’s too risky to make the same mistake when they’re so close to reaching the end of their goal.

Though it was risky, they built a small fire. The flickering and smoke were sure to attract unwanted attention, but it was the middle of December, and the night was too cold. The people of the bathhouse had provided them with sleeping bags and a tent that blends in with the greenery, so they set that up and go to sleep after extinguishing the flames, huddling together to keep warm.

Morning comes in a flash. Asuka is the first to open her eyes, but she lets Hotaru continue to sleep until she wakes up on her own. Quietly unzipping the tent entrance, she takes her toothbrush and toothpaste out of her bag to brush her teeth. She uses her spit to activate the fluoride, not wanting to use water unnecessarily. After spitting and wiping her mouth, she takes a big stretch toward the sun and turns back to the tent.

She twitches. Something slightly large is fitted against the side of the tent that wasn’t there the night before. It shifts slightly. Asuka feels adrenaline leaking from her pores and looks around for a weapon. Settling on a slightly large stick by a tree, she approaches it and raises it above her head.

But stops as she gets close enough to identify the threat. It appears to be the same young boy they saw wandering around in the streets the other night. Her fear ebbed away, replaced with the same concern she had felt before. Not wanting to wake him up just yet, she observes him for now.

He is shivering. Though the clothes he wears are technically suitable for the weather, they look much too thin, and holes dot the hem of his trousers. He must have spotted the light of their fire to come here. Looking around, she sees no other figures hiding amongst the woods. If someone wanted to capture them by luring them in with a child, they could’ve just attacked them in the tent while they were asleep. It’s not made of iron.

Suddenly, the boy opens his eyes. He looks up to see Asuka but says nothing, so she goes first. “Uh, hello,” she begins hesitantly, “where did you come from?” The boy sits up and rubs the sleep from his eyes. She can see that his face is covered in dirt that has been washed only with tears. To answer her question, he points toward the edge of the forest. “Okay…” that didn’t help her understand anything, but she supposedly doesn’t really matter. His stomach growls and he looks back up at her.

The sun is high in the sky by the time Hotaru finally wakes up. Exiting the tent to locate a missing Asuka, she’s met with a sight that rejects all of her logic. The boy they had seen from before sits beside her. 

He’s eating some of the food they brought with an almost animalistic hunger. Hotaru sees that Asuka had fitted one of the bandages she’d found  on his cheek. “Cheermander” grins at her mockingly. 

Asuka locks eyes with Hotaru feeling strangely guilty. “Listen…” she tries to speak but is interrupted by Hotaru’s flat, matter of fact voice.

“We are not keeping him.”

Asuka’s words catching her throat as she desperately tries to convince her companion. “But, but…! You kept me!?” she said dumbly.

“Girl, what??” They argue as the boy watches them silently with crumbs on his face. The dispute ends in a stalemate when Asuka explains her reason to assume he isn’t the same as the woman that tricked them before.

Even so, Hotaru isn’t having it. She points out that the journey there on is for the sake of Asuka herself. There’s only so much time left before January comes and the asteroid hits. Asuka is aware of this, but she can’t let him wander around on his own without trying. Asuka insists that she at least hears him out and Hotaru crosses her arms, waiting. The boy, Haru, reveals that he’s looking for his lost mom.

Asuka insists that they simply help him look for one day, but they’ll give up if they don’t find her. Hotaru shakes her head in exasperation. “Whatever,” she gives up, ripping open a protein bar, “it’s your adventure, do whatever you want. But I’m not going to be a part of this.”

Asuka concedes and takes the boy by the hand, leading him out of the forest. If this ends up being another trap, she’ll gladly be the only one to take the fall for her gullibility once again.

On the way, she asks Haru about any identifying features of the woman they’re trying to find. He tells her she has long brown hair and was wearing something purple when she left. Inquiring further, he says that his mother left him at home, telling him to stay put in the while she went out to get more food. Apparently, a couple days had passed before he went out to look for her, and here he is now.

This makes Asuka even more worried. Fearing for the worst, she guides him around the destroyed clothing stores and karaoke bars. The pathway is treacherous with all of the damage that clutters their path.

After walking for about thirty minutes, they came across what used to be a supermarket. The “Yatsumoto” sign hangs precariously above the entrance. The destruction appears to be from the result of an explosion; the peach-colored stone is stained with gray soot and the glass of the window is broken.

Haru lights up for the first time, “this is the grocery store mommy always goes to!” Letting go of Asuka’s hand, he dashed into the building, squeezing through the half-opened automatic doors.

“Wait!” she screams after him, but it’s too late. The building is still standing, but it looks horribly unstable from where she’s standing. The sighs and makes her way inside.

Using her phone as a flashlight, she edges around the fallen slabs of rock that have crushed what used to be shelves housing cans of food. She picks up one of them and shines the light on the label: tomato soup. Pocketing it out of habit, she continues her search for Haru.

Calling his name, she peers around aisles for a glimpse of his small figure. After moving to the very back of the store she finds Haru again but stops in her tracks. He’s crouched in front of a woman who is slumped over against the wall. Anxiety shrouds her in a blanket of ice as she approaches.

The boy is quiet. His hands tremble in front of him as he looks at bloodstained palms. The woman is unmoving, her purple windbreaker is covered in dust from the crumbled ceiling, and piece of concrete with dried blood. A pack of water still clutched in her hand.

Asuka puts a hand to her mouth. She hugs herself to stop the trembling and shakes her head to clear it. “Haru, we have to get out of here it isn’t safe,” but he doesn’t move. Moving closer, trying to avoid looking at the body, she sees his features clouded in shock. She grimaces and takes his hand trying to pull him away, but he refuses to leave her.

Unsure of what else to do, she grabs him by his shoulders. “Haru…your mother would want to be safe. If you stay here, her efforts will be wasted. Please, we have to go.” Her words are harsh but firm. Haru’s expression melts into sadness and he takes one more look back to his mother’s body. Ripping his eyes away, he slams himself against Asuka’s side and begins to cry. She silently guides him away as his wails permeate the walls.

She squeezes through the front door entrance again before pulling Haru out. The rattling leads to the sign above the building loosening and swinging forward. It’s about to slam into them, but Asuka yanks them out of the way, and she falls to the ground with Haru in her arms. He continues to cry, the sound muffled by her shirt, and he carries him back to the forest.

Hotaru doesn’t need to ask about what happened by the time they get back. She had already cleaned up the tent and was sitting against the tree, waiting for their return. She takes Haru from Asuka to lighten her burden and they head out to follow the path up the road.