Ashes from Hell

The sky over Yokota Air Base had taken on a strange hue, a sickly gray that promised not rain, but something far heavier. Natasha stood on one of the exterior walkways of the Command Building, arms crossed, watching the horizon. The wind blew strong, tangling her purple hair, but she remained as still as a statue.

Ken wasn't there. She had ordered him to rest before his night watch.

Good. Some conversations weren't fit for novice ears.

The sound of heavy boots dragging against metal pulled her from her thoughts. She didn't need to turn to know who it was. The smell gave him away.

"Well?" Natasha asked without looking at him, her voice cutting through the wind. "What took you so long?"

Kyosuke leaned on the railing beside her, sighing heavily. He looked exhausted; the dark circles under his eyes were deep. "Ran into a nest of Suzumebachi in the western sector. Had to take a long detour to avoid wasting ammo."

Natasha finally turned her head and looked at him sternly. "You're reckless. Remember, Asa was transferred to another facility after the Ken incident. Without his rapid-extraction skills, if something happens to you out there, we can't come to rescue you. You're on your own, Kyosuke."

Kyosuke let out a tired chuckle and scratched the back of his neck. "I know, I know. Don't need the lecture, Naty-chan. But this mission was too important to pass up. Kaori spotted unusual activity far out, near the regional border, and sent me to investigate."

"And was it worth it?" Natasha asked, intrigued, arching an eyebrow. "Risking your neck for 'unusual activity'?"

"What do you think..." Kyosuke replied.

With a quick motion, he reached into his vest and pulled out a cylindrical object. He tossed it to Natasha. "Catch."

Natasha raised her hand and caught the object mid-air with a fluid motion. She looked at what was in her palm. It was a canned good. Processed meat. But something was off. The can wasn't rusted or dented like the relics they usually found in the ruins of the old civilization. The metal was shiny, pristine.

"And this is?" Natasha asked, slightly annoyed, feeling she was being toyed with. "You risked your life for a can of foo...?"

She cut herself off. Her heterochromatic eyes locked onto the label printed on the metal. They weren't kanji. Not hiragana or katakana. They were Western letters.

And right below, the packaging date. Last month.

Natasha felt a chill that had nothing to do with the cold wind. "What is this...?" she whispered, running her finger over the letters. "The world is supposed to have isolated us. Japan is supposed to be under total quarantine, for years. No one in, no one out."

"Exactly," Kyosuke said, all trace of joking gone from his tone. "I have no idea how that got there. I found it in a supply box that dropped with a black parachute. It was fresh."

Kyosuke looked up at the gray sky, where the clouds seemed to swirl unnaturally. "I think someone's trying to help us... or maybe, someone is baiting us, luring us into letting our guard down. Like we're lab rats being thrown cheese before the poison comes."

Natasha clenched the can tightly, slightly denting the metal. "Does Kaori know?"

"I told her the moment I landed. Anyway, these rations will be analyzed by the scientists to see if they're safe or contain any biological agents." Kyosuke pushed off the railing and stretched, his back popping. "I'm going to get a few hours of sleep, Natasha. If the outside world has decided to look back at Japan... I'd rather it find me well-rested."

Kyosuke walked back down the walkway, leaving Natasha alone with the can in her hand.

She looked back at the horizon. They had always believed the Calamity Creatures were the only enemy. That humanity outside the island had forgotten them out of fear. But this can said otherwise. Were they allies? Or were they cruel observers, enjoying the spectacle of their extinction?

Suddenly, Natasha noticed something falling from the sky. At first, she thought it was snow. She extended her hand and let a flake land on her black glove. It didn't melt. It disintegrated into gray dust.

"Ashes..." she murmured.

She looked up. It wasn't a storm cloud covering Yokota. It was smoke. Thick, dark smoke coming from the south, from Hachioji. The wind had shifted. And it carried with it the smell of death.