Zugzwang

Cliff didn’t have time to think. The eyes started moving towards him, so he quickly slammed the door shut. There was an immediate sound of something beating against it. Groans escalated into growls and snarls. His heart rate spiked. As he held the handle, his mind quickly raced. If he left the door, they would escape and chase him down. But it wasn’t like he could hold the door forever.

At that very moment, a couple of the yakuza men rounded the corner. They noticed Cliff and shouted in Japanese at him. One drew a gun, which was all the motivation that Cliff needed to make up his mind. He let the handle go and sprinted away. The door swung outward as the undead came pouring through. The authoritative shouts behind him suddenly turned into high-pitched screams, followed by gunshots.

His feet moved faster than he ever had before. There was no time to lose. Cliff looked back and saw a couple ghoulish creatures hot on his heels. He noticed they didn’t have a lot of trouble keeping up with him, but they weren’t entirely coordinated. Thinking on his feet, Cliff rounded a corner, grabbed a folding table, and chucked it behind him. Sure enough, the undead barreled into it at full speed and went sprawling onto the ground.

He got a look at them. The faces of men and women, wearing their usual work attire or casual clothing. They looked like they had been normal people once, but now they were ravenous monsters that reached out for him. Cliff took off down the hall. He had to get out. Everything else depended on it. The sound of footsteps coming from ahead made him pause. He ducked to the side and dared to wait. A couple men walked by, stalking along with weapons in hand. He noticed one, who had a head of slicked back blonde hair and overly pale skin.

They soon met with his undead pursuers. Cliff took his chance to escape as shots rang out behind him. At the end of the building, he spied a door. He quickly threw it open and ran out into the open air of the night. He kept up his pace as he aimed to put as much distance between himself and the office as possible. Unfortunately, it was night, and the rain clouds above hid the stars and moon from his sight. He had no real idea where he was going, and he couldn’t read any of the signs. Not that it would help, as he doubted he could find where he was exactly even if he could read Japanese.

Cliff had been walking for a good ten minutes when he heard another bark. He looked and saw the fox again, standing out in the middle of the road. As he moved to it, it darted into an alley. Curiosity got the better of him. He took off for the alley, keeping his head on a swivel. As he rounded the corner, he couldn’t find any sign of the fox. He walked on for a bit, looking around to see if it was watching him from somewhere.

Headlights suddenly blinded him. He put his arm up to shield his eyes. An engine started up in front of him. He felt his hand grip the pocket knife, for all the good it’d do. A car pulled up alongside him.

“Get in.” Was all he heard through the open window.

Cliff didn’t need to be told twice. He pulled the door open and quickly got into the passenger seat. After he was situated, the car pulled off through the alley and hooked around a corner. Cliff looked at the driver.

“Ikumi?” he asked in disbelief.

“That’s right.”

“But…how did-?”

“Well it’s like what I told you at the start of all this. I was brought on to assist you. You didn’t think we’d let two foreigners have the run of Japan, did you?”

“That doesn’t explain what just happened.”

“What is it you Americans say? “A magician never reveals their secrets.””

“Ah geez. I can never catch a break.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“So what now?”

“Now? Well, now we go see the others.”

Cliff sighed and leaned back into the seat. He tried to run the last events of the night through his aching head. There was no way Ikumi knew where he was going to be. Not unless she was watching him. But…how?

He let it go for now. There were bigger fish to fry, after all. For the time being, he laid the seat back and tried to relax as Ikumi drove him to wherever it was she was taking him to. But his mind wandered and refused to let him fully calm himself. So many questions circled around his head.

The one thing that loomed over all of them was horror. The vampires had been able to get the Necronomicon to work for them, somehow. He’d seen it firsthand. They were ramping up to their end goal. And here he was, heading to God knows where. He was getting antsy, but he wasn’t sure if he could fully trust Ikumi with this new intel. Then again, he wasn’t sure if he could trust his own eyes.

He shook that out of his head. Like it or not, it was very real. And if it was real, that meant it was time to get things into motion. He watched the rain streak across the window as Ikumi drove on. It was hours later that they finally arrived in a garage at a large office building. Cliff desperately wanted some ibuprofen to soothe his aching head, but it wasn’t anything he hadn’t had to deal with already in the military.

Ikumi got out and led him over to the stairs. They took them up to the first floor and then into the elevator. Cliff was silent the whole way, which Ikumi liked a lot. Cliff was a man of few words, but this night had already been eventful enough to give him pause for thought. He wondered what the next step would be. No doubt it was going to involve him and Sable. He huffed to himself and leaned back.

The elevator dinged. Ikumi walked out promptly with Cliff in tow. She led them down a very busy hallway and into a large office. There were people already chatting, but everything stopped when he walked in. Susan caught his eye, and she didn’t look entirely happy. Sable was nursing her second can of coffee, but she noticed him and lit up. It was hard for her to contain her relief at seeing him alive.

The gentleman behind the desk who looked well into his fifties was more attentive to Ikumi than Cliff. Ikumi circled around and stood behind the man before motioning to an empty chair. Cliff sat down and Susan finally took notice of him. She didn’t seem to care, as if she knew he’d show up sooner or later. She turned her attention back to the middle-aged man.

“It still doesn’t make a lot of sense.” she said.

“Well things rarely do these days. That’s why we try to have as many eyes on the problem as possible. Isn’t that right, Ms. Machida?”

“Absolutely, sir.” Ikumi replied.

Susan narrowed her eyes as she looked the Japanese woman over. Then she looked to Cliff and asked, “You feel anything off about her?”

“I mean…now that you mention it…”

“Oh come now, you didn’t expect me to fully reveal myself, did you?”

Cliff’s eyes widened. Ikumi smiled and held her hand out. She put her thumb together with her ring and middle finger while pointing her pinky and index finger directly up. The fox sign.

“A kitsune…” Sable said openly.

“That’s right! You didn’t think you were the only ones with a few tricks up your sleeves, did you?” Ikumi said with a cheshire grin.

“Now it makes sense.” Cliff added.

Susan looked nonplussed, but let the matter drop. “So what did you find out, Mr. Parsons?”

“They’re making zombies,” he said, dropping the bomb quite unceremoniously.

“Not one to mince your words, are you?” the man behind the desk said.

“No sir.”

“You’re sure of this?” Susan asked.

“I almost got myself torn apart trying to get out of their office building.”

“Oh God…” Sable breathed.

“Did you notice anyone?” Susan pressed.

“I did see some blonde guy. He definitely wasn’t Asian.”

“Did he look like this?” She asked, pulling out a photo and handing it over. It was a new digital print with a very clear image of Phillip Henderson.

“Yeah, that’s him.”

Susan looked to the man at the desk again. “You know what this means, don’t you?”

“I do. It looks as if we are out of time, as well as options. We have gathered as much intelligence on this matter as we can, and now it’s time to lay our cards on the table.”

Susan pulled out a manila envelope and put it on the desk.

“That contains a transcript of recordings we were able to gather as well as other pertinent information. We narrowed their location down to Numazu. Our side is ready to go in when you are.”

“You Americans are always ready to ‘cowboy up,’ I see.” the man said.

“We aren’t afraid of getting our hands dirty, no.” Susan replied. Cliff thought he saw a glimmer in her eye when she smirked.

“Very well. I’ll have Zero Company activate their anti-paranormal unit.”

“The Onmyoji Unit?” Ikumi asked.

“That’s right. What is your plan?”

“It’s very simple. We go in to strike at the head of the operation, you guys can work security. Anyone who runs is free game for your people.” Susan told him.

“How very generous of you. I suppose there is something else here at play, right?”

“That’s right.”

“And this has been cleared with those higher than me?”

“We don’t want anything slipping through the cracks on this one. You’re aware of the recent prison bus hit, right?”

“Yes. The escape of Takahiro Kagame. Are you saying these events are connected?”

“I am. And we intend to stop Takahiro from making Japan ground zero for the worst tragedy in history. Nothing less than the fate of the entire human world is at stake. So please, Senior Commissioner, let’s not make this any more complicated than it needs to be.”

“My hands are tied, then. Whatever is going on, I hope you Americans will be able to keep it under control.”

“We’ll be sure to, so long as your unit backs us up. You wouldn’t want a bunch of undead roaming around the countryside, would you?”

“No. I suppose we wouldn’t. Very well. Ms. Machida, please assist the Onmyoji Unit. The Americans say they have everything else covered.”

“At once, Senior Commissioner.” Ikumi said, bowing. She disappeared out the door.

Susan stood and walked out. “Come along now, children.” She said coyly.

Sable stood and walked over to Cliff. He stood up next to her and nodded. They followed Susan out to her Lancer and got in. They were on the road in minutes.

“So what’s next, bosslady?” Cliff asked.

“What’s the boy scout motto, Mr. Parsons?”

“Be prepared?”

“Exactly.”