Ronin
T-Minus 10 Days
My commander ordered that I journal as self-therapy. I’m worried about the jump. First attempt in a hundred years, who isn’t?
There are three of us. Alex, young and ambitious, is the best pilot we have. Kameko is our navigator. They think her being Japanese will help in the event we meet people.
It took five generations to recover. The first did what they had to to survive. My grandfather said it was ignorance that allowed it to get as bad as it did. It was the same ignorance that led people to hate him over the color of his skin.
It’s for the best that the first generation is gone. Remembering the old-world would be torture. Alex has never even seen an infected. He has no idea of what was lost.
Talking to Kameko’s parents has set me on edge. Her father yelled, “We named her Kameko for a reason!” She told me later her name meant “long-life”. They think she’s going to die. They think we all are.
If my family were living, what would they think?
T-Minus 9 Days
When I asked Kameko to back off the mission, she reminded me she was the only one of us who spoke Japanese.
“Diamond, you are a ronin, always ready for battle. You need me because you trust me. You’ve got to trust someone. I bet you even think they’re reading our journals too!”
The second generation sought to solidify survival. They looted libraries instead of grocery stores. Rather than plunder the old world, they sought areas to protect and began farming.
Jiro Shino invented the ship. He calls it a ship not a plane. Teasing space? He hypothesized we should be able to fly into the jet streams and turn off the fuel gauges and drift on the wind currents. Haven’t tried drifting yet, but the flight went well today.
We flew low into the fog and saw the red top peaks of the Golden Gate Bridge. Like arms spreading wide, the fog separated, revealing the city and bay. Alex took advantage and flew closer. It was completely empty, a relic of another time.
“We still lock our doors at night! What if something happens?” Alex cried to me after the flight.
T-Minus 7 Days
Yesterday’s mission was 7 hours. We’re told we should expect to travel at least three times that to Japan. Alex needed a break halfway though, so I took over while he stood and stretched. It would be easy to just go and explore the whole world.
Jiro is proud of his little ship. We hardly used any fuel. He asked a lot of questions and took a lot of measurements. He seems confident we could leave today and be fine.
The third generation after the outbreak began the population boomn. As a community we grew from 300 to thousands. People appeared, new families formed, and small communities merged into a larger one.
Most of the infected were weak at this point. Years of decay making them almost hardly worth the effort. Our territories expanded. Our group grew.
We know of three major groups nearby. Houston, Virginia, and Montana know us as the PCG (Pacific Coastline Group). Communication is difficult and rare between the groups.
The third generation also began to establish laws. Dissidents were excommunication. Excommunication by tattoo on the forehead. Democracy became a thing of the past as we followed leaders who sought the good of our survival.
T-Minus 5 Days
Yesterday we flew over what used to be LA. Still uninhabitable from the nuclear fallout. Desperate decisions scorched the earth forever. We landed back at base still talking about the rest of the world. What will we see?
Hearing the discussion, they put us on anxiety meds. We’ve been moved away from our families into the facility. They tell us we should have less distractions. We’re making history.
The fourth generation, our parent’s generation, began to develop into doctors and engineers.
Chaos, my grandfather warned, was inevitable. He told us to embrace it. Hanging himself, he allowed his body to transform into what he had spent so much of his life fighting. I guess it was the best way to warn us. Out of order, chaos must come.
T-Minus 4 Days
I dreamt that I was being kidnapped. I woke and grabbed for my journal. It was moved. Or was it? We all seem mellowed out. Maybe too much for making the jump? Is paranoia a side effect? Carelessness maybe another? Maybe I moved the journal myself.
Since living in the compound, we don’t talk like we had. Maybe it’s just all the change in the last day or two.
T-Minus 3 Days
The fifth generation, my generation, is reclaiming the world.
There’s a quote stuck in my head. “Be careful of those who stare into the void.” I don’t know what the other half is, but I had decided to lie on my cot for the day and think about it. “Be careful to stare into the void.” I don’t know.
Kameko asked me what I was doing before pulling out her pad to search it. The Internet is still full of useful and useless information. Trends and mishaps forever plastered across the microcosm reaching like a grim reminder of a world forgotten. She tried to tell me, but I wouldn’t let her.
Begrudgingly I searched the quote and found it easily. Is nothing left to mystery anymore?
T-Minus 2 Days
We are happy to be a part of this jump. Everyone has been good to us. I can be quite a curmudgeon when the anxiety takes hold. I feel good. We are ready what is ahead.
T-Minus 0 Days
We launch today. I’m up before the others. Our sleep schedules had been slowly scattered so that we won’t overlap once in the air.
The journal isn’t leaving my side until I get on the ship. They’re watching and reading everything.
Alex joined me at breakfast, I couldn’t stop staring at him eat. He was biting into a hard piece of bread. He tore at it mercilessly, hungrily consuming every bite. I can’t eat. Kameko joined us a few minutes after. So much for sleep schedules. We agreed to go off the anxiety meds after we launch.
Later—
When we launched, I didn’t do the turn around to fly over the base like they wanted. We need the boost in morale not the city. We flew straight towards the Pacific. I held my breath as the sun glistened off the blue waters before we lifted higher. Once we found the jet stream, our engines clicked audibly to auxiliary power, and we drifted. Success.
T-Minus -1 Days
I wasn’t prepared for the sound of rushing as the air circulated in and out of the engine. Stalling a few times, it was relatively smooth as we travelled along the haunted paths of ancient airliners.
We ditched the meds. Kameko and I at first, then Alex. Kameko seems eager. Her family told her she looks as far from Japanese as her fellow passengers. She carries herself differently. They tried to warn her.
The leading theory was a bacterium had attached itself to humans. The bacteria would reanimate the dead host. The belts strapped against our chest would hold us in place but put us within arm’s reach of grabbing the others. If one of us dies, it could jeopardize the others.
T-Minus -2 Days
Jets flew toward us as we approached Japan. Kameko spoke to them in Japanese through the radio, laughing in between transmissions. We followed them back to an airfield where we landed and were met by a group of soldiers and diplomats.
Japan did well during the outbreak. They adapted quickly listening to their government’s orders. Being an island helped.
Awkward talk as Kameko translated. On the tarmac, a car pulled up and a man in a suit hurried out. Cho Haru is the diplomat assigned to us. He speaks English but seems hesitant to use it even when translating.
They’ve shown us how to interface with some of their satellites when we return. Already anticipating a long-term relationship, we discovered we were using an isolated disconnected internet. They told us it would be good to begin relations with England too who is trying to take back most of Europe but when asked how it was going, Cho frowned.
They emptied a hotel for us. Probably more for them than for us. I cannot help the suspicion inside as Alex muttered, “too good to be true”.
Most people walk around with swords attached to their belts and they’ve given us each a sword as a gift. Diplomacy or necessity, I’m not sure. They’ve offered for us to stay for a week, but we’ve graciously said 3 days.
Cho, who has become favored by our little group, when no one else is around, is very talkative. He has started calling Alex, kauboi (cowboy). Kameko is more reserved. Her family was right. She is an outsider even here. Eyes are on us constantly. Feels like home.
T-Minus -3 Days
There is a picture frame above my head when I sleep. It bounces every time there’s a gush of wind from the vent. Tap. Tap. Tap. It isn’t regular and happens periodically throughout the night. It keeps me from sleeping deeply.
With blurry eyes, I thought I saw people in the room. I tried to rise but couldn’t.
Later—
We were planning on leaving today. There was an outbreak near the hanger. An older man driving a cart had a heart attack. Transformation was almost instant. Alex screamed showing his innocence. Someone got bitten. Kameko reacted swiftly, pulling out her sword and running toward them when a man shouted at her. He called her, “Gaijin”.
I had to press Kameko for what the word meant.
“I thought it would be my body language, but it wasn’t. I’m too much of a Gaijin based on my looks. My blood is not pure. I thought maybe my grandfather was wrong. I thought my hair, my skin seemed to look Japanese enough. For them, I’m like the infected. I’m worse than a regular Gaijin…” seeing my expression, “Foreigner. But instead, I’m like the infected where I was once like them but am no longer.”
She stared resolutely while men in swords put down the outbreak. We’re not leaving. They need to inspect the whole area just to be safe. Lies?
Later –
People stared as we were walked through the city. They’re improvising – not sure what to do with us. Outbreaks happen, but something must have set them off. Kameko disagrees thinking the outbreak, although small, looked like weakness and they don’t want to seem weak. Fair enough.
Cho apologized, “They’re not used to seeing outsiders.” That’s better than them judging me for being black. I hadn’t thought to ask about tourism when the outbreak happened, something that doesn’t exist today, but Kameko did.
“Most left.” Cho said. “Some remain, but not much. Japan has always thrived in isolation. Storms would keep out invaders. After the outbreak, it did that as well as keep out many refugees.”
T-Minus -4 Days
I fear what is to become of us. We can’t shake the escorts. They don’t want us near our ship. After what happened last night, I’m pretty sure we’re never going home again.
They threw a banquet for us. We ate happily with more dignitaries. We took it as one last show of their strength and dominance before we left. Let us leave on that note rather than on blood.
Alex drank hard. Kameko and Cho helped with translating conversation. Alex rose, holding a bottle of Sake, and flirted with a waitress. When the waitress giggled, you could hear a pin drop. Everything happened quickly after.
“Dog,” someone shouted.
Alex grinned at the dignitary before turning to the waitress whose head was turned away. With his finger, he moved her chin over and up for a kiss. The guards rushed Alex whether on orders or not, I don’t know. Alex ducked a blow with a sword that hit home with the waitress who crumbled to the floor.
Kameko and I rose in our seats, but Cho pressed himself in front of us. Before we could do anything, not that there was much we could do, Alex was swinging a sword at the guards. It was mercifully quick for him. The guards had training; Alex was just a cowboy.
We watched Alex transform, his milky white eyes opening to a new life. The guards used their swords to pin him to the wall while others dispatched the waitress and then another guard whose injuries looked serious, but maybe not lethal.
I was handed a sword and knew my duty without translation. I dispatched Alex myself.
T-Minus -5 Days
Whispers woke me in the middle of the night. I could not move my arms against the restraints. Barely making out Alex and Kameko in nearby beds. I fear it was a dream, but I don’t know. It felt real. An IV hung above me with a label, “Z-243”. I had to write this before I forget.
Later—
I don’t understand what’s going on. Kameko seems resigned in her silence. We’ve asked to see Cho, but we’ve seen only the guards who won’t let us leave the hotel. I wonder if they will smile before they kill us.
Later—
Good meeting in the evening. They seem as apologetic as we do. Cho spoke eloquently about our nations building a relationship together. Maybe they assume we’ve been in contact with the PCG. Either way, it looks hopeful.
T-Minus -7 Days
Yesterday they took us sightseeing. We met more dignitaries and some of mixed race. Overall, it was uneventful. They seemed hell-bent on trying to make up for the last few days.
Kameko began to warm a little. She laughed and I felt like there’s a good chance we’re going to be leaving soon.
Gaijin
1.
Staring at the different light fixtures in her room, Kameko wondered how she was being watched. Diamond wandered in appearing like a ghost and leaving as suddenly. She stared at the wooden framed sliding doors with an image of a woman holding a red dress against her chest with a deep blue backdrop when it slid open again.
“You, okay?” Diamond asked.
“Yes.” Surely he knew they could not speak freely. “I am filled with emotion.”
“Alex?”
Kameko nodded.
“Everything has changed.”
“You’re still my ronin.” Kameko grabbed his hand pulling him to sit with her on the bed.
“Do you know why my parents named me Diamond?” He didn’t wait for her reply. “Diamonds are forged by pressure and time and come out beautiful for it. My father named me Diamond because he wanted me to always remember that beauty would emerge from my trials.”
“That’s lovely. Diamond Winters.”
“I dropped the ‘s’ when my family passed. Winter.”
Their hands tightened. Another man, Kameko considered, would’ve kissed her by now.
“What happened to your family?” Then seeing his face, her mouth tightened, “I mean, I’ve heard….”
“One parent attacked the other. I don’t know how or what killed them, but one passed and spread the death to the other and then my sisters. I ran not understanding everything but knowing to run. I barricaded my bedroom door. Days passed while I listened to them clawing to get into my room before someone found me.”
Kameko, not wanting to wait any longer, kissed him. She felt his hands tense and then relax as the kiss turned to more. He went to pull back, if only just to look at her face when she whispered to keep kissing.
“Maybe this is the only way we can truly speak freely here.” She said as Diamond kissed her neck. “They’re watching us.”
“Of course.” Diamond said breathily as his hands gravitated from hers to her body.
“I fear they won’t let us leave.”
2.
“I saw Cho last night.” Diamond said looking at the frowning portrait of a samurai. A man resolute in duty with his blue and orange armor.
“You met with Cho.”
“He came while you were sleeping.”
“Why didn’t you wake me?”
“He wanted to talk.”
“You know, I wa….”
“He wanted just me.”
“And?”
“I don’t think we’re leaving anytime soon.”
“You needed Cho to tell you?”
Diamond smiled and shook his head, “Cho said we were free to wander the city.”
Kameko lowered her head. All the things she wanted to say but couldn’t flooded her heart. Wandering the city might be good, she consoled herself. Maybe they could speak freely.
3.
“Wandering the city?” Cho asked walking up behind them.
“Where did you come from?” Diamond said jumping.
“I happen to be walking by.”
Kameko looked down hearing the obvious lie. She focused on a small piece of wrapper spinning in the breeze. The red and blue colors blurred together as the wind picked up.
“These are you escorts, Master Diamond.” Cho said holding his hand up to the two men who stood in the street with arms dangling at their sides. “They will keep a safe distance.”
“Thank you.”
“May you have an uneventful day.” Cho said as Diamond grasped his hand.
Kameko stared at the guards as Cho disappeared into the crowd. Diamond’s hand found Kameko’s as he pulled her back in the direction they had been headed. Kameko turned to see the guards keeping pace.
“Do you suppose they are the only ones following us?” Diamond asked.
“No. They’re probably tracking us by twenty different means.”
“Then let’s make it boring for them.”
“And fun for us?”
4.
Behind the podium, a dark blue curtain hung blocking the building behind them. A man rose and waved at the small crowd. Cameras angled at him as took the podium and began to sing.
“May your reign continue for….”
“I’ve heard their anthem already.” Diamond whispered to Kameko to stop her from translating.
“You’re too disillusioned, Ronin.”
Diamond smiled as turned from the gathering. His hand naturally touching the handle of his sword. Thunder rumbled in the distance.
“Such a loud burst of thunder for so little clouds.” Kameko said as they headed away from the group of people.
“Some would say that’s you.”
Kameko laughed and they drew in closer as they walked along the road until the buildings grew smaller. Diamond noted the only other people on the road were their escorts.
5.
Trees were scattered around with pink flowers budding on every branch. Kameko and Diamond’s eyes drifted from the trees to a small decorative bridge stretching over the still blue water that had dozens of orange koi rushing below. As the wind picked up, pink flowers lifted into the air, its petals flapping like butterfly wings as they landed and floated in the water.
“What are those trees called?” Diamond asked turning toward one of the escorts.
“Plum Blossom.”
Thunder roared above them and as they stood, hand in hand, dozens of jagged streaks of lighting began racing across the sky parallel to each other. The sky became a gigantic dome imprisoning them.
Diamond felt the beauty fill his heart as the hairs on his arm began to rise. More of the Plum Blossom flowers fluttered off tree and Kameko stepped forward grabbing at them.
A jagged piece of lightning broke away from the others and landed in Diamond’s chest. Noise exploded into a silence as Kameko was pushed to the ground by its force.
6.
Rain began to fall as Kameko rose as slowly as Diamond. The escorts reacted slowly. Kameko, sword in hand, approached Diamond. Already a monster, she swung unable to meet his eyes as he met his rebirth with death.
The rain merged with her tears as she lowered her head and fell to her knees. One hand still holding the small flower from the Plum Blossoms. She let it fall to the ground as she collected herself to rise and see the escorts had run to get help.
Opportunity was short in coming. Kameko sheathed the sword and turned to run. With Alex and Diamond gone, she would surely be killed.
When the four men had found her, she had a good idea where she was. Swords already drawn, they stood ready for an attack.
7.
One man charged her as her hand rested on the handle of the sword. She stepped to the side, pulling out the sword out before moving to the man’s other side and slicing into his stomach. Another was almost on top of her, she moved making a lethal slash across his face causing the blood to spray upward making her see the pink flowers instead of the blood as she dug the sword into the man’s stomach for a final strike.
The first man rose, trying to collect his entrails, already his jaw opening and closing as the transformation began. The other men ran for help. Kameko rushed toward them before seeing a door and kicking it in, she ran into a small food store.
She had thought the training a waste of time when she was a child. If she could, she would thank her father for teaching her how to use the sword. Not seeing it as a foreign object, but as an extension of herself. She rushed out of the front door, sheathing the sword again. She pushed into a crowd of people as she heard someone shout.
“I’m going to get you out of here!”
8.
If she hadn’t recognized the voice, she might’ve turned to look. But she had, so she pressed to ignore it as it reverberated inside.
“I’m going to get you out of here!” Alex shouted from some distant place.
Thunder rumbled above as Kameko pushed through the crowd of people. It had to be a hallucination. Alex was dead. Diamond was dead. She would fight even her own failing mind to get out of here.
She rounded a corner to a street that led to the hanger when she heard another familiar voice.
“Are you aware of what seppuku is?” Cho’s voice was harsh.
Kameko eyed the two guards standing on either side of him. Her hand rested on the handle of her sword.
“Seppuku is ritual suicide. This is, you understand, the bland foreign word. To us, it is so much more but I’d like to offer you a chance to do so. You are gaijin. You know we will not let you leave. Even if you make it to your ship, we will shoot you down.”
Kameko pulled the sword out slowly and held it in her hands. Cho showed his teeth. Alex still called out inside her head. When Kameko whirled the blade slashing through one of Cho’s guards into his neck causing crimson fountains to erupt, she had made her decision. It was more surprise than skill, she reasoned as she dispatched the three easily.
As she ran for her ship, she heard Cho as he began to groan.
9.
The engines started and the ship lifted. Out the window, she saw people being attacked.
As she headed toward open water, bright vivid yellow burst across the sky as the thunder rumbled from her insides. A storm approached. The world was a dome that ensnared her.
Kauboi
1.
The dead don’t move. Shouldn’t be able to think either, but well, let’s face it, I’m here. I’m moving slowly and I wonder if there aren’t invisible chains tethering me to the underworld even now. Voices move on unseen currents around me.
Diamond, the ever-serious man of duty, did what he had to do. The first blow was weak. I, not in my right mind, should have laughed at his ineptitude. Instead, I was too busy being killed as my body was pinned against a wall just for some harmless flirting. I hope he cried.
2.
I’m aware of the necessity of swords; I just don’t like them. Give me a gun.
The current shifts. The voices, noises, become closer to language and then discernable words. Am I still lying on the restaurant floor? Are these the last synapses to fire before I drift into forever dark?
I think I know everything when I see Jiro Shino standing above me wearing a lab coat. I want to ask him how he got to Japan. Admittedly, sometimes I’m slow. When I move my arms, I feel the straps keeping me restrained.
I open my mouth to speak. Nothing serious, but with one word, I lose my audience, “Brains!”
3.
Death is the true infection; we’re just catching colds.
I reach my hand over to the nurse and gently touch hers. She pulls away.
“It was just a joke, darlin’. Forgive my impertinence. Do me a favor, huh? Let me out of this?”
The nurse shakes her head no before turning and messing with an IV bag with the label “Z-243” on it. I feel my head lull as I’m able to say one more slurred sentence.
“Hard to get, I like it.”
4.
“How are you holding up today?” Jiro Shino smiles as my eyes find focus.
“Wrists.” I whisper before tugging at my restraints.
“I’m not going to do that Alex.”
I open my mouth and let out a yawn. The yawn wasn’t intentional but comes out stretching violently. It hurts my jaw. I’m careful to look befuddled, trying to hide my playfulness.
“How you Japan?”
“We’ve talked about this, Alex. You never left.” Then turning to someone out of my sight, “Maybe this is a side effect of 243?”
“243.” I say slowly. “What?”
“Z-243 – Part of the bacteria of the virus. It’s helped us discover a little bit more about you and the others.” Jiro stepped back and I saw the others laying in their beds. “We’ve learned quite a lot about you.”
“No ship?” I talk in short bursts. I want him thinking I’m more incapacitated than I am.
“No, there is a ship. But I doubt we will trust you to fly it. Not after what we saw. We need to know we can trust you. We need to know you will be responsible. We expect you to carry yourself as a proper citizen of PCG. Frankly, there’s much to be desired after seeing how the events have played out.”
5.
My eyes open and I look around the room. It’s quiet. There are wires sticking out of Diamond and Kameko attached to the wall. It’s as if they’re part of a machine now.
“Don’t move.” The nurse from before whispers.
I feel a warm sponge on me. My body tingles.
“They’re watching. Camera in the corner.
“Unplug it. Get me out of here.”
“Play it cool, cowboy.”
“Kameko?”
“No, her sister, Kiyoko.”
“Kiyoko.” I say and reach for her just a little. I can’t help myself.
“Oh dear,” she says and shoves the IV back into my arm. As my eyes grow heavy, she whispers, “I told you, don’t move, cowboy. Learn your lesson and we can talk longer next time.”
6.
“Frankly, I don’t care if he rots here.” Jiro is speaking to someone in the room. They think I’m unconscious. “He’s the liability. The other two have stayed on mission. Frankly, we can find a new pilot. Hell, we can find a new team! I don’t like that those two have a budding relationship either!”
“Should we pull them out?”
“No. Let them linger in uncertainty more. I want to see how they handle it.”
My eyes meet Kiyoko’s. She’s brought me out to hear this.
When the room goes silent, she whispers to me, “The drug should be out of your system in an hour. Rest. Gather your strength.” Then smiling, “Don’t speak. You’re not going to get out of this, and I fear what they’re going to do to my sister.”
7.
“Nurse.” Jiro says. “Bring him up.”
“Yes, Master Shino.” Kiyoko says, “Diamond’s arm is going to need attention sir.”
She loosens only one restraint. I think it might be all the time she has. Jiro paces waiting for me to revive. It’s been close to an hour, and I feel my body ready.
“Alex,” Jiro says.
I groan. I don’t really know what else to do. I lift my head but allow it to lull to the side looking him up and down. A small gun in a holster is easily reachable.
The punch exuded more shock than pain as Jiro stumbles back. I reach for the gun. I whirl across the room, not seeing Kiyoko but seeing a man in the doorway, I shoot. As I turn back to Jiro, Kiyoko pulls out a syringe from his neck. His eyes glaze over as he falls to the floor.
I reach for the other restraints as Kiyoko pulls the plugs first from Diamond and begins removing the IV. By the time I get different electrodes and plugs off my own body, she’s begun pulling Kameko’s.
8.
“I’m going to get you out of here.” I whisper to Kameko.
Diamond groans and Kiyoko rushes over to him as I keep unplugging Kameko and talking to her.
“It’s time to wake up. We have to get out of here.”
“Switch.” Kiyoko shouts.
I rush to Diamond who stares at me. I smile. He’s confused.
9.
“Where do we go?” I ask Kiyoko as I help Diamond walk.
Kiyoko pants. Kameko’s arm is around her. She turns to me. I think she doesn’t have a plan as my grip on the gun tightens.
“The hanger.”
“The hanger?”
Kiyoko smiles as Diamond clears his throat and tries to stand on his own.
“I want to see what has happened, really happened to the world.”
Kris Green lives in Florida with his wife, two-year old son, and little new baby daughter. His first story was published in 2018 through Morpheus Tales. Last year, three more short stories were published. This past year, he has published six short stories as well as two poems.