-ONE DAY LATER, 2016
UNKNOWN PLACE, JAPAN-
The next day-- or what Shinji presumed was the next day, for the color of the sky rarely changed-- snow fell across Japan for the first time in 15 years.
Shinji stared at the flakes as they cascaded, swirling down upon him and Asuka. He had some idea what they were, but the way they tickled his skin was unknown to him. Asuka simply watched him, curiously, though at a distance. She had started walking again, but always maintained the same distance from him.
For food, they harvested what fish they could from the oceans that were beginning to wash ashore, making sure to check against signs of decay. They roasted them on sticks, and ate them in silence, always on opposite sides of the fire.
The third day, Shinji began making forays inland, to see what-- and more importantly, who-- might have been left in this world. Asuka sat by the fire, rocking on her haunches. Whenever Shinji left or returned, she was always in the same position.
The snow had finally stopped, dusting everything, but it wasn't cold enough for it to remain very long.
On his fourth journey outward-- his trips were elliptical in shape and grew with every pass-- Shinji found a road. Power lines ran parallel to it, and as he walked along-- in a random direction, for, like time, a sense of destination was now pointless-- he saw a murder of crows gathered along the slackened wires.
He came across a store, after walking what felt like 20 minutes. Along the way, straggly wayside bushes gave way to fields of reeds to long grass and trees, and sand slowly became soil once again. The store was like them, Shinji decided, and, sorry as it looked, he knew that this store was the first in what would surely become civilization, if he continued down the road.
For now, it was enough.
Curiously, the door was unlocked, although it did creak in protest as he opened it. The lights were still on, although several were blown out, and in the center of the center room, a ceiling fan churned the dead air listlessly. There were traces of animals having been there, like the gnaw marks on the puckering fruit and droppings from smaller animals. But at least the store was otherwise stocked.
"Excuse me for intruding!" he called out, startled at the sound of his own voice. He didn't think anyone was home, but it couldn't hurt to--
splish!
Shinji paused, and looked down at the puddle he stepped in. Not too far away, in the same pool of liquid, clothes lay rumpled, but arranged like a chalk outline of a corpse. As strange as that was in itself, however, Shinji continued squinting at the liquid. It reminded him of... LCL?
After a moment, he shrugged and continued.
There were two more similar puddles-- and clothes, although one set was for a woman-- in the aisles. Finally, though, he found what he was looking for. He greedily gulped down the bottle of water, and then another, licking his chapped dehydrated lips.
He fetched a shopping cart and returned to the aisle, filling it with dozens of water bottles and jugs, and in the next aisle, canned foods.
Behind the counter, he wrote his name and Misato Katsuragi's address-- his caretaker and commanding officer-- as well as a list of everything he took, and a calculated total. Then, he tacked the I.O.U. to a wall and set off into the fast-fading day.
The next day-- or what Shinji presumed was the next day, for the color of the sky rarely changed-- snow fell across Japan for the first time in 15 years.
Shinji stared at the flakes as they cascaded, swirling down upon him and Asuka. He had some idea what they were, but the way they tickled his skin was unknown to him. Asuka simply watched him, curiously, though at a distance. She had started walking again, but always maintained the same distance from him.
For food, they harvested what fish they could from the oceans that were beginning to wash ashore, making sure to check against signs of decay. They roasted them on sticks, and ate them in silence, always on opposite sides of the fire.
The third day, Shinji began making forays inland, to see what-- and more importantly, who-- might have been left in this world. Asuka sat by the fire, rocking on her haunches. Whenever Shinji left or returned, she was always in the same position.
The snow had finally stopped, dusting everything, but it wasn't cold enough for it to remain very long.
On his fourth journey outward-- his trips were elliptical in shape and grew with every pass-- Shinji found a road. Power lines ran parallel to it, and as he walked along-- in a random direction, for, like time, a sense of destination was now pointless-- he saw a murder of crows gathered along the slackened wires.
He came across a store, after walking what felt like 20 minutes. Along the way, straggly wayside bushes gave way to fields of reeds to long grass and trees, and sand slowly became soil once again. The store was like them, Shinji decided, and, sorry as it looked, he knew that this store was the first in what would surely become civilization, if he continued down the road.
For now, it was enough.
Curiously, the door was unlocked, although it did creak in protest as he opened it. The lights were still on, although several were blown out, and in the center of the center room, a ceiling fan churned the dead air listlessly. There were traces of animals having been there, like the gnaw marks on the puckering fruit and droppings from smaller animals. But at least the store was otherwise stocked.
"Excuse me for intruding!" he called out, startled at the sound of his own voice. He didn't think anyone was home, but it couldn't hurt to--
splish!
Shinji paused, and looked down at the puddle he stepped in. Not too far away, in the same pool of liquid, clothes lay rumpled, but arranged like a chalk outline of a corpse. As strange as that was in itself, however, Shinji continued squinting at the liquid. It reminded him of... LCL?
After a moment, he shrugged and continued.
There were two more similar puddles-- and clothes, although one set was for a woman-- in the aisles. Finally, though, he found what he was looking for. He greedily gulped down the bottle of water, and then another, licking his chapped dehydrated lips.
He fetched a shopping cart and returned to the aisle, filling it with dozens of water bottles and jugs, and in the next aisle, canned foods.
Behind the counter, he wrote his name and Misato Katsuragi's address-- his caretaker and commanding officer-- as well as a list of everything he took, and a calculated total. Then, he tacked the I.O.U. to a wall and set off into the fast-fading day.
