Disclaimer
The series, Neon Genesis Evangelion, from which this work of fiction is based, is owned by GAINAX. Characters presented in this document that come directly from the series are also owned by GAINAX. I own all original characters.
Evangelion: Primum Revelation
Chapter 4: ...Easy Go
Written by T.S. a.k.a. "Kain Tempest"
"Why the Hell are you stopping?" Shinji didn't respond to the question, standing stark still, he stared down the street past Shigeru and Asuka. The boy couldn't place why things were bothering him so much. Everything was as it ought to be. The air was occasionally rumbling with the sound of the ocean in the distance, no birds sounded, but the trees all around were rustling by the breeze. The sky was spotted with clouds. The sun shone with its early morning brightness. Nothing seemed unusual.
Shigeru waved his hand in front of Shinji's face. Trying to get his attention. The boy blinked and glanced over at the lieutenant, still leaning against a sturdy walking stick he had salvaged from the forest. Shinji looked away and towards an impatient Asuka, whose bouts with nausea had ending quickly in the day giving way to her usual, spiteful self.
"It's nothing." Asuka forced out a long, exasperated sigh.
"Wouldn't you know that it's the healthiest in the bunch actually turns out to be the slowest." She turned back towards the road. "I want to at least reach a city before we have to turn in for the night." The redhead scanned the gravel road street and the meager wood plank houses that flanked it. The small village looked rustic, with its long trails cutting through stands of trees. A few lonely power and telephone lines gave the place a somewhat modern look along with the numerous pipes sticking out of the ground. No matter what country it was, Asuka knew that life in rural areas was unbearable. This was not a place she wanted to stay in for long.
Something rustled in the grass and Asuka glanced to a spot between two houses. When she looked back, she took a sharp intake of breath and stumbled backwards into an equally surprised Shinji and Shigeru. The trio looked around themselves as a small mob began to grow around them, armed with gardening hoes, spades, baseball bats, and other improvised weapons.
The people at the front of the circling mob, closest to the three intruders, eyed them warily, tightly gripping their weapons and shifted the weight on their feet. Asuka could count a total of about twenty-five people, mostly men, but also a few young women were also present. However, the number and composition of the mob quickly fell away into the flurry of other panicked thoughts in the redhead's mind. So many people had appeared so suddenly. Combined with the fact that they were brandishing tools as weapons and all the trio had was a stick, it made her alarmed.
The stand off was silent for several moments, the trio not wanting to make a single misstep for fear of a violent reaction, and the mob seemed to be considering the next move to make. Shinji swallowed hard, the tension already causing him to grow weary. Asuka scanned the crowd again and licked her lips, feeling her body tense and coil like a snake. If these people were going to attack, she would have to fight tooth and nail to survive. She took on more formidable enemies in the Angels and the EVA series, like Hell was she going to lose to a violent crowd.
"Asuka?" The redhead started and looked around, sparing a fleeting glance at Shigeru and Shinji to see if they were the ones who spoke up. The crowd too, seemed to begin to ease up and look among themselves until a column of them parted to allow a middle-aged man through. Out of breath, the man dabbed at his forehead with a hankerchief. He murmured something in another language and several of the crowd's members lowered their weapons. The rest followed suit.
"Do I know you?" The phrase carried a hint of uncertainty rather than disdain. Asuka's brow furrowed in puzzlement. After taking a few more breaths, the man stood up and adjusted his glasses. Balding on top with graying hair on the sides and on his beard, he looked like an international college professor. The man gave Asuka a white, toothy grin, which only confused the girl even more.
"It's only been two years, Asuka, have you already forgotten me?" Asuka slowly shook her head, but something clicked in and Shinji saw the girl's eyes light up and her cocky grin return as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"Ich erwartete sie, doktor, tot zu sein." This made the older man laugh and Asuka grinned wider. The older man came up gave Asuka's hand a mighty shake and a pat on the shoulder. By this time, everyone in the mob felt the situation had been defused, much to Shinji and Shigeru's relief. The defenders exchanged glances at each other and watched as Asuka and the old man spoke animated to each other in German. The crowd dissolved with only a few still lingering, still afraid that the newcomers would cause trouble.
"So, Asuka who is this." Shigeru interrupted. Asuka seemed to glow with happiness as she grinned at Shigeru.
"Mr. Aoba, Ikari, I would like you to meet my favorite college professor and associate of mine, Doctor Allan Powell." The older man gave a courteous bow to the two.
"It is a pleasure to meet you." Shinji and Shigeru bowed in response, Shigeru having to abbreviate it, leaning against his walking stick. Shinji realized that this was probably the first time he actually was bowing during a social meeting with someone. In fact, the only other time he ever did bow as at the beginning and end of class at school. It felt archaic but at the same time very civilized and adult.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Doctor Powell."
"I must apologize for the... Hospitality." Powell stated, looking around and the remainder of the village's defenders. "The few people who have come through this area were not always very friendly." Shinji had already been awe struck at how many people were in the village already, but this news forced him to speak.
"You mean there are more people?" Powell nodded, not minding the interruption, but Shinji could feel Asuka staring daggers at the boy. Shinji avoided eye contact with the German girl, taking a casual interest at the last few spots of white on his filthy sneakers, paying no attention as more formalities were passed between Shigeru and Powell. He didn't notice when they started to leave the scene with Asuka.
"C'mon Shinji! Get a move on!" Asuka barked. Shinji snapped his head up and jogged behind the group as the ventured deeper into the village.
The stool skittered over the tile floor and Powell squatted onto it, shining a pen-light into Shigeru's eyes. Shinji once more scanned the well-furnished kitchen that Powell did most of his work in.
Asuka was leaning over the little leather book of hers again, poring over it. Either there was a lot of information, or Asuka was reading very slowly, having spent weeks on it and from the looks of it, only getting a third of the way through the passages. Shinji had constantly wondered what it was in the book that had captivated her so, but again, it was safer to guess than to find out by any means.
"You are very lucky, Mister Aoba." Powell observed, raising his voice so that his patient could hear. "Two more inches to the left and that hub cab would have crushed your temple." Shigeru gave a grunt of alarm which caused the old man to chuckle. "And from what supplies you said you had, I think this is a very good dressing job." Out of the corner of Shinji's eye, he could see Asuka take special interest in a particular item on the page of her book.
Shigeru took a sharp intake of breath as Powell wiped a cotton swab across the gash. He redressed the bandage and turned around to look at Shinji. Without being prompted, Shinji presented his bandaged hands. The man unraveled the dressing. "Your hands are almost raw? What happened?" Shinji looked down at the bloody cuts and winced. Everything about blood disgusted him, even worse was how similar it was to LCL and learning to cough out lungs full of the stuff was not the most enjoyable thing to learn. The very thought of it made Shinji's face contort.
"The idiot cut himself on some broken glass when Shigeru got hurt." Asuka mumbled. Powell nodded.
"No doubt trying to save your friends?" Powell proceeded to examine Shinji's hands. Again, the work has been meticulous and Powell only needed to apply clean bandages. Tired of sitting around watching, Asuka picked up her book and was halfway to the living room before Powell stopped her. "I've heard that you've been sick a lot over the past few weeks."
"Food poisoning. Shinji isn't very reliable in finding food that hasn't gone bad."
"No matter, I am a physician so I should ensure that you are alright too, Asuka."
"He's right. It would be nice to actually find out whether or not it is just food poisoning." Shigeru added. Asuka planted her hands on her hips.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Why don't you two boys wait in the living room." Powell suggested. Shigeru nodded and took Shinji with him out of the room.
Afternoon sunlight bathed the living room in pleasant white light. Shinji had been quite surprised at how spacious the home was, but considering the fact that Powell was a doctor, it was always best to keep a medical officer happy. Shigeru had said that a place like this would have only been affordable to a wealthy person. Shinji sat down on the couch whilr Shigeru took to an armchair. The two were quiet for several moments, Shinji taking an interest in the fabric on the sofa and Shigeru the ceiling.
"I'm still in shock." Shigeru murmured.
"From what?"
"That we found a community of people. Seeing as it was a week before I met you and Asuka, I thought it would take months before we found another person, let alone a village's worth. What the Hell am I saying? For all I know, it could have been a month. I don't even know what day it is today."
"I never really thought Asuka would have a professor as a friend. It seems like a weird coincidence that we happened upon him after that storm."
"It's not uncommon for college graduates to actually make friends with some of their teachers. Often when you like and respect the teacher enough, you have a better time understanding them and getting better grades. At least, that's how I figured it out."
"But, Asuka and I showed up in Japan..."
"I was in around Japan too when things went to the crapper and I found myself in China."
"But that's probably only a couple hundred miles difference, if Doctor Powell is from Germany, then either he's a long ways away from home before or after the incident."
"The incident? Shinji, I think it would be safe to say that was Third Impact. The MAGI computers said it was Third Impact, Maya said so, and from what-" Shigeru stopped and shook his head. "I don't remember."
"I think that's how we all feel. Everyone seems to have forgotten what happened, even Asuka and I. Something tells me I don't want to remember, because whatever happened, it changed me."
"It's like you're looking through a different set of eyes?" Shinji nodded.
"I wonder if everyone else feels the same way."
"When Second Impact occurred, Shinji, it caused a lot of people to do a significant amount of soul searching. It felt like a miracle that so many nations actually admitted that something was wrong with their relations to one another and that they actually went about settling their differences by focusing on everyone's problems, rather than their own internal agenda."
"Causing the rebirth of the United Nations, right?" Shigeru nodded.
"It was only after the worst human tragedies that nations would actually put an effort in trying to be humanitarian. After every one of the world wars a new peace committee had been formed. The League of Nations and the United Nations, however, when push came to shove, they never managed to work out until after Second Impact."
"Are you sure that the world will be able to recover? Let alone trying and make a better society? We've been traveling for over a month and most of the places we found were simply a wasteland. And here we have found a small pocket of humanity."
"You think we're back to the dark ages?"
"What! You can't be serious!" The sound of Asuka's screeching voice from the kitchen caused both young men to jump. "Mein Gott, nein! Ich kann nicht zutreffend sein!" Shinji was already to his feet and dashing towards the door to the kitchen when he heard the sound of a door slamming in the distance.
"Asuka?" Shinji poked his head into the kitchen. The German girl was nowhere to be seen and Doctor Powell was leaning against the table, his gray brow furrowed in thought. "Doctor Powell, what happened?"
"You should probably leave her be for now, Ikari. I think she's been in enough distress now."
"Why? How sick is she really?" Powell looked at Shinji and looked directly into his eyes for a long moment. The old man's gray eyes seemed to pass right through Shinji and the boy did his best to resist from shuddering under the gaze. After a few moments, the stare softened and he looked away and back to the empty seat that Asuka had recently occupied. She had left the journal behind. "I'll watch over that for now, if you don't mind." Powell announced, nodding towards the leather book.
"Alright." Shinji didn't feel the need to stop him. He felt that Asuka would be more willing for her professor to handle her things than he. He returned to the living room where Shigeru was sitting bolt upright.
"What was that all about?" Shinji shook his head in response.
Reddening sunlight bled through the window panes of the house's second story. Shigeru stared at his silhouette on the carpeted floor and back out the window at the village. The people here were a very silent and somber bunch, they were almost wordless when they gathered around Shigeru and the children, but now the silence was like that of a vacuum. It was as if they were zombies. But then again, Shigeru should have expected them to act this way. The lives they lived were ultimately gone, and Shigeru was certain that things could never be the same again.
Shigeru had been involved with NERV for so long, that it was difficult for him to imagine what life was like outside of Tokyo-3. Even the most common of the fortress city's inhabitants were alien to him. When he knew and felt the weight of responsibility on his shoulders, Shigeru knew that he couldn't be the carefree college graduate he was. At that time he saw his life with so much optimism, having believed that the greatest hurdle of his life, Second Impact, was long since passed.
"Why did I even join NERV in the first place?" Shigeru wondered aloud. Saying such things made him think of Shinji. For such a young boy, he was carrying a lot of responsible on his shoulders. He seemed much more capable of dealing wtih the pressure than Asuka could.
The reasons were evident when they were relaxing on the beach a couple of days ago when a tropical storm blew in. Had Shigeru not intervened when he did, he was sure that the two children would have come to blows and there would have been a possibility that things would go too far. Most of the time when they argued, it seemed like the thing siblings would do. But both of them seemed unstable, before and after Third Impact. Shigeru's childhood was never as complicated, even with Second Impact, but these children, this generation, would likely have misgivings about whether or not the world could end any day now. Coupled with teen angst, Shigeru could imagine a rise in teenaged suicides. This may very well be how the world ends.
Someone knocked on the frame of the open door, Shigeru turned and started.
"Asuka... Are you alright?" The redhead nodded slowly.
"I need to talk." Shigeru frowned. He never expected Asuka having the need to confide in someone ever before. This must be something serious. Already trepidation nagged at him. He felt like he was being forced to take on a fatherly figure again for the two children. Neither of them had parents anymore and Shigeru reasoned that Asuka was coming to him because she had been around him long enough to at least trust him a little. Again, another achievement with new responsibility.
"This is about what Doctor Powell told you, isn't it?"
"Uh-huh." Asuka closed the door and sat down on the foot of the bed. Shigeru swung his feet over the side and sat next to her. The redhead was quiet for a long moment and Shigeru allowed her to be, not wanting to push her. As the silence prevailed, Shigeru started thinking over Asuka's symptoms in order to determine what else, other than food poisoning could have gotten at the poor girl. It only took a moment for it to click in and Shigeru mentally kicked himself for not realizing it sooner.
"When... When did it happen?" Shigeru breathed. His throat was dry and he knew that he was now in one of the worst situations for a parent to be in. Asuka shook her head.
"God, I don't know... That's what makes this so hard." Asuka murmured, covering her eyes with her hand. "Everything was so normal. How could this have happened to me?" Shigeru was about to ask another question, but he already knew she wouldn't have an answer to that either. There was another still silence.
"Was the doctor certain?" Asuka dropped her hand and stared at the opposite wall, her brow creased with worry.
"Something could have happened during my depression, something else that I don't remember. Doctor Powell knew it and said that there was little doubt. He's a professional, he couldn't be wrong." Shigeru wanted to make Asuka feel better about what was going on, but he couldn't think of a way. This was also stressful for him. Again the silence gave way to contemplation which only led to even more disturbing possibilities. Shigeru swallowed hard.
"Don't worry Asuka... You can get through this. If you want I will go talk to Doctor Powell for you. You get some rest."
"Doctor Powell isn't here. He's out checking on other people in this damn village. I wish we never came here!"
"Hey! Us coming her or not doesn't change what has happened. In fact, it's better than you know what's going on other than wondering until it's too late."
"Too late? For what? My life was ruined thanks to that idiot Shinji and now I'm doomed. It's over."
"Don't talk like that! You're the girl who managed to take an Evangelion and get control of it without any natural talent. You managed to win a round against the EVA series. You've gone through worse Miss Sohryu, and you can keep going." Asuka looked up at Shigeru and for a moment, the lieutenant thought he could tell that even though she was a young adult now, Asuka was still a child deep down. Just as soon as she had done so, Asuka looked away and back to the floor. Shigeru got up and touched Asuka's shoulder. You rest, I'll sleep downstairs. Asuka nodded and Shigeru turned away.
Something outside thundered over the roof of the house, both Asuka and Shigeru looked outside to see a black helicopter rush through the crimson sky. Their jaws dropped in unison upon the spectacle and their eyes bugged out as two more followed the first as they blitzed over the air space of the town.
"Mein Gott." Asuka whispered as lines were dropped from the idling helicopters and dark figures slip their way down to earth. Shigeru frowned. Immediately he knew that things were going to be messy.
"Asuka, we have to get going." Shigeru grabbed the girl's arm but she violent pulled herself way.
"What the Hell are you talking about? Go where?"
"Those men are not coming down to have tea with us, this is likely going to get violent. We need to leave and find someplace safe to go, until we find out what's going on." Asuka frowned and looked to the helicopters outside one last time before following Shigeru down the stairs and through the back door.
One of the helicopters screeched over the heads of the two and immediately turned around to get a better look. Not even caring to try and hide, Shigeru and Asuka bolted across the back lawn and between two buildings close together. They could hear the sound of the beating chopper blades grow louder as the vehicle was no doubt pursuing them.
Running across a dirt street and into another alley, Shigeru rammed his way through a back door and ushered Asuka inside. Asuka crouched low as she heard the helicopter hover up over them, swaying in the air, trying to see where they ran off to. Soon the sound faded and the chopper flew somewhere else. Shigeru was taking mouthfuls of air into his lungs and his head was pounding.
"Why, are they here?" Asuka gasped.
"Round up? Extermination? I have no idea. Last time I checked, the military just shot everyone in sight." Memories of the images on the NERV surveillance cameras came back. The Japanese invasion forces were vicious and heartless, killing even those who were surrendering. They did it out of fear, no doubt, but what was there to fear from a village of people? Shigeru looked at Asuka and considered that they were after the pilots again. "Dammit! Where did Shinji go?"
"He said he went for a walk... God, the idiot always has to get himself into trouble."
"If they find him..." Shigeru seethed, remember the same line coming from Misato before she ran off to save her charge. He remembered seeing her on the cameras charge headlong at three armed soldiers. She was as ferocious as a bear and Shigeru didn't want her sacrifice to be in vain. "Asuka, I'm going to find Shinji. I want you to get to the woods as fast as you can and keep running, get as far away from here as possible. Go west, Shinji and I will try and find you by morning."
"Are you insane?" Asuka cried.
"Maybe. But just stay alive, kid." Shigeru gave the redhead a faint smile and slipped through the backdoor and outside again. Asuka stood still for several seconds, hearing the lieutenant's footfalls grow faint.
"Damn them, they always leave me at the worst possible time." Asuka growled. "Please be alright Doctor Powell." Asuka stood up, counted to ten and ran out the door and out the opposite end of the alley.
Shinji pressed his back against the wall and peered from behind the building. Sweat poured from his forehead as memories of running the gauntlet through the invasion forces at NERV headquarters flooded his mind. No shots had been fired here, but the soldiers were aggressively fanning out and barking orders in a language that Shinji didn't understand.
Shinji didn't understand what was going on, all he knew was that things would probably get worse before they got any better. He decide not to linger any longer and ran towards Doctor Powell's house. He needed to make sure that Shigeru and Asuka were okay.
Turning a corner in the street, Shinji skidded to a halt, kicking up dust, as a pair of the soldiers rounded the opposite corner and spotted him. They yelled out, but Shinji immediately spun around and ran, ducking into another alleyway. He could hear the two men give chase and Shinji pumped his legs even hard down the corridor.
Snapping around another corner, Shinji slammed into a chain link fence and without so much as a moment to think about it, he gripped the metal mesh and started clambering up and over. He could feel the healing cuts on his hand tear open again and his mind screeched with pain, but the thundering of his heart and the fear of being caught by the mysterious soldiers propelled him onwards. Swinging over the other side, Shinji landed on the hard packed dirt and winced as the impact strained his joints. Again, his body went into autopilot and he charged forward, hearing the soldiers roaring at him as they tried to negotiate the barrier.
The boy's legs burned as he continued his sprint down the streets and through the alleyways. Praying that he would be able to get away from this nightmare. The pain from his body and the noise of adrenaline rushing through him caused the figure to remain undetected as Shinji plowed into him and could feel the person grab his shoulders. Shinji tried to shove the clinging soldier away and yelled out.
"Hey! Shinji, stop it!" Shinji froze and looked up to see a grim Shigeru looking down at him. "I'm not a soldier. So cool it." The boy was dumbfounded for several more seconds before the rumble of one of the helicopters signaled it's approach. The lieutenant cursed and dragged Shinji into an alleyway as the metal bird passed over them.
"Where's Asuka?" Shinji mumbled.
"I told her to make for the edge of town when I went to find you. Hopefully, she's found a hiding place. Now we just have to get out here." Shigeru poked his head out and looked around. "Clear. Let's go." The lieutenant lead the way and Shinji cautiously followed.
Coming down one road, it only took a short time before the pair could see the tree line below a steep drop. Shinji looked down the slope and looked at the older man, pleading with him that they didn't have to go down the drop. Shigeru looked around, trying to see a place where the decline wasn't as severe. His survey was cut short as he heard voices behind them and approaching. Shinji's pursuers were now followed by two more troops and they were approaching quickly.
"Get going." Shigeru murmured.
"No, I don't want to leave you here."
"You stupid kid." Shigeru grabbed Shinji's shirt and shoved him towards the drop, the boy stumbled, fell, and tumbled down the hill. A pang of worry struck Shigeru wondering if he did the right thing, but being safe and hurt was a lot better than getting caught. Shigeru faced the soldiers and raised his hands as they brandished their guns at him. One immediately looked down the hill to see a disoriented Shinji stumbled away from the bottom and towards the trees. The soldier was reached for a microphone receiver on his wrist but before he could say anything, Shigeru dropped his armed and threw a hook at the man.
The moment the punch connected, two of the other men grabbed the lieutenant's arms and the stock of a rifle struck the back of Shigeru's head. Falling into darkness was starting to become familiar for the young man.
The struck soldier nursed the swelling bruise on his jaw and looked from the fallen man to the boy running for the woods. The child was long since gone and the trooper growled in frustration.
Shinji had no idea how long he had been out in the woods, but nightfall had finally arrived and the soldier's flares no longer lit the night sky. They had given up their search for him. With that happy thought, Shinji leaned against a tree trunk and gave a long, drawn out sigh and stared up at the branches and the stars above.
He wasn't able to find Asuka, and after getting to the bottom of the bluff, he had lost track of his friend. No doubt the soldiers got to him. Shinji closed his eyes, no doubt he was dead now too. It felt like the prelude to Third Impact all over again. Everyone that Shinji knew was slowly being killed off at an excruciating pace and he had no control over it.
The meager starlight allowed Shinji to see in the faint darkness and he stared down at his right hand and flexed it. He always did so when he was stressed, but it felts as though the nerves were finally burned out, dead from overuse. The cuts had finally clotted after staining the new dressings. Shinji just stared at his palm in the darkness. The sound of a twig snapping caused Shinji to immediately spin to his left and look to see where the noise had come from. Shinji's breath caught in his throat and his eyes darted over the numerous shadowy shapes, trying to pick out the stalker.
Cold fingers grasped his shoulder and another set over his lips before he could cry out. Fear overtook Shinji again and his tried to break free.
"Stop making so much noise, idiot." Asuka hissed. Shinji froze for a minute and twisted his way out the girl's grip and snapped around.
"Asuka! You-" Asuka motioned him to be quiet and immediately Shinji stopped rambling. Under most circumstances, she would simply yell louder in order to make him stop, however this change helped to make it clear just how dire the situation was.
"Where's Shigeru?" Asuka whispered. Shinji looked away.
"They got him."
"You're useless." The girl grumbled and looked away. There was a long pause and Shinji simply stared down at the ground.
"What do we do now?" He murmured. Asuka stared at him for several seconds before closing her eyes.
"There's no way we can help those already found. They're probably dead now."
"Don't say that." Shinji said in a whining voice.
"I'm being realistic, stupid. Whatever the reason that those soldiers showed
up, it wasn't just to fly down and tell us that we need to follow the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City." Shinji frowned, he had never heard that expression before and began considering that the stress of the scenario was started to affect her mentally. Asuka immediately detected it and looked away. "Never mind." Shinji looked back down at his feet again until he heard Asuka walking away.
"Wait, Asuka, where are you going?" Asuka stopped and looked over her shoulder.
"I saw the helicopters leave and fly north. The town is deserted. We need to get our stuff and continue on to Vienna. It's the only place we know to go." After a few moments of reluctance, Shinji followed after Asuka. They stopped as they heard a low rumble in the sky. At first Shinji thought it was the helicopters again, but this one was longer and lower. He spotted Asuka looking skyward and he followed her gaze and a large black, triangular shape fly high in the sky, red and white running lights defining it's shape. Just as soon as it was there, it was gone again.
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes
This was probably the most difficult chapter to write and by far my worst. This is also the first real action scene I have ever wrote and I don't really like it. However, I am quite satisfied that it has delivered all of the plot elements I wanted to introduce including the short lived original character, Doctor Powell. There really isn't that much else to say. Sorry for those who might not like the fact that it's so short.