DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY DEAD OR ALIVE CHARACTER. THOSE CHARACTERS BELONG TO TECMO, LTD. AND TEAM NINJA. I AM IN NO WAY INTENDING ANY COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT AND I'M NOT MAKING A PROFIT FROM THE USE OF THESE CHARACTERS. ANY CHARACTER NOT A PART OF DEAD OR ALIVE IS MINE AND MINE ALONE.
Chapter Eight
Friday, December 16
12:24 P.M.
Myamoto's Apartment
Myamoto watched as the photos revealed themselves on the glowing computer monitor. There wasn't much to them that he hadn't noticed before. The people in the picture were definitely Shinobi. Either that, or a bunch of drunks decided to play dress-up in the middle of the woods, which was highly unlikely. He munched on a candy bar and continued to scroll through the photos.
The other pictures were of various people and kids just taking a walk or talking on the forest trails. Nothing to get excited about. It must have been part of the identification chart he had decrypted earlier. There weren't any outstanding landmarks, but it didn't matter anyway. He had proof!
Myamoto picked up the phone and dialed Jack's number. After a few rings, he answered. "Hello?" He sounded irritated.
"Jack I've finished the photos and I was right. They are Shinobi! It's awesome!"
"Great, now do you think you could find out where it was taken?" Jack asked.
There was a loud crash at the other end of the line.
"Ouch! Damn pothole!" Jack yelled angrily.
"Where are you?"
"Um...out for a walk."
"Come on, Jack. If you're going to lie, at least do it right. It's pouring outside. Even the animals aren't outside today. At least not the smart ones."
Jack sighed. "You caught me. I'm at the old paper refinery. Can you find out where the photo was taken, or not?"
"No, there isn't anything distinct about any of the pictures."
"This day cannot get any worse."
"What are you doing at the refinery?" Myamoto asked. "Is that where she is?"
"No, unfortunately. But it's close to where she was living."
Myamoto was confused. "So why are you there?"
He heard Jack yell at someone or something on the other end of the line. "I can't really talk right now, man. Thanks for the update and
call back if you find anything new."
Then Jack hung up the phone.
That was odd. Myamoto turned back to his computer and proceeded to look at all the pictures. There was one picture that stood out from the crowd. It was a picture of a man with a bow and arrow shooting something off screen. The area was bathed in a bright spotlight and the plants were being blown down by strong wind. Then it hit him. He was looking at the man who eliminated the Japanese elite squad.
"Someone must've been staking out the woods for a long time," he said to himself.
Some of the photos were dated to last week while this one was dated five years ago. He walked up and looked outside through the blinds at the downpour outside. He again wondered where Jack had found the disc and whether his friend was still alive. Myamoto personally thought she was probably dead. If the shinobi took her, they would have killed her. They don't take any prisoners. But he just couldn't get the nerve to tell Jack this. Besides, if he knew anything about Jack, he knew that he wouldn't give up 'til he found a body. Myamoto walked back to his computer and began running the photos through a filter he had made, to test their authenticity.
Friday, December 16
12:32 P.M.
Burnt Refinery Ruins
Jack walked towards the back of the room he assumed to be the lobby. The elevator on the left side of the scorched desk indicated that this place had three stories above ground and two basement levels. He decided that they should stick together in case something collapsed and help was needed. Jack had already fallen into a large pothole near the entrance when they walked in.
Jack pointed at the elevator with his flashlight. "Do you think it still works?"
Hayabusa shook his head. "Don't be an idiot. Where are the stairs to this place.?"
"You're asking the wrong guy. You know as much about this place as I do," Jack said.
Jack walked over to a big metal door and examined the half melted sticker carefully. "'--ency use only.' What do you want to bet that this is the emergency stairwell?" Jack asked Hayabusa.
"I don't bet. Open the door." Hayabusa replied from the opposite side of the room.
Jack smashed his shoulder into the door knocking it out of the rusty hinges. The stairwell was there as he had predicted, but it only went up.
"What was wrong with the handle?" Hayabusa asked as he approached Jack.
"Nothing, I just always wanted to do that. Why do you think the emergency exit only goes up and not into the basement?"
"I don't know. Maybe all that's down there is a storage area and they didn't need an exit." Hayabusa said.
Jack shook his head. "I still think it's a little odd."
Jack started walking up the stairs and stooped at the second floor. This door was worse than the one on the first level. He raised his boot and kicked as hard as he could, again derailing the door from its hinges.
Jack looked at Hayabusa. "That one was broken."
The second floor consisted of many old machines, tanks, and conveyer belts. The floor ended abruptly at the far end of the building, where the collapsed part began. There didn't seem to be any evidence of someone occupying the area, like he had hoped.
"There's nothing here. Let's check upstairs." Jack said.
The third floor's door actually worked. Jack opened it and stepped though onto the scorched tile floor. This level seemed to be the area where the owners' offices and break rooms were located. There were several old vending machines and an old broken television. Jack walked up to one of the candy bar machines.
"Want one?" he asked Hayabusa. "I have enough change for two."
"You honestly don't believe that those still work do you?" Hayabusa asked.
Jack grinned and turned back to the machine. He raised his flashlight and shattered the glass front. Then he reached in and retrieved a package of gum and waved it at Hayabusa.
Hayabusa merely shook his head and walked towards the nearest office. Jack was starting to get on his nerves. He illuminated the office in the bright glow of his flashlight.
"Jack, take a look at this," Hayabusa said.
Jack walked over to the office doorway and pocketed his new pack of gum. "What is that?"
"I was hoping you could answer the same question." Hayabusa said grimly.
Friday, December 16
12:45 P.M.
Organization Compound 21
Shark grinned as Smith left the room. His plan had worked.
"Like fish in a bucket," he muttered as he turned to follow him upstairs.
Smith turned and faced him as soon as they reached the top of the stairs.
"Great work! You'll get your money as soon as the girl has been killed." Smith said.
"Why do you want to kill her? She told you what you wanted. Let her leave."
Smith never stopped grinning. "Because she didn't tell me right away. I don't like defiance. Plus she could identify me, if I'm ever caught. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some Shinobi to hunt."
Smith turned and quickly walked outside towards his old brown truck, in the middle of the storm. Shark waited until he was sure Smith was gone before running downstairs. This was going to end now, once and for all.
Kasumi looked up as Shark walked back into the room. She noticed that he was different somehow. Like a new person.
"Why did you want me to lie. It won't make a difference. He'll just be even more angry and want to kill me himself. Why delay the inevitable?"
Shark never answered her questions as he treated her many extensive abrasions and bruises. He tugged the cover off of his cart and began to shred it into strips with the fearsome dagger he had used earlier. As he reached for a small bottle of rubbing alcohol, he glanced at his watch.
"This is going to burn, but I need to dress these gashes if you're going anywhere."
Kasumi was puzzled, but grateful. "I can handle it."
Shark had absolutely no doubt of that. He used one of the pieces of cloth and soaked it the alcohol. Then he cleaned away the dried blood that had gathered over her skin. She tensed up, but didn't make a sound as he cleaned out the open cuts. Any recovery her torn muscles may have had was reversed by the electricity, but she would have to move someday.
As Shark used the rest of the ripped cover to wrap up her more serious injuries, he realized that Kasumi was in far worse shape than he had initially realized. There were only enough bandages to dress the serious gashes on her waist and her upper thigh. She would just have to be careful about the others. The stab wounds from the electric spikes weren't deep enough to worry about, so he basically ignored them. He finished and left the room to get the keys that would unlock Kasumi's cuffs. He was going to have to hurry, for he knew Smith wouldn't be gone for more than an hour and a half. But that wasn't a problem. This decision would cost him, but he no longer cared about Smith's ill-gotten money.
As he returned to the cold room, he took the keys he had retrieved from upstairs and released Kasumi's hands and ankles from the cuffs on the table. Then he carefully picked her up, making sure not to jar her around, and set her down in the chair he had been using earlier. Shark looked down at the empty, blood stained table and sighed. Most of her tattered skirt and T-shirt was in a bloody mess on the surface of the table.
Did I really do that to her? Was it that bad?
Shark shook his head and turned his attention back to Kasumi, who was struggling to get out of the collapsible lawn chair. It then became abundantly clear to him that she wasn't going to make it back to town safely on her own. But escorting her back wasn't a risk he was about to take. All he was going to do was free her. After all, she was Shinobi, and if anyone could make it, she could.
Kasumi stood up slowly, feeling the full agony of her bruised and torn muscles, but she kept silent, suppressing her tears. However, as soon as she put any weight on the hip that was thrashed by Smith, she collapsed to the cold hard floor in a pitiful weeping heap. After she had fallen twice, Shark helped her up and set her back down in the chair.
"Wait here. I'll be back."
"Why are you doing this? He'll kill you," Kasumi wondered. "He'll kill us both."
Shark simply grinned. "Ifhe can find us."
He left the room and walked upstairs. What was left of her clothes was not going to keep her from freezing to death out in the woods, so she obviously needed protection. Food and water wouldn't be a bad idea either. He quickly slammed together a sandwich and filled a large glass of water, then he returned to where Kasumi was waiting.
Kasumi eagerly took the food from Shark's hand and devoured it like a starving animal. After she had finished, he handed her the glass of water. She needed something warm to get her home, and he instantly remembered the heavy wool blanket he had used to cover her up earlier.
Kasumi put down the empty glass and watched with piqued curiosity as Shark rummaged through the bare cart. Finally, he retrieved a thick brown blanket and handed it to her.
"Don't lose this. Your survival depends on it."
She responded with a slow nod, taking the warm cover and tightly wrapping it around her shivering body, instantly feeling much better. Then she again tried to stand up, this time using the back of the metal chair for support. She didn't fall, but she was barely able to stand the pain shooting through her right leg. Kasumi gasped and took a careful step towards the door with her good leg, putting even more stress on her hip. Then she dragged her other leg away from the chair, and as soon as she did, crashed to the ground once again, almost losing hope of escape.
Shark shook his head and helped her to her feet, letting her lean on him as they made their way down the long gray hall, hearing the thunder roar outside. When they arrived at the flight of stairs, she tripped and landed on her side, letting out a sharp cry as she hit the concrete floor. Shark reluctantly stooped down and picked her up, knowing that she would probably never make it to town alive. He carried her up the stairs and set her down by the front door of the inner building.
"This is as far as I'm going to help you. I wish you luck. You're going to need it."
"But I still need help," Kasumi said with a worry clearly showing in her eyes. "I won't be able to get anywhere like this."
"If I don't leave now Smith will return and find you gone, and guess who he'll come after? Me, not you. I've got to get out of here, and you should do the same. If you stay too close, he'll take out his anger on you. You can handle things on your own, I'm sure."
With those words Shark stepped outside and ran through the double doors of the bigger structure. leaving her alone in the larger empty building. She looked up at the tin roof of the structure housing the smaller facility she had just exited, hearing the rain pound loudly against the thin metal. She guessed it was some kind of old storage facility or maintenance building, and it looked as though it hadn't been used in years. It was then that she realized that she was utterly lost, and had absolutely no idea where to go, or which direction to take to get back to town, if she was even near town.
She sadly limped towards the doors Shark had just used, and fell several times before she finally made it through the exit.
Friday, December 16
1:10 P.M.
Burnt Refinery Ruins
Jack and Hayabusa stared at the small device lying on the scorched tile floor of the ruined office, both feeling very uneasy about their current situation.
Hayabusa was completely calm. "It looks like some sort of explosive."
"Really, I hadn't noticed," Jack said sarcastically.
"Well, can you deactivate it?" Hayabusa's patience was wearing thin.
"Do I look like I know how to deactivate it?!"
"I don't have time for this. Can you take it out or not?"
Jack popped his knuckles. "Sure."
Hayabusa noticed that Jack didn't sound too confident, but he kept silent. The device was sitting underneath a small shattered window. Jack knelt down and took a closer look at the bomb, praying that it would be simple to shut down. The timer had activated itself when Hayabusa stepped into the room, telling him that it was triggered by motion, which really didn't say anything useful about the bomb itself. The explosives looked like C-4, but he wasn't sure. The timer read twenty-three seconds. Jack looked down at the small device and made a hasty decision. He grabbed the bomb and threw it out the window as hard as he could sending it flying into the dense woods behind the refinery. Luckily, it didn't go off.
For once Hayabusa wore an angry expression.
"So he does show emotion. You know, I was beginning to think you were a robot," Jack commented.
Hayabusa glared at Jack. "You nearly killed us! I thought you said you could disarm the device."
"You asked if I could take it out, not if I could disarm it," Jack replied casually.
Hayabusa crossed his arms and walked to the door, again regaining his calm. "Come on. We found what we were looking for."
"Not exactly. All we found was a motion sensitive bomb and some severed vines. Not proof that someone had been watching the garage."
"What more do you need?" Hayabusa asked.
Jack shrugged. "I don't know, but this doesn't give us any useful information."
Just as he finished his sentence, Jack heard the loud boom as the bomb exploded shaking the already fragile building to its foundation. Fortunately, it didn't collapse. Whoever built this place, knew what he was doing, he thought as he stood up.
Hayabusa followed Jack back downstairs. The bomb had given them evidence of someone being here, but they still had nothing to lead them to Kasumi, or who exactly was watching her.
Suddenly Jack's phone rang.
"Hello?" he asked into the receiver.
"Hey, Jack, I think I've found an address. I was going through a photo filter to make sure the photos weren't fake and I found something. If you separate the photos into two layers, you can see some writing in the corner. It looks like a transmission log of some sort. I've traced the frequency that was listed on the picture and it looks like the transmissions were being broadcast to somewhere in the woods right outside of town." Myamoto said.
"Did you find out if there was anything at the coordinates?" Jack asked quickly.
Myamoto paused. "Not exactly. I said I traced it to somewhere in the woods. My trace was blocked before I could get an exact location. Sorry."
"Okay, what's the nearest estimate?" Jack asked.
"As far as I can calculate, it could be anywhere in the big park on the edge of town. There's rumors that there's an intricate series of tunnels underneath the ground there. It would be a perfect hideout, but no one has ever found any entrances."
"Then what makes people believe there's tunnels?" Jack asked.
"Well, I used to wonder the same thing until I asked one of my friends to check it out. He has one of those ground penetrating sonar things. Anyway, the readings showed huge empty spots underground, but they were too organized and square to be caves. We spent all day trying to find an entrance. We even crawled into a storm drain, but we never found anything."
"Thanks. I'll go check it out. Keep looking and see if you can find anything new."
"You don't have to tell me again. I know how important this is."
Jack hung up the phone and looked at Hayabusa.
"I think we have something to go on," Jack said with a grin.
"What do you know?"
Jack walked towards the front door. "I'll tell you on the way, but we have to leave now."
Friday, December 16
1:15 P.M.
Organization Compound 21
Kasumi fell through the loose double doors and let out an exasperated sob when she found herself lying on the cold concrete floor of another long dark hallway. At the end of the hall she could make out another flight of stairs and a large brown door.
Tightening the blanket around her bloody and bruised figure, Kasumi commanded herself to struggle to her feet, and slowly made her way towards the flight of stairs. She had to hurry and get out before Smith returned, but when she tried to speed up, she collapsed from the terrible pain in her leg.
Eventually, she reached the end of the passage and managed to crawl up to the top of the stairs, one torturous step after another. When she reached the top, Kasumi hobbled through the thick steel door and walked outside into the icy rain. She was entirely unprepared for the wave of cold that greeted her. It soaked into her bones, and made her wounds ache.
She limped further into the storm and scanned her surroundings with clouded vision. It took her a while to recognize where she was and then it hit her. She was at the far end of the dense forest park where she was taken Monday night. The cold rain continued to sting her as she stumbled pitifully through the mud to the gravel path that led to town. She guessed the city was only a mere five miles away, but she doubted she would make it half that distance before succumbing to the harsh environment.
Deciding that if she were to have even a slight chance of surviving, she would need something to help her walk. Immediately, Kasumi spotted a large tree limb and made her way towards it.
By the time she reached the tree she was so worn out that she simply dropped to the ground like a sack of flour, not wanting to move ever again. But it wasn't an option to just lay there in the cold, so she dragged herself towards the broken limb and proceeded to make a walking stick. Since she had no knife to help her, it took Kasumi about an hour to break off all the unwanted twigs, leaving only the base of the limb.
Triumphantly, she used the long piece of wood to climb to her feet, making sure that the blanket was snugly draped over her. She was getting used to the piercing pain she felt in her hip, but it was much easier now that she had something to rest her weight on.
After about twenty minutes of trudging through the dense forest, the sound of a truck approaching could be clearly heard over the storm. Then she remembered Smith.
Acting purely on instinct and reflex, Kasumi tried to run and hide, but once again she fell to the wet muddy ground. She had barely managed to crawl behind a tree, before the rusty brown truck appeared on the road behind her. It was moving slowly down the path towards the tunnel entrance, like a wild lion stalking its prey. It was like Smith could sense her anxiety. She was still very close to the tunnel due to all the time she spent making her cane.
Then she was filled with fear as Smith's angry voiced echoed throughout the woods, and she knew that he had found out about her lie. Normally, she could have made it back to town in about four hours, but in her current condition Kasumi estimated she wouldn't get back until early tomorrow morning, if she got back at all.
She decided to get moving before Smith came back to look for her. She would head straight towards the thicker part of the woods and try to make it to town from there. Even though it would make her journey harder, the trees and shrubs would keep her hidden well and slightly shield her from the harsh wind and frigid rain. But she was unprotected and vulnerable now, making an easy target for the Shinobi assassins. There would be no chance for her if she was found. Kasumi slowly staggered to her feet and began the long journey back to town.
Smith was infuriated. The information Kasumi had given him was false. He had sent a group of his men to check the area out, but there was nothing there. Not even a tent, much less a secret Shinobi village. He hoped that Shark hadn't killed her yet, because he wanted to rip her apart, one piece at a time.
He stormed into the basement of the building where he was keeping the captive Shinobi girl, but when he arrived in the room, she was gone. At first he thought Shark had finished the job and disposed of the girl's remains, but when he couldn't find Shark he began to wonder. Then he noticed the bloody shoe prints on the floor. Smith ran back outside to see if there were more tracks, and sure enough he found some embedded in the mud. Shark wasn't supposed to leave the complex until the job was done and his footprints were much larger than the ones on the ground.
Now there was absolutely no doubt in Smith's mind that Shark had freed Kasumi and left. It looked like the girl had fallen many times before she made it to the woods, which proved that she was traveling alone, and not with the aid of Shark.
"At least she's going to suffer as she tries to escape," he said to himself. Then he turned to the woods. "I'll hunt you down if it's the last thing I do!" he yelled into the distance.
As he walked back inside the his underground HQ, Smith reached in his pocket and grabbed his small cell phone. The girl was going to die, and she would die today.
"Time for a slight change in plans." Smith said coldly into the receiver.
Friday, December 16
7:01 P.M.
Forest Park
Kasumi trudged on, alone and weary in the cold pouring rain, and slowly losing hope of seeing another day's light. Due to her loss of blood and shortage of food, she couldn't stay warm and became frequently dizzy, but she willed herself to continue. However, her damaged aching muscles was making any progress miserable and agonizing. The blanket wasn't doing a very good job of keeping her from freezing, but the trees of the forest were keeping the storm from making things too overwhelming. She looked at her surroundings and judged that she had traveled at least two and a half miles, which put her halfway to town.
But how long had she been wandering through the woods? It had felt like many hours since she left the prison behind, but how many hours? Three? Four? Six? There was no way to tell, since the sun was hidden behind a dense wall of clouds.
It had been dark for a long time when the clouds had finally given up on their bombardment of the area. Kasumi was so tired and her vision was dim, but when she looked up to the stars, she felt safe. Finally, she was free. All she had to do was go another two and a half miles and everything would be okay again. She wondered, not for the first time, if Jack had tried to find her, or if he had dismissed her disappearance as a reluctance to accept his help.
She prayed that he would know she didn't want to leave him, and that she appreciated his hospitality more than anything. Kasumi had often refused his help before, but now she needed it more than ever. Her life depended on it.
