Ch. 4: The Sun Also Rises

Three days later, the sun is rising from the horizon and it's a six in the morning. The smog feels the same as before and people are in a rat race to get through their lives. Inside the underground room, Arturo is sleeping in front of his computer and drooling over police, diplomatic, and military files. The alarm clock next to Arturo rings, which prompts him to wake up from his slumber. He slams the clock to turn off the alarm, wipes off the crust from his eyes and stands up looking over the street in front of him. He looks to his left at the clock: it was 6:13. Thirteen minutes to prepare for the day, Arturo stretches and climbs up the ladder to wake Makimura up. "Señora Makimura, wake up," Arturo calls out.

He sees her sitting in a chair overlooking the courtyard. She is smoking a cigarette and is smiling. "Hey Arturo."

"Hey, you ready to go?"

"Yeah," she smiles at me, "I can't wait to meet my friends and family again."

"I bet you're excited. Here," Arturo throws her the car keys, "You're driving behind me, got it?"

"Got it."

"Good. We cannot fit everyone into one van. So we're driving separately but please follow me behind me," he claps his hands, "I'll go make myself some tea. You want some?"

"No thanks. I'll wait in the van."

"Ok. See you soon."

Arturo leaves her room and head off to the kitchen. He finds an electric kettle and plugs it to the wall. He then poured water and boiled it in an electric kettle and found some black tea pouches in the cupboard. The water boils furiously and the "ting" sound was made. He pours the hot water into my portable water, dumped the tea pouch inside, closed the bottle, and shook the bottle. Arturo then grabs my keys and head off outside to my van. He sees her waiting in the van next to his and he gets into the van. He starts the engine; she starts later. He switches into gear and drives off to the airport. Arturo looks at an unfortunate scene beside the van. A soldier on a motorcycle pulls a car over, goes up to the driver, and drags out a woman from the car. The solider is grabbing the woman's hair before slamming her to the ground. She is begging for mercy but the solider shoots her, execution style. The soldier screams out, "¡Come mierda, demonio!" (Eat shit, demon!) The soldier goes into his motorcycle and drives away. Every driver around him was worried, including him. Arturo grabs the walkie-talkie next to the cup holder and talked to it, "Hey, do you pick up? Over."

"Yes I do. Over"

"Good. It still works. Anyway, follow my lead. Let's not make any scenes from now on."

She looks at the dead woman on the side of her car, "Does this happen if things get serious? How do you cope with this?"

I replied, "Yes when they do get serious. There's a no coping mechanism if you live here. You get numb and get used to it," he said, "After that incident at the airport, the government is ramping up to protect itself. What made this worse is that before you arrived, there were reports of demons popping up all around the city. Everybody here is treated like a suspect, which means that it's up to the enforcer's discretion. Let's not end up like her. Over"

"Sí. Over."

"Ok let's go. Over"

Arturo puts down the walkie-talkie and within forty minutes, they arrive at the airport. I pull over to the curb first and then she follows as well. She looks out at the window and a family comes out of the arrivals. She swells up in tears and comes out of the van. She runs towards them, "Mom, Dad, and Taro. Is that you?"

"Yes sweetie," her mom said, "We miss you so much dearly. Taro-san," she calls out to Taro, "say hello to your sister."

Taro comes out to hug her, "Onee-chan, I miss you so much."

"Me too," Makimura said and she remembered something, "Guys, meet my new friend, Arturo-san."
He tries to brush up his Japanese, "Konnichiwa, Mexico City e yokoso." (Hello and welcome to Mexico City.)

Her father replied to him in English, "Thanks and your Japanese is quite good. Where did you learn it?"

"I learned it from anime and manga."

"Good for you. And I like to say thank you for protecting my daughter from earlier."

Her mom and Taro said thanks to me before heading off to Makimura.

"No worries. By the way, she'll be the one driving to your safehouse. She knows the way." Her father nodded at me and Makimura directs her family to the van they'll be riding on. She helps them board and put their luggages away. I went back to my car and I saw a toned man with a black shirt on and in darker shade. His hair was messy but he didn't seem to care. Next to him was a family: a mom and a dad. I think that's him. Makimura calls out, "Akira-kun! Come here!"

Arturo was right. He went up to him and his family. He placed his hand on Akira's shoulder and said to him, "Señor, are you Akir-." Before Arturo was able to finish his sentence, someone behind him grabbed his arm and put him in a chokehold. She was a beautiful redhead with a long ponytail, wore an Adidas running jacket, looked tomboyish, and, like Akira, her skin has a darker shade. She was strong and he, in a weird sense, liked it. "Makimura, help me," said while Arturo was choking on his breath.

"Kuroda-san, let him go! He's a friend."

She immediately lets go of Arturo and Arturo gasped for air and pointed at Kuroda, "What the hell was that?"

"I thought you were threatening him."

"No I was not! Anyway, I forgive you and I bet your name is Kuroda, right?"

"Yes."

"Ok. You, Akira and his family are riding with me."

"What?" Kuroda screamed at him. Makimura jumps in the conversation, "Come on Kuroda-san, and just go with him. He already forgave you. Besides, he's our only help here."

She looks at me with suspicion, "Fine but I don't trust you."

"Say what you want about me, but I'm still here," Arturo said back at her, "The sun also rises so deal with it."

While Kuroda and Makimura are talking to each other, Arturo goes up to Akira and his family, "Hey, sorry about what happened there. My name's Arturo."

"Akira Fudo. Thank you for helping my girlfriend."

His mom and dad came up to him to give him thanks. "Thank you so much for helping my son and us. I hope we can be good friends," his mother said.

"I hope so as well, Mrs. Fudo."

I help them with their luggages and Akira helps his and Kuroda's luggages. Akira and I put the luggages in the back and I close the trunk. "You ride shotgun," I said to him. We got into the car and waited for everyone to settle in. I grabbed my walkie-talkie, "Makimura, you ready? Over."

"Yes I am. Over."

They left the airport without incident. Meanwhile, a police car watches the two vans. Inside, an airport police officer looks at the vans with his binoculars. He radios in, "This is SAT 8, request backup?"

"No," Asuka said in his white Bentley, "Tell the others to follow them."

"Copy," the officer said before driving away. Asuka drops his walkie-talkie and smiles to himself, "I found

you Akira. Where are you going?" He chuckles before telling the driver, "When the red dots appear, follow them."

"Understood."

He laughs quietly, "Oh Akira, you thought going to Mexico would save you and your friends and family? I'll meet your friend soon once we find you." The white Bentley drove through the traffic into the morning sunrise.