Sabredancing with the dead Ch 17
Tokonosu, April 19 20xx
Day 6.
1345
The trouble started almost immediately on their return to the compound. The body of the dead man had been recovered and brought back with them. Wolf wasn't sure why they did it this time, as they had left Dave Cross back at the JSDF base when he'd been killed by the critter. No matter the reason, the man who died had had a wife who lost it and started screaming as soon as she saw her husband's body. Several people gathered around her, trying to comfort her, including Fujiko and Kat. They slowly led the poor woman into the clubhouse, wailing for her husband.
Yamato tore into the command group as soon as he saw the body being unloaded from the APC. Blaming all of them once again for losing a life unnecessarily by going out of the compound, instead of waiting on the "Government" to take control and rescue them. (The fact that they had been short of water and food, and needed this and other materials to survive completely eluded him, as did the fact that the Government forces were pinned down just as badly as they were). Saburo and Wolf basically ignored him while Shinji muttered under his breath, clenching and unclenching his fists in an effort not to beat the living snot out of the idiot.
The family they had brought back with them stood off to one side while the father hung his head in shame for killing the woman's husband. Kirito clung once again to his mother, fearful of the anger being expressed towards them. As word spread of the events which occurred, several more people sent them evil looks, muttering amongst themselves. Others, while understanding the family's fear of being further attacked by the punks, could not hold them responsible. They accepted that it was a tragic accident. Sometimes, shit happens.
Several of them went up to the family to show them that they did not hold the father responsible, and felt no ill will towards the newcomers. As the animosity towards the family seemed to escalate (in part because of that asshat Yamatos' bitching) those people then went to confront the ones loudly seeking to pin the blame on Mr. Sakurazaki and his son. They argued that it was self-defense, given the previous incidents with the punk group, and a stated threat to return. To be certain the punks might not have come back, given the losses they took on their second visit to the warehouse. But who could say that they couldn't find arms and try again? It was after all a valuable location with food and shelter for many.
As the argument continued back and forth between the two groups, Saburo sought out and quietly spoke to another member of the original group, whom he had discovered to be a lawyer in conversation during meal times. Civil lawyer to be sure but a lawyer none the less. After a hurried discussion, he climbed up on a table and hollered for everyone to shut up and be quiet. Once that was accomplished, he started to speak.
"Listen up people. I've just had a conversation with Ms. Sarazawa. She happens to be a practicing lawyer and has expressed complete confidence that, given the circumstances we are living under, a court would find this to be a sad case of death by misadventure and self-defense on the part of Mr. Sakurazaki. As of right now, this argument and any further intimidation of Mr. Sakurazaki's family will come to a complete halt. Do I make myself clear? We don't have time for this crap. They are survivors, just as we are." He told them.
One of the people at the back of the group, who Wolf had not yet met, spoke up and demanded proof that the lady was indeed a lawyer and that this wasn't just the pilots' way of defusing the situation. At this point, the young lady in question (looking pretty pissed) climbed up on the table with Saburo and spoke.
"How would you like to take a stroll a few blocks over and a dozen or so up to the core of Tokonosu and see for yourself? My office is there if you have the balls to go and see. Better still, how about I beat you over the head with my briefcase full of legal documents which I managed to keep my hands on while running for my life? You certainly have a lot of gall accusing me of being a liar." She said as she looked each of them up and down. "On second thought, maybe I should just nail my business card to your forehead. That might convince you." She then put her hands on her hips and glared at everyone, daring them to say one more word. No one did.
The Air Force Captain then told them all to get moving and help unload the supplies and get them into the club house. Some of the things might end up being put into one of the boat storage sheds if they needed more space and would require that much more work. It was time to get things done, so stop bitching and let's get to it.
While he was doing that, Wolf walked over to Eriko and asked her to dig a grave in the good ground but away from where they'd washed the critter slime into the pit. She suggested that he should go to see what the widow would like done with the body. "We have different customs here with regard to arrangements such as these, Wolf San. I wouldn't want to waste the fuel digging a pit we won't need."
"Damn, I should have thought of that before I asked you. Thank you for telling me that. I'll go see the woman and ask." He replied as he turned towards the clubhouse. He met Kat coming out of the front door, and stopped.
"How is she doing?" He asked.
"She just lost her husband in the middle of a friggin' zombie apocalypse and now she's all alone with a bunch of strangers. How do you THINK she is doing? Fujiko just put a couple of glasses of whiskey down her throat, and she's not screaming anymore. She's going to take the poor lady down to their boat, and keep watch over her for the time being. Elaine is checking through our medical supplies to see if we scavenged any tranquilizers but other than that, we can't do a damned thing for her!' She said, glaring at him.
"Jesus, why are you mad at me?" He asked, already knowing the answer to that one.
"Because it could have been you, Wolf!" Kat heatedly replied as she stepped towards him and started to beat him on the chest with her fists. He reached out and pulled her towards himself and wrapped his arms around her as she burst into tears. She buried her face in his neck. "You could have been killed too, and I'd be the one losing it right now!"
Wolf just held her. There wasn't much he could say to make this any better. This was just the screwed up mess they had to deal with, no matter how hard it was. He slowly rubbed up and down her back, whispering to her that it would be OK, that they'd be OK. Eventually she stopped sniffling, and stepped back from him.
"Goddamit Wolf, every time you guys go out there, my guts twist up thinking this may be the trip you don't come back from." She told him quietly and paused.
"I only just got you back into my life. I don't' want to lose you now!" She whispered.
He stepped forward and again took her in his arms. "Kat, I don't want to lose you either, but what else can we do? We have to keep going out to gather supplies or we just won't make it. You know we all agreed at that first meeting that it would be everyone pitching in, no one would be sitting on their butts doing nothing. Even that dipshit Yamato has turned to, even if he does bitch a blue streak."
"Why do you have to go out there with them? You're a lot older than most of them and not even trained for it. Let Saburo and Shinji take the younger guys with them. They have the military experience and so do some of the others. You don't." She pleaded with him.
"Yeah, you are right Kat. I don't have any military experience but you know how much I've read and studied all things military or survival related. Hell, Neil and I were Doomers for years and used to game out scenarios like this. All of that old knowledge is surfacing now from the dusty corridors of my mind. I might shit my pants in a firefight but I don't panic very easily, and I think I can walk the walk if I have to. Our survival now depends on it." He spoke quietly while stroking her hair.
"But knowing you are here safe and waiting, makes it easier for me. I don't have to worry about you if you are here behind these walls helping to run things. Besides, your organizational skills are better than mine by a long shot. They always were. So you run this show, and I'll go out on the pointy end to keep us in groceries. I promise I'll be as careful as I can. But if we don't survive in this hell hole, it sure won't be for a lack of tryin'." Wolf told her quietly.
Kat clung to him for a few moments more, not saying anything. Finally, she let him go and stepped back. "I hate it when you go all logical on me. I can't fight that with emotions. You are right, we can't do other than what we're doing now. And that isn't going to change for the foreseeable future. But it still scares me to see you head out that gate every time, and it always will but I'll just have to learn to live with that" She wiped her eyes. "Now I'm going back inside to see how the widow is doing and get an inventory going. The truck is almost unloaded, and I need to see what you all brought back this time."
"Alright Kat, I'm going to get with Mr Sakurazaki and his family and see about getting them settled aboard that cruiser in slip 27." He pointed at a large 45 foot long white cabin cruiser with a flying bridge. It was the biggest in the club. "The work crew got the critters out of that one yesterday, and the boat is plenty big enough for 4 adults and a kid." He paused for a bit. "Oh and could you please ask Mrs. Ukita what she would like to do with Tadaharu's body. You know, any special arrangements to be taken care of? I'm no good at that sort of stuff.
"Either I or Fujiko will speak to her about that in a while." She told him as she hugged him once more. Stepping back after the embrace, he turned back to where the crew was dealing with the unloading of the transport. Mr Sakurazaki and his son had both joined in the effort after a few moments of standing there alone after Ms Sarazawa had finished ripping a strip off of the crowd. Mrs Sakurazaki, Fuki Matsuda and Kirito were also in good hands at the moment as several of the other women had come over to show them around and make them feel welcome. Kirito appeared much more relaxed as he no longer hid behind his mother or Fuki.
When he got to the back end of the trailer, he saw that the unloading was just about completed and people were breaking off to head for other chores. He waved Shinji over and both of the Sakurazakis. When they had gathered, he asked Shinji to tell them to follow him to where they would be living. Shinji translated that and answered some questions as the 4 of them walked along the breakwater to slip 27.
Wanting to clear out the last of the critters, and given the possibility of more people coming into the compound, Saburo had had work parties clear all the boats in the slips of any critters that were still aboard, and mop up the blood if any. He himself had taken down most of the critters left, hacking their heads off with the katana Wolf had given him. The cleaned up boats now would serve as readymade living quarters for any people who joined their little community. The work parties had also gone over the various boats as they cleaned them up to see if any would run, and several of them would fire up their diesel engines. These would come in handy when it came time to join up with the other group at the ship yards.
The two men were unsure of what was happening as Shinji explained to them that this was their new home. At first they were incredulous, but as he climbed up on deck and waved them aboard, they looked at each other, shook their heads and climbed aboard, with Wolf behind them. Giving them the nickel tour, Wolf explained (with Shinji translating as needed) that there was enough room for all of them, and with 2 cabins and a large living area, they could make whatever arrangements they needed to get back to a semblance of living. He pointed out the various cabinets with bed linens, closets with some clothes and the galley with everything they needed to cook aboard if they needed to, but did remind them that the community used a dining hall approach for meals.
Mr Sakurazaki just about fell over himself thanking the two men, bowing constantly, his son also thanking them profusely. That done with, Wolf asked them in halting Japanese to follow him. Stepping back onto the dock he led them to the club house and showed them around. One of the things they had worked out was a bulletin board arrangement with various tasks that needed doing. This was pointed out as a method of dividing up the work. Stepping past the board, they walked down a hall in the back to the club offices, and arrived at a desk with Yamato seated behind it, various note books arranged on the table before him. Shinji introduced the formally newcomers, and he proceeded to ask them questions about skills and education that they had, incorporating that into a master listing. He also asked the two men if they could bring by the wife and girlfriend so he could find out what skills they might have.
Here even Wolf had to shake his head in amazement. This set up was entirely Yamato's doing. As annoying as he was, the guy had a good head for bureaucracy. It had taken him a couple of days of doing grunt work before he decided to go with the flow, and to do what he was trained to do, which was manage things. That decided, he sat down a couple of nights after the great critter munch, and started putting together an organizational table, made up lists of skills they needed, and got started on questioning everyone in the compound as to their abilities. He questioned both Shinji and Saburo as to what they figured they needed to keep going and managed to put together a working community. He didn't ask Wolf a damn thing, but just about everyone else contributed to the skills listing and list of tasks that needed doing to keep the community afloat. He'd even spoken nicely to Kat about the kitchen and food preparations, wanting to know what she needed to make it work better.
Wolf and Shinji left the two of them talking with Yamato, and headed back out to the compound. The sun was about an hour from setting, and dinner would be announced in a few minutes. They just had enough time to check out the materials being stored in the boat shed, and then wash up for dinner.
Dinner was once again a somber occasion. Tadaharu Ukita had been well liked by the small community, and his loss was greatly felt by all. His widow was out on their boat asleep, being watched over by Elaine and Fujiko by turns. The Sakurazaki family sat near Wolf and Wally' table, still looking a little tense but it appeared that Saburo and Ms Sarazawa had pretty much put an end to any blame the others might still feel toward them. Once again, after the meal Shinji looked around the room, and hoisted his drink. He spoke in Japanese and then repeated it in English. This time Wolf understood it right off.
"Fuzai no nakama...Absent Companions."