Sabre dancing with the dead Ch 23

Tokonosu, April 21 20xx

Day 10.

2014

Having finished his dinner, Wolf looked around and saw that the majority of folks had finished their dinner. Wolf motion to Kat and they both stood up and walked over to the speakers spot by the bar.

"Can I have everyone's attention please? I have a couple of things I need to talk to you about. After that, I'd like talk to anyone who is able to help with this particular task." He said in English. (His Japanese just wasn't good enough for this.) With the PA system now just so much useless scrap, he made sure to speak plainly, clearly and a bit louder than normal. Kat translated it to Japanese to make sure everyone was on the same page.

At various points among the tables, people nodded.

"So far, we have been doing OK here, and we have a great bunch of people who have come together to keep us in good shape. We all work together to see that we have a decent chance to survive this disaster. But this place just isn't viable in the long term. Right now we are living on the carcass of the city. Everyone should be able to see that. Given enough time there will be no food or water anymore. Water is already a concern. So a move will be inevitable. Some place with a better set up for long term survival." He said. He paused and reached over for the glass of water he'd taken with him.

"We will have to farm, grow crops, harvest them, and process them for long term storage. We will have to raise animals, and slaughter them. We will have to preserve the meat for longer storage. And there are a whole heap of other things we will be doing in order to set up a sustainable settlement in some other place. All of this we will have to learn. Now Mr. Yamato has put together a list with everyone's abilities, but we are coming up way short on the skills we will be needing. We need books on a bunch of different subjects. We need more medical skills. That information is in the University library. We need to go there. To that end we need to set up a mission to the University so we can gather the book learning we need so that we can actually do those things we need to do in order to survive. The sooner we get started, the better our chances of success. If we delay too long, and put it off 'til we actually have to move, it will be too late." He paused while Kat translated.

A fair number of people nodded, they also understood how tenuous their grip on survival was.

Wolf continued. "OK. First thing I need to know who here has been to the University in the city? I'm looking for information about its layout, and as much detail as possible about the library building.

People looked at him, and each other. Shinji motioned for him to continue.

Everyone had been wondering what he'd been struggling to figure out, now they knew.

"So, How many of you have been there and remember the layout?"

More than 20 people put up their hands. At this, Wolf smiled and said "Great… I'd like you to meet with me, one or two at a time, in the morning and we'll get started on mapping out the campus… That's about it for now. Thanks for listening"

The people who had raised their hands nodded. The dinner crowd started to break up, and Kat waved to the students from Fujimi Academy and asked them to hang on for a moment.

She went to their table and waved for Rei to come join them. (Rei had sat off by herself, not sure of her standing with the others, since Takashi had shunned her).

"You all heard what Wolf said. We need to go to that library to collect information that will be critical to any attempts at trying to set up a place where we can grow our own food, raise livestock and have clean water."

They nodded, and Saya commented that it was good that someone was looking past the next few weeks.

"Ok, here's the deal. Wolf has spent the last few days considering the overall needs in terms of information. It's a pretty big list. He and I will be entering the library and we will be organizing the information we need. But the problem is that Wolf can't read Japanese and his spoken Japanese is still pretty weak. We were hoping that you guys would agree to assist us as gophers, collecting the books, maps and other things from the stacks and bringing them to a central area where Wolf and I can look at them and see that they meet our needs. We'll tell each of you what to look for, and you go get it, and bring it back. I should warn you that we might be at this for a week or so. It will be dangerous, but you have survived out there up to now, and you have it together and work as a team. We will be a large security force on hand to cover us and keep the deaders away. We think we can creat a secure area to work and live in. What do you think?"

The kids and Shizuka looked at each other. Some nodded yes, and a couple said perhaps.

Takashi said that he intended to get to the elementary school where his mother was working on the day this all started. Rei piped up and said she really needed to find her father and then together, go find her mother.

Takashi said "I have to get to my mother, and get her to safety. When I find her, I would like to bring her back here. This is the safest any of us has felt in days. Once I've done that, I would be glad to help out. I know Rei is in the same situation, we'd like to find her father and mother first. Neither of us would feel right if we didn't try to find them."

Kohta just nodded yes, and said "I'm in." Saeko did the same.

Saya looked down for a moment, thinking of her parents, now lost to the deaders. She too finally looked up and said "Yes. I will go."

Shizuka smiled at her and gave her a hug, and then turned to Kat. "There is a great medical school at the University. I took my nursing training there. We should gather all the medical texts we can find, and gather whatever medical supplies we find. I don't know how this group is set for medical needs but I'm just about out and didn't have much to begin with. Is there a doctor among us?

"No, the best we have is a dentist and a veterinarian, and a nurse. I gather you aren't a doctor?"

"No. I am a registered nurse, but I was working towards my medical degree part time. I was about two thirds through when the world went crazy. I was doing some of the practical work during the summer month."

"Shizuka, we will grab all the medical stuff we can find. You in?"

"I'm not sure. I'm afraid of leaving Alice alone."

Kat said "Don't worry about that. There are several people who could look after her while we are away. I'll introduce you to them as we get closer to getting this mission on the road. Two of them have a young son named Kirito, and I'm sure Alice and he will get along just fine. "

"Ok, as long as Alice is taken care of, I'll go along too."

"Takashi, Rei, how about we put together a mission to check the school and where ever Rei thinks her father and mother might be? Once that's done, will you come with us?"

Takashi looked at her and spoke. "Yes, I suppose we will. It's important enough to make sure we have all the best chances of surviving. What do you think Rei?"

"If you take me to where my dad is, and my mother, and bring them back I'll help with the library." She replied

Wolf looked at them all, and told them to hang loose, He'd get back to them after he had a chat with the command group. That said, the small group broke up, and most headed to the patio where some lanterns showed some people still up, chatting and playing cards. Rei remained at her table and a few moments after they left, she slowly walked down to the small boat she now lived on alone. As she walked, tears started to run down her cheeks. Hisashi was gone, and Takashi had rejected her to boot. She had never felt so alone.

Kohta walked for a bit, following Saya, and stopped. He turned around and watched as she walked away, head down and all alone. Takashi now barely spoke to her, other than in the course of working on something together. He and Saeko sat with the group for meals and studiously ignored her otherwise. He was worried for her, but didn't know what to do to help her. All he could do was keep an eye on her and try to be a friend.