Land of the Setting Sun
5/25/2007 - A Friend's Rage
After dropping off my supplies and giving everyone notice, I headed out immediately into the wasteland to try and get some footage for the newspaper. The first goal was getting some sort of slight vantage point, like a building or even some sort of telephone pole I could climb. I wasn't about to miss out on this opportunity.
Nearby I spotted some sort of low-to-the-ground structure, maybe a small house or a large heap of rubble? It was worthy of investigation, so I began jogging over there, feet slapping against the pavement. It was indeed a pile of rubble, and easily climbable. It stood nearly two stories tall, and towered over most of everything in the surrounding area, so I got a great aerial view. With all of the excitement, it was nice to return to what had brought me here in the first place.
My shoe scuffed on something while I was nearly on the edge of an outcrop of stone, almost sending me careening off the edge. I wiped it with a couple fingers. Ash? I suppose it wasn't very out of place among the chaos. Kicking rocks over the edge of the outcropping, I wondered when someone would attempt to recreate a real civilization out of this again, it didn't seem very feasible. The sun was beginning to get low in the sky, however, and I still had a jog back out to the warehouse, so I started climbing back down, taking care not to graze against any of the sharp metal girders or glass.
When I got back there wasn't a whole lot to lay up against in the open space of the warehouse, so I just laid in the middle of the room against my bag, and hoped to get some sleep. The metal structure shook like violent winds were hammering it from all directions, keeping me awake for hours. I don't even remember falling asleep.
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"James! Wake up!" My eyes shot open, and were surprised to find it was still very dark outside, through the various glass panels that made up the warehouse. I blinked the spots out of my eyes to reveal Qara's worried face, with Aubrey standing behind her.
"Ugh, what's the problem?"
"Itaki's gone!" My brain stumbled, I didn't quite understand the words that came out of her mouth.
"What do you mean, how is he gone?"
"Like, Aubrey and I fell asleep right next to him and he's completely gone. We already tried looking around the building, and outside. We didn't find anything."
"Is it possible he went out exploring somewhere or something?" She rolled her eyes.
"He's like sixty years old, and a complete homebody, no, I don't think he went exploring." I frowned and told them to wake up the others. She was right, he'd never step foot outside the group to save his life. I got up, back aching from sleeping on concrete, and took a quick look around. Most of the crew was still asleep, and there was no sign of any of the other scavengers, apart from the two guards at the door. If there was anyone who'd know where Itaki went, it'd be one of them.
Ogasawara awoke like a bear poked with a stick when told the news, rushing right past me and towards the door, where the two guards stood awkwardly. They shrunk back before him as he yelled, pointing out towards the wasteland and grabbing the lapel of one of them. He yelped quickly in response, and took several steps back, shredding his coat. He yelled back at us.
"He says Itaki left last night while we were asleep! Said he's headed for Tokyo, couldn't wait any longer." He went back to questioning the man, who appeared quite confused. Ogasawara made a sound of exasperation and shoved him to the ground, and came back, beginning to pack up his bag. "He might've gone back to the ship first, I need to get out there and find him. And even if he didn't, there's something shifty about these scavenger guys. I'm out of here. If any of you want to join me, you're free to come along."
After dropping off my supplies and giving everyone notice, I headed out immediately into the wasteland to try and get some footage for the newspaper. The first goal was getting some sort of slight vantage point, like a building or even some sort of telephone pole I could climb. I wasn't about to miss out on this opportunity.
Nearby I spotted some sort of low-to-the-ground structure, maybe a small house or a large heap of rubble? It was worthy of investigation, so I began jogging over there, feet slapping against the pavement. It was indeed a pile of rubble, and easily climbable. It stood nearly two stories tall, and towered over most of everything in the surrounding area, so I got a great aerial view. With all of the excitement, it was nice to return to what had brought me here in the first place.
My shoe scuffed on something while I was nearly on the edge of an outcrop of stone, almost sending me careening off the edge. I wiped it with a couple fingers. Ash? I suppose it wasn't very out of place among the chaos. Kicking rocks over the edge of the outcropping, I wondered when someone would attempt to recreate a real civilization out of this again, it didn't seem very feasible. The sun was beginning to get low in the sky, however, and I still had a jog back out to the warehouse, so I started climbing back down, taking care not to graze against any of the sharp metal girders or glass.
When I got back there wasn't a whole lot to lay up against in the open space of the warehouse, so I just laid in the middle of the room against my bag, and hoped to get some sleep. The metal structure shook like violent winds were hammering it from all directions, keeping me awake for hours. I don't even remember falling asleep.
----------
"James! Wake up!" My eyes shot open, and were surprised to find it was still very dark outside, through the various glass panels that made up the warehouse. I blinked the spots out of my eyes to reveal Qara's worried face, with Aubrey standing behind her.
"Ugh, what's the problem?"
"Itaki's gone!" My brain stumbled, I didn't quite understand the words that came out of her mouth.
"What do you mean, how is he gone?"
"Like, Aubrey and I fell asleep right next to him and he's completely gone. We already tried looking around the building, and outside. We didn't find anything."
"Is it possible he went out exploring somewhere or something?" She rolled her eyes.
"He's like sixty years old, and a complete homebody, no, I don't think he went exploring." I frowned and told them to wake up the others. She was right, he'd never step foot outside the group to save his life. I got up, back aching from sleeping on concrete, and took a quick look around. Most of the crew was still asleep, and there was no sign of any of the other scavengers, apart from the two guards at the door. If there was anyone who'd know where Itaki went, it'd be one of them.
Ogasawara awoke like a bear poked with a stick when told the news, rushing right past me and towards the door, where the two guards stood awkwardly. They shrunk back before him as he yelled, pointing out towards the wasteland and grabbing the lapel of one of them. He yelped quickly in response, and took several steps back, shredding his coat. He yelled back at us.
"He says Itaki left last night while we were asleep! Said he's headed for Tokyo, couldn't wait any longer." He went back to questioning the man, who appeared quite confused. Ogasawara made a sound of exasperation and shoved him to the ground, and came back, beginning to pack up his bag. "He might've gone back to the ship first, I need to get out there and find him. And even if he didn't, there's something shifty about these scavenger guys. I'm out of here. If any of you want to join me, you're free to come along."