Utopia: Misfit Fury

2) Chinatown

The road was in a panic when we finally got back. Thankfully, due to what we were wearing and carrying, we just appeared to be two hitch hiking tourists curious about the event, and not the two who caused the destruction.

"Chaos, Panic, and Disorder..." Darrius mumbled under his breath.

"Our work here is done," I mumbled back as we turned away and headed to Chinatown.

It was good to see a place oblivious to what was going on outside. In Chinatown, yeah there was gossip, but the older generation didn't care, the younger generation clung to their naïve state, but the generation that Darrius and I belong to; it was mainstream. Every teen knew, and if they didn't; well, that just made us that much more lucky.

We walked to the open trade market, and looked at the various spices. Darrius tapped me on the shoulder, "See if they have a cheap restaurant around here?"

I nodded and turned to the vender. "Duìbùqǐ, xiānshēng, nǐ zhīdào wǒ de péngyǒu, wǒ yěxǔ néng chī diǎn dōngxī? Yījiā lāmiàn diàn, yěxǔ?"

The old man nodded, "Shì de, shìshí shàng, yǒu yīgè zài lùshàng yīgè tújìng. Zhǐyào ànzhào chǎngshāng de dàolù, zhídào nǐ bùnéng zǒu de gèng yuǎn, zhè jiāng shì zài yòushǒu biān." As he spoke, he pointed down the road.

"Xièxiè nǐ, xiānshēng." I put my hands together and bowed slightly, then turned to Darrius.

"Well? And don't paraphrase, what exactly did you say and what language was that? That was no Asian I've ever head."

"Because the only Asian language you know is Japanese, not even in person, but from the TV shows. What I just spoke was Simple Chinese." I shrugged and smirked.

"There was nothing simple about that. Anyway, what did he say?"

"The exact translation from the beginning starting with me. 'Excuse me sir, do you know where my friend and I might be able to get something to eat? A ramen store, perhaps?'. He responded by saying 'yes, in fact, there is one down the road a ways. Just follow vendors' road until you cannot go further and it will be on the right hand side'. I responded with 'thank you, sir', and gave him a sign of respect."

He nodded and started walking down the road. "Where did you learn simple Chinese? They only had French, Spanish, and Latin in high school."

Following, I shrugged. "My parents said if the world ever came to World War 3 and we weren't on the side of the Chinese or Japanese were on, but we got captured, best know what the Hell they're saying. Even if they think you're an idiot American."

He nods, "Smart. Any other languages you know?"

"Yeah, why? Thinking about jumping ship to another country?"

"Maybe..."

I looked over at him. His face was serious. But I kept my mouth shut, because passed him, in a To-Go cooking vendor, on their TV was a blurry image of us and two school photos underneath. "Darrius..."

He looked over and his eyes widened. "Can you hear and understand the report?"

I nodded, "And seeing as it's English, you can understand it too, there's Chinese subtitles at the bottom."

In a complete generalization of the report, it explained how Darrius and I should be approached with caution because we were considered dangerous.

"Let's get out of here." Darrius turned and started heading down vendors' road. "If we're lucky, no one listens to the news." I followed, but as I did, I saw that every TV was tuned onto the news station. Even if no one was paying attention, anyone who would catch a glimpse, then see us would be curious as to why we're on the news. But I was cut off from my thoughts when I bumped into Darrius' back. His eyes wide and focused on the Ramen Store.