A Reason For Being

Chapter twenty-three

Izumi

I stand on the train station platform with a bubble tea in my hand. I'm waiting for a train to take me to work at the nearby hospital. I'm a nurse in training.

The trains are never late. It's unheard of. Every day they arrive at the exact place at the exact time. School girls sit nearby on a bench in their school uniforms, giggling and gossiping. Men sit in the smoking shed in their smart work uniforms, talking about politics and smoking cigarettes. Two Peace Keepers patrol the platform with a guard dog. That's unusual. They never usually patrol the train station. I noticed some when I brought my bubble tea and again when I entered the train station. There are even more drones and checkpoints in place. They must be here for extra security after the Shingetsu took control of Sector Six. Everyone is on edge – even me. I'm just glad I put my perfume on that disguises my scent so that the dog on patrol cannot smell my scent and realise I'm a wolf.

I take a sip of my bubble tea. The bubble tea has strange jelly balls inside that remind me of frog spawn for some reason. I reach for the notebook in my bag. I open it up and see lines of tallies. I open it up onto the last used page. I draw a line and finish a tally. That makes 350. I can't believe it's been 350 fucking days. That's almost a year.

My train appears from the autumn fog. People get up from their seats and approach the platform. They stand behind the yellow line as the train approaches and the doors open. I wait in line. I hear a train horn and smell a strange scent. I smell wolves. The dog also smells their scent and barks. I'm pushed into the train by the large crowd of impatient people. I look around as the door closes and the train moves. I see three boys and a girl jump off a cargo train in the distance.