train to tokyo [shui]

Chapter 8

'Shu, we have to go. Now.'

Lui's hand was gripping my wrist tightly, as if he was afraid that I could slip and fall like Miyu any second. Normally I would've felt a little happy, but his voice was so serious. I nodded, taking one last look at the place where Miyu died, before letting him lead the way. His eyes were on me the whole time, etched with concern and grief, but he didn't push. I was grateful for that. 

The group were going uphill but more east, avoiding the main bombing section. Tanaka-san told us that the helicopter coming to pick us up will land there, where they have enough space to land. That won't happen until three hours later. As we trekked up the mountain, I kept my eyes on the scenery to distract me.

Dirt had been freshly kicked up, the winter grass sprayed all over. Trees had been knocked askew, leaves and branches littering the snowy path up. All earth matter had been affected. There was no doubt even some animals had died. A crackled of thunder caused me to look up at the sky. In just the half an hour we had been walking, clouds had swallowed the blue sky and replaced it by their own dark grey dreariness. Birds were fluttering nervously, left right and center, wondering where to go in this confusion. I felt the lightest touch of snow drip on my nose. 

A storm was brewing. 

'Let's go!' Tanaka-san called out loudly, making sure everyone heard. We all nodded and started scampering quickly up, desperate not to be caught in the storm. I forgot all about the scenery. I kept my eyes on the dirty snow, just focusing on walking the whole time. 

Walk, walk, walk, I repeated myself, so lost and desperate to come back to civilization alive. The death of Miyu made everything feel so much more realistic. One wrong move, one slip, and someone could be tumbling back down to the foot of the mountain and not see the sun again. I gulped and hurried on, my feet moving more carefully and quickly now. I clutched on to Lui's hand even tighter, partly to stabilize myself, partly because it was comforting being in his grip. 

The howling of the wind escalated, and the wind slapped everyone's hair into a frenzy. It's chilly frost bit into everyone's exposed skin, and I felt my lips getting colder and colder, undoubtedly blue now. Droplets of water began pouring, the rain making everything more slippery and much more colder as icy water plunged towards us. I shivered and tugged the sleeves over my hands. Lightning flashed overhead, bathing us in a bright light. Leila shrieked and stopped, but slipped on a bit of ice doing so.

'Help me!' she cried out as she began to topple backwards. Lea was desperately screaming, trying to get her back but doing absolutely nothing. Lui's hand had left mine and instead was gripping onto Leila's and helping her regain her balance. 

'Careful,' he warned her, his hand not leaving hers. She blushed madly, scarlet tinting her face. Tanaka-san, Ayumi and the rest of the grown ups had continued walking up, leaving only Lui, Leila, Lea and I in the pouring rain. Lea stood, miffed, to the side, and I felt her eyes on me.

'T-Thanks Lui-kun,' she mumbled, dropping his hand, twiddling her fingers together and looking at her feet with the faintest smile. It surprised me she didn't turn this into something romantic, but instead let go of his hand. Maybe she was too weary and grateful too. Still, just seeing their hands intertwined together sparked an emotion that made me want to take Lui's hand. Jealousy. 

As I watched, she leaned in until her mouth was mere centimeters away from his ear. I watched as those lips with faded crimson lipstick move, but I heard nothing. Lui did, however. His cheeks turned pink and he looked away from Leila, but uttered out a, 'He doesn't like me.'

Without waiting for an answer from Leila and or Lea, he grabbed onto my wrist and pulled me up with him. I don't know what Leila said to him, but his grip was more painful. I heard Leila sighed and begin walking with Lea, her feet more careful this time. He squinted, and so did I. The only source of light were from the lightning, the clouds blocking off the sun. It was nearly pitch black, but I could faintly see a clump of coats together. The group.