SEVEN DAYS LATER
The Danuja family of three stood at the entrance of the Arata family's door with two bags on the backs of the father and the son. They were ready to invade the island.
"Hey there!" Mrs. Arata said enthusiastically as she saw her guests at the door. "I'm so glad you got ready to accompany us. Thank you!"
"Pleasure is all mine. I like being involved in such stuff. So, I thank you for giving me the opportunity." Mr. Danuja said.
"That is so modest of you. I could never thank you enough."
"Let's leave that for later. Are you ready for the mission?"
"Oh, we sure are." Rokuro said, standing next to his mother.
"That's the spirit, my boy." Mr. Danuja said.
They locked the house and got into Mr. Danuja's SUV. It looked menacing from the outside and felt comfortable from the inside.
"All good?" Mr. Danuja asked as all five of them were inside.
"Yes, sir." The boys replied.
The drive to the Island was a 250Km journey that had a 150Km stretch outside of the city which would lead them into the jungles from where they also had to get a boat to get to the Island. The 150Km straight stretch helped them get to the jungles in just a few hours. They reached an exit on the road which would lead them into the jungle.
"This is where we need to leave our car and be on our legs." Mr. Danuja said. "Thankfully we can park it at this gas station."
They parked their vehicle at the gas station, which was the last and only place in that area where they could seek shelter. They unloaded their bags and walked into the jungle. The workers at the gas station looked at them surprised and suspiciously as the two families walked into the forest. It was still noon, so they had ample time to do their investigation. However, the clouds hovered over their heads that worried them a little. Rain would make their work difficult, so they decided to speed up their process and go about it right away.
To begin the proceedings, they started to walk faster, although all of them held each other's hands. They made a rule to not leave anybody's hand at any cost.
They would have walked for about half an hour before they reached the shore and the jetty where two boats were docked.
"Let's get on that boat before it starts to pour down." Mr. Danuja said.
They marched towards the boat holding each other's hands like little kids. The sky began to growl as they reached close to the boat which scared the two ladies.
"Oh, is it going to rain now?" Mrs. Arata said, gasping for air.
"It might. So, we better make it quick. Come on." Mr. Danuja said and got onto the boat and turned around to help the remaining ones get on board.
He took hold of the oars and they began their way to the other side of the shore where the island was. They could see some greenery on the distant horizon but it was too far for them to reach as quickly as they would have liked. The direction of the wind made it a little easier for them to propel faster towards the island.
"How long do you think it would take us?" Miyuki asked his father.
"Probably about an hour, or maybe more." Mr. Danuja said. Miyuki looked at Rokuro and smiled and nodded at him. They both moved to the center of the boat behind Mr. Danuja and occupied the second set of oars.
"What are you trying to do? Don't bother, come on. You don't have to do this." Mr. Danuja said.
"We want to, don't worry about us." Both of them said.
Mr. Danuja shook his head and smiled a little. The three of them rowed the boat as fast as they could, looking at the sky at regular intervals to get an idea about the rain.
About half an hour later the kids seemed excited as they could see the island. The ladies too were happy to see their kids be excited and reaching closer to the island. One of the reasons that they were happy was that the kids denied taking their help when they offered. They just said they can handle it, and that is what it looked like. The kids didn't look tired or bothered.
"Yes, we're getting close." Miyuki said excitedly as they were just a few hundred meters away from the island.
They cheered with each row of their oars. Their morale was high even beneath the dark clouds and chances of being caught in heavy rainfall and possibly even drown. The only thing they all could focus on was the jetty. It wasn't far from where they were. They weren't just moving their boat with their oars, they moved their excitement to a new level.
Mr. Danuja looked for a rope to tie their boat to the bollard, but he couldn't find anything even after looking for a good two minutes. The boys tried to look around as well, but they couldn't spot anything just like Mr. Danuja, who even climbed onto the jetty and walked around for a few meters, only to find that the platform was covered with dry moss as no one probably had visited the island for a long time. He came back and boarded the boat again.
"I think we'd have to take it to the shore. We can't leave it here. There's nothing here." Mr. Danuja said.
They didn't have any other option but to agree with him.
"It's okay. The shore is just about a hundred meters away from what I can tell. It'll hardly take us ten minutes." Rokuro said.
"Right." Miyuki said and grabbed his oar. All of them went back to their positions and guided the boat to the shore and in no time they were on the sand. Mr. Danuja opened his toolbox and pulled out a hammer and asked the boys to find a strong log of wood nearby. Both the boys went running towards the trees and returned with just what the man had asked, though it required both of them to hold it. It wouldn't have been possible by just one of them to bring it to the shore.
"Here." Both of them said as they threw the log on the ground. Mr. Danuja looked at it and picked it up. It was about the right length and diameter. He then pulled out some other tools from the box and began to sharpen one end of the log.
Five minutes later when he was able to sharpen that end like that of a pencil, he dug a fairly deep hole in the sand and stuck the sharpened end of the log into it and used the hammer to drive it further down the wet sand. Once their cleat was ready, he tied one end of a rope to the cleat and the other to the boat and secured it.
"We don't have much time, come on. It'll be night soon." Mr. Danuja said as he picked up his box and one bag. Rokuro took the other bag and they all began walking alongside the trees and towards the pier.
They walked swiftly as raindrops began to make their bodies wet. The hut at the end of the pier didn't look as creepy now when they needed shelter, but they were all disappointed when they reached the door of the hut. It was locked with an old-style lock that was covered with rust from all sides and angles.
"What do we do now?" Mrs. Arata asked.
"We don't need to worry when we're the only people on the island, that too with a toolbox." Mr. Danuja said and put his toolbox down and looked into it. He pulled out his hammer and chisel from it and placed the chisel's pointed end on the lock and hit it hard with his hammer. He hammered it, literally, and in just one hit the lock turned from one piece to two pieces. Mr. Danuja put the tools inside the toolbox again and opened the door. They all went inside quickly as the rain started to get heavier, making them wetter than they would have liked.
"I guess the gods didn't like us being here. It's all dark and we can barely see anything, plus this rain has only made things worse." Mrs. Arata said.
Everybody looked at her with blank eyes. The boys shrugged.
"It's only 5 now, we might have time to do our thing if the rain stops soon." Mr. Danuja said.
"It doesn't look though that it's going to stop soon. It's getting heavier." Miyuki said.
"Maybe we should set up our tents here and settle down. We'll get to work when the rain stops."
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking."
They unpacked their bags and tents and set them up in the hut.
Lucky for them that the hut was big enough to have two tents set up in it for them and still have some space left.
"Okay now that sleeping arrangements are done, we can focus on other things." Mr. Danuja said.
"LIke?" Rokuro asked.
"Like dinner, and making plans about our plans here."
"Yeah, that's right."
"We've packed enough food for three days. We don't need to worry about that." Mrs. Arata said.
In the area that was left open between the door and the tents, they lay down a carpet and sat down in a semicircle, all of them able to see outside perfectly.
"What if it doesn't stop raining all night?" Miyuki asked.
"We begin tomorrow morning then. You need to stay focused here, think positively. If you focus on the negative things too much, you might not be able to do what you planned to do in the beginning. Alright?" Mr. Danuja said.
Miyuki nodded and opened his pouch of sandwiches. He looked outside in the rain as he took his first bite, and so did the others.
"It's almost night time now and we can't see anything outside. We better sleep now and hope for the best." Mr. Danuja said and stood up to close the door.
"What are you doing? We're the only people here on this island." Miyuki said.
"You can never be too careful. Besides, there might be animals here that we might not want to meet."
He came back after closing the door and switched off the lamp as he got inside his tent with his wife and his son. Mrs. Arata and Rokuro occupied the other tent which was a little smaller than the other one, for obvious reasons.
"Everybody have their phones with them?" Mr. Danuja inquired. He got a yes from everybody.
"Good. Whoever needs to relieve themselves use their phones for lighting, and don't go alone. No less than two people should leave the hut at any point in time. Is that clear?" He continued.
"Yes, sir." Said the boys.
"Good. It'll be cold, so cover yourself up in a blanket, okay?"
"Yes, sir."
All of them finally lay down to sleep after a tiring day, hoping for better things in the morning.
Mr. Danuja opened his eyes and looked at his phone to check the time. It was 5:26 in the morning. He was wide awake just looking at the time and he jumped out of the tent. It was a satisfying feeling to see the sun just starting to rise. The rain had stopped, but it had rained a lot. There were puddles everywhere even in the sand. He went back into the hut and woke up everyone else.
"Hey, come on. Wake up, everybody. It's time. The sun is out and we've got work to do. Come on." Mr. Danuja said.
The rest of them woke up to the call and came out soon after. He ordered everyone to freshen up quickly and have their breakfast as they didn't have much time. The troop obliged to the orders of the captain and did what he asked them of and half an hour later all of them were ready, standing at the door of the hut. They hadn't taken a bath, but that wasn't necessary at the moment. Mr. Danuja closed the door and locked it with a new lock with their belongings inside, though he took his toolbox with him.
"We first need to go on top of that mountain to get a clear view of the island. We can only then decide which direction we need to go into." Mr. Danuja said.
Mrs. Arata looked at Mr. Danuja with feelings of gratitude she couldn't be more thankful for all the help she was receiving from the Danuja family. She could now see that she could not have done it on her own. She moved along with the rest of them. The boys walked alongside Mr. Danuja and the two ladies walked just a little behind them. They had to walk slowly and carefully since everything had become as slippery as glass with butter on top of it. They were only able to walk normally while on the sand, but they had to take every step with caution as they moved into the trees and onto the soft land
A few minutes of walking had them standing at the foot of the mountain. It wasn't a steep climb, but it wasn't easy either mainly because of the slippery nature of it. Moss covered most of the rocky region of the mountain, and the areas where there was a bit of soil, was damaged by the heavy rainfall, in either case, walking on the mountain was a tough call which they had to take up and endure.
"Do you think anyone might be following us, or seeing us?" Rokuro asked.
"I don't think so, firstly because there's no use of doing it. Secondly, well, there's no use of doing it. No one's going to waste their time and follow two families on an abandoned island." Mr. Danuja said.
The answer sounded satisfactory to the boys, so none of them said anything after that and continued climbing the mountain. Lucky for them that the mountain had steps, rather large ones. It helped them climb easily without putting in much effort and without having to worry about falling off.
About twenty minutes later they climbed on top of the mountain, but it wasn't a flat surface. It was like they stood on the tip of a cone, very tricky. They slowly walked to the right where they saw surface they could all stand upon and finally took a deep breath almost in unison, which they all chuckled at. Mr. Danuja then pulled out his binoculars out of his toolbox and began to survey the area all around.
"So, Mrs. Arata, how long has it been since the incident?" Mr. Danuja asked.
"About 10 years ago, when Rokuro was 4." Mrs. Arata said.
"Hmm. It does indeed look like it's been that many years. I can't see anything other than the trees and the sand and the sea. I can't even tell if there was any lab here at all."
"Because they blew it up, of course, you won't see it."
"But I don't see anything other than the trees."
Mr. Danuja spun around on his heels to take a 360-degree look at the island, and he couldn't see even one man-made structure, except for the hut and the pier. There were no buildings, no walls, no fences, no churches, just trees as if nothing ever happened here. He took his binoculars down and looked at Rokuro's mother with a disappointed face.
"I don't see anything here. I can't even say which direction we should go into, it just looks the same on all sides." Mr. Danuja said. "If we searched the whole island it would take us more than a week."
Mr. Arata was disappointed and disheartened listening to those words. She sat down with her legs crossed and her head in her hands as her elbows sat on her thighs. She sighed in exasperation. Mr. Danuja looked at his wife, not knowing what to do. He gestured her with his eyes to console Rokuro's mother. She walked up to her and placed her hands on her shoulders. Mrs. Arata looked up, her face filled with emotions and eyes with tears.
"It's alright. It's just the beginning. We're here to find something, there's going to be hurdles. It doesn't mean you'll sit down with teary eyes. We haven't even started anything. You need to be strong, alright?" Mrs. Danuja said. Mrs. Arata realized that she was being silly, no matter how natural it felt.
She didn't want to be silly, she wanted to be courageous and strong. So, she stood up immediately and wiped her tears and even gave out a nervous chuckle to the only other female in the group, and then to the boys, and finally to Mr. Danuja. The boys came up to her and hugged her and comforted her.
"It's okay, mummy. It's okay. We all go there sometimes. You're not alone. We'll do it together, okay?" Rokuro said.
"Yes, my child. Yes. We will." Shiko replied and pecked both of their foreheads. Love radiated out of her face, especially her eyes
"We need to think of something else to explore this place in quick time." Mr. Danuja said. "Only if we had a map of it."
"What did you say?" Mrs. Arata said in a confused tone.
"I meant if there was a map of this place and we knew where that lab and other buildings were, it would have made things easier for us."
Mrs. Arata went quiet for a few moments trying to think of something, and then she looked at him as if it hit her.
"Yes! I think I know something." Mrs. Arata said.
"What is it?" Mr. Danuja asked with curiosity.
"If I remember correctly, Kono used to tell me about how the island looked like back then. He used to describe it in fine detail. I may not remember everything, but I remember quite a lot."
"Tell me about it."
"We used to be in touch on phone calls when he used to visit the island, and often he used to tell me what he was doing and where he was going, and things like that."
"And?"
"From what he told me, and what I can remember, I think the lab was on the left of the hut and the pier."
"Why didn't you tell us about it before?"
"I didn't think of it. I didn't have any idea about it. I'm sorry."
"It's okay. Let's head back to the hut and then to the left of it. Come on, quick."
All of them took strides to get down the mountain but had to quickly slow down their pace in a similar fashion as they did while climbing up. Slowly and steadily they got down the mountain and were on the ground again. The leader, Mr. Danuja took charge of his troops and made them follow him to the pier where the hut was. Even though he knew they were the only people on the island, his eyes still went at the lock to check if it was still there. He was glad and reassured when he saw it still hanging there.
They gathered in front of the hut. For some odd reason, they all looked at the sky at almost the same time. They smiled awkwardly at realizing how silly they all looked for doing that.
"Okay so, we've come here from the right side of the hut, that means we need to continue walking straight to reach to the left side of the hut, the far-left side." Mr. Danuja said.
"Yes, sir." The boys said and they all began to walk briskly. Everybody seemed excited at the prospect of finding the spot. The sand was littered with all the things they could imagine, plastic bottles, logs of wood, big and small, dry leaves, coconuts, and a few old ropes as well, just to name a few.
"He didn't walk too far once he got off the boat. I think it should be somewhere around here, about a hundred meters from the pier." Mrs. Arata said.
Everyone stopped as she mentioned the place. They all, except for Mrs. Arata, looked around but couldn't find anything. It was all sand and garbage.
"Where is it?" Mrs. Danuja asked.
"I think we should look into the woods. We're more likely to find it there instead of here." Mrs. Arata said.
"Right." Mr. Danuja said and started to walk towards the woods which was not far away from where they were standing. The rest of them followed their leader.
"Hey Rokuro, you haven't had any nightmares ever since we left our houses for the trip. Did you notice it too?" Miyuki said.
The look that developed on Rokuro's face answered Miyuki's question. He looked completely amazed and astonished, his eyes wide and jaw almost about to dropdown.
"Man! It just didn't occur to me. Yes, I haven't had any nightmares since yesterday. What could be the reason?" Rokuro said.
"Are you thinking what I am thinking?" Miyuki said with a face that showed slight excitement.
"What do you mean?"
"Dude, it's your father. He wanted you to be on this island, which is why he gave you all those hints and the nightmares, and he has stopped now that you're here. It all makes sense, doesn't it?"
Everyone stopped to listen to the chatter of the boys and the boys stopped as well seeing their elders stop. They looked at each other and then at their parents.
"What?" Miyuki asked.
"What are you talking about? How did you even get that idea?" Mr. Danuja said.
"Isn't it obvious? He hasn't had even one nightmare since yesterday. There has got to be some sort of explanation to this, right?"
"He's got a point though." Mrs. Danuja said.
"I guess that means we're on the right path." Mr. Danuja said. "Keep walking."
"No, stop. It should be around here. Look carefully." Mrs. Arata said.
Each one of them got a stick for themselves and started bashing the abundant shrubs and plants.
"Hey, look. Here's a part of a wall, it's pretty small though." Rokuro said. Mr. Danuja came running to him to have a look at it.
"Oh yes. It is indeed." Mr. Danuja said and started beating the plants around that piece of wall with his stick and as those plants began to decrease in numbers, they began to more clearly see the moss-covered pieces of the wall. The rest of them joined in as well with Mr. Danuja and the wall began to come into clear view as they cleared the plants. They continued to smash the plants as they uncovered the area of the big laboratory. It must have taken them a good one hour to just find the boundary walls of the lab. They were all covered in sweat.
"It was a big lab it looks like." Mr. Danuja said, panting.
"Yeah, it was. Perfect for all that they did. Plenty of space." Mrs. Arata said.
"Hmm. But we still don't know where to go from here. What do we do now?" Miyuki said.
"What's that light there?" Rokuro pointed his finger.
"Where?" Miyuki asked.
"Look there. Something is shining there."
"I don't see anything. What are you talking about?"
"How can you not see it? Come with me."
"I'm not coming with you, and you too should stay here. None of us see anything in the direction you're pointing in. Don't be silly, come on."
"You stay here if you want. I will check out what is it that is shining so bright."
"So bright? Dude, there's not even something alight. Stay back. You're just tired."
Rokuro didn't listen to him, or anyone else for that matter and walked towards the light that he was seeing. He could hear all of them calling him out but he neither did he look back nor did he stop. He ran towards the light. He didn't care about the tall plants and trees, he just focused on the light and only cared about running towards it. He ran alongside the wall dodging the plants and continued to run towards the light, leaving the lab area behind. He had run so much that he was almost at the center of the island.
He stopped right below the source of the light and looked up. He had to squint as the light seemed too bright for him, however, as time passed, he was able to look at the light just like he would look at a normal light source.
He could now open his eyes and look at the light directly. He smiled knowing he was now able to look into the bright light. He climbed up the wall to reach even closer to the light source. He felt footsteps approaching him and he knew his family and friends were here to stop him. He needed to make it quick, whatever he had in mind. So, he extended his hand towards the light, letting the light fall onto him and enlighten him. He felt a sense of new energy flow through his body just as soon as the light touched his body, as if electricity flowed through his veins instead of blood, so much so that he couldn't control it. He groaned and grunted for help for a few moments before falling on the ground. His whole body convulsed as if he was having a seizure or a panic attack. His eyes had rolled back and his mouth looked dry. He could hear the rest of them trying to wake him up, but he just could not respond to their calls. He couldn't even move and felt helpless, very helpless, and then, he passed out.
Mrs. Arata cried in shock and held her son close to her.
"It's okay, don't worry. He has just passed out. He'll be back into his senses soon." Mr. Danuja said, keeping his hand on Mrs. Arata's shoulder. She looked up at him, her eyes asked him for assurance and he gave her just that.
"He's fine. Trust me." Mr. Danuja said.