Nen

by Sean Ding

  He then strode over to the elevator controls and reached out to touch the buttons. His skeletal fingers stopped about two inches from the red ‘going up’ button. Better be safe than sorry, he thought. Instead of touching the button with his bare hands, Wong used the voltage tester. He poked the elevator control panel and the buttons on it a couple of times with the voltage tester and there was no red glow. Feeling assured, he started to press the buttons with his fingers. Nothing happened.

  Wiping the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand, Wong felt exhausted after spending the last few hours in this stinky enclosure populated by mounds of fallen rocks, heaps of mangled iron structures and a dead body. He decided to go back to the crates and tool boxes to see if he could find something useful. Just when he was about to squat down before a wooden crate, he thought he heard something; a sound that scraped his nerves. That sound was indistinct but it reminded him of the faint growl of a tiger!

  “It’s impossible, I must have heard wrongly.” he said to himself. And he immediately brushed that thought away, got down on his knees and began to rummage in the wooden crate. There were some rubber hoses and scores of iron brackets cushioned by packing fibers in the crate. Wong rummaged in the crate for a while before he felt something big and heavy at the bottom. He hauled that object out of the crate. It was a mechanical device consisting of two fuel canisters attached to a backpack and a steel barrel with a muzzle at one end and a gun butt with a firing trigger at the other. The metallic barrel was connected to the fuel canisters by a long hose. It’s a portable flame thrower! Why would there be such a thing here? Night Guard Lang must have illegally procured the flame throwing weapon and probably had the intention to sell it to the black market at an exorbitant price. But too bad, he was too dead to carry on with this business now, Wong thought for a moment as he examined the device.

  There was a thud. It came from the far end of the pitch dark passageway that leads to the underground chamber. Wong stood up gingerly, his eyes squinting at the far side where the thud was from. He tried to beam his flashlight but he could barely make out the rocks and fallen pipes that almost clogged up the narrow passageway. “Who’s that? Howard, is that you?” Wong yelled and the only reply that echoed back was his own voice.

  The thud came again. Thud! Wong picked up a shovel and strode towards the sound.

  Thud! He approached a stack of fallen copper pipes and shone his flashlight into the gaps among the wrecked piping. Three rats were blinded by the unexpected light and they scampered out of the mangled heap in shock, startling Wong.

  “Damn you, rats!” Wong cried out loud and then laughed at himself for being such a lunatic. Everything had happened so quickly and he couldn’t really tell which directions the rats had gone. Shaking his head, he threw the shovel on the ground and began to walk back to the elevator landing.

  A deep growl erupted in the dark and was shockingly crystal in Wong’s ears. It was definitely not a hallucination that someone or something was right behind him, hiding in the dark, watching him! Wong’s heart thumped violently against his chest. He stood still for a moment and listened. There was another growl followed by a rustling sound at his heels! In a panic, Wong picked up his pace and dashed towards the elevator. And whatever that was growling in the dark was pursuing him! He ran with all his might. Several feet away from the elevator landing, Wong tripped over chunks of tumbled rocks on the ground and fell face flat. He tried to push himself up when he sensed a hiss of warm breath touching the nape of his neck. Pain exploded in his shoulders and a stab like lightning tore through the small of his back. Before Wong could open his mouth to scream, he was torn apart by a terrific force.

  CHAPTER 28

  Kenso-san was walking down the hallway between the living quarters when he saw Mr. Park hustling towards him from the opposite end. He paused for a moment, wondering why Mr. Park was in such a hurry. When Mr. Park came nearer, he noticed that Mr. Park was carrying two large sacks of fruits under his arms, his face was full of sweat and his facial expression was nothing but dubious.

  “Hey, what’re you doing?” Kenso asked, thinking that Mr. Park might be stealing food from the vegetable garden outside the barracks.

  “None of your business.” Mr. Park growled as he went past Kenso.

  Kenso stared blankly at Mr. Park who scurried like a rat toward the doorway of his living quarter. He shouted something in Korean and his elder sister Madam Kim opened the door. Kenso pretended that he was not looking at them but from the corner of his eyes, he could see Mr. Park pointing a finger at him and mumbling something to Madam Kim before they disappeared from the hallway.

  Kenso shrugged his lean shoulders and continued his stroll down the hallway. He eventually stopped outside one of the living quarter doors on his right. Kenso rapped the slight gaping door with his knuckles and then pushed it opened gently.

  It was Sanjay Gupta’s room that he had stepped into. Under the pale glare of the overhead fluorescents, Mami-san was busily dressing Gupta’s wounded leg when her boyfriend came in.

  “Here’s the water, dear.” Kenso said, waving a plastic bottle at Mami.

  “Thanks, honey.” Mami smiled and took the bottle from her boyfriend. She placed the bottle of water into Gupta’s hand and said, “Gupta, this is for you. Dr. Sarah said you must drink more water.”

  Gupta nodded and he uncapped the plastic bottle, took a few sips before he placed the bottle on a nightstand beside his bed.

  “Thanks a lot, guys.” Gupta said, “I really appreciate all your help and care.”

  “You’re most welcome, Gupta.” Kenso said, settling himself down on the edge of the bed. “In situation like this, we only have each other to depend on.” Gupta shook his head in agreement. Kenso had worked in India before so he knew that when an Indian person shook his or her head, it actually meant a ‘Yes’ rather than ‘No’.

  “I think that will do.” Mami said, discarding soiled bandages into a rattan basket under the bed, “I’ll change the dressing again in a few hours’ time.”

  “Thank you Ma’am.” Gupta said, shifting his back up a little.

  “Are you feeling better now? I mean he is your friend, right?” Mami asked.

  “You mean Henry? Yes, Henry is my colleague. We worked in the same company back in Singapore.” Gupta paused for a while, took a deep breath and said, “He might be cynical at times but he was a good colleague. We were supposed to return to Singapore next week. But now this thing happened…this terrible thing…”

  “Gupta, I understand how you feel. But it’s pointless to feel bad now.” Mami looked at Kenso briefly and continued, “The fact is, we do not even know if we can get out of here alive. We need to do something now if we do not want to end up like Henry.”

  “How I wish my leg was fine, I could help out in anything.” Gupta said.

  “Kenso-san, what do you think of us helping out, you know, earning our keep here?” Mami asked, her lips curled slightly upwards and she got that mischievous look on her face.

  “Huh?” Kenso uttered, “You mean…”

  “I mean we should volunteer to help out, dear. Those guys out there are trying their best to find a way out. Shouldn’t we do something as well?” Mami asked in a serious tone.

  “I know that, hon. That was why I helped Paul recce around this place. But after what I saw what’s out there. I … I just can’t leave you here and take the risk again.” Kenso said, shifting his eyes away from Mami and Gupta.

  There was a knock on the door and it swung opened. Sarah and Kevin Tan stepped into the room. “Hey guys, are we interrupting you?” Sarah asked politely.

  “Not at all, Dr. Sarah. Please come in and sit down.” Mami said, pointing to a chair next to her.

  Sarah dropped into that chair and Kevin sat down on the edge of the bed.

  “How’s your leg, Gupta?” Sarah asked.

  “Fine Ma’am, Mami just helped me change the dressing.” Gupta said.

  “Great, but I s
uggest you do not move about unnecessarily.” Sarah said with a cheeky smile, “Well, just treat this as your hotel room.”

  Everyone laughed. When the laughter subsided, Kevin said, “Sarah and I just checked on Pauline but she was still sleeping. So we actually went to that classroom and chained the door up.”

  “You did ? That’s great. I hope Pauline is fine, I can’t imagine how these kids are feeling right now. If I am Pauline, I would definitely freak out if I saw those human heads.” Mami said.

  “She was in shock when John found her but she’s all right now. She’s not hurt at all, physically she had no injury, that’s what I mean.” Sarah said.

  “Why are those heads in that classroom, what kind of crazy lectures were being delivered there? And why are the heads not decomposed after such a long time?” Gupta asked.

  “All these questions bothers me as well, Gupta,” Sarah said, “I do not know all the answers to your questions but what I do know is that the severed heads in that classroom reeked of formaldehyde and they had been injected with a weird serum.” Sarah tucked into her pocket and took out a small syringe bottle that contained a viscous yellowish liquid. “Here, this is the strange serum that I was talking about. I took this from that classroom before we chained it up.” Sarah said, passing the syringe bottle around for the rest of the people to have a closer look.

  “Strange, there seems to be a kind of luminous glow but now it’s gone.” Mami considered the bottle of yellowish serum carefully before giving it back to Sarah.

  “You’re right, Mami.” Sarah said, “This liquid is glowing, on and off. I believe the creepy hand in that laboratory might be injected with this serum too. But I’ve not seen it so perhaps Kenso-san could bring me to that place?”

  Kenso nodded but an uneasy smile appeared across his face and Sarah noticed that. She put the bottle back in her pocket and said to all with a smile. “Well, I’ve just taken up a new role as chairman of our food finding committee. We need to look for more food and water source here if we want to survive. There must be a kitchen somewhere in this army camp and I am thinking of finding it. Do you guys want to join us?”

  “Err… I don’t think we should do that...it could be dangerous.” Kenso said softly.

  “Come on Kenso, be a man, “ Mami said, “Let’s do something for the group. Well, if you are not going, you stay. I am going with Dr. Sarah.”

  “But…Mami.” Kenso muttered.

  Mami ignored her boyfriend and turned towards Gupta. “Gupta, do you think it is okay that we leave you here alone?”

  “Go ahead ma’am, I am fine now. I will take a nap in this first class hotel room.” Gupta said with a laugh.

  “Kenso Odaka!” Mami said in a loud voice that startled almost everyone. “Like what Howard said, we can contribute because we understand Japanese. Let’s go.”

  Kenso shrugged his shoulders and said with a sigh, “Well. I won’t let you go alone.” He held Mami’s hand and squeezed it. Then he looked at Sarah and Kevin and said, “Please do not be mistaken. I fully understand the importance of finding food and I am glad to be able to help.”

  “We’re really shorthanded, Kenso. And you had followed Paul around so we do need your guidance.” Kevin said. To which Sarah nodded her head slowly.

  “No problem, Kevin. By the way, I think our Mr. Park is secretly stocking up food supplies in his room. I saw him carrying bags of fruits to his room a while ago.”

  “I’ll talk to that brute later. But let’s find that kitchen first.” Kevin said, and he got to his feet. The two couples stood up, bid Gupta goodbye and left the room.

  Gupta stared at the ceiling for a few minutes after his newfound friends left, then closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. Little did he realize that fate was going to pull a prank on him and on that score, he wouldn’t have a chance to see his newfound friends again.

  CHAPTER 29

  “Ew, this place really stinks.” Kevin Tan muttered in an almost inaudible tone with one of his hands cupping his nose and mouth.

  “Yeah, look at this mess. I can’t imagine people having their meals here. Even for people that walked this place seventy years ago.” Sarah said, pointing at the rows of decaying tables and chairs that lined the length of the cook house. There was heaps of garbage scattered all over the place but everyone was sure that the pungent stench that was violating their nostrils was not the smell of garbage. It was something else.

  Kevin, Sarah, Mami and Kenso were standing at the doorway of a large dining area that they had just stumbled upon deep within the labyrinth of narrow corridors and half-collapsed buildings. The former dining area for the Japanese soldiers (or some would call it the military cook house) was a fairly big establishment, capable of feeding at least a hundred soldiers at one time. Old fashioned fluorescent lamps and paddle fans hung crookedly from the ceilings above their heads. All the fans were dead and only one of the maybe twenty fluorescent lamps was emanating the lone brilliance that could barely illuminate one-tenth of the huge dining chamber.

  “This is even bigger than the standard cookhouse I visited when I was in the Singapore army.” Kevin said.

  “You were in the army too?” Kenso asked.

  “Yes, all male Singaporeans have to serve the army for two years when they turn eighteen.” Kevin answered; his hand was still cupping his nose.

  “But I bet he can’t fight any battle now. He put on so much weight after he left the army.” Sarah slapped her fiancé on his bulging belly and laughed.

  “I still know how to fire a gun. I was a star sniper you know.” Kevin said, smiling ruefully at Sarah.

  Kenso ran his beam of flashlight across a wall at the far end of the dining hall and they could all see a dark rectangular shape that looked very much like a traffic door leading to the kitchen.

  “Shall we take a look? I think that’s the kitchen.” Kenso asked, dancing his ball of flashlight at the traffic door.

  “Must we?” Mami asked, squeezing Kenso’s arm tightly. By then, she had realized the kind of fear that her boyfriend had mentioned and how she wished that she was back in the living quarters, having a nice conversation with Gupta or getting some well-deserved beauty sleep. But the fact was she’s not inside the living quarter but standing in an unknown territory and shuddering in fear.

  “Why not? I hope the kitchen is not so stinky. Maybe there’s a four course dinner waiting for us there.” Kevin said, feeling uneasy but decided to crack a joke to lighten everyone up.

  “Let’s go.” Kenso said, leading the group to the traffic door ahead, stepping around piles of trash and broken chairs amongst rows of dining tables.

  The kitchen traffic door hissed shut behind them, and they found themselves in a sizable kitchen lined with steel cabinets, hooded stoves, porcelain sinks and old fashioned refrigerators. In one corner, there were a few toppled shelves right next to a storeroom. Loads of tin boxes and cartons were scattered all over the floor beside the storeroom. Kevin noticed a halogen lamp dangling above his head with a pull cord. He gave the cord a yank and the entire kitchen brightened up with a yellowish glow.

  “Look over there! I think we just hit the jackpot!” Kevin said, gesturing excitedly at the clutter of tin boxes and cartons.The two couples moved to the fallen shelves where the sea of tin boxes and cartons were. Mami picked up one of the boxes and inspected the Japanese wordings printed on it. “It’s biscuits. Can we still eat them? The expiry date is long overdue.”

  Sarah came closer and she studied the box Mami was holding. Then she tore open the box made of cardboard and poured some biscuits into her cupped hand. The blackened biscuits from the last century disintegrated into tiny chunks upon hitting Sarah’s palm. And there was a pungent smell liberated at that instant.

  “Nah, we can’t eat this.” Sarah shook her head.

  “Here, these are air tight. I believe they can still be eaten.” Kenso said, opening up a tin box and taking out some hardtack crackers that were sealed in air tight wrappe
rs. Before anyone could stop him, Kenso had opened up a packet and placed the hardtack into his mouth.

  “Yummm. It’s delicious. You guys should try some.” Kenso said, his Adam apple moved up and down as he swallowed the hardtack crackers.

  “Don’t look for me if you get stomach upset.” Sarah joked as she picked up one of the air tight packet and studied the crackers inside. After a moment, Sarah popped two hardtack crackers into her mouth and handed a packet to her fiancé.

  “Honey, these hardtack crackers are fine. In fact they are more than fine, they are delicious. Have a bite.” she said, munching the hardtack, which at that moment tasted like the best food she had ever eaten in the world. So Kevin started eating not one but three packets of hardtack and Mami followed suit.

  “Hey, there are more tin boxes over there.” Kenso said, pointing to a huge storage cabinet with an ajar door a few feet away from him. He hustled across the grimy kitchen floor and yanked open the cabinet door.

  “What the-” Kenso yelled as a large piece of what seemed like a buffalo or some kind of a large animal skeleton and several pieces of heavy bones dropped out of the storage cabinet and fell on him, instantly pinning him to the sticky floor.

  “Arrrrghh!!!” Mami screamed as she watched Kenso falling on his back and the rib cage of the animal skeleton pressing hard on his face and chest as he fell. Kenso struggled with all his might to push away the mayhem of bones lying on top of him but the more he tried, the more his hands get entangled in the animal skeleton. After a while he stopped as he realized that he was trying to fight off a heap of harmless animal remains in the skeletal form which he had seen before many times in the Museum of Natural History.

  Kevin and Sarah threw away their hardtacks and hurried over. They went on their knees and helped removed the more bulky bones that were pressing on Kenso’s chest while Kenso himself pushed over the remaining pieces which were much lighter in weight. Mami was too in shock to do anything and she just stood and watched, like a beautiful statue of an angel with big watery eyes.