Breathing heavily, he answered, “The military came by just before I got there. Said there was a news van at the scene of an incident, and they needed to speak to them.”
“Do you think they know we saw the man?” Nobou asked worriedly.
“I'm sure of it. No one else at that station had sent anyone near where we were. There was only one other crew out; they went to report on another riot.”
She looked Hasashi in the eye, “But how do you know they were looking for us? They could have meant the other crew at the 'riot,' there could have been an incident there, we don't know.”
“No. The military was asking about us! They said that the van was on the highway near the factory,” he said with a fearful face.
“That can't be. Why would the military come looking for us? We didn't do anything wrong, that military truck ran down that man,” Minori said irritably.
“Not to add to the paranoia, but maybe they think we saw something we weren't supposed to see,” Nobou said with panic in his voice.
“We did, we saw them run a man over, and they didn't get him help. They might also know that we are looking into the riots,” said Hisashi with worry.
“Guys calm down. We can stay here for the night, go out tomorrow afternoon and hit the road again. Until then we can try to piece together what all of this means,” she said pointing down at the map and notes.
Hisashi seemed to calm down at those words, but quickly looked through the peephole in the door to see if anyone had followed him. He moved away from the door calmly, sitting down taking a few deep breaths. He grabbed the remote for the TV and turned in on, and then found the channel for the news station. The news was running reports of civil unrest in the area; a small banner ran underneath the news anchor, a simple statement to report anyone with intent to cause disorder to the authorities.
Minori looked away from the TV to focus on the map in front of her, but remembered Hisashi mentioning another incident occurring, “Hisashi?”
“Hmm,” he said not looking away from the TV.
“What was the latest ‘riot’ that you mentioned?” she asked with wonder.
“Apparently, a group of five people showed up and attacked a store, they broke the windows and crawled in. The military showed up, and witnesses said they heard gunfire from inside. Only the soldiers left the building, and they have that whole city block quarantined as well,” said Hisashi.
She quickly jotted down the info, “Where was this located?”
Hisashi turned away from the TV, tapping on the map where it had happened. She circled the location and noticed that again it was close to the other circled spots. They had begun on the outskirts of the town and had slowly made their way into the town. Every time the military had shown up shortly after and contained the area, making sure that they held the control over what information was gathered and given to the public.
Everything they were told was what the military wanted them to see or know; they controlled the narrative. The military was keeping something hidden and doing an excellent job of it so far. Minori was determined to figure it out, though. It was clear they were labeling everything as civil unrest to cover up what was really happening, so she scratched that off her list of possibilities. She didn't think it was rioting or random chaos. It was more than just one individual, however, since there were still weird unexplained occurrences still happening.
She remembered what the Major General had said to her; don't go near any of the rioters, or they might mistake her as one of the rioters. Then there were the men in hazmat suits at the house. She knew they would only bring out hazmat suits if they were dealing with something volatile. However, there were no chemical plants nearby.
There were still too many pieces of the puzzle missing to complete it. Minori had the border of the puzzle complete, but still needed the crucial pieces in the middle to understand what they were looking at. She was interrupted by the TV and Hisashi.
“This is a special news bulletin!” The local news anchor sat on the screen, “Hello everyone watching; it seems another group of rioters has laid siege to an apartment building. Reports of around ten rioters took the building and began to attack the residents, and it seems one man tried to escape by jumping from his fifth-floor apartment. The military has since moved into the neighborhood and urged anyone nearby to stay in their homes and to only answer the door for the military. They have also blocked off the streets surrounding the building, so if you are on your way home be careful of traffic. We have an official statement from the Prime Minister that starting at six p.m. tonight Martial Law will be in effect.”
The news anchor paused holding their finger to the earpiece he was wearing, “Just a moment everyone. It seems that the military has just contacted us. The laws in place are that starting at six p.m. and until eight a.m. no one is allowed on the street. The military will be patrolling the city throughout the night to enforce this law. Anyone caught outside during this time frame will have to identify themselves under penalty of being fired upon immediately....” the news anchor stopped, looking beyond the camera, “did I read that correctly?”
“Ok, yes folks, it seems I read that correctly. Please, if you find yourself out at night, identify yourself immediately or be fired upon. The military is following a zero-tolerance policy. They assure us that this is for everyone's protection and that no law-abiding citizen should have anything to fear. If you see or hear anything suspicious, please call your local authorities, the lines are monitored by the military, and they will investigate any possibility of a threat. If you see anyone acting erratically, or they show intent to harm you or others, please don't go near them, stay as far as possible.”
With that, the news anchor signed off and the channel went to a commercial.
“Did you hear that, such an odd thing to announce. Don't go out at night or you might get shot at by the military...” said Nobou trailing off.
“I told you I wasn't paranoid!” Exclaimed Hisashi.
Minori was right, even as the news anchor told the news bulletin, someone from the military was there controlling the narrative. She continued, putting another note on the map and circled the location. It was evident that these attacks were completely random, and not by rioters. So far none of their targets had been political, no government officials or buildings had been targeted, only civilians. She stared at the map willing it to reveal the secret behind it all.
After nothing came to her, she decided to do some research of her own. She pulled out her laptop and connected it to the Wi-Fi the hotel provided. She began to research military laws; specifically, which ones would allow the Martial law to be declared. There wasn't much information, but what she did find was that only in times of high stress on the government could it be declared.
The most noted reason was civil unrest, followed by times of war and invasion. The last one she found was in the case of biological containment. She quickly looked up what it meant. She found a decade old reach theory provided by a professor she had never heard of. The paper stated that if the case of an infectious virus outbreak that the military could declare Martial Law to try to prevent the spread of the virus.
The theory called for the equipping and training of the military to properly handle the situation of a viral outbreak, including quarantine. After Minori read the paper, she found a link stating that a bill had been based on the paper, and it was a law now. It sounded more likely than civil unrest and would explain the secretiveness that the military had hidden everything, an outbreak of some kind wouldn’t be good. The only thing that supported her theory is that no one was allowed near the sites that of the attacks and that the people at the scenes were wearing hazmat suits.
“Guys look at this!” She exclaimed, wanting to show what she had found to them.
They read it, and she could tell by their faces that they were just as receptive as she was of the idea.
“But how could they make sure that no one finds anyone infected with this virus?”
Asked Nobou.
She pointed at the hospital on the map, “Easy. They have control of the one place where they can study, contain, and eliminate the virus. It only makes sense; the hospital is their base of operations, they can allow only those infected inside, and no one would know anything. They also turned away that nurse, remember? I’m sure only doctors willing to go along with the military were allowed to stay so they could keep everything quiet.”
“I knew the civil unrest line they kept shoving down our throats was bullshit! I can't believe that they would lie to us,” said Hisashi.
“They had to...think of the panic that it would create if they openly told the public about a new virus running rampant through the town. I don't think it was the right thing to do at all. I mean why lie to everyone about the virus? It would be better to have everyone informed. People need to know about it, so it doesn’t spread!” she said.
“Are we going to do something about it?” Asked Nobou.
“Of course, it's our job to find the truth. That’s what being a news reporter is all about, telling the public the truth. We need to get some information about the virus, like why the people infected become inherently violent. I just don't know where to start,” she stated.
Hisashi turned towards the door and paced, “I might know a guy would tell us more about what is going on. He always has eyes and ears on what is going on around that neighborhood.”
She smiled, “Well give him a call!”
He left the room, bringing out his phone. Minori closed her laptop and stood up waiting next to the door. After a few minutes, Hisashi entered the room, but she couldn't get a read on him.
“He said he could meet with us tomorrow morning and work out a deal.”
“What kind of deal?” She asked.
Hisashi hesitated, “He normally asks for a bit of money for his troubles of finding information out, but, this time, he wouldn't say a price.”
“We have to pay him?” Asked Nobou, with doubt in his voice.
“If it's money he wants, I will make sure he gets it if he has the information we need,” she said in a serious tone.
Chapter 9
They had slept in shifts, hoping to catch something else on one of the national news channels about the town, but nothing about the town was mentioned. The military had a media blackout about the situation, or else something would have been mentioned. Minori wondered if the military had taken control of the local media, making sure their forced view was secured. When the sun finally rose they all quickly gathered around the TV, awaiting the morning news. It came on late, but there was no mention of anything related to what was happening.
“I think it's time we gave your friend a call,” Minori said to Hisashi.
This time, he didn't leave the room, the phone rang two times before a voice on the other end answered. Hisashi was quick to set up the meeting, “Meet us at the diner near the hotel, be there in half an hour.”
He quickly hung up, and they all promptly grabbed their gear to load into the van. They were down at the truck and ready to go in four minutes. They arrived ten minutes early at the diner, waiting for Hisashi's friend. The waitress came by and took their order, which they all ordered breakfast as to appear less like a meeting.
After waiting for several minutes, a man walked in, he looked a little rough and out of place, his clothes were a bit baggy and made him look unprofessional. He noticed them sitting at their table in the back and walked towards them.
“Is this your friend?” Asked Nobou, judging him by his appearance.
Hisashi nodded, “Yes, that is him.”
The man sat down opposite of Nobou, “Well are you going to introduce me to your friends Hisashi?”
“I'm Minori,” she said uncomfortably, as he stared at her, “And that is Nobou.”
“Toru is the name. I hear you want my help. Hisashi wasn't too specific, but I think I understand what you want.”
She interrupted, “What kind of service can you provide for us?”
He smiled, knowing he had their attention, “I mainly deal with information, helping people know things...for a price...” He stopped talking as a man walked by to sit at a nearby table, “What information are you looking for, I assume something to do with the military showing up.
She leaned forward, whispering, “So, you’re an information broker? I think you can help us out. We think the military is hiding something from us, something bad. We can't get any proof because they seal off any area before anyone knows what has happened. We were hoping you know something about any of those incidents and could enlighten us.”
The waitress returned with their food and asked Toru what he was ordering; without hesitation, he answered, and the waitress left.
“I have bad news for you on the first part. No one has any idea what is going on at any of those military setups. I sent a man to see if he could find anything out, and they arrested him before he even got to the edge of the block. The goods news I have for you is I know one of the military patrol's route. I can take you there just before curfew sets in, and we can wait it out and follow them; it's a foot patrol so it will be easy.”
Nobou stopped looking at Toru and noticed the waitress staring at them all; none of them had touched their food, “Hey, start eating your food, I think the waitress is suspicious.”
They all started to eat their food, except for Toru who sipped his drink. They sat in silence for a minute, before they talked again.
“Won't it be dangerous to follow them? I mean the curfew will be in effect, and if we’re caught they will shoot us,” she said quietly.
“I will be with you, your guide around the area. I know it very well, it won't be a problem to hide. I know the military’s full route, I had a couple of patrols followed in prep for something like this. I can't guarantee that you will find anything during this, however. I want to make that clear,” stated Toru.
Nobou asked with skepticism, “So you want us to pay for a possibility?”
“No. I want you to pay for an opportunity,” Toru said, “Surely you have seen all the missing person reports all about town, I'll be there to make sure that doesn't happen.”
She looked Toru, folding her arms across her chest, “How much?”
“¥750,000,” he said without hesitation.
Nobou choked, “That is a lot of money...”
She knew she could get him to lower the price, “Make it ¥500,000, and you have a deal.”
Toru chuckled, “What makes you think I will lower the price, I'm risking my ass to take you all out at night.”
“The fact that we are the only ones who want to go out into the night and hope we don't get shot at,” she said knowingly, “How many other people do have asking you to take them through the town at night?”
Toru thought about what she said, “Alright, fine. ¥500,000. No lower than that.”
She unfurled her arms and smiled, “Deal!”
The waitress showed up again, but this time with Toru's food. She stared at them for a moment but then went back to her workstation, waiting for more customers to show up. Toru started to eat his food, “Hisashi you still remember where I live?”
Hisashi nodded, “Yes, I do.”
“Good, meet me there an hour before curfew, and make sure you are all wearing darker clothing, we don't want you to stand out.”
They all finished their meals, and Minori paid the waitress, Toru's included, and left to prepare for the night.
✽ ✽ ✽
Once they were back at the hotel, she called her editor to fill him in and see about liquidating some funds to her to pay Toru. The phone rang three times before her editor answered, “Hello?”
“Sir, it's me Minori,” she said.
“Hi, what can I do for you, and how is the investigation going?”
“It's not going as smoothly as I wanted it too, but we have made some substantial progress. There have been several incidents, in which the military has stepped in and sealed off the
area. Not allowing anyone nearby, they have been seen wearing hazmat suits. We think they are trying to cover up an outbreak of some sort spreading throughout the town. We don't have any hard evidence yet, we’re working on it,” Minori said, pausing.
“Why do I feel like there is a but coming?”
“Because we have someone willing to show us what that military is hiding something. There is only one problem; the informant wants us to pay him, because he is risking imprisonment for showing us,” Minori said hopefully.
“Well, if you think it will help bring the story together...the government hasn't been forthcoming with us either, so if you can get what you are saying you can, do it.”
“But I didn't tell you how much it was,” she said surprised and confused.
“I have already set aside ¥5,000,000 in the fund account for you to use. The manager wants this story, and he wants it to be big. Remember this is your shot to move up at the station.”
She was dumbfounded and didn't know what to say.
“Minori? Are you still there?”
She took a deep breath, “Yes, sorry. Thank you. I will make sure to get you the best story I can.”
“Ok, well call me if you have any other problems.”
“Thank you again. Bye.”
She was still shocked at how much they had set aside for her to spend on whatever she needed for the story. The most she had ever been allowed was ¥100,000. Minori knew she had to make sure the story would be ready for her live segment. Deciding that she was going to get the clothes they needed for the night, she grabbed Nobou and Hasashi.
Chapter 10
Stopping at five clothing shops, they bought different clothing at each one. They tried to act normal about the whole thing, since they were purchasing all dark clothing. Playing it safe seemed like a good bet; they didn’t want to raise any alarms, wanting to avoid any military, and remain anonymous before they could pull off their plan.
After they had all their clothing, they headed back to the motel to wait, since it was still early afternoon. They turned on the news and waited, but nothing came up in the news about the town besides the weather. Minori started to wonder if the military had finally stopped the broadcast of any incidents that happened.
What Remains (Book 2): Quarantine Page 3