Then explosions sounded nearer, the sound waves seeming to cascade over their frames over and over again, Nao forcing his eyes open in dread, his breath held as their frames shuddered with every blast. Glimpsing the burning vehicles, he gasped as he saw the writhing bodies of soldiers, Morgon artillery having fallen upon the advancing column. Several shattered bodies were still, his eyes straining as he saw the blood splattered tarmac and then further, seemingly glutinous pools of green liquid, the vision distorted as if heat was beating down on the cement, his instinctive thoughts to dismiss the initial conclusion.
His eyes widened further as he glimpsed bodies desperately fighting to remove armour and uniforms, scorched chests and legs emerging as the figures struggled with acid soaked uniforms, many falling onto the tarmac in terrified agonising panic.
Staring further, he watched other soldiers attempting to find cover, darting into side streets, behind bins and abandoned vehicles, another gasp coming from his lips as he saw the thin green wisped streaks across the sky, the projectiles falling towards the military unit. The explosions sent small spiralling green clouds upwards, numerous infantrymen falling as splatters splashed against their uniforms, the distant figures rolling and shaking in overwhelming pain as they desperately attempted to escape the biting acid.
Staring further, the breath caught in his throat, the burning skyscrapers and heavy smoke plumes virtually obscuring the skyline of the city he knew and loved. His eyes following the lines that broke through clouds and made the smoke swirl in their wake, realising an air battle had commenced, his eyes widening further as he saw the burst of flame across one of the building fronts, a fighter shot down by Morgon rockets. Further detonations followed across buildings and streets as mortar rounds swept high into the city from the fish market, Morgon batteries targeting the Japanese defence forces.
Naomitsu Kanaya gritted his teeth, feeling his stomach twist painfully in rising terror, hands grasping his mother tightly as he pulled her upwards, his shouts going unheard, ‘We need to leave…all is lost here! Tokyo is lost!’
He turned, half supporting his shaking and defeated mother, dragging their bodies forward before stumbling, his bloodshot eyes straining through the swirling smoke towards the western horizon, the sky full of parachutes.
United States Marines and paratroopers along with their Japanese and allied equivalents from Guam were dropping from low flying Hercules transport aircraft, his head shaking in disbelief and shock as he pulled his mother towards the next junction, frantic car horns echoing around the throng of civilians ahead.
Little did the young teenager know, for the first time in unprecedented history, further to the north and south, one unit of South Korean and several brigades of Chinese soldiers were parachuting towards Japanese soil, his government’s desperate appeals for any military assistance that could be made available gaining the ultimate response…the time for resistance was now.
Chapter Seven: Western United States
A World in Peril
Death Valley, Western United States
Brad Zeiss gunned the motorcycle engine, waving to the green station wagon behind to wait, the two women staring warily through the dust coated windscreen, the bike roaring forward and into billowing dust clouds, towards the source of distant gunshots. The rising wind rattled the doors, the car swaying as further dislodged dirt from the surrounding mountains clattered across the bonnet and roof, the ferocious churning dust clouds sweeping inland from a devastated coastline.
Biting her lower lip, Emily gasped in rising fear, ‘It’s all falling apart…people are becoming savages in fear…’ She gestured a shaking hand towards the swirling dust ahead, ‘Will he be alright? He is only a boy…’
Katherine turned briefly next to her, glancing at the wide eyed children in the back seats and smiling reassuringly, ‘He is a young man of considerable courage…someone I think we need to survive.’ She smiled further as the girl behind sniffed, her young brother resting an arm across his sister’s shoulders in comfort as the doors rattled once more, both innocent eyes staring at their new friend as she whispered, ‘Perhaps we will move forward slowly…we may be able to help him.’
Glancing back, she smiled once more, seeing another vehicle emerge from the swirling dust behind, the pickup truck drawing alongside and jolting to a halt, the side window lowering as a middle aged man smiled in surprise at her, looking across the other passengers. His face worn with tiredness, he seemed to speak briefly before turning back to face them.
Her own window lowered slowly, Katherine strained her eyes against the dust, the older man grimacing as he nodded, a worried female’s face emerging from behind him, two German Shepherd dog’s heads rising to stare out in curiosity from the smaller back seat. Shouting as he coughed, the man’s eyes strained once more, ‘Ma’am…ladies…good to meet someone else on the road. I think most people are ahead of us…’ He coughed once more, raising the window slightly, ‘There are very few behind on this route…the visibility is getting worse. I think most went for the highways…they are clogged with traffic…’ He indicated towards the centre of his truck, ‘We received a short wave message saying the enemy are bombing the main roads and towns behind us…that’s why we chose the mountains, they won’t be able to see us in this dust.’ The man stiffened, ‘The western seaboard is gone…there is nothing to stop them now, we need to keep moving.’
Katherine shook her startled head in rising doubt, ‘Where will we go?’
The man grimaced, shaking his head, ‘Further inland…we have adequate supplies in the back of the truck if you wish to join us? We also have a small cabin further north…remote and easy
