text: [Themes: horror, horror]
  
  After dropping off my supplies and giving everyone notice, I headed out immediately into the wasteland to try and get some footage for the newspaper. The first goal was getting some sort of slight vantage point, like a building or even some sort of telephone pole I could climb. I wasn't about to miss out on this opportunity.
  
  Nearby I spotted some sort of low-to-the-ground structure, maybe a small house or a large heap of rubble? It was worthy of investigation, so I began jogging over there, feet slapping against the pavement. It was indeed a pile of rubble, and easily climbable. It stood nearly two stories tall, and towered over most of everything in the surrounding area, so I got a great aerial view. With all of the excitement, it was nice to return to what had brought me here in the first place.
  
  My shoe scuffed on something while I was nearly on the edge of an outcrop of stone, almost sending me careening off the edge. I wiped it with a couple fingers. Ash? I suppose it wasn't very out of place among the chaos. Kicking rocks over the edge of the outcropping, I wondered when someone would attempt to recreate a real civilization out of this again, it didn't seem very feasible. The sun was beginning to get low in the sky, however, and I still had a jog back out to the warehouse, so I started climbing back down, taking care not to graze against any of the sharp metal girders or glass.
  
  When I got back there wasn't a whole lot to lay up against in the open space of the warehouse, so I just laid in the middle of the room against my bag, and hoped to get some sleep. The metal structure shook like violent winds were hammering it from all directions, keeping me awake for hours. I don't even remember falling asleep.
  
  "James! Wake up!" My eyes shot open, and were surprised to find it was still very dark outside, through the various glass panels that made up the warehouse. I blinked the spots out of my eyes to reveal Qara's worried face, with Aubrey standing behind her.
  
  "Ugh, what's the problem?"
  
  "Itaki's gone!" My brain stumbled, I didn't quite understand the words that came out of her mouth.
  
  "What do you mean, how is he gone?"
  
  "Like, Aubrey and I fell asleep right next to him and he's completely gone. We already tried looking around the building, and outside. We didn't find anything."
  
  "Is it possible he went out exploring somewhere or something?" She rolled her eyes.
  
  "He's like sixty years old, and a complete homebody, no, I don't think he went exploring." I frowned and told them to wake up the others. She was right, he'd never step foot outside the group to save his life. I got up, back aching from sleeping on concrete, and took a quick look around. Most of the crew was still asleep, and there was no sign of any of the other scavengers, apart from the two guards at the door. If there was anyone who'd know where Itaki went, it'd be one of them.
  
  Ogasawara awoke like a bear poked with a stick when told the news, rushing right past me and towards the door, where the two guards stood awkwardly. They shrunk back before him as he yelled, pointing out towards the wasteland and grabbing the lapel of one of them. He yelped quickly in response, and took several steps back, shredding his coat. He yelled back at us.
  
  "He says Itaki left last night while we were asleep! Said he's headed for Tokyo, couldn't wait any longer." He went back to questioning the man, who appeared quite confused. Ogasawara made a sound of exasperation and shoved him to the ground, and came back, beginning to pack up his bag. "He might've gone back to the ship first, I need to get out there and find him. And even if he didn't, there's something shifty about these scavenger guys. I'm out of here. If any of you want to join me, you're free to come along."
  
  > stay with the others
  I shook my head, if he wanted to go hunt after the old man, that was his prerogative. Instead we watched as he went, Itaki's oldest friend, out into the night like a madman to find him. Even Aubrey stayed behind, realizing the futility of it. As he wrenched open the metal door to the outside, the guards begged him not to leave, but he wasted no time disappearing from view. The door slammed shut, and our group huddled tighter still, as two of our number awaited an unknown fate in the town of Miyazaki.
  
  The hours that passed before sunrise were tense with the idea of regret. I considered fleeing into the night several times, however, Dr. Blythe's steady hand on my shoulder grounded me to reality. When the first rays of the new morning pierced the ceiling of the warehouse, we were out in the rubble, searching and yelling. Neither Itaki or Ogasawara could be found, neither at the ship, or around the warehouse. Even Ogasawara's footsteps, which seemed to lead towards the ship, completely disappeared about halfway there. I hardly spent any time taking photos, fully invested in searching for our team. It wasn't until midday that we returned to the shelter, defeated.
  
  The way I saw it, there were only a few possibilities. Either Itaki had really left on his own, the crew had done something to him, or these new scavengers had grabbed him. Dr. Blythe seemed to be in agreement.
  
  "The only thing that keeps me thinking is how someone could've possibly moved Itaki without anyone noticing. Honestly, I think he left on his own." he concluded.
  
  I wasn't quite as sure as he was, but he made a good point. My primary suspect was the new scavengers, who'd we just met the day before. They could move rather stealthily from what I had seen, but they had no motivation.
  
  "Occam's razor?" came Qara's voice from behind, "I don't see a whole lot wrong with the explanation we were given. Itaki's desperate to get home."
  
  "That still doesn't explain Ogasawara's footprints fading off randomly." I added.
  
  "You saw how windy it was last night, good chance something just wiped them away. After going back to the boat, he probably just headed north after Itaki."
  
  I felt a mounting pressure, as the prospect of someone else disappearing the next night began to wear on my mind. What would I do if Dr. Blythe disappeared next? Was I just being paranoid? I slumped against the wall, exhausted, the fatigue in my muscles finally setting in from our entire journey. I could question the scavengers, but who knows how they'd react at such an accusation, especially after already explaining themselves; I'd come off as a crazy person. On the flip side, I couldn't imagine the crew kidnapping Itaki, for any reason, except maybe as revenge for Captain Li Qiang.
  
  > question the Scavengers
  I got up off the ground, a lot more suddenly violent than I might have intended, casting Qara and Dr. Blythe aside.
  
  "James, wait, let's talk about this!"
  
  I felt the anger Ogasawara must have felt, rushing towards the gates where the two guards lounged. I wasn't nearly as large as Ogasawara had been, but I was definitely a head taller than them. I grabbed the shoulders of the nearest one, slamming him into the metal doorframe.
  
  "You'd better start talking, now. You've been nothing but silent and shady since we've gotten here and even if you didn't do anything to him, you just let him wander off into the night? What kind of stupid ass decision was that?" He stared at you, a mixture of shock, anger, and confusion mixing on his young face. Shit, he doesn't speak any English. He yelled at me, shoving me back onto the concrete, taking out his machete and twirling it once as a warning.
  
  Fire burned in my eyes, and I lunged with my hands outstretched, eager to take his head off. Unsurprisingly, charging an armed survivor of the apocalypse with two fists versed in the rule of thirds and blue belt jiu jitsu was not the brightest plan. I snagged his wrist, catching him off guard, slamming it against the side of the shelter with enough force to nearly completely crush it. There was a loud snap, and he dropped the blade, yelling. His wrist immediately swelled up and the other guard started coming towards me, but he waved him off. The other guy nodded, smiling, and put his weapon away.
  
  He shredded his trench coat, revealing a lean but muscular build, the kind you'd see on a well-known martial arts badass. While he raised both of his wrists slowly, I realized I had a good chance of getting my ass beat. The machete was right behind him though, and if I could just...
  
  The world spun, and my head collided with something hard, blacking out my vision. I wasn't even sure what hit me. What I was sure of, however, was the sickening crack of plastic, metal, and glass crushed against my hip. My camera, completely destroyed. The pain and splotches in my vision vanished, replaced by red. He stood unfazed, a single foot still suspended in the air, mocking me. I lunged again, this time ducking his kick and reaching out for his throat desperately. He brought his foot down seamlessly, and sidestepped, thrusting a heel into my ribcage.
  
  Something definitely snapped this time, and I fell to the ground, only to begin getting up immediately. Unfortunately for me, or perhaps fortunately, he wasted no time with a follow up kick, this one smashing into the side of my neck like a battering ram and sending my skull into a large piece of concrete, where it bounced off with a hollow noise. The head can take only so much trauma, and the last thought I had was the realization I could no longer move my fingers.