text: [Themes: horror]
  
  With the decision made, we set off towards the Shinagawa District. Ogasawara had some old-world map that he was following, that I doubted the integrity of, but we were setting up red strings along the route we were following regardless. We'd be able to make it back in once piece. I took some rushed pictures of the city, a shot of the splintered skyscrapers, bent, warping, and taking everything with them along the ride. We had to make several detours when enough debris built up to block our path.
  
  The landscape painted stories for me, stories of men and women who'd tried to run from the inevitable. How could I not see them? Their shadows were seared into the rubble, reminders of a darker time. Each one a life, and each one reduced to nothing more than a stain.
  
  It was surprisingly sweltering, and I found myself stopping frequently to lean up against the rubble; we had no protection from the harsh sun. Itaki kept walking out of sheer determination, keeping us all in toe like ducklings.
  
  We reached the border of Shinagawa District just as the sun touched the horizon, and unanimously agreed it was time to find a place to rest. There were a few apartment complexes nearby, that looked relatively put together, or we could set up the tent in a wide open space, to avoid anything potentially collapsing on us.
  
  > take shelter in the apartments
  The apartments seemed like a pretty solid idea, so we headed over to the nearest one, a two-story (remaining) complex with faded pink walls. The stairs were completely destroyed, not that we'd trust the second floor regardless, so we set up in the lobby. The walls basked in the orange light that flooded through the cracks in the walls, illuminating the room to resemble the inside of a pumpkin. It was one part cozy and two parts disturbing, at least in my eyes. We'd packed plenty of tarps and blankets, and laid strewn about the room in various nooks and corners. I chose a slab of concrete that was laying up against the wall, better than sleeping on my back.
  
  We kept one of the handheld lantern lights on in the middle of the room, and it kept us company in return, leading us to sleep with its comforting glow.
  
  I woke up in a sweat and complete darkness, a faint breeze tickling my cheek. It was cold, far too cold for May. The batteries on the lantern must've sputtered out, predictable, but it gave the entire room a far more eerie feel. I rustled in my blankets, trying to get comfortable against the concrete slab; it would be much harder now that I'd already slept. Having walked all day, I'd practically collapsed earlier.
  
  I decided to get up and walk around a little, perhaps getting a little exercise in was what I'd need to get back to sleep properly. I threw my windbreaker on and walked outside, into the streets. It was strange to think that there were no humans within hundreds of miles of where we were. At least, I'd hoped there weren't. Stars shined in the night sky, like hundreds of pairs tiny beady eyes, watching and waiting. It was a bit unnerving to be standing so exposed. The rubble could have held anything, any number of threats. Some of it seemed to move now, shifting in the wind, or was that just my imagination?
  
  No, something was definitely there, crawling underneath the sprawling rebar, gnashing its teeth in anticipation. That's what I was hearing, at least. I pulled out a pocket knife and could suddenly hear the subtle differences between the wind and the creature within the rubble. A pair of bright eyes suddenly sprung up in the gaps of the concrete, tracking my movement. It made not a sound, but instead crept closer, the sound of its footsteps noticeably distinguishable. Wasting no more time, it started to run at me, and I flinched.
  
  It was a small, grey rabbit. It approached me delicately, taking time to check its surroundings by smelling them before getting closer. Upon reaching my hand out, it scattered, running like a bullet through the open landscape of the concrete jungle.
  
  I let out a long, deep sigh; my imagination was running away from me. I'd only been in this wasteland for a day and already the effects were starting to show. It was time to get back to sleep, so I headed back for the apartment building.
  
  I picked my head in through the doorway; the room seemed to lack the same human presence that it had had before. Perhaps some of the men had left? I strolled inside, trying to make out everybody amongst the darkness. Nearly all of the men that were by the entrance had disappeared, perhaps too restless to sleep like I've been. Some rustling noises came from the right side of the room, where I'd been sleeping. I'd only been sleeping a few feet away from my group, so I decided to wake someone up, these things were getting to me.
  
  I stumbled half-blind to my spot, and then a little further to where Ogasawara was surely passed out, but my fingers hit nothing but blanket. Had he left too? I would've certainly run into someone by now, had I gotten the building wrong? No, no, there were blankets here, I was in the right place. I pinched myself and moved on to the others, all completely empty blankets, on one of them my hands came up dirty, stained completely black. Was this soot?
  
  I started to panic, grabbing the blankets and throwing them across the room in frustration. I yelled out:
  
  "Hey! Anyone here? People are fucking missing!"
  
  No answer.
  
  No, there was an answer, only slightly delayed. A sifting sound assaulted my eardrums, like sand grinding against wood, and my feet began to look fuzzy. There was a strange gripping feeling on my feet, like they'd been ensnared, and I struggled against the feeling, tugging my feet free and running outside again. It was even darker than before, the stars that had been there before were now blacked out, as if a swarm of locusts had eclipsed the earth. Something seized my arm roughly from within the darkness, but I didn't have the eyesight to determine what it was, only that it was making my skin feel very... dry. It was painful, like having chapped lips along your entire hand.
  
  I tugged away helplessly, shouting as tears welled up in my eyes. It couldn't end like this, alone in some wasteland in Japan. I jerked my hand free and went to cradle the burning skin, only to realize there was hardly anything of my hand left to cradle. It felt bumpy, raw, and worn down like someone had chiseled it into a point. I cried in disbelief, and sunk to my knees; that's when more of it seized me. The top of my head, my other arm, my legs, were all pinned down by the coarse darkness. I melted away into the night, doomed to become another one of the shadows on the walls.