Memories In Ink

Chapter Four: Nihon no mezame

My focus on my journal came to an abrupt end as I heard footsteps echoing, advancing in my direction. I quickly threw the notebook under the bed and lay there completely still. Although I'd just read about half of this past year, I was already starting to lose my grip with reality. I could no longer remember my name once more, although, I was hoping Sarah's name I wouldn't forget. As the footsteps got closer, I could hear the distinct metallic jingle of the keys in the soldiers hands. As I lay there, I asked myself: "Who's Sarah? Why would I need to remember that name?" The door let out a loud click as it was unlocked. The door swung open, meeting the wall allowing the movement to cease. The footsteps slowly got closer, as I lay there, my heart beating out of my chest. The footsteps stopped. I took a deep breath of relief but it soon ended as I was forcefully grabbed by a small hand, gripping my shirt collar. He yanked me up and slammed me against the wall. "You stupid Commie!" I screamed at him. The Japanese soldier looked at me in disgust. "You must work!" He screamed as he held his tension on me, his screams echoing through the brick walls.
He dropped me. As I hit the ground, the force of my landing formed a wake of dust to rise up into the sunlight. "Stand!" The Japanese soldier said as I struggled to stand up. The soldier grabbed my right forearm and jerked me up with full force, triggering every nerve in my body. The soldier cuffed me and walked me out of the cell. Walking through the corridor I could see other prisoners, unable to recognize any of them, I didn't try to make eye contact. Another soldier stood at the exit door, staring viciously at me. "Tell he to come!" The soldier screamed as he jerked me outside into the fresh open air.
The sunlight gleamed into my eyes, almost making me want to live again. I followed the soldier to a small wooden shack, poorly designed. On my way to the shack, I noticed a sign, but it was in Japanese so I was unable to tell where I was at. The soldier kept pulling me viciously with his hands on the chains of the shackles. The soldier opened the door and shouted: "Go down shaft and work!" Without thinking I spit in his face. He shoved me against the wooden shack, my face on fire with splinters protruding into my skin. He then walked me over to an elevator and lowered it down.
The slow, whir of the elevator droned within the shaft. The soldier muttered something under his breath in Japanese. As the shaft lowered, the more the daylight was absent, taking time for my eyes to adjust I could not see very well. The vision in my left eye seemed faint, it could have been from being slammed against the wall too hard, but I didn't care, I didn't even want to live. I did not know who I was, or where I was, I just wanted to die.
The elevator made its way to the bottom of the shaft, emitting a sharp squeal as the doors opened. The soldier shoved me out of the elevator and unlocked my shackles. As soon as my hand was free, I reared back and gave the soldier a hard left hook, knocking him to the ground. I looked around and found a pickaxe and picked it up. I hammered the soldiers face in, blow by blow, each time the pick met him, the more the blood began to fly. Streams of blood glistened in the dimly lit mine. I must have hit him a good seven times before another soldier tried to hold me back. He grabbed my neck and held me up, lifting me off of the hard rock floor. I suddenly had a glimpse of memory, almost as if I remembered someone once teaching me how to fight. Suddenly my senses came back to me and I bent my leg backward, allowing my boot to meet his crotch. The soldier fell, his hands ripped away from my neck as I slammed my right boot into his leg, emitting a large cracking sound that echoed off of the walls. The soldier fell on to a sharp rock, causing him to gash the back side of his head wide open, pouring thick red blood onto the ground, trailing around obstacles like a river. I could hear footsteps behind me as I grabbed the dead soldiers knife. As I stood up in the dimly lit room, I could hear the screams of a soldier running full force at me. As he approached me, I ducked, grabbed his right arm, used my other arm as a fulcrum and flipped him on his back. I got on top of him, holding him down. He screamed in Japanese as I was holding the knife to his throat. He kicked me in my crotch, but I held my focus. The dust and dense cool air circled around us as we strained. Suddenly the soldier grabbed the knife and threw it against the wall. My options dwindled down to zero. I then had another vision of the same man teaching me how to go for his eyes. I gained senses again and shoved my fingers into his right eye as hard as I could. I could feel the cold eyeball give into my fingers as the soldier screamed in bloody murder. The screams I couldn't hear, the only thing I could hear was a ringing in my ears. I kept pushing into his eye socket as blood began pouring out, I kept pushing in until his eye was the consistency of jelly. The soldier kicked and screamed as blood began to run out of his eye socket. I held pressure, grunting with all of my might until the soldiers screams faded, and his body went limp. I shot up quickly, grabbed the soldiers rifle, and ran to the elevator.
As the elevator slowly rose, the sound of my breathing filled the cage, my mind was on fire, my crotch was throbbing in pain, but I had to keep pushing. The elevator doors screeched open as the light poured into the dim shaft. I clutched the Type 11 machine gun in my hand as the doors opened completely. There was absolute silence within the camp, I couldn't understand why I didn't hear alarms and sirens of all kinds. A dragon fly flew past me, startling me as I peaked my head around the corner of the shack. I clutched the rifle in my hand and began to move. The wind picked up and rushed heat into my face, causing my breath to thin out as I kept running for my cell. The only thing I could focus on was the thud of my boots hitting the Japanese soil. I was going back for my journal, I did not want to leave my memories behind. As I approached the cell, I noticed a soldier standing by the door, chattering on his radio frantically. I wiped my nose and took a deep breath, looking for cover amongst the camp. I crept up to the side of the building adjacent to the guard. I let out a loud distinct whistle to capture his attention in the afternoon sunlight. The soldier shut the radio off and looked up. He slowly crept my way as I clutched the Type 11 in my hand. As the soldier rounded the corner I grabbed his mouth and wrapped my other hand around his neck. He kicked hard as the dust trailed up around us, causing me to cough. I grabbed his neck and jerked it hard to the left until I heard a crack. The soldier fell limp to the ground. I grabbed his body and drug him into a bush so no other guards would see. I peered around the corner of the building, the gate unlatched partially. I slowly tracked forward, easing my way up into the building. It was silent, no guards. I ran to my cell and grabbed my journal. Without having keys, I was unable to unlock the other prisoners. I gave the cell one last glance and sprinted out into the foreign air, breathing heavily. I went back over to the soldier's corpse, finding a map on him. I opened the map and laid it down on the grass. I scanned the map frantically looking for an escape plan, and then I saw it. A dirt airfield was just up the road, but I had to be stealthy. I noticed a small grass valley I could cut through to save some time. I quickly folded the map up and headed north of the camp.
I clutched the Type 11 as I waded through the slopped mixture of mud and grass. My clothes were torn to pieces, as a result, mud filled my boots instantly. I crossed the swamp of a shortcut and sprinted to the back side of the building, catching my breath. I peered around the corner and noticed three men standing around a plane. The men were arguing about something, shouting in Japanese. The two men disagreed about something, one of them threw a wrench at the plane, then walked off screaming. The other soldier followed him along. The lone soldier stood there, reading a clipboard. Possibly instructions on how to repair the plane? I didn't have time to think about it, I need to climb on board that plane and get the hell out of Japan. I went to move around the corner when a sharp stabbing pain formed behind my left eye. I dropped to my knees, clutching my eye socket and quietly moaning. The pain was so fierce I couldn't think. As I dropped to me knees, the Type 11 slipped out of my hand and slammed on the ground, causing it to fire off a round into the trees. The blast echoed into the mountains, drawing the soldiers attention. I gained my sanity and got back up behind the wall, my eye throbbing from pain. I peered around the corner to see the lone soldier heading my way. I braced myself, ready to take him down. The dust picked up to the left of the building, fading into the air, this told me he was close. As he was almost completely beside me I reached my arms out and wrapped one arm around his neck. He struggled as he tried to kick me, but I dodged it and grabbed his knife, putting it through the back side of his knee. I covered his mouth to muffle the screams of pain. I eased my face down to his ear and asked: "Does the plane run?" He muttered in Japanese frantically. I covered his mouth once more, feeling his hot breath and wet tongue against the palm of my hand. "Does the plane run?!" I asked sternly in a quiet manner. "Y-yes!" The solder said in broken English. "Good." I replied. I pulled the knife out of his right knee and placed it up to his throat. "No! D-don't kill!" The soldier pleaded. "Too late." I said as I pulled the sharp knife along his neck, causing a geyser of blood to spray out in front of him. The metallic smell of his blood filled my nostrils as he dropped dead. I quickly grabbed the Type 11 and sprinted to the plane. The dust blew sharp past me as I trotted over the the plane. As I reached the cabin of the plane, the blare of a siren violently swept the camp. I hopped in the plane and shut the window. I frantically looked around, but everything was in Japanese. Suddenly the sharp pain behind my eye came back with force. The pain was so fierce I bowed my head and buried it in my arms  As I doubled over in pain, my elbow bumped the starter switch. The plane engine hit twice and died out. Someone had left all of the switches on. I fumbled around with my one good eye to guess which switch was the fuel primer. I fumbled switches until I heard a distinct whir of a small motor. That was it! I held the primer and pulled the choke to my left. The plane instantly roared to life. I grabbed the seat harness and began strapping it on. As I looked up, I noticed the soldiers coming over the horizon. I quickly ditched the harness and increased the throttle on the plane. I had never flown a plane, and my memory was starting to fade once more, but I was clinging onto my hope. The planes engine roared louder as it got up to speed. The plane began to taxi as I frantically tried to steer it. The planes wheels picked up speed along the dirt runway, emitting a giant cloud of dust in my wake. I kept increasing throttle, the plane was now even with the runway and beginning to lift up. As I began to lift the plane up into the air, a sharp, painful buzzing filled the cab. I searched for a light frantically, a small red light was flashing by what appeared to be the fuel gauge. As I tilted my head to use my good eye, through the fogged glass I could see the needle in the fuel gauge. Empty. The planes engine suddenly began to cut out. "No, no, no!" I screamed as I tried to keep picking the plane up. The plane suddenly came to a stop, jolting me forward into the dash. Everything went black.
I awoke instantly, unsure of where I was. I looked around with my one good eye to see I was back in my cell. I began to scream, as loud as I could. I screamed at the top of my lungs. Suddenly a guard came running. The soldier opened my cell door and grabbed me by the leg, pulling me on the ground, causing my head to hit the frame of the cot. "You! You bad! Don't read Japanese so well huh?!" He screamed in a sarcastic manner. I looked at him with the most anger I'd ever held in my life. I began to get dizzy as I looked at him with fury. The guard got right down into my face, his breath reeked of raw fish. "You won't leave here, you will die here. Welcome to hell!" The soldier said in a quiet, taunting manner. The guard quickly shot up and walked out of the cell door. As he grabbed the big metal barred door, he turned to me. "If you do that again, you will be beaten to death!" The soldier gave me a smug grin and shut the door, locking it behind him.
I lay there for hours, too sore to move, my head erupting in pain, and my memory shot. When I finally got up, I couldn't remember why I was mad. I reached into my pocket, and to my amazement, the black journal remained there. I sighed in relief as I lay back down on the cot. I began to open the book, but my thought process was interrupted by something. "Psst! Hey! Over here!" I looked across the corridor to see another prisoner, motioning me to come forward in the dim light. I eased up off of the bed, slowly moving in pain, shooting pain all over my body. As I approached the door, the man on the other side spoke. "What you did was mighty brave! If you got the keys, we could all get out of here!" I looked in confusion, as I did not know this man. "Why would I do that?" I asked him as I had a puzzled expression on my face. The mans face was barely visible, but I could somehow see his facial expression. The man looked completely heart broken as he continued speaking. "You don't remember me?? It's me, George!" I looked at the man in confusion. "I'm-I'm sorry but I don't know who you are." He replied while clutching the bars of his door with force. "Yes you do! We were in basic together! Come on Everett!" That name didn't have any significance to me, so I stood there, puzzled. "I don't know who you're trying to find, but I ain't him." I replied as I slowly walked back to my cot. The man let out a soft sigh. I eased back down into the bed, looking out of the window. Two birds flew past the window, playfully fighting in the evening air. I clutched my head as it was throbbing. I picked up my journal, and began reading my life once more.