The Train of the Dead

Chapter One

"Michael, hurry up!"

Michael Barker groaned as he heard his father calling to him. He quickened his pace as he followed his family down the mountain, almost stumbling over logs in his path. As he turned the corner to catch up with them, his coat snagged against a tree branch. He tugged it away, watching as a tear appeared in the collar.

"I'm so exhausted," Michael complained, adjusting his rucksack over his shoulder. "Can't we take a break?"

"You're such a baby," his younger sister Akira taunted, sticking her tongue out at him.

Actually, she was his half sister. That was why they had completely different names. Her full name was Akira Miyamoto. It didn't feel right to call her his sister. They both had pale skin and brown eyes, but she had straight, jet black hair and the same last name from both of her parents, while Michael had wavy light brown hair and the last name from his mother. And both of her parents were with her on their trip to Japan, while Michael's mother was back home.

It was Michael's first time visiting Japan, the country his father came from. He knew he should've been more excited, but he had quickly gotten bored with all the sights and sounds of Tokyo. He could've been having a nice, peaceful time indoors with his mom right now, not sludging up and down a mountain. But she had insisted that he should join his father and half sister on their annual trip to Japan.

"It'll be a nice chance for you to reconnect with your home country," she had said. "And get to know your father and sister better."

Michael had complained and protested, but she had insisted. He didn't want to know his father and half sister – or his home country. As far as he was concerned, they might as well not be related. He had only met them a handful of times, and while his stepmother had been polite enough, his father had been distant and his little sister had been annoying – but he supposed that was normal. Michael had felt left out for the entire trip so far. He didn't even have the same last name as them. He felt like a guest instead of a relative.

"Hurry up, Michael," Mr. Miyamoto snapped as Michael finally caught up with him. "What's wrong with you? You're going so slow."

"Well, I didn't want to climb up a mountain!" Michael grumbled, leaning down to pick up a glove that had fallen off his hand. "I told you to just let me stay at our hotel."

"You've been staying at our hotel for the entire trip, dear," Mrs. Miyamoto pointed out while raising her camera to snap yet another photo of the natural scenery surrounding the rocky path. "You need to get out once in a while. Appreciate the beauty of the country."

"I can appreciate it by looking at the pamphlets," Michael muttered.

His father frowned at him. He wasn't cruel, but he could be impatient and distant. Michael hadn't called him Dad once. He didn't call him anything. It felt wrong. "You've never been here before, and you're not interested in looking around? This is the country where you came from."

You mean, the country where you came from, Michael thought. But he knew better than to say it.

"Why couldn't we have taken the chair lifts?" Michael asked instead, staring with envy past the trees at the people in chair lifts overhead. A few of them were even waving to the hikers down below while progressing much faster down the mountain. Almost mockingly, Michael thought. "It would've been much faster and easier."

"It's a more fulfilling experience to walk," Mr. Miyamoto replied. "Besides, it's much cheaper."

"Don't worry, honey. We're almost done," Mrs. Miyamoto assured, smiling at Matthew. She was much nicer, but Matthew still felt distant from her. She just reminded him that his real mother was at home. "And once we finish, we won't have to walk anymore. We'll take a train to Minato City."