The Sound Empress: Chapter 13
Brief synopsis: A typhoon is heading in the general direction of Japan. Nari and Kari are doing their best to return home before the storm hits. It's expected to be a big one...
The next morning, as we were packing our bags for the ride back home, we had the news on. Apart from the Fukuoka local news, which we didn’t really care too much for, as we don’t live here on a permanent basis, there were two bits of news that caught our eye.
The first bit of news was coming straight from the city of Tokyo, as yet another riot initiated by the Korean Origin Force occurred. This riot in fact affected the government, as one representative and a press secretary were seriously injured in the proceedings. Only God knows how much time the emperor has before he gets involved…
The second one, which is perhaps more urgent to us, had to do with the tropical system churning in the western Pacific Ocean. The system, now named Typhoon Akanji, had moved fairly quickly since the last time we saw the system. It had become significantly stronger and more organized, with 145 kph peak winds and a distinct large eye visible in satellite imagery. It is expected to become a bit stronger and directly strike central Honshu in about three days. Watches and warnings were issued throughout the country, and the newscasters urged us to expedite preparatory actions.
Of course, for us to do that, we would need to return home first. I hope that the company that runs the train line didn’t shut down service.
We rushed to get all our bags packed, and then we returned to the main lobby of the hotel, to return our room key. As we had slept in after we stayed up for a good chunk of the night sightseeing, we only just managed to get the key returned before we would have been charged for another night at the hotel. After doing this, we proceeded out of the hotel, and headed towards the Hakata train station.
The streets were absolutely packed today, as people were trying to make last minute purchases to prepare for the typhoon. We could see people with wood, nails, large amounts of foodstuffs, medicine, and batteries. Clearly people were taking this storm seriously, even if the storm isn’t going to be directly hitting this region. And yet, here we are, walking as if nothing is going to happen…
Upon reaching the train station, there was a message printed on the large LED screens in the lobby:
“Note: Due to the approach of Typhoon Akanji, which will bring heavy rains and winds to the area, the last train heading towards Tokyo will be leaving at 12:37 pm. The last train coming from Tokyo will arrive here at 5:02 pm. For local traffic, the train station will be closed for service at midnight. Please do not seek refuge from the storm here. Instead, either bunker down in your homes, evacuate to higher ground, or move to a designated storm shelter.”
We looked at our phones. The time read 11:47 am.
“Whew, we almost got stuck here. We can make it on the last train heading towards Tokyo, and then we can make it back home to make our preparations.”
We then bought our tickets for the train. As we still had some time before the train would come, we decided to get some food and enjoy it, so that we would be full for the ride home. We took our time to properly savor the food.
After we finished, we checked the time again. It read 12:30 pm. Time for us to head to the platform to board the train. We walked down the stairs to the main platform, the same platform that we were on two days prior when we first made it to Fukuoka. Here, there weren't too many people. I presumed most visitors that are here would just stay a few extra days to wait out the storm, and then once everything opens back up again, then they would leave the area.
The time slowly ticked forward. I was getting quite anxious. Would the train come?
12:34 pm. Three minutes to the train’s scheduled arrival. I could feel my legs tense up.
12:35 pm. Two minutes to the scheduled arrival time. My hands started to feel clammy. I could feel the blood flowing around my healing wound in my left hand.
12:36 pm. One minute to go. I could feel myself entering fight or flight. I felt like I could outrun the train.
And then, 12:37 pm. The train should be here any moment. But I couldn’t see it coming down the track from the south.
“Please don’t tell me the train service has been canceled already, or we missed it…” I thought to myself.
Now, the train was late. It was now 12:38 pm. Time continued to creep forward, although I thought time was slowed down to a crawl. Where in the world is this train?
My sense of hearing became quite heightened. I could literally hear everyone on the platform, waiting for this train to come. I couldn’t quite focus on one person’s conversation, I could only hear the cacophony of everyone. It was beginning to overwhelm me…
And then, two minutes after that, at 12:40 pm, I could hear the squealing of the train’s brakes. The train was about to make its stop.
Now, after a few more moments, the train had made a complete stop at the platform. The doors of all the passenger cars opened up sequentially. Now I ran onto the car that was closest to me with my luggage, leaving Nari in the dust.
Nari eventually found where I was sitting, and came to me. She passed her luggage with mine, and then she sat down right next to me. She was a bit worried that I bolted on her:
“You need to be careful. You could have fallen onto the tracks below and you could’ve been crushed by the approaching train.”
“Sorry,” I replied, “but I was getting quite anxious on the platform, as the train was running late. I want to get out of here as quickly as possible, so that I can take the appropriate precautions to safeguard myself and my propert… I mean, the property that the government has provided for me in these circumstances.”
“It’s okay, but there was nothing you could do to make it come faster.” She added: “We are on the train now, and that’s all that matters. Now we can relax.”
Now the train doors closed, and the train lurched forward. Now, we just sit back, and wait for our stops.
When we got to Mihara, which was a good hour and a half after we departed from Fukuoka, Nari said something to me:
“When we get to Yokohama station, we will get off the train. I will exit the station to head to my car, which I left by the station. You will remain in the station and wait for a Toyoko line train to come to the station, which will take you to Hanno Station. Then once you get there, then it will be a straight shot back up to your village. If by some chance the train service in Tokyo has stopped, then call me right away. Wait right outside the station, and then I will come back and pick you up. Then I will take you directly to your home. Understood?”
“I understand,” I said submissively.
The rest of the train ride was in silence, save for the occasional stop in which people came off and on the train. There weren’t too many people coming on or off the train at each of the stops, and the train was pretty lightly loaded.
Upon reaching Yokohama station, plenty of people were waiting on the platform to get on this train. There was no one on the other side of the platform, although I wasn’t sure why. We took our stuff out of the overhead storage and made our way out of the train. People were coming in and out of the train like two separate waves, albeit they were far away from each other.
I was looking around to see what the schedule was for the other lines coming into or out of the station, when, all of a sudden, Nari spoke to me, scaring me a little:
“Jung!”
I turned to her. She then said:
“Looks like this will be a goodbye. See you soon, and stay safe in the storm.”
“Same, goodbye.”
At this point Nari went up the escalator to exit the station. I took the elevator that connected this platform to the main floor of the train station, and then I looked around for a schedule. There were a few notes that were on the screens:
“The train will stop running at 5 am tomorrow morning to prepare the station for the upcoming typhoon. Please try to return to your homes as soon as possible. Do not seek refuge here. Instead, seek refuge in your house, or seek an evacuation center if you have been ordered to evacuate.”
Evacuations are now being issued? Oh dear. This must be a big storm now. I knew it was getting quite intense earlier, when Nari and I left Fukuoka this morning. I need to hurry home, so that I can prepare for the storm.
I looked for the Toyoko line schedule on the screen, but it didn’t come up yet. I waited, and I waited, and I waited some more. Then it came up, as only one screen was showing the train schedule, and the others were showing information about the typhoon racing up towards me and the rest of Japan. It said the next train would come up in about 5 minutes, heading towards Hanno station.
I ran across the station to reach the necessary platform, and I made it to the correct train in time. The ride on this train was quite slow, as we had plenty of people come onto the train at each stop between the two ends of the line. After about an hour, I finally made it to Hanno. Exiting the train here, I could see the sun was falling quite quickly. Soon nightfall will be upon us. Unfortunately, the next train heading down to the village that I live in would be a 45 minute wait. I could feel my stomach gurgling a bit. Not sure if it was something that I ate earlier, or it’s the lack of food being in my stomach, since I haven’t eaten since I left Fukuoka station.
As if on cue, the train heading to Ashigakubo came to the station in 45 minutes. At this point the sun had completely fallen below the horizon, and some high level clouds were rolling in. That means that bad weather is going to be coming soon. At least for now the weather is fair.
After about 35 minutes, the train stopped at Ashigakubo, which was my stop. By now the skies were pitch black. I felt exhausted, partially because it was a long day, but also because I was getting hungrier. So, those gurgles earlier came as a result of a lack of food in my system, rather than a disagreement with what I ate earlier. I took the luggage that I had, got off the train and disposed of my ticket. Now, it was time to eat something and head home. Unfortunately, the food places in the strip mall right next to the train station were closed.
“Err… this isn’t good. I need something, now.” I said under my breath with gritted teeth. “Guess I shall eat something at my house, then, provided that not all of it has gone bad while I was away.”
Luckily, the main road that goes through the village was pretty much deserted. There were hardly any cars, vehicles or bicycles on there. As a result, I was able to quickly return to my house.
Upon reaching my temporary home, I took my stuff upstairs, and then I raced down the stairs from my bedroom to the main lobby, and switched on the news. The story that they were talking about was the typhoon that was about to impact the Japanese archipelago. Here is what the newscaster had to say about the storm:
“Good evening. Our top story remains Typhoon Akanji, which is rapidly approaching Japan. I am with meteorologist Fouki, who has a new update on the system. Fouki, take it away.”
“Thanks, and I have a new update on the typhoon. The storm is presently packing 160 kilometer per hour winds (approximately 100 mph). The system is a very large system, with winds of 64 kph spanning a region of about 550 by 420 km. The pressure of the system is about 945 millibars, based on dropsonde information from an aircraft. As a result, this system is very strong and should be taken very seriously, even if the winds are not exceedingly strong. Let’s pull up the forecast track right now.”
The television screen switched to a graphic showing the potential path of the storm.
“According to our best predictions, the typhoon will make landfall near Shizuoka, and then sweep across Honshu very quickly. The winds will decrease slightly before landfall, but due to the size of the storm, most of Japan will be affected, even if the system moves slightly to the right of the forecast track. After landfall, the storm will be caught by the mid-latitude westerlies and rapidly move to the east, and transition into a very powerful extratropical system.”
The screen changed yet again, this time showing times as to when significant impacts could occur. The meteorologist proceeded to say that impacts could start to occur starting in the middle of the day tomorrow, and then proceed to rapidly worsen over the next 12 to 24 hours, and then quickly subside as the typhoon weakens and moves away from Japan. The meteorologist then handed control back to the newscaster.
“Thanks meteorologist Fouki. As you just heard, Akanji is a very powerful system. Any preparations should be rushed to completion and evacuations should occur if you have been ordered to do so by the local authorities. Now to local news…” I shut the television off at this point.
I suppose I should be lucky that I was relocated here. Since the area around me is quite hilly, and the eye of the storm is not expected to pass very close to me, I will not experience the worst of the winds. However, the rains would be torrential, and I would have to ensure that the house does not flood, otherwise, I could be in big trouble.
I spent the rest of the night making myself a nice sandwich and chips (that was all I could find that I determined to be not spoiled) to eat, and then I prepared a list of items to request from Nari and the government to give me during the storm. The phone rang just after I completed the list, which was a call from the governmental agency responsible for placing me here. They asked if I was okay, and if I wanted to evacuate. I decided no, per my previous reasoning, and then I told them the stuff that I would need to weather out the storm. The agency obliged, and said that they could come early tomorrow to drop off the supplies. I thanked them and hung up.
After that I decided to go to bed. The next few days will be quite gruesome ones...