The Journey Begins

[Present Day]

Raiden's eyes snapped open. A sudden feeling of fear made him jump in a sitting position. His right hand reached out in the darkness trying to get hold of something. He was in a cold sweat, shaking and heart pounding. He put his hand down and clenched the bedsheet.

'That nightmare, again?' Sheila asked. 

'Yes,' Raiden said, regrettingly.

'They took my hand this time too?'

'Yes,' now, his voice inside his head showed sorrow.

'Raiden, are you still blaming yourself for that incident?'

He didn't say anything and fell back on the soft bed. 

'It was only because of you that I lived that time, if you weren't there I would have died long ago before making it out of Tokyo.' Sheila said.

'It's not that I'm blaming myself, it's just… I wasn't able to protect you back then.'

'It doesn't matter anymore. Even if you could save me from the chamber, We both would have died from the B-7. I'm just glad that you survived somehow.'

'Thanks, Sheila, for always being with me.'

'You too.'

The sun was still not up so Raiden closed his eyes and fell into the great darkness. 

After that Raiden slept peacefully for some hours until the sunlight flickered on his face. Dawn came, bright sunlight removed the darkness and shone all over the city.

The city was as quiet as ever. 

His eyes opened, he made his hand a shield to protect his eyes from the sunlight.

A big yawn came from him. Stretching his arms up he stood from his bed. 

He went out of the room, towards another room — washroom — took a dump. He didn't flush this time either. Brushed his teeth with the bottle water as usual.

Everything went according to his daily routine that he had followed for 5 years but now, something was different. He was not alone. He had a survivor with him. He had Joel. 

He heard a knock on his front door. For a moment he was surprised but suddenly he remembered about Joel. He also considered for a second whether the time he spent with Joel was real or just a dream? He had to see it for himself, he had to see Joel once more to confirm Joel's existence. He picked up his machete and headed towards the gate.

He slowly opened the gate a little and peeked through it. A man was standing outside who certainly didn't look like a zombie. It was Joel. 

Raiden pulled the door in and stood against Joel.

"What is this? Were you waiting for a zombie to knock on your door?" Joel chuckled as he saw the machete in Raiden's hand.

"Well, it is hard to believe that someone is alive in these circumstances," Raiden replied while rubbing the back of his head with his hand. He looked embarrassed.

"But, I realized that it wasn't a dream as soon I reached this door because of the stinky odor of your poop which you didn't flush," Joel laughed at Raiden, clearly making fun out of him.

"Geez, why are you obsessed with my poop?!" Raiden exclaimed. "Also, it doesn't stink at all. I have the door closed so no odor can escape."

Joel let out a huge laugher, "Triggering you with poop is so fun."

"Okay Joel, The Poop Master!" 

Raiden also showed a huge smile. He finally had a friend after 5 whole years who would talk to him, who would laugh with him, who would make silly jokes about him. He was more than happy. And, same with Joel too.

They sat on the sofa in the living hall.

"So, we heading out today?" Raiden asked.

"Yeah, gotta go as fast as we can," Joel replied.

"Damn, you are looking too excited to visit 'Lab Of The Dead' but there isn't anything special to find there."

"Well, we don't have anything better to do here, or do we?"

Raiden simply nodded.

"So instead of staying in a stupid building until you get old and die why not go around and explore the world?"

"Well, I have already done that part. Exploring the world."

"But not with a buddy, right?" Joel smiled.

So did Raiden. 

In the mid of their conversation, Raiden suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you the one more important thing."

"What thing?" Joel became more excited.

"The lab where B-7 were made."

"The lab? You know where it is?" The atmosphere around them suddenly tensed up. Cold sweat dripped down from Joel's face.

"Yup, I do know. Though I never bothered visiting there."

"Okay, and where is it?"

"Kyoto."

Joel couldn't help but get surprised at how much more Raiden knew about things than him. He had a sense of admiration for Raiden too.

"So it is decided, we will first visit Tokyo and check everything in the 'Lab Of The Dead' then visit Kyoto to the B-7 lab," Joel announced.

"Oi! Oi! Oi! Oi! Oi!" Raiden didn't seem to agree with Joel's idea. "What if there are still those B-7 in the lab? They will kill us in the instant. That is the only reason I never got any close to Kyoto."

"Huh? After so many years you are still afraid of dying? I'm disappointed."

Raiden stood up angrily from the sofa, "Fool. It's not about dying, it's about the promise I made with her. I can not afford to die just yet."

Joel felt the sadness over anger in his words. 'A promise to live?' Joel thought. He gave out a chuckle, "Okay okay I understand, we won't go inside the lab but a quick look from the outside is fine right? We will stand further away so it won't do us any harm. It will work right?"

"Dude, you are so persistent. We will go there but not anywhere close okay?"

"Yes sir, yes." Joel saluted as if Raiden was the commander.

"So, we have decided what we are going to do but how will we travel to Tokyo? By foot or car?" 

"By train."

"Huh? What? Can you repeat? I heard it wrong I guess," Raiden asked again.

"By train. We are going by train."

"What the hell?," Raiden exclaimed. "Do you know what will happen to us if we go by train?"

"You don't have to worry about that. I'm a train expert, I drove several trains in Russia."

"That's not what I meant. Raiden insisted. "I'm talking about the sound. You don't expect us to reach Tokyo by train without even making a sound." 

"Chill dude, chill, I know how to deal with that situation, I have been through that several times already so you don't have to worry about that."

"And, what does that mean? What will you do?"

"Don't you believe me? You will understand when things will go that way."

Raiden wasn't convinced but Joel looked so confident over going by train so Raiden couldn't say no in the end.

They were now done making strategies and were ready to depart. They filled another bag full of canned food and water bottles. And, now, they stood outside their building. Raiden gave it a final glance as it was time to say goodbye. 

They both nodded at each other and started walking away from the building.

Their journey to Tokyo begins now.