Page 16 of Sixty Meters Under

“Good evening, Mr. Aalberg, Mrs. Aalberg,” Lennart greeted them.

“Good evening, Lennart.” The man shook Lennart’s hand.

“Did you park in the garage?”

Mr. Aalberg shook his head. “We got lucky to arrange a taxi. Our car ended up wrecked, in an accident, so we just left it there. Didn’t want to waste time.”

Lennart’s eyes went wide, and he asked worriedly, “Are you okay?”

“We’re fine. We didn’t suffer any injuries, only a few scratches,” Mrs. Aalberg said.

“Where did it happen?”

“On the way out of the city, at the last intersection. Pile up collision,” Mr. Aalberg explained.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“I’m afraid the roads will only get worse.”

“Luckily the taxi drivers are still driving,” Mrs. Aalberg added

“We weren’t sure, of course, but we called. We waited about twenty minutes for the taxi to arrive. And he charged the earth.”

“No wonder. I’m glad you made it. When the doctor arrives, I’ll tell him to check you over.”

“Thank you, but we don’t think that will be necessary,” Mrs. Aalberg reassured their host.

“As you wish. But I would suggest you get checked,” Lennart said and helped them take their belongings into the elevator.

?

Ayame and Ryosuke finally bought their tickets to Stockholm after waiting in line for over two hours. However, their difficulties didn’t end there; they had to wait the next six hours for their plane. Many flights were canceled, and it was almost impossible to get a ticket to Europe, but they could say they were lucky. People who came only a few minutes after them had to wait significantly longer.

“What are we going to do now?” Ryosuke’s mother asked, looking around the crowded airport, worry etched into her face.

“We’ll wait. We have no other choice anyway. We barely got here. We can’t leave and come back later,” Ryosuke’s father said, and sat down in one of the free seats. He didn’t seem happy with the situation they were in, but he didn’t want to be separated from his family.

“I’m relieved we at least made it to the airport,” the woman added, trying to sound comforting.

“I’ll be happy if we survive this nightmare.” He relaxed his tired body into a plastic chair.

Ayame and Ryosuke looked at Ryosuke’s parents and found free seats that were not too far away from them. Ryosuke’s younger sister, Aki, went with them in search of an empty seat. Ayame’s parents were already seated across the aisle.

They had managed to buy three rooms in the bunker which they went to see only three months ago. They filled out the questionnaire, and to Ayame’s delight, and Ryosuke’s surprise, they got the green light. Although they bought those rooms to be prepared for a potential apocalypse, none of them expected they would need to travel back so soon.

Ryosuke’s father was skeptical, as was Ryosuke himself, but they weren’t about to leave their family unprotected now that they had the place to hide. The worst thing about it all was that they had to travel so far, and that the trip was very dangerous. It’s true that the most endangered flights were canceled, but no one could guarantee that the remaining flights were safe while in the air.

He looked at the worried faces of the people all around them. No one smiled. Many had their eyes empty and tired. The whole state of affairs seemed surreal, like the worst of bad dreams.

“I hope we will arrive in twenty-four hours.” Ayame sighed, and looked at Ryosuke, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Ryosuke turned to face her. “Yeah. If we’re lucky. But honestly, I think we’ll need a little more than that.”

“Well, yeah, maybe. But we need to stay positive.”

Ryosuke stared straight ahead, and retreated back into his head. Ayame looked at him a little longer then made herself more comfortable resting her head on his shoulder.

“I’m going to take a nap. I can’t keep my eyes open,” she said, yawning.