Chapter 88 - 8.6 White Petals Fall (Pt.1)

Tyne woke groggily to the sounds of slow dripping water. He sighed. His mind going back to the first time he had spoken to Eiji in that office. 

"What would our superior do, knowing you were a traitor to our country?" A familiar American accent spoke over his head.

"You?" Tyne's voice came out as a dry whisper.

He yelped when his head was yanked back by a belt straightened under his chin.

"This is the third time! The third f'king time!"  The American scolded him.

Tears squeezed out of Tyne's eyes. His head was burning up from the pressure pushing at his temples. 

The belt loosened around his neck. His head flopped forward. He involuntary coughed and gasped for air.

"Lieutenant Matherson. Do you even realise what you were about to cause?" The American sighed.

Tyne glanced about the dingy warehouse cell he quickly determined he was in. The stench of iron and musk overpowered his senses. He was kneeling on moistened concrete, which held a faint scent of river brine.  He analysed he was still somewhere near the riverside. 

"What happened to the secret policemen?"

"I shot them. Wasn't hard. They weren't expecting one of their own to turn on them." The American solemnly answered.

"What do you want from me?"

A moment of heavy silence lingered between them before the American made his move.

Tyne rubbed feeling back into his hands when he felt they were free from their binds.

"You're to follow orders, but I'll take the map." 

Tyne peered into the American's eyes. "What happened to Hashimoto-sensei?

"Dead." The man flatly answered. "He was trying to have his cake and eat it too." 

He heaved a cocky sigh. "I should thank you for your timely arrival actually. We would've lost the intel otherwise." 

Tyne groaned. His heart felt heavy. 

"And now?"

"Play doctor. You'll know your next orders when you see me again." The American advised and warned him.

Tyne nodded and stumbled to his feet.  He followed the American spy out of the warehouse cell and building, where he saw Eiji and the others waiting for him.

They looked worse for wear as well. 

He glanced around the abandoned factory they had been holed up in. Most of the square-pane windows were broken with shattered glass near the sills.  The river bank was on one side. An empty car lot was on the other where Tyne approached the others.

"Remember your orders men." The American called out.

Tyne turned to thank the man, and sighed when he was no longer present near the factory's entrance. 

"Spooks." He grumbled. 

No one said a word when Tyne rejoined them. They followed down the car lot and out of the factory area towards a horizon of tall buildings near the mouth of the Enko and Ota River. Kei assumed the lead when he had figured out their location and way back to the car.

They arrived to the Blended Beauty towards the start of the afternoon. A few people gave them strange glances and a wide berth when they walked past. Obviously, their dirtied suits, creased fedora hats and smudges on their cheeks and bare hands made them appear a ghastly sight to the well-to-do locals and workers at Wiesmen. 

No one spoke when Kei unlocked the car, and they ambled inside.  Fortunately, Tama had been sleeping underneath the car, near the back tyre. She had had to fend for herself the last few nights. 

She woke and let out an angry protest at having been abandoned.  Eiji gave her a weak smile when he gathered her up and placed her gently in the middle of the back seat.  She was still mewing her complaints when Tyne shuffled in next to her, and Sean fastened the front passenger seat belt over him then slammed his door. 

She settled when Kei fed her pieces of dried fish from a bag in the glove box. Eiji calmed her further with his soothing pats. 

"Do we go back to the cottage?" Kei asked for a direction.

"Yeah. Our orders are to be doctors. Let's debrief and then head back to Wiesmen HQ." Tyne sighed. He winced at the stinging cut to his lip and throbbing lump on the back of his head.

Kei drove them away from the river and back to the riverside cottage. 

They spent some days and nights healing from their wounds that they had suffered by the actual secret policemen. 

Eiji told the others about his experience, which was similar to Tyne's. Yet he had suffered some punches to his stomach that aggravated his gunshot wound from Iwo Jima. He was still trying to cope with random shots of bile going up his throat to make him cough. 

Kei had joked that a cigarette would kill that cough. He was shocked when Eiji took to his advice and it had worked. 

Sean had also faced hefty punches with bruises to his limbs and back. Their spy handler had stepped in to the eliminate the attackers before any proper damage had been dealt. 

Kei's experience was the same. He was given some words from their 'spy friend' that unnerved him. But no one was able to get that out of him.

Before they realised it, they were waking up to the first week of August. Judging by the hanging wall calendar pinned to a beam inside the general store. 

Tyne figured they were ready to head back to the city and work their covers until new orders where given them. 

Kei did a quick stop at the shops to buy more treats for Tama (ignoring Sean and Eiji's teasing about being a softy) and another bag of fuel chips.   

He had a quick banter with the kind elderly shop keeper, noticing the calendar showing August 6th and a Monday. 

"Bloody, f'cking Monday." He groaned when he returned to his car.

"You're complaining about something again?" Sean smirked, from the front passenger seat.

"I hate Monday's" Kei grumbled when he started up the car.

"I'm sure Monday's hate you." Sean joked. 

"Figures." Kei sighed when he pulled out and on to the road.

He drove them towards the main city.