Tuesday, March 15, 2011, 5:30 a.m.
Six hundred and fifty workers had been evacuated from the Daiichi plant, leaving the
Fukushima Fifty to try to stabilize the situation.
Kenichi sat in the dim control room. He ran his fingers through his hair and
leaned back in his chair. Most of the gauges and monitors were inoperable, and there was
almost nothing he could do unless power was restored. He got up and went into Suzuki’s
office. “Excuse me, sir.”
Suzuki lifted his head from the desk where he had been trying, without much
success, to get some much needed sleep. He had a few days’ growth on his face, and
patches of prickly hair on his bald head had begun to surface. “What’s up?”
“I’m very concerned about Reactor Four. I fear we could have another
explosion.”
“What makes you think so?”
“Hydrogen is reaching the critical level.”
“What do you want to do?”
“I want to take a six-man team in and try to manually vent.”
Suzuki looked at Kenichi; his subordinate’s eyes were void of fear or
apprehension. He had said the words casually, as if he was going to do a routine
inspection. “Do it,” he replied.
Thirty minutes later, six men in radiation suits headed in the direction of the
Number Four reactor. The sunrise cast eerie shadows across the broken landscape.
Kenichi looked up at Reactor One and saw steam rising out from where the roof had once
been. His eyes moved to Reactor Three, and he noticed grey smoke escaping from the top
right side.
They were about 300 meters from Reactor Building Four when his Geiger
counter started beeping. The readings were off the chart—more than 1,000 times higher
than normal levels. It was too high for his men to enter. He signaled them to return to the
control room.
Half an hour later, he was back in Suzuki’s office. “What hap–”
There was an almighty bang and the building shook violently. Papers and files
were thrown from Suzuki’s desk. His computer crashed onto the floor. Kenichi grabbed
hold of the doorframe, and Suzuki held onto his desk.
“Reactor Four!” shouted Suzuki over the thunderous noise.
“No!” shouted Kenichi, bracing himself against the doorframe.
The shaking increased, and pieces of the ceiling fell to the floor.
“Reactor Four has blown!” shouted Suzuki.
“No!” shouted Kenichi.
Then, as suddenly as it had hit, it was gone.
“Earthquake,” said Kenichi. His voice was calm, no trace of panic.
Suzuki let go of the desk “How many more?” he cursed.
Kenichi didn’t reply.
Suzuki stood up and brushed the dust off his clothes. “What happened out
there?”
“The radiation level was too high for us to enter.”
Suzuki let out a deep sigh. “All we can do is hope it doesn’t explode before we
get some power.”
“When will that be?”
“They say some mobile power units will be here by tomorrow.”
Kenichi detected doubt in his voice. “How about the batteries? Has there been
any reply?”
“None.”
Kenichi shook his head in despair. “There is another problem.”
“What?”
“I saw grey smoke coming from the top right side of Reactor Three.”
A look of deep concern ran over Suzuki’s face. “Are you sure?”
“Positive. I think the fuel pool has been damaged, and the water level has
dropped.”
“If that’s so, we’ll need to get water into it. If the spent fuel pool catches fire,
vast amounts of radiation will be released.”
“I agree, but the radiation level is too high to get anywhere near it. It would be a
death sentence if you sent the firemen in.”
Suzuki was quiet for a long while. “Any ideas?”
“Helicopters.”
“What?”
“We could use helicopters to drop water into the spent fuel pool.”
Suzuki’s eyebrows arched. “I’ll make the call.”
Kenichi returned to his seat and dialed his wife.
“Hello. How are you doing?” asked his wife.
“I’m fine. How are the children?”
“They’re fine. What’s happening at the plant?”
“The situation is still critical. Everything is moving so quickly. There was a short
interlude of silence on the other end.
“What do you mean?”
Kenichi cleared his throat. “I’m not sure, but things are escalating much more
quickly than I expected. Have you got petrol yet?
“No. The supply never came.”
“When do they expect to get some?”
“No one really knows. There’re all sorts of rumors flying around.”
“Call me when you get some.”
“I will. Take care.”
“You too.”
Kenichi hung up and leaned back in his seat. He knew the fallout would have
reached his wife and children by now. How much was the question. The thought of the
possible answer filled his heart with dread.
**
There was a thunderclap and then the control room shuddered. Kenichi knew exactly what
had happened.
Suzuki rushed into the room. “What was that?”
Kenichi knew by the direction of the sound. “Reactor Four has exploded.”
Suzuki stood there speechless, his face grave.
Kenichi got up. “I will go and assess the damage.”
Suzuki nodded.
Thirty minutes later, Kenichi stood in front of what was left of the Number Four
reactor building. More than 60 percent of the walls had been blown off, and the roof was
gone, except for a few twisted iron beams. The whole building was leaning precariously
to one side. Smoke and dust were rising from within. He looked at his Geiger counter; the
radiation level was thousands of times above the normal level. He walked closer and
examined the piping, of which most of the lower section seemed to be intact. He looked
up. Through the dust and smoke he could make out the spent fuel pool; miraculously it
also seemed to be intact. He tried to reach the entrance, but the way was blocked by
chunks of concrete and twisted metal; that’s when he noticed the hole blown out at the
bottom of the wall. It was strange enough that the shutdown reactor had exploded. If
hydrogen had been formed because of a partial meltdown of the spent fuel pool, which
was situated near the top of the building., Why had a huge hole be blown out at the
bottom?
He returned to the control room.
“I’m very worried that the whole structure is tilting to one side. If we have
another big aftershock, it could tumble over,” said Kenichi.
Suzuki ran his hands over the patches of prickly hair on his bald head. “We’ll
have to shore it up with some supports.”
“Impossible at the moment. The radiation level is too high.”
“You said most of the lower piping and the spent fuel pool are still intact?”
“Yes, if we get power back, we should be able to inject water into the spent fuel
pool. If we don’t get water in quickly, the rods will heat up and ignite. If that fuel pool
ignites, it will release 200 times more radiation than Chernobyl.”
Suzuki grimaced at his words. “Are you sure it would be that much?”
Kenichi nodded. “Yes. Because the reactor is in shutdown, all the fuel rods are in
the spent fuel pool. If it catches fire, it will release enough radiation to make the whole of
Japan uninhabitable as well as large areas of the Northern Hemisphere.”
Suzuki stared at him speechless.
“And another thing.”
“Yes,” said Suzuki.
“There is a huge hole blown out of the bottom of the reactor building.”
“What? That’s impossible.”
**
Hiro sat with Erica; she had run out of space in the notebook and now scribbled the
number four over the numbers she had already written. Next to her lay some fruit and rice
crackers he had tried to get her to eat. She hadn’t said a word for two days now.
“Excuse me.”
Hiro looked up to see the skinny boy’s father. “Yes,” said Hiro, making a space
for him to sit.
“Thank you,” he said, sitting down.
There was silence for a few seconds, and then the father put his hands on the
floor in front of him and bowed deeply, his forehead touching the floor. “I want to thank
you for saving my son.”
Hiro returned the bow. “I didn’t do so much.”
The father bowed again. “Really, thank you very much.”
“You know he acted very bravely. He saved two boys,” said Hiro, trying to
force a smile.
The man looked up, a little surprised. “Really?”
“Yes, he saved two brothers.”
The man turned and looked to where his son and wife sat with the body of his
daughter.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” said Hiro.
The man turned back to Hiro. “Thank you.”
Hiro tried to choose his next words carefully. “Has your wife accepted her loss
yet?”
“No, she still believes our daughter is sleeping.”
“Perhaps if–” Hiro stopped short.
“Please go on,” beckoned the father.
“Perhaps if you remove her body while she’s in the restroom and place it with
the other deceased, she’ll accept your daughter’s death.”
The father looked at Hiro, his eyes brimming with tears. “Would you help me?”
“Of course,” replied Hiro. “I’ll come over when I see her go to the restroom.”
“Thank you,” replied the father. He bowed and then got up and made his way
back to his son and wife.
An hour later his wife and son went to the restroom.
Hiro rushed over to him. He stared down at the girl. She was dressed in pajamas,
her hair plaited.
The father saw the look on Hiro’s face and said, “My wife did that.”
Hiro took hold of her by the legs and the father put his hands under her
shoulders, and they picked her up. Her body was stiff with rigor mortis. The murmur of
chatting ceased in the gym as people stood and bowed, making way for them.
Suddenly, the mother appeared in the entrance. “What are you doing?” she
screamed, rushing over.
“She’s dead,” said the father.
The mother ignored his words. “Don’t wake her; she needs her sleep.”
“She’s dead,” repeated the father. This time his words were harsh.
The gym was silent as everyone watched the tragic scene unfold.
The mother stroked her dead daughter’s head. “Please put her down; she needs
her sleep.”
Hiro stood there, holding the body by the legs—uncertain what to do.
“She’s dead!” blurted the father. Tears began to spill from his eyes.
The mother looked at him strangely. “She’s fine. She’s just sleeping.”
“No! She’s dead!” cried the father.
The mother bent over and kissed her dead daughter on the forehead. “I’ll make
you some soup when you wake up.” She then began to sing a lullaby. “Nen nen kororiyo
okororiyo...”
Tears streamed down the father’s face. “She’s dead! Let her go!” He took a step
and Hiro followed.
“No!” screamed the mother hysterically. She locked her arms around the body.
“Put her down!”
“She dead!” yelled the father. “Dead!” The father tried to move, but the mother
hung on to her daughter’s body.
Hiro stood there, silent, holding the daughter’s legs.
“She’s dead!” yelled the father, trying to pull the body away from her.
The mother held on tight. “Put her down; you’re hurting her.”
The father, tears dripping off his chin, looked at Hiro and motioned for him to
move. They took a step, but the mother clung to the body.
“Let her go!” shouted the father. The tears had stopped and were replaced by
anger. “She’s dead! Don’t you understand?”
Two women rushed over and pried her arms free.
“No!” shrieked the mother, fighting against the women’s restraint. “You can’t
take her from me!”
Hiro and the father carried her through the crowd; everyone stood with their
heads bowed.
“Okasan, Okasan! Mother, mother!”
Everyone turned and looked at the girl standing at the back of the gym.
“Okasan, Okasan! Mother, mother!” the girl screamed.
Hiro stared in disbelief at Erica.
Erica’s tone softened. “Mother, I’ve left, but we will meet again.” She sat down.
An eerie silence hung in the air.
The mother looked at her husband. “She’s…gone,” she said and then burst out
crying.
“It’s all right,” said the father, resting their daughter’s body on the floor.
The two women let her go, and she put her arms around her husband and wept
uncontrollably.
The skinny boy stood in the doorway staring vacantly at them from behind his
black-framed glasses.
**
Ryota stood on the oil tank looking at the snow clouds hanging above the distant
mountains. He was glad he was under a blue sky.
“Morning,” said Karina, crawling out of the tent.
“Good morning,” said Ryota, looking at his watch. “You sleep well? It’s already
8:30?”
“Yes, I slept very well.”
Karina walked over to Ryota and stood close to him. She had been thinking
about him all night; her dreams had been obsessed with him. “Your island is getting
bigger,” she said, looking at the new debris that had collected around the tank. She moved
closer and their shoulders touched.
He enjoyed the touch of her shoulder. His dreams had also been filled with her.
“Yes, I think it’s twice as big now. A lot more wreckage has collected on the other side.”
“Look!” said Karina pointing. “There’s a fridge.”
Ryota eyes moved in the direction she was pointing. “Where?”
“Over there!” she exclaimed.
Ryota’s eye’s strained and then he saw the green fridge floating at the far edge of
the debris. “I see it.”
“Maybe it has some food inside,” she said and started climbing over the
wreckage.
Ryota looked at her surprised. It was the first time she’d shown any survival
skills.
They climbed over the mound of wood and metal until they got to the other side.
The fridge was floating face up, and Karina pulled open the door.
“Lucky!” exclaimed Karina.
The fridge was full of food: cans of tuna and soup, bread, noodles, juice, bottles
of water, and fresh vegetables.
Karina reached in and took out a head of lettuce. “It’s still fine.”
“The sea is so cold that it kept it fresh,” said Ryota.
They carried as much as they could back to the tank and then made two more
trips.
“Wow! We have enough for a few weeks,” said Karina.
“You’re becoming very resourceful,” said Ryota.
“I have a good teacher.”
Ryota smiled at her and she smiled back. A nervous silence stood between them
and then Karina took a step forward and took his hand.
“What…would you like…for breakfast?” The words stumbled uncomfortably
from Ryota’s lips.
Karina squeezed his hand and drew herself closer to him, their lips just
centimeters from each other’s.
“Wow! Where did you get all that?” said Yurie, climbing out of the tent.
Karina release Ryota’s hand and spun around; her evil eye fell on Yurie.
Yurie blushed. She was old enough to understand. “Sorry!” she said, turning up
her nose and then crawling back into the tent.
Karina turned back to Ryota, but this time Ryota took her hand and pulled her to
him and kissed her softly on the lips.
**
“Push!” shouted Kubo.
Natsumi and the other three men pushed the beam to one side.
“I can see a leg,” said Natsumi.
They had heard the voice calling for help ten minutes ago.
Kubo looked into the hole. He could see a leg protruding from under the
wreckage. He wasn’t sure if it was male or female. “Can you hear me?” he called.
“Yes.” The voice was faint, almost inaudible, but it was female.
“How many of there are you?”
“Just me,” croaked the female.
Kubo carefully climbed down into the narrow opening. “Throw me down a
flashlight.”
Natsumi threw down a flashlight, and he switched it on and shone it into the
wreckage. Two eyes of a young woman stared back at him. “Can you move at all?” he
asked.
“I can move my arms, but my body is pinned down,” she replied. Her voice was
calm; the panic and hysteria had been eroded over the days of her entombment.
Kubo shone the flashlight around and surveyed the situation. There was about
three meters of wreckage above her; if he tried to move some of the lower wreckage, he
risked the whole thing collapsing and crushing the woman. “I’ll have to use a crane to lift
the wood off,” he told her.
“OK,” replied the woman. Her face was muddy and her hair bedraggled from a
woolen cap, but otherwise she seemed dry.
He climbed back up the hole.
“How is she?” asked Natsumi.
“As far as I can tell, she’s fine,” replied Kubo.
He drove his truck as close as he could to the mound of wreckage. He then
maneuvered the small crane that was mounted in the rear over the top and lowered the
cable. Natsumi and the other three men hooked the cable around a beam, and Kubo
carefully lifted it off. They repeated the procedure several more times.
“I can see her,” shouted Natsumi excitedly.
Kubo got out of the truck and ran over. He climbed down what was left of the
hole and then removed the remaining timber off the woman. Natsumi lowered herself
down, and they both helped the woman from the wreckage. They had rescued three others
that morning as well as finding several dead.
**
All of a sudden, the music was interrupted by a news flash announcing that at 6:14 a.m.
there had been another explosion at the Daiichi nuclear power plant, this time at the
Number Four reactor.
“Mariko,” said Kumiko. She took out her phone and dialed her elder daughter.
“Hello.”
“Mother, I’ve been trying to call you. Did you hear another reactor blew up?”
Her voice had a trace of panic.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes, but people are fleeing in droves. They say the radiation is being blown
toward us.”
“What does the government say?” asked Kumiko.
“They say everything is OK, but don’t go outside.”
Kumiko’s father took the phone. “Do you feel all right?”
“I feel fine, but I have this metallic taste in my mouth,” she replied.
He could hear the worry in her voice. “What about the other people in your
apartment block?”
There was silence at the other end.
“Mariko?”
“Some of the children have had nosebleeds, and people are saying it’s from the
radiation.” Her tone was on the verge of hysteria. “I want to get out, but I don’t have
enough petrol, and I don’t know anyone who does! What shall I do? Can you help me,
Grandpa?”
“Calm down,” he said. He thought quickly. “How much petrol do you have?”
“It’s on empty.”
“Does the gauge show above empty or below empty?”
“It’s just above empty,” she replied.
“Good, that means you have about ten to fifteen liters. I want you to cut off about
two meters of garden hose and push it to the bottom of your car’s tank and then siphon
the petrol into a jerry can.”
There was silence at the other end.
“Do you understand?”
“Uh…how do I siphon it out?”
“Suck on it till it comes out.”
“OK,” she replied.
“Do you remember my friend who owns the bike shop in town?”
“Yes.”
“Go there with the petrol. I will call him and organize a motor scooter for you.
Once you’ve got it, head toward the coast to the Sea of Japan and then go south. The
petrol you’ve got should get you to somewhere you can buy more petrol.”
“OK. Thank you,” said Mariko.
“Do you have a mask?”
“What type of mask?”
“You know, the one you use when you have a cold.”
“Yes, I have a few.”
“Put one on when you’re outside,” he said.
“All right.”
“I’ll ring my friend and tell him you’re on your way.”
“Thank you, Grandpa.”
“Call me when you get to the Sea of Japan.”
“I will.” She hung up.
He dialed his friend in Koriyama city.
**
The elderly lady in the no-entry zone crawled from her futon to the low table and poured
some water into a glass and drank it, trying to wash out the metallic taste she had in her
mouth. Outside a light snow was falling, and her mind momentarily slid back to her
childhood, where her father and her would build a snowman when the first of the winter
snows fell. She poured herself another glass of water and again tried to wash the metallic
taste from her mouth. Her eyes moved to the kitchen, and she crawled over and opened
the fridge—nothing. She slumped down against the wall and let out a long sigh; no one
was coming. She had been left, abandoned—forgotten, an old lady of no importance. She
put her face on her knees and began to cry.
**
Yukino yawned and stretched her arms. Outside see could see bright blue sky and hear
birds chirping merrily. She rolled over and saw Taka sleeping peacefully next to her. She
nudged his shoulder. “Ohayou. Morning,” she whispered.
He didn’t respond.
“Ohayou,” she repeated, nudging him a little harder. But this time she felt the
cold in his body.
“Taka-san,” she said, shaking his shoulder. “Wake up.”
He lay there silent.
Panic welled up in her. “Taka-san, Taka-san wake up!”
He lay there still.
She put her hand to his mouth, but could feel no breath.
“Taka-san, wake up!” she cried. She shook him frantically and then fell back in
the futon, hands covering her face, and wept. “No, not Taka-san. Why did you have to
take him? Tears streamed down her face. “He loved nature, he loved you. Why did you
take him?”
She crawled from the bed and stared out the window, but the sky seemed to be
stained with darkness.
**
A beam of sunlight washed over Tomo’s face and his eyes opened. He tilted his head to
one side and saw the man asleep beside the smoldering fire. My chance, he thought rolling
on to his back and raising his leg. His foot pushed at the door handle and he heard the
click as it lifted. With his other leg he kicked the door open and wiggled out. He rolled
over; arms still tied behind his back, and struggled to his knees. Steam puffed from his
mouth as knelt gaining his breath. Run, run, shouted a voice in his head. He got to his
feet, saw the man was still sleeping and ran. Ran along the base of the hill—heart
pounding, lungs burning until he came to a forest where he darted in, stopping under the
cover to catch his breath.
Keep going! Shouted the voice in his head . You’re not far enough away yet.
He started forward when something from behind hit him and he crashed to
ground. He tried to move, but was pinned down by something heavy.
“Try that again and I’ll kill you,” growled the man, his hot breath on Tomo’s
cheek.
Tomo could smell the man’s rancid breath. “Fuck you!” he cried out, trying to
struggle free.