A heavy silence filled the cabin… a silence like that moment when the earth stops for one second before it starts turning again.
Taz was standing near the table, his hand still stretched over the map, and his last words — "through smuggling" — were still echoing inside the small wooden place.
Yuki froze in her spot, as if her mind was trying to reinterpret the sentence… maybe hoping it was a joke?
But Taz's face did not show any intention of joking.
Yuki, with a voice that almost disappears:
"Smuggling…? You mean… we will leave the country in an illegal way?"
Taz did not change his expression.
He looked at Jack, then at her, and said with the coldness of a man who spent years chasing the truth alone:
"This is your only option…"
Jack stayed silent…
Taz pulled the map to the center of the table and opened it slowly.
The paper was old, its edges a bit torn, with black and red lines written by hand. Some clear… and some looking like some kind of code.
He pointed first to a mountain range stretching like a blue snake.
"We will pass from here… then go down to this small town. After that, we reach the coast."
Yuki moved a little closer, looked at the map, and said:
"But… why all this? Why can't we take a normal road?"
Taz let out a short laugh without a smile.
"Because the normal roads are monitored… and the official exits are monitored even more."
He turned toward Jack for a second.
"And monitored especially for you two."
Taz pulled a military bag from under the bed.
He opened it… inside were:
A small flashlightRopesMetal toolsShort knivesGlovesMilitary tape
Then he turned to Jack and threw him a dark black shirt.
"Change your clothes… this will help during movement in the mountains."
Then he gave Yuki a dark light coat.
"Keep your body warm… the mountains get cold before dawn."
Yuki took the coat silently, looking at the fabric as if she was seeing a future she never chose.
While Jack was searching in one of the shelves, he pulled out a small metal box with a rusty lock.
He lifted his head toward Taz:
"Should I open it?"
Taz stopped moving for a second… as if he knew exactly what was inside.
Then he shook his head, his voice low:
"No…"
Jack returned the box slowly, without asking anything.
While Taz kept looking at the box…
Taz noticed Yuki struggling to fit the knife into its sheath.
He approached her calmly, held her hand gently, and lifted her arm to the correct position.
"Like this…Don't tighten your shoulder.And don't let your fingers shake."
Yuki swallowed nervously:
"I… I can do this, right?"
Taz smiled a small smile:
"You will. But you don't need to fight… only to defend yourself when necessary."
From a distance, Jack was standing and watching them in silence…
Taz gathered some simple food: canned goods, dried bread, water bottles.
Yuki helped him, looking tired.
"I never imagined I would end up here…"
She said it while trying to open one of the cans.
Taz answered without lifting his head:
"No one imagines running away… until they start."
Taz sat near the map and took a pen.
He began marking small points:
High placesPossible spots to hide a carCorners with sharp terrainHidden shortcut paths
Yuki watched carefully.
"It's clear you're trained… you seem to have experience."
Taz stopped for a moment…
Then continued drawing without commenting.
Before sunset, a small fire was burning near the door.
Taz was the third person in the room, but he felt like the farthest one.
Yuki held a cup of tea between her hands:
"Tomorrow… we will really leave Japan?"
Taz looked at the flames and said:
"Tomorrow… we only begin."
Jack sat near the window, his eyes on the open darkness…
As if he was listening to sounds no one else could hear… sounds that seemed to come from his own mind…
Yuki slept first.
Jack sat on the bed… still like a shadow.
Taz, who was sitting on the chair cleaning his rifle, spoke without lifting his head:
"Jack…"
Jack turned slightly.
"Tomorrow… I need you to be you.Not what the facility tried to make you.Your first step toward freedom… is tomorrow."
Jack did not answer…
But his hand tightened a little on the blanket.
…They left at dawn.
The sun had not risen yet… but the sky was starting to shine with a cold blue color.
The old car Taz owned was covered partly with dew.
He opened the front door and threw his bag inside.
Jack sat in the back…Yuki next to him…And Taz held the steering wheel firmly.
The engine started slowly.
And the car moved across the narrow mountain road.
Yuki looked from the window, then asked:
"Where are we going now?"
Taz did not turn…
He drove the car toward the highlands, while fog stuck to the glass.
He said in a low tone:
"An old friend…He will help us cross the sea."
Jack lifted his eyes toward the front window… watching the road with Taz.
He did not say anything… but he felt the road was now more dangerous than he imagined.
The car continued climbing…
Inside a cold morning, with only one path… to keep going until the end.
Yuki was still staring at the small knife sheath…
End of Chapter.