The Kaiju attacks in March were an unfortunate surprise, though, looking back at it now, what was even more odd was the fact that the city was unusually prepared for it. When I was 18, I chalked it up to our varied history. We did have an atmospheric dispenser on the city walls after all. Now I started wondering how much of the wall being built to defend the city from dragons was true.

The bunkers were built within the wall. There were major pathways underground to the bunkers through most public places and government housing. There were small square shaped rooms that could fit about twenty to thirty people. The one for our school lead to a twisting hallway with flickering lights into a corridor with four rusted steel doors that lead into the bunkers for students. These bunkers were apparently much larger than the rooms dedicated to the larger public though not as large as the bunkers rich people specially built tunnels in their houses for. It was a grey room the size of the gymnasium and this specific room was dedicated to our class.

People were guided into the bunkers by the teachers in charge of the evacuation. I remembered the barely maintained room with faded paint on the walls, flickering strobe lights, no windows and a stack of smelly blankets in the corner paired with locked wooden boxes with tinned foods stacked within. As students huddled over phones in small groups trying to connect to the shitty Wi-Fi watching barely buffering videos of what was happening outside. The rest of the groups were all animated by nervous conversation.  I was surprised that sitting there, it wasn’t far off from my memory.

I found myself a corner to sit, away from all the people. I placed my headphones in my ears, I knew this whole incident would blow over in April, just in time for mid-terms. I ignored the flickering of the lights and scraps of peeled paint trickling down from the ceiling as the ground rumbled. I was usually alone at this time since Viola moved away. I did get concerned messages from Vi that made me smile at the time and made me smile now. This time around however, I wasn’t alone.

“Hey,” Harper said, poking my shoulder. “I managed to sneak in those cupcakes you like so much…”

I grinned at her. “Oh, you queen!”

She sat next to me, taking a bite out of it. “You were right, that café is shit but the food, oh my god.”

I removed my headphones. “I’m so glad I got my headphones. I would not have been able to handle this chatter.”

Harper laughed. “I mean it’s not every day you get attacked by a Kaiju.”

“Give it a few days and people will get used to this,” I said. “Speaking off, you don’t seem fazed.”

 “After curing a disease using an atmospheric dispenser,” Harper said, shrugging. “This is just par for the course.”

I took a bite of the chocolate muffin, the deliciousness just a testament to my great taste.

“How come the teachers look so tense?” I asked. Throughout the entire of the evacuation process, the teachers were all tensed up and clutching their phones, whispering to each other in hushed voices.

“Oh,” Harper said, leaning forward as if she was telling me a secret. “Apparently one of the students is missing.”

 I remembered this. There were rumours going around that the girl was rich or a delinquent after people heard about her missing. It was a load of baloney, but people loved coming up with out there explanations when people or things didn’t conform to their standard of normal.

“The teachers are panicking,” Harper said. “They’re trying to make sure the news doesn’t get out.”

I didn’t really care too much about rumours but for the sake of the friendship bracelet and hopefully getting the job done I asked, “Who’s missing?”

“Momoko Honda,” Harper said. “The Japanese transfer student.”

I’d heard about her. She was a first year and after the initial excited conversation about something new and fresh, she just faded into the background.

“Why do you think she’s missing?” I asked Harper.

“I don’t know,” Harper shrugged. “Her dad’s a businessman, could have a special bunker. I don’t really care.”

It was at that moment I felt the friendship bracelet buzz on my wrist. “Excuse me. I need to go to the bathroom.”

“Good luck,” Harper said. “The teachers barely let anyone out.”

After some negotiating, I snuck into the bathroom to have a chat with Mr. Silver. After seeing the bathroom, I decided that if I did need to do my business, I’d wait until I got home. My footsteps echoed through the room, occupied by only three stalls. I yelped as I felt a cockroach squish underneath my sneaker. Cockroaches skuttled about everywhere, on the walls, underneath the crack at the bottom of the only three stalls in the room. I even saw a few on the washbasins. Moths buzzed around the faded lights as if engaged in a religious ritual and a small puddle formed at the base of the stall at the end of the room. I swear I could hear the buzzing of flies from within the pungent stalls.

“What do you want to talk about?” I hissed.

“You don’t need to keep your voice down, you know?” Mr. Silver said. “I don’t think anyone else is going to come here.”

“Are you going to send me or another one of your missions, again?” I asked. “Psychoanalyse me or whatever.”

“No,” Mr. Silver said, though he pulled his voice. “Maybe. Remember what we talked about last time in the cafeteria?”

“Yeah, that company, Thank a toast or whatever.”

“Thanatos,” Mr. Silver corrected. “This Kaiju incident… it’s related to them. I can’t divulge anymore but it’d do you good to do some investigating.”

“Alright fine,” I said. “But there’s one thing I don’t get. What’s in it for you?”

“What do you mean?”

“What do you get from me finding out about this Panty Hose…”

“Thanatos,” Mr. Silver corrected, again.

“Yeah, I’m just trying to piss you off,” I smirked. “What do you get…”

Mr. Silver sighed. “Let’s just say I’m tired of this job and leave it at that, eh?”

“Still being vague, I see.”

“You know me so well darling.” The silver glow disappeared, just as a moth made a kamikaze dive into my face.

“I am so out of here,” I wailed, stepping out of the bathroom as if I was walking through a minefield.