The outside view from the garage was the side of the road, and nothing else. There was nothing unusual in that direction. I could not see the cabin she had entered.
I worked on the fueling for a while, and then she came back. She glanced at me and nodded.
“Almost there. I just got a call. It was from Hayase. He said we had better get out of here immediately.”
“How come?”
“Well, I have no idea ... Either way, we should not stay here for too long. Hey, you can stop working on that. I think it’s safer to drive than fly.”
She walked to the loading platform of the truck, and pulled out the two tanks of gasoline.
“Are you okay? Be careful. Need help?” I asked.
“No. If you get out, you will be spotted from above.”
“They will see you carrying the tanks.”
“They might think they contain fuel for the heater, right?”
She walked out the door, while carrying the tanks with both hands.
I still kept moving the lever of the fuel pump. The muscle in my arms were already tight. My arms were sore, and I was getting closer to the edge. But, I managed to use my whole body to keep it going. I wonder how much fuel there is in the tank. I don’t know. It might not even have reached half the capacity.
Then I looked at the big door, which was currently closed. It was bolted. If I did not open it, the plane would not be able to get out of the garage. I wondered how far I was from the runway at that point. I recollected the memory pertaining to the view outside.
I looked back to see what she was doing. I noticed that there was a car running on a mountain road in the distance. It was not passing us to another direction. The vehicle turned to the driveway and was approaching us.
I stopped the work and ran to the part of the cabin just in front of the open part.
I could see her moving backward, while carrying gasoline tanks and getting out of the cabin’s front door.
“A car is coming!” I shouted.
She turned around, and looked at me. Then, she directed her face toward the driveway.
“Hurry!” I called her out.
I looked at the sky. The helicopter was hovering right above us.
“I’ll get the plane out,” I said.
She put the gasoline tanks down around her feet, and searched a pocket.
“I don’t have a lighter.”
I ran toward her.
“Open the door over there!” I commanded her.
I saw the car on the road coming toward me. Then, I looked upward.
She passed by me, and ran into the garage.
I took out a lighter. The area near the entrance of the cabin was already reeking of gasoline. I pulled a cigarette out and lit it. I exhaled the smoke just once.
Then, I stepped away and threw the lit cigarette into the cabin doorway. It was about three meters away from me.
A little later, a yellow flame grew. Then, there was a deep sound, and then a larger flame rose up.
The car was very close, and it was parked. It was a navy blue sedan. I saw a van coming toward me from the road in the distance. There must be a lot of crew members in that vehicle. The advance squad consisted of only two personnel. Probably because they were waiting for everyone to get together, the two did not get out of their car, probably because they were waiting for the entire force to get ready to move. They did not seem to be having any intention of using their guns.
The cabin began to spew fire through the windows. There was no way to put it out.
I ran into the garage. The back door was already open. She was removing the wheel chocks for the airplane. I jumped onto the main wing, pulled out the fuel pump nozzle, and closed the lid. Then, I jumped off to the ground, and the two of us lifted the rear part of the airplane. It was to correct the orientation. We had to get the fuel caddy out of the way.
“I will pilot it.” She said.
“No, I will. Get in the front seat.”
“After the engine starts.”
I entered the cockpit first.
“Where is the battery?”
“Turn on the ignition. It’s in the bottom right corner.”
There seemed to be no starter. Do I have to start it manually, by hand-propping the engine?
“It’s dangerous if I do it indoors,” I shouted.
But, she was putting her hands on the propeller blade. I heard the low rotor sound of the helicopter. I turned to the backside, and looked outside through the garage door. Due to the difficulty stemming from the angle issue of the line of sight, I could not see too far. I heard an explosion. It sounded like something popped up in the cabin.
“Okay. Ignition is on.”
She pulled the propeller blade with both hands and spun it around the axis. The engine made a light explosion sound. If the recoil caused the propeller to reverse the revolution, then it would be a dangerous procedure that could cause a serious injury. She was not even wearing gloves.
“Be careful!”
She reached out her hands once again, and gave the propeller a spin.
The airframe vibrated, the propeller reversed the revolution once, and then the recoil let it revert to its original direction once again to assume the normal rotation. At one point, it looked like it was going to stop. By pulling the choke lever, I managed to keep it rotating.
“Get in! It’s alright.”
She walked to the left main wing and stood right beside me.
“Are you okay? Can you handle it?” She asked.
“Yes, I can.”
She got herself into the front cockpit.
I cranked up the engine. It’s still wobbly. Little by little. It’s getting stable.
The helicopter was flying low, and appeared ahead. It was appearing to look into the garage.
“They’re here!” She looked back and pointed at the direction.
I took a look at it just for a moment. The van had just arrived in front of the cabin, and was just coming to an abrupt stop. It was the second car.