My 3/11 Experience (ASIJ)

The Joetsu Expressway was already getting crowded as red beams lightened the afternoon sky. We departed Nagano exactly at 12pm and as the earthquake jolted the eastern seaboard of Japan, the expressway came to an utter standstill. My obsolete (even for back then) bounced off my tray table frantically ringing. Much to my chagrin, my phone died and without a charger to replenish it, I grew increasingly worried. The next 13 hours would be crucial for they would be spent hungry, thirsty, fatigued, nauseated, and most of all anxious as I neared a city that completed stood still. Even at 2 in the morning, Tokyo traffic tightened and the roads narrowed. Three black American-sized SUVs flashing lights of red and blue roared through the streets in front of my school and inside was my father signaling me to get in. As our convoy departed the school, we were rushed back home and a feeling of reassurance fell upon me. A few days later, we were rushed to an airbase in Kisarazu where a massive transport aircraft awaited for us to find refuge elsewhere. I didn't understand what was going on, but I knew deep inside that things were way worse than they seemed.