Unit 731

The next morning, as expected, I made my way to the airstrip, half-freezing in the early morning wind. I had been the first to arrive; sneaking out of the house as early as I could. We had been told not to bring relatives, simply so we did not complicate things. There was nothing that the Imperial Army hated more than a tearful send-off. By the time nine o’clock arrived, I found myself surrounded by former classmates. We would now be working together for what had been described to us as ‘the greater good’, yet none of us seemed to be able to find the courage to speak to one another. The tight-lipped expressions that seemed to have formed on each person’s face were a physical manifestation of the terror we all felt inside at the prospect of joining in on a war effort that most suspected was futile, despite the protests of the Empire and their motivational speeches.

The silence continued on for at least five minutes, before the same man as before stepped forward from a plethora of dress-blues. He held the same gaze with everyone as before, quickly glancing between each of the men stood shivering, although whether out of fear or due to the weather, he would not have known. He stood in front of us all, a small smile spreading across his lips.

“Welcome, noble men. You have all shown incredible bravery in helping your country, and this will be rewarded. For now, however, we travel. You will all be transported via military transport to our facilities, and your new home for the foreseeable future.”

As he spoke, several military-issue trucks, painted in the deep green colours of the army roared behind him, each manned by soldiers so emotionless it was difficult to think that they were any more than robots, programmed to do the bidding of the commander. There were a few whispered confessions of confusion rippling through the crowd of assembled medical students; like me, a lot of my classmates had assumed we would be flying.

“You will be split into groups of three. These will be the men you will eat with, sleep with and work with. You will be transported to a boat which is waiting for you just south of here. The boat will sail you directly to our facilities in Manchukuo, where you will be assigned your working divisions. Listen for your name.”

A second man stood forward, his uniform considerably less decorated than the man he stood beside, but covered in medals nonetheless. He was holding a list of names, and he began to call out loudly, not bothering to look at the row of terrified students, now huddled together for warmth and comfort. I pulled my coat further around my body, praying silently that Manchukuo would be warmer than here. It was such a trivial thing, but something that kept my mind occupied.

“Ashikaga Ryuu! Asanuma Saburo! Chikamatsu Jirou!”

The soldier almost spat as he barked out the first three names. There was silence for a few seconds, before a quick scuffle could be heard from the end of the queue. Three men had stepped forward, standing just in front of the rest of the group, unwilling to leave the larger company completely. Three foot-soldiers - complete with heavy rifles and empty gazes - walked towards them, shoehorning them into the nearest truck. The engine gave another roar, before the first vehicle left the scene, speeding off into the distance.

Several more names were called, and our resistance got smaller and smaller. The sound of our names being announced was almost drowned out by the screech of tyres and gravel. As more people were called, being forced into cars and driven off, I began to get more nervous. I hadn’t felt nervous leaving the house, or not as nervous as I had expected myself to be. Now my stomach was doing backflips as the names began to get past ‘M’.

“Nakada Shou! Nakamura Seiko! Nitta Akira!”

I looked around myself as my name was called, looking for the two other men who no doubt had expressions identical to my own. My own eyes connected with pair of dark, watery eyes. There was a clatter of boots as the man stood next to me stood forward. I swallowed audibly and followed suit. The boy that was so close to crying did the same. Suddenly, the intricate loops of my shoelaces seemed incredibly interesting. The jarring click of metal hitting metal followed a fourth set of boots, facing the opposite way to my own alerted me to the fact that our escorts were ready to take us away. I followed those boots to the closest truck. The smell of gunpowder was, from this distance, almost unbearable. The smell was invading my nostrils, turning the queasy feeling in my stomach to nausea. I swallowed once again, deciding that throwing up over my freshly-polished shoes wouldn’t set a very good first impression to the others.

I cast one last look to the vastly diminished crowd as we were bundled into the car. Little did I know, this would be the last time I would see the men that I had been educated with for the past few years. The war would steal the opportunity to know these men from me, just like it had with many others before me.