Disaster Report Diaries (Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories) Part Five

This is my exploration of the Disaster Report series, where I will chronicle my playthrough like a text-based Let’s Play. Now let’s continue Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories…

Yuko Ichikawa and her new companion Kanae Tomita had escaped from two men with evil intentions and were heading towards the Hamayu Pier Ferry Terminal…

It was 5:00 PM, and raining as we approached the main building, a fine mist making things a bit spooky. Kanae was suddenly overcome by a compulsion to run inside, muttering a name, Tomoya, as she went. I decided to have a quick look at the car park, but didn’t find anything other than people on the other side of a fence having had to abandon their cars, before I headed in after her.

A tremor shook the terminal but nothing fell on me, so I nipped into the bathroom as I had a moderate need. An employee was locking the door leading outside, so I assumed that Kanae was the last person out. However, they directed me to go out through the staff room.

Upon entering said room, I overheard a conversation between the manager and two employees. Apparently, the tremor had destroyed the bridge which Kanae and I had just crossed, so the ferry was the only way out. Unfortunately, it was full — but the ferry manager was putting out more lifeboats for anyone still unable to board, which turned out to be 24 people, including staff. Whether that counted myself and Kanae, I wasn’t certain, but I felt that the ferry manager could have unloaded a few cars to fit more people on…

The ferry horn blew and the two employees went outside to try and calm the 20-ish people and get them in lifeboats. The manager addressed me, asking what I was going to do, so I said that I’d like to get on a lifeboat. The manager agreed and said that a tsunami was unlikely — yet — but I should get outside quickly. After grabbing and wearing a Low-profile Cap, I complied.

I only counted about 15 people still on land as the ferry sailed away, but I found Kanae standing next to a clock as another tremor shook us. She started to explain that she was supposed to meet someone at the terminal — her fiancé. They had planned on going away for their honeymoon before the wedding, setting sail from this very port and then going abroad. Since Tomoya wasn’t there, she was worried something had happened to him.

After telling her that we had to get on a lifeboat, she begged to wait a bit longer for her fiancé, so we had a… musical interlude? I’m not sure where the music or singing were coming from, but it was interrupted by the terminal manager asking what the heck we were doing, and telling us to get moving. A tremor began and he tackled us both out of the way of the walkway roof, which we were beneath to keep us dry!

Knowing that his time was up, the manager gave us a Terminal Worker’s Key, in case we couldn’t get on the ferry — which was already a couple of miles offshore… Unsure where the lifeboats were, I returned to the assembled people who had been left behind, but then the ground began falling into the water! We quickly entered the staff room and went back into the terminal.

Upstairs was a door, which I unlocked with the key I had just received, taking us out to the staff veranda overlooking the six surviving potential ferry passengers. I led Kanae up a ladder to the roof, then avoided walking on the glass, but unintentionally missed picking up something as we crossed to another ladder. Once back on the ground in the workshop area, some stairs led down to a liferaft. A bad tremor hit as we boarded, and the rest of the terminal sank.

Kanae was obviously still upset that Tomoya hadn’t met her, but I figured that he had probably survived somewhere. With no other options, I began to row to try and find some shelter as night was quickly falling.

We arrived at the Enishida apartment blocks, with water almost up to the second story, and as I rowed to Building A, we heard a baby crying. They probably hadn’t evacuated due to the flooding. Around the rear of the building, we docked the raft and I entered apartment 206, as that was where the crying was coming from. I found a mother and two children, one of whom was the baby in question, and I told her that I was just checking on the child. She was relieved that I wasn’t a burglar and asked for my help obtaining cold medicine for her other child, who had a fever.

Upon agreeing to help, she directed me to apartment 404, where her friend lived, and I began exploring. In 205 there was an elderly couple who had nothing for me, so I went upstairs to 405, then out through the sliding doors at the rear. Luckily there was a plank of wood bridging the gap between 405 and 404, so I crossed it carefully and went inside, finding the Children’s Cold Medicine and a photo of the mother and presumably the tenant of the home.

Out on the patio was a Rain Cloud Compass, which I equipped, then I returned to 206 and handed over the medicine. As thanks, she told me that we could sleep there for the night. Kanae couldn’t sleep, thinking of Tomoya, so I wanted to know more about her lover and asked, “Who’s Tomoya?”. She took this the wrong way and seemed annoyed that I had forgotten her fiancé.

I asked to see a photo of Tomoya, but Kanae had lost her phone which had her photos of him. So, I asked if he was good-looking, which she confirmed — at least she thought he was. She began to cry, so I asked if I could give her a hug for encouragement. She thanked me for my help, said good night, then began sobbing…

We had a very rude awakening at about 5:30 AM when the building started sinking and our room filled with water! I quickly spoke to the mother who asked to join us on the boat, and I agreed. She said that she’d meet us outside, so I hurried back to the liferaft. Kanae and I were helpless to do anything but watch from the raft as the entire apartment building fell over and sank below the water.

I was saddened and didn’t know what to say, so we began to row to try and escape this sinking area of the island. However, we were called to by the tenant of 208 in Building C, so we headed over to speak to him from his patio. He asked us to phone for a rescue team from an emergency telephone at the nearby Enishia Station. I agreed to help, then we rowed around the building and went inside the guy’s apartment, finding a Sailor Uniform. Since I was on a boat, I decided to wear it — at the least, the long sleeves, skirt, and knee-high socks were more protection than the shorts and T-shirt I had been wearing. No, I didn’t question why he had a high school girl’s uniform.

Rowing around Building D, we saw another block follow Building A into the water. However, a large sign blocked our route, so we had to stop off to find a way to move it. I suggested lifting it, but we’d need rope to pull it up from the roof. I went into 208, as the stairs were blocked, and explained to the occupant what I was doing. He was happy to help, letting me take his belt, and saying his mountain climber friend from 101 in Building C would have ropes we could use.

As well as the Leather Belt, I found and equipped some Baseball Gloves before exiting to the patio, and traversing the wooden plank bridging to 206. Inside were some Bandages and a Soccer Ball, but only one of those things was useful. The stairs weren’t blocked, so I was able to get to 505, where I found a Baseball Uniform and a tenant who was fine with their impending death.

Using another two wooden planks, I went inside 501 and again explained about the rescue team to the occupant, who told me that I could use the ladder outside to access the roof. Unfortunately, I still had to go to Building C to get that mountaineering equipment, which meant going all the way back to the raft…