ROT
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CHAPTER 1
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After a long day, Samuel Laakso waited at the traffic lights on his way home and saw people on the streets walking their own ways. He loathed every single one of them.
He was driving from work, and when he arrived to the driveway of his house outside the larger population centres of the city, he sat in his car for a few minutes, thinking what to say and what he was about to say. This would have to be the last day he would live in this house, and the conversation he was preparing for, was one he had had many times before, and this time around, he didn’t have anything new to add. All he could do was make the same points again. Upon coming to this conclusion, he stepped out of the van he always uses for moving around, shut the door and walked to his own front door, with a cool head.
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Samuel came home and marked anotherX in the calendar.
"There’s still tomorrow." He whispered to himself and sighed. He greeted his wife with frustration and a little despair.
"Are you still holding your ground, the decision should be made now?" Samuel asked his wife Jenni.
"I’ll still hold my ground until you tell me what it's about and I won't break before you do. Is it something to do with this economy and the tough times ahead? Do you just want to run away somewhere? And why?" Jenni answered and asked. Samuel said in a half whispering - half yelling voice: "I would like to tell you, but as I have said so many times, I cannot tell anyone because of the rule!" To which Jenni replied: "And what rule? You just don't trust me and you don't want to tell me because you think I would gossip or something."
"I do trust you! Now that there is so little time left, I guess I can tell you that I have to hide it because if they know that I have told anyone, then there will be consequences for me, you and Elias."
"Well there you go! A little progress. And who are these 'Them' we're talking about now?"
"I do however have to keep that a secret."
"So you don't trust me, I knew it." Jenni said with frustration and disappointment.
Samuel sighed.
"Yes! It's true. You caught me. I don't trust you with this information and if you've made up your mind, then so be it." he said with a raised voice and stormed out.
Samuel went to the stairwell, put his palms on his face, rubbed his short blond hair and accepted something he had already partially accepted several years ago: Jenni must be left behind and only himself and their newborn child Elias can go.
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Samuel spent the rest of the evening loading the van and trailer. Samuel didn’t go inside for the rest of the evening. He only unloaded equipment from their shack onto the vehicle and the trailer.He had collected survival, camping and farming equipment in his warehouse, and everything that two people will ever need in isolation from everything. He had known long before that the time would come eventually, and he had started gathering the proper items long before the day came.
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When everything was finally loaded into the truck, it was two o’clock in the night.Samuel came back in at night when Jenni and Elias were already asleep. He still took things from his house inside the trailer that he wanted to take with him and went alone to the couch to sleep.
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Samuel woke up at 6 in the morning before everyone else and headed to work. On the way to work he ate a store-bought ready-made sandwich in his car.
"The last one I'll everget to eat." - he stated. He arrived at his workplace in a state-funded laboratory. At the door, he showed his identity, like he had done so many times in the past.When he entered, he greeted no one, and no one greeted him. He had long ago decided to ignore everyone else so as not to get attached to them because it might hinder his plan.
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He hoped that the day would be the most typical working day where nothing memorable or notable would happen. No such luck. Onni, a hopelessly hapless new intern approached Samuel.
"Do I still have to put up with this." Samuel thought to himself.
"Hey, big man! I have to ask for one thing." Onni said.
"What is it?" Samuel said pretending to care.
"Today was the last day of my training session and the boss evaluated my performance, but I can't get in because I forgot my ID!"
"And how is this my problem?" Samuel thought to himself.
Onni continued: "You have a car, so would it be possible to borrow it, so I could go get the ID from home? I come here on public transport but it would take too long with a bus."
There was no way Samuel would want to give his car to anyone right now, but he also had to act polite because, he really didn't want to be fired right now so he came up with an excuse:
"Do you have gas money?” Samuel asked. Samuel had made sure that there was enough fuel in the car already yesterday, but he decided to lie about the fuel status of his car so that he wouldn’t have to borrow it, and so he continued: "I think it has enough gas for my trip home and I don't have any money or means of payment with me."
"My bank account is running low and I really can't afford anything extra before payday." Onni replied.
"Bad luck." Samuel replied, and started making his way away from Onni without saying anything more, ignoring any words that he heard from behind him.
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When this encounter was over, Samuel signed himself in and went into his workplace. The workplace had white and light blue walls and the interior was carefully cleaned. A study had been going on in the laboratory for some time, which did not really interest Samuel. They studied how two different mouse societies manage when in one society, each mouse is given the same amount of food and the same amount of solitary space, and in the other one, a large pile of food is thrown in the middle of the society every now and then and some living spaces are big and some are small and the biggest living spaces and the amount of food goes to those who take it first. Samuel's job was just to record notes and notable observations.
Samuel sat on his chair, which he had adjusted to his liking, and looked at the mice.
"You guys love your cheese!" He said in frustration. It was hard for him to think about his work because he only thought about what was coming and that he would leave Jenni and everything in his life behind and he was also scared, even if he didn’t always admit it to himself. He couldn't be less interested in the behavior of the mice and just wrote down everything he saw and didn't even think about what was worth writing, he did this until it was time for a break. In Samuel's place, another researcher came to take his work station and adjusted the chair to a completely different position, which always annoyed Samuel.
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During the break, he always met the same three men Kosola, Tuonela and Timonen. Kosola was a young genius, 23 years old, short and small framed with weak hair, bad with people and always spoke in a very formal tone and did not use much informal language. Tuonela was a bald 45-year-old slightly thicker individual who always joked with his colleagues, the opposite of Samuel and Kosola. It was not known if he actually liked his colleagues since he was involved in this project, which wasn’t exactly a project for people loving people. Timonen was a 27-year-old "handsome boy" with curly hair and he was always very rude to all women, except the good looking ones. Samuel doesn't think Timonen will survive what's coming and that this would be the last time they see each other.
Samuel always exchanged a few words with them, but during breaks he never had a long conversation with them. Longer discussions only took place after work, for reasons of privacy.
"You have everything taken care of and you are ready, because today it will happen?" Kosola asked the three.
All responded positively, in their own ways and manners.
"Good. Today, right after work, same place as always. And if any of you can't make it, then too bad, because nothing will be canceled at this point." Kosola continued.
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After this meeting, the four men calmly went their separate ways. Samuel spent his break alone at the table with his smartphone and decided not to talk to anyone. That was how he had always spent his breaks, and he saw no reason to do anything differently this time.
The break ended and it was time to go back to the work station. Samuel walked past his collegue when he came back from the break and adjusted his chair back to his preferred position and continued with the project. The minutes moved painfully slowly and Samuel felt like with each movement of his hand, his heart started beating faster. He continued to think and worry.
"What I'm doing is ultimately right, even though I might not want to do it on the surface. Sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do. My decision to leave Jenni behind is also for the best, her wheelchair would only cause trouble. Don't stress, it's too late for that anymore."
Samuel wasn't concentrating on his work and then he heard the door open and immediately realized that he was neglecting in his work. He looked behind him and saw that it was the head of the laboratory.
"You’ve been talking with our intern, Onni quite a lot, isn’t that right?" The leader asked.
"Unfortunately yes." Samuel thought to himself.
"That is true." Samuel said.
"So do you have any idea why he didn't come to work today when he has a pretty good reason to come today?"
"Yeah! Yesterday we talked after work, he gave me a long speech about how he hates this place and wants to leave, but he didn't feel like telling you, so he decided that he would intentionally make a bad impression and get fired."
"Is that true? Well, I couldn’t tell that from Onni based on what I've seen, but you never know what people think. Well, I won't waste my time on that guy anymore, and he'll do what he wants. That's all, thank you."
What Samuel told about Onni obviously wasn’t true but this was his chance to mess with someone he disliked and face no consequences for it so he went for it.
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The head of the laboratory left the door and Samuel went back to his own thoughts. He concluded that he wouldn't see his boss or anyone else at work today, so it doesn't matter how he spends his working time. The rest of the working day was quiet and Samuel's mind was empty. After a long wait, the workday was over and Samuel checked himself out and went to Tuonela's private laboratory. Tuonela was a high-level researcher and he worked alone on his own experiments. Here the four men had always gathered after the work day. Samuel knocked on the door and said his name and Tuonela let him in. Kosola and Timonen had already come too. Tuonela's private laboratory was an old room with crusty walls and brown stains on the ceiling, but all the equipment was clean, and for good reason.
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"Now that everyone is here, the real work can begin. Let me remind you what everyone has to do. Tuonela, you go to the international airport tonight. Timonen, you go to your people and you prepare for action. Laakso, you have already done your part so you can just go into hiding now. And me, my job is to keep the notes to myself until it’s time for the final part of the plan. Gentlemen, we won't see each other until 20 years from now, assuming we all survive, so this is my goodbye for now. But no time shall be wasted. It's time to act." Kosola said
All the men left the room and Kosola went away but the other men stayed to talk for a while.
"You know, Samuel, you can also come with me, just like Tuonela plans to." Timonen said to Samuel.
"Yes, I know, I just don't trust that it will go as planned, and I already have everything taken care of and I wouldn't want to change my plans anymore. I'll make it and we'll see each other again." Samuel replied.
"I would hope that we will all get to talk to eatch other again, even if Kosola doesn't necessarily seem to like it. We were all in this together and I would like you all to get paid for our work in the end." Tuonela said.
What do you mean Kosola doesn't seem like he wants us to talk?" Samuel asked.
"Well, I just have a bit of a bad feeling about that guy, he doesn't seem to consider us equal to him." Tuonela answered.
"He's just pretending. He’s so intellectually gifted and he wants to seem like he’s above us." Timonen said.
"Right. Be that as it may, my gameplan is laid out, and it sticks. We will see again." Samuel said and left the entire building, and went back to his van.
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CHAPTER 2
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Samuel went to his car and drove home. During the drive, his head was a storm of uncertainty and worry. He turned on the car radio. He heard the news of ongoing riots and police shoot outs happening in different parts of the country. These things had been going on for almost half a year at this point, with the political class debating about applying wartime measures to end the unrest.
“I shouldn’t waste the car’s battery.” Samuel said to himself and switched the radio off. When he arrived home he didn't even greet Jenni but went straight to see Elias who was sleeping. Jenni rolled up behind Samuel on her chair and said: "Today is that "big day". Would now be a good time to tell me what it's all about?"
"Fine." Samuel replied.
"You may have noticed that I've attached a trailer to the van, and I've loaded a lot of our stuff into it, so you can probably tell that I'm going somewhere. I just want to ask if you can come with me."
"To Where?"
"Far from here to a cottage with a small potato field and a water filter, and some equipment that’s already there. There we could easily support ourselves for our whole life and we would have to stay there for a long time, a really long time." Samuel explained seriously to Jenni, as he still wanted her to come with him, even though his rational side knew she would be more trouble than worth.
"And why on earth do we have to go there?” Jenni asked right back.
"Unfortunately, I still can't tell you." Samuel replied
"Yeah, I'm not going anywhere to any cottage for any reason that I don't know, and you're not going either and Elias especially isn't! You’ll remove everything from the car and the trailer and put everything back to where you took them from."
Samuel sighed in frustration. "Alright, I'll put it all back and forget the whole thing." He said frustratedly and dishonetly.
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"But not right now, not before tomorrow." Samuel continued and went out the door. Samuel went for a short walk to clear his thoughts and think more, as if he hadn't already thought enough today.
"At night. I have to do it at night." He concluded.
Samuel received a message on his phone from Jenni that read: “I hope everything is ok <3 Now that you are already outside, you can pick up dinner for us while you’re at it.”
Samuel stopped by a hamburger joint when he was outside and went to pick up meals for every member of his household. The selection was very slim. Due to the unrest in the country, food imports had halted for a large part. While standing in the queue, he saw a woman and a young boy, looking worried. A police car drove past the joint, and when it did, both the woman and the boy popped their collars as to hide the backs of their heads. Once the police car passed, they both left the building and went their way. Also while standing at the queue he overheard a conversation at one the tables. He turned to look, and at the table a man and a woman had a map laid out. He could make out what they were talking about, and didn’t quite care, as it was his turn at the queue. He ordered the cheapest options from the slim menu, and went to a table to wait. While he was standing at a table next to the window, the intern Onni in a brown jacket walked past the window. Onni noticed Samuel and his eyes widened. Onni immediately pushed the joint’s door open and pulled out a switchblade, without taking his eyes off Samuel.
“I heard what you said to the boss! Onni yelled out.
The clerk behind the counter pulled out a pistol. Arming service workers had become somewhat of a norm in these times of unrest, even in areas where the unrest doesn’t even take place. The clerk yelled: “You better the drop that thing right this second or it won’t be the only thing that drops!”
Onni froze, but didn’t drop the switchblade, and didn’t take his eyes off Samuel.
“You got lucky.” Onni whispered, and dropped the switchblade and walked out of the joint. Samuel’s delivery was brought to his table.
“Be careful on your way home.” The service worker wished him.
“I will be.” Samuel replied.
Samuel walked out the joint and made his way home. A police car drove to the parking lot of the joint. The woman and the boy who Samuel saw inside the joint, were now on the backseat of the police car. The officers in the car stepped out and went inside the joint, presumably to talk about the incident with Onni.
When Samuel returned home, he dropped the food bag on the table and went inside his van alone to eat. He did not want to talk to anyone tonight.
When the evening came and Jenni went to her bed and quickly fell asleep, Samuel rolled the empty wheelchair away so Jenni couldn't get out of bed quickly. Then he stole Jenni's phone so she couldn't call anyone. Samuel took Elias from the crib and went to the car. He drove his car over his own phone and Jenni's phone to break them both.
When driving to his destination, Samuel did not use a digital navigator but used a paper map and paid attention to road signs. He was paranoid about being tracked down. Looking out the car windows, everything in the city and traffic seemed normal, which was to be expected. The mark of their work was not supposed to appear immediately. Elias was awake in the passenger seat and was confused and scared. He had never been in a car before. Samuel couldn't afford to pay attention to Elias as he focused on the map and the signs. However, Samuel made sure that he wouldn't break any traffic rules because he absolutely did not want to be stopped by the police. He saw a gas station and decided to fill up even though he didn't need to. He knew he wouldn't need money anymore, so there was no reason to save. There was a television inside the gas station that broadcasted news. This caught Samuel's attention, but nothing was reported that would be of any worry to him. No traces of the work had been observed yet. He also bought himself a ready-made sandwitch and a boxed juice for Elias. so that he wouldn't have to waste his large can of canned goods so soon.
They drove past the town of Lahti from where they continued their journey past Kouvola and Lappeenranta a little further east where the cabin was located near Pitkäjärvi in the forest. The cities that they drove past were towns where the unrest had been going on. Samuel avoided the police road blockages by going the ways that he had scouted months earlier when laying out his plan. There were potholes on the roads he took, which made sleeping even more difficult for Elias, as the car drove over them and shook on impact.
The road between the cities was straight and quiet. The main road leading to the city of Lappeenranta had a police checkpoint that Samuel had no choice than to go through. He was not worried. He expected this.
The authorities at the checkpoint waved for him to stop the vehicle, and so he did, and opened the van’s window.
“Passport.” Said the officer wearing a yellow vest.
Samuel handed him his passport. Other officers were checking the contents of his van and trailer.
“What is your business here and the reason for the items you’re transporting?” The officer asked, but Samuel only replied by handing him proof that he is a government employee. The officer asked for no further explanation, only saying: “Sorry for the inconvenience. Move along” and Samuel drove deeper into the city. There was some traffic on the streets of Lappeenranta. People still went to work, but police precense was much more noticeable. Someone threw a rock at the side of Samuel’s van, but a police officer quickly tackled the person. Samuel was not one bit irritated by this. All the unrest works in the favour of his circle’s grand plan.
Samuel managed to drive his van out of the city without further trouble. At the road leading out of the city, there was another police checkpoint, but he handled them the same way he handled the previous one, except on this one he explain that he had business to do in another city.
After driving the highways some more, Samuel finally arrived at his destination. He took a dirt road that lead into the woods where he took a smaller dirt road that lead to his location. The location was a cabin.
The cabin was a wooden one made of logs behind which there was a small potato field and a forest around it and a gravel road that led there. There were no neighboring cabins, so the chances were small that someone would accidentally come there. The cabin also had a cellar, and there was a shed next to the cabin. After arriving at the cabin, Samuel was dead tired, so he decided to sleep in the car and unload the cargo in the morning. Elias was terrified because he didn't know what it was all about and he made noise almost all night, but Samuel still fell asleep. At this moment it was early hours of the morning, and after a while, Elias also fell asleep.
Morning came and the sunlight woke up both Samuel and Elias. “It’s begun now" Samuel said quietly to himself. "There's nothing else to do but work." Samuel got out of the car and went to open the trailer. First he took his mattress from there and was about to take it inside until he noticed that the door was locked. Samuel opened his eyes wide open and went into a small panic. "Where did I leave that key? No no no!" He went back to the car and found the key in the drink holder. After the previous night, even simple things were easily forgotten in the midst of all the concentration and stress. He went to open the cabin door and entered. The cabin was one that was built in haste and it was completely unfurnished, without any pre-built tables or anything of that sort. Samuel didn't bring any furniture because he thought that they weren't that essential. He had however brought a large pile of books with him and he brought those in next. He took them with him just so that Elias could sometimes educate himself and learn about the world, because he would hopefully not see other people while growing up here. He left the can storage in the trailer because moving it would require too much effort and he thought they might as well be in the trailer, only hoping that nobody would find them here. When the cargo was unloaded, he dropped the seed potatoes in the field. He took them along because he knew that the cans will eventually run out.
There was no heating in the cabin, but there was a firewood storage and a fireplace. Samuel went to see the wood store and noticed that it was quite empty. "I should probably fill it up. It's not enough for the winter." he sighed in frustration and then retrieved an axe from the back of the van and went to find a suitable tree, one that would be far enough from the house as to not fall on it. Cutting down the tree was difficult and frustrating for Samuel, who had never done this before. "This is my life now." he said to himself. He got the tree down which gave him a brief sense of accomplishment. Then he realized that the fallen tree had to be moved. Samuel let out an irritated breath and closed his eyes. "No one else is doing this work."
Samuel came back from the forest and thought he should rest for a while. "Oh crap! Elias is still in that car!" He went to the van where Elias was still in the safety seat. Samuel opened the door and a very nasty smell came out of the car. "I should have expected this." he thought frustratedly, but did what he had to do.
Once that was done with, he got inside the cabin, put Elias on the floor and let him move freely, but with the cabin’s door shut. There was nothing in the house but Samuel’s mattress. He would still need to craft all the furniture himself, as carrying such things there would have taken too much space.
Later that day Samuel was inside the cabin, lying on his mattress and looking at the ceiling. He noticed that he was hungry, so he got a can of beans from the trailer, which he shared with Elias, and that was enough for now.
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CHAPTER 3
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After all the work that came with moving in was done, life in the forest was simple and routine. Elias spent his childhood in this small cabin and in the nearby forest. Samuel witnessed all the milestones of a growing child, such as learning to walk and talk, and he wished that Jenni was there to see it, even though he tried his best to forget her and not worry as to how she was managing. Samuel had no idea what was going on in the world he left behind, and he tried to not think about it. He believed that he would find out when the time came.
At the age of four, Elias had brown hair with roots on the right side of his head. Due their diet heavy on potatoes, which are rich with nutrients, he was healthy and wasn’t lacking many nutrients. He was however lacking iron and protein, which made him quite slim. Elias was interested in the world around him. He kept asking Samuel questions that he himself couldn't answer, so Samuel taught him to read. Elias read books on biology to learn about nature. That led him to read about physics. Elias didn't remember ever seeing the world beyond the nearby forest, so reading about the world and universe greatly fascinated him. He read history to learn about the world and also newspapers from the time they came to the cabin to learn what the world was like before his time.
"Why do we live here, even though there are big cities? And why do we live so primitively, even though there is advanced technology?" Elias asked his father.
"The world you read about is ruined. It’s good that we left it behind before it ruined us. We live simply, because that's how people should live." Samuel answered.
"What do you mean by that? The world looks like a nice place." Elias asked.
"All magazines want to show the world as better than it is. It's actually better that we left it behind. Under the surface it’s rotten to the core." Samuel replied. Elias concluded that he wouldn't get the answer he wanted, so he stopped asking questions about this topic.
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At the age of seven, Elias helped Samuel with his chores and started coming with him to the forest. At this point they still had no tables or beds, because all the wood had to be used for warming the house. At that age Elias first asked Samuel about the morality of catching fish to eat. Samuel taught him that it’s nature taking it’s course. The catch dies, so they can eat.
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At the age of 10, Elias carved himself a bow for which he got his inspiration from history books and woodworking magazines. A year earlier, he started going to the forest alone.
Elias read about primitive hunting and archery too. Living in the forest, they had never tasted fresh meat. The only animal based food that Elias had tasted in his life was lake fish and canned tuna. Elias however knew that people used to eat meat that was produced in slaughterhouses, from animals whose only purpose in life was to be slaughtered. Before that, humans had hunted their prey, just like other animals. Elias's view of life was not typical for a person of his time. Since he had only spoken to one person in his life, he did not see people in masses, even though the texts he read sometimes spoke of people only as statistics and numbers. The industrial killing of animals for food was not a concept that he grew up with so he valued animal life.
Elias still believed that hunting animals was acceptable. It is just the cycle of nature that he knew very well. Elias no longer wanted to be just a nuisance, he also wanted to be useful, so he decided to try hunting.
Samuel told Elias: "Perhaps it would be better if I come with you in case something happens or if you get lost."
"I've been in these forests before and always found my way home. And besides, two people leave a stronger smell and make more noise than one." Elias replied.
"Yeah, but when an animal runs towards you, that's probably when you’d wish someone was with you. I'll come along with you and there will be no arguing about it.” Samuel insisted. Elias accepted this with a simple “Fine.” and made his way to the forest, as he still wanted to lead the way.
"Stay behind me and it will be easier that way." Elias said.
"Okay, but I won’t be so far behind that I can't see you." Samuel answered.
They went into the forest calmly walking without worrying about the volume of their voices. There were never any animals near the cabin, so at this stage it was not necessary to be careful. The forest was a typical coniferous forest of the northern climate region, full of tall and sparsely branched pines. The sky was clear and the moss on the ground was dry like it always is this time in June.
Eventually they had gone further from the cabin to an area where they could hunt already. The first animal that came across was a hare that flashed in front of Elias' feet. He had no chance of getting it.
"Go low!" Elias whispered behind him where Samuel followed. Elias saw the edge of the cliff ahead. They approached the ledge slowly and when Elias came to the edge, he saw a doe below. It seemed to be alone. Elias had a satisfied feeling. At this moment he assumed he would get a big catch on his first time out, and now was his chance. He motioned for Samuel to be quiet and still. One strong hit to the neck should do the job. Elias had practiced shooting with a bow on a board he had painted on the outer wall of the shed, but he had never shot from an angle or from above. That's where he made a mistake. When he shot the arrow it hit the deer in the thigh. The deer let out a nasty grunting sound and moved around wildly. This caught the attention of a male deer that Elias nor Samuel had even seen. When the male deer saw the female suffering and Elias on the rock, the male deer put the pieces together and started charging towards Elias. Elias could not have expected that this is what would happen here.
"Let's go let's go!" Elias said to Samuel behind in a scared voice and they started to run as fast as they could, but the soft moss covered ground did not allow running. The male deer was faster than Elias expected and soon it was in front of them. Neither of them remembered to bring any weapons capable of striking. They started to run away in another direction but in vain.
"Let's go home! I'll try to take care of this!" Samuel shouted. Elias just stared in place for a couple of seconds. "Go!" Samuel shouted again and Elias started heading back in the direction they came from and Samuel tried to keep the deer's attention on himself. The deer forced Samuel to walk backwards and pushed him with its antlers towards the edge of the cliff. Samuel looked behind him and decided that he had to either jump down or be pushed down back first with an anthler induced wound on his stomach, so he turned around and jumped feet first down the cliff eight meters and broke both his legs.
The deer looked down at Samuel screaming in pain until an arrow from behind pierced the deer's leg. The deer let out a painful sound and before it could look where the blow came from, Elias came to push the wounded deer down from the cliff. The deer fell right next to Samuel, nearly squashing him, but Samuel didn't flinch. All his thoughts were on his pain.
"You alive?" Elias shouted from the cliff.
"I wish I wasn't!" Samuel shouted back. Elias came down to take a closer look at Samuel. The tibia of the left leg had pierced through the muscle and the knee of the right leg was completely destroyed.
"I suppose you can't walk home?" Elias said.
"Well I suppose not!" Samuel angrily replied. 10-year-old Elias had to drag a grown man a long way to the cabin, and carrying the dead deer was out of the question. When Elias raised Samuel up he saw the doe which he failed to bring down. The doe had calmed down and seemed to have gotten over its pain, and was now looking at Elias with interest and fear, and was waiting for him to turn around so he could look at the male deer lying on the ground. Elias was disappointed with his hunting results, but he was even more angry at himself for messing up this bad.
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When they finally came to the cabin, the sun was already setting. Elias put Samuel on the mattress and fetched bandages which he put around Samuel’s leg.
"Sure was a good idea to go to the forest, even though we got by with potatoes." Samuel stated sarcastically.
"You insisted on coming along. You can blame yourself." Elias answered.
"If I hadn't come along, you would have fallen and no one would have found you!"
"If I had gone alone, I wouldn't have gotten into a situation where I had to jump off a cliff!" Elias replied, and then followed up saying:
"Now I have to do all the work here because there won’t be help from you for a while."
Samuel told his son: “From now on, you won’t have much time left to read or carve or hunt. You’ll have to spend your time looking after after the potato field and chopping wood and carrying water, which for a slow boy, will take somewhat of a long time.” This made Elias respect that Samuel had been doing this himself for some years now.
“No more hunting trips. You can’t manage it alone.” Samuel said to Elias. Elias wanted to argue back, but he couldn’t make a case for himself.
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CHAPTER 4
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Samuel really wasn't helpful for a while. Nine years had passed and Samuel still could not walk. For those nine years, they lived off of potatoes and fish. Their fortune in aquiring these foods was good in these years. Elias had gotten much better at his jobs and got everything done faster. He had even carved a simple pair of crutches for Samuel. Samuel couldn't work much with the crutches, but he still didn't want to be completely useless. He had started tinkering with furniture and sewing. Samuel didn't particularly enjoy it, but he liked sitting around even less. When life in the forest had become smooth, they could afford to be less stingy with their food and other resources.
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It was morning. Samuel woke up from his wooden bed when he heard Elias shouting from outside. It wasn't a scared scream, more of an angry and confused one. Samuel took his stick and went outside where Elias was kneeling on their potato field. The air was cool and the ground was damp. The September sky was gray.
"What are you shouting here?" Samuel asked.
"This field. Don't you see? Yesterday it was lush and now it's empty. And I didn't plow it empty yesterday." Elias replied.
"Well, it can’t be that the plants have just disappeared or burned for some reason. I wonder if there’s anything under the soil." Samuel asked.
Elias turned the soil and found two small potatoes.
"Well, I guess we’ll have to live on canned food. This winter." Samuel said.
"We don’t have nearly enough for that. I’ll figure this out." Elias replied.
Long grass was growing on some of the edges of the plot, since those places had not been walked on for years. Elias walked around their property and noticed that in one place the long grass had been trampled.
"Come look at this!" Elias shouted. Samuel came as quickly as he could with his crutches. "Someone's gone through here." Elias said.
"Well there you go, maybe it was a moose or something. The riddle is solved." Samuel replied and continued:
"Well, now that we've been woken up early for work down here, you'll get the work done early as well. You still have to fill the firewood storage." Elias went to split a fallen tree with an axe, and when it was done, Elias took his bow from the wall.
Elias went to the trampled grass and went into the forest without telling his father where he was going. Even though Elias hadn't put the bow into practice, he had still occasionally shot a target with it, so he still knew how to handle it. Elias saw trampled moss but no clear footprints of any kind. It could just be some animal, but animals weren't in the habit of tearing potato plants out of the ground as far as he knew. Neither Elias nor Samuel had gone in this direction before. He didn't recognize any landmarks and didn't know where he was going. When he came back he would only have to follow the trodden moss. Elias had traveled four kilometers in one direction until he saw a piece of red cloth. His fears intensified. Before long, the moss ran out and there was a muddy ground where he could see footprints. More specifically, boot marks. "This is what I was afraid of." Elias thought to himself.
He followed the footsteps for some distance and his heart beating faster all the time. He had never seen strangers in his life, and he knew that these people did not have good intentions, as Samuel had taught him to think of the outside world as evil. Elias began to hear a sound that sounded like a voice, but he couldn’t make out the words. He approached the sound quietly and stayed low with his bow at the ready. He began to make out the words.
"Don't sweat it. They won't be a problem. We'll be far away before they notice that anything is gone."
"I’m pretty sure, they've probably noticed by now. And I also left pretty clear traces. They definitely know which way we went and now they're probably following us. Let's play it safe and go back and make sure that neither of them will cause us a problem."
Elias hid on the ground listening to the conversation. He saw three men, two of whom had red ribbons on their foreheads, all with hunting rifles. It wouldn't be good for Elias to be seen right now.
"Okay, but let's be on our guard now in case someone surprises us. We'll go back there later today." One of the men said. Elias almost panicked right away. He hadn't been in such a worrisome state since that hunting trip when he was 10. He quietly started to turn back along the tracks. When he was far enough away from the men he started running back as fast as he could.
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When Elias arrived at the cabin, he rushed in and told Samuel: "I followed the tracks and just as I feared, they were people and they said something about coming back here later to make sure we don't cause any problems, in their words.”
"So hey wait now! How many were there?"
"Uh, three."
"What the hell? We didn't agree on anything about this, and how did they know I'm here?"
"What are you talking about? Do you know who they were?"
"Maybe. What did they look like?"
"Um. One had short buzz cut and one had short black hair and a big beard and one had messy blond hair and a short beard. They all looked pretty young."
"Never mind then. I don’t know who those are."
"I should probably mention that they all had rifles, so maybe we should disappear from here for a bit." Elias said and followed: "That car still works, doesn't it?"
"Yes, it works, but I can't drive with these legs." Samuel replied.
"Well tell me quickly how to use it and let's get out of here!"
"We should probably take something with us in case we're going to be gone for a long time." Samuel pointed out.
"We still have cans in the trailer. Maybe we can take some survival supplies and then we'll go.” Elias replied.
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They loaded up what they thought they needed and got into the car. The key was still in the ignition after 19 years.
"Let's pray it still works!" Samuel said.
"Okay, turn that key until the car starts, that way you'll know when it's on." Samuel adviced Elias. Elias started the car.
"Here you go. Left foot on the middle pedal, press it until you find the sweet spot, right foot on the rightmost pedal until the car moves, let go of the middle one and keep the rightmost half pressed." Samuel adviced. Elias failed once so Samuel explained it again and then Elias got the car moving. Elias turned the car around and started driving along the gravel road away from the cabin to new views.
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CHAPTER 5
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Driving on a traffic-free road was easy for a first-timer. While driving the empty highway, they mostly saw trees out of the windows. When they had driven some distance they started to see abandoned houses on the sides of the roads. Elias suggested that they explore these houses, stopping by one of them.
"Don't touch anything, ok. Take the gloves." Samuel told Elias, who had never seen a house other than his own, except in pictures, and he had no idea if the house was actually inhabited or not. Elias took his bow with him and walked up to the door of the house quietly. The door was locked. The windows were old and weak. Four small panels in one shutter. By dragging the arrowhead along the edges of the panels, Elias easily dislodged the panels, then tore away the rotted wooden frame that was in the shape of a cross connecting the panels. No one came to drive him out, so he assumed the house was abandoned.
The house was cluttered with furniture and household items, as if someone still lived in the house. But the owner of the house was presumably gone, because all the surfaces were so dusty. Elias came into the living room where there was an old couch with a low table in front of it, and against the wall was a large and flat television. There was an empty and dusty glass bottle on the armrest of the sofa. Elias went up the stairs to the second floor of the abandoned house. There he saw a large double bed with small bedside tables on both sides. On the other bedside table was a yellowed paper note with faded text. There was some kind of stamp in the top corner of the note. Elias read the note out loud without touching the note.
"Redness had started in the area of the patient's lungs, which later led to the opening of the skin in the red area. Red tissue later grew from the opened skin, which spread. The patient has been admitted to intensive care. The patient's household is to leave the patient's house immediately. Do not take anything with you in case it carries the infection." Elias raised his head and looked around the room.
"Good thing I didn't touch anything." He told himself. He didn't want to stay in the house anymore so he went down the stairs and climbed out the window.
"Well, was there anything?" Samuel asked.
"Some note that told about some disease that I don't know, and there was a warning that everything in the house might be infected. Good thing I had gloves." Elias answered and continued: "Is it safe to go home again. It's getting late?"
“Well al least go look.” Samuel replied. They both got back in the van, Elias started the engine better than on the last time and started driving back home.
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While Samuel and Elias were gone, the three men that Elias saw in the forest walked back to the cabin not minding the volume of their voice.
"Shouldn't we be a little more careful? We don't know how many of them are here." Said the man with messy hair.
"We have our weapons ready. What can they do to us?" answered the buzz-cut man
"Well, themight have weapons too." Said the messy-haired one, to which the buzz-cut man responded sarcastically by repeating what the mess head said. They saw that the cabin was empty. "There! I knew that they went after us. They followed our tracks and now they’ll follow the tracks back and surprise us from behind." Said the messy haired one worriedly.
"Now stop complaining or I'll throw you in jail when we get back, so you'll learn what it's like to be surprised from behind." the buzz-cut replied. The man with the messy beard laughed at the exchange he heard. They pried open the cabin door with a crowbar and entered. They saw hand-carved furniture and sewn wall cloths, piles of books and newspapers, a hoe and small things that the residents didn't remember to take with them, or didn't think they needed.
"Do you think whoever lives here has any weapons? Some peaceful elderly couple lives here. Let's see if there is anything useful here." Messybeard said, as he turned his attention to the yellowed pile of newspapers.
"Hey what's this?” He asked.
"You ignorant brats don't seem to remember these, but they were handed out from door to door and they told what was going on." the buzz-cut said.
Messybeard read one headline: "President steps down, says the reason is a personal one." He dug into the pile a little more and saw the headline: “People dissatisfied with interim government. The influence of radical groups is increasing." Another headline read: “Quickly killing skin disease now has entire cities isolated from the outside world.”
He noticed that the dates of the magazines were years old. These men were 2-4 years old when these magazines were published and they did not have many memories of the world of that time.
"Those magazines are of no use to us. Nothing in this house is useful." the buz-cut said in frustration and continued: "Except for these nail clippers. I like these." he said humbly and put the nail clippers in his pocket discreetly.
The men went outside and searched the wooden shed next, where they grabbed an axe and a saw with them. The man with messy hair went behind the warehouse and saw the target boards. "Come check these out!" he said a little louder to his companions and continued: "Apparently they shot something here."
"Do you see a single bullet hole here? A dart has been thrown here." teh buzz-cut replied.
"Haven’t we covered the whole place now, what now?” Messy beard asked.
"Well, if we don't want these old people to be a problem, then I thought we'd burn this cabin. We'll water the surrounding area, as to not burn the whole forest." The buzz-cut suggested and went to the cabin.
They used buckets that they found in the cabin and took water from the lake to water the bushes and the forest. The cabin was mostly surrounded by sand and gravel, so the job didn’t take too long.
"You get the honor of lighting this fire." Buzz-cut said to messy hair. The man with messy hair entered the cabin and lit one of the wall cloths with a match and came out of the cabin. The fire spread quickly in the wooden cabin and soon the whole cabin was engulfed in flames.
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Elias was driving back to the cabin at dusk and as he was already driving the dirt road that leads to the cabin, he noticed smoke rising from the direction of the cabin.
"Hey, you see that?" He asked.
"They're still there." Samuel Replied.
"What sort of bonfire have they lit there? We can't go back there, more people might have come there."
"Our home is lost. We need another one. This was not a part of my plan."
“But those houses we saw today, there might be some sort of an infection in them."
"Well then, let's find a suitable place somewhere and I'll help in the car. This place is no longer safe. Let's go west and from there north. I might have something in mind.” Samuel said.
Elias turned the car around and drove west. They passed several abandoned houses but did not stop at them. After a while they arrived to a city. Elias had never seen a city with his own eyes. As the car drove through the city, a few people who hadn't heard the sound of a car for years looked out of the windows of the old apartment complexes.
"We need to get out of here! There’s people in those windows!" Elias said worriedly.
"Don't worry about them, keep driving." Samuel replied. Elias did as he was told, but kept his eyes on the people as long as possible until he drove past them. They drove past several settlements, and didn't really see anything remarkable. At one point they saw a large collapsed tent and a dilapitated sign that read: "SICK SHELTER".
"What's going on here? Is this what we ran away from?" Elias thought. There might have been life in some of the settlements they drove by, but it was night so presumably people were inside so they wouldn't have known. It was late at night, so Elias stopped the car on the wide asphalt spot on the side of the road. Samuel had been asleep for some time. Elias also started to sleep, leaning his head on the steering wheel and they would continue the journey when he woke up.
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CHAPTER 6
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Morning came and Elias woke up. He looked at himself in the side mirror of the car. He didn't tend to look in the mirror often because he didn't like how he looked compared to the people he saw in pictures. All his life, he had washed himself with lake water and a detergent made with natural substances, which may or may not have worked. He retrieved a can of sardines from the trailer and quickly gulped it down barbarically.
"Would it be time to continue the journey?" asked Samuel who had been sitting quietly on his seat for two hours.
"No, I think we should stay here." Elias replied sarcastically, and started the van.
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They again drove along the quiet highway. They arrived to the city of Lappeenranta, which was the biggest pupulation centre they had seen so far on their way. The street scene was full of old signs and the apartment buildings were taller here than in other places they had seen on this drive. There were more people here, and the sounds of the car woke these people up. Twenty people came out of one building to see the car.
"Drive faster!" Samuel commanded. A few people started chasing the car. This made Elias accelerate even without being ordered. They drove out of Lappenranta and from there went past small pit stops only.
Elias asked his father: “Should we stop at one of these pertol stations?”
“Elias, you already saw what infections can be inside these old building. We are not stopping at any of them.”
“I guess you’re right. Just seems like a waste to just go past all the things that could be found in those places.”
They saw a person walking the side of the empty highway. The winter coat wearing man turned around as soon as he heard the sound of the vehicle. He waved frantically, but Elias only drove past, like he did earlier. Once the car passed the man, he threw a metal pipe at the car, but could not throw it far enough. Occasionally people begged them to stop, but Samuel reminded them that these people might be sick, and that Elias should not feel sorry for them. Driving along highway number 6 towards Kouvola, they squinted into the distance. They saw a massive wall and a watchtower.
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The wall was eight meters high and made mostly of wood, but it also had parts of building materials. On top of the wall was a walkway where guards dressed in uniforms stood with weapons. Elias drove closer to the wall and saw guards in radiation suits and gas masks running towards the car. Elias stopped when the guards pointed automatic weapons at him. "Get out of the car!" one guard commanded. Elias and Samuel got out of their car and the guards continued pointing their weapons at the two.
"What are you here for?" One guard asked.
"Um, we had to leave our house and now we're just traveling along the road." Elias answered.
The guards opened the van and the trailer. "Bring it in." one guard commanded the others. The key was still in the ignition and the car was driven on the other side of the wall.
"Hey, what are you doing? That’s our car!" Elias shouted.
"It's needed here more, if you want your own words to matter, you can come tothis side of the wall. Alternatively, you can stay here and rely on your own luck." The guard said.
"So if I follow you, I'll get my stuff back?"
"Not exactly. But it's a better option than being here." the guard replied and continued: "Important question. Are you clean?"
"What?"
"Are you clean or sick?"
"Well, clean. I guess."
"Follow us." the guard ordered. Elias and Samuel went to follow the guard. "Only the young one. The cripple can stay here. If he can't do his part, then he has no place in our New Tower." the guard said and continued: "Do you have any useful skills?"
"Well, I can knit and sew." Samuel replied.
"Nothing that we need then." The guard said.
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“What?" Elias shouted in surprise and continued: "If he's left here with nothing, not even working legs, then I won't come in either!"
"My decision." the guard replied. Samuel took Elias aside and told him: "Follow them, that's important. If I don't get past them, I no longer have a purpose, but you still have a chance."
"What does that even mean?" Elias asked scaredly. Samuel pulled from his jacket a key and a map on which he had marked a red dot on a little island on the north-eastern shore of Finland.
"I have to get there. I obviously can't seem to get there, but you still can, so go without me. You need to." Samuel said, and handed the items to Elias discreetly.
"So... I don't understand. Why do I have to go there? What do I need this key for?"
"You'll understand when you're there. Now go along with them, and don't tell them your name. If they ask, just come up with some fake name."
"What is all this? I don't understand!"
"You don't need to understand now, but it will all become clear later, trust me." Samuel finished.
Elias looked at the map for a moment, then he looked at Samuel, almost with a tear in his eye. He was raised not to cry and this is where that upbriging was put to the test.
"Well, I guess it’s bye then, if that’s what you say." Elias said and turned to follow the guards, who were impatiently expecting him to comply.
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When They entered through the doorway in the wall, Elias was immediately taken to a sheltered tent where he was examined, stripped naked and checked that he was not infected.
"Absolutely clean!" the Researcher said in astonishment. "How have you been all this time on the Deadland and remained completely clean?" he asked. Elias seemed a little confused and took a moment to process what he heard and replied:
"I lived in one small house far away from people all my life."
After this, the researcher wrote something on a paper.
“I can’t say that I’m not disappointed. I was hoping we had found an immune person. Do with him what you are orderd to.” The researches said.
After that, a grim-looking man in a uniform came to talk to Elias and said: "If you want to stay in our New Tower, you have to do your part. Are you good at anything?"
"I don't serve you." Elias replied bitterly.
"Well then you can go back to the other side of the wall."
"Hey hey hey! Wait, I can help somehow." Elias said a little startled and asked: "What are my options?" with disgust in his voice.
"A rude brat like you needs to be taught a little respect. We’ll make you a soldier, and that isn’t up for negotiation."
"Soldier? Hey, I've done a bit of farming and I've read about sciences and such. Can't I use them to do my part instead?"
"That's it. No. Negotiating." The soldier said matter-of-factly.
"Soldiers are kept and trained in the city of Tampere. So you will have to be taken there." the soldier said.
"What are we doing here? What is the purpose of this place?" Elias asked.
"Here are our scientists and intellectuals. So clearly not the right place for you." The soldier said and chuckled quietly to himself.
"Okay, so can I go to Tampere with my own car?" Elias asked.
"Unfortunately, that won't work. The vehicle is needed for something else." The soldier replied.
"So how do we get there?"
"On a horse."
"On horseback? Don't you have vehicles?
"Fuel ran out years ago. That's why your car was confiscated. So the fuel can be used for something more crucial."
"Wouldn't this trip be a good reason to use that fuel?"
"No."
Two soldiers escorted Elias to where the horses were kept. One of the guards pulled out handcuffs and started putting them on Elias.
"Hey hey hey! What's this now?" Elias exclaimed.
"Necessary action. We don't have trust in your compliance." One soldier said.
Elias decided that it would be best for him to just comply, so he didn't protest. Once handcuffed, he was hoisted onto a horse behind the soldier who was riding the horse.
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The horse started walking at a brisk pace westward along the highway. A long wall followed them all the way.
"How long is that wall?" Elias asked
"It covers the entire border from Kotka to the west coast, so that no one from the Deadland can enter without being noticed. There is only a south entrance in the city of Kouvola, and an exit in the city of Nokia, and they are both constantly guarded." The soldier answered.
"What is behind Nokia?"
"Forest."
"When was the wall built?"
"The building started as soon as the government was formed and it was decided that it was necessary. About 16 years ago."
“Why was the wall built?” Elias asked.
“To keep the sick out, as well as all invasive powers that want to destroy our order of peace and welfare.” The soldier answered.
Elias noticed that this sounded like a uniform answer but did not point it out.
Elias noticed that on the sleeve of the guard's gray coat was a black pattern in the shape of a shield with a white brick tower in the middle, from the top of which came five golden sunrays.
"What's that mark on your sleeve?" Elias asked.
"It's the symbol of our New Tower. But of course you wouldn’t know that."
"What is the New Tower? What happened to the old tower?"
"There is no tower. It's just a name." The soldier said in frustration.
"Stupid Name."
"Be grateful that I'm so tolerant of you because not everyone would be."
Elias decided to keep quiet this time. After the journey had progressed for some time, vast fields of wheat, potatoes and apples began to be seen. There were many people working in the fields. Elias was amazed at the size of the fields. He has never seen such a thing outside of pictures.
"How many mouths do you have to feed when the fields are this big?"
There are more people in cities than you can probably imagine, and there are fields of this size all over the country." The soldier replied.
The people who worked the fields, worked with manual tools. No machinery anywhere.
When the horse went along the highway, the people working in the fields turned their heads for a moment in the direction of the sound but did not stop and wonder. It wasn't a sight they hadn't seen before.
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CHAPTER 7
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Their horse arrived at the city of Lahti. The city looked much better than Lappeenranta and the people on the streets looked healthier.
"Are we there yet?" Elias asked.
"Not even close, but we can stop here for the night. We'll be there tomorrow." The Soldier replied. The Soldier dismounted from the horse, after which he lowered Elias down.
"Could you take off these cuffs now? I'm not going to run away anymore." Elias said
"No. No risks are to be taken. Follow me." The soldier replied.
"What is this place?" Elias asked.
"The name of the place is Lahti. Cultivation and production are done here and in the nearby municipalities."
"That could kind of suit me. I could stay here."
"You will be taken to the army, and that decision has been made."
"But you can't trust an unscrupulous outsider like me in the army. It might not be wise to give me a gun."
"You'll be made a little more respectful and obedient before you're given a gun." The soldier exclaimed.
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They walked towards a building that had two stories. On the roof was the same flag that was on the guard's sleeve.
“The Tower rises!” The soldier greeted a man guarding the door of the building.
“The Tower rises!” The door guard greeted back.
"Who do we have here?" The door guard asked.
"Came from the outside into Kouvola's gate in a van. Gives us a little more resources and now also a little more manpower for the army. Absolutely clean in the tests." Elias' assigned soldier answered.
"But why the army? He looks like a mere boy." The door guard asked.
"This boy doesn't appreciate what we offer to the world. But he’ll be taught some respect and manners.” The soldier answered, and followed up with: “But I am tired. I just want to end this day now. I’ll go reserve a bed for myself, and one for the slave, I mean recruit. I know I’ll have to repay this with extra hours, I’ll do those some day.”
“I understand. Rest well, soldier.” The door guard replied.
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The soldier walked up to a counter and said something to a woman working the counter. Elias couldn’t hear what they talked about. The woman at the counter marked something down on a paper. Elias was just standing there, handcuffed and feeling awkward.
The soldier returned to Elias.
“Follow me.” The soldier ordered once again, and Elias complied.
They entered a hall. Inside of which there were several rows of metal-framed beds. All the beds had people laying on them. Most of them men, but also some women.
"This is where we rest and stay the night. Lie down on your back on that bed frame. It’s reserved for you for this night." The soldier ordered, pointing to a bed.
"But I still have these cuffs." Elias pointed out.
"Right. And that makes escaping difficult, doesn't it?" The soldier sracastically replied.
Elias went to the bed to lie on his back and on his hands. It felt very uncomfortable, but he also got some sort of an excited feeling when he was in bed with handcuffs on, and he wondered if it was very common in people. However for most of the night he was unable to sleep, worrying about what happened to his father, and if he could manage there on the outside, and if Elias could manage here in the inside, and in whatever that mission was that Samuel gave him.
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Morning came, and Elias woke up to somebody banging a metal bucket at the entrance of the hall. Everybody in the hall woke up. Nobody said a word. All the people that were sleeping on the beds, had worn their uniforms all night. Elias had slept in the same clothes that he showed up in. Those being track pants and a T-shirt. His arms were sore and uncomfortable and the quality of his sleep wasn't great.
“Hail! Our New Tower!” The bucket banger yelled out.
“Hail, Our New Tower” everybody in the room shouted back.
Elias had read history and he knew what this reminded him off, but he didn’t dare to mention that.
All the people in the building went outside to line up with some other people.
"What are these people waiting for?" Elias asked.
"Breakfast." The soldier answered, and went to stand in line while Elias stayed in bed. The guard came back with two hard breads and began to eat without speaking.
"Is there anything for me?" Elias asked.
"No. You have to do your part if you want to benefit from living here. And besides, you don't need all that energy to sit on a horse." The soldier answered, leaving Elias disappointed, but not surprised.
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When the guard was ready to continue his journey, he escorted Elias back to the horse that was kept tied outside the building hitched to a post. He again greeted the door guard, without staying to chat, after which he put Elias back on the horse and mounted the horse himself and grabbed the reins. Passing through the city, people could be seen coming out of the apartment buildings heading towards the farms. The expression on their faces was either tired, or depressed.
The horse left the town and took to the highway again. The landscape was vertical forest and flat fields. Sometimes they came across small towns that were completely empty. They again pulled up to one such town, and Elias asked: "Why is it that no one lives in some of these cities? I understood that civilization survived here inside these walls."
"People were moved from some cities. It is more efficient if all the workers in one field are placed in fewer places. Lahti is a large part of our New Tower’s agricultural and industrial sector. And as the population grows and with it the need for resources, more cities are put into use. Lahti used to have all of our plantations, but they didn’t suffice anymore, so more plantations were made. Then there were too many farmers in one area, so even more new plantations were started in the province of Uusimaa. All the empty towns that you come across along the way have been emptied and their people moved to bigger towns. People were moved according to the work they chose from the options given. But if they were sick, or unable to work due to injury or old age, they were evicted out to the Deadland. Those who didn't want to do their part were also thrown out, as you probably already knew." The soldier explained.
"Doesn't sound like a country I would like to serve." Elias said.
"Weak bricks will not be kept around in our New Tower. They will be replaced with strong bricks. No one forced anyone to come here. If you want to live here, then be useful. It sounds fair."
“What do you mean? You confiscated my car on sight and assigned me to your miltary. Sure feels like I was forced to come here.” Elias argued.
“You could have turned back. Just without your car. If you didn’t want the handcuffs put on you, you could have said so and stayed outside. We just forgot to tell you that. As said, nobody is forced to live by our commonly agreed upon standards.” The soldier replied.
"What about those people who lived here in the area before the state was formed and were evicted from their homes due to being seen as useless?” Elias asked. The guard seemed like he was thinking of an answer but didn't come up with anything. His propaganda training had not prepared him for that question, so he remained silent. Elias read the proverbial room and decided to keep quiet before his mouth got him into trouble.
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CHAPTER 8
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After a long ride, they arrived into the city of Tampere. The first thing Elias noticed in the distance was a tower about a hundred meters high, on top of which flew the flag of the New Tower. Elias thought about asking if that was the actual New Tower but then he remembered that it was just a name. The city was full of armored cars that hadn't moved in years. The city at its borders looked exactly like any other city, but when they got to the center it was full of fences, barriers and shooting ranges.
The horse stopped in front of one of the buildings. The guard dismounted from the horse and lowered Elias at the same time.
"We have arrived." The soldier said, and released Elias from the handcuffs. Elias let out a loud sound of relief. His hands were sore and difficult to move.
"Don't sigh in relief just yet. There's still work ahead. But before that, you'll be taught to be a loyal member of society." The soldier said, and stopped to escort Elias into an office building. The soldier announced his arrival when he entered. "An outsider was found at the gate of Kouvola. Completely clean. It has been decided that the army is the best path for him. The gentleman showed an inappropriate attitude and a lack of respect." The Soldier said to the woman sitting in a booth.
"Leave the subject here. You may go now." The woman replied.
The building had brown walls that in some spots had white paint, which no one has bothered to renew for years because more important work has taken priority. Elias stood in the front lobby of the building, which had a booth on the left wall and a row of chairs against the right wall. Elias stood by the booth until a man in a uniform with gray hair and a short goatee entered the room.
"You’ve had some attitude problems, I understood? A scumbag like you should be thankful that you're not being used for target practise. Follow me." The man commanded. On the chest of the man's coat was a medal in the shape of a lion with a sword in it’s hand. Elias concluded that this man had been in the military before the formation of this state, since that was a symbol Elias had seen in books. Elias followed the man to the classroom where there was a white drawing board. There were four other people in the room sitting in chairs without uniforms just like Elias himself.
"First we have to teach you what this whole place is." The uniformed man said.
"Oh, this building?" One of the sitters asked.
"No. But what is this whole state. Our New Tower is the most advanced community in the world today. All the old governments were weak. When instability became too much to handle, the governments collapsed because their leaders were weak. They were at the mercy of the citizens. Citizens who did not know how states work, citizens who did not know what is best even for themselves. The world had forgotten that a strong state needs a strong leader. An intelligent leader. A leader who knows what is best for the state and what is best for it’s citizens. Kosola is such a leader. He has created a functioning state here, where no time or resources are wasted on useless individuals. Do your part and you will get your part. Everyone who does their part gets their own living space and three meals a day." The man lectured.
"What if people want more than their share, so they take from each other?" One person asked.
"The punishment for every crime is the same. Exile. That should be a threatening enough of a punishment to keep people in check."
"Even the harshest punishments have not prevented crime before because law breakers never believe they will be caught." Elias argued back.
"The number of crimes here is low compared to the former society. A strong state makes loyal and honest citizens."
"What if someone's share is stolen. Are they entitled to a refund?" One of the sitters asked
"No. There is no room for pity in the New Tower. Nature doesn’t compensate you for your losses. Pitying victims makes societies weak. If you can't work, then you have no place here. When the state was formed, first all the infected were investigated and thrown out in the name of protecting the larger collective. Then we began to form a working system, so all physically disabled, permanently injured, severely overweight and over 70-year-olds were evicted. The state that was before our New Tower gave support to such people. That state collapsed."
"That's just pure cruelty." One of the sitters commented.
“Nature doesn’t kick you out for dissenting views.” Another one said quietly.
"That’s the natural order. Those who can't support themselves don't deserve to live. They'll always be left at the feet of others." The Uniform Man replied and continued: "But you still have the potential to become useful members of society. At this moment, soldiers are needed. There is a threat to our New Tower. This is not the only society that has formed. There is another state to the north. I will tell you now that that state is corrupted from its roots and unfit to be a strong state. But it is still a threat. That state has managed to acquire for itself most of the armaments and artillery of the old state, including long-range cannons. We don't have any. Their cannons can’t quite reach here, but they don't dare to attack either, because they know our army is stronger and more organized. We can't attack there either because of their artillery. They've learned to run the power plant and they have one at their disposal. This gives them a quick communication advantage and their wall has big spotlights. If we tried to attack there, they would spot us and shoot us down with their cannons.. We've already tried to attack there once and that's when we learned this. We have to keep making our military stronger because they are doing that too and before long they might attack and we have to be ready. Their state is badly run and doomed to collapse before long, and such a state must not swallow our New Tower for itself, because we would then just collapse with it. That's why there is no place here for those who question us. Our New Tower is the best hope that today’s world has, and it must be protected. Is this understood?” The uniformed man lectured.
Everyone in the class let out a sound of reluctant understanding. Elias thought that the speech was not completely convincing. The man did not tell why the northern state is so bad. Elias still didn't bother to question anything. Going this way was his best hope at reaching the point marked on his map.
"The lesson is over, but there is one more thing to do for today." The uniformed man said as he went to open the classroom door.
"Follow." He commanded. Everyone got up and followed the man who led them through the lobby into a long hallway with gray stone walls. At the edge of the corridor was a door that led to the clothes storage. Everyone was given gray shirts and camo pants that were somewhat their size. Elias had worn the same sweatpants and winter pants for as long as they had suited him. When he came to the cottage, Samuel had not taken more clothes with them to the cottage than needed.
"Put them on in the changing room. You can leave your own clothes there. Then when you've changed, follow me again." the Man ordered.
“Not even jackets? It’s Septemeber and it’s starting to get cold and all we get are shirts?” One of them asked.
“You’ll get jackets on the first day of November and not a day sooner. That is the policy.”
Everyone went to change their clothes and the Uniform Man was waiting in the corridor. They exited into the lobby and through the lobby out of the building. The man led them on a long walk towards the training ground. There was an apartment building next to the training ground. The man pointed at the building.
"That's where you will sleep. Vacant apartments have open doors. Choose an apartment and sleep there. Your training will start in the morning." The man said.
The lowest apartments were reserved and the first available apartments were on the sixth floor. Elias chose the first free apartment he got. The apartment had a wooden floor and walls and ceiling painted with white paint. The paint had dried and mostly chipped away. Elias looked out of the apartment window at the view below. He couldn't see very far because he wasn't very high, but still higher than he had ever been before. He saw houses similar to this one, along with empty driveways. There was no furniture of any kind in the apartment, not even a mattress. He had to sleep on a hard wooden floor. Another uncomfortable night in a row for Elias.
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CHAPTER 9
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Morning came and Elias woke up to the sound of a bell ringing outside. Many parts of his body were sore from the night and his dreams were not pleasant. However, he got up because he already understood how things work here. He looked out the windown and saw all sorts of people coming out of the apartment buildings in gray t-shirts and camo pants. He went down the stairs and came to the front of the apartment building where the same man that lectured him and the others yesterday dressed in uniform was waiting. Elias was soon followed by others who were in the same group with him yesterday.
"Follow." The man commanded once again. The group set out to follow him. They went to the training ground which was an empty sand field surrounded by steel fences. "Wait here." The man commanded and went to a single-story building that was next to the field. While he was gone, Elias and the crew that was with him the past day at the classroom, simply stood on the sandy field, too afraid to say anything because they didn’t know if they had permission. One of them commented: “I hate it here.” but none of the others dared to respond.
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After twenty minutes, people started coming out of the single-story building. All had the same gray shirts and camo pants. Among them, the man in uniform came back to the field. He went to the end of the field and started shouting orders. He ordered everyone to line up from side to side. On the left side of Elias was his small group and on the right side came a new group of people. The man at the end of the field shouted something unclear, after which everyone started doing jumping jacks and Elias followed along. A new command came and everyone started doing push-ups, then sit ups and so on. Elias had sometimes done similar light exercise at the cabin because he had read about the benefits of taking care of one’s own physical shape. During the exercise, a 29-year-old man with black hair to Elias' right asked: "You seem to be new here. I haven't seen you. Who are you?"
"I'm new here. I came from outside a couple of days ago and still a little confused. First day here. You all came from that same building. What were you doing there?" Elias responded and asked.
"We got breakfast there. I suppose you didn’t get any."
"I haven't had anything to eat for two days and now I have to strain myself here. That in itself is a good enough of a motivator to behave and obey."
"So you came from the Deadland. What was it like there?"
“The Deadland? Is that what you call it? Well it was mostly empty. In one city I saw people inside houses and outside on the streets. They looked much worse than the people here. I lived all my life in a cabin in the forest where I grew potatoes and fished and chopped wood. I read a lot about the world. The Western world was supposed to be the pinnacle of civilization. What it was like outside the walls didn't seem like it. What happened?"
“I still remember what it was like before, although I didn't quite understand what was happening. My parents kept telling how the state would collapse. Then there were news about some disease that spread quickly. Borders were closed and chaos ensued. I don't remember much about it. We hid in the countryside with my family for about half a year and then one day we were found and sent somewhere to a checkpoint where everyone was examined. I remember at this point I heard that the state had really collapsed and I don't know who these guys were. I was also examined and then asked what I want to be when I grow up. I was given some options. I decided to join the army even though I was only 12 years old. This is how I have started every day since then. My brother went to build the wall and both of my parents went to the farms. We were not allowed to tell each other what each of us chose. Otherwise, we probably all would have ended up choosing the same job. I haven't seen my parents since then, and I last saw my brother when the wall was built at Nokia. Now he does restoration work on old apartment buildings. Maybe he’ll come here someday."
"I'm sorry to hear that. You too have become separated from family members."
“Don't be sorry. They never seemed to care about me. Perhaps understandably."
Because of the exsercise that took a toll on their respiration, it became difficult to talk so they stopped. The exercises ended and shortly after the uniformed man came back to Elias' group and told them that they would now have their turn to have breakfast. Everyone of them let out some kind of happy sound or an expression when they heard this. They went to the building where they were given two pieces of white bread without anything else.
"You're not serious!" One of them shouted. Elias didn't seem disappointed, for him this was no surprise.
"Where did you come from?" Elias asked the other group members. They all seemed to already know each other and had talked to each other.
"Remember when that dude lectured us about the north? Well, we're from there." One member of the group answered.
"How truthfully did that guy describe that place?" Elias asked.
"When they say that it's doomed to collapse. I'm not so sure about that. There the strong rule and the weak have to survive. We lived there. The four of us in the same hideout where we tried to keep whatever we got out hands on. It's pretty much the same there as it is here. People work in the fields and at the electric plant and in other jobs. Those who do useful work are forced to do it and they only get what is at the least that they need, just like here. There is a currency there, unlike here, but only the soldiers and those who do business with them have it and they use it for extra food and recreational stuff." One group member explained.
"The streets are tougher than that." Another group member added.
"Some soldiers pay farmers to make beer, and the farmers gladly agree so that they too get more than what they are given. Soldiers actually just do what they want when they are not needed elsewhere, which is most of the time. They can do whatever they want to others because their whole order is equally rotten from the top to the bottom. Many times we saw when the soldiers just took dinner from the farmers and came up with some horse shit excuse that had no basis, and resisting would have been useless. Soldiers are not interested in order, they just like to feel powerful. They intervene in crimes between ordinary people but only if they see them happening in proggress. They don’t investigate past crimes because they don’t think it’s worth the effort. And even then, they only intervene in crimes because they like to be tough."
"And how are people punished?" Elias asked.
"People are not evicted there, they are just beaten. No one fights back because only the soldiers have weapons. The attack dogs of the rulers have the monopoly of firepower over there, just like here. We decided to leave. We didn't know if the disease had disappeared from the outside yet, but I decided to take the risk and my friends followed."
"What did you do there up north?"
"We were just unemployed thieves. We had a place to stay near the power plant and whenever there was a delivery from the farms to that part of the city, we just went thieving”
"So you stole the share that others deserved?" Elias asked.
"Living in that place made me quite indifferent to fairness and honesty." One answered.
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Their brakfast moment was over. While the small group was inside, the rest of the army had spread out and prepared to march. The marching took place inside the city. The small group didn't have time to prepare so they just went straight into the ranks. Elias was looking for the black-haired man he talked to during morning training. One he spotted him, he made sure to go next to him.
"First food for two days and it's two pieces of bread." Elias said, half joking and half complaining.
"That's how it goes sometimes." His closest thing to a friend replied.
"What's your name by the way? Your story was interesting and at no point did names come up." Elias asked.
"Pauli Kivi. What about you?" Pauli answered and asked.
Elias remembered that Samuel told him not to tell his name for some reason so he quickly came up with a name.
"Kalevi Kekkonen!" Elias answered because that was a name he had read and it had stuck in his mind.
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"Be that as it may, you wanted to hear a little more about my stories. Where was I?" Pauli asked.
"You told me about your family."
"Oh, yes. I have a feeling that my family never really appreciated me. When I was little, I was always lazy and I did all the work I was given with a bad attitude. I never helped anyone out of my own goodness. I even joined the army because I thought it would be easy. We are told about the enemy and about a possible war, but I didn’t think it would ever actually happen. Then a couple of years ago, we were sent outside in large groups towards the north. I assumed we would just defend our own wall, I never thought we would attack. But at that point, my attitude had undergone a few changes. We had been told how weak and useless individuals are a burdain on society and that everyone has a harder time because of them. Those lessons sank in. I no longer wanted to be a "weak brick". I wanted to be useful, I wanted to have some impact, so actually I wanted to attack and be a part of taking our New Tower to victory."
"But the victory clearly didn't come?"
“Not quite. They noticed us before we were even close and relayed the message home and they were ready with the cannons. We weren’t prepared for that. When I heard the cannons, it was the scariest split second of my life. We immediately got the command to back off, but I didn’t back off right away. I went to where the explosion happened and one of us was there. It was this Jussi fellow next to me."
"How's it going?" Said Jussi, who was next to Pauli.
Pauli continued: "I saw him wounded there and went to get him. Everyone thought I was crazy, but I had a feeling that for once I wanted to be useful and help someone. On the way back, everyone still told me how stupid I was and no one seemed to care about Jussi. I guess they thought he was useless now that he was wounded, but by some miracle he got back to full health."
"My appreciations." Jussi said.
"Do you have any problem with this whole concept of "weak bricks" and doing your part, how even wounded soldiers are abandoned when they realize that they are of no use? I mean each of them is still a person with their own life and their own thoughts and their own story." Elias asked.
"Of course it bothers me a little. All my childhood before coming here I was completely useless to the world and the thought that I would have been left to my own devices because of that seems scary." Pauli asnwered.
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Before they noticed, the march ended near the same place where it started. The same gray haired man in uniform came to Elias and the group.
"You should probably go get your own things that are owed to you." He said.
"Shouldn't we just be in the empty apartments?" One asked.
"It was just a break. Now you have the right to your own bed. Follow your commander."
The group followed the uniformed man to a building that’s purpose was to be a workshop and behind which were warehouses. Inside the workshop were welding rooms and a stone floor.
"Five beds and a chest were ordered." The commander informed the 16-year-old boy working inside the workshop. The boy dragged a metal bed frame from the warehouse. There was a wooden chest on top of the bed. One of the group members took the bed.
"Wait in the yard." The commander ordered. Another bed and a chest were brought from the warehouse, which Elias then dragged out and went to wait.
"For the first time in years, I have my own bed." A group member said outside.
"This place is already better than in the north." He continued.
Elias didn't agree with all the actions and ideas of this place, but he understood that for some people this place really is a decent home.
After a while, the remaining three members of the group dragged their frames out of the workshop.
"Wait here." The group was commanded. Everyone in the group was exhausted, as they had just come back from a long walk and now they had to drag heavy their bed frames. The commander soon came back with a roofless trailer.
"Load them here. Unless you want to drag them all the way to the living quarters."
They loeaded the trailer full.
"Pull it and follow." They were commanded.
All five started to pull the wagon together and the wagon moved quickly. The commander led the way.
"Everything that guy preaches about doing your share. And what does he do? What even is his part?" One of the group members whispered, but no one dared to reply.
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The group was led to an apartment building that was next to an empty parking lot. There were faded white lines on the parking lot. Right now, the field is used as a place to store large items. The apartment building they were taken to was not the same as the apartment building where they spent their first night.
"It has been decided that you will live here. Due to space efficiency, you all have to be in the same apartment. Your apartment is on the eighth floor. It's easier to carry things together if you work together. Maybe you'll also learn to appreciate each other if you have the same burden. Then when the work is done, come back here and follow me. The day is not over yet." The commader told them.
The group of five carried two sets of beds and chests up the stairs at a time. While carrying the stuff up, one of the group members complained: "That commander makes us do everything, but he doesn't do anything. He only commands others. How is that useful when he expects everyone else to be useful?" The same group member who whispered complaining on the way back now said louder.
"If you don't like it, why didn't you stay in Oulu? I'd rather work and get an apartment and a meal than live there." Another one answered.
"And besides, someone has to do the leading. Otherwise, everyone would just dance to their own tune and no one would reach an agreement. Someone has to get the group together." A third member of the group shouted from behind.
The group got up to their apartment where the door was open. They placed their beds and chests in different parts of the apartment.
"Not as private as the first night, but where we came from, we were all kept in a cramped place and there was no hope of privacy either." One group member commented.
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Everyone in the group wanted to just collapse, but they still had to go back down. The group went back down to where their commander was waiting.
"And where to now?" One group member asked.
"To the shooting range. Follow." The commander answered. The shooting range was not far. After a short walk, they arrived at an area surrounded by metal fences where there were two artificial grass fields and on the side was a building with a guard booth, four dressing rooms that were used as storages and one smaller storage room. The artificial grass fields had boxes of ammunition and weapons at one end, and target boards at the other end. There was no one else on the field but them.
"We were apparently the first ones here, so you can start." The commander said.
The commander directed Elias to one of the lanes and handed him a semi-automatic weapon. They had weapons that the police had used and that had been bought on the black market back in the day. The commander showed Elias how to handle the gun, how to load it, how to use the trigger, aim and fire. After that he went to show the same things to the others. The group shot at the targets for a while until the uniformed man decided that they understood it well enough.
"Now let's practise how it works in a real situation." The commander said.
"Take a gun with an empty magazine, run from the other end of the field to here, grab a magazine and load the gun there and shoot the target." He continued.
So Elias took an empty gun, walked to the other end of the field where the target boards were and waited for his cue. The signal came and he started sprinting towards the ammo boxes. He hadn't really tried to sprint since he ran from that deer in the woods as a child, and he hadn't run very far. He never really had a reason. His running was slow and when he got to the ammo box he tripped and the magazine fell out of his hands and he only got the gun loaded on his third attempt. He got the gun loaded and hastily shot the target poorly, missing every shot.
"In a real situation, you would be dead. Slow running, slow loading and inaccurate shots. Fortunately, this is practiced every day, so there will be more practice. Next!"
The next group member went to do the same task and tried not to make the mistakes that Elias did. At this point the rest of the army arrived on the field. Elias was leaning against the metal fence. Pauli and Jussi found him and came to lean on the fence with him as well.
"Kalevi, was it? Did you try shooting?” Pauli greeted and asked.
"Hey, Pauli. I already tried. It's easy with guidance, but when you have to do it quickly, I can’t do it." Elias answered.
"Oh, it's difficult the first time, but they make us practice every day."
"If the exercises are this short, it will take time to get good."
"Well, it kind of has to be this way when there are so many people who have to practice. If you ask me, my practice time can be shortened so that others can practice longer and I’d be fine with that. I've already used a gun enough. I've been outside as part of an attack, damn it! But who cares what I think? I don’t rule here." Pauli said.
"They know what's best." Jussi stated sarcastically.
"But enough of this. I still wanted to know something that you might know." Elias said to Pauli.
"What do you want to know?" Pauli replied.
"What kind of disease is that disease that you told me about last time? Have you ever seen or heard what it does or what it looks like or how it spreads?" Elias asked.
"I've never seen a case of it here, but we've been told about it. I've seen in the pictures that it makes the skin red at first, and not at all red like whipped skin, but a scary looking dark red. Then once it gets worse, the red area starts to mutate a bit into like moss or something, and it also spreads on the skin. In the last stages, that red area inflates and finally bursts, so that the skin opens completely. That red tumor also grows under the skin and may come into contact with organs. Then when it bursts, some sort of fluid leaks out and we don’t know what it is, and the tumor under the skin also bursts, which causes that fluid to leak inside the patient, which probably doesn't do any good, I would guess."
"How easily does it spread?" Elias asked.
"We were told that it’s transmitted through contact. That is, if you stay away from infection, you shouldn't get sick. That's why one of the first things that was done to contain the disease was to check every petson and throw the sick out."
"Have there been any cases of the disease here within the walls?"
"At least I haven’t heard of anyone here getting sick from it, which is strange. But on the other hand, no one here knows what happens in other cities because we have no long-distance communication. There is no electricity and the signal towers have also been dismantled so that the metal could be used for something else." Pauli replied.
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Elias heard a snort and turned his eyes in the direction of the sound. It was his commander with the rest of his group.
"There’s one thing to take care of." The Commander said. Elias said goodbye to Pauli. Pauli and Jussi said goodbye. Elias went to follow his commander. They walked downhill and then straight ahead. They walked past the fenced running track and came to the same place where they got their gear and a short training session. The uniformed man guided them in and took them to a booth where the same woman who was there last time was sitting.
"You should be registered now. Please fill in your name, age, occupation and apartment in these forms."
"What is our apartment?" One in the group asked.
"Of course you don't know that. It's a strange system, let me fill it in for you." The Commander said and wrote the addresses on the paper.
Elias filled out the paper and gave his name as Kalevi Kekkonen. When everyone had filled in the form they gave it to their commander who gave it to the official.
"Good. Now you can go to your apartment or wherever you want to go. You aren’t wanted anywhere for the rest of the day. Dinner will be delivered to you later today. If you're not home then, it'll be lying at the door." The Commander said.
The group left the building.
"Should we go explore this area a bit?" Elias suggested to the others.
“Not interested.” One in the group said and made his way to where their new home was. The others followed, except Elias who wanted to see the area. Elias went back to the shooting range that was next to a lake. Around the lake was a dirt path surrounded by trees. He walked past the lake and came to a red brick building that was next to another part of the lake. There was a brick structure in the yard of the building which was higher than the building itself. The structure looked a bit like the letter H and on top of it hung the flag of the New Tower on both sides.
"It seems a bit too sturdy for a flagpole." Elias thought to himself. He passed the building and came across more red brick buildings. Two of them were connected by a bridge above ground. Elias tried the door in one of these buildings and it opened.
"Hey! What's this? Should I go to the roof?" He asked himself. As soon as he entered, he saw the elevator doors. The elevator was obviously not working, but there were stairs next to the elevator that led to the second floor and there was another metal door with a window. Similar to the front door. He stepped through the door and only entered a library. He stared at the shelves which were mostly empty. There were no people working inside the room. It didn’t seem abandoned though. There were some non-fiction books on the shelves, about medicine, technology, physics and other natural sciences. Elias took a book about psychology from the shelf and noticed that some pages had been torn from it. He picked up another similar one next to it and it too was missing the same pages as the other one. He took a third one that was the same and it also had the same pages missing. Elias examined the place and noticed that there were no books to do with history or law or exonomics or politics. He could guess why.
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CHAPTER 10
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Elias left the library as he felt he had studied enough subjects at the cabin in his own opinion. When he came out, he went to a wide brick building next to the library. Above the entrance to the building was a wooden sign that read "CENTRAL WAREHOUSE & LOGISTICS. There were parking areas on both sides of the building where in one they unloaded boxes in good condition from a horse-drawn trailer, and in the other they loaded trailers attached to horses. Some trailers were loaded with several small sacks, others were loaded with battered-looking cardboard boxes that seemed to have been used several times.
"What's in those boxes?" Elias shouted at the packers.
"Bullets from the factory in Kangasala!” The packer answered.
"Why do you pack them in such bad boxes?"
"There are no better boxes for now."
"Some of those boxes look fine though. You must have just received a fresh batch of new packages."
"We did, but not many. It's a rarity. The bullet factory usually ships in used packages."
"Then where do you get new packages from?"
"Cardboard and paper and that kind of stuff is made somewhere in the province of Kanta-Häme, I don't know where. But it takes quite a long time to transport the goods from there to the bullet factory." The packer answered.
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Elias noticed that the packers were throwing boxes around. One box broke when it was dropped and the contents spilled all over the ground. The packers collected some of the contents of the boxes back, but not all. They also stole from the small sacks where the citizens' daily rations were delivered. Every now and then they took one potato from the sack into their own pocket.
"Sloppy work. But that's how it goes when they all get their guaranteed ration and nothing more, regardless of the quality of their work." Elias thought.
“Just letting you know that you don’t actually need this work!” Elias shouted at the packers.
“Maybe not, but it’s easy, does its part for the good of us all and guarantees our share!” One packer shouted back.
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Elias started heading towards their apartment. On the way back, he saw other groups and individuals staying and walking along the streets and highways, as well as people pushing horse-drawn trailers and wheelbarrows. None of the people that he saw seemed happy. The groups of people didn't look like they did in the old magazines, laughing photogenically and looking at each other. Many of these people had been here for years, living the same life every day. People have nothing to say to each other.
He arrived at the apartment and there were five sacks lying by the door. The sacks were similar to the sacks they saw being packed in the logistics center. When he came in he grabbed the five sacks and threw on the empty living room floor. Each sack contained 20 golf ball-sized potatoes and one bottle of water.
"They make us exercise and walk and we get two pieces of bread and potatoes for a day's food? Unbelievable." One group member stated.
"Oh, I'm grateful. On some days we were lucky if we got a single piece of bread." Another answered.
"Now that we are so comfortable in our own apartment at dinner time, maybe you could tell us a little about yourself." Elias suggested.
"I already told you how we came here. But if you want to know more, it's all right with me. Okay, so if we talk about what I already told you, I grew up on a farm in Lapland when I was little. Raising reindeer was our livelihood. As a child, I already participated in the work. When the reindeer were fattened, my parents came up with a story so that I wouldn't be shocked, but yes, I knew what was going on, they slaughtered them for food. I went to school in a small village school where there weren't many students. However, the teaching was quite high-quality. At night, I could do reindeer breeding for a living, but my big brother wasn't interested in anything like that. He was invested in his studies and went to a more formal school in the city of Oulu when elementary school was over. Our protective parents didn't want him to move to the city on his own, so the whole family moved to Oulu. I was still attending elementary school at that time and of course I had to go to a new school. There I was bullied because of my different appearance and name."
"By the way, we haven't been told our names during this whole time. What's your name?" Elias asked.
"Duvre. It’s a Sámi name. My parents raised me in Finnish for practical purposes. Be that as it may, at that time I also noticed that the world is bigger than our little municipality. Of course, I always knew that, but I became interested in the world and followed the news constantly. My parents said that my young head shouldn't be interested in all the bad news at that time. I know pretty well what happened before all this. I remember those scandals in the government. The president had used government and tax payer money to pay his own unknown debts, and also received funding from an unknown source. People's trust in the government was weak. Many went to prison for not agreeing to pay taxes or do military service. Members of the government also had connections to domestic terrorist acts whose purpose was to smear political opponents as radicals. There was all kinds of dirty stuff all the time around the government. Patriotism was a curse word and there were all kinds of true radicals who wanted to break up the existing country into several smaller states. Before long, the president resigned voluntarily and soon after went to prison. However, some politicians who had skeletons in their closets did not face any kind of justice. People didn't like it. Then we started hearing the news about some new disease that seemed pretty terrible. It had occurred all over the globe, so it wasn't a local problem that could be taken over quickly. It was studied and an attempt was made to develop a medicine. I don't know if it was ever developed because the leaderless goverment made a quick decision to close the borders and communication channels. Some time later, a militant organization emerged that had been completely unknown all along. They were equipped and everything. The police forces in many cities took control of the cities and indicated that they were connected to each other and to that organization. Civilians who to my knnowledge had no permission to police and military weapons were now armed and equipped. I don't know what was happening there because at that time the news stopped broadcasting. I remember that the Finnish army retreated to the north and brought everything with them because they didn't want to compete with anyone over military power. A wall was built in the north that goes from Oulu to the Russian border. There were cannons on the walls whose purpose was to keep us safe, and that's how they protected their subjects from any southern offensive, but not from their own rule. The heads of the army did not know how to run the state. They went crazy with power and didin’t care about the citizens, including the four of us. And I already told the rest." Duvre said.
"What happened to your family?" Elias asked.
"My older sister went to the army with some dude and I haven't seen her since, but I assume that she was taken care of. Or at least I hope. My parents were sent back to the farm when the soldiers found out that they had been living like that before. I wasn't taken there. The soldiers only took the parents but left me in the city where I then lived on the streets and met these gentlemen. I was nine years old at the time." Duvre told.
"Well what a lovely story." One member of the group said, and continued with: "Well, my name is Sampo. I was 16 years old when everything went wrong 16 years ago. I remember from those years that my father was never at home. He had duties in the army, so I only saw him once every couple of months. Whenever dad was away, mom would bring strange men home. She told me that I should treat and respect them as if they were my dad and to not tell anyone about those guys. They always stayed with us and lived with us for several weeks and then disappeared. Before you say anything clever, yes. I know what was going on. In kindergarten, when they asked about my parents, I was confused and didn't really know what to say. I should have thought of those men as my father, but also I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone. And I didn't even really know my own father. I always just said that I don't want to talk about it. Before long, I realized that real families are not as perfect as they are on TV. In my teenage years, I knew exactly what was going on. At no point did I respect any of those men. And I didn't really respect my mother, and I didn't respect my teachers either. You could say that I was a problem child and an underachiever at school. When the teacher insisted on talking to my mother about it, she didn't seem to care. I barely went to school at all. Instead, I hung around with problematic youth doing vandalism and participating in fights. Before long, my mother had enough of the constant messages from school and she let me hear about it. When I was 15, my father retired from the army and came home. My mother stopped bringing those men home and my parents lived happily ever fucking after. Around this time, everything that Duvre was talking about began to happen. Since my father was in the army, we were taken care of. We were moved to Oulu, where my father agreed to participate in the construction of the protective wall as a volunteer. Yes, they have a wall up there too. Some kind of education was still available at this point and when my father asked me to go to school, I respected that request and went to school. Before long, however, my education was stopped and I decided to participate in the construction of the protective wall. There I had long conversations with my father and I decided to mention to him what my mother had been up to for the past few years. That day, I remember hearing an argument at home and I went out to explore the city a bit just to get away from it. There, I found my own kind of people again. I was barely at home and when I was, my parents were always quiet. I figured they had decided not to talk about their problems or anything for that matter. I only went home to sleep and visit there right after work before I went to my gang again. I didn't even bother to tell my family where I would go. One evening when I came home, my mother told me that I wouldn't see my father anymore, and didn't say anything more about it. And at the same time she decided to throw me out of the house as well. Luckily I had another place to go. I didn't bother going to work after that, even if it meant I wouldn't get any more money. I couldn’t bring myself to serve anyone. I had no respect for anyone above me. The gang took great care of me. It wasn't the same group as the one in this apartment now, I should probably mention that. After a while, I tried being a soldier. It made the gang lose respect for me, but I was determined enough to think I didn't need them. I thought I would be able to make myself a decent adult through the army. When I was in the army, I lived in shared accommodation with the rest of the army and I got a place to stay. Occasionally I tried to go see if dad was working on the wall, but I never found him. I was in the army for about a year until my attitude became a real problem. The less said about it the better. But I was kicked out of the army and I was back on the streets and now without a gang to accept me. I kept myself alive by dishonest means and about two years ago I also found Duvre in a dumpser where I intended to go to sleep. We fought with fists over who gets to sleep in that dumpster. After that fight we gained each other’s respect and decided to band together. When I was in Oulu, I didn't serve anyone other than myself and this group, and I still live here very reluctantly and I don't really like this system of theirs.” Sampo told.
"Would you rather be here or there?" Duvre asked Sampo.
"The homeless life there had its own charm, but I do believe that I can live here just fine, but I liked it better over there." Sampo answered.
"What about you, tall man? What's your name and where did you come from?" Elias asked a tall member of the group who was older than all of them. He had a bald head and a hairless face.
"My last name is Rossi. I don't have a story. I was a farmer before everything went wrong, and also after it. My crops were collected and I was paid well. I raised cows, but the soldiers' lust for meat quickly took my cows away. After that, the salary dropped and some soldiers came to burn down my farm. And so me and everyone on my farm became poor, so I went to the city where I met this group. Like I said, not much of a story." Rossi said.
"And what about you? You haven't said a word here." Elias asked looking at the last member of the group. The fifth member was a 30-year-old woman with brown hair in a pony tail. She did not answer.
"She can't speak. She's mute. We don't even know her name." Sampo said.
"Well, can she write?" Elias asked.
"Maybe. But at no point have we had anything to write with." Sampo answered.
"I see. How did you find her and when?" Elias asked.
“About a year ago when she was picking a fight with some soldier boy.” Sampo said.
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When Elias had eaten enough potatoes he opened the chest he got from the workshop. Inside the chest were his clothes in which he arrived. This was a great relief because the map and the key that Samuel gave remained in the pants pocket.
When everyone went to sleep they thought about the current state of their lives. Not very rich, but still sure and smooth. But Elias still had other plans. He had to somehow get to the place marked on the map, but he didn't know how.
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CHAPTER 11
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In the morning they woke up again to the ringing of a bell outside. They went down and outside there was a large container of lake water with people wetting their hair. The group members also went to queue for the barrel, which was crowded on all sides. There were towels on the ground near the barrel that everyone used to dry themselves. After a short wash, people went to the same building where they ate their morning bread yesterday. At the back of the large room was a large pile of sliced pieces of bread and a guard was making sure that everyone only took two. When Elias had taken his bread he went to sit next to Pauli. Pauli and Jussi greeted him.
"Does everyone get the same rations here? 20 potatoes and two slices of bread a day. Do some commanders or other ranks get bigger shares here?" Elias asked.
"If you look, you'll notice that even the senior uniforms only have two slices. And they don't live in any mansions either. But I know that in the coastal areas they fish a lot, so they get to eat fish there. They don't tell us that, but my brother told me when he was here building the wall . We are not told if things are better somewhere else because that would make us hostile and envious. Or so I would figure. Maybe it works at keeping us satisfied and docile. At least I don't have anything against anyone here, but I can't say that I really care about most of them either. I don't really have any opinion about our leaders or the commanders. The only people I have a good opinion of here are Jussi and now as a new addition, you as well. So congratulation." Pauli said.
"Have you tried to get to know these other people? They all have their own pasts, I’m sure." Elias asked.
"Of course I have, and their pasts don't interest me."
"Well, I don't have anything to add to that then. But I do have a question. That wash basin that we used outside. It wasn't there yesterday."
“They are brought in front of the houses every third morning. Routine work."
"And I would also like to know where I should throw my waste? I just took dump off the balcony last night but I figure that’s not the right way to do it."
"Haven't you seen those blue booths? That's where you should go."
"Oh. Well thank you very much. I’ll see you at the training." Elias finished and got up from his chair and left, as he had finished his bread.
"Stupid guy." Jussi said quietly to Pauli. Elias did not hear it.
"Hey now, don’t say that." Pauli replied to Jussi. Elias heard this and glanced behind him and continued his journey to the training ground where there were already some people waiting. Elias sat cross-legged on the ground and waited for the commanders to come and start the exercise. The commanders took longer to come out than yesterday. Others in the field also noticed the length of the wait. Some were impatient and some were relieved. Before long, a familiar commander in a gray uniform entered the field with a 11-year-old boy who looked very confused and emotionless. The boy had pale skin and smooth black bangs. When the commander came to the field, he separated from the boy. The soldiers entered the ranks. Elias noticed that the strange boy went to the row behind Elias. It seemed a bit like it was done on purpose.
"It has nothing to do with me. Not everything revolves around me." Elias thought to himself. The exercises were the same as yesterday and this time Elias didn't talk to anyone as no one tried to talk to him either. He would have wanted to look behind him, but he wouldn't have succeeded without getting noticed.
When the exercises were over and it was time for a walk, Elias looked for Pauli and went to him once he spotted him. When everyone took to their positions, Elias noticed the strange boy looking at him and as soon as the strange boy noticed that Elias noticed, he looked away.
Elias went to Pauli's side and said: "I noticed that boy during the training who seems somehow... oddly curious. When the commander came late to the training, he came with that boy and he seems to be somehow focused on me. Am I just paranoid?"
"I think I know who you're talking about. Yesterday, after the march, when I was out on my own time, he followed me everywhere I went away from where ever I was, he also left and followed me. I went to places where no one would have any reason to go, and even then he followed me. Then I turned around and yelled at him and he started walking in the other direction and pretended he didn't hear me. And yesterday was the first time that I even saw that guy." Pauli answered.
Elias looked behind him and in front of him and noticed the strange boy in the front row far away from them. Elias thought it meant his suspicions were pointless, or the boy wanted to be less suspicious.
"I might go around the town in my free time today and see if he follows me." Elias suggested to Pauli
"Sounds like a plan. Do what you want." Pauli replied.
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When the march was over and they were back on the training ground, Elias didn't go back to his apartment. As everyone in the crowd went their separate ways, Elias noticed that the strange boy seemed to be looking for something and when Elias noticed that the strange boy noticed him, Elias quickly turned his head and went his own way. Elias went to the lake where he went yesterday. He ran along the path around the small lake and when he had gone halfway around the lake and was on the other side, he noticed the strange boy was where Elias came from. Elias sat down on the sand by the lake and noticed the strange boy still coming towards him. However, the strange boy stopped walking when he noticed that Elias was no longer moving. Elias looked from his spot at the strange boy who was just looking at the lake. Elias got up and started walking towards the area of the red brick buildings where he was also yesterday. He looked behind him and the strange boy was still there. When he came to the logistics center, he looked back again and saw the strange boy leaning against a wall far behind him.
"This may still be a coincidence." Elias thought. Then Elias went back towards the lake. On the way to the lake, he walked past the strange boy who was doing his best to avoid eye contact. Elias went to the other side of the lake again from where he went towards the training ground. He climbed a tree next to the training ground where no one would see him. From above, he looked at the road that leads to the training ground and noticed that there the strange boy was again circling the lake.
"Why whould he go past the lake but lean against the wall and then come right back?" Elias thought. At this time it was time for a shooting exercise at the trainign grounds and people started coming in. Elias went through the trees back to the shooting range which was next to the lake. People had already gathered on the field. The commander was late again, which made the people frustrated and worried that their free time would be shortened if the exercise went long. Elias went to the edge of the grass field and looked down the hill that was at the edge of the range. There the commander spoke to the strange boy. Elias looked towards the field again and saw Pauli there and called him to come to him. Pauli came with Jussi to the edge of the field to Elias.
"What's the matter?" Pauli asked.
"Come look." Elias said to Pauli.
"What is this, why is this something worth seeing?" Jussi asked.
"You see that guy, Pauli? That same guy followed me from a distance throughout the break and pretended not to follow me. And now he's talking to that commander again. Just like you told me he did with you." Elias said to Pauli.
"I don't know if they do this to everyone at some point or if they want something specifically from us." Pauli answered.
The strange boy started walking towards the shooting range. Elias, Pauli and Jussi watched him come. The strange boy kept his eyes straight ahead and didn't look at anyone. The commander remained standing at the place of the conversation.
"The commander just stands there!" Pauli shouted at the other soldiers, and some came to the edge of the field to watch.
"There he takes a long break on our time." Someone said. The soldiers whispered disparaging names about the commander until they noticed that the commander started to come towards the field, at which point everyone walked away from the edge. When the commander came to the field, he ordered Elias to go to the shooting range among the first ones. Elias loaded the gun as he was shown yesterday and started shooting. When the commander said that they all had fired enough, he ordered something unusual.
"Now let's practice something we don't usually do. Kalevi Kekkonen, come here!" The commander ordered. Elias came to stand in front of the commander face to face.
"Combat training. Try to take me down." The commander ordered.
"Nothing like that was ever taught to me." Elias replied.
"Well, let's teach it now then." the Commander ordered.
Elias sighed and tried to wrestle with the commander but the commander just swept his leg and Elias fell on his side. A few laughs rang out from the crowd.
"That clearly won’t happen yet. Let's try something else. Try to disarm me before I have time to load the gun." The commander said and grabbed a rifle from a box.
The commander started loading the empty rifle and Elias went to rip it out of his hands. The commander hit Elias directly in the nose with the stock of the rifle. Elias fell and the commander loaded the gun and pointed it at Elias’s forehead. Elias's nose was bleeding.
"Now let's do it the other way around. Load the gun and I have to get it out of your hands." The commander said and gave Elias the rifle. Elias hastily started loading the rifle and didn't even try to defend himself, as in his disoriented state he couldn’t focus on two things at once. The commander grabbed the pipe of the rifle and poked Elias in the nose with the stock and got the gun away from Elias and the loaded it himself as Elias fell on the ground.
"Enjoy the humiliation." The commander whispered to Elias. Elias' nose was now broken. Elias got up from the ground and looked at the commander with pure contempt.
"In our New Tower, respect is respected." The commander said, extending his hand for a handshake. Elias gave a quick handshake and was about to turn away.
"A proper handshake, please! And say that you respect me." the commander demanded.
"I respect you, brother in arms." Elias said disdainfully, squeezing the commander's palm tightly while looking him in the eye.
"This was just a sample for the rest of you. The exercises will continue as usual. Those who have done their training may leave." The commander said with smug satisfaction in his voice.
Elias decided to go back to his apartment where his group already was. They were talking to each other but Elias wasn't listening. He greeted the group and those who were able to speak in the group greeted back. Elias sat on his bed looking thoughtful and holding his pillow against his broken nose.
"What are you thinking?" Rossi asked.
"Let's just say that something doesn't feel right." Elias answered and no one asked more.
There was a knock on the door. Elias went to open it. There was a delivery man bringing four sacks to them.
"Why only four? There are five of us here." Elias asked the delivery man.
"One of you didn't return your sack yesterday. We don’t have endless sacks. If you want your own daily ration, you have to return your sack."
"I wasn't told anything about that." Elias said with irritation in his voice.
"Everyone is told that. I guess you just don't listen." The delivery man replied and left.
Elias brought the sacks into the apartment and threw them on the middle of the floor in the centre of their circle.
"But of course! I should have returned the damn sack!" Elias yelled out.
"Didn't that commander tell you anything about it? He told me, and presumably also to us others." Duvre asked.
"I wasn't told anything about any of that. Can someone be so kind as to offer me some of theirs?" Elias answered and asked.
Everyone refused and the mute woman gripped her potato sack harder.
"Brilliant." Elias said with a sigh. Elias’ opinion about his group just got worse. Just at that moment, the same gray-bearded commander in uniform who was so familiar to them entered through the unlocked door without warning. As if he had been waiting outside for just the right moment to come in.
"Is everybody getting along here?" The commander asked.
"I have a few questions. Why wasn't I told that the empty sack had to be returned? Now I won't get my earned share." Elias said to the commander.
"Oh. I guess I just forgot. Just give that sack here and tomorrow you'll get your share." The commander answered with a very insincere voice.
"And is it possible to treat this nose somehow?" Elias asked angrily.
"Unfortunately, there is no one available to help." The commander replied. The commander looked around for a moment and said: "Well, it looks like everything is in order. That's all."
The commander left the apartment and the group stayed in the apartment.
"Good. I'm going to sleep." Elias said and went to lay down in his bed.
"The whole place is fucked up." He whispered to himself at the same time. He was face down on the mattress and didn't listen to what the rest of the group was saying to each other. Falling asleep was difficult when he was hungry and in pain from a broken nose and he was still awake when the rest of the group started to sleep.
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CHAPTER12
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In the morning the bell rang again and everyone went downstairs. Elias took a piece of paper for his nose from the blue port-a-potty as he went to relieve himself. He went to the bread line to claim his rightful share, although he thought of stealing a little more. He went to sit at a table where there was no one.
"Hey Kalevi!" Jussi called from behind Elias's back, but Elias didn't react. Then Jussi and Pauli came to sit on either side of him.
"I saw what happened in yesterday's training. It didn't look pretty." Pauli said to Elias.
"Of course you saw it. Everybody was ordered to watch." Elias answered, with sourness in his voice.
"Yeah, but that wasn't my point. I've seen things like that done before. I don't know why it’s done. I don't know who were the people that it was done to, or for what reason. Not like I’ve paid attention to those people anyway."
"You really don't seem to care about these people." Elias said to Pauli.
"Why should I care? They don't affect my life in any way. But I feel like it’s done just to teach a little respect."
"Maybe. Or maybe that commander has something against me. He told me directly to enjoy the humiliation. And last night when everyone's ration was delivered, I didn't get anything because apparently everyone was told that they should return their emptied sacks if they wanted their daily share, but I wasn't told. And even yesterday the commander just happened to walk into our apartment just like that. Do you know if that has been done to others? Has that been done to you?" Elias asked.
"Never. Nowhere. He really seems to be keeping an eye on you. Probably has something going on with that brat who was watching me and you."
"And by the way, is there anyone here who knows first aid for minor injuries?"
"There are instruction books in the library, from first aid to medicine. Anyone can study them, but they are not taught to anyone. Most people don’t teach themselves anything. But Jussi has been taught these things and yesterday I told him to visit you, but he probably didn’t come." Pauli said.
"No he did not." Elias answered.
"I tried, but he didn’t respond to my holler and just kept walking." Jussi explained to Pauli.
"Right then. Well, I hope it doesn’t hurt anymore." Pauli said and got up from his chair having finished his bread.
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They went out to the training field. While on the field, Elias could hear others mockingly complimenting his new crooked nose.
"They all think they're so clever." He whispered to himself.
This time the commander was not late and the strange boy was on the field well before the commander.
"I guess they didn't have updates to give each other." Elias thought.
The commander arrived on the field and everyone fell in line. First, the commander made them do jumping push-ups and emphasized that the nose must touch the ground. Because of course. During the training, Elias did not speak to anyone and the training was typical.
After that, it was time to march again. Elias went to Pauli and marched beside him.
"What’s the matter?" Pauli asked.
"I just wanted to ask something about this place. I decided that since you know something about what it was like before, maybe you could tell us something about this area. Like what that building used to be." Elias said and pointed to a group of three buildings which were the same buildings where Elias and the group registered and received their equipment and lessons.
"It used to be a school. I didn’t live here, but you can easily tell from all those rooms and corridors. Don't you know what a school is?" Pauli said.
"Yes, I know what schools are. I just don't know what they look like." Elias answered.
"That sand field, where morning exercises are done, was probably used for a smiliar purpose as it is now. Most schools had a sports field in the same place, or at least nearby. And our shooting range was also probably a sports field, and the ammunition depots were probably locker rooms. Nowadays, you wouldn't recognize them so easily when all the metal and wooden parts of public buildings have been collected so that they could be used for something else. There used to be benches all over the place in cities, but now there are none." Pauli said.
They walked past a sandy spot. The sanded area was too small to be a sports field, but it would still have accommodated several people. The sand had metal parts with bolt holes.
"What was this before?” Elias asked.
"Probably a children's playground. Where there were all kinds of climbing frames and slides and those sorts of things. At least those parts look like they had kept something like that in place before." Pauli answered.
During the rest of the march, they marched past apartment buildings and old business premises. Elias had no questions about them. When it was time for a break, Elias pointed out at the logistics center where the workers are unlaoding boxes.
“What was that building before?”
"I’d guess it used to be a building full of shops and stores. Here, people bought what they wanted with the money they earned from work. Well, bought what they wanted within the law, of course." Pauli said.
"Yes, I know what a store is and how they work. I've read about the world."
"Well then why did you want to know any of this?”
"Just wanted to learn about this place.” Elias said embarrassedly.
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The break was over and they headed to the shooting range. When they came to the shooting range Elias joined up with his little group. Elias noticed that Sampo and Duvre had gotten their hair shortened and the mute had tied her ponytail into a bun.
"Where did you get your hair cut?"
"Weren't you told? We were told on the first day that we had to cut our hair short or within a couple of days with the scissors that were given to all of us." Sampo answered.
"I guess you finally decided to bend the knee to the authority and obey them." Duvre said to Sampo with jest.
“The choice wasn’t easy, but it was for my best interest.” Sampo replied seriously.
"I wasn't told anything about this either. And there were no scissors in my chest. Only nail clippers." Elias said with frustration.
Just then the commander came up to them.
"Well look at this now! It seems that someone doesn't take our commonly agreed standards seriously. You were given a time limit, Kekkonen, and you didn't abide by it." The commander said to Elias.
Elias didn't even object. He knew what was going on.
"Maybe you should be left without your ration today as well. No. That would be too harsh. Instead, you can start the shooting practice first and show everyone how it's done." The commander said to Elias.
Elias went to get the same gun that he had practiced before with and went to the shooting range. He quickly loaded the gun as if it was muscle memory and fired all his shots quickly and accurately. Elias then looked at the commander.
"Now do the activity exercise. The same as on your first day." The commander ordered.
Elias went to the starting line again to wait for his mark. The commander gave the cue word so quietly that it took Elias a second to realize that the signal was given. He took off running towards the ammunition box. His running hadn't gotten any better since last time, but when he got to the ammunition, he quickly loaded the gun and fired accurately. After this, Elias looked at the commander again.
"Good job. Now let's try something new again. Let's see how good is your self defense." The Commander said and threw Elias a full magazine.
"Try to hold this for 30 seconds" The commander ordered.
"Sounds easy enough." Elias thought until the commander ordered three soldiers to try to take the magazine from him.
"Anything goes, except killing." the Commander said and gave the signal to begin.
Elias put the magazine inside his pants and used his hands to keep the others' hands away while kicking them away. Only two of them tried to tear Elias down until the third one ran straight to Elias' side and tackled him to the ground. Only seven seconds had passed. The soldiers did not want to win so easily. They pressed Elias' broken nose to the ground for a few seconds. Then they swung him like a hammock by the arms and legs until they lifted him upside down from his legs and the magazine fell out of his pants.
The spectators laughed, but quietly so that the commander would not hear. The commander heard but didn't care. Before the thirtieth second, the soldiers handed the magazine over.
"Do your part for the day, Kekkonen. Go to the edge of the field until the others have completed the day's exercise."
Elias went to lean on a fence on the edge of the field where his group was.
"They’re trying to teach me respect. These snakes don't deserve anyone's respect" He said with disdain in his voice.
"A groundbreaking observation." Sampo said sarcastically.
"When you have to eat shit, before long you to learn to like it. Your rebel phase should have passed years ago. And yours too, Sampo." Rossi, the oldest of the group told them both.
"Maybe I should grow up. Learn to live here and respect the way we live here. Life is not what it looked like in the old drawings and pictures. Or maybe I should stand up to myself like an adult and refuse to eat shit anymore." Elias said to himself.
Elias leaned against the fence and watched the end of the exercises. Sometimes his group members went away from him to do their part in the exercises. The other group members were better runners than Elias. They had run a lot more than Elias had. Elias felt envy towards their superior running.
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CHAPTER 13
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When the exercises were over, Pauli and Jussi came to talk to Elias. Jussi shouted to him from behind and Elias continued walking. When Pauli started talking, he turned around.
"You looked pretty heated over there. Have you calmed down yet?" Pauli asked.
"Yeah, I have, I’d say." Elias answered.
"Okay, good. I was thinking that since you were interested in the environment, maybe I could show you something more significant than this area. There's really nothing here."
"And where would that more significant place be?"
“Transports are taken all over the city. A couple of times I've jumped on a horse cart and seen where it leads. I even know how to get back. So if you want to see some more of the city, then I could show you around."
"Well. I guess I don't have any other obligations today. Maybe I should get myself a distraction and take my mind somewhere else." Elias answered.
“Well let’s go then. Follow me.” Pauli said.
Elias followed Pauli to the streets where Pauli noticed one horse pulling a trailer. Pauli shouted to the driver: "Hey! Can we jump aboard?"
"I don't think it's allowed." the driver replied.
"Pretend you won't notice us if someone complains. Then we'll take the blame if somebody yells at you. Isn’t that right, Kalevi?" Pauli said.
"Well, I don't really care if I break the rules here anymore." Elias answered.
"Well there you go. You have nothing to lose if you let us aboard." Pauli said.
"Well, jump on then, if you want to.” The driver answered. Elias and Pauli jumped on the back of the trailer to hang on and keep their feet on a small foothold. The horse-drawn carriage traveled along the main road into the center of the city. At the beginning of the journey, they crossed a concrete bridge with a view of a vast forest and a light red sky in the horizon. As the view came to the vision of Elias, he remembered the home where he often saw the red sky reflected on the surface of the lake. For all this time inside the walls, Elias had been worried about his father Samuel who was left somewhere near Kouvola. But in the midst of all his confusion, worry for the outside world was not a thing he had remembered to think about. At the moment, he felt sad about it. That Samuel and the home cabin are behind him now and probably out of reach for good. But he was also grateful for his time at that home cabin.
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When they entered the city, they saw old commercial sings. The outlines of letters could be seen and the sings had lots of bullet holes.
"I would bet that there used to be some kinds of logos on those things. Some shops used to put up structures just to make their logo visible and make people notice it. When the state was formed, they wanted to remove everything that was left of the former society, but something like this is pretty hard to completely destroy with just the equipment that we have here." Pauli told.
"I can understand that. Honestly some things that I’ve seen from the old society aren’t even worth keeping around." Elias answered.
The horse-drawn carriage continued along the highway and crossed a couple of bridges on the way.
"I've seen in pictures how these roads used to be full of cars. Constant traffic. And now these roads are completely empty. There are no street lights or traffic lights. I've driven on an empty road and passed an empty settlement, but this is so much different than that, or what amazed me as a child. It's pretty cool." Elias said.
"When I was little, I often rode on roads like this. Now I haven't driven at the speed of a car in years and it seems quite far away when I look back." Pauli answered.
The ride came to the center of the city. The first sight that caught the eye of Elias was a black building with a roof like an upside-down diamond. Pauli explained that it was another shopping center.
"We can hop off here." Pauli suggested and got down. Elias didn't start arguing and hopped off as well. They walked along the street for a while until they came to the old stadium. They crossed a bridge that led to the stadium.
"It looks like the kind of building where people gather to watch sports and other things. They looked bigger in the pictures."
"This is one is tiny compared to the stadiums in other parts of the world that can hold tens of thousands of people. I have no idea what is going on in those places now." Pauli answered.
"I've seen pictures where a person talks to a black stick in front of a crowd that looks like colorful dots. But still, the idea of so many people in one place seems wild." Elias stated.
“And tomorrow this place will be full too.” Pauli stated.
“Wait, why?” Elias asked confusedly.
“Did nobody tell you or did you forget? It’s the Peace Day event with mandatory attendance.” Pauli answered.
“Nobody told me anything about this! Now that I think of it, that’s been happening to me a lot here.”
“Did anybody give you the lyric sheet?”
“Lyric sheet?”
“Yes, to practise the anthem. Anyone who gets caught singing it incorrectly or not singing at all loses their ration for the day.”
“Nobody gave me any sort of lyric sheet!”
“Well, you better ask your team members then, if you want to eat tomorrow.” Pauli stated.
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They toured the area for a while. The environment was full of buildings with windows in the front that were boarded up. They walked east from the stadium and came to a wide tile square. The square was currently empty. Next to the square was a manor-like building that was guarded by armed guards.
“This is where the city’s council members live.” Pauli told Elias.
“I imagine they didn’t pick their home by just choosing an empty apartment.” Eias replied.
“Hell no. They all share this manor. They wouldn’t allow themselves to live close to us others.” Pauli replied.
As they walked in the city, they started seeing people hanging up flags of the regime on the old crusty lamp posts and sweeping the main road of the city center. There were steel railings surrounding the road. It was evident from the scene that this was preparation for the special day tomorrow.
“What exactly are they celebrating? What is Peace Day?” Elias asked.
“It marks the anniversary of the day when our New Tower had fully established itself in the territory that it now controls, and ended the instability that ruled the lands.” Pauli answered.
“I see. Are the people generally proud of this state and do they genuinely feel something about this day?” Elias asked.
“As I’ve said, I don’t really talk to people here. But that’s an interesting question. For me this has been an annual thing for so long that I just think of it as a normal thing. Am I proud of the accomplishments of this government? Well I don’t really take pride in the accomplishments of others, so honestly no, I don’t feel pride for this state, but I won’t say that to anyone but you.” Pauli answered.
“And that is an interesting answer. I also wanted to ask why do you call it our New Tower. I can understand why commanders do it for propaganda reasons, but why do you also refer to it that way?” Elias asked.
“Because that’s how I’ve been taught to say it so at this point it comes naturally. It’s not any more complicated than that.” Pauli answered.
“Interesting.” Elias finished with a sound of pondering in his voice, and he started looking at the streetscape as they walked.
There was nothing more to see in the city, so Elias suggested they go back home. Pauli hailed for another horse-drawn trailer and asked the driver if the carriage was going where they came from. The driver answered in the negative. They looked for another transport. This time the transport was going back to where they came from, so Pauli convinced the driver the same way he did before and they jumped to hang on the back of the trailer again. This transport was taking a slightly different route. On the way, Elias noticed a parking lot next to a rock and on the side of the rock was a lift door.
"What's the point of that?" Elias asked.
"In the old days, there were these leisure centers, like swimming pools and sports halls that were underground or inside rocks. Maybe it's like that, or there's something there that doesn't belong to us." Pauli answered jokingly.
Next to the parking area was a lake, on the shore of which was a tower about a hundred meters high, on the top of which was a round booth full of windows, and on top of the booth was a big needle sticking up. This was the same tower that Elias saw in the distance when he entered the city. The tower was worn out and in poor condition.
"And what is that?" Elias asked a curiously.
"It's an old lookout tower. What else could it be? I remember when my brother was here to build the wall, he told me how the intention was to destroy that tower because it's a memory of the old days, but then they decided that it would be too dangerous to dismantle it. They then decided that it can collapse in its own time." Pauli answered
"A bit like republics." The driver commented when he heard the conversation happening behind him.
They didn’t spot anything worth discussing about on their way back to their neighbourhood and they remained quiet. Elias observed the surroundings on the way.
After some time, they were on the same highway along which they came to the city. The transport arrived back at the logistics center, from where Elias and Pauli continued to roam around the nearby area. After a while, Pauli led them to a yellowed brick building with a cote at the side of it. There was a badly dilapitated rainwater pipe on the wall of the building. Elias kicked the rainwater pipe just for the hell of it and the entire cote collapsed, and several aluminum cans and bottles fell down. Elias was startled by this, as he did not expect that to happen.
“You hurt?” Pauli asked surprisedly and worriedly.
“No, I didn’t get hurt. I probably shouldn’t touch anything that looks old here.” Elias answered.
“Yeah, I learned that a long time ago.” Pauli replied.
Pauli picked up a plastic bottle from the ground and said: “I haven’t seen one of these in years.”
“Well be that as it may, my umm... home is right here so I’ll just say good night now. I’m curious about tomorrow. I’ll talk to you later.” Elias told Pauli.
“Yep, I’ll see you. And don’t worry, tomorrow will go just fine. Good night!” Pauli replied and went on his way.
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While walking to his apartment, Elias was met by their commander, this time in more casual clothes. The commander nodded to Elias and Elias nodded back reluctantly. Approaching his building, he got a strange feeling. He stopped and listened. He didn't hear anything. It occurred to him to look behind him but he didn't and just went inside. He climbed the stairs and found his potato sack at his door. He took the sack and went inside his apartment.
"Where were you?" Duvre asked Elias once he had come inside
There was no reason to lie or make up stories so Elias replied: "I went to the city center to look at places."
"How? You probably didn't get there that fast by walking." Rossi said.
"I jumped on the back of the horse carriage and hung on it." Elias replied.
"Is that allowed?" Duvre asked.
"I don't know and I don't care." Elias replied.
"My dude!" Sampo said.
“But hey. Did you know about this Peace Day thing that’s tomorrow? Did you get some sorts of lyric sheets to practise with?” Elias asked his crew.
“Yes, we were all told about it yesterday, and we were given these sheets.” Duvre answered and pulled up a lyric sheet and handed it to Elias.
“Did they not give you one?” Rossi asked.
“Well what do you think? Of course they didn’t.” Elias replied, and started reading the lyrics in the sheet.
“Watch how our New Tower Rises. And watch how into the world we tie piece. It won’t be rocked by storms or winds. Into the world we now make a new era... okay what are these ridiculous lyrics? Does anyone actually believe in this?” Elias said as he read the first lyrics of the anthem.
“I’m old enough to remember these things called national anthems. Every self governing territory had one. They were all like this.” Rossi said.
“Basically a love letter for authority.” Sampo said.
“Well, if you want to look at it like that, then I suppose so. I’d call them more a love letter for the land and it’s people.” Rossi replied.
“Do any of you know what melody is this song supposed to be sung to? I really don’t want to go without food again just for getting the song wrong.” Elias said.
“You see the squiggly keys on the paper? That’s supposed to tell you. Do you know how to read notes?” Rossi asked.
“Not the slightest idea.” Elias anwered.
“I guess it’s my responsibility to shove it in all of your heads then, since I’m the only one here who knows how to read notes. And I know that you, Sampo don’t want to participate in this whole thing but for your sake I recommend that you at least try.” Rossi said, and started humming the correct melody over and over again to the point that it annoyed the entire team. Rossi knew that it annoyed them, but he also knew that they wouldn’t forget the melody. He ignored their complaining and none of them dared to physically touch him, as he towered over all of them. Even when everybody had gone to bed, he still hummed the song one more time, and then went to sleep himself.
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CHAPTER 14
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The team woke up once again to the sound of bells ringing outside. They got up from their bunks, with the melody of the antem firmly in their minds. Outside of their apartment complex was a washbucket where people were washing their hair. After each person had washed their hair, they were ordered to go stand in a line.
“Preparing for the thing today, I would guess.” Elias stated.
“You are absolutely correct, soldier!” The Commander’s voice could be heard saying behind Elias. Once the team had washed their hair they went to stand in the line as they saw others do and waited until everyone had joined them in the line. Once the line was full, The Commander yelled out: “Now that everybody has gotten their hair up to standard, off to the lake, and get that stink off of your bodies as well. If anyone gets caught sneaking out of this formation, they lose their ration for the day!”
And so all the soldiers of the nearby buildings marched to the nearest lake following the footsteps of thie commander.
“Do you people only clean yourself when ordered?” Elias asked someone that was next to him.
“What? Of course not. We regularly clean ourselves in the lake in our own time.” The soldier recruit replied.
“How often?” Elias followed up.
“I do it once a week. But this is my second time this week. Feels a little excessive but it doesn’t harm me.” The recruit replied.
They all arrived at the lake where they stopped walking. The Commander yelled out: “Do not remive your clothes when going into the lake! Your clothes must also be clean for today’s event!” And so everyone just walked into the lake where they briefly stayed with their clothes on. The water was cold on this September morning. All the recruits just stood in the water for a bit, rubbing their own arms a little and then walked back on land. Acting silly would have displeased their commander. Elias found this entire thing strange, but at the same time not at all surprising for this place. He went along with everybody else and did the same as all the others. Once everybody had returned from the water, they once again stood on a line. The Commander yelled out: “Now, off to the logistics center. There you will get rides to the city center. Once you arrive at the center, go where you are instructed. Hope that your clothes have dried by the time the event starts. And please don’t get your clothes dirty or sweaty before the event. If you do, you lose your ration for today. Hail, our New Tower!”
And all the recruits in the row replied with the same chant. The chant startled Elias but he chanted along to the word “Tower”
The entire group of recruits walked to the nearby logistics center. There were lots of horses with trailers attatched to them, and people were getting inside the trailers. Eight people in each trailer. Elias’ team all got in the same trailer because while walking they stuck together. Once they were inside the trailer and the trailer started moving, Rossi commented: “Almost like going into war.” With a little bit of jest in his voice.
“More like going into a slaughterhouse. But I guess I’m just repeating your words since war is just a slaughter of the plebs after all.” Sampo replied.
“This whole thing, the whole Peace Day thing, gives me a bad feeling. I can’t put my finger on why.” Elias commented.
The three unknown recruits who were on the same trailer with them didn’t seem to care about the team’s comments. The trailer was completely dark inside anyway, so they couldn’t even tell who was it who said what anyway. Everybody inside was wet and cold.
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After a while, the trailer stopped. Outside they heard footsteps in rhytm from all sides. Once the doors of the trailers were opened from outside, the sunlight almost blinded everybody inside.
“Quickly now, everybody out of the trailer and get in the formation!” One of the people that opened the doors said. So the team followed to where the door opener pointed his hand and they went to stand in the formation with some other soldiers who were standing on a square that was outside the same manor house that Elias and Pauli had passed yesterday. More soldiers kept coming to the square until it was filled to the last square foot. Once the square was full, everybody just stood quietly and waited. Elias and everybody in his team were wondering what they were waiting for, but nobody dared to break the silence. When Elias looked to his right, he saw a final trailer arrive and stop a little ways away from the square. Out of that trailer came the same boy who was following him and Pauli the other day. The boy walked into the square to be in the midst of the other soldiers. Then a minute later Elias’ commander came out of the same trailer, looked around, popped his collar and walked into the very front of the square, where there were four other commanders positioned in front of the entire group of soldiers. Everybody was standing straight and looking at the manor house. Eventually a group of eight people all dressed in suits came out of the manor house.
“Good day, Pillars of the city!” The four commanders shouted formally in the same way at these eight people, who did not respond, but just looked at the group of soldiers in the square.
“Hail! Our New Tower!” One of the suit wearers shouted out.
“Hail! Our New Tower!” The entire square yelled back. The group of suits started walking towards the eight horses that were standing at the edge of the square. As they moved, everybdoy on the square turned their entire bodies to keep looking at them. Elias and his team did the same just because everybody around did it as well. The so called Pillars of the city mounted their horses that then started walking among the road. The four commanders were following behind them, and once they raised their right hands up, everybody on the square started marching and following them while chanting: “Our New Tower! Strong! And Great!” repeatedly. Sampo was not chanting along but nobody seemed to care. Everybody else in Elias’ team with functioning vocal cords chanted along half heartedly, except Rossi who was putting effort into it. They marched for a while following the horses until they stopped. From the distance four caravans pulled by four horses approached the the eight horses of the Pillars of the city. From each caravan stepped out eight more suit wearing people.
“Good day, Pillars of your cities!” The entire marching crew yelled in unison. All the suit wearing people shook hands, and horses were brought for all of them. Only the people who were at the front of the formation could see this. Elias or his team couldn’t as they weren’t at the front. Forty suit wearing Pillars rode on fourty horses along the streets. The horses looked better fed than the soldiers. They were headed for the same stadium that Elias and Pauli visited the previous day. The stadium had more than one entrance, so the large group was split so that they could get in faster. There were already hundreds of soldiers inside the stadium standing in formation before this group entered. The Pillars remained outside as the soldiers marched inside and took their positions standing on the main ground of the stadium. There were only forty seats in the entire stadium as all the other seats had been removed years ago so their materials could be used for something else. There were ten small flagpoles at the edges of the huge formation. Ten children walked to the flagpoles and walked to one of the entrances of the stadiums, standing on both sides of it and holding the flags at an angle. One of these children was the same boy that had been following Elias and who came form the trailer of The Commander. The forty Pillars of their cities walked in through this entrance, and the entire stadium looked at them as they entered. Elias’ team was now positioned at the edge of the huge formation, so they all saw them enter. As the Pillars walked past them, Sampo spat on one of them. When seeing this, Elias also spat on one them. And then the Mute also spat on one of them. And then two other soldiers who Elias didn’t even know, spat on them. None of the Pillars or the commanders saw who actually did the spitting.
“Who did that? Reveal yourself this instant!” One commander yelled, but nobody answered.
“So that’s how we’re doing it, is it? Double ration today for whoever snitches on these spitters!” The same commander shouted, but nobody said anything.
“Fine. Everybody start doing pushups! I mean everybody. Anyone who is caught not doing them will lose their ration for the day.” The same commander shouted. The front of the formation let out a loud groan. And so the soldiers in the front of the formation started doing pushups, and all the people behind them understood the cue and started doing the same. Everybody was irritated, but Elias, Sampo and the Mute were satisfied with themselves. Once the cue was given to stand back up, the Pillars walked on a stage where there was a podium. One of the Pillars of this particular city stepped forth to talk on the podium. The podium didn’t have a microphone because they have no electricity here, so he had to talk very loud.
“Well, after that little act of rebellion you have all given a bad look to our guests. Maybe it’s a good thing that our great leader Kosola couldn’t be here today. But to the Pillars I assure that the arms of Our New Tower are strong and loyal and every weak brick shall be removed. Hail! Our New Tower!”
The soldiers on the stadium chanted it in return, but it was noticeable that it wasn’t everyone. However it would have been impossible to tell who hailed back and who didn’t.
“I don’t like that response. It seems not everyone here appreciates our New Tower as much as they should. Everybody, do 50 jumping jacks! Everybody who doesn’t, loses their ration for the next two days, and everybody who complains will be thrown to the Deadland!” The Pillar at the podium shouted. Everybody complied with the order. Everybody except Sampo, who instead showed a middle finger while looking at the stage. The visiting Pillars of other cities noticed this and looked disgusted. One of them pointed Sampo out to one the commanders, who saw it too and became outraged. When Sampo saw that he was being approached, he started running deeper into the formation, bumping into everybody on his way doing the jumping jacks. He got out of reach, so the angry commander who was coming to take him, decided to pivot.
“Fine, since you’re too scared to face your punishment, I’ll give it someone else and you get to watch!” The enraged commander shouted. He grabbed the Mute by her throat and dragged her onto the stage. She tried to tug back but the commander was stronger.
“If you resist, you’ll be thrown to the Deadland!” The commander told her, and she stopped resisting. Once they were on the stage, the commander stepped to the edge of the stadium and shouted: “This is what happens to non-compliers!”
The commander pushed the Mute on the floor and pulled out his leathery weapon holster. He pinned the mutes throat against the floor and started smacking her face with the weapon holster. The other commanders and Pillars looked uncomfortable, but they didn’t speak out, because they didn’t want to cause division in the ranks. The children holding the flags looked terrified, except the one who was following Elias the other day. He looked like he felt sorry for the Mute, but he didn’t look shocked at all. The commander raised the Mute up and held her facing the crowd, with her face bruised and bloody.
“Didn’t even let a peep. Maybe you’re too tough to throw to waste. My respect. Now go back in the lines!” The commander told her. Sampo felt terrible, as he saw what happened and paid attention. Once the Mute returned to the formation, Sampo stayed in the middle. He was scared of the people on stage as well the Mute.
The commander of Elias’ team got on the podium and yelled out: “This Peace day event has been a disgrace and you have shown a terrible example for the great men and women who represent different parts of our New Tower! Before we get to the speeches, let us sing the anthem of our New Tower. This is your chance to redeem yourself!”
The Commander pulled a lyric sheet out of his back pocket and cleared his throat. He started singing the words on the sheet to the same melody that Elias’ team already knew very well at this point. Elias and Sampo and the Mute did not sing. And it was audible that everybody in the stadium didn’t sing either. For Elias this was a powerful experience as he had never heard singing in unison like this. For Rossi, Sampo and the Mute this was not exactly new, as they were old enough to remember this being normal. Rossi sang loud and deep hoping someone would notice. Duvre also sang as he somewhat appreciated his life here. After the anthem had finished, the Commader was grumpy. He saw that Elias and the Mute didn’t sing.
“Well that was a disappointing perforamance from some of you, and by association, all of you, since our tower is only as strong as it’s weakest brick. Everybody’s ration is cut in half today!” The Commander shouted. Groans could be heard across the stadium, which irritated the Commander even more.
“But be that as it may, we have speeches that still need to be spoken, and you all better listen and be respectful! But first...” The Commander said and walked up to Elias and the Mute and grabbed them both by their shirts and said: “Did you think I wouldn’t notice? I won’t tolerate your behaviour here any longer! You will go back to your apartment and if I don’t find you there when I come there, I will hunt you down personally! Is that understood?”
Elias and the Mute nodded with scared looks on their faces. The Commander slapped them both in the face and then dragged them out of one of the exits. While this was happening, the first speaker had already started speaking. Once they were outside, the Commander let go of them and told them: “You will walk to your apartment with your own feet. You better know the way back!”
The Mute looked bewildered as she had no idea how to get back since the trailer that they all arrived in was all dark.
“Don’t worry, I know the way back, I came here yesterday. But it will take a while.” Elias told her. When they came to the streets of the city center, the Mute looked at the flags hanging from the lamp posts. She got an idea. She spotted one the horse rides that were parked on the streets. She started untying the rein of the horse.
“What are you doing?” Elias asked, but the Mute said nothing and didn’t even make a gesture. She untied the horse and started dragging the trailer to one of the lamp posts. She climbed on top of the trailer as Elias looked curious. Once she was on top of the trailer, she strated climbing the lamp post, and started ripping the flag down. The old worn down flag ripped in half easily. She climbed down and threw the ripped half of the flag to one of the horses. She gestured for Elias to start leading the way home again. Elias complied and started walking to the right direction.
“Well ok then.” He commented.
Elias started walking back the same way he and Pauli went the previous day.
“Welcome to the broken face club.” Elias said jokingly. The Mute didn’t appreciate the joke and Elias could tell, so he remained quiet the entire way and just lead the way. By the time Elias and the Mute found their apartment complex, the rest of their team was already hollering from behind and walking briskly towards to them.
“You need to know what happened!” Sampo shouted at them from behind.
The rest of the team caught up with Elias and the Mute.
“What happened?” Elias asked.
“What happened indeed? People started walking out in mass from the stadium!” Sampo said excitedly with a slight laugh.
“Before they were supposed to?” Elias asked for confirmation.
“Yeah! Before they were supposed to. The atmosphere was very sour after what one of the commanders did to our mute friend here. The dudes on the stage started their speeches and when one of them was talking some shit about “The idea” and “Compassion”, that’s when people had enough. They just started walking out and nobody could stop them. Me of course following them.” Sampo explained.
“I only followed him because I wanted to make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.” Duvre explained.
“I followed because it was boring.” Rossi said.
Sampo looked at the beaten face of the mute.
“Yeah, sorry about that. You didn’t deserve that.” He said.
The Mute looked at Sampo with her arms crossed, not looking like she was happy with him.
“I’d ask if I can do anyhting to make up for it, but I don’t think I’d get an answer.” Sampo commented.
Rossi looked at him like he couldn’t believe the audacity of this man.
“Sounds like something is brewing. I don’t feel so good about just going to our little apartment. Who know what might happen today?” Elias commented.
The Mute bumped Elias on the arm as if to remind him of something.
“Oh right. The Commander told us that we should be there or there would be consequences. So maybe we should be there.” Elias said.
“Who cares what he thinks? It’s one guy. We outnumber him!” Sampo replied.
“But we don’t know how many people he might have with him, or if he’s armed. We’re completely unarmed.” Elias pointed out. Sampo got an idea.
“But we don’t have to be! Don’t they keep their weapons somewhere?” Sampo asked.
“Do not suggest what I think you’re suggesting.” Duvre said to Sampo.
“Oh I am suggesting exactly what you think I am. We’ll turn their weapons agaisnt them and just stop obeying. Make ourselves equal with them.” Sampo suggested.
“I am not going along with whatever ideas you may have. I am sitting this one out.” Duvre said.
“This place is the last place I have. We’ve been to the north. We’ve been to the Deadland. This is the best we’ve had. I am not throwing this out. I’m not with you, Sampo.” Rossi said.
“Somebody has to back me up on this!” Sampo said, looking at Elias and the Mute.
“I hate this place. I never intended to stay here anyway. I have something that I need to do outside these walls. Might as well overthrow this regime on my way out.” Elias replied to Sampo. Sampo then looked at the Mute who just shrugged her shoulders in response and started walking to the direction of the same building where they all got their outfits from earlier. Elias and Sampo started following her and walking the empty streets.
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Once they arrived there, nobody was there. Completely empty. The door was locked however. Sampo just grabbed a rock from the ground and threw it at the glass until it broke. Once it broke, he started kicking it with his boot to break it more. He opened the door from the inside once he got his hand in. They entered the building.
“This is the stupidest thing I’ve done in my life.” Elias commented as they were searching through the hallways of the building.
“It may just end up being the most heroic thing you’ll ever do.” Sampo replied.
“I never really wanted to become a hero.” Elias stated.
“You’re already greater than Rossi and Duvre, so feel proud of that.” Sampo told Elias.
All the doors inside the building were locked.
“Now what?” Elias asked.
“Don’t give up so easily.” Sampo replied. He kept searching the inside of the building until he found a janitor’s office. And luckily for him, it was unlocked.
“Well look what I found!” Sampo said loudly. Elias and the Mute came to him. They stood at the entrance of the janitor’s office. There wasn’t anything noteworthy about the office itself, but on the desk was a keyring, with exactly one key on it.
“This might be useful, don’t you think?” Sampo said suggestively. He went to try the key to the nearest door. The door opened. Inside the room there were closets overflowing with gray t-shirts.
“Not what we were looking for, but I have good feeling about this key.” Elias commented. Sampo tried the key on another room and only found more gray shirts.
“I think the key works on every door.” Sampo said as if he had just made a great discovery.
He went to open yet another door and behind the door were racks full of rifles.
“My friends, we have found what we came for.” Sampo said proud of himself.
“I guess we really are doing this.” Elias commented.
The Mute had a devious grin on her face.
They all went to feel a rifle on their hands, feeling good about the power they now have.
“So now that a single commander no longer has power over us, should we really go back to our apartment, or do what we want?” Elias asked Sampo.
“I say we go back to the city and cause some trouble!” Sampo suggested.
“You don’t intend to harm anyone, I hope. As I said, I have nothing worth losing here. I will fight if I have to defend myself from aggression, but I don’t actually intend to cause trouble.” Elias replied.
“Well I have nowhere left to go. So I might as well try to get rid of the people making my life miserable. Either they’ll get out of my way or they’ll get in the ground. Depends on how much they fight back.” Sampo said angrily, and started making his way out of the building, with the rifle hanging from his back on a sling. On his way out, he went to one of the clothing storages and dug around until he found a ski mask, which he took and put on. Elias and the mute followed him out of curiosity and and followed him out of the building.
Once they were outside the building they could hear the sound of a horse approaching them. Some ordinary soldier was riding towards them. Sampo hailed at him and signalled him to halt. The soldier stopped his horse where the three of them stood.
“Please don’t tell me you’re with them.” The mounted soldier said.
“And who are you?” Elias asked.
“Who’s asking?” The soldier asked back.
Sampo pulled out rifle and pointed it at the soldier.
“Me and my new friend.” Sampo said.
“Ok ok ok ok! I’m a soldier. I came here to retrieve a weapon.”
“For what purpose?” Sampo asked.
“To help put down the unrest at the center of the city and liberate the house of the Pillars.”
“Woah woah woah! What it going over there?” Elias asked.
“So you weren’t even there? Then you must not be with them. Most soldiers went completely out of line and stopped taking orders, they stormed the house of the Pillars and now they are holding it hostage. They’ve been tipping army vehicles over. Some of them stole weapons and I don’t even know where from! Anybody willing to help put this unrest down was sent to retrieve a weapon from their local depot, and it unfortunately seems like I’m the only soldier on this district still loyal to my orders.” The young soldier explained.
“Well, you may go get a weapon from inside, but it won’t help you, because I’m taking that horse.” Sampo told him.
“What?” The soldier yelled out.
“Do you have objections?” Sampo asked him.
“No. None. Take it. It’s yours.” The soldier replied and dismounted. Sampo pointed the rifle at him as he approached the horse. He put the rifle on his back while he mounted it.
“You coming with me?” Sampo asked Elias and the Mute and looked back at them. Elias let out a deep breath.
“Fine. I want to see what is happening in there. Whatever happens, happens. But if you use your weapon on someone who isn’t a threat, I’m using mine on you.” Elias answered.
“Fine by me. Get on the horse. What about your, Mute?” Sampo said.
The Mute looked around and shrugged and also mounted the horse. It was a large horse and it barely had enough room for the three of them. Sampo had never rode a horse in his life and he didn’t know how to get the horse to move. He slapped the horse on the neck, and the horse almost bucked them all off, but they held on.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Elias asked startledly.
“Good things don’t happen to those who wait. You have to act! Let’s go!” Sampo said as he slapped the horse on the neck again and it started to run. The horse ran through the neighbourhood and Sampo couldn’t control it. The horse just ran the same ran route that it arrived by.
“I was wrong! This is the stupidest thing that I’ve ever done!” Elias shouted.
Sampo held his rifle in the air as their horse ran on the highway towards the city center.
“Let’s go! The fall of the tyrants begins here!” Sampo shouted with excitement in his voice.
“Remember what you promised!” Elias reminded Sampo who did not seem interested in listening.
“Now the youth’s rise begins!” Sampo shouted.
“You’re twice my age and yet I think you’re acting unreasonably!” Elias told Sampo.
“You agreed to come with me! Too late to change your mind now!” Sampo replied.
Along the way Sampo learned to somewhat control the horse as he went along. By the time they arrived to center of the city, it was evident that something was going down. Crossrails had been knocked over all over the place and even a military vehicle had been tippid over, as they heard earlier.
“This is what I like to see. I didn’t know these obedient slaves had it in them.” Sampo commented.
“Hey, you hear that?” Elias asked when he started hearing yelling and hollering from a distance.
“Sounds like they’re having some fun.” Sampo said back, and started riding the horse in the direction of the sound. They rode through the streets of the city that were ghostly empty. The noise started getting louder. Sampo rode the same route that the soldiers marched to the house of the Pillars, and when the house came to their vision, it was a sight indeed. The front doors weren’t only busted open, they were completely knocked over. Unruly soldiers were loitering outside the building, holding rifles over their shoulders. There was fancy looking furniture laying outside the building looking like they had been thrown out the second story window. Flags of the regime were trampled on the ground. Sampo removed his ski mask to get a better look at this sight.
“Now this is what I want to see!” Sampo said.
“This is what you want to see?” Elias asked.
“Absolutely. These people have realised that they don’t need to respect the roaches.”
“I don’t like the people who run this place either but chaos and unruliness isn’t really what I want either.”
“You think life without the roaches would constantly be like this? Let’s just enjoy this moment and join in!” Sampo said and hopped off the horse’s back.
Elias didn’t have anything to say back at this point. He looked at the Mute sitting behind him. She just shrugged her shoulders and hopped off the horse as well, and so did Elias. Elias jogged to catch up with Sampo, while the Mute walked more slowly as she still wasn’t too eager to be friendly with Sampo. At the weapons warehouse she only stuck by because she wanted a weapon. Elias saw Sampo walk through the entrance to the house, and as he was jogging there, he heard his alias Kalevi being shouted from his right. It was Pauli.
“Nice to see you taking part in the fun as well.” Pauli said.
“Fun is one word for it.” Jussi commented who was beside Pauli.
“So what exactly is happening here and what started this?” Elias asked. Before Pauli could even ask, a fancy, but very old chair fell from the window right were Jussi was standing, but Jussi ducked.
“Woah, are you okay?” Pauli asked Jussi.
“I’m fine. It didn’t hit me” Jussi replied.
Elias looked at Pauli with a perplexed expression. Pauli noticed this.
“Oh, right. Your question. Well, at first it was a group of maybe five to ten people at the front who walked out of the entrance. The commanders tried to block them from leaving but then more people came to support them and by sheer force they just started walking out en masse. Not everyone left. Some stayed inside. I was among those who walked out. And we all just walked in a massive group onto the streets of the city, and somebedy just yelled and said that we should take the house of the Pillars and then a few people started following that guy and then more people started following those guys. I was among them. We knocked the doors down, ransacked the building from the inside. We wanted to see what kind of a house the so called Pillars live in. Not sure if they’ll live there anymore though. People were knocking over everything they could and breaking things. You’ve got to go in there to see for yourself. I don’t think all of the people who walked out, or even all of the people who are here now, actually want to overthrow the entire regime or anything like that. This is just the most fun that some of these people have had in years, possibly their entire lives.” Pauli explained.
“Has anybody been harmed?” Elias asked.
“I haven’t seen anybody gotten hurt, or anyone hurting someone else. Only objects and places have been damaged.”
“What about the people that stayed at the stadium, where did they go, or are they still there?”
“I have no idea about them. I’ve been hanging around here ever since we took this house over. And I think these heroes are intending to keep this place under their control.”
“Well. Let’s go have a look inside then!” Elias said. The Mute had caught up with with Elias now. She looked at Pauli and extended her hand to shake. Pauli shook her and asked for her name, but she didn’t reply.
“Yeah she doesn’t talk. At all.”
“Well then. Hope that they don’t see you as a weak brick.” Pauli said with jest.
“Anyway, I came here with somebody else he already went in, I should probably go find him there.” Elias said, and started walking towards the building. He entered through the door hole and he immediately saw that the floors were damaged on purpose and lanterns that had been used for lighting the place, had been smashed on the floor as well.
“Sampo!” Elias yelled out multiple times. There were soldier standing around in the hallways chatting amongst their handiwork. Some of them looked at Elias as he yelled. Elias looked at the insides of the building. It smelled like urine in there. Elias suddenly heard a loud gunshot from the second story of the building. Everybody in the first floor jumped and looked up. Elias ran upstairs and there Sampo was with his rifle, looking very proud of the chandelier that he just shot down. The chandelier was shattered on the floor and soldiers were cheering. Elias sighed in relief seeing that nobody got shot. He still had his own rifle on his back and he was serious about what he said to Sampo about what he’d do if Sampo engaged in any violence.
“Sampo, you better reserve those bullets for inanimate objects only!” Elias shouted.
“Don’t worry, boy. Nobody’s gotten hurt. Except that guy.” Sampo said and pointed at somebody who had a cut on his calf from a piece of glass from one of the chandeliers.
“Doesn’t... hurt.” The wounded warrior said, trying to keep his manly face on.
“Now watch this!” Sampo said, and pointed his rifle at another chandelier. A loud gunshot was heard. Sampo got startled. The shot came from outside and hit the outer wall of the house’s second floor. Everybody in the room turned their head to where the bullet’s impact sound came from.
“Everybody inside!” A yell could be heard from outside, and all the soldier who had been outside the house rushed in. Once everybody was inside, it was dead quiet in the second floor. Elias crouched and went to the window. He sat on the floor and peaked his head to look out the window. Another shot hit the outer wall. Elias had no idea where the shot came from. He got down on the floor. It was once again dead quiet. He pulled his rifle from his back, and so did Sampo and the Mute. The silence lasted for a minute, until they started hearing footsteps from outside. It sounded like many people walking towards them. The sound of the stepping got louder and closer, but Elias was scared to look out the window because he didn’t want to get a new cavity on his head. The sound of the stepping was now right outside and then it stopped.
“We know that you no-good dissidents are hiding in there! Come out, with your hands above your heads, one at a time. If you don’t we will storm in and leave no one alive, but if you surrender, you will be punished, but at least your lives will be spared.” A voice from outside shouted, and then whispered: “No they won’t.” to somebody next to him. It was still dead quiet inside the house. Some soldiers surrendered immediately and walked outside with their hands up, but most remained inside.
“Good initiative from these men! But I know that there are more of you in there!” The voice shouted.
“Come and get us!” One man on the second floor shouted, and then everybody inside started complaining at the man.
“We will, if we have to. But we can do this the easy way first!” The voice outside shouted back. Elias crouch walked to where Sampo was standing, and waved the Mute on the other side of the room to come to them as well.
“I don’t like where this is going. We need to leave.” Elias whispered.
“But where? I’m not surrendering to them.” Sampo whispered back.
“Well I guess we’ll have to sneak out somewhere. From the back perhaps. Before they surround the whole building. Let’s go look.” Elias told them quietly. They stayed low and went to the other end of the second floor where Elias peeked out of a window. He saw two men in the typical soldier gear and quickly lowered his head again, but it looked like one of the soldiers saw him.
“Kalevi?” A voice outside shouted. It was Rossi’s voice.
Elias peeked his head outside. Down there were Rossi and Duvre. Duvre had a roll of rope slinged around his shoulder.
“Rossi! Duvre! Were you also here? Did you sneak out unnoticed?” Elias shouted at them but not with full volume.
Duvre looked at Rossi for a second and replied: “Yes we snuck out and found this rope too.”
“Yes! Perfect! We can use that rope to come down! Throw it here!” Elias told them. Duvre slinged the other end of the rope to Elias who then tied it to a curtain rod above the paneless window.
“Sampo, Mute. Our way out found us.” Elias looked back and told them. Elias grabbed the rope tightly and climbed out of the window, looking out for the shards of glass on the edges of the window frame.
“Hey, watch out for that rifle on your back. Better throw it down to us so you can get down easier!” Duvre told Elias.
“Yeah, maybe you’re right. I’ll throw it down.” Elias took the rifle out of his back and threw it down where Rossi caught it with one hand. He then gestured for Sampo and the Mute to also give their rirfles. They complied since they also heard Duvre’s reasoning. Elias threw their rifles down as well and then started making his way down the rope. Once he was on the ground. He waited for the others to come down too. Sampo allowed the Mute to go first, out of politeness, and guilt for the earlier. The other two came down as well and Elias kept his eyes on them as they came down. Once they were all down, Elias turned to Duvre and Rossi who raised their rifles up and pointed them at the three.
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CHAPTER 15
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“Don’t tell me you’re with them.” Sampo said to Duvre and Rossi.
“We’re certainly not with these hooligans. We finally found a place where we get to live our lives in peace and not even one week in, and you already wish to ruin it all. Well I won’t allow it!” Duvre said to Sampo.
“You two travelled with me and the Mute for all that time and now you betray us for these roaches?” Sampo complained.
“I tagged along with you because I wanted to search for a better life. I’ve found it. And I’ll fight to protect it.” Duvre replied.
“Rossi! What about you? Why are you taking this snake’s side?” Elias asked Rossi.
“I don’t want to get shot or thrown out. Might as well play for the winning team. It’s not any more complicated than that.
“And cowards like you are the reason why roaches such as the people who run this place, always win!” Sampo shouted at Rossi.
“Nothing that you say is going to change our minds. Now bundle up with your backs all touching.” Duvre said to them. All three understood that he is serious, and arguing back would not be a good idea. They put their backs together and stood there. Duvre shot the end of the rope that was tied upstairs. He took the rope that fell down on the ground and started tying it around the trio that was standing there. He tied the rope as tight as he could and made sure that every person was as tightly together as they could get. Some loyal soldiers came to investigate the gunshot that they heard from this side of the building and they saw Duvre in the act.
“Caught a few. Here they are.” Rossi said to them. Once they were tied up, Rossi and Duvre started walking them to the front of the building. At the front side of the building were about fifty soldiers in gray shirts holding rifles and pointing them to the front door. There were trailers that were attached to horses too. The tied up trio was brought to one commader.
“Here’s a few that we caught trying to escape from the windows behind. The gunshot that you may have heard was from me. It was a warning shot.” Duvre explained to this commander.
“Excellent work. Untie them and load them up into the trailer. You can register for your reward when you get to your district office.” The commander outside said.
Rossi untied the rope and pushed the three into a trailer, where also Pauli, Jussi and a soldier unknown to them were sitting on the floor of the trailer. The door of the trailer was shut and it got dark in there, but during the time where there was light, Elias recognized Pauli.
“Pauli? Is that you?” Elias asked.
“Yep. It’s me.” Pauli replied with disappointment in his voice.
“Were you caught some way?” Elias asked.
“We surrendered.” Jussi intercepted.
“Yep, we surrendered. Didn’t feel like fighting back was worth it.” Pauli explained.
“And we tried to escape, so we can’t really say that we’re any more brave than you are.” Elias said.
“I would have stayed in there and fought but I know Elias would have dragged me with him so I followed his lead. That was a mistake.” Sampo said with slight irritation and dishonesty in his voice.
“Pointing fingers doesn’t solve anything at this point.” Pauli said.
“Well what do you suggest we do then?” Sampo asked.
“They said they’d spare those who surrender. Maybe this will be a permanent stain on us but at least we can be forgiven.” Pauli replied.
“Well let’s hope that they spoke the truth.” Sampo said. The horse and the trailer started moving.
“So does anyone have any clue where are we being taken?” Elias asked.
“No clue.” Jussi replied.
“No clue here.” Pauli seconded.
After they had sat in the dark for a while the trailer stopped and the door was opened. At this point it was already night. Their eyes had gotten used to the darkness, so they could see in the darkness well enough to recongize that the man who opened the door was their familiar Commander.
“I should have guessed.” The Commander said. Duvre and Rossi jumped down from the top of the trailer where they had been sitting quietly the entire way without the people inside even knowing.
“You’ve proven your loyaty to our New Tower. This won’t be forgotten.” The Commander said to Duvre and Rossi. From the driver’s seat jumped down the same child who was with the Commander earlier. He went to stand behind the Commander with his arms behind his back.
“You two may go to your home. I’ll make sure you’ll be rewarded. Now if you may please hand me your rifles. They are government property.” The Commander told Duvre and Rossi. They handed their rifles to the Commander who kept one of them and shoved the other two on the arms of the child. He pointed the rifle at the three who were now untied, but still compliant.
“Go that way!” The Commander gestured to a building next to them. The three knew that they had no other option, so they went where the Commander pointed. As they walked through the doors, they saw cells with bars. The cells were full of people and outside the cells were armed guards. The three were thrown into one of these cells. The other people in the cells cheered when they saw the three enter as if they were all proud of them.
“Are there usually this many people here?” Elias asked.
“There’s never any people here! This is not what is done to dissidents usually.” Pauli replied.
“So how long will we be here?” Elias asked.
“Don’t ask me. As I said, this isn’t usual practise. I have no idea what’ll happen to us now.” Pauli said worriedly.
“Hey, you’re that guy who got humiliated at the training ground the other day!” One prisoner said to Elias.
“I laughed then but now I symphatise. And you also got the lady who got beaten at the stage. When I saw that, that’s when I realised that the dudes above us are complete pissheads. Good on you for ending up here.” The same prisoner followed up.
“Yeah it should have been me who got beaten at the that stage. I did the act of disrespect and then ran away from punishment so they just grabbed her by chance to show me.” Sampo said with guilt and glanced at the Mute’s beaten face. One guard started banging his rifle on some cell bars.
“Ok, everybody quiet now and get some sleep. If I hear anymore talking, then that’s a bullet for that person.” The prison guard explained. Everybody inside the cells lied down on the hard floor and at least tried to sleep. Elias’ mind was occupied by worry and fear. Sampo’s mind by hate.
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CHAPTER 16
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In the morning before the bell rang, two men entered the jailhouse. They yelled and everybody woke up. They opened the cell where Elias and his team mates along with Pauli and Jussi were, and grabbed them all by the arms. They dragged them out without saying a word. The men took them to the nearest training ground where they just waited. After some time, the bell rang and quickly the apartment buildings next to the field started to empty.
"Before a new day begins in our New Tower, look at this. Here is our enemy. We tried to make them into loyal servants of our New Tower, but they have proven to be unfit to live here. Yesterday was the darkest day in the history of our order and it was because of people like this scum here. It was such people that we got rid of, and our country has flourished since then. Their attitude is dangerous, and they must be an example to the rest of you." One of the handlers announced to the crowd.
"Commander Tuonela told us that this man, whose name does not deserve to be heard, presented dangerous ideas and questioned our stong idea and how our New Tower works." The handler shouted while pushing Sampo forward.
After this Sampo said to the handler: "Strong idea? You threaten everyone to work and reward them with the bare minimum needed to survive. Work or face punishment. That's your idea."
The guard shook Sampo and grabbed him by the collar and looked at his face and said: “It's much more complicated than that. It’s not slavery. Those are dangerous thoughts. Don't listen to them. Today it seems that two people are allowed to go outside the walls. They didn't understand what they were taught and their minds are poisoned. Is there anyone else who still wants to speak their mind?"
Pauli broke free of his handler’s grip.
"If they leave, then me and Jussi will go with them." Pauli said facing the handler's face.
The Mute stomped the toes of her handler. At that point more guards came in to keep them in place.
"Well, if you all want to sentence yourselves to almost certain death, then so be it." One handler said.
Elias searched the crowd for Duvre and Rossi. When he found them he looked pleadingly. They had a little bit of empathy on their face, but they did not want to go back to the Deadland. On their way from Oulu to the gate of Nokia, they wandered without a map along highways without even a place to sleep, and the food reserves they took with them ran out two days before they arrived. And they figured that they probably wouldn't be able to get back in through the Oulu gate anyway so they would have no place there.
Elias, Sampo, the Mute, Pauli and Jussi began to be escorted to where the horses were kept. On their way there, they walked past several soldiers and horsemen, receiving all kinds of looks from disgust to pity. When they arrived at the stables, they were handcuffed and put inside a horse pulled trailer.
"Can I still ask to be thrown out of Kouvola's gate?" Elias asked.
His request was denied.
Their Commander came to the scene again with the child that always sticks by him.
"I can take them from here." He said.
"Didn't you have other responsibilities?" One handler asked.
"They have now been delegated to someone else. Off you go. Me and 31A can do this ourselves." The Commander said. The handlers did not argue back and went elsewhere. The Commander allowed the boy to take the reins and then he himself went to sit on the roof of the trailer where he could make sure no one escaped and ordered the boy to start riding to a certain direction.
"And what do you want now?" Elias asked from inside the trailer.
"I wanted to rub my genius in your face a little bit. Everything went exactly as it was supposed to." the Commander said with satisfaction.
"Exactly as supposed to? Did you want us to be thrown out?” Jussi asked.
"Now I would like to have a little bit of an explanation." Elias said.
"My plan is much bigger than all of you put together." The Commander said and continued:
"For a long time, I had hoped that outsiders would find their way here and be shocked by our ways. Our Idea, as we call it. I heard that outsiders had come to our city, and not just one, but multiple. I sent 31A to have a look at one of them, that being you, Kalevi, and also your friend Pauli who he had seen talking with you. I wanted to get to know you. I was intentionally cruel to Kalevi, and it was me who suggested the other commander to treat your mute friend the way he did. I wanted you to hate this place and I wanted you to inspire others to hate this place too and cause trouble." The Commander explained.
“And for what reason would you want that?” Elias asked.
“That’s the interesting part. Kosola, The supreme leader of our New Tower isn’t here at this time. He’s in the Deadland, and I know exactly why. I was involved with him in the events that allowed this great nation to exist. I want to replace him. I want unrest and instability to occur when he’s away, have the loayls of our ranks beg for a strong leader, as people always do, and I’d be that strong leader, as lineally I am Kosola’s next of kin. I fully intended to have you thrown out once you had outlived your usefulness. I only intended to throw three of you out but then Pauli decided to volunteer and who am I to deny his wish. Make people even more scared of my authority.”
"I never showed a problematic attitude even when I listened to Kalevi. So I wasn't necessarily a problem case." Jussi stated.
"What about my other group members? Didn't you suspect they were risky?” Elias asked.
"Of course I had my doubts, so I sent 31A to listen to them too. And they seemed decent. They even mentioned how they disagreed with you, and won't take your side. So I approached them. I sent them to the house of the Pillars after I didn’t find the people who I wanted to find at your apartment." The Commander told.
"It's probably safe to bet that it was you who gave the rope to Duvre." Elias said.
"That's true." the Commander replied.
“I also intentionally didn’t let you know the fact that the bag of potatoes should be returned. I wanted you to hate your group members for not sharing. And I intentionally didn’t tell you that your hair should be kept cut, so that there would be a reason to humiliate you and make you hate the state, so that maybe it would drive you closer to doing something irrational. Personally, I have nothing against any of you. I just did what was best for the state. " The commander told.
"What a relief." Elias said sarcastically.
“And who’s the kid that sticks by you? Is he the 31A who you mentioned?” Pauli asked.
“That is correct.” The Commander answered.
“And what is his relation to you?” Elias asked.
“He’s my personal project. But that’s all I’ll say in his presence.” The Commander said. Pauli leaned over to Elias and whispered:
“I’ve heard about this project. At one point, they decided that every new child here must be given a a code for a name. And all children are now assigned to their jobs from birth based on observable physical traits. Two have even been assigned to become “supreme assets” based on exceptional abilites observed at a young age. And those two children are kept in the personal care of high ranking commanders.” Pauli explained.
“How do you know this?” Elias asked.
“The uniform men aren’t awfully quiet at the breakfast table.” Pauli answered.
“Absolute scum of the earth run this place.” Sampo commented.
CHAPTER 17
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After some time they arrived at the city of Nokia where there were no soldiers, but mostly gray overalls wearing folk. The apartment buildings were about four stories tall there. It was very much a small town. As the trailer was moving across the streets of Nokia, the people there looked at the trailer because the sight of a young child riding the trailer and carrying a rifle was an unusual sight. There weren’t many people outside, since most people were working at the factories at this time of the day. The trailer rode through the small town and came to a tall wall. The wall was not made of bricks. It was made only of pieces of highways that had been lifted into an upright position and supported by beams. The gate was made of chainlink fence. The horse stopped and the Commander climbed down from the top of the trailer. The roof of the trailer had a dent where he had sat. Guards armed with pistols came around the horse and the trailer. The door of the trailer was opened and the people inside were taken out and their handcuffs were removed. The trailer was parked on a downhill so they almost fell out when the door was opened. The Commander chuckled.
"Before you go, give us your clothes back." The Commander ordered.
"Should we go there naked?" Jussi asked.
"Here are your old clothes." The Commander said and dumped the contents of one big sack on the ground.
They all removed their clothes and took their own clothes from the bunch one at a time, all while having guns pointed at them. Sampo put on a pink leather jacket with touches of black.
“That’s yours?” Elias asked him.
“Damn right. I may have left behind my brothers in the Pink Jacket Gang but I’m still with them in spirit.” Sampo replied. After they had all changed their clothes, they were pushed out the gate. Before the guards could close the chainlink gate, they turned around when they heard the sound of a horse galloping behind them. 31A was riding an untied horse straight towards the gate. The guards dove out of the way and let the horse run through the gate and into the Deadland.
“What the hell are you doing?” The Commander shouted as he ran out the gate to chase the boy. The Commander whistled and the horse stopped suddenly. 31A fell out of the horse’s back and landed on his side. The guards holding the gate looked at each other and nodded. They closed the gate and locked the Commander outside of the walls. The Commander heard the gate slam shut and went to shake it.
“What the hell are you no good hooligans doing? You let your commander back this second!” He yelled at them.
“Why? We don’t even know you. Nobody here knows you. What reason do we have to let you in?” One of the guards asked.
“Well maybe this is a good reason...” The Commander said and started to pull his rifle from his back, until heard the sound of a rifle being cocked behind him. He froze.
“Turn around, with your hands in the air.” 31A said to him while pointing his rifle at him.
“You no good, useless, unruly brat kid.” The Commander said. Elias, Sampo, the Mute, Pauli and Jussi just looked with no intention to say anything or intervene.
31A pointed the rifle at the Commander without saying a word. The guards at the gate didn’t care about this issue so they moved away from the gate.
“Boy, do you have any clue what you’re doing right now?”
31A kept his rifle pointed at the Commander without saying a word.
“You’re dependant on me. Without my guiding hand, you have no idea what to do. You don’t even know who you are. You don’t even have a name!” The Commander told him. 31A got a little cry face and his rifle started to lower.
“C’mon, boy. Put that thing down and I’ll get us back in.” The Commander said calmly.
All observers were suspicious of the Commander. 31A lowered his rifle and had the pipe pointing at the ground. At that moment the Commander started pulling his rifle out of his back but 31A quickly raised his rifle again and shot the rifle of the Commander. The Commander screamed in both fright and anger as he dropped his rifle. Sampo and the Mute ran to him and tackled him to the ground. The Commander landed on his arm in a way that bent his arm in an unnatural angle. He let out a painful scream as he was laying on the ground. 31A put his rifle on the ground and turned around to look away. The Commander was suffering on the ground. The Mute went to check on 31A who was looking into the Deadland. Elias, Sampo, Pauli and Jussi were all looking at the Commander.
“What are you just standing there for? If you have any humanity, do something! Or do you snakes enjoy this?” The Commander screamed at them.
“Why should we help you? You’re a useless brick now. We have no reason to help you.” Elias said smugly.
“Oh don’t you give me that now, you jackal!” The Commander screamed back at him. Sampo went to check on 31A.
“Is everything ok?” Sampo asked him.
“I-I don’t know.” 31A replied with uncertainty and worry in his voice.
“Why did you decide to run out of there and into here like that?” Pauli asked from behind them.
31A stayed silent for a bit. The Commander was still grunting on the ground.
“You useless kid! I hope the Deadland eats you!” The Commander yelled.
“Actually, you don’t need to answer.” Pauli said.
“He’s right. I need him. I can’t manage on my own.” 31A said while looking away from everybody.
“You managed to disarm the guy pretty well. You’ll be fine out here on your own.” Pauli told 31A.
“You wanna just leave the kid all by himself? Or with this guy?” Elias asked Pauli and pointed at the Commander holding his arm on the ground.
“I wouldn’t take the kid anyway. What the hell do I do with it here?” The Commander said angrily.
“Shut your mouth.” Pauli told the Commander firmly.
“I’m not leaving the kid behind here. If you want to leave it behind then you can go without me.” Sampo told the rest.
“It would be cruel to throw him out there into an unknown world on his own. Trust me. We have to take him with us.” Elias seconded.
The Mute was holding her palm on the boy’s shoulder and nodded at Elias and Sampo.
“I don’t trust you!” 31A yelled as he turned around to look at the crew.
They all had an awkward look on their face.
“Your kind of people can’t be trusted!” 31A continued.
“And what makes you think that?” Elias asked him. 31A stayed quiet for a bit not knowing how to respond.
“That’s what I’ve been taught.” 31A replied.
“By these people?” Sampo asked while pointing at the Commander, and continued: “Everything they teach you is a lie. And on some level you know that yourself. Why else would you try to escape with that horse?”
“Because I hated it there! I don’t want to be around that man anymore! Or anyone in that place. I hate it! I hate it!” 31A yelled, and the Mute put her hand on his shoulder to calm him down.
“Well. I don’t think you want to go back there. We don’t either. And we can’t. You’re stuck out here now. I’d say joining us would be your best bet.” Elias said.
“But we won’t force you.” Sampo added.
“Fine. I’ll follow you. But I’m keeping my rifle.” 31A told them all.
“Looks like the crew has made their choice.” Jussi said and looked at Pauli.
“Hey now. I never said that we should leave him. He can come with us. But here’s a big question. To where? Where do we even go from here?” Pauli stated and asked.
“Well. I have one place where I need to go.” Elias said and pulled out his map and held it in the air.
“It’s pretty far away but I’m committed to going in there.” Elias followed up.
“But why do you need to go there?” Sampo asked.
“Because my father told me to, and I intend to honor his request.”
“So no other reason? Well I have no reason to go there. You can go there yourself.” Sampo told Elias.
“And I will, if nobody else wants to come with me.” Elias said firmly.
“And now we run into the matter of sending someone out there on their own. I don’t want to do that.” Pauli said.
“You were willing to do that to this kid just a minute ago!” Sampo told Pauli and pointed at 31A.
“Well yeah but I like Kalevi.” Pauli replied.
“My name is actually Elias, by the way.” Elias said.
Everybody looked at him a little weirded out. Even the Commander who was now sitting on the ground.
“My father told me not to tell them my real name. But that doesn’t matter now.”
“Right.” Pauli said.
“But hold on. That little dot on the map. It’s right in the same territory where we came from. We’d have to go back there!” Sampo pointed out.
“Can’t be that bad.” Elias said.
“I am not going back there just for you.” Sampo said and looked at Elias.
Pauli intercepted: “Fine. Me and Elias go there. You and the Mute and the weird boy can go where you want. How’s that for a compromise?”
“But Pauli, neither of us have ever been on these lands. They have. We need them.” Elias pointed out.
“Yeah, you’re right. Wouldn’t it be cruel to throw us out there by ourselves?” Pauli said to Sampo sarcastically.
The Mute took 31A by the hand and went to stand with Pauli and Elias, making her choice clear.
Sampo looked baffled.
“Fine. I’ll go back to that place. Just so I can tell you that I warned you.” Sampo said.
“Well there’s some motivation for you then! And now that we’re a band, we two should probably know each other’s names.” Pauli said to Sampo.
“Pauli.”
“Sampo”
“Ok then. Up north!” Elias shouted.
“Dudes, hey.” Sampo said.
“What is it?” Elias turned around to ask him.
“We have a horse here. Shouldn’t we take it?”
“That would probably be a good idea actually. We can’t all fit on it’s back though.”
“I call dibs then!” Sampo said, and ran to the horse. The horse got scared and staring running away.
“You’re scaring it!” 31A shouted, and continued: “I’ll do it. It trusts me.” He went to the horse and approached it slowly, with his hand slightly up. The horse was visibly nervous, but calm. 31A took the horse by the rein and lead it to where the group was.
“Right then. You’re already useful.” Pauli said to 31A and looked impressed. The Mute gave him a smile and a nod. Sampo got close to the horse calmly this time. Petted it’s neck, and mounted the horse and said: “As I said. I call dibs.”
“Not going to thank the boy at all?” Elias asked Sampo.
“Good job, kid!” Sampo said looking at 31A and reached his hand to him to help him up on the horse as well. 31A took his hand and got up on the horse. A third person would not have fit on the back of this horse so the others walked.
“Right then. Now to the north!” Elias proclaimed, and the group started making their way further away from the wall.
The Commander was crawling towards the entrance of the wall. The Mute ran to give him a kick on the backside before joining up with the group again to start their journey.
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CHAPTER 18
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The first thing they saw upon leaving was a fenced area full of old bones. The fenced area had a roof supported by four pillars. From outside the fence, they could see how the roof had scratch marks and the fence had bite marks
"The sick were thrown here, I remember that." Pauli said.
"Why didn't they just throw them out? Why did they have to be left to die in a cramped space?" Elias asked.
"I'm sure it’s so that they wouldn't try to break inside the walls." Pauli answered.
"Me and our mute friend and the others saw this when we came here. It doesn't matter now. What do we do now? We have nothing. We can’t make it to where we’re going with just the things we have now." Sampo said.
"We might actually have something." Pauli said.
"What do you mean?" Jussi asked.
"If no one has found our old warehouse, then it should be full of cans and camping equipment. And there should also be a car with a full tank in there as well." Pauli said.
"So you had all sorts of things and yet you still decided to stay in the New Tower and settle for potatoes?" Sampo asked.
"I don't want to live as a vagabond on the Deadland, just existing and being useless to the world. And besides, those cans wouldn't have been enough for a lifetime."
"Well, do you know where that warehouse is?" Jussi asked.
"Follow me. I might still remember.” Pauli replied.
They followed Pauli northward. They walked for a while through the woods and came to a sandy excavation site that had been unused for years. The excavation site had a couple of small room-sized buildings and a large drivable machine.
"Does this look at all familiar?" Elias asked.
"Me and my old family drove past this place sometimes, so we should go right from here." Pauli answered.
"Maybe we should check the whole place before that in case we find something there?" Sampo suggested.
"The disease might be there. I wouldn't like to touch anything here." Pauli answered.
"When I was coming towards Kouvola, I saw people on the way. If they were sick, they would have died a long time ago. I feel like the disease has already disappeared." Elias stated.
"Or they have developed a resistance to them. But I won't go there." Pauli answered.
"You said that the disease is spread through contact? Well, I have gloves." Elias said.
"Well then. We'll wait here while you go." Pauli suggested.
Elias took the gloves from his pocket and went to the excavation site. There were large piles of sand, stone and gravel, three little shipping container sized building and a massive machine with four huge tires in the area. Elias went to the first small building. The building's door was unlocked. The lock was broken. There were old cobwebs in the corners of the room and there was a counter at one end of the room and a sofa at the other end. There were yellowed documents and notebooks on the counter, as well as a computer with a monitor. Elias read some of the papers without touching them. They were just full of numbers and legal terms that meant nothing to him. There was nothing else in that little construct. Elias came out of the door. Pauli shouted: "Did you find anything there?"
"I didn’t! I'll cover the next one!" Elias shouted back. He went to see the next building where the door had also been broken. There was a table with chairs around it, and cabinets against the wall. He searched the cupboards but the only thing he found was a rat that squealed at him and Elias closed the cupboard immediately. There was a keyring on the central table in the room. It had only one key. Elias decided to take the key if it would open something. He went to investigate the third and final small building. There were also papers and a computer, but the most striking thing there was a skeleton on the ground with a pistol next to it. Elias took the pistol and looked at it. The clip was empty. There were bullet holes in the wall and a bullet hole in the forehead of the skeleton.
"Were the outcasts fighting for everything they could get?" Elias said quietly to himself.
He came out and looked at the massive machine. The side of the machine had the same logo that was also on the key. Elias came to the others and Pauli asked again if Elias found anything
"Everything was completely empty. But I think we can use that really big machine to move around." Elias said and pointed at the machine.
"Or maybe we can break the wall with it and go and demolish the New Tower" Sampo answered.
"We have absolutely zero reason to do that." Jussi said.
"Maybe we'll just go to the hiding place with it, if it's further than I remembered." Pauli suggested.
"Does anyone know how to operate the machine?” Sampo asked.
"I can drive a car. It can't be that different." Elias answered.
They went to the machine. There was only one seat in the cockpit. Elias went to sit on it and found the ignition switch. The machine started in about the same way as a car, and Elias got it started after a couple of tries. When the machine started, it made a much louder noise than a car. The sound startled everyone, including the horse. The horse started running away again but 31A quickly calmed it down while sitting on its back. When the machine was on, others also climbed on it. Sampo and 31A stayed mounted on the horse and followed the machine from a distance. The machine had no passenger seats so the others just held on to what they could and took a foothold anywhere they could find.
"So which way were we supposed to go now?" Elias shouted to make himself heard over the noise of the machine.
"Turn left! That's the direction we always drove when we went there!" Pauli shouted back. Elias turned left and drove towards the highway. After some time, a highway came across.
"From here to the left again, I remember!" Pauli shouted.
"You sure you remember the route there?" Jussi asked Pauli.
"I'm pretty sure." Pauli answered.
They turned left and drove along the highway. Driving along the highway, they drove past a couple of larger warehouses with company names on the sides.
"Should we examine those too?" Elias suggested.
"They've most likely been emptied ages ago, though. Everything we need is right where we're going." Pauli answered. After some time, they came across an exit that went up the hill. Pauli advised Elias to turn there. Elias continued the trip with Pauli's guidance until they were driving towards a turn that would lead to a forest path. Pauli saw a road sign with a familiar name.
"That's it! From here to the left!" Pauli shouted. Elias turned left and drove some distance along the forest road. They arrived at grassy square on a lakeshore where the lawn was tall and unkept. The square had the remains of demolished houses, but one house remained. The house was a one-story tall wooden garage and warehouse. Elias decided to drive next to it, but the brakes of the old machine didn't work and he accidentally drove straight towards the house. The front of the machine went hit the wall and the house collapsed. Elias screamed and held his forehead. He kept his face stiff and stared ahead. Sampo looked in front of him with a straight face and didn't know what to say. 31A was peeking over to see what happened. The Mute was speechless.
"Idiot!” Jussi shouted.
"Are we there?" Elias asked after a moment. Pauli just sighed. They came down and went to look at the pile of wood. Under the pile of wood was a car that had remained untouched for years.
"Well. At least that’s still here. Somewhere here there also had to be a shelf full of cans. And somewhere here there also had to be the keys, but it's hard to find them here. I thought maybe we could stay here for a long while, but it doesn't seem to be possible now. Unless you're ready to start building." Pauli said.
"I never had any intention of staying here." Elias said, and pulled out the map from his pocket and said: "I still have to get to that red dot somehow."
"You can't get there by land. You can't get there with one tank of fuel, and the fuel must have run out everywhere else a long time ago. And you can't just stop at gas station and refuel." Pauli said.
"Do you have a boat here then?" Elias asked.
"I don’t. Just a car. So you better get ready to hike or swim.”
"I know where there is a boat." Sampo said and everyone turned their eyes to him.
"Where? Is it anywhere near?" Elias asked.
"No. But where me and the gang were hiding in Oulu, there was a locked shack on the pier near the sea with a floating boat inside. We always climbed there through the open side and stayed there." Sampo answered.
"Okay, but does it have fuel?" Elias asked.
"There were at least two full canisters there that I was always sniffing on. They’re probably still there." Sampo answered.
"But it's over there in Oulu, where there is also a guarded wall. How openly do they allow people to come in?" Elias asked.
"When I was there as a soldier for that short time, the only task was to keep outsiders away. So I would guess that you can’t just march in there." Sampo said.
"Well, if it's my best chance, then I have to go there." Elias said.
"I have no interest in going there, but there's no other place for me right now. Maybe we can start driving over there tomorrow and see what we come across. But now we should examine this pile." Pauli said.
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They began to clear away the decayed wood. When all the boards were thrown aside, a large number of bean cans, a tool box, a fishing rod with a broken reel, a tent that broke in the crash, a bag of rotten matches, an axe with a plastic handle, a crowbar, a tire iron and four winter tires were revealed from under the wood.
Pauli looked at the car. The surface was scratched from the collision, but it was not rusty. He noticed that the tires were flat.
"These should probably be filled or replaced." Pauli said.
"Would anyone here know how to do that?" Sampo asked.
"I once changed the tires of a car. I know roughly how to do it. First you have to raise the car and then loosen the bolts with that iron tool." Elias answered and pointed at the tool box.
"Then how is the car lifted?" Sampo asked.
"Actually, I don't know. In fact, I was helping in changing the tire, but I wasn't really paying attention." Elias answered
"Well, I guess there's nothing else you can do here but lift it while someone loosens the bolts and removes the tire." Pauli said.
"Wouldn't it be easier if we first lift it and then put something under it?" Sampo suggested.
"That might be an idea." Pauli replied. They lifted the car with great effort and when the car was lifted, Elias put a crowbar to support the car. They lowered the car. The old crowbar only lasted a short while before it snapped and the car came crashing down down.
"Well, that didn't work. Any other ideas?" Elias asked.
"I just realized. We have a big machine here with a hook on it!" Pauli pointed out.
"That was my backup plan." Sampo said.
"Let's try it again, Elias. Let's lift the car with it." Pauli said.
Elias climbed into the cockpit of the machine. The key was still in the ignition and Elias turned the machine on. Pauli hooked the hook into the car’s front bumber and Elias slowly and carefully steered the machine into a position where he could raise the rear of the car.
They loosened the bolts with a tire iron and removed the tires and replaced them with studded tires that still had air in them because they were wrapped in a warm material where temperature changes did not affect them. After the rear tires were changed, Elias went to lower the front of the car. Pauli steered the car’s wheel and everybody else pushed the car to make it turn around. Elias then lifted the rear and the rear tires were also changed.
"There you go. Now that it's done, you should probably start loading everything you need into the car." Pauli said.
"Or what's left." Jussi answered.
"An axe can be useful, let's take it. And take all the boxes we can fit. Maybe even tools." Elias said. they started loading the car with said goods and anything else useful they could find. When that was done they decided it was time to open a couple of cans of beans.
"I don't even remember what any other food than potatoes taste like anymore." Pauli said quietly while taking out a bean can from the trunk of the car. He looked inside the tool box and realized that they didn't have a can opener. He tried to pry it open with his fingers and bite it but it didn't work. He pawed at it and gummed it and gnawed at it and he could not open it. He began to batter the can on the rocky floor of the shed but the can was merely dented.
"I just realized that there's only one way to end this, and that's death." Sampo said, grabbing the axe and looking at Pauli as if he was sorry for what he was going to do.
"Or maybe you can open the can with the axe." Pauli answered calmly.
"That would have been my second idea." Sampo answered. They opened their cans with the axe and began to consume the contents of their cans.
"Now I remember what beans taste like. They don't taste like anything." Pauli said.
"By the way. Why did you decide to come with us? Why didn't you just live peacefully inside the walls? Not that I’m complaining." Sampo asked Pauli.
"Just because I wanted to help. I feel like I'm more useful helping Elias in the Deadland than training and preparing for a war that will never happen. When the riot began, I wanted to take part. I felt like I was part of something real. As soon as I decided to join the army years ago, I regretted the decision. I feel like I'd be more useful in some job that helps society, but since I couldn’t change fields, I constantly felt an inner crisis about how useless I am. I already told Elias that the only good thing I had done for another person was when I saved Jussi on the battlefield. I’m glad I was thrown out because I want to also be useful to Elias now. If I hadn't come along, you would just search empty buildings and not find anything and you’d end up dying here." Pauli told and asked Sampo: "Who are you and what made you decide to join the riot?"
"During all that time there, I couldn't stand it. I believe that I am more than a wheel in a machine, or a brick in a tower. I never like to be subordinate to anyone, and when I saw that other people were sick of that place, I decided to join the fun. As soon as I was outside the walls, I thought I made the wrong decision. It's not the first time I've done that, but now I'm actually quite optimistic." Sampo said.
Elias hollered at 31A who was just sitting and looking at the lake.
“You. We should probably know a little bit about you.” Elias said. The kid just stayed quiet for a bit.
“Why?” 31A asked.
“Well, you said that you don’t trust us. If we all know you better, maybe we can build some trust.” Elias answered.
“What’s your name? Other than the weird codename that they gave you.” Sampo asked.
“That is my name. My name is 31A.” He replied.
“They didn’t give you an actual name? That’s what they called you there?” Sampo asked.
“Yes.”
“Unbelievable.” Sampo stated.
“Then what are your names?” 31A asked. They all said their names to him. Lastly 31A looked at the Mute and asked for her name.
“Even we don’t know what her name is. She can’t speak.” Sampo told him.
“Can’t she just write her name on the ground with a stick?” 31A asked. Everybody looked at each other baffled until Pauli broke the silence.
“So I understood that Sampo and his mute friend travelled through the deadland once before and at no point did either of you think of that?” He asked. Sampo looked embarassed at his dullness. The Mute took a screwdriver from the toolbox and wrote in the sand: “My name is Aino. No one ever asked.”
“That’s a pretty name.” Sampo commented and smiled at Aino, who gave back a half smile. Sampo then turned his face to 31A.
“You deserve a better name than something that sounds like a home adress. Do you want us to call you by some other name? Any name you choose.” He asked.
“I don’t know. I was told that names aren’t for people of my rank.” 31A replied.
“People of your rank? Who told you that? And whoever that was, isn’t here to dictate your life anymore. You can do what you want now and be what you want. You’re free.” Sampo told him. 31A was thinking and humming for a while.
“I don’t know any names. I only ever talked to my superiors. Their names are the only names that I know, and I don’t want any of their names.” He said.
“I think we can think of a name for you, if you want. I don’t want to call you a code number. Now what might a good name be?” Sampo said and started pondering. Aino wrote with a screwdriver on the sand the name Toivo.
“Doesn’t seem like a fitting name for this hopeless kid.” Jussi commented.
“It feels weird having to choose my name. Fine. Call me that if you want to.” 31A told her.
“That’s a very fitting name, I think.” Elias commented.
“I agree. We’ll call you Toivo now. Whether you like it or not.” Sampo said cheekily. Toivo looked at Aino’s face and saw how beaten it was.
“I saw what was done to you on that stage. I was standing right there. I couldn’t do anything but I feel for you. Those people are cruel. I know that myself.” Toivo told her.
“Wait. They did similar things to you too?” Elias asked loudly and upset.
“Well really it was only my own master who did that. I don’t want to talk about it.”
“That’s it. We’re going back there to kill those bastards!” Sampo proclaimed and was getting ready to stand up before Pauli stopped him.
“And get yourself killed in seconds? If you want to, then be my guest. But I’d prefer to have your knowledge, however rare, with us on this journey. So at least think before you go soloing!” He told Sampo. Sampo looked at Pauli and then the others who were all looking at him. He calmed down and sat back down.
“Fine. You’re right. I already said I’d stick by you all so that’s what I’ll do. And also. Sorry Aino for getting you beaten back there on the stage. I was being an idiot back there and didn’t think it would get anyone else hurt. I sometimes forget that my choices have an impact on others. Are we good?” Sampo asked Aino. Aino extended her fist to Sampo as an expression of peace. Sampo bumped her fist with his and they both smiled.
“Well then!” Pauli said and clapped his hands together and continued: “Looks like we’re all on the same page now.”
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The rest of the evening they stayed by the car only relaxing and small talking occasionally. "So is it now agreed that we will drive towards Oulu? Don't you have a better use for the car, Pauli?" Elias asked.
"I didn't have any plan in mind coming into here. I figured I might as well help with your plan.” Pauli replied.
“We have two options. To live in a car and live on beans, or to go back to Oulu and live homeless there. Maybe if no one remembers me, I can join the army again there." Sampo commented.
"What is it like up there? You and Aino have been there but left. Was it better or worse than the New Tower?" Elias asked.
"There, people are allowed to own the fruit of their labour and have their own projects, with which they make money if there is a demand. But I have nothing to offer in that market, and I refuse to work under the threat of violence on a farm or at a power plant which are owned by the military state over there as well. If you agree to work on those, the only way to leave that work is by disappearing because otherwise you’ll get beatings delivered to your home for not coming to work." Sampo answered.
“Different flags. Same methods.” Elias commented.
“If we’re going up north this time of the year, well need to find some warmer clothes at some point. Winter is not far away and we have no warm home to speak of.” Pauli said.
“We can probably find some along the way from old stores. I’ve found useful things from those before.” Sampo replied.
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Before long, the dark came. Their bonfire was so warm that they slept outside on the grass. The thoughts Elias had while lying on the grass were full of uncertainty, but also hope. Elias was still awake when the others fell asleep and he heard a wolf howling somewhere in the distance.
"Did you hear that?" He asked aloud.
The others woke up and asked what he said.
"Some kind of howling can be heard from somewhere far away." He said. Elias didn't know what wolves sounded like because there were no wolves in the area of the homestead.
"Howling? Are you sure?" Pauli asked. Then the howl was heard again.
"Yeah, I won't die here!" Jussi said and went to the back seat of the car, the doors of which were open. Pauli went to the driver seat, Sampo went to the passenger seat. Aino and Toivo went to the backseat. When Pauli saw that the backseat had three people, he locked all the doors, but Elias was still outside.
“Pauli! Let me in!”
“The car is full! Get in the trunk!” Pauli replied.
“What? No it isn’t. I can easily fit in there!” Elias shouted back.
“Just get in the trunk. It’s easier!” Pauli told him. Elias went to check the open trunk but it was full of the things that they loaded in there ealier. Elias was terrified because he figured he didn’t have enough time to unload it all to make room for himself. He saw a dilapidated boat laying on the shore of the lake. He figured that it should do. He pushed the boat in the water and jumped on it and paddled it with his hands further away from the shore so that nothing could get him from there.
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CHAPTER 19
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Elias slept the night on the boat that floated on the water. The metal boat was not comfortable at all and he was scared the entire time he tried to sleep but eventually his tiredness got the best of him. He woke up sore and lacking of sleep, just like on many other recent mornings. He raised his head and looked around. The boat was still floating on water, but when he looked at the shore, the first thing he saw was that the car and the horse were no longer there.
“Those snakes left me!” He said to himself. Then he looked at the shore and realised that this was a different shore than where he was last night. He saw a burnt house and a burnt storage shack surrounded by burnt and flat land. It looked very familiar to him. He paddled the boat into this shore. He stepped out of the boat and looked around the place. All plants were burnt as well. He went inside the burnt house.
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“What the...” Elias said to himself. Inside the house he saw his father Samuel with some woman who he didn’t know, but who looked familair in some very distant way.
“Elias! Why are you here? Didn’t I send you on your way? And now you’re back here.” Samuel said, and the woman stood up to look at Elias.
“I guess I wasn’t ready.” Elias stated with a confused chuckle, and then continued:
“How did you get back here and who is this woman?”
“This woman is your mother. You’ve never met her. But she found me when I was left outside that wall, and we made our way here.” Samuel answered.
Elias ran to Samuel and hugged him and said: “You were right. The outside world is rotten. It can’t be saved. We need to stay here.”
“I sent you there for a reason. You still need to get to where I sent you. But for now, let’s just rest. You can also catch up with your mother for the first time in your life.” Samuel replied. Elias looked at his mother and now that it had been pointed out, Elias could dig up some very distant and blurry memories of her.
“I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.” Elias’ mother said and looked ready to cry.
“I didn’t think I’d ever meet you at all.” Elias replied.
It was then that the sound of glass shattering could be heard. The house was set on fire and the flames spread quickly. Elias seemed to be the only one who paid any mind to the flames.
“Dad! Mom! The house is on fire! Get out!” Elias screamed, but they both just looked at him and then looked at each other and let out a little laugh.
“Get your ass up, dad! I am not leaving you behind a second time!” Elias screamed. The flames swallowed the entire room and when the flames got to Elias, he got all wet. He opened his eyes and he was under water. He raised his head onto the surface and gasped for air.
“Sorry. Sorry. I didn’t mean to knock you off the boat. I just meant to wake you up.” Pauli told Elias who looked around and saw the car and the horse on the lake shore.
Upon hearing all this commotion, Sampo woke up. He just sat on the passenger seat and looked out the window and then checked the contents of the car. He lowered the sun visor above him and under it there was a photograph of two young boys, one of whom looked like Pauli, only much younger. This was probably Pauli's family’s car, so it made sense, Sampo thought. He opened the glove box and there was the owner's manual and an inspection document. Sampo read them for a while to pass the time. He found a little dusty cardboard box at the bottom of the glove compartment. In the picture of the box, was a yellow candy, but the candies inside the box were just a fused together brown lump. Sampo opened his door and got out of the car. The air smelled of damp grass. He saw Elias getting out of the water with his clothes all wet.
“Wouldn’t it be a better idea to at least remove your socks before going for a bath?” Sampo asked jokingly.
“Pauli decided to wake me up and give me a bath at the same time.” Elias replied jokingly and annoyedly.
"It’s a good thing you didn’t take the boat far away from the lake. The wind would have taken you to the other side of the lake and I would not have swam there to get you back here. I'm not sure if I can even swim anymore. It was forbidden for us. The last time I swam was when I was here as a child." Pauli said
"Why was it forbidden?" Elias asked.
"Everything that brings joy or good feelings was forbidden there. I guess there was a good reason for that that we just didn't understand."
"I miss that place less and less all the time." Sampo said and laughed quietly.
"You were there for three days and you talk as if you suffered for years. From what I’ve seen from you, you seem like you need to grow up a bit. You’re an adult, but you act like a child." Pauli said.
"I have flaws. But I've managed to live with them. If I have to, I'm ready for life on the streets again, even though I ran away from that life. Or I'll follow Elias by boat wherever he ends up going." Sampo answered.
“Well, I would imagine that life out here can make a man out of anyone, but then again, you’ve already been here and look at you.” Pauli said jokingly.
“You overestimate the effect this place had on my maturity. Because I still enjoy doing this:” Sampo said and ran into the water fully clothed.
“Right then. We should probably wake up the others too.” Pauli stated and went to the car. He looked into the backseat where he saw Jussi sleeping on the right side seat and on the left side Aino was sleeping with Toivo leaning on her. The two rifles that Toivo was carrying were on the floor of the backseat. Pauli opened the door and Jussi fell out and woke up. He banged the roof of the car to wake the other two up.
“At your service!” Toivo said when he opened his eyes. Pauli just looked baffled.
“Sorry. When something is learned, it’s hard to unlearn it.” Toivo explained, and put the rifles back on his back.
"When are you all ready to go?" Pauli asked. Elias replied:
"Not quite yet. I need to dry up and the others should also freshen up and dry up."
"I guess we're not in a hurry." Pauli said.
"I could take a few steps in this nearby forest." Elias suggested
"Ok. We're not in a hurry yet." Pauli said again.
"Don't stay there for too long." Jussi said.
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Elias started walking towards the forest and stayed close to the water so that he would still know where he was going and find his way back. Elias thought about how much he likes living like this more than living among people in an urban environment. As a child, he was always interested in civilizations and wanted to see it for himself. He remembered how Samuel said that humanity was rotten, but Elias didn't know if Samuel meant the New Tower, or if humanity was already rotten before that, or if he perhaps meant the disease that ended the previous society. Now that Elias had seen what civilization looked like today, he had no interest in going back. If he could just live as a vagabond in a peaceful place and support himself, he would be satisfied. He didn't want to depend on the company of other people. When you've grown up knowing one person, you can't really become very social. While walking in the forest, Elias saw a rubber boot on the ground. He couldn't tell how old the boot was. Near the rubber boot was a stone circle with a campfire in the middle. There was grass growing around the stone circle, leading him to believe that it had been abandoned for years.
"I think my senses have refreshed enough already." He said to himself, and started to go back. When he came back to the car, the first thing he asked Pauli was: "Were there once more houses here? It seems that there used to be, but not anymore."
"Yes, there was a residential building and barracks here when I last visited. Why are you asking?" Pauli answered and asked.
"They couldn’t have disappeared on their own? Did you take them down yourself sometime or has anyone been here since then?"
"A lot can happen in seventeen years. The most important buildings still remain and that's really all that matters."
"But why was the garage-shed untouched? I’d think that if someone came here to loot, they would have cleaned up this place too."
"Good point." Pauli answered, and went to look at the pile of wood. He crouched down next to the pile of wood and stayed there for a moment.
"Hell no!" Pauli said after a while.
"What?" Elias asked.
"That smell, the same smell as what that disease leaves behind."
“The disease? What disease?” Toivo asked as he walked up behind Pauli with his hair wet from the lake.
“They never told you? This disease is the reason your New Tower even exists.” Sampo said to Toivo.
“That’s not what they told me. They told me that the old society fell because it was weak.”
“Well, it was. I knew that it was doomed to fall. I called it the cardboard utopia. But this disease came from out of nowhere at a very unstable time. And I’m not even entirely sure how these new states came to be even though I lived through it.” Sampo explained.
“If that’s true, then I have so much to learn from the past civilizations.” Toivo said with excitement. Elias raised his head up.
“Oh if only I had taken some of those books and magazines with me from my home! I could really show you how much they lied to you back there.” Elias said.
“You know a lot about the past?” Toivo asked Elias.
“Can we focus on what matters here? The smell.” Pauli interrupted.
"Oh, right. How do you know what the disease smells like?" Elias asked.
"I know a little more about it than you. And this same smell was in our sick grandmother's patient room before the disease took her away."
"Maybe it's your grandmother's smell and she had been here before death. You can't know for sure."
"That smell didn't come around until after she got sick. This shed is contamidated, and so are the cans." Pauli said, and went to look at the cans.
"You have your gloves. You check them." Pauli ordered. Elias took his gloves from his pocket and took one can in his hand from the trunk. He brought the can close to Pauli's face and Pauli smelled the can.
"It doesn't smell. Take another one." Pauli said. Elias took another can and Pauli smelled it too.
"Yep. It's caught some of these cans too." Pauli said.
"What about the cans that were eaten yesterday? Are they infected too?" Jussi asked. Pauli ordered Elias to take the empty bean cans from the ground, the edges of which still had a little bit of bean sauce.
"These were clean. So we got lucky." Pauli said. They went through all the cans they had loaded. When the job was done, there were only two clean cans left, and all the other ones were contamidated.
"Survival here won’t be as easy as we thought. We have to go to Oulu because we can't live here for very long." Sampo said.
"Well, I guess there's nothing left to do here but go. I’ve probably driven cars in recent times more than you have, so I’ll drive.” Elias stated.
“I call shotgun!” Pauli exclaimed. Toivo walked up to the horse.
“We can’t leave the horse here. I’ll travel with the horse because I’m the only one it trusts.”
“That’s true. We couldn’t all fit in the car anyway. So someone has to take the horse.” Pauli replied. Toivo struggled to get up on the horse himself, so Aino lifted him up on the horse.
“I don’t think Toivo should be the only one out of the car. Wouldn’t be a good idea to keep him behind us alone. I’ll get on the horse with him.” Sampo said.
“I think we could all fit in the car. But still, taking the horse might be useful.” Elias said.
Elias got on the driver seat and put on his seat belt and cursed how bad the seat was, but he didn't know it could be adjusted. He lowered the sun visor and a driver's license, an unopened condom, and a piece of paper with a phone number and an eye-catching smiley fell out.
"This seems to be some of your family member’s inheritance, so it seems they belong to you." Elias said to Pauli in the passenger seat and handed the items to him. Pauli looked at the note a little bit before throwing it away, and then put the near two decade old condom in his pocket. There was a compass in the holder on the car door. Elias knew how to use a compass and he knew they had to go north, so he was going to use it to his advantage. Elias started the car which still worked, even if the engine sounded worrying. He rolled down the window and said to Sampo who was on horseback:
“Try to follow me and don’t go on any revenge trips.”
“Don’t worry. I wouldn’t do anything stupid if Toivo is in my care. Oh, and by the way. While you were in the forest, Toivo got some fuel from our huge machine into the car. Smart kid.” Sampo replied, while holding the reins.
“Well let’s go then!” Elias said and got the car moving.
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CHAPTER 20
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Elias started to drive away the same way they came, and they soon arrived at the asphalt road. When the turn came, Elias directed the car to turn north by looking at the compass.
“Aino, keep an eye on the cavalry. Make sure they stay with us and I’ll focus on the road.” Elias said to the backseat. Behind the car the horse was still riding with Sampo holding the reins and Toivo sitting behind him. Elias made sure to not drive too fast so they could keep up.
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“I saw you trying to ride your way out from inside those walls. That didn’t go too well.” Sampo said and chuckled.
“I’ve rode this very horse before. It just doesn’t trust me as much as it trusted its master.”
“Don’t worry about that. I rode a horse for the first time just the other day, and barely managed to get control of it.” Sampo replied.
“My master taught me how to ride this horse. The people there taught me all kinds of things there. But I don’t miss it at all.”
What did they teach you there. And how did they teach you, if I can ask?”
“They taught me mathematics, geometry, logic, as well as marksmanship and mechanics. They didn’t let me talk to anyone but the masters and the people who oversaw the tests.”
“Tests?”
“They sometimes made me sit in an empty room with a different object each time. I don’t remember much about those tests because I always passed out and woke up in my cell?”
“Cell? They kept you in a cell?”
“They did. I was only allowed outside during the exercises and marches that all the soldiers took part in.”
“Pauli told me that they had a thing were they try to have certain children in special custody if they detect something exceptional about them.”
“They told me that they kept me there because I was special and better than the average person. And that’s why I shouldn’t talk with outside people. I also had to do the masters’ bidding. Like when I was told to follow and eavesdrop on Pauli and Elias.”
“And those people. They weren’t very kind to you, I understood from what you said last night.”
“I hate them. They told me to hate everyone who is against our New Tower, but it’s them who I hate. That’s why I escaped.”
“You don’t have to worry about them anymore. We’ll treat you right. That’s a promise. And nobody will do to you what they did to you. That’s a promise too.”
“But even then, I still couldn’t hurt my master. That’s why I shot his rifle as soon as I saw him make a move, and made sure to not hurt him.”
“I meant to mention that. I’ve never seen a shot like that. The quickness was unbelievable. Did they teach you that?”
“Ever since I first grabbed a rifle I’ve been skilled with them.”
“Maybe there is something special about you.”
“I’m so tired of hearing that from them. Don’t start that with me!”
“Sorry. I won’t.” Sampo finsihed and laughed a little.
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Soon they arrived to an area with buildings. In the area, they drove past several industrial buildings and business premises. There were empty parking lots in the yards of the buildings. As they drove past a hardware store, Elias asked: "Should we check if there’s anything we can use?"
"Just like earlier, everything's probably been taken. Survivors have probably taken everything useful." Pauli answered.
"We don’t lose anything from checking." Elias stated.
“We actually might. Starting the car uses a lot of fuel, and leaving the car on while you go check also uses a lot of fuel.”
"Well, it's my decision anyway, since I drive this car." Elias said and stopped. He parked in front of the door of one hardware store, ignoring the white lines on the ground, and entered the store.
“Don’t drive away without me!” He shouted to Pauli. Sampo noticed the car pulling up at this spot and steered his horse there.
“What are we doing here?” Sampo asked Pauli who was sitting on the passenger seat.
“Elias wants to see if he can find anyhting in here.”
“Should we follow him to be sure?”
“I suppose we should. Hey kiddo, give me one of those rifles from your back!” Pauli said to Sampo and Toivo. Toivo passed one of the rifles through the open window like a hamburger bag at a drive-through.
“I’ll go inside, you stay here and watch the car and horse. Keep your rifle ready.” Pauli told them.
“Aye aye, captain!” Jussi replied from the backseat. Sampo dismounted the horse and took Toivo down as well. Toivo pulled the other rifle from his back and was standing guard. Aino was about to raise a finger about the child holding a rifle but then rememembered the shot he took at the Commander and let it be.
Elias and Pauli were inside the store. The shelves were very bare. Elias had learned to recognize the smell of the disease from the bean cans, and did not notice the smell of the disease inside the store. The first thing he noticed was an almost empty rack of yellow work coats. He took one, smelled it and put it on.
“Maybe we should take a few jackets for us. Winter will come and what we currently have won’t be enough.” Elias pointed out.
“That’s true. A work jacket doesn’t warm much but it’s better than nothing. Sampo already has his pink jacket so he doesn’t need another one.” Pauli replied, and took five jackets. Elias found a thin roll of rope on the shelf. He smelled it and took it under his arm after concluding that it’s clean. It was the last roll of rope on the shelf, and there was an old plastic sign hanging on the shelf that read: "Buy a ladder, get a free rope with it!" but there were no ladders left. Elias walked around the interior and at the back of the store was a door to the backyard. The backyard was just empty ground and shelves full of metal pipes. Nothing useful. Elias headed back to his car with his loot. On the way back, he grabbed a notebook and a pen that he saw at the counter, figuring they might be of use.
"I guess there wasn’t much to loot." Jussi said when Elias and Pauli came back out.
"I got something to wear on top of our ragged shirts. And the rope can be used for something. Then when you need them, you can all thank me for deciding to stop here." Elias said to them. He threw the notebook and pen to Toivo who caught them.
“Take it. Draw what you see or take notes or whatever.” Elias said. Toivo looked touched. Nobody had ever given him anything to keep as his own. Elias threw the jackets and the rope on the backseat and got back on the driver’s seat. They continued on their way and almost immediately came to an old petrol station. Elias noticed that there was a sign with a map outside of the petrol station.
“Is that a map? Wouldn’t that be much more useful than this compass?” Pauli said.
“So now you want to stop?” Elias asked a little jokingly, but agreed.
"Why are we stopping now?" Sampo complained behind them on his horse.
"Can you check the glovebox for me?" Elias asked Pauli. Pauli opened the glove box and took a user manual from there. Elias took the user manual from there and tore out a blank page. He took a pencil from the door holder and stopped the car next to the map sign. He opened the window next to the map and began to copy the map onto a blank piece of paper. The map didn’t show the way all the way to their destination. After copying the map, he steered the car onto the highway.
"So let's drive along the highway for a while and back east for a while, there's a turn where you can go in every direction. There we should turn north." Elias mumbled to himself. They started driving east as planned. On the way to the intersection, they drove past a shopping center that was bigger than the one in their neighborhood in the New Tower. There was a structure in the yard of the shopping center that was tall and red and had white letters. In this structure, the red sign was intact and the text was clear. Pauli said: "When I was little, I used to go here to pick up the week's shopping with my family. The whole place has definitely been emptied of everything useful a long time ago. There's no point in stopping."
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They came to a turn where the car was turned up the ramp and from there Elias steered the car north with the help of a compass. They drove the car along the highway. At one point the car bumped and everybody inside felt it.
“What was that? Did I run over something?” Elias asked.
“Probably a small animal.” Pauli replied. Moments later a sound of disgust could be heard from behind them. It seemed to confirm Pauli’s guess. The trip shouldn't have taken long, but so much time had been wasted during the day and they didn’t move at full speed so the horse could keep up, and so the evening was already getting dark. Elias noticed a dirt road that would lead to the forest.
“Maybe we should end the day here. Get some rest for us and the horse as well. It’ll be easier to drive in the day.” Elias suggested.
“You decide.” Pauli replied. Elias used the turn signal to let Sampo know that he was turning to the forest road. When the car was stopped on the forest path, Sampo noticed a small shed in the forest.
"You see that shed there? I guess it wouldn't hurt if you checked it with gloves on." Sampo proposed to Elias.
"Well, let's go then." Elias answered.
"Why don't you just lend the gloves to others so they can use them?" Jussi asked, but Elias had already gotten out of the car and went to look at the shed. Others followed along. Sampo hitched the horse to a tree and took Toivo down from the horse. Elias went to open the shed door. In the shed there was only straw on the floor and nothing else. There was no smell of disease in the shed.
"Well, maybe we can sleep here." Pauli proposed and dropped to his knees on the ground and let out a painful cry.
"What's down here? Concrete?" He said, tossing the straw aside from that point. Under the straw was a wooden hatch with a metal hitch. Everyone's interest was fixed on the hatch. Pauli opened the hatch, revealing a small underground cellar that could fit two people. There was no lighting in the shed and the only light was the fading daylight. They couldn't see inside the cellar at all.
"Can I borrow those gloves, Elias?" Pauli asked. Elias gave him his gloves and Pauli went down to the cellar. The cellar was not deep and Pauli's head was at ground level while his feet were on the bottom. He felt he was standing on something soft and reached down to try it with his hands. It was something soft and meaty.
"Don't be a corpse." Pauli said. He pulled the object from under his feet and raised it to eye level. It was deer ribs with bones
"Well there you go!" Jussi said.
Pauli looked satisfied and said: "The beans can wait."
"Hey wait now. It's either been there for years, or it belongs to someone who's here." Elias said. Pauli smelled the uncooked meat.
"It smells salted. It can last a long time in that cold cellar. And besides, does it look spoiled? I’d say it’s still good." Pauli said.
"Okay, but how do you intend to warm it up?" Elias asked.
"Cavemen also ate raw game." Pauli replied.
"Yeah, and all the cavemen are dead." Sampo interrupted. Everyone else looked at Sampo and put a hand on their forehead, except Toivo who asked: “What’s a caveman?”
“That doesn’t matter now. Well, if we trust Pauli now. We can save the beans when we need them." Elias said.
"If I die, you have to pay me a hundred." Sampo said to Pauli
They all sat down on the straw and Pauli threw a piece of meat for all of them. They all took a turn looking at each person and took a bite of the salty raw game meat at the same time. Elias had eaten very little meat in his life. He immediately spat it out. Toivo also spat it out, as he was used to cooked meat that he was served in his previous home. The others managed to swallow it with great difficulty.
“I don’t want to eat this!” Toivo complained.
“I understand completely. I’ll go get a bean can for you from the trunk.
“Honestly, I don’t either.” Elias seconded Toivo.
“We can’t just waste our beans all the time. You either eat the deer or go hungry.” Sampo said and stepped out of the shed.
“I hate this place too. Why is the world so terrible? Inside the walls they give me a home and serve me good food but also keep me as prisoner and hurt me and do tests on me that leave my head hurting for a week, but over here where I’m free of them, I have to sleep in a cold shack and eat terrible food.” Toivo complained. Aino took him by the shoulder and let him lean on her. Sampo came back and sat next to Toivo so he was between Sampo and Aino. Sampo opened the can with the axe that he also brought and handed the open can to Toivo. While Toivo was eating the wet beans with his fingers, Sampo took Toivo’s notebook from the floor and opened it. He saw that he had drawn a map in there, but didn’t know that it was the same map that Elias copied earlier. On another page was a surprisingly good drawing of the shopping centre that they went past earlier.
“Looks like you’ve already found use for the notebook.” Sampo stated.
“I enjoy drawing things. In my cell, it was one of the few things I could even do.”
“What kind of things did you draw in there? Things that you saw? Was there much to see in those cells?” Sampo asked.
“I drew the people that I saw. I also drew things that I saw in my dreams.”
“What kinds of things did you see in your dreams?” Sampo asked and Toivo stayed quiet for a bit.
“You don’t have to answ...” Sampo was about to say.
“A dead sheep.” Toivo said firmly. Everyone in the room was now looking at him.
“A sheep that I killed in my dream. Another drawing was a girl healing that sheep, from a dream where this girls brought the sheep to life.” Toivo explained further.
“You have some weird dreams.” Jussi said.
“I’ve seen that same girl in many of my dreams. Fixings things that I’ve destroyed.”
“You destroy a lot of things then?” Pauli asked from accross the room.
“I don’t want to. But in my dreams everything around me withers away. The plants and trees that I look at all die. Buildings crumble and animals fall dead. But I would never hurt a living thing.” Toivo said emotianally.
“What the hell kinds of things did those people in that place do to you?” Sampo asked.
“They put me in a room with increasingly big objects and then injected me with a needle, and after that I always passed out so I don’t know what they were trying to find out. In my first test they put me in a room with a pinecone. In the last test they put me in a room with a living sheep.” Toivo answered. All the others had a curious but worried look and then minded their own business. Aino and Sampo stayed by Toivo’s side.
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They all spent the evening in the shed, and some of them shared the side of a raw deer, and eventually started sleeping on the straw covered floor, on different ends of the room. Both Sampo and Aino gave their jackets for Toivo to use as a blanket. In the morning, before anyone woke up, the door of the shed opened and light came in. A young ginger haired girl, about half shorter than them, was looking at them from outside, and the girl just stared frozen.
They woke up and looked towards the door.
"Howdy!" Pauli said after a while.
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CHAPTER 21
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The girl started running away and the posse sleeping in the shed started to get up.
"What is happening here?" Jussi wondered tiredly.
"There’s people here and they found us." Pauli answered.
"I had a bad feeling that that would be the case." Elias answered.
They all got up and got out of the shed. Pauli still saw the girl running and started chasing. The others followed Pauli and Sampo grabbed their axe just in case.
"We want to talk!" Pauli shouted. The girl glanced behind her and saw a group of people chasing her, one of whom had an axe and two had rifles. She didn't stop to talk, but just kept running. Although the girl was slower to run than her pursuers, she still kept the lead as the pursuers tripped over branches and rocks. The girl was obviously used to running in the forest. After running for a while, she arrived at a large wooden building. The building had one floor and an attic, and it was five rooms wide. There were three smaller houses and four apple trees in the same yard as the building. The girl rushed in through the front door of the big house and the chasers were left standing at the edge of the yard wondering. Elias was thinking in his head what to say if someone came out. Sampo clutched the axe in his hands and Aino clutched her rifle. After a while, a man with a thick beard and a sweater and a shotgun came out of the door.
"We want to talk!" Pauli shouted at the man.
"Are axes and guns a common means of communication with you?" The man asked.
"Why did you take the guns with you?" Elias whispered to Aino who gestured towards the man at the door.
"I just figure we should look menacing so they won’t attack us." Toivo said to Elias.
The man with the shotgun pointed directly at Aino and ordered her to drop the rifle. Aino obeyed. He then orderd Toivo and Sampo to drop their weapons too.
"Well. What might be your business here?" The sweater man asked.
"We were on our way north and in the evening we stopped on a forest road. We saw a shed and decided to sleep there. Then your girl came to open the door of the shed and we wanted to explain that we are not a threat, before that girl would get a chance to send a group of armed men to the shed to mow us all down.” Elias answered.
"Is that so? And I hear that the floor of the shed was full of bones. That tells me you're looking to steal what’s ours?" The man asked.
"Every rumor has a grain of truth." Pauli answered.
"So yes or no?" The man raised his shotgun.
"We ate your meat because we believed that it had been there for a long time and did not belong to anyone." Elias answered nervously
"I see. Well, you’ll have to repay that somehow." the man said.
"They're going to eat us." Jussi said.
"Can any of you hunt?" The man asked.
"Well, I've been hunting with a bow once." Elias answered.
"And did you bring anything home from that trip?"
"Well, I did carry something home on my shoulders from that trip."
"Good. Then, you can bring us a new deer."
"Yeah, we shall now leave for the forest right away. Just wait here and we'll come back." Sampo said and was about to turn back towards the car, taking Toivo by the hand.
"Not so fast! I'll come with you so you don't just go on your own way."
"Well if you're going to the forest anyway, why do we have to go? Why don't we just go alone?" Sampo asked.
"It's about principle more than practicality." The man answered.
"Those who stick to principles will always lose in the end." Elias answered.
"And I didn't ask you anything." The man answered and pointed the shotgun at Elias.
"Okay, well, we’ll grab that shotgun so we can have an appropriate weapon." Sampo said.
"Hah! I wasn't born yesterday if that's what you think." The man answered.
"I can see that." Jussi said while looking at the man's beard.
"Go ahead. To the barn." The man commanded.
"What's there?"
"Let's get you the right gun for the job. You won't get this shotgun. Or would you rather hunt with a sharp stone?"
They went to the barn and left their own weapons on the ground. Inside the barn was a flock of chickens and lots of seeds. On the wall of the barn was an assortment of hunting rifles. The man gave Elias one of them and the others nothing.
"Why didn't we get anything? Are we just going to follow?" Sampo asked.
"If you all have guns, you'd turn on me. Do you know how to load it?" The man asked Elias. Elias knew how to load a semi-automatic rifle, but not a gun like this, so he asked for advice on how to load the hunting rifle, and the man showed him how to do it.
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After that they went to the forest. The shotgun man stayed behind with his gun in hand. He didn't give advice to others because he decided that they could do this themselves.
"Wouldn't it be easier if only one of us did this? I don't really like being pointed at with a gun and doing something under the threat of being killed." Sampo asked the shotgun man who didn't answer anything.
"Stay low and quiet. If we march like this, we are easy to spot." Pauli said.
"There shouldn't even be any deer this close to a human settlement. Don't crouch down yet and cause your back to ache for nothing." Elias said to them. They marched through the forest under the dawn sky for about an hour until Elias said that it was a good time to be discreet. Elias spotted a lonesome doe in the distance. He looked to see if it had a little one nearby and saw none. He began to aim and at the same time slowly walked forward. Pauli pushed him from behind and Elias accidentally shot the ground which caused the deer to run away. Toivo covered his ears as the sound hurt his ears. Sampo got down to check on him.
"Why did you do that?" Elias asked, half shouting.
"We'll never find anything at that pace." Pauli replied.
"I had an adult deer in my sights!"
"Oh. Well, my fault." Pauli answered. Elias just sighed and continued his journey forward. They walked forward for another twenty minutes and Elias again saw a deer in the distance.
"I have a deer in my sights again, so don't push now." He said. This time, he saw a young deer next to the bigger one.
"It has a small deer with it. Should we look for another one that doesn't have one or are we in a hurry?" Elias asked in a whisper. The shotgun man didn't answer. They all stood low and still. A squirrel was climbing the back of Toivo but he didn’t flinch.
"Shoot it now or I'll take your rifle and shoot it myself." Sampo said. Toivo looked worried upon hearing Sampo say that. Elias thought about options in his head and decided that he didn't want to worsen his relationship with Sampo.
"I'm sorry, little one." Elias said and shot the adult deer. The squirrel jumped off. The little deer stayed with its dead mother for a while but ran away when it saw Sampo and Pauli running towards the corpse. The others walked calmly to the corpse with the shotgun man behind them. Sampo, Pauli and Jussi were already feeling the corpse with their feet.
"I could have shot that little one too if you hadn't scared it away. Now it has to die in the wild in a much more cruel way." Elias said to them.
"It's an animal, don't feel sorry for it like you would a human being." Jussi answered.
“The world is so cruel.” Toivo stated.
"You can carry the carrion. I already did my part." Elias said to them. Pauli and Sampo lifted the deer on their shoulders and carried it in the form of a line.
"Go ahead, it should be a straight path back home. I'll stay behind so you don't get to shoot me in the back." The shotgun man shouted at them.
“Look at us. Bringing in food for the family like men do.” Sampo said while looking at Aino as if trying to impress her. Aino just rolled her eyes.
“It was me who killed it!” Elias said to Sampo.
“And it’s not actually for us.” Jussi pointed out.
“But we still do our part in carrying it.” Sampo said in his own defense.
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After a long and uncomfortable walk, they arrived at the house. They dropped the carrion on the ground and saw that their weapons were no longer where they dropped them.
“Should we make a run for the car?” Sampo suggested.
“We probably shouldn’t try any tricks for now. Somebody took our weapons and we don’t know if somebody is looking at us.” Elias replied.
The shotgun man arrived after a while and went in the house and the others were left standing outside the door with the deer on the ground. The man opened the door again after a minute and said to them: "Well, do you intend to come in or stay there?"
They entered the house. The first thing they saw inside was a coat rack and a rug. There were several coats and pairs of shoes.
"Bring that deer further." Ordered the man with the shotgun still in his hand. They came from the hallway to the back of the house to a room where three elderly people were sitting along with the girl that they ran after earlier. One of them was reading a book, one was sewing with the girl and one was sleeping on an armchair. They followed the shotgun man who passed the room into the next room which was the dinner room. The room had a long table surrounded by eight chairs. They went past that room to the kitchen where there were shelves of cans and a bald man plucking a chicken.
"Leave it here, and one of you can skin it too." The Shotgun Man told them.
"Do any of you have any idea how to do this?" Jussi asked
"I guess I’ll have to volunteer if nobody else wants to. Some years ago, I read instructions on how to skin an animal, but I don't remember almost anything about it." Elias said.
"Are you a city boy?" The man plucking the chicken asked.
"Well, not really, I've just never done anything like this." Elias answered and grabbed the knife on the table. He thrusted the knife straight into the deer's stomach and tried to cut the stomach open.
"No no no no, completely wrong. Let me show you." The chicken man said and put the chicken on the table. He took the knife and started skinning the animal the right way.
"You can finish it." He said after demonstrating. Elias began to do as the man showed. He had never seen anything so graphic with his own eyes and the experience was very unpleasant for him. He saw the skin coming off and the flesh exposed underneath, and as soon as he got the job done, he turned and looked at his own feet.
"You get used to it the more you do it." Said the man plucking the chicken. Sampo and Pauli lifted the skinned deer off the floor and left the room. They went back into the living room where the shotgun man was sitting, the gun still by his side and looking at Aino and Toivo who were also there being stared at by everyone and feeling very unpleasant.
"Now that it's done, we'll probably take it to the shed and continue our journey." Sampo said.
"You could. But if you were so short on funds that you had to stoop so low as to steal from us, wouldn't it be polite if we let you stay here for a while? We always have a seat at the table, right?" The shotgun man suggested and looked at the elders in the room who responded by letting out a noise that sounded like reluctant agreement.
"Well we shall take it to the shed and think about it." Elias suggested.
"Good. No one is stopping you from leaving. You paid your debt, but extra hands wouldn't hurt us either." The shotgun man answered. The posse carried the deer into the shed and threw it into the cellar under the hatch. They stepped out of the shed and stayed standing there.
"Well. What do you say? Stay here or go to Oulu?" Pauli asked.
"I still have no interest in going there, and at first glance this place seems like a pretty peaceful place to live. Could even be a decent home for Toivo, who deserves it at this point. But if they keep a shotgun on my back all the time, no thanks." Sampo said.
"I still have to get to the place shown on the map. But I don't know how soon. Maybe I can stay here for a while, rather than go on an adventure with two cans of beans." Elias said.
"Good. Because I'd rather be here than try my luck at getting through the northern wall." Pauli said.
"However, let's first ask what it's like here." Jussi said.
“I have an uneasy feeling about these people.” Toivo said. Aino gestured to ask for Toivo’s notebook and pen. He gave it to her. Aino wrote: “Let’s stay for a night and then decide.”
“That sounds like a good idea.” Elias said.
They went back to the house and entered the living room. All the same people were there waiting for them with the shotgun man pointing at the posse.
"Could you really stop that already?" Sampo asked.
"What is this place, and what do you do here?" Pauli asked.
"Well, now that you ask, maybe it's a good idea to introduce our family and this place. I haven't even told my name yet. I'm Kauko and these great people here are Veikko and Irma." The shotgun man Kauko told them. Irma didn't seem to hear her name mentioned because she didn't even react to what she heard and Veikko was asleep.
"That guy you saw back there plucking the chicken was Seppo. And my daughter here is Oona. Here we all help in some way if we can. And everyone is taken care of. Some of us are not as useful as others, so it would be good to get useful workers here, even if that means more mouths to feed. Here we raise chickens and apples and occasionally hunt, and that keeps us alive too. For the winter we have a large storage of cans here, and we pickle our fruits too." Kauko explained.
"Sounds really good. I might stay here for a while and see how I like it." Pauli said. The others didn’t argue.
“Nice to meet you, Kauko.” Toivo said, wanting to be polite.
"Likewise. Now, this time of year, picking apples is a big job and it would be good if there were more hands helping. I won't do it myself, and we will certainly appreciate the help." Kauko said.
"They only have four trees. Can't they get that done on their own." Elias thought.
"But what are your names? I didn't even remember to ask that." Kauko asked. They all introduced themselves by first and last name, except Toivo who didn’t have a last name. Elias introduced himself as Kalevi Kekkonen. Hearing the name made Kauko laugh. Aino wrote her name on Toivo’s notebook, and Kauko realised that she’s a mute.
"Before you go to work, you'll have breakfast, which is two apples and an egg." Kauko said. Kauko went to get eggs for them, which he cooked in a pot on a stove. They went into the dining room to a large table, where soon the other residents of the house also gathered for a common breakfast. All the residents of the house except Irma drank some kind of a tea.
"What exactly are you drinking there?" Elias asked.
"It might sound like nonsense to you, but we have noticed that when you drink this, the work gets done much more efficiently. Would you like to try it?" Kauko answered and asked.
"I think I'll just settle for water, thanks." Elias answered, and the others also declined it, but Pauli took some of it. Toivo still had an uneasy feeling about these people, and Aino could tell as she kept a constant eye on him.
Elias noticed that there were no apples on the breakfast table, even though they were promised, but he didn’t want to point it out.
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CHAPTER 22
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After the breakfast disappeared into their stomachs, it was time to get out of the house and get to work.
"You can help Veikko and Seppo pick the apples. There are so many of them that more hands are needed." Kauko said to the posse. They looked at the apple trees and under them were sacks that were full to the surface, but the branches were completely bare. None of them asked anything, they just looked at the tree and each other and Kauko in confusion. Then Veikko and Seppo came to the trees with Oona and brought a ladder. The two adults climbed up and started to pull the empty branches and the young daughter shook the trunk of the tree and sometimes tore grass from the ground. Pauli and Jussi started to pull the lower branches and didn't think anything of it. Sampo let out a curse word starting with an F while looking confusedly at the work that the others were doing. Kauko looked at Sampo, Elias, Aino and Toivo.
"Well are you just going to stand there and let the apples rot on the branches?" He asked. They joined the work hesitantly and started pulling at the branches, after which Kauko went inside the barn.
"Pauli, why were you so eager to go along with this stupidity?" Elias asked.
"How so? There's a lot of fruit to pick here, and I got down to business." Pauli answered.
"Don't you see that these branches are completely bare?"
"Oh, bare, huh? Do they look bare?"
"Um, yes they do. There's something strange about you now."
"Oh, there's something strange about us? I guess you're just blind. There are five of us who see the fruit and there are four of you who don’t. The majority decides that we are quite normal here."
"There are four of you."
"Can't you see anything anymore? You two can't see anything here, but me, Jussi and those three can clearly see that these branches are full."
"Where do you see anyone called Jussi? The guy you saved once? He's not here. Where did he come from when he wasn't even with us on this whole trip, and I haven't even seen him omce, not even inside the walls?"
"Well then, I feel like there's really something wrong with you."
"Yeah whatever." Elias said and continued to pluck the bare branches. After they had plucked the branches for a long time. Pauli and the others quit.
"Now why did you stop? Are the apples off the trees?" Elias asked.
"Well, don't you see yourself? They're clearly gone. The branches are completely empty now." Pauli answered
"Oh, so now they’re bare?" Elias asked.
"Our work is now done for this day." Veikko told them as he came from inside the house.
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Elias, Sampo, Aino and Toivo met up behind the house while the others went inside.
"Did we end up in some insane asylum and Pauli found people of his type?" Elias wondered.
"And who is that Jussi he's talking about?" Sampo asked.
"He has mentioned him before. On my first day during the march, he said that Jussi was next to him even though there was no one there. At the time I didn't think anything of it, even though it was a bit strange. At no point did he introduce this Jussi to me." Elias said.
“When I was sent to spy on Pauli, I saw him talking to himself at times.” Toivo added.
"I guess it's just some imaginary guy. Pauli saw those non-existent apples with these other idiots. But what's the reason for that?" Sampo wondered.
"Let's ask them a few more questions." Elias said and they went inside. When they came to the living room they saw Pauli and the whole house staying there. Elias noticed Pauli taking something out of his pocket and throwing it into his mouth.
"What was that?" Elias asked Pauli. Pauli took out of his pocket a small cloth bag with some sorts of herbs. Elias did not recognize the herb from anything he had seen even in pictures. Sampo recognized that the herbs did not look like cannabis leaves.
"Hey! It's the same herb we use in our soup." Seppo said as he noticed.
"How long have you been eating those?" Elias asked.
"Several years." Pauli answered.
"And how often?"
"Many times throughout the day."
"Where did you get that?"
"From my secret garden." Pauli answered.
"We also have a garden here where we grow that." Veikko said.
Elias made Pauli look out the window and look at the apple trees.
"Are there apples on those trees?" Elias asked.
"No. We picked them all up." Pauli answered.
"They always come back after breakfast." Kauko shouted from the back of the room.
"Me, Sampo, Aino and Toivo didn't take any kinds of herbs all day, and only we didn't see those apples on the trees. So it seems like you're seeing things." Elias said to Pauli. Elias went to ask Irma how many new people came here this morning. Irma didn't drink the strange drink in the morning, so Elias decided to ask her.
"It was the five of you. What were your names again? Sauli and Kalevi and Sampo and Oiva and Aava?" Irma answered.
"I think you're forgetting my friend Jussi here." Pauli said.
"Oh who now?" Irma asked.
"Don't you see my friend Jussi here right next to me?" Pauli asked.
"There's no one there." Irma answered.
"Ok, let’s go out. Now!" Elias said. Pauli. Elias, Sampo and Pauli went out of the house and towards a small wooden building in the yard. They stayed outside the small building to talk.
"I don't think your friend Jussi even exists." Elias said.
"How does he not exist? He’s been with me all this time." Pauli said seriously.
"And I haven't seen him anywhere or heard his voice. And then you also eat some strange herbs! It's pretty easy to put the pieces together and figure out what’s going on with you."
"He's next to me even now. Right here. Just shake his hand." Pauli said and took Elias' hand and took it to Jussi's hand. Pauli saw them shake hands, but Elias neither saw nor felt anything. Sampo unexpectedly punched the empty spot where Jussi should be standing. Pauli's imagination didn't have time to create an image where Jussi would react, so he just saw the fist go through Jussi like smoke. And then Jussi just disappeared from Pauli's sight.
"No no no no no. It can't be like this. I refuse, no!" Pauli spoke to himself and went inside the small wooden building.
"Okay. So this guy is one of your friends?" Sampo asked Elias.
"If you can call him that." Elias answered. After a while, Elias decided to open the door and look at Pauli inside. As soon as he opened it, Pauli pulled a pair of rusty garden shears from the dusty table and grabbed Elias by the collar.
"You ruined everything!" Pauli shouted in Elias' face and held the scissors close to Elias's neck. Sampo grabbed the scissors but Pauli didn't let go. They struggled for the scissors and tried to tear them from each other. During the struggle, the scissors ended up going into Pauli’s side and pierced the skin. That's when Pauli let go and Sampo and Elias were able to hold Pauli in place and made him calm down.
"It's not that big of a deal." Sampo said to Pauli.
"You don't understand. The only thing I ever did for another person, didn't even happen. I thought I saved a brother in arms from the battlefield but that never happened. That’s why everyone looked at me so strangely, and that’s why none of you ever replied to anything he said. And now I can either stay here and pick non-existent apples, or die in a bombardment trying to get to the northern wall. I'm useless." Pauli complained.
"You're not completely useless. You found us a car. It’s made the trip a lot easier." Elias answered.
"And before that, you found a big machine and a horse that you used for the trip as well, so how much use was that car really?" Pauli asked.
"You got us cans of beans. That was of some use." Sampo stated.
"You would have gotten here without them." Pauli answered.
"Stop whining. Let's go cover up that wound on your side." Sampo said and they went inside the main house. In the lobby was a first aid cabinet from which Pauli took an ancient bandage and wrapped it around his torso so that the wound was covered. The living room was empty. They went into the dining room where everyone was sitting at the table.
"I don't think anyone told you that it's time for dinner. So quickly the day went." Seppo said to them. They took plates and took a piece of venison from the middle of the table and sat down.
"It's strange. Chickens give seeds from their asses, but they don't want to eat them, so we have to waste our seed sacks for feeding them." Kauko said to Irma.
"We’ll find some use for those seeds too, so don't throw them away." Irma answered.
Oona asked Aino: “Is this your son?” and looked at Toivo. Aino’s eyes widened and she gestured no with her head. Toivo’s face went red and he tried to focus on the cooked deer that he actually liked.
"Where were you lot?" Kauko asked Elias upon seeing the three sit down.
"Negotiating our own issues." Elias answered.
"I still don't trust you fully. So answer honestly." Kauko said.
"Pauli had a panic attack." Sampo came up with an excuse that seemed to work for Kauko.
"Where do we sleep here?" Elias asked.
"On the ground floor." Kauko answered. Pauli couldn’t enjoy his evening. His side was in pain and his world had been destroyed. He ate his piece quietly and didn’t speak to anyone.
After dinner was over, the house folk spent the rest of the evening in the living room talking to each other. The living room had wooden walls, a window with a view of the yard, a stove and a grandfather clock that had stopped who knows how long ago.
"I don't think I'll stay here. I wouldn't want to be pressured into drugs by crazy people. And all these old people just remind me of what will happen to me. I don’t like that." Sampo said to his posse.
"Didn't you say you used to sniff gasoline near your boat?" Elias asked.
"It's not the same thing. It’s not a drug." Sampo answered.
"I don't know what I'll do." Pauli said worriedly.
"I still have to reach my destination. I guess the journey has to continue." Elias said.
“This may sound strange, but I don’t want to stay here just because I don’t like the thought of staying in one place. I want to see the world.” Toivo said while drawing in his notebook. Aino politely asked for the notebook and the pen and wrote: “I agree with you all. This is not the right place for any of us. We have to go.” and handed it back to Toivo.
"Let's think about it tomorrow." Pauli said.
After the evening they went to sleep on the ground floor. The new arrivals didn't have beds, so they were only fetched hay from the barn, but it was better than the floor. The jackets of Sampo and Aino were still at the shed and so too far away to retrieve, so now none of them had a blanket.
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CHAPTER 23
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In the morning Kauko came to wake everyone up. They went up the stairs where an egg was waiting for each of them. Elias decided to take the strange tea to see what it would do.
"The door of the forbidden shed was open. Might you have any part in it?" Kauko asked.
"What forbidden shed? Why is it forbidden?" Elias asked.
"Death is waiting there." Kauko answered.
Pauli let out a small painful sound and held his side. It got the attention of the others.
"Oh no. Show me what the problem is." Kauko said worriedly.
"It's nothing." Pauli answered.
"Show me. What's wrong?" Kauko asked much more seriously. Pauli lifted his shirt and everyone saw that his skin was red around the bandage. Kauko got up from his chair.
"Get out of here! And don't touch anything on the way out." Kauko ordered seriously.
"What is this now?" Sampo asked in confusion.
"This won't be a problem." Pauli said.
"The forbidden shed is infected, and now Pauli is too. Are you others too? Show me!" Kauko asked and ordered. The others lifted their shirts, some more reluctantly than others and Kauko didn’t see anything to worry about.
"This is nothing but a sunstroke." Pauli claimed. Kauko didn't believe him, but he believed the others and went to open all the doors for Pauli so he wouldn't touch anything. Kauko guided Pauli into the forbidden shed with a shotgun on his back. Pauli was soon alone in the forbidden shed and he now noticed the smell of disease there. There was a desk and tools in the shed. Under the desk was a box full of dynamite and a trigger.
"What the hell is this group and why do they have these here?" He thought to himself.
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After a while, the rest of the posse came outside the forbidden shed.
"This seems like a pretty rough deal." Elias said. He couldn't think of anything else to say.
"I don't think I'm going to continue this journey. But I really wouldn't want to die of the disease here either." Pauli answered.
"Is it even certain that you will die from it?" Elias asked.
"Well, what other outcome can it have? This disease destroyed all of the old civilization." Pauli answered with a question and continued: "So I would like to ask one thing."
"What is it?" Elias asked.
"Get that rope from the car." Pauli asked. Elias was surprised by the request and froze for a second upon hearing Pauli’s wish.
"If that’s the better option for you." Elias answered with sadness.
“What do you need the rope for?” Toivo asked, not knowing any better.
“Best you not know.” Sampo told him.
Elias went through the woods towards the car and he saw a big red dot where the car was. It was confusing but Elias still went towards to where he remembered the car being. When he touched the dot, only then did he see it in the form of a car. He took a roll of rope from the backseat and went back to Pauli. Elias opened the door of the forbidden shed and threw the roll there. Pauli put the roll on the desk and sat down.
"I just want to be alone from now on." Pauli requested.
“Goodbye.” Elias said to his first friend, as that’s all he could think of. Sampo put his hand on Elias’ shoulder. Sampo wasn’t too attached to Pauli but he knew what it’s like to lose friends, so he symphatized.
"Let's go to the car. We're not needed here right now." Elias said to the others.
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When they all made their way to the car, Elias saw a red dot by the car again. That's when he realized what it meant. He needs to get to the red dot on the map. Elias ran into the car and sat on the driver's seat. He saw a weed in the ignition switch.
"Why’s that there? Get it off!” Elias said and started twisting the weed, which was actually the key. He saw a toad by the pedal, which startled him, so he stomped on it with his foot. The car stood still and the car's engine revved and made a loud noise. Sampo came into the car and sat on the passenger’s seat.
"What are you doing now? Don't waste gas for nothing!" Sampo said. Then they heard talking coming from the radio. Elias and Sampo sat quietly listening and Aino and Toivo were outside the front doors.
"Nothing was found in these woods, let's head back. Hey, did you hear that too? It sounds like a car engine. It's coming from the east. Shall I go investigate?" Said a voice on the radio.
"Get your foot off the pedal now!" Sampo shouted at Elias and Elias raised his leg.
"I no longer hear it. I’ll still continue in the direction of the sound." The radio said. Elias tore the key out of the ignition and threw it out the door.
"There went the weed." He said. They sat in the car in silence for a while. Elias was still pressing the pedal, but the engine no longer made a sound because the key was gone. Sampo was quiet on his seat, worried. After a while there was talk on the radio again.
"Now I can see a shed. The door seems to be on the other side. I’ll check it later and go further." The radio said.
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Sampo got out of the car and rolled under it. Aino took Toivo by the hand and went inside the shack. Elias stayed in the car to press the pedal. From the woods came two soldiers dressed in field-colored uniforms and helmets with army grade assault rifles in their hands.
"Person found. I repeat, person found. The person is inside a car and is behaving abnormally." One of the soldiers said into his radio. Elias did not notice the soldiers outside the car.
"Get out of the car!" One soldier shouted. Elias heard the order and looked at the soldiers. The soldier repeated his order. Elias got out of the car and the soldiers put him on his knees.
"Weren't we free to leave?" Elias asked.
"Sorry, say that again." The other soldier said.
"After all, the punishment was supposed to be a simple eviction. Did you still decide to send someone after us?" Elias asked.
"Who are you, and where do you come from?" One of the soldiers asked slowly and clearly. Elias realized that these soldiers must not have come from the New Tower. He wasn't quick enough to make up a fake story and he concluded that honesty can't have very bad consequences.
"My name is Kalevi Kekkonen, I came from behind the walls of the New Tower and I’m on my way north." Elias told them.
"He's from the Tower. What do we do?" One of the soldiers asked the radio.
"No no no. If the Tower is your enemy then I am not your enemy. I was there in the army for only three days until I was thrown out. I have no loyalty to them whatsoever."
"Says he was thrown out. So not an enemy. What do we do?" The soldier asked the radio.
"Basic civil rescue measures." The radio answered.
"There's more to explore here. Let's look at the place some more and then come back." The soldier added.
"You said something about you being evicted. Are there others here?” The other soldier asked Elias. Sampo came from under the car and stood up with his hands up.
"Another person has been found. The plan will remain the same, surely?" The soldier asked his radio.
"And here seems to be another evicted one. Is that so?" The soldier said towards Sampo. Sampo nodded.
"There’s a horse here hitched to a tree. And are there any others here?" Another soldier asked.
"Let’s search this shed here." One soldier said to another. They went inside the shed where the posse slept the other night found Aino and Toivo.
“Two more people found! One of them is wearing the colours of the New Tower!” One of the soldiers said to the radio. One soldier pointed his gun at Elias and Sampo and the other one pointed his gun at Aino and Toivo. They rounded them all up into one group.
“How many people do you have here? I assumed it’s only the two of you!” One of the soldiers asked them.
“This is all of us. That’s a promise. I just wanted to keep these two safe.” Sampo pleaded. The two soldiers believed him. One of them kept a gun on the four while the other one searched the car and took the two remaining cans of beans. The soldier smelled them and put them in a backpack. He dug through the glove box to empty it and went through all the papers and manuals and threw them on the ground as he looked through them. He didn't find the car key that Elias threw on the ground.
"Is the car yours?" The soldier asked.
"No. We found it here and tried to start it as you may have noticed but it just won't start." Sampo answered before Elias could say the truth.
"I guess there's no key to it." The other soldier said and then turned his face to the captives and continued: "You're coming along with us now."
"Why? We didn't do anything." Sampo asked.
"Orders are orders. And besides, you were going north. So are we. Let’s get out of here."
One soldier answered.
One of the soldiers took the horse that Sampo had hitched to the tree and started walking it. They both held their guns towards the four and they went to the highway which was next to the forest road where the car had been left. They walked along the highway for a while until they came to a donkey standing by the side of the road. On the sides of the donkey hung bags and a heavy machine gun was attached to the saddle. A long ammunition belt hung from the machine gun and the donkey carried extra ammunition belts around its body. Next to the donkey stood a third soldier who held the donkey on a leash. They all started walking along the highway.
"So they’re from the side of the Tower? And we still have to rescue these traitors." One soldier said to another.
"They say they're evicted. Why were you evicted anyway?" Another soldier asked them.
"We caused a little bit of trouble and caused a small rebellion." Elias answered.
"I couldn't stand that place or how we lived there. If you like your freedom, then you won't like that place." Sampo followed up.
“I escaped. That place was cruel for me.” Toivo said. Sampo recognized that the uniforms of these soldiers were similar to the soldiers in the north, but he didn't bother to say his opinion about these soldiers, because he knew what they were like.
"Sounds compatible with everything else I've heard about the New Tower. We still have the values of civilization alive, so don't worry." The donkey’s walker said.
They walked along the highway surrounded by forests for a long time until the soldiers for some reason turned to the side of the forest. The posse followed behind. With great difficulty they transported the donkey along the forest terrain. After walking in the forest for some time, they came to a small square house with an antenna on the roof.
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CHAPTER 24
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They went inside the tiny house and left the donkey and the horse outside. Inside the house was a table with a ham radio on it. There were cupboards on the sides of the house. And on one wall was a red flag with a blue cross and a yellow castle. A man who looked older than the other three soldiers was sitting on a chair by the radio desk.
"Are these the damsels that you mentioned? And you were supposedly soldiers of the New Tower? No wonder these wet rags took you." The man laughed.
"And who do you think you are?" Sampo asked.
"Oh, me? I have the prestigious role of officer. Keeping these rascals under control. Nowadays, soldiers are very weak and ungrateful and disrespectful here. That's why it's good to have someone like me with them." The officer said. The three soldiers who escorted the captives here were not in good shape. One had a pot belly, one was a skeleton and one had a slouched back. The officer was much older than them, but it still looked like he could make quick work of all of them. The officer was very much like the Commander in the New Tower, but seemed a more genuine person, though not a very likable person.
"So you're from the north?" Elias asked.
"That's right. And if you don't know, over there we have the true Republic of Finland, and we serve it. Our goal is to restore the republic to its former size and get the lost land back from the traitors, but when you see the current state of our army, hope is fading all the time." The officer said looking at his soldiers.
"Slowly and surely, good man. I have a good feeling that our efforts will yet bare fruit." The fat soldier said leaning against the wall.
"Be that as it may, our work here is done." The officer said, picking up the ham radio.
"Unit 7T here. Coming to the Ark now. Four civilians and a horse found, ready to be brought in for inspection. Over." The officer said into the radio.
"Where are we going now?" Toivo asked.
“I’m so tired having to guns pointed at me and being told to go somewhere.” Sampo complained.
"Follow us and you'll see." One soldier answered. They stepped out of the little house and left the forest back to the highway with their animals. The constant walking along the asphalt hurt all of their feet, but they could not stop. The soldiers had decent boots that made their lives easier. After walking some distance, they came to a truck. Soldiers were sitting on both sides of the truck bed and one was leaning against the door. Most of the soldiers in the car, with the exception of a couple of higher ranking individuals, appeared to be in poor condition and unfit to be soldiers, just as the officer had said.
"Here come the last ones!" The driver shouted to his crew.
"It's good that we arrived at all. You have no idea how difficult it is to walk in the woods with a gun-ass. And then we found this horse as well." The officer said back.
"Well, all you have to do is climb aboard and let's get the donkey up there at the same time." The driver said. The soldiers on the truck bed lowered two straps. The straps were wrapped around the donkey so that they somehow held. The unit below started to lift the donkey and the soldiers above pulled. Judging by the donkey's sounds, it wasn't enjoying this. When the donkey was lifted onto the bed, it went to lie down in the middle and the unit climbed onto the bed to sit on the sides. There wasn’t enough room for any more people on the bed.
“There doesn’t seem to be enough room for the prisoners and the horse.” The driver noticed.
“I can be on the horse. It trusts me.” Toivo suggested.
“And let you ride away with it? Good try.” The Officer replied.
“Who cares if they escape? It’s supposed to be a rescue mission. We’ll just say that they died along the way.” One soldier on the truck bed pointed out.
“You know what? That’s true. Good idea, soldier. Lady. Boy. You two ride the horse. You better know how.” The Officer told Aino and Toivo.
“I can ride it.” Toivo said.
“I don’t trust them to follow us.” The driver pointed out.
“I wouldn’t leave them behind.” Toivo replied and looked at the other prisoners.
“Somebody cares about me!” Sampo said a little jokingly but also sincerely.
“Two can get on the horse and the other two can sit with the gun-ass on the truck bed.” The officer said, and so Elias and Sampo got up on the truck bed and leaned on the donkey.
“Why are we even coming with you?” Elias asked.
“Because we have quotas and that’s all you need to know.” The officer replied. Aino lifted Toivo up on the horse and then got up herself.
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After a while, the truck started moving.
"Shouldn't you have run out of fuel a long time ago?" Elias asked the officer.
"Gasoline and diesel ran out, yes. But we have developed a new way to make the machines move." the officer answered.
"So is the city full of busy traffic?" Elias asked.
"No. Vehicles are for the military only so they can remain usable for as long as possible."
"Then how does it run if it doesn't run on gas?" Elias asked.
"That’s none of your business." The Officer replied.
During the journey, the soldiers who were on the bed asked Elias and Sampo the same things that the soldiers who found them asked. They decided to answer honestly because if they changed their story, the soldiers who found them would notice.
"What are you doing with this car anyway?" Elias asked.
"The Ark takes the soldiers from the city and takes them around the Deadland and also fetches them back." The officer answered.
"You call the outside region the Deadland, just like in the south, why is that?"
"I don't know how they speak there. I’ve always heard that name used." The officer answered.
After driving a long way on the highway to the north, the truck arrived at a small village. During the entire journey that Elias and the posse had traveled along the highways either by car or truck, they passed many towns and villages, all empty. But now they stopped at a small village where there was lively life. The forest in front of the village had been cleared to make room for a other things. The first building in the village was a two-story motel building that looked much newer than any building Elias had ever seen. A small village began behind the motel where people could be seen walking and living their own lives.
"Everybody out!" The driver shouted once the truck stopped. They began to lower the donkey in the same way that it was raised. After that, everyone came down from the bed. The truck was driven into a garage, which had a self-opening door. Elias and Sampo smelled like the donkey. Toivo stopped the horse and Aino jumped down and took Toivo down with her.
"Did we come through the wall yet? I didn't notice it anywhere." Elias asked.
"Not quite yet. In the last couple of years, the republic has expanded its reach beyond the wall and is no longer completely within it." The Officer answered.
"Isn't this place vulnerable for an attack?"
"No. The people of the Tower are afraid to go outside their walls. They think the disease is still raging here."
"So do I understand correctly now? The disease is no longer even a threat?"
"It's still there, but it's not really a threat anymore. Before, you could get it if you just touched an infected surface or breathed too close to it. Now you can safely touch infected surfaces or skin. You can actually only get infected if it gets under the skin or in a cavity." The officer answered.
“The disease is how the New Tower justified its ways. They told me that the world is dangerous and that’s why they need to keep us strong and in line.” Toivo said.
"Our knowledge is our secret weapon. In an actual battle, we can hardly match them. Their army is better than ours. Can I say that? But we will expand our area and before long the cannons can be moved close enough to bombard them into surrender." One soldier continued. Toivo looked freightened after hearing that.
“You intend to bombard them? There’s lots of fine people in there. They don’t deserve that.” Toivo said.
“I’m sure there are, boy. But war requires sacrifices.” The Officer replied.
"How long have you known that the disease is harmless?" Sampo asked. Even though Sampo was in the republic for a long time, he didn't know about its news or rumours. There is journalism in the Republic, but the newspapers cost money and Sampo had none.
"Four years ago, scientists made this observation. The news were immediately passed on to the government, which forwarded it to the army. Before long, the Deadland was inhabited and new buildings were even built here. That's where we are ahead of the traitors. From what I've heard, they only focus on what they need the most and nothing else, but we are making progress." The officer said. Elias looked at the streetscape of the village and already saw two homeless beggars.
"How free are we to move now?" Sampo asked.
"You have to follow one of us all the time, or stay inside. You are not citizens. At least not yet." The officer answered.
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The soldiers went towards the motel and the posse followed behind. They waited outside while the soldiers went inside. Only the Officer stayed outside to supervise the four. After a while the soldiers came out and the officer pulled a couple of soldiers aside. One thick one and one thin one. These were the same soldiers who found the posse at their car.
“The civilians are your responsibility. Make sure nothing happens to them or you’ll pay the price.” The officer told them.
"Why don't they go inside and stay there? Why do they have to be our responsibility?"
"Because I know from my own experience that the outsiders are not safe here from hostile residents even behind closed doors and your job is to maintain peace for all people. Is that clear?" The officer said matter-of-factly.
"Yes, officer!" Both soldiers answered. The officer went inside and the soldiers looked at their prisoners.
“Follow us and don’t stray. Don’t cause trouble and don’t even speak.” The thin soldier told them. They didn’t dare to say anything back but the soldiers didn’t mind. They made their way to the village, with the posse following them. The soldiers had pistols on their hips. On their way to the village, they walked past two beggars. The beggars asked for money but the soldiers kept their eyes straight ahead. They went straight to a tavern. When they were at the door of the tavern, one of the soldiers asked: "Should we let these prisoners come in? Even the little one? Would there be any trouble if we left them outside?"
"If they get beaten up when they were our responsibility, there will definitely be words coming our way." The other one answered. The soldiers decided to take the four prisoners in. There was one light bulb hanging from the ceiling of the taverm and there were tables next to the walls. The people inside looked at who came in but didn’t keep their eyes on them for long. The two soldiers went to the counter to buy glasses of whiskey and beer and went to the table at the edge of the room where three other soldiers were sitting. Elias recognized the other three soldiers. One of them had a buzz cut hairstyle, one had a messy long beard and one had messy hair. These were the ones who burned his home. If these three had just stayed at home, Elias wouldn't be here. He would still be at the cabin, he thought to himself. He still kept his expression neutral so he wouldn't get questions he didn't want to answer. When the soldiers came to the table, the buzz cut immediately asked: "Who are these people? Did you find them in the nature?"
"They were found on the Deadland near an empty shed, trashing a car that didn't have a key. They say they were evicted from the Tower." The thick soldier answered.
"Traitors to traitors. Does that make you our friends?" The buzz cut asked rhetorically.
"Don't think for a second that I'm your friend." Elias thought but said nothing.
"I asked. Does that make you our friends?" The buzz cut asked again louder and got up from his chair.
"That's enough. Their skins are our responsibility by order of the officer. If it was up to me, I would break their legs and throw them into jail where the prisoners belong, but that's not our decision now." The thick soldier shouted back.
"Looks like you've already punched one of them in the nose." The messy hair stated and pointed to Elias’ broken nose.
“And then look at this ugly woman. Did you do this to her? Are you a wife beater?” The buzz cut asked and looked at Sampo.
“What did you just say to me?” Sampo said angrily and stepped forward until the thick soldier pulled him back.
"They were like that when we found them." The thin soldier answered.
"That's what they always say in the east." Messy Hair said jokingly and continued: "Well, do you know what we found?"
"Well tell me."
"Nothing useful." Messy hair said.
"Well, we didn’t either, as you can see." The thick soldier replied and they all laughed.
"Well, actually we did find something. We found a cabin in the woods on the shore of a lake. There wasn't a soul there, but there was a potato field where there was still some fruit. There was also firewood, a storage and some tools. Then we took everything that might be useful, and in the end, we burned the place." Messy hair explained.
"And safely and responsibly by watering the environment in advance." Messy beard added.
"What do they say about destroying buildings in dead land? Don't destroy anything because maybe they can still be used later when we expand there." The thin soldier said seriously.
"What ever. It was just a small cabin. We won't get into trouble if no one higher up knows about it. No one will probably go there since we've already been there once. There won't be any consequences for burning down the cabin." The buzz cut defended himself.
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They remained in the tavern for some time. The soldiers were having a conversation that Elias didn't listen to as he was in his own thoughts. Sampo and Aino were looking at all the people inisde the tavern and checking if anyone was looking at their group the wrong way. One soldier in the tavern noticed the outfit that Toivo wore. The soldier recognized the outfit and started walking towards him with intentions to talk trash. Aino didn’t like the soldier’s intentions and hit him with an empty beer bottle to the head. Sampo looked baffled for a moment but then decided that he should have her back, so as soon as the soldier lifted his head back up, Sampo punched him in the jaw. The second shot didn’t flinch this soldier as it wasn’t a surprise. He took an empty bottle and was about to swing it but before the bottle hit anything, it shattered into hundreds of pieces. The soldier looked baffled for a moment and that gave the thin and thick soldiers time to react.
“If something happens to these prisoners, we’re in trouble.” One told the other and they both took a hold of the angry soldier and held him in place. The tavernkeeper shot a bullet on the ceiling and yelled: “Enough of that. All of you out of here now!” When the soldiers left, they told the posse to follow.
“Well done. If it were up to us, you’d be in a ditch. But we have to watch you and look after you. So follow us.” The thin soldier said. The soldiers went deeper into the village. They went to a small shop where the soldiers bought six bottles of beer, dried potato slices and one newspaper.
“What is this place? They just have these things for the taking?” Toivo wondered out loud, never having been in a store.
“Tower slave doesn’t know what a store is. Here we spend the fruit of our labour and pick what we want.” The thick soldier said, noticeably drunk. Both Sampo and Aino made sure to stay close to Toivo during the entire time when they were in the presence of these soldiers.
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They headed back to the motel where the soldiers had their own modest beds and the prisoners slept on the floor. The soldiers spent the evening playing poker and consuming their purchases. Elias laid on the floor and looked at the ceiling, thinking about his situation, Pauli and the future. Toivo was drawing to ease his nerves.
“What have you drawn today?” Sampo asked Toivo, trying to make him feel better.
Toivo showed him. He had copied the map that Elias had on him. He had also drawn the house that they stayed in the previous night with the strange people, and one drawing of a little black haired girl in a jumpsuit tending to a wounded New Tower soldier while there were fires in the background.
“Is this what you saw in your dream?” Sampo asked him. Toivo just nodded and hummed. “I think these people are taking us closer to my destination. We may have lost the car and most likely our horse too, but this may shorten the distance a lot for us.” Elias said.
“Even better. They’ll take us straight to Oulu. I know it. I remember so called rescued civilians being brought there all the time. After that they’ll release us on the streets. From there we only have one obstacle between us and the boat.” Sampo said.
“And what is that obstacle?” Elias asked.
“Well, the boat isn’t mine. I have no idea if it has an ignition key anywhere. So this plan still isn’t certain.” Sampo answered. The soldiers were so into their game and drinks that they didn’t listen to anything that the posse said.
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Later in the evening the soldiers went out and left the prisoners in the room. The officer had his own room so he didn't know that the soldiers neglected the prisoners this way. Elias looked out the window and saw the soldiers leaving. In the meantime, Sampo stole a can of beans from one of the soldiers' backpack and then shared it with the others. After eating, Sampo threw the can outside and hoped that the soldiers wouldn't find it. After that, Elias stole his compass from the backpack, which the soldiers also stole from Pauli's car. The soldiers were gone until they returned late at night. The prisoners did not bother to escape because they did not know if the soldiers would return soon and because it would go against their plan. Late at night there was noise outside. Elias went to look through the window and saw the soldiers dragging a beaten farmer into the motel yard. The farmer's face was bloody and his clothes were dirty. The soldiers gave the farmer a few kicks in the ribs, from which it could be concluded that they were not helping an injured civilian, but that this was their own doing. Elias went back to the floor and pretended to be sleeping.
When the soldiers entered the room, they collapsed on their beds and it didn't take them long to fall asleep.
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CHAPTER 25
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In the morning there was a knock on the door of the room. The soldiers complained and cursed the awakening that came sooner than they would have liked. They still got up and one of them went to open the door.
"In a little over an hour, we'll get back on board and make our way to Oulu, so get ready now. And here are your breakfasts." The officer said, handing the soldier a piece of bread wrapped in paper that they should share. The soldiers collected their baggage and ate their breakfast.
“You four. Get up and get ready. We’re leaving in an hour.” The thick soldier said to the prisoners. They were all sore after sleeping on the motel floor, but they got up. The four left the room with permission. The beaten farmer had gone away from where he was left in the evening. The motel yard was filled with more soldiers and the truck had been brought out. The horse had been hitched to a post. The prisoners all stood at the yard leaning on a guardrail.
“Did everybody sleep well? Prepared for what today may bring?” Elias asked, trying to improve their morale.
“I saw a worrying dream again.” Toivo answered.
“Nervous about going back to Oulu. I hope no nasty people there remember me.” Sampo said.
After waiting for a while, their unit came out of their room and they got into the truck. The truck bed filled with soldiers. Elias and Sampo once again got the honour of sitting in the middle along with Aino and Toivo, as the donkey and the horse were left behind.
“The horse! Why is it staying here?” Toivo shouted into the cockpit where the officer sat on the passenger’s seat.
“I sold it to the owner of the motel. Made a good fortune from that.” The Officer answered.
“What? It wasn’t yours! How can you sell it? Buy it back!” Toivo shouted at the officer.
“Oh, is the rescued civilian now giving orders to an officer of the army. Shut it, kid!” The Officer replied and chuckled. The side mirror suddenly fell off even though nothing touched it which spooked the officer but when he looked behind him, Toivo was already in the truck bed, seething and pouting. The soldiers on the truckbed looked sympathetic towards Toivo when they saw how much this seemed to matter to him, but no one dared to say anything. The truck drove through the village and the people in the village watched it drive by. The villagers didn't look at the soldiers with respect or admiration, but more with disgust and relief that they were going away again for a while. The village was left behind when the truck went north.
"Where's that donkey? It was much better company than anyone here." Sampo asked. The question got a couple of light chuckles.
"It's staying there. It's the property of the motel owner and we only borrowed it." The officer answered. Toivo started drawing again to pass time during the trip. A couple of soldiers were looking at what he was drawing. He once again drew the jumpsuit wearing black haired girl, but this time standing by a destroyed shack and picking up a piece of wood.
“Weird imagination this kid has.” One soldier said.
“That’s because he sees weird dreams.” Sampo replied. Toivo didn’t seem to mind the words they said while he focused on drawing details.
During the trip, the truck drove along the highway and the view was mostly forest. Several times it drove to other villages and different plantations. It even drove through one small town, but it was mostly empty. It stopped in many villages and farms to collect the product of the farms. At one place, the driver collected a small sack from the farmer and gave a warning that the next time the farmer will have his property seized and the state will sell it to someone else if the farm does not start paying more tribute.
“Different rulers, slighty different ways, robbers all of them.” Sampo commented, but nobody cared. Whenever one sack was collected from somewhere, it was thrown in the middle of the bed, where the prisoners got something to lean on. The closer they got to their destination, the more lively the villages became. The soldiers on the journey talked and bragged to each other about what they did in the village the day before, as well as their own journeys in the Deadland. The officer didn't seem to care if the soldiers admitted to doing something criminal because he knew that if the soldiers were punished for their actions, they wouldn't have any soldiers left.
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Before long they arrived at the wall of Oulu. The wall looked much better than the New Tower’s wall, and the first thing they noticed were the big cannons behind the wall. In front of the wall were more plantations and a little settlement. In this small settlement, the people seemed to like the soldiers and appreciate the work they do. A couple of men even tipped their hats for the driver. These farmers were in good contact with the government, so the soldiers did not dare to treat them badly. The gate was opened for the truck and the truck drove inside the walls. Behind the wall was a more lively city than what Elias had seen with his own eyes. The streets were full of ordinary looking people who seemed to be content with their lives. There were even friend groups and couples walking around. Elias had seen New York's rush hour in pictures and this was nothing compared to that, but all the cities he had personally seen were either empty or populated by people who were tired of life.
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When the truck was parked, everyone got off and were free to go wherever they wanted.
"You're on your own now. Try to find some way to live because you won't get any help." The officer told the four.
"So now we're just going to be homeless until we find a way to provide for ourselves?" Elias asked.
"That’s right. But if you have any useful skills, it shouldn't take long." The officer answered and walked away.
"Well. We won't need any work if we just get out of here by boat. I'm sure you know where it is?" Elias asked Sampo.
"I can easily get from here to the boat. Just follow me." Sampo answered and started walking the route that would lead to the boat. They walked along the city streets where there were open shops and services. They noticed on one wall was written the words: “Paska kaupunni” but somebody was painting white paint over it. Smoke from the factory could be seen in the sky. They also walked past the power plant that powers the entire republic and has allowed them long distance communication and other advancements. Here, too, the transports were made with either push or pull carts because as the officer said, fuel is not wasted. However, the city was not a flourishing civilization. Every now and then they saw the poor sleeping on benches or begging on the side of the street. Toivo was in awe of this city as well, as he had not even seen pictures of cities. Just the thought that large amounts of people can be in a city without being in uniforms was amazing to him. The city was already familiar to Sampo and Aino. While Sampo lead the way, Aino kept Toivo close because she knew what kind of people lived here. Elias had nothing except the things he carried in his pockets so he tried not to think about the poor even though he felt sorry for them. After walking around the city for a while, they arrived at the harbor area. The harbor area was full of shipping containers lying on the ground, which were used as living quarters for those who had no work or money.
"Over there. That wooden shack right at the edge. There's the boat and gas." Sampo said and pointed to a shack.
"But who are those guys?" Elias asked and saw three young men in pink leather jackets leaning against the wall of the shack. They all had their hair combed up and looked exactly the same except for the color of their hair.
"They are the Pink Jacket Gang! My dudes. Let’s see if they remember me!" Sampo answered. The four made their way to the boathouse until the Pink Jackets stopped them.
"What's your business here?" One asked.
"Yeah. What's the matter?" Another repeated.
"Hey dudes. I'm just going to sniff the gas again so make way." Sampo answered.
"We're not making way for anyone. This is Pink Jacket territory!" One said.
"That's right. This is our territory!" Another added.
"Don’t you remember me! I was here with you before and I left for a few days and now you claim I can’t go sniffing my gas anymore?"
"You’re not one of us! Where’s your jacket?” One asked.
“Yeah! Where is it?” Another one added. Sampo remembered that he left his jacket in the meat shed and no longer had it.
“I forgot it. But you still remember me, right?” He pleaded.
“If you don’t have the pink jacket, then you’re not a Pink Jacket. You get that?”
“Yeah! Do you?” Another one added.
“Oh so this is exlusively the Pink Jackets’ territory? Is that what you claim?” Elias asked.
“It's not just a claim. We own this place for real. And no one here is arguing against that, so you have no right to anything here." One of them said.
"That's right. No right!" Another one added.
"I left something in that shed, and I just came to get it back. Then I can leave." Sampo explained.
"Oh, that boat, you mean? That won’t slide." One said.
"That's right. It won't slide!" Another one added.
"We use it every evening to cruise the nearby waters." The third told.
"Well, maybe you can take us to one island with it and then you can keep it." Elias suggested.
"That won't work. This boat runs on old-school gasoline, and it's not infinite. We want to use it as long as possible. And the boat has already started to slow down, so I guess it’s already running low." One explained.
"That's right. It's over!" Another one added.
"There should be a spare canister there." Sampo told.
"There is. But we use it for sniffing and don't want to waste it. So if you have nothing else to do, start disappearing." One said.
"That’s right! Disappear!" Another added.
"Skrra, POP!" The third shouted after. The four turned back. They went out of the harbor area and went between two apartment buildings.
"Those dudes are real jerks." Sampo stated.
"So they were your people?" Elias asked.
"They were. I guess they forgot me while I was gone."
"Did Aino, Rossi and Duvre belong to this gang?" Elias asked. Aino gestured negatively and gestured to Elias that that was a silly question. She then took Toivo’s notebook and wrote: “Let’s steal the boat at night.”
"Well, I don't think I have a better idea, so let’s try that." Sampo answered.
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They waited in the alley between the apartment buildings. Toivo was drawing again. Sampo watched him draw. He was drawing the inside of the tavern they were in last night. People were passing by every now and then, not paying any mind to them. While they were waiting, two soldiers walked past the alley and noticed them.
"It can't be. I know you!" One soldier shouted when he saw Sampo.
"You're the one who kept whining at the officers and finally got the boot. And look where you are now. In the alley sucking mold off a wall. And look where the rest of us are. Respected heroes of society on our way to our wonderful locales." Another soldier added.
"Good for you. But I'm not interested." Sampo answered.
"And it's good for us that no one is interested in you. I've been waiting for this for a long time." The soldier said and they came deeper into the alley and beat Sampo on the dirty asphalt of the alley. Sampo’s companions didn't say anything during the entire event and pretended to be just be unrelated vagabonds. Aino covered the eyes of Toivo. After the beating, the two soldiers left. Both of their pants ripped up as they were walking, but they didn’t notice. Sampo had asphalt burns and bruises on his face, and he was holding his arm.
"Maybe you could have done something!" Sampo complained.
"Then we would all have been beaten up. And besides, your old problems are not my problems." Elias answered. they still stayed in the alley waiting for dark to come and looking at the harbor. The Pink Jackets just psyched themselves up in the harbor all day. Time passed painfully slowly, but finally evening came. They saw the Pink Jackets go into the shed and heard the engine start. They saw the boat drifting and turning in the nearby water. Every now and then empty glass bottles flew from the boat into the water. After some time, they drove the boat back to the shed and left the harbor on foot. But in their place other people came to guard the boathouse. From inside one of the containers came a poor-looking young woman to look after the shed, and from the other container came a bearded man in his fifties in great shape.
"Who are those now?" Elias asked.
"I actually know them. Apparently the people in the containers haven't changed in this short time. Come on, maybe they're good for us." Sampo said.
“Ok. This is our time. I’ll need Sampo to get past them but Aino and Toivo should stay here. I have no idea what is on that island that I need to get to. But I hope I can return. Let’s go, Sampo.” Elias said.
The two went back to the harbor. But didn’t get far.
"Well look who's back. You haven't been gone for long. Where's the rest of your group and who is this new guy here?" The poor man said to Sampo.
"They had other plans. Why are you standing here late at night?" Sampo asked.
"We guard this shed. The Pink Jackets will let us use their seawater filter if we serve them." The poor woman answered.
"Oh, they have one here. I’ll give it to you if you would do your good friend a favor and let us into that shed." Sampo suggested.
"Unfortunately, that won't work now. If they know that someone visited their shed when we were on guard, then guess whose fault it will be." The poor man answered.
"There are many of you and there are three of them. Just take this harbor of theirs and tell them to disappear." Sampo said.
"And by the way, don't do that. They're rich and they've made sure that we don't have to worry about where to find our food. We want to keep them here, more than you." The poor woman answered.
"Well, I guess we’ll need to keep thinking about our plan." Sampo said to Elias and they again left the harbor back to the alley. When Aino saw them return, she took Toivo’s notebook and wrote: “What happened?”
“They wouldn’t let us take the boat.” Elias answered.
“So what now?" Sampo asked.
"How much power can those Pink Jackets have? Maybe if some authority tells them to disappear and leave that shed, they might leave." Elias suggested.
"But they don't break any law. Who can tell them to do anything?" Sampo asked.
"If no one can tell them to do it, then maybe we should do it ourselves." Elias suggested.
"So you're saying now that..."
"That's exactly what I'm saying. Let's join law enforcement and send them away."
"There are no traditional police here. Just the army. And their priority is not to maintain order, as you may have seen today. Mostly the army is traveling in the Deadland."
"Well let’s join the army then. If it gives us a chance to get rid of these guys, then maybe that's the best option."
"I'm just so tired of being bossed around by anyone and I was so ready to just go across the sea somewhere and be free and I wouldn't have to serve anyone another day." Sampo said.
"Listen now. You're twice my age, but I still have to explain to you how you sometimes need to do things that you don’t want to do, if you want to live, and you just sound like a child who doesn't want to go to school. Fix your attitude and pull yourself together for once, I'm begging you." Elias said to Sampo with frustration in his voice.
Sampo was silent for a moment and thought about what Elias said.
“Most things in the world were accomplished because people did something they didn't want to do, and if everyone was like Sampo, then people would have developed backwards and become too lazy to survive.” Elias explained.
"Well, I guess you're right. But why don't you just join the army and do it alone?"
"Good question. I guess I just want a friend there. Can you do a friend a favor?" Elias asked exaggeratedly sweetly and a little jokingly.
"We're not friends." Sampo answered.
"We’re not?" Elias asked.
"But I guess I can still come." Sampo added.
"Well, tomorrow we'll apply to join. You probably know the place where you once joined." Elias said.
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They decided to sleep on the hard and dirty asphalt of the alley. It was not pleasant for any of them. They had slept on floors before but this ground was filthy and cold. While they were laying on their backs looking at the sky, it was obvious that nobody had a good time.
“I didn’t see a shooting star but I’ll pretend that I did and ask you all what do you really wish after this whole job is done.” Sampo said.
“Aside from getting to my destination, I really just hope that my dad is okay, and that Pauli didn’t suffer in his last moments. I have no idea what I want after I’ve done my job, or where will I go.” Elias answered.
“Me neither, honestly.” Sampo said back.
“I want to see the world as I already said. I want to see things I never saw inside those walls.” Toivo said.
“Maybe someday you will. If I had any way of making long travels, I’d come with you. I myself just want to be free from anyone else’s commands and wishes. Even if I have to fend for myself. I’d rather live dangerously but freely, than safely in captivity.” Sampo told them. “I’ve lived in captivity all my life. It was peaceful and easy, and miss it a little. But I’d rather be even here in this alley than back there.” Toivo said. Aino took Toivo’s notebook.
“I want unpredictability. I don’t want to know what happens tomorrow.” She wrote.
“I didn’t take you for that type. But I like it.” Sampo said with a smirk.
“So I guess we all agree that neither of these two nations are a good place for us.” Elias said.
“You want to go back into the highways too?” Sampo asked.
“Anywhere really. Eventually I’ll have to find a good home. I can’t go back to my old one.” “You’ll find it yet. I’m positive that we’ll all find what we want. But right now I want to find some sleep on this cold asphalt. Good night!” Sampo finished, and nobody said anything after.
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CHAPTER 26
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In the morning, they woke up at their own times to the sounds of the city. When Elias woke up, Toivo was already awake and drawing his last dream again. He once again drew the girl, but this time tending to small animal on a road that had been run over. Elias woke up Sampo and Aino. They felt very hungry and Sampo found lettuce leaves in the waste containers that weren't even that old.
“You want?” He asked looking at Aino and Toivo who looked repulsed by the suggestion. Elias took a leaf.
“When was the last time you ate greens?” Sampo asked the others to lighten the mood.
“Last week in my cell.” Toivo replied.
“Never.” Elias replied and munched on the lettuce leaf which disappeared quickly.
“How did everybody sleep?” Elias asked, but he knew the answer from just seeing and listening the others, who didn’t even reply.
“Well. I guess we don’t have any more business on this alley so let’s just make our way to become army boys!” Sampo said. They all got up and stretched their sore limbs. Sampo lead the way to the recruitment center which was within walking distance. On their way there they saw that the words: “Paska kaupunni” had once again appeared on the wall. They also saw a car carrying a boat with military symbols on it.
“The army seems to have boats. Maybe we can steal one of them.” Elias suggested.
“I do believe that stealing government property is a virtue, but for our own sake, we should go with the other plan. It’s safer.” Sampo replied.
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They arrived at the recruitent center. On the roof of the center, there was the same flag that they saw in the small radio shack. They stopped at the entrance of the building.
“Okay. Me and Elias go in and get our uniforms and you wait here. Then we’ll just go back to the boathouse and seize the boat by appealing to authority. That’s the plan.” Sampo said.
Elias and Sampo went to a booth at the back of the lobby of the building and asked to join the army.
“We came here to serve the republic!” Elias said to the recruiter pretending to be enthusiastic.
“Excellent. Meet with a doctor in one’s office to get your phsyical data taken.” The recruiter replied. While Elias and Sampo waited outside the doctor’s office, Elias took a newspaper that was from the previous day. Elias read the front page article aloud.
“The Tower is crumbling. Spies report that rebels have taken over the city of Tampere, the New Tower’s main military hub, and the regime has trouble trying to recapture the city, as their forces outside the city are weak and of smaller numbers. The rebellion began in Tampere, with most of the military supporting the rebellion, and most of the loyalists have either fled or died.” Elias read from the paper and wanted Sampo to hear.
“You know, maybe that place doesn’t sound so bad after all.” Sampo said.
“You can go there alone. I am not going into a warzone. I want far away from both these places.” Elias said right back.
“Next!” Came the call from the doctor’s office. Sampo went first. Elias stayed in the waiting lobby reading the newspaper. Inside the doctor’s office physical data was taken from Sampo, such as height, weight and medical history. When he was asked if he’s sexually active, he lied in his answer. After that, a recruiter asked about his combat experience. He said that he has some experience in using a gun and that he even knows the name of one gun. He was accepted. He was given a field-colored padded jacket and pants, as well as durable boots, a backpack, and binoculars. He came out of the office and walked up to Elias.
“You won’t believe how easy it is to be accepted! Just say that you know how to use a gun and don’t say that you smoke or drink and they’ll take you.” Sampo told Elias.
“That’s it? Well this should be easy.” Elias said and also went into the office. When he came back as a soldier, they put on the uniforms over their current clothes.
"Was it really all that was required?" Elias asked.
"The requirements are not high. Have you seen the other soldiers here?" Sampo answered.
The person working at the counter told them that today there will be another trip to the Deadland, and that they should go prepare now.
"We’re not going hiking in there now. Let's just do what we came to do. Let's get the boat and get out of here." Sampo said to Elias. They left the building and regrouped with Aino and Toivo but then they heard a yell from behind.
"And where are you going? All soldiers to the Ark and quickly!" A high ranking soldier shouted from behind. They all continued walking in their own direction.
"Get in here now or you'll get booted on the first day." The person yelled at them. They realized that they had no other choice now, and their plans had to be executed later.
Where do we go while you two are out there?” Toivo asked.
“Hey, big man! Do the wives and sons of soldiers get special shelter?” Sampo asked the high ranker. Aino looked at him a little weirded out until she understood his plan.
“The safe house is literally right next to you. They just need to say the word “Guardian angel” at the door and they’ll be locked in a cell until you come back and say the word.”
“Back into a cell?” Toivo complained.
“It won’t be for long. We’ll come back soon and then we’re out of here. And that’s a promise.” Sampo said to Toivo. The high ranker saw the bruised faces of Sampo and Aino and the broken nose of Elias.
“Does the child abuse you three?” The high ranker asked jokingly, but nobody asnwered. One soldier came to guide Aino and Toivo to a holding cell but Aino shoved his hand away and walked in the cell herself with Toivo behind her.
"Okay. Lead the way." Elias said to the high ranker. He and Sampo followed and came to the same place where the truck was left when they came into the city. They got on it again, but this time they sat on the sides of the bed. The other soldiers in the truck bed had different faces than the ones on the way back. Exploring the Deadland was shift work.
After waiting for a while, the truck started moving and went through the open hole in the wall. The soldiers who abused Sampo also sat in the truck bed.
"Look who decided to try his luck in the army again. There we have two new faces that look quite ready. One has a black eye and the other has a crooked nose." The abuser said slyly. Sampo wanted to push him off the bed, but he knew it would be a bad decision and he would be punished for it. Sampo decided to be a better man and not answer. While the truck was moving, they drove past the landscapes and villages they had seen already. In one village the car stopped to pick up a sack which was thrown in the back.
"You can fight over it at lunchtime." The driver told them. Before long, the car made a turn in a different direction than the one where Elias and Sampo came from. In this direction they only drove past forests and abandoned population centers too.
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The car drove into one of the villages, but this village was different. The first thing everyone noticed was the nooses hanging from the street lamps, and the old skeletons underneath. The heads of the skeletons had detached from their necks over time when they were left hanging. The walls of the buildings on the sides of the street were full of bullet holes. None of the soldiers had seen this place before and the Republic hadn't expanded here yet, judging by the condition of the village.
"What's going on here?" Elias wondered.
"I know exactly what's going on here." Sampo's abuser answered. Everyone turned to look at him.
"Well, Private Salo. Let me know if you know." The officer of this group asked.
"I mean, I lived here when I was little. I remember when some vest gang came to everyone's homes here, or at least ours, and they took everything from us that was worth taking. In the streets, the police force fought a war with the gangs, but lost, and we all lived at their mercy. After a while the village suffered from famine and the gangs started publicly hanging people. I don't know what they thought that would solve. Luckily we had a car where no one had found it or taken it, and we went north with it. I don't know what happened to this place in the end, but the whole population seems to have escaped. Well at least those who survived." Salo told. There were no human remains in the streets other than those from the hanged ones. The truck stopped and everyone was ordered to start investigating the place. Elias and Sampo went inside some old business premises where they found no human remains.
"These people didn't die from any shooting, or anything else sudden." Elias concluded. They went to the back room of the business premises and there all the cupboards and storage spaces were empty. Everything was taken. There was nothing in the premises so they came out. A tent on the roof of a department store caught their eye.
"Maybe we should go to the roof to find out what it is?" Sampo suggested. They went to the door of the department store but the front door was chained shut. They went back to the truck and asked for something to open the door with. The driver gave them pliers.
Sampo broke the glass of the department store's door with the pair of pliers and they went in through the broken glass. The shelves were full of things, but they were not in packages. These things had been taken from people's homes and brought here. The back room had very luxurious facilities compared to the rest of the village. There was a rack full of unopened wine bottles on the wall. In the middle of the back room was a pool table and in the middle was a set of balls perfectly inside a triangle and there were cues on the wall. One other room in the building was filled with beds that were all different.
"Did they bring people's beds here too?" Elias wondered.
"Is that what you're thinking about? Aren't you thinking more about those skeletons on these beds?" Sampo replied, pointing to the skeletons on the beds.
"Everyone here seemed to die in peace." Elias stated.
"Yes, at one point there was one infectious disease that killed quite a few people."
Sampo answered sarcastically.
"But did they all get sick at the same time? Seems a bit odd." Elias wondered.
At the back of the room were stairs that led up. They climbed the stairs and came upstairs. Upstairs there were more skeletons in beds. The upstairs room had a wall full of handguns and a few hand grenades. Elias took one grenade in his pocket and Sampo took one handgun in his pocket. The room also had a short ladder that led to the roof. They came here to see the roof, so they climbed the ladder. There was a red tent on the roof that had been collapsed by the weather and wind, but it was still visible all the way down. They cleared the tent out of the way and looked at what was underneath. A large beanbag chair was revealed from under the tent, and there was a skeleton on top of it too. The skeleton was wearing a fur cloak and a black jacket. There were also empty beer bottles and broken syringes under the tent. Next to the beanbag chair was a nightstand and next to the nightstand there was a notebook on the ground. Elias saw the notebook and opened it. Only the first page had text, but otherwise the notebook was completely empty. The text read: "If you're reading this, you're already dead. The reason I went to shake hands with every citizen and loyal knight of the kingdom was because if the King has to go, then everyone else has to go too."
"One person, apparently the leader of this place, deliberately infected everyone here when he got sick. That's what I understood from this short message. And he thought he was the king even though from the looks of this place he was just leading some vest gang, as Salo said." Elias said to Sampo.
"I guess that's why all the skeletons were in beds" Sampo answered. Elias put the notebook in his backpack and started to explore the place. When the roof had been searched, Elias looked at the village from the roof. In the windows of the houses, soldiers of the republic could be seen inspecting the apartments. In one of the windows, he noticed something yellow moving. He looked at that window with his binoculars. He saw a person in a hazmat suit peeking through the window and staying low.
“Sampo, come look at this.” Elias hollered. Sampo took the binoculars and looked at where Elias was pointing.
“Who’s that? Nobody had that kind of suit when we came here.” Sampo said.
“Should we ask the others?” Elias asked.
“Ahh. I don’t want to talk with any of these people. Let’s just go look ourselves.” Sampo said. They came out of the department store the same way they came in. They quickly went to the apartment building where they saw the person hiding. Elias remembered what floor the person was on and they went to that apartment building and climbed the stairs. In the same apartment building, the officer of the group was standing in the first floor while one of the apartments on the lower floor was searched.
"Why are you going up the stairs already? The lowest apartments will be searched first!" The officer shouted after them.
"We'll do it the other way around." Sampo shouted back. Climbing up, Elias counted the floors and kept in mind where they were. When they were on the floor where they thought they saw something, they went to the apartment where they thought they saw it. Just like everything else in the village, this apartment was completely emptied of everything. In one room there were old human remains, but there was already an explanation for that. In one room, under the window, there were two people in hazmat suits lying motionless. If they had been in this position the whole time, they would not have been visible from the window.
"I know you guys are awake." Sampo shouted at the lying suits. The suits didn't move. Elias went to grab one of the suits by the ankle and pull the whole body back. Thebody reacted and tried to kick Elias. Both suits got up and took a hold of Sampo and Elias and got the upper hand, but then they let go and took off their masks. Under the masks was Rossi and Duvre
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CHAPTER 27
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Everyone was silent for a few seconds.
"And what are you doing here?" Sampo asked them.
"And why are you here with them?" Rossi asked a counter question.
"Right now we kind of have to. Answer my first question." Sampo answered.
"Well, fine. Shortly after you were thrown out, there were some small changes. Rebels now control the city where we were in and we decided to join them for our own good, and under their rule, soldiers are now sent to explore the Deadland. We came to this place this morning and we were searching it until your truck pulled up. Now we're trying to stay hidden." Rossi explained.
"I should have a bone to pick with you two. You betrayed us and got us thrown out. But honestly I’m not even mad. I would have gotten thrown out eventually anyway.” Sampo said to them.
“And I was planning to leave anyway eventually. I won’t reveal you. I’ll tell the others that we searched the whole house and found nothing.”
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Moments earlier, the downstairs apartments were searched and the officer decided to come and see Elias and Sampo's work. He figured they started at the top so he started up the stairs. After climbing for a while, the officer heard a conversation in the apartment where the four were just talking, and went there to have a look and saw the four of them talking.
"Who do we have here?" He asked ominously.
"We found people in the apartment." Elias answered.
"And why didn't you bring them down right away and treat them like rescued civilians?"
"Because we weren't taught anything about that. And in fact, we weren't taught anything at all. We were given equipment and put to work."
"Good explanation. Or it would be if I hadn't heard when you told them that you’d let them stay hidden here. Even a rookie should know better." The officer responded and raised his weapon.
"Get out of here, you scumbags. Let the officer handle this." The officer ordered. Elias and Sampo went out first to go down the stairs. They came out of the apartment building to the street which was empty. After a while, Rossi and Duvre came out, and the officer behind them with his gun raised. They came to the road between the streets and the officer ordered Rossi and Duvre to their knees.
"Where did you come from and who are you?" The officer asked. Everyone knew that the truth should not be told, but none of them came up with a good lie.
"They come from Oulu and decided to leave. Now they apparently live here." Sampo answered for them.
"Wouldn’t they know the answer better?" The officer replied with a question.
"It's true. We all went away and so did Sampo, but he decided to go back." Duvre said.
"Oh, so you know each other? You two, take the hazmat suits off these guys. They might be hiding something." The officer ordered. Elias went to unzip Duvre's protective suit and a gray shirt was revealed underneath and a black shield on the sleeve with a white tower and golden rays. The symbol of the New Tower appeared. Seeing this, the officer immediately raised his weapon again.
"Oh Yeah? Living here? It seems to me that the traitors are slowly trying to come out from behind their walls!" The officer shouted.
"Maybe they went inside the wall and ran away and got these clothes from there." Elias defended.
"And why are you so defensive about them? It seems that both of you are secretly in the hands of traitors, but your plot is not working on me." The officer said angrily.
"I presented a possible explanation. I have no connection to these three." Elias defended himself.
"You don’t? Besides the fact, you both joined the army at the same time and decided to work here together. Every one of you belongs in prison." The officer said, and blew the referee's whistle that was hanging on his neck. Soon after, other soldiers came out from other apartment buildings and retrieved weapons from the truck.
"You two, on your knees!" The officer ordered. Elias and Sampo went to their knees with their hands behind their necks and the soldiers pointed their weapons at everyone who was kneeling. Their backpacks were taken from them.
"The traitors have moles among us, and they also have people exploring the Deadland. Here we have an example of both cases. According to orders from higher ups, we are not to shoot people here unless they threaten us, so because of that, you will just have to come along with us back to the city where all four of you will be thrown in prison, along with your wife and son as they are now suspected spies as well." The officer said. The soldiers began to tie up the prisoners with zip ties. Sampo looked each prisoner in the eye quickly and gestured towards the gun he had in his pocket. Elias understood the gesture and mouthed the words: “Don’t do it.” and he stared at the notebook that he put in his backpack earlier and had fallen to the ground when the backpack was yanked off of him. Sampo saw what Elias was looking at and the notebook reminded him of Toivo and by extension Aino too. He decided to maintain his self control and not die a martyr’s death.
"Load them into the ark." The officer commanded. They were taken to the back of the truckbed and the soldiers boarded after them. Throughout the journey, guns were pointed at the prisoners. The truck drove back to Oulu when it was determined that the expedition would be too difficult with the prisoners.
“Did I mention that I’m tired of having guns pointed at me and being told where to go?” Sampo complained.
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Meanwhile, Pauli was still in his shed and the symptoms of the disease had worsened on his skin. At first he wanted to hang himself in the shed but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He knew his time was up. All the time there, he had been thinking about one thing:
"The only good thing I've ever done for another person, never actually happened. I'll die in a miserable shed alone, useless to the world."
Pauli looked at his side and the red spot had swollen outward. The final deadly phase was around the corner. He looked at the box of dynamite under the desk.
"I suppose I'd rather go with a bang than rot here." He said to himself. He kicked the shed door open, picked up the box and threw the trigger into the box. Veikko heard this and came out of his house with a shotgun.
"Where are you going? Get back in the shed!" He shouted.
"If I fall dead to the ground, the impact will push the trigger and the whole box will explode." Pauli answered, even though he didn't even know if it would actually happen. Pauli continued: "Let me go, it won't hurt you." and so Veikko let him just leave. Pauli still didn't know what he was even going to do with the explosives. He went with the box towards the highway through the woods and saw his car. He had thought that Elias and Sampo took it with them.
"Will they even make it all the way to Oulu, or will they have to stop because of the defenses?" Pauli said to himself.
"Well, if they didn't make it, maybe I have to offer a diversion." He added. He put the explosive box on the roof of the car, got the roll of rope from the forbidden shed and came back. He tied the box to the roof of the car, took the trigger from there and went to the driver's seat. He noticed that the key was gone. He put his head on the wheel.
"They took the key with them." He said to himself, and opened the door. He turned himself 90 degrees to the left and looked out. Then the sun shone on the ground and Pauli noticed a sparkle. He went to take a closer look and it was the car key. He laughed with happiness. He took the key and got back in the car. He put the key in the ignition and remembered how to start the car. He had tried driving a car as a child but had not done so since. He tried to start the car three times before he found the right way to do it and then the car started. An ominous smile came to his face. He positioned the trigger between the wheel and his head so that his forehead would press the trigger in the event of a crash. He drove onto the highway and headed north, navigating by using road signs. He drove fast and only slowed down on sharp turns. On his way he saw the same things that Elias saw on his way north. Farmers and villagers would turn their heads to look at the fast car with a box of dynamite on its roof. Before long, Pauli passed the truck carrying the soldiers and the prisoners. Every soldier in the truck could hear and see Pauli, but the prisoners couldn't see him because they were low in the middle, and Pauli couldn’t see them.
"Unregistered vehicle on the move, heading north. Capture it!" The officer yelled at the driver of the truck.
"We can't catch it with this. Report back home with the radio." The driver said back. The officer took out his radio and was about to start his message. That's when Elias used his head and knocked the radio out of the officer's hand, sending it flying down onto the road, shattering it.
"It was our only connection home!" The officer shouted and punched Elias directly in the nose. The truck sped up to get home faster, but Pauli got there much faster. When Pauli drove through the entrance of the wall, he went speeding through the streets of the city and looked for something to crash into that would create a loud distraction. Some soldiers carrying weapons tried to hit the tires or the car but missed. Pauli noticed the power plant and said to himself: "That there's going to be a big bang." He turned back, picked up speed and went to accelerate towards the power plant. He crashed into the wall of the plant and his head pushed the trigger that was on the steering wheel. The whole box of dynamite exploded, the fuel tank of the car exploded, and those explosions caused the reactor behind the wall to explode. The explosion caused a fire that put the entire plant in danger. People fled from the building and the fire spread to other reactors, rendering them inoperable as well. Power in the city and all power lines out of the city stopped working. Everyone in the truck heard the explosions, and all of them were mighty confused.
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CHAPTER 28
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When the truck finally arrived in Oulu, there was smoke in the sky and there was only one soldier guarding the wall.
"What's going on here?" The driver asked the guard.
"Emergency. Stop everything you're doing and go to the power plant!” The guard replied. They drove up to the plant and the driver, officer, and troopers got out. When they were gone, Elias jumped down from the truck bed and broke his zip tie on a sharp edge. He took his stolen backpack and then he took Sampo down from the truck bed as well and untied him, but left Duvre and Rossi there.
“Now’s my chance! You do what you want but I’m going to the boat!” Elias said to Sampo.
“Aino and Toivo are locked up and suspected of being spies! I can’t leave them there! You go get your boat alone. I have something more important!” Sampo replied and went running to where the recruitment center and holding cells were. Elias went running to where he remembered the boathouse being.
When Sampo arrived at the holding cells, he rushed in through the entrance and saw Aino and Toivo alone in a holding cell. He went to rattle the bars but the door was locked.
“What happened? Are you alright?” Toivo asked.
“I’m fine. Where are the people that can open this cell?” Sampo asked back.
“We heard a loud bang and everybody rushed out. Even the guard who had the key.”
“Then I’ll get you out of here even if I have to bend the bars myself. They suspect you of being spies because we ran into our old friends out there and now these people think that we’re all spies.” Sampo explained while looking under a desk for any sort of key, without results.
“What will happen to us if they think we’re spies?” Toivo asked.
“They said they’d throw us in prison. So back to the cells it is for you, kid” Sampo said.
“I am not going to live in a cell any more! I want out of here and be free!” Toivo screamed and pointed his hand at the wall of the holding cell, and the wall collapsed without Toivo even touching it. Sampo and Toivo looked at the damage with their eyes wide open.
“You can do that?” Sampo asked.
“I-I didn’t know I can do that.” Toivo said a little scared.
“Well let’s get out of here now!” Sampo said to them and went outside the building. Aino and Toivo left through the hole in the wall and met up with Sampo who hugged both of them, and then they all ran the same way.
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Elias arrived at the harbor where the Pink Jackets were leaning against the wall of the boathouse and didn't care about what happened in the city. Elias still had his uniform on so he could still carry out his plan. Elias walked to the harbor seriously and shouted: “Everyone out of here, now!"
"And who are you to tell us what to do?" One Pink Jacket asked.
"Yeah! Who?" Another added.
"Do you see my outfit? The army orders this place to be cleared now or you all go to jail.
Is that clear?" Elias asked them firmly.
"Okay. We're going. But we'll make a complaint about this." One said.
"Yeah! We will." Another one added, and they left the harbor. Elias entered the shed and saw the boat. He took a gasoline canister and poured a large part of it into the boat's tank and took the canister with him to the boat along with the second canister that the Pink Jackets used for sniffing. The key was in the ignition and Elias started the boat. The boat was not steered like a car, but steering was easy to figure out. He started to drive the boat away from the harbor and towards the west
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Elias drove the boat towards the spot on his map, using the map and his compass that he still had in the backpack. He had no way of knowing where he was, so when he saw an island, he checked the map. There was one island and Elias drove around the island to check its shape and it was the same shape as in the map.
"If this is it, I’ll soon find out what's there at my destination and what its significance is. I got my first friend killed because of it, so it had better be worth something." Elias thought to himself. He saw a sandy beach and behind it nothing but flat grass and in the distance some forest. He drove straight to the beach and the boat got stuck in the sand. He jumped from the boat to the ground and made his way forward looking at the map. As he walked deeper into the island, he started seeing a wooden watchtower. He checked the map again and saw that the dot on the map seemed to line up
"That would be a good guess for my destination.” Elias said quietly. When he walked up to the watchtower, he saw a red dot painted on one of the wooden planks.
"This is the place." He said to himself.
"Is this my new home now? Is this where dad sent me? Is there any way for me to live here?" Elias asked himself. He went to see a house near the watchtower with a red dot on the house’s wall. He walked in through the open door of the house and the house looked like a very nice home inside, if it had been maintained at all. There was no furniture of any kind in the house. All the rooms were completely empty. The floors were oak wood which was in bad condition. Elias went to the back of the house and there was a heavy door with a red dot. There was a keyhole in the door. Elias took the key that his father gave him and went to insert the key into the hole and it seemed to fit. He turned the key and the lock opened. He pulled the door open and behind the door was a dark staircase that led down underground. Elias started to walk deeper down the stairs. The walls were stony and cold. He couldn't see in front of him on the stairs, so he walked down carefully. When he felt that he was at the bottom he could only see black. He continued to take careful steps, feeling forward with his hands until he hit his knee on something. He began to feel what it was. It felt metallic and had rounded corners. He felt it more and his hands felt a metal ring. The ring was small and you could only fit two fingers through it. He tried to take the ring and found that it was tied with a string into the larger object. He jerked properly and the big object he hit his knee on started to rumble and light came into the room. The object was an oil-powered generator that brought power to the house. Now that there was light in the room, he could see clearly. The walls were made of big gray bricks and there was mold and moss between them. Against the walls were tables made of stainless steel, and in the middle of the room was a metal-framed table with laboratory equipment on it. There was also a notebook in a plastic bag on the table. Elias opened the bag and was about to take the notebook out of there.
"Careful with it. It's old and delicate." Elias heard from behind. He dropped the bag on the table and looked behind him and saw someone in a hazmat suit coming down the stairs.
"Just as I thought." The man in the hazmat suit said.
"Who are you, and what are you doing here? Were you here the whole time?" Elias asked.
"I don't think you know who I am, but I have an idea as to who you might be." The hazmat suit answered and continued: "When I got the news that someone came from the east with a car and stopped at the Kouvola wall, I remembered that Samuel Laakso had gone to the east before this all began. I also remembered how he said that he would take his child with him, and when I heard that this driver had a younger person along with him, my suspicions became stronger. I heard that the man himself was not allowed in because of his bad legs, but the younger one was allowed in. I did remember that Laakso's wife had legs that didn't work, but maybe Samuel himself suffered the same fate at some point. I also deduced that he is trying to come here early even though we all agreed that we would come here 20 years after our act, and if he can't make it himself, he sends his son here. Am I right?" The suit asked.
"Now I do need a bit of an explanation. What connection do you have to my father and what did you agree on?" Elias asked. The hazmat suit took off his helmet and looked sick.
"My name is Tapio Kosola, the head of my New Tower and the future savior of the world. If you want an explanation, that's fine. Allow me to tell you. 21 years ago, me, Samuel Laakso and two other great men who didn't come this time, all agreed on one thing. That the world must be reshaped , for it is rotten and corrupt in its present form. There is a great fault in humans themselves. Humans are selfish, reckless, and often even morally evil. The only reason any human ever does anything generous or good is because they want to appear good to others or to themselves. Not one person is willing to sacrifice anything they need or want for someone else. Even if a person gives their life for a cause or another person, they only do it because they know their time is up and they want to be remembered as virtuous. People always just want, and that's a flaw in people. And that fault is in all people. If you took a hungry child from a poor family and gave him the life of a multi-billionaire or a king, that child would be just like any other multi-billionaire or king. Because deep down all people are the same and equally selfish. When I was young, I gave speeches at school about my opinions on human nature and I was considered crazy and in need of silencing. They didn't want to listen to me because they didn't like what I said. They liked the world that people had created and gladly took part in it. They are all equally guilty and deserved what they got. People trample each other down and stab each other in the back to get what they want and to get above each other. We are all just children of the world and yet we treat each other like beings from another planet as if others don't matter. All people from a poor child to an international leader were equally depraved by nature and all deserved nothing but hatred for taking part in this world. But I had a strong new idea. The idea of a perfect and functioning world. But such a world could not be created with the help of other people, because no one would want it. If all people are on the same level and in the same situation, they see themselves as the same as everyone else and no one can be jealous or hostile to another person. If it is not possible for a person to get anything more than his share, which is the same for everyone, then a person can no longer want anything, and so greed and selfishness disappear from the human mind. My intention was not only to fix society, but the human mind itself." Kosola explained.
"You were going to force evolution to happen?" Elias asked.
"You can say that. But this kind of change would not have been possible with the help of the masses of people, as I already said. No one would have voted for such a thing. The masses of people do not know what is best for everyone. They are only interested in what they themselves want."
"So your intention was to make life completely meaningless because you believe it's for the best for people?"
"Exactly. Life itself is more important than a fullfilling life. Under me no one suffers so that some others can live as they wish."
"You're crazy if you think that that works."
"Am I? You only think about yourself. You may want to live a fullfilling life at the expense of others but people like you are not welcome in my New Tower. And those who think like you are not forced to live in my New Tower. They are not forced to come and if they become a problem to society, they will be thrown out and they can try to live the life they want somewhere else."
"What about the people who lived in the area before the state was formed? They were thrown out of their homes.” Elias answered.
"Sometimes you have to do bad things for good goals." Kosola said.
"How did you get that society formed?" Elias asked.
“It was a long project. For years, I was part of an underground organization with people like me. Your father didn't know about this organization. Only me and Timonen knew. The goal was always to take power. Before you were born, the government was corrupt and unstable. It was certain that it would collapse. The secret organization had a hand in this. I myself had a direct part in the president's resignation. The state was at its weakest and the people were angry. Political demonstrations weren't even big news anymore. I knew then that it was a good time to let the disease go free. I, Samuel Laakso, and the two other men I already mentioned, had worked out the plan. I developed a contagious and deadly disease with them. One of them went to release the disease at an international airport from where it spread around the world. Timonen would gather his forces and take over all national institutions. Laakso chose this place for our future meeting. 20 years after the onset of the disease, we would come here, where there is a formula for the antidote. We would give the antidote to the world, but only if they submit to my New Tower. That way we could control the rest of the world and fix the world to our vision. When the disease spread and people knew about it, panic ensued. The state closed the borders as its last act and it didn't take long before full anarchy arose and the state collapsed. In small municipalities, either criminals or the police took over, but those small communities did not last long and they either died out due to the loss of resources or to the disease. But Timonen had a high role in the secret organization and he had organized our armed forces, which consisted of the army owned by this organization. The national defense forces still existed, but most people didn't trust anything connected to the old state. Most soldiers sided with our new army and our army grew. The defense forces moved to the north where they took their most important equipment and arsenal. We only had the weapons we already had, and everything we got from the civilians and the police. Still, we managed to take power for ourselves and start a new state where we live by my rules. All those who resisted were cast into the Deadland at the mercy of the disease. Most people still stayed because the threat scared them. Then all the disabled and elderly were thrown out, because for an ideal society to function, everyone must do their part."
"Those people were people too, and they were thrown out without any pity?"
"It was a small sacrifice for all of us. The old state fed those who offered nothing to society or the state. And look what happened to that state. My New Tower is a society that endures and remains stable and strong. People get to choose from a small number of different responsibilities and do their part in that field for the rest of their lives. And people can't change fields so they don't become jealous of other people, as they're all in the same situation. My New Tower will last because of how it's managed."
"Except that in your New Tower, people have no motivation for anything bigger. A new type of fuel has been invented in the Republic, while your vehicles are still idle because they ran out of gas. I didn't see a single doctor while I was in the Tower. No one wants to be a doctor, or an engineer, or an inventor, because those jobs are hard, and they would only guarantee the person the same pityful ration as everyone else, so there is no reason to choose that line of work." Elias argued.
"People are free to read and study. If they are smart enough, they can be transferred to the field they studied, but the reward they receive will not increase, lest there be resentment between people." Kosola explained.
"But if people conclude that since a doctor gets the same share as a soldier or a metalsmith, then no one will bother to study to be a doctor. If there is a new disease that is easily contagious, then you will not be prepared and your New Tower is doomed to suffer the worst of it. Meanwhile, in the Republic they have an electric grid but you don’t. New things are invented there and new houses are built. Someone there found out about the situation of the Deadland and found that the disease has almost disappeared, so the Republic began to expand outside its walls, while you still fear the Deadland and only now have you started investigating it with pointless hazmat suits, and that's only because you left and someone else is there to dictate at this time. Rebels took over your most important military city." Elias told.
"I’m sorry, what? Did they start making their own decisions without me in my New Tower? And has the disease become harmless in its own time?" Kosola asked.
"I’ve been in the Deadland for a while now without getting sick." Elias asked.
"Maybe you have marks and are hiding them to trick me."
"Do you think I would kill myself to trick you?"
"I do not know you. Perhaps you would.”
"Just tell me that." Elias said and took the grenade he found in the dead village from his pocket. Elias threw the grenade at Kosola without pulling the pin.
“Smell it. It smells like the disease." Elias said. Kosola smelled the grenade and recognized the smell.
"I've had it with me and I've carried it without any precaution, and I guarantee that you won't get anything from it either." Elias added.
"But, that makes this whole plan completely pointless. No one wants medicine if the disease has almost disappeared by itself. And now in my New Tower, decisions are made without me. The people there get a taste of a different life and are not scared anymore. Everything I've done, absolutely pointless. I have failed. We even reached the next stage in human evolution and it was for nothing." Kosola complained with vacant eyes.
“What do you mean by next stage in human evolution?” Elias asked.
“Well. What does it matter now? I’ll just tell this outsider a classified secret. About a decade ago, a set of twins were born, one boy and one girl. The boy came out of the womb first and just by looking at the nurse, he killed the nurse. But then a minute later, the girl came out and when she looked at the nurse, the nurse came back to life. We immediately confiscated both children and threw their parents out to the Deadland so that they wouldn’t bother us. We raised the twins under tight supervision in the same facility but in different cells, never letting them see each other. We made experiments with them and found out that the boy can destroy and even kill anything he looks at, and the girls can repair and revive everything she looks at. The boy didn’t have the guts to do harm on even inanimate objects so we had to use drugs to make him do what we want, but we believed that we could make him the perfect war machine, and the girl could be a great help back home. The boy was naturally skilled at all things that had to do with harming. Like shooting and fighting, while the girl was good at surgery and crafting. Another strange thing about these children was that they always knew where the other one was. The girl was always looking at the direction where her brother’s cell was, and every minute she felt a painful pulse that she said came from the same direction where her brother always was, but she of course didn’t know that her brother was in that direction. Even when the boy was being moved around inside the facility, the girl would feel those pulses from which ever direction the boy was in. When the boy was outside the facility doing his duties, the pulses would be more intense and painful for the girl. And the boy seemed to have a similar ability. Every day he would draw what he saw in his dreams, and in most of his drawings was his sister, who he had never actually seen. When he was asked about who this girl in his drawings was, he had no idea. He just said that he keeps seeing her in his dreams. Sometimes he would even draw places where his sister had been when ever she was taken outside. So in some way they both always know where the other is, which would be mighty useful, as we don’t have long distance communication in my New Tower.”
“I might just know who that boy is. When me and a few others got thrown out, a young boy who was under a commander’s special supervision escaped and tagged along with us. A few times he drew his dreams where he saw a girl that he didn’t recognize. And I saw in one instance how good he was at shooting. But now you’re telling me there is another one?”
“And are you telling me that our perfect war machine has escaped?”
“If I’m correct, then it would sound like it. Your New Tower is over.”
"So all of my work truly was for nothing. I just wanted to do what's best for all of humanity." Kosola said, falling to his knees. Elias looked at him for a while.
"Life is not over yet. You can help humanity in other ways. You clearly have intelligence." Elias said extending his hand for the broken man on his knees.
"No. I need to be alone for a moment. Go. Get out of this room." Kosola told Elias.
“I’ll give you a moment.” Elias said back.
Elias climbed up the stairs and stood at the cellar door for a moment. He looked around for a moment in the house he was in and then heard an explosion from the basement. The basement collapsed and the path there was blocked with rubble.
"How did..." Elias wondered and realized that he didn’t take his granade back from Kosola.
"So he decided differently." Elias stated, and went out.
“So that was it. I made it. I got to where dad told me to come and what I got was the truth about this world order, and him. But now what? What do I do on this island. I’m not welcome back in the Tower or the Republic. My only friends are still there, but probably in prison. I have nothing to grow here. All I have is a boat.” Elias said while talking to himself. He sat down at the porch and looked at the empty island. He thought about his life back at his home cabin, his father, Pauli’s fate, Sampo, Aino and Toivo. All that happened since his home was burned, had brought him here, where he was at square one.
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He spent several hours just sitting at the porch and looking ahead of him and staying in his own thoughts, until he heard the sound of a motorboat coming from a distance. When he started hearing the sound, he ran out of the porch and towards the shore. He saw a boat riding towards the shore that had military colors painted on it. He heard his name being shouted from the boat very faintly. The boat got closer and he recognized the people on it and smiled. Aino was driving the boat with Sampo and Toivo aboard.
“Did you think we’d let you get away?” Sampo asked and laughed a little. The boat pulled up at the island’s shore next to Elias’ boat and the people aboard jumped off.
“Why did you come here? How did you get this boat?” Elias asked.
“We came because where else would we have gone? Toivo had copied your map and we decided to come here with a military boat the we took very easily. We’re still wanted back there so we have no reason to be there.” Sampo explained.
“So what did you find here?” Toivo asked eagerly.
“Just an old man telling me about his world views and memories.” Elias answered.
“Well, we found this. Show him the thing, Toivo.” Sampo told Toivo and threw a pinecone in the air, which Toivo destroyed by just pointing at it. Elias was shook upon seeing this.
“I guess that confirms what I suspected. The old man knew you.” Elias told Toivo.
“Who was that man you met here?” Toivo asked.
“He was that dear leader of the New Tower. He left me alone and won’t bother me anymore. But if this posse sticks together, we should keep moving and never stop. They have a way of always knowing where Toivo is.” Elias told them.
“What do you mean by that?” Toivo asked.
“Let’s just say that somebody there knows you very well.” Elias answered.
“I never wanted to stay in one place for long anyway.” Sampo said and laughed a little nervously. Aino drew the word: “Same” on the sand.
“I’ve already told you that I want to see the world. I wouldn’t want to stay in the same place for long either. But where do we go from here?
“Well there is a different land west from here on the other side of this sea. The fuel should be enough to get there, I took an extra canister, and Toivo knows how to transfer fuel from one vehicle to another, as we saw earlier, so we should also do that. I have no idea what’s in that land, other than that the people there speak a different language than us.” Elias said.
“In my cell they taught me Latin and German. What language do they speak on that land?” Toivo asked.
“Swedish. Do any of you speak it? I don’t.” Elias said and looked at the others.
Aino shooked her head negatively.
“Not a word.” Toivo answered.
“I know how to ask your name, but that’s it.”
“Excellent. Let’s go there then! Everybody with me?” Elias asked.
“Sure, whatever. We’ll manage.” Sampo said and laughed.
“Let’s go!” Toivo said excitedly and began the process of the fuel transfer. Aino jumped in Elias’ boat before the others even had a chance to reply. She started the boat once the fuel had been changed and let the others jump aboard. She asked for Elias’ compass which was then given to her. She went around the island and directed the boat to the west where they would all see what the world would have to offer for them.
THE END
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