Inside the fishing hut Ella dragged Toivo to a bunk that was next to a wall and then removed his jacket and looked at the wound on his back.
"We need to get something for this right now." Ella said out loud but heard no response.
"What actually is this place?" She asked worriedly and confusedly and looked around.
It didn't look like a fishing hut. Not only was there the bunk but there was also a work desk by another wall and a bulletin board on another wall with documents and maps. By the wall was also a stove, an axe, a basket of firewood, a stack of old newspapers and a box of matches.
"Doesn't look like there's anything here to tend the wound with." Ella said and returned to Toivo.
She took his soaked jacket from the floor and pressed it against the wound on Toivo's back.
"I'm sorry if it hurts. There's nothing better here and I didn't want use some dirty newspapers either." Ella reassured but heard no response.
"I need to stop the cold from coming in." Ella said and looked at the hole in the door once she noticed how cold it was in the hut.
"I need to block that hole." She said and looked for anything big enough to block it.
She went to the bulletin board on the wall and tried to take it down. She quickly noticed that it wasn't just hanging from the wall but it was glued to it.
"Looks like I'll have to get it off another way." She said.
She saw the axe by the stove and took it. She jammed the axe between the hut's wall and the bulletin board and pried them apart. She slid the axe along the gap that was forming between the bulletin board and the wall, and after some more prying with the axe, she managed to fit her palms into the gap, and pulled the notice board down with her hands.
"Whew. This thing was glued into the wall. Is there glue here somewhere?" She wondered.
She searched the drawers of the work desk that was in the hut and found pens, a blank notebook and a tube of glue.
"Perfect. That's what I needed." She said and took the tube of glue.
She then moved the bulletin board to the door and applied glue to it. She pressed the bulletin board into the door and kept it there for a couple of minutes while shivering.
"This has to help. In a few minutes." She quietly said to herself and let go of the bulletin board that was now stuck to the door covering the hole a little flimsily.
"Now I need to warm this place up." She said and looked at the stove.
"But first." She said and returned to Toivo who still hadn't moved.
"Please say something." Ella just said quietly, but only heard a weak grunt back.
"At least you seem to be conscious. Somewhat." Ella said and went to the stove where she shoved some firewood and newspapers inside the stove.
She lit a match, but the match went out before the flame even touched anything. She lit a second match and dropped it on the floor and the flame went out. She lit a third match and managed to light a piece of paper on fire, which then set the firewood on fire and there was a flame under the stove now. She removed her own soaked jacket and warmed her hands by the flame. Her hair that was soaked when she fell into the water was now stiff and frozen in many parts, but that wasn't her greatest concern at the moment.
"I miss my home. I miss my bed. I miss our radiator. I miss my dad. I miss our neighbors. I miss Three. I miss my mom. I even miss my old classmates. Now I'm here. We have no certain way to get to where we want. Who even knows how long we'll have to be here? Our best hope is that the police thinks we're dead after seeing us jump down from the bridge." She complained in her mind.
"But mostly I want Toivo to be fine. That's what I need to ensure right now. And then I have to make sure that I'm fine too. We can worry about the other things after that. There's a phone on that desk. I wonder if it works. Should I call an ambulance for Toivo? He's not getting any better." She said and started wondering.
"I shouldn't. He wouldn't want it. Once he's recovered he'd be arrested, if they even gave him a chance to recover first. But at least he might have a chance to recover that way." She said while sitting on the floor next to the stove.
"It's gotten warm enough now. I'll bring him here now too." She said and walked back to the bunk.
"Let's... Get... You... To warmth." She said while dragging the entire bunk closer to the stove.
She put her hand on Toivo's forehead as he was laying on his front in the warmth of the stove.
"At least there's no fever. That's good." Ella said.
She stayed there by the stove for a long time without saying anything until the worst of her cold feeling was away. Her clothes were still damp and she stayed there for some time longer. The stove managed to drive away the cold from the hut that the hole in the door brought in, and eventually Ella felt fine enough to step away from the stove. She went back to the work desk and looked at it.
"Whoever used to be here, hasn't been here in a while and probably won't return any time soon." Ella said when she saw all the dust on the surface of the desk.
Now that there was light in the hut, Ella was able to see around better and saw under the desk a bag with a shoulder sling.
"What's in here?" She quietly said and pulled the bag out from under the desk and put it on the desk.
She opened the bag by the long zipper and it opened like a suitcase. Inside was a first aid kit, a flashlight, a flare gun and a pocket knife.
"A first aid kit! That's what we need. Something to put on that back wound. And something on the shin wound as well. The bandages that Toivo had with him are definitely ruined now." Ella said and grabbed the first aid kit.
She then opened the first aid kit and took a small bottle of alcohol, a stack of wipes and a roll of bandages from there. She returned to Toivo and opened the bottle of alcohol.
"I'm again sorry if this might hurt but it's better to be clean than comfortable." She said out loud and raised Toivo's shirt enough to expose the wound in its entirety.
She took one the wipes and soaked it with the alcohol and pressed multiple of them against the wound. She heard sounds of discomfort but no notable movements coming from Toivo.
"Are you awake?" She asked and actually did hear a response, but no words.
"You acknowledged me. That's proof enough that you're awake. Stay there. It'll be fine. Now we'll need to cover it up." Ella said and took the roll of bandage.
"Now, how do I do this? It's been a while since I did the first aid course." Ella wondered and got to doing the necessary job, looking away from the nasty wound while doing it.
Once Toivo's torso from the waist to the chest was wrapped in the bandage, there was none of the bandage left.
"Whew. Considering the circumstance, pretty well done." Ella said and sat by Toivo on the bunk for a moment.
She noticed her coast guard jacket that was crumbled up on the floor.
"I should let this dry as well. Both of the jackets. We'll still need them." She said and took both of the jackets from the floor and let them hang from the frames of the bunk close to the stove.
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Ella walked around the hut, bored and worried until she decided to sit down by the work desk and look at the flare gun. She took a deep breath and took the flare gun. She opened the window and climbed out, since the door covered by the much wider bulletin board was not an option. Once outside, she left the window open so she could come back in, and then walked to the shore of the small island with the flare gun in her hand. While standing at the shore, she opened the flare gun and looked inside. There was only one flare inside.
"We only have one chance to use this thing. I shouldn't use it now. We might need it later. We'll be fine for now. No need to call the authorities here. But what if I change my mind? What if I get scared and call somebody to help us?" Ella wondered alone.
"Maybe I should just shoot the flare into the snow to make sure that I won't use it." She wondered and kept looking at the flare gun.
"I shouldn't." She then said and put the flare gun behind her back.
"I'll keep it around. Just in case." She said as she was looking into the city where all seemed to be quiet.
"We'll still need to go back there once Toivo has gotten better. But I won't worry about that now." Ella said and turned back to the hut where Toivo still hadn't moved.
The first thing that Ella noticed after climbing back in through the window was that it had gotten cooler in the hut.
"Oh no, I shouldn't have left the window as open as I did." She said and shut the window behind her and then ran to the stove where she opened the lid.
The fire inside had gotten a lot weaker, so she threw in another piece of firewood and some more pieces of newspapers.
"I shouldn't leave you all alone in here. Let's see if our jackets have dried." Ella said and touched the jackets hanging from the edge of the bed frame.
"Feels dry enough. There's a nasty tear on the back of your jacket, but it's still a better blanket than nothing." Ella said and put the leathery jacket on Toivo like a blanket.
She then sat down on the floor next to the bunk. She took Toivo's limp hand that was hanging over the edge and felt if it was cold or warm.
"We'll be fine." She said, let go of the hand and then lied down on the floor, wrapping herself in the coast guard jacket that was too large for her but worked for both warmth and cushioning against the hard wooden floor where she fell asleep.
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In the morning the first word that Ella heard was her own name coming from above her. She slowly opened her eyes and it was bright in the hut.
"Where are we?" Toivo asked while still laying on the bunk.
Ella sat up excitedly and put her hands on the mattress that Toivo was laying on.
"You're awake! Thank God! How are you feeling?" Ella said excitedly.
"My back hurts. What happened? Did you put this bandage here?" Toivo asked.
"You don't remember? You cut your back really badly when we fell. You were even awake for a while after it. I dragged you here and I've stayed here with you ever since." Ella answered.
"Again, where are we?"
"Right. You remember that island that we could see from the bridge? We're there. I found this little hut here and warmed up the stove, dried our jackets and bandaged your wound. The stove seems to have gone out now."
"You did all of that after what happened?" Toivo asked.
"I did. I had to! Of course I did!"
"Thank you for that. I appreciate it very much."
"Of course." Ella said and smiled giddily
"You have any of that bandage left?"
"No. All of it went to cover the wound on your back."
"Too bad. My shin still hurts too and the bandage around it is completely ruined."
"Oh no. And the bandage you had in your pocket was probably ruined when we took a swim." Ella said worriedly.
Toivo dug into his pocket and found some damp white sludge that used to be a bandage roll. He tossed it on the floor and let it make a smacking sound.
"I guess so." Toivo said.
"Hmm. We'll need to figure something out for that. And we're not going anywhere in the state that you're in right now. And I'm not really feeling too good either." Ella said and sneezed.
"We can't afford to waste t... Agh!" Toivo was about to say and get up but the wound on his back instantly hurt a lot worse when he moved his torso.
"As I said. We're not going anywhere. And besides, are we actually in a hurry? I'm sure your family will still be there by the time we get there, even if we take a break." Ella said.
"We can't be sure. The way that the defense minister talks about the so called disease carriers doesn't make it sound like he wants to treat them like his own pets."
"You think they're being kept in bad conditions? I don't think something like that would happen in this part of the world in this day and age." Ella said.
"Are you confident in that?" Toivo asked.
"We live in a civilized first world society. I know you had your experiences of being experimented on with drugs and such but that doesn't actually really happen in, well... Good countries."
"You sound confident in that. I don't really know much about the world. I guess you do. You've actually went to school. I only read the parts of your history books that interested me. I'll trust you."
"Heh. Maybe you're in too much of a hurry. Of course I'm worried about your family too but if you go on a crusade with a hurt back and foot, your crusade will be a short one."
"You're right. But how long would I have to rest here? I shouldn't waste too much time." Toivo wondered.
"I'm not a doctor but let's at least see how it feels tomorrow." Ella replied and sneezed again.
Toivo looked around the hut from his bunk.
"Why is there a bulletin board by the door?" He asked.
"Because you blew too big of a hole into the door to let us in. I had to remove that thing from the wall and glue it to the door to keep the cold out."
"It seems to work. Good thinking."
"Some of that rural ingenuity." Ella said proudly.
"Have you searched this place for what you can find?"
"I did. I found the bandages and some other things. A flare gun, a flashlight and a knife. I also found a notebook. I know you like drawing. I didn't search the outside." Ella answered.
"Maybe you should." Toivo suggested.
"Maybe I should." Ella replied awkwardly and went quiet for a few seconds before getting up.
She walked up to the window and was about to climb out.
"What are you doing?" Toivo asked when he saw what Ella was doing.
"Well, the door isn't budging. So this is how we'll move in and out." Ella replied and went through the window.
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"What am I even going to find here?" Ella said and kicked a bucket that was on the ground.
She looked at the bucket for a little while.
"I'm thirsty. I haven't drank sweet water in a while." She said and grabbed the bucket and filled it with snow.
She carried the bucket of snow around and walked around the island looking for anything of interest. She stepped on something hard on the snow. She dug it up and found a broken old ham radio.
"Why is this here? What was this place indeed? I'll need to investigate the inside more to find out more about this place." She said to herself and dropped the broken piece of junk on the snow.
She was so curious about the purpose of the hut that she returned inside right away. She dropped her bucket of snow onto the desk through the window and then climbed in herself. She heard Toivo quietly laughing inside the hut as she was climbing in.
"What are you laughing about?" Ella asked.
"You just look silly when you're struggling to climb in." He answered and then held his back in pain.
"Oww, is it still hurting?" Ella asked.
"Ngh. It is."
"Well, while we wait for it got better, I wish to learn more about the purpose of this hut. I found a broken ham radio outside and I wonder if it has anything to do with this hut." Ella said.
"If you want to learn something about this place, maybe read those notes that are pinned to that bulletin board."
"Oh. I should, actually. Last night I didn't really see well and I was more concerned with all the other things that were more important. And by the way, I brought some snow in here. We can melt it with the stove and get some water to drink." Ella said and put the bucket on the cooled off stove.
She then retrieved the three notes that were pinned to the notice board.
"Can I sit here?" Ella asked after returning to Toivo and pointing at an empty spot on the bunk.
"I can't really stop you." Toivo answered.
"I take that as affirmative." Ella said and sat down on the bunk and took a closer look at one of the papers that she took and started reading.
"It's a report from the security police from five years ago." Ella said.
"What's the security police?" Toivo asked.
"I don't actually know. I've never heard of such a thing here. It might be some sort of a secret police. I don't think there would be such a thing in this country though."
"Do such things not exist in "good countries" in your opinion?"
"Well, of course they might. I wouldn't know because they're secret. Anyway. I'll keep reading. Let's just go to an interesting part. Here we go. Suspected Sabertooth activity spotted in the city. A suspicious looking person who couldn't be indentified was seen buying an unusual amount of computer parts. Hard to imagine anyone would need that many unless it's for illegal purposes. The suspicious person paid with cash so we cannot look at the store's transaction history to find out the person's indentity that way. Since we do not have the legal right to arrest civilians without a reason, I had to let the suspect walk away. Note to the central police: We should lobby the government to give us that right." Ella read from the note.
"Who's the Sabertooth?" Toivo asked curiously.
"No idea. Sounds like a gang or something. A gang that buys computer parts. There's some more text in this note but it's just going through some day patrols in detail. But here the Sabertooth is mentioned again in this another note. Let's read more closely. I've detected no trace of the Sabertooth in two months now. The last hunch that I had of them was when I saw a suspicious group wearing hoodies of different colors enter a train. I couldn't obviously follow them because I'm stationed here. I did report about the group, but I heard nothing back regarding them. Everything in the city seems peaceful once again." Ella read from the note.
"So the so called sabertooth left. I wonder if that's why this place was left empty." Toivo said.
"Might be. Let's read some of the third note. Here we go. A civilian crime report was filed in Stockholm and the description matches perfectly with the details of the Sabertooth. I've been told to move there and take all of my reports with me, even though they are all stored digitally as well but orders are orders and I have to follow them no matter how stupid they are." Ella read.
"A little dig at the higher ups there. Heh." Toivo said.
"The rest of this this note is just listing some statistics from this city."
"Right. I guess whoever was here forgot to take these notes."
"Seems so. But this is not important for us right now. I should make some water now. I'll need to light up the stove." Ella said and sat up from the bed.
"I can help with th... Agh!" Toivo was about to say as he moved and felt pain again.
"It's a very simple task that I can easily do myself." Ella said and giggled.
"I just feel like such a burden." Toivo said with shame.
"I don't mind having you as a burden." Ella said and lit up the stove with some matches.
"We're surrounded by water and this is how we have to get water for ourselves." Toivo pointed out trying to be humorous.
"Well, I don't really have a way to break that ice. You do, but you're stuck there. And besides, I don't want to go out there during the day. Who knows who might see me? And the water is salty anyway." Ella replied and chuckled.
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They spent their time waiting for the snow to melt and once it was water, Ella used her sleeves as gloves to take the bucket from the stove and put it on the floor.
"Finally something to drink but... We don't have cups." Ella noticed and looked at Toivo.
He just started laughing.
"What are you laughing about now? This is not funny!" Ella said.
"Just laughing at our situation." Toivo replied.
"What's funny about our situation?"
"It's just... So unusual. Last week I wouldn't expect to be wounded in an abandoned hut, wondering how will we drink water, with my best friend along for the ride for some reason, and hiding from the police with me." Toivo explained and laughed a little louder.
"How is that funny? You keep angrily bringing up the purpose of this trip and now it's funny?" Ella wondered.
"A little." Toivo replied.
"Well, I'm at least glad that you can still find humor in this. And I suppose I can drink from the bucket like this." Ella said and cupped the water in her hands and drank it from her hands.
"I need some too." Toivo said and stopped laughing.
Ella brought the bucket to him and he tried to reach into it but hurt himself when he tried to move.
"Oh no. Can you do it yourself? It doesn't look like it." Ella said.
"I might need some help." Toivo replied ashamedly.
Ella was about to cup some water into her hands.
"Actually nevermind. You don't need to do that. I'll... I'll just drink when I can do it myself." Toivo said awkwardly.
"Oh come on, now you don't want to?" Ella asked.
"It's okay. I can manage."
"Well, manage then. I'm sure you can." Ella said, smirked and turned her back.
She went to the work desk where she sat down and looked out the window. Behind her she heard Toivo struggling to reach for the bucket but she just laughed to herself, waiting until he asks for help. He however didn't, but Ella just kept looking out the window and at the desk and all the papers, hearing nothing from behind her. She started writing on the blank notebook about things on her mind and lost track of time, spending the rest of the day that way. After several hours of just sitting there and writing, her back was sore and she had enough so she turned around.
"Okay. How well are you managing here?" She asked and saw Toivo unresponsive, with half of his body out of the bunk and his cheek on the floor.
"I know you're awake." She said and walked closer.
She then crouched down and touched his forehead and felt how hot it was.
"Oh no, this isn't good. Hey! Are you okay? Can you hear me?" She worriedly asked, but got no response.
She poured half of the bucket of water on him but he didn't even twitch.
"What do I do? What do I do? Please wake up!" She begged but for nothing.
"Do I really have no choice now?" She said and looked at the phone on the table.
"I don't." She said and ran to the landline phone and rang the emergency number, only to find out that the phone was not even working.
"No, why can't you just work this one time? Of course it doesn't work here. Why would it?" She complained and looked around.
She saw the flare gun on the desk and went to pick it up. She climbed out the window outside where it was already dark and ran to the eastern shore of the island. She checked if the flare was still inside the gun. It was. At the shore she put her finger on the trigger and was about to shoot up, but she stopped herself when she heard the faint noises of a motorboat coming from the east.
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"Who's that? I may not need to use the flare. Whoever it is, could help us. I don't even care if it's the police. You there! Over here!" Ella shouted and waved.
The motor of the boat went silent. Ella could hardly see the actual boat in the darkness but she saw that it had parked where the ice ends and that the driver was now walking closer.
"Over here! We need help!" Ella kept shouting several times until she heard a response.
"Who needs help?" A familiar voice shouted back.
"My... Wait, are you..." Ella was about to ask but then recognized 32A once she became close enough.
"Ella? Why are you here?" 32A asked when she recognized Ella and started walking faster towards her across the ice.
"I can explain later. Right now there's something more important." Ella replied.
"Are you with somebody here?" 32A asked even though she already knew the answer.
"I'm with Toivo here. He's inside and he's passed out and seems to be in a bad state."
"What? Take me to him. I might be able to help. In some way." 32A said and stepped on the island.
Ella led her to the hut where only a very dim light was coming from.
"Through the window." Ella said and climbed through the window.
32A wasn't interested in asking questions about why, so she just followed. 32A saw Toivo in the same position that Ella left him in, cheek on the floor with a wound in the back.
"What happened here?" 32A asked worriedly.
"He was badly wounded and he seemed to be getting better but then he passed out with a fever. Can you help?" Ella answered and asked.
"I can try." 32A answered, not wanting to show Ella her ability.
32A stepped up to Toivo and lifted him back on the bunk. She looked behind to see if Ella was looking.
"I might need some privacy for this." 32A said.
"Why?" Ella asked.
32A didn't answer anything, as she couldn't think of a good answer to that question.
"Look. I already know about your ability. Can you just use it already?" Ella said.
"My ability?" 32A said and played stupid.
"Just heal whatever is wrong with him!" Ella begged impatiently.
32A just sighed and put her hand on Toivo's forehead. 32A sat there with her eyes closed, focusing on her own hand and using her ability that way, since she was unable to actually see the damage that needed healing. Ella sat down on the other end of the bunk to see how the process works, and it didn't really look like anything. After 32A had hept her hand on Toivo's forehead for some time, Toivo opened his eyes and Ella was the first thing he saw.
"You're awake again! How are you feeling now? Are you fine?" Ella asked with relief and grabbed Toivo's shin.
"What happened?" Toivo just asked.
"You passed out and it felt like you had a really bad fever. But you should be fine now." Ella replied.
"What did you do? I feel completely fine. Even my back and my shin feel fine. And since you're there, whose hand is on my forehead?" Toivo said confusedly and looked up and saw 32A there standing beside the bunk with her hand on his forehead.
"Hello again." 32A said and couldn't contain her smile.
"You came back!" Toivo exclaimed and sat up.
"I did. And I'm sorry that I let you leave without me to begin with! But I had to come back when I heard that things could be badly in here." 32A said back.
"They are badly. And we don't know what to do. We need to somehow get to Stockholm from here, but we can't get on any trains because Ella is officially a criminal now and would be recognized if she showed her passport. Oh, and domestic travelling now requires a passport too. Now we're stuck here and my back and shin were wounded until you came." Toivo explained.
"How did that happen?" 32A asked.
"When I was on my way back to the boat, I was attacked by some wolves. I got away, but not before getting bit. At that point I should have realized that I shouldn't have returned home without you. I should have convinced you to come back instead of storming off and leaving you alone. I'm sorry. Really sorry." Toivo explained.
"Wolves? I definitely shouldn't have let you leave. I'm sorry too." 32A said back.
"I was just really distraught after finding out about Ilona's true fate, and then you blamed me for it and even insulted our family. My emotions got the better of me and I made a bad decision. I'm sorry again." Toivo explained.
"And I shouldn't have said those things. I didn't actually mean them. I was destroyed when I learned about Ilona's fate and I didn't even know what to think anymore. I wanted to just burn everything down and disappear. I'm sorry." 32A explained and got emotional.
"I understand. I'm not mad at you anymore."
"And I'm not mad at you anymore either. I never truly was. I regretted my decision almost immediately too. And I quickly learned that I didn't belong in the place where I was going. I belonged back with my family. Otherwise I'm nothing. When I was away I tried to learn knife fighting and that didn't work at all. I realised that I can't manage if I'm away. Alone I was hopeless." 32A explained her heart out.
"Haha, I get it. Because his name means Hope in your language." Ella commented.
"That's not what I mean! I mean that I was helpless. And then I heard about what is happening in this land and I got worried for my family. I had to come back, no matter what." 32A said.
"Well, as you saw, I was pretty helpless too. And if Ella wasn't here, I'd be even more helpless. So I'm glad that you're back here with us." Toivo said.
"And I'm glad to be back here too!" 32A said and hugged Toivo as he was sitting on the bunk.
"So how did you find your way here when you decided to come back?" Ella asked and interrupted the moment.
32A pulled away from the hug and looked at Ella.
"Uhh... Twins have a way of knowing." 32A explained poorly.
"And how did you cure his fever and his wounds?" Ella asked, expecting a certain answer.
"I didn't cure anybody of anything. I just arrived just in time to see him recover on his own." 32A once again explained poorly.
"I already told her about our abilities." Toivo coldly admitted.
"But nobody was supposed to know!" 32A complained.
"She would have found out anyway. I've had to resort to using my ability a few times on this trip that she in her endless thoughtfulness wanted to come along for."
"I see. But why are you on this trip anyway? Are you running away from someone?" 32A asked.
Toivo took a deep breath.
"When I returned home from our trip to find Ilona, I found out that our family had been taken away while we were away." Toivo answered.
"What? Where? We have to go get them!"
"Now we know that we'll find our answer from the central police that are in Stockholm. We still need to find out where our family actually is."
"So were they arrested?"
"I think so. The next day after I came back, the police came to get Ella's dad and we all had to run away and now me and Ella are on this crusade." Toivo explained.
"Or we were. We still need a ride to Stockholm." Ella added.
"Well, I have a boat." 32A said.
"That's right, you do! This should be easy then!" Ella replied.
"But now the problem is that I don't know the way to Stockholm." 32A said.
"It's pretty far south of here. Do you even have enough fuel for that trip?" Ella asked.
"Probably not. By the time I arrived, the boat was getting slow." 32A answered.
"Could we steal fuel from a police car the same way that Sampo showed us?" Toivo suggested.
"Did you forget how that ended up the last time?" 32A asked.
"And do we even have the equipment for that?" Ella asked.
"Good points. So do we just try our luck getting a train ticket and rely on the same trick that worked in the bus?" Toivo asked.
"I don't know what trick you're talking about but let's think about that tomorrow. I'm too tired to think right now." 32A said and sat down on the floor.
"Maybe it should be somebody else's turn to use the bunk since I had it last night." Toivo said.
"Let Three have it." Ella said.
"Would you?" 32A asked.
"It'd be fair, wouldn't it?" Toivo said and stood up.
"Thank you." 32A said delightedly and got on the bunk and lied down on it, sounding satisfied after finally feeling something soft under her.
She took her bottle out of her jacket's pocket so it wouldn't be in the way.
"What's that bottle?" Ella asked upon seeing it but 32A didn't know what to answer.
"Yeah, what is it?" Toivo asked curiously.
"Do you remember the day I found you?" 32A asked Toivo.
"Of course I do."
"Do you remember that bottle I threw into the sea?"
"Is that the same bottle?"
"I think so. Some trader had found it in the sea, meaning that Ilona never got it."
"Oh." Toivo said somberly.
"Yep."
"But you don't know for sure that it's the same message?"
"I don't. I haven't opened the bottle or read the message. I can't do it."
"What message are you talking about? You've never told me anything about any message that you sent." Ella asked.
"It was a message that I sent to my friend that I lost before I even met you." 32A answered.
"What did the message read? If I can ask." Ella asked respectfully.
"Maybe you can read it for Ella since she doesn't know." Toivo suggested and 32A started thinking.
"I don't want to." 32A said back quietly.
"You don't have to. I understand that it's very sore." Ella said.
"Or...I could." 32A said and looked at the bottle for a while.
She stood up on the bunk and put her hand on the cork and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and twisted the cork open to let the rolled up paper inside get out. She handled the paper with the upmost care when she rolled it open.
"This is a message from Ilona Kovanen directed to two twins who should recognize the names 31A and 32A." She read from the note, translating it so Ella could understand.
"I got the names in the wrong order. I can't believe this. Not that it matters since she never got the message anyway." 32A added and then continued reading.
"I got your message and it was the best thing that ever happened to me." She read and gasped.
"Did you write that?" Toivo asked.
"I didn't. This is not my message. Is it actually from Ilona?" 32A wondered excitedly.
"Keep reading." Toivo requested with high hopes and curiosity.
"I worked in my buyer's house for five years until one day he brought home a message in a bottle that had my name on it. He gave it to me and let me read it. That was the only nice thing he ever did for me. I was so happy when I read that you two had met each other and had a nice home to live in. It gave me hope for a better life myself and I decided to go find it. Since the bottle came from the sea, I assume that you two are not in this land anymore. That's why I headed east when I escaped since I knew that I'd never find you anyway. Every day I thank you for giving me that hope. If I hadn't left, I'd probably be in that guy's slave grave by now. But instead I now live in the rebel territory as a loved member of a small community. Life here hasn't always been easy, especially during winters, but I've now been in this place for two years, and each year we made progress to improve our lives here. We even have couriers who deliver messages and packages to the Deadland and with their help, I'm sending this message to be thrown into the sea and I hope that you'll someday get it. We've lost a few people along the way but it's getting better all the time here as long as we have our spirit, our togetherness and our ingenuity. The rebel territory has been completely different than I expected. It's not a warzone like I expected. People get along mostly and I don't have to fear when I'm outside. There however is one major disagreement within the territory and that's why it's split in two. We have the white flag territory and the gray flag territory. I live in the gray territory but nobody here has any hard feelings for the white side. The two areas get along as long as they stay on their own sides. We'll make this place good and I hope that you two are living a happy and safe life wherever you are. It's unfortunate that I never got to say Goodbye to either of you so that's why I desperately hope that one of my messages will reach you eventually. I probably won't ever see you again and this message might never reach you either, but I will never stop sending them out and I will never forget you." 32A read from the paper with thrill.
"So that means..." Toivo was about to say.
"Ilona is alive! She's alive and she's well and she's happy! And she'll never forget us!" 32A shouted in joy.
She sprung up from the bunk and hugged Toivo and jumped up and down while hugging him.
"She's alive, she's alive, she's alive." She repeated, almost like singing.
Toivo was speechless and quietly cracking a smile while 32A was jumping up and down and squeezing him. Ella just looked at them and even though she never knew Ilona, she couldn't not smile when she saw how thrilled the other two were.
"This can't be reality. This is a dream. It has to be. You can't convince me otherwise." 32A said.
She let go of Toivo and saw the bucket of water on the floor. She dumped the rest of the water in the bucket on herself.
"Does that convince you that this is reality?" Toivo asked confusedly.
"It does." 32A replied and laughed.
"Looks like once again someone will have to dry up by the stove." Ella said and sighed and put more wood inside the stove.
"Sorry." 32A said without a bit of regret in her voice and grinned.
"Can I read the note myself?" Toivo asked and looked at the letter that was on the bunk.
"You think I lied when I read it? Go ahead and read it yourself!" 32A said and took off her jacket, hung it up to dry and then sat near the stove on the floor.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHG66hidqHB
Once they had all gotten in their sleeping positions, 32A was forcing herself to stay awake on the bunk because she didn't want to fall asleep due to the dreams that she saw the last times she slept. She listened to the quiet crackling of burning wood and the wind outside the hut and anything that could distract her from sleeping. She only wanted to rest, but not sleep, but she found it very hard to accomplish as sleep was slowly getting the better of her.
"Hey, Toivo." She whispered from up at the bunk.
"What?" Toivo replied from the floor after a few seconds of getting himself together.
"Can I ask something?"
"Ugh, go ahead."
"I'm afraid to go to sleep without a drawing. I guess you don't have any with you?"
"I don't."
"Oh. Can you make one?"
"With what?"
"When I climbed in through the window, I noticed there was some papers and a pen on that work desk. Could you use them?"
"Was there? Of course I can use them."
"You would? Thank you." 32A said.
Toivo stood up from the floor and went to the work desk where he found the papers where the reports about the city were written on, and he also found a pen. He used the light coming from the fire as his light when he drew on the blank side of the note. It had been a while since he drew with a pen like he prefers, so he wanted to make this good. After finishing it, he handed the drawing to 32A who recognized that she was looking at herself and Ilona from behind with a wide horizon in the background and an oak tree next to them.
"Thank you." 32A whispered and wiped a tear off her eye and then held the paper close to herself as she lied back down and took another glance at the drawing before closing her eyes.
ns 15.158.61.47da2
