"What ever is happening in there, doesn't interest me." 32A said to Ilkka after hearing what he said.
"I think it matters to everyone here. Their government has started cracking down on everyone who makes trips to over here. That means it'll be more difficult for the traders that we rely on. If they are forced to stop, it'll all be over for us." Ilkka said.
"That would be bad news. You can't really grow anything in the winter. Best you can do is hunt and fish, or find a larger community that might have enough food to share."
"If the traders don't come anymore, that would be our only option. We can't stay here forever. The traders that we've been relying on for so long might be arrested already, and we'd be waiting for their next visit all for nothing."
"So what to do? Start getting ready to move, or wait until we get confirmation?" 32A asked.
"We'll have to talk about that with the rest of our people. That decision isn't ours alone to make."
"Right. Worry about that tomorrow. We have other things to do right now."
"Then I also heard that the Swedish state has started hunting down people that have come from here to there."
"What? In what way? How serious are they about it?" 32A asked.
"Well, I heard that the word Disease Carrier is used for our people over there. I'd assume that they don't want disease carriers in their society." Ilkka answered.
"Disease carriers? They think that this place is still infected with that disease?"
"Sounds like it. Me and the trader didn't go into too much detail in our conversation."
"So what do they do to the supposed disease carriers?"
"I don't know. I just know that some have been arrested already and that in some small town a couple of them are wanted by the police. So sounds like if they find out that a person is from here, they'll treat that person like a criminal."
"That's just wrong!"
"You seem to be worried about this. Do you have intentions of someday going there yourself?"
"My family lives there! You weren't there when I told the others that I lived there for the last ten years with my family before I came back here just the other day! My family might be hunted right now!" 32A said with great concern.
"I didn't know that. Why are you here and not with them?"
"Because I'm an idiot who makes decisions on a whim and gets emotional too easily."
"Sounds I like I shouldn't snoop too much into that. You intending to return to them, or avoid the trouble?"
"I... I don't know. I'll have to think about it. If I stay here, there'll be hard times ahead. And if I go here, same deal over there."
"The decision is yours to make. I won't tell you what to do. So think about it when you're alone. Either way, you'll need to learn to fight." Ilkka finished with.
"Right. I do." 32A said and pulled out her cleaver.
"So that's your weapon of choice? The weapon you'll take everywhere with you?" Ilkka asked.
"That's my intention."
"You may not always have it. It would be useful to know how to defend yourself with your bare hands. But we can do a round of knife fighting." Ilkka said and pulled out his knife.
"Let's get down to the ground then." 32A said, and they both went into the house and from there to the front yard where they faced each other and got prepared.
"Don't hold back. I can heal myself. I can heal you too. Just don't hit me in the heart or any place that might kill me." 32A said.
"You actually want that?"
"Let's have some stakes." 32A said with determination.
"As you wish." Ilkka said and charged forward.
He swung his knife at 32A's gut, but 32A stepped back, as the attack was predicatable. 32A then swung her cleaver from up to down, trying to chop Ilkka's arm, but he pulled his arm away, grabbed 32A's wrist and stuck his knife between her elbow joints. 32A let out a terrible scream and dropped her cleaver and then fell on her knees.
"Sorry about that. I won't hold back, as you asked." Ilkka said with no remorse.
"Ngh. That was round one." 32A said and healed all the damage in her arm.
She then picked up her cleaver and stood up again. After exchanging nods, 32A charged at Ilkka. She kicked him in the gut, which made Ilkka bow down. She grabbed his knife wielding arm and twisted his wrist. Ilkka struggled back, trying to pry 32A away from his wrist, but without success. 32A was then ready to strike with her cleaver, but it was just then that she felt another painful pulse. The inconvenient timing of it surprised her and made her let go. Ilkka got free and put his knife on her throat.
"You got lucky there and you know it." 32A said.
"Luck is just something that you have to take into account sometimes." Ilkka said and took a few steps back.
After they exchanged nods again, 32A charged at Ilkka, trying to swing her cleaver at Ilkka's wrist to make him drop his weapon. Ilkka ducked the predictable attack easily and pulled his hand out of the way. The momentum of her powerful missed swing got 32A off her balance and made her wide open. Ilkka plunged his knife into her gut and pulled it out. 32A fell on her face with her stomach bleeding.
"You still can't fight. I can tell that you're simply not improving. Learn to shoot instead. This is going nowhere." Ilkka said and walked away, without even checking on 32A.
After spitting her blood on the snow under her, 32A healed the damage and got up to her knees.
"Come back, you coward! I'll show you who can't fight!" She shouted, but Ilkka was already walking towards the tent.
32A layed on the ground for a moment before standing up.
"I'm helpless. He's right. I can't defend myself. At the bike storage I had to rely on Urho's help just to get away. He had to endanger himself just to save us. And then when we met the killers, we only survived because my words hit just the right spot. I couldn't fight back at all. I've never had to know how to defend myself. I always relied on Toivo to defend me and didn't think I'd ever have to defend myself. I'm no use to these people. They don't need me." She said out loud and slammed her cleaver down in frustration.
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Back at the tent 32A went straight to the water barrels to wash the blood away from the parts that got struck. She made sure to cover both of those parts with her hands so that nobody would see the blood on them. She opened her jacket and saw that her sweatshirt was soaked with blood where she was stabbed. She tried her best to scrub it but it didn't help. The outer layer of her jacket only had a small stain, as most of the blood that leaked out of her was soaked by her shirt. She decided to just close the jacket and wipe off the little stain from it. After that, she returned to where she left her bottle. She sat down by it and held it in her arms again.
"I need to get away from these eyes." She thought to herself and stood up right after sitting down.
She left the tent entirely with the bottle in her hand and walked to the nearest house. She walked inside the house where there was a set of stairs at the lobby. Under the stairs was a small closet. She went inside the closet where she sat down in the dark and dusty corner. She looked at her bottle and the paper inside with great uncertainty.
"It's already been taken out of there once. Should I just read it again? Just to remind myself about what I wrote?" She quietly wondered.
She tried to twist the cork open, but couldn't bring herself to actually do it.
"I can't. It would hurt too much. I just can't." She said and pressed the bottle against her cheek and kept it there.
"I won't leave Toivo, Elias, Sampo and Aino the way I left you, Ilona. I'll go back tonight. I have to make sure that they're safe. I have to warn them that they should be careful. But coming here wasn't completely pointless. I only found out because Ilkka told me. If I didn't hear it from him, I may not know about the danger. I also brought the people of the truck back to life. I saved Urho's life here. I contributed to these people's food pile, and I found my message for you." 32A said to the bottle while hugging it.
"You wanted me to find Toivo all those years ago. You wouldn't have wanted me to just leave like this. You wouldn't have allowed it. Just losing you made me so upset that I wanted to run away from everything that I already had. But I'll go back to my family. I'm sorry that you can't be there. I should have come sooner to get you out of this evil land. I wanted you to join us so badly. But it's too late to regret it now. I have to get to them before it's too late. I won't make the same mistake with them, that I made with you." She said and got out of the corner.
She walked back to the tent and to the water barrels. She drank several ladles of water from the drinking barrel and then gathered her courage.
"I need to say my final wishes to these people before I go." She said while looking at her reflection on the surface of the water.
She then walked up to Tarmo who was sitting by the bonfire and then sat down next to him.
"How were the feelings in here while were out there hunting the killers?" 32A asked.
"Tense. I could see from people's faces that they were worried and scared. I was listening to every sound I could hear from the outside. None of us have weapons here, but I kept my fist clenched the entire time, even though I knew that if we got attacked, we'd stand no chance. I was putting my hope on the ignorance of the killers. They didn't know that we're unarmed." Tarmo answered.
"That may have saved you without you even knowing. So nobody caused any trouble?"
"Two people almost started arguing but I calmed them down before it got heated."
"What did they argue about?"
"If we should stay or go."
"Speaking of that. Did Ilkka tell you about the news that may affect the traders that we rely on?" 32A asked.
"He did. I haven't told the rest of these people. It's a shame. We thought that we'd have to leave because of these killers, and now that they're no longer a problem, we get another thing that might force us to leave. I'll tell the rest tomorrow and we can argue about it."
"What is your opinion?"
"I say we wait. We have enough food to wait for a couple of weeks. If the traders don't come here anymore, then we'll go look for greener pastures." Tarmo answered.
"Well, whatever you choose, I hope it's a wise decision. But I won't be with you anymore. I'm going back to my family. If the Swedish state is hunting them down, I have to warn them and help them." 32A said.
"That's a shame for us. We could need you here in case some of us get hurt. But I understand completely. You have your own family. Go take care of them. I won't stop you." Tarmo said.
"Thank you for understanding. You take care of yours as well." 32A said and looked at the people of the tent all around them.
She then stood up and walked up to Ilkka who was polishing his trumpet elsewhere in the large tent.
"So you're fine after what I did to you. Good to see." Ilkka said when he saw 32A coming.
"Very nice of you to just leave me there." She replied.
"I knew that you could save yourself."
"I know that."
"So what did you want to say?" Ilkka asked.
"I've made my decision." 32A said.
"This quickly?"
"I shouldn't waste time waiting. I have to be there for my family. I'm going tonight."
"And how will you do that? You'll have to cross the gulf somehow. And we're pretty far away from the coast."
"That's why I have to get going sooner rather than later."
"You should have went with the traders. If you want an easy boat ride now, you'll have to wait for them to come around again, if they ever come back at all." Ilkka pointed out.
"I shouldn't wait for that day. I'll find a boat somewhere. And besides, it's a good thing that I didn't leave with them. I couldn't have hepled you with the killers if I left with the traders. But now I have to go. I believe that you can take care of yourselves."
"It was indeed good that you didn't leave then. Nothing is a coincidence. I'm sure you'll be protected on your way home."
"I'm intending to go alone." 32A said and felt a little confused.
"I know."
"Right. I wanted to say thank you for training me, even if I didn't really learn anything. And thank you for telling me your and your son's story. It helped me realise how to deal with losing someone important." 32A said sincerely.
"Maybe his death served a purpose then." Ilkka said, and the pain could be heard in his voice.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disrespect him. I'm sorry if it came off like that."
"Don't apologize. Be careful on your trip."
"I'll try. Take care of Suvi's boys the way you have so far. I'm sure they can learn a lot of things from you." 32A said and turned away.
When she looked around, she saw Suvi in her usual corner sitting with her three sons.
"I should probably go say something to them as well. They're the only people left here that I've gotten to know." 32A thought and was ready to go talk to them, but then stopped.
"I don't want to. I'll say something to them, but I won't tell them that I'm leaving. Urho wouldn't like hearing that. He'll find out tomorrow morning, if he even notices that I'm gone. I'll just say something encouraging to them all. That's it." She thought and walked up to them.
"How was it here when we were out there?" 32A asked Suvi after sitting down.
"I have to say that I was worried. The only ones with any sorts of weapons were out there while were in here without them." Suvi answered.
"I was ready to fight if needed." Urho added, acting brave.
"Heh. I knew you'd be. But please don't try to be a hero if it's not needed. I mean that." 32A said to Urho.
"You should listen to her. Don't do anything stupid. But can you give us two a moment to speak alone? I have to say something to her." Suvi said to her sons, who did as told and went to sit by bonfire in the center.
"I have a question." Suvi said to 32A.
"What is it?"
"Did you kill Saku out there?"
"What? Why would you even suggest something like that?"
"I already told you what I think about him and his people. I figured you took it to heart. It was just so perfectly timed how he died so soon after that."
"You really think I'd do that?"
"When I look at you, you seem a little vengeful on some level. I don't think getting revenge on someone you hate would be out of the question for you." Suvi told.
32A remembered the man who bought Ilona and what his fate ended up being, and she understood what Suvi meant by her assumption.
"I personally had no hard feelings to him. I understand why you did, but I wouldn't do something like that just for you." 32A answered.
"I'm sorry if I offended you with my assumption."
"I'm not offended. Just surprised. Was that the thing you wanted to talk to me about?"
"That was it."
"Well, I want to ask you something. Has Urho started speaking to other people now?"
"He has. He now talks to me and his brothers. But that's it."
"That's good to hear at least. Must be hard to be a mother of three when you can't even look after them yourself all the time, and especially if one of them refuses to talk to you." 32A stated.
"It is hard. On some level I wish that I wasn't one."
"What do you mean by that? You mean you'd want somebody to take your place?"
"Well, that would also be nice. What I meant is that I never wanted to be a mother of three. Me and my husband only wanted one, but we got three. That has made everything so much harder."
"So you wish you didn't have two of the three?"
"Two I could manage to take care of, but three is just too many. When I went to rescue them from the New Tower's authorities, I briefly thought about just getting two of them and leaving one behind, but I only had that thought for a second. Now that they're all alive, I couldn't leave any of them behind."
"Well, I'm glad you came to the conclusion that you did."
"Me too. I suppose."
"You regret saving all three of them?"
"Well, so far everything has worked out well enough. But I heard that we might have difficult times ahead. At times like that, I start thinking that I shouldn't have brought an extra mouth here. Honestly, if I could have left one of my children behind, it would have been Urho." Suvi explained.
32A was horrified and disgusted by what she just heard and it could be seen on her face.
"What did you just say? Do you mean that?" 32A asked just to make sure she heard correctly.
"It's just a thought I've been having lately. I'm not going to leave any of them behind. That's something The New Tower would have done." Suvi answered.
"Well, that's at least good. And Urho is your least favorite?"
"He seems to be the one who always has the wild ideas. That's not a good thing. It makes me worried for all of them."
"I see. Have you told him to stop doing that?"
"Of course I have. That doesn't stop him. And I already know that he won't remember what you just said to him about not being a hero."
"Well, I hope he grows and learns. But I won't be here to help him along the way."
"You're going somewhere?"
"I am. My family needs me and I can't leave them behind."
"That's admirable. I hope Urho won't be difficult about it. At least he can talk to other people than you now, so I'm glad you didn't leave earlier." Suvi said.
"Me too. Ilkka said that nothing is a coincidence. I don't really know what that means but it's been a good thing that I stayed a little while longer. I shouldn't waste any more time so I'll have to get going. Please be a good mother. The boys deserve it. Best of luck to you and everybody here." 32A said.
"You're leaving in the night?" Suvi asked.
"I said that I shouldn't waste time. So goodbye." 32A said and stood up.
"Good luck." Suvi said and saw 32A walk out of the tent.
32A took the rifle out of her back and left it on the entrance of the tent, letting anyone who wants it to take it, and then she stepped out.
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"The killers had that kicksled. We didn't think to take it with us. I should go get it. That would make this trip a lot quicker. I won't have to worry about finding my way to my destination. I already know exactly where to go." 32A quietly said outside the tent and felt another pulse.
She turned to where she remembers the confrontation with the killers happening and started walking there. She gave the tent one last look as she was walking away from it.
"I have to go. No time to start contemplating. My true family needs me." She said and continued on her way.
Behind her the light coming from the tent got dimmer and dimmer the further away she got from it. Now that nobody was looking, she repaired the two punctured holes in her jacket. The cold air had already gotten in, so repairing the holes didn't make her warmer right away. When she arrived at the scene of the deadly confrontation, she got instantly nervous about the threat still being around.
"Those evil people better have been honest about being done." She thought and walked quietly forward.
She could see the kicksled and the dead body sitting on it, as well as the dead body on the ground in front of it. As she got closer, she did her best to not look at the dead body on the ground. She still had to keep her eyes on the kicksled and couldn't avoid seeing the body sitting on it. Snow had fallen on the corpse already, but the harrowing face of the dead man and the bloodstains around its open mouth could still be seen. 32A squinted her eyes so she couldn't see the body, at least not in detail. She got a glimpse of the dead man's bloody face and hoped that she could forget it. She got next to the kicksled and pushed the body down with her foot.
"Let's just get this thing out of here and get going." She said and got to the back of the thing so she could move with it.
She evaded the two bodies on the ground and made sure to keep her eyes straight ahead. She could not see well in the darkness and the pulses that she felt every 59 seconds were the only thing telling her where to go. After she had been travelling for a few minutes she stopped and thought of something.
"This thing might be more needed at the tent. Suvi can't even walk. But I shouldn't waste time. No time to turn back. But if the tent people have to leave, this would be a great help for Suvi." She was arguing in her head.
"I'll eventually find my destination anyway. Those people need this more." She concluded and turned around.
She rode the kicksled all the way back to the tent, passing the bodies of the killers a second time. When she saw the light coming from the tent, she went towards it, and when she was close, she dragged the sled on foot so that nobody would hear her coming. She left the kicksled to the entrance of the tent and then turned around to make her journey on foot, with nothing but a bottle with her.
"Where are you going?" Urho's voice said from behind her.
"No. Don't. Why did you have to come here now?" 32A said without even turning around.
"What do you mean? Where are you going?" Urho asked.
32A turned around and walked closer to Urho.
"I didn't want to tell you because I feared that you wouldn't allow me to go. But I'm leaving."
"What? Why? Where? Are you angry that I looked inside your bottle? I couldn't even understand any of what was on the paper!" Urho asked desperately.
"No, I'm not angry at you. Don't even think about such a thing. I have a family of my own. They're far away from here and I heard that they might need me again. I left them because I no longer wanted to be with them. I understand my mistake now, and I want to go back." 32A explained and then got on one knee.
"So you don't want to be here anymore?"
"I'd love to stay here with all of you too, but my family needs me more right now. You'll be fine. All of you. Together you'll make wise decisions. Your mother will care for you and Ilkka will teach you useful things. He's someone you can look at as a hero. I tried to learn to fight with him, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get the better of him. You'll be fine even without me. I did my job here and now someone else needs me." 32A explained sincerely.
Urho then surprised her by hugging her from the side and sticking to her like glue, making her feel even worse about leaving.
"Don't make me feel guilty about leaving now. I made my choice." 32A said with sadness in her voice.
"You didn't even say Goodbye." Urho said with sadness in his voice while clinging on to 32A.
"Because I knew that it would have destroyed you. Just like it's now destroying me."
"Then why are you leaving?"
"Because I have to. This can't wait. But I promise. I promise that when it's over, I'll try to come visit here when I get a chance." 32A reassured.
"You will?" Urho asked with hope in his voice and pulled away from 32A to look her in the eyes.
"I wouldn't lie, would I? Of course I'll come back. So I expect some things from you while I'm gone." 32A answered and put her hand on Urho's shoulder.
"What things?"
"I expect you to keep yourself out of trouble. You don't need to be a hero and you don't need to impress anyone. Your mother and Ilkka will take care of you and your brothers. Don't go looking for trouble either and stay out of strange places. How old are you anyway?"
"Nine."
"So you have plenty of time to become anything you want to be. But for now, just do as the adults say."
"Okay, I will."
"Good. And that's not the only thing I expect from you."
"What else do you expect?"
"Please talk with other people. At least with your mother and your brothers. Not all people are fortunate enough to even have a mother, and childhood friendship between siblings is such a precious thing, you should cherish it while you still have it. I also expect you to be honest and not lie, be caring to all of these people, listen to what they teach you, and lastly, be fair." 32A explained sincerely.
"I can do all of that."
"Good. When I come back and find out that you've done as I told, I'll be really happy and proud of you. And if you do what I told, I can guarantee that I'll keep coming back. So will you do as I said?" 32A said and smiled.
"I will." Urho answered.
"Good. So I'm not saying Goodbye. Because I'll see you later. Hopefully here. But now I need to get going. The sooner I've dealt with my issue, the sooner I can come back."
"Okay. See you later." Urho said and sounded happier now.
"You too." 32A said back and stood up, scratched Urho's hair and then turned around to walk away and slowly disappear into the darkness while Urho stayed outside the tent to watch until he could no longer see her.
32A took one last look behind her and waved when she saw Urho who then waved back. She felt a painful pulse and made her way to the direction where it came from.
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Once 32A came to the location where the killers confronted her and the others, she no longer saw the two bodies there. She only saw snowy lumps in their place, as the fallling snow had covered the bodies entirely. 32A walked past the snowy lumps and kept making her way west through the wind and the snowfall. While walking in the darkness and feeling pulses every 59 seconds, it felt like the journey wouldn't end. She walked through flat fields, forests, highways and abandoned communities. At all the times when she was walking in forests, she got a nervous feeling. It reminded her of the area where the slave traders captured her and Ilona. She treaded carefully in those areas and listened closely, looking around her at all times, but it was for nothing, as on her way west, she saw no signs of intelligent life anywhere. That was until she heard the loud sound of an engine coming from behind her on a road. She turned around and saw light coming towards her as the sound got louder. A snowmobile was coming towards her, and once 32A was in the lights, the snowmobile slowed down and stopped.
"Didn't expect to find anyone here. You lost?" The driver asked 32A.
"I know exactly where I'm going." 32A replied and was ready to continue her journey.
"You're going west? I'm also going there. Need a ride?" The driver offered.
"I don't trust you. Why are you out here anyway?" 32A questioned the driver.
"Returning from a business trip." The driver said and slapped his backpack.
"You mean a looting trip?"
"Don't trust me? Listen, girl. Our company is a trusted enterprise. We don't fool around." The driver said, took off his helmet and revealed a face that looked familiar to 32A but she couldn't remember where from.
"Your company?" 32A asked.
"I'd give you a ride since that's where I'm going anyway. I'd never do anything to piss off a potential customer." The driver assured.
"I'm not your customer. I have places to go. But fine. I'll get on board since you're going that way anyway. But if you try to trick me, you'll regret it." 32A warned.
"I won't trick you. I'm not going to trick someone who is behind me and has access to my neck." The driver promised.
"You're at least smart enough for that. Fine. Make some space." 32A said and climbed to the back of the snowmobile behind the driver who got the vehicle moving.
The cold air blowing in 32A's face reminded her of crossing the gulf on a boat, and holding onto the stranger driving the snowmobile made her nervous, as she still didn't trust him. The driver followed the snowy highways and made the trip a lot faster with no unpredictable turns. After a cold ride in the dark highways, they eventually arrived at a shore where 32A could see a horizon under the black skies, and something else too.
"No way. No. Way! This cannot be true. You have to be joking." 32A said when the snowmobile came closer to one of the beachside houses. The house had a flagpole on the roof with a pink flag that had a black X on it. The wall of the house had a sign made of plywood that said: "PINKJACKET CASINO" with spray painted letters.
"These morons are still here? Well, the previous time they had a boat. Maybe they have new one. I hope they don't remember me." 32A thought and got off the snowmobile.
"We're here. Come to our casino if you want to." The driver said and 32A now remembered where she had seen him.
"Maybe later. I have other things here." 32A replied and went her own way.
New houses had been built near the casino, and 32A searched around those houses, but found no boat around any of them.
"Might as well see if the Pinkjackets have a boat. That's really my only hope right now." 32A said and returned to the Pinkjacket casino.
She heard the sound of people talking coming from casino. It sounded like a busy place with lots of people inside. She stepped to the front door and slowly pulled it open.
"What the..." She said when she saw that there were absolutely no people inside.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV2UKwJBSDd
She noticed a jukebox in the corner where the crowd noise was coming from.
"What even is this?" She wondered out loud.
"Where is that cold air coming from?" A voice from the backroom shouted.
"Yeah! Where?" Another voice followed. Three men wearing pink leather jackets stepped out of the back room and saw 32A standing there.
To 32A the men looked familiar, but aged, but they didn't seem to recognize her.
"So you wanted to come have a look anyway." The one who drove her said.
"Who the Hell are you? I mean... Hey! A customer!" Another one of them said.
"Yeah! A customer!" The third one added.
"I came here to ask if you have a boat." 32A said and stepped in, closing the door behind her.
"A boat? We have a boat. But we're keeping it tightly under locks and chains."
"Yeah! Tightly!"
"Why?" 32A asked and sat down by one of the tables.
She looked around and saw roulette tables and poker tables around the room, and at the back was a counter. The three Pinkjackets sat down with her around the table.
"Why, you ask? Because three boats have been stolen from us so far! It's not happening again!"
"Yeah! Not happening!"
"Three boats? I figured it would have only been one." 32A said sarcastically, but the Pinkjackets didn't understand.
"The first two were stolen ten years ago! One was stolen by some military dude in Oulu. The second by some little girl who we found in a crashed car, and the third was stolen last week by someone who rented it but then just sailed away and disappeared with it."
"Yeah! Disappeared!"
"So I suppose you won't let me rent your boat?" 32A asked.
"No way! Not unless we trust you!"
"Yeah! Trust you!"
32A started thinking what to do now. She was then spooked by a scream of pain that she heard. She stood up and looked where it came from. It came from the same jukebox where the crowd noise kept coming from.
"Don't worry about that. It does that sound every ten minutes. It makes the place sound wilder." One Pinkjacket said.
"Yeah! Wilder!" Another added.
"How is that thing even powered up?" 32A asked.
"This year the power station in Oulu was finally put back to work. And it provides power all the way here now because of how far the Republic has expanded!"
"Yeah! Expanded!"
"Look at this!" One of them said and stood up to turn the lights on.
"Looks like some people have it better than others here." 32A stated.
"Damn right! Now do you intend to be a customer or what? Because you're not getting that boat."
"That's right! Not getting!"
"I can earn your trust." 32A said back and sighed.
"And what could you do to gain our trust?"
"Yeah! What?"
A knife was sticking up from the table with the handle pointing up to the ceiling. 32A grabbed the knife and then grabbed one of the Pinkjackets by the collar.
"Hey hey hey! What is she doing?" The Pinkjacket asked fearfully.
32A cut the leather of the jacket with the knife.
"No!" They all shouted out loud, and 32A let go.
"What did you do?" One of them shouted.
"Yeah! What?" Another added.
"Don't worry about your damn jacket. Look at it now." 32A said.
The victim of jacket destruction looked at the spot that was cut and saw that it had been fixed now. All of the Pinkjackets were baffled.
"She's like a magician or something!"
"Yeah! A magician!"
"Maybe she could work for us!"
"Yeah! For us!"
"I'll work for you if you let me use your boat. I'll even fix this." 32A said and tugged at one of their sleeves and cut a piece of leather off the sleeve.
"No!" They all once again shouted.
"So you better let me use that boat if you want that sleeve repaired." 32A threatened.
"I can sow it back." One Pinkjacket said.
"Yeah! He can!" Another added.
"But it'll leave ugly stitch marks." The third added.
"Yeah! Ugly!" Another added.
"So she's our only option! She can somehow repair it without sowing it."
"That's right! She can!"
"Fine. You can use our boat! But you better keep your promise!"
"That's right! Better!"
"Of course I will. So where's the boat?" 32A asked.
"It's in the garage." One Pinkjacket answered.
"That's right! In the garage!" Another added.
"Get it out. I need the boat right now." 32A requested.
"Right now? At this hour?"
"Yeah! At this hour?"
"Yes, at this hour." 32A insisted.
"What for?"
"Yeah! What for?"
"I need to feel the freedom of the sea winds and I need it badly." 32A said and pretended to be unhinged.
"Better give the chick what she wants and I'll get this wound healed as soon as possible!" One of them pointed out.
"That's right! Soon!" Another added.
"Alright then, honey! Damn. Follow me." One of them said and went out of the front door and from there to the garage.
At the garage was a modern looking motorboat resting on a frame with wheels.
"We just filled it with a fresh can of fuel. You better not waste too much of it." The Pinkjacket said to 32A.
"You won't have to worry about the fuel levels of your boat. I promise. Now what's the deal with the pink flag on your pole? I've seen a similar flag but gray in the rebel territory." 32A answered and asked.
"Oh yeah, that. Originally it was just a show of support for the current thing. Then we just kept it there for so long that it became iconic to this place so we've kept it ever since! That's the deal!"
"So knowledge of the rebellion extends this far?"
"Damn right! People from there visit these territories all the time. Sometimes on their car they have a gray flag and sometimes a white one. Heard they have two different territories there. Haven't asked more about that. Don't care either."
"I guess I shouldn't either. I have more important things to worry about right now. Let's get that boat into water so I can return to fix the jacket sleeve faster."32A said.
"That's right! The sleeve that you ruined. Just get your way and get back or there'll be hell to pay!" The Pinkjacket said and started pulling the boat out of the garage and towards the shore where the ice had a trail of clear water leading into the open waters.
At the shore, the boat was released into water and the keys were already in the ignition switch.
"There. Have your damn moment to enjoy the sea winds. Just know that we could have easily threatened you into repairing the sleeve without agreeing to this, but we want to keep you around and build trust with you. That's how the Pinkjacket gang operates! We earn the trust of our partners and customers!" The Pinkjacket said seriously.
32A jumped into the boat and turned it on.
"I can respect that. Also sorry for stealing your boat all those years ago." 32A said rudely and accelerated away.
"Wait. Are you saying you're the same thief? Hey, wait a moment! Get back here!" The Pinkjacket shouted at 32A as she was speeding away.
"You can't be serious! We got fucked again! Thieving little brat!" The Pinkjacket was shouting as the boat disappeared behind the horizon.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtlsF7f6CvB
