On the night when Toivo and Ella were caught, they were driven to the facility where all of the suspected disease carriers were held. When the police van transporting them arrived at the facility, the doors were opened and a bright light blinded the two people inside who had been in darkness for all of the ride.
"Why are they not cuffed?" An armed and masked guard shouted upon seeing Ella and Toivo sitting by the corners of the van uncuffed and freezing in their t-shirts.
The guard then raised his weapon at the two of them.
"Don't let the man look at you!" The driver of the van shouted upon coming out, worried that Toivo could use his ability, even though Toivo had no intention to actually fight back at this moment.
The driver slammed the doors shut again.
"Wait. Is he the freak who makes things break around him?" The armed guard asked.
"I won't do anything when all of you are around!" Toivo shouted from inside the van.
"Why did you tell them that? Let them be scared of you." Ella said to him.
"If they fear me, they might treat me worse or put me under special watch." Toivo reasoned.
"Quiet in there!" The driver shouted and banged the doors.
"But if the man can just destroy everything around him, can't he just break out of the van and run away?" The armed guard asked the driver.
"Don't give him ideas! Just leave the van here. The snipers are watching the van at all times." The driver said back.
"Should we let the woman out? The man could use her as a human shield and break out." The armed guard asked another question.
"I would never do that!" Toivo shouted from inside the van and felt insulted.
"I said don't give them any ideas. And if he uses the woman as a human shield, that won't help him. One bullet can penetrate both of them." The driver said to the armed guard.
"That's a little cruel. Should we even give him the option to do that? Just take her away from him so we won't have to kill two people in the case that he tries to escape. Throw her in with the rest of them and leave the man alone here." The armed guard suggested.
"But if we take her away from him, he might try to escape because he might want to get her back. They seem pretty close." The driver said back.
"He wouldn't throw his life away just to get me back." Ella said from inside the van.
"I probably would." Toivo said.
"Quiet in there!" The driver said and banged the door again.
"Do we ask the supervisor what to do with them?" The armed guard asked the driver.
"Fine. He probably knows best." The driver said back, and so he walked away along with the armed guard.
"Send a message to Henrik and ask him what do we do now." Ella said to Toivo who did as told.
It didn't take long for a message to return, so Toivo read it out loud.
"Help is on the way. Don't do anything until we're here." The message read.
"Are they actually coming here to get us out?" Ella wondered.
"Sounds like they're doing what we intended to originally do. And once we're free, we can get the others out." Toivo said to Ella just before the doors were opened again and the light was let in.
A weapon was pointed at Toivo while a guard in a hazmat suit climbed into the van and dragged Ella out and then the doors were slammed shut again.
"Ngh. Where are you taking me?" Ella asked angrily and worriedly while being dragged away by the guard, but not resisting.
"With the general population. Please don't resist." The guard answered.
Ella decided stay quiet and not get herself in trouble. After the lights were no longer blinding, ahead of her she saw a wide and tall concrete building surrounded by a chainlink fence with watchtowers on both sides of the gate. The gate was opened and she was escorted into the building through the main door. Inside the building her pockets were emptied and thrown into a box. She was then taken through another door and there she saw rows of cells on three stories. She recognized that this looks like an old prison. Some of the cells had up to five people in them while some only had one person inside. Ella was thrown into a cell where there were two other people inside. Inside the cell the two people looked at Ella briefly but then looked at the floor again. The first thing that Ella noticed about them was how old the clothes looked on one of them and how malnourished they both were. She sat down on the floor and leaned on the bars.
"Don't worry. I believe that help is on the way." Ella said to the two other people in the cell. One of them couldn't understand what she said but the other one did.
"No help is on the way. This madness is hopeless." Ella's cellmate said back.
"No, I believe that this madness will end soon once people find out the truth. I started seeing evidence of that today before I was caught. How long have you been here?" Ella said back and asked the cellmate.
"Two weeks now. All I did was make a trip to the no-contact zone to get some video and photos and when I came back, I was arrested and thrown here." The cellmate explained.
"Well, that's just idiotic. But there are people who are starting to see this madness for what it is." Ella assured.
"Maybe." The cellmate said depressedly and lied down on the only bunk in the cell.
Ella wondered if the cellmates take turns with the bunk or if one of them just hogs it. She however didn't want to ask, as her cellmate didn't seem to be in the mood for talking. Ella stood up and looked out the cell to see the place around. She looked into other cells and at the people in them. After looking into a few cells, she saw a cell with three familiar faces in there.
"Elias! Sampo! Aino! You're here!" Ella shouted from her cell into another cell upon seeing her neighbors and the family of her friends.
They turned their heads to look at where the voice came from and saw Ella.
"Ella! Why are you here?" Elias shouted back.
"Because I've been living close to you and that's why I'm sick by association, I guess! But how are you all?" Ella answered and asked.
"This sucks!" Sampo shouted back at her and was then pulled aside by Aino who showed three fingers to him and also made a T with her fingers. Sampo understood that she was wondering about 32A and Toivo.
"Did Three and Toivo ever return from their boat trip to the Deadland?" Sampo asked Ella from his cell.
"They did! And then we all decided to come get you out of here! They can explain all the details once we're back home!" Ella shouted back.
"Are they still coming to get us?" Elias asked.
"Well, not them because Toivo is also here but he's being kept elsewhere and Three is also being held somewhere else, but some people that we met along the way are sending help!"
"What kind of help?" Elias asked from his cell.
Before Ella could answer, a loud crash could be heard, followed by a honk of a horn that just wouldn't end. Guards could be seen rushing out of the building and to the direction of the sound. All the people in the cells were leaning on their bars to see what was happening. Once there were no guards at all in the large room, Ella saw Sofia running into the room and then going through a door to what seemed to be a staircase. Shortly after that, a buzzer sound could be heard in the room and all of the cell doors opened. After the cell doors opened, a large hole was blown into the wall of the building, making a large exit for all of the people to escape through. All the inmates rushed out of their cells and through the house sized hole in the wall. Some guards outside turned their weapons at the inmates but their weapons shattered in their hands. Ella also left her cell but before she got too far from her cell, she tried to spot her neighbors. She saw them in the crowd leaving through the hole, and that's when she also started to make her way out while getting pushed around in the crowd. Once she was outside of the building, she saw lots of broken weapons on the crowd and a crew of inmates kicking a guard on the ground.
"That's what you get. I'm sick of what you people do to innocent people." Ella said while walking past the beating.
She didn't join in as she had more urgent worries at the moment. Inmates were flocking into a bus that was parked over a fallen fence and Ella followed them.
"So that's what the noise was, and that's what they came to get us back with. But where's Toivo? Only he could have broken that wall and all of those weapons." Ella talked to herself.
She started calling for Toivo's name as she was being pushed around by people running past her and into the bus. She then heard her own name being called by Toivo's voice from the direction of the bus. She ran there with the rest of the remaining inmates who squeezed themselves into the bus.
"There you are! Was my family in there? I didn't see them in the middle of all this and then I had to remove the tracker from this stolen bus so I couldn't pay attention." Toivo asked Ella once she was by the bus too.
"I saw them leave through the hole in the wall. They have to be here unless they went looking for you." Ella answered.
"Henrik! Don't drive away yet!" Toivo told Henrik who was sitting on the driver's seat.
"I don't see them in the bus either." Ella said after walking around the bus.
"Let's search for them then." Toivo said seriously.
"I told them that you were being held separate from me. They must be looking for you. Lets go around the building." Ella suggested.
They went to the other side of the building where they found the police van that they came with, but with its backdoors busted open from the inside.
"So how did you escape without being instantly shot?" Ella asked as they walked.
"A bus crashing back first into the fence was a good distraction. Then I just busted myself out and destroyed the guns of the sharpshooters and other guards when they weren't looking at me." Toivo explained.
"And was it Sofia... I mean one of the Sabertooth who got the cell doors open?" Ella asked.
"I think so. The message said that she'd be coming along too. I saw her run inside through the front door when I was destroying weapons. After I destroyed the wall, some more guards showed up from behind a corner but luckily they didn't get to fire a single..." Toivo was explaining as he turned a corner again and was knocked to the ground after crashing into a tall guard.
The guard picked him up by the throat and lifted him up to his feet. The guard forcefully flipped Toivo around so that he couldn't look at the guard, and then choked him from behind with one arm.
"You think I need a weapon to kill you?" The guard shouted into Toivo's ear.
Ella punched the guard in the gut as hard as she could but the guard merely felt it. He put his big palm around Ella's throat and choked her. The guard was holding Toivo in a way that his eyes faced the sky and so he couldn't use his ability. Toivo heard Ella being choked and that caused him to swing his limbs furiously but he didn't get anything done. But Ella had enough. She grabbed the guard's middle finger and index finger and twisted and snapped them. The guard grunted in pain and let go of Ella. The guard started shaking his free hand and as he was unable to use that hand, Ella gave the same treatment to the other hand as well, making the guard let go of Toivo as well.
"I've had it with people mindlessly following orders from rotten people just because it's their job! Toivo, hurt him! Hurt him well! Teach him a lesson!" Ella shouted at Toivo.
"Are you sure?" The now freed Toivo asked Ella but before he could get an answer, he saw a fist coming his way.
He focused on the fist and broke every bone inside it, causing the tall guard to scream in pain. Ella didn't look sympathetic to the guard at all.
"I think he learned." Ella said and looked at the guard holding his hand.
She was however proven incorrect when the guard raised his head and looked ready to charge, only to stop in his tracks after a thud sound. A damaged brick fell on the ground behind him and he was grabbed from behind by Elias, Aino and Sampo who shoved him shoulder first into the side of the police van hard.
"I think that teached him a lesson." Sampo said as he was looking at the guard who was now just whispering incoherently on the ground.
"So there you are! You actually came back for us." Elias said to Toivo and Ella.
"And you destroyed government property. I'm proud of you, son." Sampo added.
Before Toivo could say anything back, he was strongly grabbed by Aino who hugged him, making it hard to breathe for him. After a few seconds, he pushed her away.
"We don't have time for that now. I'm sorry that I wasn't there to defend you when they came to take you away. I have so much to tell you when we get back home, but we can't go home yet. Three is still being held captive and we have to go get her! And we should get in the bus before any reinforcements show up. So let's go!" Toivo said to his family, took Ella's hand and led the way to the bus.
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The bus was filled with people to the point where nobody could move. The seats had been removed entirely and the bus was still filled to the brim with people. Toivo, Ella, Sampo, Aino and Elias squeezed themselves into the crowded bus as the last people to enter. The talking inside the bus was so loud that nobody could even hear their own thoughts. Once everybody was aboard, the engine was started and the bus got moving.
"Henrik! You need to drop us off at the minister's address! Remember that!" Ella shouted to Henrik at the wheel.
"I can't do that! They're expecting us at all of the checkpoints! We can't drive into the city! We'll have to abandon the bus outside the city. I'll get you in the city another way. These people will be free to follow or go anywhere they want!" Henrik shouted back.
"Why do you want to go to the minister's address?" Elias wondered but Toivo brought them all up to speed about what had happened during the past days.
Elias was impressed, Sampo was proud and Aino was worried while listening to the recap of the events.
By the time the bus stopped it was already the early hours of the morning and the bus was parked by a shore with trees and snowy gravel roads around. The people inside were confused.
"Are we being dropped off here?" Some voice in the bus wondered.
"I'm leaving the bus here. You are free to go anywhere you want. Some of you can join my boat!" Henrik shouted from his seat but most couldn't understand his language.
Once he left the the bus, everybody understood and also left the bus.
"He's leaving us in the middle of nowhere?" Somebody asked.
Toivo figured that he should explain the situation to the people in a language that they understand. He explained that the bus can't drive into the city and that the people are now on their own. He also told them to be careful around authorities and to avoid cities for the time being. Ella then tugged his sleeve and told him that Henrik was getting in the boat.
"If somebody wants to come to Stockholm for some reason, get in the boat." Toivo shouted to the people before going to his family once again.
"You should stay here for now too. The police is probably expecting us in the city and if you were with us, you'd be guilty by association." Toivo said to his family.
"You think you can get Three alone?" Elias asked.
"I have backup." Toivo said and looked at Ella who didn't understand what he just said but just smiled shyly.
"You've managed without us so far. I believe in you." Sampo said to Toivo.
"Managed? He got caught and he was sent to the same facility with us." Elias argued.
"It's just one simple thing that I need to do and then we'll return here to you and we'll all go wherever we go. We can't go back home because we'd be found, but we'll go... Somewhere. And hopefully one day this whole paranoia goes away and we can become actual citizens." Toivo said.
"But after everything that you said you've done in the past few days, you're probably a wanted criminal and not just because of where you came from. Even if the whole paranoia goes away, you'd still be a criminal and you'd still always have to hide and run." Elias reasoned and the realization hit Toivo like a brick.
"You're right. So what do I do?" Toivo asked.
"Hide with us somewhere and never come out." Sampo suggested.
"I couldn't live in a cell like that. I promised myself that I'd never live like that again." Toivo said back.
"So turning yourself in and doing the time would be out of the question then too." Elias figured.
"Turning yourself in is always out of the question." Sampo added.
"And if the police will keep searching for me, it might get you in danger too. They may have never seen us together but they found us all in the same area when this all started. They probably know that we're all in the same crew." Toivo added.
Aino poked a stick in the ground to get the others' attention and then wrote: "Are you saying that you should leave and go your own way?" in the snow.
"Maybe I have to." Toivo said straightly.
"Where?" Aino wrote in the snow.
"I don't know. Maybe I'd always keep running. At least you wouldn't have to keep running with me." Toivo answered after reading the snow.
"And what about Three? She's done her crimes too and the police might keep looking for her after you get her out. Would she have to go with you?" Elias wondered.
"That's her choice. But I don't think I should stay with you anymore. I'm sorry. But if I ever want to come back, I want to know where you are." Toivo answered.
"I think we'll be around this area and hope that we find an empty house or somebody who can give us a place to stay or a ride somewhere else. Maybe we'll go the city once we know it's safe." Elias figured.
"I think this will be over soon anyway. I'll tell my friend to come get you into the city once he knows it's safe. Maybe you can stay here until then, but I can't. Even if you're legally innocent, harboring me might make you criminals, so you can't be seen with me." Toivo told his family.
"So I guess this is Goodbye then." Elias said.
"I always knew that you'd have to go your own way some day. I believe in you, son." Sampo said to Toivo.
"Thanks... Dad." Toivo said with a little uncertainty but with no shame, and Sampo seemed to be glad to hear Toivo call him that for the first time.
Aino hugged Toivo again, not to hold on to him, but to say Goodbye, and Toivo hugged back.
"And thank you for everyhting too, mother." Toivo said, and Aino shed a tear upon being called that for the first time.
"Go get your sister now and do what you choose after that." Elias said to Toivo after Aino let go of him.
"Don't say Goodbye. Maybe I'll change my mind and come back today. And even if I don't, I'll reach you someway. But thank you for taking me in all those years ago and taking care of me for all this time. I wouldn't be the same person if I never found you." Toivo said to his family.
"And I probably wouldn't be either if we never took you in." Sampo said back to Toivo.
"Ngh. Let's not make this hard. I actually need to get somewhere. The meeting is today and Three is still there. So... Bye." Toivo said and turned to Ella.
"Henrik and the other Sabertooths seem to be getting impatient. We should probably get in the boat already." Ella said to him and walked alongside with him towards to boat without snooping on what he just said to his family.
"Let's not keep them waiting. And let's not keep Three waiting either. This is it." Toivo said and climbed into the motorboat and pulled Ella to the boat with him.
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"So if we enter the city by boat, we won't have to go through a checkpoint?" Toivo asked Henrik on the boat.
"That's right. And at this hour there's a low chance that anyone will see us enter the city." Henrik answered and got the boat moving.
"So you know where the minister's address is?" Ella asked Henrik.
"Of course I do. I'll send it to you so you can navigate your way there." Henrik answered.
"So are you going back to the Homebase?" Ella asked.
"Where else?" Henrik asked back.
"It may not be safe. In the van I overheard that the police are coming to investigate the address today. They found us because they knew the exact address." Ella warned.
"What? They knew the address? How did they find it out?"
"It was because I sent that mes..." Ella was about to answer until she got Toivo's hand covering her mouth.
"It's because I had the address on the phone and a cop saw it when he got close to me." Toivo interrupted and took the blame.
"We'll have to get all the equipment out of there regardless. Everything we've gathered is there. If we lose it all, it's over." Henrik said.
"Though in some way I want it all to be over already." Sofia added.
"Quitter." Henrik rudely commented.
As the boat was driving along the lakes that lead to Stockholm, Ella noticed a strange sound that she initially ignored. But when the noise wouldn't stop, she got curious about it. She listened closely and noticed that the sound is coming from Henrik's pocket.
"Is your phone ringing?" Ella asked Henrik.
"Huh?" Henrik in his sleep deprived state replied.
"I asked if your phone is ringing." Ella said back.
Henrik took his phone from his pocket and found it ringing. He accepted the call and put the phone against his ear but it was hard to hear on the loud boat. He recognized the defense minister's voice coming from the phone and he was confused at first but then he looked at the number and recognized it as the number of 32A's burner phone. He listened more closely and even though he didn't understand everything, he understood the context.
"Some interesting stuff that your friend is letting us hear. I'll save the recorning of this phone call and see what I can do with it." Henrik said to Ella and Toivo and kept listening.
"What are you hearing there?" Ella asked.
"It sounds like the defense minister and the chairman of the UNP having a conversation. They talked something about buying servants I think, which wouldn't surprise me." Henrik explained and kept listening.
"What's happening now? I hear commotion. Is she running? Is she fighting?" Henrik wondered a little while later and Toivo and Ella got increasingly worried.
"Did somebody just get slapped? Sounded like it. But I can't listen any longer because we're here. The waters are frozen from this point on and we're close enough to the Homebase that we can walk there anyway. We're in the city. Let me just dock on that shore and we're off to our separate ways." Henrik said and started getting the boat closer to land.
On the shore they all hopped off the boat and Henrik took his phone out again.
"I know my way to the Homebase from here, so we'll go there. I'll just send you the adress to the minister's home and... There. Now you can navigate there. Both parties got what we wanted, so we have no more business together. We have to hurry to the Homebase before the pigs show up, so let's go. Goodbye." Henrik said and then walked away with his allies.
"Goodbye!" Ella wished back, and gave Sofia a friendly smile in particular.
"You know how to use this thing so you do the navigating." Toivo said to Ella and handed her the phone that the Sabertooth never even asked back.
"Three was taken into that building next to the police headquarters so it's the same way as the last time." Ella said and set up the navigation system.
"But we don't have to walk the entire way. The boat is still here and I can break all the ice that gets in our way." Toivo suggested.
"That's true! But the place is in the inner land so we'll have to walk some of the way. But the boat helps a lot to get us closer." Ella explained.
"Well, let's go then."
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