32A sat up and saw nothing but darkness around her. She stood up from the cold floor and felt around with her arms in all directions. She felt the cloth walls of the cargo space and found the doors that she then opened. Outside was dark and snowy. She stepped outside and saw the tent outside and walked towards it. When she opened the tent flap and looked inside, it was completely empty. No people and no fire.
"Did they all leave?" She wondered and walked away from the tent to look around only to see no signs of life.
She walked back to the truck and saw that her stuff was still there. She looked inside the dark cargo space. It was completely dark and she couldn't see what was inside.
"Is anybody still here?" 32A asked the darkness, but heard no reply.
She waited but heard no sound anywhere. She wandered around the snow and went into several directions. She couldn't even see the houses that were there yesterday. It was dark, empty and windy all around her.
"Anyone?" She called out, but heard nothing.
She kept repeating it but kept getting no response. After wandering around looking for anyone, she returned to her pile of loot and sat in the middle of it, wondering what to do now.
"So this is what it's like to be abandoned. Guess it's my turn to feel it."
After sitting there for a while. She got up and climbed back into the cargo space and closed the doors behind her.
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6qGIXtloRO
32A woke up in the cargo space where it was dim inside and the other people were there as well. She didn't want to wake the others up so she remained quiet there while she leaned on the wall and thought about that dream that she just saw. It was the only thing she could think about except for the cold and the painful pulses she kept feeling every 59 seconds. She couldn't tolerate sitting there with nothing but that in her mind, so she stood up and opened the doors to leave cargo space. Outside was bright and her stuff was still there, even if some snow had fallen on it. She didn't even look at her pile of stuff for longer than a second before going into the tent where she walked straight to the water barrels. She dunked her head in one barrel and dried it with the dirty towel and then drank from the other barrel. The other people were once again eating porridge out of their bowls and the bonfire was not lit anymore, as it was daytime. 32A once again went to sit next to the unlit bonfire to get any bit of warmth out of it.
"Good morning again." Saku said and sat down next to 32A.
"Morning." 32A said while looking at the ashy and charred firewood.
"Those people of yours don't talk with us much. But you're here for the second morning in a row." Saku pointed out seriously.
"What about it?"
"I still don't quite trust them."
"I don't trust them either. That's why I'm here. Not that I trust you that much either." 32A said without even looking at Saku.
"That's good. Trusting in the goodness of other people can be a deadly mistake. But I trust you." Saku said in a lecturing tone.
"Nobody should trust me. I'll just abandon anyone who does so."
"I don't think that's true. You've kept your name from the New Tower and you still wear the gray. That tells me that you have a spirit of loyalty and brotherhood."
"I got this jacket from elsewhere. And what do you know about me? I'm a coward who gives up and runs away."
"Sounds like there's a story there."
"No there isn't." 32A said and got up because the conversation was making her irritated and because she also didn't want to smell the smell of porridge because of how hungry she was.
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwhSK4AAPlr
She left the tent entirely and walked some ways from the tent. She walked around the nearby area and looked for houses that she could potentially search today. From behind some house she heard sounds that made her stop.
"I haven't heard sounds of genuine joy like that in so many years." She thought to herself and kept walking without even turning her head to the direction of the sound.
"Have you made peace yet?" Ilkka's voice said from behind after 32A walked past one house.
She turned around and found Ilkka leaning on the wall of the house while polishing a knife with a towel. Not far from where Ilkka stood were three children playing on a back yard, but Ilkka wasn't paying attention to them. 32A came to lean on the same wall as Ilkka.
"What do you mean by that? Have I made peace?" 32A asked.
"Have you accepted the reality of your situation?" Ilkka asked back.
"I guess I have to." 32A answered uncertainly.
"Sounds like you truly haven't."
"Are they yours?" 32A asked and looked at the three children playing in the back yard because she desperately wanted to change the subject.
"They're not." Ilkka answered.
"So why are you here?"
"Because their mother, their only parent is not able to walk."
"Oh. So she trusts you to watch them? Is it because you have experience with being a father?"
"There used to be four of them." Ilkka said, ignoring the question.
32A didn't comment anything about that, but she knew exactly what Ilkka was referring to.
"But how are you?" Ilkka asked after a moment of silence.
"Still trying to find piece with the truth that my old life is over." 32A answered.
"I meant to ask how are you this morning."
"Oh. Same as yesterday, I'd say."
"Finding piece is hard. But you'll find it."
"Have those boys found piece? How have they moved on from the loss of their friend?"
"They've moved on, but I can tell that they don't have that same joy that they had back then."
"Oh. When I heard them, it reminded me of my own past life, and the joy that I once had. Although even back then, I always felt like something, or someone was missing."
"I'm glad that you at least had happy childhood years. Many of us didn't." Ilkka calmly said while polishing his knife.
32A wasn't sure if Ilkka was talking about his son or himself.
"Why do you have that knife out?" 32A asked.
"This land isn't suffering from a shortage of evil people. That's why the good ones need to be ready to defend themselves and each other." Ilkka answered and kept polishing his knife.
"Has anyone ever been a threat to you in this nearby area?" 32A asked.
"No. Not yet. But just because it hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it never will."
"I wish I could have defended my friend from evil people."
"I wish that these kids will never have that same regret. I'll teach them to fight once they're strong enough. Life is hard as it is. We don't need anyone coming to steal the precious gift of life from us when it's already so hard to hold on to." Ilkka said.
"Nobody ever taught me to defend myself or others. Where I lived my first years, I didn't really need to defend myself. And in my previous home we pretty much relied on just one of us to defend us from everything. I was never scared there, but I was terrified of this place after my experiences here."
"Do you still fear the Deadland?" Ilkka asked.
"Being here worries me. But it doesn't scare me."
"Fear isn't always a bad thing, as long as you don't let it get the better of you. There have been times when sheer rage made me lose all of my fear. That didn't end well for me."
"I have no hatred left for anyone anymore. I already got my revenge. If I ever see the slave traders who took my friend from me, I'll destroy them. But I'm not on a quest to find them."
"Good. Don't become bitter and lose your sense in your hatred of the world. Saku is still carrying his dreams of revenge with him. That scar on his face is an eternal reminder to him. He scares the kids too. I can tell that he doesn't value his own life or the safety of others." Ilkka said.
"I value my life. Can you teach me to defend myself with a knife?" 32A asked.
"I can. But not here and not now." Ilkka replied.
"When would be a good moment?"
"Even tonight at the same house as last night is a good moment. Nobody wants me anywhere in the evenings. That house is where I always am. You'll find me there."
"Okay. We'll see there then. I have things to do myself. Don't let anything happen to yourself or these kids." 32A said and took her back off the wall and walked away, ending the conversation where no eye contact was made.
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8I6lTpTWIW
"Might as well dig through this house since I'm here. See what broken stuff the others left behind." 32A said as she found another house.
The door was busted open like the doors of all the other houses too. When she stepped into the first room, at the doorstep was a pile of yellowed newspapers. She stepped on the pile and noticed it.
"Well, well. Don't the traders really want relics from a nation gone by, as I heard? Wouldn't newspapers be a perfect example of that? Why hasn't anyone picked these up? They're in pretty bad shape but they still give a window to the past." She said quietly and looked at the pile of papers on the floor and then picked up one of them.
"This one is from 30 years ago! That's before the collapse. Whoever lived here must have left the place and never come back for reasons that I'll never know." She said when looking at the paper and then read out loud the front page article.
"President Viertola and his entire entourage aside from one person got sick from a gas leak. At the president's diplomatic visit to Amsterdam, a gas leak happened in his private jet. The president himself believes that this was sabotage or an attack while his entourage insists that this was a freak accident. Everybody inside the jet according to first hand reports got dizzy and felt seriously ill. So much so that the pilots had to make an emergency landing because neither one was fit to operate the jet. A detail that baffles the people involved is that one person on board was completely unaffected. Another detail that also baffles them is the fact there was a gas leak in an airplane to begin with. People have speculated what they could have been carrying in the plane for such a leak to happen. The only person who didn't get sick, the president's personal assistant Satu Rantala was interviewed first as everyone else was rushed to the nearest available medical facility. Rantala mentioned that she smelled a strange smell inside the plane and so did everyone else, and that soon after everyone seemed to get sleepy and some even vomited on the spot, but Rantala herself felt none of those symptoms. Rantala refused to give further comments. All people involved are still being taken care of in an undisclosed hospital. The incident has been put down as an accident." The article said.
"So this sort of thing was already happening before the disease broke out. Could it be that the unaffected person here also had something special? Being immune to things that get other people sick doesn't sound like luck. Me and Toivo can't be the only ones who have something weird like that. Agh, but whoever that Satu Rantala is probably died years ago. What else is here?" 32A said and looked at the other papers.
She took another one and read it as well.
"Finland on board with the United Nation Project. Now that the neutrality clause between NATO and the Warsaw Pact is no longer enforced because of the Soviet Union's collapse, Finland is fully onboard to be the next nation that joins the United Nation Project. The United Nation project already has 16 member states, but the ultimate goal is to get the former Warsaw Pact countries and the former Soviet republics to join the project in order to prevent any future destructive wars like the European Bloc War. The chairman of the United Nation Project commented that the likely addition of Finland to the Project is a positive step and that he is confident that the eastern bloc countries will soon join too. The chairman also gave his thanks for Finland's newly elected president Aalto for being more open to the project than his predecessor President Viertola who died last year to complications from a gas leak." the article said.
"Well, isn't that just fitting? Nobody has ever taught me about my country's history from before the New Tower's forming. This paper is from 29 years ago, so the United Nation Project was around even back then. I wonder if the people here know that it's still around. They probably wouldn't care even if I told them." She said to herself.
"If I read all of these I'll be here all day. I need to collect valuable stuff for the traders. I'm hungry enough to eat a horse, and I also need to get the others some food too. Off to work then." She said and collected the old newspapers into a neat and well organized stack, and then got to searching the apartment to look for things to repair and take.
"This place really looks like whoever lived here left in a hurry. These dishes have probably been sitting in this sink for as long as this place has been empty. Not even the people who looted this place first wanted to touch those, and neither do I. Yuck." She said while searching the kitchen.
The dirty dishes were the only thing remaining. The floor was empty and so were the cupboards. 32A went to look at the living room only to find it empty too, but something in the back yard caught her eye.
"Is that bird hurt? Oh that's not nice. It's got two little ones with it." 32A said when through a window she saw a bird's nest in the back yard with a wounded bird and two little birds.
She opened the back door of the house and took a few steps into the back yard but the little birds started frantically making noises. It caught the attention of the bigger bird that started threatening 32A as best as it could. It couldn't get on its feet but it raised its wings and made noises towards her. 32A stopped and tried to gesture that she means no harm, but the bird didn't seem to believe it for a second.
"It can barely even move, yet it's still dedicated to protecting the little ones. I shouldn't scare them." 32A thought to herself and stayed still.
She took a couple of steps back and looked at what part of the bird was hurt. She couldn't quite see, so she got closer despite the bird's anger. The closer she got, the more angry the bird got and the more panicked the little ones got. 32A got close enough to see what part of the bird was hurt. It was the leg. She looked at the leg and focused on it and the leg slowly got better. Once the leg was healed up, the bird calmed down and kept its eyes on 32A who then calmly walked away from the bird. She went back inside and looked through the window to look at the bird. She saw the bird fly away and disappear.
"Who knows how long it was hurt? The little ones are probably starving. I hope it's just getting them something and not abandoning them." 32A said quietly.
"Being abandoned like that would be terrible when you have all of your faith in someone." She then said after a moment.
She spent the rest of the daylight time digging through the other houses in the neighborhood that she didn't search yesterday, repairing everything that she deemed worth taking. She got some broken teacups and torn clothes that she all repaired.
"These clothes may not go to sale at all. The truck people are freezing all the time because they won't be let inside the tent. They might need some extra layers." 32A said to herself while looking at the new pile of stuff she had gathered in one spot
"It's dark and I've dug through everything. This will earn some more food for the others and me." She said to herself and carried all of her stuff in a sack that she also found in one apartment.
"Handy to have something to carry all the stuff in this time." She said to herself while walking towards the truck.
She noticed that working got her in a better mood and made her forget about her worries for the moment. On the way to the truck she heard the slow music of the trumpet.
"I was supposed to meet with Ilkka tonight to learn some self defense. I should give him his moment alone first. I have my own things to take care of too." She said when she arrived at the truck with the sack and knocked on the door of the cargo space.
"Oh. Here comes Santa Claus almost a month late. What did you bring?" Kullervo said to her when he opened the door.
32A put the sack on the floor of the cargo space carefully and climbed in.
"Just some old cups and clothes. I won't sell the clothes because I figured that some of you may need some extra layers."
"I sure as Hell do!" One person shouted from a corner and 32A took the contents of the bag out.
"Take what you need. The cups are for the traders." 32A said and the people inside the cargo space crawled to the pile of clothes and all took something.
32A left the cargo space and looked at her previous bigger pile of stuff and could still hear the sound of the trumpet in the distance.
"He might finish soon. I should get there already." She said and started making her way towards the sound.
While walking there she got a snowball thrown in the back of her head. It froze her in place and made her stare into the distance. She stood still for a moment. She then was filled with anger and turned around.
"How dare y..." She was about to shout when she turned around and saw the same trio of children that Ilkka was watching earlier.
"Sorry about that. We saw you with Ilkka and thought that you wouldn't mind." One of them shouted at her apologetically.
32A understood that no harm was meant and she didn't want to shout at children either.
"I'm not angry, but be careful how you behave. Not all people are nice." 32A shouted back in a friendly tone.
She turned to where she was going and kept going towards the sound.
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4pmyxQV1pK
She got to the front door of the house where the sound was coming from. She once again climbed the stairs up and climbed through the trapdoor at the top floor. She waited for Ilkka to finish his song and only then spoke up.
"Well played." 32A said while sitting on the roof
"Are you here for what we agreed?" Ilkka asked while sitting on the roof without turning around.
"I am."
"Let's not waste time then. Make way. Let's go to the ground." Ilkka said and 32A did as told.
They made their way back to the ground and at the front yard Ilkka tossed his knife to 32A who didn't catch it.
"Are you sure you're ready?" Ilkka asked, not being impressed.
"Well I wasn't ready right then. But I am now!" 32A said and sounded irritated at what just happened.
"Pick it up then." Ilkka told 32A, who did as told.
Ilkka got closer and was within striking distance.
"Attack me." Ilkka said.
"What?"
"So you're sure that you're ready? Attack me. Your objective is to drive that knife into me."
"Right here?"
"Where else? Attack me!"
"If... You insist." 32A said and looked at the knife in her hand.
She thrusted her hand forward and tried to drive the knife in Ilkka's lung. He just slapped the knife out of her hand mid strike. 32A looked at where the knife landed and ran to pick it up. Ilkka tripped her with his foot and 32A fell on the ground next to the knife.
"You lost already." Ilkka said.
"It seems so."
"Get up then and try again." Ilkka told 32A who did as told.
"If you want to win, don't be predictable." Ilkka told 32A who was now standing with the knife in her hand.
"What do you mean by that?"
"When I see a knife or any weapon in your hand, I expect you hit me with it."
"So should I not even use it?"
"Give me the knife." Ilkka insisted.
"Is this a test?"
"It's not a test. Let me show you."
"Okay then." 32A said and handed the knife to Ilkka handle first.
"Defend yourself." Ilkka said.
"What?" 32A said but didn't get a moment to think before Ilkka tried to stick the knife into her neck.
She grabbed his wrist and stopped the knife from making contact with her skin. She held Ilkka's wrist with both hands and with all the power that she had. She kicked Ilkka in the shin and then she slapped the knife out of his hand.
"Did you see that? I was predictable. That's why you survived." Ilkka said and picked up the knife, and continued:
"Let's try again. Ready?"
"Ready." 32A said back.
Ilkka then kicked her in the shin and got the knife at 32A's throat without any resistance.
"You're now dead." Ilkka said.
"Okay. Lesson learned." 32A said.
"Now you try." Ilkka said and handed the knife to 32A handle first.
"Okay. Ready?" 32A asked.
Ilkka didn't say anything back. 32A shrugged her shoulders and tried to kick Ilkka in the shin, but he ducked and then grabbed 32A's wrist and wrestled the knife out of her hand.
"I said don't be predictable. I knew you'd try that." Ilkka said.
"Right. So I shouldn't just do what you do."
"Correct." Ilkka answered.
32A took a step back and Ilkka handed her the knife handle first.
"Attack me." Ilkka commanded.
32A charged at him shoulder first, looking to tackle him. She made contact and knocked Ilkka back and almost made him fall. When Ilkka was startled, 32A was about to strike the knife into him, but Ilkka ducked by jumping back. He fell on his back and 32A tried to stomp on him but he rolled out of the way. 32A tried to stab him on the ground but he rolled again and then kicked the knife out of her hand, sending it flying.
"I almost had you." 32A said slightly angry.
"Almost doesn't suffice. No matter what you try, you won't get me. Maybe someday." Ilkka said back.
"Someday? Was this it?"
"For now. It's clear you're not getting it yet. Ask me again when you think you're ready." Ilkka said and stood up and continued:
"Get me my knife back."
32A did as told and picked the knife up. She looked at the knife for a second and then got an idea. She threw the knife at Ilkka, hoping to catch him off guard. He just ducked it by stepping aside.
"Don't be predictable." Ilkka said and picked the knife up from where it landed.
He then walked towards the tent and left 32A alone in the front yard of the house.
"Not ready. Hmph." 32A said alone in the front yard.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgRUfYTw7ob
She stood there for a moment to look at the area and all she saw was abandoned and run down houses with no lights on. The only light was the bonfire inside the tent in the distance. There was something eerie yet beautiful about the sight of the lightless and lifeless abandoned neighborhood. While standing near the edge, she felt another pulse that felt just as painful as all the other ones that day, even if she had gotten used to it.
"I should be more careful if I get into a fight and that happens. That could go badly." She said and made her way to the tent as well.
Inside the tent the people were talking. In one corner two of the three boys that Ilkka watched over were by a woman who was half covered by a sleeping bag. Saku was talking with a group of three younger men who seemed to be interested in what he was telling.
"Why do you look so angry?" Tarmo's voice could be heard.
32A turned to the sound and saw the man himself talking to her.
"Oh, did I look angry? I'm not angry. Just a little sore after today's work." 32A said back.
"Well, I hope the work will be worth it. The traders will come tomorrow."
"I know. I believe I have enough to get myself and the others fed. I'm already going crazy from hunger."
"Well. Since they're coming tomorrow anyway and we have some extra left and you seem to be accepted here, I'll let you have a bowl just this once." Tarmo said.
"You would? Thank you! I have to repay that to you too!"
"Well, if you want to. Go to the pot and grab an empty bowl. If anyone complains, say that I gave you my permission." Tarmo said and laughed a little.
"Thank you again." 32A said and walked to the table where the pot was.
She opened the lid of the large pot. Inside was a strange soup of different meats and vegetables.
"So they have more than porridge. This looks like it's days old. But I can't be picky. Still smells better than anything I've had in years." She thought as she saw the soup in the pot.
She took an empty bowl from the stack on the table and poured some of the soup on it and then looked for a place to sit down. She saw that Tarmo and Ilkka had joined the conversation with Saku and the three other men. 32A figured that they wouldn't mind if she joined them. She sat down in the same circle where the others were sitting down as well.
"Well, good evening to you too." Saku said to her when she sat down.
"Good evening. What were you talking about?" 32A asked in good feelings without really letting it show.
She then felt another pulse and spilled some soup in herself.
"We were talking about how important it is to preserve our food and not just hand it to everyone who asks. Especially to someone who will spill it everywhere." Tarmo said and looked at 32A who looked spooked by this.
"I'm joking, I'm joking. Saku was just telling his heroic tales to the prospects." Tarmo then added.
"They're not tales. These things happened." Saku insisted.
"Let's listen then." 32A said dryly.
"Well. I was talking about that time when we were attacking the enemy territory up north. It wasn't too north from here actually. We were certain that we would march into a certain victory. That wasn't the case. A damn artillery round fell in the middle of our lines and blew up. The commanders didn't know what to do. Everybody started running in different directions and some never returned. The commander told us that we should retreat, so most of us did, but not everyone. We lost many brothers that day from all the bombing. I fortunately didn't lose any. But the strangest thing I saw that day was this one guy who kept running towards the enemy wall despite the order to retreat. We were nowhere near the enemy wall and this man kept running. He jumped into a crater created by one of the artillery rounds and climbed back out, looking like he was carrying someone in his arms. But he wasn't carrying anybody! He looked so heroic pretending to rescue someone from the battlefield while his hands were empty. When he got back to where the rest of us regrouped, he looked relieved and even proud, and we all just looked at him like was crazy. From that day on he was always a little strange. I wonder where he is now." Saku explained.
The others laughed a little at the story.
"Maybe you'll be like that when you run out of tales but still want us to admire you." One of the young men commented and the others laughed.
"These are not tales! This actually happened! Many people can confirm that it's true." Saku insisted.
He started arguing with the others who in turn kept laughing at their own jokes. 32A wasn't listening because she was trying to listen to something else. From outside the tent she heard something that sounded like music.
"Hey, can you quiet down?" She asked politely but the others didn't even hear her over their arguing and laughing.
The music sounded like it kept slowly coming closer, but she still couldn't quite hear it well.
"Hey, really. Can you quiet down?" She said a little louder this time, but once again no one heard.
She started hearing the music more clear now.
"I said quiet!" She shouted and smashed her bowl into the fireplace, breaking it and getting everyone's attention.
They all went quiet and also heard the music outside. It was the sound of a violin playing a slow tune.
"Hey, Ilkka. Do you also play violin?" Tarmo asked Ilkka.
"I don't. And besides I'm here. Not out there." He replied.
"I recognize that tune." Saku said and kept listening.
Then the music stopped and a gunshot was heard outside.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
