The Frozen Desert by Moein Mansoori Fard (free e books to read online TXT) 📕

Something is warning in me. I try to put my feet on the sands softly lest my speed reduces. The sands are like the glowing coals which burn my feet. But more important is they are flying in the air and this is a bad sign and we must move as soon as possible.

Suddenly I feel a metal thing behind my head. A cold wave enters my body from the touch point of that metal thing and it trembles all of my body. I just stop without motion.

Pushing his weapon on the back of my head, he makes me move. I wend my way without any resistance. My brain doesn’t issue any direct command, and just tells me to change my way or increase my speed whenever I feel more pressure of the weapon on my head.

We pass by a sand hill and I see a few people who sit on their knees and some nomads are standing over them. The fear and anxiety can be seen in all people’s faces.

When we reach them, he stops pushing his weapon on my head. One of the nomads who seems to be their chief, when sees me, approaches me and stares at me. After a slight hesitation, he turns back toward the crowd and looks at each of them.

All of a sudden, all the nomads hold their guns at the ready and then aim at the people. I feel my heart stops working. More than eight frightened people look at the nomads. Two people run away howling but…

The sound of the lightning fills the space for five seconds and then nothing…

The dead bodies who slept in their blood forever. The bloody sands are now their mattress. Some of them are still alive and take their last breathe. When they cough, the blood flows out of their mouth. The plaintive sound of the wind moans about their death. It seems the perception of the wind of this event is more than ours which it laments like this.

The nomad’s chief signs with his hand indifferently, then goes away from me. The rest of the nomads walk with him and leave me shocked.

Chapter 12

The valley

All of us are winding the plastic sheets around our feet in silence. We all are thinking. A hidden sorrow in all of us prevents us from speaking. The scene of the cruelly slaughter by the nomads appears in front of my eyes momentarily. How cruel and inexorable are the human beings. Despite of my effort to tie the string around my feet, I can’t succeed. It is like I have forgotten how to tie a knot.

Did you see how they killed the people?

Vorarin says this and become busy with tie the strings. I take a deep breath, close my eyes and say:

They appeared, they killed the people, and then disappeared.

Didn’t they see you?

I don’t know why I tend to say lie:

No, I hid myself behind a hill.

There was no news of them during so many years ago. Now, they have returned with no reason and have begun the carnage. My head aches. They left me alive among those many people. This is the second time. When I think why they left me alive, my head aches more. Their chief looked at my wound. The wound on my face is a sign! Why me? Perhaps they mistook me for someone else.

We just heard a volley of bullets. When we got there, everywhere was full of blood and dead bodies.

The young woman says:

Why they kill so many people with no reason?

Vorarin replies:

No one knows. They had become a legend but suddenly here they are again!

Could anyone cope with them?

Didn’t you see how they attack?

But somehow they should be stopped yet.

They won’t abandon killing the people till they reach their intention.

What’s their intention?

They only know.

The young woman curses under her breath. Vorarin days:

I’m glad nothing happened to you.

I appreciate him by a smile. Then I say:

We have to go before darkness. The sands also are in motion. I don’t like to face with the nomads again.

Vorarin takes his knapsack and says:

We all are ready.

Then he turns his look toward them and says:

You’ve just one knapsack and there is no way to return because you’ll meet the sand storm. This way you would face with foodstuffs shortage. But if you be slightly thrifty and content yourselves, then you can reach the “Storm” shelter with the foodstuffs we’ll give you.

Vorarin finishes tying the knot, puts his knapsack on the ground and gives them four canned food and a flask of water. He also adds a dress for the young woman and adds the same things from my knapsack.

He puts things in an old shirt taken from Kabirad and then ties the four ends of the shirt together. Then he wipes the sweat off his face as he takes a deep breath and says:

This way your knapsack won’t be too heavy.

Then he shows the young woman two sleeves of the shirt, which is now like a knapsack, and says:

Tie these two sleeves around your shoulders, this way it exactly would be like a knapsack.

He takes the shirt off the ground, puts the sleeves around her shoulders and ties them together tightly. Then he says me:

Zairas, we should go.

I go ahead of all to guide them. We go in silence toward the same hill which is not displaced yet. Their anxiety melts and disappears when they see the road, because the wind blow doesn’t tail them.

I don’t appreciate you again because it should be replied and compensated. I hope we meet each other someday so that I could compensate.

Kabirad confirms her with shaking his head.

As I said we go to the “Ray” shelter. If you pass through there, you can find us there.

This time, Kabirad confirms her with his own words:

I hope we meet each other.

Oh, by the way…

The young woman reaches her hand to her breast and pulls out something from under her shirt. I see a black chain with a square facetted gemstone. She holds it toward me, maybe because I am closer to her than Vorarin. She says:

I want you accept this as a gift and as a token from me. Maybe it is worth nothing, but it would be a symbol of friendship.

They say goodbye and follow the gray road like the robots which just identify a pre-defined line. Once in a while they back and look at us.

I stop where I was considering the situation. The flat and uniform region now changed into a sea which is full of the small waves. I look through my binocular. Sands Around the signpost are red. There should be happened another carnage! I give Vorarin the binocular so that he also aware of the location of that shelter and I have not to see that bloody point anymore.

Half an hour is a long time for us to reach there. We go as fast as possible and as the sands let us. Some clouds have unsettled the clearness of the blue sky, as though the wind also rioted up there in the sky. Again the same event of last night is happening. After an oppressive heat, now we have to tolerate the chill. My body trembles at the thought that the black clouds gradually announce something. The sky and the earth have encircled us like the wild wolves.

The electricity posts reach to here but the road gradually is buried under the sands like the gaps between the mountains. After a short stop to check the situation, I reach Vorarin and I say:

Things are getting worse. We should stay close by, lest we lose each other. With this condition, we’ll reach there later than I thought. Damn! It should be happened now!? Damn. Why today things went like this?

The wind pushes us forward like two ghosts as though it wants to throw us into our graves. It blows so fast that we have to go on slouching. It seems it knows our weak points and so blows to the heaviest side of our knapsacks and throws us off balance. Once in a while, Vorarin catches my clothes to keep his balance. He curses continuously.

It goes on insomuch we have to use our hands as shields and we go on our way with the eyes half open. It is unavoidable. We should go on. We have to shout to speak with each other. It seems the wind has a grudge against us. We entered its territory without permission. If it blows faster, I guess it could lift us off the ground.

I didn’t think the wind speeds up so quickly. We should care and prevent. Suddenly, the only and the most effective way comes to my mind and I shout it to Vorarin, but he doesn’t reply. I say it again, and again no reply. I look behind and I realize in surprise that he is disappeared. I look around carefully but there is no sign of him and the floating sands, as a whirlwind, don’t let me see anywhere. I tremble inside at the thought of his absence.

More likely he has lost me. I decide to search around to find him, but the howling wind prevents me. I perforce do that idea alone. I ask God for the help and sit there until the storm ends.

I pull my blanket out of my knapsack and draw it over my head. I call him several times but he doesn’t reply. I am sure that he is lost in the storm. Again I think of searching for him but the threats of the wind calm me. I have to wait for the end of the storm and if I survive then I would call for him. I lie on the ground to be less exposed to the wind. I put my knapsack on that side of my body which wind is blowing. I remain in this state for a while. It seems the storm doesn’t want to make peace with me. I pull my hands entirely into my sleeves to protect them from the hot sands.

All of a sudden I feel that the earth is moving. I don’t care and account it for the failure of human senses and the wind. But it happens again. I am right, this is not the earth which moves but it is the wind which moves the sands and me as well! I feel something bad but I can’t describe it. I try to take the blanket off my head but a heaviness, which I don’t know where it comes from, prevents me. This heaviness appeared all at once.

I take my knapsack which half of it sank in the sands. I try again, but the pressure is too much. My mind is completely involved, I don’t care anything. I just want to get out of this predicament. I feel I am in a narrow and dark hole.

In such situation, the fear doubles the human power and people have to do their best for saving themselves from a dangerous situation. I gather all of my power in my feet, then push the blanket aside and find myself on a hill of sands. Although sands speed is almost low, they move me easily.

Suddenly I see a large and dark spot upwind through the defused and flying sands, and it makes me tremble when I approaches it. Fear engulfs me thoroughly, I stand dumbstruck and just look like the fool.

A big valley is in front of me and I go toward it. Despite of my effort, I can’t move. I sank in the sands up to my stomach. I flounce like the mad and try to get out the sands. My knapsack is in better position, just a little part of it is in the sands.

My effort is ineffectual and, like the marsh in which the more you wallow, the more you sink, I just exhaust myself and I