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

Sometimes, when the environs is slightly open and we are likely to be seen, we have to pass through inside the house. There is more security inside the house but it reduces our speed.

Finally, after passing through the shadows and darkness for half an hour, we arrive at the end of the boulevard. An almost broad boulevard crosses this boulevard and makes an intersection. As far it can be seen, the new boulevard has subsided but the details is not visible because of the darkness. The boulevard has been divided into two halves by a big crack which the sewage canals can be seen through it. A number of cars and some parts of a building have fell down into the crack.

We stop inside one of the half dilapidated shops near the intersection. We get some rest and drink water while our eyes and ears are on alert. Vorarine pours some water on his face then, as he looks at the dropping water through his fingers, he says:

It is a normal weather tonight, otherwise we should have been frozen but…

He is right and just a soft breeze is blowing which reddens our faces a little. Maybe the reason is the cuppy form of the town and also the buildings which limit the wind speed. The reason is not a matter of fact for me but it is important to me that not to tremble because of the cold air. Yet I keep close to a commode and I say:

How you agreed to be a savior without knowing anything about the mission?

Vorarin shakes his hands to dry them faster. Then he reaches out his legs and says:

With the same reason that you know nothing, yet you become a savior.

I keep quiet. He is a stranger to know my reason and his reason is not important for me too. I try to think about finding the group. Finding a few people in this town is like looking for some needles in a haystack. There should be a connecting way between them and us. Maybe the group must find us but it is unlikely to me. Maybe…suddenly I remember the insignia of the group. We have forgotten to activate them.

Chapter 15

The mysterious call

Vorarin’s eyes move with my hands movement. He asks:

What happened?

When he sees the insignia, he searches his knapsack for his own insignia. I turn it on. Its display becomes blue, then, after a short time, “Please wait” appears on the screen. Vorarin comes to me and blame himself grumbling:

Why it didn’t come to my mind? Maybe we could find the group by this set.

Then, “All for each other to live” appears on the display. After a while, the motto disappears and another phrase appears on the screen:

“Please enter your fingerprint via the rear scanner”

I push aside the drawer door of the scanner at the rear of the set. Then I put my finger tip on its screen. The set makes a beep sound. Again the same command appears on the display and asks me to enter my fingerprint for the second time. After that, another command appears:

“Expose your eye in front the scanner”

I expose my right eye in front of the scanner. A blue ray passes over my eye. Again, I hear a beep sound. As I guess, it asks me to expose my eye in front the scanner again. When it confirms both scans, another command appears. The set wants me to enter my personal data and asks me to be careful entering the data. Once I entered the data, the last phrase appears:

“Your registration finished. You are now a member of Thunderbolt 1. You must try to keep safe the insignia. You will be asked four times every 24 hours to put your fingerprint and expose your eye to the scanner. In the case of disobey the command, the insignia will burn down completely. This is just to prevent abusing the set by others in case of you lose the set. If you suspect that the insignia may be in enemy’s hand, do destroy it. The best tool the enemy may use it against you, is this insignia.”

Then it allows me to use the set after appreciation and wishing me good luck. It has limited options:

“Correspondence and talk with group members”

“Using the map and route guide”

“Viewing the position of the group members”

“Connection with the base”

“Viewing the commands”

“Membership confirmation”

Now I realize why Karisan so insisted on keeping the insignia. The enemy will be able to destroy all the group if get the insignia. Since it has a touch screen, I touch the “Viewing the position of the group members” option by my finger. “Searching…” appears on the screen and after a short time, it finds a person. Vorarin’s face is flushed with excitement. His insignia also has found the same person. A lamp on the set begins blinking and makes a discontinuous but permanent beep:

A-2-------------------------------------position: within a 20-meter radius

In action

Acceptance: accordant

Fingerprint confirmation: five hours ago

Vorarin bends forward and looks at outside. Then he turns the set around in the air circularly. All of a sudden, the set beeps continuously and its lamp blinks fast in front the exit door.

I think the set sends a sort of signal around and finds someone who has the same set. This kind of beeping and blinking shows that someone is this side at a distance of twenty meters from us, but why my set doesn’t show you?

I look at the display carefully and I say:

I think we skipped something…

Suddenly my eyes meet another option which is in a box in another corner of the screen:

I got it! I should guessed. This set is able to allow us hide ourselves from the other members of the group optionally. If the radius of the receiving signals is wide, it should find all of the members, not just one, for I think not the group is one person.

Then I press on the “Mission settings” by my finger. As I thought the “Acceptance” and “Mission” options are off. I turn on the “Acceptance” option and at the same time the second option on the Vorarin’s set becomes on:

A-6-------------------------------------position: within a 1-meter radius

Mission: cancelled

Acceptance: accordant

Fingerprint confirmation: five minutes ago

Vorarin also turns on the “Acceptance” option. The “A-7” option appears on my set.

As I see, I guess there aren’t more than seven people in our group!

Vorarin confirms my words with shaking his head but he is pale and he ponders.

What’s the matter?

They’ve five guards only in one street while we are just seven in our group.

He is right but the quantity is not always the factor of the victory. Maybe some groups from the “Hope” shelter are here and each one covers a part of the town.

Now that we found this one, we’d better reach him as soon as possible. We don’t know here and the enemy may be everywhere.

He turns off his set, goes toward a collapsed wall which has turned into a chair, sits on it and leans on the wall. Then he removes the remained plastic sheet around his ankles and pulls off his shoes. Although we wound plastic sheets around our feet, I feel some sands in my shoes. So I empty my shoes. We should be ready to go.

Suddenly something comes into my mind which trembles me and makes me to gulp my saliva, so that my hands stop tying involuntary. As the insignia can guide us to the members of the group, it can easily take us to the enemy. I feel myself into an icy lake and it causes a cold wave trembles all of my body and makes my hair stand on end.

The insignia may guide us toward the enemy like the cheese which attracts a mouse to the trap. Why those four people’s sets are off? Why there couldn’t be seen any reaction to the appearance of our name on the display? Does it mean the presence of two new members has no importance to it?

I pull the set out of my pocket. The sign of four black and white people who are hand in hand, is spinning. All options appear on the screen when my finger touches it. I enter in “Position of group members”. A-2 is still in his position and hasn’t moved even a little bit. The “fingerprint confirmation” shows five hours and ten minutes ago. If it is as mentioned in instruction four times in a day, he has to confirm his fingerprint again fifty minutes later. Yet, if A-2 is taken captive, they will force him to reconfirm his fingerprint. I must communicate with him. Vorarin comes toward me and shows his anxiety with his question:

Let’s see, what’s the matter? Is there any problem?

Anybody hear me?

I am waiting for reply from the set, while I managed to communicate, but there is no response. Again, I repeat my question but nobody replies. When I become sure, I answer Vorarin’s question:

Things don’t match up.

He, who seems smelled the matter, says:

Maybe he’s in a situation that he can’t reply us.

It is possible, so I send him my request in text. Time passes for a while, yet I receive no response. I send my message again, it remains without reply.

As I said, it may be a trap. We shouldn’t go there unadvised. We should check conditions, or maybe we’d better not to risk. We can get away from here easily, without any risk.

Vorarin pauses for a while and then he says:

It’s possible but in case of they’ve taken him captive we should help him.

But we have no information about his captivity. We don’t know yet if he is alive.

We’ll know it within forty five minutes later. If he reconfirms his fingerprint, we’ll find out he is still alive.

I go to the darkness to be safe from the moonlight which has lighted inside a little.

But even if he is dead, they can use his fingerprint.

He relocates himself to see outside well. Then, with an anxious but determined face, he says:

Yeah, but it’s different for the eye scanning. In addition to eye color determination, it can recognize human death. These are written in setting section of the manual.

Well, what do you mean?

He intends to show me something with his words.

I mean that as much as it may be a trap, it is likely not to be. Maybe he is dead, but equally it is likely he is alive and needs our help.

He is absolutely right and if the probability of being alive for him is less enough, still we should go to help him. But the letters confront me with a dilemma. In addition, we are doing something like saving a prey from the hungry lions. The result is anxiety and worriment for me, who has no experience in this case.

I can’t believe yet what a trouble I have gotten into. The rapid eyes movement and shaking of Vorarin’s body show that he has a confused and involved mind too.

The things you said means that we should wait for the time being to see if he reconfirms his fingerprint. We shouldn’t risk for nothing. I go near the shop door to watch for the outside.

I sit near the entrance door and look at the outside through the holes on the wall. The gray dust of the rusted metals are floating in the air and thicken the darkness. A skyscraper is exactly in front of us and have hidden the moon completely. Exactly like the blue sky and the rays of the sun shining through the cloud gaps, the moon can be seen through the holes and cracks on the wall.

The skyscraper has a scruffy and messy facing. It has fallen on the left side buildings like a broken tree from its waist, but part of it is still standing. The