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

upper part of it which is the same as foliage of a tree, has fallen on the middle of the boulevard. Yet some of the huge iron beams are linked to its body. Almost nine floors are still intact. The top of the skyscraper is designed like the spaceships, and is so big that covers the width of the boulevard. There is a deep pitting on it. All the buildings around it are destroyed. The received signal is from this building. But nothing suspicious can be seen.

All of a sudden I feel a hand on my shoulder and another hand on my mouth. I turn my head without any attempt and I see Vorarin whose face is pale and his eyes are wide open.

I heard a footstep. I guess he’s coming here.

He speaks so quietly that I have to bring my ears close to his mouth. I stare at outside through a hole on the wall. Two other shadows are coming toward the shop where we are. They seem are talking to each other but I can hear just a squeak sound.

I hear the footstep of the first one who passes by us. I move aside from the door. As I guessed, the blue soldier, who is almost head and shoulders taller than me, passes by the door. I don’t know why I didn’t hear his footstep. Maybe he walks slowly or he takes step on the sands. He has no mask on his face but his back is toward me and darkness doesn’t allow me to see his face.

Those two people come toward this one who stops now. They stand in front him, then they brings their right foot forward at the same time as if they take a step and then they stamp their feet on the ground, next they freeze. One of them says with a thick and rough voice:

Mission accomplished.

Their superior, with a thicker and rougher voice than the soldier’s, which is like a canary voice, says:

What happened?

We found there, now the group are searching.

The second soldier says following his coworker:

The south zone also was found and the group is working on.

Nothing has been found yet?

Both answer together:

No.

Damn. There are at least twenty zones in this town. What number region is this?

Both soldiers are standing like the statue and don’t move. The mood of their faces can’t be seen from under their masks. Just their superior looks around once in a while.

This is the twelfth, sir.

The superior says with anger:

How much it takes to find all?

They hesitate a moment, as if both are waiting for someone to reply. Finally, they break the ice and one of them says:

About two weeks, at this pace.

Their chief, while is ready to jump like a leopard, comes one step closer to them, and says screamingly:

What? It takes two weeks? So what the hell are you doing? Maybe you think you are picnicking here? A child also could find everywhere easily if he is given a map. The town would be buried entirely under the sands by two weeks.

The soldier, while his voice trills, says:

We need reinforcements, sir.

The soldiers receive a mocking reply:

Now I’m sure you are picnicking!

He raise his voice insomuch that his voice echoes through the shop:

What the hell are you fifty men doing here? You a bunch of nonentities need reinforcements!?

The wind reigns the silence and then goes away. The two soldiers are standing there without any motion and are looking at their chief, who stamps his foot on the ground, and takes steps to the left and right off and on. His face is not visible but his bald head is. I see his profile occasionally but his face is faded in the darkness.

He finally stops, he loses his patience, and says:

Where’s that stupid moron guy?

Hail, sir!

A man comes out from the opposite alley, performs the same thing which seems to be a kind of military salute, and says:

That region has subsided entirely, yet we searched for everywhere.

Well?

Well…we should circumscribe it.

You mean there’s no way you reach it?

I mean the subsidence almost reaches to a one hundred meter radius. No building remained intact too.

The commander turns on his wireless set and says:

Ravigan, what did you do?

A weak hiss is heard and then a normal voice says:

Nothing yet, Kansen, we’re searching for the nonce.

What did those three men do? Have they ever reported something?

They haven’t found anything likewise.

I go to the base. If you find something, inform me.

The tone of the man from the other side of the wireless shows that they are either of the same ranks or are comrades. Kansen turns off the wireless and says to those three:

You watchdog around here. I guess some are tailing us. Be alert. There may be many cows in this town but we are looking for those who are marked. By the way, did you post some guards somewhere I told you?

The third soldiers replies:

Yes sir. All are in the positions you assigned.

Kansen says mockingly and scornfully:

At least you could do this.

The three of them salute and then disappear in the darkness.

They wait until that Kansen disappears in the darkness, then one of the soldiers says:

God damn you, where the hell were you? He was near to lacerate us. I don’t know at all why they send us to report to Kansen. All of us have wireless set, don’t we?

The third soldier removes his hat and says:

Something is suspicious here.

He has wispy beard and hair. His face looks like a fox, and most importantly, his eyes are blue; they are so chromatic and shiny that I can see them from afar easily and they shine like two full moon in the darkness. The two other soldiers also remove their masks following their confrere. Their eyes are blue and shiny likewise. The second soldier, while breathe a sigh, says:

We shouldn’t joined them from the beginning. Soon after I reach there I’ll resign and leave.

The soldier next to him calms him with his hand and asks:

What’s the matter? Anything happened?

The third soldier, while is looking at the distant and seems is thinking, says:

Something is happening, we are not alone here.

The second soldier sits on the hood of a car, and as a creakiness sound comes out from the car, the last tire comes off the car and lies on the ground. This attracts all for a short moment and then it is disremembered when the sound of the metal on the pavement cuts off. After that he begins to swing his legs in the air. The first soldier, while leans to the car, says:

This’s obvious that we’re not alone. Certainly the “Hope” group is here too. It seems they’re the performer of this game. All of these events are their fault. But I don’t know why they don’t show themselves and do anything.

The second soldier interferes and says:

I said from the very first day that the “Hope” group” is here. Once I saw one of them in the darkness.

The third one sits on the collapsed part of the building and says:

This’s not important fact. Kansen also knows it but pretends ignorance. It’s as clear as daylight that they don’t sit around and do nothing at all, but they’ll engage. The problem is something else, something more important than this.

The second soldier stops swinging his legs and says:

In the case of we couldn’t find it there wouldn’t be anything more important than this, because I don’t think at all that Kansen leaves us alive then.

The third one puts his hand under his chin and ponders. The first soldier’s eyes show his impatience by gazing at the third soldier, and he folds his arms but says nothing and waits.

Another group is here except for us and the “Hope” group.

They look at the third soldiers in wonder. They stare at him dumb stricken as if an electric shock has made them frozen.

What do you mean?

The third soldier keeps quiet.

Maybe you mean…

Yeah.

Their mouths remain open like the apoplectics.

The red group?

The third soldier shakes his head.

Whence they become aware?

They fail to answer with their silence. The three of them cogitate, so that they don’t even look at each other. It seems to them to be lost in the history for a few years. Finally, the first soldier, while is looking at the building in the opposite, says:

Whence you knew it? There wasn’t any report of them to be seen as yet. Nobody’s said anything likewise. I, who’ve been in the most missions, didn’t see anything too.

The first soldier, as beats his fingers on his cheek, says:

I also hadn’t seen no one till half an hour ago but when I was coming here I saw one of them. It seemed he hadn’t seen me, so I went close to him as I could. At first, I thought that he’s one of our group but he hadn’t worn our uniform. He seemed waiting for someone. He kept waiting about two or three minutes but nobody came. So when he became sure that nobody would come, he went. I decided to chase him.

Then he becomes silent and looks around.

I though he is one of the common people or maybe of the “Hope” group. I followed him to somewhere till he suddenly turned and looked backward. That time I saw his red eyes. He immediately moved and I followed him again. All of a sudden he began running and disappeared in darkness.

He takes a pause and then says:

Of course, this event dispelled my doubt, since where ever I went recently it seemed to me that some people were there before me. Their footprints were visible clearly. I guess they’ve finished their works in the east side of the town, now they’ve come this part and are searching.

The second soldier who is sitting on the hood of the car, looks at the sky and says:

Woe! What the calamity is this we cursed with? Does Kansen know?

I didn’t say anything to him, but I should report it to him. They are interfering us and if they find it sooner, we would be knocked off. I think we should be ready for some skirmishes.

The third soldier stands on his feet, hangs his machine gun on his shoulder and hold his pistol in his hand:

I’ve to go now and report Kansen personally. You keep sentry around here and watch up. We are rabbits in this game, we can’t see anybody but they can. I think their campsite should be around here. Here is exactly in the middle of twenty five western regions.

The second soldier, with eyes wide open and wrinkled brows, says:

So what about Kansen?

Leave it to me.

When he fades in the darkness, the two other soldiers also disappear at the end side of the boulevard. Vorarin, who seems has held his breath till now, while pretends to be calm, says:

It’s become a knotty problem. It works to the detriment of us. I knew from the beginning the reds don’t sit around and do nothing at all.

I approach the door and look at outside carefully.

It’s not exactly the same you’re saying. It’s to our benefit they don’t focus thoroughly on us anymore. It seems the reds and the blues are looking for something, as we do.

Vorarin shrugs:

I don’t know anything more.

We should go to that building where the signals come from. The way they talked to each other and that they didn’t notice this building is as if nobody is there in that building. We can’t trust it. The signal might be from the reds. Let’s go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 16

 

 

The invisible enemy

 

 

 

 

I look at the outside carefully, nobody can be seen in the darkness. Vorarin stares at the building as well. Just like a culprit who looks at his halter to be sure it is real, he looks at the building and gulp his saliva once in a while. His face doesn’t show off the nervous mood and it is not so much to makes him play with his hand or bite his lips.

I see nobody in the street. It’s time