The Frozen Desert by Moein Mansoori Fard (early reader chapter books txt) 📖

to move. But, before we go, for we have at least a loophole, I’ll enter the building through the main door, you from the other side. This way, if one of us get caught, would be able to inform the other.

It is not the best way, because if they have held the building, certainly they have thought about that as well. Most importantly, they keep their eyes on us. I put my knapsack on my shoulders and move ahead of Vorarin. I move counter to the way in which the two soldiers passed, while I keep close to the car, and then monitor the boulevard through the disjoined door of the car. Vorarine comes to me by my hand signal and after a while stands beside the opposite car. He also signals me in the same way to reach the building. I wait for Vorarin beside the entry door.

Vorarin passes the last car and stands by me in the darkness. His face is calm and he plays with his lips once in a while. This is not the first time that he does it. It seems to be his habit, but it makes his face attractive and funny.

I enter through here. You should enter by the next building. Surely you’ll have no difficulty to enter because the wall between these two buildings has collapsed. You stay there till I inform you. You, too, make me aware in case of you see something suspicious, with the insignia.

He stops playing with his lips, looks around nervously and wends while he takes a deep breath. He manages to enter the building through a big hole within thirty seconds.

When he fades away in the darkness of the possessed building, I step into the building after taking a deep breath. My body tickles a bit and a cold wave passes through my body off and on. I reach into the building close to the wall like a lizard.

There is no difference between inside and outside of the building. The walls are like the shredded body and everywhere is full of the bricks. The four pillars form a quadrangle and the elevator is in the middle of it. The wires of the elevator are cut and its cabin is like a crushed cube, as if it fell down swiftly. This is a big building which has stairs in both sides. There can be seen the bent iron beams and can be heard the sound of the wind which associates the winter. Everything is gray; even the elevator seems like a hallucinous coffin. The ashes and the dust on the ground may help us. These shows some foot tracks but faded. I approach them.

The radiated rays from the moon which pass through the holes on the wall and reaches here, show the floating dust in the air. A soft but cold breeze passing through the holes makes the fearsome sounds too.

I sit on my feet and keep my balance putting my hands on the ground, while I am on alert for any sound around me. I feel a shooting pain in my breast and back. But at least I am lucky that the wounds on my feet are healed. Though I feel pain, I bend down to have a look at the foot tracks. Most of them are faded away and just few of them are intact. There also can be seen some palm tracks that seems to be someone’s intention to clear the foot tracks. The remained tracks seem similar and are only toward the stairs and the hole on the wall at the end of the building, yet no one can be seen and no sound can be heard and just the sound of landslide from the upstairs can be heard once in a while.

Suddenly I remember the letters. I forgot them and that I came here with them. I feel my heart beats in my breast. A weakness engulfs my body. I curse myself for my neglect. I should be free of care about them. I look around until I meet a mass of debris which is heaped on a corner. I put the letters into the debris and cover them with some bricks. Then I attach my insignia with a pin on my breast under my shirt to make it easier to use. Next, I press its button:

Nothing much is happening here for the nonce, what about you, Vorarin?

A weak hiss, which only I can hear it, and then Vorarin’s voice is heard:

No, I see nothing suspicious as well. Everywhere is calm.

Catch me up.

Then I push the button again and wait in the darkness until I hear a foot step after less than one minute. Surely he is Vorarin, yet I don’t throw caution into the wind. When he comes close to here, he takes his steps slowly until he reaches the edge of the wall. After a while a black body is seen who is looking around. He seeks refuge in the edges like me and as he takes step toward me, he says:

Zairas…Zairas…Zairas…

I reply him with a soft and short whistle. He turns his head toward me like a sharp eyed eagle and after a pause he comes to me.

I think nobody is here.

Don’t you see the foot tracks? The enemy always waits in ambush.

Where? Where’s it?

Then he looks along my forefinger and after watching for a while he says in wonder:

How did you find them? They seems to be old.

I shake my head and say:

No, you’re completely wrong. They’re not old but whoever he was or they were, tried to clean the tracks. This causes one to be doubted since it isn’t clear that the track is left from one guy or more.

Well, what do you intend to do now?

Nothing special comes to my mind and I just follow the same common way.

Nothing. Just the same usual way. I go upstairs, you stay here. If the situation seems under control there, I’ll inform you.

I reach to the left side stairs through the debris and ruins and take step cautiously. I feel landslide under my feet and with each step the groaning sound of the stairs can be heard. All of the walls are gray, like the war-torn regions.

I reach the first floor. Everything is untouched and nothing special can’t be seen. The elevator also passes through here, and closing to the edges, downstairs can be seen. So many corridors are there which the origin of all is the elevator. There is also a long counter in the left side. No furniture and equipment can be found in the building, and there can be seen just some rusted and useless metals. Also, there are stairs to the upper floors from four sides.

I take the insignia off my breast and activate the A-2 address. The lamp begins blinking and makes a beep sound. I turn it all around like a compass until its light and the beep sound become extended.

The beep sound becomes extended and the light blinks so fast toward the right side, just where I am. The set shows me an oblique direction in which I should pass through a corridor to reach him.

I enter the corridor and go forward slowly along the right side. There is no foot track. Although the fresh air enters here easily, everything smells musty. The sound of the wind just can be heard which passes through the holes on the walls and roars like a dragon. I wish I were wind, and I could inspect everywhere swimmingly.

Finally I reach where I intended to. The signals guide me to one of the room on the left side which is just in front of me. There is no door and I can see inside the room easily without I enter it. It seems that an earthquake have occurred in this room since everything is scattered and ruined on the ground: the file cabinets, the broken chairs and tables, the lampshade, half burned books. And I see the splinter glass for the first time.

Since the dust which has covered everything is untouched and shows no foot track or sign, it proves that my act is foolish, yet I relocate things with my feet. Again, I check my insignia set, but it shows just here.

Where does your insignia point at, Vorarin?

Maybe my insignia shows wrong.

Wait!

The sound of pushing some buttons is heard. Then he says:

Aha, found. As I see, it should be where you went up, just that side. Only there the beep sound becomes extended. Did you find something?

Not yet. Here’s nothing but an empty room. I’m just in this position, yet nobody is here.

Maybe they left their insignia here but there is no sign of their entrance. Here is just like a crypt where nobody has get in there for many years. All of a sudden the hiss sound from the insignia is heard and Vorarin says excitedly:

Hey, this set just shows the direction not the height, I guess. That is, he may be in upper floors.

What he says makes sense to me. I return toward the stairs and enter the second floor through the steps which are collapsed almost alternately. My voice echoes through the building as in a cave. Here is similar to the first floor but here, the direction of the corridors is different.

When I look at the insignia, I see that it beeps at the same direction, but now in the second floor, continuously. So Vorarin’s assumption comes true. This time I find another corridor and I go toward the direction that the insignia shows. Here again, the signal comes from inside of a room. I enter and look around. Here, just like the downstairs, everything is untouched and a five-millimeter layer of the ashes has covered everywhere.

The insignia points at the wall. I enter the other room but it shows again the same wall. Then I go to the third floor but there is just an empty space where the insignia points at, and no room or corridor can be seen. No need to look for, and the location, which the insignia shows, can be seen easily.

What’s up? Did you find anything?

Anxiety and worriment can be felt in his voice.

I’m in third floor but nobody is here. He should be in upper floors.

I’m coming up.

I wait until I see him finally on the stairs. There is still a little anxiety in his face which disappears when he comes close to me.

There are nine floors in this building. He might be in each of them. Except for the foot tracks in the first floor, there’s no sign of human beings. I think we don’t need to be so cautious.

Don’t be deceived by appearance. It’s like the sea which is calm now and becomes stormy one hour later. Here makes me feel the same. I go ahead of you, and you keep your distance.

He accepts indisputably and waits until I move. I go up the stairs and reach the fourth floor. I stand beside the stairs until Vorarin joins me. Here is also calm and its design is similar to the first floor, but there is no corridor on the left side where I am now. There are only a series of rooms which are next to each other.

Suddenly I hear the sound of collapsing and a sharp scream bears bad news. I turn back but I can’t see Vorarin. I try each step before I pass through. Four steps have collapsed together. The perpetual screams are heard. I see Vorarin’s hand which has grabbed the edge and he tries to do the same with his other hand.

Keep calm, I catch you now. Hang in there a bit.

I reach him with the help of the gray and curved banister near the stairs and I see his hand which trembles and his fingers which release the edge little by little. I try to take his hand several times but he is at a rather long distance from me.

Again I hear an earsplitting scream but