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

I manage to grab his hand at the last second, while I hold the banister with my other hand. The banister groans under the weight of our body. According to his puniness, his weight is low but he pulls me down so that I am nearly fall. I still hold the banister with my hand and pull him up a little, but he can’t grab the edge and his body pulls us downward. The banister makes a cry-like sound and one of its pillars severs.

I count to three, then I pull you up. You should grab the edge unless the banister will sever.

I feel the falling sands under my feet. A weak quake shakes the stairs and, like the aftershocks, warns a big quake. I fix my foothold, then, after a deep breath, I count to three and pull him up. All of a sudden I feel like a hot iron is put on my waist and my breast.

He grabs the edge and pulls himself up. Suddenly the step under my feet collapses but I manage to save myself. I pull the banister like a rope and lay myself on the ground in the fourth floor. My breast goes up and down ceaselessly. Vorarin is also on the floor on all fours and he coughs. He is dusty cap a pie. I find out why he doesn’t shout anymore; he pours out his salvia to empty his mouth of dust.

Are you ok?

He shakes his head but his face says something else.

Five other floors still remain.

He wipes off his mouth with his sleeves and says:

Damn, I wish I stayed in the first floor.

Yeah, you informed all the world with this much fuss you made. We don’t need to hide ourselves anymore. If there is anybody here, now he is aware of us. Just God grant nobody heard us from outside. We should hurry up.

I go toward the room which the signal comes from, and open the door slowly. This is a rather big room in which nothing is seen, as if ransacked by brigands. The signal comes from behind the wall which there is no way to reach there. Yet this is the only room in which can’t be seen so much ashes, and it has almost its own dark brown color. My mind is so confused that I return to Vorarin immediately. He shakes his head regretfully and then he rises. Before going up the stairs, he says:

I’m really sorry, I couldn’t help it. I go ahead of you and try the stairs to be safe.

My fear is doubled, and I feel my muscles become constricted. I experience a strange weakness in my body. I decide to go back, but it is too late. It might be a trap from the very beginning. Though nothing has changed, revealing our presence along with Vorarin’s shouts have affected me spontaneously.

I want to get out of here as soon as possible. But now there is no way to return. He tries the stairs at a distance of five steps ahead of me, and I move only with his permission. We find nothing and see nobody in the fifth floor too. Here is like an untouched cake, it seems unlikely that some have made a trap here for us. My mind is so confused that I can’t understand what Vorarin says and where we go.

At the end of the fifth floor, moon shines on us and like a savior it saves me from my thought. Vorarin finds its reason; it seems as if they have exploded a bomb in sixth floor, it is has been ruined completely. There can’t be seen any wall or window. There is no way to upstairs and the sixth floor is just the roof of the downstairs. I don’t know why I haven’t seen the destruction of this floor.

There are some short wall up to our breasts. The fresh air and a cold breeze can be felt, which enters my clothes, makes my body tremble and then gets out. It seems that the moon scatters the seeds of cold air by its soft light. Looking at the moon makes me feel cold.

From up here the landscapes make us calm and dazzle for a short time. It is dark but I can see the remnants of the dead buildings which seem like a cemetery that all of its gravestones are broken. The wind is like a wail which rises from them and seeks help. This view robs everything from my mind and calms my mind for few seconds.

It’s too gloomy.

Vorarin looks regretfully. The town is thoroughly gray; the town which its darkness is darker than darkness and its silence is more deadly than every other silence. I can hear death steps in the streets of the town. His usher, the wind, accompanies him. Suddenly a hand moves in front of my face and distracts me, that is to say, draws me out of the marsh.

It looks like you burn your farm with your own hands. This shows the human selfishness. He’s ready to destroy everything and of course himself to prevent others from having something. I always thought what could hell look like, but now the hell is just in front me.

He points at the opposite street:

I wish there was a delicatessen I could buy a sandwich.

He points at the street again:

You think what would the town look like if it was rebuild?

He doesn’t wait for my reply:

Probably the heights of the buildings wouldn’t allow us to see the horizon line. Everywhere would be full of colored lamps, big billboards, red, blue and green. So many cars in the streets, and the sound of the horns would show that the town is alive. Sidewalks would be full of passengers who jostle you. Why things went the way they did?

Then he becomes quiet, and I say:

We are expiating our previous generations. The nature is also revenging.

Do you know exactly how the world destroyed?

The elders says when they woke up, the sun was too angry. All people died of skin cancer. Those who survived, suffered from cataract and then become blind. All of their products destroyed and all of the animals died. No tree stayed alive. All nations destroyed themselves in atomic world war, instead of they try to improve the situation. We remained and a hell. For this we wear glassy clothes, sleep all day and are active night time.

Till when it should be like this?

Till we want this. I wish God and nature forgive us.

The “Hope” group members are doing their best. We’re here for this.

To save the world? How we should save this frozen desert?

Maybe, I don’t know. Maybe we shouldn’t allow the world becomes worse than this.

I look at his eyes and ask him:

Is it supposed to make war again?

I hope not.

So what are the blue and red groups doing here? What are they looking for?

I don’t know. Nothing is clear, but they broke the borders.

The reds are double-crossing.

He takes a deep breath and says:

We can’t say this. It isn’t clear yet why they’re here.

It’s so important that these three groups are facing each other after too many years. The blue group kept themselves to themselves. I hadn’t even seen a blue-eye at close range., And also the reds who came here because of losing their lives.

They didn’t keep aloof so that you think. They delimit for themselves and they sent their flag for us too.

I ask in wonder:

I’d never heard about it.

They intended to trade with us. They asked us to delimit and send them our flag. They have progressed a good deal after the world destruction. They turned a ruined town to an alive and well town.

They parted company with us from the beginning.

What do you mean?

A cold wind trembles my body. I say:

After that the world destroyed, those who stayed alive seek refuge in the shelters. More than ninety five percent of the people died. The distance caused the remained people to divide into different groups. There were the big shelters around the world. After passing the age of “vacuity”, two big shelters parted company with us entirely.

You mean the red and the blue groups?

Exactly. Nobody knows what happened that their eyes and their blood turned into blue and red. All say that it’s because of the radioactive materials, but it’s simply enough you refer to the old books and see that this isn’t the A-bomb effects.

So what it could be?

Nobody knows but themselves.

It means…

All of a sudden Vorarin cuts his word halfway, looks behind me over my shoulder, and says:

What’s that!?

I turn back but I see nothing. He points with his finger. There are two small black box of the size of matches box are mounted on the walls of the stairs. Suddenly my body becomes loose. I look toward where Vorarin stared at. As I guessed, there are four shadows who are coming toward us. I feel so much energy and as I begin to run, I say:

Hurry up! We should get out of here. Move it!

Vorarin looks at me like the possessed, he is shocked a little. He follows me running without any question. We move slowly, but faster than before, on the stairs. We wouldn’t get chance to get out of here. So we should find somewhere to hide. The walls of the fifth floor are full of holes and there is no intact wall. We have to go to the fourth floor.

We hear the sound of people talking to each other which echoes through the building. I look down through the stairs. The lights of their torches are searching everywhere. They break doors, if any, and search everywhere. Two of them are coming to the second floor.

Damn! They’re coming up. We should hide somewhere.

Vorarin becomes pale. He, while tries to hide his voice tremor, says:

They’ll find us. We can’t hide ourselves anywhere.

It’s better than they come and find us easily.

I go toward the first door I see and open it slowly. But there is no way; there are just some windows which are useless because of their heights, nevertheless Vorarin goes toward a window and examine there. From his nervous face, I realize that there is no loophole.

I look around to find something to close the door, but there is nothing. The only hope for us is destroyed. There is no way to return as well. Breaking each door is like a sledgehammer which is pounded on my head. I can hear footsteps and the sound of equipment caused by movement.

It is like the death knell is ringing to announce our death. Both of us stand near the door. Maybe we could do anything. The footsteps come closer every second. I have held my breath insomuch that I feel I am suffocating. Vorarin has clasped and hugged the wall tightly so that he wants to hide himself into it.

It is like I pass through one hundred years until their footsteps echo through fourth floor. Then the sound of breaking a door is heard. It makes me feel the earth under my feet collapsed. Vorarin loses his patience and comes to me.

They’re coming, what do we do?

The sound of another door, which is metallic, is heard. Vorarin goes away from the door. I go toward him and take some bricks off the wall. Vorarin takes a rod off the ground too and stands by me. He gulps his saliva once in a while.

All of a sudden I lose my balance and pull his shirt. He bends on his knees along with me. My right leg burns and makes me wince.

My leg stuck in the hole of first floor. It seems to be collapsed because of being loose. I try to pull my leg out of the hole but it stuck tightly. Vorarin comes to help me and relocates my foot slowly, but it doesn’t come out. Meanwhile, I hear the sound of door breaking. I look at the door but it is not the door of this room. My heart almost