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

my steps faster to reach Parkad, and walk by him. We enter calmly in an alley, or perhaps a rather broad street which is narrowed by collapsed buildings. In some parts, a wall has been made by the ruins. We enter a building in the midway and go up to the first floor through its stairs. Then we enter another building via the debris which has turned into a bridge between the two buildings. We pass in silence all the way. I find it the best chance to release my mind from the confusion made by my questions. I hem to attract his attention and say:

What’s going on here?

He stops at windowsill of the first floor and looks around:

What do you think?

I shrug and say:

I don’t know, indeed.

In fact, I guessed it to some extent, but it is like an unproved theory; three groups are looking for something precious. He jump down through the window and moves on without he waits for me. Although the distance between the window and the ground is high, the collapsed and scattered debris make the distance less than it is. I jump on the debris, which has turned into the steps, and reach him.

What’s my duty in the group?

A soundless smile appears on his lips:

You should do whatever we tell you.

When I see he parries my question, I become silent and walk beside him. We get out a building and enter another one; we pass our way street by street and roof by roof. On a roof, while observing around, suddenly he says:

Have you any glassy clothes? It would become stormy today.

Yeah, Karisan gave me and Vorarin glassy clothes.

What was your job?

Management, mostly in offices.

He sits on a half-ruined wall near the roof so that being out of sight, and find refuge under the shadow of the wall.

Karisan has explained about you a little. Are you Alandima’s son?

I shake my head to confirm him. He says:

Finally we managed to meet you.

I ask with a false admiration:

Had you been in communication with my father?

As he stares at distance, sneers and says:

I know him as much as your age.

This time, I ask in real wonder:

Haven’t I met you in my father’s interment?

I am really a stranger to my father’s friends. Maybe I was a hermit or…yes, I haven’t seen nowhere but “Life” shelter. This is the first time that I leave there.

You’d better stay there. Everyone has been made for some particular work. You should have followed your father’s way.

It was a big shelter and I couldn’t manage it.

He replies me with his look, without saying a word. He stares at distance again. The meaning of his look is completely clear. It was exactly for five years that my father couldn’t get out of his bed. I had to do all of the works of the shelter. Maybe all of the people saw me as owner of the shelter, but I wasn’t be able to take even one step without my father’s help.

Prolonging his sitting, I also sit. The sweat drops are waiting for a stream to join and fall. The earth, like a furnace, melts us into itself. No breeze blows, both to breaks the silence between us and cool me with the help of the sweat on my body.

What are we looking for, here? Where should we go?

Do you care?

Well…yeah!

Seems you don’t know yet that you shouldn’t be mouthiness. One may be there in downstairs and listens to our words. This is one of the many rules you should respect.

It is like I have fallen on a chess board, I don’t know what I am, what should I do, and what is happening to me. I remain without motion and just look around. I think about the mission and kill the time until he lifts and reaches out his hand to his ear:

What happened, Kidaton?

I can hear Kidaton at this short distance from him and because the soft breeze makes no noise:

I’m just now in the position, but there’s a problem.

What happened?

You yourself must see it.

He pauses and then says:

I can’t talk anymore. Reach me soon.

Then his voice cuts off completely. Parkad rises immediately and says:

We should make haste.

He looks around for a while, then we come down through the next building. We come in a broad street and move forward from the edges. The roadbed is covered by sands thoroughly and our footsteps make tracks, but Parkad doesn’t care; he takes steps continuously.

We go on through the buildings. After a short walk, Parkad stops suddenly and changes the path. We enter a narrow alley which is made by collapsed buildings. Part of here has ceiling. At the end, we reach a three or four story building.

You get in from here and I’ll enter from the other side. Be quiet and don’t make any sound. Go slowly as you can. Hold your gun in your hand and be ready to fire. I’ll get in a little bit after you.

Then he wends to where he mentioned. It is all clear that he send me in as a prey to be sure there is safe. I enter through a hole on a wall. Then I find myself in a room which three other walls is intact. I pull out my gun and reach the door by the wall. I hold on the edge of the door frame and appraise the other side through a hole on the wall. No one and even no shadow is seen.

Half of the building has collapsed and there is no stairs. Just a little space is available. Almost everywhere is covered by the collapsed walls and debris. I encourage myself pressing my hands all over the gun and get out of my hole like a rat.

No one appears in front of me and no sound is heard. Everywhere is calm and I just can hear my footsteps on the floor. When I look around, I find out that nobody can be in the ground floor. The only entrance is that room.

The building is just like a cripple one who if try to rise, would lose his balance and falls on a side. The flexion of the building is visible from this angle clearly, it is like an elbow.

I wait for a while, but nothing happens. I should find a way to next floor. All of a sudden my eyes meet the debris which is like a stairs, like the huddled masses of lava, which is made by collapsed part of the ceiling and formed a stairs to the upper floor. I go up slowly over them which are not equal in size and height and reach to the second floor.

Continuous bending, makes pain in my breast and stomach. Here is like the lower floor, but with a more limited space. The ruined part of this floor is more but its stairs, despite of losing some steps, seems safe and intact. I manage to reach the last floor, although I have to jump from one step to the other and tolerate my ankle pain. Although the flexion of the building is not too much, its gradient causes off balance. Like a mountain in which the more you become close to its top, the less become its diameter, here also is remained just a room in the last floor. Because of the gradient of the building flexion, debris of the collapsed walls are gathered in a corner; one almost needs to leap to pass through. Suddenly I meet someone who is looking through his binoculars. I don’t know why I didn’t see him. I come to myself and hold my gun toward him.

Your action is too weak. Your promptitude would throw you in at deep end.

His white hair introduces him to me sooner than his words. Like me, he also bended forward to walk and he is looking around through his field glasses.

Be careful about the middle of the room, its floor is loose.

I follow his recommendation and go toward him. There is a wide region in front of us, but so many buildings block our sight, yet a small part is in our sight entirely. In Parkad’s espying direction, there is a seven or eight-story building. It is at a distance of one hundred meters from us and seems almost intact.

Kidaton, I’m now in the position, what’s the problem?

A weak hiss is heard, then a weak voice says:

Look at between the main building and M-3, you’ll find out.

Parkad turns and goes toward the other side of the room and looks outside through the window. I can’t see his face, but he takes his head out of the window, stares at a point and saying no, he shows me something bad happened.

Damn! What’s happened there?

Kidaton replies from the other side:

Earth’s subsided.

When?

Nothing was happened by yesterday.

I go toward the window and look outside too. At a distance almost fifty meters from here, land has subsided and sank everything in itself. Buildings, like the wrecked ships, are huddled in the hole. The squashed cars are also seen among them. The buildings around the hole are affected by the subsidence and are slightly leaned.

Well, what should we do now, Parkad?

He stares at that point dumb stricken and shows no reaction. Kidaton repeats his question. Parkad, without stops looking there, says:

Where’s Nabidak?

They’re also in the position. Exactly in Y-junction, I mean the same branched roads which is thoroughly destroyed.

You mean the entrance is completely destroyed? Is it impossible to reach there?

Kidaton makes a pause and then says:

I don’t know, but half of the road destroyed. Yet the other half remained intact. More likely, of course, its entrance may buried under the debris, or may not. If we intended to get in from there, we should find it first.

Parkad, while again stares at a point with a worried face, says:

We must find it. It’s too bad. They may find the entrance. Reach there quickly, kidaton. We shouldn’t lose time. Inform Nabidak too.

He hangs his field glasses from his neck and hide it under his raincoat:

Hurry up! We should move. Our path to there is closer. Come on, shake a leg! We have no time.

He reach downstairs and I follow him immediately.

Get ready! From here and then your gun should be in your hand. Be careful!

I prepare my gun and follow him who takes step non-stop.

Move on by me. when you feel danger, you should part from me. Each one who is caught, the other shouldn’t risk his life to save him. Got it?

I shake my head, then we move on in silence.

We go on our way through the ruins and hide ourselves in a corner, off and on. Although Parkad takes step calmly, he turns his head around and watches the dead buildings. We pass by the edges and move forward through the buildings like rats. We take step slowly lest make noise.

Our group are just these people?

He turns back as he walks and looks at me. Then, again, his eyes search around:

Why, any problem?

No, I meant is this number enough to perform the mission?

He jumps over an obstacle, stops at a door and looks around.

Yes, it’s enough.

Then he enters the street and I follow him. We go through a short distance to enter the buildings again. But, after passing through a building, we come in the street again.

We go on our way under the sunshine. The sun is almost in the middle of the sky and over our heads. It works continuously like a furnace. The wind is still on strike, even a grain of sand can’t be seen flying in the air. We are just like the lizards which are creeping and move forward. Walking under the sunshine, has made my body hot as if I am on a fire.

Silence on one hand, and hit from the other hand made me confused and distressed. My eyes become dim and black. Streams of sweat are flowing on my face like a water fall, and my body is sticky all over. Once in a while, a bended building