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

has scuffled with the red soldier. Vorarin can’t help but wards off the red soldier’s hits. I go to help him without thinking about a few seconds ago events.

I pound a rather heavy fist on his back, loop my arms around his neck and pull him backward with my all force. His weight falls on me and we both fall down. Vorarin is on all fours, coughs nonstop and rubs his throat.

I push the red soldier away and get up from the ground quickly. All of a sudden a punch comes to my face, but I quickly recede my head instinctively. So his punch misses my face. The next punch is thrown toward me with no delay. So I perforce repeat the same movement.

All of a sudden I feel pain in my stomach and fall on my back on the sands. I reach out my hand toward my stomach involuntary and press it. His footprint is imprinted on my stomach.

When I come to myself, I see a very foggy shadow which is coming toward me. His leg is hanging in the air and as I can see he has aimed it at my stomach. It is slightly late to stand up. So to be safe from his kick, I roll on the ground. It works and he can’t kick me. He repeats his kick and I am also constrained to roll again.

I expect him to continue kicking me but I see him who is whirling madly. When I look more carefully, I see Vorarin who has looped his arms around the red soldier’s neck and pressing so tight as if he wants to strangle him.

I rise from the ground quickly and go to help Vorarin. The red soldier frees himself from Vorarin’s arms and push him over, before I reach them. So I go toward him and, before he could do anything else, I kick him tightly and drop him on the ground.

I try to put him in a position he wouldn’t be able to do anything. Suddenly, I see a gun near my foot. I take it off the ground quickly and aim it at the red soldier. When he sees the gun, stops struggling and remains motionless. He says nothing and just looks at me. I can kill him but I am not a killer. Without being distracted away from the red soldier, I say to Vorarin:

Hurry up Vorarin, we’ve to go. Some other may show up at any moment.

All of a sudden, some fine particles are flown to my face. Before I can do anything, my eyes sting. I reach out my hand to my face. I close my eyes tightly and press on my eyelids with my fingers.

I hold my breath for a few seconds and then I am dragged on the ground. A strange sound comes out from my throat and I open my mouth completely. I feel my lungs have turned into the eye of a needle.

On the other hand, an intolerable pain burns my eyes like the fire. I can’t open my eyes. I feel that my head is near to blast, and feel heaviness in my head and can’t move it. I turn to my side and try to enter air in my lungs. It seems someone is playing trumpet near my ears and two hard substance are pressing my head from two sides. I grasp at the ground.

Suddenly, all of the pressure from my body and my head stimulate my throat and air enters my lungs with the first cough and I can feel air flow into my lungs. I try to open my eyes. I put my fingers on my eyes. My face is wet. My eye sting has greatly reduced. Tears have helped me and caused some of the sands come out of my eyes. I slightly rub my eyes and can keep open them with nonstop winking.

A voice says imploringly:

Zairas help…Zairas…

The voice is so familiar. I rise from the ground with the help of my hands and suddenly I feel that a bullet passes through my breast and goes out of my back. I put my hands on the ground to avoid falling down. I remain this way for a short time and then get up. To keep my balance, I spread my legs apart. Two are fighting with each other. One of them throws his fist and kick toward the other, and this one receives them thoroughly.

The defeated fighter falls on the ground with a dreadful knock and snuggles like a fetus in mother’s womb. The triumphant takes the black thing off the ground and holds it toward the defeated one.

Suddenly, seeing the military red uniform, all of the events are review in my mind within a second. I go for him immediately and hit him severely with my shoulders and drive him against the wall.

The sound of all of red soldier’s accouterments cuts off. No punch comes toward me and no gun is aimed at me. The red soldier doesn’t move and just is standing against the wall.

I look at the soldier, who is still standing, with the eyes which can’t see clearly yet. A rod has pierced his breast just in the middle. I push away his torn clothes. The rod has passed through his heart just in the middle, but I can’t see any blood.

We should leave here. Some are coming here.

I take step woozy and move along by Vorarin. I turn just with him and take step just when he does. That red soldier have not any blood. I am getting mad. All of a sudden, upon turning into a street, we face with a few red soldiers. Before they begin to shoot at us, we come back and go on the previous way. Now those four soldiers are following us. They would reach us within thirty minutes if they take step this way.

When we turn, you’ll leave me. I’ll make them to follow me and you’ll get away via a bypath.

I shake my head.

Well, now you go that way.

After turning to that street, I enter another street again. I take step so that my eyes become misty. I can’t enter the buildings because of the pains I feel in my back and breast. I just go away from here.

Suddenly I see a red soldier who is running after me. It seems that Vorarin couldn’t divert all of the red soldiers to himself. I enter a broad street and walk aimlessly on the paving. As I go along, the pavement gradually replaces with dust and sands. The red soldiers is about ten meters away from me. I don’t stand a chance.

I reach the end of the street. There is only a way on the left side. I get ready to turn that way. Suddenly my leg is catch on something and I fall on the ground severely. Because of the gradient of the ground, I am dragged a few meters. An intolerable pain engulfs my forearms, elbows and knees and my back stings, as if I have fallen into a hole full of ember.

At the end, my head smashes into something. Strange sounds echo through my head. Pain comes from behind my head and goes toward my brow. I experience a severe vertigo and my eyesight becomes misty. I wink a few times and suddenly I see the red soldier who has aimed his gun toward me.

Hey guys! I found him…

All of a sudden a bullet passes through the middle of his head which brings out some red blood and sprinkles some drops on my face. His muscles become loose and results in falling down of the gun and wireless set from his hands. He sits on his knees, and then lies on his breast.

I hardly lift my head, which is still in fight, and look at the point that seems the bullet came from. Another red soldier is standing slightly away from us and smoke is still coming out from the barrel of his gun. I see him faded. He comes toward me. His detail becomes clear with each step he takes toward me. His clothes is torn just on the breast. All of a sudden, an idea flashes in my mind; he is the same soldier who was killed by piercing the rod on his breast and had no blood. I feel that he is the one who opened the door and we escaped.

As he sits on his feet, removes his mask. His hair dispersed on his face. His eyes are completely black, without any pupil and eyelid. While only his lips move, He says with a spiritless face:

Hang on! They need you.

He goes away from me and disappears behind a building. I can’t tolerate the weight of my head anymore. I loosen my neck muscles and fall on the sands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 27

 

 

Revenge

 

 

 

 

My body is wet and itches. I wink a few times until I finally can see clearly. The heat rises from the ground and the wavy air makes me see around broken. When I tongue my palate, I feel as if I chafe two rugs on each other. My lips are rimous. My neck is gone to sleep and I can’t shake it. My body shivers, as if it has turned into a stone. I would like to sleep. Even I don’t try to move a little. I close my eyes and remain this way. I don’t want to think about anything. I don’t care about anything.

It seems as if rain is falling down on me instead of the sunrays. I feel the dripping sweat on my body. Once in a while, a wind blow works as a natural cooler when it passes through my wet clothes. I look at the effect of my breath which moves sands. There has been made a cavity hole on the sands and the number of sands which are moving by my breath reduces momentarily, insofar as sands just shake in their places. I hold my breath and then blow it to the sands with full power; a cavity two times greater than the first one is made.

All of a sudden a black thing on the sands catches my attention. I order my right hand, which is bended toward my body, but it doesn’t move. I gather all of my force and, while I try to make my fingers to obey my order by looking at them, I manage to move my forefinger.

I warm up my body by limbering. Then I put my palm on the sands to turn on my back. All of a sudden I feel as if some snakes come out from the ground and bite my palm. I see some tiny blisters on my palm within a few seconds. I cool them with my saliva.

I relocate the sands with my hand with a little caution to reach the sands which are slightly cooler. I position my hands in a good situation, make them pillar of my body and, while they tremble, I go on all fours.

As I expect, I suddenly close my eyes, gnash my teeth, hold my head with my hands and try to keep it steady. It is like a hammer is beating on one side of my head continuously. When I reach out my finger toward that point of my head, my eyes become dim and I lose my balance. When I hold my finger in front of my eyes I see some fresh blood on it.

My body sweat is dripping on my wounds and stings like salinated water. The sun shines directly on my face and causes I feel more headache. I hold my hand in front of my eyes as a shelter but lights passes through my fingers and hurts my eyes. I try to stick my fingers together but I can’t; my hand trembles.

My sleeves are completely torn and red blood is clotted on my hand. My hand has received so many wounds. I get up from the ground