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

with the help of one hand, while I hold my head with another hand and spread out my legs.

I press my eyelids and put my hand on them. I feel that I am in a hurricane. I relocate my feet to find a good foothold to avoid falling down.

All of a sudden, my eyes meet that black thing again. This is my insignia which is crumpled like a paper. Some part of it is melted and mixed with the sands. I take it off the ground and, while my eyes are half-opened, go toward a shadow calmly and cautiously.

I reach a wall and seek refuge under its shadow. I sit, stretch my legs and lean my head on the wall. I take deep breaths repeatedly both to calm my pain and to make up my mind. I press my head on the wall tightly and fist my hands.

I take a flask out of my knapsack, refresh my lips and quench my thirst. Then I open a can and devour its content. I open another can, but this time I eat slowly and calmly. My hands tremor is almost finished and my eyes can see clearly. My neck can hold my head and I can move my feet.

The rear of the insignia is completely melted. A lower part of it, is stretched like the ice cream. The buttons on the insignia also has suffered a sea change and mixed with its body. They hardly can be pressed. Its display screen is almost intact and I push its button. It turns on and shows an image. Then a message appears:

“All of the data has been lost because of lack of fingerprint confirmation. In case of you reconfirm your fingerprint and your eyeprint, you only can see your inbox messages.”

I have to break the protective door of the scanner. Then I clean its screen and put my finger on the scanner; no response. I try again but it doesn’t accept my fingerprint. I put my finger on the scanner for the last time and suddenly it recognize my fingerprint. Then I expose my eye in front of the scanner and it recognize my eyeprint at first attempt.

There’s no option on the screen and I just can enter inbox messages. All of the messages are from Saidan. He has sent me the last message very later than other messages. I open the message:

“tilted pillar”

Tilted pillar! What does he mean? Just these two words are seen on the message screen. The display turns off and on a few times and then remains off forever. I give some taps on the insignia, but it doesn’t work. It seems like its mission was to give me this message. So I throw it aside and close my eyes.

Surely Saidan has told about something which I have faced with. But I can’t realize what he means saying tilted pillar. Thousands of meaning can be in this phrase. Maybe his purpose is a wall that…no…I don’t know at all what the tilted wall is? Place? Object? Person?...?

I wish he hadn’t sent me this message with this much security. As these two words represent, I should assume that they refer to a place and surely, I have faced with this location since then I have met Saidan. And also, Saidan’s purpose of saying these words represent a symbol which its equivalent can be found. If these two words show a symbol, which they do, I must search for it in my mind.

Main station of the group, red group base, secret shelter, the FIRE hideaway, and some places which were our rendezvouses; all the places I can remember. But none of them look like the “tilted pillar”.

Nothing occurs to me, however I think much. Maybe it isn’t a place at all. Oh, my head aches. I have to go to a safe place. I open my eyes and suddenly I see a building just in front of me, like a tree which is bent under the weight of its boughs; the “tilted pillar”. Maybe it is the same thing which Saidan meant to say.

I remember when I attended Parkad; the building in which Parkad was looking out, was tilted to one side and I had to bend my body against the gradient to keep my balance. When I look carefully, I realize that it is the same building.

Surely I will meet Sidan in that place. It is not too far from here, but it is possible that the message was sent from the enemies. For the time being, I have no choice but to go there.

I rise by the help of the wall. I feel like an earthquake in my head. I put my hand on my brow, close my eyes and take step slowly. I pass through the alleys and buildings and I sit once in a while to get rest.

I stop near the tilted pillar and then go to the same way in which parkad and I entered the building. Nothing suspicious is seen from here. I take step toward the entrance that suddenly I hear a voice.

You’re a traitor! You sold all you have…how dared you to do that? How could you forget these many years?

This is Saidan’s voice which trembles with anger. The man whose back is almost toward me, aimed his gun at Saidan. My heartbeat soars quickly. My body shivers and trembles. I take long steps, go toward him and shove him severely with my shoulder. The gunshot echoes through the building, and then I hear a wail.

While falling down, he parts from me and I fall down on the ground like a boulder. A lengthy whistle echoes through my head. My eyes rotate in their sockets and show me moving scenes in front of me. A strange wheeze comes out from my throat while I breathe. It seems like there is no bone in my body. I can’t move any part of my body.

I see Saidan who comes toward me and bends over me. He puts his hands on my shoulder. His lips move but I can’t hear him. He shakes me slowly and his lips move again. He seems frightened. I want to give him response but my lips don’t move.

His another hand is on his shoulder and is pressing it. The red blood is flowing through his fingers and his right side is red. Once in a while, he winces and closes his eyes.

All of a sudden he stops and takes a knife out of his waistband with his left hand. Then he keeps distance from me and opens and shuts his mouth quickly. He looks at a point which is not in my sight. Sometimes his mouth becomes wide open and sometimes he gnashes his teeth.

Suddenly a shadow goes toward Saidan quickly and pounds his hand on Saidan’s breast like a hammer. Saidan dodges and gets ready for the next attack. His right hand is hurt completely; his obvious weak point.

Soon after the first attack, the raider begins the next attack. The knife is aimed at Saidan’s right side, but he parries it with his leg. This time, Saidan goes at him and guide the knife toward his breast. The raider dodges and cuts a groove on Saidan’s left arm.

Saidan retreats and gets defensive. The raider attacks again and kicks Saidan’s breast. Saidan goes backward totteringly and bumps into the wall. The raider takes advantage of this opportunity and stabs his knife into Saidan’s right leg. Saidan pounds with his fist on the raider’s face and manages to loosen his grasp.

Saidan takes breath quickly and gnashes his teeth. His face is pale and wet with sweat. He goes away from the wall totteringly and spins the knife in his hand. The raider is waiting for an ideal situation. They stand in front of each other for a while in silence until the raider attacks, as he is expected to.

Saidan is standing motionless as if he doesn’t want to do anything. The raider’s knife goes toward Saidan’s neck from the left that suddenly Saidan spins on his right leg and sends the knife toward the raider’s neck. After that, Saidan loses his balance and falls on the ground.

It is completely surprising! The raider, like me, certainly didn’t expect that Saidan goes at him from the side he is wounded. The raider falls on the ground and remains still. Saidan gets up hardly with the help of his left hand and comes to me with the unbalanced steps. He has a faint and wan smile on his face and bends slightly to keep his balance. Then he sits on his knees near me and asks:

Are you okay, Zairas?

What’s going on here?

He gets a look at the still body and says with a deep sorrow:

Nothing, let’s get out of here. Can you walk?

I don’t know.

I help you to get up.

He bends down to loop his hand around me but suddenly he freezes as if he has changed into a statue. I can see his face which has turned red and his lips tremble. The knife drops from his hand and then his hand reaches out toward his side.

Blood flows out of his side like a geyser. He hardly stands on his feet but can’t tolerate and sits on his knees. I see the raider who is just in front of me and Saidan. A red line is clotted on his neck, as if his head is cut and then is stitched again.

He is Brasen. He wore a poker face; no happiness, no fury and no regret is on his face. He stands in front of Saidan, who has knelt like a sacrifice, and looks at me after having a short look at Saidan.

Just silence and nothing else…

All of a sudden someone appears from behind the wall and comes toward Saidan. My eyes suddenly become dim. He has a square face with a swarthy but smooth skin, a narrow and tiny nose, and plump but commensurate cheeks. He has got close and smooth shave, and a bundle of white hair in front of his head is in direct conflict with his hair which is darker than coal.

When I look at the brilliant and attractive eyes which seem unknown feelings are hidden behind them, I replace him. That black spot on his right eye, which is linked to his pupil and is slightly irregular, has covered his pupil like an inkblot on a blank paper and seems as if his right eye has two pupils.

He is my brother. My muscles become loose and I stare at what I see like a motionless dead body. My brother, Mansidan, after three years, is here, is standing in front of Saidan while aimed his gun at him. I involuntary say:

Please…

He remains staring at me, as if he is looking for something in my eyes.

Damned! Wait!

He aims at Saidan’s heart, without noticing my request, and pulls the trigger. The gunshot echoes through my ears and my heart stops beating for a second. My head aches with each winking. Saidan shows no resist, accept the shot and falls on the ground. Blood flows from the corner of his lips and he stares at me.

I say to Mansidan:

Damned! He’d come here to find you! He was your friend!

Then I shout:

Raya is dying there, you’re a damned bastards. I’ll kill you, fucking shit!

My jaw trembles. My head inflames, and I gnash my teeth. When I come to myself, I find out that I have reach near Mansidan dragging. I try to stand on my feet that a hand takes my collar and lifts me from the ground. The eye which has two pupils comes in front of me and he says whispering:

You’re such a rubbish that even don’t deserve dying. You’re the last one who I want to kill; that is, the last man on the earth. Try to enjoy the last moments of your null and void life.

He brings his face close to me and says:

Raya is the first one who’ll die.

His eyes