Saturday, 23rd April 2072
“It’s time, Lia, we have to get going.” Nin whispered in a low voice, careful not to wake up Alice.
It took me a moment to realize where I was and why Nin had woken me up.
Ah! Right. The car. We were supposed to go and get the car, weren’t we?
Pity, my dreams had been so pleasant just now.
I rubbed my eyes, suppressed a yawn and stretched a bit. Not too much, in order not to disturb Alice who was sleeping peacefully beside me clutching Piglet tight.
When I came out to the main room, Yuki was waiting there with a cup of tea.
“Good morning, Lia!” She was definitely very excited.
More than me; but maybe I just needed to fully wake up. I tried to drink the tea as quickly as I could, but it was too hot. I put it back on the coffee table and covered it with a saucer.
When Yuki inquiringly raised an eyebrow, I hastened to explain. “It’s wonderful and thanks a lot, but it’s too hot. I’ll finish it when we are back, it won’t take long, promise!”
She looked dubious but refrained from commenting.
Nin appeared with two guns and handed me one. I quickly got up and we all went over to the fitness room to get on our jackets and shoes.
Yuki clutched Nin’s jacket, her eyes very intent.
“Be careful, Nin! For my sake as well as yours! I love you! Be back soon!”
With this she pressed urgent kisses on his cheek and mouth. He replied by holding her very tight for a moment. With a kiss on her hair and a whispered “Love you, too!” he let go of her and we quickly entered the tunnel. Yuki locked the door behind us.
We had agreed on a signal so that she would later know that we were back and that it was us not some unwelcome stranger demanding entry.
It was still dark outside, dawn just on the brink; and it was raining. Which was good . The sound of the rain would dampen the sound of the car, hopefully.
We quickly ran along the road toward the house with the car and were at the garage within less than five minutes. Nothing happened on the way.
The car was still there; just as we had left it yesterday afternoon.
Nin climbed into it car and drove out of the garage. I closed the garage and got in beside him.
“Just making sure everything looks the same as it did yesterday.” I explained when he looked at me questioningly. “Should someone monitor this area they might notice changes such as a suddenly open garage door. No need to alert them to the fact that somebody is still around here.”
“And what about the dead dogs on the bridge, will they not give away our presence?”
“If we are lucky, the other dogs disposed of their dead pack members and all that remains are the carcasses of dogs seemingly slain by other dogs. No trace of any humans involved in that carnage. And anyway, even if anyone happened on the dead dogs and saw that they have been killed by gunshots there is no reason to link this to our houses up here. After all, it happened down by the river, on the only bridge for miles. It could have been anyone still alive.”
“Impeccable logic, sis!” Nin answered as he slowly drove the car back our direction and up the hill.
“But you know, the tracks we are leaving right now really bother me.” I couldn’t help adding.
“If anyone passes here within the next days, they will for sure know that someone has been around, has passed here. We will have to be extra vigilant until the tracks have weathered a bit and don’t look so damn fresh anymore. Thank heavens a tarmac road is leading up to the farm house. So we won’t have to worry there.”
“You are always so pessimistic, Lia!” Nin exclaimed.
We had by now reached the road that lead along the highway toward the farm and he turned right.
“Wow, I really had to supress the urge to set the indicator, just now.” Nin laughed. “You know, turning right at the junction. Kind of a reflex. It’ll be a conscious effort to let go of the driving rules that were once instilled in us.”
I joined in his droll laughter and the previous tension evaporated.
Nin drove the car to the barn furthest away from the road. It was conveniently hidden from view behind another building. I got out of the car and opened the doors of the barn and Nin parked the car inside.
We didn’t linger but quickly closed the doors and headed back toward the tunnel entrance, crossing through the little grove. We reached the tunnel, locked the door and jogged up the dark, humid passage, eager to get to Yuki and Alice.
The entire expedition hadn’t taken more than twenty minutes. And we’d encountered no problems whatsoever. Good.
Yuki opened the door before Nin had even finished knocking the signal.
“Hey, you have to be more careful, love! What if I had been a stranger?”
Nin could well afford to tease her, now that he held her in his arms again.
Alice squeezed passed them and greeted me enthusiastically.
“Lia, you are back! Already, I just woke up and Yuki told me that you would be back soon.”
She jumped up into my arms and kissed my cheek.
“Good morning, little tiger! Slept well?”
I held her tight for a moment then let her step down in order to take off my jacket and shoes. She kept close to me and immediately seized my hand again once I was done.
“Come, Lia, come! We have prepared breakfast, I helped! I did a lot!”
She jumped around excitedly and made me sit on the sofa, pressing the cup I had left behind into my hands. Then she turned to Nin handing him a plate of sandwiches.
“I made them! Try some!”
We obliged her and she eventually settle on the sofa next to Yuki.
“I want to go out today and drive in the car.”
She demanded while biting her bread roll.
Wow! What a change from yesterday.
“We’ll all go together, Alice.” Nin replied. “As soon as we’re done with breakfast.”
I didn’t especially like the idea of driving off in a car, all four of us together. It made me feel tight and uneasy to think about it.
“Don’t you think that this is a bit risky?” I tried. “I mean, it’s only two days ago that they dropped bombs on us. The Nemesis must still be around somewhere. Remember, Josh warned us about these sweeps. We can’t be certain that this is all over, don’t you think?”
I’d done it deliberately. I wanted to scare them into thinking hard about this. Whether it was worth the risk or not?
But, of course, they all agreed that I was being unnecessarily and unusually cowardly here. That there was no problem with this outing and that nothing bad would happen to us.
I tried another way.
“Just imagine if they should happen to drive along on the highway while we drive on that road near the barn which is exactly parallel to the highway. They could easily see us. And where would we run from there? They’d get us in no time!”
“But what are the odds of that happening? Really, Lia! Why are you stalling now? Yesterday evening you were all for it.” Nin was annoyed.
“I don’t know. I just have a very bad feeling about this – it feels all wrong.”
They would have none of it, even Alice, and so I relented. After all, maybe I was just being silly here, wasn’t I?
So, we washed the dishes, set everything in order and got dressed and ready for another outing.
Again, nothing happened: we reached the end of the tunnel, locked the door behind us, carefully hid the entrance to the tunnel and walked single-file through the grove to the barn where we’d hidden the car.
But just as we had reached the barn, we heard the noise and we all froze!
Approaching cars!
How far away were they?
It was still raining, so the fact that we heard them meant that they were close. A shiver ran through me.
Nin grabbed Yuki. I swept Alice up in my arms. Without a word we rushed inside the barn.
It was too late
to get back to the tunnel and the safety of the sub-basement.
We looked around frantically.
Should they get in here, they’d find us right away. And they had cars, so no use to try and outrun them with ours. At least we had two guns.
Alice started to whimper and I knelt down in front of her.
“Listen, Alice, this is important! Don’t make a sound, please. We are all in mortal danger right now. Only if we remain unseen do we stand a chance of getting out of this! Do you understand? So, not a word or a sound! Please!”
She nodded her head, eyes wide open, full of terror and fear. I held her tight for a moment, then, with a quick nod at Yuki, I got up and Yuki took over. She made Alice cower behind some balls of straw while Nin and I tried to peep out of the door without being seen, guns at the ready.
The sound of approaching cars grew louder. We still couldn’t see them, but they must be very close now!
We looked at each other. Nin nodded in silent agreement to my unspoken words. We’d fight for our lives; but that’s as far as it would go. They would not get any prisoners; we would not let them lead us away to be killed like meek lambs. We’d fight it to the end!
I tried hard to discern which road the cars were on, the highway or the road leading past the barn? Please let it be the highway! Please!
Suddenly two cars appeared through the rain. On the road leading to the barn!! They didn’t come as far as the barn and the farm house, but stopped further back, nearer to our house. In fact right there by the plant nursery next to our plot.
Please! Stop! Don’t come any further. The tracks we left this morning are far too obvious!
But I needn’t worry. Their destination was obviously our house. For eight men now got out of the cars. Four from each. They carried guns and lifted containers from their cars.
“Steve! One of them is Steve!” Nin swore, handing me the binoculars to confirm.
It didn’t take me long to spot him, too.
Will he never let go? What has he come to do now? Can he not just disappear and leave us be?
Yuki and Alice had now crawled forward and knelt beside us. We were all trying to see what was happening, but the men had disappeared from our view. They had walked toward our house. It hadn’t looked like a search party. But what were they doing?
Not knowing was torture.
And because of the rain we also couldn’t hear a thing.
Just as I thought we wouldn’t be able to bear it any longer, noise of more cars could be heard! A lot of them from the sound of it. Big vehicles. Lorries.
Almost involuntarily I ducked my head. Like that would help! Silly!
Alice looked over at me, terrified, and I held out my hand to her. She crawled to me and hid her face in my chest, her entire body trembling. She pressed herself as close to me as she could. I held her tight, patting her back all the while staring hard outside the barn, desperately trying to see what was happening.
The noise grew louder and louder. It was definitely coming from direction of Berne.
And suddenly, a convoy of cars came into view. They were on the highway. Coming from Berne and driving south. There were many. I counted twenty. Big, heavy, army-style lorries mostly and some heavy-duty four-wheel cars. There was all sorts of things loaded on the trucks, boxes, cars, weapons, loads of them and lots and lots of men. There were only men! No women! And they all wore some kind of ragtag uniform, dark colours, but different cuts and styles. Some black, others blue or brown. It was scary as hell! Right out of some kind of apocalyptic movie. Only this was real.
The convoy passed without slowing down. But when they were level with the two cars that stood near our house, gunshots could be heard. A gun was fired not far from us in response. It took us totally by surprise and made us collectively gasp.
I pressed Alice to me and motioned Yuki to step behind Nin.
They were near, by the sound of it!
Just as the convoy disappeared from view, Steve and his men re-appeared. They walked briskly back to their cars. Only Steve was lingering slightly behind, frequently turning back to look behind him. The others had to drag him along, to make him keep pace with them. He seemed excited, clapping his hands several times, as if laughing about something very amusing. It was frustrating not to be able to see what was happening over there. Now the men got in their cars, all of them except Steve.
“What is he doing?” Nin hissed. “It looks like he is having a lot of fun. Did you see how he clapped his hands? He truly is a loony, Lia! Just look how he’s acting.”
I silently agreed. Steve definitely was mad. Mad with a seemingly all-consuming hate for us.
“I just hope that we have now finally seen the last of him.” Yuki whispered. “He is scary!”
Finally, Steve got into the car, too, and they drove away, back in the same direction where they’d come from. When they’d disappeared from view, Alice wanted to get up, but we all motioned for her to stay put. After all, it seemed only logical that Steve and his men would follow the convoy. They had headed back along the road and would by now be at the roundabout where one could join the highway.
Sure enough, there they came. On the highway. Heading south, too. At full speed. Within a minute or so they had driven past. And soon we couldn’t hear them anymore.
It took us a few minutes to recover from the shock and terror. I hugged Alice close and murmured over and over again. “It’s okay, Alice. They are gone. We are fine.”
She relaxed a bit, but didn’t lift her head. I felt so sorry for her, my little darling sister. That she had to experience all this horror!
And with the remorse, I got angry, very angry, at Steve and his cronies. How dare he! If ever I get hold of him, I will destroy him! For now I had to look after Alice, make her safe. But later, one day, I would go for him!
Yuki sank into Nin’s arms and they hugged each other with an intensity that was almost painful to watch. Nin rocked Yuki in his arms back and forth, pressing kisses onto her hair while she just sobbed.
We remained in the barn for what seemed like an eternity.
I wanted us to make dead certain that nobody came back. During my vigil I had learned to wait. For the others it was difficult, though. Nin glanced my direction several times, imploringly. But every time I just shook my head. And so, he stayed put, still holding Yuki, who had by now calmed down and was resting in his arm, almost as if asleep.
Alice started to move in my arms after a while. She sat up, still holding herself very close to me, but no more clinging to me as if her very life depended on it.
“Do we have to stay here much longer, Lia?”
“No, I think we can move now. Actually.”
I slowly got up. At this, Yuki lifted her head. Her eyes were red and swollen, she looked totally stressed out.
“I guess, our outing has herewith been cancelled. Right?”
Every-one just glared at my attempt at being funny, even Alice.
Without further ado and in a rather solemn mood, we finally left the barn and headed back home. Nin led the way, holding Alice by the hand. Yuki followed close at their heels and I brought up the rear. We briskly walked through the grove, anxious to see what had happened near the house. As we came out of the grove near the tunnel entrance we came to an abrupt halt, shocked to see the remains of our house on fire!
So that’s what Steve had been up to!
“He really hates us, Lia!” Nin uttered almost in awe. “This is the work of some-one who really hates.”
“Do you think that it is safe to enter the sub-basement? What with the fire above?” Yuki wanted to know.
“I want to go back inside! I want to go back home!” Alice wailed.
“We all want to go back inside, Alice dear. But we have to think carefully now. We can’t just rush in there.”
I tried to reason with her, but she just stood on my side, wet from the rain, sobbing. It was heart-wrenching.
Whether because he felt sorry for Alice or because he
genuinely believed it was safe, Nin gestured over at our house and said. “I think we should be safe inside. The rain will dampen the blaze. From the look of it, they brought some kind of accelerant with them. But our house is mostly built of cement and stone, it won’t burn for long. And, I don’t think that the heat is dangerous for us. There’s still the bomb-shelter between the sub-basement and the house. And it hasn’t caved in so far. I think we ought to be safe!”
I looked at him a bit incredulously. We couldn’t possibly enter the sub-basement just guessing that nothing would happen. It was too dangerous!
But Yuki and Alice wanted to get into the sub-basement, to warmth and safety.
Finally I relented. But only after we’d agreed on a compromise. Nin would go first and check things out. Meanwhile we would wait, inside the tunnel, but at its very end. Only once Nin deemed it safe, would we all enter the sub-basement. Nin disappeared.
It took less than five minutes before he reappeared.
“Everything’s okay.” He declared.
When he saw my face he added. “Honestly Lia, I carefully checked everything. I even opened the door to the bomb shelter. It’s still intact and the fire didn’t reach down there. It seems that only the upper floor of the house is on fire. We will be safe in the sub-basement!”
This certainly sounded good. And so we all trooped back up the tunnel to our shelter.
It was as Nin had said, everything was okay. We all stood for a while in the main room, just turning our heads here and there, listening hard, even Alice. But we couldn’t hear a thing.
And finally we started to relax. Everybody took of their shoes and jackets and we settled on the sofas. Everybody was exhausted, emotionally, not physically.
Alice sat on my lap and clung to me as she would never let go. Yuki sat on her other side and started caressing her back, whispering “it’s all right, sweetie, it’s all right!”
Slowly, Alice relaxed and moved over to Yuki’s lap. She hid her head in Yuki’s arm pit and rolled herself into a ball. Her breathing calmed down, she was about to fall asleep.
I couldn’t settle down yet. Steve’s coming to our house made no sense. Why should he come and further destroy our house? Whatever for? There had to be more to this than we’d seen. And I wanted to go and check.
Lia's files 1_Presumed extinct Page 32
