Liechtenstein was worried at first (heck, with the way the world is right now worry is her constant emotion) but when she sat back-to-back with Sweden on the snowmobile with him on the driver's seat and a long rope tied around their waists to keep them together, she relaxed considerably. She feels useful now too since she'll be literally watching their backs for danger.
"Ready? Are you comfortable?" Sweden asked, glancing over his shoulder. He felt the girl nod her head and he switched the ignition of the snowmobile, making the engine purr and vibrate.
Liechtenstein gripped the rope around her waist with her gloves, feeling as if her heart is trembling with anxiety. It almost leaped when the vehicle lurched forward and she gasped, body seizing up in place, but Sweden's body is as sturdy as a rock, not moving an inch once. She closed her eyes and took a few breaths before coughing a little into her hand.
She watched as the railway hut gradually disappeared into the distance along with parts of that despised railway line (she still plans to destroy it and tell Russia about it how sucky his leaders are without fear of consequence.) Being on the move now reassures her; it means getting away from… what, danger? The only dangers she could think of right now are bandits, gangs, militia of unwelcome screaming extremists with bombs for vests, food shortages, wild animals… She almost forgot to add her illness to that list, and she's sure that it's the most dangerous of all.
Liechtenstein is glad though that she is finally feeling warm in her clothes for the first time since they left the cabin. The thought of leaving behind a temporary home saddens her. Even though travelling reassures her, she wished that they could find a permanent home and fast. She just wants to settle down or better, wake up from this nightmare and stitch Sweden some pyjamas…
"Liechtenstein? Wake up, we found someplace to stay at."
Stuck in her dream, even as she sleepily woke up, Liechtenstein believed that it was Switzerland speaking to her and she murmured his name.
"Sorry, it's Sweden."
"Nh…?" the girl yawned softly, looking up at Sweden who has a bruised right cheek. Realisation dawned on Liechtenstein and she stared, gasping a little. She moved to sit up, but she was in Sweden's arms so he held her carefully. "Sweden!? What happened to your face? And…" she looked around at the trees surrounding them, but could not see the snowmobile anywhere or their bag of supplies. "Where's the snowmobile and the stuff?" she quickly asked, paling.
Sweden did not answer, but instead averted his gaze to look ahead. This place is an endless maze of similar deciduous trees, mostly pine. Unsurprisingly, there is still snow everywhere.
"I got ambushed while stopping to refuel the tank," he began to explain and walked, "I heard someone coming and shouting, so I had to hide you under my coat. Keep you warm. And hidden. There were 5 men with guns and a large dog, so I had no choice but to hand over everything."
Liechtenstein could feel his arms shaking. Despite what he said, he doesn't have his coat with him. She looked at him questioningly without saying a word. Sweden sighed.
"Their dog took the coat, but it cowered away as soon as it saw how bloody you are. The men thought I killed you, since the dog was whimpering like a pathetic puppy, but the dog still took the coat and I made off with you before they decide to do something crazy."
His companion closed her eyes and snuggled close to his chest, breathing in shaky breaths. She could've been taken away, and in her sleep too.
"H-how did I sleep through th-th-that?" her teeth rattled. All of a sudden, she feels cold again. She's still wearing all of her original clothes, but it's like they cannot insulate heat anymore.
"You're sick, that's why," the Sweden hugged her close, resting his chin on her head, "I won't let you sleep for too long."
That planted a new fear in the girl's mind. Sleeping will mean giving in to her illness and lead to death. She mentally created a new plan to stay awake and alert at all times.
But now they have another problem – finding shelter and food. And the last time they ate was back in the cabin… well over many hours ago. Their stomachs growled and neither commented on the funny sounds, feeling there is no time for joking or laughing. If either do laugh, it'll make them look manic.
But Sweden carried on walking through the forest, carrying Liechtenstein while determined to find shelter.
This place looks so endless…
"Sweden," Liechtenstein suddenly spoke up. It almost made the man jump in shock as he looked at her. "I still got my gun in my pocket. We can use that for… hunting."
Sweden huffed a little, shivering.
"Good. But we'll still need something sharp to skin animals and something to make a fire…" he remarked dully and he carried on walking, walking, walking.
His companion just closed her eyes, feeling incredibly tired from thinking and worrying. Her body lurched suddenly and she coughed hard into her glove. More blood appeared on the fabric and her eyes stung.
"I want to see my brother…" she whimpered, hiding her face in her hands.
Sweden said nothing, but kept on walking ahead without slowing down or stopping no matter how much Liechtenstein sobbed and trembled or coughed. He kept up a stern glare on his face, biting back the urge to flop down and give up – not as long as he's holding the girl in his arms.
They said nothing, but after a long while of travelling on foot the sobs from Liechtenstein calmed down until she's breathing lightly, sleeping away her fatigue in spite of her resolution earlier.
Soon, however, the trees began to disperse and thin out until Sweden officially left the forest. Luckily, he could see a small town with what appears to be guards around the borders. He began to weigh in what to do in his mind as he took slow steps down the long snowy slope and towards the checkpoint.
'There must be a reason why I can't see bandits trying to get into this place,' Sweden wondered, but his thoughts are answered when he heard clicks of around 20 guns despite seeing only 3 guards aiming at him with rifles. He hugged Liechtenstein close, stroking her hair for reassurance. Some other guards must be well-hidden or camouflaged in the snow.
"We've been robbed! Please let us stay in town and then we'll leave as soon as we're ready again!" Sweden called out to the 3 visible guards, dressed in white clothing. They still kept their guns aimed at him, but glanced at each other. They can trust the hidden snipers to take out unruly visitors.
"I got a little girl here too! She's hungry and exhausted!" Sweden added, hoping that there's some humanity left in these people.
He sighed a little in relief when one of the guards lowered their weapons and their companions followed suit, but Sweden is sure that there is still a lone sniper who has their aim on him in case. The guard beckoned for the Swede to come over and he did so in a slow unthreatening manner until he's close enough to hear the woman speak.
"You Russian?" she glared at him, taking her shades off.
"Hell no. Swedish," he replied.
"Not good enough, but at least you look bearable. This girl your daughter?" The woman's expression didn't change.
Sweden was taken aback by the question, blinking. "Not really. She's… a sister to a co-worker of mine."
The guard frowned suspiciously. He wasn't exactly lying, but his hesitancy didn't score well.
"Why is she with you, then?" she asked.
Sweden snapped. "Can we just get her somewhere warm to sleep at? I've been walking for hours and she spent most of that time crying and hungry."
"I don't like your attitude, mister," the guard hissed.
"No, but at least your people skills have more to be desired than mine," the Swede countered.
The other two guards snorted and guffawed, leaning on each other for support. They didn't stop even when their leader barked at them to shut up.
"Shut up, you idiots!"
The commotion woke up Liechtenstein and she grumbled, yawning softly.
"What's going on?" she murmured, looking up at her carrier.
"Nothin', sweetie, just some rabble wondering if I kidnapped you or not," Sweden explained.
"O-oh? We're…" Words became lost when the girl saw the three guards and she shivered, not moving from her spot. The female guard saw her looking and stepped over, smiling a little.
"Hey, little girl, we're just going to get you and your brother's co-worker to a warm place, okay?" she spoke softly. Sweden raised an eyebrow at the guard for her change in attitude.
Liechtenstein just stared in shock, not being used to kindness from someone other than Sweden before nodding hesitantly.
"O-okay…"
Thinking about it now, Sweden believed that if he hadn't been accompanied by Liechtenstein, then he wouldn't have been allowed inside the desolate town full of sick people and their families. Nationalities are mostly mixed, but the town is predominantly full of Eastern Europeans. There are some Roma families too, but they were ordered to keep their children inside the caravans like how children of all families were told to lock the children in the abandoned homes for safety. In fact, with the snowy blizzard currently battering the town, nobody would even consider playing outside at the moment.
"Where are we, right now?" Sweden asked Nola, the female guard.
Nola has spent minute stoking the fire to get it to heat up the room. She turned to him and dipped the poker rod into its container.
"Just a few miles from Finland. I don't know what this place is, but when I got here this place was abandoned with corpses all over the place," Nola sighed heavily. "We burned them all after salvaging important items for survival like matches, guns, ammo, but the smoke attracted the families from other towns and they feel safe being among the living in one place, so we have a constant food crisis."
"What about bandits?" Sweden questioned.
"They're no trouble. I was trained in the Polish army, but being a female they've acted like pigs towards me," the woman growled and sat back in a worn-out chair, "at least now there's no laws around to stop me from killing sexist pigs in this town. I dunno about you, but the Roma families seem to feel at home seeing as we are all outcasts here."
"Well… there's really no point in having a social hierarchy in a post-apocalyptic world."
"Heh. Good point there. So," Nola leaned forward in her seat, staring at Sweden, "I didn't catch your name. Your co-worker's sister told me to call her Lily, but what's your name?"
The Swede just stared back. "I don't really like giving my name out."
"Well tough luck, old man," Nola chuckled in her deep voice and sat back, taking her large coat off. "It's either I call you nothing or I'll call you Old Man all the time. You do look like you're old enough to be the girl's father though."
"Fine," Sweden sighed, "it's Berwald."
Nola clicked her tongue, smiling. "I'll call you Berry instead."
Her voice sounded exotic and rich with quite a round jaw to reverberate her pronunciations. She's obviously not Nordic in origin; Nola's eyes are pretty dark with her skin tan seeming as if she hails some African ancestry but later told Berwald she's from Egypt.
"Well, we're either African or Arabs, but suggest African and all you get are people thinking about the AIDs epidemic, poverty and deserts," she rolled her eyes, "but suggest Arab, and they think of arrogant oil barons with 20 kids or terrorists blowing themselves up to get their rivers of honey and virgins."
"Yeah…" Sweden sighed. The seat he's resting on is really comfortable, he could just fall asleep and not worry of any unexpected attacks… The house the three are resting inside was abandoned long ago, but thankfully there is still some gas and water. There's 3 bedrooms, one belong to a family of two parents and two children… It feels uncomfortable to Sweden to sleep in someone else's house, knowing they're probably long dead, but right now he's just feeling too warm to stir much debate on the previous owners.
"Feeling warm?" Nola asked and stood up. She picked her coat up as she did so.
Sweden nodded. "Takk, Nola. We really needed somewhere to stay."
Nola stepped over to kneel by his chair, looking at him curiously.
"Where will you go after staying here?" she asked, "don't tell me you're planning to risk your lives out there again?"
"Lily blew up the old cabin we stayed at and our snowmobile got taken off us, but ja we'll still carry on walking until we get to Iceland. Her brother is there," Sweden explained. Nola whistled, impressed.
"I ought to give that girl some defensive training in case then. Guess what – how about you stay here for a while longer, but become one of the guards?" she suggested. She spoke quickly before Sweden could decline, judging by the frown on his face. "As much of a friend you are now to me, I can't just let you stay here without paying us back. Even Lily will need to earn her keep too."
"You're not making her a guard, are you? She barely knows how to use a gun."
"Don't worry, I'll make her a personal assistant instead. All she'll have to do carry out small and easy tasks for me and I'll teach her self-defence moves. But the best job I could think of you doing is being in security. You just have to break up fights and shoot anyone who threatens other people," Nola explained with a frown, "we can't have people threatening each other, nor can we have people killing each other over food."
Sweden sighed heavily. "How much food DO you have? How many people are there? How long have the people stayed her for?"
"Hold the phone, Berry," Nola chuckled, "now, it's only been a month, but we haven't fully explore the entire town. All we have are people station around the border of this town, but there is still a lot of food that hasn't been found yet."
"Wouldn't the guards sneak off with some food?"
Nola's eyes darkened. "Instant death penalty for anyone who thieves in the town. No questions asked."
"So there IS a law here, at least."
"But even guards are not exempt from this law. Any guard who helped cover up food thievery will also be put to death," the woman added.
The fire crackled on, spreading more of its warmth around the room. Sweden is sure that Liechtenstein is finally sleeping peacefully in the little bed upstairs without having any nightmares.
"…When do I start?" he murmured.
Nola dug her hand into the pocket of her coat, pulling out the gun that Liechtenstein held earlier before Nola confiscated it. She handed it to Sweden.
"The bullets for this are easy to get hold of, but use them wisely," she said.
Sweden accepted the gun back. "Lily will be relieved. This gun belongs to her brother."
"Well just be happy that I'm a kind woman," Nola snickered, but slipped her coat back on. "Anyway, you can start tomorrow after we hand out the food rations. Bread will be hard to chew, but just dip it in some boiled water and I'm sure it'll suffice for a few hours."
After Nola left the house to change shifts with another guard, Sweden coughed into his hand, but only coughed out a couple of spots of blood.
It reminded him of another rule that Nola briefed him on.
Anyone caught with the illness that caused the global panic will be shot immediately and incinerated, no questions asked.
