Chapter III

"Hey, what's up, mum?" I asked my mother while drying myself up with a towel. Her eyes were on a verge of tears when she pointed to the television. I was beginning to worry. "What's wrong?" I asked while sitting down on the couch, Kristoff joining me after he dressed himself into dry shorts and a T-shirt. We were looking at the news and what we saw brought a chill into our hearts, even though it was a hot summer afternoon. The news showed clips of thousands of dead bodies. There was a clip of a football* match where people just started dropping dead one by one. Whatever was killing those people hit the camera guy as well, so the end of the clip was just a mess of feet trying to get away.

I couldn't watch anymore so I took the remote and turned the TV off. I was staring blankly at the screen and gripping Kristoff's knee hard. "What happened to those people," I asked quietly.

"They say it's been going on for a while; it's some sort of a virus epidemic. The governments didn't want to scare people so they tried to cover all the information and keep the problem hidden. It was working well, since the virus wasn't killing people by then – it just made them very sick. So they, along with the help of World Health Organization, managed to maintain peace until the virus mutated drastically. It gained properties of the HIV virus which means it can attack the human immune system so the body isn't able to fight against the virus. It sort of just breaks the immune response chain. But that isn't really important now, the problem is that after the immune system is disabled, the virus, its RNA built in human DNA, launches the differentiation of white blood cells and turns them all into macrophages – cell eaters. When they reach the brain cells, it's over," my dad's voice trailed off and left us in silence. "There's no cure …" he added quietly, almost a whisper.

"But we're gonna be fine, right? I mean the goddamn virus won't reach us?" Kristoff asked hastily, his voice full of hope.

"I'm sorry, son, but it's just the matter of time before the virus spreads worldwide. It's airborne and no one knows how quickly after the infection the virus starts doing the damage," dad replied.

"How the fuck could they keep this from us?" my boyfriend suddenly yelled. "We had the right to know so we could prepare ourselves, hell, so the governments could take care of the situation or, or start the fucking evacuations! And now it's too late!" I had never seen him this angry before.

"Hey, hey, Kristoff, calm down," I said, my hands on his cheeks. "Maybe there's a way, maybe they will find the cure or maybe we can just stay away from people, okay? You can stay with us, you don't have to go back to the city," I told him and looked at my parents who nodded to confirm my words.

"I don't know, Elsa. This is fucking bullshit," and with this he stormed off.

x

I hadn't slept that well since … I couldn't even remember when. The room was warm and a simple mattress was a luxury compared to where I used to sleep. The best thing though was the fact that I didn't have to worry someone would find me while I was asleep. Living with this constant fear could take a toll on people but I was sort of adapted to my life style so I'd learnt not to fall into a deep sleep.

Memories of the night before started to form before my eyes while I stretched and yawned. After we settled another mattress on the floor for me, Anna went outside and left me a bit confused. She returned with a huge grin on her face and a plastic box. "We're gonna have a steak for dinner," she exclaimed happily. And so we did. She started a fire and let me know she can do that only at night when no one can see the smoke. Then she opened the box and took out a frozen piece of raw meat. "I hope you like venison," she said and laughed when she saw me staring and drooling at the piece she put into warm water so it would thaw. "Anna, how … Where did you get meat?" I asked her.

"My dad taught me how to hunt," she answered simply. "It's easy to keep it edible in the winter. You know, because of the cold and I can keep it frozen," she added as a-matter-of-factly.

It was the best thing I had ever tasted.

While eating I asked her numerous questions about the safe room. Where did the electricity come from? How big was this place? How did she get fresh water? She would answer all of them and her words left me speechless. Her mother was some sort of an expert for different kind of machines so she made a power generator which was connected to the sun cells planted on the roof of the house. The energy was collected in the accumulator built in the generator. Or at least that's how I understood what she'd told me. Then she showed me the whole place which was quite big. There wasn't only one room as I thought at first. Under the stairs that led to the surface was a door which led to the storage room. The room was filled with food, bottles of different drinks (I think I caught a glimpse of wine too), a couple of large med-kits, tools, batteries, overall, it was supplied well. Very well. Then she led me to the other side of the main room, where the fireplace was and around the corner was another door. Behind the door was a small bathroom with a sink and a bathtub. I was wondering if there was warm water when Anna answered my unspoken question. "There's a container of water behind this wall," she patted the wall next to her. "The heat from the fireplace warms the water and it stays warm for a long time because the container is well isolated," she explained. "So, you can take a bath if you want to."

I didn't have to be asked twice. I nodded enthusiastically as she shoved shampoo and a towel into my arms. "I'll be right outside if you need anything. Enjoy," she winked and closed the door after she left. I did enjoy it. A lot.

When I was done I found Anna sitting behind a table with a pencil in her hand and apparently she was drawing something. She was so focused on what she was doing she didn't register when I asked her what she was doing. "Anna," I tried again and this time she turned her head to look at me. "Hey, how do you feel?" she asked.

"I feel clean," I answered and we both laughed. "What are you doing?" I asked her and moved closer to see what she had been working on.

"Eh, nothing, just sketching," she said quickly, closing the sketchbook before I could see what was in there.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to be nosy," I said while trying to conceal a small rush of disappointment.

"It's okay, it's just I'm crap at this so … I guess it's my turn to take a bath now," she replied and changed the subject.

"Okay and I think I'm gonna lay down for a while," I said before she disappeared behind the bathroom door.

I laid down on my mattress and covered myself with a blanket. I was looking at flickering flames and just when I was about to take my music player I heard Anna singing … With a voice of an angel. The kind melody was travelling around the place and soothed me to sleep.

"Good morning," said Anna when she woke up and brought me back from trance.

"Your voice is amazing," I looked at her, referring to her singing. "And good morning to you too," I quickly added.

"Oh, thank you," she replied and I noticed there was a blush forming on her cheeks. Her hair was a mess; which I found cute. It was beautifully orange-red, I couldn't really decide which shade but I thought the colour of a fox's fur (a bit darker perhaps) would describe it well. It reflected the morning light perfectly and for a moment it looked like it was on fire. Wait, morning light? I turned my head to find the source of the light when I saw that behind the shelves there were narrow windows built in the walls.

"Don't worry, they are bullet proof," she chuckled when she saw what I was looking at.

"This place really is something," I said.

"Thanks. My dad had it build when he returned from a war. He'd been a warm and gentle person before he'd been called to the army. He was never the same man after he returned though. He was paranoid and anxious all the time so he wanted to build this shelter in case an invasion happened. I wish he'd stayed the same though I'm really grateful for this place," she said with a hint of sadness in her voice. But she quickly switched to her normal and cheerful self that I got to know. "So, are you hungry? I can make some breakfast," she said while putting shoes on.

"Actually, Anna, I have to tell you something," I started.

She looked at me with a worried expression. "Yes? What is it?"

"I can't stay here," I answered.

I saw her face fell and she asked: "Why? I thought I made it clear that you can stay here for as long as you want."

"I know, I know, but I just can't. It's not my way. I have to go on. That's what I do."

"And where do you think you'll end up? I mean there's nowhere to go."

"I don't know and I don't care where I end up."

"But it's safe here! And I know that … Ah, it doesn't matter. Please, stay," she was now sitting next to me and looking at me with pleading eyes.

"And you know what?" I asked her, curious about what she didn't want to tell me.

"Really, it doesn't matter," she insisted.

"C'mon, tell me," I wasn't willing to give up so easily.

"Okay … Um, well, did you know you talk while sleeping?" she asked me sheepishly.

Oh gods. "I do not talk while sleeping!" I defended myself though I didn't believe my words even for a moment.

"I'm sorry but you do."

"Right. Okay." I pinched the bridge of my nose. I was trying to calm my thoughts which were darting all over my mind because of the news. "Uh, what did I say?" Please, let it be something that would not make me want to jump from the edge of a cliff.

"Well, you were calling out for your mum and dad. And then you started crying a bit." Perfect. Now she'll think I'm a cry baby. "Then you started calling for someone called-what was it? Kristopher?"

"Kristoff," I sighed.

"Right, and that's when you started asking them not to leave you and that you didn't want to be alone. Just before you calmed down you told your parents that you were alone," she looked at me and when she saw I was crying she pulled herself closer to me and held my hand.

"I know you're lonely, Elsa. I know you know that. But just because you have this idea of 'going on' and eventually ending up somewhere doesn't mean that you can't stay at one point. You can settle somewhere but still go on if you know what I mean," she said with a serious but at the same time caring voice. "Look, I know I can be annoying sometimes but being alone can damage you and, maybe you're not aware of it, it does affect everyone. Even you and me, so please, think again. Here you have a warm shelter, food and … well, company and I promise you, together we can make a decent living in this hell."

I couldn't help but smile at her. She was right. I was denying that I was alone even though I thought I got used to it and the idea of fighting this hell, as Anna named it, with such a kind and warm person by my side seemed like much better future than ending up somewhere alone.

"You know, with a speech like that, you could run for president. You would totally have my vote," I said, brushing my tears off.

Her face lit up in an instant. "So, is that a yes? You're staying?"

I looked at her hand which was still holding mine and then into her eyes and said: "Hella yes."

Hey guys, I'm pleasantly surprised by the rate of response to this story so I guess I have to thank you again. (:

*A note for American fellows; I'm from Europe so in this case - football = soccer.