Part 5
"How did Seven get you out of there?!" Ísis stood up from her chair so abruptly that she leaned on the table, startling Yuliya.
"…I don't know. After that, I only remember him carrying me home, in fragments, but nothing beyond that…"
That day… I remember it very well… Even while recovering, the bunker had been unusually agitated that day — enough to catch her attention.
Yuliya being placed on the bed, her fever rising, Father leaving the house at night to search for medicine in the citadel.
Seven 's expression… With a bitter look, Ísis sat back down.
"After that, the strongest memories from that time were the days that followed, waiting for Father to return with something that would work."
"Yes… those were the worst days. You were suffering." Fever, body Father n, coughing, difficulty breathing — all at once, with nothing to relieve it.
"…Yes, but I was blessed. I should have died from the gas." With a mixed expression — warm yet melancholic — Yuliya stared at her herbal soup.
"When you recover… will you go back to how you were before?" Though few, Ísis's memories of her sister were of a cheerful, lively, and mischievous person.
Sighing, with a brighter look, Yuliya turned to Ísis.
"I don't know… Even when Father looked for information in the citadel, what he heard about people poisoned by this gas was that they died after agonizing for many long months. So, even if I don't go back to how I was before, I wouldn't mind. Because that day, I was already ready to die… everyone was…"
Yet even knowing that, when Seven reached the bunker, Father tried to stabilize Yuliya as best he could and left in search of something to save her. During that time, her younger siblings worked to ease her Father n as much as possible, and Seven took care of Yuliya day and night.
I couldn't help with anything… Ísis felt anguish taking over her, her expression turning bitter. In fact, I only got in the way…
"…"
Noticing the sudden silence and her sister's expression, Yuliya asked:
"What is it?"
"…It's nothing." Standing up from the chair suddenly, with a lighter expression, Ísis turned away. "I need to get ready to leave."
Quickly walking to the bedroom, she entered and closed the door.
Alone in the kitchen, Yuliya watched the closed door, sighed, picked up her cup, and took a sip of tea.
"You can't keep blaming yourself for the past… sister…" she murmured.
Inside the bedroom, leaning against the door, Ísis had a somber look on her face.
***
In a tunnel, Seven began to see a source of light in the distance.
Finally! After hours of walking, he felt relieved.
Ever since they left home, he had been wondering where this safe place for training would be, but he couldn't find an answer.
I never imagined it would be so far… Besides being a passage he had never used, even though it was connected to the one he used yesterday… Entering the same tunnel he had used to reach the greenhouse the night before, Father went to the gate near the stairs, unlocked it, and opened a new passage.
This surprised Seven quite a bit, as he didn't expect the padlocks to be used to close still-active passages.
But now I understand why it was locked… Walking through it quickly, he found the reason: it was complex, with hundreds of branches. Yet Father navigated it as if it were nothing — it even seemed like he used it regularly…
Looking ahead, Seven observed his father, who without any hesitation, chose directions with complete naturalness.
My knowledge of the passages now seems so limited… Seeing how easily he moved through that complex place, while Seven himself had difficulty remembering certain sections due to their complexity. How impressive… I wonder when I'll be able to do that…
Noticing that the tunnel was now well-lit, Seven turned off his flashlight.
Passing between walls covered in cracks — which became more numerous the closer they got to the exit — he crossed through a fissure.
Temporarily blinded, it took him a while to adjust to the sunlight, which was already shining intensely in the sky.
Wow… They were in a crater — not at the bottom, but quite close to it — where there was a lagoon. It was relatively large, with greenish-colored water, but without any life or vegetation around it.
Seeing Father begin to climb, Seven followed him.
Using a makeshift ladder made of irregular blocks and stones positioned to form a narrow slope, he observed his surroundings.
This is a dead zone. Noticing that, just like the lake, there was no vegetation on the sides, not even lichen, that thought quickly came to mind.
Reaching the end of the stairs, Father extended his hand and helped Seven climb the last part.
That was when, looking around, Seven froze.
At the edge of the crater, they were surrounded by a large amount of gas resembling a thick fog, but with a dense greenish color, preventing them from seeing anything through it.
"How is this possible… No matter which direction I look, it's just gas." On the greenish horizon, he could make out some buildings, but the distance made it impossible to see any details.
Even though they lived in the city, he had never seen so much gas, or even at this concentration! In the past, it existed throughout the city, but never in this quantity and concentration.
Hit by a strong gust of wind, he was impressed to see small ripples forming on the gas, like waves.
It really looks like water… Is this what the ocean would be like?
That place frightened him, while at the same time feeling strangely peaceful due to the absolute silence, even though it was a completely open area.
"Take it."
His father's monotone voice pulled him back to reality.
He had his hand extended toward him, holding a helmet — one of the ones he had seen when they left the bunker — with the number 97 on the side.
Taking it, still slightly dazed, Seven put it on his head.
At that very moment, as if sensing it was being used, something activated inside it. It began adjusting to his body, and a small bright screen appeared in his vision, along with several warnings.
Out of air? A targeting system? In addition, various other information appeared before him.
As soon as it finished adjusting, a single green phrase appeared, occupying the entire screen and startling him.
— Verification Complete —
What?
While he was still trying to understand what was happening, Father , who was already wearing his helmet, took a rope out of his backpack.
Tying one end around his own waist, he handed the other end to Seven .
"Tie it to yourself too."
Still confused and processing the sequence of information that had appeared, Seven took a moment to grab the rope.
Noticing this, Father continued:
"…In the middle of this gas, visibility is very low. This way, there won't be any risk of us separating and you getting lost."
"Wait! We're going to go into the middle of it?! Into this ocean?!" Unable to believe it, Seven looked at his father in complete surprise.
But he, with unshakable certainty, confirmed:
"Yes. That's why we have the masks."
"Aren't we going to train here?! Using the masks for safety, since we're close to it!" he said, pointing at the gas.
At least, that's what I thought… Being an open area surrounded by that ocean, it seemed ideal. With space for long-distance shots due to the crater's diameter, and being far from everything, it was completely safe.
"No, that wasn't the plan. Even if we could shoot here, there's a better place for it."
Still more confused, Seven took the end of the rope from his father's hands and tied it around his waist. So we really are going into the middle of this…
Looking at that ocean of gas, he felt a chill.
In this… deadly gas… Completely odorless. Even those who escaped death would suffer severe consequences from the poisoning — something he knew well.
Stopping near the edge of the crater, they stood beside a relatively large pile of stones that reached Seven 's waist. Observing them, he noticed they had been carefully stacked, with larger stones at the bottom and smaller ones on top, almost symmetrically.
There, Father took a small compass from his pocket. It was old, with many marks on the brass — scratches and dents — but still functional.
Checking the directions, they began descending the edges toward the gas.
It's getting colder. As he sank into it, Seven began to feel the temperature difference, which dropped more and more.
Until he was completely enveloped by that ocean.
***
Several hours later, deep in that ocean, Seven was already getting tired.
This is useless…
Looking up, he tried to check the position of the sun, but the mass of gas covering him prevented him from seeing anything.
He knew they had walked a lot, but he didn't know how long they had been there — something that, in that place, was practically impossible to determine.
There was nothing he could use as a reference, neither temporal nor spatial.
Even when the empty environment began to be occupied by some silhouettes, everything still looked very much the same. Although in the most varied shapes — from tree trunks and structures to some that resembled people.
Looking at some of them through the slightly fogged visor of his helmet, Seven felt especially uneasy, because they seemed to be trying to run from something, always fleeing in the same direction they were walking.
However, besides the gas preventing him from seeing them in detail, they were always distant, making them all look very similar: people, trees, or rubble.
In that place, looking forward, there was Seven 's only source of peace.
Father was only a few steps ahead. Although he looked like just a silhouette, he led the way, always looking forward and periodically checking the same compass from before.
While observing him, the unchanging environment slowly began to change. With the sunlight growing stronger and the cold decreasing, they emerged from that ocean.
Finally… Looking up, Seven sighed in relief upon seeing the blue sky after so much time in that gloom.
Feeling more at ease, he stretched his arms to relieve some tension in his shoulders while still walking with Father .
It's big… Looking around, he realized they were on a kind of island similar in size — or even larger — than the crater they had been in, although without the hole in the middle.
The strangely flat place had almost perfect concrete, with few holes or cracks. Surrounding them were other islands — smaller, but not very different in appearance.
"Father, can I take the mask off?" Now completely out of the gas and standing on solid ground, he felt it was safe to do so.
"No, not yet. The gas in this place leaves strong traces on your clothes, so it's not safe yet."
Although distant, the voice he heard sounded very close, coming from inside his own helmet. It was something he had discovered shortly after entering the sea of gas: there were built-in communicators.
I got quite scared when he spoke for the first time… In the macabre environment they were in, even his father's calm voice became incredibly eerie.
Moving forward, they reached the center of the island, where a metal sign lay on the ground. Dented and worn, with some parts missing, it had a faint inscription, completely faded by time, only visible by the outlines of the letters.
— Restricted Area —
Bending down near it, Father moved it aside, revealing a hatch. Covered in claw marks and cuts, with slightly melted metal, it still remained firm where it was, with noticeable robustness.
Turning the wheel on it, a loud creak sounded, as if complaining about being moved after so long, before it opened with a metallic click.
"I'll close it after we go down, so you go first. But untie the rope; it will only get in your way."
"Yes."
A short while later, on the stairs, he heard a metallic thud as the exit was closed, cutting off all light from the place.
In the midst of that darkness, he heard his father:
"Seven , repeat: Activate lights."
"Activate lights?" The moment he spoke, light began to come from his helmet, accompanied by a voice.
— Lighting System Activated —
It's a woman's voice.
"Why did it speak?!"
"It's an old system in the helmet. It speaks sometimes, but it no longer works completely."
"That's so cool! What else still works on it?!" As he spoke, Seven looked around, using the flashlight to check the tunnel he was in.
"There isn't much left. The internal systems are quite damaged. The thermal and infrared are faulty, but the NVD vision should still work. However—"
"Activate NVD." Without even waiting for his father to finish, he gave the command.
— System Activated — At the same time the voice echoed, the flashlight turned off.
"Why did everything go dark again?"
"…This type of vision only works in places with some light. In absolute darkness, like where we are, activating it makes no difference."
"Ah… that's a shame… Could the other things be fixed?"
"No, it's too risky to try, and the other functions might stop working."
"Makes sense."
Targeting system, night vision, gas mask, communication system… Being a fusion of various equipment, even with defects, it made the item extremely valuable. It must have been very difficult to get one of these…
Finishing their descent down the stairs, they reached a not very spacious room with walls covered in metal plates.
Feeling the cold environment, Seven observed the particles of dust floating in the air. When, looking to the other side of the room, he found a passage — a closed metal door with a small circular window and a small terminal beside it.
Approaching it, Father activated the terminal.
Responding to the command, turbines began to move near them. Generating a strong airflow from the floor, it made their clothes flutter.
It's removing the gas residues… Although almost invisible, Seven noticed some greenish lines being carried away through the ducts.
"How is this still working? Doesn't it look like there's no power in this place, or are the lights burned out?" Curious, Seven checked if there was anything lit on the terminal his father had accessed.
"There is still power, but only a few systems work — the strictly necessary ones."
"I see… but how do you know that?"
"Because I'm the one who programmed it to work this way."
With the turbines stopping, the door to the room unlocked, allowing them to pass.
"What do you mean?"
Resuming his movement, Father continued:
"…This was the first bunker we chose to live in, so we installed some batteries to fix up the place. However, we found our current home before we started. Your mother insisted on living there, so we gave up on this one. But we still left the place minimally prepared, for emergencies."
Entering a wide corridor, they headed deeper into the structure, passing gray-colored walls with military crests appearing from time to time. Of the most varied types, each had a central symbol: eagles, swords, horses, sea monsters, and dragons.
However, although grandiose, their colors were faded or had disappeared, with only their outlines visible.
They look like ghosts…
Distracted while observing them, Seven kicked something metallic, which began to roll on its axis.
It was a small metallic cylinder, a little over two handspans long, which stopped spinning on top of some documents.
Curious, he bent down to pick it up, but stopped when he noticed some letters on the papers. Can you still read them? Trying to pick it up, he pulled by the edges, but it quickly fell apart at his touch.
Everything looks so untouched…
"Let's go, Seven ." Standing a few meters ahead, Father was waiting for him.
Getting up, Seven ran to catch up with him.
Reaching a crossroads, Father followed a short corridor that ended a few steps ahead with a large door. Opening it, he entered a large room, but stopped right near the entrance and opened a power panel on the wall, beginning to work on it.
A short while later, after flipping some switches, the lights in the place turned on, revealing where they were.
In a large room shaped like a semicircle, there was a large screen on the straightest wall. Facing it, arranged in stepped rows, tables with small screens connected by wires occupied most of the room.
Also affected by the sudden power supply, some of them turned on, with the noise of fans filling the environment.
Quickly, on all of them appeared the same phrase in the center, blinking in red:
— Immediate Evacuation —