Folly & Agendas & Talulah

[Chapter 60]: Freezing Warmth

Two Months Before Marzanna's Birthday:
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"Thank you, you have my gratitude. Now that our business is finished here, we can go back home. I can't say the same about your men, Kaiser Rye. We need to gather their bodies." 

He let out a hand, it was covered in dry blood, and picked her up. There was little snow around them; in fact, it barely snowed since the start of the year. By the first week, the corpses started growing, piling on top of each other like stones by a riverbed. The people of Marzanna's City needed resources once again; and so, Kaiser Rye took his men to gather resources, traveling to faraway towns for supplies. 

On there way back, they were to rendezvous with Yelena and her Yetis. But they were ambushed by foreign militant groups. With the threat already gone, Kaiser Rye and Yelena marched along; the former coughed up a wad of blood onto the ground below him. Four bodies lay in the back of a ten truck caravan, and they didn't have room for another. 

Yelena put a hand to the Draco's back and chest. "Kaiser Rye. You need to get into one of your vehicles," She said. "You were too reckless in your attacks; you could have gotten killed." 

Kaiser Rye brushed her hands off of him. "Thank you, but I'm fine," He remarked, his voice dry and parched by the bright sun. "Just a mistake on part. I'll be more careful next time. We need to get going. We're a few days behind schedule."

The rumble of the trucks shook the landscape. Their wheels cared a road into the landscape. The grass growing on the sides have long sprouted flowers and shrubs alike. Trees grew far off in the distance, by the bases of hills blocking the horizon. Yelena watched the scenery after carrying Kaiser Rye onto the back of one truck. 

"We have everything. None of the supplies were damaged," Kaiser Rye counted the crates sitting under him. 

Yelena smelled an aroma of different medicines and foods around her. "We got all of the medical supplies too? That's great news! Now we can stop worrying about the sick dying from infections," She said. "We still only have one doctor, but Dr. Krume has taken on the duty of teaching a few students to take over once he passes."

"Before I left, I had to use my Arts to heal wounds. I'm not expecting anything different when we get back. But now no one should be dying of any opportunistic infections. I also have a daughter waiting for me."

Yelena let out a soft chuckle. "Marzanna has grown a lot since the end of last year; she can speak really well now, and she's a great communicator. Talulah has been trying to teach her how to use her Arts, but there has been no progress. Marzanna likes to hang out with Sasha and Eno. The  three of them have grown so attached to each other; they're inseparable."

"That's amazing!" Kaiser Rye wrapped his left arm with a rag. "Say, how's Patriot doing?"

"That's an odd question. The only answer I can give is that he's doing all right. He's been disciplining many men who wish to be under his command. Everyone respects him, so it's not that surprising they'd want to join him."

"We already have a large enough defense force. Our city is a mobile city, so we will probably need numbers in case of disaster. That being said, I don't have enough men left to carry out supply trips. In a few months or so, maybe even the next year, they'll all be leaving."

"What a shame. Who knows where we'll be a few weeks from now."

Kaiser Rye looked into Yelena's eyes. "I just hope that everything is going to work out. We're Infected, so our lives are shortened. I wanted to grow old for the longest time, but I never thought how I'd get there. Did you ever feel that way?"