Outside Prague, Czech Republic
December 1
At the edge of the field was an old wooden fence, a set of splintered logs stacked on top of each other, marking a passive border no one respected anymore. The snow was untouched, smooth and perfect, a light blue colour in the shade that was the hue of a perfect summer’s day. The kind that seemed so alien now.
The winter sky was grey, clouds slowly ebbing into the west. And in the distance, down by the city, the smoke reached upwards, out of sight.
Eva watched the scene a while longer, the cold on her cheeks freezing the bandage she now wore. She squinted at the brightness of the day, adjusted her backpack over one shoulder. She reached into her pockets, pulled her mitts out and put them on, the thick wool tingling on her fingertips like a wave of needles.
She looked back to Sobotka and Crew, their car still humming quietly behind them, the windshield fogged.
“Thanks for the ride,” she said, smiling weakly.
Sobotka didn’t make eye contact, looked off into the distance like there was something to see. She sniffed loudly, uncomfortable.
“Anything to get criminals out of town,” she said, then glanced over, smirked. Behind her, Crew shivered, stomped his feet in the snow, trying to give a hint. His breath flowed out of his mouth like smoke.
“What about Pyotr?” Eva asked.
“You want us to fetch him for you?”
Eva thought, smiled.
“No, no that’s all right.”
“It’s what I figured,” Sobotka snorted. “Besides, in the prison he’s at, he’s somebody else’s girlfriend now anyway.”
Crew chortled.
Sobotka reached into her bag and pulled out a brown paper bag, taped shut along the top. She handed it over to Eva, tentative.
“You sure you don’t need anything else?” she asked. “I think we owe you more than this.”
Eva held the bag tightly, shrugged.
“I think we can call it even,” she said, stepping backwards a step.
Sobotka nodded, turned and lead Crew towards the car. She stopped, glanced over her shoulder, watched Eva leaving into the snowy fields.
“Take care of yourself, Ms Kolikov!” she yelled. “You’re more useful than you look!”
Eva said nothing, just smiled.
As the sound of the car receded into the background, Eva opened the bag again, pulling out the contents as she walked down the train tracks, off towards a distant farm. It was all there, and she nodded happily.
A sketchbook, some pencils. A photo of her mother. A beginner’s guide on growing your own food.
* * *
“Home to Green Four,” came the voice, a distant crackle among the static waterfall. “Your signal is faint, Green Four.”
“My suit is damaged.”
“What is your status? Have you located LS-411?”
Static.
“LS-411 was a trap.”
“Green Four, please repeat.”
“It was a trap. My earlier samples are also tainted. Do not release treatments for those samples.”
Static.
“Green Four, our engineers discovered the flaw in your earlier samples. They were discarded.”
Wind.
“Green Four, what is your status? Can you make the journey back?”
Cold. Bitter cold.
“No,” he said. “I am done.”
And before he heard more, he dropped the phone into the snow, and continued on his way.
