Part 5
In the interior of an abandoned mansion, in one of the decaying corridors, a strange noise of gears began to sound. Following the sound, one soon arrived at a wall where there was a strange metal door that clashed with the surroundings by maintaining a surprising integrity, while the walls around it had faded colors and were falling to pieces. Until, the work of the gears ceasing, it began to move silently.
"It's so cold!" Upon opening a small gap, Seven exclaimed as he was surprised by the wind that ran through the interior of the mansion.
Even so, though he complained, with a slight smile he played with the vapor that came from his mouth.
It seems winter is getting closer and closer… They were still in autumn, but with the end of the season drawing nearer, the temperature had been dropping more and more in recent days.
Wearing clothing more appropriate for dealing with the change—a heavy coat, as well as thicker boots and pants, though marked by time with patches of wear.
Pushing the door against the wall until he heard a click, Seven left the bunker, stopped in the middle of the corridor, checked both directions, then turned his gaze back.
"You can come!"
After a few seconds, two people began to appear on the stairs. Upon seeing one of them, who was climbing with some difficulty, a warm smile appeared on Seven's face.
Finally, after so long, this day has come, Yuliya…
Leaning on Father, Yuliya climbed the stairs with slow steps.
"No need to hurry, one step at a time, daughter." Calling her attention, Father tried to maintain a gentle pace.
"Uh-huh." Nodding, Yuliya held firmly onto Father in an attempt to contain her excitement.
Seven, observing that scene, held back a laugh.
"Pfft."
Hearing that, Yuliya, furrowing her brows, turned to him.
"What is it?"
"It's nothing…" he said while looking away.
"Hmm…" Suspicious, fixing her eyes on her brother, but after a few seconds she ignored him and returned to climbing the stairs.
Seven, watching her from the corners of his eyes, still held himself back.
Even though she's the oldest, she still acts like a child… Below her eyes, darker than usual, Seven noticed the bags marking her pale skin. Just like me, the excitement for today kept her from sleeping…
With a lighter heart, Seven watched her climb the stairs, already revealing a good part of her body.
More than him, his sister had more pieces of clothing to protect herself from the cold, such as a gray scarf and a wool hat; besides that, drawing considerable attention, she wore a gas mask covering her mouth and nose.
Upon seeing that, with a skipped heartbeat, his smile began to fade; yet before it disappeared completely, shaking his head, he spoke with a slight smile.
"How do you feel today, Yuliya? Leaving home after so long?"
Raising her gaze, she answered with a muffled voice.
"I feel very good!"
Although it was not possible to see her expressions because of the mask she wore, from her cheekbones and her eyes it was possible to perceive her joy.
Seven, who had a fixed gaze on his sister and a simple smile—"If that's the case, maybe a small bet for today is in order? What do you think?"—changed to a mocking smile and crescent-moon eyes.
"I—" Before Yuliya could answer, a shout came from inside the bunker, from Leon.
"Let's bet who works the most today!"
Something that was immediately answered by Victor.
"Why are you going to bet? Don't you already come in last normally? Imagine with Yuliya—wouldn't it only get worse for you?"
Surprised by the sudden accusation, Leon turned to his brother in denial. "What? That's not true! Right, Mia?" he said, turning to his younger sister, who was startled at being called.
"Eh?! Well… that kind of is true, Brother Leon, if I remember right…" she said, placing a finger on her chin, "…when we went to get the medicinal herbs at the lake your backpack was the one with the least, or even when we looked for the roots of that plant you got the smallest amount…"
Freezing, Leon began to stutter.
"Gulp! Well… that's… but…"
Defeated, while he tried to find a way out, a voice from the end of the line saved him.
"Come on, we have no reason to think about that now, because today is another day, so maybe a bet wouldn't be so bad, since I've never competed with sister Yuliya."
Ísis, with an animated expression, cast a teasing look at Yuliya, who, eyes widening slightly, took a moment to answer.
"…Well, well, it seems someone wants to start tasting the flavor of defeat, just like Seven has tasted so many times?"
"I didn't lose that much! — As everyone passed Seven, he closed the door. — Actually, I think I'm about two victories ahead of you, sister."
Moving to the front of the line, they continued walking through the corridors of the mansion.
"Not at all, I'm the one who's ahead! Even considering the rabbit, I should still be about twenty or thirty victories ahead of you!"
"That's not true! I'm not that far behind you!"
"So you're losing, just from closer?"
While the two argued about their last bets, the group continued walking through the interior of the mansion, but as soon as they reached the entrance hall, the conversation between them ceased.
Passing beside the crater that existed in the middle of the entrance hall, they went to the exit and passed through the two large doors.
In single file, the group quickly headed for the forest and entered it.
In the lead, Seven guided everyone along a trail between the trees, passing under nearly leafless branches and bushes that appeared lifeless.
The leaves are starting to fall from the trees… Little by little a beautiful tapestry, varying in shades of yellow and red, began to form on the forest floor.
In the midst of that environment they continued walking for a few minutes until they left the forest.
Arriving at a stone path, they were right in front of a large greenhouse interconnected with three smaller ones. Besides them, some brick structures were connected to them; climbing a small flight of stairs, they entered one.
Walking through the empty interior, they approached two large doors that Seven began to push until he opened a small gap, through which a mass of hot air began to leak and envelop them.
"Come on, get in quickly before the cold wind comes in here."
Having opened only what was necessary to enter, he stepped out of the way for his family to pass, and they hurried past him.
"It's so hot in here!" Leon exclaimed excitedly.
— Clack — Finishing closing the doors and turning to him, Seven agreed:
"Really, it's even hotter than the bunker, even though we have a heater there…"
Thanks to that, Yuliya can help comfortably… Looking at her, Seven saw her removing the various layers of clothing she was wearing, with Father's help.
As soon as she finished taking off the last coat, while Father folded them, Yuliya moved away from the group. Approaching the stairs that led to the center of the structure, she stopped right at the beginning of them and, with a distant look and a melancholic smile, turned toward the great tree in the center of the place with a sigh.
"Every year it's like this… you don't lose a single leaf…" Even though winter was near, the giant hazel tree still had leaves of strong colors, as if it were still at the peak of summer.
Illuminated by a cold autumn sun, its leaves shone as they met the rays of light, in tones of dark green, showing a life that did not exist in the beds around it, full of dead plants.
Observing the tree, her gaze lowered until it reached beneath the canopy.
There, even though darker because of the shadow the leaves cast, a few rays of sun still passed through. One of them, descending from among the leaves, illuminated near the trunk of the tree, where there was a woman.
She had simple clothes, but red hair the strong color of fire. She was facing away, yet sensing something she turned toward the entrance, revealing a face full of scars but with a welcoming smile.
Yuliya, almost as if only a sigh escaped her mouth, a murmur slipped out:
"Mother…" But in the blink of an eye she disappeared, leaving a tombstone surrounded by flowers of vibrant colors.
"It's been a long time since you've seen this place… your favorite, isn't it?" Seven, also looking at the tree, admired it.
Back in reality, with a wide smile and slightly teary eyes, she nodded.
"Yes!"
…
Some time later, covered in sweat, Seven dropped a large basket on the ground, raising a cloud of dust in the process.
"Aff…" With a sigh of exhaustion, he stopped there.
With heavy breathing, his clothes were soaked with sweat and covered in dirt—from earth mixed with sweat to pieces of dry plants stuck to his shirt, pants, and hair.
Leaning on the basket, he used one hand to wipe the sweat that ran down his forehead, which had been bothering him for a long time, but which was soon replaced by more because of the stifling climate of the greenhouse.
While recovering, something caught his attention not far from him: he saw Mia, Victor, and Leon kneeling on the beds.
"Stop throwing dirt in my bed!"
"You stop throwing dirt in mine!"
While Mia and Victor shared one, Leon was alone in another. The three, with fire in their eyes, argued while pulling up every kind of dry plant they found and throwing them into the corridors beside the beds.
"Ha— they're taking the competition pretty seriously…" he said, almost laughing, but stopped for lack of strength to continue.
Maybe we can finish this remaining half still today… Cleaning the beds, they were getting everything ready for next year, when they would return to cultivate there.
Seeing them work with such energy, Seven sighed.
I wish I were competing with them…
In the midst of that fierce dispute, so great was the speed with which they pulled things up that the dry soil began to form a strong cloud of dust around them, but it did not seem to bother them.
With a tired smile, Seven realized he would have to collect his pile of dirt again very soon.
"Seven!"
Being called, he turned his head toward his sister Ísis, who was waving one hand to get his attention, while near her there was a mountain of dead plants, the bed she stood on already completely clean.
"Well, here I go…" he murmured to himself.
Throwing the basket onto his back, he headed toward her, but without even waiting for him to finish approaching.
"There's this one that's mine and this other one of Yuliya's to take!" Ísis announced before turning her back and running to the next bed.
"…"
Left alone, Seven began collecting the piles while murmuring:
"It's not only those three who are animated…" Not very different from the three younger ones, she cleaned the bed she was on with enthusiasm.
Finishing collecting there, Seven went to the next one.
Not far from him, Yuliya, kneeling on the earth, was pulling up dead plants near her and throwing them onto the pile.
"How's it going, Yuliya?" he asked as he stopped near her.
She, with heavy breathing, seeking as much air as possible through her mouth and nose—already without the mask—raised her hand, asking for time.
After catching a little more breath, while emptying the air from her lungs, she answered him:
"Good!"
At the same time she began to change position, sitting on the earth to rest.
"I'm just a little out of shape." she said while wiping the abundant sweat that ran down her face with a hand that trembled from exhaustion.
Covered in dirt to the point that the tone of her skin changed slightly, she was completely filthy—from clothes to hair—but looking toward the top of the greenhouse she had a tired smile and a gaze that still shone with animation.
Observing her in silence, Seven smiled and looked around at the bed she was cleaning.
"Looks like you're unfortunately going to lose the bet; you haven't even made it to the second one! Lucky for you I'm not playing…" he said in a teasing tone.
Surprised, Yuliya turned to her brother.
"Huh? What did you expect? It's obvious—I have to give them some advantage, otherwise it would lose its fun." While speaking she raised her shoulders in mockery.
"Ha! We'll see if that's true in—"
"—SEVEN!"
Interrupting the conversation, someone called Seven at the top of their lungs, making both him and Yuliya look startled in the direction of the sound.
"I don't have anywhere left to throw the dead plants!"
But they were relieved when they realized it was only Leon, who right after speaking turned his back to return to work.
With a complicated look, Seven put his hand on his head.
"I think I need to be faster…"
With a slight smile, Yuliya agreed while returning to work.
"Yes."
Having finished collecting what was there, he put the basket on his back and set off, heading outside the greenhouse.
Passing through the exit door, he closed it quickly before continuing to walk.
In a short time, leaving the structure, he arrived at a flight of stairs where he was struck by the cold wind from outside, but without caring he stayed there feeling the icy breeze hit his body.
"And to think that now this is refreshing me…"
But it was because of that that I couldn't participate… since if this hit any of my siblings they would get sick… Although he didn't know the exact temperature, he was certain it was close to zero.
Having to carry things outside, they would go through constant thermal shocks, something that could easily make them ill.
"Well! I think I'd better keep working…"
Finishing descending the stairs, he crossed a small stone path until he reached near the forest.
As soon as he arrived there, stopping near a basket similar to the one he carried, he looked around searching for something among the trees.
"Father?" he called in an uncertain tone.
After a few seconds a voice answered him, coming from deeper in the forest.
"Here."
Following that voice, he entered among the plants until he reached a small clearing where Father was gathering, with an improvised rake, some piles of dead plants.
"You can throw it on top of this one." Pointing to one of them, he indicated the smaller one, composed largely of leaves and small branches.
Approaching, he began emptying what he had while talking with Father.
"What's all this for?"
"I'm setting up compost piles to make next year's fertilizer."
Finishing emptying, he stopped for a moment observing the mountain of organic remains.
"Hmm…"
Searching for more leaves, Father began gathering them into a new pile.
"How's the work inside the greenhouse?"
"Good—" he said with a smile while remembering—"Leon, Mia, Victor, and Ísis are going full steam, cleaning bed after bed. As for Yuliya, even though she's having difficulties, she's giving it her all."
"That's good. If we keep this up we can return home earlier."
Hearing that, Seven stopped there with both hands behind his body, a little restless, while observing his father work.
Stopping, Father turned to him.
"What is it?"
Seven, a little hesitant, asked:
"Father… if we really finish earlier, can we go to the school?"
Finding the question strange, he answered:
"Can you? I see no reason not to allow it; I only ask that you return quickly, because the days are getting shorter."
Yet shaking his head, Seven explained:
"…You didn't understand. I mean all of us, with Yuliya included."
Stopping his work, Father turned to Seven with the same expressionless face as always, but looking through it Seven perceived he was more serious.
"The school isn't close; that's too long a route for her to walk."
"Yes, I know… that's why I wanted to ask you to carry her on your back so she wouldn't get tired."
After a few seconds of silence, when he was about to answer, shaking his head he stopped for a moment and asked:
"Why?"
"I wanted to take her to the school, because it's always been a place where we had a lot of fun… all of us. Besides, I think it's a good time; with winter closer maybe she won't be able to go out so soon…"
"…I understand. We can go, but only if we finish the greenhouse before noon, because even carrying her I can't walk fast, so as not to risk injuring her."
A great smile growing on Seven's face, he thanked him.
"Thank you, Father!" Turning his back, with an injection of energy, he set off for the greenhouse.