CHAPTER5
971 Words
He awoke to Aleksa's voice as a soft morning light filled the room. “Jack… wake up.” Jack opened his eyes. He had fallen asleep curled up on the sofa, in the middle of a nightmare. Aleksa was standing directly opposite him. But her face… her face wasn’t the same as last night. It was cold. She looked at him with that icy expression, a mixture of hurt and deep anger. “The car’s here,” she said simply. Jack sat up, trying to shake off the numbness. He said nothing. Aleksa didn’t add a word either. The house was heavy and unbearable. When Jack took his first step outside, he saw a black car with tinted windows waiting with its engine running. Jack took a few steps, as if with each step he was drifting further away from his home and his life. Just then, a voice rose from behind him: “Jack!” Jack stopped. He slowly turned around. Aleksa was running towards him. She hugged him tightly, without stopping, with all her strength. She hugged him so tightly that it felt as if Jack would evaporate the moment she let go. Jack responded, wrapping his arms around her. It was more of a hold than an embrace. Aleksa's voice trembled, mixed with sobs: "...Are you sure?"
Tears streamed down her face and fell onto Jack's shoulder. Jack squeezed his eyes shut. He swallowed the lump in his throat and whispered in her ear: "I'll be back."
Aleka pulled back slightly, looking at him with teary eyes. She wanted to believe, she had to cling to this lie because she had nothing else left. Jack turned and walked towards the black car. Each step was heavier than the last. He opened the door, paused for a moment; he wanted to look back, to imprint the house, Aleksa, one last time in his memory, but he didn't. He got in, the door slammed shut. As the car slowly moved away, Aleksa stood there on the pavement. Her eyes filled with tears, her heart shattered... The car drove away, shrinking at the end of the road and finally disappearing completely around a dusty bend.
The journey began in an endless silence. As the black car moved along the asphalt road, traces of civilization faded away. The surroundings grew increasingly deserted, the trees sparser, the abandoned houses more eerie. The roads were blocked with barricades. Tommy was behind the wheel. The man who normally couldn't resist joking now had a serious, marble-like face. Jack sat in the passenger seat, watching the scenery outside the window; nothing could be heard except the monotonous sound of the engine and the noise of the road. Tommy finally couldn't bear the heavy silence any longer. His voice was harsh, almost angry: "This is ridiculous." Jack didn't avert his gaze, only nodded: "I know." Tommy gripped the steering wheel tighter: "If you know, why are we here, Jack? Why are we going to the gates of hell?" Jack didn't answer. He just looked at the endless road. This silence was, in fact, the clearest answer; there was no other way. The world changed completely when a massive checkpoint appeared ahead. The road was cut off by huge concrete blocks. High fences and rusty barbed wire surrounded everything. Everywhere there were camouflaged military vehicles, heavily armed soldiers, and machine gun emplacements. The army was there; ready, harsh, and merciless. The vehicle slowed and stopped. An armed soldier stepped forward, his barrel pointed to the ground, but still alert. He shouted, “STOP! WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE?!”
Tommy rolled down the window, the growl of the engine mixing with the soldiers’ commands. “Special mission! We have permission to enter the quarantine zone!” he shouted, raising his voice. The soldier approached, a deep suspicion and a hint of pity in his eyes. “Get out of the vehicle!”
The doors opened. As Jack and Tommy stepped out, the region’s infamous, bone-chilling cold air hit them like a slap in the face. Tommy pulled out sealed documents from his pocket: “Approved from headquarters. A fugitive criminal is inside. Capture mission.” Jack also handed over his ID. The soldier examined the documents and ID at length. Meanwhile, the other soldiers around them had their barrels pointed at them as if something might go wrong at any moment. After a short, tense silence, the soldier returned the documents. “…You may pass,” he said. But just as he was about to turn, he lowered his voice even further, adding in a tone only Jack and Tommy could hear: “Inside… you don’t know what you’ll encounter. Be careful.”
Tommy simply nodded. The two got back into the vehicle. The heavy iron gates in front of them began to swung open with a metallic groan. This was the end of the world as they knew it.
The vehicle stopped right in front of the rusty, massive fence. This was the end of the road, the final point that defined the boundaries of the world as we knew it. Beyond was nothing but an uncertainty that even maps couldn’t describe. The gates opened simultaneously, and the icy air that rushed in snatched away the last bit of warmth from inside the cabin. Tommy switched off the ignition. The engine’s growl ceased, replaced by a heavy, unsettling silence that grated on the ears.
Tommy slowly turned his gaze to Jack. There was a seriousness in his eyes he had never seen before, a kind of farewell. It was Jack who broke the silence again: “If you don’t come back…” he said, and paused for a moment. The words were stuck in his throat, but he tried to mask it with his usual sharp wit: "...ce
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