Nick Webster

Viva La Moscow

            It took me a couple of days to figure out what I was going to do.  I repeated the same patterns of hunting for food at night and sleeping in enclosed spaces during the day.  The nights were becoming a little cooler every night.  I feared that winter was coming soon.  Nikki said it would get so cold that we wouldn’t survive without enough shelter that provided warmth.  Plus, there would be a thing called “snow,” where our footprints could be tracked. Police could use those to hunt us down.

            After several days of wandering around the city, I found a sign for the airport.  That’s great news!  Unfortunately, it was over 25 kilometers away from where I was.  That could take a while for me to travel to.  What would be my plan when I was there?  Would it be as easy as jumping on a train?  I guess I would have to figure that out.

            I decided to travel by foot.  I wasn’t great at figure out train systems, and the chances of figuring out a train station and an airport system would be slim.  I packed up some food and then left for the airport in the middle of the night.  It was going to take me probably the entire night if I walked to the airport.  I could run there and arrive in half the time, but I that would burn a lot of calories that I haven’t been able to store.  I didn’t think I would carry enough food or have eaten enough food recently if I wore myself out from running.  But there might be food at the airport.  I needed to arrive before the end of the night.  I ended up deciding to run there and hoped to acquire food when I arrived.  Even these decisions need to be thought out because they could be life and death decisions.

            The trip was long and boring.  I stayed alongside the main road but hid whenever a car drove by me.  It was the middle of the night, and fortunately, there weren’t too many cars.  However, there was one car that seemed odd because the person in the car seemed to know where I was even though I was hiding.  They threw a small bag in my direction.  I stayed frozen.  I had no idea who that was or what they threw out their car.  Maybe it was just trash, and I just happened to be there.  I decided to see what was thrown out the window when the car was long gone.

            It was a plastic bag with several items in it, but it was too dark to see specifically what those items were.  They could be useful, so I decided to put it in my pocket for now.

            I didn’t know what I was going to do when I arrived there.  I thought about talking to other people like the grandma again.  Good things happened when I did that last time.  But it came with risk.  I’m sure not everyone in this world is as nice as that grandma.  There would also be several witnesses who could identify me.

            I finally arrived at the airport near sunrise.  There was already a lot of activity at the airport.  What do I need to do first now I’m here?  I was sure there would be a lot of cameras.  Did I just want to find a bathroom and hide out all night?  Did I want to try to sneak on a plane?  I didn’t really want to sneak on a plane at this point.  I wanted to know where I was going first.  If I jumped into a random plane, who knows where I would end up.  I figured it would be best to figure out where the plane was going first.  I guess that meant I would just hang out in the airport and figure out which plane was heading to москва.  Maybe I would know what to do once I was in the airport.  There was only one way to find out.

            I had no clue what time it was.  I would need to know that if I ever figure out when I needed to board a specific plane.  I entered the building without knowing what to expect.  I found the nearest bench to sit on, waited, and observed what was happening around me.  Somewhere there might be an opportunity to learn or gain something.  Oh yeah, I already forgot!  I had the bag of items that the person threw out of the car.  Oh, yeah!  I forgot about that.  I pulled it out of my pocket.

            There was a small book inside the bag.  I opened it, and my jaw immediately dropped to the floor.  There was a picture of my face on it.  Why??  There was some information about me to the side of the picture.  I assumed all of it was fake.  The name listed was “Алек.”  Alek.  Nikki.  This was definitely the work of Nikki.  There was also some cash and a plane ticket in the bag.  I have absolutely no clue how she had been monitoring me and pulled all this together, but I guess I still have a guardian angel.  Or guardian devil.  I’m still not sure at this point.  Either way, she was a phenomenally skilled individual.

            I wasn’t sitting on the bench for long before a worker spotted me.  She gave me a curious look and started walking toward me.

            “Another one?  What are you doing here, little boy?” she asked.  “Where are your parents?”

            I had to remain calm and relaxed.  I had a ticket after all.  “I want to travel to москва.”  I have a ticket here.  Can you help me read it?  If I could get her to help me rather than question me, I would be much better off.

            She still looked skeptically at me.  “What’s in москва?” she asked.

            “My family.  Which plane will take me to москва?” I wanted to be direct and quickly end this conversation.

            “Shouldn’t you be traveling with them?” she asked.  It didn’t look like this conversation was going to end quickly, though.

            Alright, I was getting impatient.  “I can’t travel with them if they’re in москва, and I’m here.”  It was super obvious, but her question wasn’t exactly the greatest question either.

            She sighed and turned slightly red because she knew it was kind of a dumb question.  “I mean…” she paused to think of a better way to word her question, “Why are they in москва while you are here?  How did you get separated?”

            “I’m fully capable.  Can you tell me where my flight is, please?” I said starting to sound impatient.

            She gave me an irritated look, signaled for me to hand her the ticket, and softly said, “Well, be careful. москва can be dangerous, especially for a small child.”  I just ignored the comment and waited for her to give me the information.

            She read the ticket for me.  I haven’t picked up as much reading of the language as I had spoken language.  I knew I could read the ticket, though, but I wanted her to help me out, so I played dumb.

            After a second of looking at the ticket, she said, “Your flight leaves at 6:15 in the morning.  You still have a couple of hours of waiting.  You can relax and wait in the boarding area.  Would you like help getting there?”  She was still very concerned that a small child was wandering around the airport alone.

            I needed to reassure her I would be fine.  “Just point out the direction, and I’ll be fine,” I calmly said.

            She pointed down the hall to my left.  “Thank you,” I said.  I started walking down the hall without looking back.  I hoped that was the last of that.  Don’t call the police.  Don’t call the police.  I’m sure I looked confident, but I was nervous walking away.  I’m sure there would be more situations that I had to talk my way out of in the future.

            I walked down and found the boarding area without incident.  There were several people who eventually came to the boarding area as well.  I was rather early, I guess.  But I was going to be happy when I got out of this place.

 ***************************************

             The airplane ride itself was quite a different experience.  My ears popped when we were up in the air, and my stomach felt like it was going to down out of me.  But I just trusted that I would be fine.  Other people have flown in airplanes before me, right?  Still, it was nerve-racking.  I gripped the airplane seat so tightly I thought I was going to break the arm rest or break my own hand.

            Although I was worried during the whole experience, nothing bad happened during the flight.  And when I plane landed, I was finally relieved to be out of that area and start a new adventure.  I knew москва wasn’t going to be my final destination since I needed to escape from Russia, but I still enjoyed the feeling of the start of another chapter in my journey.

            The other passengers and I left the plane.  When I started walking out of the plane, I couldn’t help but wonder, when would I see Nikki again?  She’s clearly been keeping track of me.  And without me even knowing it.  When was she going to pop out of nowhere?

            I didn’t know what my next move was going to be.  I was still in the country, and I needed to get out, but how?  I learned that small book was called a “passport,” and I could travel around the world with it.  My only problem now was that I needed to acquire another plane ticket to fly to another country.  To do that, I needed money.  To acquire money, I needed to work.  To gain work, I probably needed to stay in a single location if I would ever even find work since I look like I’m eight or nine years old.  The longer that I stayed in this city the greater likelihood that I had of the police or the government eventually catching up to me.

            The airplane trip was so much shorter than the train.  We definitely traveled faster than the train; I could tell before we left the ground.  It was the start of the day, which was odd for me at this point.  I did most of my traveling at night and then sleeping during the day.  This time, I didn’t know the surrounding area, so I had to do my scouting in daylight.  It was a big city, so maybe I could get lost easily.

            I started walking down the street and didn’t look back.  I kept walking and walking until I found an area where I could find something to hide under as well as something near a place that sells food.  Shelter and food were always the two highest priorities.

            I walked around for a while.  I scouted out and found several useful buildings.  I found a supermarket, what looked like an abandoned building, a park, a river, and a gas station.  This was a big city, but I was planning on sticking around a small location for now to figure out my next step.  I need to make sure I had a steady source of food and water before I left the country.  Perhaps there was a way I could make money to afford a ticket.  I just needed to make sure I didn’t lose my passport!

            I spent a lot of time walking around my first day in москва.  My bed was going to be under a bridge by the river that I found.  I hadn’t slept much in the last two days since I walked to the airport last night and walked around most of the day today.  It was probably around the late afternoon when I finally fell asleep under that bridge.  It was some much needed sleep.

 ***************************************

             I was asleep for what felt like several hours.  It was dark when I was awoken.  Another person softly woke me up.  I immediately rolled away from the person.  I didn’t expect anyone to find me and wake me up in the middle of the night!  I was startled, and I think I startled the person too.  It was too dark to see who it was.

            “What do you want??” I immediately barked at the person.

            “You.  Now come on.  Quit sleeping your life away,” the voice was familiar.  Nikki.  I was relieved that a familiar face was here, but I was also still very skeptical of accepting Nikki’s help after all her lies and betrayal.  What was I to do?  I felt like I couldn’t escape from Nikki no matter what.  She’s tracked me down through multiple cities across this country already.  How much more hiding can I do?

            “Wh- what are we going to do?” I asked.  I didn’t know exactly what to say, but I just wanted to say something that would stall her, so I can think and consider if I even want to go with her.  I felt like it would be stupid to not go with her, but I wanted to make sure she knew that I didn’t fully trust her.

            “We’re going to get out of this God-forsaken country, duh!” she said.

            “Are you with anyone?” I asked.  I didn’t quite move yet, but I wanted to at least see if she was with anyone.

            “While I’ve had a little bit of help, we will be leaving this country alone,” she said.  “Now, let’s get going!”

            “How- how can I trust you?” I still wanted to protest.

            “Argh. Suite yourself.  Die under this bridge,” she said, as she started to leave.

            She either doesn’t really care about me, or she’s calling my bluff.  She wins.  “Alright,” I said softly.  I followed her out from under the bridge.

            “Do you need me to hold your hand?” she asked.  It was hard to see, but she could tell that I didn’t need to turn around.  She knew I was coming either way.

            “Please do,” I said not really meaning it.  She’s trying to make fun of me for hesitating or being scared.

            She giggled under her breath.  I think she enjoyed my comment.  We started walking along the road back toward the airport.  We kept walking with the same basic plan that I had for walking around at night: we avoided people and avoided the light.

            After several minutes of walking, I finally asked, “What’s the game plan?  Where are we going now?”

            She didn’t respond right away, but she did eventually say, “Will you ever trust me?”

            I didn’t like that response.  “Well, are you going kill me?”  I said sternly and seriously.

            That question didn’t seem to bother her.  “If you keep annoying me, maybe,” she responded without emotion and without hesitation.  It didn’t sound like she was serious, but I don’t know… at this point, I don’t know if I could truly trust her or not.

            After a couple of minutes of silence, she finally responded, “We’re almost here.  I scouted out and found a nice little place to stay that’s not under a bridge.  You’ll be warmer.  You can thank me later.”

            We walked for several more minutes.  We arrived at a building somewhat near the airport.  I couldn’t see it from where we were, but I knew it wasn’t far away.

            “Follow me,” Nikki said.  She started climbing up the side of the building.  When we arrived at the top of the building, there was a ventilation system which was open.

            “What would you do without these vents?” I asked with a small giggle.

            “Ha-ha.  Very funny,” she said.

            We both climbed down the vents and eventually came to another open vent.  It led to a room with a refrigerator in it.  Wow!  That’s what I wanted to see.

            Nikki saw me immediately eyeing the fridge.  “Hate to break it to you, but there’s not much available in there.  You can check it out and take whatever you like.  We’re not sticking around here beyond tomorrow.”

            Her words reminded me that I wanted to act better than that.  I wanted to stop stealing.  All the killing that Nikki had done made me realize that I wanted to be different.  I wanted to be better.  “I’m okay,” I said without making much of a big deal about it.

            “You sure?  We’re going to want to avoid being seen in public as much as we can.  We’re going to avoid purchasing meals until we are in our next country,” she warned me.

            I thought about it for a second, but I decided not to take anything.  I’ve been used to being hungry anyway, so that was nothing new.

            After she saw me not go for anything in the fridge, she said, “We can hang out here for a few hours.  Our flight will leave at 5:30 in the morning.”

            “What time is it now?” I asked.

            “It’s 3 o’clock in the morning right now.  You probably have some sleep to catch up on.  You need a lot of that,” she said.

            “You don’t sleep much, do you?” I observed.

            “I don’t need nearly as much as you,” she said.  “It’s given me much more time to learn and adapt than you,” she paused.  “No offense.”

            “That’d be helpful,” I paused.  “Why do you think you don’t need as much sleep as I do?”  I asked.  I doubt she knew, but I was curious to see what she had to say.

            “I think they just built me that way.  I haven’t ever needed as much sleep as you,” she said.

            “Lucky you,” I said without much enthusiasm.

            “I’ll be back later.  Something tells me you’re going to need some food,” she said.  Without letting me respond, she jumped back into the ventilation system and left me there.  She was both quick and quiet moving through the vent.  She wasn’t perfectly quiet, but quiet enough to where it would be hard to hear her if there were people around.

            I was still tired, so I fell asleep in the room she left me in.  I fell asleep leaning against a wall.  It wasn’t the most comfortable position, but it was good enough for me to get some more sleep.  I couldn’t help it anyway.  I was so tired.

            It felt like I was only asleep for like 10 minutes before Nikki returned.  She woke me up and said, “Here. Eat.”

            “That was quick,” I said as I rubbed my eyes.

            “I’ve been gone two hours,” she said.  “Eat up.  We have to move before workers enter the building.”

            She handed me a delicious looking sandwich.  My eyes widened when I saw what it was.  “Wow!  Thank you!” I said to her.  I hadn’t been this excited about anything in a few days.  It was amazing just to look at.  My excitement quickly faded when I realized that she probably stole it, but I didn’t say anything or question her about that.

            Nikki looked at the clock.  “On second thought, you’re going to need to take it to go.  We need to go.”

            We both left out the ventilation system.  There was a downside to the way we had travelled.  The vent door was now broken, so people were going to know we were there.  It might be difficult to track who was there if there were no cameras.  Nikki placed the vent door back where it was as best as she could.  However, it was loose, so somebody would eventually know that we snuck into the building.  Hopefully, we’d be long gone by that time.

            After we left the building, we started toward the airport.  Nikki said that the airport will be open early.  There are flights that start around four or five o’clock in the morning.

            We stayed in the areas of the airport where few people were.  It was quiet, but we made it through everything without many problems.  By now, Nikki had collected what looked like a lot of money.  I don’t know how much a lot of money is, but it was a lot more than I had ever seen.  We both received some stares from security guards and other people in the airport.  I even saw two security guards whispering while looking at us.  Ultimately, nobody stopped us, but there were several times where I thought we were going to be stopped.

            I’m sure it was an unusual scene.  We were two young children with a lot of money travelling to a different country without adult supervision.  We were lucky for now.  We could easily be robbed or beaten up by anyone who wanted to take anything from us.  But we were lucky this time around.  However, neither of us knew what would be waiting for us in the next country.

            I didn’t even know what our next country was!  Before we boarded the plane, I asked Nikki.  She responded, “J'espère que vous connaissez le français.”

            Wait… what?  She was speaking a completely different language now.  “What does that mean?” I asked.

            “It means, ‘I hope you know French.’  We’re going to a country called France,” she said with a smile.  “French is supposed to be the language of love but don’t get any ideas,” as she said that she batted her eyelids.  I don’t know what that even means.  Love?  Nikki talked about it before, but I don’t know exactly what it means.  I guess I’ll find out.

            I didn’t respond, and she seemed a little disappointed.  Oh well.  We’ll have the whole plane ride to talk.  Right now, I just wanted to focus on the task ahead.  We were traveling to another country with a lot of unknowns and new dangers.  Our old dangers might or might not be in the past, but I wasn’t really in the joking mood right now.

            Neither of us spoke for several minutes, but Nikki finally broke the silence.  It was along the same lines that I was just thinking about.  “I’m going to be really honest with you.  I don’t know much about the country we’re entering.  We could be entering a country where everyone is mean or aggressive.  It could also be a country where everyone is nice, and it might be a decent home for us for a while.  Eventually, I think we’re going to have to leave.  Something tells me that the people who once captured us will continue to try to pursue us.”

            “How come you don’t know much about France?  I thought you were always prepared,” I said as-a-matter-of-fact.

            “I quickly purchased a ticket to a location and researched it afterwards.  We both needed to get out of this country as soon as possible.  I think we’ll be okay if we stick together,” she said.  I wanted to find the truth and the warmth in her last sentence.  But I still needed to remain skeptical toward Nikki and remember what she did.

            Without warning, she held my hand.  I didn’t pull back.  I tried to look at her with the corner of my eyes.  She didn’t make eye contact, and I don’t think she was intending to look at me either.

            After waiting a while, we finally boarded the plane.  Neither of us looked back.