John hugged me back tightly and said, “If my daughter was alive, I would have loved for her to be like you.”
I let go of him, sat back on the chair and said, “What happened to her?”
He said, “She didn’t make it past nine years of age. She had severe fevers and bloody rashes all over her body, and the doctors were too late to help her.”
I said, “That’s terrible.”
He said, “At the time we were very weak and were trying to build this society. We had to learn how to do everything again.”
I said, “When was this?”
He said, “Thirty years ago.”
I looked at Boris who was listening intently and said, “Do you remember my family?”
He said, “I only heard. I wasn’t in Red. I was in Triangle and we were reconstructing Intelligence compound.”
I said, “Red? My parents were Red?”
He said, “Lina? Don’t you know? I know your memory was jeopardized, but I didn’t think all of it was since the time you were a child.”
I said, “Tell me! What do you know?”
He said, “Your parents were exploration collectors. They travelled around the compounds every day to nearby deserted cities and collected whatever they can carry. That’s why there is a large supply area in Triangle for everyone. Clothes, material building items, computers, electrical equipment. You name it, it’s there.”
I said, “It was just them two?”
He said, “No. There were others. Let me remember some names. Umm, there was Elijah, Lee, Nathan, Jamila, Omar, Isaac.”
Boris said, “Isaac? The guy in charge of the supply stores for Red?”
He said, “I’m not sure. Maybe him.”
I looked at Boris and said, “Does he look like my parent’s age?”
Boris said, “Yes, but …”
I stood up and said, “Let’s go!”
Boris nodded and John said, “Do you always agree with her orders Boris without thinking it through?”
Boris chuckled, brushed his hair and said, “Sometimes.”
John sighed and said, “Just go. I need to get up and get ready. Remember what I need Boris. Make it happen.”
Boris grabbed my hand and sprinted to the door. We were out in the hallway and he said, “The supply store is in town. It’s about a ten minute walk from here. Can you walk?”
I nodded and smiled at him. He said, “Good.”
We went out of the building and took a left turn. We walked on a paved road and saw some people coming and going. Almost everyone nodded at Boris and I smiled. As we reached the town, there were many buildings next to each other. There were two or three stories high. There were children playing on the grass who were no more than two or three years old. Their parents were sitting on a bench conversing. They looked at us and nodded.
I smiled back and Boris looked at them and nodded back. I said, “Acknowledging people. Was it so hard?”
He looked at me and didn’t say anything. I giggled and kept walking until we reached a warehouse. The large door opening was shut. Boris said, “We should go to the side door.” We walked around and saw a door. He knocked and waited for a response but nothing. He knocked again and sighed. I said, “Where did he go?”
He said, “I don’t know.” He looked around and said, “I think that’s him over there.”
The gray haired middle aged man walked over and stared at Boris. He said, “Wow General! I swear I did nothing. It was all Jin’s fault!”
I looked puzzled and Boris said, “I don’t care what you guys are up to. I’m here to ask you a question.”
Isaac looked confused and said, “It was all Jin’s fault. I swear!”
Boris was so irritated. Isaac stared at me and said, “You look familiar young lady. It’s like I’ve seen you before.”
I said, “Yes! Maybe I look like my mom or dad?”
He eyed me and said, “Who are your parents?”
I said, “Well, I don’t remember. My name is Lina Ard by the way.”
He was shocked and said, “Ard? Lina? Elias’s and Dina’s daughter?”
I said, “The explorers!”
He looked at me and came closer. He said, “What have they done to you?”
I said, “Who did?”
He said, “Triangle and Intelligence.”
I noticed he was looking at my head bandage and Boris said, “Umm, so you knew them. They were exploration collectors a few years ago.”
He kept staring at me and said, “Yes. A long time ago. Remember that they died from a truck accident. It was raining heavily one day, the truck looked like it hit a large rock and rolled multiple times. We couldn’t find the truck for two days. When we did, we found them dead in it near the river at the west side of Triangle.”
I frowned and said, “That’s how they died.”
He said, “Yes. It was a shame. We even tried to save the baby in her stomach since she was six months pregnant.”
I gasped and said, “What?”
He said, “The baby was dead too.”
I kneeled on the floor and started crying. I could have had a brother or sister?
Boris kneeled down and said, “Isaac. Was there anyone else left? Did anyone watch Lina? Or did they take her to Alliance right away?”
He said, “Of course there was. General Nadine, her grandmother. Her mother’s mother.”
Boris said, “What? She was the first in charge of the compound when Red was formed over fifty years ago.”
He said, “Yes. But after a few months from the incident she died of heart complications. I guess since there wasn’t anyone else left, they had to take her to Alliance.”
I closed my eyes and covered them with my hands. I couldn’t stop crying. Boris grabbed my waist and brought me closer to him. He then said, “Isaac. Do you remember if at any time her dad or mom found an old camera that produced pictures right away by paper? It may have been an antique found while exploring.”
He thought about it and kept saying, “Umm. Umm.”
After a minute, Boris became irritated and said, “I don’t think you remember that.”
Isaac enthusiastically said, “Wait! Yes! Oh, twenty five or twenty six years ago, we were assigned with them two on a mission at an old town north, more than two hundred kilometers from here. It was a small place with a few old buildings and large fields. One small building was an antique store and had even older things everywhere. They were useless stuff and we couldn’t possibly find a need for them. Elias grabbed this object, a funny big camera, and wondered if it worked. He turned it on and clicked on it. It flashed light at the wall and a piece of paper came out of it. The paper changed a few seconds later to a picture of the wall. Dina was so amused and grabbed it from him. She said that this is the best invention ever made by humans. An instant permanent memory collector she said. Does that sound right to you guys? She had that bubbly lively personality and she was always amused by everything. No one knows why Elias married her. She was the total opposite of him.”
I looked at Isaac and said, “So my mom took those pictures of me?”
He nodded his head, gestured with his hands and said, “Knowing her, she must have.”
I looked over at Boris and said, “We have to go get them now!”
He nodded and said, “Isaac. You don’t seem fond of Intelligence or Triangle. Want to carry a gun and do some military work again?”
He laughed and said, “These old hands General?”
Boris said, “It’s for her mom and dad’s sake. And the agony they have done to her all these years.”
He eyed us and didn’t ask for any more reasoning and said, “I’m in. Where are the guns? I haven’t held those suckers in years!”