East Bound - Russia x Germany

Chekurdakh on the Frozen River

Leave it to Yakutia to find a creative answer to our problems. How can someone possibly spend thirty minutes in a half asleep town in the dead of winter and march out with a fully equipped truck like it was nothing? I guess it takes Yakut know how, because I couldn't even persuade the woman selling bread to hand over another loaf. I offered her double the price, but all that gave me was a swift slap on the hand and a threat to call her husband. Between the three of our efforts, we got enough fresh food to last another week, so I just left the two and walked around the edges of town and along the frozen riverbank. Then after a thought, I kept on walking out to the middle, admiring the wild natural beauty.

I burned through three cigarettes before Germany silently joined me. I disregarded his presence as a mere distraction from my smoking, and paid little attention to how he was trailing behind me. Only when we reached the farther part of the river did his voice pierce the silence. "They'll be looking for us, you know."

"I do."

He sounded weary. "Then let's go back."

"Why?" I turned to him, letting the smoke come out in a jet.

"They might be looking for us?" He said, as if that was an obvious statement that I didn't understand. "Also, I'm kind of afraid this ice will crack."

My laugh resonated louder than I expected. So much that he clapped his hands over his ears. "Crack? This ice?" I pounded it with my foot. "Planes land on this stuff, Germany, and you're worried?"

"Foolish of me, yes." He said dryly.

"Don't be offended," I lifted the cigarette to my mouth, the laugh dying on my lips, reverting me back to my semi placid state. "I was only correcting your false assumption."

"Well, don't." He sighed, not even sounding remotely angry.

I stifled a small smile, but pull my good up over my ushanka to stop the winds from creeping up on me. We let the snow flurries whip around us, and it felt like there was some sort of ice wall between us, making sure we stayed separate. It was a arrange feeling, that we have been together some time in the past. It made me feel a bit cheated out of memory, because no matter how much I thought about it during my sleepless nights. My brain was heartlessly empty, and though I tried not to show it....I kind of, sort of, liked being around Germany. I didn't get too deep down, it was too confusing for my analytical mind. Rather than do that, I focused on other things, such as getting to Pevek. Our whole company was desperate to get there, and I made sure to be blind to anything but that. Unfortunately, that's not very normal.

"Did you see the town yet?" I asked.

"Me?" He pointed to himself. The prolonged silence must have dazed him as well. "Um, a little. It looks just like every other town."

"Not every arctic town has an airport," I clarified. "This one does. If you want, we can check whether or not a plane will land soon."

He stuffed his hands into his pockets, looking across the river. "Maybe. Might as well."

I put out the cigarette and walked down back to the populated area. "Yakutia didn't send you, right?"

"No,"

"I thought she might have been looking for me," I explained. "It's not like I announced my disappearance or anything."

"You just go whenever," he finished for me.

I shrugged. "Yeah, pretty much." He gave a small smile and shuffled after me, sighing in relief when we hit solid ground. I kept telling him the whole way that they couldn't even ice fish here, the ice was too thick. Only when he saw with his own eyes a biplane landing smoothly on the river's surface did his eyes widen in disbelief and shock.