A Soviet's Struggle

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The two walked down the same dirt road for about a week since Mariya had lost her voice. It was December now - and it was cold. The two of them had thick hides under their furs; so they weren't bothered as much. Snow danced around them as a light snowstorm encircled them from overhead. Silsina knew that Mariya loved the snow - and was hoping that it would cheer her up.

"Check it out, devochka!" Silsina smiled, looking at her sister. "Look at the snow! Isn't it pretty?"

Mariya nodded, her hands in her leather jacket.

Silsina took a long, deep breath - looking into the sky. "December has always been my favourite month. I like the snow too."

Mariya didn't give any response, still walking. Silsina's smile disappeared, grimly looking at Mariya. This kind of treatment made Silsina sigh: "Nothing's cheering you up. Will you give me a smile?"

The Ave looked at The Russian who slowly turned to look at her. Mariya's eyes looked into Silsina's deep Purple ones. Silsina stopped walking; and Mariya stopped as well.

The two stared at each other. Their eyes locked onto one another.

Silsina put her hand on Mariya's shoulder and spoke in a soothing voice. "It's going to be okay." She said, the smile returning. "I promise."

Mariya pulled the Gasmask off and smiled.

They started to walk again - noticing a gas station in the distance. "We must be closer to Berlin if there is a gas station. Do you want to make a pit stop?" Mariya responded with a nod - and the two changed their course to the gas station. For the past week, they've managed to make 40 dollars off of generous people passing by in cars. The money was held in Mariya's knapsack - in one of the front pockets. The two planned to use this money to stock up on food and water from a gas station - now that there was one.

They stepped onto the paved concrete, the pumps to their right were painted a vibrant yellow and red. It was Shell, a world leading gas station and one of the few successful ones in the market. The store portion ahead of them read: "Shell shop." Silsina looked at Mariya with excitement. Mariya, on the other hand, didn't notice her newfound excitement - and rather took her knapsack off - looking for the cash.

Silsina, watching her do this, decided to think of who should get the products. Picking the logical option, she concluded that she should go in.

The Ave opened her mouth: "Hey Mariya?"

Mariya, who was busy zipping up the knapsack, took a moment to look up. She gave a 'What's up?' nod, and Silsina looked towards the store.

"I think I should be the one to get the products. Because, you know, I can talk..." She paused, and Mariya frowned disapprovingly. If Mariya could talk, she would've added on 'And not dead' but simply couldn't. "...And I'm not in the process of restoration." She finished, tensing up and giving an awkward smile. Mariya shook her head and stood up. She handed the Knapsack to Silsina, pushing it into her chest and walked to the store. Silsina stood there, her brain taking its time to process what happened.

The 'bell' of the store made an automated "ding dong" sound as Mariya walked inside. The air was cool and the cashier lady, who sat idly by the counter, looked up and smiled. "Good morning." She said in a tired tone, perplexed of Mariya's chosen attire. Mariya raised her hand as a greeting, and began to walk around. In her right paw, she fumbled the 40 Euros around, subconsciously playing with the paper notes. Her attention was caught when she saw canned goods. It was a small selection, mainly beans and corn, but they were non-perishable. Each can was around 0.87 Euros in price, which wasn't the worst thing in the world. She grabbed as many as she could carry and went over to the counter lady.