Chapter 2198 The Last Train (Part 1)
Andina didn’t see Galina when she woke up in the morning. She guessed that she must have gone to the only rail station near the block to wait.
The woman came here with her mother half a year ago and told Hayes' name. At that time, Andina was shocked. When her "brother" who had been dependent on each other since childhood was arrested and sent to serve as a soldier. , she was still in tears for several days, and kept going to the church, which she rarely visited, to pray that nothing would happen to him. Unexpectedly, a few years later, a woman claiming to be his wife appeared.
However, an accident was an accident. When she knew that Hayes was still alive and kicking, at least Andina's hanging heart finally settled.
Since the other party could tell Hayes's physical characteristics, it was basically not fake, so Andina let the other party live at home - it was said to be a home, but in fact it was just a nest. It was a metal shack, but it was kept relatively clean.
Andina earned a meager ration money by cleaning nearby warehouses and factories. Although Jialina came here with a large amount of "money", it belonged to someone else after all, even though the other party kept letting her She used it, but she was too embarrassed to use it. She continued to do her job every day, but occasionally she would complain in her heart that Hayes suddenly found a wife for no reason.
Didn’t I take good care of him?
Andina herself couldn't explain the reason for the uncomfortable feeling in her heart.
Jalina was focusing on taking care of her mother during this time, but the poor woman still passed away a month ago because of her physical weakness and incurable illness. Andina still remembers those bullshit doctors. The disdainful look in her eyes when treating Galina's mother, she even secretly heard someone calling the poor woman a slut and a whore, and she was so angry that she almost beat those human-looking things.
Jalina just held her silently, and then told her the truth about her mother's illness and her past experience.
In fact, these diseases are not incurable, but they require very expensive medicines. Regardless of whether they can be purchased, the total money they have on hand may not be enough.
However, it was not painful when Jalina’s mother left. They took her to a garden in Zhongchao. It coincided with the dome maintenance day that only happens once in a century, and a tunnel to the sky was opened in that area. The patio allowed her to enjoy the rare sunshine for the last time.
At least, she left with a smile.
After burying her mother, what Jalina did every day was to wait at the rail station.
Three months ago, the news of the end of the expedition had spread throughout the streets. As one of the original recruitment sites for the expeditionary force, this hive city began to have soldiers retire and return to their hometowns one after another. The nest is still the next nest, or even the bottom nest. Every day, at least two trains carrying soldiers returning from the front line leave the airport and drop off a group of soldiers at various stations.
Just a month ago, it became one flight a day, and two weeks ago, it became one flight a week.
Some people say that it may be the last one recently.
If the person waiting cannot get off the train on this bus, then he will never come back.
In fact, Andina was already a little desperate, because she heard from the returning veterans in nearby neighborhoods that the cruelty of this war was beyond everyone's imagination. She even saw with her own eyes that many returning veterans were a little bit... Nervousness, even mental disorder. In extreme cases, there are cases of overreacting and killing family members after hearing noises while sleeping.
Although many of them received a kind of pension called military stamps, which was very valuable at first, but for some reason, it suddenly seems to have become waste paper these days. Many veterans Every day they went to the sites of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Military Affairs to protest, but they received nothing but the shock sticks of the law enforcement officers.
Many are forced to use their fighting skills to join gangs and criminal organizations.
Gang wars have become more frequent recently. Andina has been worried about Jialina going out alone, and she is always confused.
But in a sense, Jialina’s waiting is not without reason, because I heard that soldiers who died in battle will be notified and paid, but Hayes has never received notification and paid pension. In a sense, Maybe he is still alive.
However, Andina, who is well-informed, knows that many people are not dead, but are considered "missing".
This is a very cunning statement, but this is how the officials of the Ministry of Military Affairs explained it. They could not determine whether they were killed in action, they could only judge it as missing, and the missing people did not receive pensions——
But no matter what, Andina goes to see Galina every day.
Actually, I was waiting with her.
The last hope.
The last train——
Every day, she would pass by the platform. Every day, she would stare at the busy people on the platform and the trains that looked like mechanical beasts.
Those twelve or thirteen-year-old boys and girls push carts and sell various foods, tobacco and water, running around every day. Was this the same thing when Hayes was a kid?
After half a year, the war finally showed signs of ending. She even remembered the appearance of those trains and the number of each car.
Time passes, and just like her, it seems that the train is also changing.
She is whiter and thinner, while the train is shorter and thicker.
When she saw this kind of machinery for the first time, to her, who had little exposure to new things, the train seemed like a work of God.
As brave as a beast, yet as precise as a clock.
But as the war continued and time continued to pass, she had become accustomed to it, even numb.
Life day after day will make people gradually numb. She learned a lot about Hayes' past from Andina. The lives of others and other people's lives originally had nothing to do with her. They had nothing to do with her. Very far.
It should be another world.
But Hayes saved her from hell and allowed her mother to see the light of day one last time.
She came to the platform almost all day long, so that many staff at the station knew her. Everyone was actually very friendly, and they all knew that she might be waiting for someone.
One who may never come in again.
When it was announced that the war was finally over, everyone threw up their hats, cheered, hugged and shed tears.
She just stood there blankly, feeling scared, the human voice was so far away, she wanted to escape, but couldn't move.
Even though others gathered around her to hug, cheer, and toast, she remained still.
The station was dimly lit, people were laughing and celebrating, and it was very lively.
Every day, the train arrives on time, just like the sun rises on time.
The crowd poured in and mingled with each other. Some hugged and kissed fiercely, some shouted loudly and laughed, some cried quietly, and most of them looked at each other speechlessly.
Then, return to your daily routine and continue working.
People are used to war, and are used to gains and losses.
What is tingling and numb is fear.
Fear is like deadly poison, injected into the skin, paralyzing the muscles, making people unable to move.
The essence of it is that it makes people scared, and they hope that it will be just a nightmare in the end. People can't help but want to turn around and run away, but their legs seem to have been lost, stiff, numb, and motionless.
Trains keep coming, taking people back from the front line one after another.
Being in a world of laughter and laughter often makes her feel a little overwhelmed.
(End of this chapter)