//------------------------------//
// Chapter thirteen: red, not dead 
// Story: Worlds Apart 
// by Elkia Deerling 
//------------------------------//

Amanda made sure to stay out of reach of their binoculars or scopes. Her scope was more powerful, so she could see everything that happened in the base just fine from where she lay.

The rocky outcropping provided a beautiful overview of the communist compound in the distance. Amanda had stacked some stones so she could hide behind them if necessary, and put her sniper rifle on them.

A grumble in her stomach distracted her for a few seconds. Amanda reached for it. She couldn’t even recall the last time she ate something. It must have been a long time ago. Suddenly, her alarm went off. Time to change the filters. She reached in her pack, and grabbed a filter—her last filter, she realized.

After the battle at the Channel Twenty-four building, Amanda had laid low. She had to process her loss first. Her entire squad had been wiped out by fictional My Little Pony characters. Of course she knew what the changelings were; she had seen them in the television show. The changelings had attacked Canterlot once, with their queen disguised as Twilight’s former foalsitter, Princess Cadance.

As unbelievable as that was, it had happened. Her squad mates were dead. She had wept and wept and wept. For days she had hid and did nothing but think about happy memories of her and the Heat Seekers, and about the changelings who had somehow come from the My Little Pony universe to earth and attack humans.

After days of weeping and thinking and reflecting, Amanda made a move. She had gone back to Crossroads—making sure to stay out of the metro—and discovered the exact same thing Triggerhoof had discovered. Everybody was gone. Gone without a trace. Amanda had been shocked, and cried a long time. She needed to talk to someone, to see some familiar faces and tell them about the attack. But she couldn’t. She had no idea where the entire population of Crossroads had disappeared to, because she didn’t find the tape recorder. Triggerhoof had taken it, but of course, Amanda couldn’t know that.

There had been no blood trails, bullet casings, or other signs of battle, so Amanda figured they hadn’t been slaughtered by raiders. Then why had they left Crossroads in such a hurry? Did they have to flee or run away from some terrible enemy? Had the reds discovered them?

Whatever the reason was, Amanda was alone. She could have stayed at Crossroads, but she knew that staying wasn’t going to bring her friends and comrades back. No, she was determined to go and find them, even if she had to go to the middle of the crater itself. She knew that it was foolish to look for her friends who could be anywhere on the face of Ground Zero, but what else could she do? She had scrounged whatever supplies she could find, but then noticed that there was not a single gasmask filter left. It didn’t matter. She was planning to use the winter anyway, and the tank had its own air filtration system.

And so she had travelled northwards. The ride had been relatively peaceful. She did find some small groups of reds, but they made way for the big tank. Once she was able to spot searchlights lighting up the night, she had stopped. Now the tank was covered underneath a camouflage blanket, and Amanda lay on the hill, with nothing to eat and nothing to breathe through.

She realized the urgency of the situation. Once again, she peered through her scope to observe the compound.

It was obviously built around a bunker, maybe even a missile silo. Missile silos were scattered all about the state, and most of them had been used and now stood empty. General Johansson had figured that if there were reds, they probably would be holed up in those bunkers. He proved to be right.

A scarlet flag bearing a golden hammer and sickle fluttered in the wind from an improvised guard tower. The reds must have scrounged all the metal they could find, and weld it together to form a wall and a walkway. Reds could be seen walking on top of the wall behind a layer of barbed wire. They wore protective suits and gasmasks, and had assault rifles with flashlights on them. There was also a large machinegun at every gate, surrounded by sandbags to create a gunner’s nest. When Amanda looked closer, she saw some strange installations here and there, covered by tarps. But from underneath one stuck the tip of a missile.

Amanda was impressed. Wow! Anti-aircraft missiles. 

A soft rumbling, like the sound of a generator, filled the air. Searchlights were turned on. Amanda followed their beams, which caught a large truck and two jeeps.

They have fuel!

Fuel was rare on Ground Zero. At Crossroads, it was the most valuable resource, reserved only for the machines with high priorities. As far as Amanda knew, only the generator in the basement of Crossroads used fuel, and the tank with which she came here. But apparently, the reds had loads of it, and could spare some fuel for trucks and jeeps. That would explain the enormous amount of metal they had used for their base. With trucks, it would be a breeze to transport a huge amount of building materials.

Amanda kept watching the convoy with wide eyes. She had never seen a base as big and well-equipped as this one before. Of course, Johansson had shared theories about how such a base would look, but Amanda never managed to get a clear picture in her head. Not until today. Amanda wondered whether this was the biggest base the reds had in this state. She could hardly imagine bigger bases than this one.

But observing the enemy wasn’t going to fill her stomach, or give her a new gasmask filter.

If only I could find a way in…

Amanda knew she should hide in the Winter, and make use of its air filtration system to preserve her last filter, but her curiosity got the better of her. She just had to watch that convoy go. As she saw that the drivers got out and walked towards the gate, Amanda started fantasizing what the purpose of the convoy was. Were they a scavenge party which had looked for useful parts and materials? Or were they a strike team which had just wiped out an enemy compound to make the perimeter safer?

The drivers and the men on the wall exchanged some words. For a while, nothing was happening, so, just because she was able to, Amanda turned the knob on her scope to zoom in on the persons.

There were two people. One man with a wild beard, which stuck underneath his gasmask, and another man had a very familiar face.

Amanda blinked. Had she seen that correctly? Once again, she peered through her scope, and magnified the scene. Now she had a clear view of the Russian.

She could have yelled, she could have screamed. Amanda let out a soft squeal. “Andrei!”

He’s alive! But how? He’s in enemy hands, but… why aren’t they shooting at him?

So many questions instantly filled Amanda’s head. Questions to which she couldn’t get an answer now. She could see far with her scope, but she couldn’t hear far with it.

Andrei turned his head around, and kept talking to the guard on the wall. Amanda remembered how he ran towards the changeling that was feeding off Simon, but came in too late. She remembered how the changeling had fired a lance of light towards him, while it took a grenade in the stomach from Brockheart. How on earth had Andrei escaped that terrible ray of death? Had the grenade thrown the changeling’s aim off? That was the most likely explanation.

Turning around, Andrei and the other soldiers stepped into their vehicles. The gate opened, and they drove inside.

There was nothing more to see, so Amanda slid off the hill and entered the Winter. As she ate her last ration of food, she kept thinking about Andrei. Her only chance of survival was the food and water and gasmask filters that lay inside the enemy base. She had to find a way in. But first, she wanted to talk to Andrei. She tried to think of a plan as she went to sleep. Thoughts and plans kept her awake at night.

**

“It is a good day today,” Nikolai said to Andrei, as they walked through the open gate. Nikolai was looking at the dreary cloud cover, which glowed faintly on one side, giving away the position of the shrouded sun.

Andrei scowled. “It is never a good day on Ground Zero.”

Nikolai gave him a nudge. “Ah, Andrei, don’t be so pessimistic,” he said. The man almost skipped over the road leading out of the base. “We got the easiest shift today: the morning recon sweep. Just a quick search over the terrain, and then we’ll be back home, enjoying a game of checkers or so.”

“Woohoo,” Andrei mock-cheered.

Nikolai shrugged. “Well, at least I am in a good mood.” He gestured to the rest of the team. “And I am pretty sure they are too.”

The morning scouting troop was always small, because nothing usually happened during those missions. But the Russians were better safe than sorry, so every morning a small troop of men was tasked with combing out the area and looking for any sign of danger, Americans, and other survivors. There were four of them; Andrei, Nikolai, and two other young men Andrei didn’t know. Nikolai was a real chatterbox, so he had left Andrei no choice but to get to know him better. His beard constantly moved up and down as he spoke. He was a good sniper too, and carried a Dragunov rifle on his shoulder.

The scouting party followed the path and into the outskirts of the city. Soon they were surrounded by the carcasses of buildings, and started walking in formation, to make sure that they could see the danger before the danger could see them. They moved slowly but steadily. The only sound came from their breaths and the wind.

Suddenly, there was movement. One of the buildings, a high tower-like building, swayed and rocked in the wind. There was a big chunk out of its base, and the wind was blowing against it harder. With the screech of bending and breaking metal, part of the structure collapsed, and crashed into another building quite close to the street they were walking on. The strike team hurried to the other side of the road, where they hunkered down and waited for the avalanche to end.

When the sound of the crumbling concrete died, and the dust got carried away by the winds, the squad got their bearings.

“Is everyone ok?” Nikolai said.

“Just dusty,” said one of the young men, brushing the dust off his gasmask.

Nikolai chuckled. “I understand. Well, let’s get the hell out of here before heaven falls on our heads.”

They moved on. The street they were walking on was broad, and definitely used to be a main street or a shopping street or so. They continued to follow it.

Andrei grunted, upon watching his comrades and himself. The white dust of the concrete clung to their protective suits. Andrei wasn’t happy about that.

“We’re like snowmen, eh?” Nikolai said.

Andrei gritted his teeth and barely held back a curse. “Yes, Nikolai. We do.”

“Hey, why so angry?”

“We can be spotted from miles away, with all this fucking dust, Andrei said. “We’re like sitting ducks.”

“Sitting snow-ducks,” Nikolai said. “Don’t be so worried, comrade. As I told you before, nothing ever happens during the morning recon sweep.”

Andrei grumbled. “Never count on the best. Always prepare for the worst.”

But Nikolai was not impressed by Andrei’s gruff tone, and decided that now was a good time for a conversation. “Hey, Andrei, you wanna hear a good story?”

“No.”

“You know our radio operator, Sergei? Well, I do, and he had something very interesting to tell. You know, there is a small compound away to the east. It is our only compound so close to the crater. I believe the crater was once called ‘Aurora City.’” Nikolai paused to look at Andrei, but he showed no interest in his story. Nevertheless, he continued. Strange things have been going on there. According to the radio operator, the compound was attacked by ghosts!”

Andrei shrugged. He marched on ahead, hoping to make Nikolai shut up.

“Ghosts I tell you,” Nikolai said. “They attacked at night. Sergei said he could hear gunfire in the background, and screams—lots of screams. The radio operator told him that they came from the crater! I believe the last thing the radio operator from the border post said was, ‘Go away, you infernal thing!’ Pretty spooky, eh?”

Upon hearing his comrade’s words, Andrei started thinking, and came to his own conclusion. Naturally, Nikolai had one too. “You know what I think, Andrei? I think that, with the detonation of the nuke above Aurora city, we have opened a gate to hell itself.”

Andrei rolled his eyes.

Through his gasmask, Nikolai could see that silent gesture. “No, I mean it. Imagine, we unleash many, many kilotons of force upon the face of the earth, destroy every American in the city, and blast a crater as deep as hell. Heh, then the souls of those Americans will have no trouble finding their way there. I say they are demons or ghosts or spirits from the deceased. What do you think, Andrei?”

Nikolai didn’t expect an answer from his grumpy, stoic ‘friend,’ but, much to his surprise, Andrei actually said something back, if only one word. “Mutants.”

“What’s that?” Nikolai said.

“I said they are mutants, not ghosts.”

Nikolai looked closely at his friend, trying to read his facial expression through the gasmask. He wasn’t sure if Andrei was joking or not. But as he never heard Andrei make jokes, he presumed he was serious. And as a response, naturally, he laughed.

“Haha! Mutants?! Mutants don’t exist, Andrei. It’s not as if a bird flies through irradiated lands and transforms into a dragon. Radiation doesn’t work like that.”

“Fuck you, Nikolai,” Andrei said. “I have seen them with my own eyes. The bastards wiped out our squad.”

But Nikolai kept laughing. “Haha. Or… or a mouse walks into a microwave and comes out as an elephant!”

Andrei tightened his grip on his automatic. Nikolai had been irritating him already, and now he was totally done with him. Nikolai was free to make jokes about whatever he wanted, but not about his squad. The Heat Seekers, however dead they were, deserved the respect they had earned.

In one stride, Andrei reached Nikolai. He grabbed the man by the collar of his protective suit, spun him around, and pinned him to the wall. Andrei’s arm pressed down on his throat. The other two men turned around and looked at the scene, unsure what to do.

Something stung Andrei. He looked down, and saw the light reflecting off the blade of Nikolai’s unsheathed knife.

“Don’t forget who is the leader here on this mission, Andrei,” Nikolai said, stabbing Andrei with his gaze. “Don’t forget who vouched for you when you came here, starving, with no squad or army. I saw your potential to our forces. Please don’t let me regret that decision.”

Andrei let go of Nikolai and stepped back. There was now about a meter between the two Russian soldiers. Still, Nikolai kept his knife aimed at Andrei. That was his fatal mistake.

Wanting to say something, Andrei opened his mouth. But no sound came, as his voice was cut short by a gunshot. And besides, there was no listening ear for whatever Andrei was about to say, because Nikolai no longer had a head.

“Sniper! Take cover!” One of the other two soldiers yelled, springing to the side while the headless body of their commander slumped to the ground.

Andrei too, jumped away from the main road, and into a little alley. They shouldn’t have been on that wide open road for so long. Now, Nikolai had paid the price. And if Andrei wasn’t careful, he might pay the same price.

Another shot. A loud yell, followed by a gurgle. Andrei peeked around the corner, to see one of the young men looking down. Andrei could see the other side of the road through the massive hole in the man’s stomach. The soldier went down.

Pressing his back once again against the wall of his little alley, Andrei’s mind switched into battle mode. He knew that he couldn’t possibly hit a sniper so far away with his clumsy old Kalashnikov, and picking up Nikolai’s sniper rifle meant that he would have to stick his head out in the open. Andrei was left with one option. He had to get closer, but not by running over the main road. Instead, he looked to his right, and began to move further into the alley. If he could find a parallel street which offered more cover, he had a chance at sneaking up to the sniper.

The one remaining soldier, meanwhile, had taken cover behind a sheet of plate metal, which stuck out of a ruined building. But a rifle that could shoot a hole in someone’s belly big enough to make it a window, could damn well shoot through a sheet of metal.

And that was exactly what happened. The bullet tore through the metal, and then straight through the soldier’s heart, before burying itself in the asphalt of the road. He didn’t even scream.

Andrei was on the move. He sidled closer and closer, occasionally taking cover. But he didn’t hear any more shots. Maybe the sniper thought he was dead. Of course, that couldn’t be so, because Andrei knew that the sniper would have seen the entire scene through his scope.

He was already halfway there. Pushing his back to the wall, Andrei allowed himself to catch his breath and let his heart calm down a bit.

But the sniper found him first.

Andrei felt a hand grasp his sleeve. He reacted. He wanted to swing his automatic towards the attacker, and give him a burst of lead in his face. But before he was able to do that, Amanda grabbed his gun and held it in her hand. Their eyes met, but the eyes of Andrei were twice as big as Amanda’s.

“Amanda!”

Amanda let go of his gun, and instead swung her arms around the bald Russian. Their gasmasks brushed against each other as they hugged.

Andrei dropped his gun, and it clattered to the ground. He stepped back, ending the hug, and then looked Amanda over as if he were making sure that she was really alive; that it wasn’t a trick of the mind or a ghost. “Amanda! You’re alive!”

Blinking a few tears away, Amanda said, “I am, and I am so glad that you are too!” If they hadn’t been wearing gasmasks, she would have kissed him.

Despite his usual careless attitude, Andrei couldn’t deny that he was extremely glad to see Amanda. They had saved each other’s backs many times. And besides that, he did care for his fellow squad members. He was just too proud to show it. “Amanda! How the hell did you get out of that battle?”

Amanda sniffed. “I… I ran. I ran and I took cover.”

A frown appeared on Andrei’s face.

“But I thought you were dead,” Amanda said, “I thought there was nothing left to fight for, and… and then a whole army of changelings came at me a-a-and I panicked.”

Grabbing Amanda’s hand in his own, Andrei said, “Let’s consider it a tactical retreat then.”

Amanda nodded.

“I didn’t die because of that energy blast or whatever it was,” Andrei said, “but I should have. I heard the explosion, and the last thing I thought was that Brockheart must have shot a grenade against that filthy mutant.”

“He did,” Amanda said. “He fired a grenade and it hit the changeling straight in the chest.”

Andrei nodded. His mouth twisted in a grim smile. “And that threw off his aim, I guess.”

But then Amanda noticed something. Through the visor of his gasmask, she could see a whole patch of the left side of Andrei’s face was red. “You face! Are you alright?”

Scoffing, Andrei said, “It’s nothing. Just a few pretty burn marks.”

“Alright, if you say so…” Then Amanda continued her barrage of questions, “B-b-but what did you do after the battle? “Why… why are you here? With the reds?”

Andrei shrugged. “Change of heart, I guess,” he said, and accompanied his words with a careless wave of his hand.

“But… how could you do that?! You fought for the Heat Seekers. You fought for Johansson. You fought for America.”

Andrei wanted to spit on the ground, but found that he couldn’t because of his gasmask. “I never fought for anything but food, water, and a place to sleep. And after Johansson sent us on that suicide mission, I didn’t feel like coming under his command again. Besides, I never liked our military organization anyway. It was too small, communication was poor, and our equipment was primitive. Now the reds, on the other hand, have a base, fuel, an enormous army, and food, water, and a roof above my head.”

Amanda tilted her head, but said nothing.

“I mean, what else could I do? With my accent, I would be put against the wall at the first American compound. Here I can move freely, and speak my own language and do my own things. Hell, after this incident, and once I tell them that I killed that sniper, I will be promoted for sure. The reds can offer me so much more than Johansson in that dusty old bunker! Don’t you see that?”

“No.” Amanda shook her head. “I don’t see that.”

Andrei spread his arms and did a step back. “Well, then I’m sorry to say it, but it is as it is.”

There was a very awkward silence, in which both soldiers silently judged each other. In theory, they were enemies now, but of course, Amanda couldn’t possibly call Andrei her enemy—ever. They had fought together, they had saved each other’s lives time and again. It was just that Andrei looked at it all a little more subjectively.

At last, as the thrill of battle left her nerves alone, hunger got the better of Amanda. She slumped through her knees and sat down with her back against the wall.

“Are you ok?” Andrei asked.

Amanda shook her head. “I’m fresh out of food, supplies and filters.”

“You can take some of my filters,” Andrei said, “but for food and water, we have to get inside the base, and there’s no way you’re gonna get in there. As soon as they hear you speak English, they’ll execute you for sure.”

Amanda knew that. She hadn’t really thought that far ahead, but she had to now. She felt as if she wouldn’t survive another day without something in her stomach. Somehow, someway, she had to get inside that compound. There was no way Andrei could smuggle some food out of the base himself. The officers would immediately question his suspicious behavior, and the guards would see him. But Amanda couldn’t speak Russian at all. She only knew how to say ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’. And of course, Andrei couldn’t be her translator, because then they would both be exposed within minutes.

“If only I could speak Russian…” Amanda said.

Andrei rubbed the bottom of his gasmask in a thinking gesture.

Then, something clicked into place. However crude and risky the plan was, she had a plan. Amanda looked up at Andrei. She smiled. “Or if only I couldn’t speak at all…”

**

The guards at the gate proved to be very on edge. As soon as Amanda and Andrei approached, they stopped walking back and forth, and trained their guns on Amanda. They had seen Andrei go out with three other men, and now he was returning with one woman. They knew something very strange had happened.

“Soldier! Explain yourself. Why do you return alone? Where is the rest of the squad?”

Amanda had no idea what they were saying. For all she knew, the Russians were discussing what to do with her. That’s why she couldn’t stop looking with fearful eyes at the soldiers. Her heart raced. If her plan failed, she could be shot there and then.

“They’re dead,” Andrei said.

“How?” the guard asked.

Andrei raised his weapon. “Shot dead by a hidden sniper. But don’t worry, I managed to kill him. He was just a raider, albeit a raider with a very big gun.”

“Then how did you escape?” From the tone of his voice, Amanda could guess that the guards were suspicious of the situation.

Andrei smiled and shrugged. “I guess I’m much smarter than the rest of them.”

The guards discussed something neither Andrei nor Amanda could hear. “We find that very hard to believe, because Nikolai was a fine soldier and a crack shot. Why didn’t he manage to kill the raider with his sniper rifle?”

“He went down first,” Andrei answered. “That sniper couldn’t have picked a better target for his first shot.”

One of the guards gestured towards Amanda. Here we go, she thought. “Who is the woman?”

“A hostage from that raider. I guess he was part of a bigger group, who probably dealt in slaves. She was bound and lying on the floor of his nest. She was wearing this suit and this gasmask. I guess that sniper wanted her for himself.” Andrei looked at Amanda. Behind his gasmask, she could see his wink. Amanda played along. She folded her arms around herself, as if she wanted to protect herself from these strange men.

“Can’t she talk?” the guard said.

Andrei tapped the front of his gasmask, where his mouth was. “Her tongue is cut out by those savages.”

“Is she Russian?” the other guard asked.

“Yes,” Andrei said.

“How do you know that when her tongue is cut out?”

Andrei swallowed. His eyes darted about. That was not a clever answer. He had to come up with something—something creative. Already the guards were looking at each other. Andrei could guess their thoughts.

Amanda thought that the guards weren’t going to let her in because they didn’t believe she was mute. She started to make some gestures, as if she were speaking in sign language. That’s when the answer came to Andrei.

“Russian sign language,” he said. “I know a word or two in sign language, because… because my brother was mute, you see? She signed Russian words to me, and that is how I knew she is Russian.”

The guards exchanged a glance. A silence followed. Amanda knew that this was the decisive moment. She hoped the guards would buy their little theater play, which she and Andrei had rehearsed together. She had left her bullet-proof vest, her sniper rifle, her bags, and everything else that would indicate she was a soldier, behind. She just wore her suit and her mask. Amanda did her best to look as pathetic as she could, but then realized that the guards couldn’t see her facial expression through the mask.

A sudden loud sound filled the air. Amanda jumped. But it wasn’t the sound of a gunshot; it was the sound of the metal lock and hinges, as the gate opened.

“Get inside and go to debriefing,” one of the guards said. “And keep an eye on that woman. She is your responsibility now.”

“Yes sir,” Andrei said.

Amanda still couldn’t believe that they had actually succeeded, even though they walked through the gate. She turned her head towards the guards, and made a little bow as if to say ‘thank you.’ There was another guarded door, but the guards made no move towards Andrei or Amanda. As they stepped through, they immediately entered an iron elevator. With a rattling sound, the thing went down.

They were the only ones in the elevator, so they had a brief moment to talk to each other. “Remember,” Andrei said, “Not one single word. If someone asks you something, you just point to your open mouth.”

“Of course,” Amanda said. That was the essence of their plan, after all.

“Now I have to go the general’s office for debriefing, but you can go wherever you want.”

Amanda’s stomach told her that it wanted to go to the mess hall first. “Let’s meet up in the mess hall when you’re done. I think I will spend a lot of time there anyway.”

Then Andrei proceeded to give her a few directions to the places she needed to be. She tried her best to remember them, but, as Andrei kept describing and describing and describing, she concluded that this bunker had to be very big. And she couldn’t ask for directions.

As the elevator came to a halt, Amanda quickly said, “Thank you, Andrei.”

“Thank me when you get out of here alive,” Andrei said.

The elevator doors opened. Andrei and Amanda got out. Before them there was an open space, filled with a couple of soldiers. They got rid of their suits and gasmasks, and as Amanda did so, she received many questioning glares from the soldiers. But none of them spoke up, to which she was very grateful.

Andrei saluted the soldiers, and then disappeared through a hallway. Now Amanda was on her own.

She tried her best to push her nervousness back as she walked through the corridors. The walls were a monotonous grey, and many cables and tubes ran through iron rings to her right. The entire area was lit by lamps which were fixed in the sides of the walls. To Amanda’s surprise, the ceiling was higher than in Crossroads. Apparently, the builders had made sure that the bunker was somewhat comfortable; high ceilings lessen the feeling of claustrophobia. But of course, that could all be explained by the nature of the bunker. This one was a military bunker, probably with a missile launching area somewhere. It was made to last long after the outside world died. The builders could never have known that their American base was now used by communists, their sworn enemies.

As she passed a hallway with some soldiers sitting on a bench, one of them whistled at her. Amanda jumped at the sound. She had never been more on edge than now. Her nerves were as tense as guitar strings, and her eyes kept shooting around. But Amanda knew that she needed to focus. She needed to act as if she belonged in this bunker, and as if she were part of the Russian army. If she made one mistake, one single mistake, she could never hope to see the outside world again, and this bunker would become her tomb.

A split at the end of the hallway brought Amanda back to the here and now. There were no signs on the concrete wall which told her where to go. She had to consult her memory. Closing her eyes, Amanda tried to recall what Andrei had told her. Suddenly, her eyes opened wide. She couldn’t remember.

The anxiety and fear had overwhelmed Amanda’s mind. She simply couldn’t remember what Andrei had told her. She bit her lip, and looked left and right. Both sides looked identical. The hallway just continued in either direction, and through both of them some soldiers strolled. Oh, how she wished she could ask someone directions now. But she knew that opening her mouth to speak would only bring her into more trouble.

She could have flipped a coin, if she had any. Once again, Amanda looked left, then right, and made a decision. She chose the left hallway.

The hallway ended in a set of stairs, which ran down deeper into the bunker. Amanda saw fewer and fewer soldiers around her, so she could have concluded that she was walking the wrong way. But she didn’t, and walked stubbornly on. She actually felt better with the emptiness of the hallway. The fewer Russians around her, the better.

The hallway seemed endless. But then there came a curve. As Amanda took it, she saw that the hallway ended with a set of iron doors. When she pressed the button, they opened with a hiss. Sudden movement from her left and right startled her. Two Russians stood up abruptly, and wanted to salute. But when they saw that it was not their superior who was entering the room, they relaxed. In fact, they were quite surprised to see a woman entering their area. One of them stepped towards Amanda, and started speaking to her.

“Hello there. May I ask what you are doing here?”

The only word Amanda could understand was ‘hello.’

The soldier waited for an answer, but when he saw that he wasn’t going to get one, he said, “Are you okay? Are you new here?”

“She’s probably lost,” the other soldier said, who was now sitting on a metal folding chair.

Amanda’s eyes flashed from one soldier to the other. What should she do?

“You know, it’s very rude to stay silent when a man asks you something.” He did another step closer. “Did you lose your tongue or something?”

From the irritated tone of the soldier’s voice, Amanda rightly concluded that he wasn’t happy with her staying silent.

Clicking the safety off his gun, the soldier stepped forwards. “Look, if you don’t want to say anything, I will call the corporal, and he is not a very patient man.”

“Listen to him, lady,” the other soldier added. “The corporal is always grumpy. Trust me, you don’t want to meet him.”

Instinctively, Amanda raised both hands in a gesture that said, ‘I’m not a threat.’

Sighing, the soldier barked, “I have enough of this game. What the fuck do you want?!”

Amanda jolted at the sudden shout. She wanted to get out of here, and go to the mess hall and get food and meet Andrei, but she didn’t know where to go. If only she could ask them directions… Well, maybe she could. Amanda pointed at her open mouth, and hoped that the soldiers knew that she meant ‘food.’

The soldier on the chair laughed. “Ah, there we go! She wants to speak with the prisoner.”

“Then why didn’t she say so in the first place?” the soldier in front of Amanda said to his comrade.

“She must be shy or something. I overheard that the corporal’s wife is quite a bookworm, and, you know, bookworms are always shy and quiet. That’s why they’re bookworms.”

Amanda saw their reactions. She hoped the soldiers understood what she meant.

Turning around, the soldier in front of her shrugged. “Well, if you say so… But I still think it’s rude.” He reached for his belt and grabbed a set of small keys. Then he walked towards one of the many doors that lined the hall. He stopped at the last door, the one farthest away from the entrance. Amanda wasn’t sure if she should follow him, but she did. She had no idea what she had just gotten herself into. Was the mess hall on the other side of that door?

“Take all the time you want,” The soldier said, as he unlocked the door. “It’s not as if something ever happens here. Oh, and be nice to her, however strange she looks. She is going to be executed this evening, so don’t try to upset her unnecessarily. Let’s make her death smooth and peaceful. Just bang on the door if you want us to let you out again.”

Nodding, Amanda stepped inside the cell. Behind her, the door fell into the lock. Amanda turned on her heels, but the soldier was already gone. There was a small slit in the door with some reinforced glass in it. She could see that the soldier walked away from her. Had they thrown her in prison? Had they noticed she wasn’t Russian? She was just about to bang on the door, when a very familiar, raspy voice made her freeze in shock and bafflement.

“What are you doing here, lady?”

Amanda knew that voice. Happiness overcame her, as she turned around and looked at the blue pegasus pony with the rainbow mane and tail. “Rainbow Dash!”

Dash tilted her head and frowned. “Huh? How do you know my name?”

Amanda looked once more out of the little window in the door. She saw that both guards once again sat next to the entrance, way out of earshot. And besides, the walls of the cell were probably soundproof. When she was sure that no one could hear her speaking English, she turned around and crouched down, so her eyes were at the same height as Rainbow’s. “I have seen you on tv, in the My Little Pony television show.”

Rainbow Dash did a step back, and kept her frown on her face. For all she knew, Amanda could be an enemy. “What is a television show?”

And then Amanda realized the dumbness of her words. Of course Rainbow Dash knew nothing about the television show. There were no televisions in Equestria. But if Rainbow Dash didn’t know about the television show, then how did she come to Earth?

When Amanda saw that the pegasus kept stepping backwards, she held out her hands. “No, no, don’t be afraid. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m a friend.”

Dash looked her in the eyes. “Hmm… well, you do speak my language…”

“Yes, I know your language, and I don’t know Russian. I’m as much a prisoner here as you are.”

Dash’s mistrust lowered a bit. She did a step closer to Amanda. “Well, that’s stupid.”

Amanda chuckled. “Yes, it kind of is.”

That chuckle, that innocent, awkward chuckle, was all the proof Rainbow Dash needed. She saw in that chuckle that Amanda wasn’t here to shout at her or drag her to dark rooms with bright lights and shout at her some more. Through that chuckle, Rainbow Dash knew that Amanda was indeed a friend. Slowly, Dash stepped towards the woman, and placed her hoof in her hand.

“Do you trust me?” Amanda said.

“I… I think so.”

“My name is Amanda.”

“Rainbow Dash.”

They shook hand and hoof. Then Rainbow Dash sat down on her haunches as well, curling her tail beside her. “So, if you’re not one of them, then what are you doing here?”

“I came from far away, and fought for other, friendlier people. The Russians are my enemies too, but I had to come into their base in order to get fresh supplies.”

“So how did you do that?” Rainbow Dash said. “How did you get in without being locked up?”

Once again, Amanda smiled. “I pretended to be mute. Clever, isn’t it?”

Rainbow Dash scratched the back of her mane with a hoof. “Yeah, that is clever. I should have thought of that. When those strange men found me, the moment I opened my mouth and spoke, things only got downhill from there. They threw me in here and shouted. They probably asked me questions, but I couldn’t understand a word of what they were saying, and they couldn’t understand me either.”

“Oh my! That must have been horrible,” Amanda said. “I hope they didn’t hurt you.”

There was such concern in Amanda’s voice, that the last bits of mistrust melted away like snow in the sun. Now Rainbow Dash really was convinced that the woman was on her side. For a brief moment, she considered how lucky she was.

“They didn’t beat me,” Rainbow Dash said, “but they handled me harshly. I mean… not that I couldn’t resist them, of course. I didn’t cry. Not once. No way!”

Amanda’s smile only widened. Rainbow Dash was exactly like she had seen her in the show. “So the Russians found you and locked you up here?”

“Not to begin with,” Rainbow said. “When I came into this world, I flew around a lot, looking for other ponies. Of course, I didn’t find anyone. Then somehow I got very sick, but there was a very nice trader who found me and took me underground. She cured me too. When I asked her where the other ponies were, she said she didn’t know. But she gave me a direction to fly in, and said that there should be people called ‘Americans’ somewhere. So I flew in the direction she pointed, and found people. But something tells me they are not the ‘Americans’ she told me about.”

“They’re not,” Amanda said, her face turning grim. “They are Russians, communists. They are the enemies of the Americans. I’m an American, a soldier who fought against them.”

Rainbow Dash looked confused for a moment, but then she nodded in understanding. An enemy of her enemies was her friend.

Smiling again and speaking in her soft voice, Amanda asked, “How in Equestria did you end up here, on earth? Does it have something to do with the changelings?”

Rainbow Dash swished her tail and blinked. “Huh? I don’t know about the changelings. I mean, they attacked Canterlot and all, but I don’t think they sent me to this world. Actually, I have no idea how I ended up here.”

“And neither have I,” Amanda said. “But you mentioned the changelings attacking Canterlot. You mean at the wedding of Princess Cadance and Shining Armor, right? Or do you mean the attack during which Starlight, Trixie, and Discord defeated Queen Chrysalis?”

Once again, Rainbow Dash was baffled by the strange woman’s understanding of the world she came from. But she didn’t ask her anything, for she had the feeling she would probably get only cryptic answers back. “No, they did another attack on Canterlot, and this time, Discord has joined Queen Chrysalis as well.”

Now it was Amanda’s turn to be baffled. Her eyes went wide and she let out a gasp.

And so Rainbow Dash started telling Amanda all about the attack of the changelings, and how she tried to save the red stallion before seeing a terribly white flash, and finding herself on Earth a second later. Amanda listened with an open mouth. She couldn’t believe what Dash told her. She had never seen any episodes in which the changelings and Discord teamed up to take over Canterlot. When she asked how such a thing could possibly happen, Rainbow Dash told her about the death of Fluttershy. She had to pause at that point, because Amanda let a few tears fall. Rainbow Dash swallowed hers away, and continued telling.

“I can’t believe it…” Amanda whispered.

“But it’s true,” Rainbow said.

“But… is there a way to get you back to Equestria?”

“I… I don’t know.” Rainbow’s voice sounded cracked. Amanda could see tears in her eyes as well. “I want to go home. I want to go to my friends. Do you know where they are?”

“No, Rainbow Dash, I’m so sorry.”

Silence descended upon the holding cell. Rainbow Dash fought against tears of desperation, and wiped some away with her hooves. “What are they going to do with me?”

Amanda shook her head. “I don’t know, Rainbow Dash. I really don’t.” She swallowed. “But what I do know is that I will do everything I can to get you out of here. You have my word.”

“Really?”

“Really!”

Rainbow stuck out her hoof, and Amanda bumped it. “You’re a true friend, Amanda.”

“Thank you.”

She stayed for a while longer in the cell, but soon Amanda realized that she had to go. She couldn’t stay in there forever, and she didn’t want to. She banged on the door, and the Russian soldier opened it. Amanda had a lot to say to Andrei when she would meet him. If only she could find out where the damn mess hall was…