“And now Julien,” said Xavier, who stood on the mat with a sweaty forehead and spotted me in the group and then waved me over. I stood up nimbly and went to him on the mat under the gaze of the other fifteen young people. Our fighting instructor was well trained and an incredibly good fighter. I had noticed this several times now when I had seen him in several fights. Both the fights for Treianin purposes and those for fun. He went into an attack position, his hand acting as if he was lying in wait. I didn't put my left foot back, tensed my muscles and put my two fists in front of my face, as he had shown us so often. We started moving, circling each other slowly. The mat wasn't particularly big, so I had to look where I was standing without taking my eyes off Xavier. He went one step forward and instinctively moved one backwards. But then I took my position again. “Come on, attack,” he urged me. I waited a moment for a good moment, and when I saw an opportunity, I put my hand forward and touched him on the side of the body. It was only light because he quickly reached out, but he looks at Erich with appreciation. “Very good.” We started circling each other again and he landed two hits, one with his elbow and one with the back of his foot. Cih wasn't fast enough to get out of the way. Then he lunged forward, punching my side, grabbing me when I was inattentive. After a short struggle I managed to free myself and, panting, I stood in front of him again. We continued the fighting dance for a while, he landed a few hits and I landed a few. I knew he was holding back a bit because Occitan had seen how good and skilled he could be. But I also knew that he wanted us to make an effort in this trianing to recognize our own opportunities in the opponent and to use them. “Okay,” he also gasped, after we wrestled each other to the ground several times but were always able to successfully defend ourselves. “Now let’s go one step further. "Parker, it's your turn, so look carefully," he said in the direction of one of the Andersen boys. Then he went to the edge of the room and picked up four small objects. When I recognized silver objects with handles, I was briefly shocked. Knife? Was he serious? But then he bent the tip with his hand. “Rubber,” he explained. I nodded and he handed me two of the four rubber knives. I was surprised where he got these from, because they were certainly very difficult to find. He probably already had it. I had once heard that he had probably been a martial arts trainer in his old life too.

“Come on, try to stab me,” he then said to me. I pulled out my dummy knives and went back into attack position. He did the same and this time we didn't move around each other. The way of fighting had changed. From the art of fighting it has become a deadly game. If these knives were real, and one of us could land a hit with them, we could seriously injure or even kill the other. And even though it was just Gimmi now with our trainer, who skillfully dealt with us as students, he still warned us over and over again that things were different in the real world when someone was out to kill us. I stabbed forward with my knife, but he saw it coming and hit the inside of my arm with his hand. I dropped the knife. He pulled me forward and not a second later held the knife to my throat. He aimed the other at my book. “Do you see how quickly things can happen if you’re not prepared?” The others nodded, impressed, and he let go of me again. Xavier showed us some exercises with me as a partner. He knocked the knife out of my hand so often, theoretically stabbed me, and also threw me to the ground so often that I ended up with muscle pain and my face was running with sweat. He then dismissed me to sit back down and started giving Parker a hard time. I sank down on the cool ground and watched the two of them. I was so exhausted but it felt really good. “You were really good,” a girl whispered to me. I looked at her and I recognized her, she was also in one of the harvest divisions. Runa? I wasn't sure anymore. She smiled at me with a wink and she smiled back. When I imagined her eyes lighting up slightly, I quickly looked ahead again. She was pretty and she seemed nice too. But I wasn't interested in making girls feel like I might be interested in them. Not today, not tomorrow and never. The only one who kept filling my thoughts and putting a lump in my throat and rubbing despair into me was her. At that moment she was lying in her bed, as usual, oblivious to all the things that were going on here.

I fell into bed completely exhausted after combat training was over and we had time to shower and get ready. I had to admit that it was a privilege that we were allowed to do such additional courses and things. Not everyone could take part, because there was simply not enough capacity. There had been a selection process and I was lucky to have passed. I probably had my father to thank for that, who used to take me to his sports. He had been obsessed with fitness and so I had developed a level of fitness over the years as an adult that I had never lost. "Please don't snore so loudly today," said Henry from his side of the room. I threw one of my pillows in the general direction of THE darkness where I thought he was. I knew I had hit someone when I heard an "ouch." "I don't snore," I protested, laughing. He just grumbled and then must have fallen asleep, because it was quiet. I lay down and, as always, reviewed the day and thought about what I could and wanted to do tomorrow. I hadn't managed to stop by the hospital ward after training this evening, so I wanted to leave early in the morning. Tomorrow the harvest departments would be measured again, but that was going to be relaxed. My thoughts drifted away and my eyes became heavier and heavier until I couldn't stop them from sleeping.

The next morning, the familiar, ever-present female voice woke us up with the saying of the day.

"Good morning everyone, welcome to this new day. Please get ready and up for a new productive and great working day. I wish you all to be blessed and take care."

Henry was already brushing his teeth and seemed motivated when I got out of bed. "What are you doing today?" I asked him. "Running circuits," he said with his mouth full of zanpasta, but I'm sending him off anyway. Henry was in the power supply division, which consisted of constantly taking measurements, repairing damage and errors, and constantly gathering new ideas on how to make power supply more economical and efficient. I knew that it was a large and important division, as they dealt with everything from the solar panels to the base's own wind turbines. There had even been a two-day power outage once while I was living here. Since then, they had expanded this division and Henry, as a former fourth-semester engineering student, had been called in. "Don't forget that there's a meeting in the community hall today," I told him and he nodded. That didn't seem to be news to him. When he was finished, he nodded briefly at me and then disappeared. With Germany, I was still unsure if he was actually my friend or just my roommate. With Afnaga, I always thought he didn't like me until I realized that that was just how he was. It was his way of being slightly reserved, sometimes even almost dismissive. But he did that with everyone, so I realized that it wasn't me. I get along well with him, he was neat, dutiful and very organized. Sometimes he even reminded me of my own appointments, which were even written on my hand pad. In general, we both met a group of people with our roommates that we liked.

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When I was finished, I walked towards the hospital ward with my work stuff, my hand pad and my lucky charm, the little frog clasped in my hand. He was twenty on the floor, making him one of the highest. The driver was quick and I immediately went into the familiar room, which was bright and flooded with light. The familiar beep, the many beds, some with curtains around them or some open, and the smell of disinfectants and medication. The sounds and the surroundings were now so familiar to me that I no longer thought about turning left again and right twice until I found the bed between the beds in a back hallway where I had already sat and read so many times , talked, waited and yes, even prayed. I wasn't religious, but in this situation I accepted all the help I could get. And another day would pass while I waited. It had been going on for so long that I was starting to no longer know when it started. I put my things down on the chair that was between her bed and the roommate. Then I sat on the edge of the bed and gently tucked one of her curls behind my ear. Her eyes were closed as always, her breathing was deep. She was on a breathing machine, but it was only for emergencies. Since she was breathing on her own, I was very relieved that she didn't need it yet. I knew that there were worse cases in this room. But she was strong. That's how I knew her from before and even this changed, infinitely frustrating situation couldn't change that. I leaned forward and kissed her forehead. She didn't react. Of course not. She never did that. But her forehead was warm, as was her hand, which I took in mine and stroked tenderly. “How are you today?” I asked her. At first I always felt silly saying those words when it was so obvious. But it had now become a kind of ritual. The words I always used to start our conversation. There was something disturbing and calming about it for me.

"You look good. Your hair has grown longer again. Maybe I should ask the hairdresser to come and cut it shorter for you. Otherwise you'll look like a red-headed Rapunzel when you wake up." I laughed briefly, then had a lump in my throat. If you wake up, I felt for you in my thoughts and immediately felt ashamed of it. "I had training again last night, like always. Xavier said that I did quite well and that I had a good basis to build on. I mean, the course hasn't been going on for that long, but it's fun. And it's good to keep myself busy. Even in the evenings, when work is over and I need to fill my head." I examined her face. She showed no emotion. I sighed. How many times had I hoped that my words, my touches and my kisses would wake her up again? How many times had I read the same studies over and over again that said that talking was good for patients and that they... Could help to come to one's senses again. Or to want to come to one's senses again. But in vain. This state had been like this for a year and a half now. All patients had been examined sufficiently and were still under constant observation. The many cases in which the others woke up showed that it was to be hoped and expected that they would all wake up again. I gently stroked her slender knuckles. But one thing was bothering me, which was probably very selfish and which I had not dared to think about in Afghanistan. But I was afraid that she would wake up and not remember me. That she would open her eyes and not recognize me. It was confirmed that some of the other patients could remember everything that had happened up until the time when everything started and chaos broke out. But for many others it was a complete blackout and they only had memories of their childhood. A few bad cases even no longer knew who they actually were. And this fear gnawed at me like a flesh-eating viper. She probably didn't understand all the things I told her anyway. But I had the faint and blind hope that she would at least store some of it in her subconscious.

I lost myself in my thoughts for a while until the beeping brought me back. I stroked her cheek a few more times, then kissed her forehead again, picked up my things and headed back towards the exit with one last look.

As always, breakfast wasn't all that edifying. Proridge with black coffee and some sugar beet syrup. But not always and you were well advised to use it sparingly. “Today we will have to complete sections ak in rows 11 to 15 before the meeting later around noon. I was told there wouldn't be much time for more this afternoon as the meeting could last longer. We have to do the other five tomorrow too, which means today and tomorrow is the motto - hurry up." I nodded and greedily devoured my porridge. I had noticed that since I did the combat training and the training with Caleb while shooting, my hunger had multiplied. We were also entitled to larger portions if we could prove that we did more exercise, which would also be in the spirit of the community. But still, it was actually just more of the food that you already got anyway. "Quiet, tiger, you don't want to get sick when we have to bend over and get up all the time afterwards," Hollow commented with a grin. I slowed shoveling the porridge into my mouth. Hollow told me a story about a duck she thought she saw outside. I looked at her with interest. It wasn't like you could see animals through the windows. These facts were the reason why reconnaissance missions repeatedly took place outside the base. And yet it was strange to see animals from a distance that you once knew as either pets or animals that were closer to you. Than through the glass separation. “Did you know that male ducks have these brown stripes and female ducks have these black ones?” she said enthusiastically. “I always didn’t know that, but I never used to worry about it. Nowadays you have to pay attention to your intellectual stimulation so that you don't sink in." She said it with humor in her voice, but she was right. The work here was monotonous and although it was all important and served its purpose, it could become very routine and monotonous, which had already caused a few people to become depressed. “Well, enough about the ducks, now we have to take care of pumpkins.” We took our plates to the counters, grabbed a bottle to drink from the cart and then went back to the harvest hall.