Day Twenty-Eight

There had been another raid while Fedorekd was gone, but the group had easily fended the bandits off. Katia's wounds were healing quickly. A man named Voyt came to the house and told them about an old abandoned house, offering to take one of them scavenging with him. Flee went along, hoping to find some good stuff. In the evening, no one else went scavenging. Things were pretty comfortable.

Day Twenty-Nine

Flee returned with some sugar and some tobacco. Not very useful, but it was something. Katia's wounds had completely healed, but Fedorekd was beginning to feel ill. They had medicine though, so hopefully it wasn't a problem. The trader came later on, and Katia traded the stuff that Flee had found in exchange for some food and materials. Thanks to Katia's bartering skills, there was again no need to go scavenging in the evening.

Having survived for a month in Pogoren, the group was finally rescued when peacekeeping forces arrived. Surviving had been difficult; they had lost Ender, and had been forced into doing unspeakable things in the name of survival, but it was finally over. The survivors said their goodbyes, and went back to what remained of their lives.

Katia used her contacts to find her parents in a refugee camp abroad. She brought them back to the city and helped rebuild their house. Soon after that she published her war diary, which became a bestseller and drew widespread attention to the fate of civilians during the war.

When the end of war made travel once more possible, Flee went back home. He tried to find something about the young model he had met in Pogoren but failed. Most likely she did not survive. A handful of pictures and memories was all that was left of her.

When the siege was liften, Fedorekd quickly returned home. Though shaken, underfed and exhausted he knew that this affair could have ended up much worse than that. He would never come back to Pogoren again. Instead, he remained in the UK, shitposting on Internet forums and masterfully crafting new, innovative memes.

Although Carson and his family managed to survive the war, not all was well. Living in the basement made Carson's parents contract a serious lung disease. Most of their retirement money went to buying necessary medicines, and Carson had to take the burden of supporting them.

Sadly Ender did not live to see the end of the fighting. Collateral damage, as the military would put it.