Ash came back to his home town. But he was very different than he was when he left it. He was now seventeen years old and was wearing military uniform. He had a coat with many medals which showed his high rank in the army.

The reason of it was that two weeks ago the Third World War ended. There were many loses and victories. Many people that Ash knew died in this war. But victory was only achieved after five years. It brought happiness to him. He couldn't believe that he was coming back home. He finally arrived to his house and knocked at the door. But no one opened. He took his keys from his pocket and opened the door. It looked like the house was abandoned for a long time. But Ash looked around and the only thing he found was a color of his dog. Suddenly he heard someone coming into the house. Ash got out of the seller and saw Dawn. He couldn't hold his happiness and ran towards her. She looked at him and her eyes glowed. They hugged each other and spun. Five minutes later they were already on a sofa talking.

"Ash! For five years I have been waiting for you and finally you came. What happened during the war? Where is Kenny, Paul, Brock and the others?"

Ash looked at her sadly and offered changing the subject:

"Let's go to a café. I want to eat something".

Dawn didn't argue and they went to a café. On their way Ash saw that she was limping. He asked:

"Why are you limping?"

"In 2018 when the Russian aircraft bombed the city and I jumped from the window and got hurt. But my mother died in the burning house". Dawn began to cry.

"Oh my God! Have you gone to the doctor?" Ash asked worriedly.

"There were no doctors or nurses. They were all sent to military hospitals in the frontiers. So I healed it myself… barely".

"Now they're back. We better go to the doctor after lunch". Ash suggested.

"Sure, this limping is getting on my nerves". Dawn agreed.

Soon they arrived to a café. Ash ordered a chicken. Then he said:

"Dawn, you know you didn't change that much".

"Really?" Dawn smiled

"Yes of course. Anything important happened in your life when I was gone?"

"The schools were almost empty in 2015 after the government called all the teachers and boys from twelve years of age to war. Most of the girls dropped out of school. There was only I, a girl from the first grade and a bully who wasn't accepted in the army. We became friends despite all the differences. We had one teacher. We got an education that helped me and the bully to enter a collage. The little girl who was with us died during the bombing of the city and the bully was sent to a military collage. He was two years older than me and that is why he left in 2017 after the bombing. I heard that he got married and lives in Florida". Dawn said and suddenly changed the subject. "You know, it was hard to access the internet. Only two days ago they re-established the internet connection in houses. I'll try to connect. Hey, my question is still unanswered. Where are the others? Will they be here soon?"

"This is a different and a very long story. Let me start with the political situation. After China, Russia, Belarus, North Korea and Iran created an alliance against democracy they attacked Estonia. That's how the World War began. Two months later after a general mobilization in China the US government found out that it was impossible to win without the same act. So we were sent to war despite our age. We were sent to Lithuania. From there we dislocated to southern Estonia. It was free from invaders. But Tallinn was already under Russian control. We were in the 77th army and we had a mission that consisted on freeing Tallinn. We lost the battle and…" Ash suddenly stopped "Dawn, I survived because I dressed like a Russian soldier. It was a command from the military command. They sent me to infiltrate their base in the city. But our friends were all massacred in our first battle".

"No, no, no!" Dawn began to cry. "I can't believe they're dead!"

"Believe it! This is life! We have to face it!"

Soon the lunch was served and they began to eat. After the lunch Ash took Dawn to the hospital. There was a long line there and in that line Ash saw a person which he hadn't seen in more than those five years…

To be continued…