Dawn Redemption

1948 years.

The aroma of breakfast spread in the small house.The milk is boiling in the pot, gurgling and bubbling, and the eggs are attached to the bottom of the pot, making a "hissing" sound that sounds appetizing.

It was a peaceful morning for all of us.

Three years after the end of the war, everyone is slowly coming out of the pain, looking for the original trajectory of life.Green trees grew again on the scorched earth, and new shoots sprouted from the soil under the cross.The gunpowder smoke covering the sky faded away, revealing the original appearance of the world.

The blond youth opened the window, and sunlight and fresh air instantly poured into the room.He looked up at the sky, the clear blue sky was as clear as his eyes.

"Fin, your omelette is ready!" Greta said in the kitchen, and Finn walked over quickly and took the plate of omelette: "Thank you, Greta."

Finn took the cutlery and sat down at the table.Ilsa had already eaten more than half of it. When she saw Finn coming, she was preempted by Finn when she was about to speak: "No, I know what you want to say. But no, Ilsa, you can't skip class."

"Well, but—"

Finn propped his face and looked at her seriously: "I know you miss him, I assure you, you will be able to see him when you come back from school in the afternoon, okay? I think he will be happier knowing that you are serious about going to school .”

"Okay." Ilsa compromised, but still puffed her face with some dissatisfaction and poked the remaining small section of breakfast sausage with the fork in her hand.In recent days, she seems to prefer braided hair more than the original two braids.But Fein can't do this kind of thing, so she can only let her go to Greta.

Finn smiled helplessly and began to eat his own breakfast.Greta soon came and sat down with a tray.

"I'm done!" Ilsa was always the first to finish.She put the plates and glasses in the sink and quickly packed her schoolbag.She put on her coat and went to the door to change her shoes. When she put the shoes on her heels, her gaze suddenly caught sight of the calendar with red circles hanging beside it.

She turned her head and said to Finn who came to say goodbye to her, "Can today's circle be drawn in advance?"

Finn nodded: "I think, yes."

Ilsa happily took the red pen and finally drew a circle.Three years have passed, I have used up countless pens, and I have drawn circles on the calendar, and finally I have waited for this day three years later.

After finishing the painting, Ilsa opened the door contentedly and was about to leave, but she looked back at Fern after taking the first step out of the house.

"Huh?" Fein looked at the little girl who was hesitant to speak in front of him, and wanted to wait patiently for her to speak, but he was a little afraid of delaying her class for too long.

Ilsa was shy for a while, blinked her eyes and finally looked into Fein's eyes and said, "Well... If I call you Dad from now on, will you not get used to it?"

Fein chuckled, went up and patted her head: "No. But don't force it, it doesn't matter what you call it."

"Hmm..." Ilsa pondered thoughtfully for a while, and finally, under the pressure of class time, she had to stop thinking, packed her schoolbag and ran out.Finn went up and watched her back until the little figure disappeared at the corner of the intersection, then he closed the door and went back to the living room, where he started to clear the table and wash the dishes.

After finishing all this, he combed his hair in front of the mirror, and hesitated whether to wear a tie and dress more formally.Greta looked at him quietly behind him, and Finn turned his head and pointed at the little braid on the back of his head with embarrassment: "My hair has grown so much... Will he not recognize me?"

Greta shook her head: "No, I believe that no matter what you become, he will be the first to recognize you in the crowd." She paused, looking at Finn who was busy organizing his image , lowered his eyes and smiled: "I think, after he comes back, I should leave too."

Finn turned to look at her in amazement.In the past three years, she has provided Finn with a lot of help in life, as if fulfilling a responsibility.

It's just that Greta has decided from the very beginning to live alone.This was true three years ago, and it is true now.She no longer felt that she still owed Noah anything, such a feeling was very easy.Seeing Fern and Ilsa getting along happily, she had nothing to worry about.

"But Ilsa..." Finn wanted to keep her, but couldn't think of any reason.It was always embarrassing to maintain such a complicated relationship, but he couldn't let a woman live alone.

Greta shook her head.Finn sighed, knowing he couldn't keep her.Especially after Noah came back, even if she continued to stay here, she would not feel good. "I see," Finn said softly, "The key is with you. If you miss Ilsa, come back anytime."

"Thank you." Greta lowered her eyelashes, "Hurry up and pick him up, be careful of the delay. I will take care of my affairs, don't worry."

She put down her hand on the door frame, slowly walked out of the room and went upstairs.Finn looked at her back, but couldn't see anything.

It was getting hotter outside, and Finn squinted his eyes as soon as he went out, but he still didn't stop.He got in the car and started the engine, and drove all the way to the train station.Although along the way, Finn was driving close to the speeding side, looking at the crowded station, he still had to admit that he was a little late.

He stopped the car, closed the door, and hurriedly squeezed into the crowd with the same purpose as him. There were old people, women, and children, all trying to stand on their feet and look up at the train that was slowly entering the station. .No matter how anxious Fein was, the crowd couldn't make him move faster.

No matter how humble and polite he is, at this moment, Fein no longer cares about other people.He had to use his hands to separate those who stood in front and squeeze closer to the train.

The compartment is almost completely sealed, one can imagine how bad the environment inside is, and it is sultry summer again.Just thinking about it, that feeling of suffocation felt in Finn.

Everyone was stirring, whispering, or talking aloud.In any case, they were all waiting for the moment when the carriage opened.

three years.He never met Noah, never heard his voice.Their few correspondences were all placed by Fein in the bedside cabinet that was easily accessible.Although the strictly limited number of words can't allow Noah to express anything complete, but the strokes and strokes on it can read warmth.

Relying on this warmth, Fein survived for three years.

In three years, he has changed a lot.He has healed all the traumatic wounds he received in the war, and the scars have become shallower with time.His hair had grown long and had been trimmed many times, but he always wore it in a braid.He is already familiar with the terrain near his home, and he has gone to those supermarkets many times to buy vegetables.He opened a bookstore and the business is doing well.He saved up to buy a car.He used to drive Ilsa to school every day before she offered to stop.

For such a long time, the moment the door of the train carriage opened, it all turned into a dream.Looking back, it was just a blink of an eye.

So many people, at the end of his waiting, poured out of the train carriages.The escorting soldiers had no reason to stop them anymore.After long hours of labor, they wash everything and own nothing.There is no previous identity, and there is no longer a crime.

All the people are the same, dusty and dusty, and although the clothes they wear are clean, it can already be seen that they are the kind of clean that have been washed many times.Some stains cannot be washed off no matter how hard you try in the future.Just as though they were not charged with crimes, the imprint left in their hearts cannot be covered up no matter how hard they work.

But Greta was right.

It's hard to say who saw who first.Because the moment Finn saw Noah get off the carriage, his eyes just turned to this side.Noah has also changed too much, his face has become much thinner, and the edges and corners are clearer than before. The moment Finn saw him clearly, his heart throbbed sharply.

But he recovered quickly.He wanted to break away from the noisy crowd, he struggled to squeeze out a passage and came to his side.

At a closer distance, he could feel the vicissitudes of Noah's body more clearly.In the past three years, no, going back, everything he has experienced in the past ten years has been written on him.

Noah smiled and waited for him to come.Only that smile, no matter how tired he was, never changed.

"Give me the luggage." Finn held out his hand to him.

This unintentional sentence made Noah freeze in place.

After a long absence, the first sentence I heard again was exactly the same as when we met for the first time.

Also, he was getting out of the car just in time to meet those blue eyes that are just one look away and never forget.

In the same way, I looked at him and couldn't move my eyes any longer.Even when he stretched out his hand, it was hard to notice for a moment.

The only difference is that it was only an instant.

But now, facing him is a lifetime.

=======================================

a few months later.

"But it's not completely impossible. If you often communicate with acquaintances, take patients to places where they have lived, and use environmental stimuli, it is possible to restore memory."

That's what the doctor said, and Noah remembered it verbatim.

For the past three years, he has been thinking about this sentence.Once when he was carrying bricks, he suddenly had an idea.

The place where he once lived, the place that could stimulate him, after much deliberation, there is no place in Noah's heart that is more suitable than that place.

So, Noah, who had just settled down for a while, began to prepare for another outing.It happened that Ilsa's camping was arranged for those few days, so there was no need to worry that she would be left unattended.Noah was very relieved of her, but Fein anxiously asked the teacher who led the team several times to help take care of the little girl.

But he didn't know where their destination was this time, and Noah told him not to ask too much, and he would know as soon as he said it, so Finn could only help him pack his luggage obediently.

Start again, all the way west.Looking at the countryside scenery whizzing by outside the window, Fein always felt that this scene was very familiar.The journey was not boring at all. Noah talked to Finn about the Soviet Union.The physical labor they were assigned was horribly heavy, and some even died.

Seeing Fein's unbelievable expression, Noah put his arm around his shoulder and comforted him: "It's okay, I'm not coming back now."

What he didn't say was that those in the Soviet Union were nothing compared to where they were going right now.

He would remind Finn.

Will.

Get out of the car, and then transfer.Finn was very puzzled. He knew that they had come to Poland, but they didn't stop too much in any of the big cities in this reborn country after the war.The car they were riding in flew towards the suburbs.

Moreover, Noah also bought a bouquet of flowers, which made Finn even more confused.Noah didn't look like he was going to visit someone. He couldn't figure out the purpose of this bouquet of flowers.

"Where are we going?" Finn still couldn't help asking Noah. "You will know." Noah said, with the determination and deepness in his eyes that Fein rarely saw after he came back.

Finn didn't remember, but he felt that Noah should have looked like this.

He looked up again, and the scenery outside had become barren, even the road was almost covered by weeds.It was raining, and Finn clenched the umbrella in his hand.That's right, even though he was carrying an umbrella, the gloomy rain still made him a little out of breath.The clouds in the sky were getting thicker and thicker, pressing down layer by layer, like a thick quilt wrapped him up.

Finn shook his head to wake himself up, took a few deep breaths, and followed Noah out of the car.He opened the umbrella for fear that Noah would get wet.When Noah got out of the car, he took the umbrella and held it by himself. "Come closer to me." Noah said softly, "Don't get drenched."

The ground in the rain was very muddy and pitted with small puddles.So the two walked very carefully and slowly.It's like using the slowest and most cautious pace, regressing on the route of memory, picking up the lost past.

They moved forward slowly, and soon, amidst the rain and fog, the gate of the building gradually appeared.It is by no means a very grand gate, nor is it high, nor is it exquisite. It is only made of reddish-brown bricks and stones, and there is a sentry tower above the gate opening.

Finn glanced at it, then looked at Noah again. According to his expression, he made a decision, it's better not to ask Noah what it was for.

At the door, they were stopped.

"The museum is being built here, sir, and it's almost finished." The janitor said, looking up and down at Noah and Finn.His eyes obviously stayed on the bouquet Noah was holding for a long time.

Noah discussed with him: "Well, we came from Germany and we want to do something." He handed the bouquet of flowers forward and motioned to him silently.

The gatekeeper shrugged his shoulders, but these days, there are not a few people who have such demands.Even if the war is over, even what happened in this place will never be erased.Because those people who are connected here will never forget the existence of this place.

This is why Noah chose to come here.

Auschwitz.

It is not just a place name, not just a heavily guarded concentration camp, electrified barbed wire, forested sentry towers and large areas of depressing gray buildings.In this world, it has become a symbol, a brand, a scar that will never heal and is always in pain.

It's not a sharp pain, but the kind of dull pain that has always existed, which can never stop and never adapt.

"Okay." The janitor still compromised.Moreover, the rain outside seemed to be getting heavier and heavier, and he wanted to hurry up to the room and curl up.

Although Finn still didn't know what Noah was going to do, he still bowed and said softly, "Thank you."

Two people walked in with umbrellas.On the ruins, new flowers and plants are growing now.

Noah walked that road hundreds of times.He was also familiar with the iron gate at the end.I don't know whether the above line of words was preserved during the war, or was deliberately copied by later generations.Even without looking, Noah knew what was written on it.

"Work is freedom."

Noah handed the umbrella to Finn and asked him to hold it for a while.He walked forward under the umbrella, slowly bent down and placed the bouquet in front of the door.

He didn't say anything, he thought, no matter what he said, there was nothing he could do to undo what had happened.Noah just bent down slowly, and bowed very hard toward his toes, as far as he could reach.

Even if he escaped death by giving evidence, even if he has been judged and experienced the so-called "transformation", but here, in the face of all this, he has no way to deny that among the people who caused the tragedy here, there are indeed him one.

Noah didn't make a sound, but silently finished the prayer in his heart, and reached out for Finn to give him the umbrella.

Finn returned the umbrella handle to Noah.The world in the rain is cold, as long as his fingertips are still warm.Noah took the umbrella and was about to continue walking in, but saw Finn beside him also bent down.

Noah's expression was a little startled, looking at him, he was just imitating himself.Although I don't understand why he did this, but he probably hasn't recovered his memory yet.

It's okay, it's just a matter of time.

Go inside along the road.Noah could feel that Finn was leaning towards him consciously.He didn't get caught in the rain, and it wasn't because the road was too narrow.It's just because the well-organized buildings on both sides stand beside them like giants, looking down on them.

The feeling of oppression cannot be described in words.For Finn, especially for Noah who clearly remembered everything that happened here.

"Over there?..." The sound from the side attracted his attention, and he walked over there involuntarily.Noah, who was holding an umbrella, had no choice but to follow him quickly in order to prevent him from getting caught in the rain, and caged him under the umbrella in his hand.

The janitor said the museum wasn't fully built yet, so the response was construction.

It was raining harder and harder.Even the sound of digging seemed so indistinct amidst the crackling rain.The water splashed by the footsteps wetted the trousers, and became a darker color when wet.

"what is that?"

Finn's footsteps stopped suddenly, and Noah almost bumped into him.Hearing the trembling of Finn's voice, Noah raised the umbrella slightly and looked out from the edge of the umbrella.

He wondered what Finn had seen.

In the rain, the huge machinery is still working.The dug earth was pushed into a pile and began to slide slowly down again.

As a result, those white things that should not belong in this soil also slipped out of it.Under the washing of the rain, the original pale color was restored.

"What are those?"

Finn asked again uncertainly.Noah wanted to explain to him, but all the words were choked in his throat at this moment, like the symptoms of swollen tonsils after being caught in the rain and catching a cold, and he couldn't even make a sound.Besides, he didn't think of how to explain it at all.

No matter how he explained it, he couldn't explain what had happened as unreasonable.

The sound of machinery running was mixed with thunder, and it was indistinguishable.The monster made of steel violently lifted up the soil, and the soil that was quickly wetted by water and formed lumps, as well as those white objects overflowed and fell from the edge of the bucket.

The sound of the rain was too loud, and those things fell on the ground, and there was no sound that matched the visual picture at all.So when the white uneven sphere fell from there and rolled over here, Finn's eyes kept staring at him through the rain and fog.

Noah wanted to step forward and kick it away.But before that, even before he stepped out, the thing stopped at the bumps on its own body, facing Finn.

All face Fern.The cracks on it from being beaten, the black eye sockets staring at him that had lost their eyeballs long ago, the two holes on the nose, and the decayed teeth, this skeleton was quietly facing Finn on the ground.As if to tell something, or to condemn something.

"Fin..." Noah felt his trembling, and wanted to hug his shoulders, but Finn broke free.

His actions were much faster than Noah imagined.Noah stretched out his hand but couldn't touch him, watching him rush into the rain.

The whole body was drenched quickly, and the clothes were completely soaked and stuck to the body.The same was true for the hair, condensed into strands by the water and falling down under the force of gravity, so he had to reach out and brush away the strands of hair that were blocking his eyes.

After running a little closer, he was able to see it completely.No, it should be said that before, when he saw the skeleton clearly, he had already guessed what those things were.

However, the impact force based on guesswork is definitely not as strong as it is now.

The machinery worked indifferently, continuing its excavation work.

As the bucket was turned, more and more bones were dug out from the soil and piled on the surface.It's all scattered, and I can't recognize the original appearance, can't recognize, or simply can't count how many people there are.It was simply a city - dense bones, a city made of piles, spreading death, causing this land to lose its vitality forever.

Finn's legs were shaking.He didn't even dare to stand there, he didn't know how many such existences were there under his feet, how deep the ground was.

Nor could he imagine.What kind of disaster would cause so many people to be buried under this land.

"What is...how is it..."

Noah held up the umbrella and was about to hand it up, but was stunned by the heart-wrenching roar.Fein, who was a few meters away, suddenly held his head in pain and bent down convulsively, and he could feel the pain in his head just by looking at it.His voice was already hoarse, and he was screaming completely by instinct.

"It hurts—the head hurts!—"

Such pictures, gray buildings, pale human bones, and the blood and dancing flames that had smashed his dreams countless times, all overlapped in front of his eyes at this moment.

There are so many skeletons, it seems that each one is condemning, each one is looking at him, and each one is declaring to be his nightmare for the rest of his life.Not only that, there are more, more messy things are struggling to squeeze into the head.It didn't seem like he lost it at all, but it seemed like it didn't belong to him at all, it was blocked by his brain, and it was like a bayonet trying to pierce through this layer of protection time and time again.

"Who, who did this... Uh..." In addition to the severe pain in his head, his stomach suddenly contracted violently as if someone had stabbed him hard.He instinctively put his hand over his mouth and retched frantically, but nothing came out.

Dirty.chaos.The evil that grows here is like a filthy sticky black substance, clinging to and eroding his body, about to swallow him up.

He was in the rain, and every drop of rain seemed to be extremely dirty, hitting him.His eyes were bloodshot, and the throbbing veins on his temples distorted his originally handsome face into a hideous one. If he had to describe it, it was as if he was the legendary archangel who was slowly turning into a demon. .

"Help, help—"

Finn murmured in pain.

Suddenly, someone grabbed his shoulders forcefully, and after that, he was turned around with his back facing the horrific scenes.For a while, he couldn't tell whether the rain had stopped or he had returned under the umbrella again.

"Let's go." Noah obviously kept holding the umbrella, but he also got wet.It's just that no matter what, his embrace is always warm in Fein's eyes, "Let's go."

"Where are you going?" Finn looked up weakly.

"Let's go home."

Noah's lips rubbed against Finn's wet forehead lightly, and the hand on his shoulder became stronger.

The purpose of coming here?Is that still important?

The moment he saw Finn's reaction, he knew it all.

If he was still Finn's boss, or a colleague, or a comrade-in-arms, he would never interfere and make him bear everything he committed with his own hands.Together they will perish before the dawn.

But he is not.

His heart, which was almost assimilated by the night, was once redeemed by Finn.

Therefore, after dawn, the sins that must be committed to a person can be borne by him alone.

Noah thought that his shoulders should still be strong enough.Enough to hold Finn in his arms like now.

After all, this is not his story alone.

【THEEND】

The author has something to say:

It's finally over, thank you everyone who saw this w

Afterwards, there will be a few small episodes that will be broadcast one after another~

see you next story

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