The CHANGI BULLET

Chapter 34 - Warsaw

It was obvious that Dinah and Dmitry would have to move quickly. When Oleg-Paul pointed out that only special flights from the main ticketholder's capital city were being allowed to fly to England, it became clear that they were actually in a desperate hurry.

'You mean Moscow?' queried a flabbergasted Dinah. 'Fucking Moscow!?'

Dmitry laughed. 'You always said you wanted to see Moscow, baby. Now you get to see it for exactly twenty-five minutes.'

Oleg-Paul had casually planned their train route the night before: Brussels to Berlin. Change there and on to Moscow. Catch the special flight to England. Get there with twelve hours to spare, he guessed.

Dinah turned to Dmitry. 'You can meet my mum.'

He pulled a grim face. 'Deep joy.'

They packed as light as the day they had arrived in Waterloo, and Oleg-Paul and Liza drove them to Brussels railway station. It was a sad, little journey, where both girls had a weep. Only travelers were allowed inside the building, with masked police guards on duty, so the emotional goodbyes were made outside. They hugged and kissed, and wished good luck on the farm and good luck in outer space. Liza pressed a manila envelope full of cash on Dinah, for emergencies.

'Look after my nephew or niece,' she said to Dinah's ear.

'I will do. We'll name it after one of you two.'

'Oh, for God's sake, no. Don't name it Oleg-Paul, whatever you do.'

Finally, the tight schedule forced them to part, waving and waving until the two couples were no longer able to see each other.

Dinah and Dmitry had the newly-developed, two-minute saliva swab test and their temperatures taken by masked nurses, before being allowed to pass onto the main concourse and purchase two tickets to Berlin. Luckily the train was about to leave, so they found their seats, held hands and watched as they left Brussels behind them forever.

There were not many people traveling in their carriage. They both managed to sleep for a little bit during the seven hours or so journey. Berlin greeted them with poor weather, but they could still see how medieval the city still was. At one time it had been the capital of Germany, but had long since been overshadowed by Munich and Cologne and Osnabruck.

As the train pulled into the station, the guard came along handing out surgical masks and telling everyone to stay in their seats. A team of masked nurses came through each carriage, doing swab tests and taking temperatures again. Only after the swab turned the right colour were the passengers allowed to disembark.

Very hungry, they ate burgers and fries in one of the station's food outlets. Masked travelers, passing by, all seemed stressed out. Dinah and Dmitry were tired and stressed, themselves. Rain fell noisily on the station's glass roof and made the atmosphere feel dank and oppressive.

'I've decided I don't like Germany,' she told him.

'Me, neither.'

'We'll finish this, then see about a train out of here.'

They walked over to the ticket office window, peering in at a sullen, masked blonde woman, who clearly wished she was somewhere else.

'We need two tickets to Moscow, please,' Dmitry asked.

'Not possible,' she mumbled.

'I'm sorry, what?'

'I can't help you. There are no trains to Moscow.'

Dinah pulled her mask down below her chin, ready to have a big row with the woman. 'Why not?'

'The Russian federation has banned all trains from travelling into the Greater Moscow area.'

Dmitry sensed that Dinah was about to blow up, so he put himself in the way, thanked the official, and pulled Dinah aside. 'No point, Dinah. She's only passing on information.'

'She's a miserable cow. What do we do now?'

'Let me think for a second.'

Dinah walked about aimlessly, her right hand up around her head in frustration. She could only think that they would have to return to Belgian-Russia. Dmitry took a grasp on her; he had an idea.

'We hire a car!'

'We hire a car? Dmitry!? And drive from Berlin to Moscow? That's the best you can come up with?'

'Wait here.'

He wandered away and she saw him talking at the desk of a one of the big Hire Car companies. Dinah tried to remain sane and calm. Tried to contain her sadness and disappointment. He set off back to her.

'The girl on the desk said it's about a twenty-four-hour drive to Moscow.'

Dinah just looked at him.

'Dinah, baby. There are no planes or trains going to Moscow. What do you want to do? Start walking?'

Tears welled in her eyes. 'Please don't be horrible to me.'

He held her, then almost immediately let go. 'I'm being stupid. We need to get closer before we drive in. Warsaw. Wait again.'

She watched him return to the girl in the ticket office. He soon came back, grinning.

'Trains are running to Warsaw.'

'Where, pray tell, is Warsaw?'

'Warsaw. In Polish-Russia. Everyone knows Warsaw. It's much further east. We drive from there.'

'Okay! Did you get tickets for the next train to Warsaw?'

'Not yet.'

'Well, do it.'

'I will. After a kiss.'

She kissed him.

'Dmitry, promise me something.'

'Anything.'

'When you hire a car in Warsaw, please don't mention that it's being driven all the way to Moscow and then it's being dumped.'

He grinned. 'I'll remember that.'