Nor sat at the table and thought about what to do next. As an orphan, he had to survive on the streets of the settlement, the only attachment in his life is an old man who has already died, who took pity on him and sheltered him at the age of nine.

The old man often told him various stories of his youth, and also taught him as much as his knowledge of the alphabet and counting allowed him. He was kind and often helped other orphans and those in need, telling Nora to be kind-hearted. Himself, he lived in a small tent made of torn skins on the outskirts of the settlement.

Thanks to the old man, Nor was able to get a job as a farmer, but because of his weak body, he could not perform the full volume of robots, which annoyed the bosses and reduced his salary. Fortunately, one person from the internal patrol was an old debtor of the old man, which did not allow them to drive Nor from work.

But all good things come to an end sometime, when Nor was thirteen years old, a deadly plague broke out in the settlement, which quickly spread, taking life.

Among the infected was an old man, Nor, who looked after him, saw a person close to him die in agony. Many attempts to stop the suffering of the old man ended with lowered hands and hope for his recovery.

The plague itself, infecting a person, chained him to bed, slowly and painfully killing him. At the first stage, a person's veins will begin to protrude and the pressure will increase, which led to the death of people with a weak heart, it will last for several days until the disease, slowly through the blood, penetrates into all parts of the body. Then the blood in the veins will begin to turn black, and purulent spots will appear on the body, which will slowly spread, causing incredible pain. A week later, a person will look like a corpse that has been lying in the ground for several weeks. The third and final stage will be complete putrefaction of internal organs, which will last about five days and leads to imminent death. Most of the people who have survived to the third stage can no longer be considered alive, only a rotten shell remains of them.

The old man, under the supervision of Nora, lasted until the end of the second stage and died. His death was a blow to him, and he did not leave the tent for several days looking at the decomposing corpse. Only on the third day, the neighbors noticed that no sounds were being made from the tent, and fearing, they informed the nearest employee of the internal patrol.

Entering the tent, the patrol officer felt a rotten smell and examined the tent with disgust. He saw the decomposing corpse of an old man and a skinny boy sitting next to him.

Realizing the situation, the officer of the internal patrol came out of the tent and examined the surroundings, ordered several vagrants to dismantle the tent and wrap the body of the old man, along with all his belongings, and then go after him.

Nor, seeing how his house was being destroyed and the body of a person close to him was taken away, tried to prevent them, but an employee of the internal patrol grabbed him with one hand and dragged him along. Going further, to the wall of the settlement, he ordered to throw all the things and the old man into a pile, and then set fire to.

Nor watched with an empty expression as the tent burned down along with the old man wrapped in it. When the tent was already completely burned down and the tramps wanted to disperse, the calm voice of an internal patrol officer sounded behind them.

- Did I allow you to disperse? - he raised an eyebrow. - You have all been in contact with an infected person and by law you must be quarantined for several weeks, follow me.

When he finished speaking, he turned around and slowly dragging Nora with him, walked towards the closed area. The tramps, without saying a word, followed him, fearing to be killed on the spot.

The closed area was a fenced plot of land, one square kilometer, guarded by an internal patrol. Once inside, for the first time, Nor watched his surroundings indifferently.

He saw infected people of all ages and genders. In one torn and dirty tent, rotted bodies were lying around. And in the neighborhood, a rotten smell mixed with the processes of human activity was melting.

After sitting like this for several days, Nora began to have stomach pains from hunger. Getting up from the ground, he headed towards the gate and seeing the queue got into it. A few dozen minutes later, an employee with a cloth on his face gave him a crooked wooden plate with an incomprehensible porridge. Stepping aside, he, for lack of a spoon, began to drink slowly from the plate.

The porridge had a nasty smell and looked like a monotonous viscous liquid. When half of the plate was left, Nor saw several emaciated children who were greedily watching him eat.

Remembering the kindness that the old man taught him, he took pity and approached the children, smiling, handed them a bowl with the remains of porridge. The stunned children froze for a few seconds, took the bowl and took turns drinking the leftovers in several sips, after which they thanked Nora.

Over time, Nor got used to this kind of life. Orphaned children often gathered around him and asked him to tell stories that he had heard from the old man. A year and a half later, Nor heard rumors that the manager of the northern Gate had recently returned with a doctor and the plague would be defeated.

After the examination, the doctor began to create a medicine that was ready for several months. To Nor's surprise, he has never been infected during his entire stay in a closed area.

Unfortunately, after the spread of the vaccine and the cure of the majority, people who were quarantined were discriminated against by other residents of the settlement and continued their lives in a closed area.

When Nora was already sixteen years old and was about to turn seventeen, a man in leather armor entered his tent, in which he lived with several orphans, and grabbed him, forcefully dragged him to the gate.

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Suddenly immersed in his thoughts, Nor woke up when he heard the door to his bedroom with the child open and a middle-aged man with a serious face entered it. After a quick glance around the room, he turned his gaze to Nor, carefully examining him. After studying, he said with disappointment in his voice.

- Although I saw earlier that your body is weak, but after studying it more closely, I can say that you will have to train for a long time. If I had my way, I would not have taken up this once, but since I was ordered, I will have to.

Throwing Nora a set of workout clothes, they looked into each other's eyes. A few seconds later, frowning, Vladim said. – What are you sitting on, pass it on.