The Road to Murmansk

Static noise on the radio 
The road is being rebuild so right now there is no road,
instead there is just one long stretch of dirt, with a whole lot of gravel and sometimes some sticks demarcating its sides
There is a little clearing in the Sky from which I can pick up the shimmer of aurora. its 6Kp right now.
thats exciting.
We have to hurry because at 9pm the border between Norway and Russia closes, which gives us 20 minutes.
We are right in time.
We pass the Norwegian check point.
In no mans land, 2 half cylinders of orange plastic are set up for Syrian refugees Some people hang out in front of it,
we drive by slowly
for a moment I think I hear music playing outside
when we get stopped by Russian military police I realize its just the radio playing static and a hint of Cia We made it into Russia, the military zone;
we are not allowed to stand still here
some light is peeking from behind the horizon but generally everything is dark.
there are no lanterns that light the street and the light in the sky is made of vague reflections, turning the clouds from green to red;
a flurry of chemical light and the light of 'civilization' from beyond the horizon A big bad is hovering above us for a little while. I have never seen such a big bad.
we pass 19KM, a military town. suddenly we are surrounded by fog.
Three bodies loom up on the side of the road
they are military bodies.
The bodies turn their heads to the car;
they want to hitch a ride.
We enter Sputnik, the next military town
suddenly the fog is gone
the white noise changes - it's no longer coming from inside the car but instead turned into noise on the windshield
its snowing now
in the headlights it looks like we are star traveling
I am getting really tired
Our driver seems to make it a sport to flatten as many gerbils as possible
I guess Zhanna did not tell him I am vegetarian
Why are there so many gerbils on the road ?
My head falls down again which wakes me up. In front of me is a long bridge stretching out over dark water.
at the end stands the largest red and white chimney I have ever seen.

...We made it to Murmansk...