Children's Games: A Story of Modern Punishment

Chapter 25 - Nadia

~Nadia~

Russia was a strange place; a home and a prison. Most people saw it that way, including Nadia.

She tried not to look cold as the frost crept inside every pore on her face and the iced weapon in her hands burned through her gloves and froze her fingers. But she mustn't look cold, she had to look strong and scary as she held her gun threateningly. The people needed to see her uniform and be discouraged from getting in their way.

The woman beside her, hardly a soldier, was dressed in an identical uniform but clearly didn't care about the appearance they were trying to maintain. She was complimenting the children and smiling at a pretty rich lady walking past with a dog resembling a rat. Her name was Zhenya, and although this was the first time Nadia met her, she quickly decided she didn't like her. Her hair was neatly combed up in her hat, but it wasn't to look neat, it was to hide that her tips were dyed pink. When she saw Nadia glaring, she stopped smiling, keeping her flirtatious smiles just for the pretty rich ladies walking past. Her uniform looked ill-fitted and unprofessional with her easy-going smile anyway.

What a joke.

Nadia had spent almost all of her adult life, from eighteen to twenty-eight, defending her country. The war had started when she was twenty-two, though she had joined the military four years prior. She spent every second doing what was asked of her, in and out of the country. Defending her home's honour against every lie that was thrown their way. Integrity and honour consumed that decade. Then there were people like Zhenya who were upper-class citizens whose money was finally running out. Joining the military paid a pretty penny, but not pretty enough to fix her hot pink hair.

Of course, the people on the streets didn't know Zhenya's worth. They only saw her uniform, ignored Nadia's threatening weapon... and threw shit and other rotten substances at them as they passed.

Nadia hated doing her rounds of the city. It was one big cycle of one-sided conflict, abuse, and crime against their own flag. They weren't allowed to react and deliver a show of force, only take the blows and represent the military as a civil political fighting company.

And it was even worse now doing it with Zhenya. She was light-hearted and dove into the shift headfirst thinking that a simple smile would stop the hate. She was stupid and ignorant. Obviously starting with her pink hair, then to add to the mix she was delusional, had boring brown eyes, and spoke to her as if they were friends. Being rude was the only way to keep her at bay, so she ignored her. But still, Zhenya was always talking.

"It's fuckin' ridiculous. The new rationing rules are complete bullshit. My son serves with them and has served him for years and he sends food back to us because of how well he eats compared to us!"

They stood on a small pedestrian bridge going over an almost empty street save for a small group of civilians smelling of fish and shit. Nadia mouthed to Zhenya to 'shut the fuck up' while they listened in.

"It's not right. And what about the curfews? My brother was arrested for being out after dark last night, and now they won't tell us where he's being kept! A few people rioted months ago and now we're treated like rats!"

"But you know what, we have a right to riot and protest. It's fuckin' ridiculous and he should never've gotten this much power. He's a monster..."

The two people that were the ones talking were looking at each other with such tired expressions... then one of them started tearing up, hardly getting her words out. "My husband was conscripted into Romanov's army months ago. After a month we got news that he was being deployed to their presence against Ukraine, but we haven't heard from him since." She was sobbing, barely keeping it together. "Our children ask every day where he is, and I can't bring myself to tell them! It should've been me, only one of us had to go and he insisted... but you know he's got that bad hip..."