In the Shadow of the Red Star

3. The Border

August 26, 1991

5:54 pm

Border checkpoint Kozlovichi, Brest region, Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union

"... who represent the future of our motherland"

"Is that all? Are you serious?" shouts an older man in a suit while watching Anatoli's speech on television.

"Can you shut up?" a woman in a suit shouts at him "There is no need to shout"

At this, the man turns around and in a rude tone says, "I don't know if you've noticed, but we're trapped in this damn building for no reason."

"Sir," a soldier shouts, "be silent, this is your second warning."

"Watch your tone with me, boy," the old man responds, "I fought in the streets of Stalingrad, I gave my sweat and blood in that city, thanks to me you can sleep peacefully at night, thanks to me you all have a future!"

"Sir, we thank you for your service, but this is your third warning, please return to the center of the room" the soldier warns him, to which the old man ignores and addresses him, to which the soldier raises his AKS-74U, and sees how the rest of the people inside stop the old man and return him to the center of the room.

"Can you be quiet? You're going to kill us all," a young man with round glasses tells him.

"Leave him alone," says an elderly woman. "It's natural for him to be stressed at a time like this."

"natural?" the young man asks sarcastically.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but the road beyond the border was replaced by an ocean," a middle-aged man tells him, "at first I thought it was the vodka I drank in the morning, but I've been watching the border all the day, this is real, how come you're not worried?

The young man starts babbling "W-well... you saw the press conference, right? The new secretary said that they have contacted other nations, the earthquake must have affected other nations, and everything will be fine."

"Everything will be fine?" The old man tells him, "The government doesn't even have funds to repair its buildings and you think they will solve whatever is happening?"

While they were arguing, the middle-aged man heard a sob, and when he turned to his right, he could see a man in the corner, with a leather frock coat completely covering him. "Poor man," he thought, "we are all going through this, but he "He doesn't seem to be able to stand the pressure, maybe he had a personal matter to attend to, and he was trapped here, I hope he can get out in time."

Suddenly, the man stands up and at a slow pace goes towards the soldier at the entrance, who still has a gun in his hand due to the altercation with the old man. The man stands in front, and between sobs, he says to the soldier "Please...let us get out of here, we won't talk to anyone about this"

"Sir, return to the center of the room," the soldier orders, "this is your first warning."

"Please...I have to get out of here," the man begs. "I have a family, not if they survived."

"This is your second warning," the soldier warned him.

"I have to get out of here," the man shouts in a desperate tone, "I'm not even from this country, at least let me contact the Polish embassy,"

Before the soldier can say anything to him, the man grabs him by his uniform "Please, I have to get out, I haven't done anything, let me out" Immediately the soldier tries to grab his gun, only to be stopped by the man, who raises the weapon upward, causing the guard to fire a burst on the ceiling of the building. At this moment, other soldiers who were in the hallway approached to help their comrade.