A Catastrophic Winter

Prologue

It came upon a midnight clear... Kristoff was on duty. He looked forward to Christmas, to the warmth of home and the sound of relatives singing carols. Instead, he found himself thousands of miles away, at the frontier of Zeldovia's borders.

"Do you know that our Emperor is actually Polish?"

"What the hell are you talking about? We are getting ready to occupy Poland."

"He has an estate in Krakow."

"Perfect reason to claim Poland as a part of Zeldovia"

"You're missing the point."

The newspapers had been shouting the clamour of war to all Zeldovians. Yet they were not the only source of information for Andre. Dissident papers circulating around were Andre's intelligence. Andre was a part of the new working class movement. For Kristoff, all they did was disrespecting the order in Zeldovia.

"So you're saying that he is Polish just because..." Kristoff broke the silence.

"He visits that estate every Christmas, Kris. Every Christmas!" Andre interrupted.

Frontier guard detail, sitting in trenches, surrounded by barbed wire were already reasons enough for Kristoff's low morale. With Andre, everything was just worse.

It was a crisp, cold winter night. Kristoff lifted his eyes to the skies and could see the stars shining brightly. "It came upon midnight clear, that glorious song of old..." the carol sang from the vinyl record player. The soothing voice of the singer seemed to let Kristoff's mind rest. For a few minutes, he had his tranquility. 

"What do you think comes tonight?" Andre broke the silence.

"Could you not?"

A few minutes passed. The carol ended. Somewhere near the barracks, behind the frontline, bells were ringing. The cold wind whooshed every now and then. There was a faint sound like that of a bird chirping. Tree branches crackling. Kristoff tried to concentrate.

"Did you hear that?"

"'Did you hear that?' Yeah, sure. The factory workers are winning..."

"Shh! I thought I heard something."

Kristoff reached his standard-issued Mauser. Under the bright moonlight, he thought something flickering caught his eyes.

"Kristoff, what is this? Putting up a show, I see?"

Andre looked eastward to the woods. More crackling sounds. A drop of cold sweat passed through his forehead. Minutes that felt like eternity passed.

Silence.

Kristoff lifted his Mauser to aim. Andre extinguished their candle and took his position to aim.

"Kristoff, I am scared."

Another silence.

"Andre, get ready to go back to the barracks if..."

Three loud booms came from miles behind the woods. Bright flashes followed. Andre, trembling uncontrollably, pulled the trigger and released a bullet randomly to the woods.

Loud whistles, boom.

"Incoming!" Kristoff and Andre ducked.

And another one. And another one. Mud and dirt splashed all around the trench where they were.

"Atak!" shouted a man from the woods. "Atak!" another one further to the right. Trench whistles blown. Screams of battle cry came from the woods.

"They are attacking us. They will be all over us soon!"

"I thought we are not at war yet," Andre said while whimpering.

"I count at least three squads heading here."

Stray bullets hit the wooden cover inches above their heads. Kristoff headed to the metal cover on the left side of the trench and started shooting at muzzle flash in the forest. First bullet, bolted. Second bullet, bolted.Third bullet, bolted. Kristoff used the advantage of his position, firing downhill at the advancing enemies.

"Andre! Get your buttocks going and cover the right wing of the trench!"

Andre moved and took position and aimed his Mauser. It seemed that all of them were shooting at Kristoff's position. Andre found himself surrounded with eerie silence. He could see Kristoff defending his position fiercely. The man who wanted Christmas so bad, he thought. A non-revolutionary; yet he fought better.

Thud.

Clatter.

Another thud.

Clatter.

Loud bang.

Kristoff heard the bang and looked right. "ANDRE!"

No answer.

Men in hostile uniform were taking over the right wing. It's over. "A revolutionary killed by a revolutionary weapon," he muttered under his breath.

"ATAK!" this time it sounded closer. Kristoff reached his pocket and found the last clip of his bullets. He reloaded his Mauser.

"I hope to God the barracks are warned... After all, Andre was right. I missed his point," Kristoff whispered to himself. He said a short prayer.

He stood up and screamed. He shot his five bullets one by one, claiming some enemy lives.

Then, another wave of booms came from behind the woods. Bright flashes followed.

BANG. Kristoff was deafened.

BANG. Blinded.

And then no more.

It came upon a midnight clear, that glorious song of old. From angels bending near the earth. To touch their harps of gold!

Salvation.