Behind Enemy Lines

Entry Twenty-Two

January 1, 1945.

Frozen

That’s how my entire body felt as I awoke the next morning. My face, my body and my mind were frozen like a block of ice.

I turned my head and looked out the small window in the shed. It was grey outside and it was snowing gracefully. It took a few minutes for my hearing to come back and when I did; the sounds of the battle were gone, replaced by unknown voices in unknown languages.

“Hey! Is anyone out there!” a voice called out. That could have been the Americans Torren referred too.

I nudged myself free from Torrens’ arm and sat up. The inside of the shed was frosted over, including the jacket I was wearing. “T-Torren…wake up..” I said faintly. My voice was frozen as well and I sounded like a mouse trying to squeak. Torren remained silent; in fact he didn’t seem to have been breathing at all. I weakly nudged his shoulder, altering him the American’s were here.

Torren still didn’t move and I noticed his hand that clutched his wound was limp at his side. I refused to believe that he was dead and I continued to nudge him, eventually shoving his arm. He was like a frozen block of ice. His face had frost and a bit of ice clung to his cheeks.

“Hey! Is anyone out there!” the voice called again.

Panic ran through me as I nudged Torren as hard as I could. His body was unmoved, everything about him was frozen. “Torren please get up…wake up! They are here! They are here to save us! TORREN!” I said in a loud whisper.

Nothing.

I sat next to him and felt the tears stream down my cheeks, only to freeze halfway.

Torren was dead.

I didn’t want to believe it but my mind was telling me so. I laid my head on his shoulder and silently cried. I didn’t know what to do and I didn’t know how to speak to these Americans. I thought about just sitting there and freezing to death but what would I gain with that? Torren wanted me to live out my life, that was his last wish.

“Hey Pauli! I found a trail of blood, it’s leading to this shed over here” came that voice again. It sounded like it was outside of the shed. I looked over to Torren and gently kissed his cheek. It was the last thing I could think of in that moment.

The shed doors opened slowly and there in the space was a man with black hair and brown eyes. He had the American flag on his uniform and some other symbols. Once we made eye contact, his face went pale, as if he had seen a ghost. “Yo Pauli! I found a survivor!” the man shouted to his friend. He never took his eyes off me as he then walked inside the shed. “What’s you name kid?” he asked.

It took me a moment to answer due to the fact that my throat was nearly frozen shut. “M-Mika Struvolski” I whispered.

The man looked at me with a weird expression and then he glanced over to Torren. He automatically knew Torren was dead and saved me the annoyance of telling me. “Okay Mika, come with us.” he said as held out his hand with a smile.

I hesitated at first but gradually I lifted my arm and placed my frozen hand on his. He pulled me up swiftly to my feet, which made me whimper in pain. “I-I can’t walk..” I whispered.

“I figured as much.” He said in a sly tone as he lifted me up bridal style.

Another man walked into the shed and looked over to us. “Hey Freddy, what did you – oh…a survivor.” He said as he then glanced over to Torren. “Damn…looks like he was the only one.” He added as he walked over to check Torren’s pulse. “It looks like this medical officer gave his life to keep that boy warm or maybe he died of that gunshot wound.” He said as he stood back up and smiled at me. “You’re one of the lucky ones kid.” He said as he patted my shoulder.