Viktor’s lip curled up in a wince as he tugged his boots from his sore feet. Rubbing his blistered heels, he peered up into the Regenian sunset. It was too warm there. The earth was too flat and soil rich brown without a stitch of firm stone. He ached for the day he would see his mountains again.
Dipping his feet into the shallow pail of well water collected from the town square fountain, he rested his forehead in his hands. A hint of winter scented the breeze drifting between the Berchten ranks scattered on the cobblestones.
Atleast this year, when the cold came, they wouldn’t be buried alive in snowy foxholes and fighting off trench foot. Viktor didn’t want to think about the taste of rat or the jagged splash of blood to ice. He had come to know both intimately during their campaign in the north.
The last winter, they had hunkered down above the rocky border of Regena. The Emperor had promised them ultimate victory. He had delivered on his oaths but at a great cost. Regena had not fallen as easily as they had once believed and it had taken them the better part of the year to reach the southern farmlands.
“Say, you got any more of those?”
Viktor lazily drew his cigarette from his mouth and blinked up into the replacement Officer’s square face. Gruber was a handsome brute, but that’s where his list of positive attributes ended. With a faint frown, Viktor reached into his field jacket and pulled out the half empty pack.
“Keep ‘em,” he quipped, tossing it over to the Lieutenant.
“Thanks.”
Gruber sank to the ground, propping up his knees and lighting a smoke. A shimmer of dust erupted from the ground as Victor tossed out the water. Letting his feet dry in the sun, he crossed his arms over his broad chest and closed his eyes again. Viktor hoped Gruber would get the message.
“So what do you think?”
Viktor cringed. He only wanted to be left alone with his thoughts. As usual, Gruber was slow on the pickup.
“Sergeant Domnin?”
“Yes sir?” Viktor managed.
“What do you think of it all?”
“All of what, sir?”
“This place, the land, the people,” Gruber punched him in the knee, “The girls?”
“To be honest, sir, I haven’t thought much about it.”
“C’mon, the spoils of war? Aren’t you a little curious-“
“Aren’t you married?” Viktor peeked open one eye at his comrade.
Gruber shifted uneasily and blew out a cloud of smoke, “Yes, but my wife is modern.”
Viktor wanted to ask what that shady statement meant but it would only beleaguer the conversation. He was already bored enough. He didn’t reply but shut his eyes as a shifting glance of sun drifted over his face. His mind trailed back to the winter two years earlier when he was in training in the Egovan region below his beloved mountains. Most of the men he had been with during those days had been killed off one way or another.
Fischer had his face blown off by a mine in an abandoned house. Lang was picked off by a sniper in the trench while relieving himself. Haas froze to death while on watch. Becker, Hoffmann and Schulz were all caught without masks in a gas attack. Becker and Hoffmann were killed almost instantly while Schulz took a few days while the chemicals burned through his system.
It was only Viktor Domnin and Peter Maier left in their platoon from the old days. Viktor refused to get to know the new boys as they cycled through like water in a wheel. Lieutenant Gruber forced himself on Viktor but if he ever bought it, Viktor wouldn’t mourn the loss.
“I saw you talking to one of them.”
Viktor stumbled out of his thoughts, and sat up with a sigh. He had almost been asleep, his musings drifting deeper into the dark. He shook out his soiled socks.
“You were talking to a girl on the side of the road,” Gruber pulled out another cigarette, “So don’t tell me you aren’t interested.”
He had almost forgotten about his predictable first exchange with the local girl. He hadn’t expected her to take the candy bar though the boy seemed keen to accept his offering. Viktor wasn’t sure why he had done it in the first place. He didn’t want to make friends or find familiarity. He hated the place his country had claimed for their own.
“I’m not interested,” he slid his suspenders back onto his shoulders, “The kid she was with looked skinny.”
“She was pretty.”
“Was she?” Viktor spit through his front teeth and tucked his jacket under his arm, “I didn’t notice.”
He wandered away and hoped Gruber wouldn’t follow. Homesick and painfully exhausted, he found a tree with a little shade and slept until they were gathered up to be put into their quarters.
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