Frank suddenly woke up to loud noises outside the tent. It was nighttime already so all he could see was pitch-black darkness... or was it the cloth? Frank put his hands gently over his face. He could feel a wet cloth. Frank accepted what this meant. He wondered if he could take it off. He was too curious to see the commotion outside. But he knew he shouldn't. So he decided to let his curiosity die down. Not being able to see the outside world for so long felt awful. Normally Frank would either be patrolling or looking out for enemies lurking around, but now that he couldn't do anything, it felt... quiet. Too quiet for Frank. It didn't feel normal. He could hear everything perfectly and exceptionally. Now that his ears were doing most of his survival instincts, he wasn't used to it. He used mainly his eyes to look out and see but now he couldn't.

Frank slightly tilted his head to his left. His neck hurt from staying in the same position for too long. He held his neck with his right hand as the neck pain wouldn't go away. He was careful not to touch the cloth. Then, as he moved his right arm, a loud crash could be heard as if something had fallen over. Frank worried he might've tipped some medical equipment over. He had to do something about it. He didn't want to yell out as it might cause even more commotion. So he called quietly.

"Anyone there?" Frank spoke softly.

There was no response so Frank decided to give it another try not hoping to get a response.

"A-Anyone there?" Frank spoke again.

This time, a loud clang rang in the tent. Frank was now scared.

"Who's there?!" Frank raised his voice.

Frank could hear footsteps coming his way. Was it the sound of boots? Or was it just the wind blowing against the tent? Either way though, Frank was on edge as the footsteps only got closer and closer until they stopped and Frank could tell that there was a presence of a person right beside his makeshift medical bed. He wanted to move but he didn't want to either. His survival instincts were kicking in.

"I-Is someone right beside me?" Frank spoke one more time.

Frank was nervous as he wasn't sure. Was he imagining things? Or was someone really beside him? Frank was getting afraid. He wanted to yell out for help.

"Is anyone there?!" Frank slightly spoke louder.

With this yell, Frank could feel the presence going away as if it were a deity of sorts. No, that's ridiculous! That couldn't possibly be! Frank slowly raised his right arm again and moved it around his right side to see if anyone was there. He couldn't feel anything. He figured it was probably his imagination so he went back to sleep and snoozed off.

The very next day, at a reserve base, what remained of the '1265th Mechanised Light Armored Infantry Company' readied up to retake the lost base. They had regrouped back at a village in the Jekkera Tundra. The base was in ruins but they had to retake it or else the enemies would. So they started to head out towards the old base. The journey was long with twists and turns along the way. Then they came across an abandoned town. The water had frozen so the poor town folks had to march their way through the harsh blizzards to the south. They kept on walking for some more time until they arrived at the original base. On their way to the base, frozen dead bodies lay in the snow. It was a terrifying yet beautiful sight. With the mountain ranges of Umbarken, it was a rather weirdly marvellous view. At the lost base, the bodies of the enemies were littered everywhere. It seems that even the enemy paratroopers had perished due to the harsh cold. There were tank tracks and abandoned crates of rations. The enemies had retreated as well. There was a pile of corpses, both Quadaric and enemy militia soldiers. The enemy soldiers that were once settled had tried to burn them but to no avail. The whole place stunk of fresh flesh. The '1265th Mechanised Light Armored Infantry Company' then came to a halt and started rebuilding defences in case of another attack. They built foxholes in case of another bombing run or even artillery. Frank helped bury the corpses. Their cold dead expressions stared at Frank's soul. They were buried far away from the base further in the valley. Through the harsh freezing snow, the soldiers kept rebuilding. Frank found Amelia again. She was helping out some soldiers with carrying crates. It was a miracle that the fortress managed to survive. Some hours passed, and the base was finally rebuilt. They then set up anti-aircraft guns as well as trenches. They also got anti-tank guns just in case vehicles were involved. It was obvious that they weren't taking any chances. The forest was quite large so they needed to spread out the troops on the defence. Frank was still recovering so he couldn't help much but in the morning the doctor came to assess him again.

"How am I doing, doctor?" Frank asked.

"Your eyes are in a much better condition now," the doctor responded.

"Thank you for telling me," Frank replied.

"No worries," the doctor replied.

"What should I call you?" Frank asked.

"Call me Doctor Kersiv Chorol," the doctor answered.

"Well, Doctor Chorol, I appreciate you for helping me," Frank told Dr. Chorol.

"You saved my life."

"Who knows what could've happened if I had gone untreated."

"Well, most likely dead!" Dr. Chorol joked.

"Ha," Frank laughed.

"Alright, I'm going to test if you can see properly again, okay?" Dr. Chorol asked.

"O-Okay, umm, should I be awake for this?" Frank questioned.

"Well, both, I'll give you painkillers afterwards," Dr. Chorol answered.

"A-Alright," Frank accepted.

"I'll try to handle it."

Frank could hear the doctor rummaging through the metal equipment, hunting for the right one. Frank could hear the doctor put on his gloves as the sound of the gloves slapping against the skin entered Frank's ears. Then, he could feel the doctor getting closer. The cloth over his eyes was slowly pulled off. The light from the lamp in the tent blinded Frank for a few moments. Everything was too bright for him. But he could see now. He hadn't seen what the outside world looked like in hours. It felt like an eternity but now he was free of it.

"Can you see, Frank?" Dr. Chorol asked.

"Y-Yes! I-I can see now!" Frank cried in delight.

His eyes teared due to his happiness.

"Alright, Frank," Dr. Chorol spoke.

"Here's the painkillers in case you need them."

Dr. Chorol put the pill bottle on a small table beside Frank.

"You can leave whenever you want but remember to take at least one of these," Dr. Chorol ordered.

"Alright, Doctor," Frank assured.

"I'll make sure of it."

Dr. Chorol left the tent and Frank watched as he delightfully looked around in awe. There wasn't much to see in the tent. Some metal surgical equipment lying around all over the place and Dr Chorol's desk. Frank slowly moved his body up on his medical bed. All his bones and joints simultaneously hurt Frank like flames. He was in agony. So he gave up on the first try. He breathed in and breathed out due to all the pain and exhaustion. He sighed in helplessness. Then, he wondered if the news of Lt. Ferguson's death had spread around or not.

"Has Eric broke the news to the others?" Frank thought.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt urgent to tell the soldiers of the Ferguson's Company. So he tried to get up a second time. He lifted himself from his medical bed and this time through the agonizing pain, he was successful. The weight of his own body had shifted due to gravity and his brain had a hard time readjusting. He was just getting used to his eyes seeing things again but now, he was also adapting again to gravity. Now that he was up from his bed, he could see his surroundings better. The light from the entrance of the tent shone on Frank's face. Now, Frank wanted to walk from his bed. He tried sliding his legs down onto the floor. They slid down hard and slumped onto the ground. Frank could feel all the pain from the movements. He grunted a few times. Then, at the bottom of his hearing, he heard a faint voice.

"Where's Frank?" the voice spoke.

Frank remembered the voice. It was hard to hear further as the voice was so far away outside the tent but he was sure the voice spoke his name. He stared blankly at the entrance of the tent, waiting for someone to burst in and meet him. Then, someone came through the entrance.

"Frank?" the mysterious soldier spoke.

Frank remembered the voice from somewhere. It was someone female. Wait.

"A-Amelia?" Frank spoke.

"Yeah! Are you okay, Frank?" Amelia worriedly asked.

"What happened? Where were you?"

Frank couldn't respond fast enough to the speed Amelia was asking them.

"Amelia, calm down a bit," Frank requested.

"Oh, okay," Amelia complied.

"Seriously though, we'd been searching for you the entire last night!"

Frank was weirdly glad to hear that. At least the soldiers cared about retrieving missing comrades.

"Although it was mainly a search for Lieutenant Ferguson," Amelia added.

This put a slightly concerned look on Frank's face.

"Well, at least Amelia cares," Frank thought.

"But, Frank, where is Lieutenant Ferguson?" Amelia asked Frank.

Frank wasn't sure if he wanted to break the news to her.

"Ah, let's just do it," Frank thought.

Frank breathed in some fresh air and readied to speak.

"Amelia," Frank spoke.

Amelia looked at Frank in curiosity.

"H-He," Frank spoke again.

"What happened to him?" Amelia questioned.

"Lieutenant Ferguson has passed away to injuries," Frank told politely.

"Wait, he died?" Amelia asked in surprise.

"Yes, in shorter terms, he died," Frank explained.

Frank could see that Amelia was taken aback by this. She backed off and started thinking about it.

"Wh-What should we do then?" Amelia asked.

"Should we tell the rest?"

Frank thought deeply for a moment.

"We should tell the others," Frank told Amelia.

"We'll be disbanded though," Amelia added.

"So what?" Frank coldly replied.

Amelia frowned in sadness from hearing that.

"But, Frank, everyone has their things," Amelia spoke.

"And some of those personal things are their friendship with other comrades."

Frank didn't quite understand.

"What would happen if we suddenly decided to break their friendship apart?"

"They can still rejoin them in another company right?" Frank asked.

"This company can't possibly be the only one that allows that."

Amelia looked disappointed in Frank.

"Frank!" Amelia yelled.

"How ignorant can you be?!"

Frank was completely perplexed.

"Most of the troops in our company have signed contracts to help their families out!" Amelia went on further.

"Disbanding this company will leave a huge dent in their payment and financial funds!"

"It will have a big impact on them!"

Frank never knew of this.

"Wait, I've also signed a contract so that my family is also fine," Frank added.

Amelia's expression looked quite gloomy after she heard Frank say that.

"But I don't remember a single part of the contract that stated any of this!" Frank yelled in denial.

"Well, clearly you must not have read all of it thoroughly," Amelia blamed.

"Since when did you get all sassy?" Frank asked.

Frank was both angry and confused.

"I can't believe this!" Frank thought.

"I never thought I'd be tricked by a contract, especially that of the Q.A.F!"

Frank couldn't believe it! He had been tricked by the Q.A.F all this time! Or had he been? Maybe he had misread the contract incorrectly or, just like Amelia said, not thorough enough.

"Well, that's beside the point," Frank finally said.

"We'll have to tell them."

Amelia prepared to argue with Frank.

"And that's final," Frank put the final nail in the coffin.

"Fine," Amelia agreed.

"You will have to take responsibility once they start making a fuss."

"I will," Frank replied.

After that conversation, Amelia left the tent. Frank looked down as he felt exhausted thinking about all that. His brain was convoluted with all the things he was experiencing. But through all the pain and suffering, Frank held himself up, got off the bed, and started walking properly. He stumbled a few times but he quickly got the hang of it. He took some small steps and went out of the tent. The light of daytime completely blinded Frank like a flashbang. He couldn't see a single thing through the brightness. But his eyes slowly readjusted and slowly but surely he could see normally. He looked around at the still-snowy wasteland. There were crates and boxes everywhere. He could see lines of tents. Many of the soldiers were busy doing their own thing. Some were carrying boxes and others were simply chatting. There were many on guard duty. That was all that there was to his right. But Frank decided to look to his left. On that side, Frank could see a desolate flatness of snow that seemed to stretch on indefinitely.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"This is," Frank pondered.

"Quite peaceful."

Frank continued to walk around the place to get familiar with it. The first sights he saw were of medical tents, mortally injured soldiers, and a graveyard full of freshly dug graves. It was a horrifying sight, to say the least. Frank felt horrible for those who had died. Though, it seemed like surviving was more of a burden than anything. As the sky illuminated a shade of blue, the temperatures went down by a lot. Frank didn't have to wear his goggles anymore. The next sights he saw were the soldiers' tents. They were having fresh and warm soup for breakfast. It looked delicious. Frank's mouth watered as he suddenly felt hungry. So he went to grab a bowl of soup as well. There was a line of hungry soldiers. They were all waiting for their turn to have breakfast. Frank went to the back of the line. There he waited patiently. Minutes had gone by but he still didn't have his breakfast. Frank was starting to grow impatient. He was losing hope of getting a bowl of hot soup. The line had decreased significantly but there were still quite a couple left. Ultimately, Frank finally got his bowl of soup.

"Next!" the man at the soup table yelled.

It was now Frank turn so he walked up to the table.

"Take the bowl," the man ordered.

Frank picked up the bowl of soup in front of him and took off. Frank felt the warmth of the bowl. Unfortunately, it wasn't as warm anymore. Frank was devastated by this. He just wanted a warm soup for breakfast but after all he waited he only got a half-warm soup? It was ridiculous! Frank swallowed in his devastation though, as he had other things to worry about. He gobbled the soup quickly, not wasting a single,e minute, and gave the empty bowl back to the soup maker or as they called him, the chef. After that, Frank started walking around the encampment a bit more. On the outskirts of the camp, Frank found Jerry working on repairing a damaged anti-aircraft gun.

"Hey, Jerry!", Frank shouted as he waved.

Jerry waved back.

"Oh hi, Frank!"

Frank walked to Jerry.

"What are you doing now?", Frank asked.

"I'm setting up this AA gun. It'll be beneficial to fend off against air raids.", Jerry explained.

"Well, Jerry, I wanted to ask something. What was it like back home?", Frank asked.

"Nothing too crazy. The only difference was that I was rich and lived in a mansion.", Jerry answered.

"Ah, I see. So you're new to the frontlines aren't you?", Frank asked.

"Yep. You got it right. I am new to the frontlines. You know if all this fighting wasn't happening, I would love to live up in those mountain ranges. I bet it's a nice view up there.", Jerry complained.

Jerry was distracted by the humongous Nashik Mountains. He was right, a view up on the mountains was anyone's wish come true.

"How did you get into the army? I'm sure your father wouldn't approve of that. He's a high-ranking general so I wouldn't expect him to nonchalantly send his third son into war.", Frank understandably asked.

"Well, actually, two of his sons.", Jerry corrected.

This made Frank confused further.

"I joined the QLTs(Quadaric Land Troopers) because I wanted to fight for what I thought was right. My father fought in a war and so did my great-great grandparents. So I wanted to make my ancestors proud and make my father proud..."

Jerry paused for a moment.

"Of course, he didn't want me to join at first but he understood and allowed me to. Then, my older brother joined too. Our elder brother though didn't quite like the idea of risking his life for war so he didn't.", Jerry explained further.

Frank was awestruck at his life story. He had never heard of any story like it before.

"Anyway, I-I need to keep working on this so if you aren't going to help me then you should probably do something more useful!", Jerry exclaimed.

Frank then left to do some other work.

At night, they had finished rebuilding the base and setting up defences. They moved the base to a valley between two mountains. They had set up mountain defences too for further enforcement. The valley happened to be a strategic position that the '1265th Light Armoured Infantry Company' had set up base. The soldiers were having fun telling jokes and some were feasting on their dinners. Frank, Amelia, Jerry, and Eric were making fun of each other around a campfire talking about their lives and how they used to go on long imaginary adventures and other parts of their childhood. Frank explained how as a young kid he was taught the harsh realities of the world when his father left him and his mother It was traumatizing. When Frank got older, he moved out of his home, married Samantha, and raised his two kids. This made Amelia frown. Frank didn't notice it though. They didn't have an officer and were quite in disarray. Luckily for them, the high command took immediate control and orders to stay in place before being assigned to another unit. The soldiers never even thought of retiring. That would mean their financial funds would be cut. Frank sent a report to the high command to give the contents of the letter Lt. Ferguson had left to Frank. They were hesitant at first but they accepted. Frank was quite glad.

Near the side of a mountain ridge, where Frank, Amelia, Eric, and Jerry were camping, the fire was bright and hot but it was just perfect for the cold of the Umbarken Tundra. They were quite fortunate that it wasn't as cold that day. The 4 Quadaric soldiers were socializing and simply having an interesting conversation although, Frank would often cut off anyone from talking to Amelia which she found quite weird and obsessive.

"What did you join the Q.A.F, Amelia?" Frank asked curiously.

Amelia stopped talking to Eric.

"Well, my parents..." she spoke softly as the air from her mouth was visible.

"What happened to your parents?" Jerry curiously asked.

"Well, it's quite personal," Amelia explained.

"It's alright if you don't want to answer," Frank added.

"No, no, it's alright," Amelia said to Frank.

There was a short pause.

"My parents," she finally spoke up.

"They were captured by Alarics."

The other three were immediately intrigued.

"We lived near a coast," she raised her voice.

"Off the coast of Veromine."

"Wait, isn't that on Sipreon?" Jerry asked.

"Jerry!" Frank scolded.

"Yes," Amelia answered.

There was an awkward silence.

"I was about 6 when the Alarics invaded," Amelia spoke up again.

"They ravaged through my city, Morline."

"I couldn't tell you the horrors I witnessed that day."

Amelia shed a tear.

"Some knew of their invasion beforehand and had hanged themselves," she spoke again.

"The local police and officers enforced suicide over surrender and capture."

"One of the hanged citizens was my aunt."

Amelia started crying fully.

"She didn't deserve death!" she whimpered.

"She was so kind and nice to me every day..."

"She would bring me gifts and presents and we would have fun going around the city."

"It was good times back then."

"But,"

"To see her hanged body, it-it made me cry."

"I'll never forget that day."

Amelia took a tissue and quickly wiped her tears.

"A-Anyway, let's move on to a different topic," she recommended.

"Yeah, let's do that," Frank agreed.

Frank was amazed at how similar their experiences were. Same goals of the same hatred against the Alarics. It was fascinating how the people who experienced the Alaric invasion ended up enlisting in the Q.A.F. While the group was saddened, large chunks of the mountain near them had broken apart and started rolling down the steep mountain ridge.

"Avalanche!", a voice shouted.

Frank grabbed Amelia and started running while Jerry and Eric started running themselves. The avalanche was huge. The cries of pain and yells from the buried soldiers were loud. Frank and Amelia were lucky to have survived as most of the soldiers near the mountain had died in the avalanche. Their dead bodies were forever frozen. Frank was petrified by his near-death experience. The countless deaths from numerous environmental disasters were going up. This was terrible. The high command had to do something. So they decided to move the base elsewhere somewhere more protected. So they gave the company an order to move base.

The next day, the high command ordered the '1265th Mechanised Light Armored Infantry Company' or what was left of it to move northwest where there were fewer blizzards and more towns by the locals. So the company packed their guns, crates, equipment, and cannons and headed out to the northwest. This time though, they had vehicles to transport all the things. It was a rather smooth journey. Frank stared at the tees and the mountain ranges. They travelled and travelled. It seemed to take forever. Most of the soldiers were asleep by now. It was uncomfortable to sleep so Frank stayed up. Then, suddenly, BOOM! A loud thundering explosion roared and the shockwave knocked the wind out of Frank. The soldiers woke up and quickly got out of their vehicles and stayed behind any cover that they had available to them. The soldiers were confused about what or where the explosion came from but all they knew was that they had to be ready to shoot. Then a soldier shouted.

"It was a landmine! It was a landmine!"

This made them panic even more.

A couple of minutes later, a staff sergeant walked out of a tank and ordered the soldiers to get back into their vehicles.

"Get back in your vehicles, soldiers! The mine sweepers have dealt with the landmines!"

So they did.

That incident was quite jarring to them. It was a terrifying experience for Frank. Having to get back into the vehicles after a loud explosion just blew up the front truck and expected to not worry for more occurrences like this? It seemed too dangerous.

For the rest of the journey, the convoy of trucks drove through large amounts of snow. At one point, a truck got stuck in the snow so they had to stop and push it out. The convoy drove for more hours. Finally, they arrived at their destination. The soldiers unpacked their things and started digging trenches around the base, placing sandbags, etc. The base was technically a camp now. They continued to set it up until it was ready. It had turned nighttime once they had finished so the soldiers went to sleep. Frank was starting to doubt the high command. It felt unfair. Frank, who had never questioned a higher authority was now questioning whether the high command even knew what he was doing. Nonetheless, the soldiers went to sleep and the night shifts began.

The next day, it was quite peaceful, there were no explosions, no bombs, no enemies, just a normal day. This was unusual for the '1265th Mechanised Light Armored Infantry Company' as they've constantly been in gunfire and explosions. It wasn't that they didn't enjoy it. They enjoyed the quietude. It was a new experience for them to say the least. Frank woke up, brushed his teeth, and ate breakfast. He was living every last bit of the peace. Frank then thought about why they were here in the first place.

"What was the purpose of all this?", he thought.

The 'Umbarken Tundra' with its Umbarkish land didn’t have any forces in the slightest. Most troops were in the 'Jekkera Tundra' which was quite calmer. The harsh coldness of the 'Umbarken Tundra' was punishing and deadly. Even the 'Nashik Mountains' were near the edges between the 'Jekkera Tundra' and the 'Umbarken Tundra'. There was simply no point in occupying it. Frank lost in his thoughts, kept on questioning Lt. Ferguson's authorities because when he asked the higher commanding officers who were giving them direct orders from the top about why they were in the middle of a snow desert, they responded that the information was classified and he apparently couldn't disclose it. What Frank didn't know was that this was all to cover up the creation of a new type of jet made by the Coalition for Security and Secretive Enforcement Corps(C.S.S.E.C) as a new type of metal needed for it was specifically in the 'Umbarken Tundra' and they needed to set up production facilities and quarries for it. After a while, Frank started patrolling the camp. Searching for any enemy that might be lurking around. Frank felt profusely tired. Every walk he took took a lot more effort than it normally would. He realised that he was sick so he went to ask Amelia to do the patrol instead. Eric however volunteered to do it instead. Amelia treated Frank as best as she could and brought him to the medical tents where she had a doctor to check up on Frank.

"Frank, stay here while I go make you soup OK?", Amelia worriedly asked.

"Don't worry, Amelia,", Frank replied.

"I'll stay."

Then Amelia left the tent to quickly make soup. Frank waited for Amelia. Once Amelia came back with the soup, Frank started eating it. It tasted rather fine. It didn't take long before the soup was finished. It seems that Frank was hungry. Now, Frank rested in the warmth of his sleeping bag, taking a pill every once in a while. Frank lacked medicinal knowledge and Amelia knew all about it. He could ask the doctors but that would be interrupting and disturbing their work. So he had to rely solely on Amelia for his sickness. The temperatures of the 'Umbarken Tundra' were way below the freezing point. The only reason the soldiers were able to survive was because of their augmented uniforms with heating systems. The heaters were a lifesaver. They would've frozen to death by now if they didn't have them augmented in their uniforms.

In the evening, Frank got much better but was still a bit sick. A blizzard was rampaging outside so he stayed in his tent. The extreme wind blew the tent hard. It lasted for half an hour. Then, it stopped. Frank went outside after that wearing his goggles to protect his eyes from the extreme cold. The damage had been done. Most of the mechanical equipment wasn't covered so they were frozen under layers of snow and ice. This was a huge step back for the '1265th Mechanised Light Armored Infantry Company'. Slowing down their progress immensely. He went to search for Eric to tell him that he didn't need to do the patrol anymore but he couldn't find him anywhere. Eric was missing. Frank immediately filed a report and the high realizing the morality of this, issued a small search party. After all, it wouldn't be too much of a problem when they're in safe territory. The search party leader, who was Frank, had the soldiers lined up.

"The search party will be split into two groups, group A will search the northside and the westside while team B will do the opposite," he ordered.

"Don't go too far and venture off into enemy territory."

Frank himself was in team B.

After a few minutes, they took off for the search. They searched and searched for Eric everywhere but they still couldn't find him. They were starting to lose hope. They were starting to question the morality of the situation.

"It's just one guy! Why are putting so much effort into finding one guy?!", one of the search party members spoke.

Frank was on the verge of giving up. His sickness only got worse the further he went. Then, Frank saw a figure running in the distance. Frank immediately held up his rifle and aimed it.

"Don't shoot! Friendlies!", the figure spoke.

"There are enemies to the east! They killed one of the other patrol soldiers!"

Frank was now worried.

"Are you Eric?!", he yelled.

"No! I'm Surgey!", the soldier spoke.

"Okay, Surgey. Two of our search party members will guide you safely back to camp!", Frank reassured calmly.

"And you three come with me. I need to recover Eric's corpse if it's the last thing I do."

Frank asserted full control. They kept on searching. Always ready to fire their weapons when ready. Then, a loud explosion sent the soldiers to the ground which was made of snow so they almost suffocated. When the soldiers got back up, they could see a cloud of smoke in the distance.

"What the", Frank spoke in complete horror.

"All right, let's keep on moving! We can't take too long!"

Frank was determined to find Eric. They walked for some more time until they came across something weird. It seemed to be a crater caused by a landmine or a bomb but there were no bodies. It must have been either a failed bombing or the search part just hasn't found any of the bodies. Either way, the soldiers were now more paranoid and cautious than ever. They walked and walked until they arrived at the explosion site. It was a high-explosive missile. Then, two soldiers appeared out of nowhere. The search party members immediately drew their weapons.

"Don't shoot! FRIENDLIES!", one of the soldiers shouted desperately.

Frank recognized that voice. It was Jerry's!

"Wait, Jerry?", Frank asked.

"Oh, hey Frank!", Jerry responded.

"And is that Eric on the left?", Frank asked again.

"Yep, you guessed it right.", Jerry scoffed.

"Okay, so what the hell happened?", Frank asked even further.

"Well, we found an enemy sniper but he ran so ran after him and we just kind of got here.", Jerry explained.

Frank was dumbfounded.

"Wait, then how did this explosion happen?", Frank asked firmly.

"It's a long story. A story for another time!", Jerry answered unseriously.

Frank didn't want to question him any further as he seemed to not be taking this seriously in the slightest. Frank ordered Jerry and Eric to follow them back. Frank remained bewildered.

"Ooh, big guy huh?", Jerry mocked.

"When did you become one?", he teased even further.

Frank was starting to get ticked off. His patience slowly going down. Only amplified by the fact that he was sick. They trudged through the never-ending snow, carrying heavy equipment so they quickly got tired. Yet they marched on. One step at a time. They walked for miles. It was exhausting. They still didn't find the base. They started to feel like they'd been going in circles. Frank looked at the GPS and he was right. They had looped around in an uneven circle. They had been so focused on getting back and trudging through the large amounts of snow that they had realized that they looped around. They also weren't looking carefully at the GPS. They were shivering by then. Every step they took only made the pain worse. They were all dying of hypothermia. Frank realising the danger, quickly called for emergency rescue on the radio. Now, they just had to survive for as long as they could.

After a while, 2 of the soldiers froze to death. Frank was now in a panic.

"Are we going to die like this?", Frank thought fearfully.

It was now Frank, Jerry, Eric, and another soldier.

"H-Hey! S-Soldier! What's your name?", Frank asked stutteringly.

"My name's Reagel. Reagel J. Volkstern.", he answered.

"How are you looking right now?", Frank asked.

"I'm feeling quite frosty!", Reagel answered back with a pun.

Frank looked ashamed asking that.

"Now's not the time for jokes, Reagel but... I'm sorry about this...", Frank spoke with regret.

"I didn't think the search would take this long. I severely underestimated the cold. I'm sorry you have to die like this."

"It's okay! I volunteered anyway so it's not your fault!", Reagel answered.

"I dug my own grave. No need to feel guilty about it."

Frank helplessly watched as his vision started to fade and his body slowly stopped.

"This is it. I'm going to die.", Frank said to himself.

He felt sorry for all the deaths he caused in this one search party. He felt guilty for having to leave Amelia grieving without even saying goodbye. Most of all his family. He missed them. He didn't want to die like this. I wanted to return to his homeland. But it seemed that he couldn't. He sent one last distress signal through the telecommunication device or TeleCom on Frank's left wrist. And so they held on, freezing to death. Their white snow coats camouflaged against the deep snow. It was looking quite bleak for them.

When Frank woke up, he saw that he was in a medical tent. Doctors were running around in panic. Trying to get the medical supplies needed. There were 2 other soldiers in medical beds. They were Eric and Jerry. They had been rescued. Reagel was missing. Presumably dead. Frank took a sigh of relief. His heart pounding in gratefulness. He was still shivering though. Perhaps that's why the doctors were in a panic. Then, Amelia rushed into the tent.

"Frank!", she yelled.

"Miss, you aren't allowed to be in here yet.", one of the doctors answered.

"I need to see Frank.", she persisted.

"Not right now, but you'll be able to in a few hours.", the doctor responded harshly.

Amelia was taken out by guards and was forced to stay outside. Frank saw all of this unfold. He felt bad for Amelia. He wanted to reassure her but he couldn't even move an inch. All he could do was be patient and watch. The surgeons and doctors worked their hardest to keep the three alive. The nurses were too.

After some time, Frank and the two others got better but not by a whole lot.

"Feeling better?", Jerry asked.

"No.", Frank coldly answered.

"Come on!", Jerry pleaded.

"I know I've been quiapologizeI apologise. I guess. But let's be cheerful about it! We survived hypothermia in the middle of a snow wasteland! Isn't that crazy?", Jerry sounded surprised.

Frank did not find this amusing, funny, or surprising, instead, he found this very obnoxious. Jerry then shut his gossiping after realizing that no one was listening. Frank felt much happier. They would have to stay in the hospital beds until they could go out again. Frank felt grateful that this wasn't an enemy hospital tent. Then he would become a POW. It started to dawn on him that perhaps his biggest fear was being a POW. Frank sneezed as he thought about that. He just had to stay in until he got better. He will be fine.