A silver moon was barely visible through the thick layer of grey clouds. A light flurry of snow was falling, further tucking the landscape into a blanket of white. It was light enough to see clearly, but among the horizon, on the edge of the forest, was the orange glow of a campfire. A plume of smoke rose into the air, marking the location clearly.
The drunkard stumbled into the campsite, shaking beyond control. The noise startled Leonel, who was seated next to the blaze, warming his hands and drying out what he could. “What business have you here?” he questioned, readying himself into a defensive stance.
Slightly shaken up, the drunkard put up his hands. “Please, sir, I’m lost and on the edge of death. Would you allow me to share the warmth of your fire?”
Leonel lowered his main defense. “Of course you can, Comrade-”
“Dimitri,” he finished, still shaking. The condensation on his breath was a dull white, like a smoker’s wisp rising into the air. “Who is the man who shares his kindness with a drunken man such as myself?”
“Leonel, but those who know me call me Leo,” he explained. “Now, how did you find yourself out here?”
Dimitri laughed. “Well, you see, it all began with a failed case. I didn’t mean to answer the call either.”
And thus the flashback began.
-o0o-
A sober Dimitri sat behind his large, wooden desk in the police station. The morning light reflected off every surface caught in the beam, making the leaves of paper glow like magic.
The phone rang wildly, vibrating on the desk and startling the natural state of the stationary. He recognized the caller ID, and knew that somewhere, he’d been instructed not to answer.
But his senses told him otherwise. What if someone was in trouble, and that was the only phone they had access to. Against his directors’ wishes, Dimitri picked up the device and answered. “Police, what emergency are you having?”
“Please, comrade, I don’t have much time,” a female voice insisted, “you have my location, I need your most talented operators out as soon as possible-”
The line went dead. Dimitri grabbed his small side-carry and rushed to the carpark, yelling to the officers around the office. “Come comrades, we have an urgent case! Arm yourselves!”
They piled into the standard issue Russian police vehicles, cars with a fair engine to get them across town. Sirens blared into the morning, disturbing pedestrians and interesting the small children who watched the cars speed by with wide and curious eyes.
Finally, they drifted to a stop in front of a dilapidated apartment building. Dimitri jumped out and guided his fellow officers to the door. “This is the Police, please open this door!” he ordered.
There was no reply. “Watch my back,” he instructed, getting into a position in front of the door. He raised his leg, and kicked the front of the door. The wooden panel cracked off the hinges from the force, and all the officers flowed into the main hallway.
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“This is the Police!” Dimitri repeated, hand on his pistol and ready for anything.
His ears rang as a shot struck the wall next to him, missing his head by only an inch or so. “Comrades!” Dimitri yelled, taking cover and drawing his sidearm. The others mimicked him, and together they prepared to siege the stairwell.
“Go!” he finally yelled, standing up and aiming down the hallway. He fired several times, the lead hitting their intended target more than half the time. “Cover my back!”
They were able to secure a position on the stairwell, where they prepared to continue the siege. None of the returning fire had struck members of the Police. They were still as strong in number as when they began.
Then a woman yelled from upstairs. “Don’t shoot!” she screamed.
Dimitri froze. It was the same woman who was on the phone with him earlier. “Are you alright comrade?” he responded.
“Yes, I’m fine. Did you clear the path down the stairs?” she asked.
“We have! Please come down the stairs with your hands in the air!” he ordered. They waited, still ready to fire. A few moments later, an average-sized Russian woman clambered down the concrete steps, a pink handkerchief hanging out of her pocket and both hands raised into the air. “Please, come with me! The rest of you, find what’s going on up there!”
The officer guided the woman down the hallway to the front of the building and out to the cars. He sat her down on the cold curb, brushing the snow aside for her to sit. “Are you in good health?” he asked.
She nodded. “Thank you for saving me, I can only hope the same for the others.”
“Others?” Dimitri asked, “How many?”
“Twelve I think. They’ve been holding us hostage for almost ten days. If it weren’t for you-”
Something struck Dimitri from behind him, and he felt himself fall forward onto the sidewalk. “Got him!” a male voice yelled.
He felt the ground sliding past as he was dragged away. “I know,” the woman he had just rescued muttered, “thank you Makarov.”
Dimitri’s consciousness faded, and the last thing he could remember was being thrown into the trunk of somebody’s truck, arms bound at his back and his eyes blindfolded with a pink handkerchief.
-o0o-
He woke up, leaning up against a snowbank. The pain in his head had set in, and immediately he knew he’d been sitting out there for a long time. The sun had set, leaving a sky full of jewels above him, reflecting on the snow-covered landscape.
There was only two sets of tire tracks, leading out as far as he could see. There were no lights of civilization, only the lonely plain of white snow, and two bottles of vodka wrapped in the same pink handkerchief from before.
Dimitri sighed, stood up, and gazed into the wilderness. Just barely on the horizon, he spotted an orange glow, the only artificial light in his field of vision.
He sighed, popped the top off the first bottle of vodka, and began his long and lonely trek.
-o0o-
“And that’s how I ended up here,” he finished. His shaking had subsided, and he was beginning to warm back up.
Leo sighed, “I’m sorry comrade. I wish there was more I could do to help you.”
“Well, where are you going?” Dimitri asked.
“I’m trekking across Siberia to Moscow, in the West. I’ve only got one tent, but if you know how to hunt, I’d love to have some company.”
The ex-officer looked out on the snowy horizon. “You know what, comrade? I’d be happy to join you.”