|<=====================>|

  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!" Frank thought.

  "That can't possibly be it!"

  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. Frank was still recovering so he couldn't do 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.

  "Hah," 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, and 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. Metal surgical equipment and paper were everywhere, including 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 Private Solem broken the news to the others?" Frank thought.

  The more he thought about it, the more he felt urgent about telling 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.

  "Frank!" Amelia gasped.

  "Are you okay, Frank?"

  "What happened!? Where were you!?"

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

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

  "O-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 awkward 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 of injuries," Frank said politely.

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

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

  Frank could see that this took Amelia aback. 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 she was getting at.

  "What would happen if we suddenly decided to break them apart?" Amelia asked.

  "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 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!"

  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 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.

  "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 rather grim sight, to say the least. Frank felt horrible for those who had died. Maybe if he'd been quicker to warn them to retreat, more would survive. Though, it seemed like surviving was more of a burden than anything. As the sky illuminated a shade of blue, the temperatures went up 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 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, Jeremy!" Frank shouted as he waved.

  Jeremy waved back.

  "Oh hi, Frank!" he shouted.

  Frank walked to Jeremy.

  "What are you doing?" Frank asked.

  "I'm setting up this AA gun," Jeremy explained.

  "It'll be beneficial to fend off against air raids."

  "Well, Jeremy, I wanted to ask something," Frank said.

  "What was it like back home?"

  "Nothing too crazy," Jeremy answered.

  "The only thing was that I was rich and lived in a mansion."

  "Ah, I see," Frank understood.

  "So you're new to the frontlines aren't you?"

  "Yep. You got it right," Jeremy complained.

  "I am new to the frontlines."

  Jeremy suddenly looked at the mountain ranges.

  "You know if all this fighting wasn't happening," he said.

  "I would love to live up in those mountain ranges."

  "I bet it's a nice view up there."

  Jeremy 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?" Frank asked.

  "I'm sure your father wouldn't approve of that."

  "After all, he's a high-ranking general, so I wouldn't expect him to nonchalantly send his son into war."

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

  This made Frank confused further.

  "I joined the army because I wanted to fight for what I thought was right which is defending against the Alarics," Frank explained.

  "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..."

  Jeremy paused for a moment.

  "Of course, he didn't want me to join at first but he understood and allowed me to," Jeremy explained further.

  "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."

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

  "What's your nationality?" Frank asked a little more.

  "Quadaric, obviously," Jeremy answered.

  "No, I mean your country of origin," Frank explained.

  "Oh, uhh, it's Itdeinian," Jeremy answered.

  Frank had never heard of the country before, thought most likely because he wasn't familiar with the planet itself.

  "It's much better doing something worth it than staying at home, constantly fixing that 'deluxe' hovercar of my elder brother," Jeremy complained even more.

  "That hunk of junk doesn't even work anymore!"

  Frank burst out laughing and Jeremy joined in too.

  "Anyway," Jeremy stopped laughing.

  "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!"

  Frank's abdomen hurt from laughter.

  "Yeah," he agreed.

  "You're right."

  Frank then left to do some other work.

  |<=====================>|

  The base that the 1265th Mechanised Light Armoured Infantry Company had to retake was in ruins but they had to retake it or else the enemies would. However, many of the soldiers weren't very motivated to do so. They were expecting to simply stay to rest for a while but now, not only have they been attacked, they were now having to take it back. 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. Frank also salvaged some ammunition from the bodies of the corpses. Through the harsh freezing snow, the soldiers kept rebuilding. Frank found Amelia again. She helped out some soldiers by carrying crates of cannon shells. It was a miracle that the fortress managed to survive after all that fighting.

  Some hours passed, and the base was finally rebuilt. They then set up anti-aircraft guns as well as trenches. Some tents for the injured and dugouts to rest. They also got anti-tank guns positioned 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. 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 where the 1265th Mechanised Light Armoured Infantry Company had set up base. The soldiers were having fun telling jokes and some were feasting on their dinners. 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, Frank, Amelia, Eric, and Jeremy were camping. The campfire 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 four Quadaric soldiers were socializing and simply having an interesting conversation. However, Frank would often cut off anyone from talking to Amelia which she found quite weird and obsessive.

  "Why did you enlist in the army, 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?" Jeremy 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?" Jeremy asked.

  "Jeremy!" Frank scolded.

  "Yes, Jeremy, it was," Amelia answered.

  There was an awkward silence.

  "We travelled to Eulero when I turned three," she explained.

  "A-Anyhow, I was about six when the Alarics invaded Tani."

  "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."

  "Now, the Tanian Republic has been formed by the Alarics and the Quadaric soldiers have come to a stalemate entirely."

  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. That was when Frank finally realised that Sipreon had been occupied by the Alarics. That made it a lot worse.

  "You know," Amelia spoke.

  "I'm planning to join Captain Krieger's division."

  The other three were shocked to hear that.

  "W-Why?" Frank curiously asked.

  Jeremy and Eric wanted to know the same thing.

  "Well," Amelia began to explain.

  "I received some messages from high command that Krieger wanted a personal medic."

  Frank was confused.

  "A personal medic?" Frank thought.

  "Why?"

  Jeremy couldn't be bothered to question the offer though.

  "So," he spoke.

  "When do you plan to transfer?"

  "I believe..." Amelia took a moment to think.

  "Next year."

  "Wait," Frank joined to speak.

  "Next... year?"

  Amelia didn't quite understand why Frank asked that.

  "Yeah, why are you confused?" she asked back.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Jeremy laughed a bit.

  "I mean, with conditions like this," he joked.

  "You might as well be dead by then!"

  Amelia laughed at that. Frank didn't.

  "Hey," Eric decided to join in the conversation too.

  "I heard that next year, we're going to push into the Yusivri theatre too!"

  Jeremy seemed intrigued.

  "It'd be spring by then," he added.

  "So it's better than here!"

  While the group was laughing, large chunks of the mountain near them had broken apart and started rolling down the steep mountain ridge.

  "Avalanche!", a voice shouted.

  Frank looked up the mountain ridge, he saw a huge cloud of snow hurtling down towards them.

  "Amelia!" Frank shouted.

  "Come with me!"

  Amelia got up and began running with Frank. Jeremy and Eric ran along with them too.

  "Eric!" Jeremy shouted.

  Frank looked behind while running.

  "Oh no," he thought in fear.

  "Eric has stumbled!"

  Eric had been consumed by the avalanche entirely. Frank stopped and ran back to help.

  "Frank!" Amelia shouted in worry.

  "Don't worry!" Frank shouted back.

  "Just keep running to safety!"

  Frank was planning to run into the hurtling snow.

  "I hope I survive this," Frank thought.

  Then, in the blink of an eye, the wall of snow impacted Frank with full force. It was fine at first, but then, a hard piece of ice smashed against his helmet and threw him off balance, making him dizzy.

  "Ah!" Frank grunted in pain.

  "That-that hurt."

  "A lot."

  Frank turned his head in the snow. It was nearly impossible to see anything but Eric wasn't that far.

  "Eric!" Frank shouted.

  "Eric! Can you hear me!?"

  Frank was slowly losing hope.

  "Anyone there?!" a voice shouted back.

  Frank looked in the direction of the voice.

  "Eric?!" he shouted again.

  "Yes!" the voice answered.

  Frank began trudging through the rising snow and the windy avalanche. Then, if almost a miracle, the fog of snow began to fade away. The avalanche had calmed down and had come to a halt.

  "What just happened?" Frank thought in confusion.

  Frank looked around, feeling lost. Then, he saw what seemed to be the upper body of a soldier.

  "Eric!" Frank shouted.

  The soldier's head turned around to Frank.

  "Yes! It's me!" the soldier shouted back.

  Frank trudged through the snow towards the soldier.

  "How are you looking?" Frank asked to accompany Eric.

  "Umm," Eric responded with unsureness.

  "I-I think my leg got stuck in something!"

  Frank was only a few metres away from Eirc.

  "Oh, okay!" Franks houted.

  "Keep yourself as comfortable as you can!"

  Frank kneeled to Eric.

  "Let's see here," Frank spoke.

  Eric's entire lower half was in the snow.

  "Grab my hand," Frank ordered.

  Eric grabbed Frank's hand. Frank pulled Eric with full force.

  "He's not budging!" Frank thought.

  "What's the situation looking?" a voice came from behind.

  "What the—" Frank turned around in surprise.

  Frank turned quickly and saw the soldier behind him.

  "J-Jeremy?" Frank spoke.

  Eric looked up at Jeremy.

  "I think my foot got stuck in something!" he shouted.

  "Okay," Frank said.

  "Let's keep going!"

  Frank signalled Jeremy to pull alongside Frank. He grabbed Eric's other hand.

  "Pull!" Frank shouted.

  The two began to pull Eric out of the snow.

  "Wait," Eric spoke.

  "I think my body is lifting!"

  The two pulled even harder.

  "He's nearly out!" Frank thought.

  Then, in just mere seconds, Eric was out. He fell flat on the snow.

  "Ouch," Eric groaned.

  "Frank!" a voice yelled out.

  This time, Frank turned around.

  "Amelia?" Frank thought.

  Frank saw someone in the distance.

  "Frank!" she shouted again.

  Frank looked down at the exhausted Jeremy and tired Eric.

  "We better, get moving," Frank suggested.

  Jeremy got up.

  "Yeah," he agreed.

  "I think rescue's this way right?"

  |<=====================>|

  The rescue and evacuation helicopters began descending for help as 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. A huge trail of smoke appeared in the air. 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.

  "A stray shell!" a soldier shouted.

  This made them panic even more.

  "What the hell's happening?!" Frank thought in utter confusion and fear.

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

  "Get back in your vehicles, soldiers!" the staff sergeant ordered.

  "It was just an unexploded shell!"

  The soldier calmed down and nervously got back into their vehicles. 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 much 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. Then, Frank went and stood next to Reagel who was looking out into the distance holding his smartscreen in his hands.

  "Hey," Frank spoke.

  Reagel glanced at Frank.

  "What is it?" Reagel asked.

  "Well, since you're an Eulerian, can you tell me the history of the Umbarken Tundra?" Frank asked Reagel.

  Reagel sighed.

  "Well, the Umbarken Tundra didn't used to be like this," he explained.

  "Oh?" Frank was confused.

  "Yeah, it's hard to explain," Reagel explained.

  "It started with nuclear winter after the nuclear war in the '60s."

  "This whole Tundra used to be five countries."

  "Now, it's just one single area."

  "Since, the autumn in '65, it never stopped snowing."

  Frank decided to jump in.

  "Are the years in Eulerian Time or Earthian Time?" he asked.

  Reagel was thrown off a bit.

  "Earthian Time, Frank," he answered.

  "No one actually uses Eulerian Time."

  Frank laughed a bit.

  "Now, where was I?" Reagel forgot.

  "Oh, right!"

  Reagel remembered again.

  "The day it began was called 'The Final Warmth'," he continued his history lesson.

  "No one saw it coming."

  "Until it was already summer, yet the snow remained."

  "That's when they realised something was wrong."

  "The evacuations began and luckily, most civilians survived."

  "The man who learned of the nuclear winter and ordered the evacuation was Dr Ultavar Umbarken."

  "And thus, the Umbarken Tundra."

  Frank found that to be fascinating.

  "Wait, so the snow just never left?" Frank asked curiously.

  "Yep, for two whole decades now," Reagel explained.

  "Though the temperatures have been decreasing as of late."

  "What was the reason for the nuclear war?" Frank asked more.

  "I thought the Supreme Galactic Council banned all nuclear bombs?"

  "Well, the nuclear war was before they banned it," Reagel explained.

  "Oh, I see," Frank spoke.

  "I guess I've got a lot to learn about Eulero."

  Reagel looked down at his smartscreen, working on something.

  "Hey, where are you gonna share all the recordings?" Frank asked.

  Reagel paused whatever he was doing.

  "Oh, uh, I'm making a documentary," he explained.

  "Oh?" Frank said in curiosity.

  "Yes, I'm halfway through finishing it," Reagel added.

  "Once I'm done, I'll send it to a wartime video website."

  "So, you're getting paid to do this?" Frank asked more.

  "Yes, the money I'm getting in service right now isn't a lot," Reagel answered.

  "And wartime footage as good as mine is quite scarce."

  "So, I think I'll be making quite a lot with this."

  Frank sighed.

  "I guess you are right about that," he murmured.

  Reagel paused for a minute.

  "Hey, Frank?" he called.

  "Yes?" Frank replied.

  Reagel seemed to have sighed a bit.

  "If I'm gone," he spoke.

  "Would you continue the documentary for me?

  Frank was confused.

  "Huh?" he said in confusion.

  "Well," Reagel began to explain.

  "The documentary has become a bit of a... umm... personal endeavour for me."

  "I want to make money for my parents."

  Frank seemed interested.

  "Just do me a favour and promise you'd give them the money after you finish it, would ya'?" Reagel demanded.

  "Of course!" Frank agreed.

  Reagel then left off towards another small snow hill with some trees.

  |<=====================>|

  After a while, Frank started patrolling the camp, searching for any enemy that might be lurking around.

  "Just another day, another patrol," Frank thought.

  Frank looked into the distance, the snow never-ending.

  "It's all going to be over in just a couple more years," he reassured himself.

  He began whistling for a while until he started to notice something.

  "Why-why am I feeling like slowing down?" Frank thought.

  Frank felt profusely tired. Every walk he took took a lot more effort than it normally would.

  "A-Am I sick?" he wondered.

  "Wait, if so, then I should go ask for a replacement."

  Frank went to ask Amelia to do the patrol instead. He began walking to the infirmary where Amelia would likely be. But as Frank walked by the crates of supplies, he bumped into someone.

  "Corporal?" the soldier asked.

  Frank looked up to see that it was Eric.

  "Oh, Private Eric," Frank spoke.

  "Where are going, corporal?" Eric asked.

  "I'm trying to find a replacement for the patrol," Frank answered.

  "Amelia's in the infirmary, right?"

  Eric looked around.

  "Yeah," he answered.

  "But, why though?"

  "Well," Frank began to explain.

  "I starting to think I'm sick, right now."

  Eric understood.

  "So, you wouldn't be a good fit for today," he added.

  "Yeah," Frank answered.

  Eric grinned.

  "Well, don't worry, corporal!" he shouted sarcastically.

  "I'm here to your rescue!"

  "So, you'll take the patrol, today?" Frank made sure.

  "Yes," Eric answered.

  "Alright," Frank spoke.

  "Also, I believe a blizzard is about to start so your patrol won't last long!"

  Eric took off to patrol.

  "He's quite understanding," Frank thought as he walked.

  "Or maybe he just wants a promotion."

  "Eh, who knows"

  At the infirmary, Amelia treated Frank as best as she could and brought him to the medical tents.

  "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.

  "This is miserable," Frank thought.

  He sighed loudly.

  "I wonder what'll happen after my service," he thought.

  "Maybe I'll live the rest of my life with my family."

  "Or maybe I die amid battle."

  "And maybe even sickness."

  Frank put his arm over his eyes.

  "I'm quite lucky to have Amelia," he thought.

  "She's kind, caring, and genuinely passionate about saving lives."

  Frank laughed a little.

  "Though, I wouldn't call it a passion!" he smiled.

  Then, Amelia came into the tent with a bowl of soup in her hand.

  "Here," Amelia spoke.

  Frank straightened his back and jolted up.

  "Careful, it's hot," Amelia advised.

  Frank held out his hands to the bowl to lift it out of Amelia's hands.

  "Uhh, Amelia?" Frank asked with concern.

  Amelia looked confused.

  "What's wrong?" she asked.

  "Why is your face red?" Frank asked.

  Amelia suddenly backed off.

  "O-OH," she suddenly freaked out.

  "REALLY?!"

  Amelia was left speechless for a few moments.

  "U-uhh, i-it's..." she tried to come up with an excuse.

  "I-It's the-the warmth of the bowl."

  Frank raised an eyebrow in doubt.

  "The vapour probably made my face warm!" Amelia clarified.

  "Right," Frank spoke reluctantly.

  Amelia's face was as red as a tomato.

  "U-uhh, whoo! It's getting quite hot in here!" she fanned herself with her hand.

  "I-I should probably go!"

  "Ignore me, silly me!"

  "B-but, w-wait!" Frank tried to stop.

  But Amelia had already run out of the tent into the blizzard.

  "But... it's not even that hot on the temperature..." he was too late.

  Frank quickly pulled the tent's zip to close it.

  "What was that all about?" he thought.

  "And where'd she even go?"

  "A literal blizzard is raging outside!"

  Frank was left dumbfounded.

  "I-I should probably focus on eating the soup," Frank changed topics in his head.

  "Before it gets cold."

  Frank began eating the soup with a spoon, gobbling it up, though his hands were quite shaky. The soup tasted rather fine, certainly better than a cold soup. It didn't take long before the soup was finished. It seemed that Frank was really hungry. Now, he could rest in the warmth of his sleeping bag.

  "I should take a pill before going to sleep," he thought.

  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.

  "Another reason why I'm quite lucky to have her," Frank thought once again.

  Frank sighed one more time.

  "The temperatures of the 'Umbarken Tundra' were way below the freezing point," he thought.

  "The only reason we're able to survive is because of our augmented uniforms with heating systems."

  "The heaters are a lifesaver."

  "We would've frozen to death by now if we didn't have them."

  Frank convoluted himself with worries and sorrows until he fell asleep.

  |<=====================>|

  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 questioned.

  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 west!"

  Frank was confused.

  "Wait," he spoke.

  "Behind our lines?!"

  "Yes!" the unknown soldier responded.

  "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. The team was down to three members now, and that's including Frank. They kept on searching though. 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.

  "Wait, Jeremy?" Frank asked.

  "Oh, hey, corporal!" Jeremy responded.

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

  "Yep, you guessed it right," Jeremy 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!" Jeremy answered unseriously.

  Frank didn't want to question him any further as he seemed to not be taking this seriously in the slightest. Frank turned to Eric.

  "Is he drunk or what?" Frank asked.

  Eric was cleaning off the snow on his helmet.

  "No," he answered.

  "I think he hit his head during the explosion, though!"

  Frank remained bewildered. He sighed.

  "Alright," he ordered.

  "Let's get moving back to base."

  "Ooh, big guy huh?" Jeremy mocked.

  "When did you become one?"

  Frank was starting to get ticked off. His patience slowly going down. Only amplified by the fact that he was sick.

  "Seriously, though," Frank tried to ask again.

  "What was the explosion?"

  "It was a missile depot," Eric answered.

  "A missile depot?" Frank questioned.

  He was confused.

  "Yeah, we got shot by a sniper but he missed," Eric explained.

  "And once we started chasing after him, he ran to presumably his hideout."

  "But as we shot our guns through the woods, we seemed to have hit the missiles."

  Frank finally understood.

  "See? He's good at explaining," Jeremy joked.

  Frank was annoyed by Jeremy.

  "The missiles could've been frozen and certainly abandoned but still active nonetheless," Eric continued.

  After that though, they kept trudging through the never-ending snow, carrying heavy equipment so they quickly got tired. Yet they marched on. One step at a time. Then, something eery began to happen.

  "Why do I feel like I'm being watched?" Frank thought.

  Frank looked into the tree lines but couldn't see anything.

  "Might be just my paranoia," he doubted.

  Then, just as Frank had just thought, a loud bang rang and Reagel fell onto the snow.

  "Sniper!" Eric shouted.

  Frank ran back into the tree lines to hide whilst Eric dragged Reagel to safety. The other two soldiers ran to cover.

  "See?!" Jeremy shouted.

  "Sniper!"

  "I told you we weren't lying!"

  Frank wanted to see where the shot had come from.

  "Jeremy," he spoke.

  "Where did the shot come from?"

  "Sir," he responded.

  "I-I think it was from those tree lines."

  Frank was annoyed yet again.

  "Well, yeah," Frank annoyedly responded.

  "But where exactly?"

  Jeremy tried to peek above the snow but as he did, a second bang rang out and whizzed past him.

  "Oh shoot!" Jeremy said as he fell on his back.

  "Th-that was close!"

  "That's what you get for not learning about not peeking!" Frank scolded.

  "You're right, corporal!" Jeremy spoke in agreement.

  Frank waited for a while. It was eerily quiet all of a sudden again.

  "We might have to just make a run for it," he thought.

  "Wait, where's Eric?"

  Frank looked in the tree lines for Eric but couldn't find him. Then, just as he was looking, another loud bang rang out and a cry for help.

  "One of the team members' been hit!" Frank thought.

  Then, yet another bang rang out and the cry for help stopped.

  "Well, he's dead now," Frank thought again.

  Frank continued looking for Eric, crouching against the tall snow as cover.

  "Eric!" Frank shouted.

  Then, Frank heard a voice from afar.

  "Over here!" the voice responded.

  Frank was glad Eric was still alive.

  "How's Reagel looking?!" Frank shouted to ask once more.

  "He got hit pretty badly in the thigh!" Eric shouted back.

  "I-I'm fine!" Reagel shouted.

  "Wrap a bandage around the wound, it'll stop the bleeding!" Frank ordered.

  "A-alright!" Eric obliged.

  "By the way," Frank continued.

  "On the count of three, we're gonna make a run for it through the woods!"

  "O-okay!" Eric shouted.

  "But what about Reagel?!"

  Frank wasn't sure.

  "We can't leave him," he thought.

  "He'd die for sure."

  That was when Frank came up with an ingenious idea.

  "Jeremy!" Frank shouted.

  "Yes, sir?" Jeremy answered.

  "Got your flashbangs?" Frank asked.

  "Uhh, yes, yes, sir!" Jeremy responded.

  "Alright," Frank concluded.

  "You'll throw the flashbangs just barely up the snow, okay?"

  Jeremy pulled out his flashbang.

  "Yes, sir!" he replied.

  "It'll blind whoever's looking through the scope," Frank thought.

  "Then, we make a run for it."

  Frank inhaled and exhaled, preparing to run.

  "Alright, I'm going to start counting!" he shouted.

  "One!"

  "Two!"

  Jeremy pulled the pin of the flashbang and prepared to throw.

  "Three!" Frank shouted one last time.

  "Fire in the hole!" Jeremy shouted as he threw the flashbang just up the snow road.

  A loud boom and then a thud roared.

  "Go, go, go!" Frank shouted.

  Frank began running through the trees. He looked back to see Jeremy, Eric, and Reagel running too.

  "Just keep running," Frank thought to himself.

  "Run like you've never before!" Jeremy shouted.

  Jeremy was hysterical.

  "Eric, you carrying Reagel?!" Frank shouted to ask.

  "Y-yes, sir!" Eric shouted from behind.

  "I think Reagel's—"

  Before Eric could continue, a loud bang ran out once more.

  "Sniper's active again!" Jeremy shouted.

  Frank ducked his head under branches to continue running. Then, another bang!

  "I think the sniper's getting desperate!" Frank shouted.

  Then, a bullet penetrated a tree next to Frank. The pieces of wood scattered.

  "Dive!" Frank shouted.

  Frank dived behind a fallen log. Everything went quiet again.

  "The sniper has either repositioned or just ran away," Frank thought.

  "Better test it."

  Frank took off his helmet and put a branch under it to use as sniper bait. He lifted it above the log.

  "Wait," Frank thought.

  "I think—"

  Then, just as Frank thought that another loud bang rang out and his helmet flew backwards.

  "Oh snap!" Frank thought, caught off-guard.

  Frank hid behind the log again.

  "Where are the others?" Frank wondered.

  He looked around.

  "Psst! Jeremy!" Frank hissed.

  Jeremy was hiding behind a tree.

  "Yes, sir?" he whispered.

  "Let's try the same tactic again," Frank whispered.

  "But this time, you provide suppressive fire for the three of us."

  "And then, we'll provide suppressive fire for you."

  Jeremy took out his assault rifle.

  "Alright, sir," he agreed.

  Frank turned the other way to look for Eric.

  "Eric?" Frank hissed.

  Frank couldn't see Eric anywhere.

  "Yes, sir?" a voice came from behind the snow.

  "Jeremy's going to provide suppressive fire and we'll run further up the trees until Jeremy runs out of ammunition," Frank explained.

  "Then, we'll provide suppressive fire for him."

  "Alright?"

  "Y-yes, of course, sir," Eric responded.

  "Also," Frank continued.

  "How's Reagel looking?"

  "He's fine for the most part," Eric replied.

  "The bandage stopped the bleeding."

  Frank was glad to hear that.

  "You should become a medic one day!" Frank joked.

  A small laughter came from behind the lump of snow. Frank turned to Jeremy and gave him a thumbs up. Then, Jeremy loaded the assault rifle.

  "Suppressive fire!" he shouted.

  Frank began running. To his left, Eric was slowly running, holding up Reagel by his shoulder who was hopping by one leg. Frank saw that Reagel's left thigh was wrapped in bandages. His right thigh was the robotic prosthetic. The assault rifle from Jeremy began firing. Bright flashes of muzzle could be seen. Frank looked in front of him.

  "Just keep going—" he thought.

  Then, the rifle fire stopped.

  "Reloading!" Jeremy shouted from afar.

  Frank immediately halted his run and went behind the cover of a rock.

  "Eric?!" he shouted to ask.

  "Yes, corporal?" he answered from behind a tree with Reagel.

  "Suppressive fire!" Frank ordered.

  Frank pulled his rifle and began airing aimlessly into the trees.

  "Jeremy! Run!" Frank commanded.

  Eric began firing with his sub-machine gun.

  "Get some!" he shouted.

  Frank could see Jeremy running, he was about to make it to them.

  "Reloading!" Frank shouted.

  He grabbed another magazine from his pouches.

  "Continuing!" He shouted once more after pulling the slider back.

  Frank's fingers were nearly numb from the vibration of the rifle after holding the trigger for so long.

  "He's nearly there," Frank thought.

  Frank's hands were getting tired. Then, Jeremy hopped behind the rock and hid next to Frank.

  "What do we do next?" Jeremy asked for orders.

  Frank stopped shooting and crouched. However, Eric was still firing into the tree lines uphill.

  "We'll keep running!" Frank ordered, his hands trembling.

  "Alright, sir!" Jeremy shouted.

  Jeremy immediately began running again. Frank also started running, and Eric began moving with Reagel. They ran for miles. It was exhausting. Eric didn't stop the gunfire until he ran out of ammunition entirely. The goal of finding the base had been completely lost. Frank was exhausted. He didn't understand how Jeremy wasn't yet. Eventually, they managed to make it past the sniper's shooting range. Frank, Jeremy, Eric, and one injured Reagel were now trying to make their way back to base. They kept running but slowly, they began to feel like they'd been going in circles. Frank looked at the GPS.

  "We've looped around in a circle!" Frank exclaimed.

  "Wait what?" Eric asked.

  "Look on your GPS," Frank told Eric.

  Eric obliged and saw the trail of their path going in a circle.

  "I did see some familiar trees around here," Jeremy added.

  "I think we should just align the GPS with the stars and go in the general direction," Reagel suggested, being held up by Eric.

  "Then, we won't waste the remaining battery of the HoloCom."

  The other three agreed, but they were shivering by then. Every step they took only made the cold worse. They were all slowly dying of hypothermia. Frank, realising the danger, quickly called for emergency rescue on the HoloCom. Now, they just had to survive for as long as they could. Frank was now in a panic.

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

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

  "H-Hey! R-Reagel!" Frank asked stutteringly.

  "Y-Yes, s-sir?" he answered.

  "H-How are you looking right now?" Frank asked.

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

  "N-Now's n-not the t-time for puns, R-Reagel," Frank spoke stutteringly due to the cold.

  "But... I'm sorry about this..."

  "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!" Reagel assured.

  "I volunteered anyway so it's not your fault!"

  "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 got numb.

  "This is it," Frank said to himself.

  "I'm going to die."

  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 HoloCom on Frank's left wrist as it was quicker than radioing. And so they held on, freezing to death. Their white snow coats camouflaged against the deep snow. It was looking quite bleak for them.

  |<=====================>|

  Frank suddenly 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 two other soldiers in medical beds. They were Eric and Jeremy. They had been rescued. Reagel was missing. Presumably dead. Frank took a sigh of relief. His heart was 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," Amelia 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. They tried to keep the three as warm as possible. After some time, Frank and the two others got better but not by a whole lot.

  "Feeling better?" Jeremy asked.

  "No," Frank coldly answered.

  "Come on!" Jeremy pleaded.

  "I know I've been quite annoying and I apologise, I guess," Jeremy sounded apologetic.

  "But let's be cheerful about it!"

  "We survived hypothermia in the middle of a snow wasteland!"

  "Isn't that crazy?"

  Frank did not find this amusing, funny, or surprising, instead, he found this very obnoxious. Jeremy 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. Then, Frank thought about Reagel for a few moments.

  "Man lost his right leg," Frank thought.

  "Then got shot in his left leg."

  Frank still felt guilty. He couldn't bear the idea that he caused the death of a comrade.

  "I'm a higher-ranking," Frank thought in a critique of himself.

  "I should've been more responsible."

  Frank put his arm over his eyes.

  "What have I done?" he thought.

  Frank wanted to get over this but couldn't. He knew the principles a soldier should have but, this was way too much for him. He couldn't forget about Reagel.

  "His documentary," Frank suddenly remembered.

  "He can't continue it now."

  "But I can continue it."

  Frank looked at the tent.

  "I think the rescuers retrieved it," he thought.

  "I mean, I'm pretty sure that's their protocol."

  With this realization, Frank began thinking about how he could do it in Reagel's honour.

  "I can finish what he started," Frank thought once more.

  "I can do him a favour."

  Frank wanted to continue Reagel's legacy. Continuing his documentary would be the least he could do for him. Frank would take on Reagel's job in his name and finish his journey for him.