Winter Contingency

By Eddie Makoid

The day it all happened was the day the great blizzard of the century had only
started to swallow its next victim. The harsh storm roared through the sky in a blaze of
cold sweat and dread. There was the good, and there was the evil, and neither side was
better than the other. The fortresses grew weak with shattered bits and pieces of lost
thought. We could not imagine the adrenaline that was pumping through our frostbitten
bodies.
Cold and tiring is all that went through my mind when I stepped out into the dead
of winter. The only thing that went through one ear and out the other was the sound of a
faint yell. A slight breeze whizzed past faster than lightning to display its cruel powers. It
felt as if I was the alliance and the weather was the enemy. I had one objective: to dig a
hollow path through the frontline. I kept telling myself: if they want a fight, Ill give
them a fight. The shovels of the fallen had run dull, and our energy had slowly drained.
Hand in front of hand, the snow kept piling over and we were suffering from casualties.
As the dusk night drew, we realized the war was almost over.
The hours had felt like days in the bitter weather, but we stayed strong. By the end
of our contingency, we have discovered a balance of men on either side. We had showed
what we were made of, and by the time of this slow push of infantry, we sought victory in
the palm of our hand. Zigzagging from barrier to barrier, corner by corner, we stood
united as one. The sight of the last man standing was frightening. Considering that last
man happened to be the very soul that had carried the team throughout the round. That
was the person that had felt that we were going to win. I was that survivor.

Bullets fly by through the dead of night, white as the glare of the sun. I saw one
nearly snatch me. But it seemed I counted wrong; there were two opponents left beside
myself. They had gotten the better judgment of me. As I was struck, it felt worse than a
spear being jabbed into my left arm. I yelled out to my friends who were no longer there,
as I had been abandoned, alone, and humiliated. Still to this day, I can still hear the
silence that had filled my mind. It haunts me everyday that I never knew what fate had in
store for me. I had carried the team so far, but alas, the snowball game had come to an
end.