Lost to the War

"I just wanted to give you my utmost attention for the rest of this evening." He said, smiling. Janek grimaced and stared at him.

"Do you believe in fate?" the lieutenant asked. He continued when Janek didn't reply.

"I don't. But I believe that sometimes, some forces in this universe conspire. To make events happen which have no logical impetus to take place. To bring together individuals who have no business being in the same room." He smiled again.

"Take, for example, two nights ago. I received reports that an enemy party had been found camping in the nearby forests. By all accounts, they were conducting military espionage. The reports said that while appropriate action had been levied against this party, one of its members had evaded arrest. Examination of the others' notes indicated that this was the youngest amongst them. The springiest little doe."

Janek felt a tendril of ice clutching his chest.

"And the very next evening, I get another report, this time from the town - right next to my regiment's base of operations - that some reservists had received quite the hiding at the tavern, on account of a strapping young lad whom no-one had ever seen in town before. I'll be the first to admit - the reservists are just men in shiny suits with very little drive and even lesser discipline. But their accounts told me that their assailant must have had hand-to-hand combat training."

The lieutenant glanced at Janek's knuckles. They had been skinned the night before, and only beginning to develop scabs.

"I heard how, accompanied by three local women, the man had managed to give them the slip. Now, presented with all the information that I was," The lieutenant leaned over the table, "what would you have made of it?"

Janek said nothing, glaring at the man across the table. Above them, sounds of boots marching on wooden floors could be heard.

"It wasn't hard to find you, Janek." The lieutenant said quietly. "Your companions are well-known around the town. Some of them, a little too much."

He glanced over his shoulder. Janek followed his eyes and saw, behind him, seated on the couch, Piotr and Natalia. Their mouths were gagged, their hands and feet bound together. Natalia's head hung low and she was half slumped over, indicating she had been knocked out. Piotr on the other hand, was conscious. He looked back at Janek with fear in his eyes.

"Only one last piece of the puzzle remains." The lieutenant said, straightening his jacket. "We found cameras amongst your squad's belongings, but no reels. Since you were the only one who escaped capture, I have reason to believe that you have in your possession photographic evidence of something which you intend to take across to your side. And I cannot allow that."

Janek glared at him. The sound of a door slamming shut came from upstairs.

"The question is, where have you kept it?"

Janek remained quiet. The lieutenant stared at him for a couple of moments before repeating himself.

"Where are the reels, Janek?" he asked, keeping his tone even.

When Janek still didn't reply, the lieutenant nodded to one of the soldiers standing watch over Piotr and Natalia. The soldier grabbed Natalia and pulled her up off the couch by her armpits. She groaned as he carried her over to the hallway and out of sight of Janek. A moment later, sounds of something crashing to the floor came from the kitchen. Something heavy was dragged across the wooden floor. Following that, the groan of wood from the kitchen table as something was laid on it. There was silence for a few moments before Janek heard Natalia gasp, indicating she had regained consciousness. She protested from behind her gag and began to struggle. The table groaned underneath her.

"I really don't have time for this, Janek. I'd rather be back in my quarters, enjoying my dinner and listening to light entertainment on the radio. By the way, do they have radio programs over on your side?"

Janek tugged at his binds. Behind him, he could hear Natalia's limbs banging against the kitchen table. She yelled and struggled fiercely. Janek grunted and glowered at the lieutenant. Piotr tried calling out to Natalia but his voice was barely a whisper behind the gag.

"Where have you hidden the reels, Janek?" The lieutenant's voice grew quieter. It was getting hard to hear him over the sounds of the boots upstairs and Natalia's struggling in the kitchen. "Tell me now, so we can wrap this up."

Janek pulled at his binds. He tried to stand up but he was tied at the waist to the chair's back. He grunted again. Natalia screamed. The sounds of a belt being unlatched and pants being unzipped came from behind. Natalia screamed again. Piotr's eyes widened as he realised what was about to happen. He pleaded for his daughter to be set free, he pleaded them not to do it. All the while, the lieutenant stared at Janek. His face had grown expressionless.

"I need the reels, Janek." He said, his voice barely above a whisper now. "My men are going to find it eventually. But right now, it falls on you to prevent a tragedy."

Images of Janek's squad flashed through his mind. The events of the past week, their slow march back to the border, the ambush, the dead bodies, the chase, the cylinder... His wrists and ankles grew bloody from pulling at his binds. Natalia let out a blood-curdling scream. Piotr slipped off the couch and fell to his knees, yelling out Natalia's name. Another soldier came around to pull him back up on the couch and whacked him across the head with the stock of his rifle. Piotr slumped over. Janek screamed at the lieutenant, but he just stared back at him.

"JAAANEEEKKKK" Natalia screamed from the kitchen. She must have slipped off her gag somehow. Her voice sounded like it was going hoarse. A moment later, the sound of something heavy hitting her face rang out and she fell silent. A few moments after that, a rhythmic smacking of something against the wooden table.

Promise me you'll protect her

"STOP IT!" Janek broke. "STOP IT FOR GOD'S SAKE!"

"Only you can stop it Janek." The lieutenant reiterated.

Tears streamed down Janek's cheeks as he told the man where he had hidden it. The lieutenant nodded to the soldier in the hallway, who ran up the stairs. He returned less than a minute later, carrying the metal cylinder. The lieutenant unscrewed the cap and pulled out the undeveloped reels. He regarded them for a long moment. Then he stuffed them back in the cylinder, screwed the cap back on and stuffed it into his jacket pocket. All this while, the sounds from the kitchen hadn't stopped.

"Tell the others we're done here." The lieutenant said, getting up. A couple minutes later, a couple of soldiers came down the steps. The one who had carried Natalia to the kitchen came back as well, carrying a dazed Natalia. He pushed her face-first onto the couch, where she lay next to her unconscious father, whimpering. Her hair was a mess and she was bleeding from the side of her forehead. The skirt of her housecoat was crumpled and hiked almost halfway up her thighs. Janek cried in silence, unable to look at her. The lieutenant came around the side of the table. He pulled Janek up by the scruff of his neck to face him.

"The promise of youth..." He muttered, regarding Janek. "And its recklessness."

He let him go and stepped back around the table in front of Janek.

"I'm sure your country is very proud of you." He said, unsnapping the buckle on the holster of his sidearm. "You'd have made a fine soldier."

Outside, the evening breeze whispered through the maize. Crickets chirped somewhere unseen. Not too far away from the house, the river babbled as the currents drifted past the fields on their way to the sea. The moon was just a third of its way up the sky. At the town tavern, patrons trickled in slowly. Those who had missed the previous night's cabaret were the ones talking the loudest about it. A couple of streets away, the proprietor of the bakery emerged from the back door, slipping the key under the rock by the door before heading home. Further away, Marta chatted about her day over the phone with Mikhail. She told him about the cabaret, and questioned when he was going to take her to one in the city. Mikhail laughed and promised her he'd take her next month.

Outside Piotr's house, one of the soldiers tossed Janek's metal cylinder into a fire pit. He turned back around towards the house just in time to catch the windows of the hallway light up with a muzzle flash, accompanied by a muffled bang. There were two more, and then everything fell silent.