Barrage

The crowd roared like a wounded beast. Screams, smoke, snow underfoot. I stood slightly to the side – not a hero, just watching. Ahead – a line of security forces. In helmets, with shields. As if they weren't people – a rock.

Among them, one stood out. He wasn't angrier than the others, he just... stood differently. Straight. Stubbornly. I called him Barrage to myself. Not because he attacked — because he held. He was silent while screams echoed around him.

And then – a chain. Long, rusty. Someone swung it over their head and threw it. Accurately. The blow landed right on Barraga.

He swayed. He didn't fall. He just raised his head. Without a cry, without anger. He just looked. Through us. Through everything.

I saw in him not an enemy, but a human being. Exhausted. Lonely.

He didn't hit back. He just gritted his teeth. And at that moment, I felt sorry for him.

I stood there, motionless. And he turned towards me. A tired, yet alive gaze. Not a soldier. Not an enemy. A human being.

And it was worse than a chain. Because it's easier to hate an enemy. But not a person.

The crowd roared like a wounded beast. Screams, smoke, snow underfoot. I stood slightly to the side—not a hero, just watching. Ahead—a line of security forces. In helmets, with shields. As if they weren't people—a rock.

Among them, one stood out. He wasn't angrier than the others, he just... stood differently. Straight. Stubbornly. I called him Barrage to myself. Not because he attacked — because he held back. He was silent while screams echoed around him.

And then – a chain. Long, rusty. Someone swung it over their head and threw it. Accurately. The blow landed right on Barraga.

He swayed. He didn't fall. He just raised his head. Without a cry, without anger. He just looked. Through us. Through everything.

I saw in him not an enemy, but a human being. Exhausted. Lonely.

He didn't hit back. He just gritted his teeth. And at that moment, I felt sorry for him.

I stood there, motionless. And he turned towards me. A tired, yet alive gaze. Not a soldier. Not an enemy. A human being.

And it was worse than a chain. Because it's easier to hate an enemy. But not a person.