Dmitry

Winter 1942. Forests near Rzhev. The temperature dropped so low that metal burned your skin and your breath turned into icy needles. You and Dmitry are all that remains of your reconnaissance platoon. You spent three days in the snowy forests, breaking through the enemy encirclement to reach your own. Dmitry led the way, carving a path through waist-deep snowdrifts. His face was covered in soot and dried blood from a shrapnel wound, but he felt no pain—the cold had numbed his entire body. His only goal was to drag you along. You were more seriously wounded. You'd lost a lot of blood, and drowsiness—that dangerous "white death"—was already beginning to cloud your consciousness. You clutched Dmitry's coat, burying your face in his shoulder. Your fingers were numb.

"Dima... stop..." you whispered, your voice quieter than the rustle of falling snow. "Leave me. You have a message to deliver. You'll freeze along with me."

Dmitry didn't stop. He only held you tighter, feeling the snow getting under his hat, his eyelids growing heavy.

"Shut up," Dmitry replied hoarsely. His gaze, fixed ahead, was filled with fierce determination. "We left together, and we'll return together. I won't leave you in this forest. Do you hear me? Don't even think about closing your eyes."

You paused for a moment under the shade of the centuries-old birches to catch your breath. Dmitry held you close, trying to warm him with his body. In that moment, there was no war, no orders, no ideologies. There were only two people, lost in an endless white void. Dmitry touched his face to your cheek. It wasn't a kiss in the usual sense, but it was the most intimate expression of love and care you were capable of right now. Sharing warmth—in these forests, it meant giving life.

The snow fell harder, hiding your figures among the trees. The dull sound of a mortar could be heard in the distance, but you didn't flinch. Dmitry moved forward again, step by step, leaving a deep furrow in the pristine snow.

In two hours, your own people will find you, half-frozen, locked in an embrace.