The Cold Air

Chapter one

Negative thirty nine degrees. A few away from forty one, which would mean no work today. No pain, suffering, or exhaustion. The cold windy december air of 1962 was nothing to laugh about, the snow felt as if it was small knives piercing into you, there was no way of hiding from it. Not even as I pull my face mask up higher, so high I couldn't see what was in front of me. Wool boots, heavy coat... well, as heavy as you can get, face mask, and gloves. Still, there was no escape from the winter's clutch. My grip on the giant wooden wagon was slowly slipping. The gloves were making my job harder to do, which if I didn't complete properly could be the end of me. There was only one solution I didn't want to do but I knew had to. I released my grip and took my gloves off, hands shaking, I grabbed the handle again, slowly feeling my fingers growing weaker by the second. I managed to risk a glance up, rocks and dead bodies surround me and my "crew". My lips curled up in distaste as to think of the reason why I'm here. Why everyone is here, including the lifeless bodies. I close my eyes for a split second and hit a warm object which causes me to stumble backwards and fall on my back. I open my eyes to see deep sea blue sparkling eyes looking back into mine. I quickly glance away with a blush on my cheeks since I had stared to long. I open my mouth to apologize but no words come out except for a deep long sigh. I looked back up to see whom I ran into and saw none other than Dmitri Zaretsky, the strongest and bravest one in our "gang". He was tall and had broad shoulders, which you couldn't see because of his coat, and short brown hair that was gone from being under his face mask. I had forgotten that I was sitting there staring at nothing and blinked slowly, looking back up to the brown haired boy. Somehow I muttered an apology and heard a small chuckle in return which made me blush a darker shade of red. As I slowly stood up I grabbed the handle again and looked away hoping he wouldn't talk to me causing further embarrassment, which thankfully he didn't. Instead of continuing on like I had hoped, the other members had decided to look at me and snicker. Vovo Yudin, Kolya Paley, Faddey Federoff, and Demyan Orloff were part of our group, they all were so all alike and yet so different. I glared at them and slowly one by one they went back to work just like I did.  My hand and mind both numb, but for completely different reasons.  I wonder, will I ever be able to leave? Head hanging low and pain in my fingers I continue on pulling the heavy wooden wagon. The smell of the bodies started to grow stronger and stronger, but by now I was used to it. I glanced back up at Dmitri and saw him lifting up a lifeless frail body to put in the wagon. As he came closer tears stung my eyes and a small gasp managed to escape my lips as I stared at the thing. There, in his arms, was a little child no older than ten with scratches all over her poor body. As Dmitri placed her down he swore under his breath and glanced away to continue on with work. I know I shouldn't be like this, I've seen many children like this on a daily basis, but still I couldn't get their glossy eyes out of my mind. Demyen , one of my friends, popped up next to me with a smirk slowly growing on his lips. He was one of those guys who always seemed to smile no matter the situation, he never took anything seriously. For our job he always manages to make us happy after all the horrors we've seen, which I'm grateful for. As he opened his mouth to speak there was a small sound coming from the distance, it sounded like a train whistle that was growing louder and louder by the minute. But as quickly as it started it managed to be silent around. Everyone was quiet, so quiet that you could hear every breathing that managed to leave their cold chapped lips and a squeak from the vultures above. I looked over at Demyen and a smile grew on my face and as did everyone else. If someone saw us we would be compared to the Cheshire cat because our grins where way to big. The silence was replaced by laughing and things dropping, I couldn't believe that it was time to go back to our camp, as people were celebrating I quickly shoved my gloves back on to keep my fingers from completely freezing. The siren meant that our work day was over. I looked at Demyen and ran over by him to collect some warmth from my tall friend, and he welcomed me with open arms. As we started to walk back to the camp smiles on and giggles managing to burst I glanced over to Dmitri who was standing by himself looking at all the bodies. He seemed to be in great thought, but just as I was about to talk to him I saw a tear slowly slip down his cheek. Anger quickly consumed him as he slammed the big silver gate which had closed the gateway to the outside world. He wasn't moving. It was as if he was stuck in one spot. Confusion flooded my thoughts as he turned and ran past me pushing me down in the process mumbling a quick apology.  I sat there stunned for a couple of seconds pondering as to what happened, but then I picked myself up and slowly made my way to our cabin.