We trudge through the cold and deep snow for hours. I glance down at the flat ground thousands of feet below. My eyes feel heavier and heavier with each second that passes. I look back at Akio, who's dragging along with his head down.
"C'mon, man. Head up. You're my extra set of eyes and ears," I call back.
"Binky, is it possible we could take a three-minute break? I can't do much seeing and hearing for you if I'm half asleep."
I look back down at the valley below. I can even see the airbase from here. A twinge of anger rips through me as I see its lit-up runway, its variety of different jets, and its three massive buildings. There wasn't even a dent on that runway. Not a single building was damaged. We never even got close. I glance back at Akio and nod. Akio lets out a huge sigh as he sits in the snow. I look down at the airfield again. I've gotta be high enough by now for the signal to work.
I pull out my radio, but again, all I get is static. I look up at the monstrous climb we have ahead of us. I shake my head and look back at the trail of footprints we made. If they're looking for us, which they definitely are, they'll be able to find us in no time. We've been traveling at an insanely slow speed and carelessly leaving a huge trail for them to follow. I walk over to the closest pine tree and snap off a branch. I walk over to Akio, who was already asleep against a tree. I shove the branch into his chest, and he jolts awake.
"Rise and shine, man."
He sighs and slowly stands. I hand him the branch. "Wipe away our trail. Make sure there isn't an indent in the snow. Make it flat and make sure you can't see our footprints."
He glares at me for a moment, his eyes glazed over with the fog of sleep. Eventually, he nods and takes the branch.
"Whatever you say," he yawns. I look forward and continue to walk again. About two more hours go by as we push through the snow. The frigidness of the snow bites at my bones. Snow and ice cakes my gear. My legs tremble as I slowly stomp through the snow. It feels so heavy against my legs. I grab my mask and put it on, hoping that it warms my face.
"Hey, Binky," Akio starts, "if you could have any food right now, what would it be?"
I see what he's doing. Trying to keep the mood light. Probably trying to keep himself and me awake. I hesitate as I think about my answer. I smile as the food pops into my head.
"A greasy, cheesy, Philly cheesesteak," I answer. The thought of it makes my mouth water and my stomach growl. I swear, I can smell it right now, taste the green peppers, cheese, and beef. "What about you?"
"Honestly...I could go for some McDonald's."
My eyes narrow. That was definitely not the answer I was expecting. "I mean, you Americans know how to make some really unhealthy food...but it's good. I can just taste those golden, salty fries right now."
I smile as I turn to look at him.
"You live in Japan where you arguably have some of the best food in the world...and you want McDonald's?"
He shrugs.
"Do not question my food choices."
I laugh as I turn back around and look up at the top of the mountain. It was still miles away. There's no way I'm making it up there tonight. I can feel the ice stick to my eyelashes. I shake violently as the cold air slams into my body. I stop and turn towards Akio. I can barely see his eyes through the snow that encases his eyelashes.
"We should take a break."
He gives me a thumbs-up and then literally collapses into the snow. I sit up against a wall of rock. I reach into a pocket on my survival vest, pulling out the small water canteen. I want to drink all of it now, but I know how stupid of a move that would be. So I force myself to take only a couple of sips and then put it back.
"You try radio? Maybe it will work this time," Akio mumbles.
At this point, I don't even know if it will work. We've got to be at least a thousand feet up by now. I'm starting to think it's more than just a lousy signal. Maybe the Russians...I don't know...have an EMP? Who knows. Maybe it is just bad reception. I pull out my radio and turn it on. Again, I'm greeted with the irritating sound of static. I clench my jaw, curling my fingers tighter around the radio.
"You've got to be kidding," I growl through clenched teeth. I lift my arm, raising the radio high into the air. Akio scoffs.
"Yeah, like that's going to help."
"You got a better idea?"
I still hold it up high, shaking it back and forth as if that would do anything. I gasp as the radio explodes in my hand. I yank my arm into my chest, wincing as an immense heat burns my fingers. My breath hitches as the echo of a gunshot rings out. Akio latches onto my arm, yanking me up. He pushes me forward, but I barely move. I just stare down at the broken radio, my brain frozen with shock. That was our only way home. The only chance of us ever getting out of here. And there it lays, on the ground in pieces.
"They found us! Move!" Akio screams. I snap out of it and charge forward. I look over, and my heart sinks as I see about twenty soldiers down below. Fire explodes from their rifles. Bullets whiz past my ears and slam into the side of the mountain. The forest around us erupts with Russian voices. The sounds of humvees grumbling. Gunshots echo throughout the air as the snow next to us kicks up. I can feel the heat from the near misses of the bullets. I stare at the ground in front of me, weaving in between the trees and boulders like a speeding car on the highway.
I run and run, and the next thing I know, I drop. My heart sinks to the pit of my stomach as I look down at the bottom of the cliff I just jumped off of. Pain shoots up my knees as I land. Rocks jab into my side and back as I tumble down the cliff. Warm blood fills my mouth as the rocks stabbed me over and over again. I land hard on my back, the air being ripped from my lungs. I gasp and suck in as much air as I can. My upper lip tingles as blood oozes from my nose. My bones ache, and the cuts all over my body sting. I groan as I roll over onto my stomach. I reach up and yank my mask off my face. My head whips to the right as Akio grumbles something in Japanese. I push myself up, wincing as my body aches, my fingers still feeling like they've been dipped in fire. I grab onto his arm with my good hand.
"Get up!" I yell. I yank him to his feet. He cries out in agony and collapses back to the ground. "C'mon, man! Get up! We have to go!"
"My leg!"
He squeezes his eyes shut, tears streaming down his cheeks. My eyes dart towards his leg. I cover my mouth to stop myself from getting sick as I stare at the bone jutting out from his lower leg. I lift his small body over my shoulders and just run. I run and run until I can't hear the Russians anymore. My body aches even more as I carry Akio over my shoulders. My fingers throb. My legs trembled as I trudged through the thick snow. Stabbing pain shoots up my back every five seconds. Blood from my nose seeps between my dry lips. My eyes flick to the right as something catches my attention. A small cave. I walk over to it and collapse to my knees. Pain rips up my spine as I fall and drop Akio. He screams something in Japanese.
"Sorry," I say through strangled breaths. I drag him deeper into the cave, but unfortunately, it's not a very deep cave. It's enough to shelter us from the snow, though, and that's all I can ask for right now. I lay flat on my back and press the back of my hand into my bleeding nose, finally able to wipe off the blood. I run my fingers along my face, feeling a couple of scratches here and there, but all have dried up. I reach up and pat my helmet. Thank God I was wearing this thing.
"Binky," Akio quakes. I hold my breath as I turn around, trying my hardest not to look at the bone sticking out of his leg. "Help me, please."
My stomach churns as I walk over to him. My eyes are wide. I can feel the blood drain from my face as I just stare at him. The realization hits. I have to do something, fix his leg somehow. My mind thinks back to my training. Splint it. I have to splint it, right?
I glance out the cave.
"I'll be right back."
I run out of the cave as fast as possible and break off two sturdy branches from a tree. I run back in and set them down beside him. I rummage through my survival vest and take out the small first-aid kit. I take out two ibuprofen and hand it to him.
"Take these, and let me see your tourniquet."
He grabs both pills and swallows them. He then reaches into his vest and grabs the tourniquet.
"Do you think you're bleeding?"
He squeezes his eyes shut and just shrugs. I let out a sharp breath and slowly turn to check. The sight of the bone sticking out sends a violent wave of revulsion through me. I bite my cheek, trying not to gag. The bone is sticking straight through his G-suit. There's no way I'm removing that thing. I don't see any blood seeping through, though. So, I can only imagine that it's not bleeding too badly. I hope. There's no way he's gonna be able to walk on his own, though. If we ever get out of here, his leg will be gone for sure.
"Is it bad? I don't want to look."
"It's—uh..."
I swallow hard, not knowing whether to sugarcoat it or just tell the truth. "It's um...just—just don't look."
"What?"
He lifts his head. Terror overtakes his face as his eyes widen. His lips tremble as he tries to speak. I can literally see the color drain from his cut-up cheeks.
"It—it's really not as bad as it looks."
In reality, I have no idea, but I'm pretty sure a bone sticking out from your leg is not okay. More tears spill from his eyes. He shakes his head and babbles something in Japanese. "Look, it's fine! It's fine! I'm—I'm gonna splint it. We're gonna be fine."
Splint it. That's what I'm supposed to do in this situation, right?
My heart bangs against my rib cage as I take out my tourniquet. I use both of our tourniquets and the sticks to create a tight splint. My burned fingers throb and sting after tying it so tight. My hand trembles as I stare down at the glove. The fabric around my fingers and palms is singed, leaving the pink, chard flesh exposed.
"We're in a big pickle, aren't we?" Akio says, taking my attention off my burn. I let out a nervous, shaky laugh. I can feel the hot tears starting to swell in my own eyes as the terror overwhelms me. I bite my cheek until the blood fills my mouth. No. Crying is the last thing I'm gonna do. I take in a deep breath and think about my options. Let's see, the closest border is China, and that's definitely not an option, even though the border is only a few miles away. I don't know who I rather be captured by. The Russians or Chinese. We could hike hundreds of miles to the coast. But, like I said, that's a hundred miles, and we'd still be in enemy territory. I lay down on my back and cover my eyes with my hands.
"We are so screwed," I croak.
Akio sighs.
"I—I guess Mongolia?" he grumbles through the pain. My eyes narrow as I pull my hands away from my face.
"Mongolia? It's occupied."
"Yeah...but—but the freedom fighters will—will possibly help."
I shake my head and rub the bridge of my nose to try and release some stress. It doesn't work. Not in the slightest.
"Do you know how far the Mongolian border is? It'll take us forever to get there."
"It's—it's all we have, Binky."
I close my eyes, envisioning how far we would have to walk. How bad the terrain is and how much longer it would take because of Akio's leg. But like he said, it's all we have. How would we even find the freedom fighters? That in itself is a long shot. I glance over at Akio, who still has his eyes shut, his jaw clenched as he rubs his fingers against a metal necklace. My eyes narrow as I stare at it. It's a silver heart-shaped locket.
"Nice necklace," I mumble, trying to take his mind off the pain.
"It's—it's my girlfriends. She said as long as I w—wear it, it will keep m—me safe."
I scoff.
"My girlfriend dumped me right after I enlisted."
Akio laughs through whimpers of pain.
"I can't wait to see her again."
I curl my lips inward and say nothing. I still don't understand how he thinks we're gonna get out of here. Especially now with his leg.
"How...how are you so positive, man? Like, not to be a debbie-downer, but can't you see that we're probably not getting out of here?"
His ink-black eyes flick to mine. I can see the pain on his face, but he smiles anyway.
"If I can't control my circumstances, why worry about it? Yes, this is not good, and yes, we may very well die. B—but as long as I h—have breath, it's not over."
Dang. How old is this kid again? Younger than me, yet he's a whole lot wiser. All I've been doing is complaining the entire time. I close my eyes and take in deep breaths until my pounding heart settles. I nod as I stand, my joints aching as I do. I look down at him and reach out.
"Not a bad way of looking at things."
He nods and smiles again as he grabs my hand. "You ready to move again? The Russians can't be far."
He takes in a sharp breath and nods.