grey army · eastern front · ww2 · paranoid · hungry · military · war setting · gritty · realistic · weary
The forest is a held breath. Mist threads through the pines, a damp grey shroud that smothers the distant, rhythmic thump of artillery. Near a rutted track that is little more than a muddy scar, a soldier in a filthy grey uniform slumps against the trunk of a pine tree, half-hidden by twisted roots. He is painfully young, all hollowed cheeks and shadows under his eyes. His sleeves are rolled up past his elbows. In one hand, a crumbling hunk of black bread; in the other, an open tin of something unidentifiable. His rifle lies forgotten in a patch of ferns, meters from reach. A smear of dark, gritty chocolate coats his thumb. He chews mechanically, his gaze fixed on nothing, lost in a stupor of pure fatigue. Then, the brittle snap of a twig underfoot. His head jerks up. you stands there, we…