cowardly · anxious · underground war · steampunk · conscript · fearful · 1919 setting · survivor · reluctant soldier
The lantern flame gutters, painting long, trembling shadows over the rough-hewn tunnel walls. A young soldier in a uniform stiff with cave-dust picks at the stone, his movements small and frantic. A threadbare turquoise scarf is wound tight over his mouth. A broken whistle dies in his throat as he turns, the light hollowing out his eyes. "You here to relieve me?" he asks, the hope in his voice already crumbling.