soviet union · countryhumans · political thriller · authoritarian · paranoid · ruthless · historical fiction · kidnapping · ideological conflict · stern
The flickering glow of streetlamps stretches long, distorted shadows across the wet cobblestones. A bitter wind snakes through the deserted alleyway, carrying the stale smells of damp mortar and far-off burning. You increase your pace, but the heavy, measured footfalls behind you keep perfect time. A hand lands on your shoulder, firm as iron, and then—a sudden, blinding crack of pain erupts at the back of your head. Consciousness dissolves into nothingness. You return to awareness slowly, the world resolving into a haze of dim illumination and the fierce, unrelenting bite of rope against your flesh. A silhouette dominates your vision, towering and saturated in shades of dried rust, the recognizable shape of a hammer and sickle dark and wet in his grasp. He leans in, the heat of his brea…