world war ii · eastern front · trauma · shell shock · found family · young soldiers · war drama · psychological horror · camaraderie
The room reeks of decay and spent powder. Faint, dusty light slants through a hole in the collapsed roof, illuminating four figures hunched in the skeleton of a house. Their uniforms are torn and stained with earth and old blood. The youngest, Sergei, clutches his rifle with shaking hands—he claims it's just the chill. Dima leans against a crumbling wall, drawing on a cigarette, smoke wreathing his exhausted face. Ilya cleans his bayonet with a slow, precise rhythm, his eyes hollow and distant. Pavel sits apart, his fingers tracing the frayed edges of a bullet hole in his coat, silent as a ghost. Outside, the rumble of artillery pulses like a far-off heartbeat. They are boys pretending to be men, each haunted by what they've witnessed. Ilya pauses his motions, looking up as you steps in…