The Frost Sniper

By Will Sharp

My breath was visible. Frost began to creep on the rim of my scope. With each breath I drew in, I grew colder. I was motionless; prone against the snow. Sleep deprivation surrounded my senses and I knew my time awake was running out. I hadn’t eaten in three days, and the clouds overhead were soon to bring water. There was no movement in the woods beyond, not even a sound. The wind was even scared to stir. I re-checked my scope’s angle and made sure everything was dialed in correctly. If someone were to walk by my position, they would only see a lump of snow; barely alive. Which was exactly what I was; barely alive. Movement. My heartbeat rose quickly. Breathe in, breath out I told myself. Movement. There was a figure in the distance, maybe five hundred meters. The wind stirred the snow, disrupting the outline of the object. I focused again and it seemed to have disappeared. I am not alone. I had to get calm, otherwise I would miss my chance. Being as young as I was, my superiors did not have faith in my abilities. I would show them, I would show everyone at the academy. Movement. This time however, there was more than one figure. I zoomed in the scope for a better view; beyond my vision there lay at least two dozen figures walking in-rhythm. They were walking horizontally across my field of vision, I could pick them off from the back. But I had no intel on who they were. It was completely against the code to kill without knowledge. I hungered for the kill. That moment, that power; I needed it. I would prove my worth, Fuck the code. I began to move my rifle slowly and I fixed my reticle on the head of the last individual in line. What if they were allies? I lowered my rifle having not considered such a thought. I can’t kill my fellow soldiers. My position gave me a substantial field of vision so I held up on taking the shot. There was a clearing up ahead that they would most likely stop at to get some rest, I would figure out more about them there.

They got to the clearing and rested just as I had assumed. I zoomed in even more to get a good look at their patches and military rankings; we were indeed on the same side. I almost killed one of my own. But that thought didn’t get to entirely sink in. A soft “whoosh” was heard and one of the soldiers in the clearing fell down; shot in the head. Two more “whooshes” and two more men went down. Chaos broke out and my fellow soldiers took cover and began to fire in the woods haphazardly. An enemy sniper. My eyes began to dart all around to look for a flash, a reflection; anything. I took a clump of snow from my surroundings and put it to mouth to conceal my breath. I only had one shot, otherwise this would turn into a game of cat and mouse. The other sniper wasn’t aware of my presence so I was counting on him to make a mistake. Three more men went down having stuck their heads out to see if the threat had died down. I could hear the screams, my brothers in arms were suffering. Just then, a glint off the snow. I instantly moved my rifle to where I saw it. Breathe in, breathe out. He was waiting for the right time to take another shot. I made the adjustments on my rifle; only one shot. This was the only way to redeem my dead brothers. Breathe in, breathe out. In the moment, on the battlefield; there is only absolute, and that is life. You trade yours for your soldiers, and you trade the enemies’ for revenge. Breathe in, breathe out. Death is the reality we all flirt with, constantly on the edge, constantly facing down; looking right in the eye. This time, I could give my brothers something for their life. Something real, something that can be held. Breathe in, breathe out. This something was living, breathing, and filled with blood and dreams; but so were my brothers. Breathe in, breathe out. The trade is only as equal as the life. An outline in the snow appeared as the sniper shivered. The mistake. I discerned the location of his body and head. I began to feel that hunger. This kill would be mine, and it would righteous. Breathe in, breathe out. My finger slowly began to squeeze the trigger. I Am Death. “Whoosh.” A single shot was sent straight for his head. The snow surrounding the figure began to turn red. He went limp as life escaped him. I stood up and yelled at my soldiers down below. I gave them the signal to tell them “all was clear” and that we were on the same side. I felt relieved, and filled. That sniper didn’t dance with death, for I had slayed him. Something good had come of my kill. Cheers went out and pats on the back commenced. What was left of the squad and I began to move closer to the downed sniper. It wasn’t hard to find him this time as he lay in the red-stained snow. As we moved closer I began to notice something familiar about his uniform. We removed his outer camouflage. There it was, right in the open. He wore an identical suit to mine. We all had the same lettering and patches on our uniforms. He was one of us. He was what I almost was. I had almost become him. I knew him, and knew him to be younger than I. I had to look away. My brothers were not aware on how close I walked the line. They had no knowledge of how close I was to being their slayer. We took his body with us and brought it back to the nearest base-camp. I couldn’t look them in the eye. But they were happy to live another day.