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As night falls and your extremities slowly begin to freeze, time is running out to find a way out of this that doesn't end with you turning into a popsicle. With your rifle gone and only three rounds left in your sidearm, you've got to make this count. Winter in Russia is unforgiving, and you curse yourself for volunteering for this mission. The comms systems have for sure been compromised at this point so there isn't any use in calling for help on your radio. It's just you, the snow, and your survival skills left.
This village looks like it's been abandoned for some time. The lights aren't on, and there's definitely nobody home. This will have to do for tonight. Either you can take your chances trying to find a place to hunker down until dawn, or surely freeze to death outside in the negative temperatures. Deciding on the former, you stick to stepping in the footprints someone else has already left behind to avoid being discovered in case whoever made them is still lurking around.
Your alarm bells go off when you spot dark stains in the snow. Even in the dim moonlight, it's clear that this mysterious someone has been through here recently and they're hurt. Following the trail of blood, it leads to the door of a house that is just as dark as the others. Maybe this person has moved on to somewhere else, or they're still inside. No way to know unless you check it out. Peeking in through the windows to make sure it's safe to enter, you slowly push open the door and inspect the area for booby traps, just in case they had time to be creative. It's what you'd do if you had the time and supplies.
After clearing all the rooms which you've found to be completely empty, you decide to check the last closed door in the house and discover it leads to a basement. Light washes over the bottom steps and you listen closely to figure out if the injured person you followed is dead or alive. You can hear a voice talking to itself- they're speaking English with an American accent, meaning someone from Shadow Company could have survived the ambush. Either that, or this is an elaborate trap to lure survivors from the attack. Readying your weapon, you open the door all the way to listen more easily.
You'd know that voice anywhere. Commander Graves. He somehow made it out alive, even though you'd sworn you saw him be killed back at the warehouse.
"Commander Graves, you're alive!" you whisper-shout into the space below you. He recognizes your voice immediately.
"Are you alone?"
"Yeah, it's only me. I don't know if anyone else made it out. I'm coming down the stairs," you warn him, taking each step slowly on your nearly frozen feet.
Stooping in the low-ceilinged basement, you make your way over to Graves in the corner who's propped himself against the wall and has wrapped up a leg wound. There wasn't a significant amount of blood outside, so he should be okay for now.
"Soldier, you're covered in blood. You been hit?" Looking down, you explain yourself.
"It's not mine. They were double tapping us but I managed to get underneath enough bod-"
"I understand, you don't have to go any further. I'm sorry things turned out this way. The intel said there hadn't been any patrols there in weeks. I should've seen this coming."
"It's not your fault, Commander. You did your best to try and save us. There's no such thing as a risk-free mission, sir."
"I'm still responsible for all of you. Here, sit down. Save your energy." You join Graves on the floor and look around the small basement lit up by a battery powered lantern. There's not much here that could help and no heat sources. Well, maybe one source other than yourself.
"How the hell are we going to get out of here, sir?"
"I'm still working on that. We'll have to sit tight until daylight or we'll freeze to death outside. You see anything in here that we could use?"
Taking the lantern, you crawl around the basement and swipe cobwebs out of the way to search for useful items. Other than some empty dust covered shelves, the only items in the room are a tarp rolled up with a bungee cord and a wooden box of folded up burlap sacks. They were probably filled with potatoes or other stored vegetables at some point, but it's been a while since they've last been used. The old owners probably won't mind if you and the Commander borrow them tonight.
"Commander, I think I just found our beds for tonight. Would you like the queen or deluxe king?"
"Glad to see you've still got your sense of humor despite this mess we're in." He sounds so down and defeated. You don't really see him like this very often unless something horrible has happened.
The tarp turns out to be huge, so you refold it a few times and spread it on the floor. It won't do much in the way of softness or keeping the cold from seeping up from the floor, but it's better than sleeping on bare concrete. A layer of burlap sacks is added next, and you divide the rest between yourself and Graves to use as makeshift blankets. Your odds of survival have gone up drastically now that you've found shelter and scraps of warmth.
According to Graves' watch that survived while yours got busted, there's still about seven hours until dawn. This is going to be one long night. You briefly take off your gloves and boots to check your fingers and toes for frostbite, but they look okay for now. A couple more hours in the snow and you might have been looking at an amputation or two. Graves seems to be in decent condition, too, except for his leg wound and some major bruising. At least your leader has survived with you and you're not alone. Together, you quietly mourn your lost teammates and vow to figure out exactly what went wrong with the mission.
Trying to get to sleep in freezing temperatures with only a gun to hold on to like a teddy bear is difficult, in a word. The Commander is almost completely silent on his side of the tarp and you can only hear the soft sounds of his breathing. After about two hours of tossing and turning, Graves has had enough of your rustling and finally says something.
"Soldier, I'm having a hard time staying asleep with all the ruckus and teeth chattering. What's the matter? I thought we trained you to fall asleep in all conditions."
"I'm sorry, sir. I think I'm afraid to fall asleep for fear of dying of hypothermia."
Graves sighs. "Get over here," he orders.
"What?"
"You heard me. There's no need to be shy in a life or death situation. Scoot on over, then." Well, if he's offering, you might as well take him up on the prospect of more warmth.
Wrapping up in the burlap sacks so you're rolled like a burrito, you slide along the tarp until you feel Graves' solid body behind you. Even in the chilled room, the man still manages to throw off more heat than you expected. It's deliciously warm and starts to sink all the way into your frozen bones.
"That better?" He throws one arm across your body and pulls you as close as he can manage until you're both pressed together in the corner. Your shivering gradually stops and soon, you're no longer shuddering from the cold. As awkward as it is to be cuddled up with your boss, it just might be keeping you alive through the night.
"Much better. Beats being frozen solid outside, I guess. Thank you, Commander."
"You don't have to call me that while we're stuck here, you know. It can wait until we're able to get out of here and regroup. You won't be reprimanded or anything like that."
"Okay, um, Phillip. Thank you." It feels strange for you to address your Commander by his first name. You'd always had the utmost respect for him and admired his steadfast leadership skills, but it's nice to see him soften a little. Who knew it would take almost dying for the big, bad Commander Graves to show this side of him?
As you finally relax enough to be able to get some rest, you feel Graves snuggle against you and it warms your heart just as much as it warms your body. Getting out of the basement and trying to find a way back home? That's a problem for you to figure out in the morning.