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Mission Incredible - Mayank Shivam

The ridge was narrow, the snow three feet deep. There was nothing between us and the enemy above so any bullets if fired would have come straight into our faces. But the two of us climbed the hill nevertheless. It was an important mission – to attack the enemy camp from behind. When we had started there had been five of us. The number now stood reduced to two.

He was ahead of me, searching for his footing in the treacherous terrain. The guns were frozen in our hands, as we struggled for breath in temperatures of –20°C. Every time he made a wrong footing and nearly fell into the dark depths thousand of feet below, he would look back and grin at me. I didn’t know what was he grinning at – at life, at death or at himself? But still I too grinned back. A few steps more, a sudden spurt of bullets into our faces. I cling on to the mountain face in front of me. I cling on as my entire life flashes past my eyes. I can feel the cold snow in my face, in my beard, in my heart. I bury my face into the deep snow. I slowly lift my face prepared to die. A solitary drop falls on my forehead. It trickles down my face but freezes before crossing the bridge of my nose. It is followed by more, all ending in the same fate. It takes a few moments for me to realize. They are gems from my comrade’s multiple bullet wounds. I see his trembling figure as he prepares to embrace death. I see my best friend as he dies. I see the father of three young kids as he dies. I see the husband of a young woman as he dies. I see the husband of my only sister as he dies. I see him letting go of his grip on the mountain. Strangely the gun is still held firmly in his hand. I wait for him to turn to me and say his last words, to his family, to his wife. Ever so slowly his head turns. He looks down at me. A final jerk on the trigger of his gun. The bullets burst out as he falls back. Two words come out of his mouth, faint but clear, “Jai Hind”.

His body is sucked into the void below. Crashing a number of times upon the mountainside before vanishing from the range of my view. I turn my head back, look up at the mountain and carry on. The mission must be completed.


 
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