Dawn came with a grey sky and a bone-chilling cold. The rain from the previous night had stopped, but the air was still heavy with humidity and an oppressive silence that seemed to anticipate the inevitable. The Republican prisoners, five in all, were led out of their cells one by one, with slow steps and faces marked by exhaustion and resignation. Blitz was the last in line.
His gait was firm, even as his chains clanked against the damp stone floor. He held his head high, his gaze fixed on the horizon as if searching for something beyond the walls of the barracks. Loona followed at a short distance, her uniform perfectly in place, but her face a mask of ice. Only she knew the chaos that was unleashed within her.
When they reached the execution yard, the platoon was already in position. The soldiers, rifles loaded and lined up in perfect formation, avoided looking directly at the prisoners, as if doing so would make them part of the horror.
The commanding officer, a burly man with a thick mustache, stepped forward and looked at Loona.
"Colonel, any final instructions?" he asked, his tone flat.
She shook her head, but her voice came out harsher than she intended.
"Proceed."
Before Blitz was placed in front of the wall, he turned his head towards Loona. His smile, that damned smile that always seemed to mock everything and everyone, appeared on his face again.
"Are you going to see me through to the end, Colonel?" he asked, his tone a mix of defiance and something more intimate.
Loona didn't answer right away. For a brief moment, their eyes met, and in that silent exchange, more was said than words ever could. Finally, she took a step towards him, ignoring the bewildered stares of the other soldiers.
"Blitz…" she began, but her voice cracked slightly.
He tilted his head, as if he were studying her.
"It's okay, Loona. You don't have to say anything. I already know what you're thinking."
She clenched her fists, fighting the urge to break his facade.
"Really?" she asked, her tone colder than she intended.
Blitz smiled, this time with a softness he rarely displayed.
"Of course I do. But if I'm wrong, you can correct me in the next life."
Before she could respond, he took a step forward, getting close enough for his words to be meant only for her.
"I love you, Loona. I knew it from the first night we spoke."
The confession hit her like a shot. Her eyes widened slightly, and for an instant, her mask cracked.
"Blitz…"
He gave her one last smile before being pushed back towards the wall by the soldiers.
The sound of boots echoed as the prisoners were lined up in front of the wall. One of the soldiers began to tie their hands behind their backs, while another placed blindfolds over their eyes. When it was Blitz's turn, he tilted his head back, avoiding the soldier who was trying to cover his eyes.
"I don't need the blindfold," he said, his tone sounding almost like an order.
The soldier looked at Loona for instructions. She nodded with an almost imperceptible movement, unable to look away. Blitz held her gaze until the last moment, his eyes defiant and, at the same time, strangely calm.
The commanding officer raised his hand, and the platoon raised their rifles. The prisoners remained motionless, but Blitz, unlike the others, kept his head high, as if he wanted to etch this moment into the memory of everyone present.
"Aim!" the officer shouted.
Loona felt time slow down. His heart was pounding in his chest, and the sound of the rain from the night before seemed to ring in his ears like a distant echo.
"Fire!"
The roar of gunfire broke the silence, and everything seemed to happen in an instant. The bodies of the prisoners fell to the ground, hitting the wet earth with a dull sound. Blood spread quickly, creating dark puddles that contrasted with the grey of the dawn.
Blitz was the last to fall. His body lurched forward before collapsing, but not before he turned his head slightly towards Loona. His lips moved in one last whisper, inaudible to all but her:
"Thank you."
The roar of rifles echoed through the air, a deafening sound that made Loona grit her teeth, as if it could stop what was about to happen. The impact was instantaneous. The shots were not an isolated explosion, but a storm of lead that crashed into Blitz's body. The first one hit him in the chest, piercing through his rain-soaked shirt. Blood gushed out in a dark stream, spilling down his torso, soaking the fabric.
Blitz staggered back, but he did not fall. The force of the shots pushed him back even further, but each new blow seemed to give him back a part of his humanity. Blood splattered onto the ground, onto the soldiers, onto the earth, staining everything as if war itself decided to once again claim what belonged to it.
The next shot pierced his abdomen. A jet of warm blood gushed out like a fountain, soaking his pants and spilling onto the wet earth. Loona watched as his legs gave way, as Blitz's last breath of life became a soft exhalation, almost inaudible, but still charged with something beyond despair.
The third shot hit him in the neck. Blood burst forth like a bloody fountain, bathing his face, his chest, soaking everything he touched. Blitz's final moments were a slow, almost stylized fall, as if his body was ready to surrender to death, but not without one last attempt to defy it.
Blitz fell to the ground with a thud, his face twisted into a grimace of pain and acceptance. But in his gaze, Loona saw what he had whispered to her: I know.
Loona couldn't move, couldn't look away. The rain began to fall harder, soaking the fallen bodies, the torn uniforms, the pool of blood surrounding Blitz's body. The cold sensation enveloped her, but it wasn't the rain that made her shiver. It was the truth of what she had done.
The soldiers rushed to place Blitz's body in a more decent position, covering it with a tattered blanket, but Loona couldn't look away from the scene. The blood kept flowing, soaking the earth, the mud, the very air. Her vision of life, of war, of humanity, was crumbling like a house of cards.
But the worst had yet to come. Loona's gaze met Blitz's lifeless face once more, and she felt the darkness swallow her up.