As Mikhail fell, he remembered the rest of his training, bending his knees and rolling to soften the blow of landing. Luckily, the untouched snow softened the fall somewhat, and his roll turned into a run in one fluid motion.
In the military academy, he had also been taught how to behave when in an interrogation. Using the same techniques, he had wiped all emotion from his face up until the very moment he had climbed the leg of the watchtower in order to jump the fence. Nobody has come near him for the whole day.
Unfortunately, the increased Mzeusian military presence, and the pressure to perform well for the inspectors, had made Thoonian security even tighter than it already had been. As Mikhail sprinted across the stretch of open ground, floodlights had already switched on behind him, bathing him in light. On both sides, alarms blared, and soldiers streamed out from their positions, weapons raised. In front of him, he saw Mzeusian soldiers pour from seemingly every direction, and he had no doubt that the Thoonians were doing them same behind him.
The lights of the torches on the guns sliced through the remaining gloom, hitting his face as he sprinted towards the Mzeusian side. Then, the sound of gunfire slammed into the air, rising above all the commotion of shouting. A vicious pain bloomed in Mikhail's shoulder, and the force of the bullet sent him to the ground. He was no more than a quarter of the way to the Mzeusian fence, and as he raised his head, he thought how naive he had been to believe that he could make it.
Instead of the voices fading, as he expected, they seemed to grow larger. It was hard to focus on them due to the bullet lodged in his shoulder. As he looked, he saw a figure running surprisingly quickly through the snow towards him. As she drew closer, he saw Arinadia's face, and smiled. She was looking panicked and desperate as she charged forward, fearless in the face of the Thoonian soldiers.
As the Thoonian brigadier watched the Mzeusian approach, he grabbed at the coat of the officer next to him. "I can't have a man escape on my watch. Can you imagine what I would become if I report this."
"Don't m-mention it then," the other man said, looking fearfully at his superior.
"This will be all over the Mzeusian newspaper you idiot!" the man hissed, casting him aside. "No, there is only one way to save this now." He snatched his pistol from his holster, steadying it as he aimed. The officer he had just spoken to leapt forward, grabbing the man's arm and jerking it backward just as the trigger was pulled. The shot rang out and went wide.
Upon hearing the pistol firing, the Mzeusian general gritted his teeth. "We can't have a Mzeusian dying out there. Get her back, now!" Upon the order, twenty Mzeusian border guards charged through the hole Arinadia had cut in the fence with her wire-cutter. Their guns were levelled at the Thoonians, and they moved swiftly and with purpose, despite the complete lack of cover.
On the Thoonian side, the Brigadier, whirled on the officer, back-handing him in one vicious movement. The Brigadier's two soldiers stepped up to detain the man, but he cried out, and the other Thoonian soldiers made a split-second decision. They turned their guns on the Brigadier and his men. As they barked out a command, the officer retreated to stand next to them. Outnumbered, the Brigadier and his men dropped their weapons into the snow. A few of the border guards moved to detain them, while the others turned to the officer. The man swallowed hard, and what he saw brought a tear to his eye. The Mzeusian who had reached Mikhail was cradling his head. He couldn't make out what she was saying, but the gentle Mzeusian brought a shadow of a smile to his face. "Don't shoot. Stand down," he said.
Mikhail looked up at Arinadia, bringing his good arm up to cup her face. "So, the binoculars weren't lying. You really are beautiful." He was growing paler, his hand shook and he had to drop his arm to the snow. "I'm sorry Arinadia, I don't think I'll be able to carry on. The twenty-four hour watch really took the fight out of me, and the whipping didn't help. It seems like this is the final blow." Mikahil grimaced, holding Arinadia's gaze as he fought to stay awake.
Arinadia shook her head. "No, Mikhail, you can hold on. You're so close to Mzeusia now. You can't die." Her touch was soft against Mikhail's skin, and a tear splashed against his cheek. Her voice was ragged as the she spoke. "I've watched you for weeks now, always through the binoculars, but now I'm finally here, you can't make it?"
"I'm sorry." Mikhail whispered into the wind. "Everything is okay. I never wanted to get to Mzeusia, I just wanted to get to you, and now you've come. Thank you."
Arinadia moved to pick the Thoonian soldier up, putting an arm under his knees. He placed a hand on her wrist. She looked at him, tears streaming down her face. He smiled at her, squeezing her wrist in an ever weakening grip. "I won't forget you." He swallowed hard. "I love you Arinadia. Don't forget me."
With those words, his hand fell back and his last breath escaped him. His head lolled back, cheek touching the snow. He didn't feel the cold kiss of winter any longer. For what seemed to her as half an hour, Arinadia stared at his dead body, Mikhail's blood dirtying the snow with its vivid red.
As her breath curled from her mouth, she looked up towards the Thoonians soldiers, body shaking with grief and cold. In one move, she sprung to her feet, wrenched an assault rifle from the soldier nearest to her, and turned it on the Thoonian Brigadier.
The Thoonian soldiers reacted quickly, aiming their own guns, and letting forth a torrent of bullets. Unfortunately for the Brigadier, they were too late to save him. Arinadia's bullets slammed into the man, sending him falling to the ground and killing him before he hit it.
As Arinadia saw the man die, she too was struck, the impact flinging her to the snow beside Mikhail's body. As she lay there twicthing, only half listening to the shouting on both sides, she stretched out, grasping Mikhail's hand with her own. It was in this position that she uttered her last words. "I love you Mikhail." she said, a final tear falling to the ground. Then, just as the first flakes began to fall, she died, her hand still resting on the man she loved.