Marco didn’t understand what he had seen. After traveling for hours through the darkness, his helmet and flashlight now securely fastened to his head, he came upon a downward slope that led to an unexpected fissure in the ground. He looked inside out of curiosity, wondering whether it could afford him some shelter for the night, when suddenly the wind carried with it an otherworldly trumpeting sound— a sound that seemed to be coming from somewhere distant yet somehow very nearby. The sound was followed by a faded wail— a woman’s scream, weak but definitely emanating straight from the crevice.
For a moment, Marco thought his mind was playing tricks on him, that the exhaustion of the day was beginning to affect his mental lucidity, but then he saw something flicker into existence within the crevice— a woman, replaced by a burnt and disemboweled cadaver, replaced again by a woman— flickering like the image on a busted television screen.
“Lithuania?” he asked aloud. The screams were muted, garbled. And the vision of Lithuania writhing in pain was intermittently replaced by the horrific image of a struggling corpse. Marco shook his head and blinked forcefully. His mind was definitely playing tricks on him. But then the image of Lithuania vanished, and what remained in the ditch was a vaguely familiar body— the very same corpse he had left behind in the helicopter wreckage!
Marco blinked several times, just to ensure he wasn’t delusional. The corpse had definitely not been there a moment before. But it was Lithuania’s body, without a doubt. The blackened badge on what remained of her chest was proof of it. But how the hell had it gotten there? And what exactly had he just seen? Lithuania’s ghost?
He tore his eyes away from the crevice. He didn’t want his memory of Lithuania to be affected by what he was seeing… He didn’t want to think of her burned… and eviscerated… mutilated… He stared into the distance, and inhaled. The air was fresh, but the sky was as dark as ever. The smell of wet grass was invigorating, though already he could feel it mingling with the smell of dead body. He took a deep breath, and ran. Hopefully he would reach the woods soon.
For a moment, Marco thought his mind was playing tricks on him, that the exhaustion of the day was beginning to affect his mental lucidity, but then he saw something flicker into existence within the crevice— a woman, replaced by a burnt and disemboweled cadaver, replaced again by a woman— flickering like the image on a busted television screen.
“Lithuania?” he asked aloud. The screams were muted, garbled. And the vision of Lithuania writhing in pain was intermittently replaced by the horrific image of a struggling corpse. Marco shook his head and blinked forcefully. His mind was definitely playing tricks on him. But then the image of Lithuania vanished, and what remained in the ditch was a vaguely familiar body— the very same corpse he had left behind in the helicopter wreckage!
Marco blinked several times, just to ensure he wasn’t delusional. The corpse had definitely not been there a moment before. But it was Lithuania’s body, without a doubt. The blackened badge on what remained of her chest was proof of it. But how the hell had it gotten there? And what exactly had he just seen? Lithuania’s ghost?
He tore his eyes away from the crevice. He didn’t want his memory of Lithuania to be affected by what he was seeing… He didn’t want to think of her burned… and eviscerated… mutilated… He stared into the distance, and inhaled. The air was fresh, but the sky was as dark as ever. The smell of wet grass was invigorating, though already he could feel it mingling with the smell of dead body. He took a deep breath, and ran. Hopefully he would reach the woods soon.
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