chapter 6
“But I have no business with sniping, Pa. Why do I need to waste four more hours here?” Leo grunts at Grandpa Stefan.
“Training your mind and body to react in milliseconds is every man’s business who wants to strike before others even see. So shut up and lay down.” Grandpa’s voice crackles through the speaker hanging on a tree beside the camera above us.
He’s monitoring us from inside the house. We’re lying in the middle of the backside field, surrounded by ripened crops and tall trees.
Leo sighs and lays down again on his stomach beside me.
“And how the hell is lying on wet grass for more than eight hours related to reaction time?”
“It teaches you patience,” Grandpa replies. “That’s something you don’t have.”
“Stefan, call the kids. It’s lunchtime!” Grandma’s voice comes from behind him.
“They’ll come before dinner,” Grandpa answers flatly.
“Don’t tell me it’s another stupid—”
The mic cuts off. Grandpa mutes it. According to Grandma, the tasks Grandpa gives us are “stupid and nonsensical,” but that doesn’t mean he will stop. And besides, they only look stupid. The impact they leave on your mind and body is undeniable.
“Can we fall asleep?” Leo asks me.
I smirk. “Why don’t you try?”
I’m sure it’s not allowed. He knows it too. He rolls his eyes. “I’m gonna run away in two days.”
“I will drag you back and tie you upside down the whole night,” Grandpa’s calm voice reaches us again.
Leo smirks. “You won’t be able to run after me, old man.”
“Shut your mouth, or I’ll send someone to tape it shut. And old is your father, not me.”
Leo rolls his eyes again but goes silent anyway.
I count the seconds in my head, noticing every subtle change in air pressure, the faint shifts in wind direction, the temperature drop on my skin, the vibration of leaves against one another, even the distant hum of insects.
My gaze locks on the apple swaying 767 meters away on a tree.
The only light source near it is a single pole lamp 338 meters off, throwing a dim cone of yellow that leaves more than half of the apple hidden in shadow.
I steady my breath. Inhale. Hold. Exhale halfway and freeze. My shoulder tightens against the rifle stock. I adjust the scope’s crosshairs a fraction of an inch higher, calculating bullet drop over the distance. My fingers curl, first knuckle pressure, never the tip. Heartbeat slows.
Three, two, one… squeeze.
The crack echoes in the night. The recoil nudges me back, but I stay firm, watching through the scope as the apple bursts and scatters into shadow.
“Excellent,” Leo mutters, lowering his binoculars.
I slide back on the wooden chair we’ve set up here.
We’re sitting on the rooftop. Grandpa has renovated the entire space for us, building a room and reinforcing the boundaries with sandbag walls and elevated sniper nests at the corners.
After dinner, we come up here and stay outside until nine or ten at night. I practice shooting, Leo watches.
He sits on the parapet wall. “In a few more months, you’ll be able to shoot up to three or more kilometers, just like Pa said.”
I watch the endless stretch of green fields rolling out in front of me and nod.
“You talked with Kaz?” I ask him.
He nods. “His condition has improved, but he won’t be able to walk for a while.”
Kazimir Mikhailov is our cousin. Uncle Maksim’s son. He’d been in an accident a month back.
“We’ll go visit him once the old man gives us the green card.” He says.
“You mean two more years.”
He grunts. “I’m gonna start crying over a call to Mom.”
I nod. “Yeah, and everyone will start believing you miss home.”
He smirks. “No, but Mom will start missing me, and she’ll start nagging Pa to send us back.”
My phone buzzes on the table. Avira’s name lights up the screen. My little sister. She calls every night to tell me about her day.
Leo rises from the wall and heads inside the room. I swipe to answer.
“Hello?” a small voice comes from the other end.
“Hello, Dove.”
“What are you doing?” Her tone is heavy.
“Nothing. What happened?”
“Wen couldn’t go to school today because she got a fever.
So I was alone. Zoan… no one came to sit beside me in any of the classes.
This is happening because of Jeni and her friends.
They talk bad about Wen and me behind our backs.
I won’t go to school tomorrow. Wen is still not fine, so she won’t be able to go. ”
“If you don’t like it there without Wen, then you don’t have to go alone. Stay at home. Send me the topics, and I’ll send you study material for both of you.”
“Okay! I will also tell Mama and Daddy that you will help us, so they won’t ask me to go either.” She chirps happily now.
A small smile tugs at my lips. I hate her sadness as much as I love her happiness.
“I talked with Pa, and he said you won’t come back soon. Can I come to see you there?”
“If Mom and Dad agree.”
“I will make them agree!” I can almost see her bouncing on her bed, her excitement vibrating through her voice.
But I doubt Mom and Dad will allow it. The last time she came with them, she refused to let Grandpa train me. She insisted on doing everything with me, even the physically intense exercises. By the end of the day, she had a fever.
“What did you do the whole day?” she asks.
“I spent time in the field, and finalized the code.”
“You did nothing interesting.”
“Go to bed. It’s already late.”
“Good night, Zoan. Have sweet dreams.”
“Good night.”
The call ends. I set the phone down and lean back, my eyes fixed ahead, watching nothing and everything at once.