Article : Night Without End

Bloodshed at Greenland

By Lim Susan 

It was by obligation that I accepted the job of tailing the Marines to the somewhat deserted area off the coast of Greenland, I was not very hopeful of any event that could spark my interest in that cold unforgiving place where the most I did, was sit huddled up in the bitter cold. Imagine my surprise to be able to witness such an amazing event. Despite the harsh weather, what happened at the glacier that day, I will not soon forget. It was a bad day, even by normal standards, our vision blurred by the falling snow, the wind howling in our ears, as I tried my best to not lose the Marines as we trudged through the thick snow that blanketed the ground, the biting cold constantly reminding me where we were, when suddenly, a few voices, shouting, could be heard over the howling sound of the wind, though for the life of me I could not make out their muffled words as it mixed with the howls of the wind, it did sound however, that they were non too pleased with one another. The marines did not seem to be at a lost on what to do, they started moving with the type of stealth that would take years to acquire, so as to not alert the others on our position, for fear that they were enemies. I could feel the suspense thick in the air, as my heart started to beat quickly, adrenaline rushing through my veins. From the coast, we saw about six or seven men that came from fishing boats carefully close in on the loud group as well, their shouts becoming clearer with every careful step. As we drew closer, I saw the faint silhouette of a man, closer still, we managed to see, he was in fact, holding a hostage, a young girl at gunpoint.

          For a short moment, I allowed my confusion to take hold of me, I was only vaguely aware of the marine's mission to retrieve some highly classified item that I was unable to get any information on. Anyway, as we neared the man, the marines held their weapons to their sides, ready to take aim should the need for it arise, the others with the man seemed to have seen us, as they tried to alert the man of our presence, perhaps in hopes that he would be frightened and give up easily. The man turned quickly, and when he saw us, his personality changed from that of a calculated killer to a crazed madman. He started waving his arms in the air wildly, all the while shouting furiously at another man. In a fit of frustration, he pushed the girl into a tractor and jumped into the driving cabin of said tractor that somehow escaped my notice. Another man tried to halt his getaway but was shot in the arm by the panic-stricken man as he fired up the tractor and sped away.
    
          I watched in horror as the other two men chased the tractor as it started to spin madly out of control in circles. The tractor suddenly started to slide backwards toward some rocks at an alarming speed. Before I was able to register anything in my mind, the tractor hit an ice hill and crashed into one of the biggest rocks. The passengers of the tractor fell into a deep crevasse just as the sound of planes could be heard over the howling wind. The two men who were chasing the tractor threw themselves onto the icy ground, just as the planes from above started shooting at the enemies. One of them jumped into the crevasse and all was silent for a moment, I dared not hope for the best when I caught sight of the other man's grim expression.
      
          By some miraculous stroke of luck, a crew of men rushed over to the crevasse, I noticed that they were the same men I saw that came from the fishing boats, they worked quickly and were able to haul up the girl, who seemed albeit shaken from her ordeal. They threw down two more ropes into the crevasse, My heart started to beat quickly again as the suspense almost drove me mad, and I almost leapt for joy as the man who earlier jumped into the crevasse climbed out with what seemed like a battered radio under his arm. I watched as he looked into the crevasse, his expression could only be described as contempt, as he threw down a whole coil of rope into the  crevasse, as the ice began to move and the crevasse was sealed.

           Whatever happened that caused that amazing event to unfold, I will probably never know, but one thing is for sure, good triumphed evil that day. And the villain, met his untimely death, swallowed by the unforgiving ice, his story to remain forever a mystery.