Young Angela Adelaide was a 16-year old girl living in Budapest. She once had a family that survived through World War II, but most of the family had been arrested for defiance of the Hungarian People’s Republic. The remainder of the family, including her brother, had gone into hiding. She now made herself at home on the streets, living in bitter hatred of the Republic. To demonstrate this, she would spit at certain propaganda posters of the Republic or would use a marker and scribble all over the poster. No matter how much she vandalized government propaganda, she was always quick to run out of sight of the secret police. Angela was also very good at stealing food. She considered this an act of rebellion, but also considered it a necessity because there was no other way for her to get food.
There was always a small bakery that she would get her food from that was near a crossroads. Although traffic cops were stationed near the intersection, she always snuck in via a back alleyway. Once behind the building, if she was lucky, there would be a window open just a few feet above her. Being an excellent climber, Angela could easily dig her fingers and toes into various nooks and crannies in the wall of the building to climb up, but she normally strung a random cord that she found in the alleyways to the sill after reaching it so that she could descend smoothly. Once through the window, Angela would be in a food storage room that was lined with shelves and carts of bread, pastries, fruits, vegetables, etc. All refrigerated foods were normally kept in an isolated refrigeration room that was normally locked and could only be accessed by the bakery’s management staff. Since it was normally hard to get in there anyway, Angela normally just picked up foods from the regular shelves, stuffing them inside a small bag that she would throw over her shoulder. Afterwards, she held the bag in one hand and slid down the cord she had strung to the window sill, then pulled down the cord gently and tossed it away.
However, today would change Angela’s life. While gathering some bread, she heard voices in the kitchen. As a first instinct, she hid in the far back of the storage behind some carts. But when she realized the speakers weren’t coming in her direction, she adjusted her hiding position just a little bit closer to the door and listened. It didn’t take her long to understand what was being said: Earlier that morning, an entire student delegation that consisted of students from her original high school had tried to broadcast sixteen points via radio. However, a unit from the delegation that had entered the building was detained, and when the rest of the delegation and its supporters demanded their release, they were fired upon by the police. But what hit Angela the most was that one of her closest friends, Jack Agota, had died from the armed response. He had been wrapped in a flag and then held above the crowd for all to see. Angela felt tears welling up in her eyes, and each whiff of air she inhaled began to taste salty. But she couldn’t cry, not now, not here, because she was still considered an intruder to the bakery. So she quickly gathered up her stolen food and went out the window. But when she found a good place to hide and eat, she could only bring herself to eat small fragments of what she had stolen. The sorrow of Jack’s death had punctured itself hard into her stomach, making it almost hard to breathe regularly let alone eat regularly. Finally, putting the leftovers back in the bag, she lay down against a stack of abandoned rags and cried.
Suddenly, Angela was awakened with a gently tap on the shoulder. Angela tossed around, almost choking on her own tears, and came face to face with an 18-year old boy who carried the same gentle and sympathetic look that Jack used to carry. The boy had brownish black clothes and wore a cap that was adjusted almost like that of a military commander. But what interested Angela the most was a badge that the boy wore one his chest. The badge was shaped like a shield but a fraction of it was missing, almost as though it had been chewed off. Half of it had red and white stripes while the other half was red with two crosses that looked almost like the Norwegian flag.
“Young lady, are you alright?” the boy asked.
“Not really” Angela admitted, “I just found out that my friend, Jack Agota, had died in the protest at the parliamentary building.” At this, the boy lifted his eyebrows in surprised pleasure.
“Your friends with Jack Agota?” he asked, trying to confirm what he had just heard.
“Yes,” said Angela, starting to get a little impatient.
“Oh, forgot to introduce myself. Name’s Adrienn. Adrienn Adelaide.” the boy replied.
Angela was shocked, for she was looking at her older brother. But the curtains of time had taken its toll, because it had been nearly a year since she and her brother had been forced to flee from the secret police, and now, Adrienn looked so much older than she remembered. Before Angela could reply, Adrienn asked her “Since you were friends with Jack Agota, would you be willing to join in a little movement of ours?” Angela’s mind went blank at this. Her hatred of the Hungarian People’s Republic had intensified by nearly twice as much as previously now that she lost her best friend, Jack. But at the same time, if her brother meant joining the revolution, then she could be possibly putting her own life on the line, because the government’s army would not let any opposition members, armed or not, get off the hook. Instead, they were normally imprisoned or executed, and especially the thought of standing against a dark wall and being shot in the back until she fell to the ground haunted her so much. But could she refuse an offer from her brother? She loved him as much as he did. It seemed so hard to decide.
“Can I come with just to see and then decide?” she asked.
“Of course,” Adrienn replied “By the way, what’s your name?”
“Angela Adelaide” Angela replied promptly. Both stopped in their tracks, and they engaged in a series of hugs and kisses, for it felt as though the two had been united permanently.
“Gosh it’s great to see you Angela. My, you’ve grown a lot over the year,” Adrienn replied “You must’ve been stealing food if you’ve been able to keep this fit.”
Angela nodded and added “It comes in handy,” before they continued on. They walked for five blocks, talking along the way, before finally coming across a boarded-up warehouse. Adrienn gently removed one of the shutter boards, stepped inside, and beckoned Angela to come with him. Once inside, Angela found herself in what looked almost like a miniature military headquarters. The large storage-room had small tents lit with small gas lanterns as well as miniature storages that she could identify as storing weapons, rations, and other war equipment. Adrienn brought Angela before a tall man who had a beard that stretched about two centimeters from his chin and wore a small cap with the same badge that Adrienn had on his chest.
“Sir,” Adrienn said with a firm salute, “I found someone who is willing to commit to the revolution.” He brought Angela closer to the man, who turned to face her. At first, she felt scared that the man might have a stony hard look that tied in with a ferocious attitude. But when she made eye contact with him, she saw a more relaxed expression behind a pair of spectacles that rested neatly on the man’s nose. The man bent down and offered out her hand, and she slowly but willingly reached out to shake it.
“Welcome, young lady,” the man said “My name is Duda Elias, one of the field generals for the revolution.”
It took Angela a while to figure out what to say. She hadn’t spoken to a person for nearly a year, and most definitely never had a friendly conversation with one, except for when she came across her brother, but she considered that a different situation. However, she managed to say calmly “Pleased to meet you sir. My name is Angela Adelaide.”
“She’s my sister,” Adrienn said “I found her in an alleyway just five blocks to the east of here. She’s lived in constant hatred of the Hungarian People’s Republic since the day that our parents had been arrested.”
At this, Duda’s eyes gleamed with excitement.
“She tells me she’s mostly been stealing food from a local bakery and has been very good at avoiding the secret police.” Adrienn added. Duda then leaned forward and pleasantly looked her straight in the eyes.
“Are you good at anything else besides stealing,” he asked.
At first, Angela was unsure of how to answer, but finally responded with “I’ve vandalized propaganda for the government. But if you mean like handling a gun or attacking someone directly, I’ve never had any experience with that.”
Duda’s calm look didn’t change.
“Angela, you may not have had the experience yet, but you will soon. Come, I’ll take you to training.”
Duda carefully took Angela’s arm and walked her away, but not before she blew a kiss to her brother and he returned it with a pleasant wave.
The training center was better lit than the main headquarters. It was located in a separate and slightly smaller room in the back of the warehouse and was lined with flat dummies that were covered in red icons that marked fatal points. There was also a large mat in the middle of the room, presumably used for hand-to-hand combat training. Angela was given a small mock-up pistol and was told by Duda to stand behind a table and try to shoot the dummies in as many fatal points as possible before her ammo ran out. Angela aimed at the center target of a dummy right in front of her and pulled the trigger. The kickback from the pistol caused her to almost drop the pistol and stumble backwards onto her heals, but she regained her footing pretty quickly.
“Hold yourself together,” Duda prompted “Try placing your feet apart from each other and holding the pistol with as much muscle power as you can produce.”
With eight training bullets left, she changed her position according to Duda and fired at the dummy a second time. After hitting it directly in the head, she kept firing at the fatal points of random dummies without changing her modified posture. Once she ran out, a trainer went over to the dummies and checked all the bullet holes.
“Elég jó. Pretty good” he replied, “She hit most of the targets in some pretty fatal positions.”
Next was hand-to-hand combat. Angela was paired with an eighteen-year-old boy who held a pretty gruff posture. Angela kicked off her shoes, rolled up her sleeves, and faced her opponent. Adrienn stood to the side, ready to break apart any struggle between the two. When the trainer issued the order to start, Angela’s opponent charged at her. She side stepped, causing him to sprawl onto the mat. She jumped on him and held firmly. But the boy wasn’t ready to call it K.O. and flipped backward, sandwiching Angela between him and the mat. She rolled herself and her opponent over and got off, but her opponent was on her again, holding her to the ground. The boys grip was beginning to tighten around her stomach and it was beginning to get a little hard to breathe, although the boy made sure not to actually harm her in any serious way. Duda then started counting down on his fingers from ten, and Angela knew that if she didn’t break out of her opponent’s grasp before Duda reached zero, she would have lost the match and, in simulation terms, considered KIA. But as Duda reached five, Angela smacked her head upward into her opponent’s nose, forcing off. Her head felt a little groggy, but it was her opponent that had suffered the most damage. He lay on his side, holding his nose and trying to staunch a minor blood flow from it. But to her surprise, he recovered fairly quickly and charged at her again. She lashed out with a kick to the stomach, forcing him back onto the mat before she landed on him, grabbed at the mouth and nose and made a fake but sharp-looking pull up of her arm. The boy knew he had been defeated and quickly stopped resisting. Gently, she got off him and helped him back to his feet.
“You okay,” she asked.
The boy rubbed his nose again, but smiled and replied “Yeah, I’m fine. You’re a really good fighter.”
“It’s just defensive,” she tried to admit.
“It’s what we call excellent fighting,” Duda contradicted and added “I think you’ll be ready for some real fighting.”
After at least a week more of training, Angela was ready for combat. She was given a small semi-automatic for defense that looked similar to the one that she trained with, a large rifle that looked much like a shotgun, and was refitted with new clothes, including laced boots that stretched as far as her knees, a dark brown shirt, and the badge of the revolution. She had also learned how to firmly set her feet together, salute, and yell “Yes sir” or “No sir.” The first days of combat were pretty successful but frightening at the same time. Angela had been assigned to defend rebel forces in the street from government soldiers by attacking from above. At first, Angela got the creeps at this, thinking that she was going to be assigned to the air, but Adrienn clarified that she just had to shoot from the window of a multi-story building. She picked the third story of an abandoned shop to take-up position. After hearing gunfire, she ran at the nearest window and used the butt of her rifle to knock out the glass in the window and gain an open firing position. The soldiers didn’t even have time to notice the shattered glass on the street before Angela and a few others began picking off the soldiers one by one from the window. This continued for a while before the government’s soldiers began to pull back. Most of Angela’s allies seemed to relax, but Angela knew they’d be back. But what she didn’t expect was the kind of firepower they’d bring with them. Later that afternoon, the soldiers returned with two tanks, one at either end of the enemy’s lines. Angela knew that one shot from those tanks could blow her whole firing position, maybe the entire room and everyone in it, to dust. She quickly drew back and waved her hand in the flat side-to-side move that indicated “don’t fire”. Everyone saw this, except for one soldier who was still keeping his eyes on the fighting below. Angela heard an explosion on the ground, and carefully checked outside to see that one of the soldiers had thrown a grenade into the rebel’s lines, killing about five men. The soldier who had been responsible for the throwing of the grenade was preparing to throw a second one, but then he flipped over on his side and ceased to move. Angela knew all too well that the soldier who hadn’t seen her signal was responsible for the shot. She wanted to yell at him to pull back, but too late. A nearby government soldier had seen the other soldier die and quickly looked right to the position that Angela and her forces were.
“Ott fent!, Up there!” he yelled, pointing right to the window that Angela was at. Surprisingly though, none of the soldiers turned to fire upon Angela forces, but Angela could only guess that they would find someone to clear them out of the building. Angela then noticed one of the tanks turn its armed head towards her window.
“MOVE IT!!” Angela screamed, and everyone, even the unintentionally disobedient soldier, ran quickly out of the room. Angela had just enough time to jump to the floor of the corridor when a powerful bone-rattling explosion blasted the door to the room right off.
“That was close” one of the fellow soldiers whispered to Angela as they recovered. Angela could only see a big burnt hole where the room had once stood.
“We have to get moving,” Angela insisted “They’ll probably send forces into the building to hunt us out just in case they suspect we survived the shot.”
The other soldiers nodded their heads in agreement. After escaping the building and narrowly avoiding a few enemy forces, Angela’s unit regrouped with the main unit in the street.
“We can’t hold out here much longer,” Adrienn said to Angela “As long as they have those tanks, were just going to be simple game targets for the enemy.”
Angela then devised a way to take out the tanks and took off before anyone could notice, let alone stop her. Angela grabbed a rope from a nearby alleyway and ran ahead of the enemy forces. Angela climbed to the top of a balcony at the edge of another building and, keeping out of sight of the enemy, tied one end to the balcony edge. Strapping her rifle to her back, she grabbed the rope and leaped of the balcony, landing precisely on one of the tanks, the thick heels of her boots clanging hard on the tank’s armor. She took out her rifle and picked used it to pick off enemy soldiers that approached her. At one point, the hatch to the tank opened up and a government soldier attempted to shoot her off, but she swung her gun hard into his cheek, knocking him against the open hatch and back down the ladder into the interior of the tank. She then took out a grenade and, after climbing her way across, chucked it down the turret of the tank, but didn’t remove the pin. She jumped off the tank and fought her way quickly through enemy lines to the other side of the street. She then waited for the one tank to aim at her and she got close to the other tank just as she heard the turret fire. The shell had made impact with the grenade in its turret, causing it to explode and tear apart the whole tank and throw numerous soldiers and debris across the street. However, a fragment of the shell still remained from the explosion and continued on its original course, right into the other tank. The tank lost a large fraction of its hull and stopped moving. Angela triggered a grenade and quickly tossed it over the side of the stopped tank. The explosion either killed or forced the enemy soldiers to fall back with serious injuries. With both tanks destroyed, the remaining government forces pulled back. There would be many more days of fighting the government that ended up with similar results, but plenty of casualties on both sides.
But after a week, things took a turn for the worse. The government called on assistance from its powerful ally, the Soviet Union. Quickly, reports flooded across the ranks of numerous rebel positions falling to the Soviet forces. Within only two days, the Soviet forces were within a ten miles reach of Budapest, but were keeping their distance. Then, the following day, Soviet tanks invaded Budapest and quickly spread waves of destruction throughout the city. Angela helped rebel sabotage forces try to lay tank mines in the path of the Soviet tanks, but this only succeeded in destroying a couple tanks. As the invasion continued, Angela and Adrienn devised a way to escape the city. Duda even said that he too would try to flee, especially since he had at one time been a largely wanted fugitive of the Soviet Union and that his discovery would most undoubtedly lead to his execution.
Late that night, Duda brought a small jeep that he had found and beckoned Angela and Adrienn into the back. The two former rebel soldiers had packed all their supplies and belongings, military and civilian, into large duffle bags and quickly jumped in. After one last check, Duda drove them off to the border. They got past the Hungarian border before dawn without any trouble and far beyond Soviet territory by the next afternoon. Finally, after about a two weeks drive they were pulled over by military jeeps that belonged to France. After some brief inspection of their passports, Duda explained that they were Western-supporters of Hungary who were fleeing Soviet control. The French soldiers then accompanied them to Paris, France and offered them residence at a hotel. After settling into the hotel room, Angela turned on the radio trying to find out the situation of the rebellion back home. It wasn’t good.
The rebellion had finally collapsed and their western prime minister, Imre Nagy, had been arrested. What his sentence would be hadn’t yet been determined. More than a thousand civilians who had been considered involved in the revolution had been arrested, tried, and sentenced to imprisonment, execution, and deportation to the Soviet Union. The U.N. had formed the Special Committee of the Problem of Hungary to collect information about the revolution and to peacefully deal with political tensions between Hungary and the USSR about the revolution. However, the Committee was being met with a lot of criticism from U.N. delegations, especially from Hungary, the USSR, and Romania, for providing falsified information in a 268-page Committee Report. It also seemed like the tensions between the USSR and Hungary in the revolution would complicate things in the upcoming Melbourne Olympics. Angela couldn’t bear to hear the results anymore and switched off the radio. Adrienn comforted her for a while as she sobbed at the loss of many allies and of her home country to the evil spread of Communism.
“Well, we definitely have to be thankful that we got out of there in time” Duda said.
“I agree,” Adrienn added, “I mean, who knows what the Soviet Union would have done to us for our involvement in the rebellion.”
Angela, who had recovered from the worst of her depression, got up and walked to the balcony of their room. She lay on her knees, putting her chin on the edge of the balcony and looked out over the city. It was nearly evening and the sun was setting slowly. It seemed beautiful, but its fiery appearance also gave Angela some chilled memories of life back in Hungary and wondered when Hungary would ever be liberated from the Soviet Union and if she would live to see the day.