Struck from the rolls, war invalids spending their last days in a panel-built nine-story apartment block one morning wake up completely healthy—only not at the familiar outskirts of the regional center, but atop a cliff above the Black Sea.
It is the tenth century. Around them are Varangians, Pechenegs, Khazars, and other inhabitants of these parts. The usual civilization is gone; there’s no help to be expected, and of weapons there are only a few carbines, a dozen rifles, and the combat experience of a retired general.