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short stories - In search of story: Survivor of war game can do no wrong


I'm trying to help a teacher friend of mine with finding a short story he read when he was a teenager and has not been able to find since. He described the story in the following way:


In a post-war world there is a setup in which Soviet/Russian soldiers are required to fight against American soldiers in an arena in which both sides have equal setup: a forest, a lake, etc. The winner of the 'game' has the right to govern for the next several years. It's told from a first person point of view like you're watching the Olympic games and one American soldier gets shot, but is not killed. He falls and other bodies fall on top of him so it seems the soviets win, however their last two soldiers happen upon him and he kills them first, rendering the United States victorious. Given that he was the only survivor he has a sort of political amnesty in which he can do no wrong legally. He returns home and he essentially suffers from a form of PTSD. The story ends with him watching a young girl next door get off the school bus; he walks to the neighbor's home, goes inside and, in front of the girl's parents follows the girl into her room and shuts the door, leaving the reader to assume whatever happens behind the door.


He's been looking for this story in different anthologies for some time. Can anyone help? Thanks so much! :)




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