The Dubrovzkan Half Breed

IX

The vrachs' quarters came into sight from over the hill. I was sitting next to Kiev in the Jeep, my eyes fastened on the hood of the car. There was a dried blood spatter on my left cheek just under my eye about the size of a coin. I couldn't stop reflecting on that battle:

The front was quieter than I had imagined, in fact, it was almost silent aside from the mild wind stirring the trees and the birds chattering at one another. My nerves finally settled and I was breathing easily. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad.

All of the vrachs stood in wait, some more tense than others. Almost surprisingly, Maiko was among the tense vrachs. The rest of his body looked relaxed as he sat on a crate, his hand to his mouth, but his eyes gave him away. His brows were set low onto his eyes in worry.

I couldn't blame him. I was nervous too, though less so than earlier.

Suddenly every head shot up. A gun shot, followed by another and another, harmonized by the wails of falling soldiers caught everyone's attention. Damien, one of the vrachs who had been sitting beside Maiko, took off for the field.

"Sounds like the battle's begun." said a vrach named Lara. She grabbed her bag and started out. "I want Maiko, Adam, Inga, Vladimir, Rani and Stacy to come with me; the rest of you stay here and watch the tent." she ordered.

Another vrach with dark hair and gray-hazel eyes stood up defiantly. "What about me? I've worked on the field before and I did excellent!" he exclaimed. This was Ivor, a cocky young man about my age who hated to be left out of anything, or at least that's what I'd been told by Maiko. I couldn't decide how I felt about him then, since I had only gotten a "zdrasvoitsa" out of him.

"What about you?" Maiko snapped. "You're needed in here. If everyone goes out on the field, there will be no one to tend to the injured we can get out of harm's way." he growled.

Ivor rolled his eyes and walked back into a different section of the tent. Maiko grabbed my arm, said goodbye to Sonja, and we took for the field.

I hadn't expected to walk out into a field like that. There were bodies everywhere, blood was pooling over every inch of the place, and worst of all, there were...

"Gombostonians..." I muttered. Maiko had already left me to take care of a Dubrovzkan soldier nearby. I looked around the arena and saw a bullet tear through a young man's head, dropping him I'm a shaking heap. It had killed him instantly.

I ran from cover to cover, trying to find someone who wasn't yet dead. One man was lying behind a rock, his sides and back expanding with deep, heavy breaths. His right leg was bent awkwardly in a fracture. I remember Aleksi teaching me how to reset a leg one time, though he never let me touch the patient in case I "screwed it up". My stomach knotted anxiously at the thought that I may have to do something I'd never done by myself before.

"Hey!" I said above the yowling of bullets. He rolled onto his back to look at me and sighed.

"Thank God," he said. "I didn't think anyone was coming for me."

I looked around to make sure no one was coming and I grabbed his leg. He grunted and I tried not to apologize. With a quick yank, I felt his leg pop back into place; the poor man muffled a cry by gritting his teeth. It sent the vein along his jaw popping out visibly.

"Sorry." I said.

He waved me off. "It's alright; just fix me up, doc."

I grabbed bandages and a splint out of my bag. I lined the splint up along his shin and wrapped it in the white linen. "There!" I said. My eyes caught the movement of Inga. "Inga!" I shouted. "Take this man back to the quarters; he can't fight in this shape!"

Inga dashed over to us and grabbed the soldier. When she ran off with him limping beside her, I went looking for another task. It wasn't easy by any stretch of the imagination; every bullet that sought a target seemed to want to pick me. My ears were ringing after several bullets missed me by a hair.

I saw a man collapse, clutching at his chest and breathing heavily. Blood was draining out of his left breast. My legs almost felt like they were going to break I ran so fast over to him. I knelt beside him, just dodging a copper bullet head, and saw that he had a hole in his chest just below his collar bone. I didn't want to see him die, so I started to drag him away.

"Niet, miss... Get out of here, back to the-" his brown eyes doubled in size. "GET OUT!" His massive hands grabbed me by my middle and he rolled to his side, throwing me a good few meters.

I propped myself up to see why he had thrown me so. My eyes rounded to see that I had somehow missed a Gombostonian soldier with a bayonet rifle. The man in gray was standing over my soldier. He rammed his bayonet down into the Dubrovzkan's body, forcing the most sickening cry I think I had ever heard out of him.

"Nein!" I cried in Gombostonian. "Leave him alone!" I shakily tried to stand up to stop the Gombostonian, but it was too late. The Dubrovzkan's body stopped moving and his brown eyes silvered over. The soldier's mouth twitched and the muscles in his neck contracted like he was trying to swallow, but it was all just agonal movement, the last of the adrenaline wearing off. A tiny stream of blood leak from the edge of his mouth and his face turned an ashen, off-white color.

My stomach rolled over and rejected everything it had contained. I felt hot tears burn my eyes. It was too brutal; why did men have to fight like this over such trivial things as lands or being right? Why was it worth it to kill other humans in their eyes?

The sounds of quick, heavy footsteps alerted me and I looked up. The Gombostonian soldier had turned to me and was running in my direction. Just as he was on top of me, ready for a strike, I felt adrenaline kick in. Without really noticing it, I drew my knife out of its sheath. I ducked sideways to avoid the sharp blade on the soldier's gun. While he was pulling his arms back for another try, I thrust the knife into his ribs.

He uttered a gasp of pain and staggered backward. I was afraid he would try to attack me again from as little noise as he made. I stuck the knife into his chest on the other side of where I had first hit him. Blood spurted from his mouth and nose, some of it looking coagulated. One spatter had hit my cheek. He collapsed on the ground dead.

After staring at him for a few seconds, I felt an overwhelming guilt. "Oh, niet..." I rasped. "Niet, niet, niet! Pazhalusta, don't be dead!" I grasped his shirt and tore it open. Looking at the wounds in his chest, even if he was still alive, it would have been next to impossible to save him.

I looked down at the dog tag around his neck. Somehow I didn't want to forget about this man. So, I slipped the silver chain around his head and pulled it off, then hung it around my neck.

I heard an indefinable call above the roar of battle and saw many Dubrovzkan soldiers running away from the fight. We were retreating. I grabbed the dead Dubrovzkan's dog tag and took off running for the quarters.

Maiko zipped through the mass of retreating soldiers and vrachs to my side. "Don't stop running!" he urged.

"I never planned on it!" I retorted. I could feel beads of sweat dappling my forehead and neck, but my hands and feet felt ice cold. My heart kicked against my ribs so hard that it almost hurt, but I didn't dare slow down; I didn't want to get caught by a Gombostonian.

Just when the tent came into sight, I heard a deep, humming growl rumbling over head. I looked up to see a gold and black plane racing over me. There was a loud whistling and I instantly knew what that meant. 'Oh no...'

"Hit the deck!" a soldier cried.

BOOM! A bomb collided with the ground just outside the tent and flames rose up, licking the green canvas material, exhaling black smoke. Screams pierced the air as men and women were trapped by the fire and shrapnel.

"Oh, God..." Maiko ran for the wreck and dove into the wall of orange, shoving his way past fleeing vrachs and wounded soldiers as he went. The plane disappeared and the only sound remaining was of its engine, echoing its victory across the sky.

It felt like hours since Maiko had vanished into the fire and I started to worry that he had succumbed to the brilliant tongues. He soon reappeared; in his arms he carried out Sonja who was limp and covered in red and black burns. "I couldn't find anyone else alive in there," he called weakly. "Everyone has been killed."

Inga was sitting outside on the field with the soldier with the broken leg. Both of them had charred clothing, and the man had a red rash on his face, neck and right hand from the heat of the explosion, but they were otherwise unharmed. The soldier closed his eyes and held Inga's arm; he looked as though he were about to cry. Inga looked about the same with her glimmering, sad eyes watching the deadly fire.

Several other vrachs were holding soldiers who had been injured by the bomb, and a few were hurt themselves, but they hardly seemed to notice their own wounds. Their first priority was the wounded, not themselves. At the words Maiko spoke, a few of them began to sob, others locked away their despair and tried to help their colleagues while their eyes misted with angry and sorrowful tears.

I felt overwhelmed by woe as well. Plus, with the Gombostonians having destroyed our medical tent, we had many injured to move with nowhere to aid them. As I looked over my shoulder, I could hear the heavy, rhythmic march of Gombostonian boots. We couldn't stay there. I ran over to Inga and helped her carry the soldier, glancing over my shoulder when I heard the shouts of the enemy.

I don't know how far we ran but finally, tanks and cars from our side filed into the area. The convoy cut off the Gombostonians' path and created a wall of metal to save us. Kiev's voice called out my name and I jumped into the Jeep with him. Inga and the soldier jumped into the back and the tires spun to get us out. Bullets sang past our ears before we got far enough ahead of the enemy to escape their fire. When all became quiet again, I let go and surrendered to sleep, coming off the adrenaline high.

I blinked open my eyes later and saw the camp quarters. The images still flashed through my mind like a chaotic explosion, reminding me once again of all the violence and loss. As the vehicle slowed, Kiev's voice broke the quiet.

"Rani?" he asked.

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