Minsk

III

I had stayed with him all day that day hoping he'd be alright. I had tended to his wound as well. I had looked after him as he had looked after me when I needed him. It wasn't until the next day in the morning when I had seen his two eyes open.

"Olga," said Egorov as he began to wake up. "Are you alright?"

"Am I alright?" she asked hysterically. "You're one to talk private I got my ass handed to me on a silver pladder."

"That's a lot coming from a girl who can't have company over without getting a gun pointed to her head," Egorov responded. "That's actually something I actually wanna talk to you about. If you're gonna be with us you need to be able to handle a firearm on your own." He then took her into the room Smirnov had set up his sniper. "Smirnov," said Egorov. "Could you teach Olga how to use a gun."

"Why don't you do it?"

"We all know you're the expert and that I'm not good at it."

"Alright then," said Smirnov. Olga had laid down next to him. "Minoslav Egorov. Natural ladies man," said Petrov.

"I'm twenty," said Egorov. "I'm not gonna be dating a teenage girl who was constantly raped and beaten by krauts."

"I'm just fucking with you," Petrov. "Since you've been single and a virgin in highschool."

"At least I didn't have my wife leave me," Egorov said. With that Petrov had gave Egorov the finger and wet silent. It was true. Petrov truly loved his wife Nadia. But when she found out what it was he was doing in the army, it had broken her heart. He could've changed. He could've left the army to be a better husband. A better father to his future child. But he chose not to. And with that, she left. Along with Petrov's child he would never get to meet. And with that. A little part of him died inside.

"See that German soldier in the window of that town?" asked Smirnov to Olga. She had seen a German soldier resting through a window. "Yes," said Olga looking like a professional sniper.

"Good," said Smirnov. "Now make sure he's in the center of the scope." As Olga did so Smirnov had told her to squeeze the trigger. Within doing so, inside the gun, a tiny piece of metal had hit an opening in the back center of the bullet. Causing an enclosed explosion to launch the bullet out of the barrel and out of the muzzle. As the bullet soared across the street it had penetrated the soldier's neck going all the way through. The German soldier had clenched his neck before falling dead.

"Well done Olga," said Smirnov as he saw the shot. "No head shot but it's more rare to land a shot in the throat than the head."

"Well done Olga," said Egorov. "You just might be a better shot than me."

"Beginners luck I say," said Petrov. "Most common thing around besides the flu." Egorov had then elbowed Petrov as a sign to shut up. "For the love of god Petrov," said Egorov. "Would it kill you just to let her have this one thing?"

"She needs to know the environment she's going to be in," said Petrov. "Toughening her up."

German Garrison

The surviving German soldiers would make their way into the Garrison. "Herr Spiegel," said one of the German soldiers.

"Where is the nco?"

"Dead sir."

"ScheisBe," said Spiegel. "Any intel of any sort?"

"Well sir," said the soldier. "When the nco aimed a gun at a girl's head one of the communitsens came out to surrender. We were unable to capture both before the shootout broke out."

"Interesting," said Spiegel to himself. "Most interesting. Major. Have your men round up the civilians for an execution. We are to use them to lure the Russians out of hiding."

"Right away sir," said the Major. As the major had announced to the men the orders. One of the soldiers stood up. "What are we rounding them for?" asked Obergrenadier Gunthar Hartmann.

"I am not permitted to say," said the major. Not daring to question the major Gunthar as well as the rest of the soldiers had gotten ready and did as they were told.

A few hours had passed as the Russians had improved the house turning it into a fortress. The soldiers and partisans had been resting as Smirnov and a ship captain named Morozov had kept watch. As everyone would seem to be having a good time relaxing and smoking during this seemingly never-ending blizzard, Morozov would come in. "Captain we've got a problem," said Morozov. With that said everyone got into their positions. Egorov, Sokolov, and Petrov had gone into the main room where they had seen civilians forced into the blizzard by German soldiers lead by the German major. By the looks of it the Germans had the civilians lined up for an orderly-fashioned execution.

"Don't just stand there," said Olga. "Do something. Open fire."

"There's no way to kill the Germans without bringing harm to the civilians," said Smirnov. The officer had said that the people had been suspected to be jews. Women had even been there with their babies. "Don't look Olga," said Sokolov. Olga had done so after trying to convince them to save the lives of the innocent. She had done her best to tune out the screams and cries. "Take aim," said the German officer. The German soldiers had presented their arms. "Fire!" as the civilians had given their last pleas the Germans had fired ruthlessly. As babies survived the shots had cried non-stop, Germans had killed the babies as well. With that Smirnov had fired a bullet through the major's head. "Rot in hell you faschist piece of shit," said Smirnov. With that Russian automatic weapons had opened fire. Germans had gotten to cover firing back as they retreated back to the garrison.

As the soldiers and partisans had relieved themselves for now believing they've won this battle, words cannot describe how upset Olga was at this. "Just why?" asked Olga. "You could have saved those people."

"For victory to be ours, sacrifices must be made by all of us," said Sokolov. "Mission comes first."

"Mission comes first!?" Olga snapped in anger. "You're letting your own people die! More or less fucking children!! Every night I had gone through the same pain. I had been beaten, abused, raped. All hoping for you to come. Where were you when we needed you the most? Where were any of you?" With that Olga had left the room. The five had a moment of silence. "What a brat," said Morozov.

"Fuck off Morozov," said Egorov. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Any of you? She was willing to keep us hidden from the faschists and this is how you treat her?" With that said Egorov had left the room. As he had approached Olga's room she had been sitting on the other side of her bed weeping. Egorov had sat next to her laying his gun by the door. She had turned away from him as he sat down. "I speak for my comrades when I say I'm sorry for our behaviour," Egorov sighed. "This is your house. You let us stay here and kept us hidden from the faschists, and in return we just treat you like shit. You're right about us. We weren't there for you when you were suffering. I can imagine what that must feel like."

"I just wanna be left alone," Olga wept silently.

"Alright," said Egorov as he stood up. "I'll leave. But you could use a tissue." With that said he had held out a tissue. When she had taken it, it had revealed to be tied to several tissues coming from Egorov's sleeve. As Olga had chuckled to this Egorov had respected her wish and left.

Egorov had been such a kind soul.

Modern day.

"I had never felt more happier than when I was with him," Olga said. At this point nurses, paramedics, even surgeons and doctors had gathered into the room interested by this story. How can you do your job when one of your patients is telling such a remarkable story? "So what happened next?" asked one of the surgeons.

"If by what happened next you mean did we do it?" asked Olga. "Believe it or not we did. But not the situation you'd expect."