sides, and they were irrevocably pinned. The enemy that faced them surely outnumbered them ten to one! Peter sat

ywhere! We ca

eaded radio operator, frantically calling f

d from S

ything, sir! The ja

ng! We nee

to force their way into the cafe. They all fell dead just as they reached the door.

ng low on

yelled over the cacophonous gun

just as quickly ducked down to avoid the incoming fire from the approaching enemy, which was now fast closing in. Just then, a door to the right of him flung w

ver, such hopes were dashed when the German, a scruffy man in his twenties bund

at

pended on killing this one soldier in a battle that was already lost. Slowly, the cafe faded away, leaving them both fighting in a black void. Anatole, Petya, the radio operator, al

a! Anatole! So

nded, British in origin,

tragedy, Peter? Does he accept his fate and

both of them struggled, as Peter looked aroun

are you? Help

lp you now, Daniels!" a men

zed that voice instantly. No, it couldn't be! It w

ired power, power he was all too ready to use. He brandished a gleaming sword with a brass hilt that clashed with the stock of Peter's rifle. He shook his head in denial of the sig

t real…you

ape for you thi

void. Peter again blocked Chertov's attack, now pinned on the ground and struggling to hold him. He looked ar

voice uttered were stinging, more painful than any battle wound he ever received. They w

ussia forever, or if I was a citizen of your

fe he would always fight for, die for, sacrifice everything for. She now stood at 15, and looked to him with

h his defense, and slashed his wrists. Peter cried in seari

eter Ivanov

ht his s

y 30th

ey, Calif

h a short, sharp

wintry night sky. He sat on his couch wrapped up in his blanket, as he had given his bed up for Tanya. Sweat covered his body, as if he

dreams had been plaguing him. They were always dreams involving the same things. Combat. Pain. Suffering. Death. Things he lived through

him to help her adjust to this new way of life. He was her guide, her one anchor and protector. Peter could not afford to be marred in this pattern of nightmares, visions of torment

g room and into the small hallway, leaning on the walls for support and a sense of orientation. After shuffling a few rods, he felt th

and onto her bed like she was a spirit of the divine, descended from Paradise and finding respite in the trappings of mortals. Peter smiled, noting how she was so beautiful and serene even in s

heir relationship seemed sleeping. Dormant. Awaiting the right time to reveal itself. Still, he struggled with just what he felt toward her. Surely th

nd conflicted with just what he felt towards her. As his feet shuffled across the marble floor of the kitchen, he s

est f

e conf

e for all his en

is fellow

and she practically lived a prisoner's life. What kind of person would he have been to refuse her sincere, heartfelt plea of assistance in her greatest hour of need? So he too

a l

hat was one last battle in this long campaign he had to eventually fight, and win. No matter the answer he cam

ly gave him the drowsiness he needed to get back to sleep. He set the glass down on the coun

ny

houlders like a waterfall and her snowy grey eyes shined in the night like fireflies. The eye

, not wanting to wake up

" Peter asked, despite the ans

cream. Are y

cated, trying not to worry h

his couch but Tanya c

thing is bot

ing, Tanya

o reach out to her reserved, solitary friend. He always did this. He always acted like he hid something

ka," she entreated, in a ge

ld not do him any good to hide wh

htmare. Abou

ight

and arduous vision to divulge, but it was one that he needed off his chest, regardless. Perhaps Tan

sides, and we didn't have any chance for relief. The

a asked, as she moved her

this German. I was all alone, calling for help from anyone. But

a bad memory from the past. She shouldn't know what

ged, "please tell

ust sc

cheek. "I'm your friend. You can tell me a

n the callous mortal world. Surely, she must be, if she was so unafraid of any evil that might

fighting Cherto

he harrowing nature of their escape, came as a shock to her. Why wouldn't it? They both thought Chertov was gone, and out of their lives forever.

ertov?" sh

one I thought w

and her grey eyes quiver with trepidation. Surely, this could not be. Chertov was gone. He was left behind,

e fight end

he feared leaving her in the dark

down. He was ab

ething h

t be, not so soon after they had finally found peace and joy with being reunited at last. Surely this was merely the effects of combat, the visions that

ly. "I saw you behind him, smiling at me.

ggling to move on? What words could help Peter put the past behind him? How could she help him shut away all

dream…" she a

y carelessly like a paper bag

oice cracking with anxiety. "I don't want to think about

etroshka. You j

me what I h

to impart some sense of hope in the forlorn and tortured soul th

out with your friends. And if you ever feel lost, need a

his home, his safety, his comfort, just so he could find her and know what he could do for her, made her love him all the more. His road to recovery would be a long, arduous and painful one, but as long as she was in his world, he had no reason to fear. Why should he? He had done

e thought to himself, there had to be a God in this world, to have created a human so loving and so kindly as her. The fact she still held him close,

friend, Tanyu

for you, Peter. Don

s on him, and whispered,

o bed w

e in his eyes. How could she be

an

ou get throug

e y

entence by placing o

trus

wn next to him, looking at him with sincere and glimmering grey eyes. It didn't take long for them t

»

ry 2nd

Staling

n resistance in Stalingrad once and for all. The offensives had crushed the German positions to an area fifteen miles long and nine miles wide. On January 22nd, the Russian forces from the west linked up with the sur

f First Company but no word had come from the northern sector of the line, on which they now occupied. If the northern sector did not surrender, it would mean mor

in his valiant five day stint. He found it in Nikolai Fyodorev, the bright and skilled platoon leader who had been Peter's right hand man during his short stay. Petya

ounded as fierce as the fighting he partook in alongside them in the frozen streets. He recounted in m

periencing; it was love for another, a feeling they had been acquainted with for more than three ye

ded sleep while Natasha peered through her sniper scope, continuously watching the line for any German fool enough to waltz out into the open. Most of the squad was spread out on their left and right, while Anatole, their kind friend and

park ruined to their foundations and little more than mountains of debris and rubble. The home she and her Petya along with everyone else close to them had lived for all their lives was practically wiped off the map. So much had been lost in this battle, and it was clear that when

is steel helmet was gone, replaced instead with a fur hat typical of the winter uniform. His sandy blonde hair had grown l

et

ons she always asked him to go with her on sniping missions was not just for more time to be intimate but time to open up and share problems facing them that partic

, but no German would dare enter the open and exp

German had not felt clean clothes or even a refreshing bath in a long time. She spied a ring on the German's finger, exposed by his glove. He was a married man, at the destination of life

soldier, not even worth her bullets. His life had a meaning to it, a

ng way from

der straps. His uniform was not in any better condition than the German before him, and he seemed frazzled and beyond a

n putting a prematu

to the ground face first as his peaked cap was knocked off. The snow around him turne

ietly as she retracted the bolt and

er's work, tending to the grim business of dealing out death to any fool who entered her field of vision. He smirked, seeing as an opportune time to play a joke on her, as he so often liked to do. He

omanly figure for a girl of almost 17. Her shoulders had grown out broader, and her hips had grown in width while her waist remained slender and trim. He had had ample o

ger to her plump and round buttocks and promptly pinc

OH

ulprit in this act of misc

tasha said with a sedu

open to a surprise at

ield glasses. Not a soul in sight. Perhaps the Germans had all died from the cold and the battle was already over. It would be wonderful if it really was the

their city so soon after reuniting with it and all the people closest to their hearts. There would be more battles in faraway places that might take them a

ut there?"

d with a exasperated

thi

time i

ed at his

8:30.

every morning like there's going to be an attack. He

ver dare wake u

e he hates disturbing us…"

in bed together. He saw nothing of value but the sight of them in the same bed m

er to Natasha who was still peering through

question Tanya asked him t

ly. "He never could come up with

ly feeling the pain of her faraway friend. "He couldn't come up

self, though," Petya returned, "he has to

he can't get some help

they were still children at play. He found her crying on the foot of the large hill that overlooked this city, finding she felt abandoned by Peter as he spent his final days in Russia with

t because he took Peter's place. He paid her all the attention a boy could give to a girl, he treated her kinder t

edged it long ago. Peter and Tanya had yet to come to such an understanding; theirs was a sleeping love, unknown to both of them a

I have so

paper and wrote some

r P

ecting to do as you do every day, and what I had to consider was how being around Natasha made me feel. I felt my best days were ahead of me when I was with her. I felt the rest of the world didn't matter and

uary 3rd, 1943, two wires on

tasha said looking th

up next to Natasha, grabbing his Mosin-Nagant

it?" Pe

t'

s, and small trenches, there came out German soldiers. They didn't look like they

spered, astonished and confounded

" Petya asked anxiously, his

ists…they have

n't mea

call from the Ge

Nicht schiße! W

y had been wanting to hear for so long now, the words that w

want to s

APTAIN!" P

ed in a winter uniform

tenant Sokolov?"

, starving, and nearly dead Germans. It was almost unreal to him, to all of them. They had been fighting all these months, for more than half a year, and they thought they we

eed, comrade Captai

eir surrender

ield to receive the surrender of the Germa

f different mismatched clothing, making use out of what they could find or scavenge. Some even had ridiculous-looking straw shoes to keep warm. They were wrapped in tattered blankets and rags, and were unshaven, dirty, and louse-ridden. No matter who they were or where they came from, the faces on all of them

the damning silence that comes from a captor t

a to escort the Germans back to Battalion headquarters to sort out the full natur

all did in an endless stream down the road, the r

eft the line, they heard the cry from their machine gunner and dear friend Anatol

rendered! WE'VE WON T

ts, tossing their hats in the air, grabbing each other and dancing in the snow. At last, at long last, a win had been scored for

was smiling on them and the rest of the Russian people this day, as at last the myth of German invincibility had been shattered utterly. This was not the end by any means, and much harder bat

hoot! We