When the boat was less than twenty feet from the shore, he ordered the sailor to stop, before urging the men into the water. Anton was first out, looking back to make sure he was being followed. Bullets dashed the river all around them while Anton, of all people, seemed to take charge, yelling at his companions to keep their heads down. Vlad welcomed the cold water as it seeped into his shoes and through his trousers, all the way up to his thighs, reminding him he was still alive, in the midst of all this madness. Not all bullets ended up in the Volga; more than a few found their mark; men were falling down dead before they had the time to realise they had been shot. Doing his best to ignore the dead and dying, Vlad concentrated on finding Leo.
‘I’m behind you,’ his friend shouted above the noise and terror.
They clasped each other’s arm, determined to meet their fate together, though, even now, Leo managed to do what he always did – make fun of Anton. As they sloshed their way towards the bank, heads in their chest, trying not to think about the danger magnifying with every step they took, Leo roared, ‘C’mon then! We better keep up with the colonel.’
The NKVD officer was last out of the boat. He yelled at the men in front of him over the explosions and gunfire, ‘Keep going! Don’t stop for anything. I’m right behind you!’ The few faces that turned towards him, to show they had heard, had his gun waved in their direction. They stumbled on, as fast as they could.
Leo dragged Vlad to quicken their pace. ‘He’s going to shoot the stragglers!’
Vlad had guessed as much too. He hoped once more that he wasn’t a coward, he didn’t think he was. Actually, he wasn’t sure. All he had done in his life up to now was go to school, help his father in his workshop and play football. He had never needed to be brave to do any of that, and he certainly didn’t feel brave now. But, wasn’t he only obeying orders, following Anton because he didn’t want to be murdered by the officer behind him? Did that not mean he was a coward after all? No, he thought, I just don’t want to die here.
Leo shouted, possibly to keep himself and Vlad busy, ‘The Germans might miss us in the middle of this crowd, but our esteemed comrade and his handgun won’t. So, we’ve a better chance against the Germans, hey?’
Vlad did his best to smile through his fright, answering Leo’s fighting words with, ‘I hope so!’
With that, the two boys trudged grimly forward, not stopping when they reached the end of the water and found themselves on land, at last. They kept going, up the banks and onto the grassy embankment. Anton couldn’t hide the relief in his face when he looked back and saw them. He might have called out to them, only he was brutally distracted when the man walking beside him had the side of his face blown clean off. The soldier collapsed quickly, without a word, like a dancer taking his final bow. The smell of blood was sweet and heavy in the air.
The group scattered, keeping as low as they could to the ground – at least if they were struck they wouldn’t have too far to fall. It was impossible to see who was watching them, or where they were shooting from. Up ahead was the beginning of a street. Anton could make out bits of buildings, which meant shelter. He pointed at them, silently inviting his friends to join him. Leo allowed himself to be surprised at Anton’s new role in the proceedings, thinking, I can’t believe I’m following him. But, then again, who else would be stupid enough to lead the way in a situation like this!
Determined to pretend that he was back home playing football, Vlad decided that Anton was the forward with the football and the first building he could see was the goal. The gunfire was nothing more than the chorus of the home crowd as he and Leo sprinted after their forward, determined to help him score.
There was no doubt about it; Anton was feeling elated. Men older than him were looking to see what he was doing and his classmates were falling in line behind him. This was much more enjoyable than bullying small kids for their pocket money, or scaring the nine lives out of a stray cat. For the first time in his grubby life, Anton felt he was doing something right, something that mattered.
As they neared the street, they began to stumble over the bodies; there were scores of them. Anton heard some of the fellows exclaim, ‘There are so many!’ and ‘Who are they?’
However, this was not the time for questions. Anton led by example, flinging himself at them, scrambling through limbs, this way and that. ‘Look for guns!’ he yelled to whoever could hear him.
Of course! thought Vlad, Of course! He got to work immediately, Leo at his side. Quickly they shifted through the corpses, feeling around in the darkness for anything they could use.
A gun battle was taking place just above their heads. Russian soldiers were firing on their attackers, trying to give these new recruits a chance to join them.
‘Vlad, here!’ Leo was doing his best to pull a large rifle out of the locked fingers of a German soldier.
Vlad grabbed the hand, bending the fingers open with great effort, one by one. Who would have thought the dead could be so strong? Leo was unbuckling the man’s belt which was full of bullets. A couple of precious moments later and they had their quarry.
Anton, sporting a small handgun and what looked to be a bread knife, was already a few feet in front of them. There was no time to make a second search for another gun, but Vlad quickly scanned the bodies, just in case. And then he saw something he didn’t expect to, something which made him forget he was in danger of being shot dead at any second. It was a young girl, maybe nine or ten years old, it was hard to judge her age thanks to the mess that covered most of her face. Her hair might once have been pretty and maybe blonde. Now it was dark with dirt and her blood. Her eyes were wide open, causing Vlad to reach forward to help her. What was she doing here, in the middle of these dead soldiers? She didn’t blink as he grabbed her hand. It was freezing, so thin and so small. ‘Little one, are you okay?’ Vlad ignored his name being called over and over as he tried to pull the child from the ground. She didn’t answer him, her eyes only stared and stared, hypnotising Vlad with their emptiness.
It was Leo who broke the spell, pushing his gun into Vlad’s side. ‘She’s dead! They’re all dead! We have to go now or we’ll be dead too!’ Not giving Vlad a choice, Leo caught hold of his friend’s sleeve and shook his arm until he released the girl’s. Then Leo dragged Vlad after Anton, not stopping once, nor taking one step back.
BREAD FOR YURI AND PETER
Peter looked very glum, his head bowed as he kicked away any pebbles that dared to stand in his way. ‘I’m hungry!’ he whispered for about the tenth time since they left the basement.
Yuri was hungry too but what was the use in complaining. ‘I’m not your mother,’ he snapped bitterly. As soon as the words were out of his mouth he was sorry for them.
Peter seemed not to have heard. He kicked another stone and didn’t even bother to see how far it would roll, ‘Where are the soldiers?’