A battle weary tale chapter 1

I scurried through the trenches as the mortar shells crashed into a nearby barrack and pilfered an assault rifle from a nearby corpse.

It had only been a month since my battalion was assigned to the front lines in Leningrad, and already I was left alone, being the only survivor I struggled hard to keep the defenses that my comrades fought for but alas fatigue had begun to set in.

"Do not fall back" were the final orders the battalion had received and the last contact we had with the generals. Those words were what kept us going even when the frostbite threatened to immobilize us and our food supply ran short.

Reinforcements could not reach us due to a series of blizzards that encompassed the nearby towns and supply routes and communications died along with the busted comm. Tower. The enemy had systematically destroyed every building and defensive line that we had except for a series of small trenches and barracks.

"Damn there are only 2 barracks left and only 3 useable trenches" I rubbed my hands together furiously in an effort to combat the stinging numbness that filled them. "I can't stay here much longer!" I crept through a series of hastily carved tunnels until I reached the next barrack.

"I don't know why I come here it's not like food is going to magically appear" I sighed as I closed the pantry door and covered myself with a nearby blanket. It had only been a week since the last of my comrades had died and in all honesty I couldn't understand how I had lived so long myself.

"I guess the good really do die young" I mumbled as I recalled the stories we would all tell. I would always listen quietly as everyone told their life stories Nicolai had a wife and child, Sergey was a successful musician, and Leonid was about to take over his father's shop. I was the only one that didn't have a story to tell or at least nothing to go home to.

"Ivan come and speak with us" they would always chime as they tried their best to hide their fear "What do you wish to do when you go home?"

I never could answer that question because being a soldier was the only thing I knew. I grew up in a small city which never had much going for it other than agriculture. When I came of age I quickly joined the 6th battalion and never returned to my home town again; regardless, old bonds are hard to break and I occasionally found myself scouring the record books looking for information about the town and its people.

I hastily created a makeshift fire as enemy gunfire ceased and threw some old sheets in the hearth for kindle. A low whistling noise emerged with each gust of wind that passed through the window's cracked glass; however, this did not prevent me from falling asleep.

That night I had a strange dream or perhaps one could call it a vision of sorts. I was stuck in a dungeon of some sorts and was coupled together with a beautiful woman whose face was hidden by a veil. I tried to speak but my voice wouldn't emerge and it appeared that the woman in my dreams could not speak either. We sat in silence for a long while until she began to mouth something in the darkness "Don't…fight…."

She repeated this five times before a loud noise woke me from my slumber. The sound of footsteps reverberated through the wooden floorboards as an enemy squadron surrounded the barrack. I frantically searched for my weapon but was knocked unconscious as the door flung open with a soldiers kick.

"We found an enemy soldier, a rifleman, by the look of him" a shock trooper approached me and flipped me onto my back "The only survivor of the 6th battalion."

"Get the reports from squad B!" He yelled as he searched my body for any explosives or hidden weapons.

"Sir you won't believe this" a fellow soldier screamed as he entered the room "He was the only one here the entire time."

"Impossible! Nobody could hold off an entire battalion by themselves."

"Sir the reports aren't lying he really did defend this place for an entire week!"

The shock trooper ordered his men as he set the barrack ablaze "Take him alive then but leave nothing else behind!"

The camp was burned to ashes leaving no sign of the 6th batallion's struggle. It was only later on that I learned the 6th battalion was labeled as a group of deserters who fled in the face of danger to save their own hides. I digress as that is a story for another time.

When I came to my senses I found myself strapped to a wall and surrounded by enemy soldiers.
"I have heard many a great things about you" the interrogator smiled as he tightened my already taut shackles. "You held off an entire battalion for a week" he slammed his fist into my stomach as I clenched in anguish "I will be sure to break you quite thoroughly."

I bit my lip as he landed blow after blow on my body clenching in agony all the while; however, he stopped as I began to lose consciousness once more.

"Don't think for a second that you will be let off easy!"

My torture session continued for at least an hour before they locked me away. "You are quite resilient" my torturer mocked as they chunked me into a prison cell "I wonder how long you can last?"
His maniacal laughter echoed off the walls as he disappeared into the surrounding corridor. I began to black out until a soft voice called out to me "Are you alright?"

I turned to find a thin red-haired woman perched atop a reinforced bunk. I laughed weakly as I recalled the dream I had before, after all, the setup was ideal but everything else was different. "It doesn't hurt as bad as it looks" I smiled weakly as we met eyes "I am Ivan forgive me for my lack of manners."

"My name is Tatyana" she sighed quietly and caught her breath "It is nice to know that war doesn't turn everyone into manner less beasts."

"I wouldn't be so quick to judge, my fair maiden, after all war only brings out the worst in people."
"That doesn't surprise me coming from a soldier" Tatyana rolled her eyes and continued her explanation "The world isn't that black and white."

"Maybe so" I replied "I must ask that you look at it through my perspective."

Tatyana curved her brow and sat forward in her bunk "What might that entail?"

"Both sides are fighting for what they view is right and the soldiers only follow the orders of those above them. I cannot hold any will towards them but I most certainly cannot show them mercy or pity."

Tatyana stared at my dog tags, for a long while, before she replied "Even if they killed your comrades?"

"Even more so, if they kill my comrades, it would be an insult to those who died if I blamed others for their death.'

"What do you mean?" Tatyana sat confused as she awaited my response.

"When a soldier dies it is because he lacks the skill needed to prevail. Sure there are times when death is unavoidable and I am not so arrogant to say that all soldiers die from a lack of aptitude." I stopped to collect my thoughts before I proceeded "However, I can't blame someone for my comrades deaths it just wouldn't be right to throw that burden onto someone else."

"Do you blame yourself" Tatyana inquired as I crawled into a nearby bunk.

"I am tired of this discussion" I replied as I settled myself beneath the tattered sheets "I need time to gather my thoughts."