She remembered how these freaks danced in front of the fascists, getting drunk on schnapps, for German marks after they had hung six villagers with their hands.

Here, then, hung by them hung right in front of the school, turned into the commandant's office by a local teacher, the chairman of the Snezhnitsa and several other communists of the village.

These geeks, shouted something to the glory of the Fuhrer and shouted to the whole district, happy and satisfied with the new government settled here for a long time, under the friendly slamming and joyful beefy German faces.

Pimple was there too. The one who kicked her and the children out onto the street in that cold winter in February. How she almost froze over his fault. She spat on the ground, disdainfully looking at these prihlebaev Gunter Kogel near the commandant's office and went on.

Simka Pelagina, a local girl of fifteen, jumped up to her and they left this drunken and shameful spectacle of a village school that had been captured by the fascists.

***

Dmitry opened his eyes. He did not understand where he lies. He moved his hands and turned his head, looking around. Around was one forest. Pine and birch. There are a lot of pines and birches, and it lies among this forest on the ground and on bumps overgrown with swamp grass.

He moved his fingers and ran one hand over the surface of the earth on which he lay. Some flowers hit the hand. He ripped them off and brought them to his face. Those were two daisies.

“Just two,” he said quietly out loud to himself. “What an irony,” Dmitry tried to lean his elbows on the ground, rise and look around, reclining where he was now. But he could not, could not, had no strength. He was weak and rather strong, so he couldn’t even lift his body. Somewhere over his head, cawed high up in the trees, sitting in a circle right above the Russian aviator black crows lying on the island.

- What to devour flew? - said Dmitry - But I'm still alive. While alive

He remembered his battle in the air over this forest and that he was shot down, and remembered how he had fallen out of the cockpit. He remembered the parachute and all. Dmitry threw up his head in the headset and looked at his parachute caught on small bushes and trees. He tried to turn over on his side, but all in vain. He understood about the loss of his blood, and this weakness was the cause of everything. His left leg was interrupted by an aircraft machine-gun bullet. He did not feel her. From her he lost

then consciousness when the parachute opened. From terrible pain. And he lost a lot of blood from her and now he may die soon.

- Only two daisies - smiled to himself, again saying quietly Dmitry - And that's it. At twenty nine almost years. Right here in the woods, on these bumps. And no one will know and find him among this forest. And he did not crawl out of this forest. Never.

He remembered his orphanage, where he spent his entire childhood and his educators before the war. For some reason, he remembered his mother and father, whom he had never seen in his life at all. But according to common sense, they should have been with Dmitry. But he didn’t know anything about them who they were or where. He remembered only his orphanage and educators. He thought it was good that he did not know the mother and father. And precisely because of this, now, he thought, it would be much easier to die, even here in this swamp and in this summer forest. He looked at the birch and pine in the light of the rays of the rising morning over the marshes of the sun. It was beautiful. He saw leaves in the swamps of thin birch trees bent above him sway in the light summer breeze. He did not hear the shots somewhere in front on the outskirts of the swamp. As it beat the German tank and motorcyclists from hot from continuous dagger fire machine guns.I have not seen machine-gun bullets flying over his head through the air along the entire swamp. How they fought, about trees, maiming trunks and knocking down foliage and needles from the branches. How bark fell off with rags and scraps and branches fell right next to it. He already saw and heard everything badly.

Dmitry was preparing for death. He took out, opening the tablet, a flight map and tore it into small pieces. For if that, then the Germans after his death could not take advantage of anything.

Dmitry felt the approach of death. He felt cold, and he was breathing heavily and even heard his own disruption in the chest of his heart. He hardly felt his hands. His fingers were numb, and he was sick. Head was spinning, and it was ruffled in the eyes. Everything was twofold around. He somehow got his TT pistol out of the holster with his right hand and put it on his chest. Then in

the tablet under the numb from the loss of blood hand fell clean writing paper. Here he decided to use it as a posthumous note. He pulled out a short chemical pencil in the same place, and began to write something sloppy, but something flashed before his eyes. He jerked with fright and took hold of the TT.

Dmitri did not move and looked warily, although he saw everything badly due to his eyes clouded with weakness and dizziness. He felt that he was losing even these last strengths and would soon not even raise a pistol to protect himself, at least for the last time.

***

- They want to go for the pilot! - said Varvara Semina to Seraphim Kozhube loudly. She, along with Simka Pelagina, a fifteen-year-old girl, were in the house of the relative of Simkina's mother, Anna Pelagina, Aunt Styura. The village headman Kozhuba came in as if to visit Pelagin. He liked to do this from time to time and now he was right here. Aunt Styura and Anna looked out the window of the house into the street and at the Germans rushing along the village between the houses.

“They think he's alive and they want to wait for him on the edge of the swamp!” They think that he will come out of the forest to them, and they will seize him!

- Who are they Varya ?! - Asked her Skin.

- This creature is a whip with pimples and a dryka! - she continued - They are going to go in the direction of the Wolf Farm. And there is a pilot of our guard!

- So this is how it is! - replied Seraphim - And you just heard it?

- Just as I hear you! Clear and precise! - answered Barbara - It said the Whip Pimple and Dryke. They want to ambush him in the Wolf Farm area! Now the whole village is on the ears!

- We must inform our people about him in the forest. Maybe they will have time before these freaks intercept him! - Seraphim told her - And you should leave the village with the children - he calmly and quietly added to her - Save the children of Barbara. Go to the forest. You know the road to ours too. I already ask you how to do it. Soon it will be possible to attack the village and through it further to the front line. So it is better for you to be there in the forest with our earlier before a possible offensive.

- Are you a Seraphim? - she asked him.

“I will stay here for now,” he answered. “I can’t be out of the village at all.” I am a confidant of the Germans. As if in service. I follow the villagers and I am responsible for them. I will follow these creatures myself personally. Do not worry Varya. Bless you. And Varvara Semina went beyond the threshold of the house of Kozhuba’s elder, and Kozhub, coming out of his house, went straight to the German headquarters with a report on his brother’s partisan and plans for the Red Army to attack Snezhnitsa. And he also wanted to personally take command of the local policemen and personally capture the Russian pilot there, in the swamps of the Wolf Farm. He asked to allocate to him some more machine gunners on motorcycles at that very moment when shots rang out from the side of the marshes from the river to the forest in the territory of the Wolf Farm. It was the Germans who drove the T-III tank and several motorcyclists with BMP “Lynx” and machine guns to the edge of the swamp itself and opened fire in the forest deep into the swamp where the Wolf Farm stood. He was just on an island in the forest among the swamps, and was firing in his direction.

Dmitry heard the shooting. He shuddered when he saw the big wolf in front of him. Just a few steps away, and with his last strength he raised the gun, already thinking poorly before him, and not knowing who was in front of him. The wolf rushed at him.He grabbed his neck and Dmitri hit ... Read more →