[Late 1944]
A giant fire blazed in the dry, brown ground. Medium-sized craters surrounded the fire, with hot pieces of metal in the center, or some charred corpses in some of the craters. It was unclear whether they were Soviet or Wermacht soldiers... but the shouts could be heard from everywhere. The same shouting, they ordered their subordinates to advance and shoot every enemy they saw. Meanwhile, two dirty-faced men were hiding above the forest trees nearby. They both watched as the Wermacht soldiers hid, waiting for their enemies to approach, and then shot them one by one.
"It would have been easier to shoot us from the trees. See? We were acting more like snipers. Hiding, waiting for you to get close to our hiding place... and BAM! A hole was in your head. Unfortunately, your captain prefers to run without planning. Hmmm," Wilhelm sighed, his hand posing as a pistol aimed at Vadim's head. Vadim's head lazily moved away from Wilhelm's hand, uninterested in the conversation.
"Not everyone able to climb. But hey, at least we can help them to plan better assault," defended Vadim.
"True. Now we are getting closer to Riga, aren't we? Can't wait for the victory."
Then both of them sitting normally on the tree again. Taking a deep breath, after intense focus for shooting precisely. Vadim look at Wilhelm in curious look. "Anyway... if we won in the future, what will you do next? Back to Austria in secret?"
The young Austrian frowned, but not at Vadim. "I never have true home, to be exact. I don't belong to orphanage, The Reich or anyone anymore," Wilhelm admitted, "I grew up in orphanage since a baby. Then the Nazi pick me up, to turn me into a perfect Aryan boy and paraded everywhere. I've met The Fuhrer himself too. My social life controlled even if living in good house with caretakers, and so far I only close with a red-haired girl named Erika. She is my everything until one tram accident killed her."
Then Wilhelm rubbed his face, "If only I had the nerve... I would have left Europe sooner, and I should have been having a great time at America. Drinking beer until I was completely drunk, with Erika who accepted me for who I was. I could just say I was an Austrian fleeing the war, and I would have been hired on a ship. Crossing the ocean, landing in another country, and finding work there. Either as a cleaner or a coal scraper. But I was at peace. Happy..."
BANG
Blood poured from Wilhelm's punctured right shoulder, causing him to fall from the tree and become motionless. Vadim jumped from the tree and approached Wilhelm's body, which was still gasping for breath. He searched for the source of the gunshot, which turned out from soldier in same group that Vadim resides. The man aimed his gun at Vadim, his eyes filled with anger.
"Did you just deserted yourself again?" interrogated that soldier.
"I'm not! I was shooting the enemies from up above!" Vadim stood still, unable to do anything except raising both of his hands. Meanwhile he look at down, concerned to see Wilhelm let out gurgling noises and try to flip his body alone.
"You've been separated yourself many times, being useless at anything except playing domra. I can't let a traitor disrupt our mission," the soldier cursed, then his index finger went to the trigger to pull it. Suddenly, a gunshot rang out, and that soldier fell.
"Wh...wha..." Before the soldier could say anything more, another gunshot rang out, and blood was now pouring from a hole in his chest. Vadim looked back. A Wermacht soldier was about to targeting Wilhelm and Vadim, but the ammunition already empty. Vadim quickly took aim and shot the enemy in the chest, when that enemy try to reach different gun.
"Wilhelm, I'm so sorry—" Vadim whispered as he knelt before the dying Wilhelm.
"We're both in danger. I can—cough!—understand," Wilhelm gasped, then grabbed Vadim's hand before the tall young man could carry him. "No, don't save me again."
"But I don't want to lose beloved ones again!" Vadim panicked, then tried to tear off his worn gymnastyorka and bandage it around Wilhelm's chest, but the Austrian young man slapped Vadim hard. Wilhelm's face was filled with anger. Vadim glanced at Wilhelm, whose eyes were blank, as if he didn't want to live anymore.
“Wilhelm, you're wrong! You still have hope to live. Don't give up!” Vadim countered. But he examined at Wilhelm's face, which had already closed its eyes. The man with blue eyes shook Wilhelm to wake him up. But Wilhelm's head immediately drooped when Vadim's hand pushed it slightly. “No, Wilhelm!” Vadim immediately tore off the gymnastyorka of the soldier who had shot Wilhelm and used it as a makeshift bandage. He slapped Wilhelm's cheek repeatedly. But Wilhelm's face remained pale, like the thick, rolling clouds in the sky, signaling an imminent downpour.
"Young man! What are you doing?!"
Soon a middle-aged soldier appeared, whom Vadim recognized as the captain who lead the group of soldiers, include Vadim. He didn't seemed to react at all to the sight of the bodies of two Soviet soldiers and one Wermacht soldier lying around Vadim.
"Wil- I mean Vasya is dead! Our... our comrades also dead! From this bastard!" panicked Vadim as he pointed the corpses. The captain look around Vadim, and his eyes instead softened.
"...Let's go back. We have to keep marching. We are almost reaching Riga," the captain said irritably, then grabbed Vadim's arm, leading him outside of the trees. "I hope you can maintain your mind while holding out here, comrade."
After escorting Vadim to the group, the captain finally announced a short rest and order to retrieve the belongings. As soon the group will march again to the heart of Riga city. Meanwhile, Vadim still looked so shaken, can't believe to see his captain was really indifference to the fallen comrades.
===
Riga, May 1945
The bullets whizzed not forward, but skyward. Shouting "Ura! Ura!", the Soviet soldiers joyfully embraced each other for victory. They also received news that Germany had collapsed, and Hitler had committed suicide. Some medics wept with joy, some other comrades wept with sadness; their closed ones were gone and unable to join in the celebration.
Vadim was happy too. He had managed to survive the hallucinations that had haunted him since the 1941 Moscow attack. Surely he had succeeded in proving to his father that he wasn't as hopeless as he had claimed. Eduard had been right about him. Vadim was stronger than his older brother. That happiness immediately faded when he remembered Wilhelm.
"Hey, you look glum. Go empty your bullets to the sky, won't you?" teased the captain who slap Vadim's back.
"Captain..."
"Be happy! We will go home by next month! You can marry your girl right after that, haha!" joked the captain once again, but soon Vadim gets up and glared at the captain.
"...Why were you ignoring our comrades' bodies, back then?"
The captain's laugh stopped. He stared at Vadim in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Last autumn. You let Vasya and other comrades just lying down dead in the forest. I thought you really cared to at least bury them like other captains did," hissed Vadim. Meanwhile, the captain sighed. He didn't looked angry or trying to deflect.
"...Our Vasya had been dead since last spring, comrade. He died in long term infection, remember? And the other dead soldier you always pointed out, he has been killed around last summer. I am the one who burying them, remember?" explained the captain calmly. Vadim twitched his eyes in disbelief.
"Lies! I saw it by myself. I saw that soldier shoot Vasya. Then going to shoot me. And-"
"Hey, calm down! You always talking to yourself whenever we are marching or resting at the post!" defended one soldier near the captain with upset face. Soon another soldiers also ganged up and stared at Vadim with worry and annoyance.
"Yeah, he's right! You really lost your mind, dude!"
"You kept saying late Afonya accusing you! He never do that, you know!"
"Is that tall guy really went insane?"
"But he oddly managed to stay alive-"
"SILENCE! LEAVE HIM ALONE!" shouted the captain who glared at the soldiers, before he back staring at Vadim seriously. The soldiers are immediately dispersed and not dare to talk back anymore.
"Young man, please seek help when we are back to Moscow. Don't waste your life after what we have fighting for, okay?"
After that, Vadim's weapons are all confiscated by the captain. All thing that Vadim had now is his domra and his backpack. Meanwhile, Vadim sat down on the ruins of building, still shaken that all of he thoughts since last year... was a long, false memory.