Another battle against the wolf

Very cautiously I move my gloved left hand from my rifle, pinch a small handful of snow, and put it in my mouth. The last thing I want is for him to see my breath. For a lack of a better word, the blown out upper level of this factory is cold as fuck, and I’ve been laying here for so long that snow is starting to build up on my arms and on my helmet. I’m hidden to the best of my abilities in a pile of twisted metal and rubble, having become part of the landscape. My fingers gently return to the front of my rifle and I continue watching, searching for the wolf. This is a game of patience and endurance. Part of me thinks that he has moved on, but I’m not moving until we kill him or get the order to leave.

Growing bored and tired, my eyelids begin to grow heavy but I **** myself to remain alert. My reticle traces over windows, then climbs to a rooftop. Little by little, I search for him, my finger ready to drop to the trigger and end this madness. We’ve had enough of this fucker terrorizing us. Nobody is on the roof, so I gently lower my aim down to a lower level of the building, carefully and methodically checking windows, as well as small holes that somebody could potentially shoot from. I see a blur of movement across a window and stop, aiming directly at it and waiting for something to emerge. Fritz is smart and stays out of my view, for now.

There has been a significant lull in the combat in this area. The quiet makes everything very eerie. I fight back a shiver, the cold seeping through my clothes. The skin of my face stings.

A gunshot! I freeze. Time seems to slow down. It came from my right, from where Nikolai and Valentin are located.

Another shot! This one from the enemy’s side. I search for the shooter but I can’t find him. I don’t dare to give away my position.

Several minutes pass.

Shouting comes from the factory floor behind us. “Anton! Tatya! Alyona!” It’s Nikolai!

“Kolya!” I hiss back, trying to keep my voice down.

“Get over here!”

I don’t move, still searching for the wolf.

“Get over here! Valentin’s hit!”

“Blyat.” I whisper under my breath, my blood running even colder. I creep back until I’m out of view then jump to my feet and sprint over to him, converging with Anton and Alyona on Nikolai’s position.

“Come on! Davay! Come on!” He shouts at us, waving his arm and charging through the factory floor.

We sprint after him and come to an abrupt halt where Valentin is laid against a wall, rocking back and forth, holding his left bicep. His arm is soaked in blood,

“FUCK!” Anton shouts when he sees him. “We need to get a tourniquet on that arm before he bleeds to ****, hurry!”

We all crowd around him, scrambling through our gear to find something that might work, somebody produces a piece of cloth, somebody finds a long piece of metal on the ground.

“You’re going to be okay!” Alyona says to Valentin.

“Twist that cloth up, get it around his arm, above the wound!” Nikolai orders, Anton working feverishly, tying the cloth around Valentin’s arm, then inserting the metal rod.

“Alyona, get the others before something happens to them! Hurry!” Nikolai urges her. She grabs up her PPSh and takes off like a bolt of lightning.

“This might hurt.” Anton says, starting to twist the rod, tightening the makeshift tourniquet. Valentin winces in pain. “I’m going to cut off the blood flow to your arm.”

“What?” Valentin asks fearfully, his skin pale from the blood loss. “I don’t want to lose my arm!”

“You’re going to die if I don’t do this.” Anton tells him matter-of-factly. “Don’t worry, they might be able to save it.”

“Fuck, okay.” Valentin sighs while Anton works on him. “I saw the reflection of a scope, so I fired. It was a trick. If I hadn’t moved, he would have shot me in the face.”

My blood runs cold. We’ve been outsmarted again. The wolf is too crafty. I fear for when it’s my turn to fall victim to his schemes.

Anton tucks the metal rod in to place, then does his best to bandage the wound. Miraculously, the bleeding stops and Valentin is still conscious, though shaken up.

“Can you stand?” Nikolai asks.

“Maybe.” Valentin says. “I can try.”

Anton helps him to his feet with much grunting and wincing from pain.

“Nikolai and I are going to take Valentin to the field hospital.” Anton tells me. “Just sit tight and wait for the others.”