Go to meet Anton's girlfriend

"It's this way." Anton tells me, and the two of us start off together. It's dark now.

"Hey." Anton says. "I'm sorry about Maxim. He's an asshole."

"Don't worry, I have seen his kind." I tell Anton. "Does he treat every girl like that?"

"Pretty much. He's pretty aggressive." Anton explains. "Not just in that way, either."

"What do you mean?"

"That's how he fights, too."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"Sometimes. He gets a lot of kills, but he takes a lot of risks to do it. He's going to get himself killed one of these days. Ivan partnered me with him to try and control him."

"Can he even be controlled?"

"He was alive when you met him, wasn't he?"

"Yes."

"Then I did a pretty good job today."

"So." I say to Anton. "Who is this girlfriend of yours?"

"Her name is Alyona." He explains to me, a dreaminess in his voice.

"Is she cute?" I tease him.

"I think so." He laughs.

"Here we are." Anton tells me, and the two of us step into a building which is battered, but still stands. I follow him up a staircase and to a door. He opens it and we step inside. Anton leans his rifle in a corner.

I see a lush head of blonde hair and follow it down the back of a voluptuous, light skinned figure, to a round ass and thick thighs bent over a counter. She's wearing a pair of Red Army pants and black leather boots like mine, but I realize that she is topless. Anton approaches her from behind.

"Hey." Anton greets her, and she turns around to face him.

I stand back awkwardly and watch the couple embrace each other, beginning to make out and feel each other up. I tap my foot while they go about their business. They finally break their kiss and step back from each other. My curiosity gets the best of me, and I can't help but look at her full chest, which is awe inspiring. No man has ever complained about my breasts, but I can't help but feel jealous over how full and perfect they look. I look up towards her face and the two of us lock eyes.

A look of shock crosses her face and she frantically grabs a shirt and throws it over her head, hastily jabbing her arms through the holes and pulling it down.

"Who is this bitch?" She asks Anton angrily. "What do you think you're doing, bringing another girl around here?" She slaps him.

"Easy!" Anton cries.

She steps over to the wall, where a PPSh is leaning. She grabs it, yanks the bolt back, and steps towards me.

"Who are you?" She asks, a furious look on her face.

"She's our new comrade." Anton explains, trying to defuse the situation.

"Why are you here?" She asks me, raising her weapon. I step back and raise my hands. "Are you here to try and take my man?"

"No!" I answer. "I'm not here to take your man! I'm here to hide from Maxim!"

The threatening look on her face melts away and she begins to snicker. She lowers her weapon. Her snickering is contagious, and I can't help but join in. The two of us start laughing. Anton takes the PPSh out of her hands and leans it back against the wall.

She steps in front of me, a much more friendly look on her face, her arms extended towards me.

"I'm sorry that we got off on the wrong foot." She says to me. "Bychkova, Alyona Dmitrievna."

I step towards her.

"Kulikova, Tatyana Romanovna."

I hug Alyona, and the two of us kiss each other's left cheek, then the right, and then the left again before backing away from each other. For the first time, I can really see her face. She's pretty, and has a set of beautiful, light blue eyes. From the looks of her, I would guess that she is maybe twenty two or twenty three years old. She smiles at me.

"You and Anton can call me Tatya." I tell her with my own smile.

"Wonderful! Why don't we sit down for a moment?" She offers, gesturing to a small table against the wall, one with only two chairs. I lean my rifle against the wall, then sit in one of them, and she pushes Anton in the other, then sits across his lap. Anton and I take our helmets off and set them down on the table.

"So how did you two lovebirds get together?" I ask.

"I was a factory worker here, in the city. I lived here." Alyona tells me. "My factory was destroyed in the bombing, and I found myself without a job. The next day, I was conscripted into the territorial militia."

"So how did you meet Anton?"

"Him and his merry band of sharpshooters came one day to support us."

"Usually, we try to talk to the regular soldiers, even civilians." Anton jumps in. "Sometimes they know something, like which path is safest, or where somebody might be."

"Anyways," Alyona continues. "Anton came over to me. He just looked so manly with that big sniper rifle of his and he was just so sweet." She pinches his cheek and looks at me. "Isn't he handsome?" She asks. "Isn't he perfect?"

I open my mouth and begin to answer, but she cuts me off. "Tatya, that was a trick question!" Alyona snaps, pointing her finger in my face. She puts it down and giggles.

"They saved us that day." She tells me. "And after it was all over, Anton came back."

"And then what?" I ask, intrigued.

"We talked a little bit. I really liked him."

"And..."

"I told him where to find me."

"Go on."

"And later that night, he snuck out and came to my apartment. I invited him in for a cup of tea, and a chat."

"Anything else?" I ask, leaning in.

"That's where it started." She laughs.

"And where did it lead?" I pry.

"Some touching and kissing." She says, blushing a little.

Anton snickers.

"Anything else?" I ask.

"The best sex that either of us have ever had!"

"Agreed." Anton laughs.

"You did that on the first day you met?" I ask Alyona.

She giggles.

I laugh. "I'm not an innocent girl by any means, Alyona, but that seems a little quick!"

"Well," She says, "In a place like this, you have to act quickly."

"The Stalingrad life is a fast paced life." Anton adds. "And a short one." He mutters. I laugh nervously.

"He's right." She says. "It could happen any minute."

"She was so beautiful." Anton tells me. "So I thought, what do I have to lose?"

"That's right." Alyona says. "What do you have to lose? This is your sign to pursue your crush on Maxim."

"No way! I don't have a crush on Maxim!"

"You can make your dreams come true!" She teases me.

"They're HIS dreams!" I snort. "And I'm not about to go from Evgeny, to him."

"Oh, I didn't know you had a man!" Alyona says excitedly. Anton looks at her.

"Had." I say. The lively mood around the table is killed just the way that Evgeny was earlier.

"I knew him." Anton tells her. "He was a good guy. Probably better than me. Definitely better."

Alyona crawls out of his lap and comes over to me. "Hey, I'm sorry." She says. I stand up and let her hug me. "Are you okay?"

"I'm trying."

She pulls me in and pats my back. "Don't worry." She calms me. "Tomorrow is a new day. You'll have plenty of chances for payback."

"We should head back to the shelter." Anton suggests.

"You're right." Alyona agrees, stepping back from me. "I wouldn't want them starting any more rumors about us." We all start gathering our equipment.

"It will give them something to talk about." Anton jokes, picking up his helmet and motioning to the door. The three of us trade nods and head out together.