First taste of guard duty

It’s only a short walk outside, where we meet with another sergeant and one of his men. Dadonov talks to them for a moment, before they leave. He returns to us.

“Alright!” Dadonov says, pointing to us. “You two, over there, you three, down that way, you, stay with me”

I happen to be standing next to Artyom, and Dadonov approaches us.

“You two, head that way and set up.” He says, pointing to us then gesturing with his arm. He stops Artyom by his sleeve and looks him in the eye.

“Take care of her.” He whispers.

“Come on.” Artyom says to me. “I know the spot.”

I follow Artyom on a short walk before he approaches two partisans in a crude dugout. He talks to them for a moment, and they leave, making sure that they take a good long look at me as they pass.

“In here.” Artyom calls in a hushed voice, kneeling down. I follow and kneel next to him.

“Now you just look that way, and I’ll look this way.” He whispers. “Take a good look and remember where everything is. If you see anything change, or anything move, tell me.”

“I can do that.” I whisper back.

I look out over the landscape, which is mostly trees. By this time if year, the leaves are falling. It helps to see further out into the woods.

“Get used to this.” Artyom says. “We do it a lot.”

“What happens if somebody comes?” I ask.

“Depends on the situation. But our guys can hear us shooting and come back us up.” Artyom answers me.

“What if there’s a lot of them?” I ask. “What if they have a tank?”

“You’re overthinking it.” He says. “You’ll drive yourself mad doing that. We’ll just take what comes and figure it out.”

We sit quietly for a while. I consider telling him about Sasha, but I don’t know how he’d feel if he knew what I think Fedorov will ask of me.

“Tatya.” Artyom whispers to me. I look over at him and our eyes meet.

“Yes?”

“There’s something that I’ve been wanting to do.” He says nervously. He’s blushing. “And, well, we’re by ourselves.”

“What is it?” I ask.

“This.” He says and leans into me. I take his cue, close my eyes and lean into him.

Our lips meet for the first time. I can’t help but giggle as we each pull back and open our eyes. He’s smiling big and wide at me.

I have to have more. I lean back into him and we press our lips together. Longer, this time, and more passionately.

“You just made my day.” Artyom tells me. “That was amazing and I want more, but we should pay attention.”

“Right.” I say and look back out into the woods. Everything seems to be the way I left it.

We stay where we are and keep our eyes open. Nothing of interest happens, and we pass the time whispering to each other. We also carefully sneak in a few more kisses, making sure that nobody is around to see us. Eventually, we are relieved and regroup with the others before heading in.