A disturbing scene

We travel south through the ruins of the city, chasing a troubling report of enemy sniper activity. Even though Ivan assures us that this is a routine mission, and that there is nothing we can’t handle, I have a gut feeling about this one, and it isn’t good. After crossing through some apartment complexes, we near the square of the fallen fighters in central Stalingrad. Just a few blocks away from the front, a Soviet soldier wearing a green cape and carrying a sniper rifle steps in our path. Ivan steps up to greet him.

“Tovarisch,” Ivan greets him. “We’ve received your reports about the…”

We all look up at the sickening whistling of incoming shells.

“Fuck!” Somebody yells out. “Take cover!”

I dive against the wall of a building nearer to the front and cover myself. Anton takes Alyona down in front of me and covers her with his body. A round of mortar shells explode throughout the street. I wince with the concussion of the explosions.

“Comrades!” The sniper yells out. “In here!”

Our team hurries to our feet and begins rushing through the door. I was close, so Anton, Alyona and I make it in. Ivan and Ilya make it in. Another round of shells explode and the others are **** to duck and cover. I flinch, not knowing who will make it in behind us. Maxim and Nikolai come in, then Valentin and Oleg.

We all wince and cover again with the next round. Ivan points his finger at each of us as he counts us all out.

“That’s everyone.” He announces. We lay low and stay covered until the shelling subsides and we can hear the gunshots from a few blocks away once more.

I finally get a look at the sniper’s face. He’s as pale as a ghost, trembling as he looks at us.

“This way… comrades.” He mutters weakly and leads us through a breach in a wall, to another room. I gasp when I see a tattered green blanket covering the outlines of four bodies. I count them out by their feet. Their rifles lay piled next to them. Another sniper sits in a corner, his knees in his chest. He rocks back and forth, sobbing. Another sits next to him, holding his head in his hands.

One of the bodies disturbs me, the one on the right end. I can tell that the feet are smaller than the others, and there is a bump in the chest area. Cautiously, I creep forwards and touch the edge of the blanket. A voice in my head tells me not to pull it back, but I ignore it, and pull the blanket back to reveal a girl’s face, colorless, her eyes closed. I throw the blanket back over her and leap back, gasping, and then throwing up in my mouth. I can’t help but feel like I was looking in a mirror.

“We’re going to miss her.” The one who is standing tells me. “She had a lot of spirit.”

“Don’t the others talk?” Maxim presses him.

“They haven’t. Not since….” The sniper begins, but trails off.

“What the hell happened here, soldier?” Ivan asks him.

“A German sniper. One like we’ve never seen before.” The sniper chokes, starting to tear up. “He-he tricked us. One after another and picked us off! We could never figure out where he was!”

The one with his head in his hands lowers his hands and looks up. “We think that he’s…. He’s the….” He tries to say, but can’t finish.

“The wolf.” The first sniper says grimly, finishing his comrade’s sentence.

“The wolf?” Anton asks him. “I thought that shit was made up! Do you mean the rumors are true?”

“I’m afraid so.” The sniper says with a swallow. “They’re true.”

“Hold on a minute.” I cut in. “Who is this ‘wolf’? This is the first I’ve heard of him.”

The sniper gives me a puzzled look.

“She’s new in the city.” Ivan explains.

The sniper looks at me. “He’s the most cunning sniper and the best marksman in the sixth army, maybe the entire Wehrmacht. We all thought it was made up bullshit to keep us from making stupid mistakes, but we were wrong. He’s real, and he’s here. They say… he can’t be beat.”

“Don’t worry.” Maxim interjects confidently. “We’ll kill this motherfucker for you. I’m not afraid of him. He’ll be just another notch on my rifle.”

“You watch yourself, boy.” The sniper snaps back. “Or you’ll end up like them.”

Maxim scoffs.

“Where did you last encounter this sick fuck, and when?” Ivan asks.

“He engaged us from the other side of fallen fighters square. Last shots were maybe a hour ago. Control is contested right now, and the square has become a no man’s land, a meat grinder. Both sides have taken up in the buildings. Some artillery here and there, more of theirs than ours.”

“Thank you, comrade.” Ivan thanks him. “We’ll see what we can do.”

“Good luck.” The sniper tells us apprehensively. “We’ll pray for you.”

“We might need it.” Ivan responds, before turning to us. “Come here, this is the plan.”