Kill them

I don’t have a choice. It’s better them than me.

A look of heartbreak and betrayal crosses the face of the one with the lantern when my finger touches the trigger.

I pull it. The muzzle flashes of the PPSh light up the entire tunnel and its sound deafens the three of us as I put a burst in his chest. I see the other out of the corner of my eye, rushing me, making a play for me. I rush to line him up with my barrel.

It’s a race.

He’s a mere meter from me when I pull the trigger and fire another burst, impacting in a line from his shoulder to his head. I sidestep him and he falls on what used to be his face.

Frantically, I pick up the lantern and dig through their pockets.

Matches. Good.

Water. Sweet water. It’s been too long. I chug the half canteen he had left.

I’ve spent enough time looting. If anyone else is down here, they heard that. I snuff the lantern and stick to the wall.

I creep along for a time. Nothing happens. I try to pick up the pace. I need to get out of here.

I hear something bump into metal somewhere in front of me. I snap my weapon up.

“FRITZ!” Somebody yells and a rifle goes off. It sounds like a cannon in the cramped tunnel and lights up everything. The bullet ricochets off the wall behind me.

“Don’t shoot!” I scream at them. “I’m Russian!”

“Stop!” Another shouts. “Who are you?”

“Kulikova, Tatyana.” I yell back. “I am a Red Army sniper.”

“Comrade. Come here so we can see you.”

One of them lights a lantern and I approach. It’s a group of about nine Red Army soldiers. They look like hell.

“What are you doing down here?” I ask them.

“We were surrounded and cut off, running low on ammunition. We refused to be taken prisoner by the devil Fritz. The sewer was our only chance to escape and make it back to friendly lines. Little did we know the battle still rages, even underground. We’ve lost five good men since we descended.”

“You’re retreating?” I ask.

“I could ask the same thing of you. Stalin isn’t here, comrade. There are too few of us in this city. We own but a strip of land on the Volga, and the landing has been taken by the enemy.”

“The landing… gone?”

“Yes, comrade. With no hopes of resupply, we can’t afford to waste good men just because they ran out of ammunition. We’ll take our chances.”

“I understand.”

“With that said, we still have a lot of ground to cover, and Fritz may be lurking about in these tunnels. What do you say? Will you come with us?”