Retaliation

The time stopped, and the sound of distant explosions and flying bullets faded into insignificance. His mind suppressed all other sounds, and only the thunderous heartbeats reminded him of his mortality. His body fainted to the ground. The end seemed inevitable.

“Argh!” he sighed. The light breeze and cold, wet soil returned him to reality. Bohdan stood back on his knees. He was still alive.

Voices of invading soldiers sounded in the forest. Bohdan took off a rifle from his back, taking silent, slow breaths. He hid behind a bush. The rays of the rising Sun pointed at him.

“Hey Ivan, have you tried the warmness of their pussies, while they beg for life?” said one of the soldiers, making all of them laugh.

“Fucking Russians!” Bohdan almost shouted, not hiding his disgust. He took down the safety and aimed toward the soldiers, putting his fingertip on the trigger. He could kill one, maybe two of them. The problem was they were in a group of four. The risk was too high.

Their dialog resonated in Bohdan’s head. He could not let it happen to his wife, daughter, or anyone else. He pulled out a knife and waited for an opportunity.

Minutes had passed until one of the soldiers needed to leak. It was now or never. The soldier got too close anyway. Bohdan sneaked behind and cut the soldier’s throat like a goat. Blood splashed all over.

“Hey, Dimitriy! What is taking you so long?” one of them shouted. No one responded. Their companion was already dead. They grabbed their weapons and headed toward Bohdan.

“What the fuck?” they shouted.

Dimitry was lying on the ground, painted in red.

The officer twisted his head left and right, expecting an assault. He grasped his rifle and engaged in a combat position. The remaining two surrounded the murder scene.

Bohdan sneaked out only a few bushes away. The wood cracked.

“Fuck!” he whispered!

Looking at the faces of dying comrades was not how they envisioned the military operation. The prediction was no resistance.

The officer pointed his fingers in the direction of cracking wood. The remaining soldiers split and formed a surrounding formation.

Bohdan squeezed the knife in his hand. His heart pumped heavily, expecting the inevitable.

“No, no, no, this can’t be!” his mind was not prepared to die.

The soldiers were getting closer and closer.

“Argh!” shouted one of them. He stumbled over one of the woods and landed a half meter in front of Bohdan.

He did not hesitate and stabbed the knife into the soldier’s neck. The poor soldier could barely whisper for help.

Numerous gunshots resonated in the forest. Bohdan fell, grasping for breath.

“Is this it?” he laughed.

The moment of silence was interrupted by another wave of distant explosions.

“Phew!” Bohdan came back to his senses several minutes later. A bullet had brushed his shoulder and marked his jacket with blood.

The other two were not that lucky — their fainted bodies were lying between wooden branches. Bohdan crawled towards them. He looted their pockets and found a photograph. Tears flooded his eyes. Next time, it could be his family.