T-34 || Can't Let Go

iv.

When the crew finally arrived, the first thing they did was to cheer for a solid few minutes. Volchok managed to pump his arms up and yell loudly, Ionov and Stepan supported each other to not fall over, both clearly out of breath.

"We fucking did it!" Stepan slurred, staggering back and forth and pulling an equally exhausted Ionov with him.

Anya on the other hand walked over to Ivushkin, who smiled at his crew, but didn't get too excited. For him, the commander, this was only one problem of many solved.

As the woman wrapped her arms around Ivushkin and looked up to him with soft expression, she muttered a small, "What's wrong Ivushkin? Aren't you happy?"

She didn't understand, she did not at all. She had no idea of the things that plagued him, that this wasn't their property and that they could be scarring the woman for life- hell, they were still on Kraut territory and Russia. . his home, never felt further away.

Still, he sighed and flashed her a small, but obviously beaten smile. As the leader, this was his responsibility, his burden to carry. He shouldn't let this out on them, nor pull down their spirits.

Luckily Anya didn't seem to notice and grinned back brightly.

"I am happy. And I'm glad we're all in safety. . for now."

"Ah Anya," Stepan called over, his lips curving upwards. "Nikolay is always worrying over everything."

"That's why he's the best," Volchok added with a raspy laugh.

As said man erupted into a coughing fit however, Ivushkin was the first to pull away from the hug and hurried over to the injured man.

"Anya, you need to help me with the communication. Comrades, let's not just hang around and get to work," Ivushkin exclaimed, and they all swiftly agreed.

After the small celebration was over, the crew began to split up in order to get the necessary tasks done. 

First of all, the woman, whose name was Rebekka, was freed from her ropes. She promised to not run away and while Stepan doubted this was the truth, no one wanted her to be tied against the heater for too long. It was only meant as a precaution while Ivushkin was alone with the two Germans anyways.

It was Ionov's task to secretly watch over her, just in case, and the man was only too happy to oblige.

With Anya's help, they could communicate with Rebekka properly. She still didn't trust the Russians, especially Ivushkin and Stepan, but she seemed fond of Ionov and his kind nature. Rebekka showed them two rooms upstairs, in which they could each place one injured.

Volchok was placed on the big double sized bed inside the room that came right after the stairs ended, while Jäger was put into the smaller bed at the end of the hallway. Together, they carried the injured upstairs, and afterwards they split up.

Rebekka and Ionov prepared food for the soldiers in the kitchen, Stepan was the first to be scheduled to wash himself in the bathroom upstairs and Anya and Ivushkin began treating Volchok.

Given Jäger had no way of fleeing, except if he'd crawl down the hallway and down the stairs- which the two Russians would definitely notice, they let him on his own for now and concentrated on helping Volchok and his injuries.

A loud muffled scream was heard throughout the entire house, as Volchok bit down on the cloth between his teeth and almost ripped the bedsheets he clawed at apart. His knuckles were white as snow and Ivushkin did his best to keep the thrashing Russian in place while Anya tended to the wound on his lower stomach.