Vassili Zaitsev banged on the ancient door of Rivka's underground home and yelled to be let in.
The Germans had begun their assault several hours previously, and he had decided to make one last try to get the stubborn pair to make the attempt to leave Stalingrad - but he knew he would probably fail dismally. Nikolai wasn't really well enough to make the trip, and when Rivka opened the door and let him in to the old cellar, he knew then and there she would never leave without the big sniper.
Nikolai sat at the battered old table, fully dressed and slowly eating some bread and cold bacon. A mug of tea was beside him, and he looked tired but content. But it was the way the blue eyes followed Rivka as she bustled about her home, preparing the bedding for shifting into the hiding place in the disused sewer that made Vassili smile. He saw Rivka touch his arm in passing as she brought another mug of tea for the young soldier, and he saw Nikolai's face soften with the pleasure of that touch.
The big fool loved her. And by the knowing, happy look on Rivka's angular face, she returned his love. Something magical had happened here, something totally unexpected and wonderful. Here, in a battered, beaten city, surrounded by death and blood and terror, two people had found one another - and, by the look of it, they had no intention of losing each other again.
He also noticed the look of serene contentment on Rivka's face. He knew that look. He knew what it meant. She had been loved, thoroughly and with great pleasure and satisfaction.
Vassili Zaitsev knew that look because he had seen it on his Tania's face after she had come to his lonely, damp bed in the bunker two nights before. She had crept under the blankets as he lay, surrounded by snoring, slumbering unwashed bodies, and slowly and silently given herself to him. He remembered her kisses and caresses, her deft hands unbuttoning his pants and stroking him into shuddering, desperate arousal. And then she had bared her own body, showing him where to touch her until she sighed with delight. As she guided him into her she had whispered his name, both of them unsure, both innocent but each needing the other. Vassili had nervously taken her, Tania's small whimper of pain as he eased into her soon changing to whispers of pleasure, his body instinctively knowing what to do, and she had urged him on with eager small hands on his striving frame. It had been quick, urgent, Tania's body clutching him at the end, her mouth a small 'o' of ecstasy as his final, uncontrolled thrusts sent him spurting into her, his face one of agonized bliss as he spent himself in her depths.
They had lain quietly, the sleepers around them undisturbed, and had fallen themselves into deep, contented dreams, wrapped in each other's arms. She had lain with him again the next night, the comfort of her love pushing back the horrors of this dreadful place.
And here was Major Nikolai Koulikov, seasoned veteran soldier, sniper, a man of decidedly solitary habits, enamored of a lonely, sharp-tongued harridan who patently adored him.
"When are you leaving, boy?" Nikolai finished the last of his bread, washing it down with a mouthful of hot tea.
"I'm meeting Tania down at the landing in an hour. They're getting closer, Nikolai - are you sure …"
Nikolai grinned his toothy, steely grin.
"I'm sure, Vassili. I'd rather meet my end here than floating about on that bloody river being blown to pieces by those blasted Fritz dive-bombers. Nah. I'll be staying, lad. I'd just be taking up room some other fellow could use that probably needs it more than me."
They both sat in silence, feeling the shudder now as the bombing came closer, but dealing with the onslaught as though it was a distant echo of thunder on a sultry summer's day.
Rivka began throwing bedding through the hole and Vassili jumped to help her, Nikolai fretting silently and feeling useless. Vassili was intrigued by the idea of them hiding in the disused sewer complex, and was silently hopeful that they could stay undetected until the Russian army made its counter-attack and relieved the city.
Rivka got down on her knees and crawled through onto the broad ledge beyond and Vassili tried to follow, but Rivka stopped him with a smile.
"No, Vassili. Stay and talk to Nikolai - I'll do well enough on my own, and I'm sure you have things you can chat about."
Vassili smiled inwardly at her unconscious use of Nikolai's first name, and he heard the affection in her voice.
"Are you sure?"
"Sit, lad!! Keep the big fool company for a few minutes, and make sure he doesn't try and do anything to wreck those stitches he has in him!"
So Vassili did as he was told and returned to a frustrated Nikolai Koulikov, now trying to get up from the old chair and help.
"Oh no you don't!" Vassili pushed gently on Nikolai's uninjured shoulder, stopping him. "You stay right where you are!" Vassili sat down beside his friend and looked with wonder at the emotions warring on Nikolai's mobile face. The blue eyes watched the small hole, the big man unhappy when Rivka was out of sight, and Vassili also saw the wonder in the gaunt face.
"Have you
told her yet?"
Nikolai never took his eyes off the hole in the wall as he became aware of Vassili's question.
"Huh? Told her what?"
Vassili sighed then winced as a bomb landed somewhere close by, the cellar shuddering with the impact. It was getting bloody close …
"Have you told her that you love her?"
The azure eyes snapped to Vassili in surprise.
"Is it that obvious?" Nikolai looked at the young man sitting before him, mug in hand, a knowing look in the pale eyes. Vassili grinned sympathetically in return.
"Yes, Nikolai - it's that obvious. You're sitting there, watching her as though you're frightened she'll disappear in a puff of smoke, looking very much like a lovesick calf. I may be young, my friend, but I'm not blind."
Nikolai flinched as the bombardment made dust fall from the sturdy ceiling, knowing they only had minutes before Vassili had to leave if he was to get away on one of the ferries.
"Nah. I can't tell her, lad." He gave Vassili his lop-sided grin, a wry twinkle in his blue-on-blue eyes.
"Why the bloody hell not??" Vassili was astounded. Didn't the idiot realise how Rivka felt about him? It was written all over her angular face, it glowed from her beautiful eyes in a pure joy that make Vassili's heart lurch. What the hell was wrong with the man?
There was a resigned sadness in Nikolai's voice when he answered.
"She doesn't need someone like me. She'll find herself a decent fellow one of these days, someone who can care for her properly. Maybe give her a couple of little ones to make her happy." Nikolai's smile softened at the thought of children. "I'm a soldier, lad, or hadn't you noticed? I'm very likely going to get my head blown off sooner or later, and where would she be then? I can't support her, can't give her what she needs. Nah. She'll do better not knowing."
Vassili looked at his friend for long moments, seeing the despair on the long face. He was a bloody fool. Didn't he know that nothing short of having Nikolai Koulikov for her own would ever make Rivka Velonina happy?
Nikolai Koulikov, you may be a great soldier and an even greater friend, but when it comes to loving a woman you have the sense of a flea! She wants you more than anything else in the whole world and bugger everything else!
Vassili shook his head in frustration, but his thoughts were interrupted by the closest blast yet, the whole building shuddering with the impact. The sewers would withstand the onslaught, he was sure, but when the bombardment stopped and the German troops began to comb their way through the rubble and bombed-out buildings, that was when the danger would be the greatest.
"Time to go, I think." Vassili began to gather up his rifle and jacket when Rivka stuck her head back through the hole.
"Vassili - would you close the door behind us and pull the dresser in front of it? I can't do it and Niko isn't fit enough." She disappeared once more, this time dragging Nikolai's hefty kit bag through with her.
"Niko??" Vassili grinned.
"Never heard of nicknames, boy??" Nikolai growled good-humouredly.
Another blast shook the walls, this time making the crockery rattle. Nikolai turned as Rivka appeared once more, smiling at this big man she loved.
"Are you ready?"
Vassili hoisted Nikolai to his feet and spent precious minutes helping the big soldier ease his broad frame through the snug doorway onto the ledge beyond where Rivka sat on her knees, cradling Nikolai's upper body as he grunted with the pain of shifting long legs through the tight space.
As Nikolai regained his breath from the ordeal and let the agony subside in his healing wounds, Vassili peered through the hole.
"Take care, the pair of you. Keep safe, and I'll do my best to get back as soon as I can, all right?"
Rivka smiled back at the young man.
"Don't you worry, Vassili Zaitsev - we'll be just fine. Away you go and take care of that girl of yours."
Vassili cringed as the fabric of the building shook from further onslaught from the German bombardment.
"Nikolai?" Vassili could only just make out the glitter of the big sniper's blue eyes in the gloom.
"Yes, boy?"
"Tell her."
But before Nikolai could answer, Vassili closed the door and bolted it, plunging them into almost total darkness, lit only by a paraffin lamp further along the ledge. They heard him groan with the effort of shifting the heavy dresser, and then moments later, the muffled slam of the trapdoor as the young sniper headed off out of the cellar to the ferry landings.
They were alone.
Nikolai lay for long moments, getting his bearings as Rivka held him in her arms, clutching at his solid frame as a series of booming thuds echoed around them, the distant, muffled scream of Stukas rending the air far above the ancient sewers.
"It's so loud, Niko." For the first time Nikolai heard fear in Rivka's voice. She had been the epitome of calm up until now, strong and stoic, knowing she had to take the initiative while Nikolai lay wounded. But now … now was different. The German army was launching an all-out offensive, and while Nikolai knew General Vassili Chuikov and the 62nd Army would launch a counter-attack from the shores of the Volga, supplies would start to become a problem once the river began to freeze - the free-floating ice would effectively stop any of the battered ferries bringing much-needed ammunition.
Many of the civilian population of Stalingrad had been rounded up and shipped to safety on the other side of the river - providing they survived the ferry ride and not been blown to pieces by the attentions of the Luftwaffe - but many still hid out in the cellars and bombed-out buildings of the great city. Nikolai wasn't regarded as walking-wounded, and therefore may well have been left behind to the dubious mercy of the German 6th Army, and he knew this was their only option - that option being to stay and take their chance.
But Rivka was now beginning to feel the terror percolating into her mind.
"Niko … Are we doing the right thing? Should we - "
"Now then, woman! Don't start getting in a panic. We'll be just fine if we keep our heads down and stay calm. We're safe enough down here from the bombing, and if we keep quiet and don't move about too much we have a good chance of making it." He took a deep breath, trying to reassure her and also trying to keep his own nerves under control. "Right. Let's get ourselves organised, shall we?"
Rivka helped him to sit up but she gave him a gentle hug before allowing him to take his bearings, needing that final, intimate contact to quell the fear in her heart. Nikolai eased himself around so that he could lean his back against the damp wall, and then he took stock of their situation.
By the dim light of the small lamp he could see a huge tunnel stretching into the darkness in both directions, an arched gallery of ancient bricks and mortar, the cement oozing lime between the deceptively slender bricks.
They were sitting on a ledge that ran along the edge of the tunnel, nearly two metres wide, which dropped into the inky darkness of the sewer proper. The place smelt fusty, but there was no odour that indicated they were in a sewer - the maze of tunnels was long abandoned, Nikolai guessed. Their voices echoed in the darkness, but not excessively - with care, they could at least converse unless danger was imminent. He then checked out the place Rivka had chosen for them to pass their time while they awaited Vassili's return - and found a problem.
"Rivka - does the ledge go much further along? We need to move our stuff - it's too close to the door here."
She frowned, puzzled.
"Why do we have to move?"
Nikolai grinned in the dark, big teeth flashing.
"Well, Rivka, if Fritz finds that doorway, what's the first thing he's going to do? Throw a grenade through it, that's what! If we move further along the ledge at least we may have more of a chance and not have to deal with a grenade or two landing in our laps, hey?"
And we'll just have to hope that even if the blast doesn't kill us or deafen us for good in this bloody echo chamber, that Rivka has somewhere to run to …
Rivka pondered Nikolai's question.
"The ledge seems fairly sturdy all the way down to the river. I checked it out yesterday while you were sleeping, and it comes out under a deep ledge in the gorge wall. If we need to, at least I can go and fetch water. It would need boiling, but it would be drinkable …"
She didn't add that the reason the water needed boiling was because of all the corpses floating in the eddies of the Tsaritsa river.
"Righto." Nikolai was cheerful. "Let's get to work, my lady Rivka, and shift all that stuff along the ledge. We could even move it around the curve in the wall so we wouldn't be noticed right away if those Nazi buggers find the door - "
His words were stopped by Rivka's mouth on his, her kiss deep and needful. Fingers caressed his cheekbones, and her eyes were closed in pleasure as he responded to her kiss, his hands gripping her hips through her heavy skirt and pulling her to him.
They were both out of breath when they finally broke apart.
Nikolai was gasping both with the passion of her kiss and the desire it aroused in him. "What was that for?"
She laughed softly and kissed him again, lightly, on the end of his nose.
"That was for … well, for just being you, Nikolai Koulikov. You are a clever, wonderful man and I …" she paused.
And I love you so much it hurts deep, deep inside. It hurts in a place in my heart, Nikolai … it hurts, and it is wonderful! I wish I could tell you so, my Niko. I wish I could tell you I love you forever and a day. But I can't. Because I can't put the burden of my love on you, my sweet. I can't let my love hurt you and make your life more difficult than it is already…
He was a soldier. If he survived over the next few days he would join his men once he was fit, and he would be gone - and she had no intentions of making him suffer too much in the leaving. She would gift him with her love freely, with no ties and no obligations. He would be warm and fed and cared for … he would be loved with both her body and her soul, and she would give him everything she could to make his time with her as free from pain and ugliness as possible.
And then she would let him go. She would let him leave with no regrets, and he would at least go with a full stomach, he would be rested and well, and his wounds healed. His body would take ease from the comfort of her arms, and his soul would be soothed by the loving of her heart. He would go into battle with the memory of all she could give him, and she gave it gladly.
Nikolai looked at her with wonder and a great deal of puzzlement. Her brown eyes were pools of velvet in the light of the lamp, and he saw amusement and something else he couldn't quite make out gleaming in their depths. He grinned. Only his Rivka could have the wits frightened out of her and still be laughing in the face of such terror. Women. Such strange, wondrous creatures indeed …
"Well if you can't tell me what's going on in that clever head of yours, my lady, then I suppose we'd better get on with shifting this lot."
For the next couple of hours they sorted and moved everything Rivka had managed to stack on the ledge and Nikolai was astounded at her thoroughness. She had canned goods purloined from bombed-out stores, and her own bottled pickles and conserves. Nikolai was delighted to notice a jar of peaches, preserved in syrup. Rivka saw his hungry stare and kissed him, promising the jar would be eaten when the Germans had been pushed back out of the city. They would lie in bed, she said, and she would feed him peaches until he was sated. Nikolai kissed her back, his hand straying to her breast - after the peaches, he murmured, he would love her until she was exhausted.
Parting reluctantly, the deep thuds of the bombing intensifying above, Nikolai and Rivka went back to work. Precious cans of paraffin were stacked against the wall and Rivka had gathered as many containers of clean water as she could. A small army paraffin field cooker was stowed neatly alongside a few pots and metal plates. Rations had been saved and Rivka had made soup that could be eaten hot or cold with easily-kept unleavened bread. Nikolai realised she had done without most of her own rations this past few days - he had been well cared-for and fed at her expense. What was left over had found its way here into her cache of supplies.
They lost all track of time in the shadowed world they would be inhabiting for the next few days at least as they worked, Rivka watching him carefully, making sure he didn't tire himself too much as he tried to push and shove their gear further along the ledge.
Finally Rivka unrolled Nikolai's old, lumpy mattress.
"Oh, Nikolai! I'm so sorry!" Her voice quivered in the dark.
"What?" He was puzzled. What on earth was she babbling about?
Rivka grasped his hand and squeezed as she apologised.
"I promised you that you would never have to sleep on this horrid old thing again, didn't I? Oh dear!"
Nikolai let a rumbling chuckle escape from his chest.
"Good god, woman, don't let on so!! It doesn't matter a jot!" he caught her in his arms and hugged her gently. "I have a warm, comfortable woman to snuggle up to at night, now don't I? Come on now, let's get the bed sorted out and then we can rest - I must admit I'm feeling a bit sore …"
Between them the bed was made, Rivka plumping the old pillows and spreading out blankets. They needed warmth in this dark, gloomy place, as there would be no brazier to ease the chill of frozen October nights.
When everything was done, she made Nikolai rest on the mattress and let his wounds settle down after the activity of the day. Handing him some bread and a little cold, cooked bacon she made him eat, watching him intently for signs of pain. He watched in return, and quietly nagged her to eat some food herself. She obliged him finally by nibbling on a little bread washed down by some water.
Nikolai finished his spartan meal and watched as Rivka swallowed the last mouthful of her bread, concerned she hadn't been eating properly.
"You've been doing without because of me, haven't you?"
His question caught her unawares, and she was flustered for a few moments. But she saw the worry in his blue eyes and nodded.
"But only so that we would have enough, Nikolai. Who knows how long we'll be down here - "
"Rivka." His voice stopped her from going further. "I don't want you to do that again, woman. Do you hear me?" She was about to object vehemently, but he continued. "Please, Rivka - humour me. If you have to run for it, I don't want you collapsing in a heap because of lack of food, all right?"
He saw Rivka's stubborn mien soften as she understood his concern for her, and she nodded. She would - just this once - do as she was told.
They sat in companionable silence for a few moments, and then Rivka remembered something.
"What were you supposed to tell me?"
Nikolai frowned.
"Tell you?"
Rivka nodded.
"Vassili said you were to tell me something. What was it?"
The big sniper blinked in surprise. He didn't think she had caught Vassili's parting comment as he pushed shut the door.
"Oh." Now he was flustered. What the hell was he supposed to say?
Rivka, I love you. All I ever wanted, all I ever wished for in a woman, I found in you. I think of you every waking moment, and you are the very air I breathe. All I want is to lie next to you and feel the beat of your heart next to mine …
Shit. He couldn't tell her that!! What the hell would she think he was doing, making a fool of himself like that?
"I, er … I was to tell you how to use a gun."
Rivka's eyebrows shot up.
"A gun? You want to teach me how to use a gun? Are you insane, Nikolai Koulikov? I've never used a gun in my life - "
"Well it's about time you learned then, isn't it?" Nikolai's voice was gruff in its reply.
"But - "
"No 'buts', Rivka. You'll learn, and you'll learn well, I'll make sure of that … because you may need to use it sometime over the next few days, and I don't want you blowing my arse off in the process."
She watched as he reached for his old kit bag, and rummaging about in the interior he brought out two automatic pistols, handing the smaller of the two to a nervous Rivka.
Nikolai watched her intently as she held the thing as though it had the plague. He could tell she was deeply unhappy about the whole business of handling a firearm.
"Rivka … come sit by me and I'll show you how to load and unload it, then I'll show you how to aim and fire it without killing both of us into the bargain." He patted the space on the mattress, and Rivka sat beside him, the automatic gripped uneasily in her hand. "Right … give it here and I'll show you how to load it."
Delving into his kit bag he brought out a magazine and showed her how to slide the clip into the butt of the gun and work the receiver to push a round into the chamber.
"See? Not so hard, is it?" He grinned at her in the flickering light, amused at the look of dismay on her face. "Now, this is the easier one of the two to handle - this is a Tokarev - a nice little gun, very reliable and you have an eight-shot clip in there. A lighter load than this old Luger," he indicated the other automatic, "and should do the trick if you let Fritz get close enough."
Rivka's eyes became round at the thought of shooting another human being, but Nikolai wouldn't let her think too much on the subject.
"Come on now - let's see you do it."
For an hour he put her through her paces, making her load and unload the weapon, and then showing her how to grip it so her hand wouldn't shake and spoil her aim. Then he told her how to kill a man. Don't aim for the head, he said. Aim for the body - don't get too fancy. A body shot would knock a soldier down and keep him down, and that was all that mattered. A head shot in this light would be difficult even for him, so she wasn't even to think about it.
Rivka fretted and sweated, oblivious now to the shaking thuds of the bombardment above, her concentration completely on the old Tokarev automatic.
Nikolai watched her struggle to master the weapon and smiled. Yes, she would do well. He sighed. Now came the difficult bit.
"Rivka …"
"Mmm-hmm?" She was now getting the hang of sliding the full clip of ammo into place.
"If Fritz manages to get through … there's something I want you to do for me."
She heard the grimness in his voice and slipped the safety onto the Tokarev, laying it down beside her.
"Yes, Nikolai?"
"Rivka …" He didn't know how he was going to phrase this … oh, what the hell. Out with it, man! "Rivka, if they get through, they'll go for me. I'm in uniform, and I'm a threat. Do you understand?" He saw her nod, fear beginning to break on the lean face. "If they break through … I'll hold them back as long as I can, but if I tell you to run, you do just that. You run, and you don't look back."
Rivka felt cold fear grip her heart.
"Oh no! No, Nikolai!!! No, I won't let you - "
"Rivka … RIVKA! Listen to me, woman!" Nikolai's voice was harsh with meaning. "Look at me - I'm an officer in the Russian army, and I'm wounded - I'm fair game, and they'll concentrate on me. I can't run, Rivka, you know that. If I go down … and they won't take me easily, you can bet on that … if I go down, you get out of here. You're a woman and not regarded as dangerous, so with luck they'll let you go. They'll be too occupied with me anyway - "
Rivka was shaking with horror. How could he think like this?? How could he possibly think sacrificing himself would make her life worth living?? Existing without him … no. She wouldn't do it.
"Niko! Please, Niko, don't do this!! I can't!! I couldn't leave you!"
"Rivka - "
Nikolai suddenly found himself with an armful of sobbing woman. She was distraught, her body shaking against his, her head buried in his shoulder. He couldn't stay distant from her, not when she was like this. His arms tightened around her and held her to him, his face burying itself in the wealth of her dark hair. He couldn't believe she was so upset at the idea of losing him.
"It's all right, Rivka … don't worry … it will be for the best, I promise. I want you to live, my Rivka … live for me …"
They held each other close, Rivka clinging to the broad, solid body of the big soldier, knowing now that she would never leave him. If the Germans broke through …if they hurt him, if he was wounded, then she would stay. She would not let him suffer for her sake - if there was no way out for either of them, she decided, she would die with him. And if she could, she would put a bullet in him and then one in herself. They would die together, because to live without him was unthinkable.
The decision made, her sobs quietened, then softened into deep, regular breathing as she fell asleep against his broad chest.
Nikolai sat still, cradling her in his arms, feeling the line of her body lying against his. He kissed her hair and lifted the blankets to cover them both in the darkness.
He smiled to himself, then spoke softly as the barrage continued overhead,
distant but continuous.
"Well, my lady. Here we are. I'll do my best to keep you from harm, Rivka.
I won't let them get you. I'll die before I'll let them touch a hair on your
head, I promise. And that young bugger Vassili was right, you know. I should
have told you. Never mind, though - I can tell you now." He took a deep
breath.
"I love you, Rivka Velonina. Body and soul."
He kissed her once more, as though to reassure
himself that she was there. Then, as the bombs fell and men died in the battle
overhead, he fell into a light but dreamless sleep.