⫷Between the war and my enemy⫸ (T-34)

Chapter 15: Negotiation

- In case I believed what you say, how would you explain to me that a German and a Russian are brothers being born in different places? -

- Well... Our parents met during a trip, my father was on a business trip in Berlin, he met my mother and took her to Russia (Nicolay stupid, stop talking please, you are going to get us killed) -

- Go on with your "story" -

- Well, years went by and first I was born, after a couple of months my mom came back to Germany and by that time she was already pregnant with Klaus, that explains why we grew up in different countries -

- Pfff... How absurd is your origin story -he told me with a mocking smile- In the hypothetical case that I believed your blatant lie, how was I planning to get the information out of the Nazi? -

- Didn't that sound convincing enough? And answering your question sir, I managed to establish a relationship of trust with him, Klaus trusts me completely and obeys when I tell him something, getting information out of him would be very easy.

I watched as he remained thoughtful and the room was flooded with silence, a suffocating silence, I'm sure he and Demyan are related. But my thoughts were interrupted by the thick voice of the opponent.

- Are you telling me that you are able to get all the necessary information out of him just by talking? -

His gaze rested on me, a cold and analytical look, but I swear I saw a bit of interest in my "skills" with Klaus.

- And yet you are also capable of making this Nazi do as you please -

-Yes, sir. I am capable of that -

- I will give you three days to get me all the information we will need for this war -he indicate- If you succeed, I will consider the German dead and you can leave this camp; you, your comrades, your girlfriend, the boy, and a German 'corpse' -

- If I don't get all the information in three days... What will they do to us? -

- The same as everyone else, of course -

- I see... And that you were getting information out of the prisoner, was that a lie? -

- Xa-xa! Did you hear that? The poor guy thinks I was lying to him -

Soon the room was again a riot of laughter and banging among the soldiers, I feared the worst, the mere thought of them taking him all badly wounded to where they have us locked up terrified me. I know Klaus, he wasn't going to talk no matter how much they beat him...

- Calm down kid, no one is going to kill him, but be glad to know that you will be able to be with your "brother", your other friends and your family -

It didn't take long for them to take me out of that room and return me to the one they had previously left me in, I stood there waiting, heard the door being opened and then saw my comrades enter with Anya, who jumped on top of me almost instantly.

- Oh Nikolay! You're all right, what a relief -she said as she hugged me, which I reciprocated- I thought they had done something terrible to you -she said-

- No sweetheart, I managed to come to an agreement with the general of this place but we need Klaus to accept or else this will be our last time together -

- Captain... What kind of agreement did you make? -

- Guys... We have three days to get as much information as possible about Hitler's plans or we'll all be killed -

- And you really agreed to this deal? Klaus won't say anything and you know that better than anyone! -

- Captain, you just condemned us... -

- What? No, of course not! Listen, I'm going to convince Klaus to tell everything, I swear -

- I do believe that daddy will talk... -

- Kid, open your eyes and stop fantasizing, that Nazi won't talk for the world -

- Demyan, don't be rude to the kid, he has no idea about anything -

- Just because I'm a kid doesn't mean I doesn't know anything -

- Child shut up, this is none of your business, go play with that stick over there and let the grown-ups talk -

- Guys, please stop fighting -

I watched as Anya tried to separate Volchok and the boy, Ionov was also present in the fight but he didn't say much. While they were arguing I was wondering what I was going to do, they are right, Klaus would never release that kind of information so easily even if his life depended on it. I kept gnawing at my mind until I felt a hand on my shoulder, that broke my concentration and I looked at the owner of that hand, it was Stepan who was looking at me smiling in an attempt to calm me down, I think.

- Ivushkin, don't carry all this responsibility alone, let's find a way to get Jäger to talk, and don't give importance to what Volchok and Ionov say, you know how they are-

- Stepan... Thank you very much for understanding -

- Wakala, romantic scene, how disgusting -

- Oh please! / How childish! -

- Kiss each other already, right? -

- I've got a girlfriend, asshole, and she's after you -

- Ouh... That's right...-

- Demyan, could you repeat what you said before? Only if it's not too much trouble -

Stepan and I started laughing as we watched Demyan and Anya behave, Anya with her reactions reminds me of a kitten; she's tiny, cute and cuddly but when they get angry they want to look fierce, which is the opposite. Demyan on the other hand seems more like a stray cat to me, he is aggressive and surly but after a couple of cans of tuna he loves you. Why am I comparing everyone to cats? I couldn't answer that question as I saw the door being opened and then Klaus' unconscious body fall inside, that alarmed me quite a bit.

- Oh Mein Gott... -