Berlin blood

Germany 1945. Bomb explosions can be heard from everywhere. Berlin is burning and choking in the blood of its own people. A man of about thirty, Gunter Richter, flies into the bunker where the general is located. He is an excellent pilot and has the title now, but now he feels like the most useless person in the world. He sees his country fall to the enemy and continues to do so, and from this situation he is overwhelmed with every negative emotion that one can imagine. After all, he dreamed of celebrating his thirty-first birthday with the sun, since during the war years he had no one closer to him than himself, but now he understood that he would be forced to meet him in an embrace with bombs and the corpses of his own comrades. The bunker was now the only place where one could hide and take a breather. Although it was dark inside and sometimes cold, Gunther felt safe in the concrete house. He was faced with the task of conveying the report and calming his own nervous system. Although it sounded funny, because now the word calm, like prudence, is not heard in speeches. Their Fuhrer, their commander-in-chief seemed to have gone crazy and led his army to destruction, setting before it completely unrealistic goals and completely unrealizable plans and dreams. Realizing his defeat, which forced him to back down, the Fuhrer closed his eyes to reality, did not want to admit what many had long ago recognized, and tried to raise morale in all different ways. And even the fact that everyone except him understood what was happening did not bother him at all. He immediately stopped all attempts to reason with him and sent every infidel to hell. He didn’t want to hear the words “losses”, “lost”, “retreat”. He scolded his assistants and scolded them, saying that they were all cowards who could not stand up for the country in which they were born. But is it? Many did not agree with him. No person in his right mind would commit his own suicide, even for the sake of the country that raised him. There were only madmen left, ready to grab a weapon and go to war, but there were very few of them left. Blinded by his ego, obsessed with the thought of victory, the Fuhrer did not understand the thoughts of those who wanted to surrender, and ordered such people to be shot immediately. And since the German army suffered significant losses, the Fuhrer found another way to replenish the troops. He decided that children were quite capable fighters. Children… Creatures whose souls are pure and naive in this dirty world, creatures who are still just figuring out everything that happens to them, creatures who are capable of throwing themselves into battle with all their love, be it real or toy, creatures burning with love for this the world and the universe. And Gunther especially felt sorry for these children. School graduates, teenagers who did not understand the deplorable situation and all the darkness that hung over them, went into battle under the order, although they really thought that they would be able to resist. But the Fuhrer didn’t care who he sent, like cannon fodder. Thinking about the innocent souls of children, Gunther pushes through the crowd gathered at the door behind which generals and dignitaries were holding urgent meetings, and looks for the familiar face of the Field Marshal. As soon as his eyes see the arrogant look, Gunther comes closer to the man he knows and hands him a covered piece of paper with the information that he managed to collect and which the scouts gave him. “Field Marshal General,” the title bounced off Gunther’s teeth, “that’s all we managed to gather about the number of the enemy.” “Oh, Gunther,” the Field Marshal grinned in response, “I thought you wouldn’t come.” The meeting will start any minute. I hope for the Fuhrer’s prudence. — Perhaps he will come to his senses and leave people alive, how long can you get lost in delusions? — That’s not how you’re asking the question, Gunther. — Smile again. “We need to ask this: how long can you remain in illusions?” We have all moved away from these hypnosis and speeches. And what we got,” the general looked around the bunker, “we returned to where we started.” Gunther sighed and replied: — I hope the meeting goes well. “We all hope so,” muttered the general, peering at the piece of paper, “but let’s face the truth.” I’m sure everything will be as usual. He will say that we are a bunch of idiots, who are also ill-mannered and do not know how to build tactics, then he will express a crazy idea that will make all of us skip a beat, and God forbid that our hearts will not stop, and in the end he will definitely sentence someone… or to be shot. “The general was silent for a second. — Wait for me and further instructions. — Fine. — Having said this, Gunther remained with the other people who were always near the doors during meetings. Among them were crowded the Fuhrer’s secretaries, personal assistant, there was even his mistress, who preferred to call herself his beloved, servants and adjutants of the generals, their assistants. During the minutes of the meetings, everything in the bunker stopped and stopped working. Everyone who was inside stopped what they were doing and stood at the door, listening to screams, shouts and curses. And those were the rules. It has become an integral part of life here. And today’s meeting was no exception. The whole people gathered to listen to the Fuhrer’s voice. Five minutes later, after the Field Marshal had disappeared through the door, Gunther saw the Fuhrer going to the meeting. The commander-in-chief’s gaze was lowered to the floor, and he himself hunched over, as if he wanted to disappear. Richter noticed that the man’s hands were shaking, and he was left to wonder why they were shaking. Perhaps from general tension or from helplessness, or impotence, which he wanted to hide with all his appearance, but which everyone already knew about. Gunther thought about why the Fuhrer, knowing that all his tactics are complete illusions, does not want to believe in reality; why does he follow his own desires and drag everyone else into the pool of blood. After all, no one believes that they will win. Everyone wants to live, and this desire makes them retreat from orders, throw down their weapons and run away. And Gunther was the same, wanting to live, and did not feel like a traitor or a coward. During the years of the war, he realized that mere mortals did not need it at all, that both his comrades and the enemy’s comrades were just pawns. And in order to distract himself from such negative thoughts, Gunther began to look at the faces of the gathered people. He boredly jumped from one face to another until his gaze came across an interesting and beautiful young Frau, who looked no more than twenty-five years old. She was certainly beautiful. Her delicate facial features beckoned to her, her plump lips smiled, her light eyes the color of a clear sky radiated the calm that Richter was looking for, and her light brown hair, carelessly falling out of her hairstyle, added mischief to her image. Gunther shamelessly looked further, noting that the girl’s arms were very thin and thin. And she herself was fragile and sophisticated. Frau stood out among the other servants in the bunker, and Richter looked at her, unable to look away. As if noticing that someone was looking at her, the girl caught his gaze. For a split second their eyes met, and Richter saw in this firmament the pure and boundless freedom of his soul. It seemed to him that all the stars, the entire Universe were reflected in the blue of these girl’s eyes, and all this was so closely intertwined with each other that it seemed that everything around had become one, like human life itself. The noise faded, and the Fuhrer’s screams remained behind his consciousness. Thanks to these eyes, he moved to an unusually calm place; he was enveloped in lightness and weightlessness. He felt the same calmness that he had never felt before, and greedily, incessantly peered into the girl’s face. She did the same, and Gunther realized that he was behaving incorrectly. He tried to force himself to look away, tried not to look so arrogant and unceremonious, but he couldn’t. It seemed to him that they were left in some wonderful place, embraced by true boundless love for the Universe that united people and ruled over them. But all this illusion disappeared as soon as the door slammed loudly. Gunther blinked, and this sharp sound brought him back to reality. He shuddered and realized that the meeting was over, which meant that the Fuhrer had already announced his new crazy ideas. The commanders came out of the room, discussing the meeting, and Gunther noticed how their legs accelerated with each step, as if they wanted to quickly escape from this place, as if they wanted to throw off the burden of responsibility. Everyone dispersed, and the girl disappeared from Richter’s field of vision, which greatly upset the man. But he could not rush to search for her; first, he needed to find the field marshal and find out the outcome of the meeting. The general was found almost immediately. Gunther quickly approached him and noted to himself that his comrade’s face was too gloomy. — What is the result? — Gunther knew everything in advance, but asked to clarify minor details. “Stay here, I’ll go and give the order, you don’t need to participate in this.” “The field marshal answered him in a commanding tone. — But… “No buts,” the general interrupted Gunther rudely, “I have lost a lot of good people, so I ask you to stay here.” I need you alive, my chances are less. — The man patted Gunther on the shoulder and left, throwing his overcoat over his shoulders. And Gunther looked after him, not knowing what could be done and whether there was any point in doing anything? He looked back at the deserted corridor, where until recently there were crowds of people, and stepped aside, thinking about everything that had happened. Closing his eyes, he suddenly thought that he would like to return again to that wonderful place he visited, looking at the beautiful girl, to catch that love and life. On your lips. But he also faced the truth. No, it’s all in vain. He is a lonely pilot, with a cold soul and so indebted to death. She looked at him from all angles, and it seemed to him that her tentacles were about to reach him. He wanted to run, run as far as possible, but he understood that there was nowhere to run, that he was trapped, trapped. Any day now, Berlin will raise the white flag, and then what will await him, Lieutenant Colonel Gunther Richter? Captivity, accusation and death. No matter how you look at it, it will still come. So is there any point in sitting here in the bunker? Nobody needs him: neither the Fuhrer, nor his fallen country. No family, no children, no cat and dog. He’s alone. And it has always been like this. Perhaps he needs to die. Perhaps death will be his salvation. He’s not a saint. And I never believed in God. Suicide is not a sin, you just need to decide. Yes, today, right now, he will shoot himself, but not here. There will be no one to wipe his blood off the floor, and why would the Fuhrer watch such a pitiful sight? Gunther left the bunker just at the moment when the explosions and roar died down, stopped about five meters from the bunker, turned towards a dilapidated building, leaned against the wall and was about to take a pistol, when he suddenly saw her, the same girl who gave him peace of mind during few seconds. She stood with exactly the same intention as his, only instead of a pistol, she chose a different method: she decided to get under the bombing. Gunther opened his mouth and began to breathe rapidly. “No, I can’t let such a sweet girl die due to her own stupidity,” his thoughts and body reacted quickly, and he ran up to the girl, grabbed her by the shoulders and led her towards another building, hiding her from the open space. Both were breathing heavily, and the girl looked at Gunther with incomprehension, and he looked at her, and all he thought about was that up close her eyes seemed even more beautiful, and he again fell into the Universe with her endless love.