After four hours of driving straight through plains and great views of nothingness, Vlad woke up right in time to notice that the truck’s fuel tank was approaching empty.
“Trucks need gas to run you know,” Vlad said, yawning and stretching out his huge muscular arms. Joseph startled at the sound of his voice. He looked down at the gauge he had been paying zero attention to and slowed the truck to a stop. They were near a large forest and the sun was still shining. Vlad jumped out of the truck and ran for the woods yelling, “I have to go piss!”
Joseph opened his door, stepped out and also gave a big stretch. He walked around the back of the truck to look for the gas can and found it buried under two German soldier uniforms. He didn’t know what they were doing back there so he left them and started to fill the truck up. Vlad had finished his business and was heading back for the truck.
“Hey Vlad, what are two German uniforms doing in the back?”
“Did you think we were going to be able to walk right into Berlin? You moron.”
“Oh my mistake! I forgot we don’t have blue eyes and fucking blonde hair.”
“Hey man, when we get there and I’m in a uniform and I get into Berlin just fine and you get six thousand rounds shot into you…”
“Get back in the truck and shut your mouth.”
“Wait—so are we going to wear the uniforms when we get there or not?” Vlad asked, looking blankly at Joseph from the other side of the truck.
Joseph stood there speechless for a few moments and whispered, “Yeah.”
“Fuck yeah we are.”
They got back in the truck and continued their journey. For the next few hours they drove and talked about older missions they had completed together, reminiscing about the past. Vlad was worried he was going to lose his friend so he tried to savor the short time he had left with him. But all Joseph could think about was Maria. Together in the truck they drove until nightfall. Once darkness fell over the land, Joseph pulled off the road into a small clearing in the woods and parked the truck. There was no better place nearby to sleep so they had to settle for this spot. Vladimir saw this as a perfect time to tell a story of his own.
“Hey Joseph, you want to know how I got this scar?” Vlad said as he pulled up his sleeve to reveal a large scar on his forearm.
“No,” Joseph said as he shut off the truck.
“Well fuck you too. And I prefer the old torn up house—that way I wouldn’t have to look at you,” Vlad managed to mumble out. He removed his Soviet uniform shirt. Wearing only a white undershirt and pants, he no longer looked like a soldier, but more like a farmer.
“Yeah that would be nice, but shit happens I guess.” Joseph opened his door, grabbed his bag and pulled out some bread and a canteen of water. Vladimir saw Joseph starting to eat and said, “Oh shit.”
“What’s wrong with you?” Joseph asked mid bite of his loaf of bread.
“I already ate all the food I packed.”
“You’re an idiot.”
“Shut up and give me some of your bread.”
“No way, man. I brought enough food for me to get there and back. You’re a big kid now, you should have packed enough for yourself.”
“Whatever, I’ll go find my own food.”
“In the middle of nowhere? Good luck man,” Joseph said, smiling. He continued to enjoy his food while he watched Vlad wander off into the woods.
“If you’re not here by the morning I’m leaving without you,” he called out.
“Hey buddy?” Vlad yelled back at Joseph. Before Joseph could reply, he yelled, “Fuck off.”
Joseph laughed it off and lay in the truck eating and planning the next and final day of travel.
Vladimir spent the next half hour wandering through the woods. He stumbled across all kinds of berry bushes but was too scared to try any of them. At another point of his search he saw a young deer in the distance eating something on the ground. Vlad thought to himself that he was a stealthy man and could catch this deer and bring him back to Joseph to show off.
Vlad pulled out Sasha and took one small step towards the deer. His step landed him right on a large tree branch that cracked like a gunshot. The deer immediately took off into the night. Vlad stood there feeling like an idiot; he had only taken one step towards his prey before he scared it off.
He put Sasha back in his pocket and continued to wander around the forest in search of food, thinking that perhaps this time he should use his firearm. The more he aimlessly walked around the more he thought to himself there was no way he could find any food in the wild like this. That was, of course, until he finally saw a light several yards away.
It was a shot in the dark, but he began to jog towards it. He was about 200 yards away when he saw it was the light from a small cottage. Once outside the sheltered dwelling, he crept around the side to a window and peaked his head through to see an elderly German couple in their living room reading in the light of their fireplace.
Vlad wondered to himself if he’d have to kill this poor old couple just for a meal. He figured he wouldn’t have to because they were no threat to him, and proceeded to walk to the front door. He stood there for a moment before lifting his large hand to knock on the door.
“What the fuck am I doing knocking on some old couple’s door at midnight?” Vladimir mumbled to himself. Surprisingly, the door opened revealing an elderly man in his reading glasses and overalls. They both stood there, eyes locked for a several seconds until the ancient man’s wife stepped from behind him and broke the stalemate with a welcoming smile.
“Good evening.” Vlad said in Russian, his hat in his hand. He gave a little grin back, wondering how seeing a huge Russian in the middle of the night at her door could put such a smile on her face. The elderly German woman made a friendly gesture for him to come in as the old man opened the door for Vlad.
Vlad took a step into the house, surprised that these Germans had let him into their home. As Vlad towering over the both of them, he remembered he was no longer in uniform and that’s probably why they’d willingly opened up their home to him.
The elderly couple did not speak as they walked him into the living room and offered him a seat. Vlad figured their silence was due to the language barrier between them, though they’d seemed to know what his initial comment meant. Or more likely it was his demeanor.
Vlad humbly declined and instead gestured with his hand on his stomach that he was hungry. The elderly woman shook her head and walked towards the kitchen. After his wife left the room, the old man motioned for Vlad to follow him over to the fireplace.
There, the old man slowly leaned down and opened a drawer to a table. From the drawer he pulled out a small black box. Vlad looked at the small box in the old man’s hands for a minute, puzzled as to what was going on. A tear in his eye, the old man finally opened it. As the box opened a necklace and a small pile of pictures fell out into his hands.
The old woman returned to Vlad and her husband with a bag full of bread, fruit, and pork. Vlad nodded to the old lady with a smile, but was very intrigued as to what the old man held in his hands. The man was able to convey to Vlad that the necklace had been their son’s good luck charm through his entire childhood as he showed a series of pictures from the fireplace mantle that showed the boy wearing it at various ages. Vlad still didn’t know exactly what the man meant until he drew a four leafed clover on the dirt floor. He’d worn the charm, for 22 years until he was drafted into the war a year ago. He took the necklace off and left it with his parents as he went off to fight for his country. He never returned to them, having died in battle.