I wake up in a dry fountain to the noise of thunder. The only problem was that it wasn't the sound of thunder I heard, it was the sound of hundreds of Nazi bombers swarming above the once beautiful city of Stalingrad. It was August 24, 1942 and it was overcast. Even if it was a bright gleaming day, you could not possibly tell. The smoke in the sky was so thick, it was almost like it was midnight.

I almost forgot about what was happening. As I look around, I see faces. They were the faces of fierce men who fought for their home land. I look deep into ones eye, but I see nothing within the cold dead eyes of my fallen comrade. At least five dozen bodies line the fountain with the same expression of death and decay.

As I continue to gather my senses, a low rumble comes from behind. Suddenly two German Panzer III tanks roll down the road behind me with about twenty Nazi soldiers behind. Before long, they are out of earshot.

I start thinking, what should I do? I have no weapons, no food, and no allies. Where should I go? If I try to leave, certainly a small group of Nazis rounding up survivors would kill me, or maybe I will be killed by a bomb exploding. Either way I was dead.

But then, to my left, I see someone move. My first though was that it was the end. But I notice then that it's actually my good friend Dmitry. He and I were childhood friends and joined the Soviet Army. Then the Nazis sucked the Soviet Union into this damned war. We were posted here to defend Stalingrad. I don't remember too much after a bomb hit the adjacent building. 

He signals for me to come his way. Slowly craw just to make sure no one saw me moving. I reach him and the roar of more planes coming over the horizon then followed by the sound of explosions all around rattle the nearby hollow shells that were once buildings.

He whispers into my ear, "We have taken enough casualties my friend." He looks up at the almost invisible bombers flying above us. He slowly pulls out a Mosin M1891/30 sniper rifle out of nowhere, with a second one on his back. Carefully he hands me thirteen rounds, being careful not to drop one. "This is all I have to give you. I have thirteen as well. Whatever you do, make sure your shots count!"

"You mean we're getting out of this hell," I exclaim. It was a stupid question because I knew his answer. 

"At least we will die trying", he replies. With minimal movement, we crawl over to a crack in the side of the fountain. Off in the distance, four blurry figures move slightly. He looks at me and whispers, "You take the two out on the left and I got the guys on the right. Shoot when the planes come and cover up the sound of our shot. We shouldn't have to worry about glare either. We should take them out and leave before more come back around." 

I scope in on the two on the left. Now looking through the scope, I could clearly see the Nazi insignia on their uniforms with MP40s in their hands. They're standing in a two by two group. I hover over the head of the guy in the back. As some more bombers fly over, I take a shot, and he drops dead. I pull back the bolt and hand load another bullet carefully into the chamber. I scope in on the other guy. I take another shot, and he dies, then drops into his friend's pool of blood.

"Good shooting comrade, now let's head for that building a take some cover", Dmitry says as he picks himself up, takes a glance at the rooftops, and makes a break for a building adjacent to the fountain that we were in. I follow close behind. When he reaches the door, there is no hesitation when he breaks the door in, then with swiftness, he knocks me to the floor, then wildly he jumps behind a table. Then I hear a bullet ricocheted of the wall behind him. I turn to him but before I can say anything, he looks at me and points to the building across the road.

He sits, and catches his breath before turning and saying to me, "There's a sniper on the fifth floor of the building and he has spotted us. Look for the flash of his muzzle when he shots at me!" I take aim at the window were I last saw him. Soon a flash of a muzzle appears in the window and as his bullet cracks past my ear and into the wall behind me I take a shot at him. I watch down the scope as my bullet disappears into the sky. Then I see him drop town. I couldn't tell if he was dead or not. I shoot a glance at Dmitry and he was opening another door that lead into a room next to us. Without words, I check back over my should to make sure the sniper wasn't there, then with hast, I ran past Dmitry into the other room. He carefully closes the door behind him. After looking around awhile, I concluded that we were in a bar. A counter with shelves behind it.

"Once a place where we gathered to celebrate, now, empty and deserted. Damn this war! It ruined too many people's lives," he shouts looking at me. There was a new flare in his eye, one I have never seen before. 

Then of in the distance down the road there is the sound of Germans speaking. 

"Quick, get out of the windows and stay down", Dmitry whispers to me as we move toward the window facing the road. He stands behind a tall grand father clock and I hind under the window. The Nazis are standing right outside the window when the sound of a German Shepherd's paws slam into the window, followed closely by the sound of insane barking. The sound of Germans yelling starts.

I had only seconds to realize what they were doing, as the sound of gas igniting is audible. Flames burst out of the flamethrower and into the building we were in. It was only a matter of time before we were burned to death or they captured us, and killed us.

Above all the noise, Dmitry turns to me and yells, "Stay down to avoid the smoke. See if we can't make it to the stairs!" I look up and through the flames and smoke I can see the bottom of a staircase sticking out. We start crawling on the ground as flames still poured from the flamethrower into the building. I stayed below the window as I move toward the stairs. Dmitry reaches them before me and starts running up the stairs. I follow up right behind him. We reach the top of the flight, when part of the building behind collapsed in a burning wreck. The only way out was a lone window at the end of a hall. 

Not a moment was wasted as we both made a mad dash towards our perilous destination. Who knew what was on the other side. Obviously death, but what or who? Or would we be burnt to death in here? All these thoughts raced through my head as the world around me came crashing down. Dmitry whips out his gun and shoots out the window. As we dive out, the rumble of flames engulf the window we jumped out of. 

We both slammed into the ground of an alleyway. Something snaps in my left arm and pain follows close behind. It was as if someone jammed a knife into my elbow and was continuously turning and ripping out the flesh. 

But at this point it didn't matter. As I look up from my arm, I see about ten Nazi troops standing about ten feet away, two of them brandished a flamethrower. Their guns aimed at our heads. This was it. Dmitry and I, we tried, and got only a block down the road from where we started. There was no point in even believing that there was any possible way out of this, unless...

The sound of gun fire fills the dead air, but not from the Germans. It came from the right down the alley. The Germans drop their guns, and hit the ground. Eleven other Soviet men run over to us.

"We got two injured. Let's take them to the evacuation point," one of the men said. "Can you shoot straight?"

"Damn straight we can," I reply as another man helps me up. I pick up a gun from one of the dead Nazis, but instantly the pain within elbow returns, forcing me to drop the gun and scream in pain.

"Here," said the soldier that helped me up. He hands me his pistol from his belt.

"Alright," said the commander. "The evacuation point is just a few blocks down the road. I don't expect to engage in any combat, but if necessary, we all have guns." We all start running up the road.

After what seemed like ages, we reach the evacuation point. Injured were laying down wherever they could, medical personnel rushing in between. A big covered truck was waiting for us just past all the injured. We all climb onboard and sit down. The truck was loaded with people who were able to fight. I sit at the end of the truck with my legs hanging of the edge.

"She's ready to go," a voice says off to the side. The truck engine ignites and it slowly roles forward. 

I turn to Dmitry and ask, "Where are we going?"

"I don't know", he replies after three minutes.

I turn back to look at Stalingrad as we head east away into the country side. The city lied in ruins. Smoke bellowed into the sky and made it as dark as night. Then off in the distance, the sound of thunder rolls again as the horizon becomes filled with explosions, and even more of the city disappears.

"They will pay," Dmitry says as he watches the same horror. "Each and every single one of them will regret this day."