Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.”

-Douglas MacArthur

…….

In an unending darkness, only the creaking of metal and moans of pain could be heard. Voices broke the eerie silence, as their owners slowly regained consciousness.

“Head….hurts.”

“Can’t see a damn thing.”

“Va….Vasily….he’s…”

“Anybody got a light?”

The rustling of clothing could be heard, followed by the sound of something being bashed against metal.

*Thunk**Thunk*

“Com’n you piece of shit.”

*Thunk* *Thunk*

“Work, Damn it!”

Something collided with metal as it was thrown across the enclosed space ricocheting into the head of one of the voices and landing into his lap.

“Zhukov you bastard!”

“That’s lieutenant Zhukov to you Sergei”

“I don’t plan on calling any dumbass who can’t operate a flashlight a lieutenant.”

“Alright then smartass, you get the damn thing working.”

“Uh, not to interrupt, but Vasily is bleeding to death over here.”

“Goddamn it Vasily, as your commanding officer I order you to stop bleeding!”

*Moans of pain*

“Atta boy.”

Ignoring the painful moans from Vasily, Sergei began to tinker with the rectangular flashlight. Moving the switch into the on position did nothing so he opened the case and realised it was dark and he still couldn’t see anything. After closing it and trying to work the switch he gave up and began to curse.

“Why won’t this damn thing work?”

*Thunk* *Thunk *

A yellow light enveloped the inside of the steel behemoth. Zhukov looked over the status of his crew, noticing that aside from the chunk of metal lodged in Vasily torso, Igor’s profusely bleeding head, and a small swollen lump on Sergei’s head the crew was fine.

“Glad to see you all still look ugly as shit”

Remembering his dying crew member, Zhukov reached down near Igor, opening up the first aid kit and frowning.

“Whose idea was it to replace most of the medical supplies with vodka?”

“Vasily.” unanimously came from the crew, except for Vasily who responded only with a moan of pain.

Zhukov laughed maniacally as he took two bundles of gauze and a bottle of vodka from the kit.

“Well he’ll be wishing he didn’t in a few moments.”

Zhukov passed the supplies to Igor and, after taking a bundle of gauze for himself ,passed the remaining supplies to Yakov. Yakov looked at the bottle of vodka in his hands and then at Zhukov.

“What am I supposed to do with this?”

“Pour in his wound after you rip the chunk of metal out.”

“And that’s supposed to help?”

“Maybe…”

Yakov shrugged and ripped the chunk of metal out of Vasily’s side: ignoring the screams of pain, he reported back that the chunk of metal was a piece of the armor plating. He then uncorked the bottle and spilled most of the contents into the bleeding hole. The bloodcurdling screams were once again ignored as the wound was bandaged. Yakov looked back up at the lieutenant whose bearded face was plastered with a smile. After the screams died down a ferocious roar echoed outside of the steel enclosure.

“The Krauts fielding warbeasts?”

The thought slipped out of Igor’s mouth leaving the rest of the crew looking at him with expressions of shock. Igor worriedly looked around with confusion until he too realized.

“Wait…we were…”

Zhukov sprung up hitting his head on the metal hatch above him. Throwing out a few curses he threw the hatch open and peered out. Only darkness greeted him.

“Sergei the flashlight!”

Sergei quickly passed the flashlight to him. Resuming his examination of the area Zhukov returned outside expelling the darkness with the light. The flashlight revealed only rocky walls and more darkness. They were in a cave.

“Fuck…Fuck….Fuck!”

Zhukov’s cursings that echoed throughout the cave were responded with another ferocious roar and small tremors that slow got louder and louder. The flashlight was quickly repositioned in the direction of the roar. However the light died out.

“This cursed thing!”

“Whats happening outside?”

“The fu…ck happened to….my side?”

“Vasily is back!”

Zhukov began smacking the flashlight onto the hatch in an effort to get it working. After a few whacks the light came back on and he pointed it back in the direction of the growls. The light revealed a mass of fur storming towards him. With wide eyes he quickly retreated back inside and slammed the hatch back down.

“There’s a goddamn bear!”

“In the middle of a battlefield?” one of the crew questioned.

“Not quite!”

The confusion of the crew was short lived as the beast outside began smashing on their hiding spot.

“Shit!”

“Vasily get this thing moving!”

“The fuck is going on?” Vasily asked while clinging to the bloodied bandage around his torso.

“Drive you bastard!”

Vasily pushed in the clutch and brake and began feeling for the the gears. Curiously, it seemed the tank had been stalled in the highest gear. After forcing it back into neutral, he checked to see if the handbrake and pump were in working order. Then, starting the ignition sent the vehicle roaring to life. The interior lights came back, on basking the crew with light. Vasily grinned, blood dripping from his mouth, and used the horn, which nearly deafened the crew as using the horn in an enclosed space was a terrible idea. In anger, the bear outside began to attack more viciously. The vehicle shook a bit, sending the bottle of vodka Yakov had, rolling over to Vasily, who happily grabbed it and downed the remains.

Zhukov looked out of the commander’s view port and, upon seeing the massive bear that seemed to slightly tower over the vehicle, ordered Vasily to drive. Complying, Vasily sent the vehicle flying into the beast. Sadly, it was too massive to simply run over and their actions seemed to merely anger the beast further, more securely attaching itself to the front of the vehicle.

“Oi Zhukov..*hic*…I bet this here bear..*hic*… still can’t compare to da size o’ yer ego.”

Vasily drunkenly amused by his owned joke, chuckling as he shifted gears. With the engine providing more power, the beast slowly lost ground as it was pushed. After a few moments and another gear change white light could be seen glowing around the bear.

“Oh lordy…*hic*…he’s a holy bear…*hic*…I ain’t ever…*hic*…seen such a beautiful sight.”

Tears streamed down Vasily’s reddened face as he faced the sight before him.

“Vasily you damnedest fool, that thing isn’t holy, the cave’s exit is up ahead! Igor load er up! Sergei aim for it’s ugly mug!”

The crew did as ordered, but after seeing that outside the cave was just a seemingly endless field of snow spotted with decaying trees, he ordered Vasily to stop just as they were about the exit the cave. The vehicle screeched to a halt as the handbrake was pulled sending the bear rolling off into the snow outside, where it rose up to stand on its hind legs. The beast dwarfed the vehicle in its shadow and began to roar, sending slobber flying.

“Fire!”

With a deafening roar and a flash of light, the bear’s head exploded into gore. Zhukov shortly emerged from the commander’s hatch and, after confirming the beast was dead, began to survey the snowy wasteland that laid outside the cave him.

“We sure as hell aren’t in Kursk anymore.”