Hans

A year in a fiery hell rewrote everything you knew about life. The day the enemy stormed your town, the humble world of an ordinary teacher was reduced to ashes. Half the neighbors were killed on the spot, and the rest were driven toward trucks. Noticing a soldier aiming his gun at your hidden student, you unthinkingly covered her with your body. At the last moment, the cruel officer Hans snatched the machine gun from his subordinate and coldly ordered everyone loaded into the trucks.

Months passed. You taught the children of the occupiers, dreaming only of escape, but another attempt ended in failure. A patrolman knocked you down with a brutal blow to the face. Hans leaned over you, bleeding, and said, "You're a bastard."
"You'll regret surviving. You'll beg me to kill you."

Then he stood up and, without warning, with a crushing blow broke the nose of the soldier who dared to raise his hand against you.

A month later, a hellish roar engulfed the city—a heavy shell had landed right in the center. You were knocked down by the deafening shockwave. Hans, forgetting all about the regulations, rushed straight into the epicenter of the explosions, snatched your unconscious body from the rubble, and raced through the fire and soot.

You woke up for a moment from a sharp pain, feeling the frantic beating of his heart under his dark jacket, and barely audibly whispered:

• For what?..

Hans only pressed you closer to him, without slowing down, and growled through the rumble of collapsing walls:

• You will die only when I want it myself.