Some time after I fell asleep, I started having another dream about that shadowy figure.
It was bad enough dreaming about that thing, but when I was unable to wake up from it, that made it even worse.
Luckily, I woke up before it became a huge problem.
When I came to, I found myself in a dimly-lit room, tied to a chair.
There was a guard and an officer in the room with me.
As I was waking up, I heard them talking:
"…look at him! He shouldn't even be alive right now!"
"Patience, efreitor, all of our questions will be answered when he wakes up! Ah, I think he's waking up now!"
When I woke up, I felt pretty funny.
That's when I realized that I wasn't wearing my armor anymore.
Damn, they must've removed it when I was still asleep!
Even worse, they knew what I looked like now!
That aside, after I woke up, the officer started talking to me:
"So, you've survived the destruction of your vehicle, huh? Impressive feat for you, tanker, but that's where it ends! Now, you're going to tell us what we want to know!"
The guard spoke to me next:
"You remember me? I remember you, man!"
"Efreitor Galushko, you know this man?" reacted the officer.
"How could I forget him? I still remember that day he engaged us at Malinovka! His tank was like a steel wall! We couldn't stop him! I saw many of my comrades die right before my own eyes because of this bastard! I was one of the lucky ones who got away, but as I was leaving, I saw two of our tanks crushed beneath his treads! Don't you understand, lieutenant, that this man is a monster!? Don't you get it?! He'll get us next! He's going to…"
"All right, take it easy, efreitor! We understand how dangerous he is, but look, he's tied up! He can't possibly do any more harm to us! Rest assured, we will get everything we want to know from him and then he shall be taken care of properly! Is that clear?"
"Yes sir."
The lieutenant then turned to me:
"Now then, your armored suit certainly was impressive, but it didn't look blast-proof. So, how then did you manage to survive the destruction of your tank?"
"I'll never tell!" I replied.
BOOF!
The efreitor gave me a swift punch in the face.
It really hurt, but I don't think he broke anything.
"Let me ask you again," said the lieutenant, "how did you survive the destruction of your tank?"
"I said, I won't tell you!"
BOOF!
Another punch to the face!
This one hurt worse than the previous one.
"How did you survive the destruction of your tank!?" said the lieutenant. "Answer me, now!"
"Look, I already told you, I refuse to answer the damn question! Hell, I don't even know how I survived!"
The efreitor had another punch lined up for me, but the lieutenant grabbed his arm and stopped him.
"OK, that won't be necessary, efreitor! It's obvious that he won't answer this question, so there's no use in trying!"
"But lieutenant, this man is bluffing! I'm sure of it!"
"He could be, Galushko. However, let's save this question for later and maybe he'll be more compliant!"
"Yes, sir."
"OK, let's try a simpler question," said the lieutenant. "What is your name?"
"I don't have one!" I told him.
BOOF!
Rather than going for my face, the efreitor had delivered a blow to my stomach.
It was a good thing I hadn't eaten anything for a few hours, otherwise I would've vomited it all over my captors!
Eh, better than all over myself, I guess.
Still, the pain felt like it was gonna be with me for a while.
"I don't want to ask you again, but I will keep asking until I get what I want!" said the lieutenant, "Now, what is your name…no, wait! Don't answer that one!"
The lieutenant paused for a moment, then continued:
"Now that I think of it, some of our troops reported seeing a name painted on your tank. If I'm correct, it was…Goliath? So, is that your name, prisoner?"
"No, that's just my tank's name," I replied. "I told you, I myself don't have a name!"
BOOF!
Another punch to the nose!
This one hurt so much that I think the efreitor broke it.
It was probably nothing compared to what I could potentially be facing, though.
"Look, prisoner, I am tired of your stubbornness!" said the lieutenant. "If you don't cooperate with us, then you are going to be facing VERY serious consequences! Now, answer the question: What is your goddamn name!?"
"I said, I DON'T HAVE A NAME! Go ahead and keep beating me! In fact, keep beating me until I'm blue! You'll never get a single piece of information from me, do you hear!? NOTHING!"
BOOF!
The efreitor punched me really hard in the stomach this time!
He was about to unleash a flurry of blows when all of a sudden…
BZZZT! BZZZT! BZZZT!
An alarm went off and someone sent a message over the PA system:
"Attention all guards, there is a prisoner uprising in progress! All available guards, please report to the cell block area! I repeat, all available guards please respond! Prisoners are armed and very dangerous! Use caution!"
"Efreitor, go deal with the uprising!" ordered the lieutenant. "I can watch over our prisoner for the time being!"
"Sir, yes sir!"
With that, Efreitor Galushko went to deal with the prisoner uprising.
Now, speaking of prison, I had a little reflection I'd like to share with you:
I remember growing up during the Stalinist Era.
During this time, I was lucky enough to avoid getting caught in any of his purges.
See, despite the state media's attempts to cover everything up, I knew that something was going on, but I kept my mouth shut because I valued my life.
After graduating school, I was faced with two choices:
Either join the Soviet workforce in some capacity, or join the Red Army.
Actually, since there was a two-year mandatory service requirement, I was going to be doing the latter anyways, so I signed up without hesitation.
Now, why did I sign up?
The way I saw it, being a part of the Soviet labor force was boring.
I balked at the idea of fulfilling some meaningless quotas or doing the same damn thing over and over again every day for many years.
To me, it sounded like prison.
I wanted adventure! Excitement!
The Red Army sounded like the perfect solution to me!
At the time, though, I didn't fully comprehend the irony of fighting for a country that stood for that "imprisonment"-style of labor system that I despised in the first place.
Also, at first, the army felt like "imprisonment" given all the rules and regulations I had to follow.
Nevertheless, I felt it was worth it and worked as hard as I could.
Plus, I got to use some interesting pieces of equipment.
Eventually, given my aptitude, my commanders gave me plenty of assignments to choose from.
As you know, I chose the tank corps, and the rest was history.
Looking back on all this, I think I made a foolish mistake.
I don't think I fully comprehended the consequences of all my choices, either.
However, I was not about to just sit back and drown in a sea of regrets…
Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.