Yuri and Erica exchanged swift but significant glances for the rest of the day. Later that day, Jed pulled Erica into an empty room.
"You have a thing for him, don't you?"
"For whom?"
"You know damn well who I mean. That Commie!"
"He saved my life, Jed."
"Well, that doesn't mean you have to fall in love with him!"
"Who said anything about falling in love?"
"I've seen the way you guys look at each other." Jed frowned. "He'll brainwash you, turn you into one of them. You'll become a traitor to your own country, Erica, to us and everything we've worked so hard for. Is that what you want?"
"Nobody's going to brainwash me," Erica insisted. "I can still think for myself."
"Then use that brain in your head for thinking about what a relationship with that Commie would mean for you, for your friends, for your country."
That night as Erica lay on the sofa waiting for sleep to overtake her, she felt a soft pair of lips kiss her cheek. She didn't open her eyes, but she knew that they were Yuri's.
A few stolen kisses per day were all that Erica and Yuri could manage for the next few weeks. Work on the farm was hard, and the entire group was kept busy from dawn to dusk every day. Then came the day everything changed once again.
It started out just like any other day. Erica was in the field harvesting crops with the others when she heard a tremendous noise and felt the ground vibrating beneath her feet. She felt herself flying through the air at a tremendous speed, then...nothing.
Erica opened her eyes to stare at a white ceiling with fluorescent lights. She smelled the antiseptic scent in the air and realized that she was lying in a hospital bed. She looked around, and her eyes fell on a slender blonde woman a few years older than herself who was dressed in white.
"What happened?" she asked the nurse.
"You were found a few yards from a ranch house that had been decimated by a fighter-bomber," the nurse told her. "There were about half a dozen casualties. Four survivors. You and three young men. One of them has been hounding me endlessly about how you're doing and whether or not you've awakened yet. Says his name's Franz Schmidt and he's an exchange student from West Germany."
Erica tried to sit up and felt a wave of dizziness.
"You've suffered a major concussion, but no permanent brain damage," the nurse told her. "Other than that, you're fine, except for some scrapes and bruises. You lucked out this time."
The door to Erica's hospital room opened, and Yuri appeared. "Erica?"
"Hi, Franz."
"Erica! You are awake!" Yuri exclaimed joyfully. He rushed to Erica and hugged her tightly. The nurse made a notation on Erica's chart and then left the room.
"Are you all right, Yuri?"
"I am fine, Erica. No need to worry about me. It is you I am concerned about."
"What about the others?"
"Only Jed and Matt are still alive." Yuri looked at her mournfully.
"Where are they?"
"They were released from hospital yesterday. I say I have cough so they will keep me longer and I will be here when you wake up." Yuri feigned coughing to demonstrate, and they both laughed.
"Clever. So, do you know where Jed and Matt are now?"
"They would not tell me where they were going."
"I have to find them!"
Erica tried to sit up again and was once again overcome with dizziness.
"We will look for them together, later, when you are stronger," Yuri told her. "Right now, you need to rest." Erica closed her eyes and just lay there enjoying the sensation of Yuri's cool hand softly sweeping the hair back from her forehead.