«IN THE CIRCLE OF KUNDUZ» Page #12

The company is moving along the ravine encircling the steep slope of the mountain. The patrol comes across a storage cave.

54. INT. MOUNTAIN RANGE. CAVE — DAY

The reconnaissance company entered a mountain cave, there are smoldering embers of the hearth, a hot kettle, cooked food. In the depths of the cave, Kostyan and Strela found two dozen English Lee-Enfield, Lee-Matford rifles — "Lee Enfield" & "Lee Metford" from the Anglo-Boer Wars of 1880-1881, 1899-1892 with a large number of boxes of 7.74 caliber cartridges; 2 more large-caliber DShK machine guns, several boxes with loaded belts to them.

SEREDA:

We're taking weapons with us! Detonate ammo!

Rust, standing apart at the far drawer filled with weapons, begins to take out drills from there, notices a black matte box lying among the rifles with a silver "BERETTA 92" crowding. Opens a crack, sees a brand-new gun. Rust hastily shoves the box into his bosom.

The scouts take the cave arsenal with them, they blow up the main part of the ammunition when leaving. BUR rifles are added to the personal weapons, ammunition, heavy weapons transported by scouts — DShK, AGS-17, with their bodies and tripods. On the necks and shoulders of Rust, Sidor, Kostyan, pairs of boxes from the DShK with equipped tape, connected with a linen rope, and a pair of BUR rifles appear.

55. EXT. MOUNTAIN RANGE. DOME OF THE MOUNTAIN — DAY

There is a transfer of scouts by helicopters to another height. Those who jumped out with a heavy load stand up heavily, crawl away. Jumping after them fall on their heads. The landing is completed, Senior Lieutenant Sereda points the scouts to the top, where they should ascend. Young – Kostyan, Sidor, Rust, Mongol, Strela, Koster, Kostyan, loaded with a mountain of weapons, look at the top, saddling them seems incredible. The eyes of the old-timers are riveted to the young, they are watching their overcoming. Young people overcome hardships.

With a firm step, maintaining the pace, measured step by step, a thousand times, the young whisper the phrase from the textbook of the mountain Sherabad: "You're lying, you won't take it!", slowly climb the mountain. Minutes of a general halt – Rust, Sidor, Mongol, Kostyan, Strela, Koster do not sit down, put the BUR's with butts on the mountain firmament, push the bodies forward, distributing the weight of the load from the feet to the back, rest their palms on the mountain steep. They rest the allotted time standing.

The company has reached the top, the scouts throw off their backpacks, DShK boxes, BUR's, personal weapons, lie down to rest, throwing their heads back.

56. EXT. MOUNTAIN RANGE — DAY

The reconnaissance company is advancing in the mountainous area. The transitions are long and difficult. The young have got into a rhythm, got used to the heaviness, move more easily. The flasks of the scouts are empty. On the way there are yellow puddles of unknown origin, raindrops that have not had time to evaporate, traces of emptied donkeys.

Kostyan, Mongol, Koster stopped, suffer from thirst, their lips are dry, cracked. They collect liquid with muddy mud into flasks, throw disinfectant pantocide, citric acid from a dry ration into flasks, drink it a minute later.

57. EXT. MOUNTAIN RANGE — DAY

TITLE:
UPPER PANJSHIR GORGE, PIRYAH DISTRICT SOUTH-EAST OF PISHGOR

Helicopters are dropping scouts to a new height. The commander of the reconnaissance company, Captain SEREDA, leaves one platoon led by Lieutenant VIKULOV at the top of the mountain, and himself, attached to the reconnaissance company, the full-time translator of the regiment from the Dari language, Senior Lieutenant Abdullo Kodirov and two platoons with senior lieutenant Demichev, go down into the valley to reconnoiter the area and collect water. They are approaching the rocky rapid of the Panjshir River.

SEREDA:

(loudly)

Don't drink a lot of water, otherwise it will be hard to walk!

LEPECHA:

(looking contemptuously at the young)

Spirits, this concerns you!

Rust stands upstream of everyone, slowly washed his hands, face, picks up water for drinking in the palm of his hand. Rust notices the redness of the water, shakes off his palms, stands up, looks upstream.

RUST:

(pointing upward with his hand.)

Comrade Captain, look!

All the scouts look up the Panjshir River at once. In a stormy stream across the entire width of the riverbed, the river carries a huge number of bodies of executed Afghans. Bodies turn over, briefly cling to boulders, pile on top of each other, float on.

SEREDA:

(with regret)

This is the Afghan Commando battalion, led away by Ahmad Shah's men from the captured garrison in Pishgor — so they have been found!

The scouts are stunned. After waiting for the current to carry away the bodies, they collect water in flasks, leave the cut.

Scouts go to the area where they encounter mud-brick buildings of an abandoned Afghan village and a volleyball court. Benches for players, observers, the referee's tower, the net not removed from the racks, everything is in perfect condition.

KAPUSTA:

(to the young)

Here it is a bandit base! Here they lick their wounds.

There are 10 donkeys tied to a pole at the mud–brick barracks. A flock of twenty sheep is slowly flowing across the field, bleating and grazing the grass for the rebels to eat. The scouts are hungry. Kapusta does not take his eyes off the sheep, turns to Captain Sereda.

KAPUSTA:

Comrade Captain, it would be nice to taste fresh meat!

Barely thinking.

SEREDA:

Who is our craftsman to skin sheep?

SIDOR:

(briskly)

Thevs Konstantin! He is from southern Kazakhstan, he is a master of this.

SEREDA:

(to translator Abdullo Kodirov)

Kodirov, you take an ordinary Thevs, catch a medium-sized ram, hastily skin it and leave the area!

LEPECHA:

(to Sereda with perplexity)

Comrade Captain! And why – a small one?! Let's do the opposite — a stupid one! If we don't, the spirits will eat them.

KOSTYAN:

(to Mongol)

Mongol, give me a silicone tube.

Mongol takes out a silicone tube wrapped in a circle from a sanitary bag and makes two segments. Kodirov and Kostyan are heading to the sheep. It is impossible to catch up, grab, some sheep, the flock escapes, taking it deep into the gorge, moving away from the company's forces.

Kodirov fires from his AKMS-47 with a PBS silencer for silent shooting at the tail of the flock, hits a large ram. Kostyan takes out a knife, cuts the throat of the ram, waits for the blood to flow out, puts the ram on its back, starts skinning. Kostyan, with a dexterous movement of the knife, makes incisions in both lower parts of the lamb's shin, thrusts IV tubes under the skin, begins to blow air into each with his mouth. The ram quickly inflates, the air accumulated under the skin separates it from the carcass. With light pats, Kostyan evenly distributes air throughout the carcass. Quickly with a sharp knife blade, separates the skin from the meat.

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