«ZUGZWANG OF OBER LIEUTENANT BRUNO THEVS» Page #10

ISMATULLA (V.O.)

Our snipers hit several of their commanders, who were giving orders in battle, fighters, and disabled all radio station.

Rebel snipers hit the officer giving orders, fighters, and aim at portable radio stations.

64. EXT. THE MOUNTAIN REGION - DAY.

TITLE:
OUR TIME.

Bruno is standing a meter and a half away from Ismatullah, attentively listening to his narrative from Yahya Mukhadi's translation.

Bruno sees the surviving evidence of the battle — rusted fragments of blades and fuselage of burnt Soviet helicopters, emptied rusty machine gun belts, scattered shell casings.

Bruno is mentally transported back to June 1986, feels like an eyewitness to the confrontation.

65. EXT. THE MOUNTAIN REGION - DAY.

TITLE:
YEAR 1986.

There is a stubborn battle, the crackle of bursts, the roar of exploding shells. The number of dead and wounded in Shuravi is growing. The Shuravi and the rebels are struck by fire.

Koster, Mongol, Rust, Strela, Sidor are active in battle. Kostyan selflessly hits with a machine gun, covers his comrades. Scouts are dragging wounded and dead comrades out of the zone of continuous fire into the natural folds of the terrain, behind boulders.

ISMATULLA (V.O.)

Night fell. The Shuravi decided to make a daring raid.

Scouts Rust, Sidor, Strela, Mongol, Koster, Kostyan (Bruno's father) stretch out in a long chain, wrap around the mountain from the adjacent saddle, set a distance, everyone sees the outlines of comrades ascending on both sides. They begin a silent hidden ascent.

Kostyan follows in the center, Rust to his right, Strela to his left, and Mongol is even to the left.

A group of scouts reaches a distance of 30 meters to the dome of the mountain.

ISMATULLA (V.O.)

Then I just took up guard duty — I was a sentry. Suddenly in the darkness I heard a crumble of small stone.

Kostyan, rising from the side of the saddle, is discovered by the rebel sentry, Ismatulla, who is carrying guard duty.

ISMATULLA (V.O.)

I saw a tall, sturdy guy sneaking from below. As powerful as you are. I immediately fired an automatic burst at him, hitting him on the spot.

Amazed by the Shuravi who came close, the rebel sentry Ismatullah bellows: "Allahu Akbar" — and immediately focuses a burst from a machine gun on Kostyan.

66. EXT. THE MOUNTAIN REGION - NIGHT.

TITLE:
OUR TIME.

Bruno is shocked by Ismatullah's story.

Ismatullah took a few steps forward and, turning, stamped his foot on the edge of the height.

ISMATULLA:

Here!

(pointing downwards)

It was here!

Bruno has a rapid throbbing in his temples.

67. EXT. THE MOUNTAIN REGION - NIGHT.

TITLE:
YEAR 1986.

Kostyan falls, rolls down the slope, rests against a boulder.

There is a hubbub of Dari at the top.

ISMATULLA (V.O.)

Our whole squad woke up and took up arms, starting to shoot at the lowland where the Shuravi were.

The rebels open small-arms fire at the scouts from several barrels. The rebels are increasing their fire on the scouts in the saddle.

Strela is close to Kostyan. He crawls up to him and drags behind a boulder. Kostyan is no longer breathing.

Strela, without stopping, continues his rapid ascent, but is cut off by a short burst.

Rust, who is nearby, sees this, crawls up to Strela, hurriedly pulls him out of the affected area. Strela groans loudly. Rust quickly cuts a blood-soaked section of the mountain suit with a sharp bayonet knife, exposing the wound.

Strela is suffocating, trying to take a deeper breath in order to be able to say something.

STRELA:

(barely)

Rust! I have a bad feeling about this. Do my request with the guys!

(pause, gaining strength)

After the demobilization, visit my mother in Leningrad!

RUST:

(strictly)

Stop, Strela! We will come to Leningrad for your wedding. Mongol will build his tailagan in the Gulf of Finland.

Strela turns pale after a moment, raises his chin high and, wheezing, sharply relaxing his body, stops breathing. Strela's blue eyes remain open.

Rust palpates the ray pulse of Strela, it is not there.

Rust takes Strela's machine gun and, filled with rage, thirst for retribution, opens non-stop fire from it, rushes to the top.

Mongol rises from the side of Rust. As soon as Mongol runs into the dome of the mountain, he comes face to face with the sentry who killed Kostyan. The rebel is momentarily ahead of Mongol, pulling the trigger of his AKM first. A short burst throws Mongol back to the slope.

Mongol falls backwards, upside down. 5 shamanic tholes are moving up his neck from his chest. Mongol goes into agony, dies.

A group of scouts continues to advance.

ISMATULLA (V.O.)

Shuravi were advancing from different sides, and we were no longer able to stop them. They ran to the top; I was able to defeat someone else. But while we were shooting at those who were rising from the saddle, we suddenly saw several Shuravi behind us, who came to our rear from where we were not expecting them.

Sidor, Koster and other scouts run out to the top from the back, no one is waiting for them there, they furiously, with loud obscenities, throw hand grenades at the rebels, finish them off with small arms fire.

The rebels at the top of the mountain are brutally destroyed, only some retire in the dark.

ISMATULLA (V.O.)

The Shuravi started throwing grenades at us and hitting us with machine gun fire. The explosion of one of the grenades cut off my arm. It was hanging by tendons.

The rebel sentry, Ismatullah, retreats from the place of fire contact, his arm dangling on a tendon.

ISMATULLA (V.O.)

But, despite being seriously wounded with outside help with a handful of Mujahideen, I was lucky enough to escape.

(pause)

In the morning, helicopters arrived, and then planes, they began bombing all the heights, and our Mujahideen left the area.

68. EXT. THE MOUNTAIN REGION - DAY.

Mi-8MT helicopters hover over the top of the mountain.

The survivors — Sidor, Rust, Koster, and other scouts load the bodies of their fallen comrades in raincoat tents on board of helicopters: Kostyan, Strela, Mongol, and the wounded. They climb themselves.

The MI-8MT helicopter lifts off the ground and gains altitude.

69. INT. HELICOPTER — DAY.

In the helicopter, Sidor, Rust, and Koster look with bitterness at the dead lying on the raincoat tents - Strela, Kostyan, and Mongol.

70. EXT. THE MOUNTAIN REGION - DAY.

TITLE:
OUR TIME.

Ismatullah finishes the narrative, looks down.

Bruno stands silently, taking deep breaths of the mountain air.

Bruno silently begins to collect the earth from the place where his father died in a cellophane bag, puts it in a backpack.

Bruno, Ismatullah, Yahya leave the area.

71. EXT. THE MOUNTAIN REGION - DAY.

Ismatullah, Bruno and Yahya follow a narrow mountain path.

Ismatullah moves on foot, holding the donkey's bridle and leading Bruno and Yahya, who follow on donkeys.

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