«ZUGZWANG OF OBER LIEUTENANT BRUNO THEVS» Page #11

The noise of falling stones - one, another, turned into a rockfall.

Ismatullah's donkey twitched, pulling Ismatullah towards the abyss.

Bruno and Yahya abruptly dismounted and leaned their backs against the slope.

The rockfall intensifies, the one-armed Ismatullah cannot hold his twitching donkey, they both shift to a steep cliff, the donkey pulls Ismatullah with him and falls into the abyss.

Ismatullah, who released the bridle from his hands, falls over the edge himself, remains hanging over the cliff, clinging with a death grip to the trunk of a chasmophyte sticking out of a rock crack. The crunch of a tree being uprooted from a rock is heard.

Bruno rushes to help Ismatullah, clings to the back of his head with both hands, pulls him up, tries to prevent falling into the abyss. Ismatullah drags Bruno into the abyss with his weight.

Yahya, who arrived in time, clung to Bruno's belt, holding him from falling. All three are close to death.

Yahya shouts at Bruno in German:

YAHYA:

Let him go, there's no way to save him!

Bruno suddenly imagines a picture of the distant past, as mujahid Ismatullah discharges a burst of machine gun fire at his father in the night, fatally wounding him.

72. EXT. THE MOUNTAIN REGION - NIGHT.

TITLE:
YEAR 1986.

Kostyan jumps out from behind a boulder with a machine gun at the ready.

Ismatullah shouts "Allahu Akbar" as loudly as he can out of fear and fires an automatic burst at Kostyan, who appeared in front of him.

Kostyan's eyes remain glassy, his pupils dilate, his strength immediately leaves him, the soldier cannot resist and fall on the spot, and collapsing rolls down the slope, resting against a boulder at the end.

73. EXT. THE MOUNTAIN REGION - DAY.

Bruno looks into the eyes of a confused Ismatullah, sees the horror of death. A moment later, Bruno pushes off from the rocky embankment with one hand and makes a dash with the other hand, pulling Ismatulla onto the path.

Bruno, Ismatullah and Yahya lie exhausted on the path, coughing, inhaling air.

74. EXT. YAHCHAN-KHURD VILLAGE — EVENING. IT'S GETTING DARK.

Ismatullah, Bruno, Yahya Mukhadi returned to Yahchan-Hurd, saying goodbye. Ismatulla, with a penitent look, extends his hand to Bruno to shake. Bruno holds out his hand in return. There is a handshake.

ISMATULLA:

Forgive us, don't hold

a grudge. The years that have passed since Shuravi's departure have opened our eyes to many things. An epiphany, even if it comes decades later, makes sense.

Bruno accepts Ismatullah's words without emotion.

Bruno, Otto and Yahya get into a waiting taxi. The car is on its way.

Ismatullah remains standing by the road, waving after the departing taxi.

75. INT. TAXI — EVENING. IT'S GETTING DARK.

Bruno, sitting in the front seat, puts his hands into a weightless leather bag lying at the bottom in front of his feet, and secretly screws a silencer into a GLOCK G46 pistol.

The taxi turned the corner.

Bruno suddenly turns to Yahya.

BRUNO:

Stop the taxi!

Yahya translates the order to the taxi driver, who stops abruptly.

BRUNO:

I'll be right back.

Bruno picks up his bag, abruptly gets out of the taxi and, leaving at a brisk pace, disappears around the corner.

Otto and Yahya are perplexed, they are at a loss.

76. EXT. YAHCHAN-KHURD VILLAGE — EVENING. IT'S GETTING DARK.

Bruno quickly steps towards Ismatulla, who is still standing at the gate, the distance between Bruno and Ismatulla is rapidly decreasing.

Bruno took the safety off the pistol in his bag and is already approaching Ismatulla.

At this moment, a group of four of his younger children runs out from behind the gate to Ismatullah, they hug Ismatullah in their belt, drag him into the courtyard of the house.

Bruno is stunned. Ismatullah has figured out Bruno's insidious plan and, keeping his composure, holds out his hand to Bruno.

Bruno holds out his own in return. There is a handshake.

77. INT. HOSPITAL — MIDNIGHT.

A limping Otto and Bruno, helping to carry Ismatullah's gifts, sneaking on tiptoe so as not to cause unnecessary noise, are walking along the hospital corridor to the ward.

At the staff lounge, he suddenly comes face to face with Dr. Akhmadzai, who is on duty at night. Bruno froze for a moment, immediately came to his senses.

BRUNO:

(softly)

Frau Ahmadzai, how glad I am to see you! Since our previous meeting, I have been reproaching myself for not asking your name. I want to fix this error.

(smiled)

Seeta accepted Bruno's words without emotion.

SEETA:

My name is Seeta!

BRUNO:

A beautiful name — Seeta!

Are your parents from Kunduz?

SEETA:

Yes, from Imam Sahib, a county north of Kunduz.

BRUNO:

Are you a Tajik yourself?

SEETA:

I am a Pashtun of the Gilzai tribe.

Our roots are from the southeast - Paktia.

The ancestors moved to Kunduz during the time of Emir Amanullah Khan in 1925. Then there was a state policy of Pashtunization of the northern territories. The peoples of the north — Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras — moved to the south, southeast — to Kandahar, Ghazni, Jalalabad, the places of traditional residence of the Pashtun tribes, and the Gilzai, Karlani Pashtuns — to the northeast to Katagan.

BRUNO:

And how did you end up in Germany?

SEETA:

In 1980, after the entry of Soviet troops, my parents and my young older brothers emigrated to Germany, Munich, where I was born years later.

Bruno is happy about the conversation that has started. The hubbub in the corridor interferes with communication. Bruno, wanting to question Seeta, barely grabs her by the elbow, dragging her aside. Seeta pulls out her hand, looks accusingly.

SEETA:

It's not customary in Afghanistan!

This is not Germany!

BRUNO:

(apologetically)

Excuse me, Seeta!

SEETA:

(omitting the incident, continues)

After school, I graduated from the Medical Faculty of the University of Munich. In 2008, after passing an interview, I got a job at the international humanitarian mission MSF "Doctors without Borders".

That's all I'm ready to tell you about myself right now.

(smiles)

And now I have to go.

Seeta goes to one of the wards.

HISTORICAL EVENTS FROM THE BOOK "THE GREAT GAME IN AFGHANISTAN".

78. EXT. AFGHANISTAN, CARAVANSERAI — DAY.

The city square of the "Kunduz Circle" is crowded, horses are tied to poles at the entrance.

TITLE:
Kunduz. Caravanserai, 1929.

There is a gathering of elders, clergy, officials. Local elders sit on long benches in the first row. Next to the elders are large Uzbek, Turkmen kurbashi – Ibrahim bek, Ishan-Khalifa Kyzyl-ayak, Mahmud-bek, Utan-bek, and others.

There are armed people behind kurbashi – numerous guards, all in a turban, in dressing gowns, with sabers and rifles.

Vis-a–vis dignitaries are a crowd of people - all men, no women.

From the mouth of the HERALD, elderly, gray-bearded Afghan in an expensive robe and a black turban, an appeal sounds.

HERALD:

People of Afghanistan! The Kafirs have set dirty feet on our holy land, captured Balkh, Kelif, Deydadi, Mazar-I-Sharif, and Tashkurgan, and are now heading for Kabul. All for holy jihad! To burn kafirs in hell!

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