A Russian officer riding a tall horse entered the village. The way he looked down on them from above made Eva's scalp prickle, and she whispered to her husband.
"Let's go back inside first."
"Alright."
Many people were like Ivan and Eva, while only the children still shouted excitedly, "Long live Russia!" They were waiting for a response.
Yet the officer atop the tall horse merely waved his hand disdainfully, and the Russian soldiers scattered like vicious dogs loosed from their leashes.
"Hand over your grain, your liquor, and anything valuable!"
The Russian soldiers madly seized every bit of property they could lay eyes on. The necklace around Eva's neck was brutally ripped away—it had been left to her by her grandmother. Ignoring the bloody welt strangling her neck, Eva rushed forward desperately, trying to reclaim her grandmother's keepsake.
How could frail Eva possibly stand against soldiers? She was violently shoved to the ground, and two other soldiers laughingly dragged her into a nearby house.
"Ah!"
Ivan charged forward with a roar, only to be struck down by a rifle butt. He crawled to the officer's horse.
"Weren't you here to save us?"
The officer on horseback paid Ivan no heed, merely watching it all with cold indifference.
A soldier came over and kicked Ivan squarely in the head. His world immediately began spinning at breakneck speed. The cheers and laughter gradually gave way to begging and screams. Beneath the scent of dirt in his nostrils was the stench of blood, and his consciousness slowly sank into darkness.
When Ivan woke again, he was lying in his own bed. He was thrilled, thinking it had all been a dream, but the bruises on his wife's face and her swollen red eyes dragged him back to reality.
Their home was a