Kazarlia Army Group's Supply Center No. 711.
The girls finished their morning's hauling work and took a short break on the now-cleared cargo field after getting their food.
"It's potatoes with Spam Cans again, wonder how many days it has been." Aksinya opened her lunch box and started complaining, "So pickles would be nice!"
"Here." Natalia next to her took out a glass jar and pulled out the cork.
The sll of pickles imdiately spread, attracting the attention of several people.
After taking a slice of pickle, Natalia passed the bottle to others, and a group of girls shared the pickles like this.
Aksinya, while eating boiled potatoes, said: "Heard that the last male transport team has been taken away by the Priest conscripting soldiers. Now our entire support division is all won and old n."
"I didn't even know we still had young n in our division."
"Aksinya, isn't your man at the Front Army Headquarters? Go to him to take care of your needs!"
"He's guard duty for Marshal, he's busy every day, and I don't have any 'needs' to take care of!" Aksinya hurriedly explained, "I was just saying that there are no more young n in the logistics troops, and there are probably even fewer of them in the rear."
The won all fell silent, munching on their potatoes without a word.
Suddenly soone said: "Wonder if it's the sa with the Prosen people? I heard from my man that there are fewer Prosens than us, and we're already like this, they must be... right?"
"Don't know." Aksinya replied, "The matters of war are none of our concern, now that we're here stacking boxes, sothing must have gone wrong!"
After stuffing a whole potato into her mouth, Aksinya mused while chewing: "When my grandmother was young, we had a conflict with Anatolia as well. My grandfather was conscripted, and my grandmother was alone at ho; apart from missing her husband every day, she said there was nothing inconvenient.
"But look at us now; we're wearing ill-fitting military uniforms, moving sacks like dock workers day after day!"
"Pickle goddess" Natalia echoed, "Yeah, it's even more exhausting than farm work back ho. I enlisted because I was tired of the sa farm work day after day, but here I am doing the sa."
Aksinya: "Natalia, you finished tenth grade, you should try to go to the dical team."
Natalia, head down: "No, I won't go. The dical team ca to our training camp for recruitnt, and many people rushed to go, I just quietly stepped back."
"Why didn't you go?" soone asked.
Natalia replied with a bitter smile: "I was previously in the won's labor camp working on ergency repairs, and then enemy planes ca. A strafing run killed 28 girls, I rember clearly, 28!
"I stood by and watched them. One girl got shot through the belly, from the back through to the belly, leaving a large hole, and her intestines just flowed out, and there were flies on it.
"I chased away the flies, held the girl's hand, and she spoke: 'Natalia, I feel a bit cold, my belly is getting chilled.'"
The won cast down their eyes, so even stopped eating their potatoes, imrsed in Natalia's narrative.
Natalia: "So I dare not go to the front. When our support division was moving to the front, I had many dreams in the stifling boxcar for days on end; I dread that my intestines were also spilling out, and my man stood before , silently watching.
"I said, 'Quick, help pick them up, they've all co out.'
"Before I finished speaking, his head fell off, blood spurted from the neck. I must have sowhere seen a man with a severed head, or else it couldn't have been so realistic in a dream!"
Aksinya, sitting next to Natalia, patted her back: "Don't be afraid, didn't your man write back a few days ago? Plus, no death notice, so he must be alive and kicking."
Natalia: "He might also be missing, you know? The Priest said that they generally don't send a death notice for the missing, because they're not sure what happened to them, maybe they surrendered and are in the enemy's Prisoner of War Camp."
A woman said: "Surrendering is nothing to be ashad of, just admit the mistake upon return. The first year several million people surrendered, are they all going to be hanged?"
...
While people were chatting like this, the Quartermaster of their support company ca over.
An old man in his sixties, wearing a cap askew, shouted from afar: "Girls! Good news! I've got you all so soap!"
The idle chat suddenly stopped.
Aksinya: "Is it the kind of soap I'm thinking of?"
"Yes! The girls from the 300th Field Laundry complained that they've been in contact with soaps and similar things so much that their skin has aged like old won, the higher-ups probably think the girls should stay beautiful, so they issued soap to every female soldier in the support divisions!"
The won's faces lit up with joy.
Quartermaster: "Quiet! I haven't finished yet! The station leaders saw the yard was empty and decided to give you the afternoon off! There's a tributary of the Dibo River nearby, you can go bathe there!"
The won cheered, suddenly turning back into sentintal and easily excited little girls.
Quartermaster: "Co on, Aksinya, you're in charge of distributing the soap, we can't manage one per person, so three close friends share one piece, no taking extra!"
Aksinya quickly finished distributing the soap – she was all too familiar with the little cliques within the company and completed the task perfectly.
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