– Why do they need me?

“While I’m here to explain to you, they will both capture us.

Tan could not help but agree with this statement. He walked quickly to the corner where his clothes lay. Unfortunately, the combat uniforms were sent to Pisky Efa, which Athanasius remembered with annoyance. Therefore, he put on his pants and boots, put on a white woolen shirt and left the room. Una followed him. In the corridor below one could already hear the noise and clatter of soldiers' boots. He immediately grabbed her by the forearm, pulling her towards the door of his room. Running back, he slammed the door, forcing it with a heavy wooden cabinet. Then he jumped to the window and looked down. Everything was quiet. They were on the second floor, so it was not difficult for them to go downstairs.

As he descended, he appreciated how cleverly Unya had succeeded. It was lucky that there was an apple orchard on the hospital grounds, and they could sneak from tree to tree unnoticed. Suddenly, Athanasius grabbed Una by the shoulders and pulled him over, hiding behind a tree. As it turned out, one of the soldiers was on duty in the corner of the building. Tan's brain began to actively seek a solution to the problem, but what happened next caught him by surprise. Una threw off his hands and with the words "Help" rushed towards the guards.

– That devil, thought Tan, gritting his teeth.

Then he heard a noise and, looking out from behind a tree, saw a soldier lying on the ground. Athanasius looked at her in surprise, but she just grinned.

– Why are you frozen? Hurry!

He didn't need to repeat it twice. He ran up to the guy who was lying on the ground and picked up his sword, which he had already managed to take out after hearing Una's cry. Apparently she hit him from behind, smart …

She dived into a narrow street, Tan behind her. But they had already been spotted, and the pursuit began. They ran along the ragged walls of houses and debris lying along the road. Rats scattered in different directions at the sight of strangers at such an early hour. Following this, they heard the sound of whistles, signaling troublemakers. Tan knew that reinforcements would now be arriving in this area and that it was necessary to get out of it as soon as possible. The side was very sore, his chest was squeezing, his strength was leaving him. He had to stop.

“We need to hide,” he said.

– No, we need to run and quickly, said Una.

“We won't have time to run a couple of streets before they spot us, believe me,” he said with a breath in his voice.

– What to do?! There was excitement in her eyes.

He looked around, and suddenly realized that the houses around them were familiar to him. His feet were already walking along this cobbled street, and his nose breathed in the local smell.

***

The door flew open, and the first thing Athanasius saw was a long and well-polished sword.

– Hi Byrd! Pronounced Tan.

But the interlocutor was silent and only looked at him with an incredulous look.

– We have nowhere else to go, I'm sorry.

After a little hesitation, he fully opened the door, with a mute gesture, inviting them to enter. They immediately ran into the house.

Nothing has changed in the room since his last visit. Tan leaned against the wall to keep from falling. As soon as he caught his breath, he raised his head and, looking at Byrd, said: – Thank you. Most likely, you saved our lives.

Without answering, Byrd went into another room and after a while returned with two mugs of water in his hands, somewhere hiding his sword.