The Bosnian Experience

by J E Higgins

  “Do we go back to the smaller lights?” Oleg asked, still a little edgy.

  “Yes,” Sauwa replied, hesitantly. “We’ve made our presence known to the very people we’re trying to avoid. The question is can we hope to disappear again. Tell the other boat to go back to the smaller light, and let’s hope we can stay hidden.”

  Oleg relayed the message back to the other boat. As he did, Sauwa switched out the bigger light once again.

  The early light of the dawn was little more than a crack emanating from the crest of the mountain range. After the long night without sleep and the adrenaline-pumping excitement, Sauwa could barely keep her eyes open. She was drained of energy and freezing from the water that had earlier poured down her shirt. Her only saving grace from catching a cold or worse was Smolesk throwing a blanket over her shivering body.

  Despite her exhausted state, she held firm keeping watch and directing the flashlight to guide them. Oleg had already drifted off to sleep sometime back. Smolesk started to wake him, but Sauwa deterred him. She felt it better to let him sleep now to enable him to function later. The trailing boat continued following at a respectable distance. Since the gun battle, they had remained quiet with no radio communication. Sauwa could only wonder how everyone was holding up after last night.

  Looking over at the darkened shoreline, she remained concerned about the possibility that they could have been pursued. After hours of silence with only a few alien noises that had momentarily attracted her attention, she was convinced they were relatively safe. She looked out at the black waters that were starting to sparkle as sunlight began to touch them. It was a hauntingly beautiful sight.

  As the sun started to provide better visibility, Sauwa began searching for places to tie up. The banks on both sides were lined with thick trees and dense undergrowth. Suddenly, she saw a spot with a collection of thick overhanging bushes that presented a place they could conceal themselves. Better yet, it was on the other side of the river from where they expected trouble. Kicking Oleg awake, she allowed little time for him to totally revive as she pointed out the location and instructed him to contact the other boat.

  Fumbling for the walkie-talkie that had been lost somewhere in his clothes, he managed to find it and relayed her orders. A voice crackled from the receiver. It sounded as though the man talking was as tired as the occupants of the smaller boat. Slowly the boats drifted to the other side. Once there, they weaved into the thickets of overhanging bushes.

  The sun was still barely up allowing just enough illumination to see the general vicinity. As the second boat came into view, Sauwa could see instantly the two motionless figures laid out in the center of the boat. And two more were clutching obvious wounds. Leaving Smolesk to tie up the boat, Sauwa leaped onto land and, with Oleg following closely behind, inched her way along the riverbank for several feet until she was able to set foot on the larger craft. Two of the men helped her and then Oleg aboard.

  Kneeling down she began to examine the injured men. Between the darkness from the shadows of the overhead shrubbery and little illumination from the sun’s early stages of rising, visibility was limited.

  “Why didn’t you tell us you had taken casualties?” She asked, directing her question to no one in particular. Oleg, who was right behind her spoke in Croatian, she assumed he was repeating her question. One of the injured men who groaned as he spoke replied.

  Placing a hand on her shoulder, Oleg leaned toward her ear. “Roughly explained: we were on the run, had narrowly escaped a horrific gun battle, and we weren’t sure we were still near the enemy. We weren’t exactly in a position to do much, if anything, about it.”

  It was a logical assumption. Even now, she wasn’t sure they were out of danger. Reaching over she gently took hold of the bicep the man had been clutching. Having trouble seeing, she asked for a flashlight. Oleg addressed the crew and in seconds a light was flashing on the man’s wounded arm. He had slid his coat off leaving on his long-sleeved collared shirt. The blood-soaked sleeve and the tear across the side where the bullet passed left an easy marker to find. Ripping the sleeve further, she wiped away the patch of drying blood that had started to cake around the wound.

  To her relief, she saw that the wound was little more than a graze; it had barely cut into the muscle tissue. She gave it a quick dose of alcohol from a bottle of vodka. Her action was met by a reflexive recoil from the men watching and the patient gritting his teeth as he endured the stinging pain. A cloth lightly soaked in vodka was tied neatly around his arm to finish the job.

  She turned to the other wounded man to see that Oleg had already begun treating him. Sauwa paused realizing he was attempting to demonstrate leadership in front of his men. She didn’t want to make the mistake of asserting herself too obviously. After all, Croatian men still tended to take a dim view of women giving orders. That they acknowledged her skill as an expert soldier was the only reason she was tolerated when asserting any leadership. This was a liberty she was careful not to abuse.

  “He has a stomach wound,” Oleg said, as he turned to Sauwa. “He’s lost far too much blood, and it’s doubtful he will live much longer.”

  Shining the light over the wounded man, Sauwa saw a thick pool of blood forming at the man’s feet. It was being fed by streams of red liquid pouring over his pant legs onto the boat’s floor. Looking up, she saw the man’s face was looking drained and waxy. Even in the limited light, Sauwa could see Oleg’s facial expression as he looked at her. It was an unspoken plea for help. Climbing over the gear and minding the feet of the dead men, she worked her way over to him.

  Instructing Oleg to get the man onto his back, Sauwa reached for the nearest piece of cloth, which was someone’s discarded shirt. As Oleg worked to get the man onto his back, she busied herself wadding up the shirt and saturating it with vodka. The action met with the same bridling sounds as before. Seeing that the man’s shirt had already been lifted to expose his wound, she pressed down on the wadded shirt applying pressure to the gaping hole. The man passed out. Sauwa ignored him as she took a knife and began cutting the pants of one of the dead men. She eventually was able to slice off a long strip that she tied around the wounded man’s stomach to secure the shirt. The dampness of her clothes and the chill of the morning once again made her shiver with cold.

  “Have him lie as still as you can,” she explained to Oleg, “or he’ll risk moving the bullet inside him and possibly puncture a vital organ if he hasn’t done so already.” Sauwa then leaned back to catch her breath. The sun had risen enough that she was able to see the faces of the men around her clearly. They all wore looks of despair. This was only the first leg of their trip, and they had lost two of their comrades and been virtually sitting ducks in a horrific gun battle.

  Oleg returned to where she was sitting. “Can we speak somewhere?” He sounded almost desperate, and he looked concerned. Nodding slightly, Sauwa slid to an upright position, crept across the boat, then moved onto land. Oleg followed. She started toward the smaller boat but was stopped by his hand gently touching her shoulder. She turned back and saw him nodding his head landward. Together the two moved silently up the bank and further into the trees.

  When they were out of sight of the rest of the men, Oleg turned to her. “Do you think we can keep moving on the river?” His voice sounded edgy and nervous. He clearly needed an answer.

  Sauwa was quiet for a time as she collected her thoughts and assessed the situation. Finally, after keeping Oleg in pained suspense, she answered. “In the absence of any other viable option, we should keep to the river. It’s our best means of travel.”

  “But after last night,” Oleg responded, “the Serbs had artillery and seemed to be a much bigger force than what we anticipated. Which means we don’t know anything anymore. And, they probably sent patrols to follow us.”

  “You’re right,” Sauwa cut in. Her eyes peered at Oleg with intensity. “They were locked in a battle with the Bosnians, and we don’t know who or which grou
p is where. We also don’t have any other viable means of travel. Even if we did have trucks we could seize, we still have to navigate the same land the enemy would be controlling. All of which keeps us in the same dangerous position. Right now, the river is still the best option we have for the time being.”

  Oleg went silent. He wanted a different answer, but he knew Sauwa was right. Sensing she needed to explain further, Sauwa continued. “Remember, whatever concerns you have, keep in mind that both sides were engaged in a serious conflict as you yourself pointed out. We need to assume that they were too busy dealing with each other to be too concerned about some mysterious group of boatmen that briefly came upon them in the course of their battle.”

  Oleg ran his tongue over his lower teeth creating a bulge in his lower lip. He was clearly disgruntled and nervous. He, like her, understood the risk of the venture they had undertaken. The attack last night was being treated as if it were entirely unexpected. “I don’t like this. I don’t like this at all.” He finally spoke, shaking his head and pacing back and forth. “No matter how this goes, I feel that we are now taking too much risk.” He looked back at her as if expecting to hear Sauwa concur with his assessment and possibly give him a reason to turn back.

  With his eyes focused intently on her, he could see she was rubbing her hands over her shoulders as the cool air moved against her damp clothes. He knew she needed to change and get warm, but he needed an answer. He didn’t want to be the one to make such a decision, not alone. He needed to tell his men that last night had been all for naught, and they were going home; or that even after they had narrowly survived, they were going to continue. The greater problem was what he would tell Marko if they came back empty-handed. Having the professional mercenary agree with him would certainly make the decision more acceptable in either case.

  The look in his eye said that he wanted her to agree with him. Sauwa instead shook her head. “You know I have a vested interest in all this,” she began. “I’m not saying a thing regarding your decision. You have a deathly injured man that needs treatment and most of your crew is still reeling from last night. If you decide to turn back now, I won’t stop you or raise a protest. However, that means we also part ways here and now. I have to get out of the country, and this was supposed to be my means to do so. If you’re no longer continuing on, then let me grab my things and that will be the end of it.”

  Oleg was taken by surprise. It was not the answer he was looking for, nor was it at all what he expected. Standing there watching her face, he was mystified to see that it was blank of any judgment or unspoken emotion. She was simply waiting for an answer as if she were entirely indifferent to whatever response he was about to give her.

  Oleg deliberated over his next move. His greatest concern at that moment was the thought of navigating the waters back upstream without her and knowing what possibly awaited them. “We need to go on, I guess.”

  “Don’t do it on my account,” Sauwa, cut in. “If you’re only doing it because you feel you owe me something...”

  “I’m not.” He replied calmly cutting her off in mid-sentence. “You have done a lot for my people, and we owe you a great deal. I’m also doing it because I feel we have to. We’re in a war, and we run a risk no matter which way we go. And, our injured man, if he even survives, is not going to find much help back at our base camp. At least not compared to what kind of treatment we can get him if we can get further down the river.” He noticed she was now shivering. “So, what do we do now?”

  “We need to take inventory of our current situation,” Sauwa replied. “Now that the sun is shining, we can have a better look at what damage we sustained. I also think it would be advantageous for us to give everyone a few hours of rest before pressing on.”

  “Do you think that’s wise?” Oleg was concerned.

  “Honestly,” Sauwa began, “it’s necessary. We also need to acquire some intelligence on what we’re up against. That can best be answered by running a quick patrol a little way ahead. The rest of the men can get some sleep while some of us have a look around.”

  Oleg folded his arms as he nodded. It was a good idea. Finally acknowledging that Sauwa was in need of some dry clothes, he directed her back to the boats. Returning through the foliage, they found the men solemnly contemplating the bodies of their fallen comrades. They had moved to the boat to see if the man who had taken the gunshot to the stomach had joined the line of corpses spread out on the floor of the craft.

  Taking on what was going to prove a difficult task, Oleg began explaining the new plan to his men. As he did, Sauwa trotted over to the smaller craft. She found Smolesk still perched at his station. He was looking as sullen, unsettled and melancholy as the men in the other boat. Disregarding the men around her, she began to remove her damp clothes. She had spent all night shivering and was saved from freezing only by Smolesk’s blanket. After being forced to endure her chilled condition while planning with Oleg, she was in no mood for modesty. Stripping down to her cotton underwear, she found that amongst the older men, she was relatively ignored as they directed their attention between mourning their dead comrades and listening with dismay to their leader’s orders. From their scowling, the news was not being taken very well. The only eyes she caught taking notice of her were those of Micha trying to look indifferent but was still casting an occasional eye in the direction of the foreign beauty now scantily clad.

  She hung her clothes over a few nearby branches to help them dry. The only other clothes she possessed were her combat fatigues that she had stuffed in her Bergen. Happily, she found that the Bergen had missed the splashes of water that she endured during their hasty getaway. The dry clothes felt pleasingly warm the moment they touched her body.

  19

  Her tactical camouflage fatigues weren’t ideal, as they prepared to set out to discover what lay upriver. In truth, Sauwa figured it was largely a moot point. Whatever lay ahead, the disguises were simply to avert a second look from any enemy soldiers who might be lurking along the river. After last night’s battle, they had to assume that concealment was no longer a consideration.

  Most of the men were eating their breakfast of some canned food and dry goods that they ate cold. It had been a bit of a struggle persuading the guerrillas not to build a fire to cook their food and get warm. The notion that fire would give away their hiding spot did not seem to sway them. It took the more forceful approach of Oleg laying down an order with some growling commands for the men to comply. Even as Sauwa and he were preparing to head out on their patrol, the demeanor of the men was grim. She had no illusions that his order would be dismissed the minute they were gone.

  With Bergen, tactical kit and a rifle, Sauwa waited for Oleg to make the last-minute prep on his own gear while staving off a final plea from young Micha. Despite language barriers, it was obvious the young man wanted to come along with his adopted hero. Micha kept eyeing Sauwa as he leaned against Oleg, practically grasping his coat lapels. Oleg gently attempted to push the young man aside as he tried to leave. Eventually, Oleg broke free and joined his cohort.

  “Is he going to be okay?” Sauwa asked as she looked back to see Micha watching her with the distraught look of a man losing the love of his life forever.

  “He’ll be fine,” Oleg grumbled as he awkwardly climbed up to meet her. “He’s young and full of the energy of a young man wanting to see the world. This is all about him wanting to be with you and not with a bunch of old farmers who will be boring him to death while we’re gone.”

  The long night and the adrenaline rush were starting to take their toll. They were all tired and becoming despondent to the world around them. Some were already rolling out blankets and getting comfortable enough to doze off. She noticed that Smolesk had taken his weapon and was maintaining some form of a watch. He cradled his rifle in his arms as he peered out through the overhanging branches to see across the river. Some of the other men were sensible enough to keep weapons close as well. It wasn’t the best se
curity, but it would have to do.

  With Sauwa taking the lead, the two moved out. Keeping to the tree line adjacent to the riverbank, the two carefully picked their way along the river. They had wanted to take the high ground but were deterred by a wide grassy field that offered no place for concealment. Using the high ground would leave them exposed to anyone around for a good distance. They opted to move along the riverbank despite it being far more cumbersome to negotiate. The sun was now directly overhead bringing a welcome degree of warmth. Sauwa’s skin was still somewhat clammy from the cold and dampness.

  She kept a constant eye out for any strange movement on the other side of the river. Thankfully, the river was a good 200 feet in width where they were. This provided a nice protective buffer if they should be discovered by someone on the other side. Still, she was quite aware how easily they could be noticed by an enemy patrol passing through. She wanted to use the camouflage field jacket she brought with her, but with Oleg not having his camouflage clothes with him, she figured camouflaging herself was futile.

  Tramping along they kept to their usual procedure of stopping every 300 meters to listen for any alien sounds. The plan was to move out about 1,000 meters ahead, search the surrounding landscape to get a good idea of what was going on and then return. At the first pause, they listened. It was relatively quiet aside from identifiable animal noises. Confident they were alone, Sauwa and Oleg carefully crawled upward until they were at the edge of the bank looking out at the field ahead. Everywhere they looked was deserted for as far as they could see. They did not see any tracks that suggested anyone had been in the area recently.

  Confident that all was good, the two slipped back down into the vegetation by the river bank and continued on. The soft dirt and the awkward position of walking along a hill made the journey difficult. As the long period without sleep started to take its toll, Sauwa felt herself fighting to remain alert. She didn’t relish the equally arduous journey back. Observing Oleg, she assumed he was feeling the same way. Dark circles had formed under his eyes looking like what Americans referred to as raccoon eyes. He was struggling to keep his head from sinking.