— A hero? You are a traitor. How can you live knowing you didn’t save your friends?

The soldier raised his eyes. Tears glistened in them, despair was written on his face. But he remained silent.

The woman, as if sensing weakness, went on, unable to restrain her anger:

— You only thought of yourself, just to survive! You lived, but they are gone. How will you look their mothers in the eye? Their wives? You are a monster!

Each word struck straight into his heart. The soldier sat silently, lips pressed into a thin line. In his eyes there was neither anger nor protest — only pain.

It was clear: he already carried a burden heavier than any punishment. But the woman kept talking. For a long time. Again and again, as if deliberately rubbing salt into the wound.