Summary

In Chapter 16, the partisans ate in the house where the girls had stayed. Lev awkwardly attempted to talk with Vika. She stared at an ibex head. He awkwardly asked her if her father had been a hunter. She replied that he had not. Then he mentioned that he had read that many snipers had first been hunters. She continued gazing at the stuffed ibex. Next, he showed her his German knife, and she held it and analyzed it. Then she showed him her Finnish knife. After looking at it, Lev complimented her sniping. She looked at him coldly, and he thought her blue eyes looked “predatory,” like those of a wolf (154). She questioned why he was staying at that house, and he replied vaguely, simply saying he had secret special orders. She mentioned her team’s goal: to kill Abendroth. Then he told...