Gao Fei had never asked Sokholov for anything before. Now, he merely wanted to keep a prisoner temporarily alive—one whose death or survival made little difference either way—so Sokholov naturally had no reason to refuse.
Glancing at Parker, Sokholov said flatly, "Watch him. If he does anything out of line, take him out immediately."
"Yes, sir."
Sokholov turned around and shouted at Glaski, "Set up the machine gun here! Hey, you, asshole! Don't touch those corpses!"
If an enemy had just been killed, the body was usually safe.
But if a corpse had already been lying there before they entered the position, it was best left undisturbed. By now, the Bakhmut battlefield had turned into a hell where every underhanded trick was used. A primed hand grenade could easily be trapped under a corpse, and an assault rifle lying on the ground might well be the tripwire for a bounding mine.
Trouble wasn't guaranteed, but there was no need to invite it unless absolutely necessary.
1st Squad had several new guys. Even though they were experienced recruits, not everyone was as low-maintenance and dependable as Gao Fei.
So Sokholov had his hands quite full.
With only a handful of men, Sokholov easily assigned everyone a position and task, though there was only so much they could do. All that was left was to wait until they reestablished contact with the main force.
At the moment, only two people had nothing to do: one was Gao Fei, and the other, naturally, was Parker, the prisoner.
"Thank you,"
Parker said sincerely, thanking Gao Fei. Then he lowered his voice. "You saved my life. Given the chance, I'll definitely repay the favor."
The words sounded familiar. Gao Fei quickly remembered—right, he had said the exact same thing to Osokayev.
"Drop your gun and hand over your hand grenades. You'd better play it smart—being a prisoner is definitely better than being dead."
Parker chuckled. "I'm not stupid. I fought hard just to get a chance to live. Being a prisoner is fine with me. I've got a few friends in Wagner—as long as I survive today, everything will be fine."
Gao Fei couldn't help asking, "Oh? You know Wagner higher-ups?"
"Not the higher-ups, but regular guys work just as well. Wagner's operated in Syria and the Middle East for a long time, and I've dealt with them before. Look, even if they're just ordinary soldiers in Wagner, as long as someone's willing to vouch for me, what's stopping me from joining up? What reason would Wagner have to turn down a veteran like me?"
Gao Fei frowned. "Fight for Wagner? Are you serious?"
"Of course. I'm a mercenary. I don't take sides. Even if I join Wagner as a prisoner, they still pay, so what's the problem?"
After throwing the question back at Gao Fei, Parker lowered his voice and said, "You saved my life; I should at least know your name."
"Rex."
"Rex, how much do they pay over here?"
"Well... two thousand euros, plus bonuses."
Gao Fei bragged just a little, inflating his base pay from one thousand euros to two thousand.
"Only two thousand euros? Are the bonuses big? Forget it, no way they're high."
Gao Fei looked at him warily. "You're a veteran mercenary, and you know people in Wagner. What, you don't even know what Wagner pays?"
"Brother, that's where you don't get it. Wagner advertises out there that you can make over twenty grand a month, and God knows how many suckers fell for it and came here."
Gao Fei couldn't be bothered to debate that with Parker, but he was curious about one thing: "How much do you make on the Ukrainian side?"
"Five hundred. US dollars."
"What?"
Gao Fei was stunned, staring at him in utter disbelief. "Only five hundred?"
"Yep."
"And you still came?"
Parker's face flushed with fury. "A good friend of mine—we were comrades for years. The bastard told me the Americans were footing the bill for Ukraine, offering a thousand a month to green recruits, but for a veteran like me, it'd be thirty thousand dollars a month. Fuck!"
"And you bought that?"
"Why wouldn't I? We were brothers-in-arms for years! We served in the same mercenary group for four years and fought side by side countless times. How could I have ever imagined he'd con me? Besides, the Americans really do pay top dollar to anyone who fits their criteria—we all know that."
Parker looked thoroughly depressed. "What I didn't know was that the son of a bitch was Ukrainian. I thought he was just like me, coming to Ukraine for a quick buck. But no, all he cared about was defending his homeland. That asshole conned at least several dozen guys into coming to Ukraine. Fuck!"
Gao Fei thought about it and decided Parker couldn't really be blamed for getting duped.
Who would ever expect a close comrade to scam them?
Now Gao Fei was starting to feel a bit of sympathy for Parker; they were, in a sense, fellow sufferers.
"Your friend is a real piece of work. Damn him."
Parker gave a silent nod, let out a breath, and asked, "Rex, why are you fighting for Wagner?"
Gao Fei said in a low voice, "Pretty much the same as you."
"What?!"
Parker sounded astonished, but his eyes lit up in an instant. Unable to conceal his excitement, he pressed, "Duped into coming, too?"
"No, but... forced. Bottom line is, I don't want to fight. People die too easily here. The risk is way too high—no amount of money is worth this."
"Exactly! If you want to make money, go to Africa, go to the Middle East, go to South America. Fuck, you can make more money anywhere else! And the main thing is safety! As a mercenary in Africa, running into a sixty-millimeter mortar counts as a major battle. But here? Here..."
Parker couldn't even finish the sentence. He let out a heavy sigh and said, "I'd rather make an easy five grand in Africa than fifty grand here."
Everyone understood the logic: what good was making money if you weren't alive to spend it?
Gao Fei said nothing, because he didn't know what to say.
The more you knew, the more miserable you were. Now that he knew there were opportunities to make easy money elsewhere, yet had to endure this hellhole, how could Gao Fei possibly feel happy?
"You'd better shut up. Keep talking, and I might not be able to stop myself from killing you."
Gao Fei felt an inexplicable surge of irritation, probably because Parker had dangled an impossible dream right in front of his eyes.
Parker understood what was tormenting Gao Fei. He said earnestly, "Rex, brother, listen to me. All you have to do is stay alive until your contract ends! I'll introduce you to a mercenary group. I guarantee you'll pull in at least ten thousand a month in base pay. Trust me—no, trust your own skills. A sharpshooter like you is pure gold anywhere you go. Outfits would kill to recruit you."
Gao Fei actually believed that part.
Judging by Sokholov's attitude and the platoon leader's and company commander's reactions, Gao Fei felt that as long as he could make it out of the Russia-Ukraine war alive, he would definitely be able to land a high-paying job.
Ten thousand dollars a month—that was over seventy thousand yuan! Way better than working an ordinary job.
Gao Fei couldn't help nodding, but he quickly added, "You're not wrong, but I have to finish my contract first. The guys are still here."
After only two days, it was already impossible for Gao Fei to just abandon Sokholov, Samir Bek, and the rest.
There was no explaining it; if you knew, you knew.
Parker said excitedly, "I know, of course I know! But how long can this war last? Battles always end eventually. When the time comes, wouldn't it be great to take your brothers with you to get rich? Think about it—veterans who've survived real war command a whole different price! A sharpshooter who walks out of Bakhmut alive? God, I can't even imagine how much they'd have to offer just to keep you. Brother, you're going to strike it rich!"
Gao Fei felt tempted, but his guard began to rise as well.
"Why are you so eager? If I make big money, what does that have to do with you? What are you getting so hyped about?"
Excessive courtesy always hid an ulterior motive. Gao Fei had already suffered from that lesson; he wasn't going to fall for sweet talk so easily again.
Parker glanced around, then lowered his voice. "Because I want to start my own mercenary group. Brother, with my experience and your marksmanship, we could make easy money in Africa. It'd be effortless for me to find contracts, and then we'd just fight a couple of skirmishes here and there. Making money would be a breeze."
To be honest, Gao Fei was all too familiar with pulling something out of nothing, and dangling pie in the sky was nothing new to him either.
A prisoner whose life wasn't even in his own hands wanted Gao Fei to work for him. Parker wasn't just dreaming; he was getting way ahead of himself.
Gao Fei offered a faint smile and said, "All right, I can't be bothered to talk about this anymore. Just one thing: make sure you survive today before you start daydreaming."
Chapter 40