Watchtower

At that time, everyone had seen many World War II movies and in those movies, they not only shot, but they also threw grenades. The heroic soldier would use them to attack tanks, sometimes successfully, sometimes not, or he would lie down on the grenade and give his life to protect his comrades from the explosion. However, at the end of the film, he always got the glory.

When a rookie picked up a live grenade, he immediately remembered Hamlet's great and long monologue: 'Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; And thus the native hue of resolution Is sickled o'er with the pale cast of thought.'

All this accompanied by stories of accidents in the army, and scaremongering about the dangers that the ignorant rookies believed almost to the last word. Yet the Vécsey grenade used at the time was considered one of the safest of its kind, as far as safety is concerned in the case of a lethal device. The instructors knew this, but the hopeful law students who had only thrown stones in high school had no idea.

On that day, the practitioners woke up to a sunny day. The wind brought the warm, late summer, dry smell of hay and the ripe smell of distant fruit. Somewhere far away, millions of civilians were living their ordinary, free lives.

The platoon lined up behind a trench at a safe distance on the training area.

Getz led the way, then took the dismantled hand grenade from the crate at his feet and paced up and down the line wall, explaining:

"This is our favorite and well-known hand grenade, which can kill several people easily, but can tear off the hands and fingers of the clumsy, so pianists are not recommended to practice with it. In the classroom, we have talked about how it has built, how to activate it, but this is the first real, killing monster you will ever get your hands on. I am just showing you the parts and assembly as a reminder."

He put the fuse in, twisted the grenade with the handle and held it up.

"This little beauty here is the insurance pin. If you pull this stick out, you can see through the handle, but nothing happens yet. You have to throw it when the firing pin slips into the flapper. If the swing is successful, you have to throw it as far as possible, but preferably on target. I will show you the move. Jump in the pit with it, pull the fuse pin out and take a swing, then throw it far away. Sergeant Getz will be at your side if you need help. I will show you. Watch me."

Getz jumped into the hole, unlocked the grenade, jerked it, and threw away. There was a great silence until then, everything and everyone watched anxiously. Boom! The earth spattered, the fire flared, the smoke rose with the dust.

If a grain of oats has fit in that particular place so far, it certainly will not after this.

"Now, who wants to be the first to present his ability" the Sergeant smiled, looking at the frozen soldiers.

There were no volunteers, of course, and the faces were full of unconcealed fear. Everyone tried to be as inconspicuous as possible.

Getz was enjoying the situation more and more.

"Well, future ministers and chief-justices, how will you run the country if you leave your balls so easily?"

All of them were scared, but Cinka was the most frightened. He had been anxious for two days when he heard that there was going to be a grenade throwing. A grenade had killed his grandfather during the war. At home, as a small child, he had heard the terrible details many times. He was sick with fear of explosions, but he knew he could not avoid the exercise.

"Well, Mister Palefaces, if you don't have the guts, perhaps an Indian could set an example. All right, soldier boy, quit!"

Shaking in every sense, Artur went for the grenade held out to him.

"Come on darling, do not be so scared. Do you want to live forever, Winnetou?"

Cinka took a deep breath, like a swimmer before a dive who is not sure he will be able to stay afloat.

He started pulling out the safety pin.

"Hey, Indian warrior! Jump in the pit first!"

He just growled under his breath to die and jumped into the trenches.

There he unlocked the grenade and quickly threw it away.

Everyone was waiting for the explosion, but nothing happened. The grenade flew a long way, but hit the ground dead next to a mole hole.

"Indian warrior, what are you doing? The only way to kill an enemy with this is to hit him right in the forehead. Go out and get it, bring it back and throw it again properly."

"Fuck, this poor bastard is going to blow himself up!" Koncz whispered to Voszk.

Voszk did not say anything, just nervously snapped his fingers.

"Come on, gypsy first violinist! Would you go out, get that explosive instrument, and fetch it for me, please?"

Cinka was in a complete panic. He began to sweat and shake. He could not move.

"Get out of here, soldier, damn it! Bring it back!"

The commanders chuckled softly.

"Look at that monkey, he's going to cry," said one.

Cinka was indeed in tears. His tears were falling.

"Oh, my God in the heaven! Get a hold of yourself, Indian friend, or I'll chastise you."

Cinka did not move, he cried.

Voszk had had enough of the bullying.

"Comrade Sergeant! Request permission to bring in the grenade!"

Getz chuckled.

"You just shut up, soldier! My gypsy friend needs to get over his fear, otherwise he will never be a man, and he will just remain a whiny tiny kindergarten girl."

"Comrade Sergeant, this man is sick. I request permission to bring in the grenade instead."

"All right, wise guy, fuck it! If you want to be such a hero, but do not get your ass blow up, because the DA's uncle is going to have me in the jail."

Voszk ignored the danger and ran for the grenade. It was obvious to him that the device had not snapped, because Cinka had not jerked it before he threw it. Of course, even in such cases it is not a good idea to be careful, because the devil never sleeps. Just as it is not a good idea to look down the tube of a gun that is supposed to be empty.

He carefully replaced the safety pin, then walked over to Getz and pressed it into his hand.

"Here it is, Comrade Sergeant!"

"All right, all right, all right! Let's do it softly, smart guy. I will put this baby aside and we will blow up all the rest of the stuff. In addition, you, Cinka, shame on you. One of the greatest sins in the army is the cowardice. You will be a coward even as a lawyer. Get out of my sight!"

"Don't worry about it" Voszk whispered to him. "Get behind me at the end of the queue and be silent!"

Everything went well in the exercise after that. Cinka slowly followed Voszk and finally stopped shaking, and he did not say a word to anyone.