She felt an abundance of love for all people and every living thing. Fear had left her completely; love and compassion had taken its place.
Anna placed her handgun on the floor in front of the icons of the sanctuary and proclaimed herself a soldier of God. "Thy will be done," she murmured and walked out of the dark church, shielding her eyes from the blazing afternoon sun with her hand.
"Sara, I can't go on killing now. I don't feel that is what God wants me to do. My calling is to heal the sick, tend to the wounded. I will pray to God to guide you." Anna fingered the cross on her chest.
"That is a beautiful cross, Anna."
"A gift from Nikolas, Sara. Who knows, someday you might wear one, too."
"My boyfriend gave me one but I only wore it once." Sara came closer to Anna. "So, aren't we going to look for our men?"
"You can, but I must now go where I am needed. There must be thousands of wounded out there." She put her arms around Sara in an embrace. "Good-bye, Sara, and God be with you." They kissed each other farewell, and as Anna left, she turned around. "You'll find me with the wounded, Sara." Sure of herself, as she never had been before, Anna headed west toward Maleme.
***
"Thank you, but for now I prefer to walk" was her reply to the army truck and ambulance drivers going her way.
"Aren't you afraid?" asked a young Australian soldier. Anna did not answer. She just looked blankly at him and kept on walking.
Coming to a mansion, she saw a lot of civilians going in and out. Many of them she recognized. When Anna approached the building, she was stopped by a stern guard. From him she learned that the whole Greek government was meeting there.
"What are they all doing here?" she asked the guard.
"We are waiting for orders from the British to evacuate," replied the young lieutenant, whom Anna had also met, in Athens, at her father's gatherings. "Would you like to join us?"
"No, no, thank you," replied Anna.
"What are you doing here alone in the middle of a battlefield, Miss Bouras?"
"I am looking for my fiancé, the captain of the Hellas."
"But Miss-
"I know ... Do you know if there were any wounded survivors?"
"I don't know, Miss ... All the field hospitals are full and most men have no identification."
"Do you have some water?" asked Anna, as she was feeling faint. The cold water on her face revived her. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "Now I must go."