A war photographer enters the heart of the battlefield during the Spanish Civil War by joining the men in the trenches to capture footage of the fighting. He begins introducing himself to the men and learning more about the culture and personalities of the soldiers. He is nearly killed twice over the span of one morning, and returns to the trenches feeling confident in his work and survival. As he lays in the trench exhausted from his near death experiences, a soldier asks if he is Russian. The photographer tells the man he is American, not Russian. The soldier explains that he is from Extremadura, and hates all foreigners but most especially Russians. The photographer asks if the Extremaduran is a Fascist. He denies this, reiterating his dislike for foreigners and listing the members of his family who have died in war at the hands of foreigners. This seems to be his reason for fighting and defending the war when the photographer makes comments alluding to the senselessness of it. Later on that evening, a French man tries to leave the trenches and abandon the horror of the war. The commanders follow him over the ridge, and shoot him for deserting. The Extremaduran tells the photographer about a soldier he knew who was also from Extremadura, and was put on the front lines. He became scared, and shot himself in the hand so he would be taken out of battle. Instead, they wrapped up his hand and sent him back to the trench, where his hand was infected and eventually had to be amputated. After healing in the hospital from the amputation, he is brought back to the trenches by the commander and shot in the head with no warning, as a message to the other soldiers to never self-inflict wounds again in an attempt to escape. After hearing this story and seeing the French man shot down, the photographer finds his assistant and insists that it is time for them to leave and return to Madrid.