The events unfold in the spring of 1942. Varya Semchenko, an orphan, runs to the front, but is sent back. During the enemy shelling, the children of the orphanage die under the rubble, but Varya miraculously survives. During the evacuation, she lags behind the convoy and, to avoid arrest, takes the name of her dead friend Ani. She is graduating from nursing school and goes to the front with her new friend Katya. Before that, the girls swear not to start novels in the war.

But on the first day at the front, the beautiful Katya falls in love with a young spy Mitya. Ana also fails to keep her promise – she gets closer to the commander of the reconnaissance detachment Savely. But the girl is afraid of her feelings, because then she will have to confess to a lie.