Spring 1941. The friendly Novikov family is raising wonderful children. Daughter Katya loves to play football with the boys and doesn't want to grow up at all. One day, rushing to a football match, Katya and her friends see another yard team in a vacant lot, led by a seasoned hooligan named Ryzhiy. Katya suggests a dangerous bet, with the football field at stake...

The war began for Katya when she learned that Pashka had gone to the military registration and enlistment office and asked to go to the front. That day, Katya's father and Mikhail were seen off to the front in the Novikovs' apartment. At the station, from where trains took people to the terrible war, many destinies intertwined. Katya rushed as fast as she could, but did not have time to say goodbye: on the empty platform, she found only her mother with little Petya in her arms...

Pavel tells Katya about her parents' arrest and persuades her to leave the city with little Alyosha. In the morning, Maria Alekseyevna sees Pavel through the window, leaving Katya's. Ivan Aleksandrovich promises to find out why Katya's mother, Anna Sergeevna, was arrested, and Nina asks Seva to talk to his father, a member of the district party committee, and do everything possible to have her released...

Pavel tells Katya about her parents' arrest and persuades her to leave the city with little Alyosha. In the morning, Maria Alekseyevna sees Pavel through the window, leaving Katya's. Ivan Aleksandrovich promises to find out why Katya's mother, Anna Sergeevna, was arrested, and Nina asks Seva to talk to his father, a member of the district party committee, and do everything possible to have her released...

Trucks with a batch of Katyusha shells leave the evacuated plant. Ivan Aleksandrovich Gordeyev, a friend of the Novikov family and Nina's father, is in one of the cars. He is supposed to take out secret documents. A group of saboteurs attacks the column with the aim of destroying the trucks and seizing the documents, but they are ambushed by a partisan detachment. Gordeyev manages to escape. And Katya tries to evacuate the wounded from the city, but... the Germans are all around. Soon they capture the city... An announcement is heard on the radio: all Soviet servicemen are considered prisoners of war and must report to the commandant's office. That same day, Barsukov runs to Katya and asks her to take Seva with him. Despite the fact that he is considered a coward ready to give up everyone, Katya, Alexei and Sergei carry the wounded Seva to their place at night. All routes out of the city are cut off, patrols are posted everywhere...

An announcement is heard on the radio: all Soviet servicemen are considered prisoners of war and must report to the commandant's office. That same day, Barsukov runs to Katya and asks her to take Seva with him. Despite the fact that he is considered a coward, ready to give everyone up, Katya, together with Alexei and Sergei, carry the wounded Seva to their place at night. All routes out of the city are cut off, patrols are posted everywhere...

Katya is going to take the wounded to the village to her aunt Klavdia, but she does not remember the exact route. In the forest, the girl understands that they are lost, but there is nowhere to return to... Sergei and Alexei go to look for the road, leaving the wounded to rest. In the conversation, Alexei tries to find out where Sergei fought, but he suspiciously avoids answering... But is it really safe in a remote village? At the well, Klavdia meets Zoya, a gossip who talks incessantly about Fyodor and his partisan detachment and openly hints that if the Germans find out about this, the village will be burned. Klavdia understands that it is better not to quarrel with Zoya, and tells her about her distraught niece who escaped from the city, and she herself hurries to Fyodor's wife, Maria, and begs her to flee the village. Klavdia takes their little daughter with her...

But is it really safe in a remote village? At the well, Klavdiya meets Zoya, a gossip who talks incessantly about Fyodor and his partisan detachment and openly hints that if the Germans find out about this, the village will be burned down. Klavdiya understands that it is better not to quarrel with Zoya, and tells her about her mad niece who has escaped from the city, and she herself hurries to Fyodor's wife, Maria, and begs her to flee the village. Klavdiya takes their little daughter with her...

After Fuad the Kerosene Man's visit, no one could sleep in Klavdia's house. Everyone understood that if he gave them away, no one would be saved. Pavel persuades Katya to go into the forest with little Anyuta, but Katya does not believe that Fuad is a traitor. By morning it becomes clear: this time everything worked out. But the wounded have to go... Katya and Klavdia go into the forest to leave a note for the partisans in the agreed place, and in a couple of days to take all the wounded who are able to walk into the forests... Leaving the village, the fascists gather their wounded into their homes, shooting the remaining residents. Klavdia runs out into the street with a blanket in her hands and covers the man she had to look after. The officer, appreciating the care, orders not to kill her.

Leaving the village, the fascists gather their wounded into their homes, shooting the remaining residents. Klavdiya runs out into the street with a blanket in her hands and covers the man she had to look after. The officer, appreciating the care, orders not to kill her. They also "pitied" the headman, hoping that his own people would shoot him. All the other inhabitants of Klavdiya's house are spared by a German who sympathized with Katya. In just a few days, Red Army soldiers will come to the village, and Pavel will be arrested right on the street...

Katya meets her grandfather Matvey by the river, beyond which the ruined city darkens. The old man takes the girl to the other bank on a homemade ferry, telling her how people from all sides are returning to where ruins, hunger and mines await them. The first person she meets at home is Nina's grandfather. It turns out that their train was bombed. Nina's mother died before his eyes, and he is sure that the others did not survive either. But Katya believes that Nina and Alyosha survived... Spring 1945. Ivan Alexandrovich and Alyosha return from evacuation. A long-awaited letter from the orphanage where Petya is waiting for Tatyana at the post office. Katya works as an operating room nurse at the hospital. After another shift, she comes home, exhausted, where all those who are so dear to her are waiting for her at the set table. The first toast is for the return of those who are awaited in this house and will not stop waiting...

Spring 1945. Ivan Aleksandrovich and Alyosha return from evacuation. A long-awaited letter from the orphanage where Petya is is waiting for Tatyana at the post office. Katya works as an operating room nurse at the hospital. After another shift, she comes home, exhausted, where all those who are so dear to her are waiting for her at the set table. The first toast is for the return of those who are awaited in this house and will not stop waiting...