Ashes To Dust

by Eden Rose

  Chapter Twenty: Milo

  Nancy’s eyes dance from the juicy tidbits she learned just now. She has something on me that could get me deemed a traitor to the Fuhrer. And then she also has something that could get me killed.

  However, I can see her mind turn in a way to spin this to get what she wants. She wants something out of this, I can sense it.

  “I don’t want to talk to you right now,” I exclaim turning on my heels before she can say anything more.

  “I really don’t care what you want or don’t want, Milo.”

  She places a hand on my shoulder to stop me from leaving, but I shake her off. “Don’t touch me, Nancy.”

  “I bet you weren’t saying that to your Jewish girlfriend. Does the Fuhrer know you’re sleeping with the help? I wonder if the Reichsführer will care.”

  “Leave it alone!” I say again but this time leave her in the latrines. Let her be in the room full of shit and pee.

  It’s rather fitting, don’t you think?

  *

  It is not very often the Reichsfuhrer calls a meeting at the camp. It’s not common to have every single ranking member of Auschwitz-Birkenau to be sitting around a table discussing camp happenings.

  That’s when I see Nancy’s smug face from across the room. Did she have something to do with this?

  I will kill her. I will fucking pull a gun on her and get rid of her before anyone else can blink.

  I know she’s going to try and get my wife killed. I can see it In the smirk on her face.

  “You are probably wondering why I’m here. I’m here to discuss the Typhus epidemic.”

  I nod my head along with everyone else. After the woman I mercy killed, I knew it wouldn’t be long before news climbed the ranks.

  “The doctor has brought it to my attention a whole barrack is contaminating the rest of the camp. With how infectious this disease is, the onslaught of this disease is going to tank us. The Soviets are already asking questions. We are too close to their land. We don’t need them coming over here with the rest of their friends and try to stir some shit up.”

  He looks uneasy, even as a drunk, we all know how much he hates the Russians. I never could figure out if it were hate or fear, but he feels something for them that isn’t normal.

  However, he’s the second in command. He wouldn’t show fear.

  “We need to get it under control. Do we have spare barracks to place these prisoners as we get rid of the Typhus in the infected barrack?”

  One of the newer officers, pipes up. “Why would we want to save them? They are just going to die anyway. Sooner or later, they are going to die.”

  My head shakes.

  “Maybe we could separate the inmates who are giving us something of worth…” A brand new guard chimes in with no idea he signed his death warrant.

  The ranking officers laugh with malice.

  “Is there such a thing?” Klaus spits.

  “Ask Milo Stein. He seems to think so,” Nancy hisses.

  My head snaps up. This bitch! “Don’t you have plans to be on your back for the afternoon?” I counter.

  “What were you doing with an inmate twice? Once in the warehouse and once in the latrine.”

  The doctor pipes up next. “I doubt the same thing you do in the warehouse with inmates, Nancy.”

  My head swims with my need to protect Anya and my alliance to the oath I swore to protect for the cause.

  Duty versus my heart.

  The Reichsfuhrer speaks up next. “I didn’t come all this way to measure dicks. I came here to tell you we need to start taking preemptive measures. After we lost one of our own because of Typhus, the Fuhrer takes all outbreaks as a serious thing.”

  “Are you talking about lining everyone up and shooting them? Or are you talking about throwing them into the chambers?” Klaus asks.

  I shake. One of the very prisoners they are discussing happens to be my wife. They are discussing the fate of my wife!

  “I think what we need to do is take them to the chambers and get it over with,” Nancy suggests casually.

  The woman is getting darker each time she speaks.

  “I agree!”

  Shit.

  “The gas chambers are full all day and all night. They are running at full capacity as it is,” I explain. “We are at full capacity. With all of the new trains coming filled with the rats, we don’t have any more room.”

  I’m trying everything I could think of to get them off the trail of Anya. I need to get them focused on how it is going to be a bad thing to throw everyone into the gas chambers.

  He smiles. “Spoken like a doctor. Your code and ethics for your fellowship doesn’t trump our cause. We have to push through and limit the spread.”

  My head spins. I’m anxiously trying to grasp at straws to help keep Anya alive. Anything I could do? It doesn’t seem like it.

  “So, it’s decided. The infected barracks are going to be gassed tonight,” he decrees with finality.

  Shit!

  There’s only one thing I can do.

  There is one desperate act I could do that would save her from the gas chambers.

  And that would be running away.

  Chapter Twenty-One: Anya

  Every time an officer got close to me as I walked back from the factory, I jumped. They had to know by now Milo is my husband. We have been almost caught now twice! They couldn’t be that unobservant.

  Could they?

  Joan is still talking to me, but not like before. She must be as mad at me as I am. I’m so pissed that I’m weak and need Milo.

  I’m mad at myself that I need him. I’m mad at him that my body responds to such a horrible person the way it does.

  That makes me a horrible person.

  I’m walking past the warehouse where Milo and I had sex. I feel the pressure in my lower muscles every time I think about him that way. He makes me want him. I’m caught in the thoughts of being with him when I feel a hand grab my arm.

  “I didn’t do it!” I whisper immediately putting my hands up to protect my head from the beating I would probably be getting for just breathing.

  “Anya, it’s me!” Milo whispers in my ear.

  “What are you doing here?” I mumble.

  “We need to leave! Now.”

  I look around at all of the other Jews roaming around me with their half-dead expressions on their faces. “Where are we going to go?” I ask dumbly.

  “They are going to gas your barracks tonight. We need to leave before they do it.”

  My face turns to his to make sure he’s not lying to me.

  “What do you mean? How am I supposed to walk out of here?” I beg. He has to be crazy. He has to know how crazy he seems. It’s not as if I could just walk out as if I owned the place!

  “I need you to wait for me right here. Don’t leave. Do you understand me?” I know he is referring to my family going into hiding. He couldn’t possibly hang that over my head, could he?

  “What’s the plan?” I blurt. I have to know what he’s planning on doing.

  “Give me five minutes.”

  He doesn’t say anything more to me as he turns on his feet to walk away.

  The distance is too much. I feel the absurdity in this as I wait. Every second spent away from him as I wait for whatever he has planned, has me worrying even more.

  It has to mean something that he wants to protect me like this, right? It has to mean that he loves me as much as I love him? He doesn’t just see me a Jew…

  It’s not long before he comes back with a long fur coat and a furry hat in his hands. “Put this on, you have to move quickly!” He thrusts the items into my hands.

  With wobbly hands, I manage to stuff my arms through the coat arm holes and shove the hat on.

  For the first time in almost three weeks, I feel heat. I feel comfort and heat.

  “Are you ready?” He begs.

  I nod my head. “Are you sure?”

  I have heard of
people who have tried to escape the camp only to be brought back in and taught a lesson. A lesson I would never want to learn.

  “Anya, we either leave now or we are both going to die. There’s no waiting involved anymore.”

  I look over at my husband. The man who has sworn to protect me and cherish me and know the truth.

  He meant it.

  Epilogue

  To the outside world, we have it all.

  It took six months for my hair to start growing back in and I love the feeling of the soft strands of hair running through my fingertips.

  After Milo pushed me through a hole in the fence, we vowed to never talk about anything that had happened there.

  For the past year, we have been living as the Jaspers in America. The Jaspers are from Europe but have moved around the whole time they have lived in The United States before finding the right state to live in. The right city to call their own.

  That, of course, is false. We wanted to throw off all of our neighbors into believing we escaped the war by being state-side this whole time. Anything to discourage them from digging deeper into our lives.

  Milo has changed his name to Jack, working as a doctor in the local hospital. He doesn’t discuss anything he saw or did at Auschwitz because then people will start asking questions.

  Questions that we are trying to avoid being asked.

  “I heard the bounty on my head has raised,” Milo says casually as we eat chicken.

  It has taken me a long time to get my stomach used to eating food again. “How much is it now?” I ask. I’m always eager to know how much the treachery of him disserting his post costs.

  I know they want him.

  He shrugs. “I don’t pay attention to how much I am worth.”

  “Do you regret it?” I ask.

  He shakes his head. “Never have I regretted one second with you, my love.”

  “I love you, too,” I reply.

  We have just finished our meal when someone knocks on the door. I instantly jump. Our neighbors don’t bother us after a certain time of night. It must be something bad.

  Milo blows me a kiss before making the trek to the door.

  “Are you Milo Stein?” A man asks in English.

  “No. I’m Jack Jasper,” Milo answers.

  “Are you Milo Stein?” The man repeats.

  “Officer, my name is Jack Jasper.”

  At hearing Milo’s real name, I knew without a shadow of doubt, we have been found.

  Thank you for reading Ashes To Dust. Anya and Milo’s story has just begun! Someone has to pay for the crimes committed at Auschwitz. With the infamous doctor at large, is Milo going to be blamed for the atrocities that took place? Stay tuned!

  XoXo-

  Eden

  *

  Chapter Fifteen: Anya

  ****