The commander’s blank stare toward the ground between him and Eichmann never wavered. He took the tongue lashing like a scolded dog.
“It is you who are responsible for bringing us here,” Eichmann continued. “Your ineptness has taken the lives of most of your crew. You are not fit to lead sheep! I am relieving you of your command and will give the orders now.” His hand shook as rage grew in his voice, his face and chest reddening, peppered with white splotches. “Say something, you spineless worm!”
Christoph weakly lifted his gaze. In practically one smooth motion, his right hand went down to his sidearm. The Luger snapped up, the barrel leveling with Eichmann’s forehead. The crackle of a 9mm bullet discharging from the chamber sliced the tense moment in half. A hole the size of one Reichspfennig coin appeared between the SS agent’s eyes, sending his head backward, and his body following it to the ground a second later.
With the gun still in hand, pointing at a body no longer there, the commander shifted his gaze over to Stangl.
The air stilled and time stopped. Seemingly, no one dared to breathe.
Stangl wiped the corner of his mouth and cleared his throat. He slowly reached down and carefully pulled a pack of cigarettes from the fallen officer’s pocket. Before tapping one from the pack, he said, “You may put your weapon away, Commander Christoph Neuzetser. Apparently, our dear Eichmann misjudged you. Of which, I am sure, he wholeheartedly regrets at this moment.”
Though everyone showed shock over the event, Bach felt like he was the one taken most off-guard. Something had shifted in the commander’s psyche. Bach was close enough to the man to know he would not have reacted this drastically before Erik was taken by the pterosaur. This was a desperate time. People make desperate choices when options are few.
The brush and trees near the front of the line rolled and shook like a great wind blew past.
Lange, in the lead, had been captivated by the events of the last few minutes, just as all the others. As he turned and raised his rifle toward the disturbance, a dinosaur burst from the foliage.
The beast towered more than twice as tall as a man. It stood upright on two thick legs and had a long neck with a snake-like head. Though it looked similar to the huge beast that had attacked the camp, this creature had an array of feathers that ran from the top of its head, down its spine, and all the way to its thin and relatively short tail.
With lightning speed, the therizinosaurus’ right arm carried an oversized hand with straight claws over a meter long into Lange’s chest. The brave warrior managed sporadic fire while impaled by the beast’s hand, the claws so deep the pointed ends jutted from his back.
The dinosaur roared in anger and struck quickly to end the life of its prey, bringing its head down, and crushing Lange’s skull with its powerful jaws until it disappeared. Blood gushed up from the stub of his neck like an artesian well.
Of all the dinosaurs they had encountered, this one looked the deadliest. It had features of a T. rex and the fierce turkey-sized dinosaurs combined.
The surprise of the attack held everyone immobile for the first few seconds. Bach was the first to raise his rifle and fire. The others quickly joined in the defense.
The dinosaur shrieked, sounding like two rusty ship hulls scraping together. It flung Lange aside as if he were a ragdoll and charged forward.
The next crewman in line became in immediate danger and had little time to backpedal before its head snaked over on its long neck, and bit down on one of his shoulders. The man yelled like a newly castrated pig as the dinosaur lifted him off the ground and slung him into a nearby tree.
Bullets poked bleeding holes in the dinosaur’s pale green chest but did nothing to slow it at this point. The men scattered for their lives as it advanced, claws slashing the air before it, and its head swiveling in search of its next victim.
The commander, though, had stood his ground. His rifle was on his shoulder, and he steadily pumped lead into the oncoming beast. A brave action, for sure, but Bach saw this as a death wish come true more than a heroic response.
In mere seconds, the dinosaur would be on top of the commander. Bach couldn’t stand idle and let this happen. Tossing his rifle aside, he sprinted toward Christoph.
The dinosaur roared again as its head shot like a missile toward its next target.
The commander steadily fired as if he were in no danger whatsoever.
Bach crashed into Christoph, sending them both to the ground. The dinosaur’s mouth clamped down on mostly empty air. One of its teeth, though, had managed to scrape the commander’s left forearm.
EEERRRAAAPPPHHH! the beast screamed in frustration.
Not waiting for the dinosaur to take advantage of two easy targets, Bach sprang to his feet, helped Christoph up, and pushed him over to a fallen tree for refuge.
The tree was huge and situated in a way, amongst the large branches, to offer semi-shelter. Neither Bach or Christoph had their rifles to join in on the firefight. The thought of using their sidearms was blatantly ridiculous.
Another crewman’s death scream announced the battle was far from over.
Christoph tried to leave the hiding place, but Bach held him firmly in check. “Commander, wait. I have a plan.”
Christoph looked like he was going to protest but held his words.
Just as another man cried in pain, Bach emerged from the tree’s cover, standing on a branch. The dinosaur immediately turned its head his way.
“Over here! Come over here!” the Lieutenant yelled while waving his hands.
Faster than he anticipated, the beast bounded toward him. He barely had time to pull the grenade from his belt, set the charge, and be in the position to toss it as the dinosaur’s mouth gaped open to eat him.
The grenade left Bach’s hand at the last possible fraction of a second before he bailed from the tree branch. “Get down! Cover your head!” he said, pulling the commander to the ground with him. The tree trunk should protect them, but if the dinosaur’s head lingered above, shrapnel had a chance to get them both past the branches.
The grenade exploded. A few seconds later, something heavy thudded against the earth.
Bach scrambled through the tree limbs to get a look. All rifle fire had ceased by this point. The body of the therizinosaurus looked more massive than five bull elephants. The grenade had been effective. Its bottom jaw had become unhinged and a bloody mess. Apparently, shrapnel had found its brain.
Christoph had emerged from behind the tree and ran over to the nearest crewman, who stepped from the cover of the brush toward the dinosaur.
Bach made his climb over branches to join them.
Artur Phelps and another crewman took the gory task of examining the four-presumed dead. As expected, they would no longer have to endure the dangers of this accursed land.
The survivors eventually gathered near the head of the therizinosaurus.
“Look at that thing. It doesn’t even look real,” a crewman said. He reached his finger toward one of its glassy eyes.
“Leave it alone,” Christoph said.
“Our fortunes are running low, Commander. With Eichmann gone, and the four crewmen dead, we now total nine in number,” Stangl said. The man spoke as casually as if commenting on a difficult football match.
“We may be down to nine men, but my orders stand equally as well for one as a thousand. I will take the lead,” Christoph said, scratching his left forearm. “I do not know what will happen over the next few hours, as each coming minute is a mystery. Let me just say now, in case I do not have the opportunity in the future, that it has been an honor to serve with each of you in the Kriegsmarine.” He directed his attention to Stangl, and said, “Mr. Stangl, I honor your service to the Fatherland.”
Stangl shrugged his shoulders. “If I would have been born British, I would have bad teeth and been a confidant of Churchill. You take life too seriously, Commander.”
Christoph’s head listed to the side. After a few seconds of silence, h
e said. “Mr. Stangl, you are correct. I do take life seriously.” The Luger came up from its holster. Bullet met brain inside of Stangl’s skull.
None of the men flinched at the discharge of the weapon.
Stangl had made no attempt to dodge the attack, an indifferent expression held tightly on his face.
“The remaining eight of us will take life seriously,” Christoph said. “Gather what we need from our fallen brothers. Let us leave and face the future together.” Christoph scratched at his arm again. The wound was now red and swollen.
Chapter 19
Adam Rodrigue saw fear grow on Erik Neuzetser’s young face. The snapping of twigs behind him altered that he had failed to keep his guard up. His hunger had shadowed possible immediate dangers. Now, he might suffer his shortcomings by dying with an empty stomach.
His rifle resting within reach on a tree root, Adam sprang from his seat and snatched up his weapon. He spun around, expecting to see a reptilian behemoth with huge jaws and sharp teeth.
“Adam! It’s me, Wallace!” Hampton Wallace said, the barrel of his rifle and his head poking from the brush.
Rodrigue’s heart swelled. “Wallace! I can’t believe it’s you!”
“It’s me, all right. The rest of the crew is right behind me.”
“The rest of the crew? All of you came to look for me?” Adam asked.
Wallace chuckled. “Naw, it didn’t happen that way.” He lowered his head and his rifle barrel to the ground. “We got attacked yesterday. You know…I found Underwood.” His gaze returned to Adam. “And, uh…yeah. It was bad. Those dinosaurs came at us, and it was a blood bath. I’ve never seen anything like it—never imagined anything like that could ever happen. I don’t know how, but we managed to survive. Some of us, that is.”
Adam thought of the dinosaurs that he fought off and escaped. They were tough but not unstoppable. “I knew things would be bad. I managed to kill a couple, so I was hoping our guns would be enough to save the crew.”
“Yeah, the dinosaurs bleed just like any other wild animal. They’re, they’re just different than anything we’ve grown up with,” Wallace said. He shifted his gaze to Erik. “I see you’ve made a friend.”
Erik had remained seated with his knees together and his hands placed on top of one another in his lap. His eyes wide and his mouth tight, it was obvious the boy was scared.
“That ain’t no friend of ours.” Emerging from behind Wallace, Bob Brown stepped from the brush and into the open. “That’s a stinking Kraut.”
Brown was a gunner on the Sutton. Adam recognized the man, but really knew nothing about him.
“He’s just a kid. He’s okay,” Adam said, taking a step toward Brown.
“You know what they say. The only good Kraut is a dead Kraut,” Brown said, his words slow and threatening.
“Stand down, sailor,” Captain Brazo said as he and the others exited the brush and gathered by the tree. All eyes were on Erik.
Adam watched the men, most looking like they had been in the worst fight of their lives and lost. Expecting to see a larger number, he asked, “Are more coming?”
“I’m afraid not, Rodrigue,” Brazo said. “We lost over half the remaining crew yesterday before dark. I decided to take us north to a high point. There’s no way we can hope to survive where we are now. Ammo is getting low, and our food won’t last much longer.”
“So, you found me by accident,” Adam said.
“Yeah, though we did find your footprints by the tree bridge and knew you at least made it that far,” Brazo said.
“You sure are lucky,” Wallace said.
“I don’t know about luck. Saint Valerie watches over me.” Adam pulled the chain with the medal from under his shirt and displayed it across his chest.
“Saint Valerie didn’t do the rest of the crewmen much good,” Brown said. “Ain’t gonna do that Kraut over there much good, either.”
Another layer of tension fell over the situation. Adam knew if they ever made it back to camp there might be problems, but Erik was just a boy. He hadn’t killed anyone. He believed what he believed because he was taught by others. There was no way of holding someone his age responsible for what his country had done.
“Rodrigue, who is this? Where did you find him?” Brazo asked.
XO Slick stepped over to Brazo’s side.
Jim Stone meandered his way over near Erik.
“It was unbelievable. I had spent the night in a tree after dinosaurs had scared me in the opposite direction that I wanted to go. I thought about waiting for a search party to find me but decided to make it back to camp. That’s when I saw this boy come running down a rock hill. He was being chased by one of those flying dinosaurs. You know, the great big ones that kinda look like a bat. Anyway, I ran over to help and managed to get a few shots off at that dinosaur before it got him. His name is Erik, Erik Neuzetser.”
“Really? My name is Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer,” Brown said.
“No one asked you, Brown,” Slick said.
Brazo stepped closer to Erik. “You do speak English.”
Erik nodded. “Yes, I speak English.” His gaze locked on the captain’s.
“Tell me how you got here,” Brazo said.
“I am not sure how we got here,” Erik said.
“Erik, this is not an interrogation. We know that you were on the U-boat. The U-boat that put two torpedoes in my ship. I’m going to be truthful to you. I know you have no reason to trust me, but I am asking for your trust. I will be honest with you if you will be honest with me. Our countries are at war, but that won’t last for long. Hitler is dead, and Germany is going to fall to the Allies. I promise I will do nothing to hurt you, or the others from the U-boat, if you will promise me the same,” Brazo said.
“You’re negotiating with a kid?” Brown sarcastically asked.
“You’re going to be negotiating with my fist if you don’t pipe-down,” Jim Stone said.
“One more outburst from you and you’ll do ninety days in the brig when we get back,” Brazo said.
Brown looked like he was about to spout off a rebuttal, but XO Slick stuck his nose in the man’s face. The crewman’s insubordination melted, and he turned his gaze to the ground.
“Erik, tell me something. We’re not hiding anything from you. You can count how many of us are left alive,” Brazo said.
The young boy looked a little more relaxed. He said, “We were escaping Germany. Yes, we do realize that the war is lost. We meant no harm to anyone. I was in the command room when the Destroyer spotted us and came in for an attack. The commander had no choice but to defend the U-boat.”
“Where were you going?” Brazo asked.
“I am not certain. Somewhere to start a new life.”
“And here. Did anything happen inside the U-boat that might tell us how we got here?”
“I heard there was a storm. Electrical interference disabled the U-boat. We ran aground and were forced to make camp.”
“Can you tell me where your camp is?”
Erik shrugged his shoulders. “I was taken from camp by a giant flying reptile. I lost all sense of direction. Adam found me as I escaped from the reptile’s nest. He and I have made a truce.”
“We know that there’re around fifty people that can fit in a U-boat. Can you tell me how many are in your camp?”
Erik turned his gaze to the ground and sighed. “No, I cannot. We were under attack by dinosaurs when I was snatched away. I do not know how many are alive. I do not know who is left alive,” he said, his voice breaking in the end. A small tear trickled down his left cheek.
“You had family aboard the U-boat?” Brazo asked.
Nodding in silence, more tears flowed down Erik’s cheeks.
“Well, let’s hope they made it okay,” Brazo said and stepped away, giving the boy some space. Addressing the men, he said, “We’ve delayed long enough. Let’s get going.”
“Hey, can I have something to eat? I’m starved,” Adam
said.
“Here you go, champ.” Wallace pulled a ration pack from a pouch and handed it to him.
Jim Stone turned to Erik. “Would you like something to eat?” He offered the boy one of his ration packs. “There’s plenty to go around.”
Sniffing back the tears, Erik shook his head.
“You sure?” Stone asked.
“Not now.”
Adam avoided the tree’s roots and went by Erik’s side. He reached in his pocket and came up with a peppermint, handing it to the boy.
Erik offered a half-smile and took the candy. He unwrapped the peppermint and put it in his mouth.
***
“Commander, we should stop and make camp here. You are not looking well,” Bach said as he trailed behind Christoph.
“There is an hour of light, and we are too close to the base of the high point to stop. We must get to higher ground and find shelter before it gets too dark.”
Bach knew Christoph was right. Even at this pace, they would be in the position to make the ascent within a half hour.
Sweat saturated the back of the commander’s shirt. Bach had made it a point to hand him a canteen every fifteen minutes so he would stay hydrated. The angry wound on Christoph’s forearm crusted with a blackish scab, and a red streak ran up his arm.
Looking behind him, Bach saw Artur Phelps and the five other crewmen methodically keep pace. It was obvious they were going through the motions. There was little hope higher ground would do nothing more than cement the dire situation they now endured. What then? Struggle to live another hour only to know ultimately the odds would turn against them, and then die a horrible death being eaten alive? For the first time, Bach considered suicide a viable choice.
RRRTTTHHH…RRRTTTHHH.
The commander’s hand went up, and the group held fast in their tracks.
Trees and brush were thick in the area. The noise sounded like a high-pitched growl, different from the jungle noises they had become accustomed to. How far away, Bach couldn’t be sure.
Prehistoric WWII Page 16