by Ron Smoak
CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN
Monday, July 18, 2011
Inside Fortress Alpha; 10:30 a.m.
The long hall was empty as he peered out of the door. Hugo looked over his shoulder and checked for anyone behind him. There was no one. The alarms were still blaring and he could hear people yelling at each other in German. They had really stirred up a hornet’s nest in the complex.
He raced down the hall in a full run, figuring with all of the noise around him his footsteps would either not be heard or would be ignored. As he turned the corner on the way to an elevator, he ran directly into a female technician coming down the hall. He hit her like a huge linebacker hits a fleet wide receiver. She went flying across the hall and hit her head on the concrete block wall. At least he didn’t have to contend with her, he thought. She was out like a light, never knowing what hit her. He continued farther until he came to an elevator. He pushed the button. He felt naked standing there in an open hall armed with no one there. Hugo checked his watch.
He wasn’t alone for long. He looked up as the elevator door opened to find two young female technicians and an armed German guard. The technicians looked like they were going to pass out. The guard fumbled with his weapon trying to bring it up to firing position. But Hugo beat him to the punch by a mile. Hugo had his silenced MP-5 at ready and fired one single shot, killing the guard before he could raise his weapon. The guard fell forward. Hugo grabbed the guard and pulled him forward so that he fell outside of the elevator. The two technicians stood there frozen in fear.
“Ladies,” Hugo said nicely as he motioned them off of the elevator and into the hall. As the two stepped out of the elevator, Hugo screamed, “Run!” The technicians took off running down the hall, fearing for their lives. The two sounded like a small herd of horses, their shoes clopping on the hard floor.
Hugo stepped into the elevator and pressed the hangar deck button, praying the damn elevator would go up and not down. The door closed and Hugo’s heart stopped as the car seemed to go down at first but then began to rise. Next stop… the hangar deck, if he was lucky.
As the elevator rose, Hugo could hear rumblings that sounded like explosions and began to smell smoke. He wondered what he was going to step into when he got to the hangar level. The elevator car vibrated and then stopped. Damn, thought Hugo. What a time to get stuck in an elevator! Smoke began to seep into the elevator. He placed his hand on the elevator door. It felt warm. That was not good either. There must be some kind of fire.
Through the closed door he could hear screaming. Some sounded like orders. Some sounded like screams of terror. He pressed the elevator button again. Nothing happened. He let his weapon fall across his chest and reached up with both hands and pulled the two elevator doors open about six inches. Acrid black smoke poured into the car. But he could see the exterior door was still closed. There was little time to lose.
Hugo drove his shoulder into the six-inch opening and heaved the interior elevator doors open. Now he was faced with a closed exterior door whose bottom was about waist high. He bent down a bit trying to see under the door. Hugo could see flashing lights, orange and red flickers in the crack under the door. It appeared the entire hangar deck was on fire! He wondered if he would be forced to find another way out.
He decided to at least give the motor pool exit a try. Hugo reached into his pocket and again pulled out the complex map. He needed to figure out where he was on the hangar deck and where the motor pool was, right or left from the elevator. According to the map, he needed to go right when he exited the elevator. The motor pool should be about twenty-five to thirty yards away. He replaced the map and took a few deep breaths. With all that smoke out there, these breaths may be his last smokeless breaths.
He stepped up to the external door and used his knife, working it into the space between the doors. He pulled the doors open enough to get his hands in and opened the doors. He was driven back immediately. A searing wall of heat rushed in causing him to cover his face with one hand and step back to the left front corner of the elevator. Hugo slowly stepped back up to the open door. He surveyed the hangar deck. It looked like he was entering hell itself.
Fire was all around. The heat was almost unbearable as the aviation fuel burned viciously. Explosions were occurring out to his left and men were running in all directions trying to extinguish the fires and pulling wounded people to safety. But to his right there was no fire. What great luck, he thought. At least they would not be bothering with him with all of this mayhem going on.
With a quick leap Hugo was on the hangar deck and headed outside. The heat touched off another missile on one of the burning helicopters. The explosive fuel in the rocket motor tore the missile in half, throwing the warhead containing high explosives across the deck near Hugo. He watched the warhead skid across the deck away from him. As the warhead came to rest against a row of equipment lockers, there was a blinding flash as the warhead exploded, throwing shrapnel in every direction. Hugo winced as he saw two Germans sliced in two by hot steel pieces from the lockers. But immediately Hugo felt a searing pain in his side and hip. He had been hit!
Hugo fell against the wall wincing in pain. He looked down and saw that shrapnel had ripped through his pants in an upward angle and sliced a five-inch gash in his hip from his upper thigh to his waist. To his surprise there was very little bleeding. The shrapnel cleanly sliced his skin open but had not cut him deeply. The hot steel had cauterized the wound slightly.
Hugo decided right then and there the wound would not keep him from getting the hell out. He took out a bandage from its pouch, opened it and placed the pad over the wound. He tied the two tails of the bandage tightly around his waist. That taken care of, he turned to his right to survey the area.
People were still screaming and running around. Firefighters had moved in to fight the fire. Hugo scrambled down beside the outside wall away from the fires and mayhem. No one was paying attention to him. That was his lucky break. He stumbled the fifty yards to a large hangar door that was half closed. He stopped at the opening and took a quick look around the edge of the door. It was the motor pool!
Hugo slipped around the open door and again traveled to his right against the wall. His wounds hampered his movement but didn’t slow his determination. In the middle of the large motor pool several medical technicians were setting up a triage area for the burn victims and those injured by the shrapnel from the explosions. With their interest on the injured, no one saw Hugo slip down the wall and into a group of vehicles lined up facing a huge open triple-wide vehicle door leading to the jungle outside. Hugo smiled broadly. He found his escape route.
CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
Monday, July 18, 2011
Inside Fortress Alpha; 11:15 a.m
“Where the hell is Maas!” screamed Kaete Grimme, slamming her hand down on her desk. Her minions scurried about, many simply trying to get out of her way and her sight if possible. “Find that pig and bring him here!”
“Captain Maas is dead,” said Captain Boehm, standing in the door to the Führer’s office. “He was killed by the forces attacking us.” She braced for the harsh reaction she expected.
“He’s dead?” questioned Kaete at the top of her lungs. “Well, dammit, find me someone in charge. Who are you?”
Boehm snapped to attention. “Captain Anna Boehm, Mein Führer. I have taken Maas’ place for the time being.” Grimme glared at the young officer. She certainly did not look like she was in charge, Kaete thought to herself.
“I see. Tell me what is going on. Why are the alarms going off? Why am I the last to hear of this?”
“We have a massive fire in the hangar level. Casualties are mounting. As of a few minutes ago, we have thirty-eight killed and many more injured. I just learned of Maas’ death so I came here immediately to inform you of the situation.”
Grimme was seething. “Why is my hangar level on fire?” she asked through clenched teeth.
“We have intruders reported in th
e complex. That is how Captain Maas died. He was killed fighting the American intruders.” As soon as she said American intruders, Kaete Grimme’s face went blank.
“Americans? Here?”
“Yes, Mein Führer,” Boehm answered without showing any emotion. Grimme stepped away from her desk, staring at the floor. She was stunned. After a few seconds of contemplation she looked up at Boehm.
“Have these Americans been destroyed?” Grimme asked, staring directly at Boehm.
“We are in the process of killing each and every one as we speak,” answered Boehm, full well knowing they had no idea where the intruders were. “I will bring you their bodies before the day is out.”
“Good. I want them all dead,” replied Grimme with a sneer. Her facial expression changed in a second. “Wait. Where did these Americans come from? Why were they here?”
Captain Boehm swallowed hard. She knew that Grimme would not like the answer she was about to give. She also knew that around here the messenger was in as much danger as those actually responsible for the actions. She considered her answer carefully. “The Americans were evidently here to try to rescue the Americans we detained last week outside of the Fortress. Captain Maas was in the process of interrogating the detained group.” Grimme’s face became clouded. She walked around her desk and stood directly in front of Boehm.
“Verdammter Mist! I told Maas to kill them. He did not do that?” Grimme asked screaming. She was not happy.
“He did not kill them, Mein Führer,” Boehm answered.
“And why did he not kill them like I ordered?”
“I do not know. I believe he wanted to interrogate the Americans and find out why they were here,” answered Boehm, standing her ground.
Grimme thought for a second. “One of those Americans was a pretty young woman, right?”
“Yes, Mein Führer.”
“That son-of-a-bitch,” Grimme screamed, turning away from Boehm and walking over in front of her desk. “That bastard wanted the girl. That’s what happened. I knew I should have castrated that man. He let his sexual urges take him over again.” She looked up at Boehm. “I only regret that he is dead. Because if he wasn’t, I would kill him myself,” she said angrily slamming her fist into her other hand. “Where is his body?”
“It is in the sub-basement,” Boehm answered quietly.
“How did he die?” asked Grimme. Boehm was puzzled. She wondered why she wanted to know.
“He was killed with a knife at the hands of one of the Americans.”
“I hope the stupid bastard suffered,” Grimme screamed. “Bring his body here. I want to see it and I will feed it to the dogs.”
“Yes, Mein Führer,” answered Boehm. Grimme turned and looked directly at Boehm.
“Now for you,” began Grimme. “I want all of this fixed and fixed now! Kill the Americans and clean this mess up. We cannot afford to jeopardize our work here.” Suddenly there was a shudder throughout the complex. Then it began to shake. It felt like a long, drawn-out explosion somewhere deep below them. Grimme stopped her rant. Rather than go away, the shaking continued. Now it was getting violent. Grimme braced herself against her desk.
“What is that?” Grimme asked. Boehm was trying to stand still but was stumbling to keep from falling down. More alarms went off. Pictures fell from the wall. Both women were knocked to the floor. One of Grimme’s assistants ran into the room but fell flat on his face as he came into the room. A large chunk of the ceiling fell across Grimme’s desk. More of the ceiling fell over by the door. A large crack appeared on one wall.
Deep inside the Fortress, Hugo’s charges had gone off. The core of the power station was obliterated by the explosives. The violent removal of this subterranean cap directly exposed the volcanic activity far below. Within seconds molten magma was unleashed and began to rise from the earth’s depths. The searing heat rose as the lava reached the floor of the power complex at temperatures close to 1,300 degrees Celsius.
Equipment throughout the lower levels burst into flames and melted in pools of burning metal as the lava spread across the floor. Power throughout the fortress failed as the generators and associated cabling melted in the withering heat. The floors themselves began to burn. Technicians in the area were incinerated within seconds. Steel supports became pliable and melted. Paint on the walls burned away. Concrete simply crumbled and began to fail.
The power station was coming apart. This presented a deadly problem for the complex. The power station was centrally located at the most lowest levels of the Fortress. With the station crumbling, the floor above became unstable. Left unchecked, the lava would destroy the Fortress from the inside out. And there was no way to stop the destruction. Now that the lava was flowing nothing the Germans had could stop it. It was a fatal blow to Fortress Alpha.
Grimme looked at Boehm lying on the floor near her. A large chunk of concrete dislodged from the ceiling. Emergency lights came on with the power failure.
“What happened to the lights? Get up,” she was screaming at the top of her lungs. “You must save your Führer!”
Boehm struggled to her feet and tried desperately to get to Grimme. Each time she took a step the horrible shaking caused her to lose her footing and she fell again. For the first time Boehm feared they may not survive. But she had to try! Once again she jumped to her feet and moved toward the Führer. Grimme had not moved from her position on the floor beside her desk. She was no help at all. Boehm threw herself toward Grimme, crashing into the front of her desk.
“I’m coming, Mein Führer!”
Grimme was now curled into a ball on the other side of the desk like a child. “Help me,” she screamed. “Please help me.” The office was now literally disintegrating around the two women.
In a last ditch effort to get to Grimme, Boehm got to her feet by hanging on to the edge of the large desk. She steadied herself momentarily and took a step toward Grimme. Instantly a large part of the floor above crashed through the finished ceiling and landed directly on Boehm. There was a horrible dull sigh from Boehm as the weight of the concrete chunk smashed her chest. Her lungs were crushed. She could not breathe. She choked on her own blood and stomach contents as they were squeezed out of her mouth. Boehm looked over to Grimme. The Führer’s face was the last thing Boehm saw as she died.
After seeing Boehm die, Kaete Grimme rolled over and tried to stand. She was knocked off of her feet immediately. The room was filled with smoke and ash. She could not see the door. She tried to crawl but was stopped as a huge crack began to appear in the floor under her right hand. One side of the crack was rising and the other side falling away. As the crack enlarged steam and smoke started pouring through the crack. It became hot, damned hot.
Grimme’s eyes widened with fear as the floor below her began to give way. More concrete fell from the ceiling narrowly missing Grimme as she tried to crawl away. But where was she to go? The heat was approaching unbearable and getting worse each second. Smoke and flames were pouring in through a widening chasm in the floor.
Hugo’s explosive charges dealt the Fortress a mortal blow. Lava had obliterated several floors below Grimme’s office. The floors were buckling and failing fast.
“Help me, please!” she screamed at the top of her lungs.
Grimme’s repeated cries for help were heard. She was answered by a single male assistant who ran into the room, his arms over his head trying to protect himself from the falling ceiling.
“I’m coming, Mein Führer!”
He took several steps and immediately fell through a hole that opened in the floor a few feet in front of Grimme. His screams were silenced instantly as his body fell into the lava below and was vaporized. The floor was seconds from collapse. Kaete Grimme’s existence was coming to an end and she could do nothing to stop it. The heat in the room was now causing Grimme’s mahogany desk to smoke. Papers on the floor near the hole in the floor burst into flame.
The room shook violently again and the floor dropped a
bout twenty feet down resting on the remnants of the floor below. The lava flow was rising. Grimme screamed in agony as the floor became like a griddle, searing her hands and knees. She tried to move but her hands and legs were burning and sticking to the melted rugs on the floor. The pain was unbearable. Flames burst from her pants. Grimme’s eyes bulged as the fear and pain overtook her. She was on fire! Seconds later, the Führer of the Fourth Reich, Kaete Grimme, was incinerated as the lava flowed up and over her.
Explosions were now occurring on all levels. Lower levels were filling with molten lava. Those levels above were failing structurally and falling into the lava pool below. Very few if any were going to survive this inferno. It was fitting that the Fourth Reich Germans were perishing by fire. But not only were the Germans themselves perishing but their secrets as well. The secret of making gold was burning away along with billions of dollars worth of German gold.
CHAPTER SIXTY- NINE
Monday, July 18, 2011
In the Jungle; 11:35 a.m.
Even though the group was well over a mile from the Fortress they could hear the low rumblings of explosions. They felt earth tremors that seemed to be getting stronger and stronger. Dane stood up and looked toward Fortress Alpha. He knew he had no chance to see anything through the jungle but it didn’t stop him. His best friend was out there somewhere and he was worried.
“C’mon, Hugo,” Dane said quietly. “Get your ass out here.” Tim stepped over beside him.
“Sounds like explosions,” said Tim. “I wonder what’s going on.”
“We gave them a small going-away present. But it turned out to be much larger than I imagined. Our grenades set off a huge fuel fire and set off some of the armament on their attack helicopters,” explained Dane.