by Alexa Kang
Hearing him recount the events, Ellie and Cohen turned ghostly white. Tessa, too, felt frightened. Only the Blade seemed unaffected. "What happened then?" he asked Tyler.
"We started to fight, me and my buddy. We were on the second story of the house and there was no way for us to get out, so we fired from the window. I'm not even a combat soldier! I only had his pistol. It was useless. We were completely outnumbered. We saw our troops coming out of buildings with white flags and arms over their heads. They surrendered."
Ellie covered her mouth. Tessa looked at Tyler, aghast.
"That's not all," Tyler continued. He was in tears again. "The SS came into our building. I knew then it was over. They took us outside and made us line up with the rest of our troops. They took all our stuff. Our wallets, watches, rings. They marched us down the streets and then, and then..." He was bawling so hard now, he couldn't finish.
"Then what?" the Blade asked.
"I heard gunshots going off behind us. I thought it was a skirmish. I thought someone was retaliating and not giving up without a fight. But then a Panzer drove by us and a man sitting on top of it fired at us. I saw his face. He looked me in the eye, and he shot at me like I was a target."
Ellie lost her balance and took a step back. Tessa hugged Tyler, thankful and relieved he was not dead.
"He missed," Tyler said. "The bullet hit my buddy next to me. He fell and knocked me over, and we both fell into the ditch next to the road. He fell on top of me. I turned to look at his face, and he was dead. His blood spilled all over me. Then I just lay there with his body on top of me. I played dead. I guess the SS thought I was dead too. I heard more shooting. More bodies fell into the ditch. That was when I realized they weren't taking us prisoners. They were shooting us. They killed us."
"Oh, Tyler," Ellie cried out.
"I lay there for a long time. Maybe hours, I don't know. I didn't dare to move. I was scared out of my mind. The Nazis moved on and I was still afraid to move. I didn't know what to do. Then, I couldn't take it anymore. I got up and ran away. I was lucky no one saw me. I didn't know where I was going. I just ran and ran away from the town until I got here. I heard you coming and hid behind the bushes." He fell into Tessa's arms and sobbed.
"It's all right. You're with us now," Tessa let him cry on her shoulder while she looked at the Blade to see what they should do.
"We have to turn back," the Blade said. "Let's get out of here."
Tessa squeezed Tyler's shoulder. "Come on." She led him toward their jeep, her arm still around him to give him support.
Solemnly, they got back into the vehicle. Tyler was calm now, but it was not a good calm. He had the look of someone who was in shock. No one said a word, and Cohen drove as fast as he could. Tessa could feel everyone's fear around her, only they didn't dare to say it out loud.
The jeep came out of the forest at the end of the dirt trail. As soon as they came out, they found themselves face to face with a small convoy of Waffen SS troopers heading up the main road. Unwittingly, they had come into the Nazi troopers' direct view. There was no way to hide.
Cohen tried to turn them around, but it was too late. The SS troops caught up to them and surrounded them. They raised their rifles. Tyler tugged Tessa's arm. His face was white as a sheet. "That's him," he said, looking at a man sitting in an officer's vehicle. "That's the man who shot at me and killed my buddy."
Tessa turned her gaze in the direction where Tyler was looking. A tall man in a Nazi commander's uniform got out of his car and walked toward them. A young SS soldier who looked about eighteen followed closely behind.
"Are you sure?" she whispered.
"I'd recognize him anywhere."
The Nazi commander stopped about ten feet from their jeep. The young SS soldier walking with him shouted in English, "Drop your weapons and get out of the jeep."
Ellie froze in terror. Tyler grabbed Tessa's arm more tightly and stared at the Nazi commander with petrified eyes, but the Nazi commander didn't seem to recognize him.
"Get out of the car. Now," the young SS soldier shouted.
Cohen, the driver, was the first to move. He stepped out of the jeep. The Blade got out after him. Tessa elbowed Tyler, signaling him to move. Unwillingly, Tyler got out of the car. Tessa took Ellie by the hand and led her out.
"Schwestern. Schwestern," some of the SS troopers mumbled when they saw Tessa and Ellie. They seem surprised to see women among their prisoners. Tessa exchanged a glance with the Blade and walked up next to him. Once their prisoners were lined up, the young SS soldier shouted something in German at the other troopers surrounding them. In response, two of the troopers came and began searching the male prisoners.
"Show your identification papers," the young SS soldier ordered. Except Tyler, whose papers were already confiscated earlier, the Blade, Tessa, and Ellie all took out their papers to hand them to him.
"Where are your papers?" the young SS soldier shouted at Tyler.
"I lost them."
"You lost them? You're lying."
"He's not," Tessa raised her voice. "He's not lying."
The young SS soldier turned to her, unsure how to respond to an American nurse.
"He doesn't have his papers. They're lost," she said. "You can take mine." She gave him her own identification papers. Looking a bit flustered, the young SS seized the papers from her hand. While he examined her papers, she noticed the Nazi sig rune symbol on the right patch of his collar, and the single pinstripe of a private first class on the left.
The Nazi commander came closer, and the young private gave him the identification papers he had collected from their American prisoners. Tessa raised her eyes to see what the commander looked like. Blonde, blue-eyed, clean cut and shaven, he was actually good looking. He had the kind of face that would charm people anywhere. In his gray tunic uniform, he even looked regal.
As handsome as he was, Tessa sensed something about him that repulsed her. She didn't know what it was, but she felt disgusted looking at him. She checked the marks on his collar. Like the private, he wore the sig rune insignia on his collar too, as well as a rank insignia of four diamond-shaped pips with a single pinstripe.
The SS commander flipped through the American prisoners' papers with little interest until one caught his attention and he scowled in disgust. "Cohen. Which one of you is Cohen?" He glared at Tyler, then the Blade, then at Cohen himself. None of them responded. The commander walked up to the Blade. "Are you Cohen? You must be him. You're the Jew, aren't you? You're the ugliest thing I've ever seen in my life."
Not showing any reaction, the Blade glared back at the German Nazi with defiant eyes. Although the Nazi commander was tall, the Blade was a big man and stood even taller than his enemy.
"No," Cohen said, breaking the tension between the Nazi commander and the Blade. "He's not Cohen. I am," he stuttered.
The Nazi commander squinted. "Well, why didn't you say so earlier, you disgusting, filthy scum?" he shouted in Cohen's face. Cohen cowered. Already a small man, he looked puny next to the Nazi.
His admission didn't move the Nazi commander in the slightest. "I almost killed the wrong man because of you." The Nazi pulled out his Luger and shot Cohen in the forehead. Cohen's eyes widened, and he fell dead on the ground. Ellie cried out and fell against Tyler. Tyler held her up, but his own eyes were bulging in terror.
The Blade lunged toward the killer. Without thinking, Tessa reached out and pulled him back. "No," she whispered to him. Against his instinct, he stopped. His anger seethed as he breathed. His chest heaved like a mad lion ready to jump and attack.
The killer swept his eyes over the remaining three of his prisoners. "Now what are we to do with the rest of you?" He stepped in front of the Blade. "You sure are one ugly piece of work. I didn't think I'd ever see someone uglier than a Jew. Are you even human? How do you live with yourself?"
The Blade sneered.
"I should probably get rid of you too." The Nazi studied the Blade up
and down, seemingly fascinated. "On the other hand, you ugly turd, you're the perfect specimen to remind my men why the world would be ruined if we let you Americans win. I think I'll keep you around for a while." He wrinkled his nose in disgust, then glanced quickly at Tessa, barely acknowledging her existence, and passed his attention over to Ellie. His eyes lingered on Ellie's golden-blonde hair.
Disturbed by the way he was staring at her, Ellie turned her face away from him. He chuckled. It was the most perverse chuckle Tessa had ever heard.
Lastly, the killer took a disinterested look at Tyler. Noting the red cross banner on Tyler's sleeve, he asked, "We can use the medic and the nurses. Do you have medical supplies in your car?"
Tyler was too frightened to answer. The young private shouted an order to the troopers, and several of them began to search the Americans' jeep. They confiscated their prisoners' guns and equipment. Another one brought over a tool to siphon petroleum from their jeep's tank. When they took Ellie's Christmas parcel away, Tessa wanted to lunge at the Nazis herself.
When they finished, the Nazi commander said something in German to the young private and went back to his vehicle. The young private directed several troopers to tie up the Blade and Tyler by their hands. They debated among each other while glancing at Tessa and Ellie, but ultimately decided not to restrain them. The young private then pointed his rifle at the prisoners. "Move."
Having no choice, Tessa and the others began to walk. With the enemy's rifles pointing at their backs, they followed the SS convoy and walked into the unknown.
23
Forced by the Waffen SS troopers, Tessa walked for hours with her friends until the sky began to get dark. She did not know where she was or where they were going. Eventually, they arrived at a tiny village, or the remnants of what was once a village. Earlier bombings had flattened most of the houses. Even the ones that were still intact had shattered windows, roofs that were torn apart, and damaged walls. The Nazis were the only ones roaming the streets. There were no civilians in sight. The people in the village had evacuated long ago.
The SS convoy that captured them came to a halt. Two Nazi guards made them sit down on the side of the road. Hungry and thirsty, Tessa and her friends waited. She felt fear like she had never experienced. She didn't know what would happen to them, and no one would tell them anything. The Nazis would do anything they wanted to them.
After a while, the young SS private who had captured them reappeared. He shouted an order to the guards in German. In response, the guards motioned for the prisoners to stand up. The private and the guards took them to a house and forced them to walk down to its cellar. The cellar was not lit except for two small candles on an old wooden table with rotted legs. The sour smell and the damp air only further reminded them of the hopeless situation they were in.
The private ordered them to turn over their personal belongings. One by one, he confiscated their wallets, watches, and every other valuable item they carried. He took away Ellie's bracelet and the Blade's cigarettes. The Blade wore several large silver rings. When the private collected those too, Tessa reflexively covered her ring finger with her right hand. She wanted to take her wedding band off and conceal it somehow, but the guards were watching them. She couldn't make any movement without their notice. Desperate, she squeezed her hands. She did not know what to do.
The private came to her next. Tentatively, she gave him her wallet.
"Your watch," he said. She took it off. When she unclasped her watch on her right wrist, he stared straight at her wedding ring. She felt she was about to cry.
To her surprise, the private only took her money and her watch. "Take your ring off and hide it," he whispered so that only she could hear. He moved his body in front of her to block the SS guards from seeing what she was doing.
Quickly, she took her ring off and put it in the inner pocket of her jacket. The private moved on to Tyler, who had nothing on him as all his belongings had already been confiscated earlier. Tessa watched the private, still surprised but breathing easy for the first time since they had been taken prisoners.
When the private had taken all their valuables, he led the guards up the stairs, leaving Tessa and her friends alone in the cellar.
After the cellar door slammed shut, Ellie let herself fall on Tessa's shoulder. "My Lord! I think I'm going to faint."
Tessa put her arm around Ellie. "What are we going to do?" she asked the Blade.
The Blade crossed his arms. "I guess we'll stay here for the night."
Before they could say more, heavy footsteps stomped down the stairs. The private and the guards had returned, this time with the Nazi commander. "What kind of idiotic arrangement is this?" he shouted at the private, not in German but in English. Clearly, he meant for his prisoners to hear what he was saying.
He made a big show of scowling at the private and the guards, then said to Ellie, "Fräulein! You must excuse my men's callous behavior. They are brutes. I assure you, you're our guest." He looked around at the walls. "This dingy cellar is no place for a lady."
Ellie tensed. She slid her feet back slightly, but in this confined space, there was no way for her to retreat from him. The Blade moved a step closer to her.
"Come." The Nazi commander smiled at her. "Let me take you to a more comfortable place. You can spend the night there."
"I..." Ellie said, her voice quivered. "Thank you for the offer, sir, but I'm fine staying with my friends."
Nervous for her, Tessa grabbed Ellie's hand. Ellie was trembling.
The Nazi commander laughed. "Fräulein, I'm not asking you to spend the night with me. Or is that what you have in mind?"
Ellie's face turned deep red.
"I'm staying in a nice house with my Belgian hosts," he said, speaking more like an amorous suitor in pursuit of a woman than an enemy captor. "They're very pleasant folks. I assure you, you will enjoy their company. They have a fireplace, a warm bed. You'll be a lot more comfortable there."
Too fearful to refuse outright, Ellie looked at her friends. Tessa tightened her hold of Ellie's hand, in fear of what might happen to her. The Nazi kept smiling. His cordial smile looked ridiculous given the reality of the situation they were in.
Ellie gathered her nerves and said, "Commander..."
"Pfeiffer."
"Excuse me?"
"The name is Pfeiffer. Jans Pfeiffer. Oberst is my rank." He came within inches of her. "But you can call me Commander. I like that."
Ellie drew back, but was too afraid to blatantly refuse him. Keeping her own voice sweet to avoid offending him, she said, "Commander. Your offer is very kind, but I wouldn't feel right leaving my friends here while I go off to somewhere more comfortable. It wouldn't be the honorable thing to do. You're a commander. You understand that."
Pfeiffer took a quick look at Tessa, Tyler, and the Blade. "All right. Your friends can come too." He leaned into Ellie. "See. Contrary to what you might think, I am a nice man."
Ellie forced herself to smile. Pleased with himself, Pfeiffer laughed and left, yelling something to the private and the guards as he walked back up the stairs out of the cellar.
The guards raised their rifles at their prisoners. "You heard him," the private said. "Move. All of you."
They departed the cellar and followed after him.
The SS brought them to a house not too far away. Inside, a boy who looked no more than twelve was kindling the wood in the fireplace. He jumped when they entered. The young private who led them here ignored him. A guard pointed to the stairs and motioned for them to go up. The boy watched them pass by. Behind him, Tessa caught a glimpse of an old man lying in bed through the open door to a small bedroom. The boy hurried in there when he heard the man coughing.
Leaving the boy behind, they followed the guard upstairs to a room which was divided into two parts by a double door. The guard signaled Tyler and the Blade to use the straw mattresses on the floor, then pointed at the part of the room behind the double door for Tessa and
Ellie. After that, he locked the doors and disappeared.
Alone by themselves again, Tessa opened the double door. There was nothing in there besides more straw mattresses. She tried to open one of the windows, but it was stuck.
"That won't help," said the Blade. "There are guards all around this house."
"What should we do?" Ellie asked. "What do you think they'll do to us?"
"We'll take it one step at a time," he said. "They'll probably take us to a prisoners’ camp."
"I don't think they will." Tyler went to one of the mattresses and sat down, depressed. "These people are inhuman. They killed my entire company. They killed Cohen. They'll kill us too."
The Blade's face darkened. Tessa knew then the true extent of the danger they were in.
The door opened again. The SS private came in, carrying a plate of black bread and butter, which he set down on a small table against the wall. The boy they had seen downstairs followed with a tray holding a coffee pot, a jug of water, and cups. He placed them next to the food, then left the room.
On his way out, the private said, "The Oberst quarters in a bedroom downstairs. I suggest you all don't try to make any trouble, if you know what's good for you." The entire time, he avoided looking directly at them.
"What's your name?" Tessa couldn't resist asking.
He paused. He turned his head around slightly, but stopped short of looking at them. "Oskar," he said, and locked the door, leaving them trapped again.
They ate the food in silence. Afterward, they tried to sleep. In the cold room, Tessa could hear Ellie shifting and turning. Her own thoughts went to Anthony. Did he know she was missing yet? He must be so worried if he did. And her parents. When would the army notify her parents? They would be heartsick when they found out.
Tyler said these people killed his entire company. What if they killed them too? The reality that she might never return home sunk in. She thought of her mother and father in London. Her Uncle William and Aunt Sophia back in Chicago, and Ruby, Jack, and Henry. Even worse than being scared, she feared she would never see them again.