by Alexa Kang
Tessa looked at the door. Suddenly, the door became a gateway to hope. It was the only thing standing between them and their freedom. "Blade." She took the small pistol out of her pocket. "Look what I got."
The Blade stared at her and the gun in shock. "Where did you get this?"
"From the Zeghers. I found it under old Mr. Zegher's pillow right before the Nazis made us leave their house."
The Blade exhaled in disbelief and took the pistol and put it in his pocket. "Son of a gun."
"Tessa!" Ellie looked like she wanted to faint.
"They would've killed you if they had found out!" Tyler said.
"I took it on the spur of the moment. I had no way of getting rid of it without them knowing."
"You must have been out of your mind."
"Never mind all that now," the Blade said. "We need to get out of here."
"What if we get caught?" Ellie asked.
"You're caught now. You're safe in the convent maybe, but they won't let you stay here forever." He said pointedly to her, "You've seen the way that filthy Nazi Pfeiffer looks at you. What will you do when Tyler and I leave, and he decides he wants more?"
She put her hands to her face.
Tessa pulled on her ring on her necklace and rolled it between her fingers. She looked up. "I'm in."
Following her lead, Tyler joined them, but with hesitation, "I'm in too."
Tense and worried, Ellie asked Tessa, "Are you sure?"
"I want to see Anthony again," Tessa said, still holding onto her ring. "I'm not letting them take me to the prison camp. If they take us there, I might never see him again. You want to see Dr. Haley again too, don't you?"
Ellie lowered her eyes. "I'll do whatever you all decide."
"Good," said the Blade. "Finish your food. We have precious little time, and we might not get to eat another meal for a long while."
Quickly, they finished their meal. While they ate, the Blade went to the door and listened for sounds. When he was sure no one was outside, he began testing what he could do to open the lock. "Got it!" The lock turned with a light popping sound. "Ready?" he asked. They all got up and went toward him. He pushed the door open a crack. The door creaked, and Ellie squeezed her eyes shut. Tessa felt so nervous, she could hardly breathe.
The Blade pushed the door open wider, just enough so he could sneak a look outside. "All clear." He opened the door and walked out. "Let's go."
They followed him, hustling but trying to stay as silent as possible. "Do you know where you're going?" Tyler whispered to him.
"We'll go back the same way they took us when we came in. Weren't you paying attention when you came in?"
"No."
"You're useless."
The Blade led them down the corridor past a small prayer room, where a gathering of nuns was praying inside. They kept going until they came to a stairwell. At the bottom of the stairs, there was a wooden door that opened to the outside. The Blade turned the doorknob. To their surprise, a guard was stationed there. He raised his rifle, but the Blade grabbed him and strangled him with a chokehold. The guard struggled, then his body went limp, and the Blade let him slump to the ground. Ellie took a deep breath and looked away.
"I'm sorry," the Blade said to her. "We have no choice." He checked the dead guard's body and found a Luger, which he kept. He then picked up the rifle and handed it to Tyler. "You know how to use this, right?" It was not a question, but a command.
Tyler gulped and nodded. He looked like someone had force-fed him a nasty medicine.
The Blade took the Zegher's small pistol out of his jacket and gave it back to Tessa. "Keep it." He winked at her. "It's your souvenir. I hope you won't ever have to use it."
Tessa nodded and put the pistol back in her pocket.
The Blade took a quick survey of the yard outside. Just as the Blade had said, there was no one patrolling the area near the convent. "If we can get out of here, I know the way to get us to the road that would take us back to the village where the Zeghers lived. The Nazis already cleared out of that area. We can keep going west from there. The First Army's pushing east to the German border. If we're lucky, we'll be able to find them." He pointed ahead to the stone wall surrounding the building. "The wall's low. We can climb over it. But we have to move fast."
Tessa knew what he meant. They were about fifty feet away from the wall. There was no place to conceal themselves between where they were and where they needed to go.
"Let's move." He started toward the wall. The rest of them followed. Behind the wall, past the rows of abandoned houses, lay their path to freedom. If they could reach the wall, they would have a chance.
Tessa took a deep breath of the frosty air as she hustled across the yard. The clouds were dull and gray. Tessa hoped they would remain inconspicuous under the gloomy overcast skies. She looked at the area ahead of her on her left, then her right. Still no one.
She quickened her steps. They had gone as far as twenty feet. She was almost sure they would make it when someone shouted behind them. "Stay where you are!"
They froze. Her heart pounding, Tessa turned and saw Oskar standing by the door from where they had escaped.
"Turn around." He pointed his rifle at them. "Drop your guns."
Slowly, they turned around. Petrified, Tyler let his rifle fall to the ground. The Blade tightened his fist around the Luger.
"Drop your gun," Oskar warned again and aimed his rifle at the Blade.
The Blade scowled and tossed down the Luger.
Standing close together, they waited to see what Oskar would do. Oskar glanced at the dead guard on the ground. "Why didn't you listen to me? I told you not to make any trouble, and you'd be all right. But you wouldn't listen."
Sister Margaux and a group of nuns came out to see what all the shouting was about. When they saw the dead guard and Oskar pointing his rifle, they stayed back in fear.
"Get the guards," Oskar said to Sister Margaux. In shock, she failed to respond. "Get the guards!" Oskar shouted. The sister ran away as she was told. The rest of the nuns huddled and whispered. Tessa noticed a package of cakes that had been dropped on the ground next to Oskar's feet.
"I brought those for you," Oskar said, following her gaze. She slid her eyes up and look into his. "It was a Christmas present."
Sister Margaux returned with two guards. Oskar signaled the guards to march them forward.
"Where are you taking us?" Tessa called out to Oskar.
"You tried to escape. And you killed a guard. I have to report this to the Oberst." He walked ahead of them.
"Please, Oskar. Please. No."
"I have to."
Forced by the guards, they walked on. Behind them, the nuns hugged each other. Some began to cry. Sister Margaux crossed her heart as she watched them leave.
The guards took them back to the building where the Blade and Tyler had been held. In the locked room, they sat in silence. Suddenly, the door unlocked and swung open. Pfeiffer entered with Oskar and two guards behind him. He took a sweeping look at his prisoners. Without saying anything, he tossed his head to signal his men. The two guards pulled the Blade and Tyler up from the floor.
Tessa jumped up and shouted, "Where are you taking them?"
"They tried to escape," Pfeiffer said. "Not only that, they killed one of my men. They will be executed."
"No!" Tessa and Ellie both cried.
"He didn't kill anyone," the Blade said and looked at Tyler. "I did."
"Doesn't matter. You both are the reason why one of my men is dead."
The guards pushed the Blade and Tyler along. "No!" Ellie grabbed Pfeiffer by the arm. "Please don't. Please don't kill them. We won't try to escape again."
He paused. His face twitched, as though he was conflicted.
"Please, Commander," Ellie pleaded. "I beg you. Please don't kill them."
He hesitated. Still angry, his chest heaved up and down as he breathed, but his eyes wavered. "Fine. This one stays." He pointed to
Tyler. "Take the other one outside."
"No!" Ellie cried and looked desperately at the Blade.
"He killed my man. He cannot go unpunished."
The guard let go of Tyler and pushed him. Tyler stumbled forward while Tessa caught him and kept him from falling. The guards took the Blade by the arms.
"Blade!" Tessa cried out.
The Blade smiled at her to give her his last goodbye. His face then tightened as the guards led him away. "Blade," Tessa cried again.
"I hope you will remember my act of mercy," Pfeiffer said to Ellie and left the room. Tessa glared at Oskar, her eyes questioning him, but his eyes showed no emotion. He looked away and locked the door.
IX
Part Nine - The Angel Amulet
28
Coming upon a wooden bridge across the canal, Anthony gazed out to the other side at the enemy stronghold he and his battalion were tasked with breaking through. On the west bank of the Rhine River, the German forces had formed a pocket of resistance forty miles wide and thirty miles deep. This heavily fortified section ran from northwest of Colmar, down to the towns of Cernay and Mulhouse. It served as Hitler's last line of defense against the Allies crossing into Germany from the southern end of the West Wall.
"So this is it." Jonesy came up next to him. "The infamous Colmar Pocket."
Yes. The Colmar Pocket. Facing this impassable half circle which exasperated the Sixth Army's entire chain of command, Orion's mission could not proceed until their army could open a way into the enemy territory.
Anthony pulled out his binoculars. Along this area of the West Wall, lines of pillboxes went on for miles and miles like they would never end. Intercrossed like a spider web, each pillbox was designed to protect and be protected by multiple other pillboxes to the left, right, front, and behind. If one came under attack, machine guns from the other ones would return fire at the attackers from every other direction.
Another death trap, Anthony thought as he put away his binoculars and led his company forward. The cycle of another battle had begun all over again.
How many more mountains must they cross? How many more battles must they fight? Who were all these new boys and men marching beside him who had come to replace the ones who had fallen? He didn't know most of them, and yet, their very lives depended upon every decision he made.
He didn't want to be responsible for them anymore. It was such a burden. All he wanted was to leave and go look for Tessa. Or, if she was no longer alive, then let him crawl into a foxhole somewhere and never come out again. He had no more strength to carry these men through.
They marched across the bridge. The night descended. He gave orders for the company to set up camp and rest for the night. The tank units were behind and still needed to catch up to them tomorrow.
On the field, men dug for hours, unable to make more than a dent in the frozen earth. There would be no luxury of foxholes in this frigid terrain. The clumping sounds of shovels weakened to light picks at the ground. The picks fizzled into faint kicks against the hardened soil as soldiers gave up digging and now only hoped to keep their feet warm. There would be no sleep for the weary. The freezing cold kept everyone awake through most of the night.
A dreary layer of gray clouds spread over the sky at the crack of dawn.
"Captain," the radio operator woke Anthony. "We got an update. The tank and mortar units can't cross. The bridge is too unstable. It won't hold."
Anthony looked across the river. Behind the bridge that they crossed yesterday, a line of Sherman tanks, painted white for camouflage in the snow, stood useless on the other side.
"How long will it take them to get over here?" he asked.
"The bridge engineers are working on it. A day maybe?"
"Maybe?"
"They said tomorrow morning, but they can't guarantee it. They'll try to add support to the bridge first. If that doesn't work, they'll build a new bridge."
Jonesy and Dennison had woken up. The radio operator went to give them the situation update.
"Sir," the radio operator returned to Anthony. "We got another message. Command wants us to keep going."
"Keep going?" Jonesy asked. "With no tank and armor support? How do they expect us to break in there?" He looked toward the enemy bridgehead. "We'll get chewed up. We might as well be throwing eggs against a pride of lions!"
Leaving his men to the usual vent and gripes, Anthony walked to the edge of their campsite. Snow had come last night while they tried to sleep. A thick blanket of snow as high as his knees covered the wide meadow plains through which they must pass to reach their next target.
Command wanted them to keep going.
How did one keep going when there was nothing left inside him.
In Aaron's office, Fran stood watching as he cleared all his personal belongings from his desk. His commission with the hospital had come to an end. To the entire staff's dismay, he had announced he would not stay. He had decided to go north to look for Ellie Swanson.
How had this happened? Her hopes, her dreams. The life she had envisioned after the war. How did everything turn out so different from what she had wanted?
"These are all the records I've kept for the hospital." Aaron picked up a stack of files on his desk. "I've briefed Dr. Bernstein on everything he needs to know. He'll make an excellent chief superintendent. If you need anything, I'm sure he'll give you his full support."
A stack of hospital records. This was all they had between them after the three years they had worked side by side? "I didn't think you'd leave," she said.
"Why not? My commission's over."
"Do you actually think you'll find her?" She pushed the files back down. "You'll be looking for a needle in a haystack."
He let go of the pile. "I have to try. She was seen in a convent close to the German border. I'll never forgive myself if I don't at least try and find her."
"This is absurd," Fran said. "What about your work here? You're giving up everything you've accomplished for a girl. Is it worth it? Does she deserve everything you're doing for her?"
"You don't understand, Captain. You never did." He stepped away from her and his desk. "It's not about how much I give up and how much I get in return. It's not about what she does or doesn't deserve. It's just something I want to do." He picked up his bag. "Good luck, Captain. It was an honor serving with you."
He left the office and didn't look back. Not once.
Angry, she shoved the pile of records off the desk. The papers flew across the floor, turning it into a mess.
For the first time, Fran Milton did not care if the files were in the wrong order.
In the old wooden barn where they were being held, Tessa sat on the floor, staring into space. She didn't cry after the Nazis took the Blade away. There was no need to cry. She would be joining him soon. Before long, Pfeiffer and his henchmen would decide they wanted her gone. Maybe they would punish her for trying to escape. Maybe Pfeiffer would want to kill somebody because he was in a bad mood. Or maybe, the Nazis would simply decide they no longer wanted to drag their prisoners along with them, the same way they had decided not to take Mathias and his grandfather. No law or boundary applied to these men. They did whatever they wanted. After everything these men had done, Tessa harbored no illusions about her fate.
Next to her, Tyler sat with vacant eyes while Ellie slumped against a stack of hay. Neither of them had said a word since they were brought here. If they had any hope of escape, that hope was now gone. The Nazis would not let them out of their sight again.
The guard at the table yawned. Every now and then, he would throw them a glance. A stern glance to keep them on their toes, and to remind them who was in charge. It was almost as if he was playing a game. Tessa refused to look at him. She wanted no interaction whatsoever with him. Her open antagonism might get her killed sooner, but she didn't want to cower in front of these people and beg for their mercy. Defying them with her silence, she turned the angel amulet in her pocket over and
over and over. The mindless, repetitive motion was all she could do to shut out the world.
The barn door swung open. Pfeiffer barged in with a bottle of liquor in his hand. Repulsed by the sight of him, Tessa turned her head and looked away.
"Out," he ordered the guard.
The guard jumped to his feet.
"Go patrol the woods."
"Oberst…"
"I said out!"
The guard picked up his rifle and left. Pfeiffer sat down at the table and poured a shot of liquor into the cap of his canteen. "Fräulein," he said to Ellie. "Won't you join me?"
Ellie's eyes widened in panic. She looked at Tessa and Tyler, searching for help. But when they looked back at her, she came to the realization that Pfeiffer's infatuation with her was the only thing left that was keeping them alive. Tessa and Tyler's lives were in her hands. Knowing this, the fear in her eyes disappeared, replaced by a look of stern determination. She got up, brushed the hay off her clothes, and walked to the table.
"Sit next to me, won't you?" Pfeiffer pulled out a chair next to him. He was so eager, he almost fell over his own chair.
Ellie sat down. Her face exhibited no emotion.
He pulled closer to her. "I'm sorry about your sergeant. I did what I had to. You understand that, don't you?"
Ellie remained still as a statue.
"I have to do what's best for my people. I have to protect my own. I'm not a bad man. I do what I do to preserve the best of humankind. Can't you see?" He leaned closer to her face. She cringed and moved her chin slightly away. "I have a house in Rottach," he said. He almost sounded timid. "It's not far from Munich. It's up on the hill and overlooks the lake. When this war's over, if you like, I want to take you there. It's a beautiful place."
Ellie neither accepted nor refused. Pfeiffer poured himself another shot of liquor. "This is a fine bottle of whiskey. Rare and hard to get these days." He showed her the label. She raised an eyebrow and took a quick look.
"Would you like some?"