Nikoli split up the groups as they approached Skala. His plan was simple. They would strike Skala first, proceed north, then veer east and hit Miechow last. The combined plans looked more like weather patterns. Kirilli's was the low storm center spinning counter-clockwise, while Nikoli's was the high system spinning clockwise. The Germans would see no discernible pattern in the attacks.
"Stephan, you will take Dina, Yakov, Taras and five guards. I will take Svetlana, Natashia, Taras and the remaining guards. In two days we will regroup one kilometer north of town where an old dirt road intersects 794. I will wait no more than two hours when I arrive at noon. If you have not shown up, I will assume you have all been killed, captured, or both. Nonetheless, I will press on with the rest of the plan. Understood?"
"I understand, Father. I will do my best not to disappoint."
"Good. Now leave. There is work to be done."
* * *
For the next three weeks each clan systematically ambushed patrols in the woods. They struck their prey either at night or in the early twilight hours when the guard’s senses were less perceptive. The attacks were ruthless and brutal. After reconnoitering an area, they would have the converted guards escort them to the checkpoints or appear on the roads to intercept the patrols. The unsuspecting patrols would welcome their comrades and start sharing smokes and food while they jostled the prisoners, until their hospitality was rudely disturbed with the sound of crackling bones and tearing muscles. The converted guards were instructed to start the transformations first. It was hoped the violent change would distract the would-be victims, confusing them into trying to administer first aid. The ruse worked perfectly. The men in the patrols would stand paralyzed as their former comrades turned into grotesque beasts. With their attention diverted, the core members would make their changes and kill everyone in the patrol. Fangs would sink deep into the soft flesh as they feasted upon the men. After the members and the converts had filled their veins with the copper tasting fluid, they proceeded to tear the bodies to shreds. The only sign a patrol of "The Master Race" existed was the blood soaked ground and body parts. There was never a trace of the attackers. The beauty of this plan was that no one escaped, so no one was able to warn the other Germans to be wary of patrols bringing in prisoners.
Both Nikoli and Kirilli noticed, as the attacks intensified over the weeks, so did the size of the patrols. They also noticed after two weeks of raiding, it was becoming difficult to approach the enemy. The Germans knew they were being hunted; they just didn't know who was doing it or how. The men in the patrols were staying alert. If a guard appeared to be losing his concentration, he was immediately struck with the butt of a rifle to reawaken or if one had fallen asleep, the commander of the squad would see to it he never woke up again, a bullet to the head. The order for this action was issued by Major Ernst.
Kirilli was pleased with the last raid. It had been tricky. The checkpoint north of Bielsko-Biala was the largest they had encountered. He didn't want the last raid to be to the south or east of the town. That might alert the Germans to look to the west. Attacking the north side of town would give the impression the band of partisans was moving north again.
The group waited until 2:00 in the morning before moving in. The checkpoint was well lit with twelve guards in the group. Unlike most of the patrols they had encountered, this one was very alert. They moved with precision, maintaining a twenty meter radius. They had a small hut they were using to go in and warm themselves every fifteen minutes. It appeared they had the safety of numbers in every aspect but one. The human body still needed to relieve itself from time to time. The patrol had chosen a small spot just outside the perimeter. When one needed to go, two others would accompany their comrade. While the man tended to "nature's call," the two guards kept a vigilant watch. Kirilli had noticed that two men remained in the small hut at all times as the men rotated in and out. The remaining ten were walking the perimeter. The time to strike would be when one of the guards needed to dispense his rations for the day in the forest.
His plan would require a lot of skill and luck. All the attacks were becoming more dangerous as the men in the patrols stayed tightly grouped together. Tonight they would hit the checkpoint in three phases. When it was time for a guard to relieve himself, two of the converted guards would be waiting in the dark for the first two guards. The second set of converts would be flanking the hut. They would start breaking branches to distract the other two guards who he hoped would investigate the noises. He and Darya would walk down the road heading south and encounter three of the perimeter guards. The converts, after disposing of the first four, would pick off the remaining perimeter guards while he and Darya dispatched with the three they were dealing with. The remaining men in the hut would be dealt with accordingly. They would take one of the men they had killed, thrusting him through the door, smashing it open and dispatching the last two. The attack could take no more than ten minutes.
It started out well enough. The first three men who had gone to the "call of nature" walk, disappeared into the night without a sound. Their comrades were calling their names when they heard noises in the woods on the right side of the road. They went to investigate, never to return. Kirilli and Darya met their three targets and played the perfect roles of lost peasants. While they were preparing to dispose of the three unfortunate men, two of the converts moved too quickly, walking out into the light of the guard shack, exposing themselves. The three perimeter guards started calling out warnings immediately. They knew what they were seeing wasn't human and they lowered their rifles and started firing.
The three men with Kirilli and Darya looked back to see what was happening. It was a mistake. The sound of gunfire and the north wind rushing through the tops of the trees masked the sounds of their transformations. The guards’ attention lingered too long on the firefight their comrades were engaged in. Before they could redirect their attentions to the apparent father and child, their lives were extinguished by sharp claws and highly polished weapons of death.
The two converts who had appeared too soon, fell from the repeated bullets that had slammed into their bodies. As the checkpoint guards moved towards the victims to investigate, the other two converts flashed out of the woods and handily applied death blows. One of the men in the hut opened the door to investigate the commotion. Kirilli moved quickly as he detected light appearing from the hut's door. The guard paused in the doorway calling out for his comrades. The back-light from the room completely illuminated his form. Kirilli grabbed the man and slammed him back into the room knocking the other guard down. Before they could regain their senses and send a message over the wireless device, he ended their lives with two quick blows from his clawed hands. In accord with his own order, he released all of his inner energy and shredded the men to pieces. Darya stared on as he savagely thrashed and tore the bodies to the point identification would be impossible. Kirilli turned and stared at Darya. In a guttural sound he commented, "Feast on what you can." Darya's high pitch scream pierced the night air as he finished what he had started. It was now time to take stock of the attack.
The two wounded converted men would need to be left and destroyed. The wounds weren't mortal, but the scars would be difficult to explain. He hated disposing of them, but if he didn't do it now, the bacteria would do it later. They could be replaced. He gave the order to dispose of the other six bodies; the remaining four would be taken home for feeding. The members, including Darya, carried out the gruesome task of tearing and ripping the bodies up. It was time to return home.
The clans, as agreed, returned to Bezpieczenstwo to review the success of the past three weeks. Nikoli was proud and arrogant as he described how his group had eliminated another thirty-three men of the Third Reich. He scoffed at Kirilli's feeble twenty-two kills and was amused they had lost two of the converts, not that it mattered, but it reinforced his belief that he was the true warrior of the new combined clan.
"Kirilli, you should have been more careful."
"Nikoli, I am not going to defend my actions or the loss of two converts to you. The raids were a success, but since you seem to have all of the answers, have you figured out how we are going to get close to Herr Himmler?"
The words took the wind out of Nikoli. Yes, the raids had gone well. The Germans were very afraid of the night forests and any stragglers moving on the roads. But these were only local victories. How were they going to meet Herr Himmler, the man that was responsible for this accursed alliance he was forced to forge with the Boirarskys? How indeed.
"No Kirilli, I haven't. In time I will figure it out."
"May I remind you that time is not on our side."
"I am well aware of the current time constraints. I do not need to be reminded from a man who lost two men on a simple raiding mission." The air in the room was taking on a sense of staleness.
"Please, must you two argue over everything?" spoke Sasha. "We must still feed until a plan is finalized. We will still have to go out and forage. If the raiding plan has truly succeeded, the amount of available food will again be much diminished. Our enemies will place most of their forces west and north of town while maintaining a wary eye to the east and south, will they not?"
Both men listened to her damning words. Yes, they would still have to feed, and the likelihood of bountiful targets would be greatly diminished after the current attacks.
"Yes wife, you are correct. Nikoli, we must come up with a plan within the week, before we lose the services of the colonel and the general."
Nikoli dared not agree with Kirilli; instead he regained his composure stating they would return to Tarnow, and Svetlana and Dina would be sent out on the next mission. Svetlana was not pleased with this decision. She wanted to stay with Nicole for a week as she matured with the child. "Nikoli, I am needed here. You can send someone else in my place."
"Woman, do not question my orders. You and Dina will do as you are told. Understood?" Sensing a possible opening and a chance to increase the rift between him and Svetlana, Natashia added her thoughts.
"Nikoli, let me go. I can take Dina with me. We will perform any task you desire." Svetlana did not approve of the untimely remarks from Natashia, but decided to let them rest for the moment. Nikoli would not.
"NO! It will be Svetlana and Dina." He motioned for his members to leave.
"Nikoli," the tone was hard, “Do not think too long; time is short."
Nikoli took exception to the remark from Kirilli and could not pass up an opportunity to discredit him.
In a move he would never admit as cowardly, he called out as he was passing through the main door, "Do not worry peasant, all in good time," and they left for Tarnow.
Chapter 17
Patrol
"This is unacceptable!" screamed Major Ernst at the lowly corporal. "Your men will carry out my orders or face a firing squad. You tell your men there are things worse than dying in the woods if you and your men do not carry out my orders. Maybe they would like to become a guest in the basement of the police station or even better, I'm sure I can reserve a place on one of the trains going west with the rest of the scum?" The major took a momentary break from his tirade. He was sweating profusely from every pore, saturating his perfectly starched white shirt. The veins on his neck were exposed to the point they might break. His face was beet red. He took a breath and continued in a more restrained voice.
"Corporal, tell your men if I hear any more grumbling about failing to follow orders, I will personally confront them and place them before a firing squad. Am I understood, Corporal?"
"Yes, Herr Major."
"Good. Then leave my sight immediately before I lose my restraint and place a bullet in your head."
The corporal turned to leave the room, relieved the tirade was over and his life was still worth something.
"Corporal, aren't you forgetting something?"
He stopped in his tracks. How could he forget the party’s salute? He turned to click his heels and yelled “Heil Hitler” at the top of his lungs. When he turned, the only thing his eyes focused on was the Luger of Major Ernst pointed at his head. Major Ernst pulled the trigger and returned the salute. "Heil Hitler, Corporal Goering, Heil Hitler."
He was furious with the new reports from the patrols. Seventy-four more men had disappeared in the past two months without a trace, and he still didn't know who was attacking his men. Colonel Eckhardt appeared to be unconcerned with the disappearances. He wrote it off to local partisan activity, normal desertions, and the forest animals. All of these explanations were unsound and not in line with the training the elite of the Third Reich was being taught. No one deserted from the SS, maybe the Wehrmacht, the Luftwaffe, or the Kriegsmarine, but not the SS! They were the cream of the German youth. Their faith and souls had been bound not just to Germany, but to Adolf Hitler himself. Desertion? No, not in the SS. Partisans? If that was the case then why was there no trace of others in the woods? Patrols were sent out to the west and north of Krakow to scour the land for signs of partisan activity, but came up empty. The only traces were the torn, unrecognizable, body parts they would stumble upon. Many of the men in the patrols had spent time hunting in the black forest region of Germany and had encountered their share of wolves and bears. The bodies they came upon had been mutilated beyond belief. If the men they found had been attacked by wolves, why were there no shell casings found in the area? No sign of evidence existed that any of the victims had been able to fire a shot. If it were partisans, there should have been tracks to follow. No evidence was ever found to substantiate either form of death from man or beast.
The men were becoming nervous as nursemaids. The patrols were yielding little to no results. No one was speaking, but two names were heard in the shadows: Boirarsky and Romanov. He had had enough and was determined to find out what secrets the forests were hiding. His thirst for revenge had increased twofold upon the discovery of his old friend Captain Brown or at least what remained of him. He sent the remains back to his grieving widow with full military honors and a note insisting the coffin remained closed.
* * *
"Sergeant, what did your men find today? Do not disappoint me with more rumors and wild stories. Tell me exactly what your patrol found!"
The sergeant, newly arrived from the training grounds, had nothing to report. A bad report could end his hopefully illustrious career. To lie to the major could also result with the same consequences.
"Major, we found nothing other than a few villagers looking for food, a woman and a small child. They pleaded for food saying they hadn't eaten in weeks. An initial appearance would suggest they were telling the truth, but their skin tone said otherwise. I instructed them never to show their faces around Krakow again or they would become permanent residents in Germany. They thanked me for the generosity and moved on their way."
At first Ernst was displeased with the report, but as the sergeant proceeded he started recalling some other reports. This was not the first time he had heard of a woman and a child begging for food east of town. The last report had been filed one month ago in the same area.
"Sergeant, you have done well. I wish for your unit to continue patrolling the area; I want you to double the size of the patrol.”
* * *
Svetlana and Dina had been disappointed with the day’s yield. They had set the scene perfectly. Another small patrol had appeared from the woods looking tired and frustrated. Everything was going according to plan until they heard the sounds of engines from the east. A large convoy was moving in their direction heading west. The smell of the young blood was pushing her to the limit. She, and especially Dina, needed to feed. It had been four days now since they had been rejuvenated with the warm thick fluid. The convoy was rapidly approaching. There just wouldn't be enough time, plus the guard had become highly irritated with her pleas for food. She could force detection or withdraw and hope for a better tomorrow.
"I apologize for keeping you from your duties, Sergeant. My daughter and I will
leave immediately." The sergeant was glad to be rid of such a pathetic sight.
"Nikoli, we were in the process of luring them into our trap when a large group of trucks approached from the east. We had no choice but to leave."
Nikoli pounded his fist on the table splitting the wood. "Woman, I give you a simple task and you return empty handed?"
"Would you rather we were captured? I have only failed once since we embarked on this battle. Do my past successes mean nothing?" She was highly upset with her husband's ranting. Was it not she who had brought Schmidt and Eckhardt into the fold? Was it not she who had devised the plan of her and Dina traveling alone? Yes, those had been her ideas, not Nikoli's, and now she was being barked at for failing only once! Times like these were when she loathed him the most.
"Woman, mind your tongue before I silence it!" he raved. "Failure is not an option during these times. No outing can result in failure. We have a timetable to fulfill and it cannot be maintained with unproductive hunts. Do you understand?" His temper was getting the best of him. It was the first time a patrol had come back empty handed. "Wife, call the others. I need to speak to everyone." She gladly exited the room with the knowledge that everyone would share in his wrath. "That includes the children," he roared at her retreating back.
Within minutes, she had rounded up the entire clan, including those they had converted. He didn't wait for all to be settled but rather lunged into his tirade. "It has come to my attention that today's mission was a total and utter failure. Not only were no troops converted, but no food was brought back from today's hunt. This is unacceptable! Failure, I repeat, failure is not an option! We have a timetable to adhere to and every outing must produce results. Are there any questions?" No one dared question Nikoli when he was in full force. The chance of losing a tooth or a life was extremely likely. "Good. Tomorrow, Svetlana, Dina, Natashia and Stephan will visit the same area and return successful. You four will provide the perfect setting of a displaced family with no real man to protect you."
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