Rise of the Death Walkers (The Circle of Heritage Saga)

by Lawrence Nason Jr.

  After I composed myself I went in and took a shower. When I was finished I debated if I should get some sleep or exercise. Exercise would help me get used to the time zone change. The presence of a full set of sweats and running shoes, in the closet, in my size, made the decision for me. I looked at the clock and noticed it was just seven in the morning so I had a full day ahead of me. After I was dressed a sound from the front of the apartment caught my attention. When I stepped out onto the balcony to look, I spotted Top leading a group of about forty men in formation at a route step. When you ran in route step you were in a rhythmic step but you could change the rhythm based on what sort of terrain you were marching or running over. Without a second thought, I checked that I was wearing the spare apartment key on my dog tags. Then I leapt over the edge of the balcony to the ground below. I fell in behind the formation and was automatically in step. As I was running, I spotted the grinning face of the First Sergeant looking back at me and I flashed a smile back to him. I cleared my mind of all thoughts and concentrated on my steps and my breathing.

  I found out quickly that Top was a hobby marathon runner. He shared his hobby with the men of the unit, whether they wanted it or not.

  When the unit was finished for the day, they had run about ten miles. I kept going straight when the detachment turned back into the base. I had missed a couple days of movement and wanted to catch up on some combat running. I was not armed but I did not need to be for what I was intending on doing. I ran to the end of the chain length fence that turned to the north to continue its circuit around the signal site next to the detachment and darted for the woods. When I was deep amongst the trees, I let my mind expand and feel the presence of nature. It had been a long time since I had done this exercise. The woods themselves felt alien to me. I could not spot the presence of a single predator in the woods. There were no bears, no wolves, just smaller animals. Since I could not tap into any abilities, I fell back onto my memory and let the memory of a hunting wolf guide my path. I was moving at a blur compared to normal speed. Any obstacle in my way was easily negotiated.

  The woods were not very deep. I circled them for nearly three hours in my exercising. A new presence crept on the edge of my alertness and I slowed myself to the normal pace that a man can maintain. I spotted her before she spotted me and I slowed down, preparing to alter my course to avoid her completely.

  When she turned and locked her gaze on me something inside stopped me from darting away. She had an intense way of looking at a person.

  She moved in my direction and called out softly but loud enough so I could hear her. "Guten morgen mein Herr."

  I stopped and shook my head in apology. "I am sorry but I don't understand you miss.."

  Her smile caught me off guard. "So sorry. My English is not gut." Her blond hair was just past her shoulders and when she smiled there was a distinct dimple in her chin. Her face was alarmingly beautiful. Her features were so perfect, only marred, as some people would have said, by a small hump on the bridge of her nose. She brought her slender hands up to remove a strand of hair from her face. The hump on her nose, other men might have found unappealing, but for me it only enhanced her loveliness. I was so distracted by her face there must have been an uncomfortable pause for her. "My English you not understand?" Her accent was heavy but the tone of her voice was musical to me.

  "No. No I understand you perfectly miss. I am sorry I was distracted by your beauty." I wondered why my mouth suddenly had a mind of its own and I could not control what was coming out of it.

  "Me? Beauty? No you must have bad eyes. I am not pretty. There are other girls much prettier." She blushed as I had said what I said and sat down on a bench on the side of the path."

  "You underestimate your own looks my lady." I looked at the bench and pointed to it. "May I?" She nodded and blushed. "My name is Jeran. And you are?"

  "I am Irma. I am pleased to meet you." When she spoke her name it came out eer ma' and sounded so pretty to me. "You are running through the trees?" She asked.

  I nodded to her and said. "Yes they remind me of my home on the Reservation."

  She looked confused and asked. "What means this? Reservation?"

  "I am an Indian and in America all lands that have been given back to the Indians are called a reservation." I would have to learn some German and fast because the conversation could become very strained.

  "Given back? If it was theirs in the first place why would someone take it from them." she asked, clearly interested in what I was saying.

  "Well we were there long before the white man came to American but when they did come they claimed all the land was theirs and pushed us from our ancestral lands." I was finding it easy to talk to this girl for some reason.

  Irma looked confused again. "Ancestral?" she struggled to pronounce the word correctly.

  "It means my parents and grandparents all the way back to the time the white man came." I wiped the sweat off my face and smiled at her.

  "Oh." she said and seemed to think for a bit and then said. "This is not right for them to do. They are bad men."

  I laughed at her and she got a hurt look on her face and started to get up and leave. "No Irma I am not laughing at you I am laughing at how simple you found it to determine it was wrong for them to steal our lands from us. Please stay."

  She sat back down and smiled. "You are new to here?" she asked.

  "Yes I just arrived this morning. I am stationed with the Americans on the Kasern." I remembered the word Top had told me earlier in the morning.

  "Welcome to Deutschland then. This is the word for Germany." She greeted me and supplied an explanation in the same breath. She looked at me with interest in her eyes. "You have fruestueck yet?"

  I looked confused and asked "Fruestueck?"

  "It means." she grasped for the meaning in English "Eating in the morning time."

  "Oh you mean breakfast. No I have not eaten yet." I replied.

  She held out her hand offering for me to take it. "Come." she said simply

  "You want to have breakfast with me?" She nodded at me. "I should shower first because I am sure my aroma is not appealing."

  She looked confused and I pointed at myself held my nose and waved my hand in front of it. "I will live." She said simply and grabbed my hand and pulled me off the bench.

  As I followed her one part of my mind was screaming at me to stop this nonsense and get away from her. The other part was telling me to ignore what he said this could get interesting. Katie lurked in the shadows of my mind and seemed to be smiling.

  She guided me back to the street and over the railroad crossing. We turned left to where the driver had said the railroad station was and walked to a stand that was near the steps of the station. She fired something off in rapid German and then had two somethings in her hand. She motioned for me to grab the cups of coffee that the vendor had sat on the counter.

  I reached for my wallet to pay for the stuff and she slapped my hand away. "No. Me. You are my guest." I shrugged and took the coffee cups and followed her to what looked like a picnic table made out of stone.

  I sat down at the table and she sat across from me. "Thank you Irma you are too kind."

  She hands me the bread she had in her hand and said. "These are Brotchens with Shinken and Kase." She stopped for a moment and seemed to be searching her memory. "Bread with cheese and ham. They are good for you. Eat now."

  "Your English is wonderful Irma." I complimented her.

  "Not good. Learned in school but did bad." She was blushing as she said it. "I am working selling shoes at Globus."

  "You sell shoes at a place called Globus?" She smiled at me and nodded quickly. "That's great I need to go buy shoes and clothing somewhere. Could you help me?" I paused for a moment. "Or do you have to work today?"

  She looked at me thinking about what I said. "No work. I have holiday now, for two weeks. I take you einkaufen ummmm shopping as you say. I help you choose good kleider I mean clothing."
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  "That would be great Irma and maybe I could learn some German from you." She smiled at me and nodded quickly.

  The way she was so trusting and helpful triggered something in me I had not expected to ever happen again. It was not the same as with Katie nothing would ever reach that level again. But for the first time in over a year I had a feeling of happiness.

  "You know a bank where I can exchange money for German money?"

  "Yes I know this. We now eat then go to change money then shop." She took a bite out of her bread and looked at me from the corner of her eye.

  "Slow down pretty lady." I laughed "If you are going to help me get around today then I at least owe it to you to shower some of this stink off me before I do."

  She giggled at me and said. "Yes you go shower you have bad smell to you." She waved her hand in front of her face and we both burst out laughing at the same time at her antics. People around us looked at us strangely but neither one of us noticed anyone else but each other.

  We ate in silence the rest of the meal and from time to time I caught her looking at me out of the corner of her eye. When we were done I promised to meet her in my car in an hour and described my car to her. She nodded and reached out to touch my hand before I turned and started jogging back to the apartment. As I ran I wondered to myself if it was possible for my heart and soul to be somehow mended by someone else besides the one I truly loved. The Katie in my mind smiled at me and nodded in encouragement.

  Chapter 17 - The First Day

  I met Irma at the railroad station and noticed for the first time, the rest of her body. I had noticed nothing but her face during the time I had been with her so far. She was lithe in her frame definitely female but on the slim side. She could have easily been a supermodel with the body she sported. She wore tight jeans that accented her body well. I thought it would have been interesting to see how she got into the jeans. It looked like she had been literally poured into them. Her chest area was not overly endowed but there was enough to make looking at her extremely easy on the eyes. She had a very slight tan to her skin but from the shade of her skin I would guess she had a difficult time maintaining a tan at any time during the year. Her skin was clear, with an occasional blemish of acne here and there but not overly distracting like it could be on other people. She was not short. She could look me straight in the eyes if she wore heels.

  After she showed me the bank and I had deposited the cash I had. I followed the directions she gave me until we ended up in another small town. Wiesental was on the sign as we entered the town limits. When we reached the first stoplight in town, she directed me to turn right. The town was similar in appearance to Phillipsburg. The buildings were very close together. When we reached the next light, she signaled that I should turn right and get into the left lane for the next light. I could see where she was taking me now. There was a very large building in the distance on an open field. The sign was orange and yellow and I could see the globe on the building. Globus was clearly visible from this distance. There was a lot of traffic going in that direction and I paid close attention to make sure I was not involved in an accident on my first day in Germany.

  We parked close to the entrance and I got out and walked over to open Irma's door for her. She looked surprised but made no comment.

  We entered the big double doors of the store. She stopped to say hi to a woman at the customer service desk. I waited for a bit while she talked and admired the way she lit up when she conversed with other people. She grabbed my hand again and pulled me toward a set of escalators.

  We went up to the second floor. I could see that most of the floor was commanded by clothing displays. We walked toward the back of the huge room and I could see that this was the shoe department where Irma had said she worked.

  Irma stopped next to a shorter brown haired girl and fired something off in rapid German. This girl was around five foot tall and a little bit on the heavier side. Not fat but with more meat on her bones than Irma had. Irma pointed toward me and the brown haired girl looked in my direction. When she spotted me her eyes got wide and she leaned closer to Irma and said something. Irma replied with something that sounded sharp in my ears then calmed down. "Jaren." she called to me. "I would like for you to meet my best friend Sonja." she indicated the shorter girl beside her.

  I stepped closer to her and bowed. "Pleased to meet you Sonja."

  Sonja's English was better than Irma's by far. "Hello, Jared. Welcome to Germany. Is there anything I can do for you?" It came out like an invitation to dine.. on her.

  Irma spouted something in rapid fire German. I stepped away and let her deal with her friend.

  I faced away from them and shortly Irma came to my side and placed her hand on my arm. I had located a white t-shirt and some jeans in the apartment that fit me somewhat. I could wear the t-shirt for now but it was rather tight on my chest and the arms were too snug around my biceps. I didn't want to walk around in class "A's" during my outing and wanted to blend in a little bit better although my skin tone made it obvious I was not from the area.

  "So sorry about Sonja, Jeran. She can be a flirt sometimes."

  I patted her hand and said, "Not a problem Irma. where should we go now?"

  She looked down at my shoes and grimaced. "Shoes first. Those look too army to have on."

  She dragged me a couple of isle down and asked. "You know your size shoes in European sizes?"

  I shook my head and she lead me to a chair where she told me to sit down. She grabbed a metal plate that had a place for me to put my heel. She pulled my shoe off and placed my foot in the device. "Ein und vierzig oder zwie and vierzig breite"

  "Excuse me?" I asked confused. I was defiantly going to have to learn German so we could talk easier.

  "Oh, Sorry I mean forty-one or forty-two wide is how it is in English. I go get some shoes for you." She moved off before I could stop her. She was gone five minutes and when she came back she was sporting more shoes than I ever thought I would try on. After an hour we finally agreed on some black loafers and a couple pairs of sneakers.

  She made me promise not to use the sneakers for running since they were designer sneakers.

  I had no idea what she meant by that, so I asked her. She informed me that designer sneakers were just to wear for show. They were not designed to handle that stress of any sport activity.

  I was not concerned about cost because I had a year's worth of pay, the enlistment bonus of five thousand dollars and another twenty thousand in completion bonus from the special forces training. It was all in the German bank now and at the exchange rate of five German marks to one American dollar. Irma had ensured me I had more than most Germans earned in ten years.

  We walked around that store for hours and when we were done I insisted that I take Irma to dinner for the help she had given me. She blushed as she agreed and I asked her where she wanted to go. "You like Greek food?" she asked me.

  "I could not say because I have never had any Greek food. If that's where you want to go then just show me the way." We finished putting my purchases in the back of my car and I opened her door and held it for her while she got in. I got in the other side and asked. "Ok where to now ?"

  "You know where Kirrlach is?" She asked me.

  "Yes I passed it on the way to Philippsburg. Should we go back there because that's the only way I know to get to it." I started the car and drove toward the exit.

  "No there is a road here that goes right to Kirrlach. Turn right at first light on the road and stay on there. That takes you directly to Kirrlach. The road to Greek restaurant is first after you get past the Kirrlach road sign." In less than ten minutes we were at the restaurant.

  I opened Irma's door for her and offered her my arm to hold as we walked toward the entrance. When we got inside Irma steered me directly to a place besides an open grill in the middle of the room.

  I pulled out her chair and the man at the grill looked at me and asked. "American?" I nodded and he broke ou
t in a great grin.

  "Ahh my favorite customer has found herself a courteous American man at last." His English was very good but with an accent I could not place. He said something to Irma who proceeded to blush the deepest red I have ever seen before. She said nothing but nodded. "My name is Serjonus. This is my restaurant and you are always welcome here. You are called?"

  "Jeran, sir. Thank you very much." His friendliness was a bit disturbing to me because I had never experienced such openness from any stranger before.

  "None of this ‘Sir’ stuff with me, Jeran my friends call me Serj and so will you." He held out his meaty hand. He had a very stocky build, a bit on the chubby side but I would find out later most older Greek men had the same type of frame.

  He turned to Irma and asked. "My little Ireena wants the same as usual?" She nodded to him and blushed. "And you Jeran will you trust my discretion during your first visit to my establishment?"

  Since I had no idea what constituted the typical Greek menu, I nodded. "Good."

  He laughed a great bellowing laugh. "We will start out with the same as Ireena. Sheep's Cheese hot from the grill. They call it Schafskases here in this land." He began chopping up onions and what smelled like fresh garlic.

  Irma reached and touched my hand to get my attention. "I must use the ladies room now. Excuse please?"

  "Certainly Irma. I will be here waiting for you." I watched her as she went toward the back of the open room.

  While she was gone Serj was a fountain of information. It seems that Irma had been involved with another American soldier he had not liked at all. The man had carried on with her for a few months and then suddenly dropped off the face of the Earth.

  Serj had found out he had transferred back to the States without a single word from him to her that he was going. Before she came back to the table he said to me. "Jeran, you hurt my little Ireena I will hunt you down." He was waving his cleaver as he said this to me and had a dangerous look in his eyes.