I saw the panzer shake from the recoil of the shot. I heard the loud explosion of it firing off the larger round. It flew through the air and smacked into the side of Viktor’s truck. It exploded on impact, sending shrapnel everywhere. Smoke filled the air, and I couldn’t see. I knew Viktor had no chance of being alive, but I had to see. I waited. The dust started to settle and the smoke started to clear. There was nothing left but scraps and flames. The explosion had obliterated the truck and anyone in it.
There was nothing left to do but go home. Hitler was gone, the parade was over, and now the streets were swarming with thousands of soldiers on high alert. I took off the uniform I was wearing to reveal my normal civilian clothes. I left the rifle sitting there on the roof and walked to the stairs. My hopes had been shot down and now there was no telling when we would have another shot at ending the war. Sorry Eliza, you will have to stay wherever you are a little while longer.
I made my way through the building, and down to the street below. It was still chaotic. People were frantic and fearful of another attack, and so were the soldiers. Orders were being barked one after another, to try and get some order amongst everyone. At least it would provide great cover for me to sneak back home. I just walked right through the street and nobody even glanced my way. Then I strolled home as if nothing happened.
Back at the apartment, I walked in to find Hans and Aldo arguing. “Did you tell Viktor what was going on?” Hans yelled. “No! I would not be so foolish. I have no idea how he knew.” Aldo responded. They continued to argue back and forth. “Somebody had to tell them.” Hans seemed angrier than I was about the failed mission.
“Well, I told you it was not me Hans!” I couldn’t take the yelling anymore so I butted in, “Maybe they happened to see the gigantic parade and thousands of soldiers. Maybe they had no idea what we were doing, and they just wanted to kill as many soldiers as possible to weaken the army!” They each looked at me and must have decided I was right because the stopped arguing.
Hans spoke first, “Okay, well then, what is our next plan?” Aldo pondered it for a few moments and then responded, “I honestly don’t know Hans. We will just have to wait until we get some more information.” Hans sighed in frustration and walked out of the room.
Aldo turned to me and a puzzled look came across his face. “Eloy, what happened to you? There is blood all over your collar, and on your neck.” I did not feel like going into detail about what happened in the building so I just said, “A soldier caught me, I did what I had to do.” Aldo understood and nodded. Then he picked up some papers and started looking through them to come up with a plan. I went into the bathroom to wash up.
I splashed my face with water and was wiping the blood off when I looked into the mirror. The eyes staring back at me were not my own. They were the eyes of a killer. The eyes of someone that was ready to do anything at any moment without hesitation. What have I become?
The few times before, when I was forced to kill someone, I did it out of necessity. It was the only way out of a situation, and I did it not only to save myself, but Hans and others as well. Today I killed that soldier out of anger. I was fighting for my life, but there was no need for the fight in the first place. I could have talked my way out of the situation. Instead, I charged at him with hatred in my heart. I wanted him to fight me. Honestly, I didn’t even feel bad about it even though I knew I should. The longer this war lasted, the less I felt anything besides anger and hatred. This war has changed me. I just hoped that when it was over, I could go change back to who I once was. The soulless eyes I saw in the mirror were burning a hole through me. I couldn’t look at them any longer.
Chapter 10
1943
The weeks after our attempted assassination on Hitler went by completely uneventful. Hitler was holed up in a fortress and nothing happened around the city. We got to work, to try and come up with another plan. We were having trouble finding something meaningful we could do to weaken the German forces until one day, something fell into our laps.
One of our spies on the inside told us of an intense battle going on in Russia. The German army forced themselves into the city through intense battling, and with heavy losses. Then the red army flanked them and hit them at their weak point. The German forces were dwindling, but Hitler refused to let them retreat. Instead, he decided to use planes to drop them supplies and was going to have more troops parachute into the city to strengthen the German forces. He thought that would allow them to hold the city against the red army.
We came up with a plan to stop those planes from delivering the necessary supplies, and troops to the German army, and force them to retreat triggering one of the worst losses by German forces in this war.
There was an airfield where the Luftwaffe were set to take off from, with all of the supplies. Our plan was to infiltrate the airbase and sabotage the planes. We figured this would delay them long enough so that the German forces would have no choice but to surrender.
This plan was easier said than done. The airfield was heavily guarded, and there would be swarms of soldiers all over. In order to get to the planes without being spotted by all of these soldiers we were going to use underground waterway tunnels that were no longer in use. These tunnels went right under the airfield, and they would allow us to breach the walls without being seen by anyone. There was also an access point to the tunnels, that opened up right outside of an airplane hangar. This would be our way in and back out. With enough luck, the soldiers would not know we were ever there.
“Okay, I just heard news that the Germans are desperate for more food and ammunition. They are getting shell shocked and are begging for help. The planes will be set to take off soon, so we have to get this done quick” Aldo explained. We were packing our stuff and were about to leave. “Well then, we better get down there and sabotage some planes,” Hans said. I smiled at Hans’ enthusiasm. I slung my bag of tools over my shoulder and Hans and I left the apartment.
Walking down the street Hans turned to me, “Eloy, I’ve never said it, but I am really sorry Eliza was taken from you. You have been through a lot and are stronger than anyone I know.” I did not want to start tearing up because I had my emotions locked away nice and tight, but once the floodgates opened there may be no way to stop them, so I just said, “Thanks, Hans.” Then I decided to change the subject before he could say anything else.
“Do you think this will really make a difference?” Hans thought about it for a few moments and responded, “Yea. Yea I really do. This battle could be the turning point. America has been fighting strong, people are starting to fight back more than ever, and now we have soviets on our side as well. The Wehrmacht is no longer undefeatable. They can fall.”
“I hope you are right Hans. I am sick of this war.”
We came to the back of an old factory and found what we were looking for. It was a rusty old door on the ground, that lifted up to open the entrance to the tunnels we were looking for. Hans looked at it very skeptical. “After you,” he said. I shook my head. Hans was a little claustrophobic and was not looking forward to a long walk through small tunnels.
I climbed down into the tunnel and noticed right away that it was smaller than I expected. I had to bend my head at an odd angle so it wouldn’t hit the top. I could also stretch out my arms to each side and touch both walls at the same time. Hans was going to absolutely hate this. I heard Hans climb down after me and immediately curse to himself. I laughed and said, “Hans are you scared?” He turned and gave me the strongest glare. “I’m just joking with you Hans. We will go through here quick and soon you will be in the open air.”
Looking down the hallway I noticed it was incredibly dark. Luckily we had a couple of flashlights to reveal the steps ahead. The tunnel was incredibly long, and the end was nowhere in sight. Aldo had estimated beforehand that we would have to walk at least five kilometers, before reaching our destination. He said we had to find a ladder that read Gartenstraße. This was the exit that would
open up by the runway, and bring us to the airplanes.
We were walking for about forty-five minutes and still had not come upon the sign. “This is ridiculous! Aldo has to be wrong, it should not be this far.” Hans said angrily. I looked over at him and could see he was very anxious. He did not like being in this tiny tunnel.
“Don’t worry, we should be finding it any minute now. We haven’t even walked that far.” Hans didn’t seem very convinced.
“We have past a bunch of ladders and not one of them has said Gartenstraße. Maybe Aldo got the names mixed up. I just think we should go up the next ladder and see where we are at.”
“Hans you know we can’t take that risk. We have no idea where they will open up to, and we cannot be caught.” I was hoping we found the ladder soon so Hans could relax, and we could get on with our mission.
We came upon another ladder, but it was still not the exit we were looking for. Hans was very angry by now. “See! We are never going to find the right one. I am going up this ladder, and I am breathing fresh air. I’m sick of this filthy, damp tunnel.” Hans started to climb the ladder. “Hans stop! What if that opens up under a crowd of soldiers!” Hans didn’t listen to me. Once he was set on doing something, he was going to do it.
He got to the top of the ladder and started pushing on the hatch. It didn’t budge. This caused Hans to become a little frantic. “No, no, no. We can’t be trapped under here!” He started pounding on it with his forearm.
I tried to calm him down so I said, “Hans, it’s just because that is the wrong spot. If we just walk a little bit further we will come to the right one, and it will be open. Just calm down.” Hans didn’t hear any of it. He was too focused on busting open the hatch.
“Dammit, that hurt.” He grabbed at his forearm that he had been hitting the hatch with. “Hans you are going to hurt yourself. Just calm down.” He still wasn’t listening to anything I said. The pain in his arm only made him more angry and he started to hit the hatch even harder. He was grunting to himself and saying, “Open up dammit.”
After pounding on it for more than five minutes, the hatch finally gave way. Hans gave it a real good hit and it popped up, allowing a fresh gust of air to come down into the musty tunnel. It was so refreshing. Possibly one of the most satisfying breaths I have ever taken. Hans was ecstatic. “Haha, I always win.”
He opened it up the rest of the way and climbed out. I quickly followed him, happy to be out of the tunnel as well. When I got out I noticed we were exactly where we needed to be. Hans was right. Aldo had the wrong name. We could have walked in that tunnel for hours. I was very happy that Hans decided to leave when he did, but I wouldn’t tell him that.
He looked at me with a big smirk on his face and said, “Eloy, you really are lucky your big brother is so smart.” He loved to revel in his accomplishments.
“Quit smirking, we have a job to do,” I said.
I crouched down and ran over to the side of the nearest hangar, and Hans followed close behind. We had the cover of darkness when outside, but once we went into the hangar it was completely lit up so we had to make sure it was free of guards. “Hans boost me up to the window so I can look inside.” He shook his head. “Really? Why can’t you boost me up? You were always the heavy one.” It was just like Hans to find any opportunity he could, to crack a joke about me being chunky when I was younger. “We probably weigh the same stupid. And It was my idea, so boost me up.” Hans groaned, but he did walk over, interlaced his fingers, and boosted me up to the window.
I was looking around inside and did not see anyone. They probably figured the airbase was so heavily guarded on the outside, they wouldn’t need any guards inside. Hans was starting to struggle under my weight. “Hurry up, I can’t hold you for much longer.”
I took one last glance around before Hans gave up and let me drop to the ground. He was breathing heavy and said, “I thought you got skinny, but apparently not.” There he was cracking jokes again, when at any moment we could be caught and arrested. I chose to just ignore his comment, so we could focus on the task ahead.
“I didn’t see anyone inside. We just need to slip in and out, before someone comes.” Hans nodded. We jogged over to the door. Hans turned the handle and peeked inside. “You were right. It is all clear.”
“Did you think I would lie about that?” I snapped. “No, I just thought you might have missed someone.” Hans hissed back at me. Hans pushed the door the rest of the way open and stepped inside. I quickly followed and shut the door behind me. We ran over to the airplane and got to work.
To start we had to remove some panels that were behind the propellers. This was very time-consuming. We had to be extra quiet so nobody would hear us and extra careful so nobody would know they had been messed with. It was painstaking. Eventually, we had enough of the panels removed to reach all parts of the engine. Then we got to our sophisticated dismantling of the engine. By that I mean, we took cutters and cut any wire or hose we could find. Then we just yanked things apart until we were satisfied.
It took about an hour for the first plane. “There are way too many planes. We will never get this done in time. We need to come up with another strategy.” I said. Hans looked at the plane and then back at me. A smile spread across his face. He ran over to a tool bench and I followed. He grabbed the biggest wrench there was, and ran to the next plane. I really didn’t know what he thought he was going to do. He climbed up onto the plane and opened up the cockpit. Then he took his wrench and started bashing everything inside.
“Hans what are you doing?” He didn’t bother to look at me and just kept hammering away while saying, “They can’t fly a plane if they can’t control it.” He had a good point. “How long do you think it will take to fix. They need to be delaid for quite a long time.” He finally stopped swinging to take a quick break. “Well i figure if we bust it up enough, they will need all new parts, and that should take a while to get.” That was very true. It was our best shot anyway.
I ran over to the bench and grabbed another giant wrench. Then I went to the nearest plane, jumped up inside and swung away. It was pretty enjoyable to say the least. I swung and swung until I couldn’t swing anymore. The cockpit was now a pile of pieces and parts. That should delay them quite a bit.
Using our new method, Hans and I quickly decommissioned dozens of planes. The sun was just about to start rising over the eastern horizon, and we were on our last couple of planes. “We need to hurry. They could be here any minute.” I said to Hans. “I know, I just want to make sure we get to all of them,” he responded.
There were only a couple left so I figured we could finish. I just worked a little faster to be sure. I finished up smashing this plane, and Hans finished off the plane he was in. That left one plane. Hans jumped into it and started smashing. Right then the door opened and a pilot walked in looking confused. “What is going on? Who are you and what are you doing to my plane?” I stammered a little bit. “Uh..uh we… we are just here making a few minor adjustments.” The pilot looked at me wide-eyed and angry. “Adjustments! You are smashing my plane, how is that making adjustments?” Hans spoke up this time. “Well, everything here was completely defective. We are just making it easier for it to be replaced.” The pilot, completely oblivious, just continued to stare. “I can’t believe this. Who told you to do this?” I looked at the pilot, and with as much seriousness as I could muster, I said, “Well the Fuhrer himself, of course. He doesn’t like defective planes. He made us work all night.” The pilot, still very angry, looked at us for a few more moments, then turned and stormed out.
Hans jumped down from the plane, laughing hysterically. I couldn’t help but laugh too. Not wanting to be caught again, Hans and I ran outside. Once we stepped into the light we realized the airfield was buzzing with life. There were people working everywhere. They were starting to notice that the planes were all messed up. They were running around frantic, barking orders at one another.
The pilot we talked to was
pointing in our direction. We couldn’t watch the show any longer. Pilots started sprinting in our direction. Hans and I quickly ran to our tunnels entrance and jumped down in. Then we tore through the tunnel, as fast as we could, with our heads bent low.
We could hear pilots dropping down into the dark tunnel behind us, cursing at the darkness of the tunnel, and their lack of flashlights. We continued running until we came to the ladder we were looking for and scrambled up the ladder and out onto the street. Then we ran around the corner and started on the way back home.
A few blocks later, I slowed to a walk. “I need to catch my breath for a minute,” I said between breaths. “You never were a runner,” Hans said to me. We had yet another close call.
“You know Hans, one of these times we might just get caught.” Hans turned to me, “I already have been.” It wasn’t all that funny, but Hans and I started to laugh uncontrollably again. We even dropped to the ground and rolled around, laughing like idiots. It was the first time I laughed so hard in such a long time. It felt good.
As our laughter died down I said to Hans, “Hans, thanks for being a good brother.” He pulled his eyes away from me and looked at the ground. He responded, “Dad would never believe you ever said that.”
“No, he probably wouldn’t.” Was all I could think to say.
We picked ourselves up off of the ground and strolled home, as if nothing happened.
Chapter 11
1943
Soon after our destruction of the planes, we received amazing news. The delay of supplies meant that the German troops exhausted all of their supplies. They were left with only one option, which was to surrender. It was a great victory for the Allies, and they were only getting stronger. That, along with the German troops being over-extended on multiple fronts, lead many to believe the war was nearing its end.
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