July 20th Thursday.

It is another hot summer day and the sun rises on this late morning flooding the barracks with its rays. I sit on my cot and read another Canto of Daunte's Inferno. Obrenski is outside smoking and reading another one of his many collections of porograhic magazines. Kurtz sits on his cot and makes propeller noises as he crashes his model planes into Otto the cat who lays perturbed in his lap. The Lieutenant has been strict on me to teach Kurtz to drive over the last week and I am sure today will be no different. He has improved in his driving but slowly and I am still reluctant to ride with him because of our last crash into the trench. I await the inevitable orders to once again join Kurtz in that metal death trap and hope he doesn't plunge us to our deaths because of his ineptitude. The thought of dying is bad enough but dying with Kurtz is worse. I worry more of being personally maimed if we roll the vehicle over.

Me and Irina's dirty correspondence continues to flow but she has made it very clear that she awaits highly of our evening at the August Ball. She barely contains her excitement through her writing all the while her mother has no clue about our continuing forbidden romance.

Obrenski steps into the barracks with a lit cigarette that hangs from his mouth. "Oh lover boy, it's that time of the day again. I wonder how she would feel about you losing your arms or better yet losing your pecker." He mocks me. I jeer at him as he grins at the implication that the Lieutenant has once again ordered me to train Kurtz.

Kurtz exclaims," Yippee! Are we going to try backing up this time Franz?" I respond reluctantly, "I don't know Kurtz." Obrenski chuckles at the thought, Kurtz barely keeps his own going forward much less reverse. I shudder at the thought. I mark my place in my book and rise. Kurtz follows me as we exit the barracks.

The Lieutenant sits in his outdoor chair and listens, through a headset, to the radio on the table. He listens intently to the world around us as Allies bombers make their regular runs over continental Europe and bomb targets deep in our home territory. The war is only continuing to worsen as the Allies maintain their foothold in Normandy and the Russians inch closer to our border. "Franz." The Lieutenant says without halting his task or even looking at me, it's like he sensed my presence,"Take Kurtz into town this time and teach him." "What?!" I exclaim. Kurtz looks extremely excited like he just can't contain it. He gives a large gleeful smile. Obrenski must have been standing behind me because he burst out laughing, "Loverboy is going to get himself killed!" "But sir, you can't be serious!" I plead in desperation but he replies,"I am serious, Kurtz needs to have experience driving in the city. He has improved enough to where I believe he will do fine." I respond,"But, but sir…." "That is an order Franz, or would you prefer to run laps." He interrupts me while he still looks at the map of Europe on the table. "Oooooo loverboy is going to get it now. What would you like me to say in your obituary?" "Obrenski, quit taunting him or I will make you do it." The Lieutenant snaps still focusing on his task. Obrenski responds," Nah uh, not me, I prefer not to die today." I really don't want to run laps because the Lieutenant will make me run around the post until I collapse but even that is better then dying with Kurtz. "I rather run laps." I say in defiance. The Lieutenant sits upright, takes off the headset and turns toward me. I swallow hard, I'm in for it now. Obrenski is stunned at my display of disobedience. "Franz," the Lieutenant says frighteningly calm,"That was a direct order. And you know what happens to soldiers who disobey direct orders don't you? Or would you rather be reassigned to the front?" I feel nauseous just at the thought of being sent to the front, certain death awaits there. He continues his scolding,"l expect this sort of behavior from Obrenski but not from you Franz. I expected better from you." I am filled with shame, I hang my head low. "Uh uh I'm sorry sir." I say with shameful sincerity. "Apology accepted, don't do it again." He says in his calm but fatherly tone. He continues," Get going you two. Obrenski we are going to talk."

I begrudgingly enter the passenger's seat of the Kubelwagen while Kurtz giddly jumps in the driver's seat causing the vehicle to rock. "Franz, I can't wait to drive in the city." He says excitedly. I dread this, is it too late to write my will? Obrenski comes up to my door and says with his usual grin," Now remember, you aren't allowed to die until you have knocked the dust off that girl." I swallow hard, I am too nervous to rebuke him, I feel like I have been condemned to death. "Obrenski!" snaps Lieutenant Sprieg from down in the trench. "Uh oh, looks like I'm in trouble." Obrenski leaves us to get scolded by the Lieutenant probably because he believes Obrenski is the inspiration for my disobedience. I feel bad actually for back talking to the Lieutenant, I have never back talked to anyone, not even my father. I guess the fear of sudden death emboldened me. Speaking of sudden death, I now have to guide us safely through the city without Kurtz wrecking us.

I reluctantly say, "Start it up Kurtz." He giddly fumbles with the key until he gets it into the ignition slot and the vehicle grumbles to life. "Alright put it into gear." I command. He quickly moves the shifter to drive. The vehicle lurches forward and we begin to depart. He is surprisingly doing pretty well and not having much difficulty, definitely better than I thought. We made it down the dirt road better than I expected and I barely had to coach him. We hit the jolt where the paved road meets that tells us we have entered city limits. He sticks his tongue out of the corner of his mouth that tells me he is really concentrating. "Kurtz watch your speed ok?" He still focuses heavily on the road. "Kurtz!" I snap. He is startled and the vehicle swerves. "Pay attention." I snap. He sulks,"Sorry Franz." He stays pretty well in the lines but now I have to make sure he watches his speed. "Ok remember what I said about the speedometer?" I ask. "Uh yeah." He replies. I respond," Try to keep your speed below twenty." That should keep him from speeding and if anyone doesn't like it they can go around.

We pass in between the many brick buildings of the city. People walk about the sidewalk in their best attire. But this time I notice many eyes are upon us, not on me but Kurtz. The townsfolk have probably never seen a twelve year old drive. Suddenly a truck, who's driver stares at Kurtz in disbelief, rear ends the car in front of him producing a loud crash. Kurtz turns around in his seat to look at the spectacle as curious people go over to the crash site. I am struck with terror, he is distracted. Kurtz exclaims,"Look Franz, they had an accident." "Kurtz pay attention to the road!" I shout. He turns back in time to notice the red pickup truck in front of us. I am in mortal terror now. "KURTZ THE BRAKE!" I cry. He slams on the brakes as I clutch my seat for dear life. We were inches away from rear ending the truck stopped in front of us. Oh dear God, that was close!

After a while, I explain the meanings of various signs to him and ask him to make sure he knows the difference. "So the sign that says “stop” means brake?" He asks uncertainty. "Yes, Kurtz that's what it means." I say annoyed.

We passed by the new art museum that Irina expressed excitement about. The townsfolk have showed quite a bit of excitement over the building and it should be completed by the August Ball. It is a long white three story building with a large glass dome that hangs over the atrium. It has several stairs that lead to the main entrance. Over the main entrance is a concrete awning that hangs above the steps. The awning is supported by two greek pillars that are twenty feet high and at their tops are two statues of men hunched over supporting the awning with their backs.

We pass a police car who's officer eyes us with suspicion. At first I thought we were speeding but a look at the speedometer tells me otherwise. Kurtz is handling the vehicle a lot better than what I expected. Suddenly the police car pulls out and turns on his red lights. He is pulling us over! Why? "Kurtz, stop the car." I command. "Why?" He asks as the police car trails us. "Because I said so." Kurtz veers over to the curb and parks the vehicle, the police car parks behind us. A tall man in dark gray uniform and a police cap. He straightens up with well polished boots, he has an air of strict authority about him. He examines us and asks rather brutishly," How old are you two?" Kurtz exclaims," Hi officer, my name is Kurtz Von Krieger and I'm twelve." The police officer looks unamused. "I am Franz Henkel and I am eighteen sir." He pulls out a pad of paper and begins scribbling. "ID and permits." He demands. "Uh we don't have a permit sir." I say as a fumble for my ID. Oh no, I don't have my ID papers, I left without them. "You are letting a minor drive without a permit?" He snaps. Kurtz asks innocently,"Franz, what's a minor?" I ignore him and stutter a response,"Well uh sir uh we are uh under orders from our commanding officer." "Who is your commanding officer?" He demands. "Lieutenant Odel Sprieg." I respond. Kurtz adds rambling,"Yeah he's really nice, he got me pickles and he let me have a cat, his name is Otto." He looks at Kurtz unamused before saying,"Yeah I know him.” Oh no this can't be good. "Where are your orders and your ID's!" He demands. "Uh we don't have them." I respond. I feel him growing aggravated. "Yeah, we don't have them Mr.Officer." Kurtz adds making us look worse. The police officer then says rather aggressively, "Underage driving, driving without a permit, and failure to present identification. I am placing you two under arrest." "What!" I exclaim. Kurtz blurts excitedly "Does this mean we are going to jail?" "But sir we are under orders." "I don't care. Get out of the car." He demands sternly.

We step out of the car and he places Kurtz in handcuffs first. Kurtz say excitedly,"Franz, we get to go to jail!" like he thinks the prospect of going to jail is fun. Kurtz says,"Aren't they shiny Franz." as he displays the handcuffs with a sense of pride. He then comes to me and I rebuke him by saying,"You are making a mistake." He rebuttals by say," Resisting arrest." as he slaps the silver metal restraints on my wrist. Resistance is futile. He escorts us into the back of the police car and slams the door. Kurtz looks at me with an excited face and says,"Isn't this fun Franz? We get to go to jail." He is completely oblivious and acts like this is a game. This isn't going to be good.

We approach the police station, which is a large blue brick two story building that has white painted stripes running horizontal across it. It has a few stairs that lead to the main entrance, but behind It has a fenced back lot to which we go. Several police cars sit back here but we park next to an entrance that possesses another armed guard in a gray uniform. The police officer yanks us out of the car and takes us to the entrance. The guard asks,"What are these two for?" "Driving without a permit." Our Officer says. "Don't you think you could have given them a ticket?" He asks. "They were also resisting arrest." The Police Officer says. "No we weren't." I profess our innocence. "Quiet you." The officer snaps and strikes me in the back of the head. I detect foul play, something isn't right.

We are escorted into the cell blocks. Several cells are lined up on both sides as we walk, the only thing separating us from the criminal are iron bars. Kurtz looks at them curiously. They give us aggressive looks that make me feel uneasy. No telling what kind of murders and thieves reside here. We don't belong here, Kurtz seems more intrigued than frightened. We are led into a large room with a large sixteen by sixteen cell that holds a variety of inmates, some look like the rabble you would expect but others I am certain are just drunks. As he escorts us to the cell door, I ask,"Don't we get a phone call?" The officer huffs and leads me to a phone on a table. He says, "You got two minutes." I dial the post number and it rings for a second before Obrenski's voice comes through. "Obrenski it's me Franz." I say. "Franz? Where the hell are you? You should have been back by now." He says "No Obrenski, listen we are at the police station, me and Kurtz got arrested." There was silence before he burst into laughter."Ha ha you two got arrested." He says. I feel insulted. "No this is serious, you need to get the Lieutenant….." He interrupts me," Ah this is golden, now Sprieg gets to bail you out of jail." "Obrenski hurry dammit and get the Lieutenant!" I snap.

"Times up." The Officer snaps and yanks the phone from my hand and places it on the receiver. Dammit! Now I have to rely on Obrenski's mercy. "Hi I'm Kurtz Von Krieger!" Kurtz announces. I look back horrified to see Kurtz conversing with some of the inmates, many of whom look of the aggressive variety. "Now get in there." The officer commands as he removes my restraints and,with a baton, coerces me into the large cell. There are about seven men here in which we share this space. There are several benches that have been bolted to the floor. Kurtz chats gleefully to anyone who will listen though many of them give him a wide berth. Even the rough men don't want to be bothered by the incoherent ramblings of a child.

After about two hours and Kurtz has essentially pestered everyone equally, he comes to me as I sit on the bench.

"Franz, isn't this great? We get to make new friends." Kurtz says, "I wouldn't call them our friends Kurtz." "Well what would you call them Franz?" He asks naively. "Well they are inmates Kurtz." "Whats an inmate?" He asks with innocent sincerity. "Well Kurtz uh they are uh criminals." I whisper. "Criminals?! We are with criminals?!" Kurtz shouts confused as if it suddenly dawned on him. I try to quiet him down but we get stares from the other men. "What did he call us?" A tall muscular man approaches with many scars on his face and arms. Oh this can't be good. He comes up to Kurtz but I block him and get in his way. "What the hell did he just say?" The intimidating man says towering over me. I try to reason with him," Well you uh see uh he doesn't know what he is saying, he's slow." It doesn't convince him then Kurtz makes it worse by saying," I'm not slow, my father said that all criminals were dirty animals that all deserve to die." My eyes grow full of fear as I look up to my assailant as he stares at Kurtz in angry disbelief and then he looks at me. Suddenly he grabs me the collar and starts to raise me off the ground. Oh God help me, this is bad, very very bad. I don't stand a chance against him, Kurtz what have you got me into. "I'm going to beat his ass but first I am going to start with you." Thats it I'm going to die, right here, right now and what's worse is that they are going to tell Irina that my dumb self died in jail protecting Kurtz. Kurtz chants encouragement," Get him Franz! Get him!" The man rears back his fist slowly like it were a gun chambering to fire. He is going to let me have the full force of his blow. I brace myself for a beating.

"Mueller! Put him down!" A voice shouts. I look over and see Obrenski and the Lieutenant with several of the guards. I'm saved! He growls,"Obrenski!" Before dropping me and dashing to the cell wall. He grips on the bars and snarls," Obrenski when I get out of here I'm going to kill you." Obrenski chuckles,"If you get out." The man raves like a mad dog," I am going to gut you like a fish for sleeping with my wife!" "Oh yeah, which one was yours? There have been so many." Obrenski replies snarky. The man screams," OBRENSKI!" "Alright get him out of there." one of the guards say. Three guards approach the cell and open it. The man comes dashing out and slams into the officers and he claws his way toward Obrenski with all of his might as the officers attempt to restrain him. They unveil batons and begin to strike him with it, only then they are able to push him back to another cell block but not before he screams," I'm going to kill you!" They push him through one of the cell doors until they are out of sight. The Lieutenant walks up to us and says, "You know Obrenski is the one usually getting arrested."

"Yeah it looks different from this side." Obrenski comments. "I'm sure it also looks different sober." smugly cracks the Lieutenant. Obrenski mouthingly mocks him. "Anyway." The Lieutenant says,'' What happened?" I answer,"They arrested us for not having a permit and then they said we were resisting arrest." Kurtz appears and says," Mr. Officer wasn't very nice." "I'll get this sorted out." Lieutenant Sprieg says.

"Otis is that you?" Obrenski asks one of the drunken appearing men. "Obrenski? Aren't you supposed to be in here?" The man says. " Not today but maybe tomorrow." Obrenski jokes. The Lieutenant glares at Obrenski. The man comes to the cell bars and he and Obrenski shake hands and reminisce like old friends.

A police Sergeant appears and speaks to the Lieutenant,"Sprieg when are you going to follow the actual legal process."

The Lieutenant answers,"These are my men, I need them released." "These two were caught without permits and IDs. I can't release them, they must stand before a judge." "They were only doing so because of my orders, which makes this a military matter." The Lieutenant responds. The police Sergeant replies,"Not this time Sprieg, you aren't going to weasel out of it like you do with Obrenski." The Lieutenant asks," Should I bring this matter to the police commissioner? Or would you prefer to explain it to the general?" "Not this again Sprieg." the man says. The Lieutenant replies,"They were under my orders which puts this in military jurisdiction, they have broken no laws." "Sprieg you know minors can't drive without a permit. Hell, he is not even old enough to get a permit." The police sergeant states. The Lieutenant replies,"What minor, he is a private in the army following the orders of his commanding officer." The Lieutenant then leans to the police Sergeant and whispers something in his ear. I can kind of overhear the Lieutenant say,"How long before they are all children?" The Sergeant huffs and says,"Fine. But not again, you hear me." "Thank you." says the Lieutenant. The police Sergeant says,"Release them." Me and Kurt file out of the cell. "Thank you Lieutenant." I say. Kurtz says,"That was fun, can we go to jail again." He turns back and waves," Bye friends." The inmates,unsurprisingly, don't wave back. "Obrenski, we are leaving." orders Lieutenant Sprieg. Obrenski says to his friend,"Alright I will see you next time your out." "Sprieg you need to keep a leash on your boys." The police Sergeant says.

We exit the building and step out into the fresh summer air which feels rejuvenating when compared to the dank and dark cell. I ask,"What took you so long?" Obrenski replies,"We had to wait on Rudy to pick us up so we could rescue your dumb asses." The Lieutenant says,"The kubel was impounded." We walk across the street to the impound lot that has a fenced in lot with a variety of vehicles. The Lieutenant walks up to the guard post and shows him a slip of paper before the guard opens the gate. We find the kubelwagen among the many vehicles and I start it up. The Lieutenant gets in the passenger's seat and Kurtz and Obrenski file in the back. The Lieutenant orders,"Franz, take us to headquarters, I have been summoned."

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After a short drive through the city streets, we come across the long rectangular white government building that also serves as the military headquarters of the city. Posted here is a small garrison and of course our Anti Aircraft Batteries command center. The building serves as the city's local functions like: The tax office, the mayor's office, sanitation, transportation, census while also functioning as the military supply depot. We parrel park beside the grand white marble steps of the entrance. There is a large stone awning that is supported by two grand pillars. There must be twenty miniscule steps that lead to three double doors that enter into the lobby. The building has large windows on both sides of the entrance. Outside are two large gardens that host trees and a large assortment of red, violet, orange and purple flowers.

We disembark the vehicle, head up the steps, and enter the main lobby. There are many people and uniformed workers that go to and fro. There is a round desk in the center in which sits a receptionist. There are many long halls that lead to other offices. The Lieutenant orders,"Stay here, I have a meeting with General Yodel." He soon disappears in the crowd. Me, Kurtz and Obrenski take seats in some wooden chairs near the entrance. Kurtz sits and observes with wonder the many comings and goings of people. Suddenly a women approaches Obrenski, "Do you know who I am?" She asks "I don't remember fucking you." Obrenski replies. "That's because you slept with my sister." She snaps. "Well sorry you didn't join." He replies. "I'll fuck you too." He says. She gasps at his rude display of perversion before storming off. After a while Kurtz blurts,"I'm bored." Obrenski snaps at him," Would you rather be running drills." Kurtz replies,"Nah uh, I don't like running drills." "I hope we don't get fucking deployed." Obrenski says. A deployment? Oh no, is that what the Lieutenant's meeting is about. I don't want to go to the front, I don't want to leave Irina. Most importantly I don't want to die. My teeth start to chatter uncontrollably as my nervousness overcomes me. I dread the news with intense anxiety. Kurtz asks with innocence,"What is deployed?" How do I explain it to him? "It's where we we will get sent to a far away place to fight bad guys?" "Oh ok, who are the bad guys Franz?" Obrenski grumbles," The fucking nazis." "They are called the Allies and they don't like us." I say. "Why don't they like us?" I stumble for an answer,"I uh really don't know Kurtz." "Aren't we all suppose to be friends?" I huff," I wish it were that way."

After about an hour, The Lieutenant returns and says,"We are leaving." I, full of impatient nervousness, ask,"What did he want?" He replies," I will tell you in a minute." We exit the building and rembark in the kubelwagen in the same configuration as before. As we drive through the city, Obrenski asks,"What did he say?" Lieutenant Sprieg responds,"General Yodel informed me that I should halt my investigation of the mystery prison." "Rudy got caught." Obrenski says in realization. "Exactly." The Lieutenant says," And he told me that it was none of my concern. That it is only privy to higher ups." "So he didn't deny it?" I ask. Obrenski responds," I wonder what's so secret about, why hide the damn place?" The Lieutenant replies,"I don't know, which is precisely why we are going to continue investigating. I have already talked to Rudy and he is curious as well." I ponder our plot to discover the mystery of this secret prison. Why is it so secret and why is high command so privy to keep it that way. "I also was informed that there was an attempt on the Fuhrer's life." "An assination attempt?" I ask. "Who's the Fuhrer?" asks Kurtz. "ABOUT FUCKING TIME. Did they get the bastard?" Obrenski exclaims. The Lieutenant replies simply,"Uncertain." "Well if they got him this war is good as over." Obrenski says. "We will have to see." The Lieutenant says. If Hitler is dead and war is over, I won't have to die at the front. I ask,"So they are not sending us to the front?" I ask with nervous curiosity. "No Franz, they are not sending us, we are staying here." I breathe a sigh of relief. "I really hope they got that bastard." Obrenski says again.

We arrive back at the post in late afternoon and after a few drills and dinner, by evening we are summoned by the Lieutenant. As me, Kurtz and Obrenski crowd around him, he says,"Gentleman, Hitler is alive." I sulk, Kurtz asks,"Oh I know who that is, my papa says he's a great man." Obrenski exclaims,"God dammit. What is it going to take to kill that son of a bitch?" The war won't be over any time soon. "Gentleman." the Lieutenant says,"This means the war continues, be on your guard. Also bomber activity has picked up, so be alert. Dismissed."

My fear of going to the front returns and with Hitler still alive, the war could wage on indefinitely. That makes me worried for my future. By nightfall I go to bed with the thought of the war and how going to the front could be a real possibility for me. How would Irina feel if I got deployed? How would I react? Would I be brave? The fear and anxiety seeps deep in my mind. I finally tire myself out to the point of exhaustion and fall asleep.

I awaken and find it extremely cold to the point I am shivering. I am completely confused as snowflakes fall on my nose and eyelashes from a dull gray sky. I find myself bundled in a blanket lying on the earthen ground. I sit up and look around and notice that I sit in an earthen trench in an area surrounded by tall dark evergreens. I stand up and discover I am in a large rectangular trench with a Flak 88 cannon in the center. I look around and see fluffy white snow surrounds us that could be a foot in depth. We sit on the edge of a forest on a small rise and our outposts observe a hamlet of three small houses in an open field in the distance. The Lieutenant stands off to the left of the gun in his trench coat and observes something with his binoculars. Obrenski man's the gunner's seat with a woolen jacket and an army cap with ear muffs and peers through the gun sight. Kurtz is bundled with a blanket around his head and has a thick coat that is far too large for him that brushes the ground. He stands with a brass shell in hand, I can see the steam of his breath rise in the air. He shivers violently. "Target the first one." The Lieutenant commands. Obrenski replies,"Working on it." I hear the gun click as he turns the handwheels to the desired position. "Load." orders Lieutenant Sprieg. Kurtz fumbles to slide the shell that is as almost as tall as he is into the gun breech. After a short struggle, he is successful and the hatch slams closed. I peer over the trench edge and see that we have a clear line of sight to three tanks that rumble in the snow in the distance. Their dark green paint and white stars implies it is the Americans. The boxy shapes with domed turrets and sloped frontal armor cautiously advance in a line. Surrounding them are men that are spaced apart in overcoats but they are far to far away for me to make individual features. They could be at least three hundred yards away.

I ask,"Lieutenant, what is happening?" He looks back at me and says,"Good you are awake. Take over for Kurtz." "About time you woke up." Obrenski snaps, peering through the gun sight. I am utterly confused and ask,"Wh..what happened." Kurtz answers dull unlike his usual high spirits,"Obrenski says you passed out." Kurtz's cheeks and face are red with small blisters indicating the stages of frostbite. The Lieutenant says,"You have frostbite Franz. You went unconscious a few hours ago." I just realized I can't feel my fingertips. I look down and see the tips of my fingers are hard and black, the rest of my hand is waxy white and feels like a burning prickly sensation. "Where are we?" I ask. The Lieutenant answers,"He is worse than I thought. Franz, can you still perform your duties?" I am still thoroughly confused. How did I get here? Where is here? Why can’t I remember anything? I guess it doesn't matter right now, the Lieutenant needs me. I reply,”Uh yes sir, I think so.” "Good, then man your post." He says with his wool gloved hands wrap tightly around his binoculars. "Wait for my order to fire." the Lieutenant orders. I feel tense as the tanks slowly trudge through the snow.

"Fire!" commands Lieutenant Sprieg. I clamp down on the firing lever and find it ice cold. The gun fires forth a yellow streaking projectile at high speed. The gun recoils violently and spits out a brass shell casing. The armor piercing shell slams into the side of the first tank bursting it into flames. I see figures struggle to clamor out of the burning mass, many are on fire. The accompanying infantry scatter to take cover. "Aim for the rear one." commands the Lieutenant. I hear the gun clicking as Obrenski spins the handwheels. "Load." Kurtz hands me another brass shell and I slam it into the breech. My hands burn from touching the ice cold metal. "Fire." orders the Lieutenant as he observes his prey like a hunter would. I clamp on the firing lever again and the gun booms causing an echo in the forest. The yellow tracer shell hits the rear tank causing it to explode in a fiery fury.

The middle tank must have spotted us because it fires its main cannon at us. In a dull boom a shell roars over our heads and impacts a nearby tree, causing it to explode in wood splinters. I am terribly frightened now. The tank has now turned to face us and is coming straight for us. "Load." orders the Lieutenant calmly. I hear the clicks indicating Obrenski is positioning the cannon. Kurtz hands me another shell and I load it into the cannon. The hatch slams shut and I clamp the firing lever. It booms and recoils, sending the projectile into the vehicle causing it to stop in its tracks. The many figures scurry up the hill toward us. Obrenski utters,"Here they come." The Lieutenant orders,"Obrenski, Kurtz man the MG, Franz grab a rifle." Obrenski jumps from the gunner's seat and mans a MG42 machine gun that sits on the edge of the trench. Kurtz follows with boxes of ammunition. Obrenski loads the belt fed ammunition into the machine gun and pulls the cocking lever back. I grab a rifle and find it loaded. I find a position and crouch at the trench edge. As I look over the trench wall I find the slope of our hill is dotted with bushes and small trees.

A tense silence ensues and the snow falls lightly. Obrenski watches the bushes and trees intensely, I try to spot any movement I can. An agonizing wait for the coming battle, I feel myself shaking though from nerves or of the freezing cold I don’t know.

Suddenly some bushes rustle and Obrenski squeezes the trigger and the machine gun lets out a ripple of bullets breaking the tension to where I jump out of my skin. Suddenly as if a great beast has been awakened and let loose. A torrent of bullets fly back at us and throw up dirt and snow in front of us. I am terrified but must push through. I hear shouts in english as the Americans shout commands back and forth to another. Then several olive green clad figures emerge from the bushes and make a dash for us. Obrenski sprays them with a ripple from the machine gun, easily dispatching them. The shouts of the wounded ensue as those still living try to crawl to the relative safety of bushes. “Is that all you got!” Obrenski taunts. The bushes return fire as a response, causing us to duck as the bullets fly over our heads. A second wave appears but this time they fire as they scurry from bush to tree. Obrenski disregards the danger to his life and fires the machine gun in defiance. The gun ripples as it fires a maelstrom of bullets, I peer over the trench wall and see more figures dash to within twenty feet of us. Suddenly the machine gun runs out of ammunition, Obrenski shouts at Kurt as Kurtz fumbles with the ammo belts. Ten feet away and closing are several Americans in overcoats and tommy guns. They climb up the steep slope to our position. My breathing is quicked and I feel a sense of panic but I peer over the trench wall and take aim and fire. The rifle barks and I watch a man fall into the snow. I have no time to even think about my actions for another enemy approaches close to me. I take aim and fire and another man falls to the snow. As I rechamber the rifle, the gun jammed and I cannot get the bolt to close. I panic for another man has his sights on me.

He is about to pull the trigger when suddenly sharp cracks of a small caliber sound behind me. I look up and see Lieutenant Sprieg firing his pistol at my assailants. Obrenski has reloaded the machine gun and lets out a torrent of fire that mows down our adversaries.

Suddenly to the side of our tench burst three figures out of the bushes. They outmaneuvered us! They fire at Obrenski causing him to slump over the machine gun. I fire at one of the enemies causing him to fall. Before I could get to my feet I feel a sharp sudden pain in my stomach. I look down and see blood pouring form my wound. I’ve been shot! The pain is immense. “Franz! Kurtz! Run!" shouts the Lieutenant as he fires his pistol in defiance. I hold my hand to the wound to stop the bleeding. Kurtz sits crying as rifles are raised to him. "Kurtz!" I shout as bullets spit up the earth in front of me. I rise and dodge a hail of gunfire, dashing as quickly to the other side of the trench before clamoring over the trench wall.

I flee into the woods as the sound of gunfire are suddenly silenced. I dash as fast as my body will allow all the while with immense pain. After a sprint of a short distance, I find I still bleed profusely, my hand covered in blood. I am out of breath and my vision begins to fade. I feel dizzy and vomit blood. I sink to my knees, my body unable to continue to support me. I start to crawl, I must get away but I can’t find the energy to move. I struggle immensely, a trail of blood stains the white snow. I groan in pain and think that this will be my end. “Franz?” A soft voice says. I look and see a figure in a snow white gown standing above me. Its Irina! Why is she here? How? She reaches and raises me to my knees. She holds her hand to my face and a single tear runs down her pale cheek. She says softly,”You were supposed to come back to me.” My vision fades further and I find I can no longer keep my eyes from closing. I collapse and fade to black.

Like a faint distant sound I hear, “Franz.“ Franz wake up.” I am suddenly thrust awake. My eyes open and I see standing over me are Lieutenant Sprieg and Obrenski. I am completely confused and find myself to be in my cot in the barracks. The only light is the flickering fire of the oil lamp for it is dark out still. Obrenski says, “About time dammit.” “Are you alright? You were having quite the nightmare.” the Lieutenant says. A nightmare! That's what it was, thank God it all was a dream. “Are you alright Franz?” the Lieutenant asks again. “Uh yes sir.” I respond as I sit up and the blankets fall off of me. “Good.” says the Lieutenant, “Man your post, we have a formation that will be flying near us soon.” I clamor out of bed and the Lieutenant puts his hand on my shoulder and says,"Are you sure you're ok?" "Yes sir, I'll be fine." I am surprised at his level of concern. Actually they all seem to be concerned, even Kurtz. "You were screaming, you know that?" Obrenski says. Kurtz asks,"Franz, why were you yelling my name?" I never realized how bad my nightmare was, I also noticed my garments are soaked with perspiration. I try to reassure Kurtz,"I just had a bad dream." Kurtz replies in his usual innocent manner,"I hate bad dreams. Was it scary?" "Uh yeah it was." I reply. I never realized how terrifying going to the front could be. Why am I dreaming of this? I didn't think it would affect me this badly. "Was it about breaking up with your girl?" Obrenski mocks me, making smooching noises. The Lieutenant glares at him and juts him in the side, he groans. "No it wasn't, I don't want to talk about it." I responded bluntly. They look surprised, I didn't mean to be so brusque. I am honored that they have such concern for me.

"Come now, let's man our posts. The bombers will be near soon." We take our positions on the Flak 88 cannon. It is dark and only the stars can be seen like shimmering dots in the heavens. The only light is that of our dark red blackout lights that illuminates the gun pit in a dark red glow. The Lieutenant listens intently to the radio while we search the black horizon for any signs of movement, though it is increasingly difficult for how dark it is. The Lieutenant sets down the headset, walks over to us and says,"They are almost here. Obrenski, aim the gun southwest." The gun clicks rapidly as the Obrenski furiously cranks the hand wheel as the gun slowly swivels like a turning giant. The clicks are abruptly stopped and the Lieutenant commands as he peers through binoculars,"Elevate to forty five degrees." Obrenski, again, feverishly cranks the hand wheel and the barrel is slowly raised skyward. Even though it is a clear night, it is going to be impossible to spot anything given how dark it is. Still the Lieutenant observes the sky with his binoculars, looking kind of foolish in the process. "Lieutenant," I ask,"What are you doing? How are you going to see them?" "I am waiting Franz." He replies. I ask confused," Waiting for what sir?" Suddenly bright lights illuminate the sky, I am startled. Then I realize what is happening. The searchlights from our battery and on top of the government building have been activated and now the wispy fingers of the lights probe the south west sky for any intruders. And sure enough small specks on the horizon are now illuminated.

"Load." orders Lieutenant Sprieg. Kurtz takes a shell from the caisson and hands it to me. I take the yellow caped shell, which is now a dark red from the light, and load it into the gun breech. As the hatch slams close, the Lieutenant orders,"Fire." I clamp the firing lever and a luminous flash of light and a thunderous roar, the gun bellows forth its welcome to those who intrude our homeland. Roaring thunder sounds as the other Flak 88 cannons in our guns battery open fire with blinding flashes and sending streaks of yellow across the sky. "Obrenski follow them." commands Lieutenant Sprieg. Obrenski, peering heavily in the gun sight, replies annoyed,"Working on it Sprieg." As the gun clicks as it slowly turns. "Again." orders the Lieutenant. Kurtz trips over his pants legs causing the thirty six pound shell to slam into my chest knocking the wind out of me. I wheeze and shout,"Watch it Kurtz!" He whimpers his response,"Sorry Franz." "God dammit Kurtz." snarls Obrenski. I slam the shell into the breech and the hatch slams closed. I clamp the fire lever and yellow streaks from our cannon in a blinding flash and a deafening roar. "Again." Orders the Lieutenant. We fire the gun rapidly in the late hours of the evening as the bombers pass us by.

Suddenly, the lights on the horizon caught my attention. As I look I see the flickering of a fire, like someone lit a bright bonfire. Then it dawns on me, it's a city burning. I can see the inferno that is miles away shoot flames high above the forrest tree tops. "Lieutenant look!" I announce. The city glows like some giant is stoking the embers of a flame. The Lieutenant peers through his binoculars and says,"Its Steinbruch Stadt, a quarry town with a refinery. They used incendiaries." Obrenski watches on as the flames shoot high into the sky illuminating smoke columns."Those bastards." he says. Kurtz asks,"Whats happening?" Obrenski rudly answers,"A city is fucking burning." "Why?" Kurtz asks. Obrenski shouts,"Why do you ask some many damn questions? Are you slow or something?!" "Obrenski!" shouts the Lieutenant. "No, do we have to deal with this stupid little kid? Why is he even here? I am sick and tired of babysitting." Obrenski snarls. Tears wells in Kurtz's eyes, he cries out,"I'm not stupid!" Before dashing into the barracks. "Obrenski!" snaps the Lieutenant again. "No, why the hell is he even here?" Obrenski demands as the far off distant city burns brightly. Obrenski raves "I am sick and tired of him. How the hell does he not know a war is going on? We need to send him back he is no use being here." "Obrenski stop." commands Lieutenant Sprieg sternly. Obrenski snaps,"Why the hell do you even contend with him. You know he only holds us back." The Lieutenant suddenly shouts,"Because nobody wants him!" Obrenski is suddenly struck silent. The Lieutenant utters suddenly calm,"Look I know you are upset about the bombing but there is nothing we can do. But taking it out on Kurtz is not the right thing to do." I feel a sense of shame, if only we could have shot down some of the bombers maybe the city wouldn't be burning. Maybe they could have been saved. Could this be our fault? What if we didn't do enough? Maybe Obrenski is thinking the same thing. I silently grieve over the lives in turmoil in that bright burning city. I can only imagine what struggle they are going through. And most importantly, I am glad it didn't happen here. "What do you mean Sprieg?" Obrenski asks, stunned. Lieutenant replies,"I will tell you later."

The Lieutenant walks back to the radio and, after listening for a bit, he returns and says,"The bombers are returning farther south to avoid us. Stienbruch Stadt sustained heavy damage but their target was the refinery." "How many bodies Sprieg?" Obreski asks, the Lieutenant remains silent. "How many bodies?" snaps Obrenski. The Lieutenant responds a stern somber tone,"We don't know." Obrenski shows a face mixed between anger and disgust. He is tired of war and I am starting to understand how he feels, this war has gone on far too long. How many more cities need to burn? The Lieutenant says,"You need to apologize." "I'm not apologizing for shit." Obrenski says. The Lieutenant says,"Come with me."

Obrenski follows the Lieutenant into his office shack and they talk for a while. I head to the barracks to check on Kurtz. I find him sitting on his cot stroking Otto the cat who sits in his lap. I can see tears have dried to his cheeks. He acknowledges my presence by asking,"Franz, do you think I'm stupid?" I am taken back. "No Kurtz, I don't." I say. He continues,"Papa and my brothers always said I was stupid and they would always say mean things about me." I never realized but his home life must have been hard growing up with a father who didn't want him and brothers who looked down on him. "I'm sorry to hear that Kurtz." Tears well in his eyes as he says," I'm sorry Franz, I try to be smart but it's so hard." He cries and I go to embrace him. I say to him," You are doing just fine buddy." We hug briefly and he says,"I want to be smart like you one day Franz." Poor Kurtz, I have never seen him so upset before. He struggles so hard to make sense of the world around him. Obrenski walks in, Kurtz cowers and grips my garbs tightly. Obrenski has a face of sad shock, he approaches us and stands over the end of the bed looking as though he can't find the right words to say. He finally says,"Buddy, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it." Kurtz quits cowering and asks,"Do you think I'm smart?" Obrenski pauses holding his tongue, I give him a silent nod. He says," Yes, I think you're smart." Kurtz's normal mood returns and he asks,"You really think I'm smart?" Obrenski swallows and responds by rubbing his hand through his hair,"Sure, absolutely." Obrenski glances at me to join in. I add," We think you're great." He smiles wide,"I can't wait to tell my papa that I am the smartest." Obrenski tries to hold his laughter, I just smile.

We all go to bed and cover up. Darkness takes hold of the barracks. I am about to go to sleep when I hear Obrenski whisper ,"Franz, did you know?" I assume he must be talking about Kurtz's father wanting to euthanize him. "Yeah I knew." I whisper. He responds," I had no idea. Who the hell does that?" "I don't know." I reply. "I mean he is annoying as hell but I wouldn't wish him dead." "I know right." I say. He replies," You know I am glad he's here, he is in a better place." "Yeah me too." I say. He says, "Anyway, good night Franz." "Good night." I reply and not long after fall asleep.