Alarm
Alarm
whistles sounds in the darkness in large amounts from every side for the troops to be ready for the charge
to the post soldiers
to the post, fast, now, now
They are coming
Not getting a respite Henrik drags Paul and Ludwig to a lookout site to get ready for the charge.
Seeing that he lost his G98 while draggin the two guys he looks for a weapon around but there is nothing but a MG 08 unmanned with dead bodies around it, so fast looking if its operational he sees that the cooling is on but needs to be feed the bullet belt, at the side there are a few boxes, taking one goes asap to install it passing the belt into the feed opening then rotating the operating handle two times and that should do the trick to make it work ready to shoot.
While Henrik was getting ready the machine gun Paul and Ludwig where already shooting into the front nonstop to anything moving. Then they started hearing the roar of the machine gun surprising them who where at the side.
Henrik couldnt believe what was happening in front of him, it was something surreal to him, it was common sense that no one would charge into a bullet rain in front not stoping to anything or taking cover it was just a natural survival instint to all animals, but there were the French running like crazy while shooting in the darkness to kill them all, dropping like sacks of potatos into the mud when shooted, and from this side Henrik pulled the trigger to the mass not stopping for a moment, seeing them die like nothing, their bodies dropping like a string cut from them, amazed to the lenght those people go for these lands. While unknown to him his eyes were already glowing yellow already having triggered the werewolf curse making it active after taking human lives.
"Help, Paul, Ludwig help, pass me the box , the box guys" Henrik yells to them seeing the ammo box almost empty.
"On it Henrik, I got it" Ludwig moves closer to the machine gun with the box, but suddenly receives a shot into the head falling down into the mud at his back.
Paul sees Ludwig shoot and dying, screams like crazy "NO Ludwig!!!" and moves closer to him. Henrik seeing the situation at hand with the French getting near while sacrificing a shitload of soldiers and not wanting to die goes to pick the box fast and trying to mantain a little calm with his trembling hands feeding the new belt.
Reloading the machine gun starts shooting again to the front already lost the count of people he already killed with no end on sight its like they are unlimited, killing one and coming other in the back.
"GRANADE GET ON THE FLOOR, GRANADE" Henrik screams seeing a french sending them a granade in their direction but failling short of getting into their position. The explosion make a shaking infront sending them a shower of mud all around. Picking again the trigger he starts shooting until the belt is stuck in the MG08 because of the mud jamming it, not knowing how to unjam the gun he drops it and picks the granades on his body.
Pulling the metal cap and pulls the lever and sends in the front not looking if goes to someone, fast repeating the action with the second one. Then pulling the G98 from the dead body of Ludwig.
"Paul, Paul, shoot them, start shooting them Paul, snap from it, Ludwig is dead, we will be the next one if you dont shoot Paul, come on!!!!" Henrik starts yelling to Paul to shoot the french. Paul trembling stand and goes to shoot while screaming, and keeps shooting, realoading and shooting not stoping like releasing his emotions.
In the sky suddenly there are flares and again whistles from the enemy side with the troops retreating, it seems the charge wasnt a success for them and were retreating at same time our artillery in the back was pressing them.
Getting a break Henrik drops against the trench wall exhausted resting for a moment while taking big breaths, calming his emotions and trembling hands after having reaped so many lives to count. With a few try he gets to unblock his canteen to drink from it, gulping loudly the wine on it like crazy and sighing a little. Looking at Paul at his side in the same situation has him he pass the canteen.
"Drink, it would warm you"
Paul looks to his eyes for a moment in a trance and accepts the drink.
Hoppe then gets near them smoking a cigarette while he checks the damages and still living troops "I have seen you fighting Schnaider, you did well young man, you too Bäumer now you are a true soldier"
"I will pass to the supreme high command your merits Schaneider for your heroic and brave act of saving the lives of both your comrades in the bunker putting yours at risk and manning this machine gun that haved his platoon dead and in the process resisting fiercely the position from the french troops stoping at nothing, you did well" Hoppe signals to the dead soldiers bodies and the MG08
"Jawhol, Sir" replies loud not knowing what more to say. After all those merits cost human lives.
Hoppe then goes on his way checking the rest of soldiers in the trenches. Henrik looks to Paul at the side but he already is knocked up sleep it seems it was too much action for him, so he tries to keep warm while being on the watch a little longer before resting.
---------------
With the morning light already shining all over the trenches and a beautiful clear sky and weather Henrik was cleaning his face and hands with a makeshift container and the water of the canteen of nerby dead soldiers while smoking a cigarette also courtesy of the dead.
"Hey, that's Henrik and Paul on there!" Franz sees Henrik cleaning himself and Paul at his side sleep "Albert! Come here, we found Paul!"
"Paul! Are you alright?" Franz
"Is everything alright, Paul?" Albert "Come on. Get up, will you?."
"Are you injured?" "Paul, are you injured?" Both of them ask him
"Can you hear me?"
"Yes, Im fine but Ludwig. Ludwig was shoot" Paul waking up and taking the present situation hes in start answering them.
"Ludwig is dead" Paul says sadly to them both.
"We need help over here!" "Albert Kropp, Franz Müller" calls a nerby soldier to his them
Both Franz and Albert a little shocked seeing the dead body of Ludwig staggers going away with the call from help removing debris and dead bodies looking for survivors.
-See you later, Paul.
-We'll see you later, Paul.
Go on! Go on! Here's another one. We need help! - sounds in the distance
Steady. Steady. That's it. - sounds in the distance
In the other side of the trench wall was Katczinsky resting while eating a ration of bread that shares with Paul seein him disoriented who accept it and eats with a big mouthful, Henrik shares to him a Eckstein cigarette using his own to light it.
"Katczinsky, back to work." Says a officer who gets nears them "And you both? Are you injured?"
"No." They replied
"Then start gathering." dropping them two bags to start collecting the identity tag from the dead bodies.
"Man, man, man!" rambles as he goes away
"No rest for the wicked." says Katczinsky to them both
Henrik silently takes a puff and looks into the bags that has quite a good amount of tags in there already and goes in one direction to look for dead bodies to collect tags leaving the one in Ludwig for Paul.
"Come on! Keep working!"
"We don't have all day." A officer in the distance
--------------------
18 MONTHS LATER
SUPREME ARMY COMMAND
7 NOVEMBER, 1918
In a room there are two officers accounting the identification tag for dead body count while a gentleman is listening to them.
Albrecht, Karl. Diepholz. September 14th, 1898.
Blumenthal, Samuel. Dresden. November 6th, 1900.
"Yesterday was his birthday." comments the officer looking the tags
Von Gallwitz, Gustav. Osnabrück, June 20th, '99.
Götz Lüttwitz--
"That's enough." says to the soldiers after taking a look at the time on his watch and getting unnerved from the more and more piled dead, and goes to take the account book with the reports.
"Herr Erzberger." says the gentleman to another in a reception room in the army command
"Gott mit uns (God be with us.)" Erzberger says looking the reports
"Once more, over 40,000 killed in the last few weeks alone. That should convince the general staff."
"I think the gentlemen know it's over. We all know that." Erzberger
"The General Field Marshal." says a officer opening the door to the room where the high commanders are reunited inviting in to Erzberger
"Mm." answers Erzberger.
CHAMPAGNE, FRANCE
OCCUPIED TERRITORY
A military cargo truck was speeding on the road carring a few boxes and three guys who dont look well fed. The landscape is painted in snow covering all, low temperature minus zero and scantly clothes for the cold.
"Thank you." says Katczinsky to the driver
-Jawohl.
the group starts going in the direction of a farm in the distance after exiting the truck
"Henrik, Paul , if we keep up this pace, we won't have conquered France for 180 years. I worked it out." tells Kat to them seriously first then laughs at the end.
"We are at the end already, the country almost cant provide enough food to fed the troops and the dead toll its too high, we can see the recruits faces they are younger and younger." Henrik
"Well Henrik if they send youngers like you to the front we will conquer Paris before we cant get anything else to eat, look at you 15 years old and already awarded two iron cross a first and second class, the face of the officer when he awarded you the first class was marvelous" Paul to Henrik
"Yeah, well, it wasnt free I paid it getting shooted alot of times and a dozen tanks destroyed leaving alive by miracle" Henrik while smiling a little and recounting his werewolf healing speed that makes him a good punching bag for bullets not killing him in the process.
"Everytime i see you running in the battlefield putting the granades on the tanks track it amazes me Henrik, fast as a wolf at the same time letal as one too" Kat
Arriving at the external wall sorrounding the farm house they take a peek and ear whats happening in the interior, along the animals sounds.
"Come on, look inside." Kat
"Explain to me how this is worth dying for in your mind." Henrik
"When you're starving, you'll do anything." Paul
"Alright, I will go" Henrik
"Don't let them catch you, Henrik." Kat
"Never." Henrik jumps easily the wall into the complex, out of sight of his companion he speeds faster using his werewolf powers into a building looking like a barn to fetch some animal to eat, picking a big fat goose, but when leaving he got seen by the farm owner who starts shouting to him.
"Qui va là? (who's there?)" French farm owner
Ho!
"Oh, putain!. Attends je vais flinguer ce fumier!" (Wait, I'm going to shoot this bastard!)
Outside both Kat and Paul ear the disturbance and waits anxiously for Henrik
"Henrik?" Kat
"Run! Paul, Kat, Run!" shouts Henrik while carring a goose.
"Hey! Dirty Kraut! Rends-moi l'oie, ordure! (Give me back the goose, you scum!)" Farm owner
"This is my goose now" Henrik shouts while running
"Fumier! (manure)"
Later on in the barracks where the regiment is stationed in a nerby village.
-Just right.
-I told you.
"Men, you are heroes." Tjaden
"Shut the door or the others will smell it." Kat
After that Tjaden goes to close it fast.
"Nice work." Kat
"I don't know. How am I supposed to remember anything?" Tjaden
"Come on, use your Prussian brain." Kat
"Here. Open-eyed and long-fingered." Tjaden
"Mouth open, goose inside" Albert
"Help me with the goose, a piece of goose from the goose from France to Franz." Kat
"I want a wing." Tjaden
"Do I have to share? Then I'll take the rest." Albert
"Fill up my bowl." Franz
"Come here, you blind hen." Kat
"Wide-mouth frog…" Albert
"Ooh. Oh, God." Tjaden
"You know I'll owe you forever for this. Mm." Tjaden
All the guys sit around the stove enjoying the food making quiet the place, chewing in a hurry.
"It's not bad, is it?" Kat
"Yes. Mm."
"It's good, Paul."
"Good, Kat. And you?"
"Yeah. Good"
"And you Henrik?"
"Yes. Yes, good Kat." answers Henrik eating the meat from a leg. Then puts the plate at the side and goes in the back of the room moving a plank taking a bottle.
"Look what we have here courtesy of the officers without knowing about it , champagne !!! what is french goose without champagne" Henrik
"Yeah!!!" the group cheers at the sight of the champagne
"Go Albert fetch the mugs" Henrik
"Life is short." Kat
"Where's Emil when you need him?" Franz barely speaks with the mouth full
"Emil, bring in coffee and caviar!" Tjaden
"Yes, and draw my foot bath as well. I need a foot bath." Franz
"Henrik?" Tjaden
"What is it?"
"You stoled the goose. Give it back" Tjaden speaks laughing
All starts laughing chanting
"Give it back, Give it back or the hunter will shoot you..."
"Give it back, Give it back or the hunter will shoot you..."
"The farmer! The farmer!" Tjaden
-The farmer! Yes!
"Or the farmer will shoot you with his shotgun"
"Or the farmer will shoot you with his shotgun"
"Prost!, for all of this to end soon" Henrik rising his mug
"Prost!"
"Prost!"
"Tjaden sits very quietly and says… "Cross." I keep hearing, "Cross." My father was leader of Nazareth, leader of Nazareth? enquires the teacher. What? never heard of it. Tjaden, go back home
and ask again, will you?" Kat speaks relating
"Next morning, Tjaden springs into school and says to everybody, please forgive me. My father wasn't the leader of Nazareth, my father was last seen with Nadja Roth."
The group laugh at it
"Brilliant." Kat
"Look." Paul
Mhm?
A group of three women is seen advancing carrying things along with a cow pulling a cart
"Hey! Hello! Come here! Fresh baguette! For you! Liverwurst, love! Lots of love!" Albert yells to the girls in the distance
The women laughs in the distance
"Franz. What are you doing?" asks Albert to Franz seeing him
-Take me with you.
"Come on!" laughs Franz
"I'd go over. But he's making a fool of himself." Albert
"Oh, my. You are very beautiful, my love." jokes around Albert looking the actions of Franz
"Franz! The dark-haired beauty is for me!" Albert
"What is he doing? Franz!" asks Albert not longer smiling seeing that Franz is not coming back
"Goodbye! Goodbye, my friends!" Franz
"Damn it." Says Albert and goes back to keep peeling the potatoes.
"If it was all over, you know what I'd be doing?" Albert
"There's no peace, so it doesn't matter." Kat
"No, but if there was… We'd be surrounded by women again." Albert
"Yeah, that's true." Kat
"I wouldn't put trousers on for eight days." Albert
"I should really be spanking your backside for talking about something like that." Kat
"What about you, Paul?"
"No idea. Can't think." Paul
"I'd stay with the Prussians." Tjaden
"You're an idiot, Tjaden." Albert
"Have you ever done any peat digging? Try it sometime." Tjaden
Can't be worse than digging trenches in Champagne.
It takes longer than digging trenches in Champagne. And you can't get away with not doing it.
In peacetime military life, you have no concerns, mornings, food's there or else you're not there, and then you have the softest bed, every week with fresh sheets over it, and then… and before you know it, I'm a corporal. Imagine that, me becoming a military policeman, a Cognac here, a pint there, a military policeman is everyone's good friend. Everyone.
"There's just one catch, Tjaden." Kat
"What's that?" Tjaden
"You'll never be a corporal though, will you?" Kat
"You always make such useless comments, what does it matter what you think anyway?" Tjaden
"I got bored on this depressive barrack, see you laters boys I go after Franz and the girls, they are still on sight, Auf Wiedersehen" says Henrik to them before running in the direction of the girls.
"Auf Wiedersehen."
- Search mission -
Later in the night after returning to the barracks Henrik along Franz
"Henrik, Franz?" Paul
"Yes?"
"Tomorrow, we're up at six o'clock to look for some children." Paul
"What happened?" Franz
"They should have arrived today a whole company." Paul
"How was it?"
"Good." Franz
"Yeah?" Paul
"Better than good, u should have seen that last dark-haired beauty carrying the basket, that girl almost got me drained" Henrik whispers laughing
"Here. Have a smell." Franz inhales deeply in a piece of cloth and pass it to Paul
"What's her name?" Paul
Eloise.
"And you Henrik?"
"Henrietta. She had skin as white as milk and those breasts…" reminiscence Henrik
"Hey." Albert
"Huh?" Paul
"I want to smell it too." Albert
"Kropp, let me have it." Tjaden
Here.
"Oh, my a girl like that never has dirt under her nails." Tjaden
"Give it to me." Franz
"No. At worst, some sand from the seashore." Tjaden
"Tjaden. Come on, pass it here." Franz
"I bet she bathes twice a day." Tjaden
"Tjaden, give it back to me."
"Take this Tjaden give to the love struck fool the cloth, this is courtesy of Henrietta to make me dont forget her, haha" Henrik laughs passing to Tjaden a women underwear that was on his jacket pocket like a handkerchief
Tjaden takes it inhaling deeply like a beast in heat "Oh god Henrik what kind of woman is that"
"Tjaden pass it to me quickly, I want to smell it too" says Albert practically taking it from the hands of Tjaden
"U guys can keep it" says Henrik while getting on his bed to sleep away.
The group enters into the forest the next day in the morning advancing to where was reported the lost troops where, while marching Henrik was singing for them.
Old comrades on the march through the country
Hold friendship rock solid and true.
Whether in need or in danger
Always together they keep it new.
During the attack, things happen fast,
Victory will bring us glory and honor,
Come, comrades, we shall reload,
This is our marching music.
During maneuvers, the whole regiment
Took quarters in a nearby village
And at the inn we had a flirt
With the girls and the landlord's daughter.
Laughing joking, laughing joking, today is today
Tomorrow the whole regiment will be who knows how far away.
Comrades, that parting is truly now our fate
So take up the glass and we shout "Prost".
"There must have been a huge explosion." comments Paul about a large area burned to ashes and trees destroyed in front
"Mine thrower cannons. He's been blasted right out of his uniform." Kat says after looking the piece of dead body left high on a tree naked.
"Was he one of those we've come here for?" Paul
"No, they've only been missing since yesterday. He's been hanging there for some time." Kat
"Not pleasant." Paul
"Don't get soft now, men." Kat
"How many are we looking for?" Henrik
"Sixty young recruits." Kat
After getting out of the woods into what looks like a railroad station with big buildings like factory at the sides they start advancing to them, all over the place looks like a battle zone destroyed and burned away.
"Breakfast is turnip bread, same at lunchtime it's turnip bread, I'm surrounded by turnip bread, I can't face it any more. Let me know when you find them, I'm not going any further." says Tjaden while putting his bag in a destroyed wagon looking to eat something only finding all made of turnip.
'Its normal that all its turnip by the end of the war the rations for the troops are scarcely and what its in great amounts its turnip.' Henrik tought
"Gas. There was gas here." Kat says after observing a empty destroyed shell
"Shit!" Henrik
The group divides separating looking for the missing recruits, Kat-Paul-Franz enters the building while Tjaden laze around and Henrik follows Albert to a water well pump to drink and fill his canteen.
"Agh, its cold as fuck" says Henrik drinking from his canteen and follows with his eyes Albert moving to a bulletin board with posters like entranced.
"Albert, are you alright?" Henrik yells to Albert
"Hello, madam. I'm Kropp, and you?" says Albert looking the poster of a woman not hearing Henrik
"Mm."
"Do you want to… Do you want to come with me?"
"Not a problem." Albert takes his bayonet and cuts the poster taking the side of the woman.
Henrik seeing the state of Albert dont bothers him anymore and goes inside the building where the others have entered, going inside he sees piles upon piles of what looks like artillery shells. He keeps moving forward until he starts hearing the screams of Paul.
"Kat?"
"Kat."
"Kat!"
"Shit." says Henrik while moving fast in that direction weapon in hand ready for anything. But upon entering see the others three observing a room full of bodies.
"Flipping idiots." Kat observing the massacre of the missing recruits.
"Uh huh." Paul
"Stupid boys. They took their masks off too soon, Germany will soon be empty." Kat
Henrik observes the bodies for a moment before moving to a dead officer and takes his pistol holster with a luger p08 inside along the extra ammo clips before attaching it to his belt, touchs the rest of pockets in him for something worth to look and finds a nice silver pocket watch taking it, then takes the officer weapon a new MP18 submachine gun that was intended for use in trench combat, and four stick granades from the bodies around attaching them to his belt in front.
"What?, they will not need them anymore but we will. Dont get soft now men" Henrik says to them, because they were giving weird looks to him.