Frozen Darkness

Rough roads

In the next morning we drive off early as to not catch too much attention from the civilians. We headed off on a dirt road. I was sitting in a not so spacious truck with 2 more people. A pregnant woman and a old man. The woman's bump looked like it was about to pop at any moment. The drive would take for about 6 hours they said. I maybe was foolish enough by trusting complete strangers but at this point i was desperate.

My stomach was hurting for not eating enough and my bruises got infected from the dust left in the air by the unexpected bomb. My fingers were feeling numb from the cold. A snowflake landed through a crack of the material that was covering the vehicle. It was snowing i thought. I wonder if my classmates got out eventually. Probably not. Either way its not a good time to act positive. The old man stared at me. A awkward silence arose as a few moments passed. He decided it was enough and broke the silence. "Young girl, tell me. Aren't you supposed to be in school?" "Uhm.. we got attacked yesterday before lunch." A bit surprised he asked again "didn't they say they wont attack non-Jewish schools?" Realisation struck upon me. "Please dont kick me out of the car. I gave you all my money and i don't have anyone left." I said in a low timid voice. He understood what i was trying to say. He gave me a unsure nod and continued to stare judgementally at me as the time was somehow passing slower then ever before.

The road started to get worse. Both the man and the woman were asleep in uncomfortable positions. I started blankly watching nothing in general. Tension was still in the air as the quiet journey continued.

The woman woke up screaming.

She was giving birth.

The man besides her woke up panicking about the situation. I didn't know how to help but i didn't want to just sit there. I took my dirty jacket off and cleaned away the dirt crust that i was able to remove.

Without thinking i said "tutaj, to powinno pomóc. Przykro mi, że nie jest czysty, ale to wszystko, co mam i chcę w czymś pomóc" (here, this should help. I'm sorry it's not clean, but it's all I have and I want to help) as i handed her my jacket. She smiled brightly with a grateful expression. She didn't mind that it wasn't clean. She turned the clothing around revealing the sleeve with the David star band. The woman exclaimed in disgust "oh your a Jew! It's all your fault that this is happening! This war would never be here if you weren't a.." she started thinking. The old man added 'a dirty animal". The woman nodded and glared at me. "Just don't interact with me for the rest of the ride if you want to help"

A bit disappointed i decided to find a occupation to do while she was giving birth. It didnt take long till i found a lil crack that i could peek through. Snow was covering the endless ground. A few ice spikes were hanging from high tree branches. The sun was hiding- just like me, while the clouds covered the dark sky. Sadness controlled my mind. I wasn't wanted. Half an hour passed and i woke up to the woman crying. Between her tears she realised that i was awake. "Its all your fault he died you animal!" She shouted at me while throwing her baby in my face "if it wasn't for you, he would be alive"

Her baby died.

She was blaming it on me.

"GET OUT!" She shouted. As she saw i didn't budge at all she got angrier. "I SAID GET OUT". I could see the suffering in her voice but still, speechless, i didn't dare to move. She got up and grabbed me by my neck almost chocking me. She dragged me to the back door of the truck and threw me off into the road.

A sentiment of guilt traveled my body. I knew it wasn't my fault but why did i feel like it was? My neck hurt from the cruelty of her hands. I was in the middle of nowhere. Then i realised: my old wounds opened again. I felt fragile and vulnerable. Fortunately it wasn't long till i saw a few people on foot, hiding, and they informed me that i was already in Prussia, next to the border with Poland. Still i had to find shelter for the night. The darkness here is cruel. It leaves many unprepared souls freezing to death.

I stuck with a group for the rest of the day. They were nice and even attempted to help me stop the bleeding unfortunately without succeeding. They said that they already found a cabin 4 kilometres away but they would have to go back and retrace they're steps tomorrow morning. They didn't want to risk spending the night outside, so we headed in the opposite direction of where we were firstly going. A small wooden cabin was hiding between trees covered with frost. Not intending to get spotted by enemies which were swarming the area, we fell asleep hungry in the absence of a fire hoping that in the morning they'll have hopefully a small feast of potatoes

Fun fact (not so fun) did you know that potatoes kept thousands of people dying of hunger in WW2? Anyways, sorry if this chapter wasn't so exiting. I have to add some umm.. not so interesting parts to get to the good ones. Anyway word count: 990. If you have any questions about anything don't hesitate to ask (just no spoilers) btw if i made mistakes in writing and grammar, don't mind them, English is my third language. See you in the next chapter! Bye!