Gods and Monsters

IV

Nazi Checkpoint - Nantes, France

Dickie abruptly stopped as the Nazi checkpoint came into view at the other side of the field. He aimed down the sight of his rifle in an attempt to see just how many soldiers they were going to have to take out before progressing.

"I can't see shit at the moment! We're going to have to get closer."

But Reggie wasn't paying attention to that. He was looking further into the distance, at the billowing smoke and flames that he could only presume were coming from the downed Albemarle. The trio heard the sound of tyres speeding along the dirt roads, most likely heading towards the wreckage of the plane to check for survivors. After Reggie's earlier thought about the experiments, he wondered whether it would be better if they had died in the first place after all.

The threesome was now close enough to see the Nazi soldiers at the checkpoint; four of them in total. The soldier who seemed to be the commanding officer looked to be a callous man. His blonde hair was covered by an officer's hat which sat on top of a disfigured and mutilated face. The man's left eye was covered with an eye patch but there was enough scarring around it to show significant damage had been done. Burn marks were scattered around the soldier's cheeks and his right ear

looked as if it had a bite taken out of it. Not the sort of man they wanted to mess with. The other soldiers were relatively inconspicuous in their appearance, but Reggie wasn't going to treat them any differently. Hopefully, it would be as simple as a bullet to the back of each of their heads.

"Right, four soldiers for three of us. Reggie, I want you taking out the bloke on the right. Daniel, you take the one closest to us. I'll take leftie and Narbengesicht." Dickie said in trepidation, whilst Reggie and Daniel looked at him with confusion. "What? It means Scarface. I figured learning a bit of German might come in handy."

Reggie cocked his rifle, checking his ammo and ensured it was ready to fire. He looked over at Dickie and Daniel as they did the same. Breathe in. Breathe out. The Nazi soldiers stood still, unaware that their lives were mere seconds away from ending.

"On my go..." Dickie whispered.

Reggie looked down his sights.

"3..."

He began to hold his breath.

"2..."

He slowly exhaled.

"1..."

Reggie squeezed the trigger and like a flash, the Nazi soldiers head erupted into a mess of brains and blood, covering the barricade he had so idly been resting against just seconds before. Reggie felt a wave of relief rush over him as he looked at the other Nazis fall to the ground. All except Narbengesicht who had dived to the ground before Dickie had managed to get his second shot off.

"Shit!" Dickie yelled out, attempting to move forward to finish the job, but being sent back by a wave of gunfire that narrowly missed him. Reggie could hear the calls for backup coming from the other side of the hedge, but knew that there was little any of them could do without being torn to shreds themselves.

They all attempted to fire a few shots blindly through the hedge, but they were pretty sure none had hit as another volley of bullets was returned at them, one striking Dickie in the gut. The scream that he produced reminded Reggie of the sound of the plane engines earlier. Dickie fell to the ground and Daniel and Reggie quickly dashed over to him whilst ensuring that they remained hidden. As they observed their comrade bleeding on the floor, they could hear the Nazi backup arrive. Dickie was wheezing on the floor as Daniel and Reggie noticed that the bullet was still lodged inside.

"What the fuck do we do now?" Daniel whispered to Reggie who continued to fire through the hedge in the hope of delaying the Nazi assault.

"Apply some pressure to the wound and help with some covering fire." Reggie responded unsure of how long they had until they were inevitably overwhelmed. Daniel tore the arm off of Dickie's uniform and pressed it hard into the bloody hole. Dickie screamed again, louder this time, but continued to hold the material in place as Daniel returned to providing suppressing fire. The firefight continued for a few minutes and both Reggie and Daniel were surprised that the Nazis hadn't just overrun them by now.

Then out of the corner of their eyes, they both saw the cylindrical stick fly over the hedge and land next to Dickie. A grenade. One that they had no chance of escaping from. Daniel and Reggie looked at each other and accepted the inevitable, clenching their eyes shut, unaware that Dickie, in his last moments had rolled his body over onto the grenade, hoping that in some way it would save his teammates. Although Dickie might not have been the best leader, he stepped up when it had most mattered. The blast knocked both Daniel and Reggie to the floor, and everything went black.

Is this how my life will end? Reggie contemplated as he lay still in the darkness.

The area in which he rested on the floor was cold, although that was a price Reggie was willing to pay as he was just amazed he was still alive.

Dickie sat across from him; his smile etched into his face, however, his eyes were still dead. Reggie was unsure how long he had been lying there as it seemed he had blacked out after the explosion. He was still amazed at the damage caused by a single grenade. Such a monstrous weapon, but so effective.

Reggie heard the shouting again - closer than it had been before. They were coming for him. Despite being so close to inevitable death, he couldn't help but feel relieved. He would soon be with his fallen allies again, sharing a pint like they used to back in Blighty.

The footsteps were approaching now, even closer than before. Reggie was comforted with the fact his family would receive his last letter. It wouldn't console them once they were told of his fall, but at least, it was something. Reggie tried to lift his head and look for Daniel, but he was too weak to move, and he couldn't see him in his restricted vision.

They were here. After what seemed like an hour of dizzying pain and equally painful nostalgia, his time had come.

As he looked his murderer in the eyes, the Nazi said to Reggie "Any last words?"

Reggie paused for a moment, wanting to say something imposing, something that the soldier would remember for years to come. He opened his mouth, ready to scream, yet all he could spit out between bloody teeth was "I'm sorry it had to come to this."

The German soldier looked at Reggie's limp body, and whispered in surprisingly clear English "Me too."

Continued in Part 5