Bound By Purpose

Rescued

My head lulls to the side as time keeps ticking. Peggy seems stable at the moment since she hasn't moved in an hour or so. My whole body trembles in soreness as I try to bring my legs up to my chest, but I think better of it as I feel the stress on my knees. Peggy stirs next to me so I quickly turn to her. I take a handful of the purest white snow in sight and hold it to her mouth. "We don't have water but you need fluids." She doesn't answer, but she does as she's told. I pull my hand away and flick off the leftover cold moisture into the woods. The cold is finally starting to eat it's way at me, but if Peggy is any bit comfortable it's worth it. I breathe into my hands to warm them just the smallest bit and then rub them together.

My ears perk as I hear a voice from my right. I pick up the radio and try the team. "This is Moore. How far out from us are you?" Nothing but static. I try again. "This is Agent Moore..."  Nothing. I'm gonna have a talk with Howard about these radios when I get back. I set the radio beside Peggy. I'm hearing things. I lay my head back against the fallen tree, but the whispering persists. It's not until I'm sure I hear German that I move from my spot. This has roused Peggy as well. I look over to her.

Sensing that I might go out and investigate Peggy insists, "Just stay. The boys have got to be close to us." I'm happy to hear her talking, but the risk of being seen before realizing what threat is out there is not something we can handle right now. I grab her hand and then grab my rifle. "I'll stay close." I squeeze her hand and then turn towards the voices.

Staying low to the ground I force myself over our fallen tree and into the foilage. I count to three before sprinting a dozen feet to a larger tree where the German voices have become a lot clearer. I gaze around the tree and immediately see three soldiers milling towards us. Three more that's all, it has to be all. I need to keep Peggy and I alive as long as I can. 

They begin to spread apart as they come closer. I can take two. There's no time to think as one passes right by my tree. I grab my knife from my sheath and bring it right across the front of his neck. Silently I let him fall to the floor. I pull my rifle from across my back and stay low as I follow another soldier with my scope. I pull the trigger and watch the soldier go down. The lone shot has alerted the other soldier and certainly any other survivor now in the woods. I frantically scan the area for that last soldier. He's dodging in between the trees now. I'm so tired of fighting, so tired of nearly escaping death. Something inside me clicks and my feet take off. I run straight into his fire. I dive down near to where I last saw him and try to regain where I am. Looking to my left I see him crouched as well searching. I get down lower onto my stomach and load my gun. I take a deep breath and then hop up out of the bushes as he does the same hands up. 

"I am unarmed." He says in a heavy accent. 

"Ich spreche Deutsch." I say assuring him that I can understand him better if he speaks his native tongue. "Gibt es noch mehr von Ihnen?" (Are there more of you?) I ask stepping forward gun still raised. He shakes his head. What do I do? Taking another step forward I look for any sign of a weapon. When I'm assured he's clean I step back, gun still raised. He takes a small step towards me, and I take one back. He catches me off guard suddenly he's lunging at me with the light smile gone. My reaction is to pull the trigger. Whether it hits him or not I'm unsure, It definitely did, I can feel the warm blood soaking at my chest. Turning to my head slightly to the right I can see the incapacitated soldier's face, with eyes that still have life in them. He won't be able to harm me now, I can leave him to himself to die. His lips are slightly moving, and it's only when I quiet my breathing that I can hear the remnants of a German prayer. Rolling slightly to my left I'm able to get enough momentum going back the other way to roll him entirely off of me. 

His ragged breaths have dissipated quickly, I did hit him square in the chest though it's hard to say where due to the swelling red. The choking has begun now, a geyser of red sputters ever few seconds through his mouth. All the while I try to collect myself laying in the grass. It had to have only been two minutes at the most since I had first spotted him. Lulling my head to the side I see his suffering, his pain. In this moment I am myself again, the girl who gives up coats to those in need, the girl who would never back down from anything. The war had nearly taught me to forget those things about myself... Well not today.