Rivalry

Mission three: friend and enemy

Colonel maybury parked his jeep next to the one which, he assumed, had been previously occupied by Maria. The area was desolate, devoid of any battle now that he was behind the German frontline. The sunset made the shadows long, and much time had passed since The lieutenant's commands had last been heard from this site, but when Tristan peered into the gloom in the back of her vehicle, he saw only the body of a soldier lying on the floor amidst lots of equipment, eyes glazed over and a gaping bloody mess of a hole through his head. Bloodstains splattered the floor and walls. Tristan jumped in and examined the scene. Nothing there gave any hint as to what had happened here, but to the colonel's practiced eye, it was clearly the work of an ambush.

And then, as he swept the beam of his torch over maps, cables, and radios, the light bounced off of the whites of the corpse's eyes. They were a dull brown, and expressionless, but what struck Tristan was that although his body faced away from the rear of the jeep, his face was pointed directly at the square of light from whence his killers must have come. Surely someone who was shot in the head would not have been able to react? Suddenly it all made sense. Rolling the body over, a second wound to the man's stomach confirmed it.

This man wasn't shot in the head immediately. They got him in the stomach first. Desperately unpicking the story, tristan's Mind whirred relentlessly. He has the headset on, which means that Maria must have left for some reason, and that was when he was attacked. He must have seen something when he turned his head like that! Perhaps this soldier, though dead, could still tell him more of what had happened. He trailed the torch beam down slowly from the man's face, down his outstretched arm, and to where his hand rested, pointing. And where his finger had been dipped in a pool of red fluid, a bloody word was daubed on the floor of the jeep.

"Paradise" whispered Tristan. In his death throes, perhaps the man had made a final plea upon god's mercy. But Maria always chose her staff well, and Tristan only hoped it was some sort of clue. Maybe something overheard before his brains were blasted out. If they got him... they must have the lieutenant as well. Whoever did this will pay. His eyes drifted once more over the collection of maps spread around the jeep's Narrow interior. The realisation struck him like lighting, and rapidly he clambered out of the darkness.

"She's In Le Paradis!"

But before he could get the wretched ignition started, a platoon of three tanks advanced up the small rise, and promptly blocked his path. Tristan was Annoyed and surprised to see tanks from his own side here of all places.

"What the hell are you doing? The orders are for a retreat, you oaf! Do you lot have a death wish?" He shouted when the corporal climbed out of the lead mathilda's hatch. Seeing his rank the man saluted, and Tristan took in his appearance. The corporal was heavyset, with thick black hair squashed under a tanker's Beret and a matching Bushy beard. His eyes were unremarkable, a deep brown that had a somewhat conniving look. He looked to be in his early forties.

"Sorry sir! Lost contact with our lieutenant! One mark crosse." He recounted mournfully how the battle had ended in complete chaos, with the Wehrmacht irrefutably the victors. "What happened here, sir?" He said, glancing at the abandoned jeep, and the ominous tire tracks leading west. 

"Ambush. Definitely." Replied Tristan gravely. "The bastards."

"Scum of the earth." Corporal Clifford agreed. Some of his men also looked angry, having stuck their heads out of the mathildas to watch the exchange. 

"Anyway, I'm going after him. Head north to cover the retreat, we're getting out before we get encircled. Oh, and try not to get caught." Tristan turned to climb back into the car, but Clifford stopped him, eyes narrowed.