The Merry Men

A bloody pair of boots

Benjamin felt adrenaline pump through him like he'd never felt before, even when he was on the front. He held a small pistol with a silencer attatched to his chest, to be used only in emergencies Robin had emphasised heavily.

"What time is it?" Asked Erik the Polish partisan who hid with him in an empty apartment across from the ghetto. Although the small man wore a dark mask hiding his face, he was still entirely recogniseable because of his large pointed chin.Benjamin too wore a black mask that covered the whole of his head, with only a small hole to breathe and see, making it a struggle to do anythinng but Robin had insisted it wall entirely sucseful.

"It's twelve," Benjamin said glancing at the placement of the moon, before returning his gaze to outside the apartment. In about thirty minutes Marion, Robin and Much would appear with a group of young Jews from a small hole in the wall when he, Benjamin gave an all clear bird call. They would then take the group to the edge of the city where Will and other partisans were waiting to extradite them from the city.

"How do you know that?" Erik exclaimed rather loudly causing Benjamin to shush him.

"You learn a few things on the front," he muttered in his native tongue, allowing the conversation to disolve for his part as  In about thirty minutes Marion, Robin and Much would appear with a group of young Jews from a small hole in the wall when he, Benjamin gave an all clear bird call. They would then take the group to the edge of the city where Will and other partisans were waiting to extradite them from the city. Erik though apparantely couldn't keep quiet for long despite the seriousness of the operation.

"I was quite surprised when I found out you were German, Benjamin," Erik said thoughtfully without waiting for a reply. "I asked myself whether you could be trusted. Yes your fellow members seem to trust you but they're English," he spat spitefully at his back, "they believed Hitler's lies... Now look what's happened, Jews disappearing left right and centre to God knows where. All thanks to you Nazi scum," Erik spat prodding him in the back with his own pistol.

"It's supposed to be used in emergencies Erik," Benjamin said to him calmly not reacting to the disgusting observations made by the Polish Partisan. "Listen, I know your bitter-"

"Bitter is a great understatement. I could blast your brains out here and now, without any feeling of regret because of what your kind have done."

"What my kind have done?" Benjamin gasped turning around to face the man who cowardly pointed a pistol at his back. He looked Erik in the eye, giving him a small smirk. "Here in Poland you have it easy. In Berlin we have had to manage with these monsters for eight years, they darken our streets with their grey deathsuits and indoctrinate our children with their ideology, which we know is wrong but we're powerless to intervene without risking the lives of our families." He snapped angrily at Erik whose pistol slowly disappeared back into the shadows. "Not every German Erik, is a Nazi."

"I see you point," Erik replied glumly, but Benjamin shushed him again. On the horizon he could see two figures in SS uniforms were approaching their posistions.

"Be quiet, guards are coming," he muttered in a barely auidable whisper, so as not to attract attention.

"Gówno," he heard Erik gasp suddenly covering his nose, Benjamin sighed in fustration.

"Sneeze now, they're far enough away not to hear you," he muttered keeping an eye on the SS patrol that had stopped to inspect something on the road. "Do it quietly though!"

Erik sneezed, loudly. It echoeched all around the empty apartment and out onto the street, immediately the patrol made a beeline for their posistion, throwing their mission into jeopardy.

"Erik you need to trust me," Benjamin said standing up and removing his dark mask, revealing his typically ayrian features. "Do you trust me?"

"No, but I see I have no other choice."

When the patrol shone their flashlights into the dark crevices of the abandoned apartment, they saw a humerous scene. Benjamin with his brilliantly blonde hair had pinned Erik to the floor, his nose and lip bleeding a ferocious amount.

"Heil commrades," Benjamin gasped in German to the two (as he had hoped) young SS men, "you don't by any chance have a set of handcuffs?"

"Yes I do-" one began before being silenced by his comrade who looked at him suspiciously.

"Who are you?" The suspicious one asked, taking a step toward the struggle.

"I am Serjant Benjamin Freud of the 6th SS Mountain Division," he said looking up at the two young soldiers who stared at him in awe. "May I have those handcuffs now?"

"Yes of course," the more eager solider said removing a set from his belt, "would you like me to help you put them on?"

"Hush Krause I smell a rat," Benjamin sighed as the one called Krause reclipped his handcuffs to his belt. The other soldier took another step towards him with his machine gun now raised.

"Do you not know who this is?" Benjamin guestured towards the obedient form of Erik who now struggled against him, to his dismay they both shook their heads. "This is Erik Pawlack, one of the leaders of the partisans in the city! He is a very important rebel!"

"Then why not just shot him in the head and be done with it?" Krause's comrade said aiming his gun at Erik instead.

Before Benjamin could summon an answer Krause spoke,

"If we kill him now Claude we won't be able to find out the partisans movements!"

"Exactly," Benjamin agreed, "can I have those handcuffs now, Kraus isn't it?"

"Yes sir you may," Kraus said once more removing the handcuffs from his belt and this time handing them to Benjamin, as Claude looked on, lowering his weapon...

Suddenly everything seem to happen so quickly.

Erik nudged him with his left knee, the signal they had agreed upon to act before they had gotten into posistion. Benjamin picked up his pistol that lay on the other side of Erik - hidden from the soldiers view - all as he let go of Erik. Erik meanwhile had pulled his own pistols from within his jacket and shot at Claude, before Claude had a chance to even react.

"Well go on kill him," Erik spat his gun now turning to the blood soaked Kraus who stared at him innocently, his arms instictively raised above his head.

"Please I won't tell anyone," the young man begged, covered in his comrades brains and blood.

"Don't believe his German lies!" Erik spat, "just kill him, he was going to do the same to us." But something stopped Benjamin from killing this young soldier, this young soldier who reminded him so much of himself at that age; indoctrinated, nieve and foolish. "Fine I'll do it myself."

"No," he said jumping in front of Kraus, despite Kraus still bearing a weapon the young man was too scared to use it. "Kraus take your uniform  off and give it to me, your gun too."

Immediately Kraus started stripping off his clothes, then he put his machine gun and clothes on the floor in front of Benjamin, much to Erik disgust.

"Why not just kill him?" Erik asked replacing his guns in their holsters, watching with amusement as Benjamin began stripping off his own clothes and handing them to Kraus. "Now what you doing?"

"I'm putting on his uniform," Benjamin said pulling on Kraus' trousers which luckily were the right size. "Kraus what shoe size are you?"

"I'm a ten," Kraus chocked pulling on Benjamin's ragged peasant clothes, as Ben pulled on the boots with glee as lady luck must have been shining down on him, the entire uniform fitted him perfectly.

"Now Erik you put on the other uniform," he smirked when he shone Kraus torch on the headless corspe covered in its own bodily fluids.