Reclamation: The Affliction Right Before Our Eyes

421 10 0
                                    

Berga was a three-hour journey East from where we last were. In that amount of time, who knows what could've happened to Zussman. 1 minute, hell, even 1 second is enough time for someone to do something brutal to him, or to anyone. Where Zussman is right now, I'm sure he can't barely breathe comfortably. On our journey to Berga, we stopped by camps that were along the way. I thought I knew what cruelty was...after what I saw, I didn't know anything. What I saw will stick with me for the rest of my life...

"Jesus Christ..." I whisper lowly. My eyes scan the abandoned camp in front of us, my blood pressure increasing with every fear-filled heartbeat that drums against my ribs.

Flames of angry fire, varying from small to huge, light up the camp, with a couple of the barracks burned to the ground with ashes still lit up with small fire.

They must have just left...

"Last one." Pierson adds, scanning the area with me.

-"This looks more like a labour camp."

"I get the feeling it's deserted." Daniels adds, carrying on my thoughts.

The boys gather around a puddle of fire before Pierson orders another round.

"Aiello and Daniels, stick with (l/n). Stiles, you're with me." He says, and Stiles whips out his camera like there's no tomorrow. He should document this. Let the public know what these sick Nazis did to the innocent.

I go on ahead with Aiello and Daniels at my tail as Pierson and Stiles split up around the camp for any signs of life.

I reach one of the barracks and climb the three steps before entering through the door, but I pause as the smell in the room hits us straight in the face. It's the smell of rotting flesh and it's definitely not a pleasant one. I try my best to suck it up and walk in, and when I do, my heart breaks into a thousand pieces.

Bunk beds pilled with decaying bodies, but not just any bodies. The bodies of our men...our brothers.

"There's too many of 'em." Aiello mumbles from behind me.

"There's a lot more than you think." I respond.

The scene is...hitting. It's hits harder than a train. Any pain I'll ever experience will be no match to what the brothers in here experienced.

The Nazis had them living worse than animals. From what it looks like, they were beaten, starved, and worked to the bone.

We reach the other end of the barracks that reveal a whole runway lined with wired fence. It was like a maze.

"Over here!" Stiles calls out. We turn another corner and walk up to him, his camera already snapping a shot of the horror that was presented before us.

More innocent soldiers, tied to the poles behind them with rough rope, a bullet hole in each side of their head, through their stomach and a knife slit across their throat with splatters of their blood against the wall behind them. This was enough to form tears in my eyes. I sort of feel guilty, angry and sad...but, those words aren't nearly enough to describe how I truly feel in this moment. I don't wanna carry through the camp, but I have to if I'm gonna find Zussman.

As we move through the area, we come across a hanging station. A log of wood mounted on three other poles of wood with six nooses, evenly spaced, hanging and swinging ghostly as the wind whistles around us.

"Stiles, camera. Now." I order him. This is one of the many things he could capture and make it onto the paper that will let the world know the torture that these soldiers experienced. They slaughtered the weakest. Anyone who was slowing them down.

"(L/n), over here." Pierson calls. I look left and see him crouching, his eyes averted to a track of footsteps leading into the forest next to the camp.

"The tracks lead to the fields. That's where they must've marched them." He explains. The dead fire inside me begins to show a small spark. If we follow it in time, we might just be able to save Zussman and many others.

"Then that's where we're going." I say with confidence, but Pierson holds me by the shoulders, looking me in the eyes.

-"Doll, I wouldn't get your hopes up."

-"I made a promise to Zussman."

-"We'll find him. I just can't guarantee we'll find him alive."

Those words. "Can't guarantee we'll find him alive." There's a 50/50 chance...well...truth be told, 75/25 chance he'll still be living by the time we find him. But I don't want to think about that. All I want to think about is seeing him. Dead or alive, his face needs to meet my eyes. I'll do anything to make that happen.

No Sacrifice Too Great | COD WW2 Story Where stories live. Discover now