Heimatfront Episode One - The Girl and Her Tank

Last Second Changes

XI

LAST SECOND CHANGES

By the end of the evening the two boys decided they’ve had enough of slave work and impressing teenage girls with their physical prowess, if nothing else, and went to retrieve their bicycles. Anja and Maria also decided to call it a day. It was time to bring the tanks back to the barn.

In the way back Anja thought it would be interesting to experiment some formations, see if the tanks could perform tactical maneuvers adequately. They’ve already did it a few times, and to Maria it seemed like a waste of fuel. After all the efficiency in maneuvering depended more on the crew’s training than on the machine itself. But she decided to play along anyway.

The first attempts at moving in formation went pretty much as expected. Even with such a small squadron the girls kept getting lost and unsure about how to keep pace with each other, especially with the machines having such different performance specs.

Surprisingly, though, after a few tries they were actually managing to make some basic formations, and they did so once more that day. It was surely the heavy discipline hammered into the girls kicking in. If she had the time and the authorization, Maria believed she could train them to perform at least well enough for parades and such.

Of course that the tanks would be taken from them in just a few days, so no need to dream too high.

Then sun was already setting when the girls killed the engines and started to abandon the hangar to get back to their barracks. The twilight sky was red that day, something that made Maria felt uncomfortable for some reason.

She decided to ignore the fact and concentrate on the hangar gates closing in front of her. She made a point in only turning away when everyone was out of the building and all the gates and doors locked. And usual, it was Ysabelle, always excited to work with all of those machines, who was pressing the switch which controlled the old gates. They slammed close with a great uproar, and then the girl went to close the Judas gate and lock it for the day.

“It’s always impressive, isn’t it?” Maria turned to face Anja. She didn’t even notice she stayed behind.

“Yes, I guess.”

Anja was holding her hands behind her back, her expression unusually somber.

“Have you given any thought to the conversation we had when we first brought the 38-tee out of this hangar?”

Those ideas again? Maria had actually dreaded the day this conversation would come around again. It was inevitable, it seemed.

“I still think it’s wrong.” She honestly admitted. “We should deliver these tanks and if the Soviets come too close we should then attempt to escape to the Baviera.”

The other girl glanced away, exasperated.

“Is that your solution, to run away?”

“It’s the more realistic solution, Führerin.”

Anja put her hands behind her back, walked in a circle, and approached Maria from the other side.

“We are BDM, Nitzschmann. We will not be allowed to leave our post. And I will not stand idly while the enemy ravages our land! I will fight them out and die defending this country and my friends if I have to!” She glanced around to see if no-one was listening, and added, her voice a whisper. “You know those idiots in Berlin would just leave us to the enemy then allow us to escape our duty.”

There was no way to negate that fact. Maria was too smart to ignore the lunacy which had taken hold of the Reichstag. The conversation was taking a toll on her tired body and mind. She was trembling and for a moment she couldn’t even think clearly. She simply said: “Yes, I know…”