An unexpected meeting (Schellenburg)

[Aaron Hroda Schellenburg]

Aaron was faced with the harsh reality that the one person that took care of him and brought him to safety was dead. Aaron let in a shaky breath as he felt the burning of incoming tears form in his eyes. Aaron buried his head in his hands, not caring about what else the others told him. He mentally cursed himself for not taking the place of his beloved mother, for lying just to keep himself alive. Aaron let down a dry swallow as memories of the night she was captured played in his head. Her face. It seemed so calm, despite she was caught." Aaron thought to himself. The fact that she is watching over him at this moment did bring some closure.
Something inside of Aaron made him think about what Andre said about the Germans earlier. It made him ponder on his viewpoints and whether or not there are any innocent countrymen left. Some new emotion bubbled inside of Aaron, an emotion that was hellbent of causing pain and misery to those who killed her. Revenge. Pure revenge. He did not care who it was, Aaron would kill anyone who wore the uniform or gave hints that they were for the Fatherland.

"T-thank you for giving me the news. It is not easy for me to swallow it, but your right. It is a good thing that I am alive."

Aaron wiped his eyes with his sleeve and tried to force a small smile.

[Jean-Luc Laroche]

The two men proceeded to comfort Aaron. It was clearly a very tough time for him however he appeared to take the whole situation rather well. As the three congregated in a small group a single gunshot echoed through the night air. The two Frenchmen glanced at one another, “That was Anton’s rifle. Put that light out!” said Andre, Pierre leaned toward the lantern while opening the glass door. He took a deep breath then exhaled in an attempt to extinguish the flame. On the first try it was a success, the light went out leaving the trio in darkness. Suddenly two more shots rang out, Pierre went for the door. He gripped the handle and pulled it open, “I got to check on Anton he could be in trouble”. Andre drew a revolver he had tucked behind his waist. He cocked the hammer back and responded to Pierre, “No don’t do it”. Andre spoke quickly, “Get low, and keep your heads down. I have a really bad feeling” he whispered.

Pierre ducked then crawled across the floor to take cover behind the wood stove. Time passed quietly, not a sound could be heard outside the cabin. Once in a while the sound of tree branches rustling in the wind caused the men to get very paranoid. Andre popped open a small pocket watch he had in his possession, after taking a quick glance he slid it back inside his pocket, “I’m going to have a look. I will let you know if I see anything out there”. He crawled a few feet then slowly got up, while gripping the door handle he twisted knob. A low creek was heard as the door was pushed open, Andre went for the stairs in a crouching walk.

[Aaron Hroda Schellenburg]

Aaron jolted with the single shot that was heard in the silence. Aaron looked around and back at the two men in the room with him. He swallowed dryly as Andre told Pierre to extinguish the candlelight in the lantern. Aaron was trying to process the action that was taking place. He heard two more shots ring out and slight panic began rising inside of him. They probably know. Aaron thought to himself. Aaron took no time in leaving his seat and making his way to the dusty ground. He looked through the darkness for the silhouettes of the two men.
The creak of the doorknob caused his heart to pound harder in his chest. Just the sound alone contrasted the deafening silence from outside. Aaron began crawling away from the table so he could get a better look at the front door, making sure to keep his head low.

[Jean-Luc Laroche]

The silhouette of a man emerged from the darkness. He ran full speed toward the cabin. When he got within an earshot he yelled, “The Germans are coming”. Andre quickly moved back toward the doorway, suddenly a series of flashes came from the forest. The sound of gun fire echoed through the night, the muzzle flashes came from a line that appeared to be roughly 50 meters long. That meant the SS were in a line formation combing the forest for them. The sound of a machine gun roared, the man running toward to safety fell face first on the ground. A few moments passed but he continued to lay there motionless. Andre managed to scramble back inside, a look for terror on his face as he said, “There are a lot of Germans out there. Do not surrender because they will kill you anyway, most likely in a worse way. If by some chance you are caught, do not tell them anything about what or who you have seen”.

Andre reached behind his waist and withdrew Aaron’s luger. He handed it to him by the barrel, with a nod he said, “Take it, we need every gun we can get”. Pierre fumbled around in the dark then re-appeared with two MP40 sub machine guns. He passed one to Andre and cocked one for himself. A German commander yelled out, “Line formation, keep your spacing!”. An SS Anti-Partisan unit approached the cabin, hidden by the cover of night. The soldiers were armed with rifles and sub machine guns, there was also an MG-42 they set up in the center of the formation.

Andre told Aaron, “We will get the fuck out of here if possible". He cocked the weapon then used the barrel to smash the front windows glass. The SS heard the glass break and responded with suppressive fire. Machine gun bullets and rifle shots ripped through the wooden cabin. Andre from cover opened up with blind fire, he let a series of bursts go in the enemy’s direction. The Germans began to flank from the left while the center opened up with covering fire. Pierre and Andre returned gunfire viciously defending their ground, Pierre yelled, “I got one!”. Gun smoke filled the air as bullets struck everywhere. A lot of ammo was being used on both sides. Andre yelled over the noise, "Aaron! that box of bullets on the floor, reload the empty mags we drop!".

Jean-Luc rushed through the dense forest. He gripped a British Sten sub machine gun in his gloved hands. A fire fight raged in the distance and members of the resistance were in desperate need of help.

[Aaron Hroda Schellenburg]

It all happened in a flash. Aaron heard a warning about the approaching Germans that were quickly approaching the lonely cabin, then sharp sounds of bullets ripping through the wood and hitting objects in the empty room. Aaron was partially in shock and remained on the floor. No.. It can't happen again. How did they figure out? he frantically thought to himself.

He heard Andre's voice over the noise around him. "Do not surrender."That was clearly not an option to Aaron, he knew what surrendering would bring to him. He remembered his mother's calm composure when she surrendered to the Gustapo, the further motivated him to die fighting for the right cause. Aaron was snapped out of his thoughts when Andre handed him the Luger; he quickly gripped it. Aaron placed the gun in his back belt loop, it was not a split second later until he heard a window breaking and more bullets attack the cabin. Smoke and debris filled the cabin, making it a bit difficult to see on Aaron's part. When he heard the command from Andre, he wasted no time scrammbling on the floor looking for any bullets to refill any empty mags. Aaron quickly located bullets, but remained cautious to not get hit by any enemy fire, and filled the empty mags on the ground and handed them off to the two Resistance fighters.

It was all like clockwork, finding bullets, filling empty mags, and handing them off. The gunfire continued to be heard and Aaron was running low on bullets.

"I am running out of bullets!"

Aaron roared over the constant gunshots. He continued to find any free bullets and fill the magazines.

[Jean-Luc Laroche]

The gunfire continued to rage between both parties. The two resistance members unloaded into the forest. No Germans were visible, just their muzzle flashes in the darkness. The position of the muzzle flashes indicated the Anti-partisan unit was advancing. The two defenders gave it everything they had, they would fire all the bullets in a magazine then switch it for one Aaron provided. Noticing the position of enemy fire Andre spoke, “They are bounding forwards! Expect suppression and possibly a flanking maneuver”. He look Aaron in the eyes, “Aaron my friend, you must go..-“ He was interrupted by supressing fire from the German’s machine gun. The bullets tore through the cabin’s wooden walls, as the fire died down Pierre lifted his MP40 over the windows ledge and blindly fired toward the enemy.

The Germans responded with small arms fire from both rifles and sub machine guns. The heavy MG must have been changing barrels or ammunition belts. Their shouts could be heard in the background, sudden a “Woosh” sound came from outside. Outside a flare was fired into the air, the shell exploded lighting up the area. The silhouettes of SS soldiers were now visible crouch running toward the cabin. A few would run a few meters and dive, then more would pass them and hit the dirt. This was a common tactic used for advancing on an enemy postion.

“Pierre will go with you, get out of here now. This is not your day to die Aaron Schellenburg”. Pierre grabbed Aaron’s shoulder and told him, “Let’s go, he will cover our escape”. Andre gave Aaron a smile, “I’ll be right behind you. I just want to be sure we will be safe, don’t worry”. The shooting started again, Andre fumbled around in the darkness and when his hand re-appeared it was holding a German stick grenade, “GO!”. Pierre gave a firm nod to his friend, “It’s been quite a run! If there is no ther way..we must go”. Andre replied, "We all knew what we were getting into, There is no other option".

[Aaron Hroda Schellenburg]

Aaron nearly dropped the loose bullets in his hand when Andre told him to escape the cabin. He shook his head slightly, refusing to allow another friend die.

"No, I-.."

His sentence was cut short when a bombardment of bullets split through the wood and into the cabin, hitting almost everything. Aaron dropped the magazine and bullets when a bullet narrowly missed his left shoulder. Aaron watched Andre as he tried his best to fire back at the advancing Germans, he wanted to stay and fight with the man that helped him escape the clutches of the Gestapo, but when he heard Andre tell him that it was not his day to die it resolved any conflict. Tears began forming in his eyes as he felt the grip of Pierre on his shoulder. Aaron wanted to resist leaving with Pierre but it was not the situation to debate.

"I will never forget you... my friend."

A single tear fell from his eye as a smile crossed Aaron's lips. Part of him knew that he would probably never see Andre again. When he saw the stick grenade in Andre's hands Aaron escaped with Pierre, giving one last glance to Andre.

[Jean-Luc Laroche]

Pierre hopped outside using one of the windows located around the rear of the property. Before Aaron exited Andre shouted, “They won’t forget me either!” He then readied himself and tossed it outside in the front yard. The resistance fighter yelled at Aaron, “Get out of here!”. A few seconds later the high explosive grenade went off, the blast shook cabin’s walls. Andre look down at his left side which he appeared to be holding. Slowly he got to his knees and began to shoot. Once again the fire fight was in full swing. The sound of brass shells hitting the floor followed the rapid fire of the sub machine gun. Andre glanced back one more time and saw that Aaron was gone.

Pierre met Aaron outside and grabbed a hold of his arm dragging him along. Some of the German bullets passed through the wooden walls hitting trees in the distance. Loud whips and snaps echoed as rounds barely missed the two men, “Don’t stop, just keep going!”. The gunfire had suddenly stopped after two more explosions, loud moaning could be heard in the distance. A cry for help in German could be heard, most likely from one of the SS men hit in the fire fight. Under his breath Pierre muttered as they ran full speed, “I hope the bastard dies”. Out to their far right side a group of SS men who were flanking around became visible in the distance, Pierre hadn’t noticed.

[Aaron Hroda Schellenburg]

Aaron almost fell at as he was basically dragged out by Pierre. Bullets flew around them, missing the two men by only a few centimeters. Aaron ran along with Pierre in the darkness, dodging bullets and trying to maintain balance. He nearly fell over when his foot snagged onto a branch on the ground. He could heard screams and moans, praying that it was not Andre's screams, but he knew that he was probably killed my now. Aaron continued to move along with the man before him, but he spotted some silhouettes in the dense forest.

"Pierre... I see some SS."

Aaron spoke in a hushed tone, but loud enough for Pierre to hear him. His hand reached back and gripped the handle of the Luger that was located in the back loop of his pocket. Aaron slowed down a bit so he would not make a lot of noise.

[Jean-Luc Laroche]

A group of SS anti Partisan hunters moved through the forest in a staggered column. They wore long greatcoats and wielded a variety of firearms. The soldier on points attention was drawn to a specific area in the forest when a twig snapped. He gave the hand signal for the squad to lower themselves to one knee with weapons at the ready. Pierre got down quickly when Aaron alerted him, he stayed motionless on the ground. A few moments passed when suddenly a loud call echoed through the night, “Scharführer!”. The sound of the squad could be heard getting closer, they all of a sudden stopped. The shooting at the cabin had stopped roughly 5 minutes ago. The Germans whispered between one another for another minute then slowly moved back in the direction they came from, trembling in fear Pierre smiled at Aaron.

The two continued to lay there in silence until Pierre gave the signal to continue. He gestured forwards then got to his feet running off into the woods. As they trudged onwards a low tune was being whistled nearby. Pierre lowered himself to one knee and gestured Aaron to do so as well. A second later the same song pierced through the night. Pierre responded with what seemed to be a continuation of the song. A shadowy figure revealed himself stepping out from behind a large tree, It was Jean Luc. After eyeing the two he said, “Good to see you again. Andre?” Pierre shook his head, “No”. Luc nodded slowly a few times glancing from Aaron to Pierre, “Alright, shall we get out of here or is there something you want to stick around for?” He cracked a slight grin.

The SS unit congregated around the cabin. They searched high and low for any intelligence that may have been left behind. A soldier dragged Andre outside by both legs, his body was mangled by grenade shrapnel. His head bumped and banged on the steps has he was pulled off the porch onto the ground. An SD NCO entered the cabin and stood in the center of the room. There were a lot of bullet casings scattered across the floor boards. He began moving them around with his feet when he suddenly realised there were only a few magazines and one MP40 in the room. It would have been impossible for one man to load and fire all of those rounds himself, “Klause!”, one of the senior death squad men stepped through the doorway, “Yes sir?”, The SD NCO spun around rushing toward the entrance, “Some of the terrorists have escaped, find them!” The two men rushed off the porch and began to bark orders at the others who jumped to attention.

[Aaron Hroda Schellenburg]

Aaron remained quiet as he watched the group of SS take their positions with arms ready. He could hear in heartbeat pounding in his ears as he watched them carefully. All of a sudden a German call was heard and this brought relief to Aaron. That was a close call. he thought to himself. Aaron looked over at Pierre, who was not too far from him and crouched down in the dirt, he wore a smile. Aaron directed his attention back to the retreating Germans. After the coast was clear, Pierre gave him the signal to continue their movements deeper into the woods. Aaron complied and ran behind Pierre in the dense woods.

Aaron almost ran into Pierre when he paused his movements and bent on one knee. A questionable look crossed his face as he wondered why he stopped, but before he could ask the question why he heard some whistling nearby. Aaron looked down at Pierre as he returned the low tune. Seconds later a shadowy figure revealed himself. It took a bit of time for Aaron to make out who the figure was, but it became visible that the figure was Le Spectre. Aaron watched at the man addressed the two, but when Le Spectre thought that Andre tagged along, Aaron's mind went back to the moment when Andre told Aaron to escape.

"I believe we should leave, I have a feeling that they did not fully retreat."

[Jean-Luc Laroche]

As the three men ran through the forest Le Spectre spoke, “The car isn’t far from here. They will be searching for us”. A loud crack was heard in the direction from which they had fled, suddenly a white flare exploded over head. The surrounding area was lit up like day, eerie shadows were cast by the light. The sound of German voices in the background were heard. A single dog could be heard barking fiercely, Pierre muttered, “They brought the dogs, we must hurry”. Jean-Luc and Pierre huffed and puffed trying to get a breather.

The flare slowly drifted back to earth extinguishing while in mid fall leaving the forest in darkness. The Germans were moving very quickly through the dense bush. Instead of moving carefully they had orders to chase down the terrorists and kill them. Two squads of SS soldiers jogged through the forest in a combat line.

Pierre came to a sudden stop nearly falling over, “I need to catch my breath”, he gasped for air. Jean-Luc stopped running and spun around. He looked at Aaron then Pierre lowering himself to the ground taking a knee. The three men franticly glanced from left to right, obviously paranoid due to the current situation they were in. Pierre spoke quietly while leaning against a nearby tree, “Andre..” he said, Jean-Luc nodded slowly repeating the name, “Andre”. Pierre continued, “I met him a few years ago. We got into this at roughly the same time, he knew the risks”. Jean-Luc added, “He was a hell of a soldier. But overall he was a good friend”. Pierre gazed off into space reminiscing about his friend, Le Spectre added, “I know he liked you Aaron. He believed your story when we had our doubts, anyways..he was a good man and will be missed”.

Le Spectre got to his feet using the butt end of his Sten gun. Pierre slowly stood up, “Let’s get over that hill there and we should be about 50 meters from the road”.

[Aaron Hroda Schellenburg]

Aaron was not far behind the men, and eventually caught up to them. He was obviously struggling and began slowing down to catch his breath. He saw the bright light from the flare that the Germans lit. The light was almost blinding as it lit up the dark forest like the sun was burning brightly. Aaron bent over not too far from Le Spectre and Pierre to catch his breath, he almost felt like throwing up due to the exhaustion he was feeling.

Aaron heard the dogs, he turned his head in the direction from where it was coming from. Shit. They sound like they are closing in. he thought. By the sounds of the voices and dog they were closing in, and wasting no time in doing so. Aaron listened to the two men as they acknowledged their fallen comrade. Inside Aaron did feel the pain of losing a friend. Aaron's breathing returned to normal after a few minutes and he stood up straight. He listened to Le Spectre speak and nodded in response.

"We should hurry, they sound awfully close."

[Jean-Luc Laroche]

The skirmish line of SS troops spotted the three men on the run. One of the Germans shouted, it was followed by two or three rifle shots. Pierre slid behind a nearby tree, he leaned out returning some automatic fire from an MP40. The response was several muzzle flashes in the darkness as the flare faded out. Jean-Luc took cover, he shot back at the advancing Germans, “Aaron! Keep going”, he shouted. The intense automatic fire didn’t stop the SS, some of them were hardened combat veterans who kept the others moving. Jean-Luc called out to Pierre, “We got to move before they bring the machine gun up! We’ll be pinned”. The Germans continued to supress the hill, bullets snapped through the air. A second squad was moving up, they crept through the forest followed by the SS MG-42.

The only thing that slowed the enemy was the position in which Jean and Pierre fought so ferociously to hold. The hill they defended looked down at the advancing enemy position, Pierre managed to gun down one of the troops. Jean-Luc began to fall back, “Let’s go!”, Pierre moved out of cover as the German machine gun roared to life. Jean-Luc stopped in his tracks and spun around, “RUN!” he swung his left arm in the air gesturing toward the direction they had been running. A bullet whizzing by his head caused Le Spectre to duck, his eyes shut briefly. A second later when he opened them Pierre was lying face down beside the tree he had been taking cover behind. Jean scrambled away keeping his head low, he looked for Aaron cursing to himself as the rapid fire continued.

[Aaron Hroda Schellenburg]

Aaron moved quickly as he climbed up the steep hill, he heard some shouting behind him. He knew that it was not Pierre or Spectre because of the heavy German accent; seconds later he heard gunshots. Aaron flinched and automatically took cover behind a sturdy tree. Aaron peered out and heard some return fire and muzzle flahes. He could feel his heart in his throat as he carefully watched from a little distance away. A gun war began again and bullets began flying through the darkness. He could hear the muffled sounds of the bullets hitting the bark of the trees. Over the noise of gunfire, he heard someone telling him to continue moving. This time Aaron hesitated to run away to safety. Aaron stood up a bit and backed away from the tree. A split second later an enemy bullet nearly grazed his arm.

He knew that running could draw attention to him. He also thought about what he would do and where he would go. He was a highly wanted man, running away was just not the best option to him at the moment. Aaron retained his hiding post behind the tree and carefully watched the fight before him. The Germans were relentless, despite the fact that Pierre and Spectre had the advantage. More bullets flew throught the skies, flares from the guns lit up some parts for a spit second. Aaron heard the words of retreat from Le Spectre as he saw him advance up the hill, but it was too late. The Germans pulled out the machine gun and used it with brute force. The rapid bullets mowed through the thick bark, sending splinters and debris into the air.

Aaron laid on the ground behind the tree watching Le Spectre hit the ground to take cover. He was high enough to see that Le Spectre was not too far from him, but it was at a vulnerable position. Aaron swallowed dryly as he made up his mind to save Spectre. Running on adrinaline and fear, Aaron bolted from the safety of his hiding spot into enemy fire. Bullets flew left and right, one narrowly missed his face. When Aaron got close enough to the Frenchman he hit the ground near him. Without saying a word, he grabbed Spectre's arm and proceeded to assist him up the hill. Aaron could see the top of the hill, he felt accomplished; the German-Jew continued to dodge bullets and help his fellow comrade up to safety. The car came into view, a smile came across Aaron's lips as he kept his grip on Le Spectre's arm.