Nowhere to hide (Schellenburg)

[Aaron Hroda Schellenburg]

Aaron's back fall back on the stiff mattress as he continued thinking about his mother and reviewing the incidents that happened today. He felt that something slipped out of his pocket and plopped on the matress next to his thigh. He shifted a bit so he can grasp the item; his handmet with something cool and round. Aaron brought the item closer to his face to examine it, the round item was nothing but the pocketwatch that stayed in his family for generations. Aaron sighed and opened the watch up, it was still ticking and it was harboring nothing special. Aaron sat up and tossed the metal onto the rickity nightstand near the bed.

He ran his hands over his face and released another tired sigh as his head connected with the pillow. He was either too tired or lazy to turn off the lights and shed his clothes, but it did not concern Aaron that much. Aaron let out a small cough before adjusting on the bed and falling to sleep. While asleep his mind kept herhursing the dialogue between him and the driver. The name Albrecht kept appearing in his mind. Maybe that was the SD officer who brought him to the hq but strangrly released him at the last minute. Aaron continued his light sleep, but the feeling of being watched kept him from actually taking a decent rest.

It wasn't until a few hours later that Aaron shot up from his rest. Cold sweat on his brow as he panted heavily. Aaron cautiously looked around the still lit room. The scenerio of him being caught planted in his dreams. The strange feeling of being shot multiple times wrecked his body. Aaron, still breathing heavily, unbuttoned his shirt, checking for any bullet holes or blood. Nothing was present, just his pale skin. But the feeling of actually getting shot was just too real... maybe an event prior to him reaching this point occured and is somehow effecting his dreams. Aaron tiredly rubbed his eyes and reached over to the nightstand, his fingers felt over the flat wood until he could feel his pocketwatch. Aaron grasped the object thightly and unclasped it, he blinked a few times to bring his eyes into focus. The watch read 5:34. Aaron sighed as he tossed the object on the matress and sat in the lonely room.

[Franz Albrecht]

Franz was up at 5:00AM every morning. He would shower, shave and comb his hair till it was perfectly in place. The SD Untersturmfuhrer had an immaculate looking uniform, it was always neat and tidy. Franz stood in the mirror giving his hair a final inspection. After flashing a large smile to himself he decided to call his car. Crossing the room quickly he picked up the telephone, instantly a voice said, “Reception”. Albrecht said in a firm tone, “Room 22, have my car outside”. The voice thanked him for choosing the hotel then the line went dead. The officer peeked from the second floor window, it looked slightly chilly outside. A black Mercedes pulled up to the Hotels entrance, it sat there idling.

Putting on his gloves and greatcoat Franz exited the suite. He shut the locked door behind him, afterwards trying the knob to make sure. The SD officer marched down the hallway and outside to the waiting vehicle. The same driver from the night before greeted him, “Untersturmfuhrer!”, Franz gave him a quick Nazi salute climbing in the car. The driver slammed the door then quickly rushed toward his position in the front. Franz sunk into the deep leather seats, reaching inside his jacket he removed a silver cigarette case. The driver instantly lowered the windows as Franz flicked the lighter. They were off, another day of work.

Five minutes later the car rolled to a stop outside Gestapo headquarters. Albrecht climbed from the vehicle tossing the cigarette butt toward the gutter. The driver pulled away in the direction of the motor pool. SS guards at the entrance came to attention as Franz passed by, he returned the salute with a nod. Inside everyone in the foyer moved with a fast pace. Many conversations were occurring and phones ringing off the hook. The guards at the desk had changed since last night Albrecht noticed as he passed by.

Finally after climing two flights of stairs Franz reached his office. After hanging his gun belt on a hat rack he sat at a wooden desk beside the window. The secretary knocked briefly on the open door, “Sir can I get you anything?”, Franz responded with a smile, “Coffee, two cream, two sugar”. He glanced down at some notices addressed to him, “Thank you Maria”. She disappeared from the doorway almost instantly. The SD officer was deep into his paper work when the young secretary returned, “Here you are sir. Herr Heinz came by, he wished me to inform you that all was in order”. Albrecht looked puzzled momentarily, ” All is in order? In regards to what?’”. Maria appeared confused, “The Schellenburg man Herr Untersturmfuherer. Records in Berlin called just before you arrived today. They are sending the gentleman’s file over”.

Franz quickly replied, “What did they say in regards to his history and status?” The young woman responded, “Aaron Schellenburg is a registered German citizen. However, he has family that are non-Aryan”. Franz sat there thinking to himself, he suddenly jumped up, “Get my car”. Albrecht stormed out of the building, he wanted to speak to his suspect.

A phone call from Gestapo headquarters went out to the "Hotel Nicolas". There the clerk crossed the small lobby and woke Heinz who was asleep in a chair. The Gestapo agent took the call. He was informed Franz was on his way. Heinz instantly hung up the phone, a sinister look crossed his face. The agent climbed the stairs headed toward Aaron's room. Outside in the hallway he drew a Luger pistol and flicked the safety "Off".

[Aaron Hroda Schellenburg]

Aaron sat in his lonely room for awhile. The light occasionally flickered as the dead silence seemed to spook him. Aaron thought to himself that there was no point in trying to get some more rest, so he stood up and trudged to the bathroom. Once he reached the bathroom, he felt for any source of light. After minutes of bumping around, he found a light switch and turned it on. The bathroom looked decent, minus the water stains on the cieling and the peeling wallpaper. Aaron stood in front of the mirror and turned the sink faucet on. He went through the routine of washing his face and normally shaving, but he lacked his shaver at the moment.

Aaron made his mind get used to the new routine. He smelled himself to see if he needed to shower. He currently did not smell bad but he had the slightly sour scent. Aaron decided to take a shower, he cleaned up and put on his clothes and shoes. Aaron looked at himself on more time in the mirror before stepping out into the room. He made his way to the nightstand and picked up his pocket watch he sat on the bed and examined it. Aaron played with it in his hands noticing that there was a secret compartment. He looked around a bit feeling... watched, he tried to push the feeling aside but it felt too strong. Aaron closed the watch and slipped in his pocket, standing up. For almost no reason he made his way to the door, but did not open it. Something was kerping him from opening it to step out into the empty hallway. Instead, he looked around for an alternative route.

[Franz Albrecht]

Heinz stopped at Aaron’s door, he knocked twice, without waiting for a reply he booted it open. The Gestapo agent moved into the room pistol held at the ready. It was dark dark inside, the shadows in each corner made him shift his aim. Heinz was the type that would shoot to kill, he had no consideration for anyone. When inside he said, "Come out, come out where ever you are!". He chuckled to himself gripping the pistol tighter. The agent suddenly seen a shadow on the wall and fired a single shot,

*BANG*

Meanwhile......

Franz raced across town. He had some questions to ask Aaron. Albrecht was interested to know if Aaron knew anything else about the Jew smuggling operations in Belgium. The destruction of these organizations required allot of man power and resources, best used elsewhere. Aaron himself was considered a German citizen, however he was a suspect connected with the resistance cell that had been eliminated the night before.

[Aaron Hroda Schellenburg]

The light buld flickered off in his room, maybe the bulb was blown. Aaron heard his door being kicked open and instantly panicked. Aaron froze with fear as he hear Heinz's twisted voice as he held his Luger looking for Aaron. Little did Aaron know that Hienz was actually holding a weapon, posed to attack. He made his way to the window but knocked something over, causing Hienz to shot at the object, narrowly missing Aaron. Aaron froze, but changed his plan a bit. Aaron decided to deweapon Heinz and escape. He quietly made it to where the man's shiloutte was. He made it near him before gripping his arm with the weapon on it, trying to wrestle it from his hands. It was a struggle but Aaron somehow kept up the fight. He punched blindly, trying with any means to get the Luger from the hands of the maniac. After a few punches and kicks Aaron succeeded and used the butt of the Luger to break the first-story window escape into the alleyway.

[Franz Albrecht]

The Gestapo agent was overpowered during the struggle. He let go of the pistol after nearly getting his finger torn off, it had been wrapped around the trigger guard. Aaron smashed the agent in the face several times, he managed to get the upper hand. Heinz chuckled lightly as he dropped to his knees defeated. He was then kicked in the face which shut him up completely. He let out a moan and lay motionless on the floor.

Franz’s car screeched to a halt out front of the Hotel. The SD officer stormed inside to meet a frantic clerk, “There was shooting! A police man is upstairs, you must hurry”. Albrecht drew his Luger making a run for the stairs, at the last second he turned around running for the front door. Franz charged into the street then looked on either side of the building, he spotted an alley on the left side. Full speed he ran toward the opening, suddenly in the passage there was a figure moving away in a hurry. The Untersturmfuhrer fired five or six rapid shots in his direction. The shots rang out loudly, brass shells bounced off the pavement below. Franz shoved his shoulder into the nearby wall to take cover in case Aaron returned fire.

Civilians who heard the shots ran and ducked for cover. The sound of police whistles could be heard in the distance.

[Aaron Hroda Schellenburg]

Aaron heard shots behind him. He began running a bit faster, bullets narrowly missing him. Aaron realized that he still had the Luger in his hand. Out of pure self defense Aaron paused a bit shooting back a couple of times in the direction where Albrecht delievered rounds. He did not take the time to see where or who the bullets hit, he just held onto the gun and ran for his life down the semi-dark alleyway. He reached a cluster of buildings in an unfamiliar part. It seemed deserted. Aaron stopped and hid behind a wall to catch his breath. He knew that it was only a matter of time until they somehow got the truth of Aaron's idenity. But it seemed like luck got him this far.

He slid down to sit on the dirty ground, staring at the Luger that was in his hands. It seemed safe here, but someone else was here with him... he could feel it.

[Franz Albrecht]

When suspect returned fire Franz was enraged, one round hit the wall by his face. Mumbling to himself he said, “He shot at me? I'll fucking kill him!” The SD officer changed magazines then proceeded down the alley carefully. The sound of an Opel Blitz transport truck could be heard on the street. The police whistles got closer as each second passed. Within a few minutes the area was covered in SS and Gestapo officers on high alert. An SS troop with SMG’s also quickly appeared on the scene. They fell in behind Albrecht who slowly moved forward.

Suddenly on the other end of the courtyard appeared two SS soldiers. One had a German Sheppard on a long chain. Franz shouted, “Find him! Dead or alive”.

The men with the dog continued in the direction that they were originally headed. Franz took his men then went back the way they had come from. The alley was now deserted, the search parties headed in different directions. It seemed as if Aaron had given them all the slip at this point.

[Aaron Hroda Schellenburg]

Aaron sat on the dirty ground trying to catch his breath, but a new challange arose as the sounds of dogs howling and barking could be hear in the distance. It seemed like it was approaching his area. Aaron sprung to his feet and slipped the Luger in his belt loop and began another foot chase. It seemed like forever but he reached an abandoned clearing near some old buildings. Aaron paused to collect his bearings not knowing where to go. The sounds of hounds and men shouting orders were either closing in on him, or because of his location it echoed.

He frantically searched for a route to safety. The dogs amd voices seemed to inch near him with every passing second. He prayed to God for another lucky therad or miricle, but Aaron gave up hope and prepared for the worst. He stood in the clearing, dead center. He thought about his mother again and her current condition. A bad feeling of loss washed over him, tears burned in his blue eyes as she swallowed a lump down.

The Opel Blitz arrived at a working camp miles from Bruges. The SS Guards that were currently in the truck opened the back and hopped out. Guns in hand they ordered the women out of the truck and into the open. The women woken up and hesitated a bit before retreating the truck, standing in front of them. Elise seemed to be a bit more sluggish than the younger women, this concerned her battered friend. She tried to call Elise by her name, shaking her to wake her up but it seemed like she was fading. The SS soldiers saw the two women still in the bed if the truck, they got impatient and entered the bed. One officer gripped Elise's friend harshly and ripped her from the dying older woman, dragging her out despite of her pleas and protests. The other officer treated Elise of the same fashion, but the older woman seemed unresponsive and slow. When they got out into the open the two men conversated and twisted smiles appeared on their faces. Following protocall, the solider that had the friend, shifted and gripped her chin, making her stare at the helpless Elise. The other one, his semi-automatic in one hand and threw Elise on the ground with the other. Before she could struggle to get up the cruel Nazi unleashed a burrage of bullets on Elise, killing her. Her friend began struggling and crying, screaming for her dead friend. The other women either turned away or looked on with terror on their faces. Once the shooting seized the SS pointed the gun at the other women and ordered them to make a line. The other soldier gripped the friend, forcing her on her feet and pushed her into the line. She looked back at the bleeding, broken corpse that was once her friend. Another tear trailed down her dirty, abused face, she instanly thought of Elise's son who happened to get away; praying for his well-being.

[Franz Albrecht]

Franz returned to the main street. There Heinz was seen heading toward his car which was parked on the opposite side. Quickly Albrecht made his way to him, “HEY!”, he shouted. Heinz turned around with a sour look on his face, the Gestapo agent had a fat lip and a swollen eye. Franz took a good look at him as he stood there in silence, “What the fuck happened to you? Where did he get that gun?”, The Agent shrugged his shoulders lightly. He then pulled his leather jacket open to reveal a pistol tucked in his coat, “He must have had it in his possession already ”. Albrecht let out a deep sigh then responded, “Next time wait for everyone to arrive. You should know this Herr Heinz, uhh, take some time off. Go home to your family”. The man nodded and slipped inside the car. Once inside the rolled down the window, “It happened very fast, he was waiting for me in there”. Franz could tell the man’s pride was hurting, that part was obvious. As the Gestapo officer pulled away Albrecht gave him a Nazi salute, Aaron got lucky this time because Dieter Heinz was not the man to mess with. He was responsible for dozens of arrests, interrogation was however his specialty.

As Albrecht’s SS henchman searched the area he went to Aaron’s room. While inside he sat on the bed and looked around, thinking to himself, “Where did you get the gun? And…why did you shoot at me?”. Franz stood up and inspected the doorway, it had been forced open. The SD officer did a full 360 egree turn then said, “The struggle took place…here”. He gestured toward the floor at his feet. While standing there with a puzzled look on his face he thought, “If someone came crashing into my room, I would instantly shoot…why was there a struggle?”. Some things didn’t make sense at this point in the investigation. The next thing that came to the Untersturmfuhrer’s mind was the trucks filled with prisoners he sent away. The men were taken outside of town and shot, the women were bound for a work camp at Breendonk, Belgium. Franz would get in touch with them to see if they had received anyone related to Aaron’s situation, pieces to the puzzle were missing. Albrecht wondered, Was Schellenburg working for the British? Could he have been a member of the resistance?. Time would surely tell.

Outside the soldiers and police continued to search for their suspect. The sound of a car was suddenly heard speeding up the road, however no light could be spotted. The driver spotted the silhouette of Aaron standing in the open, it was starting to get light out. The 1940 Citroen blared his horn as it approached, a man hung out of the window and shouted at Aaron in French, “Get in the fucking car!”, he repeated it in rough sounding German. This man’s first language was obviously not the German language, “Hurry up!”. The driver of the vehicle revved the engine a few times as the passenger door flung open. At that very moment the dog handler rounded the corner, “HALT! !” he reached down releasing the dog.

[Aaron Hroda Schellenburg]

It seemed that his luck ran dry as the noises approached him in the clearing. To his surprise he heard someone speaking in French. Aaron had no idea who this man was directing his comment to, nor did Aaron comprehend what he was saying. When the man repeated it in German, not the best kind, he got the picture that the man was telling him to get in the car. Aaron turned his attention to the Citoren as he saw two unfamiliar men in there. It seemed like one of the passengers opened the door for him. The driver reved up the engine a few times to give Aaron the hint that it was urgent.


Without any second thought Aaron bolted to the car and hopped into the open passenger seat and quickly shut the door. Seconds later the unleashed dog ran to the car, barking and snarling. Aaron ignored the man's calls to surrender themselves, he was too busy trying to process what just transpired. The car's tires screeched on the broken concrete as it fled from the scene. Aaron wanted to know what is going on and why did this happen; most importantly who in the hell are these people.

[Franz Albrecht]

Franz was informed that the suspect had escaped in a car. He quickly called off the search and returned to Gestapo headquarters. Once back at his office Albrecht requested the documents of the prisoners he had arrested during the night. Sitting at his desk Franz opened the file, a copy of transfer orders for the women were visible on top. After moving those to the side there were four sets of identification cards, each with a picture attached. The first three sparked no interest, two were Jews and the other had ties with the resistance. Upon inspecting the fourth identification card Franz’s jaw nearly hit the floor,“Elise..Schellenburg”, he read it twice then quickly glanced back at the transfer orders. It showed she had been sent to a labour camp within the country. The SD Untersturmfuhrer did a quick scan of the men’s documents, he was able to conclude they were unconnected. This woman was some relation to the Schellenburg fugitive. Albrecht still didn’t understand how Aaron had escaped in a car during a full out search. Who had picked him up? And how did they get passed the security in the area? There were still many questions to be answered. After neatly placing the papers and Identification back in the folder Franz picked up the phone, a sweet German voice on the other end replied, “How may I direct your call?” He responded, “Get me Obersturmbannführer Kessler’s office in Brussels”.

The operator connected Albrecht to Headquarters in Brussels. There he spoke to an Hauptsturmführer on Kessler’s staff. Kessler was chief of the SD in Belgium, Franz told the officer he needed a country wide alert put out for Aaron Schellenburg, a suspected terrorist. He also informed him how Aaron escaped after attacking two members of the Gestapo. The SD Captain seemed calm on the telephone, he spoke in a low relaxed tone, “Now Franz, I need you to locate this Schellenburg for questioning”. Franz replied with a “Yes sir, we will do our very best sir. I will speak to my superiors here in Bruges to ensure we have the right people on it”. The officer informed him that everything on their end would be taken care of. When Obersturmbannführer Kessler returned he would be informed of the situation. After an exchange of “Heil Hitler’s”, the line went dead. The order was out and the search was on. Albrecht returned to his paper work, he now had to find out if Aaron had any relatives or acquaintances within his reach. Aaron Schellenburg was a wanted fugitive by the Gestapo. His information would be forwarded to every office in the country.

The black citroen left the city before the sun came up. They sped through the countryside careful to avoid all checkpoints and roadblocks set by the Germans. The driver of the Citroen pulled off the main road, down a grown over path into the woods. The two men spoke to each other in French, one sat in the back behind Aaron while the other sat in the front. The driver spoke in German, “Someone wants to meet you”.

[Aaron Hroda Schellenburg]

Aaron quietly sat in the passenger's eat of the Citeron. He stared out of the window while the two men conversated in their own tongue. Aaron was too busy to try to listen, nor could he understand them. Aaron was thinking about things like why did these people randomly pick him up, and how were they able to find him? I mean he was basically in a diserted part of town. There were so many questions Aaron wanted to ask but he had a feeling that they will be answered... sooner or later. When Aaron was told that someone wanted to see him it kind of put him on edge. Who in the hell was this someone wgo wanted to see him?

"Are you able to tell me who this person is?"

Aaron quietly asked in German, he started to mess with his fingertips, still not giving the man any eye contact.

"I have another good question... why did you even save me?"

This time Aaron looked over at the man that was driving, this question he really want an answer to. Its just this whole ordeal is just bizarre. He is really trying to wrap his brain around the events that happened to him in the past few hours but its become very difficult to comprehend it.