The Long Dark Trek

[TheScarletBlade]

The Great Escape(Sort of)

It was finally winter,it was around Christmas time.The snow had fallen in thick here in the French Countryside and things were pretty hard out in the camp.Derek and Deacon had just arrived in the camp,it taking the Germans a while to get him all the way from Africa to western France.The work the POW's had to do was grueling and some of the things the Germans did to the soldiers was wrong(expecially the woman POW's).

The original plan to escape was brought up by Octavious Winly,a medic and scientist,the handsome yet know it all British man had been in the camp for a while,when he was taken from his hospital on the front lines of the War when Britian had finally joined to defend its Ally France.Octavious was a prestigious man yet he was not afriad of speaking to woman and had tried to get in close to Sarah Blanchet,the beautiful British Pilot.

She was not really attracted to him or didn't show it whenever Octavious had tried to dote on her,yet they had spent some time togather because they were both British.Finally one night,Sarah had told Winley about the secret plans she had in her possession and in an attempt to show is worth to the British Pilot,he had spent a while thinking about how they might escape from a camp that was said to be unescapable.

Meanwhile,In the camp there was a utter time of distress because Derek and Deacon had seemed to stir up a lot of feelings of animosity and almost a couple of riots in the Prison yards.One example: When the Germans had thrown over dirty and old,stale bread for the POW's to eat,Derek and Deacon picked it up and threw it back over the fence,challenging the Germans soldiers pride.Finally it turned into a riot that almost caused the death of many American soldiers.

ever defiant though,Derek met a german soldier that was a former American that had been sucked into the German army because he had lived in Germany after the first world war.He was the assistant warden,so he slipped Derek many things that Derek needed to get things done.He taught Derek about secret escape routes out of the bunkers that the POW's were kept in and slipped Derek a combat knife and a half loaded German pistol.

During one of his defiant stands against the Germans,Derek and Deacon had slipped out into the courtyard,sneaking past patrolling Germans to sneak into another bunker to meet a couple other German resisters.They had spoken to loudly and a guard got suspecious of them.Sneaking out,Deacon and Derek made their way up behind to gaurds and killed them,Derek's knife slicing across one soldiers neck and Deacon breaking the other soldiers neck rather skillfully.

Finally,more lights in the distance,Derek and Deacon split up.Deacon sneaking back to the bunker where he ws told to stay,he waited for Derek.Derek on the other hand had slipped into some other bunker because there was to many Germans sniffing around his bunker.When he had slipped into the other bunker,he found himself in a female bunker.Most of the girls had been asleep but he met a Russian woman,she was beautiful and she seemed to have a bit of intellegence.

Derek spent the night,speaking with her.He found out that she had hated the Germans as much as he did yet she seemed very defensive and sorrowful about but Derek didn't press the matter.An hour later,the American slipped from the bunker and made his way back to his own,slipping in unscathed.

Octavious,a highly intellegent man had finally spent enough time thinking about it.He would need a team of soldiers if he was going to get Sarah and himself out of the camp.He had finally heard about the hotheaded American soldier Derek and finally during one night,he met up with the soldier and told the American his plan.It was a fairly simple one.

The POW's were kept in a massive fenced off place with chickenwire.If you got past the metal fencing,you went right into another fence offed place with only two gates,each gate monitiored by gaurds that were always watching,with gaurd stations that sent men patrolling around the POW's area.These two massive wooden gates lead right into two German barracks where at any given time there was a number of armed troops waiting to kill anyone that was not German.Finally there was a massive wooden wall with onyl four gates,gaurd towers,lights and all sorts of armed gaurds.This thing was almost unbreakable,accept for Octavious Winley.

Octavious studied the gate gaurds and he knew the best time was at around 1:00 when the usual gaurds that were the orginal afternoon gaurd seemed to fall asleep for a while,so they could be over taken but there was still four to five gaurds wandering around the POW place,waiting for anyone to sneak out past dark and since Derek had moved in,the amount of people sneaking out was increased,so that security was been increased.

Winley knew Derek could find a small team of people to overcome the gaurds and they could sneak to the gate,open it silently and just enough to slip through in the barracks where most gaurds would be asleep as well.Finally,they would overtake mybe a German jeep of some sort and hit the main gate full on,going at a break neck speed into the French country side,giving them enough distance to escape with Sarah and mybe getting to some friendly soldiers.

Winley's plan seemed to go over well with Derek and Deacon when they got to speak about it in private.Knowing the assistant warden,he knew he could hopefully secure some supplies.He acquired a shift list of most people and valuble information regaurding how to escape.Also he was given wire cutters to cut the lower section of the fence to get out of the POW area,by cutting out the bottom silently and crawling under into the other side.

Finally,the time had come when they would escape.Over the few days it took to get the supplies,Derek had talked the Russian woman he had met-Tara- into comming along,as well as Deac.On one cold night,in the mid of December,the snow had fallen hard and it was the time to escape when the gaurd shifts would be less because no German wanted to go patrol in heavy snow.

Like wraiths,the five slipped through the darkness,sneaking out of their respective bunkers and finally meeting togather in the middle of the POW Area.Keeping low and in the darkness the three didn't exchange many words because they knew they were in danger as they heard the clomping of a German patrol man.Peaking his head around a corner,he saw the man all up tight,keeping warm as he patrolled.Raising one hand to his lips,he motioned to Deacon and the two easly over took the gaurd,Derek leading with his knife and Deacon grabbing the dying man's mouth before he could scream.

Lowering the body,they covered the man with some snow and then motioned for the others,taking the mans knife and STG.Handing the gun to Deacon,they made for a section of fence out of the sight of some of the gaurds,they began to snip the wires of the fence.Slipping through the fence,the five of them keep in the shadows,sneaking silently through the snow.The Russian woman,used to the winter the most,lead them towards the gaurd tower where a soft light came from the window.

Peaking a head over,Tara reported she found only a german officer holding a woman in there,trying to make advances on the woman rather forcefully."We have to help the girl" Derek said as he peaked his head over to see the girl try to fight back yet she couldn't when a gun was involved.Looking to Deacon,Derek found support in his idea and everyone seemed to agree as well.Finally,Derek,Deacon and Tara entered the room.Derek armed with a knife,Deacon with the STG and Tara with their pistol.Tara was the first one to fire.She was an amazing shot and had hit the man in the head.

Helping the woman to her feet.She was a french woman know as Mary."We are escaping,you might as well come with us instead of going back into the camp" Derek said as he and Deacon move to get a hold of the gate.Pushing it open,it came open only slightly.Taking a step back and motioning towards the gap in the gate,Deacon grinned and whispered "Ladies first"

Tara entered first,with the pistol they had taken from the killed gaurd.Derek and Sarah following with Deacon and Winley comming through last.They found themselves in the middle of a German road,a barracks right infront of them with only a soft light comming from inside.Taking a break,the soldiers crouched and talked amongst themselves about what they needed to do.

Finally,they approuched the barracks,staying out of the light,keeping the shadow like a protective cloak around them,they made their way past the barracks,keeping under the windows and finally across the way into where they found a German jeep sitting in the snow.It had a Nazi flag on the front of it,with a fun tank of gas and the keys already in the ignation.

Also,luckly they found a small cache of arms and soon everyone was armed with German guns.Offering to drive,Sarah took the drivers seat.She was a pilot but also very good at driving many automobiles.Starting the engine,it roared to life as she hit the gas pretty hard,not afriad of the Krauts.Riding armed in the back,Tara,Derek and Deacon with Winley in the front,offering to protect Sarah.

It wasn't long before the German alarms began to go off and rounds were beganing to get fired at the Jeep.Wizzing by,screaming into the night,bullets went by as Sarah hit the gas,the Jeep going down the dug out roads.Derek and Deacon began to open fire,Automatics crying back as they held them steady,bullet hitting a couple of passing Germans.Armed with a Kar98,Tara took measured shots that seemed to hit dead on each time,though she didn't fire as much.

Alarms and lights looking for them,Winley fired his Automatic as well,spraying a couple of soldiers as they came out dumbfoundedly from many buildings around the camp as a shot pierce through the windshield.Keeping the gas on,Sarah rounded a curve and aimed for the front gate,German soldiers moving to stand infront of it,she called out "UP Ahead!" trying to speak over the guns being discharged in the back.

Gaining balance,Deacon and Derek began to fire their guns over Winley and Sarah towards the soldiers in the front gate,hiting most of them.The rest jumped out of the way as a tank went flying though the main gate and off the shoulder of the road,down a large incline towards the snow covered German forest.

The jeep crashed with a loud resounding thud and the sound of creaking and melting metal.A fire had started in the engine and the passangers and been sent flying into the snow around it.The first on his feet,Derek had quickly pulled the others to their feet,urging them to come on.Deacon,Derek and Winley discarded their guns,out of ammo they were useless.

Helping Tara to her feet,Derek easly lifted her weight and set her on her feet.Laying in the snow a few feet ahead of her was he Kar98."It still has about four shots left in it that I never took" She said in her Russian accent in almost perfect english.Picking it up and handing it to her,Derek called out to the rest of them "Lets get out of here,the Germans will be here any minitue now".

He was more than right because less than a second later,gun fire from the roar above them began to rain down upon them,Germans screaming out at them and guns firing at the soldiers and they ran full force into the deep snow of the forest,quickly out running and dodging the sight of the German patrols.It was around four and they finally had a break from running.The six crouched in the snow,deep in the forest,their panting breaths seen in fog in the cold winters air.Now it was time to decide what to do.

((This is the accutally IC thread))

 

[poohlive]

Sharp shards of glass had imbedded themselves in his side as he continued to run, trying to catch up with the rest. He felt it beginning to happen only a mile away from the base. That old stitch that came with running too hard. Knee deep in snow, with as cold as it was, he understood why. No one was supposed to make this trek lightly.

Another hours of running, flat out running in this, and that single stitch had turned into bright jagged edges of glass that refused to leave him. When they finally stopped, he doubled over onto the snow, it was all he could do to keep from passing out.

For about the millionth time, Winly thought, "I shouldn't be here."

He was a medic... a medic for Christ sakes. He was never supposed to see live fire, never supposed to leave a makeshift hospital bed out in some camp behind enemylines. His job was to see the others who had taken grim and gore, patch them up, and send them out again. He had accepted that from the beginning.

And now, as his breath became sharp, digging deeper into him each time. He doubled over in pain, cramps in his chest that refused to let go, he realized what a mistake that had been.

0147. Fucking 0147. That's all it took. A single number that had changed his life forever. He had been part of a team that, like he had thought all along, was supposed to be behind enemy lines, and fix up those who needed fixing. The front lines would take the wounded back to him, a perfect plan. Except, their bat boy had gotten the coordinates of their location wrong.

He decoded the message wrong, and came up with 0147. They had moved to that very spot, to the grid marked 0147, but Winly knew at the moment something was wrong. There was no frontline, no other troopers keeping the germans at bay. All Winly could see was the remnants of an old town, and a few trees outlying the area.

Winly frowned, looking at the bat boy, and asking for the message himself. He decoded it, and saw the error. Not 0147... no, 0417. The guy had read it wrong, or decoded it wrong, or something.

"We're supposed to be..." But at that moment, a large explosion send half of his group flying. Winly stayed down, doing his best to keep alive. The german troops came in like a whirlwind though, nothing could stop them. By the time they came to Winly, he was helping two of his own men treat severed limbs.

The germans shot them each in the head, and then ordered Winly to follow.

He spent the next few weeks exactly as he wanted, behind enemy lines fixing up the wounded to go back and fight. Except, he was treating the wrong men. He was treating german soldiers, taking out his own armies bullets, treating his own incendiery wounds, only to let them go out and kill some more.

Then, they moved him to the prison. And since then...

The pain in his side subsided. It didn't go away, but for the moment had turned into a dull ache that he could live with. Winly rose to his knees, looking at the ground. He took of his glasses, wiping them clean.

It was a wonder they ever survived with him this far. He smiled, blew warm steam into them, and wiped them with a clean part of his shirt.

"We gotta keep moving," He said, although he groaned when he heard that come from him. He was contempt spending another few hours in this snowbank, " Our trail is a mile wide in the snow, anyone with a torch can follow us right up to this spot... and if they have dogs it'll only bring them here sooner. We've got to move, and find a way to disguise as much of our trail as possible."

 

[VeXeR]

Deacon stood up from his rest, his breathing was still heavy from the long run. "yeah you are right, is everyone fit to continue?" He looked at his own wounds. He wasn't in too bad a shape, actually he had almost not been injured until the jeep ride.

While they were blazing down the road away from the germans a few bullets had hit him. It was serious but the bullet was still imbedded in his right shoulder and left thigh and with this cold it wasn't getting any better.

Why couldn't they just have passed through instead, he groaned angry as he tought about it. It felt like the one in his shoulder was stuck near to or in the bone and it hurt like hell. But there was no time to think about that now.

He looked around at the others, he looked like he was one of the lucky ones who made it more or less unharmed from the carcrash. He was of course abit beaten up but nothing compared to fx. Winly.

Being one of the strongest around he decided to help out where he could.
"Anyone needs a hand? I don't think i can carry anyone but i doubt you can knock me over" he said trying the cheer up the people around him and offered his help to those who had problems walking.

 

[shadowoftheheart]

Tara felt a small trickle of blood stream from her temple. Her chest felt bruised, and nearly every inch of her body felt battered.
She had not felt so alive in more than a year.
She had a rifle. That was enough. The thrill of the kill, in a way the others likely would not understand. That was enough.

"I will survive. I am more concerned with our ammunition. And our food supplies. "

"And when we travel, we should go single file. Step in the footprints of the one ahead of you. The last one, as you move, rake snow back over the trail. It is not perfect, and it will be slow going. Until it begins to snow again, I fear it is the best option. Also, as I am trained in stealth, I offer to move ahead of the group, to scout our trail."

 

[cute_girl1]

Sarah only had a few straches, from tree branches coming out of the snow. Looking around at the other five she seemed the least injured. Her cuts were not deep at all. The thrill of Sarah's day, was finally getting behind a wheel agian. She had not piloted any vechile in a little over a year.

"I agree with Tara, it is the only thing we can do for now."

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

Mary listened to the group discuss what should be done, her feet numb and cold she recalled her rescue.

After the woman had shot the guard, one of the men came over and helped her to her feet. She recognized him as one of the newer prisioners, and relief flooded her features when she heard the man say, "We are escaping, you might as well come with us instead of going back into the camp.” Mary had no second thoughts and quickly stepped over the dead officer, turning back she aimed vile words at the man, “Mai votre putréfaction d'âme dans l'enfer, comme votre foie brûle et vos sizzels de coeur vous. âne, bâtard, porcs putrides.” Then after spitting on his dead body she left with the two men and the woman who had fired the deadly shot. “Mon ami vous serez toujours... My friend you will always be.” she told the female, as they moved toward the hole in the gate.

After the group had made it to the jeep and taken off, racing to get further and further away, they soon found themselves buried in snow and trees. Each one baled out and ran deep into the forest. Mary's heart was racing as her fear of being taken back filled her with adrenaline and heat. They all hurried, zig zagging through the trees until they finally stopped to rest. She heard herself agreeing with the others, "Nous devons nous déplacer, obtenez les approvisionnements, nourriture, un habillement plus chaud et découvrent où nous sommes... We need food, supplies, clothing and find out where we are," she quickly repeated in English. "We must hurry."

 

[TheScarletBlade]

Today had been a pretty shitty day.He woke up to a dark gray sky,with a heavy snow that seemed to consume everything in white.He had foolishly taken on the charge to get some people out of the POW camp,even though he had no idea how the hell he was going to do.He had blindly listen to some medic,who was to worried about some Brit girl to escape.

After a wonderful ride through an armed German camp,he ended up with a bullet skimming past him,the bullet only cutting his side.He had suffered worse wounds when the jeep went careening off the side of some treacherous road and into a massive bank of snow.It was quite the experince,the whole escape into the French countryside.When they hit the bank,the Captain had been standing up,getting the perfect shot on a German jeep driver,heading after them,sending the jeep into the wall of the camp.

As they came to a stop,he was flown into the snow,slamming into a tree,right shoulder first,completely knocking his shoulder out of place.His head slamming against the trunk,he had a splitting head ache as he completely couldn't move for a couple of seconds until he decided he really needed to get up.His gun had dissappeared into the snow somewhere but it was out of ammo,so it was useless to him anyway.

Standing up,he noticed the wreck only a hundred or so feet away,it wasn't a far walk from here.His head ache was only a matter of will power,he had to focus.He felt like laying down when finally he brought himself to his feet.His arm hurt like all hell.Facing his shoulder towards the tree,he slammed his shoulder against the tree full force.With a loud crack,his shoulder snapped back into place."AHHHH" The American captain said as he started to falter,finding his feet hard to stand on when he finally took a deep breath and walked through the heavy snow to meet the others.

Luckly,he still had his knife and that was far more dangerous than any gun in the soldiers hand.He had been trained in the elite knife fighting tactics of the Marines and SAS.He was taught to be silent,to sneak and to kill without a noise.With an array of useful skills and a cunning mind,any warrior could be super soldier.Unfortunantly,even super soldiers felt pain as he made his way through the forest,running with the group of other soldiers as more and more Germans had giving chase finally.

Finally,when the medic had fallen over,some Brit from god knows where the group had stopped.Their trail had been brushed over like the Russian sniper had said,a woman he knew as Tara.Finally,everyone had a break.Derek took full advantage of the break and caught his breath as he kept looking back over his shoulder.He felt the cold walls of reality bearing in on him,as he knew there were guns at his back and guns at his front.

Taking a knee in the snow,the Captain took a deep breath "Deac" Derek said in a hush tone,calling his friend over to him.Comming to him,the Sargent took a knee as well,looking at his Captain for orders."Deac,see what you can do about that medic,I need you to try and find some sort of shelter.Use that Russian dame up there to help you." Derek said as he stood up and started to unzip his darb green colored coat and remove it with the water skin he had stolen from a German gaurd and handing the bundle of stuff to Deacon.

Wearing only a white undershirt that seemed to be tight fitting,he took off his boots and shook out the snow as he started to slightly shiver.It was down in the 10 degrees,mybe less yet the undershirt seemed heavy enough and the coat was cumbersome.Pulling out a pack of Cigerettes,he handed them to Deacon as well."If you find a place,leave a trail of Cigs on trees mybe to guide me there and don't zig zag to much.I am going to see if I can catch a few Krauts off gaurd mybe,I have still got this knife.Mybe get some extra rations and some ammunation.If I don't return in a night,go on without me" The captain said as he finished retying his boots.

"You understand be,those are your orders soldier" Derek said as he scooped up a handful of ice and set it in his mouth.It was a technique Russians used to hide their breath in winter when hunting Wolves and other dangerous animals.

 

[VeXeR]

Deacon nodded sharply and looked to the doctor. "We'll try to patch him up with what ever we can find sir, how is your shoulder?" When they had crashed deacon had gotten up quickly enough to see his captain slamming his shoulder into the tree with a yelp of pain, there was no doubt what had happend.

He turned to Tara. "How many shots in that rifle? You and me will be leading the group onwards trying to find shelter, we will also be scouting ahead, so we don't run into any nasty things out there, okay?"

Even though Deac knew that she should english quite well he wanted to make sure she understood all of it, fighting with someone who doens't know what to do is dangerous.

He cheked on Derek one last time before moving to Tara do discuss their tactic in brief words before they headed out.

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

Mary huddled against the cold her feet were numb, but she was free. Though that was just for the time being, it was enough to put a little spark back into her eyes. She had heard the man who had told her to escape with them being called Derek, and she had heard him call one man Deak and the woman who had shot the guard Tara. They both left quickly, hurrying away, quietly and stealthfully, towards a destination that would hopefully bring back some kind of provisions.

She moved over to wait for the Captain to tell her what needed to be done next or if she just needed to hold tight. Mary knew that though they were not now seeing the enemy, it would only be a matter of time before they did. She looked off in the distance wondering where they were. Though she was French, she was from Paris, and had never stepped foot out of the city, until the day she joined the French Freedom Forces.

Now as she waited for whatever the Captain instructed of her, she searched the area for any signs of hostile enemies. She had killed many, but now she knew that if they would happen to be captured, this time she would allow herself to be killed. She refused to go back and be treated as the next man's whore, to be ripped from her bed and beaten. To be forced to either lie there tied and whipped, then assualted or to wake up outside in a heap, because she had succumbed to unconsiousness before they completed their job of violating her body.

No, Mary had tasted four hours of freedom, and she refused to give that up while she still had breath in her body, just so she could live more months of violating abuse. No longer would her body be tossed and thrown about, no this time, they would kill her before she allowed them to take her back.

 

[poohlive]

"Sarah..." His voice came out like a wiked rasp that almost made him jump. He gave her a warm smile, moving the few feet to where she was now leaning against a fallen tree. With a grunted effort, Winly leaned against it as well.

He had caught his breath, at least for the time being. His whole body shook from the cold, and sweat poured out of him. It felt like he was a furnce that had been put on high and refused to go down. He couldn't make another hard run like that. If he did, he would fall over after half a mile, and never get up.

He'd never gone through rigorous training. He looked at all these hardened soldiers. Their taut lean bodies showed they had been training for this moment for years and years. Even their eyes looked like steel, unbendable in front of him.

He'd spent most of his training in college though, medical school. Sciences had taken over his life. He'd never even planned to go into the war, but the thought of getting some real experience, and the stupid notion that he'd never see any combat had got him to enlist.

He was no solider, simply a doctor who had been where he shouldn't have.

"Are you all right, Sarah?" His eyes looked over her, gently, carefully, trying to find any scratch or lump that shouldn't be there. She looked so pretty with the snow behind her. Her cheeks white, with little blasts of red high on them, almost like roses. Her eyes were wild with the fight, he'd seen them blaze that way when she got behind the wheel. They had not died down.

"You want me to do anything?"

 

[shadowoftheheart]

Tara's glance turned colder than the night, as she regarded the man called Deacon.

"You assume that I do not know this? I am well aware of the basics of tactics. I am also quite fluent in English. In the future, I might recommend using a tone that is less condescending."

"заносчивая буржуазная сволочь," she muttered as he turned to Derek to check on him.

"Four shots. Four dead Germans. More, and there is trouble."

 

[VeXeR]

Somewhat shocked at her reaction deac waited for her to calm down again.
"I'm sorry i did not mean to offend you, Tara. I would simply just rather go over things one time to many than the opposite"

He then return to the mission. "Good, four dead germans. Okay, since we will be doing a scouting mission together, i suggest that if we encounter resistance that we need to take care of, i will try to move forward. I can shoot pretty well, but i excell in close combat, and besides with your aim you might aswell be shooting, so as long as you can cover my approach there shouldn't be any problems. How does that sound to you?"

He applied a slight smile, trying to get past the previous event. None of them needed any disputes within the team.

 

[shadowoftheheart]

Tara looked at Deacon, a slight grin spreading over her face.

"I apologize, Comrade. I am eager to move, to escape. You are quite correct, that we must understand what needs to be done the first time. Your approach is sound. Whereas you are best in close, I am not. I am fully trained in close and unarmed combat, as all Red Army personnel are. But, I am realistic enough to know, that against the strength of a male soldier, I can do little but delay, or escape. Not kill."

 

[VeXeR]

Deak listend and nodded as she went over the tactics again.

"Very well, if we're both clear on what to do we should head out." He turned to the others. "You can follow our trail slowly but stay at a distance, we will get you if we find anything"

"Lets go then" he looked to Tara and then began to make his way through the heavy snow.

 

[shadowoftheheart]

Tara nodded, and followed Deacon, stepping in his footprints to obscure the trail as much as possible. She did not cover her tracks behind her, hoping that the others would remember to step where they had stepped.

She moved slowly, always keeping Deacon in her peripheral vision. She saw a hare peek up out of the snow. If ammunition were no issue, the hare would be dinner. It is easier to survive on an empty stomach than with a bullet hole in the head.

 

[cute_girl1]

"I'm fine Winly." Sarah knew the medic was interested in her. "I only have a few cuts, nothing to serious." She lifted the sleeves of her jacket up, to show the medic her wounds. "Its nothing to bad." Just then Tara had said something about moving on, she was the first one to follow the foot steps the two in front of her made.

 

[shadowoftheheart]

Tara glanced behind her, hearing the faint crunch of snow. She saw the woman named Sarah following them at a distance.

Tara had met female pilots. In Russia, most women to see combat would do so within the cockpit of a fighter bomber. They were admired, as they were often given second-line aircraft and attacked at night. The Germans, she had heard, had taken to calling them Valkeries, a mythical female being that roamed the battle-field and chose who would die.

Tara hoped that Sarah's skills would prove useful. It was unlikely that they would be able to acquire an airplane. And her driving ....

Tara heard a sound off the trail, to their left. She immediately crouched, her rifle at her shoulder. She gave a sharp whistle to get Deacon's attention. She saw no movement, and it was probably just snow, falling from the treetops.

 

[TheScarletBlade]

Keeping his body in,the lone hunter dissappeared into the dove white snow of the French countryside.He kept low so his Green drab would not be seen and only his white undershirt-made of wool-could be seen in the snow.Scooping a handful of cold snow up and dumping it on his unkempt,yet short hair.Stalking silently through the snows,he remembered what one of his teachers-A Russian- had once said "Удача Благоволит к Смелейшему" or "Fortune Favors The Bold".

The snow had started to pick up again over the few hours,spraying the entire area with a thin white sheet of snow,that seemed to mask his approuch,as the skilled soldier moved deftly through the snow without a sound,staying before trees and other sparse plant life.Finally,walking back in the direction of the camp,still keeping his hands on his shoulders,slightly rubbing them for warmth,he heard what he wanted to hear: Jene verfluchten Amerikaner,Wenn wir sie finden,wir töten sie!

Germans.Comming to crouch behind a tree,keeping his back against the hard trees massive trunk,he leaned an ear towards where he had heard that horribly crude German.He heard the panting of dogs and the clomping of German boots through the foot or two tall snow.Smirking slightly,the American soldier silently drew out the knife he had used back in the African campaigns to kill Germans.It had been given to him as a gift from the Warden,who was one of his teachers in German tactics and German.The man was a close friend of his fathers and had gained the knife from the soldiers that had captured him.

It was an American combat knife,the large ones used by Navy Seals.It was hand crafted by a friend of his fathers in his home town by a custom knife maker.The handle was on nice black wood and the blade was folded black steel.With an ever sharp edge.Rolling the knife so the blade was pointed down,the American soldier took a deep breath and pushed the cold numbness out of his mind: He would need all the strength he could get.

Pressing the hilt of his knife to his lip as he heard the panting of dogs comming closer and closer.He stood up and froze in place as the German soldiers paused,the dogs sniffing the area for anyone.He counted mybe three of the soldiers and he estimated he could take the bulk of them without being seen.The wind began to blow the snow even harder,snow obscuring the sight of Germans.

Shooting from the tree,he came into plain view of the soldier on the right of the line.The man started to say something as Derek passed,the blade cutting cleanly across the man's throat.Running back into the tree,the warm corpse of the German fell backwards,the man taking one last breath before he collapsed into the warm embrace of his maker.

Stopping behind another tree,he shot through the wooded area,leaving the soldiers on a chance to see his shadow,as they shot into blindly into the snow covered forest."Sein Gleiches ein Geist!" one German screamed out as he fired his MP40 out towards where he last saw the "Ghost".Clicking in a funny way,the gun jammed.Screaming in outrage,the German through down the gun.Reaching for his pistol,another hand reached there first,as a dark black knife cut along the Germans throat.

Grabbing the German shoulder by his straps,he kept him suspended up as his other friend shot off rounds.The bullets slammed into the back of his dead ally,riddling the corpse with more bullet holes.Finally,smoke seeping out the end of the soldiers MP40,The German soldier stood there.Watching and waiting for something to happen.

Finally,throwing the body of the dead German down,Derek appeared in the middle of the forest.Blood splashed across his face and a fierce look on his face and in his eyes,the American took a step foreward as the German threw his gun down into the snow."Wurde Sie mögen einen Schuß am Titel?" Derek called out as he slid his knife back into place,in the leather sheath strapped around his leg.

"Ja" The German soldier said as he tossed his pack off.The dogs had already scattered by now and there was only Derek and the German left in the snow covered patch of forest.Casting aside his pistol,the German balled his hands into fists and motioned for Derek to come towards him.Smirking,Derek rolled his neck to one side and came in,running deftly through the snow towards the German.

They came togather in a massive collision,like to frieght trains slamming into each other,the two collided head on.Derek leading the fight,his fist slamming full on with the German's face,he sent his opponent back staggering towards a tree.Relentless,Derek came swining with a follow up kick,his heavy booted foot slamming right into the man's chest,sending him into a tree.

Giving his opponent a second,Derek bounced on his toes as he waited for his German contender to stand up again.Comming up in a flash,the German returned a punch to Derek's face,yet Derek was able to recover.Taking another left hook towards the face,Derek lifted his arms and then returned an uppercut to the mans chin,causing the winded German to bite his tounge.Smirking as the man recoiled,Derek grabbed the man around the shoulders and kicked into the man's groin with his knee.

Snarling,his anger getting the best of him,Derek threw the man to the ground and jumped right on to his chest,grabbing the man's hair with one hand and using his other to repeatedly slam the man in the face.Once,twice and thrice.Finally,the soldier was laying limp at Derek's feet,the man's face crushed in.Shaking his head,Derek quickly checked the man's pack,finding no ammo yet a fresh pair of clothes(though German) and a day or two worth of military rations.

The others with simuliar equipment packs,Derek slung the three backpacks on his back as he ran into the forest again.Against the snow blowing into his face,he quickly veered his path off,not able to cover his tracks,he moved towards the sound of rushing water.Curious,he found a small creek that had now frozen over yet was filled with a small amount of cold,fresh water.Using the water skins that the Germans had,he filled them quickly.

Constantly looking over his back,hoping no one would follow his tracks,he got a genius idea.Stepping into the cold creek,he walked up the slippery walks away,struggling and slipping once or twice,giving him minor bruises and a slight cut on his left forehead.Veering back into the snow,he came back to the clearing where his comrades had been earlier and he found no sort of tracks.Taking a knee,he looked closely at the most likely path.Trained by an indian from North Dekota,he learned to be one with the forest.Finally,picking up a minor trail,he quickly before to make in the way of the unnaturally piled snow that no ordinary person would have picked up,hoping to catch up with his friends,to make a fashionable enterance and hopefully get something warmer on...he was beganing to lose feeling his his fingers,his toes already numb.

 

[shadowoftheheart]

Gunshots. MP40s. Cooly, she analyzed the direction and distance of the sounds. Far enough away that, if the Germans were roused, they would at least briefly be distracted from the main body of the group.

They had continued to move, until just ahead of Deacon a road cut thru the forest. It was plowed and the snow remaining on the road was solid and firmly packed. Ice would be a hazard, but at least they would leave no footprints.

On the other side of the road, there was a farm. The barn had collapsed some time before, but the farm house itself appeared to be intact.

The windows were darkened, and the chimney did not have any smoke rising from it. Abandoned.

She approached Deacon to whisper into his ear.

"A distinct possibility, eh Comrade? Care to see if anyone is home?"

She grinned, judging the distances and angles. She crouched, and set her rifle to her shoulder, preparing to cover Deacon.

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

Mary crouched with the others, her mind constantly alert and aware. She had heard the gunshots and she too waited to see what would happen. They had moved quietly one right after the other, each one following in the footprints of the one ahead.

She thought she had heard dogs, but the sounds had been moving away, so she dismissed them, not completely, because that would have been foolish. They came along the farm and hope began anew. Caution however prevailed as she heard the woman Tara ask if Deacon would see if someone was home, bringing her body to rest and wait.

As the group sat quietly she looked over at Tara and the woman called Sarah, and wondered what fate would have in store for them, if the farm was occupied by someone that was their enemy. Her heart pounded in her chest as she watched the man advance on the farmhouse. Bringing her hands to her face she blew into them, warming them the best she could.

 

[VeXeR]

"Thought you never asked" deacon said with a teasing smile on his face. "Sure hope there isn't more then 20 guys there because i can't handle more than the 16, thats left when you are done" He grinned and set off, moving quickly but silently.

Know his many years of training would prove useful. Even though covered by Tara with her sniper rifle he would have to be careful. Sure the place looked abandoned but offen af handful of german soldiers could be found in places like this.

Moving from tree to tree stopping to scout once in a while, and soon he approaced the farm. Not further away than a few 50 meters or so deac stopped up and reached for a handful of snow. Derek had tought him to use the snow to mask their breath, with snow in the mouth there would be nothing to reveal it.

Sneaking further up, he soon stood with his back against the wall and looked towards Tara and the others. He gave them a brief nod to signal that he was moving on and for Tara to be ready.

As he made his way against the wall he found a half open window, he carefully peaked in. The window has large enough for him to enter aswell as exit in a hurry, and he couldn't see anyone inside so he decided to try his luck.

He carefully opened the window and jumped up crouching in the window before slipping inside. As he set down on the floor a loud comotion was heard.
"damn!" he mumbled in a low voice as he looked down, he had knocked over an old metal barrel which he couldn't really see before, because his eyes hadn't gotten use to the darkness in the room.

In that same instant he picked up two voices from the room next to this one.
- "Was war dass?!
- "Weiss ich doch nicht"
- "Gehen sie gücken"
Deac wasn't sure what it meant but it couldn't be good. He rushes to a nearby wall and took cover behind it. He could hear footsteps, but only from one person, that was a relief the other one must have had stayed behind.

The wary german approached the wall and just as he came near it he turned his back to it to look at the knocked over barrel. Deac seized his oppertunity and moved forward slowly. Just as he was behind the guard, he turned around suddenly "Halt!". Deac didn't hesitate with a quick moved he knocked the MP40 of the hands of the guard, followed by a quick blow to the head, which broke the nose. The few seconds of recovery from the guard was enough to allow deac to spin him around, grip his head and break it.

The second german now stood in the door to the other room. He didn't ask any questions but just began fireing at deac. Deac rushed back to the wall for cover. The MP40 was just out of reach, damn now what. Deac looked for an escape but none present them self and it wouldnt be long before the german would advance.

Taking a deep breath Deac made a run for the window, the german instantly starting firering at the moving enemy as he ran from his cover. It didn't take long for deac to reach the window and since he didn't really have any time to waste, he simply jumped and shot out the window. He quickly glanced up trying to make contact with Tara and pointed up against the window above him. The german would probably come to the window to investigate and deac hurried back against the wall sitting directly below the window, waiting for the german to appear and hoping that Tara cought his drift.

 

[poohlive]

Winly took a few moments for himself. Everyone else, battle ready since they had gotten here, were already moving off again. Winly just needed a few moments to catch his breath, try and get some rational back inside his brain.

They covered their tracks well, he didn't even notice them gone by the time he turned around. It was good, all too good.

And that was when he heard it, shooting, dogs barking. God, they were so close. His whole body shot up, rigid. He turned to the trail, hoping to follow the others...

And then, he realized, he couldn't. If he ran down that trail, he wouldn't be able to mask his own, when the germans came, it'd be nothing more than a wide track in the snow, of his harshed movements.

He couldn't jeopardize them like that, he couldn't do that to Sarah. Not after all this planning to get out.

Winly looked at the surrounding snow, letting it sink in for a moment. He had a moment to waste, thinking. Surely he did. If not, he'd have to make a moment anyway. The fallen log would work, he quickly got on top of it, walking across. No snow, no tracks, by the time he reached the other side, he was far from their old encampment.

With a hurried jump, he headed dead east, away from his friends, hoping at the best he was escaping, along with everyone else, and at the worst he was drawing attention away from the rest... away from Sarah.

Winly started to run, he heard something coming behind, getting closer. No time for careful plans anymore, just flat out running. His body, already used and tired, screamed for him to stop, but he had to push himself a littler further. Had to try at least. If he were going to just give up, then he never should have escaped in the first place.

But, his leg caught something beneath the snow, and he fell with a silent humph. His whole body iced and frigid, his breath coming out in short sharp gasps. Stars blinked in his vision, and he could feel his heart, a frightened rabbit behind his ridcage, eager to get out and run.

He couldn't move, every muscle screamed at him. It was all he could do to stop from screaming himself. And that's when he heard them come. They came for him, he tried to look, see, but he couldn't.

The dog sniffed his face, then gave a series of wet licks. Winly pushed it away, but the dog persisted, coming back to cover his whole face with saliva.

No germans? The dog there, a german dog, trained. Winly could see the leash on him, but no one held the leash. No one was tracking with the dog. The dog had just run off, and looked for the nearest human it could.

"Ok boy, ok," Winly put himself into a sitting position, grabbing hold of the leash. The dog immediately kicked into its training, sitting on command. It waited, eagerly, looking up at Winly like he had all the anwers in the world.

The world was darkness and snow. Trees jutted out around them, providing nothing but an estranged shelter that even Winly didn't feel comfortable with. He looked off to where he thought they had gone, northernly, but couldn't hear or see anything. He held his breath, trying to listen as best he could.

No more sound, only the lightened patter of snow falling on snow. It mellowed rhythmically around him, like some weird static on the radio.

He'd have to keep going, for the time being. He'd catch up to his friends eventually. They could do no harm without him, he knew that for sure. If there was a weak link, it would be him. If he caught up to them, all the better, but if not...

If not, he'd have to carry on alone.

"Ha," He laughed, but not too loud. He still didn't trust the surrounding forest, "Look at me, talking about if's maybe's. A scientist through and through."

He rose to his feet, the dog happily at his side. For a moment Winly considered letting the dog go free, roam the countryside. This had been an escape after all, the dog deserved freedom as much as any of them. Yet, Winly stayed his hand on the leash. He just didn't feel like letting go just yet. This was his only friendly connection to the real world right now, so Winly wanted to hold on... if not for just a little longer.

"Need to keep going," He whispered to his friend. The dog pulled his ears back, and to Winly, looked like he had just smiled. Winly smiled back, and lead the way, further east. Deeper into the blackened forest.

 

[shadowoftheheart]

Tara could hear the commotion within the house. A loud metallic CLAANG when Deacon went through the window, and then the sound of an MP40.
Tara sighed inwardly. She had seen stealthier tanks than these Americans.
Deacon shot out the window and lept through the resulting hole. Supressing her emotions, Tara took a deep breath, settling her rifle on her shoulder.
MP40 blasts came out through the window, puffs of snow erupting on the snow. Had Deacon run for it, the puffs would have been crimson.
A patch of grey. With empty lungs, between heartbeats, Tara squeezed the trigger. The familiar thrust of the rifle against her shoulder, familiar like a lover.
Three bullets left.
Crimson erupted in place of grey. Uncertain if it was a kill, it was at least a drop.
She pulled the bolt up, back, forward, down.
More blasts from an MP40, walking toward Tara. Within the window, she saw a coalscuttle helmet, and the merest hint of a face. Eyes, the bridge of a nose.
A deep breath, in and out, aiming as if in slow motion. I see the MP40 barrel level on me. Between heartbeats, she squeezed the trigger. Almost at the same moment the MP40 spoke.
The face jolted back, a ragged crimson hole where the right eye had been.
Two bullets left.
Tara hoped there were no more Germans in this house.
Lowering her rifle, she felt a sting of pain in her left arm. She saw a patch of red spread along her red-brown uniform sleeve.
She pulled the bolt up, back, forward, down, and levelled the rifle back on the window. She hoped more than anything that the blood would soak into her uniform instead of splashing into the snow.

 

[VeXeR]

Deac sat quietly beneath the window, the loud chattering of the MP40 just above him. He looked over at Tara who had done well, two dead germans. He was sure, he heard them fall down and the MP40s hit the floor.

Just as he looked back up the muzzle of a rifle could be seen. a sniper?! here? Deacon was surprised, but still acted quickly, Tara had lowered her rifle to reload and wouldn't be ready yet. He stood up in a flash, grabbing the muzzle of the sniper and bringing towards the sky. The shot fell and hit nothing but air as it flew up amoung the trees.

When the shot and the chamber was empty, he punched the german with the butt of the rifle, making him stand dazed a moment. In this moment deac threw the rifle to the ground and yanked the german out through the window.

The german landed heavily in the snow and looked around disoriented for a moment before getting to his feet. Deac was ready for him, this german how ever was no wimp like the others, he was obviously strong and wouldn't be as easy as the others.

After the german got up he quickly started puching out trying to hit deac. Even though deac was a big man, he moved surprisingly easy and was able to dogde most blows from the german.

Finally the german landed a blow in the chest of deac, he stood back catching his breath before he had to evade a second blow. Deac was getting slighlty angered at the german, not just because he fought well, mostly because of all those remarks. He assumed they were taunting remarks but got even more angered when he didn't understand what was being said.

Enough was enough, it was time to end this. Deac landed a few hits in the face of the german soldier but he remained standing with little difficulty. Deac had to try something else, so when the oppertune moment came deac set off into a spinning kick. Taking the german by surprise deac managed to have his foot connect with the jaw of the german which sent him down to the ground in a crouched position.

Deac saw this and didn't waste a second. he continued the kick while crouching, this way he hit the german again but this time i swooped the legs away from underneath the german soldier, making him fall forward. In the blink of an eye deac was ontop of him, he placed his foot on the neck of the german and grabbed whatever arm he could reach, a quick and while pushing the germans face forward with his boot, resulted in sickening crack of the bones in the german's neck and he went limp.

Catching his breath deac took cover once againt, sitting close up against the wall before moving on. There were still areas that need to be searched before the others could join him.

 

[cute_girl1]

Sarah could not believe that Winly just took off like that. She was worried about him. Risking his life, for what. The sound of the guns was far away, yes they were a threat, but not an immediate threat. She hoped that Winly would make it back to the group alright. After all he was the one with the plan for them to escape.