Maria, Pull the Trigger and Kill (a World War II adventure)

On the Run

Suddenly, I heard people approaching and when I opened my eyes, I realized, that they had flashlights. 5 people, who were searching the side of the road, including the forest. With their flashlights, they were searching the ground, but they did not think about looking up. My chances were pretty good that they'd walk by. When they came closer, I recognized, that they were wearing Mauser carabiner 98k rifles, the standard soldier's weapon of the Wehrmacht. That meant, if they spotted me, I had to shot them and I drew my gun and pulled the hammer back. They had a conversation in German, which I did not understand and they passed by my spot, not noticing me up in the tree as expected. Pinche, what should I do? I'd be safe during the night, but what would happen during day time? The 5 soldiers were not even 50 yards further, when a pickup truck, probably an Opel Blitz, came driving along the forest road and stopped near the soldiers. They assembled at the truck, drove a stick with a flag into the ground at the side of the road and climbed on the truck-bed. Then the truck drove off with them. Obviously, they were doing a systematic search for me. I wanted that pickup truck. I knew this would be my getaway car. Question was, how could I capture it? And I would have to shoot people for it. Was I ready? I had not shot anyone up till that day. I did not know if I could pull the trigger to kill, but I had to give it a try. I did not know, what the flag meant. Likely, the Germans used it to mark areas they did search already. They would probably not leave that flag here forever, but pick it up at some point in time again. That could be my chance. I climbed down from the tree again and waited. It was cold and I was tired and I was thirsty and I was hungry. All I could do was lean against a tree and close my eyes. An hour later, I heard the truck coming again, so I hid behind a tree to avoid the headlight beam. Unfortunately, the truck did not stop.

The first rays of daylight appeared at the horizon and I wanted to bath in them, step out into the road and catch every ray of warming sunlight --- but that would have been too dangerous. These soldiers could have seen me from far. The sun climbed higher and higher. My A-11 wristwatch showed 8:30h when I heard the truck approach again. Quickly I walked a bit away from the road, where there was more undergrowth and laid down flat on the ground. The truck stopped, 5 soldiers jumped off and then the truck took off again. Pinche, capturing it did not work like that. One of the soldiers marked the sign with a pen and then they continued the search, where the others had finished. I was behind them, but they only looked ahead of them. I had been lucky, at least this time.

I guessed, the truck will likely come back at some point in time, then I could jump into the road and shoot the truck driver. But what if he crashed into a tree? That would just make matters worse, because I had given my position away with the gunshot and could likely not use the truck to make my escape. A better plan was needed. The truck had to stop first --- stop first at an obstacle --- hmmm, stop at a tree across the road --- I developed said plan in steps. When I deemed the 5 soldiers to be far enough away, I looked for a long fallen tree and dragged it towards the road. It was hard work, the thing was bloody heavy and always wanted to hock-up with the undergrowth. It probably took me an hour and it exhausted me entirely. When I was only about 3m away from the road, I heard the truck again. I would not be able to drag that tree onto the road in time, thus I had to hide in the undergrowth again. When I saw the Opel Blitz passing by, my stomach made me aware, that I was thirsty and hungry. I really needed to drink something, otherwise I would fall apart soon.