WARZONE - König

7

*face claim for Nadja ↑*

Nadja and Konig watch with their eyes squinting through the falling sunlight as the four AQ's run aimlessly into the distance, tripping over themselves with their shirts tied over their heads and hands bound behind their backs with no weapons or radios.

Nadja looks down to her watch as Konig rests his shotgun over his shoulder. "Okay," She begins. "We have four more hours of daylight. I think I know what building he was referring to, so let's start heading east." She says as they begin walking, Konig following her command.

She slips the map from her pocket, following the compass on her watch as she circles with her finger where she believes the building is, putting it away and preparing for the journey through the disheveled city.

As the breeze cooled them through their pounds of gear, Nadja began humming a song along their walk through the streets of the city, one that caught Konig's attention. Nadja notices him looking as she'd gotten lost in her own melody and stops her quiet hum, looking away with near embarrassment.

"What a familiar melody." He says, looking away.

Nadja suddenly smiles, brushing her hair behind her ear as she looks up to him next to her, under the shade of the buildings as the sun started to fall behind them.

"It's a German lullaby my dad taught me, called Schlaf' ein. Have you heard of it?"

"Yes! When I was a boy. Hatte ich ganz vergessen." He shakes his head, the tone of his voice giving away an audible smile.

"I don't know what made me think of it." She says, looking up to the sky in thought.

"Kind memories tend to find us in moments of stress."

Nadja looks back up to him with a warm smile. "What a beautiful way to put it."

"You've told me that your father is German." Konig continues. "What about your mother?"

She lets out a sigh, bringing her hands up to the straps of her weapons over her shoulder and holding onto them as she looks ahead in the distance. "She's from Saudi Arabia. Born there, at least. She and her family went over to the U.S. when she was around ten. She became a citizen, and when she turned 18, she joined the military to escape her family."

"Interesting. Is that how she met your father?" He questions.

"Sort of." She laughs. "They met over a dispute. She was at a German bar with her comrades and got into a debate with my father over alcohol of all things. But she's a woman who likes a challenge, and intelligence, so by the end of the night they exchanged numbers. She served her contract and left, then got married to my dad while he was still serving the German Army and got pregnant soon after. I was born in America though, and he eventually retired, and they lived together in Florida."

"Ah, true love." Konig jokes.

Nadja lets out a huff as she looks down to her feet. "I feel like I'm oversharing. Tell me about your family so I don't feel left out."

"Oh." He blows out a raspberry, the hood over his face puffing out with his breath. "It's a boring story, why don't we talk about something else."

She rolls her eyes, nudging him with her elbow. "That's not fair. We're comrades, and I've basically told you my entire life story. I'd at least like to know what lead you to the military."

"Ehh~" He hesitated, looking away, his expression shrouded beneath the hood.

"Fine." Nadja sighs. "I just thought after all we've been through that we were closer than that. But clearly I am just a stranger to you." She upturns her nose, looking away with sass as she makes an attempt to guilt him, successfully so.

Konig released a defeated exhale, shaking his head as he brought his hands up across his chest and began fidgeting. "Okay..." He says under his breath before beginning. "When I was 17, I volunteered for the German Armed Forces. I was selected into the Kommando Spezialkräfte, but I wanted to join the 5th platoon as a recon sniper."

Nadja furrows her brows. "I remember you saying someone told you that you couldn't be a sniper. What happened?" She asks with genuine concern, bringing a sense of comfort to Konig as he opened up.

"Like I said, my height kept me from being a sniper, at least for their standards."

"That's such a ridiculous reasoning, I can't believe they turned you away because of that." She shakes her head.

"Eh, it doesn't help that I've suffered from severe social anxiety most of my life, I was too anxious and failed the training."

"Oh, Konig, I didn't know that... Are you better now?"

"Not really." He lets out a sarcastic laugh.

"Well, I guess that explains the lack of communication when we first met." She curls her lips. "I'm glad you felt comfortable enough to open up to me, though!" She smiles, patting his shoulder.

"When around someone who talks so much, you find yourself feeling awkward when nothing is said from your behalf." He teases.

Nadja glares to him with menacing eyes. "I talk a healthy amount, thank you." She snatches her head away followed by a chuckle from Konig. Hearing his laugh, she couldn't help but smile. She nudges him with her arm once more. "Du Arschloch" She mumbles as they giggle together.

"Wait." Konig suddenly halts, grabbing her arm as he looks ahead. Nadja curiously follows his line of sight as he suddenly snatches her into a nearby alley between two large buildings, leaning against the wall as he peaks around back down the sidewalk. "Motion ahead." He whispers. Nadja slowly walks in front of him, looking over his shoulder as he instinctively holds his arm out in protection, not expecting her to look around as well.

"Good catch." She says, looking down and noticing his arm just before he dropped it. She smiled up to him, causing him to look away in embarrassment as he takes his pistol from its holster, peaking once more where he confirms the two AQ's to be walking their way.

"I'm surprised we haven't run into more of them." He whispers.

"Well, we're getting closer to our potential target building, so there may be more crowded there. Bullets are scarce, so ration what you have."

"Yes ma'am." Konig replies obediently in a sarcastic tone. "Only two men. Do you think you can take one down bare?" He asks.

"Depends how big they are." She shrugs, keeping her tone low.

"Eh, let me handle it then." He replies, listening as their footsteps gained closer. He holsters his pistol, readying his position as Nadja took as step back with her weapon ready.

Just as the two men walk by, Konig remaining unnoticed, he jumps from the shadows of the alley and grabs the one closest to him, putting him into a choke hold and kicking his leg forward simultaneously knocking the other down to his knees. With a swift move, Konig snaps the man's neck as he twists around with brute force alone and jumps forward, kicking the other flat onto the cement ground before he had the chance to stand, where he then takes his knife, placing it to his neck as he stands over him and pulls the man back to his feet, dragging him into the alley and slitting his throat fast and clean.

He drops the body, Nadja looking down to it as Konig carries the other into the alley to hide them from any other nearby AQ's in an attempt to keep discreet and not alarm the enemy of their approach.

Nadja looks up as Konig drops the second body, a look of shock overtaking her expression as their eyes meet.

"We could've interrogated them at least." She says.

"Sorry, I got carried away." He looks down to the bodies with slight guilt before peaking the corner once more, nodding to her. "But we're clear to move now."

They kept their weapons hot as they continued through the tight streets, soon to approach the golden building the soldier told them of. Nadja couldn't help but look to Konig curiously, fighting a smile as she blushed at his large stature. He was definitely a man befitting of his name, and something about that intrigued her.