Flowers of War
This is based on the movie of the same title. It is set in 1937 in Nanking China and claims to be a true story based on the Japanese invasion and rampage. I've tweaked it to make it a Brittana story and due to a certain blonde haired, blue eyed character I've set it in Poland instead of China and in 1939 when Poland was actually invaded. If you've seen the movie or know the history of Nanking you know it's not the most pleasant story. I will be adding to it to make it my own but it will follow the movie pretty closely. I do not in any way intend for this to be historically accurate. This is the prologue, sorry if it is a little slow but it sets the stage.
Will eventually be M most likely.
xxxx
Prologue
Brittany Pierce was a typical seventeen year old girl until the fall of 1939. Even with the threat of war looming for the last two years, she was able to live happily, oblivious to the future danger. She was studying in the Warsaw Cathedral to become a nun after having been sent there by her parents. She was happy enough, not having ever considered any other path for her life than the one her parents chose. With the fall of 1939 came the war. And the German soldiers. And thus her life changed forever.
"This way!" Brittany yelled, frantically pulling her friend Tina along behind her.
Bombs and rapid gunfire could be heard all around them. The two young women rushed through the smoke and fog trying to make their way back to the cathedral where they were both living and studying. The train that had been arranged for their escape lay smoldering from the most recent bombing.
Fourteen school girls had remained behind in the city of Warsaw Poland while the majority of the city had long since evacuated or been killed. They had planned to escape to Switzerland to be reunited with what remained of their families but the girls had quickly had to scatter and run for cover as the bombs continued to rain down on the city.
The two girls were separated from their schoolmates as they all rushed for cover in the midst of the dense fog and thundering bombs.
"There's no more room in here!" One girl screeched as she blocked their entrance and shoved them away from the doorway where a number of them had chosen to hide.
With the sounds of gun fire growing closer, Brittany grabbed Tina by the hand and dragged her further into the fog. The shouts of the German soldiers drew nearer and the tall blonde felt a shiver of fear run down her spine. She finally spotted a large metal tank that had previously been used to hold the street's water reserve. Brittany pulled Tina inside behind her just as a platoon of Nazi soldiers swarmed the streets behind them.
The friends huddled together and struggled to swallow their screams as the Germans continued to shout and fire into the surrounding buildings killing anyone they crossed, the screams of the dying echoing in their ears louder than the gunfire.
xxxx
Noah Puckerman scrambled through the streets as shots rang out all around him. He had considered himself fairly lucky so far in his young life but it seemed his luck had turned. He had somehow managed to find himself in the middle of a German invasion. And as a Jewish man, he could think of nothing more terrifying.
"Goddamn Father Schuester." Puck muttered to himself as he crouched quickly behind a portion of a blown out building.
As a mortician, Puck had been summoned to properly prepare the departed Father Schuester's body for his final burial. Unfortunately the German soldiers had seen fit to intercept his most recent job. And he could have really used the money.
Puck poked his head up from his hiding spot and decided to make a run for safety. He only made it around one corner before a German soldier shouted for him to stop and landed a shot right in front of his feet. Puck skidded to a stop and reluctantly turned around to face his captor.
The German soldier looked young, younger even than Puck himself. He eased his hands up.
"American…" Puck said softly. "Not a soldier…American. Church, I work at the church…kirche…church."
The young soldier eyed Puck up and down, his rifle still trained on him. Puck reached one hand toward his jacket and gently produced his nationality papers with the American flag emblazoned on them. The soldier snarled and tightened his grip on his rifle.
Another blast rang out close by and the young man glanced over his shoulder looking for his comrades. Puck's breath caught as he saw the wall behind the German begin to sway. He spotted a large metal tank off to the side and before the soldier realized what was happening, Puck rushed and dove head first into it.
He couldn't bring himself to care when he heard the young German scream in pain as the wall toppled and buried him. Puck brushed himself off and turned to survey his surroundings. To his surprise, he found himself face to face with two young women huddled together.
Puck was startled at the amazingly bright shade of blue eyes of one of the girls he was met with. She was striking with her blonde hair and cat like eyes. The other girl looked younger. She was Asian and was holding to the blonde tightly.
"Hello." Puck mumbled. "You girls speak English? I'm trying to get to the church…Cathedral."
The blonde narrowed her eyes and both simply continued to stare. Puck sighed and nodded. "Well, best of luck to ya."
Just as he turned to crawl his way out of the tank a pale hand shot forward and grabbed his coat sleeve.
"Mister?"
Puck turned and eyed the blonde intently. "You said 'mister.' Do you speak English? Can you tell me how to get to the Cathedral?"
Brittany Pierce tightened her hold on her friend Tina and squared her shoulders. "We're from the Cathedral…students in the convent. What do you want there?"
Puck smiled for the first time since the bombing began twenty days before. "I'm here to bury your father…well not your father father…Father Schuester. Can you tell me how to get there?"
Brittany and Tina eyed each other warily. The blonde finally nodded. "We can take you there. To the Cathedral."
xxxx
Major Samuel Evans squared his shoulders and took aim at yet another German soldier who was pouring into his city. Only a handful of his men remained, all the rest either having fled days ago or having been killed in the invasion.
Off to his right he heard screams. But not the screams of dying soldiers. These were the screams of young women. Unfortunately in the last few days they were becoming more and more common.
Sam peeked up from his hiding place and spotted a small group of young women in traditional convent student dresses running back toward the direction of the Cathedral and convent. A group of German soldiers were in hot pursuit. Sam clenched his jaw and shouldered his rifle, once again signaling to his remaining men to take aim, waiting just long enough for the girls to pass before opening fire.
By the time the firing and blasting stopped, Sam found himself bloody and alone with only one young Polish soldier left breathing. The young man was clearly near death. Sam groaned and pulled himself to his feet before reaching and pulling the young man into his arms. He then limped off in the direction of the Cathedral.
xxxx
Puck had to forcefully pull Brittany and Tina away from the young girl they stumbled upon on their trek back to the Cathedral. She was similarly dressed in the clothes of a convent girl. She was also dead from multiple gunshot wounds.
He quickly ushered them away from the girl's body and they continued to pick their way through the city toward the relative safety of the Cathedral.
By the time they arrived back at the church gates, the fog had cleared and the smoldering remains of the city could be seen. The three trudged through the gates and were greeted by the remaining students, including Rory, their young guardian.
Brittany and Tina silently joined the ranks of their classmates who were similarly somber after their rush to safety. Puck eyed the remaining girls warily and then slipped the pack off of his back.
"Here, flour…make some bread for the girls. And you," he said, pointing to Rory, "how about a little vino yes?"
"No. No." Rory exclaimed shaking his head. "There's no wine here. There is nothing left."
"Oh come on kid! This is a fucking catholic church…there has to be wine…and money. You still owe me my pay, I don't care if the body was bombed to shit."
Puck and Rory continued to argue while the girls seemed at a loss as to what to do with themselves. Brittany was standing next to one of the few remaining windows left intact when a flutter of movement caught her eye.
There a group of sharply, almost gaudily dressed women were approaching the gates. Beside her, Tina gasped. "They're escorts."
"What's an S court?" Brittany asked, unable to tear her eyes away from the women below her. Never before had she seen women that beautiful. She could clearly tell which one was the leader. The most beautiful image Brittany had ever seen. Her lips were painted deep red and her raven hair was styled just like the movie stars wore.
"An escort silly." Tina hissed. "They're…dirty women."
Brittany frowned at the disgusted tone in Tina's voice. "They don't look dirty. They don't even look like the bomb dust is on 'em. They look fancy."
Tina shook her head. "No stupid. Dirty. Men pay them for all sorts of immoral things. Like Sodom and Gomorrah."
Brittany thought back on the few Bible stories she could actually remember even though she had been in the convent for over two years. That one she could remember because hearing Father Schuester try to answer their childish questions made her giggle.
Still, as the women gathered and began to pound on the doors, Brittany couldn't help but hope they were admitted entrance.
xxxx
"Open this door!"
"Yeah, come on brother…open up!"
Santana Lopez stood off to the side, one hand on her hip, the other loosely clutching her suitcase as her companions shrieked and pounded on the Cathedral gates. She briefly met a pair of sharp hazel eyes and smirked.
Santana turned with a swivel of her hips and tossed her satchel over the wall with ease. With a quick nod of her head, one of the younger girls quickly moved to scramble up and over the wall. She quickly unlatched the door and allowed the women to push their way through the door.
"Thanks Sugar." Santana said as she sauntered in, her form fitting dress hugging her curves perfectly.
Sugar smiled widely and quickly rushed to pick up Santana's bag for her.
"You've got that girl whipped."
Santana turned at the sound of the sultry voice at her ear. Quinn Fabray just shook her head and stepped further onto the Cathedral grounds.
"No, no, no! You cannot be here! This is holy ground!" Rory yelled as he ran down toward the approaching women. "You trash don't belong here! Holy ground!"
"Looks like someone forgot the mention that to the Germans." Santana replied with another smirk as she sauntered past the boy, the rest of the women already making their way up the Cathedral steps.
Puck was leaning against the doorframe with a wicked grin on his face as he ushered the women in. Rory continued to spout objections as he followed them inside. "Now, now kid. You just leave these lovely ladies to me. We are going to have a great time."
"Please Yankee, you can't handle us." Quinn replied with a sneer. "Now if you don't mind, we'll see ourselves to our quarters."
"No quarters for you filth!" Rory exclaimed. "Get out! This is God's house!"
Brittany stepped forward slightly from her spot behind Tina and the rest of the girls. "I bet God wouldn't turn them away. I mean…didn't Jesus eat lunch with thieves and stuff?"
As all eyes turned toward her, the tall blonde felt her face flush and she quickly dropped her gaze to the ground between her feet. When she glanced up she met the chocolate eyes of the beautiful brunette she had been staring at from the window. The corner of the woman's lip quirked in a half smile and with a subtle nod toward the blonde, the escorts made their way deeper into the Cathedral.
A/N – So another story begins. I don't own anything familiar. I don't own much of anything in general. And this is in no way historically accurate other than the disclaimer at the top. Thanks for reading!
