Resistance of the
Third Reich
1
Two men stood around a man tied to a chair. They both wore black suits, with black ties. On each of the two men's right shoulder was a red patch with two letters on it. The man they encircled was near unconscious from the torture he had received. His clothes were torn, his face's skin was broken, blood flowing from the wounds, one of his eyes was blackened, his right arm broken, and was scrawny from starvation.
"Mr. Reinhard, this can all end. You'll be able to go back to your family, be feed, and completely fixed up if you give us the information."
The man looked up at the man that spoke to him. He grinned, and showed defiance in his eyes. The man on the right sighed. He looked at the other man. He nodded. They both looked at Mr. Reinhard one last time than left the cell. As they shut the door, the man on the left touched the small microphone in his ear and whispered softly. After three seconds, they heard a buzz (the sort of buzz you hear when electricity starts its flow) and the agonized scream of Mr. Kurt Reinhard.
******************* 18 months earlier *************************
Kurt Reinhard groaned as his phone went off. He'd been hoping that today he wouldn't have to deal with any clients, but no such luck. He picked his phone up, and looked at the number. He didn't recognize the number, but answered anyways.
"This is Kurt Reinhard of Felix's Technology. How can I help you?" His answerer was static.
"Hello? Um…is anyone there?" The static was agitating Mr. Reinhard. He hung the phone up, wishing that phone call had never come. He looked at the papers that were scattered over his desk. He actually wished now that someone was on that line so he wouldn't have to go through the papers. He groaned again, and started to go through them.
As he was working, his phone went off again. He grimaced, but picked the phone up.
"This is Kurt Reinhard of Felix's Technology. How may I help you?"
"Hey honey."
Kurt smiled (This day just got brighter, he thought)"Hi. How was your day?"
"Fine. I went to the store today to get some groceries for tonight's dinner."
"So what did you get?"
"I can't tell you that," Rebecca said giggling," It's to be a surprise. You'll just have to find out when you get home." Kurt smiled at that thought. His smile dropped just as fast as it had come on when he saw who was standing in the doorway of his office. It was his boss, Mr. Alfred Steiner.
"Honey," he started with a whisper," I need to let you go."
"Hmmm…."
"My boss needs to talk to me."
"Oh…well, I'll see you at seven."
"I won't be late. I love you."
" I love you to." The line went dead. Kurt put his phone down on his desk, and turned to face Mr. Steiner. There was a sad look in his eye. The sorrow there told Kurt everything he needed to know about were this conversation was going to end.
"I was hoping I was going to be lucky, and that you were going to cut somebody else," said Kurt. Steiner looked at Kurt sadly and shook his head.
"I'm sorry Kurt. You're a good salesman. A very good salesman. Hell, you're a great salesman, but with the taxes rising I have to let some people go," he sighed and leaned against the wall, his hand rubbing his eyes. He looked back at Kurt, his eyes watering a little. He continued," And I have to let some people go. I'm sorry to say that. You don't deserve this, really you don't, but there isn't anything else I can do. If I don't get the taxes in the SS," he grimaced as if he bit into a lemon, and continued," they'll come knocking on my door. I… I just can't do anything else. I'm sorry."
" How long do I have to get my stuff?"
"The rest of the day. I'm sorry about this. We've been working together for five years now, but what else can I do?" and left Kurt's office.
You could fire someone else and not me thought Kurt. He leaned back into his chair. Fired. Fired. I've been fired because someone couldn't pay the bill. He knew he was probably going to be the one fired but had hoped someone else had. He had known for a while, and had even at one point considered looking for another job, but had decided against it. And what was Rebecca going to say about this? She wasn't employed either. This day couldn't possibly get any worse, he thought.
By four o'clock, Kurt was carrying some of the last boxes out to his car. As he went back inside the building, he said goodbye to his fellow employees. They all wished him luck with life. As he got into his car to leave, he looked back at the massive skyscraper one last time, then keyed the ignition and drove away. That was the last time Kurt would ever see that building.
Traffic was rough on the way back home. Kurt had already been stopped by six stoplights when he was stopped once more. It seems the day can get worse. It seemed that all the stoplights would turn red when he came by for some reason. "Traffic," he muttered. He leaned over and turned the radio on. Metal rock came blaring out, and he nearly jumped out of his seat. He turned to another channel and found classics. He had just began to relax when a car horn came from behind. He looked up. The light was green. He keyed the engine and continued homeward.
Fifth teen minutes later, he pulled up to his driveway. He got out of his car slowly, wondering how he was going to brake the news to Rebecca. He walked to the front door, still not sure about how he was going to tell her. He reached for the knob, grasped it, and opened the door.
The brick fireplace was lite up, and classical music was playing. Kurt smiled. Bach. The greatest composer. He walked farther into his house. The living room (the room he was in) was a large room with two couches: one red, and one blue. There was a large bookshelf in the corner, and a massive T.V. The ceiling was arched, with a dozen lights inserted to make the room brighter. There was a desk (which had papers scattered across it), double glass doors leading to the backyard, and a stain glass window of the Adolf Hitler on the wall. Kurt made his way to the kitchen, and that is where Rebecca was.
Rebecca was twenty-two and he was twenty-one when they first met. Rebecca was 5'7'', with short brown hair the fell a little over her neck. She had dark green eyes, a full set of lips, and a light tan. And Kurt loved her with all of his heart. They married three months after they met, and their second anniversary was less than a week away. He leaned against the wall and watched her cook. He smiled and sighed.
"Hey." Hearing his voice, Rebecca froze. She turned gracefully, with a large smile on her face. She walked slowly over to him, and kissed him lightly.
"Welcome home," she said. She quickly walked back over to the stove, to keep the dinner from burning. He walked after her, and leaned against the fridge.
Rebecca," How was your day?" Kurt's smile disappeared, his eyes lost their spark, and he slumped a little.
"You know how I told you someone was going to get cut?"
"Yes. Who got…oh," she put her hand over her mouth in surprise. Kurt nodded his head slowly, than let it hang in shame. Rebecca walked over to Kurt, and than had him in a tight embrace. Kurt started to weep a little.
"Hey, it's going to be all right."
"I can't support you though."
"Honey…"
"I'm sorry. I've failed you."
"No you haven't. Listen to me." Kurt looks up at her, his eyes watering.
"You know that salon I like to go to?" Kurt nodded his head, wondering why she was bringing up a salon at a time like this.
"So it turns out that they were hiring." Kurt looked at her, his eyes wide.
" And I got myself a job there. The money is good and with the baby coming on the way, I knew we were going to need some more money."
"But you shouldn't have to work. I mean, I'm the one that should be one supporting this family, and…wait…did you say your pregnant?" Rebecca nodded her head. Kurt kneeled down and put his hands on her belly. He gasped, his eyes widened, and a smile broke across his face. Tears of joy rolled off his cheeks. Rebecca smiled down at him.
"That was the main reason I went to the city today. After I checked out of the hospital, I saw the salon was hiring. So I thought,' We could always use a few extra bucks,' went in, and landed myself a job."
Kurt stood up, and walked over to the stove. He started to stir what was in the pot. Rebecca walked in after him, still smiling, but confused.
"Kurt?"
"Yes?"
"Since when did you start cooking dinner?" Kurt stopped stirring, and faced her with a smile on his face, and a renewed spark in his eyes.
"Since my wife told me she was pregnant. Now, go sit down. I'll handle everything." Rebecca smiled and sat down in a wicker chair. An hour later, the meal over, and Kurt cleaning up, Rebecca walked to the "office" room of the house. She got onto her computer, and went to her email account. There was only one new message. She opened it. She stiffened when she saw what was on it. She closed it quickly, and deleted all traces of the message, then slumped into her chair, thinking about the message. She got up, told Kurt that she was going to bed, and fell asleep. Kurt went to bed five minutes after.
At about 2:35 A.M., another message came. However, this message didn't go to the inbox, but went directly onto the screen.
To: RR431 2:33 A.M.
From: Unknown (untraceable)
Message Begin
R,
They know were you are. We don't know how they found you our him. Directive J is dead and we can't lose you. You must get to the rendezvous point for pickup tomorrow by 1600 hours. If you don't make it, you'll have to get there yourself. I'm sorry about this.
Semper Fi
D.
End Message