Night had fallen, and Jasper was hiding under a woodpile behind one of the small homes in the tiny village, his rifle close to him and his helmet resting under his head as a makeshift pillow. He had been hiding for what felt like days but was really only a few hours, listening to the German soldiers marching through the village and searching for him. Jasper had cringed deeper into his hiding place when the soldiers searched the house he was hiding behind, and had feared they had found him when they walked just a few feet from the woodpile, but they had moved on. Now, it was well into the dark hours of night and Jasper was beginning to feel the effects of dehydration, for he had drank the last of his water from his canteen hours earlier. He stopped breathing long enough to make sure that no one was moving around near his position before sliding out from under the wood. Jasper kneeled behind the woodpile long enough to scan the area before sprinting to the corner of the small house with his rifle strapped to his back and his canteen and dog tags tied close to his body to keep them from making noise. He peeked slowly into the open window and, when he saw no one was awake, he slipped silently into the house and moved straight to a water pitcher sitting on a small table in the corner. He greedily turned the pitcher up and drank deeply until he had emptied it and sighed softly with satisfaction.
That's when he felt a presence behind him. He dropped to the floor just as an iron rod whizzed through the air where his head had just been and he tackled his attacker to the ground. A feminine voice gasped beneath him and the iron rod fell to the wood floor, setting Jasper's nerves on edge. When Jasper looked down, he found a young woman dressed in only a thin white shift beneath him. She opened her mouth to scream, but he clamped his head quickly over her mouth, "Don't scream; I don't want to hurt you." The woman's eyes were narrowed with defiance, but she didn't make any sound as she glared up at him. "I am an American solider, Lieutenant Jasper, and I'm on the run from the German's who killed my men. I only wished to find a drink of water, not harm you," Jasper calmly whispered to her, his hand loosening slightly on her mouth, "I'm going to move my hand now if you promise not to scream."
The woman seemed to contemplate his words for so long that Jasper began to wonder if she even understood him. Then she nodded slightly and blinked slowly. That's when he noticed that her eyes were a golden caramel color as she looked up at him, and he could see his reflection in them. When Jasper slowly removed his hand, her perfect red cupid bow shaped lips opened, "You are...American?"
"Yes, I am," Jasper nodded as he got up, extending his hand out towards her.
The woman looked at his hand for a long moment before taking it and allowing him to pull her to his feet, "Thank you." As soon as she was settled on her feet, she stepped quickly close to Jasper and swept her leg out. He yelped in surprise as he found himself lying on his back with the woman pressing her knee down into his chest, his own rifle pointed at his heart, "Don't move or I shoot." When Jasper made no attempt to disarm her, she reached down a took the pistol strapped to his upper thigh out of its holster and tossed it away from them across the floor. "You're an American spy aren't you? Or are you just another solider come to take advantage of a woman living alone? If you are, you've come to the wrong place," the woman's voice was soft and breezy like an autumn breeze.
"I am Lt. Jasper of the American Army," Jasper repeated, the girl's knee in his chest making his voice raspy, "my men were killed by the German soldiers and, when I made it to this village, I hid under your woodpile. What is your name?"
She stared down at him with in contemplation for a long time before she removed her knee and stood up, the gun still pointed at his heart, "Alice."
Jasper slowly and carefully got up onto his feet, raising his hands to chest level, "Alice...that's a pretty name."
Alice rolled her golden eyes before she backed up to a small cupboard and, without removing her eyes from him, took out a dark green glass wine bottle. "Here," she placed the bottle carefully on the nearby table and, moving further back, she got out a small slab of cheese and some fruit on a platter to go with it. "Eat, then leave," Alice told him, lowering the gun to point down at the floor, but never removed her finger from the trigger.
Jasper nodded and carefully moved to sit down at the crudely carved wood chair. Alice moved and, before he could look up, she had placed a dingy tin cup in front of him. "Thank you...for all of this," he bowed his head and gestured at the things before him.
"I don't do it for you," Alice snapped, but a faint smile hinted at the corner of her lips, "I am not fond of the Germans." Jasper watched her out of the corner of his eyes as he poured the tin cup half full with the wine and sliced a small slice of cheese off the slab. Alice watched Jasper with curious eyes as he ate and drink the things she had provided him, and when he had finished, she cleared the table without ever turning her back to him. Jasper stood up and Alice's head snapped up at the movement, the rifle lifting slightly.
Jasper raised his hands again as he paused halfway towards her, trying to look as innocent and non-frightening as possible. He gestured down at his feet, where his pistol lay, "I was just going to pick my pistol up." Alice looked at him closely for a moment before she nodded, watching him like a hawk as he stooped and picked up the firearm.
"You must leave now," Alice gestured with the muzzle of Jasper's rifle towards the door.
"Thank you again, for all the food and drink," Jasper bowed his head again and began backing up towards where he thought the door was. Alice gasped and, at the same time, Jasper yelped as he fell backwards over the chair he had been sitting in. She jumped forward, the rifle falling to the ground, and tried to grab a hold of his hand to hold him upright. Alice gasped as her feet got tangled up in the strap on the rifle and she fell into Jasper, rewarded by a whoosh of air as her body knocked all the air out of him.
"Oh, I am so sorry, Mister Jasper," Alice started to get up, but when she looked down at him, she paused. Jasper was staring, breathlessly, up at her, his left hand resting lightly up on the ball of her shoulder, his eyes captured by hers. "Mister Jasper..." she whispered, a little breathlessly as her body responded to his touch. Heat spread throughout her, her heart began to race, and she found herself leaning so close to him that she could smell the intoxicating scent of his breath on her face.
Jasper, whose own heart had begun to race, saw this and began to lean forward so that the tips of their noses barely brushed and their lips were centimeters apart. "Miss Alice..." he whispered, his hand sliding slowly up her shoulder to rest in the small, warm crook where her neck met her shoulder.
Just as their lips were about to meet, someone began to pound on her front door, shouting in German, "Erschließen Sie im Namen des Gesetzes! Wir suchen nach einem amerikanischen solider! (Open up in the name of the Law! We are searching for an American solider!)"
Alice's eyes became as large as saucers as she leaped up, her hand covering her hand as she realized what she had been doing. Jasper, thinking quickly, grabbed his rifle, and rolled beneath the nearby bed just as the door opened. Alice squeaked as three burly soldiers shouldered their way into the room, filling the small room with their sheer size, "Es gibt keinen Amerikaner hier (There is no American here). " Without looking at her, the three men began to search the room, one going upstairs with a second standing sentinel at the foot of the stairs, while the third began to look in a room that was a pantry. Alice bristled as she heard the men upstairs tearing through her things in search of Jasper, who remained quiet deep under the bed, "Bitte Urlaub; dieses ist mein Haus und ich verlange Sie Urlaub dieser Augenblick (Please leave; this is my house and I demand you leave this instant)."
The man standing on the staircase turned to her, gesturing with the black submachine gun he held in his hand, "Wir sind die Nazin und wir haben Erlaubnis, als wir bitte zu tun. Halt die Schnauze und sitzen Sie hin, während wir suchen (We are the Nazis and we have permission to do as we please. Shut up and sit down while we search). "
Alice, seeing the menacing gun pointed towards her, immediately sat down in the chair Jasper had been sitting in. Jasper bristled underneath the table at the way the men were speaking to her, for he didn't understand the German language, and his hand tightened on his rifle. The solider snorted and stood waiting, allowing his eyes to roam the room as he looked for valuable things to loot. She glanced nervously at the bed before she poured herself some of the wine into the tin cup, turning the cup up to allow the alcohol to slide down her dry throat.
Finally, both men returned and came to stand in the kitchen, whispering to each other in German. Jasper, who could only see up to the back of the men's knees and half of Alice's face, gripped his weapon tighter as he watched all the blood pour from her face, leaving her as white as paper. The biggest man, the leader of the three, moved over to stand behind Alice, his large hand slipping through her hair while whispering in German into her ear. Jasper knew that the men were thinking and it was hard to not jump out from his hiding place, so he carefully placed his rifle down on the floor and took a deep meditative breath to clear his mind. The German was running his hands down Alice's arms now, slowly bringing them up back up along her stomach and chest, cupping her small breasts. Alice gasped at the rough touch as he squeezed, "Dieses Hurts (That hurts!)!"
Jasper silently reached down into his boot and slid knife from its depths as he watched the scene before him, waiting for his chance. The two other men laughed as their leader lifted Alice up out of the chair and onto the table, ripping her shift off her body with his bare hands. Alice screamed, "Anschlag! Nr., bitte (Please! No, stop!)!" With that, Jasper slid quickly out from under the bed, slashing out to cut both men's hamstrings as he went. Both men yelled out as they crumbled to their knees, one's scream ending in a gurgle as Jasper slit his throat as he lunged to his feet. The leader and Alice jumped away from each as Jasper closed the distance quickly. The German fumbled to bring his machine gun as he yelled, "Der Amerikaner! Er ist- (The American! He is-)" Before he could finish though, Jasper shoved the knife deep into his chest, Jasper's hand covering the German's mouth to keep him from shouting out. Behind them, Alice disarmed the last German as he tried to get up, but his cut hamstrings wouldn't allow him, and she shot him between the eyes with a single bullet. Jasper winced at the sound of the gunshot, but watched as the light left the German's eyes before he pulled his knife from his body. He wiped his blade on the German's uniform before replacing it in his boot and turning to face Alice. She was still holding the soldier's weapon in her hands, looking up at him with blank eyes. Her shift was destroyed, torn up the middle so that it lay open to reveal she wore no under garments underneath it and her body was revealed to him. He took the machine gun from her hands and took off his uniform top so that he wore only a dirty tank top and, carefully taking the gun from her hands, placed her arms into the sleeves of the garment. She made no move to help him, but stare up at him with her blank eyes as he buttoned up the buttons to her delicate throat. His eyes had lingered on her breasts and anger had filled him when he saw the bruises the German had left on them from his rough hands.
"You...saved me," she whispered as he turned away, her hands catching the back of his shirt to hold him in place. She moved closer to him, pressing her cheek against his muscled back.
Jasper smiled faintly, placing the machine gun down onto the table, "You fed me and gave me wine; it's the least I could do." He turned in her arms and gently set her down in the chair, "I need to get rid of the bodies before they find out that I am here."
"Will you come back?" she whispered, looking up at him with fear filling her eyes now.
"If that is what you wish," Jasper gently cupped her cheek and bowed to brush his lips against her forehead. He went to the closest body and began to drag it towards the backdoor.
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