Author's notes: This is meant to be short, and as such only has two parts. I'm trying to get back into writing fanfiction again (after having a creative block that lasted for the longest time) so please bear with me, I WILL continue "These Plains of Abraham" soon. In any case, there are multiple spoilers for the ending of Markus Zusak's "The Book Thief", so YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Without further ado, I hope you enjoy this fic. Translations wiill be provided at the bottom.

Pt 1: Erwachen (Awakening).

I can taste it, like metal…like copper. There is a flash of red, then black again. Lieber Gott, how am I still breathing? I can't move. There are a lot of red flashes now and it hurts. Something small and rough is sitting on my tongue. The light is filtering through my eyelids, no wonder I feel like I'm dead. Wake up. This is a nightmare, it has to be, wake up wake up WAKE UP!

My eyelashes are matted together. Can I move my arms? Are they broken? Have I been broken? The sirens are screaming nearby but they all say the same thing. Too late. Too late. Like a miracle, my hands rise to my face and pry the lids apart, and it's still dark, but not like before. The fingers shift up and touch my hair but something feels sticky and I can taste copper again.

Where am I?

Breathe in. Breathe out. Don't panic. First of all, my neck doesn't appear to be broken. Sit up. Sit up, even if it hurts. Good. I spit, and something small and wet dropped into my lap. Why is there a rock in my mouth? Never mind. There's something dripping into my eye and it stings. I go to wipe them with the back of my hand, but there is a sudden pain, like the bite of a dog. My hand tears away from my forehead on its own, and I lick the stickiness to find out what…copper. Blood. I need to get out of here. Move. I cannot die, so why am I afraid? Move. I can hear thuds, and screaming nearby. Move. Your people need you. Move, Deutschland MOVE.

I remember a story Japan told me once. He was walking and the earth was ripped out from under his feet like somebody pulled a rug out from under him. Is that what happened here? My feet are fragile as they stretch out on the floor, and the cool dirt clings to my toes. They support the towers of my legs, then the rest of me. Pain gnaws at my side and my head. I try to take a step forward, and my foot glances off of something hard and jagged, like a piece of cement. Flailing hands, ghost-white and red, catch themselves on a smooth wall, miraculously still in one piece.

Sickly red light filters in through…something nearby. It looks like bars cast on the floor, with shape, but no form. Using the wall as a guide, I start towards it, until my support suddenly comes to an unexpected and jagged end. I fall through the dark and my outstretched fingers land in the light while everything else lands on a pile of splinters and plaster. The wind is knocked out of me. Something sticks into my arm. My own short, sharp cry of pain, like an animal, echoes through the dark.

Move, Deutschland.

I struggle to my feet. The nail tears a hole in my arm as the board it's attached to falls to the ground with a clatter. The air is cooler here, and I blink at the unexpected brightness of the sky, which is a thick, soupy red. There's a gap in the rubble, but it may not be big enough to fit. There are no more thuds. There's no more anything now. Even the sirens have stopped.

"Hilfe!" My voice is choked with plaster dust. "Hilfe!" Nobody comes. I am alone again, as usual. It hurts the worst of all when I'm straining to get through and the boards prod my flesh like spikes. It's hard to hang on with my left hand because the blood from this new wound makes the boards slippery. Time is ticking away as I finally breathe in air tainted with smoke and roll onto the flat earth. Breathe in, though it burns your lungs. The screaming has started up again.

Where am I? How did I get here? The last thing I remember is being on patrol and seeing the lights of the city. It was night then…wait, it's still night. Everything is red now, bathed in red light. I can't see the stars because the sky is red, seared with grey smoke and smeared with sooty-looking clouds.

Your people need you. Move, Deutschland, before you bleed yourself white.

It's easier to get up now, but my head still burns and my arm is really starting to sting. The blood that was on my forehead is still dripping into my eyes, but not as much now. It's just a matter of wiping your eyes, taking a good look at your surroundings and-

Oh.

Oh Mein Gott, I'm in Hell.

Lieber Gott - Dear God

Deutschland - Germany

Hilfe - Help