Who's Side Are You On
Chapter 1
Finding the truck had been a stroke of luck. There were few civilian vehicles now so they were pretty much restricted to military ones. Chief said he had found a generals car but the driver was inside. There was no possibility of taking one of the other ones with out the driver spotting him. There were definite pros and cons to not speaking the lingo. They would never be up front but then they had no chance of talking their way out of trouble either. Casino had to admit there were times he wished he could speak more than a few words in German. Actor said his atrocious accent would give him away no matter what he said. Hah. Actor just didn't want anyone to be able to do something he was good at. Afraid of a little competition, was what Casino thought.
Chief had found the truck and brought it to their exit point near the bunker they were to infiltrate. That was the plan, with him staying there ready but as usual the plan had had to be altered. The kid had had to leave the truck and come inside to help. Without his knife they were stuck but when the dynamite had gone off too soon it was Chief who had gotten the worst of it. Actor and Garrison were supporting Chief between them as they ran out trusting the smoke to cover their leaving. Garrison had told him to drive so here he was. The engine was too noisy to hear what was going on in back but he assumed their were looking after Chief. The kid was tough, and he didn't look to be hurt that bad, he would make it.
The engine was noisy and he wondered if there was any oil in it. Wouldn't that just be grand if the thing seized and they had to walk the rest of the way. He eased off the gas and coasted a while. If there were any dashboard indicator lights they weren't working. Maybe he should build up as much speed as possible so they could coast if it died. Maybe better to nurse it along. There was an odour of sweat and dirty feet in the cab so he cracked open the window to allow a little of the night air in. Casino down shifted as he slowed to round a curve. He couldn't wait to get out of this uniform. The pants were ill fitting, binding where they shouldn't. He shifted in the seat trying to get comfortable. It wasn't far to their side of the lines in fact he figured it was about a mile from here. The others would have changed uniforms by then and when he stopped he would change and they would leave the truck and walk. They had once tried driving a German truck back and had almost been blown up when they neared their lines.
He shifted again as the road straightened. This mission had been successful, at least so far. They had parachuted into Eastern Belgium, six days ago. They were to infiltrate the Resistance there and help ferret out a spy. It hadn't been easy for Garrison or Actor who had done most of the spying and listening. He, Chief and Goniff had been put to work making home made bombs, transporting weapons and other grunt work. It was dirty and tiring but it wasn't really that dangerous. He had been okay with it, though he was glad it was over. Actor had found the spy and the Resistance said they would dealt with him their own way, not the way Casino had offered. He remember the look on Chief's face when he had made a suggestion and he smiled. The kid had asked him later if he had ever actually done it.
Casino down shifted again and slowed to manoeuvre around the large tree branch that had fallen half on the road.
He woke up to the muted sounds of talking and movement. Garrison and Actor must be up. Usual for them to be up before him but the headache he had was not. He hurt all over too so they must have been to the Doves last night. Must have been a real doozie of a fight though he must have been drunk because he couldn't remember it. Slowly he opened his eyes.
In shock he saw bare rafters, not the sculptured ceiling of the room they shared. What the heck was gong on? Where was he? Mindful of his pain he turned his head and saw a cot beside his. The occupant was sleeping with his back to him but the blonde hair must be Goniff. Slowly he turned the other way and saw another cot. This one was occupied by tall man who was … not Actor. He was also blonde but his leg was in a cast. He was also sitting propped up in the bed. When he saw Casino looking he spoke. "Hallo, Wie sind sie Gefühl?"
In German!
What was a German doing at their base? No, this was not their base. Casino looked down to the foot of his bed. Instead of the plaster and wood panelling it was bare plywood. He was in a room with about ten cots. Down at the end of the room was a man dressed in a white coat, must be a Doctor. Hospital? He must be in a Hospital. Why was he in a Hospital? Did it have anything to do with the fight down at the Doves?
Shock number two. When the Doctor heard the man with the cast speak, he came over to Casino's bedside. He asked him a question but it wasn't in English. He was speaking German too. Casino's heart rate climbed higher. What the Hell was going on? Where was he?
'Don't ever let them know you're afraid.' Good advise but damn hard to pull off. The doctor must have seen it because he spoke again in a tone that was meant to soothe. It didn't work entirely. If the Doctor thought it was OK to be afraid then he was safe for a time. The doctor took his pulse and blood pressure then shone his light in Casino's eyes. That brought an involuntary response as the light stabbed into his brain. He pulled away, eyes screwed shut and put both hands up to try to protect his eyes. His head pounded and his breath came in gasps. Gradually it eased and he lowered his hands. The Doctor had stepped back but was watching him closely. Once Casino had relaxed he spoke again and handed him a cup of fluid and two pills. Taking something the enemy gave you could be dangerous but at this point he didn't care. If it took the pain away then that was fine. He tossed the pills back and drank the water. The Doctor spoke calmly and turned away. Casino closed his eyes partly because he hurt and partly to stop the man in the next bed from talking to him.
Later when he woke it was dark. He lay still and listened. All was quiet except the sounds of men breathing and at least one snoring. Maybe the last time was a dream and he was really on his cot back at their base. He could hope but there was only one way to tell. He opened his eyes. It was dark but a small lamp in the corner shone it's meager light on the rough plywood walls. He was still here, not that he knew where here was or how he got here and where were the others? He looked over to the bed where he thought Goniff was. The man was laying on his back now and he was not Goniff. Where were Goniff and the others? The Doctor was German as was the man beside him. Was he in a German Hospital? How did he get here? He couldn't remember getting caught.
Their last mission, what had happened? They had gotten away hadn't they? Chief had swiped a truck and they got away. Maybe the others got away but he didn't. All he knew was he was here and they weren't, so if they got away then they would be back to get him. Unless they didn't know he got caught. Well sooner or later when they couldn't find him they would realize what had happened. Unless they were dead. He didn't want to even think of that possibility. If they were dead then there was no hope for him. Could he find a way to escape from the Germans before they found out he was a spy?
As his thoughts swung from hope to hopeless the pounding in his head got worse. Damn he needed something for the pain. If he were home he could get some aspirin but he wasn't. He lay still and tried to relax.
When he awoke there were people moving around. Lifting his head he could see that it was the doctor again and several men bringing trays. Breakfast. The thought of food was not a pleasant one. His stomach said no thanks. The cart arrived at the end of his bed and a man brought the tray and placed it beside the bed. Casino nodded. He didn't dare speak. The man went on to the next bed as he looked on the tray. Typical Army food. He lay back and closed his eyes. There was a general hubbub of conversation which he had no trouble blocking out. He didn't understand any of it no matter how he tried. A gentle shake of his cot brought him to full alert. He glanced around prepared to fight but all he saw was the Not-Goniff man grinning at him and pointing to Casino's tray with his fork. He might not be Goniff but apparently he ate like him. Casino gestured for him to go ahead and watched as Not-Goniff checked to make sure no one was looking then quickly switched trays. He began to eat vocalizing his approval. Casino lay back again.
The arrival of lunch woke him and this time Not-Goniff waited only a moment to see if Casino was going to eat. He wasn't. Truth was he couldn't eat when he was scared and right now until he could figure out where he was and where the others were then he was scared. He shook his head hoping the man would just take it and leave him alone. To Casino's consternation the man in the cast saw what was going on and started whispering his demand for a share, either that or was threatening to call the doctor. Casino didn't know or care. He just wanted them to shut up and leave him alone. All this talking was making his head ache worse. They didn't stop so he sat up, grabbed the tray and was about to split it when the world tilted, at least the part that had not faded away, and his stomach roiled. He dropped the tray, which fortunately was caught by Not-Goniff and he fell half off the cot. Hands grabbed him and helped him back on the bed before the doctor could be called. Casino thought he was going to die, hoped he was going to die, or at least pass out so the pain would stop.
He lay back breathing deeply in hopes it would ease the pain which it did but not right away. He must have dozed off because the next thing he knew Cast-man was nudging him. What ever he was saying, he sounded hopeful. Must be his tray. Was he hungry? He couldn't decide. He didn't remember when he had eaten last but it had to have been a awhile. He turned slowly to his side and from there slowly pushed himself up. Fortunately an orderly moved in and helped move his pillow behind him so he could sit up. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea he thought as the room around him faded out for a moment. He held still and laid his head back against the wall until it cleared.
The meal was, well …, Army food. The brown stuff was probably meat and the grey was potatoes? No idea what the other stuff was. Carefully he tasted the different offerings and ate some of each. There wasn't much difference in the taste but Actor was always telling him that he needed to eat better. Anything would be better than this but it was all there was. Cast-man waited until he put his fork down before asking again. He passed him the tray. When he had finished he started talking to him. Not-Goniff got in on it adding to his consternation but then Casino realized that they were talking to each other. He put his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. This position actually helped because his stomach was objecting to the contents he had foisted on it. He concentrated on breathing slowly hoping it would pass. He had a few moments when he thought he was going to throw up but he managed to keep everything down. Eventually he dozed off again.