Murder in Name Only
BY:AliasCWN
Chapter 1
Karl Litzman climbed into the rear of his halftrack and closed the heavy steel door behind him. The crew assigned to man the 30 caliber machine gun made room for him by pushing aside the boxes containing the extra ammunition for the gun. Karl gripped his weapon tightly and squeezed past the floor mounted gun to stand in the front of the rear compartment.
"You can sit on the boxes." Pvt. Fritz Getz offered.
"Thank you, but I think I want to stand for a while." Karl answered as he eyed the other man in the crew.
"He won't bother you." Fritz promised when he noticed Karl looking at the other soldier.
"I'm not afraid of him." Karl answered. "I just want to stand for a while."
"I bet you duck quick enough when the Rat Patrol attacks the convoy." Pvt. Gunter Weathers laughed.
"Who says they are going to attack?" Karl asked suspiciously. "Have you heard something about it?"
"They attack almost all of the Captain's convoys." Gunter stated. "Why should this one be any different?"
"No one has spotted them in the area for days." Karl reminded him.
"That means nothing with those murderers." Gunter snarled.
"Murderers? Who have they murdered?" Karl argued.
"They killed my friend Otto when they attacked his convoy." Gunter replied.
"But Otto was killed in battle; it was a fortune of war, not murder." Karl argued.
"They attack from ambush and run away as soon as they have done the damage." Gunter argued. "That is not a real battle."
"But again, it is not murder when a soldier is killed in battle. They attack from ambush, yes, but we outnumber them many times over."
` "Are you defending them?" Gunter raised a fist and took a step toward Karl in a threatening manner.
"He is not defending them." Fritz took a step to stand between the two men. "And even you have to admit Gunter, Karl is correct on all counts. We do outnumber them and Otto was killed in battle."
"Now you are defending them too?" Gunter shouted. "Are you both traitors to our homeland?"
"Is there a problem here?"
All three men turned at the question. Their commander, Captain Hans Dietrich stood looking up at them from the ground.
"No sir." All three men answered at once.
"Then I suggest that you get ready to move out; these supplies must be delivered."
"Yes sir." They all answered together again.
The officer gave them a stern look before turning and continuing to walk along the line of trucks behind them.
"See what you have done." Gunter hissed. "You have managed to anger the captain."
"Me?" Karl exclaimed. "You are the one who was shouting."
"Enough!" Fritz hissed. "What are you trying to do? If you two keep arguing the captain will come back here and settle the argument for you."
"The captain will call Otto's death an unfortunate fortune of war." Karl insisted.
"They are murderers and the captain will tell you so if you have the courage to ask him." Gunter snarled.
"Enough!" Fritz ordered again. "Save your arguing for after we return from this delivery. With the Rat Patrol out there we must work together if we hope to survive. If we are fighting each other we are only making their job easier for them!"
"You are right." Karl hung his head. He raised his eyes to look at Gunter. "I know that you mourn the loss of Otto, and I am sorry, but Fritz is right. We must forget out differences for now and concentrate on doing the job we have been assigned. The captain is counting on us."
Gunter swallowed his bitter reply and nodded. "You are right; our duty must be first and foremost. But I warn you, if the Americans attack this convoy, stay out of my way, I intend to kill them, all of them."
Karl swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. "I would expect nothing less; they are the enemy."
"And don't you forget it!" Gunter growled. He turned away from Karl and busied himself checking the machine gun.
"Ignore him." Fritz suggested. "He has been cranky ever since the Americans attacked that convoy."
"He lost a close friend, I understand." Karl murmured.
"We've all lost friends." Fritz replied sadly. "Two of those who died were my friends. A third friend is still in the hospital. The Rat Patrol has had an effect on all of us in one manner or another."
Karl nodded solemnly. "This war has affected all of us. I wish it would end."
"It will," Fritz responded with certainty, "when we are victorious."
"I have heard rumors that the war is not going so well for us here in North Africa. Some of the new men claim to have heard stories of Allied victories further north."
"Bah!" Fritz dismissed the rumors. "They don't know anything! They are like women passing along gossip just so that they have something to talk about. If those stories were true our commanders would know about them. My last commander told us stories of great victories over the Allied forces. He said that the Allies are making final desperate stands in many parts of the African theater. According to him this war will be finished soon and we will go back to Europe and clean up there. Our forces are winning on every front."
"Do you really believe that Fritz?" Karl looked the other soldier in the eye earnestly.
"Of course I believe it!" Fritz answered indignantly. "Are you saying that you believe our commanders would lie to us?"
"Perhaps someone lied to them." Karl suggested.
"No, we are winning! This war will end soon, you will see."
Karl nodded reluctantly, not convinced but not willing to argue any further. He didn't want the captain to return and find them still distracted from their duties.
Gunter glared at Karl but he didn't speak to him again as the convoy began to move.
"The captain likes you."
Karl sat on the box next to Fritz and held his tongue.
"He does." Fritz insisted. "I see him watching you sometimes."
"He wants to be sure that I am doing my job." Karl explained.
"No." The other man shook his head. "He looks at you differently than he does the others. Sometimes he smiles when he looks at you."
"I helped save him from some Arabs once." Karl explained simply. "But he does not treat me any differently than anyone else."
"That is true." Fritz agreed. "But he likes you."
"Perhaps." Karl conceded. "But if he catches me goofing off I will still end up on report. I need to concentrate on watching the desert for an ambush."
Fritz fell silent while Karl thought about what he had said. While it was true that the captain did speak to him on occasion about things other than his duties, he didn't think the captain favored him in any other way. They shared a deep respect for the members of the enemy Rat Patrol but Karl hoped that both of them had managed to keep that a secret from the other soldiers on the base.
Karl had never told anyone that he had helped the Allied unit rescue one of their own from the German base. What he didn't know was that the captain had also helped them on a previous occasion. Karl kept his friendship with them a secret for fear that his fellow soldiers would consider him a traitor. While he had helped them to rescue Tully, it hadn't resulted in any harm to any of his fellow soldiers. He still considered himself to be a loyal German soldier, just one with an unusual relationship with certain enemy soldiers. The relationship left him feeling conflicted and even a bit guilty at times, but he was determined not to let those feelings ruin the friendship they had forged.