The Village

By: AliasCWN

Chapter 2

Hitch opened his eyes and tried to remember where he was. At first he thought that he might be in a jeep because he could feel movement. His whole body hummed with the strength of the vibrations. Then he realized that he was on the ground and it was the sand that was vibrating. After that his thinking cleared and he recognized the heavy rumble of the approaching halftracks.

The battle still raged but none of the shells were landing anywhere near him. He could still hear the 50 caliber that belonged to Tully and Moffitt firing off in the distance. He realized that the battle had moved past, leaving him to fend for himself. Knowing that if he wanted to survive he would have to get out of the way of the armored vehicles he looked for the nearest shelter.

He spotted the overturned jeep right away. He tried to rise to see if he could spot Troy but the movement sent excruciating pain down his back. The slightest movement of his head was almost more than he could stand, causing his stomach to roll in revolt. Sharp pains tore through his body, making him feel weak and helpless. Every time he tried to move at all the muscles in his back would seize up making him groan with pain.

He forced his body to roll, the results almost making him black out. The nearest shelter was one of the bombed out buildings. He could see holes in the foundation that looked big enough to crawl through. Clenching his jaws against the pain, he began to pull himself toward the nearest hole. The first time he tried to use his left arm he found that it would not respond to his commands. His left leg was also being rebellious. It would move a bit, but he couldn't do any more than drag it at best. His hip felt bruised but he didn't think it was broken. He forced his right side to do all of the work as he fought to bite back the screams.

The sound of a halftrack running into or over some of the debris from the building galvanized him into action. Clenching his jaws, he managed to reach the hole in the building's foundation. He pulled himself through one handed just as the halftrack stopped near the jeep. He heard someone shouting and two soldiers jumped from the halftrack and ran toward the wreckage of his jeep. Looking around he saw light coming through more holes in the foundation; holes that were big enough to crawl through. He pulled himself toward a hole that he hoped would let him out on the other side of the building.

As he reached another hole in the foundation that opened into the air outside, he stopped to listen for enemy soldiers. He didn't hear any talking or sounds of footsteps outside. In the distance the battle still raged, getting further away as he listened. Taking a risk, he slid clumsily through the hole. He didn't try to turn to look for the Germans; his back wouldn't allow him to move any more than absolutely necessary. If they saw him he would know it soon enough. He hoped they were still searching around the jeep. He hadn't seen Troy. For a moment he wanted to go back and see if his sergeant had gotten away, but common sense held him in place. If Troy had been captured, there was nothing he could do to help. Getting himself captured too would only add to the sergeant's worries. The Germans would naturally search the jeep for anyone left behind, that didn't mean that they knew someone had been left behind. Maybe they hadn't seen Moffitt and Tully pick up Troy. Or maybe they had only seen them pick up one man. They could only be hunting for him, which meant he had to move or risk capture. The first building didn't provide enough concealment to hide him for long. He pulled himself toward the foundation of the second building.

The second building had a lot more beams lying crisscrossed underneath the floors. He saw several that might lead deeper into the pile of rubble that had once been someone's house. He thought again about the pictures from the earthquake. He almost stopped moving, almost preferring capture to being trapped underneath the home. Only the thought of putting the others in danger to rescue him kept him going. He knew they would come back for him. If Troy had been captured the others would rescue him too so he didn't feel quite as bad about possibly leaving the sergeant to fend for himself.

Hitch had never considered himself to be claustrophobic but the tight space under the beams made it seem hard to breathe. His heart was beating faster and he could feel the sharp edge of panic fighting for control. All he wanted to do was get back out into the bright sunlight, Germans or no Germans. He had to take a deep breath and force himself to go on. He had to find a better hiding place or the Germans would find him the first time they used a flashlight to look under the foundation.

There was another beam that had fallen against a stone pillar that supported the floor; Hitch could see a darker space behind it. If he could fit his body in there it might give him better protection. As he got closer he could tell that the opening was smaller than he had first thought. His body might fit if he could curl up in a ball but that would be impossible considering his injuries. He was looking for another option when he heard them.

The voices were close and he could hear someone walking around outside. There were more of them now, more than just the original two. They sounded like they were searching the fallen buildings. Hitch wiggled tighter against the beam, listening to the search. His foot slid under the beam and he could feel at least a little open space behind it. He froze as a beam of light swept through the darkness.

The German soldier dropped to his stomach and stuck his head into the opening in the foundation. His hand holding the flashlight was blocking his view but he didn't care. He didn't want to stick his head in there if an enemy soldier was hiding inside. The flashlight would give the enemy a perfect shot at him while he would be hampered by the light and the arm holding it. Putting self-preservation before proper procedure, he made a quick scan of the space under the house and pulled his head back out.

Hitch breathed a sigh of relief as the arm holding the flashlight withdrew from the opening. During the time that the light had been pointing around the space he had not spotted any better places to hide. He decided to stay where he was and try to get further behind the beam.

He gripped the beam with his good hand and pulled to see if it was solid. Dirt rained down on him as it shifted under the pressure. He wiped the dirt from his eyes and began to pull himself along the ground an inch at a time. The voices outside had moved away as they searched the other buildings in the town. He figured he had a little while before they returned to this building.

His wiggling got him behind the beam only to find that this space was small too. He still didn't have a place big enough to fit his entire body. He was certain that if the Germans came back for a better look they would still find him. He pushed against the next beam. This one shifted under the pressure but no dirt fell. He decided to chance it and find out what was behind it. To his delight there was another space, this one felt bigger. He paused to catch his breath and try to get a feel for the size of the space. His back was no better after all of the moving and he needed to stop and rest. The darkness closed in around him once he didn't have anything to do to distract him. The creaking of the beams and the groaning of the stones seemed alive to him. He remembered thinking that the rescuers from the earthquake were taking a big chance digging under the wrecked homes. The article accompanying the pictures has stressed the possibility of more settling as the work progressed. He hoped that the vibrations of the halftracks leaving wouldn't cause his sanctuary to crumble down around his ears.

As he lay in the dark and waited for his heartbeat to return to normal he took stock of his injures. He didn't think anything was broken but there was definitely a lot of bruising. The tendon in his leg had tightened up until he couldn't straighten his leg. The hip just felt bruised. His exploring hand had found a little blood where he had hit a rock or part of a foundation but he didn't think it was bad. His most serious injury was the pulled muscle in is back. At least he hoped it was only pulled. He didn't know much about torn muscles or tendons. He did know that they could be serious, especially if not treated right away. All in all he felt like he had fared rather well; he wasn't bleeding to death and he hadn't been captured.

He was rested enough to continue his exploring when he heard it. It was faint at first, he wasn't sure that he had really heard it. He listened for a minute but it didn't repeat itself. He went back to exploring. He found another place to go around the beam in his way. Maybe not around, he thought as he felt around for some space; maybe under. It was almost high enough for him to slide under if he didn't pass out when his back hit the beam.

Then he heard the noise again, closer this time. It sounded like it was coming from right outside the opening he had used to get inside. It was a bullhorn, and he recognized the voice of the man using it.

"Private, we know you are in there. Come out and no harm will come to you."

Hitch tensed as Captain Dietrich repeated the call. How could they know he was in here? Had they spotted him earlier? That didn't make sense; they wouldn't have searched the other buildings if they knew where he was, unless they were searching for Troy too. Again he was tempted to give himself up to see what had happened to his sergeant. Only he couldn't do it. Sarge would be furious if he did that. Sarge would want him to stay free and wait for the others. Hitch crowded closer to the new beam and waited.