Dawn saw the two young women chance a small fire. Elsie simmered a pair of whitefish filets in a pan: it would be their first warm meal in two days, and they desperately needed the energy.
The blonde was exhausted; the reflection gazing back at her from the stream earlier that morning had exhibited dark shadows under reddened eyes.
D'uh…two days without sleep will do that, Else…
Lara had curled up with the blonde throughout the night in an effort to alleviate her anxiety, and although Elsie had been deeply moved by the brunette's concern, the reality was that her deep-rooted nightmares would never be so easily banished.
"What are you going to do when this is all over, Lara?" asked Elsie as she checked the underside of the filets. "Back to London, I guess?"
Lara paused from shredding fiddleheads into a cup. "In the short term, yes," she said. "After that, it's hard to say…wherever the journey takes me, I imagine…"
The blonde experienced a sharp pang in her stomach; of course, she'd known her new friend would quickly go back to her globetrotting life, but there was no denying what she was feeling.
The brunette looked at her, her brown eyes reflecting awareness.
"I will miss you, Elsie," said Lara softly. "I truly mean that."
The blonde smiled sadly.
Lara bit her lip.
"But that doesn't mean we'll never – "
"It's okay, Lara," said Elsie, smiling. "Really…your life is out there, I know that."
The brunette opened her mouth and closed it again. There would be no false platitudes here.
Elsie knew she would never see her friend again.
And it pained her more than she thought it could.
-oOo-
It was midafternoon when they first discerned the first faint sounds of civilization they'd experienced in days: a distant rumbling to the northwest, the source of which perplexed the young women.
"What is that…construction equipment?" mulled Lara.
"I'm thinking loggers?" offered Elsie. "We must be across the border by now…"
The brunette seemed hesitant.
"What's wrong?" asked Elsie, moving close. "Still worried about those Trinity types?"
Lara slowly shook her head. "I don't know," she said. "Bugger this…I should've taken the time to make a bow…"
"Doesn't seem their style to be making that much racket though, does it?" said the blonde.
Lara thought. "No," she finally admitted. "They generally wouldn't announce their presence so blatantly…"
They continued through the woods, the sounds getting louder and more distinct as they approached.
Definitely heavy machinery of some kind, thought Lara, the gurgle and roar of massive engines filling the woods.
They then heard it: what sounded alarmingly like a rifle shot.
Elsie froze. She looked back to Lara.
"…backfire…?" she suggested hopefully.
Then came another. And another.
Then a sound that could not be mistaken for anything else: the disturbingly familiar buzz of a machine gun.
Several, in fact.
"Holy shit," said Elsie, as the cacophony of weapons continued to build.
The ground shook. An explosion.
Followed by an echoing blast that sounded for all the world as though it had erupted from a cannon.
They glanced up; smoke was drifting above the trees in the distance, the clatter of automatic fire continuing unabated.
"Son of a monkey, Lara," exclaimed Elsie, worried. "It sounds like World War 3 over there…"
Lara tensed. Something was clearly amiss – there was no mistaking the sound of pitched battle. But it couldn't be happening. Not here.
The blonde pressed forward.
"Elsie!" said Lara.
The blonde looked back. "They'll never hear us coming over all that hubbub," she said. "But we have to see what's going on, don't we?"
Lara chewed her lower lip, following despite her misgivings. The girl was right, of course – and what practical option did they have?
A few hundred yards further ahead the sounds became almost ear-splitting. The rumble of large engines, rifle and machinegun fire, explosions and apparent cannon shot filled the air, none of it making any sense to Lara.
The woods were beginning to thin out; they were coming on the edge of a clearing.
Smoke wafted through the air, Lara detecting the distinct scent of spent cordite.
Movement ahead. The two young women crouched in the bushes.
A massive form emerged from the smoke, making straight towards them, shaking the ground as it came. Elsie grabbed Lara's arm.
The tracked vehicle sprouted a long, protruding cannon; clearly some sort of tank, painted in a camouflage pattern of tan, brown and green, bluish-white smoke billowed up from the machine's exhausts.
It suddenly stopped; pivoted to the left, and rumbled off. On its side was painted a distinct black cross bordered in white.
Elsie spun to look at Lara. "Did you see that?"
"I did," echoed the brunette. "But that's…"
Impossible…
"Laraaaaa…." said the blonde ominously.
The young Englishwoman hardly believe her own eyes; she'd been through situations that defied explanation before, but this…
More movement; human forms faintly visible through the smoke. All sporting serious-looking military equipment.
"Look at that one," exclaimed Elsie, pointing to a particular shape in their midst. "Is that a freaking bazooka?"
"This is so dodgy, Elsie," she said slowly. "I'd almost think it a dream, but…"
Elsie's grey eyes widened; her gaze directed back over Lara's shoulder.
"Was ist los, Fräulein?"
Lara spun around on her haunches.
It can't be…
"I think you were one war off," said the brunette.
"My kingdom for a TARDIS," lamented the blonde.
There, standing behind them, was a heavily armed soldier wearing the dreaded spotted camouflage uniform of the Waffen-SS.