Hell Hath None 11- Glory and Gore
Warning for Gore
They rode on for a while and Jack forced Norman back into the tank. She followed him down and took the time to explain everything in his area that he had to make sure for. She was patient with him and encouraging. Norman got the hang of everything quickly. Jack was alarmed with how easy it was to get along with Norman. He was someone you could just talk to. He was someone who asked questions, wanted to know.
"Who are they?" He asked, pointing to Jack's pictures. She looked at them a sighed through her nose deeply.
"They were my family." She said and paused. Norman looked at her. She felt his confusion and rolled her eyes. "They're dead now. Everyone on this wall is dead." She spotted the picture of her and her group. "Except us of course. We'll have to get a picture of you up here someday." She said with a small smile. Her hand rested on the picture of her parents. "These are my parents. And these two, with the kid? That's my sister and her husband. They had a kid. His name was Norman." She explained.
"What happened to them?" Norman asked quietly. She didn't look at him.
"My sister and her husband died about two years ago. They were here smuggling people out of Germany. They were caught and killed. Norman came into my care. I left him with my parents to come here. Mother had a stroke a few months ago. A month or so after that, Norman and my dad burned to death in a fire. Suspected arson but I haven't heard of any progress in figuring out who did it." She explained. Norman looked at her with pity and sympathy.
"I'm sorry." He said quietly. She shook her head and gave him a small smile.
"Don't worry about it." She said. The two sat in silence for a bit and Norman looked out his scope. "Hey, Norman?" He looked at her, letting her know he was listening. "You saw what I did right?" He nodded quietly. She looked apologetic. Out of her mouth came something very rare. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry you had to see that." She said quietly. Norman looked at her, unsure of how to tell her it was ok, Was it ok? Did he have the right to decide what is and isn't right?
"Hey, Jack? Come up here a minute." Don called through Norman's con. Hers was off and next to the seat. She moved to the back and climbed up and out of the tank. She took the spot Norman had occupied and mimicked his position. Boyd stood out of his hatch and Grady had already gone back in the tank. Jack suddenly felt as if she was in trouble. Her smile fell.
"Is this about the SS officer?" She asked, worried she had gone too far. Don and Bible looked to each other confused.
"No. Should it be?" Collier asked firmly. Jack messed with the strings on her boot. She almost looked like a nervous kid who had just got caught stealing out of the cookie jar. She shrugged.
"Didn't start worrying about it until Daniel spoke to me about it. Said I had gone too far." She said looking at Collier and Boyd. The men shared a slightly surprised look.
"As far as I'm concerned, it's not his place. That man didn't put him through what he put you through. Did you feel it was justified?" Boyd asked her. She frowned and nodded. Bible shrugged. "Then don't worry about it. We trust you. You don't go around just bashing everyone's heads in. You don't do shit without a reason." Boyd explained.
"You knew that SS officer better than any American in that square. I say only your opinion mattered." Collier said firmly, looking at her reassuringly. He wasn't put off by her actions. He had seen American soldiers do much worse with less reason. Some of them did what they did just because they could. He knew Jack must have had a decent explanation for how she acted. "But that's not why you're up here." Don said and looked at her. "As you know, you have to go over to the tank as a driver. I need to know if that's going to be a problem. I need to know what happened."
"It was nothing, it's-" She tried.
"I'll decide what's nothing. Tell us what happened. I wanna make sure my crew's safe when they aren't here in Fury." He stated firmly. Jack looked to Boyd for help but her shrugged his shoulder and encouraged her to tell. She sighed through her nose.
"We were just talking at first. He told me about how the assistant driver died. Then he got on me about what I did. Pissed me off. He has no room to talk. He's worse than I am if you think what I did was bad." She told them.
"What he do?" Boyd asked.
"To me or …"
"Both. Tell us what he did that makes him no better." Boyd suggested.
"He kills the families. When I first got here, we came across a few families that were helping to get people out of the country. There were three. The first one had Jews hiding in their house. Daniel and I had to go in and make sure the house didn't have any Nazi's hiding. He found the Jews and gunned them down without a word. He said he couldn't tell if they were Nazi's or not. He was full of shit. He just hates Jewish people. Feels it's their fault we're here in the first place." She paused and pulled out her cigarettes. She gave one to Boyd and one to Don. She lit up before continuing. Don and Boyd were listening intently.
"Once he was done there, he came back and gunned down the family who owned the house." She stopped and started laughing grimly. "I was screaming, had no idea what he was doing. He just told me they deserved it."
"They weren't with the Nazi's though." Boyd clarified.
"He doesn't care." She said and inhaled. She spoke as she exhaled. "Next family was just two teenagers and three kids. I don't know where the parents went. They didn't tell Daniel so he gunned them down. They were just kids. Didn't even have a gun in the house. And when he questions someone, it's not just sitting down and talking either. He takes them down, puts them on the ground. I've seen him kick someone's face in. What I saw him do was inhumane, he didn't have a reason to be so violent towards people who weren't even involved. So when I pointed that out to him, he wasn't pleased. I smacked him once or twice and he full on punched me in the nose. I guess I was asking for it, hu?" She said with a small laugh and looked at Don. Don had his mouth pressed into a thin line.
"I can understand fighting, but from what it looks like, he tried to kill you." Boyd said and poked her neck. She rubbed the bruising. She swallowed.
"Daniel, uh, he has a short temper." She said quietly, looking into her lap as she finished her cigarette. "I'll be fine over there. He and I have fought before. All though choking me was a new one." She admitted with a small laugh, trying to be reassuring. "We can work together well even when we aren't getting along. I'm the best fit going over there." She stated firmly. Collier looked at her, not sure he was comfortable with it but she had a point. She knew Daniel and would be a more cohesive fit. He nodded.
"Alright. I'll let you know when to go over." He said to her. She gave him a reassuring smile.
"Hey, War Daddy, you gotta stop for a minute, one of our tracks ain't working right." Someone called over the radio.
"We don't have a minute, we gotta keep going." Don called back.
"We don't have a choice." The man called through. Don sighed and ordered an all stop. Gordo and Grady were sent to go help. Norman climbed out and took a minute to stretch his legs. Don went to go talk to the other tops and Boyd was around somewhere. Jack was alone in the tank. She curled up in her seat and stuck her head between her knees, trying to calm down and breathe. Guilt washed over her for what she did to the German, no longer convinced she was right in doing that to him. Her memory revisited the time she spent as a captive. How she was starved and beat like an animal. Every time they caught her sleeping, nearly freezing water was dumped on her.
They were shouting at her in German. She couldn't understand them. They had been asking her for an hour. The two Nazi's gave up and one kicked her in the face, hard. Her vision was fuzzy and she tensed up when someone gently grabbed her arms and helped her up.
"It's me." The boy said. She relaxed. He was the only person she could trust or relax around. That boy was a saint in her mind. He snuck her food and water when he could. "Please stay strong. Don't let them know you don't know anything." He begged her. She was so tired, so sore. Her hope was gone and she knew she was going to die. Tears slipped down her face, cutting through the dirt and blood.
"I can't." She confessed weakly. "Make it stop. Please, just kill me." She begged. She wasn't sure how much more she could take. She had been there for a month. She had long since given up hope of rescue. And she had no reason to go back. Her group was dead. This was the third time she had outlived a group. She didn't want to do it anymore.
Jack blamed herself for their deaths. She should have had someone with her or had been more careful. She was on guard and she did nothing to warn them. They were killed and it was her fault. Guilt tore at her more than every kick to the stomach or blow to the face.
The boy looked at her with sorrow. When he first met her, she swore up and down she would get out of there and come back to blow their asses to kingdom come. She had a fire inside her and now it was gone.
He looked up as a strong German voice called out. The bow leaned over Jack and spoke quickly.
"They are coming to take you outside. Please, try to stay strong, please." He begged her. sHE looked at him and nodded. She would try. The boy backed up as two soldiers came in and dragged her out and tossed her in the mud. Her hands were behind her back in restraints and she rolled onto her side so she wouldn't be stuck face down in the mud. Her body throbbed in pain and she curled in around herself as a foot struck her stomach. The boy stood outside, watching powerless to stop them. An SS officer approached and rolled her onto her back with his foot. She looked up to him and tried to must up a glare. SHE told the boy she would be strong and she would try. He sneered down at her and spoke in German. The boy translated.
"I thought you had looked familiar when you came into this camp. I had thought you were a ghost." The boy translated as the officer took a picture out of his pocket. He briefly showed it to her. It was a picture she kept in her coat pocket. They took her coat when they reached the camp and they emptied out the pockets. She always kept two pictures in her pocket One of her and her sister and One of her and Norman. "You two look alike." He said, referring to her sister and chuckled to himself. He spoke in German and the boy hesitated before translating. "She, she was a pleasure. Put up more of a struggle than you. I like that in a girl."
Anger coursed through Jack's veins at his words and she kicked at him, trying to hit his legs. He laughed and stood on her chest. He took a lighter to the picture and set it on fire. He dropped it next to her face and let it burn. He ordered for her to be brought to her feet. Two soldiers dragged her up and held her. The SS officer waved to someone, motioning them forward and a soldier lead out the little boy she gave her hat to. He was crying and had a bruise on his cheek. She struggled, trying to get at the officer.
"You leave him alone, you pig!" She yelled. He asked her questions she didn't know the answer to. Where were the American camps, how many tanks did they have, where was the supplies held, all of which she didn't know. She tried to tell them she didn't know but the officer didn't believe her and put a bullet in the child's head.
That was her fault too. It was her fault he got her sister. Jack should have done something to keep her sister from going to Germany, she should have stopped her. To make matters worse her sister wasn't just killed. The officer had assaulted her, defiled her before killing her. Jack hoped they had killed her brother in law first but didn't hold onto much hope. The same fate would have happened to her if the boy hadn't helped her. He never left her side and for some reason, it was enough to keep the Nazi's away
Jack blamed herself for each person they killed when she could not answer his questions. Each bullet to the head, each throat slit, each person who had their head kicked in or each person who had drowned in their own blood because of a punctured lung. All at the hands of the SS officer. He wasn't afraid to do his own dirty work.
She memorized his face and equated him with the devil. He was Satan to her and Jack swore to herself that if she survived, she would come after him with unhindered hatred.
The worst she watched him do was right after they left the concentration camp. The smell of burning flesh was still fresh in her lungs and nose. The Nazi's had set up camp and the SS officer had pulled a man outside. He was a soldier for the German army. The boy was by her side and explained to her what was going on.
"He has betrayed the German Army. He tried to help prisoners escape." The boy said with his thick accent. "He's going to do to him what the Vikings did." He tried to explain. Jack watched with horror as the man had the prisoner held down near a tree. He cut open the man's torso. She could hear his screams as if he was right next to her. Jack felt sick as the SS officer pulled out his intestine and nailed it to a tree. The man was still screaming. The two soldiers holding him down forced him up and made him walk around the tree, wrapping his innards around it until he bled out. Blood covered the SS officer and the two soldiers and they reminded Jack of demons straight from hell.
Jack had been sitting in the tank in a ball, trying to breathe. The memories of the man and his actions flooded her sense. She could smell everything, see the gore, feel the blood covering her. She smelled the death and burning bodies and the screams of those in pain deafened her. The last memory had been too much and her stomach couldn't handle it. She pulled herself out of the tank and got onto the ground as quick as she could.
She began to vomit. She tried to be as quiet as she could and tears of frustration and guilt and pain ran down her face. When she was done, she stood with her hands resting on her knees and she cried quietly. It took Jack a few minutes to get herself together and she rubbed her eyes to get rid of the tears. She was glad everyone was away from the tank and dealing with something else but people slowly began returning to their places. Norman and Boyd had returned and Norman pointed her bent over figure to Boyd.
"She ok?" He asked Bible. Bible pressed his lips together and looked at Jack. She was breathing heavy but had stopped crying.
"She'll be ok. Go ahead get in, I'll talk to her." He told Norman. He nodded and did what he was told and climbed in. Bible walked over to her as she stood. "Hey. You get sick?" He asked. She nodded.
"Yeah. Just too much at once." She said. Bible nodded, understanding what she was referring to.
"You still worried about what you did?" He asked. She bent back over and nodded. She was so tired. He crouched down and put a hand on her shoulder. "Look, none of us blame you. We can't even imagine what those fuckers did, and I'm not sure we want to. You're only human, Jack. You ain't a saint." He said. She looked at him with a small smile. "You gotta learn to forgive yourself. Once you get that, you can get past this." He said motioning to the vomit on the ground. They both stood up.
"How can I forgive myself if I'm not even sure I need to?" She asked. He was so unsure about whether she was in the right or she was wrong. Bible thought on it before speaking.
"You a Christian right?" He asked and she nodded. "Then you know Jesus Christ forgives all. If you're so worried, pray on it. Ask to be forgiven and he'll do it. Now," He paused. "if he can forgive you, why can't you forgive yourself?" Bible asked. Jack cracked a smile.
""Cause I'm not a saint." She teased and Bible chuckled.
"Ain't that the truth." He laughed. She shoved him. Bible was right. She couldn't dwell on it. What was done was done and she couldn't undo it. Time to move on.
"Thank you, Bible. I mean it." She said with a small smile. He returned it and nodded.
"No problem, don't worry about it. Just make sure War Daddy don't see that." He said pointing to the vomit on the ground.
"Make sure I don't see what?" He asked, coming around the side of the tank. The two started, taken off guard. Don spotted the vomit on the ground and sighed though his nose, exasperated. "Would you stop doing that?" He asked.
"It's not like I can help it." She said to him indignantly. He smiled slightly and Boyd tried to laugh quietly.
"Let's get goin'. He said to them. "Jack, up top. I wanna make sure you eat and keep it down before you head over to the next tank." He said. She nodded and they got back up on the tank as it rolled out. She sat up top with Don and chewed on a few crackers he had. It was just the two of them and Jack felt worry creeping back into her. Bible didn't have a problem with what she did, but did Don? He was looking dead ahead, watching the road. She looked to him.
"Sir?" She started almost timidly. He looked to her, slightly surprised.
"Sir?" he asked, confused. "You haven't called me 'sir' since you first got here." He pointed out and looked back at the road. She swallowed nervously. "What's on your mind?" He asked, knowingly. He had an idea of what it was but wanted her to say it out loud.
"What I did today," She paused. What was she going to say? Do you hate me? Was it wrong?
"Don't worry about it." He assured her with a small smile, eyes still on the road. She looked at him confused and he saw it out of the corner of her eye. "Jack, no one who had their head on right blames you." He stated and smiled slightly. "Hell, just this morning I jumped one of those sons of bitches and stabbed his face a few times." He told her and looked at Jack. His voice lowered a bit. "Don't worry about it." He said slightly quieter with a reassuring smile. She smiled back and nodded.
"Thanks." She offered quietly. He reached out and nudged her leg, eyes tuning back to the road. The road in silence for a few beats before he spoke up again.
"Hey," he said getting her attention. She looked at him. "Iche liebe dich." She snorted and shoved him.
"I swear to God, Don. You're gonna get me killed." She joked. They road on in silence for a while in open field. Everyone was quiet, getting some time to relax. Even the other tanks were quiet.
Without warning, something whizzed through the air and hit one of the tanks in the back. Jack curled in a ball on her side and covered her head while Don crouched into the tank. She sat up and say the top of the third tank fly off. Don yelled to the drivers and Boyd. She slid off the tank and ran to the one behind her. She climbed into her seat and she saw Daniel climb back to load.
"Welcome aboard Edwards." The man in charge said and ordered to revers. Her and the three other tanks backed up and faced the field.
"What the hell was that?" She yelled. "Where the fuck is it?" She yelled. The top told her he didn't know. She looked through her scope, trying to find it. They found it and Don called over the radio.
"It's a goddamn tank." He called.
"I see it." She called to her top. He acknowledged it and told Don.
"12 o'clock, eight hundred yards!" He called. Don spotted it and reported back. Jack watched as Boyd and Grady launched at the tank and it exploded in a shower of white.
"Don, let's get the fuck out of here." Her top called. Don told them to stay and hit the son of a bitch. Jack thought her was gone, but supposed not if they still had to fire. The tanks fired and her Top told her to stop the tank. "Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop!" he repeated. She halted the tank at the first stop. They sat in silence and waited, watching the smoke clear.
"All right all tanks move forward." Jack heard Don call over the radio. Her top relayed it and she made the tank move. It was challenging driving the tank by herself but she could do it. She followed the instructions from her top and trusted him to not make them do anything stupid. Daniel was loading the tank.
"Nice to have you again, Jackie." Daniel called to her.
"Shut your face and focus on loading." She called to him. A German anti-tank rolled out and fired. The shot whistled past. Jack watched as the shots from the canons did nothing to stop it. Fear flooded her veins like ice and she held her breath, praying they could stop it. Nothing was working and the tank fired. She heard her top swear and a few others share the same words. Her stomach knotted in anxiety. Daniel and the gunner kept loading and firing. The German's fired.
"They got Peterson, God!" Her top yelled over the radio. Jack could feel the blood draining from her face. This was it, they were all going to be blown to bits. She heard Don shouting orders and her Top relayed. She did what she was told and looked out her scope at the thing.
"Fucking, hell. What the fuck is that?" She exclaimed at the sight of the German weapon. It was a monster compared to what they usually face and she felt they were extremely outmatched. She heard the calls for fire.
"Something's wrong!" Daniel called. Something was wrong with the loading process.
"Fucking fix it!" She yelled at him. A few seconds later she heard something fire and saw something coming right at them. "DOWN!" She yelled. Daniel ducked into the driver's seat on top of her. He covered her as the top of their tank was blown off. Fire erupted and the tank was filled with smoke. The heat and weight of Daniel and the tank's debris was crushing her and she struggled to push him off. He was barely alive but the large piece of metal sticking out of him told her he didn't have long.
The metal ripped through him and exited his stomach and stabbed her in the shoulder. It was shallow and barely went in past a half an inch but it hurt and was bleeding. She could hear Daniel trying to breathe and she pushed him off and to the side.
"Oh, my God." She whispered. "Daniel." She said quietly and couldn't stop the tears from escaping. She had been crying a lot lately. Tears ran down Daniel's face as well.
"Sorry. We don't see eye…eye to eye." He struggled to get out. She tried to shush him but he continued. "But, you…..you are.." he gasped in air. "my friend…you gotta…gotta go home for me." He said as he yanked off his dog tags. He yelled in pain. "Go..go ho-" he was cut off by a strangled noise in his throat and his body went rigid before the light dulled from his eyes. Jack rested her hand on his, gently gripping the dog tags and she cried silently. He and Daniel hadn't seen eye to eye, but they were friends. They had survived for so long in Germany and kept tabs on each other. Now he was gone.
Jack took the dog tags and put them around her neck and closed his eyes. She sat there for a moment before trying to stand. She looked back and saw the fire was getting close to her. She needed to leave before the tank exploded. She tried to stand but yelled in pain. Looking down, Jack saw a piece of metal in her thigh. She swore and struggled to stand.
The men in Fury were swearing up a storm. Even Norman joined in on the yelling. Don told them they were all that was left. Boyd asked if he had a visual on Jack.
"Negative. Only the top half was gone. There's a chance she's ok, but right now we gotta take this fucker out!" he called down through the radio. "Now, fire!" he yelled. Boyd fired and Grady reloaded. Don tried to get them behind the tank and the two exchanged blows. They were all shouting and Boyd finally hit and did some damage.
"One more, one more, come one, Grady!" Boyd yelled and Grady loaded as fast as he could. They fired again and the German tank stopped. The men in Fury began breathing easy. They halted and Don stood with his gun. He fired at the two Germans who ran out of the burning tank.
Don saw a German leader stand up and fire at him. Norman tried to fire but only got a few shots in before he ran out. HE tried to reload but a gunshot rang out. He looked through his scope to see the Nazi drop dead.
"Gordo, was that you?" Don called down. Norman and Gordo shared looks of confusion. None of them had gotten him and Don didn't get a chance to fire.
"No, man. Thought that was you!" He called back. Grady and Boyd stood out of their hatch and Don turned around. Jack was lying on the ground between the tank she was in and Fury. Her gun was pointed at the German tank, waiting to see if more would come out. Don smiled slightly, relieved she was ok. Grady and Bible cheered and told Gordo and Norman what was going on. The tank behind her burned as did the German tank. She stood and tried to run to the tank.
Jack only got a few feet before the tank behind her exploded, sending debris every where. She dropped and covered her head as the men dropped into their own tank for protection.
"Jesus Christ." Grady said. "How the fuck did she survive that?' He asked.
"Told, you only the top was taken out. Divers would have still be ok after that shot." He explained and opened the hatch again. "Hey!" he called to her. "You ok?" She smacked the ground and looked up at him furisouly.
"DO I fucking look ok to you?!" Jack hollered. The three men chuckled a bit and Grady and Boyd went to go help her. The severity of the situation hung over everyone like a thick fog. They were all that was left. Don looked around the field, breathing hard. They were all that's left.
He looked at the burning tanks around him. Grady and Bible helped Jack into the tank. Boyd was going to patch her up the best he could. Grady sat in his seat and rubbed his face. Bible took off his helmet and rubbed his hair before getting the first aid shit out. Jack sat in silence, looked down at the dog tags in her hand. It was her fault he died.
Gordo was breathing heavy and Norman pat him on the arm. Don was calling over the radio to someone.
"Great fucking job, Gordo." Norman said to him. Gordo took a drink and Jack startled when Don beat the radio.
"radio's 86, we're on our own." Don told them. Jack yelled when Bible pulled the metal out of her leg. He began dressing the wound. None of her injuries were anything to worry about, they were shallow but painful. After that it was silent. Boyd looked like he was trying to keep it together. Jack looked back at collier and saw the same thing.
Jack had let go of her inhibitions back with Daniel and tears silently fell down her face. They had just been slaughtered. Don pat Boyd firmly on the shoulder and told him good shot. Boyd told them he was just the instrument not the hand.
"God didn't call us today. You hear me boys?" He asked as he lit a cigarette after dressing Jack's leg.
"What the hell's he doin' up there?" Grady asked. "Big pair of dice?"
"Lord's protection." Bible called to him.
"Boyd don't we got it?" Grady called. Bible agreed and they began to laugh. Jack put a hand over her eyes as a smile cracked on her face. "Norman was mowing them fuckers down too, wasn't he." Grady said. Bible messed with his mustache and congratulated Norman. Jack sighed and spoke to him too.
"Told you, Norman. Not so bad, hu?" She asked him, hand still over her eyes. Don rested and hand on her head before stroking the side of her face. Grady beat the roof of the tank. "Best job I ever had." He laughed. Boyd repeated Grady, laughing. Jack joined in laughing and said it quietly. Soon enough Gordo said it too and to her surprise so did Norman.
Jack leaned back against one of Don's legs and looked up at his serious face. She offered him a comforting smile and he looked down to her, stroking her face.
"We're still open for business." He stated as he grabbed his helmet. Jack sat up and shook off her jacket. She grabbed some gauze and pressed it against her shoulder. It was the same one as her gunshot wound but the metal struck lower. It was shallow but it hurt. "Let's head out meet hos Krauts, do what we're told." Don ordered solemnly. "There's a wave comin' in and we're the rock to break that wave."
"Vamanos." Gordo said quietly.
"Gorod, get us out of here." Don ordered and stood up. The tank rolled forward and every put their helmets back on. Jack patched herself up with the help of Boyd and put her jacket back on. After a few minutes she stood up too, meeting Don.
He looked at her and she could see the pain clear on his face. She wanted so bad to reach out and pull him close. But they both knew he couldn't. He had to stay strong for the boys inside. Seeing that pain on his face was worse than anything Jack had experienced all day. And she couldn't help but feel some of it was her fault.