Untoten Kreuzung
Chapter 14
First dawn's light peeked over the horizon as Dempsey stood last watch. The night before had been an exciting one, but beheld to them a rude awakening. He sat on the porch with his AR15 on his lap and his eyes heavy, but watchful. Every moment spent watching for zombies who might have returned from their hunt of the unfortunate gang, made him remember his time in World War II.
He was startled by the sound of the front door creaking open. Rune stepped out onto the porch, her eyes begging to shut again.
"What are you doing up?" he asked in a hushed voice.
"I just got up, thought I might check to see who was on watch." She replied scratching her head and afterwards yawning.
She closed the door behind her and sat on the porch railing.
"It's a bit chilly this morning." She commented.
"It'll warm up." Dempsey assured.
"I'm going to miss mornings like this when summer comes around."
"Why so?"
"It'll be way to freaking hot to do anything at any time of day."
After a moment of silence Dempsey went back to looking out at the surroundings. Rune shifted on the railing and pushed her bangs out of her face.
"What was it like in the military?" she asked suddenly. Dempsey looked at her a bit dumbfounded by her question, but quickly regaining his mental foothold.
"Why do you ask?" he questioned.
"My dad's side of the family was a military one. He was fourth generation to join, and he always told me stories of his time." She answered. It was a better answer than nothing, and Dempsey sighed and slid back into his chair a bit.
"I joined of my own accord, back when America had just declared war on Japan in 1941. I was Marine Corps, best of the best. First day I went to boot camp I'll never forget it. It was all running and orientation, drill sergeants screamin' at ya to hurry up." He reminisced. Rune chuckled a bit and pushed her hair behind her.
"Anyway," he started again, "I was in Shamrock Platoon, and the first real training we got was swimming in the good ol' Pacific Ocean. Me, being an Arizona boy, didn't really pick up on swimming, until that day. I had to learn to swim or drown before I even deployed."
"So you were in California for your training?" she asked.
"Yeah." He answered shortly.
Dempsey sat up a bit in the chair, before he started sliding out of it.
"I had a whole month of training before I got deployed to the Pacific campaign. It was then that I learned to fight like hell." He stopped and quietly lamented. He cleared his throat and began again.
"I was sent to one of the Philippine islands, our mission was to defend the island from Japanese attack. We didn't know it, but they were already on the island, waiting for us to give them an opening. Four nights after being placed there we were attacked. The Japanese had us surrounded and they killed most of the men, but I was knocked unconscious by getting smacked in the head with a rifle. I woke up, soaked and tied up in a half submerged bamboo cage."
Rune had already heard this part of his past, but she let him continue his story.
"There were three Japanese interrogators, only one of them could speak any English, and he wasn't very good at it. He kept asking me questions about what America was gonna do next for their attack. I didn't know so I didn't say anything, I wouldn't have said anything even if I had known. I was in that cage for a week with nothing to eat but a small cup of soggy rice and a few drips of water from a rag. Over the week I had gnawed on the bamboo and weakened the bars enough to where I could break it open, but my hands were still tied. I'd hidden a medal in my…bodily cavities, let's put it at that, and cut myself free."
"Since you're still here I can guess you escaped." She concluded.
"I got out alright, after knocking the shit out of the interrogators and taking their weapons. I ate all that they had and when I did the one who spoke English, he woke up so I got up and finished him off…." He hesitated for a moment, "it was the first time I'd ever killed man."
He was quiet for a long time after that.
"When did you get off the island?" Rune asked. He roused from his grim stupor and resumed.
"When I made it to the shore of the island I saw a US ship not too far out at sea, probably bringing cargo. I hitched a ride with them and told them about what had happened. I got a few medals and from that day on I became an outright badass." He ended, chuckling a bit at his own remark.
She didn't say anything to his story, but she instead looked out at the sun which was now an orange disk hanging low in the sky.
"Do you think we should wake the others up, or let them sleep in?" she asked.
"I don't know, it's up to you. Honestly, I just want to go back to sleep, but it's still my watch." He answered.
"Actually your watch ended five minutes ago, its Ed's watch now."
Dempsey stood up, stretched and let out a long yawn.
"Well, in that case, I'll go wake him up so I can get some last minute shut eye." He said before heading back inside. Rune could hear them inside, and from how Richtofen reacted he was not pleased. Richtofen came outside and noticed Rune sitting on the railing.
"You're already up?" he commented sleepily. She nodded and watched as he sat down in the chair that Dempsey had recently sat in. There was an awkward silence between them, broken in only by the morning birds and fading wind.
"About, the whole….couple thing….are you really into it or are you just backing off?" she started.
Richtofen stretched for a while and looked at her with his piercing green eyes.
"Vell, for one I thought you vere ze one who should determine zhat und two I've been holding off on doing anything because I'm unsure of your stance on zhis matter." He answered.
"So you're waiting for me to tell you what I think?"
"Exactly, und vhy you are bringing zhis up so early in ze day is beyond me?"
She sat on the railing, kicking her feet and thinking for a while.
"I've just been thinking about it recently and I'm confused at what I really need to do. I honestly don't know whether to hit the ground running or try and do this with thought." She admitted.
"Vhat does your heart tell you to do?" he questioned.
That was the last thing she would imagine coming from his mouth, but she really took it into consideration. Inside she felt that she should go on with it, but there was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that told her not to go through. She knew what he was going to try and do in the end, but she thought even harder about it and the chance that she could turn him around and make him change what was going to happen was a driving factor in her now made up mind. She turned to see him waiting for her answer; it was a bit unsettling seeing him staring at her so expectantly.
"My heart tells me to go through with this." She smiled weakly.
"Zhen it's settled, ve're a couple, vithin ze terms of mutual acknowledgement." He concluded.
"Mutual acknowledgement?"
"Vell, yes, ve haven't done anything yet, zhat vould distinguish it as a physical relationship or anything else."
She puffed at his comment and got down off the railing and walked back up the stairs. She had her hands at her waist and stared at him with a half-heartedly cross glare.
"Vhat?" he asked looking at her, but knowing full well what she wanted.
"What would it take to make it an actual relationship?" she asked, trying not to smile.
He crossed his arms and gave her a crookedly sincere grin.
"I don't know vhy you're asking me if you already know ze answer to zhat question." He answered. She gave an annoyed sigh and headed for the door, but before heading in she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Now I know you can do better zhan zhat." He mused. She turned back to him and gave him a semi-long kiss on the lips, before heading inside.
He chuckled a bit, watching her go back inside, trying not to let her face turn red.
"Mein kleine angehende Blume, werden Sie in vollen Blüte mit etwas Hilfe vom Arzt.*" He mused softly.
*"My little budding flower, you will bloom fully with some help from the doctor."