Chapter 14:
Hogan and Kalina made it back to the city after about twenty minutes of walking. They scanned their current area for any sign of Wagner and/or Krueger. So far, they turned out unlucky in their search. Restaurants, cafes, stores, theaters, and government buildings of all kinds. Not a thing could be found regarding either missing man.
"Where could they be?" Kalina wondered, seeing nothing more than the usual for the city.
"We have to start thinking like they are. Now if you were the most wanted people in Germany, where would you go?" Hogan replied.
The young teenager looked around the city as they continued to walk, when she stopped in her tracks and gasped.
"Colonel Hogan, look!" She cried, pointing across the street.
The American turned in the direction of Kalina's finger and gaped at the sight.
Two Gestapo officers, completely matching the descriptions of Wagner and Krueger, hid behind a bush in front of a store. Wagner had a luger in the clearing that was pointed at a Luftwaffe colonel on the other side of the street. The colonel walked out of a store and nodded 'goodnight' to the store keeper before starting his trek. An older man, but a tad younger and taller than Klink was. He had grayish black hair that was wavy, a mustache to match, dark blue eyes, and about 5'11".
"That's Colonel Lingenfelder of Stalag 16!" Kalina wailed softly.
"And looks like Wagner's found a new murder victim," Hogan added, watching the event unfold before him.
"What do we do?!"
"Stand behind me and don't watch."
Kalina buried her face in Hogan's side and shivered with the expecting gunfire.
Once sure Kalina was not watching, the American took out his pistol, cocked the weapon, and fired in Wagner and Krueger's direction. He just barely got the major, but missed by a couple centimeters.
The sound of gunfire had people screaming and running away from the area, including Colonel Lingenfelder.
When the two Gestapo officers spotted Hogan and Kalina, they took off running in the opposite direction of them.
The American looked down at the teenager beside him and immediately back up in the enemy's direction of travel.
"Go," he ordered. "Start firing and don't stop for whatever reason."
Hogan and Kalina took off sprinting through an alley, following Wagner and Krueger from not too far behind. The Germans fired their guns at them, and Hogan and Kalina fired back, but no one got a lucky shot. Sometimes the colonel and Klink's daughter would fall to the ground when gunfire was heard and stayed down until it had ceased. Once it had, they would get back up on their feet and continue running.
Wagner and Krueger eventually lost track of the two and looked at one another.
"You head north, I'll head south," the major said roughly.
"Jawohl, Herr Major," Krueger answered, and bolted off to the right.
Wagner stood silently in the shadows for a moment, then turned left and resumed running.
As Hogan and Kalina continued sprinting, they eventually had to come to a stop for breather. Their lungs burned, and their throats felt tight as they gasped for air.
"Do, do you think they're, still around this area?" Kalina asked.
"Without a doubt. Come on," Hogan said, gently pulling the teenager with him.
The two ran through many alleys and many streets until coming to a halt in the middle of the sidewalk. In front of them was Wagner, and behind them was Krueger, both armed with loaded pistols.
Hogan and Kalina looked for any possible way out of their trap, but it was useless. If any of them tried to make a move, they would get shot without a doubt in the world. While they were stuck, Hogan decided to might as well expose Wagner for who he really was.
"Nice of you to finally show up, Colonel Weber," the disguised colonel said, with his thick German accent.
Wagner's eyes dilated in size and looked at his two prisoners in horror.
"How did you know that? Who told you my real identity?" He snarled.
"We have our resources," Hogan answered, showing no fear or intimidation.
"Why'd you kill Colonel Klink? You left his only child an orphan!" Kalina demanded, jumping right into the topic.
"Why shouldn't have I killed Colonel Klink? That man was nothing more than an idiot anyways. A disgrace to the Fatherland, and a disgrace to our Fuhrer!" Wagner snapped back.
Kalina shook her head, fighting back all the anger she felt in her body.
"You're the disgrace to the Fatherland. What kind of sick, twisted mind murders one of their own countrymen?" She hissed.
"If you know so much about me, you must know what that man did to me! He ruined my life!" The major gnawed.
"So you didn't get a promotion you wanted; it's not like it was the end of the war for Germany." Hogan commented.
"I would have made a lot better of a kommandant than Colonel Klink made his entire three years stationed there. The prisoners shivering under my stare, guards doing my every command and request, the cold air blowing through my cap…"
"The insanity running through your head." Kalina murmured, to herself.
"Colonel, you're not thinking straight. Think of the grief you've caused Colonel Klink's loved ones. The other Luftwaffe officers that were your comrades. Think of the dishonor you'll bring General Burkhalter because of your decisions that have been made," the disguised American said.
"I don't work for the Luftwaffe anymore. I no longer serve under the command of General Burkhalter. I serve under the Gestapo, I serve under myself," Wagner answered coolly.
Hogan stared momentarily at Wagner, then turned his eyes to the street. Several cars were driving by and making traffic busy. An idea then popped into his head and looked down at Kalina. If he waited for the right moment, he would be able to get both himself and Klink's daughter out of their predicament. It would take exact timing and an immense amount of adrenaline to pull it off.
He turned to Kalina with a certain look in his eyes. He was sending her some type of message and only got part of it.
She nodded in response, not sure what was about to happen, but trusted Hogan's judgment.
The American continued watching traffic, waiting for just the right moment for their escape. It had to be busy, but not too busy.
"Try all you may, Herr General, but there's no where for you to go. One step in any direction, and there'll be a bullet in your head so fast you won't know what happened," Wagner warned, tightening the grasp on his pistol.
Seeing a Gestapo car coming down the street, Hogan snapped his eyes quick to the teenager at his side and back at the oncoming automobile.
The two grabbed onto each other's hand and jumped into the street, just barely making it past the car and to the other side of the street. Once on the other side, they paused for a moment, and Hogan turned to look at Kalina.
"Split up. I'll go left, you go right," he said.
Kalina nodded and sprinted off in the opposite direction as her friend.
"Shoot them! Shoot them, you fool!" Wagner hollered, at Krueger.
The captain looked at his comrade in horror, threw down his gun, and bolted away from the current setting he was in.
"Look! Those two officers!" A man cried, pointing at Wagner and Krueger.
"That's Major Wagner and Captain Krueger of the Gestapo!" Another man shouted.
"Someone call the Gestapo!" A third man called out.
Shoppers, businessmen, and tourists ran throughout the streets screaming and searching for cover.
"Feuer! Feuer! Sie sind Mörder!" A Gestapo major nearby yelled, at his men.
The sound of machine guns, pistols, and rifles rang throughout the city of Berlin. As men continued to fire, Wagner dodged each bullet and ran after Kalina making his own gunshots.
Hearing gunfire drawing near her, Klink's daughter ran faster and went as far as she could. Her lungs burned, her throat was tightening, and she felt as if she was slowly losing air. She eventually had to take a break and stopped at the top of a bridge. Unknown to her, it was the bridge her father had been at the night he was shot and fell into the river below.
Kalina wrapped her left arm around her and kept herself standing by latching onto the side of the bridge. Tears streamed from her eyes from running so much and getting dust in them. She heaved fast breaths in and out, desperately trying to catch some oxygen.
Wagner came out from the same alley he had the night he shot and murdered Klink. He now intended to do the same thing with his daughter.
On the other side of the bridge, Hogan was about to enter the area, when he spotted Wagner less than 100 feet from Kalina and hid behind a building wall. He leaned his eyes forward and observed everything happening before him, making sure to fire his gun and kill Wagner if necessary.
The Gestapo major loaded and cocked his gun, then made a direct aim at Kalina's head.
"Kalina, duck!" Hogan yelled, from his spot.
The teenager grew confused, then turned to her left, felt her jaw drop in horror, and automatically bent backwards onto the bridge to avoid the oncoming gunfire.
Wagner fired his pistol, but missed the teenager by several inches. Unfortunately, Kalina bent a little too far and lost her balance. She cried out, fell off the bridge, and landed in the water below.
The American swung the arm he held his pistol in out and quickly fired at the rogue major. He hit him right in the left side of his neck and watched Wagner collapse to the ground in a heap. He was dead instantly.
Hogan put his gun away and hurried to the edge of the sidewalk to help Kalina out of the freezing water. Once she swam close enough to him, Hogan took her hand and pulled his little friend out of the river.
"Are you alright?" He asked, worried.
Kalina nodded while her teeth chattered and body shivered from the cold.
"I'm...c, c cccc cooolllld," she answered, with a whimper.
The colonel took the girl's wet jacket off, then proceeded to take off his jacket and wrapped it around Kalina for warmth. Hogan then brought her close to him and held her tight.
"Come on, hon. Let's go get you some nice, warm clothes to put on," he said kindly.
"What about Wagner?" Klink's daughter asked.
"No one has to worry about him anymore. He won't be hurting anyone ever again. Come on."
As the two were about to leave and go to a nearby store, they stopped when they heard approaching footsteps. Hogan and Kalina grabbed their guns and pointed in the direction of the sound. They became surprised when they saw it was Krueger holding his hands up in surrender.
Kalina tightened the grasp on her firearm, cocked it, and was ready to fire, when Krueger begged for mercy.
"Wait! Don't shoot! Don't shoot...I've got nothing, check my pockets if you must."
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't fire this gun right now!" The young Klink snarled. "You've dishonored the Luftwaffe, you've dishonored General Burkhalter, and you killed my best friend!"
"I never shot that gun the night your father died. I tried to help him even. Major Wagner told me to forget it, though. He said he was already dead and couldn't be saved. I feared Wagner, so I listened to his orders and ran off with him," Krueger said, his eyes holding sincere guilt and fear. "All I wanted that night was to catch an escaped prisoner and bring him back to Headquarters. I never wanted anybody to get hurt, and I never wanted your father to die that night. I met Colonel Klink once two years ago...he was the nicest, kindest Luftwaffe colonel I ever met...I didn't mean for him to die, I didn't want him to die. Arrest me. Court martial me. Send me to the Russian Front, but please don't kill me. I need to make things right. I need to make amends with General Burkhalter and the Gestapo. To tell them how sorry I am for Wagner's actions and how I was too much of a coward to stop any of it."
Kalina's hand began to quiver and felt a rush of anger flow out of her body. She lowered her gun and slowly put it back in her purse, her eyes never leaving sight of the captain. The girl turned her eyes quickly to Hogan, who looked back at her with uncertainty in his eyes. Both turned back to Krueger, and Hogan kept his gun leveled and ready to shoot.
"I'm so sorry, meine Kleine...if I could bring your father back, I would do so within a heartbeat. He didn't deserve to die. It should have been Wagner that died that night, not Herr Kommandant Klink," the Gestapo officer said, choking up.
Kalina seemed to enter some sort of trance, her eyes not completely connecting with reality. Her body gently shivered, but not from the cold or the dampness of her clothes. It shivered with empathy and a bit of forgiveness. Her father had always been against violence and revenge. He did not approve of killing innocent lives. Even if the person was guilty he still did not approved of it. He believed in civil punishment and to give others a second chance if they were truly sincere regarding the mistakes they had made and wished to make up for them. She wanted to be remembered for the same way of living as her father did on a daily basis.
Krueger hung his head and closed his eyes in shame. He may be able to make up for dishonoring the Luftwaffe, he may be able to make up for dishonoring the organization he worked for...but he could never make up for the loss of a good man's life. A great kommandant had been lost. A terrific military officer was now missing under the command of a well respected general. And most of all an innocent little teenager had lost her father. Her best friend in the entire world was now gone.
As he anticipated the sound of a gun to be loaded and fired, he heard the noise of something clicking and felt a metal chain be locked around his wrists. He opened his eyes, looked down, and was shocked to see Kalina putting handcuffs on him. She latched them shut and made sure they were tight, but not suffocating his wrists.
Kalina looked up at Krueger with her little blue eyes and made an attempt to smile. A sad, faint one was the best she could do.
The captain watched her a little longer, then felt a small grin grow on his face and nodded.
Hogan could not help himself but give a soft smile at the sight. He lowered his gun, put it back in its holster, then placed a gentle hand on Kalina's shoulder.
"Let's go, kiddo. Before you catch pneumonia in those clothes," he said.
Klink's daughter gently nodded and walked with Hogan, and the two escorted their prisoner to Headquarters. It was time to end this tragedy once and for all.