Disclaimer: CSI: NY and all the characters from the show are owned by CBS, Paramount, Jerry Bruckheimer, Anthony Zuiker, and other people who are much more creative and wealthier than me. Any other characters are my own and resemblance to any other person is a pure coincidence. Well mostly. Probably. No wait, mostly.
Thanks as always for your continued interest in this story. I honestly never thought this would be as lengthy as it has turned out to be. Here is another good, long chapter. Enjoy.
Chapter 34: Battle of Wills
They're gone now, thank God; my team escaped and now the Germans will have to find their own way to cross the river. Not to mention Kressing. I'm no shrink, but I've seen this son of a bitch enough to know how he works. He'll want to take his time with me, which is time he isn't going after my team.
The Germans are coming closer, I can hear them talking along with a jeep. One of the German voices is Kressing, issuing orders in a cold, authoritarian way.
"There's one of them." I hear one of the soldiers telling his superior. Thanks for the language lessons Tom I offer silently. I'll miss him. I'll miss all of them. They've been a family to me in every possible way and my only regret is that I won't be able to be with them when they get to safety.
A German pair of boots is right beside my head.
"I'm so glad to see you Major. Time to rest."
A sharp kick to my face sends me into unconsciousness.
Kressing looks down at the unconscious American a sense of gloating triumph pulsating through him. In his great rivalry with the American Major, Kressing is now certain that he has won. To the victor go the spoils and to Kressing, the Major is his prize. Kressing is going to kill him, but he isn't going to be quick or gentle about it.
"Jammer, Schrader put the Major in our jeep. We are heading back to San Giovanni's Church to teach the Major about proper German hospitality. The rest of you keep looking for them."
Jammer grabs the Major under the armpits and Schrader takes him by the legs as they haul him to the jeep. Kressing follows them full of triumph.
Contrary to his orders, the rest of Major Taylor's team does not continue making their way to Allied lines. The moment they got out of his sight, they defy his orders.
"There's not a snowball's chance in Hell we are leaving him." Flack states unequivocally.
"You're damn right we aren't leaving him" Danny agrees. "Let's find a place to cross this river and go after them. Where do you think they'll take him?"
"San Giovanni's." Stella says, her heart gladdened that each and every one of them is just as resolute as her to rescue Mac.
"Is there another way to get back to the church Stella?" Lindsay asks.
Stella thinks about it for a second. "Yes there is. We'll need to cross the river at not the next bridge but the one after it. That'll take us to the edge of the forest and close to the church.
"Let's go." Flack says, and they head off, determined to save their friend.
Kressing can hardly contain his glee as his jeep makes the journey back to San Giovanni's. His mind is full of possibilities as to what he'll do to the unconscious man in the back. He could stab him in the liver, one of the most agonizing ways to die. Or he could flay him alive, that one has promise. Or he could burn down the church with him inside. Each of these is a tantalizing possibility. Not a moment too soon the jeep pulls up to the church. As Jammer and Schrader carry the unconscious Major behind him, Kressing leads them to Father Immanuel's old office. Kressing spots a chair in the office.
"Remove his jacket." Kressing orders. The Captain's two subordinates do as he says.
"Good. Now, cut off his shirt and tie his hands behind the chair."
Jammer and Schrader comply with Kressing's orders. The unconscious American Major is now defenseless.
"What are your plans Sir?" Jammer asks.
"Now now Corporal, I don't want to spoil the fun. Wake him up."
Jammer taps the Major on his cheek and he begins to stir.
A steady tap tap tap against the side of my face stirs me out of my stupor. The room I'm in is familiar; it's Father Immanuel's office. Kressing is standing over me, a wicked grin over his whole face. I glance down and notice my jacket and shirt missing. I feel my wrists bound together behind the chair and my back. He has something planned and it isn't going to end well for me.
"Rise and shine Major." Kressing says with mock concern in his voice. I don't say anything, waiting to see what he is planning on doing.
"Corporal Jammer, Private Schrader, leave us and lock and guard the door. I want no interruptions."
The two German soldiers get out of the room, leaving just me and Kressing.
"Bastard." I spit at him.
He continues to smile. "You have no idea yet about what kind of bastard I can be Major, but I'm going to show you. By the time I'm done, you'll be begging me to put you out of your misery."
"Piss off Kressing." I say defiantly, knowing full well that terrible things are about to happen to me.
"Shooting your mouth off until the end, I respect that, but now do be quiet, or I'll cut out your tongue and force you to choke on your own blood."
"Why don't you skip the threats and get on with it." I growl at him, gritting my teeth and preparing for the worst.
"I'll go slowly at first. Hope you don't mind me smoking Major."
He lights a cigarette and barely puffs on it. Instead, he takes the still lit cigarette and puts it out on my bare chest.
I let out a long groan of pain. He leaves the cigarette there until it burns through my skin. He then stubs out the cigarette and lights another one and repeats each painful step. I hold in the pain, unsure of how long I'm going to last.
Following Stella's directions, the eight Americans and one Italian easily find the bridge to cross the stream and carefully avoid the Germans, heading back to San Giovanni's. Not so far in the back of all of their minds is the terrible thought about what Major Taylor is going through.
He could already be dead a grim thought enters into Hawkes's mind, which he tries to brush aside, but can't. Hawkes feels that he needs to be preparing himself for the possibility that they won't make it in time. If that is the case, then they still have something to accomplish. Even if he is dead, Hawkes is determined to retrieve the Major's body and give him a proper burial.
"Why didn't he try to cross the river?" Adam wonders aloud, breaking the silence.
"That's what's been bothering me too. He could have made it, why didn't he try?" Jess concurs.
"Maybe he thought that since we were okay, he didn't feel like his job was done, that he didn't have to fight anymore." Stella mutters quietly.
This comment stops the rest of them. "What do you mean Stella?" Sid asks gently.
Stella sighs. He might be dying right now, but she still feels that she is betraying his trust by telling them. However, she also feels that they need to know. With this rationalization, Stella tells them all what Mac had told her about his earlier life and about Claire. They listen in silence; none of the Major's men are really surprised, especially after they found him that morning reflecting on something that was clearly haunting him.
"That explains a lot." Tom comments to no one in particular.
"Let's keep going." Danny prompts. They all know he is right. Every minute counts.
They finally make it to San Giovanni's and they notice the singular jeep parked there.
"How many of them could be here in only one vehicle?" Lindsay asks.
"If they brought the Major back in this vehicle, that means that there are probably only three Germans here." Adam comments.
"So what's the plan?" Flack asks.
"If we can disable the guards, we might be able to get their weapons, kill Kressing, and save Mac." Stella suggests.
"Okay, here's what we'll do. One of us will be the bait to lure the Germans into an area where the rest of the group will get the jump on them." Hawkes lays it out
"Good plan. Only question is; who's going to be the bait?"
"I'll do it." It's Danny, speaking in the most determined voice any of them have ever heard.
They iron out the details of the plan.
The tedious guard duty combined with the stuffiness of the church dulls the senses of Corporal Jammer and Private Schrader. Schrader is nodding off to sleep when out of the corner of his eye; he thinks he sees a person.
"Corporal, there is someone here." Schrader tells his companion.
The two soldiers glance at each other and Jammer decides that they need to investigate. After all, there are two of them and if it is the Americans, they are unarmed.
They head around a corner and Jammer senses that something is the problem. He looks at Schrader and mouths the word "hinterhalt" ambush. Schrader nods and the two soldiers prep their weapons, trying to anticipate what the Americans have planned.
Schrader heads into the main section of the church prepared for an ambush, and he finds one. The soldier has his weapon drawn when a hand reaches out and grabs his gun and a body slams into him, taking both to the ground. Schrader and his attacker quickly become a pile of moving limbs each one trying to hit the other to get some precious advantage. Schrader can't see who is attacking him, since they tackled him from behind. He punches the assailant in the arm but unfortunately for Schrader, that's the last victory he gets. His attacker stiffens their resolve and twists Schrader's wrist so that the gun falls out of his hand. The attacker manages to grab the weapon and bashes Schrader in the temple with it, dazing him. Another hit and the Private is knocked unconscious. His own knife is removed from his belt and used to slit his throat. The American takes Schrader's gun and scurries away.
Corporal Jammer nervously heads in the area where his companion was struggling with an assailant. He finds the dead form of Private Schrader. Cursing the Americans, Jammer tries to heighten his awareness even more. He doesn't notice that the dead Schrader is missing his weapon. He is about to rush back to tell Captain Kressing when one of the Americans appears, pointing a pistol at him. Jammer barely raises his gun before he is shot dead by Sergeant Flack.
"Diamonds." Flack calls out.
"Hearts." Danny's voice calls back, confirmation that they are both alive.
"You alright Danny?" Flack asks.
"Yeah I'm fine. Thank God you still have Jess's pistol."
"Since we are in a church I'll amen to that. Let's go get the others and find Major Taylor."
The rest of the team comes into the church.
"Where's Mac?" Stella asks nervously. "We need to find him."
Then, a single, piercing scream fills the air. They rush to the source of it, hoping they aren't too late.
I endure more cigarette burns as Kressing thinks about what else to do to me. He has been concentrating them over where my heart is, ensuring that a permanent scar will be always be there. Yeah, but always isn't going to be much longer I tell myself morbidly.
Eventually Kressing tires of this game and pulls out his long combat knife. He casual tosses the wicked blade back and forth between his hands, and then he suddenly rushes up to me and puts the knife at my throat.
"No, that'll be too easy."
He takes the knife from my throat and instead brings it down to my stomach.
"You're very lucky Major. I know exactly where to stab you and not damage any vital organs. Sound fun?"
I stare straight ahead not saying a word, trying to ignore him as much as I can. With careful precision he starts inserting the knife into my stomach. I can't hold in a long, piercing cry of agony. He pushes it in deeper, until only the hilt remains visible. The pain is incredible and my head is in a fog because of it.
Kressing grabs my hair and yanks my head up so that we are staring eye to eye with each other.
"You humiliated me Major. You wouldn't break and you won't just accept the fact that you are less than me. Even now, you still try to defy me. Just beg me to put you out of your misery and I will."
"Burn…in…hell." I stammer out. No matter how much pain I'm in or how much I want to, I'm not giving Kressing what he wants. He's going to kill me either way, but I'm not going to beg him to do it.
With the hand grabbing my hair he pulls my head down so I'm looking at the knife still in my chest. He puts his other hand on the knife and slowly begins to twist it adding even more agony. I grit my teeth and let out a long grunt of pain. He leaves the knife in my stomach and pulls out another one. Again he puts it up against my throat.
"You know Major, even if your precious team gets to the Allied lines, they won't be safe. The Wehrmacht is planning an assault on the Allies and I'll make sure they know not to take your people as prisoners."
My eyes briefly grow wide in recognition. If Kressing is telling the truth (and why lie to a dead man), then everyone else is still in danger.
Kressing presses the knife even harder against my throat. "I've had fun with you Major but it's time to end this."
I don't say a word. So this is it then. I hope to God my team is going to be okay.
I must be coming delusional because I think I hear what sounds like muffled voices speaking English. None of these Germans except Kressing speaks any English. Then, there is a pounding on the door, before something very solid slams into it. My tired mind can't concentrate on anything, so I have no idea what is going on.
Kressing looks puzzled himself and steps away from me. The door then bursts open.
Now I know I must be dreaming, because there is Sergeant Flack and Corporal Messer pointing guns at Kressing before firing them, unloading bullets into that sadistic bastard. Kressing collapses to the floor.
"Major!" The two of them stand aside while Doc Hawkes and Doc Hammerback rush over to me. Hawkes quickly unties me and I fall off the chair to my knees. I know this isn't an illusion, so I have one thing I need to do. Running on energy I didn't know I still had, I crawl over to the knife that Kressing dropped. I grab it in my shaky hand and find Kressing. He's still breathing. Driven on by pure hatred I start stabbing into him again and again until I have no strength left. Confident that he is dead, I succumb to exhaustion and collapse.
The two doctors, Hawkes and Hammerback pull Major Taylor off the now dead Kressing and begin to assess his condition. The Major has a knife in his chest along with what look like multiple cigarette burns around his heart. The rest of the team files into the room and all are horrified at his condition.
"Mac!" Stella rushes over to the beaten, broken body of the Major. "Mac, please say something. Is he okay?" She asks Sid.
Very gently, Hawkes removes the knife and is surprised by the small amount of blood coming out of it. Kressing. Ironically, the sadistic German had actually saved the Major's life. He was so intent on causing him pain that he missed damaging anything vital. The rest of the Major's injuries, while painful, were also superficial.
Hawkes smiles at Stella. "He's going to be okay."
"Let's use the shirt Sid." Hawkes instructs. He tears off a long strip and wraps it around Mac's stomach, covering up the knife wound. While he is doing that, Sid takes the rest of the shirt and uses it to cover up the cigarette burns on Mac's chest.
"Can we stay here for the night?" Stella asks around not wanting to move Mac when he is in this condition.
Tom shakes his head. "Sorry ma'am, we need to keep moving."
"What are we going to do with Mac?" She asks quietly.
This time, it is Adam who has an idea. "We can take one of the altar cloths and use it as a makeshift stretcher."
"Great idea Adam."
Going through the church closet, Jess and Lindsay find one of the altar cloths.
"There were some tree branches outside the church that we can tie the cloth to." Hawkes comments as he continues to look after the Major.
Flack and Danny head out of the church and find the branches. They break them into pieces that they can use as supports for the stretcher. When the two of them come back, they, along with Lindsay and Jess, get the materials together and make a primitive stretcher.
Sid gives them instructions. "Okay we need to move him carefully. He's resting now and we don't need to wake him up."
Hawkes, Ross, and Hayes prepare to lift Mac up and gently place him on the stretcher.
"Tom, Adam, you two carry him. We'll need to monitor him and Danny and Flack have the guns."
"Cheaters." Tom comments dryly. Nonetheless, both he and Adam grab onto the stretcher and begin to carry Mac out of the church.
"Wait." Stella tells them. Carrying his jacket, Stella gently covers his chest with it like a blanket.
With their friend back with them, the escaping team heads south once again, hopefully heading to Allied lines.
Good? Bad? Whatever your opinion of this chapter and or story, please don't hesitate to send a review. Our heroes still have a ways to go. Stay tuned, more to come.