The Germans descended on Boisleux au Mont three days after the town received the warning telegram that had sent the locals into a frenzy. They had burned most of the provisions so that the Germans would have nothing to so casually steal, in the hope that they would just move on. But I knew better. This small village was important for a number of reasons, but the most obvious being its connection to the railroad. It didn't matter that our supplies were gone, more would arrive in a few days—that is, if the Allies didn't cut us off in an effort to also cut off the Germans.

We were in a right mess, we were.

I stood with my hands up, face pressed into a wall as the German soldiers raided the clearing station, removing all firearms from the vicinity so that we couldn't fight back. There were only nurses left in the room, the soldiers had forced all of the men outside to deter them from taking a stand. I was the lone doctor inside now. I tried to take slow, even breaths, but my heart was racing, and I was having a difficult time stopping myself from coughing from the stench of lime that had been spread around the perimeter of the room to keep the rats away.

I met Piper's eyes, hers full of unshed tears, as we both tried to pull ourselves together. What were the odds that we would actually survive now that the Germans were here? I clenched my jaw. We had survived over two years in a warzone, who's to say we couldn't survive this too?

There was so much yelling. The infiltrators yelled orders in their foreign dialect, becoming frustrated when no one knew what they were demanding. Oh, why hadn't I learned German instead of the other languages I had studied? It would have been so much more useful considering the current political climate that had overtaken the town.

Finally, the men quieted down as one German soldier began speaking broken French, ordering all of us to turn around and face them. Those of us who could understand followed through, and those who couldn't were quick to copy us. The Germans brought in some of their own injured, and two nurses, chosen at random, were pushed toward the limping and bleeding men. They stumbled and faltered only a moment, but it was long enough for the shouted orders to start up again due to their hesitation.

Nurse Stoll—Katie—was one of those commanded to help, and she met my eyes across the room. She mouthed to me, "We need a doctor."

She couldn't speak German, or even French, so I carefully stepped forward, my hands still up—

Without a moment's notice the German's firearms were pointed at me, shouting words I could not understand, but I assumed they meant for me to get back in line. My eyes focused on the one who had been yelling at us in fragmented French, and I tried to speak to him, "Je suis médecin. Laisse-moi t'aider."

I am a doctor. Let me help.

I repeated myself several times before he jerked his head in a nod toward the table the nurses had hoisted one of the injured men onto. I began assessing the man's injuries. He hadn't been shot, and for that I was grateful. I didn't want to be responsible for letting one of their men die when there was nothing I could do to save them. From what I could tell, he had a shattered collar bone, his right clavicle jutting out, forming a bump at the area of the break. It also caused a sagging in his shoulder that I knew would only go away once the bone had healed.

I learned very quickly that my orders for treatment must be whispered. The Germans didn't like it when any of us raised our voices. I had spoken normally the first time, telling Katie that our patient would need a cold compress to get the swelling down before he would have to be fitted for a sling, but the words died on my lips before I could get them out as a soldier got in my face, screaming at me. I grew tired of the treatment almost immediately, having been used to being treated with the respect of my position, but it did tell me something about the situation we were stuck in.

The soldiers were not comfortable in their position as dictators and overseers of the acquisition of Boisleux au Mont. They didn't seem to know what they were doing, just that they were here now, and they might as well see to their injured. I didn't mind helping them in that sense. After all, they were still humans in obvious pain, but being on opposite sides of a world war didn't make things easy. I certainly didn't enjoy being yelled at by men over a foot taller than me.

The first day was the longest. We worked until we all but collapsed, the nicely planned schedule of shifts being thrown out the window as we all tried to appease the Germans. Despite the fact that there was still snow on the ground, I ended my day overheated, flyaway hairs stuck to my face with sweat and other people's blood. I felt disgusting. I met my own eyes in the mirror as I washed my face before bed, and almost didn't recognize the woman standing there. And for the first time since I had arrived in Europe, I regretted ever stepping foot there.

None of this would have happened if I had just stayed home. My heart shuddered at the thought. I could have been safe right now! And yet I was here, trapped in a town that doesn't appear on most maps, a place overrun by enemies who would love nothing more than to kill me in the name of their cause.

Of course, there were good things that came of this "European adventure" too. For instance—I would have never met Percy—oh, Percy. But he was so far away. Letters could not be sent or received now—what would he think?! Who knows how long the Germans would be here?! How could I possibly get word to him?

The more I thought about it, the more desperate I became. I had to find a way to get a message to him, lest he thought I had abandoned writing to him. I clicked open my locket so I could see his face. The photograph was water stained from my unfortunate tumble into the ocean all those months ago in October, but his features were still clear enough to see. I mentally prepared myself for the worst; it was unlikely that I would ever see him again. Who knows how long the Germans would stay here? And what state would they leave us in when they left? The likelihood of making it out of here alive was slim to none.

The days slipped by, and a new order was established; a totalitarian one. To me, those had to be the worst days of the war. We were forced to watch as they tore through Boisleux au Mont, destroying property while drunk on alcohol and power. At least twelve people were shot for resisting, and we at the hospital faced the barrel of a gun to our foreheads if we even stepped out of line to try and help the victims. I knew the only reason I was still alive was because I was valuable as a doctor. The Germans had brought with them an accumulating number of injured, and they couldn't risk losing our limited services among the diseased and dying.

They kept a close watch on the comings and goings of the trains through our small town. It didn't appear that the Allies even knew they were here, plotting and planning their further advance into the territory. There were, of course, pros and cons to this. Pros being we kept the influx of supplies and rations so we wouldn't starve. The cons, well, were that the Germans were getting exactly what they intended: a discreet entrance through the Allied barricade.

It made me nervous, how cut off we were from everything in the war. Our radios had been confiscated; we no longer received newspapers full of updates. We were isolated from the war, and yet it was all around us. I wanted so much to hear from Percy, my father, anyone—but all of our mail was taken as it was being delivered and destroyed immediately. Morale dipped lower than ever before, and it was taking a toll on our patients too.

One day, it became too much all at once.

I had just come out of a double shift, since a good number of our staff had come down with influenza, and I was exhausted. I certainly wasn't thinking about the consequences of my actions. I had been inside all day, and I just wanted to go outside for a few minutes so I could feel like I could breath after wearing a cloth around my face all day. It was the early hours of the morning though, and a mandatory curfew was still in place for all residents. I was just having a hard time breathing, the environment being too suffocating. I had lost two patients earlier that day, and everything was amounting to me wishing desperately that I could go home.

So, thinking nothing of the curfew, I pushed open the side door out of the surgery room and stepped outside.

It was so quiet.

For days I had put up with nothing but shouting. It was an utter to relief to find myself alone, breathing fresh air. It was the time of the night that was just turning into day, the sun not yet visible over the horizon. Hell, I thought blearily, it couldn't hurt to take a short walk.

I stepped away from the building, wandering aimlessly though hyperaware of my surroundings in case I were to see any of the Germans. A part of me knew how reckless I was being, another part of me didn't care. I needed this.

In the distance, I could hear a train approaching. I headed toward the station immediately. Perhaps I could catch a glimpse of what they were up to? It didn't take long for my heart to start beating erratically in my chest. I stuck to the shadows as I made my way through the streets. The roaring steam engine pulled into town, where a small group of civilian-dressed Germans greeted it. A couple of people jumped of the train, smiling widely and shaking hands with the disguised soldiers. I furrowed my brow. What were they doing?

I crept a little closer from my position behind a stacked pile of empty crates. I couldn't tell why, but one of their voices seemed familiar to me. I couldn't tell what they were saying, as it was in German, but something about the tone of their voice struck me. I stopped myself from thinking about it too much. I turned my attention toward the train. It was packed lightly with supplies, having been cleared at earlier stations. There were some unmarked boxes too, though, so I had no idea what they housed.

The voices kept drawing me back. I glanced toward the group, taking note that two of the group members from earlier were gone. How had I missed that?

That's it, I had to get out of here before someone noticed my presence here or my absence at the hospital. I shuffled backwards, the way I came, keeping my eyes on the group in hope that they wouldn't turn and notice me. But it was too late.

A sudden bout of pain overcame the back of my head as I was hit from behind. Black dots filled my vision as I crumpled to the ground. Looking up, I tried to make out the person standing above me through the increasing darkness of my vision. I did recognize him. I murmured, "Luke?"

And then I was out.