NEVER TOO LATE
chapter 13
"Ruprecht's, that's what she meant" a soldier standing in one corner of the dark room said, "it's an abandoned church, that's probably the place where the Captain is" he observed, pushing himself from the wall he was leaning in.
A sneer of satisfaction crossed Zeller's lips as his eyes lowered again to the unconscious woman beneath him.
Eventually he had won the battle.
Another soldier, the one who had been pointing the gun at poor Maria went to put it back in its place, assuring it was safe and hidden from anyone else but them.
"Excellent, Wagner. Bring her back to the cell, we don't need her anymore".
We don't need her anymore.
Had he heard it right?
Max wished he was being mistaken, or rather prayed, begged for it.
Sooner than his mind could even process those hard words, several rhythmic steps approached him, and he narrowed his eyes to better see.
He wished he hadn't done it.
What he saw was a sight so terrifying he could have thrown up from the horror of it all.
Maria was dragged along the corridor with limbs scraping against the floor and once she was violently thrown into the cell, she collapsed on the concrete like a dead weight. The steel surface making a loud, stinging thud as it was hit by her senseless body.
"What have you done to her?!" Max screamed from the darkness of his cell, his tone as angry as he could possibly be
"Nothing that could matter to you, Herr Detweiler, unless you don't want to be the next" Zeller replied calmly, upsetting him to his limits, "now, if you excuse me, we have more important matters to care about".
He could see that he was smiling - proud and wide - under that awful pair of moustaches.
He knew by then that Maria had spoken.
Zeller saluted him with a movement of his head, before positioning the hat over his round head and gesturing with his hand for the others to be followed.
Up to the stairs and out of the basement, probably heading with his people to whatever destination Maria had been forced to utter.
Max had been angry, frustrated, upset but now that they were gone, all his focus fell on Maria, and he felt utter desolation surround him.
"Maria?" he called for her name, hoping it wasn't a vain attempt
"Hum hum" she released a weak little whimper after some seconds
"I knew you were alive, please stay with me, okay?"
No answer arrived.
"O- okay?" his voice crumbled with desperation
No answer again.
He couldn't tell whether she'd heard him or not, whether she didn't have the strength to answer or just couldn't do it, all he did know was that Maria was slowly losing consciousness and this time with very few chances of recovery.
Tears formed in the back of his eyes and suddenly began to pour out, silently as if his voice had been taken away, he simply let them run down the wrinkles in his face, soaking him in grief.
How strange.
Georg had never seen all of the four cars of the base leave at once, not even at such an early time. The last change of guard couldn't have been less than an hour ago. But this meant that the base was uncovered, empty.
Two were the alternatives: either they'd brought Maria away, or she was there, alone, waiting for him.
It was an opportunity that he could not possibly miss.
The race to the feet of the hill started again, he crossed the street and stood in front of the entrance of the building, staring at it for a split second to make sure it was unguarded as it seemed. He entered it with ease, reached the stairs that led to the lower floor and allowed himself to dash down there. There was literally no one around and it seemed adrenaline was carrying him through even faster than the first time.
Because the first time was a guess, he couldn't even be sure he would find his wife there.
But not this time.
This time it was a certainty, the certainty that he would have found Maria where he'd left her and rescued her from that terrible nightmare.
He was rushing downstairs and yet the steps seemed to be endless under his feet, he felt as though he was the closest to her he had ever been, and yet more distant than ever.
Oh, the face she would do when he would finally hold her again – her smiling lips, her sparkling eyes, the blush on her cheeks – all the countless things he loved about her would brighten up and he would promise her a love a hundred times more powerful than the one he had given her up to now.
A love made of attentions, care, support, and most of all of safety.
Finally, his feet left the last step of the stairs and after panting for a couple of times to regain breath after the restless rush, he decided it was better to tiptoe into the underground corridor, after all it was highly improbable that they'd left her completely alone.
Georg took the turn to the corridor that led to her cell for the second time and a tiny smile of relief seemed to surge on his lips when he was able to ascertain that that floor too was empty.
He gripped the bars of her cell with both hands and pulled himself in front of it in the darkness, a soft whisper trailed with excitement left his lips as he called her name.
"Mar-"
That's when he saw her.
The most terrifying sight he had ever seen.
Maria was nowhere near to the way he had imagined her just seconds before, nowhere near to an alive person either.
Sprawled out on the rough cement floor, her limbs slumped around in an unthinkable position, her mouth hanging open and, most of all - most affrighting of all - a pool of red and bright blood surrounding her skull.
The most frightening sight he had ever seen.
Georg dropped to his knees, feeling every ounce of strength leave his body at once, the only movement he could hint at being to lean his forehead into the gap of the steel bars and contract the muscles of his face as tears formed in the back of his eyes, making them brim and then quickly burst.
"Maria" he called her name in a weak whisper, only because unable to use the full strength of his voice.
Silence.
Defeaning, frightful silence.
No, no, no, no, no!
"Maria, please darling, please stay with me, Maria!" for a brief while all his strength concentrated in his hands as he rattled the bars of her cell with ferocity, "don't leave us, sweetheart, please" his voice had started steadily but now became fainter and weaker at each pronounced word.
Until it choked and he was unable to find it again, the pain of seeing his wife in such conditions being unbearable beyond anything comprehensible.
Sickened, desperate and suddenly powerless, a hand curled into a tight fist that Georg angrily slammed against the bars.
He had been late.
He had done this to her.
It was all his fault.
It had been him to bring her into the unsafe village despite her disagreement and it had been him to ask her to resist one more day.
One more day and she was gone.
Just as it had been for Agathe.
She had sacrificed her life for the sake of his stupid plans.
The hell with them, they had helped no one but his ego.
Profound anger pervaded every inch of his body, anger towards those disgusting Nazi and anger against himself. He hated himself for what he had done.
He had let the only woman he could have ever loved die for the hands of people whose aim was his life, and his life alone.
How was he supposed to tell the children?
Tell them that they'd lost their mother, again.
Tell them that they would remain motherless for the rest of their lives.
There was no chance they would have ever recovered from Maria's loss, not for him either.
The children.
Where are you and mother? We miss you.
Kurt's voice flashed through his mind, followed by a choir repeating those same words, he could clearly recognize each of their seven beautiful voices.
They missed them. They needed them.
His watery icy blue eyes were wiped in a vain attempt to see better, it was then that the rage that had nearly consumed him was turned into strength, a powerful one that ripped through every fiber of his muscles.
No, Maria couldn't be gone, he won't have allowed the odds to let her die.
Guilty or not, late or not, he had to try every chance, take every risk to try to save her and mustn't have given up until every single man who had had a part in twisting even a strand of her hair had paid dearly for the crime they had committed over her.
His hands attacked the lock of the bars, his fingers inspecting it quickly so that he could figure out a way to open it.
Originally, his plan had been to get the keys to her cell but a plan like that would have been of no use now – he should have run upstairs, found the main office and turned it upside down in order to find the keys, then he should have gone downstairs again and entrust to fate the quick finding of the right key from the bunch.
No, not knowing how much time was left to them he couldn't risk moving so much around the place and, most of all, Maria's conditions were certainly not improving with each passing minute.
The easiest alternative was to rely on his knowledge of military tricks and think of the most appropriate one for such situations.
His eyes narrowed as he stared at the lock of her cell, analysing it while the other hand kept rattling the bars in the hope it would help.
Then suddenly, a voice filled the tense air, a surprised, shocked, grateful voice.
"Georg?"
"Max!"
He could have recognized his voice everywhere.
Georg wished he could hug him and ask him a thousand questions about his conditions, he really did. The realization that he had been captured as well had shocked him, but a burst of euphoria shot through him at the thought of not being alone anymore and the only question that popped to the surface of his mind was one that had nothing to do with either of them.
"What have they done to her?" he asked quickly, trying to browse through his memory and remember the tons of injured people he had seen in service during the first war
"They wouldn't tell me, Georg, but she was still slightly conscious when they brought her back here, maybe it's not too late"
"No, Max. It can't be too late".
His reply was firm, statuary, as though he was claiming a universal truth.
Finding his friend contributed to his regained strength and lucidity in thoughts as he finally remembered one of the most important and useful tricks he used on his ships.
Insert the stiff part of the brooch as far as it goes into the lock, then apply firm pressure in different directions until it pops open.
He quickly ripped the brooch from the collar of his coat and begun working its needle into the lock, not even valuing the option of failing in his aim.
Cold sweat dripped from his forehead, his eyes narrowing on something that couldn't possibly be seen for how dark it was, his fingers moving relentlessly against both the brooch and the lock.
"Captain" a nasal voice croaked from behind his shoulders.
At first, he was so focused on the task that he almost ignored the sound of it, what really caused his head to turn was only the sudden enlightening of the place that helped him confirm that the brooch was pushing into the right direction.
As the focus of his eyes shifted, the man he most hated in the world was revealed in front of him.
Herr Zeller.
Had he really come all the way to Dornbirn just to personally confront him?
It was ridiculously absurd. He must certainly be as foolishly involved as much as he seemed.
"What a lovely reunion, pity it's too late Romeo" Zeller mocked him, knowing this would only upset him all the more.
But why wasn't he reacting?
Georg couldn't find the answer as to what was the reason of this untypical behaviour of his. Perhaps he was too petrified with fear.
No, primal rage was cursing through him.
"I came here to grab the weapon I needed, and instead found myself face to face with my prey" the mousy faced man walked further into the corridor, stopping himself right in front of a still knelt down Georg, "now Captain, you will pay for what you have done".
His face displayed the familiar devilish grin as he kept looking at Georg while his hand extracted something from behind his back.
The gun that had previously pointed at Maria was now pointing him, ready to threaten and shoot a lethal bullet straight through his body.
But instead, the sound of glass crushing echoed through the moldy walls of the corridor and Zeller suddenly fell on the floor, deprived of his senses.
The torch he was holding in his hand fell too, revealing Max with the neck of a glass bottle left in his hand.
It was him that had knocked him out.
Georg's lips almost curled into a smile as he thanked him with a gaze filled with gratefulness.
He frenetically worked the brooch into the lock for a couple more seconds.
Click.
The door flung open.
He and Max stared at each other for a moment, sharing a quick, surprised gaze, almost as if they'd both given up their hopes of success.
"Get her to the nearest hospital" Max recommended, urging his friend into the cell.
Maria was still, petrified, unconscious, the same way Zeller was.
Now that he could better see, it seemed the pool of blood was still expanding around her, meaning her bleeding was still quite and threateningly heavy.
He lowered himself to the ground and pressed his index and middle finger to her neck, checking her pulse. It was weak but could still be felt, the sight of her chest raising and dropping reassuring him in the slightest.
An arm slid beneath her knees, another under her shoulders, its hand cradling her bleeding skull carefully to his chest as her head tucked beneath his chin. One knee up, then the other, and he had gathered her in his strong arms bridal style, adjusting her in soft movements as he stepped out of the cell.
"Hurry up Georg, and use Zeller's car, it should allow you easy access through the border" Max suggested
"But- you?" Georg asked, a confused expression crossing his concerned face
"I can manage" Max replied with an understanding smile, pushing the door of his own cell open after following Georg's instructions, "now go save her!" he then commanded.
They looked at each other one last time, feeling never so grateful for their friendship, before the pace of Georg's steps could quicken and lead him and Maria out of that dreadful base.
They encountered no one along the way but he checked the surroundings before completely exiting the basement. Zeller's car was parked no more than a foot from the side entrance, the night air cold and fresh against his sweaty face after the sticky heat and humidity of the undergrounds. What was relieving him the most though, was that the rusted metal smell of her bleeding couldn't fill his nose as strongly as it had been doing inside. Smelling it was only deepening his preoccupations about Maria's conditions.
He had seen it many times in soldiers and men of his crew, if the loss of consciousness lasted over five minutes and the bleeding didn't stop, there were high chances that the blood loss could be fatal for the affected.
Everything from the bright red stains that soaked his fingers and her hair to the decreasing rhythm of her breath told him of the dangerous risk she was going through, but he couldn't possibly let such thoughts fog his mind, not now.
Georg laid Maria gently over the passenger seat, careful that her head was ensured to the headrest and would avoid making any sudden, threatening movement.
Then he got into the car, turned the keys to get it started and pushed on the gas with the full strength of his foot, causing a thick cloud of dust to raise behind them. He sped through the empty streets at an inhuman velocity, he couldn't slow down, at least not until he reached the border.
Which he did in a few minutes.
He could see officials controlling it from afar.
Yes, he was on a Nazi military vehicle so if he kept the bulletproof glasses closed, his hat lowered on his forehead and his mouth shut, a successful crossing of the border was almost totally assured.
But what about Maria? Her conditions were noticeable enough to arouse suspicion from miles afar.
He had to think of something.
A way to explain about her, a way to devise her, a way to hide her.
Yes, that was it, she must have been hid.
He slipped out of his coat in a couple of swift motions, holding the wheel with alternate hands as he took off each arm from the sleeves. Then holding it with his left, the right hand began to drape it over her body as best as he could.
The car bobbed when a rather big pebble decided to obstacle their passage, Maria's head almost hitting the passenger's door at the sudden change of position.
Georg gasped at the further danger the movement could have caused her but eventually it ended up with being convenient, if she was bent down, the surface to cover would have been easier for his coat to handle and less resembling of a human body.
By now the car had made its way to the monitoring station of the border, Georg's eyes carefully studying each of its details as he slowed the car down to a more reasonable pace – the dim yet bright lightening of the streetlamps, the signals and the two dreadful swastikas on the sleeves of the uniform of the officials with the watchful and meticulous attitude.
There were two standing there, both of them approaching as the car was forced to slow down further.
Georg found himself gripping the wheel with all his strength, the two officials seemed to focus on every inch of the car and its content, the need to look at Maria taking over him but impossible to let out. If he tried to turn his head to her it would certainly arouse suspicion.
Excruciatingly long seconds passed by, a bow of his head and the miracle had happened.
The bar of the level crossing slowly began to raise, filling his ears with the loud noise of awfully squeaking metal, and there the car was allowed through the border.
A burst of rediscovered euphoria cursed through his veins when he was far enough from the control station to speed on the gas even further and finally uncover his beloved Maria.
His eyes fell on her in the act of removing the coat from her body and despite the squeeze to his heart at the sickening sight, he felt a rush of adrenaline shoot through him and carry him to the nearest hospital in Widnau, that was the Swiss city the map told him they were in.
Then he saw it, a big red cross displayed over a right turn signal that he followed without hesitation, stopping the car in the worse way as soon as a large building resembling of a hospital stood in front of their eyes.
He walked to the opposite side of the car and ripped the passenger's door open, sheer fear cursing through his veins at the sight of the blood-soaked headrest and Maria's chest apparently still, without the slightest hint of a movement.
He needed to get her into that building now.
His strong arms eased her off the seat in bridal style once again but this time, instead of maintaining its position against his chest, her head hang downwards, causing the bloody strands of hair to lean and drop to the same direction.
He dashed to the entrance with buckling legs that threatened to let him down any minute, his mind unable to distract from the coldness of her dead weight limbs.
When he entered, the place was quite disorienting – bright, white lights against his tearful eyes, loud and confused chatting filling his ears, patients and tons of people walking in every direction.
Finally, a nurse noticed him and rushed towards him after gesturing with a hand to be followed by a stretcher.
"M- my wife, she's losing a lot of blood, she's in danger, she- ..."
Georg had been probably screaming those words into the poor nurse's ears, but it suddenly occurred to him that she was all but listening to him. She and her assistant were too busy to take Maria from his arms and lean her onto the stretcher to pay attention to him and before he could even realize it, his wife was being rushed to the operating room.
Being taken away from him once more.
His eyes saw her trailing off and disappear into the room, his heart plunging to his stomach as he himself dropped onto one of the chairs of the large waiting room. He buried his face into his palms, and then did the only thing his body hadn't gone numb about.
Weep in utter desperation and tearful hope.
Author's Note: Hello everyone! And so Georg made it, he managed to rescue Maria but will he have made it in time? And what about Max and Zeller? I hope you'll come back to find out in the next chapters. In the meanwhile I hope you enjoyed reading this, although a heavy one, and would be very appreciative of your reviews. So, see you all next week!
