The smoke grenade flew through the air hitting the head of the Russian. He rubs his head looking down at the grey smoke filling the area.
"Huh? I don't remember ordering smoke grenades," said the Russian rubbing the back of his head.
You jump over the crates holding onto your half-zipped backpack. Time was not on your side as you had a few seconds to free the brothers and escape the confines. You reach out with your knife cutting the rope tied around the two German officers. You can feel them both grab onto your arm as you rush under the tarp. They both were coughing as their eyes and noses filled with smoke. As you made your way out of the Russian frontline, a few Russian soldiers follow you towards a river. You don't remember hearing or seeing the river when you crossed into the battlefield, but it was your only chance of escaping.
The water splashed onto your legs. You flinched at the chilling temperature but looked behind to see the Russian soldiers approaching. Ludwig squeezes your hand and let's go.
"Ve are going to have to jump into zhe river!" He yelled turning to me and Gilbert. Gilbert immediately lunged into the water without even looking where he was jumping.
"Zhe awezome Prussia vaits for no one!" Gilbert exclaimed as his head dove beneath the frigid water. Even though it was August the water was ice cold flushing over the black mud and rocks.
Ludwig rolled his eyes and looked over the ledge into the rushing river. He looked back at you concerned. The Russian soldiers were approaching and Gilbert started to float down stream. You didn't expect the rescue mission to end up like this but you had to jump.
Ludwig held out his hand to you. "Come on, ve have to jump. Try not to think about the temperature... ve vill do it together," he said dragging me to the river.
"The temperature isn't what-" Ludwig and you jump off the edge into the freezing water. Your face mask flies off as you smack down into the river. The water devours your head stinging the bruises and cuts on your face. Ludwig is still holding onto your hand as you reach for a breath of air. The river drags you down the rapids, bashing you into the sharp rocks and logs. You can only see the blurry figure of Ludwig as his hair pops out of the water. The golden hair barely reflecting off the water.
"Are you gut?" He asks as he turns around to face you. The water was still raging over your ears and your eyes seemed to be frozen shut. You simply nod back. The water takes the three of you away as the Russian soldiers shout in the distance. The water starts to slow as it enters an evergreen forest. Up ahead Gilbert starts swimming to the edge of the water.
"Come here I found a vay to get up. Ve can use the tree cover to regroup, figure out vhere ve are," Gilbert said climbing over a tree log. You could still only see blurry figures moving across the water but you followed the golden hair man to the river bank. The dirt sticks to your arms as you claw your way out of the rushing rapids. Your hair is soaking wet and you can feel your entire body being dragged down by the mud and water.
After a few minutes of shivering, Gilbert started a fire in a small opening in the forest. You sat down on a log looking at your shivering hands. Luckily the fire was thawing your fingers, but you were still trembling out of shock.
"I don't think our new friend is used to saving people," Gilbert laughed in German. Ludwig smacked him in the back of his head and sat down next to him.
"Be nice she saved us from the Russians. We both know how inconvenient they can be. We owe her," Ludwig responded in German as he took out a compass from his pocket.
"Sorry I couldn't help you escape any better. I was supposed to call my commander but my communicator broke," you responded in fluent German. They both sat there shocked for a second. They probably weren't expecting a UN soldier let alone an American to speak German.
"Oh- I didn't know you spoke German, I apologize," Ludwig said in English as his eyes glanced between you and the fire. "We are both grateful you rescued us. Also, its completely fine... ve vouldn't have gotten away so eazily if ve didn't have help... so thank you." You couldn't tell if it was him blushing or just the reflection of the fire, but his face turned a little pink as he spoke.
You continued to stare at the fire. Even looking at the embers floating in the wind helped you warm up quickly. "Do you know where we are exactly?" You asked Ludwig and Gilbert reaching into your bag for a map. The map was waterproof so it stayed dry inside your bag when you fell into the rapids.
"Ja I think so," Ludwig said pointing to a forest in the map. You looked at the map confused. The Russian front lines should have been pushed back past the forest and river, but they still occupied some of the eastern German territory. After all their base was just on the other side of the nearby river, miles west of where you were dropped off this morning. You wondered if the Russian front lines move that far west already. Something didn't sit right in your stomach and your head starting to pound from the stress.
"What? No there's no way," you said pointing eastward towards the Austrian border. "When we arrived earlier today we were dropped off here." You pointed to a small plain between two mountains remembering the winding and rocky road above the valley. Gilbert walked over curious about the confusion.
"No that's not it," he said with a concerned expression. "Ludwig is right, ve never made it that far east."
"What? But we were dropped off in this valley right here," you said with a desperate sigh.
"Vait... vhat group are you part of exactly?" Ludwig said looking up to you walking back slightly. He must have thought you were a Russian spy trying to get intel on future German attacks. After all, Ludwig and Gilbert were the leading generals in the war front. Gilbert reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pistol. You immediately threw your arms up and backed away in fear.
"Wait.. wait! I'm not a Russian, please! I was sent here by the United Nations to help refugees out of Austria!" You shouted at them desperately. Something wasn't adding up but you didn't want to antagonize the brothers to shoot you.
"Ve didn't get any vord about this," Gilbert said inching his gun closer to my forehead.
"Besides, the UN made it very clear that they vould stay out of European affairs. If the Russians found out they vere directly involved in the war, there vould be complete nuclear fallout," Ludwig said standing firmly near his brother. You sat there stunned knowing they may never believed you. Although you saved them from the Russian base, they didn't know who you were or where you came from.
"Please you have to believe me!" You look over to your bag in desperation to find papers that prove your innocence . "Please let me show you," you said reaching towards the bag. Gilbert shot the gun centimeters away from your hand, threatening you to stay still. You immediately flinch holding back your hand into your soggy chest.
The wind was cold as it hit the back of your wet jacket. The trees reached out to the crystal sky waving slightly with the breeze. It fell deadly quiet as you and the two brothers looked straight at each other. No one took a single breath, but you could hear and feel your own heartbeat in your chest. Gilbert looked as if he was going to kill you any second. His eyes were narrowed, full of anger and hatred as he looked down the barrel. His flaming red eyes showed no mercy to you as you stood there trembling in fear.
"Any last words Russian?" Gilbert asked sarcastically placing the pistol directly on your forehead. You did nothing but sit there as the sweat ran down your face onto the barrel of the gun. You closed your eyes and held your breath holding onto your last seconds of life.