Combat! is owned by ABC TV. This story is meant only for the enjoyment of Combat! fans, with no intention to infringe on any copyrights, and no monetary compensation has been received.
It definitely might help if you read the first part of this story again since it's a bit of a cliff hanger. Let me know what you think.
MY BROTHER'S KEEPER
PART 2
CHAPTER 12
Instinctively, Saunders grabbed the boy's shoulder and pulled him with him as he slid sideways down the stone wall. Rifle fire tore a chunk of stone from the wall where his head had been just a moment before.
The sergeant flipped up his Thompson and used a short burst to take down the German. He swung up onto his knees to peer cautiously over the wall. Where there was one kraut, there were probably more. So much for trying to avoid detection.
Another shot chipped the stone nearby, and the sergeant fired in return. He was rewarded with a shout of pain from the trees. He fired a short burst again into the same area, and a third kraut fell forward from behind a bush.
Suddenly a rifle slipped over his head from behind the wall, and jammed against his throat. He raised the Thompson over his shoulder and fired blindly, but missed. He tried again. The magazine was empty.
He swung the weapon trying to strike the soldier, but he didn't have enough leverage to do any damage. He merely clipped the German's shoulder. Dropping the Thompson, the sergeant used one hand to protect his throat, pushing against the rifle. With his other hand, he tried to reach the kraut's face, searching for his eyes.
When he tried to pull the kraut forward over his head, the German tugged him higher, lifting Saunders off of his knees. Lights danced in front of his eyes as he struggled for air. He tried desperately to get his legs under him so he could push upwards and back.
Erich yelled and ran to the German, hitting him on the back and trying to push him off balance. But he was having little effect on the man who far outweighed him.
Seeing that Saunders was beginning to weaken, the young boy grabbed frantically at the soldier's belt and pulled. He still had no effect, but his hand hit something hard. A bayonet. He wrapped his fist around the hilt and pulled it out of its scabbard. Without hesitating he plunged it into the German's thigh.
CHAPTER 13
The soldier screamed, released his grip on his rifle, and clutched his wounded leg. The bayonet had not gone in very deeply, but it was far enough to be extremely painful. It was enough to loosen his hold on the sergeant.
With the release of pressure on his throat, Saunders sunk to his knees. He leaned forward onto all fours for a moment, gasping for air. Through the pain and dizziness, his instincts for survival sent him scrambling blindly for the closest weapon he could find. He scooped up the German's rifle and struggled to find the trigger.
The young boy stared in horror as the German pulled the knife from his leg, and turned the bloody weapon toward him. The soldier grabbed the boy by his hair, and Erich closed his eyes in terror.
Saunders pulled the trigger, but heard nothing. So that was why he hadn't been shot by the kraut, he thought…it was jammed. Without hesitating, the sergeant struggled to his feet, grabbed the rifle two-fisted, and slammed the barrel into the man's back.
The kraut screamed and released the boy, reaching for his injured back. Saunders swung again, and connected with the back of the man's head with a sickening crack. The soldier landed hard on the rocky ground.
Saunders dropped back to the ground next to the German to be sure that he was dead. He was still working hard to get more air into his tortured lungs.
Erich remained frozen for a minute, then slowly opened his eyes and stared down at the body of the German soldier. He knelt by the sergeant's side.
"Sergeant? Are you alright?" he asked anxiously.
Saunders didn't reply at first. Finally, rubbing his neck, he simply nodded.
"You ok?" the sergeant whispered hoarsely.
"Yes," Erich replied. With wide eyes, he asked nervously, "Did I kill him?"
Saunders shook his head. He tried to speak, but only coughed. Raising the rifle, he whispered, "Me."
Tossing the jammed rifle aside, the sergeant struggled to his feet and picked up his Thompson and helmet.
He put on his helmet and pulled out the Thompson's empty magazine. Throwing the magazine on the grass, he reached into his jacket and grabbed a full one. He smacked it into place and looked around.
Motioning for the boy to stay put, Saunders cautiously made his way to check on the other three soldiers. He wanted no more surprises. Once he was sure that all four were dead, he went back to where Erich was standing.
"Looks like the same four we saw earlier," he managed to get out hoarsely. Rubbing his sore neck, he looked down at the dead soldier by the wall. "Good thing they were drunk."
The sergeant took one last look around. "Gotta move. Someone else might have heard all of that."
Erich instinctively put an arm around the sergeant's waist to try to help him. For a short while the two remained silent as Saunders stood with his arm over the young soldier's small shoulder.
Once his breathing had slowed and his vision was clearer, he let go and pointed due west.
"Let's go," he whispered.
CHAPTER 14
They moved in silence, with Erich close behind Saunders as they made their way through the woods. Not wanting any more surprise encounters with the enemy, the sergeant waited for as long as possible before looking at the compass. As a result he had to readjust their position quite often.
But frequent use of his lighter and talking unnecessarily were huge mistakes that he couldn't afford to make again. He might as well have sent up a signal flare, he thought angrily to himself.
Progress was slow as they tried to make the least amount of noise as possible through the darkness. Saunders stopped and signaled to the boy, holding up the compass.
They had worked out a routine with Saunders hunched over on the ground, and Erich standing over him. Between the two of them, they blocked as much of the light as possible. Saunders flicked on his lighter, got his bearings, and quickly looked at his watch. It was 0420 hours. They'd been on the move all night. He closed the lighter quietly, but the sound of metal on metal was like a rifle shot to the sergeant. He flinched and looked around nervously.
Saunders realized that he was off track and had to compensate to get back onto a course of due west. He stood up and motioned to Erich that they were changing direction. The boy nodded and followed him silently.
With no reference points to guide him, Saunders had no idea how far they'd traveled, or how far they had left to go. They continued walking.
After a long while, he felt that they should be getting close to Allied lines, but he still couldn't be sure. With the successful push by the Germans, he wondered if even the Allies knew where their lines were right then.
The sergeant figured that the boy must be hungry and thirsty. They'd emptied his canteen hours ago. And the chocolate bar that they'd split was all that they'd eaten. Saunders' own stomach was growling in complaint.
He noticed that he could see the trees up ahead just a little clearer. Dawn would be breaking very soon. Even though Erich had taken a nap earlier, they were both tired and weary. The sergeant welcomed the coming light.
Although they would be quite visible soon, daylight meant that there would be no more need to stress over the lighter. And maybe he could get a good look at the kraut map to see if it could help him get himself reoriented.
As he broke through another stand of trees, with Erich by his side, a loud voice cut through the silence.
Someone screamed, "Kraut!"
CHAPTER 15
Within a split second the sergeant recognized the voice as American, realized that they had stumbled upon an outer perimeter sentry…and that the sentry had seen Erich first.
Saunders grabbed the boy to push him down just as the sentry fired. He felt the sudden impact as the bullet drove him into the young soldier, and both collapsed to the ground. As the pain began to hit him, the sergeant held on to the boy.
"Stay down. Stay under me," Saunders managed to say in a shaky voice.
Erich was pinned under the dead weight of the sergeant, and was unable to move even if he'd wanted to. The air had been knocked out of him when they fell, and he was trying to catch his breath again.
And he was terrified. But now he was more terrified for the sergeant. He knew that the soldier had been hit, but he couldn't tell where or how badly. Or who had actually shot him.
"Sergeant?" he called out anxiously. The only reply was a gasp of pain when the soldier tried to move.
Saunders could hear two sentries coming closer in the dim light of the first rays of dawn.
"I think you hit him," one soldier said cautiously.
"Looks like there are two of them. Be careful," the second replied.
Saunders could tell that they were standing over him, and they also sounded very young.
"Hey, one of 'em looks like he might be ours," the first soldier said anxiously.
Slowly raising his arm, Saunders reached up to put his hand on Erich's head protectively, and his sleeve and stripes became visible in the dim light.
"Oh man, Bobby. He is one of ours. You shot a GI…and he's a sergeant!"
"Look! There's a kraut under him," Bobby replied defensively. "I told you I saw a kraut. The Sarge stepped in front of him. It wasn't my fault."
"Go get a medic, and hurry up. Maybe you didn't kill him."
"What about the kraut?"
"He's under the Sarge. I'll watch in case he tries to get away. Just hurry up or the Sarge is gonna bleed to death. Go!"
Although it became very quiet, Saunders could sense that the second guard was still there.
Erich whispered anxiously again, "Sergeant?"
Saunders just weakly patted the boy's head, silently reassuring him that he was still alive, and that he'd keep protecting the boy.
CHAPTER 16
Four soldiers came running up to the lone sentry and the two prone figures. As the medic knelt down and reached out to check on the soldier's wound, Erich wrapped his arm around the sergeant's head.
"Please. Don't kill him," he pleaded as he lay on the ground under the sergeant.
"Kill him? I'm a medic, son. I'm trying to help him," the medic replied as he tried to get a look at the soldier's wound.
"But you shot him," Erich replied.
"Shot him? Who shot him?" the medic looked up at the soldiers.
"Bobby shot him," one soldier replied uncomfortably. "He was trying to shoot the kraut, but the Sarge got in the way."
"What kraut? This here's a young boy. And he's speaking English, not German," the medic said angrily. "You were trying to kill a child?"
The two sentries looked at each other, realizing that they were both in deep trouble, and it seemed to be getting worse with each passing moment.
"Well, the kid's in a kraut uniform, ain't he?" Bobby said, trying desperately to defend his actions.
"And he wasn't saying nothing, so we didn't know he spoke English," he added. "Besides, lots of krauts speak English. He may be young, but he's still a kraut."
As the medic tried to gently tear open the sergeant's jacket, he looked up. "So? You're supposed to ask for a password. Did you ask them?"
"Well…no," Bobby admitted. "But they came on us kinda sudden and surprised us."
"You expected them to introduce themselves to break the ice first?" the medic asked angrily.
"Get that litter over here," he called out to the other waiting soldiers. "Gotta get him to the field hospital."
As the men went to lift the sergeant, Erich clung to Saunders tightly, staring wide-eyed at the medic.
"It's ok. We're gonna get him to the doctors and take care of him. We're not going to hurt him…anymore," the medic reassured the boy while throwing a stern look at Bobby.
"What do we do with the kraut…uh, kid?" the other young sentry asked.
"Probably best to keep the two of them together until an officer can get involved. It doesn't look like we could pry him loose from the sergeant anyway. Who're you reporting to?" the medic asked.
"Lieutenant Hanley," Bobby answered.
"Ok, while we head to the field hospital, one of you guys go get the Lieutenant. The other better stay at your post," the medic suggested. "Just try not to shoot anyone else…no lieutenants or anyone."
He stood up to follow the litter. "That's what those damn passwords are for!"
CHAPTER 17
As the men carried Saunders' litter into the field hospital, the sergeant held out an arm to Erich. The boy moved in closer when he realized that Saunders was trying to speak.
"Map…Hanley," the sergeant whispered painfully.
Just then a soldier grabbed the boy and held onto him as the sergeant was carried out of sight.
"I need to go with him," Erich pleaded. "It's important. He has something."
"You gotta stay here, kid. Until Lieutenant Hanley gets here anyway, then he can tell us what to do with you," the soldier replied.
Erich continued to stare into the tent until he heard a stern commanding voice coming up behind him.
"Ok, soldier, what's going on? I want some answers. Someone's been shot?" Hanley demanded.
"This kraut…uh kid…came out of the woods with a GI sergeant, Sir," the private answered nervously. "Bobby saw the kraut uniform and took a shot. The sergeant must have stepped in front of the kraut. He's in the hospital right now. The docs are working on him."
"He didn't give you the password when you asked?" Hanley asked sternly.
The soldier hesitated, and then finally admitted, "We got so excited when we saw the kraut uniform coming out of the woods, I guess we kinda forgot to ask for a password."
"You forgot? So you shot a sergeant? What the hell do you think we have passwords for, soldier?" the Lieutenant demanded angrily. "It's so you won't shoot a GI."
"I'm sorry, Lieutenant Hanley," the soldier replied wide-eyed in fear as he gripped his rifle tightly against his chest, almost trying to protect himself from the officer's rage.
"You're Lieutenant Hanley?" Erich interrupted, recognizing the name and oblivious to the man's anger.
Hanley turned to stare at the boy. "Yes. Should I know you?"
"Sergeant Saunders was trying to get to you," Erich replied.
"Saunders? Sergeant Saunders?" Hanley yelled, putting the pieces of the puzzle together.
He swung around to glare at the young private, and shouted in his face, "You shot my sergeant? You shot Saunders?"
The terrified soldier was speechless. Visions of a court martial floated before his eyes. He knew about Sergeant Saunders. Half the Company knew who he was.
He finally managed to quickly say, "Bobby did it."
"I'll deal with you two later, Private," Hanley replied angrily as he started to go into the tent.
Erich said, "Please, Sir, I need to come. I have to get you something."
Hanley looked into the boy's pleading eyes and nodded. "C'mon."
CHAPTER 18
The Lieutenant led the boy in until a nurse stopped them. She knew both the Lieutenant and Saunders, so she also knew exactly what the officer was there for.
"I'm sorry, Lieutenant. You can't go any farther. The sergeant is in surgery right now."
Hanley stopped and looked into the sectioned off area for the operating room. Erich peered around the officer and could just see the sergeant's head and bare chest as they prepped him for surgery.
"Where are his clothes?" he asked the nurse excitedly.
She looked at the boy, with both confusion and puzzlement. "Why, we threw them away, of course. They were all bloody. And we had to cut his jacket and shirt off of him."
"Where?" Erich asked, growing more excited. "Where did you throw them away?"
Now the Lieutenant was confused as well. He looked at the nurse, who wordlessly pointed at a large crate by the opening of the tent.
The young boy ran to the crate and began pulling things out…bloodied towels and bandages, pants…and a cut up and bloody field jacket and shirt.
"Listen, son…" Hanley began to grab the boy.
Erich jerked his arm away and fumbled in the shirt pocket. He pulled out the three dog tags and handed them to the officer.
As the Lieutenant looked at the tags, he realized what the boy was doing. Then Erich pulled out the soggy, folded map.
He handed it to the officer. "The Sergeant asked me to give this to you. It's very important."
Hanley carefully unfolded the paper and looked it over. He couldn't tell what it all meant, but he could tell that it was definitely important.
As if reading his mind, Erich repeated, "It's very important. The Sergeant found it on my lieutenant's body when we were looking for a compass."
He pointed at some words on the map. "This is all about where the artillery will be placed. I can tell you what it all says. I already told the Sergeant. And I know more, too. I was like a…helper…"
"An aide?" the officer offered.
"Yes, an aide…" the boy continued. "I was an aide to my lieutenant and I heard other things that are not on the map."
Still looking at the map, Hanley walked over to a nearby table and sat down. Pushing aside the paperwork and files cluttering the table top, he spread out the map.
"Tell me," the officer said, looking up at the boy.
Erich started to go to the lieutenant's side when he suddenly stopped. "Wait!" he exclaimed.
Before Hanley could object or question him, the boy went back to the large crate by the tent opening. Pulling out the blood-soaked field jacket, he fished in the pockets once again.
CHAPTER 19
Saunders woke with a dull pain across his back. He was lying on his side, and it took him a few moments to recognize where he was. Field hospital. Again.
When he tried to turn his head to look around, the movement brought out a grunt of pain. Ok, Saunders, he thought. We're not doing that again.
"It's gotta hurt just knowing you've been shot by one of our own men," came the familiar voice from somewhere nearby.
The sergeant looked in the direction of the voice, trying hard not to move his head at all. Lieutenant Hanley came into view on a crate next to his cot.
"Did…" Saunders began hoarsely. Trying again, he asked softly, "Did any of my men make it back, Lieutenant? We got separated in the firefight and the fog."
Hanley smiled. "All present and accounted for. They managed to somehow stumble onto each other, and then found the platoon sergeant. He led your men and a bunch of others back here."
Saunders made a mental note to find the sergeant later and thank him.
Hanley continued, "Everyone made it back in one piece…except you. But I'll give you credit. You almost made it back in one piece. Seems you two had quite an adventure from what the boy has told me."
The lieutenant was leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, jangling something metal in his hand. He held his hand out and opened it to reveal three dog tags in his palm.
"Erich dug these out of your shirt that the nurse had cut off of you and thrown away. He said you took them off of some dead soldiers still out in the sector that the krauts overran. Thanks."
He looked at the tags. "Seems like it might be some time before we can win that area back, and get in to retrieve the bodies."
Saunders remained silent. Win…he thought. Win or lose. It all comes down to a game…of life and death.
Hanley smiled. "Erich also gave us the map, which just might get us back in there a whole heck of a lot sooner. Good thing he was here. The waste disposal team would have taken your clothes, the tags and the map. And we can sure use that compass. But that map is a real gold mine."
The sergeant's eyes suddenly flew open in a panic. As he struggled to get up, Hanley put a hand on his shoulder and gently pushed him back on the cot.
"Take it easy," the officer said reassuringly as he reached into his jacket pocket.
Handing his sergeant the lighter, Hanley added, "Sorry. Should have given you this first thing. Got caught up with that map. The boy went back for your lighter too. You must have told him about it."
Lying back, the sergeant just nodded. He hadn't thought that Erich was paying much attention when he'd briefly mentioned the lighter.
"How's Erich?" Saunders asked as he held the lighter tightly.
"He's doing fine," Hanley replied, smiling. "Eats like a horse."
Hanley began to fill his sergeant in on everything that had been happening while he was on the operating table. Saunders listened quietly, growing sleepier as the officer talked.
"You sure Erich's ok?" the sergeant interrupted. "He's not a soldier. Just a kid."
"He's doing good," Hanley responded. "All that information that he volunteered made it obvious that he's no dedicated kraut soldier."
Hanley gave a little laugh. "Keeps talking about going to America as a POW."
"Will he?" Saunders asked.
The officer nodded. "I talked to the brass. Probably Nebraska. Don't know about after the war though. They said if we send him off with letters of recommendation about how much he's helped us, and make a point of reminding them that he's an orphan, they might make arrangements for him to stay. Can't say for sure, but it's worth a try. Won't really know until the war's over."
Hanley was quiet for a moment, looking at the tags in his hand. Then he looked up at his sergeant. "Kind of a fool thing to do, stepping in front of him like that."
"They were going to shoot him," Saunders replied bluntly.
"So instead they shot you," Hanley retorted. "That plan worked out really great."
"Guess I wasn't fast enough," the sergeant admitted with a faint smile.
Hanley sighed. "Have you noticed Sergeant that you have a bad tendency to get hurt while saving children?"
Saunders suppressed another smile. "They also have a good tendency to save me."
The two men looked at each other in silence. When Saunders didn't say anything more, the Lieutenant added quietly, "You can't save them all, Saunders."
"I can try," the sergeant almost whispered in reply. He looked the officer in the eye. "I couldn't just walk away, Hanley."
With a slight smile, Hanley answered, "I know."
He stood up and laid a hand on his sergeant's shoulder. "Get some rest. You'll be here for awhile. Don't even have another uniform for you yet."
The officer smiled. "I'll send Erich by to see you later."
"Would you do me a favor, Lieutenant?" Saunders asked sleepily.
"Sure, what do you need?" Hanley replied.
"Can you bring me something from my haversack?" the sergeant asked, stifling a yawn.
They talked for a short while longer, and then the officer nodded and said, "You got it."
CHAPTER 20
When Saunders woke again, Erich was sitting beside him. Concentrating on reading a book, the boy never noticed that the sergeant was awake.
"What're you reading?" Saunders asked, smiling weakly.
The boy looked up, "Oh, you're awake."
He held the book up with his finger tucked into the pages to hold his place. "Great Expectations, written by a man named Charles Dickens. Have you heard of it?"
Saunders nodded and looked at the cover. "It's in English?"
"Yes, I'm practicing," the boy replied happily. "I need to be ready when I go to America. Lieutenant Hanley let me borrow it when I told him I want to be an English teacher."
He looked at the book for a moment, and his smile faded. "This boy Pip is an orphan too. Did you know that?"
Saunders nodded again, watching the boy carefully.
"He's also someone with even more problems than me," Erich smiled faintly. "I hope he gets to marry Estella."
He slid a scrap of paper in to mark his place, and set the book on the crate next to Saunders' head.
"Are you feeling better?" the boy asked earnestly. "Getting shot was a very brave thing to do."
Saunders almost laughed. "I wasn't trying to get shot. That would be a very foolish thing to do. I just wanted to push you out of the way. Guess I'm not faster than a speeding bullet." He finally gave a short laugh and grimaced with the twinge of pain.
Seeing the concern on the boy's face, Saunders tried to change the subject. He winced again as he looked toward the crate.
"Is there anything on the crate?" he asked.
Erich leaned forward and said, "Yes, there's a picture here. Would you like it?"
Saunders nodded and held out his hand. Hanley must have found it for him and left it by his bedside while he was sleeping. He looked at the picture for a moment, and smiled as he held it out to the boy.
"My kid brother Chris," he explained.
Erich sat with the picture in both hands. It was a photograph of Saunders with his arm wrapped around the shoulders of a young blond boy. Both were grinning broadly.
Finally looking up, Erich said in astonishment. "He does look like me. He looks a lot like Petra too."
A sadness came over his face as he thought about his sister.
CHAPTER 21
As the two sat in silence, Lieutenant Hanley came up behind them.
"I hate to interrupt, but it's time to go. Captain Jampel wants to go over the map with you one more time, Erich. There'll be a soldier named Brockmeyer sitting in with us too. He speaks German, and can help with anything you might have difficulty with. Just to make sure we didn't miss anything. Jog your memory a bit."
Saunders frowned. He knew that Brockmeyer would be there to verify everything that Erich was saying and to be sure that the boy
wasn't cleverly throwing in any false information. He didn't like that they still didn't trust the boy, but he knew that it was necessary to verify the information before sending soldiers back into the sector.
"We have a jeep waiting for you," Hanley continued, glancing over at his sergeant to see his reaction.
"After you're done in our meeting, the jeep will take you back behind our lines. Sergeant Saunders and I will be writing letters of recommendation for you, and we'll send them out soon. Captain Jampel has written one also, explaining what a big help you've been. We'll be moving forward again to retake the sector now that we have this information."
Hanley gave the boy a faint smile. "With any luck, you'll be in the US by the end of the week."
Erich smiled brightly. "Nebraska?"
The officer was obviously perplexed. "Uh…yes. How'd you know?"
Saunders smiled and Erich laughed out loud. "I have a very good memory. It's kind of square, isn't it?"
It was Saunders' turn to laugh. But as the two looked at each other, the smiles faded.
The Lieutenant looked at both of them. "I'm going to go make sure they've found Brockmeyer for the meeting. Don't be long."
Erich watched until the officer had left. "Oh, I have to give him back his book."
He picked up the book and stared at it. "I guess I'll never find out what happens to Pip."
"I'll get you your own copy," Saunders replied.
The young boy's face lit up. "Really? How could you do that?"
"I'll write home when the Lieutenant knows for sure where you're going to be," the sergeant answered.
"My sister would love to send you one. We have a little used book store in our town. She's always looking for an excuse to go in there."
"Used book store?" Erich asked in confusion.
"Used book, not a used store," Saunders smiled. "Means that someone else has read the book before, and decided to share it with others," the sergeant tried to explain.
"Used…" the boy thought. "I like that someone else has read the same book as me."
"My sister will send you the book," Saunders continued, "And she'll probably write you too. Be careful or she'll start treating you as her kid brother."
With a broad grin, Erich replied, "I'd like that. What is her name?"
"Louise," Saunders answered. "She's the youngest, so I'm sure she'd enjoy having someone younger than her."
The boy stared at the picture. "I really miss my sister. Maybe someday I'll see her again."
Erich held out the picture to return it.
"Keep it," Saunders said. "Chris looks a lot like our sister Louise, too."
"But it's your brother's picture!" the boy exclaimed, shocked that the sergeant would give up such a precious thing as a family picture. Erich had none of his own.
"When I write home about the book, I'll get Louise to send me another." He pushed the photograph back toward the boy. "She got a Flash Brownie camera for her birthday from a good friend of mine, Syd Thomas. Louise loves taking pictures. Spends almost all of her babysitting money on developing film."
Erich's eyes welled up as he smiled. "It's like having a sister and a brother…and it's like having you as my big brother too."
He wiped his eyes quickly. "It's like having a family again."
Saunders held out his hand. "You'd better get going before the Lieutenant sends out a search patrol for you."
Erich took his hand and shook it very gently.
"Be good, Erich Ziegler. Keep studying your English. You'll be a great teacher some day, and maybe you'll inspire other kids to be teachers too."
"Thank you, Sergeant Saunders. I will. You be careful," Erich replied. With a slight smile he added, "No more races with speeding bullets."
"I'll try," the sergeant smiled in return.
As the boy left the tent to join Lieutenant Hanley, Sergeant Saunders watched him go.
He whispered, "Have a good life, little brother."
THE END