Chasing Echoes
Tyrolean Alps, Austria
Much to Anna's relief, Elsa did not attempt to make an unannounced departure the next morning. For when she awoke early the next day, Anna half expected to see Elsa packing her bags, or a note she had left behind as an unceremonious goodbye. However, as she turned over in her bed and looked across the room to Elsa's own, Anna was relieved to see her sister's platinum blonde hair poking from over the covers that gently rose and fell with her breathing.
As they dressed, Anna became more sure that Elsa had not intended to leave, and remained committed to their journey. They wore simple, yet practical attire. Elsa wore a navy blue Henley shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows along with a pair of slim fitted khakis tucked into brown leather boots. Anna wore a beige oxford shirt with the sleeves rolled on top of earth tone canvas trousers and similar brown boots.
Over breakfast, Anna and Kristoff briefed Elsa over their plan and destination. Rahn's coordinates pointed to a remote mountain pass deep in the Tyrolean Alps, a nearly unremarkable area save for an abandoned copper mine that Anna had turned up in her preliminary research.
From their hotel in Munich, Tyrol was just past the Austrian border and in a little over two hours of driving, they crossed into the mountainous region. Where, according to Rahn, Himmler had a secret bunker built to contain the artifacts he had stolen from across Europe and to serve as a new base for his occult research.
The drive was, to say the least, scenic. The route wound along narrow mountain roads, and as the elevation dipped slightly, they gradually evened out onto wide fields of green grass. Lush forests, snow-capped mountain peaks, and glistening blue lakes passed them by, the last of which Anna could admire from a distance, but had no desire to see further up close.
By midday, they reached the town of Innsbruck, where they passed through quickly on the way to their next destination. As civilization faded behind them, they passed onto a rural trail that was just wide enough to fit their car. They progressed steadily towards the base of a mountain range, where the terrain gradually became more rugged as it rose towards a dense tree line.
The trail cut a path through the trees, though it was obvious that it was rarely used, if at all. Shaded by the trees which towered around them, they passed on in silence as the ground continued to rise. Eventually, they made it past the top of the tree line where the landscape gave away to rocky bluffs and cliff faces as they began to ascend the mountain. The trail they had been driving on soon became impassable as they approached a section that had been covered by a landslide.
"Well, looks like we hoof it from here," Kristoff turned off the ignition and stepped out of the car.
Anna withdrew Rahn's map from her pocket and examined it closely. "If we're on the right path, then the bunker shouldn't be far from here," she said, squinting at their path ahead of them. "I reckon it shouldn't be too hard to find."
"Come on," Elsa said as she stepped out of the car and adjusted the bag containing their climbing equipment around her shoulders. "We should get get going."
Together, the trio packed up their gear and left their car behind as they navigated around the landslide on foot. Past it, the trail was clear and they continued on, heading through the mountain range accompanied by a dazzling view of the valley below them and the peak in the distance.
"I gotta say, Himmler chose a hell of a place to build his secret bunker," Anna wondered aloud. "What is it with Nazis and building secret bunkers in the mountains? I mean, you've got Hitler's eagle's nest and now this?" she asked as she gestured widely with her arms, turning to Elsa.
"Well, evidently they had similar taste," Elsa answered. "Besides, you can't deny the view," she said, sweeping her gaze across the valley below.
Anna studied her as she spoke, noticing the way the wind ruffled her blonde hair that she had styled into a single braid, and the way her sapphire eyes caught the light of afternoon sun.
"Yeah… not bad at all," Anna murmured quietly, without taking her eyes off of Elsa.
Up ahead, Kristoff snorted loudly and turned to face the pair as he continued to walk backwards. "Sure, sure, but the view aside, they must have had one hell of a time lugging all that stolen loot up this mountain. Not to mention how difficult it would have been to build this secret bunker in the first place," he said, turning back to face the trail before them again. "I mean, do you guys ever stop to think about the logistics of it all? The manpower?"
Anna glanced at Elsa again, fixing her with a faraway look. Elsa happened to catch her eye and raised one eyebrow at the wistful expression on her face. Anna held that look a moment longer before smiling and turning forwards again.
Holding that look a moment longer, Anna then turned forwards, still wearing that pleasant expression. "Well… where there's a will, there's a way," she said wryly.
They pressed on silence for a short while, each of them lost to their own thoughts. Kristoff was focused on their trail ahead of them, while Elsa kept her eyes mostly glued to to the expansive view.
Anna hummed a tuneless melody to herself and kicked a rock down the path when she thought of a joke. "Hey, you guys wanna hear a joke?" she asked.
"Ugh," Kristoff groaned.
Elsa sighed in resignation. "Anna, please."
"Why does a space rock taste better than an earth rock?" Anna continued as if she hadn't heard their protests.
"I don't know, what?" Elsa humored her.
"Because it's meteor. Ha ha!" Anna snorted goofily and started laughing mirthfully at her own joke. She ribbed Elsa in the side with her elbow gleefully. "Get it? Because it sounds like meatier? Ha! Classic!"
Kristoff quickened his pace as if to get away, while Elsa rolled her eyes and grinned to herself as Anna continued to laugh.
After another half hour of hiking, the trio came upon the first sign of the bunker, which was little more than a pillbox carved into the mountainside. They had nearly passed by it when Elsa did a double take, noticing the unnatural rectangular hole cut in the rock-face.
"Hey, check this out," Elsa said, pointing to the anomaly.
She broke away from Anna and Kristoff and climbed a small grassy hill. Approaching the hole, Elsa noticed that part of the rockface gave away to poured concrete. Despite its chipped and weather beaten condition, there was no denying that it was definitely a manmade structure. From its vantage point, it had a view of the trail and was partially concealed by dead grass and dry shrubs.
"Maybe it's the entrance?" Kristoff suggested off to the side.
Anna brushed aside some dead foliage and poked her head carefully through the view port, peering inside. There was little to be said of the interior, having been destroyed by a cave-in long ago. The only thing that Anna could see was a pile of rubble with no standing room. In any case, it certainly was not any kind of entrance but merely a forward observation post.
"No, can't be. It's all caved in and there's definitely no way they squeezed all their stuff through here," Anna said, shaking her head as she withdrew it from the view port. "But we're definitely on the right track. There are copper mines in these mountains that predate the war. They could have built the bunker on top of one of them."
"Oh, copper. Wonderful," Kristoff muttered sarcastically. "Well, at least we can always start a mint and make pennies if we don't find anything."
Anna cocked her head and fixed Kristoff with a self-assured grin. "Oh, ye of little faith," she replied as she touched his shoulder and brushed past him.
Kristoff looked at Elsa, shrugging his shoulders with a quizzical expression on his face. Elsa simply smirked and shook her head as she followed after Anna.
With fresh confidence at discovering definitive signs of a secret bunker, Anna led the way forward, striding quickly as Elsa fell in step behind her and Kristoff took up the rear. The trail they had been following had narrowed in some parts, having fallen away due to erosion and the passage of time, but generally continued to run straight along a ridgeline. On their left was an inclined rockface, pockmarked by boulders and trees. On their right, was a steady decline, broken up by the occasional cliffface as the valley stretched away below them.
A little while after the first pillbox, the path they had been following cut to the left, carving a shallow canyon as it widened before them. Steep, but not impassable, walls surrounded them on either side now as they approached the mouth of a large tunnel.
Similar to last time, the rough and uneven rock face that rose before them was contrasted by a smooth and uniform concrete wall that was embedded within it. In the center was a large rusted iron gate that was tall and wide enough to allow passage for vehicles.
"Well, I'll be goddamned," Kristoff muttered, gazing at the imposing entrance.
The gate stood before them and seemed to gaze back in sinister silence; an ill omen of the secrets it contained within.
Anna let out a squeal of triumph as she leapt into the air. "That has to be it! This has got to be the bunker, we found it! Teamwork!" she said cheerfully as she turned to Elsa and held up her hand for a high-five.
Elsa rolled her eyes, and high-fived her sister half-heartedly. Anna beamed and smiled brightly.
Despite its age, the bunker remained secure and gaining entry was going to be no easy feat.
"I don't suppose they have a doorbell," Anna muttered as she pressed a hand against the rough iron door. "Hello? Yoo hoo! Anyone home?" she called, as she banged her fist against the gate.
Off to the side, Kristoff leaned against the gate and crossed his arms. "Maybe give it a push?" he suggested, half seriously.
Anna shrugged her shoulders and gave it a try, setting in her feet and pushing with both hands against the gate. She grunted with exertion and her feet made tracks in the ground as she tried to force the door open. It didn't budge and Anna gave up the hopeless effort. She stood back, setting her hands on her hips and sighing deeply.
Meanwhile, Elsa had taken a closer look at their surroundings since going through the gate was clearly not an option. She eyed the concrete frame above, inspecting it for any holes or other weaknesses. It was deeply cracked and covered with moss, but nothing short of blasting the gate open with dynamite would gain them entry. Finding no options there, she cast her gaze upwards to the rockface which was likewise covered in pockmarks, vines, and other bits that stuck outwards. Elsa's eyes lit up when she spotted a gun platform near the top where the barrel of some kind of large artillery cannon was poking out.
"There. Look at that!" Elsa exclaimed, pointing upwards.
Anna and Kristoff stepped back from the gate and tracked her fingers upwards, settling on the open air platform on which the artillery cannon sat.
"Huh. That could work," Anna nodded, eyeing the easily climbable rock face they could ascend to reach it. "That could work indeed. Good spot, Elsa."
"Great," Kristoff said. "But I'm not as vertically gifted as you guys when it comes to climbing things. How am I supposed to get up there?"
"Don't worry," Anna clapped him on the shoulder. "We planned for that, right, Elsa?"
They both turned back to Elsa who had set down her bag and laid out their climbing gear. Ropes, anchors, harnesses, and even a bright orange helmet for Kristoff to wear. She held out a harness in her hand, jiggling it slightly as she grinned at Kristoff.
Kristoff chuckled mirthlessly and shook his head. "Of course," he sighed.
Elsa and Anna drew straws to see who would make the free-climb first to set up their anchors and ropes, and Elsa had drawn the short straw.
She dusted her hands as she approached the base of the rockface then started her ascent. Using the various hand and footholds, she made the climb easily by shuffling along horizontal edges and making her way up vertical pieces while planting anchors and guide ropes as she went. When she reached the top she looked down and gave Anna the okay sign with her thumb and forefinger.
Down below, Anna helped Kristoff with his climbing equipment while occasionally keeping an eye on Elsa as she made the climb above. Once she was safely at the top, Anna turned her full attention to the large man in front of her.
"You know, this is very emasculating," Kristoff muttered as he adjusted the straps around his waist, then fiddled with the buckles near his crotch.
"Oh shush, you. Don't forget to put on your helmet!" Anna chided, then slapped Kristoff's hands away from the buckles. "And, don't play with those! Wouldn't want you to fall and bruise your already bruised ego, now would we?"
"But it- it's… riding up my bollocks," Kristoff protested.
"Ugh, don't be a baby," Anna rolled her eyes. "Better to have sore bollocks than no bollocks, hmm?"
Meanwhile on the gun platform above, Elsa finished securing the ropes to the artillery piece, confident that the ancient and rusted hunk of metal wouldn't budge. After she was done, she tossed the slack line down and gave it an experimental tug, ensuring that it was secure.
Elsa looked down from and called from above, "all set! You guys can come on up!"
Anna gave her a thumbs up then waved for Kristoff to come over so they could begin their ascent. She went over to the slack line where it had coiled on the ground and pulled it back, looping it around a boulder and pulling it taut so that Kristoff could begin his climb.
He made steady, but slow progress given that he was not nearly as experienced in free climbing as Elsa and Anna were. All the while, Anna kept the slack line taut around the boulder to ensure that Kristoff could maintain his ascent safely. Above, Elsa kept on eye on him as he reached the top, then grabbed his hand and pulled him up.
"Whew!" Kristoff clapped his hands then tossed away his helmet. "Made it! Anna you can come up now!"
Anna nodded then released the slack line and proceeded towards the base of the rock-face. She adjusted the bag of their other supplies around her back, then began her own ascent, following the same route that Elsa did. Within a few minutes, she was standing atop the gun platform with the other two. Once they were all situated, Anna knelt and rummaged through her bag to pass out their equipment. She gave flashlights to Elsa and Kristoff, then retrieved Elsa's gun and holster and held it out to her.
"You really think we'll need that?" Kristoff asked, eyeing Elsa as she withdrew her sidearm of choice from her holster and inspected it.
The pistol had belonged to Elsa and Anna's father, who in turn had inherited from their grandfather. It was a Browning M1911A1 pistol that their grandfather had acquired during the Nazi occupation of Norway during the Second World War.
"No, but you can never be too sure, right?" Elsa donned her holster than released the magazine and inspected the empty chamber.
Once she was sure it was loaded, she slid the magazine back in and chambered a round, then slid it back into her holster. The holster was another family heirloom that belonged to their father, and was made of smooth leather and worn over the shoulders. At Elsa's right side, beneath the arm, were two slots for spare magazines which she had also filled and had on standby. Similarly, on her left side was where the pistol was kept in place.
"Yeah, you know how the saying goes," Anna said as she retrieved her own ballistic accouterments. "Better to have a gun and not need it, then to need a gun and not have it."
Her taste was more modern, and her sidearm of choice was a H&K USP pistol along with a coyote tan drop leg holster that held slots for additional magazines. She secured the holster to her right thigh, adjusting the straps until they were taut and slid her weapon into place.
"Can't argue with that logic," Kristoff concurred as he reached in and withdrew his personal sidearm.
Compared to them both, his preferred weapon of choice was even more of a relic. It was a vintage Webley MKVI revolver that he carried in a holster on the waistband of his belt at the small of his back.
Once they were all armed and ready, they proceeded the other end of the round gun platform where an iron door stood ajar. Elsa had been correct, and the gun platform held an entrance to the bunker in the form of a spiraling stairway that twisted downwards into the mountain.
"Ready?" Elsa asked, turning to Anna and Kristoff as she flicked on her flashlight.
"Right behind you," Anna replied confidently.
At that, the trio entered the stairway and descended into the dark below.
