Chapter 7:

"You lost him?!" Klink exclaimed, shooting up from his desk chair. Schultz, Hogan's men, and Kalina had just returned to camp in a full panic and practically tumbled into his office with the news. After spending a full five minutes explaining the events of the unfinished work detail, the kommandant had drained of all color, his pupils were almost the exact size of his friendly blue irises, and the group of six could see him violently shivering in both pure fear and growing outrage.

"I don't know how it happened, Herr Kommandant," Schultz answered, standing before his commanding officer and shaking almost as much as Klink was. "I was gone two minutes, not a second more...but he was already gone."

"Schultz, do you realize what you have done to me?! You've ruined my perfect escape record! I'll be sent to the Russian Front because of you. My command here at Stalag 13 is over all because you were stupid enough to leave Colonel Hogan alone while outside the wire!" Klink bellowed, shaking his fist in fury. By that time, his face had gone from bedsheet white to fire truck red. Almost as red-faced as Hochstetter got when dealing with Hogan or any other matter regarding Stalag 13. None of them had ever seen Klink so furious before, and it terrified every last one of them.

"He didn't escape, Papa," Kalina said, swallowing her anxiety down as best as possible. "He was kidnapped."

"And how do you know that for certain?" Klink remarked, still raging, but his expression softened a bit when turning to face her.

Kalina gulped a large knot down her throat and became paralyzed for a moment. In any other case, she would have thought of some plausible explanation for her knowledge without giving away Hogan's secret 'business'. But considering her second father's life was hanging over a cliff at that very moment, she did the only thing she could do: tell the truth. "We think someone wants Colonel Hogan dead."

Klink looked as if someone had just slammed a door against his face and was now standing there in shock. When his dry throat finally dampened a bit, he said the only word that could come out of his mouth. "What?"

"LeBeau found a note outside of barracks two yesterday with a threat on it. It said 'Kill Colonel Hogan now, or I'll do it myself'." Kalina explained quietly.

"We're not sure who left it, Sir, but one thing's definitely for sure," Newkirk said, adding on. "The Gov'nor's in real trouble right now."

"And I'll bet you $100 that wherever he is he didn't go there voluntarily." Kinch finished, crossing his arms as if it were the only thing keeping him from panicking.

The color from the kommandant's face quickly drained again, and the bedsheet paleness soon settled back in. On pure instinct, he reached for the telephone and waited for the operator to jump on. "Get me Major Hochstetter at Gestapo Headquarters, priority call. Then get me General Burkhalter in Berlin and tell him it's an emergency," he ordered.

While he waited for the line to connect to Hochstetter, Klink looked off to his right and closed his eyes as he said a silent prayer to God. Hang in there, Hogan, he thought to himself. Just hold on there for a little longer.

As Hogan began to come to, his head bobbed back and forth a few times before he finally opened his eyes. His vision was blurry, but the first thing he recognized was that he was being transported in some type of car and that night had fallen. When his sight settled in, he turned his head to the right and lifted his head when he saw a Gestapo officer in the driver's seat, his eyes never leaving sight of the road. A tall, strong built man with the only physical feature the colonel could clearly see is the wavy, dark blonde hair on his head.

At first, Hogan went into a brief state of shock, but soon enough sat up in the back and found his voice while moistening his dry throat. "Who are you?" He asked, command-like. "Where am I?"

"Ah, he's finally awake," the Gestapo officer said, with a slight chuckle. "Glad to finally be acquainted with you, Colonel."

"Who are you, I said. And what is it that you want?"

"I'm Captain Höcker with the Hammelburg Gestapo. Consider me a friend of Major Hochstetter's...an ex friend after I'm through with you."

"What business do you have with an ordinary prisoner of war?"

The question had Höcker bursting out laughing. "My dear Colonel Hogan, are you really that naïve? I know all about Hochstetter's assumptions of you being the most wanted spy in all of Germany. Or shall I call you by your codename?...Papa Bear."

Hogan's face hardened, giving nothing to the captain other than a fierce glare. "I don't know what you're talking about. I know about Papa Bear as much as any other Kraut does."

"Act dumb all you want, Hogan, but I know your true colors as well as you do. Hochstetter may be a man to follow the book, but I'm not. And once Berlin learns of my capture, I'll be promoted to a rank even higher than the Major's."

Hogan remained quiet; his facial expression void of any emotion, while inside his mind he was screaming with terror. He had to get out of this car. He had to get back to Stalag 13. And with Williams out there wandering around, his boys and little girl were in more danger than any of them could possibly imagine. They couldn't take the sergeant down without him. Not without him protecting their lives, that is. And he would make sure none of them were harmed by the psychotic bastard even if it was the last thing he ever did. But how did he get out of the car was the question.

He made his eyes to the door handle on his right, and an idea hit him. It was sheer lunacy. Possibly suicidal even, but what other choice did he have? It was either that or be taken to Gestapo Headquarters and murdered by this captain that was more deranged than Hochstetter was.

Hogan took in a deep breath of air and let it out softly. He reached out for the door handle and gripped onto it tightly. He took in another shaky breath of air, closed his eyes, and counted to three before he flung the backside door open and jumped out onto the side of the road. He rolled down the hill curled up like an armadillo, while Höcker looked into the backseat of the car, saw his prisoner, and slammed onto the brakes while pulling alongside the road. The captain jumped out of the driver's seat, pulled out his pistol, then began his chase after Hogan.

Once reaching the bottom of the hill, Hogan got to his feet, brushed himself off, then took off running. After about two minutes of running, Hogan started to hear gunshots ring out from behind him. He looked back to find Höcker several yards away, chasing after him while firing a pistol. The colonel swiftly dodged each bullet and continued running until he found shelter.

Hogan ran for two miles straight, not stopping once to aid his burning lungs, the stabbing pain in his side, and his tightening throat. He reached the edge of the city's limits and came to a halt briefly, not able to take anymore of the agony his body was in. He bent over and placed his hands on his knees while trying to collect his breath. He was finally able to quit hyperventilating and began searching for a place to take cover. His eyes lay sight on an old, abandoned railroad warehouse with train tracks running out in between the building. When he could hear gunfire from behind him again, Hogan looked back for a moment, saw Höcker running towards him, then bolted inside the warehouse to take shelter.

Höcker followed Hogan into the warehouse, paused at the doorway, then snarled and made his way further into the building, glancing back and forth from cargo boxes and tanks and the train tracks that ran through the center of it all. He began walking down the tracks scanning for Hogan, while the American himself hid behind an empty tank and waited for an opportunity to sneak out.

"Come out wherever you are, Hogan. I know you're in here somewhere," Höcker said, with a sneer. "I'm making you my prisoner if it's the last thing I do."

Hogan's eyes narrowed and looked for something that he could use as a diversion. He spotted an old steam whistle with a pull cord hanging down from a support beam, and a lightbulb turned on in Hogan's mind. Not on my watch, he thought to himself. He rose to his feet, quietly made his way to the pull cord, then took hold and yanked it down to elicit the blaring, infamous sound that almost had Höcker wetting himself.

The captain let out a loud yelp and shot a bullet through the ceiling almost automatically. "Was zum Teufel war das?!" He exclaimed. (1)

While the captain turned around to see what had caused the alarming noise, Hogan slid out from his hiding spot behind the tank and tried to make a run for it back out the warehouse, when Höcker heard a soft rustling from behind him, spotted Hogan, and his dark blue eyes became almost black. "YOU!"

The colonel picked up speed and started to dash for the other side of the building, Höcker taking off on his feet to chase the culprit.

Hogan zig-zagged through boxes, tanks, and beaten down train parts as he again dodged bullets coming from behind him. He jumped onto and off of wooden boxes in the way, Höcker following the same suit as the chase continued. The colonel's luck eventually wore thin, and he was cornered by a tall pile of boxes on one side of him and a defunct steam engine on the other. A frantic expression began to make its way to Hogan's face as he watched Höcker slowly approach him, his pistol pointed straight at him and ready to fire.

Hogan quickly looked for something to defend himself with, when he spotted a crowbar near the entrance of the warehouse. He made an attempt to dive for the piece of metal, but Höcker was quicker than he was. The Gestapo captain fired his gun and hit Hogan in the middle of his abdomen. Hogan gasped as he doubled over and placed his hand on his belly.

A second shot was made and hit the colonel again in the stomach, causing Hogan to fall to the ground and trying to breathe through the pain as he began to bleed out. Hogan opened his watering eyes up at the Gestapo officer hovering over him and watched as Höcker pointed the pistol right at his head.

Meanwhile, from the outside, a figure cladded in black and a fedora approached the warehouse and heard the first of the gunshots. When he heard the second one, he knew that Hogan would slowly bleed to death, but was determined to be the one to kill him. He would not stand aside and let this Kraut do the job he desperately wanted the satisfaction for himself. With his assignment in mind, he found several cans of gasoline lined outside the warehouse and poured them all around the one side of the building, and would let the fire do the rest. He lit a match, dropped it into the pool of gasoline, then took his fedora off and waved it to make the fire spread quicker.

As Höcker prepared to pull the trigger, his nose caught the distinct smell of smoke from nearby. He looked to his right and felt his eyes nearly fall out of his head. Large flames of fire began to engulf the warehouse, and thick black smoke started to swirl above him and Hogan near the high rise ceiling.

Forgetting all about Hogan, Höcker tossed his pistol to the side and made a run for the entrance, when the front end of the building collapsed in on itself. Burning wood and beams came down in front of Höcker and blocked his exit. He tumbled as he turned around, saw the exit in the back, and quickly sprinted to the other side of the warehouse. By the time he reached the back, however, the remaining exit had been consumed by the fire and collapsed as well.

Höcker ran back to where Hogan lay motionless and growing pale, and the captain began to search for an exit, but found none. With no other idea left, he did the only thing he could do; scream at the top of his lungs for help and pray to God that someone heard him.

"HELP!" He cried. "HELP! *Cough, cough* HELP ME! SOMEBODY! ANYBODY!" Höcker began coughing like crazy as the black smoke began to descend around him. He ran to one of the walls and began banging on them. "HELP! I'M STUCK IN HERE, HELP!" Höcker coughed violently and felt as if he was being suffocated. "HEL..*cough, cough*" Höcker slid down to the ground, tears stinging in his eyes as his forceful banging became weak and tired. He made one last bang against the wall, then fell to the grasp of reality. He was about to die. No one could hear him, and no one would find him in time. He closed his eyes and cried in fear as he allowed the smoke to slowly kill him.

Hogan gasped for air and gave labored breaths as he exhaled, the pain in his belly hurting more than anything he had ever felt in his entire life. Unfortunately, it only increased as the smoke began to affect his lungs and caused him to cough and make it even more difficult for him to breathe.

His vision was becoming blurry, and sounds were mixing together as one. Soon he was going in and out of consciousness, unsure if it was the smoke or him bleeding out causing it. Someone's voice became louder and louder, and Hogan eventually saw a shadowy figure standing above him. Was he being rescued, or was it an angel coming to take him home to God? He was not awake long enough to find out. His eyes grew heavy, and Hogan quit fighting. He closed his eyes, his head fell to the side, and soon all he saw was black.

(1) Was zum Teufel war das - What the hell was that?!