"Halt!"
A little way ahead, Emilie could see the outline of a German soldier, his gun pointed straight at her. She stopped and narrowed her eyes against the wind, taking in the way he stood, the way he wore his helmet, the way he held his rifle. She was quickly able to make out who it was, and called in Deutsch, hoping her words weren't carried away by the near-gale, "Kuhn, is that you? It's sergeant Emilie Demont."
She saw him pause, then slowly lower his weapon, straightening and taking a hesitant step towards her. "Emilie? We… We thought you and Drechsler had abandoned us. We were told to shoot you both on sight." She could tell he was in the midst of an internal battle, confused about whether to follow orders and shoot her dead, or to welcome her back with open arms. "Where were you? Where's Drechsler?"
As Emilie moved closer and Kuhn became more than a silhouette, she saw him frown. "And where did you get those crutches?"
She laughed. "That's quite a questionnaire, my friend." When he didn't smile like he usually would have, she grew more serious, face now sad as she remembered Drechsler. "Drechsler thought that the only way of saving me was to take me to the hospital the Americans had in town. I've been there since, but he was…" She swallowed painfully but continued on, though her voice cracked a little, "He was killed as soon as he drove through the gates."
He stared at her in disbelief. Kuhn was the infamous joker of the company, but this was too much for him. "Drech… Drechsler's dead?"
"Yes." Her voice came out cold, but she refused to show weakness in front of her men, and her protective bars that kept everyone else out slammed over her once more. For the first time, she found she didn't like it. Before he could say anything more, she continued on. "I'll tell everyone what happened once I get back to the line."
Kuhn held his ground for a few moments, and she thought he was going to refuse. But, finally, he nodded and jerked his head, indicating for her to follow him. They walked side by side, but she was gutted to see he put quite a considerable amount of space between them, when they would usually have walked shoulder-to-shoulder. So much had changed. God knows what they had gone through while she was gone; she felt like an outsider.
They walked in awkward silence until Emilie cleared her throat and looked at him. "So, what were you doing in the woods? We haven't captured them, have we?" When usually she would have been proud, now the thought of anyone else being killed in order to do so, Americans or Germans, made her feel nauseous right to her core. When she had first found Kuhn, it had been just into American territory; Eugene had dropped her into the German woods, but, in order to get back to the line, she had had to pass through the Yanks' land.
He stared straight ahead as he answered. "No. I was on a patrol to see how deep we could infiltrate the Americans before we met one of their patrols. But I…" He gritted his teeth, "Lost my way in the fog. They'll find their way back, though. No guns have been fired."
Emilie nodded, wishing she could shove her hands into her pockets and once again cursing the crutches. They caught in the snow constantly and made her stumble. Kuhn stopped to wait for her at first, but after the third or fourth time, he just walked on and let her catch up to him in her own time. She finally bit the bullet and asked the question she had been avoiding: "How many men have died since I've been gone?"
She saw him stiffen and winced inwardly. "The surgeons managed to get the aid station rebuilt and salvaged some medicinal supplies. Thankfully, we seem to have the Americans hiding with their tails between their legs. The cowards," he spat out the word like it was poison. "No man has been killed by a bullet, but a few have lost their fingers and noses in the cold. One has pneumonia. Everyone is running out of food." He paused, furrowing his brow before continuing, quieter than before, "A private from another company accidentally shot one of our own when he was drunk, and his commanding officer had him killed."
She drew in a sharp breath. "Who were the men?"
"The one from the other company was Amsel, a man I was not acquainted with. Bergmann was the man in our own."
Emilie had only spoken to Bergmann once or twice when she had checked his hands for frostbite, but still it hurt. He had been an older man than the rest, almost thirty. To be killed in such a pointless way… And, naturally, his parents would be told he died a hero, serving his country, when really he was shot by a drunken soldier under friendly fire. She should have been there to help him. Even if she couldn't have done anything, she still should have been there.
"I should warn you," Kuhn broke into her thoughts, "I don't know how the men will react to being reunited with you. All I'm saying is…" He met her gaze. "Be prepared for the worst. Eberhardt, the replacement, had been poisoning their minds with the thought that you are a traitor. For a new-recruit, he is quite persuasive when he wants to be. The men are divided; half have rallied together to defend you, but the others… Well, the others think of you as nothing more than a deserter. And hearing that you spent time amongst the Americans won't exactly help your cause, especially when Eberhardt already believes you to me an American sympathiser." He glanced at her. "You aren't, are you? You are Australian, but that does not mean you support the Americans, or am I mistaken?"
"Of course I'm not!" she snapped, struggling to believe what she was hearing. After all she had done for them! Eberhardt's name translated to 'as strong as a boar' in German, and he was certainly proving himself to be. But her zodiac sign was Taurus: the bull. And boars, no matter how wild, could always be defeated by bulls. "Would you have rather I died? Going to the Americans was the only option! And, besides, I am the only one who has been right in the heart of them, aren't I? Isn't that at all valuable?" She shook her head, struggling to control her fury and over-whelming sense of betrayal, "I'm sorry, Kuhn. I just can't believe they would turn against me and follow Eberhardt, of all people." She paused, almost dreading the answer to the question she was about to ask, "What does our CO think? Whose side is he on?"
He chuckled for the first time since she had been reunited with him. "He has been defending you the entire time, Emilie. That has led Eberhardt to almost turn against him, and I almost wish he would head a mutiny, to give our CO cause to expel him from the army."
She couldn't help feeling slightly flattered at the thought that her CO, the man who she had given no rest and who she thought despised her, had, in fact, supported her in her great time of need.
...
A/N: Sorry if it seems like there's a lack of action or plot development; mainly between Emilie and Eugene. But just wait! Ahaha. xx
