A/N: Thank you to all who have read and/or reviewed the story so far. I'm happy to see that so many people are enjoying it.
On a side note from the last chapter, the little red house was actually called a Bunker 2, not a Barrack 2. I know it may seem minor, but it's important to me that the facts are straight.
Helga found herself standing in the middle of a dark, rectangular room. She was alone. She looked down and that she was naked. Quickly she began to cover herself, looking for a way out. The windows were sealed tight. A door was spotted on the wall behind. Helga leapt for the door, but it was locked. She banged on it. "Is anyone there? Can anyone hear me?" There was no answer except for a low rumble coming from the ceiling. Helga looked up and saw shower heads. Leaking out wasn't water, but a gas. Helga screamed louder and hit the door louder. "Please help me!" Still no answer. She began to inhale the gas. She coughed and choked on the fumes that stung her lungs. Helga slid down to the floor and curled up. She tried to scream but it came out faint. "I'm sorry, Arnold. I'm sorry I couldn't save you," she whispered before drifting into unconsciousness.
Helga shot up from her bed in a cold sweat. She looked around her dark bedroom. The clock read 2:24. "It's just a dream," she panted, wiping her face. Inhaling deep breaths, she tried to calm herself but the thoughts of the events from the previous day wouldn't disappear. She got up from her bed and tiptoed out into the hallway to Phoebe's room. Helga lightly tapped on the door and entered. "Phoebe?" she whispered.
Phoebe stirred from her bed. She opened her eyes and looked at the shaking blonde standing in her doorway. "Helga? Are you okay?" Helga shook her head as tears began to fill her eyes. "Oh dear," the petite brunette said. She got out of bed and hugged her friend tightly. Helga's tears escaped her eyes and fell onto Phoebe's shoulder.
"I had a nightmare," Helga sobbed. "I was being gassed. I couldn't save them."
Helga told the day's events to Phoebe went she got home. She was visibly shaking, no longer caring who saw her. Phoebe sat there in shock and disbelief. How could anyone be so cruel? So heartless? Phoebe stayed by the friend for the rest of the night until it was time for bed. Even then, Phoebe insisted on staying with her, but Helga assured her that she would be fine. Phoebe reluctantly agreed, but told Helga that she would be there for her. So when Phoebe saw Helga come into her room, she knew what must be done.
"It's okay, Helga," she whispered. "Come on." She led Helga to her bed. Both sat down. "It was a nightmare, which is to be expected after seeing what you saw. I can't even imagine even after you telling me. But we are going to get them out. We will get to Sid's and tell him what happened. He will help us figure out what to do."
"How are we going to get to Krakow?" Helga asked. "Last time we got lucky because Bob had to go into town. Who knows when he will need to go back?"
Phoebe thought for a moment. "He did like some of the food we got the last time. Maybe we can tell convince him that it's only sold in Krakow and we need to go back for more. We can take the train."
"It might work," Helga pondered. "We can ask him in the morning. The sooner, the better."
Phoebe. "Let's get to bed. We have an important day ahead of us."
In the morning, Bob took the bait. The girls soon found themselves in Sid's living room with him, waiting for one of Sid's informants to arrive. There was a knock on the door. Sid left a moment. There were some soft mumbles before they entered the room. Standing next to him was a tall, dark-skinned man. Neither girl has ever seen a dark colored person, but Helga has seen pictures. She was taught that they were inferior, just like the Jews, except they weren't the blame for all the hardships that the Aryans have endured.
"Helga, Phoebe, this is my best informant, Gerald Johansen," Sid introduced. "Gerald, this is Helga Pataki and Phoebe Hyerdahl. They're the girls I were telling about. Helga's father works at Auschwitz."
"It's a pleasure to meet you both," a silky smooth voice said. "I've heard so much about you." Helga and Phoebe nodded.
"Why don't we go sit down," Sid suggested. "Anybody want a drink?" They all nodded. The three guests sat down while Sid prepared and passed out the drinks. Phoebe and Helga sat on the couch while Gerald relaxed into one of the chairs. Sid sat down in the vacant chair. "So Helga," Sid began, "can you tell us what you learned at Auschwitz?"
"I'll try." She took a deep breath. "There are gates surrounding the camp with barbed wire on top. People enter by train. The SS then separate the men from the women and children. Those groups are then divided up to those who can work and those who can't. Those who can work are examined, have their hair cut, and then assigned a number. The number is also tattooed on their arms. They are then assigned to hard labor while receiving very little food. Those who can't work, mainly elderly and children, were-" She choked on the upcoming words. It was always difficult to talk about this.
"They were told they were going to take a shower," she said slowly. "Instead, they were gassed to death with Zyklon B. Their remains are then burned. All their belongings are stored in an area called Canada. There are piles of glasses, photos, hair, shoes…" The small pair of shoes once again crept into Helga's thoughts. She quickly shooed them away to get to the important part.
"Harold's there," Helga stated. "He's alive. I went to look at the record books and the prisoner working there was an old friend. We would meet up every week for years to help us get away from the Nazi propaganda. Stinky would join us on occasion. But he disappeared when the invasion of Poland occurred. I don't know why he was there but he had the symbol of a political prisoner on his uniform. He said that along with him and Harold, two more of our former classmates were there as well. All still alive." She stared intently at the two males. "We need to get them all out. They're starving to death, and who knows how long they'll have. I know I said before I didn't want to be involved but now I do. I promised I would get them out, and God damn it, I refuse to go back on this. I won't be able to live with myself if they don't make it." Tears began falling down her cheeks but quickly wiped them away. She hated being vulnerable in front of anybody, especially people she doesn't know well. Phoebe rubbed her shoulder.
"Thank you, Helga," said Sid. "We will get them all out. We are all here to help." He looked over towards Gerald. "Do you have any ideas?"
Gerald sat there silently for a moment. "I'm guessing guards are everywhere?" Helga nodded. "Sneaking out won't work. The guards would kill them on sight."
"Even if that did work, they would find out during one of the roll calls and come searching for them," Phoebe informed Gerald. "If they find them, they will be sent back. And if they're with us, we will also be killed."
"And if they get away with it completely, the SS will take it out on the other prisoners," Helga interjected. "I refuse to have someone's blood on my hands."
Gerald stared at Phoebe with a mixture of curiosity and awe. "So, what do you propose?" he asked.
"We need a way to get them out where the guards are aware of it. We have to find a reason why we need them to leave the camp. The only question is, how?"
They all sat there silently. Exactly how to do it is the question. What is a good enough reason that the SS will willingly give over prisoners?
"We need to make the SS believe that what we do to them will be cruel," Sid said. "Even crueler than if they stayed at Auschwitz."
"What can possibly be crueler?" questioned Gerald.
"Experimentation," whispered Helga. The trio looked at her. Phoebe understood immediately. Gerald and Sid had confused looks on their faces. "In school, we were taught that were tests conducted to determine the Aryan race was through experiments. We could say that we want to test Jews against Aryans. And with that, we can say we want to use political prisoners because we don't want to harm true citizens."
"What would the experiment be?" Sid asked.
"Does it matter? I'm sure they will believe us if we said it. I'll even go back because they'll know me and my father. I'll say I became a nurse and I'm working with a doctor here in town."
"Helga, are you sure you'll be able to go back?" a concerned Phoebe asked.
"I have no choice, Pheebs. If this saves them, then I will do it."
"But what about your parents?" Gerald questioned. "Won't it be odd if the SS ask your father how you are being a nurse and your father has no idea what you're talking about? They could figure that out easily."
Phoebe looked at Helga. "Would you be willing to move here?" she asked.
"To be honest," said Helga, "I can't go back living there knowing that a few short miles away, innocents are being slaughtered. I can't bear it."
"Well, that's settled." Phoebe looked over at Sid. "Do you know where we can live?"
"You can live here. I have a second apartment in the cellar. That was where I was going to place Harold but we can make room for everyone. It will just need some sprucing up and some extra beds."
"I know where we can get some," said Gerald. "I'm sure Phoebe and I can work on that while Helga gets them. And I have a truck they can use to transport everyone."
"That's great," Helga replied. "Now, does anyone know where we can find someone to pretend to be a doctor? He needs to be Aryan, and slightly off. These kinds of doctors will be somewhat eccentric."
Sid and Gerald looked and each other, smile and nodded. "We know somebody who fits that description."
"Really? Who?"
"His name is Thaddeus Gammelthorpe, but we call him Curly," informed Sid. "He was trying to go to medical school in Paris but was kicked out after dressing up in tiger stripes and freeing all the animals from the Paris zoo."
"What a twisted little freak," muttered Helga. "Twisted enough that it could work. How soon can we get him here?"
"I'll have to make some calls," said Sid, "but it shouldn't be more than a few days."
"In the meantime," said Phoebe, "I think it best if Helga and I head back to Oswiecim and get our belongings. We will return tonight."
"Great. I'll get some of the beds made up. I'll send a car for you. Will you be back for the 3 o'clock arrival?"
"Yes, I think that will be enough time." Phoebe and Helga stood up. "Just one more thing."
"What's that?"
"We need some food for Bob."
Their plan worked seamlessly once they got back to Oswiecim. Bob fell for their lie and praised them for helping the cause. They quickly packed their belongings, along with the trinkets found in the floorboards, and headed back to Krakow. Helga couldn't be more thrilled, but she was worried about what she will have to do in a few days. She didn't want to go back, but she knew it was imperative. She couldn't leave Arnold behind.
When they got back to Krakow, Sid showed them down the basement. It had two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a small kitchen. They picked a room and began to unpack. "Hey Pheebs?"
"Yes, Helga?"
"I just realized that they aren't going to have any clothes when they come."
"I guess we need to buy some fabric," said Phoebe. "It will give us something to do until Curly comes." Sid had called Curly and he won't be able to come until the middle of next week.
"Yeah, I guess," she said absentmindedly. She clutched her locket.
I just hope we aren't too late.
A/N: I am planning on working on another story in conjunction with this one. It will also be historical fiction, occurring on the Titanic. I will be incorporating the viewpoints of the passengers and crew. This will also be Hey Arnold.