A/N : I did forget the disclaimer this time. Only realised it when I read my chapter over once again. It's not like this thing changes much from chapter to chapter. Not mine. All History or Rowling's. Duh.
A total confusion reigned in the now dark bunker. Tom was knocked about several times by people he couldn't even see (which meant he couldn't get his revenge later), and there was such a noise with people shouting and running in every directions that he couldn't even try to locate Rommel or someone else from the sound of their voices. Besides, his ears were still ringing with the sound of the explosion, and he could only be grateful the roof had withstood. He nervously fiddled with his wand while trying to get out of the way ; he felt helpless, lost in the dark like that, and he didn't like it one bit. Worse, he knew he could have made some light with a good old lumos spell, but he couldn't allow himself to do it in front of so many muggles ; a mere obliviate spell would not suffice to erase that memory from all of them. Merlin, he hated working with muggles !
"Calm down !" a well-known voice called out, and little by little, some quietness was brought back in the bunker.
Suddenly, a scratch could be heard, and the flickering flame of a lighter cast some light in the room. It was an instant relief for everyone, for real and deep darkness was generally unsettling. People were not used to not even having the light of the moon and stars.
The flame lit up Rommel's pale features, as he stood near Aldinger, who was holding the lighter. Inspired by his example, some other officers suddenly remembered they too had lighters, and more light came back to the bunker. Seconds later, Rommel managed to find a torch, and he went to look around to try to understand just what had happened. Unfortunately, it didn't take him a long time to find the answer ; a single shell seemed to have hit the bunker's entrance, and partially destroyed it. In other words, the whole German staff plus a British spy were now blocked underground, barely twenty kilometers away from the Allied lines. That was no good news, Tom mused thoughtfully. Once more, he cursed the muggles ; it would have been so easy for him and Rommel to break through the wreckage, had they been alone !
These thoughts did not help, though. As they could not use magic, there was only one way remaining ; the hard one.
"Would someone happen to know where the shovels were stored ?" Tom asked sarcastingly.
"Yes", Merhoff replied, glowering at him. "In a storage space, which you can only enter from outside the bunker."
"So clever of you", the teen couldn't help but mock.
"I did not see you take care of it either", the major replied scathingly.
"Enough !" the Feldmarschal cut them sharply. "When one doesn't have shovels, one uses his brain. Now, who has a grenade at hand ?"
Several officers stepped forward at once, explosives in hand. Tom felt his hair raise on his neck ; he hated these muggle devices. They were hazardous, impossible to control, imprecise. Just like everything they invented to replace magic. He cleared his throat rather loudly.
"Hem, just for the record, you do know that you could make the whole bunker collapse, don't you ?" he asked Rommel, who looked daggers at him for saying it out loud, for he'd rather the other people inside would not think of it.
"Would you happen to have a better idea ?" the German wizard retorted dryly.
"No, but I don't think I could come up with a worse idea either", the teen answered back anxiously.
Rommel shrugged, obviously not caring much, and explosives in hand, he walked toward the former entrance of the bunker.
"Everybody moves back as far as possible", he ordered sharply.
He did not have to say it twice ; every and each of the present people recoiled at once, Tom included ; he did not care much for getting hurt by a splinter or something. Ironically enough, he found himself stuck between Aldinger and Merhoff, but they were fortunately too busy watching the whole operation to even notice his presence.
After pulling out the linchpin, Rommel backed away hastily, and found a shelter behind a broken table. Only Tom saw him discreetly flick his wand toward the grenade, casting a protective spell, and only because he expected him to do so. But in the dark, its black wood made the Feldmarschal's wand almost invisible. A little more confident, the teen held his ears in anticipation of the crack to come.
Seconds later, it resounded, and debris flew in the air, pushed by the potency of the explosion. Most officers had tried to dodge them out of reflexes, but thanks to the shielding spell, however, no one was hurt, and even better, the bunker did not collapse, which would probably have killed everyone, shielding spell or not.
A whiff of fresh air swept in the bunker, to everyone's relief. Dust clouded the entrance, but it proved that it had worked, and there was now a way out. Soon, the dust subsided, and Merhoff carefully stepped forward, his Lüger in hand. If a shell had hit the bunker, it might mean more Allied "surprises" were on their way. Being a little cautious would not hurt.
Aldinger followed, then Tom and Rommel, who, in spite of his usual recklessness, was wise enough not to insist going first. They got on slowly, ready to face Allied soldiers at any moment. They were followed by the other officers.
It wasn't long before they reached the outside of the bunker, but as Aldinger went in plain sight, the sound of detonation and the hiss of a bullet grazing him made him jump backwards hastily. Obviously, some Allies had managed to go through the German lines. The Germans exchanged a dark glance ; they did not know how many Allied soldiers they were to face, and therefore it would be difficult to set a strategy. Tom scowled. Each time, their situation seemed to get worse, and each time, he felt powerless as he could not use magic in front of muggles. Bloody muggles.
"Another grenade", Rommel ordered in a whisper.
The order was sent on to the rearguard, and seconds later another grenade was handed to the Feldmarschal, who took it appreciatively.
"Someone has an idea of the approximative direction ?" he queried.
Aldinger nodded. Well, he would be the one to know. He pointed at the assumed origin of the shot that had almost killed him. Tom frowned ; not only the sniper may have changed position, but also they had no idea just how far he was. If he had buried himself in the sand, he would be almost invisible, and even more so since the night was quite dark. The teen glanced at the German officers, who all had their eyes on Rommel. Now was his chance.
Drawing his wand, he kept it mostly hidden in his sleeve, and receding a few steps, he discreetly aimed it at the outside of the bunker entrance. He muttered a few words, and cast a discretion spell on himself so as to be sure not to be noticed by any muggle, then cast a Farsight spell. A smirk twisted his lips ; it worked ! But it was to be expected. Wasn't he one of the greatest wizards ever ?
Rommel was almost ready to throw his grenade, cursing inwardly for not being able to use magic, when he felt a nudge. It was Riddle. Fortunately, the other Germans had already backed off, so they could talk quietly.
"Three of them, about a hundred feet, this direction."
He pointed discreetly at the good direction, which was the same Aldinger had indicated only more precise, and the German wizard nodded.
"Good work. Are they close enough ?"
"Nah. You won't have all of them with only one grenade. I hope you're good with grenades, 'cause it won't be easy killing even one of them with one of these muggle imprecise weapons..."
"Be careful" Rommel hissed in anger.
"They can't hear us... I cast a Silencing charm."
"Then remove it", the Feldmarschal ordered.
Once Tom had complied, he turned toward his officers. He did not like risk his men's lives, and a frontal attack was not the most subtle approach, but time was against them and they had little choice in the matter.
"When I throw the grenade, be ready to attack", he said. "We'll take advantage of the following confusion. Understood ?"
Merhoff nodded, and Rommel knew he would pass on the order to everyone behind. He turned back and went back sneakingly to the one spot where he could fling the grenade without being shot. His blue eyes were cold when he drew the pin, counted until three and, in one powerful gesture, threw it. Mere seconds later, the explosion made sand fly, and all the occupiers of the bunker charged toward freedom.
The Allies were disoriented by the explosion, and momentarily blinded by the sand raised up by the blast, but they were also soldiers, and they started shooting at once. They had a bad aim, though, and the Germans were desperate, having no choice but getting rid of these three - or rather two, the last one having been already taken care of by Rommel's good fling - men. Bullets burst out in every directions, and shouts of pain could be heard. It was a real confusion, and Tom wisely stepped aside, having no wish of being killed like that. Especially by muggles.
Moments later, the shooting stopped, and some quiet was restored, to Tom's relief - no more stray bullets. The Germans, seeing that all threat seemed to have been eliminated, sheathed their Lügers, and regrouped. Two of them had been hurt, but none had been killed. The Allied, on the other hand... One of them was utterly dead, and the two others either dead or in such a bad shape that it didn't matter.
"Everyone's here ?" Rommel enquired. "Excellent. We'd better leave now, before the Allies pay us another social visit."
The vehicles were still there, on the other side of the bunker, and still well-preserved, to the relief of everyone. There was even enough place for everybody in the staff car and the supply trucks, and they did not lose any time getting in them and leaving in a hurry. Tom had climbed in the backseat of Rommel's car, and he was stuck between Aldinger and another officer he barely knew, a lieutenant Bauerstedt. Merhoff was beside the Feldmarschal, driving. It was a little strange for them to be all together in a car, but in spite of the dislike the teen and the German officers felt for each other, it was not the time to jump at each other's throat. So they just kept quiet, throwing worried glances all around for fear of seeing Allies suddenly surrounding them. The other vehicles, with all of Rommel's staff, followed behind, but not too closely.
However, their retreat went unevently. After a few kilometers, as they seemed to have really escaped any danger, Merhoff spoke, without tearing his eyes away from the road.
"Where shall we head, sir ?"
No answer came, and the major squinted at his superior, wondering if he was asleep. But, although the Feldmarschal had his eyes closed, the tension visible on his pale features showed he was fully awake, obviously thinking about it. Finally, he spoke quietly.
"We will go to Alam Halfa. It is about a hundred kilometers away from here. I should have taken the maps", he said in dismay.
"There is one in the glove compartment", Merhoff replied.
"I know. But not as precise", the German wizard groaned.
He still opened said glove compartment and took the folded paper, but he couldn't read it for lack of light. Bauerstedt managed to find a torch, and he held it above the Feldmarschal so he could study the map, and soon enough, with the help of the compass - a tool every car in the desert had, for otherwise getting lost was a certainty - he pointed at the direction they should follow.
The trip was silent for a moment. No one seemed in the mood to talk. But in a way, that proved to be better for them, for they were able to hear the planes quite early. All together, they turned their heads toward the sound, but in the night they saw little if anything. However, the sound of the engines grew stronger and stronger.
"They're getting closer", Tom said needlessly.
"I am not an expert, but from the sound I'd say that's Allied fighters", Bauerstedt murmured nervously.
"We can do nothing but hope they won't see us, or will be unable to determine whether we are on their side or not", Aldinger groaned.
"But we are not really near the front anymore", Bauerstedt pointed out. "They won't confuse us with Allies so far from their lines."
"Then pray", Aldinger snarled.
The fighters were just above the staff car and trucks, now, and they dived quite low. Tom could say they were probably no higher than two or three hundred meters. Even by night, in the desert, vehicles were easy to spot - especially when they moved - and he felt fear invade him, slowly, slinkingly. These muggle weapons had no shrewdness. They were gross, barbaric. Muggle.
A hiss tore the air, and Tom tried to swallow. He knew what that must be. A bomb, most probably. He had no problem imagining the splinters tearing through flesh and spreading blood, and when he heard the detonation, he couldn't help but wince, even though the bomb missed them from quite a distance.
"These Allied fighters don't even know how to aim", Bauerstedt jeered.
"Let's hope they don't improve", Tom groaned.
But already, the fighter, which had been moving away, was turning back toward them, intent or so it seemed to get rid of the Germans, though he couldn't possibly know how important his target was.
"Dodge !" Rommel needlessly ordered.
Merhoff was already turning the wheel, and behind them the trucks followed. But that was of no avail with a plane hovering above them, they could not duck efficiently enough. Another hiss tore the air, and this time Tom could almost see the bomb as it idly fell through the night, the dark metal shimmering with the star's faint light. It was almost poetic, ironically enough. It stopped to be, though, when Tom realised with dread and powerless despair that the bomb's trajectory was leading it straight to them. He wasn't the only one to yell when it finally exploded.