A/N: I back! *imaginary crowd goes wild* Also to let my readers know, I have opened a poll. Please vote! Whom you vote for will likely be the love interest as well. :D Keep Calm and Read On!

Lena

Chapter 2: The Bastards

I ran through the forest as fast my feet could carry me. I looked back to make sure no one was following me. I turned back around only to tumble down a hill landing with a splash in a small creek. I ignored the dampness of my dress and continued to run.

It seemed that I was only running in circles, gaining no ground. I could hear the dogs barking and Nazis shouting. Not matter how fast I ran they only seemed to get closer. I gasped as I struggled to gain distance. My lungs burned and my legs screamed, but I had to keep going.

I felt something work its way into my hair and I was jolted backwards by a sharp tug. My scalp burned at the sensation. My head was roughly tilted backwards and I came face to face with my worst nightmare, Colonel Hans Landa of the SS.

"Bonjour, mon chéri," he whispered dangerously. "I told you I would find you."

-o-

I gasped for breath, almost falling out of makeshift bed in the tree. I rubbed my eyes, hoping I could rub away the nightmare along with the sleep from my eyes. I glanced up at the sky; it seemed to be about seven or eight in the morning. I tried to lift my head but my hair was caught up on a twig. Well at least now, I know where the hand came from. It had been three years since I last saw Colonel Landa, but time did little to calm the nightmares that haunted my dreams.

I glanced around the forest I have begun to call home. This is where I ruled. After three years, I knew the layout like the back of my hand. I knew what animals inhabited the woods, what caves where safe to sleep in, where the water sources were, and most importantly; the routes the Nazis took and camped. As much as I despised it, I relied heavily on the Nazi patrols for supplies. I sometimes hunted easy prey such as rabbits and fish, but having a fire risked discovery. I preferred to creep out around Nazi encampments and pilfer their rations and steal their heavy coats and blankets so I did not freeze during the winter months. I was pretty stocked up for the moment. I had been extra risky last time I came across a Nazi camp.

I staked out their position and then went where the deadly mushrooms grow. I gathered the mushrooms and on my way back, I saw some belladonna nightshade. I followed them for a couple days waiting for my opportunity. It was the fourth day that I could finally strike. They had made a broth for their dinner. It was quite the risky operation, but I managed to distract the Nazi who was cooking by throwing stone off into the distance. It gave me enough time to slip in the nightshade, the mushrooms and get out unseen. It wasn't even two days later before they had all succumb to the poison. The plunders of my undertaking outweighed any danger. I have been comfortably stocked up for weeks now.

I stretched and I felt my back pop and relax. As safe as the trees were, they were highly uncomfortable. I longed for a bed, a real one. However such things could not be. I knew that I would not even last three months in the city, especially now. Since I was directly responsible for the deaths for about six Nazi soldiers, excluding the one three years ago.

I did feel guilty about taking their lives, no matter that they have taken many more. But I learned that guilt is a funny little feeling. For about the first three months you think about it every day, after six months you think about it about it every once in a while, and when years start to pass it becomes a distant memory that you rarely think about. I knew that the guilt that I felt would pass.

I untied and rolled up my makeshift sleeping hammock and attached it to my rucksack. I climbed down the tree. I usually avoided moving during the day, too risky. However, I had a feeling that I need to leave my position and move to my spring cave. It was the time of year that it would be uninhabited by wildlife. I gripped the straps of my sack and headed towards the cave.

During the spring months, I could have a somewhat domestic life. The safety of the cave allowed an assortment of luxuries that were rare in the forest. It allowed hunting because the confinement of the cave hide the smoke of the fire and it was located near a stream that allowed regular bathing and fresh water. It was amazing how living in the forest can change your ideas on what you considered indulgences. Just my cave, zero Nazis, and me. Unbeknownst to me, destiny had other plans in mind and he was headed my way.

-o-

"For fuck's sake Wicki, calm the fuck down. You are making me nervous."

"I don't like the woods," Wicki said fidgeting with his M1 Carbine. "Too many opportunities for the enemy to have the upper hand."

"Well, good thing were total badasses! So stop fucking fidgeting. The sooner we made our rounds the quicker we can get back camp. So boys it is time to split up and cover more ground. I am going to keep going forward. Wicki, you go south," Wicki positioned his gun and headed off into the woods. "and Hugo you go east." Hugo just shrugged and walked off.

-o-

I kicked a stone as I walked. I kicked it again when I made her way up to it. I continued this as I walked. I pulled jacket tighter around me. It was spring, but under the canopy of trees I could not bask in the sun's warmth.

I glanced around the quiet woods. It would take a couple hours to get to the cave and this was the part of the journey that I hated most. The long walk and the calm atmosphere allowed too much time to think. A dangerous past time for me. I thought about Shosanna. I desperately hoped that she was okay.

I remembered when we first met about four years ago at the LaPedite farm. At first it was complete hell. I wasn't supposed to come that day but I had finished the sheets early and decided to visit them anyways. I walked right on them having lunch. There was a lot of screaming and pleading, but I had eventually convinced them that I was not going to report them after a million times of saying it.

After a tense couple of weeks, they had relaxed around me and after a couple months, they greeted me as family. I developed a close bond with each of them, especially Shosanna. I considered her as my sister and vice versa. I came more often than necessary to see them. They were my family and now they were dead, excluding Shosanna.

When I first ran from Landa, I considered chasing after Shosanna. But I knew that Landa would be hot on my trail and would expect me to head towards the nearest town and that would just seal Shosanna death warrant. Therefore, I stayed away.

I felt rage and sadness consume me. Life wasn't far! I hate Nazis! I kicked the stone particularly hard and I watched it fly landing with a thud in front of a pair of black leather boots. I screamed.

A/N: Soooo how was it? I had a little trouble with this chapter because I didn't want to disappoint my readers. I actually rewrote it three times. I keep making Lena tooo weak, not that she is suddenly Bear Grylls or Amazon forest warrior. But she does know the woods and she makes it work for her. Also she had to get supplies from somewhere. :D The rewrite Lena is heavily based on stories I read in my textbook about women who were kidnapped by Indians in America. One woman had her entirely family killed in front of her. She even had to watch as the killed her baby against a tree. She killed the entire tribe with poisonous mushrooms. That is where that part comes from. Till next time -Macbeth