Chapter Four
Knockin' on Heaven's Door

He waved his hand to her backpack on the ground. She leaned down and took it, leaving all bloodied and used items on the ground.

In nursery school she'd been taught to put all used items in a plastic bag so that not the entire contents of your backpack would get smeared by blood. The circumstances weren't really asking her to get her work done properly.

Alice extended her bag, saying nervously, "You want this?"

He made a motion with his hands as if putting on a backpack.

"What are you doing?" she asked with a scoff.

He pointed at her bag and waved his hand in front of her. He wasn't talking much. Not that it mattered that he was silent, as she had no idea what he said most of the time.

She felt surreal as she put it on her back, hoping that's what he meant when pointing at her bag. He held his hand up before him again. Alice made the guess that he wanted her to walk before him. She stepped forward, first her left foot, then her right. Each one felt heavy, and the fact there was still a gun in his possession didn't help.

Death was so sharply embedded in her mind.

"Schneller," he said, giving her a shove with his hand.

She tried to keep at a distance from him after that shove with tears on her face. They'd fallen accidentally and she was scared to even move her rigid arms by her sides to wipe her face. All her energy was put in her legs to walk. She didn't quite recognize the surroundings, but soon they were out of the forest. They were at an open field, but she didn't see much with her blurry vision. It felt like they'd been walking well over a few minutes.

"Hier," he said, steering her by the elbow, appearing by her side.

That word sounded a lot like here. He walked past her and her eyes followed his direction. For the first time, he wasn't demanding her to follow him.

Her eyes landed on the shot to death four bodies. Her heart started to beat wildly when she realized where he'd brought her.

Seeing her three friends again made their deaths feel more real. It had not been a hallucination. There was no more room for questions. Jacob, Bella and Edward were dead.

Her knees weakened and she feared she might stumble forward and weep her eyes out. She stood still as the Nazi walked to his friend, the fourth body in the field. He leaned down and expertly pulled out a gun, a telephone, and who knew what else. She couldn't watch the Nazi and his movement for long.

Something about her dead friend's bodies pulled her to them. She stood before Bella's and Edward's fallen bodies. She let herself drop slowly on her knees. Their wounds scared her. Bella's neck was covered in blood. She laid in a pool of her own blood. Edward's front head showed a large gash from where the bullet had entered his head. She refused to see the back of his head, knowing the odds were that there was a terrible exit wound there.

"Oh, Bella," she whispered. "I'm so sorry. Y-You were right, Bella. You heard something and..."

She couldn't finish. She shut Bella's eyes, so she would no longer see the war. Alice shook her head and didn't bother to wipe her tears, even now that she could move her arms.

"So sorry," she repeated.

Her head turned to Edward. She shut his eyes as well.

"I hope it didn't hurt, Edward. Hope it didn't hurt. Hope that you're with Bella in heaven now. Hope it's a nice place."

There was not much she could do for them now, except take his right hand and stretch it toward Bella. She crawled that yard back to Bella and did the same with her left hand. She placed their hands on each other, Edward's on top of Bella's as if to protect her. They couldn't get a grave, but at least their bodies were together as far as Alice could make that possible.

By now tears flowed freely, as she went to crawl to her dearest Jacob, whom lay awkwardly on the ground. She fell on her side and felt her stomach twist hard when she saw what damage the bullet had done.

The middle of his face, just above his nose and between his eyebrows was deeply damaged. All skin and tissue there was gone. The damage was a lot worse than with Edward's face. Probably because the distance had been smaller. Her hand reached up to shut his eyes but she jerked her hand back. She was frightened.

She bent her index finger and pressed her teeth in it to prevent herself from screaming. The last time she did that, the Nazi tried to kill her. With narrowed eyes and teeth biting her finger, she brought her other hand up and gave him the final peace she had to offer. She managed to shut his eyes also.

"I loved you so much. So much."

His wound scared her, so she placed her hand on top of his. It was ice cold by now, but it was his hand. It would be the last time she'd touch him.

"I'm so sorry, Jacob. So sorry."

In his pants, she noticed a bulge. And then, as if her God had given her a sign, she knew this could be her moment to take her, or Jacob's, it didn't really matter who's, but the satellite phone and try to make a call.

She pulled herself up so she wasn't lying completely. Could she risk it now? There was only one way to find out. She needed to see if the Nazi was still occupied.

When she looked up, she inhaled sharply and froze in her position. He was gazing at Alice with crossed arms. His stance was casual, his shoulder leaning against a tree. He hadn't interrupted her during her brief farewell, though it seemed he had finished his business already.

She wasn't sure how long he'd been staring at her. He must've seen her awkward conversations, the reunited hands of Bella and Edward, and her own hand resting on top of Jacob's, unwilling to let go. To explain the discomfort of that knowledge was impossible, but she did feel sick and horrible to know he'd been staring at her private moment.