Authors Note: Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who nominated me for the Klaroline Awards for not only one but TWO categories! And I just reached 100 followers! This really is amazing and I did not expect this, especially for my first fic! Even though I didn't win I am truly honored and cannot tell you how much your support means to me.
WARNING!: There is some mention of the Holocaust in this chapter (it is a very brief mention) and I know it can be a touchy subject so please if it makes you uncomfortable or offended in any way please let me know and I will fix it and use your words and advice for future chapters.
Chapter 6 - Into the Wild
"Where would you like us to send them Sir?"
"Send them to Auschwitz in Poland. They have the capacity to hold prisoners." The commander stated as he glanced around the room at the surviving men now in German captivity.
XXXX
Poland, August 1942
It had been seventeen months.
Or, you could say it had been a year and four months since Caroline's world came crashing down. She didn't even notice the time passing by anymore, every day just blurred into the next. As time progressed and the days dragged on, Caroline could feel herself slipping away from Matt. Each new day meant another day without him. That was her reality now. Ever since Caroline was informed of Matt's passing, the young blonde repeated her daily routine emotionlessly by completing the same tasks every day over and over again. She would wake up a dawn, prepare herself for the day, feed the animals, prepare a meal for herself and Katherine, and then work on the fields in order to fulfill her now reduced quotas. Once the two women finished their work and washed up, Sergeant Lockwood would come over in the late afternoon in order to Germanize herself and Katherine. The sessions often ran long and usually ended with the dark haired man to stay along for dinner. Apparently they also needed to learn how to eat like a German, as if there was any difference.
"I must say Caroline; I am quite impressed at how quickly you and your cousin are picking up our culture." Tyler complimented Caroline as he flashed her a smile before he stuffed his mouth with a fork full of potatoes.
"Why thank you, Sergeant Lockwood." Caroline automatically returned, not once moving her eyes away from her plate. She stared aimlessly into nothing as she absentmindedly pushed a spoonful of peas around on her plate.
Sighing, Tyler placed his fork back on the pate with a soft clang and shifted his body slightly to face the young blonde. "Caroline we have been over this. I wish you would call me Tyler, I would like you to consider us friends." The Sergeant placed his hand chastely on Caroline's leg in order to offer her some reassurance. Tyler knew Caroline was still attempting to recover from the devastating news of her fiancé, despite how much time has passed. He just wanted her to know that he was there for her.
All Caroline could do was look at the Sergeant and give him a half-hearted smile before she once again reverted her eyes back to the food on her plate.
Sitting silently, Katherine couldn't help but frown at the scene that was un-folding directly in front of her. The brunette knew Caroline was still in pain from her loss. Katherine attempted to reach out to her many times but it seemed that Caroline closed her heart to the world. It was as if Caroline turned into an iron statue. Ever since she read Matt's letter, Caroline barely spoke unless it was necessary, and she was constantly keeping herself busy with work. Despite what Katherine thought of the Germans, she actually felt bad for Tyler. He had been nothing but kind to Caroline and herself throughout the entire process. Things could have turned out much worse for them.
Standing up to clear the table of the empty plates, Katherine attempted to break the tension within the room. "So what time shall we be expecting you tomorrow Tyler? I assume we will be picking up where we left off today?" Katherine questioned as she carried dishes to the sink. To her surprise, Caroline was already there filling the water with soap. The brunette did not even hear her get up.
Tyler stood up and tucked in his chair, "Actually, I will not be able to make it tomorrow… There are other issues that require my attention. Both you and Caroline can have the day off, consider it a nice break for all of the hard work you both have been putting toward the German cause." The Sergeant slowly made his way to the front door and began to slip his shoes back on.
Katherine dropped the dishes off in the sink as Caroline began to wash before she followed the young man to the front door. Being the nosey person that she is, Katherine eagerly wanted to know what would be occupying the Sergeant's time. "Issues? What sort of issues, if you do not mind me asking? We are not in danger, are we?" A lesson was never missed, even when German soldiers were assigned special duties for the week. Katherine held the door open for Tyler as he placed his hat and jacket back on.
"Nothing to worry about Katherine, just a shipment coming in tomorrow that needs to be sorted through. We are short on German soldiers now that they are being transported to the front lines."
Lately the Germans were not doing so well in the war. Ever since they decided to invade Russia the number of German soldiers began to dwindle. Germany was once again fighting a two front war and some of their forced allies were now taking this opportunity to rebel against them. The loss of allies and soldiers meant a loss of support, supplies and men. It would only be a matter of time before Germany became too weak to continue to fight.
Eventually they would crumble.
Despite all that was happening, Katherine did not buy it. There were still plenty of German soldiers that remained in Poland. Why there were so many when their skills could have been utilized elsewhere, she did not know. Deciding to push the matter aside for now, Katherine looked back up to the soldier with a friendly smile. "Don't worry about Caroline, Tyler. She will come around, she is strong. Just give her a little more time."
Tyler smiled back to the brunette. "Thank you Katherine. You have yourself a good night now." Tyler said with a nod before he turned his back on the woman and walked away.
He hoped for Caroline's sake that she would snap out of her funk sooner rather than later.
He had not told her or Katherine the final phase of Germanization yet.
Caroline needed to marry a German.
And after spending time with Caroline in the past year, he hoped it would be him.
xxxx
Caroline woke up startled the next morning as she felt someone or something jump onto her bed. Before the blonde could react a voice filled up her room.
"Caroline, wake up!" Katherine exclaimed in an excited tone.
After realizing who the intruder was, Caroline groaned and pulled the sheets over her head. "Katherine, leave me alone and go back to bed, it's not even close to dawn yet." In this moment Caroline was seriously regretting the decisions to allow Katherine to stay here. Sometimes she could just be a real pain in the ass.
"Oh come on Caroline, let's go and do something fun! You need to get out and start living again."
Caroline was startled by her friend's words. She threw the blankets back down to look at the brunette. Fun, during a war? What is she thinking,Caroline thought? "How many cups of coffee have you had?" Caroline questioned.
"I don't know, five? I lost count between 1 and 4am. I haven't gone to bed yet."
"And why not?"
"Not important, now back to having fun…"
Caroline interrupted her friend before she could even finish. "In case you haven't noticed Katherine, we are in the middle of a war… a war that is affecting all parts of the world; I don't think fun is supposed to be a part of the agenda." Caroline snapped as she engaged in a game of tug-o-war with Katherine using her bed sheets.
"All the more reason to try." Katherine stated as she finally gave up pulling on the sheets. Caroline fell back on the bed while the brunette let out a small giggle.
Caroline once again pulled the sheets up to her neck and shifted on her side in an attempt to ignore Katherine. For a moment there was pure silence.
"Oh come on! Don't you want to know why Tyler is ditching us today?" Katherine raised an eyebrow as Caroline looked up to her friend.
The blonde continued to stare daggers at the brunette. "No, not really. I am actually looking forward to my day off. I may just stay in bed for the whole day."
"Don't you want to know what dirty little secret he is hiding?"
"Nope." Caroline stated, putting an extra emphasis on the 'p' making a popping sound.
"I am going to pretend that was a yes." Katherine continued to speak after she saw her friend dramatically roll her eyes. "So I did some digging, that is why I was up all night, I just needed to know… anyways… turns out Poland does have a train coming in today with a shipment."
"Oh wow Katherine you stayed up all night to find out exactly what Tyler told you." Caroline interrupted in an annoyed tone. She just wanted to sleep, was that too much to ask?
"You didn't let me finish." Katherine slapped her friend playfully. "There is a rumour going around in the Polish underground that the shipment coming in today is a shipment of people."
That sparked Caroline's interest. "People?" Caroline looked at her friend with a confused expression, "You mean like more German soldiers?"
"That is what I thought," Katherine replied, "Until I did some more digging. Turns out Poland will not be receiving any more soldiers for a while since they are all being dispersed to the front lines."
"Then who?" Caroline questioned as she stared off into space attempting to figure out the puzzle in her head.
"I am not a hundred percent sure. Some people say they are allied troops who have been captured during battle; others say they are Jews who are being transported to a ghetto. Apparently all the camps around Eastern Europe can no longer hold them. C'mon Care, don't you want to see who it is and where they are going?"
Caroline glanced up to her friend, Katherine had pure excitement in her eyes. The blonde knew that in the past year and a bit, she had not been the most enjoyable company for her friend. All Caroline did was mope around and take it out on her best friend. Katherine probably viewed her as some sort of zombie. Caroline longed to feel excitement once again; she longed to have the twinkle of anticipation back in her bright blue eyes. She knew it wasn't Katherine's fault that Matt died. Caroline owed it to her friend and herself. She needed to make it up to Katherine.
And Caroline was not going to lie, she was curious about who these people were and where they are going.
Looking up at her friend, Caroline managed to smile for the first time in seventeen months.
Shock overcame Katherine's face, "Oh my god! Is that a smile?"
"Yes it is, let's do this."
"Oh my god Caroline Forbes is smiling!" Katherine could not believe it, she could jump for joy. Scratch that, she was jumping for joy. Jumping up and down on the bed, Katherine grabbed Caroline and gave her an enormous hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I needed my partner in crime!" She exclaimed. Katherine released Caroline from the embrace and looked at her friend in the face. "Now hurry up and get dressed! We need to get to the train station before the German soldiers do. We can't get caught!"
That was the last thing Caroline heard before Katherine ran out of the room.
The smile that was on Caroline's face slowly disappeared as the reality of the task sank in.
Shit, Caroline thought. What did I just get myself into?
xxxx
What did I get myself into? Klaus thought as he bobbed up and down from the bumpy ride of the train.
He thought back to the night he saw Rebekah for the last time. In the moment, Klaus began to wonder what his life would have been like if he left with his family to go to Mystic Falls. He imagined himself sitting on a front porch somewhere watching his sister get lost in a romance novel beside him. Living in a small town would have been a simple and easy life no doubt, but he would have remained an outcast, hated by his father and family for the rest of his life. Being with his family would have been no better than the situation he is in now.
Klaus had no clue where he was heading and he had no idea what happened to the rest of the men who were took part in Operation Pedestal with him. All the sandy blonde knew was that he was blindfolded and tied up in a train cart in the hands of German soldiers.
How the hell am I going to get out of this?
Klaus was determined to find a way out; he would not become a servant to the German soldiers. If the Germans wanted Klaus dead they would have killed him already, there would be no point to tying him up and transporting him to another place simply to be killed. He was becoming their prisoner, a prisoner of war and he vowed not to spend the rest of his miserable life rotting away in a German cell.
Klaus tried to pay attention to his surroundings. At the beginning of his ride Klaus was able to make out the conversation of what seemed to be two men. However, Klaus had not heard voices in a while. He sat absolutely still as he attempted to estimate how many people were in the cart with him. The only movement that he heard was coming from his left. Klaus took a wild guess and identified the man as some sort of soldier, whether it was German or one of its allies it did not matter. The soldier did not seem to be talking to anyone; he prayed to God that there was only one soldier in the cart with him.
Suddenly Klaus felt the train jerk as it began to apply its first set of breaks. He needed to think now and think quickly.
Trying to be as still and quiet as possible, Klaus attempted to loosen the knot on his wrist. He silently cursed himself for not paying more attention to Elijah when he was younger. His brother was always fond of knowledge and took it upon himself to become as educated as possible. Every week Elijah would bury his nose in a new book and study it for hours. After the book was completed, Elijah would recite everything he learned back to Klaus, who grew quickly tired of listening to his brother's rants week after week. Luckily, Klaus mastered the skill of pretending to be interested while completely disregarding everything Elijah was stating. In the meantime, Klaus would spend time coming up with new plans in order to prank his younger brother Kol. He remembered vaguely one lesson where Elijah recited different ways to create knots, and how to untie the difficult ones.
Who knew Elijah's rants would have been helpful? Klaus thought to himself, If only I paid attention.
Out of pure luck, or so Klaus thought, the knot began to loosen around his wrist as he twisted and turned. He did not want to bring too much attention to himself so Klaus kept his movements as minimal as possible. If Klaus was going to get out of this, he needed the element of surprise on his side.
"Excuse me." Klaus spoke up hoping to gain the soldiers attention. He heard a grunt come from the soldier and then silence.
"Can I have some water?" Klaus spoke up as he attempted to get the soldier to respond.
Klaus heard a deep laugh come from the unidentified soldier.
Perfect, Klaus thought. This is just the reaction I want.
"What makes you think you are entitled to some water?" The soldier challenged as his voice began to rise in anger. "Do you think you are on some sort of vacation and I am here to serve you?" Another evil laugh escaped the soldier's lips. "No, you are a prisoner of the Axis powers, you do as we say; we don't care if you live or die, you are nothing but trash to us. So no, you are not getting any water."
Klaus continued to push on his buttons, hoping to gain an even bigger reaction from the man. "I just thought…."
"No!"
Klaus heard the German get up from where he was sitting and stomp his way over to Klaus.
Closer, Klaus thought to himself. I just need him a little closer.
"You are getting nothing from us! Nothing! Do you understand?!"
Klaus felt the soldier inches away from his face. He could feel the spit and the hotness of breath that escaped the soldier's mouth as he shouted at Klaus. The soldier remained still as he awaited Klaus' response.
"I understand." Klaus answered as he quickly brought his hands up and snapped the stranger's neck.
After he heard the soldier's body drop to the ground, he ripped off the blindfold and quickly looked around. He let out a sigh of relief once he realized he was the only one left in the cart.
Klaus looked down to the man that he mercilessly killed. After analyzing the uniform, Klaus identified him as an Italian soldier. The man was probably on the rescue boat with him when they pulled Klaus out of the water and was ordered to ensure successful transfer of prisoners from Italian hands to a war camp.
Klaus crouched down to get a better look at the man. He seemed to be middle aged, possibly in his forties. The man once full of life now lay still on the floor of the cart with eyes that were glossed over. Staring into his eyes, Klaus wondered what they saw; did they see kindness, love, and hope or did they see hatred and anger that mirrored his final moments. Before Klaus could dwell too long on that thought he reached up and gently closed the Italians eyes. Taking one final look, Klaus ripped off the man's dog tags and stuffed them in his pocket before he walked away.
The cart quickly jerked as the train began to apply its final breaks. Klaus knew he had to act fast before it was too late. Opening the car door, Klaus waited a few more moments until the train was at a slow enough speed for him to jump without getting hurt. He looked around at his surroundings; wild bush surrounded the railroad which would hide Klaus well enough. He could not believe his luck; everything was running smoothly for him today. Klaus gave a silent thank you to his guardian angels who he surely could blame for all of his good fortune.
After one final steadying breath, Klaus jumped.
xxxx
Caroline and Katherine decided to hide in the bushes a few feet away from the train station. The blonde was seriously regretting her decision now as all of the possible scenarios played through her head about what would happen if they got caught; all of them ended with her and Katherine being tortured, and eventually dead.
"Look! Here comes the train!" Katherine proclaimed excitedly as she grabbed onto Caroline's arm to gain her attention. The brunette beauty was practically jumping up and down.
Caroline snapped out of her daydreaming when she heard her friend's voice and felt the pressure on her arm. When Caroline looked to the tracks, the train was slowing down as it was preparing to come to a stop.
All of the sudden Caroline hear a thud.
A startled Caroline turned around and looked behind herself; she saw nothing but tall grass and wild bush. Thinking her paranoid mind was playing tricks on her; Caroline shook her head and turned her attention back to the train. It was then that she gasped at the scene unfolding in front of her. "Oh my God." Caroline silently muttered.
Katherine was in awe as she saw what seemed like thousands of people emerging from jammed pack carts. "I wonder who they are." Katherine questioned.
"Look!" Caroline stated as she pointed toward the masses of people. The yellow stars of the peoples clothing were not hard to miss. "They are wearing the star of David. I think they are all Jews."
"Why are there so many of them?" Katherine questioned as she analyzed the scene in front of her with a puzzled look on her face.
Just then, Caroline swore she heard a rustling sound coming from behind them. She turned around once again and analyzed her surroundings by looking in every direction; the blonde still saw nothing but tall grass. "Did you hear that Katherine?" Caroline questioned as she continued to analyze the wild.
"Hear what?" Katherine automatically responded, not once taking her eyes away from the train.
"That noise… a rustling." Caroline stated in a panicked voice. She carefully examined their surroundings as she thought she heard the sound again. "There, that noise!"
"It's just the wind, Caroline." Katherine waved off her friend, her attention remaining still on the swarms of people. Sudden movements by the back of the train grabbed Katherine's awareness. "Hey, I wonder what is going on over there?" Katherine pointed as she noticed a group of soldiers gathering around one of the carts and inspecting it. No one came out of it. I wonder what they are looking for, Katherine thought.
Katherine's statement drew Caroline out of her panic as she looked toward the cart and saw two German soldiers hauling a body out of the train. Both girls automatically assumed the man was dead.
"I wonder who that is." Katherine questioned.
Caroline noticed the uniform as soon as the body was hauled out of the train. It was defiantly a soldier's uniform but the colour was a dark forest green, rather than the deep brown that the Germans wore. Caroline absentmindedly took two steps forward in order to get a better look at the scene.
"Caroline!" Katherine whispered as she grabbed onto her friends shoulder. "Don't get too close, you will get caught."
The blonde just shook off her friend and kept her eyes glued to the scene in front of her as she crouched behind a bush. "I am fine Katherine." Caroline squinted her eyes in attempt to make out the logo on the soldiers shirt. Eventually she noticed the Italian flag stitched onto the man's jacket; before the German's placed the soldier onto a stretcher, Caroline noticed the unnatural way the neck hung from the body. No natural death could have caused that; the Italian soldier must have been murdered from within.
Caroline gasped and took two steps backwards as she realized that one of the German allies had been killed in Poland. The killer was still out there somewhere.
"Katherine, I think it's time to go." Caroline panicked as she assessed what was going on around them. Whoever killed the soldier must of escaped since all of the other German soldiers seemed to be confused and on high alert.
"But…" Katherine protested as Caroline began to drag her away from the scene.
"No, we are leaving! Whoever killed that soldier must have escaped. They will come looking for him and I don't want to be found spying on the Germans!"
"Ugh," Katherine sighed. "Must you always be the voice of reason?" The brunette whined as she turned her back toward the scene to follow her friend.
As the girls began their descent away from the train station, Caroline glanced back once more over her shoulder and noticed that the German soldiers were shouting orders, while another group of soldiers were heading towards the bushes where Caroline and Katherine were just hiding.
"Run Katherine!" Caroline shouted.
Without a question the two girls broke into a sprint. Caroline silently cursed herself for agreeing to Katherine's stupid plan. They were going to get caught and then they were going to die.
All for nothing.
After what seemed like several minutes of running, Caroline's breathing eventually became heavy and sporadic. The muscles in her legs began to cramp up while her heart began to beat faster and faster. Her whole body felt as if it had been set on fire. I am not going to make it, Caroline silently thought as she slowly began to fall behind Katherine who was now a good couple of feet ahead of her. They are going to catch me and I am going to die. Caroline only hoped that her friend would make it to safety before it was too late.
As time dragged on, Caroline fell even further behind. She no longer saw the brunette in front of her. Tall grass surrounded the blonde and exhaustion prevented Caroline from having any sense of direction; she could only hope that she was running in the direction of her home.
Suddenly, out of nowhere Caroline bumped into something hard and solid. She fell to the ground and landed on top of what she collided with. After a few moments of dizziness, Caroline looked down to see what she had run into . She was met with a pair of blue eyes that appeared to be as deep and dark as the ocean. Out of panic, Caroline flung herself off of the figure and stood up on high alert.
When Caroline got herself together, she saw what she had bumped into. It was a man wearing a military uniform. Panic arose within Caroline as she thought she ran into a German soldier, but she soon realized there was something different about this man. His hair was sandy blonde that fell shaggily over his hard features on his unshaven face. The man's body remained tense, as if he was ready to make a move at any given moment. The uniform that the man wore was light blue, one she had never seen within Poland before. Looking to the crest, Caroline noticed that the man in front of her was a British soldier, an ally.
Caroline did not know what to do in the situation. Should she scream and run from the man who may possibly want to hurt her? Should she offer him her help? By the looks of this mysterious man he did not know what to do either. Both of them stood still, unwilling to make a move, unsure of what the other was going to do.
Caroline looked back into the man's eyes now knowing who they belonged to. Those eyes, Caroline thought. They had her mesmerized for a moment as she attempted to read the emotion deep within them. It wasn't until his eyes tore away from her that she realized what the man was doing.
He was running away into the wild.
Caroline took this as her queue to continue her run; back home and back towards safety.
The rest of the way home, Caroline could not stop herself thinking about the mystery man. Questions flooded her mind regarding him. How did he get here? Where is he going? Did he kill the Italian soldier? How is he going to survive? Caroline only wished that the British soldier would find safety and an eventual way out of Poland.
What felt like an eternity later Caroline made it to her house shaken and out of breath.
She noticed Katherine was on the porch pacing back and forth biting her nails. The blonde took a momentary pause at the end of the path leading toward her house in order to catch her breath. The woman put her hands on her knees in an attempt to calm her breathing down.
Suddenly Katherine looked up and saw Caroline leaning on the side of her house panting.
"Oh thank God." Katherine sighed in relief as she ran toward her friend and hugged her. "I thought the Germans got you. And I thought they may have killed you, and oh god it would have been my entire fault because I told you about it this morning and I made you come with me and…"
"I'm fine." Caroline suggested as she slowly released her friend from the hug in order to look into her eyes. "Seriously Katherine relax, I am fine."
"Are you sure Caroline? You're shaking. Did anything happen?"
Caroline was about to tell her friend what she saw when Tyler walked up to them
"Oh thank God Caroline, you're back. I was beginning to get worried." Tyler grabbed Caroline and embraced her in a hug. For a moment all Caroline could do was stand there awkwardly as he hugged her. She did not know that Tyler knew she was missing and away from the house. Caroline decided it was best to play along and began to hug the soldier back.
When the soldier released Caroline, Katherine decided to speak up. "I contacted Tyler once I noticed you were missing from your bed this morning." Katherine lied. "I informed him that you have been sleepwalking the past couple of months but this was the first time you actually left the house. I was so worried Caroline."
Caroline glanced from her friend to Tyler, not sure about how she should react.
"It's a good thing she contacted me." Tyler interrupted as he stepped in front of Caroline's body in order to be in her eye sight. "If you were found wandering, especially in the wilderness, the Germans would have shot you on site. A prisoner has escaped and we think he may have taken off in that direction." Tyler informed them. "Best to keep this a secret though, you are not supposed to know any of this."
"Oh," was all Caroline could say. She could just kiss Katherine for covering their asses.
Caroline didn't feel the need to say she saw the soldier. The mysterious man was just a soldier, trying to put an end to this war who ended up in the wrong hands. Caroline wasn't going to give him away, she silently hoped he escaped.
And after all, she was supposed to be sleep walking.
"I'm sorry. I awoke behind my field. I'm just so shaken because I didn't know what was going on at the time. I am fine, really." Caroline attempted to sound as convincing as possible, despite not being able to get the mysterious man out of her head.
"I should get her inside." Katherine stated as she walked up to Caroline and slung her arm around Caroline's shoulders. "Thank you for all your help Tyler, really, you are they only one Caroline and I can count on in this war."
"Good day Miss." Tyler nodded, tilting his hat to Katherine. He turned once more to Caroline in order to bid his goodbye. "You be careful okay. I really don't think I could handle myself if anything happened to you."
Caroline smiled at Tyler and nodded, "I will." She responded before her and Katherine turned around and walked away.
Within a few steps, the girls entered the safety of their home.
P.S - I made up the uniform colours in this chapter so it would be easier to differentiate the different nationalities; it is not historically accurate so please don't hate! lol
Leave a review and let me know what you think!