Necrocide (16 page)

“I'm ready to do whatever's necessary to kill off these bastards.” Hawkins said with fortitude. Bauer smiled and nodded his head in great appreciation.

“I now know why the Reich could not defeat the Great British lion-hearts.”

Hawkins felt proud to be associated with his nation in such glowing terms. Bauer reminded Hawkins that the Germans were not all fascists; it gave him great faith in humanity after many years of dispirited pessimism.

*

Carefully treading their way down a thickly foliaged descent, Hawkins carrying the MG42 and heavy ammo box followed Bauer with his keenly presented assault rifle. Genevieve followed at the rear wielding the MP44 as if it were a babe in arms, clutching it tight to her bosom. The dense greenery led to the rear of a tall town house which had survived unscathed in the carnage. Mounting a high wooden fence, the three worked in silence to aid each other's progress. Dropping into a trimmed garden where the lawn was green and lush, it seemed to Hawkins as if the occupants of this dwelling were extremely house proud. Hugging the outer wall, Bauer snooped around the corner to peer into the rear window. Inside the kitchen, it was gloomy and there was no one to be seen. The German motioned to Hawkins that he was going to try the rear door and much to their mutual surprise, the brass knob turned and the wooden door creaked open.

The house was built upon two levels and although the wooden floorboards made moving about silently impossible, a lengthy scout around the nicely wallpapered home revealed that the occupants were not present. From the front of the property, there was a clear view out to the street where similar buildings stood all as quiet as their own although many had lost their roofs through persistent shelling. If it was the intention of the group to hold up for the rest of the day, it seemed a perfect environment to rest and eat without too much interference. The large bed with its pristine white sheets also asked a few questions of the soldiers as they perused their new location.

“What do you think, Hans? Just like a five star hotel in Torquay!” Hawkins spoke quietly as they both peered into the pretty bedroom.

“I am sure it is. As much as it entices, we must venture forward.” Bauer remained focussed.

“I know. But maybe if we get in trouble, we can fall back here hey?” Hawkins hoped out loud bringing a reassuring smile for the Colonel.

The two soldiers returned to downstairs to find Genevieve holding the receiver of a telephone, she was tapping furiously at its buttons.

“It appears that it has been cut off.” She complained once again straining to hear something from the device.

“Good try though.” Hawkins added as Genevieve stroppily dropped the heavy Bakelite receiver back down with a clunk.

“A clear offensive strategy. Deny your opponents communication to summon reinforcements.” Bauer added his senior wisdom evident once more.

“If we could find a radio then we could at least determine where our forces lie or even negotiate.” Hawkins suggested rather an obvious course of action.

“A good call but unfortunately one of the first things that happened yesterday morning was loss of radio communications. We can only assume that this was not a natural event.” Bauer explained why his cause had been most desperate.

“As for negotiation, this is what these are for.” Genevieve interrupted and hoisted her weapon and waved it about aggressively.

“Where in Caen is your mother's house?” Hawkins asked with more than a little impatience. It seemed that Genevieve had nothing good to say to him since the previous night, he wondered what he could have done to anger her so. Genevieve paced around and slumped down upon a soft green chair.

“Does it even matter?” She barked. “Have you not seen the town as I have, do you not hear the silence of its people.”

Hawkins looked over to Bauer who shrugged his shoulders.

“You've given up on her then?” Hawkins prodded her with his words like a sharp stick to a viper.

“Even if she is alive, the only way to stop the slaughter is to strike at the heart of the Nazi creations before it is too late. The Colonel is right; we must hurt them now before it is too late.”

Hawkins was about to speak when suddenly his heart raced. A shadowy figure was peering in through the living room window, masking their eyes from the glare of the sky. Bauer hoisted his gun and the figure darted away with fright. Hawkins raced to the window and traced the movements of the small spy across the road into one of the damaged houses opposite.

“What was it?” Bauer asked, clearly not getting a good enough look to be sure.

“A boy, perhaps thirteen or fourteen. He's run across the road into the house with the white door.”

“I see there
are
still people here in Caen.” Bauer remarked, his comment clearly aimed at Genevieve who sneered at him in return. Hawkins remained focused upon the house opposite and was intrigued to see the curtains part a few moments after the door was hastily opened and closed.

“We have been noted; at least we can assume that anything that lives might be on our side.” Hawkins said hopefully.

“Do not assume
anything
, John. The quickest way to lose your life in war is to put your faith in a stranger.” Bauer remarked with a cautious intent. Genevieve stood, raised an eyebrow at the tall blonde man and peered out through the window moving next to Hawkins.

“...or in your enemy.” She whispered as if feeling the need to have the last word in the conversation. Hawkins hummed as if not really taking it all in.

“When your allies are so thin in number, I guess you just have to run with what you've got.” He murmured remaining transfixed on the street. “I think we should go and investigate. If there are people there, maybe they can give us some information.”

“Absolutely.” Genevieve piped up perkily as she readied herself to move on. “Come on, old man.” She said in passing to the Colonel who remained passive as always.

“You've really stirred her up.” Hawkins commented after Genevieve paced out of the room. Bauer laughed and once again shrugged his shoulders.

“At least when she is angry she is a good shot. I'll try to keep her on the boil.” The German said quietly as he once again prepared to move on.

CHAPTER 20

Striding boldly across the road towards the house with the white door, Hawkins whispered over to Bauer.

“What's the strategy?”

Bauer looked over to his British friend and just raised his eyebrows. It was apparent that there was none but progress could not be made without bold moves.

Standing outside the house, Bauer tapped the door gently whilst keeping vigilant in the deserted street where there was a single black car parked up. He did not have to wait long for an answer and the door was quickly opened and a waved hand ushered them inside. Hawkins bundled through into the dusty hallway and was surprised to see a small gathering of people watching him with their inquisitive eyes and training their guns equally as keenly. The door was closed silently and their host appeared to be a small rotund gent with spectacles and a brown woolly cardigan.

“An interesting collection of people...only in a surrealistic nightmare could this be the norm. However, I am getting used to it.” He stammered in English although he spoke with a French accent.

“Thank you for the shelter.” Bauer spoke slowly and with authority. He could not take his eyes from half a dozen or so young men who surrounded them with weapons of all origins drawn at the ready.

“I assure you, we are of no threat to you.” The German reiterated his commitment to non-violence.

“Absolutely.” Hawkins added feeling a little claustrophobic by his surroundings.

“Yet you are well armed. Perhaps when you relinquish your arms we can be more...comfortable in each other's presence.” The French man negotiated nervously.

“We give up our weapons to no one.” Genevieve stamped her opinion on the conversation for all to hear.

“My, what a cosmopolitan group of individuals you are!” The French man remarked, shuffling about in amusement. Bauer held up his hand in a gesture of calm.

“We are all as one, we share the same enemy. Let us talk without fear.” Bauer was also a superb negotiator. The short, fat French man looked over to the teenage boy who had spied their presence and nodded an acknowledgement. Of the five or six young men who wielded their weapons with a tell tale innocence, there was not one who appeared confident enough to use their gun in anger. Bauer was quick to observe this and his confident demeanour soon rubbed off on Hawkins who dropped his guard a little.

“Is there somewhere we can sit?” Hawkins asked the weight of his immense pack and large gun began to weigh heavily upon his shoulders.

“Of course, where are my manners?” The French man threw his hands into the air and waved the cautious threesome into an adjacent room which had seen better days. A living room devoid of furniture had been converted into a temporary hostel. Hawkins wondered why, when there were better places to find shelter, these people were persisting with this place.

“I am sorry if the house is not presentable to guests, you see, once the monsters have visited one home, they move to the next. We guessed that as they have already made their presence known in this house, it would be safer for the moment.” The host said frankly, clearing up some of the musing as the guests dropped their heavy loads and lowered themselves upon thin mattresses covered with inadequate, thin and quite filthy sheets.

“And did the occupants survive this encounter?” Bauer asked inquisitively.

“Regretfully not.” The host replied, his face showing some of the strains of the conflict.

“Excuse me; my name is Leballieur, Jean-Paul. I recognise you but I am poor with remembering names.” Leballieur remarked at Bauer who raised his eyebrows with intrigue.

“Hans Bauer.”

“Yes! That is why I remember now. Mon Dieu, the man himself.” Leballieur looked rather star-struck as his minions pottered around trying to look busy but totally intrigued in their visitors.

“It seems that your reputation precedes you, Bauer.” Genevieve stated with caution.

“I have been to Caen on occasions, although I fail to understand from where you would know me?” Bauer did not seem happy at being devoid of the facts and Hawkins was fascinated by his German friends' limited fame.

“Well, if I said that I was 'employed' by the Germans in the role of a biochemical engineer then that might give you some clue.” Leballieur certainly fitted the bill of a scientist, quite brilliant but zany too.

“Incredible, then it might be a stroke of quite amazing fortune that we've bumped into you then?” Hawkins was enthused by the possibility of understanding more about the 'cold soldiers'.

“I do not count myself as fortunate to be here at this time.” Leballieur lamented. “It is our plan to wait till darkness and escape this town. However, we are not quite sure in which direction to travel. You are from Carentan, is it safe in Carentan?” Leballieur had his fill of this place and it showed in the immediacy of his will to plot his escape. Bauer's plan was quite the opposite.

“If you are aware of the operation, then you can provide us with valuable information. I think the time for secrecy and information protection is over. It is clear that you know who I am and my role in this mess, can I assume that you had some kind of access to the bunker?” Bauer did not beat around the bush and with every word, Hawkins grew more confused.

“What bunker is this Hans?” He asked, feeling a little left out in the cold. Leballieur looked to Bauer who had seen fit to keep this information away from the Brit.

“There is here, in Caen a secure underground installation that was being used for scientific research...another reason why Caen was chosen to become the home of the Kalter Soldaten. After I was sent to Russia, I bargained my way back to a post in Carentan so that I could monitor the experiments from a distance, fearing that something like this might happen.”

“Well you certainly kept that schtum.” Hawkins said looking over to Genevieve whose face was thunderously angular.

“I am still an officer in the Wehrmacht, I do not go around telling British Commando's the location of our secret bases.” Bauer remarked, his tone deliberate. Hawkins nodded; he understood why he had not shared the information but was eager to know more about this research installation.

“Listen carefully, Jean-Paul, I intend to enter this bunker and eliminate the threat from its source. To do this, I will need every possible aid. Maps, the location of security checkpoints, weapons caches, restricted areas...”

Leballieur nodded eagerly.

“Yes, yes, I can provide some of this, it is a place etched in my memory and somewhere I never wish to return to for as long as I live.”

“What was it you did there?” Hawkins asked as Leballieur instructed a young man to fetch refreshments.

“As little as possible! Ha!” Leballieur quipped but then sheepishly looked over to his German oppressor who smiled in acknowledgement.

“Traitor.” Genevieve whispered whilst shaking her head. “Whilst brave men and women died opposing the subjugation at every turn, men like you, weak and eager to obey offered your services at the drop of a hat.” Hawkins and Bauer were both taken aback by the vitriol of their companion. Leballieur was not riled by her taunts.