Mediziner

Chapter 1

The truck jolted and jumped at every little rut and stone on the dirt road. We all looked at each other miserably, feeling sick at being so jostled in the bed of the military vehicle. The men in the the back were already covered head to toe in mud. And some tried but failed to sleep off sickness from the rugged drive. I remember looking at the soldier across from me, he looked incredibly young. A little too young actually, especially to be fighting. Yet he had a certain smirk about him, almost as if he was excited to be fighting, proud. I wished I could only say the same.

As I looked down at the medic kit in my lap, I nearly felt like I was about to lose my lunch- not just because of the painstakingly bumpy ride- but because of my increasing anxiety for the future. We were Wehrmacht soldiers, built and trained to defend and conquer for our country. Though some of us were simply drafted without any choice or say. Wether you agreed with the Fuhrer or not, you were fighting. I was only placed here as a medic for my knowledge in medicine, I had wanted to be a doctor someday. But since the war's on and I have to fight, I don't think I may ever achieve that goal...

"Hey Zegerman, you alright there pal?"

I felt a jab at my side and saw a freckled face waving a hand infront of my eyes. Franz. We've been in training together from the very start, and I guess you could say we're as close as can be considering we now have to fight together. I looked up and gave a sniffle to try and get some sense of reality back into me, shaking off my thoughts.

"Huh... Oh, yeah I'm fine. Why'd you ask?"

"You looked like a vegetable sitting there Johannes. All glazed over. Don't think too hard about this all alright? You'll be fine!"

Franz gave me a pat on the shoulder and a reassuring grin that showed off his dimples. Though despite his advice and cheerful attitude, I could see that in those blue eyes that he too was afraid. Franz was the happiest man alive, never showed any signs of anger or sadness. He was always laughing and smiling. But his eyes really did make up for the emotions he didn't show. We were all afraid at this point. Heading to a base camp in a foreign land, to actually join the fight, to meet the death of our enemies, the death of or friends, and possibly even our own very fate. It's a lot to take in.

I felt a stirring at my feet, and the warmth around my boots lifted. A fuzzy head with pointed ears poked up at me, and rested it's chin on my knees. It was my medical aid of a dog, Spritze. She was a nearly perfectly tan German Shepherd, and her ears flattened as she looked back and forth at me and Franz. She gave a heavy sigh particularly at me.

"Carsick. I know how you feel."

I gave Spritze a quick scratch behind the ear and she seemed thankful for that, but soon she became distracted by the moving scents in the truck bed and of the soldiers. She turned her head to look at the man on my left, and became rather intrigued by him. The dog shifted her body over to stick her nose closer and sniffed at his sleeve. I had started to pull Spritze back by her harness as I saw that soldier sneering at her. But before I could call her attention back, he stomped his boot near her paw, and gave me a rather dirty look.

Spritze jumped and kept her nose in her respected personal space again. She looked nervously back at that man as she got up to move closer towards the more trusted and loving Franz. He in turn ruffled the fur on her neck. And was sure to give that soldier a disapproving look as he cooed to Spritze and kept her still.

Though I couldn't say I blamed her for getting curious about that particular man. He smelled like smoke and ash. Not cigarette smoke mind you, just plain burning. There were distinctive scars across his scowling face, and I noticed he had a flame thrower infront of him. He certainly had one of the most gruesome choices of weapons, burning your enemies alive and all...

I decuded to turn my attention elsewhere, and watched the scenery go by. We were heading towards the Eastern Front, towards Russia specifically. But as good as anyone could guess, we would stop at every place that didn't want us occupying their country to battle. The ride to the camp was breathtaking to say the least, our transport vehicle had found itself on an untouched road. And as it rumbled along we saw orange trees with leaves about to fall, dry grasses waving in the sharp wind, and sometimes we'd see deer roaming. At those rare sightings some men thought it'd be smart to shoot at them for fun, though they'd always miss due to the shakiness of the truck. Once we had even passed a corn field where we snagged a few ears of corn off to share. Though as I took in all the sights, I began to become aware that I'd take part in destroying this beautiful land and the lives of those who lived on it.

And with that in mind, I fell asleep. Not knowing that soon we'd be rumbling to a stop at our designated location.