Ashes to Burn (Work In Progress)

Ashes to Burn - Chapter Fourteen

***This story is intended for mature audiences, as it contains graphic violence, gore, coarse language and some sexual content. Viewer discretion is strongly advised. 

December 20th, 2015

18:00 hours

Dnieper River, Russia

The water was calm and rippled onto the rocky shore. The burning rubble and the smell of tar clouded the air. I looked up in the evening sky and saw the stars. I thought of Mouse. I wondered where she and Andy were and if they were okay.

“Julie?” I heard John’s voice sound from the side. I turned to look at him, with dirt smeared across his face. We had been patrolling the riverbank for about a good two hours. Sarge was leading our squad, as always, but we had new members this time. Nycki, John, a young boy named Damien, and me. We had been a team for five days, and each time we patrolled we found nothing but rubble, dead bodies, and sometimes a few old deserted camps, but nothing serious. 

“Yes, John?” I asked, breathing in the scent of smoke. He looked at his watch and then up at the sky.

“I don’t know why were in this area, but it feels like something needs to be found. Don’t you feel like that?” He asked absently, scratching his chin. I sighed and looked at Sarge and Nycki making their way over to us. They looked almost excited.

“Yeah…” I replied distantly as Sarge made her way over to us. I heard the crunch of boots on gravel as I saw Damien climb over some rubble to make his way over to us. He was a quiet guy, but very smart. He looked about nineteen, maybe a year younger than John. He was about my height with shaggy brown hair and sea green eyes. He was a medic. Not as great as Mouse, but still good.

“Julie! We found something!” Sarge said breathlessly as she and Nycki made their way over to us. I looked at Nycki who had a strange smile etched across her face. I looked at Sarge and leaned on a chunk of a blown up building. 

“Northwest… there’s a camp… active, it looks like.” Sarge wheezed, catching her breath. I stood up straight and looked at John and Damien.

“A camp?” I asked, bewildered. Sarge nodded and took a breath.

“Yeah, we saw it, and we’ll show you. Come with us.” She said, motioning to where they had just came from. I picked up my gun and nodded at the two men. We gathered our stuff and made our way to their discovery.

I climbed over the rocky ledge and fell in beside Sarge. The night sky blanketed us in a dark cover, helping us stay hidden. I looked over the ridge and saw a building with smoke stacks and lights shining out from the inside.

“I didn’t know there was an outpost just outside our own?” I whispered, looking at Sarge. She nodded her agreement and handed me the binoculars. I looked through them and got a closer looked to what was happening inside.

There were at least a dozen stitch punks guarding the entrance, and there were spotlights shining down upon the dry, rocky earth. Luckily we weren’t in range so the light couldn’t hit us. I increased the range and looked further. 

There were IRANR soldiers chained and bound, pushing some sort of contraption. I tried to get a closer look but the windows only let in so much. The soldiers were men and women of all ages - young and old. They were being whipped and slashed at by Nazi’s as they began to slow down. They were human slaves. They were being held captive to build something, but what? I gave Sarge the binoculars back and got up. 

“What are they doing to them?” I asked the squad. Sarge stood up and grabbed her AR from the ground.

“I don’t know, but we need to brief everyone else about it.” She said. I nodded and grabbed my stuff.