Maybe One Day

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Family Reunion

I was gently coaxed awake the next morning by Lewis who had already gotten dressed and rustled some breakfast for the both of us. I sat up groggily and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. I was still utterly exhausted but knew that I had to suffer through it for now. Maybe I could sleep on the truck? Yeah...

"Winters let you sleep in longer than everyone else this morning, on account of last night. We're leaving in a couple hours." he said, kissing the top of my head.

"Thanks, Lew." I smiled softly. "I really mean that. Thank you... For everything." I looked up at him.

"Well... I love you." he smiled and looked at his boots.

"Je t'aime aussi, Lewis." I winked and pulled my boots on, quickly tying them and shrugging on my blouse. 

I ate my breakfast quickly and hopped out the door to go check on my medics who were packing up the small aid station. After making sure all my ducks were in a row, we loaded up the trucks and I sat down in a truck next to Lipton. While we were waiting for the trucks to pull out, my thoughts drifted to Moriel. I hope that he lived through the night. I lay my head on Lip's shoulder and passed out within a few short minutes. When I woke up, we were in yet another German town. This one had been reduced to piles of rubble and ruins. I sat up with Webster, Liebgott, Luz, Perconte, and Bull and we looked down onto the town square. The townspeople had been cleaning up, sorting through rubble to pile furniture onto carts, and stacking reusable bricks and cobblestones neatly together. In the square, a small group of musicians gathered and were playing together. Miraculously their instruments had survived the bombings unscathed. When they started to play, I closed my eyes and listened intently. It had been a long time since I had heard something as beautiful as this. 

"Tell you one thing about the Krauts. They sure clean up good." said Luz.

"Yeah. All you need is a little Mozart."

"Beethoven." I said at the same time that Nix appeared in the doorway. 

"Sorry, what?" said Liebgott.

I opened my eyes and sat up to face Liebgott.

"That's not Mozart. That's Beethoven." I smiled softly. "I used to listen with my mama. It's beautiful." I turned my attention back to the music for a little while before...

"Hitler's dead."

That announcement completely stunned everyone in our small group. I looked over at Lew, hardly believing the words. 

"Holy shit." said Liebgott. 

"Shot himself in Berlin." 

"Is the war over, sir?" asked Bull.

"No. We have orders to Berchtesgaden, we're gonna move out soon." 

"Into the heart of Nazi-Germany. I hope my father drops dead." I replied. 

"What?" said Webster.

"My father is an officer for the Germans." I replied. "That much I know. I don't know where he ended up, if he's dead or he's alive and I don't care."

"Should have killed himself three years ago... saved us a lot of trouble." grumbled Web.

***

We had moved out of the decimated German town and whilst headed toward Berchtesgaden, we had been stopped by a roadblock. The German's had blown up parts of the mountain to create a huge pile of boulders blocking the roadway. Now we were stuck here, waiting for the engineers to get here. I sat in the back of one of the trucks and recorded what had happened the past few days in my journal, down to the letter. Taking small breaks, I watched as some of the men took their chances at demolition.