Lost Panzer

3

Peter woke up in a comfortable blue and white bed, to the sterile smell of the hospital. A machine nearby monitored his heart rate, steadily beeping. Outside, the birds chirped away, signaling the dawn of a new day. He sat up and looked around. On a nearby wall, his possessions were laid out on an aluminum tray. He lifted up the light curtain and looked out the window. He was several stories up, and the road below had more traffic and cars than the main street of Berlin. The cars looked strange too, he had never seen the different colored cars on the road before. Peter tried to sit up, but a burst of pain suddenly shot through him, forcing him back down.

"Take it gently now." A nurse said to him, walking into the ward. Peter noticed that the nurse did not have blood stains on her coat, he must be away from the front lines. "You still haven't recovered yet. Rest."

"Where am I? What day is it?" Peter asked.

"You are in the Zuikaku Hospital, Sir." The nurse replied, "And the date is July 29th."

"The 29th? Are you certain?" Peter exclaimed, "What year is it?"

"It is 2015."

Peter started laughing. ""Zuikaku right? Isn't that Japanese? Don't tell me I am in Japan too."

"You are not in Japan, sir, you are on a carrier."

"What? How? Where is Karl?" Peter asked.

"Your friend is fine. Next room on the left."

"I have to see him." Peter demanded. He sat up carefully, slipping into his worn boots. He walked over to the aluminum tray. On it was his field jacket, torn and ripped in several places. But the familiar eagle and the red collar decorated with gold bands greeted him all the same. He dressed himself and picked up his belongings. "Oh, and thanks." Peter said to the nurse. She nodded and smiled back.

Peter stepped outside of the room into the sunlit hallway. Looking to his left, he found the room where Karl was supposed to be. Knocking on the door, he heard a familiar voice but in a completely different language.

"Who is it?" Came the question in fluent Japanese.

"It's me" Peter replied back in German.

"Peter? Come in!"

Peter stepped into the small nursing ward. Karl was laying on the bed with a hospital gown and a small booklet in his hands.

"Oh God, Peter!" Karl cried with relief. "You are alive! I.. I remember the explosion and the screams. I thought you died! I woke up here and I think I am speaking Japanese!"

"Calm down, Karl." Peter said. "We are on a Japanese carrier." Peter looked outside. "Although, I don't remember the carriers like this."

Karl looked up at Peter and handed him the booklet. In multicolored prints and pictures, it was a brochure for the carrier. "We are in the future."

"The nurse... she was right." Peter stuttered.