France, 1944. As the Allies land on the shores of Normandy, an unlikely friendship strikes up between Levi Ackerman, a widowed French Jew, and Eren Jäger, a deeply-in-the-closet lieutenant in the German Wehrmacht. The two deal with love, loss, digni...
If you want a little ambiance for your reading enjoyment, I have been listening to this while writing: https://youtu.be/_WAi6b-Jeg4
Levi had to admit, he had not really been paying attention to their travels. The sun rose and morning birds woke up. Scenery of farms and fields blurred into one another as the hours dragged on in weariness. Lunch rolled by, and when Levi felt his stomach churn in hunger, he ignored it.
He was needed twice more to translate, once to a farmer who had a flock of sheep in the way, another time was a town where the map made things unclear, and the company almost got lost in the twisting streets. Levi asks for directions to a bridge they needed to cross. The man he spoke to glared at Levi, probably thinking he was a traitor to his country. Maybe he was. He had agreed to help Nazis, after all.
He was tired. So, so tired. However, when he leaned against Eren, he felt not the worn-in clothes of a traveler, but the stiff uniform of a Nazi. It made him jolt up, realizing that he could not act the way he had yesterday. How would it look to the rest of the Germans to see an officer with a Jew resting on his back?
They reached the town of Malling and came across a bridge spanning the Moselle River.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
German soldiers guarded the bridge. Eren saluted the men, who snapped to attention at seeing an officer. A barrier was lifted for them, and they were allowed to cross. Then they rode on, following the river to Kœnigsmacker, which was also heavily fortified against the approaching Allies, ready to hold the line. There, they turned south for the last leg to Metz.
Somehow, at some point after their turn south, Levi fell asleep. He had no idea when, or even how. When he woke up to the sound of a roaring cheer, he was not on a horse, and not leaning against Eren. He was being jostled along in a truck. He sat up and looked around. The sun was high in the sky. He was covered in the same blanket Eren had given to him off his own bed in the old village.
Armin's head popped up from his radio. "Ah, Sie sind wach. Uh, nos ... arriver ... arrivons?" he tried out in wary French, only to slip into more comfortable German, "Wir haben es nach Metz geschafft." Ah, you're awake. Uh, we ... to arrive ... are arriving? We've made it to Metz.
Levi merely nodded, grasping that they had arrived at their destination. The fortress city of Metz was in front of them, and he watched as they approached a castle bridge. Across the crenelated walls fluttered Nazi flags. Atop the two towers, long scarlet banners bearing the swastika hung like streaks of blood dripping down the walls.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
