Night fell. More guards were posted. Dietrich and Katya once again became the specter of fear that fell over the compound, shrouded in darkness that was only relieved by the spare torchlight that served to illuminate the interiors and exteriors. Dietrich turned to Katya, his face shrouded by his goggles and more dirt that he had smeared under them.
"The guards are stationary. I have not seen them move from their posts. Luck is on our side, Katya. We will move down our right hand side and cut across the opening between the barracks. There will be two guards for us to either kill or sneak by. Then, we can steal all of the food that we can carry." Said Dietrich. He beckoned for Katya to follow him and the two began to quietly make their way along their pre-determined path, rifles in hand and ready.
Their going was smooth, yet they did not move as slowly as they had been doing in recent history. The forest provided enough cover for them to maneuver silently and unseen. And now, they were in their pre operation position. Dietrich scanned the outpost once more, hoping that taking the time to be extra cautious would prove useful.
All it did, however, was prove that the guards stood stationary throughout their watch; As they had known. The man scratched his chin with a glove and began to think over any and all possible ways that the guards could be alerted.
"They could see us. They could hear us." Thought Dietrich. He then felt a light bulb turn on in his head, and he arched an arm, sniffing at his odorless armpit. His action caused Katya to perform the same action, and she recoiled a bit. Dietrich turned his head to look at her, feeling a small draft come in through the trees.
"I have deodorant. They will smell you on the wind like they did to me before. Give me your bag." Commanded Dietrich.
The Soviet shrugged and took off her bag, handing it to the man who accepted it. He put it over his shoulders and nodded to her. She nodded back and as quietly as he had been while sneaking on his hands and knees, he took off running towards the storeroom.
"Quick. Clean. No detection at all costs." Thought Dietrich. The shack he needed to be in was only twenty meters from his position. There were no guards on his path save for one that was right next to the door of the shack. When he got close to the wooden building, he slowed down and began to take small steps, ensuring a sneaky arrival. Dietrich slung his K98k, opting for a more "hands on" approach. He tip-toed in his boots all the way to the side of the shack. He could hear the felid on the other side sniff the air audibly and that was when he struck.
Dietrich rounded the corner sharply, grabbing the cat by its muzzle with one hand and clamping down so it couldn't call out. Simultaneously, he opened the door to the shack, pushing both himself and the felid inside just as it began to struggle. Dietrich pushed the door shut with a foot and then easily snapped the neck of the cat, softly laying the dead felid on the floor. He then tuned to look at the absolute treasure trove of food that he had stumbled on.
Fresh greens lay neatly organized on wooden crates and straw buckets. Fruits and vegetables were piled all over the place. Butchered meat, smoked, salted and raw, hung from hooks and strings all over the place from rafters. A whole ox had been cleaned and split in half, hanging from the ceiling on two large metal hooks. Cheese's of many types were carefully stacked. Potatoes were piled in a corner. Dietrich froze, not knowing where to properly start in the surprisingly spacious "shack" if that was what it could still be called.
"Real meat. Fresh meat." Dietrich's primal mind took over and he moved to a few of the pieces, unslinging Katya's bag in anticipation. He began to carefully choose what the two of them wanted the most, being that fresh me they desired so much.
Leg. Blackstrap. Ribs. He fit all that he could into Katya's bag. In fact, he had fit so much meat in there that he had no room for anything else. Dietrich looked around the storeroom, spying a decent sized fabric square. He went to it and unfolded it.
"It will do. I can make a drawstring pack." Decided the man. He took to stealing some large handfuls of smoked meat, surrounding them with many potatoes. He then grabbed a few greens, consisting of what looked like spinach and lettuce, placing them on top of the meat. Then, he moved onto the fruit and vegetables, grabbing apples, broccoli, and many other items that he recognized. He then bundled everything up nicely, drawing it shut with some of the string that was used to hang the meats.
It was secured enough that he was satisfied with its strength. He put on Katya's bag, feeling the weight of the meat as he settled the pack on his back. He then took the other bag and a few more straps, hanging it on his front to balance the weight. It was acceptable, and he knew he would be able to move at a decent pace with it.
"Just not as quickly. But...what about you?" Pondered Dietrich, looking at the corpse on the stone floor. He cocked his head, deep in thought.
"I cannot leave you here. You will spoil all of this good food if they do not find you. Or, perhaps, maybe I should make sure they find you." Thought Dietrich. A grin began to form as his thoughts ran wild.
This was a perfect opportunity for the bandits to know that there was something hunting them. Something methodical and meticulous. Quiet and lethal.
Something that they had never encountered before.
Dietrich grabbed the corpse of the felid. She, after a very quick inspection, was surprisingly lightweight. Before he went on with his plan, Dietrich took the time to study his prey up close for the first time.
To begin, these "people" were much shorter than the average human. Dietrich stood at a towering six foot and three inches, with an extra from his boots. The one he held in his hands could only have been four and half feet tall at most.
They resembled cats almost on a one-to-one scale. Eyes, ears, muzzle, and all matched to the felines of Earth. They were digitigrade beings and held almost all of the same traits as their counterparts back home.
Paws, claws, and tails.
Dietrich grabbed her "hand," pushing down on the pads with a thumb. The claws came out and he inspected them. They were quite sharp and he made a mental note to not get slashed by them.
He inspected the hand a bit further, noting the four long fingers and thumb laid out much like his own hand. Yet, the digits were a bit shorter and stubbier, and had fatter finger tips to fit the claws and pads.
Dietrich felt that he had spent enough time prodding the corpse of a bandit, so he grabbed some excess string and fashioned a noose out of it. He looked it around the bandits neck and tightened it. He then made sure his exit was safe and stepped outside, tossing one end of the string line over a jutting edge of the shack. He then hoisted the bandits body up as his sign.
Once he assured himself that the body would not fall by checking the string, he began to run the same path he used to get in. It took him all the way back to Katya completely undetected, who was patiently waiting for him in the brush.
"Well...you're a natural at the very least, Dietrich. I'll give you that." Said Katya. She offered to take her bag and Dietrich obliged, giving it to her. They then began to head off to their previous nights sleeping zone, hoping for a good meal at some point.
XXX
Dietrich woke up with the sun once again. He was liking the ability for his body to sleep in and recover. Physically, the war had taken quite the toll on his body. Even though he was of a young age, he knees and ankles had taken a considerable beating over the course of the six year war. His back, thank goodness, still felt normal even after an almost too close call with a landmine.
He looked over to see that Katya was peacefully dozing against a tree. He watched her for some time, noticing that she looked so much more youthful when she slept.
"She is not awake remembering that her family is no longer here. She isn't worried about the present or the future." Thought Dietrich. He then wondered about his own features and looks.
"If she is that weathered, what do I look like?" Asked Dietrich, mentally. Now that he had the time to think about it, he had not looked in a mirror for quite a long time.
"Years, even. I just cannot remember how long it has been since I looked into a mirror." Dietrich frowned slightly and moved quietly to rifle through last nights bounty. The man pulled out some of the smoked meat from the sack bag, alongside two apples.
Still, in being quiet as to not disturb the sleeping Katya, Dietrich went and sat next to her, leaning up against the tree himself. It was a very nice day with a perfect temperature. A light breeze wafted through their little stretch of woods, ensuring that they wouldn't get too hot.
Dietrich bit into the first apple he had been able to eat in a full year. He heard a slight stirring beside him, so he looked down to see Katya looking up at him, blinking as her eyes adjusted and focused on him.
"Good morning, Katya. I have brought some food for you." Said Dietrich. He offered her the other apple he had grabbed and some of the meat. Katya yawned and accepted his offer, starting her own progress on her apple.
"Good morning. How is the day so far?" Asked Katya with a mouth full of fruit. She yawned quite audibly and Dietrich got an unwanted view of mushed apple inside of her mouth. He recoiled slightly, looking away and taking another bite of his apple.
"Well, it was good until you yawned." He said. Katya chuckled, sitting upright like Dietrich.
"Am I serious in believing that you, of all the people I have ever met, are disgusted by seeing some chewed up apple? Did you not literally crush a skull beneath your boot? I am certain I saw you hang someone last night from a noose. Oh, better yet, are you the one crazy German who wants to skin one of them?" Asked Katya, jokingly. Dietrich chuckled, taking another bite out of his apple.
"No war. No Soviet Union. No Nazi Germany. Two people, enjoying down time." Thought Dietrich. He sighed in relaxation, genuinely relieved that he was able to take the time to relax for a bit without the threat of artillery or air strike.
"What has you so relaxed, Chort?" Asked Katya. Dietrich but into his apple again, and shrugged.
"I no longer have to worry about being bombed to death randomly by your planes and artillery. I get to do what I love and what I am good at with almost no risk." He said. Katya scoffed lightly.
"Well, I guess...that can be a reason for someone to be happy." Said Katya. She licked a thumb and reached out, wiping away some of the dirt from his face. Dietrich let her perform the action, already understanding why she most likely did so.
"She probably wishes to care for something since her family passed. I will not be the one to judge her for it." Thought Dietrich. He was too focused on his country and service during his teenage years. Dating was not his priority by any stretch and he never really bothered to try and find a wife, no matter how pretty the girls were at his age.
But even he understood that he had no true idea what it was like, as a parent and especially a mother, to lose your partner and children. Nothing he had ever known could be compared to that. He knew this because he was not an only child at one point.
He had a baby brother who had died early at the age of three due to sickness. His mother and father had grieved for many, many years alongside of him.
"I wonder how they are doing? Do they know that their son lives? Do they even live? I hadn't received a letter from them in quite some time." Pondered Dietrich.
"Hey, are you alright, Dietrich?" Asked Katya. She placed a hand on his shoulder. He felt the sturdy grip of it, and turned his head to look at her.
"Yes, I am fine. I was just lost in my thoughts; Thinking about my parents." He said. Katya nodded.
"What has you thinking about them?" She asked. His face twisted a bit and he lifted a finger, pointing it right at her.
"Oh. Well, okay." She said. Dietrich nodded and finished off his apple, churning enough dirt beneath him to bury the core.
"I was just wondering about them. If they were still around and whatnot. In the middle of the war, they had moved closer to the border with France, so I know that they are well away from the Soviet Lines. I hope that the Americans have already moved past them by now." Said Dietrich.
Katya looked down and Dietrich could see that it was in a semblance of shame. He stuck a hand out, tucking it beneath her chin and forcing her to look up at him.
"We did the same things in Stalingrad that you will do in Berlin. That doesn't make you a monster any more or less than I." Said Dietrich. He let go of her chin and stood up, wiping any dust from his uniform.
"What it does mean, though, is that there truly is no difference between the two of us. We are all monsters waiting for the right time to be released. Just take a look at me." He said, giving her a tight lipped grin.
Katya seemed to understand that Dietrich knew he was a bad person. She knew that he enjoyed causing terror in this land and she knew that he had flourished in the war.
"But there is one important thing that we must take care of immediately: I can smell you from here. I believe that maybe we could both use a bath from time to time." Asked Dietrich. Katya glared at him and relented.
"That was not very polite. I don't think your mother taught you proper manners, Dietrich." Said Katya. The man shrugged, looking around the camp for anything left behind that might form a trail.
"I kill living beings for a job. There is no amount of parental teaching that can help me now, Katya. Let's get moving."
XXX
The war had long since shed any inhibition from the pair. Dietrich sat in the water, rubbing his face clear of the dirt he had smothered on it and his body free of the grime that had set upon it over the past few days.
Katya had done the same once he had finished. She had the smart idea of taking turns, that way one could watch for the inhabitants of the planet while the other washed up.
They were refreshed. They were clean. And best of all, they had gone uninterrupted.
"I couldn't help but notice that you have a lot of photos inside of your helmet." Said Katya. Dietrich nodded as he watched the forest, K98 in hands.
"Yes. They are of me throughout the war and some of the places I've been. Poland. Belgium. France. Africa. Russia." Said Dietrich. He turned his head to look at her, feeling truly clean for the first time in a while.
Katya was standing next to a tree, SVT slung over her shoulder. She munched on a head of broccoli that he had grabbed the night before.
"You sound well traveled. What shall we do today, Dietrich?" Asked Katya. The man shrugged.
"I guess we can start shooting anyone we see at the bandit camp. I doubt that they will be able to mount a good counteroffensive." Said Dietrich. He began to walk towards the direction of the bandit camp. Katya followed.
"They outnumber us fifty to one or whatever their number is. That is besides the point. We do not stand a chance in open combat because of their sheer numbers." She said.
Dietrich wasn't certain if he was the first to hear it, but what he did know was that they both froze in the middle of the woods at the same time. He could hear the obvious sounds of a struggle happening in the woods somewhere to their right.
They both looked, knowing that they were on a decent slope and that the woods curved down to where the sounds were originating from.
Dietrich looked at Katya, and she looked at him. Slowly, they changed their path and began to creep towards the sounds, noticing that they grew louder the further they moved into the woods. They were loud, grunting noises coming from two different sources, if Dietrich was hearing was hearing correctly.
"Just beyond this brush..." Thought the man as he looked over a patch of bushes.
In a small clearing, devoid of trees in a roughly five meter box, were two more humans locked in a furious match of hand to hand combat. Dietrich immediately recognized one as a Japanese Army Officer, judging by the katana that was strapped to his side.
And the other, Dietrich only knew that it had to be a United States Marine. And judging by the discarded flamethrower a few meters away, it was obvious why the two were fighting.
Dietrich looked to Katya with excitement and she returned the same look. They resumed their watching as Dietrich picked a stick up off the ground.
"I'll rip your fucking head off you Jap fuck!" Growled the marine, punching the Officer square in the face. The Japanese Officer fell back in a daze and the Marine pulled a sidearm from his hip. He racked the slide and that is the moment that Dietrich snapped the stick in two pieces.
It caught both of the new arrivals attention, and they looked over at both him and Katya with wild eyes. They both froze as they finally took notice of who they were looking at.
"The hell? A commie and a kraut?" Asked the Marine. Dietrich nodded, speaking.
"Yes. A 'kraut' as you say. Holster your weapon, Marine, and pick up your others. Both of you. Things are not as it seems and it will stay that way unless you come with us."