Short Story

This is a Learning Process

Short Story

Dazed and confused, I lay looking through a hole at the stars. Once a B-17 flying fortress, crushed metal surrounds me. It is wondrous how a few rounds could do this to such a plane. I hear my pilot damn the radio for breaking and yell at the rest of the crew and myself to salvage what we can and make double time. As the distant yells of a German search party near, we sneak into the forest surrounding the field we crash-landed in.

            Taking charge was Colonel William, the only officer who survived the crash. Five of us survived the crash; Colonel William, Privates Howard, Taylor, Wilson, Lewis, and me. Having no bearing on our location, we head as far away from the crash as we can to recuperate and devise a plan. As we start to see our surroundings from the light of the sun, we take to a dense group of trees.

            “We don’t know where we are, but we can make it out. All we have to do is make it to an allie base and we are Scott free.”

“If we don’t make it, we’re toast.”

“Do you think that’s what the founding fathers thought when they signed the Declaration? Hell no, they didn’t. They only thought of a way to make America’s future. Damn, they may not have risked their necks for petty wimps like you!”

“Colonel, we wouldn’t be in this mess if it weren’t for your mistake!”

“I accept my mistake, and that is why I accept the responsibility that comes with it.  We will make it home, don’t you worry yet.”

“Let’s jump right into the thick of it, were surrounded by millions of Nazis who are itchin’ to kill us. Satisfyin’ a Nazi never appealed to my tastes so let’s not make any further mistakes to get us killed. We will stay in the woods, far from any cities and towns. We mustn’t attract any attention. In fact, we must keep fires to a minimum. We will ration our food, killing only what we must. Were gonna be uncomfortable, but we sure as hell will be better off out here than six feet under.”

            Private Howard and I are chosen from the group of five to scout the area in search of location. We have a map, but need to know where we are. Luckily for us, we stumble upon a child of a small village getting water from a stream. Taking the smart approach, we help him carry water back to his village. They tell us we were in a town luckily not too far from a close by English base. By not too far, I mean we don’t have to walk across the whole country.

            When we are on our way back to our encampment, we notice something a bit odd. We notice footprints that were not ours heading towards camp. The rest of the group is nowhere to be found, and we don’t know what happened.

           

“We should leave, it’s the Colonel’s fault were here anyway, let’s not risk our lives any further for such a thoughtless leader.”

“Thoughtless or not, he is still our leader.”

“So what, do you want to live or die?”

“Remember that saying, ‘No man left behind’? That applies to everyone, even someone you don’t agree with. Besides, I don’t think we will make it out alive without his superior leadership and survival skills.”

“Well, I don’t agree with you, but I don’t think you’ll be changin’ your mind. There’s no chance of us surviving alone, so looks like I’m comin’ with you.”

           

            We follow their tracks for hours before we come upon the outpost. We realize quickly that the patrol group had not caught our comrades, but had found our camp and were gathering a much larger patrol group. Using my binoculars, I can see tank tracks and many barracks. This signifies that there were a lot of people and equipment, meaning we have no chance to defeat them.

            Luckily, we had created an emergency rendezvous point on an overlooking ridge. By the time we regroup on the ridge it is dark, and they had started a fire.

“Are you kidding me? You have a fire going! You do realize how idiotic that is, right? I mean, first you cause our damned crash, and now you’re going to get us kill? Is that what you want?!”

“Who the hell do you think you are Private Walker, talking to your superior like that?”

“You know, I just don’t care. They’ll de-rank you for this anyway!”

“If we get out of here, they’ll promote me for this!”

“That’s what you think, you snobby son of a bitch. No one is gonna get out of here with you acting so foolish!”

            We jog in the direction of the English base until we think we distanced ourselves enough from their patrol grid, and then we continue to press on at a slower pace. Drained and aggravated I don’t want to continue walking, but we want to get the hell out of dodge. No one wants to get captured, and that is our motivation.

“You know, Walker I agree with you. Colonel William is foolish, but our superior nonetheless.”

“He’s going to get us killed.”

“You’ll be just as easy to blame. If we don’t work as a team, we won’t make it out. You are the only one stopping teamwork here.”

“So, your saying I have to forgive him and look past his stupidity? I just don’t see it.”

“Think about your kids. They’ll be fatherless just because you’re stubborn.”

“I would never let that happen.”

            He’s right. I’m being stubborn and it’s affecting the whole group, but I can’t just let the Colonel make these stupid decisions when he’s supposed to be the intelligent one. Our group would be so much stronger with a better leader, but at least we have an officer with us.

According to the map, we stay away from known German outposts and towns on our path to safety. We set up camp when the group needs rest. We try to pick points in the dense forest to avoid any patrols.

           

            Outside of the makeshift shelter, Colonel William comes up and says:
 I understand that some of my decisions have upset you.”

“Well, sir, I realize that you are my superior, but I do disagree with some of your actions.”

“I am sorry to hear that, but honestly this whole situation has confused my decisions and-“

“You know, if it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t even be out here.”

“I know that, but you have to get over that. Without teamwork, we are nothing.”

“Yes, and I understand that, but I will correct anything you do wrong.

“Well Walker, I hope you mean that in a supportive way.”

We are almost to the camp according to the map. All I can think about is my wife and kids. When I reach base, I am requesting leave.

As we walk towards camp, the Colonel decides we should survey the area from an overlooking ridge. We notice a few hangars and a runway designed for large planes such as cargo and bombers. Nothing major, but definitely not just an outpost.

As we survey deeper, an out of the ordinary soldier catches Taylor’s attention. The soldier had a swastika on his shoulder. This camp was clearly taken by the Nazis.

“God damn it!” yells the Colonel.

“Sir, we are far from another base, and they might be over run as well. What do you suggest?”

“I know this is going to sound insane, but I am too tired of walking to continue on for another let down. We have to make a drastic action; we must steal a plane from the hangar.”

“That is madness sir, we’re all going to die!” says Howard.

“He is your superior, and therefore in the right.” I say.

“Then it is settled, we will sneak in near the hangars and find our vehicle. Whichever is ready to fly, we take. Remember men, be stealthy.”

As we approach the fences surrounding the base, we take the men out the guard towers with silenced M1903 Springfield rifles. We climb the fence and head to the hangars as a tactical unit would. We find our plane, a Lockheed Hudson. It is a fueled and ready to go. With enough machine guns to defend us in the sky, this medium bomber is our ticket home. Each taking his ordinary position and myself as co-pilot, we fire up the engine and head to the runway anticipating the delayed German reaction.

We have enough time to begin our take off before we were fired upon. The tail gunner suppresses all rounds fired upon us. Surprised by the success of our attempt, we rejoice in our sanction. Focusing on our current direction and the nearest air base, we angle ourselves on the correct path. I pull out my pictures of my family and begin to cry. For once in the past few days, I know I will see my wife and kids again.

“You know why I listened to you sir?”

“Because you remembered I am your superior.”

“No, I forgave you. I knew it was the only way to get back home.”

Song lyrics

Teach me how to forgive and forget
Makes me feel alive
When you work so hard with such reckless hands
This is consequence
This is consequence

You can call it a curse
You can pretend like you got it under control
But we all know
It couldn't be farther from the truth
There's only seconds left before my nerves go numb tonight

Teach me how to forgive and forget
Makes me strong
Stronger than ever before
when you work so hard with such reckless hands
Will you sink or swim
Will you sink or swim

Be faithful and nothing but forgiveness to
To trace our way back home
To trace our way back home

She is the voice and I am the action
we're all impostors when it comes down to it
I'll shake the foundation
I'll bring the stars down tonight
Just to watch you
Just to watch you fall

And I swear, I don't see it like this
Your words are like a whisper in my ear
But some will seek for more
To find a way out of here
I swear, I don't see it like this
Voices are a whisper in my ear
But some will seek for more
To find a way back home