flurry of snow, right down the slope to the ditch.
"You did that on purpose!" screamed Heide. "You lousy filthy coward, I'll have you shot for this!"
I jerked my head around and saw his eyes, red-rimmed, burning with the desire to kill. I saw his lips drawn back over his sharp white teeth, I saw a speck of foam at the corners of his mouth. I saw the gleam of metal in his hand and I didn't stop to plead with him. I jumped out of the ditch and bounded back up that cursed slope with Heide howling like a wolf behind me. I flung myself gasping between Gregor and the Legionnaire just as Heide's knife rebounded off the wall above my head. Heide stopped dead in the middle of the gunfire, halfway up the slope, with bullets shaving the very stubble off his cheeks. He raised a clenched and threatening fist toward the impregnable bunker. "You just wait, you bastards! I'll get you yet!"
He made a sudden dive at the wall and succeeded in running halfway up it in his rage. He fell panting onto his back in the snow, picked himself up and made a second furious assault. By some miracle, he found a foothold, a brick that had moved position very slightly and projected perhaps an inch beyond its companions. It was enough for the maddened Heide. He clawed upward with both hands and gripped the barrel of the gun that was sticking out of the loophole. Around his neck, attached by a lanyard, he was carrying a mine. If he were to slip and accidentally wrench out the fuse mechanism, he would be blown to bits.
"The man's mad," declared Gregor shortly.
"He's a bloody Nazi!" I retorted.
The Legionnaire stared upward, shaking his head in reluctant admiration. "Both mad and a Nazi," he agreed, "but a damn good soldier for all that."
Heide freed one arm and pulled the lanyard over his head. With his other hand he gripped the rifle, bending his body underneath him so that his boots pressed against the wall. Very calmly and coldly he pushed the heavy mine through the loophole. In another moment he was back on the ground at our feet, springing up instantly and setting off at a run, yelling at us to follow him.
We took the opposite direction and had scarcely turned the corner of the bunker when the door swung open and a bloodstained figure stumbled out. In one swift movement the Legionnaire smashed his submachine gun in the man's face, rammed his knee into his guts, tossed him to one side and rushed through into the bunker with Gregor and me behind him. We crouched down in a corner, surrounded by boxes of ammunition. Somewhere up above, on another floor, we heard the ceaseless pounding of the heavy guns.
"Hey, you!" Gregor beckoned to Ponz, who was hovering at the entrance. "Go and find Heide and tell him we're in! And make it snappy or he'll start chucking more mines about the place; God knows he's crazy enough!"
"Oh, all right, if I must."
Ponz turned unhappily away, took one step forward and walked straight into Heide. He gave a horrified yelp and tried to sidestep.
Heide pushed him inside to join the rest of us. "What's going on? Why aren't you upstairs killing Russians?" He glared around and singled me out for special castigation. "Sitting down here with your thumb up your ass and your brains in neutral! That's not going to get you anywhere, is it?"
He jabbed his finger into my chest. "You want to be an officer! All right, show us what you're made of. Get up that ladder and have a look around!"
This time I didn't protest. I went up the ladder like a spring lamb, eased open the trap a few inches and peered through. I was surrounded on all sides by sleeping Russians. On their helmets I could see the dreaded letters NKVD. That was more than enough for me. I closed the trap and scuttled back down the ladder.
Heide was waiting for me, his hands on his hips. "Well? I didn't hear any shooting. What happened? You just said hallo and came straight back again, did you?"
I pointed wild-eyed up the ladder. "NKVD," I hissed. "Thousands of 'em!"
Heide
"You did that on purpose!" screamed Heide. "You lousy filthy coward, I'll have you shot for this!"
I jerked my head around and saw his eyes, red-rimmed, burning with the desire to kill. I saw his lips drawn back over his sharp white teeth, I saw a speck of foam at the corners of his mouth. I saw the gleam of metal in his hand and I didn't stop to plead with him. I jumped out of the ditch and bounded back up that cursed slope with Heide howling like a wolf behind me. I flung myself gasping between Gregor and the Legionnaire just as Heide's knife rebounded off the wall above my head. Heide stopped dead in the middle of the gunfire, halfway up the slope, with bullets shaving the very stubble off his cheeks. He raised a clenched and threatening fist toward the impregnable bunker. "You just wait, you bastards! I'll get you yet!"
He made a sudden dive at the wall and succeeded in running halfway up it in his rage. He fell panting onto his back in the snow, picked himself up and made a second furious assault. By some miracle, he found a foothold, a brick that had moved position very slightly and projected perhaps an inch beyond its companions. It was enough for the maddened Heide. He clawed upward with both hands and gripped the barrel of the gun that was sticking out of the loophole. Around his neck, attached by a lanyard, he was carrying a mine. If he were to slip and accidentally wrench out the fuse mechanism, he would be blown to bits.
"The man's mad," declared Gregor shortly.
"He's a bloody Nazi!" I retorted.
The Legionnaire stared upward, shaking his head in reluctant admiration. "Both mad and a Nazi," he agreed, "but a damn good soldier for all that."
Heide freed one arm and pulled the lanyard over his head. With his other hand he gripped the rifle, bending his body underneath him so that his boots pressed against the wall. Very calmly and coldly he pushed the heavy mine through the loophole. In another moment he was back on the ground at our feet, springing up instantly and setting off at a run, yelling at us to follow him.
We took the opposite direction and had scarcely turned the corner of the bunker when the door swung open and a bloodstained figure stumbled out. In one swift movement the Legionnaire smashed his submachine gun in the man's face, rammed his knee into his guts, tossed him to one side and rushed through into the bunker with Gregor and me behind him. We crouched down in a corner, surrounded by boxes of ammunition. Somewhere up above, on another floor, we heard the ceaseless pounding of the heavy guns.
"Hey, you!" Gregor beckoned to Ponz, who was hovering at the entrance. "Go and find Heide and tell him we're in! And make it snappy or he'll start chucking more mines about the place; God knows he's crazy enough!"
"Oh, all right, if I must."
Ponz turned unhappily away, took one step forward and walked straight into Heide. He gave a horrified yelp and tried to sidestep.
Heide pushed him inside to join the rest of us. "What's going on? Why aren't you upstairs killing Russians?" He glared around and singled me out for special castigation. "Sitting down here with your thumb up your ass and your brains in neutral! That's not going to get you anywhere, is it?"
He jabbed his finger into my chest. "You want to be an officer! All right, show us what you're made of. Get up that ladder and have a look around!"
This time I didn't protest. I went up the ladder like a spring lamb, eased open the trap a few inches and peered through. I was surrounded on all sides by sleeping Russians. On their helmets I could see the dreaded letters NKVD. That was more than enough for me. I closed the trap and scuttled back down the ladder.
Heide was waiting for me, his hands on his hips. "Well? I didn't hear any shooting. What happened? You just said hallo and came straight back again, did you?"
I pointed wild-eyed up the ladder. "NKVD," I hissed. "Thousands of 'em!"
Heide
Similar Books
