Rise of the Death Walkers (The Circle of Heritage Saga) (18 page)

Fifteen minutes later I was in the air rushing toward the next chapter in my life. The chapter I fervently hoped would mark the last chapter. I was here as a man but, an incomplete man. Half of my existence had died on the day that Katie was taken from me. Now I was only looking forward to placing me in a situation that would let me be with my Katie again. When I closed my eyes I could see her on the day I married her. I could see the perfect lines of her face. I could see the lines of her body as she moved toward me and most of all I could see the smile on her face when she gazed lovingly into my eyes. I sat there and remembered her the entire six hours I was rushing toward my future. Little did I know that I was rushing toward hope. That I would find in Germany something that would not completely heal me or my soul but something that could, if I let it, fill the void that had been left behind.

We set down in Frankfurt Rhine-Main airport at zero three hundred. I grabbed my duffle bag from where it sat and slung it over my shoulder. I walked toward the Jeep that was waiting for me and got in. I was surprised when it bypassed the customs agents who were waiting there to process the other members of the flight.

Twenty minute later I was in the unmarked sedan that was to take me to my new unit. We traveled the A5 which was the main Autobahn running east/west from Frankfurt. I was silent during the two hours it took us to reach the exit to Kirrlach. This was the exit they took to go in the direction of Philippsburg, where the Third Artillery Detachment was located. I looked around at the little town as we passed through it.

The history behind the town was obvious by the buildings and finely crafted streets. The streets were stone rather than asphalt as commonly used in the States. I could feel the stones as we drove over them. The general atmosphere of the area was pleasant.

It seemed to me that life was set at a slower pace in this little country. People tended to be friendlier than I was used to. We entered the town of Phillipsburg fifteen minutes later and the same feel of agelessness was apparent here as well. The base was located on the other end of the small town. When we turned up the street that went across the railroad track I spotted the two huge towers for the first time.

"What are those?" I asked

The driver turned toward where I was pointing and said. "Those are the cooling towers for the nuclear power plant outside town." He stopped before the railroad tracks because the gates were down.

Pointing to the right he said, "Down this street is the railroad station or Bahnhof as the Germans call it."

He pointed across the tracks to the left side of the street. “The local cemetery is on the left and we will be passing the gardens on the right that the town provides for the locals.”

"Gardens?" I asked wondering why someone would have to go outside of their own land to grow something.

"Well land is at a premium here in Germany so the plots for housing in town are really small and expensive. Generally you will see private houses on lands just barely big enough for the house and maybe a small flower garden in front and a walkway."

The driver smiled at me.

"Usually each town has a dedicated area where to locals can rent a parcel of the land from the village and grow some food on it. The Germans love their fresh self grown vegetables a lot and the meals the can make are just mouth watering. My girlfriend's mother is an amazing cook."

By this time we had passed the gardens he had been talking about.

The road we were on ended in a dead end, but right at the end was a large spot where the street had been widened out into a lot where a large vehicle could turn around. On the left side at the end was a gate that blocked free access into the base. As we sat at the bar in front of the gate waiting for the guard to lift it, I spotted several larger houses on the left side of the lot.

"Those look almost American in style.” The land around the housing was a lager grassy area and it looked like several of the houses had barbecue grills in the back of them.

"They are actually mostly filled with the families of the solders in the detachment here with a few Germans here and there." The driver told me as he presented his ID to the guard.

I flipped out my ID and showed the guards who smiled and said something I could not understand.

"The First Sergeant will want to see you in his office when we get there. It's not very far now."

I nodded and waited until we finally came to a stop in front of a building that was obviously constructed by the locals but in a somewhat familiar form of American architecture. My trip was ended and I was at the destination which was my next phase in life.

Chapter 16 - Hope for a Future

"Sgt Whitemar?" I looked up at the clerk who approached me. "First Sergeant Demings will see you now."

I nodded and got up to follow the Specialist into the office of the First Sergeant's office. I stopped in front of his desk at attention and said. "Sgt. Whitemar reporting for duty."

The First Sergeant looked up at me and motioned for the clerk to leave the office. "You can call me Top, Sergeant most of the men do here anyways. Take a seat please." He waited for me to sit and then continued. "Sergeant it's pretty decent for you to report in to me right now since you are officially on leave." He opened a box on his desk and offered me a thin cigar he removed from the box.

I waved the cigar away and said. "No thank you, Top. I don't smoke. I figured it would be proper to let you know I was already here before you started getting news relayed to you from the men that some American was in and around the town."

"We have our share of Americans from other posts that wander in here. The local disco is quite popular in this area. It's called 'The Silbermine' or in English The Silver Mine." Top lit the cigar in his mouth and continued. "So you are one of Blake's crazy bunch. That's good because I know the quality of men he drags into it. One thing I want you to know before you start here. I expect your best performance on any duties you are assigned within this detachment. Once you get an assignment that takes you away from your duties here I will step in and cover your group during the time you are gone."

"Top, one thing you will learn about me is when I am set a task, regardless of what it is, you will get one hundred and twenty percent from me and my men. I do not tolerate slackers in my men and will take the extra effort needed to train them properly for their duties. If a man proves not trainable for whatever task he is supposed to be doing you will be the first to know."

I leaned back in the chair when the clerk came in the office and deposited a cup of coffee in front of me and the First Sergeant. I reached in my pocket for the keys Gerald had given to me and tossed them to the clerk. "Specialist Brown could you do me a favor and get the Silver Dodge Charger parked outside of the gate and bring it here so I can put my bags into them?"

He looked at Top who nodded his permission and then left the room. Top turned to me and said. "Brown suspects you are not what you seem but he is a good man and will keep his mouth shut." He lifted his cup and drank from it. "What are your plans in the next thirty days Sergeant?"

"I plan on looking around and getting to know the local customs and language." I sipped from my own cup and asked. "Do you know someone who could give me and intensive course in the language? I tend to pick things up very quickly."

He scratched his head and thought for a moment. "Sascha Hollenbach is a local merchant who runs a locksmith in town. Well to be more exact his father runs it and Sascha works in it. The Locksmith is right across from the Silbermine in one of the oldest buildings in town. It's rumored that it has been there sixteen hundred years. The style of the building suggests it’s true. He gets along with the other guys in the Detachment very well and speaks English fluently. I am sure he would be willing to help you."

"Good. I will look him up tomorrow and get started. From the looks of things this base is primarily German, am I right?" I asked him.

"You are correct in the assumption. This detachment and the signal site next to us are the only American facilities on the base or Kasern as the Germans call it. We work very closely together with them. I require my non commissioned officers to learn the language as well as they can." He tossed a set of papers to me and said. "These are your lease agreements for the apartment they assigned you to. Blake would have already given you the keys since he had been staying there before. He had the apartment redecorated and refurnished for you before he left." I looked at him in surprise. I wondered how Blake could have possibly known anything about me at the time he had left. "Blake is not one to be fooled with. It seems he has been following your training closely for the last year."

I signed the papers he had given me and gave them back to him. "There you go. I will talk to this Sascha tomorrow and begin learning the local language." I stood up and looked at him. "Is there anything more you need from me before I head out?"

Top smiled at me and said, "Nothing from me right now. I will see you when your leave is completed. Blake told me to have you do some checking around the Kasern in the next few weeks. He wants to get a feed on a leak on the German side. It seems that the schedules for some of the transports we do has been periodically leaked to some of the local radical groups. He thinks this is something we need to handle on our own since the local authorities have not been able to make any headway."

"Ok I will keep my eyes open. I will check by in a couple weeks if I manage to get a lead on anything. Until then I am just a local soldier out to enjoy the sights and take a run at the local beauties." I smiled as I said this.

He extended his hand and I took it and shook it. "Welcome to the Third Detachment Sergeant. Keep an eye out in the disco because some of our boys can get out of hand when they start drinking."

"Then it's time to start teaching them how they should be behaving. We have an image to uphold here and we don't need it tarnished by drunks and bullies." I turned and walked out of the office. I would have to find some local place where I could get some civilian clothing tomorrow, since I did not want to run around in Class "A's" all the time.

I met Brown on the way in and he tossed me my keys. "It's a sweet ride Sergeant."

I grinned at him as if I knew what he was talking about and headed toward the car. I had always driven a van or Katie's El Camino but had never driven her Corvette so this would be the first sports car I had ever driven. I opened the door and tossed my duffel bag on the passenger seat. The engine turned over easily when I started it. I let the engine idle. It gave a pleasant throaty rumble. When I pressed the accelerator I could feel the car respond to the intake of sudden raw power that the feed of gas released into the engine. Shifting it into reverse, I tapped the accelerator and released the clutch slowly. The car literally grabbed at the stones in the lot as it moved quickly backwards. It was going to be fun to get this baby onto the highway and see what she had in her. For now it was only a short trip to my apartment.

I parked in front of the apartment house and looked at them with interest. There appeared to be four apartments in each house and the three houses were separated by a space of about fifty feet. I would find out when I went into the town that this was the exception instead of the rule. My apartment was number one on the ground floor. It was the apartment on the left of the main entrance. The front door was locked. I discovered it would always require a key to enter, even the front door since the lock could only be released to be opened. The door could never be permanently unlocked. The front door of my apartment was the same way.

I stepped into what seemed to be the dominant feature of the apartment. There was a long corridor with doors to each of the rooms on either side of it. The design was defiantly foreign to me. American households had either an entrance room connected to the main living area, or you stepped directly into the living room. Right across from the entrance I could see the bathroom. I stepped inside to look around. The first thing I noticed was that the bathtub and shower were located in the same area. Instead of having a fixed shower head, it could be removed and used in your hand. There was a washer and dryer in a stacked combination across from the toilet. The mirror had one light on each side. I really liked the arrangement of everything. The room was well lighted and not too small.

I exited the bathroom and moved down the hallway. The next door on the left led into what appeared to be an office. There was a huge oak desk that dominated the room. I dropped the brief case, that I had purchased to hold the orders I had been given in Oklahoma, on it. I left the office and went to the room that was across and slightly diagonal to the office. The kitchen was smaller than I expected and it had only a small table with two chairs in it. This kind of reminded me of the breakfast table my grandfather had in his home.

The next room down was a small bedroom that had a single bed in it. After that on the same side was the master bedroom. The room had a king-sized bed in it and a small walk in closet with sliding doors. I dropped the duffle bag on the bed and went to see the last room.

The living room was a delight. It was large and sported two recliners on the ends of an area rug and a couch along the longest side of the rug. The floor was a wood floor which was nice because I detested full area carpeting. The entertainment center surprised me the most. This was the largest piece of furniture I had ever seen before in my life. The style was clearly German. The unit was fifteen feet long and looked to be eight feet high. The TV looked like a twenty seven inch but was not a floor model like I was used to.

There was a complete stereo with multiple sections to it. I saw the turn table and what looked to be a tape deck but had never seen the other items in the unit before. There were at least four units I had no idea what they were for.

At the end of the living room were sliding doors. I slid them open and stepped out onto a balcony that had a table and outdoor chairs. The balcony jutted out about seven feet and went the entire length of my apartment. I could see the door to the office to the left of me. I sat down in the chair and loosened my tie. Looking out across the road I could see the large field there that extended back to a wooded area. Except for the distance it looked so much like home I experienced a sudden stab of home sickness. I reached into my back pocket and took out my wallet. Carefully preserved in plastic was the only thing I had kept of my life before. I looked at the picture of my love that Dr. Grant had taken just a week before our wedding. This was the first time I had actually taken time to look at the picture in almost a year. My heart broke yet again and the tears started falling silently from my eyes. I was so overcome by grief that I was immobilized for almost an hour. It took great willpower to rid myself of these feelings and I got up and went into the office. I could not be tempted again to wallow in the past so I locked the picture in the bottom drawer of the desk.