HaM Ch 40

Here it is, chapter 40! This is a lengthy chapter to say the least but it’s filled with good stuff! Have fun with it and
Enjoy!
Ch 40
Marion gathered the three tanks around a map in the snow, only now was she going to tell them where they were going. She explained the plan exactly how herself and Chuck orchestrated it. First they would act like they’re taking Cindy out to ‘set an example’ to slip by Idek, then they would claim that they were going to put Cindy to work at the fuel lines to slip by the outer guards. After that anyone they come across they are going to say that they were put on patrol at last minute with the Sherman as a disruption tactic, the whole time they’re making a southeasterly movement through the woods. They’ll travel through the woods for a few hours then cut towards the American’s assault. They should be able to time their arrival at dawn. Chuck said that the units were warned not to shoot any white flag vehicles but to surround and disarm them, what that meant was up to the captors. Cindy couldn’t hold still, she shivered in anticipation, she’ll be back with the Americans and she might see Mez and Zwei and her good friend Geoff. Rosa couldn’t wait to hold Joshua in her arms again, maybe even temper what their potential child would look like. Only Marion, Hansel, Whacker and Meats weren’t excited. Banker was excited but only because he was allowed to be the one driving this time. That was because Marion would be focused on scanning her areas for anything. Before they left Marion and the boys all wanted to at least tell Inbred the truth, then maybe later he could tell the others the truth. They tracked down Eryka’s house and knocked. Cindy said she wanted to write a thank-you note to all the others who helped her and were nice to her so Whacker gave her a paper and pen and off she went to write. Meanwhile the others knocked on the door; there was hesitation as Inbred opened the door.
“What’s going on?” They were face value with him. Eryka came to the door and opened it fully.
“R-Really?” The group nodded in disappointment, sadly it was true. By then Cindy had come forth, she moved up to Eryka and handed her the folded note.
“That’s for everyone, even Fritz.” Eryka looked at the note and back at Cindy, Cindy sat there, a humble kid to a bunker of a person. Eryka patted Cindy and wished them luck. With that they left. They never encountered Idek but they did meet Allison and told her the excuse for Idek, she hesitated letting them go. As Rosa passed she saw that Allison was holding back tears as best she could.
Eryka unfolded the note, she had Inbred read it, it was in English, and he read it aloud to Eryka, Frau, Canine, and an eavesdropping Allison.
“Thank you for what you have done. I’ll miss you all. Marion is taking me to the Americans again and I wanted to tell you all that I think you are really nice people. You all helped me, you all cared for me, and you all are my friends. General Patton always said that Hitler was a mad dog and that he had an army of scum but he is wrong. You are not scum and I think if you came to our side he would see that you are not scum. Don’t fight any more. That is why my mom and dad died is because they went to fight. I was going to a special Doctor to help me and then I was going back when Fritz got me. I don’t want you to die like my mom and dad. If you can’t win then sur-and-ar..?” Inbred wasn’t sure what she was trying to spell out, “surrender, she wants to surrender instead of fighting,” he went back to reading, “Patton really likes us living cars and tanks and he said he wouldn’t hurt you if you gave up. He said he would help study and understand you and me and Marion and Rosa. Please don’t fight. From Cindy.” He put the paper down.
“Oh, baby.” Frau said in a depressed mood. “I wish her the best of luck out there.” Canine knocked on her side and looked into her eyes.
“Perk up dear, we’ve been through a few years of this, I think we can get through a few more. You’ll see her again.” He kissed her cabin and smiled at her.
“So, what do we do?” Eryka said.
“Well, we have to fight, but when the time comes I think we should make Cindy happy and surrender, at least then we’ll not be killed.” Inbred said, he looked to all the others. Eryka nodded to him, Frau and Canine nodded to each other. “It’s settled then, when should we tell everyone?” They thought.
“Tomorrow,” Allison said, they all jumped. “We should tell them tomorrow. By then Cindy should be safe in the Allies’s hands.”
“You’re not mad?”
“I’m upset, aggravated that Marion and Rosa lied to me and said they were killing Cindy, but I’m not mad.” She approached and hugged Frau. Frau was the go-to tank when you needed grandma. They all went back to sleep. They’d all need their strengths for the next day; it’d be Eryka’s first daytime mission.
Marion, Cindy, and Rosa crept just outside of the city, there was more terrain resistance than anyone had anticipated and Marion was soon growing scared about running out of fuel. Rosa thought that she might be able to find some easier terrain and went off looking for a route, leaving Marion and Cindy to keep trekking. It was a gloomy night with little starlight, clouds covered any hopes that the moon would shine through, and leaving the snow a seemingly endless ocean locked in place. Marion looked through an alley and saw something big, bigger than any American she’s ever seen. It was unmistakably green and American, and unlike anything the Germans had produced. She inched closer, taking control from Banker. “Goddammit” was his response. All eyes were in the view ports and focusing on this thing in the alley. She didn’t have her lights on; neither did the other tank, it moved back behind a large building. Marion felt something inside her, it was a mix of fear and courage, she softly shook, Cindy saw this and got scared, she fought her fear to stay right behind Marion. Marion squeezed her way through the alley, the nose of her hull was centimeters from the adjacent street, and her gun was trained as far to the left as possible, ready to kill. She turned her light on, one lone lamp sitting on her bow. It barely reached four meters but something was better than nothing. German lights have special covers over them to direct the light to a concentrated point so that there was no all-around signal for flanking enemies to spot it. Germany is the only country that does this. Marion pulled forward and was instantly hit across her bow. This hurt more than anything; it hurt more than the Tiger did. Marion’s heart dropped. The shot passed clean through the building to Marion’s right, Marion lurched forward, she had to see what it was, she had to. She kept Cindy away from her and peered around the corner. A long and smoking gun, thicker than her own, was pointing at her flank. She acted quickly, turning her hull, smashing through the walls, and firing off a shot into the turret. Marion trembled as the armor sparked and the shot soared to the sky. It bounced. Marion backed up a little as the American fired again; it stuck right above her mantle on her thickest slab and bounced away. Marion felt that her first shot was just bad luck, she disciplined herself and aimed and fired into their mantle. It bounced. Hansel, Banker, Whacker and Meats were also starting to panic, Cindy saw this fight unfold and she saw the fright in Marion’s eyes. Cindy felt so much emotion now, fear, anger, courage, and others that she had not known; she saw Marion’s tormentor and a strike of courage and anger overcame her. She rushed at the side of the tank nearly three times her size and rammed its side while punching and hitting it with her arms. Marion yelled at her to get back but Cindy didn’t listen. Marion saw two seams open on the corners of the turret and suddenly they became eyes and they peered at the useless attempt to stop its work. Marion screamed at the American to leave Cindy alone, to take her back to Patton if anything else. The tank’s eyes locked onto Marion, it fired again, this shot was higher and it bounced off the angled roof of Marion’s turret. Marion fired once again, HE, in attempts to hurt the tank and shake its focus up. The shot got caught between the mantle and the hull, it blew up and spewed shrapnel back towards Marion. The tank smiled a wicked grin. Marion felt completely hopeless, she couldn’t hurt this tank anywhere, and she doesn’t know what this tank could do to her. She nearly cried, her inner arms wrapped around her friends and her lover, Hansel locked his hands in hers, Meats hugged her back to comfort her, Banker passed out from fear, and Whacker tried to move his wrapped arm for the alcohol in his reserve bottle. They all watched as the smile on the tank grew even more wicked, time seemed to stop, Marion shut her eyes.
The building to the right of the tanks charged the American, it surged forth like a demon breaking free, through the rubble came a gun longer than anything seen before, tank skirts stuck out all over the armor of this beast, the bricks and glass and wood and metal of the building did not phase this creature. Fire covered the front of it, illuminating the street and causing chaos in the area. The crew of the American tank didn’t know what to do; the biggest gun they’ve ever seen just ran through a building. They bailed, being a Sherman crew once they knew all too well that American armor wouldn’t stand up to that gun. The tank was petrified, stunned, amazed and shocked all at once. It froze as it watched its crew leave it to die; they leapt to the cover of the darkness and disappeared.
“Wh-what?” Was all the American tank said. Marion heard a female voice in English and opened her eyes slowly. Every hatch on her foe was open, the inside was dark, and the tank was trembling.
“Marion! What are you doing out here!?” Fritz asked surprised. Marion looked over to Fritz; he was covered in soot and rubble with his gun muzzle pressed against the spot where the Americans usually keep their ammo on the American tank.
“Hi, Fritz.” Cindy shakily said, moving to Marion to receive and give comfort. Marion welcomed her into her arms and let go of her friends, keeping her loved ones embraced.
“Hey Cindy.” Edwards opened his hatch and came out.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Edwards said before Marion started to explain; Banker came to and needed some cool air because Marion vented engine heat into the cabin and that was starting to make him too hot. He opened the hatch and stood up, stretched, and looked at the tank in front of him. It was beautifully crafted, the curves and angles just spoke to him and called forth his lust, he felt warm looking into its eyes and suddenly the thought came to his mind ‘oh please don’t be a guy’ and startled him. He never really wanted to be with a machine since he learned of Marion, but all of a sudden he felt like she could be the one, if she was a she.
“That’s when we ran into her.” That was all Banker heard Marion say and noticed Marion gesture to the American tank. Banker’s face lit up, hope flooded him. He decided to try his best English on her.
“Hi there, I’m Banker, do have you a name yet?” His English was understandable but far from perfect. He didn’t use or practice nearly as much as the others used it.
“Betty.” The tank stammered out, her gaze affixed forward and unmoving. Banker didn’t like the lack of eye contact. He snapped his fingers and waved his arm. She still sat there with her gaze locked. He frowned. He really wanted her attention; he climbed out and walked to her.
“Hey! Panzer! Hey! Down!” He jumped up and down waving his arms. It didn’t work, all she said was ‘Betty’ again. Banker was getting frustrated. He carefully approached her and climbed up onto her hull on the driver’s side. He waved his hand past her eye; she was locked in the thousand yard stare. He crouched in front of her eye. It was big and green, it had a similar pattern to Marion’s brown eyes, and it didn’t move or blink no matter what he did. He looked into her driver’s empty position, it was driven a lot like Marion was with sticks but it had more levers and dials. He wanted to learn all about what they all were; he wanted to drive her around. He looked back to her, her mouth was agape, her razor teeth were sharp and white, her engine was steadily running; he found everything about her yet beautiful. Banker figured she needed someone, her crew seemed to abandon her in her time of need and she was in shock, she desperately needed someone to be there for her. He hesitated at first but manned up and hugged her mantle. His warm hands and face on her body snapped Betty out of her state; she looked around and saw him hugging her. She didn’t think it was right but it felt good, her body started to calm down with him on her mantle. Two arms came out of her open driver hatch and sluggishly placed themselves on his back. Banker’s heart raced, he knew that she could easily push her arms through his body and crush his organs but he trusted her. His body said that there was no harm here, no danger.
“I’m Betty, who are you?” She said, Banker already knew her name and already told her his but he went with it. It took him a few seconds to decipher what she said and then translate it to German.
“Banker.” He said, he dropped his crouch to his knees and readjusted. She grabbed him, as if not to let him leave yet. Their eyes met, Banker got the eye contact he’d been looking for the whole time and now he didn’t know what to say. There was an awkward pause before he spoke. “You how?”
Just use this, think to me.
How do I-?
Just like this. I’m Betty Rhodes; at least that’s what I was named before this. Is your name really Banker?
No, but I like it, I like your name, it’s very nice. Banker and Betty used this for the rest of the two minutes. Marion convinced Fritz and Edwards to let them go. Fritz apologized for Cindy’s gun and they backed away. They kept close eyes on Betty, though. Marion rounded up Cindy and a Banker that didn’t want to leave anymore and they left Betty there. She kept a good hold on Banker’s mind though, and they continued to talk even after Banker left.
They pushed on with the plan, Rosa caught up with them and said that she found a way but Marion knew she wouldn’t get there, she had wasted too much fuel to reach it, and she was just going to push towards the American line. Rosa understood, she beckoned Cindy to join her.
“No! I’m not leaving mommy!” She cried, she latched onto Marion and buried her face into Marion’s side. “I won’t leave Marion! She’s my mom now!”
“Cindy,” Marion was able to pry Cindy away enough to look into her eyes, “Cindy, I love you, but you should go with Rosa, she can take care of you until you reach the Americans. Please, Cindy, go with Rosa.”
“No!” She shook her turret; she pulled herself to Marion’s side again and gave it her all to stay against her. “I won’t let you die!” She had tears rolling down her face, she was gripping Marion’s steel cables and grabbed onto whatever she could reach. Marion couldn’t say no, it meant too much for Cindy; she knew she’d regret it later but Marion let Cindy stay with her. Rosa tried one last time to get Cindy to leave with her but Cindy persisted. Marion held Cindy’s hand from there on as they traveled across the country; they left Rosa to the original route with her own white banner to surrender with. They were traveling through farmland and hedge groves, the terrain weren’t very forgiving and it took its toll on Marion’s fuel. She felt her fuel depleting, felt it slowly drain, inch by inch she tracked every little bit, counting numbers in her head, slowly the distance count decreased, the time left decreased, the odds against them increased, the likely hood of failure increased. She could tell anyone where she had just been, she couldn’t describe the land, any landmarks, and any detail to any extent including the vague was irreconcilable to her. The only thing she knew at the moment was that the distance she had left in her fuel was in the yards. From miles to kilometers to meters to yards, that’s what she could tell someone. She started sweating nervously, water condensed on her metal skin and rolled out between the Zimmerit paint folds.
20.., 19.., 18..,
Her gaze narrowed on a distant house, her mind was slowly counting down as she tried pushing for more.
11.., 10.., 9..,
She pushed all she had, sucked out the fumes left over, she put in everything.
4.., 3.., 2..,
It wasn’t enough.
1
Her hull lurched to a halt, the engine instantly stopped making its usual harmonious rumble, Marion grunted and strained to use her own body’s energy to drive ahead, her engine can’t turn on the input, and it makes a grinding noise alerting Cindy that Marion’s out. Cindy panicked and in desperation she threw herself against Marion’s rear and put forth all her effort, when she saw that her tracks weren’t even moving she turned on her engine, it sputtered to life for probably the tenth time in its existence and instantly roared; a G.M. engine sounding off proud. Her treads ripped through the snow, ice, dirt and mud creating a fishtail of it behind her.
“Don’t strain yourself, Cindy! Stop! I’m done for.” She was nearly crying, Cindy started breaking down again. She’s lost one family, she was hell bent not to lose another. Cindy blocked her out; she kept pushing and pushing until she was exhausted. She suddenly stopped, crashed to the ground and cried. Marion drug her around to her side and held her. “It’s okay, sweetie, it’s okay.”
“I don’t wanna lose you!” Marion’s crew got out, no point staying in there. They looked around, there were houses around and the houses had some machinery and they hoped that they might find some diesel fuel in there. Meats and Hansel had just dropped to the snow when Marion spotted something and instantly grabbed them all.
“Is that really-”
“Americans!” Cindy yelled with a big smile on her. A wall of green marched forth over the hills. Marion grabbed the stick and white flag and stuck it on her turret.
“Cindy when they get us don’t move, stay still or they might hurt us-and you! Understand?”
“Yes, mommy.” Hansel, Meats, Whacker and Banker were lined up next to Marion and Cindy, they were shivering, not from cold- but from the chilling touch of death. Cindy smiled at them big and wide, they tried to fake a smile but Cindy knew they were scared. “Don’t worry, they won’t hurt us, they’re nice people. They’re just like you guys.” They all winced; they were not that nice, Cindy and Chuck were outliers. Usually a tank team would take no prisoners. Marion was sweating even more, she hoped that her boys would be safely tucked inside her and out of possible gunfire, this was the nightmare that haunted her. Her crew standing in a line next to her like they are, with a firing squad right there, right there in front of them; fingers on triggers, and rounds in the chambers. Marion was trying not to scream.
Before they knew it they were encircled by some Sherman tanks, halftracks, trucks, jeeps, and infantry. They were all yelling in English- “Get down! Get down on your knees! On your knees!” -they were gesturing with their guns to the ground, whether they understood the screaming or not, they dropped to their knees. Cindy was trying to hold back from doing anything; Marion was shuddering in fear and trying not to scream. A firing squad lined up by the side of a parked Sherman with Thompsons and Garands pointed at the men, Marion visibly covered her mouth and let tears roll down her face. Suddenly the hatch of the Sherman sprang open and a familiar man came out. “Franklin! Heel your dogs, man. I know these ones.” The firing squad went at ease, two still had their Tommies pointed at them. The man jumped down from the loader’s hatch and walked towards them, talking with an Austrian accent.
“Well, well, well. What dogs do we have here?” He looked at their faces; they couldn’t summon the strength to look at him. “The tank whore is still fucking, more than this little-dick mistake, too.” He looked to Marion then Hansel; he walked by and past Meats “this guy must be so muscular his brain curls instead of thinks.” He jested to Meats as he passed by. “The fat pilot,” he walked by Whacker, “and last but not least the Aryan Nazi!” He stopped in front of Banker and looked up to Marion and snapped a command in a darker tone. “Tank whore dump every single shell you have out onto the ground or we’ll strangle them with our steel cables.” Marion did as he commanded, he turned back to Banker as she did so, softly sobbing. “We have ourselves a good Catholic Nazi here, wearing his little cross.” He picked at Banker’s neck chain, he slid it out of Banker’s collar link by link, Banker was convulsing, he turned green, he shook madly. He drew the attention of everyone around him. The American smiled as he saw the centerpiece come to the light, suddenly his face twisted, he looked shocked and breath-taken. He grasped the centerpiece in his hand and cupped it; his eyes darted back and forth from the necklace to Banker who was crying. “You’re a Jew!?!” He dropped the centerpiece; sure enough on Banker’s chest was the Jewish Star of David, six points with the interlaced triangles. His trembling arms dropped from above his head into his lap. The American dropped to his knees and held Banker’s head in his hands while their gazes met. “Why? I left when I could, why didn’t you?” Banker’s lips trembled, Marion held his shoulders. He started crying abruptly.
“I had nowhere to go!” He braced against the American, dropping his head into the other’s shoulder. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” The American urged him to tell more. “My mom married in Jewish, and it was the prominent religion in my house. When Hitler came to power, they sent me to my uncle’s; he was Catholic, and an owner of a lofty bank. That’s how I escaped. I miss you ma and pa! I should have never left you!” He cried to the heavens, the concentration camps shown him where his family ended up. The American rocked him back and forth, the thought of having to leave his family and fight for Hitler made him teary as well. “I got real good at lying, it’s how I stayed alive, how I kept from being found! Damn me to hell for it!” Hansel’s arms slowly fell to his lap, things were making sense now, the reason was there, he knew why Banker was Banker. All of a sudden a jeep rolled up and sitting in the passenger seat was a general, the General George S. Patton. They got everything straight from there. Inevitably they would be forced to fight but only when absolutely necessary or when the Nazi SS are all that’s left to fight, the Americans would try to use them to dissuade the Germans from resisting, but as of their first assignment they would train the new batches of tankers how to take down a Tiger. There were a few other things like some comparative studies with another couple and the effects of passive changes to Hansel’s body and the anatomy of Marion, some stuff that would be awkward but they had to agree, what else could they do? Marion had been checked, they were secretively placed under VERY watchful eyes and they were refueled. Katelyn came forward and looked at Cindy, her eyes instantly zeroed in on the gray circle on Cindy’s barrel. She stared down Marion but saw her gun was way too small to do that, she was still watchful of Marion.
“Hello Cindy, I’ll be taking care of you from now on. Myself and my boyfriend Chuck.” She beckoned Cindy to come with her. Cindy was scared; she gripped onto Marion with all of her might. Marion dropped that side’s suspension and whispered to her.
“SSS-S-SS-S-S-Cindy.” She shakily said, she seemed to come out of her cocoon and she approached Katelyn. All a sudden she backed up back to Marion. “But she’s my mommy now, I don’t want anyone else!” Marion hugged her but pushed her towards Katelyn.
“Cindy, it’ll be okay. I still love you, and I always will.” Cindy wiped tears from her eyes; she inched her way over to Katelyn. She dropped down and got Cindy’s attention.
“It’s okay now, honey, do you wanna go play with me in the snow?” Cindy looked down to the ground with tears streaming down the sides of her turret; she realized that she did lose another family. “Okay. Do you wanna go play with your old friend Geoff?” Cindy perked up, she was still terribly sad but she wanted to see her old friends again. She went stern faced. She backed up and took Marion’s hand, and got her crew aboard, too.
“Now it’s my turn to take you in. Let me show you my friends.” Marion followed Cindy, who followed Katelyn, and they went hand-in-hand all the way to the main forward base was, where Geoff, Zwei, Mez, and Tiger were; Cindy’s old friends. Cindy hugged a Panzer IV F2 about her size when they met. “Hi guys! That’s Whacker, and that’s Meats, and that’s Banker, they’re some of my new friends.” Then she backed up and hugged Marion and Hansel. “And this is Marion and Hansel, they’re my new family!”
Fin Ch 40

Did anyone catch that plot twist? It makes sense, now, though. Doesn’t it? The top, the lies, the reaction to the concentration camp photos, the willingness and eagerness to leave the German war machine, it all led up to that. How’d y’all like this chapter? Oh yes, a change in perspective indeed.