HaM Chapter 38

I’ve got nothing to say.., Enjoy!
Ch 38
Marion woke up early in the morning, she looked around, still dark, still snowing, still holding Hansel in her arms. She woke him up and got him to move into her hull where it was warmer. Once he was inside she talked her mind. “Hansel I can’t get Cindy out of my mind,” Marion looked to her side where Cindy was bundled up in camo netting. “I don’t want her here.”
“I know.” He didn’t really know, he was too tired to know. “Cindy shouldn’t be here.”
“Hansel! I know you’re half-assing this.” She grabbed some snow and tossed it in his face. He jerked up awake and threw the snow off.
“Goddamn that’s cold!” He planted his face against Marion’s wall to warm it up faster. “What, Marion?”
“I don’t want Cindy here, it’s too dangerous.”
“It’s dangerous for everyone. Marion, this is a world war. There’s nowhere the war won’t touch her. All that we can do is put her where she’s safest.” Marion was silent.
“I don’t think we can do that.” She sounded dark and depressed, it worried Hansel.
“Baby, what makes you think that?”
“Ever since I’ve gotten to the front, all we’ve done is retreat. Hansel if we retreat too much there’ll be nowhere to hide her from the shots.”
“But we’re pushing up now, we are winning!”
“You know better Hansel, we won’t be winning for much longer.”
“You’re such a pessimist, Marion.”
“Only rightly so, Hansel. I still have hopes for our survival, and we will be having kids of our own. But for Cindy’s sake, we need to do something.” Hansel dropped his head. He knew there was no arguing this.
“Alright Marion, but how would we save her?” Marion had been thinking about it.
“The third army is coming.”
“How does-”
“Chuck is coming.” Hansel remembered, he started to piece things together.
“But Marion, what about us!?”
“I’ve been talking to Chuck, and he’s been talking to his higher-ups, he said that we should learn of our fate today.” Hansel felt sick to his stomach.
“I don’t know, Marion, what about our friends?”
“We’ll tell them that we’re doing the right thing.”
“What about Germany, my family, the families of Banker, and Whacker, and Meats? What about them?”
“Those are things wars should be fought for, not this one. You saw what our leaders are doing, they’re mad dogs. They are doing that to people like you, they are not right, they are monsters. They are not who we should be fighting for, they’re what we should be fighting.” Hansel thought, many of his old friends were taken away and might be in those camps. He knew that Hitler was a mad man, that he was crazy, but the camps made him evil, made him the devil. Hansel had indeed lost faith in fighting the Americans, but he fought to protect his people from insensible slaughter. As he looked at the choices, both had senseless slaughter and both had reasons to fight. He was terribly conflicted, he didn’t know anymore. He didn’t know.
“Marion I don’t know. I don’t know anymore.” A terrible thought hit him. “Marion, they used that Tiger as a tool against us, what if they pit us against the Germans?” He felt Marion shudder.
“I don’t want to fight Germans, I’ll fight Nazis but I won’t fight Germans.” Hansel felt the surge of sleep over come him again. Before he went to sleep Marion asked him what he was dreaming about.
“You and I relaxing in a magical forest on a bright summer day.”
“How fairy tale.” They slept for a few more hours before they woke up for the day. They had captured Bastogne and were relieving the night shift when Marion heard Dora’s voice.
“Marion!” Marion turned to see Dora in fresh winter paint; she had white all over her body. E was with her followed by Ferdi and Porscha.
“Are you fixed, Dora?” Dora nodded, her engine had serious troubles one day during training, she and the other two were sent back for engine tuning.
“So are you going to tell me how you got that long hit on your side or not?” Marion started her story, Hansel talked to Dora’s, Ferdi’s, and Porscha’s commanders while Whacker got the radios turned up. The losses at the ‘Battle of the Tigers’ put the three new arrivals under Hansel’s command. Bastogne wasn’t completely taken yet, pockets of resistance still plagued the city and secretly Marion and Hansel backed them and wished them luck. Later in the day Dora met Cindy, literally the morning the three engine-troubled tanks left Cindy was brought back. Dora wasn’t sure how to respond to Marion taking her in but was instantly overtaken by Cindy and couldn’t help but found her adorable. They soon got radio contact with Chuck and that’s when Marion persuaded Meats, Whacker and an eager Banker to join her cause. That’s when they told Cindy. Cindy rejoiced that she was going back to the Americans.
“You’re going to take care of me, right!?” Marion looked into Cindy’s eyes. Her little innocent mind didn’t fully see that Marion would become a P.O.W. and that Cindy would be kept away from Marion. Marion knew that they would probably never see each other again. But she couldn’t say no to her.
“I’ll be there, dear. Don’t you worry.” She hugged Cindy, the snow had gathered on top of Cindy and stuck to her hull front, it hid her well.
“We’ll win, Marion, we’ll beat Hitler and win together!” Hansel shushed Cindy, Marion covered her mouth.
“Cindy, you can’t tell anyone. Anyone at all! Okay?” Cindy nodded, she saw that this scared them and crossed her ‘heart’ over her driver’s outcropping.
The battles went on; every now and then a report would say that a tank was lost. Usually dead metal but still, that scared the tanks and their crews. E and Irish grew restless, they wanted to fight but they were kept idle by Idek. They rarely displayed their affection but when they did they tried to do it when no one was around. Jäger hung around them and would come in at times when they were hugging or holding hands. They quickly shot down anything but Irish knew Jäger knew he was lying. Marion scored another kill and her Tiger kill stripe was painted onto her gun when they found some extra paint. Hansel, Marion, Meats, Whacker and Banker decided that they would carry Cindy over during the night so that they wouldn’t be seen. They planned out everything and all they were waiting for was Patton’s Third Army. Then it would be the end of Marion’s short career.
Soon reports came in of American armor to the south of Bastogne, Patton was at their doorstep. Most of the others grew ready for a fight, they cleaned their guns, checked their ammo, tuned their engines and some even sharpened their teeth. Marion wasn’t too thrilled to fight anymore, she still maintained herself but it was considered more as hygiene rather than battle preparation. Marion was hanging out with Jäger and Fritz and some other tank destroyers like Rosa and Ferdi and she was watching their preparations. Jäger and Fritz were cleaning each other’s gun while petting Franz their cat, Ferdi and two other tank destroyers were greasing their tracks, but Rosa was different. She had a special gleam in her eye, it looked a lot like hope and desire mixed together. She was still cleaning her gun and lubricating her treads and whitening her teeth but she seemed to be in a daydream. “Rosa, are you there?” Rosa snapped out of her daydream.
“Huh? Oh! Yeah, yeah, I’m here. Are you?”
“YYYesss? Are you alright?” Rosa fidgeted and looked around.
“YYYYeah.” Marion smirked. She started to leave but she grabbed Rosa’s stern and drug her away from the group.
“Rosa, what’s going on?” Rosa shook her mantle no. “Rosa, something is going on with you. You’ve been daydreaming all day. What is it? A secret lover?” Rosa backed off.
“What!? No!” Marion looked her in the eyes. She lifted her eye shaders in a ‘really’ look. “I-It’s nothing. Really. I’m not hiding anything. I’ve never met an American before.”
“Rosa, I never asked that.” Rosa went wide eyed. She visibly shook in her treads. “Rosa, I’ve got my own secrets with the Americans, it’s okay with me.” Rosa still seemed uncomfortable. “Rosa, you can keep a secret, right? You’re cracking but you’re not broke yet.” She nodded.
“Back in June or July I was being moved to find Fritz, we came across a Sherman. He and his crew were terrified; we could see pigments leaving their skin and the tears of fear and death bundle on their eyes. We couldn’t kill them, they were too helpless. We camped out with them that night-my transmission was flooded-and we talked. We quickly became friends with the Americans and we found unused radio channels, so now we still talk to them. But the Sherman showed me his lover, a Firefly-I think-named Katelyn and he was named-”
“Chuck!” Marion was surprised.
“Yeah, his name was Chuck.” Rosa shifted. “I-uh, I fell in love with Joshua.” Marion was shocked.
“How did that happen?”
“He sort of saved me; they fixed my drive wheel and my tracks. I’m here because of them. Otherwise I might be scrap or I’d be getting raped by something. That’s why I hate Shermans.” Marion suddenly felt violated; she wondered if Shermans would try their way with her. “But Chuck didn’t, he found me and brought Joshua. They helped me, and I might have Joushua’s baby.” Marion was instantly brought off the rape subject.
“What?”
“He may have, y’know, knocked me up.” She had a sly smile on her face as her eyes drifted to the dirt. Marion picked up her gun mantle.
“Don’t be ashamed, you love him, right?” Rosa smiled and looked left and right as she agreed.
“Yes, I do love him.”
“Then why are you so ashamed? Rosa, don’t be ashamed.”
“But how would anyone take my word if they knew?”
“I know and I trust you.” Rosa shrugged and looked past Marion. “Look, we might be meeting Chuck and crossing the line to their side soon.” Rosa looked at her intrigued and in disbelief. “Yeah, we’re taking Cindy over. I’m sure they could talk you into the deal.” Rosa’s eyes lit up. She begged Marion to talk her in, she dropped her suspension and cupped two hands together and pleaded. Marion promised that she would try her best. Marion asked what they might name it and that’s when Rosa pulled the paper out of her mantle.
“This has the names,” she unfolded it and handed it to Marion. “Zachery is the boy name, Jasmine is the girl name.” Jasmine, I like that name, Marion thought to herself, she might just use it herself.
“Rosa, I could actually get the radio signals from Whacker and give them to you.” Rosa bounced up and down; she started begging again for the codes. Marion had Rosa follow her to where Whacker hung out. It was with Mini, Kramia, Meats, Griffen and the girls. Marion plucked him from the group and secluded the three of them. “Whacker, what are the radio codes for our channel to Chuck?”
“Well they aren’t codes, they’re channels.”
“Whatever! What channel? What dial do I move!?” Rosa asked impatiently.
“I’ll show you, it’s hard to explain.” He climbed up and tugged on Rosa’s hatches. Reluctantly she unlocked the hatch. He climbed in, asked for her hands, and guided them through the process. She excitedly talked through the radio, begging for Chuck or Joshua. “Rosa, they get on at select times, you gotta just wait on this channel, okay?”
“Okay.” She said depressed. Afterwards Marion explained her predicament to Whacker and said she’d tell the rest on their next shift.
Marion went to go tell Cindy. Cindy stayed with Dora when Frau and Marion were out on shift. Dora vaguely knew that Marion was going to get Cindy back to the Americans but Dora didn’t know how or when. Marion came across Dora loading heavy crates on a sled and Cindy trying to pull the sled. Marion watched Dora egg on Cindy while Cindy’s face showed how much she was trying. Marion looked at the sled’s load and thought it had to be at least ten tons. Cindy looked like she was in pain.
“Dora what the hell are you doing!?”
“Making Cindy’s engine stronger.”
“No you’re breaking her engine!”
“That’s how she’ll get stronger.”
“Cindy stop! Don’t hurt yourself, sweetie!”
“Marion, it’s the only way to make her stronger. Your engine isn’t like that one,” she pointed to the disabled Tiger I dead metal engine, “it’s like a giant muscle system. Ask Hansel, Meats, Whacker, Inbred, or Banker how muscles grow bigger and stronger. They’ll tell you that they break; they rip and break before they grow bigger and stronger. Our engines are much the same. Why do you think Ferdi and Porscha are still around? Their dead metal counterparts broke down or burned out long ago but their engines broke and grew stronger, so has mine. If Cindy breaks her engine it will only build her strength! Trust me! It’s what happened to me last month.” Marion eyed her down. She would ask Hansel, and Ferdi and Porscha about it, but first she unlatched the sled from Cindy and carried and pushed her over to where Hansel was resting.
“How do you feel, Cindy?” Cindy was panting and shoveling snow onto her back to cool her engine off.
“I’m tired!” She whined, she leaned against Marion and snuggled up to her. “And hungry.” Marion wasn’t too sure about that, she’d never been hungry before. “Do you guys have any casings I can eat?” Marion did have some, she picked them from her shelf and laid them right on Cindy’s bow, Cindy licked her lips and took a deep breath. “Mom would crush them for me, but her casings weren’t that big, can you crush only one? Maybe two? Please?”
“Sure, sweetie.” Marion picked one up and flattened one on her hull bow, she handed it right to Cindy. Cindy took a bite and smiled.
“It tastes just like moms!” Marion smiled as Cindy tore at the flattened casing. She finished the casing and hummed. “Marion, can I have another?”
“Sure dear.” She flattened another and gave it to her, Marion thought of how she was mostly empty inside her hull; she had her whole cabin to use. “Cindy can you open your hatches?” Cindy swallowed a bite and answered.
“Yeah, I can.” Her hatches flew open like a bomb blew them open. Marion peaked inside, she was empty. “I can flap them like a bird wings!” Her hatches on her turret flapped furiously, like Cindy believed they could make her fly. Quickly they slowed and stopped because of how tired she was.
“Can you reach inside you like this?” Marion opened a hatch and put one of her arms inside. Cindy nodded and slithered an arm into her side hatch where spent shells would be tossed. “No, in this one.” Marion touched the rim of Cindy’s commander’s hatch; Cindy stuck her arm in, all the way to the bottom. “Just like that! Here Cindy, I’m going to give these to you. Whenever you’re hungry, just reach in there and grab a snack. Okay?”
“Okay.” Marion crushed all of her spent casings and stacked them inside Cindy; she had Cindy pull one out before she let Cindy close her hatches. “It feels weird, mommy.”
“You’ll get used to it, sweetie.” Marion stopped outside Banker and Hansel’s little tent, she called them out and asked them how muscles get stronger.
“They break and build bigger, like a bridge. When one bridge breaks usually the bridge is built bigger and better.” Banker said, he was tinkering with a block of wood and a bayonet he found. The huge size gave away it was a German bayonet.
“Whatcha making, banks?” Cindy asked in between bites.
“A top, I didn’t have anything like a cup to make it out of so it’ll be a little blocky. When I’m done do you want to play with me?”
“Sure!”
“Just cut the corners, alright?” Hansel said.
“Yeah, sure thing.” He went back to pointing the bottom.
“Hansel, Banker, Cindy, we might be taking Rosa with us.” Hansel and Banker looked disapproving, Cindy’s face lit up.
“Why?” Banker asked in a down tone.
“Because she’s in love with Joshua.” She mouthed she’s pregnant to them so Cindy wouldn’t catch on.
“How can we trust her?” Hansel said. Banker seconded her in a darker tone, emphasizing the trust.
“She could be out to put us down.” He said.
“She knew who Chuck was, and Katelyn, she knew Joshua before I even named Chuck or Joshua. She seemed very, very determined to be reunited with Joshua.” The guys still seemed doubting. “If you were there you’d understand.” Suddenly Marion’s radio crackled to life with Chuck’s voice. Marion spotted Rosa out of the corner of her eye stop what she was doing and respond.
“Chuck! You’re still alive! Chuck! Chuck where’s Joshua?!” It took Chuck a moment to respond.
“Who’s this?”
“Rosa!”
“Oh! Rosa! How are you?”
“Where’s Joshua!?” The very moment after she finished it was Joshua on the radio.
“Rosa!? Is it really you!?”
“Yes! Yes it’s me!”
“What are the names?”
“Zachery and Jasmine!” There was a pause.
“Oh my god! How are you doing? Are you alright? What happened?” Marion brought Banker and Hansel over and they listened.
“Convinced yet?” They nodded.
Fin Ch 38