Mein Vader: Chapter 1

Mein Vader A Short Story by lvdoomien Chapter 1: What Was Lost The doktor took a moment to close his eyes and collect his thoughts, wearing down the mercenary’s patience ever so slightly. He had to take a moment to think on what he tried so hard to forget and put behind him. He had spent countless, restless nights trying to stop recalling the Blitz and his father and now this mercenary before him has the gall to ask him of it. He had no choice but to oblige to the mercenary. “Well, Mengell?”

“… I vas only eight, or nine. I vas just a young lad who vould go to school zen play with ze other boys und girls that lived near me aftervords. Mein mutter stayed home and kept the house clean, und mein vader vas with ze Blitz. Ve lived in ze capital of Gurmenee und ze capital of ze Reich. It vas gut times.”

As the doktor spoke, the vivid images known as memories filled his mind as the cruder images known as description filled the mercenary’s mind. They both, in their own views, imagined a young boy playing in the streets of Gurmenee with other children. They imagined that boy’s mother, at home cleaning the dishes and keeping a close eye on her child through the window.

“You see, mein vader was an officer in ze Blitz, and vun of ze best vuns zey had. He led a squad, of about five men und one voman, and zey all vent across Gurmenee to protect diplomats, rout rebels, und uphold ze power of ze Reich. One time I asked mein vader what he did as a soldier, und he told me ‘ve find people that disagree with ze Reich and ve make zem agree with ze Reich.’ Now, ze Blitz vas-

The mercenary cut him off, knowing instinctively that the doktor would attempt to embellish what he was about to say.

“The Blitz was one of the most brutal organized military forces before its disbandment. Almost every single former member of the Blitz is either serving time in Impel Down for life, on the run, or dead.”

The doktor was somewhat taken aback by the mercenary’s comment. He continued his story.

“Vell, I vould rather say…. efficient, instead of brutal. But you are right. They vere very brutal, ruthless soldiers und they vere very gut at their jobs.”

The mercenary resumed his stare at the doktor, the one that demanded answers. The doktor took note of this.

“Anyvay, it vas day like any other day. I vas playing vith other children, mutter was cleaning house, und vader was off making people agree with ze Reich. Then I saw mein vader come with ze brothers, two burly brutes zat vere never far apart from each other or from mein vader. Zey vere ze highest ranking soldiers underneath mein vader, after all. Ze three of them had shown up today unexpected, und mein vader called for me to come inside as he entered our home with ze brothers. Ze brothers stayed by ze door an ze window, holding zeir guns at ze ready. Mein mutter became angry, since she did not like it ven vader’s squad members vould come in ze house with their guns. Zey began to argue.”

Another memory and another description is painted in the two’s mind as a Gurmen officer wearing a uniform almost identical to the doctors and two Gurmen soldiers wearing armor similar to the mercenaries came up to one of the houses. All three went in the home as the officer called in a child that looked like him. The two soldiers stood in their ordered positions while the mother of the household began to yell at the officer. The officer yelled back as the child came into the home. Noticing that the child had come in, the officer stooped down to eye level with the child and gave the child his orders in a stern, somewhat angry voice.

“Go up to your room, empty your schoolbag und put your clothing und shoes in ze bag. Then come down here ven you are done. Ve are leaving Heisenburgh”

“Can I bring mein toys too vader?”

“Nein, just your clothing.”

“Vere are ve going vader?”

“Later child later, now go pack your bag. Und be quick”

“Yes vader.”

The child climbs up the stairs, somewhat confused, as the officer resumes his argument with the mother of the house. As the mercenary imagines this description, his focus begins to drift between what he hears and what he imagines. For now, he focuses on the description of the mother of the house, crying slightly, as the officer, wearing an officer’s cap and an eyepatch over his left eye along with the uniform the doktor could possibly be wearing, spoke with the brothers. One of the brothers, who was holding a bayoneted assault rifle, spoke out.

“Sir, ve are running out of time and zey’ll be here any minute.”

“I know Gerhold, ve are still early though.”

Then the other brother, who was wielding a shotgun, spoke as well.

“Ja Gerhold, ve can take zem! Nobody fucks vith our squad!”

The officer suddenly punched the other brother across the cheek and yelled as that brother held his cheek and stumbled. “

Do not speak like zat in mein haus! If you need to be vulgar zen wait for mein family to not be near you!”

The first brother supported the officer’s outburst while the other brother apologized for misspeaking. Then the mother of the house, still with tears in her eyes, and the child, still with confusion in his eyes, came to the officer and the two brothers and they all left the house.

As the child stepped out of the house he noticed that all the other children had gone inside already and all the other doors were shut. While he was packing and while his family was yelling Gurmen police had gone down the streets of Heisenburgh warning everyone to go inside and to lock their doors. The Gurmen Reich knew something was about to happen. The officer and the brothers knew something was about to happen. The mother of the house knew something was about to happen. “But not me. Nobody vould tell me why ve had to leave our home. Ve just left.” “They didn’t tell you because you were a child. Right?” “Nein. Zey didn’t tell me because zey didn’t have to tell me.”

“… What?"

The doktor resumed his story and the mercenary resumed imagining the description. As the officers and the brothers and the mother of the house and the child left the neighborhood, that is when the first bomb went off. This first bomb detonated in the capital building of the Reich. It burned off the leader of the countries front half and it crippled his second-in-command. Most of the other officials were blasted into fragments. The general of the Blitz was left reeling in shock.

The officer and his group began to run. Some families followed behind them.

Then the second bomb went off, closer to where they were. And the third. And then the fourth. And then the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth all went off at once. These bombs were in houses, in neighborhoods. One was right next door to where they left. The running child knew the boy that lived in that house. That boy was gone, blasted into fragments.

The officer picked up the child with one arm and ran faster. The brothers ran faster as well and tried to keep the mother of the house running between them. More people were following behind them, forming a herd of hapless civilians.

“Then, ze police turn on us. Zey turn on ze Reich und on ze citizens that still vere loyal to ze Reich.”

While the officer and his group ran faster, the Gurmen police came out from hiding and began to open fire. They opened fire on the herd following behind the officer’s family with rubber bullets and bean bag rounds. They beat those that had fallen with metal batons and would not stop. They threw grenades full of rubber pellets that would explode and shower the herd in these pellets. They appeared in the capital building as well, looking for survivors. They found the general of the Blitz, standing over his leaders. The men who found him beat him with their batons for hours.

“Zey did not aim to kill us. Zey aim to cripple us. Zey aim to knock us down and keep us down so ze burning of ze city vill kill us.”

As the officer and his group ran through the Gurmen police, the officer took out his pistol and opened fire on any police that were in his way, keeping them away from his family and from his soldiers. One brother ran backwards and fired on the police. He was not careful with his shots and most of his shots hit fleeing civilians. The other brother ran next to the officer, firing buckshot into any police officer that was still in the officer’s way.

As the officer and his group became clear of the crowded streets and closer to their destination, the docks, the officer spoke to the brothers that ran with him. The child listened as well.

“Zis was ze royal family of Gurmenee. Ze vuns that could not handle Gurmenee’s people and ze vuns that ve helped overthrow so zat ze Reich could take control. Now they take back control with ze help of traitors like ze Crowd Control.”

The mercenary interrupted.

“The Gurmen police, you mean.”

“Ja, ze proper name of the police was ze Crowd Control. Zat is why they do not fight vith real bullets. Zat is vy ze Gurmen royal family bribe und blackmail zeir captain into helping zem take back zeir country.”

The mercenary nodded, satisfied with the doktors explanation. The doktor continued his memory.

“Anyvay, mein vader and ze brothers and I made it to ze dock, vere ze rest of mein vader’s squad vas. Zey had been waiting for us with a boat, a boat small enough to sail away undetected und a boat large enough to hold ten people. Everyzing vas fine. Ve vere going to leave Gurmenee.”

The officer and the brothers and the child make it to a cleared out area in front of some docks, where four men and one woman are waiting for them. All of them were wearing uniforms similar to the brothers and the mercenary’s. The largest man, with a large stomach, a large-barreled gun and a large beard, was standing in front of the boat yelling at them to speed it up. The second largest man was still on the boat, reading a book with his wire-frame glasses. The smallest of the three men, barely an adult, was standing on the roof of a building and keeping an eye out for the officer and his group. The woman was also on the boat, focusing on what was on the other end of her rifle instead of the officer and his group. She was taking shots at police that were assaulting civilians.

The largest man yelled at the officer’s group.

“Sir! Ve need to leave right now! Ze Crowd Control vill be here any minute und ze civilians vill only distract zem for so long!”

The youngest man, who had jumped down from the roof of the building, spoke in agreement.

“Ja! Me und Luzia have been vatching for zem since ze bombs vent off, sir. Let’s go!”

The officer agreed with his soldiers and everyone got onto the boat. The bearded man went to the helm and started the boat’s engine. The woman stayed on top of the boat, keeping an eye out. The officers and the brothers and the man with glasses and the youngest man and the child were all on the deck of the ship, waiting to be safely away from Gurmenee.

The child, still confused and still shaken by the gunfire and screaming and fire that was around him moments before, looked around the boat. He looked at everyone that was on deck and how each of them had a different expression on their face. Then he noticed something. Something he think he might’ve noticed a while ago but was not certain of until now. Not knowing what else to do, he went to the officer, his father.

The child began to speak to the officer as he looked out to the horizon, away from Gurmenee.

“Vader?"

“Ja, child.”

The officer did not look at the child. Just forward.

“Vader, vere is mutter?”

“Your mutter is on ze ship child look around.”

“Nein vader she’s not on ze boat I think she fell ven we vere running.”

“Child zat is-“

The officer spoke as he turned around to check if the mother of the house was on the boat. She wasn’t. The look in the officer’s eye changed from melancholy to fear and anger.

“… Vere is mein vife?! Vere in God’s name is mein vife!”

The officer yelled to his squad as the squad was shaken out of its trance and looked around. They also discovered that the mother of the house was not on board. The soldiers spoke amongst themselves and searched as the officer stomped around the entire deck of the small boat they were on to make sure she was not just resting below deck. She wasn’t. The woman, still watching, spoke to get the officer’s attention.

“Sir?”

“Vat?!”

“Zey have her.”

“… Vat?”

The officer knew what she meant. He didn’t want to believe what she meant but he knew she wouldn’t lie to her superior. The officer took a telescope from the largest man, who was steering the boat, and looked to the shore of Gurmenee. There he saw the captain of the Crowd Control, standing with his police lined up at the edge of the dock. And there, in the captain’s grasp, was the mother of the house, crying and squirming.

“Sieghild stop ze boat! Stop ze boat now!”

The officer yelled out commands as the bearded man stopped the boat. The other soldier pointed their guns at the docks of Gurmenee as the boat stopped and took whatever cover they could. The child stood at the handrails of the boat, looking at the captain holding the mother of the house.

As the boat stopped, the captain realized they had noticed him and began to speak over a loudspeaker to the officer and his squad. He demanded their surrender and that they come back to the docks so they can be arrested and captured alive. The mother of the house was still crying. All of the soldiers looked ready to retaliate but downtrodden, beaten before the battle had begun. They knew this wasn’t going to end peacefully.

The doktor points to the mercenary, to make a point.

“Now ze old saying is ‘vun for all und all for vun’, ja? Vell, mein vader took zat differently. And ze vay he took zat saying vas how he ran ze entire squad. He would alvays say ‘all to save vun,-

- Or vun to save all.”

The officer concluded as all the soldiers looked to each other, still downtrodden and ready. This is what they knew moments before. They knew the officer would say this. The woman looked down the scope of her rifle, aiming to the docks.

“Ze shot is ready, sir.”

The officer stood there with his feet shoulder width apart and his arms crossed behind his back, staring towards the docks. Staring at the captain. Staring at the mother of the house. Then he looked back, and saw that all of the squad was looking to him. They all knew what had to be done. The child continued to look at the mother of the house, not paying attention to what the officer and the squad were saying or doing.

The officer looked back to the docks, to the mother of the house. Despite the distance between them, their eyes met. The mother of the house looked to the officer, tears running down her cheeks as she shook her head in disagreement. She didn’t want her life to end like this. The officer didn’t want it to either. The captain of the Crowd Control stayed silent as he waited for the officer’s response to his demands.

Everyone was silent. Everything was silent as the officer stood there, never breaking eye contact with the mother of the house. The mother of the house had stopped crying, but she still shook her head in disagreement. The officer broke the silence with a single word.

“… Fire.”

One shot rang out. One thump was heard as the captain of the Crowd Control yelled out. There was a splatter of blood on his face, in his mouth and his eye. He was confused and distressed and yelled for his police to fire on the boat. The child screamed and burst into tears.

“Mutter! Mutter! Vader vat happened to mutter vat happened to her face vader?! Mutter!”

The youngest man tried to calm the child, holding him back as he tried to jump off the boat in a panic. He wanted to get to his mother to make sure she was okay.

The officer turned away from the scene as the bearded man started the boat back up and sped off from Gurmenee. The officer walked to the bow of the ship, and looked forward. The child continued to kick and scream and cry and the youngest man continued to hold him as the rest of the squad fired back at the Crowd Control.

Hours passed. The small boat was miles away from Gurmenee, just outside of the nation’s territory. It was past noon and several of the officers had gone below deck to rest and recover. The youngest man was still at the end of the ship with the child and the officer was still at the bow, looking forward, feet shoulder width apart, arms crossed behind him. The child had stopped crying an hour ago, and was starting to calm down. The youngest man told the child to try to talk to the officer and then went below deck to rest. The child did as he was told and walked to where the officer was. The officer did not look at the child as he approached.

“Vader?”

The officer did not respond. The child assumed the officer did not hear him and pulled on the tailcoat of his uniform.

“Vader ven are ve going back to Gurmenee to get mutter? Vat happened to her, vader?”

The officer did not speak, but turned away from the distance and crouched down to be at eye level with the child. He stared the child down and spoke sternly.

“Child, your mutter is gone. You are not going to see her ever again and you are not going home to Gurmenee ever again. Do you understand?”

The child did not and spoke in protest.

“But vader she’s just zere at ze dock! Ve have to-

The officer smacked him across the cheek, making the child stumble back and fall.

“Do not interrupt me child!”

The child looked at his father, terrified and still fallen.

“Get up! Get up and listen to your orders child!”

Out of fear, the child did as he was told and stood in front of the officer again.

“Child, zey are all gone. Your home is gone. Ze rest of your family is gone. Your life is gone. Gurmenee is gone. Zat is vat you lost today. Zat is vat everyvun on zis ship lost today. And zat is never going to change, do you understand me?”

The child stifled his tears and nodded weakly in agreement.

“Today, you are a child. But tomorrow, you are a soldier like everyvun else on board zis ship. You vill no longer play, you vill no longer be going to school to learn. You are going to learn here, on zis ship, to be a soldier. Do you understand?”

The child struggled not to cry and did not speak.

The officer hit him again.

“Do you understand?!”

“… Ja.”

“Gut. Now go below deck und find a bed.”

The child obeyed his order and left, as the officer resumed his stance facing the horizon.

The doktor finished this part of his tale, and spoke freely.

“Und zat’s vere it started. You got all zat, ja?”

The mercenary thought for a moment, keeping eye contact with the doktor.

“How do you know about the bombings, and what happened with the city.”

“I found out a few years ago, from a report vritten by ze Crowd Control. Zey did not leave out details.”

The mercenary thought still and sighed.

“Anything else, Viskey?”

“What happened in Korbach.”

The doktor chuckled to himself, and smiled for a moment.

“I knew you vould ask about zat."

Next: Like a Swine