The Checkpoint

The nurse showed him her hiding place in the corner of the other house.

"I hide when they come. You hide when they come."

The American shook his head. Hiding was not in his nature. Instead, he pointed at the German's coat. The German went to a pile of clothes in the corner and pulled out another greatcoat he had taken off a dead soldier. There was a small hole and some blood on the back but from the front, it was presentable.

The American put it on and turned around like a model. "What do you think?" he mimed. The German went back to the pile of clothes and came back with a soft army cap. The American's helmet was a dead giveaway. Dead in a very real sense.

The American brought the German to the road and mimed a scenario. German deserters were coming out of the woods. The nurse went into hiding. The American stood near the hiding place, off the road, next to the rubble, rifle at the ready.

The German understood. He mimed a conversation and sent the imaginary deserters on the way. He gave a thumbs up. Then he mimed a conversation that didn't go well. He hastily stepped back, reaching for his empty rifle. The American raised his rifle. "Bang, bang," he said. The German gave another thumbs up.

The next day the American Captain sat on the pile of rubble on the left. There was nothing to do except watch for deserters. He was bored. He crossed the road and began moving debris off the floor of the elderly couple's home. The Captain had grown up on a farm. He knew how to build walls.

Some rubble was used for the wall. Some went onto a separate pile. To be used later to rebuild maybe.

The German Lieutenant spoke to the nurse. She took a seat where she was half-hidden but could see the road. The German joined the American in clearing the house.

"Why didn't I think of this before?" the German wondered.

By the time the sergeant and his squad showed up, the two men had cleared the floor entirely. The wall was in place and a large pile of useful stone lay nearby. The American and German had bonded as men do when they build things by hand. They knew what stones went in which pile. They knew when to help and when help wasn't needed.

While they worked, the two soldiers taught each other German and English. By the time the floor was cleared, they could speak to each other on some matters without the nurse acting as a translator. An unspoken agreement led them to focus on learning military terms. Terms they would need to use if a large group of deserters decided to cause trouble.

In the larger war, they were enemies. Here, in the small clearing in the forest, they were allies. They were the protectors of the nurse and the old couple. They were smart men, successful in civilian life, who had been uprooted by the war and trained in the art of warfare. They knew their job.

The two men didn't work all day long. The German and the American would take a break to watch the road. The nurse would forage at those times, retrieving some of the frozen beef, gathering more berries. She had found some wild onions. Once a week, the nurse and the elderly woman would go to town to buy or trade for vegetables and a little flour to make bread.

The two soldiers were planning to build a room in the house. They and the nurse wanted to build a bedroom for the couple. The elderly woman shook her head, a vigorous 'no.' She wanted a kitchen. Her husband shrugged and smiled as he held his wife's hand.

So it was decided that they would build a kitchen. The walls were half done when a squad of men emerged from the woods. They were carrying a fellow soldier on a makeshift stretcher. The German Lieutenant waved the American Captain to his side. He did not like the look of things.

Their uniforms were wrong. Instead of the standard dark green of the German army, they were wearing gray They had rifles and packs, but not all had canteens, mess kits, or ammunition belts. None seemed to have a helmet. There were no unit insignia or badge of rank to be seen.

The seven man squad stopped where they were told. Their leader explained the man in the stretcher had broken his leg two days before. He was feverish and ranting. They hoped to get him to medical care.

The Lieutenant questioned him.

"Who are you? Why aren't you in proper uniforms?"

The leader stated they were a secret unit. The lack of uniforms and insignia would allow them to infiltrate the Allied lines. The explanation made no sense since the group was traveling away from the Allied lines.

"Who is the injured man?"

"We don't know. We found him two days ago."

Again, not likely. First, they said he had broken his leg two days ago, now they were saying they found him two days ago with his leg already broken.

The Lieutenant was skeptical. These men looked hard and desperate. Harder and more desperate than the usual soldiers who passed the checkpoint.

"I wonder if they escaped from a prison somewhere?" he thought, worried at the idea.

The American stood back a pace or two and off to the side. His rifle was in his hands and pointed in the direction of the squad. There was no pretense that he was just an observer. He had a clear view - and a clear shot - at all seven.

The Lieutenant checked on the man in the stretcher, making sure not to block the American Captain's field of fire. The man on the stretcher was dressed in the proper uniform with the proper equipment. He was a corporal in the Signal Corps.

"What is he doing with these other men?" went through the Lieutenant's mind.

The German felt the forehead of the man on the stretcher. He really did have a fever. The man was moaning and mumbling. The Lieutenant looked back at the American. There were a series of looks, shrugs, and nods that only the two men understood.

"Colette." The nurse came out of hiding. She had heard the conversation and immediately went to the man on the stretcher.

Seven hard men looked at the nurse with lust. The American tapped his rifle against his hand. A reminder. The nurse had the stretcher laid inside the house near the fire. She began tending to him.

The German Lieutenant ordered the seven deserters to stack their weapons by the wall. They obeyed because he was an officer and they were enlisted men. The Lieutenant felt better having the men unarmed. Although seven against two were not good odds, even if one of the two was armed.

While the men sat on the ground, pulling out rations to eat, the American quietly removed the clips from all the rifles. Just in case one of the deserters tried to grab a weapon. The men talked among themselves as they ate. It was clear the subject was the nurse, and the comments were lewd.

The Captain walked over to the Lieutenant, never turning his back to the strangers. He quietly handed eight clips to the man who was his enemy. Giving ammunition to an enemy who had no ammunition of his own.

Except they weren't enemies. Not in this lonely spot removed from the war. They would protect the nurse. They would protect the elderly couple. They would protect each other.

The nurse slept next to the man with the broken leg. She woke up several times during the night to check on him and put a wet cloth on his forehead to help break the fever.

The Lieutenant and the Captain took shifts guarding the soldiers, who appeared asleep on the ground next to the road. Both had a bullet chambered and the safety off. They sat on the wall between the soldiers and their weapons. Neither soldier trusted these strangers.

In the morning, the nurse gave her assessment. "He cannot go on. He needs rest and food, or he will die. He needs to have his leg put in a splint."

The squad protested loudly. The nurse was adamant. The American and German wondered why the unit was so upset about leaving a sick man they had found only two days before.

The seven men had a discussion about what to do. Stay or leave? A large part of the conversation seemed to revolve around the nurse, not their comrade in arms. There was a lot of leering before the men decided to go on.

The American listened impassively. He stood three meters away from the last man in the squad. The German was equally impassive. He stood three meters away from the first man in the squad. Both rifles pointed in the general direction of the seven men.

The squad offered insincere thanks and slowly walked away. After they disappeared into the forest, the American walked along the road in the same direction. From the entrance to the forest, he watched as the group marched away. He stayed, watching until the group was a mile off and turning the next corner.

The nurse stood next to the German. "Who were they?"

"Escaped prisoners most likely. Bad men. You stay close."

"You think they might be back."

The German nodded. "So does he," nodding at the American who was just heading back.

The Lieutenant and the Captain had a long conversation away from the nurse and the elderly couple. Neither trusted the departed prisoners to keep marching. The seven men had been much too interested in the young nurse to give up that easily.

The two soldiers came up with a plan. The German would act as the last line of defense. He had to stay at the checkpoint in case other deserters appeared.

The American would act as the forward line. He would be in the woods. If the squad came back, he would try to stop them. It would be seven against one. The big unknown was whether the escaped prisoners had spare clips or only spare bullets. Without clips, the seven could only fire one shot each without reloading. The M1 carbine the American carried could fire 15 rounds without reloading.

Toward the end of the conversation, the old man approached. In broken German, he volunteered to take up a station at the entrance to the woods. He would have a clear view for a mile down the road and could alert the German if he saw anything threatening.

The old man had been a soldier in World War I. Even then, his age had kept him in the reserves, but still, he had been trained and he had fought. He was not afraid of being shot at.

The German and American agreed that would be a third way to defend themselves. The nurse and the old woman positioned themselves inside the house. One looked toward the woods to the east for new deserters while the other looked to the west in case the prisoners came through the fields.

Late in the day, as dusk was arriving, the American went to the forest entrance. He patted the old man on the shoulder and unslung his rifle. He slowly began to walk the mile to the next turn. The Captain stayed on the side of the road, working from tree to tree. He paused periodically to listen.

Thirty meters from the next turn, the Captain stopped and listened. He heard nothing, so he squatted down and leaned against a tree. He would wait all night if he had to. Snow began to softly fall.

The American heard footsteps approaching from around the corner. The steps halted and a quiet conversation began. The American couldn't hear the words and didn't understand German very well anyway but he could tell from the tone that plans were being made.

Plans to kill the American Captain and the German Lieutenant, maybe to kill the elderly couple. Plans to rape the nurse.

The Captain looked back. The old man was still there, a small figure visible only because the sky was lighter behind him. Good. If the worst happened, the Lieutenant would have ample warning.

The American stepped off the road into the snow. He trod slowly and carefully cutting through the woods instead of following the road around the corner. With a little luck, he would come out behind the prisoners.

No such luck. The seven desperate men were squatting on the ground talking about six meters further down the road. Their rifles were slung over their shoulders. The American moved two steps to his left, finding a slightly wider space between the trees.

The nurse and the elderly woman jumped when the shots rang out. Seven quick shots, followed by seven more. A pause and then a final three shots. They looked at the Lieutenant fearfully. His calm face reassured them. The Lieutenant had been expecting the shots for some time. All seventeen from the same weapon. An American rifle.

The American returned nearly an hour later carrying seven rifles and three ammunition belts. The old man met him at the entrance to the forest. The old man had stayed at his post, waiting, wanting to be certain.

The American Captain had dragged the dead bodies into the woods. Other deserters would use the road. They didn't need to find seven dead soldiers and wonder what happened. The snow that was falling would soon cover up the blood pooled in the roadway. Then it would cover up the bodies in the woods.

The nurse hugged the Captain as he reached the checkpoint. She hugged the Lieutenant also before returning to her patient. The old woman only nodded her thanks. The war had been going on for the better part of six years. The last war had gone on for four years. These things happened in a war.

The old man and the old woman each got a loaded rifle. A third loaded rifle went into the nurse's hiding place along with the American's weapon. The Captain had ammunition but not a lot. Better to use a German rifle and German ammunition. He took the fourth captured weapon. Rifles five and six went behind the wall, near the road. The last one went behind the rubble, also near the road.

The German Lieutenant and the American Captain divided the remaining ammunition between them. There were 50 clips with ten rounds each. That would deter a lot of deserters. It might deter an all out assault.

The war was getting closer to their little home in the forest. The two soldiers didn't know exactly what was happening but they could make a good guess. In late December, there had been a big battle. It had continued into early January.

Since then the sound of the German artillery got closer and closer. The Germans were retreating. The Allies were advancing. What to do when the armies arrived was a problem.

So far regular German units had never come this way. It was a small back road, too small for tanks and large trucks. Troops on foot stayed on the main road, walking with the vehicles. Only deserters came down the back road.

Some day the main German forces would come through as they retreated. At the very least, regular troops would arrive and set up in the woods to delay the Allied advance. At worst, it would be a rout with large numbers of men fleeing the enemy.

The German Lieutenant would leave when that happened. Back into the Army again. He had prepared fake orders for himself so he wouldn't be arrested or shot as a deserter. The orders said he was a scout looking for new positions for the artillery.

But what of the American? The Germans might arrive and be there for days. The American couldn't safely hide in the woods. He couldn't hide in the nurse's little cubbyhole. He would be quickly found in either place.

The old man had a solution. At the end of his fields was a small rocky hill next to a stream. Partway up one side was a cave, mostly hidden by some boulders. It was big enough to hold a man and some supplies. It wasn't ideal but it was the best they could do.

Deserters were now coming by in groups, two or three times a day. It was getting increasingly risky for the American to pretend to be a sentry. Someone might think turning in an American prisoner would get them off the hook for deserting.

It was time for the American to get into the cave. Supplies were laid in. The Captain could return for more supplies at night if necessary.

The German gave the American his name and address. Kurt Metzger, a butcher from a small town near the Swiss border. The nurse was Colette Dubois from a village outside Strasbourg.

The American was Hank Powell. He was a cattle rancher from eastern Colorado. The information wasn't written down. If any German's found it, they would start a search.

The American remained in hiding for six days. There were more and more deserters on the first and second days. The artillery moved closer and closer to the clearing. The German Lieutenant no longer pretended to be a sentry at a checkpoint. Now he was a scout waiting for his unit to come closer so he could direct them to the positions he had found.

The nurse often didn't have time to hide from the deserters. But few paid any attention to her. The deserters just wanted to get farther away from the Allied advance.

The regular German army showed up on the third day. There were several hundred men, a mix of infantry and mortar units. The Captain of one mortar unit took a look at the Lieutenant's fake orders and threw them in the fire. He was short of men and officers. The Lieutenant was now assigned - or shanghaied - into the mortars.

The wounded man the nurse had been caring for was carried away on his stretcher. The medics said he would be evacuated to a hospital in Germany. He thanked the nurse for taking care of him and the old couple for feeding him. He thanked the Lieutenant for saving him from the prisoners who had taken him hostage.

"And thank the other one for me," he told the Lieutenant with a wink. He had seen the American and recognized the uniform. But he had also seen the American defend them all.

The German's set up in the woods, behind the houses. If the Allies tried to cross the fields, they would be cut down. For the next three days, more German troops arrived. Some settled in the woods and others continued on to set up the next defensive line.

Day seven American troops arrived in the woods to the west. By this time, the old couple and the nurse were hunkered down in the remaining corner of her uncle's house. Surrounded by walls and rubble it seemed the safest place to be when the bullets began flying.

The Americans tried to cross the fields and were quickly repelled. Though they greatly outnumbered the Germans, they weren't about to try an unsupported assault. Within two hours, bulldozers had widened the road by uprooting trees and pushing them to the side. In another hour three tanks were on scene.

The tanks moved out, firing into the woods. Some troops followed the tanks but most fanned out across the two fields. When the Americans reached the two piles of rubble, they took cover with the infantrymen firing whenever they could identify a target and often even when they couldn't.

One squad of Americans found the old couple and the nurse in their hiding place. They motioned them to stay down. The three civilians covered their ears as the fighting continued. It took close to three hours more before the Germans were pushed back and the fighting moved into the woods.

Even then the three stayed in their hiding place as stray rounds struck the rubble protecting them. Fortunately, some of the American troops had tossed K rations to them before moving forward. It was scary and boring but at least they ate well. There was even a chocolate bar for dessert.

The war quickly moved on and peace returned to the little clearing. The nurse and the old couple spent their time finishing the kitchen. There was no ceiling and the stone walls wouldn't be permanent until they had been stuccoed but it gave them hope to have one room done.

No one knew what had become of the American. The old man had checked the cave and it was empty except for a few supplies and empty containers. They all hoped the American had survived and moved on with the rest of the Allied army.

A month later, the nurse's uncle arrived. With him were her parents. They had managed to travel through the German and American lines and waited in safety until they could return. With all six working together, the old couple's house was finished with two bedrooms, a bath, and a living room.

The group then started working on the uncle's house, clearing the rubble. The uncle left the one corner standing where it was as a reminder of the war. A new house would be built five meters away.