Meat and greet

It was inevitable we would be noticed eventually. Even though Tom had placed a tent for cover, questions would be asked around about those strangers they saw in the mountains. Tourism was... well non-existent, except for those poor tourists trapped in the Black Forest, gradually resigning to their fate being trapped for a very long time to come.

We couldn’t sit idle too and had to prepare for the times that food for the inhabitants would become scarce. Not everyone in the Black Forest could hunt, set traps, too long they had been dependent on fuel supplies for their tractors, jeeps and trucks. Life as usual would soon grind down to a screeching halt, certainly when the allied forces would leave to fight the last battles. Some inhabitants had left the area, some could take care of their own, some could even barely do that, and others were becoming completely helpless. Tom would hear about the situation in the villages around. I always asked him how the situation was developing, and every time I was getting more or less the same answer:

“Getting worse...”

Not many men were left in the villages, being called or pressed into defending the fatherland. Germans always had had a sense of duty and in this war it was no different. Which left the women to fend for their own, not knowing when their husbands or partners would come home, if they did at all. Children, teenagers and young adult women lived with their mothers, tried as best as they could to provide, ever uncertain if their fathers or older brothers would return.

Then the allied soldiers left one day, travelling south rapidly, leaving next to nothing behind. It were the last great maneuvers in a most horrific war.

The next day Tom came to me, telling me one of villagers living close by his girlfriend had run out of food. Everyone in the villages tried to help each other before, but at some point, they realized they had to plan for worse days to come.

We could hunt easily. But giving food to the villagers would raise questions about who had been hunting. For now, I asked Tom to hunt for a roe deer, gather all the salt his girlfriend and her mother could find, butcher up the deer in pieces and stack it in a cellar of a house without residents. He could then give the meat packages to his girlfriend and she could give it to the starving people, saying it was a gift from her boyfriend living in the woods. For the meantime it would have to suffice. Later he could teach his girlfriend to set traps. There were also plenty of fish in the rivers and lakes. They could start making nets to catch enough fish for people that were starving. They would have to learn to survive without being too dependent on a friendly stranger in the woods. The sooner the better.

But it was inevitable. Since Tom came to me to ask what to do, and since he said to never have met the other villagers the question was raised by her mother, named Marie, who’s idea it was to go hunting, setting traps, fishing and so on. So in the end he had to tell her. He kept it to a bare minimum as I had instructed him beforehand. Should he get that question, tell them you are still in contact with your previous commanding officer, also living of the woods around.

Desertion used to be frowned at, with their men gone to fight the war, but when Tom told them about the battles we had fought, combined with rapidly rising need, we were seen as a godsent. However, the mother of his girlfriend, Marie, wanted to meet me, to find out for herself which kind of man I was.

I set up the meet in the forest, but not nearly close by to our cave dwelling. I had no need for unwanted visitors. Marie and her daughter may have been trustworthy, but I could not tell if her friends, family members or neighbors were..

I foresaw that the entire section would be outed eventually, but this time I would offer her only my presence, only mentioning the section and our skills.

Guided by Tom, she came together with her daughter. I had set up a small circle and waited, seemingly relaxed, clean shaven, cut hair. At first she seemed surprised seeing me, but sat down at my gestured invitation.

“You don’t look like someone living in the woods alone for some time.” She started.

“I clean up rather well, thank you.” I smiled lightly.

“Tom said you were his commander?”

“Correct. I commanded the section first, then the platoon of five sections of ten people, all coming from the same village.”

“Why did you join the war?” Marie asked straight forward.

“I made a promise to Tom’s mother to keep her children safe.”

“Children?”

“Tom and his older sister, Kate.”

“Did she...?”

“No, she is still alive. With me and the remaining people of my section.”

Surprised she asked: “There are more of your people here?”

“We all six deserted as one. We had seen too much of the war. I have seen too many of my people dead or hurt. I wanted to keep the promises I could still keep. Keep Tom and Kate safe. Keep my promise to their mother and keep my promise to the living members of my section.”

“So you are a man that wants to keep his promises, wherever they bring you...” She surmised.

“Why are you all living in the woods?” Marie continued.

“We hid in the woods during the war, they kept us safe. When we deserted we didn’t want other people finding us easily, drawing us back in. At first it seemed we wouldn’t be here long, but with the war evolving ever more dangerous, well, we had to stay. Tom and Kate miss their mother, I know... One day we will have to return. Or find another solution... But for now, we don’t need anyone. We survive just fine.”

“Hmm... Why did you promise their mother to keep her children safe? Was she your wife or girlfriend...?” She asked.

Yes, that is a good question. Why did I make that promise in the first place? I could not find the answer I had to admit to myself. Because I cared for the children? I cared for their mother? I couldn’t see them hurt? Perhaps very deep down I knew I had a chance to keep that promise however the odds were stacked against me? And they were stacked heavily against me. I barely managed to save Tom. I didn’t even know it was him at the time, there at the first battle, at the Regen. And at the second battle we were all involved. Could have been easily one of them dying.

I involuntarily shuddered at the thought. I was quiet for some time, but she kept her silence, until I answered.

“To be honest, I don’t really know. Perhaps because I couldn’t bear the thought of them dying when I even had the smallest chance to prevent that. They were nice to me, her mother was nice to me when I worked there as a gardener. And when she told me Kate had to enlist as a medic, and her brother would follow her, I just... did. Other than that, I don’t really know.”

Perhaps my initial reasons were still the same, after all. I enlisted because I wanted to do something meaningful in my life, protecting others, and I couldn’t stand the injustice of the war, of the pressured enlistments of adults, still so young, full of promise. Or perhaps I wanted to die, doing something really useful for a stranger, even after the kids had died and I had survived by mere chance and the promise to their mother was just an excuse to enlist... There was simply no way to know, no way to find out, as so many things had changed in such a short amount of time.

I missed her latest question as I was lost in my thoughts. She had to repeat it again, a bit louder:

“You say you don’t need us. But what if we need you?”

“I’m sorry, your previous question, no one ever asked me that so straightforward, it got me thinking.” I continued:

“What if you need us? Sure we can offer advice, teach you to survive in the forests. But I don’t want my section to end up as the all mighty saviors of the region. It will make you less independent and increase the dangers for my people. **** people can do anything, even try to hurt us, even members of your extended family, not to mention your neighbors, friends of the neighbors and so on.”

“So you want to help, but keep it at a low profile...”

“Yes, please. Organization of it is not that difficult. We had a look around, there aren’t that many people left in the villages.”

“For how long?”

I sighed at that.

“Until we feel confident that you can manage without us, perhaps. If the alliance wins, some of your men could return... If the Russians somehow win, you will need to learn to go into hiding... If the Russians lose, but they disperse into gangs and somehow find their way here, you will need to learn to defend yourselves... We can’t leave anyway until the roads are safe.”

“What do you want in return?”

“Just the promise the villagers won’t try to keep us hostage to your problems, and above all, not plan anything to hurt my section. Don’t try to find us at all for that matter.”

“Nothing more?”

“No.”

“Why would you help us then?”

“Because we can.”

And with that I stood up to let her talk it through with her friends and neighbors.

Gods, let’s hope I made the right decision on this one.