Old Loyalties
There he was in his tube surrounded by old medical equipment and others like himself. He had a number plastered onto his chest, “0218.”
One day he awoke and he knew where he was. He was in the laboratory of course. The tube cracked and an orange light emitted from the crevices until the tube exploded. The liquid inside gushed out immediately in small waves until it all trickled out. He had breathed in the air for the first time in years. He examined himself and found barely any change. He didn’t even age a day. He lumbered around to examine the tubes of the children like him; everything looked old and abandoned as if everyone gave up on the experiments and just put them to sleep before it had all hit the fan. He examined the old papers of this “Master Race” they all spoke about when he was conscious. Of course then he couldn’t fathom what it was that was his purpose. He immediately felt sick. He didn’t want this at all so he disintegrated the paper into ash. His eyes glowed orange for a second before a ray of orange light became of them. The intense heat was enough. He walked to the old metal doors shivering with each step from the cold atmosphere. He pushed but they were locked shut. He threw a powerful blow with his leg and the door shook. After all his efforts he decided to carve an opening using the orange heat that was emitted from his eyes. He walked outside and inspected the old rotting corpse of a soldier. He always liked their outfits. He found them more pleasing to the eye than the white gowns or plain leggings they’d hand him. He had no mother nor father. He didn’t even have anyone to look up to. At the time he was the oldest among all the children being seen as the most wise; it was only natural that he would lead them all. It was a sad sight at the time. He'd always shared his meals with the others, sometimes not eating for days at a time until he was forced to. The stink of the corpse was getting stronger so he walked up the stairs but not before tearing the red arm band on the soldier into shreds. For a moment he thought of going back for the others. The guilt was creeping in on him but by that point he was too far ahead to make the trip back so he just kept going. He met another obstacle, a thin metal sheet which he easily ripped through like aluminum. He went outside to breathe in the night’s air. Before he could relax he heard the roar of engines and a click which brought a flash of bright light which blinded him. He could only squint as he looked up to see soldiers with different uniforms of the ones he was used to aiming their rifles and bayonets at him.
“What is your name?”
He couldn’t understand them at all, the language was too alien to make sense of it. He stepped closer curiously and was met with a warning shot that nearly clipped off his ear. He noticed unfamiliar red star emblems on their helmets.
For the first time in his life he felt lost and it terrified him.
He could only go into a fetal position as the men moved into the bunker. He was given a jacket and a canteen to drink out of. He saw the other children being put inside a different truck. He could recognize some of the faces and numbers. A soldier walked towards the jeep he was on with a child.
He knew who she was from her face and the number on her chest. 0219 was apparently the oldest, only coming second to himself. She was mute so he didn’t bother speaking to her and gave her the jacket. The truck full of kids made a loud roaring sound which startled the girl. The truck reversed and then drove away. The jeep they were on started soon after. He couldn’t understand the language of these men but he heard something that he didn’t like. “Lab.” He couldn’t confirm that they were going to take him to one but he couldn’t just sit down and take it. While the sun was starting to rise the men took a bathroom break. It was a perfect chance to escape.
“0219, I’m leaving.” 0219 grabbed his arm and shook her head in disapproval.
Judging from her face she looked scared even more than he was himself.
“I heard the word ‘lab’ getting tossed around, so I'm leaving.” 0218 said.
0219 gripped his arm painfully hard. He tried to pry her fingers off but they were too strong. He winced in pain. 0219 pointed at herself and then at him repeatedly to show that she wanted to go with him.
“Ah okay then.” he replied. She let go of him allowing 0218 to hop off.
0219 fell off with a loud thud sound. One of the soldiers ordered her back onto the jeep and looked pale when he realized 0218 wasn’t on there either.
0218 was already behind some bushes near the road. He saw that 0219 was caught and ran stealthily towards the soldier grabbing his jaw and tearing it off. The screams of agony alerted the other man who was just finishing his bathroom break causing him to fire his rifle at the boy. 0218’s skin could handle such small rounds and he ran towards him. The man fired multiple rounds blindly and hit 0219 in the abdomen. 0218 lunged and punched his face in before finally using his heat vision to melt his brains. He sprinted to 0219 and held her. She was gifted but her durability wasn’t as great as 0218.
The bullet wound wasn’t deep so he tore the clothes of the man he just killed and gave 0219 the gun which she used as a hiking stick. He took the bullet out barehanded and wrapped the ripped rags around her abdomen as they walked. He had no idea how to drive so they walked away from the jeep.
“I could try cauterizing it if you’d like?”
0219 heard this and shook her head no. They followed that road for a day under the blazing heat. Soon at night they saw a sign and it said Unterfeste. The duo were excited since it probably meant a town was nearby so they trekked forwards. 0219 was exhausted and started to fall asleep on the walk. 0218 carried her the rest of the way, fastening the rifle on his back. 0218 found the town and carried the girl forwards. It was still night time so he knocked on a door and got no answer. He knocked on every house until a man with stubble on his face and a scar across his right cheek answered.
“Oh hello there.” the man said.
“May we come in? The girl here was wounded not too long ago.” 0218 said.
“Actually, I’m a doctor, boy, come inside.”
0218 carried the resting girl inside, the sun was starting to come up outside.
“I took out the bullet because it wasn't lodged in too deep.” The boy said.
The doctor took off the rag and inspected the girl.
“The girl’s wound has healed, there is only a little blemish on her.” the man said.
“Could you give her some medicine so she doesn’t get sick?” 0218 replied. He knew that her enhanced physiology was probably the reason why she had healed from such a wound so fast.
“I could give her an antibiotic but where did you two come from?” The man looked at the girl’s arms and touched them.
0218 stood silent.
“We just moved to this town from Munich?” 0218 replied. Munich was one of the few cities he was familiar with.
“Munich is in West Germany.” The man stated
“What?”
“This girl’s muscles are unusually firm and dense for her small stature.”
0218 scratched his black hair trying to think of something.
“I always suspected the rumors of the super soldiers were true.” The man walked away from the girl and gave the boy an apple.
“It makes sense why you wouldn’t know what happened with Germany if that were the case, eat.” The man said.
“What happened to Germany? Was there a civil war or something?” The boy asked.
“Germany was defeated in the second world war and the two halves of Germany split between the Allies and The Soviet Union.”
0218 sighed in relief that he wouldn’t have to unjustifiably persecute or kill anyone for their cultural identity like they were being brainwashed to. All he ever wanted in his short life was something normal.
“This is great! You two could bring back the original glory of Germany!”
But some old loyalties die hard. —End of Chapter 1
