Come Back To Us - 38. Chapter 38

Things weren’t as bad as he had imagined.

The way the men treated him was alright.

He couldn’t help thinking that the captain of the boat had made him understand that they would take him back to Denmark, to his home. The idea was such a sweet temptation, forgetting about all the bad things that had been happening, and just starting everything over once again, like a second chance for this doomed world.

But he couldn’t give up. As Krisitian had said it himself, he had gone too far to stop now. There was no going backwards. He was no child any longer. He had a mission to complete and he couldn’t fail.

He then wondered about Arthur and Edgar. Did they think he had died? Had they sent for backup as they had told him they would to search him out? Were they worried?

He dreamt one night about them going to see Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins to tell them how he had probably died and that they couldn’t do anything about it. How horrified they would look. How Paul would be here too and how he would get angry at Arthur for letting that happen.

But then George added in the picture, unexpectedly entering the room as he could overhear what had just been said. But what hurt the most was the expressionless look on his face.

Would he cry for him should something happen to him?

He wasn’t sure he would like to know the answer.

He was staying alone in a small cabin, sitting on the bed as the door opened. He looked up to see who it was. It was the Captain. He approached him silently. Karl noticed the food he was holding in his hands, which he handed him, but he only kept staring at it with blank and tired eyes.

“Du musst essen.”

He just glanced up at him with the same look in his eyes.

“Essen,” he insisted. “Eat.”

He’d rather die from starving than take their food. But at the same time he couldn’t let himself die from starvation if he wanted to fulfill his mission… He was torn between two choices…

“Spise.”

That’s how they said it in Danish.

He had to keep gaining their trust and playing the poor Danish prisoner who supported the Nazis’ ideology in order to succeed.

“Spise,” the man repeated with a slight German accent. He hated it.

Nothing happened for a little while but then the man put the food on the bed beside him.

“Weißt du, ich habe einen Sohn, der so alt ist wie du.”

You know, I have a son who must be the same age as you.

He looked for something in his jacket pocket and got a photograph out of it not long after.

Karl took a look at it as he showed it to him. It was a young boy, in his early teens, smiling at the camera, with a braided girl younger than him standing by his side.

Karl looked up at him somewhat puzzled, his mouth slightly agape.

“Sie sind meine beiden Schätze.” He paused. “Wenn ich sie verlieren würde, würde ich mich umbringen.”
They are my two treasures. If I lost them, I would kill myself.

Of course, he still couldn’t understand a word of what he said, but he guessed it was about loving them. He put the photograph away after a while.

“Deine Eltern müssen zu Tode besorgt sein.”
Your parents must be worried to death.

He only blinked as he still couldn’t understand. It reminded him of the first time when he had been welcomed by the Hopkins family, when he couldn’t understand a single word of English. He felt heavy-hearted at the memories that were rushing back.

He wasn’t going to become attached to the man or any of the others. He couldn’t. It was nothing but a trick. He wasn’t going to make the effort to learn their tongue, even a few words. He didn’t want to know anything about it or their culture. He didn’t even want to pretend.

“Nun, ich werde Sie noch einige Zeit ausruhen lassen. Aber wenn du dich zu einsam fühlst, kannst du jederzeit zu uns kommen und bei uns bleiben.”

Well, I am going to let you rest for some more time. But if you feel too lonely you can come to stay with us at any time.

Hold kæft.
Shut up.

The man stood up and left the cabin with a last glance at him.

He didn’t feel like doing anything, not even like watching the sea as the waves move and crash against the hull of the boat. All he could do was think and suffer. Over and over again.

***
He kept observing for days on and on since he couldn’t speak. And what he saw left him even more speechless. He saw men. Not killers. Mere men like his father, Kristian or Mr. Hopkins. Men who all had a different story that was lying within their minds. Men with families. So he couldn’t understand…. Why was that war even going on? They were all men, all human beings. Life should be sacred. Mere men shouldn’t decide who should die or not, let alone have the power of killing other innocent men. Was it just all because they shared a different vision of society? All this violence, pain and destruction just for that… He could never accept it.

Thinking about it more deeply, there were no good or bad people. Just men with their own convictions and beliefs, which made them gather into different groups, enabling them to create bonds.

His determination was wavering and slowly fading away. He felt empty with no viable purpose anymore. Maybe he should just go back home to enjoy that peacefulness he had been missing so much for the past few months.

“Herr Kapitän! Es ist ein weiteres amerikanisches U-Boot in der Nähe!” One of the men came in shouting as they were all sitting at the table, chatting and playing.

Captain! There is another American submarine nearby!

He could only understand the words “Kapitän”, “ein” and “America”. He had another bad feeling all of a sudden. The way his stomach was aching again could only confirm it.

The men all rushed outside as if to prepare to attack. So he followed suit.

As he went to lean on the railing, so much so that he could have easily fallen into the water had someone pushed him, he caught sight of a submarine that looked just like the one where its members had welcomed him.

“Versenken wir es!”

Let’s sink it!

He disappeared underwater in no time. Meanwhile, the men on the boat were all moving back and forth on the deck. His stomach dropped. He knew what was about to happen. They were going to bomb the submarine just like they had done with the one where Aiden, his father and all the others died. He was having trouble breathing once again. He couldn’t move, he couldn’t shout. There was nothing he could do to prevent that from happening. He could only watch the animation with desperate eyes and a heavy heart.

A while later, they started dropping the first bomb and seconds later, it made a huge splash. All that water springing in the air… It was quite impressive. He watched with wide eyes and his mouth agape as the water came back to its normal state.

Then, they dropped a second bomb and then another one, and as if it wasn’t enough, once again another one over and over again to make sure it would sink.

The goosebumps on his skin were dangerous, but he had no control over his body. If they came to discover who he really was…He had been very lucky to escape from that last time… He held on the railing for support, trying to find a new breath.

And soon a newfound determination surged into him.

Even if they were people he didn’t know, let alone people he could grow attached to, this wasn’t done. His jaw was clenched and he squeezed the rope he was holding until it hurt.

There was no way he could let them keep killing innocent people, even if it meant killing them all. As Mr. Hopkins would say: “A war is a war. There is no place for humanity in it”.

But he had to strike soon.

***
One night, he had another vision, but not of Mímir or the Viking Age. He saw George and himself on a boat. Or should he say, he saw another teen who looked like himself, again, and one that looked like George, but still without glasses and with the start of a tiny stubble and both with clothes that looked similar to what they could be wearing nowadays. It must have been so because he had been staying on a boat for the last few days and that the proper lack of food and the tiredness were making him have visions, that is.

He sat up and left the cabin. It was time he’d done it. When most of the men were asleep, they couldn’t suspect anything.

He found his best ally in his scheme. A fork. He had to struggle to manage to break it. But nothing could resist his steely determination. And he found an object heavy enough to help him.

The plan was simple. And should be quick as well. The key to efficiency.

“Hjælp!!!” He started shouting as he was now standing outside the cabin he was supposed to stay in. He did it again two or three times, so he was sure he would catch the attention of the few men who were still awake. Yet, at the same time, he had to be careful not to wake up the whole crew.

They were fast to rush by his side.

“Was geht ab?” The Captain asked him, looking somewhat alarmed.

“Kom! Indvendigt!" He pointed to the inside of the cabin.

The men gave each other looks that made him hope they weren’t suspecting anything.
His shoulders relaxed as they decided to go in to inspect the room. The Captain was first, followed by two of them. He heard them speak from inside after a little while, probably noticing that there was nothing wrong inside the room, so he had to be quick now. He pushed forward the last man who had been standing in the doorframe for the last few moments before he hurried to close the door and used his fork so they wouldn’t be able to go out.

“Karl! Karl! Karl! Karl!” The Captain kept shouting his name and he only stared at the door with expressionless eyes. “Was tun Sie? Mach die Tür auf! Jetzt! Karl! Karl!”

He shouldn’t keep making too much noise. Or else his scheme would fail. But he had to make do with what he had to hand, and it was so little.

“Jeg har allerede valgt min side, og det gjorde jeg for længe siden.” A pause. "Og det er ikke dit."
I’ve already chosen my side, and I did a long time ago. And it’s not yours.

His voice was calm and devoid of any emotions as he spoke.

Too bad they couldn’t understand Danish.

He heard the man speak German again through the door, but he ignored it and went back to business. He had to be real quick. Time was precious. Too precious to be wasted.

“Karl!”

“Hold kæft,” he groaned in a low voice.

He went where they stored their bombs and got to work. He used the rigging to bring them up.

He was no sailor. But he had the privileged skill to learn fast. He planned on dropping them on the boat, to make holes, plenty of holes to sink the ship.

Then once they would be deep enough in the water as the ship sank, they would explode and destroy it. Easier said than done, of course…

It took him some time, but it worked. And as he had just finished, he had just enough time left to dive into the water and swim far enough from the ship to watch the bombs explode. It was even more impressive in the darkness, with the stars and moon lightening up the ocean, he decided.

And there he was again, back to square one, left to die in the middle of the ocean all alone. But at least they wouldn’t harm anyone anymore.

He was shivering again. Should he be afraid of death?

He couldn’t help wondering now…

How long could he possibly hold on in that cold and dangerous water until it defeated him?

He kept swimming until he drained the very last of his strength to keep going. Wandering in those unknown waters in the hope of finding a boat that wouldn’t be an enemy, to rescue him and bring him back to England. But the more he kept swimming, the more he lost hope. The last little flicker of hope he had faded away along with his strength and determination.

He could only let himself drown now. And think about all the people he cared about one last time.

Dad…

He could hardly speak as his throat and lips were dry as hell so it came as a hoarse sound rather than anything coherent. He felt something wet roll down his eyes.

He did everything he could until the end. So he could die without shame or remorse.

He only wanted to leave this world with his face in mind.

George…I’m sorry I was so stupid… He couldn’t deny he would miss him…

The water filled his senses and his eyes fluttered close rapidly, darkness overwhelming him.

This was the end this time…

Hello everyone!
Here you go with another chapter
Have a good day/evening/night and take care ❤️