TW: Violence

Albert Thalberg and Hermann Bain were wandering through The Black Forest. Albert scanned the area ahead, but he couldn't see much due to the darkness. All he could see were the outlines of the trees. Leaves and twigs crunched and snapped underneath his recently polished boots.

"Albert I don't want to die out here," Hermann said while glancing around at his surroundings.

"For goodness sake, you won't die Hermann.
"I wonder what happened to you.
"Where did this cowardly man come from?"

"Albert I lost a lot and I don't want to lose more,

"You lost a lot? I lost more and it changed me. A desperate man is a dangerous one,"

Suddenly in the faint moonlight that shone through the small gaps in thr trees, Albert saw something leaning up against a tree. Albert and Hermann cautiously approached placing their hands on their gun holsters. Albert knelt down and noticed that it was a dead Soviet soldier. The soldier had been stabbed multiple times in the chest; blood had soaked through his uniform, leaving dark red patches surrounding the wounds. There was also a bullet wound right between the man's eyes. Albert noticed that the soldier's gun, an AK-47, was lying on the ground beside him. Albert grabbed the gun and checked if it was loaded but it was empty. Which Albert thought was strange as there were no signs of any shots being fired except whoever shot the Soviet soldier.

"Do you think whoever killed him stabbed him first or shot him first?"

"Probably stabbed him first out of rage and then shot him,"

"Why not let him live and let him slowly suffer?"

"Perhaps whoever killed him wanted something out of the man.
So they inflicted pain to get him to talk and then shot him to make sure they only knew the information.
"A simple interrogation tactic. We, humans, can only handle certain amounts of pain before we break,"

Albert placed the gun back onto the ground, got up off the ground, wiped the dirt and leaves off his trousers, and went back to walking through the forest with Hermann following closely behind him. After a few minutes, Albert heard a creaking noise close by and stopped and looked around. Hermann also stopped and nervously glanced around, and he had his hand on his pistol, ready to remove it from its holster. Albert looked up and saw another Soviet soldier hanging upside down from a tree with a rope firmly tied around his foot.

"Someone got caught in a trap,"

"Are you telling me that this forest is full of traps Albert,"

"Well if you were being hunted by the Soviet Army you would set up traps as well,"

"I would rather hide somewhere that isn't here,"

"Let's keep moving,"

Albert and Hermann continued to wander through the forest with a bit more caution now. Both men were now aware that the forest was more dangerous than it previously seemed to be. Hermann still kept his hand resting near his pistol in case of danger. Albert kept calm even though, on the inside, he was anxious about what lay ahead. Eventually, Albert saw an entrance to a clearing where the moonlight was shining brightly in it. Albert paused before entering the clearing as he saw another Soviet soldier lying up against a tree. The soldier had his eyes gouged out and streaks of blood were dried up underneath the man's eyes. He had been stabbed multiple times in the chest, and all the fingers on his right hand had been cleanly sliced off, leaving only his thumb. Hermann loudly gagged at the sight and immediately looked away.

"Are you sure that there isn't just a crazy murderer in this forest?"

"I'm sure of it Hermann. I believe that Himmler is in here,"

"Would he really kill all these Soviet soldiers for no reason other than he still sees them as the enemy,"

"The wilderness changes people Hermann and who knows how long Himmler has been out here,"

Hermann and Albert wandered into the clearing and paused at the centre of it as there were three paths to choose from. Albert glanced down the paths, noticing that all three of them looked the same, just large trees surrounded by nothing but darkness. Albert decided to choose the left path and Hermann followed closely behind him. As they walked down the path the darkness of the forest seemed to swallow them up. Albert suddenly heard a loud rustling noise and immediately stopped walking and signalled Hermann to stop. Albert grabbed his pistol out of his holster and cautiously stepped forward Hermann decided to do the same. A badger walked out from one of the bushes and glanced over at Albert and Hermann before walking back into another bush. Hermann let out a sigh of relief and both men put their pistols back into their holsters.

"This is why I don't like being in a forest that has a potential crazy murderer in it. It puts me on edge,"

"Stop calling Himmler a crazy murderer Hermann. He was our leader you will respect him,"

"But you said that living out in the wilderness changes people Albert. What if living out here has turned Himmler into a crazy mass murderer,"

"I know that I said that. But I doubt that he has become a crazy mass murderer. Let's keep moving,"

Albert and Hermann continued to cautiously wander through the forest until they came across a highly disturbing scene in a different clearing in the forest. Albert wandered into the clearing and paused. He noticed around ten dead Soviet soldiers scattered around the clearing. Walking over to the group of soldiers he noticed that they all had been shot multiple times. Albert eventually noticed a small metal box glinting in the moonlight beside one of the soldiers. He walked over to the metal box and knelt down in front of it. Grabbing the box, which was cold against his skin, wiped the dirt off the lid and revealed a red cross on it. Prying the lid open he noticed that it was strangely devoid of any medical supplies. Quietly closing the lid he placed it back beside the soldier. Hermann approached Albert and awkwardly stood there beside Albert, just staring at the soldiers who were lying up against the trees beside each other.

"There is no way that they died here like this in a perfect line Albert,"

"You are right about that, Hermann. Their bodies must have been dragged here.
"But the strangest thing is that the medic was also killed and the supplies were taken.
"Why would the medic be killed?"

"I don't know why the medic would be killed. Other than whoever killed the medic needed the supplies,"

"It doesn't make sense why would they take Russian medical supplies. Or anything Russian at all,"

Suddenly there was the sound of something similar to footsteps in the bushes. Albert immediately stood up and grabbed his pistol out of his holster. Hermann grabbed his pistol out of his holster and cautiously stepped forward. Albert also stepped forward and aimed his pistol at the darkness of the forest patiently waiting like a predator for someone or something to reveal themselves. A man holding an AK-47 walked into the clearing. Albert gazed into the man's ice-cold eyes and noticed that they were bloodshot and had a crazed look in them. He noticed that the man's clothes were dirty, tattered and frayed at the ends indicating that he had been out in the forest for a very long time.

"He looks like he's on something,"

"Hermann I'm sure he's fine he's probably just sleep-deprived,"

"He looks more than sleep-deprived,"

"Sleep deprivation does cause madness. But I doubt that he is on anything,"

Himmler suddenly ran over to Albert and swung the butt of the gun close to Albert's head. Albert firmly grabbed the butt of the gun and kicked Himmler in the chest causing him to drop the gun. Himmler then started laughing maniacally. Albert felt sweat slowly running down his back even though it was cold outside. Hermann immediately backed off out of fear. Himmler got up off the ground, took a couple of deep breaths, and gave Albert a crazy smile. He rushed towards Albert and tackled him to the ground. Both men struggled on the ground while Hermann anxiously stared at the scene unfolding before him.

"Stop coming here, you filthy communists! Or else I will continue to litter this forest with your corpses!" Himmler yelled.

"We are not communists we need your help," Albert said.

"My help? You want my help? I don't want to help anyone. I have lost trust in people in this god forsaken world,"

"Trust me we are not communists. We were both in the SS,"

Himmler punched Albert in the face knocking him unconscious. Hermann stood there frozen with fear as Himmler picked up Albert's body and heaved him over his shoulder. Himmler picked up his gun and slung it over his right shoulder. Hermann raised his Walther and aimed it at Himmler who just stared at him with a passive look on his face.

"Go ahead just shoot me. But I do believe that you two need my help.
"And I'm not sure if your friend would be too happy if you were to just kill me.
"So just put your gun away and follow me,"

"Fine but how do I know that you aren't just leading me somewhere so you can kill me,"

"You don't,"

"And why did you do that to him?"

"You ask too many questions. And you are also incredibly infuriating. Just be quiet,"

Himmler walked through the forest and Hermann anxiously followed behind him. Eventually, they reached another clearing with a crashed German fighter plane in the middle of it. Himmler and Hermann wandered over to the plane. Himmler carefully placed Albert down on the ground underneath one of the wings of the plane. Hermann looked at the plane and noticed that the paint was slowly fading away leaving only a broken metal shell. He approached Himmler, who was sitting beside Albert, and sat down beside him. Himmler placed his gun down beside him and glanced out at the darkness of the forest. Hermann glanced around at the random assortment of things on the ground near them. There was another first aid kit, which was the same as the one he and Albert found, and there was a Soviet Army uniform that looked like it was made for winter conditions; there was an old SS helmet that had paint starting to fade away, revealing the metal shell underneath, there was a parachute which had been neatly folded up. And there was a large pile of ammunition for the AK-47.

"So how long have you been out here?" Hermann asked.

"I don't know exactly I have lost track of time. I just know when it's day and when it's night.
"I haven't been keeping track of the days that have passed exactly.
"But I can tell you that I have been out here since the end of 1945,"

"We thought that the Allies killed you or took you somewhere,"

"I suppose that you would say that I got lucky. But why do you two need my help?"

"Germany needs a real leader again and we thought that you could lead Germany,"

Himmler sighed and got up off the ground and dusted himself off. He grabbed his gun and walked off.

"Wait where are you going?"

"To go get food just stay here and don't go anywhere," Himmler replied as he stood and stared at Hermann.

"Are you trying to not tell me something? Are you trying to avoid me?"

"I'm not trying to avoid you and I'm not hiding anything. Just stop asking questions. Curiosity gets you killed," Himmler replied as he walked off into the forest.

Hermann sat there gazing out into the darkness wondering what Himmler might be hiding.