فصل 63

florian

The Polish kid would not give up. She was fifteen, pregnant with her boyfriend’s baby, pregnant with a vision of freedom. And she was brave. I couldn’t deny that.

There was something else I couldn’t deny. Time was running out. I had bullied my way through a couple young guards in rural outposts, but Gotenhafen would be altogether different. Gotenhafen was a major base for the Kriegsmarine, the German navy of the Nazi regime. The military presence would be thick and constant. The naval base and port were also a prime target for Russia’s Red Army. They said that Koch himself had left K?nigsberg. When had he left and where exactly was he now?

Heavy snow fell. I didn’t mind the freezing temperature. The cold lowered the risk of infection in my wound. It kept me alert.

“Beck,” the soldier called out. “That one’s yours.” A small boat sped up to a rotting pier. I said nothing, just turned and walked toward the pier, the pink hat following close behind.

If I had to take the Polish girl in the boat I would. She would be lost amidst the chaos in Gotenhafen. She’d have to deal with her Latvian papers and her pregnancy by herself. A sense of relief washed over me. I would soon be back on my own. I stepped onto the pier and nodded to the driver of the boat.

“Wait, all of you?” he asked.

I turned to find the entire group standing behind me on the pier. The little boy approached and held up the earless rabbit, asking if he too could come to Gotenhafen.

The nurse’s eyes found mine. Yes, you owe us, they seemed to say.