The moment that Sam peeked out to see if the coast was clear, he was met with gunfire. It was the same soldiers as the time before. The Odradek’s sensor backed up his theory as it flashed from white to orange. He could tell from Lou’s uneasy jerks, as well. It might not have been the time or place, but Sam felt relieved. This kid might not remember him anymore, but they were still able to connect like always.
—BB.
The top of the truck began to burn alongside the sound of the explosions. Hand grenades were being thrown inside. Dragging his wounded leg behind him, Sam mustered all his strength to escape. Trucks exploded one after another. He could feel hot winds and impact tremors on his tail. Lou was terrified and crying out. Choked by the black smoke, Sam searched for a place they could hide. The buildings lining the road were all piles of rubble, and didn’t look like they would be able to conceal them at all.
Driven forward by the bullets, Sam finally found a building with a red-brick facade. The glass was shattered and only the frame remained, but the original entrance still stood. Sam entered its dim interior. Part of the wall had collapsed, shelves had fallen down and several pieces of furniture were toppled over. There was no sign of anybody. A coffee cup and a cracked plate sat on the table. The open newspaper featured a black-and-white picture of a town ablaze and a headline in large German letters.
Sam sensed a presence outside the window and hid in the shadow of the table. It was one of the skeletal soldiers. Luckily, the soldier didn’t seem to have realized that Sam was in there. As Sam decided to just let the soldier pass, an explosion shook the building.
Fine rubble fell from the ceiling, making a clattering sound as it collided with the cup on the table below.
The radio in the bay window suddenly switched on.
Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high—
It was an English song. An old song that Sam had a feeling he had heard somewhere before.
There’s a land that I heard of once in a lullaby. Oh, somewhere over the rainbow—
As if it heard the song, the skeletal soldier turned back and looked in Sam’s direction. It didn’t have any eyeballs, but those empty sockets saw Sam. From where Sam was hidden under the table it should have been impossible for their eyes to meet, but still, they saw each other. Sam immediately shot at it.
Then he turned on his heel and ran out of the exit at the back, finding himself in a narrow alleyway just wide enough for one person.
He could see the church spire in the sky, which was punctuated by tall buildings on both sides of him. The Odradek was still pointing in that direction. There was no way Sam could get lost now, so he began to run. It sounded like the aerial bombing campaign was still in full swing as several bombers darted by, streaming bombs out of their bellies, and vanished. Explosions sounded all across the town as it crumbled into rubble and went up in flames. This confusion was a good opportunity for Sam. It could have hindered the movements of the skeletal soldiers somewhat. The church spire was almost upon him. It was just a little farther until a gap in the path. A soldier flew out from the buildings, and when Sam turned around he could see one standing behind him, too.
He was cornered. He dropped low and tackled their legs as he dodged their fire. Even though they were only made of bones, each one of them felt like they weighed just as much as an adult human. Sam snatched up a handgun from one of the fallen soldiers and shot it in the chest. Several ribs shattered into dust and a small flame blew out from where the heart should have been. As Sam looked on, the flames spread, engulfing the rest of the skeleton.
Next, he shot at the soldier approaching from the rear as it charged forward, firing without pause. Every bullet went wide as the gap between them shrank. Sam’s opponent seemed to have run out of ammunition as he tossed away his rifle and brandished an army knife. Sam aimed at his undefended chest but missed. That was his last bullet. All he could do was dodge the flailing knife and lunge at the soldier’s chest. Their bodies entangled, but the moment they hit the floor, the soldier’s helmet slipped off with a clunk onto the cobbles below. More than half the soldier’s skull had been blown off. It was strange enough that these skeletal soldiers were able to move in the first place, but for them to be so animated in such a broken state felt even more ominous to Sam. The very bone that should have held their brain in place was missing, yet they fought as if still alive. As he held the soldier down, Sam saw his chance.
Skeletal arms pounded Sam’s back. It felt like he was being hit with steel. In fact, the pain was so bad that it knocked the wind out of him. His grip slackened for a moment, and before he knew it, their positions were reversed. The soldier was straddling Sam with one hand around his neck and the other balled into a fist, attempting to rain punches down on him. Sam dodged the fist as he rammed the ammunition clip clutched tightly in his hand into the soldier’s chest. Another rib broke.
The soldier stopped moving. Sam thrust the clip at it once more with all the strength he could muster. The bones crumbled and disintegrated into fine particles. The particles gave off the red light like embers, eventually setting fire to the soldier’s chest.
It let out an inhuman scream of agony as the flames engulfed it and it disappeared.
Sam brushed away the fallen sparks and stood back up, before leaving the alleyway and continuing toward the church.
The church bells were ringing to an insane rhythm.
Unlike the exterior of the church, its interior was in a sorry state. The arched roof was riddled with holes and the heaven depicted there broken. The stained glass had melted muddily and the pews that had once seated the churchgoers were charred black from all the fires. The air was filled with the stench of decay, which quickly enveloped Sam. On the altar right in front of him lay an offering of a small whale on its back. That was where the smell was coming from.
The Odradek showed that the man was here. It had formed into a stiff cross shape and stood unmoving. Lou wasn’t crying, but still seemed to be trembling with fear.
Something fell on the altar. It bounced off the whale’s exposed belly and rolled to Sam’s feet.
It was a doll. But its eyelids were opening and closing furiously as if it was having a fit.
—BB.
Sam turned in the direction of the voice to find the man standing there.
“Give me back my BB,” he said.
As soon as the man opened his mouth, the sound of a gunshot rang out. The bullet grazed Sam’s shoulder before lodging itself in the altar directly behind him. The bullet had still caught him with enough force to throw his balance, and he crashed backward with it. Blood trickled out from the tears in his uniform.
Sam clutched the pod containing Lou with both arms, as if to hide it. The blood from his shoulder wound trickled down his arm, dirtying its exterior. The man looked down at the unsightly form of Sam, clumsily sat on his ass against the altar. The man’s expression seemed to flicker for a moment. Sam thought he could see a flash of sadness, but it soon disappeared.
“Give me back my BB,” repeated the man, almost as if muttering deliriously. He slowly lifted his arm and pointed the gun toward Sam. But for some reason, Sam didn’t feel the same bloodlust that he had felt right after the man first appeared.
“Let it go…”
The man’s tone was vague. It was like he was remembering something. Sam glared at the barrel of the gun and shook his head. He couldn’t leave the BB. He had no reason to hand it over. Lou didn’t belong to this man.