United States, Connecticut, Austria.

Abegail blinked at Walter. If they hadn't already been through so many odd and unbelievable things together she might have thought him out of his mind for suggesting a secret passage in the library. Abegail knew that often things were never what they appear and while this was a library now, there was no telling what other purpose it served when it was first built.

She helped Walter search the shelves of the room, pulling on books and moving items in a hope of displacing something that would open the passage or at least hint at where it might be. Abegail felt along the walls, at the edges of the bookcases for a draft or some sign that there was an opening there. She didn't find anything. They had combed every surface in the room, pulled overy book and stirred up a great deal of dust. Walter's frustrated sigh made Abegail turn to look at him.

She was about to suggest that maybe they had the wrong room or had missed something obvious when Walter leaned on the table. She tilted her head, watching intently as he inspected the floor. Abegail moved to the other end of the table and crouched. She watched Walter press the tile and the floor open up. Walter slid under the table and Abegail stood. She pulled on her coat, picked up her briefcase and cast a small glance at her suitcase. It was small but there was no way a ladder could be climbed while holding it and her briefcase. She opened it and pulled out a few envelopes. These she slid into her briefcase. Abegail had ensured she would have money with her as she travelled and while leaving the few clothing items behind wasn't an issue, a large sum of cash was.

Abegail laid out on the floor next to Walter, "I wish I had packed a torch. After you...." She smiled at him, a twinkle of excitement in her eyes.

She waited for him to begin his descent and then followed after. Her briefcase handle was between her teeth as she made her way down the wooden structure.

Gunter nodded to all of Albert's instructions, berating himself for a fool. Albert always had the answer, and all Gunter managed to do ever was screw up. Then he turned and went back to the kitchen. There was work to do around the inn, and it would help keep his mind off the new customer.

A few hours later, Uwe rapped on the kitchen window. 'Hey!' he said, his voice muffled by the glass. 'Some help out here, please?' Gunter nodded and put down the green beans he was chopping. They could wait. Uwe had a short temper, after all. But when Gunter walked into the reception area to get to the door, he was greeted by the sight of the customer with five geared-up American soldiers. Gunter stopped dead in his tracks, staring wide-eyed at the soldiers. This was it. He was done for. There was no point hiding it anymore - it was certain that Gottberg knew about him. Now he was confronted by two of his enemies, though they were enemies for different reasons. Americans and Nazis. Gunter's paranoia crept into his conciousness like a pack of hyenas - swiftly and maliciously - and, for once not caring what Albert would think, Gunter hesitated for one brief second, then bolted back to the kitchen.

Walter told Abigail to climb through the trap door first as he attempted to bar the door to the reading room. Failing to think of a way to prevent anyone from entering the room Walter settled for the old stand-by of jamming a chair under the door handle, it wasn't particularly inventive, but it was sufficent.

Pushing himself along the tiled floor on his stomach Walter made his way into the darkness below. Abigail was already standing at the bottom of the pit, she had been looking up at Walter as he too descended the sturdy ladder, the light from above illuminate Walter's body briefly before being swallowed by the darkness just as she had.

Walter was about to let go of the ladder when his elbow bumped into something that was handing on the wall -it felt like some kind of fixture, perhaps it was a lantern. His suspicions were shown correct when he took the object in hand.

"Look at this." Walter said to Abigail before smirking at the absurdity of his exclamation. "Oh, silly me, you cant even see your hand in front of your face down here."

Taking his lighter from his trouser pocket and lighting it.

"Its a lantern! I hope it still has some fuel left inside." Flicking on his lighter Walter pushed the flame close to the mantle and opened the valve slightly.

"Its nice to see you again Madame." Walter said jokingly as the light from the old rusted lantern illuminated every inch of the small pit. Walter's attempt to lighten the situation, both figuratively and iterally proved a tremendous failure as he cocked his head to the left.

"There are bodies over there." Walter whispered. Sure enough, Abigail turned her head to find the corpses of a man and a woman laying side by side, gasping aloud she inquired as to who they could be.

From his current position Walter could only disern the relative height of the corpses. With lantern in hand Walter crept over to the bodies, and even though they were badly decayed there was little doubt as to the identity of the male corpse, which to Walter's estimation was roughly 6 foot in extremis.

It was the leader of the bloody Nazi nation -Adolf Hitler.

Abegail frowned but did as Walter requested and began climbing down the ladder. She could hear him moving around, furniture scrapping on the floor and his shoes echoing. Abegail climbed slowly, her briefcase clenched precariously between her teeth.

Descending slowly her eyes adjusted to the slowly fading light. By the time she reached the middle of the ladder Abegail couldn't see anything. Stepping slowly down, her foot gently finding each rung as she moved lower into the darkness.

Eventually, her foot touch solid ground. Abegail let out a small breath. A shiver went through her body as the cool underground air began to penetrate her coat. Her briefcase now in her hand, Abegail wrapped her arms around herself. It was pointless to try and look around, nothing could be seen in the inky blackness.

Walter's own descent made little noise until a small clang rang out. Abegail raised her eyebrows at him, not that he could see it, and bit back a retort. She most certainly could not see a single thing.

The sound of a lighter and then a burst of light. Abegail covered her eyes from the sudden and harsh illumination. Blinking, allowing her eyes to adjust Abegail watched Walter complete his trip down the ladder.

Walter whispered about bodies and her eyes turned to look where the two corpses lay. “Who is buried beneath a library and why?” Abegail was puzzled. She was familiar with many burial sites. She and Walter had traversed through a few cairns while they were in Ireland. The topic of death, bodies and burial did not bother her. She encountered many in her research. Abegail had never encountered bodies beneath a library though.

She looked them over. “Who do you think they are?” Abegail took a few tentative steps forward. She was no archeologist but she could see that one was female and one male. The facial bone structure gave it away.

Abegail turned to look at Walter. “Did you know there would be bodies down here?" She wondered if he had been looking for them or for something else and their presence was as surprising to him as it was to her. She placed her briefcase between her feet and rubbed her hands together, staving off the chill. Her eyes scanned the corpses again.

Decay had set it. She wondered what their story was. Lovers? Husband and wife? Brother and sister? So many possibilities and then there was the question of what or who killed them and how they ended up down here.

Albert was glad to see that Gunter had paid attention to him.
He was about to move on with the day, getting ready for the next big crowd, when the soldiers burst in.
"What's all this? Herr Gottberg, soldiers, this is most unusual! I hope you have a very good reason for bursting in like this. If you want a meal, then put the guns away. Explain yourselves!"
Albert was confused, mostly, as to why Americans would be helping a Nazi with anything, especially provided him any kind of military aid.

Gottberg was infuriated by the suggestion of sarcasm in Albert's words, stepping forward in a most forceful manner Adalwolf responded to the young man's accusations.

"I need not explain my actions to you Herr Jurgenstern . You will do as I say."

Suddenly, as if on cue the soldiers raised their weapons and pointed them at the three Inn keepers. Taking a single step back Gottberg continued his admonishment. "These soldiers have been given specific orders to follow my every whim. They will have no compulsions about shooting you down on this very spot."

Gottberg lifted his right arm-extended two fingers and flicked them together in a signaling motion-the American soldiers responded obediently. The soldiers then forced Albert and the girl up the stairs to the second floor, as the other soldier went after Gunter.


________________________________________


"Its him, the fuhrer." Walter let loose with his astonishing revelation.-the surprise in the whites of Abigail's widened eyes could have illuminated the dark cellar with their glare-slowly the realization of what she had just heard sank into her conscious mind.

Walter was now on his knees staring down at the two corpses. "Perhaps not!" He suddenly exclaimed.

"Abigail, did you know that the famous shot of Hitler's dead body taken by the allies in the rubble of Berlin was in fact a doctored photograph? It was faked courteously of the Russians. There are even more of these fakes in circulation in various countries for varying political reasons. Still others proclaim that they are the pictures of look alikes."

Not waiting for his stunned colleague to utter a response Walter continued with his revelations.

"I think that this may be one of the fake bodies."

Abegail, lost in her own theories on who the pair were and how they got there stared at Walter for moment as he exclaimed that the male corpse was Hilter. The proclamation hit her and Abegail gasped.

"How can you know..." She stopped her question as Walter began to theorize that perhaps it might not not in fact be him but a fake. Abegail nodded. She had seen the pictures, the whole world had. Faked, doctored. Not all that surprising. For ages those in charge have controlled the information that the world received. Documents, paintings, all of it easily altered and destroyed. Bodies would be no different.

Abegail stepped closer to the two bodies. Her gaze passed over them. Frowning she turned to her colleague.

"Fake or not, how and why are they down here?"

Abegail remembered the plaque stating that the building had been used as a high command buidling. She looked the bodies over again. It was possible they had been down here since early on in the war, stashed for the occassion of Hitler's death and how it would be portrayed to the media. Or perhaps they were moved here as the war shifted momentum.

"So what do we do now Walter?"

Abegail crossed her arms, the chill of the place getting to her. The bodies did not bother her, by now she was giving them very little thought. She was still curious about them but she also did not wish to stay in this pit longer than was necessary.

Gunter ran frantically down the hall, terrified. If the American were to catch him... Forcing that thought to the back of his mind, he turned sharply into the kitchen. If he could just run fast enough, he could make it out through the back door -- feeling a sharp pain in his right ankle, Gunter cried out and fell to the floor. He had turned too quickly and sprained his ankle. He glanced behind him. The American was almost to the doorway. Gunter tried to crawl on, but the chase was lost. It was over. This was it. He was sure that the American was going to shoot him down right where he lay, on the floor of his cousin's kitchen. Seeing the American emerge into the kitchen, Gunter held out his hands and shrieked in bad English, "Nein! Do not hurt me! Do not hurt me! Do not bring me to Germany so I die!!" Tears of fear stung his eyes. "You are an American, ja? I am with you, I am not a Nazi! I am not, I am not!"

Abigail's questions caused Walter to consider a possible reason for why someone would fabricate and then stash a corpse under a library-particularly one with such a dubious history. As he knelt before the bodies the answered flooded his brain, turning his head toward Abigail's position Walter posited a theory.

"You remember what I told you about the flag-well I think that perhaps these bodies are test subjects-to see if the flag will live up to the legend."

No sooner had Walter revealed a possible explanation for the illogical placement of the two corpses the far wall was blasted out, the heavy stone fragments covered Walter and Abigail-Walter being closer to the exploding wall was knocked unconscious-Abigail remained conscious but foggy.

Abigail's last memory of that horrible dank hole was a black clad Nazi standing over her-it was Niclas Elbrich.

___________________________________________________


Gunter had fallen to the floor of the kicthen, as the American soldier caught up to him-aiming his weapon at the young man with his finger on the sensitive trigger-he spoke to him in German.

"That is why you need to die....traitor." The look on Gunter's face was a mixture of confusion and fear.

"American! No my friend. We are a new breed. The new Nazi regime" Motioning with his weapon the Neo-Nazi forced Gunter into the front room and then up the stairs to join the other prisoners.

Abegail nodded. She remembered what Walter had told her about the flag but she did not immediately put the pieces together. Walter kept talking and as he stated his theory that they used these bodies to test the flag Abegail almost rolled her eyes.

It was obvious. Everyone knew that the Nazi's were fond of experiments and tests. They did all sorts of things to test weapons, theories, genetics, etc. It only made sense that they would want to test out the flag's supposed properties. Abegail was slightly lost in this train of thought when the blast sounded.

Rocks, bricks and dust flew at the pair of scholars. Abegail couldn't see Walter. The blast and debris had caused her to fall backwards. She didn't have time to catch herself or slow her fall. She hit the wall behind her hard and bounced off of it and to the floor. Something was wet and dripping into her eye. Abegail pushed herself to a half reclined position. The action made her stomach turn. Blinking, she looked to the newly blasted hole in the opposite wall.

Blackness began to seep across her eyes but she got a look at the black clad man who stepped through. Her nausea increased. Niclas. He had followed them, he had found them and now there was nothing either of them could do to stop him. She couldn't hear anything from Walter and could barely make out his body on the ground. Abegail realized her ears were ringing.

Surely the blast had shaken the library, surely someone would be trying to break into the room above them....perhaps the authorities were being called.

"No...Walter...stop..." She made an attempt to reach out to stop Niclas from advancing at her or Walter. It was futile, her arms gave out and Abegail fell unconcious. Her body lay on the dirt ground, blood making a small pool at her temple.

The three Inn keepers had been locked in the room for several hours, totally cut off from the outside world, with no way of telling what was going on downstairs-Albert was particularly concerned. As they sat within the room they could hear the disturbing sounds of the Inn being torn part from within. More soldiers had arrived in the interim, as witnessed by Gunter who had taken a seat near the window.

The young chambermaid was standing by the door-serving as their lookout-after several hours of silence she suddenly heard the sounds of footsteps approaching the room. She signaled to Gunter to close the window and move his chair nearer to the bed, as to avoid suspension. It turned out to be a false alarm as the footsteps had stopped in front of the door-no one attempted to enter.

The young girl could barely make out what was being said, but she was able to capture a few words. After the soldiers had left she turned to her friends and repeated what she had overheard, telling them that the conversation was about a communique that had just arrived.

Apparently the three of them would be receiving the company of two additional prisoners-Although no names were mentioned it was obvious that the two individuals were of some renown-As words akin to Doctor and professor were being thrown about during the 'near whisper' of a conversation between Adalwolf and the guard.

Gunter cringed at the gun barrel as he looked up it at the man's hard face. But then the man's words hit him like a sack of bricks. The new Nazi regime? No... It wasn't possible. Hitler had to have been crushed at the Battle of Berlin. So it wasn't over. The war was still going on. And they had just found Gunter. Shocked into silence, Gunter numbly got up and walked with the soldier up the stairs.

The boy sat silent for a while, not sure what to do or what to think. The war was apparently still going on. But what was it that these New Nazis were looking for? They had been ripping through the inn like a whirlwind for a while now, and they didn't seem to have found what they wanted.
His thoughts were interrupted by Ella, who frantically gestured for Gunter to get away from the window. He obeyed as quietly and quickly as he could, shutting the window and swiftly moving the chair away from it, then sitting back down. Then there were a few moments of tense silence as Ella listened at the door. Then she told them the interesting news.

"What do we have to do with these people?" Gunter asked. "Are they deserters, too?" Struck by a sudden thought, he asked another question: "And where is Uwe?"

As the night approached the invading force of American soldiers dwindled down to only two officers-Thinking that Gunter and the others were too frightened to do anything brave or drastic. By the next morning the two new prisoners had arrived at the Inn and were immediately taken up stairs to the small room where the others were being retained.

Immediately upon opening the door the soldiers were rushed by Albert and Gunter-pushing Abigail and Walter aside as they broke through the two soldiers. Their actions allowed Abigail and Walter to make their own move to escape from the torture that they would eventually suffer at the hands of Adalwolf.

This was precisely the reason why Gunter and the others felt it necessary to take action at that point, their apprehensions were soon confirmed in a most terrifying manner. Making their way down the back stairs Gunter and Albert discovered the badly brutalized body of their friend Uwe-Dead.

Gottberg and Niclas were standing out in front of the building and did not hear the commotion, but then several gunshots were fired, the mortar, glass and wood framing of the dwelling had muffled much of the sound.

Luckily Niclas was standing closest to the house and was able to hear the faint sonic traces of gunfire. Adalwolf stood in his place as Niclas ran behind the building-Instinctively knowing that this would be the prisoners choice of egress.

<----CLICK ON THIS
Albert shifts characters, because it doesn't matter who plays him anymore. He's on the railroad tracks and can't escape.

It was a long night. No one had any idea where Uwe was, and Gunter was pretty sure that they were all just waiting around to die. That was not on his plan for his life. As much as he hated running all the time, he felt they had to. They had to get out of here, or they would be killed for certain.

Albert sat on the bed and watched Gunter pace around, fretting. It was no use, really. What they really needed to do was come up with a plan. After a while of thought, he called Gunter over. "Gunter, I need you to listen to me, alright? This getting through to you? Alright. I think I may have a plan." ...

When the first light came through the windows, Gunter, Ella, and Albert waited tensely for the prisoners to come. Gunter had his Hiter Youth knife, which he had managed to conceal from the Neo-Nazis. As soon as the door so much as moved, they rushed it, pushing aside the soldiers and the two startled prisoners. "Come on!" Albert shouted to them, and they followed. After a few turns, they sprinted down the back stairs. Albert saw the bloody mess of Uwe and closed his eyes briefly, exhaling in horror. Gunter stumbled and averted his eyes. It was horrible. But they had to keep moving. Albert ran for a nearby alleyway with Gunter and Ella in tow. Once they got there, they sprinted through it until they reached a small building with one wall almost completely made up of a wooden gate. - it was Albert's shed that he kept in mild repair. It housed a Nazi Volkswagen that he had stolen from the army. He had wheeled it in at night time under a cover, even though the natives of Austria wouldn't have made a fuss that he had stolen from the Nazis. They all hated the Nazis. He had kept it there in case something happened. Precisely like what was happening right now. He ran up to the gate and unlocked the pad lock and chain, throwing the doors open. "Everyone, jump in!" he cried as he opened the door to the car and got in. They had to move fast. The shock factor of what they had done would have worn off by now, and the Nazis were probably pursuing them in an organized fashion.

Gunter had been pulled along by Albert until they reached a strange shack which Albert unlocked. To Gunter's surprise, it housed a Nazi Volkswagen. Then he jumped in on Albert's command, and so did Ella. "Come on!" Gunter shouted to the two Americans. "We have to hurry!"

Abegail was being jostled around. That was the only thing she was sure of. Where she was, how she was moving and everything else about the situation made no sense. Her body hurt. A frown creased her brow. "What the hell happened?" Her mind struggled to find memories of the past few hours.

"Hours?" Had it really been hours? Abegail tried to brush her hair out of her face but found her hands tied. Opening her eyes she looked down into the lap. She was leaning against the side of a vehicle, there was a body next to her and the whole thing was moving. Abegail shook her head just slightly and a face appeared. NIclas. She remembered now, the last thing she saw was Niclas walking through the hole they had blasted in the wall. The library, the bodies....Walter.

Using her shoulder, Abegail pushed herself until she was a bit more upright. Looking out the window she had no idea where they were or where they were headed. Her lips clamped shut as she attempted to process what had happened and plan for an escape. A glance to her side, subtle as she did not want to alert the guards and Niclas to the fact that she was awake, revealed the other body to be Walter. He still seemed unconcious.

Abegail closed her eyes just a bit and tried to piece things together. They had been in the underground room in the library. It had been hidden in the floor and there were bodies in it. Walter had speculated that the corpses were test subjects for the Blood Flag. There had been an explosion and then Niclas appeared. It was the last thing she could accurately remember.

He was taking them somewhere. Why? He could have just killed them, why bring them along? Abegail sat with this question, watching through the slits of her eyelids as the outside world passed them by.

Eventually the vehicle stopped and she was pullled out. A groan escaped as she was roughly brought to her feet. "Ye canna be a little gentle? Na need ta be an arse." She glared at the man who pulled them out. Abegail blew a piece of her auburn hair out of her mouth. Bringing her composure back, Abegail turned to look at Niclas.

"Tell me, what is the point of bringing us here? We do not have anything that belongs to you." She barely controlled the sneer in her voice.

Another man, a large bulky figure joined them outside and with a flick of his hand Niclas dismissed his men to take the professors inside.

Abegail huffed as one of the guards grabbed her arm and pulled her inside. "Cannot even answer me you coward." This, the tone angry, Abegail tossed over her shoulder at Niclas before she was moved inside.

Abegail looked at Walter, wondering how hard of a bump the man had taken for him to say or do nothing in all of this. They were escorted upstairs. A door was opened for them but no sooner had it opened when a group of people came rushing out at her and the others. A yelp of surprise rose up from her throat as she was shoved out of the way of the fleeing people.

Yells and gunshots rang out. Abegail found herself on the ground, her hands still bound but the guard who had been holding her was now preoccupied with the others. Abegail looked around frantically for Walter. Despite the noise around her Abegail managed an audible hiss of his name.

"Walter!"

She crawled towards the now vacant room, not bothering to worry if her guard was going to follow her or not. She needed her hand free but the guards were on or blocking the stairs. This left her with the room as her only option. Crawling inside as fast as she could, Abegail pressed her back up against a wall, pausing to take a breath.

"What a fine you are in now Abby girl....."

Felix Alfarth -exhumed
Andreas Bauriedl -exhumed
Theodor Casella *
William Ehrlich -exhumed
Martin Faust *
Anton Hechenberger -exhumed
Oskar Körner *
Karl Kuhn -exhumed
Karl Laforce *
Kurt Neubauer *
Klaus von Pape -exhumed
Theodor von der Pfordten *
Johann Rickmers -exhumed
Max Erwin von Scheubner -exhumed
Lorenz Ritter von Stransky -exhumed
Wilhelm Wolf *



May 19, 1945. Munich, Germany.


The city of Munich was heavily damaged by allied bombing, suffering 71 air raids over a period of six years. The entire city had crumbled to the ground with the dubious exception of several hundred feet around Königsplatz square, where among other things the national headquarters of the Nazi Party was located. This ungodly building had been partially destroyed by the bombing, it would later be demolished by the allies, much of the surrounding area had also been destroyed.

The only structures to have survived the allied invasion were the "Honor Temples" on the east side of the square where the remains of the sixteen Nazis martyrs (the 16 Immortals) who died in the 1923 were interd. It was no surprise that these pillar monuments would remain untouched by the war, for these were the orders given to the invading forces, the command to preserve the structures came from a joint American, German and British secret alliance.

This secret cabal worked within various divisions of the allied forces-To further their own agenda-Completely without the knowledge of their respective countries. The plan was to clear the city and secure the two sites to serve as the base for 'Operation Fourth Reich'-Being the very same location used by the Nazi for their barbaric and unholy rallies during the war.

Nine of the thirteen immortals have already been exhumed by the Russians, more are scheduled for exhumation in the next month-The October 28th deadline approaching fast.

All that is required now is to gain possession of the Blood Flag and resurrect the 16 Immortals and their leader Adolf Hitler.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Walter and Abigail were still in a daze as they were taken out of the large German made Ford truck and shoved into the building and up the stairs to the furnished prison. The guards were behind them pushing Walter and Abigail forward, but as they approached the door the soldiers pushed the prisoners aside-Their hands still bound.

The two soldiers now standing before them opened the door; only to be rushed by the inmates within. Plowing through the soldiers and knocking the two scholars to the floor they made their escape, in the confusing of the struggle Walter and Abigail wound up inside the room. Walter was not as fortunate as Abigail, he had hit the floor in an awkward position and in much pain-Which however assisted in the breaking of his bonds.

The soldiers had gotten to their feet and after firing several warning shots they promptly chased after the Innkeepers. Walter managed to get free and after finding his way to Abigail untied her bonds and aided her in getting to her feet.

They didn't feel that they had much of a chance escaping since they would be following behind the two soldiers, they counted themselves fortunate when the soldiers, being confused by the scuffle decided to search each room for the escaped prisoners.

This allowed Walter and Abigail to sneak by them and make their way down the backstairs, they were eventually able to catch up with the Innkeepers at the small shack.

Niclas had just missed Walter and Abigail, having taken the wrong alleyway.

Abegail held out her hands, allowing Walter to undo her ties. He gestured, not wishing to alert the soldiers, towards the stairs. Abegail nodded. They seemed distracted by searching for the people who had rushed past them earlier. Rooms were being systematically searched.

The pair made off down the stairs as quickly as they could. Abegail reached the bottom and paused briefly to look for Niclas or the other large man who had been with him. Find neither they took off in a run after the fleeing trio.

Albert got in the driver's seat and opened the door of the passenger seat for the male American. Gunter and Ella got in two of the three back seats and opened the door for the female American. Once they were all inside the car, Albert took the car full speed (only about 60 mph) out of the shack and down the street. People just starting to go about their day screamed and dived out of the way. Cars swerved to avoid the Nazi car. The road was heading east, and Albert intended to take it all the way outside the city. Gunter was gripping the handle of the car white-knuckled, but Albert remained calm during the entire commotion. "Your names?" Were the only words he said to the Americans.

Abegail let Walter lead her towards where he was sure the others had run. Behind them the soldiers still seemed convinced that the prisoners, for that is what Abegail had imagined they were, were hiding somewhere inside the building. Now, as she was fleeing from it did Abegail get a good look at the structure. It appeared to be an inn of some kind and likely they were to be held there until Niclas decided what to do with them.

Happy to have escaped, she slightly lamented the loss of her beloved briefcase and she hoped that it was a sign of the events to come. That briefcase had been with her through everything she had done in her life, including three previous trips with Walter. Now it was gone, along with her notebooks. Shaking away the thought, Abegail ran quietly with Walter.

He climbed into the passenger seat of the waiting vehicle and another door was opened for her. She slid inside, finding herself sharing the seat with a young boy and another woman. She nodded to them, unsure if they spoke English at all.

The driver sped away from the inn as fast as he could. Abegail turned to watch out the windows hoping no one had started to follow them yet. "Please just give us a little time to get away..." She jumped as the driver asked for their names.

"I am Abegail McHugh." She was careful to keep her accent as faded as possible. Abegail could be hard to understand when it slipped in and now was not a time for confusion. "I thank you for waiting for us before driving off."

Abegail clutched her hands in her lap, giving up on watching for a pursuing vehicle. She waited to let Walter introduce himself before she asked questions. She imagined he would have some for the three escapees just as she had. It would do no good to bombard them all at once.

She glanced at her fellow seat mates, attempting to offer a warm smile which came across as strained with the look of exhaustion and streaks of dirt that adorned her pale face.

While Abigail and Walter were introducing themselves to Albert and his companions Niclas was cursing himself for letting the prisoners escape. Meanwhile Gottberg had left his position in front of the Inn and had walked around the corner-Gottberg was just in time. The small vehicle driven by Albert was rounding the corner when Adalwolf drew his weapon and fired several shots at the passing car.

The first bullet flew passed the vehicle without hitting its mark, the second shot penetrated the steel chassis; nearly hitting Gunter in the thigh. The last projectile succeeded with its objective-The young servant girl Ella would be the first of the group to die-Shot in the side of the head with the bullet fired from Gottberg's Luger.

Gunter was surprised as the woman began to speak English. She didn't sound German. Slightly strange, like she was using an American accent that she didn't quite have. "Pleased to meet you, Ms. McHugh." Gunter said shakily. Albert just nodded. "You, sir?" he said to Walter. But as the man was making his introduction, they rounded a corner and Albert saw the Nazi Gottberg drawing a pistol to fire on them. "Alle runter!" he shouted, the surprise making him forget his English. Then he swerved the car back and forth as the first shot rang out, missing. Gunter ducked and yelped in surprise as the seat next to him was shredded by another bullet. Ella, however, was still sitting up in shock when one last bullet shattered her skull, a splatter of her blood hitting the back windshield. Gritting his teeth, Albert stayed upright through force of will and carefully controlled the car. "Stay down!" he yelled, steering the car to where it had it's back to Gottberg. Then he drove it down a side street. Soon they would be behind a row of buildings and hopefully home free.

Abegail heard the bullets and a yell. On instinct Abegail ducked down on the seat. She slid down so she was on the floor. She was breathing heavily.

Abegail looked up to see if the other two, the boy and the woman, had managed to get low as the second and third shot sounded off. The second shot was followed by a yelp from the driver. The third brought no reaction from anyone. Abegail suppressed a scream as the bullet hit the woman in the head, killing her instantly.

Abegail's hand went to her mouth, tears stinging her eyes as blood bathed the back window of the vehicle. The driver yelled for them to stay down. She had no intention of moving. At least he was alive and still able to drive. Abegail hadn't heard a noise from Walter and she hoped he was unscathed.

They kept moving and Abegail remained crouched on the floor. When they turned a corner the woman's lifeless body slumped to the side and Abegail swallowed the bile in her throat.

Her hands were shaking. Turning on the floor to peer just over the front seat, Abegail looked to the passenger seat. “Walter? Are you...are the two of you alright? She is...”

Abegail couldn't finish the sentence. She was sure they had to know that the third bullet had killed the woman, the blood could not be ignored. A slight turn of her head and Abegail glanced to make sure the boy was alright.

The vehicle rounded another corner freeing its riders from any further gunfire, though Adalwolf had taken the life of one of its occupants. The driver and passengers breathed a collective sigh of relief, they were quickly approaching the edge of of the small town, though they had little hope of escaping.

Walter was at a loss for a possible safe-house, he knew little of the town having never been there before. It was therefore up to Albert and perhaps Gunter to suggest somewhere for them to hold up.

"We must find someplace to hide, at least until we can figure out what to do next."

Turning to Abigail. "I must confess that I'm not quite sure what is going on in this town. I mean Niclas knows where the flag is, its in Linz. So why has he shipped us here to Salzburg?"

Thinking for a moment he continued. "Maybe he just wanted to get us out of the way first."

Gunter and Albert looked at Walter with a strangness in their expression which told the two scholars that they had no idea what was being referenced by this rather odd comment from Doctor Miller. They had a long drive ahead of them so Walter took the oppertunity to fill the others in as to what he and Abigial had come to Austria to find.

Gunter squeezed his eyes shut at the sight of Ella's blood on the windshield. He wiped some of it off of his face in horror. But it triggered something in him, something that he hadn't felt since the Battle of Berlin. A strange calm. It flooded his senses, both sharpening them and dulling them. He recognized it as his fingers started to shake. Adrenaline. His training was finally kicking in again. Sitting up, he replied to the Doctor in a disturbingly serene voice, "Cousin Albert has a cabin. It is safe and out of the city."

Albert nodded, glancing back at Gunter. "I will drive us to there."

Gunter looked at the woman to check on her, finding that she was doing the exact same thing. He nodded to her. But then the Doctor said something about a flag. Gunter and Albert both exchanged glances, then looked at Walter in confusion. Half-way through his explanation, Gunter interrupted. "Ah, yes, we know of this flag. Der Blutfahne. Hitler's artifact. But you say it has magical powers or so? That it can truly resurrect the sixteen immortals? Impossible. I still do not believe it."