Ein Deutsher in das Land der Pony

Hans Fischer was born on 13 October, 1921, in Rostock, Germany. He was 11 years old when Hitler took power, and was instantly very loyal to him. 7 years later, just before the invasion of the USSR, he joined the Wehrmacht. He mostly served patrolling streets in occupied France. After Operation Barbarossa had begun later in the year, he was present during the battle of Kiev. He got 3 confirmed kills without a scratch on him. He was good at both of his jobs, and due to clear devotion to the reich, he was accepted into the Waffen-SS in August 1942. He saw little action before he was assigned a top-secret task. This, obviously, confused Hans. He was told to meet a Obergefreiter in a camp outside of Odessa. He obliged, ready to serve the reich, but was still unsure why he was pulled from the front. When he entered the Obergefreiter’s personal tent, the guards left.

“I’m sure you are wondering why you’re here,” said the Obergefreiter, “I assure you it is not without cause.”

“Yes, Obergefreiter. What is my duty?” Said Hans.

“Call me Herr Moller. I have a task that is not to leave this room unless you are told otherwise by me. Understand?”

“Yes, Herr Moller. What is this task, if I may ask?”

“Of course you can ask, Fischer. This task regards an unusual cave found 4 kilometres south of where we are standing now. When locals were asked, they warned us to stay away. This lead us to think that there was some sort of treasure or Slavic shire in there. We sent in an unarmed soldier who never returned. We sent in 3 locals by force, who also never returned. Putting lights into it didn’t help visibility, almost as if the cave absorbed light.”

“Are you sending me in there, Herr Moller?”

“Yes. We are. I’m surprised you guessed it so quickly. We are sending you in with weapons. We’d send in prisoners, but we do not trust them with weapons, We also will give you a flashlight in case it somehow works inside the cave. We want you to explore for and hour and come back. Go in a straight line and do not stop going in a straight line. If you cannot, turn around and end the journey early. Understood?”

“Herr Moller, this is very sudden. I’m also unsure why I must do this”

“You do not have a choice, Obersoldat. You are heading out in an hour. Get ready.”

With that, the Obergefreiter left. Hans was left to collect his thoughts and figure out what he was going to do. He was never one to go against orders, and he didn’t plan on changing that. He decided to write letters to his family in case he did not return like those before him, and packed plenty of food and water. When the hour arrived, he stopped and got on a jeep headed for the cave. Hans gave the letters to Herr Moller, who promised to give them to Hans’ family in case something happened. Hans felt security in that.

When Hans entered the cave, he felt a large sense of dread and loneliness hovering over him. Hans knew that there is an almost certain chance of him dying alone and in the dark in this cave. Within seconds he was bathed in complete darkness, and was out of earshot from the others. After a few hundred metres, Hans tripped over something large, and landed on another large object. He had stumbled over a few large, soft objects, which upon feeling them, he realised were the others sent in, impaled by stalagmites. This sent Hans into a panic, running in the opposite direction. Hans was lost almost immediately, but he could not care less. He screamed for help which he knew would never come. He soon felt the sensation of falling. He had fallen off of a ledge, and not a small one. He felt as if he was falling for ages. He soon felt very dizzy and passed out. Hans’ pulse slowed down, and the last thing he could see was a sudden flash of bright light.