CHAPTER TWO
WAR ZONE

The first thing Klaus became aware of as he slowly returned to his senses was small bits of dirt falling onto his face. The second was pain all over his body. The third was the reason for the first two. He was completely buried in debris. Then he heard muffled voices coming from above and wondered if this was what had returned him to reality. He looked around himself as best he could in the darkness, taking stock of his situation and possible injuries. He seemed to be trapped rather than actually injured, which was good, considering a three-story farmhouse seemed to have completely collapsed on top of him.

Klaus very carefully tried to move. His left arm seemed to be trapped under some boards, but his right arm was free. His hand came in contact with what seemed to be a stone wall that he was wedged up against. He wondered if he’d fallen through the floor, or had been thrown from the stairwell and up against it. Either way, it appeared to have protected him against the majority of the rubble.

The voices called again, closer this time. They seemed to be looking for survivors. Well, he certainly fit the bill and called out as best he could. Breathing with all the dust in the air was a challenge. There was a reply followed by the sound of debris being pulled aside.

Klaus held up his free arm, shielding his eyes from the dirt falling in on him as whoever was trying to get at him did so without bringing the rest of the house down at the same time. After a few minutes, he could see daylight. Then a woman’s face was looking down at him through a small opening.

“Are you hurt?” she asked.

“I don’t seem to be,” Klaus replied calmly. “Never mind me. There are children down here.”

“I know. I’m Louise Turner. This is—was—my house,” the woman informed shakily. “We got out through the ground entrance.”

“Everyone?”

“Yes. You saved our lives and I don’t even know your name.”

Louise blinked. “That’s a mouthful. What was your first name again?”

“Klaus.” The last thing he needed was to get into his military rank while he was buried under a house. He’d worry about all that when he was above ground.

“I sent one of the older boys for help,” Louise was saying. “You look like you’ve got most of my house on top of you.”

Klaus sighed heavily but did not reply.

“Is your friend okay?”

“He was pulled out of my hands before your house collapsed.”

Klaus heard the woman catch her breath. To her credit, she did not tell him there was little hope of finding the Earl alive. Or of even finding him at all.

The Major found himself wondering if he could reach his cigarettes. He really needed a smoke. Then another thought struck him. “Has the gas been turned off?” he asked suddenly. “I’d prefer not to be blown up after being buried alive.”

“Oh, God! I never thought of that.” Louise looked around, trying to get her bearings in the now unfamiliar area. “Klaus, right?”

“Yes.”

“Will you be alright if I leave you?”

Where the hell am I gonna go? “Just leave something to mark the spot so you know where I am.”

Louise looked down the opening and wished she could see the face that went with the calm voice. Did he look as calm as he sounded? “You sound like you’ve been buried under a house before,” she remarked.

“I’ve had…survival training,” Klaus replied evasively.

“That explains it.” Louise found a curtain that had once covered her kitchen windows. She tied it to a board that was sticking straight up near the opening. “There. I’ll know right where to find you.”

Klaus listened as the woman carefully made her way away from him. He could hear the other voices. Most of them sounding like children.

As he waited for Louise to return—hopefully with someone to dig him out—Klaus once again took stock of his situation. Now that he had more light, he was able to see where he was trapped. He was lying, more or less, on the collapsed stairway. There were several beams that looked like they may have been main supports for the house that were tented over him, having acted as a roof and shielding him from the crushing weight of the house. He found he could just move his legs. Were it not for the fact that his left arm was pinned under something, he would have been able to wriggle free from the tiny space. That is, of course, assuming the area above his head wasn’t also blocked with debris.

* * *

Several hours after the house collapsed on top of him, a group of rescuers was carefully digging the Major free. The boy Louise had sent for help had returned with an ambulance crew and a truck full of volunteers.

After several minutes, Klaus was free enough to be able to slide out from under the support beams and far enough for his rescuers to pull him the rest of the way out. A moment later, he was being helped from the cellar. Even he marveled at how remarkably unscathed he was. He looked around as he climbed up to the surface, his eyes taking in the devastation.

Debris was everywhere, the remnants of the wood frame house strewn about like matchsticks. His rented car, which had been in the middle of the driveway, was now crushed beneath an enormous oak tree several metres from where he had left it.

“It’s like a war zone, isn’t it?” a paramedic who had identified himself as Nathan said as he led the Major to the back of an ambulance.

“Minus the smell of gunpowder, yes,” the officer replied knowingly.

Nathan gave him a quizzical look. Louise had said that Klaus had been remarkably calm the whole time, which made the paramedic wonder if he were in shock. He held out a hand, and told the Major to take a seat. “Let me have a look at that arm, okay?” he said mildly.

Klaus nodded and sat where indicated. He started to remove his jacket and winced. Aside from the obvious injury to his left arm, he was certain he had cuts and bruises all over his body, and had very probably pulled his shoulder when he was trying to drag the Earl to safety.

“Let me do that. Your arm might be—” Nathan broke off, his eyes widening.

Klaus gave the man a bewildered look. Then he followed his gaze to his gun.

“Are you a cop?” Nathan asked nervously.

“NATO.”

“Military?”

“Yes.”

“What rank?”

This was a new voice and Klaus looked up to see a man, who turned out to be the local Sheriff, standing several metres away. He looked like a stereotypical small town Sheriff, all the way down to the toothpick between his teeth. His gun was still holstered, but the Major noticed that the safety strap had been removed and the man’s hand was resting on the grip. This was the first thing to impress the officer since his arrival in the United States.

“Major,” Klaus replied calmly. He nodded at the jacket that Nathan had just finished removing. “My identification is in the inside pocket.”

Nathan surrendered the jacket to the Sheriff before going on to check the Major’s arm, pulling a sharp cry of pain from him. Klaus turned back to glare at him.

“Sorry. I think you may have a broken arm,” Nathan said as he pushed up the Major’s sleeve, revealing a livid bruise on his left forearm.

“I expect I look like that all over,” the Major remarked aridly.

The Sheriff was checking over the Major’s ID and looked up in some surprise. “You’re a long way from home, son,” he remarked.

Klaus winced. Great. Now I’m going to get the good old boy routine. He took back his jacket and pulled out his cigarettes. The pack was completely crushed. “Scheiße!”

“Here.” The Sheriff held out a pack of cigarettes. “They’re nothing fancy.”

“So long as it burns,” the Major replied tersely, taking the offering and accepting the light. As he did so, Nathan remarked on the scratches on the back of his hand. “I had a civilian contractor with me. He was pulled out of my hands just before the building collapsed.”

Nathan and the Sheriff exchanged a knowing look, both thinking they were going to have to break the news to Klaus gently that his friend was very likely dead. There was also the likelihood that he would never be found.

Before either man could say anything, the Major went on to say, “I assume you have a morgue set up somewhere?”

Now the look the men exchanged was one of incredulity.

Klaus took a drag on his cigarette. “I’m not new to death or tornados,” he stated flatly.

“Apparently not,” Nathan remarked, turning to look at the Sheriff. “Louise said he told her that he saw the dead man walking.”

The Sheriff’s eyebrows went up upon hearing this. When multiple tornado funnels merge into one large F-5, it’s known as "The Dead Man Walking." Indian legend had it that if you see this in a tornado that is approaching you, you are going to die. “You saw that?”

“Not quite. They were close enough together to assume the worst.”

“Good thing, Major,” Nathan replied. He went on to tell the Sheriff that if the Major had not warned the others, they would have been directly under the majority of the debris and would most certainly have been killed.

“Seems you’re a hero, Major,” the Sheriff observed.

“Hero.” Klaus gave a snort. “I think your country is trying to kill me.”

The Sheriff gave a laugh. “Nathan is Major—?” He interrupted himself, asking, “What was your name again?”

“Just Major will do.”

“Suit yerself.” The Sheriff turned to Nathan. “If X-rays is all the Major needs, I can take him to the hospital for you. Dispatch just called in. All the houses on Trade Road were flattened.”

“Jesus,” Nathan sighed. He finished putting an air-splint on the Major’s arm and then he helped him down from the back of the ambulance. “He’s all yours, Sheriff.” He slammed the doors to the ambulance shut. “I’ll probably see you later, Major,” he added before striding over to the other rescuers who were in the process of rounding everyone up to go to the next site.

“This way,” the Sheriff said as he led the way to his car. “I expect once they get your arm fixed up you’ll end up at the Evac-Center.”

“Evac-Center?” the Major repeated.

“That’s what the kids call it. It’s just the main shelter,” the Sheriff grinned. In order to keep the hospital from being overwhelmed, people with injuries that were not life-threatening were being sent to a designated shelter after they were treated. In this case, it was the local high school. “They’ll be able to fix y’ up with some clean clothes, too.”

The Major gave a small grunt. “I already have some.” He nodded in the direction of his crushed BMW. “But getting to them is problematic.”

The Sheriff could not help but chuckle. “It’ll be a day or two before we can get that outta there.” He gave the Major a sideways glance. “Once the boys with the chainsaws start the clean up.”

The Major nodded. “Where do I register a missing person’s report?” he asked as he got into the car.

“For your friend?”

Friend! Damn the bloody idiot for getting himself killed in a fucking tornado. Yes, Eroica, I do blame the weather on you!  

“Yes.”

“You can give me all the particulars, Major,” the Sheriff said as he got in. “Just don’t expect to hear back for a while.”

The Major gave him a dark look but did not reply. He was keenly aware of the fact that it would be some time before he would hear anything definite. The Earl wouldn’t be the only person missing.

Klaus also needed to get hold of his superiors and let them knew where he was and what had happened. Unfortunately, nearly all the phone lines were down, power was out in the majority of the town, and emergency services were swamped with calls, which meant he was going to have to ask this hayseed Sheriff for help. Then he would have to try to find the one man he had been hoping would vanish off the face of the earth for years.

There truly was no God.

* * *