Defeat Read Free Page A

the millionth time. He knew he should
simply let it go. He wasn’t that man despite what they called
him.
    He wondered why they grumbled
anyway. They were soldiers of some sort. Shouldn’t they be
fit?
    He had selected a hike that took
the long way around to the castle ruins at the top, rather than the
short, little more than five kilometer hike most tourists took. A
tram to the top still existed, and he imagined all the old or
overweight tourists taking that route, getting the view for nothing
but a few hours time and a few euros. His club would earn their
mountaintop lunch and view. Even the American soldiers.

    The rock at the top of the
mountain, and thus the castle that stood there, had been named,
supposedly, after a dragon that slept in caves they now passed. He
signaled a water break, both to allow some of the slower hikers to
catch up and to get a better view of the caves. He put his day pack
down and climbed up some rocks to see them. Several followed him,
including the shy Swiss girl who hardly spoke German even though
she had lived in ‘Slautern for almost a year. At least she was a
strong hiker if not a strong communicator.
    The caves weren’t much, just tiny
holes in the rocks. Only one was large enough to enter. Wolfgang
was disappointed and quickly ready to move on, to get to the top of
the mountain. He told those that had followed him that they should
get going if they wanted a good table for lunch and, after some
chuckles, they followed him out.
    The three American soldiers were
huddled together over their cell phones when Wolfgang and the
others rejoined the main group, and it annoyed him that they
couldn’t put the stupid things away for a few hours to enjoy
nature.
    “ Let’s go,” he
bellowed, first in German, then in English, but the Americans
didn’t move. Other set off, and he moved towards the
three.
    “ We must go,” he
said in English. His accent was not too heavy; when one grew up
near Kaiserslautern and the massive air base nearby, one learned
English, but the group of Americans either didn’t understand him or
weren’t paying him attention.
    “ It’s time,” he
said, pointing after the others who had already left. “We must
hike.” The Swiss girl stood nearby, watching him, and he felt a
need to show his authority in front of her. “Now,” he
added.
    “ We’ve been
ordered back to the base,” one of the Americans said in Wolfgang’s
general direction. Well, if they had to leave, at least they had
driven to the train station in a separate vehicle. No one would
have to go back with them.
    “ Fine,” Wolfgang
said. “You will miss good food.”
    They ignored him.
    He looked at the Swiss girl, her
name was Leah, and she looked back at him and gave him a half shrug
and a half smile. The rest of the trip would be better without the
Americans and their grumbling anyway. He smiled back at
Leah.
    He turned back to the Americans to
wish them a farewell and perhaps to give them one more opportunity
to change their minds, when a harsh, staccato tone began coming
from their phones. His phone, on silent and tucked safely deep in
his pack which he had left on the side of the trail, began making
the same noise. So did Leah’s.
    “ Take cover,” one
of the Americans said calmly. “That’s the take cover
signal.”
    Take cover? From what? He went to
his pack to dig his phone out but one of the Americans grabbed his
shoulder to stop him.
    “ We must take
cover. Now,” the man insisted. He pointed to the cave big enough to
enter.
    Wolfgang shook his head as he
shouldered his pack.
    “ It is small,” he
said.
    “ It’s better than
nothing.”
    The Americans headed towards the
cave and Leah looked at him nervously.
    “ Go with them,”
he said, pointing to the soldiers. She didn’t move. “I must get the
others. I’ll join you quickly.” The harsh tones from their phones
irritated him, grating his nerves. “Hurry.”
    She nodded, a tear forming in her
eye, and she reached