After Franck's death and after Aiolos went a little overboard, the three soldiers find themselves in another rescue operation. This time coming from a dark corridor...

Chapter 3: Hard to trust

'Do I need to take point?' asks Aiolos thinking that Xander is going for the same approach as the way to the excavation site. Xander has other plans however. He saw very well how Aiolos just shook off his eruption like it was nothing more than dust.

'No. You're not taking point now. This corridor is too tight. Günther and I will do it.'

Aiolos can't believe the words coming out of his friends mouth. 'Too tight? That's nonsense Charrführer and you know that. There has to be a better reason.'

Xander hates to break it to him but he has to. 'It is because I've seen what you did just a few moments ago. It's impossible that you just put it away like that...' Xander can't finish his addressing before he's interrupted by the same scream that drew their attention at first. 'Günther. Go save that crybaby.' he commands a little agitated.

'On it Charrführer.' says Günther as he runs towards whoever is in need of aid. Xander gestures with strong words that Aiolos needs to stay put and guard this area. Even take a rest when he feels like it. 'I don't know what drove you back there, but you cannot expect me to take you along and when suddenly the exhaustion does hit you, to get you out of a precarious situation.'

Aiolos has to live with those words as he sees Xander enter the corridor, following Günther who's currently peaking around the corner. Xander stands next to him; 'What do you see?'

'One table with stone tablets, construction lights, torches and one skeleton warrior. Battle-axe and a shield. Ready to make a cove into a scientist' He turns to Xander and peeks over his shoulder, seeing Aiolos kicking some sand up. He doesn't look happy. 'Why isn't he with us?'

'Because.' answers Xander, giving a signal that he doesn't want to go any deeper into it. 'Just focus on that skeleton.'

The skeleton is standing over the scientist, who's cringing in the corner of the room he was just doing research in. He holds up his arms in front of his face in an effort to protect himself. The skeleton holds its battle-axe high up in the air, ready to hew through the pity human's skull. His plans are however thwarted when Xander fires with his MP40 on him.

It grunts a bit, before turning around. He lays his eyes upon Xander, the serious look on his face reflecting in the glassy yellow puddle that should have been its eyes a long time ago. It growls and points it battle-axe at Xander.

But not before an unexpected 9MM round cuts it way through its empty skull. The bullet makes a dent in the back of the helmet and drops on the ground, falling in between the crack of blown skull and the helmet. The skeleton does the same and makes a merciless smack, teeth first, onto the floor.

'And then they say that only Aiolos is capable of such beauties.' snickers Günther ego-stroking from a ducked position. It's something he does deserve.

As he sits there, a little dreamy, Xander moves into the room. To bring relief to the scientist, weeping and begging for his life. It's great that's not for his mommy, otherwise it would have been awkward.

'...Nein... Bitte... don't kill me... P-please...'

The weeping continues on like that. Xander makes several attempts at communication with the men and third is a charm. 'You're save now. That creature is dead.' he assures the scientist who got a little hiccup from all the fear he had to go through.

The scientist withdraws his arms a little to look upon Xander's face. He reaches him a hand to help him back up his feet. The scientist denies it at first, wanting to get rid of that awkward hiccup first. This gives Xander some time to tell Günther with a simple wag of the finger to make sure that skeleton is dust. Once that's done, he turns back to the scientist.

He's an older looking fellow, either in his late 30's or early 40's. His hair is light grey and not very plentiful. It's enhanced by a reduced hairline showing most of the forehead. He wears a pair of round glasses and a blue suit and black tie combo. The eagle with the Nazi-swastika is displayed just above his left pocket pooch. The shirt he wears underneath is plain white, the definition of plain.

A little ramshackle, he stands up on his own, declining Xander's helping hand a second time. He does it a little irritated and naggy, as if he was something more than Xander. He dusts himself off before seeing the SS-insignia and the symbols that show that Xander is something more than just a regular soldier.

'I'm sorry for my agitated behavior. I'm not so trustworthy around men with guns.' he apologizes half.

'I'd worry more about decomposed bodies trying to cleave you.' comments Günther as he stands next to Xander.

'Hmph...' He turns to Xander, seemingly the intelligent person here. The beard that Günther has doesn't fancy his taste. 'My name is Carl Godfried. I'm a scientist here.'

'I already figured thanks to your attire.' says Xander. 'But weren't all scientists here assigned with a security detail?'

Carl grunts a little agitated, as if the words "security" and "detail" together formed a bad ballad. He walks towards the table where the tablets are lying on and places one hand on it before he tells the two what happened here.

'I had a detail… indeed... I had one. Pfff... personal is hard to trust these days. I simply turned around to examine these stones a little better. It was nothing more than 10 seconds. 10 seconds! I turned around and they were gone.' A shiver runs over his back as he thinks back at the way he felt then. 'I-I tried to continue my research. A-and I nearly finished it too…'

'Until this guy fell from the roof?' suggests Günther looking at a hole in the ceiling. He's impressed and dazed at the force that must have cost. Then again, these things are undead. Something other than normal strength is driving them.

'Indeed…' confirms Carl in an interrupted manner. He didn't like it one bit that someone as Günther interrupted him. He glares at him but looks away when Günther tries to make it mutual.

Xander has seen enough of this room. It's a dead-end and the walls on each side have four panels that look like drawers from a morgue. It gives him the creeps as he notices that one of them is actually open and empty. It's a way out, leading to a cramped room behind the wall.

'Aiolos!' he calls to the left behind Greek, still at the entrance. 'Come here. We're going.'

He hears no response, only shuffling coming closer. Not trusting this one bit, he orders with a hand gesture to Günther to guard this area while he goes to check if Aiolos is okay.

'Aiolos?' he calls out as he enters the dark corridor again. The shuffling is getting closer and he hears some added, heavy breathing. *Aiolos I swear... If this is a joke then I'll personally…* 'WOAH!' he exclaims a little overwhelmed when Aiolos throws himself onto him, clinging around his shoulders. He feels very weak and pants inhumanely.

'H-help me… Xander…' he pleads before his legs collapse under the pressure of his body. He's now hanging on Xander's shoulders like useless ragdoll. Xander has a lot of trouble keeping Aiolos from falling face down on the floor.

'Hrrg… you're heavy Aiolos.' he comments having a hard time as Aiolos's left hand slips off Xander's shoulder and claws into the sleeve of Xander's jacket.

'I- saw… a man… Franck… I-I… saw…' says Aiolos very slurry. Xander can't make anything out of it.

*Argh! He's talking gibberish.* 'Phfew… Günther! Help me a hand!'

When Günther notices this occurrence, he forgets all about the gap in the ceiling and the himself superior deeming scientist and rushes towards Xander's aid. He lifts Aiolos' left arm up and throws it over his shoulder. Xander takes responsibility over Aiolos' right arm and together they carry the weakened Greek inside the room.

'Set him down against that wall.' orders Xander as he turns to Carl once Aiolos is set. Günther stays with him and tries to keep him with the living. 'Carl. Are you by any chance also a doctor?'

'Not exactly… but I know one thing about human anatomy. If you want… I could give it a try?'

The uncertainty of Carl concerns Xander for the wellbeing of Aiolos. He hasn't seen what happened with Aiolos back there and he doesn't know what Carl means with "one thing about human anatomy". It all sounds awfully shady and dark.

But when Günther opens Aiolos' right eye, he alerts Xander of something horrendous; 'OH SCHEIβE! That's the worst case of pinkeye I've ever seen.' he concludes looking at an eye that's filled with more red and swollen veins than a normal pinkeye.

'Argh…' complains Xander as Carl keeps insisting with some sick interest in Aiolos. As if he's nothing than a specimen. '…Carl? You go check on him…'

Rubbing his hands with excitement, he approaches Aiolos. He shoves Günther out of the way and examines Aiolos' infected eye. Günther want to retaliate with a blow of his weapon stock, but Xander stops it. He gestures to hold, but not to put away. In case Carl starts to do something stupid.

'Hmm… ahuh… very interesting. Say… Aiolos was it? Do you know how you got this?' asks Carl as this is indeed a rare case of pinkeye. Not only are their swollen veins, but also tiny black particles that float around in the white of his eye.

'N-no… No clue doc.' answers Aiolos dazed and weak. He can barely see with that eye and he keeps the other closed.

'What do you mean doc? This is just pinkeye, right?' implies Günther.

Carl sighs at Günther limited intelligence about infections. 'Nein you Dummkopf. Pinkeye is not something that comes up out of nowhere. Pah! What I have to deal with here…'

Xander has to hold an infuriated Günther back and takes him for a little walk. 'Hey man. Take it a little easy with this guy.' he gestures.

'But Xander. He called me a Dummkopf! This guy deserves an old-fashioned beat 'em up!'

'The man is indeed something off the charts. But it's the best we have up until now.'

Günther sighs resisting, knowing that Xander is right. 'Ja Herr. Yuk! I hate this so much…' he complains as he stalks off.

'Hey Günther.' calls Xander after him. 'We'll ditch him the very moment we find someone more capable.' he winks at his buddy. It puts a smile on Günther's face, who's already visualizing the gruesome ways in which he can ditch Carl. The both of them return to Carl, who has risen from examining Aiolos. He turns around and faces Xander and Günther with relatively good news.

'It's not deadly.' he diagnoses, releasing the most important detail of all. 'And it is somehow… temporary.' he adds a little doubtful. Though it's based on the face that the black particles were disintegrating and the veins shrunk to their original sizes.

'Temporary as in… it's gone now?' inquires Xander.

Carl nods as he wipes his hands clean from some liquid that oozed onto his hand when he was examining. 'Indeed. Say, has he been displaying any odd behavioral treats?'

'You mean that shooting thingy?' comments Günther trying to add to the conversation.

Carl has trouble not calling him a stupid orang-utan as the question was actually meant for Xander. He replies with the same when Günther doesn't get an answer. He tells Carl about Aiolos' stunt. From the clean start to the more psychopathic execution of the last. That is what Carl considers an answer.

'That are what I call symptoms. What else?' *Viellicht this could be the Übermensch-serum we have been searching for so long!*

'Reactivity, alertness and stamina were increased. That was what I saw.' tells Xander. Carl likes it a lot. He asks on about anything else but that's all that Xander can come up with. It's a slight disappointment for Carl but he has a theory.

'Aiolos?' he asks to the Greek who feels better all of the sudden. He tries to stand up as Xander and Günther help him up. They make him look a little more presentable.

'Yes doc?' he answers ignorant over the scientist's true intentions.

'Did you, by any chance, come in contact with any of the beings? I can tell it from that bloodstain on your cheek.'

Aiolos doesn't like bringing it up again, but if it helps... 'Not directly. This blood was from someone else, the man who took the blow for me.'

'Did you ingest some?' he asks awfully curious.

'What's that for a question?!' replies Aiolos attacked and uncomfortable. 'How should I have known? I was more troubled with getting away from that thing than anything else you prick!'

*Hmm… very resisting. Despite that, Aiolos is the perfect specimen to test on. My security detail was unresponsive and idiotic to not be willing to take part in my studies. I've learned so much about this process thanks to the tablets and they didn't see what privilege they had. Though those findings might have been the reason they ran in the first place… Anyhow, I must find a way to stay close to this Greek until I've taken care of his superior and that bearded caveman.* thinks Carl with greater plans in mind. If Aiolos indeed ingested infected blood, that might have been the why he acted like a superhuman for a little while.

The concept, the idea of the Übermensch has always fascinated Carl. He's a complete slave to the Nazi ideology. Maybe that's why he respects Xander more than Günther. Not wearing a helmet is against regulations. But his respect for Xander disappears quickly when he proposes to the three to stay here. Stating his own safety as an excuse to stay close to Aiolos.

'No way Carl.' dismisses Xander in regard to his own men. 'We were simply here to rescue whoever was crying here, not to stay with someone who has no single bit respect for my men. Treating one like a Hohlkopf and the other as some… you know what?' He rests his case, knowing that Carl got the message for insulting his friends and having Günther and Aiolos know that he's got their backs. 'If you choose to stay here, fine! But we are leaving. Come on men.'

Aiolos and Günther follow that order perfectly as that open hole in the wall suddenly seems a lot more tempting.

'But wait!' shouts Carl. 'That is desertion! That is against the Reich's orders! Let alone Helga's!'

Helga von Burlow, a female fat clot of madness and bossy behavior that you can barely distinguish from a bear. Her longing for power of some ancient artifact is what probably got them into this mess. But Carl seems very loyal to her orders.

'We don't care for that any longer.' comments Günther with a hateful tone towards any quoted order that comes out of Carl's mouth. 'It's better to save our own then to perish here and become a Festmahl for these… things.'

'But I need to stay here!' claims Carl as he too signals that he has no care for Helga's orders. It was the Reich's order for him to research here. Helga had to allow it. 'I have to complete my research on these tablets!'

'As you wish.' says Aiolos very simple and cold. 'But we're out of here. Good luck finding someone who likes your treatment du Vollidiot!' he scoffs harsh at Carl.

It's the first time Aiolos uses a German curse word. It feels kind of powerful and relieving for him. Günther guides him away before Aiolos can say anything else, to protect himself from himself.

Carl sees Aiolos walk away right before his eyes but he also sees a great opportunity. If he plays along, he can not only still acquire Aiolos for himself when the time comes, but he can still report desertion to the High Command in Berlin. Combined with the possible discovery of the way to create Das Übermensch, he could get the recognition he was always craving for.

He quickly grabs his notebook out of his back pocket and scribbles some notes down quickly while notifying Xander that he's coming along. Xander thinks it's fine for now as he lets Günther go in the hole first, followed by Aiolos and then himself.

'Wait for me!' calls Carl after when he puts his notebook back where it came from. Walking as he does that, it goes with trouble. One piece of paper is in the way and is ripped off when he puts it in.

The way Carl scribbled the note down on a page was fast and hard. It made an impression on the page underneath it. The words imprinted on it read: Note t... self. Acquire ... blood sample of the Greek. Get rid ... Bartaffe (bearded ape) Günther. Turn ... Charrführer Xander for de...e...tion.

The now four find themselves in a room that's barely filled. There is only one grave and that has been broken open. There is a little blood splatter on the floor, suggesting that those men from the detail didn't make it very far unscratched. The ceiling in the back and the middle has been completely annihilated, lying on the floor as an enormous pile of rubble.

'This is a way back up. Aren't we supposed to go down?' inquires Aiolos glad to be back in the game.

'It's our only way now.' says Xander as he takes point moving up. He's faced with two closed graves, luckily. The sight startled him for a second but when he sees a doorway to his left, he's glad to see a way out.

'This way everyone. We're getting out of here.' he says as they have to walk down a set of stairs and turn to the right. It's another T-intersection. Or go left, back to the walkways or up another set of stairs. Xander quickly decides to get back to walkways, to find a way out. To his and everyone's surprise, the part of the bridge that was blown up, has been repaired a bit. Wooden boards on a structure of more wood seem to form a solid construction.

'That… that's impossible!' claims Günther surprised. 'That was the part where Franck was splattered, right?'

Xander looks over the edge and sees no trace of Franck's body. On the other side of it, no trace of the leftover explosives. It's impossible that Franck's body would disappear, along with the explosives and that a bridge was suddenly rebuild for them to move over.

'This is crazy! And when I find out who is playing with us, I'll gonna keelhaul that Tröpfe.' swears Xander with risen fist. 'But now, we need to get out of here.' He turns to his friends and Carl. 'Is anyone bothered by what I just said?'

All shake their heads.

'Excellent. Come on then.'

Xander sets his first step on the wooden bridge. It's a lot smaller than the walkway it was before but it's stable and doesn't feel like collapsing anytime soon. At last, they'll find the way to the others that Franck specified.

Closer to the exit. It's something that Xander could only have dreamt about a few minutes ago when the bridge, along with Franck and the whole idea of escaping crumbled before his eyes. Aiolos and Günther can share the same thought while Carl is more puzzled about why they were so surprised that the wooden construction was there. If it is there, then it is there right?

Before they reach the long desired exit, the floor down below begins to rumble a bit. Within the blink of an eye, enormous deadly spikes erupt from the ground. They are densely placed, to make sure that even falling in between would cause death.

'Now I'm sure of it! This place is alive!' concludes Xander trying to hide his panic as best as possible.

Suddenly, the spikes aren't his problem anymore; he hears someone coming from a set of stairs. It's slow and tedious, much like the taunting skeletons in the excavation room with the broken ladder. Xander aims his MP40 in front of him, ready to greet whatever is coming for them.

Charrführer Xander van Acker. says an echoing and dark voice as Franck's body, controlled by a dozen of skull-shaped souls that float all around him comes down the stairs. His face is still as mutilated as possibly could be. Yes. I know your name.

Xander and the others are in shock seeing Franck somewhat alive. His arms hang like bags of salt and his eyes are empty. Only the white is visible. The remaining explosives that were missing are strapped around Franck's stomach area.

'Franck… but how?' wonders Günther more stunned then curious. Aiolos stands frozen when he realizes that he saw Franck stand up and walk towards the explosives. He tried to warn Xander but was too weak to communicate properly.

Silence you all! I've taken control of this heap of flesh and bones to communicate with you, Xander. And yes, I've build this construction for when you were wondering. I admire your loyalty towards your men. As a leader myself, I can relate. But you will never leave this place alive. So I suggest you tell your men the truth.

Xander clenches his teeth together and grates them. All he wanted was the keep the morale of his men stable. Taking Carl with him was already a dent but now that Franck's body, standing before then, is taken over by some being who strapped explosives around the middle?

'Men...' he starts up while the grating stops and turns into an accepting smile. Who, on its turn, transforms in a smirk. '... we're gonna live.'

'Sehr korrekt!' shouts Carl all of the sudden from the back. Sick of all the melodramatic acting of both Xander and Franck, who according to the rational mindset of Carl is probably just pranking, he grabs Günther's Luger out of its holster. Günther tries to retaliate but is hit in the head with the grip of the pistol. Aiolos turns to Carl to take him out but suffers the same fate. And before Xander can do anything, it hits him as well.

He strikes the stone walkway relentlessly hard as he sees that Carl is walking towards Franck, having his head targeted in between the iron sights of the Luger. Xander tries to reach for Carl's trouser leg, but he's already too far. He's incapable of stopping him.

'I refuse to die here!' states Carl more afraid than powerful and threatening. His hand holding the Luger shakes, throwing his aim off a little. He's afraid to focus his view by closing one eye. Maybe that Franck guy might do something in the meantime. It's highly unlikely but what if rationality doesn't have any business here? He too sees the skull-shaped and ghostly beings circle all around him.

And who is this mite? speaks Franck ridiculing. With those cranky muscles you wouldn't even qualify as a weapon servant!

'I don't k-know what you are. I don't know if this is real or just a vision... but I know that I'm not gonna be buried here! And besides, you're not gonna blow yourself up now, would you?' he suddenly suggests manipulative, thinking that he can control Franck's behavior. 'You're messing with the wrong host. That is a soldier of the Drittes Reich and his loyalty extends your control!'

But Carl has to swallow those words when Franck reaches for the cord on the explosives. He looks up and says with his own voice: 'For you my King Heinrich!'

Carl reacts quickly and takes shelter just next to the opening. A second later, Franck pulls the cord. It triggers an enormous explosion that blows Xander, Günther and Aiolos away. Xander's last look when he comes back on the ground after having flown for a bit, is on his men. Both look pretty whole for survivors of such an explosion. His vision blacks out...

(...) A few hours later (...)

Faint footsteps can be heard coming from before his very face. They stop for a moment to replace the sound with something that has its cap removed. The footsteps continue for a few more steps before stopping again. He hears some vague sentences being said but he can't make out what it is said.

*What... what is going on?* he asks himself as he slowly opens his eyes. His vision is blurry for second but when it clears up, he sees that Carl is standing squatted over Aiolos, just coming by. He sticks a needle into Aiolos' arm and extracts some blood.

'That's good. This will grant me the recognition I deserve for all my services to the Reich!' he remarks looking at the specimen. He looks down to Aiolos and gives him a creepy smile. 'It seems I don't need you any longer.'

Günther, who woke up simultaneously with Xander, stands up while trying to clear his head from a haze hanging around him. When he hears that Carl intends to ditch Aiolos, he quickly turns to Carl. But too late; as Aiolos lied close to the edge of the walkway, Carl simply has the kick him off. Unable to stop him, Aiolos fall over the edge. Günther, quick with his reacting, runs to his aid and grabs his hand at the very last second.

'Aargh! I... I gotcha!' he says to a rather dumbstruck Aiolos, dangling over lethal spikes.

Carl is satisfied and walks away with the sample in his hands. He notices out of the corner of his eye that Xander has come by, reacting very judging at his action. And when Günther's grip on Aiolos' hand begins to slip and he starts to call for help, the judging turns into hatred. Carl draws his Luger, aiming for Xander's face while wagging his free index finger.

'Nein nein Xander. You are not going to rescue your men. Instead, you're coming with me. Otherwise, I'll simply kill you.' threatens Carl very superior. He kneels before Xander, almost putting the barrel into his eye. 'That... is a promise I can keep.' he snickers, mocking Xander's earlier words.

Xander stands before yet another dilemma. But this one is resolved very quickly; he would give his life for his men. He stands up and sprints away all within a flash. Carl didn't see that coming, throwing his aim off tremendously. He pulls the trigger like he promised but the bullet lands in Xander's right upper arm. It stings more than it actually hurts.

Carl didn't expect the recoil and stumbles backwards. Only to trip over a loose tile and land on the back of his head, putting him out of business.

Xander dives for Günther's and Aiolos' aid just before Günther's grip is lost completely. Though his arm hurts incredibly, he has no intention of letting go. Together, they slowly pull Aiolos up and prevent his death.

'I got it myself.' tells Xander. 'Keep an eye out on that betraying scientist.'

Günther agrees with a nod as he lets go of Aiolos, overtaken by Xander and begins to approach the knocked down Carl in a very angry mood set. Xander pulls Aiolos over the edge, who it hits that all this just happened. For him, it was like experiencing this all through the eyes of someone else. He gasps out of the late shock before realizing he's fine.

Xander helps him up after regaining his breath. 'How are you feeling Aiolos?'

'Could be better...' he sighs deep. 'Thanks for saving me. I know I kinda acting like some wimp this whole time...' he excuses himself for his inadequate involvement in helping Xander and Günther through.

'It's not your fault Aiolos. I would react the same if I was in this situation.' he assures his friend as together they walk towards Günther who has a dazed Carl at gunpoint. Before his eyes looking up, they begin to discuss what to do with him.

'That's a good question Günther.' says Xander sarcastic, already knowing what he wants to do with Carl. He wants to shove his head down where the sun don't shine. But just to make sure that no one is excluded from the debate, he turns to Aiolos, the biggest victim of Carl's idiocy. 'What do you think Aiolos?'

The Greek kneels down before Carl, just like he did a few hours ago. He tilts his head to his right as he observes the pathetic excuse for a man. Whatever he can come up with, wouldn't come close to redemption or any sort of punishment that would made up for his insanity.

'To be honest Xander... I leave that to you.' says Aiolos as he stands up. Xander says one last thing to Carl before kicking him unconscious: 'Good personal is sooooo hard to trust these days.'

Hope you enjoyed another Wolfenstein chapter. Be sure to leave a favorite, follow and/or review. It really helps ;)