Remember Auschwitz

Chapter 18 – Death Surrounds All

The occasional sound of another room's door slam shut; his own breathing and his drumming heart against the dusty wood floor underneath his lover's bunk. These were the sounds Feli laid and listened to for a little while, keeping his eyes closed, in fear of coming back to reality.

Another door shut, one that sounded farther, then dragging footsteps coming up the hall. Feliciano tensed up, waiting for the daunting noises to pass. But they came to a stop outside the room he was in. He shot his eyes open, scooting to the farthest reach from under the bunk. Gasping in a deep breath and holding it. The door opened the person walked in. Feli could see the German officer's boots, turn as the man closed the door. Walking into the room, then stopping. Feli's heart stopped, his eyes wide in fear. The boots turned towards the bunk, stepping up to the bed, then kneeling down and reaching under the bed.

"Feliciano." Ludwig's voice spoke softly. "Feliciano it's me." The small Italian let out a large sigh, panting a bit to regain the oxygen his body needed. He reached his hand out to be taken by Ludwig's. With Ludwig's help Feli wiggled out from under the bunk. Sitting on his knees in front of the other, Feli looked around, furrowing his brows.

"Ludwig?" He asked in a quietest voice, looking at him in bewilderment "Luddy, where's Lovi?" A tremendous amount of regret shrouded Ludwig's face, his shoulders falling and his eyes falling to look at the floor.

"Feli…" He sighed, standing up slowly, turning his head away from Feliciano. "I'm so sorry…" Feli wore a concerned look, weakly standing up as well.

"W-What do you mean Luddy…."

"Feli, I wasn't able to save your brother" Those words hung in Ludwig's heart, not wanting to believe them. He wished it wasn't real. Feli stared at him, blankly. "Lovino…. He died in the gas chamber."

…Silence…

The cold, chilling silence drenched the room in a quiet sorrow. Neither one of them even took a breath.

"No." Ludwig blinked, looking at how his lover looked down at his hands that he held in front of him.

"W-What?" He stammered, not sure what Feliciano meant by 'no'

"I said no… Th-there's no way Luddy." Feli's voice began to waver and crack as his eyes filled with tears. "I saw him this morning… H-He's not dead." Feli forced himself to chuckled, slowly raising his hands to his face as he stared at the floor through his fingers. "H-He's back at the bunk. Waiting for me."

"Feli…. Please…." Ludwig begged, feeling his heart break at his denial.

"He's not dead." His voice broke, tears spilling down his cheeks. "H-he's…. H-he's not…." He whimpered.

"Feli…. Your brother isn't coming back…." At this Feliciano let out a loud whimper, sobbing as tears streamed from his eyes.

"F-Fratello… Fratello come back!" He cried out, his knees wobbling then giving out as he collapsed to the ground. " Lovi come back! I-I need you! You're my b-big brother!" He bawled. " C-come back-" He wasn't able to say any more as his voice cracked and whimpered off. Ludwig knelt beside him, his face contorted with empathy for his little Italian.

"Feliciano… I'm so sorry." He whispered, pulling him into his arms. Feli clung to him. Sobbing still and soaking his uniform with his tears. "Feli I need you to be strong." He whispered again. Feliciano shook his head, let out a whimper. "Feli, please. You still aren't safe… I know… I know how upset you must be over your brother…. But Please. We need to get you somewhere safe. Mein brother could come back here any minute and see you." Feliciano quieted down a bit, still crying and sniffling.

"Feli, I know where we can hide you, but I need you to listen carefully." He tilted Feli's chin up to look up at him. "Can you listen right now?" Feli gave a feeble nod. "Good. Alright. I feel the war is winding down. The Allied forces have taken back France and the Red army is pushing in from the east. The German people have lost faith in the Third Reich. So have I. " He sighed. " I expect the Russian's to liberate all of Poland in four or five months." He pulled Feliciano to sit on his bed once more, sitting beside him. "There is a group here. The group is called the Sonder Komando. It is a group specially chose to dispose of the bodies' of the exterminated." He watched Feliciano's face twist with more sadness as he mention the exterminated. "But the group there are perhaps treated the best in the camp. They have mattresses, wear normal clothing, and get more food." Feli sniffled and wiped his eyes, becoming more interested at the mention of food. "One hitch though. The group only stays in the position for about 4 months, then they themselves are sent to the gas chambers. A new group of prisoners were just placed there. If we can sneak you there tonight and you act as though you were part of that group, we can hide you there."

Feli nodded, understanding.

"You'd clean out and bag the ashes from the ovens. I need you to agree Feliciano. This is the only way we can hide you." Ludwig insisted. "Lie low, don't talk to anyone, just get the job done. Can you do that Feli?" The Italian looked down, staying silent. "Feli…" Ludwig begged.

"S-Si…." He said, barely above a whisper, his voice still off.

"Thank you Feli." Ludwig wrapped his arms around him, kissing the top of his head. "I love you, Feli." Feli clung onto him, cuddling and nuzzling into his hold.

"I love you too, Luddy." He whispered.

Feliciano sniffled, playing with the long sleeves on the shirt he was wearing. Ludwig had gotten him some clothing from Canada for him to wear. In order for him to be hidden he had to wear some stolen clothes.

"We're almost there Feli." Ludwig whispered to him. They were currently walking through the dark towards the building Ludwig knew held the prisoners in the Sonder Komando. "Remember what I told you. You won't see me as often Feli, I might be able to see you every couple of days now, not every day. So I need you to stay out of trouble.

Feli nodded slowly, following him up to a large brick building.

"Inside there are the prisoners you'll be with. There are small beds, find and empty one. Follow some of the other men tomorrow, go to the ovens and stay there. If someone asks you to do something else, say you were assigned to the ovens." Ludwig frowned, stopping in front of the wooden door that kept all the men inside. "Be safe Feli, I can't lose you." He whispered, wrapping his arms around the short Italian. Feli weakly hugged him back, staring just over his shoulder. His eyes dazed, as they have been since earlier….

"I… Love you Luddy." He whispered.

"I love you too Feli." He sighed, hugging him a bit tighter, but then pulled back, watching him for a moment before he turned to the door to unlock it.

Once the door was unlocked, he turned back to Feli, leaning down slowly to kiss him. Feli closed his eyes, kissing back gently, but the kiss didn't last as long as he wished. Ludwig pulled back, looking into his eyes. "Good night Feliciano." He whispered, and Feli frowned. Ludwig opened the door, stepping aside and nodding to him. Feli knew what this meant. He walked up to the door, peering inside. It was a large room, windows boarded up, ceiling cracking, small hay mattresses set in rows. Men lay asleep on these mattresses, curled up under thin blankets. Feli turned his head to look at his lover.

"Good night Luddy." He said sadly, before he slowly walked in. The door shut behind him, all light from before blocked out. Feli clung to the bottom of the shirt he wore, straining his eyes to look through the thick black that coated the room. Little shadows became visible, and slowly he stepped around them, finding his way to the corner of the room, where one vacant mattress lay. He knelt down, carefully laying down on it as he groped around for the blanket. He found it, unfolding it and covering his shaking body with it.

He was scared, scared for his life, and of the dark. He shivered, thankful though for the better, more comfortable bed and the blanket. He clung to it, listening to others around him. Snoring, coughing, mumbling. All of it seemed so terrifying in the dark. He turned, facing the wall. The room was cold and wet. The mattress smelled like rotting hay, the blanket like bacteria. Feli whimpered quietly, curling up more. He knew though, that this was going to be his happy place. The smells, the noises, the temperature, all of it was going to be more welcoming then what he was going to do when the sun rose.

In the morning, all he was going to see was death. Because in this place…

Death Surrounds All.

Sorry for being on break for longer than I said I would, I didn't mean to slack off so much.

But here we go~! Chapter 18! We're in the winning stretch now i mind you.

I only suspect there will be two or three more chapters. Who's excited for the ending?!

Ehehe... Sorry for the feels, and the shortness of this chapter. I'm hoping the next one will be longer.

Well please Review

Till Next Time

Ciao~