1 The mistery of San German

The lifeless eyes of a woman stared at the roof of what was once her home, only to be disturbed by a glow caused by a camera flash.

The policeman who was taking the photograph of the corpse looked condescendingly at the corpse, which belonged to a well-known rich woman from Mexico City, next to the policeman was a white-haired man in a raincoat who had a small notebook in his hand.

While writing down some important things about the state of the corpse, a hand was placed on his shoulder, so he turned his head and looked at his superior who had a serious face.

"Sergeant, the central wants you on an important mission in the mountains, you will have to leave today for the community of San German, you will receive your orders on the police radio.

As for the case of Mrs. Hortensia, it will be attended to by me, so you can leave immediately.

The sergeant nodded silently and left the mansion where he was staying to take his patrol car and head towards the highway that would take him to the mountains.

As he drove he listened the state of San German by and officer, only constantly interrupting to ask as much as he could about the community as well as the strange things around it.

It didn't take long for him to find out about the disappearances and a lot of missing information about the place from the records, however, the most important thing he was told was the fact that the children of some important people had disappeared.

They had traveled in a van to San German on the occasion of a vacation since they wanted to see the picturesque town of the Sierra de Oaxaca, however communication with them was lost.

So when the state governor sent police to investigate, they found the van near a river completely clean and without any trace of its occupants, this angered the parents of the young people who wanted to erase the town in retaliation.

However, the governor did not want to accept such a deployment of the army, so after speaking with the president, it was decided to send the best police detective to avoid a senseless massacre.

Although the sergeant was reminded that if he stopped sending information or if contact was lost, the town would be exterminated without a trial, this because the parents of the young people wanted justice.

The sergeant knew that he might not find the young people alive, but if he could find the culprits of the disappearance or the corpses, at least he could avoid a senseless massacre.

As he progressed along the highway, he found out that he would meet with the priest Ramirez who would be the person who would help him along with the town manager in order to solve the disappearance of the young people.

After driving for almost 6 hours, He managed to arrive at the municipal seat of Tuxpan where he took a short break to eat and ask about San German, what surprised him was the fact that the people of the town did not have a good appreciation for San German.

The descriptions of a town where there was xenophobia towards foreigners and the strange disappearances of people at night only created an atmosphere of mystery around the community.

A few hours later, the sergeant drove for almost 3 hours on a dirt road until he reached the town of San German, where once he arrived, he parked near the town square to get a better view of the community.

The first thing he noticed was the rejection of his person despite being a police sergeant, the only person who spoke to him without prejudice being a woman who had a small store almost on the outskirts of town.

But the fact that she treated him in a normal way did not mean that she was willing to answer his questions, so after buying some cigarettes, she went to the town square to take her patrol car and head to the old church.

When he arrived, he parked outside and wrote down in his notebook everything important that he had seen on his little visit, without realizing time passed until nightfall overtook him.

So he took his radio and reported his arrival so that they would inform the priest to pick him up outside the church, after some time the sergeant who had his brown trench coat was smoking a cigarette while the moonlight illuminated him dimly.

While he was waiting, he heard the noise of some footsteps, so throwing his cigarette to the ground, he turned around and looked at the old priest who had a rather emaciated appearance, however, despite that, his priestly clothes were in very good condition.

"Good night, Sergeant, I hope I haven't kept you waiting too long, but my old bones hurt a lot on cold nights like this."

The police sergeant shook his head as he took out a small notebook "You don't have to worry about that, priest Ramirez, but the faster you answer my questions.

I'll be out for less time on this cold night. "Said the sergeant as he took out a pen.

The priest laughed, showing his horrible teeth. "Since you're so impatient, sergeant, tell me what kind of questions you want to ask me."

With pen in hand, the sergeant checked his notebook "Two days ago a group of students were reported missing after entering their town.

The problem is that yesterday the student car was found in the ravine near the river that crosses the town, curiously it was in good condition and clean." The sergeant looked up and looked at the priest seriously "No trace or evidence was found inside the vehicle.

Everything shows that a thorough cleaning was done on the vehicle and unless the cars clean themselves, this only shows that someone cleaned the evidence.

Taking a deep breath, the sergeant took out another cigarette and lit it while staring into the old, decrepit eyes of the priest. "Needless to say, there is no other town miles away, so your community is the only suspect."

The priest caressed his chin while showing a morbid smile on his haggard face. "Those are very strong words, sergeant, I hope you have proof to support your claims."

The sergeant expelled a smoke vent and from the pocket of his trench coat he took out a folded piece of paper which he handed over to the priest Ramirez "This document contains another 22 cases of disappearances in this area in recent years.

Most of them were overlooked since unfortunately they were just normal people but the group of students that disappeared this time were the children of important members of congress.

This matter is more serious than it seems, priest Ramirez, I can only tell you that you must cooperate with me to be able to find them because if something happened to them, you can be sure that your town will be besieged by the army." The sergeant with the cigarette in his mouth I look at the priest Ramirez waiting for some reaction for his words.

However, the priest maintained his wicked smile before shrugging his shoulders. "That's horrible and we don't want a misfortune to happen, so you can be sure I'll cooperate with you."

But since you need more information, you should wait in the church at night, since I will need to talk to the town leader in order to better cooperate with you.

Also, I can assure you that you will not find another place to spend the night in San German since we are not a community that welcomes foreigners, including policemen like you.

The sergeant laughed and dropped his cigarette to the ground. "I appreciate your help, priest Ramirez, and I'll be happy to accept your offer to sleep in the church. I think it'll be more comfortable than sleeping in the patrol car."

After this the priest and the sergeant walked into the church, the first thing the sergeant could notice was the baroque façade from the viceregal era of the church which was loaded with stone images of angels and other figures.

Upon entering the church it was dimly lit with candles which revealed the frescoes on the walls of the church, which were very distinctive in churches built during the Spanish viceroyalty.

All of this caught the attention of the sergeant a little because his real attention was on other details of the church, such as the wear and tear on all the wooden pews, which showed that it was a fairly crowded place.

"I see that the benches seem to be somewhat new but why do they look so worn out, Priest Ramirez.

The priest stopped and touched one of the benches with his hand "That is because every day there are two daily masses, one at dawn and one in the afternoon.

Previously, a mass was also held at night, but the tradition gradually disappeared, so only one mass is held at night throughout Holy Week and on December 24.

It's a deal with the community, though I have to say I'm surprised you're too keen to notice those little details, Sergeant.

The sergeant grimaced as he wrote down some things in his notebook "It's part of my job, priest Ramirez." The priest upon hearing that simply laughed quietly as he led him to the church bedrooms.

When they entered the back of the church they came to a series of rooms with old wooden doors which were made of pine wood, but there was one that had a door in a worse state.

The sergeant looked at her with some curiosity, however the priest stopped and turned his head to look at the old wooden door. "This will be your room, sergeant, although I would like to offer another room, it would be incorrect on my part."

Since they are in a deplorable state, I just hope you don't mind the dust since this place hasn't been used for a few years.

The priest opened the door revealing a cold room made of solid stone that was illuminated by the moonlight that entered the window, in the middle of the room there was a wooden bed and a small bureau covered in dust.

"This room was used for the last time a few years ago by the last nun who inhabited this church, it's just that unfortunately it disappeared and we could never find it in the mountains.

The sergeant walked through the room and with his finger cleaned the dust from the wooden bureau "The nun Olivia, disappeared 5 years ago when she was returning from the town of San Antonio along the dirt road.

Curiously, it seemed that priest Ramirez did not hold you in good esteem since the last thing he mentioned about you were not good words, especially the witnesses from San Antonio mention that she said something about the initiation rite.

Which is strange because as far as I understand there is no rite in the church for the nuns, especially when the nun Olivia was only 34 years old and in the prime of her life.

The priest sighed and looked at the room with some sadness "Sergeant, some things are better forgotten, but if you want to know about the initiation rite, you should know better the rules of San German.

But I am not the right person to explain the customs of our home, however tomorrow we can talk calmly for now just rest.

If you need light at night inside the bureau there should be a chandelier along with some candles and matches to illuminate this place.

After this, the priest left the room, closing the door, leaving the sergeant with a raised eyebrow, who, opening the small wooden bureau, took out a small candlestick where he placed a yellow candle which he lit.

With the dim light of the candle he began to write in his notebook some important things that he had been able to notice, however while he was writing he heard a faint strange noise coming from outside.

Getting up from the bed where he was sitting, he walked towards the window where he looked at the rear exterior of the church which was completely empty, revealing only the town's cemetery which was illuminated with the white light of the moon.

Outside the cemetery area there were some planting fields which were almost empty, however from some dry plants that could be seen, the sergeant assumed that the last thing that had been planted was peanuts.

But his attention did not stay long in the peanut fields because he could see a shadow pass between the silent graves, so he took out of his raincoat an old green binoculars that he had won from some soldiers a few years ago.

When looking at the cemetery with his binoculars, he realized that in the oldest stone tombs in the place there were a few used candles, he knew that they had been lit recently by some subtle signs.

He could only assume that a meeting had taken place in that place but he would not get any information during the night, so he settled down to sleep for the morning meeting.

The next day the first rays of the sun entered through the window of the room and the noise of the church bells could be heard, so the sergeant opened his eyes and got up from bed.

After putting on his clothes, he left the room and met a woman with dark skin and black hair who had a traditional embroidered dress from the region. When she saw him, the woman bowed her head as a sign of respect "Sergeant, the priest Ramirez and the leader have asked me to take him to the dining room since the mass will begin in just one hour.

The sergeant looked at the woman before taking out a cigarette and following her down the aisle, while the sergeant walked, he expelled a fumarole of smoke. "Miss, may I know your name and what is your role in this church?"

The woman who was walking emotionlessly was not stopped by the questions "I'm just a sergeant church volunteer and my name isn't that important but you can call me Lupe.

As for the last name, I do not consider it important since in the community it has no value for anyone, the name is the most important thing.

The sergeant upon hearing that took out his notebook and made some notes before looking at the woman's back again "I see, Miss Lupe, but since you are answering my questions I would like to ask you if it is normal to go out at night in the town or Is there a special rule that prevents it?

Lupe stopped at that moment and turned her head to look at the sergeant seriously with her black eyes "There are some things that it is better not to ask, sergeant, curiosity is bad in San German but I can tell you that the night in this place is dangerous.

I don't know the exact reason but at some point in the past the word spread that going out was dangerous and from that moment on in the community we respect that simple unwritten rule, since the first victims were those foreigners or settlers who simply disappeared after leaving at night.

But this is all the information you will receive from my sergeant, if you want to know more you can ask the leader, he is in charge of taking care of all of us." The woman then continued walking, staring at the road without showing any emotion.

Upon reaching the dining room, the sergeant could see the old priest and a golden-haired man with a large bushy beard who wore a black suit and had a huge scar on his face.

When the man looked at the sergeant, he showed his yellow teeth from smoking in a smile "Good morning Sergeant Arturo, I apologize for not having received you last night but I was busy with some important matters.

But none of that matters since we are now assembled, but where are my manners I am Richard Von Frederick, the village leader and legal representative of the community of San German.

Please take a seat Sergeant Arturo while breakfast is served."Richard said with a strange accent.

Arturo sat on one of the wooden chairs and watched as Lupe left the dining room, so his eyes fell on Richard "Sorry for saying so, Richard, but you don't seem to be a native of San German and your accent seems to be German.

As far as I have investigated, there shouldn't be a person like you in the town, at least in the records I read before coming to San German." Richard, upon hearing the question, laughed and shrugged.

"I can be sure that the records are quite outdated since the state government always forgets about our municipality and therefore the towns like us are also forgotten.

There is at least 15 years of important information lost in the records that you were able to read, but you are wrong to say that it should not be in this place, since my mother was originally from this town.

It's just that my father took me to Bavaria a few years ago, unfortunately the war and other factors meant that I couldn't return home, with the victory of the allies about 14 years ago I was able to return.

Only to find that my mother had died and that my father had kidnapped me when I was just a baby, I can't justify it but the man died defending his ideals on the eastern front.

For my part, I was forced to fight during the last years of the war but with the help of some friends who were also mestizos we were able to escape from the hell of war." Richard, who had a melancholic look, took out of a backpack that was on his chair some documents that I give to Sergeant Arturo.

"Those documents show my Mexican nationality and all the information that is registered in the church archives, they are all copies but the original files should exist in the municipal presidency and in the records area of ​​this church.

Looking at the documents, Arturo realized that they were real since they had the necessary stamps and the special type of paper was correct, however after looking at them for a few moments he noticed some small errors on the registration sheets.

There were some mistakes that counterfeiters often made on the stamps since they made them too perfect but they forgot that these were not changed for years, so the stamps should always show certain places in poor condition.

But the stamps on the documents were in perfect condition, which should not be correct since the stamp of San German and the municipality had not been changed since 1921, so the documents were false.

However, this raised another question for Arturo, since although Richard's appearance was European, he had Mexican features, which at least coincided with the San German phenotype he had seen in the settlers.

Taking a deep breath, he left the documents on the table and looked at Richard seriously "I'll keep these documents while I'm here, while I investigate the disappearance of the young people.

When the investigation is over I will be able to return your documents to you Richard, I hope that doesn't bother you.

Richard shook his head as he took a cigar out of his suit, which he lit with a match "There is no problem, Sergeant Arturo, and you can also be sure that we will support you during your investigation.

After breakfast Lupe will accompany you to any place you want, just remember to return before nightfall as it is dangerous outside, especially if you are very far from the town.

We always tell visitors that, but none of them pay attention to us and they always do what they want, which is why many simply disappear. Unfortunately, the young people who came in that van did not pay attention to our warnings either.

The last place they went was La Pila, a small spring two hours away on the old road that leads to the abandoned ranch Las Hormigas.

Although the only thing that worries me is the fact in which the van was found, we always knew that there was something outside the town but they were only theories.

Arturo frowned and tapped the table with his fingers as he thought "So if I understand correctly the outside of the town is dangerous at night but the inside is safe?

Richard shook his head as he exhaled a little smoke "The night is dangerous but it doesn't matter what we do if you are outside you can disappear, but outside the town it is guaranteed that you will disappear.

Unfortunately we do not have the necessary strength or weapons to be able to fight against anything that is abroad, Sergeant Arturo, once 5 years ago we tried but everything went wrong...

At that moment, Richard was interrupted when Lupe entered the dining room with a cart full of food, which she placed on the table before leaving. Arturo, who was looking at the food, looked somewhat surprised.

Well, the breakfast was too luxurious for his taste, he could even see among the mashed potatoes some black pieces of what seemed to be truffles, while the red juice seemed to be from extravagant fruits.

However, due to his experience dealing with suspects, he knew that this was not the time to ask a question about the fresh ingredients of the food in the mountains and he just ate in silence, when he finished Richard and the old priest excused themselves and went to the kitchen. mass leaving only Arturo with Lupe.

It was at that moment that Arturo looked at Lupe seriously. "That was a rather strange breakfast for my taste. I was expecting something more traditional, although where can you get fresh strawberries in this arid place?" Arturo asked while smoking a cigarette to better digest his meal.

Lupe showed a hint of surprise before tilting her head to the side for a moment, then pointing to the dining room window "In the eastern part of the town, Mr. Richard built some greenhouses which we use to obtain fresh fruits and ingredients.

Although they are only used for important people like you and on some festivities, breakfast generally consists of atole and some tamales, although Mr. Richard prefers to have only coffee and freshly baked bread.

But I doubt very much that you want to listen to me talk about food when you have a lot to investigate, Sergeant Arturo.

Arturo laughed as he got up from the wooden chair and arranged his clothes "Since you're so interested why don't you take me to the cemetery, someone once told me that the best way to know how a community behaves is to investigate its cemetery, well the tombs reflect the attachment to their ancestors.

"Without a doubt an interesting phrase, sergeant, come with me." Lupe then began to walk towards the outside of the church while the members of the community went to the morning mass.

Going out to the backyard of the church, Arturo and Lupe walked along the small stone path that led to the cemetery, which was only a few meters away. When they entered, Arturo began to walk while he looked at the graves in silence.

He was quiet all the way, just looking at the graves in search of signs that show meetings like the one that had happened the night before, after walking for a few minutes they arrived at the area he had seen at night.

Arturo then stopped and looked at the graves, which were too clean, so by bending down with his finger he touched the cement of one of them, feeling a bit of humidity in the grave, so he turned his head and looked at Lupe seriously. .

"Is there some tradition by which only this group of graves were cleaned while the rest seem to be in a normal state or is it just something related to the caretaker of the cemetery?

Lupe, who had no emotions on her face, blinked and shook her head "As far as I understand, no one should clean these graves, so we should go see Juan, who is in charge of security at the pantheon at night.

Arturo wiped his hand and got up as he followed Lupe to a small wooden hut that was at the entrance to the cemetery, when they arrived, Lupe knocked on the door of the hut but no one opened it.

Seeing that there was something strange, Arturo took out his revolver and, touching Lupe's shoulder, told her to go back. When she left, Arturo kicked the wooden door.

Exposing Juan's corpse, who was lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood, for which Arturo looked inside the hut looking for something strange, while Lupe ran to the church to report Juan's death. .

Arturo, who was walking on the dirt floor of the hut, crouched down when he could see some small footprints near the window, taking out his notebook, he began to write down all the things out of place.

"These footprints seem to be from a child although the shape of the shoe seems to be more that of a woman, but that would not explain the corpse of a man weighing about 90kg.

Due to the shape of the foot, if it were a woman, killing a man should be difficult..."

Getting up from the ground, he walked towards the corpse where he looked at it in better detail "The man seems to have bled to death, although due to Juan's lack of movement, he must have lost consciousness.

Taking out his black leather gloves, Arturo began to feel the man's head slowly, this lasted a few minutes before reaching the area of ​​the cerebellum where he could feel a deformation of the skull.

"A strong blow to the head must have broken this part of the skull, a blunt object must have been used, this should have killed him but…" Arturo looked at the side of the body where he saw a wound on the ribs which was made with the man on the ground

"From the shape of the wound I can assume that the attacker knew exactly where to pierce to pierce the heart, also the shape of the wound must have been from a machete." Arturo sighed before taking out a cigarette and lighting it.

"So we have a probable woman or a child attacking a man who seemed to be strong with a height of 1.70 and an approximate weight of 90kg.

The attacker must have entered through the window while Juan was doing something when an object hit him on the head, later using a machete he pierced between the ribs to end his heart.

Leaving the place where the attacker had entered, he exited through the window.

Arturo got up and walked to the window which he looked at for a few moments before opening it and realizing that the size for someone to enter was not too big.

"This small space of barely 50cm should not allow an overweight child or woman to enter without being seen by Juan.

There is no lock on the window and there is also no noise if it opens slowly, I can assume that the person who entered knew about these deficiencies in the hut.

Arturo left the place and walked outside where the window was where once he arrived he could see some other footprints which led to some bushes, when checking the bushes he found a hammer and a machete on the ground.

However, the most important thing he could find was a hole in the pantheon wall, so he now knew how the attacker had entered.

"So the attacker entered through this place, killed Juan before leaving, but that only explains the death of the caretaker, but does not answer the question of who was meeting at the cemetery that night.

We have possibly two different groups in this place, one that may be meeting continuously in the cemetery and another that did not want the caretaker of the cemetery.- Arturo closed his eyes as he thought about the options.

It was at that moment that he could hear the sounds of footsteps going to the hut, so he walked towards the entrance and could see Richard accompanied by other residents who had weapons in their hands.

Arturo asked them to stop while he took out a cigarette. "I hope you can stop for a few minutes while I get my camera out of my car so I can document the evidence." Richard nodded and walked Arturo to the car.

As Arturo walked, who had the cigarette in his mouth, he looked at Richard "Juan was killed by a blow to the head with a hammer and later killed with a machete.

Judging by the footsteps and the size of the window as well as the hole in the wall through which I entered, I can assume that it is a child or a rather thin woman.

But there is something I don't understand Richard and I want to know the truth.

Because you have people gathered in the pantheon at night and you have some idea of ​​who could have killed Juan, since from what I could see it does not seem that the attacker is with the people who meet at night in the pantheon.

Richard upon hearing that took a deep breath and took out a cigar which he lit before stopping. "As community leader we hold meetings at night, what we do in that place is private and I hope you don't ask more about it.

As for who wanted Juan dead, with the descriptions you gave, I can only think of one person, however there is a problem with this since that woman disappeared 3 years ago." Arturo, who had arrived at his patrol, threw the cigarette butt on the ground before looking seriously at Richard.

"You're telling me that a missing woman appeared last night and killed Juan in the most brutal way possible, knowing exactly how to get into the hut and the right way to pierce the ribs to pierce the heart..."

At that moment, Arturo took out his revolver and pointed it at Richard's chin while looking at him seriously "Look Richard, I can respect your rules about the strange cult you have in this place, but I want you to remember that the young people who died were the children of important people. .

The only thing that prevents the army from destroying this place is me and my reputation as the best detective of the police force in the capital, now I give you two options: the first I shoot you and your town will be razed by the army or you tell me against What the hell are we fighting?

I'm sure you know who has been making people disappear in this place and I want the truth to know if I need reinforcements to capture the culprits." Richard, who was looking seriously at Arturo, showed a somewhat deranged smile.

"I don't know who the culprits are because they are too careful but I know they are a group that lives in the hills and they were the ones that destroyed the ants ranch, but I'm sure they are an organized group.

Since they have advanced military tactics, they are not rebels or a disorganized group, because in Germany I was able to see the resistance in action in some places, so it is possible to distinguish between well-trained troops and simple rebels." Arturo took a deep breath and prepared the trigger to fire. his revolver with his thumb.

"Why did you never report something like this, if you suspected that we had a lot of foreign troops in our land!

Richard just blinked before sighing, "I never reported it because it wasn't a problem for my community, but now it seems that the unwritten truce we had was broken with your arrival."

I can even be sure that your patrol has been damaged.

Arturo looked Richard in the eye for a few moments "I can only tell you that if you are wrong or deceive me, I hope you are prepared to face the entire Mexican army in this place.

I understood a long time ago that I'm going to die so I'm not afraid of death, especially after the railroad union strike."Arturo at that moment lowered his weapon and turned his head to look carefully at his patrol car.

The first thing he noticed is that everything was in perfect condition, too much for the patrol he drove every day, so he opened the hood of the car and looked around the interior with a raised eyebrow.

Since he realized that there was something strange between the area of ​​the engine and the starter cable, for which he crouched down and looked with horror at a piece of dynamite which would be activated when the patrol car was turned on.

With danger too close, he closed the hood of the car and opened the door of his patrol to take the radio, however, when trying to communicate, he realized that it was not possible to do so, so he hit the steering wheel.

Before getting up and opening the trunk of his vehicle, from where he removed the mat that covered the trunk area, exposing some Thomson machine guns next to their drum-shaped magazines.

Richard shook his head when he saw the weapons. "I never thought I would see an American weapon again, although the only thing that makes me happy is that it is a Mexican who uses it." Arturo stopped and taking a Thomson handed it to Richard.

"Take this machine gun and prepare your people, if we don't find a way to radio a code, the army mustang fighters will bomb this place before the artillery fires without stopping.

Just to get the army in, I'm not kidding when I say that the higher ups want this place off the map...

At that moment, Arturo's words were interrupted when a series of shots could be heard, so the two men took their weapons and ammunition before running to the church.

Upon reaching the back of the church, they could see an exchange of fire between the residents against a group of soldiers who wore brown clothing and helmets completely different from those used by the Mexican army.

Richard who was taking cover behind a cement grave began to fire his gun at the enemy soldiers, before a burst of bullets was fired in his direction.

"These damn soldiers are using Soviet weapons, I'm completely sure they are attacking us with damn PPsh, I had the misfortune to fight against those weapons during the stupid war.

Arturo could only curse before shooting at one of the enemy soldiers and advancing to a grave near where Richard was, when he arrived he leaned against the grave and looked at Richard seriously.

"You are not mistaken in what you say and I am completely sure that we are facing Soviet soldiers, I personally had a confrontation with them in Tlaxcala where a group of unionized railroad workers entrenched themselves with Soviet weapons.

But if we are facing the Soviet army we need help, do you have a damn radio in the town...

Arturo's words were interrupted when a grenade exploded near where they were, Richard poking his gun shot at the Soviet soldiers taking advantage of the ground cover that raised the explosion of the grenade.

"In my house there should be a German radio that I brought as a souvenir of my stay in the war, you should be able to communicate with the army with it, although to get there we have to cross through this area to reach the area of ​​houses.

Arthur took a deep breath before taking out a cigarette. "Cover me, I'll throw a grenade at those bastards." Richard was surprised before nodding his head and starting shooting at the Soviet soldiers.

Seeing the distraction, Arturo took out one of his grenades and took the safety off before waiting a couple of seconds and throwing it.

The Soviet soldiers shouted in Russian before the fragmentation grenade exploded on them killing them immediately, Richard who had watched everything laughed ironically.

"Are you sure you're a police sergeant and not a bloody member of the Federal Security Directorate.

Arthur shook his head as he got up and dusted off his trench coat. "I'm a detective, Richard."

One who lost everything and was forced to become the best even if it meant selling my soul to the devil and studying with the special forces for a few years, I don't enjoy killing but if necessary I'm not afraid of getting my hands dirty.

Although I have to say that the DFS has offered me to work with them." Richard looked at him with admiration.

So you've worked with them?

Arturo laughed and looked at him with an emotionless face "If I told you, you'd be dead and so would I, just tell me where your house is so we can end this.

Richard began to walk towards the exterior of the pantheon while some shots and explosions could be heard in the town, Arturo who was in front of one of the corpses of the Soviet soldiers.

He crouched down and after searching his uniform he found an information card from the Soviet army "These damn soldiers have recent information cards, if this attack comes to light there may be a diplomatic altercation with the Soviet Union.

After taking the information from the Soviet soldiers and the identification plates, they advanced along the street until they reached the entrance of the town where some houses were on fire.

Arturo looked sadly at some of the corpses of children and women but some shots made him focus on defending himself, the exchange lasted a few minutes until a ploblador threw a stick of dynamite at the soldiers from one of the houses.

The explosion destroyed some walls of nearby houses but allowed Richard and Arturo to move forward. While they were walking at a military air base a dozen kilometers away, the commander received a fax.

Upon reading it, the commander took a deep breath before giving the order to the mustang fighters to leave for the mountains to completely bombard the town of San German.

When Sergeant Arturo and Richard arrived at their home, they had a confrontation with a couple of Soviet soldiers who were killed without much trouble.

Richard then went down to the basement where once he arrived he pulled a hidden iron while a secret door opened, Arturo looked at it with some curiosity but said nothing.

Upon entering they went down some stairs that led them to a room where there were a few German things, however none of the things shown had any Nazi flag or clothing.

"To be a German survivor of the war, I don't think you're a big hitler fan.

Richard sighed and spit on the ground while he fixed the radio"To hell with Hitler and his group of fucking racists, that they participated against my will in a war that is not my responsibility, I don't have to become their fanatic.

As a mixed race I was just a disgrace to the regime, the only reason they didn't send me to those damn concentration camps was because my father was a German nobleman and member of the Nazi party.

But I don't think my story matters at this moment, which radio frequency is used to communicate with your headquarters." Arturo, upon hearing that, walked towards the radio and after placing a specific frequency, he communicated with the headquarters.

"Blue bird communicating with the nest, I request support for infestation of red bugs, I repeat, we have an infestation of non-native and well-prepared red bugs.

"...Here is the nest, Blue Bird lost communication with you yesterday, are you sure it's red bugs...

" I was intercepted by a group of red bugs, I have identity cards from the red nest and identification plates, it is not the mother bug, but the warrior bugs.

We are fighting against the infestation in the town at this time, I request immediate support to end the invasion.

"...We have news...elimination attack ordered...you must seek refuge blue bird...no...there is no possibility to stop extermination...good luck blue bird...

Arturo at that moment hit the wall and looked seriously at Richard "If you have a damn air raid alarm you should sound it right now because they are going to bomb this place.

Richard cursed in German before pressing a button while a bombing alarm could be heard in the village, the villagers and the Soviet soldiers stopped for a moment before starting to run.

Since they knew that an air attack was coming, their fears as they ran increased when they heard the noise of the planes engines approaching them in the distance.

In the air, the pilots of the mustang fighters could hear the alarms from the town but they did not pay attention since they simply dropped the bombs upon reaching their impact area.

For a few seconds the noise of the bombs falling could be heard before they began to destroy the town killing Soviets and residents alike, in the small bunker where Richard and Arturo were, the ground trembled before it could be heard how the house above them it was collapsing

All this lasted a few seconds that were eternal, however when it was all over, you could only hear the noise of the fire burning some houses since the alarms had been destroyed with the explosions.

However, in the small bunker, Arturo, who was sitting on the ground, lit a cigarette before looking at Richard seriously "It will take a week to enter the town due to security protocols, I hope we have food in this place.

Richard who was holding back his anger just sighed and silently pointed to a wooden box before leaning against the concrete wall to take a break as he was mentally exhausted.

Arturo for his part only sighed and closed his eyes to do the same since he knew that he would possibly have to spend a week in a bunker until the reinforcements arrived, he only hoped that there would be enough water and food.

Since he did not plan to starve and was willing to use one of his revolver bullets to end his life if necessary, since the loss of his family nothing made sense anymore.

So he relaxed and slowly fell asleep in that place, only being able to hear the faint noise of the fire that was burning the buildings outside that bunker.