My partner the Hetzer

When Hans was taking bath, Asper and his son went out to make arrangements to entertain the guests leaving the two women alone.

"Is there something wrong between you and your husband?" The old lady asked Hetzer.

Both of them sat in two chairs in the dining room.

The room was not that big but not small as well. As the chief of a small settlement it was expected.

Their condition reflected the overall situation of the village.

"No, it's not like that." Hetzer said hesitantly.

She felt embarrassed for being called Hans' wife. However, she liked the idea. It was proved by the blush in her face.

 "Then, why do you two seem so distant?" The old woman asked, curious about their relationship.

"The commander is.... just shy." She tried to answer as best as she could.

"You know as one of the eldest women in this village, I have seen so many couples over the year." The old lady spoke.

"I have never seen one without any fighting. It is up to you to make up. Remember the key to happy life is acceptance that our partners may not be exactly what we wish for."

Hetzer listened to her attentively. She was also keen on getting closer to Hans.

"So what do you think, Hetzer should do?" She asked.

"For now, just rest. Both of you must be exhausted." The old lady replied.

"I know you'll figure something out by night. After all, you are the one who knows him the best." She added with a gentle smile.

The old lady patted Hetzer's head, which Hetzer enjoyed.

"I wish, commander would do that to Hetzer." Hetzer spoke out in a bliss.

By this time, something else got the old lady curious. She looked at the girl carefully for her weird dress.

"Anyways why are you not wearing any pants?" The old lady asked looking at Hetzer.

Now, looking down Hetzer felt shy. This is the first time she noticed her missing pants.

"Uh, I was always like this. So I never wore a pant." Hetzer answered.

As the two women continued to chat about various things, Hans ended his bath. He came out to the room where the two women were talking.

 "What are you talking about?" He asked.

"It's just girls talk you don't need to butt in." The old lady answered.

"Now let's go, I shall help you with your bath."

Hetzer blushed and looked on the ground seeing Hans just wrapping a towel on his underbody.

"Umm, why aren't you wearing something? You know it's bad manners to come out in front of the ladies half naked you know." The old lady spoke.

"Uh, a-actually my uniform got wet and none of the clothes you have matches m-my size." He said as he tried to covered himself.

"Oh, that's a shame. You know for a young man you a got skinny body." The old lady giggled.

Hans felt an unknown emotion. He didn't know how to respond to that. As a soldier in the eastern front he had been in some very tough fights.

And the supply situation for the troops were not very good. So it was no wonder that he was somewhat skinny.

Hetzer covered for him at this time. Though she was feeling shy and couldn't look up, she spoke.

"Um actually, t-the commander h-has been through s-some very tough situations. That's why he is like this."

She brought out a set of uniform and gave it to Hans without looking at him.

"H-here commander, y-your spare uniform." She stretched out her hand towards him.

 "Ah, thank you. I almost forgot, the Heer always gives two uniforms to the troops." Hans said as he took the uniform from Hetzer.

"Wait, where did you get that cloth?!" The old lady exclaimed.

"From inside me. Why?" Hetzer nonchalantly replied.

"WHAT?!" The old lady cried out.

She couldn't believe her ears about what she heard. 

"Ahem, I'll go and change, I think you should take a bath too." Hans changed the topic.

"Ah, what is Hetzer doing. I'll go now." Hetzer said and got up to go.

Taking the uniform, he returned back to change, leaving the two women alone again.

While Hetzer went to take a bath with the lady.

In the meantime, Asper and his son returned. They had brought various items that they got from the other villagers.

The old lady got left Hetzer and came out to prepare dinner for the guest. She went to the kitchen to cook.

Meanwhile Hans changed his clothes and came out. He talked about various things with Asper and his son.

Meanwhile, Hetzer also came out from the bath and sat beside Hans. She was wearing her uniform again. Though this time it seemed cleaner than before.

Hans blushed a little looking at the glowing skin of the young girl he was with. He looked away from her.

The father and son giggled. They enjoyed looking at the shy duo.

It was almost evening when dinner was ready. The old lady called them to the dinning room where they all sat together to eat.

The old lady served the food to everyone. She gave some extra food to Hans. But he tried to refuse the extra food.

"You are too skinny, you should eat more. Otherwise how'd you protect your life partner?" She said.

Hans couldn't answer this question. Though he knew the answers more than anyone that actually Hetzer was the one who protected him all this time.

He accepted the kindness of the lady embarrassingly. Hetzer, Asper and his son laughed.

After dinner Hans felt full. He has not eaten this much since he left home. Speaking of home, he thought what his family might be doing now.

"Are they waiting for me to return home or are they thinking that I'm dead." He sighed.

He was thinking about this while sitting in a chair in the guest room. The night has not fell yet and some light was still out.

Suddenly a man rushed inside the house. He was wearing ragged clothes and was carrying a spear.

"Chief, Chief!" He cried.

He seemed restless. Hans felt that something was wrong. He stood up from his chair.

Asper came out and asked why he was screaming like that. Hearing the commotion, Hetzer also came out.

"Chief, I don't see the moon. In the sky." The man said.

Hans and Hetzer both were surprised.

"How could there be no moon tonight?! We just saw it yesterday." Hans said.

Hetzer nodded in agreement. She also wanted to know what happened.

But the moonless night seemed to be something bad, as they could see that Asper turned pale hearing about it.

Turning back facing Hans and Hetzer, the old man forced some words out of his mouth.

"You must get out of this village, while there is still light." He said.

This caught both Hans and Hetzer off-guard. They looked at each other for a while.

"Why? What's wrong? Tell us and we might be able to help." Hans said.

"M-monsters... T-they are coming. In the moonless night, monsters will engulf the lands. It is a saying passed down from generations in our village." Asper replied.

Turning back at the militiaman, he gave out his orders.

"Quick, tell everyone to leave immediately while the village guards hold them off." He said.

Hans never believed in monsters nor could he figure out what's going on. The unusual disappearance of the moon, the pale look on Asper nothing made sense to him.

But Hans believed that it must be something serious. Otherwise the whole village wouldn't have leapt up at this time.

There was wails and cries everywhere. People were rushing out with whatever belongings they can take with them.

Children were crying women were asking where would they go at a time like this. The guards were all rushing outside.

"Wait here. I'll be back." Hans said to Hetzer and rushed to find Asper.

He wanted to know what was going on and he also wanted to return the favour for the hospitality.

But mostly Hans felt that some of his sins could may be washed away.

Hans found Asper inside the house where he was helping his wife to pack things up and leave.

"Excuse me sir, I know this is a wrong time but I am a soldier as well. So please tell me what's going on." He interrupted them.

"Oh I see, it's you." Asper said keeping the things on his hand down.

"You see, in every fifteen years, a moonless night suddenly appears. In such a dark night monsters will come out from their pits and engulf the world." The old man slowly said.

"Though I say suddenly, the kingdom's astrologers always warn us about such a night and we take refuge in the city. But this time it came too suddenly. We didn't receive any warning."

Hans couldn't believe his ears. He never heard such a thing. Moreover, it takes place every fifteen years.

But as a soldier Hans had to think quickly. He knew that he had a tank destroyer with him so he had nothing to worry about.

He still had some belief on the Czech engineering that kept him safe from the Ivan. Their tanks were no less than the monsters to him.

With this thought in mind Hans resolved himself and went outside.

"Don't worry Hetzer and I will take care of things." He said before leaving the room.