I opened the first aid kit. It contained some sterile wipes, a small tin of aspirin, and a roll of gauze. There were Band-Aids and that was it. I had felt smart when I put it in my bag, now I wished I had a lot more.
As Mum said, “If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.” I would have to make do.
It took some contortions but I used the wipes which stung like the devil and then wrapped the gauze around me. Fortunately, it was long enough to go around me twice and I could tie it off in the front.
I took four aspirin hoping it would help with the burning pain.
All I could hope was that it would keep from chaffing the wound and prevent infection.
Once that was done I checked out the dead poacher. I put his hat on first. Then I removed his jacket and shirt. They were a little tight but I could wear them. No way was I going to try his stinky pants on. I did remove his hunting knife which was much better than mine. I put it in my backpack.
He also had a backpack. It was the best find of all. It contained a full canteen, two sandwiches, and two pairs of dry socks. He must have been a Hitler Youth. It looked like he planned on spending the night in the woods.
I drug his body to the side of the road after retrieving the cash I had given him. His wallet was very thin and had no money. I could see why he would try to turn me in for a reward.
After a long drink of water and one of the sandwiches, I was ready to move again. I was refreshed but my back was burning. I thought about taking the rifle with me but decided against it.
It weighed a lot to be running with and if I was in a position to have to use it, I was in more trouble than I could handle.
I ran south for about another hour and started to look for a place to spend the night. The area was becoming hilly, to my left was a steep bank which would be a difficult climb, to my right a small but fast-moving stream.
I was able to cross the stream on several rocks, keeping dry. I then followed the stream hoping to find some shelter. Instead, I ran out of walking room, the hill was now steep to my right as well so I was forced to keep moving downstream.
I even ran out of the bank to run on and had to run in the shallow depths of the stream. It had now widened out and slowed down. Near the shore, it was a shallow sand base, so other than getting my shoes wet I was able to keep moving.
Several hundred yards along another smaller stream joined the main one. Since it was in a cut in the bank I used it to move out of the confining stream bed. I still had to run in the water but it wasn’t that deep. If it had been in the spring it would have washed me away.
I finally came to a level area which was even with the road. The road was at least a hundred yards from me. I would probably have to backtrack in the morning.
There was a downed tree close by with a hollow where the stump had pulled up. I was able to get down in the hollow away from the light breeze that had come in with new rainfall.
After eating the last sandwich, taking the last of the aspirin, and putting on dry socks I huddled down in my TWA blanket and fell asleep.
I woke sometime in the night to the sounds of a truck, men, and dogs. They made a large racket but didn’t come near me. I thought it was the East German Army looking for me, but had no way of knowing, and even if I did it wouldn’t help so after listening for a while I went back to sleep.
Chapter 25
I woke up stiff and sore. My back felt like it was on fire. On top of all that I was running a fever. Things weren’t looking too good. I forced myself up. I had half of last night's sandwich left so choked it down. That and a drink of water and it was as good as it was going to get.
I thought about the sounds I had heard last night. The East Germans had figured out I had got out of their search zone so had now expanded it. They probably had set up roadblocks on every road around here.
I had no choice except go cross country. Establishing west with my compass I headed out. One problem I faced was the density of the forest. It was hard to sight in on something far out so I had to check the compass frequently.
It was not a case of going in a straight line. These woods were unkempt, unlike what I had read about the German forests. According to the books, a German forest would be like a park.
This was wilderness like the Civil War campaign. Deadfall after deadfall, bramble bush after bramble bush kept me detouring and having to recheck my compass heading.
I tried to run for a while. I ended up staggering around so slowed to a steady walk. Somewhere along the way, my watch had disappeared so I had no idea of the time. I tried taking a break every fifteen minutes. Just a breather, but it helped.
I drank the last of my water. Feeling my forehead I thought the fever had gone up.
I kept this up all day long. By evening I was lightheaded. I ended up drinking from a small
