We managed to remain unseen and got into a small hut that gave us good concealment and a perfect view of the whole area, the bell tower was attached to a large stone building inside the graveyard, once inside we hunkered down to take a better look.

The graveyard had a squared plaza in front that looked like it used to be a small garden, the graves were all around it, there used to be a fence in the perimeter but it had been taken down.
The place was a mess, the gravestones had been either dilapidated, blown all over the place or tilted, the ground was full of bodies and shell holes, the big wooden doors in front of the stone building had been blasted inwards, one of them was hanging from one hinge, more bodies rested upon the entrance stairs, it´s stone walls were chipped and stained, the remnants of last night´s battle were pretty visible.

There was a supply truck parked in front of the stone building it had a big red cross painted on the side and 3 men guarded the truck with their SMG´s ready, on the plaza there were 2 woman rummaging through the bodies, another man came out of the stone building and went down the steps, he was carrying a large bag.

I took my binoculars out to get a better view, the rest did the same, Hans used his scope.

- That´s the rendezvous point. OKW said this area should be clear, their intel seems a little off. - Helga said.

- Story of my life. - I replied.

- Resistance? They could be here to pick up the bodies - Hans asked.

- Nah, see that bag, I can bet it´s full of loot, they´re scavengers, they pick off anything valuable off the bodies and salvage any usable weapons left behind to then sell them back to the resistance. - Klaus said.

We all kept observing in silence for a bit.

- Should we drop them? I mean they already know someone is around since we shot the sniper. - Klaus asked Helga.

- Their presence here means that the resistance is nowhere near, they might have some information we could use. Hans, I want you to shoot the man with the bag, don´t kill him, a shot in the knee cap should leave him inmovile, the rest of them are fair game, We´ll get closer and take the rest out just make sure no one leaves, once you see we are in position take the shot and we´ll follow up. - Helga said.

We got out of the building we were in and tried to stick to cover but since we were in broad daylight we were spotted as soon as we crossed the street, the three men that stood guard began firing at us, immediately after Hans fired at the man we saw with the bag and he fell to the ground screaming in pain.

Helga, Klaus and I took cover behind a flipped up truck, bullets ricocheted all around, I peeked to take another look.

Soon after, 2 more men came out of the big building armed with handguns only, they ran to the man in the ground and tried to get him up but Hans shot one of them right in the face sending his body backwards, the remaining one leaped into a shell hole, the two women were now running towards the truck, and the three shooters from earlier were running towards us firing non-stop.

- Hans, remember, no one gets away! - Helga yelled.

- I won´t shoot the women, they are unarmed and you know the rules! - Hans belted back.

- Then disable the fucking truck if they try to take it. - Helga said.

I leaned out and shot one of the three gunners, the shot hit him flat in the chest and he went down, the 2 remaining stopped dead and hit the ground, the one in the shell hole tried to make a run for the truck but Hans shot him and he just lumped to the ground, Helga and Klaus waited for the ones that were close to us to reload and then ran out to rush them, they got caught off guard and Helga emptied her mag on them.

I jumped out and ran towards the truck, the two woman had reached it and were trying to climb on to the back, at the same time 2 more men ran out of the stone building and were now climbing into the cabin of the truck, Hans shot the one trying to get on the driver´s seat, it was a clean headshot, his body just lumped to the ground, the other one, terrified, tried to make a run for it, I stopped and crouched to take better aim as he was like 50 meters away.

I took a deep breath to slow my heartbeat down and pulled the trigger, his neck bursted in red and he stumbled to the ground clutching the wound with his hands trying to stop the bleeding, the shot had gone through the neck.

The two woman jumped off the back of the truck one had a STEN and the other a Thompson, the man Hans had crippled was still screaming and crawling it´s way back to the entrance of the building, both woman began firing at me but I leapt behind a couple of large gravestones to avoid getting hit, by now Helga and Klaus had flanked them both and began shooting back at them, they both ran back trying to get inside, I peeked out and shot one of them getting her in the leg, she dropped her SMG and fell screaming in anguish, the other one turned back to drag her, but Helga fired a burst that clipped her in the torso and finished off the one in the ground.

- All clear? - I asked, Helga whistled and pointed to her eye and then the entrance of the building, she was signaling Hans.

- For now, we should check this place thoroughly half these asshats came from in there. - Klaus said.

- Agreed, but first... - Helga said and began walking towards the crippled man, he had his back against a gravestone.

He held his hands up and began running his mouth in french as we approached him, Helga slung her rifle in her back, crouched beside him, pulled out her P38 and smacked him the across the face, she then began speaking with him, I don´t speak french so I had no idea what were they going about.

At first she spoke loudly and severely but she softened up a little bit soon after, the man seemed to be cooperating, she offered him a cigarette and I lit it for him, he simply said ¨Danke¨ in a sloppy manner, I smiled, Helga stood up a little after and began walking towards the truck.

- Stay here. - She said.

She came back shortly after and handed a thick rope to Klaus and a med kit.

- He cooperated, he gets to live. Patch him up and tie him to the gravestone, the next German patrol is due in a couple of hours, they´ll pick him up. - She said, Klaus nodded and got to it, after he was done he gave the man another cigarette and lit it.

She whistled loudly, raised a clenched fist, raised three fingers and signaled the entrance of the building and then raised her rifle as if aiming and raised 4 fingers again, Hans flashed a mirror twice.

- What was all that? - I asked.

- The fist means stay put, the three fingers mean us three, I then signaled that we are entering the building and clearing, the four fingers after mean 4 minutes or asume the worst, he flashed twice to confirm.

- Clever. - I simply said.

I put two more rounds in the rifle to top it off, Klaus took point, we went in quickly but there was no one inside, the place seemed to be a large chapel, it must´ve been used to hold the funeral ceremonies by the locals, most of the wooden benches were still in place but all the candle holders and ornamentation was gone, probably in the back of the truck, there was a room at the back end of the chapel, the door was open and I could see what looked like a spiral staircase, that room must be the tower access.

- Up we go, Klaus, take point. - Helga ordered.

I slung my rifle in the back and pulled the handguns out, we climbed up and reached another door at the top, Klaus, in his true fashion kicked the door down and stormed the tower, again, it was empty aside from the body of the sniper that Hans had shot at earlier.

Helga went to a window and gave Hans a thumbs up, I took the dead sniper´s rifle, it was a scoped Springfield 1903, checked the chamber to make sure there was ammo in it and perched myself along the window making sure the barrel didn´t poke out, I remained on the look out to provide some cover for Hans in case shit hit the fan, soon after I saw him get out of the building he was at and run full speed across the graveyard.

- Heh, who knew a telegraph pole could move so fast? - I snickered, Helga chuckled a bit as well. Klaus was making his way downstairs, once Hans was clear we followed.