Aachen was a half completed Fortress City, only the core of the city was fully completed, with artillery and anti-aircraft emplacements at key positions. However, the edge of the city was still in shambles, with the British 7th Armoured and the American Rangers constantly sieging the outer parts of the city. Oberstleutnant Karl Rumplehart was leading the defenses, receiving heavy fire from the British Armoured units.

  He had his MP-43, something the Fuhrer had ordered be made early on in the war, something that had helped a lot of the German units with urban combat, as a automatic rifle was extremely useful. The British Shermans had been continuously firing with no avail, as their weak cannons could do little to penetrate the layers of thick concrete Oberstleutnant Karl and his men were behind, the infantry fared worse, with little cover and taking heavy fire from the seasoned German paratroopers.

  Karl wasn't one to waste his ammunition recklessly, and always aimed at where he wanted to fire, pretty much making him the worst machine gunner and one of the best snipers in the entire regiment. As he was firing down upon the American Rangers, a messenger ran forward to him, some parts of the outer wall were not finished and were only up to the waist in height, though they were still thick and no small arms fire could penetrate it.

  "Sir! We are getting a strange communication from Fortress Cologne!" said the messenger. He was a replacement, not having served for more than a year, no major paradrops.

  "What is so important that you want me to come check the communications!?" yelled Karl.

  "I can't explain it sir! Oberleutnant Christoph sent for you!" yelled back the messenger. Karl didn't mind, in the absolute chaos of a fight, nothing could be heard if you did not shout.

  "This better be important or I will hang you by your intestines boy!" yelled Karl. "Hauptmann Roderick! Take command, I will be back in a few minutes."

  "Yes, sir!" yelled back Roderick.

  Karl started running at a mad pace towards the central fortress, the main communications room was within the central fortress, with the battle communications room being just behind where Karl was fighting. They passed by the rubbles of buildings, the Allied artillery having flattened most of the civilian areas, though there were no civilians, they had all been evacuated and sent to the Fortress of Dusseldorf, as Aachen was in no state to accommodate both civilians and a military garrison.

  When Karl reached the central fortress, the guards saluted him as he ran into the main communications room.

  "What is it?" asked Karl in a hurry.

  Oberleutnant Christoph motioned to the radio. It was crackling.

  "All fortress cities, lockdown protocol in effect. I repeat, all fortress cities, lockdown protocol in effect. No one gets in or out. Cease fighting." the radio crackled.

  "What? Are they mad?" asked Karl.

  "No, sir. It appears the HVP fucked up some sort of.. poison?" said Oberleutnant Christoph. Karl frowned.

  "Poison? What?" Karl asked, he hadn't fought in the Great War, but he was born just before the war, way too young to fight, but his father had fought for Germany, and he recalled of the chemical weapons used by them, mustard and chlorine gas, extremely terrifying. The mad Russians of course said 'No.' to the gas and fought on, but still a frightening scene to behold.

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  "Did they release some sort of gas? Chlorine maybe?" asked Karl.

  "No, sir. Reports from Fortress Stuttgart indicate.. undead. Walking corpses." said Christoph. Karl's eyes widened. This was one of the particular scenes his father had described to him, the siege of Osowiec Fortress, the dead men who had counter attacked the Germans after being gassed.

  "Double check that information. Now." ordered Karl.

  "Yes, sir." said Oberleutnant Karl and ran off to a table with communications equipment, when the radio crackled once more.

  "All fortresses, cease fire, immediately, hoard and conserve your ammunition, the dead are walking, may god be with you." the radio crackled. Followed by screams of a man.

  The room was in a state of shock and fear, adding on to this, a lookout called.

  "Sir! Attack coming from the Sou-.." yelled a lookout before pausing. Karl hestitated, what on earth was happening? He shook his head and ran to the lookout, his eyes were blinded after leaving the dark room into direct sunlight.

  "What is it trooper? Answer me!" yelled Karl. The paratrooper handed him his binoculars without saying a word and without taking his eyes of the horizon. Karl grabbed the binoculars and looked through them, and was equally horrified as the paratrooper.

  There was a horde of living corpses, twisted bodies shambling towards them at a slow pace, each and every one of them were bloodied, he couldn't see much more than that due to the distance. He dropped the binoculars in complete shock and horror. He couldn't comprehend what was happening, he felt chill, cold water splash upon him, he turned around.

  "Get out of it, sir!" yelled Oberleutnant Christoph. "What are your orders?"

  Karl was in a daze. "...Right. Order the troops to cease fire, raise a white flag with orders to let the Allies into the fortress." At that very moment, Hauptsturmfuhrer Dietrich came up and heard what Karl had said.

  "What?! Are you a traitor to the German people? You slimy shit!" yelled Hauptsturmfuhrer Dietrich before Karl turned around and hit him square across the face with his Luger, several teeth had flown out of his mouth, and was profusely leaking blood.

  "When you talk to a superior, you say sir."

  "Traitor! I will hang you for this! Guards! Arrest him!" ordered Hauptsturmfuhrer Dietrich, the guards and the paratroopers surrounding them looked deadpan at Dietrich, with him not remembering the guards were also, in fact, Fallschirmj?ger. Oberleutnant Christoph burst out laughing, Oberstleutnant Karl grabbed his MP-43 and hit Dietrich in the face with the butt of the weapon.

  "Drag him to the cells." ordered Oberstleutnant Karl.

  "Yes, sir." the guards replied, before they slung their weapons onto their shoulders and dragged Dietrich's limp body unceremoniously to the jail.

  "How the hell did this dumbass become a Hauptsturmfuhrer?" asked Karl while he laughed.

  "I'm as clueless as you, sir." answered Oberleutnant Christoph.

  Karl regained his composure as the seriousness of the situation dawned on him. "Order the Das Reich unit to move into the jail to contain a riot, lock them in there once everyone is inside." ordered Oberstleutnant Karl, the last thing he wanted was a bunch of Nazi fanatics trying to murder him and his men for supposed "treason". Soon enough, the white flag with the sentence, "Please get inside the fort!" was written and raised high above the citadel, the frontline units had stopped firing and the Allies were absolutely confused at the sight they saw.

  Karl ran up to the ramparts of the completed section of the outer wall and franticly yelled at the Allies to get inside the fort in English, where, once again, the Allies were completely confused, that was, before a British Officer stepped up and yelled back.

  "Are you surrendering lads?"

  "No you idiot get inside the fort! I will explain it to you in full detail! We will not shoot you or trap you!" yelled Karl.

  Some of the men chuckled, but the Allied Officers were suspicious, they would have surely rather went to hell than come inside the fort if it was a SS officer or a Wehrmacht officer shouting at them. But the Fallschirmj?ger were respected throughout for their bravery and honor, as were most of the paratrooper divisions of both sides.

  The officers quickly motioned their men to follow, as Karl went around yelling not to open fire whatever the case may be.

  As soon as the first officer had stepped foot inside Aachen, Karl rushed up to him.

  "I am Obers-.. Lieutenant Colonel Karl Rumplehart, 3. Fallschirmj?ger. Please get inside the fortress, it doesn't matter that we are at war, the world may not exist tomorrow if we continue this mindless fighting." said Oberstleutnant Karl, to the complete and utter confusion of the Allied Officers. They looked at him weirdly. That was an understatement.