The Bunker

January 16, 1945

I’ve been waiting for you. Oh, how I’ve missed you. The world is crumbling around you, but I still take you in with open arms. The Soviets pursue you from the East, and the Americans from the West. We don’t have much time left together, but we’ll make the most of it.

My beloved Fuhrer… my precious Adolf. Do you mind if I call you Adi?

Your orderlies and adjutants bring down your personal effects. A painting of Frederick the Great, Third Reich china, a desk with chairs. Soon, I’ll look just like home. It’ll be like the Berghof…

Except it won’t.

I’m going to feed off of you. All of your emotions, fears, desires. I’ll drain you, Adi. You’ll be a shell of your former self. There’s a price to be paid for the protection I offer. If you only knew what I’m going to put you through, you would go back up and wait for the bombs to hit you.

But here you are, and here you’ll stay. When I’ve had my fill, I’ll let you die.

#

March 19, 1945

Where has the time gone? It seems like yesterday that you moved in. But look at what we’ve done together! For now you’ve ordered that all critical infrastructure be destroyed to prevent it from being used by the enemy.

My goodness… I didn’t know you had it in you! Think of the innocent lives that will be lost because of this! You would rather have your own people die than leave anything behind. Not only are you going down with the ship, you’re sinking the lifeboats and taking everybody else with you. You never would have signed such an order before. But that was before you moved down here with me.

Oh… your anger is like a drug for me. Ecstasy courses through me with each stroke of your pen. I moan with pleasure as you sign the order and condemn your own people. Hell, they deserve it. They weren’t up to the mission in front of them. Leave them to be massacred by the Soviets.

Will this be it, my dear Adi? Are your sins so numerous now that you can’t add to the list? Please… let there be more. I drink from the well of your rage. Your mania is intoxicating.

#

April 20, 1945

Happy birthday, my sweet! You’re fifty six years young today! How does it feel? Did you get any good presents? Maybe some golden Jew teeth? Lord knows that your regime has a lot of them. Though you could use some new clothing. That shirt you’re wearing has drool stains on it. And is that a dab of icing I see? Somebody’s been hitting the cake hard! I guess everybody’s allowed to let themselves off the hook once a year.

Seems like the whole crew made it in. Goering, Himmler, Speer… maybe they’d like to stay with me, too. The more, the merrier. But no, they want to leave as fast as they can. They never cared about you. Not like me.

The Soviets aren’t able to make it, but they’re sending their regards. Their party favors are rather explosive. Don’t you want to come up and see them? They’ll knock you off your feet!

Oh, I understand. You’d prefer to stay down here with me. Yes… curl up next to my bosom. I’ll protect you… yes, I will.

#

April 22, 1945

Damn, damn, damn. That blasted Steiner. That traitorous bastard. He never executed your orders to counterattack. Nobody listens to you anymore. Now there’s nothing stopping the Soviets from taking the city.

I feel for you, my tender Adi. Everybody’s betrayed you. All those generals who never got dirt under their fingernails. They lost you the war. Germany’s finished. The Thousand-Year Reich barely lasted twelve. The hordes from the East are going to sweep across the whole of Europe.

Go on, let them have it! Tell your generals how you feel! Your screams sound like music to my ears! Everybody in the bunker has come out to listen to your performance. Give it to me, Adi! Encore, encore!

#

I must be dreaming. This is too good to be true.

More people are moving in today! It’s the Goebbels family! Joseph, his wife Magda, and their six children. They march down the stairs like they’re being led to a firing squad. The children each carry one toy. I can taste their fear. It reeks like a stench. They don’t know where else to turn. Don’t worry, little ones. You’re with me. I’ll keep you safe from the big, bad Bolsheviks. Nobody can get you down here. Snuggle up close to me… I’ll even read you a bedtime story.

I hope you’ll excuse the mess. Nobody’s given me a good cleaning in a while. Now I smell like urine, sweat, and diesel! I guess everybody knows that I’m going to keep getting dirty so why even bother! Just make sure you wear shoes whenever you’re walking around. Those aren’t rain puddles on the ground.

It’s also starting to get cramped. There are dozens of people down here now. The wounded lie in the hallways like corpses. Go on… you can rest here. Nothing can get you. Pretty soon you’ll be back in the fight, good as new.

#

April 29, 1945

Here comes the bride! What a joyous occasion! Doesn’t Eva look gorgeous?

You do like them young, Adi. She’s only 33. Young enough to be your daughter! But they say that age is just a number. You never did care about age. It didn’t matter how old your enemies were. You slaughtered babies in the name of the Reich! I guess a 23-year age difference is but a trifle for you.

If I being honest, this seems like a rather drab affair. Apart from Goebbels and Bormann, there are no other guests! You went with quite the private ceremony. There’s no music, but that’s okay. The Soviets’ artillery sets the mood. The banquet food seems paltry, too. And there’s no priest here. Living in sin was never a concern of yours.

I guess it’s the thought that counts. Love conquers all in the end. Except the Soviets, unfortunately.

#

Uh oh… I don’t like that look on your face, Adi. What’s wrong? Don’t tell me that the news is true. Poor Mussolini, they got him. He’s dead. But that’s not what’s upsetting you.

They had their way with his corpse. They hung him upside down from the roof of a gas station. Then they stoned him, spat on him, kicked him. Those barbarians. Your troops would never resort to such brutality. What a travesty…

I can’t imagine what you’re going through, my dear. You have the same fate to look forward to when the Soviets arrive. They’ll parade your corpse through the streets of Moscow and hang it from the Kremlin.

But what if they weren’t able to find it? What if you burned it? Now there’s an idea. You can’t leave anything behind. Everything has to come down. It’ll be like the end of your favorite opera, Gotterdammerung. When the curtain falls, you must go up in flames. Just like the Jews that you annihilated. What goes around comes around…

#

April 30, 1945

The moment has arrived. All good things must come to an end.

I’ve bled you dry, Adi. You’ve been down here with me for three months, but it must feel like three centuries for you. You can hardly move anymore. Your hand shakes like a conductor's from the Parkinson’s. You drool and slobber like your dog. I warned you that there would be a price to pay for my protection.

The Soviets are almost here. They’ve laid waste to the city. Now they’re just a few blocks away. They’re dying to meet you.

Everybody lines up to say good-bye. There’s not a dry eye in the house. Joseph and Magda will follow you unto death. They won’t even let their children live. They say that they’re going to drug them and give them cyanide pills while they’re sleeping.

I seem to have that effect on people.

Now it’s just you and your beloved Eva. She’s going with cyanide, but you’re doing it the old-fashioned way: with a gunshot to the head. Nice and easy. Just pull the trigger…

Bang!

Farewell, my love! My Adi! Our time together is over. Now you must journey to another bunker. One far below me… and much warmer.