Animals

“God dammit Erik!”

“Nope. Sorry man, it's your turn.”

“You know how much I hate doing this!”

“I know mate. It’s a pain in the ass, but someone has to do it. Besides, you’ll be doing everyone a service.”

I sigh as I realize that my friend is right.

“I guess you’re right. It has to be done.”

“Atta boy Jupp! To make you feel better, I’ll get Jerry and Adi together, and we’ll go get a drink after our shift.”

Erik always knows how to cheer me up. I’m not the only one who hates this part of the job. Most of us do, yet we need to do it. Even so, it was kinda a honor to be the one to do it. I grabbed my hat, put it on, and opened the door.

“Don’t worry! It’ll be over before you know it!” Erik yells as I walk out of the staff building.

I take a deep breath, and begin to walk. I go through the gates, and the guardsman waves at me as I go by. I give him a smile, and continue on my way. The brick road under my boots becomes a thick mud, making it a little harder to walk. As I walk through the complex, the animals begin to notice my presence. Seeing my uniform, they keep their distance, and try to avoid eye contact, yet they still make sure to keep an eye on me to see that I have passed them.

The animals that are kept here are some of the most disgusting creatures that I have ever laid my eyes on. They shamble around slowly, constantly darting their baggy, decrepit eyes to see if anything is moving towards them. They are skinny, and pale, almost like walking corpses. They are filthy, covered in mud, puke, and some of them even blood.

The smell they produce is horrid, smelling of rot and decay. The whole complex inside the fences smells of death. When we give them food, they shove the food in their mouths with such speed. If you were to blink when handing them their food, the food would have already been swallowed by the time you opened their mouths. The food seems to be the only thing they love, some are even willing to kill another of their kind, just to get a morsel of food.

Erik and I were bored one day, and decided to see what would happen if we threw a piece of bread out in the middle of the complex. Erik whistled to get everyone’s attention, and chucked it. Around 13 saw the bread flying through the air, and immediately charged to where it would land. The second in hit the floor, they dogpilled onto each other, not concerned with the safety of themselves or others. All they cared about was the thought of the bread in their stomach. By the time one of them had swallowed the bread, 3 of them were fatally wounded. These things had no heart, or soul. They are truly disgusting.

Keeping my pace, I walk by the gatehouse. A train runs through here and unloads new animals. The trains have been coming a lot more regularly lately. This has caused us to become overcrowded. Another train will be arriving tomorrow morning, thank god I have tomorrow off. That means we are going to have to slaughter some, to make room. Today, it is my responsibility, or as Erik said, my turn.

I’ve had to do this a couple of times, and besides when the train unloads the animals, is the only thing I hate about my job here. It’s very stressful, if I mess up, then I would really get it from my superiors. I don’t mind the fact that these things are dying, it’s just the immense amount of pressure. It always could be worse, I could be in the east.

Finally, I approach my destination. I walk into the staff room, and prepare my tools. I grab the sleek black gas mask on the wall, and a can full of the chemicals I’m going to use. I grab the phone and call the administration office to tell them everything is in order.

“Yes?” The commandant says through the phone.

“This is Sturmbannführer Dieter, everything is in order in the crematorium.”

“Ah good. Then we will begin the extermination immediately. Heil Hitler.”

“Heil Hitler.”

I hang up the phone and stare deep into the can. Zyklon B is written across the top in bold letters. I look out the window and see the line of animals going into the gas chamber. The line is quickly pushed into the chamber, and the guards quickly rush out to avoid the animal’s fate.

I climb the ladder in the back of the room, and get on top of the roof. I put on my gas mask, and walk over to the gas deposit. I open the can, and pour the Zyklon pellets into the shoot. I empty the can and pull the lever.