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The Adventures of Kevin Krämer in Communist Europe
- The Escape from Communist Europe -
By: Justin Brown (a pen name)
Recommended reading for ages 14 and older.
This is a novel for teens and adults.
This novel contains some violence (such as
gunshots and fights); intense chase scenes;
clean romantic elements (i.e. clean conversations
between a guy and his girlfriend);
and themes
appropriate for teenagers and adults.
You will not find any profanity,
immorality, or gore in this novel.
It is written to edify the reader, and not to provoke
sinful thoughts.
This story is free to be copied, printed, and distributed, but it must remain unaltered.
_________________________
Synopsis
Europe has been invaded, the superpower across the sea is no more, and the country of "Baltania" is controlling Europe through communistic puppet governments. Under the oppressive cloud of communism, a small group of underground Christians faces a powerful crime organization bent on their capture and destruction.
 |
| (The entire story is in a complete PDF file which can be read at this link on Google Drive. I make no money from this story. It is entirely free.) |
Together with some friends, Kevin and Maritza must do their best to avoid being captured as they learn to trust God and follow His guiding hand in these last days just before the rise of the Antichrist. This fast-paced story is designed to be fascinating. But, don't just take our word for it...
[Note: Baltania is a fictional country within the Eurasian landmass. At one time, it had a communistic past. During a third world war, communism revived in this country as its armies conquered Europe. Since we do not want to point fingers at any particular country, we will not name this country or coalition of countries.]
[Note: Baltania is a fictional country within the Eurasian landmass. At one time, it had a communistic past. During a third world war, communism revived in this country as its armies conquered Europe. Since we do not want to point fingers at any particular country, we will not name this country or coalition of countries.]
Chapter 1
"Encountering a Problem"
(Click here to open a list of links to chapters.
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Three gangsters, dressed in dark tactical gear, were standing at the bottom of a staircase inside a concrete room, which
was partially filled with crates and boxes stacked against the walls. As the crooks had first entered the room, they had seen that the old, florescent shop lights in the ceiling were on. To the man called Wolf, the humming lights revealed that someone or some people had been down there not long ago. 'Christians were here,' Wolf thought to himself as he looked about the room.
However, where the Christians
had vanished to was still a mystery to the tall, blond, muscular man. It seemed to him that the only way out of
that room was by the stairwell, which he had just descended through.
He began walking along the
wall, keeping himself at an arm’s length from the containers. As he walked halfway around the room, Wolf saw nothing amiss until his blue, attentive eyes noticed a thin, dark gap between the edge of a crate and what
appeared to be a door in the concrete wall behind it. ‘What is this?’ Wolf thought as he drew a small LED
flashlight from a pocket.
Shining the flashlight beam
into the gap, he instantly found out that it was a partially-concealed tunnel
entrance. ‘This is no doubt where the Christians went,’ Wolf thought. 'Now, they are trapped. And, I will let none of them escape.'
___________________
[We will now go to the beginning of the story where Kevin Kramer is heading home after finishing his shift at a factory in the fictional town of Kühnburg, Germany.]
___________________
Kühnburg, Germany
It was an overcast and rainy
day. Sheets of precipitation splattered against the pavement and pelted the tan
jacket of Kevin Kramer. The thirty-year-old walked through the puddle-filled
streets of the old town of Kühnburg, Germany, hoping to soon be out of
the rain and back in his apartment where it was dry and warm. He walked with a
slight limp, which he tried to ignore, as he composed a text message on his
smartphone. Engrossed in texting, he didn’t notice an armed, Baltanian soldier
who had just emerged from a brick building where a law office was
headquartered.
Kevin bumped into the soldier
and then quickly backed up, startled at seeing who it was he had ran into. The
soldier glared at him coldly and said, “Watch where you’re going, civilian.”
“I’m sorry, sir,” Kevin said,
swallowing hard, trying not to betray the anger he felt toward that soldier. He
could tell that the man was a few years younger than he and in top shape.
Attacking a soldier would be foolish, regardless of the man’s physical condition.
“What is your name and
occupation?” the Baltanian soldier said in perfect German as he pulled
out a small electronic tablet from trouser pocket. A stylus was clipped onto
the device, and he removed it quickly before pressing a button to activate the tablet.
“I’m Kevin Kramer and I work
at the Schmidt furniture factory three blocks down from here,” Kevin said,
trying not to sound nervous.
The soldier filled some
information into a digital notepad app and then clicked send, in order to
transmit the data to his superiors. As the man worked on the tablet, Kevin paid
more attention to his appearance. The guard had blond hair and blue eyes and
appeared to be in his mid-twenties. He did not seem like a threatening person,
so Kevin began to feel a little bolder as he felt anger rising inside his
chest.
The thought of killing this
soldier came to his mind, but he held back his anger. He knew that killing was
murder, and that it was a sin against God and man, but his heart felt intense
hatred sweep through it at times. He had heard a pastor of a Lutheran church
preach that all people ought to forgive their enemies and do good to them, but
Kevin still felt hatred for the people who had killed his father and mother
during the Baltanian invasion of Europe.
“Mr. Kramer, you are free to
go. But, watch where you are going next time,” the soldier said sternly.
Kevin nodded and headed off
down the street through the rain. He tried his best to let go of anger and to
forget about his parents, but it was hard.
___________________
Maritza Altmaier in Kühnburg
Maritza Altmaier walked down Braun
Street* after having just passed through the doors of a Communist-sponsored
soap factory. She had worked there for nine hours packing shampoos, bar soaps,
and hand soaps into boxes for shipping out to wholesalers. It was tiring work
and she looked forward to returning to her apartment to relax. [* A
fictional street name, which has been anglicized.]
Blond-haired, pretty, and of
an average height, Maritza was the only child of a German father and a Polish
mother who both had been killed during a devastating war in Europe. During
intense street fighting in Berlin, her parents had been on a train heading away
from Berlin. Just as they were leaving the outskirts of the capital, an artillery
shell had struck the train, killing 60 percent of the passengers and wounding
the rest. The shell had come from an artillery piece which had not been
properly sighted.
Maritza turned her eyes away
from a man on the other side of the street, who was staring at her. She
pretended to ignore him, and hoped he would soon forget her. She always dressed
modestly and often wore women’s baggy trousers and two layers of shirts. One
shirt was always tucked into her trousers and one hung down to her waist.
Maritza couldn’t help that
she was attractive and pretty. But, she had to admit to herself it had
advantages such as when some young men had gone out of their way to help her
out with bringing groceries to a rental car. However, it had disadvantages, such
as when she constantly had to try to politely say “no” to some guys, who would
desperately ask her out. Some would even beg her to come out with them on a
date.
_ _ _ _
Sometime during the 2020s,
a war broke out in Europe. The country of Falconia had sent a few nuclear
missiles toward the country of Baltania. Five had struck an important Baltanian
population center, causing a horrendous loss of life and total destruction of
the buildings. Hundreds of thousands of Baltanian citizens were killed by radioactive
fallout and by the initial blasts.
_ _ _ _
Maritza pulled out an old
cell phone from her jean pocket and pretended to look at text messages. The
phone didn’t work, and it had no sim card, but it worked as a prop to
make it appear that she was busy.
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| (Some conversions between metric units and English-system units) Right click the picture and select "Open link in new tab." |
“Sir, I’m fine walking by
myself. Please let me be,” she said.
Being a non-conformist
Christian, or an underground Christian, she didn’t trust using cell phones
since the communistic puppet government of the new Germany monitored all
phone calls, all text messages, and all internet usage.
She sometimes used the old
cell phone as a method of ignoring lustful, married men who would walk beside
her and try to start up a conversation. She would pull out her phone and
pretend to text. Then, she would tell the man to leave. If a police officer was
nearby, the man would leave, but sometimes she had to just pray and ask God to
deliver her.
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| (Click on this link to read brief descriptions about some of the characters from this novel.) |
“No thank you, sir. I would
prefer to be left alone,” Maritza said politely but slightly sternly to get
across the point that she wasn’t interested in him.
“Will you please come out
with me for dinner? I can take you to the best restaurant in town. Fresh
seafood, lobsters, crabs, tuna, swordfish,” Carl said.
“No thank you, sir. I’m
really not interested in your invitation. Please let me be,” she said
with a stronger tone in her voice.
He was taken aback by her
tone and quickly got the message that she was not going along with his plans.
So, he reluctantly slowed his speed and allowed her to walk far ahead of him.
_ _ _ _
In retaliation for the
Falconian attack, Baltanian had nuked Falconia until the country was subdued.
And, together with Dragonia, it’s ally, Baltania had formed a coalition and had
invaded Falconia. The Baltanian coalition forces had turned the remainder of
Falconia’s decimated population into slaves after hundreds of thousands of
Baltanian and Dragonian soldiers had poured into Falconia and had overran its
armies.
_ _ _ _
Maritza breathed a sigh of
relief, seeing that the man was allowing her to be alone. She wished she didn’t
have to be pestered by men with ill intentions or by men with worldly pursuits.
She knew that not all men were like that. There were definitely men who were
upstanding and godly, but she often ran into ones that weren’t.
Two years after the war had
ended, factories were opened in Germany and across Europe, and they began to
produce goods which would benefit the citizens of Europe. Fliers appeared all
over the town of Kühnburg advertising work, so Maritza had applied. A kind,
middle-aged, Christian lady, she had stayed with since arriving in Kühnburg,
was reluctant to let her live in an apartment on her own, but she had promised
to visit her from time to time, as she was able. Feeling she needed more space,
Maritza had moved to her own apartment.
Maritza walked several more
blocks before she turned to the right at an intersection and walked half a
block until she reached the entrance to a parking lot in front of two, large,
mid-rise apartment buildings. A small playground near the closest apartment
building was occupied by two young boys playing on a slide.
The playground was surrounded
by a chain-link fence and was observed by a pole-mounted surveillance camera,
which also represented how restricted Maritza felt under the communist state’s
surveillance and control. A few maple trees with small leaves, which were
starting to expand, appeared in a lawn adjacent to the rear of the buildings.
She enjoyed watching birds and squirrels perch on the branches and hop from
tree to tree. Spring had come and Summer would soon follow.
She opened the door of the
closest apartment building and found herself again standing on the white
linoleum of the first-floor hallway, which was lined with LED ceiling lights
and many doors. An open door to the left revealed a stairwell beyond. She
entered the stairwell door and began ascending the steps. Her footfalls echoed
off the concrete walls, making it seem that several people were walking up the
steps.
_ _ _ _
At about the same time,
Baltania had also invaded non-Baltanian Europe and had swiftly conquered it,
country by country. Shortly after Baltania had attacked Germany, Maritza’s
parents had been killed.
Shocked at the sudden
death of her parents, Maritza had packed up her belongings and had headed to Kühnburg,
far away from Berlin, to try to escape the memory of her parents and to start a
new life. But, communist forces soon entered the town and captured it, without
any resistance.
_ _ _ _
As Maritza climbed, she
expected to soon have a guest from the underground Church staying at her
apartment, and she looked forward to visiting with the lady.
___________________
Kevin Kramer in Kühnburg
After passing down a couple
more city blocks, still suffering from his slight limp, Kevin reached an older,
red-brick, high-rise apartment building and did his best to avoid staring at a
couple Baltanian soldiers who were chatting with each other on the sidewalk
near the main entrance. He pushed through a metal door and entered a small,
empty, linoleum-floored, lobby which was connected to a hallway running
straight through the middle of the building. In the left corner of the small
lobby was a set of stairs ascending to a landing. He took these and began
climbing.
Kevin reached the third floor
landing and, leaving the stairs, he walked briskly down a hallway which was
illuminated by harsh LED lights in the metal cages fastened to the ceiling. He
did not go far before his feet took him to his apartment door. A metal box the
width of two postage stamps and the thickness of his hand was fastened to a
biometric lock on each apartment door.
Pressing his thumb against a
dark pad on the metal box, Kevin waited for the biometric lock to activate and
give him access to his flat. A whirring sound came from the door, followed by a
clicking noise. Kevin tried the handle, but it didn’t budge.
_ _ _ _
Many European countries,
being allied with Falconia, had struck some military targets in Baltania, but
that had only enraged it leaders. These European countries could not stand up
to the millions of soldiers, hundreds of tanks, and thousands of aircraft that
swept in from Baltania and Dragonia. In a few short years, the Baltanian and
Dragonian armies smashed through Europe, and many countries surrendered,
without much of a fight.
Then, communism began to
replace parliamentary governments with authoritarian, puppet governments
subject to Baltania and Dragonia.
_ _ _ _
Frustrated at the
malfunctioning lock mechanism, he angrily hit the door with his fist and tried
the handle again. It still didn’t budge. He paused to relax and tried to calm
his feelings. Then, he tried the door once more.
At last, the door opened and
Kevin let out a sigh of relief as he entered his messy apartment. He
immediately noticed his roommate, Heinrich, standing in the living room at the
end of a short hallway, wearing the same T-shirt he had worn eight days ago.
His eyes were covered by virtual reality “goggles,” and his ears were enclosed
in noise-cancelling, high-definition headphones. Haptic gloves for virtual
interaction enveloped his hands.
Living in a virtual world
where he was battling dragons with a virtual sword, Heinrich swung his gloved
hands through the air in a chopping motion and then went for a sword thrust,
which penetrated into the belly of a virtual dragon, seen only by him. From
Kevin’s perspective, his friend was holding an invisible sword and fighting
imaginary monsters.
“Heinrich, what’s your score
so far?” Kevin said loudly, as he walked, with his slight limp, down the
hallway. He had to talk loudly so that his friend’s muffled ears would hear
him.
But, Heinrich didn’t seem to
notice his friend’s presence as he continued to swing his arms through the air
and ward off a virtual, red dragon with his double-handed sword, in the VR
game.
Just a few decades ago,
Heinrich’s strange antics would have made people think he had gone insane. But,
with the advancement of artificial intelligence software, highly-realistic
video games, and virtual reality (VR) gaming, people were becoming more and
more obsessed with VR social media, VR internet searches, VR T.V., and VR
tourism. It all could be experienced by a small headset that cost about
two-days’ wages, in Germany.
Kevin shook his head as he
entered the living room and saw Heinrich swinging his arms like a baseball
batter swinging hard and fast. Right then, a computer-generated dragon was
probably being slain, he thought. Kevin headed for the small kitchen which
merged with the living room space and was delineated by a white, linoleum
floor. Droplets of pasta sauce were splattered over the sink and on the floor
below it from the last night’s meal.
Many of Kevin’s friends had
never gone outside of Germany, but they told him that they had seen the Great
Wall of China or the pyramids of Giza, in virtual reality. Kevin had donned a
pair of one of his friends’ virtual reality goggles to see what he was talking
about. Kevin had been amazed by the realism of the view he had seen. The Great
Wall had appeared before him in all its ancient splendor, casting shadows from
its stone towers and battlements. Ancient, computer-generated soldiers were
walking along the walls.
To him, it felt like he was
actually atop the Great Wall in a distant past. He could turn his head in any
direction and see the sights from the wall, north, south, east, and west. And,
the sounds matched perfectly with his virtual environment. The sound of wind
rushing over the battlements, which caused flags to snap and flutter, and the
hushed conversations of ancient Chinese soldiers all seemed very real.
But, Kevin knew that the
soldiers were digitally added in for effect, and were just life-like computer
animations. The wind and other sounds came from high-definition headphones
covering his ears. And, the realistic behaviors of the soldier characters came
from complex algorithms which were derived by supercomputers running artificial
intelligence software. Supercomputers collected tremendous amounts of data on
billions of people and then created life-like, computer-generated people to
populate VR video games and VR software apps.
Many of Kevin’s friends were
obsessed with virtual reality, but he was less of a video game enthusiast than
they. He was more interested in reading books and talking refreshing bicycle
rides, or walks, than spending his time in a virtual world. But, many people he
knew were drawn to VR, even though it was heavily rationed in the Communist
Republic of Germany.
In fact, everything was
heavily rationed in the new Germany. Food, medicine, and many other
items required digital currency and digital permission credits. Kevin pulled
out his phone and clicked on an app that gave him specifics on his current
personal citizenship “benefits.” He could see that he had enough credits to purchase
food for the current week. But, his energy credits were very low. He realized
that he was using too much electricity, according to the system, to charge up
his electric, hybrid bicycle.
He could flip a switch and
drive the bicycle like a slow-moving motorcycle, by way of an electric motor.
Or, if he wanted to get some exercise, he could flip the same switch again, and
the bicycle would operate as an ordinary, mechanical bicycle.
Suddenly, his smartphone
rang. He looked to see who it was, and smiled. The caller was his younger
sister, Svenja, who was married to Rolf Berger, a giant of a man. Kevin only
had one sibling, and they got along well as kids. Even though they were now
adults, they enjoyed chatting with each other from time to time.
“Hello, Svenja,” Kevin said. “How
is my younger sister doing?”
“Hello, Kevin,” her voice
came through the speaker. She sounded a little shaky as if something
frightening had happened. “I, I want to talk to you about something. Are you in
a private area where you won’t be overheard?”
Kevin glanced back at
Heinrich, who was still playing his game. “No, but I soon will be. Hold on a
moment.”
Leaving the kitchen, and
avoiding Heinrich’s violent arm motions, Kevin walked back down the hall until
he came to a door not far from the front door of the apartment. He opened it
and entered his bedroom, closing it behind him. Then, he stepped into a small
walk-in closet and shut the door. Flipping the closet light on, Kevin said, “Now,
I’m in a private area. What is it? I’m very curious now, sister.”
But, no voice came over the
phone. Kevin said, “Svenja, are you there?”
The phone was still
connected, so he should be able to hear her. Then, a soft voice spoke nervously
through the phone speaker: “Kevin, I’m not sure if I’m doing the right thing or
not, but I’ve been letting a widow stay at my house. She’s poor and can’t take
care of herself right now.”
“But, the government provides
rations for everyone. Why would she be poor?” Kevin said.
“She is a non-conformist
Christian,” Svenja said, trembling.
“A what?” Kevin said pressing
the phone to his ear, wondering if he heard correctly.
“A non-conformist Christian,”
Svenja said. “But, she’s very nice and trustworthy. I couldn’t let her die out
there in the cold. I had to help her. I was calling to see if you could help
me. You see, I used the last of my ration credits to buy some food for her, but
now I am out of food. Do you happen to have extra ration credits you might be
willing to lend me so I can buy some more food? I don’t have anymore credits.”
The news surprised Kevin. He
had not expected his sister to help an underground Christian. Anyone giving
assistance, or food, or lodging to a non-conformist Christian could be
sentenced to eight years in a labor camp. And, all non-conformist Christians
were to be sentenced to twenty years of hard labor. If he were caught assisting
his sister, who was helping an underground Christian, he would be hard pressed
to convince the authorities to believe that he had no idea she was assisting an
“enemy” of the state.
“I, I will have to get back
to you on that,” Kevin said, hesitantly.
“But, Kevin,” Svenja said,
guessing why he hesitated, “I know there is a risk, but you are just giving me
some of your credits. If the authorities find out that I have helped someone, I
will tell them I had no idea that the widow was an underground Christian. And,
I will tell them that you just gave me some ration credits because you are a
generous, caring brother.”
Lying was commonplace in the
Communist Republic of Germany, but even so, Kevin felt guilty about it every
time he lied to people, such as the Baltanian soldiers, who patrolled the
streets of Kühnburg day and night. He knew it was not what God wanted, even
though he never claimed to be a Christian.
“I don’t know,” Kevin said.
“Please, Kevin,” his sister’s
voice pleaded. “You will be safe. No one will know that you did anything,
except to give your sister some ration credits.”
“Okay,” Kevin said, sighing. “I’ll
send you ten food credits once I get off the phone. But, don’t ask me to help
you out again if you are assisting a Christian.”
“Okay,” she agreed. “I won’t
ask you for any more credits.”
Kevin wasn’t sure if she
meant what she said, even though she claimed to be a religious person and often
attended a government-approved Lutheran church.
“I’ll talk to you later,
Svenja,” Kevin said.
“I wanted to tell you one
quick thing,” Svenja said.
“What’s that?”
___________________
AN EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER 2 ("The Visitor"):
'... Rap. Rap. Rap. Suddenly, a loud knock came at the door. It startled him, and Kevin almost dropped the book. He placed it in his back pocket and started toward the front door. The loud knocking continued. Rap. Rap. Rap.
His sister excused herself as she quickly walked past him. Then, as she reached the door, she peeked through the spy hole again, and quickly turned back toward Kevin, with some fear in her eyes.
She whispered loudly, “It’s the secret police.” ...'
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| (The entire story is in a complete PDF file which can be read at this link on Google Drive. I make no money from this story. It is entirely free.) |
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