The heat was unbearable as shell upon shell rained down on them from above. The Nazi soldiers protected the cost with an uncanny precision, but the charging mass of allied soldiers would prove too much for them. That did little to assuage Corporal Vance Higgins's doubts. The rain of death from above left him stunned. Sgt. Heller pulled him down in to a trench made by a previous mortar blast. A shell crashed where he stood just a moment before.

"Get your head together, corporal." Sgt. Heller had to yell just so Vance could here him.

"Y-yes, sir. I'll do my best."

The radio operator, Teddy Evans, yelled in to his set a few feet away, but the sound of gunfire and explosions drowned him out almost completely. Vance sat down in the trench, waiting for orders alongside the other three surviving members of the squad. Sgt. Heller continued to look grin, but Gordy and Wilson's faces mirrored Vance's own. Their fear equaled his. It gave him a little bit of relief that the others were in the same boat as he.

Evans crawled over to Sgt. Heller. Vance knew what would come next.

"Word from Lt. Neidhart, sir. There's a tunnel approximately one hundred yards to the north-northeast. We're to move in and secure it, sir. We should receive cover fire as soon as we start moving."

Sgt. Heller looked to his men. "You heard the man. Prepare to move out. It's do or die time."

The sinking feeling in his stomach cried out, No, it's die time. He gulped down the bile rising in his throat as he rose to his knees. I may be scared to death, but I'll be damned rather than not support my country and friends.

"Go! Go! Go!" Sgt. Heller yelled the words as loud as he could. Wilson jumped up and towards their tunnel destination, over 250 feet away. Gordy went out after him. Vance crossed himself and followed.

Nazi weapons began to fire immediately, but seconds later they were met with the sounds of weapons from behind the unit. Other brave men were keeping the Nazis down so they could reach their destination.

Behind him, Sgt. Heller fired several shots from his pistol in to a pair of Nazi gunmen with uncanny precision. Beside him, Evans was on the ground. The radio operator had tripped on a piece of debris. Wilson paused, and fired several shots of his own rifle to cover his commander and fallen compatriot. Vance and Gordy continued towards their destination.

Vance glanced back long enough to see Sgt. Heller pull Evans to his feet. He pushed Evans forward as Wilson continued to fire. Just as they passed Wilson, a blast from a Nazi gatling gun caught their savior square in the chest. Wilson was cut in two from the impact.

Vance turned back towards his destination. They had only a few feet to go when the enemy soldiers emerged directly before them. One, an officer sent a shell in to Gordy's arm before he could even raise his weapons. Vance raised his weapon as Gordy stumbled backwards. He opened fire with his Thompson, cutting down the Nazis in an instant. He pulled Gordy to his feet as Sgt. Heller and Evans moved past.

The four of them huddled in the entrance to the cave-like tunnel. Vance held his weapon at the ready, glancing from the battlefield and back in to the tunnel, watching for any sign of the German army. Sgt. Heller looked over Gordy, their medic, and his injured arm.

"You should be all right, private," the sergeant told him. "But we're going to have to get you back to a medic. Any volunteers to escort Private Gordy back."

Neither Vance nor Evans answered.

"Fair enough," said Sgt. Heller. "I'll escort him back. You men secure the tunnel. Reinforcements are on their way."

Vance and Evans glanced at one another, their fear passing between them. They started down the tunnel.

After about thirty yards, it became almost impossible to see in the darkened tunnel. Vance and Evans continued slowly forward. They tried to listen for any sign of attack, but none came. They tunnel seemed to be endless as they moved onwards, and all sense of time faded away.

It seemed like hours of darkness. Vance and Evans talked very little as they didn't want to alert any enemies to their presence. Just as Vance thought they were hopelessly lost, a small hint of daylight appeared off in the distance. The tunnel had an end after all.

Vance looked to Evans as they regained their vision. Evans looked sick. Vance hoped his nerves weren't shot.

Vance raised his Thompson as they closed on the tunnel's opening. "Weapon at the ready," he whispered. Evans held his own weapon in position.

They emerged from the cavern in to sunlight. The dreary, cold conditions of Omaha beach were no more. They stood on a large rock outcropping. The wall of rock seemed to go on forever, fading off in to the horizon. It was unlike any part of Europe Vance knew. He heard Evans gasp as he surveyed the area below. He turned to see what could elicit that response.

A vast jungle stretched out below them, as far as the eye could see. But still that was not the most astounding sight. Below them towered a beast unlike any they had ever seen before. It sallied through a large lake directly below them, but only the first few feet of its massive legs disappeared under the water. The creature was as long as a football field with a leathery brown skin. It's tail was incredibly long, matched only by its neck, whose length would put any giraffe to shame. The monster, a brontosaurus Vance thought if he remembered his paleontology class well enough, looked up them at the sounds of their shared exclamation. It then returned to its meal of leaves from the nearby forest.

Evans turned to Vance. His eyes radiated fear. "Where the hell are we?"

Vance continued to stare at the massive creature before them. "I don't know. It must be some kind of lost world."

Voices began to fade in from the distance. Voices speaking German. Vance cursed. "We need to find somewhere to hide."

Evans looked around, beginning to panic.

Vance dropped to his knee, looking down at the never-ending wall below them. Maybe ten feet down from where they stood now was a small outcropping of rock. It couldn't have been more than a foot wide and four feet long. But it should be just long enough to support the both of them.

"Below us, Evans. There's a ledge. If we stand there, they shouldn't be able to see us."

"I'm not very good with heights, Higgins."

Vance grabbed him and pulled him to the edge. "You're about to learn."

Evans gulped as Vance lowered him down the side. His feet barely touched the outcropping if Vance stretched down. He found his footing, than grasped tightly against the wall.

The voices were getting louder. The Nazis couldn't be more than a few feet around the bend in the distance. Vance twisted his body around and off the precipice and dropped to the small rock below. He wavered for a few seconds, almost falling, but he maintained his balance. He glanced down, and thanked the Lord for his protection.

The soldiers emerged on the path, and the two American G.I.'s listened as they past. Hundreds of them. An entire battalion of Nazis marched through this strange world. Vance could only guess at what sinister plans they might have. But he knew he and Evans may be the only two men on the planet who could stop them.