A Partisan's Fight - COMPLETED!

Chapter Seventeen

Content Warning: A minor gruesome scene.

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"We will not be able to get to them in time." Was all that he could spit out. He knew that he might be losing a very valuable asset, but part of his heart ached that this girl would be losing a part of her family today. He hadn't needed to ask for a description or even a name, it was obvious that this woman's father was one of the ones being executed. They were spitting images of each other. Same eyes. Same nose. Same cheek bones. Not much more could be the same in a father and daughter.

Mina shook her head. "But we have to try." She spit out as she turned quickly. She felt Aldrik's hand grab at her, but she tore free. She ran as fast as she could toward the gathering men and the open field. She could see a brown bag be tightened over a younger bodied man, one whom she could only assume was Roland as he was led out and lined up for execution.

"Stop!" Mina yelled out. A few heads turned her direction, but not enough. Tears began streaming down her face.

"Stop on order of the general!" She screamed harder.

The executioner stopped and looked at her. She was close enough to see his hard blue eyes, yet far enough away not to be able to physically stop him. He lowered his weapon slowly. She could see him fighting the idea. She understood the battle that he was waging in his mind. The sense of even more urgency coursed through her body. He was unstable in his decision and her time was running out.

She could see her papa watching her, no longer having a bag over his head. She assumed they were trying to give him one last breath of fresh air before his time on this earth ended. The thought pushed her to run faster. Her lungs burned from the exertion.

His eyes darted from her to the executioner to Roland. He knew his daughter's worries. He watched the soldier pull his gun back up and aim it at Roland.

"Stop!" Mina screamed. "Sie haben Befehle zu stoppen! You have orders to stop!" Panic swept through her, and, speaking in her native tongue, if only for a moment, was all that she could do to stay stable. She was almost to the soldier. Almost to the point of stopping this act of violence. Almost able to stop a lethal fate. She watched him pull the hammer back on the gun, positioning the line-up better. Before she could scream another command to him the gun echoed its loud shot through the air.

Mina's heart stopped as she dropped to her knees. The gravel scraped her knees through her clothes, but she didn't feel it. She physically couldn't force herself to breathe; couldn't pull her gaze up to see where the brutal act had led. Only one thought ran through her mind --- she was too late.

Reality pulled her back as the general reached her and offered his hand. She let him pull her up as she numbly watched a few other soldiers take away the executioner's gun and pull him into submission. She could hear him yelling at his fellow men to let him finish his job. He tried to struggle free, but it was to no avail. Mina chanced a look over at Roland. Her eyes widened when she saw him still standing there. Her mind wasn't sure how to grasp the scene in front of her until she looked to the ground.

A body was lying at Roland's feet. She could see the man's chest rise and fall in labored breaths. She looked to the general; his gaze pulled away. She could feel Aldrik's hand on her shoulder as if not sure whether to comfort her or push her toward the laboring body.

"No." Mina's heart fell again. She took a few unstable steps forward, blinking away her tears. This couldn't be real. Yet the body and blood told her otherwise.

"Papa!" She screamed, running to the fallen family member.

"No...no...no..." The words echoed from her mouth as she slid to her knees once again. She looked over his body, quickly placing her hands over the hole in his chest oozing blood.