A Partisan's Fight - COMPLETED!

Chapter Twenty-Two

"To be clear, what is the plan?" Markus hadn't really asked, nor had really been let in on the plan. He'd been ordered to go with them and if it meant not being sent to some prison for insubordination and meant that he'd be able to kill some of the people that he was supposed to call his people, he was all for it. Even with being all for it, he was still skeptical that there even was a plan.

He watched the woman glance back at him. She looked easily irritable. He wasn't sure if she was as dangerous as she admitted, but she definitely wasn't one to make mad. He had been on the surprised side when she hadn't breathed a word as she grabbed her friend's gun and shot the man that she supposedly loved. It had been a feat that he hadn't been expecting in the least bit. Her friend on the other hand, he looked as though he would have loved to kill the woman's fiancé. He might seem like a standup guy, but Markus had no doubt that the man had a darker side to him and would stop at nothing to get a job done.

"You do not need to know a plan at this point." Mina growled at him, straightening herself and marching on.

They'd marched in silence for hours. He wasn't always one for words, but he was one for making plans better. He needed something to think about. "Then I am not going to go on any further."

The woman stopped. Turning around, she looked as though she could bite off his head and enjoy every second of it. "You do not get to make demands. You do not get to ask questions. We got you out of a place that would have kept you locked up and taken away your options. I do not owe you a response."

"Yet here we are. You seem not to have a problem responding to me if it's only to criticize my questions." Markus crossed his arms over his chest, placing most of his weight on one leg and leaning. "At this point, we have a dog, two fully capable men, and a lady expecting a baby. Where is this plan going? Because from where I stand, we are not even close to being an army, let alone being able to take on one."

Mina let out a long, deep, aggravated breath. She stepped closer to him, eyeing him up. "I am not even sure we have two fully capable men. I look over at Aldrik and I see a man. I look at you and I see half of a man not capable of following orders. If you remember, that was one of my requirements. Perhaps if you would listen to me and keep your mouth shut, I would let you in on the plans. At this point, I see no reason to tell you anything because you would not be able to process it without doing something stupid."

His eyes narrowed. "Is that what you think of me? A stupid, half of a man unable to be competent in your own eyes."

He stepped closer to her not allowing any form of space between them. "Let me tell you something about myself. I have no reason to trust you. When I was in America, I was ridiculed endlessly for being German. I understand that you hate me for killing your father, but you need to understand that I hate your people. I hate being associated with them. Every moment I spend with you is another wasted moment in not being able to destroy a part of a nation that has not done a damn thing for me. I have had it hard, same as you. Now get your head out of your ass and let me know what my part is for helping you."

To his surprise, Mina didn't flinch. She didn't back down. She kept her eyes steady on him, allowing them to narrow. "I understand that you hate our people. We can compare sob stories all day if you think that that will get you some sort of respect from me, but need I remind you that you made me a promise to try to put aside that hate. You have made progress in this short time since we left the camp, and I will thank you for standing up for my honor earlier, but that does not mean that I respect or trust you any more than what I did before that moment. As for the plan, there is no way to have an official plan without assessing the situation. As a soldier, I would think that you would know that. Now knowing that you do not know that, it makes me wonder if you were even the best option to bring with on this journey. You will know the plan when I can give you an accurate one. You would do well in remembering that I own you for what you did to my family. You would also do well in remembering your place, sir."

Even after she was finished speaking she did not back away. She waited for him to back up.

Markus almost laughed out loud at the thought of her thinking that he'd be treated like a dog. There was a reason why he had been labeled as insubordinate. He had the ability to not back down from anything. He wasn't an obedient guard dog, he was an out of control alley dog with nothing to lose. He would not roll over for her and he would not beg her for mercy.

"Enough of this!" Aldrik pushed between the two of them. He glanced back at his dog, watching the alertness as the beast stared toward the terrain in front of them. "We are not alone here. We need to find cover. Quickly!"

Markus followed the dog's gaze. He listened carefully as Aldrik pulled Mina toward some brush. He shook his head. They would be followed if whomever was coming had any military training.

Glancing around, he caught sight of a small branch. The piece of wood still had some leaves on it. He knew a lot of trees by name, but couldn't quite place the branch. It didn't matter anyway. Rubbing the leaves around, he hid their footprints the best that he could. It was far from being perfect with the muck that they'd been walking through, but it was enough to throw off anyone's guess on where they were.

He continued his quest of covering their trail as he followed the pair toward the wood line. He could hear some men hollering. His heart sank a bit. It was clear at least one of them had been spotted running away. He swallowed hard, watching from the brush line as the soldiers began spreading out and searching for people. He glanced over at the dog's low growl. It was quiet enough not to be heard by the soldiers, but it was enough to make the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"They are German." Aldrik watched the men, carefully assessing their language and uniforms.

It didn't take long for Markus to notice the difference from the men he'd trained and marched with. Biting the inside of his cheek, he watched as the soldiers began working their way closer to their location. He was about to ask what the plan was again until Mina spoke up.

"We could stay with them until they went back home." Her soft voice whispered to her friend.

"It is too dangerous." He whispered back, not taking his eyes off of the men. "They are not going to be going home. They are working their way toward whatever they run into."

"Then we wait them out." He admired how much she believed in the words that she spoke, but even Markus knew that her false hope wouldn't get them out of this situation. Either a miracle needed to happen or drastic measures needed to be taken.

"No, it will be us next." Aldrik glanced at her, but refocused on the men. Markus could see how tense he was. He felt it too, but seeing someone this tense who actually embraced what those soldiers stood for made the reality of how dangerous this was more. "I am going to talk with them. Alone."

"Aldrik, no!" The words came out fast, revealing more emotion than Markus bet she had intended. He wasn't sure how close these two were, but it was clear they had an unshakeable bond. He almost betted that if he would have volunteered to greet the searching soldiers that she would have pushed him toward them with a smile.

"Alone, Mina." The words were repeated, more solid and unyielding then before. Markus didn't dare breathe a word. Just watching the pair would be interesting enough. Their final decision would reveal the fate that they were all left with. There was no denying that.