A Partisan's Fight - COMPLETED!

Chapter Twenty-Three

"If I do not go forward, Mina, they are going to come looking over here." Aldrik glanced over at Markus. "They will assume that we are traitors. He does not have identification papers yet. They will kill us."

"But if you go forward they will kill you!" Mina strongly objected, grabbing his shoulder tightly, refusing to let him go. She couldn't risk losing him. She'd lost everyone else. She wouldn't lose someone else important.

He sighed, pointedly glancing at her rounding belly. "I have my papers. They will not kill me. I am not going to risk anything happening to you or that baby."

He didn't argue anymore. Pulling free of her, he made his way to the approaching tank and soldiers. They were his people. He would be safe.

"A—." Markus's hand slipped over Mina's mouth, hushing her and keeping her from going after her friend.

"Quiet! He is risking his safety for us right now. Don't sign away his life by blowing our cover." He hissed in her ear, releasing her and backing up a bit. "Just trust him."

Mina pinned him with a death glare. The look was short lived as she heard some soldiers yelling. She held her breath as a handful of guns aimed at her friend. She could feel Markus watching her — probably jumping his gaze back and forth between the situation in front of them and her.

Aldrik was too far away to be heard. They could only watch his arms be waved around in emphasis as he spoke quickly.

"Auf deinen Knien! On your knees!" The lead soldier's voice carried to them. He was loud, mad.

Mina wanted to ask why they were making her friend go to his knees. He was one of them. She didn't understand. The actions were scaring her. It just didn't feel right.

Aldrik found his way to his knees. He held his hands on his head, speaking fast and precisely.

"No, no, no..." Mina watched the head soldier's weapon find itself pointing at Aldrik's head. She was preparing to rush them if need be. She'd trust in his safety only about as much as if there was an enemy standing in front of them and not her friend.

The soldier and Aldrik were arguing back and forth. They were inaudible for her to hear about what. It didn't matter though, the soldier pulled the weapon tighter in his shoulder and aimed it better. He pulled the hammer back.

The moments were tense and went by slowly. Too slowly. Mina started to jump up and yell. Nobody heard a sound though because just as fast as she started to defend her friend was just as suddenly as Markus covered her mouth and pulled her to the ground under him. He shielded her as the gun went off.

Mina couldn't hold back the scream she was harboring, but it was muffled by Markus's hand and body covering her. She was shaking. She couldn't stop the thoughts of Aldrik laying in the mud, bleeding out. Something that perhaps she could have stopped. Could have prevented.

Slowly, Markus got off of her. He released her so she could get up.

She shoved him away from her. Tears slipped down her face as her emotions blubbered out. Trembling, she glared at him, pulling herself up in time to see Aldrik.

She shook her head in disbelief. The lead soldier tossed Aldrik's papers at him, motioning for the platoon to move out.

He was alive. He was okay. He stayed on his knees however until the group had moved on and away from them. Not making eye contact with Mina or Markus. Not willing to endanger them.

All Mina could do was breathe in and out. She couldn't peel her gaze away from her friend. She wasn't going to risk missing anything happening to him. She needed to see him safe and sound. It almost didn't feel real. It couldn't feel real until she was able to touch him. Feel that he wasn't a figment of her imagination.

The second the platoon was out of sight, Aldrik snatched up his papers and stuffed them safely in a pocket.

Mina didn't wait for permission to run to him. She didn't let Markus grab her. She picked herself up and ran out of the woods, not stopping until she was able to wrap her arms around him. Then she was able to calm her breathing. Then she was able to feel like everything was all right.

"I thought they shot you! I thought you were dead." She pulled back, checking him over for blood or wounds.

"I'm all right, Mina. They were just trying to draw you guys out." Aldrik looked up as Markus joined them.

"And she would have ran out." Markus commented, brushing the dirt and leaves from his clothes.

"Don't ever touch me again." Mina's voice was dangerously low as she pushed past him. Agitation was the only thing written on her face.

Aldrik gently squeezed the man's shoulder. "Thank you. If she would have drawn attention to your hiding spot they would have executed all of us."

Mina glanced back at the men. She'd heard the words spoke. She would have risked all of their lives if it meant keeping Aldrik safe though. There was no question about that.

She held her head up high and kept walking. She didn't have the time to waste on listening to their conversation. One hand rested over her protruding belly. She stumbled over the uneven ground leading to home. They had a job to do. A deal to uphold. She wasn't going to fail.

"Mina." Aldrik caught up to her.

She ignored him and kept walking. She had no desire to talk with either men at this moment. They needed to have each other's backs, but it didn't mean that they had to be in agreement all the time on their own.

He grabbed her arm and stopped her.

She pulled free and glared at him. "Do not touch me, Aldrik."

"We are not going on any further until we talk." He watched her carefully. Her glare had never bothered him, and it was obvious now just as it had been before.

She looked past him at Markus. He had kept up with Aldrik's pace to catch up to the woman. He looked around as if not focusing on them would help give them some form of privacy. It didn't, but at least he was watching for other threats.

Mina swallowed hard, refocusing on Aldrik. "You did not ask me before rushing out and risking your life. We said we were in this together. That..." She pointed to where he had had a gun aimed at his head. "That was irresponsible and not discussed."

His jaw hardened, but he didn't look like he was apologetic either. "I said that I'd always protect you. I did what I had to, Mina."

"You did what you wanted to do. Trying to be some hero. We didn't even know if they had seen us." She spewed out, shaking her head at his foolish attempt at a brave act.

"I am not going to apologize for watching out for you. What I did was necessary." He shook his head at her. He didn't seem to care if she understood his reasoning or not.

"Remember that man in the alley? You did not ask me for my permission, you expected me to help you take care of what needed to be taken care of." He turned to look back at Markus before refocusing on Mina.

"You did not wait for me to be all right with going into the camp of our enemies and striking a deal to get him out. You endangered my position in our society to create a plan without my permission. You expected me to obey you. To stand beside you and trust you."

Swallowing hard, Mina dropped her gaze. There was no denying that he was right in his accusations. He stood by her side for everything. She may have been wrong in getting mad at him and not at least trying to understand what he had been thinking when he had done what he had done. Perhaps she needed to reevaluate how she treated him.

"I am not saying that you were wrong with any of those choices, Mina. You did what you had to do. Respect that I did the same." He said calmly, rubbing her shoulder before walking in the direction that she had been going.

Their conversation had ended. Mina left her head hang as she turned to follow him. He was right. She couldn't deny that. She could only hide her face in shame for her anger and keep marching on.