A Partisan's Fight - COMPLETED!

Chapter Thirty-Two

Grabbing his head, Markus sunk to the floor by his bed. The first day on the job had been a success. It had also been a curse. A tear slid down his face. He had seen things that nobody could have prepared him for.

He'd watched twenty-three people — innocent people — be led into a room. They had been stripped of their clothes. Stripped of their dignity. Their senses had been flooded with a poisonous gas until the life had been sucked from them. He had witnessed it, and there hadn't been a damn thing he could do to change it.

He'd watched another ten people face a firing squad. He had prayed they had died instantly, but honestly, he didn't know. He hadn't been one of the guards assigned to watch the other prisoners drag the bodies to a ditch filled with other bodies.

It had taken all of his strength not to lose it and go on a murdering streak. It had taken all of his strength not to find the nearest bush and puke his guts up. Not because he couldn't handle the sight of death, but because he didn't know how to handle the sight of dozens of innocent people being led to a slaughter without a method of defense.

He felt a presence slide to the floor next to him. He could feel a hand rubbing his shoulder. "Are you okay?" Mina's soft voice was what he clung to in that instance. The only thing that would bring him to sanity. A reminder that he wasn't in that hellhole any more. A relief.

He rubbed his face, glancing briefly at her, then back to the floor in front of him. "How's Aldrik doing?" Neither had said a word on the ride home. There had been nothing to say. The overwhelmingness had been just that... overwhelming.

"He has seen all of this before. He is doing as well as can be expected." Her words weren't all that reassuring, nor could they be given the circumstances. What they were facing was devastating. It was the worst event that he was aware of that had ever happened to date. And now he was a part of it. "Do not worry about Aldrik. Tell me how you are doing?"

A weak laugh erupted from Markus's lips. He couldn't hold it back. It was inappropriate for the moment, but it was the only thing that lightened up the dark mental images still defecating his mind. "No, Mina. I am not alright."

He watched her fix her focus on the ground. He wished he could see what was in her mind right now. Allow her thoughts to overwhelm his. He wanted to shift his focus away from her when she pulled up to look at him, but he couldn't do it. Instead, he listened. "Do you see why this is important to me to stop?"

He nodded, full well seeing the importance. "But I don't understand how we can stop this. There are only three of us, Mina. There are dozens, if not hundreds of guards at just that one camp. There are hundreds if not thousands of prisoners in that camp too. From my understanding, you want to stop three camps. One of us at each of those camps. How the hell are we going to do that?"

She was silent for a moment. Clearly pondering the right answer to give him. Finally she looked up at him. "That is why you are there, Markus. Find me a way." Her words were confident. There wasn't an ounce of weakness in them. Perhaps it was because she saw how torn up he was already. Perhaps she was feeding on it to become stronger. He didn't know, but he would use it to grow stronger too. It was necessary.

"Honestly, I don't know if I can." No amount of strength would change the obvious. They were outnumbered. Possibly even outsmarted. Their attempts could make a difference, but in reality how much of a difference would it really make? How much could they really do?

He could feel her fingers slide under his chin and pull his face up to face hers. She pointed to his temple. "This... this is your enemy. Your mind is the only enemy that will follow you around wherever you go. You cannot allow it to win. What you see right now is statistics. You see the hindrances that will slow us down. Remember that. The things you see will slow us down, but we can overcome them. Just because I have not been able to join in this part of our mission does not mean that I still do not have a plan." She smiled calmly. She seemed much more peaceful from even a few days ago. There was a new confidence there that hadn't been before. Something had changed. He had a feeling it had something to do with her going out in the evenings every day this week and coming home later. Something was changing her way of thinking. Her mentality.

"Tell me your plan. Make me believe that there is more hope than I am seeing right now. I cannot go in there again and see so many people murdered for no reason at all." He got on his knees and crept closer to her, every ounce of desperation he felt revealing itself through his eyes. "Mina...Mina, I am almost certain they are doing medical experiments on living people. Living people! I cannot go back in there without knowing something... anything, that will keep me from losing my mind in there."

Swallowing hard, she didn't blink. She barely even moved. "Markus, I need you to focus on the job. I will share my plan in due time, but right now I need you to be patient. I need you to find out more about this camp. I need to know the weaknesses. The strengths. I need to know if most of the guards end up somewhere at some point in the day. Anything that will make it easier to get people out of there at a rapid rate. You need to find that out for me."

He sat back down against the bed, nodding numbly. Her words still didn't mean much to him yet. They weren't giving him a reason to fight harder. They were just words. Suggestions that were supposed to be orders. He promised he'd follow her. He had to at this point. There was no turning back. "I can do that."

"Do not tell Aldrik, but I have been talking with someone and she believes that she has a source that can take any children that we can rescue from these camps. I... I know that it is not everyone, but it is a start. Buchenwald is close to the mountains. We can maybe get more people out through there and get them out of the country. I have yet to arrange safe passage, but I have not lost hope yet."

"That is good. It's a good start, Mina." He nodded in agreement. Sure it wasn't the complete reassurance he needed, but it was hope. Seeing that she had actual support for this plan gave him more hope to it being accomplished. It made him not just think that this was some random girl's false attempt at attention. She meant business. "You know you just put us at risk though."

"Why do you think I ask you not to tell Aldrik?" She stared at him. He felt like she was reaching deep within his soul to see if he'd share her secret.

"I will not tell him, but I think you need to. We all need to be on the same page here, Mina. We can't be keeping secrets. It will just hurt this plan. Whatever plan that may be." He could see her notice the truth in his words. Secrets always had risks and he wasn't prepared to take that chance with something as serious and crucial as this. "We can't afford to be hiding things."

Nodding her agreement, Mina tried to pull herself off of the ground. The growing belly made it nearly impossible.

Without thinking, Markus was up off the floor and giving her a helping hand. Within moments he'd helped pull the woman to where she wished to be — her feet.

"Thank you, Markus." She laid a hand on his chest. He couldn't help but memorize the warm pattern her hand left through his shirt. His heart began to race, not because he wanted it to, but because it seemed to be a natural instinct. "Stay strong."

Markus didn't move or say anything. He just stared as she hobbled away. Finally he released the breath he hadn't been willing to admit he was holding. Sliding his hands over his face, he walked over to the bed and laid on top of the hand-sewn quilt. Something was changing with his impression of her, and with the times they were in he was playing with fire. He needed to get his thoughts in order and his hormones under control. It was crucial at this point. He didn't need anything that would distract him.

Thoughts of the day's gruesome events crossed his mind. Maybe he did need a distraction. Without giving himself permission, his mind crossed the line. A line that he hadn't dared cross before, but suddenly it seemed like a safer bet than the evils of reality. He needed an escape. It was a selfish idea, but he let himself begin to see Mina for what she was — a beautiful, vulnerable, pregnant woman. One who needed protecting. He'd do what he could for her. The last thing he wanted to do was let her down again.