A Partisan's Fight - COMPLETED!

Chapter Thirty-Three

"Well, at least we have a plan going in the right direction." Aldrik hadn't taken Mina's news well of talking to someone about their ideas outside of their inner circle. He especially didn't like that she hadn't included him in on the plan to talk to an outsider.

"It is a good step in the right direction." She agreed, watching to see if his mood would fluctuate. She needed to tread lightly with him. Sure, they were back on being good with each other again, but one wrong move could send his tender soul over the edge once again. "I need that marriage certificate, Aldrik. I need to start the process to get that inheritance. If I cannot prove it, then I cannot get the money and we take two steps backward in the wrong direction."

He stared at her uncomfortably long, judging her intentions. Slowly, he reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a document. Gritting his teeth together, he began handing it to her, pausing when she put her fingers on it. "Do not do anything dangerous, Mina. I am warning you."

"Aldrik, we live in dangerous times. I could be doing completely nothing, minding my own business, and still get dragged into something brutal. I cannot help that. And you cannot always protect me." She kept her eyes locked on his, not fidgeting or jumping back, just waiting for him to release her paperwork.

Sighing, he relented, letting her take control of the document. "Mina, I do not know what got into me the other day. I am sorry for being the one to put you in harm's way. I never meant to hurt you. Or try to."

"I know." Mina's gaze shifted away, but her nod supported her answer. "I was angry with you. And out of line. I should have known better than to push your buttons and say things that strongly. I apologize too."

"Stress changes people. So do the things we see." He shifted a bit uncomfortably before leaning against the doorframe. "You have always been open with me, Mina. When did that start changing?"

Now it was Mina's turn to shift uncomfortably. She hadn't thought about that, but he was right. She'd closed him out. Changed. And she hadn't even seen it happen. "I... I do not know."

Rubbing his forehead, Aldrik sat down in a chair nearly across from her. He leaned forward, hands clasped together on his knees. "I want to help get this plan in motion. Say we wait a few months after you have the baby and, depending on how we are sitting for time and urgency, we will make our move."

His sudden jump to the plan surprised her, but it didn't take long for her to realize she was nodding her head. Perhaps mentioning how much they had drifted apart was his plan to find out what was in her mind. Whatever the reason, she knew he was right. Markus was right. They needed to have a plan and get on board with it. Together.

"I know you have a lot on your mind, Mina. I know that you have not been sharing nearly half of it with me. Tell me your ideas. I know you have them." His intense eyes pierced her soul, mesmerizing her to tell him. He knew what he was doing. She had no doubt of that. First the feeling of guilt, then the feeling of having your soul opened up and naked for all to see. He was a tricky one; she'd give him that.

"I want us to hit Nordhausen, Buchenwald, and Flossenburg all on the same day. I want us to hit them hard. We need to see how they are set up, but I want to be able to get as many of the soldiers and guards into one area as possible and blow the area up. That will eliminate many of our enemies, making it easier to move forward. I have heard rumors of there being tunnels that have been under the camps for decades if not longer. I think they would be a good escape route for those that we can sneak down there. I also think that if we can get the right contacts near the mountains, then we could sneak more through there. With Armina's contact, we can get any children out through that route, possibly women too. It is easier for men to be able to trudge through the tunnels and mountains for escape anyway." Mina paused for a breath. It felt odd to talk about all of this out loud. She'd only thought about it. It wasn't even a solid plan, just a thought. A questionable one at that.

"Okay." Aldrik's word was simple. He nodded his head, the wheels already turning. "We can work with this."

"We can more than work with it." Markus's voice made them both jump. He quickly came in and joined the two. "If you have the cash, I think I know where we can get the explosives. If we can get enough people in the camps to trust us, we'd have more than enough bodies to hide the explosives where we need them."

Mina looked up at Aldrik. He was just staring at Markus, no real emotion eliciting itself from his face. She knew her friend well enough to know that he was thinking about what more they needed for this plan. She had to hand it to Markus, he came in at just the right time with just the right suggestion.

"Who is your source?" Aldrik's question was the one they both had been thinking of. How could neither of them know someone with explosives and the foreigner all ready had a source?

"I can send word to the general to start with. If that proves to be unhelpful, I know of a few guys that travel around with the ability to get their hands on whatever we need." Markus shrugged nonchalantly. Like it was no big deal.

"Why is this the first we are hearing o—" Aldrik's voice was drowned out by Mina's.

"Do it. I will get the paperwork done to get the inheritance. If we can start gathering the weapons needed, we have a number of months to get this plan officially in order. Assuming that there are no hiccups along the way." Mina had been quick to cut off Aldrik. There was no need to question someone more with the resources they needed. They had to move forward.

"The one thing we need to keep in mind is all of this stuff sounds so easy. The plan seems easy enough, but there is no doubt that there will be a few kinks along the way at best. We need to make it as foul proof as possible. We will not get another chance." Aldrik reminded them quickly. It had been in all of their heads, but this was the first time it had been vocalized.

"Then we will make it count." Markus responded quickly, a dark flame flaring in his eyes. "I don't know how you feel about it, Aldrik, but after the sick shit we've been seeing, I'm ready to make them pay for it. We need to get as many people out of those camps as possible. There is no room for failure."

Mina watched the same dark flame flare up in Aldrik's eyes as he nodded his agreement. The pair had something dark in common. That darkness would fuel them the direction Mina needed them to go. She just needed to keep the plan going in the direction that proved the most efficient. She'd gain the souls she'd need for this job if it were the last thing she did. And that was a promise that she made to herself. There was no room for leniency. No room for more speculation. And, as Markus had put it so plainly, certainly no room for failure.