A Partisan's Fight - COMPLETED!

Chapter Forty-Five

Content Warning: Intense Situations and Rough Violence.

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"Hey, Hirsch." Markus looked over at one of the other guards nodding him toward the gate. It was almost time for his shift to be over. Sighing, he walked over to see what the man wanted. He could recognize Jonas Braun from a mile a way. The man wasn't much older than him and had a sassy side that could very easily get him in trouble.

"What do you want, Jonas?" He asked, as he got closer to the man.

"Walk with me, Markus." He put an arm around his shoulder and tugged him toward the more secluded side of a bunker. "I heard you found a pretty lady here not that long ago. Is that true?"

Markus snorted. "You called me all the way over here to ask me if I found a pretty lady? I am going home." He turned to walk away from the man, pausing when Kurt Lehmann and Dennis Meier blocked his path. Two more guards, and more muscle to keep him grounded where he was.

"We would like to have a few words with you, Markus." Braun's voice could be heard echoing behind him.

Nerves prickled Markus's skin. Something wasn't right about this. Nothing about it felt casual. He sighed irritably, hoping to cover his uncomfortableness. Casually, he turned around to face Jonas again. "What kind of words?"

"Eh, nothing too terrible. In fact, we should take a drive." The man shrugged like it was whatever to him, but the underlying tone was much more opposite. There was no way Jonas was going to just let Markus walk away. Something was clearly bugging him.

"A drive to where?" Crossing his arms in front of him, Markus waited patiently. He couldn't act uncomfortable. He couldn't act like he had somewhere else to be. Any move he made right now could endanger everyone around him. He had to play this smart. Safe.

Jonas leaned his head on his fist, rubbing his chin with his little finger. He acted like he was thinking, but there was no question he knew exactly where he planned to go. "Well, our shift is off and there is a whole country to explore. Hey, I believe you have a friend in that town that was destroyed! Oh, what is it called? The name escapes me... do you remember what it is called?" He watched Markus with a glimmer in his eyes.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, Jonas." Shrugging, Markus played dumb. It was his only defense at this point. He wasn't completely sure what the man was talking about, although he did have a bad suspicion.

"Eh, of course not. Well, I believe it is a suburb just outside of Nuremberg. I guess we will know it when we get there. Walk nicely with us or we will drag you out and make a scene. I do not believe that is something you would like." Jonas walked past Markus, giving him no choice but to follow him.

All four of the men got into a truck. There was nothing he could do but follow the orders given to him. He couldn't signal to someone because his only friends were prisoners. There was no support. No other option. They drove in silence for a while. The only question in his mind being, Am I going to die today?

"What are these questions you have for me?" He was careful with how he spoke. People already could tell he wasn't from there. His speech was good, but his dialect had left something to be desired.

"I have a great many questions, but for one, who are you really? I mean, I thought you seemed like one of us, but you are not really, are you? I see the looks you give us over the prisoners. You wish the roles were changed. You do not like that we are the chosen people and they are the trash that we have to clean up. Am I wrong with this thinking?" Jonas was there to question him while Dennis drove. Markus could only assume Kurt was there to be the muscle. The man was big enough for the job.

Markus didn't know what he had been expecting, but this was not how he pictured being questioned. Maybe a dark, dingy room or being forced to his knees with a gun to his head. Driving in a truck to a town he'd been to before seemed more casual then he'd expected. "I am Markus Hirsch. German-born just like you."

"Oh, I highly doubt that." Jonas gave Kurt a nod. The man was sitting beside Markus. He grabbed his arm and slapped a shackle on it.

"Hey! What the hell?" Markus shrunk away, but Kurt was far from being done with him. He gave him a good punch to the chin. Enough to render him helpless for a few seconds. It was all that was needed to get his other hand behind his back and added to the shackle. He grabbed him by his hair and ripped his head back.

"Tell me who you are working for? Why did you take the girl?" Kurt growled at him. There was no mercy in his voice and his grip was far from being gentle.

Markus could feel a little blood in his mouth from biting his tongue when he'd been punched. The small injury was annoying, but far from being major. "Why do you think I took the girl?" He could at least fess up to that. He didn't have to tell them where he took her or even pretend to not know what they were talking about.

Not releasing the grasp on his hair, Kurt threw a sharp punch into Markus's ribs. He could feel his breath being sucked from him. He wanted to double over, protect his body, but the grip on his head was far too strong and pulling away would just elicit a rush of unwelcomed pain.

"You probably just did not get to see her. If you had, we would not be sitting here shooting the breeze with random questions. You would be asking what I did to h..." Another sharp punch sent him wheezing. He felt a crack in his lower rib. The pain was bearable, but rough. He might just die tonight. But it wouldn't be without a fight. With that thought in mind, he threw his heel down hard on Kurt's boot.

A curse flew from Kurt's mouth as he relinquished his grip on Markus's scalp. He took the opportunity to turn toward Jonas and head-butt him. His head was splitting with pain, but he doubted it was nearly as much as Jonas. The force from the hit had shoved his head against the glass of the truck. It was a surprise that he hadn't been rendered unconscious from the act.

It took only a moment for Kurt to grab his gun and slam the butt of it hard against Markus's knee, eliciting a pained holler. He jammed his fist into Markus's throat. "We have enough time with you to teach you some respect."

The burning in Markus's throat rendered his vocal cords useless for the moment. He felt like he was choking. If his throat didn't hurt so badly he probably wouldn't have swallowed the bile coming up, or choked the choice words he had for the group. Breathing burned, reminding him of the blessing of free airways.

"Give him a minute to catch his breath." Jonas pulled his head up finally, stretching his neck muscles to relieve some of the tension and pain. His eyes locked on Kurt, anger and pain twisted in them. "I want you to beat him after. He will learn to mind his manners with us. He will learn to answer our questions. Then we will make an example out of him."

Swallowing the best he could, Markus knew things were going to get painful very quickly. He wouldn't give up names or plans though. He was loyal. Thoughts of Mina and Hans flooded his mind. For their sake he had to be strong. He couldn't give in. "Give me the best you got." A smile twitched his lips up regardless of the labored breathing.

Jonas glowered at him, refusing to relinquish his glare as he spoke. "Do we still have the barbed wire in the back?"