A Partisan's Fight - COMPLETED!

Chapter Sixty-Three

"This will work." Mina hid the rest of the explosives under her uniform. She paused, staring at nothing in particular. "It has to."

"Stay safe, Mina. I will see you again." Aldrik rubbed her shoulder encouragingly. They were about to accomplish something that nobody had thought was possible. Perhaps some had tried it before, but it had been unsuccessful and carefully erased from history to dissuade others from attempting it.

Turning, Mina gave Aldrik a hug. They had said their goodbyes to the others all ready. Now was go time. If they were going to pull this off, it needed to be now. She had heard rumors that Flossenburg was going to do a prisoner sweep. That only meant one of two things. Armina and all the others were going to either be transferred... or killed. They had seen enough death to last many lifetimes. It was time to put a stop to it in these few camps.

"Will Jyrgen be ready for this?" She pulled away and watched Aldrik. They didn't have a choice to change their minds, but she wanted one less thing to worry about.

"He will be ready for the task. We can count on him, Mina." He nodded his verification. "We need to go now."

Letting out a heavy breath, she nodded and walked passed him to her ride. As always Werner was on time to pick her up. She did her best to remain calm. She didn't need him to be alarmed by her being nervous. "Heil Hitler!"

"Heil Hitler!" Werner did not take long to notice her lack of enthusiasm.

"I hope that baby did not keep you up all night, Wilhelmina. I heard we are supposed to go over new strategies today. You need your mind to be sharp." Werner tapped his finger against his temple.

"Hans is a good sleeper. I have been blessed with that." She gave him a brief smiled before refocusing on the road.

"Is something on your mind, Mina? You do not seem yourself today." He glanced over at her for a brief second.

"No more than usual, Werner. Just ready to be done with the day and be back home with my baby." She let out a deep breath, staring out the window at the greenery coming in.

"The day has barely even begun." He commented briefly.

"I know. My mind is elsewhere I guess." It was all Mina really had to say. It was nice not to completely lie to her friend.

"Daydreaming is nice from time to time, but today is not the day to be doing that, little lady." He reminded her, more seriously than usual.

"I will snap out of it by time we get there. Do not worry." She reassured him. She had to snap out of it by the time they got there. She needed to be sharp. Focused.

The ride felt far shorter than she wished it would have. Time was a funny thing. Sometimes she wished it would go much faster, other days she wished it would go much slower.

Hopping out of the vehicle, Mina smoothed her all ready wrinkle-free uniform. She checked in and started making her rounds. It wouldn't be long before she was assigned somewhere, she needed to make good use of the time she had before that.

Passing by Dinah, Armina's right hand woman in the camp, she slipped a stick of dynamite to her. Nobody had seen in the past and nobody would see now. They had all ready laid the necessary lines to connect all the explosives. Now was time to lay the rest of the materials needed. She kept walking, slipping the rest of the explosives to the necessary woman. Half of the guards would be inside a barrack learning the new protocol and strategies. The other half would be in reach of the prisoners, and a much more manageable number to stop. Aldrik's camp would be doing the same thing.

Armina had insisted that she be the one to risk lighting the explosives. It had been something that Mina had argued with, but had been quickly defeated. With the book of matches in hand, Mina slid them into Armina's open palm as she slid by. "Light the runners as soon as the guards are called in there, Armina. And be careful."

"I do not plan on dying today, Mina. I will be all right. Go do your job." Mina wished she could give her friend a hug. It could quite possibly be the last time she saw her. She hoped not though.

Giving her a quick nod, Mina kept walking. She could see guards beginning to gather for the meeting. Her heart dropped as she watched Werner working his way toward the tent. She couldn't be responsible for his death. He was not a sacrifice she was willing to permit.

Trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible, Mina walked as fast as she could. She reached him before he had a chance to get in line with the rest of the guards. Grabbing his arm, she looked up at him. "I want you to come to the later meeting with me. Skip this one."

He stared at her for a moment, more startled than annoyed with her request. "They want me in this one, Mina."

"Please wait, Werner." She refused to back down. His life depended on it.

His eyes darted back and forth between her eyes. Looking around them, he pulled her away from listening ears. "Is there something that you want to tell me, Mina?"

She knew she paused long enough to cause question, but she wasn't sure how she wanted to proceed. "Please just wait, Werner."

Rubbing his forehead, he looked away from her. "I do not know what you are up to, but you had better not get yourself killed."

He let out a deep breath before nodding. "I will wait."

Mina watched him walk away and stand by his post once again, telling the younger guard to go to the meeting. Swallowing, Mina stayed away from anyone who could repost her or give her orders. She found her spot-ordering prisoners around near the opening to the tunnel. She could feel a cold sweat form by her hairline, and beading by her upper lip. It wouldn't be long now. There'd been no yelling or reason to believe any of the women had been caught laying the explosives. As far as she knew, things were going as well as they needed them to be.

Dinah made eye contact with her just long enough to nod her head and reassure her. The guards were just starting to finish entering the barrack. They had put just enough explosives outside the barrack to kill everyone in the building. It was a horrible thing to do, but it was necessary. These would be the necessary sacrifices.

The doors had been shut and a guard posted outside the door. Mina looked down at her hands. She couldn't stop the nervous energy from creating the quiver that reminded her of the adrenaline beginning inside of her as well. She was ready. She locked eyes on Armina working her way with the matches to the first lighting spot. She pulled her gaze away, not desiring to draw any unnecessary attention. That was the last thing they needed.

Dinah had worked her way over to a large group of women carrying heavy buckets of broken rocks and concrete. The labor was rough and far from being easy, but the materials in those buckets were necessary to help overpower the guards near them. The woman was preparing to help these women and put her life in danger. The act was heroic, but one that every single one of the prisoners in that camp were about to do. Not all of them would make it out of there alive, but they were far from ready to give up and risk death without a fight. The time had been long coming, but here it was. Now was the time to make their stand.