A Partisan's Fight - COMPLETED!

Chapter Eighty

"There are five of them and three of us." Markus kept his voice hushed. He didn't need the close soldier's listening to what he needed to say.

"Oh, I am well aware of the math, Markus." Aldrik marched forward, hands bound in front of him. His voice was distant, detached.

"Shut the fuck up!" The soldier behind them growled.

Swallowing, Markus needed to get Aldrik angry if they were to survive this. He hadn't said much to Lotte after they had been captured, but she had whispered a truth to him regardless. The memory hit him hard enough to force the words through his lips. "Then you should be aware that Wagner is the one that found Lotte and brought her to the camps."

Aldrik stopped mid-step, staring Markus down.

"Get moving!" The soldier barked out again, more irritation growing louder in his voice. It caught Wagner's attention, but the leader shoved it off and kept walking.

After a moment, Aldrik's voice shifted his way, angry, but a little less detached. "Are you sure?"

"He was taunting her, and it was pretty clear she recognized him. They did not have to say it to make it obvious." It had been obvious, but Markus felt no need in telling Aldrik that the woman herself had told him.

Aldrik didn't breathe a word. The veins bulging in his neck and his hard-set jaw spoke what the words from his mouth didn't. He was no longer distant. He was close, fuming with an unspoken rage that was well deserved. His anger was being placed right where Markus needed it placed.

Time to fuel the rage a little bit more.

Markus let the thought sink in a bit before giving the one reminder he'd been living with. "I do not care if we die here today, but I will be damned if we die without doing something."

Aldrik's sidelong gaze studied him.

"I said shut the hell up!" A soldier shouted, slamming the butt of his gun between Markus's shoulder blades.

The pain spliced through him, dropping him to the ground. In the split of a second, Aldrik wheeled around, slamming his head into the solider's nose. A sickening crunch sent the soldier screaming. The second another soldier rushed Aldrik, he sent him back with a sharp kick to the groin.

As if on cue, Decker brought another soldier to his knees. It didn't matter that their hands were bound, everyone knew a caged animal was the most dangerous. Three men knowing their fate only led to pain and death were lethal.

Aldrik stood tall, facing Wagner and the last standing soldier.

"Shoot him! Fucking shoot them! All of them!" Wagner screamed at the soldier standing next to him. He was losing control and he knew it. It could be seen in his widening eyes; heard in his vocals with every word echoing an octave higher.

"I am not interested in hurting you. Walk away, boy." Aldrik stepped closer to the young man. He looked barely sixteen, if that. His hands shook on his gun.

"I am not a traitor." He squared his shoulders; his voice shaky. "Or a coward."

Aldrik glowered at him; his voice colder than ice. "And what exactly do you call a man prepared to break a baby's bones to get an answer?"

The boy swallowed hard. His gaze briefly shifting to the ground and back up.

"If you think Wagner would protect you then you are more stupid than you look. The man would sacrifice you up the first chance he got. Do not think for once that you are special to him. He is more of a coward for staying than you are for running. Now get out of here before I change my mind and kill you myself."

The boy's gaze shifted from the eyes on him.

Wagner could sense his control on the lad weakening. "If you abandon me right now, I will see to it you are killed for your choice."

"If you think you are walking away from here alive then you have sadly underestimated me." Aldrik's face was set in stone; there was nothing to prove he was bluffing.

"She said you were a monster." Wagner looked past the young soldier. His words held an evaluation in them, but the timing was meant to scare the boy.

"I am her monster." Aldrik took another intimidating step forward. "And I will break every single one of your fucking fingers for touching her."

Snapping a glare to the young man, Aldrik acknowledged him briefly. "Do you want to get in on this, boy? Or will I be adding your fingers to my list too?"

The young man froze as he looked past Aldrik. It was silent enough to hear a gun hammer cock back.

"Make up your mind, boy." Decker's voice lingered in the silence, further backing up Aldrik. He'd cut his wrists loose and taken a gun from the soldier he'd overpowered.

With little hesitation the young man dropped his gun and ran from the scene. Wagner scowled before pulling his gun and shooting the boy in the back. Decker pulled his own trigger, hitting Wagner's hand and forcing him to drop the gun.

Markus looked up at Aldrik fast enough to see the scowl on his face.

"I wanted to break all of his fingers, Decker." Aldrik growled, flashing him a hard look.

"Two less fingers will not make it any less enjoyable for you." Decker rolled his eyes, stepping closer to cut Markus's hands free. "You okay, Markus?"

Markus nodded, allowing the man to pull him to his feet. "I will survive."

"You better. Mina will kill us if you do not." Decker scoffed at the independence of the young woman.

"She might kill me first. She definitely did not look too thrilled about us sacrificing ourselves." Markus rubbed his freed hands, pushing the circulation back through them.

"Honestly, I thought she was going to break you with her pleading and screams." Bending down, Decker bound the two unconscious soldiers.

Markus didn't comment. Mina's screams for him had nearly broken him. His heart still hurt from the brokenness in her voice. He wouldn't blame her if she never wanted to see him again for what he put her through. He'd gained her trust, her love, and broke her just as fast. It made him loathe himself.

A scream pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked up in time to see Wagner forced to his knees, clutching his hand. Screams always emitted a feeling of remorse, but the thought of Hans having to endure his bones being broken reminded him that this man didn't deserve his remorse; he deserved his wrath.

Taking the few necessary strides, he brushed past Decker toward Aldrik. His hand found Aldrik's arm as he raised it to punch the human in front of him. He didn't question how he had free himself all ready, instead he stared straight ahead at the worthless piece of shit on the ground. "I have as much of a right as you do."

There was a brief, eerie pause before understanding swept through Aldrik's gaze. "You sure?"

He stared down at Wagner, his knees damp and dirty from kneeling. Flashbacks of the torture Markus had been put through flashed through his mind. Wagner hadn't been responsible for it, but he had no doubt that the man would have approved --- even jumped in. He looked back up, meeting Aldrik's eyes. "You aren't the only monster here."

Markus looked back down at Wagner. "And men like him need more monsters in their lives."

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Hmmm... Not sure what I think about Markus deciding to take the less than high road. He's gotten his hands dirty in the past, but this seems more like Aldrik's forte. Don't you think?

Happy Cyber Monday!

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