A Partisan's Fight - COMPLETED!

Chapter Eighty-Two

"Jyrgen? Jyrgen!" Mina watched Penny try to shove him awake.

"Is he..." Mina watched the redhead shove at the young man.

"I think he went unconscious." Her wide eyes blinked away tears.

Rubbing her forehead, Mina sighed her relief. "Thank God."

Penny looked over her shoulder, her eyes searching the surroundings. "Where is Aldrik?"

Tears sparkling her eyes, Mina shook her head. She couldn't find the words. It had hurt enough being ripped away from the love of her life. Losing her best friend was crippling.

Mina avoided looking into Penny's glassy eyes as the woman nodded. She'd held Hans the whole ride there, letting her baby's warmth suck the pain out. He was what she had to live for. Not for herself. Not for the others. Not for her country's sanity. No. She had to live for her child's future. She needed to give him everything that she didn't have. She didn't want to save herself; she wanted to save him.

"Can you get the bleeding to stop?" Mina eyed up the blood dripping through Jyrgen's shirt before looking back up at Penny.

"We tried..." Her hand flew up against her mouth as she tried to bite back a sob. "He... he bled right through the bandages. I... I do not know what else to do."

Swallowing back her own tears, Mina steeled herself against the emotion. "Do what you can to stop the bleeding. Let me get our next moves in order. I will be right back."

Mina paused, looking up at the woman. "You are going to be all right. You can do this. His life depends on it. Okay?"

Slowly Penny's eyes met Mina's as she nodded.

Everyone had their breaking point. Mina knew that better than most, but they were in the middle of life or death. Encouragement and fear made all the difference in the world. Even the weakest person could become the strongest and bravest if forced into a corner with only one choice. Survival was the strongest motivator.

Werner had only been a few short steps behind Mina, his arm linked around her waist, helping her back to the truck. She had to cut him loose. He was putting himself in more danger than what he deserved to be in.

"Werner. I appreciate the help. We all really do, but you have a fam..."

"I do not."

Mina looked back and forth between his eyes as if one of them might hold the truth. He had a wife, a son, a daughter. He had a family. "W-what?"

Werner scanned the area as if looking at anything but Mina would stop the conversation. "They... I was working when the town was destroyed. When I came home..." His voice drifted to silence. He shrugged, unable to allow the words to continue.

"Werner..." Mina didn't know how to continue. They'd all lost someone. There was no denying that; no fixing that. Yet she wanted to fix that. She wanted to stop the loss. It hurt. It hurt so damn bad.

"No, Mina. There is nothing that you can say to fix this. I will not abandon you. The only reason I lost them was because of this damn war. This damn need to be perfect, supreme. That thought killed them. People may still be following our leader blindly, but I have been awoken. We need to finish what you started." The words were spoken with the clarity of someone who had been revived. Werner had been given a purpose. He had nothing to lose and that that was a dangerous weapon.

With nothing more to say, Mina gave him a curt nod. There was nothing she could say to make things better. She needed to be the leader now. She needed to embrace her control, her power, her plan. It was time to rise to power.