Chapter 6 #3
Lillian shakes her head, and I stop immediately.
Peering toward the German, I find him standing fully upright with Diederick stretched in front of him.
The tips of his toes reach for the ground to no avail.
He’s being held up, chair and all, by the bicep of the monster in front of us. A gun is pointed at his temple.
Without any further ceremony, another gunshot erupts into the air.
Diederick crashes to the floor, the legs of his chair splintering on impact.
James lifts his gun and steps into the circle, kicking our enemy’s weapon away, though it was already submerged and rendered useless in the frigid, now shin-high water.
James had somehow managed to shoot clean through the shoulder of Diederick’s captor. Had the shot been an inch to the right or left he would have either missed entirely or hit Diederick in the head.
“Get him out of the water!” James demands, fully standing over the German who has managed to prop himself up on the elbow of his good arm.
Procuring my pocketknife, I cut the rope at Diederick’s left hand and then leave him to do the rest. Every waking thought turns to Lillian now that the danger has been dealt with. Behind me, James and Diederick begin to drill the German with questions.
“Are you alright?” I ask over and over as I remove her gag and claw at the ties restraining her wrists.
“Ben,” she says with a scratchy voice. A hand rests on my chest, pausing my movements at her ankles.
Glancing down where her cold touch reaches through the fabric of my shirt, I notice the ring of broken flesh on her wrist. Her skin is bleeding and rubbed raw where the rough rope had gripped her, but she pays it no mind.
“I’m alright,” she says through chattering teeth.
Her tear-stained cheeks say something else entirely, but she is alive, and that is enough for now.
Placing a hand behind her head, I dip her toward me and rest my forehead against hers. Her injured hand finds my cheek as she lets out a stabilizing breath. I gather her freezing fingers in mine and bring them to my lips. Breathing warmth back into them, I do my best to keep my composure.
“You’re okay.” I repeat back to her, though I’d meant to keep it to myself.
“How many more of you are there?” James demands through a growl. By the end of the question, the barrel of his gun has moved closer to the German’s face.
Lillian and I are pulled from our moment as the barrel touches the man’s head.
I take her hand in mine when she’s finally free of her bindings.
Her fingers are still slightly crooked—an injury from the boot of a German—and it’s something that I’m reminded of whenever I take this hand in mine.
I’m reminded that I was not there to protect her.
Together, we wade through the slowly rising water and approach James. With each step, she winces, freezing salt water surely seeping further soaking into her skirts. My grip tightens on her as a promise that I will get her to safety.
“How many more?” James yells again. Somewhere behind us a stack of crates gives up on its fight against gravity and crashes to the floor.
“Not much longer now,” the German says with a laugh. “Are we all to spend our last moments together?”
“Kill him and be done with it,” I say, extremely aware of Lillian and her waning strength beside me.
She steps beside James, not loosening her grip on me. “There are questions I want answered too,” she says with a very shaky voice. “But this ship is going to sink.”
Diederick nods and points into the vastness of the hold. “Who’s to say there won’t be another explosion, either by foul play or saltwater reaching the engine room? The ship will keel over and there will be no hope for us. I can feel it rolling to the starboard side even now.”
With a heavy foot, James places it against the man’s bleeding shoulder and pushes down against him. “How many?” he asks, enunciating each syllable.
With a smile and the swirl of his tongue, the German bites down hard on something. “Heil Hitler.” Foam bubbles at his mouth. “Heil Sch?fer.”
The name spoken sends more of a chill down my spine than watching the man die of his own doing in front of me.
“Sch?fer?” James asks, easing his foot off the dead body.
The ship groans in answer, listing suddenly to the side.
“Let’s get out of here,” I say, reaching out and pulling James by the arm. He stares down at the man who has sunk just below the surface of the water before pulling himself together and turning to face us.
“Are you okay to move topside?” I ask Lillian, letting James tend to Diederick.
“Do I have a choice?” she asks, the laugh in her voice putting me at ease. Well, as eased as I can be given the circumstances.
“I’ll carry you if the answer is no.” She only stares at me. Her hand still locked solid in mine. Even if she intends on running on her bare feet to the surface, I’m not letting go.
The ship lurches again, sending a few more stacks crashing to the floor. It’s enough to send us all sprinting through the knee-high water back to the ladder. I send Lillian up first and then Diederick.
“We’re going to need to run once we’re up there,” James says, hands already on the rungs. He doesn’t wait for an answer to ascend but I give him one anyway.
“We’ll make it,” I say to no one but myself as I scurry up behind the others.