THE FÜHRER'S DAUGHTER

THE FÜHRER'S DAUGHTER (Episode 2 of 5) Chapter 22

Once again, Jack sprinted up the hill.

For once, Grace was glad her training had conditioned her for such a strenuous climb.

With Miles taking up the rear, she followed Jack’s steps.

Branches clawed at her arms as she ascended the verdant hills. The piney scent of a morning forest had now become as familiar as the cheerful chirping of the early rising sparrows that ushered in the dawn.

They reached the top of the hill and remained ensconced behind a set of thick trunks. To her relief, she wasn’t winded, nor were her legs too sore to continue.

A deep boom echoed over the wall.

A golden aura illuminated the area where the safe house had been.

“Lord, have mercy,” Miles said.

Grace let out a gasp, but covered her mouth.

The safe house erupted into a terrifying conflagration.

The woods fell silent.

Acrid fumes wafted by, overwhelming anything fragrance the woods offered.

“Oh my God. Eli, David…Esther!” Grace started to weep.  “They’re all dead. Because of me.”

Still carrying his pack, Miles came over and put a consoling arm over her shoulders. “Grace…now’s not the time to look back.”

Two more gunshots echoed through the tunnel, their report coming out of the opening below.

Grace recoiled.

Victor and Finn were now dead too. They’d remained in the tunnel to hold off the SS as long as they could, armed only knives and a fighting spirit—guns had been scarce, and theirs were now in Grace, Jack, and Miles’ hands.

The jaundiced beam of a Nazi searchlight swung around the trees like a malevolent eye.

Jack grabbed Grace by the arm and pulled her to the ground just before it hit the tree where she’d been standing. “Down!”

They remained still for an interminable moment.

Finally, Jack got up, and motioned for them to keep low. He stalked the surrounding area with the stealth of a cat, as Grace tried to collect herself.

“This is madness,” she said, her eye on the predatory beam in the distance.

“That’s why you’re here,” Miles said. “To help put an end to all this.”

She gave him an incredulous glance. How exactly was she supposed to stand up to these monsters? As the death toll climbed, the burden of all those who had died to ensure her safety weighed heavily. How many more must die for her? Could she even do what they needed? Like a thousand cinderblocks, the very thought pressed down on her chest, making it difficult to draw a breath. “I don’t think I’ve got what it takes.” She turned and gazed into the forest. “I’m just one person.”

“You’ve been an icon all your life.” Jack said, leaning down and whispering in an uncharacteristically sensitive voice. “Maybe all you need to do is inspire everyone to stand together.”

She shook her head. “Sometimes I think it’s all been a bad dream…that I’ll wake up, and everything will be as it should be.”

Jack continued to search the perimeter.

Miles took Grace’s hands, his rugged grip strong, yet warm. “Things haven’t been as they should for decades. But you can change all that. You can set things right.”

“How can you be certain?”

“I can’t, I can only believe,” Miles said. “Do you remember that verse, the one I always told you whenever you started doubting yourself during a swim meet, or fencing?”

She nodded. “I can do all things…by…through…”

“I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”

“That’s right.” Though the entire Empire thought otherwise, Miles had never treated the words from that book—which Grace now understood to have been labeled a “forbidden book of Infekt extremists”—as mere fairy tales. Its teachings and stories were his beacon in the darkness, especially in times like these. She had so many questions about this book, about his faith. But they would have to wait, for now.

Jack returned holding a finger to his lips. He fished his binoculars out of his pack and began scanning ahead. From the foot of the hill opposite hence they’d come, the sound of dogs baying and soldiers shouting grew in volume and intensity.

Jack let an unfamiliar English word fly.

From his cadence, it was probably an invective of some sort.

Miles leaned over to him. “What is it?”

“Trouble,” Jack said, and straightened up. “Run!”

END OF EPISODE 2

To be continued...

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