CHAPTER TWO
SCHROEDER CRAWLED OUT from beneath the wreckage and coughed. He had taken cover under a table which protected him from the shards of glass and metal, but still managed to incur a painful gash on his hand, from which blood oozed. Collapsing to the ground, he drew a strained breath as shouts from both his troops and the Infekts rose from beneath the rubble of the collapsed house. There was barely any difference in the sound of their cries, but as he honed in on them, he could easily distinguish one from another.
Finally, he caught his breath and staggered toward the center of the house, still smoldering around him. Finding the source of the noise, he pried the charred boards from the opening in the floor. They were still hot, and smoke rose from their glowing edges.
As he reached to grasp another board, a hand stretched out from the wreckage and clamped onto his. He swept away some more rubble to see the face of a young woman.
“Please help me,” she pleaded. “I can’t feel my legs.”
Schroeder struck her hand with the butt of his pistol.
She shrieked and let go. Before she could make another sound, he picked up some boards and threw them on top of her, covering her up again.
Her pained cries were properly muffled.
Damned Infekts.
He moved further to the left and continued digging until the voice of one of his guards alerted him. In less than a minute, Schroeder had managed to remove enough wreckage to see the face of one of his guards clearly.
Dietrich Stahl.
“Herr Schroeder…” His eyes were wide with shock, his lips trembled as he spoke and looked down to the bloody stump—all that remained from his shoulder down. “My arm…”
Schroeder locked eyes with him. “You have served well, Dietrich.” Then he shot him square between the eyes. Better he die in service with honor, than live the rest of a feeble life, a burden to society.
He holstered his pistol and stood.
One of the trapped Infekts cried out, “You monster!”
“…said the Vermin to his god.” Schroeder shook his head and walked until he was fifty yards clear of the structure, and radioed for assistance. With sharp eye on the wood pile, beneath which the Infekts were trapped, he kept his gun ready for any with the temerity to crawl out and escape.
In less than ten minutes, two truckloads of SS troops arrived. Schroeder met the commanding officer out by the front door.
“Your orders?” The commander asked.
“Torch it.”
“There may be information that will help our investigation into The Underground.”
“All that matters has already fled through the tunnels below. Need I repeat my instructions?”
The commander snapped to attention and then went to execute Schroeder’s orders.
As the crew poured gasoline over everything inside and out of the house, he began to grow concerned about the fact that Grace had escaped, yet again. He’d underestimated her, as well as the parasites that had aided her thus far.
After all, how could a mere African Infekt and a teen aged girl ever outwit a trained Nazi officer?
Much as he hated to admit it, it had been his hubris that cost him.
For the last time.
Never again would he allow that to happen.
In a few moments, the vestiges of the once secret den of Infekts and sympathizers erupted into a glorious conflagration.
He so wanted to revel in the screams of the traitors and Infekts engulfed in fire and choking smoke, but to his disappointment nothing could be heard over the roaring fire, the crackling and crumbling of the burning structure.
He stepped back and watched the flames rise into the pre-dawn sky. The aroma of wood and other rubble engulfed by the fire mitigated the stench of burning flesh.
Ah, but he could still smell it.
Just like the days when he watched skin melt off bones in the death camps of Himmlerstadt.
The smell of victory.
Incinerating a few Infekts and traitors who belonged to The Underground didn’t amount to much more than a moral victory. He must catch the Führer’s daughter in order to prove his worth to the Kaiser, and gain his confidence.
Otherwise, his ultimate goal would be far more difficult to attain.
His mobile phone buzzed.
Verdammt. Such devilishly meticulous timing that insectpossessed. “Schroeder here.”
“Do you have her?” Drexler said, his voice cold and devoid of emotion.
“A handful of spirited Infekts posed some challenges. I have dealt with them.”
“Do you have her?”
Schroeder grit his teeth, and squeezed his eyes shut. It simply wouldn’t do to let the little Führer gain the upper hand, but it couldn’t be helped. “We are getting close, don’t worry.”
“I’m not the one who needs to worry,” he said, annoyingly smug. “Do you at least know where she is?”
“She fled with several others through an underground tunnel. There’s not really anywhere for her to go out there. Our men are pursuing her now. I will give you an update when we have something to report.”
“Time waits for no man, Herr Schroeder.”
“And you only squander more of it with your incessant calls.”
“Do not let her get away.”
“I never fail to capture my quarry, mein Führer.”
Schroeder ended the call and gazed past the flames rolling upward, plumes ascending higher than the concrete boundary walls and over the hills. His lip twisted his face in a blend of indignation and exhilaration.
Let the hunt begin, Princess.
To be continued...
-------------------------------
If you enjoyed this, please help keep this and my other works free. Vote, follow me, comment, and please add to your library!
Don't want to wait for the rest of this episode to unfold?
Episode 3 is already out for on ebook reader platorms for less than a Caramel Macchiato. All the thrills, all the action, and all the intrigue. Find the entire episode here: http://bit.ly/TFDPEP3WP or wait for my next chapter by chapter update.
If you subscribe to my newsletter, you'll be the first to know of the following episode release dates before the rest of the world! Plus, you'll be automatically entered for giveaways every month, including a $100 Amazon gift card. Sign up here:
www.Joshua-Graham.com/GIA
أنت تقرأ
THE FÜHRER'S DAUGHTER
غموض / الإثارةNew York Times and USA Today bestselling author Joshua Graham teams up with bestselling author Jack Patterson for an alternate history saga that will rock your mind. "A clever, imaginative tale of what if, rooted in secrets, believable and evocative...
