Page 211 of Valor

He swallowed the bitter taste in his mouth.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

He aimed for the thick growth and then ran up the hill along the riverbank. The shrubs were dense, and their branches lashed against them. He chose this route in hopes that the men would be unable to track them.

He caught a buzzing noise over the sound of rushing water. Oliver looked up. The military-grade drones hovered over their heads. He needed to take her somewhere safe.

“We have to cross the river,” he said, stopping to catch his breath. “Now.”

CHAPTERSIXTEEN

Northern Moravia, 1942

Fred stared at his cousin.“An order?”

“We may not wear uniforms like the Germans, but we have a chain of command. You, dear cousin, just landed at the bottom rank, so eat. I need you to be able to hike 30km tomorrow without crying.” Mark playfully shoved Fred’s shoulder.

“Where are we going?”

“Need to know. Remember?”

“Come on; you want me to trust you blindly?”

Mark looked at him, his eyes reflecting the low flames. “East.”

“But that’s Slovakia. They joined the Nazis.”

“The government did. Not the people.”

Fred bit into the chunk of bread. It tasted so familiar.”

“Where did you get this?” He waved the crust in the air.

“Need to know. You got to learn that.”

“Who am I going to tell here?” Fred motioned with his arm, encompassing the vast darkness of the cavern.

“Here? No one, but if we get caught, you might squeal like a little piglet as soon as Fritz?—”

“Stop treating me like a child. I’m not scared of them.”

“You aren’t?”

“No,” Fred scoffed. “They are the scum of the earth, and I refuse to be scared of what they can do to me.”

“I’m not scared of that either. What I’m worried about is what they can do to my family if anyone finds out that I’m with the resistance. They picked up Karel’s mom and dad two weeks ago.”

Fred shot him a look. “What?”

“Maybe you should think about that.” His eyes bored into Fred’s. “Just think of what happened to Hedvika’s family.”

A wave of anger rose in Fred’s chest. “I will avenge them, so help me God.”

“Yeah, and to do that, you need to stay alive.”

Fred looked at the ground.

“You know that your father gave them up,” Mark said solemnly.

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