War Girls Complete Collection Chapter 42

Chapter 16

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hey spent the next hour gathering provisions they could easily carry with them before lying down inside the hut. Uwe had decided to try and sleep a few hours in the afternoon before embarking on their journey at nightfall.

But the thrill of this new adventure kept Lotte wide awake, and judging by Uwe’s breathing, he felt the same. She propped herself on her elbows to study his handsome face. His deep blue eyes were closed while the curved lips lay slightly opened in a smile, revealing a row of white teeth. After being away from civilization for several days, the beginning of a beard was sprouting on the soft skin of his cheeks.

She couldn’t resist, and traced a finger along his jawline. He opened his eyes, and his breathing sped up. Lotte hesitated, not sure what to do next, but she needn’t have worried because Uwe grabbed her tight, rolled them over, and kissed her with a passion she’d never experienced before.

Before things went too far, she broke the kiss and snuggled up into his embrace, letting his strength and confidence block out all thoughts of the looming evil. She dreamed of a bright future with Uwe in Switzerland.

“We should find something to eat before we leave,” he interrupted her daydreams.

“Good idea,” Lotte agreed even though she was reluctant to leave his warm embrace. But they had a long journey ahead of them.

They walked to the creek. The clear water gurgled like a happy giggle, causing tiny rapids as it flowed across the stones in the streambed. Lotte had just finished drinking and washing up when she heard it. The baying of dogs. She turned to look at Uwe to ask if he’d heard it too.

“Shit! We have to run!” He took off to her left, and she dashed after him. Branches and bushes scratched at her bare legs, but she didn’t stop or cry out. Her heart thundered in her throat as she ran as fast as she could.

Uwe darted between the trees with an ease she found hard to follow. She did her best not to lose him, ignoring the scratches on her legs, the stitches in the side, and the shortage of oxygen, and kept running.

She knew when the men searching for them found the hut, as a loud cry went up and the sound of others crashing through the forest increased.

Don’t stop. Keep running

. In front of her, Uwe darted to his right, his feet splashing as he crossed a shallow stream. Lotte followed him, her new shoes becoming soaked in the cold water, but she couldn’t care less about her clothing or her looks. No doubt, the men hunting them were devoted followers of Herr Keller and the Party, and she had no doubt whatsoever about her fate should she be caught.

“Shit! Go back!” Uwe shouted a second later, grabbing her arm and spinning her around to dash back across the stream.

Lotte got a brief glimpse of men coming towards them, and then she heard the sound of the dogs being turned loose.

I can’t outrun a bloody dog.

They made it across the stream, but before they could go in a different direction, two SS men stepped from the thicket, their guns raised point-blank at them. The dogs splashed across the stream, and Lotte looked over her shoulder to see the vicious German Shepherds standing a mere three feet away from her, intent on tearing her and Uwe apart if they ran again. Lotte’s blood froze in her veins, and even if she wanted to, she would have been unable to move. The SS men approached, and one of them grabbed the dogs’ collars, holding them at bay while the other one barked commands at Lotte and Uwe.

“

Hände hoch!

”

She raised her hands and could see from the corner of her eye Uwe doing the same. The dogs leashed again, another SS officer appeared, glancing at the two frightened adolescents.

“He’s the deserter.” He nodded his chin in Uwe’s direction. “Give him what he deserves.”

The next seconds passed as if in slow motion, and Lotte’s scream sent the birds in the trees scattering in all directions. Her glance darted from the SS officer pulling the trigger on his gun to Uwe’s terrified face a split-second before the bullet hit him between the eyes.

“No!” Lotte screamed and launched herself towards Uwe but was captured mid-air by the third man while Uwe dropped to the ground, blood blooming across his forehead.

“A masterly shot,” congratulated the SS man holding the dogs.

“Indeed,” the first one answered. “It’s good to get some practice on a live target.”

“Killers! Bastards! Let me down!” she screamed, kicking, scratching and biting her captor.

“Why don’t we shoot that one, too? Let her loose, and I’ll see if I can take her down with a single bullet.”

Lotte stopped kicking as the urge to vomit built inside her throat. After witnessing the cold-blooded murder, she almost yearned to share Uwe’s fate.

“No. Sorry to disappoint you, but Chief Keller wants her alive.”

Lotte wasn’t sure whether that was a good or a bad thing, but either way, she didn’t have a say. Her captor silenced her struggle with a well-targeted blow to her temple and then tossed a half-benumbed Lotte over his shoulder. He carried her for what seemed an eternity, until they reached a dirt road where a truck was waiting.

The SS man dumped her on the ground next to the truck. Her entire body aching from the bad treatment, she opened her eyes and thought she’d died and gone to hell. Hans was grinning down at her, pure evil in his eyes. She scrambled backward but came up against the tires of the vehicle.

“Hello, Lotte. I hoped we’d meet again.” Hans reached down and hauled her up, shoving her into the back of the vehicle before yelling something to one of the SS men who cuffed her hands behind her back.

“You bastard! They killed Uwe! He was your friend!”

“Uwe was a fool.” Hans shoved her backward, causing her to fall onto her bound hands, leaving her unable to defend herself. Panic spread throughout every cell of her body as she observed how he licked his lips. “And you are, too. Why else would you choose him over me?”

Lotte tried to kick him as he reached his hands beneath the hem of her dress, but he caught her legs with his right hand and pressed them down while he shoved his left hand between her thighs, groping her crotch painfully.

Too petrified to look away, she began to cry for a different reason now, scared beyond comprehension at the look on Hans’ face. The sound of her underwear ripping apart made her wince, but that was nothing compared to his fingers sliding higher between her legs and probing parts of her anatomy that no man had ever touched before. She couldn’t control her sobbing and trembled at the prospect of what else he might do next.

“You’re nothing but a whore. I bet Uwe enjoyed getting between these filthy thighs. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you don’t remember anything but me down there.”

After several more humiliating and painful minutes, she heard the impatient voice of one of the SS men. “What are we waiting for? We don’t have all day!”

“Coming,” Hans called out and pinched her soft flesh in a painful grip before removing his hand. “Something for you to remember me by until I see you later.” He jumped off the truck bed and several seconds later, the engine started.

Lotte curled into the corner, struggling not to be tossed around every time the truck hit a pothole. Her brain was clogged, and her body ached, but she kept her focus on one thing – revenge for Uwe’s death.

One day those vile killers would get the punishment they deserved.