The most frightening realisation of all struck her. The drop was not enough to kill them from the fall alone. A longer plunge would sever the spine, causing near-instant death through shock… but this would leave the victims conscious as they slowly strangled, kicking and writhing for the howling crowd’s entertainment.
She looked across at Zane. He glanced back, jaw clenched tight in a refusal to show fear — but she could see it in his eyes.
And he could see it in hers.
Gausmann stepped behind her as the guards retreated. ‘The American will be the first to die,’ Kroll announced with relish. Every muscle in her body quivered as she fought to stay upright. The crowd blurred behind tears, becoming an amorphous mass of hatred and rage. ‘Drei! Zwei! Eins!’ The awful roar briefly subsided in anticipation…
A flare of light and colour arced in from one side of the square—
Glass smashed — and screams erupted behind Nina as a Molotov cocktail exploded between the four guards, splashing them with liquid fire and setting their clothing and hair aflame.
Gausmann instinctively jumped away as burning petrol sluiced across the space between the stage and the gallows. A second Molotov hurtled over the floodlit parade ground, bursting in the crowd’s front rows. The unity of the chant changed to discordant shrieks of pain and fear as the audience broke ranks and scattered, trying to flee both the blaze and their flaming comrades. The Nazi leaders stampeded for the back of the stage as Eddie rushed into the square, gun in his right hand — and a fire axe in his left.
One of the four men hit by his first bomb had only been caught on the sleeve, managing to tear off his uniform jacket before raising his weapon—
The Englishman’s bullet blew a bloody chunk from his skull. The Nazi fell back into the fire. The other three guards were wreathed in flames, agony as their skin charred and blistered overpowering any thoughts of retaliation.
Eddie angled towards the gallows. Gausmann saw him coming. With no gun of his own, the executioner turned to run — but then lunged back at Nina to kick the stool away—
A gunshot hit him in the chest. He fell between the two scaffolds, one lashing foot missing the stool by barely an inch.
Eddie ran to the gallows. He swung the axe, severing the rope, then spun to catch his wife as she fell. ‘Whoa! Got you.’
‘Eddie, oh my God!’ Nina gasped as he dropped her on to her feet. ‘I thought you were — look out!’
An armed Nazi barged through the panicked crowd. His sub-machine gun came up—
Eddie sent the axe whirling across the gap to slam deep into the man’s ribcage. He fell backwards, spewing gore. The other Nazis around him fought even harder to get away, trampling each other as the regimented crowd broke up into a frantic scrum. One of the floodlight towers toppled and fell as men were forced against it, crushing several as it hit the ground, its bulbs exploding in showers of sparks. ‘You thought I was what?’ he asked Nina, about to untie her hands before realising they were handcuffed.
‘I thought you were dead!’
‘So did these arseholes, thank God. Where are the keys?’
Nina nodded towards the smouldering uniform jacket. ‘That guy’s pocket.’
Eddie started for it — then saw that Gausmann was not dead. The executioner’s chest wound was gushing blood, but still he managed to lever himself on to his side…
To kick away Zane’s stool.
A round from Eddie’s pistol exploded from the back of Gausmann’s skull — but the Israeli was already falling. He let out a strangled cry—
The rope jerked taut. The drop had been less than a foot, but it was enough to snap the noose tight. Zane’s eyes bulged, and he thrashed helplessly as his throat was crushed by his own weight…
Eddie whipped up his gun and shot the rope.
The bullet hit the vibrating line just below the pulley. It snapped, but not fully—
Zane felt the impact. He kicked, hard, and the remaining strands broke. He dropped heavily to the ground.
Shouted orders from the crowd. Eddie saw a tall Nazi in a junior officer’s uniform yelling to his underlings as he stabbed a finger over the dying flames at the Englishman. A counterattack would come at any moment…
Another gunshot turned the clock back by several seconds as the officer’s brains splattered over the men behind him. Panic took hold of the mob once more.
Eddie snatched up the jacket, hearing a faint clink of metal. He pulled out a set of keys and ran back to Nina. ‘Here,’ he said, freeing her right wrist. He pushed the keys into her hand. ‘Unlock Jared.’
She hurried to the slumped Israeli as Eddie used a foot to drag two Heckler & Koch MP5 sub-machine guns away from the burning guards. He kicked one to Zane as Nina released him, then collected the other. The weapon was hot from the fire, but not unbearably so. He fired a sweep into the crowd, sending a clutch of Nazis falling, then joined his wife. ‘Can you walk?’ he asked Zane.
The Mossad agent grimaced as he sat up, collecting the MP5. ‘As long as I can shoot, I’ll crawl if I have to.’
‘Running’d be better.’ The initial shock of the assault was fading; though most of the audience had fled the parade ground, he spotted Nazis now running back into the square — carrying weapons, metal glinting under the remaining floodlights.
Nina helped Zane stand. The Israeli had also seen the new threat and unleashed two bursts from his own weapon. Screams sounded above the hubbub as four more Nazis were cut down.
‘Come on, this way.’ Eddie pointed towards where he had made his entrance, near the stage. ‘There’s a place we can hide.’
Nina saw another MP5 lying by one of the dead guards. ‘No, we need to find Banna!’ she said as she snatched it up. Eddie’s questioning gaze flicked between her and the gun. ‘If I see Kroll, I’m going to kill him,’ she told him. ‘He murdered Macy.’
‘I know.’ An exchange of grim looks, then they ran down a narrow passage between two buildings. ‘Where’s Banna?’
‘Kroll was forcing him to work at his house.’
‘Well, that’s convenient — we can take out that fat bastard at the same time.’ Eddie looked around the corner. People were still running from the parade ground, but none were close by, the fires and gunshots having deterred anyone from coming in the direction of the stage. He heard the piercing shrill of whistles rising above the confusion — more junior officers trying to regroup their squads. ‘Where’s the house?’
She pointed. ‘Over there.’
Eddie hesitated — it would take them away from the red hut where Roland had told him to hide — but Nina was right: they had to find Banna. ‘Okay, come on.’
They hurried through the settlement. Away from the floodlights, the Enklave was not well lit. Keeping to the shadows, they made their way towards the houses. More whistles screeched behind them. ‘It won’t be long before they come after us,’ Zane warned.
‘Then we’d better be quick,’ Eddie replied as they crossed the railway. ‘Which house?’
Nina pointed at Kroll’s residence. ‘That one.’
Lights were on inside. ‘I’m guessing that Banna’ll be guarded.’ She nodded. ‘Be careful, then. Jared, you ready?’
The battered Israeli held up his MP5. ‘Yeah.’
Eddie was first to the door. He waved for Nina to take cover to one side as Zane readied his weapon, then pushed it open, snapping up his own gun. Nobody was in the hall. ‘Okay, where?’ he whispered.
‘Second door on the left,’ Nina replied.
They entered. Eddie went to the door, about to kick it open… when he had another idea and rapped on the wood.