He missed Boris, his person friend, but Milo would do for now. They would pee together outside, like he and Boris used to do. Or maybe he would pee and Milo would watch since the dog didn't have a lower half any more. Hans grabbed the lump of a package he had placed on the ground next to his friend. As he did, he saw Milo was staring. “Don't look at me like that,” he said. “It makes me feel funny. I don't like feeling funny.” He did have a plan, kind of. Once the base was gone, they would head to the other end of the island. When the time was right, he could ride one of those big fishy ships back home. Maybe he could sneak on. Or maybe he would find a new person friend like Boris who would let him on. And he could be a real sailor and join the navy. Maybe one day, he would forget about the army and get a place of his own.
And a new Thinking Place. Yes, that would be fine.
It wasn't his only dream, either. He dreamed of replacing all of his friends from the cave. He dreamed of playing on the commander with a knife and one of his saw tools. Yes, he would play on him really good and bloody. And maybe pee on him.
With his thing.
But first, he had to be like Moses.
Hans climbed into the back of one of the half-tracks and searched under the seats. He found the hidden storage compartment, the one right above the engine. He still had the lump under his coat, and he pulled it out, careful not to detonate it too soon.
6
One of the towers appeared deserted, the other held a single guard. Dominik could see little else, save for a few souls scattered near the office bunker where the party was being held. Using the dark to his advantage, he ducked inside the prisoners' bunker and searched it quickly. “Lucja?” he called. “Are you here?”
The rooms were exactly as he had left them, and there was no sign of her. Zofia's bear stared at him from the middle of the bed, its button eyes hollow and dark.
“Ettore,” he whispered. The two of them had split up, Dominik going to the prisoners' bunker, Ettore heading to the vehicle depot. The man could have intercepted her by now. Dominik ran out the door, throwing caution to the wind. Zofia was gone, and he could not lose Lucja too. It had been foolish to let her go alone.
He passed in front of the office bunker and then threw himself into shadow as two German soldiers stumbled outside. From the open door, he could hear music playing, could smell sweet tobacco wafting from within.
“A good night for a walk,” one of the men said, lighting a cigarette.
“Bah, tell it to your girl,” said the other, lighting his own. “I'm not holding your hand.”
“How about I tell it to your girl?”
“Go ahead. She'll hold more than your hand, that one.”
They both laughed crazy, drunken laughter.
“I'm going to check on Linus,” the first one said. He started walking in the direction of the occupied tower.
The other one waved him off, leaning against the bunker and smoking. Dominik waited, cursing every lost second. A minute later, the wandering soldier came back.
“What did he say?” the other man asked.
“He said the lieutenant was shouting about something. Running around like a fool. Suppose he won't be joining us.”
“And Linus isn't coming either?”
“Nah. He's got orders.”
They opened the door, and the pair of them began stumbling back inside.
“Guess we'll have to drink enough for him too, then.”
They laughed, and the door shut. Dominik was alone once more.
Running across the camp, he managed to reach the depot without being seen. At least, he didn't think he was seen, either by the man in the watch tower, or any stragglers on the grounds. Strangely, he saw that the door to the place was ajar when he arrived, the light from the inside spilling out. If his daughter was here, why had she left it open?
Then he saw a figure outside the door, hiding at the corner. The figure turned and looked right at him. Dominik froze, a rabbit caught in the sights of a hunter. Then his eyes adjusted, and he saw it was only Ettore. Of course it was Ettore. What soldier would hide in the shadows of his own base? The man motioned him over.
As Dominik approached, he was about to ask him what he had seen, but Ettore put a finger to his lips, silencing him. He pointed to the open door. Adjusting his position, Dominik saw there were two figures inside.
But neither one was his daughter.
7
Several minutes earlier, Boris Seiler wandered from the party to take a piss. He got ten steps outside and realized he wasn't going to make it to the bathroom. The bottle he had in his hand dropped to the ground, and he spun towards the bunker wall. His flow had already begun when he realized he should be on the lookout for the lieutenant. The cocksucker was wound tighter than a clock spring, and Seiler had no intention of getting his head smashed. Maybe the lieutenant just didn't take to the assignment. The key to taking any assignment you didn't like, Seiler knew, was finding ways to cope. He and Hans had found ways to cope, even if the kid was soft in the head. Boris wasn't overly bothered though; the lieutenant was off somewhere, probably talking to that Kaminski girl. The man had certainly spent enough time with her, as clever as he thought he was. Ha! And they thought Hans was sick.
Seiler wondered where the boy was now. He'd run off, and he hadn't been seen since. Seiler understood why, of course, but for God's sake, they were just animals. Zimmer's death was another story, but even that was an accident.
His stream dissipated and Seiler buckled his pants, eager to get back to the party. But suddenly, he heard shouts, and even through the liquor haze, they gave him pause: “Stop! I demand you stop!”
It was the lieutenant's voice, and it was coming from somewhere close.
Seiler drew his pistol. Two pairs of footsteps sounded off and then faded. He stumbled after them, his gun poised. He found that once he was in the open, however, he couldn't see much of anything. Whomever had been there was gone. Then, he noticed an unusual light coming from beneath the door at the vehicle depot. He had seen Jonas at the party earlier, and he knew the depot was supposed to be locked and sealed. Something was amiss.
The door offered no resistance as he thrust it open, ready to confront the lieutenant in a tryst with the Kaminski girl. Instead, he found the last person he expected to see.
“Hello Boris,” Hans said.
“What?”
The Gestapo agent couldn't believe it. Moments before, he had been thinking of the boy, and here he was, standing before him with what looked like a wired remote control in his hand. Seiler's gaze moved to the line of trucks against the wall, the tools scattered on the ground, the dog Hans had cut in half. When his gaze returned to the remote, the pieces began to fall together. It all made sense now. The trap they had set for the penguin, the explosion at the crater, the dead ensign who had been buried under the rubble in the cave… the boy had been stealing explosives. Here in the vehicle depot, he had set one mother lode of a goddamned bomb.
“What are you doing?”
“It's time for us to get out of here,” Hans said.
“No… no, you cannot do this!” He lunged forward, but he was too slow. The damned drink!
“You and me, Boris! We'll get out of here! We'll get on a boat! We'll be ship captains!”
“Give me that, boy!”
“No!” Hans shouted.
The boy tried to pull the box away, but Seiler was dragging him to the ground, his weight bearing down on top of him.