Shadows Will Fall by Trey Garrison Read Free Book Online Page B

night.”
    â€œHoffstetter wants you all to witness the transformation of the Death’s Head Legion into draugrkommandos , and to be the undead soldiers’ first kill,” Bonhoeffer added. “You and the handful of villagers the storm troopers captured in their patrols of the countryside. The people of the tiny Arefu hamlet. There are women and children among them.”
    â€œDraugrkommandos?” Terah asked.
    â€œWalking dead,” Rucker explained. “Only smart. Perfect soldiers.”
    Everyone started talking at once, arguing about what was happening. There was fear in their voices. Their anxiety fueled each other.
    Amria, who hadn’t said a word yet, finally spoke. Her eyes were alight with anger, but there was something else there.
    â€œCaptain Rucker?”
    Everyone stopped talking and listened.
    â€œCan you really stop them?”
    They all looked at Rucker.
    Rucker looked Amria in the eye.
    â€œJust you watch me,” he said.
    For the first time, Amria smiled. She was starting to believe him.
    The alarm klaxon in the courtyard started to bleat. Over the hastily installed loudspeaker, a German voice shouted.
    â€œAlert! Prisoner has escaped! This is not a drill! Prisoner Rucker is missing. Storm troopers to the assembly area! Prepare to release the wehr-wolves and nachtmenn !”
    Rucker cursed.
    â€œWhat does this mean?” Terah asked.
    â€œIt means that little bald little snake Übel found out I’m missing from the torture chamber,” Rucker said. “Look, Robin and I have to go.”
    Terah reached through the bars of her cell and pulled Rucker to her. She kissed him deeply.
    Bonhoeffer was at the door.
    â€œRucker!” he said impatiently.
    â€œI’ll be back for you, for you all, by tomorrow night,” Rucker said, putting the Senf mask and his helmet back on.
    â€œI’ll order the guards to the muster area,” Bonhoeffer said. “You get the shortwave and your other equipment and put it in this duffel. They’re already mustering out squads, so just tag along with one to get out of the citadel, and then slip away. You’ll need to be at least five miles away before you use the shortwave. The command center is jamming shortwave signals all around here. And stay downwind from the nachtmenn , if at all possible. I have to get back to the command post. Good luck.”
    â€œWhat do I say if someone asks about the duffel?” Rucker asked.
    â€œI’ve heard your German,” Bonhoeffer said. “Don’t say anything.”
    Rucker turned to look at his friends. “Be strong. You have it in you” he said.
    The door opened. He banged his helmet on the low frame.
    When they closed and latched the door, the four prisoners listened, hoping they wouldn’t hear gunshots over the blaring klaxon, which would mean that Rucker and Bonhoeffer had been discovered and shot.
    None came. They all breathed a collective sigh of relief.
    â€œHe’s completely insane,” Terah said.
    â€œThat, and a bit magnificent,” Amria said.
    Terah noticed there was still a dour hatred in Amria’s face, but now, a glimmer of hope there, too.

 
    CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
    Poenari Citadel
    Wallachia Region
    T he engineers and technicians who set Dr. Übel’s work site in the southern tower of the castle were not without wit. They called it “Dr. Frankenstein’s Laboratory,” after the gothic and science fiction setup in the Cabo Madera motion pictures about Mary Shelley’s mad scientist and the monster he created.
    Of course, they wouldn’t call it that in front of Dr. Übel—intelligence, after all, was a prerequisite to become an engineer, and anyone possessing even a modicum of that trait knew better than to make a joke in front of the doctor. But whatever the work space was called, it was a fully functioning, modern laboratory with everything needed for the kind of transgenic and