Maria gripped the still smoking pistol tightly in her shaking hand and quickly placed it into the inner pocket of her thick wool jacket. Her hand and shoulder stung from the backlash of the gunshot she had just fired and her entire body was trembling with nerves and fright.
She paused for a moment to listen to the chaos that was undoubtedly breaking out on the other side of the wall, on the Rathaus grounds. Instinctively taking a step backwards when she heard a whistle sound, Maria bumped into a large tree and startled herself. She gasped out loud and snapped her head around to confront the intruder. Upon seeing that she was still alone, she berated herself for being so on edge and forced herself to focus on the task at hand. Without further hesitation, she turned fully around to make her way back to the car.
Liesl lay on the cold, concrete floor of the Rathaus cellar, completely alone. Erik had brought her there and had then left her deserted in the dark room.
She gasped audibly and felt her heart skip a beat when she heard the gunfire. Thoughts of her father upstairs came to mind and tears began to fall freely from her eyes as she squirmed around on the floor to an upright position. Maneuvering toward the door, Liesl reached upwards for the knob and turned it. As expected, it did not budge and was clearly locked.
Using the doorknob for support, she hoisted herself to a standing position, and leaned her shoulder against the door.
Finding some light was her first priority. Liesl had seen Erik rip down the light cord that normally hung in the center of the room and knew that she would now not be able to turn it on. Instead, she steadied herself on her good leg and attempted to walk toward the desk on the other end of the room, where she had seen a candle lit earlier.
Liesl hobbled around in the dark and the narrow room seemed bigger than before. She kept her bound hands against the wall for support and slowly felt her way to the back of the room. As she walked, her mind kept clouding over with horror at the chilling silence that filled the air since the dreaded shot.
After what seemed like an eternity, Liesl finally reached the desk and frantically felt around for a candle.
Not finding anything, she began to shake with despair. She leaned against the nearby wall and slowly slid down it, clenching her fists tightly. Tears began to fill her eyes and she bit her lip to try to control her emotions.
Suddenly, overcome with anger and frustration, she picked her legs up and kicked the desk with force, causing it to slide a few meters to the side and smash into the opposite wall. As a result, the sound of a falling picture filled the room.
She sat still for a moment, staring absently into the darkness when suddenly a thought entered her mind. Liesl straightened her posture and sat upright.
"The key!" she exclaimed in an incomprehensible mumble due to the cloth around her mouth. Her eyes grew wide and hope came flooding back to her as she remembered the hidden key that Rolf had used to lock the door the day before. Without hesitation, Liesl crawled to the desk and leaned upon it to hoist herself up.
As she stood up, she desperately tried to remember which picture frame he had removed it from, but the image was hazy.
More quickly than before, Liesl hobbled around the perimeter of the desk, feeling the surrounding walls for pictures. She removed each and felt the back for a key, without luck. Finally, she found what she had been looking for behind a small picture; a metal lump was taped to the back.
Liesl frantically removed the key and gripping it very tightly in her hand, limped to the door. She kneeled down and despite her shaking hands, struggled to get it into the keyhole. After a few minutes of jostling it around, it finally turned and the door latched open.
Overcome with happiness and determination, Liesl stuck her head out the door into the dimly lit vestibule. Not noticing anything suspicious, she began to stagger across the room, resolute on escaping from this nightmare. A second gunshot erupted as she made her way toward the stairs.
As the first shot sounded, Georg stood at gunpoint in Herr Zeller's control. The unexpected noise caused the three Nazis to startle, giving Georg the chance to thrust his knee upwards toward the gun and knock the loaded weapon away from his body. At the sudden movement, Zeller accidentally fired the gun. Large chunks of debris fell from the ceiling and dust filled the room.
Ludwig jumped aside to avoid being hit by falling debris, releasing his grasp on the Captain. As he did, Georg elbowed Johannes with force. The Captain bolted forward, ramming head first into Zeller and forcing him to stumble backwards and drop his pistol. It fell to the ground and slid, unnoticed by the Nazis, under a piece of fallen plaster.
Instantly, Georg dove for the gun, but once he was on the ground, felt something grab his waist from behind. He kicked backwards with force and felt the restraint loosen as a loud moan was heard. Glancing behind him, Georg saw Ludwig standing up with blood dripping from his nose. It appeared to be broken.
Taking advantage of this injury, Georg picked up a large piece of plaster that had fallen from the ceiling and slammed it into Ludwig's head, further debilitating him. He returned his attention to the pistol that still lay on the floor, and bolted towards it with Johannes right behind him.
The Captain lunged forward for the object, but Johannes stopped his effort by brutally punching his lower back. Georg gasped at the blow and fell to the ground. Persevering and rolling over despite the pain, he began to crawl toward the gun, resolute on reaching it.
"Stop him!" Zeller ordered. He followed Georg's gaze and seeing the pistol, quickly moved towards it.
Johannes charged forward and grabbed the Captain's leg from behind, causing him to fall flat on his chest, only a short distance from the weapon.
Georg stared at the gun in front of him, and stretched his arm out, desperately trying to reach it despite the pull from behind. As he strained to grab the weapon, a black shoe suddenly came into view, directly on top of the gun.
"Nice try," Zeller mocked in a cold voice. The Nazi glared down at Georg as his foot firmly rested on the pistol.
Georg set his chin tightly towards his opponent, but his anger was quickly diverted by a movement behind Zeller. A glimpse of a white slip peeked around the doorframe followed by a trace of long, brown hair. It disappeared so quickly that Georg almost missed it. However, positive of what he had seen, he looked quickly away, not wanting to attract anyone else's attention to it.
Slowly, Georg withdrew his arm and let his body go limp. He brought his outstretched hand back and rested it near his other arm, slowly reaching inside his sleeve for the cartridge pen he had hidden. "You win, Herr Zeller. I surrender," he said tightly.
Zeller nodded his head slowly and his mouth curled into a wicked smile. "I think you mean you have no choice," he retorted.
Georg took the end of the pen between his fingers and gripped it tightly inside his jacket sleeve. "You're right. No choice," he repeated calmly, concentrating on the object in his grasp. Suddenly, he raised his hand and in a fast motion brought it back down again towards Zeller's foot, piercing it with the sharp point.
"Damn!" Zeller shouted. He withdrew his foot in pain and when he did, Georg lunged forward and grabbed the pistol. The Captain picked it up and twisting his back upwards, aimed towards the ceiling on purpose. Once again, pieces of plaster fell to the ground and dusted clouded the air.
Johannes recoiled instinctively and Georg was able to writhe out of his grasp. In an attempt to flee, Georg stumbled forward. Gaining his balance, he bolted for the door, knocking a still disoriented Ludwig out of the way with a rough slam into his shoulder.
"Stop him!" Zeller yelled vaguely.
Johannes removed his gun from his belt clip and fired at Georg as he ran to the doorway. A nearby mirror shattered, filling the room with a piercing crash.
Upon hearing the noise, Georg flinched and instinctively cocked the trigger on his own gun. He turned around and fired another shot behind him. He heard a pained cry and when he veered around, he saw Johannes grasping his shoulder tightly. The Nazi's jacket was now clearly marked by a bright red pool of blood.
Quickly refocusing his attention in front of him, Georg continued to dart towards the door and could hear Zeller sounding his whistle behind him, summoning his troops.
He reached the door and saw that he had been right; Liesl was standing quivering behind the grandfather clock. Her hands and mouth were still bound, so Georg grabbed her upper arm and pulled her forward. Feeling that she staggered in her stride, he glanced behind and could see that her face was contorted into a tight look of pain.
Georg reached toward her and ripped the handkerchief off of her mouth as they ran through the foyer. Despite her injury, he bolted out the main entrance, gripping tightly to Liesl's arm. They sprinted across the courtyard. Georg glanced behind and could see two soldiers rounding the rear corner of the building and Herr Zeller leaving through the main entrance shouting orders to the approaching men.
The pair crossed Bergstrasse. Since it was a Sunday morning, they were fortunate to not encounter any onlookers. Needing to react quickly and seeing Liesl's blatant pain as she struggled to run, Georg pulled his daughter toward a row of cars that were parallel parked on the road adjacent to the Rathaus. He jostled the door handle on a few cars until he found one that was unlocked. Practically throwing Liesl into the back seat first, Georg then bolted into the front seat and locked the doors.
"Get down!" he ordered her. Both Georg and Liesl fell to their backs and laid still, neither of them breathing for a moment. They both stared upwards, not able to see out the windows and not daring to move lest they would be discovered.
Suddenly, the loud sirens from several Nazi cars sounded and Georg heard Liesl gasp. The noise increased in volume and Georg felt his stomach drop when they got so close that he was positive the cars had driven right past their hiding spot. After a moment, the sound began to die down until it was barely audible in the distance.
Georg waited a moment longer in stillness.
"Liesl," he whispered when he was confident that they were in the clear.
"Uh huh," she whispered with panic.
"Stay put for a moment," he told her.
She nodded instinctively to herself even though her father could not see it.
Slowly, Georg sat upright and glanced out the window in all directions. Apart from a lone soldier who was now guarding the Rathaus, the area seemed deserted.
"They're gone," he assured her.
Liesl sat upright and turned around to look at her father.
Georg reached toward her and stroked her cheek; his eyes filled with utter relief and happiness and his tender caress reflected those feelings. He leaned forward and hugged her tightly, kissing the top of her head and revelling in her safety.
"I knew you'd come," Liesl said softly, her voice catching as she spoke. Her eyes welled with tears as she spoke and her whole body was trembling with relief. The emotions she had been holding inside for nearly twelve hours could finally be released.
"Of course I would," Georg reassured her, wiping a tear from her eye and leaning forward to kiss her on the forehead again. He held his daughter close to him for a brief moment, neither one of them needing to say anything and just relieved to be together.
Suddenly Georg pulled away from their embrace and his tenderness had dissolved into a serious look. "We have to get out of here. Let me get that off of you," he said with a nod at Liesl's bound wrists.
She held her arms out and Georg untied the cloth.
He threw the dirty piece of fabric on the floor and looked at Liesl. Pointing to the guard up ahead, he continued to speak "When he goes behind the wall, I'll say 'go.' Run in the opposite direction toward the Residenzplatz. I'll lead from there. Try to go as fast as you can. I know it's hard for you."
"I'll be fine, Father," Liesl assured him with a forced smile.
Georg watched ahead and saw the guard pacing. The moment he was out of view, Georg turned to Liesl. "Go!" he whispered.
They opened the car doors and Georg took Liesl's hand as they started towards the Residenzplatz, determined to get back to Maria quickly