"You are mad, Francois. Marc took 50 man with him to kill Paul and only 15 of us survived. You were not there that day to see the destruction wreaked upon us. 35 men eviscerated, Marc had his windpipe and chest crushed and his heart ripped out. When I was dragged away the whole area was awash with the blood and guts of OUR men. Paul recieved injuries, but how severe can they have been for him to recover as quickly as he did? To lead only 20 men against him now, would be sheer folly. He knows that you will follow him and will ambush you. No, I will not accompany you on this suicide mission. I will stay here a while and then make my return to base." Olivier said as Francois outlined his plan of attack.
"Paul has an American officer hostage, we must go after him." Francois shot back.
"No way. Martin would have gone willingly with this Paul guy. I'm going nowhere, Martin is the one I take orders from and he ain't ordered me to go nowhere at your command. Besides, if what Olivier says, I ain't having my body sent back home in that sort of state. I didn't sign up to that." One of the American soldiers said, the others agreeing with him. Francois stormed from the tent, intent on following Paul.
"Olivier, you weren't having a joke on us with what happened that day were you?" The American asked after Francois had left. Olivier lifted his shirt to reveal the scars. "I was one of the lucky ones, if you could call those of us who survived lucky. My General and 35 of my friends were massacered by 1 man that day. 15 of us staggered from the field of battle, most badly wounded. It is a miracle we survived to tell the tale." He said. " And now Francios has gone after him, we may never see him alive again."
Sofia heard her name being spoken, but the voice sounded as if it was coming from a distance. She was lying on something soft, but her brain didn't seem to want to work. She could faintly hear someone crying, but her hearing and tounch seemed to be the only senses that worked. She felt paralysed and her eyes wouldn't open. Where was her father, why wasn't he helping her like he had promised he would after her first sacrifice?