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Time to act

Bruno was soon to leave 'Out-With' and there was very little time. Last day was spent thinking up all the details. Bruno went to Shmuel to tell him. 'Okay, so this is what I came up with: tonight, after the final roll call, I will meet you here. I will bring you the coat and boots, you get changed and crawl through the fence. We will then make our way towards the depot where Pavel will be waiting with a jeep, ready to pick us up.' Shmuel was delighted to hear it, but was still shaking with fear. 'Are you sure this will work,' he asked. 'what if we get caught?' 'I don't know' Bruno admitted. 'But Pavel will help us, I'm sure it'll work out.' Shmuel seem satisfied with that answer. After going over the final details, Bruno headed home and started to wait for nightfall.

Bruno knew what was about to happen: it was time to act. He went downstairs to the kitchen, making sure Maria was not around before he stepped inside. He filled a bag with whatever food he could find and set out to meet Shmuel. He figured he could do with some food during his long train ride. When he reached the fence, Shmuel was already there waiting for him. He just sat there, with his legs crossed as always. 'Here,' said Bruno as he handed him the clothes through the fence. 'we should hurry.' Shmuel put on the coat and boots and crawled through the fence. Luckily he still fit, over wearing such thick coat. This however, made Bruno worry about his friend's weight loss, as well as his pale skin.

Making sure to avoid any sources of light, the boys made their way towards the depot, where Pavel was indeed waiting for them near the jeep they would use for their escape. After everyone was inside, Pavel started the engine. Or at least, he tried to. The engine wouldn't catch on. 'What is happening?' Shmuel wanted to know. Pavel's response was inaudible due to his soft voice and the sounds coming from the engine. They were loud, far too loud for what they were doing. Not only they heard it, the sound also attracted a group of soldier coming from the house. Among them was Bruno's father, who stuck out because of his neatly ironed and pressed uniform. Pavel noticed them too, and Bruno could see him getting more and more nervous. Finally, the engine caught on and the jeep gained momentum. They drove down the path and were greeted by the group of soldiers. If they hadn't been enjoying those drinks that Bruno knew always got their spirits up, they would have surely aimed their rifles at them. Instead, Bruno's father ordered them to stop by raising his hand at them. Pavel whispered to Bruno: 'What should I do, young man?' And that very moment, for the first time in his life, Bruno decided that disobeying his father would be the right thing to do. He whispered back: 'Floor it.'

The escape of the jeep caused chaos among the soldiers guarding the camp. Bruno could hear the sirens sound as the jeep drove off into the distance. Though all were scared, they knew there was no going back. They had to reach the train tracks in time for the last train heading west. They were being followed by multiple search parties, both on foot and in vehicles.

As adventurous as Bruno was, even for him this was a bit too much. He felt scared and nauseous. He looked over to Shmuel who sat in the back seat. Bruno might have been mistaking, but he seemed to look even worse than earlier that night. 'We'll be alright', he said to him. However, the sound of his voice was lost in the noise that the jeep made. The sound pierced through the nightly silence. Bruno could hear Pavel mumble: 'No wonder we are still being followed...'

Suddenly, Bruno started to make out another sound in the distance. At first he wasn't sure, but when he saw the railroad appear in the distance, he knew it had to be the train. Moments later, they spotted the train, which greatly lifted their spirits. 'Our goal is near, Shmuel, we're almost there!', Bruno yelled out. Shmuel didn't respond but seemed delighted nonetheless. Pavel made a left at the intersection, so that they now drove parallelly to the tracks, matching the train in speed. Bruno spotted an open-doored storage compartment, and asked Pavel to drive up to it. Though he was terrified of failing and couldn't get himself to look down, he made the jump and landed safely in the compartment. 'Your turn, Shmuel!', he yelled. Despite his weakness, and with a helping hand from Bruno, Shmuel made his way into the train. Pavel tossed the boys their bag with food, whilst keeping his eyes on the road. Behind them, Bruno could see how armed soldiers were starting to catch up with their escape jeep. 'Pavel, come on! You can make it!' Bruno screamed out, filled with both fear and excitement. The old man looked over towards him. 'Freedom is up ahead, young man.', he spoke. 'For you, but not for me…' He had barely finished his sentence before he slammed on the brakes. As if he was pulled back by some sort of string, he shot away from the boys, straight into their pursuers' hands…

Their sudden separation left Bruno filled with fear and sadness. He couldn't understand just why Pavel had just given up… couldn't understand why his father's men kept hunting them down. During the long and cold night that followed, Bruno had time to think. Alongside Shmuel's stories, Bruno started to realise just what kind of man his beloved father truly was.

He understood now, that his plan to re-join his family in Berlin was now completely off the table.

As the sun came up and the train was nearing its destination, Bruno marked this adventure as finished. It was however the start of many, many more, both with Shmuel and without. And as other soldiers started to replace his father's ones to the east and later the west, Bruno was about as excited for the future as he was afraid. Like Pavel said, freedom was up ahead.

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