Raging Fire

Chapter Two

She was running into the building. She had to warn them! She ran in, heard a loud sound, and closed her eyes. She was afraid to open her eyes. Afraid to see where she was. Afraid that she was dead.
The hard ground beneath her gave her the answer. She opened her eyes to find herself a lot farther away from the building she had just been in. Her back and arms hurt. She noticed a scrape on her right arm, and saw that she had landed on a stick.
Opening her eyes, she saw that the building was on fire. She hadn�t gotten to their parents in time. She stood up and saw the kids, and started to walk over. With every step she took, she felt the pain shoot through her. The pain from her leg, which she had fallen on, and the pain of seeing the kids crying. She had failed to warn everyone.
Rachel and Peter ran up to her and she gave them a hug, and told them she hadn�t gotten in.
She saw the school blow up, then she saw it again, and then she saw it again.
Katerina woke with a start, panting. She was covered in sweat.

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�How did you all sleep?� Hannah asked when they were all seated around the breakfast table.
Katerina, holding Elizabeth, shoved a spoonful of eggs into the baby�s mouth.
�Not well. I couldn�t sleep and when I finally did, I had a nightmare.� Katerina said, trying to give her sister another bite.
�Oh, yeah. You were right by the building when it blew up, weren�t you?� Hannah said.
�Yeah.�
There was a silence. Elizabeth wouldn�t eat or drink anything more. Katerina finished her plate of food, which was scarce. It was hard to come by good food, and they had to share it with so many people.
Franz broke the silence. �Katerina and I were talking this morning before everyone else got up, we�re going to look for a job today. Katerina wants to help bring in money since her family is staying here. And now that dad is gone, we�ll need money.�
Hannah looked pained at the thought of her teenager son, and his friend having to get a job now. But she didn�t protest. They needed the money.

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Within two days, both Franz and Katerina had a job. Both were working at a Jewish bookstore in town. The owner was badly in need of employees. The Nazi�s took the other two �sisters. Franz and Katerina could start the next day. They would work the full day.
Every week they were both able to bring home a paycheck. It wasn�t much, but it helped.
One day they were making their daily trip to the Jewish food mart after work.
�I�m surprised we get paid as much as we do. We don�t see that many people in the store a day.� Franz said.
�No, we don�t.� she agreed. �But, I don�t know how we could survive much longer if we didn�t make as much as we do.
They were silent, as Franz, and even Katerina herself, fully understood the depth of her words.
They were barely getting by as it was. Every morning they had a small portion of eggs. At lunch, Katerina and Franz shared a sandwich and bottle of water. At supper, they�d have some rice or noodles. But everyone�s stomach was always growling. And the babies were always crying because of hunger pains.
A little girl with her mom walked past Katerina and Franz. �Hi!� she chirped happily.
Her mom pulled her up and as they walked past she said, �Didn�t you see their stars? Do not talk to them! They�re Jews!�
Franz rolled his eyes and sighed in disgust. �I hate those people! They see our stars and run. And they don�t care if we can hear the comments they make about us. I swear some of those people try to talk loud enough that we will hear!�
Katerina turned around to see if the mother and girl were still behind them. She didn�t see them, but saw something else. A group of Jews were marching down the street.
�Franz, we�ve got to hide! The Nazi�s are rounding up Jews!� she whispered frantically.
He turned around to see what was happening, and then saw a Dumpster ahead of them. He grabbed her arm and dragged her over. He opened the top.
�Oh no! I�m not going to go in there Franz!� she protested.
He put his arms around her waist and lifted her up. �Yes you are! I�m not going to let you get taken away!�
With that, he threw her into the Dumpster and climbed in after her, shutting the door.
The door couldn�t close all the way, so they peered out through the open slit. Luckily the Nazi�s hadn�t seen them go in, or at least, they weren�t looking now.
The group was walking nearer and nearer. One of the Nazi�s broke away from the group and walked up to a house. He banged loudly on the door. When the door opened, a family was waiting with coats and each had a bag.
�We�re ready!� he ordered. Crying, the family walked out of their home. A truck pulled up and two Nazi�s opened the door. The truck was long, and the back was separated from the front with a steel wall. There were no windows, only little dots lined up in rows.
The Nazi�s stood on the sides, and helped Jews up into the truck. A Jewish man started running away. Without a second thought, one of the shoulders took his gun off his shoulder and shot the man twice in the back. Katerina gasped as she watched the man fall, and then felt Franz�s hand cover her mouth.
She returned her gaze back to the Jews entering the truck. A little girl ran down the street, she to had the star on front of her jacket. One of the soldiers saw her and with one swift motion, hooked his arm around her waist and shoved her into the truck. She started crying and screaming for her mother. Another Jewish woman joined the crowd entering the truck, and when she was lifted up into it, she ran over to the little girl and wrapped her arms around her, holding her close.
Katerina felt tears dripping down from her eyes as she saw the mother�s selfless sacrifice for her daughter. The door was dropped and there were screams from the truck as everything was dark. The truck drove off, and the Nazi�s all left the scene.
Franz waited awhile before opened the lid of the Dumpster and dropped Katerina out of it, then jumped down next to her, slamming the lid shut.
As they walked past the body of the man who had been shot, they decided not to go to the store. They still had some noodles left at home, they�d eat that. They quickly ran home.

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When they reached their house, Katerina was still crying. They walked in and Franz took her to the living room, where everyone else was.
�Katerina, what�s wrong? Where�s the pasta?� Hannah asked when they came in.
�We decided not to stop at the store.� Franz said, walking past his mother to sit in another chair.
�You stink! What happened?� Hannah asked him.
�The Nazi�s were rounding up Jews on our way to the store, we hid in a Dumpster. They shot a man who tried running away. And there was this little girl who was running down the street. She had a star on her jacket and a Nazi picked her up and her put her into the truck. She was crying for her mother, and this woman slipped into the line of Jews. When they put her in the truck she found the little girl and sat down with her in her lap.� He told his mother.
Hannah looked close to tears herself and looked at Katerina. �Honey, are you okay?� she asked then shook her head. �How can anybody be so cruel? How can someone be so heartless? When there are people who will risk their lives for their children?�