Hand in Hand
"Wallace, get down here!" My uncle shouted.
I look in the mirror to make sure I got all of my hair dyed. I grab my uniform jacket as I head out of my door. I get to the bottom step and stand stock-still just like Uncle taught me.
"Good, let's go. I want to give you a job at the camp today. If it works out, you can keep it," He orders.
"Yes Sir," I say.
A soldier grabs the door and holds it open for my uncle and I before coming out behind me. Another pulls open the car door as my uncle ducks his head and gets in. The ride is uneventful until we reach the outskirts of the camp. I see all the disgruntled people and cringe.
"Uncle Bari," I ask, "Do you think we could get a dog?"
"I do not know, Wallace. For what purpose?" He asks while looking out the window.
"Well, if I'm working at the camp, I need protection," I explain.
"Yes, that makes sense. I will see what I can do," He states calmly.
I look back out the window and see more people as we get closer to the front gate. I see a small group of children sitting in the middle space between two huts. There is one boy that holds a sense of confidence the rest don't have. As the car pulls through the gate and stops, the boy stands and turns toward us. He seems very small for having the self-control and confidence he radiates. I step out of the car as I hear a soldier blow a whistle. The group of boys runs up into a line with the first boy being the one I was watching.
"You, get my nephew a dog," My uncle orders a random soldier.
"Yes Sir," He says before running to the kennel.
"Wallace, this will be the group of boys I want you to watch," My uncle says.
I look around at them and as I look at the first boy, he holds my stare until I look away. A soldier comes back with a Malinois for me. He hands the leash to me and for the first time the boys cower away from me. Yet still, the one boy stands his ground.
"You, what is your name?" I order him.
"My name is Richard Erik Axson Dean," He quickly states.
"Well Richard, you seem to be quite confident in yourself," I state.
"I apologize, Sir," He says quietly.
The soldier blows the whistle again as the boys run to their huts and I see Richard look behind him slightly before closing the makeshift door.
"Uncle, his hair is too long. Why has it not been shaved?" I ask. "We do not require the boys to shave their heads. Some of their fathers had it done. Others had lice and so it was necessary to shave their heads," My uncle states.
"Then why must I continue dying my hair and shaving it?"
"If Hitler saw your hair you would be one of those boys. You're mother and father bestowed you upon me. I will protect you, and if that means I must dye your hair, I will."
"Yes Sir."
"Now, I want you to stay with Lieutenant Gerstenkorn and learn his routine."
"Yes Uncle."
I look up at the Lieutenant and see cold, cruel eyes glaring back at me. I assume I am relinquishing him from his duties as he is most likely being sent somewhere new. He heads to the kennel and my Malinois drags me behind him.
"Nine!" I order the dog. It stops pulling as we continue following him.
"You will need treats and water for the dog. You may name it as well; it was just brought to us yesterday," He says in a dark voice.
"How old is he?"
"Nine months. He was one of the harder dogs to train but he listens now."
"I shall call him Zane."
Lieutenant Gerstenkorn hands me a strap that I put over my shoulder. He clips on little cases of water and treats for the dog; Zane. He then leads me back outside. He hands me a whistle as I put the string around my neck.
"One short blow will wake the boys up; at any time. Richard is the leader of the boys. If the boys do anything he takes blame. Two short blows will get them in a line in front of you. One long blow and they run to the hut," He says.
"And if I give it two long blows?"
He just keeps walking and I follow. I'll ask one of the boys later. The sun rises higher in the sky as I feel sweat trickle down my back. I look down at Zane to see his tongue flopping as he walks. We stop under a tree and I pull out some water for Zane.
"I must fill out paperwork. The dog will protect you. The boys are you're problem now," The lieutenant says as he walks off.
I look down at Zane; he looks at me like he wants to play fetch. I look around a little and eventually find an old tennis ball. I pick it up and hold it in front of him. He tries to snatch it from me but instead I unleash him and throw the ball. I watch as he runs after it. He scoops up the ball and runs back to me. We do this a few times without any problems. Then I see the boys come out. I don't think much of it as I throw the ball again. Only instead of Zane running back to me, he runs at Richard getting ready to attack. I watch in horror as the ball falls out of Zane's mouth as it opens to bite Richard.
"Zane, Nine!" I yell furious at him.
I quickly run over to Richard and pull Zane off him. As soon as Richard gets up, he comes after me. He tackles me to the ground and punches me in the face. Some soldiers eventually run up to us and take him off me. I stand up and dust off some of the dirt. I look to the soldiers and nod as they release him. I grab him by the shoulder of his shirt and drag him into the main building. A soldier leads me to an empty room and I throw him on a chair. He stands up and looks at me. The soldier stands in the doorway.
"Get me a razor. Now," I growl.
He quickly leaves and soon returns carrying the razor. I yank it out of his hand as I walk towards Richard with it. He backs up as I advance until I have him cornered. He turns around so I put my knee behind his knees and push as he falls to the ground. I turn on the razor and he jumps at the buzzing sound. I don't want to completely shave his head, just enough so he knows I'm not kidding. I set to work shaving his hair, like I do with mine every few months; with a practiced skill. Soon enough it's all done and I pull him up. We walk back out to the front room and I hand the soldier the razor, nod and leave. I throw Richard to the ground outside and point to the hut. He scrambles to his feet and runs to the hut. I place a hand over my nose and feel a stickiness that can only be blood. I wipe it off and head towards a soldier holding Zane.
"Thank you, that will be all," I dismiss him.
"You just shaved the kid's hair?" He asks
"For now that's all I'll do. If it happens again I'll be sure to do more than that," I guarantee him.
He nods and leaves, heading back to wherever he came from. Then I see one of the older boys in Richard's group. He has red hair like mine; shaved neatly but still somewhat ratted in a way that takes practice to do. He looks at me for a second before disappearing in the hut. I look to Zane as we start walking around the camp to watch the other prisoners and soldiers.
The rest of the day was uneventful so Uncle had a soldier take me home early. The events that occurred today are still fresh in my mind. I walk into the house and head to my room where I wash out the hair dye and pull on some comfortable clothes. Uncle has told me time and time again not to go for a run with my red hair but I need some time to be just Wally. I close the front door and start out at a jog until I get into a steady cruise pace. I make sure to stay off any roads and stay away from them. Behind me the house shrinks as I head into a heavy canopy of leaves. I've forgotten how good running feels. I don't even remember my friends' names from track. The only thing I remember was beating the two mile and mile record for our track team at the same meet. There was a huge picture with me holding a plaque and everything. I have it somewhere in my room. Before everything went bad. Now, I'm seen as another tyrant, like my uncle. I'm not as bad as him; I mean I don't beat just anyone for no reason. I stop and look around for a minute. I forgot to pay attention to my surroundings because somehow I've run all the way to the fence. I look around and don't see much until I see a speck running towards me. Slowly it gets larger and I see the figure is Richard. Or my favorite nickname for him now; Dick and with his initials; DEAD. At least my initials spell WAR.
"Hey, get away from here unless you want to get thrown in here!" He whisper yells at me.
"I don't care," I tell him, because I don't.
"Well I don't wanna get in trouble, so leave before a soldier sees me talking to you," He says again.
"You came up to me. So I'm not leaving."
"Hey, you look familiar. Have we ever met?" He questions. Now I start worrying. If he figures out my identity he could tell everyone and I'd be stuck in there.
"I-I don't think so," I hesitate, "I have to go."
"Wait, what's your name?"
"Jacob!" I throw over my shoulder.
I start running trying to figure out where I am. The sun starts setting and that doesn't help as I try to find a path to a main road I might recognize. Right now I don't care about being caught; I just want to get home. I finally make it onto the road only to see a truck coming up the road. I quickly duck into the forest and run for my life. I hear the truck slow and maybe stop but I'm too far away to know for sure. After a while I finally stop and look around. The sun has gone down and the moon shines in the sky.
"This is not good," I openly talk to myself. "Uncle Bari is going to go home and not find me. Then he's gonna send out soldiers and they're going to try and kill me not knowing who I am because of my hair. I'm so screwed."
I run back to the road and run as fast as I can until I get home. At home I run to the back door and sneak in seeing as it's about 22:00. Yep if Uncle finds out about my escapade I'm definitely screwed. I head up to my room as quietly as I can. I open my door and turn on the lights to see none other than Uncle Bari himself.
"Hey Uncle Bari, what are you doing up so late?" I ask.
"I could ask you the same thing. Especially after what happened earlier today," He says.
"Yeah, I needed some time to think and the only way I can do that is to run," I sheepishly reply.
"Without your hair dyed? What were you thinking?" His voice raises with every word.
"I don't want to be Wallace I want to be Wally again. You never call me Wally anymore. Why can't I just be Wally?"
"You know why?"
"Yeah but still, even at home when we get time to be together. You aren't the same Uncle Bari. Remember that one track meet I had. You were cheering me on, my coaches were cheering me on, my team was cheering me on. And you know what; I beat the records for both the mile and two mile. Now, you're this harsh soldier who never has time for his own Son!" I yell.
"You aren't my son. You will never be my son. Now get ready for bed. We will be talking about this later though."
"Sure, just like every other thing we disagree on!"
"Now you hear me! I've done more than you can even imagine for you! I could have let you die but I kept you and raised you by myself! I never got the chance to find a wife or have a family because my brother dumped you into my hands when I was 20!" He yells.
I look at him horrified, his face red with anger and his hands shaking with the restraint of his anger. He turns on his heel and leaves me alone in my room. I hear his bedroom door slam shut before I start moving again. I head to the bathroom and take a quick shower. I pull on a pair of sweatpants and walk back to my room. I stand in my room and look from my green walls to the single old window on the left side of my bed. Under it I look at the clock on my nightstand. 22:30, yep, that's what happens when I go for runs nowadays. I turn off the lights and flop down on my bed. Before I can even get comfortable I fall asleep.
The next morning I wake up early and shower again as I check my face for any bruises. DEAD didn't do too much damage. Mostly just some bruises on my chest and my bloody nose. I pull on a white t-shirt then my uniform. I head into my room and pack my bag before heading downstairs for breakfast. I grab a bowl and dump some cereal in. I wolf my food down and stand by the door waiting for Uncle. He walks out of the house and into the car without talking to me once. It's an awkward silence the entire car ride to the compound. Once at the camp I get out and head to the kennel to get Zane. I grab his leash and head to his pen. I hook it on his collar then wrap his leash around my hand to make sure he doesn't run off. I find Lieutenant Gerstenkorn standing outside the main building. He seems a bit happier today than he was yesterday at least.
"Hello Wallace, how about you blow the whistle to round up the boys today?" He suggests.
"Okay," I say.
I pull the whistle out from under my shirt and blow the whistle; two short blows. The boys come running out and stand in a line in front of me. I step to the side as the lieutenant tells the boys what they're doing. In the middle of the instructions the red head I saw yesterday yawns. Lieutenant catches it and looks to me. I nod as I loosen my grip on Zane's leash. I aim him towards the red head and release his leash as the Lieutenant calls out an order. Zane jumps on the red head and pins him to the ground with his weight.
"Roy! Am I boring you?" Lieutenant Gerstenkorn asks the red head; Roy, while he's on the ground.
"No, Sir. I just didn't get enough sleep is all," He replies.
"Oh poor baby, should I read you a bedtime story?" He asks sarcastically.
"No, Sir," He says.
"Good,"
He says a command and Zane gets off Roy and walks back to me. As Roy gets off the ground he looks to me and glares. The Lieutenant finishes his orders then sends them away. We follow at a distance and watch the boys work. I stand holding Zane for a while, and look down at my watch. It only says 9:30 but it's a hot day and I'm starting to get really sweaty. I look to the lieutenant and see he has little patches of sweat on his forehead too.
"How do you stay cool here?" I ask, wiping sweat off my forehead.
"Usually we head to the building over there and we all have lockers. By noon most of us are in tank tops and jeans; with boots on of course," He states.
"Have the boys ever misbehaved?" I ask as more question pop up.
"Richard has mostly. Maybe once for the rest of the boys. That dog will do you plenty good," He says.
"Can I go to the locker room?"
"Follow me. No dogs allowed inside so you will have to tie him up here."
I unwrap the leash from my arm, walk over to a shady spot by the fence, and tie Zane to it. I walk out of the shade and head towards the locker room with the Lieutenant. We get to the door and he waits outside. As soon as I walk inside the cool air overcomes me. I see the sign leading towards the locker room and head towards it until another soldier stops me.
"Hey Squirt, what're you doin' in here?" He drawls.
"I am Wallace Allen Rudolfson and you will move out of my way now," I order.
"Wallace eh, I don't care. No squirts in here," He says.
"My Uncle is Commandant Bari Yakovson and I demand you to move!" I yell.
"Wallace, what is with the ruckus?" My uncle asks from a side office.
"I came in here to drop off my jacket in the locker room but this here soldier won't let me pass."
"Sergeant Wallows, out of my nephew's way or I will have you sent to the front line," Uncle Bari orders.
The Sergeant quickly slides out of my way as I advance to the locker room. Before I can completely pass him, he ruffles my hair. I turn around and glare at him quickly before continuing. Once in the room I take off my jacket. I hear my Uncle yelling at the soldier then I hear him come in.
"Wallace, you can have your own locker. There are more than enough. Pick one," He says.
I choose one in the farthest corner from the door and sit down on the bench as I unlace my boots and pull them off. My uniform trousers follow as I neatly fold them while in my underwear and t-shirt. I take my bag and pull out some jeans I had packed. It easily shows all my muscles from running in track for school. A shiver runs through me as the cold air hits my sweaty arms. I place everything in my locker and put one of my locks on it. I turn around to see Uncle staring at me.
"What is it?" I ask.
"You're hair, when Sergeant Wallows ruffled your hair it rubbed off some of the dye. It must have started washing off from the perspiration on your head. Do you have any dye in your bag?" He asks frantically.
"I should, let me look," I say.
I quickly undo the lock and pull out my bag. I search every pocket but I can't find it. I turn around to him; my emerald eyes wide.
"It's not in my bag. What do I do?" I ask, frantically trying to think of something.
"Do you have a hat?" He asks
"No."
"Do you have a hooded sweatshirt?" He almost begs.
"No. I have nothing that can cover my head."
"I can't believe I'm saying this but stay here. Actually, go into one of the stalls in the bathroom. I will be right back and I will hand you something okay?" He says worriedly.
"Yes Sir," I try weakly.
I walk into the bathroom and sit down on the toilet waiting for Uncle to get back. It doesn't take long before I see his shoes come up to the door. Over it he hands me the same uniform the boys were wearing in Richard's group.
"What is this?" I ask as my voice cracks.
"Just put it on. With your red hair you will fit in with the boys better. Quickly before someone else comes in. Hand me your clothes under the door," He rushes.
I quickly pull off my jeans and slip on the thin material of the appalling uniform. I hand him my jeans as I pull off my t-shirt as well. I quickly button the shirt and walk out. Uncle grabs me and shoves my head under the faucet. He rinses out all of the dye and hands me a towel. I look in the mirror to see a completely different me.
"Wallace, your name while with those boys is Jacob, you hear me. They can't find out about this. No one can. I will try to get you out as soon as possible, but it will be hard." He says trying to calm down. I just nod my head, not trusting my voice. "Be careful, you aren't Wallace Allen Rudolfson anymore. You are Jacob the Gypsie. You were just brought here okay. I can't escort you to the hut but stay on Richard's good side. Without him you will be gone before I can help you."
"Yes Sir."
He leads me to a window I hadn't noticed and opens it. It's just big enough for me to squeeze through. He looks out and sees no one. I quickly climb through and wave to him as I head back to the hut I saw the boys disappear into. I pull open the door and see all the boys on the cots. Richard gets up and stands in front of me, even though he's half a foot shorter than me, he's still intimidating.
"Who are you?" He demands.
"M-my name's J-Jacob," I stutter.
"You're the kid from last night. I told you they'd catch you. Let me guess, you tried running away and they caught you in a trap. My name's Richard, by the way, but you can call me Dick. Where'd you come from, before last night?" He states.
"I-I traveled. I didn't have a home."
"So you're a Gypsie?"
"Yeah. I guess."
"So am I. Well Jacob let me teach you the ropes. There's a soldier that blows a whistle. One short blow means get up, two short blows means line up; one long blow is get to the hut, two long blows. . . Well let's just hope we never hear those."
"O-okay."
"You aren't much of a talker are you?"
"No. My parents didn't like me talking."
"Huh, that's strange. Oh well, we're you're new family."
"Thanks. What happened to your hair?" I try to turn their focus off of me.
"What about my hair?"
"It looks strange, like, either the boys have long hair or bald heads. But yours looks freshly shaved."
"Yeah, the Commandant's nephew is the new soldier to watch us and his dog attacked me. Well I got angry, he got angry. Me being the minority got beaten some and he shaved my head. But he doesn't seem like the cruel kind of soldier. I don't know about him though. He holds a secret close to himself. I know it."
He shows me to an empty cot and looks back at me.
"This will be yours from now on. Respect other people's beds and we'll respect yours, got it?"
"Y-yes."
Two short whistles are blown and I quickly stand up, following Dick. We run up in front of Lieutenant Gerstenkorn and he has a face a familiarity when he looks at me. Luckily Uncle saves me.
"You're new leader Wallace had to leave early due to a migraine. We do not believe he will be able to be with you for a while and so Lieutenant Gerstenkorn will once again be your leader."
Uncle glances at me a second before turning on his toes and leaving. I look at him longingly not wanting to be left here without him.
"Boys, you will be digging gravel from that pile," he points to one in the distance," to the area over there," he says while pointing to another area. I follow Dick to the gravel pile as he grabs a shovel for me.
"Okay so Roy here is going to be your wheelbarrow. He'll help shovel but mostly he'll be wheeling the barrow over there. Got it? When he's gone Damian will be you're wheelbarrow." He states. I nod my head and set to work shoveling.
After about an hour I look up at the sky to see grey clouds covering most of the sky. It looks . . . ominös. I still don't speak perfect English. It was Uncle's idea to teach it to me. I've only been studying it for four years. Soon I feel the raindrops pelt my bare arms. I continue working just as I see Dick doing the same. After filling 13 wheelbarrows by myself the Lieutenant finally blows the one long whistle and we all walk to the hut. I walk in and pull off my shirt. All the boys look at me as I hang my shirt on a piece of wood that juts out. I turn around to see pairs upon pairs of eyes on me.
"What?" I ask confused.
"You're back and chest? Were you sent to another camp before here?" Roy asks me.
"No, why?" I ask.
"Well it's just," Dick pulls off his shirt as well and shows me his chest and back. I look from mine to his as I finally notice what they're staring at.
"They're nothing. I just lived in a bad place before I got here." I say sheepishly.
"But those are worse than most of mine, and I've been here since I was nine. I'm now 13." Dick says.
"I don't wanna talk about it."
They respect my wishes and head to their own cots; except Dick. He sets his shirt on the wood and sits next to me on the floor.
"I can tell you're lying, Jacob. Or should I call you Wallace." He whispers.
"Please don't tell anyone." I whisper back.
"Why are you here? Why did you dye you're hair red?"
"My natural hair color is red. Every day I would dye my hair blonde."
"Why?"
"My parents are both dead because of us."
"What do you mean 'us'?"
"My parents were actually gypsies. When Hitler started rounding us up I was only three. My uncle took me and every day he dyed my hair."
"Why don't you dye it for a long time?"
"I don't want to be Wallace for that long. At the end of the night I just want to be Wally. My mom's favorite nickname for me. I don't want to talk about it anymore."
"How long have you been here?"
"I've been living in a house a few miles away from Mauthausen. Honestly I think this is better than Auschwitz-Birkenau if you ask me."
"I came here in 1942 I want to say. I was actually born in Romania before my family started moving. When I was brought here I was nine and I was one of 23 Romanians they brought to camp. Now I'm the only surviving Romanian left here. So how did you come to live here with your uncle?"
-Flashback-
Mom and Dad hand me over to this blonde man. I look at him and see something in his eyes. He looks to my dad then to my mother before they walk away. I watch as their forms disappear. Then he puts me in a car and we start moving. Being only three, I don't know much but I know enough about what's going on to know I'm not going to see my parents again. He picks me up and sets me down on the ground to lead me into a house. It's a big house with probably three stories not counting the basement. He told me that I can call him Uncle Bari if I want so usually I do. Life was good for the most part. I missed my mom but I lived. When I was eight he finally enrolled me in school. My favorite subject was science and the class I hated most was gym.
I was picked on a lot for my red hair and so eventually Uncle had me dye it black. I lived with it for a while but the black just didn't fit so we tried brown. It lasted a little longer; until I was in eighth grade. When I went into high school I decided I wanted to dye my hair blonde. As a freshman I tried track and field. I tried every event until I got to my sophomore year when I tried the distance. The coach had faith in me, and the only way he showed it was by putting me in the mile and two mile. I got first for both of them and he showed me the school record, then he showed me my times. He said if I work just a little more I could get the record. So every practice he would leave me to do mile repeats or five mile runs. I loved running and I convinced my uncle to let me keep my red hair. So one day when I went to practice everyone was wondering why I had red hair. Everyone knew I dyed my hair, but no one knew my actual hair color.
I told the team and they didn't care but when I got home uncle was drunk. I told him what happened today and he started yelling at me. We got into a huge argument that led into him beating me on the kitchen floor. When he was done I got off the floor, cleaned up the blood and headed to a friend's house so I could go to the hospital. Their parents understood and took me to the hospital where I got 142 stitches overall on my back. I stayed with my friend for a month before going back to my uncle's. Then we had this big track meet. Uncle Bari even came, and I was supposed to bet the records. There were people everywhere screaming my name as I ran around the track. I was on the last lap and I had to get 1:23 for the four hundred if I wanted to beat the mile. Iran past my coach and he was screaming at me to pick up my speed so I just put in all my energy and sprinted. When I passed the finish line the timer yelled out my time and everyone started cheering. I had beaten the mile record and then I just had to beat the two mile. That race was much of the same and that night I went home and Uncle told me we were moving. I argued with him about it for the longest time but eventually I just went with it. Then we moved to the house a few miles away from the camp. Uncle started working on August 8, 1943 and I had a tutor.
-End-
"So I started a new chapter of my life and this is where it got me." I finish.
"Man, well it's late and we need sleep if we're going to survive tomorrow. I know you already know this but wakeup call is 4:15."
"Yeah, thanks."
Dick stands up, grabs his shirt and heads to his cot. I stay for a little longer just reveling in what has happened today. Finally, after everyone's asleep, I crawl on my cot and fall asleep.
"Jacob, get up!" Dick yells as he shoves me off the cot.
"I'm up!" I yell from the rushed awakening. I grab my shirt and pull it on just as the two short whistles blow. I run out and stand next to Dick. I look up; not to see a warm sky but instead to a threatening greyish black sky.
"You, what's your name?" A soldier asks.
"My name's Jacob." I say somewhat confident.
"Well Jacob you look new." The soldier continues his rant but I tune it out as I lean towards Richard.
'When do we eat?' I whisper.
'Shh.' He hushes me.
"Jacob, are you not listening?" The soldier asks me.
"No Sir, I was listening." I lie.
"Then what were we just talking about?" He asks slyly.
"Uhm, something about shoveling more gravel?" I say, more questioning myself than answering the question.
"No. Boys, do any of you know what happens when you don't listen?" He asks everyone.
All of them just look to him with wide eyes. Richard turns to me and glares. Before I can react the soldier grabs me and throws me to the ground. I stand up but he throws me down again. More soldiers come over but I only see one in particular; Uncle Bari. He just stands and watches as the soldiers beat me. I try to curl into the fetal position but some soldiers lean down and pick me up. They hold me as the soldier continues beating me.
At some point I lost consciousness and welcomed the warm, peaceful feeling of the nothingness. Slowly I start to open my eyes and all the pain overwhelms me. I grunt and wince as I sit up. I try to open my eyes but one is swollen shut. I look around to see the boys gawking at me.
"How bad is it?" I ask through a painful groan.
"Bad, usually we don't get beaten to unconsciousness, but apparently he was not feelin' the aster." Dick replies with an almost indistinguishable smirk.
"Feelin' the what?" His last few words are not common in my English vocabulary.
"You know disaster is when something bad happens and so wouldn't aster be something good?" He says.
"An aster is a flower." I reply with some dry humour.
"Who cares? It got you to smile, right?"
"Yeah. Thanks, now seriously, how bad is it?"
"Well as you've already noticed your eye is swollen shut, you have possibly a broken or at least fractured wrist, a bruised rib and a majorly bruised ego."
"As long as I don't have any new scars to add to my back, I think I'll be fine."
"Uh turn around real quick."
"I don't move fast. Not right now."
I turn around anyway and wait for his response. I feel something wet running down my back, meaning it can be one of three things; blood, sweat or water.
"You have some scratches from when he threw you to the ground but I don't think they'll scar." Dick finally says.
"Don't forget about that one, though." Damian, I think, says.
"What does he mean?" I ask cautiously.
"Well, you have a deep gash on your right shoulder blade that I'm fairly certain is going to scar." 'If you live through the chance of infection.' I hear him whisper at the end to himself.
"We'll see." I say.
I've been in the camp for three weeks and I haven't seen Uncle since I was beaten. Over the time I've been here I've lost all the weight I had and my skin has greyed. Unlike what Dick thought I did survive the chance of infection and the gash on my shoulder closed on its own. My wrist was actually just sprained so it healed rather quickly. I hear the two short whistles as I easily slide off the bed and line up next to Dick. He's grown some and now he's only about three inches shorter than me. The soldier usually paces in front of us telling us our newest job. I just stare off into space until the soldier notices. I get beaten some, then work, we get a break to eat the little food they give us. Then it's back to work. We follow this routine day in and day out until one day everything changes. Usually they send us to work in the quarry but today they sent us to work in separate places. I didn't have Dick or anyone so I didn't know what I was doing. Once we got back to our hut it was late but not late enough for me to notice we were missing some of our group. I sit down on the floor with my shirt off like I did all that time ago and Dick sits next to me. We've become great friends in the short time we've had but he seems to be holding something. We sit in each other's company in complete silence until he just stands and heads to his cot. I crawl on mine not much longer.
Someone shakes me awake at an absurd time. Slowly I open my eyes to see Dick standing over me. Even in the dark I can see his excited face.
"What is it? Is someone here to save us?" I ask groggily
"No, it's my birthday!" He whisper shouts.
"Happy Birthday Dude, how old are you?" I ask more awake now.
"I'm fourteen. Come on, I wanna show you something." He says as he pulls my arm.
I clamber out of bed as he pulls me to the door. Slowly, he peaks his head, then he pulls the door open wider. He pulls me as we start at a full sprint. I keep up with him easily as we get closer to the gates. He then veers off to the right as we follow the fence. We start to slow down and I take the chance to look around us. Trees cover any chance of light from the moon right now but yet Dick still knows where he's going; like he's done it a million times.
"No one will be looking for us here. This is the tree the soldiers like to use when they hang those that try to escape. They would be hanged on their arms being bound at their backs and eventually die because they were forgotten."
He comes to a stop and I just barely keep from running into him. I look down and see two rocks with something engraved sloppily.
"What's this?" I ask.
"It's my way of always having my parents with me. We were brought to the camp together and I watched as my mom headed to her death. My dad tried to follow me into the work camp but they shot him right I front of me. I watched as they dragged his body away from me and to a burning pit. They threw his body in there, but that's not the worst part. When they threw him in I heard him scream in agony. I watched as my mom ran over to the pit. She tripped on a rock and fell into the pit too. Only instead of her screaming I heard her say my name. So that night about this time I ran for my life until I couldn't anymore. I found this place, the stones sat like tombstones. I found an old rusty knife and carved their names on here, so I could always remember them." He says downcast. "Why'd you bring me here?" I ask.
"I figured someone should know my story. I mean, before I die."
"Hey, I heard one of the soldiers talking about the American soldiers coming soon. You might not die. We might get out sooner than we first thought." I say optimistically.
"Maybe, but I've already noticed how they've increased the amount of death marches. Who's to say we won't go tomorrow or the next day?"
"Hey, we will survive. Okay?"
"Okay."
We head back to our hut and head to our cots but I stay awake just listening and thinking. After a while I hear the others start waking up. I sit down on the floor and Dick comes next to me. His energy has decreased since I met him. The four years he's been here have been too hard on him. I hope this war is over soon and the Americans come soon. I don't think either of us can last much longer.
Since it is Sunday we don't work, I find a small rock and start scribbling little notes under my bed on the old wooden floor about my life here. There's just this feeling in my gut that something bad is going to happen soon. I just hope it's wrong.
"Jacob and Richard get out here." A soldier yells into our hut.
I hear him yell it and I grab the rock I've used for so long. Along with all my other notes I write one last note.
'It is May 5 th 1945 at 12:37 PM and today my life will end.'
Then I stand up and look at Dick. We look at each other and walk out side by side. I look into the eyes of my Uncle. He's changed so much from the last time I saw him. He's become even harsher than he used to be. He turns to me and glares at how close I've become to Richard.
"Wallace, come here."
I look to Dick and he nods his head. I walk over to my uncle and stand at his side. He looks down at me and ruffles my hair. A soldier goes behind Dick and pushes him to his knees. He looks at me and in the reflection of his eyes I see someone behind me. I whirl around and kick his feet out from underneath him. My uncle quickly shoves me to the ground and pulls his pistol out. He takes off the safety and aims at Dick and me.
"I've been watching you two, from a distance of course. You have become too close of friends for it to be good. Choose Wallace." He states. Just then all the boys come out of the hut to see this. Mostly I see Roy. He's never trusted me and now he has the complete face of recognition. He remembers everything I've had done to the group. He almost looks gleeful to see this.
"Choose Wallace." My uncle orders.
"No." I say defiantly. "
Choose or I'll shoot him." He orders.
"No. Shoot me. He's done nothing wrong." I yell at him.
"Choose in ten seconds or I'll shoot him."
I look to the gate and the only thing I see are the soldiers falling all around. Then I see them, the American soldiers. Our saviors.
"Ten, nine, eight, seven..." My uncle starts counting.
The Americans see us. They start sprinting our way. They won't make it.
"Six, five..."
They shoot at my uncle but the other soldiers start shooting at them. Everything in my mind is fogging over.
"Four, three..."
"No." I beg.
"Two..."
They're so close but they won't make it.
"One..." My uncle's finger starts tightening around the trigger. "Wait, wait, wait, wait...!" I yell to get his attention.
He looks to me then aims the gun back at Dick's head. I jump up and stand in front of him. My uncle's eyes almost twinkle with delight. I get it. He never loved me. He was only respecting my mother's wishes, because he loved her too. A bullet flies past my uncle that grazes his side. He whips the gun and shoots the closest soldier. He aims at my head and pulls the trigger. A white searing pain, then nothing. I'm standing over my slumped body. I see Dick holding my crumpled body. He looks at my uncle and I see the blood that smears his face. My uncle hefts the gun one last time and shoots Dick right between the eyes. An American soldier then gets a good aim in and shoots my uncle down. I watch as he falls to his knees then slumps over dead. Just like me. The soldier runs up to Dick's body and holds his head in his lap. He checks Dick's pulse as others get closer. They look to him as he shakes his head with grief. He then checks my pulse and does the exact same motion. Then everything starts to blur and I grab my brother's hand as we ascend to the great world beyond life together. Hand in hand.