AN: The following is based on a true place, a true event, and a real period in time. Be aware, however, that not all of this is completely accurate, and for no reason should you assume that all of the below is truth. PS: I fail at writing German accents (but I won't stop trying because it's fun~). Forgive me, and if you're German, don't kill me! XD

Ludwig woke up early in the morning with a feeling he had not been accustomed to having in a long time. He had actually had a good night's sleep. He stretched his arms and looked around as most of the others were waking or already awake. What was with these Americans, anyway? They had given all of them beds that were actually pretty good. They were on the small side, of course, but satisfactory mattresses and bed sheets made for a good rest. And no bunk beds, either. All of them were just normal, and laid out on a row. It was definitely strange, as Ludwig was well aware of the camps that P.O.W.s (and some not-so-P.O.W.s) in Germany were given. He got out of bed and looked to the side. Three clean sets of clothes were laid out for him; work clothes, casual clothes, and pajamas. The others in his barrack had the same laid out for them. Ludwig frowned and ran his fingers through his messy blonde hair. This has got to be some form of propaganda. The food, the beds, the clothes… They want us on their side, to abandon Deutschland or something, he thought. He knew that the others were thinking the same, especially after what had been said yesterday at the meal.

Just as he had begun to brush and slick his hair back, the door to the barrack opened. "Rise and shine boys, you've got a long day ahead of you!" laughed an annoying voice. Ludwig turned to see Alfred. "Gott vertdammt," Ludwig muttered.

"Alright, you guys are gonna be workin' on the farms around here. Go ahead and get your work clothes on and get on out, you've got lots to do and I'm sure you want most of it done by supper!" Alfred said, the tone of voice revealing he was only jokingly being rude, but most of the soldiers in the bunk took slight offense still. Ludwig quickly put on his work clothes and made his way to the door. Alfred put his hand out and stopped him from leaving, however. Ludwig groaned a little and growled, "Vaht now, Alfred?"

Alfred looked to some papers he had in his hand. "You said your name is Ludwig, right?"

Slight delay. "Ja."

"Are you…" He flipped through the papers until he found the one he was looking for. "Ludwig By-el…. By-el-sh-mhi-dat?"

Ludwig put his hand to his face and sighed. "Bielschmidt. Ja, vhy?"

"It says you were of an officer rank or higher here. You can refuse to work if you want," Alfred said as he lowered the papers. Ludwig was caught by surprise. This was certainly strange. Since when were they allowed to refuse to work? This was a P.O.W. camp, not a summer camp. "Nein, danke. Ich would… like to vork vith mein comrades," he replied, lifting his head slightly.

"Alright then, your choice. A good one though," Alfred said with a slight nod. He lifted a hand to adjust his glasses, and stepped aside for Ludwig to proceed outside. Alfred added, "Might wanna work on the English just a bit while you're here, though." Ludwig scowled and left the building, but Alfred was close behind. "What? What'd I say?"

Ludwig didn't turn to look back at Alfred. "You are… Vaht is de vord… Annoying?"

"Aw come on, just tryin' to be a bit nice. I'm probably the only one around here who is… and I was assigned to wake your bunker for work each morning, so you might as well get used to it," Alfred said, crossing his arms like a stubborn teenager. He muttered under his breath, "Damn Nazis."

Ludwig turned quickly. "Vaht did you call me?" he growled quietly, only for Alfred to hear.

"What now? Aren't you guys all-"

"Not all of us. Make de zame miztake to the wrong man, you von't be alive much longer," Ludwig whispered harshly. Ludwig turned away quickly and joined the rest of the P.O.W.s that were being driven from the camp and to the farms around Aliceville. Alfred stood there slightly shaken before walking over to the trucks. He muttered to himself, "I don't think I'm quite cut out for this."

It didn't take long to drive the first group of Germans to the first farm, and none had fallen out of the back of any trucks, so Alfred counted this as his first actual success since the Germans had arrived. They were unloaded and ordered to tend to the fields. The woman that owned the farm tried to help as much as she could and tell them specific jobs that needed done, but very few of the Germans knew much English. Ludwig seemed to be the only one that knew enough to respond to anything, Alfred had observed, but this was actually a good thing, as Ludwig was able to help the others when he understood what was being said. After a good hour of work, Alfred snuck away from the rest of the guards around the perimeter and approached the Germans in the field. It didn't take long to spot who he was looking for. "Hey, Ludwig!" Ludwig looked up, but as soon as he saw Alfred, he groaned loudly and went back to plucking weeds. "Don't ignore me… I just wanted to apologize."

Ludwig looked up again. "Oh?" he mumbled, either not convinced or just completely apathetic.

"Yeah. I wrong earlier, I just wanted to say that. You probably still think I'm annoying, I don't really care, but I'm really going out on a limb here to be nice to you Germans. The others might think I'm fraternizing with the enemy or something," Alfred explained. Ludwig was silent and seemed terribly confused at something, so Alfred rephrased his words to see if it helped. "Being friends with the enemy will probably get me in trouble."

Ludwig nodded now, and said, "Und dat it should, Alfred. Now be quiet und go do vaht you should do."

"Wow, you guys are cold…" Alfred grumbled. "Let me know if any of you guys need something." He turned and stomped away, rejoining the other officers as if he hadn't been gone in the first place. Ludwig couldn't help but sigh a little as he went back to work pulling weeds and making sure everything was in good shape. He probably means well, but he's pushing my patience, he thought.

The warm June sun beat down on them without much mercy other than a cool breeze every now and then. The work wasn't actually all that bad, as harvest season wasn't until a few months. Time passed terribly slowly, however, until the sun began to set. Then they were rounded up and put back on the trucks. Ludwig closed his eyes on the drive there, resting slightly as his peers talked. "That lady there was very nice; she gave me a snack around noon." "Shut your trap, they're just being nice so they can get you to talk later." "They can't be trusted. We're still their prisoners here." "But she was still very nice." "Hans, do you ever shut up?" There was laughter, and the second man to speak spoke once more, "I see Ludwig's got a stray dog trying to befriend him, too."

Ludwig opened one eye and looked at the speaker. "Hm?"

"One of the guards is trying to get to you, isn't he?" the dark-haired man laughed.

"He's trying and failing," Ludwig assured, closing his eye once more.

"You better hope he's failing. We can't have our officer abandoning Deutschland, can we?"

Ludwig groaned a little, silencing the man. They arrived at camp a while after that, and Ludwig could see the stars beginning to appear in the night sky as he made his way to the mess hall. They were the same stars he was used to seeing everywhere he went. Still, this place was different. The people were strange, as was the food. What were their motives?...

What were Alfred's motives? At first he had thought the young man was simply annoying, but then his comrades had brought up the possibility that he was trying to suck information from them.

Hell, Ludwig didn't quite know what to think anymore.

AN: this is the worst thing I had ever written. I hate this chapter .