Hello! I'm really sorry for the delay, I honestly thought I would of posted the next chapter much sooner, but then Christmas happened. I was so busy doing tons of music concerts and all that (I'm a bit of an Austria when it comes to music XD) but I was always thinking and reminding myself about this. Once again, the German translations will be at the end. They are not completely accurate as I've mentioned before. Let's see how Arthur is coping, I don't think poor Alfred knows what he's doing to Arthur...or does he? :) ~AmbySamby
Chapter three
"Up! Get up you worthless pests! Do you think we have all day to just relax?!" This was the hut's own personal alarm clock the next morning, courtesy of the scary Ludwig person from the night of Arthur's arrival. Blinking sleep out of his eyes, Arthur slowly sat up to see everybody apart from him hurrying towards the door.
"H-Hey…what's going on? What do I need to do?" He frantically asked the woman to the left of him. She stared at him for a moment, as if to translate what he said in her head, before pointing to the exit that the others were rushing out of. That didn't exactly help him, but he nodded at her in thanks anyway.
"What do you think you're doing, huh? Get out there and get to work like everybody else!" Ludwig stood in front of him, glowering down harshly. Arthur wasn't taking this, so he glowered right back.
"I'm not entirely sure if you have noticed sir, but I have not been informed on what the bloody hell is going on!" His words earned an impatient sigh as the German tapped his foot against the floorboards. The taller man eyed him for a brief second in what seemed like contemplation. Arthur was confused by this, he couldn't help but question himself as to why he was being stared at in such a manner. But then Ludwig shook his head quickly, like he was snapping himself out of a daydream.
"I assumed you would have been told! No matter…you will be digging tunnels and that is it. You will just dig tunnels. Have fun with that for the rest of your life". A nasty smirk slowly crept onto his face as he waited for a reaction from the green eyed man. But alas, Arthur felt a wave of relief at the Nazi's statement, and he knew it showed, judging by Ludwig's almost disappointed face. In honest truth, Arthur thought it would have been a lot worse. Although when he voiced his thoughts, it didn't really settle well for the other man.
"You'll be thinking a bit differently by the time your first twelve hours are up. I said I would make you know your place, don't think I will not stay true to my word." He sneered as he nodded his head in the direction of the door, gesturing for Arthur to take his leave. Arthur did just that, but when he was about to walk through, Ludwig decided to speak up again.
"You should get to roll call…five to ten men are found dead in these barracks, make sure you're not one of them." At first, Arthur was delusional enough to think that this was a warning and perhaps he was being alerted. But of course this German didn't have bipolar tendencies, so when he turned around, the usual scowl was still on the Nazi's face. However, Arthur couldn't say much about scowling because it has proved to be his favoured facial expression as well.
Once he exited the hut, he immediately noticed the other 'campers' scrambling into rows of five. Completely lost as to which queue to join, Arthur began to think of the logical possibilities. Was it in alphabetical order? Was it in age groups? No, the latter didn't seem likely due to the fact that a mother was clinging onto her little boy in one of the orderly lines. It looked random, like you just stood where there was a space.
Cautiously, that is what Arthur did. He hated to think about it, but be kind of did need someone to tell him what to do and where to go. His mind wandered to Alfred and he mentally scolded himself for instantly thinking that the Yank would be a good choice. He watched closely as a soldier began to walk down each row whilst scribbling down what looked like some sort of tally on his clipboard. Arthur raised an unamused eyebrow; had they seen how many people they would have to count?! It would take ages! Maybe this was one of their punishments? Standing around at four in the bloody morning in the freezing cold in nothing but pyjamas just to do the register! Preposterous!
Across from him, Alfred was swaying casually on the balls of his feet. The American seemed to feel Arthur's gaze on him, he glanced up and grinned cheekily. The Brit merely huffed and crossed his arms like a child who had just been denied the last biscuit. His actions only made Alfred's grin grow, Arthur could see his eyes sparkling even from across the courtyard. That boy's energy will be the death of him!
About an hour and a half later of collapsing Jews, recounting and tally marking, they were finally finished. This really was a punishment for the old, weak and the young! They were barked at to get to work, as everyone around him went their separate ways, Arthur looked much like a lost puppy. Alfred hurried toward him, causing a questioning quirk of Arthur's eyebrow.
"Somebody's gotta show ya 'round, yeah? You'll be all hopeless and cute lookin' like you just were if you don't got nobody to show you how things work and stuff." Arthur felt himself flush slightly when being referred to as cute, and his stomach fluttered when a blinding smile was cast his way. As he cursed himself inwardly, a hand wrapped around his forearm, dragging him in the direction of where half of the people were going. They came to a stop in front about four men and two women. Alfred turned to Arthur,
"You're kinda lucky turnin' up here half way through a tunnel being dug. Makes it easier on ya, it's always a pain when you gotta start it out," He explained cheerfully. He then addressed the small gathering of people.
"Hey ya'll, this here is Artie, and he's all brand new! We gotta take care of him."
Arthur then realised with a small flush creeping up his face that the man's hand still had a firm grip on his arm. Yanking away with wide eyes, he glared at the clueless American.
"You don't 'gotta take care me'. I can handle myself, thank you very much! And another thing, my name is Arthur, not Artie!" Arthur finished with his chin poised upwards, saving the last of his remaining dignity. That stupid grin never left that stupid face.
"Sure you can, I don't doubt it, Artie! But everybody needs to be shown the ropes first, yeah?" The man pressed on. Arthur groaned in annoyance at the reuse of the stupidly endearing nickname.
"How many times do I?!- My name is Arthur; don't make me remind you again! And I suppose it would be useful if you showed me what to do and all that rot…" He muttered as he averted his eyes out of spite, he didn't like admitting it when he needed any kind of help. He preferred to do things on his own. As usual, Alfred was seemingly oblivious to what the Briton was feeling at that moment. Arthur could tell that this boy could become a problem to his mental health!
"Yay! I knew you'd come 'round, Artie! Now follow me and we'll get started." The Brit shuffled behind reluctantly, not daring to look at anyone's expressions. Some prisoners had already begun, Arthur observed carefully. Alfred came to an abrupt halt and held out his arm to make sure that Arthur didn't continue walking. This meant that Arthur had a very strong arm whacked into his stomach, winding him in the process.
"Oi! Watch it will you?! Seems to me like you don't know your own bloody strength!" The light blonde wheezed out. Alfred threw an apologetic smile over his shoulder before collecting two shovels from one of the racks. Oh god, this is going to take a long time, however, Arthur didn't really want to say this out loud. Alfred turned once more and held out the rusty object.
"Well, here ya go!" It took a while for Arthur to actually come to terms with what the other man was waiting for. He was just standing there with his arm extended as if to try and give the shovel….oh. Arthur coughed awkwardly and snatched it from Alfred's grasp. His eyebrows furrowed when he heard the younger man tut at him.
"It's rude to snatch where I'm from, Artie! Here I was thinkin' ya were a gentleman, heh." The scowl was back.
"It's Arthur. Are you going to show me what to do or not?!I'm assuming that I just need to dig, yes?"
"Well-"Arthur didn't wait for an answer and whipped around to hop into the large pit. This was simple, even Ludwig said he was just going to be digging tunnels!
"Wait! You don't want no help…?" With a sharp shake of the head, Arthur began his task. He felt Alfred's burning stare on the back of his head and squirmed under the look. He didn't look back at the man, he could do this on his own, he had the willpower to complete difficult tasks! A small sigh and the sound of a shovel being scraped along the floor were heard before somebody, who he knew was Alfred, dropped down next to him and copied his movements of digging the tunnel.
Arthur surveyed the area to see that all the other people were in a steady rhythm with one another. All except Alfred, who was at his own speed entirely. He was good at this, Arthur grudgingly thought. Not that he looked or anything, he most certainly did not notice how the tanned man's muscles tensed and flexed at each dig. He should not notice any of that, it is improper of a male to see and think such things about another male. He glared down at the dirt and tried to ignore the ache in his fingers that was already forming.
Eleven torturous hours later, Arthur was dead off of his feet. He'd never been so exhausted in his entire life, not even in the trenches! To think that he would have to endure this for days on end, and all of the other people here had been doing just that for months, maybe years! Alfred was nowhere to be seen….not that he cared in the slightest. He slouched past the small line of Nazis that were chatting merrily amongst themselves, and panicked slightly when he saw a certain blond haired and blue eyed German. He tried his best to hide his face and ignore him, the man had it in for him and he didn't want to give him any excuses to bug him. This didn't work.
"Well, well, well. How did your first day go, hmmm?" Arthur's eye twitched; it sounded as if he was a child who had just gotten home from his first day of school. He ventured forward, head held high. It was late, and he needed as much sleep as he could manage to get. A chest was in front of him. He blinked and looked up dazedly. Ludwig was there, glaring down at him with such force that the Briton almost shrank away.
"I said, how did your first day go?" This time the question lacked the mockingly sweet tone it had previously, he had angered Ludwig again. Arthur swallowed.
"It went splendidly, thank you. Rather pleasant if I do say so myself!" He gritted out with a false smile that pained him to form. An eyebrow was lifted in response.
"Oh, really? That is strange, because I can't help but notice your hands," Arthur glanced down to see that his hands had seen better days indeed. They were raw from the work and sore to touch, they could only worsen as time went on. Arthur tilted his head as he drowsily stared at his own hands, a soft expression taking over his face due to tiredness. A sharp intake of breath caused him to return his attention back to the man blocking his path. To his immense surprise, Ludwig's face looked pained and distant, but he was staring at him. As though Arthur had something to do with it.
"Mein kleiner Schatz…." The German suddenly growled with malice, making Arthur step back with a frown of distaste.
"I haven't the foggiest about what you just said, but it did not sound very friendly to me…" He said uneasily. He really couldn't afford to stand up to him and get into trouble, so he stayed vaguely polite.
"I wouldn't expect you to know what it means, you don't speak German, do you? He did not know what it meant either…." That pitiful look had returned. Arthur wasn't sure if he liked this side of Ludwig…or any side of him at all. But this was strange…
"Oh, um, I should be on my way. So if you could kindly move for me…?" He had meant for it to come out as a demand, but it sounded more like an unsure question. Seemingly out of his little daze, Ludwig stepped to the side with no further comment, he even looked displeased with his actions, probably from letting his guard down.
When Arthur made a move to make his way back, he noticed some Nazis gathering a bunch of prisoners into the middle of the courtyard. This was weird, what were they up to? Arthur's thoughts were interrupted by a grief stricken wail. He jumped at the sound rather violently. He saw what looked like a mother holding onto her daughter, refusing to hand the small child over to a frustrated Nazi officer.
"Nein! Bitte, lassen Sie es sein. Sie würden ein kleines Mädchen zu retten, nicht wahr? Erbarme dich unser!" The woman cried out in desperation. Arthur felt second hand sadness, even though he had no clue why she was so distraught. Onlookers as well as Arthur, watched solemnly as the officer was aided by another solider to pry the oblivious girl from her arms.
"Arabella! Arabella!" The woman screeched in horror as her child was dragged away. "Arabella", eventually began to realise the danger in this situation. She was being taken from her mother and she was panicking. Arthur cringed as she tried to reach her hands out to the crying woman.
"Mama, mama!" Arthur swallowed thickly, he didn't care that the dreadful feeling of tears were beginning to form in his eyes, this was sickening.
"W-where are they taking her?!" He breathed, tone filled with disbelief. There was a long pause, in fact, Arthur thought that Ludwig had left without his knowledge. But then he spoke. Saying something that Arthur didn't really understand at the time, but by the uncomfortable look on Ludwig's face, he knew that it was not good in any form.
"She's going to have a shower…"
That's the end of chapter three! I kind of depressed myself when I wrote that last part, such an awful thing to happen to so many innocent people. But I do hope you enjoyed it! I will make sure to have chapter four up much quicker, I promise!
German translation: No! Please, let it be. You would save a little girl, right? Have mercy on us.
Damn Alfred and his dashingly handsome personality and looks! How long do you think Arthur will hold out until he jumps him? Anyway, I'm not going to give away what Ludwig called Arthur, but you can look it up easily if you really fancy it. I think poor Luddy is missing somebody dear to him...can you guess who it is? (Kind of obvious though, oops) I'll stop rambling now, cheerio!~AmbySamby
