Carter's description of the movie was far too generous. His mother would wash his mouth out with a dozen bars of soap if he said exactly what he thought about it. At least it was too heavy-handed to be effective. He was positive the other men viewed it with the same contempt he did.
Carter stalked out into the compound, and looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of the colonel or anyone else from the team. He spotted Newkirk's lanky form near Barracks 12 and rushed over. "Newkirk!"
Newkirk turned and tipped his head. "Carter. Glad to see you survived the night in your new barracks. How was it?" he asked when Carter came close.
Carter shrugged. "My bunkmate doesn't snore nearly as loud as you do," he replied with a grin.
"Sod off."
"What about you. You making new friends? Playing nice with everyone?"
Newkirk scoffed. "I am nothing if not charming, Andrew me lad. Of course I've made new friends. Everyone loves me."
"Right," Carter drawled with a cheeky grin.
"All right, so I may have picked a fight with some toff who thought he was too good to share a hut with the likes of me, but other than that, I'm rooming with some good blokes."
"Newkirk. Carter." Both turned to see LeBeau and Kinch heading over.
"Hey guys. How are things?"
Kinch's only response was to shrug. Kinch was never one to complain, and Carter suspected that far from marking indifference, the gesture belied his frustration at the whole situation. LeBeau, on the other hand, had no issue making his anger known.
"Terrible!" LeBeau said hotly. "There are only three other Frenchmen in camp, and so we have been house with the Canadians! Their French is terrible! Atrocious! So provincial!"
Carter hid a smile. Poor LeBeau. "You'll be nice to them though, won't you?" he implored.
At this, LeBeau scowled. "Oh oui. Bisset tried to start a fight, but the Canadians were too disciplined to uh- what is it- eat the bait."
"Well be careful, mate- you can only push them so far," Newkirk said as if speaking from experience.
"Has anyone seen the colonel?" Kinch asked, looking past them to scan the compound.
"I have not seen him yet," LeBeau reported with a shake of his head. "Do you think he has a plan?"
"I sure hope so," Kinch replied.
Carter rocked on his heels and shoved his hands into his pockets. He felt the picture frame, reminding him of his errand. "Look, I gotta return something to Goldman. Have any of you seen him?" The others shook their heads. "Hmmm. Well, I'll just run over to his barracks. I'll be back in a sec."
"Go ahead," Kinch said, waving him off. Carter fired off a mock salute before running off towards Barracks 20.
No one was loitering outside the hut and all the shutters were closed. Carter tentatively knocked on the door before pushing it open and stepping in. A few men looked up at his arrival, breathing out sighs of relief. They probably thought he was a guard, although he didn't really know of any guards who bothered to knock- least of all Weiss.
"Hiya fellas," Carter greeted. "Goldman around?" Carter scanned the room and it suddenly occurred to him that there were far too many men crammed into the hut. And another thing made his stomach sink- all of them were wearing yellow stars.
"Over here, Carter," Goldman said, as he jumped off one of the top bunks. Goldman squeezed past a few other men to meet Carter at the door. "What's up?"
"Geez, you're all packed in here like sardines, aren't you?" Carter remarked lightly. "And what's with the new accessory?"
"Compliments of Corporal Weiss," Goldman said, flicking the patch on his shirt. "I guess he wants to make it easier to round us up. You know we're only allowed outside for an hour every day?"
"What? You mean you're stuck in here all day?" Carter cried, appalled. Even if it wasn't overcrowded, being cooped up inside all day did not appeal to Carter at all. That had to be against the Geneva Convention or something.
"Yeah, well, I have a feeling it won't last long. I get the idea that Weiss is planning on transferring us out of camp," Goldman said gravely.
Carter's eyes widened. "What? Where?"
"He didn't say. But I doubt it'll be as cozy as it is here."
"Does the colonel know?" Carter asked, suddenly feeling a surge of panic. He had heard the rumours, of course. They all had. Wherever Weiss was planning on sending Goldman and the others, the chances of them getting through the war alive were slim.
"I don't know. I haven't seen him since yesterday," Goldman replied.
"Well, I'll tell him first chance I get. Don't worry about it, guys- the colonel isn't going to let anything happen. If it comes down to it, we'll rescue you before you get a mile down the road."
Goldman offered him a small smile. "Yeah, we know. We'll be all right. Anyway, what brings you here?"
"Oh, right." Carter pulled the picture out of his pocket and handed it off to Goldman. "I think this is yours."
Goldman took it and looked it over. A grin broke out on his face. "Whew. I thought I lost it. Thanks, Carter."
"No problem. I didn't find anything else, but if I do, I'll bring it over."
"Sure. Thanks. Same here."
"Great. Listen, I'm going to find the colonel. I'll see you guys later."
Goldman nodded and Carter quickly slipped out of the hut. This wasn't good. Of all the changes Weiss had made, this was the most troubling. This could get very dangerous, very quickly. Klink might have had his faults, but he was completely dismissive of the most nefarious aspects of Nazi ideology.
"Halt! Stop there!"
Carter paused, not sure if the order was directed at him. He looked around and saw Weiss marching towards him. Since there was no one nearby, he must have been Weiss' target. Carter stiffened as Weiss stopped in front of him.
"What were you doing in there?" Weiss demanded.
Carter looked over his shoulder at Barracks 20 and then back to Weiss. "I was returning something that ended up in my stuff," he replied evenly.
Weiss looked past him at the barracks and growled. "I told them they were to stay in there."
"They did," Carter said quickly. "I went to them!"
Weiss ignored him. "I will teach them a lesson." He pushed past Carter and marched off.
Carter went into full panic mode. It made no sense for him to punish Goldman and the others, but he suspected that didn't matter to Weiss. Any excuse was a good excuse. He had no idea what sort of punishment Weiss had in mind, but he knew he didn't want to find out. Quickly scanning the ground, Carter found a good sized rock and scooped it up. Turning on his heel to face Weiss, Carter threw the rock as hard as he could. He was rewarded with a 'clang' as the rock hit Weiss' helmet.
The hulking man stopped dead in his tracks and Carter's heart stopped. When Weiss turned and glared at him, Carter was convinced that he had acted rashly and stupidly. The guard's face turned red and he started to shake with rage. Carter cursed under his breath and took a step back just as Weiss stepped towards him.
"You!" Weiss roared. Carter paled. Oh bad. Bad, bad, bad.
"Um…"
"You learned nothing."
"What? You mean from that film?" Carter pushed his panic down and summoned up a bit of courage. "You mean that piece of garbage we watched this morning?"
Weiss let out a cry of rage and swung a huge fist at Carter. Carter ducked and dodged to the side. Even though the punch didn't hit him, he could feel its force as it came past him.
"You would defend those vermin?" Weiss cried, trying to land another blow. Carter jumped back, barely escaping again. "You deny your superiority and mingle with animals!"
If he wasn't before, Carter was now convinced that Weiss was absolutely crazy- blinded by an insane ideology that decreed that some people were subhuman, and others were their masters. Somehow Weiss had put him in the latter group and the fact that he rejected the whole idea made him some sort of traitor.
Oh. Weiss' comment the other day now made sense.
"You are disgusting," Weiss roared. Right back at you, Carter thought as he dove out of the way of another swing. He didn't quite get out of the way and felt a hand clamp around his leg. With a grunt Carter dropped to the ground. Weiss pulled him back and Carter tried to find some sort of purchase to stop himself. But it was no use. Weiss lifted him into the air. Carter struggled, trying to get in a punch or a kick with his free leg. Again, it was futile.
"I have no use for you," Weiss declared, bringing Carter up over his shoulder. Carter's heart raced. Weiss was going to smash him into the ground like a man hitting a strongman game with a mallet at a carnival. It would break every bone in his body.
Weiss was going to kill him.
