As the squad continued to walk away, they could hear the desperate cries of the prisoner.
"Shouldn't we help him, sir?" Wade asked. Miller looked back at the prisoner and shrugged.
"Nah, we only shot his arm. He's just being a big baby about it," Reiben answered for him. Miller looked back at Wade, wondering why he wanted to help the prisoner.
"I would feel a lot better if we did, sir," Wade said quietly. Miller stopped walking.
"I guess we should see if he has information on any ambushes we might meet up with," Miller said. Reiben groaned as everyone turned back around. Miller instructed Upham to ask the prisoner for information. Of course, the prisoner refused. Miller, at his wit's end, put his pistol against the prisoner's head. Still, he refused to speak. Miller looked at Reiben, thinking that his love for arguments might get the prisoner to speak.
"I got this one, sir," Reiben said confidently. Miller and Horvath left to search the bodies of the enemy soldiers they had killed an hour ago for information.
"How are we gonna do this?" Reiben asked the others.
"I thought you had this?" Mellish asked.
"… No, not really," Reiben said, squinting against the sun. Everyone looked at each other, hoping for someone to get an idea before the Captain returned with his bad mood. Reiben noticed Elizabeth smirking.
"What, you got an idea?" he asked. Elizabeth slowly nodded.
"Yeah. Why don't we give him a little operation?" she asked, still smirking. Reiben caught on right away, but he could see the others weren't following. They'd catch on soon enough.
"Yeah, why don't we?" Reiben said, slamming his pistol against the prisoner's head. Everyone stared at him.
"How the hell are we supposed to get information from him now?!" Mellish asked loudly, as the prisoner dropped to the ground. Reiben just smiled as he kicked the prisoner, so that he rolled over onto his back.
When the prisoner awoke, confused, he found himself to be lying on the ground, surrounded by six men, a girl, and a German Shepherd, who were all staring at his stomach.
"Whoa! Wait a minute! If this is his spleen… then what's that?" Mellish asked. Upham translated it into German, and everyone watched as the prisoner's eyes widened. Had they cut into his stomach?
"Ya know, there's big money in kidneys…" Reiben started.
"He's got two of 'em," Jackson finished. Again Upham translated. The prisoner began speaking wildly in German, he could take it if they killed him quickly, but a long, slow death? Bleeding on the ground without his kidneys?
"Better save that. We'll need it for the autopsy," Elizabeth said calmly.
That did it.
As soon as Upham finished translating, the prisoner threw his hands up and began shouting.
"Surrender! Surrender!" he bellowed. Captain Miller came over with Horvath, and questioned the man through Upham, while the rest of the squad (and Elizabeth) stood off to the side, howling with laughter. They had barely been able to contain themselves during the 'procedure.' They had simply ripped the prisoner's shirt open, other than his arm, there wasn't a single wound on him, and definitely not a large, gaping hole in his stomach. The stressed-out prisoner had fallen for their harmless trick faster then they had suspected he would. Once Miller, Upham, and Horvath finished, they looked questioningly at the rest of the squad, who by now, had calmed down and were trying to put on innocent faces for the Captain. Miller just shook his head. He didn't want to know.
"He says he only knows about one other ambush, but he doesn't know where it is. There are probably more," Miller informed the rest of the squad. Finished with the prisoner, the squad moved out again. Reiben lingered behind, pulling Wade along with him.
"Why do you think he tried to take Elizabeth?" Reiben asked quietly, making sure no one else heard them.
"Reiben, I think he just wanted to get away," Wade answered quietly.
"Yeah, but what if he had a different reason, like a… suspicious motive, then what?"
"A suspicious motive?" Wade smiled. "Like what?"
"You know…"
"No, I don't know. You mean like, bringing her back for information?" Then it hit Wade. "Reiben, you don't still think she's a spy, do you?"
"No, not that. I mean, what if he had, like…a personal reason?" Reiben asked, a disgusted look on his face.
"A personal reason? Reiben, you don't seriously think…" Wade looked at Reiben's face. "Yeah, you do. Why would he have a personal reason?" he asked doubtfully.
"He's a soldier, she's probably the first girl he's seen in years, he could have easily gotten away without her but he took her anyways, and he was going away from the direction the ambush came from. Why wouldn't he take her back to the rest of the army?"
"Are you actually worried about Elizabeth?" Wade asked.
"I'm worried that we won't be able to complete our mission, that's all," Reiben said.
"Are you worried about Elizabeth?" Wade asked forcefully, staring directly into Reiben's eyes. Reiben stared back, eyes sharp and ready to fight, about to give a rude remark. But then his eyes softened.
"Yeah," he said softly, turning his head so Wade wouldn't see his face when he said it. "A little bit."
"Me too," Wade said softly. Then it was his turn to look away. "I don't know what I'll do if she dies."
That shut Reiben up.
The rest of the day went by pleasantly, or as pleasantly as a day can go when you're tired, hungry, far away from home, and being chased by the enemy in the middle of the war. So actually, it wasn't pleasant. It was just a vacation from the death that surrounded them, which to the squad, felt pleasant enough.