Yesterday's Memories
By
Jennaya
Wilkerson entered Barracks Eight getting everyone's attention. "All right you lazy bums there's work to be done. Palmer, Casey, Brown, Stevens, meet Sergeant Dumont by the wood stacks. Rays, the medic wants to see you. The rest of you have grounds work," he ordered. Grounds work was their code for digging out the collapsed tunnel.
"I'll walk you over, Thomas," Stevens said.
"Rays can find his way to the medic," Wilkerson stated. Stevens stood still, obviously trying to decide what to do. "Is there a problem, Corporal?"
Stevens opened his mouth and then shut it, "No, Sarge."
"Then get going," Wilkerson ordered. He and Brown shared a knowing look as the Corporals left the barracks. They would keep Stevens busy and away from the infirmary no matter what.
"Do you know why Sergeant Wilson wants to see me again?" Rays asked when they were alone.
"He's a careful medic. Until that cast is off, he'll probably see you on a weekly basis. Too many opportunities to catch a nasty infection in this place," Wilkerson answered as they walked to the infirmary.
When both men entered the infirmary, Rays immediately knew something was up. "Have a seat," Hogan said pointing to the two empty seats near him at the desk. Wilson was nowhere to be seen.
"What's going on, sir?" Rays asked, nervously fidgeting near the front door.
"Let's sit down," Wilkerson put a hand on Rays' shoulder guiding him over to Hogan.
"It's time we have a talk," Hogan started.
"About what sir," Rays was visibly worried as he sat down.
"Tell me the story of how your arm was broken," Hogan requested.
"It happened in the bailout; nothing really to tell, sir," Rays' discomfort level obviously went up several notches.
"Then it'll be a short conversation," Hogan said with a soft smile.
"Why do you want to know?"
"Is there a reason I shouldn't know?" Hogan asked with a raised eyebrow.
Rays looked down picking at the chair he sat in. "It happened in the plane before I was able to bailout."
"Tell us about the battle. What was your position? How did your plane get hit," Wilkerson asked, casting a glance at Hogan. Hogan nodded his head almost imperceptibly understanding what the Master Sergeant was doing.
"We'd dropped our load and were heading home, but didn't get far. Messerschmitts came out of nowhere blocking our retreat. The lieutenant tried to climb out of their reach but they were all over the place. I was in the turret and was it scary. I could see bullets flying all over the place from other planes, and I'd never realized how easily we could be hit from friendly fire as enemy fire," Rays explained.
"Were you hit by friendly fire?" Hogan asked, causally.
"No, sir, it was enemy fire. I couldn't see it, but the tail gunner saw a Messerschmitt aiming directly at us in a dive. He tried to take it out, but Daniel didn't make it. When he was hit our plane was crippled by that damn German plane," Rays said with anger.
"He was a friend of yours?" Wilkerson asked.
"Yeah, a good friend, we went through basic together. Never thought he'd die," Rays answered softly taking a deep breath.
"What happened next?" Hogan urged him to go on.
"The lieutenant ordered everyone to bailout, so I climbed out of the turret. Then the plane got hit by shock waves of another plane exploding and everyone got thrown up against the side. Our pilot was doing his best to hold the plane in the air to give us time to get out. I don't know if he made it out or not. I hope so," Rays explained.
"When you where thrown by the shock waves, is that when your arm was broken?" Wilkerson inquired.
"No, it happened before then," Rays dropped his head.
"As you were climbing out of the turret?" Hogan questioned.
"Yes, sir."
"How?"
Rays took a deep breath and sighed. "Gibson did it."
"Was it accidental?" Hogan asked, already knowing the answer.
"No, he kicked me because I was in the way between him and the exit. But you can't say anything, because he told me that he and Stevens would break my neck if anyone ever found out," Rays said quickly, with panic in his voice.
"Don't worry, we won't let them know or let them hurt you again," Hogan promised.
"I wish Stevens had been locked up instead of Gibson," Rays volunteered.
"Why do you say that?" Hogan wanted to know.
"Gibson's a hothead and impulsive. Stevens is…well…he's scary," Rays admitted.
"How do you mean?" Wilkerson pushed a little.
"I don't know, he's just intimidating," Rays shrugged his shoulders obviously shutting down. Both men knew they wouldn't get any more information out of the Private for now.
Wilson came into the infirmary and Hogan waved him over. "He's going to check you out, so you can honestly say you saw the medic. Then you can go back to your barracks or do whatever you want," Hogan told the young man. The Colonel and Wilkerson left the infirmary. "Looks like your instincts were right about Stevens."
"I'll keep trying to get more information out of him. Do we have enough for Gibson to stand trial yet?"
"Oh yeah, but my gut says to wait on the General. Right now, he'd get a couple of years for the assaults on both men. He deserves more," Hogan explained.
"I agree. How is Kinch today?"
"The headache seems to have gone away and he's pretty much back to himself. What concerns me is that Gibson gets out of the cooler tomorrow," Hogan said as the duo walked around the compound.
"We'll keep an eye on all three of them, sir," Wilkerson promised.
"How did you get so lucky to bring me dinner?" Gibson asked Stevens as he sat the tray down.
"I volunteered," he chuckled. "Plus I gave the fat guard some food from the mess hall."
"I'm supposed to get out of here in the morning, but knowing Hogan he'll find some way of keeping me in here," Gibson groused as he ate.
"Why do you think that?"
"He's a trash lover. And he knows what happened. It seems Kinchloe can't keep his damn mouth shut! We'll have to do something about Hogan," he said between bites.
"He can't do anything with information, its hearsay. Forget him. Kinch is the real problem. I've watched him and he has a routine. Everyday about an hour before dusk he goes to the gym to work out alone. But the interesting part is that there's a pad locked recreation hall right behind the gym. Someone told me Klink does that when the prisoners have been out of line and it'll be locked for another week. The lock is a joke and took me a couple of seconds to get in there," Stevens explained wiggling his fingers.
"What are you thinking?" Gibson asked with bated breath.
"We wait for Kinch to finish his workout so he's tired, pull him into the recreation hall, and work him over. I found some rags in there that we can gag him with so no one hears him scream," Stevens spelled out his plan.
"Once we kill him, then we have to get out of camp or they'll string us up. Have you figured that one out?" Gibson asked pacing the cell.
"We'll have about an hour until it's completely dark. There's a cemetery at the back of the camp and the lock on the gate is about as good as the building's lock. All we have to do is avoid the searchlights on our way out, slip into the woods then make for the coast. What do you think?"
"You've been busy. There are a few lose ends. We'll have to figure out what to do with Rays, and if there's a chance I still want to take Hogan out," Gibson said.
"Forget about Hogan. If we killed an officer, they'd hunt us down. Once they find Kinch's body, we'll be so far away from here they won't even care to look anymore. Rays is too scared to talk; anyhow, he knows what will happen if he ever does. We don't have to worry about him. By the time the war is over, everyone will have long forgotten about us. Besides, as returning escaped prisoners, the army will rotate us out of Europe and send us home heroes," Stevens smirked. Schultz opened the cell door making Stevens leave.
"See you tomorrow," Gibson waved goodbye. The plan had merit, and Kinch's death would make all he'd been through worth it. He laid down on the cot planning exactly how he'd extract revenge on Kinch. And if the opportunity presented itself take out Hogan too.