A few days later, the soldiers grudgingly returned from setting Würzburg on fire. Krebs had been uneasy for days on end, but he knew that all of Burgdorf's retainers were gathered in a dining hall, alongside the soldiers. Krebs was about to make his way there. He wanted to see the outcome of the situation, and how Burgdorf would react.

Prior to the fire being set, Krebs had just learned that the leader of the troops in Würzburg had lived in the city. Burgdorf's aim was to kill all of the soldiers, and especially the leader. But from what he had heard, the leader had been driven to suicide, not wanting to be captured by Burgdorf and his troops. Huh.

Worst of all, to add to the story, the leader was Hitler's best friend. Hitler had locked himself in a room once learning of the betrayal from his friend, but Krebs knew that he could never truly put his friendship aside with him. But as he entered the dining hall, he realized that he could see Hitler pressed against the wall. His blue eyes were blurry, and he was slouched down. Krebs suddenly realized that Fegelein right next to him was supporting him with his shoulder. Oh …

In the center of the room stood Burgdorf. His sleek blonde hair gleamed in the dim light, and his uniform was smoother than ever. His sapphire eyes glittered, but Krebs couldn't see what emotion was there. Although he carried himself with pride, Krebs didn't know if that was truly what he was feeling. What if there was something behind that mask? Or did he really feel proud of what he had done?

"Troops," Burgdorf began, "we just secured a victory yesterday. That gives us more territory to expand, and one less enemy."

But that victory came out of blood. Was it worth it? You could've just taken some prisoner. They would've surrendered if they had to. There was no need to kill everyone, and you burned the entire town down. Was it needed? Krebs bit his lip to avoid shouting his protests out loud. He knew that Burgdorf would have his head on a silver plate, no matter their complicated bond.

"We have destroyed the town of Würzburg, therefore destroying their troops. They no longer exist. My only regret is that I wasn't the one to send Speer to his death. He took the coward's way out."

With that, Hitler fled, leaving the room. Fegelein and Goebbels exchanged shocked glances as Hitler scampered away. Krebs turned around, about to follow Hitler, but a voice stopped him.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Krebs looked back at Burgdorf. "I wanted to see if he was all right."

Burgdorf gazed at him, his eyes unreadable. "Don't leave while I'm in the middle of talking."

Krebs curled his lip. He glanced back at where Hitler had left. It probably wasn't a good idea to follow him. No, there was no way he was catering to Burgdorf's needs. If he did think it was a good idea, he would've gone. But he didn't want to be the target of Hitler's wrath. Sighing, Krebs turned around.

Twitching, Krebs had to listen to Burgdorf's victory speech and how their troops were better than everyone else's. Finally, when the speech was over, Krebs glanced around, looking for Fegelein and Jodl. But they were gone. Intent on searching for them - and Hitler - Krebs pushed his way towards the garden of the bunker, hoping they were there.

They were. However, their lips were curled into frowns of concerns, and their eyebrows were furrowed, curving over their shadowed eyes. From their expressions, Krebs instantly knew that they had also went to check on Hitler.

"What did he say?" Krebs asked, walking over to Fegelein.

Fegelein glanced at him. "He didn't let us in."

Krebs took a deep breath between clenched teeth. "Locked himself in there?"

"Are you surprised?" Jodl countered.

"No, not really," Krebs muttered.

Fegelein kicked the ground with his boot, sending up a cloud of dust. "Damn it!" he snapped. "This is awful. I can't take much more of this! Burgdorf is nothing more than a-"

"Fegelein, if you have something to say to me, you can say it to my face." The voice came from Burgdorf, who was staring at all three of them, his blue eyes calm. Günsche was behind him, as still as ever.

Fegelein glanced at the dirt below him.

"No? Good. I have no problem throwing you out of here and into a war ravaged zone, so keep that in mind." Burgdorf turned away from them and started to walk back towards the bunker, leaving Günsche behind.

Günsche glanced at Fegelein. "You know better than that."

"Forgive me," Fegelein muttered.

The tall man shook his head sadly. "I know how you feel," he whispered under his breath, before walking away.

He's suffering from all of this too.

"He's the absolute worst," Fegelein snapped, but Krebs knew he wasn't talking about Günsche.

"Do you ever shut up?" Krebs hissed.

"What?" Fegelein's blue eyes smoldered.

"I'll have you know that Burgdorf was also conflicted too, until the very end!" Krebs snarled. "It's not like he wanted to do any of this. He really didn't, but he had no choice. War changes people."

"Yeah. You're right. War does change people." Fegelein lifted his neck. "And it's changed our noble general into nothing more than an inhuman monster." With his expression dark, the last few words were spat out before he stalked away.

Fegelein was gone, leaving just Jodl and Krebs. Jodl glanced at Krebs. "What now?"

Krebs clenched his fists. "I'm going to talk to him."

"Who? Burgdorf?" Jodl tilted his head.

"Yes."

"Do you want to keep all your limbs intact?" Jodl jerked his head back. "Because if you do, I advise so much as not going near him."

"Well, I have to try. Who will I be if I don't?" Why do I feel as if after this, I'm going to have to try to talk to him more and more? "I'll be right back."

"Right back, yeah," Jodl muttered. "Without a head, I'm guessing."

"Why are you so scared of him?" Krebs burst out. He couldn't stop remembering that day on the rooftop of the bunker, how Burgdorf had confessed his worries and his troubled past. Did no one else know? Did they only see Burgdorf as a monster?

"You heard him," Jodl said. "And I'm not scared of him. I'm just scared of what'll happen to you."

"Well, don't be," Krebs told him. "See you later." He walked away from Jodl and into the bunker, walking down every single hallway to try to find out where Burgdorf's room was. Memories flooded back into his head, and he eventually found himself in front of the feared general's door. He knocked on it, aware of his beating heart. This time, Krebs, you are not going away. You didn't go before. Now you have to.

"Come in." The voice was weary, and for a moment, Krebs didn't even think it was Burgdorf. But he knew the high pitched tone in it belonged to him. Carefully, Krebs opened the door, preparing himself mentally. In front of him stood Burgdorf. His eyes were clouded, and he looked troubled in general. "What do you want?"

"I just …" Krebs gazed at him. There was no fear inside of him anymore as he realized how exhausted Burgdorf looked, in comparison to the once cocky general that stood in front of a mass of people. "I just wanted to see how you were."

"Earlier today you wanted to see how Hitler was. Now you wanna see how I am. Anyone else to move onto? Did you check me off your list?"

And yet, you haven't lost your temper. "Look, general," Krebs began, "there's something wrong here." I really want to believe that person in the other room wasn't you.

Burgdorf glanced at him, and flopped down on his bed, twirling with his fingers. "They think I'm a monster," he whispered softly.

Krebs sat next to him, suddenly aware of his heart twisting in sympathy.

"Do you?" he asked.

This time, Krebs turned silent. Burgdorf turned his head away, obviously heart wrenched. "I knew it. But I can't blame you."

Krebs glanced at his feet.

"I had to do it," Burgdorf whispered. "Do you think I meant all of that? I didn't. Do you think I wanted to? It's the farthest thing I wanted. Look, I have to live as the thing I hate the most, and I have to act like the thing I hate." He hung his head, his ruffled blonde hair covering his eyes.

Krebs lifted his gaze from the floor to stare at him. "It's gonna be all right," he murmured. "Everything's gonna be all right."

Burgdorf turned to see Krebs once more, his blue eyes showing tranquility. From my words? With that, Burgdorf squeezed Krebs' hand, leaving Krebs to feel warmer than he had in days.