The men were practically rioting when Hogan made it out of the tunnel. Newkirk was unconscious and carried into Hogan's quarters by two of the prisoners, with Bijou hot on their trail.
"Kinch, what the hell happened?"
"Wilson and Olsen came in spouting something about needing Carter to save the "general's" life. Olsen was doing most of the talking and Wilson was white as a sheet, but he wouldn't look at me or talk to me. When we tried to stop them, Klink was so flustered he had his guards hold us at gunpoint while we loaded Carter onto the truck."
"Where's the truck now?"
"Still in the yard. Klink insisted on doing the paperwork to release Carter to the hospital."
The staff sergeant's words followed him out into the compound, and Hogan could feel the presence of the bigger man as they both stormed out into the yard. Two of the camp guards stood by the truck waiting, and Hogan could see a flash of a uniform in the back.
"Alright, Kinch, do everything you can to get Wilson off that truck. Newkirk is in bad shape. If Carter's going, Newkirk should too."
"Got it, Colonel." Kinch confirmed, even though he didn't. The slow build to madness over the past twenty-four hours was coming to a head and Kinch didn't know what or who would blow up first.
He approached the truck slowly, nodding to each of the guards, knowing that neither of them was the lovable Schultz and they weren't going to let him wander up to a German transport vehicle.
"Hey, Doc!" Kinch shouted, from ten feet away. He saw Wilson flinch and look up, then quickly look away. "Hey, Doc, what about that other patient. He's lookin' pretty bad."
That got Wilson's attention again and this time the man squinted at the tall staff sergeant before stepping down from the truck. Both the guards reacted, surprised, one of them spouting hesitant instructions in German. Wilson, pale and shaking, waved them off and straightened his jacket, trying to look nonchalant as he approached the POW.
"I know he's mad, Kinch, but this is the only way I can fix things. Carter has to get to the hospital, and I can't let Hogan stop me." Wilson whispered once he was close enough to the tall sergeant to be heard.
"He's not tryin' to stop ya, even if he is hoppin' mad. Newkirk just came up from the tunnels, and he's lookin' worse."
"His ribs?"
"I don't know. He's unconscious in the colonel's quarters. Hogan says he needs to go too, if possible."
Wilson took in a quivering breath and looked to the kommandant's office before he nodded to the barracks. "My German is rotten, Olsen's been covering for me. If you can get those two to the barracks with a stretcher, we can move Newkirk on board." Wilson said, gesturing vaguely towards the two guards.
Kinch nodded, slapping Wilson's back before they parted ways, Wilson ducking into the barracks and Kinch anxiously telling the soldiers that the doctor needed their help.
Inside Klink's office Hogan was struggling to maintain a delicate balance.
"We can fill out the necessary papers en route, Kommandant." Olsen was saying, casting occasional furtive glances to the officer that he knew he was in complete defiance of.
"Don't fill out papers, and don't let them do this, Kommandant! It's against the Prisoner of War Convention to force prisoners to submit to medical procedures. Especially to the benefit of German officers."
"Hogan, you have no say in the matter. You are dismissed." Klink returned, an annoyed whine to his voice. He turned on the Luftwaffe officer next, his tone immediately gaining an ounce or two of respect. "Herr Doctor, I run a tight camp. I have never had an escape and-"
"And your no escape record will not matter if General Newkirkenheimscheidt dies while you fiddle with transfer forms." Olsen cut in.
"Newkirkenheimscheidt...is that even a real name?" Hogan interrupted.
"Hogan..!" Klink bellowed, rising from his chair. The minute his forearms left the surface of the papers he was working on, Olsen reached in and snatched them up, creasing most of them as he shoved them into the doctor's bag he was carrying.
"Thank you, Herr Colonel. Hopefully I will not have to add an official reprimand to these papers once we reach the hospital."
"But Doctor, I haven't finished-"
"The Red Cross is going to hear about this, and the prison commission." Hogan shouted over the pandemonium, following Olsen and Klink out of the office.
"What is this-!?" Klink's squeaked protest came a few seconds later as he walked out into the compound in time to see a second prisoner being loaded into the back of the truck.
Olsen was giving Hogan a confused look even as the colonel turned on him to protest again. "This man is worse than the Gestapo, Colonel. He hasn't even explained what he wants my men for."
"That's true, Doctor, you never specified the reason for needing these prisoners."
"What, did you need to start up a new branch of the blood bank?" Hogan quipped, turning enough so that he could verify that Newkirk was safely loaded on the truck. He caught Kinch's thumbs-up a second before a blur of motion distracted him. A very small blur of motion.
"Doctor, I cannot allow this!" Klink began, baffled."Not without official authorization from-ow!"
The stomp to Klink's foot turned the commandant around so that he missed the little girl making it to the back of the truck where Wilson hoisted her into the bed, having no other place to put her. By the time the two guards returned to the back of the truck the gate was up, Bijou hidden.
Klink was fuming, still struggling to overcome the unexpected pain of a crushed instep. Hogan pushed Olsen hard in the direction of the truck giving quick, harsh orders under his breath.
By the time Klink recovered, his face white with anger, the truck was already pulling toward the gates, Olsen jogging to catch up with it.
"Hogan." Klink trembled, limping toward the American colonel who looked completely unmoved by the situation. "You did that on purpose."
"Yes, sir. I did." Hogan said.
"Don't deny it! You've gone too far. No one is permitted to disrespec- oh."
"One week in the cooler, sir?"
"At the very least." Klink bit out, before he turned to address the doctor...who was no longer there. Steaming, Klink shouted for the gaurds, demanding that they take the colonel directly to the cooler, before he stomped, limping, back into his office.
That night, released from his medical leave, Schultz was back on duty, guarding the colonel in the cooler. After a full day of rest, and plenty to eat, the sergeant was in a good mood. His mood improved all the more when he caught the whiff of apple strudel coming through the window behind him on the wall. In the quiet darkness, Schultz snuck up to the cell door, and peered in to make sure that the colonel was still there, before he left the cooler in search of the little Frenchman.
A minute after Schultz departed, the cell suddenly contained two men instead of one.
Kinch, arriving with Hogan's dinner, entered the small room through a secret door and moved to the window to keep an eye out for Schultz's return.
"Hey, Kinch. What did Klink do after he put me in the cooler?" Hogan asked, eyeing the food that the staff sergeant had brought without the appetite to eat it.
"Called up General Burkhalter to complain about the Luftwaffe men stealing his prisoners. About halfway through Klink trying to spell Newkirkenhiemschiedt, Burkhalter hung up on him."
Hogan rolled his eyes, but he had to admit that the rediculous name Olsen had come up with, actually did them a favor in the end. "Any word from Olsen or Wilson?"
Kinchloe shook his head, the small smile dropping a little. "No sir. I don't know what they were thinking, but-"
Hogan cut the sergeant off gently with a hand in the air. He knew how protective Kinch could be of the non-coms. It was his job to look out for the other men as the senior NCO in the camp. But he'd had enough time in the past few hours to think about the rapid events that lead up to Wilson's decision. "Don't worry about it, Kinch. I pushed Wilson too far."
"I don't know about that..."
Hogan stood, pacing slowly, his hands on his hips. "No, I exposed another weakness in our organization that I didn't expect. I have so many good con men in the camp, I naturally assumed that everybody has that talent. It never occurred to me that Wilson wouldn't be comfortable with it. I just shoved him into a uniform, and like a good soldier he did what I told him to do."
"Yes, sir. But why would-"
"He told me he had to take a drink to be calm enough to help Carter. Whether that had anything to do with it or not, Carter is...he's in trouble."
"He managed to get them both outta camp. Hopefully Olsen can get them into the hospital."
"Yeah, and hopefully Klink doesn't start digging any deeper than he already has. There's not much I can do to distract him while I'm stuck in here."
"And...Baby Bear, sir?"
Hogan finally sat again and sighed. "I don't know."
"Schultz is comin' back."
"Alright. Everybody lay low for now. Monitor Klink's office at all times possible, and do what you can to establish contact with Wilson and Olsen."
"Will do, Colonel." Kinch confirmed as he ducked into the tunnel opening, taking the barely touched food with him. He hesitated before he left, finally saying, "They'll be alright."
"If the good Lord's willing and the creek don't rise. Get goin', Kinch."
TBC - I will add more chapters soon.
