No ownership of the Hogan's Heroes characters is implied or inferred. Copyright belongs to others and no infringement is intended.

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"Herr Major! Herr Major!"

"What? What is it?" Hochstetter growled at the young non-com racing up to him. He paused in his search of Barracks Five only briefly as the prisoners who usually slept there at this time of night were huddled together in the far corner of the room.

"The radio detection truck is picking up a signal from the direction of Barracks Two!"

"Barracks Two? That's Hogan's quarters—why didn't you say so at once, you idiot? Let's go!" Hochstetter abandoned his ransacking and raced out immediately.

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"Now you had better stay awake and alert," Schultz was saying to the men of Barracks Two. "You heard what Colonel Hogan said about—"

The door to the hut burst open and Hochstetter came screaming in. "Search the barracks! Tear everything apart until you find it—there is a radio here, and it is working, and that means Hogan is somewhere in this camp!"

Four armed soldiers went to work starting to turn everything in the room upside down. The prisoners moved from side to side, trying to stay out of the Germans' way and yet doing nothing to help them with their investigation. After a few seconds of this, Schultz spoke up. "Herr Major, this might be a good time to have a roll call," he suggested. "The prisoners are only in your way anyway. This would get them out of your hair."

Hochstetter waved a dismissive arm without looking back at the guard. "Fine, fine. Do whatever you want with them, Sergeant. Take them on a ten mile hike for all I care. Just keep them out of my way. Hogan is here, somewhere, and I am going to find him!"

Schultz didn't wait to be told twice. "You heard the Major," he bellowed. "Roll call, everybody! Raus! Raus! Everybody out! And that means you, too, Olsen! Out, out, out, out, out!" The men started obeying immediately and without grumbling. "And just to punish you, you are going to meet all the way across the compound outside the Kommandant's office instead of next to your nice, cozy barracks!" he shouted.

Schultz glanced back at Hochstetter, who was showing no sign of letting up his mad search. It was just as well, he thought; if Schultz was going to stay here, he could use a little less of the madman for the rest of the war. He shut the door and quickly herded the men across the camp.

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"Carter, hurry up!"

"I'm coming, Colonel—just getting this last pack ready."

"This part of the tunnel will collapse with the rest of it; we only have a few seconds left. Get moving! Everyone else is already upstairs."

"Right, sir."

But Carter kept at his work. There won't be anything left for the Krauts to get when I'm through, he thought determinedly.

Hogan came up suddenly behind him and pulled him away from the device he was still adjusting. "Come on," Hogan ordered, in a voice and with a yank that stood no resistance.

Carter dropped the uncharged explosives, resigned, and grabbed his haversack. Hogan kept prodding him from behind until they were at the ladder. "Move—get up there," Hogan urged, even then pushing Carter from below.

But when Carter reached the third step, there was a deafening roar, and he was rocked off the ladder and back down to the tunnel floor, before either he or Hogan had a chance to get out.

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"That's it, that's it!" Newkirk shouted in a whisper. "Look over there!" He pointed toward the camp below, where what was once Barracks Two was a mass of rubble and flame. "We did it! We ruddy well did it!"

"Where are Colonel Hogan and Carter?" Wilson asked.

All eyes immediately moved to the tree stump, where they expected to see the pair emerging. When no one came, they ran almost as one to the spot. Kinch opened the cover and dust came flying out, forcing him to turn his head away and cough. He waved the grit in the air away and tried to peer back in. There was so much noise coming from the camp that he took a chance on calling out loud. "Colonel Hogan! Carter!"

Le Beau forced himself to the front of the pack and tried to look into the dimness below. "Let me go down," he said.

"Louis, it's dangerous!" Newkirk said. But he had no intention of leaving without checking either.

Knowing he would not be stopped, Le Beau popped himself down through the stump and dropped to the ground below. "Wilson! We need help!"

Their stomachs plunging, Newkirk agreed to stay with Klink in hiding above while the others disappeared back into the tunnel. Wilson was the first one to make it. Hogan and Carter were both sprawled on the ground near the ladder, unconscious. Wilson stopped first at Carter, who was closest to the ladder, and checked him briefly. A cut on the Sergeant's forehead was bleeding, but was showing signs already of clotting. A quick examination showed no other apparent injuries, and he was breathing quite easily despite the dust in the air. "Get him upstairs; he needs to breathe fresh air," Wilson said, swallowing a cough of his own. Kinch and Le Beau started to pull up the Sergeant to haul him clear of the tunnel.

He turned his attention then to Hogan, who had landed face down and was now stirring slightly. "Colonel Hogan, can you hear me?"

Hogan groaned and tried to rise, shaking his head slowly as though to clear it. "Carter—" he coughed, not yet seeing around him.

"He'll be fine, Colonel. Come on, let's get you up." Wilson reached out to help when he realized the Colonel had landed on his right arm. Hogan gasped as he began to move it, then gritted his teeth against the pain. "Your arm, Colonel?"

Hogan shook his head and kept moving. "My hand," he hissed, panting. "Hurts like hell." He struggled to his knees, then took a second to rub his forehead and used Wilson to get himself standing. "Never mind; we have to get out now." He felt dizzy when he stood upright, but he staggered to the ladder and followed his men out, with Wilson bringing up the rear.

Wilson took one last look down the tunnels as they ascended. Everything behind them was gone.

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"Jawohl, Herr General. I will keep the camp in order until you arrive," Schultz said. Then he praised the Fuhrer and hung up the phone. With Klink, Eichberger, and now Hochstetter gone, he was the highest ranking soldier at Stalag 13. A responsibility he did not wish for, he called General Burkhalter's office once he was satisfied that Klink, Hogan, and Hogan's men were gone.

Let someone else run the war. I am a man of peace.

He went back outside to oversee the firefighting, and looked out into the woods to see if he could detect his Kommandant or the prisoners. There was no sign of them. Schultz heaved a sigh, relieved, and turned his attention to the now homeless prisoners of Barracks Two. They would need to find a new place to live.

I know I wish I could, too.

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"How is he?" asked Newkirk, as Carter was hauled out of the tunnel and carried into dense brush.

"Just got a knock on the head; he should be okay soon," Kinch answered, as slow movement from Carter indicated the man was starting to come around.

Carter tried to sit up. "Hey, what happened?" he asked. "What about the Colonel?"

Le Beau pushed him back down. "He is okay, too," he answered. "You took too long; your bombs caught up with you."

"See where the quest for perfection gets you?" Hogan came up from behind, pressing his right hand up against his chest and looking distinctly white, even in the darkness of the woods. "Next time settle for letting the aftershocks get it."

Wilson came to Hogan's side and pushed him into a sitting position as well. "How's the head, Carter?"

"Hurts a bit. But I'll be okay."

"Vision?"

"A little fuzzy... but maybe that's just me."

Wilson shook his head. "Or maybe it's a concussion. You're going to need to take it easy."

"How?" Kinch asked. "We have to get out of here."

Hogan stopped rubbing the back of his neck. "What about the car?" he mused.

"The car?" Le Beau repeated. "Won't the Krauts be looking for it?"

Hogan shrugged. "The only people expecting it were Eichberger and Hochstetter. And they're both out of the way, I hope."

Newkirk nodded. "Hochstetter's out of the way, all right," he confirmed. "The whole bloody barracks is a goner. We saw him go in, but we didn't see him come out."

"Then we'll take the car to the first rendezvous point and then ditch it." Hogan glanced around him. "Now it's going to be a little tight. Does anyone mind doubling up?" He looked directly at Klink.

Klink shook his head, still overwhelmed by everything that had happened. "I don't mind," he said.

"Good," Hogan said. The headache he'd developed earlier in the evening was now reaching epic proportions. He squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed the center of his forehead before continuing. "Pick your buddy, everyone, and let's go. Make sure Carter's got someone who can hold him up if he's still a bit groggy."

"Right, Colonel," Wilson answered. And you, too. He looked at Kinch, who seemed to understand without Wilson speaking.

Kinch moved in next to Hogan. "I pick you," he said, with a hint of a smile on his face.

Hogan turned to the Sergeant. "Fine," he said evenly, though his eyes told Kinch he knew exactly what was going on. "But I get to sit on your lap, not the other way around."

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"We look like we're going to a convention," Hogan observed with some unhappiness, as the group spilled out of the car. Kinch and Newkirk started covering it with leaves and branches.

"What's wrong, Colonel?" Wilson asked.

"We're such a big group, we'll attract attention like a magnet. Then if one of us gets caught, we all go." He stopped for a moment, grim-faced, then continued. "Well, there's nothing we can do about it at the moment. We need to get to our first shelter. Carter's looking green around the gills."

Wilson pursed his lips. Hogan was right; Carter had stayed unnaturally quiet during the trip in the car, and the medic was worried about how hard he'd actually hit his head when the blast hit. But he wouldn't have a chance to properly examine Carter until they found a resting place. And he wanted to look at Hogan, too, though he knew that mission would be harder to fulfill. "How far away from the shelter are we?" Wilson asked.

Hogan pointed up the road. "See that farm? It belongs to the Ericksons. Jenny and Willi. They help out when they can. I'm going to see if they can take the bunch of us now. They were supposed to take me and Klink next week. We're running a bit ahead of schedule."

"Do you think they will, Colonel?"

Hogan shrugged, then winced. Bad idea. "All we can do is try."

Wilson decided to take the direct approach. "And when we get there, it's not just Carter I'll be examining, either."

Hogan closed his eyes, trying to settle the argument between his hand and his head over which one could hurt the most. It was a sickening, nauseating tie, and Hogan turned away from Wilson as his stomach rolled and he broke out in yet another cold sweat. "Fine," he rasped. "Let's just get going."

"Colonel, can't we take the car all the way to the house?"

Hogan knew better than to shake his head. "No," he said almost inaudibly. "Too risky for the Ericksons."

"Then I'll walk with you."

Hogan turned back to the medic. "No, you stay with Carter. I'll take Le Beau. The Ericksons know him on sight."

Wilson agreed, and soon Hogan and Le Beau were walking slowly up the road toward the farm. "Colonel," Le Beau asked, "how are we going to get their permission to stay? It is the middle of the night!"

"I know," Hogan agreed. "But we can't afford to wait till daylight. I'm afraid we're going to have to take a chance on scaring them. Put your gun away, so they don't react automatically and whack me over the head with a chair—or blow our heads off."

"Nice welcoming committee," Le Beau answered, doing as he was told.

"Better than anything else we've had waiting for us tonight. I'd consider it a resounding success if they don't actually fire their weapons!"