"Raus! Raus!" the guard growled, banging loudly on the door. Dawn had broken and it was time to face another day behind the barbed wire.
"We're awake!" Newkirk yelled back irritably. "Bloody Krauts."
Hogan pulled himself upright, still sore from the previous day, but at least able to move. It itched around the edges of the bandages that had been applied over his raw shins, but he wasn't about to scratch at it. Not only would that risk tearing open the wounds again and peeling away the carefully applied dressing, it would have alerted the men that all was less than perfect. He didn't want anyone who didn't have to knowing about his little scrapes. They weren't anything serious. And besides that, he was their commanding officer.
Carter was sitting up, trying to swing his legs over the edge of the bunk. "Stay there, Carter," Hogan ordered. "You don't want to get dizzy and fall."
"I'm fine, colonel," he answered, looking for his boots.
"Carter," Hogan said levelly in his most commanding tone. It was one that his men had learned not to argue with. And it was one that usually made Carter wilt like a flower in the August heat. This time, however, Carter was already wilted to start with. It was easy to tell that he was exhausted and probably still in pain from his injuries.
"Colonel," he argued back weakly, still not willing to give in to what even he knew was inevitable.
It only took a look from Hogan to make Carter sit back on his bunk, supporting himself against the wall. Hogan wished that he could do the same. With all of the noises and the worries, he hadn't had the most restful night. Every hour when Newkirk woke Carter, it had caused that ripple effect around the barracks. And it had terminated with Hogan waking every time.
"How's MacIntyre?" Hogan asked, fumbling with the laces on his shoes. He blinked his eyes to clear his vision and make the task easier.
"No change, colonel," Kinch answered. "I'd say that one of us should stay here to watch him, but I don't think that Klink would take kindly to any men missing roll call today."
"I'll do it, colonel," Carter volunteered, starting to sit upright again. "You won't let me go for roll call anyway."
"Because you should stay in bed, mon ami," LeBeau answered. "It doesn't mean that you should be taking care of someone else." The little Frenchman had dark hair sticking up in pieces all over his head.
"I can do it, colonel." If determination were everything, Carter would have been able to do almost anything at that point. He had saved that man from the explosion. He would take care of him. The young sergeant had taken responsibility for the life of this one man.
"I'm sure that you can, Carter," Hogan answered, stepping toward the door. If they hesitated too much longer they would have guards bursting in to drag them out to roll call. "But I want you doing it from that bunk." He knew that Carter wouldn't be much good to the man from the bunk, but MacIntyre had showed no signs of waking thus far. And roll call probably wouldn't be long. Then Kinch and the others would be able to oversee and make sure that Carter didn't overexert himself.
"Yes, sir," Carter answered. He looked as though he knew what Hogan was doing. But at least now he had permission to take care of this man that he had rescued. And Hogan knew that Carter would take that responsibility as seriously as any.
Hogan was the last to file out of the barracks. The guards were already heading towards it to clear out the last of the stragglers. "I'm the last out," he told them testily. It wasn't enough that they had to be up at the crack of dawn after having been up most of the night tending to wounded men, but the guards didn't have to be so willing to drag them outside if they were a couple of minutes late.
His ears caught a whistled melody floating across the courtyard. It was a moment before he could place the tune, Lili Marlene. It meant that Lieutenant Vilene wanted a meeting after roll call. Hogan sighed. It wasn't enough that Sullivan reported that four of their newest prisoners were going try to escape at all costs, but Vilene only came to Hogan personally if things were really serious. Hogan caught the Frenchman's eye and nodded. He would have to see what the man had to say, whether he wanted to or not.
"Colonel Hogan," Shultz asked nervously, "are the others in the barracks?" He really didn't want to have to report to Klink that more prisoners had escaped.
"Trust me, Shultz," Hogan answered, "they're not in any condition to escape. MacIntyre is still out and I don't know if Carter could make it out of his bunk."
Shultz looked marginally relieved, but he still asked again. "So, they are both in the barracks?"
Hogan sighed. "Yeah, they're both in there. You can check if you want."
"Colonel Klink will want to check himself later," Shultz confided. "And I am to be assigned guard duty for the next week for allowing you to escape."
It was unfortunate that Klink often punished the kindly sergeant for their escape attempts. But as sergeant of the guard, and the main guard for Barracks Two, Shultz was held responsible for the barracks that escaped the most and the rest of the guards. Hogan made a mental note to have LeBeau bake up some extra apple strudel the next time they needed to bribe Shultz. It didn't totally get rid of the guilt that sometimes bothered Hogan, but at least it helped most of the time.
"Colonel Hogan, what is wrong with that man?" Shultz asked in concern, pointing across the compound.
O'Keefe was waving his arms and trying to catch the attention of someone in the Barracks Two formation. He likely hadn't been doing it for long as very few people seemed to have noticed. But the guards and the other barracks had picked up on it far more rapidly than the sleep-deprived men of Barracks Two. Hogan gave a little wave back as he answered Shultz. "O'Keefe's just trying to get our attention."
"Oh."
O'Keefe held his hands out in fists, thumbs extended. He moved them from up to down and back again a few times, shrugging in the middle. He wanted to know how the men were doing this morning. Hogan pointed one of his own thumbs skyward and the other towards the ground. O'Keefe made a face. It obviously wasn't he news he was looking for. The medic held one hand in the shape of a C and the other thumbs up. This time the look on his face was hopeful. Hogan nodded.
It would have been easier if they could have just yelled across to one another but the guard for O'Keefe's barracks was tough on the men, even on the medic, for acting out at roll call. And it was understandable that O'Keefe would want an update as soon as possible. After all, he had been fetched out of his bunk in the middle of the night to check on them. It would have been easier to have the medic right in Barracks Two, but O'Keefe had already been there when Hogan was transferred in and it would only cause suspicion and problems in trying to have him transferred. Besides, it would leave Barracks Ten without an officer. There were few enough of them in the camp that they had to be spread one to a barracks.
"Colonel Hogan," Klink demanded irritably, "would you kindly explain that little display."
Hogan sighed. Klink wasn't in a good mood this morning. Hopefully Carter's continued weakness and the four men from the other camp who were still in the cooler would stop him from punishing the four 'escapers' for a while. "O'Keefe wanted to know how the men were doing," he explained.
"And that is the method by which the Allies communicate with one another?" Klink asked harshly. No, Klink really wasn't in a good mood at all.
"We get in trouble for yelling back and forth across to one another. How else do you want us to do it?" Hogan knew that he shouldn't get irritable with Klink, especially on a day like this. But it had been two nights in a row with almost no sleep and all of his muscles still ached.
Klink opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to think of a reply. After a second he just yelled, "Report!"
"All prisoners present and accounted for except Sergeant Carter and the new man, MacIntyre," Shultz answered.
"And where are those two men?"
"Colonel Hogan says that they are in the barracks."
"Have you checked on them yourself, sergeant?" Klink was really on the warpath this morning.
"Nein, herr kommandant," Shultz answered, confusion evident on his face. "You said that you wanted to check on them yourself."
"That didn't mean that you were not to check yourself. Are you going to trust the word of Colonel Hogan? He and his men escaped yesterday and you couldn't even manage to count how many men were missing. You will do your guard duty for the next week in full pack." Klink reached up to adjust his monocle, glaring at Shultz. It was almost as though he was daring the guard to complain.
But all Shultz did was sigh and answer, "Jawhol, herr kommandant." Klink almost looked disappointed that he wouldn't be able to give out more punishment.