Chapter 4:
It was around 3AM, and LeBeau was the one with the three hour shift currently. The rest of the prisoners were sound asleep. The little Frenchman could not take his eyes off of the sleeping form of Lieutenant Walters in the back. He sneered at the sleeping man. He despised him with every part of his being.
I don't know what you did to poor André, but you'll be sorry when mon Colonel finds out what, LeBeau thought to himself. And if Hogan did not take the first action, he certainly would.
LeBeau was starting to doze off and daydream about a pretty girl back in Paris when he was brought out of his thoughts by a blood curdling scream.
"COLONEL!" It cried. It was Carter.
LeBeau leaped almost out of his bunk from the noise. He jumped down onto the ground and hurried to Carter's bunk. Kinch soon joined his side, and Newkirk looked over from his bunk above Carter.
"What the bloody hell was that?!" Newkirk gasped.
"It's Carter. He's having a nightmare." Kinch answered.
"COLONEL! NO!" Carter wailed. He was shaking and moving his head rapidly from side to side.
"Carter, wake up. It's a nightmare. It's only a dream, Carter," Kinch said soothingly. It did not help.
"Come on, mon ami. We're all alright. It's just a un cauchemar," LeBeau said softly.
"Blimey, Louis. Would ya speak bloody English?" Newkirk groaned.
"Un cauchemar. It means 'a nightmare'." LeBeau clarified.
Carter started whimpering in his sleep.
"Colonel," he wept.
"Andrew, wake up, mate! It's only a nightmare." Newkirk pleaded. His heart was breaking seeing Carter like this.
Carter opened his eyes and sat up in bed, panting. He looked at Kinch and LeBeau, then up at Newkirk, then back down to the two again.
"Where's Colonel Hogan?" Carter begged.
"The Colonel's fine, Carter. He's sleeping in his quarters." Kinch reassured him.
"Where's Colonel Hogan? Where is he?" Carter pleaded.
"He's just fine, mate. He's just fine," Newkirk said softly.
"I need to see him! Where is he?!" Carter cried.
As if on cue, Hogan hurried out of his quarters to his men in his pajamas, slippers, and bathrobe.
"What's going on?" Hogan asked, worried.
"Carter had a nightmare, Colonel," Newkirk said.
Hogan knelt down besides Carter's bunk and looked at him.
"Carter," Hogan said.
The young sergeant turned to Hogan with his eyes wet.
"Colonel, don't die! Please don't die!" Carter begged.
"Die...from what, Carter?" Hogan asked.
Carter shivered. All he could do was point ahead of him.
Hogan, Newkirk, LeBeau, and Kinch followed Carter's finger finding it pointed at the sleeping form on the lieutenant's bed.
"Walters?" Hogan asked.
It took a minute, but Carter eventually nodded.
"How Carter? How's Walters gonna kill me?"
Carter did not answer. His face read fear all over it. Hogan or any of them had never seen Carter so afraid before in his life.
"Please, Carter...tell me what he did to you...I can help you if you tell me. I promise he won't hurt you, Newkirk, Kinch, LeBeau, or anyone."
"Colonel…" he shivered.
"I'm alright, Carter. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere, I promise."
Carter grabbed Hogan's hand and held it tight in his.
"Oh, Carter," Hogan sadly said. Why did this have to be happening to him, he wondered. He turned to look at Newkirk, Kinch, and LeBeau, who were just as concerned as Hogan was. The colonel let out a huge breath of air and focused on Kinch. "Kinch, stay up with him for a while until he can go back to sleep. LeBeau, I want you to get Wilson in the morning after roll call. I want him to take a look at Carter and figure out what's going on."
"Sure, Colonel," Kinch said willingly.
"Oui, Colonel," LeBeau said.
Hogan nodded, rose to his feet, then made his way back into his quarters to sleep for the rest of the night...that is, if he could fall back to sleep.
After morning roll call, LeBeau did what Hogan asked him during the night and went to retrieve Sergeant Joe Wilson from barracks twelve. He arrived to barracks two to find Hogan in his quarters with Carter sitting on the lower bunk of Hogan's bed.
Wilson set his bag down on the desk and looked at Hogan. Being a medic for so long, he could see the anxiety permeating off his body. Wilson knew Hogan always got like this when one of his men were in trouble. Especially when it was one of his friends on his team.
"What's going on, Colonel?" Wilson asked worried.
Hogan let out a huge sigh before answering the camp medic.
"I'm worried about Carter, Joe. He hasn't been the same since Lieutenant Walters arrived." Hogan tried to keep his voice hushed; he did not want Carter to hear him.
Wilson sighed and crossed his arms.
"He has been a bit more...anxious since then, Colonel," Wilson said softly.
"He's suffering anxiety, complete paralysis sometimes around Walters, and last night he had a nightmare of me dying. In fact, he keeps begging me not to die and to leave Walters alone. He won't tell me why, and I'm worried, Joe. What if something's seriously wrong with Carter?"
"Carter's gonna be just fine. Maybe I can get him to talk."
"If you do, Joe, it'll be a miracle."
Wilson nodded and walked towards Carter and knelt down on the floor in front of him. Hogan stood by his door and made sure no one disturbed them while Wilson examined the young sergeant.
The medic smiled warmly at Carter.
"Carter, how are you feeling today?" Wilson asked.
"Oh, I'm alright, buddy. Just a little tired is all." Carter answered, feigning a smile.
"Colonel Hogan tells me you had a nightmare last night. You wanna talk about it?"
"No, I'm alright, sir. It was nothing, really."
Wilson did not say anything for a while. He had to get Carter to talk about what happened last night, but how? He decided to take the easiest approach for the meanwhile.
"Carter, Colonel Hogan says you were screaming for him last night in your nightmare. Did something happen to him in your dream?"
Carter grew silent and started twiddling his thumbs. He looked down at his knees and did not answer.
"Come on, Carter. We want to help you: Colonel Hogan, Newkirk, Kinch, LeBeau, and I. We all wanna help you...but we can't if we don't know why you're acting this way...please tell us, Carter...what did Lieutenant Walters do to you while he was your commanding officer?" Wilson asked, basically pleading.
Carter shook his head.
"I can't tell you...he'll kill Colonel Hogan." Carter quivered.
Hogan looked at his young sergeant with sympathetically.
"How, Carter? How will Lieutenant Walters kill Colonel Hogan?" Wilson questioned.
Carter started shaking violently and within the blink of an eye, ran out of Hogan's room as fast as he could without saying another word.
Wilson made his way to Hogan, who just looked shocked at what just happened. The camp medic only hung his head and shook it.
"He's gotta talk about it, Colonel. I'm worried Carter will shut down if he continues to keep it all locked up inside," Wilson said softly.
"Shut down. What do you mean 'shut down'?" Hogan asked worried.
"Shut down. Unresponsive, despondent, catatonic."
"Joe, you got to do something. We've gotta get Carter to tell one of us what happened while under Lieutenant Walters's command."
"We might have to force it out of him."
"Force it out of him. How?"
Wilson sighed.
"You might have to be harsh with him."
"Harsh...with Carter?!"
"I know Carter is like a son to you, but you've got to get him to talk! I don't know how much longer he can keep holding it all bottle upped inside."
Hogan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Why, he thought. Why, out of all people, did it have to be Carter going through this? The man did nothing but be friendly and kind to others. He could not seem to grasp how a nice guy like Carter had to be going through this. He wished he would have been there with him when it happened to help him then instead of now...but the problem was he did not know what happened. He needed to know what happened and soon, or he was afraid he would lose Carter completely.
"Joe, are you sure there isn't any other way?" Hogan asked.
"I'm afraid not, Colonel...I'm sorry," Wilson said sincerely.
Hogan sighed and nodded.
"Alright...thanks, Joe."
"You're welcome. Let me know if anything changes."
"You'll be the first one to know."
Wilson nodded and left Hogan's quarters just as Kinch walked into the room.
"Is everything alright, Colonel? We just saw Carter rush out of here without a word. He looked terrified," Kinch said worried.
"He's having a more difficult time telling me what's wrong than I originally thought." Hogan answered gruffly.
"Poor Carter."
"Wish I could help him somehow...if only I could reassure him that nothing bad would happen if he told me." Hogan looked up and out his bedroom window. He kept trying to think of another way to get Carter to talk to him without forcing him to do so in a harsh manner.
"You'll think of something, sir. You always do," Kinch said positively.
"Thanks, Kinch," Hogan said. He went silent for a moment before speaking again. "Kinch, get on the horn to London. I want as much information on this Lieutenant Walters as possible. Tell them it's urgent."
"Right, sir."
"By the way, where is the little devil anyways?"
"Last time I saw him, he was wandering around camp looking completely devoid of life."
"Completely devoid of life. How so?"
"He just didn't seem human. I can't describe it, sir. He looked...immortal. His eyes were hazy, had no expression to his face, he wouldn't respond to others in any way...just...devoid of life."
Hogan raised an incredulous eyebrow. Walters just became more of an interest to Hogan. He finally nodded.
"Alright, Kinch. Get going on that assignment I gave you," Hogan ordered instructed.
"Yes, Colonel." Kinch was about to leave, when he turned around and looked back at his commanding officer. "Oh, Colonel."
"Yes, Kinch?"
Kinch gave a small smile.
"Carter's gonna be just fine, Colonel. He will be with us around."
Hogan smiled back sadly.
"I hope you're right, Kinch," he said softly.
Kinch nodded and left Hogan to himself.
The American officer sat down at his desk and rubbed his forehead and sighed. He then looked up and stared at the wall. He was worried. He had never been so concerned for one of his men in his entire life. Would Carter go back to being the same smiling, happy guy he once was, or would he be like this for the rest of his life? God, he hoped that would not be the case.
Hogan looked up at the ceiling and closed his eyes.
"Please, God...please help Carter get better," he whispered.
Hours went by, and Carter, LeBeau, and Newkirk were sitting at the table playing a game of gin. Kinch was down in the tunnels waiting for a response from London, and Hogan was in his quarters working on some papers for Klink that he wanted done.
LeBeau lay down a card then turned to look at Carter.
"Your turn, mon ami," LeBeau said.
Carter nodded and looked at his hand. He was about to make his move, when the fake bunk opened. Kinch came up into the barracks with a sheet of paper in his hand. He hit the mechanism and the entryway to the tunnels closed.
"You three know where the Colonel is?" Kinch asked.
"In his room working on paperwork given to him from Klink," Newkirk said.
"Thanks," Kinch made his way to Hogan's door and knocked on it.
"Come in," Hogan called.
Kinch opened the door then closed it behind him. He made his way to Hogan's desk, where the colonel was busy looking through paperwork regarding something in particular. Hogan turned towards Kinch and looked at him.
"What can I help ya with, Kinch?" He asked.
"Got that information you wanted on Walters, Colonel," Kinch said.
Hogan got to his feet and stood next to him.
"What does it say?" Hogan asked.
He handed the paper to Hogan to look at..
"Lieutenant Richard Walters, nickname Dick. Born August 5, 1906." Hogan began.
"So he's 37 years old currently."
Hogan nodded and continued.
"Graduated from high school in Rhode Island. Attended and graduated from Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne, Pennsylvania as a second lieutenant." Hogan stopped reading and kept his eyes fixed on something for quite a while. When Hogan did not say anything for a long while, Kinch started growing concerned.
"Colonel? Are you alright?" Kinch asked.
"Kinch, listen to this," Hogan said. "Lieutenant Walters was admitted into a psychiatric hospital shortly after his first military assignment in 1935. He was diagnosed with suffering from a type of psychosis but recovered after several months of treatment and was assigned to work in the 182nd bombing squad as a commanding officer."
"I know, Colonel. I asked London for further information, but said they didn't have any."
"What concerns me more is what kind of symptoms he was suffering from when he was admitted."
"You know about psychology, Colonel?"
"A little. I know a couple of mental disorders, but unless I know what the symptoms he had were, I can't identify what disorder he possibly had."
"Colonel, just a thought. What if Walters never actually recovered from his mental disorder?"
"Never actually recovered. What do you mean, Kinch?"
"Sir, what if Walters faked getting better?"
"You think he faked getting better?"
"Colonel, there's a mental illness known as sociopathy. People who suffer from it can suffer from states of psychosis, manipulate others in doing what they want, have no regards to other people's feelings, lack of emotion, strong charisma, and extreme recklessness."
"I know of sociopathy...you think Walters could be a sociopath?"
"It would not surprise me, Colonel. I mean look at Carter. He's so worried about Walters killing you or causing you harm and whenever the man's around, he completely shuts down and basically does everything he says unless one of us is there to stop it. He has no regard to Carter's feelings and actually gets a thrill of seeing him terrified."
"But if people with sociopathy can act fine and hide their symptoms to a certain degree, how do we get rid of him?"
"I don't know, Colonel. I couldn't tell you."
"Kinch, listen to me. If what we assume is true, and Walters really is a sociopath, I don't want you, Carter, LeBeau, or Newkirk alone at any moment for whatever reason. You guys and everyone else in this barracks go in groups of two and not leave the other's sight for whatever reason. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, sir. What about you, Colonel?"
"Don't worry about me. What's important right now is helping Carter and try to get him to talk on what Walters did to him in the time frame he was under his command. We also have to find out if Walters is a true sociopath. If he is and we can find enough evidence to prove he is, we can get London to send him back to a psychiatric hospital or possibly have Klink get a transfer for him."
"You want me to tell the others what we know?"
"Not yet. I'd like to tell them myself, especially Carter."
"Yes, Colonel."
"And whatever you guys do, do not, under any circumstances, do you tell Walters about the operation, understood?"
"Yes, sir."
Hogan nodded.
"Alright, you're dismissed. Keep an eye out there for Walters. You, LeBeau, and Newkirk protect Carter at all costs," Hogan ordered.
"No problem, Colonel. Walters won't come anywhere near Carter," Kinch said.
Hogan nodded, and Kinch left the colonel's room to return to his friends. Once Kinch was gone, Hogan plopped into his chair and sighed. He fumbled with the sheet of paper in his hand with Walters's information on it. He let out a breath and turned to look out his window at the night sky.
Don't worry, Carter, Hogan thought. I'm not gonna let Walters lay a single hand on you again...even if it means my life to do so.