Chapter 5:
Carter sat in his bunk reading a book while Newkirk, LeBeau, and Kinch sat at the table playing a game of gin. Hogan was in his room working on papers for Klink, and Walters was somewhere wandering around outside.
Newkirk put a card down on the table then looked up at both his friends sitting in front of him.
"What do ya think we should do about Walters, mates? The man's an issue and has gotta go," Newkirk stated.
"I don't like him anymore than you do, Newkirk, but until Colonel Hogan says so, we're suppose to remain still. We're also forbidden to tell him anything regarding the operation." Kinch answered.
"Well, that's a no brainer, mon ami," LeBeau grumbled putting down his card and grabbing one from the deck.
"Where is the little demon anyways?" Newkirk asked.
"Somewhere outside, as usual," Kinch said.
"Hey, guys," Carter said. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure thing, Carter. What do you wanna know?" Kinch asked friendly.
Carter hesitated for a moment before he answered.
"What's the punishment for committing a fragging?"
"A fragging!" All three men exclaimed. They all shot to their feet and looked at one another before returning their eyes on Carter.
"Is that what you're afraid of, André?" LeBeau gasped.
Carter was silent for a moment before answering.
"Maybe," was all he said.
"The man's committed bloody fragging!" Newkirk cried.
"He's a murderer to his own people?" LeBeau wailed.
"We gotta tell the Colonel," Kinch said.
As Kinch, Newkirk, and LeBeau were headed for Hogan's room, Carter screamed.
"NO!" The young sergeant shrieked.
All three of his friends jumped and turned around.
"What the bloody hell do you mean 'no'?" Newkirk asked.
"You want a murderer walking around here?" LeBeau questioned.
"Don't tell Colonel Hogan, please!" Carter pleaded.
"Why not, Carter? He can help get rid of him. You know he'll do everything to make sure he gets away from here," Kinch said confused. Why wouldn't Carter open up and tell them what was wrong, he thought. It was as if he were afraid of something happening, but what was the question. All they knew as of then was that he was terrified of something happening to Hogan and it involved Walters somehow.
"...I can't tell you," Carter said softly.
"Why not, Andrew?! What are you so bloody terrified of?" Newkirk asked. He was growing irritated with all of this. He wanted Carter to just come out with it already.
Carter swallowed a knot in his throat, but he did not answer. He just sat there staring at them with fear in his eyes.
Kinch, Newkirk, and LeBeau walked back over to their friend and sat down at the table and looked at him.
"Please, mon ami. Mon Colonel can help you with whatever it is." LeBeau begged.
"Yah gotta tell us, mate, or it's just gonna get worse, whatever this is," Newkirk said.
Carter's lip quivered and shook his head 'no'.
Kinch sighed sadly.
"Come on, Carter...please talk to us?" The radioman asked pleaing.
Carter shook his head no.
Newkirk let out a sigh of frustration.
"Blimey. The one time I want him to open his mouth, and he won't say a single word." He grumbled.
Kinch was about to try again, when the door to the barracks opened. Walters walked in and was greeted with one pair of eyes that were terrified of him and three sets of eyes that wanted to straight up strangle the man for what he was doing to their friend.
"What the bloody hell did you do to him?" Newkirk demanded.
Walters simply laughed softly.
"Nothing but give him a little grief is all." The lieutenant turned to Carter and smirked. "Hey, Rat. You remember that time where I nearly scared the living soul out of you that one night? Ha! Your reaction was priceless!"
Carter shrunk more onto his bed. He kept hoping maybe he would eventually disappear from sight.
Walters turned to look at Hogan's closed door with the same wicked smile then returned to look at Carter and his friends.
"I wonder what that colonel's screams of agony sound like," he wondered.
"You leave Colonel Hogan alone!" Carter cried.
"You gonna do something if I try? Get over yourself, Sergeant. You're the biggest fraidy cat I've ever met!" Walters cackled.
Carter shook in his spot, when the door to Hogan's quarters opened. The colonel himself walked out of the room and glowered his eyes to Walters. He crossed his arms and held his ground firmly.
"What's going on out here?" Hogan asked, with a great deal of harshness in his voice.
Carter hurried over to the colonel and held onto him like a five year old trying to be separated from his parent.
Hogan glared at Carter for a moment, then turned his eyes back to Walters, waiting for an answer from him.
"Just remembering the good times with Sergeant Carter here is all." The lieutenant answered, smiling.
Hogan shoved Carter off of him gently and moved closer to Walters. His eyes were cold and full of hatred.
"You listen to me, and you listen to me carefully. I don't want you anywhere near Carter, anywhere near Corporal LeBeau, Corporal Newkirk, Sergeant Kinchloe, I don't want you anywhere near any of my men, understood? If you so happen to disobey those orders, I'll have Kommandant Klink throw you out of here so fast, you won't have time to register what happened." He hissed.
"I'm not afraid of you, weakling." Walters growled.
"You might wanna reconsider those words, Lieutenant. If you've forgotten already, I outrank you; so what I say goes, got it?"
Walters glared at Hogan for a moment later before speaking.
"Watch your back, Colonel. I would hate to see something happen to you suddenly." The lieutenant sneered.
Hogan did not answer. He just continued watching the man carefully.
Kinch, Newkirk, and LeBeau watched from the other side and were ready to step in if Walters even dared to lay a finger on their commanding officer.
Walters stared at Hogan a bit longer then marched out of barracks two and slammed the door hard on his way out.
Hogan turned his head slowly to Carter and glared at his technical sergeant.
Carter hung his head, afraid to make eye contact with his commanding officer. Somehow he managed to find enough courage and quickly looked into his eyes. He could see the annoyance in Hogan's brown eyes with a hint of anger in them. The commander turned his head back to the front and looked at the three men before him.
"What happened?" Hogan asked. All of them knew it wasn't a question.
"Walters threatened to hurt you, and Carter started freaking out." Kinch answered honestly. He did not want to rat out Carter, but his mental health was at stake, and Kinch was not about to let his friend slip down a hole of no return. He would do everything in his power along with his friends to make sure Carter got better as soon as possible.
"Gee, thanks, Kinch," Carter said sardonically.
"Is there a reason Carter started panicking before Walters came in here?" Hogan asked, his patience wearing thin.
"We were talking with Carter regarding Walters, sir," Newkirk said. He left out the part regarding Walters possibly committing fragging. He would let Carter tell Hogan that when he was ready to talk about it. He felt it probably would not help the situation at hands and possibly make it even worse if he were to do so.
"What about Walters?" Hogan asked again.
"Just trying to get him to tell us what happened that he's so terrified of, Colonel." LeBeau answered.
Hogan let out a breath of frustration then nodded.
"Keep him quiet, will you? I've got enough paperwork in my office that Klink needs done to send to Tokyo and back again," Hogan ordered.
"Yes, sir," Kinch said for all of them.
Hogan turned around and made his way back into his room closing the door behind him. He did not slam it, but he did not close the door gently, either.
Once he was in his room again, Carter made his way slowly back to his friends and silently sat down at the table.
"Andrew, if you don't tell the Gov'nor what's going on soon, you're gonna be asking for trouble," Newkirk warned.
"I can't tell him! What part of that don't you guys get?!" Carter cried angrily.
"Nothing's gonna happen to Colonel Hogan, Carter. We're not gonna let anything of the kind happen to him. We need to know, though. The sooner the better," Kinch said.
"I can't. He'll find out! Now, I know we've faced dangerous situations before, but Lieutenant Walters is different! I've seen what he's capable of doing, and I won't risk Colonel Hogan's life by telling you guys what!"
Kinch sighed, then slowly nodded.
"Alright, Carter. We'll leave it be." The radioman softly answered.
Carter nodded, then got to his feet. He walked over to the fake bunk and banged it open. Once he did so, he climbed down the ladder and made his way to his lab.
"Baker, watch the door," Kinch ordered.
"Yes. Kinch," Baker said, and made his way over to be lookout for any unwanted visitors.
Newkirk shook his head sadly.
"Poor kid's got it bad."
"Oui. I wish there was something we could do to help him," LeBeau forlornly said.
"All we can do is wait for him to come out with it on his own. That's the only thing at the moment." Kinch answered, crossing his arms.
"I don't know how much longer I can watch Andrew like this anymore, Kinch. He's gotta start talking, or I might force him to talk myself," Newkirk said, depressed.
"It might only make things worse, Pierre," LeBeau said.
"Andrew's gonna go bloody mad, if he keeps this up, Louis!" Newkirk snapped.
"We won't let it get that bad, Newkirk," Kinch said calmly.
"How? The only way to do that is to kill the man, and the Gov'nor has already told us that's out of the question unless it's in need of self defense."
"I don't know, but I really wish I had the answer to that." Kinch answered.
Carter sat at his table messing with formulas to create another explosive for any assignment that it might be needed for. He could not seem to get his mind off of his past commanding officer, though. Why had he had to come back into his life? Wasn't once enough? He guessed it was not, considering the predicament he was currently stuck in. He could not understand it, though. Hogan had promised him that nothing bad would happen to him, and he knew his commanding officer all too well. He knew that if Hogan promised something, he kept that promise. He had proven that many times to the young sergeant. It was one of the things he liked most about his commander: he was honest and dependable. So why was he still so terrified of telling him what had happened that night? He wanted to tell him. He wanted to tell Newkirk, Kinch, and LeBeau, too. He wanted to tell all of them, but he was not going to put their lives on the line despite the fact that he could not get past it in his mind or for the other fact that Walters haunted him every waking moment. No, it had to remain a secret. Walters would not hesitate to kill Hogan at any minute after finding out he told him what had happened, and Carter would die if anything happened to his commanding officer and best friend. Knowing he had been responsible for Hogan's death would be the all time worst thing to live with in his life. In fact, he was not sure if he could move on from such an event. It would destroy him. Hogan and his friends already knew probably too much as it was. He was not about to push that luck. He had to remain quiet, but wondered how much longer he could go before losing it all together.