It wasn't exactly easy, or smart, to run through the cave, especially with areas being constantly sprayed with water. Dietrich still tried his best to move quickly and get back to where he and Troy had entered. He had faith that Troy wouldn't try anything stupid, but he also hoped that he hadn't misplaced that faith. No, no, Troy is smarter than that. Most of the time.

When he crouched down to crawl through the formerly blocked passage, Dietrich froze when he saw McCaskey and Mereworth's boots. Oh… they found out. Dietrich moved back, hoping they hadn't noticed him. He glanced back the way he came. How am I supposed to rescue Troy now? Think, Hans, think! He wasn't the expert at thinking on his feet like Troy was—granted, he could, but not nearly as well as Troy. Suddenly Dietrich found himself wishing that he was the one who had gotten stuck instead of Troy.

"They must've gone this way. It's the only way they could've gone," McCaskey muttered.

"The tall skinny one should get it first. He's the one who told us about the diamonds," Mereworth said.

"Hey, you want the first punch, go ahead. Just be careful not to break him. He looks like a breeze could knock him over."

Dietrich rolled his eyes. I am not that thin. You are thinking of Moffitt. He opened his holster. He certainly wasn't going to shoot either of them—he didn't exactly want to get charged with murder, and he knew firing a gun in an enclosed space like this would render him deaf for a while. He turned the gun around, hoping he could knock one of them out by striking them with its grip.

He saw McCaskey's hat first, and raised his gun above his head before bringing it down. McCaskey turned, and moved when he saw Dietrich. He grabbed Dietrich's left ankle, yanking hard to pull him down and make him drop his gun. Air rushed from Dietrich's lungs when he struck the ground, but he still tried to scramble upright. McCaskey dragged him over, and kicked Dietrich's left side. Pain burst through Dietrich's side. He tried curling up to protect his torso, but couldn't get his boot freed from McCaskey's grip.

Mereworth dashed around to kick Dietrich's gun away, then took a fistful of the German's hair to force his head up. "Keep fighting and I'll tear all of this out."

"Alright, alright!" Dietrich snapped.

"Good choice." Mereworth turned Dietrich onto his back, allowing McCaskey to press his boot down on the thinner man's stomach. Dietrich didn't dare move as McCaskey moved the toe of his boot closer to his ribs.

"Can you tell us any other details about that geological survey you told us about?" McCaskey asked, glaring down at Dietrich.

"Not really," Dietrich said. He braced himself for McCaskey to stomp down on his abdomen.

"No, you can't, because you lied!" McCaskey leaned a bit onto Dietrich, almost digging his boot under the skinny German's ribs. "There are no diamonds here. There's only my great-grandfather's gold. That's it."

Dietrich was finding it harder and harder to breathe. His chest ached with each shallow breath he was struggling to draw in.

"You and the little short one are both going to get your jaws broken for this. You especially. You played nice, pretended you were generous. The only thing I hate more than a doormat is a damned liar, and boy, did you tell a good lie. I don't like being made a fool." McCaskey leaned in further, the toe of his boot now wedged under the base of Dietrich's ribcage. "Where's your friend? Tell me where he is or I'll just cut your silver tongue out right now."

Dietrich didn't want to know if McCaskey would make good on his threat. That, and he felt that having Troy there would make forming an escape plan easier. Troy is good at getting himself into trouble, but he is equally good at getting himself out of trouble. "He is stuck outside the cave, at the end of this particular passage."

"Alright. Elias, go get him."

Mereworth nodded before letting go of Dietrich's head, and heading down the passage.

McCaskey kept his boot in Dietrich's stomach while taking out a set of handcuffs. He yanked Dietrich's gloves off, and Dietrich flinched, bracing himself for whatever ridicule would come from the sight of the scars on his wrists.

Fortunately, McCaskey didn't seem to notice them. He hauled Dietrich over to the wall, and made him sit. Dietrich drew his knees up, pain still radiating through his torso from being kicked. His ribs and stomach were sore from the pressure of McCaskey stepping on him. This is fine, Dietrich thought. I have been through worse. Much worse. This misguided soul cannot say anything that will frighten me. He glanced over at McCaskey, who didn't seem at all interested in making conversation with his prisoner. Dietrich was fine with that. He wasn't particularly interested in making conversation with his captor. Instead, Dietrich quietly prayed for him.

Several long minutes went by before either of them said anything. McCaskey looked at Dietrich. "You're weirdly calm for someone who's going to get the living daylights beat out of him."

Dietrich smirked. "When you survive a world war, not much can frighten you anymore."

Much to his surprise, McCaskey didn't say anything in response. Not for a little while. "I was a little too young at the time. Where were you sent?"

"France. North Africa. Italy. Back to France. Belgium."

"Wait…" McCaskey paled. "Wait. You said, 'Back to France.' Were you…"

"On the other side? Yes."

"Wow. A real, live Kraut."

Dietrich glared at him. "It seems a bit silly to use the term when our two countries are on good relations now. I have been serving in the Bundeswehr for the previous three years. I was recommended because of my records, and for putting my life on the line to defy Nazi orders on numerous occasions."

"What'd you do? Defect?"

"No. I considered defection a few times, but could never go through with it. I had family and feared for their safety." Dietrich knew he was simplifying his story, but he didn't feel like going into the details.

"That sounds more like you were scared." McCaskey's tone was a mocking one.

Dietrich refused to break eye contact with him. "Of course I was scared. I was scared for my family and the soldiers under my command. I lost many in the slaughterhouses of battle. I was threatened by the SS and Gestapo several times. I was terrified until the day I decided enough was enough, and surrendered. Plenty of horrible things would have been in store for me if I had been arrested. If I had defected and been recaptured, it would have been worse. Much, much worse."

"I don't see how what the Nazis would've done to you is any worse than what I'm gonna do to you and your little friend when Elias brings him back." McCaskey approached Dietrich. "A beating is a beating, no matter where it comes from."

"You still do not frighten me."

"Really? Is that so? Fine. Your friend's getting beat first."

Dietrich thought fast, wanting to spare Troy from being on the receiving end of such a senseless beating. "If you end up killing us, you will never find the gold."

"I don't buy that."

"We may have figured out where it is. Would you not like to know?"

"After the first time I took a 'suggestion' from you, I highly doubt you know what you're talking about. You're just trying to save your sorry behind, and your friend's. Stop talking."

It was worth a try. Dietrich stared straight ahead. "Fair enough." He flinched when he saw McCaskey raise his fist in the corner of his eye.

"I said, stop talking." McCaskey lowered his fist. "One more peep outta you, and I'll punch your lights out."

Dietrich said nothing. He hoped Troy would be brought back soon. If I ever needed his unconventional thinking, it would be now.

Troy hadn't moved in the last several minutes. He was starting to feel stiff and restless—well, that was nothing new. There wasn't much he could do apart from wait, and he hated waiting. Here, he had no choice. It was either wait or fall to his death. He would take waiting for once.

Once Dietrich comes back, that's it. I'm done. The gold's not worth it. Troy shifted a little, trying to prevent his limbs from falling asleep. He couldn't help but feel disappointed. He really wanted to give something to the others. After all, Moffitt and Hitch had given him quite a bit just so he wasn't homeless after the war. Tully was generous with his time, food, and money, regardless of how much he had. Dietrich certainly deserved something after putting up with Troy's misery during their road trip the previous year.

Despite what all that money could help them with, Troy was starting to wonder if it was really the most appropriate gift. None of them were desperate for it. Tully was making his mortgage payments with no issues. He wasn't in danger of losing his house. Moffitt and Hitch were pretty well-off. Dietrich was in a better position now that he was an officer in the Bundeswehr.

Troy was pulled from his thoughts by a man's voice calling, "Hey, grab the rope!"

That's not Dietrich. Troy looked up to see Elias Mereworth, holding a length of rope down to him. That's really not Dietrich. "Alright, what gives?" Troy asked. "What do you want?"

Mereworth rolled his eyes. "Look, bud, you can take the rope or you can take the easy way out. We have your friend, and boy, is Sidney furious with him for lying about the diamonds."

"He caught onto that, huh."

"Yep."

Troy didn't want Dietrich to get hurt. Then again, there was the chance that he already was hurt. I've let myself get captured before and got myself out. I can do it again. Troy sighed, and took the rope. He was pulled back up, but greeted with the rifled bore of an M1911. He glanced up at Mereworth. "Not sure that's necessary."

"It's necessary. Come on." Mereworth grabbed the back of Troy's shirt, and pushed him forward. "Don't even think about doing anything funny."

"That might be difficult. Most people I know think I do a lot of things funny."

"Shut up, wise guy. Get moving."

"Okay, okay." Troy started walking, but his mind was at work, trying to formulate a plan of escape.

He was brought to the chamber with the small passageway that had been blocked off with rocks and dirt. Dietrich was sitting against the wall with handcuffs on. McCaskey was standing nearby. He grinned maliciously upon seeing Troy. "You. Your friend couldn't keep his mouth shut about not being scared, so you're getting beat first."

Troy looked at Dietrich. "Him? Not keep his mouth shut?"

"I barely said anything," Dietrich muttered.

"No one gave you permission to talk," McCaskey said.

"Look, if you're going to beat me up, just get it over with," Troy said.

"Oh, no," McCaskey laughed before getting in Troy's face. "When I'm done with you, you're gonna wish you were never born."

"Joke's on you, pal," Troy hissed. "I've already been there."

McCaskey looked a little confused, but that confusion quickly turned to shock and pain when Troy sucker-punched him hard in the stomach. He collapsed to the ground, struggling to breathe. Troy stared down at him for a moment, then turned when he heard Mereworth.

"I told you not to try anything funny!" Mereworth snapped.

Troy managed to get ahold of Mereworth's arm to point his gun upward, then drove his knee sharply into Mereworth's groin. Mereworth fell, cursing under his breath. Troy looked over his handiwork, then turned to Dietrich. "That was easy."

"Don't speak too soon!" McCaskey said breathlessly. He grabbed Troy's right boot, and pulled him down.

Troy suddenly felt the air grow warm and dry. The darkness of the cave was replaced with bright, unobstructed sunlight, and the hard, rocky ground was replaced with soft, hot sand. He was surrounded by German soldiers, each threatening to strike him with the butts of their rifles if he moved. One of them was on the ground, holding him by his boot.

"Why must you cause trouble, Corporal?" the soldier on the ground asked. "You could spare yourself so much suffering. Instead, you are just making this more difficult on yourself!" He yanked Troy backward.

"Quit struggling!" another soldier shouted. "We have had enough of your antics for one day." He tried using his bayonet to get Troy to stand by sticking it under the back of his shirt collar. When the bayonet tore through Troy's shirt, the soldier cursed.

Troy sat patiently, waiting for the guard's arm to get closer in order to force him to stand—then he struck, sinking his teeth into the soldier's arm.

The man screamed in pain and terror, trying to pull his arm away. "Get him off! Get him off!" The more he struggled, the harder Troy bit down.

The soldier on the ground raised his rifle, but another shouted. "Wait! Remember the colonel's orders! Do not kill him!"

The soldier shook his head before whacking his rifle's stock into Troy's stomach. Air rushed from Troy's lungs, forcing him to release the guard he had bitten. Blood ran freely from the hapless soldier's arm. He spat in Troy's direction before being tended to by one of his comrade's.

"You know what happens when you do things like this," a guard said while binding Troy's hands behind his back. "You know Beckmann will whip you personally, and then you get no rations. Most prisoners give up by now. You? You are crazy."

Troy suddenly felt someone squeeze his arm. The familiarity of Dietrich's voice brought him back to reality, somewhat. "Troy? Are you alright?"

"Stop talking." McCaskey put the muzzle of his gun to Dietrich's head. "You move, I shoot. Got it?"

Dietrich glanced up at him, then resumed staring ahead.

Mereworth took the right cuff off of Dietrich's wrist, then grabbed Troy's wrist to place the cuff on him.

"Oh, not this again," Dietrich groaned.

"What do you mean, 'not this again?'" McCaskey asked.

"We were once chained together during the war."

McCaskey exchanged a confused look with Mereworth.

"Arab slave traders," Dietrich explained. "They caught both of us after a skirmish, held us together with a long, heavy chain." He looked at Troy. "That was a fun time."

Troy was still trying to pull himself back into reality, but he nodded.

"Thankfully, we managed to escape before they could take us wherever they were going, but wandering through the desert with a heavy chain binding you to an annoying chatterbox is… quite the adventure."

McCaskey shook his head. "Whatever. This is supposed to make it harder for you to escape."

"I would have to disagree. The heavy chain did nothing to stop us from escaping." Dietrich held up his cuffed wrist, as well as Troy's. "What do you think this will do?"

"If you try anything, I'll just break your arm, and his."

Troy sighed. "You know, we were going to leave this damn cave when we couldn't find the stupid gold in this passage! You're wasting a lot of time and energy with us!"

"You didn't leave when I told you to. Now, you gotta pay the consequences." McCaskey took Troy's left hand. "I could still make it out of here with some gold. Your wedding band, and your friend has a gold crucifix."

"You touch our stuff, and I'll leave you in the woods for the coyotes to finish you," Troy growled.

"Really? How do you think I feel with you two after my gold?"

"That was never yours or your great-grandfather's to begin with, you delusional freak!"

"It's going to be before the end of the day."

"If it's here! We checked the rest of this passage. Unless it got dumped in the lake, it's not in this cave."

"I hate to say it, but the little guy might be right," Mereworth said. "We didn't bring anything to check underwater."

"No, we didn't," McCaskey said. "But, we've got two guinea pigs that we can use now."

I can't swim well, Troy thought. He kept a somewhat defiant expression, despite fear and anxiety beginning to boil below his surface.

"You two can swim, right?"

Dietrich said nothing. Troy struggled to maintain his expression.

"We'll try the skinny one first." McCaskey gestured to Dietrich with his gun, then turned to Troy. "If he drowns, we'll send you in next. Although… it'd be easier to just drown both of you afterward. No one would suspect a thing, would they? It'd be an accident. Complete accident."

"Don't you have anything better to do with your life?" Troy muttered.

"Troy, stop," Dietrich said. "The more you talk, the more trouble you will get us in."

"Maybe you should stop talking, too."

"Both of you, no more talking," McCaskey said. "Elias, stay here. I'm going up to get more rope from the car."

"Sure." Mereworth kept his gun trained on Troy and Dietrich until McCaskey was well out of earshot. He then put his gun in his holster. "Alright. I'm going to give you two a few moments to talk. The second I come back, shut up, got it?"

Neither Troy nor Dietrich said anything. Troy's mind was racing, but it wasn't to find a way out. Instead, it was a constant bombardment of, I don't want to drown.

Dietrich had watched the defiant spark leave Troy's eyes faster than anyone could blink when he was on the ground, getting dragged by his leg. It was like Troy was somewhere else entirely, and Dietrich had a feeling he knew exactly where. McCaskey had been taunting Troy the whole time when he froze, then gave up and dragged Troy's stunned form over to where Dietrich was sitting. It pained Dietrich to witness that, but he was at a loss of what to do, especially after he and Troy were cuffed together.

When Mereworth left them alone, Dietrich glanced at Troy. "Are you alright?"

"Honestly? No, I'm not," Troy said. "How are you so calm?"

"Someone has to be. Plus, I think McCaskey is scared of me."

"What makes you say that?"

"I ended up telling him about the fact that I was in the German military during the war. I told him nothing he said frightened me, because I had been faced with worse. He acted like I was a fool for not being scared. In my experience, that sort of dismissal is almost always a dead giveaway that they are truly frightened."

"I don't think I ever saw you truly scared. Apart from spiders."

Dietrich smirked a little. "I suppose the spiders count. I have seen you scared plenty of times. I think the most terrified I have ever seen you was during the tornado on my first visit to your ranch."

Troy nodded a little, then sighed. "I'm scared right now." He lowered his voice. "I can't swim. I mean, I can, but I don't like it." He drew up his knees and tried resting his arms on them. He stopped when he realized he was pulling Dietrich's arm. "At least that damn chain had more slack."

"I will not argue with that."

"McCaskey will probably tie rocks to us or something like that."

Dietrich looked at the small passage leading out of the chamber. He could see Mereworth's shadow moving and whispered, "Did you not find it strange that he left us alone?"

"Little bit, yeah." Troy lowered his voice further. "What're you thinking?"

"How far down would you say that drop was at the end of this passage?"

"Far enough to kill you."

"There must be a way we can break our fall."

"I'm not sure there is one. We're better off trying to get back the way we came." Troy cursed under his breath. "This isn't how I wanted the day to go."

"This is not how I wanted my trip to go," Dietrich muttered.

"I'm sorry about all this. This is my fault. Completely my fault. I shouldn't have tried going after the gold in the first place."

"Did you have any idea this in particular would happen?"

"No."

"Then you have nothing to apologize for." Dietrich thought for a moment, then looked at Troy again. "May I ask, what exactly did you mean when you told McCaskey that the joke was on him in regards to wishing you had never been born?"

Troy fell silent. "Something from a long time ago that doesn't mean anything anymore."

"May I still ask what that was?"

"It was after I found out my grandparents' farm was getting sold. David told me that Mom was blaming me for it. She made damn sure everyone in our family knew it, too. I was getting really angry letters for a while. It got to a point where every time I got mail, I had to read it somewhere away from Moffitt, Hitch, and Tully. Eventually, I met with Captain Boggs in secret and told him that I didn't want anymore mail unless it was addressed from David. Only explanation I was willing to give him was that something happened and I was cutting contact with my family apart from David. He asked who was going to get the message if I got killed. I said, 'David. Just David. No one else.' Even after taking that step, I started wondering what exactly I was doing with my life. Started wondering… if everyone would've been better off if I never existed."

Dietrich gave him a worried look. "Did you—"

"No. It never got that bad, but that was when the reality hit me that when I went back to Wyoming, I was going to have nothing. I stopped thinking about it after a little while. I didn't want anyone getting the idea that something was wrong."

"I know things are better for you now, but it is still a shame that you had to go through that in the first place."

"Yeah. I got through it, though. As best I could." A slight smirk crossed Troy's face. "All those letters made a pretty good bonfire, though."

"I imagine it felt something relieving to have burned those letters."

"It did, but by the end, there was something sad about it. I felt like things could've gone better, but… they didn't. Everyone had chosen to buy Mom's crap and tell me what an awful person I was. I had even been told that I was too old to be enlisting, and that I was a disgrace to everyone else enlisting because I was doing it to get out of my responsibilities."

"Really? You turned out to be a fine soldier for someone who was 'only doing it to get out of his responsibilities.'"

"Thanks."

"And look where you are now. You have a successful ranch, a wonderful wife, good friends—especially a friend who tolerates your questionable sanity."

"Well, right now, I'm trying to figure out how I'm not going to die by drowning."

"That water might not even be deep enough for McCaskey to dispose of us that way."

"You have a point, but it also might be deeper than we think."

"That is also true. Knowing you, you will come up with some stupid but genius plan to get us out of this."

"I'm trying. Maybe we should just make a run for it, fall out of the side of the cliff. Maybe we'll get lucky and snag a tree."

"Once upon a time, I would have been absolutely terrified to be lost in the woods with you, but now, I am okay with that." Dietrich paused. "I think I should be concerned about my mental wellbeing."

"I'll just be glad to have a friend who can keep my head on straight."

"I am glad you acknowledge that you need someone who can keep your head on straight." Dietrich gave Troy a look. "Are you feeling alright? You never admit things like that."

Troy sighed. "Look, I'm tired, I'm hungry, I'm thirsty, I'd really like a cigarette, and I want to go home. Please, Dietrich, work with me."

"Right now, I am trying to decide if you are more bearable when you are tired and hungry compared to Moffitt."

"I can at least function without a cup of coffee. You deprive Moffitt of his damn tea for one morning, and he's grumbling about everything under the sun. Even Tully—Tully, the most patient man in the world—can't put up with Moffitt when he doesn't have his tea."

"Tell you what, when we get out of here, I will cover the bill at whichever bar you want to go to."

"I'm the one who got us in this mess. I should pay."

"No, I will pay, because I am trying to be nice—"

"It's my fault we're in this little disaster. I should—"

"Little disaster?" Dietrich held up his and Troy's cuffed wrists.

"Dietrich, don't be a smartass." Troy pulled his hand back.

"I will admit we are in a disaster, but try not to put all the blame on yourself. I should have fought harder to keep you from doing this."

"Oh, don't you start!" Troy groaned. "Whose fault is this? I don't know! I don't care!" He put his head on his knees.

Dietrich poked him. "Are you… okay?"

"I don't know. Quit poking me."

Mereworth crawled into the chamber, glaring at Troy and Dietrich as he got to his feet. "Get out whatever confessions and hopes and dreams you have left, because we're going to the waterfall."

Both of them were quiet for a moment, then Dietrich said, "Alright, my big confession… I once ate an entire pumpkin pie over the course of two days."

"Did you really?" Troy asked.

"Maybe."

"That's not a confession, Dietrich."

"I do not care, because we are not dying today."

McCaskey was next to enter the chamber, holding rope. "Alright. Both of you, up." He pushed Troy and Dietrich forward once they were standing. "Move."

The quiet of the cave was quickly replaced by the roar of the waterfall as they headed down to the pool. Dietrich looked around to see if there was a bottom to the pool, but the roiling water made it impossible. He stood still as McCaskey tied the rope around his waist.

Mereworth took Dietrich's free hand and forced it behind his back as McCaskey took the cuff off, and secured it on Troy. Once Troy was cuffed and kept still with a gun to the back of his head, McCaskey looked at Dietrich. "When I drag you back up, I don't want to hear that you found 'nothing.'"

"What if I do find nothing?" Dietrich asked.

"I'll decide if you sound like you're being serious."

"Comforting." Dietrich grinned a little.

"After your diamond story, I'm going to be extra-careful with you." McCaskey nudged Dietrich over to the water. "Get in."

Dietrich made eye contact with McCaskey as he stepped closer to the water. He felt sorry for the man, having been possessed by the idea of gold. "When you are on your deathbed later on, this is not going to mean anything. You may scoff at me now, but you will not be scoffing when that time comes. Is this what you want to remember? Will there even be anyone to remember you? A bar of gold cannot reminisce. There is no worse feeling than realizing you are going to die alone."

McCaskey snorted. "How would you know?"

"Because I nearly did." When McCaskey gave him a questioning look, Dietrich held out his wrists. "I will still get in the water and look for the gold. I can guarantee it will not make you happy, but, unfortunately, some people need to learn the hard way about what truly matters in life. If this helps you learn your lesson, I am willing to do this." He sat on the edge, looking over the vast pool, then slid into the water. It was cold and quickly became uncomfortable. His boots touched solid ground, but the pool grew deeper the closer he got to the center.

His mind turned to the little secluded waterfall in Italy shortly after being stationed there. His temporary place of peace, a great relief to have after finally being freed from dealing with the Rats. He closed his eyes, picturing the turquoise water, surrounded by citrus trees, vibrantly colored flowers, and green grasses. A stark contrast to the dingy grays and browns of the cave's interior, where the spray from the waterfall gave the rocks a rather slimy look. The sound of the waterfall here and in Italy was the same. It echoed more in the cave, fiercely drowning out all other sounds.

There was a thin layer of sediment at the bottom of the pool. At first, it seemed that under the sediment was more rock. As Dietrich got closer to the waterfall, the ground changed from rock to packed mud. He nearly tripped over a sharp rock jutting out, but something about that rock felt… different.

Dietrich held his breath, and crouched down under the water to inspect the rock. It was nearly impossible to see in the darkness. The sound of water rushing in his ears was deafening. He had only his sense of touch to guide him as he swept his hands around, trying to locate the rock. His chest was beginning to ache, and the sound of his heartbeat gradually grew louder. Finally, he grasped what he was certain was the rock, and he found it wasn't a rock at all, but something made of wood. He felt around the object, and found what he was certain was the narrow space between the lid and body of a chest.

Dietrich surfaced when his lungs couldn't take anymore. He gasped for breath, and stood by the waterfall as he recovered. Once the aching in his chest stopped, Dietrich looked over his shoulders at the others, and turned to start wading back to them. "I think I have found your gold, McCaskey."