Finding The 4077th

Sneaking Back In

Chris's breath hitched as they started moving, Sophie was at the front of the convoy with Chris and the Colonel in the saddle, behind them two trucks with personnel, after that rode an ambulance with the wounded soldiers, and the supply trucks rode after that.

The cab Radar was talking about earlier was more of a bicycle cart than a vehicle so the rack with the Klinger collection was bound to it. Klinger ran after his collection while he held on to Radars goat, who ended the convoy, running behind them.

The explosions sounded a lot closer now as Chris saw with his teary blurred vision that his dad got further away. He saw that Radar was also staying behind and his heart felt broken. His fear made him numb from anything around him, he only noticed the rising panic brewing inside of him.

This was not okay, nothing about this was okay. He needed to get off this horse and fast, but the Colonel had his arm around his waist and he couldn't sneak away like that.

They rode for a while, normally Chris loved riding with the Colonel on Sophie, but now he hated every second of it. With every step, they only got further away and he still hadn't seen any opportunity to escape. He also didn't know how long they drove, but he tried to remember the direction they went so he could find his way back. It shouldn't be too difficult as they left a big trail of tire tracks and hoof prints behind.

After a while they neared an old abandoned schoolhouse and stopped, the Colonel called out “Halt! Convoy, halt!” making everyone stop.

The Colonel first gave some commands to Burns, to be in charge of setting up camp, before he dismounted. He lifted Chris out of the saddle as he said. “Come on now, son, you're shaking like a leaf, ”

The Colonel put the child on the ground and held him steady.
“Let's get you calmed down a bit, it's going to be okay,“

Chris didn't say anything, he didn't feel like talking, and his panic made it difficult to focus. He needed to go find his dad now! He just felt like something terrible had happened to him. It kept nagging in his mind, he needed to find and stay with his dad.

He looked around discreetly thinking about the best escape route, but the Colonel had a firm hold of his shoulder as he guided them to the building.

In his subconscious mind, Chris knew it was his fear talking and not his common sense, and that he shouldn't run blindly into enemy territory but he was too panicky right now to think clearly, and the nagging feeling was almost unbearable.

The Colonel held on to Chris while Francis started on a blessing for the building, Chris felt numb except for his raging panic, he simply hadn't room inside his head for other emotions and thoughts, and he couldn't even understand the priest clearly. Frank didn't make things easier by repeating the lines the priest said loudly to the rest of the convoy. After the second line, the Colonel snapped to the man to be quiet. The Colonel didn't look happy, his eyes bulged out, and veins pulsed on his forehead.

Chris watched the street from the corner of his eye, simply waiting for the right moment. His fear urged him on.

After the prayer, The Colonel who still had his hand on the boy's shoulder and guided Chris to the door, BJ followed them but they all stopped as they heard the sound of giggling. It sounded like several women were behind the door.

The Colonel turned towards BJ as he asked. ”Was that you?”

“I haven't giggled since my wedding night,” BJ replied.

The Colonel knocked on the door and a solid wood shutter opened revealing a woman with several others behind her. The girls giggled as they eyed the two Joes.