My Story: World War II - German [COMPLETED]

13: Barrel

Bernadette walked next to me as we got ready to walk further into the woods. I took a deep breath and looked at her. She smiled at me and I nodded.

"Are you okay?" she asked softly. I smiled at her and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm just thinking," I said. She grabbed my hand and kissed my knuckles.

"You know, you killed someone. You can talk to me about it," she said. I smiled and nodded.

***

I felt a sharp pain in my chest. I couldn't breath and my heart started pounding as I struggled to stay awake. I deserved it. I deserved it.

I woke up with a start and shook my head. I looked around the temporary camp. Most of the guys were basically in a pile and Bernadette was laying on her backpack with my jacket on her to stay warm. I stood up and walked a little bit a way to relieve myself.

"Hey Tiny," Booya said as I finished and washed my hands in the camp.

"Hey," I said as I stood up, "What's going on?" He rubbed the back of his neck.

"I realised I wasn't the best commander to you," he said. I shrugged, thinking that he was talking about the Jewish people in the bookcase.

"Things happened and you reacted. You have been the best you can be," I said as I sat on the ground. He sat across from me.

"I meant about your first kill today," he said and I looked away.

"I've killed before. I told you guys I use to go hunting before," I said, deflecting.

"It's not the same as taking a human's life. You can't hold everything in," he said. I shrugged.

"I'm fine. It bothered me for a minute then I was fine. It's a war and we all want to survive and go home," I said as I kicked some dirt.

"But that isn't what you need to go through alone. You have all of us that want to make sure that we all get through this together," he said. I shrugged and looked at the guys laying over each other.

"All of us will have to kill some time," I said and he shrugged.

"Most of the time it is from long ranges," he said. I looked away and saw movement in the trees near Bernadette.

"Booya, look in the trees," I whispered. He followed my gaze and we both looked at Bernadette. I stood and walked to Bernadette slowly.

"What's wrong?" she asked as I shook her awake. I pressed my finger to my lips and grabbed her arm to pull her to safety. Booya got the other guys awake and I pushed Bernadette behind a pile of supplies.

"Stay down," I told her as I angled my body over her and pointed my AK towards the movement. We were all tense and waiting.

When the gun shot went off, Bernadette screamed and covered her ears. I don't know who shot first, them or us. Hell, it could have been me first.

The red of the guns as they fired was beautiful. Ironic really. The guns looked beautiful and yet they were meant to kill us. I heard someone scream and I looked towards it only to see Barrel on the ground with blood coming out of him.

"Stay low!" I told Bernadette as I dropped my AK and ran out to Barrel.

"Tiny, get back!" Booya yelled but I grabbed Barrel's arms and dragged him to where Bernadette was hiding.

"Keep pressure on his wound," I told her as I put a blanket over the wound. Bernadette did and I picked up my gun again.

It took several minutes before the enemy retreated and we were all silent. I closed my eyes and shook my head.

"Alaric! What do I do?" Bernadette asked as I slumped back. I turned around and slid over.

"I need the medic kit," I said as I replaced her hands with mine.

"Here," Kipling said as he dropped the back next to me. I looked at Barrel and shook my head.

"I'm going to get you out of this the best I can, okay?" I asked. Barrel's breath increased and I looked at the bag. "There should be morphine in there."

"This?" Kipling asked after digging around for a moment. I nodded as I took it. I put it in his arm and he started relaxing.

"Gloves," I said as I slowly started to remove the blanket. Kipling handed me the gloves and I put them on. I pulled the medic kit closer and found the scissors and pliers.

I cut Barrel's shirt open and looked at the wound. I took a deep breath and prayed it wasn't an exploding bullet. I went in with the pliers and searched for the bullet. I found it and pulled it out slowly.

He started spasms as I threw the bullet on the ground and I put a gauze over his wound. I looked for the needle and thread with one hand.

"Someone hold him down," I yelled as I found the needle and thread. I prepped it in expert time and removed the gauze to stitch him up. I did it as quickly as I could but it didn't helped when he ripped them.

I tried to keep my hands over his wound but it was hard as he fought. Blood came out of his mouth and I watch carefully. Slowly, he stopped and his eyes came onto me.

"God hates us all," he whispered. I swallowed and watched his life left. I sat still and threw the gloves off as tears rolled down my face.

"Alaric?" Engel's voice asked.

"He died," I said and there was only silence. I stood up and turned around to the group, except for Rat who was behind. Oh. He was the one who held Barrel down.

"You did everything you could," Booya said. I looked away. "Guys, wrap him up please." Booya was quiet and Lemon and Orange did as he said quietly.

"We need to move before they come back," Butch said. Booya nodded.

"Pack everything up," Booya ordered and we all went to what we had to.

"Wait!" Bernadette yelled, effectively gaining our attention. "Oh Lord, I don't know how to say this in German. Barrel's death isn't your faults. I don't know who shot at us but it isn't your fault that they fired. You guys-" she spoke in French that made us look at each other as she groaned.

"We tried to protect everyone," Kipling said as Bernadette nodded.

"Exactly what I was trying to say," she said and I just walked away.